THE LONG LAVENDER LOOK by John D. McDonald

 Finished Sa 7/19/25

This is one of my ancient paperbacks and McDonald is an author that I've alway liked. In this novel Travis McGee and Meyer are returning home from a wedding and run Miss Agnes off the road. Miss Agnes is the name of McGee's 1936 Rolls Royce that had been converted to a pickup. This is the beginning of another Travis McGee adventure. I really liked the book and it's nice to get back to some vintage McDonald. 

From AI Overview:

"The Long Lavender Look is a novel by John D. MacDonald featuring his popular hard-boiled detective character, Travis McGee. It's the 12th book in the Travis McGee series. 

Plot summary

The story begins with McGee and his friend Meyer driving on a deserted Florida road after a friend's wedding. A young woman wearing little more than a "determined look" suddenly appears in the road, forcing McGee to swerve and crash his car into a swamp. As they attempt to navigate the deserted road, someone in a pickup truck shoots at them. When they finally reach a service station and report the incidents, they are arrested and charged with the murder of a local thug. McGee finds himself in a corrupt system and must clear his name and fight for his life. 

Reception

The novel is considered a solid entry in the Travis McGee series, though some readers find the ending a bit anticlimactic and stretched out. It has been praised for its engaging plot, intriguing twists, and depth of characters. Some reviewers have noted the detailed descriptions of vehicles and the author's ability to create a sense of place. While some themes or characters might seem dated to a modern audience, readers who appreciate classic detective fiction will likely find it an enjoyable read. MacDonald's skill at storytelling and insight into human nature are often highlighted as strengths. 

Overall, The Long Lavender Look is considered a good choice for fans of hard-boiled detective fiction and those who enjoy the Travis McGee series, or are looking for a place to start with the series." 

THE THIRD DEADLY SIN by Lawrence Sanders

 Finished Th 7/10/25

This is a writer that I used to read thirty years ago. This book seemed like a reaction to the brand new theories of Feminism. The book was published in 1981 and the premise seems to be that now that woman want more responsibility they also have to accept the liabilities. Men commit more of the violent crimes and now women will share that dubious burden. {I don't think that there is any reliable proof that this has occurred}. I really liked the book and I'll (re) read more of Sanders.  

From 'annikalareview.com'

"THE THIRD DEADLY SIN (1981) & the fourth book in the series.

In the first chapter of The Third Deadly Sin, Lawrence Sanders introduces us to Zoe Kohler, a divorced woman in her 30s who works as a secretary in the security office of a Manhattan hotel. Zoe is ordinary in appearance. She often feels invisible, adrift, and sometimes wonders if she exists. She is “disgusted” by the world, and more specifically, by men. Zoe has recently embarked on a series of “adventures” to make her mark. By the end of the chapter, Sanders has made it clear what those adventures are.

In chapter 2, we meet series protagonist Edward X. Delaney, retired Chief of Detectives of the New York Police Department. Delaney really misses being a cop, so he is thrilled when he is asked to help investigate a series of killings in midtown Manhattan hotels.

The brutal killings are nearly identical: the victims have had their throats cut and their genitals mutilated with multiple stab wounds. But there is no apparent link between the victims, and there are few clues. The murders appear to be random—similar to the “Son of Sam” killings that terrorized New York City in 1976 and 1977, a few years before the time in which this book is set.

The reader knows what Delaney and his team do not: that Zoe Kohler is the killer, dubbed the “Hotel Ripper” by the press. But the police and the press assume that the killer is male. Serial murderers have rarely been female. When women do kill, they are usually motivated by passion or greed. Those motives don’t fit random “repeater” murders.

But as Delaney analyzes the killings, he begins to suspect that the perpetrator is in fact a woman. He questions why a woman couldn’t be as capable of murder as a man. A woman, just like a man, could feel “hatred of a type of individual or a class of individuals who, in the killer’s sick mind, are deserving of death,” or could feel “rejection not by individual or class but by society, the world, life itself.” Such feelings could lead either a man or a woman to commit murder.

This motive for murder would fit the classic definition of wrath, the third deadly sin. In some lists of the deadly sins, the third deadly sin is lust, and lust is in play here too. But the deadly sins in the books’ titles refer to the sins of the killers, and here it’s the victims who have been motivated by lust. Zoe herself is disgusted by lust. So even though Sanders isn’t explicit about it, I’ll go with wrath as the third deadly sin.

As always, Delaney shares his theories with his wife Monica. But Monica, who has immersed herself in the women’s movement, pushes back against the notion that women can be capable of such horrific acts. This dynamic between Delaney and Monica gives Sanders the opportunity to explore the question of gender at this relatively early point in the women’s movement (the book was published in 1981). Although some of the discussion seems dated, it still provides an interesting sociological context for the story.

The chapters alternate between Zoe’s perspective and Delaney’s. It’s an effective technique for ratcheting up the suspense, as the reader knows what Zoe has done before the police do. Sanders is meticulous in describing both Zoe’s thoughts and actions and the progress of the police investigation. The book is not a quick read, but Sanders rewards the patient reader with a wealth of detail about the mind of a killer, on the one hand, and the painstaking work involved in a police investigation, on the other hand.

A word of warning: some of the descriptions of the brutal murders (and one rape) are quite vivid. So if you’re squeamish, this book may not be for you."

THE FOURTH DEADLY SIN by Lawrence Sanders

 A Kindle book for $1.99- I had just finished 'THE THIRD DEADLY SIN' and I happened to see that his previous novel was on sale for a buck ninety-nine. I had to have it. I really like Sanders novels, but I was surprised to see that KIRKUS is not a fan. They think Sanders is kind of a hack. I disagree.   

From 'annikalareview.com'- A review of THE FOURTH DEADLY SIN and a discussion of the works of Lawrence Sanders.

"The Fourth Deadly Sin opens with the brutal murder of a prominent psychiatrist, Dr. Simon Ellerbee, in his Upper East Side office on a rainy mid-November Friday night. Three days later, First Deputy Commissioner Ivar Thorsen of the NYPD asks former Chief of Detectives Edward X. Delaney to assist the Department with the investigation of the murder.

Thorsen tells Delaney that he is under enormous pressure to get the case solved. Dr. Ellerbee was a wealthy, civic-minded man with friends in high places. His wife, Dr. Diane Ellerbee, a prominent psychologist (as well as a woman of exceptional beauty), and his father, a major Manhattan real estate magnate, are demanding answers.

Thorsen is also facing pressure within the NYPD. He recently persuaded the Commissioner to appoint the first Hispanic Acting Chief of Detectives, Michael Ramon Suarez. The Commissioner will name a permanent chief in late December. Thorsen wants Suarez to get the job, but it’s unlikely that he will if the Ellerbee murder hasn’t been solved by then. Suarez knows that he is out of his depth on the case, but Thorsen thinks that Delaney’s skills and experience could prove invaluable.

After talking with Suarez, Delaney agrees to come on board as an unpaid consultant. After reviewing the case files with his team, he realizes that the investigation to that point has been far from thorough. There are numerous potential suspects and few clues.

“He had a disturbing hunch that this was going to be what he called a ‘loose-ends case.’ That’s what he called investigations in which nothing was certain, nothing could be pinned down. A hundred suspects, a hundred alibis, and no one could say yes or no.

“You had to live with that confusion and, if you were lucky, discard the meaningless and zero in on the significant. But how to tell one from the other? False trails and time wasted chasing leads that dribbled away.”

In an attempt to focus the investigation, Delaney asks Diane Ellerbee to identify a half dozen of her husband’s patients who may have a propensity for violence. Delaney then has his team conduct in-depth investigations of each of the six.

The story is very suspenseful. As in the previous books in the series, the descriptions of the police investigation are detailed and meticulous. The reader learns a lot about the six prime suspects, who all are fascinating characters and very different from one another. Sanders kept me guessing about the identity of the murderer until close to the end. Even though I know that the fourth deadly sin is envy, various suspects could have had that motive.

The story is very suspenseful. As in the previous books in the series, the descriptions of the police investigation are detailed and meticulous. The reader learns a lot about the six prime suspects, who all are fascinating characters and very different from one another. Sanders kept me guessing about the identity of the murderer until close to the end, when a stray remark leads Delaney to the answer.

Even though I know that envy is generally considered to be the fourth deadly sin, I couldn’t quite figure out which suspect would have had that motive. It makes sense in the end, but one of the compelling aspects of The Fourth Deadly Sin is that the motive is a large part of the mystery.

The Bottom Line: Should You Read the Edward X. Delaney Series?

With some qualifications, I highly recommend the Edward X. Delaney series, especially the Deadly Sins books. I would have liked to read an Edward X. Delaney book focusing on each of the seven deadly sins, but unfortunately, Sanders chose to cover only four of them.

On the negative side of the ledger, the books are dated in a couple of respects. Sanders is meticulous and detailed in describing police procedure. But I often found myself thinking that some current technology, like cell phones and traffic cameras, would have been immensely helpful to the police. Of course, that is common with an older book, and I doubt it would detract from the story for most readers.

More problematic are some politically incorrect attitudes and language referring to women, gays, minorities, and people with mental disabilities. I do think that, unfortunately, such attitudes and language are accurate reflections of the time in which the books are set. I’ve usually found that I’m able to shake my head and move on, but other readers may have different reactions.

These negatives are far outweighed by the positives. First, the books are very suspenseful. Whether the story involves a serial killer whom the police are trying to catch (The First Deadly Sin and The Third Deadly Sin) or a single murder with multiple plausible suspects (The Second Deadly Sin and The Fourth Deadly Sin), Sanders keeps the reader engaged in the contest between detective and killer from beginning to end.

Second, Sanders is a master of the well-drawn character. The reader gets to know the detectives working on the case as well as the murderers and the other suspects. But most of all, we spend a considerable amount of time with Delaney, both on the job and off, when he is with Monica. Delaney can be self-righteous and rigid—his NYPD nickname “Iron Balls” is on the mark—but he is also dedicated and tenacious. And he is surprisingly tender with Monica.

Delaney’s love for sandwiches provides a touch of humor throughout the series. Delaney describes himself as a “sandwich freak” and believes that “the Earl of Sandwich had been one of civilization’s great benefactors.” His sandwiches can be elaborate. One of his favorites in The Fourth Deadly Sin is his “U.N. Special: Norwegian brisling sardines in Italian olive oil heaped on German schwarzbrot, with a layer of thinly sliced Spanish onion and a dollop of French dressing.” Monica says he’s suffering from “sandwich senility.”

Third, Sanders writes very well, and he’s a pleasure to read for that reason alone. He can turn a phrase, whether he’s writing about a case, a person, a place, or an idea. His fond descriptions of Manhattan will be especially enjoyable to any New Yorker.

And fourth, there is truth in Sanders’s stories. He understands life. Near the end of the last book, Delaney muses about justice—and life:

“We all settle, don’t we? One way or another. Who gets what they dream? We all go stumbling along, hoping for the best but knowing we’re going to have to live with confusion, sometimes winning, sometimes cutting a deal, occasionally just being defeated. It’s a mess, no doubt about it, but it’s the price we pay for being alive. I like to think the pluses outnumber the minuses.”

BLOWN by Philip Jose Farmer

 Finished Fr 7/4/25

This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I had never read. Boy, am I glad that I kept this one around because I don't think I've read anything like it. It's hardcorn porn that's excellently blended into a compelling SciFi tale. Many reveiws seemed shocked at the sex, but I thought it was essential. One of the characters was named 'Vivienne Mabcrough'. She has a 'snake' that extends from her vagina during sex. This extension has the bearded face of Gilles de Rais. The Vivienne character is the 'reincarnation' of Joan of Arc and Gilles de Rais was a leader of the French army during the Hundred Years' War and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known for his reputation as a serial killer of children. The fictional character of 'Bluebeard' is based on this historical figure. 

The 'Ogs' and the 'Tocs' were two societies from another galaxy that were at war on their home planets and then took their fight to earth. These two 'tribes' were the basis for faries, nymphs, werewolves, big foot, and many others. 'Ogs' were bad and 'Tocs' were forces for good. 

From Thriftbooks.com:

"In Philip Jose Farmer's incredible sequel to The Image of the Beast, Herald Childe continues what started out as a murder case - a very gruesome one admittedly - but which has now become a struggle against the strange and deadly beings who have taken his wife, who threaten his manhood and who threaten mankind itself. His seems a hopeless quest. He is fighting not people but inhuman. unhuman monsters from another universe. They take grotesque physical forms, they recklessly indulge cruel whims-and they are utterly sex-crazed. There's Vivienne-amazingly beautiful-who used to be Joan of Arc. But she has false teeth and she comes, literally, to pieces. Her lover is a snake-like horror whose needle teeth drip aphrodisiac venom. There's Count Igescu. a real live vampire. And these three are surrounded by a crowd of ghastly aliens, grisly characters in a science fiction nightmare. But for Childe there is to be no waking up. It is no bad dream. Though no one else will believe him. he knows this is for real... This description may be from another edition of this product."

It was a wild and crazy ride and I really liked the book.   

THE WINNER by David Baldacci

 Finished Mo 6/30/25

This was a paperback that Janny loaned to me, but I know I have a copy that I had read before.

A poor woman is given the opportunity to win $100 million in the national lottery. Her benefactor pays her $25 million and keeps the hundred million for ten years. The real money is made on the interest. That's a simple premise, but it works and the book is compelling to the very end. 

From Kirkus:

"Irritatingly trite woman-in-periler from lawyer-turned-novelist Baldacci. Moving away from the White House and the white-shoe Washington law firms of his previous bestsellers (Absolute Power, 1996; Total Control, 1997), Baldacci comes up with LuAnn Tyler, a spunky, impossibly beautiful, white-trash truck stop waitress with a no-good husband and a terminally cute infant daughter in tow. Some months after the birth of Lisa, LuAnn gets a phone call summoning her to a make-shift office in an unrented storefront of the local shopping mall. There, she gets a Faustian offer from a Mr. Jackson, a monomaniacal, cross-dressing manipulator who apparently knows the winning numbers in the national lottery before the numbers are drawn. It seems that LuAnn fits the media profile of what a lottery winner should be—poor, undereducated but proud—and if she's willing to buy the right ticket at the right time and transfer most of her winnings to Jackson, she'll be able to retire in luxury. Jackson fails to inform her, however, that if she refuses his offer, he'll have her killed. Before that can happen, as luck would have it, LuAnn barely escapes death when one of husband Duane's drug deals goes bad. She hops on a first-class Amtrak sleeper to Manhattan with a hired executioner in pursuit. But executioner Charlie, one of Jackson's paid handlers, can't help but hear wedding bells when he sees LuAnn cooing with her daughter. Alas, a winning $100- million lottery drawing complicates things. Jackson spirits LuAnn and Lisa away to Sweden, with Charlie in pursuit. Never fear. Not only will LuAnn escape a series of increasingly violent predicaments, but she'll also outwit Jackson, pay an enormous tax bill to the IRS, and have enough left over to honeymoon in Switzerland. Too preposterous to work as feminine wish-fulfillment, too formulaic to be suspenseful. (Book-of-the-Month Club main selection)"

From 'Bookskeptic.com':

"The premise here is quite simple – LuAnn Tyler is a twenty years old poor waitress with a small baby and a good-for-nothing wannabe drug dealer partner. For the sake of the plot she is incredibly beautiful, unbelievably strong and her moral compass is impeccable. Up to a point of course, when she is offered an opportunity of a certain win in a lottery by a shady character initially she refuses (oh, how high this horse is). However, upon her return home she discovers her partner brutally murdered and is attacked herself. Barely managing to escape with her baby safe she decides to accept the offer, as much for safety as to assure a better future for her child.

As we can expect the offer is too good to be true and has strings attached all over. Eventually LuAnn wins the lottery and has to leave the US never to return. Only after ten years that’s exactly what she does. And as we can predict all hell breaks lose.

Is it believable? Not one bit. But if you suspend your internal reality check it can be fun. Let’s be honest we’re not reading it for complex characterization or development. It’s all for action and there’s plenty of it, especially once FBI get’s involved (the IRS is not that interesting). There are some annoying bits too, like the fact that we are constantly reminded of LuAnn’s physical prowess, or the whole romantic bit (really, the book would work equally well without it). But all in all it is what you expect from Baldacci, a quick paced action thriller. Maybe not one of his best, but does the job nonetheless… as long as you keep your expectations in check and keep in mind the book was published in 1998."

A MONTH OF SUNDAYS by John Updike

 Finished Mo 6/23/25

This was one of my ancient paperbacks that I've never read. However, the cover of the book is covered in tape, so I cared enough to keep the cover presentable.

It's the story of a Protestant pastor who is placed in a retreat for sexual addiction. The novel is his experience at the facility and how he got there. He was married for twenty years to a woman who 'stood by her man'. He's having an affair with the church's organist who is also a 'sexually free spirit' and he would like to have his wife have an affair with the 'deacon' (?) or his 'second in command'. This guy is actually having an affair with his 'liberated' girlfriend. Soon he's having an affair with a rich woman in the congregation and also Ms. Prynne, at the facility. 

This novel is the first in a trilogy paying homage to Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'.  

A lot of the novel is 'stream of consciousness' and a little difficult to follow, but worth the effort. Also, there are references to Protestant philosophers that I was familiar with. Especially Karl Barth (1886- 1968) who is considered one of the most important Protestant thinkers of the 20th century. 

Some of the novel is brilliant, and other parts....not so much. 

From KIRKUS: "Purely and simply, or rather impurely and not so simply, this is the Updike man, whether in vestments or not, we have often met before — the lacerated Calvinist, here a Barthian (Barth after all is the most unobtainable — "opacity triumphant"), as divided as sin and salvation particularly when it comes to adultery which is our inherent and inevitable condition. Specifically the clergyman is Tom Marshfield, at the moment spending a month in "detention" for his "retraction" — writing "ad libidum" the annals of his fall in a fashion which is filled with a lush, explicit eroticism and sly punning that stretches from nave to navel and is so predictable in Updike. And also filled with "play and pain and display," otherwise known as self-love and self-loathing and self-indulgence, as Tom looks back on the first lapse with Alicia, his organist, distracting in her panty-hose and more so without them, then a second submission to one of his ministry, before he is besieged by his entire female flock and sent off in the desert. "What a paradox it is, dearly beloved, in a nation where every motel room unavailingly offers a Bible for the perusal of travel-worn salesmen, bickering vacationers, and headlong fornicators secluded with eager 'fornacatrices' that this passel of disgraced and distracted ministers should be uniquely denied the consolation and stimulation of this incredible, most credible book!" And what a bottomless cul de sac it is for Updike as well as for Tom — this prurient condition of man, no matter how married he's still left to burn, shriving and unshriven. A feat of sorts as well — although many readers will be uncomfortable in the hot seat that is his pew."

ANGELS FLIGHT by Michael Connelly

 Finished Th 6/19/25 at the tail end of a very bad cold. This was a hardback that Janny loaned me and I put off reading it, but it hass become one of my absolute favorites from the Harry Bosch series. 

From Kirkus Reviews:

"The murder of a high-profile civil rights lawyer is just the trigger for another far-ranging case for L.A. cop Harry Bosch (Trunk Music, 1997, etc.). Howard Elias was widely known as the man who made a good living by suing the LAPD. So now that he's been shot, along with inoffensive cleaning woman Catalina Perez, aboard an otherwise empty inclined railway car, cops all over the city are cheering. What's not to like? wonders Bosch. Only two things: the likelihood that Elias was helped to his grave by one of the hundreds of officers now toasting his death, and the certainty that the public will scream coverup and react in riotous fury if Bosch turns up anybody but a fellow cop as a suspect. Under pressure to satisfy Deputy Chief Irvin Irving, who's determined to put his own Rainbow Coalition p.r. spin on every development, and to work peacefully with the Internal Affairs officers he's been saddled with, Bosch soon focuses on Elias's latest client: Michael Harris, the scruffy suspect who maintains that his confession in the murder of pre-teen Stacey Kincaid had been beaten out of him by cops who jumped on their first slim lead that came their way. But even as Bosch is turning up evidence that indicates Harris might be innocent after all—many sordid, though unsurprising, revelations here—the net is closing around his former partner Frankie Sheehan, a Robbery-Homicide detective on the Harris case who'd already caught the eye of Internal Affairs when he killed a suspect in an earlier case. Bosch sweats to exonerate his old friend and find a substitute killer, but Deputy Chief Irving, who can't forget O.J. and Rodney King, is just not that interested in getting Sheehan off the hook. Reliable suspense on a grand scale, though the half-hearted attention to the suspects and Harry's perfunctory domestic troubles, as well as the lack of a powerfully mysterious center, make this the most routine of Connelly's eight world-class thrillers."

DR. JOHN: Under A Hoodoo Moon by Mac Rebennack with Jack Rummel

 Reread over sunday and monday during a very bad cold June 15-16, 2025.

From Kirkus Reviews:

"This unflinching autobiography by Mac Rebennack, aka Dr. John, with Rummel (Malcolm X, 1989) gives a firsthand account of New Orleans street life and musical history in the last few decades. Rebennack began frequenting New Orleans music clubs at an early age. In the '50s he dropped out of high school and devoted himself to playing the piano and guitar. While developing his music he also developed a taste for heroin and other drugs. Musicians in the New Orleans scene provided entertainment for ``turistas'' and, in the early morning hours, for pimps, prostitutes and thieves. To supplement their income, musicians also engaged in some of these vocations. Rebennack admits to participating in many shady dealings: He disposed of fetuses for an abortionist, held stick- ups, and conspired to, but evidently did not, murder. After a stint in prison on narcotics charges, he cast himself as Dr. John, based on the 19th-century conjurer by that name, and played distinctly New Orleans music in a wild stage show that featured snake handling and black magic. Dr. John's music became popular with the '60s counterculture. Rebennack also played as a sideman throughout his career with a catalog of music greats—some obscure and some well- known, such as Little Richard and Professor Longhair; considering the ``narcotic haze'' in which he often found himself, he remembers many details from sessions. Rebennack, however, has no respect for fame without musical skill—he refers to the group Iron Butterfly as ``Iron Butterfingers.'' Taken advantage of by unscrupulous music business executives and strung out on heroin for 34 years, he tells a tough tale. A life this varied and chaotic is hard to translate into a linear story. Though Rebennack's prose sometimes rambles, he gives the reader a perspective that most tourists to Bourbon street never see."

I wonder what he might have accomplished if his thirty year dope addiction had not been a factor in his career.

THE JUDGE'S LIST by John Grisham

Finished Su 6/15/25

This is a paperback that Janny loaned me. I loved the book and I read nearly all of it yesterday because I was sick as a dog with a very bad cold. 

It's about a crooked judge who gets back at every person who ever wronged him. It might take 20 years, but he will kill his victim with a crushing blow to the head and then he strangles them.

'The Plot' from Wikipedia:

"Three years after the events of The Whistler, Lacy Stolz is tired of her work as an investigator for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct. But when a woman named Jeri Crosby nervously approaches her, Lacy discovers that a sitting judge, Ross Bannick, is a murderer. She's reluctant to get involved, but Jeri is obsessed with bringing the man to justice.

Jeri's father was one of Bannick's victims 20 years earlier, although his case has never been solved. She has studied Bannick for two decades, and has discovered other victims in the process.

While Bannick's guilt is never really in doubt, finding evidence to convict him is a much bigger challenge, because he knows the law, and is always one step ahead of law enforcement. He has a list that includes the names of all his targets who have wronged him in some way, and Lacy must help Jeri establish his guilt without either of them becoming his next victim.

At the climax of the book, Jeri is kidnapped by Bannick, but is rescued by police. Lacy and her brother Gunther force Bannick to flee. Before they can catch him, however, he overdoses at a rehab facility after mutilating his fingers with acid. Jeri manages to find Bannick's truck, which has a fingerprint that Lacy can use to prove two of Bannick's murders."

THE CRY OF THE HALIDON by Robert Ludlum

 This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I I couldn't finish.

Robert Ludlum wrote this before he was famous and this was released under a pen name.

It involves a corporation buying up land in Jamaica for development. I got to about page 186 and I had to give it up. 

I just couldn't get into it.

From AI Overview:

""The Cry of the Halidon," written by Robert Ludlum under the pseudonym Jonathan Ryder, is a thriller set in Jamaica. While the book starts with promise, the plot often deviates into what some consider silly and dragging. However, it does maintain a consistent and descriptive writing style. 

Some reviewers find the storyline complex and stretched, with some even saying it makes no sense. The plot can feel a bit "out there" and deviate from Ludlum's typical suspense. Some readers found the book slow to pick up, with the plot not generating sufficient interest until a significant portion of the book had been read. "

SPY HOOK by Len Dieghton

Finished We 5/28/25

This was one of my ancient paperbacks that I had never read. However, I was familiar with a few of his novels; BERLIN GAME, MEXICO SET, LONDON MATCH. I had either read the books or seen the film adaptations.

Bernard Sampson works for British intelligence and was stationed in Berlin. His wife Fiona defected to the Soviets and Bernard was not overtly blamed, but he was deemed 'tainted' (behind closed doors) by the bosses. 

This novel concerns missing millions that Fiona probably took with her when she split. The book is not so much about what happened, but more of a character study of people in the 'world of spooks'. 

The book ends with no resolution and things are left in the air. Probably how things work in the real world of spycraft. {I didn't realize that this was the opening novel of another trilogy} 

From Publishers Weekly:

"Initiating a second trilogy, Deighton mesmerizes the reader with the ongoing trials of Bernard Sansom, British intelligence agent who survived perils in Berlin Game , Mexico Set and London Match. Sansom's story begins with a fruitless meeting in Washington with former colleague Jim Prettyman, who denies any knowledge of the slush fund Sansom has been ordered to trace. Over half a million pounds is missing from money allocated to Bret Rensselear of the German desk by London Central before he was shot in Berlin. Later, in London, Sansom learns at a briefing that Prettyman has been killed, another ``incident'' pressuring Sansom's superiors to widen his investigation in East and West Berlin and eventually in France. All the people he questionseven trusted friendsdeepen Sansom's fears that Central is using him to bait their own hook. Persistent rumors about his wife Fiona, long since a defector to the Soviets, magnify his suspicions, particularly in view of Fiona's links to Rensselear and the vanished fortune. The suspense is inexorable, ensuring readers' anticipation of projected sequels, Line and Sinker."

MEDIEVAL IN LA by Jim Paul

 Finished Sa 5/24/24

This was one of my ancient hardbacks and according to the flyleaf note I spent a few days with the book in December of 1998 and I got to page 131 and then stopped. This time I enjoyed the book and read it completely. 

It's about a man who goes on a weekend getaway with his girlfriend and he envisions what it would be like to view the modern world with the perspective of a person from the middle ages. The book is a random collection of essays of these observations. 

William of Ockham was mentioned; 'Ockham's Razor'

From Publishers Weekly:

"Even in the sprawling modern megalopolis of contemporary Los Angeles (or perhaps especially there), people somehow manage to live their daily lives in stubborn denial of the most profound, transforming revolutions in human thought since the Middle Ages. So proposes the thoughtful narrator of this entertaining and whimsical meditation that convincingly juxtaposes the events of a weekend visit to L.A. with key developments in Western thought. People are still, at heart, ""pre-Copernican,"" living ""mostly in the old realm, at the center of our own universe, finding our significance, manifesting our intentions."" Jim, a medievalist by profession, spills tomato juice in his lap on his flight to L.A. from San Francisco. The mishap sends him spinning into contemplation of a dazzlingly varied assortment of personalities and phenomena. From Thomas Aquinas to Bob Fosse, Galileo to John Cage, Moses and Aaron to Jessica Lange, Brecht to King Kong, Jim takes the reader on a lively philosophical ramble as he and his significant other, Les, rejoin old friends for a fresh look at L.A. Nonfiction writer Paul, a medievalist himself (Catapult: Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon; What's Called Love: A Real Romance) strikes a winning balance of humor and erudition in his first novel. He effectively packages sophisticated insights in a breezy, seemingly casual narrative that could not be less pedantic." 

DOORWAYS IN THE SAND by Roger Zelazny

 Finished Tu 5/20/25

This was one of my ancient paperbacks and there is no date of purchase. 

A difficult read, but it wasn't really a 'serious' work. The tone reminded me of the novels of Donald Westlake.

Earth has been contacted by an advanced intersteller alien 'United Nations'. Earthlings must give the aliens some of the world's most precious art works, and the aliens give 'us' a strange arifact. This turns out to be some form of alien intelligence that is activated by human blood (?). Humans and aliens can appear in 'costume'. Fred has conversations with various animals; cats, kangaroo, and a 'wombat'. I had always thought that a wombat was some kind of flying animal or insect. It's actually very close to a racoon or a ground hog. And, can never be a pet. It's a wild animal that can't be tamed- like you couldn't have a fox as a pet.  

The main character, Fred Cassidy was addicted to climbing tall buildings and he must stay in college for as long as possible to continue the inheritence from his uncle. He has accumulated enough credits for numerous doctorates even though he is the poster child for 'slacker'. 

From Goodreads:

"I had forgotten this gem until a question on a Zelazny recommendation sent me to my shelves to rediscover this blend of Alice in Wonderland and crime caper. Set in an Earth very similar to our own, aliens have made contact and invited us to join the galactic federation. As a token of sincerity, we're participating in an artifact exchange, lending them culturally significant objects such as the Crown Jewels and the Mona Lisa, and receiving ambiguous alien artifacts in return. Meanwhile, Fred, a perpetual university student with an affinity for heights, is unwittingly pursued by various groups looking for a missing alien artifact. Thankfully, he remains calm, even when he's under duress staked out in the desert to contemplate a future as a raisin, he is rescued by a pair of intergalactic policemen. They've chosen to blend into the Australian scenery dressed as a wombat and a kangaroo.

"So I shshed while he worked on the strap. It was the most interesting hallucination I had had in a long while." (Like Ford Prefect, the aliens seem to have mistaken the dominant life form).

Although it perhaps sounds a little silly, and occasionally even a little absurd (there's a professor who reoccurs "despite his departure from the university long ago under the cloud of a scandal involving a girl, a dwarf and a donkey"), it never goes so far afield that it can't be reeled in with real life dangers and consequences. Zelazny's writing is truly inspired. Clever wordplay based on both real life observations (the quality of coffee in the student commons), absurdity (aforementioned alien disguises), and crazy levels of creativity (stereoisotropic brandy, anyone?) and deadpan delivery combine to alternatively cause giggles and awe.

Then he challenges any absurdity with poetic imagery:

"I was taken by a glorious sensation doubtless compiled of recovery from my earlier discomforts, a near-metaphysical satisfaction of my acrophiliac tendencies and a general overlay of fatigue that spread slowly, lightly across me, like a delicious fall of big-flaked snow."

Narrative style is somewhat unusual, but Zelazny is kind enough to provide variety of well-written transitions. And in these modern times of multiple viewpoints and post-deconstructed novels, a simple scrambled timeline should be readable.

Our lead, Fred, happens to be one of my favorite types of narrators, the knowledgeable eccentric. Of course, it's a lot easier to be knowledgeable when you've spent thirteen years in university classes while avoiding a degree, much to various advisers' chagrin:

"Clocking his expression, I noted disbelief, rage and puzzlement within the first five seconds. I was hoping for despair, but you can't have everything all at once."

Fred's lengthy and varied university education gives Zelazny a chance to play with a wide range of intellectual references and ideas. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, except perhaps the mathematical poem. References are woven in seamlessly, almost throwaway at times. There's the time Fred says at the end of a drinking binge:

"'Let there be an end to thought. Thus do I refute Descartes.'

I sprawled, not a cogito or a sum to my name."

Then there's Zelazny's brilliant creation of the Rhennius machine inversion program--first run through inverts the object left to right (a key chemistry concept made amazing) and the inspired scenes that follow Fred's inversion are madcap genius. There are anthropological references to toilet cave paintings and bead exchanges, analysis of government bureaucracy, naming of the stars of the Big Dipper, stereoisomers from organic chemistry and musings on philosophy. While I know I enjoyed reading this book in high school, more years of education and experience have given me even greater appreciation for the casual and wide-ranging references--surely that is a book that stands the test of time.

In the tradition of the caper, Fred's methods are occasionally questionable (although his ethics are solid):

"Time means a lot to me, paperwork wastes it, and I have always been a firm believer in my right to do anything I cannot be stopped from doing. Which sometimes entails not getting caught at it."

Altogether and enjoyable fun read. As I waver between a 4 and 5 star rating, I realize it's rather irrelevant. I happen to enjoy it's timeless references, sophistication and breezy tone. Definitely hardbound library-worthy. Crud. Now I'm going to have to search out a better copy than my worn, cheap 1977 paperback. Note: Hugo, Locus AND Nebula nominee."

DIE WITH ZERO by Bill Perkins

 Finished Th 5/15/25

This is one of the books that I bought from Amazon. I heard about the book on the podcast 'MODERN WISDOM'. I heard a one sentence description and I knew that I had to have the book even though it meant paying retail ($15). 

The theme is that many people spend their lives 'over working'. That is they spend a large part of their working lives staying on the job far longer than necessary. This fit my financial profile to a 'T'. 

Also, a new way to look at inheritence. People should give away their money while they can still feel and see what their largess has produced. Also, most people receive money from inheritences when they are about 60. However, they really need the money decades sooner. One person donated early to their child early and this allowed the parents to buy a home and this enriched all of their lives. If they had waited until they died, the children couldn't have afforded the home.  

I loved the book and will see if Janny might like to read it.

From 'Marriage kids and money.com': This is a good 'snapshot' of the major themes. 

"Takeaway #1: Check Out Die With Zero!

If you find yourself in the camp of “I’ve been doing the right things financially and I’ve been saving as much as I can”, check out this book. 

You don’t have to like every word that Bill Perkins says. Take the bits and pieces you need to reframe your money mindset and leave the rest behind. 

Takeaway #2: Don’t Push Off What You May Be Able to Do Now

Consider experiences as being worthy of your time, money, and attention now and not something to be continually kicked down the road. While skiing in Aspen sounds wonderful when you’re 55, what if your knees can’t handle it anymore? 

Go skiing now but stay at a less expensive hotel. Do the vacation in an age-appropriate and budget-appropriate way. It won’t always be better later.

Done is better than perfect. Start crossing off those bucket list items now. If you can do it again later in life, great! Stay at a nicer hotel or do it in a different way. 

Takeaway #3: Practice Die With Zero When You Feel Comfortable

If you are in credit card debt or not living on a budget (i.e. don’t know where your money is going), this is not for you. 

Once you’ve checked off all of the boxes where you’re investing enough, know where all of the dollars are, and become more comfortable with your financial situation, check out Die With Zero. 

Loosen the purse strings when you feel comfortable.

Takeaway #4: Give Your Kids Experiences Instead of An Estate

Consider what it would be like to spend everything you’ve saved while you’re still here and can watch your children enjoy it. 

Rather than inheriting a lump sum of cash when you pass, what if you paid to build their dream home? The home that they’ll make memories in for decades to come. The home that your grandchildren will become adults in. Wouldn’t you rather be a witness to the joy than dead with a check?

Who Is Die With Zero Appropriate For? 

Die With Zero is appropriate for the super savers who still think that the only way out of a job they hate is to chase the FIRE movement. 

It’s for the people who are doing everything right, throwing everything they can at their 401k, and saving every extra dollar so that in 30 or 40 years they can be happy then. 

It is not appropriate for those who are still in debt, do not have sizable savings, or have not yet begun to invest in their retirement funds. Do those first.

Don’t Forget to Have Balance

As with everything, there must be a balance. You can find a happy medium between the FIRE super saver and a YOLO super spender. 

Secure your future early but don’t forget to enjoy your efforts and family while you’re still here."

THE CONFESSION by John Grisham

 Finished Mo 5/12/25

This was a hardback that Janny loaned to me.

The premise is that a man confesses to the rape and murder of a girl, however a man is on death row for the same crime. The wrong man is put to death. This is the first time that this has happened. The wrong man has been executed for a crime that he didn't commit. 

I found this hard to believe. You would think that since so many have been executed, that it's almost impossible that they haven't made this mistake before. I couldn't find a definitive case on the internet. 

I was surprised at all of the negative reviews of this book. Many felt that it was not really a novel, but more of a plea to end the barbaric practice of state sponsered execution. It seemed that if you were against the death penalty, you liked the book, and if you were 'pro death penalty', you disliked the book.

From Publishers Weekly.com"

"Grisham's recent slump continues with another subpar effort whose plot and characters, none of whom are painted in shades of gray, aren't able to support an earnest protest against the death penalty. In 2007, almost on the eve of the execution of Donté Drumm, an African-American college football star, for the 1998 murder of a white cheerleader whose body was never found, Travis Boyette, a creepy multiple sex offender, confesses that he's guilty of the crime to Kansas minister Keith Schroeder. With Drumm's legal options dwindling fast and with the threat of civil unrest in his Texas hometown if the execution proceeds, Schroeder battles to convince Boyette to go public with the truth—and to persuade the condemned man's attorney that Boyette's story needs to be taken seriously. While the action progresses with a certain grim realism, Schroeder's superficial responses to the issues raised undercut the impact. As with The Appeal, the author's passionate views on serious flaws in the justice system don't translate well into fiction."

THE BIG MONEY by John Dos Passos

 Finished We 5/7/25

This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I had never read, and I'm so glad that I kept it around. This was not an easy read, but well worth the effort.

This is the third and final part of a trilogy, but it is fine as a 'stand alone'. 

From AI Mode:

""The Big Money" is the third and final novel in John Dos Passos's U.S.A. trilogy, published in 1936. It completes the trilogy's sweeping portrait of American society in the early 20th century, focusing on the Roaring Twenties and the events leading up to the Great Depression. 

Here's a review of the key aspects of "The Big Money":

1. Narrative Style and Structure:

Experimental Modernist: Like the other novels in the trilogy, "The Big Money" utilizes a distinctive modernist style, incorporating techniques like stream of consciousness, montage, and collage.

Fragmented Narrative: Dos Passos interweaves fictional character narratives with "Newsreels" (collections of headlines, popular song lyrics, and snippets of news), "Camera Eye" sections (autobiographical passages), and biographies of prominent figures of the era.

Panoramic View: This fragmented, multi-layered approach creates a panoramic and dynamic picture of American society, reflecting the rapid changes and cultural clashes of the time. 

2. Themes and Social Commentary:

The American Dream: The novel explores the pursuit and disillusionment of the American Dream in the 1920s, revealing the destructive effects of unchecked ambition and materialism.

Social Injustice and Inequality: Dos Passos critiques the vast disparities between the rich and the poor, and the social injustices prevalent in the era of industrialization and economic boom.

The Rise of Consumer Culture and Mass Media: The novel depicts the growing influence of mass media and consumer culture on American society, highlighting the changing values and priorities of the time.

Loss of Individuality: Some critics argue that the novel portrays how individuals can be lost or subsumed within the larger forces of capitalism and societal pressures. 

3. Characters:

Diverse Cast: Dos Passos presents a wide array of characters from different social classes and backgrounds, including ambitious entrepreneurs, struggling workers, artists, and political activists.

Character Studies: The novel delves into the lives and experiences of these characters, revealing their personal struggles, ambitions, and disillusionments as they navigate a rapidly changing America.

Representative Figures: Some characters can be seen as representative figures embodying different aspects of the American experience during the 1920s, such as the pursuit of wealth, the struggle for social justice, or the allure of fame. 

4. Historical Context:

The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression: The novel vividly depicts the economic boom and social changes of the Roaring Twenties, followed by the stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression.

Political and Social Turmoil: The book captures the political and social tensions of the era, including labor unrest, the rise of radical movements, and the anxieties surrounding social change. 

5. Critical Reception:

Praised for Scope and Ambition: "The Big Money" and the U.S.A. trilogy as a whole have been lauded for their sweeping portrayal of American society and their innovative narrative techniques.

Critiques of Style: Some readers and critics have found Dos Passos's fragmented style challenging or even confusing, according to one customer review on Amazon.com.

Enduring Relevance: Despite some criticisms, "The Big Money" remains a significant work of American literature, offering valuable insights into the complexities of the American experience and the enduring tensions between individual aspirations and societal forces. 

In conclusion, "The Big Money" is a complex and ambitious novel that provides a multifaceted and critical look at American society during a pivotal period in its history. Its innovative narrative style and its exploration of enduring themes make it a compelling and thought-provoking read."

From Wikipedia 'Main Characters'

" Mac (Fainy McCreary) – A wandering printer, train-hopping newspaperman, and crusader for the working man

Janey Williams – A young stenographer from Washington, D.C. (assistant to Moorehouse)

Eleanor Stoddard – A cold, haughty young social climber

J. Ward Moorehouse – A slick, influential public relations man

Charley Anderson – A gullible, good-natured mechanic and flying ace

Joe Williams – A rugged, slow-witted sailor, brother of Janey Williams

Richard Ellsworth Savage – A Harvard graduate, employee of Moorehouse

Daughter (Anne Elizabeth Trent) – A spirited Texas belle and volunteer nurse

Eveline Hutchins – Artist and designer, Eleanor's long-time friend and rival

Ben Compton – A law student and labor activist/revolutionary

Mary French – Dedicated labor activist and journalist

Margo Dowling – Attractive, cagey and adventurous, eventually a Hollywood actress"

VALIS by PK Dick

 Refinished Su 4/27/25

I think I have read this novel a few times over the years and in this edition of the book I 'Refamiliarized' myself with the novel on Mo 11/9/09. 

It's a classic and I'll always come back to it. There's always something different to wonder about. 

A link to an excellent description of the novel:

https://philipdick.com/literary-criticism/reviews/review-by-ian-mathers-valis-1981/

From 'readingproject.neocities.org'

"By the time I finished reading this book I wasn’t sure what kind of ‘reality’ was meant to lay beneath the narrative. Valis is a mess, a hybrid book that is philosophical, religious and science fiction, all happening at once. And make no mistake. The problem here isn’t a desire to pin a genre tag to this book. By the end, all you can really be sure is that the narrator doesn’t have a firm grip on reality.

This realisation is heightened by the knowledge that the narrator is a fictionalised version of Philip K. Dick, himself. Although not too fictional. Dick makes references to several of his own books throughout the text, his character friends refer to his books and people he knows in Hollywood. And it appears, from the author information at the back of my copy, that this novel was one of several novels Dick wrote as he tried to cope with a ‘breakdown’ he suffered in March 1974; the exact month Dick’s narrator suffers a breakdown.

The narrative voice is further complicated by the fact that Philip K. Dick narrates much of the novel through his alter ego, Horselover Fat, a man who appears to be a figment of his deranged imagination, yet seems to work independently of him in the real world in different parts of the book.

What caused this mental collapse? Several reasons are given: the breakup with his wife; the attempted suicide of a friend; the death of another friend to cancer. But most curious, and most relevant to the story, is the pink beam of light Horselover/Phil has fired in to his eyes in March 1974, giving him access to all sorts of information he couldn’t possibly have known. Where did it come from? What was it exactly? He doesn’t know. But the event sets off a philosophical and religious search as he writes a 300,000 word exegeses on God and Gnosticism, tied together through interfaith references and mythical allusions. Horselover’s (Phil’s) theorising is a messy hodgepodge of beliefs, suppositions and theorising.

For this reason the book seemed to be more a product of the counter culture of the sixties and seventies than inspired by traditional science fiction concerns. This is a book related to the drug experimentations of the period, the hallucinations that that engendered, as well as the willingness to embrace alternative systems of thought in a blend of east and west, modern and ancient, that at least made some sense of the assertion in the novel, more reminiscent of sci-fi writing, that time doesn’t exist.

At this point I was thinking that this was a very different kind of book than any other Dick book I have read. This didn’t feel like Science Fiction. It was about mental illness and a religious search.

Then, enter VALIS. Valis is an acronym for ‘Vast Active Living Intelligence System’. It’s at this point that the plot takes a turn via a most unlikely means, a Hollywood film. Horselover’s complex system of beliefs seem to be confirmed through the likely presence of Valis, and his friends begin to believe as well, leading them on a quest that might just bring them face to face with the meaning of everything.

It’s hard to say much more about the book beyond this without risking giving things away to anyone who is interested. All I can say is that I found the book very uneven. At times I was fascinated, at other times bored. The story takes quite a while to get going, and I would count myself as a fairly patient reader. Sometimes the narrative flows well, but then it gets bogged down in religious exegesis. As someone who finds religious proselytising a little creepy, this was a bit tedious, and made more so because I felt Dick never really revealed the true significance he placed on this aspect of the story. As someone a religious person would call an atheist, I had no choice but to accept some of this for the sake of the story, and any dismissal Dick/Horselover makes of the system of belief he advocates is small and questionable.

In the end, the one thing I felt I could be sure of, was the constant refrain of the book; that the universe is irrational, as much as the characters and much of the narrative in the book is. I would recommend much of Philip K. Dick’s writing to anyone looking for older science fiction, but I feel that this book would try the patience of many people."

POLYMATH by John Brunner

 Refinished We 4/23/25

This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I first finished on Mo 2/15/16. I liked it then, and the second time around I liked it even more.

It's really about two different styles of managing people. One faction believes in 'the military way' and the other is a more relaxed and reflective way of governing. 

A 'polymath' is a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning. In the novel there is a character who is a 'polymath on steroids'. He has been scientifically altered to become a hybrid human who has an unbelievable array of abilities. 

From the book's description at Amazon: "Colonising a new planet requires much more than just settling on a newly discovered island of Old Earth. New planets were different in thousands of ways, different from Earth and from each other. Any of those differences could mean death and disaster to a human settlement. When a ship filled with refugees from a cosmic catastrophe crash-landed on such an unmapped world, their outlook was precarious. Their ship was lost, salvage had been minor, and everything came to depend on one bright young man accidentally among them. He was a trainee planet-builder. It would have been his job to foresee all the problems necessary to set up a safe home for humanity. But the problem was that he was a mere student - and he had been studying the wrong planet. (First published 1974)". 

From 'strangerthanf.com'

"Without warning, the sun of the planet Zarathustra goes nova. There is no time to evacuate, but a few spaceships on the night side of the planet are able to lift off and--by driving at maximum speed--outrun the shock wave of the explosion. Driven far beyond charted space, beyond communication range with civilization, they have no hope of rescue. Each ship puts down on the first habitable planet it can find, hoping to make a life there.

On one inviting planet, two ships make crash landings. One lands on the coast near a river delta; the other sets down in the interior highlands. During the bitter winter, the group on the coast lose their radio antenna and lose contact with the other survivors. When spring begins, they give the others up for dead and settle down to the task of building a permanent community on their new world.

The Zarathustra refugees are unqualified, though. Zarathustra was an advanced, automated planet, and the people have no experience with the outdoors or with manual labor. The two people who reveal themselves as most qualified are an amateur historian who has some book knowledge of old machines, and a hobbyist who figures out how to turn that knowledge into practice.

On the leadership side of things, the situation is even worse. Captain Arbogast acted as ruler during the winter, but the distress at losing his ship eventually overwhelms him; he has a mental breakdown. Nanseltine, a continental manager back on Zarathustra, has no useful skills whatsoever, but is intent on succeeding Arbogast. The best qualified leader is a young man named Lex, whose polymath training gives him special insight. Among the women, no qualified leaders emerge. Worse, the interpersonal issues come to a head when the youngest refugee, a girl named Naline, develops an unhealthy sexual fixation on Delvia. The other women turn against Delvia because of the callous way she appears to toy with Naline.

Lex, with his polymath training, is the only hope the survivors have. As a polymath, he is specifically trained--and augmented physically--to coordinate the terraforming and colonization of a virgin planet. However, this planet is not the planet he has trained for; further, he has not finished polymath training. Nevertheless, he must adapt to the planet, hone his leadership skills, and forge a lasting community.

And he must fight a war against the survivors from the interior, whose captain has instituted a military dictatorship, enslaved his crew and passengers, and is now eyeing the resources of the coastal survivor group."

TRAPPED by Greg Iles

 Finished Su 4/20/25

A paperback that Janny loaned to me.

 From Google AI:

""Trapped" by Greg Iles is generally considered a thrilling but ultimately unsatisfying novel. It starts strong with a captivating premise about a seemingly perfect family facing a nightmare kidnapping, but many reviewers find the ending contrived and implausible, diminishing the overall impact. 

Strengths:

Intriguing premise:

The novel begins with a compelling scenario of a family targeted by a con man and psychopath, creating suspense and a sense of impending doom.

Suspenseful atmosphere:

Iles builds a tense atmosphere and keeps readers on the edge of their seats with the escalating threats and twists.

Character development:

While the main focus is on the suspense, the characters of Will, Karen, and their daughter are well-developed and relatable. 

Weaknesses:

Contrived and implausible ending:

Many reviewers criticize the ending as being too far-fetched and lacking in realism, which ruins the overall effect. 

Deus ex machina resolution:

The ending relies heavily on a deus ex machina, a sudden and unexpected resolution, which feels forced and unsatisfying. 

Potentially boring in parts:

While the beginning is engaging, some reviewers found the story to become tedious and less captivating as it progressed, according to an Amazon review." 

THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling

 Finished Th 4/17/25

This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I had never read and I bought it on Su 10/31/04. This was a highly rated novel and very important within the 'Steam Punk' movement. 

I really liked the book, but it was no easy read. Sections of the novel were like a trip to the nineteenth century and some of it was just too hard to follow. The scenes where men are on the Thames river during 'The Big Stink' were very memorable. 

Charles Babbage was a real person who 'invented' computer science {The Analytic Engine} in the early 1800's.  

From a review by Robert Sawyer:

"The Difference Engine belongs to that sub-genre of Science Fiction known as the alternative-history story. It assumes a divergence in the past between the way things did go and the way things might have gone.

In this case, the hinge is the work of Charles Babbage (1792-1871). In our history, Babbage, a British mathematician, came up with the idea for a "difference engine" — a mechanical computer — but died without ever having built one. In Gibson's and Sterling's world, Babbage does build his computer, and England sees the industrial revolution and the information revolution simultaneously.

Gibson, who lives in Vancouver, won the Hugo and Nebula awards for his 1984 novel Neuromancer. That novel firmly established the "cyberpunk" school of SF — gritty, technophillic, slang-rich tales of the near-future. Sterling, a Texan, although not as big a name in SF, was a natural collaborator for Gibson, having written the cyberpunk novel Islands in the Net and edited Mirrorshades, the definitive anthology of cyberpunk short stories.

We should laud them for not pooling their talents to simply do another iteration of cyberpunk. What they've produced here is something completely new for both of them, and a work, I suspect, that neither could have done on his own.

That said, in significant ways, the final product is flawed. It posits a series of mysteries, none of which are resolved to the reader's satisfaction. First, we're led a merry chase after a deck of stolen French computer cards. But about halfway through this plot line peters out without the cards ever really amounting to much.

Next, we keep hearing of a mysterious antagonist who goes by the code-name "Captain Swing." One naturally assumes that Swing's true identity will be a key revelation, but we never find out who he is.

Finally, in an intriguing device, portions of the book are narrated by an unidentified omniscience, apparently looking over data from the year 1855. One guesses early on that this might be an intelligent computer — perhaps the often-referred-to, but never-seen Grand Napoleon, a super-powerful French ordinateur. But Gibson and Sterling leave the mystery of the storyteller's identity as an exercise for the reader.

In fact, the reader can get lots of exercise with this book. An enormous familiarity with things Victorian is assumed, making for frequent trips to the encyclopedia to decipher where the novel's timeline diverges from our own (quickly now: was the real London paralyzed by a smog inversion layer in the summer of 1855?).

Almost every character in the book is a real person, or is taken from Victorian pop literature. Dandy Mick, who figures prominently in the book's opening, is borrowed from a Disraeli novel, and Byron, Darwin, and Disraeli himself all play roles — although roles different from those they had in our timeline. Byron is prime minister, Darwin a member of the House of Lords, and Disraeli remains a seedy pulp writer throughout his days.

Those willing to grant two master writers a large dollop of poetic license will enjoy the hauntingly strange landscape, filled with steam-propelled cars, 19th-century credit cards, and "clackers" — the computer hackers of the day (taking their name from the sound made by paper cards moving through the brasswork of the steam-driven computers).

Gibson and Sterling range over a surprising variety of topics, including British Columbia's Burgess Shale and its fantastic array of fossil life forms; a debate between the uniformitarian and catastrophic schools of geology; the rise of communism in New York; Japanese robot women with springs made of whalebone; and fascinating "kinotrope" shows, the steam-computer-driven 19th-century equivalent of the big animated display boards found in today's sporting arenas. (In the world of The Difference Engine, poet John Keats has found his niche as a master programmer of kinotrope displays.)

The book's plot, of which there's surprisingly little, is muddled, but then this is not a story about getting from point A to point B. Rather, it's an immersion in a fascinating, wholly realized milieu.

The authors do indulge themselves at times. There's a drawn-out sex interlude that reads like a letter to some 19th century edition of Penthouse. And the final chapter is stuffed with random historical notes and ersatz press clippings, filling in background details that should more appropriately have been woven into the body of the text.

Still, the depth of imagining is magnificent. No one would call The Difference Engine a fun book, but it is a challenging work, and bound to generate much controversy."

I think the book is challenging, however it was well worth the effort. Although the final section I just skimmed because it dealt with the fictional historical timeline within the novel. Shouldn't that have come first? 

THE TRISTAN BETRAYAL by Robert Ludlum

Finished Mo 4/7/25

This is a paperback that I recently bought at Amazon (Dec 2024).

I found this out at Wikipedia:

"The Tristan Betrayal is a novel by Robert Ludlum, published posthumously in 2003. Ludlum wrote an outline shortly before his death. The novel itself was written by a ghostwriter." Maybe this was why I liked it so much?

A terrific love story- "The Spy & The Ballerina". In the early part of WWII she smuggles false documents to the Nazis that the show Russian defenses are paper thin. This is a lie and entices Hitler to invade Russia and he is forced into a '2-front' war that he ultimately loses. 

Summary from Wikipedia:

"In the fall of 1940, the Nazis are at the height of their power – France is occupied, Britain is enduring the Blitz and is under constant threat of invasion, America is neutral, and Russia is in an uneasy alliance with Germany.

In this dark time, Stephen Metcalfe is living the high life in occupied Paris. The younger son of a prominent American family, Metcalfe is a handsome young man who is a notable guest at all the best parties, has been romantically linked to the elite's most desirable women, and is in great demand in the upper echelons of Paris society. He is also a minor asset in the U.S.'s secret intelligence forces in Europe, cavalierly playing The Great Game like so many socially connected young men before him. However, what has been largely an amusing game becomes deadly serious – the spy network he was a part of is suddenly dismantled in the midst of war-torn Europe and he is left without a contact, actual orders, or a contingency plan.

With no one else in place, it falls to Metcalfe to instigate a bold plan that may be the only hope for the quickly dwindling remains of the free world. Using his family's connections and relying on his own devices, he travels to wartime Moscow to find and possibly betray a former lover – a fiery ballerina whose own loyalties are in question – in a delicate dance that could destroy all he loves and honors. With his opponents closing in on him and the war itself rapidly approaching an irreversible crisis point, Stephen Metcalfe faces both a difficult task and an impossible decision, where success will have unimaginable consequences far into the future and failure is unthinkable."  

THE WASP FACTORY by Iain Banks

Finished Sa 3/29/25

This is a trade paperback that I got on Amazon after reading that it was one of Warren Zevon's favorite novels. 

A first person narration by a very, very unreliable narrator.

Frankie is a girl!!! That was the fantastic reveal and I didn't see that coming.

Catapult is an English word for slingshot

Frankie kills three people; a friend (by snake bite) his brother (in an explosion), a young girl (who he ties to a kite and she flies away).

The plot from Wikipedia:

"The story is told from the perspective of 16-year-old Frank Cauldhame. Frank lives with his father on a small island in rural Scotland, and he has not seen his mother in many years. There is no official record of his birth, meaning his existence is largely unknown.

Frank occupies his time with rituals, building dams, and maintaining an array of weapons (a small catapult, pipe bombs, and a crude flamethrower) for killing small animals around the island. He takes long walks to patrol the island and occasionally gets drunk with his only friend, a dwarf. Otherwise, Frank has almost no contact with the outside world. He's haunted by the memory of a dog attack during his youth, which resulted in the loss of his genitalia. He resents others for his impotence, particularly women. This is in part due to the mauling coinciding with the last time he saw his mother, who had come back to give birth to his younger brother, and left immediately afterward.

Frank's older brother, Eric, escapes from a psychiatric institution, having been arrested some years prior for arson and terrorising the local children by force-feeding them live maggots. Eric often calls him from a pay-phone to inform Frank of his progress back to the island. Eric is extremely erratic; their conversations end badly, with Eric exploding in fits of rage. However, it's clear Frank loves his brother.

The Wasp Factory is a mechanism invented by Frank, consisting of a huge clock face, salvaged from the local dump, encased in a glass box. Behind each of the 12 numerals is a trap that leads to a different ritual death (such as burning, crushing, or drowning in Frank's urine) for the wasp that Frank puts into it via the hole at the centre. Frank believes the death "chosen" by the wasp predicts something about the future. The Factory is in the house's loft, which Frank's father cannot access because of a leg injury. There are also “Sacrifice Poles” constructed by Frank. The corpses of animals, such as mice that he has killed, are placed onto the poles for the purpose of attracting birds which will fly away and alert Frank of anybody approaching the island.

It's revealed that when Frank was much younger, he killed three of his relatives: two cousins and his younger half-brother. He also exhumed the skull of the dog that castrated him, and uses it as part of his rituals. Eric is described as having been extremely sensitive before the incident that drove him mad: a tragic case of neglect at the hospital where Eric was a volunteer when studying to become a doctor. While attempting to feed a brain-damaged newborn with acalvaria, Eric notes how the child is unresponsive and smiling, despite usually appearing expressionless. The child's skull is held together by a metal plate over his head. Eric checks underneath the plate to find the child's exposed brain tissue infested and being consumed by day-old maggots.

Frank's father is distant and spends most of his time in his study, which he keeps locked at all times. Frank longs to know what is inside. He is used to being lied to by his father, who seemingly does it purely for his own amusement. At the end of the novel, Frank is alerted of Eric's return when he sees a dog that has been burned alive and discovers Eric's campsite. This knowledge incites Frank's father to get drunk before forgetting to conceal the keys to his study, where Frank discovers male hormone drugs, tampons, and what appears to be the remains of his own genitals in a jar. He assumes that his findings mean that his father is actually female. After disrobing his father at knifepoint, Frank discovers this is not the case. At the same time, Eric arrives. During the ensuing confrontation, Eric attempts to destroy the house by setting light to the large stock of cordite kept in the cellar. Frank stops him, and Eric runs into the distance.

Frank's father explains that it was Frank who was born a female; the hormones had been fed to him by his father since the dog attack in an experiment to see whether Frank would transition from female to male. The remains of his genitals were fake, fashioned from wax as evidence in case Frank ever questioned his father's story. It is suggested that his father's reasoning for doing this was to distance himself from the women he felt had ruined his life. In the end, Frank finds Eric, half asleep. He sits with him and considers his life up to this point and whether he should leave the island."

SS- GB by Len Deighton

This is one of my ancient paperbacks that I finished on We 6/1/and sometime in the 90's.

I refinished Fr 3/28/25 and I really enjoyed the book. It's a Police Procedural set in 1941 where Hitler won and Britain has been invaded. 

Douglas Archer- a hot young detective ('Archer of The Yard') who must deal with his English superiors and also his German bosses. The German army generals and the detectives within the SS vie for control of the British social order. 

A murder investigation reveals the race to develop a nuclear bomb. 

From Goodreads:

"The King is a hostage in the tower, the Queen and Princesses have fled to Australia, Churchill has been executed by a firing squad, Englishmen are being deported to work in German factories and the dreaded SS is in charge of Scotland Yard. London is in shock. The very look of daily life is a walking nightmare of German uniforms, artifacts, regulations. There are collaborators. There are profiteers. But there are others working in hope, in secret, and desperate danger, against the invader. And still others are living strangely ambiguous lives – none more so than Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer ("Archer of the yard" as the press like to call him), trying to maintain a peculiarly, almost sacredly, British institution under a Nazi chief. Archer has started work on what seems, at first, a routine murder case. But suddenly an SS Standartenführer from Himmler's personal staff flies in from Berlin to supervise the investigation, and Archer is plunged deep into an espionage battle for which he is completely unprepared, and where the stakes are incredibly high. "We’re dealing with something that could prove so deadly that not even the Black Death would compare with the consequences", the SS man tells him.

Setting forth on a tight rope trail of violence, betrayal and danger, Archer moves into worlds within worlds of intrigue. The British resistance, wealthy collaborators, high-level scientists, German army and SS factions and vicious rivalry, a beautiful American reporter on assignment for the still-neutral papers back home – these are the players that Deighton's treacherously shifting drama, as it races toward its chattering climax that involves the fate of the King, and of England itself.

SS–GB is fascinating in its premise, utterly authentic and convincing in its detail. It is the most gripping novel we have had from the author of The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Bomber. Already, in England, it has become Len Deighton's greatest best seller."

GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn

 Refinished Mo 3/17/25

This is one of my ancient trade paperbacks that I had read (and loved) a couple of times. The movie is even excellent.

A classic tale of 'unreliable narrators'. Is 'Amazing Amy' the true villian or is it her hapless husband, Nick?

In the end they are both trapped in a loveless marriage, but they get to 'act the part'. Maybe that will be good enough. 

From The Guardian:

"Gone Girl packs a winning formula, by frightening, enchanting, disturbing and intriguing its readers all at once. Gillian Flynn, with this novel, has proven that she deserves to be crowned the Queen of plot twists. Although this is a book that takes its own sweet time to pick up the pace and become the juicy thriller you go in anticipating, it’s definitely worth the wait and the bored page turning.

Flynn creates the most bizarre, complex characters (a large majority of which seem to have escaped from asylums for the mentally insane) that bounce off the page and seem so scarily real. What is arguably Gillian Flynn’s greatest strength as an author lies in her ability to change the way her readers perceive her protagonists. Taking one of the main characters, Nick, as an example – I started off by feeling sorry for his unemployment and empathised with his panic and fear as his wife goes missing, went on to loathe him from the bottom of my heart and towards the end of the novel, feel absolutely terrible for him, because he lives in a prison he cannot escape from. The technique used by the author, in telling the story from multiple narratives, is both a clever and wickedly effective one; the novel wouldn’t have been worth half of what it is had it been told from the perspective of only one of the two protagonists."

Link to the book's page at Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_Girl_(novel)

THE LATHE OF HEAVEN by Ursula Le Guin

 Finished Sa 3/9/25

This was part of a trilogy (3 novels in one book) that I probably bought at 'Oversized Paperback' (?) when I was a member years ago. I never read any of the books, but I'm glad that I finally got a chance to read this one. However, I thought that this was the novel about 'gender fluidity', but that was Le Guin's novel, 'THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS'. I want to buy that novel for my Kindle. 

In a nutshell the novel is about George Orr. He is a man who can change reality with his dreams. He is sent to a therapist because he was over using his drug allowance. He was doing this to keep from dreaming. However, his psychiatrist realizes that he can change reality 'for the better' while he hypnotises George. You realize that when you change one strand of reality that it affects all of the others. 

A delightful novel and I want to read a whole lot more by Le Guin. She is probably the closest author to write in the quirky style of Philip K. Dick.

This is the link to an excellent recap of the novel at Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lathe_of_Heaven

A WALLK ON THE WILD SIDE by Nelson Algren

 Finished Tu 3/4/25

This was one of my ancient paperbacks that I had never read. However, I'm very glad that I made time to read this very compelling novel.

It's the story of Dove Linkhorn who is a sixteen year old 'nonconformist' from Texas who relocates to the sleaze of New Orleans. And, the reader is treated to a view of a whole cast of colorful & gritty characters. The novel is set in 1931 and at the height of the Great American Depression. 

'Potaguaya'- is the Spanish word for cannabis and means 'the drink of grief'. Who's kidding who?

A link to the book's page at Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_on_the_Wild_Side

From chasingbawa.com:

"A Walk on the Wild Side follows in the footsteps of 16 year old, illiterate Dove Linkhorn as he leaves Texas and his preacher father and drunk brother behind to better himself. In the first part, we meet Dove as he struggles to earn a few dollars working for and in turn being taught how to read by the much older and devout Terasina, the owner of the local chili parlour. Theirs is a short and bittersweet romance quickly ruined by pride, misunderstanding and violence, and Dove leaves Texas to find a better life for himself. On his journey to New Orleans, Dove encounters a whole slew of characters, the forgotten, the impoverished and the starving all trying to survive, including Kitty, a young, street smart orphan trying to pass herself off as a boy. Dove later falls in with a couple of bums as he learns to make some money as a salesman. But somehow, no matter how much he makes, he always seems to drift back to the lower echelons of society where the drugs and booze are plenty but there’s never enough money.

In New Orleans he meets the pimps and prostitutes who seem to define our image of 1930s New Orleans. Dove is once again sucked into this world forming tentative alliances and is recruited as a stud to deflower ‘virgins’, a job in which he excels. He runs off with Hallie, the only prostitute who hasn’t surrendered completely but returns when she leaves him. And when he returns, he is confronted by Hallie’s lover, lonely and angry Legless Schmidt whose dreams of being the strongest man in America was shattered by a drunken fall near a moving train, and is beaten almost to death. And we come back full circle as Dove returns once more to his hometown, a broken man, but looking for the one person he hurt but cannot forget.

Algren’s novel really surprised me. Considering the subject matter, I was expecting a gritty, dark and depressing book all about the lower dregs of society, especially during the Depression when the numbers swelled exponentially. But Algren’s prose is magical because he tells his tale in a poetic and very beautiful language. So although you are aware of the seedy nature of New Orleans, the bitter, empty lives of the poor and the sordid exploitation of women, you can’t but believe in the hopes that these characters have and applaud how they keep on going even though their lives are so hard. That’s a pretty mean feat to accomplish. If this book was written now, it would probably be too graphic and would leave you with a sour taste in your mouth."

DARK SEEKER by K.W. Jeter

Finished Tu 2/25/25

This was one of my ancient paperbacks that I noticed on the shelf when I was reading 'BLADE RUNNER 2'  which was written by Jeter.

First finished Fr 5/30/08 and this was one of the last books that I read at work as the dispatcher. 

The novel concerns a group similar to The Manson Family. They were a gang of killers that 'linked' by taking a drug that allows users to 'blend with the night'. Mike Tyler was a member and he's trying to get back into the gang to find his son who might still be alive. It's kind of a let down because in the end, it was only a doll. I'm not sure what it all means, but it was a spooky read. 

From the internet:

"The story involves a group of researchers who dabble with an experimental drug, allowing them to mesh consciousnesses, with a view to applications in battlefield situations, where the formation of a gestalt-mind between combatants would be of practical value. However, the drug also releases the darkest, innermost tendencies of those taking it, pushing them towards acts of depravity and wanton destruction. The action takes place some years after the experiments, when the researchers are on heavily-regulated prophylactic chemical inhibitors and have been re-located, found ‘Not Guilty by reason of Insanity’, after a series of horrific murders which the drug – a discrete entity they refer to as ‘the Host’ - forced them to commit.

We follow Mike Tyler, living in Los Angeles with his nurse girlfriend Stephanie and her son Eddy, idly testing the boundaries of the limits which his medication places upon him, bridling against the regimen but seeing how far he can go without it. Things are dull but otherwise fine, until he receives a call from his former wife Linda who calls him to say that ‘Slide’ - an old criminal associate of theirs and part of the experiment from the research days – has taken their child Bryan away from her, the child that Mike thought was dead.

From here on, the pace is unrelenting as Mike tries to find his son, keeping at bay the semi-retired detective Kinross, who has a crusade against the researchers, and the cash-poor journalist Bedell, who squandered a mint made from his book about the experiment and its crimes, and who has a sample of the drug stashed in his house. On top of this, Mike has to balance his re-surfaced hysterical ex-wife and his new love and her child, whilst trawling through the wreckage of his past and his old – very damaged – associates to try and find the Host-addicted Slide, before something horrible happens to the son he thought he’d never see again."

OPEN HOUSE by Elizabeth Berg

 Finished Th 2/20/25

This is a hardback that Janny loaned to me. 

It's a 'Decorous Domestic Dramedy'. 

A woman in an unfufilling marriage is abandoned by her husband. She desperately wants him back and she takes in roomates to help keep her house and to fill the void in her life. In the end, her husband wants her back, but she decides she wants her 'new' life. 

The theme of 'roomates' seemed familiar and I think I've read this before, but it was well worth a second look.

From Kirkus Reviews:

"he eighth effortless novel from soft-pedaling specialist Berg (Until the Real Thing Comes Along, 1999, etc.) is an emotional slurpee/comedy featuring the newly separated mother of a near-teenaged son who finds the man of her dreams in spite of herself.

What's a woman to do after her husband of 20 years packs a bag and walks out? Take a page from Martha Stewart's book, apparently, by getting dressed to the nines, making an elegant breakfast, and then trying to make the kid go along with the charade. Unfortunately for Samantha Morrow, she isn't Martha Stewart, and her son Travis is unflinchingly frank. So Sam goes to Tiffany's and writes a $12,000 check for silver flatware instead, whereupon her husband, David, takes all the money out of their joint account, and she has to start renting out rooms. The first boarder to move in is the mother of her grocery store's cashier, a sweet, capable lady who comes complete with a devoted boyfriend—and the hulk named King who moved her in is a sweetie, too. So what if the woman snores and keeps Travis awake? He and Sam adjust, and everything would be fine if she didn't keep hoping David would come back. But he has the good life and a girlfriend, while she's started temping (on King's recommendation) and dating (at her mother's insistence), the latter with disastrous results. The little old lady marries her boyfriend, another renter proves clinically depressed, and Sam has trouble adjusting to the working life. Even a distress call to Martha Stewart's 800 number doesn't help. Then, when she least expects it, love is in the air.

Skillfully crafted, with a fluidity and snap that will delight Berg's fans but, when all is said and done, a distressingly familiar story."  

The heroine of the story is Samantha (Sam) and she has a miscarriage on the toilet. She wanted to bury the fetus but was unable to keep it on the spoon so she had to flush. That was an indelible image!!!

I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD: The Dirty Life And Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon

 Finished Mo 2/17/25

I bought this as an ebook on Kindle. It's a fantastic look at the life of a madman and the interviews were compiled by his ex-wife. She was one of the few people who had some kind of control over this wild & crazy singer/song writer. 

Warren told his adult son to get rid of his porn collection. The son thought he meant commercially bought adult films, but no. These were films that Warren had made with other women over the course of his life. 

When he was given the death sentence of lung cancer, he went back to drinking and drugging. Why not?

From 'A Greenman Review.com':

"The Warren Zevon who emerges from these pages is even more of an enigma than he would appear to be just from listening to his songs. And that’s saying a lot for a man who wrote songs that included “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” about a ghostly mercenary who takes revenge on those who double-crossed him; “Excitable Boy,” about a demented young serial killer; “Mohammed’s Radio,” about low-lifes in L.A.; and “My Shit’s Fucked Up” and “Life’ll Kill Ya” about the perils of facing one’s own mortality.

It should come as no surprise that Warren Zevon was one fucked-up dude. But the extent of his weirdness is, at times, staggering. It’s nearly impossible to even draw up a rough outline of his life, so multi-faceted and bizarre it was. The son of a reticent Mormon and an even more shadowy Jewish mobster, Zevon grew up in California in the ’50s and ’60s. He showed musical talent from the start, considered a career in classical piano, and spent some time in the California home of Igor Stravinsky. He was also a serious reader and writer, and seemed to know from an early age that he’d live or die as an artist.

He was on the fringes of the California folk-rock scene that included The Turtles, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne. He toured and played with The Everly Brothers. He early on discovered alcohol and drugs, and always used them to excess. There were many hard years in the early 1970s, when he and Crystal lived hand to mouth, in other people’s homes, and for a time in a Spanish resort town. But he continued to believe in himself and to work on his songcraft, and eventually had his first album produced by Jackson Browne. It was his second album, which included his most popular hit “Werewolves of London,” that made him the most money and brought him briefly to the public’s attention. It also increased his intake of intoxicants and began a long slide, or series of slides, that lasted until he finally got sober in the early 1980s. His career never recovered, though, his albums selling progressively fewer, until his final, The Wind, recorded as he was under a death sentence from lung cancer, which won several Grammys.

In addition to his substance abuse, Zevon was a sex addict and a self-diagnosed victim of obsessive-compulsive disorder. He was constitutionally unable to be monogamous. He was for most of his life barely a presence in the lives of his two children (by different mothers). He was bizarrely superstitious. He abused those closest to him, personally and professionally. But he was also highly regarded by nearly everybody who knew him, most of whom seemed to have felt it was worth putting up with his flaws.

When writers like Stephen King, Carl Hiaasen and Gore Vidal, and musicians like David Crosby, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan all refer to the man as a genius, you have to take him seriously. He could be darkly hilarious and deeply sentimental, sometimes within the same breath. He saw through society’s facades and wrote songs about the dirty underbelly that were by turns wry, poignant and irreverent. He laughed in the face of death, and cried on the shoulders of former lovers.

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead isn’t a perfect book. But it’s a compelling portrait of a difficult, multi-faceted, contradictory and deeply creative human being. Highly recommended."

LOOKING BACKWARD by Edward Bellamy

 Finished Su 2/9/25

This is one of my ancient paperbacks and it was a fantastic read. It's a crazy SciFi tale that was written in 1887 and is a profile of Socialism wrapped in a Time Travel tale.

From 'Happily Writing.com':

"To summarize the beginning, when a 19th century man named Julian West awakes to find himself in the 21st century under the care of a family in Boston, he begins to explore, question and discuss the changes he sees with the family members. The first and most obvious change he notices from an upper balcony of a three-story home is that the city is obviously now prosperous, full of fine houses, open squares filled with trees, statues and fountains, and public buildings of colossal size and architectural grandeur.

As he questions his host, he learns that the government now operates many locations of the exact same stores for people to obtain food and other consumables. They do not use money; instead, they use a “credit card”. The funds backing the credit card are provided by the government and are distributed equally to every citizen. Employment, then, is not the source of one’s income and buying power; it is each person’s contribution to the cogs of the wheel running an orderly society.

Some refer to this book as utopian, some call the principles in the book socialist or Marxist, many note that it was one of the most popular, important books of its day. According to SparticusEducational.com, the novel was highly successful and sold over 1,000,000 copies. It was the third largest bestseller of its time, after Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Ben-Hur.

As Bellamy’s biographer, Franklin Rosemont, has pointed out: “The social transformation described in Looking Backward has in turn transformed, or rather liberated, the human personality. In Bellamy’s vision of the year 2000, selfishness, greed, malice, insanity, hypocrisy, lying, apathy, the lust for power, the struggle for existence, and anxiety as to basic human needs are all things of the past.”

I knew the name Bellamy sounded familiar. The author was apparently the cousin of Francis Bellamy, famous for creation of the Pledge of Allegiance. You can find printed copies of Looking Backward 2000 – 1887 on Amazon, and free ebooks of Edward Ballamy’s book at Gutenberg.org."

HUNGER MAKES ME A MODERN GIRL by Carrie Brownstein

Refinished Th 2/6/25

This is a hardback that I got on Amazon in May of 2018 and I first finished Su 5/6/18. 

One of the better written Rock Profiles.

Her father came out as gay when she was out of the house and her mother was under treatment for anorexia Carrie's whole life. 

Interesting Observation: When she was 13 she saw her first rock show. One of her young friends exclaimed, 'I'd really like to fuck that guy!'. Carrie was thinking that she had no desire for 'that guy'. She wanted to BE 'that guy'. 

Unfortunately, the book only ends with the break up of SLEATER-KINNEY. Her move into acting might make an even more interesting book. 

From The Guardian:

"Her father did not come out as a gay man until very late in life; her mother developed a case of anorexia severe enough for hospitalization. She has had her own struggles with depression and one very frightening breakdown whose elements you’re best to read about in the book itself. (There is a story about her pets in this book that you should probably not read in a public place.)

But Brownstein’s way of telling those stories is from a rather intellectualized, even aestheticized, distance. Much of her mother’s disease, for example, is summed up in the single image of a beach photograph that shows “bags of white pus forming on her sternum”. It’s an image that proves difficult to forget once you have read it, one that cuts into you. It is also one which has a way of instantly transporting you to the depths of her mother’s suffering without seeming maudlin.

This “yearning” side of Brownstein, the sad part – “I continually made a ritual of emptiness,” she admits – does not correlate so well with her current public image. Certainly there is little of the laconic, laid back satire of Portlandia in this book. There is also little of the somewhat glamorous image she’s come to cut, the polish and the finesse.

But even more importantly, for cultural history purposes, there is also little of what most people who are only casual observers of the Riot Grrrl “scene” have come to expect of it. Moments of visceral anger are rarely dramatized as such, just reported matter-of-factly; feminism is mentioned but more often analyzed from a distance. Brownstein explains that in fact the politics could get toxic, refers even to a sort of public-shaming process that might sound familiar." 

BLADE RUNNER 2 by K.W. Jeter

 This is one of my paperbacks that I bought at the main branch in March of 2004.

Finished Su 2/2/25- The last novel that I read at seventy-five years old.

The writing is not to the 'weirdness level' of a PK Dick novel, but it's still somewhat compelling. 

The basic premise is, Who is a replicant and who is real?

 From Kirkus Reveiws:

"Ridley Scott's 1982 film noir, Blade Runner, was based on a Philip K. Dick novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Now, Jeter, Dick's prot‚g‚, attempts a sequel tying in both the book and the movie. Blade Runner Rick Deckard has fled the city with his dying beloved, the replicant Rachael. He's visited by Sarah Tyrell, now boss of the world's largest corporation--and, disconcertingly, the original from whom Rachael was replicated. Sarah commissions Deckard to search for a sixth replicant whose records were somehow mysteriously erased. Ominously, someone has murdered Deckard's old Blade Runner boss. And yet another Blade Runner, Dave Holden (shot in the early stages of the movie), has been snatched from the hospital, fitted with artificial heart and lungs, and persuaded to track down Deckard. Whodunthis? Why, Roy Batty, the original of the replicant (played by Rutger Hauer) that gave Deckard (Harrison Ford) such a tough time! So develops a glum, dull guess-who's-the-replicant sequence, ending in the destruction of the Tyrell corporation (Sarah's goal all along) and the escape of Deckard and Rachael (or so he thinks) aboard a starship. Long-winded and aimless, with neither the gloomy brilliance of Scott nor the unsettling psychological qualms of Dick."

FINNEGAN'S WEEK by Joseph Wambaugh

 This is one of my paperbacks that I first finished in December of 2015 and refinished on Mo 1/27/25.

 From Kirkus Reviews:

"After a so-so show in Fugitive Nights (1991), Wambaugh returns nearly in top form with a very funny suspenser about toxic waste. Finbar Finnegan, a San Diego police detective and sometime actor, has a midlife crisis at 45, his existence having been dominated by three sisters while growing up and by three ex-wives as an adult. His theme song is "Someone to Watch Over Me"—he needs a mommy/wife, has sworn off marriage, but finds himself tied ticklingly to two female detectives at once, both of whom see him as romantically interesting despite immense shortcomings: happy, cheerful, pistol-packing Petty Officer "Ba-a-d Dog" Bobbie Ann Doggett, 28, an investigator for the Navy who's looking for 2,000 boots hijacked from a warehouse; and District Attorney's Investigator Nell Salter, 43, once divorced, and looking for a stolen truck filled with supertoxic waste. The truck actually was "stolen" by its tow drivers—porky meth-head Shelby Pate and his Mexican sidekick, Abel Durazo, who lifted the boots while picking up drums of toxic waste at a naval station, took them to a fence in Tijuana, then pretended their truck was stolen while they ate lunch. The truck, however, gets sold to a Mexican pottery maker, who repaints uses it to deliver pots to San Diego. During all this, the waste drums still on the truck spill horrible Guthion over two kids, killing one of them. In their investigation, the three San Diego law folk wind up in weirdest Tijuana for some surreal surveillance duty—and have a punchy pair of drunk scenes that show Wambaugh at his cleverest in the sexy, gin-soaked Nick & Nora Department. Smart, crunchy dialogue—too topical, yes, but for now quite witty enough."

I was surprised that there were so many jokes and funny observations in the novel. "...like getting a circumcision with only a Bud Light for anesthesia".

The perfect 'Beach Read'.....