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
My reading pace is gradually returning to what I consider "normal." So here's a summary of the latest titles.
SARAH'S KEY by Tatiana deRosnay
The premise of the action is absolutely riveting. In 1942 France, the local authorities cooperating with the Nazi occupation round up several hundred Jewish families and confine them for a few days before shipping the adults off to the camps. The children remain behind, but their fate is just as ominous.
When one family is being ousted from their home, the youngest child persuades his sister to secrete him in a closet they have often used for games of hide and seek. Expecting to be back before nightfall, the young girl complies.
The author works back and forth between Paris of the present day, and Paris of 1942. Eventually the events of 60 years ago resolve themselves and at that point my absorption in the story waned abruptly. As I said, the author works with a truly compelling situation, but her prose badly needs the hand of a skillful editor and/or some hard work done in a writers' group.
TO SIBERIA by Per Petterson
Translated from Norwegian, Petterson's book is an engrossing character study of a young Danish girl in the early days of WWII. She only has a partial understanding of events unfolding around her. The availability of Petterson's works in English is truly something to be thankful for, in this season of giving thanks!
PRICELESS by Robert Wittman
Wittman conceived and single handedly ran the FBI's art theft division for several years before his retirement. He has written this very interesting summary of his career. Much of his work was done undercover, and some of the situations he describes would be passed off as too fanciful if they were part of a work of fiction.
IMPATIENT WITH DESIRE by Gabrielle Burton
Burton has fictionalized the life of Tamsen Donner, the wife of the leader of the Donner party which was caught in early fall snows in the High Sierras as they emigrated to California. I mentioned Burton's memoir in my blog entry of September 19, and after I read that book, I wanted to read her novel. Burton worked from a handful of Donner's letters which survive; memoirs of other members of the party, including five daughters of George and Tamsen Donner; and her own research into the path which led the prospective settlers into disaster.
I CURSE THE RIVER OF TIME by Per Petterson
The latest from this remarkable author. This is really a pair of character studies, that of a woman recently diagnosed with an inoperable cancer and her estranged adult son. If you haven't read anything by Petterson yet, I recommend that you start.
JUNKYARD DOGS by Craig Johnson
Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire deals with an ongoing series of odd events at a junkyard in his small community. A real estate developer has his eyes on the strategically located land and greed and simmering jealousies begin to result in murder. I enjoy Johnson's books for quite a few reasons. He has a very nice way with understated humor, and although I don't have a lot of familiarity with the wide open spaces of Wyoming, his books have a strong sense of place and I think if I were to visit his locales, I would recognize the surroundings immediately.
BAD BLOOD by John Sandford
The latest exploits of Minnesota investigator Virgil Flowers. Several murders in a small rural community seem to be related in bizarre ways. The investigation begins to center on a strange religious community in the area. Eventually a long standing history of wide spread child abuse is uncovered.
EXTERMINATE ALL THE BRUTES by Sven Lindqvist
The author is a Swedish historian and travel writer. I've signed up for a series of seminars in a "lifetime learning institute" sponsored by the University of Denver. This book was assigned reading for one of the sessions I attended. The author traces the history of racism, which he sees as closely aligned to European colornization of Africa. His final thesis is that the events of the Holocaust were the culmination of several hundred years of out and out exploitation and extermination. If nothing else, we had some lively discussions! You might recognize the title as the famous exhortation of Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS.
THE REMBRANDT AFFAIR by Daniel Silva
Israeli super-spy Gabriel Allon interrupts his retirement to find the murderer of an art restorer who had been working on a long lost Rembrandt portrait. The case evolves into a hunt for a well known international philanthropist who sells contraband to Iran's nuclear industry in his spare time.
I think Silva owes a huge debt to the various authors of superhero comic books published over the years, Allon never makes a misstep. But the books are always excellent reads, with a strong sense of place, no matter where Silva creates the action.
THE REVERSAL by Michael Connelly
After my disappointment with his previous book, I was pleased to see Connelly back in the swing with his latest. Defense attorney Mickey Haller accepts a temporary position as a special prosecutor when a convicted murderer wins the right to a new trial on a new shred of DNA evidence. Haller hires LA cop Harry Bosch as his investigator. The book is a very entertaining combination of legal procedural and polic procedural, with chapters alternating between the two main characters.
That's it for this installment! Happy reading!
SARAH'S KEY by Tatiana deRosnay
The premise of the action is absolutely riveting. In 1942 France, the local authorities cooperating with the Nazi occupation round up several hundred Jewish families and confine them for a few days before shipping the adults off to the camps. The children remain behind, but their fate is just as ominous.
When one family is being ousted from their home, the youngest child persuades his sister to secrete him in a closet they have often used for games of hide and seek. Expecting to be back before nightfall, the young girl complies.
The author works back and forth between Paris of the present day, and Paris of 1942. Eventually the events of 60 years ago resolve themselves and at that point my absorption in the story waned abruptly. As I said, the author works with a truly compelling situation, but her prose badly needs the hand of a skillful editor and/or some hard work done in a writers' group.
TO SIBERIA by Per Petterson
Translated from Norwegian, Petterson's book is an engrossing character study of a young Danish girl in the early days of WWII. She only has a partial understanding of events unfolding around her. The availability of Petterson's works in English is truly something to be thankful for, in this season of giving thanks!
PRICELESS by Robert Wittman
Wittman conceived and single handedly ran the FBI's art theft division for several years before his retirement. He has written this very interesting summary of his career. Much of his work was done undercover, and some of the situations he describes would be passed off as too fanciful if they were part of a work of fiction.
IMPATIENT WITH DESIRE by Gabrielle Burton
Burton has fictionalized the life of Tamsen Donner, the wife of the leader of the Donner party which was caught in early fall snows in the High Sierras as they emigrated to California. I mentioned Burton's memoir in my blog entry of September 19, and after I read that book, I wanted to read her novel. Burton worked from a handful of Donner's letters which survive; memoirs of other members of the party, including five daughters of George and Tamsen Donner; and her own research into the path which led the prospective settlers into disaster.
I CURSE THE RIVER OF TIME by Per Petterson
The latest from this remarkable author. This is really a pair of character studies, that of a woman recently diagnosed with an inoperable cancer and her estranged adult son. If you haven't read anything by Petterson yet, I recommend that you start.
JUNKYARD DOGS by Craig Johnson
Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire deals with an ongoing series of odd events at a junkyard in his small community. A real estate developer has his eyes on the strategically located land and greed and simmering jealousies begin to result in murder. I enjoy Johnson's books for quite a few reasons. He has a very nice way with understated humor, and although I don't have a lot of familiarity with the wide open spaces of Wyoming, his books have a strong sense of place and I think if I were to visit his locales, I would recognize the surroundings immediately.
BAD BLOOD by John Sandford
The latest exploits of Minnesota investigator Virgil Flowers. Several murders in a small rural community seem to be related in bizarre ways. The investigation begins to center on a strange religious community in the area. Eventually a long standing history of wide spread child abuse is uncovered.
EXTERMINATE ALL THE BRUTES by Sven Lindqvist
The author is a Swedish historian and travel writer. I've signed up for a series of seminars in a "lifetime learning institute" sponsored by the University of Denver. This book was assigned reading for one of the sessions I attended. The author traces the history of racism, which he sees as closely aligned to European colornization of Africa. His final thesis is that the events of the Holocaust were the culmination of several hundred years of out and out exploitation and extermination. If nothing else, we had some lively discussions! You might recognize the title as the famous exhortation of Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS.
THE REMBRANDT AFFAIR by Daniel Silva
Israeli super-spy Gabriel Allon interrupts his retirement to find the murderer of an art restorer who had been working on a long lost Rembrandt portrait. The case evolves into a hunt for a well known international philanthropist who sells contraband to Iran's nuclear industry in his spare time.
I think Silva owes a huge debt to the various authors of superhero comic books published over the years, Allon never makes a misstep. But the books are always excellent reads, with a strong sense of place, no matter where Silva creates the action.
THE REVERSAL by Michael Connelly
After my disappointment with his previous book, I was pleased to see Connelly back in the swing with his latest. Defense attorney Mickey Haller accepts a temporary position as a special prosecutor when a convicted murderer wins the right to a new trial on a new shred of DNA evidence. Haller hires LA cop Harry Bosch as his investigator. The book is a very entertaining combination of legal procedural and polic procedural, with chapters alternating between the two main characters.
That's it for this installment! Happy reading!
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