Bookmark 4

As Robert Burns has been quoted to say, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang oft agley."

I was making headway in a few books and actually ordered and received 2 more:

"P. T. Barnum" by P. T. Barnum

"Slaughterhouse 5" by Kurt Vonnegut

The Barnum book is huge and turned out to be tedious. The Vonnegut book turned out to be a study guide ala Cliff Notes. Both went on to the TBR pile. 

I started to get very weak and my interest started to slip again. I found it difficult to concentrate but I did manage to order several more books before being admitted to the hospital. I had them delivered to a friend's house and she brought them over.

"Davey Crocket" by David Crockett (his Autobiography)

"Dracula" by Bram Stoker

"Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne

"Tales of Mystery and Imagination" by Edgar Allan Poe

"The Divine Comedy" by Dante (Not just "The Inferno" but all 3 sections in 1 volume.)

I've started the Verne book while waiting for a transfusion. Of course, between the hurry-up-and-wait attitudes of the doctors and the social isolation I find myself surfing my favorite book sites. I jut ordered:

"In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

"The Portable Oscar Wilde"

"The Island of Dr. Moreau" by H. G. Wells

They just hooked me up for the transfusion so I'll go back to Verne for a while. 

I'll be heading to a Physical Therapy Center tomorrow for a couple of days and I have plenty of reading material to fill the down time.

I'll be back again so ..

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Bookmark 3

I haven't had to do this in a while but I find myself having to take a step back. I finished my treatments a week and a half ago and was actually looking forward to just staying in. I've practiced self-isolation for years and I like the idea of social distanced. But now I find myself with a problem - I can't concentrate.

I have 3 books on the side of my bed:

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - Jules Verne
The Man From Hell - Barrie Roberts (a Sherlock Holmes pastiche)
A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman (not my usual thing but I read some great reviews and I like it so far)

3 books, 3 different genres.

I was enjoying jumping back and forth between them and was getting close to finishing at least 2 of them. Then, for some reason, I lost my concentration. I try but I can only do a page or two - sometimes only a paragraph or two - before I lose interest.

Is it this virus situation? I don't know. I'm not worried about it. I figure that if I was gonna get it I'd have it by now. Maybe it's because I haven't been able to see my Daughter or Granddaughter. We tried video-conferencing but the sound on my laptop doesn't work which is frustrating.

I've been through stuff before and I'll get through this. I will read my 3 books but I've gotten some more which might take precedence.

The Black Count - Tom Reiss (the story of Alex Dumas whose life became the basis for his son Alexander's The Count of Monte Cristo)
Trinity - Leo Uris
The Agony And The Ecstasy - Irving Stone
The Club of Queer Tales - G. K. Chesterton (a collection of short Detective stories with odd events and odd explanations)
The Life of P. T. Barnum - P. T. Barnum (who wouldn't want to read about the life of America's Show Man written by himself)
 
The last 3 are at my Daughter's house and I've had to use my "phone a friend" to pick them up for me.

Anyway, I'm feeling better about things. I think I'll grab something to eat, maybe do a crossword puzzle, then pick up a book and....

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Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen

I don't think I need to go into what's going on right now - we're all living through it. My situation may be slightly different from yours because I do have to go out daily for radiation but I've been self-isolating since the transplant in late 2008 and I'm getting to like social distancing. The supermarkets are still a problem but I've started shopping at my local Quick Chek and Walgreen's for what I need. In the meantime, I've been spending more time then I should online, checking out Facebook and ordering stuff. I did manage to finish a couple of books though. No genre ones this month but two by authors that I really like.

Miscellaneous

Trans Atlantic - Colum McCann ($3.99/$16.00, copyright 2013, 300 pages, Trade Paperback)

I've read several of McCann's novels and really enjoyed them. One of the interesting things he does is that he changes his formats to fit the overall story. This one follows the way he laid out "Let The Great World Spin" - a series of what appears to be short stories that he ultimately ties together. Here he gives us 3 historical events and people, set at different times, that involve crossing the Atlantic between Ireland and America. The 1st is about 2 British airmen making the first crossing after WW1. The 2nd features Frederick Douglass who flies over for a speaking tour in 1845. The 3rd is centered on George Mitchell and his help in negotiating the Northern Ireland Peace Accord between '95 and '98. Each of these works on their own but McCann adds his connection. A young Irish immigrant girl gets to meet the pilots in Newfoundland and gets a picture. We find out that she's connected to a woman who interacted with Douglas and a woman who will be involved with the Mitchell visit. Although slightly out of chronological order McCann makes this work. Every one of these characters is clearly defined and the writing is crisp and entertaining. I enjoyed it.


Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman ($5.88/$15.99, copyright 2017, 265 pages, Trade Paperback)

I mentioned one of Gaiman's books last month but this one is totally different. I grew up reading comic books and was there at the start of the Marvel Era. I read them all including "Thor". Over the years, the writers expended the cast and the background to include Asgard and all of the major gods. Gaiman has done the same here in one volume. We get them all - Odin, Thor, Loki, Balder,  etc. Their stories are told in detail, chapter by chapter, and lead up to Ragnarok, the Final Days. I'm not going to go into any details because it's not a novel that I need to explain. I will say that Gaiman's writing brings all the characters to life and his descriptions of the various backgrounds are great. I enjoyed it.


It's starting to get warm now although we did have rain mixed with some flakes this morning. I'm not sure what's gonna happen in April but I'm pretty sure we'll get through it. In the meantime stay home, stay safe and ….

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Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen

Not to make a big deal out of it but I'm going through another round of treatments that take place early in the morning. Combined with the Insomnia side effect from the last round, I haven't read so much lately. (Of course, these things haven't kept me from continuing to order books.) Anyway, I did manage to finish a couple.

Miscellaneous

The Master Of Ballantrae - Robert Louis Stevenson ($9.95/$4.82, Published 1996, 246 pages, Paperback)
This is Stevenson's retelling of  the familiar family divided/two Brothers  against each other story. Set in Scotland during the 1745 Jacobite Revolution, he gives us the Drurie family. James, the oldest, supports the Scottish side while Henry the younger, is faithful to The Crown. James leaves home to fight for the cause and winds up fleeing to sea where he spends some time as a pirate in the French Indies. Meanwhile, Henry has taken over as the Master. James ultimately returns to demand his Birthright and begins a huge feud that takes them from their home in Scotland to the American Wilderness. Stevenson does a great job with his descriptions of the various locations and he's created some very memorable characters, especially James who comes across as very manipulative. Another plus to this book is that Stevenson uses multiple Narrators to tell the story which I found interesting. I enjoyed it.


 The Ocean At the End Of The Lane - Neil Gaiman ($7.99/$5.88, copyright 2013, 237 pages, Paperback)
I am a big fan of Gaiman and I've just ordered 2 more of his books ("American Gods" and "Anansi Boys"). This is another of his Adult books. He gives us a middle-aged man in England who returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. He decides to drive around for a while afterwards and winds up at a farm at the end of a road that he seems to be drawn to. He didn't know why at first, but as he wanders around he remembers. 40 Years ago, His Father took in a Boarder from Australia who wound up stealing their car and crashing it. When the boy went out to the site he wound up walking around and  met a girl named Lettie Hempstock who took him to her farm, fed him, and introduced him to  her Mother and her Grandmother. Then she took him for a walk and things got really strange. I can't begin to describe or explain what happens without spoiling the book. Gaiman has created some great characters here and he always paints a wonderful narrative. I enjoyed it.

It's cold today but supposed to get warmer for the next couple of days. I have to run some errands tomorrow but then I should have time to kick back and enjoy one of the books I'm juggling.

Talk to you next month. Until then ….

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A Belated 10th Anniversary

I tend to read more then 1 book at a time so I choose them from different genres. Jumping back and forth like that usually keeps me from getting bored. This month, however, I had a medical procedure to check on something and I've had to wait on the results. Needless to say, I haven't been able to concentrate very well. I got the results yesterday and I have to go back for Radiation but at least there's no Chemo or Surgery and the Prognosis is good.

Right now, I'm juggling a great Fantasy book by Neil Gaiman, the first of the Travis McGee Detective books by John D. MacDonald, and a book by Robert Louis Stevenson that was made into a pretty good movie starring Errol Flynn. But being a Bookie, there's always something else I want. Since Friday the 3rd, I've ordered 8 different books from 2 different Discount sites for a total of about $40. That's about $5 each but I have to say that 1 of these was about $11 and I'll explain that shortly. Some of them have come in already.

I ordered the 2 Captain Nemo books by Jules Verne, 1 of which just came in.
I ordered a Paperback copy of William S. Baring-Gould's Biography of Sherlock Holmes. I've had a Hard-copy edition since the '70's but it's easier to carry around something smaller. Shipped but still waiting for it.
I ordered what is described as an "Unauthorized Biography" of Sherlock Holmes by Nick Rennison. I don't know anything about this but it sounded interesting. This just came in.
I ordered 2 Holmes Pastiches, 1 of which involves "The Giant Rat of Sumatra". They just came in.
I ordered a copy of Steinbeck's 1st novel which is about Henry Morgan the Pirate. Shipped but still waiting for it.
Finally, I ordered a book that I had on a Wish List for about 6 months. It's a memoir of a French Pilot's experiences during WW2. It's been out of print a long time but a copy just turned up and they contacted me. This is the book that was about $11 and I hope it's worth it. Shipped but still waiting for it.

I.m looking forward to reading every one of these.

Now to the reason for this - my Totals for the 10th year of this Blog which ran from December 2018 to November 2019.

Totals                                           Face Value                          Actual Cost

Series 
14                                                        $98.82                                      $40.23

Misc
  8                                                        $64.82                                      $32.44

Pulp
  1                                                        $.75                                             $.75

Non-Fiction
  4                                                       $32.80                                       $19.67
____                                                   ______                                      ______
 27                                                       $197.19                                     $93.09

Grand Totals for the 10 years.

 380                                                     $3,642.16                               $473.38


Anyway, we've had some really nice weather lately but it's changing back to more seasonal temperatures. They say there's a possibility of snow this weekend so on my way home from my Doctor's Appointment tomorrow I'll make sure to stock up on some food.

February is up next. Say warm, stay safe and ……..

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Chapter One Hundred and Twelve

It's almost Christmas and it's been very cold lately. We've had a few snow alerts but, thankfully, nothing serious where I live. I did all my shopping on-line this year and I had it all delivered, wrapped, bagged, and tagged by the end of November. We'll be getting together at my Daughter's and I dropped off some of my presents this morning. I went with books this year.

I've ordered some more books recently and I'm waiting for them to come in  so I decided to go for a couple of classics first.

Off  The Shelf

 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens ($1.95/$1.95, published in 1867, 481 pages, Paperback)
I'm guessing that you all know this story. Oliver is an orphan who runs away from a workhouse and the cruel Mr. Bumble and winds up on the streets of London where he meets up with the Artful Dodger who introduces him to Fagin and his gang of youthful pickpockets.  Besides these characters, Dickens populates the book with others that have become stereotypes including Nancy, the prostitute with a heart of gold and Bill Sikes the vicious burglar. It was originally published as a series in Bentley's Miscellany and Dickens does a great job of describing the criminal underground of London at the time. I can only imagine how the readers waited impatiently for the next chapter. I enjoyed it.


The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas ($1.50/$1.50, copyright 1956 (this edition), 441 pages, Paperback)
Again, here's another story that you should be familiar with. In 1815 Edmond Dantès a young and successful merchant sailor who has just recently been told that he will be taking over from  Captain Leclère as he retires. With this happy news he returns to Marseille to marry his Catalan fiancée Mercédès. What he isn't aware of is that there are others who have a different idea and he gets arrested and thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed. He gets sent to the prison fortress of the Chateau D'If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas does a great job with the characters and the different set-ups throughout the book but I felt he could've spent more time on how Edmond got his revenge. Still, I enjoyed it.

Series

Black Money - Ross McDonald ($11,00/$.50, copyright 1965, 238 pages, Trade Paperback)
I spoke about the first Lew Archer book several months ago and I think I said I liked it. I'm not sure where this one falls into the series but it's one of the books I picked up at the Library Sale months ago. He's hired by a rich guy named Peter Jamieson to find out  why his supposed fiancé - Ginny Fablon - ran away with a Frenchman. Archer tracks things back and winds up investigating a sports club and looking into a death that was previously classified as a suicide. McDonald has a good eye for background but I found myself struggling with this. Maybe because he never gives us a description or any background for Archer. It was OK.


I've already started a couple of other books and, coincidentally, they're by the same author but not the same genre.

Curious?

 Stay tuned. Stay warm. Have a great Christmas, and a Happy New Year, and …..

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Chapter One Hundred and Eleven

The weather has been changeable lately and I found myself bogged down in a couple of books that I just haven't been able to make any progress with. I decided to revisit this set that has been on my living room shelves for the 20+ years that I lived in this apartment.

Non-fiction

Bloodletters And Bad Men - Jay Robert Nash

I'm going to approach these a little differently. It's a 3-volume set and they each deal with the same type of people - the murderers, robbers, assassins, kidnappers, etc. that have grabbed our attention since the country was established. Each volume deals with a different time period and the series is progressive. Nash has done thumb-nail portraits of his subjects and, in most cases, has been able to add a photo or illustration. Some are interesting, some are not, and some became repetitive after a while. These books have been described as an encyclopedia of crime and there are a lot of entries but I'm only going to mention the people that you might know. My only problem is that Nash lists his subjects alphabetically while I would've preferred chronologically.


Book 1, Captain Lightfoot to Jesse James   ($4.95/$4.95/ copyright 1973, 415 pages, Paperback)

While Nash does bring up some early criminals, it doesn't get interesting until the entries from the "Wild West" era and the Civil War. He gives us Sam Bass, William "Billy the Kid" Bonny, and Jesse James as well as William Quantrill and his Raiders (including a separate entry for his Lieutenant William "Bloody Bill" Anderson). We get the Gunfight at the OK Corral and we get the story of Herman Webster Mudgett  AKA H. H. Holmes who created the "Murder Castle" in Chicago during the Chicago Worlds Fair of1893.

Book 2, Butch Cassidy to Al Capone ($4.95/$4.95, copyright 1973, 431 pages, Paperback)

Here Nash brings us up into the 20's and 30's and introduces us to other criminal activity. Now we get Bootleggers, Bank robbers, Gangsters and Swindlers. He gives us Legs Diamond, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, and Baby Face Nelson. We get Bonnie and Clyde and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We get Al Capone, the Black Hand, and the Mafia. And he gives us Leopold and Loeb and Charles Ponzi.

Book 3, Lucky Luciano to Charles Manson ($4.95/$4.95, copyright 1973, 423 pages, Paperback)

Nash moves us up into the 40's to 60's by adding Racketeers, Mafia Chiefs, and assassins. The mobsters include Joe Bonanno, Carmine Galante, Joe Gallo, Vito Genovese, Sam Giancana, and Lucky Luciano. We get Bruno Hauptmann. He gives us the assassins Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray, and Sirhan Sirhan. We get the mass killers Richard Speck and Charles Whitman. As a bonus, he gives us Willy Sutton.

There are a lot of other fascinating people here and I understand that Nash has updated his work as 1 volume with new material. I read them straight through although, I have to admit, by the 3rd volume I was getting bored. This is probably something you might just want to pick and choose what you want. Still, I enjoyed it.

Thanksgiving is next week and Then we get Christmas. I did all my shopping online and the last present should be in next week. Now I have to figure out the best way to wrap this stuff. Maybe just gift bags this year.

Enjoy the Holidays, keep warm, and ….
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