Tag: book review

What Just Happened

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Gleick, James. What Just Happened?: a Chronicle from the Information Frontier. Pantheon Books, 2002.

Reason read: Gleick celebrates a birthday in August. Read in his honor.

Gleick needs a time machine. He wants his reader to put him or herself back in the 1990s as much as possible when reading What Just Happened. We need to remember the internet as it was just starting out. Portable phones. Pagers. ATMs. The essays cover bugs in Microsoft (essays written in August 1992 and again in June of 1997), the transformation of cellphone communication, the question of caller ID and ethics, the Y2K Crisis (for which Gleick apologizes for reporting impending doom four years prior), the idea of anonymous spending is only possible with cash (Think about it. No other form of money is without identifiers of some sort.), humorous password creations – all with a snarky tone that is just delightful.
Gleick’s opinion of internet pornography and its future is laughable. My favorite section was when Gleick unpacked an alert sent by MSN, pointing out vague language, half truths, cloudy communication, deliberate mis-directions, down playing failures, all with skillful ambiguity and clever concealment of the truth. Humor aside, Gleick makes you think about how far we have come.

Quotes to quote, “We have to learn the odd skill of speaking freely to someone who won’t hear us until later” (p 38). I wish I could teach my mother that skill. She will talk and talk on someone’s answering machine until she is cut off.

Author fact: At the time of publication, Gleick lived in the Hudson Valley. I wonder if Natalie Merchant was a neighbor?

Book trivia: What Just Happened isn’t Gleick’s only book. I am reading Chaos and Faster for the Challenge.

Playlist: “Stop in the Name of Love”, Supremes, Dolly Parton, Nat King Cole, “Naughty Angeline”, Crash Test Dummies, T-Bone Walker, Jim Fyhrie, 10,000 Maniacs (!), “Hail to the Chief”, Beastie Boys, Adiemus, Frank Sinatra, Harvey Danger, Dave Matthews Band, the Beatles, Scott Joplin, Mozart, and Madonna.

Nancy said: Pearl said What Just Happened is one of Gleick’s more accessible books. I agree 100%.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Science Books (for the Interested But Apprehensive Layperson)” (p 211).

Fruit of the Lemon

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Levy, Andrea. Fruit of the Lemon. Picador Press, 1999.

Reason: Jamaica won its independence in August. This year it was celebrated on August 6th. Read to celebrate the history.

Faith Jackson is a Londoner just trying to make her way. She has a decent job, an apartment full of roommates, and a loving family living close by. Born to Jamaican parents, Faith does not look like a pale-skinned Englishwoman, but this has never been a problem until Faith wants to improve her life. At the corners of this seemingly content life, she starts to notice subtle roadblocks; a prejudice towards her gender and skin color. Why does she have to jump through hoops to get the job for which she is perfect?
Fruit of the Lemon will make you think about unconscious bias. There is a scene when Faith’s nationality is assumed. Even though she was born and raised in England, when people saw her dark skin, they immediately assumed she was from “away.” When she answered she was from London everyone wanted a different answer. In the end a trip to Jamaica made her realize she was more than her skin color. She was a great-granddaughter, a granddaughter, a daughter, a cousin, a niece, and an aunt.

Author fact: Levy passed away on Valentine’s Day in 2019 after a long battle with cancer.

Book trivia: Fruit of the Lemon is Levy’s third book. I am also reading Small Island and Long Song for the Challenge.

Setlist: “Lemon Tree” (as an aside, the Merrymen do a great version of “Lemon Tree”), “Danny Boy”, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, “Hey Mister Tallyman”, The Sound of Music, Oliver, Shostakovich, Cilla Black, “Abide with Me”, “Away in a Manger”, Miles Davis, “Ave Maria”, “Jingle Bells”, and “God Save the Queen”.

Nancy said: Pearl said not to forget Andrea Levy.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Cavorting Through the Caribbean: Jamaica” (p 56).

“The Adventure at Wisteria Lodge”

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Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Complete Sherlock Holmes. “The Adventure at Wisteria Lodge.” Doubleday and Company, 1930.

Doyle loves words. Case in point: John Scott Eccles, the man who comes to Sherlock for help describes his experience as incredible, grotesque, singular, unpleasant, improper, outrageous, queer and bizarre. All that really happened was that he spent the night at some place called Wisteria Lodge as the guest of Aloysius Garcia, but upon waking found that everyone had disappeared, including the host. As he was sharing this incredible, grotesque, singular, unpleasant, improper, outrageous, queer, bizarre news with Sherlock and Watson, the inspector from Scotland Yard arrives to say Aloysius was found murdered. Through a series of tips and clues, Sherlock is led to the home of Mr. Henderson. He is actually Don Juan Murillo. How he is connected to the disappearance of Aloysius Garcia, I am not sure. Of course, there is a mysterious woman who isn’t as she seems.

Story trivia: Holmes looks back at mysteries solved in other stories.

Burning Marguerite

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Inness-Brown, Elizabeth. Burning Marguerite: a Novel. Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.

Reason read: part of Burning Marguerite takes place in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans in the month of August.

Marguerite Ann Bernadette-Marie Deo, otherwise known as Tante, has passed away. Burning Marguerite starts with James Jack’s third person perspective, and at first, you think it’s going to be his story. However, Marguerite, in her own voice, tells the genesis of her nearly one hundred years and how the orphan James Jack came into her life. The reader gets to know Tante more James, which, in my opinion, is a missed opportunity. James Jack is a character ripe for exploration. As it stands, he is a thirty-plus-year-old man who has never strayed too far from his sheltered island home somewhere in Vermont. He rarely has romantic relationships. The reader does not hear of friendships. His only mission is to take care of Tante. She is all he has ever known since his parents died in a tragic accident when he was just a baby. Meanwhile, Marguerite has lived a colorful life, experiencing great loves and losses from turn-of-the-century Vermont to 1920s New Orleans and back to the island of her childhood to live out the rest of her days as a hermit. A word of caution: Marguerite’s history is harsh. The more I read, the more I wept for her. A third character is the island as it lives and breathes, influencing the townspeople as if it had a personality of its own. Its harsh winters and small-town gossip do well to feed a sense of unease.

Confessional: I had a little trouble with chronology. I’ve tried to make sense of it a few times. Because Inness-Brown moves the timeline around I am not sure of the order of events after Marguerite’s death. She and James Jack argue about a married woman, Faith, on a Sunday night. Faith is leaving the island Monday morning and Tante wants James to go to her. Because of Faith’s marriage James refuses and out of anger sleeps in a secondary cabin, away from Tante. In the morning he finds Tante dead. At first James Jack feels the need to report the death and goes to the sheriff’s office. He changes his mind after he’s sitting across from the sheriff. Tante would not want the law involved with her remains. Meanwhile, Faith had a flight to catch sometime on Monday but she would have to go the mainland first. So when does James Jack catch up to her and ask her for help with Tante?

Line I loved, “I wanted to interpret your look, to read that gaze, but I had not yet learned the language in which your eyes wrote their message” (p 41). Stunning.

Author fact: According to the back flap of Burning Marguerite Inness-Brown lives on an island in Lake Champlain, Vermont. I have to wonder if Grain Island is modeled after South Hero.

Book trivia: Burning Marguerite is Inness-Brown’s first novel.

Setlist: “It Was Just One of Those Things”, and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “First Novels” (p 88) and again in the chapter called “New Orleans” (p 168).

Valley of Fear

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Doyle, Arthur Conan. “Valley of Fear.” The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Doubleday and Company, 1930.

Reason read: I am still slogging through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s complete works. He died in July so I am picking it back up.

I took a break from Sherlock Holmes because I was getting bored of the formulaic storytelling. Even though the plot of Valley of Fear follows a scheme we are all familiar with, my hiatus was long enough that I did not mind. I could stomach the repetition of gimmicks used in previous stories. (Sherlock being condescending and Watson’s all-forgiving attitude bothered me the most.) Additionally, the second half of the story was so different from the first that I forgot I was reading a Sherlock Holmes mystery. The refreshing shift in the narrative in the second half of the story kept me engaged, as it provided a deeper understanding of the characters and their motivations in part one. Part One finds Sherlock investigating a murder at a remote location, complete with a moat and drawbridge. Meanwhile, Part Two delves into the backstory of McMurdo, weaving and unraveling and weaving again a tangled web of secrecy and deceit that extends beyond what initially seemed obvious. His involvement in the clandestine society steeped in blackmail and murder not only adds depth to the storyline but also sheds light on the darker side of the era (the start of the Chicago mafia family?).

As an aside, the final solution to the mystery reminded me of the first episode of The Closer, a television show starring Kyra Sedgewick. Everyone assumed the wrong identity of the victim which made the ending interesting.

Author fact: Many people believe Doyle was trying to get away from Sherlock Holmes stories when he wrote Valley of Fear as Holmes does not appear in the second half of the story.

Book trivia: Valley of Fear is the last novel in the collection. From here on out I am reading short stories.

Playlist: “I’m Sitting on the Stile, Mary” and “On the Banks of Allan Water.”

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

Especially Dogs

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Taber, Gladys. Especially Dogs…Especially at Stillmeadow. J.B. Lippincott, 1968.

Reason read: I call books that make you happy “ice cream” books. In the month of July, ice cream is one of the most sought after cool treats. Additionally, I needed a book for the Portland Public Library Reading Challenge for the category of a book that makes you happy. Even though I am a cat person, this made me smile.

Dogs, dogs, dogs. All things dogs. In the beginning of Especially Dogs, Taber writes a memoir of the dogs in her life, beginning with her first dog, Timmie, the Irish Setter. [As an aside, I cannot imagine putting a dog on a train! Her parents thought it would be a good idea for Timmie to visit Gladys when she got married, so Timmie made the trip from Wisconsin to Virginia in a crate.] To name a couple more special dogs in Taber’s life, the reader will meet Honey, the Cocker Spaniel, and Holly, the Irish Setter. You might think she is obsessed when you read that, at one point, Taber had thirty-five Cocker Spaniels, three Irish Setters, and three cats, all at the same time. This was the creation of Stillmeadow Kennel with her friend and former roommate, Jill.
Moving further into Especially Dogs, the reader will get a primer on how to housebreak a dog, how to feed a dog (I had no idea oatmeal could deteriorate a dog’s coat), how to introduce new or strange dogs to one another, how to make a dog heel when walking down a busy or distracting street, and even how to put your special pooch in competitions… the list goes on.
There is no doubt Taber loved her dogs. The love and humor in her writing makes that abundantly clear. This was a joy to read.

Quotes to quote, “Her approach to anything was always that there must be a book about it and she read them all” (p 89) and “We never bought a horse because I couldn’t figure out how to get it into the house” (p 177).

Author fact: Taber has written a plethora of books on various topics. I am only reading three for the Challenge. I already finished Stillmeadow Road and will have — after Especially Dogs. Taber is a self-professed addict of professional football.

Book trivia: really cute blank and white photographs of puppies and adult dogs are sprinkled throughout Especially Dogs…Especially at Stillmeadow.

Music: Tijuana Brass.

Nancy said: Pearl shared an interesting tidbit about Taber’s origin story.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Cozies” (p 57). See what I mean?

Carnival

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Mackenzie, Compton. Carnival. D. Apple & Company, 1921.

Reason read: the Culzean Summer Fair happens in July in Scotland. A good portion of Carnival takes place in Glasgow.

The life of Jenny is a complex story with themes of identity, love, and sacrifice. Her journey is a verbose exploration of the human experience, filled with unexpected twists and turns. Throughout the narrative, Jenny’s internal struggles and external choices paint a vivid picture of a woman who is unafraid to defy societal norms and follow her heart, despite the challenges she faces. The exploration of her gender identity, her romantic entanglements, and her passion for ballet all contribute to a rich and multi-layered portrayal of her character. For lack of a true plot in Carnival Jenny navigates the tumultuous seas of love and self-discovery. Her interactions with the men in her life, Maurice, Fez and Zack, reveal the complexity of her emotions and the depths of her desires. Her willingness to make bold decisions, such as sacrificing her career and friendships for a life in the country, highlights the fierce and unyielding nature of her convictions. Jenny’s story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the complexities of the heart. It does not come without a warning.

Lines I liked, “There is nothing to counterbalance the terrors of childhood in Hagworth Street” (p 30) and “It was glorious to think of someone who could make the worst headache insignificant and turn the most unsatisfactory morning to a perfect afternoon” (p 196).

Author fact: Compton Mackenzie’s full name was Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie.

Book trivia: Carnival was interpreted on the big screen three different times. Of course I have not seen any version.

Music: “March of the Priests”, “Athalie”, Wagner, Brahms, Verdi, “Tannhauser”, “Lucky Lindy”, Chopin, Victoria Monks, “The Eton Boating Song”

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Tickle Your Funny Bone” (p 217). But, here is the thing. Carnival is only listed because it is one of the first ten books reprinted by Penguin. None of those ten books were necessarily known for their humor. Mackenzie, however, did write some funny stuff.

Year of Lesser

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Bergen, David. A Year of Lesser. Harper Collins Publishers, 1996.

Reason read: Canada Day is in July. A Year of Lesser takes place outside Winnipeg in a small town called Lesser.

Orbital relationships. At the center is Johnny. What is it about this man that has women lining up to act the fool for him? His wife, Charlene, is never on the same page about wanting or not wanting children. His mistress is already a mother with a teenaged son. Both slobber over him despite the fact he is a man-child who can’t decide between love and lust. He works for a feed store and runs a drop-in center for teens. It’s complicated.
No question Johnny worships women. He observes them through a detailed and hungry lens. He notices the soles of their feet, their popped-pregnant belly buttons, the curve of an upturned nose. Yet, Johnny is a God-fearing, born again and again, Bible reading religious man. It’s complicated.
I felt bad for Charlene. What is she supposed to do about a husband who admits he is having a child with another woman? The whole town knows about Johnny and Loraine. Then I felt bad for Loraine. Pregnant with Johnny’s child and yet, he stops coming around. Rumors like smoke from a fire start to swirl about Johnny and a teenaged girl. It’s complicated.

Detail I had trouble with: Johnny is trying to quit smoking. You don’t readily carry cigarettes if you are trying to quit. How then can Johnny so easily offer Loraine a smoke?

Author fact: Bergen has written a bunch and Nancy said he is one of her favorites, but I’m only reading The Year of Lesser for the Challenge.

Line I liked, “He’s trying to weigh time and desire” (p 7).

Playlist: Led Zeppelin, Peter Tosh, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and the Rankin Family,

Nancy said: Pearl said the author was a favorite of hers.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Canadian Fiction” (p 51).

Night Garden: of My Mother

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Tyler, Sandra. The Night Garden: of My Mother. Pierian Springs Press, 2024.

Reason read: I am a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing. This is a book I specifically requested because of my current situation.

Sandra Tyler’s The Night Garden is thought-provoking and heart-wrenching. For any daughter sandwiched between being a mother and being motherly to her own mother, this is a must read. Read it before you are in that moment as a guide for the times to come. And come they will. Read it during the struggles and you will nod in agreement every time you turn the page. Read it afterward your mother is gone and you will look back at the bittersweet memories and maybe smile, just a little. There is truth on every page. There is humor to Tyler’s story, too.
I do not have children and I will never know the balance of caring for two different generations, but I do know the slow building sadness that bubbles within while watching your mother age. The little things you took for granted will become monumental heartbreaks. When a loved one disowns you, it is hard to not take it personally because you are also busy refusing to believe they no longer know what they are saying. It takes strength to realize you cannot have it both ways – sharp intellect in contrast to a mind lost to dementia. When Tyler’s mother had to relinquish her drivers license my heart cracked in half (although my own mother has never owned a license to operate an automobile). Another piece of identity drowned.
Be forewarned – Night Garden might start you thinking about your own mortality. Tyler evokes the poem “Spring and Fall to a Young Child” by Gerard Manley Hopkins without even trying. I found myself asking “When do you do if you know it is your last (danced, movie, fill in the blank)?” Would you rather know the exact date and time of your demise or not? What about the angel date of a loved one? Would you be okay knowing, “This is my last dinner with you. Ever.”?

Tyler is just a little younger than me when she describes her relationship with her mother. Her mother married when she was in her 40s while my mother had me at 19. Even still, all throughout the story I was having these little “that could be me” moments. Our mothers complained about phones. They were both artists. They were both widowed early in their lives. I felt the helplessness when Tyler described waiting for her mother to get to the point. There is that sinking feeling when you inevitably realize, twenty minute later, that there wasn’t one. If there had ever been a point it had been lost under tons of verbal garbage. When taken-for-granted routines become unwieldy and cumbersome. Things that used to take five minutes become forever minutes. I think the first time I recognized something was wrong with my mother was when we were getting ready for a show. She knew the time to be ready and yet, when the driver arrived, she was still in just her pantyhose and blouse. No skirt. No shoes. Her hair a mess. Mom? What have you been doing for the last 45 minutes?

Music: Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, James Taylor, “From a Distance”, Judy Collins, and “Silent Night”.

Charms for the Easy Life

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Gibbons, Kaye. Charms for the Easy Life. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1993.

Reason read: Mary Lee Settle celebrates a birthday in the month of July. Nancy Pearl suggested Charms for the Easy Life be read with Settle’s memoir, Addie.

Three generations of southern women. The relationships between mother (Charlie Kate), daughter (Sophia), and granddaughter (Margaret) are tangled and complicated. Like all relationships, they are rich in drama, tough-love, grace, and unspoken courage. Complicated by pride and fierce independence. Only these are no ordinary women. Granddaughter Margaret is no exception. She assists her grandmother with unconventional medical practices on military patients and encourages her mother’s second-time-around love life. The three generations can read the same book and discuss and argue like best friends and yet, they can also carry dark secrets strategically kept from one another, hold on to old grudges like a mean snapping turtle, and parse out the silent treatment to one another like professionals. Strong without menfolk to provide for them, the Birch women support each other through everything. This is an age when grandmothers could orchestrate the love lives of their granddaughters. Wise beyond her years, Margaret listens to her grandmother’s advice. As an aside, my favorite was when Charlie Kate gave Margaret her easy-life charm, telling Margaret that it worked…depending on the definition of easy.
Confessional: I couldn’t help but be reminded of Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris.

As an aside, the method of quilling a pregnancy was a new one for me.

Favorite line, “She had said all that she needed to say, and so there were no secret longings, no secret wishes and desires that had never been spoken” (p 254).

Author fact: Gibbons wrote her first novel when she was in her twenties.

Book trivia: Charms for the Easy Life is Kaye Gibbons’ fourth book and other editions include “Christina’s World”, a painting by Andrew Wyeth, as the cover art.

Playlist: Benny Good man, Nelson Eddy’s “Sweet Mystery of Life”, Johnny Mercer’s “Deep in the Heart of Texas”, Hazel Scott’s “Minute Waltz”, Frank Sinatra, “White Christmas”, “I’ll Be Seeing You”, “You Made Me Love You”, Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols”, Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude, Grieg’s E Minor Piano Sonata, Bach’s Minuet in G, Ravel’s Le Tom beau de Couperin, and Sarah Bernhardt.

Nancy said: Pearl was generously vague when describing why Charms for the Easy Life was paired with Addie. The multitude of complimentary themes was a joy to discover on my own.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Companion Reads” (p 62) and again in the chapter called “Mothers and Daughters” (p 159), and a third time in the chapter called “Southern Fiction” (p 222).

Addie

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Settle, Mary Lee. Addie: a Memoir. University of South Carolina Press, 1998.

Reason read: Mary Lee Settle was born in July. Read in her honor.

There is something to be said for honoring one’s past. The oral histories of yesteryear are the cornerstones to who we are as people today. When Mary Lee Settle decided to write about her grandmother, Addie Settle, she chose to recognize not only a blood relative, but historical events: World War I, the Great Depression and mining strikes with Mother Jones leading the way. Settle honors her own personal tapestry of life by remembering family holidays from her childhood, coming of age, and the natural beauty of Kentucky and the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia. My favorite section was the poignant moment when Settle went back to Pineville, Kentucky. Sixty-five years after leaving the area as a six year old little girl, sharp memories rushed to meet her at every turn.
As an aside: when Mary Lee Settle was nine or ten years old she wrote a poem. When that poem was published someone had changed a word in the finished copy. In childish indignation she vowed never to write again. I just love that self righteous ardor for the integrity of her craft at ten years old!

An another aside: was it a typo to call it Wail Street instead of Wall Street?

Line I liked, “When your childhood has been spent on the river, the river will, wherever you are, flow through your dreams forever” (p 177). This quote reminded me of Natalie Merchant’s song, “Where I Go” – a song about finding solace on the banks of a river.
And this: “We had learned to watch for signs of that happiness as you watch the weather” (p 125). Confessional: my sister and I ask each other about the weather when we are really asking about our mother’s mood. Like weather in New England, it can change in a heartbeat.
Here is another one: “Since my mother never forgave anybody, she refused to go to the funeral when her friend died at ninety” (p 185). Does this kind of obstinate stubbornness come with old age? I see this in my own mother.

Author fact: Settle is in the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.

Book trivia: I am reading ten different books by Mary Lee Settle. This is my first one off the Challenge list.

Music: “Little Corey”, Guy Lombardo, “The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi”, “We shall Overcome”, “It was Sad When the Great Ship Went Down”, “In the shade of the Apple Tree”, “Down on the Farm”, Mozart, Nellie Lutcher, Flagstad & Melcior’s “Liebestod”, Hal Kemp, “If I Had the Wings of an Angel”, Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto, and “the Valley of Kentucky”.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Companion Reads” (p 62) to be read with Charms for the Easy Life because they are both about the south.

X President

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Baruth, Philip. The X President. Bantam Books, 2003.

Reason read: I read somewhere that the topic of social studies is best read in July. I have no idea where I read that or if I even believe it.

We start X President in 2055 and Sal Hayden is in Little Rock, Arkansas, trying to write the biography of former president, William J. Clinton. She is his official biographer with all-access privileges, and Bill, at 109 years old, has given her a lot of years to cover. During this time, American is throat-deep in world war III (AKA the Cigarette Wars) and the nation is choking on the reality that it is losing badly. The fight has come to American soil and soldiers are dying by the thousands every minute. What if, by chance, Sal could rewrite history? Change one small detail and set history on a different course? The powers that be are convinced that if Bill could talk to his younger self, a global crisis can be averted. And so begins Sal’s adventure back in time. The year is 1963…
[I don’t know why, but Las Vegas as the location for a central militarized zone of the Allied Freeman does not surprise me. It’s a lawless place where the military can be shut down, and frequently are. If someone can prevent Timothy McVeigh from bombing the Murrah Federal Building, the need for the Allied Freeman movement would go away.]

Author fact: at the time of publication, Baruth was a professor at the University of Vermont.

Book trivia: The X President is Baruth’s third novel. It’s the only one I am reading for the Challenge.

Playlist: “Star Spangled Banner”, Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “No Woman No Cry”, Liberace, Sam Cooke, Lawrence Welk, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Brahms, Patsy Cline, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen, Gipsy Kings, Fleetwood Mac, Cher, Sting, and Madonna.

Nancy said: Pearl did not say anything specific about X President.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Time Travel” (p 220).

Thing About My Uncle

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Stavros, Peter J. The Thing About My Uncle. BHC Press, 2024.

Reason read: Occasionally I am asked to review books for LibraryThing’s very cool Early Review program. This is one such book.

I don’t know as if I believe the fourteen year old narrator. What kid uses the words forthwith or flummoxed or nary? Sometimes Rhett is an adult looking back and sometimes he is a teenager in the here and now. In the beginning I was put off by the tired-seeming plot: teenage kid always in trouble (but secretly a good, albeit misunderstood, kid). You know the kind who desperately need straightening out, but really don’t. Mom is at her wits end so sends said kid (Rhett) to a gruff, tattooed, loner family member who has mysteries of his own. He lives disconnected from society with barely any internet or television to entertain a teenager. Only there is no mystery to Uncle Theo. What you see is what you get. Three nights in a row he serves up wild “game” his hunting buddies gave him in exchange for “produce” from his extensive garden. Don’t go into the garden; do not go into the garden Uncle Theo tells Rhett. Gee, I wonder what Theo is growing? As a book for young adults, I suspect the plot will be just as transparent for them as well. You know that Theo’s secrets are going to be revealed in a dramatic way. You know Rhett is going to love being in the country. What you don’t know is how they will get from point A to point B. Well worth the read.

My only complaint: Rhett goes on and on about his mom’s famous tuna melt dinner. When Rhett wants to surprise his uncle with this meal a whole drama unfolds but Rhett still manages to make the dish…and in the end nothing is said about it. Yes, the events leading up to the tuna melt overshadow the actual meal. I get that. Realistically, Rhett could have skipped making the tuna melt after all that drama.

Book trivia: the cover of The Thing About My Uncle is beautiful.

Too Much Too Young

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Rachel, Daniel. Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story” Rude Boys, Racism, and the Soundtrack of a Generation. Akashic, 2024.

Reason read: as a member of LibraryThing I sometimes get to review cool books in the Early Review program. Too Much Too Young is one such book.

Sit down too long with Too Much Too Young and you will start to feel like you are reading an encyclopedia of song and band names. Namedropping and song humming. Daniel Rachel has done his homework and then some when it comes to the musical beginnings of the 2 Tone record label with art student Jerry Dammers. Rachel even includes a tweet from 2020. The record label’s first signed bands: the Specials, the Selecter, and the Madness (and to think they could have signed UB40). 2 Tone’s sound: from the beginning there were a British take on Jamaican music but after a while they morphed into a mad scientist blend of ska, reggae, punk, rock, Motown, funk, pop, R & B, soul, and disco. Their goal: to represent opposition to discriminations of all types, to fight for equality, and to rage against a national epidemic of violence. They encouraged positivity and joy. Their look: tonic suits, porkpie hats, skinny ties, wraparound shades, and Dr. Martens. Rachel exposes the good, bad, and the ugly of the era. Well worth the encyclopedic read even though, when you think about it, you are reading about a record label that only lasted less than two years due to creative differences, clashing egos and in-fighting.
As an aside, I did not know that Jerry Dammers introduced the concept of Musak.
Same as it ever was: sometimes all it takes is that one unexpected opportunity. The Automatics stood in for the Clash and got their sound out there. Imagine Dragons did the same thing when the lead singer for Train was unable to perform.
Same as it ever was: skinheads hated the hippies and Pakistanis. There will always be hate in this world.

Natalie Moment: when Rachel was talking about performing “Hard Time”, a pessimistic song but dancing while performing it. Natalie talked about performing “What’s the Matter Here?” being a danceable tune about child abuse.
Another Natalie Moment: Too Much Too Young = Eat For Two?

Book trivia: Too Much Too Young takes its title from the Specials song “Too Much Too Young”, their first number 1 hit.

Author fact: Rachel has written a bunch of interesting books. Too Much Too Young is my first.

Best Line possible: “A band stands or falls by its drummer” (p 270). Amen to that.

Playlist Extravaganza:

  • Songs:
    • “007”
    • “10 Commandments”
    • “19”
    • “Aint No Love in the Heart of the City”
    • “Al Capone”
    • “Alcohol”
    • “Alphabet Army”
    • “Anarchy in the UK”
    • “At the Club”
    • “Atomic”
    • “Away”
    • “Back Home”
    • “Back to Life”
    • “Backfield in Motion”
    • “Baggy Trousers”
    • “the Ballad of Robin Hood”
    • “Bank Robber”
    • “Bed and Breakfast Man”
    • “Begin the Beguine”
    • “Berlin”
    • “Best Friend”
    • “Big Shot”
    • “Bitch”
    • “Black and Blue”
    • “Bluebeat and Ska?”
    • “the Boiler”
    • “the Boxer”
    • “Braggin’ and Tryin’ Not to Lie”
    • “Break down the Door”
    • “Bright Lights”
    • “Burn the Shithouse Down (Before the Yanks Do)”
    • “Cardiac Arrest”
    • “Carolina”
    • “Carry Go Bring Come”
    • “Celebrate the Bullet”
    • “Chant Down Babylon”
    • “Chiang Kai Shek”
    • “Click Click”
    • “Conscious Man”
    • “Concrete Jungle”
    • “Conspiracy”
    • “Coward of the County”
    • “Dancing wioth Tears in My Eyes”
    • “Danger”
    • “Dawning of a New Era”
    • “Do nothing”
    • “Do the Dog”
    • “Doesn’t Make It Right”
    • “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”
    • “Double Barrel”
    • “Drowning in Berlin”
    • “the Easy Life”
    • “Easy Snappin'”
    • “Embarrassment”
    • “Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think)””
    • “the Entertainer”
    • “Envy the Love”
    • “Everyday”
    • “the Feelin’s Gone”
    • “Female Chauvinistic Pig”
    • “Fiesta”
    • “Free Love”
    • “(Free) Nelson Mandela”
    • “Friday Club”
    • “Friday Night, Saturday Morning”
    • “Funky Stuff”
    • “Gangsters”
    • “Ganja”
    • “Geno”
    • “Get Off of My Cloud”
    • “Ghost Town”
    • “Girls Talk”
    • “Give It Up”
    • “Going Underground”
    • “Greek Tragedy”
    • “Guns of Navarone”
    • “Hands Off…She’s Mine”
    • “Happy Birthday”
    • “Hawaii Five-0”
    • “Hear My Sing, Violetta”
    • “He’s Gonna Step on You Again”
    • “Hey Little Rich girl”
    • “Holiday Fortnight”
    • “Hot Legs”
    • “Housebound”
    • “I Call Your Name”
    • “I Can See Clearly Now”
    • “I Can’t Stand It”
    • “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down”
    • “I Could Be Happy”
    • “I Don’t Want to Live with Monkeys”
    • “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
    • “I Shot the Sheriff”
    • “I Spy for the FBI”
    • “I’ll Fly for You”
    • “I’m an Upstart”
    • “I’m Going to Kill Myself”
    • “I’m in the Mood for Dancing”
    • “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida”
    • “Inner London Violence”
    • “the International Jet Set”
    • “the Israelites”
    • “It Aint Easy”
    • “It Mek”
    • “It Should Have Been Me”
    • “It’s Up to You”
    • “Jackpot”
    • “James Bond”
    • “Japanese Boy”
    • “Jaywalker”
    • “Jingle Bells”
    • “John Peel’s New Signature Tune”
    • “Jungle Music”
    • “Keep On Moving”
    • “King”
    • “Kingston Affair”
    • “Land of Hope and Glory”
    • “the Land of Make Believe”
    • “Let’s Clean Up the Ghetto”
    • “Let’s Do Rock Steady”
    • “Lip Up Fatty”
    • “Liquidator”
    • “Little Bitch”
    • “A Live Injection”
    • “Living a Life Without Meaning”
    • “London Bridge”
    • “Lonely Crowd”
    • “Long Live Love”
    • “Long Shot Kick de Bucket”
    • “the Lost and the Lonely”
    • “Love of the Common People”
    • “Lovers Concerto”
    • “the Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)”
    • “Maggie’s Farm”
    • “Magic Roundabout”
    • “Man at C & A”
    • “Mantrovani”
    • “Message in a Bottle”
    • “A Message to You Rudy”
    • “Messages”
    • “Mirror in the Bathroom”
    • “Mirror, Mirror (Mon Amour)”
    • “Missing Words”
    • “Mistakes”
    • “Money in My Pocket”
    • “Monkey Man”
    • “Monkey Spanner”
    • “Moonlight Sonata”
    • “Mother and Child Reunion”
    • “Mr Brown”
    • “Mr Full Stop”
    • “Mule Jerk”
    • “Murder”
    • “My Boy Lollipop”
    • “My Collie”
    • “My Ding-a-Ling
    • “My Generation”
    • “My Girl”
    • “Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Na Na Nu Nu”
    • “Neanderthal Man”
    • “Never on a Sunday”
    • “Night Boat to Cairo”
    • “Night Klub”
    • “Nutty Train”
    • “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
    • “Oliver’s Army”
    • “On My Radio”
    • “One of Us”
    • “One Minute Every Hour”
    • “One Step Beyond”
    • “Our Lips are Sealed”
    • “Out on the Streets”
    • “Palm Trees”
    • “Pearl’s Café”
    • “People Get Ready”
    • “Picking the Blues”
    • “Pirates on the Airways”
    • “Plead I Cause”
    • “Poison Ivy”
    • “Police and Thieves”
    • “The Prince”
    • “Put the Punk Back in Funk”
    • “Put People First”
    • “Pussy Prince”
    • “Racist Friend”
    • “Ranking Full Stop”
    • “Raquel”
    • “Rat Race”
    • “Red, Red Wine”
    • “Red Top”
    • “Reggae in Your Jeggae”
    • “Return of Django”
    • “Riders on the Storm”
    • “Robber Dub”
    • “Rock and Roll Nightmare”
    • “Romeo and Juliet”
    • “Rough Rider”
    • “Roxanne”
    • “Rude Boys Outa Jail”
    • “Ruder Than You”
    • “Rudi Got Married”
    • “Run for Your Life”
    • “Run Me down”
    • “Runaway Boys”
    • “Rush, rush”
    • “Saturday Night Beneath the Plastic”
    • “Saturday Night Special”
    • “Save It For Later”
    • “Sea Cruise”
    • “The Selecter”
    • “Shake Some Action”
    • “Shop Around”
    • “Silly Games”
    • “Ska Wars”
    • “Skinhead Moonstomp”
    • “Skinhead Symphony”
    • “Smokestack Lightning”
    • “Smoking My Ganja”
    • “Sock it to Em JB”
    • “Son of a Preacher Man”
    • “Soul Limbo”
    • “Soulful I”
    • “SpasticusAutisticus”
    • “Speak to Me of Love”
    • “Special Brew”
    • “Stereotypes”
    • “Stepping Into Line”
    • “Street Feeling”
    • “Stupid Girl”
    • “Stupid Marriage”
    • “the Sun Has Got It’s Hat On”
    • “Sweet and Dandy”
    • “the Swinging Cats Sing”
    • “Take 5”
    • “Tarzan’s Nuts”
    • “Tear the Whole Thing Down”
    • “Tears of a Clown”
    • “the Telephone Always Rings”
    • “Texas Hold-Up”
    • “They Make Me Mad”
    • “the Third Man Theme”
    • “Three Minute Hero”
    • “Time Hard”
    • “Time is Tight”
    • “To Cut a Long Story Short”
    • “Tom Hark”
    • “Too Experienced”
    • “Too Hot”
    • “Too Much Pressure”
    • “Too Much Too Young”
    • “Too Nice to Talk to”
    • “A Touch of Velvet – A String of Bass”
    • “Touchdown”
    • “Train to Skaville”
    • “Turning Japanese”
    • “Twist and Crawl”
    • “Under My Thumb”
    • “Video Killed the Radio Star”
    • “Vienna”
    • “Walking on the Moon”
    • “War Child”
    • “War Crimes (the Crime Remains the Same”
    • “Watching the Detectives”
    • “We Don’t Talk Anymore”
    • “We’re Only Monsters”
    • “West End Girls”
    • “What I Like Best About You is Your Girlfriend”
    • “What is Soul?”
    • “Whatcha Talkin’ About?”
    • “What’s It All About, Alfie?”
    • “When I Need You”
    • “Whine and Grine”
    • “the Whisper”
    • “Whistling Song”
    • “Why?”
    • “Why Argue with Fate”
    • “Wild Boys”
    • “Window Shopping”
    • “Wonderful World, Beautiful People”
    • “Wonderwall”
    • “Wrong Attitude”
    • “X”
    • “Yeh Yeh”
    • “Ylang Ylang”
    • “You Keep Me Hanging On”
    • “Young, Gifted and Black”
    • “Young Hearts Run Free”
    • “You’re Wondering Now”
  • Bands:
    • 10cc
    • ABBA
    • Adam and the AntsAngelic Upstarts
    • Akry Iykz
    • Alex Harvey Band
    • Altered Images
    • Andrew Ridgely
    • Apolloinaires
    • Aretha Franklin
    • the Automatics
    • Bach
    • Bad Manners
    • the Beat
    • the Beatles
    • Belinda Carlisle
    • Black Velvet
    • Blue Mink
    • Blodwyn Pig
    • Blondie
    • Bob Andy
    • Bob and Marcia
    • Bob Dylan
    • Bob Marley and the Wailers
    • Bobbie Henry
    • the Bodysnatchers
    • Booker T and the MGs
    • Boomtown Rats
    • Bow Wow Wow
    • Buck’s Fizz
    • Burning Spear
    • the Buzzcocks
    • Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
    • Capital Letters
    • Channel A
    • Chapter 5
    • Charlie Parkas
    • Charlie Parker
    • Chic
    • Chrissie Hynde
    • Chuck Berry
    • the Clash
    • Climie Fisher
    • Cockney Rebel
    • Cole Porter
    • Cool Interrogators
    • Coventry Automatics
    • Coventry Special
    • Criminal Class
    • the Cult
    • Curiosity Killed the Cat
    • the Damned
    • Dandy Livingstone
    • Darts
    • Dave and Ansel Collins
    • David Bowie
    • David Byrne
    • David Wakeling
    • Debbie Harry
    • Def Leppard
    • the Defendants
    • Dennis Brown
    • Desmond Decker and the Aces
    • Dexys Midnight Runners
    • Diana Ross
    • Dickie Doo & the Don’ts
    • Dire Straits
    • Dollar
    • the Dooleys
    • the Doors
    • Dr. Hook
    • Duane Eddy
    • Dudu Pukwana
    • Dum Dum Boys
    • Duran Duran
    • Dusty Springfield
    • Earthbound
    • Eddy Grant
    • Elton John
    • Elvis Costello and the Attractions
    • Elvis Presley
    • England World Cup Squad
    • the Equals
    • Equators
    • Eric Clapton
    • ET Rockers
    • Ethiopians
    • Everything But the Girl
    • the Faces
    • Fats Domino & the Coasters
    • Fine young Cannibals
    • Flamin’ Groovies
    • Fleetwood Max
    • Frankie Ford
    • Freddie and the Dreamers
    • the Friday Club
    • Fun Boy Three
    • Generation X
    • George Fame and the Blue Flames
    • George Michael
    • Gil Scot-Heron
    • the Go-Gos
    • Gregory Isaacs
    • Grinderswitch
    • Haircvut 100
    • Hard Top 22
    • Heatwave
    • the Higsons
    • Hipsway
    • Holly and the Italians
    • Horace Andy
    • Hot Chocolate
    • Housemartins
    • Howlin’ Wolf
    • Huey Lewis and the News
    • Hugh Masekela
    • Human League
    • the Hybrids
    • Ian Drury & the Blockheads
    • the Impressions
    • Iron Butterfly
    • Isley Brothers
    • J.B. Allstars
    • Jam
    • Janet Kay
    • Jaywalkers
    • Jazz Afrika
    • Jethro Tull
    • Jim Morrison
    • Jimmy Cliff
    • Joan Armatrading
    • Joan Baez
    • John Kongo
    • John Lennon
    • John Mayall
    • Johnny Nash
    • Johnny Rotten
    • Johnny Thunders
    • Jolly Brothers
    • Joy Division
    • Julian Bahula
    • Junior Murvin
    • K.C. & the Sunshine Band
    • Kate Bush
    • Kenny Rogers
    • Kim Wilde
    • the Kinks
    • Kool and the Gang
    • Laurel Aitken
    • the Lambrettas
    • Lena Martell
    • Lene Lovitch
    • Leo Sayer
    • the Leyton Buzzards
    • Liam Gallagher
    • Lionel Hampton
    • Little Feat
    • Lloydie and the —
    • Lou Reed
    • Lynn Franks
    • Madness
    • Mark Knopfler
    • Marvin Gaye
    • Matchbox
    • the Maytals
    • the Members
    • Mersey Beat
    • the Meritones
    • Merton Parkas
    • Mick Jagger
    • Millie Small
    • Mistakes
    • Mo-dettes
    • Mobiles
    • the Mood Mosaic
    • the Monkees
    • Motorhead
    • New Romantics
    • Neville Hinds
    • Neville Staple
    • Nicky Thomas
    • the Nips
    • Nite Train
    • Nolan Sisters
    • Oasis
    • Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
    • Paul Hardcastle
    • Paul McCartney
    • Paul Simon
    • Pauline Vickers
    • Pay King
    • Pet Shop Boys
    • Peter Tosh
    • Pink Floyd
    • the Pioneers
    • Piranhas
    • Plastic Ono Band
    • The Pogues
    • the Police
    • Poly Styrene
    • Posh Spice
    • Prefabsprout
    • the Pretenders
    • Prince Buster
    • Pharaoh’s Kingdom
    • Public Image Limited
    • Ray Charles
    • Red Beans and Rice
    • Rex Garvin & the Mighty Cravers
    • Right Hand Lovers
    • Rod Stewart
    • Roddy Radiation and the Wild Boys
    • Rolling Stones
    • Ronnie Lane
    • Rory Gallagher
    • Roxy Music
    • RU12
    • the Ruts
    • Sade
    • the Saints
    • Sam & Dave
    • School Meals
    • the Selecter
    • Sex Pistols
    • the Shadows
    • Sham69
    • Showaddyywaddy
    • Sinead O’Connort
    • Siouxsie Sioux
    • Simply Red
    • Sister Sledge
    • Skatalites
    • the Slits
    • Sly and Robbie
    • Soft Cell
    • Soul II Soul
    • Southside Greek
    • Small Faces
    • Spandeau Ballet
    • the Specials
    • Special AKA
    • Squad
    • Squeeze
    • Steel Pulse
    • Steeleye Span
    • Stevie Wonder
    • the Stooges
    • Stray Cats
    • Style Council
    • Suicide
    • Sunday Best
    • the Supremes
    • Swing Out Sister
    • the Swinging Cats
    • the Swinging Laurels
    • Talking Heads
    • Ten Years After
    • Thin Lizzie
    • Thompson Twins
    • Three Degrees
    • Toyah Wilcox
    • the Transposed Men
    • True Expression
    • Tubeway Army
    • UB40
    • UK Subs
    • Ultravox
    • Untouchables
    • the Upsetters
    • the Vibrators
    • Victor Romero Evans
    • Wah! Heat
    • Way of the West
    • Wayne/Jayne County
    • Wham!
    • the Who
    • Working Week
    • XTC
    • Yoko Ono
    • the Young Rascals

Dead Man’s Walk

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McMurtry, Larry. Dead Man’s Walk. Simon & Schuster, 1995.

Reason read: McMurtry celebrates a birthday in June. Read in his honor.

As a prequel to Lonesome Dove, this is the reader’s first introduction to Call and Gus and their budding friendship. Together they join an expedition from Texas to New Mexico. They, along with 200 other men, cross a landscape fraught with danger at every turn. Apache and Comanche natives that could steal a captain’s horse or thirty without a sound; slit your throat without disturbing a single sleeping comrade. Mexican armies trying to defend “their land” from the Texans. Hunger and thirst at every mile. There are so many ways to die: falling over a cliff, drowning in a river, bleeding to death as a result of a scalping or throat cutting, arrow or lance through the heart, hanging, burning, whipping, suicide, starvation, freezing, exhaustion, thirst, firing squad, crushed by a horse, snake bite, spider bite, suicide, being run down by a buffalo, or gored by a bear. Things turn from bad to worse when the Rangers are captured and forced into a dead man’s walk across the desert in leg irons. Be forewarned – only a few will survive.
Please keep in mind, Dead Man’s Walk was published in 1995 and takes place years before one needed to be politically correct. In the spirit of authenticity of the era, one will have to endure racism and sexism on multiple levels. In contrast, McMurtry several times acknowledges native ownership of the land Call and Gus travel.
The opening line of Dead Man’s Walk reminded me of a line from Josh Ritter’s song “Myrna Loy” for she had a wolf pup at her heels and a snow white rabbit huddled in her arms. It wasn’t a 200lb prostitute carrying a snapping turtle by the tail…but close.

Book trivia: Dead Man’s Walk is a prequel to Lonesome Dove. Someone mentioned that if you read Lonesome Dove before Dead Man’s Walk you figure out who survives in Dead Man’s Walk.

Author fact: I am reading seven books by McMurtry.

Setlist: “Barbara Allen”, “Buffalo Gals”, and Verdi’s Nabucco.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Western Fiction” (p 240).