A Life of Reading Words
DATE: 1/6/26
Challenge Titles Finished (Totals To Date):
Titles Finished: Totals for 2025:
All titles left to go for Challenge: 3,540
Next count: 1/1/27
Schaffert, Timothy. Devils in the Sugar Shop. Unbridled Books, 2006.
Reason read: Nebraska becomes a state in the month of March.
Devils in the Sugar Shop takes place in the Old Market district of Omaha, Nebraska, back in a time when smokers were cordoned off in dark lounges with thread-bare carpets and worn exhausted furniture. The “sugar shop” is an adult sex toy shop. Deedee Millwood is it’s top seller and has won a trip to the Bahamas. Reminds me of my aunt, only she sold cars for Toyota and was sent to Mexico several times.
All of the characters are interconnected in various ways. There isn’t much a plot in Devils in the Sugar Shop. With the advent of Valentine’s Day approaching everyone ‘s sense of priority is out of whack. Not much happens in Devils in the Sugar Shop except a lot of gossip and party planning. Everyone is screwing someone else. Deedee is nearly forty and divorced. Her best friend is Ashley Allyson. Deedee and her husband, Zeke, are taking art classes to improve their divorce (how progressive of them). Zeke is messing around with Vivian, also a friend of Ashley Allyson. Ashley’s husband, Troy, works for Mrs. Bloom at the Omaha Street, an alternate news weekly, as an editor and writer. Viviane Daily, an artist of sorts, enjoys day drinking and is receiving obscene pictures from an unknown stalker. Mrs. Bloom is also in the aforementioned art class. Mrs. Bloom used to be a birthday clown, a reverend, an art therapist at a prison, and an organizer of poetry slams for cancer patients. Ashley’s son Leo is gay. Tucker is tallish dwarf and an artist from Mississippi. Peach and Plum are twenty-something year old twins who own a bookstore. Plum is married to Mickey.
Once you get all the characters straight, Devils in the Sugar Shop is a sexy romp set in Omaha, Nebraska (of all places).
Does anyone else find it ironic that Ashley’s first novel was published with a font created by a children’s book author? Keep in mind Ashley writes erotica.
Author fact: while Shaffert wrote a bunch of other books, I am only reading Devils in the Sugar Shop for the Challenge. As an aside, Timothy Schaffert knows his shoe brands.
Book trivia: the cover of Devils in the Sugar Shop is based on a design for a Polish release of an 1968 Italian film. Cool.
Music mentioned: Garth Brooks, Vivaldi’s “Spring,” Jean Stafford, Josephine Baker, Concrete Blonde, Diana Ross, Roy Eldreidge’s “If I Had You,” Red Hot Chili Peppers, Orenda Fink, “King of the Road,” REO Speedwagon, Air Supply, Billie Holiday’s “Everything Happens to Me,” “I Must Have That Man,” and “I Don’t Want to Cry,” Bloodcow, Rufus Wainwright, Elton John, Cher, Mary J. Blige, Chet Baker, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand’s “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Heart of Glass,” and Tina Turner.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Nebraska: the Big Empty” (p 148).
Quick, Amanda. Mystique. Bantam Books, 1995.
Reason read: March is Quick’s birth month. read in her honor.
Written in 1995 as a historical romance, Mystique features Sir Hugh the Relentless, a knight destined to tangle with a sharp-tongued and beautiful redhead named Lady Alice. Sir Hugh is a dark, brooding, physically perfect legend. Alice is a green-eyed and headstrong twenty-three year old stuck living with an uncle who has stolen her family fortune. Together, Hugh and Alice search for a missing dull green crystal. It’s an ugly and misshapen stone, but somehow everyone wants it. Beyond the ugly green crystal lies a deeper curse – the rivalry between the manors of Rivenhall and Scarcliffe. Independently, both parties want something from the other. Each has an ulterior motive. So do Alice and Hugh. Alice wants she and her brother to be free of a tyrannical uncle and Hugh wants a wife. Readers are frequently reminded that Hugh is your typical black-haired, black-clothed, dangerously intelligent knight while Alice maintains a witty, feisty and independent air. She prefers science over romance. She wants to join a convent to study natural philosophy.
In the beginning of Mystique I was not sure if I liked Alice. While she was funny (calling her first sexual encounter with Sir Hugh the Relentless as “instructive”), she was also annoying in her pursuits. I begrudgingly admired her determination to not let anyone rule her.
Maybe it was just me, but I thought Mystique ended abruptly.
As an aside, what is it about the color Kelly green? Amber, the main character in Forever Amber, also wore a great deal of green.
Line I liked, “He made it a rule to hire the most adept individuals and then he gave those individuals the authority to carry out their duties” (p 152).
Author fact: Amanda Quick is the penname of Jayne Ann Krentz. If you are holding a book by Amanda Quick, you are reading a historical romance-suspense. Although I am not reading any, if you are holding a book by Jane Castle, you are reading a futuristic paranormal. To learn more about Quick visit her website here.
Book trivia: Mystique is not the only Amanda Quick book I am reading for the Challenge. Also on my list is Scandal, Mistress, Wicked Window, and Slightly Shady. Mystique is quick’s eleventh romance.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the cute chapter called “Romance Novels: Our Love is Here to Stay” (p 203).
Quarty, Kwei. Wife of the Gods. Narrated by Simon Prebble. Trantor Media, 2010.
Quarty, Kwei. Wife of the Gods. Random House, 2009.
Reason read: in the month of March Ghana obtained sovereignty.
Who would want to murder Gladys, a young woman studying to be a doctor. She volunteered at an HIV clinic battling the wide-spreading threat of AIDS across Ghana. She seemed to be a very sweet girl with a bright future ahead of her and yet she wound up strangled to death and hidden in a grove of trees. Darko Dawson has been assigned the case even though it is out of his jurisdiction. Because he has family ties to this remote village, Darko potentially could navigate the cultural conflict between witchcraft versus modern science.
Like any good murder mystery there is that one suspect who looks so good for the crime that you think how could it NOT be him? Everything points to Samuel, a man obsessed with Gladys. Witnesses saw him talking (harassing?) her right where she was murdered. He couldn’t account for his whereabouts before or after the crime…even Darko’s aunt swears the boy was seen talking to Gladys.
[As an aside: The definition of a wife of the gods is a woman who has committed a crime serving penitence with fetish priests. This woman is forced to have sex with the priests to “pay” for her crime.]
Confessional: I thought the ending of this book was perfect. It was very satisfying, akin to putting the last pieces of a puzzle into place. I enjoyed getting to know Darko Dawson and wished I had more Quarty books on my Challenge list to see what Darko did next.
This was a book I enjoyed on audio narrated by Simon Prebble.
Author fact: Quarty is a crime writer and a physician. Wife of the Gods is Quarty’s first novel.
Book trivia: Wife of the Gods is the first book in the Darko Dawson series. It is the only book I am reading by Quarty for the Challenge series.
Music: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Africa: the Greenest Continent” (p 7).
Caldo, Enzio. Soul Food: Simple Lessons Served Warm: Kitchen Stories and Life Lessons from Chef Enzio Caldo’s Table. Lucent Trail Press, 2026.
Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I get to review cool books. This is one such book.
While there are no recipes in Soul Food, Chef Caldo draws comparisons between cooking and navigating life. It is a really cute, whimsical book. Starters such as bruschetta and garlic bread; Comfort foods like soups and stews; mornings of pancakes and eggs; dinners, desserts, and left overs: they all become the vehicles for simple life lessons. This is the kind of little book I would give to a casual friend or acquaintance as a holiday gift. Less than 122 pages with a great deal of blank space, it is perfect for someone who wants a little pick-me-up; someone who reads their horoscope daily and looks for answers in tea leaves.
Pure Calisthenics. Calisthenics for Beginners. 2026
Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I am privileged to review interesting books.
Calisthenics for Beginners, although a mere 186 pages long, includes appropriate quotations from influential people, cool illustrations of the targeted areas of the body to be worked, and photographs of each exercise in action. Because the word ‘calisthenics’ has fallen out of fashion I appreciated the definition. While you won’t need weights or machines, you will need some equipment usually found at the gym or in some parks:
1) Long bar
2) Pullup bar
3) Parallel bars or a dip station
4) Jump box
5) a wall
You will be introduced to a variation of pushups, muscle-ups, chin-ups and pullups along with variations of pushups and other exercises which do not need equipment such as squats, bridges, and lunges.
As an aside, I did a doubletake on the section on handstands.
I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to start a fitness program. It is easy to follow and the exercises are straightforward.
Darkshire, Oliver. Once Upon a Tome: the Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller. W,W, Norton & Company, 2023.
Reason read: gift at the AIC holiday party. My copy was signed.
While Oliver Darkshire has written other books, I am only reading Once Upon a Tome. I found it humorous and informative (Darkshire will teach you how to identify a cryptid, for one). As Darkshire goes about his day doing inventory in one of the world’s oldest bookstores, decerning what makes a book rare and dealing with the quirky customers like the Spindleman, you can smell the old books and feel the ghosts with their tucked away desks.
As an aside, the physical book of Once Upon a Tome is wonderful to hold. The cover design was by Paul Buckley after anonymous.
And a comment: I wish we lived in a world where we did not have to identified ourselves by how we loved or who we considered family. When someone has to “come out” as gay I am always asking what does that have to do with anything? I don’t walk into a room and announce my preferences. Neither should you. What does it matter who you are intimate with or who you chose to call family?
Line I liked, “The saying goes that once you’ve spent two years in the book trade, you remain there for life because you’ve become unemployable anywhere else” (p 204). Oh. So, that’s what happened to me.
Author fact: As mentioned before, Darkshire has written more than just Once Upon a Tome.
Book trivia: the numerous footnotes were super annoying. I started to skip them after some time.
Music: Wagner
Foote, Mary Hallock. A Victorian Gentlewoman in the Far West: the Reminiscences of Mary Hallock Foote. Edited by Rodman W. Paul. Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, 1972.
Reason read: February is Women’s History Month.
Rodman W. Paul opens Victorian Gentlewoman with a promise that he has tried to recapture Foote’s autobiography in its “fullest form.” Quotes have been verified and corrected wherever possible. Misspellings and typographical errors have also been corrected. The substantial introduction to Victorian Gentlewoman also covers in detail Mary Hallock Foote’s capacity as a wife to an engineering husband whose drinking escalates out of control. All photographs and illustrations are Mary Hallock Foote’s.
Confession: as the book went on I felt Rodman mansplains a great deal. He was determine to fact check every detail of Mary Hallock Foote’s memoir. He corrects Foote’s inaccurate memories, explains geographical locations, and rights every inconsistency. I did appreciate his mini biographies. Rodman supplemented more detail to Foote’s casual reference to a person.
The first one hundred plus pages of A Victorian Gentlewoman lay the genealogic foundation of family ties, remembering dress and hair color of more notable people. Foote even includes the histories of some of the houses. In addition to Foote’s autobiography she paints a clear picture of the politics and religion (she was raised Quaker) of the time. Abolitionism and constitutional republicanism are the discussion of the day. She is well read and cultured. So, how does a “delicate” woman with a Quaker background from a farm on the Hudson River decide to travel to the western side of the country? By following her wayward husband, of course. She displays remarkable talent as a illustrator, even being commissioned to illustrate The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Following her husband around the country as he went from failed job to failed job afforded Foote time to become a popular author in addition to being a mother and wife.
As an aside, I think it is remarkable to think that Rudyard Kipling lived for a short time in Brattleboro, Vermont. The town is not that far from me.
Lines I liked, “I have always regarded phantasmoria of idealists and propagandists and military cranks and dreamers as one of the great opportunities of our youth shut up as we were and cut off and “laid down”!” (p 54), “We women were eaten to our souls with the horror of debt” (p 87), and “And the etchers, not being peacocks, did not view me with proud eyes because I was in borrowed feathers” (p 365).
Personal connection: I have something in common with Ms. Mary Hallock Foote. We “hide” our precious belongings so well we cannot find them again. She hid a photograph of a dear friend and I cannot find my favorite photograph of Papa.
Music: “Der Freiscutz,” and “Robert le Diable.”
Author fact: Foote was a wife, mother, novelist, artist, and insomniac who suffered from anxiety. Book trivia: Rodman W. Paul provides an extensive list of supporters, contributors, and editors.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Companion Reads” (p 62). I am supposed to be reading Victorian Gentlewoman with Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegman. By reading the biographical note in Victorian Gentlewoman it became clear why these books were paired together. Wallace Stegner based his book Angle of Repose on the life of Mary Hallock Foote.
Bain, David Haward. The Old Iron Road: an Epic of Rails, Roads and the Urge To Go West. Viking, 2004.
Reason read: February is Train Month. Not sure why.
Over twenty-five years ago Bain decided he needed to take his family on a two month epic journey from Vermont to California. He previously written the very successful Empire Express, researching thirty years of American train history, and the endeavor had taken fourteen years of his life. What better way to thank his family for their patience than to take them on a cross-country journey? Using the first transcontinental railroad route as a guide, the family made their way from Orwell, Vermont to San Francisco, California.
This isn’t any typical memoir about a family trip. Along the way Bain paints a vivid picture of the pioneers who went before him with mini biographies of the more famous characters like Mark Twain, Butch Cassidy and Willa Cather. He paints romantic images of the pioneers who traveled his same routes, staying in the very same towns. Bain supplies his readers with history of every region he and his family visit. Readers are apt to learn way more than they bargained for. For example, Wyoming is the Equality State because it was the first territory in the world to introduce legislation giving equal rights to women in December of 1869. Richard Francis Burton visited Chimney Rock in Nebraska. Bain revisits the Donner tragedy again and again.
The best parts were when Bain interacted with his family and shared their adventures. His family sounded wonderful.
As an aside, I was so intrigued by the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument that I looked it up on YouTube. It sounds like an amazing adventure. Note to self: exit 275.
The white crosses that dotted the sides of the highways every few miles reminded me of the southwest trip I took with my family a few years ago. I was startled to think how many people have died along the way.
Another aside, I thought Bain’s respectful treatment of Mr. Hornsby was phenomenal.
And speaking of musicians, every time Bain mentioned Southern Pacific I thought of Josh Ritter and his love of trains.
Phrase that stopped me cold, “…summer storms sometimes blew into my nightmares” (p 89). Me too.
Author fact: Bain had the travel bug from a young age. At twenty-four he drove across the country with a bunch of hippies. At the time of Old Iron Road’s publication Bain still lived in Vermont.
Book trivia: Bain includes a good mix of current and historical photographs in Old Iron Road. The ones of his family are particularly touching considering he lost his wife after the trip.
Music: Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Don’t Start Me Talking – I’ll Tell Everything I Know,” Bing Crosby, Tammy Wynette, Oak Ridge Boys, Randy Travis, Hank Williams, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Hornsby, Grateful Dead, Willie Nelson, Huey Lewis and the News, Elton John, Bob Seger, Don Henley, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Stevie Nicks, Leon Russell, Chaka Khan, Yellowjackets, Franz Liszt, and “I’m an Old Cowhand.”
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “The Beckoning Road” (p 19).
Winsor, Kathleen. Forever Amber. Chicago Review Press, 2000.
Reason read: Valentine’s Day is celebrated in February. Read Forever Amber in honor of love or obsession or something like it.
Young and provincial Amber has an instant attraction to the much older and dashing Lord Roger Carlton. Being impetuous and high spirited, Amber runs away to London with him despite his threats that he will never love her or stay with her. His warnings fall on deaf ears as Amber proves to be obsessively ambitious. This is an introduction to Amber’s personality. Impetuous and vain, she spends her days scrambling for her next meal ticket and does not care who she climbs over or destroys to get it.
I appreciated Winsor’s effort to write within the period in which Forever Amber takes place. Words like rushlight and turnspit dog gave me pause. Another kudo for Winsor is her description of the Plague. Her attention to detail was so spot on one would think she suffered the symptoms for herself. The Great Fire of London and the Treaty of Breda are other significant events of the era.
My only complaint about Forever Amber is that is was aptly named. Amber’s story went on forever. Considering I did not really like her character I found myself getting bored of her antics from time to time. I wanted Amber to have more of a backbone when dealing with Bruce Carlton. No matter how poorly Bruce treated her she always shamelessly came crawling back. Pride simply was not in her vocabulary.
As an aside, admittedly, there was one moment when I could completely relate to Amber. Just when she was finally rid of feelings for someone he came swooping back into her life to possess her heart once again. I’ve been in that predicament where a person would not let me move on.
Author fact: Winsor passed in 2003. Forever Amber was her first novel and the only one I am reading for the Challenge.
Book trivia: my version has a foreword written by Barbara Taylor Bradshaw, a queen of romance herself.
Music: “Chevy Chase,” “Phillida Flouts Me,” and “Highland Mary.”
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Romance Novels: Our Love is Here to Stay” (p 203).
Card, Orson Scott. The Shadow of the Hegemon. MacMillan Audio, 2006.
Reason read: to continue the series started in October in honor of Science Fiction month.
Ender Wiggin won the war against the Buggers with his elite group of child-warriors; none more brilliant than little pint-sized Bean. Only now in the 31st century, Ender’s Dragon Army is in danger as people now see these same children as weapons.
Shadow of the Hegemon is considered by some to be the fifth book in the Enderverse series. Others see it as the second book in the “Shadow” series; a parallel novel to Ender’s Game because we return to the character of Bean, Petra, and Peter Wiggin.
I enjoyed Shadow of the Hegemon the best because families of characters were more involved than in other installments of the series. I also appreciated that the ending to Shadow of the Hegemon was left open for a variety of plot twists in the next book.
As an aside, I cannot help but be reminded of “Stranger Things” when I read Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow. Children are going to save the world from aliens.
As another aside, every time someone said Achilles wants to rule the world I would hear the synth-heavy Tears for Fears song of the same name from 1985.
Quote to quote, “There’s nothing like casual murder to turn onlookers into vegetables” (p 326).
Author fact: Orson Scott Card also writes plays and musical.
Audio trivia: a great cast of actors narrate The Shadow of the Hegemon: David Birney, Scott Brick, and Gabrielle de Cuir.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror” (p 213).
Marsh, Ngaio. Night at the Vulcan. Jove Books, 1977.
Reason read: I read somewhere that February is Theater Month. Read in honor of the stage.
Martyn Tarne, otherwise homeless in London, stumbles into the job of dresser for principle actress, Helena Hamilton. Martyn has come from New Zealand in the hopes of becoming a famous actress herself. Was it an accident that she ended up at a theater with bad luck? The building is shrouded in death. Even though she initially lands the job as a dresser for Helena Hamilton, three days later Marty finds herself on stage, acting in the production’s opening night. Does her supposed biological connection to another actor play a part in this new role?
As part of the Roderick Allyn Murder Mystery series, Night at the Vulcan is #16 in the series. A connection back to prior Roderick Allyn mysteries: Mike Lamprey lived in New Zealand and had an uncle who was murdered when he was eight. The same Mr. Allyn investigating the tragedy at the Vulcan handled Mike Lamprey’s uncle’s case.
As an aside, maybe I read this wrong but when Martyn was looking for Helena Hamilton’s cigarette case. Helena clearly said her husband had it. Martyn first goes to Adam Poole who doesn’t have the case. She then goes to Clark Bennington who is married to Helena on the stage. He introduces Martyn as his wife’s dresser. Maybe Martyn saw the flowers sent from Adam to Helena and made the assumption Adam was her husband. I didn’t know it then, but this scene with the cigarette case is pivotal to the plot.
As another aside, here is the most interesting copyright statement I have read thus far: “No part of this book in excess of 500 words may be reproduced in any form without written consent from the publisher.” 25 words used so far. I have 475 more to go.
Quotes to quote, “She could have screamed her hunger at him” (p 21), “Relax all over like a cat” (p 78), and another cat reference, “One never knew which way the cat would jump with Ben” (p 235).
Author fact: Marsh wrote a huge list of murder mysteries. I am only reading Night at the Vulcan for the Challenge.
Book trivia: Night at the Vulcan is also called Opening Night. Like a proper playbill the characters are introduced upfront. Night of the Vulcan was also adapted for South Pacific Television in 1977.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “All the World’s a Stage” (p 8).
Stout, Rex. In the Best Families. Bantam Books, 1950.
Reason read: to continue the series started in November in honor of Rex Stout’s birth month.
It all starts when Nero Wolfe is contacted by Mrs. Barry Rackham for a case. She wants to hire him to find out where her husband is getting all of his spending cash. She holds the purse strings in the marriage and has admitted to doling out less than he asks for each month; sometimes giving him nothing at all. Since Mrs. Rackham doesn’t want her husband to know she is aware of his spending habits she tells Wolfe he is needed to investigate the death of one of her dogs as cover. Of course it is up to Archie Goodwin to travel to Westchester to investigate the dogs and the money. Of course it wouldn’t be a Nero Wolfe mystery without a murder, but that comes later.
For those of you who love Archie Goodwin’s sarcasm, wit and humor, fear not! Archie continues to make his audiences chuckle. Here is an example: he needed to look up the word “handsome” after a female character used the word to describe Nero Wolfe. Surely there was some kind of mistake? Nero handsome? But no, handsome can also mean “moderately large.” When Archie learned this he was sufficiently placated. Needless to say, it is always funny when Archie tries to get a rise out of his boss. Sometimes he is successful. Other times, not so much.
The biggest twist in In the Best Families is Nero leaving his beloved brownstone. Everyone knows Nero is loathe to leave the confines of his abode. He takes some drastic measures this time around. There are some other surprising twists that break away from the typical formulaic Stout mystery.
It is always a great joy when there is continuity between books in a series. I especially love when characters come back again and again. Arnold Zeck, first seen in And Be a Villain came back in Second Confession and reappeared in In the Best Families.
Lines that made me laugh, “Have I impressed you as the sort of boob who would jump off a building just to hear his spine crack?” (p 57).
Book trivia: Introduction was written by Julian Symons. My copy had in call-caps: NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED. Thanks!
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe: Too Good To Miss” (p 226).
Walker, Alice. Possessing the Secret of Joy. Washington Square Press, 1992.
Reason read: February is Alice Walker’s birth month. Read in her honor.
Alice Walker admits there is a connection between Possessing the Secret of Joy and The Color Purple. If you know your Purple you might remember Tashi as a minor character. She, among others, is back in Possessing the Secret of Joy to tell her own heartbreaking story. Except, told from the first person perspective of several different characters, Possessing the Secret of Joy is more of an ode to culture, courage, identity, and resilience. Do not be fooled by the short and deceptively simple chapters. Read carefully because details can be disjointed. One minute you are in Paris, France. The next you are in a London courtroom. Every chapter is packed with a deeper meaning. Self mutilation hints of a much larger trauma hidden beneath the surface.
At the heart of the story is Tashi/Evelyn Johnson, a tribal African woman. Despite being married to Adam, Tashi/Evelyn has Olinka society taboos tattooed in her brain. She knows is it wrong to make love in an open field; genital mutilation is the norm despite missionaries being against any kind of scarification. The mythology surrounding female circumcision and the price one pays for noncompliance is akin to the ancient practice of Chinese foot binding. When are ancestral cultural norms abolished for their cruelty and antiquity? Should ancient practices continue just because of the history? Are tribal roots deep enough to forego life-altering violence?
Confessional: Even though the list of characters is relatively short I wanted to keep notes on them, especially since Tashi is also Evelyn. Her best friend is Olivia, the sister of Adam to whom Tashi is married. Tashi and Adam have a son, Benny. Lisette is Adam’s lover. Together, they have a son, Pierre.
Lines I loved, “That her soul had been dealt a mortal blow was plain to anyone who dared look into her eyes” (p 65), “World wars have been fought and lost; for every war is against the world and every war against the world is lost” (p 152), and “This confession, or lie, stayed my hand for many a day” (p 204).
Author fact: I think everyone knows Alice Walker also wrote The Color Purple and The Temple of My Familiar.
Book trivia: Walker dedicates Possessing the Secret of Joy “with tenderness and respect to the blameless vulva.” As an aside, through Walker I was introduced to the American artists, Horace Pippen and the yarn painting of the Huichol people.
Music: “It’s a High Way to Heaven,”
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “A…My Name is Alice” (p 1).
MacDonald, Ross. The Blue Hammer. Alfred A. Knopf, 1976.
Reason read: Arizona became a state in the month of February.
Blue Hammer is part of the Lew Archer series. Like any good character series, the reader gets to know Lew in increments. We know he is a loner and was previously married. In The Blue Hammer is era is also another character. The 1970s were a time when strangers could enter apartment buildings and ride the elevator freely; hotel keys were returned to the front desk every time guests left their rooms; librarians had no qualms about giving out personal information like where someone lived or their phone number. Lew Archer has been hired to retrieve a stolen painting by Richard Chantry, a man who has been missing for twenty-five years. Doris Biemeyer seems to be at the center of the mystery of the missing painting. She readily admits she let her boyfriend Fred steal it from her parents. The same painting was later stolen from Fred’s bedroom (He lives with his patents.). But, the painting is only the beginning of the mystery. When the bodies start piling up Lew knows this case is bigger than just art theft. Paul Grimes is beaten to death, but before his murder he mistakes Lew Archer for Richard Chantry. Why? Then Jacob Whitmore is drowned seemingly in a bathtub before thrown into the ocean. Are these murders connected? What about missing man Richard Chantry? Is he dead, too? Then Lew’s love interest, a nosy reporter, goes missing.
Blue Hammer is the kind of mystery that prompted me to keep notes on every character and event. The twists and turns come at you fast and furious. I sensed the connection between people and their actions were too important to be overlooked. Everyone has a story to tell and everyone seems to be connected one way or another…
Confessional: Colonel Aspinwall, Dr. and Mrs. Ian Innes, Jeremy and Molly Rader, Jackie Pratt Mackendrick, Betty Jo Siddon, These are people at the party. Will they be important later on?
Lew Archer goes to a party where he is introduced to Arthur Planter,…Will these people be important later in the story or are they decoys with the only purpose of confusing me?
Line I liked, “She can go to hell and copulate with spiders” (p 25). Interesting. Is this a insult specific to the 1970s? Here’s another line, “We walked slowly around the block, as if we had inherited the morning and were looking for a place to spend it” (p 241).
Author fact: Ross MacDonald was an educator.
Book trivia: the title of Blue Hammer comes from a very small detail at the end of the book. Lew Archer is watching his reporter girlfriend sleep. the blue vein at her temple pulses with a steady beat…just like a blue hammer. You’re welcome.
Music: “Someone to Watch Over Me.”
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “AZ You Like It” (p 30), a chapter about Arizona which is annoying because not much of Blue Hammer takes place in Arizona.
Thomas, Ross. Briarpatch. St. Martin’s Press, 1984.
Reason read: Ross Thomas was born in the month of February. Read in his honor.
We are introduced to Rusty/Felicity Dill as landlady and detective. Not two minutes after trying to collect on a late rent she is murdered by a car bomb outside of her building. Felicity’s brother, Benjamin Dill, while on assignment for the Senate Subcommittee for a separate matter, comes back to his hometown to investigate her murder. In the midst of grieving for his sister Dill must confront his best and oldest friend who might be an illegal arms dealer. Apart from being a great whodunnit, Briarpatch is also a game of double and triple cross. It is hard to say who can and cannot be trusted.
While the reader does not know the exact location of Dill’s hometown (somewhere in the Midwest is the guess), Thomas is sure to keep an eye on the thermometer. The constant high temperatures were almost another character in the story.
All in all, I felt that Thomas was hoping to have a trick ending; one crafty enough to surprise everyone. Unfortunately, he pulled back the curtain a little too far and a little too early in the plot. Thomas revealed too much for the ending to be much of a shock.
Odd musings: I identified with the one character who dies within the first few pages. You could say I built a rapport with her ghost. As a kid Felicity would read eight or nine books at a time…sometimes as many as ten in a week. She took notes as she read and kept a dictionary on hand. This is me to a tee.
A childhood memory – when Ben visits Felicity’s apartment he sees a TV Guide on the coffee table. When I was growing up I had a neighbor who collected TV Guides. Stacks and stacks of them lined her bedroom floor. What she ever did with them, I have no idea.
As an aside, was the misspelling of Jim Beam deliberate?
As another aside, I thought a bread knife was an odd choice for a weapon. Wasn’t there anything a little sharper lying around.
Author fact: Ross Thomas was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma which is why some people think Ben and Felicity Dill were from Oklahoma City.
Book trivia: my copy of Briarpatch promised a “television series coming soon.” That was in 1984. I had to look it up. On IMDB I found a television series starring Rosario Dawson. Briarpatch won an Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1985.
Music: “September Song,” Bach, Beatles, Beethoven, Yves Montand, “Blue Skies,” “Amazing Grace,” “Abide with Me,” “Taps,” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Ross Thomas: Too Good To Miss” (p 234).
~*LunaSea*~ 