The Friends and Family
BOOK BLOG
Third page.
List starts with the most
recent at the top.
Page
1,
2, 3,
4,
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Kay read: THE CROOK FACTORY by
Dan Simmons
Kay read: A NIGHT IN THE
LONESOME OCTOBER by Roger Zelazny
Kay read: AN ANTIC DISPOSITION by Alan Gordon
Kay read: THE WIDOW OF
JERUSALEM by Alan Gordon
Kay read: A DEATH IN THE
VENETIAN QUARTER by Alan Gordon
Joy read: SORCERER'S
MOON by Julian May
Todd read: GO TO HELL: A
HEATED HISTORY OF THE UNDERWORLD by Chuck Crisafulli & Kyra Thompson
Joy read: IRONCROWN MOON by
Julian May
Sunnie read: THE MERCY SEAT by
Martyn Waites
Sunnie read: RAVEN BLACK by
Ann Cleeves
Sunnie read: ROUNDING THE
MARK by Andrea Camilleri
Sunnie read: NO NEST FOR THE
WICKET by Donna Andrews
Joy read: CONQUEROR'S
MOON by Julian May
Joy read: THE SHELTERS OF
STONE by Jean M. Auel
Kay read: A BREATH OF SNOW AND
ASHES by Diana Gabaldon
Kay read: THE FIERY CROSS by
Diana Gabaldon
Carla read: TEMERAIRE by Naomi
Novik (Commonwealth title for HIS MAJESTY'S DRAGON)
Carla re-read:
FLIGHT OF THE
SPARROW by Fay
Sampson
Joy read: THE MAMMOTH HUNTERS
by Jean M. Auel
Joy read: THE AGRICOLA AND THE
GERMANIA by Cornelius Tacitus
Kay read: THE DRUMS OF AUTUMN
by Diana Gabaldon
Joy read: TIM by
Colleen McCullough
Joy read: ON OFF by
Colleen McCullough
Kay read: IMPERIUM by
Robert Harris
Joy read: EVIL BREEDING
by Susan Conant
Dan Simmons's The Crook Factory is set in 1940's
Cuba. American writer Ernest Hemingway wishes to set up his own spy ring,
and wishes to use his personal boat to track Nazi submarines. An FBI agent
named Joe Lucas is sent to Cuba to keep a close eye on him. When
Hemingway's spy ring, called the Crook Factory, begins to find important
evidence, things begin to get very interesting!
I have
twice reread this. I read it at least once every year in October. It is
told from the point of view of Snuff, who happens to be Jack the Ripper's
dog. It is actually a very charming story, which includes many of the
classic "monsters" such as Frankenstein, the Wolfman, and Dracula as
characters. Throw in Lovecraft's Elder Gods, Sherlock Homes, mystery and
mayhem, and a charming cat (Snuff's best friend) and you have a wonderful
little book.
Kay read: SOLDIER OF SIDON by
Gene Wolfe
Continues
the story of Latro, the main character from Latro in the Mist, a
good man and soldier who cannot remember anything from one day to the next
due to a head injury suffered in the Greek/Persian Wars. In this novel,
Latro travels through Africa and sails up the Nile, making stops in Egypt,
Nubia, and Nysa. Ancient Egypt's magic is creepy, to say the least!
The Fools
Guild has been driven out of their Italian Guild Hall by the Church. They
have taken refuge in Germany. They continue to teach and entertain each
other. One of the guild leaders tells the true story behind Shakespeare's
Hamlet, from the point of view of the Fools involved.
**Honorable Mention for part
of my Favorite Historical Mystery Series read in 2006
The
fourth book In his Fool's Guild Mysteries. Two fools, a man and his
wife, are traveling back to the Guild Hall. A question comes up about a
legendary fool called the Scarlet Dwarf. The husband tells the wife the
story of Scarlet, who had been a part of the Third Crusade, and the
servant of Isabelle, Queen of Jerusalem. The action takes place in today's
Israel and Lebanon, and the setting - the crusade of Richard the Lion
Heart - is pretty exciting.
**Honorable Mention for
Favorite Historical Mystery read in 2006 **Honorable Mention for part of
my Favorite Historical Mystery Series read in 2006
The
third book in Alan Gordon's Fool's Guild Mysteries. The fools
stationed in Constantinople are faced with the crisis of their lives as
the Fourth Crusade, the first crusade of Christians against Christians
comes to town. How can the fools deflect or halt or delay the invasion and
the sack of one of the Earth's greatest cities? And what does the
mysterious murder in the Venetian Quarter have to do with the Crusade?
**Honorable Mention for part
of my Favorite Historical Mystery Series read in 2006
Third
of
The Boreal Moon Tale. King Conrig has aged from a clever young
conqueror into an unscrupulous, paranoid king. The new generation prefers to
live its
own life, but the magical Great Ones are conducting a war. Humans are
supposed to be either their pawns or their soldiers, depending on how you
look at them, until certain people take the bit between their teeth.
Review.
Basically, GO TO
HELL is a discussion of how hell has been viewed by various cultures.
It's not very in-depth, but it does have some good information. It tries a
little too hard to be cute. It was research for a novel. I have two more
books in a similar vein.
Second
book of
The Boreal Moon Tale. Deveron, spy for King Conrig, is in the thick
of the action, protecting his island from malign magic and his king from
destruction. The loyalties of individuals reveal their characters.
This
sequel works better when read in quick succession with the others. During
my first reading, I had lost track of who some of the people were.
Review.
5 out of 10. Jamal is a 14 year old
boy who has had to resort to selling his body on the streets to get by.
One night after earning some money with a client Jamal makes off with a
Gold CD player which puts his life in danger.
It's not the player that's
the problem, it's what's in it.
In desperation Jamal contacts a journalist for help who in turn enlists the
aid of a private detective who is an ex-copper.
The search for Jamal by the bad guys and the attempts by the journalist and
his associates to keep Jamal alive are the crux of the plot. THE MERCY SEAT
could be described as British Noir, I guess. It's not my cup of tea though. Poor
Jamal is constantly in danger as he seems to meet the bad guys at every turn.
There's one scene at the end where he's at the police station and decides to go
for a walk to get something to eat. And they let him go off on his own.
Lots of fight scenes in this book and
it's pretty bleak without any humour to lighten the mood. While it may appeal to
many it didn't to me. My full thoughts on the book
here.
9.9 out of 10 (coz I
never give 10s). First in a planned quartet of books set on the remote
Scottish island of Shetland. The body of a 16 year old girl is found
strangled one cold January morning. The obvious suspect is old Magnus Tait
who is a bit simple and lives alone in the house of his late mother.
Magnus was prime suspect in the disappearance of a young girl several
years previously. Detective Jimmy Perez, who is stationed on the island,
decides to get the jump on the Murder Investigation team being flown in
from Aberdeen and starts asking questions. Luckily for him the Inspector
in charge of the investigation is smart enough to recognise the value of
local knowledge and lets Jimmy have his head . The pair team up to find
out the identity of the murderer. Excellent book that works in a number of
levels. It's not only a crime novel but it also looks at the sociology of
a small isolated community. Note to self. Must find more by this author.
Review.
9 out of 10. It's Camilleri's 8th or 9th Inspector
Montalbano book and my first encounter with him. Loved it. Inspector
Montalbano is suitably cranky and quirky, the author has a sly, slightly
macabre sense of humour and the peripheral characters each have their own
individual personalities. Coupled with a first rate translation, you can't
go too far wrong reading this one.
Review.
7 out of 10. Mike and Meg are settling into their new place.
Well at least they'd like to be, they are currently living in the barn
because the house is being renovated by the Shifleys - a large family who
seem to specialise in these things and who drink endless cups of coffee.
If contending with renovations and Meg's assorted oddball relatives wandering
about the place isn't enough, her mother's friend, Mrs Fenniman, has organised a croquet
tournament. Not just any tournament. No. This is an x-treme croquet tournament
(yes, folks, there really is such a thing as extreme croquet). While taking part
and hitting her ball down a cliff while trying to negotiate a bovine hazard (a
cow sitting on one of the wickets), Meg slips and finds herself eyeball to
eyeball with a dead blonde woman. So the hunt is on.
Anyone who's read Donna Andrews knows that she writes romps in the vein of
Janet Evanovich. I thought NO NEST FOR THE WICKET was one of her better efforts.
A little more restrained than WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARROTS. Good for a fun light
read.
Review.
I have the last of the trilogy now, so this
time I'm going to read all three together. This one, the first of
The Boreal Moon Tale,
was my Favorite Fantasy Read of 2004.
Review.
We get to find out how Jondalar's
people react to Ayla. I am less familiar with this book than I am with the
rest of the series, so I thought I'd reread this one, too. Auel could have
taken a lot of the space she used to describe terrain and used it to
develop the characters, instead of having so many people who just say
their lines. Interesting story, though, and an enjoyable romance. She gave
a great deal of thought and love to devising the various societies.
Review.
The latest
book in the Outlander series. It was by far the biggest book in my
TBR pile. :-) The Frasers face the arrival of the American Revolution in
North Carolina, while Jaime attempts to perform a balancing act between
getting along with the violent revolutionaries and with the violent
Tories. There is a reason that the American Revolution is sometimes called
the third British Civil War, and this book brings those divided loyalties
to light and life. Gabaldon's website says that she plans 1-2 more books
in this series, but for now she is taking a breather, and working on some
mystery stories.
The fifth
novel in the Outlander series. Fiery crosses were once used in the
Scottish Highlands to call the Clans to war (in America they later came to
have a much uglier symbology). The Frasers are living in colonial North
Carolina as the American Revolution approaches. A group of early
revolutionaries (who we might consider to be terrorists) are operating in
the wilds of North Carolina, and things are becoming rather interesting.
As some of my ancestors were in this group (The Regulators) in the real
world in North Carolina, this book is proved to be of high interest to me
on a personal level.
Rollicking adventure involving dragons as
aerial forces in a fantasy version of the Napoleonic Wars.
Review.
Worthy study of religious guilt and the
misery of exile in early medieval Britain.
Review.
I am susceptible to rereads of this
particular book in the Earth's Children
series. Some friends were talking about it and here I went. Ayla is
learning what it is like to live with people of her own species. I enjoy
the members of Lion Camp more than I do the people of any of Auel's other
books.
2 treatises by Tacitus: a memoir of
Tacitus' father-in-law, first century Roman governor of Britain, and a
description of the tribes of Germany. The Penguin Classic edition comes
with copious historical notes and an assessment of Tacitus'
historiography, written by translator Harold Mattingly. The whole thing,
modern and ancient, is a surprisingly easy read. Good translating --
style-wise, I mean.
Fourth novel in her
Outlander series. Jaime and Claire Fraser are finally together, and
making a new life for themselves in the wilderness of the mountains of
colonial North Carolina. Their adult daughter back in our world in the
1960's in Boston, discovers in historical records when and how they die,
and is desperate to find a way to visit them to give them a warning. She
risks the stone circle, and is followed by the man who loves her. Various
complications follow. As some of my ancestors lived in that very area of
North Carolina in that very time period, I am finding the book to be a
great interest in bringing the sorts of challenges my ancestors faced to
life.
Kay read: MAISIE DOBBS by
Jacqueline Winspear
The first book in
a mystery series of the same name as this first book and also the main
character. Another book I did not wish to finish. A remarkable and
wonderful story of a very intelligent young lady who served as a battle
field nurse for Britain in World War I, then later opens a detective
agency in London in the 1920's.
**Part of my Favorite
Historical Mystery Series read in 2006
A reread of one of the most unusual, deep --
even wise -- romances I've ever read.
People-oriented thriller about the hunt for
the serial killer of pure young girls in a Connecticut university town.
This is a one-sitting read.
Review.
A novel about the life of the famous Roman Marcus Cicero,
as written by his slave and long term secretary, Tiro. It is well
written and very interesting. I just love the
voice of the one hundred year old Tiro - Harris did a great job with that
narration. Cicero
is a man of burning, fiery ambition. He will stop at nothing to get ahead
in politics - even do great things that help a lot of people! And bad
things, too, of course. The real world Tiro actually did write a biography
of his master, Cicero - but that was lost long ago when Rome fell. I
hugely enjoyed this and did not want to finish.
The 12th
Dog Lovers' Mystery. Holly is
researching a woman she admired, and finds herself involved with a less than
admirable family. Fortunately her Malamutes can cure any low mood. I
thought that this time the humor about Holly's single-minded dog-worship became a bit
forced and repetitive. Usually it's just plain funny. However,
the characters continued to engage my mind overnight after I finished
reading.
Carla read:
THE
WHITE MARE
by Jules Watson
Historical epic set during the Roman
invasion of Scotland in AD 79-81, in which an exiled Irish prince and a
Pictish priestess-princess make a marriage of political convenience and
military alliance that develops into love. A
mammoth book (610 pages) with a very slow start, it showed signs of picking
up around page 150. Review.
Joy read: EVERY SECRET
CRIME by Doug M. Cummings
The second Reno McCarthy
mystery. A teenage boy is killed in his own home, and the cops quickly
have an expendable suspect. Any valid investigation is blocked by
government corruption. TV reporter Reno McCarthy still has the temper of a
grenade, left over from his previous adventure, and he's up against cops
who chew iron. If he can expose them, maybe he can get at their bosses.
EVERY SECRET CRIME is changing publishers, so no release date is
scheduled.
Review.
Kay read: VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon
In the third
book, we (and Claire) learn that Jaime did indeed survive Culloden. The
tragedy of his (and the rest of the Highlands') subsequent life is told.
Claire wishes to find her way back to Jaime, and does - but they have been
twenty years apart, and have both changed greatly. This book not only
spans the decades and centuries, but also the Continents, as some of the
characters begin to have lives across the Atlantic during the various time
periods of the book.
Joy read: COMPETITORS! by
Susanne Marie Knight
What
happened to the Neanderthals? And what does it have to do with a modern
young woman house-sitting for her brother? Release date Feb 2.
Review.
Kay read: DRAGONFLY IN AMBER
by Diana Gabaldon
Dragonfly in Amber
is the second book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. In
Outlander, we meet Claire, who was a combat nurse for the British army
during WW2. She and her husband Frank are on a second honeymoon to
reconnect with each other after the war. When walking in the Scottish
Highlands, Claire enters a stone circle on a Pagan holiday, and is
transported to Scottish Highlands of the 1740's. There she has many
adventures, is thought to be either a gifted physician or a witch due to
her healing skills, and is forced to marry a handsome Scottish laird (and
outlaw to the English) named Jaime Fraser. In Dragonfly in Amber we
meet Claire - in 1960's Scotland, who has been back in our world some
twenty years, and who has an adult daughter (among many other changes in
her life). She wishes to explain to her daughter of what had happened to
her on her previous trip to Scotland, and how her daughter came to be. As
part of that explanation we learn how Claire and Jaime came to be apart,
and how Claire came back to our world. We learn of the tragedy of
Culloden, where Claire thinks Jaime has lost his life.
Joy read: SUSPENSE AND
SENSIBILITY by Carrie Bebris
Or possession? The second
Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery finds
Elizabeth and Darcy presenting Georgiana and Kitty to London society. At
least one charming young man of their acquaintance is even more of a rogue
than most society gentlemen. The solution is so predictable I had to force
myself to read about how they get to that point. The ending is nice,
though.
Joy read: PRIDE AND
PRESCIENCE by Carrie Bebris
The first
Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery.
Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy want nothing more than to go home to Pemberley, but
Miss Bingley's behavior has become quite odd. Then an old family enemy
plants himself into the family gathering at Netherfield. Not the honeymoon
anyone had in mind.
The first few chapters are delightful,
combining deft characterization and sprightly conversation. The gathering
menaces become a bit tedious, and the final exposure of several characters
is interesting. At risk of repeating myself I ask, What is witchcraft
doing in Jane Austen's world?
Carla read:
THE
ENGLISH RESISTANCE: THE UNDERGROUND WAR AGAINST THE NORMANS
by Peter Rex
A fascinating study of a neglected
episode in English history, the five years of rebellion and guerilla
warfare that followed 1066. The Norman Conquest didn't happen in a day.
Very interesting and with a lot of information that is rarely discussed,
but needs concentration owing to its tendency to skip back and forth
between events at different times, and sometimes seems to blur the line
between evidence and speculation.
Review.
Joy read: THE EXPLOITS &
ADVENTURES OF MISS ALETHEA DARCY by Elizabeth Aston
Part of it, anyway.
The youngest daughter of
Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth flees, dressed as a man, from an inhuman husband.
On her way across Europe she meets unpleasant people who are approved
members of the Ton, and kind, reliable people who are beyond the pale.
Totally unbelievable story: Darcy fandom meets pulp romance. About a third
of the way through I looked at the end and decided I didn't want to go
there.
Joy read: DUTY AND
DESIRE by Pamela Aidan
Book Two of Fitzwilliam
Darcy, Gentleman. This takes us totally afield, into territory
Jane Austen never touched. Darcy finds he has taken his thoughts of
Elizabeth home to Pemberley with him. Determined to forget her, he scouts
the Society ladies at a house party. Austen surely never thought of
witchcraft in connection with her novels.
DUTY AND DESIRE is more
elaborately written than AN ASSEMBLY SUCH AS THIS. Disentangling its
descriptions would make it easier to read.
Kay read: LATRO IN THE
MIST by Gene Wolfe
A
wonderful story about an injured soldier set in ancient Greece.
Joy read: AN ASSEMBLY
SUCH AS THIS by Pamela Aidan
Book One of Fitzwilliam
Darcy, Gentleman. Covers the period of Mr. Bingley's first
residence at Netherfield. In addition to creating new characters and
events, Aidan gives extra attention to visuals, resulting in a richer
atmosphere.
Sunnie read: THE VINCIBLES by
Gideon Haigh
8 out of 10. Warm and
affectionate non-fiction book about a season of a suburban cricket team.
Similar to below only true (more or less).
Sunnie read: CRICKET KINGS by
William McInnes
7 out of 10. Warm and affectionate novel about
a suburban cricket team. One review labelled it a little too saccharine
but I enjoyed it.
Sunnie read: THE FIRST
CASUALTY by Ben Elton
7 out of 10
WWI - Police detective imprisoned for being a conscientious
objector is sent to the Front in France, to investigate the death of the
son of a Member of Parliament who is also a darling of the country because
he's a poet.
Funny, I remember reading the book and enjoying it but I had to
pull up a review to remember the details. Not only a mystery but an
interesting look at social attitudes towards war and in particular those
who disagreed with fighting it. The name is a play on the fact that the
first casualty of war is usually the truth.
Sunnie read: CLEANSKIN by Gay
Lynch
5 out of 10
Another Australian novel. This one could have had the subtitle of
Sunnie read: INTRACTABLE by
Bernie Matthews
7 out of 10
Non-fiction work about what life was like in Australia's toughest
prison in the 1970's. Grafton prison was where those prisoners who were
labelled "intractable" were sent. Intractable usually meant those who were
serial escapists or those who repeatedly gave prison officers a hard time.
The philosophy at Grafton was to rule by fear and violence and the
"screws" were little better than the prisoners on that score. Matthews
spent 20 years of his adult life behind bars and had several spells in
Grafton and in its successor - Australia's first "super-max" prison
Katingal. It was just as bad in its own way as Grafton. The
state-of-the-art prison was an exercise in sensory deprivation and was
just as much a place of torture as Grafton - one was physical the other
psychological. In the end Katingal was only open for 2 and a half years as
experts decided it was just too psychologically damaging. They concluded
that after 6 months in this place a prisoner was most likely going to be
psychologically damaged for the rest of his life. Matthews spent most of
the unit's life in Katingal.
INTRACTABLE is a no-nonsense account of life behind bars in the 70s
. It offers no excuses or justification for the behaviour of anyone
involved and it offers no insights into the thinking that saw prisoners
constantly cycled through these units. Nevertheless despite these
shortcomings it's a glimpse into a world that most of us (thankfully) have
no experience of.
Review.
Sunnie read: UNDERTOW by
Sydney Bauer
6.5 out of 10
New Australian author who has (a little disappointingly I thought) set her
book in Boston. Pity in a way because for Aussie readers there aren't
enough authors who set their books in the Australian landscape.
Anyway this one is about the daughter of a Senator for
Massachusetts who defies her parents and goes out on a boat with her best
friend (who happens to be African American) and her mother for her
friend's birthday. There is an accident and Senator's daughter dies.
Senator is a nasty piece of work and decides that despite all evidence
pointing towards an accident that "these people" must pay. He uses his
influence and has the mother charged with murder. Enter the hero, a
defense lawyer, and despite all the odds against him and all the dirty
tricks being pulled he defends the mother.
The author is a television
executive and the plot of the book I think reflects that she has one eye
on tv/movie adaptation. Again predictible elements and some stuff that
doesn't quite hang together, but the plot races along at such a speed that
it doesn't really matter all that much. Rollercoaster ride, light fun
read. Perfect for holidays or travel when you don't really want to have to
exercise your brain too much.
Review.
Sunnie read: DIRTY BLONDE
by Lisa Scottoline
7 out of 10
Attractive newly appointed judge finds herself in a difficult
position when her first case as a judge involves a civil action of a
former DA suing a tv producer over the creation of a successful tv show.
Everyone knows the producer has pulled a swiftie and is cheating the
writer out of his money, but the letter of the law has to be followed.
When the producer is found murdered the plaintiff is the chief suspect.
The judge has a dark secret in her past which threaten to be revealed if
she does the right thing.
Quite good, if a little predictable with some of
the elements of the plot. Then again it is a legal thriller and thrillers
necessarily have to have certain elements that can make them almost
cliches. This is one of the better offerings in the genre though.
Review.
Joy read: LETTERS FROM
PEMBERLEY: THE FIRST YEAR by Jane Dawkins
A recent sequel to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
Elizabeth's letters to her beloved sister Jane show her learning not to be
intimidated by Pemberley, getting acquainted with Society thereabouts, and
worrying (a little) about family. They are written very much in the Austen
style -- Elizabeth's personality shines just as the Elizabeth we know. A
pleasant, very speedy read.
Joy read: THE WAY TOWARD
HEALTH by Jane Roberts
I had to go on and finish the book sequence, though
I've read this one before. It is triumphant and tragic at the
same time. While Jane is dying, Seth dictates another wise book, about the
emotional bases of health or illness, which Rob
combines with his account of Jane's last months. There's a surprise from
Jane's past near the end.
Seth says in several different ways that every
spirit knows it will continue after the body dies: "No consciousness
considers death an end or a disaster, but views it instead as a
means to the continuation of corporeal or noncorporeal existence." Jane
and Rob, especially Rob, can be seen blocking this idea out of their minds
with more and more desperation as her body declines, though he does come
to realize it part of the time. I think it would be more emotionally
comfortable to prepare for death in the manner of Stephen Levine's books,
and then let it arrive when it is ready. As Seth says, the body knows its
own rhythms.
And I'm medicating my old cat for 3 different
conditions.
High in the secret mountains
Kay read: HIS MAJESTY, THE PRINCE OF TOADS by Delle
Jacobs
Kay read: THE TROJAN WAR: A
NEW HISTORY by Barry Strauss
Kay read: AND A BOTTLE OF RUM:
A HISTORY OF THE NEW WORLD IN TEN COCKTAILS by Wayne Curtis
Kay read: EVERY WITCH WAY BUT
DEAD by Kim Harrison
Kay read: JESTER LEAPS IN by
Alan Gordon
Kay read: THIRTEENTH NIGHT by
Alan Gordon
Kay read: A FLICKER OF DOUBT
by Tim Myers
Kay read: A QUICK BITE by
Lynsay Sands
Joy read: THE PERSONAL
SESSIONS: BOOK SEVEN OF THE DELETED SETH MATERIAL by Jane Roberts
Joy read: THE WORLD VIEW
OF REMBRANDT by Jane Roberts
Joy read: DARCY'S STORY
by Janet Aylmer
Joy read: LEONARDO DA
VINCI: FLIGHTS OF THE MIND by Charles Nicholl
Carla read: WROXETER:
LIFE AND DEATH OF A ROMAN CITY by Roger White and Philip Barker
Joy read: BEAUDRY'S GHOST by
Carolan Ivey
Joy read: HIS MAJESTY, THE PRINCE
OF TOADS by Delle Jacobs
Joy read: PASSIONATO by Sharon
Lee
Joy read: APPLES by Naomi
Novik
where the proclamations
of nature come,
I sense a new note full and free
as a whole new world in some
ancient sweet recipe.
by Jane Roberts
In this enjoyable regency romance, a couple had been forced to marry
following an unintentional breach of social rules. They then separated for
many years. Circumstances bring them back together, strangers who must
somehow and in some way try to forge a working relationship from the ashes
of the past. Both the man and the woman carry a lot of emotional baggage.
The way they try to find a way to exist with each other ends up to being
very touching, and you root for them to work something positive out with
each other.
Strauss
compares the events and personalities found in the epic Iliad to
today's most recent research by archaeologists, historians, and linguists
on the Bronze Age in the greater Mediterranean area and on the Greeks and
the Hittites in particular. It is now thought that the Mycenean Greeks of
that era were pretty much a people we would consider to be warlike
barbarian pirates. Troy was a large and wealthy city which was the capital
of a kingdom called Wilusa (in Greek Wilion = Illium) which was a Hittite
vassal state. Many references have now been found of Troy in the Imperial
Hittite archives. The war (and the experts do confirm that there was a war
which ended with the destruction of Troy), was most likely over the
control of trade routes. Many of the events of the Iliad are like
other events in the records of the Hittites and of Egpyt of the Bronze
Age, such as the duels of champions and the mutilation of the bodies of
kings and/or princes killed by other kings/princes, just as Achilles is
said to have mutilated the body of Hector.
**Favorite History Book read
in 2006
In this book, the
author explores the history of alcohol usage in the Western Hemisphere,
particularly in the US. Rum was one of the first popular liquors distilled
in the Western Hemisphere, and over the hundreds of years since it was
first created (probably on the island of Barbados), it has waxed and waned
in popularity many times depending on social and historical factors. The
book also contains many cocktail recipes, from the early grogs and punches
to today's daquiris and mojitos.
Kay read: A FISTFUL OF CHARMS
by Kim Harrison
In A
Fistful of Charms Rachel and her partner, the pixie Jenks, must travel
to Michigan to rescue a pair of thieves that they know and care about. The
thieves have stolen a cursed statue imbued with such powerful supernatural
powers that the artifact could start a war between two species of
Inderlanders. On top of it, Rachel must face some very unpleasant truths
about her own personality, and must face some even more unpleasant truths
about some people who are very important to her.
**Honorable Mention for Best
Supernatural Romance read in 2006
I have
finally found time to read the third and fourth books in Kim Harrison's
series about a beautiful, tough-as-nails young witch living in the
Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati.
In Every Witch Way but Dead, Rachel Morgan must find a way
to face the price of making a bargain with a powerful demon. The demon
kept his side of their bargain by helping Rachel defeat a powerful enemy
and testifying in court so that the enemy goes to jail. Now Rachel must
find a way to keep her side of the bargain - and somehow still retain her
soul.
The second
book of the Fools' Guild Mysteries. After the events of
Thirteenth Night, Theo (also known as Feste the fool) and his new
wife/apprentice are sent on a very dangerous mission to Constantinople,
where all of the fools and troubadors have gone missing and are presumed
dead. They must somehow survive the deadly Imperial politics while trying
to solve the mystery of the vanished fools - and while back in Italy, a
Crusade prepares itself for invasion and bloodshed.
**Honorable Mention as part of
my Favorite Historical Mystery Series read in 2006
The first in
his Fools' Guild Mysteries series. In the Middle Ages, the fools
and troubadours of Europe and the Mediterranean were members of a very
secret society whose primary goal is to foster peace throughout the
continent and surrounding regions - this is the premise behind this quite
wonderful mystery series. In the first book, Gordon writes a sequel to
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, where the Fool who was a character in
that story is sent once again to the city of Orsino to investigate the
death of one of the important nobles of that story. Malvolio is, of
course, the prime suspect!
**Honorable Mention as part of
my Favorite Historical Mystery Series read in 2006
Fourth book in his
Candlemaking Mysteries. Harrison Black was aimlessly drifting
through life until he inherited a candle making store from his great-aunt.
The business gives him an outlet for his creativity, and managing a small
business and trying to earn enough money so that the business and he can
both survive becomes a time consuming and passion generating center for
his life. In the fourth book of this series, Harrison has the misfortune
of finding his former girl friend's body floating in the river that runs
by his store. The county sheriff declares it to be a suicide. Harrison
believes that her death was a result of foul play, and sets out to prove
it.
**Part of my Favorite
Contemporary Mystery Series read in 2006
Kay read: THE CORINTHIAN by
Georgette Heyer
As with the
other Heyer books I have read, it was charming and amusing. A beautiful
young heiress is going to be married off to a loathsome man. So she
decides to disguise herself as a boy and run away. A wealthy titled man is
about to propose marriage to a demanding woman he has little liking and no
love towards for the sake of both their families. On his way home from
getting very drunk over this, he runs into a beautiful girl (disguised as
a boy) who is running away from home and he decides to help her. Things
get very complicated from there, as the pair of runaways have one
adventure after another.
I was first
exposed to Lynsay Sands from a funny story in the Dates from Hell
romantic horror anthology, which I enjoyed so much that I tracked down one
of her novels. A Quick Bite was both amusing and sexy. A young
vampire comes to her mother's house in metro Toronto for the birthday
party her family is throwing for her. In her old room she finds a hunky
man tied up in her old bed with a bow around his neck. He must be her
birthday gift from her mother! And there couldn't possibly be any harm in
a quick bite, could there?
Well, obviously there will be a lot of complications from that
quick snack. Enjoyable romantic romp, with an actual attempt at a
scientific explanation for vampires.
When THE WORLD VIEW OF REMBRANDT was finished, I was anxious to
go on and see what happened to Jane and Rob next.
In my
view, what Jane and Rob missed was the awareness that there is "a time to
live and a time to die". They had real conflicts about it in the
beginning of this book.
I think Jane's body knew its time
had come to wind down, to let her spirit move on.
Jane was afraid to die, in spite of all her knowledge about the
afterlife. Especially she wanted to do what her husband wanted her
to do, so she tried to live past her time. The result was an Indian summer
and two more books; so she managed to please her husband and her readers,
too, by hanging on longer to life.
Rob was convinced that
if Jane changed her thinking, in the ways suggested by Seth, she could
completely regain her health. He got quite upset with her sometimes,
blaming her for still being sick. It was an unusual way for caregiver
syndrome to express itself.
In the meantime Jane channeled
two more books, and regained motion in many of her joints as she did so.
We move on to Seth's final book in quite an encouraged mood.
Jane Roberts was a medium. Occasionally, for
the pleasure of her painter husband, she would channel viewpoint material
left behind by creative pioneers such as Rembrandt. The analysis, or
self-analysis, of Rembrandt is interspersed with her husband Rob's notes
giving an unflinching account of what was going on in their lives during this time. Jane was in the late stages of rheumatoid arthritis
when she dictated the material. The effect is extraordinarily alive with
understated passions, from their time and Rembrandt's.
It has an awesome
little section on Michelangelo and da Vinci near the end, too.
As an introduction to Roberts, new readers can acquaint
themselves with the approach through SETH SPEAKS or THE SETH MATERIAL.
Roberts/Seth coined the saying, "You create your own reality," which has
been gaining believers ever since.
The story of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE told from
Darcy's point of view.
Review.
This biography caught my eye when it was
released, and finally I have it. Leonardo is best known as an artist, but
his genius was especially to
analyze and invent. Nicholl has familiarized himself with an
amazing amount of material, and he isn't afraid to speculate with it. He
especially brings out Leonardo's humanity.
Fascinating and very readable study of
the entire history of the Roman town of Wroxeter (Viroconium) from its
first founding as a Roman fortress in the first century AD up to the
present day, as revealed by archaeological excavation. The authors have
led the excavations at Wroxeter for over twenty years, and pioneered the
revolutionary techniques that allowed them to recognise and fully evaluate
post-Roman timber structures that have challenged assumptions about 'the
Dark Ages'.
A
Union soldier cut to pieces by Confederates has wandered the Carolina
shore as a ghost for 130 years, looking for a way to reclaim his honor.
During a Civil War re-enactment a
grieving woman with "the sight" is caught up in his revenge. They can't heal without each other.
Another good example in a genre I have gotten fond of: spirits staying on
earth to resolve issues from their lives. I like the ones that are handled
with humanity, and this is.
Lord Deverall was ready to romance any
beautiful woman except his wife. Sophie wanted nothing to do with the
husband she hadn't seen for six years. It looked like their shotgun wedding
ruined any chance they might have had at happiness together. Lots of
Regency romances are filled with fireworks and secrets, but few of them
are so much fun. Award-winning romance writer Jacobs looks like she has
another winner.
Review.
**Most enjoyable Romance New Read in 2006
Wow. An old vampire with the appearance of a
child keeps a building full of artists to feed on. He loves and cares for
each one of his herd, and defends them when an interloper breaks in and
endangers them all. I was amazed at how much emotion the author was able
to compress into this short story.
The author of
Joy read: THE DA VINCI
CODE by Dan Brown
Once again my partner has talked me into
reading something that was all too popular for me to be attracted to it.
Another friend recommended I look at it as if I were reading a fantasy, to
avoid worrying about whether the history is accurate.
I don't usually care
for thrillers, but some thrillers are smarter than others, and this is
smarter. The puzzles are clever. I also like the revival of interest in the goddess, even though
this is an iffy incarnation for her. Overall, I thought the book got better and better,
the closer it got to the end.
Kay read: THE STRANGE FILES OF
FREMONT JONES by Dianne Day
The first of
the Fremont Jones Mysteries. Caroline Fremont Jones is a Boston
aristocrat from the turn of the century. She is also spunky and very free
thinking for her time (and she despises wearing a corset). When her father
decides to marry a very conventional widow, who hopes to marry her off to
an odious nephew, Caroline decides to run away from Boston. She takes her
mother's legacy and takes the train out to San Francisco, where she begins
a new life as Fremont Jones, who types manuscripts for a living in a small
office in the year 1905. Her typing brings mysteries and excitement in her
life through some very unusual clients.
Kay read: THE CHOCOLATE BRIDAL
BASH by Joanne Carl
The latest
Chocoholic Mystery by Joanna Carl. Lee McKinney is planning her
small wedding in the tiny Michigan resort town where she lives. Her mother
does not want to return to the town of her birth for the wedding. Irked
and mystified, Lee asks her aunt, owner of the local chocolate shop, how
to deal with the problem. A huge mystery in Lee's mother's past is
revealed. Lee decides to tackle this mystery, in hopes of getting things
running smoothly for the wedding.
**Honorable Mention as part of
my Favorite Contemporary Mystery Series read in 2006
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