I am a writer of poetry and fiction and an avid reader. Here, I think 'out-loud' about books, movies, stories, writing and other fictions.
I lost the whole site at one point and am rebuilding old posts from my backups.
Vivienne de Fleur, the protagonist, embarks on a quest to exonerate a fellow Mambo healer while uncovering her family's hidden past. The readers is taken on a journey through the streets of the New Orleans French Quarter and the rich tapestry of Louisiana's cultural heritage. While trying to make sense of her on-again, off-again romantic ties to a prejudiced NOPD detective.
One of the best books I've read this year. A look into the world of scientific discovery and the indomitable spirit of a woman determined to defy societal norms. A witty and thought-provoking novel. The reader is introduced to the brilliant but unconventional scientist Elizabeth Zott. Garmus skillfully weaves themes of ambition, feminism, and the pursuit of knowledge, creating a narrative both entertaining and deeply resonant with the limitations men are trying to put on women today. A celebration of intellect, tenacity, and the courage to break through barriers in the pursuit of one's dreams.
Prepare for a journey through a world shaped by music and memory. Smaill crafts a unique dystopian landscape where the power of music is both a source of beauty and a force of control. Simon, the protagonist, seeks to unlock the mysteries of his past in a city where memory is erased each night. Smaill's lyrical prose creates a vivid tapestry of sound and sensation, inviting readers to experience the magic and danger of a world where every note carries a secret.
Krueger blends the beauty of nature with a gripping mystery/thriller. Former Sheriff and now private investigator Cork O'Connor navigates the serene yet perilous Boundary Waters to find a missing person. Along the way he becomes entangled in a web of secrets that spans generations. Krueger's descriptive prose captures the essence of untamed landscape and the complexity of human relationships.
Be immersed once again in the futuristic world of Lieutenant Eve Dallas. Robb delivers a gripping murder mystery set against the high-tech backdrop of 2059 New York. When a famous actor meets a grisly end during a glamorous premiere, Eve Dallas is thrust into the spotlight to unravel a web of secrets and deceit. As Eve races against time to catch a killer, the intricate relationships and high-stakes drama keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.
A lyrical and enchanting journey that seamlessly blends the ordinary with the extraordinary, inviting readers to explore a world where magic is as real as the love that binds. In this fantasy, seven sisters, each with a unique gift, navigate a realm where the mundane and the mystical collide. De Lint proves again that he is a master of urban fantasy, weaving a narrative that celebrates the power of sisterhood and the wonder of the natural world. As the sisters confront challenges, readers are drawn into a realm filled with ancient legends, whimsical creatures, and the enduring strength of familial bonds.
Prepare to visit the untamed landscapes of the American South during the Civil War. Burke, is a rich storyteller and uses vivid prose to paint a compelling portrait of a young man's journey through the Civil War and self-discovery as he grapples with love, loss, and the harsh realities of slavery and conflict. White Doves at Morning is an exploration of the human spirit. Burke's narration brings to life the intricate tapestry of historical events, blending them seamlessly with characters and the breathtaking backdrop of a war-torn South.
Ace Atkins took over the Spenser books for Robert Parker's estate. Little White Lies takes you through the deceptive underbelly of a small Southern town. Secrets are buried deep, and trust seems a foreign concept. As the story navigates a web of lies, it takes unexpected twists, and will keep you on the edge of your seat. Atkins weaves a tale of suspense and intrigue, exploring the consequences of deception and the power dynamics at play, while keeping the Spenser persona true to Parker's style. The story will leave you questioning the truths we tell ourselves and the cost of keeping secrets in the pursuit of justice.
Having forced a peace between three waring parties (in the previous book 3 of The Shadow Accords), Carth, our heroine finds a fourth party that is trying to break the accords. Who are they and what do they have to do with the abandoned towns on the shores of the sea?
Another in the series of Lady Sherlock (Charlotte Holmes) who acts as a spokesperson for her 'sick brother'. In this case, Moriarty hires her to find his daughter, whom he knows exactly where she was hiding, but cannot get any recent sightings. Everyone in the Cornish community where Ms. Moriarity was living provides a network of lies. No one wants to help. Is the community holding her hostage, or is she really hiding? And what of Moriarity himself, what does he really want?
A history of the first woman to be a Pinkerton detective. As a widow, Kate Warne is out of options and refuses to be pigeon-holed into what society expects of her. Instead, she solves a crime and uses that success to get Pinkerton to hire her. She fluidly goes through disguises to work whatever case she is assigned. But she uses her mind too, and to great effect and the consternation of those she has to catch.
Rapunzel and the witch. Cress a Lunar without powers, aka a shell, has been trapped for seven years in a satellite to spy on the Earthens for Luna's top thaumaturge. Her red hair has never been cut and gets in her way frequently. She is also a hacker extraordinaire and has altered all Earth and Lunar surveillance, hiding the spaceship where Cinder is planning to prevent a marriage between the Eastern Commonwealth Emperor the evil Lunar Queen. The fact that a well-known very handsome criminal is piloting the spaceship is just a bonus.
Dr. Strangelove in space. A lot more years have passed – Gwendy is in her 60s and knows she is suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s. The man in the button hat visited her and returned the button box again. He’s giving her one final task to perform – to rid the world of the button box. The only way to accomplish such a task is to send the box into interstellar space. So, she returns to politics and runs for the Senate – and wins. Once there, she makes the friends she needs, not only in the Senate, but at NASA and the NSA. She gets bills passed to finance participation in the new much larger space station and to help billionaires to develop a multi-passenger trip to the station. Then on the maiden flight, she gets a seat and smuggles the button box with her along with a small nuclear-powered rocket. But it’s not going to be easy. A billionaire is also on the flight and he is connected with aliens who want someone to press the black button on the box and destroy Earth.
I don't usually read a series back-to-back. But this was wonderful fun to read the Gwendy books.
It’s years after Gwendy had the button box and returned it to the man in the bowler hat. Gwendy’s had some spectacular success as a novelist, then she decided to run for Congress – and she won. She’s also gotten married to a reporter who is away on assignment a lot. Then, then man in the bowler hat returns, kind of. He’s placed the button box in her file cabinet in her office in Washington D.C. How he got it past security is another question. It’s Christmas and she’s gone back to her hometown in Maine to spend time with her mother, who has cancer, and her father. At dinner, her father gives her a present of the old white feather she used to call her magic feather. She makes a wish that her mother would get better. She also gives her mother a couple of the chocolates from the button box. Her husband returns home and Gwendy feels all is well. The next day, her mother’s doctor calls to inform everyone that the cancer seems to have completely gone. Was it the feather, or the chocolates from the button box?
Gwendy is about to go into high-school and she's tired of being teased about her weight. So, she runs up the Suicide Stairs every day, trying to change her looks and her life. A Mr. Farris, in an out-of-date grey suit and a bowler hat, chooses to help her by giving her a button box. It's not full of buttons, it has buttons on top. Different colored buttons that correspond to the continents, plus a red button and a black button. The red button will do whatever she asks. And we don't have to be told what the black button could do. It also has two levers; one will occasionally dispense a mint condition 1891 Silver Dollar. The other dispenses very small, extra fancy, highly detailed chocolates in the shape of animals. She consumes one chocolate a day. She hides the button box to keep anyone else from finding it and hitting the buttons. But she's still just a teenager and is frightened of the responsibility the box represents.
Wilde, who was found surviving in the woods as a child, now grown and still living off the grid, sent in a saliva sample to see if he could track down the parents who abandoned him. Now, he's getting hits from this. He's also getting pangs of jealousy over the wife of his best friend, even though the friend has been dead for years. But what is real, and what is only in his imagination? He tracks the man who is supposed to be his father, only the man and his family disappear shortly thereafter. He tracks a cousin, only to find he's not really his cousin, but this one became a celebrity, and he too has disappeared.
The bastard child of the King-in-waiting is brought to his people as a six-year-old to raise. He starts living in the stables with the man who received him, there he discovers an affinity with animals, able even to use their minds. His foster father punishes him for this. Everyone calls him Fitz (Old English for the bastard son of). Then after his father abdicates and moves away, then dies, Fitz is trained by the King's assassin, himself the King's bastard. His father's wife decides to return to the capital and see to him being trained in courtly arts. A chance is given him to learn Skills, which he blows in a magnificent display, though what really happened was planned by the teacher. Then Fitz is sent to spy on a remote wedding of the current King-in-waiting using his brother, the youngest Prince as proxy. Though the real plan is to assassinate the King-in-waiting and the King so the youngest Prince will inherit the position. Only Fitz surprises everyone.
As always, Ms. Barnhill delivers a delightfully different perspective on a condition that has been all too common for teenagers having to take care of both parent and sibling. In this case, her widowed mother brings home the latest in a series of men who need to be fixed. Only she wonders if even her mother can fix a man who is a crane. The book is promoted as an adult novel, but it could have been a candidate for the Newbery since the viewpoint character is a fifteen-year-old girl.
There is no honor among thieves or revolutionaries. The main character, a captain, a spy for the Viet Cong, is airlifted from Saigon along with the General and his family who provided a home in Saigon and a career. Having been educated in the U.S., he is considered an invaluable aide to the General. He even consults on a movie about the war and returns to the U.S. again, as a hero for the lost cause. At least until it is suspected that the captain has designs on the General’s daughter. Then he is expected to go back to Viet Nam and die, trying to fight against the communists (his allies). But things do not work as anyone expects.
David Copperfield in the Appalachians. The story even starts with a similar line; “First, I got myself born.” Only here we are in the current century with the current problems that have affected our society. Our hero, the title character, lives with his drug addicted mother, until the government decides it would be in his best interest to live in foster care, meaning people who are only interested in the monthly check from the government and the free labor that comes with it. Things go from bad to worse until he hits the jackpot with the local hero football coach. But fate won’t by stopped by the cornucopia of temptations and tragedies of the twenty-first century. And all Demon wants to do is see the ocean.
An infinite loop of noir wherein Dex takes Adeline on a date in his Belvedere to visit a nightclub in the desert with plans afterward to watch the stars fall. There is a fez capped maître d', a shark toothed professor, guns and murder and promises of a solution.
An American student, following a guidebook on a Walking Tour of British Coastlines, discovers that in the "off season" that not much of anything is open along the rainy grey coast. He stops at a village called Innsmouth. He finds a pub with an odd name and checks to see if they serve food. They do, of a sort, but he decides the British serve food as a punishment. Two fellows sit by him and he buys them a round of Shoggoth's Old Peculiar. He's never drank alcohol before and listens as the two men talk to him about H.P. Lovecraft and how they're acolytes. He wakes up in the morning with a terrific headache, but no village.
Jeff Wheeler is a best selling fantasy author who is also deeply religious and worked many years for Intel. This is a tretise on how he continued on with his dream of becoming a writer in the face of disasters, raising a family, going on a mission, serving in various leadership capacities in the church, and stumbling through years of trying to break into becoming a published writer, even publishing his own e-zine and books. The basic conclusion is to be prepared for the consequences of what you want.
Rin, the heroine of the Poppy Wars, returns, addicted to heroin in an effort to quiet the murderous Phoenix inside her mind and to escape the guilt of how she ended the war. This time, the Dragon warlord seeks to overthrow the empress and establish a republic with the help of foreigners who have advanced technology, but will not provide help until they see that the Dragon lord's plan will work. Only the empress is not so easy to defeat, and the Dragon lord is not really helping a republic form. In the end, he will do whatever he needs to preserve his family's position and safety.
A farmer’s daughter, Aren, gets married when she thought she was doomed to be an old maid. Then on the second day of her marriage, everything goes wrong. Raiders kill her husband, his brother, and her parents. She could see it was happening and ran to her hidden cellar, terrified she would suffer the same fate. Magic is considered evil, even having the sight. But she sees more and feels compelled to warn the villagers, even though she knows they can condemn her to death. While in the village, a great earthquake happens, and the villagers and farmers fear it will cut them off from the town where they sell their produce. As they go over the Hob, a mountain between them and their destination, Aren is ‘saved’ by the Hob. He is bound to the mountain and is a strong magical spirit. More spirits attack the village and Aren returns to the Hob to strike a bargain for his protection. But what he wants in return is her.
David Copperfield in the Appalachians. The story even starts with a similar line; “First, I got myself born.” Only here we are in the current century with the current problems that have affected our society. Our hero, the title character, lives with his drug addicted mother, until the government decides it would be in his best interest to live in foster care, meaning people who are only interested in the monthly check from the government and the free labor that comes with it. Things go from bad to worse until he hits the jackpot with the local hero football coach. But fate won’t by stopped by the cornucopia of temptations and tragedies of the twenty-first century. And all Demon wants to do is see the ocean.
This is a story of people who are experts in defending themselves, but they are put to the test in ways that make their lives difficult at best. The character’s voices are distinct enough to hear snippets and know which one is talking. The suspense is intense. And there is a supernatural element, giving us a connection in the story that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. It needs editing (we all do on our writing), but that can be taken care of after the first draft is complete. A very interesting story.
The Drum Family lives in a small town south of Mankato in Minnesota. The father is a pastor to three congregations in the vicinity. The mother is talented soprano and conducts the local chorus. The daughter outshines her mother due to the same teacher. She composes, she plays, she astounds. There are two brothers, one is the narrator of the story and often gets himself and his brother, who has a stuttering problem, into difficulty.
The story takes place post-World War two. A blind man, the teacher, son of the local wealthy family, and his sister, who is deaf, seem to only be befriended by the Drum family. The boys help the deaf woman with her garden. The father plays chess with the man. The mother has fond memories of the man she was going to marry, before he went off to war and lost his sight and his beauty. The daughter is typing up his memoir.
But the story is not about an idyllic life. It is about death, which seems to occur repeatedly in the story. One death in particular leads the narrator to want to solve the puzzle that seems beyond his reach. But he is persistent.
A three-issue set written by the imitable Ms. Margaret Atwood. It serves two purposes; 1) a fun and sometimes silly story about a superhero (?) who is part human, part cat, and part bird vs. a man who is part human and part rat. And 2) a plea for people to keep their cats indoors so they won't get killed and won't decimate the songbird population. Ms. Atwood obviously enjoyed herself as the writing exposes her trademark wit. Worth spending the afternoon reading.
The first of the King and Maxwell books. They have something to be ashamed of in common. Both have lost a presidential candidate while in the Secret Service. King eight years previously when he was distracted during an orchestrated assassination, just enough time for the shooter to kill the man he was supposed to be protecting; a hateful man who had no chance of winning the race. Maxwell, now, also protecting a man whom everyone hopes has no chance of winning. Only hers is kidnapped. And a man who was in WITSEC and worked for King’s legal office has been killed in the office with King’s gun while King was on his weekly volunteer deputy patrol. A joint task force is formed between the U.S. Marshall’s office, the Secret Service and the FBI. No one can trace the kidnappers. Then more people are killed and more are kidnapped. It’s up to King and Maxwell to solve the mystery and bring the perpetrators to justice.
I went by appointment to the Wilson Special Collections Library at UNC Chapel Hill to see a copy in the Rare Books Collection.
Hand printed and hand bound, signed - #84 of 235 copies. First sheet is not part of the binding (without it, the copy would be incomplete).
Interesting page layout by the printer – no isolation of poems, once a poem ends, the next starts on the same page. A set number of lines per page printed - if a poem or stanza hits the line limit, the next line is on the next page - a little jarring at times.
Simic tends to use quatrains but not always. Often, he capitalizes each line. But in some poems, only the first word of a sentence or stanza is capitalized.
The original copy sold for $22.50 (penciled on a blank page). Now some of the 235 copies sell for over $150.00.
The pamphlet includes eight poems:
In which the oldest sister of the Mousai is given an invitation to compete for the throne of the Thief Kingdom, and the impact it has on her love life and her family. A new character is introduced who has her own impact on the people around the central story. All is not necessarily well that ends.
A year in the life of a 12-year-old Chicana in Chicago in the 1960’s and living in the house on Mango Street. Told as a series of vignettes, it shows the world and the city from the perspective of Hispanic girls navigating the change from girl to womanhood. Learning too early and too late about growing up.
A curiosity that feels like the wheels went flat, then reveals what you should have realized all along. McGee is given a call for help from a woman in Chicago that he acted as matchmaker for a few years earlier. A considerable sum has gone missing from her husband’s accounts. The kids blame the new wife, the cook blames her wayward daughter. McGee has other suspicions.
Hemingway sets the scene in few words. A deaf old man sits in front of a café, late at night and continues to order brandies. There are two waiters who carry the conversation of the story. The younger of the two wants the old man to finish and leave so he can go home. The older waiter is patient and willing to allow the old man to stay as long as he wants. For the older waiter, it’s a matter of pride to run a clean well-lighted café.
Mr. Bemis combines American myth with orphans fighting for their lives in a masterful tale in a late 19th Century setting. From the opening nightmare through outrageous characters, a traveling medicine show and a blind marksman, a pirate queen and a siren, the pace never stops. It’s the nine pound hammer and what it means that makes all the difference.
Parker is just as ready to be mean as ever. This time he’s protecting the woman he lives with.nbsp; He and a crew knock off the last show of a music venue.nbsp; They were one guy short because the guy just didn’t have it in him to do the job.nbsp; But after the money is split, they find the guy has been murdered.nbsp; Then another guy gets killed.nbsp; Parker’s contact calls him at his new residence, which he did not share.nbsp; Now Parker has to find whoever is doing the killing and stop them.
Djibouti is a gateway to the east. It sits on the horn of Africa between Somalia and Eritrea. It’s also the scene of Elmore Leonard’s story about a documentary filmmaker who hopes to add to her portfolio of award-winning films. Dara Barr, from New Orleans, and her cameraman, Xavier, go to Djibouti to film Somali pirates and get much more than they expected.
Trying to get back into the rhythm of writing again.
How many spaces between sentences?
For those of you who read this, you may notice that I still use two spaces after the punctuation between sentences. All the major style guides say the rule is a single space after a period or any other punctuation mark used at the end of a sentence.
So why do I insist on using two spaces? A few reasons.
There is a very easy way to convert from two spaces at the end of a sentence to one space, or vice-versa, if required. Simply use a global change. I increase this on manuscripts I’m asked to read so I can tell whether I’m looking at a comma or a period. For editors who request single space, I do the opposite change on the copy of the manuscript before submission. It's more important to provide the style requested than to insist on one way or another.
In this graphic adaptation of Ms. Atwood’s unforgettable novel, is a succinct reminder of how politicians can use the influence of false narration to grab power and oppress. The story is as relevant today as the dystopian future written a quarter century ago. Beware demagogues who use outrageous lies to blame the plight of the masses on rivals.
A delightful whodunit staring Myrtle Hardcastle, the daughter of the local prosecutor in an English town. Her next-door neighbor died, and no one will listen to Myrtle when she says the woman was murdered. Between her governess, her cat, her father, and a woman who might be trying to become Myrtle’s stepmother, the mystery takes a circuitous route to the solution.
Williams’ manifesto of the imagination. Two of his best-known poems; “Spring and All” and “The Red Wheelbarrow” appeared first in this volume. He alternates between an examination of how the imagination works in prose and poetry, then shows us an example in poetry.
His musings on the work on the imagination and letting the mind produce are inspiring and can be read over and over with benefits for a writer in each reading.
The sequel to The Golem and the Jinni – both characters, Chava and Ahmed, are now regarded as regular citizens of Little Syria in New York. Only their relationship is rocky at best. Theirs is not the only story. In addition to women affected by the Jinni and the evil wizard from the original book, we are introduced to a girl who becomes central to the story, Kreindel, who helped her father create another golem, Yoselle. All of this happens while the world runs into war.
A marvelous, fantastic book. I could tell ten percent into it that it deserved the Pulitzer. Ms. Erdrich has a complete mastery of storytelling and language. Her subject matter, though placed in the 1950’s is as relevant today as it was then. Her characters show us perspectives of how the government has gone back on its word to Native Americans time and again. She has certainly thrashed them like a field.
Straub shows he is a master of horror in the simplicity of a tale. He tells the story of a man who seeks enlightenment by visiting a guru in India with a German friend. As he reaches the village where the guru lives, he is asked to touch a dying boy, who immediately becomes better. Then he touches a wall which glows neon where his fingers trail. But the guru does not tell him what he expects.
The first novel in an epic about the colonization of Mars. The first hundred people to become Martians and their vision of a non-political, non-economics-based society. Temper this with the reaction of an overpopulated Earth needing a place to bleed-off their starving masses and the natural tendency of people to not change. Amazing advances in applied science to transform the face of Mars and the collision of competing forces drive an outcome that should be predictable. The outcome is both natural and surprising.
An East Asian Canterbury Tale
Chih, cleric of Singing Hills and their birdlike companion, Almost Brilliant, go into the Riverlands, walking with other travelers, telling and listening to tales. They have the fortune to travel with marshal arts masters, and the misfortune to need them. Just when it seems their enemies are too many to overcome, and old man surprises everyone.
The Singing Hills Cycle is a joy to read, the stories within the story are wonderfully done, making for a quick and satisfying read.
An intriguing fantasy in a new world with great characters and cultures. Where people who grew-up in different places travel far and find new magic in a changing world.
Watch the author's site for news about the release of this book: AKHauser.com
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill (2022) Doubleday
Kelly Barnhill steps out of her typical genre for kids and
writes a wonderful satire on our patriarchal societal restrictions from the
40's through today. If a woman you know,
dragoned (metamorphosed into a dragon) how would you handle it? Could you pretend it didn't happen? Would that change anything? And what would you do when it reached a
tipping point? Ms. Barnhill ponders
these questions and provides good answers too.
Footnote: Ms. Barnhill suffered a concussion (her third) and
worries about writing again. I say,
don't worry it, let the idea and the words come. Because when they do, you write them down
beautifully.
Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire, Illustrated by David Litchfield (2022) Candlewick Press
A beautiful book wherein the title character, Cress, and her
family move one night from their warren after her father does not come
home. They move into the Broken Arms,
where the landlord is an owl. In
addition to her brother, Kip, getting sick, and her mother weaving to make a
living, Cress makes friends with squirrels, meets Tunk, a bear, a skunk who is
glamorous, at least in her own mind, a chinchilla, a hen, and Nasty, another
rabbit. She gets chased by Reynard, a fox. And worries about being eaten by the Final
Drainpipe, a snake. But the best advise
in the book is for writers and is told by the hen who suggests that Cress make
a story.
“I don’t know how to make a story,” said Cress.
“It’s like making an egg, I think?” said the hen. “Just sit there until it comes out.”
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (2023) Flatiron Books
Galaxy Stern returns in a story about the Lethe house at
Yale. This time she is going to try to
get her mentor back from hell where he was trapped by his traitorous professor
in charge of the house. But she can’t do
it by herself. Her new Praetor and her sponsor
don’t want her to mess with any more arcane attempts. They want to count her Virgil as simply
lost. But Alex doesn’t know how to give
up.
Ms. Bardugo weaves a tight tale of self-recrimination and
magnificent effort that keeps the reader guessing all through the story.
Watercress by Andrea Wang, Illustrated by Jason Chin (2021) Neil Porter Books (Caldecott 2022)
A beautiful book that will tug at the heartstrings about
tradition and loss. Ms. Wang writes a
tightly woven text that says so much in few words. Mr. Chin’s art perfectly compliments the
story. No wonder it won the Caldecott and garnered a Newbery Honor.
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo (2020) Tor.com
Our favored monk, Chih is back and recording more stories,
this time without Almost Brilliant. She
finds herself stopped just short of her destination aboard a mammoth for the night by a set of Tiger sisters. After a desperate run for shelter, Chih starts telling stories to the tigers, who keep telling her
what is wrong with the stories and correcting them. They promise to let the mammoth go if Chih
will record the correct version of the stories, if they don’t eat her.
An engaging storytelling that keeps you turning the page.
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
A very satisfying book.
We get the tale through the careful listening of a monk who wishes to
record the history of a dwelling at a magical lake. Tales are told by a former palace servant. The empress had been exiled once she
bore the emperor an heir. But she was
from the north where they raise their girls to be fierce.
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo (2016) Candlewick Press
The first of three books about a trio of fatherless girls in
Florida. Raymie concocts a way to get
her father to come back home. She meets
Louisiana, who wants to rescue her cat, and Beverly who is fierce and unafraid
of anything. But nothing is as it seems,
even with three girls who become friends.
Ducks by Kate Beaton (2022) Drawn & Quarterly
A graphic autobiography of the years when a college graduate,
unable to find a job to pay off her student loans turned to the Oil Sands of
Alberta to make money in clerical jobs.
It covers the horrors of abusive harassment and rape prevalent not only
to the girls working there, but the First Nation women too. Take a camp of 95% men, add a few young, naïve
women and working organizations that turn their eyes away and this is the
result. I hope her book gets the
attention of those who can make a difference.
Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo (2018) Candlewick Press
Part of a trio of books about girls without a father. Ms. DiCamillo weaves a story about identity,
loss, and the story of a life that isn't real. We listened to this on audio,
the reader was exceptionally good with voices and attitude of each of the
characters. Raymie (from the first book)
even has a small role. It's worth the
read or the listen.
The Poet by Michael Connelly (1996) Little Brown, & Co.
A new lead character appears in this novel, Jack McAvoy, a
journalist in Denver. His specialty, murder
stories, becomes ironic when his twin brother, a homicide detective, kills
himself. Jack decides to write the story
to cope with his grief. Researching the
issue of homicide cops committing suicide, he discovers a disturbing fact – those
who had a seemingly unsolved case, all had something in common, a suicide note
that simply quoted poems by Edgar Allen Poe.
Is this really the work of a suicide killer? And can Jack expose the truth without
becoming a victim himself?
Weights and Measures by Jodi Picoult (2011) in Stories, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, Harper Perennial
Miss Picoult’s poetic, ability to move the reader comes into
full force here over the tragic loss of a seven-year-old daughter and the
heart-rending attempt of parents trying to get past the grief. And the extreme effects that can happen in
the imagination come to life.
I read this out loud so Margaret could hear it. Her response was that from now on, whenever
someone says her stories are too sad, they should read this story.
The Knife by Richard Adams (2011) in Stories, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, Harper Perennial
Like Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart”, this story is told from the
point of view of a character who has done something criminal. It traces the discovery of a murder weapon,
and the bullying that pushes the narrator to the reprehensible act. And the confession to a dear uncle who
chooses to keep the secret.
The Last Deadloss Visions by Christopher Priest
This book length essay, available on multiple sites via an Internet search, is about the non-publication of The
Last Dangerous Visions, vilifying Harlan Ellison as an Editor who started the
project in the 1970s and never managed to get it published before he died in
2018.
His promotion of the anthology became a sad joke within the
writing community, especially with writers not getting their manuscripts back when
commitments from publishers failed, for whatever reason, to result in publication. I think it sad that the
publishers did not find alternative ways to produce the project, even if it
meant producing multiple books for timeliness.
There could have been More Last Dangerous Visions, Last Dangerous
Visions Again, etc. (just like the five volumes of the Hitchhiker Trilogy by
Douglas Adams).
Personally, I am a huge fan of Ellison’s work. I don’t include his incomplete projects in this
opinion just like I don’t include any other writer/editor’s projects that have
not come to fruition. While I do know
the frustration of waiting extraordinarily long times to hear back on whether
or not a manuscript has been accepted, it’s simply part of a writer’s
life. For those writers who have been
fortunate to hear quickly on their manuscripts, accepted or rejected, congratulations on your wonderful luck.
In July of 2022, Blackstone Publishing announced that Last
Dangerous Visions will be released September 1, 2024.
Only time will tell if the ultimate anthology of science
fiction will occur before the end of the Earth.
The Peripheral by William Gibson (2014) G.P. Putnam's Sons
A dystopian weave of not exactly time travel as murder
mystery. In which a gamer girl takes
over for her marine veteran brother and witnesses a murder in the future. Only it’s not her future since her act splits
her continuum from the future she sees as a peripheral in a manufactured
body. The future continuum wants her to
identify the murderer and not get killed by other people in her own continuum
hired by someone else in the future. The
book is fascinating. The series based on
the characters is also visually fascinating, though the plot is vastly
different.
"Now is the time for all good men [and women] to come to the aid of their country" -Charles E. Weller, The Early History of the Typewriter, p. 21 (1918) - [words in brackets are mine.]
To paraphrase, now is the time to make sure you and your loved ones, your friends, your neighbors, are properly registered to vote so that by the time polls open for the 2024 contests, you are all ready and prepared to vote.
There are over 250,000,000 voting age adults in the United States. I would like to see 75% of voters participate in elections so we can be assured that we heard from a true majority when selecting people to hold important public offices.
As we face efforts by political machines to limit supporters of their opponents, real and imagined, just to keep cronies in power, or to place radical members of their parties in positions for no other real reason than to upset the status quo (note candidates who run during each election on a platform of simply opposing whoever is in office). Such inaction as a platform is of no real use to the public.
Every U.S. citizen in each State over 18 years of age who is not otherwise restricted legally can vote. In most cases, felons who are currently serving a sentence cannot vote. To help those who have been convicted of a crime and do not know their voting rights, see: Guide to State Voting Rules that Apply After a Conviction).
Help your fellow citizens who have a hard time registering. If you're not sure about the rules for registration, see: Voter Registration. It's the government site that has all the rules and links to the information you need. You can even look up State and local Election office websites here: https://www.usa.gov/election-office.
Make sure you check the rules even if you've voted before. You might need a new card, or a change of address, or need to know the exact rules for mail-in or absentee ballots. Learn the early voting rules for your State and help your family and neighbors get out and vote.
A Gambling Man by David Baldacci (2021) Grand Central Publishing
The second book in the Archer series – in which our hero stops in Reno and saves an old gambler from a couple of toughs. He also impresses a singer, Liberty Callahan, enough to make her want to go with him to California where she hopes to become a star. When they come upon the old guy facing more toughs, Archer and Callahan save him again. Archer agrees to buy his V12 Delahaye (a fabulous looking art deco style car) to help him pay off his debt. Though it doesn’t really help the guy and the toughs follow Archer and the singer before they get discouraged. Once in Bay City, California, Archer connects with a private investigator whose name was given to him in the first book. Then we get into murder mystery. And it is a classic. Baldacci at his best.
A Man Called Otto (from A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman) Directed by Marc Forster, starring Tom Hanks, Mariana Treviño and Rachel Keller, 2DUX², Playtone, SF Productions (2023)
Having read the book and watched the original sub-titled Swedish movie, I went to the theater ready to be disappointed in another Anglicized European movie. Was I ever wrong.
A better director, a better cast with a nuanced performance and this is as good as a remake can get.
Tom Hanks, as Otto, plays a perfect, curmudgeon whose efforts to join his late wife are frustrated at every turn. Rachel Keller plays the beautiful, kind wife, Sonya, in flashbacks seen as Otto's memories flashing before his eyes. Mariana Treviño plays the neighbor Marisol (played here as Mexican with degrees from Universidad de los Andes and the University of California - perhaps since this version of the movie places the scene in the U.S. instead of Sweden). She is instrumental in changing Otto, bringing him back to life in small pushes. And there is the most laid-back cat (played by Smeagol, an American Longhair).
Fundamentally, the story hasn't changed that much from the original, which is good. Though there were scenes I wish they'd kept, like those with Otto's father, and coverage of Otto's years before he met Sonya.
It could be a contender for Oscar considerations.
News of the World by Paulette Jiles (2016) William Morrow
A very well written novel - it's a western only in that it takes
place in Texas in the 1870's. It's really straight mainstream because it examines the human condition in the guise of a 72 year-old man and a ten year old girl raised by the Kiowa and trying to cope with having her life turned upside down for a second time. If you see the ad for the movie, you'll hear
Tom Hank's voice as Captain Kidd. The
cadence is perfect as are the characterizations and the changes that shape so
many. You'll chuckle in some spots,
laugh outright in others, and shed tears for the best of reasons. This is one of my favorite books and will definitely be on my list of best books to read.
Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch by Kelly Barnhill (2014) Tor.com
A fun, quick read of fantasy by a master in the genre. Mrs. Sorenson has been widowed and is free to
have her animal friends again. No one
has seen a sasquatch since she was married 30 years ago. But now, one seems to be following her
around.
OCDaniel by Wesley King (2017) Simon & Schuster
Daniel has a problem that affects him every day. He goes through the routine before he can cry
himself to sleep, and that can take hours.
In his waking hours, life can still present panic in the form of
zaps. He avoids stepping on cracks,
avoids numbers that are bad, and hates being on the football team as a backup
kicker. He has a crush on the most
popular girl at school, though he could never tell her. And the girl everyone calls psycho talks to
him when she won’t talk to anyone else.
Somehow, he’s agreed to solve a murder.
And he’s writing a novel. Just an
everyday kid who is hiding his own problems while wishing he was normal.
It's a good read, a complicated plot, with a good twist ending.
Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas (2020) Penguin Publishing Group
In which our heroine, Charlotte Holmes, appearing in her fifth book of the series, continues to work as
the confidant of a non-existent brother, Sherlock Holmes, who is supposedly
bedridden with sickness. This time it is
Inspector Treadles who is in trouble, and it is up to Holmes and her close
associates to prove he is innocent of a double murder. Charlotte ups the game on her attraction to
Lord Ingram, whom she has known since they were very young. Still romance is mostly promises and no
permanent situation presents itself in this book.
Like it's predecessors, the writing keeps you glued to the page trying to outdo Ms. Holmes in deducing the real culprits while keeping herself and her associates safe and sound.
Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler (1998) Seven Stories Press
The sequel to The Parable of the Sower, our Heroine,
Lauren Ova Olamina, has collected her verses into The Book of Life,
about Earthseed, created a community called Acorn and gathered people to teach
and help in a near-post apocalyptic U.S. – but her tests in life are about to
get so much worse. ‘Crusaders’
reminiscent of the KKK, enforced slavery in the name of Christianity,
separation of children from the parents, a megalomaniac who promises to ‘Make
America Great Again’ (the book was written in the 1990s). This volume is told from her diaries and from
her daughter’s perspective, having been abducted as a baby and raised in a home
affiliated with the same church as the Crusaders. Yet in the end, life goes on and Earthseed
reaches for its goals.
A prophetic warning for our times.
The Night Window by Dean Koontz (2019) Random House Books
The final book in the Jane Hawk series. She is still trying to find the leader of the
Arcadians and failing that, find a way to bring their crimes and agenda to the
attention of the world. Two of the
Arcadians’ top assassins are coming close to catching her. A thief stumbles upon the house where her son
is being kept safe by an old man and a very large man with issues and two
German shepherds – he knows the boy could be worth a fortune to the Arcadians
as leverage to get to Jane. The ultimate
leader of the Arcadians indulges himself with destroying a small-time Hollywood
producer and for shock value makes a beautiful young woman kill herself in
front of them. The thrills come in every
chapter. Will Jane be killed, or will
she save her son and the rest of humanity?
Me and Sam-Sam Handle the Apocalypse by Susan Vaught (2019) Simon & Schuster
A Best Juvenile Edgar winning book about a girl, Jesse (with
an 'e'), with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who wants to save her father from
going to jail over money stolen from his desk at school. Sam-Sam is her dog who provides emotional
support. Like many kids with ASD, she is
shunned, bullied and generally treated badly by other students and even some of
the adults at school. Her mother is away
in Iraq for the Army and has another dog who can sniff out bombs. Jesse tries to train Sam-Sam to find treats
hidden in plastic containers, but that ongoing project hasn't gone very
far. She gains a new friend, who is also
picked-on because he won't hit. Between
the two of them, they start their own detective agency. How will they deal with the local bullies and
adults with other problems? Will they
solve the mystery of the theft in time to keep Jesse's father from going to
jail? And how will they deal with the
apocalypse of a tornado?
This is a wonderful read, teaching about kids with ASD and
how they see and handle the world in all its weirdness. It's also going to hit my best of the year list.
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (2018) Harper Voyager
A war orphan makes her way into a military academy and
learns military and arcane arts to serve her empress. War comes, interrupting her studies and
forces the harsh realities of inhumanity into her experiences. Will she survive? Will she make a difference?
The writing varies from sophomoric romantic wishes to clear vengeance. I’ll read the rest of the series because what
it does best is leave you wondering what happens next.