Books and other stuff I feel like discussing
By education and experience - Accountant with a specialty in taxation. Formerly a CPA (license has lapsed). Masters degree in law of taxation from University of Denver. Now retired. Part time work during baseball season as receptionist & switchboard operator for the Colorado Rockies. This gig feeds my soul in ways I have trouble articulating. One daughter, and four grandchildren. I share the house with two cats; a big goof of a cat called Grinch (named as a joke for his easy going "whatever" disposition); and Lady, a shelter adoptee with a regal bearing and sweet little soprano voice. I would be very bereft if it ever becomes necessary to keep house without a cat.
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Books Update
Time for another update - My reading log tells me my pace has picked up a little - in part because I've been listening to quite a few books on long walks in the long hours of evening daylight. And in addition to listening to books, I'm trying to come up with strategies for continuing long walks into the fall and winter.
SNAKEHEAD by Peter May
On June 20, I mentioned May's series of "China Thrillers." This is from that series, but the action has moved to the US. After agreeing to end their love affair, forensic investigator Margaret Campbell and Chinese cop Li Yuan are unexpectedly working on the same case again. Li has been assigned to the Chinese diplomatic corps based in the US, and when a truckload of dead bodies is found in the Texas desert, he is one of the investigators called to the scene. Campbell is also there, working on the autopsies of the several dozen illegal Chinese immigrants who died locked in the stifling truck. Puzzling wounds on the bodies lead investigators to suspect a lethal plan to unleash a killer virus in the US.
A RELIABLE WIFE by Robert Goolrick
A "mail order bride" story, but pretty far removed from what you might find on your supermarket paperback display, or what might get you through a long plane ride! Neither the man nor the woman is this tale is what he or she seems, and the secrets may bring them both down.
THE BLESSING WAY by Tony Hillerman
This was Hillerman's first book set on the Navaho reservation in the SW United States. One of my book discussion groups chose it - and I enjoyed reading it again. Most of the group members are Hillerman fans, and we enjoyed seeing once again how his marvelous series began. We all remembered Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee as central to the stories, and were bemused to realize that in the first book, Chee does not appear at all, and Leaphorn is only a peripheal character.
NIGHT by Elie Wiesel
In my continuing commitment to reading classics I've missed in the past, I listened to Wiesel's memoir of his teenaged years as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. Perhaps because there have been many memoirs and histories published over the years, this story, while horrific, didn't carry the same punch it probably would have had it been my first exposure to the events. Definitely worth the time, however!
GONE TOMORROW by Lee Child
Child's protagonist Jack Reacher is a retired US Army MP, who now lives an itinerant life with no fixed address, an ATM card, his passport, no luggage, and a fierce determination to help the helpless and to right wrongs. On a late night subway ride in New York City, he spots a woman he concludes is on a suicide bombing mission. When she kills herself directly in front of him, Reacher is drawn into political maneuvering, and finds himself attempting to thwart the operation of a small Al Qaeda cell in the city. Child's books are always worth the time.
THE MAO CASE by Qui Xialong
Qui grew up in Shanghai, but now lives in the US, where he teaches and writes books. His protagonist, Inspector Chen, is a Shanghai cop walking a tightrope between maintaining his integrity and staying in the good graces of his superiors. A group of highly placed politicians suspects that an item exists which would be damaging to the memory of Chairman Mao. No one knows exactly what this item might be, or who might have it, but Chen is assigned to find it and disarm its potential. Suspicion falls on a lovely young woman who is the granddaughter of one of the women close to Mao during his life.
THE DARK HORSE by Craig Johnson
When a woman is arrested for the murder of her husband, and her house and barn (including the horses in the barn) are found burned to the ground, Sheriff Walt Longmire goes undercover to pose as an insurance investigator. Questions pile on top of questions, and Longmire becomes convinced that the woman is innocent of the charges against her. Johnson's series, set in small town rural Wyoming, is a real pleasure.
THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG by Muriel Barbery
What a lovely little book! Translated from the French, and telling the stories of two lonely women - one the widowed manager of an upscale apartment house, the other a sensitive teenaged member of one of the resident families. A calm stream of consciousness style of writing gets things off to a slow start, but persevering to keep reading pays off. One of the best of the year so far.
FALLEN and THE PRESERVATIONIST by David Maine
Maine has taken stories from Genesis familiar to almost everyone, even those who don't go in for much Bible reading, and has created two engrossing novels. FALLEN begins during the last days of Cain's life, and moves back in time, chapter by chapter, to the early weeks of Adam and Eve's existence after expulsion from the garden of Eden. The "preservationist" is Noah - gruff and stoic with his family - God had told him what to do, and they are just going to do it, end of discussion. So they build the ark, collect the animals, and then survive the harrowing months aboard their floating survival machine. I was delighted with both books.
THE PLUTO DIARIES by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Is Pluto a planet or not? A few years ago, I visited the observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, where Pluto was identified, and had a chance to listen to an explanation of the process the astronomer used. It was extremely tedious work. Tyson begins this delightful little book by analyzing why the general public is so intrigued by Pluto - with references to Disney's cartoon dog along with other cultural analysis. He includes the expanding field of scientific inquiry on the nature of our solar system in general, the changing scope of exhibits at various museums and planetariums, and the support for the various theories. While this is a "scentific" book, Tyson writes in a very readable, almost conversational style, and I was intrigued.
THE MYSTICAL ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH by Charlie Huston
A young man is aimlessly drifting through his life, and takes a temporary job assisting a crew which cleans homes and businesses after violent events. When he meets a lovely young woman at one of the locations, he gets drawn into her life in ways he did not anticipate. While this book has some very unsavory topics as its plot, I still thought of it as a type of "brain candy" or perhaps "brain pretzels" Enjoyable to listen to on walks in the evening, and certainly not a waste of time, but not a book for the ages, either!
That's it for this update! Happy reading, everyone!
SNAKEHEAD by Peter May
On June 20, I mentioned May's series of "China Thrillers." This is from that series, but the action has moved to the US. After agreeing to end their love affair, forensic investigator Margaret Campbell and Chinese cop Li Yuan are unexpectedly working on the same case again. Li has been assigned to the Chinese diplomatic corps based in the US, and when a truckload of dead bodies is found in the Texas desert, he is one of the investigators called to the scene. Campbell is also there, working on the autopsies of the several dozen illegal Chinese immigrants who died locked in the stifling truck. Puzzling wounds on the bodies lead investigators to suspect a lethal plan to unleash a killer virus in the US.
A RELIABLE WIFE by Robert Goolrick
A "mail order bride" story, but pretty far removed from what you might find on your supermarket paperback display, or what might get you through a long plane ride! Neither the man nor the woman is this tale is what he or she seems, and the secrets may bring them both down.
THE BLESSING WAY by Tony Hillerman
This was Hillerman's first book set on the Navaho reservation in the SW United States. One of my book discussion groups chose it - and I enjoyed reading it again. Most of the group members are Hillerman fans, and we enjoyed seeing once again how his marvelous series began. We all remembered Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee as central to the stories, and were bemused to realize that in the first book, Chee does not appear at all, and Leaphorn is only a peripheal character.
NIGHT by Elie Wiesel
In my continuing commitment to reading classics I've missed in the past, I listened to Wiesel's memoir of his teenaged years as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. Perhaps because there have been many memoirs and histories published over the years, this story, while horrific, didn't carry the same punch it probably would have had it been my first exposure to the events. Definitely worth the time, however!
GONE TOMORROW by Lee Child
Child's protagonist Jack Reacher is a retired US Army MP, who now lives an itinerant life with no fixed address, an ATM card, his passport, no luggage, and a fierce determination to help the helpless and to right wrongs. On a late night subway ride in New York City, he spots a woman he concludes is on a suicide bombing mission. When she kills herself directly in front of him, Reacher is drawn into political maneuvering, and finds himself attempting to thwart the operation of a small Al Qaeda cell in the city. Child's books are always worth the time.
THE MAO CASE by Qui Xialong
Qui grew up in Shanghai, but now lives in the US, where he teaches and writes books. His protagonist, Inspector Chen, is a Shanghai cop walking a tightrope between maintaining his integrity and staying in the good graces of his superiors. A group of highly placed politicians suspects that an item exists which would be damaging to the memory of Chairman Mao. No one knows exactly what this item might be, or who might have it, but Chen is assigned to find it and disarm its potential. Suspicion falls on a lovely young woman who is the granddaughter of one of the women close to Mao during his life.
THE DARK HORSE by Craig Johnson
When a woman is arrested for the murder of her husband, and her house and barn (including the horses in the barn) are found burned to the ground, Sheriff Walt Longmire goes undercover to pose as an insurance investigator. Questions pile on top of questions, and Longmire becomes convinced that the woman is innocent of the charges against her. Johnson's series, set in small town rural Wyoming, is a real pleasure.
THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG by Muriel Barbery
What a lovely little book! Translated from the French, and telling the stories of two lonely women - one the widowed manager of an upscale apartment house, the other a sensitive teenaged member of one of the resident families. A calm stream of consciousness style of writing gets things off to a slow start, but persevering to keep reading pays off. One of the best of the year so far.
FALLEN and THE PRESERVATIONIST by David Maine
Maine has taken stories from Genesis familiar to almost everyone, even those who don't go in for much Bible reading, and has created two engrossing novels. FALLEN begins during the last days of Cain's life, and moves back in time, chapter by chapter, to the early weeks of Adam and Eve's existence after expulsion from the garden of Eden. The "preservationist" is Noah - gruff and stoic with his family - God had told him what to do, and they are just going to do it, end of discussion. So they build the ark, collect the animals, and then survive the harrowing months aboard their floating survival machine. I was delighted with both books.
THE PLUTO DIARIES by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Is Pluto a planet or not? A few years ago, I visited the observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, where Pluto was identified, and had a chance to listen to an explanation of the process the astronomer used. It was extremely tedious work. Tyson begins this delightful little book by analyzing why the general public is so intrigued by Pluto - with references to Disney's cartoon dog along with other cultural analysis. He includes the expanding field of scientific inquiry on the nature of our solar system in general, the changing scope of exhibits at various museums and planetariums, and the support for the various theories. While this is a "scentific" book, Tyson writes in a very readable, almost conversational style, and I was intrigued.
THE MYSTICAL ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH by Charlie Huston
A young man is aimlessly drifting through his life, and takes a temporary job assisting a crew which cleans homes and businesses after violent events. When he meets a lovely young woman at one of the locations, he gets drawn into her life in ways he did not anticipate. While this book has some very unsavory topics as its plot, I still thought of it as a type of "brain candy" or perhaps "brain pretzels" Enjoyable to listen to on walks in the evening, and certainly not a waste of time, but not a book for the ages, either!
That's it for this update! Happy reading, everyone!
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