Finished Mo 7/30/18
The is a paperback that I picked up at the library book sale in June.
A Jack Reacher novel set in 1996.
The title refers to the opening scenes of the book. Reacher has just gotten a medal and then he is assigned to a 'school'. It's really an undercover operation involving an agent from the CIA and an agent from the FBI.
A sleeper cell from Germany has an Iranian turned by the US. This man has information that a terrorist organization is going to pay $100,000,000 for something- Is it info, is it a virus, is it a nuclear device? They don't know.
An American soldier in Germany, Wiley, had been AWOL for four months. This man had found ten lost H-bombs. These devices weigh only 50lbs and were designed to be carried into an area by a paratrooper.
Nicknamed 'Davy Crockett' - a boyfriend of Wiley's mother, 'Uncle', realized that the bombs had been lost.
The loss occurs because of the difference between the European '7' and '1'.
I wonder if the following ideas are true-
1) One 'H- Bomb' expends more energy than all of the bombs exploded during WWII, including the two 'A-Bombs'.
2) Is there really a nuclear device that's only fifty pounds and so small?
Reacher teams up with his female sidekick, Sargent Neagley.
Reacher has an affair with the liaison from the White House, Sinclair.
Reacher wears pants that were issued to the US Marines in the early 1960's. Crates of these pants were lost in the system...just like the nuclear hardware.
The book ends as Reacher receives another medal, but this time 'the rest of the day was mine'.
Read the book in just a day and a half- hard to put down. But, every time I read a Jack Reacher novel I violently resist the thought of Tom Cruise portraying this character on the silver screen. The worst miscasting error in the history of Hollywood.
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
THE FLOATING WORLD by C. Morgan Babst
Finished Mo 7/23/18- The July, 2018 selection for the Contemporary Book Club
Background on the author:
"C. Morgan Babst was born and raised in New Orleans. She and her family evacuated New Orleans one day before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. At a Katrina benefit in Manhattan, she met a fellow New Orleanian and married him. Eleven years later, she returned home to New Orleans with her husband and young daughter".
Sprawling doesn't even come close...a dizzying array of characters and subplots, and not an easy read.
Many of the minor characters and their stories and situations made me care more for them than the author's main story-line.
Katrina hit New Orleans August 29, 2005. Between 1,500 and 1,800 people died... "A man-made disaster." Much later it was found that the levies and dikes were not constructed properly.
More or less a chronicle of the Boisdore family during the Katrina disaster.
The book is divided into particular 'days'- weeks and months after the day it happened. And within each 'day', each character's point of view is featured....not an easy read.
Tess and Joe- She is a wealthy psychiatrist from a prominent New Orleans married to Joe who is an artist and has deep roots in the Creole community. His line goes back almost as long as Tess.
Del- the younger daughter who is in NY trying to make a life for herself. She returns after the hurricane.
Cora- the older daughter who has been crippled with mental issues for most of her life- An unsteady individual. She witnesses what she thinks is a murder. Reyna.
Vincent is Joe's father and suffers from dementia. He is a master wood carver
Troy and Reyna are brother and sister. They are food workers/ black and lower class. Cora is having an affair with Troy.
Reyna has two sons, Willie and Tyrone.
Reyna committed suicide with an ancient shotgun that was given to Cora for protection.
Cora refused to leave New Orleans as the storm approached.
In the end, Troy and Cora are on the mend and have relocated to Rome, IL with the two boys. Rome, IL is a few miles northeast of Peoria along the Illinois River.
link to NY Times review of the book-
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/books/review/the-floating-world-c-morgan-babst.html
Background on the author:
"C. Morgan Babst was born and raised in New Orleans. She and her family evacuated New Orleans one day before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. At a Katrina benefit in Manhattan, she met a fellow New Orleanian and married him. Eleven years later, she returned home to New Orleans with her husband and young daughter".
Sprawling doesn't even come close...a dizzying array of characters and subplots, and not an easy read.
Many of the minor characters and their stories and situations made me care more for them than the author's main story-line.
Katrina hit New Orleans August 29, 2005. Between 1,500 and 1,800 people died... "A man-made disaster." Much later it was found that the levies and dikes were not constructed properly.
More or less a chronicle of the Boisdore family during the Katrina disaster.
The book is divided into particular 'days'- weeks and months after the day it happened. And within each 'day', each character's point of view is featured....not an easy read.
Tess and Joe- She is a wealthy psychiatrist from a prominent New Orleans married to Joe who is an artist and has deep roots in the Creole community. His line goes back almost as long as Tess.
Del- the younger daughter who is in NY trying to make a life for herself. She returns after the hurricane.
Cora- the older daughter who has been crippled with mental issues for most of her life- An unsteady individual. She witnesses what she thinks is a murder. Reyna.
Vincent is Joe's father and suffers from dementia. He is a master wood carver
Troy and Reyna are brother and sister. They are food workers/ black and lower class. Cora is having an affair with Troy.
Reyna has two sons, Willie and Tyrone.
Reyna committed suicide with an ancient shotgun that was given to Cora for protection.
Cora refused to leave New Orleans as the storm approached.
In the end, Troy and Cora are on the mend and have relocated to Rome, IL with the two boys. Rome, IL is a few miles northeast of Peoria along the Illinois River.
link to NY Times review of the book-
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/books/review/the-floating-world-c-morgan-babst.html
Monday, July 16, 2018
DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE by Isabel Allende
Finished Su 7/15/18
This is one of my trade paperbacks. No notation of when I bought the book and this is the first time through it. I really loved the story and it was very fine representation of Historical Fiction.
1830's- 1840's; Valparaiso, Chile/ Canton, China/ California, USA during the California Gold Rush.
Main Situations and Characters:
The Sommers family of Chile. Conduct themselves as 19th century English. John- boisterous sea captain; his brother, Jeremy. He stays at home as 'the head of the house'. Rose- their sister. The family matriarch.
Eliza Sommers- she was abandoned on the doorstep of The Sommers. She was wrapped in a sweater that, late in the novel, is revealed that it was made by Rose. She remembers that she gave the sweater to John, so the child is actually his.
Eliza falls in love with a worker at Jeremy's business. At 16 she leaves Chile to find this man, Joaquin Andieta, who has fled to join the California Gold Rush.
Rose had a failed love affair with an Italian opera star and this warped her outlook on love and relationships. Eliza's live mirrors this behavior.
She's pregnant and loses the baby during the ship voyage.
Tao Chi'en- this is a central character that gets Eliza on the ship and nurses her through the voyage. He is a kind of 'folk physician' from Canton. A lot of his back story is developed in the first third of the book.
This is the link to the page on wikipedia and it's a good wrap-up of the book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughter_of_Fortune
A wide ranging and deep novel, but well worth the effort. I'd read more by this author, and for historical fiction, it can't be beat.
This is one of my trade paperbacks. No notation of when I bought the book and this is the first time through it. I really loved the story and it was very fine representation of Historical Fiction.
1830's- 1840's; Valparaiso, Chile/ Canton, China/ California, USA during the California Gold Rush.
Main Situations and Characters:
The Sommers family of Chile. Conduct themselves as 19th century English. John- boisterous sea captain; his brother, Jeremy. He stays at home as 'the head of the house'. Rose- their sister. The family matriarch.
Eliza Sommers- she was abandoned on the doorstep of The Sommers. She was wrapped in a sweater that, late in the novel, is revealed that it was made by Rose. She remembers that she gave the sweater to John, so the child is actually his.
Eliza falls in love with a worker at Jeremy's business. At 16 she leaves Chile to find this man, Joaquin Andieta, who has fled to join the California Gold Rush.
Rose had a failed love affair with an Italian opera star and this warped her outlook on love and relationships. Eliza's live mirrors this behavior.
She's pregnant and loses the baby during the ship voyage.
Tao Chi'en- this is a central character that gets Eliza on the ship and nurses her through the voyage. He is a kind of 'folk physician' from Canton. A lot of his back story is developed in the first third of the book.
This is the link to the page on wikipedia and it's a good wrap-up of the book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughter_of_Fortune
A wide ranging and deep novel, but well worth the effort. I'd read more by this author, and for historical fiction, it can't be beat.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
PRIVILEGED LIVES by Edward Stewart
Finished Tu 7/10/18
This is an ancient paperback from the collection that I first finished Mo 7/26/99. Any Police Procedural, over 500 pages, and set in NYC during the 80's will be of prime interest to me. I love this genre, and this book didn't let me down.
TWO INTERLOCKING STORIES-
1) Rich socialite, Babe Vanderwalk Devens has just awakened from a seven year insulin induced coma. She was never expected to have regained consciousness, and her husband was indited and took a plea deal.
Babe was a 'dress designer of the stars', and is confused because the last thing she remembers is a party that she and her husband attended, and at that time, she thought that they were still very happy and deeply in love.
2) A young man is found murdered in the same apartment building as the Devens. This man has been strangled, he's missing a leg, and wearing an elaborate leather mask.
Babe convinces Vince to check out the case against her husband because she believes that he couldn't possibly have tried to kill her. And the murdered young man proves to be just the tip of an iceberg of immoral and criminal behavior.
The guy, Jodie Downs, is a young gay sex worker and he represents ties to an illicit drug and sex operation that involves important figures in the Catholic church and city and state government.
Lieutenant Vince Cardozo is assigned both cases. This novel is one of a series featuring this character.
The big reveal is that Babe's daughter, Cordelia, administered the shot to Babe. She did it because she was under the spell of a family friend that had been raping her since she was a pre-teen.
The novel introduces numerous, colorful characters in the New York High Society of the 80's and also infamous characters in the Fashion, Arts, and Underground Sex scenes.
The author died in 1996 and he was only 58 years old. Maybe I'll get another Cardozo novel, but this one was the only one available on Amazon for a penny plus postage.
This is an ancient paperback from the collection that I first finished Mo 7/26/99. Any Police Procedural, over 500 pages, and set in NYC during the 80's will be of prime interest to me. I love this genre, and this book didn't let me down.
TWO INTERLOCKING STORIES-
1) Rich socialite, Babe Vanderwalk Devens has just awakened from a seven year insulin induced coma. She was never expected to have regained consciousness, and her husband was indited and took a plea deal.
Babe was a 'dress designer of the stars', and is confused because the last thing she remembers is a party that she and her husband attended, and at that time, she thought that they were still very happy and deeply in love.
2) A young man is found murdered in the same apartment building as the Devens. This man has been strangled, he's missing a leg, and wearing an elaborate leather mask.
Babe convinces Vince to check out the case against her husband because she believes that he couldn't possibly have tried to kill her. And the murdered young man proves to be just the tip of an iceberg of immoral and criminal behavior.
The guy, Jodie Downs, is a young gay sex worker and he represents ties to an illicit drug and sex operation that involves important figures in the Catholic church and city and state government.
Lieutenant Vince Cardozo is assigned both cases. This novel is one of a series featuring this character.
The big reveal is that Babe's daughter, Cordelia, administered the shot to Babe. She did it because she was under the spell of a family friend that had been raping her since she was a pre-teen.
The novel introduces numerous, colorful characters in the New York High Society of the 80's and also infamous characters in the Fashion, Arts, and Underground Sex scenes.
The author died in 1996 and he was only 58 years old. Maybe I'll get another Cardozo novel, but this one was the only one available on Amazon for a penny plus postage.
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
WONDER BOYS by Michael Chabon
Finished Tu 7/3/18
This is a trade paperback that I bought at this June's library book sale.
Pronunciation: "Like 'Shea Stadium' and 'Bon Jovi'.
Covers about one weekend in early Spring; Pittsburgh, PA.
"WordFest" is an annual writers gathering at the college; workshops, lectures, etc.
Grady Tripp- dissolute, vaguely alcoholic, pot smoking writer and English teacher. He is writing a sprawling opus of a novel that recounts the fabulous exploits of a family of brothers- The Wonder Boys. If there is a message to Chabon's novel it is that Grady realizes that his book mirrors the 'out of control mess of his own life'. He needs to settle down and get a grip. He does- more or less.
Terry Crabtree- Grady's bisexual editor and friend. He is invited to WordFest and brings a date who is a transvestite, Miss Sloviak. And, for some unexplained reason the tranny has a tuba.
James Leer- One of Tripp's students. This young man is carrying a one shot derringer and in a complicated series of events, he shots Walter Gaskell's blind dog. James claims to come from a poor background, but he is really from a very rich family. The details of his life are not made that clear; are they his grandparents or his parents?
Sara Gaskell is the school's chancellor and Grady's lover. Grady's wife, Emily, has left him as the novel opens, and later we learn that Sara is pregnant with Grady's child. Sara is married to Walter Gaskell who is Grady's department head.
When the dog was shot, Grady was showing James parts of Walter's huge collection of baseball memorabilia. Walter owns the jacket that Marilyn Monroe was wearing when she wed Joe DiMaggio. Grady doesn't realize it, but James steals this jacket. James is a big fan of movies and movie stars.
The dog's body, the tuba, and the jacket end up in the trunk of Grady's Galaxy 500. He won this car in a card game, but the owner really didn't own the car. They visit The Hi Hat Lounge, a downtown blues joint and the car is stolen. But, they steal it back.
In a way, WONDER BOYS is kind of a 'road book'- they're constantly going from place to place.
Grady takes James to his ex-in-laws Passover celebration. Emily is there and Deborah, her sister tells Emily about Sara's pregnancy. Many of Emily's family are adopted Koreans- including Emily.
In the end, Grady and Sara get married and have the child. Grady loses his old life and all but six pages of his Wonder Boy novel. But, although he loses everything, what he gains is worth much more.
I loved the book and will try to see the movie- Michael Douglas's face is on the cover of the novel; completely unnecessary.
This is a trade paperback that I bought at this June's library book sale.
Pronunciation: "Like 'Shea Stadium' and 'Bon Jovi'.
Covers about one weekend in early Spring; Pittsburgh, PA.
"WordFest" is an annual writers gathering at the college; workshops, lectures, etc.
Grady Tripp- dissolute, vaguely alcoholic, pot smoking writer and English teacher. He is writing a sprawling opus of a novel that recounts the fabulous exploits of a family of brothers- The Wonder Boys. If there is a message to Chabon's novel it is that Grady realizes that his book mirrors the 'out of control mess of his own life'. He needs to settle down and get a grip. He does- more or less.
Terry Crabtree- Grady's bisexual editor and friend. He is invited to WordFest and brings a date who is a transvestite, Miss Sloviak. And, for some unexplained reason the tranny has a tuba.
James Leer- One of Tripp's students. This young man is carrying a one shot derringer and in a complicated series of events, he shots Walter Gaskell's blind dog. James claims to come from a poor background, but he is really from a very rich family. The details of his life are not made that clear; are they his grandparents or his parents?
Sara Gaskell is the school's chancellor and Grady's lover. Grady's wife, Emily, has left him as the novel opens, and later we learn that Sara is pregnant with Grady's child. Sara is married to Walter Gaskell who is Grady's department head.
When the dog was shot, Grady was showing James parts of Walter's huge collection of baseball memorabilia. Walter owns the jacket that Marilyn Monroe was wearing when she wed Joe DiMaggio. Grady doesn't realize it, but James steals this jacket. James is a big fan of movies and movie stars.
The dog's body, the tuba, and the jacket end up in the trunk of Grady's Galaxy 500. He won this car in a card game, but the owner really didn't own the car. They visit The Hi Hat Lounge, a downtown blues joint and the car is stolen. But, they steal it back.
In a way, WONDER BOYS is kind of a 'road book'- they're constantly going from place to place.
Grady takes James to his ex-in-laws Passover celebration. Emily is there and Deborah, her sister tells Emily about Sara's pregnancy. Many of Emily's family are adopted Koreans- including Emily.
In the end, Grady and Sara get married and have the child. Grady loses his old life and all but six pages of his Wonder Boy novel. But, although he loses everything, what he gains is worth much more.
I loved the book and will try to see the movie- Michael Douglas's face is on the cover of the novel; completely unnecessary.
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