See if I can remember them all:
Am listening to the 3rd dragon tale, The Golden Cage: The Ballad of Sir Benfro Book Three , by JD Oswald, and am enjoying it. An unexpected pleasure.
Started Stiff by Mary Roach, 2003 and like it a lot but my recording is not working. I will get back to it though. Pretty gruesome body parts and stories but very interesting.
Ian Rankin's latest Rebus book is very good. Even Dogs in the Wild: The New John Rebus 2015. Good characters, well plotted, good mystery.
Drove to Victoria listening to Elly Griffith's The Zig Zag Girl. Good book. Good characters, first book I've read that was not in her series.
Started My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante 2012. Has many rave reviews but I left only part way through and probably won't get back to it.
Close Your Eyes 2015 by Michael Robatham, 8th book in a series, was good. Like his main character, who has Parkinsons.
The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth. Good writer, 2011. Writing about mercenaries, seems all to believeable and very unnerving.
Career of Evil, 2015, by Robert Galbraith aka Rowling. Very enjoyable 3rd book of her adult mysteries. I like the characters and the story chugs along. Hope she writes some more.
Monday, January 4, 2016
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Sunday, October 18, 2015
One good book, one not-so-hot
Start with the one I didn't like, or at least I didn't like most of the characters and thought the plot was tedious - Jonathan Franzen's newest novel, Purity, 2015. He writes well, but who cares? Sigh. I thought this page was brilliant:
César, the new aide, was supposed to have been at Charles’s at six to give him a bath, PT, and a hot dinner. It was now eight-thirty. The trouble with Charles was that he didn’t like having aides but didn’t dislike it so much that he forbade Leila to employ them and oversee them. As a result, she did a lot of work for little thanks.
Striding down the concourse, she called Tom’s home number and was shunted straight to voice mail. Next she called the agency.
“People Who Need People, this is Emma,” said a girl who sounded about twelve.
“This is Leila Helou and I want to know why César isn’t at Charles Blenheim’s.”
“Oh hi, Mrs. Blenheim,” Emma said cheerfully. “César should have been there at six.”
“I’m aware of that. But he was not there at six. He’s still not there.”
“OK, no problem. I’ll see if we can find out where he is.”
“‘No problem’? It is a problem! And this is not the first time.”
“Sorry about that. I’ll find out where he is. It’s really no problem.”
“Please stop saying ‘no problem’ when we have a problem.”
“We’re a little shorthanded tonight. One sec … Oh, I see what happened. César had to fill in for another aide who got sick. He should be getting to Mr. Blenheim’s pretty soon.”
The agency couldn’t foresee a staff shortage? Thought it was OK to send someone three hours late and not notify them? Made a practice of pulling aides off scheduled visits and sending them to other clients? Didn’t even train its desk personnel to apologize?
Leila knew better than to ask these questions. She was halfway into the city when Emma called back. “OK, so, unfortunately it looks like César won’t be able to get away. But we do have someone else we can send out. She can’t do lifting, but she can help Mr. Blenheim with other things and keep him company.”
“Mr. Blenheim doesn’t need company. Mr. Blenheim only needs lifting.”
“OK, no problem. Let me reach out to César again.”
“Just forget the whole thing. Send a male aide out at nine tomorrow morning, and never mention the name César to me again. Can you do that for me? Is it no problem?”
but the rest of the book was really not good.
An interesting book though, was Quiet The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. Non fiction book about introverts and extroverts. Interesting research and well written. Susan Cain wrote it, 2013.
César, the new aide, was supposed to have been at Charles’s at six to give him a bath, PT, and a hot dinner. It was now eight-thirty. The trouble with Charles was that he didn’t like having aides but didn’t dislike it so much that he forbade Leila to employ them and oversee them. As a result, she did a lot of work for little thanks.
Striding down the concourse, she called Tom’s home number and was shunted straight to voice mail. Next she called the agency.
“People Who Need People, this is Emma,” said a girl who sounded about twelve.
“This is Leila Helou and I want to know why César isn’t at Charles Blenheim’s.”
“Oh hi, Mrs. Blenheim,” Emma said cheerfully. “César should have been there at six.”
“I’m aware of that. But he was not there at six. He’s still not there.”
“OK, no problem. I’ll see if we can find out where he is.”
“‘No problem’? It is a problem! And this is not the first time.”
“Sorry about that. I’ll find out where he is. It’s really no problem.”
“Please stop saying ‘no problem’ when we have a problem.”
“We’re a little shorthanded tonight. One sec … Oh, I see what happened. César had to fill in for another aide who got sick. He should be getting to Mr. Blenheim’s pretty soon.”
The agency couldn’t foresee a staff shortage? Thought it was OK to send someone three hours late and not notify them? Made a practice of pulling aides off scheduled visits and sending them to other clients? Didn’t even train its desk personnel to apologize?
Leila knew better than to ask these questions. She was halfway into the city when Emma called back. “OK, so, unfortunately it looks like César won’t be able to get away. But we do have someone else we can send out. She can’t do lifting, but she can help Mr. Blenheim with other things and keep him company.”
“Mr. Blenheim doesn’t need company. Mr. Blenheim only needs lifting.”
“OK, no problem. Let me reach out to César again.”
“Just forget the whole thing. Send a male aide out at nine tomorrow morning, and never mention the name César to me again. Can you do that for me? Is it no problem?”
but the rest of the book was really not good.
An interesting book though, was Quiet The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. Non fiction book about introverts and extroverts. Interesting research and well written. Susan Cain wrote it, 2013.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Books
River of Smoke: Book 2 Of The Ibis Trilogy, 2012. Amitav Ghosh is a good story teller. Enjoyed this book and am looking forward to part 3. Interesting to read about Hong Kong and Canton historically and the poppy wars.
Interesting autobiography of Oliver Sacks, 2015, On the Move. Makes me want to read his books again. Strange life, the obsession with weight lifting and motorcyles unexpected.
Some lighter reading, another Craig Johnson book, Longmire. Different from the TV show but enjoyable. The basic characters are the same. Books are good, book 2, Death without company.
Some even lighter reading, dragons and things, not the usual fare but I liked James Oswald's mysteries so much I tried them, and they are good. Such nice dragons, such dreadful people! Dreamwalker: The Ballad of Sir Benfro Book One (The Ballad of Sir Benfro Series) and The Rose Cord: The Ballad of Sir Benfro Book Two
A very good book, about the dreadful Huntington's disease, by Lisa Genova, Inside the O'Briens, 2015. Very well written book. After thorough research on Huntingtons, she gets inside their lives and creates a very readable novel.
Interesting autobiography of Oliver Sacks, 2015, On the Move. Makes me want to read his books again. Strange life, the obsession with weight lifting and motorcyles unexpected.
Some lighter reading, another Craig Johnson book, Longmire. Different from the TV show but enjoyable. The basic characters are the same. Books are good, book 2, Death without company.
Some even lighter reading, dragons and things, not the usual fare but I liked James Oswald's mysteries so much I tried them, and they are good. Such nice dragons, such dreadful people! Dreamwalker: The Ballad of Sir Benfro Book One (The Ballad of Sir Benfro Series) and The Rose Cord: The Ballad of Sir Benfro Book Two
A very good book, about the dreadful Huntington's disease, by Lisa Genova, Inside the O'Briens, 2015. Very well written book. After thorough research on Huntingtons, she gets inside their lives and creates a very readable novel.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
mysteries
Darkness darkness, 2015, by John Harvey. Thoroughly enjoying this Charlie Resnick mystery. It's been a long time since I've read one by him. Charlie retired but back at work, with one old cat and lots of jazz.
Also, the first Craig Johnson The Cold Dish, is very enjoyable. Good reader for these books.
Also, the first Craig Johnson The Cold Dish, is very enjoyable. Good reader for these books.
Friday, June 26, 2015
good books
The Children Act by Ian Mcewan, 2014. Very good writer... none of the characters are very likable but they are believable. Story is pretty grim. Obvioulsy well researched, the role of a judge in the kind of cases she deals with. Good book.
Finished Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Very good book, very hard to keep going through the POW camp, but worth it. No black nor white, war is insane and leaves horrendous scars.
Tried to find a light mystery to read after these, but Adrian McKinty's Michael Forsythe books are full of gore! Am not going to continue with them. Dead I Well May Be
So have started another heavy going book, Where all Light Tends to Go, by David Joy, 2015. Another great writer - southern US. Suspect it's not going to end well for his criminal characters.
Finished Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Very good book, very hard to keep going through the POW camp, but worth it. No black nor white, war is insane and leaves horrendous scars.
Tried to find a light mystery to read after these, but Adrian McKinty's Michael Forsythe books are full of gore! Am not going to continue with them. Dead I Well May Be
So have started another heavy going book, Where all Light Tends to Go, by David Joy, 2015. Another great writer - southern US. Suspect it's not going to end well for his criminal characters.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Falkland
so much darker after plying
socks
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