Category: Book Reviews

Over My Dead Body

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Stout, Rex. Over My Dead Body. Porirua Publishing, 1938.

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

A fencing student is murdered. Why fencing? It certainly makes for a different and interesting twist. Over My Dead Body starts off as a theft investigation but escalates to an epee stabbing someone to death. I guess an epee makes for an unusual weapon. As usual, Wolfe’s ability to solve the crime is based on deductions brought about by human nature, process of elimination, and acute attention to detail. Over My Dead Body is no different, but this time Wolfe doesn’t shy away from threatening blackmail to get the information he needs to close the case.
With each new mystery readers learn a little more about Nero Wolfe’s personal life. In Over My Dead Body it is revealed that Wolfe was once an agent of the Austrian government and he was also a member of the Montenegrin army. He currently contributes to a loyalist group in Spain. He also has an adopted daughter. I certainly didn’t see that coming, considering his opinion of women and his reluctance to leave his brownstone apartment.
As usual, Archie does not disappoint. He continues to be full of vim and vinegar with his sarcasm and wit. He demonstrates perfect synchronicity with Nero. There is never any need for Wolfe to explain anything to Archie. They communicate through subtle gestures, raised eyebrows, and odd comments. Nero and Archie practice a whole bunch of trickery in Over My Dead Body and their symbiotic relationship saves the day every time.
Readers will also learn more about Archie and Nero’s abode. I believe this is the first time the secret compartment with the peephole has been utilized.

Lines I loved, “I can give you my word, but I know what that is worth and you don’t” (p 226) and “For God’s sake, let’s step on it, or my bed with think I am having an affair with the couch” (p 354).

Author fact: Stout married a designer and was with her up until his death.

Book trivia: An adaptation of Over My Dead Body was the final episode of a television drama.

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

Among the Believers

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Naipaul, V.S. Among the Believers. Alfred A. Knopf, 1981.

Reason read: Indonesia has a day of silence. It is always following the new moon of March. Read in recognition of this fascinating 24 hours.

Naipaul takes a six month journey across Asia just after the Iranian revolution. During his travels through Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia he encounters Muslims who have returned to the founding scriptures of Islam. His conversations and interviews with them are thought-provoking and insightful. These people are the believers. In a nutshell, Among the Believers is in-depth and descriptive travel book that takes a look at exploring the Muslim faith.
As an aside, I have so any questions! Did the hanging judge ever find out that Naipaul called him a clown? Is Naipaul’s favorite descriptive color ochre? because he used the word a lot in Among the Believers. It is true I am an armchair traveler. It is too complicated to think about the rules and customs of a middle eastern country. The rules of the mosque, for example. Which foot enters the holy space first? How do worshippers wash their hands? Do they remove their shoes and if so, when and where?

As another aside, I never thought about Islamic urban planning. Think about it. Toilet fixtures that had to be arranged so that a backside would not be directed towards the City of Mecca. Indeed.

Author fact: Naipaul was born in Trinidad.

Book trivia: Among the Believers is followed by Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted People. I will be reading it next month. Other books by Naipaul on my list: Mystic Masseur and Loss of El Dorado.

Music: the Carpenters, Handel’s Messiah, and Bach.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Indicative of Indonesia” (p 103).

Lee’s Lieutenants – Vol 3

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Freeman, Douglas Southall. Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command. Volume 3: Gettysburg to Appomattox. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1944.

Reason read: to finish the series started in January in honor of General Robert E. Lee’s birth month.

The third and final installment of Lee’s Lieutenant’s opens in June of 1863, nearly 162 years ago. The civil war is nearly over. Lee’s right-hand man, Stonewall Jackson has died. Losing Jackson was a tremendous blow for General Lee. Longstreet was his only subordinate with similar military experience. I have to wonder if Longstreet resented the comparison. Many think the loss at Gettysburg, in simplified terms, can be blamed on the absence of Stonewall Jackson. His death prevented cavalry efficiency and amplified the poor management of artillery. Ammunition was in short supply by the time they got to Gettysburg.
For what Freeman could not possibly glean from diaries and first-hand accounts, he speculated and said “this is surely how it happened.” But speaking of the letters and diaries, the missives varied in intimacy. Some soldiers when they wrote home did not want their loved ones to worry about them so they kept details vague. Others were extremely honest about their harrowing experiences in battle.

Confessional: It is hard to understand the philosophy of war. In the midst of ferocious battles an army can take time out from all the fighting to showcase their abilities to a grandstand of feminine spectators. There were other shenanigans like bringing a mule into the grand cavalcade. It is a well known fact that during World War II on Christmas day, soldiers took a break from battle to play football with the enemy. It was back to business the very next day.
How about the advancements in communication? Can you imagine a soldier these days passing a note to a superior? There were barely any accurate maps, no GPS so it is no wonder that many soldiers lost their way and bumbled into enemy territory.

Quote I had to quote, “the stench of battle was in the air” (p 155). How is it that I believe I know what that smells like? Impossible.

Book trivia: As I mentioned earlier, this is the last installment of the Lee’s Lieutenant series.

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

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).

Saving Ellen

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Casey, Maura. Saving Ellen: a Memoir. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., 2025

Reason read: I am a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing. From time to time I get the chance to review interesting books. This is one of them.

On the surface, Saving Ellen is an intimate and intense dive into kidney disease. As an adolescent, Maura’s sister Ellen lost function of her kidneys. What follows in Saving Ellen is a series of medical appointments, hospital stays, prescriptions and side effects, a transplant, the hope of recovery by a large and chaotic Irish family that never gave up hope. At the heart of Saving Ellen is Casey’s relationship with life and everything good and bad that came with it. All the heartbreaks and triumphs of childhood. From coming of age and dealing with relentless bullying to watching an alcoholic parent poison his entire family with infidelity and addiction, Casey’s story is one of addiction survival, family forgiveness, grief acceptance, and ultimate love.
Set in New York’s city of Buffalo, I saw Saving Ellen as also a memoir of place. Buffalo in the late 1960s and early 1970s is like another impoverished character; struggling to live and breathe and grow up.

Confessional: I wish Casey had opened her memoir with the 5th and 6ths sentences as the very first sentences to Saving Ellen. They really pack a punch.

Author fact: even though Casey has written a few other books, I am not reading any of them.

Book trivia: Saving Ellen has a really cool cover.

Setlist: “One Fine Day”, “What a Frozen Little Hand”, Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers, Bach, Jean Sibelius, “We shall Overcome”, the Beatles, The Coors, the Monkees, the Mamas and the Papas, Mozart, Beethoven, Aaron Copeland’s “Appalachian Spring”, Rachmaninoff, Barry Manilow, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, and “A Parting Glass”.

Confessional: If I hadn’t discovered Dermot Kennedy’s music I would not have found “A Parting Glass” when I did. It is a beautiful song.

Jemez Mountains

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Swetnam, Thomas W. The Jemez Mountains: a Cultural and Natural History. University of New Mexico Press, 2025.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I get to review really cool books. This is one of them. I chose this book because I have long been fascinated with the Southwest. My sister has big dreams of settling in Taos, New Mexico. Me, I am not so sure.

There is a lot of love and respect in the pages of Jemez Mountains. It is abundantly clear that Swetnam cares deeply for the culture, history, and natural beauty of the region. He will take you to the hot springs that rival Saratoga’s. He will describe the first automobile in Jemez Springs. He will spend a lot of time at the Soda Dam. There are stories of bears, hippies, and abusive priests. He will give you a historical and scientific perspective of land use through the ages with photographs to illustrate each point. He has a serious concern about climate change and the damage it has already done to the region. There is a great deal of information packed in each essay so it was a relief when Swetnam explained that the essays of Jemez Mountains need not be read in sequential order.
As an aside, I felt a huge connection to Jemez Mountains not only because of my previously disclosed love of the Southwest, but because I uncovered other commonalities with the narrative. Swetnam matched photographs taken at the turn of the century with current ones. My hometown did something similar to illustrate how little it has changed in the last one hundred or so years. Swetnam refers to this matching of photographs as “then and now.” Inspired by the photography of my hometown, I put together an art show at my college with old photographs overlaid with current photographs and I called the project “Then and Now.”

Disclaimer: I make comments based on the assumption that special features to a book, like the same photographs, maps, or illustrations will be in the final published copy. That being said, the cover to Jemez Mountains is gorgeous. Swetnam has mentioned that there are more than one hundred photographs, maps, and drawings. My favorite photograph was of a Mack truck coming through one of the Guadalupe Box tunnels. It is impressive.

Book trivia: Jemez Mountains is set to be published in April 2025.

Author fact: Swetnam is a retired University of Arizona professor.

Small music: “O Fair New Mexico”

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).

In Sicily

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Lewis, Norman. In Sicily. Thomas Dunne Books, 2000.

Reason read: there is an almond blossom festival that takes place every March in Sicily.

Norman Lewis fell in love with Sicily and its environs in the mid 1950s. In Sicily is a remembrance of that long-gone era. The mafia does not have the grip it once had, but Lewis has his memories and heartbreaks tied up in the violence and terror of wartime yesteryear. He married a mob daughter, after all. Sicily is a place of long-held corruption; of falling down palaces and open-air lovemaking and Lewis does not miss a single detail. In Sicily is an open love letter, full of crime, mythology, superstition, and passion.

As an aside, Lewis reported that Italians have a difficult time pronouncing the letter H. I can attest to that. My friend, born and raised in Rome, cannot pronounce my name.
Another aside. I am in love with the Dancing Satyr of Mazara. It’s now on my bucket list.

Quote to respect, “There are many lessons to be learned, the first being that as a black he had become invisible” (p 125).

Author fact: Lewis wrote a bunch of interesting books. I am reading a total of five of them for the Challenge.

Book trivia: the dedication is surprising. I have not seen one of its kind before.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the simple chapter called “Sicily” (p 209).

Deep Blue Good-By

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MacDonald, John D. The Deep Blue Good-By. Fawcett Gold Medal, 1964.

Reason read: Florida became a state on March 3rd, 1845.

Travis McGee lives on a 52′ barge-like houseboat docked in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His occupation is to recover items for people from time to time; whenever he needs the cash or is bored. Sort of like a freelance detective or repo man without structure. In a nutshell, McGee’s friend Chookie knows of a girl who needs help recovering something. She starts with the fact that her daddy went to prison for killing a man. While there David Berry divulged to his cellmate, Junior Allen, that he stole something of great worth. After David dies the cellmate is released from prison. He does the only thing a criminal fresh out of prison can do; he makes a beeline for the daughter’s residence to see if he can take possession of the stolen goods for himself. But first he has to completely traumatize a few women along the way. McGee does not know what the items are or where they might be. What he does know is that women should not be treated that way. In addition to getting the items back he wants to make the guy pay for brutalizing the fairer sex. What follows is a convoluted mix of violence, brainwashing, womanizing, and Florida sunshine. McGee is a flawed good guy who has his moments.

Quote I liked, “And I do not function on emotional motivation” (p 19).

As an aside, I would like to see his Rolls Royce that had been converted into a pickup truck.

Author fact: Macdonald wrote two books on my Challenge list: Only Girl in the Game (October 2036) and The Deep Blue Good-by.

Book trivia: Almost all of MacDonald’s books have a color in the title.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Florida Fiction” (p 89). It must be said that on the cover of MacDonald’s book the title reads, The Deep Blue Good-By. Not Goodbye.

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).