Category: Fiction

Queens’ Play

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Dunnett, Dorothy. Queens’ Play. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1964.

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

Queens’ Play is the second book in the Lymond series starring “cool, daring, strangely haunted” Francis Crawford of Lymond. [By the way, don’t you just love that description of him? Not my words, though.] The year is 1550 and Mary, Queen of Scots is now a precocious seven years old. Actually, she’s not in this enough for me to call her precocious, I’m just imagining her that way. She has been sent to France as the betrothed to the Dauphin. Francis (or Lymond as he is sometimes called) goes “undercover” to follow her and protect her. There are a lot of other people who have designs on the throne and she is constantly at risk. As “Thady Boy Ballage” Lymond has dyed his hair jet black and poses as the companion to an Irish prince. He doesn’t stand on the fringes of politics and just watch for enemies. True to Francis form, Thady prefers and enjoys being in the thick of it, causing most of the trouble. He still drinks like a fish and plays just as hard as he protects.

I thought the cheetah/hare hunt was pretty outrageous and not nearly as fun as the rooftop scavenger hunt.

A word of warning – there are a great many characters in Queens’ Play and while Dunnett introduces you to the main players (three pages worth), there are more. I have read that Queens’ Play is the “slowest” of all the books in the Lymond series. For that I am grateful because I don’t want to give up quite yet. I still have several books to go!

Quote I liked for some weird reason, “Strong wine and stretched muscles disregarded, Lymond strode to the window and stayed there, gripping his anger hard until he could speak” (p 165).

Author fact: Dunnett was also an artist.

Book trivia: Queens’ Play is the second book in the six-book series.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Lines That Linger, Sentences That Stick” (p 142).

Inflating a Dog

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Kraft, Eric. Inflating a Dog: the Story of Ella’s Lunch Launch. New York: Picador Press, 2002.

Reason read: in honor of Kraft’s birthday I started the “series” in February. It is now September and I have reached the final book on my list.

For Inflating a Dog we jump back in time to Peter Leroy’s childhood. His mother, desperately wanting to invent something or be in some kind of business for herself, buys a decrepit clam boat so she can start a floating “elegant excursions” cruise. The only problem is this, the boat leaks. Peter must secretly bail out the boat every evening to keep the old clam boat (and his mother’s dreams) afloat. But Inflating a Dog is also about Peter coming of age and lusting after Patti, his partner in crime.
True to Kraft’s sense of humor, nothing is as it seems. Men walk chickens on leashes and women can sell sandwiches with pastel breads.

Quotes I liked, “Do you want anything? She asked. At thirteen? I wanted everything” (p 20) and “If you are taking notes, jot this down: never buy a boat while you are under the beguiling influence of moonlight” (p 77).

Author fact: at the time of publication Kraft lived with his wife in New York City.

Book trivia: like many of the other Kraft books this one includes photographs and illustrations.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in two different chapters, “Eric Kraft: Too Good to Miss” (p 141) of course, and “Sons and Mothers” (p 160 & 161). As an aside, the index misses the 2nd mention of Inflating a Dog on page 161.

Late September Dogs

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I’m posting this a day early, just to get it out of the way! Three months to go and then I’m done with this big list format. Fall is upon us (because some of us are back in school) and I’m not ready for the term to begin again. As I look at the book list I am really surprised October has only three books. I’m betting that will change! Current month of books is in bold:

  1. Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  2. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
  3. By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (AB)
  4. Recognitions by William Gaddis (DNF)
  5. Maus by Art Spiegelman
  6. Lady Franklin’s Revenge by Ken McGoogan
  7. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Junot Diaz (AB)
  8. Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  9. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
  10. Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
  11. A Good Doctor’s Son by Steven Schwartz
  12. Drinking: a Love Story by Caroline Knapp
  13. Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak
  14. Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout
  15. Treasure Hunter by W. Jameson (ER)
  16. Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Jan)
  17. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (AB)
  18. In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
  19. The Assault by Harry Mulisch
  20. Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose
  21. Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
  22. Greater Nowheres by David Finkelstein/Jack London
  23. Alma Mater by P.F Kluge
  24. Old Man & Me by Elaine Dundy
  25. Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
  26. Good Life by Ben Bradlee
  27. Underworld by Don DeLillo
  28. Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban
  29. Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
  30. Fires From Heaven by Robert Jordan
  31. Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce DNF
  32. Herb ‘n’ Lorna by Eric Kraft
  33. Polish Officer by Alan Furst – (AB)
  34. Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
  35. Walden by Henry David Throreau
  36. Reservations Recommended by Eric Kraft
  37. Selected Letters of Norman Mailer edited by J. Michael Lennon – (ER)
  38. Chasing Monarchs by Robert Pyle
  39. Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur
  40. Bebe’s By Golly Wow by Yolanda Joe
  41. Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose
  42. Broom of the System by David Wallace
  43. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
  44. Little Follies by Eric Kraft
  45. Literary Murder by Batya Gur
  46. Bob Marley, My Son by Cedella Marley Booker (ER)
  47. Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  48. Southern Mail by Antoine de Saint- Exupery
  49. Measure of All Things, the by Ken Alder (AB)
  50. Two Gardeners by Emily Wilson
  51. Royal Flash by George Fraser
  52. Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur
  53. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  54. ADDED: Castle in the Backyard by Betsy Draine (EB)
  55. Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  56. Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft
  57. Everything You Ever Wanted by Jillian Lauren (ER)
  58. Murder on a Kibbutz by Batya Gur
  59. Flash for Freedom! by George Fraser
  60. Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma
  61. Petra: lost city by Christian Auge
  62. From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
  63. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
  64. Flashman at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser
  65. What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft
  66. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
  67. Ruby by Cynthia Bond (ER)
  68. Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  69. Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  70. Murder Duet by Batya Gur
  71. Flashman in the Great Game – George MacDonald Fraser
  72. At Home with the Glynns by Eric Kraft
  73. Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme
  74. New Physics and Cosmology by Arthur Zajonc
  75. Grifters by Jim Thompson
  76. Snow Angels by James Thompson (AB)
  77. So Many Roads: the life and Times of the Grateful Dead by David Browne (ER/AB)
  78. Short story: Drinking with the Cook by Laura Furman
  79. Short Story: Hagalund by Laura Furman
  80. Lone Pilgrim by Laurie Colwin
  81. Not so Short story: The Last of Mr. Norris by Christopher Isherwood
  82. short story: Jack Landers is My Friend by Daniel Stolar
  83. short story: Marriage Lessons by Daniel Stolar
  84. Light in August by William Faulkner
  85. Not so Short story: Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
  86. A Comedy & A Tragedy by Travis Hugh Culley (ER)
  87. Feed Zone by Biju Thomas
  88. Leaving Small’s Hotel by Eric Kraft
  89. Flashman’s Lady by George MacDonald Fraser
  90. Possession by AS Byatt (DNS)
  91. In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan by John DeFrancis
  92. Faster! by James Gleick (AB)
  93. Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
  94. ADDED: Families and Survivors by Alice Adams
  95. Inflating a Dog by Eric Kraft
  96. Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett
  97. Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser
  98. Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett
  99. SWAPPED: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving instead of Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (needed a Canadian audio)
  100. ADDED: Petty by Warren Zanes (ER)
  101. Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
  102. SWAPPED: Homicide by David Simon instead of Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  103. Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (Oct)
  104. Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Oct)
  105. Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser (Oct)
  106. Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman (Nov)
  107. Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser (Nov)
  108. Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Nov)
  109. Andorra by Peter Cameron (Nov)

DNF = Did Not Finish; AB = Audio Book; ER = Early Review; DNS = Did Not Start; EB = Electronic book

Families & Survivors

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Adams, Alice. Families & Survivors. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1975.

Reason read: Alice Adams was born in the month of August. Yes, a completely boring reason to read Adams. I know.

This is the story of Louise from 1941 to 1971. We first meet Louise as a precocious teenager poolside with her best friend, Kate. As her story moves languidly through the years we watch Louise get married, have a child, have affairs, struggle with self-image and artistry and of course, grow older. Along the way we see both sides of wealth, both sides of ambition, both sides of a Southern versus Yankee culture.
Something to get used to – Adams includes a lot of parenthetic information. I found it to be a little distracting at first. And oddly enough, for the first ten years the perspective is third person about Louise then there is a switch to first person Maude, Louise’s daughter. Coming to that point was like unexpectedly hitting a speed bump in the center of town.

As an aside, another thing I was distracted by was the number of times Adams mentions the out-of-date shape of Louise’s pool.

Book trivia: Families and Survivors is Nancy Pearl’s favorite book from Adams. I found an interesting enough book but I can’t say it was my favorite. All in all I thought it was a book about growing older from the perspective of different couples. Once they all got divorced and remarried I found the characters little confusing to keep track of.

Author fact: Families and Survivors was, and still is, Adams’s first novel.

BookLust Twist: from the very first chapter in Book Lust, “A…My Name is Alice” (p 1). As an aside, because of the show Major Crimes, whenever I hear the name “Alice” I think of Rusty’s quest to find a Jane Doe they called Alice.

Flashman’s Lady

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Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman’s Lady. New York: Penguin, 1988.

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

If you are keeping track we are now ten years into the biography of Harry Flashman. This is the sixth packet of papers and introduces events between 1842 – 1845 which were previously missing in earlier manuscripts. Like an earlier packet, this installment was edited by Flashman’s sister-in-law, Grizel de Rothschild and includes journal entries from Fashman’s wife Elspeth. I think it’s hysterical that Grizel cleaned up his “rough” language but left in his exploits with other women (because Flashman always gets his girl, whether she be an African queen or his own lovely wife). And speaking of Elspeth, Flashman has to turn his attention to her (more than normal) when she is kidnapped by a pirate who wants her for himself. Along the way (by way of Madagascar), Flashman is held captive by the ruthless Queen Ranavalona and forced to be her love slave (but of course).

Laugh out loud lines (warning: they are both a little crude): “…her udders were almost in her soup” (p 51) and “For a moment I wondered if having his love-muscle shot off had affected his brain…” (p 144).

Author fact: at the time of publication Fraser was living on the Isle of Man.

Book trivia: the footnotes are not as annoying this time around and there is a great deal of attention paid to the game of cricket.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter “George MacDonald Fraser: Too Good To Miss” (p 93).

Game of Kings

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Dunnett, Dorothy. The Game of Kings.New York: Random house, 1997.

Reason read: Dunnett’s birth month is in August. How boring of a reason is that?

16th century Edinburgh, Scotland (1547). The Game of Kings sets the stage for the subsequent five additional volumes in the Lymond series. Master Francis Crawford of Lymond is the anti-hero with “elastic morals.” He is smart, funny, sarcastic and knows how to steal, kill, and charm. I’m sure he’s handsome, too. That is, if you like blondes. Dunnett refers to Lymond’s golden or yellow head quite frequently. Crawford has a chip on his shoulder. His reputation is shot and everyone is after him, friend and foe alike. He’s a scapegoat with a band of misfits (some not to be trusted) who traverse the countryside trying to clear his name. There are enough characters and subplots to make your head spin, but stick with Lymond! He’ll cheer you up.
If you read Game of Kings make sure you pick up the Vintage publication. Dunnett wrote her own foreword and confesses that the text has been “freshened.” Having not read other versions I have no idea what has been “freshened.”

Best lines, “You are not being badgered; you are being invaded” (p 21). See, Francis Crawford of Lymond has a sense of humor! More great lines, “My brilliant devil, my imitation queen, my past, my future, my hope of heaven and my knowledge of hell” (p 237), “There’s nothing to stop you from associating with my servants if you want to, but I’d prefer not to have the younger ones reduced to a state of crapulence for your purposes” (p 397), and “Open your mouth too far and someone will fill it with rubbish” (p 502).

Author fact: Dunnett also wrote the House of Niccolo series (also on my list).

Book trivia: The Game of Kings is “First in the legendary Lymond Chronicles” according to the front cover. Additionally, The Game of Kings is a self-contained novel and doesn’t leave the reader hanging.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Digging Up the Past Through Fiction” (p 80).

Leaving Small’s Hotel

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Kraft, Eric. Leaving Small’s Hotel: Ella’s Lunch Box Launch.

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

I have to get this off my chest. The inside flap of Leaving Small’s Hotel implies that Kraft’s other works (with the exception of Herb ‘n’ Lorna) are not popular and therefore are not worth reading. The negative spin made me sad.

Leaving Small’s Hotel is really fifty stories Peter Leroy reads to his hotel guests (one per night) leading up to his fiftieth birthday. These stories are supposed to be his memoirs but true to Leroy fashion they are a mix of the truth and imagination; how things were and how Leroy thought they could have, or should have been. The guests, who Leroy calls “inmates,” love them. The subplot for Leaving Small’s Hotel is the state of disrepair and debt Small’s Hotel is in. Peter and his wife, Albertine, are losing money on a daily basis on the money pit. The roof leaks, the boiler keeps breaking, the washing machines shred clothes in addition to cleaning them. They can’t catch a break and even when they decide to sell they can’t find a suitable buyer.
Be prepared if you are reading Kraft’s books sequentially – there are a few reoccurring themes: clamming, the threat of nuclear war, aliens, and inventions. Oh, and sex with older women.

Author fact: Book trivia: BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Eric Kraft: Too Good To Miss” (p 141).

August Ambitions

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As each month passes I get more and more excited about ditching this Big List format. I really cannot wait to return to the old way of doing things. Current month of books is in bold:

  1. Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  2. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
  3. By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (AB)
  4. Recognitions by William Gaddis (DNF)
  5. Maus by Art Spiegelman
  6. Lady Franklin’s Revenge by Ken McGoogan
  7. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Junot Diaz (AB)
  8. Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  9. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
  10. Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
  11. A Good Doctor’s Son by Steven Schwartz
  12. Drinking: a Love Story by Caroline Knapp
  13. Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak
  14. Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout
  15. Treasure Hunter by W. Jameson (ER)
  16. Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Jan)
  17. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (AB)
  18. In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
  19. The Assault by Harry Mulisch
  20. Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose
  21. Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
  22. Greater Nowheres by David Finkelstein/Jack London
  23. Alma Mater by P.F Kluge
  24. Old Man & Me by Elaine Dundy
  25. Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
  26. Good Life by Ben Bradlee
  27. Underworld by Don DeLillo
  28. Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban
  29. Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
  30. Fires From Heaven by Robert Jordan
  31. Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce DNF
  32. Herb ‘n’ Lorna by Eric Kraft
  33. Polish Officer by Alan Furst – (AB)
  34. Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
  35. Walden by Henry David Throreau
  36. Reservations Recommended by Eric Kraft
  37. Selected Letters of Norman Mailer edited by J. Michael Lennon – (ER)
  38. Chasing Monarchs by Robert Pyle
  39. Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur
  40. Bebe’s By Golly Wow by Yolanda Joe
  41. Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose
  42. Broom of the System by David Wallace
  43. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
  44. Little Follies by Eric Kraft
  45. Literary Murder by Batya Gur
  46. Bob Marley, My Son by Cedella Marley Booker (ER)
  47. Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  48. Southern Mail by Antoine de Saint- Exupery
  49. Measure of All Things, the by Ken Alder (AB)
  50. Two Gardeners by Emily Wilson
  51. Royal Flash by George Fraser
  52. Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur
  53. Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  54. ADDED: Castle in the Backyard by Betsy Draine (EB)
  55. Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  56. Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft
  57. Everything You Ever Wanted by Jillian Lauren (ER)
  58. Murder on a Kibbutz by Batya Gur
  59. Flash for Freedom! by George Fraser
  60. Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma
  61. Petra: lost city by Christian Auge
  62. From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
  63. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
  64. Flashman at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser
  65. What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft
  66. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
  67. Ruby by Cynthia Bond (ER)
  68. Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  69. Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (DNF)
  70. Murder Duet by Batya Gur
  71. Flashman in the Great Game – George MacDonald Fraser
  72. At Home with the Glynns by Eric Kraft
  73. Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme
  74. New Physics and Cosmology by Arthur Zajonc
  75. Grifters by Jim Thompson
  76. Snow Angels by James Thompson (AB)
  77. So Many Roads: the life and Times of the Grateful Dead by David Browne (ER/AB)
  78. Short story: Drinking with the Cook by Laura Furman
  79. Short Story: Hagalund by Laura Furman
  80. ADDED: Lone Pilgrim by Laurie Colwin
  81. Not so Short story: The Last of Mr. Norris by Christopher Isherwood
  82. ADDED: short story: Jack Landers is My Friend by Daniel Stolar
  83. ADDED: short story: Marriage Lessons by Daniel Stolar
  84. ADDED: Light in August by William Faulkner
  85. Not so Short story: Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
  86. ADDED: A Comedy & A Tragedy by Travis Hugh Culley (ER)
  87. ADDED: Feed Zone by Biju Thomas
  88. Leaving Small’s Hotel by Eric Kraft
  89. Flashman’s Lady by George MacDonald Fraser
  90. Possession by AS Byatt
  91. In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan by John DeFrancis
  92. SWAPPED: What Just Happened for Faster! by James Gleick (AB)
    (I needed an audio and WJH didn’t come in disc form but Faster! did. So be it.)
  93. Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
  94. Inflating a Dog by Eric Kraft (Sep/Feb)
  95. Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett (Sep)
  96. Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser (Sep)
  97. Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett (Sep)
  98. Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (Sep – this is a reread)
  99. Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (Sep)
  100. Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Sep)
  101. Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (Oct)
  102. Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Oct)
  103. Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser (Oct)
  104. Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman (Nov)
  105. Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser (Nov)
  106. Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Nov)
  107. Andorra by Peter Cameron (Nov)

DNF = Did Not Finish; AB = Audio Book; ER = Early Review; DNS = Did Not Start; EB = Electronic book

Sixty Stories

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Barthelme, Donald. Sixty Stories. New York: G. P. Putnam & Sons, 1981.

Reason read: Barthelme died July 23, 1989 of throat cancer. This is read in his honor.

I wanted to review this book by writing one sentence about each short story (60 sentences in all), but I have to confess this: I wasn’t sure what some of the stories were even about. I am glad I found other “I’m so confused” reviews. It’s nice to know I wasn’t the only one lost from time to time. I’m like the sober party-goer who doesn’t get the drunk joke that everyone else is cracking up about. Even the writing structure was strange. Sometimes a story wouldn’t have paragraphs. Other times the story was without punctuation. Or. Or! Or, something like this – the word butter written 97 times. Most of the time it was people acting oddly like writing letters to their lover’s therapist or living in the church of their denomination or killing 6,000 dogs after buying Galveston, Texas. Some stories were profound especially when they centered on the human condition. Others were just plain strange and I couldn’t wrap my brain around his motive or meaning.

Lines I liked but didn’t understand, “But stealing books is metaphysically different from stealing like money” (p 13), “Strangling the moon is wrong” (p 99), and “The bad zombies banged the Bishop’s car with a dead cow, at night” (p 351).

Book trivia: Sixty Stories even has illustrations. That’s how chock full of weirdness it is.

Author fact: Barthelme wrote novels and books for children in addition to short stories.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “All in the Family” (p). Brothers Donald and Frederick were both writers.

Snow Angels

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Thompson, James. Snow Angels. Read by T. Ryder Smith. New York: Recorded Books, 2009.

Reason read: There is a folk festival that takes place in Finland every July.

Meet Kari Vaara. He is the inspector for a small town outside of Finland’s capital of Helsinki. Just before Christmas, during the darkest time of the year in Lapland, he is confronted with the brutal (and I do mean brutal) murder of a semi-famous immigrant Somali actress. She has been viciously sexually assaulted and a racial slur has been carved into her stomach. Sex crime? Hate crime? Both? As lead investigator Vaara must sort through the clues; clues that dredge up his own haunted past. My only complaint was as lead detective Vaara should never have been allowed to stay on the case once it looked like his ex-wife’s boyfriend was good for the crime. In my culture Vaara would have recused himself and left the investigation, especially since his ex-wife left him devastated. His fingering the boyfriend for the murder could be a revenge accusation. SPOILER ALERT: if not after the first murder, but certainly when his ex-wife is also murdered he should have handed over every part of the investigation and stepped as far back as possible. Just my two…
Okay, and I have another complaint albeit a small one. This is definitely an adult book. The themes, the language, the sex and violence…well, the violence was especially over the top and so many deaths (six in all) seemed unnecessary.

As an aside, I just watched a documentary about living in Antarctica and can’t imagine living in a region where, for a quarter of a year, there is semi-darkness 24/7. I can’t imagine being without the sun for that length of time. The nights must seem endless and I think I would experience seasonal insanity.

Quote I loved. So, here’s an odd situation. There was this laugh-out-loud moment I want to relate only since I listened to it on audio I can’t quote it. I can paraphrase – Kari is speaking to someone unpleasant and he say “he didn’t say thank you, goodbye or even fuck you.” Those weren’t the exact words, but they made me giggle.
EDITED TO UPDATE: I borrowed a copy of the print just so I could quote my favorite line, “He gives me the time and place and hangs up without saying thank you, fuck you or good-bye” (p 221). It’s still funny.

Author fact: Snow Angels is Thompson’s first novel.

Book trivia: Snow Angels starts the series starring Inspector Kari Vaara.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Frolicking in Finland” (p 86).

Light in August

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Faulkner, William. Novels 1930 – 1935: Light in August. New York: The Library of America, 1996.

Reason read: I was thinking I should read this in August, just for the title. Instead, I’m reading it in July because of Faulkner’s death month. How morbid of me.

I found this to be one of the more enjoyable Faulkner stories. There was more plot and less stream-of-consciousness. The characters are fewer and more fully developed. Lena Grove is a pregnant white woman from Alabama looking for her man in Jefferson, Mississippi. Gail Hightower, a former reverend is forced into retirement and nearly run out of town for his wife’s erratic behavior and subsequent suicide. Joe Christmas, one of the strongest main characters, is an orphan who thinks he has “nigger blood” despite his pale skin.

There are several elements of repetition to Faulkner’s work. Most stories take place in Jefferson, Mississippi. There is usually one character that is mixed race and as a result, struggling with identity. A fire usually breaks out somewhere. Someone usually is pregnant. Probably the most typical reoccurring element is style. Faulkner uses flashbacks to either tell a story or fill in the gaps of one. Light in August was one of the more easier ones to follow.

Author fact: Like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Faulkner died of a heart attack in the month of July.

Book trivia: Faulkner began writing Light in August in August 1931 and it was published in October 1932.

BookLust Twist: first, in Book Lust in the chapter called “100 Good Read, Decade By Decade: 1930s (p 177). Second, in More Book Lust in a chapter that doesn’t really make sense to me. “You Can’t Judge a Book By It’s Cover” (p 238). But, Pearl isn’t bringing up Light in August because its cover contradicts what it’s about. Faulkner is just one of the books in Alan Powers’s Front Cover.

Study in Scarlet

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Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. “A Study in Scarlet”. The Complete Sherlock Holmes. New York: Doubleday, 1930.

Reason read: Doyle died July 7th 1930. Read in honor of his passing.

Confessional: in Book Lust Pearl lists The Complete Sherlock Holmes but what she doesn’t say is that it’s a canon of sixty stories – four novels and 56 short stories totaling 1122 pages. I knew it would be impossible to read 1122 pages in 31 days – even if it would be the only thing I read in July I still wouldn’t finish it. In addition I couldn’t stand the thought of attempting something so boring. I need to visit other characters from time to time. So, my plan is this, read each work separately. I began with the first novel of the collection, “A Study in Scarlet.”

Study in Scarlet is in two parts. Part one: “Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., Late of the Army Medical Department.” It’s here that Dr. Watson and Mr. Sherlock Holmes meet for the first time. Watson, arriving in London and  needing a place to stay, learns of Holmes looking to share his apartment. From the very beginning they are thrown together in a murder mystery. Watson is astounded by Holmes’s ability to deduce facts from the smallest pieces of evidence.

Part two: “Country of the Saints” steps back in time and tells the story of the Brigham Young and the Mormons settling in the plains of Utah. John Ferrier meets up with the four elders, Stangerson, Kemball, Jonston & Drebber and they take him and his young companion in. This story sets the backdrop for the murder mystery Holmes is trying to solve.

Quotes. First where the title of the story comes from: “There is a scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it” (p 36). Second, one of Sherlock’s most quoted utterances: “…where there is no imagination there is no horror” (p 37).

Author fact: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died of a heart attack.

Book trivia: A Study in Scarlet is less than 100 pages long.

BookLust Twist (not really): from Book Lust in the chapter called “I Love A Mystery” (p 123).

At Home with the Glynns

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Kraft, Eric. At Home with the Glynns: the Personal History, Adventures, Experiences and Observations of Peter Leroy (continued). New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1995.

Peter Leroy is now a 13-almost-14 year old naive teenager. He has befriended the Glynn family; painting with Mr. Glynn, writing contest poetry with Mrs. Glynn and jumping into bed with their lovely twin daughters, Margot and Martha. Every member of the Glynn family has something to teach young Peter. Andy Glynn has Peter secretly improving the sketches of his art students. Rosetta Glynn instructs Peter on the art of writing with “the shock of the new, cushioned by the familiar” And the Glynn twins? Let’s just say they start him off with simultaneously manipulating two peas; rolling them under his fingertips. You get the picture.

At Home with the Glynns can only be described as fast, fun and funny. Eric Kraft has this way of mingling truth with imagination – so much so that you aren’t sure what’s really going on. Or, maybe it’s just that Peter’s memories are faulty. Memoirs are only as good as what you want to remember. For example, the twins, Martha and Margot, aren’t really twins at all.

Favorite part: the Troubled Titan Ad on page two. It’s indicative of the 1950s with its reference to “troubled times” (note the subtle bomb launched overhead). I have to wonder how many people wrote to PO Box 98 Legume, Ohio for their “Free Titan Booklet Offer.”

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

Author fact: No new fact this time around. Stay tuned.

Book trivia: This is the 6th book in the 8 book series, but as mentioned before, it is not necessary to read this as a series or in order. At Home with the Glynns is super short – close to 150 pages.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Eric Kraft: Too Good To Miss” (p 141).

Grifters

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Thompson, Jim. The Grifters. New York: Black Lizard/Vintage Crime, 1990.

Reason read: In July 1901 fingerprinting was first introduced as a crime prevention tool.

Everyone once in awhile I will read reviews of a book before I can get to the actual book. Most of the time I regret that decision because it taints what I think about the story. But other times, like now, I’m actually glad I did. The reviews for The Grifters I checked out didn’t reveal too much of the plot nor the ending. Instead the reviews did caution that every character “sucked”. No one was likeable or worth rooting for. Interesting.

Twenty five year old Roy Dillon’s apple doesn’t fall far from the family tree. His mother Lilly, barely 15 years older, is a con-artist and as a result Roy grew up having to hustle to make an existence for himself. By the time he turned eighteen Roy couldn’t wait to strike out on his own; to try grifting for himself. Only he’s not that good at it. Grifters opens with Roy badly beaten and bleeding internally, staggering back to his rented hotel room after a failed attempt to con someone. His girlfriend Moira, nurse Carol and mother all take turns nursing him back to health, each with their own con game in the works. It’s a disaster waiting to happen as no one in the group is truly honest. Everyone is blinded by greed and what they think is love.

A quote – “She’d never given him anything but a hard time, which was about the extent of her generosity to anyone” (p 11).

Author fact: Thompson sold his first fiction when he was only 14 years old.

Book trivia: The Grifters is short, only 189 pages long. I was able to read it in one day. Most everyone has seen the 1990 movie with John Cusack and Anjelica Huston. Except me. I haven’t so I won’t make any comparisons.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter Les Crimes Noir (p 67).

Flashman in the Great Game

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Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman in the Great Game. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1975.

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

We have been following Harry Flashman through his adventures (the Afghanistan War, encounters with Count Bismarck and Lola Montes, the African slave trade and the Crimean War). This time the year is 1856 and he is caught up in the Great Indian Mutiny and this is, by far, his bloodiest adventure yet. Flashman has been chosen to be a secret agent to discover who is cooking up the rebellion. Thanks to his knowledge of various languages and his ability to blend in with the natives Flashy is able to discern the enemy is none other than his old nemesis, Count Nicholas Pavlevitch. Once again, coward Harry Flashman is in the thick of it, battling Russian spies, secret assassins, rampaging mutineers and Thugs. But, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have time for a quick roll in the hay with prostitutes and even Lakshmaibai, the “Jezebel of Jhansi.” Some things never change.

The great game is described as to lie low in disguise, watching, listening and waiting for the right time to strike. Considering this is about the Indian Mutiny, that sounds about right.

Quotes I liked, “The truth is we all live under false pretenses much of the time; you just have to put on a bold front and brazen through” (p 109), and “Sufficient to say that fear, shock, ignorance, and racial and religious intolerance, on both sides, combined to produce a hatred akin to madness in some individuals…” (p 327). Again, some things never change.
I also liked the dedication, “For the Mad White Woman of Papar River.”

Book trivia: portions of Flashman in the Great Game appeared in Playboy Magazine.

Author fact: I’ve got nothing new this time around but fear not! I have at least 4 or 5 more times to write something else about Mr. Fraser.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “George MacDonald Fraser: Too Good To Miss” (p 93).