Category: BookLust I

Bonny’s Boy

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Rechnitzer, F.E. Bonny’s Boy. Muriwai Books, 2007.

Reason read: April is national dog month.

Even though this is a book for children Rechnitzer addresses some adult themes. Davy Edwards and his parents are patiently waiting for Davy’s brother, Nat, to return from war. Nat is in the Navy and while he is away Davy was assigned to watch over Bonny, Nat’s sweet and very pregnant cocker spaniel. After Bonny dies while giving birth the family agonizes over how to care for the near-dead pup (who dad wanted to drown). It is up to Davy to save the pup he names “Bonny’s Boy.”
Besides war and death, Davy’s family confronts competitiveness, jealousy and even violence when Davy wants to enter Bonny’s Boy into dog show competitions. If he wins he could take Bonny’s Boy to the big leagues – all the way to Madison Square Garden! The only problem was he was going up against a wealthy and experienced neighbor who historically always won these events. This neighbor would stop at nothing to continue to do so, even resort to animals cruelty if he had to. I found myself getting anxious when Davy got the idea to show Bonny’s Boy in the first competition; a real David and Goliath situation.
When Nat finally comes home from the Navy readers get a taste of the dangers of warfare, but the real lesson is about doing the right thing no matter what. Throughout the entire story Davy exhibits honesty, friendship, integrity, and courage.

Author fact: F.E. Rechnitzer’s full name was Ferdinand Edsted Rechnitzer. He passed away in 1965.

Book trivia: Bonny’s Boy was illustrated by Marguerite Krimse.

As an aside, I was really excited when Davy’s mother announced that she was serving apple pie with cheese for dessert. That is my favorite.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Great Dogs in Fiction” (p 104). As an aside, neither the author nor the title were in the index. Technically, I could have skipped this book.

Banking on Death

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Lathem, Emma. Banking on Death. Simple Media, Inc., 2016.

Reason read: someone told me that April is banking month. I am not sure what that means, but I’m going with it and reading Banking on Death in observance.

Everyone is looking for Robert Schneider. An inheritance cannot be distributed until all members of the Schneider family have been accounted for, and Robert is missing. [As an aside, in this day and age, you can just hire someone to do some reverse genealogy, and Robert would be found in no time.] The clock is ticking. As soon as Mother Hilda passes, the inheritance comes due to the children and John Putnam Thatcher must distribute it to the surviving heirs. Thatcher is not your average crime solver. He is not a homicide detective or even a private investigator. He is a seasoned banker and chairman of SLOAN, looking to solve the mystery of Robert Schneider, rumored to have been murdered. There is no doubt Robert Schneider was a less than stand-up guy with a reputation for adultery, callous abandonment of his wife and newborn son, backstabbing, and greed. He was a loudmouthed heavy drinker who was vice president and owned 10% of the family business, Buffalo Industrial Products, Inc. Plenty of people wanted him dead, and with the possibility of gaining his portion of the substantial inheritance, his own family can be added to the list of suspects.
Lathem is sly with the details. Clues point to a whole host of murderous characters. Did Robert’s widow want revenge for a failed marriage? Stan Michaels did not get along with Robert at all. His daughter, Jeannie, had an affair with Robert. Did Jeannie’s husband, Roy Novak, want to kill Robert for sleeping with his wife?
A blizzard holds the key to everyone’s alibis. Buffalo, New York, is the perfect setting for an epic snowstorm.
A word of caution: there are many characters in Banking on Death with a great deal of unnecessary information about each of them. Take Rose Theresa Corsa, a secretary at the investment firm. She has two younger sisters and a niece named Maria; she is religious and attended midnight mass at Christmas; she provides cooking assistance to her mother; she has a large group of relatives; her closest friend is Maria; she was late to work for the first time in four years. A great deal of information for someone who has nothing to do with the story. Consider Charlie Trinkham. He is an associate chief of the trust department. He is engaged to be married to a much younger woman. Ken Nicholls did not go to his family reunion in San Francisco, and even though he is a Harvard graduate, he did not dress appropriately for Boston weather in winter.

As an aside, was the detective story created by Edgar Allan Poe? I need to look that one up.
As another aside, Banking on Death takes place in much different times. Photographs of the crime scene were printed in the newspapers.

Author fact: Banking on Death is the first novel of writing duo Mary J Latsis and Martha Henissart.

Book trivia: John Putnam Thatcher is the protagonist in Lathem’s banking mysteries. In Banking on Death we learn that he has three kids (all married). One child lives in Connecticut. His daughter Laura is pregnant with her fourth child and married to a doctor, Ben Carlson.

Quotes to quote, “the best thing a banker can do is cultivate silence” (p 97), “But, even senior vice-presidents are not totally immune to a little sensationalism” (p 140) and my absolute favorite, “Death had occurred sometime before the discovery” (p 178). Brilliant.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “I Love a Mystery” (p 117).

Brig of War

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Woodman, Richard. A Brig of War. John Murray, 1983.

Reason read: to continue the series started in February in honor of history month.

When we join Nathaniel Drinkwater he is aboard the brig Hellebore. Admiral Nelson has ordered Lieutenant Drinkwater to deliver an urgent message to the British squadron in the Red Sea and hunt for Edouard Santhonax. On the professional front Drinkwater is responsible for settling disputes no matter how trivial. The power struggle dynamic between Drinkwater and Rogers builds tension throughout the plot. But Rogers is not the only enemy. Morris, Drinkwater’s nemesis in An Eye of the Fleet comes back to taunt Drinkwater with his higher rank and mind on revenge.
In his personal life, Nathaniel has since married Elizabeth (which was kind of a shock to me since the last time I knew, Nathaniel and Elizabeth had only seen each other the once. Confessional: I had forgotten there was a whole other book, A King’s Cutter, between An Eye of the Fleet and A Brig of War.). In my world it appeared that Woodman, not one for sentimental fluff, sailed right over their courtship and wedding. Now Elizabeth is expecting their first child (by not reading A King’s Cutter maybe I was forced to skip right over the sex, too?).
Woodman continues to educate his readers on nautical terms and superstitions. Words like binnacle, capstan, fo’c’s’le, catheads, jackstay, futtocks, spanner, and cascabel are common throughout A Brig of War. Woodman addresses the taboo of homosexuality and women aboard a ship.
As an aside, I keep comparing the vast difference in connectivity from 1798 to 2025. Drinkwater could not get word to Elizabeth to inform her of his latest assignment. He would be at sea well beyond the birth of their child. For all she knew Drinkwater had deserted her at the instant he became a father. These days, at the very least, she would catch an errant post on Insty, if not a vague text.
A Brig of War only spans less than two years of Drinkwater’s life at sea (February 1798 to January 1800). Again, like An Eye of the Fleet, Woodman draws from real events and real people. Some of the senior officers described in A Brig of War really existed.

Monhegan Six Degrees: I loved Woodman’s description of the phosphorescence trailing behind the wake of the dolphins. It reminded me of the glowing tide on the the beach.

Author fact: Richard Woodman left school at sixteen (same age as my dads when he left home to join the coast guard).

Book trivia: A Brig of War is actually the third book of the series. The Challenge has me skipping a bunch. I will skip The Bomb Vessel and The Corvette in order to get to 1805.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the simple chapter called “Sea Stories” (p 218).

Shadow of the Sun

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Kapuscinski, Ryszard. Shadow of the Sun. Translated by Klara Glowczewska. Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.

Reason read: Kapuscinski celebrated a birthday on March 4th. Read in his honor.

The forty years of experiences of Ryszard Kapuscinski in Africa will excite and amaze readers. He shows a rare and profoundly deep respect for the cultures of the regions in which he traveled. As apparent in Shadow of the Sun, Kapuscinski writes in stunning clarity, whether it be describing trying to navigate a vehicle through a traffic jam of sleepy buffalo or watching mustached cockroaches the size of small turtles; killing a cobra sleeping in a roadside hut or holding his breath while an elephant meanders through camp. Even tackling more serious topics like Uganda’s decolonization and ultimate independence, the coup in Zanzibar, or the Tutsi/Hutu conflict is articulated with grace and respect.
Speaking of the Tutsi/Hutu conflict, a side note. I never thought about ideological training as a part of warfare. It is not widely discussed as a boot camp topic, but it makes sense. You need to indoctrinate your subordinates because it was clever to have every Rwandan Tutsi citizen guilty of murder; a crime committed by the masses.
They say the best artists suffer for their art. Kapuscinski has been jailed for his curiosity over forty times. He contracted cerebral malaria, which sounds pretty bad until you add tuberculosis to the mix.

As an aside, Francoise Huguier’s photograph for the cover of Shadow of the Sun is stunning.

Confessional: while reading Shadow of the Sun and Among the Believers I was getting myself confused with which book was which.

Quote that stopped me, “With each step I lose my confidence” (p 42). Been there. Here is another, there is nothing worse than this state of being neither at war nor at peace” (p 178).

Author fact: at the age of seventeen Kapuscinski wanted to be a poet. How does someone so young know they want to be a poet?

Book trivia: portions of Shadow of the Sun were previously published in the New Yorker.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Africa: Today and Yesterday” (p 9).

Last Bongo Sunset

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Plesko, Les. Last Bongo Sunset. Simon & Schuster, 1995..

Reason read: Read in honor of Kerouac’s birth month. He was born on March 12th, 1922. I don’t know if this is some kind of sign, but no library in my area had a physical copy of Last Bongo Sunset. I had to read it online. Not entirely horrible.

Within two days of quitting school in Boston, and arriving in Venice Beach, a protagonist only known as “College” has met and befriended pimp Gary, and his girlfriend/prostitute, Cassandra. Gary has Cassandra hanging out of College’s window by her ankles. No idea how or why they got into his apartment, but three hours later, though, College is sharing the needle and popping his heroine cherry with them. His lily white track-free arms will never be the same. A little while later along comes barely twelve year old Maria to join the fun. Maria, on the run herself, is recruited to earn money for the group. The days blur together in a never-ending cycle of hustling for cash, indulging in meaningless sex, and sinking into a drug filled oblivion. Despite College getting bored with the cycle there is a sticky sheen of hopelessness which no one can wipe clean. The book ends with a glimmer of hope as empty as a sunny day in Venice Beach.
There was a level of intimacy with not only the drugs, but the act of using. Every aspect of shooting meth is explained with enough detail (like the rolling of veins that make it difficult for the needle to hit) to make me squirm.

There were moments of brilliant writing: “smeared his relief” – an action and a feeling. I don’t think I need to spell out the action or the subsequent feeling.

Dated marketing that helps orientate the reader to the era: Brylcreem, Ford Fairlane, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Apollo 15,

Author fact: Plesko has written a few books but I am only reading Last Bongo Sunset for the Challenge.

Book trivia: cover art for Last Bongo Sunset is a bit weird. On the left hand side is a photograph of a tattoo. The tattoo is of a skeleton wearing a mohawk with blood dripping from it’s jaw. It might have a forked tongue? The right hand side is a photograph of a palm tree with some clouds in an oval.

Music: Led Zeppelin, Bobby Sherman, Schumann, Beatles, Sinatra, Tammy Wynette, Chopin’s Barcarolle, “Dead Flowers”, “Maggie May”, Grateful Dead, Mel Torme, Cat Stevens, Neil Young, Connie Francis, Judy Garland, “Put Your Head on My Shoulder”, “Clare de Lune”, “Stairway to Heaven”, and Lucia di Lammermoor.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “California Here We Come” (p 50).

Some Buried Caesar

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Stout, Rex. Some Buried Caesar. Bantam Books, 1938.

Reason read: to continue the series started in November.

It takes a lot to get Nero Wolfe to leave his New York brownstone apartment. As a self proclaimed recluse, food and flowers are his favorite indoor pastimes. He can devote a lot of time and attention to both without ever having to leave home. In Some Buried Caesar it is the chance to showcase his prize albino orchids at an update New York exhibition that draws Wolfe and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin, out of the apartment and out of the city. However, a blown tire and subsequent tangle with a tree leave Wolfe and Goodwin stranded at the Pratt home. Since the Pratts own a farm out in the country, Wolfe and Goodwin are captive guests while the car is being repaired. Once settled at the house they learn their host, Tom Pratt, has an interesting stunt to promote his chain of restaurants. He plans to cook and serve a prized bull as the very expensive main attraction at a barbeque. Eating a bull named Hickory Caesar Grindson was never on Wolfe’s agenda. Murder was not on his mind as he waited for his car to be fixed, either. All he wanted was to show his orchids and go home. But when Hickory Caesar Grindson gores a rival neighbor to death, Wolfe knows there is a case to be solved.

As an aside, I found myself questioning details almost in the same manner as Wolfe. Was Miss Rowan a plant?

One way I am like Nero Wolfe, “I like to stay at home, and when I am away I like to get back” (p 122). Another commonality: did you ever notice that Wolfe barely smiles? He does a lot of muttering and sighing.

Author fact: Stout spent some time in Wakarusa, Kansas.

Book trivia: the introduction to Some Buried Caesar was written by Diane Mott Davidson.
Book trivia II: Davidson included a recipe for baked beans in her introduction. I’ll have to try them.
Book trivia III: my copy of Some Buried Caesar (#6 in the series) also included the story The Golden Spiders (#22 in the series).

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe: Too Good To Miss” (p 226).

Hatwearer’s Lesson

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Joe, Yolanda. The Hatwearer’s Lesson. Plume, 2004.

Reason read: Yolanda Joe was born in March. Read in her honor.

When Grandmother Ollie speaks, her granddaughter, Terri, best sit up straight and listen with both ears wide open. Ms. Ollie knows a thing or two about life, love, and loss. When she couldn’t write Terri’s fiancé’s name (Derek) in her Bible she knew trouble was brewing. Terri might be a successful Chicago lawyer and one half of a gorgeous power couple soon to be married, but what is she to do when Grandmother says there is bad luck coming? Derek is wealthy, sexy, and smart. Terri, only thinking about image, cannot afford to lose Derek so she does what any practical woman would do. She ignores the mystical warnings. Terri thinks she has it all with her career and Derek, but her luck goes from bad to worse when first, she discovers her hunk of a boyfriend has been stepping out on her with a rival. Then her grandmother suffers a fall that lands Ollie in the hospital and in need of an operation. This health scare couldn’t come at a better time. Going back home to Alabama to care for Ollie gives Terri the much needed time away to clear her head. Except. What about her professional legal career? Will her absence jeopardize her place in the firm? She does have rivals sniffing around her clients. And what about her heart? Will she ever be able to trust Derek again? She has rivals sniffing around her man, too. Life becomes even more confusing when she meets an Alabama country boy who wears his heart on his sleeve and trustworthy honesty on his tongue.

Head scratcher: correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think you need to block your number when calling from a cell phone. No one will know if you are standing in your own bathroom or at the North Pole when you make a call from a cell.

Author fact: I am reading four Joe books for the Challenge. I finished Bebe’s By Golly Wow. Still to go are He Say, She Say and This Just In.

Book trivia: According to Joe, hat wearer is one word: hatwearer. My spell checker hates me right now.

Playlist: Gladys Knight, James Brown, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Jr., Lena Horne, and Luther Vandross.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “African American Fiction: She Say” (p 12).

Truman

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McCullough, David. Truman. Simon and Schuster, 1992.

Reason read: on honor of Presidents Day, celebrated the third week of February.

Because Truman’s life is well-documented around the time of his presidency, it is no surprise that McCullough’s biography thinly covers Truman’s childhood and coming-of-age stage of life. The bulk of the biography centers around Truman’s careers; starting with his early venture as a clothing store owner, an eastern judge, a senator, and of course, finally, president of the United States. Having said that, I appreciate biographies that peel back layers of a person’s lifestyle and personality, for better or worse. To know that Truman harbored bigoted thoughts and beliefs was startling but logical, considering the time of his upbringing. Even though he thought of himself as a good-for-nothing American farmer, he also believed he would amount to something great one day. Indeed, he would go from being a businessman with a failing men’s clothing store to earning a seat as an eastern judge and then state senator before becoming president. Not bad for a good ole boy.
As a president, Truman faced enormous difficulties, trials, and tribulations. Only seventy-seven years ago, this sitting president had to endorse anti-lynching legislation (essentially anti-murder legislation, if we are being honest). We can’t forget his decision to definitively end World War II, how he handled Palestine, the threat of communism, and our nation’s involvement in Korea. Not to mention he survived a pretty serious assassination attempt.
McCullough’s coverage of the second campaign, where Dewey was the well-known favorite, was riveting and read like a thriller. Also, it should be noted that McCullough wrote with astounding detail. I could picture Stalin drawing the heads of wolves with a red pencil while talking with Secretary Marshall, trying to save Western Europe.

As an aside, I found myself bonding with Truman just a little. We both studied piano (although while he kept with it, I gave up too early). Truman was an avid letter writer with the desperation to have someone write him back. Me too. Additionally, “he didn’t like the telephone under any circumstances” (p 81). Me neither! Even today, I find some commonality: he read Douglas Southall Freeman. I am currently reading Douglas Southall Freeman; a different book, but same author. Truman also studied the relationship between my favorite president, Abraham Lincoln, and General George B. McClellan. Truman wanted to know more about the Lincoln-McClellan crisis to inform his decisions about McArthur.

As another aside, I think it would have been fun to have known Cactus John Garner for his snarky view of the role of vice presidents.

Monhegan Six Degrees – in 1948 a painting by Andrew Wyeth called Christina’s World was all the rage (and made a mention in Truman). Andrew was Jamie’s father and Jamie is my neighbor.

Author fact: I am reading a total of five books by McCullough. Besides Truman I have only John Adams left on the Challenge list. I finished Johnstown Flood, Mornings on Horseback and Path Between the Seas.

Book trivia: There is a good selection of black and white photographs included.

Music: Andy Kirk’s “Clouds of Joy”, Bach, Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique, Benny Goodman, “Cieto Lindo”, Chopin’s Funeral March, Bennie Moten Orchestra, Count Basie’s Kansas City Seven, “One O’clock Jump”, Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me Kate”, “Dixie”, “Enjoy Yourself, It’s Later Than You Think”, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save”, “Faith of Our Fathers”, Fanny Bloomfield Zeisler, Felicien David’s “La Perle du Bresil”, “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”, “Goodbye to Broadway, Hello France”, “Hail to the Chief”, “Happy Days are Here Again”, Hot Lips Page, “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”, “It’s a Most Unusual Day”, “I’m Just Wild about Harry”, Jerome Kern’s “They’ll Never Believe Me”, Josef Lhevinne, “Keep the Home Fires Burning”, Julia Lee, “Last Rose of Summer”, Lena Horne, Lionel Hampton, Liszt, Mendelssohn’s “Songs Without Words”, “Mother Machree”, Mozart’s Ninth Sonata, “My Old Kentucky Home”, the Nighthawks, Opus 111, “Over There, Over There Send the Word”, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”, Paderewski’s Minuet in G, Pee Wee Hunt’s version of “12th Street Rag”, Polka Brillante, Scarlatti’s Pastorale and Capriccio, Schubert, Schumann, Strauss, “Tipperary”, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Von Weber Rondo Brillante amd Polacca Brillante, Weber and Grieg, “Woodland Sketches”, Walter Page’s “Blue Devils”, and “When Irish Eyes are Smiling”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Presidential Biographies” (p 192). Also from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Midcentury: from World War II to Vietnam” (p 167).

Lee’s Lieutenants: Volume 2

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Freeman, Douglas Southall. Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command. Volume Two: Cedar Mountain to Chancellorsville. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1946.

Reason read: to continue the series started in January in honor of Lee’s birth month.

Whenever I read Douglas Southall Freeman’s books my senses come alive. In my mind’s eye, I can see the battlefields and the courage of young soldiers. I can hear the cannons volleying across enemy lines; the men yelling their battle cries. I can smell gunpowder, blood and mud. The campaigns from Cedar Mountain to Chancellorsville took place between 1862 and 1863. I can feel the pounding of the horse artillery’s hooves. I swear I can taste the victories and losses as Freeman describes every detail. Like Freeman’s first volume, Manassas to Mulvern Hill, Cedar Mountain to Chancellorsville is a minute by minute, battle by battle recounting of the Civil War. Every detail is well researched and described; using military papers, scrapbooks, memoirs, letters and official correspondence, court martial orders, and diaries and journals. A great deal of the narrative relies on Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson’s journals and official papers. As an aside, one of the most difficult passages to read was the death of “Stonewall” Jackson after his amputation. He had just become a new father and was well respected by his troops. his death was a blow to Robert E. Lee’s armies.
As another aside, Can you imagine being saved from a sure death by a hardened biscuit, baked without salt or fat, that caught and stopped a bullet meant for your heart?

Author fact: I just discovered that Freeman was born in 1886. The end of the Civil War was not that long before his birth. I imagine he heard a great deal about the conflict growing up.

Book trivia: As with volume one, Cedar Mountain to Chancellorsville has great black and white portraits of some of the soldiers.

Music: “Old Joe Hooker”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Civil War Nonfiction” (p 58).

August

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Rossner, Judith. August. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983.

Reason read: February is Psychology month. Maybe that is because so many people want to know what happened to their commitment to new year resolutions?

Two women: Dawn Henley is a patient with obsessive tendencies, latching onto daddy types as lovers. Her mother committed suicide when Dawn was only six months old. Her father drowned soon thereafter. She was raised by Vera and Tony, a lesbian couple. Do any of these early tragedies have anything to do with her current neurotic behavior of dependency? Like any person raised without really knowing their birth parents, Dawn is on a journey to find herself. Her identity is tied to people she doesn’t remember.
Lulu is Dawn’s therapist. The telling of her side of the story mostly happens in August, when she is on vacation and away from being a therapist. While on holiday, she can be a mother to two young sons and try to rebuild a relationship with her estranged adult daughter, who resurfaces after seven years. Lulu is also trying to justify a romantic relationship with a married man. She knows it isn’t right, but she can’t help herself. Lulu’s character reminded me of Brenda Leigh Johnson, the main character on the television show, The Closer. Brenda’s professional life hid a very chaotic personal life. Both women are great at their jobs, but behind the scenes, they were a mess.

As an aside, I tried really hard to not think Don Henley when reading about Dawn.

Author fact: I think I remember seeing Looking for Mr. Goodbar on my parent’s bookshelf when I was a kid. I am only reading Nine Months in the Life of an Old Maid for the Challenge (after August, of course).

Book trivia: August details the plot of an actual movie called “Seconds.” I put it on the list because I think it sounds interesting. Will I actually watch it? Who knows.

Music: Gershwin, and “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Shrinks and Shrinkees” (p 221).

Too Many Cooks

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Stout, Rex. Too Many Cooks. Bantam Books, 1983.

Reason read: to continue the series started in November in honor of Rex Stout’s first Nero Wolfe mystery.

The only thing that can get Nero Wolfe to leave his brownstone in New York City is…not much. In Too Many Cooks he is persuaded to join a group of chefs for a sauce competition as their guest of honor. Even though he is the judge of honor that doesn’t mean someone can’t be murdered right under his nose. Indeed, someone is stabbed in the pantry. This is a case in which Archie and Nero do not get much sleep. Everyone must be interviewed and interviewed again. The slightest lie could crack the case. But when Nero’s life is threatened, the question becomes will he have enough time to figure out the mystery before he is the next dead man?
Every time I read a Nero Wolfe mystery I learn a little more about the man. This time I discovered that Wolfe hates things that move (especially trains). He calls it enginephobia. He doesn’t like to be touched nor does he like to haggle. He still loves his beer, though! In Too Many Cooks he also loves a particular sausage recipe. Archie, his main sidekick, describes himself as a secretary, a bodyguard, an office manager, an assistant detective, and a goat.

Quote I loved, “…Once again I had to follow his taillights without knowing the road” (Archie talking about working with Nero) (p 81-82). Archie exaggerates. He knows the meaning behind every gesture Wolfe makes. Here is another: “Do you realize that that fool is going to let that fool make a fool of him again?” (p 128).

Author fact: Rex Stout’s parents were Quakers.

Book trivia: the foreword to Too Many Cooks is hilarious. Archie is worried about the spelling of French words.

Playlist: Beethoven and Wagner.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe: Too Good To Miss (p 226).

Eye of the Fleet

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Woodman, Richard. An Eye of the Fleet. Pinnacle Books, 1981.

Reason read: February is History Month.

Woodman draws from actual events to bring the action in An Eye of the Fleet to life. His detailed descriptions of the various sailing vessels is extraordinary. Readers cannot say they do not know what a frigate looks like after reading An Eye of the Fleet. Beyond boats, readers will build an extensive lexicon of nautical terminology by the end of the book. Phrases like carrying canvas and yardarms blocks will become common knowledge. If you have ever wondered what a battle at sea sounded, looked, or even smelled like, Eye of the Fleet will take you there hook line and sinker.
Beyond a nautical education readers will meet Midshipman Nathaniel Drinkwater as he begins his nautical career aboard the HMS Cyclops. It is a thrilling coming of age of sorts as young Drinkwater helps his crewmates capture other vessels and battle privateers with cannons, pistols and hand to hand combat. The skirmishes are bloody and deadly but so is life aboard the HMS Cyclops. Drinkwater has to navigate relationships with his fellow sailors as well. One particular run-in with a bully forces Drinkwater to fight back with intensity. This antagonist adds tension beyond the battles at sea.
Gradually, Drinkwater comes into his own as a leader and a romantic. An Eye of the Fleet ends with Nathaniel dreaming of a young woman back in England.

Author fact: I think this goes without saying judging by the detailed descriptions of the boats in An Eye of the Fleet, but Mr. Woodman has sailing experience in all kinds of ships. He was a member of the Society for Nautical Research.

Book trivia: An Eye of the Fleet is the first book in the Nathaniel Drinkwater Midshipman Series.
Second book trivia: my (borrowed) copy of An Eye of the Fleet was signed by Mr. Woodman.

As an aside, I couldn’t ignore the Natalie connection to An Eye of the Fleet. Natalie released an album called Leave Your Sleep. It featured a song called “Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience” originally written by Charles Causley as a poem for children. Woodman’s description of battle-scarred boats reminded me of Natalie singing, “and the flash and rigging were shot away…”

BookLust: from Book Lust in the simple chapter called “Sea Stories” (p 217).

Lee’s Lieutenants: Manassas

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Freeman, Douglas Southall. Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command, Volume One – Manassas to Malvern Hill. Arlington Edition, 1942.

Reason read: Robert E. Lee was born in January. Read in his honor.

Freeman opens the first volume of Lee’s Lieutenants by explaining why and how he started the study in command of the Civil War. He offers suggestions as to why other authors wrote the books they did on the same subject and how his is different. His version is a well-researched biography of major and minor personalities which includes a photograph portrait, a paragraph outlining the military success of each soldier, as well as an interesting fact, such as birthdays, birth places, who had a sense of humor, who had a lisp, who needed alcohol for motivation, and who had haunting eyes (and speaking of haunting eyes, I think “Stonewall” Jackson had beautiful eyes and I found Daniel Harvey Hill most attractive). Freeman used a myriad of sources, including journals, letters and previously published interviews. From these sources, he is able to provide minute by minute descriptions of each battle; of each mission.
One of the most fascinating details of Lee’s Lieutenants was the stark contrast between the assumption of a situation at Headquarters and what was actually happening on the battlefield. Glory seeking exaggerations abounded. Who could take credit for the success at Manassas is a good example. What was so sad is that despite the lack of communication, both Headquarters and the battlefield thought that the battle at Manassas would decide and end the war.

As an aside, I am constantly comparing American football to war. The similarities are endless: both have sides or teams, both wear uniforms to tell each other apart, someone is appointed captain or general to lead the battle, both have an offense and defense, both have “battle plans” and charge down the field, both wear protective gear to keep from getting hurt, both set up positions along the playing field. When a quarterback throws a ball it is often referred to as a rocket. Both have “blitzes”. When a player has a particular skill, it is referred to as a weapon (secret or not). In both football and war, a strategy is to inflict enough pain to take someone out of play.

Quotes to quote, “Involved as all this was, it might have been simplified if it had been understood. It was not” (p 55).

Author fact: Douglas Southall Freeman died nearly 72 years ago.

Book trivia: There is at least another 200 page book just of footnotes.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Civil War Nonfiction” (p 58). What Pearl does not tell you is that Lee’s Lieutenants: a Study in Command is not one 700+ page book. There are several volumes.

Red Box

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Stout, Nero. The Red Box. Bantam, 1937.

Reason read: to continue the series started in December in honor of Stout’s birth month.

The Red Box opens with a peculiar murder. Fashion model Molly Lauck was poisoned after eating a piece of candy. The mystery seems impossible to solve. Molly provided the box of candy from somewhere. This all happened in the middle of a fashion show with hundreds of people in attendance. Nero Wolfe does not need to visit the scene of the crime to know what happened. Based on interviews and the observations of his partner, Archie, Wolfe solves the case. Of course he does.
Nero Wolfe fans will be pleased to know that the details remain the same after four books. I know I love it when mysteries refer back to previous cases or when details remain consistent. Wolfe still lives on 35th Street in a brownstone. He still has over 10,000 orchids. Plant time is still between 9am and 11am and 4pm to 6pm without fail. Theo Horstmann is still Wolfe’s orchid caretaker. Archie Goodwin is still his trusty sidekick (and has been for nine years now). Fritz Grenner is still his chef. [As an aside, one detail I did not remember was Wolfe collecting bottle caps.]

As an aside, I went to high school with a woman with the same exact name as one of the characters. We were not exactly friends but people were always comparing us because we looked similar. I wonder what happened to her?

Quotes to quote, “I am not immoveable, but my flesh has a constitutional reluctance to sudden, violent or sustained displacement” (p 3), “Of course there was the off chance that she was a murderess, but you can’t have everything” (p 77) and Archie to Nero, “You’re the without which nothing” (p 209).

Author fact: Stout was the sixth of nine children.

Book trivia: Red Box was published in 1937 as the fourth book in the Nero Wolfe series. It includes an introduction by Carolyn G. Hart.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe: Too Good To Miss” (p 226).

Eddie and the Cruisers

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Kluge, P.F. Eddie and the Cruisers. Viking Press, 1980.

Reason read: Kluge’s birth month is in January. Read in his honor.

If you think about it, the premise for Eddie and the Cruisers is pretty simple. A year out of college, in 1958, Frank “Wordman” Ridgeway joins the band Eddie and the Parkway Cruisers. Front man Eddie is a charismatic and ambitious singer who knows his music is going to make it big. For awhile Eddie is right. He’s got the talent. He’s got the looks. He’s got the girl. Like all creatives, Eddie’s demise comes when he takes his music in another direction and his listeners don’t understand; worse, they hate it. Eddie rages into the night and has a horrible accident, ending his life. Back to narrator, Frank Ridgeway. Twenty years later, Frank is an English teacher and has put Eddie and the Cruisers far behind him. That is, until he starts hearing Cruisers songs on the radio and he is visited by a reporter wanting to know about recordings that went missing – Eddie and the Parkway Cruisers tape recordings from “that” night. Memories come flooding back and all of a sudden Wordman needs to know what happened to the rest of the band. More importantly, where are those tapes?
While the novel takes a dark and ominous turn towards the end, I enjoyed Frank’s naïve narrative. It truly was a coming of age story for the Wordman.

Author fact: Kluge wrote a bunch of books and I am reading seven of them for the Challenge.

Book trivia: Kluge is clever. There are a bunch of sly references that people might not get: Gary Gilmore. Do people even know who he is anymore? And who will get the “Fairly Ridiculous” reference? I only did because I went to the Teaneck Ridiculous (as apposed to the Madison campus Kluge referred to in the book).
Additional (obvious) book trivia: I think everyone knows Eddie and the Cruisers was made into a movie of the same name. I actually got to see it for the first time last weekend! And! And. And, there is a sequel…Eddie Lives! Great googly moogly!

Music (and you know there is going to be a lot): “Auld Lang Syne”, “Ballad of Davy Crockett”, Barry Manilow, Bee Gees, Bill Haley, Billy Eckstine, Bo Diddley, Bobby Freeman’s “Do You Want to Dance?”, Buddy Holly, Captain and Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together”, Carly Simon, Charlie and Inez Foxx, Chuck Berry, Coasters’ “Searchin'”, “Young Blood”, Debbie Reynolds’ “Tammy”, Del Vikings, Diana Ross, Dinah Washington, Donna Summer, Drifters’ “Ruby Baby”, Elvis Presley’s “Teddy Bear”, “Love Me Tender”, Eddie Cochran, Everly Brothers, Fats Domino, Frankie Laine, Frankie Lyman’s “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?”, Funky Company, Gene Vincent, Glenn Miller, Gogi Grant, Howlin’ Wolf, Ike Turner, Ink Spots, Isaac Hayes, James Brown, James Taylor, Janis Joplin, Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Whole Lotta Shaking Goin’ On”, Jim Croce’s “I Got a Name”, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Reed, John Denver, Johnny Lee, Johnny Mathis, Jose Feliciano, Judy Garland, Kay Kyser, Kris Kristofferson, LaVern Baker, Lee Andrews and the Hearts’ “Teadrops”, Leonard Warren, Liberace, Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou”, Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally”, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Mills Brothers, Muddy Waters, national anthem, Nolan Strong’s “The Wind”, Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay”, Pat Boone’s “Love Letters in the Sand”, Paul Anka’s “Having My Baby”, “Peggy Sue”, “Purple People Eater”, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”, Ray Charles’ “Moonlight Gambler”, Rod Stewart, Roy Hamilton’s ” Ebb Tide”, Roy Orbison, Rufus Thomas, Russ Colombo, Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come”, the Stones, “Stranded in the Jungle”, “Sunday Kind of Love”, Teresa Brewer, “When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie”, Wayne Newton, and Woody Herman.

Eddie and the Cruisers Songs: On the Dark Side, Blue Lady, Down on My Knees, Far-Away Woman, Fast Exit, It’ll Happen Tonight, Leaving Town, Some Kind of Loving, These Oldies But Goodies Remind Me of You, the Tide, and Call On Me.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter “P.F. Kluge: Too Good To Miss” (p 139).