The Double Comfort Safari Club

The Double Comfort Safari Club is another in the long-running No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. I can't call them mysteries, even in the cozy sense, even though that's the section where you can find them in the book store. They are quick pleasant reads, more character- than plot-driven. I continue to like them, but The Younger Son gave them up years ago. I do not like books from any of the other series this author has written, and I've read several.

from the back of the book:

The latetst installment in this bestselling series finds Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi traveling to the stunning Okavango Delta to deal with issues of great fortune and mistaken identity.

The two ladies of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency head to a safari camp in the north of Botswana to find a tour guide who has been left a sizable sum of money. But finding the right man might be more difficult than they expect. In addition, there is a cloud hanging over the trip, because before they departure Mma Makutsi's fiance, Phuti Radiphuti, suffered a serious accident, and his aunt, who is taking care of him, won't let Mma Makutsi in to see him. Could she be trying to split them up? Of course none of this defeats the indomitable Precious Ramotswe, who knows that good sense, kindness, and patience will always carry the day.

The Christian Science Monitor likes this series and this particular book. The Washington Times has an overview. In the Stacks has a video review.

I've read these others from this series:

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Blue Shoes and Happiness
The Good Husband from Zebra Drive
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
The Miracle at Speedy Motors

Kraken

Kraken is a fantasy novel by China Miéville. I enjoyed reading this book, but it's not my favorite of his work. I liked The Scar and The City & the City better, but I liked this one better than Iron Council.

SF Signal calls it "Miéville's best book so far." SF Reviews says the author is "on his game" with this one. The Guardian has a mixed review saying,

Miéville powers through that conceptual density with an action-filled plot, a technique that has served him well in earlier novels. But here the combined weight of ideas and plot press down on the characters, which struggle to grow beyond entertaining pop-cultural caricatures. For this reason the novel misses the emotional resonance and mythic qualities of the greatest urban fantasies...

The Independent says, "Kraken proves Miéville is ever forging new ground, even when walking the same grey pavements as his readers." SFF World closes by describing it as "Impressively literate, crafty, and yet reliably China. Recommended."

The New York Times starts its review by describing the author:

If your idea of a science fiction writer is a scrawny guy with computer-glow pallor who’s a little too interested in whether warp speed is a realistic rate of travel, China Miéville is not that person. Tall and buff, he has a shaved head, a row of earrings curving sharply around the edge of his left ear...

I'm still laughing and can't somehow finish reading the review.

Here the author is interviewed about Kraken:

The Tale of the Fox

The Tale of the Fox is a full-length film by stop motion animator Ladislas Starewicz. It's the 6th full-length animated feature film ever made. It is based on the stories of Reynard and is as enjoyable as the stories.



Rotten Tomatoes has a summary and a short overview of its making.

Memphis Roller Derby

I had never seen roller derby before, but The Daughter knows someone who plays for a local team, and I went with her to a friends & family practice game in the Pipkin Building at the old fairgrounds. Fun! Even though I was clueless about what was going on, it was fun. We plan to find out a bit about the rules and go back. All I know right now I learned from the song:



The Daughter's friend is in the yellow helmet in the top picture. The Daughter took the pictures in this post.

There is a Facebook page.

Dog Soldiers

The Younger Son offered me a choice between Dog Soldiers and Predator, and I picked Dog Soldiers for yesterday afternoon. It has Sean Pertwee in it, so I knew I'd like it. This is a 2002 British horror film about a group of soldiers who comes under attack while involved in a training exercise. This movie was great fun.

trailer:


BBC admires the comic touches and gives it 4 out of 5 stars. DVD Talk highly recommends it. Moria says,

as a no-punches-held-back, no pretensions piece of visceral horror, Dog Soldiers is rather enjoyable. ... and the film rarely ever slows down...

Weird Wild Realm says,

for violent exploitation cinema, Dog Soldiers is an exciting werewolf film with convincing performances, more than adequate werewolf design & FX, believable dialogue, & a black sense of humor that does not interfer with the suspense.

The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse is 13th in the P.D. James Adam Dalgliesh mystery series. An excerpt can be read at her site. I've read several in this series and always enjoy them.

from the book jacket:

Combe Island off the Cornish coast of England has a bloodstained history of piracy and cruelty. Owned for centuries by the same family, it now serves as a place where over-stressed men and women in positions of high authority can come to find serenity in conditions of guaranteed security. But when one of its distinguished visitors is found hanging from Combe's famous lighthouse, an apparent murder victim, the peace of the island is shattered.

The situation is awkward, demanding exceptional skill and discretion on the part of investigators. Commander Adam Dalgliesh, well known and admired for exactly these qualities, is called in to solve the case. Unfortunately, it is a difficult time for the Commander and his team. Dalgliesh himself is distracted, uncertain and deeply worried about his future with Emma Lavenham, the woman he loves; Detective Inspector Kate Miskin is coping with tenacious emotional problems of her own; the ambitious Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is not happy about having a woman as his superior. Moreover, the team has scarcely begun to unravel the motives of the various suspects before a second brutal killing occurs. Then, as if to challenge them to the utmost, a new and unexpected - and deadly - threat suddenly confronts Dalgliesh personally, leaving Miskin and Benton-Smith to carry on alone in a race against time.

A richly complex tale of crime and passion, The Lighthouse is a deeply satisfying novel, P.D. James at her masterly best.

The Guardian has a positive review of this particular work and good words about the author. Kirkus Reviews also likes it.

I have blog posts on these:

#2 A Mind to Murder
#5 The Black Tower
#7 A Taste for Death
#9 Original Sin
#12 The Murder Room

and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, which features an appearance by Dalgliesh.

A Plague of Secrets

A Plague of Secrets by John Lescroart is 13th of the Dismas Hardy series of legal thrillers. You can read the first chapter at the author's site. That site describes it this way: "In a multiple murder case plagued by lies and deception, there is one terrible secret that defense attorney Dismas Hardy is duty-bound to protect. Even if the price is his client’s life" and gives an overview:

When Dylan Vogler, the charming manager of the popular Bay Beans West coffee shop in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, is gunned down near the store, inspectors are shocked to discover that his knapsack is overflowing with high-grade marijuana. It soon becomes clear that San Francisco’s A-list flocked to Bay Beans West for more than a pricy caffeine fix.

Maya Townshend is the absentee owner of the shop—and the beautiful and extremely wealthy socialite niece of the city’s mayor. When she becomes Dismas Hardy’s client, he thinks it will be a simple hand-holding exercise until the police identify a suspect. But then another of Maya’s past acquaintances turns up murdered, and the newspapers begin to reveal the names of the coffee shop’s celebrity, political, and even law-enforcement clientele. Hardy begins to question how much his client knew about what was actually going on inside her business—and whether she was also Vogler’s lover.

All the while, Hardy’s best friend, homicide lieutenant Abe Glitsky, sick with worry over his severely-injured youngest child, barely functions in his job. Without his supervision, his inspectors are prey to the machinations of the many power brokers with interests in the case. And ambitious prosecutors, both state and federal, close in on Maya.

As her trial gets underway, Hardy discovers that Maya harbors an explosive secret that is at the heart of the case. Regardless, Dismas Hardy is hostage to that secret, and privilege-bound to protect it.

Perceptive, fast-paced and masterful, A Plague Of Secrets is sure to have fans and new readers of John Lescroart alike hungrily turning the pages.

Mysterious Reviews likes it, saying it "combines the best of a legal thriller, a police procedural, and a murder mystery into one terrific novel. It is highly recommended." I enjoyed the book. I will say I don't often have to look up words while I'm reading, and I did have to look up "copasetic".

Lescroart has a facebook page.

The Year of Magical Thinking

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion is a memoir that speaks to me. I've lived this way more than once in my life, and I swear there are worse ways to live. Sometimes I think a total retreat from reality would be much preferable to the reality I've suffered at times. I first heard about this book on NPR and picked it up soon after, but it was years before I could bring myself to read it. When I read about her life, I wonder how I can be so desperately unhappy in my own. She's had much tragedy to deal with.

from the back of the book:

From one of America's iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage - and a life, in good times and bad - that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.

It opens:

Life changes fast.
Life changes in the instant.
You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.

The NYT has a glowing review, as does EW. Slate calls it extraordinary. In fact, I haven't seen a single negative review.

How to Murder the Man of Your Dreams

How to Murder the Man of Your Dreams by Dorothy Cannell is one of a series of mysteries begun with The Thin Woman. I've also read How to Murder Your Mother-in-Law. These books are all humorous & light, and I get a kick out of them. When I start going back to book stores, I'll be looking to pick up more of them.

from the back of the book:

Any day now, stay-at-home mum Ellie Haskell plans to slim down, kick the romance-reading habit, and resume her career. But not today, for when she arrives for the Chitterton Fells Library League meeting, she stumbles upon a corpse: Miss Bunch, the librarian, lies sprawled next to an open copy of The Dream Lover. Could she have been a victim of the library ghost, a man with a grudge against the romantic novels that kept his daughters forever holding out for the perfect suitor? It is a question that haunts Ellie - especially when a sexy male romance cover model hits town and strange goings-on begin. When a second mysterious death occurs, Ellie knows she must unmask the culprit...before she herself meets a sinister and decidedly unromantic fate!

Kirkus Reviews says, "The plot is porridge, the suspense nil, but lovers of English eccentrics and their archly comic antics will have fun with this one."

L.A. Requiem

L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais is the 8th novel in the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series. The author has a website where you can read an excerpt. I remember enjoying this book when I read it but have honestly forgotten all of it. I read it back when The Grandmother was in the hospital. Spending the nights there with her once I wasn't quite so worried, this book made a fine distraction. Along with HGtv's Design Star. I took my distractions where I could get them in those days.

from the back of the book:

The day starts like any other in L.A. The sun burns hot as the Santa Ana winds blow ash from mountain fires to coat the glittering city. But for private investigator Joe Pike, the city will never be the same again. His ex-lover, Karen Garcia, is dead, brutally murdered with a gun shot to the head.

Now Karen's powerful father calls on Pike and his partner, Elvis Cole, to keep an eye on the LAPD as they search for his daughter's killer - because in the luminous City of Angels, everyone has something to hide. But what starts as routine turns into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. For a dark web of conspiracy threatens to destroy Pike and Cole's twelve-year friendship - if not their lives.

Kirkus Reviews calls it "a taut, suspenseful case". SFF.net likes it, opening this review saying, "If you don't buy and read this book, you ought to be shot." sfgate says, "in "L.A. Requiem" he's found his own voice and has made himself a contender."

Don't

by Patty Larkin, heard recently on WEVL.

I wear a helmet and a seatbelt at home
Thought that would save me but it won't
I bolt the door and now there's strangers on the phone
It's not what they say it's what they Don't

Furious Gulf

Furious Gulf is the 5th of the Galactic Center books by Gregory Benford. Somehow, I wrote up the last in the series but not this penultimate one. This is a series I plan on reading again. I have a special fondness for space opera.

from the back of the book:

The last humans from the planet Snowglade have taken flight from the genocidal mechs aboard the spaceship Argo. As the ship hurtles toward the Galactic Center, hunger and desperation are taking their toll among the refugees, who are beginning to question the leadership of Captain Killeen. Convinced that his people's one hope of survival lies in the True Center of the galaxy, he is determined to find it, with a will bordering on obsession.

As the crew of the Argo, and even Killeen's own son Toby, find their faith in their captain's brilliance tested to the limit, Toby faces his own perilous journey into the uunknown, into the mysteries of adulthood. Like the others in this Family of voyagers, Toby's spine contains microchip implants holding the memories - the legacy - of his race. But just as the technology designed to save his people may tear Toby himself apart, so his father's desperate gamble to save the Argo may plunge the ship and its inhabitants into a cosmic pit of all-consuming fire.

Kirkus Reviews says, "when it comes to conjuring the marvels of space and the bizarre possibilities of high-energy physics, Benford is second to none."

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a 2005 film loosely based on -maybe "inspired by" would be better?- a true story. It's directed by Scott Derrickson, who did the 2008 version of The Day the Earth Stood Still. I liked the film fine, but I don't feel like I missed anything not seeing it in a theater. This one won't go on the list of horror movies I re-watch.

trailer:


Roger Ebert gives it 3 stars. It gets a 36% from the top critics at Rotten Tomatoes, but the general audience likes it much better. The New York Times calls it "propaganda disguised as entertainment." Slant Magazine gives it 1 1/2 stars out of a possible 4, saying the film

pits spirituality against secularism in a court of law, defending each side with such righteous, calculated equal-opportunity you know some suit at Sony is applauding himself for coming up with a concept that would wrangle fans of The Passion of the Christ and everyone else in the world into the same room and possibly get them talking—except there's nothing to discuss here except for how little room the filmmakers allow for subjective thought.

BBC's review describes it as "A classy "boo!" movie for those who like their horror polite." Variety likes it and calls it "an unusually intelligent genre item that manages to mix full-bore horror with courtroom drama." Entertainment Weekly isn't a fan, but isn't specific. Moria gives it a single star and says it's "a thorough disappointment." DVD Talk says it's

an intelligent and thought provoking film that hits the right blend of drama, intrigue, intelligent debate, and genuine scares

and

The Exorcism Of Emily Rose proves to be a very clever film that delivers some scares but more importantly makes you think about your own faith and your own beliefs.

Rolling Stone objects to the silliness, using a quote from the movie. TimeOut calls it "silly and insulting". Slate.com didn't like it and has a snarky review.

Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out

Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out is another in the Rabbi Small mystery series by Harry Kemelman. I enjoy the books in this series, although it's been a couple of years since I last read one. Besides being enjoyable reads, they've shed some light on Judaism for me. The author is dead now, so no more books are forthcoming.

from the back of the book:

If the murder victim had not been a notorious anti-Semite, Rabbi Small might never have become involved. When several members of his congregation became suspects, Rabbi Small was forced to match wits with the killer.

Here is another lively and engaging tale of suspense that will keep you turning pages - especially after sundown.

There is a mention of Methodists later in the book:

Jennings smirked his satisfaction. "That's because you Catholics wouldn't join this Visit a Church program we had a couple of years ago. Your Father Regan was all for people coming to visit his church, but he wouldn't encourage his people to go and visit other churches. You see, Hugh, you Catholics tend to be kind of narrow-minded about certain things, whereas we Methodists-"

Jingo

Jingo is one of the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. The City Watch is featured and Death makes only a fleeting appearance.

from the back of the book:

It isn't much of an island that rises up one moonless night from the depths of the Circle Sea - just a few square miles of silt and some old ruins. Unfortunately, the historically disputed lump of land called Leshp is once again floating directly between Ankh-Morpork and the city of Al-Khali on the coast of Klatch - which is spark enough to ignite that glorious international pastime called "war." Pressed into patriotic service, Commander Sam Vimes thinks he should be leading his loyal watchmen, female watchdwarf, and lady werewolf into battle against local malefactors rather than against uncomfortably well-armed strangers in the Klatchian desert. But war is, after all, simply the greatest of all crimes - and it's Sir Samuel's sworn duty to seek out criminal masterminds wherever they may be hiding... and lock them away before they can do any real damage. Even the ones on his own side.

SFSite calls it "a fine addition to the Discworld series" but says it's not his favorite. This review, also at SFSite, opens by saying,

Jingo does not contain as many laugh-out-loud moments as many of the Discworld novels, but there are still many humorous moments in the book as Pratchett makes his statements about war, but moreso about the nature of mobs, civic pride and nationalism.

My favorite moments in the book are

"Do you need an excuse to have a war?" said Nobby? "I mean, who for? Can't you just say, 'You got lots of cash and land but I've got a big sword so divvy up right now, chop chop?' That's what I'd do," said Corporal Nobbs, military strategist. "And I wouldn't even say that until after I'd attacked."

and

"Ah, Captain Jenkins! This is your lucky day!"
The captain looked up from the rope he was coiling. No one likes being told it's their lucky day. That sort of thing does not bode well. When someone tells you it's your lucky day, something bad is about to happen.

I have read these other books from this series:
The Color of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Equal Rites
Mort
Sourcery
Wyrd Sisters
Pyramids
Guards! Guards!

Mantis enjoying her dinner

on the door into our garage.

The Sinister Pig

The Sinister Pig, by mystery writer Tony Hillerman, is 16th in the series and features Sergeant Jim Chee. I always enjoy books from this series, and this one is no exception.

from the back of the book:

Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police is troubled by the nameless corpse discovered just inside his jurisdiction, at the edge of the Jicarilla Apache natural gas field. More troubling still is the FBI's insistence that the Bureau take over the case, calling the unidentifiedvictim's death a "hunting accident."

But if a hunter was involved, Chee knows the prey was intentionally human. This belief is shared by the "Legendary Lieutenant" Joe Leaphorn, who once again is pulled out of retirement by the possibility of serious wrongs being committed against the Navajo nation by the Washington bureaucracy. Yet it is former policewoman Bernadette Manuelito, recently relocated to Customs Patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border, who possibly holds the key to a fiendishly twisted conspiracy of greed, lies, and murder - and whose only hope for survival now rests in the hands of friends too far away for comfort.

Kirkus Reviews calls it "Hillerman Lite".

The Pillars of the Earth

This massive 983-page tome is well worth it. You might look at it and think it's intimidating and would take forever to read, but it is a very approachable page-turner. The Pillars of the Earth (1989), by Ken Follett, is set in medieval England and includes characters high and low through a couple of generations. The characters are well-developed, and the settings and times are vividly described.

from the publisher:

As a new age dawns in England's twelfth century, the building of a mighty Gothic cathedral sets the stage for a story of intrigue and power, revenge and betrayal. It is in this rich tapestry, where kings and queens are corrupt, that the common man shows eternal promise - and one majestic creation will bond them forever...

from wikipedia:

The book traces the development of Gothic architecture out of the preceding Romanesque architecture and the fortunes of the Kingsbridge priory against the backdrop of actual historical events of the time.

The author's site has information, including a reading and discussion guide. Oprah also has a guide.

Robots of Brixton

Robots of Brixton, directed by Kibwe Tavares is an animated short film available to watch free right now at MUBI. It is a disturbing little thing.



io9 describes it this way:

a fascinating and gorgeously-designed interpretation of what might happen to robots created to be humanity's slave force. Tavares imagines robots consigned to the same neighborhoods as immigrant workers, and dealing with the kinds of police neglect and aggression that sparked what came to be called Bloody Saturday in 1981. The political message is stark, but you won't be able to take your eyes off Tavares' brilliant robot concepts and his surreal vision of a robot slum.

Crocodile on the Sandbank

I was disappointed in Crocodile on the Sandbank. I expected more of author Elizabeth Peters than I got out of this book. The relationships felt formulaic to me, and there was more romance than I like in my mysteries. Much too much. This 1975 book is the first in the 19-volume Amelia Peabody series. It is in this book that Amelia meets future husband Radcliffe Emerson, an Egyptologist. Maybe there's less romantic drama in the following books, but I'm not motivated to find out. This book has interesting plot/characters/setting; I just can't get past all the swooning.

from the back of the book:

Amelia Peabody, that indomitable product of the Victorian age, embarks on her debut Egyptian adventure armed with unshakable self-confidence, a journal to record her thoughts, and, of course, a sturdy umbrella. On her way to Cairo, Amelia rescues young Evelyn Barton-Forbes, who has been abandoned by her scoundrel lover. Together the two women sail up the Nile to an archeological site run by the Emerson brothers - the irascible but dashing Radcliffe and the amiable Walter. Soon their little party is increased by one - one mummy, that is, and a singularly lively example of the species. Strange visitations, suspicious accidents, and a botched kidnapping convince Amelia that there is a plot afoot to harm Evelyn. Now Amelia finds herself up against an unknown enemy - and perilous forces that threaten to make her first Egyptian trip also her last...

Se7en

The Daughter's boss loaned this dvd to her because she likes Criminal Minds and thought she might like other stories about serial killers. Lovely. We watched it last night. The Younger Son had seen it and had a test to study for, so he passed. The Husband likes funny movies with happy endings, and he'd had a long day; he also passed. Se7en is directed by David Fincher and stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.

trailer:

Roger Ebert describes it as "a dark, grisly, horrifying and intelligent thriller, [that] may be too disturbing for many people" and says it

is well-made in its details, and uncompromising in the way it presents the disturbing details of the crimes. It is certainly not for the young or the sensitive.

The New York Times review doesn't like anything at all about the film except Freeman. Moria calls it "an absolutely breathtaking thriller". DVD Journal opens their review by saying, "Se7en is the most unsatisfying serial killer movie ever made. And I mean that in the best possible sense." Rotten Tomatoes describes it as "A brutal, relentlessly grimy shocker with taut performances, slick gore effects, and a haunting finale." Entertainment Weekly likes it. AMC has an overview.

Love in the Ruins

Love in the Ruins: The Adventures of a Bad Catholic at a Time Near the End of the World (1971) is a science fiction work by Walker Percy. I enjoyed this take on the-end-of-the-world. -a bit of a different perspective.

The Literature, Arts and Medicine Database calls it "a satire of the limits of technology, the medicalization of the human spirit, and the trivializing tendencies of 20th century medical science".

As I was googling the title I found a Memphis blogger who read it a couple of years before I did. She still actively blogs. She seems to post a lot of book and family-related matters from what i can tell.

This Land Is Their Land

This Land Is Their Land, Reports from a Divided Nation, by Barbara Ehrenreich is a 2008 publication I think of as a companion piece to her earlier Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. I liked Nickel and Dimed, which I read as part of a church reading program, and found this book complementary.

The New York Times review has a point when it says that "the first thing you notice about Ehrenreich’s book is that the villains who did the snatching are only vaguely present." The essays making up this collection are quite short, so i didn't expect much depth, but she doesn't so much point a finger as wave generally in that direction.

The Mother Jones review calls Ehrenreich "a full-fledged member of the glass-has-only-one-drop-left cohort." The Daily Kos reviewer liked it, which I expected, and closes her review by saying,

Her willingness to think out loud, to explore, to continue to push to find new implications in current events has never been displayed to better advantage than it is in This Land Is Their Land

Short excerpts can be read here and here.

Major Dundee

Major Dundee, a 1965 Sam Peckinpah western, is one of those movies that passed me by. How I missed it I'll never know, but I don't remember ever having seen it. I was at The Grandmother's place changing the channels and came across this coming on TCM. It stars Charlton Heston, the titular Major after Apache blood; Richard Harris, a confederate prisoner and former friend of Dundee; James Coburn, scout for the garrison; and Slim Pickens. It has an ugly history of edits, lost film & re-releases. I'm glad I've seen it, but this won't go on the list of films I'll watch again. It does have James Coburn in it, though, so I may have to come back to it for that reason alone.

a fan-made trailer:


Reviews are mixed, often within the same review. Most reviewers are talking, not about the theatrical release, but the extended version which added back some of what had been cut. The top critics at Rotten Tomatoes like it. Variety opens by saying the film

might well have been a better picture before its director was dismissed in post-production after a fractious Mexican shoot. But it is also more evident than ever the film is inherently a deeply flawed work that was far from fully realized in both script and shooting.

Salon.com is conflicted, saying, "Even if the picture falls apart in the second half, the first half is loaded with individual scenes that are beautifully staged and acted." Time Out closes with this: "A fine if fractured Western, more subversive of conventional mythologies than it seems." Entertainment Weekly says, "the movie sprawls like an inflated Dirty Dozen. ... yet at its best you can feel Peckinpah, at the twilight of the studio era, dreaming of a far wilder bunch." DvdTalk concludes

a great picture with many brilliant scenes and powerful moments. If mangled movies by great filmmakers were studied as closely as lost books by great authors, I believe Dundee would stand out as an American national epic about the politics of military adventurism.

Combustible Celluloid is a fan and calls it "an ode to the unstable, explosive force that was Sam Peckinpah, as well as to the powerful studio system that crushed him and kept him down." MUBI ranks it 8th of 10 Peckinpah films.

The Crying of Lot 49

The Crying of Lot 49 (1965) by Thomas Pynchon is fascinating. It's been in my tbr stack for years and it would probably still be there if I hadn't seen Trystero Coffee's web site. I'm glad I read it. It's fun, as conspiracy theories go.

from the back of the book:

Oedipa Maas is made the executor of the estate of her late boyfriend, Pierce Inverarity. As she diligently carries out her duties, Oedipa is enmeshed in what would appear to be a worldwide conspiracy, meets some extremely interesting characters, and attains a not-inconsiderable amount of self-knowledge.

Time picked the book as one of "the 100 best English-Language novels from 1923 to the present", saying,

With its slapstick paranoia and its heartbreaking metaphysical soliloquies, Lot 49 takes place in the tragicomic universe that is instantly recognizable as Pynchon-land.

The book has its own wiki. Postmodern Mystery has a review. SparkNotes has a summary, analysis, information on the characters and other goodies.

Track of the Cat

I've decided if I don't go ahead & get back into this I'll never do it and I do enjoy the blogging, so I've pulled out the books I've read since my last book note. Track of the Cat is the first in Nevada Barr's mystery series featuring Anna Pigeon, a park ranger in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in West Texas. This 1993 book won both the Agatha and Anthony awards for best first novel. An interesting read, it keeps moving, holds the reader's attention and does a good job developing the characters and vividly describing the setting.

from the back of the book:

The fascinating hero of Nevada Barr's award-winning series, park ranger Anna Pigeon has brought an unyielding love of nature and sense of fair play to the mystery genre. Track of the Cat is the acclaimed novel that first introduced readers to Anna, as a woman looking for peace in the wilderness-and finding murder instead...

Patrolling the remote West Texas backcountry, Anna's first job as a national park ranger is marred by violence she thought she had left behind: the brutal death of a fellow ranger. When the cause of death is chalked up to a mountain lion attack, Anna's rage knows no bounds. It's up to her to save the protected cats from the politics and prejudices of the locals-and prove the kill was the work of a species far less rare...

There are musical references scattered throughout. The first is on page 24 and mentions a tape, a boombox and Guy Clark's "Rita Ballou". On the next page there's mention of a new cassette tape with "I wanna be seduced" by The Chenille Sisters. They aren't frequent, but I found it a nice touch.

Here's the Guy Clark song:

The Last Gentleman

The Last Gentleman is a novel written in 1966 by Walker Percy. There is a short summary here. The Paris Review has an interview with Percy in which he describes the main character in this novel as being "in pilgrimage without quite knowing it—doing a Kierkegaardian repetition, that is, going back to his past to find himself, then from home and self to the West following the summons of a queer sort of apostle, mad Doctor Sutter." There is a review here and also some good links to related articles.

from the back of the book:

Williston Bibb Barrett is the last gentleman, a twenty-five-year-old wanderer from the South who suffers from a nervous condition that his doctor associates with his inability to fit into "the group." Presently working in New York as a humidification engineer in the basement of Macy's, he is a young man with no plans for the future and detached roots from his past.

It is the simple purchase of a telescope one summer day changes his life.

While searching for an elusive peregrine falcon in Central Park, Will accidentally spots a young woman "dark as a gypsy" and falls madly and hopelessly in love. And so begins the last gentleman's quest for home, identity, and the meaning of contemporary life.

This is the 2nd book I've read by this author -I've read The Moviegoer- and I enjoy the way he writes. When I opened it and started to read, though, I realized I'd read it before. I don't like his writing enough to re-read this. So many books, so little time.

The Chronicles of Riddick

Grazing the tv offerings after Mother went to bed last night I came across The Chronicles of Riddick, the 3rd and last in the Riddick series, starring Vin Diesel as Riddick and featuring Dame Judi Dench as a member of the Elemental race. I liked all three of these films, and I think Vin Diesel is a lot of fun to watch. This movie is a science fiction/action movie -with lots of action. The first one was Pitch Black, science fiction but with more of a horror/suspense leaning, and the second one was an animated film called Dark Fury.

trailer:

Moria calls it "an ornate, Gothic space opera," says it "feels like a fantasy story that just happens to be told in science-fiction terms" and claims "Diesel certainly puts some credibility back into his screen presence" in this film. Slant Magazine despises it. Roger Ebert gives it a negative review. EW doesn't seem to like it much either.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a wonderful fantasy novel, the first book by Susanna Clarke. There is a wiki devoted to the book here. It won the 2005 Hugo Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award for Best First Novel, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature and the Time Best Book Award. She won the British Book Award for Best Newcomer of that year.

There are 2 mentions of Methodists. The first is early on, describing a man in Mr. Norrell's library:

Mr. Honeyfoot meanwhile, his hands in the air like a Methodist praising God, was walking rapidly from bookcase to bookcase; he could scarcely stop long enough to read the title of one book before his eye was caught by another on the other side of the room.

The second is in the middle of the book in a passing mention that a certain man could most certainly not have been drunk because he "is a Methodist preacher."

from the dust jacket:

"Two magicians shall appear in England.

The first shall fear me; the second shall long

to behold me..."

The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and it is hundreds of years since practical magic faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious industry suddenly discover that one practicing magician still remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell of Hurtfew Abbey. Challenged to demonstrate his powers, Norrell causes the statues of York Cathedral to speak and sing, and sends a thrill through the country. The magician proceeds to London, trailed by excited rumors, where he raises a beautiful young woman from the dead and finally enters war, summoning an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French.

Yet Norrell is soon challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome, and daring, Strange is the very opposite of cautious, fussy Norrell. Still, Norrell agrees to take Strange as his pupil, and the young magician joins England's cause, enduring the rigors of Wellington's campaign in Portugal to lend the army his supernatural skill on the battlefield.

But as Strange's powers grow, so do his ambitions. He becomes obsessed with the founder of English magic, a shadowy twelfth-century figure known as the Raven King. In his increasingly restless pursuit of the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, Strange risks sacrificing not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything else that he holds dear.

Elegant, witty, and flawlessly detailed, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a magisterial first novel that draws readers into Susanna Clarke's fantastic and utterly convincing vision of a past world.

SFReviews.net calls it "Breathtakingly original" and says that "as a storyteller, Clarke simply knocks you off your feet." SF Signal gives special praise to the world building. The SF Site review closes by saying,

I'm afraid I've now become one of those people who go on and on about how great a certain book is. I've been trying to convince my customers to buy it, trying to convince them not to be turned off by how fat Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is. 'I've heard a lot about this book,' they say, 'can it really be as good as all that?' Yes, I tell them, it can.

Sailing Bright Eternity

The Galactic Center Saga by Gregory Benford is another example of a series it has taken me forever to read. I bought them as I found them, but it took years before I picked them all up, and by then I had completely forgotten the ones I had read earlier. I read Sailing Bright Eternity (6th and last in the series) while Mother was in the hospital, and I enjoyed it even though I'd forgotten the rest of the series.

from the back of the book:

The final chapter of humanity's future has begun. And three men hold the key to survival. As the fierce, artificially intelligent mechs pursue their savage and unstoppable destruction of the human race, it soon becomes apparent that these three men-three generations in a family of voyagers-are their targets. Toby Bishop, his father, Killeen Bishop, and his long-dead grandfather each carry a piece of the lethal secret that can destroy their relentless pursuers. There's only one problem: they have no idea they possess the only weapon that can save humanity.

Kirkus Reviews closes its review with this:

Extravagantly, mind-bogglingly strange yet it's the well-realized characters as much as Benford's astounding inventiveness that propel this amorphous drama to its utterly fascinating conclusion.

So, now I'm a Virgo?

Rachel Maddow said in her show last night that they've added a new sign and changed the dates on all the others, but as I look into it I see I have nothing to worry about. That's a relief. Since it'll make such a huge difference in my life.

Miracle in the Rain

This is one of the movies I've seen thanks to Mother's access to TCM. Miracle in the Rain is a slow-moving film and too sappy for my taste. It stars Jane Wyman and Van Johnson. This is one of Arte Johnson's earlier roles.

Here are the opening few minutes:


DVD Talk calls it "a truly odd movie" and says, "The film's only excuse for success is that it loves its characters and presents them all as deserving of a miracle." TimeOut says it's "much better than one might expect." The TCM overview is here.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

I have seen a couple of movies since Mother fell, and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium was one of them. The Elder Son gave the dvd to me, and he made a good choice. I found it delightful. Of course, given the horrible reviews, my experience may have been colored by the fact that I was in my Mother's hospital room and _any_thing would have seemed cheery. It stars Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman.

trailer:


The poor film only gets 37% at Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave it 3 stars and concludes, "This isn't quite the over-the-top fantasy you'd like it to be, but it's a charming enough little movie, and probably the younger you are, the more charming." EW gives it an "F" and has nothing positive to say. Time Out calls it a "no more than a dull, whimsical, superficial film". DVD Talk doesn't like it either, saying it's "90 minutes of forced whimsy that never quite gets off the ground." Slant Magazine says, "the film stagnates more often than it flourishes".

The Last Colony

The Last Colony is the 3rd in a series by John Scalzi. I have enjoyed all of these, but I don't plan on reading the 4th one. That whole retell-the story-from-another-character's-viewpoint turns me seriously off.

The author discusses the book here:


from the back of the book:

John Perry, the hero of John Scalzi's bestselling debut novel Old Man's War has retired with his wife and daughter to one of humanity's many colonies. It's a good life, but something's ... missing. When John and Jane are asked to lead a new colony world, they jump at the chance to explore the universe once more.

But nothing is what it seems. Perry and the new colony are pawns in an interstellar game of diplomacy and war between humanity's Colonial Union and a new, seemingly unstoppable alien alliance that has demanded an end to all human colonization. As those gambits rage above, on the ground Perry struggles to keep his colonists alive in the face of threats both alien and familiar.

For his family's survival, and everyone else's, Perry must unravel the web of lies, half-truths, and deception spun around him and uncover the colony's shocking true purpose - lest it become, truly, the last colony of the human race.

SF Signal says it "lives up to the reputation of the previous books."
SFReviews.net describes it as

largely an exegesis on imperialism, and how expansionist politics ultimately serve to perpetuate the notion of imperialism for its own sake instead of looking out for the welfare of the actual people it presumes to serve.

SFFWorld.com closes with this:

Entertaining in the sense that the pages move quick, you don’t want to stop reading, and you find yourself smiling and laughing at the words on the page. Thought provoking in the sense that Scalzi extrapolates today’s society into a far future, and plausibly.

The Ghost Brigades

 

I've read The Android's Dream and Old Man's War and enjoyed both. The Ghost Brigades is the sequel to the latter of those. I like the writing; the plot moves right along, and the characters are interesting. Author John Scalzi has written a third in that series and has a fourth book set in that universe. There is a short bio of the author here.

from the back of the book:

The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF's toughest operations. They're young, they're fast and strong, and they're totally without normal human qualms.

The universe is a dangerous place for humanity — and it's about to become far more dangerous. Three races that humans have clashed with before have allied to halt our expansion into space. Their linchpin: the turncoat military scientist Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF's biggest military secrets. To prevail, the CDF must find out why Boutin did what he did.

Jared Dirac is the only human who can provide answers -a superhuman hybrid, created from Boutin's DNA- Jared's brain should be able to access Boutin's electronic memories. But when the memory transplant appears to fail, Jared is given to the Ghost Brigades.

At first, Jared is a perfect soldier. Then, as Boutin's memories slowly surface, Jared begins to intuit the reason's for Boutin's betrayal... and the fact that some of humanity's enemies have worse things in mind than our mere defeat.

SF Signal's review gave it 5/5 stars and says it's "Fun, page-turning, well-written science fiction." Strange Horizons says, "Scalzi's prose harkens back to the Golden Age of science fiction while still remaining fresh and vibrant." SFReviews.net praises the book, opening with this: "Though labeled a sequel to Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades is very much a stand-alone adventure. While it expands upon ideas introduced in the earlier novel, John Scalzi doesn't require you to have read it to become fully absorbed in this one. I have a soft spot for writers who are this thoughtful" and closes by calling Scalzi "one of SF's most rewarding purveyors of thrilling, gut-wrenching, and thoughtful space opera."

Steal Across the Sky

 

I remember reading Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress years ago, and, although I liked it, I was not inspired to go right out and buy more of her work. I do already have a huge tbr pile, after all. Lately, though, I'd been interested in picking up a few new books, so I bought her Steal Across the Sky. I enjoyed this, as I did Beggars, while I was reading it, but neither is sticking with me. She's not going to become my favorite author, but I'll read more by her when I come across them.

The first chapter of Steal Across the Sky can be read online at the author's site. She is an active blogger.

from the back of the book:

Cam, Lucca, Soledad... three ordinary people chosen by an alien power for reasons no one understands to undertake a journey no one on Earth could have imagined.

An alien base has appeared on the moon. The aliens call themselves the Atoners and claim that they have wronged humanity. They sidestep governments and directly recruit a group of young humans to be their Witnesses - not geniuses, not astronauts, not politicians, not the wealthy or the famous. just people curious enough to apply for the job.

What they will find on seven distant worlds will change them. The knowledge they will bring back to Earth will change everyone.

Strange Horizons gives it a mixed review. SF Revu calls her "An accomplished writer" and says, "Provided the reader accepts the initial premise, the action flows smoothly. Some may quibble with the plausibility of the basic premise and a few with the central theme."

The City & the City

I like China Mieville. Iron Council is my least favorite so far, but his work appeals to me. I wish now I had gone ahead and read The City & the City when it came out in hardback, but I waited until it came out in paperback and deprived myself. Ah, well, live and learn. I'll buy them when I see them in hard cover from now on.

The City & the City (2009) is a mystery novel that takes place in a pair of fantasy cities. It is a straight mystery story, but the setting is fascinating. Chapter 1 can be read here. It tied for the 2010 Hugo for Best Novel, won the Arthur C. Clarke award (for the 3rd time) and won both the World Fantasy and BSFA awards for best novel.

from the back of the book:

When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. To investigate, Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to its equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the vibrant city of Ul Qoma. But this is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a seeing of the unseen. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman’s secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them more than their lives. What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma - and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities.

SF Reviews opens by calling it "China Miéville's best novel since The Scar, and the tightest and most politically observant of his career." SF Site calls it "Miéville's finest work to date." SF Signal's review closes with this:

What drew me to a re-read on The City & The City is that the story works on so many levels. It works as a police procedural. It works as an examination of class distinctions. It works as a biting statement on the things that we, as a society, choose to see and to unsee on a daily basis.

Michael Moorcock has a review of this book at The Guardian that closes by saying,

As in no previous novel, the author celebrates and enhances the genre he loves and has never rejected. On many levels this novel is a testament to his admirable integrity. Keeping his grip firmly on an idea which would quickly slip from the hands of a less skilled writer, Miéville again proves himself as intelligent as he is original.

Anathem

 

Anathem is a 2008 science fiction (do I have to call it "speculative fiction"?) novel by Neal Stephenson. I used to seek out long novels, but gradually it seemed novels were longer and longer just for increasing their usefulness as doorstops. I began to see long novels as those which hadn't had the benefit of a good editor. I started eyeing them with suspicion and passing on to other works. I have read several books by Stephenson, though, which made this one more tempting -even though it is 935 pages long. I'm glad I took the risk. It's a fascinating read. There is information on the book at Neal Stephenson's site.

from the fly-leaf:

Anathem, the latest invention by the New York Times bestselling author of Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle, is a magnificent creation: a work of great scope, intelligence, and imagination that ushers readers into a recognizable -yet strangely inverted- world.

Fraa Erasmas is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside "saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe, becoming out of necessity even more austere and less dependent on technology and material things. And Erasmas has no fear of the outside -the Extramuros- for the last of the terrible times was long, long ago.

Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent's gates - at the same time opening them wide to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change.

Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros - a threat that only an unsteady alliance of saecular and avout can oppose - as, one by one, Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Suddenly burdened with a staggering responsibility, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world - as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet ... and beyond.

Salon.com calls it a "mind-bogglingly ambitious epic saga" and says "is not for the weak of heart. But there are compensations." That makes it sound downright hard to read. I probably missed a lot, but I enjoyed it anyway. Locus Magazine says, "its brilliance is undeniable". Strange Horizons closes its review by saying, "Anathem is a unique, impressive but fairly mad novel: one part hubris to one part taking the piss to one part gnarly geek awesomeness." SF Signal calls it "All in all, a very enjoyable read, especially if you like Stephenson." The Washington Post reviewer didn't like it at all. The Guardian reviewer admires it: "The only catch to reading a novel as imposingly magnificent as this is that for the next few months, everything else seems small and obvious by comparison." SF Site describes it as "part coming-of-age story, part space opera, part alternate history, part quantum mechanics tutorial, and a completely awe-inspiring creation." Another SF Site reviewer says it is "a prime example of what science fiction itself can be at its very best."

I found her on the floor,

and that -in a nutshell- explains why I haven't posted anything since the first week in July. My mother spent a while in the hospital and some time in a skilled nursing facility before being sent back to her home in my care. (We'd have brought her to our house, but all the bedrooms are upstairs.) About a week later she was back in the hospital. After some time there, she was placed in a rehabilitation facility. She was in rehab for almost 3 weeks, if I've got my time frame right, and they wouldn't let me stay with her overnight. That meant that I got to spend the night in my own bed and got to sleep through the night for the first time in months. -Sleep deprivation is horrible. I cope well with most things, but sleep deprivation is not one of those things.- When she was released from rehab they arranged for a month of in-home physical therapy, which went well.

We've been told she should not be left on her own. I have a sister who spends a few hours with her most days and takes care of lunch but who will not stay at night. I don't get much time at home and haven't used any of that time to write here, but I've decided to make time to post some, at least on books I read.

We have faith that sooner or later we will find a house where I can live with my husband and my mother, but it's been slow going. I've been told the housing market will pick up again now that the holidays are over, and our real estate agent is helpful and patient. Maybe we are just being too picky. But I don't think so.