Category: Fiction

A New Life

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Malamud, Bernard. A New Life. Farrar, Straus and Cuahy, 1961.

Reason read: Malamud passed away in the month of March. Read in his memory.

Moving from New York City to the Pacific Northwest, Seymour Levin has a cringy start to his new life. His boss invites him for dinner on his first night in town. He hasn’t even been to his new residence before Levin has hot soup dropped in his lap, is peed on by his boss’s young son, and is forced to wear his boss’s clothes while his are being cleaned by his boss’s overanxious wife. It is almost as if Pauline and Gerald are holding Levin hostage. Somehow right away you know Levin’s new life on the west coast isn’t going to be all that he dreamed it would be.
Once settle in Cascadia, Levin experiences a lot of firsts: first driver’s license; first ownership of a vehicle; first time out of a big city; first time teaching at the college level; first time confronting a student about cheating; first time confronting a peer about censorship; first time challenging a time-honored text. Throughout all these firsts, Levin is desperate for human companionship. A brush of a female breast at a party and he suddenly he is in love. The wife of his boss takes advantage of his loneliness to treat him as a confessional. Things spiral from there.
Levin’s professional immaturity causes him to get caught up in the political drama of the liberal arts degree and who will be the next head of the department.
All along you are wondering, what kind of life did Levin leave behind in New York? Strange that he didn’t research the area (or the job) before uprooting his entire life. And who is this Leo Duffy guy that everyone says they should not talk about and yet they do?

The more things change…”Also we are worried because he is a foreigner and everybody is touchy on that subject nowadays” (p 78). This was 1961. Nothing has changed.

As an aside, what does Levin mean when he said he killed his choices? Is it like when Natalie said she mercy killed her cravings?
As another aside, I love it when there is a connection between the books I am reading. In New Life there is a heated discussion about student athletes and how their studies take a back seat to sports. The students are more important as athletes than academics. In Last Amateurs by John Feinstein there is a very real commentary about the same controversy.

Quotes to quote, “He was dead set against the destruction of unlived time” (p 59), “The future as new life was no longer predictable” (p 164) and “Out of love he gave her up” (p 251).

Author fact: Malamud write two other books before A New Life.

Book trivia: A New Life has shades of autobiography as Malamud, a Jewish New Yorker, taught in Oregon. Was he trying to escape his past like Seymour Levin?

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “The Jewish-American Experience” (p 132). Also in More Book Lust in the chapter called “Living High in Cascadia” (p 152).

Shadow Puppets

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Card, Orson Scott. Shadow Puppets. Read by David Birney and Stefan Rudnicki. Macmillan Audio, 2002.

Reason read: to finally finish the series started in October in recognition of Science Fiction month way back in October.

We pick up where we left off in Shadow of the Hegemon. Bean married Petra and they are trying to have children, ones without Bean’s mutated genes. As an aside, I found Petra’s fawning behavior a little unsettling considering how much of a badass she was in Shadow of the Hegemon. Did love make her mushy? Where was the smart warrior from before? Anyway, back to the characters. Achilles is somehow still terrorizing the universe despite losing his most of his backers. Peter Wiggin is trying to unite the planet Earth for survival. Peter’s parents insist on going with him everywhere (and are hilarious, I might add). A few other battle school grads pop up in interesting places with even more interesting roles.
The geopolitical parts of Shadow Puppets were more interesting than the didactic Mormon sections. I appreciated the return of Alai, an old battle schoolmate, despite his convoluted character. I think it is safe to say this was my least favorite of the Shadow series.

Author fact: Orson Scott Byron Walley Card studied theater.

Book trivia: Shadow Puppets is the third book in the Shadow series and the seventh book in the Enderverse series.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror” (p 214).

Murder By the Book

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Stout, Rex. Murder By the Book. Bantam Books, 1992.

Reason read: to continue the series started a year ago.

It is not often that Inspector Cramer needs help from Nero Wolfe, but that is exactly what happens in Murder By the Book on the very first page. Cramer is horribly stuck on a case that has gone cold as ice. Leonard Dykes, a clerk for a law firm, has drowned in the East River. It seemed to be a suicide until Joan Wellerman was killed in a hit and run accident. These two people have a connection so was it suicide and an accident or murder for both? Adding to the body count is Rachel Abrams, a stenographer thrown from her office window. She also has the same connection. Author Baird Archer seems to be in the middle of the mess as it is his unpublished manuscript which ties all three deaths together. It appears that anyone who reads it winds up dead.
Navigating the twists and turns of the case is, as always, wise-talking Archie Goodwin. He gets a chance to flirt with multiple ladies in this adventure.
This was the first Nero Wolfe mystery that I was able to listen to as an audio book. It was fun, but I think I’ll stick to print.

As an aside, my birthday is one of a few pivotal dates in the story.

Confessional: I am getting pretty sick of Stout telling his readers that Wolfe never leaves his house on business. I have not been keeping track, but the last book had Wolfe gone for months.

Author fact: I am losing track of what I have said about Mr. Stout. Did I mention he was the sixth of nine children?

Book trivia: Murder By the Book is the nineteenth book in the Nero Wolfe series.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the never-ending chapter called “Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe: Too Good To Miss” (p 226).

Devils in the Sugar Shop

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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).

Mystique

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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).

Wife of the Gods

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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.

Best quote in the book, “It’s always in the lying that a mistake is made” (p 310).

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).

Forever Amber

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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).

Shadow of the Hegemon

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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).

Night at the Vulcan

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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).

In the Best Families

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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).

Possessing the Secret of Joy

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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).

Blue Hammer

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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.

Briarpatch

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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).

Betsy and the Great World

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Lovelace, Maud Hart. Betsy and the Great World. Harper Collins Publishers, 1952.

Reason read: Reason read: In February there is a carnival in Venice. Betsy and the Great World takes place partly in Venice.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Ray wants to see the world instead of the four walls of a classroom. After two short years in college she convinces her family she needs to travel. At twenty-one years old there is little her parents can say so Betsy sets sail to discover the world. She spends the first part of her adventure aboard the Columbic, a floating society of friendships and crushes.
Despite being an adult, Betsy travels with companions who are not really part of the story. She spends a considerable amount of time in Bavarian Germany and Austria. She turns twenty-two in Sonneberg, the doll capital of Europe. She spends six weeks in Venice and takes Italian lessons. [As an aside, there are a bunch of locations in Venice I would like to visit while I am there.] She spends another four weeks in Paris, France. Along the way her family and friends send her letters, money, and gifts. But the one person she does not hear from is joe, her ex-beau. Throughout the entire journey she thinks of him.
Betsy demonstrates a combination of naivete and intelligence. She speaks up for the campaigning for votes for women and in every country she visits she tries to learn the native language. Throughout her journey she refused to worry about much except for Joe.
We leave Betsy just before the start of World War I.

As an aside, I want Betsy to demonstrate her debutante slouch, the move she kept practicing throughout the story.

Author fact: Lovelace wrote a bunch of “Betsy” books. I am only reading Betsy and the Great World for the Challenge.

Book trivia: Betsy and the Great World are full of wonderful illustrations, but I have to admit the one on the cover makes me think Betsy is trying to strangle herself with her own scarf.

Music: Straus, Debussy, “O Sole Mio,” Ravel, “Debutant Slouch,” Stravinsky, Madame Butterfly, “Long Way to Tipperary,” La Boheme, Tales of Hoffman, Beethoven, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Wagner, Carmen, Barber of Seville, Die Meistersinger, “Annie Laurie,” Tavern in Town,” “Down By the Old Mill Stream,” Shine On Harvest Moon,” Peg O My Heart,” “Trail of the Lonesome Pine,” Giannina Mia,” Kathleen Mavourneen,” “The Harp That Once Through Tara’s Halls,” “Over the Wave,” “Beautiful Blue Danube,” Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Il Trovatore, “Funiculi, Funicula,” “Marseille,” “Rule Britannia,” “Rock of Ages,” and “God Save the King.”

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “”Veni, Vidi, Venice”” (p).

Ender’s Shadow

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Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Shadow. Starscape, 2002.

Reason read: even though the Ender series ended with Children of the Mind many people consider Ender’s Shadow book #5. Orson Scott Card admitted Ender’s Shadow is not sequential to Children of the Mind because it does not continue the story, but rather goes back to the beginning of Ender’s Game.

In a dystopian world of twelve year old hookers and grade school street gangs, this is the story of undersized and super smart Bean. You might remember him as a minor character from Ender’s Game when Bean was in battle school with Ender. In Ender’s Shadow Orson Scott Card takes us back to Bean’s beginning where survival was only for the smartest. Bean is so smart you have to wonder if he is indeed human and not some genetically altered freak. This was my favorite Card book yet. I loved the character of Bean. I liked seeing a different side of the same story as Ender’s Game. The end of Ender’s Shadow was also a welcomed surprise.

Line I liked was actually spoken by Bean when talking to Sister Carlotta, “He can kiss you and kill you, if he hates you enough” (p 52).

Book trivia: Card said that Ender’s Shadow is a companion read to Ender’s Game. They are actually the exact same story, just told from different points of view. It reminded me of Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris. The same story told three different ways.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror” (p 213).