Books and other stuff I feel like discussing
By education and experience - Accountant with a specialty in taxation. Formerly a CPA (license has lapsed). Masters degree in law of taxation from University of Denver. Now retired. Part time work during baseball season as receptionist & switchboard operator for the Colorado Rockies. This gig feeds my soul in ways I have trouble articulating. One daughter, and four grandchildren. I share the house with two cats; a big goof of a cat called Grinch (named as a joke for his easy going "whatever" disposition); and Lady, a shelter adoptee with a regal bearing and sweet little soprano voice. I would be very bereft if it ever becomes necessary to keep house without a cat.
Mood:
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Books Update
It seems to me that I have been in a reading funk of late, and not accomplishing very much in that department, but when I look at my log, the last six weeks seem a tad more productive than I thought.
AN ARSONIST'S GUIDE TO WRITERS' HOMES IN NEW ENGLAND by Brock Clarke.
The narrator's foolish after hours visit to Emily Dickinson's home results in a fire which tragically results in the death of two employees who had been enjoying a private after work moment in an upstairs bedroom. He serves time in prison for the crime, and returns to attempt to put all vestiges of the past behind him. It doesn't work, of course, and the result is semi-comic and ultimately thoughtful.
Lest anyone become alarmed, the book is total fiction, and no homes of famous persons, living or dead, were harmed or destroyed as the author wrote.
POLTERGEIST by Kat Richardson
The protagonist is a private investigator in the Seattle area, who survived a brief period of medical death before the book opens. She now has the ability to move in and out of "the grey," a realm just beyond reality, where ghosts are quite at home. Her unusual skills bring unusual cases to her door. In this entry in the series, a university psychology experiment succeeds all too well – the spirit the group has imagined becomes a real entity. Very spooky, "read with the lights on" type of stuff.
LADY KILLER by Ed McBain
The detectives of the 87th squad struggle with a day plagued by sultry heat as they attempt to decipher an enigmatic letter threatening death to "the lady." Entertaining procedural made even more engrossing by the absences of so many things we take for granted – cell phones, fax machines, and computers.
VOICES by Arnaldur Indridason
Erlendur, the dour Icelandic cop of this entertaining series investigates the death by stabbing of a hotel employee dressed as Santa Claus for the annual Christmas celebration.
MR CLARINET by Nick Stone
A former cop, and now an ex-con, travels to Haiti in an attempt to locate a young boy who has disappeared. His wealthy employers have lots of secrets they are hoping to keep hidden. Needless to say, their hopes are in vain.
SEVEN FOR A SECRET by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer
John the Eunuch is chamberlain to the Emperor Justinian in ancient Constantinople. He muses out loud to the mosaic of a young girl which adorns his wall. When a woman approaches him in the market, claiming to be the model for the portrait, John plans to meet her again, but finds her murdered instead. His search for her killer leads him into a web of political intrigue.
A KILLING NIGHT by Jonathon King
PI Max Freeman joins the search for answers to the disappearance of young women in the Miami area. An acquaintance of his is the chief suspect, and as the investigation continues, Max becomes suspicious of the thrust of the investigation, convinced they are after the wrong man. The villain in this one made my skin crawl. The reader is privy to the real baddie long before the other characters in the book.
MANDARIN PLAID by S J Rozan
A friend of Lydia Chin is hoping to open her fashion house, but her designs have been stolen. Lydia and Bill Smith are hired to help meet a ransom demand, but quite a few things go wrong.
DEXTER IN THE DARK by Jeff Lindsay
I think readers who didn't start this series from the beginning won't ever enjoy it as much as those of us who started with the first – DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER. Dexter is a blood spatter expert for the Miami police department, and in his spare time, a serial killer. He is a true sociopath, without normal emotions or connections to others, and yet, and yet. In the second entry, DEARLY DEVOTED DEXTER, Dexter moved ahead with some plans which made me recoil in horror. Yet by the time that book was over, I was OK with his decision. I know this is all very ambiguous, and I hope you will rely on my assurance that there are spoilers galore in Lindsay's books and to say anything at all about the plot lines is to risk saying too much.
Dexter is a truly unique character, and I eagerly await Lindsay's next entry. The most recent is just as enjoyable as the first two!
THE GATHERING by Anne Enright
A recent winner of the British Booker prize for best novel. A woman from a large, far flung Irish family receives news of her brother's death by drowning and takes on the responsibility of retrieving his body from England and bringing it home for the wake and burial. The sequence of events wakens long buried memories of unhappy childhood incidents, and brings her to a turning point in her life.
Happy Reading!
AN ARSONIST'S GUIDE TO WRITERS' HOMES IN NEW ENGLAND by Brock Clarke.
The narrator's foolish after hours visit to Emily Dickinson's home results in a fire which tragically results in the death of two employees who had been enjoying a private after work moment in an upstairs bedroom. He serves time in prison for the crime, and returns to attempt to put all vestiges of the past behind him. It doesn't work, of course, and the result is semi-comic and ultimately thoughtful.
Lest anyone become alarmed, the book is total fiction, and no homes of famous persons, living or dead, were harmed or destroyed as the author wrote.
POLTERGEIST by Kat Richardson
The protagonist is a private investigator in the Seattle area, who survived a brief period of medical death before the book opens. She now has the ability to move in and out of "the grey," a realm just beyond reality, where ghosts are quite at home. Her unusual skills bring unusual cases to her door. In this entry in the series, a university psychology experiment succeeds all too well – the spirit the group has imagined becomes a real entity. Very spooky, "read with the lights on" type of stuff.
LADY KILLER by Ed McBain
The detectives of the 87th squad struggle with a day plagued by sultry heat as they attempt to decipher an enigmatic letter threatening death to "the lady." Entertaining procedural made even more engrossing by the absences of so many things we take for granted – cell phones, fax machines, and computers.
VOICES by Arnaldur Indridason
Erlendur, the dour Icelandic cop of this entertaining series investigates the death by stabbing of a hotel employee dressed as Santa Claus for the annual Christmas celebration.
MR CLARINET by Nick Stone
A former cop, and now an ex-con, travels to Haiti in an attempt to locate a young boy who has disappeared. His wealthy employers have lots of secrets they are hoping to keep hidden. Needless to say, their hopes are in vain.
SEVEN FOR A SECRET by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer
John the Eunuch is chamberlain to the Emperor Justinian in ancient Constantinople. He muses out loud to the mosaic of a young girl which adorns his wall. When a woman approaches him in the market, claiming to be the model for the portrait, John plans to meet her again, but finds her murdered instead. His search for her killer leads him into a web of political intrigue.
A KILLING NIGHT by Jonathon King
PI Max Freeman joins the search for answers to the disappearance of young women in the Miami area. An acquaintance of his is the chief suspect, and as the investigation continues, Max becomes suspicious of the thrust of the investigation, convinced they are after the wrong man. The villain in this one made my skin crawl. The reader is privy to the real baddie long before the other characters in the book.
MANDARIN PLAID by S J Rozan
A friend of Lydia Chin is hoping to open her fashion house, but her designs have been stolen. Lydia and Bill Smith are hired to help meet a ransom demand, but quite a few things go wrong.
DEXTER IN THE DARK by Jeff Lindsay
I think readers who didn't start this series from the beginning won't ever enjoy it as much as those of us who started with the first – DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER. Dexter is a blood spatter expert for the Miami police department, and in his spare time, a serial killer. He is a true sociopath, without normal emotions or connections to others, and yet, and yet. In the second entry, DEARLY DEVOTED DEXTER, Dexter moved ahead with some plans which made me recoil in horror. Yet by the time that book was over, I was OK with his decision. I know this is all very ambiguous, and I hope you will rely on my assurance that there are spoilers galore in Lindsay's books and to say anything at all about the plot lines is to risk saying too much.
Dexter is a truly unique character, and I eagerly await Lindsay's next entry. The most recent is just as enjoyable as the first two!
THE GATHERING by Anne Enright
A recent winner of the British Booker prize for best novel. A woman from a large, far flung Irish family receives news of her brother's death by drowning and takes on the responsibility of retrieving his body from England and bringing it home for the wake and burial. The sequence of events wakens long buried memories of unhappy childhood incidents, and brings her to a turning point in her life.
Happy Reading!
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