Ron Reads in 2022

2022 is here but no books to report yet. I've got three reads in progress but I'm not very far in any of them. My reading in 2021 like 2020 was excellent and I had 84 books. A number of them were shorter children's books so that 84 is kinda suspect. But my satisfaction with the books read is genuine.

My 2021 reading adventures can be found here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/328098 and at the end of that thread you can see my favorite books for 2021.

This year I plan to read much like what worked for me in 2021 - focus on a few areas - themes, series, authors. I'll fine tune that focus as the year rolls along. For the first quarter I want to work on Japan. Books about Japan, that involve Japan and Japanese authors. I'm not starting out that way. At the moment I'm reading a newish science fiction novel Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It has gotten lots of positive buzz in 2021 so I checked it out of the library. I'm not entirely thrilled with it after 70 of its 470something pages but I do hope to finish it. A little too geeky and snark humor for my taste but we shall see. I plan to spend a lot of time this year with my new favorite authors, Elly Griffiths and Preston & Child.

I think later quarterly topics might include classic science fiction and fantasy (which I'll loosely define for now as pre-2000) and a concentrated series read which might be a mystery/crime series such as Elly Griffiths, or Nevada Barr or something else like James Rollins. I'm also contemplating a re-read quarter someday.

I've been on LT since early 2009 and my activity here has varied ( I generally do a lot more lurking than posting), but I do keep this thread up to date as it serves as a great reading diary for me. I joined the 75 book challenge in 2013 which means 2022 is my tenth year with the group. Ten years, the years go by. But I am so happy to be able to revisit my readings over the past 13 years here. Prior to 2013 I was a member of the 50 book reading challenge. I welcome visitors and hope to see some old and new friends here this year. I welcome comments on books.

There are a lot of books waiting for me. I've set myself a goal to read books off the shelf - ones I owned prior to 1/1/22 - of at least 50% and hopefully as much as 75%.

Meanwhile we do a lot of jigsaw puzzles with the aid of Jasper

Happy reading in 2022, Ron!

Welcome back, Ron!

This group always helps me to read; welcome back to the group, Ron.

Back for more! Wishing you a happy, healthy, book-filled year.

Good luck with the 2022 plans, Ron. I have a number of Japanese novels on my shelves, but not much in the way of non-fiction. I'd like to explore that gap, so I look forward to seeing what you get around to this year.

>2 FAMeulstee: >3 drneutron: >4 PaulCranswick: >5 Berly: >6 laytonwoman3rd:

Thanks for dropping by and welcomes to Anita, Jim, Paul, Kim and Linda.

Linda, I kind of went crazy at year end with a sale at Bookoutlet.com. I ordered 11 books - 7 of them are Elly Griffiths novels! I also ordered a book called A Tokyo Romance by Ian Buruma who did a nice Japanese history book I read a couple years ago Inventing Japan: 1853-1964 (Modern Library Chronicles). I have a good selection of other books on Japan available also as well as a stash of Japanese novels. Our library has an excellent selection and someone keeps getting new ones so I have no worry about picking things.

I am just starting The Zig Zag Girl by Ellie Griffiths!!

Happy New Year, Ron!

>8 Berly: That is one of the books I ordered Kim along with several of the Ruth Galloway series.

>9 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. Hope you are doing well. Have not been around to most of the threads the last several weeks. I appreciate you dropping by.

Have a great year of reading!

>11 thornton37814: Thank you Lori. Good reading to you also!

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Linda laytonwoman3rd did this meme which prompted me to give it a try. It was rather fun and gave me one more excuse to look back at my 2021 reading. Using my 2021 books that I read:

Describe yourself: Force of nature

Describe how you feel: Old Bones

Describe where you currently live: The House At Sea's End

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: First Snow on Fuji

Your favorite form of transportation is: The River Horses

Your favorite food is: Oystercatcher

Your favorite time of day is: Good Morning, Midnight

Your best friend is: Misty of Chincoteague

You and your friends are: Skunk and Badger

What’s the weather like: Beyond the Ice Limit

You fear: The Scorpion's Tail

What is the best advice you have to give: Silence

Thought for the day: Coo

What is life for you: A Cat Story

How you would like to die: A Dying Fall

Your soul’s present condition: For Whom The Bell Tolls

What was 2021 like for you? The Black Cauldron

What do you want from 2022? Impossible Things

>12 RBeffa: Your answer to "what is life for you" could easily fit me!

>13 thornton37814: I had fun with it!

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There's a library book sale tonight. I plan to restrain myself from excess. I have a list and I'm checking it twice.

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Numero Uno for 2022. I kinda did a marathon read at times with this one. Hours past my bedtime ... 3:15 isn't too late is it? Ha.

1. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, finished January 6, 2022, 4 stars



Andy sort of jumps the shark here before Fonzie can even put on his water skis. In an odd way that is appropriate because this story is something of a throwback to the happy days adventure science fiction of the 50's where we can do anything. I mean how hard is it to build a starship to Tau Ceti tomorrow when you have magic microbes with unfathomable amounts of power? We willingly suspend all disbelief. The geeks rule. All that was missing was a slide rule - there's an app for that sort of thing.

OK I'm being a little tongue in cheek as well as harsh. This is hard science fiction that reminded me a bit of Hal Clement's classic stories as well as Robert Heinlein's better material.

Readers who have enjoyed Andy Weir's snarky guy style in the past with The Martian might love this story. I almost bailed on it at the 50 page mark and even a bit more. Positive comments here and elsewhere about the book prompted me to continue and I will admit that it was well worth the read and I really became absorbed in the book. Like the Martian book, our "hero" here, Dr. Grace, manages to not die by the final pages even though you are convinced he is a goner. That isn't really a spoiler. Was the project a success? You'll have to read it to find out.

Recommended for science fiction readers. I'm glad I did.

Happy New Year, Ron! I had similar thoughts on Project Hail Mary.

My first Japanese book for the quarter. Before this, I've been thinking about my first book "Project Hail Mary" >1 RBeffa:. The cross- species friendship in PHM really made the book for me. I'm liking it more and more as I think back on it. I think I may have almost been teary eyed at the end.

2. Madame de Sade by Yukio Mishima, finished January 11, 2022, 4 stars



I acquired this book entirely by accident last week. I bought it without knowing it and found it in my bag when I got home. Strange but true. Kinda Twilight Zone. I probably would not have knowingly purchased this but it turned out to be one of those happy coincidences. Mishima is a "star" author of Japanese literature. I had planned to read him this quarter with at least one of several books on my shelf. Instead I read this - a play as it turns out from 1965. This book, first published in 1967 (my copy is from 1977) includes about 10-12 photographs from the opening performance in Tokyo on November 14, 1965. I so wish they were color photos because the costumes are exquisite. This would have been a fabulous production to have seen in person.

I enjoyed this play. It has been translated extremely well by Donald Keene and I'll refer those interested in it to the Wikipedia page which has extensive info on the play and a number of performances. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_de_Sade

My second Japanese book for the year.

3. The cat who saved books by Sosuke Natsukawa, finished January 17, 2022, 3 1/2 - 4 stars



I am tempted to think the best way for me to describe this is Murakami-lite, but it is more than that. It reads very much like Japanese popular fiction that I have read and has that magical realism to it like Murakami's work does. Nothing at all nasty in this, although there are things to think about. I think I would class this as young adult fiction above middle school. Mid to late teens and above would be the ones to appreciate it most I think, as well as adults.

The grandfather of a boy in high school has suddenly died. The boy, Rintaro, is left to take care of or dispose of his grandfather's book store. He stops going to school but a classmate keeps checking in on him encouraging him to return to school. Then, a very unusual tabby cat, "Tiger" appears in the store, and talks to him and tells him he needs the boy to help save books. Kind of a fun story and an easy read, but it has some things to say. It slowly sucked me in which I liked and it has things to say about people who read books.

Good job with the Japanese fiction, Ron. Both count towards this year's Asian Book Challenge too which will specifically feature Japan in August but their books can count now.

>18 PaulCranswick: Paul, I feel a little guilty about not participating in the various challenges this year. I only lightly did it last year. The challenges have almost always introduced me to new authors and areas of reading, but I also get inspiration from many of the threads here on LT.

I've been debating what to call my second quarter's worth of my personal challenge and have settled on a title that will include just about everything I wanted to include this year - I'm calling it 20th century Fantasy and Science Fiction. Books or series that first started in 2000 or earlier. This will let me include Eddings Belgariad, authors including Ursula LeGuin, Harlan Ellison, Robert Heinlein, Fritz Leiber, Harry Harrison, Lois McMaster Bujold and maybe other classic writers of the era. I plan to begin it with a reading of half a dozen or so copies of the magazine of fantasy and science fiction from the late 90's and then continue with various authors over the quarter. Since many of Haruki Murakami's books include elements of fantasy I can read a book of his as part of my Japanese focus such as A Wild Sheep Chase as I originally intended or read it as one of his 20th century works of F&SF.

Hi, Ron.

I read somewhere that you’ve had a hard time getting good graphic novel recommendations. I’m willing to pitch in on that project! I’ve been reading them since they were done with berry juice on birch bark. For you, I’d start with Good Talk by Mira Jacob. It’s a family favorite at my house, even amongvthe non-GN readers.

I just started Project Hail Mary and the style does remind me of The Martian. Since I loved that one, that seems like a good thing so far.

>19 RBeffa: The point of reading challenges for me, Ron, is to give me a good way to choose what to read from the ridiculously large pile I have before me! It isn't meant to be burdensome - don't feel guilty for not participating just dip in where and when it suits you buddy.

Looks like you also have plenty to go at there too in the fantasy department.

>20 jnwelch: Mostly, Joe, I think graphic novels just aren't my thing.

>21 PaulCranswick: That was how I started out with the AAC Paul but with those and the others like the BAC I just got sucked into more books so my goal of reducing the TBR pile didn't quite work. I'm determined to peck away at it and I will dip in. I have a number of Asian others buried around here altho my focus for a number of years has been Japanese films and books.

>1 RBeffa: Jasper is lovely! Happy Reading!
I noticed you read some Preston and Child last year, Beyond the Ice Limit and The Scorpion's Tail, are you also a Pendergast fan?

> I am a Pendergast fan! My wife is a very big Pendergast fan so we have almost all the books in the series on our bookshelves. I've read about 4 of them and enjoyed the stories quite a bit. I am planning to return to the series, hopefully later this year.

Perhaps this post is too late or an irritant in light of your comment (>22 RBeffa:) that I think graphic novels just aren't my thing. In the Club Reads group there's a thread called The Graphic Stories (Find it here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/338041#unread)

In addition, labfs39 a.k.a. Lisa has begun compiling a list. Found here.
https://www.librarything.com/list/43344/all/Club-Reads-Graphic-Stories-Recommend...

I shan't mention this again. Not wanting to be a pest.

>25 weird_O: What an excellent thread, Bill. It bears sharing in the AAC, and if you weren't planning to do so, I will post the links over there.

>25 weird_O: Thank you for those list links Bill. I am glad to have them as a reference here in my thread. I may browse our library a bit. I have read or tried to read a couple I quickly noticed in the Club Read list. Spent good money too, only to be disappointed. I will confess to owning several hundred "comic books" from the silver age that I have never let go of. Maybe my kids will bury them with me someday. But graphic novels aren't exactly comic books.

Have you seen Watchmen, Ron. I'm reading it now, and I'm past the halfway mark. (It's 448 pages, hardcover.) It was initially published as a series of comics, which were then pulled together and issued as a book. It's pretty violent, awash in blood. But years ago, when Time magazine's editors cooked up the list of the top 100 books published during the magazine's lifetime, Watchmen made the list. Jes' sayin'.

ETRemove cover image, which is doubtless offensive. Apologies, Ron.

>22 RBeffa:. You have plenty of company. I hope you browse Good Talk some time. I actually think it’s an important one, in addition to being well done.

>28 weird_O: Not a fan of the Watchmen Bill.

>29 jnwelch: I was at the library yesterday and browsed a small selection of GNs (of many) and they simply don't speak to me. I'd say it is primarily the graphics that put me off. As I was leaving I ispied on the new books shelf Murakami's T shirt book. I grabbed it and brought it home. I read about a quarter of it last night. It goes very quickly. My first (and probably last) reaction is: Why the heck did he make this book? I was expecting some cool stuff and cool stories. Not so far. Totally lame. I could easily write a better book with my t shirts. Seriously.

Dropping by to wish you a great weekend, Ron.

>31 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. I had a busy week and I'm hoping to grab some book relaxation time.

My third Japanese book for the year. I picked this up from the new books shelf

4. Murakami T by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel, finished January 22, 2022, 1 star



The subtitle of this book is "The T Shirts I Love".

This book was cobbled together from a series of magazine articles. Seriously, don't waste your time. Of the hundred plus photos there are only a few of interest.

Here's a tip: Don't pay $25 for the book - go buy a dozen T shirts at the thrift shop in Hawaii.

This one is a nod to the American Author challenge for January - graphic novels/Comics. Comic books aren't just funny ha ha Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny.

5. Adam Strange Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions) by Gardner Fox, finished January 24, 2022, 3 1/2 - 4 stars



This DC archive edition is near to my heart. I bought it and read it 15 or so years ago. It was a little pricey then (and now). However when I was 9 or 10 years old I discovered that comic books could be more than Bugs Bunny. I think my mom started it by bringing me home a Gold Key comic Turok. Before that I had only read a Classics Illustrated or two. Turok however really caught my interest and on my next trip to the shopping center I went into the pharmacy which had several racks of comic books. That place became a regular weekly visit for several years. I got hooked on several series but one of my very favorites was the Mystery in Space series which featured the adventures of Adam Strange and later Dial H for Hero. The Adam Strange stories are probably part of why I became a science fiction book reader a couple years later. All of the stories in this issue predate my comic book reading so when I read them around 2005 or so they were familiar characters but very new to me as stories. Reading them again now it is not like a re-read. The stories are so short they are pretty forgettable. It is just a fun adventure stories (pretty outrageous ones) with wonderful illustrations.

There is a foreword by Jim Amash that gives an excellent overview of editors, writers, pencilers and inkers who developed the character in the early years. Adam Strange's look evolves over these issues but the uniqueness and smartness is there from the beginning, to my eyes. These are action adventure stories like Buck Rogers or Battlestar Galactica perhaps. Planetary invasions, big space monsters, ray guns and so on. Fun space stuff when you are young. I liked the later stories from the mid-60's the best but it was good to see the origin of the character and how the story hit the ground running.

When archeologist Adam Strange gets transported to the planet Rann he and the scientist Alanna seem to be instantly in deep love. Alanna is every bit Adam's equal. I think you'd have to call this a science fiction romance story.

The stories in this book are from December 1958 to February 1961. 220 pages of childhood (and adult) happiness.

My fourth Japanese book for the year.

6. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, finished January 28, 2022, 3 stars



Banana Yoshimoto was mentioned in the Murakami T shirt book I just read. Maybe she brought him a T shirt. I can't remember. I read two books by Yoshimoto last year, Asleep got a favorable 3 1/2 stars and the Lake, which was disappointing, got 2 stars. Kitchen is Yoshimoto's first book, a novella 'Kitchen' and a shorter novella 'Moonlight Shadow' paired together. It came out in the late 80's and put her on the map. I can sorta see why.

I liked parts of the book a lot. It does go way overboard with angst, repetitively, and that grew tiring because it felt like the author was beating the reader over the head with it, but the characters are interesting. However, there is a real shocker midway in the first novella, Kitchen. Let me put on my Karl Malden nose and preacher garb and shout "DEATH COMES UNEXPECTEDLY". Here, you can buy a vowel for free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpUBKw6i538

Kitchen, unfortunately lost interest for me at this point in slow bumps downward so that by the end I was glad to have it over and move on to the next story. The book feels very personal and intimate as a young woman deals with the loss of her family. It gives me one more way of viewing modern Japan (well, late 1980's Japan) and understanding the people.

'Moonlight Shadow' also deals with loss and the grief that comes with it. In this case, like 'Kitchen' the two main protagonists are young. I think I was a little more satisfied overall with Moonlight Shadow.

I think I can cautiously recommend this one. Can't promise it will rub you the right way or the wrong way.

"DEATH COMES UNEXPECTEDLY" I didn't need the link---I really kinda love that movie, and I love that you're quoting from it.

>36 laytonwoman3rd: !! One of those things in my DNA I think. A month or so back I was browsing Hayley's new autobiography at the library - I'm not sure if I'll ever check it out to read fully - but I might - and it was a reminder of how much I enjoyed her and her films.

>37 RBeffa: I didn't know there was an autobiography....is it massive?

>38 laytonwoman3rd: No, not massive at all. Not slim either. It was on our new books non-fiction shelf. I read the beginning of it where she returns to Walt Disney studios and they have kept Walt's office or reconstructed it to be exactly as it was in the early 1960's. It was a good hook to get the book going. She went into some detail and there were some interesting things. https://www.librarything.com/work/26615071

My husband had a crush on her in his adolescence (I think it was The Parent Trap that got him); our daughter watched that movie and The Moonspinners over and over and over...; my favorite of her performances was in The Flame Trees of Thika, and one of these days I'm going to read the book.

>40 laytonwoman3rd: I recall we had a discussion of Flame Trees once or twice in the past. I have not re-read the book but want to. Now I want to rewatch the mini-series. And check out the book by Hayley.

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As a nod to Paul Cranswick's Asian challenge for January, the country is Turkey, I read a short story by Orhan Pamuk that appeared in Granta 85 Hidden Histories. The story is too brief to count as a book read. The story is "A Religious Conversation". It was translated from Turkish to English by Maureen Freeley. I read it a couple days ago and again today. It is a very disturbing story.

It is a powerful and sad story, very effective. It convinced me I don't want to read more by Pamuk because it would most certainly depress me.

I have a large amount of Japanese books on hand, with one started, but I am going to pause to read one or two Turkish author books for the Asian authors challenge. This always happens to me ... I make plans and get sidetracked. Those sidetracks can be rewarding however. I have a book SOMEWHERE which includes the burning of Smyrna and a bit on the Armenian genocide circa WW1 but I am at a loss for the moment where I have put it. ETA: I found it. Will get to it this year.

Hello, Ron! Happy New Year! I hope all is well with you.

>14 RBeffa: I'm sorry Project: Hail Mary didn't excite. I haven't gotten to it yet, but it might be a fun experience on audio. I'm one of those who like the the 'snarky guy style' in The Martian. ;-)

>34 RBeffa: I've always enjoyed Adam Strange, but was never a rabid fan. He pops up every now and again, even presently. I'm glad this trip down memory lane was a good one.

>42 RBeffa: Well hello Brodie - glad you came for a visit. Project Hail Mary didn't overly excite but I did give it 4 stars and I look back on it rather fondly now. Weir lays the snark on thick at the beginning - just so you know it's him I think - and then it evens out. I am sure you will enjoy it and it is worth the read, impossible as it all is!

Don't be a stranger ...

DNF The Girl in the Tree by Sebnem Isigüzel

I pearl ruled this faster than any book I can recall. I think I read almost 3 of the 367 pages. The target audience here would be a 16-17 y.o. girl who was in love with Robert Pattinson but then it was Amy Winehouse, but she's dead. If "Twilight" was your thing, goferit.

This was a fail for Turkish author. But I have backups in mind.

>45 RBeffa: Well I can't complain about you not trying, Ron.
I have Pearl ruled a couple too this month which is a change of policy for me as I normally try to plod along.
I'm not sure that Pamuk is always a downer to read. Snow is certainly depressing but My Name is Red does have its moments of high exuberance.

This weekend's 1972 albums for me:
Jackie Lomax, Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult, Big Star, Flack & Hathaway and Johnny Cash.

Have a great weekend.

>46 PaulCranswick: I've drifted back to 1971 Paul. Listening to Elton's Tumbleweed Connection again. I'm thinking this is at least my co-favorite album of his. As I recall it was the first one of his I bought, but this one and Madman are my faves. If you haven't listened to Tumbleweed lately, have a listen.

I'll confess that your newest 1972 records were not among my faves back then. I liked a lot of Johnny Cash's early albums but by '72 I had moved on. If you haven't checked out songwriter John Stewart, listen to his Cannons in the Rain album from 1973.

>47 RBeffa: I did in fact listen to Tumbleweed last week and appreciated it a little more. I think it is still behind Capt Fantastic, Madman and Yellow Brick Road but not so far behind it.

This week's choices were picked at random and not my smartest experiment. I liked the Thin Lizzy and some of Big Star's stuff should have been more commercial. But the Flack/Hathaway collaboration was over produced, Jackie Lomax was starting to slide, Blue Oyster will never be my thing really although there were one or two decent tracks and this one was throw away Cash but with a couple of really great songs on it too.

Next weekend will be a selection of my favourites. Yes, I like John Stewart but I also really like Eric Andersen's "Blue River" album from 1972.

>48 PaulCranswick: Paul, I had forgotten Eric Anderson. I wasn't enough of a fan to follow him or know what songs were on what albums. I was more a John Stewart and Tom Rush fan ... but sometime in the early 90's I really started liking some of his music. Violets of the Dawn is the favorite but others like Thirsty Boots and Moonchild River song are really good. I only have one double CD - a compilation. I'm not familiar with the Blue River album altho that is apparently his best or most successful album according to wiki.

Took a break from Japan. One of my reading themes this year is going to be 20th century fantasy and science fiction. This selection fits into that.

7. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction July 1998 edited by Gordon Van Gelder, finished January 31, 2022, 3 stars



The July 1998 edition of this digest magazine was a special issue. The cover price of the magazine increased to $3.50 from $2.99. The length held steady at 164 pages counting the covers. Gordon Van Gelder had been editor for a year now, having taken over from Kristine Kathryn Rusch in June 1997.

There were only 4 fiction stories in this issue, although it was chockful of other things that had various amounts of disinterest from me. Many short pieces by many authors of what their favorite films were or what books should be made or remade into films and endless speculation about who should be cast in them. Mind numbing stuff truly. As is usual, the in depth book review columns by Charles de Lint and Michelle West were excellent focusing on books by Dean Koontz, Graham Joyce, Jonathan Carroll, Sean Stewart, Richard Grant and Mary Doria Russell. Also as usual even though this is over 20 years old now, there are now several more "books to look for" (the title by the way of de Lint's column) where my interest has been sufficiently stoked.

The four fiction stories were:

Auteur Theory • novelette by Richard Chwedyk
Goobers • short story by Harvey Jacobs
Incident at Oak Ridge • novelette by Terry Bisson
The Curse of the Demon • novelette by Ron Goulart

Each of these stories were very good and different from the other. The Bisson story was written in the form of a film script and was surprisingly effective. Goulart's story was a fantasy horror story that played on the movie film theme of the issue.

The good parts of this issue outweighed the dreck.

Back to Japan, sort of. This was a library book. Of the 8 books so far this year, only 2 have been books off the shelf, owned prior to 1/1/22. 25% BOTS is far short of my 50% or better goal. The majority of books I plan to read soon are BOTS.

8. The Cat Who Chose to Dream by Loriene Honda, artwork by Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani as adapted by Mark Deamer, Foreword by George Takei, finished February 2, 2022



At least a dozen years ago I saw a PBS documentary "The Cats of Mirikitani." I remember being quite affected by Mirikitani's story and his drawings of cats and other things are unique and very remarkable. Mirikitani died in 2012. He lived a long life. Much more recently I discovered that a book using Mirikitani's paintings was published locally with the author in the nearby town of Davis. I picked it up from the library after checking a few shops. The book is from 2014 so I was late to the game.

I'm not going to rate this. I honestly was disappointed in certain ways. George Takei's foreword is excellent and the brief bio at the end of the book is good and the simple story (at maybe an age 7 level?) is fine for what it is. The paintings however were all or almost all altered and changed. The heart of Mirikitani is in there but I am just bothered by the adaptations to the art. It is me, I know. There are small images on three pages of the book at the end that show originals of 16 of the images.

I wouldn't pass this by if you find it at the library. The book appears to be intended to help young children deal with trauma and to persevere, as Jimmy did from his internment in a WWII Japanese internment camp at Tule Lake, Calif.

You can find some background on Jimmy here ... a sad story. http://www.thecatsofmirikitani.com/aboutFilm.htm

>49 RBeffa: It has a largely mellow vibe, Ron, but is lyrically very, very good.

The album opens with the line "Sitting here forgotten / like a book upon a shelf". LT users have to identify with that, especially when you have 5,000 books unread at home!

Have a great weekend, my friend.

>52 PaulCranswick: Singer songwriters like Eric have been my bread and butter music since the 70's and especially since the 80's and 90's with the new folk revival that continues to be my favorite type of music. Eric Anderson never got to the top of my list - at one time I might have known why his music didn't really connect with me, but I also note he had a very erratic recording history so not finding new music by him would keep him off my radar.

>53 RBeffa: Eric Andersen wouldn't be an absolute favourite of mine either but two albums of his stand out.
Blue River being one and Ghosts Upon The Road being the other - 17 years apart.

I'm planning to read up to 10-12 older issues of this digest magazine this year, mostly from 2004-2007. I picked up a big collection of these around 2009 or so and never entered at least half of them into LT. I found a box of about 2 dozen+ that I thought I had added to LT long ago, but had not. This one makes 3 BOTS for a 33% percent books off the shelf so far.

9. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction January 2004, Vol. 106, No. 1 edited by Gordon Van Gelder, finished February 7, 2022, 3 1/2 stars



This issue struck me as aq bit above average for this magazine. Seven fiction stories and not one real clunker (although one gets close). I was not reading this magazine in the early 2000's however, and I was not reading much science fiction or fantasy during this time. Many/most of the stories in this issue seemed more like supernatural/horror stories of one sort or another. Or maybe call it supernatural. The first story "Nimitseahpah", featured as the cover story, concerns a gargoyle-like figure guarding the mouth of a mining cave where a disaster occurred. Although there are a couple bits that make one go 'huh?" such as why would one go on a picnic to that site in 1905, but for the most part I really enjoyed the story told from the viewpoint of a woman looking back at a time in her life when she and her husband lived in a Nevada mining town.

"The Growlimb" by Michael Shea was another I thought well done. There is no doubt this is a genuine horror story.

I won't detail the stories which are quite varied. The stories are:

Novelets:

"The Growlimb" by Michael Shea (horror among the Sonoma vineyards)
"The Seal Hunter" by Charles Coleman Finlay (creepy, not in a good way, scifi)
"Serostatus" by John Peyton Cooke (horror story focusing on a man who has become isolated after caring for his partner who died from AIDS - the story ends with a true horror aspect but most of the story is about gay cruising in NYC)

Short stories:

"Nimitseahpah" by Nancy Etchemendy (supernatural horror in a Nevada mining camp)
"Confessional" by Sheila Finch (speculative near future terrorist after a US-Arab war)
"Welcome to Justice 2.0" by George Tucker (MS provides a software court system)
"Heart's Desire" by Garth Nix (The only real fantasy in this issue. "To catch a star , you must know its secret name, and its place in the heavens," whispered Merlin, his mouth so close to Nimue's ear his breath tickled her and made her want to laugh.) I liked this one and it reminds me to read more by Nix.

There are also book and film review columns as well as a non-fiction piece from Gregory Benford about his "day job" as a scientist. Rather interesting.

I'm looking forward to the next magazine digest read (Feb 2004) soon.

Back to Japan for the next read ...

Back to Japan. I've owned this book since December 2017 so another BOTS. That makes 4 out of ten, so 40% read from the shelf so far. This one, I think, is now my favorite book read in 2022.

10. On Parole by Akira Yoshimura, translated by Stephen Snyder, finished February 8, 2022, 4 1/2 stars



There is something about holding a beautifully made book in your hand as you read. This one immediately strikes me that way. The cover is interesting and it has a great feel to it. When opened one immediately notices the quality of the paper and the font is very attractive as well. (The text is set in Goudy per the copyright etc. page). The book is a little over 20 years old but appears brand new. No foxing, tight binding. A lovely impression to begin reading.

I have read one previous book by Yoshimura, the well regarded but unsettling Shipwrecks.

"On Parole" is a very moving story about a man who has been in prison for 15 or 16 years who becomes eligible for parole and is eventually released. Life back in the outside world is so different from his prison life. It is also so different from the world he left 15+ years before. He had been a model prisoner. He is released to a halfway house with a very concerned and sympathetic (but firm) parole officer. He learns that because of his sentencing he will be on parole for many more years and possibly forever. In the outside world things slowly seem to be getting better for him. The parole officer finds a job for him which helps him on his way back to the outside world in small steps. We the readers find out why he was in prison but note that the prisoner has repeatedly mentioned that he feels no remorse for his crime. But then at the end of the story, despite all the help he had been given and everyone's good intentions, and the reader's hope that his life is finally getting better, something goes very wrong. Such a sad sad ending.

Recommended for those interested in Japanese literature

Hi again, Ron - with all the Japanese books listed at the top,

I thought you had joined The Asian Challenge!

If you want to pick up on January, I Will Never See the World Again by Ahmet Altan
is one you may well feel good that you read and resound with On Parole.

>57 m.belljackson: I had noticed that one Marianne. Not sure it is for me.

With "On Parole" our prisoner deserved to go to prison but his sentence may or may not be fair. Oddly he became comfortable with life in prison and works at a job there that he seems to enjoy very much (he is a printer and proofreader and had been a teacher prior to his crime). So although he had wished very strongly to be paroled (he was given an indefinite sentence which theoretically could be a life sentence) when it finally happened he was unprepared for it. The story is mostly about himself trying to reintegrate into Japanese society and provides many insights into Japanese life and culture of the 1980's when the story seems to be set. Japan had undergone a huge transformation between 1970 and the mid 80's. It was very important to the Japanese that the prisoner feel regret and remorse for his crime. Frankly, under the circumstances I could understand why he may not feel remorse. He certainly could have, but he didn't. That leads us to the very unhappy and unfortunate end of the story.

Wordle 235 4/6

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Good work! I guessed the wrong first letter on try #3. Do you have a favorite starting word?

>60 ronincats: no. This is only the second time I have done it. I try a word that pops into my mind that uses common letters and some vowels. I hope to get better at it. I did it in 4 yesterday also

eta:
Wordle 234 4/6

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My first time trying the game

Good start! It took me 4 for that one too.

Here's a folkie playlist of some of what I listen to. This is on spotify https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4wNaFQ1fLQ84GjMowEWsBN?si=3bf8df57196f431e

too hard today - I almost gave up. My first two guesses eliminated virtually all possibles. So my third guess was a longshot after many minutes and until after many more minutes of thought I chose the 4th guess. I could have had it in three I suppose but that would have been very lucky.
Wordle 236 4/6

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This is my third issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction this year and I'm beginning to see (be reminded) why I drifted away from the genres 20 years ago. Maybe I'll start calling this the magazine of Horror and other stuff, because these are mostly horror stories of various sorts with science fiction and fantasy trappings. Maybe I should just rethink my desire to read a bunch of these issues. Not ready to bail yet however. Horror in science fiction and fantasy is nothing new.

I've had this for a long time although only now adding it to my library. That makes 5 out of 11 books off the shelf this year.

11. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction February 2004, Vol. 106, No. 2 edited by Gordon Van Gelder, finished February 13, 2022, 2 stars



I can't talk myself into rating this more than a poor 2 stars because there is a bunch of unreadable material in this collection of stories. I have read the opening story long ago - "The People of Sand and Slag" - it was one of the first Paolo Bacigalupi stories I read. It is a very good story but paints a terribly dark future for mankind (and dogs). After that the next four stories, well I won't talk about them.

Second to last is a short story set in Japan. It was a sad, reflective story of a visit to a shrine, but it goes from sad to a horror story. One more bit of Japan for me.

Finally, the end with Robert Reed's novelet "River of the Queen" which probably isn't for everyone either but it is a follow-up to one of my favorite stories from Reed, "The Remoras", which I first read ten years ago in the May 1994 issue of F&SF. Reed also has a novel from this era that I have stashed around the house somewhere, unread, called Sister Alice that I should get to. Robert Reed leans very heavy into hard science fiction which wouldn't work for many readers. Deep space, massive ship ... This is pretty weird and I probably would have enjoyed this story more if I hadn't been bummed by the earlier offerings.

Hello Ron! Just checking in.

>59 RBeffa: I love word games. I have done a few Wordles, but sadly, I haven't caught the fever. I'll do it when I feel like it, but nothing like a compulsion.

I've started another Star trek novel. Star Trek: Rogue Elements for the Picard tv series. It features the Cristobal Rios, my favorite of the lackluster show. Not bad so far. We'll see if I can stick this one out.

>66 brodiew2: Hi Brodie - thanks for dropping by. I've done a couple wordles but like you I don't have the fever.

I'm very much in the mood for a Star trek novel. I'm sure I'll be doing one soon.

I liked your Korean netflix suggestions and I've put a couple into my queue. Not sure when I'll get to them - next time I'm in a binge mood maybe.

take care

I'm working on a Japanese history book that will probably take me many months at least to get through. I swear it weighs over 3 pounds and is not easy to hold and sit and read - impossible at my age or maybe any age. I have to read it with it set on a table or laid in my lap but it seems very much worthwhile so far.

So I am plunging ahead early into my second theme of the year which I loosely call 20th century fantasy and science fiction. I have one or two fantasy series in mind and also a science fiction series or two to work on. But first there is going to be a Star Trek novel which is part of a very long series and I am sure there will be more of these to come this year. I picked this book up a couple weeks ago so it does not count as a book off the shelf. That leaves my count as 5 out of 12 for BOTS.

12. The tears of the singers by Melinda M. Snodgrass, finished February 18, 2022, 3 1/2 - 4 stars



These early Star Trek novels, with a few exceptions continue to impress me. "The tears of the singers" was published in September 1984 and is the 19th in the series of original Star Trek pocketbook editions. I liked this novel from the start all the way to the end. The characters we are familiar with rang pretty true. This novel came out only a couple months after the release of the film Star Trek III - The Search for Spock. That is the film with Christopher Lloyd as the psychotic Klingon starship captain who kills Kirk's son and is intent on obtaining the genesis project and it is the same film where we see the original Starship Enterprise disintegrate as it falls across the sky on the genesis planet. So I was quite pleased that the novel has an encounter with a Klingon captain and his wife that hints for a future where the two races might get along. There is a strong touchback here to a first season episode of Star Trek involving the Klingons and Organians. The story itself although a little unusual rings true to Star Trek and reasonably expands on it. Uhura is a very front and center character here who is important to the plot. This is kind of a warm up pitch to a novel I read last year and which would come two books further in the Star Trek series: "Uhura's Song."

The indigenous population of the planet where this adventure takes place is quite interesting (and if you like baby seal type creatures a bit cutesy). The highlight of the story for me was the detail on the Klingons. We spend quite a bit of time with a Klingon woman 'Kali' who is the wife of the captain of one of the Klingon starships.

It occurs to me that Star Trek novels are an easy way to bring science fiction to non-science fiction readers. Is this great literature? Of course not. It is good if not great entertainment.

Tried this again after several days
Wordle 245 4/6

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>68 RBeffa: Nice review, Ron. Uhura centric novels have never been high on my list but I've heard great things about both of the ones you mentioned.

I finished my latest and started reading Star Trek: Rogue Elements. It has a strong Iotian element. You many recall them from the TOS episode 'A Piece of the Action'.

>70 brodiew2: I will admit that Uhura novels would not have been high on my list either but I have seen good comments on them also and have been pleasantly surprised. At some point i need to grab some newer stuff. The amount of Trek novels is kind of amazing.

I had to look the Iotians up. That was the funny Tommy gun gangster episode. I am glad you had a Star trek read also.

>69 RBeffa: Just realised that I haven't played any of the games for a couple of days Ron.

Neil Diamond, Slade, Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Jimmy Cliff and the Kinks are featured this weekend.

Have a great one.

>72 PaulCranswick: your thread is roaring too fast for me to keep up Paul! I spent some hours doing our income tax returns today. Mentally tiring but glad it is done. Have not started my next book yet. Your chosen recordings are ones I am barely familiar with, although I had been a Neil Diamond fan in earlier years. He lost me for a while, as did Santana. I was a big fan of the Kinks in earlier years also.

>73 RBeffa: We are getting to the part of year when the threads will ease off, Ron.

>73 RBeffa: Get thee some Bonnie Raitt, man. Your life is bereft.

I just finished reading The Memory of Love, in which Jimmy Cliff's music was a recurring bit of business.

>75 laytonwoman3rd: I'm not a total loss Linda. I had and probably still have her Streetlights album with Angel From Montgomery. I liked a little of later things like Sweet Forgiveness but I never had the urge since then to put her on the turntable. Since I like slide guitar I should like her bluesier stuff, but as Doris would say, Que Sera, Sera.

ETA: I may have the Nick of Time CD somewhere.

barely ...

Wordle 246 6/6

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Wordle 247 4/6

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Wordle 248 4/6

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and now, Worldle
#Worldle #32 4/6 (100%)
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https://worldle.teuteuf.fr

#Worldle #33 3/6 (100%)
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https://worldle.teuteuf.fr

Wordle 250 4/6

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I borrowed this one from the library so I can't call it a book off the shelf. I hope I still have the paperback in a box somewhere.

13. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain, audiobook read by Stanley Tucci, finished February 24, 2022, 4 - 4 1/2 stars



I first read this novel in the early 1980's after seeing the Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange film. I watched that film more than once and I also saw the original film version with Lana Turner and John Garfield some years later. It was the Lange/Nicholson film that stuck with me.

When I saw that this audiobook was narrated by Stanley Tucci it seemed like a no-brainer to give it a listen. I added a half star and almost gave this a full five stars because of Tucci's reading.

I'll just say this is a great piece of noir and a great listen especially if you are already somewhat familiar with the story.

Now I want to see the movie again.

I've seen both film versions, and I've read the book. But now I'm really tempted to listen to Stanley Tucci's reading...

>81 laytonwoman3rd: The audiobook is only about 3 hours.

And now a 30 year old song has been the hit of China for the past year. Here is one of many versions on youtube. This one at least has the english translation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJqOv9d1IAU

>80 RBeffa: I've been trying to decide why I enjoyed The Postman Always rings twice. Although I do like to read an occasional crime fiction book, it is not a genre I usually reach for. I have to give a lot of credit to Stanley Tucci's "performance" here. The book itself is a bit of nostalgia to a time way before my life. Early 1930's depression era Southern California with drifters and pool sharks and slang mashed up with some eroticism and murder. Tucci reads this so naturally that you know who is talking and the dialogue in the book was written very well, sharp and concise, and lends itself to a good audiobook. Especially if one already has some familiarity with the story.

I have picked up and started a couple books since finishing The Postman but nothing is grabbing me. I set them back on the shelf and go looking for something else. I may very well go for another crime fiction novel. I have a batch here a friend handed to me last year.

Moments after my last comment while perusing my bookshelf I moved a Louis L'Amour western I had forgotten I had. Sackett , and I said why not? I'm enjoying it more than I should and since it is a short novel will finish it soon. Then last night before bed I started reading a book I got in 2014 as recommended by Roni and others Agent of Change and after a chapter and a half I am kicking myself for delaying. I know there was one other Miller/Lee book that I had tried and did not connect with but I regret not starting with this one.

Sometimes a western is a great read. This book I picked up in January so not counted as a book off the shelf, for 5 out of 14.

14. Sackett by Louis L'Amour, finished March 2, 2022, 3 1/2 - 4 stars



This is the story of William Tell Sackett, older brother of Orrin and Tyrel. The story connects very well with a L'Amour book I read a couple years ago called The Daybreakers which was a pleasant surprise. The story is thick with cowboy speak and that gives a certain amount of charm to the story. It was published in 1961.

When I checked my local library online to see what L'Amour books they had I was rather stunned at how many - 56. Sheesh!

I enjoyed The Daybreakers and Sackett -- I should read some more of those.

Woohoo, Agent of Change!! That one does start off with a bang. And I love the turtles so much.

>86 laytonwoman3rd: yes me too. Kind of a sweet old fashioned story.

>87 ronincats: I know, what a great start. I had a bunch of the Liaden books in a box (bunch is relative) and so I entered them into my librarything. I have at least two on the kindle I think.

Dropping by to wish you a great weekend, Ron.

>89 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul
----------------
I wanted another Sackett novel so grabbed this one from the library primarily because it is set at the same time as the Sackett novel I just finished. Not counted as a book off the shelf, so I have 5 out of 15 books read from the shelf. Need to do better to get to my personal goal of at least 50%.

15. Lando by Louis L'Amour, finished March 8, 2022, 2 1/2 - 3 stars



This novel was first published in 1962 and I found it a disappointment compared to the other L'Amour stories I have read. It features Orlando Sackett. I think we are told he is a cousin of the better known Sacketts. Frankly it was a convoluted story that felt like chunks of the story were missing. I re-read several sections of this short novel thinking I had missed something but I hadn't. Things get mostly sorted out by the very last page, but I think this is just not written or constructed all that well. There are a couple interesting characters in here, notably the "Tinker".

I do have more L'Amour books on hand and when I next return to him I will probably read some short stories before tackling another novel, but who knows.

Going back to the future, just about 40 years ago this issue came out. Off the shelf after many years, this makes 6 out of 16. Fits in with my 20th century fantasy and science fiction theme for this year. I plan to read a few more of these early Asimov digests this year and I hope they are better than this one was.

16. Asimov's Science Fiction: Number 55, August 1982 by various authors, edited by Kathleen Maloney, finished March 11, 2022, 2 1/2 stars



In addition to all the fiction content, there is an assortment of columns, editorials, artwork (how I miss the pen and ink artwork the magazines used to carry), letters to the editor, puzzles, want ads and book reviews (including a nice one of Silverberg's 'Majipoor Chronicles' by Baird Searles, a book reviewer I enjoyed for many years until his untimely death in 1993).

Fiction:
Not Fade Away • shortstory by Spider Robinson
Moonlighting in the Daylight • poem by Peter Payack
Universes • shortstory by Robert F. Young
Peace Offer • poem by David R. Bunch
The Sound of His Wings • novelette by Rand B. Lee
Blurb • shortstory by Henry Clark
Transisters • shortstory by Christine Renard translated from French by John Brunner
Elementary Decision • poem by Don Anderson
High Iron • shortstory by James Killus and Dorothy Smith
Acrostic Sonnet • poem by Barry Wilkes
No Browsing • shortstory by J. Michael Matuszewicz
A Classical Ending • poem by John D. Seats
Triangle • shortstory by Dianne Thompson and George Florance-Guthridge
War of Independence • novelette by Stanley Schmidt

This issue appeared during Kathleen Maloney's short tenure as editor

There is also a rather odd long profile of author Harry Harrison who comes across as something of a crankypants. I wasn't much of a fan of his work until the West of Eden Trilogy which would come a few years later in the mid to late 80's and which I really enjoyed.

The first two stories I enjoyed, but after that, not so much and there always seems to be a story or two in these digest issues that is a little too odd or confusing to me, or I simply dislike. 'Not fade Away' by Spider Robinson was an excellent opening story. It is about an encounter in the far future with the last human warrior in the universe. "Universes" by Robert F Young followed and was an oddly touching story. It is lacking in some details about how the event happened but it is a story about an astronaut who believes he went through a black hole and came into an alternate universe. It is a very personal story tinged with sadness.

The next story, a novelette, is one of author Rand B. Lee's first published stories. As authors go he wasn't prolific but he made several appearances in these early 80's issues of Asimov's. Trivia note revealed in the intro: His father, the late Manfred B. Lee, was one-half of the "Ellery Queen" writing team. So this story, "The Sound of His Wings" was one of the ones that I found odd and confusing about two men in love at the end of something and I didn't finish it. It does have a great intriguing opening line to the story "On the very last morning, the alarm woke Hugh Mabary out of the most beautiful dream of his life."

'Transisters' is a French science fiction story by Christine Renard. In this story one can take a very expensive trip to parallel universes and visit oneself there. Cecile is a very unhappy woman who wants to visit one of her doubles who had an apparently happy life. They decide to do a Prince and the Pauper. This was interesting although it felt like a stumble at the end. Overall a good story. The next few stories I didn't connect with but I did think the last story was OK if a little long. "War of Independence" by Stanley Schmidt (who was the editor at that time of Analog magazine.)

Overall this magazine issue disappointed despite a few highlights.

17. Sergeant Chip by Bradley Denton, finished March 12, 2022, 4 1/2 stars



'Sergeant Chip' is one of my favorite stories from the 2000's. I'll give you the info from the wikipedia page:

"Sergeant Chip" is a science fiction novella by American writer Bradley Denton, originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction issue of September 2004. It was the winner of the 2005 Sturgeon Award, and was nominated for the 2005 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

The story is told from the point of view of Chip, a specially trained military dog that has been implanted with a microchip that allows him to communicate with his trainer, Captain Dial. The two of them put on many military demonstrations until they are called to active duty in the war. In the war they are caught in an unexpected ambush and eventually come to realize who the "real" enemy is.

Well, this is a re-read for me. I first read the story when it was nearly new in a Year's Best collection by David Hartwell and I'm reading it now in the September 2004 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction which i am not going to otherwise review. I don't understand why this story didn't win more awards and acclaim - it did get second place in the Hugo novella category, at a time when the Hugos still meant something.

The story is told by Chip and I don't want to spoil the story but at the end he is Captain Chip, taking his Captain's bars after dictating his letter. This is a touching, serious story about a K9, loyal to his Captain and company to the end.

Currently reading:
My Sweet Charlie by David Westheimer



I picked this up a couple weeks ago at our Friends of the Library book nook. I'll date myself here but many years ago, probably when I was in high school, there was an early movie of the week or similar presentation on TV that starred Patty Duke. I had forgotten about the film but seeing the title of the book jarred some hidden memory and I remembered bits of the film and what an impact the film had on me as a young person. This would have been about 50 years ago. So I started this book last night and then I browsed youtube and there is at least one clip that I started to watch but stopped because I don't want to spoil my read, but it immediately brought more memories back about a young pregnant girl on the road escaping her home. This is an important book.

18. My Sweet Charlie by David Westheimer, finished March 16, 2022, 4 stars



This 1965 novel was made into a TV movie, released January 1970, which won Patty Duke an Emmy for lead actress and a nomination for Al Freeman Jr for actor. Wikipedia has a nice summary and some very interesting facts about the production. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sweet_Charlie

My rather faint memory of the film prompted me to buy this book recently when I happened upon it. The story is steeped in the racial tensions of mid 60's Texas and I guess I should warn those upset by the word nigger and variations to steer clear. This is a bittersweet story, especially the bitter part, but the friendship that develops between a white 17 year old pregnant kicked out of the house Marlene and an on the run fugitive thirtysomething activist black man, Charlie, is done very nicely and is the sweet part. We move from extreme prejudice to just about the opposite. The end is unsettling and very sad.

Westheimer is the author of Von Ryan's Express, published the year before this novel. I would recommend "My Sweet Charlie".

This makes 8 out of 19 books off the shelf.

19. Agent of Change by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, finished March 19, 2022, 3 stars



This science fiction romance novel, published in 1988, and the long series that grew from it over 30 years, has a lot of fans. There are those that love it and many who fall into the "OK or like" category. I fell firmly into the OK category.

I've had a few books in this Liaden series for several years picking them up as I ran across them and had tried one or two unsuccessfully in the past (Plan B I think it was). I'm interested in where this first story is going to go so I will possibly read another one or two of these in the future and hope the writing and world building gets better. There are bits I like a lot but it is pretty weak for a starter book and feels like an over the top 1980s caper transferred to other planets. I'd much rather read some more of Bujold's Vorkosigan series than this one.

This will wrap up my 20th century fantasy and science fiction theme for the time being. I do have many more to get to but I am jumping ahead and expanding my next focus which was originally going to focus on a few authors that I have liked in the past and do a deep read/re-read. I still plan to get to a couple series reads but I will see if I can work them into my plans.

I am also not finished with my Japanese deep dive and will return to that over the course of the year.

So, current plan with some inspiration from Paul Cranswick's choosing his personal 100 favorite novels is to return to my favorite authors from my past and present and read/re-read from one to three books from each of them. This project could last all year and beyond. Looking at my shelves I'm thinking Thomas Hardy, Graham Greene, Somerset Maugham, Alan Furst, Elly Griffiths, Guy Gavriel Kay, Martin Walker, Robert Harris, Haruki Murakami and Preston & Child for starters who I should explore more. I am most itching to read Thomas Hardy, so that will get me started shortly.

>95 RBeffa: I will be extremely keen to see what authors and what books you choose, Ron. I will certainly be happy to join in with a re-reading of some of Hardy's novels.

My choice as the best Hardy was Return of the Native but I have decided to re-read and re-assess some of my picks for certain authors and Hardy is definitely one of them.

I'm thinking to judge it again alongside Tess, Far from the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure, The Mayor of Casterbridge and possibly The Woodlanders which is one of his I haven't yet read.

Plan B without reading the first three books would have induced some serious vertigo!

>96 PaulCranswick: Paul, I am going to warm up to Hardy with a collection of short stories, his first I think, Wessex Tales. The introductions to his books have always pleased me. I have Madding here on the table for my first novel but I am flexible. I have never read Woodlanders either but have it on hand here along with Two on a tower, Blue eyes, Trumpet Major and Native. I have Jude also. I reread Mayor of Casterbridge fairly recently, 2020. I am not as fast a reader as you but I would enjoy a shared read or reread. Pick two novels!

>Far From the Madding Crowd and Return of the Native as two!

>98 RBeffa: >99 PaulCranswick: Great choices! Jude the Obscure is just too sad for these times.

>99 PaulCranswick: Paul, I've just begun Wessex Tales so should be ready to start Far From the Madding Crowd at the end of the week or the weekend, thereabouts. Although I have given away some of my Hardy books over the years I've held on to most. I was quite pleased however to discover that Amazon kindle has a huge Hardy collection for free that I can read with the kindle reader on my tablet. "The Complete Works of Thomas Hardy (Illustrated) (Prometheus Classics)" I was just looking at the Wessex Tales on the reader and it is the same as my 1919 version in my paperback. It has novels, poems and short stories. 6,912 pages!

>100 m.belljackson: When I mentioned to my sister-in-law recently I wanted to re-read Jude the Obscure she went something like "Oh no that is the saddest book I have ever read." I agree with you Marianne, Jude is just too sad. But it is a great novel. Maybe when I get through reading and re-reading a bunch of Hardy books I'll be able to name a favorite.

This makes 9 out of 20 books off the shelf.

20. Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy, finished March 26, 2022, 4 stars



I think what impresses me most in Thomas Hardy's writing is how real the characters and setting become to me, particularly in his longer length stories.

My copy of this collection has 7 stories as was published in the 1919 edition. They were written for magazines between 1879 and 1890. These seem like folk tales written by Hardy to capture stories heard in his youth or told to him. How much of this may be sheer invention is not known to me. I assume most. I read about one a day which gave me time to think about each one and reflect upon the lives and sadness that Hardy relates.

The first two stories although quite atmospheric are not what I think of as great Thomas Hardy. With the third story Hardy revs it up and many of these stories are set in and around Casterbridge.

I would think that Hardy has few equals in telling a sad story. A good example would be the third tale here, a story of the farm girl Phyllis and the German soldier Matthäus Tina who but for a moment brightened each others dismal lives in 1801 in "The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion" before falling further into sadness and despair and death. So the fourth story, "The Withered Arm" is something of a horror story and manages to be even sadder by the end. But it is fascinating in the telling.

If I was hoping that the fifth story, Fellow-Townsmen, might give me a break from melancholy, I would have been disappointed. In painting a portrait of life in the mid 1800's Hardy once again delivers the goods that life is full of sadness and misfortune. To make sure you don't have even have more than a glimpse of happiness, the one happy family in the story is shattered by death. Even to the last few sentences where one hopes for a bit of better, Hardy leads us on to more disappointment.

The sixth story "Interlopers at the Knap" is another take by Hardy on the theme we have just experienced in the prior stories, that of marrying the wrong girl and or not marrying the right girl when you had the chance. Not quite as good as the middle stories but still a very atmospheric read.

The final story felt different than the others and gives us a new portrait of village life in the 1830's and the always present theme of romance. I particularly like an afterword by the author to this story that was first published in April 1879. In May 1912 Hardy writes that the ending of the story was almost de rigueur in an English magazine at the time of the writing. "But at this late date, thirty years after, it may not be amiss to give the ending that would have been preferred by the writer" and then he does. I won't give it away because one never knows how a hardy story will end, but I can see both endings and the original is fine.

Initially I had planned to read the novel Far From the Madding Crowd but I will take a very brief pause with something different before my next Hardy.

A children's book we have had for readers age 8-10 that I don't think we ever read.

21. The curse of the calico cat by Ellen Weiss, Mel Friedman, Dirk Zimmer (Illustrator), finished March 28, 2022, 2 1/2 stars



Why did I choose this book as an interlude? Well, cats. In any event I was pretty disappointed with this. The story is OK but when I read books for young folks I look forward to the illustrations and I found the ones in this book very disappointing.

'nuff said

I have distracted myself after just starting Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd. I do not think I will finish it before quarters end. I have been working in my garden and reading bits about Hardy and stories in a large reference work I have had for a long time and found after misfiling it. It is Thomas Hardy, a biography by Michael Millgate. I will be reading Madding very soon. Meanwhile, here is the first quarter summary of reading and also something I have done in some prior years - my list of favorite books (as near as I can recall) for each year I have been alive. I tried to allow a max of three books for each year, but some years were too strong for that.

Top Ten Fiction novels for 2022:

1. On Parole by Akira Yoshimura
2/3. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
2/3. The cat who saved books by Sosuke Natsukawa
4. Sackett by Louis L'Amour
5. My Sweet Charlie by David Westheimer
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Very Honorable mentions:

Top Non-Fiction for 2022

1.

Five Favorite anthologies/ short story collections for 2022:

1. Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy
2.
3.
4.
5.


Honorable mentions:

Best fiction re-reads in 2022:

1. Sergeant Chip by Bradley Denton
2. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain, audiobook read by Stanley Tucci
3.

Favorite Young Adult or Children's reads in 2022:

1. The cat who saved books by Sosuke Natsukawa
2.
3.

Best fun reads in 2022:

1. The Tears of the Singers by Melinda M. Snodgrass
2.

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Favorite books published in the years of my life:

1953 Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore
Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
1954 The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata (Japanese publication)
1955 The Quiet American by Graham Greene
1956 The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
1957 Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
1958 The Time Traders by Andre Norton
1959 Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
1960 Trustee From the Toolroom by Nevil Shute
1961 Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson
1962 King Rat by James Clavell
R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
1963 Way Station by Clifford Simak
1964 A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
1965 Dune by Frank Herbert
1966 Silence by Shusaku Endo
Grass For My Pillow by Saiichi Maruya
The Fatal Impact : The Invasion of the South Pacific, 1767-1840 by Alan Moorehead
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
1967 Dumarest series (Winds of Gath is the first) by E C Tubb
1968 A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Once an Eagle by Anton Meyer
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
Hawksbill Station by Robert Silverberg
1969 Silence by Shusaku Endo (English translation year)
Pavane by Keith Roberts
Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock
A Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
1970 Time and Again by Jack Finney
Ringworld by Larry Niven
1971 The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
Rich Man, Poor Man by Irwin Shaw
1972 Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
1973 Protector by Larry Niven
1974 The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
The Inverted World by Christopher Priest
1975 Shogun by James Clavell
Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
Black Sunday by Thomas Harris
1976 Trinity by Leon Uris
1977 The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
The Gameplayers of Zan by M A Foster
1978 The Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett
War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk
1979 The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Blind Voices by Tom Reamy
Sandkings by George R.R. Martin
1980 The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
Dragon's Egg by Robert Forward
1981 Cujo by Stephen King
1982 Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan by Vonda N. McIntyre
1983 The Burning Mountain: A Novel of the Invasion of Japan by Alfred Coppel
Yesterday's Son by A C Crispin
1984 Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
West of Eden by Harry Harrison
1985 Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Ishmael by Barbara Hambly
1986 Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
1987 Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
1988 The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
Night Soldiers by Alan Furst
On Parole by Akira Yoshimura
1989 The Girl at the Lion d'Or by Sebastian Faulks
1990 The Lies of Silence by Brian Moore
Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang
1991 Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon
Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
1992 Brave Companions: Portraits In History by David McCullough
Fatherland by Robert Harris
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
1993 The Giver by Lois Lowry
Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry
The Hedge, the Ribbon by Carol Orlock
1994 The Bird Artist by Howard Norman
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
1995 The Bird artist by Howard Norman
Relic by (Douglas) Preston and (Lincoln) Child
1996 Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
California Fault by Thurston Clarke
1997 Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Into the Forest by Jean Hegland
1998 Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam
1999 Plainsong by Kent Haruf
2000 The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
2001 On Mexican Time by Tony Cohan
Jackdaws by Ken Follett
Tales from Earthsea Ursula K LeGuin
Wish You Well by David Baldacci
Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst
Carry Me Across the Water by Ethan Canin
New Light on the Drake Equation - novella by Ian R. MacLeod
2002 Train Dreams: A Novella by Denis Johnson
2003 Pompeii by Robert Harris
2004 March by Geraldine Brooks
Dark Voyage by Alan Furst
Segeant Chip by Bradley Denton
2005 A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow
2006 The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, Book 1) by Naomi Novik
2007 The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
The Terror by Dan Simmons
Coal Black Horse by Robert Olmstead
Zoo Station by David Downing (US publication)
2008 Dreamers of the Day: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking bk. 1) by Patrick Ness
Miracles of Life: Shanghai to Shepperton: An Autobiography by J G Ballard
2009 Homer and Langley by E L Doctorow
Shannon by Robert Delaney
The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths
Love and Summer by William Trevor
The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking bk 2) by Patrick Ness
2010 Potsdam Station by David Downing
Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking bk 3) by Patrick Ness
2011 Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
The Martian by Andy Weir
2012 Beautiful Ruins bt Jess Walter
Sutton by J.R. Moehringer
Son by Lois Lowry
Coming of Age on Barsoom by Catherynne M. Valente
The Death Song of Dwar Guntha by Jonathan Maberry
2013 Transatlantic by Colum McCann
2014 All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Sentinels of Fire by P. T. Deutermann
2015 Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
2016 Beyond the Ice Limit by Preston and Child
A Hero of France by Alan Furst
Good Morning, Midnight : a novel by Lily Brooks-Dalton
2017 Men Without Women: Stories by Haruki Murakami
2018 Munich by Robert Harris
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
The Pharoah Key by Preston & Child
The Cry by Jane Harper
2019 A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay
Diary of A Dead Man on Leave by David Downing
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
2020 Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World by Lesley M M Blume
28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
2021 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
We Run The Tides by Vendela Vida

To keep myself on track with my visit to favorite British authors I'm going to start a list which I will revisit as the year goes on. My plan is to read or re-read at least three books this year from four authors to start with, and then I have a short list of authors to continue my reading.

Thomas Hardy
1- Wessex Tales, completed in March
2- Far From The Madding Crowd, completed in April
3- Return of the Native, on deck
4- Under the Green wood Tree, on deck
5 - Jude the Obscure, in reserve

Graham Greene
1. The Ministry of Fear, finished May 3, 2022
2. Travels With My Aunt, finished May 22, 2022
3 - Loser Takes All, finished Sept 21, 2022
4 - The Heart of the Matter, on deck
5- Brighton Rock, on deck
6- Stamboul Train (AKA Orient Express) in reserve
7- The Power and the Glory, in reserve

W. Somerset Maugham
1- The Painted Veil, completed May 9, 2022
2- The Explorer, on deck
3 - Catalina, on deck
4- Don Fernando, in reserve
5- Of Human Bondage, in reserve

Nevil Shute
1- In The Wet, completed July 14, 2022
2- A Town Like Alice, on deck
3 - Round the Bend, on deck
4- Ruined City, on deck
5- The Chequer Board, on deck

Additional authors for the future: Pearl Buck, Robert Harris, Alan Furst, Preston & Child, Elly Griffiths, Sharon Kay Penman, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Iain M. Banks, Martin Walker

Hello Ron - if I was reading Hardy again, I'd get Jude, the Obscure out of the way early -
to get closer to happier endings.

>106 m.belljackson: Yeah. Jude would be a re-read tho, as would Tess if I put that one in there. Two of the saddest novels I have ever read. Oddly part of the reason I appreciated Hardy so much. At least one book I selected for an author would be a re-read. Maybe I should make Jude #4!

Wordle 287 3/6

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My reading of Far from the Madding crowd is going much slower than I anticipated. The 19th century language makes me feel like I am missing many of the finer points in the narrative. I am going to find an annotated or footnoted edition from the library and start over. I will say that I am really enjoying the story.

The relatively archaic language is why I cannot read Dickens, although I very much enjoyed Bleak House, it was a task.

>109 RBeffa: Enjoying it more than you, Ron. I am about a third through it.

>110 PaulCranswick: I just finished it this morning Paul and I'll write up a few comments in a short while. I enjoyed it a lot and the end even surprised me. It took me a little while to get into it, but truthfully not long. I felt like I was missing references with many of Hardy's comments, but the fellow is such a keen observer of the human condition that his sly comments were a great joy to come across. I wish I had written them down. I will find one from early on that really tickled me and put it in my mini review later. I still plan to get a hold of a Norton critical edition or an annotated one (the Wessex Tales I just read had footnotes to explain many of the farming and cultural terms and a few of the biblical type references which seems much more common in Madding Crowd). I'd like to at least browse some critical commentary and pick up on my poor knowledge of English history. I have English, Welsh and Scottish ancestry so I should know better! My mother was from Irish stock tho and that was more than enough to absorb.

>111 RBeffa: I am pleased that your early difficulties with it were wiped off and that the story and Hardy's keen observational skills came to the fore.

My reading project for this past week, especially this weekend, was Thomas Hardy. I read most of this on my tablet. I'm getting more used to it and appreciate the convenience, although I did some of the reading in my paperback and kept it at hand when I wanted to look at something else in the story.

22. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, finished April 4, 2022, 4 stars



Love at first sight, unrequited love.

I had a slow start with the novel, first published in book form in 1874. There were quite a few references and terms that were unfamiliar to me and I felt like I was missing things. I can understand people who would bail out of a book like this. This was not a book to rush through for me, but it is blessed with many short and descriptive chapters that allowed for piecemeal reading and reflection. When I began this I found myself tediously going to the computer time and again to look up things - like what is an R.A. for example and who the heck is Ashtoreth or Elymas the Sorcerer? I'm still not really sure who Ashtoreth was and could I care who the sorcerer was? You get the idea. Eventually I gave myself a shaking and told myself to get on with it because the story is timeless. I was probably a quarter of the way through the book at this point and feeling frustrated. The frustration never really went away.

So this is (mostly) an excellent novel with some challenging dialogue, both when it just gets a little inane and overdone, as well as when it dives deep into the native way of speaking.

Hardy makes many wonderful observations in this book, of the land and natural world, the heavens and of man and woman. For me this was the highlight of the book. One of the early comments that caught my fancy was this one about marriage being a way to cure lovesickness. I just chuckled. But Hardy really shines in the descriptive storytelling in many places throughout the book.

I plan to tackle another Hardy novel next month.

So I have started kindle unlimited. This may not last long. My reading therefore is going to get a little strange in between my favorite author books because almost all the selections Amazon was recommending to me were not my everyday reading and it feels like an unending B movie selection (at best). Why would they think I want to read a bunch of bodice-rippers? Jeez. I know from experience that much of what passes for popular fiction these days is not my cuppa. But I am willing to give it a try. This is my first book.

23. Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah, finished April 6, 2022, 3 stars



This book seems to be enormously popular on Goodreads. It was published three years ago and was on my radar a few times so i figured it was a good book to start with on kindle unlimited. I was a little underwhelmed. It seemed to have a lot of potential with setting and characters. I thought the start was weak, but it got pretty interesting and kept me reading. About two thirds of the way through, the story changes dramatically and I really wasn't pleased. When a reader like me invests their time and effort in a novel, one expects better than a slapdash ending like we have here. I'll leave it at that.

Another try at kindle unlimited. This is a children's story.

24. Along the Tapajos by Fernando Vilela, Daniel Hahn (Translator), finished April 7, 2022, 3 1/2 stars



A children's book about life on the Tapajos river in the Amazon region of Brazil. The Tapajos is 1200 miles long and the families must move from the villages for the 6 month rainy season and then return for the dry season. Very unique illustrations and I enjoyed this.

This was a library book. That prevents me from feeding it through the shredder.

Did not finish Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente, April 9, 2022, 1/2 star

Whatever I thought this was, it wasn't. I got to page 31. I recommend avoiding this horror story.

I read a beautiful story from this author a decade ago.

Another kindle unlimited. Really touches base with my reading on Japan this year.

25. The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura, Narrated by: Brian Nishii, Juliet Winters Carpenter - translator, finished April 12, 2022, 4+ stars



This is the first book in a series with the follow-up novel coming soon. First published in English in 2021. I found an informative article about the book and culture depicted in the book here: https://asianreviewofbooks.com/content/the-easy-life-in-kamusari-by-shion-miura/

I listened to the start of this as well as later parts with audible narration while I read the book. I must compliment the narrator Brian Nishii who really brought the story to life (and gave me the Japanese pronunciations of things!). I am not big on audiobooks but this one worked very well. I quite enjoyed this. Our storyteller who grew up in Yokohama is sent (shanghaied essentially) to a rural forest area to spend a year with foresters and learn a trade after he has graduated from high school. Despite what can be considered a kind of creepy premise to start, the story itself is told a year after the boy's arrival and I really melted into this story and learned about a different way of life and Japanese forests.

Very very good. I need to keep reading these Japanese books this year. I've got a pile of them lined up.

I discovered this book was made into a Japanese film titled "Wood Job".

Everybody but me has probably read this, but I just started it last night and it is very very good.

>117 RBeffa:

Over at big bad Amazon it is World Book Day and you can get up to ten free Kindle books. They do this every year.

https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=17728818011

I have just read The Easy Life in Kamusari and really enjoyed it, so I can recommend that one, and you can't beat free! I think I picked up 7 of the available books.

>118 RBeffa: No...no....it's on my shelf, but I haven't read it yet. Hope it continues to please you.

>120 laytonwoman3rd: Reading some reviews I see that people give up on it sometimes. I doubt that will happen to me and I appreciate the reviewers saying the slow parts are worth it.

The quote on the shirt I am wearing is from John Steinbeck: "I guess there are never enough books". I imagine it applies to all librarythingers but especially to Paul Cranswick! I'm in Steinbeck country in the photo - Morro bay and rock is in the distance.

>122 RBeffa: An appropriate t-shirt, Ron. Both for where you are, and for us all on LibraryThing :-)

>122 RBeffa: Lovely photo---scenery and people. As for the shirt, it should go into immediate mass production and one be issued free to every citizen of every state in every country. I'm stealing the quote.

>123 FAMeulstee: >124 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you for the comments. The shirt was a gift from my mother-in-law the year before she passed away and I have a sentimental attachment to it. I don't wear it often enough, but I should. She got it for me at the Steinbeck center in Salinas. They don't seem to have it anymore, which is a shame. I guess they have to keep stock fresh.

26. Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield, finished April 22, 2022, 4 1/2 - 5 stars



This book comes very close to a perfect 5 star read, but I'm not sure I can quite put it there. It is my favorite book so far this year certainly.

The novel is a number of things starting with being a mystery and historical fiction of 19th century life on the Thames. Much more than that, it is a rare feat of storytelling with multiple lines that weave together, something I have enjoyed from early on as a reader when I would find it well done. The middle of the book doesn't exactly drag but it does, and if you read reviews you will see that it does put some readers off. There is myth, folklore and a touch of magical realism with an intricate and detailed description of nature and life. One can read the reviews of others to get an idea of what the story is about. It might help potential readers get an idea of what they are in for. I began it not knowing!

Those interested in knowing more about this remarkable book should read this review: https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2019/02/once-upon-a-river.html.

>126 RBeffa: This sounds interesting - putting it on my TBR list.

>127 ChrisG1: I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It is a remarkable book.

>122 RBeffa: Love the T-Shirt, Ron! Unsurprisingly, I agree with the sentiments displayed.

I am feeling like reading something by Steinbeck very soon. The only major novel of his I haven't yet read is East of Eden and it must be about due that I get to it finally.

Have a great weekend, my friend.

>129 PaulCranswick: the only major Steinbeck I have not read is grapes of wrath. Only an excerpt I believe. East of Eden is my favorite. I trust your weekend is going well. We are hunkered down. My daughter got covid a few days ago. She had her shots too. So we have her semi-isolated and we are staying away from anyone else as much as possible. Keeping her hydrated and fed. She should be over it in a few more days.

>130 RBeffa: I will keep her in my thoughts, Ron. Two of my three have had it and so has Hani but all came through fine.

>131 PaulCranswick: The covid is persisting longer than expected. The test is still showing positive although she is improving.

Starting a new book after nearly a week - going to the author list at >105 RBeffa: for Graham Greene - The Ministry of Fear, one I have not read before

27. The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene, finished May 3, 2022, 3 - 3 1/2 stars



Set during the London blitz of WWII, this spy story starts out with a man trying to recapture the innocence of his young days by visiting a charity fete in a park he had attended as a child. It begins quite pleasantly but almost in the blink of an eye it turns creepy crawly thriller. Paranoia. Intense. This is not a fast read and I honestly had to keep setting the book down. At times it was an intense, difficult read. Othertimes something of a psychological angsty thing and too much philosophizing for my taste. I'm glad I read it but not what I was in the mood for. This was published in 1943 so the blitz descriptions are very real.

I gave this book a try a number of years ago and did not get far. Trying once more.



ETA: Nope. Just can't get me interested. I have enjoyed Godden's novels in the past. I may give this another try someday but not now.

28. The Somme Legacy by M J Lee, finished May 6, 2022, 3 1/2 stars



Although this isn't in the class of literature that Graham Greene resides in, I enjoyed this story more than the last book, and was surprised. This is a genealogical mystery that I thought I would sample and ended up reading nearly a third of the book in my first sitting. Learning about the suffragette movement in the 1910's in England was an eye opener. There is also good detail about the soldiers at the battle of the Somme and hospital conditions. The historical mystery part of this book rates a solid 4 stars. The modern part gets 3 stars at best so I end up with a 3 1/2 star rating - still a good rating. For an historical mystery, though, this is really good and I think I will give the author a try with another of his mysteries in this series.

I enjoyed The Somme Legacy so much that I moved right on to the next book, The American Candidate. Unfortunately I have decided to pearl rule it after 70 pages. This may be a genealogical mystery but the author has amped up the thriller violence so that the book is a smoking gun barrel sort of book about some sort of Nazi organization that has remained hidden for 75 years and has planned a world takeover or something. That did not have my interest. The final step to drop it came when Americans were using distinctly British terms in their speech (the author is British) and it bugged me. An American does not say he is standing for President. He or she doesn't read medicine at Yale. I cut my losses. oh well

Started >105 RBeffa: with The painted veil by Somerset Maugham, an author who has yet to disappoint me.

Hopelessly behind here, but great T-Shirt! And I am also a Once Upon A River fan. Happy Sunday!

>138 Berly: Thank you Kim. I am hopelessly behind on most threads also.
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29. The Painted Veil by W Somerset Maugham, finished May 9, 2022, 3 1/2 - 4 stars, let's call it 4



I regret having not watched the film. Maugham's story about the lack of love in the time of cholera is well written. This story is very close to 100 years old (1925). It is not a happy book and grows sadder to the end. An intense, intimate novel of marriage, love and betrayal and a strange revenge that surprised me throughout.

It emotionally whipped me.

>29 jnwelch: I like that one too, Ron and will re-read it possibly next month. Cakes and Ale for me in May.

>139 RBeffa: I just read that in March & agree it was excellent.

>140 PaulCranswick: It was one of a great many Maugham books I had never read. I was uncertain how much I would like/appreciate it at first but it really started to shine with me when the couple went to the city with the cholera epidemic. I was not entirely satisfied with the end of it (the scene that was virtually a rape did not need to be in there) but overall it makes me want to continue my Maugham reads. I did pick up a copy of the film at the library so I am really looking forward to it. So I have done 3 of my 4 target authors and I have a Nevil Shute novel on the stack to get to very soon.

>141 ChrisG1: Yep

-----------------

While at the library I grabbed the next Elly Griffiths book in the Ruth Galloway series, The Outcast Dead, and I started it last night. Good so far.

I've got about 4 books going at once. Silly. Focus time to start finishing.

Earlier this year I mentioned some authors I wanted to work on and LeGuin was one of them. She won't be one of my focus authors but I did want to get a book or two of hers read this year. This is a re-read. I had only faint memories of it so a good choice to revisit.

30. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K LeGuin, finished May 15, 2022, 3 1/2 stars



I read this book several decades ago around the time PBS broadcast an adaptation of the novel. I didn't really understand the film which I think I saw twice and starred one of my wife's favorite actors at the time ... what was his name? Keith ... no Keir Dullyea? Oh heck I'll look it up. Yikes. January 1980. No Keir - Keir was the 2001 guy. I conflated him with Bruce Davison. Anyway, I remember liking the book better than the film, and that was a very long time ago. What do I think of this story now?

Well, not many books open with a jellyfish pondering destruction on the rocks of a continent.

LeGuin has always been a hit or miss author for me. I love and like many of her stories. Some, even famous ones do nothing for me. Maybe I'm not smart enough. Maybe she is too didactic. Maybe, maybe.

This story, first published in 1971 is very much of its time. 1971. I was graduating high school and starting college. I was working for minimum wage. $1.60 an hour at McDonald's. I was looking forward to raises but believe it or not Richard Nixon wanted to fight inflation and ordered a wage and price freeze on the country. How fun. Try that now .... It seemed like government, unions and big business were all powerful. That time in America is the background that propels what would be a near future in the story where control is out of control, all powerful. It is a little frightening reading this book. Could this happen? Remember the population bomb? In this novel the population has soared to 7 billion about a double from 1970 to 2002, just a bit below where the world is now at about 7.7 billion, but in the book it is not like now. Overpopulation is not a pretty thing.

Well, an interesting read back in time looking at the future of 2002. Didn't love this but I can appreciate it. A bit too much gobbledygook in places keeps me from really liking it, but I did like the interesting way LeGuin relates this tale. However it got pretty strange and almost incomprehensible in some ways by the end, although to its credit it does have something of a proper wrap-up ending. It is certainly science fiction and provides a lot to think about.

The original film was apparently destroyed and seems to exist only because someone taped the broadcast. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8VRbaVNvSA

I started to watch it and think I should set aside some time for it.

Bill Moyers talks to Ursula about this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1bZe7bdXMw

I've bookmarked that interview for watching later, Ron. Thanks for the link. I remember watching the movie years ago and being quite bewildered by it. My husband harbored curiosity about "what it all meant" for a long time, and eventually he read the book. Not sure now what he thought of it. I think Bruce Davison and Keir Dullea had a similar "look"--that slightly spacey aspect, if you'll forgive the pun--that made it easy to conflate them.

>144 laytonwoman3rd: When is Bill Moyers not good? Never. I don't know the year of the interview but I did see it on PBS long ago - it sounds like it coincided with a re-broadcast of The Lathe of Heaven (the 1980 version) around 2000. I found the interview quite interesting.

I was looking forward to another book in the Ruth Galloway series

31. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths, finished May 19, 2022, 3 - 3 1/2 stars



This novel turned out to be my least favorite so far of the Elly Griffiths books I have read. I generally rate these 3 1/2 - 4 stars but this one just gets an OK 3 stars. I did not need to read again about child thievery and endangerment and dead children past and present and the investigation of a woman who may have killed her three infant children. Been there and done that here. Other elements of the story I also thought a little tiresome. However, I realize with some series reads an author needs to do a fair amount of characterization repeats. On the plus side the story has many interesting bits and the larger story concerning our characters moves forward, and there are things that surprised me.

As I expect from these books the historical details are pretty interesting.

I have to get back to this series....! I am on #4 I think.

>147 Berly: It is nice to have a series to go to as sort of a comfort read. The first book remains my favorite but I am enjoying the series as a whole. I hope you can get back to it soon!

I have been reading this a couple of chapters a day. One of my "in progress" slow reads. One more for one of my focus authors at >105 RBeffa:.

32. Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene, finished May 22, 2022, 3 1/2 stars



I read a 2004 Greene centennial edition which is a lovely book and has an excellent introduction which I read after reading the novel to avoid spoilers.

Graham Greene surprises me sometimes and this time he did. This book is an odd bird. Zany. There were elements and parts to the story that I liked a lot but it seemed to drag on. This seems like a tragicomedy that I couldn't laugh with at some point. Also a really odd love story. I was reading this a couple chapters a day and then jumped over a stretch to read the end. The end surprised me and made me a little sad. I'll probably go back and read the chapters I skipped. This is such an episodic novel. The first part of the book was the funniest and most enjoyable to me. Kinda lost the mojo about a third of the way in.

That makes two Greene novels this month so I'll set Greene aside for now and work on some of my other focus authors. I'm also hankering for some Louis L'Amour who I should put on the focus author list. But there will be more Greene books this year. I've got a small pile of them ready.

ETA 5/25/22: I read the couple chapters I had skipped over and the story has kind of settled with me. A strange story by Greene, but I'll bump my stars up to 3 1/2. I still don't care for the ending.

This is a re-read

33. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip, finished May 28, 2022, 4+ stars





I think the first true fantasy novel I read as an adult was Richard Adams' Watership Down which I dearly loved and read several times in the mid 1970's. The word 'hrududu' entered my vocabulary at that point in time. I rarely use the word out loud now but I still frequently use it internally when a noisy truck might roar by while I'm walking. Then I discovered Michael Moorcock and his Elric series which started me on quite a large number of his fantasy novels. However, for something like what is now considered a traditional fantasy novel, McKillip's The Forgotten Beasts of Eld takes the prize and really appealed to me when I first read it in 1978. I only bought it because a friend spoke very highly of it.

Earlier this year I was trying to find my copy for a reread because the story had really faded from my memory ... but not the feeling of having liked the book so much. I gave up trying to find my old copy and so I picked up a nice gently used copy to replace it and then promptly found my original a day or two later while looking for something else. Of course.

And now, Patricia McKillip passed away at the beginning of the month of May and I felt now was even more the time to re-read it ... 44 years later. Much too long of a time.

So, as I read, elements of the story felt very familiar, even after all these years. But not the details and I could not remember how it played out so this was really like a fresh read of an older but excellent fantasy novel or re-reading a classic fairytale from my childhood. I think it is very accessible to readers like me who don't live and breathe all that magic stuff.

This is a story about life, all the complexities tucked in here and there. How we face the world, how we hide from it, what it does to us, how we change and are changed, romance, all the emotions. This also has the advantage of being a short 200 page and change novel, just like I loved back in the 70's. This gets an extra half star because it made me happy to read this again.

I'll drop my extra copy off at the Friends of the Library for someone to discover.

Here is my summary of favorite reads so far this year through May. What I think of as my favorites varies, it is partly based on what an impact it had and how much it has stayed with me. Some books even though they are very enjoyable while reading just drop out of memory in a blink. Others stay with me a long time.

Top Ten Fiction novels for 2022:

1. Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield
2. On Parole by Akira Yoshimura
3. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
4. My Sweet Charlie by David Westheimer
5. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
6. Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
7. The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura
8. The cat who saved books by Sosuke Natsukawa
9. Sackett by Louis L'Amour
10. Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene

Five Favorite anthologies/ short story collections for 2022:

1. Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy
2.
3.
4.
5.

Best fiction re-reads in 2022:

1. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
2. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain, audiobook read by Stanley Tucci
3. Sergeant Chip by Bradley Denton
4. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Kroeber LeGuin


Favorite Young Adult or Children's reads in 2022:

1. The cat who saved books by Sosuke Natsukawa
2. Along the Tapajo´s by Fernando Vilela, Daniel Hahn (Translator)
3.

Best fun reads in 2022:

1. The Tears of the Singers by Melinda M. Snodgrass
2.

>150 RBeffa: I never got around to reading McKillip - I need to get to that...

>152 ChrisG1: I'm not sure how well McKillip would hold up. I tried her riddle master book (the first one) and didn't get very far, but that was some years ago. I'll give the series another try one day probably. I think The Forgotten Beasts of Eld just hit me at the right time all those years ago.

34. Grub Line Rider by Louis L'Amour, finished June 5, 2022, 3+ stars





Seven western stories out of many hundreds of stories that L'Amour wrote. You can read one story a day for a short spell of entertainment. The seven stories add up to 240 pages so they aren't shorty shorts, and one, "Ride, you Tonto Raiders" is quite long compared to the others. These stories are much like watching a western TV show of the 50's and 60's. I enjoy L'Amour now and then and this was no exception, except that some of L'Amour's stylings can get a bit tedious (there are endless, at times, descriptions of the landscape by name). You also have to like gunfighters here. Me, I'm not so big on that, but if you like to ponder who is the fastest draw, you'll like this. I have read War Party before and it is one of the best of the bunch and is among the best short stories by L'Amour of the several dozen I have read over the years. It is a wagon train story without the gunfighting. I was glad to revisit it. The stories are rather formulaic and quickly fade from memory - but they are entertainments and enjoyable to read.

This book has a good introduction by Jon Tuska who has put together some other nice Western collections. He passed away in January 2016 but left behind a good number of anthologies. He was the editor but I do not know if he chose these particular stories.

The stories and year of original publication are:
The Black Rock Coffin Makers (Feb 1950)
Grub Line Rider (June 1951)
Desert Death Song (Feb 1950)
One Last Gun Notch (May 1942)
Ride, you Tonto Raiders (August 1949)
War Party (June 1959)
Law of the Desert (April 1946)

I plan to continue reading some L'Amour this year, and some Zane Grey too.

Read the first two stories in From the listening hills, a posthumous short story collection by Louis L'Amour. I was underwhelmed and will not continue. Back to the library for that one.

35. The Best of Margaret St. Clair, Volume 1 by Margaret St. Clair, finished June 12, 2022, 3+ stars



As Amazon describes it : Twenty short stories from the trailblazing sci-fi writer Margaret St. Clair.

This is a 2021 collection. There is an earlier hard to find 1985 book with the same title with mostly different stories. Twenty short stories that are examples of good quirky 1950's science fiction. The little bits of St. Clair's writing I have run across in anthologies in recent years made me interested, so I was happy to see this new collection. She mostly wrote short fiction although there were also some novels by her, notably The Dolphins of Altair which I remember seeing when I was young. The vast majority of her fiction appeared between 1946 and 1962. We have 20 stories here and they are:

1. New Ritual, first published in The magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1953 under pen name Idris Seabright

2. Starobin, first published in Future Science Fiction #34, Fall 1957. You can see and read it here: https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/sffaudio-usa/mp3s/StarobinByMargaretSt.Clair...

3. Flowering Evil, first published in Planet Stories, Summer 1950. where is Planet Stories when you need it - well, here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/64745/64745-h/64745-h.htm

4. Thirsty God, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1953 under pen name Idris Seabright

5. The Death of Each Day, , first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1958 under pen name Idris Seabright

6. The Anaheim Disease, first published in Science Fictions Stories January 1959

7. Roberta, first published in Galaxy magazine, October 1962

8. Stawdust, first published in The magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1956 under pen name Idris Seabright

9. The Heirophants, First published in Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1949

10. Prott, first published in Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1953

11. The Man Who Sold Rope to Gnoles, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1951 and later appeared in a large number of anthologies.

12. Fort Iron, first appeared in Science Fiction Quarterly, November 1955

13. The Nuse Man, first appeared in Galaxy magazine, February 1960
and a follow-up story
14. The Airy Servitor, first appeared in Galaxy magazine, April 1960

15. The House in Bel Aire, first appeared in If, January 1961

16. Birthright, first published in Fantastic Universe, April 1958

17. The Death Wish, first published in Fantastic universe, June 1956

18. The Gardener, first appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1949

19. Personal Monster, first published in The magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1955 under pen name Idris Seabright

20. The Everlasting Food, first appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1950

These are stories that you can feel the 1950's in them. You get in a rocket and zoom across the galaxy. Men from the future with super gadgets. They tell you a story. They have little twists. They are entertainments. Some of the stories such as 'Thirsty God' are just plain weird and I can't help but wonder what possessed the author to write it. Then, we get a poignant anti-war story like 'The Death of Each Day.' Then, 'The Anaheim Disease' a sort of alternate history woo-woo set during the 1918-1919 flu epidemic. These are mostly science fiction, with bits of fantasy, horror and whimsy. 'The Man who sold rope to Gnoles' contains all of those things.

St. Clair is different than most 50's authors, I'll say that. Some of these stories are appearing in this collection for the first time since their initial magazine appearance. There are a few too many twisted and oddball stories for my taste and so I can't say that I really liked this collection as a whole, but I can appreciate it. There are several excellent stories in here however.

I've been going through some of the books I've accumulated and sampling them and deciding purge or save for later. This one I decided to keep reading

36. Two tales and eight tomorrows by Harry Harrison, finished June 15, 2022, 3 1/2+ stars



I really enjoyed Harrison's West of Eden series in the mid 80's. But other than an occasional short story I have not read him since. Harrison is also the author who gave us the story that was turned into the film "Soylent Green' all those years ago. He knows how to tell a tale to hit you where you live. The poster for Soylent Green begins ... "It's the year 2022"



Yikes! I say.

The origin story for Soylent Green, "Make room! make room!" from 1966 does not appear here. This was first published the year before it. A friend passed this collection of ten stories on to me a few months ago and I decided to give it a try. The stories from 1957 to 1965, are:

The Streets of Ashkelon • (1962)
Portrait of the Artist • (1964)
Rescue Operation • (1964)
Captain Bedlam • (1957)
Final Encounter • (1964)
Unto My Manifold Dooms • (1964)
The Pliable Animal • (1962)
Captain Honario Harpplayer, R. N. • (1963)
According to His Abilities • (1964)
I Always Do What Teddy Says • (1965)

The opening story, 'The Streets of Ashkelon' is a powerful piece. The remaining stories were very good to OK. These tend to dwell in the dark side of things. Maybe like Rod Serling's Night Gallery for a couple. 'Portrait of an artist' would have made a good twilight zone episode. I can almost hear Serling introducing it in my head.

ETA: I decided to bump my star rating up a bit. There isn't really a dud story out of these ten, and for 60's science fiction they are above what I expected. And they are varied.

This is the first book by Susan Vreeland that I have read. She left the living world on August 23, 2017. She left something of herself behind here.

37. The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland, finished June 21, 2022, 4 stars



This is a remarkable historical fiction novel told in an interesting fashion. There are 8 short stories that together create a whole. A number of Vermeer's paintings have been lost to time. This story imagines one. It begins near the end of the twentieth century and by chapters works back to the time of its creation. The Girl in Hyacinth Blue does not exist but one believes it does when reading this.

This isn't an easy read emotionally, especially at the beginning, but at other points as well. My wife had difficulty with it. There are a number of events throughout the book that are not happy things. There is darkness, tragic stuff throughout. But it sucked me in and I read a chapter or two a day and was caught up in this. I have not read a story by Susan Vreeland before but after this one I will be looking to see what I may have missed.

Recommended, with cautions. You can read some of the reviews if you want to know more about the book. I just enjoyed discovering it. One could read this starting at the end chapter and working your way to the front. That may be the best way to do it! I have found myself picking the book back up and re-reading parts.

In March 2013 Vermeer's painting "Girl with a pearl earring" came to visit San Francisco and my wife and daughter and I paid a visit. It was sort of too big of an event to appreciate the painting as it should be, but there was this sense of awe to just be in the presence of that magnificent work. Vreeland does a good job in the novel of conveying the creation of her imaginary painting and some of the lives it touched across the centuries. It made it very believable and it rang true to me.

The girl is hiding in this artsy photograph of mine.



We saw another Vermeer as well, on another visit two years later, Vermeer's Christ in the House of Martha and Mary from 1654-5. This painting makes an appearance in the book on pg 216 of my copy of the book.

>158 RBeffa: Hi Travels in Vermeer covers most of his paintings.
The descriptions can be obsessively dense, yet inspire further search.

>159 m.belljackson: The material in the Blue Hyacinth book gave me a sense of the creation of the art and the life of the artist. I probably do not need to dive deeper but it seems a little odd to me that I never got around to Tracy Chevalier's book (which coincidently was published the same year as this one, 1999). I'm not sure that being obsessive about a painting is something I need to know more about!

eta: It was bugging me why I felt I knew something about Vermeer's family life and relationships that shows up at the end of the book. Then it hit me this morning - I had seen the Colin Firth movie, nearly 20 years ago now. Duh. Never read that book but I saw the film. There's a lot more in this book about other people and lives besides the bit with Vermeer at the end.

>158 RBeffa: I enjoyed The Girl in Hyacinth Blue, as I read it about 2 years ago. I didn't realize the author had passed. I learned about the way of life with canals and a little about the artist himself.
I also read Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring and did not really like it, it made me a bit depressed and I did not like the main character. To each their own, I guess.
I remember studying Vermeer in Art History class in college, a while ago! It was great you were able to see the paintings.

>158 RBeffa: Goes on my Hitlist, Ron. Thanks for the thoughtful review.

>161 kaida46: Thanks for your comments Deb. I think I can safely skip the Chevalier book. I too learned about early life in the Netherlands. Not an easy life. I got interested in Art History rather late in life, about 15 years ago, It really started because my daughter took an AP Art History class with an excellent teacher and we started visiting a few art museums and found ourselves slowly hooked. Prior to that I really only had an interest in Japanese wood block prints but a whole new world opened to us. The pandemic put a stop to our museum visiting.

>162 PaulCranswick: I really hope you enjoy it like I did Paul. I was curious but unsure at the start of the book but it really turned into an excellent book for me.

Half the year gone today and I probably will not finish this book tonight. It contains three novellas and the first one, 'Revenge' is a killer. Knocked me outI thought I had read Jim Harrison before but I could not tell you what. Revenge was made into a film as was the title story 'Legends of the Fall'. The middle story here which I will read next is ‘The Man Who Gave Up His Name’ which seems to be the weakest among reader reviews.

I dug around in my bookshelves and found Harrison's The Woman Lit by Fireflies which I vaguely remember picking up at a Library book sale.

I sure hope the rest of the book is as powerful as the start.

37 1/3. Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison, 'Revenge' finished June 29, 2022, 4 1/2 stars so far

I want to get back to some of my theme reads this year, both topics and authors. We will see how that goes. I easily go off schedule.

Here are my reading highlights for the first half of the year. The Jim Harrison book I am currently reading not included yet.
Top Ten Fiction novels for 2022:

1. Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield
2. On Parole by Akira Yoshimura
3. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
4. The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
5. My Sweet Charlie by David Westheimer
6. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
7. Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
8. The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura
9. The cat who saved books by Sosuke Natsukawa
10. Sackett by Louis L'Amour

Very Honorable mentions:
Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene

Favorite Reads that are part of a series:

1.The Tears of the Singers by Melissa Snodgrass (Star Trek Original Series #19)
2. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway Mysteries #6)

Top Non-Fiction for 2022

1.

Five Favorite anthologies/ short story collections for 2022:

1. Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy
2. Two tales and eight tomorrows by Harry Harrison
3. Grub Line Rider by Louis L'Amour
4.
5.

Honorable mentions:

The Best of Margaret St. Clair, Volume 1 by Margaret St. Clair

Best fiction re-reads in 2022:

1. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
2. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain, audiobook read by Stanley Tucci
3. Sergeant Chip by Bradley Denton
4. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Kroeber LeGuin


Favorite Young Adult or Children's reads in 2022:

1. The cat who saved books by Sosuke Natsukawa
2. Along the Tapajo´s by Fernando Vilela, Daniel Hahn (Translator)
3.

Best fun reads in 2022:

1. The Tears of the Singers a Star Trek novel by Melinda M. Snodgrass
2.

It's always a treat to read your thread Ron, but also a bit dangerous as I had to add three more books to the ever present TBR list!

Glad you enjoyed Once Upon a River and The Forgotten Beast of Eld, those were both reads I have enjoyed as well. Now I am hunting down a copy of The Cat Who Saved Books...
Happy Reading!

>165 RBeffa: I've been meaning to get Project Hail Mary on my TBR list - didn't make it onto my July plan, but we'll see. Picked it up on a Kindle sale awhile back.

>166 kaida46: Thanks Deb.

>167 ChrisG1: I can't imagine not liking Project Hail Mary, Chris.

30 years ago tonight, June 30, 1992, my wife and I went to a concert in Santa Rosa to see one of my very favorite singer-songwriters, Mary Chapin Carpenter. It was a wonderful concert that has stayed in my memory even though I have seen her about half a dozen times since. As it happened, it was the date she was releasing a new CD - one that would prove to be among her very best. So in the dark of the theater we got to hear Come On Come On, You just have to whisper ... and so many other great songs when her band was just about at the peak.

30 years ago, with passionate kisses

>164 RBeffa:
37 2/3. The Man Who Gave Up His Name from Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison, finished July 2, 2022, 3 - 3 1/2 stars



The protagonist in this story, Nordstrom, would be about 4 years older than my father, a generation older than me. He is a standard oil executive, a hatchet man for efficiency who has a midlife meltdown of sorts when his marriage of 18 years dissolves. This is almost like a memoir and incorporates diary entries and covers a period of life from late teens to late 40's. Most of the story is set in mid 40's age. Nordstrom's daughter would be roughly my age. So these are people I might recognize from life, although I would not identify with them.

This story and the first novella 'Revenge' are not the sort of stories I would normally read or seek out. I think of them as men's fiction, the sort that would have appeared in say Esquire magazine. Too much sex and violence for my tastes, although not really overdone. There are parts of 'The Man Who Gave Up on His Name' that are very good, things where I might nod and go uh-huh. But parts are not like that and the end part of the story just sort of stumbles into nothingness. This one could have been better. Using the novella length the author intentionally leaves out chunks of things which would have been fleshed out in a full length novel, but which are not really important to the story at hand. Harrison, in other words, is not padding his story.

So we have an excellent story followed by a good but not great one. One more story to go which I am really looking forward to.

>158 RBeffa: Hi Ron. I am envious that you were able to see the Vermeer Girl With the Pearl Earring. The colors are astounding in the Vermeer's Christ in the House of Martha and Mary painting.

When I visit the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York City, I am sure to visit the Vermeer paintings there. I cannot help but wonder what ever happened to the Vermeer painting stolen from the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston, MA.

The Concert:

>170 Whisper1: It saddens me to think about the damage that could have occurred to the paintings that were stolen.

Thanks for dropping by here Linda.

I finished the title story, the third novella

38. Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison, finished July 4, 2022, 4 stars



Three novellas, entirely different from each other, and each one seeming to capture pieces of human nature and life. Harrison does not waste words. Each of these stories grabbed me and mesmerized me in different ways. A great collection.

I'm giving 4 1/2 stars to Revenge, 3+ stars to The Man Who Gave Up His Name and 4 stars to Legends of the Fall, for an overall rating of close to 4 stars. As I mentioned above, I think these are men's fiction, not that women would not enjoy them, and there is certainly a lot of relationship woes in every story that both sexes can ponder, but these stories just feel like they were written for a male audience.

I never saw the film adaptation of Legends of the Fall, and now I kind of want to to see how it was handled. The most appealing character is killed off early in the book.

>172 RBeffa: You got me with another one there, Jim. I think I have seen that one in the bookshop too.........

39. In The Wet by Nevil Shute, finished" July 14, 2022, 2 1/2 stars



This is a strange book and the first Nevil Shute book (of quite a few read in the past) I really don't care for. I have not finished the book and I'm not sure I will get back to it, but I have read enough of it this past week for me to count it as a book read in my mind. I may go back to it and skim read it. Reading some reviews I have a vague idea of what happened.

It was published in 1953 and most of the book, after a long boring beginning set in the Australian outback, takes place about 1983, years in the future. There's a jarring shift from the present of the book into the future that had me completely puzzled, read it over and over and thought maybe I was missing a chunk of the book - but nope, it is just a really weird thing. On top of that, If you were English, Canadian or Australian this book might be easier and more meaningful. Too wrapped up in political machinations and a crisis with the monarchy vs politicians for me to give a hoot.

There's a Jun 21, 2019 review here on LT that sums this up very well.

ETA: I read some more of the novel and then jumped to read the final chapters. I should mention that if I hadn't looked at reviews while reading this I don't think I would have realized for a while there was a jump to the future - there is an alternate reality here where Shute's biases and hypotheses about England in the 1950's and going forward are in full bloom, which can be found in other books by Shute (and one of the reasons why he emigrated from England to Australia in 1950). He mentions pocket change in a main character with coins up to 1982 so we were clearly not in 1953 Australia, but in a 1980's England. There is a big diatribe on multiple votes for people - People can earn extra voting rights for various things. Apparently this was important to Shute but it was really strange in the book.

Another source of big bother to me was the main character for much of the novel, David Anderson. He is a quadroon, one quarter aboriginal, but tan skinned so he can almost pass for white. He doesn't try to. His nickname, which he insists (over and over beating the dead horse) is Nigger. Someone calls him David, he insists they call him Nigger. VERY strange. So we have a weird paranormal plot, polemics on socialisms, the monarchy, voting and a very bothersome name. I will say that there are elements of the story that I like, things that Shute is good at such as interpersonal relationships, but overall I could not rate this higher than a poor 2 stars.

>105 RBeffa: >174 RBeffa: Since Nevil Shute is one of my favorite authors, and a focus author for me this year, I decided I was being stupid to not completely read "In The Wet". I picked it back up last evening and spent some time going over the story and then restarted where I had left off. Already I decided I was a little unfair, especially after I read the author's afterword of what he was trying to do. All of my criticisms above still apply but I can appreciate the story a little better. I also really like how the author has portrayed Queen Elizabeth. He makes her very human.

I have a big pile of read me next books that grows ever taller, but I really want to fit in more of my focus author books. I plan to read at least two more Nevil Shute books this year.

ETA: I finished, fully, the novel and have bumped my rating up to 2 1/2 stars

I hesitate to count or even rate this since I skimmed some. It does however fit into one of my themes this year of 20th century science fiction and fantasy. A friend passed it on to me very recently.

40. Galaxy Science Fiction - July 1955 - Vol. 10, No. 4 edited by H. L. Gold, finished July 17, 2022, maybe 2 1/2 + stars



The best thing about this old science fiction digest is the awesome cover done by the legendary Ed Emshwiller. But it is what it is.
The book reviews are from Groff Conklin who was becoming one of the premier anthology editors of the era. (I note that LT tells me that Conklin died on this day, July 19, in 1968.)The funniest of the reviews is the one for "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" which was just out and not yet made into several movies. Get this: "There is absolutely nothing wrong with this novel, which was fist serialized in Collier's, except that it has been done again and again and again. Too many s-f novels lack outstanding originality, but this one lacks it to an outstanding degree." Two years ago I read the edition that Jack Finney revised for the 1978 film. I gave it 4+ stars. For a 50's novel it is great, and excellent no matter what decade. Pooh pooh Mr Conklin book reviewer, sir. I think you swung and missed. Bring on the pod people.

Here's an abbreviated breakout of the contents courtesy of isfdb:

2 • And He Sez • Editor's Page • essay by H. L. Gold
4 • The Mapmakers • novelette by Frederik Pohl • interior artwork by Ashman
40 • Spoken For • short story by William Morrison • interior artwork by Ed Emshwiller
48 • Property of Venus • novelette by L. Sprague de Camp • interior artwork by Mel Hunter
69 • Forecast
70 • For Your Information: The Orbital (Unmanned) Satellite Vehicle • essay by Willy Ley
81 • Deadhead • short story by Robert Sheckley • interior artwork by Dick Francis
90 • Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf • book reviews by Groff Conklin
90 • Review: Year of Consent by Kendell Foster Crossen • review by Groff Conklin
90 • Review: The Other Side of Here by Murray Leinster • review by Groff Conklin
90 • Review: One Against Eternity by A. E. van Vogt • review by Groff Conklin
91 • Review: The Visionary Novels of George MacDonald: Lilith, Phantastes by George MacDonald • review by Groff Conklin
92 • Review: The Maker of Moons by Robert W. Chambers • review by Groff Conklin
92 • Review: The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney • review by Groff Conklin
92 • Review: A Man Obsessed by Alan E. Nourse • review by Groff Conklin
92 • Review: The Last Planet by Andre Norton • review by Groff Conklin
92 • Review: Few Were Left by Harold Rein • review by Groff Conklin
93 • Review: Tyrant of Time by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach • review by Groff Conklin
93 • Review: Undersea Quest by Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson • review by Groff Conklin
94 • The Amateurs • short story by Alan Cogan interior artwork by Diehl
104 • Preferred Risk (Part 2 of 4) • serial by Lester del Rey and Frederik Pohl as by Edson McCann • interior artwork by Sanford Kossin

Robert Day has written a very good review of the digest here on LT. I found the stories agreeable. The slightly zany Property of Venus was old fashioned but fun. Some of the other stories made you think.

41. Waiting by Ha Jin, finished July 20, 2022, 3 - 3 1/2 stars



This is a Chinese novel written in English that mostly covers 1963 to 1983 and then somewhat beyond. It is set in China and three people are waiting. This is one of those books where the main characters wish they had done different things - not married who they did, married someone else, and so on. Kind of a sliding doors thing where would things have been better if they had made different choices in life. Could they even have made different choices than were made? That's the thing. Neither of the two main characters could love the person they wanted to love and be with. Society and rules would not let them. This of course is not a uniquely Chinese thing. It is universal. But this story presents that with the framework of Chinese society at the beginning of the Cultural revolution.

This has been described as a melancholy novel and it is that. The main character, Lin Kong, isn't terribly likeable although I was quite sympathetic to his plight at the beginning. He is in a loveless marriage that was forced upon him. However, when I saw that his wife was an honest hard working woman I began to think Lin was entirely too selfish. I'm not sure he could have made different decisions than those that were forced upon him. Everyone has a different life than what they deserved. Sad story all around, especially near the end. My enthusiasm waned in the second half of the book

For an American reader this is a very good look behind the curtain of life under Chairman Mao and how society was controlled.

eta: I should have mentioned a trigger warning. Nearly 2/3 of the way there is a somewhat graphic rape scene. It is integral to the story as it exists, but I was put off by the author including it, and it took away some of my appreciation of the novel.

-----------------------------
Stepping away from my usual stuff and going to some 60's crime fiction

42. The Hunter by Richard Stark, finished July 21, 2022, 3 stars



Definitely not my usual cup of tea. This is probably what is referred to as hardboiled. It is written short, sharp and stark (like the pseudonym of the author). A friend had given me three of these as must reads. I'm not sure I'll read the next two. Will think on it.

I also read the graphic novel version on kindle unlimited but won't count it twice. Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter by Darwin Cooke. The GN was well done vs the novel, but this dark stuff is not my cuppa and it shouldn't be yours unless you think all women are whores. I don't enjoy movies like this either.

Time for a comfort read

43. Death of a poison pen by M. C. Beaton, finished July 28, 2022, 3 stars



Beaton's Hamish Macbeth novels are fun reads for me. You don't have to think hard, they are quick and easy to read. The characters are suitably quirky and Macbeth has an entertaining love life. This novel is from 2004 and the series began in 1985. The author passed away in 2019.

Happy Birthday, Ron! Hope you have a great day.

Hi Ron,
Those Hamish Macbeth novels kept me sane during the covid lockdowns! I was in a phase where I was exploring different 'cosy' mystery authors, and not liking a lot of what I was finding. I had just visited the library and checked a stack of them out and a few days later the world was a crazy place and the library closed down for a while. I had a few months to read that stack and was pleasantly surprised, reading some of them more than once. Discovering M.C. Beaton then was a breath of fresh air and quite a few laughs as well.

Happy reading!

>180 kaida46: Covid helped me along that way too. I picked one up just before the shutdown after a friend praised the author. I was trying an assortment of cozys as well, and not very successfully. I enjoyed Death of a Liar and hope to read a couple Hamish Macbeths each year. I've only done 4 since 2020.

>179 ronincats: Thank you Roni!

Extremely disappointing.

44. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea by Yukio Mishima, Did not finish August 2022, 1 star



I have owned this book for a long time along with several other Mishima novels. The book starts with a creepy voyeur scene but the descriptive writing is very good and the story seemed to have potential. However, the book was looking to be pretty dark and then there is a brutal scene with a 13 y.o. boy in a gang told to beat a kitten to death. The scene leaves nothing to the imagination and it gets worse.Skipping ahead a little in the book I came to realize that there was something wrong with an author who would write this crap and I abandoned the book. I felt like my head was going to explode. I am not surprised the man committed ritual hari-kiri at 45 years of age.

I have removed the other books I have by Mishima from my library. I will not read him again.

Happy birthday, Ron.

>183 PaulCranswick: thank you Paul.

45. The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths, finished August 9, 2022, 3 stars



This is the 8th Ruth Galloway series story that I have read - the first 6 novels plus a shorter work, and now this one. I've also read one of Griffiths novels outside of this series. This story jumps ahead 2 years from the last novel The Outcast Dead and is set in 2013 (the book was published in 2015).

I liked the start of the book but my interest wavered while reading and that is the first time it has happened with one of Griffith's books. I can think of a few reasons why that was but don't want to belabor things. Events were a little repetitive from the prior novels and some of what I like in the prior books wasn't here.

I think the series lost a bit of the spell it had over me. I do look forward to the next book in the series.

I feel like I'm in a bit of a reading slump and I think I was a little harsh in my assessment of Elly Griffith's Ghost Fields, but I didn't care for some story developments and I feel like the "affair" of Nelson's wife Michelle was left dangling. As presented it seemed pretty unbelievable to me for it to go on for a year before someone noticed. And her car is still left in some other town unless I missed a chapter ... OK. Perhaps this will get covered in a later book.

46. A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life by James Bowen, finished August 18, 2022, 2 1/2 stars



This story is a decade old but got a bit of buzz 6 years ago with a film and new printing. I recall browsing the book sometime in the past and putting it aside. It sounds like a book that I should love, being a cat person. However, for me this is a book that sounds like a great idea but as a book this didn't deliver enough. I can see how it would appeal to some people but I just found it rather bland. I skimmed quite a bit after a while, but then I did go back to make sure I hadn't missed important things.

Bob the cat who is one of the many marvelous felines in the world unfortunately was killed by a car in June 2020. I remember being very sad when I heard the news.

>172 RBeffa: Hi Ron. I've added Legends of the Fall to my to be read list. Thanks for your excellent review.

Happy summer to you! Happy Belated Birthday !!

>187 Whisper1: Thank you Linda.
----------------

47. In a Grove by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, finished August 21, 2022, 3 1/2 stars

This is the short story from 1922 (100 years old) that the film Rashomon (the Kurosawa movie from 1950) is based on. Very unusual where each small chapter reports markedly different stories of the same event. Who knows what the truth was. There are probably many books and websites to explain it. Here's wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_a_Grove Wikipedia lists 7 movie adaptations from 1950 to 2017 and provides a thoughtful concise explanation.

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite authors - Ray Bradbury, born August 22, 1920. He passed on in 2012, ten years gone now. A friend of mine sent me a link today to the coolest Ray Bradbury story I never read. I shared it to my Facebook page. Here it is:

In a long ago edition of the Paris Review, writer Ray Bradbury responded to a question about a mysterious character, Mr. Electrico, who appeared in "Something Wicked This Way Comes."
What an answer!
BRADBURY
Yes, but he was a real man. That was his real name. Circuses and carnivals were always passing through Illinois during my childhood and I was in love with their mystery. One autumn weekend in 1932, when I was twelve years old, the Dill Brothers Combined Shows came to town. One of the performers was Mr. Electrico. He sat in an electric chair. A stagehand pulled a switch and he was charged with fifty thousand volts of pure electricity. Lightning flashed in his eyes and his hair stood on end.
The next day, I had to go the funeral of one of my favorite uncles. Driving back from the graveyard with my family, I looked down the hill toward the shoreline of Lake Michigan and I saw the tents and the flags of the carnival and I said to my father, Stop the car. He said, What do you mean? And I said, I have to get out. My father was furious with me. He expected me to stay with the family to mourn, but I got out of the car anyway and I ran down the hill toward the carnival.
It didn’t occur to me at the time, but I was running away from death, wasn’t I? I was running toward life. And there was Mr. Electrico sitting on the platform out in front of the carnival and I didn’t know what to say. I was scared of making a fool of myself.
I had a magic trick in my pocket, one of those little ball-and-vase tricks—a little container that had a ball in it that you make disappear and reappear—and I got that out and asked, Can you show me how to do this? It was the right thing to do. It made a contact. He knew he was talking to a young magician. He took it, showed me how to do it, gave it back to me, then he looked at my face and said, Would you like to meet those people in that tent over there? Those strange people? And I said, Yes sir, I would. So he led me over there and he hit the tent with his cane and said, Clean up your language! Clean up your language! He took me in, and the first person I met was the illustrated man. Isn’t that wonderful? The Illustrated Man! He called himself the tattooed man, but I changed his name later for my book. I also met the strong man, the fat lady, the trapeze people, the dwarf, and the skeleton. They all became characters.
Mr. Electrico was a beautiful man, see, because he knew that he had a little weird kid there who was twelve years old and wanted lots of things. We walked along the shore of Lake Michigan and he treated me like a grown-up. I talked my big philosophies and he talked his little ones.
Then we went out and sat on the dunes near the lake and all of a sudden he leaned over and said, I’m glad you’re back in my life. I said, What do you mean? I don’t know you. He said, You were my best friend outside of Paris in 1918. You were wounded in the Ardennes and you died in my arms there. I’m glad you’re back in the world. You have a different face, a different name, but the soul shining out of your face is the same as my friend. Welcome back.
Now why did he say that? Explain that to me, why? Maybe he had a dead son, maybe he had no sons, maybe he was lonely, maybe he was an ironical jokester. Who knows? It could be that he saw the intensity with which I live. Every once in a while at a book signing I see young boys and girls who are so full of fire that it shines out of their face and you pay more attention to that. Maybe that’s what attracted him.
When I left the carnival that day I stood by the carousel and I watched the horses running around and around to the music of “Beautiful Ohio,” and I cried. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I knew something important had happened to me that day because of Mr. Electrico. I felt changed. He gave me importance, immortality, a mystical gift. My life was turned around completely. It makes me cold all over to think about it, but I went home and within days I started to write. I’ve never stopped.
Seventy-seven years ago, and I’ve remembered it perfectly. I went back and saw him that night. He sat in the chair with his sword, they pulled the switch, and his hair stood up. He reached out with his sword and touched everyone in the front row, boys and girls, men and women, with the electricity that sizzled from the sword. When he came to me, he touched me on the brow, and on the nose, and on the chin, and he said to me, in a whisper, “Live forever.” And I decided to.

>189 RBeffa: That's a great story. Thanks for sharing it. I think he will live forever with all his writings that will continue to be studied and enjoyed by readers for many long years into the future. It's almost time to whip out The Halloween Tree...
I remember from many years ago my first encounter with his writings when we read There Will Come Soft Rains in a high school class.

>190 kaida46: I think the first Bradbury that really had an impact on me were some of the stories that were collected in The Martian Chronicles. And some of those stories were rewritten after their first appearance in magazines and anthologies. But also stories like The Veldt and The Foghorn just really struck me as so different from everything else. Here is a version of one of my favorites:

January 1999: ROCKET SUMMER
One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes
blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives
lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets.
And then a long wave of warmth crossed the small town. A flooding sea of hot air;
it seemed as if someone had left a bakery door open. The heat pulsed among the
cottages and bushes and children. The icicles dropped, shattering, to melt. The
doors flew open. The windows flew up. The children worked off their wool
clothes. The housewives shed their bear disguises. The snow dissolved and showed
last summer’s ancient green lawns.
Rocket summer. The words passed among the people in the open, airing houses.
Rocket summer. The warm desert air changing the frost patterns on the windows,
erasing the art work. The skis and sleds suddenly useless. The snow, falling from
the cold sky upon the town, turned to a hot rain before it touched the ground.
Rocket summer. People leaned from their dripping porches and watched the
reddening sky.
The rocket lay on the launching field, blowing out pink clouds of fire and oven
heat. The rocket stood in the cold winter morning, making summer with every
breath of its mighty exhausts. The rocket made climates, and summer lay for a
brief moment upon the land…

I have restarted a Japanese short story collection. I read the first story in the collection earlier this year and liked it. I'll finish it in a day or two.

I have a few too many books on hand to read and figure I better buckle down. I bought this book new in December 2014 (published in 2013) when it caught my fancy and it has languished on a bookshelf ever since.

48. Transcendental by James Gunn, finished August 24, 2022, 3 1/2+ stars



The book was described by some as a traveler's tale - a Canterbury Tales sort of thing with aliens. That was what caught my fancy as well as the fact I had never read one of James Gunn's novels. I had rather low expectations and the book happily exceeded them. It starts a thousand years in the future with a group of assorted aliens just after a peace has been established after a galactic war. We begin at the edge of known space and head off to the unknown with pilgrims, and others, and they seem to be seeking transcendence. This is also an entertaining mystery in space, kind of a locked room, or spaceship...

I really enjoyed the journey and it was a quick and easy read. The ending is clever and leaves the reader with a sort of cliffhanger.

Hoo hoo. Mister Electrico. Epic.

>193 weird_O: I recall hearing bits before about Bradbury encountering and being inspired by carnivals in his youth but I never read such a detailed personal remembrance as that one.

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49. Ride the River by Louis L'amour, finished August 27, 2022, 3 stars



I was in the mood for a western, but this isn't really a western. It is one of the last Sackett novels that L'Amour wrote but it is set in about the mid 1800's in Tennessee and Philadelphia, and in between, and comes just before Sackett which I read early this year. I was rather underwhelmed by this one, although it was nice to have a female Sackett, Echo, as the main character. This story jumps at least 200 years it seems from the early Sackett novels, and namechecks a lot of folks.

I'm still nibbling at the Japanese short stories and an old large anthology. I bought a large collection of Bradbury a few days ago - it has 100 of his short stories in it. I have admired it on the library shelf and decided I needed it for myself. I have undoubtedly read most of these stories but this will give me some Bradbury to nibble on come October.
.

I've nibbled at this book for a little while.

50. The cake tree in the ruins by Akiyuki Nosaka, finished August 30, 2022, 3+ stars



I really wanted to like this book a lot, but it just didn't happen. An outstanding film was made by Studio Ghibli based on one of this author's stories: Grave of the Fireflies. That story is not included here, and I had never read that story. As far as I could tell this present collection of 12 stories is the only available book that has been translated into English excepting for an earlier version that had 7 stories according to info at the back of this book. However, I did find online what appears to be Grave of the Fireflies, translated, here: https://www.gwern.net/docs/anime/1978-nosaka.pdf. I skimmed this and it is very recognizable as the story in the film. Well written, too.

This collection, if you look around, gets almost entirely 4 and 5 star reviews and is heaped with praise. I'm not at a loss, but I just don't think it was that praiseworthy. Events are somewhat repetitive. A couple of these stories are rather weak - either imperfectly translated or poorly written in the first place, or both. I would say these are children's stories and deal with the end of World War II, primarily in Japan and the effect on everything but especially children and animals. Death, starvation, towns and cities razed to nothingness over and over, there is a lot of it. Each story is dated August 15, 1945, the day the story ends. That is the day that Victory over Japan was declared and Emperor Hirohito announced over the radio airwaves that Japan had surrendered. It was the first time the general public had ever heard the Emperor speak. It is an interesting and odd speech of surrender https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiGtQ8mu1qc

But I digress ... these are sad and depressing stories that will tug at you.

I read the first two stories early this year and put the book aside. I re-read them this time along with all the stories.

The 12 stories are:

The Whale That Fell in Love with a Submarine
The Parrot and the Boy
The Mother That Turned Into a Kite
The Old She-Wolf and the Little Girl
The Red Dragonfly and the Cockroach
The Prisoner of War and the Little Girl
The Cake Tree in the Ruins
The Elephant and Its Keeper
A Soldier's Family
My Home Bunker
A Balloon in August
The Soldier and the Horse

I thought "The Old She-Wolf and the Little Girl" was a really good story and possibly my favorite. This one was set in China with the Japanese fleeing at the end of the war as the Soviets attack. Very sad story with a very sad end.

In "The Elephant and Its Keeper", which was first published in 1975 the author writes: "Too many undernourished people and animals appear in these stories, I know, but it was wartime, after all."

"A Balloon in August" was about the Japanese plan to attack the American mainland with fire balloons. Interesting.

This has been on my TBR history shelf for nearly 10 years

51. So Sad To Fall In Battle: An Account of War Based on General Tadamichi Kuribayashi's Letters from Iwo Jima by Kumiko Kakehashi, finished September 2, 2022, 2 1/2 stars



It seems strange to say that my favorite part of this book was the extended prologue.

I was oddly dissatisfied with this book. The research for it is worth 4 stars but the delivery of the information is sub-par. Even in the prologue repetitive delivery of a letter and death poem was more than a bit much. Make your point. Don't belabor it and tell it three or four times.

The author's intent seems to be to make sure that every reader knows that Kuribayashi a Japanese hero. Kuribayashi was an interesting, caring fellow but I find it hard to praise someone whose actions led to 26,000+ American and Japanese deaths (20,000+ Japanese) and over 20,000 wounded American soldiers solely to delay the advance of an American invasion as long as possible. He didn't tell the men to do banzai suicide charges when the Americans showed up. He basically wanted them to make as many American deaths as possible. For the Emperor I guess. He had been granted an audience with the Emperor before being sent to his command and death on Iwo Jima. Japan was not going to win the war. Kuibayashi knew it. He knew it when the war began.

The book bounces around a lot. I skimmed a little because of the tiresome repetitive presentation.

I could find no mention in the book or a light internet search to see who translated this, although the book does get a blurb from distinguished translator Philip Gabriel.

52. Year's Best SF 17 various authors, edited by David G Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, finished September 8, 2022, 3 stars



This was the second to last entry in an 18 year long series. The editors selected what they thought were the best shorter fiction from the year 2011 that was strictly science fiction. This is a large anthology collection running over 500 pages. The included stories are:

xi • Introduction by Kathryn Cramer and David G. Hartwell
1 • The Best Science Fiction of the Year Three • (2011) • short fiction by Ken MacLeod
16 • Dolly • (2011) • short story by Elizabeth Bear
34 • Altogether Elsewhere, Vast Herds of Reindeer • (2011) • short story by Ken Liu
48 • Tethered • (2011) • short story by Mercurio D. Rivera
73 • Wahala • (2011) • novelette by Nnedi Okorafor
96 • Laika's Ghost • Gennady • (2010) • novelette by Karl Schroeder
128 • Ragnarok • (2011) • poem by Paul Park
140 • Six Months, Three Days • (2011) • novelette by Charlie Jane Anders
163 • "And Weep Like Alexander" • (2011) • short fiction by Neil Gaiman
169 • The Middle of Somewhere • (2011) • novelette by Judith Moffett
195 • Mercies • (2010) • novelette by Gregory Benford
220 • The Education of Junior Number 12 • (2011) • novelette by Madeline Ashby
246 • Our Candidate • (2011) • short story by Robert Reed
261 • Thick Water • (2011) • short fiction by Karen Heuler
281 • The War Artist • (2011) • short story by Tony Ballantyne
294 • The Master of the Aviary • (2011) • novelette by Bruce Sterling
323 • Home Sweet Bi'ome • (2011) • novelette by Pat MacEwen
346 • For I Have Lain Me Down on the Stone of Loneliness and I'll Not Be Back Again • (2011) • short story by Michael Swanwick
364 • The Ki-anna • (2010) • novelette by Gwyneth Jones
388 • Eliot Wrote • (2011) • short story by Nancy Kress
403 • The Nearest Thing • (2011) • novelette by Genevieve Valentine
430 • A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel • (2011) • short story by Yoon Ha Lee
438 • The Ice Owl • (2011) • novella by Carolyn Ives Gilman

23 entries is a lot of fiction and as is always the case there were some, a few too many, I would never have picked. The opening story struck me as a very weak beginning. However the second story, "Dolly", improved and was a detective/murder case involving an artificial human. It doesn't have an end, per se, just stops and the reader is left to ponder what has been discovered and/or surmised. Several stories didn't interest me at all and I skipped them shortly after starting or just trudged through them.

I used to absolutely love short science fiction but what is currently available in recent years frequently is not my thing. There are some good ones here though, so the book wasn't a total loss. I was rather taken with Canadian author Karl Schroeder's "Laika's Ghost" and I hope to find more stories by him. I have read a few of his stories over the years and I read one of Schroeder's novels, Lockstep, a few years ago and liked it. The reason I read short science fiction is to discover imaginative stories like "Laika's Ghost". Gardner Dozois' collection of years best for 2011 I have on hand, 36 stories, unread, and I note that there are at least three of the stories here in that collection, and they were among the better ones. Sadly I'd say that there were maybe 5 stories here that were "very good or better". And, sadly again, some of these stories I completely forgot before I had finished the book! Most of the authors were at least slightly familiar to me.

In any event I want to read more anthologies before the end of the year and I really hope the stories are better than some of these.

I've always found it to be a game of hit or miss with story collections, but I still seek them out because the good stories that are found are generally very good (though they may be rare in some instances), you get variety, and I can have a preview of some new authors I might not know about otherwise by reading the collections.

I have become much more discriminating as a reader though. I used to feel guilty if I did not read every story or skipped through some, no more. There's so much I'd like to read that I will no longer waste precious reading time on stuff that can't hold my interest, that I can't follow, that disturbs me, etc. An author probably does not love every story they've written either, as long as the reader realizes that is the reality of many story collections, maybe they won't be too disappointed that they did not love every story in the book but the reader should be able to expect a quality product, (low or no typos, relatively good, on theme writing, if the collection has a theme, and editing maybe?).

I find myself going back in time as well, to find those story collections. Some of the recent stuff seems to be presented solely for 'box checking' and the real aim of the collection is something other than good story telling. I've learned to put those down, (whether they be old or new) but have had more misses with new stuff over the past 2 years.

Happy reading!

>196 RBeffa: Interesting comment, Ron, that you stated in your review that he knew Japan was going to lose "when the war began". Did he say so in the book?
I always got the impression that the Japanese thought they were unbeatable for much of the war.

>199 PaulCranswick: I didn't go into details of the book Paul - I could have and probably should have but I will readily admit that i was bugged by the author's presentation. There is however excellent material in the book that would be hard if not impossible to find elsewhere. The author visited Kuribayashi's aged wife and children before their deaths and got access to many of the letters sent home. It was quite illuminating. Kuribayashi spent about 5 years in America and Canada when he was younger. Excerpts of some of the letters he sent home are included in the book including drawings he made (he was a skilled sketcher). While he was living in New York ( I think it was) he bought a relatively fancy car and drove across America. He had made many friends in America as well. He was well aware that Japan could not possibly fight America and win. But he was also a Japanese patriot and believed in the Emperor etc. The author and I think Kuribayashi himself thought he was sent to Iwo Jima because his superiors were aware of his American feelings. He knew he had been sent there to die and the letters he sent home reveal he knew he would never return to his home. It was really rather sad. But Kuribayashi and the 20,000 soldiers he commanded were determined to do everything they could to delay an American invasion of Japan and the bombing of Tokyo and other cities. When Saipan had fallen the B-29 bombers began to fly from there to bomb Iwo and Japan, but not in great numbers. Iwo was considered part of Japan proper and politically was part of Tokyo. When it fell the airstrip there was used by the Americans for the relentless and horrible firebombing that was the hallmark of Gen Curtis Le May. When I was a kid LeMay was one of the warmongering monsters who wanted to bomb the Vietnamese to nothingness.

I think you are correct that almost all of the higher ups in the Japanese military would never admit defeat. But it was clear that even though they could not admit it they knew not long after Midway.

>198 kaida46: Good thoughts about the story collections Deb, and they pretty much echo my feelings. Until about ten years ago I too felt I had to read every story in the book, but I slowly changed and now I feel little remorse about skipping some. I'm glad I read some of the very good stories in the book. I think my favorite was "For I Have Lain Me Down on the Stone of Loneliness and I'll Not Be Back Again" by Michael Swanwick (an author who I generally like a lot). I didn't realize initially but soon did, that I had read the story a decade before in an issue of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. I was glad to revisit. It was one of the stories along with "Laika's Ghost" and "The Ice Owl" by Carolyn Gilman that made the collection worthwhile and those three were selected by Gardner Dozois for inclusion in his best of 2011 collection.

About a quarter of the books I have read so far this year have been by British authors. I intend to read primarily British authors for the rest of the year. I have a lot of them on my shelves. Next one will be On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks.

NN. On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks, DNF Sept 11, 2022



I really enjoyed one of Faulks' novels a few years ago and have been looking forward to another by him.

This is a period piece that begins in 1959. Of what I read, there are parts here at the beginning that excel, dealing with love and loss. Most of the actual story really wasn't of interest to me. Mostly I just didn't have sympathy or interest with the story, the drunken alcohol fueled characters and the time period.

So I cut my losses.

>202 RBeffa: I haven't read that one yet Ron, but it is on the shelves, I think. As I am getting older I do have less patience with books that fail to engage me and tend to drop them and move on - possibly to return when my mood has changed or softened.

>200 RBeffa: I do like reading history written by those on the losing side in conflicts as it does tend to enlighten why (if there was a reason) they were fighting, what were their feelings at the time and to highlight that wrongs were carried out on both sides.

>203 PaulCranswick: Returning to a book has sometimes yielded great results for me in the past, Paul. I don't think it would with this one although it could have and should have been one of interest for me.

The Iwo Jima book I think formed part of the basis for a Clint Eastwood film as a companion to Flags of Our Fathers book and film. There is a lot of excellent historical information in the book that I never knew about. You might keeps your eyes out for it at one of your bargain shops for clearance. I've had it and Flags of Our Fathers (still unread) for many years. I'll be reading more about this period of history in the future. My next Japanese history book will probably be on Okinawa which immediately followed Iwo Jima in the war.

>204 RBeffa: I will indeed keep my eyes skinned for that or others in a similar vein, Ron.

Ron, I also am a fan of the writings of Ray Bradbury. Way back as an undergrad student, we were assigned his short story There Will Come Soft Rains. From then one, I enjoy his creativity.

I have started on a book on Queen Elizabeth that I picked up for my daughter about 6 years ago. This will be a slow read in between other books. It is called Majesty by Robert Lacey and is a bio of Elizabeth and the Windsors that was written and published in 1977 for the 25th anniv of her coronation. And here we are 45 years past that. I have read a few bits of it and think I will appreciate the read.



My "fun" reading will be with be a science fantasy trilogy by British author Richard Cowper set about 1000 years in the future where England appears to be in a middle ages sort of remnant. As wikipedia will reveal, Cowper was a pen-name for John Middleton Murry Jr. who died 20 years ago from a broken heart when his wife died. He wrote fiction from the mid 60's to the mid 80's. The books I am reading are the Corlay trilogy. I read at least two of his novels in the 70's and these will be new reads for me.

53. The Road to Corlay by Richard Cowper, finished September 15, 2022, 4 solid stars



Richard Cowper is a British writer of science fantasy and science fiction. I read two of his novels from the science fiction book club in the 1970's.

Cowper's books are set in the British Isles. The preface for this post-apocalyptic tale tells me it was published by a researcher from St Malcolm's College, Oxford, June, 3798 (based on works circa 3300 AD). We soon learn that the story itself is set just before the fourth millennium and we approach New Year's 3000 with some trepidation. When 2000 arrived it was the "Drowning". Global warming had melted the icecaps and the world drowned. Here we are a thousand years later. What will happen at the dawn of the new millennium and what does a white bird have to do with it?

My copy of the book contains two stories originally published separately. The book opens with a 60+ page novella prologue titled: "Piper At The Gates of Dawn". How could this possibly not be a good, fun tale? Well, after reading it "fun" is not the right word at all. This is however a fantastic tale that could almost be set in the middle ages, but is instead set in the future after the catastrophic event of the Drowning. Place names still have the same place names as we go on the journey with the tale-teller and the piper. Some editions of the book apparently don't include the prologue, which would be a shame. Piper was first published in the March 1976 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. It should have won all kinds of awards it was nominated in but only just had the nominations.

The short novel "The Road to Corlay" was published two years later. It can be read by itself but is much richer having read Piper. Without the introductory story I think I would not have been able to appreciate 'The Road to Corlay' nearly as much. The second story begins April 12, 3018. This story builds on the climactic events from the year 3000 in the first book. However, in the second chapter of the book we suddenly are in the past in 1986, before the Drowning, and we quickly can see how these two parts of the story are linked. I won't spoil the story but I'll leave a clue that is revealed early on. William Hurt in the film "Altered States". The part of the story set in the year 1986 is the weaker of the two by far and the characters in this time are much less interesting than the ones in the future.

I was caught up in both stories and enjoyed them quite a bit.

There are two additional books in the series which I plan to read.

>208 RBeffa: I sure did not expect my brief review of The Road To Corlay to be at the top of the hot reviews list today https://www.librarything.com/zeitgeist/reviews#hot

I did not even mention the lovely writing in the book which was part of the charm. If you were a speed reader you'd miss this, although some may think this too florid:

"Lost to sight in the fathomless April blue, skylarks spilled their silvery songs down upon Jane's head as she made her lonely way back along the moorland path toward the cove. The morning mist had vanished and the sunlight sparkled from the dew-spangled cobwebs."

well, you had to be there in the future ...

>207 RBeffa: I remember the Silver Jubilee celebrations quite well, Ron and had a commemorative mug in my possession for many years until Kyran (I think it was) dropped it. I was eleven at the time and she had been Queen all my life. I will leave for home a little early today as a mark of respect to her.

>209 RBeffa: Sounds like nice descriptive writing to me. I might have to look for some of those books.

I haven't decided what to read next. I read a little of the Elizabeth bio and I read the first few pages of the sequel to The Road To Corlay, which is A Dream of Kinship which starts several months after Corlay. But I feel like something different. I have plenty to choose from.

>210 PaulCranswick: We watched some of the services this morning.

>211 kaida46: I happened upon The Road to Corlay at a friends of the library sale, which is where I get most of my books these days. I was very happy to find the two followup novels there earlier this month while I was reading Corlay. The Road to Corlay ends on a very sad note and leaves much wide open to continue. I have no idea if a sequel was intended (it came a full 2 years later). Shorter novels of 160-190 pages were pretty much standard however.

54. The Seeds of Time by John Wyndham, finished September 20, 2022, 3 stars



An early collection of ten of British author John Wyndham's short stories. This was first published in 1956. The author tells us he tried to push the boundaries of what was considered acceptable to the magazines in the 40's-50's. He wanted more than action adventure space opera. Some of these are quite good and thought provoking. Several a little weak but no stinkers. 'Time to Rest', set on Mars after the destruction of Earth, had the feel of one of Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles stories. At least two of the stories I would call horror science fiction, one of which (Meteor) made me think of that Agnes Moorhead Twilight Zone episode where she was attacked by the miniature robot things. I thought the weakest story here was the finale from 1955, "Wild Flower", which is perhaps an early entry in the emo and eco categories. A bit more sexism in the stories than I would like but probably pretty typical for the early 50's.

Wyndham may have been famous for some of his novels like Day of the Triffids but he clearly could do well writing shorter material. This collection is good for the era, but I would not say exceptional.

7 • Foreword (The Seeds of Time) • essay by John Wyndham
9 • Chronoclasm • (1953) • novelette
32 • Time to Rest • (1949) • short story
49 • Meteor • (1941) • novelette
67 • Survival • (1952) • novelette
96 • Pawley's Peepholes • (1951) • short story
121 • Opposite Number • (1954) • short story
140 • Pillar to Post • (1951) • novelette
170 • Dumb Martian • (1952) • novelette
200 • Compassion Circuit • (1954) • short story
212 • Wild Flower • (1955) • short story

Graham Greene is one of my focus authors for this year. >105 RBeffa:

55. Loser Takes All by Graham Greene, finished September 21, 2022, 3 1/2 stars



A sweet novella from Mr. Greene. It kept me smiling at the clever writing and witty dialog and gets an extra half star for that, although the tale got a bit wonky at times. Enjoyable shorter read.

British author Alan Furst is a favorite of mine. This is the seventh one read of his WWII noirish espionage novels that use locations and characters outside of the sort usually encountered. He is a very good writer.

56. The Polish Officer by Alan Furst, finished September 28, 2022, 3 1/2 - 4 stars



This is Furst's third novel in the Night Soldiers series and an improvement over the somewhat bloated Dark Star that precedes it. The first novel, Night Soldiers, is superb as are several of the later books.

This novel like the others is an immersive experience unlike most books I have read. The author has a real skill with the creation of characters and place. This story opens with the invasion of Poland by Germany and we meet the Polish officer on the night of September 11, 1939 where the beginnings of the Warsaw capture have started.

The book has five main chapters, typical of Furst's novels, and each is almost an independent story but they are really episodes. The jumps sometimes are a little jarring until the reader reorients himself and realizes what is going on, but that is part of the "fun" in reading these books. The longest chapter in the middle "Lezhev's Last Day" had me befuddled and a little confused but patience is rewarded.

These are just very good novels.

>215 RBeffa: I've had this in hand for several years, since a beloved indie bookstore in Scranton went out of business and I bought SO much of the stock they were liquidating. I've held off reading it because I hadn't read the first two....can it stand alone?

>216 laytonwoman3rd: The Polish Officer is a complete standalone Linda. Some of the later books are loosely linked with a character here and there. However, there are things you learn as you read these books about how eastern europe and France was and how they viewed each other and interacted.

I would recommend Night Soldiers from your library if they have it. This book spends a good chunk of time in Paris (as do a number of the books). I think I read in an interview somewhere that Furst got the message he had put too much into Dark Star and so this slimmed down (about 2/3 the size) is the compromise. I read these out of order and had no problem, although I have now read 1,2 and 3 in order. The next two books are apparently linked so I will do them close together.

>217 RBeffa: Thanks, Ron. I see Night Soldiers is available from my library, so onto the list it goes!

>218 laytonwoman3rd: I note that The Polish Officer gets a very high ranking in this months librarything list of spy novels. I'm glad you can get Night Soldiers because it really is a terrific historical fiction novel. It is wider in scope than later novels, several of which I had read before I got to Night Soldiers. These novels have taught me a lot about the political situation in Europe leading up to the second World War and through it. Night Soldiers is my favorite of the ones I have read and Polish Officer I'd put somewhere in the middle. I really hope you enjoy it Linda (not that you need another series ...)

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I got double shot about a week ago - flu vaccine in one arm and the new covid booster in the other. No bad reactions although it sapped my energy for several days. Glad to have those done. It is looking like an early flu season.

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A day before the end of the 3rd quarter but I haven't started another book so my usual quick summary of favorite books for this year follows ...

Top Twelve Fiction novels for 2022 roughly in order (excluding re-reads):

1. Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield
2. On Parole by Akira Yoshimura
3. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
4. The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
5. My Sweet Charlie by David Westheimer
6. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
7. Piper at the Gates of Dawn/The Road to Corlay by Richard Cowper
8. The Polish Officer by Alan Furst
9. Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
10. The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura
11. Transcendental by James Gunn
12.

Honorable mentions:

Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene
Waiting by Ha Jin
Loser Takes All by Graham Greene

Favorite Reads that are part of a series, and not listed elsewhere:

1. The Tears of the Singers by Melissa Snodgrass (Star Trek Original Series #19)
2. Sackett by Louis L'Amour (The Sackett's #8)
3. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway Mysteries #6)

Top Non-Fiction for 2022

1. So Sad To Fall In Battle: An Account of War Based on General Tadamichi Kuribayashi's Letters from Iwo Jima by Kumiko Kakehashi

Five Favorite anthologies/ short story collections for 2022:

1. Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison
2. Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy
3. Two tales and eight tomorrows by Harry Harrison
4. The Seeds of Time by John Wyndham
5. Grub Line Rider by Louis L'Amour


Honorable mentions:

The Best of Margaret St. Clair, Volume 1 by Margaret St. Clair

Best fiction re-reads in 2022:

1. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
2. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain, audiobook read by Stanley Tucci
3. Sergeant Chip by Bradley Denton
4. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Kroeber LeGuin


Favorite Young Adult or Children's reads in 2022:

1. The cat who saved books by Sosuke Natsukawa
2. Along the Tapajo´s by Fernando Vilela, Daniel Hahn (Translator)

I have a few too many books in progress at the moment, but it IS October and that means Bradbury October around here. Each October since 2015 when I did a marathon of Ray Bradbury books, I read or re-read some Ray Bradbury and often another tale that might be spooky. I have unfortunately run through almost all my plentiful Bradbury books and have only 2 left to read (one a re-read). However I happened upon a collection The Bradbury chronicles : stories in honor of Ray Bradbury that was released in 1991 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bradbury's first published story in 1941. Besides commentary it has 22 original stories. The book looks brand new despite being 30 years old and I have already started on it and am enjoying it quite a lot. Bradbury himself contributes the first story, a rarity from his past, unpublished, which he updated for this collection. The story, "The Troll" only appears elsewhere at a later date in a rather obscure anthology. It was a fun one. The stories so far are related to Bradbury's own stories. I think all of them are.

My other spooky book may be one by Richard Matheson, or Stephen King, or both ... we will see.

My first finished story in spooky October is a tale by Stephen King. He does a retake on a Richard Matheson/Twilight Zone story idea about a mysterious button box.

57. Gwendy's Button Box: Includes bonus story "The Music Room" by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, read by Maggie Siff, finished October 9, 2022, 2 1/2 stars



This may be the most blah Stephen King story I have ever run across. There is no meat on the bones here. A short story extended to novella+ length. It started very well, really caught my interest, and then ...

I got this as an audiobook from the library and it includes a bonus short story that was also not much of anything as well as a short interview with the authors. It was well read by Maggie Siff.

It has a glaring continuity error. The book is set in 1974 to start, and a few years later, say 1978, we are at a stamp and coin show where a man is offering Utah State Quarters for sale. Those were issued in 2007.

I plan to give the follow-up book, or 2, a read. This story idea deserves better treatment. I hope I find it.

I'm reading the Bradbury a story a night so far and am deep into some non fiction for the American Author Challenge.

>221 RBeffa: What you are doing with Bradbury and his stories, I think I am going to start with maybe Nabokov, first.

Good idea to slowly work through the collected stories of one of the giants of the form.

>222 PaulCranswick: I have enjoyed the deep dive a lot. I have been wondering about who to select as a replacement.

58. Assembling California by John McPhee, finished October 15, 2022, 2 1/2 stars



Judging by book reviews most if not all readers love John McPhee's writing and books.

Starting with the first page, I expected to love this book.

I didn't. Rather quickly, I intensely disliked some of McPhee's writing style. I will assume that he usually does much better in his other books.

Much of this book is based on travels and discussions with Eldridge Moores over a period of 15 years. Eldridge was a geologist and professor at the University of California at Davis. During my college years there in the early 70's I took a geology course from Moores co-taught with paleontologist James Valentine which was probably the most interesting and exciting elective course I ever took. The idea of plate tectonics was new and fascinating. The best part of this book for me, which is part memoir and biography, was being able to visit just a bit with a college professor I have remembered with great fondness.

On page 88, in 1978, the author and Eldridge Moores visited Cool, California. "We looked for a cup of coffee in Cool, California, after crossing the American River on a seven-hundred-foot-high bridge." I beat them by a year, in 1977

Beginning on page 110, James Valentine gets a shout out for his work with Moores and their joint publications in 1970 in Nature and 1972 in the Journal of Geology. The title of the second one was 'Global Tectonics and the Fossil Record'. I enjoyed reading how their partnership arose.

So some of this story is personally fascinating to me. Otherwise I trudged through this finding a few interesting things. The last chapter of the book on the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 was probably the best thing written here.

Readers interested in McPhee's book might want to first spend a lot of time with Roadside Geology of Northern and Central California by Alt & Hyndman at their side. The Introduction and the first chapter on the Sierra Nevada with photos should be required reading before the McPhee book if you want half a clue what McPhee babbles about. I found myself running to pull the book off my shelf. It also has a good glossary, a long list of selected reading, an excellent index and plentiful informative maps, photos and illustrations. It won't directly help you with Mussel rock however, or Eldridge Moores. It will help you get a rough familiarity with rocks and terminology.

For those that want to know a lot more about Mussel Rock, may I direct you to a 2010 masters thesis: https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/vd66w1722?locale=pt-BR

There is some great history in this thesis.

For those wanting a little more about Eldridge Moores let me refer you to this: https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/geologist-beloved-campus-citizen-eldridge-moores-di...

59. Death of a Witch by M. C. Beaton, finished October 17, 2022, 2 1/2 stars



I picked this one up from the library recently thinking it would be a good cozy comfort read for October. A witch! Unfortunately the witch is dead by page 32 and what could have been some fun interplay between Hamish Macbeth and this maybe witch who first enchanted him a little and then cursed him came to an end.

This story is the 24th Hamish Macbeth novel and it follows 'Death of a Gentle lady' which I read last year. I've been reading these out of order mostly. There is a certain amount of repetitiveness to these books which is understandable but it can also be a wee bit tiresome. Whether I was tired or bored with this story or probably both I kept nodding off or zoning out repeatedly. I usually only do that sort of thing with audiobooks. Anyways I think this one is a bit on the weak side and I'll just give it an OK rating.

>189 RBeffa: Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite authors as well. I discovered him in undergrad college. The professor was incredible in his interpretation of Bradbury's works.

I hope your day is a good one. You are reading some mighty good books.

>220 RBeffa: I couldn't find a copy of The October Country, or the book you pictured, so far, so I settled for S is for Space as my Bradbury October reading, a collection of 16 stories published in 1966. In this collection I found the story-The Thousand Year Picnic, which is included in The Martian Chronicles. There are other odd or deliciously creepy ones in here too. You can find a few dated descriptions, such as no cell phones, using newspapers for news (no internet, oh the horror!) and circus trains and carnivals, which seem to be something he was fascinated by. Bradbury still holds up even after all these years.

> 225 I agree some of the Hamish Macbeth books do get repetitive, but I still love the character of Hamish.

>226 Whisper1: Thanks for dropping by Linda. I have not been reading picture books even though I have a number i would like to revisit but I can vicariously enjoy them on your thread.

>227 kaida46: I read (or re-read) S is for Space in 2015 and actually put a review up. There are two Martian Chronicles stories in that one and they always seem to be among my favorites. Even when he isn't great Bradbury is good. And pretty unique. The Bradbury Chronicles that I am slowly working through at the moment really has some excellent stories in it. There is a "new" Martian Chronicles story in it that I really liked.

>228 RBeffa: Just finished S is for Space this afternoon, the other story is 'Dark They Were and Golden Eyed', right?

>229 kaida46: Yes. I have always loved that title since I first read the stories as a young teen. I don't think it is officially a Martian Chronicles story. However, it was included along with a number of other martian tales in The Martian Chronicles Complete Edition. Sure is a good one.

60. The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block, finished October 20, 2022, 3 1/2 - 4 stars



Block really hit the ground running with the first entry in his Matthew Scudder series. The original was published in 1976 but I read a 1992 hardback from the library that has an introduction from Stephen King. Was the intro necessary? Not really but it shed some light on the character and the PI genre etc. King wants to emphasize that there are NO CATS in the Scudder books.

This is one of those so-called "hardboiled" stories but one that is different and I really liked it. Kind of an over obvious title for the book but it is what it is. I may bump this up to a full 4 stars as a better than average read that exceeded my expectations, and I will be reading more in this classic series. I already liked Block as a writer from his Hit Man series of novels and short stories.

The story builds slowly bit by bit as Scudder is tasked with discovering what really happened on a murder case that was closed before it could barely be open. Excellent shorter length novel.

I am so glad I found this book for Bradbury October.

61. The Bradbury chronicles : stories in honor of Ray Bradbury by various authors including Ray Bradbury, edited by William F Nolan, finished October 22, 2022, 4 1/2 stars



I mentioned this book up above at >220 RBeffa: RBeffa: and having read this at roughly one story a day I am exceptionally pleased with this collection from 1991. 22 original stories paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of Ray Bradbury's stories. I was unfamiliar with about half the authors. I'm surprised this is not rated higher and heaped with praise. Most of the original stories here are directly related to one of Bradbury's own stories, whether it is the setting or character. Some might say that some are a pastiche but that wasn't the vibe I got. The vibe that I got was that each author loved Ray Bradbury's work and felt honored to be able to write in or around his milieu.

I think my favorite story (of many favorites) in here was by Bruce Francis, 'The Inheritance'. It takes one of Ray's earliest short stories that was called "The Lake" (1944). "The Lake" appeared in Bradbury's first collection, Dark Carnival, and much later was included in the collection October Country. The original story was not much more than a sketch but was very powerful in just a few pages. I'll quote a bit of editor William Nolan's introduction to this story: "In his contribution to the anthology, Bruce uses Bradbury's story "The Lake" as his takeoff point. Yet this work is not a pastiche. it is sharply original in answering the question of what really happened to Tully when she failed to return from the dark waters of the lake."

Orson Scott Card is an author I no longer read for a variety of reasons, but back in the late 80's and early 90's I enjoyed his writing. His novella here, 'Feed the Baby of Love' is probably my second favorite story. It is quite different from the other stories here but still keeps a Bradbury link. We meet Douglas Spaulding and his descendants not in the 1928 setting of Dandelion Wine but in 1990. They are not the initial focus of the story but they are there for the finish.

The editor really writes excellent introductions to the authors and stories. I think this is the best "tribute' collection I have ever come across. For some of the stories after I finished I went and found the story it jumped off from and read it afterwards (never before it). Just a very good experience and a book I highly recommend to Bradbury fans.

As an FYI, the editor was the co-author of Logan's Run. Surely you remember that mid 70's film ...

The included material:
1 • Introduction: A Half-Century of Creativity • essay by William F. Nolan
4 • Ray: An Appreciation • essay by Isaac Asimov
6 • The Troll • short story by Ray Bradbury
14 • The Awakening • short story by Cameron Nolan
23 • The Wind from Midnight • novelette by Ed Gorman
44 • May 2000: The Tombstones • short story by James Kisner
60 • One Life, in an Hourglass • short story by Charles L. Grant
73 • Two O'Clock Session • short story by Richard Matheson
78 • A Lake of Summer • short story by Chad Oliver
93 • The Obsession • short story by William Relling, Jr.
105 • Something in the Earth • (1963) • short story by Charles Beaumont
116 • The Muse • short story by Norman Corwin
121 • The Late Arrivals • short story by Roberta Lannes
134 • Hiding • short story by Richard Christian Matheson
139 • Salome • short story by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
155 • The Inheritance • novelette by Bruce Francis
177 • The Man with the Power Tie • short story by Christopher Beaumont
190 • Centigrade 233 • (1990) • short story by Gregory Benford
203 • Filling Out Fannie • short story by John Maclay
208 • Land of the Second Chance • short story by J. N. Williamson
222 • The November Game • short story by F. Paul Wilson
232 • The Other Mars • short story by Robert Sheckley
248 • Feed the Baby of Love • novella by Orson Scott Card
306 • The Dandelion Chronicles • (1984) • short story by William F. Nolan
317 • Afterword: Fifty Years, Fifty Friends • essay by Ray Bradbury

Looking back over these stories I think there were maybe three that didn't work for me. But I can see that they tried. However, the final "story" by the editor titled "The Dandelion Chronicles" is a parody in extreme excess that was amusing for about 30 seconds. Sort of a crummy way to close out the collection of stories. Overall this anthology had a big success rate for me. Just about every one of Bradbury's own story collections had a few "duds" in it. Bradbury writes a very entertaining afterword talking briefly about many people from throughout his life. It was rather touching.

>231 RBeffa: No cats, huh? Well, Scudder doesn't seem like a cat guy...but why did King feel it necessary to point that out? Does HE have something against cats? tsk, tsk, if so.

>233 laytonwoman3rd: That was my first reaction as well, me being Mr. Cat guy.. I figured Stephen King felt he needed to be a bit of a curmudgeon. However... whether it was true 31 years ago, or not, he had a minor point to make, even if he went pretty far over the top making it in his 4 part introduction dated Oct 31, 1991 (Didn't he have anything better to do on Halloween? He's Stephen King, master of horror). I could throw out the first half including that cat part of the intro on its keister but the other half was interesting. In his words: "..."these days, when this mythic tough guy with the tears in his heart finally gets home, you can bet that the tom with the big balls and the chewed ear will be there to greet him when he drags his ass in through the door. Is there anything wrong with a P.I. having a cat? Well, frankly, yes. There are two things wrong with the cat. First, all at once everyone is doing it - the P.I. with the cat named Mickey or Scruggs or Moriarty is as common as idiots rollerblading down big city sidewalks in fluorescent pink shorts. Second, the cat is a shortcut, a kind of emotional shorthand employed by writers who can't really write for readers who can't really read. What comes wafting out from between the lines is a kind of smug complacency: "Hey! My guy is different from all those other guys because he's got a cat! He's really a sensitive, caring human being, but he can only show his tender side to this stray tom he found in an alley one night! Is that fucking classy, or what?""

King keeps going on for a while beating the dead ... then he gets around to saying some interesting things.

>234 RBeffa: Huh. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a PI with a cat.

>235 laytonwoman3rd: Didn't the Lockridge's have a siamese cat? I have no idea what Stephen King was ranting over. Maybe all the Lillian jackson brown covers in a bookstore pushed him over the edge?

>236 RBeffa: Peculiarly, I anticipated that someone might bring up the Lockridge books in this context...I was putting together a response as I drifted off to sleep last night.

Cats were definitely characters in the Lockridges' Mr. & Mrs. North series (most of them were Siamese, but the late lamented Pete was of questionable origins). But the Norths were not PI's, and certainly not "tough guys" in need of the softening influence of kitties. Anyway, the last appearance of the Norths was published in the mid-1960s, so that cannot be what King was referring to when he said "these days".
I don't think Qwill qualifies either, but you may be onto something with the proliferation of Braun's "Cat Who..." series in the 90s.

>237 laytonwoman3rd: Cats are everywhere in cozy type mysteries. I am not well read in hard-boiled detective fiction but I did read some back in the late 80's-90's. I can't recall a tough guy with a cat either then or whenever. Tons of authors I never read tho. The Lockridge cat was the only one I could even think of and obviously not a ragged cat with hard PIs.

eta: there are 30 The Cat Who books. Was Quill a tough guy?

>238 RBeffa: No, Qwilleran is definitely not a tough guy, although he's no milquetoast either. (I think Braun may have envisioned him as a parody of Poirot to begin, but then developed him a bit better.) He started out as a crime reporter, with the usual baggage---divorce, drinking problem...but in the first book he's moved to Moosejaw (or East BeJeesus, as we'd say around here) and taken a job as feature writer for a local paper. I read several of the series, but it got old fast.

Subterranean Press is giving away a free Ray Bradbury ebook this month - perfect for my Bradbury October - and it is a chapbook published in 2008.

62. Skeletons by Ray Bradbury, cover and interior artwork by Dave McKean, finished October 28, 2022, 3+ stars



This is a lavishly and ghoulishly illustrated chapbook containing two versions of Ray Bradbury's short story 'Skeleton'. It first appeared in Weird Tales magazine in 1945 and then in Bradbury's first short story collection Dark Carnival in 1947. It made a later appearance in the short story collection "October Country". However, also here is what is said to be the first version of the story 'Skeleton' and this may be its first published appearance although the book says first appeared in Script.

Skeleton is a horror story. It has a very odd premise, that a man discovers there is a skeleton inside of himself ... bones. But Bradbury runs with this. For all the brouhaha, the second story (but apparently the first written) is only 4 pages! Well, it is cute and in some ways better.

The book at the moment is available here: https://subterraneanpress.com/skeletons-free-ebook/

I am hoping to finish the second Gwendy book, Gwendy's Magic Feather by tomorrow night. That will be my last spooky October read. I have the third and final book on hand from the library so I will stretch October just a little. My November focus will be the British Author challenge of Arthurian legend books. First up will be The Buried Giant and then some Mary Stewart and then maybe Steinbeck of one of the numerous other takes such as Bernard Cornwell etc.

My last finished story in spooky October.

63. Gwendy's Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar, finished October 31, 2022, 3 1/2 stars



This is a followup to a book I read at the start of the month. It builds off of the prior book but can be very much read as a standalone. The first book was co-written with Stephen King, but this is just by Richard Chizmar. I think it is quite a bit better and it has a very good ending. I'm looking forward to the third and final book soon.

Chose this one for the King Arthur British Author challenge for November.

NN. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, finished November 1, 2022, 1 star



I bought this book when it was newly out and it has languished on a bookshelf for about 7 years. I have a vague recollection of starting it long ago and going huh?.

Well, most if not all of this book is a boring slog. It is a fantasy set in Britain not too long after Arthur's time but don't hold me to that. An aged Sir Gawain appears. Didn't Lancelot kill Gawain??? So maybe Axl is Lancelot. So maybe princess ad nauseum Beatrice is Guinevere. So maybe nothing. This was so mind numbing I skimmed through large parts and thus I'm not going to count it as a book read.

I do not recommend this book. I wasted a couple hours on it.

Borrowed from the library. This is the third and final Gwendy story, also the longest. These are lovely books from the publisher Cemetery Dance.

64. Gwendy's Final Task by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, finished November 4, 2022, 4 stars



Readers reactions to this trilogy vary and different people liked different books best. For me, each story built upon the prior book and I think this last book was the best even though it was the toughest to read. It starts out sad and there you go. I had to keep taking breaks while reading. Got a little teary eyed. Probably the closest to a horror book of the three books, but bear in mind I am not a big horror reader or fan. I think most readers would have come to care very much for Gwendy in the two prior books, and this one, and even the mysterious Richard Farris. The story does get a little muddy in the second half with some conspiracy stuff that was not entirely clear (or believable within the context of the unbelievable, but we are dealing with an evil button box... )

Well, the journey with the button box does come to an end.

Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning. Godspeed Gwendy. You done good.

65. Small Things Like These by Clare Keegan, finished November 7, 2022, 4+ stars



Picked this up from the library on my last visit. It is a tiny book and I would barely call it a novella. More like a long short story set in Ireland in the mid 1980's with looks back to childhood. Sort of a Christmas story slice of life.

Like Gwendy in the story I just read, "When faced with the choice of doing the right thing or nothing at all, you do what's right. Every single time." That is what Bill Furlong does. I liked that Bill and Eileen are the family here. Those are the names of my Irish grandparents.

Looking back on this story the day after finishing it I realize better the powerful punch it packs. In spare prose we see a lot and care for these people. This will be among my favorite books of the year.

Recommended

Hi Ron - is it you who is a David Rhodes fan (DRIFTLESS Jewelweed) ?

>246 m.belljackson: Not me.

66. The Woman Lit By Fireflies by Jim Harrison, finished November 14, 2022, 3 stars



This 1991 book contains three novellas, 'Brown Dog', 'Sunset Limited' and 'The Woman Lit By Fireflies'.

I really enjoyed, with minor caveats, Jim Harrison's Legends of the Fall three novellas that I read earlier this year. See >163 RBeffa: This collection, not so much. There is good stuff evident in the writing of these stories but some of it just doesn't sit right with me, for lack of better words. Legends of the Fall is a vastly superior collection.

I have about 4 books going at once and not getting them done. Finished this one late last night.

67. A Dream of Kinship by Richard Cowper, finished November 20, 2022, 3+ stars



Won't say much here. This is a direct continuation of "The Road to Corlay" which I read in September. I wasn't quite as taken with this second book, nor much of the story arc. There are three parts to this book, Corlay, First Kingdom and Heritage.

Although a fantasy, this is actually religious fiction as the future version of Christendom fights against the White Bird of Kinship. We will have to get to the third book in this series to finish up.

Thank you as always for books, thank you for this group and thanks for you. Have a lovely day, Ron.

I snatched this one from my wife's collection of Schmitz books.

68. A Pride of Monsters by James H Schmitz, finished November 30, 2022, 3 stars



I generally like James Schmitz's stories a lot but I was disappointed with some of this. The first novella in particular. Each story has a monster of one kind or another. As with much science fiction of those early years, the stories border on horror. My favorite was probably Greenface, nearly 80 years old. The author even let the reader have a bit of sympathy for Greenface.

1 • Introduction • (1970) • essay by James H. Schmitz
5 • Lion Loose • The Hub • (1961) • novella (first appeared in Analog magazine, October 1961)
80 • The Searcher • The Hub • (1966) • novella (first appeared in Analog magazine, Feb 1966)
162 • The Winds of Time • The Hub • (1962) • novelette (first appeared in Analog magazine Sept 1962)
202 • The Pork Chop Tree • The Hub • (1965) • short story (first appeared Analog magazine Feb 1965)
213 • Greenface • (1943) • novelette (first appeared in Unknown Worlds, August 1943)

Currently reading Beautiful Exiles, a novel from 2018 that is written as if it is a memoir by Martha Gellhorn. I think I am going to really like it.

I suspect I might not get farther than 70 books this year. I'm starting to pick back up some of the books I read earlier this year and re-reading parts. The one new book I intend to finish this month is a Louis L'Amour collection I have been reading bits of.

I read this book because it is Martha Gellhorn month with the American Author challenge.

69. Beautiful Exiles by Meg Waite Clayton, finished December 12, 2022, 4 stars



I think I have to give Meg Waite Clayton's novel Beautiful Exiles a 4 star rating. This is written as if Martha Gellhorn is telling us her story from December 1936 in Key West Florida when she is travelling with her mother and they encounter Ernest Hemingway, to when it ends with Paris, France, August 1944 with a few quick pages afterwards for the years till Hemingway's death. Before this story starts there is a one page intro from Catscradle Cottage, Wales, 1994 where Martha's son is reading to her, going through some of her letters. "He reads from my exchanges with editors and with H. G. Wells and Eleanor Roosevelt .... When he extracts a crinkly airmail sheet and reads, "Dear Mookie," though, I take it from him and set it to the fire in the grate ..."

If I read a straight biography of Martha Gellhorn I'm not sure I would have gotten a sense of her life during these 8 years as imagined as they are by the author. I knew next to nothing about Gellhorn before this book. This brings Gellhorn and Hemingway to life so to speak. This book is obviously very well researched and the author explains a lot of her source material in an author's note after the story.

As much as I like some of Hemingway's books, I've never quite understood his attraction as a person. There was a Ken Burn's PBS documentary special on Hemingway last year that I watched a few minutes of but even that couldn't grab me. I certainly didn't want to spend six hours on it. I do recall seeing a small bit on Hemingway's time in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War and that part takes up a good chunk of Beautiful Exiles. Scenes from Burns film are present in this novel from 2018. I had gotten an impression that Gellhorn was more than a bit of a beautiful seductress with regards to Hemingway and others but that is very much not the impression I now have of her from reading Beautiful Exiles. I have kind of a hard time explaining my reaction to this pseudo-memoir but I think I can give a good analogy. Sometimes one watches a very good film where the actor inhabits a character so well that you can forget you are watching an actor and rather feel as if you are seeing a true person. Reading this book I felt through much of it as if I was reading a memoir written by Martha Gellhorn. It is that well done. However just a little too often for one reason or another I would get bumped out of that bubble.

I would recommend this novel to people who are interested in Gellhorn and Hemingway. Paula McLain put out a novel in the same year about this couple which I find an odd coincidence, and I may visit that book someday, but maybe not. I read Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" early last year (and loved it) and now I want to re-read it. Have to find what shelf I tucked it away on. I also want to read a book that Martha Gellhorn actually wrote.

So I have been thinking about next year already and what I want to read. I want to continue my reading of Japanese Literature and history. Beyond that I know exactly what I want to read: My series reads. They have fallen by the wayside. So next year, lots of work on series. Preston and Child, Elly Griffiths, Martin Walker, Alan Furst, Robert Parker, James Rollins, Nevada Barr, Lawrence Block, Star Trek and more.

I took delivery of a trio of Martha Gellhorn's books just today, and I plan to start one of them tonight. I actually have a copy of Paula McLain's novel about Hemingway and Gellhorn, but I'm avoiding it until I read some Gellhorn writing. The Clayton tome sounds interesting. Have to see if my interest holds through a reading of her writing..

>254 weird_O: Bill, I wasn't sure how to approach Gellhorn. I don't relish the thought of reading war dispatches ferinstance. I picked up Beautiful Exiles 3 years ago and so I jumped at the chance to read it for the AAC this year. So I read about Gellhorn angsting over writing her war dispatches. hmmm. I do think I have a better handle on Gellhorn now although I still don't get why she was driven to do what she did despite being told why. She had daddy issues. OK. Well, I will get to The Face of War before too long and see how it goes.

>254 weird_O: I wrote this in July 2018 here on LT:
On my very short list for a re-read this year is Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls. The dedication to it says: "This book is for Martha Gellhorn".

Dropping off a box of donations for the friends at the library yesterday I was pleased to find a new release on the new books shelf Love and Ruin by Paula McLain. I've wanted to read it since I first heard about it, having truly enjoyed her "The Paris Wife" last year. This is a book about Martha Gellhorn and her relationship with Ernest Hemingway. I read a bit towards the end which really caught my interest, but when I started reading from the beginning I found I didn't care for the style nor the character. This certainly didn't grab me like "The Paris Wife" did. So, without getting too far I stopped. I may try it again someday.

Stopping by to wish you a happy holiday season! As for an answer to post #253: it doesn't matter how many books you read as long as you are doing something you enjoy!

My daughter Kelly is on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle for today, Dec 23,2022 and she didn't have to commit some dastardly deed to get there. Here is an excerpt of the news which I hope works: https://digital.olivesoftware.com/olive/odn/sanfranciscochronicle/shared/ShowArt...

>258 RBeffa: What a Brave and Compassionate Daughter!

>259 m.belljackson: Thank you Marianne.

Malaysia's branch of the 75er's wishes you and yours a happy holiday season.

>261 PaulCranswick: >262 Berly: Thank you Paul and Kim.

70. Yondering by Louis L'Amour, finished December 24, 2022, 4 stars



This is certainly one of the better short story collections by L'Amour that I have encountered. I seem to enjoy his short stories more than many of his novels, although both can be very good. L'Amour writes an excellent introduction to each of the stories here and what gave rise to their origin. My favorites in here might be his seaman tales. But these non-westerns are quite diverse. I read these over several weeks and they were nice treats one and two at a time. Not a single dud. There's even a good poem in here.

The stories in my 1980 edition are: Where There's Fighting • The Dancing Kate • Glorious! • Dead-End Drift • Old Doc Yak • Survival • Thicker Than Blood • The Admiral • Shanghai, Not Without Gestures • The Man Who Stole Shakespeare • A Friend of the General • Author's Tea • A Moon of the trees broken by snow: A Christmas story • Let Me Forget...

I love Louis L'Amour!! Glad the collection was so good.

>258 RBeffa: I omitted to comment on your post and give great kudos to the fine work your daughter is doing, Ron.
By the way I didn't realize those birds were quite so big!

>265 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. We are proud of her. Those pelicans are quite big.

>266 RBeffa: I don't know why I thought that they were smaller than that, Ron. She is doing a great job, is she exposed to the virus herself or is it more a case of stopping the birds infecting each other?

>267 PaulCranswick: I asked her a question like that a couple months ago and the virus just infects birds, especially poultry initially. There may have been a case or two of bird to human transmission but I have not kept up to date. It does infect some mammals. Here is a recent article https://hakaimagazine.com/news/the-rampaging-avian-influenza-is-entering-unknown...

The pelican was one of many injured birds they care for and rehabilitate but it is not a "bird flu" bird. The staff wear protective gear and quarantine new arrivals.

I've been beating myself up trying to make my final best books of the year list. Here it is. The top 5 are the top 5 but their order could be fluid. I will read one or two more books before year's end (one will be done shortly) so if this changes, so be it. I tried to order these with how much they impressed me when I read them combined with how much they have stayed with me by year's end.

Top Twelve Fiction novels for 2022 roughly in order (excluding re-reads):

1. Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield
2. On Parole by Akira Yoshimura
3. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
4. The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
5. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
6. Piper at the Gates of Dawn/The Road to Corlay by Richard Cowper
7. My Sweet Charlie by David Westheimer
8. The Polish Officer by Alan Furst
9. Gwendy's Final Task - the Gwendy trilogy, by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar
10. Small Things Like These by Clare Keegan
11. Beautiful Exiles by Meg Waite Clayton
12 tie. Transcendental by James Gunn
12 tie. Silk by Alessandro Baricco

Honorable mentions:

Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura
Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene
Waiting by Ha Jin

Favorite Reads that are part of a series, and not listed elsewhere:

1. The Tears of the Singers by Melissa Snodgrass (Star Trek Original Series #19)
2. Sackett by Louis L'Amour (The Sackett's #8)
3. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway Mysteries #6)
4. The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder series)
5. A Walk AMong the Tombstones by Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder series)

Top Non-Fiction for 2022

1. So Sad To Fall In Battle: An Account of War Based on General Tadamichi Kuribayashi's Letters from Iwo Jima by Kumiko Kakehashi

Five Favorite anthologies/ short story collections for 2022:

1. The Bradbury chronicles : stories in honor of Ray Bradbury by various authors including Ray Bradbury, edited by William F Nolan
2. Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison
3. Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy
4. Yondering by Louis L'Amour
5. Two tales and eight tomorrows by Harry Harrison

Honorable mentions:
Grub Line Rider by Louis L'Amour
The Best of Margaret St. Clair, Volume 1 by Margaret St. Clair

Best fiction re-reads in 2022:

1. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
2. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain, audiobook read by Stanley Tucci
3. Sergeant Chip by Bradley Denton
4. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Kroeber LeGuin


Favorite Young Adult or Children's reads in 2022:

1. The cat who saved books by Sosuke Natsukawa

This was one of several books I picked up from the library last week.

71. Silk by Alessandro Baricco, finished December 27, 2022, 4 stars



This is an Italian book, translated. My initial impression was rather poor, but as I read through this short novel my feelings about it changed. It slowly seduces the reader. I found the time spent in Japan the most interesting part, but I was drawn into the whole story.

It seems I will have to add this to the best books of the year list.

NN How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu, not rated

I don't think I'm going to finish this 2022 book. It is sort of like a fixup novel - many stories from across the last decade put together for a novel. When I read the beginning I felt like I had a bit of deja vu - was this Adam Johnson's 'Parasites Like Us' mixed with 'Midnight Sky' and other stories and novels I have read in the past? I don't think I have read anything by this author before. But the story goes off in a number of directions. I think maybe I just wasn't in the mood for an apocalyptic novel made up of pieces of things.

It took me a bit to get immersed in Silk too, but "slowly seduced" is an excellent description of what happened.

>272 laytonwoman3rd: I was a little unhappy with the end (and also the fate of the messenger boy). When the letter arrived with postage from Ostend (I looked it up - a coastal city in Belgium) I thought, this doesn't make any sense. Has the girl escaped Japan? but wait, how would she or anyone know where Herve Joncour lived? Then the letter itself ... well, it was an unusual finish.

Still, my overall impression was good.

72. A Walk Among the Tombstones by Lawrence Block, finished Dec 29, 2022, 3 1/2 stars



I read the first Matthew Scudder novel, The Sins of the Fathers, in October and thought it was well done crime fiction. I liked the main character. This is a long series and I looked for more books in the series and this is one I found. I should probably not have jumped ahead to book 10 in a series but I did and read almost half the book in October before setting it aside for other reading and then not getting back to it - until now. Parts of this story I didn't care for, but most of it is pretty good. There are reviews here on LT that match the good and bad of my feelings.

I see that Netflix has the movie adaptation and since I like Liam Neeson I intend to watch the film tomorrow.

I might include the Matthew Scudder series as one of my series reads in 2023 but there are a lot of other series I want to get back to first.

I will be a little slow getting 2023 going. I have been thinking about it however. I am going to be very, very focused on series reads, from off the shelf as much as possible, and I will supplement missing books in series from the library as much as I can. I'm 69 years old now and as much as I love them I do not need to bring armfuls of the books into the house to have for the future. The future is not way out there anymore. I have been thinning my "someday" books from my shelves the last few years and I feel like I am close to the bone now. The stuff I have on hand I want to read, and that is what I am going to do.

So series reads and continued visits to Australian and Japanese literature will be my focus.

I hope this new year is a good one for all of us. LT has been part of my life, a nice part, for over a decade now. This was my tenth year in the 75 group.

On to the future my friends.

My 2023 thread is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/347292