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.
Mood:
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Books Update
Let's see if I can finish this coherently. I'm going to pay careful attention to the keyboard, especially the "caps lock" key.
THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING by Paulette Jiles
In the late 19th century, as the tensions of the civil war years began to ease and westward expansion of the American population began to increase, a black man moved with his family to Texas - seeking a more independent life. As he travels the area in the process of setting up his freight hauling business, his wife and children and several of their neighbors are taken prisoner by Comanche raiders. When he returns, the main character sets out to recover and restore his family.
Jiles used an actual historical character and several actual events as a basis for her book. This was a riveting read, about a tragic three way clash of cultures. The reader can clearly see that no one will emerge a winner. In addition to the settlers and the Plains tribes - Kiowa also figure in the story - an earnest Quaker managing the Federal Indian Agency in the area is also thwarted in his attempts to find a satisfactory solution to the many tensions and conflicting aims.
HOWARD'S END by E M Forster
The classic in this batch of books, in my continuing plan to close gaps in my reading history. I've found that enjoying some of these classics goes better with an audio version, and when I discovered that my library is now offering little pocket sized preloaded audio books in digital format, I grabbed this one first.
Another clash of cultures - this one in Edwardian England - and while the issues differ dramatically from the dusty plains of 1880 Texas, the human drama is just as vivid.
DOG YEARS by Mark Doty
Doty is a poet and teacher. His professional life has taken him from one temporary teaching assignment to another, but his home life is based in the NE US - on Cape Cod and in Greenwich Village. As his partner was dying of AIDS, he brought home a puppy he hoped would become a sort of "therapy dog" Like most pet adoptions, the golden retriver involved had its own agenda, but the result was a loving and poignant relationship.
I listened to this one on audio as well, and the various chapters deal with love, with work, with loss and grief, and as I paced along park trails and hiking paths in my neighborhood I often had tears streaming down my face. They were occasionally tears of laughter. Some of his descriptions of traveling with a car full of pets were laugh out loud funny.
I enjoy finding authors who perceive basic truths and insights in "ordinary" events, and Doty does that in spades. I wrote to him through his website to express my thanks for the book, hoping to hear back from him, but didn't.
WICKED PREY by John Sandford
Lucas Davenport comfronts a puzzling set of robberies against the backdrop of the Republican National Convention in 2008 in St Paul Minnesota. Meanwhile, his young adopted daughter begins to display a flair for criminal investigation, but since she is still a teenager, this is probably not the best development. A present day abusive situation involving prostitution and drug addiction is hardly Nancy Drew territory. Lucas Davenport has never been a poster child for upright American manhood, but it's neat to see him developing as a father. His handling of his daughter's misguided venture seemed just right.
BELOW ZERO by C J Box
Joe Pickett returns and mercifully this time around, he has abandoned what I call "Superman syndrome." No hair raising escapades straining a reader's belief.
Joe's family, especially his oldest daughter, begins to receive strange message via text on a cell phone. The sender purports to be a young girl who was at one time a foster child in their household, but who died in a fire. Unsettled by this development, Joe begins to investigate. Even more unnerving is the discovery of a string of murders which have occurred in locations mentioned in the messages from the mysterious young woman.
Box is one of the best at portraying children in a believable manner, and he continues his success in this latest book. Sheridan Pickett is coming into her own as a literary character, and I look forward to reading more about her.
FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN by Janet Evanovich
My sister descibes Evanovich as "the thinking woman's brain candy." That's a pretty good summary in my book. More silliness in this latest, but I was pleased to see Stephanie displaying a flair for keen observation and able to provide Ranger truly helpful assistance as he investigates a series of break-ins.
YOGI BERRA, ETERNAL YANKEE by Allen Barra
Another baseball book, and it's a very good one indeed. With minimal education, but with an astute mind and superb athletic skill, Berra became one of the best catchers ever in the game of baseball. {The author, in one of the apendices, compares Berra's statistics to those of other famous catchers and makes a compelling case that Berra was the best.}
The book is perhaps burdened with a little too much detail at times - some decisive games are portrayed almost pitch by pitch - but it's easy enough to skip over those pages.
Another entertaining appendix puts the more famous "Yogi-isms" up against famous quotes from others, including Proust and Churchill. Yogi could sum up in his highly colloquial style, what took others many words to say.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE THUNDERBOLT KID by Bill Bryson
This seemed to be the summer of the memoir! Bryson, famed for several light hearted and insightful armchair travel books, returns to Iowa in the 1950's and 60's to tell the story of his childhood and early adolescence. Since I grew up at the same time and in the same place, I was myself awash in nostalgia.
And although I would never press them to come clean on the issue, I am sure that my two brothers pulled off feats almost identical to some of those described by Bryson. At times laugh out loud funny, and yet at the same time quite thoughtful, Bryson's memoir is a must read for his fans, and a good introduction to his work for newcomers.
THE DEFECTOR by Daniel Silva
Israeli spy Gabriel Allon works to retrieve a defector from Russia who has been abducted and returned to Russia in an act of vengeance. When Allon's wife is also kidnapped, the stakes increase. That Allon will prevail is never really in doubt. I enjoy this series very much, but this latest is perhaps overladen with back story and a reader new to the series might feel confused. Better to back up a few books and start with an earlier installment.
That's it for now!
THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING by Paulette Jiles
In the late 19th century, as the tensions of the civil war years began to ease and westward expansion of the American population began to increase, a black man moved with his family to Texas - seeking a more independent life. As he travels the area in the process of setting up his freight hauling business, his wife and children and several of their neighbors are taken prisoner by Comanche raiders. When he returns, the main character sets out to recover and restore his family.
Jiles used an actual historical character and several actual events as a basis for her book. This was a riveting read, about a tragic three way clash of cultures. The reader can clearly see that no one will emerge a winner. In addition to the settlers and the Plains tribes - Kiowa also figure in the story - an earnest Quaker managing the Federal Indian Agency in the area is also thwarted in his attempts to find a satisfactory solution to the many tensions and conflicting aims.
HOWARD'S END by E M Forster
The classic in this batch of books, in my continuing plan to close gaps in my reading history. I've found that enjoying some of these classics goes better with an audio version, and when I discovered that my library is now offering little pocket sized preloaded audio books in digital format, I grabbed this one first.
Another clash of cultures - this one in Edwardian England - and while the issues differ dramatically from the dusty plains of 1880 Texas, the human drama is just as vivid.
DOG YEARS by Mark Doty
Doty is a poet and teacher. His professional life has taken him from one temporary teaching assignment to another, but his home life is based in the NE US - on Cape Cod and in Greenwich Village. As his partner was dying of AIDS, he brought home a puppy he hoped would become a sort of "therapy dog" Like most pet adoptions, the golden retriver involved had its own agenda, but the result was a loving and poignant relationship.
I listened to this one on audio as well, and the various chapters deal with love, with work, with loss and grief, and as I paced along park trails and hiking paths in my neighborhood I often had tears streaming down my face. They were occasionally tears of laughter. Some of his descriptions of traveling with a car full of pets were laugh out loud funny.
I enjoy finding authors who perceive basic truths and insights in "ordinary" events, and Doty does that in spades. I wrote to him through his website to express my thanks for the book, hoping to hear back from him, but didn't.
WICKED PREY by John Sandford
Lucas Davenport comfronts a puzzling set of robberies against the backdrop of the Republican National Convention in 2008 in St Paul Minnesota. Meanwhile, his young adopted daughter begins to display a flair for criminal investigation, but since she is still a teenager, this is probably not the best development. A present day abusive situation involving prostitution and drug addiction is hardly Nancy Drew territory. Lucas Davenport has never been a poster child for upright American manhood, but it's neat to see him developing as a father. His handling of his daughter's misguided venture seemed just right.
BELOW ZERO by C J Box
Joe Pickett returns and mercifully this time around, he has abandoned what I call "Superman syndrome." No hair raising escapades straining a reader's belief.
Joe's family, especially his oldest daughter, begins to receive strange message via text on a cell phone. The sender purports to be a young girl who was at one time a foster child in their household, but who died in a fire. Unsettled by this development, Joe begins to investigate. Even more unnerving is the discovery of a string of murders which have occurred in locations mentioned in the messages from the mysterious young woman.
Box is one of the best at portraying children in a believable manner, and he continues his success in this latest book. Sheridan Pickett is coming into her own as a literary character, and I look forward to reading more about her.
FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN by Janet Evanovich
My sister descibes Evanovich as "the thinking woman's brain candy." That's a pretty good summary in my book. More silliness in this latest, but I was pleased to see Stephanie displaying a flair for keen observation and able to provide Ranger truly helpful assistance as he investigates a series of break-ins.
YOGI BERRA, ETERNAL YANKEE by Allen Barra
Another baseball book, and it's a very good one indeed. With minimal education, but with an astute mind and superb athletic skill, Berra became one of the best catchers ever in the game of baseball. {The author, in one of the apendices, compares Berra's statistics to those of other famous catchers and makes a compelling case that Berra was the best.}
The book is perhaps burdened with a little too much detail at times - some decisive games are portrayed almost pitch by pitch - but it's easy enough to skip over those pages.
Another entertaining appendix puts the more famous "Yogi-isms" up against famous quotes from others, including Proust and Churchill. Yogi could sum up in his highly colloquial style, what took others many words to say.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE THUNDERBOLT KID by Bill Bryson
This seemed to be the summer of the memoir! Bryson, famed for several light hearted and insightful armchair travel books, returns to Iowa in the 1950's and 60's to tell the story of his childhood and early adolescence. Since I grew up at the same time and in the same place, I was myself awash in nostalgia.
And although I would never press them to come clean on the issue, I am sure that my two brothers pulled off feats almost identical to some of those described by Bryson. At times laugh out loud funny, and yet at the same time quite thoughtful, Bryson's memoir is a must read for his fans, and a good introduction to his work for newcomers.
THE DEFECTOR by Daniel Silva
Israeli spy Gabriel Allon works to retrieve a defector from Russia who has been abducted and returned to Russia in an act of vengeance. When Allon's wife is also kidnapped, the stakes increase. That Allon will prevail is never really in doubt. I enjoy this series very much, but this latest is perhaps overladen with back story and a reader new to the series might feel confused. Better to back up a few books and start with an earlier installment.
That's it for now!
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