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
Quite a few titles to discuss - going back several months, according to my log. Fiction titles first.
TURN OF MIND by Alice LaPlante
A physician is losing her grip on reality as she sinks further into the fog of Alzheimers. She is a "person of interest" in the investigation into the murder of a neighbor, primarily because the dead woman's hands had been mutilated after death, and the physician's career had been that of a hand surgeon. LaPlante does a remarkable job uncovering the many layers of what is really going on here. One of the best books of the year so far.
NEMESIS by Philip Roth
A book discussion group choice. One of America's most celebrated writers goes back to the polio epidemic of the 1950's, and portrays the tragedy of a teacher affected by the disease in more ways than one.
THE FIFTH WITNESS by Michael Connelly
One of Connelly's recurring characters Mickey Haller, takes on the defense of a woman accused of murdering a bank official pursuing a foreclosure action on her home. The title refers to a courtroom ploy to call a witness who can be safely predicted to decline to testify, citing the Fifth Amendment, and thereby manuevering another witness into unknowingly revealing the truth. Connelly is one of my favorites, and he manages to keep his quality high.
A SEPARATE PEACE by John Knowles
Another one for a book discussion evening. An American classic by now, about an enigmatic event at a boys boarding school just before WWII.
THE CAT'S TABLE by Michael Ondaatje
A young boy is sent by his parents to a school in England, traveling alone by ocean vessel from Sri Lanka to London. He is loosely chaperoned while on board, and in the company of other boys on similar voyages, has quite a few intriguing experiences during the trip. I really enjoyed the book, and am finding it's hard to sum up in a few sentences.
BLOOD IN THE WATER by Jane Haddam
When a fire destroys the recreation building of an upscale gated community, investigators find two bodies in the rubble. One floating in the swimming pool, and another charred corpse in a locker room. Haddam weaves in the fallout from a Bernie Madoff style crime; the problems of dealing with a sociopathic teenager; as well as several other contemporary issues. If I listed them all, I would reveal too much!
EDGE OF DARK WATER by Joe R. Lansdale
In a rural community in Depression era Texas, a young woman's body is found tied to a heavy sewing machine and submerged in a small lake. Three of her friends start out to escape their circumstances and flee to California. They don't get very far, and are pursued by several assorted bad guys. Lansdale writes very evocative fiction, not exactly mysteries, not exactly Westerns, hard to categorize, in other words. But always worth the time.
BAD INTENTIONS by Karin Fossum
Fossum is one of the authors from the current crop of writers of Nordic Noir - translations of the rich quantity of excellent suspense fiction published in Scandinavia. Her main character is Inspector Sejer, but he is only a peripheal character in this book. Two young men have died, both bodies found in or near water, and the reader begins to understand the deaths are connected in more ways than one.
Instead of following police procedure, the book presents a tense psychological scenario of control and manipulation. Excellent mystery, but without a murder!
Non fiction to come, probably sometime tomorrow.
TURN OF MIND by Alice LaPlante
A physician is losing her grip on reality as she sinks further into the fog of Alzheimers. She is a "person of interest" in the investigation into the murder of a neighbor, primarily because the dead woman's hands had been mutilated after death, and the physician's career had been that of a hand surgeon. LaPlante does a remarkable job uncovering the many layers of what is really going on here. One of the best books of the year so far.
NEMESIS by Philip Roth
A book discussion group choice. One of America's most celebrated writers goes back to the polio epidemic of the 1950's, and portrays the tragedy of a teacher affected by the disease in more ways than one.
THE FIFTH WITNESS by Michael Connelly
One of Connelly's recurring characters Mickey Haller, takes on the defense of a woman accused of murdering a bank official pursuing a foreclosure action on her home. The title refers to a courtroom ploy to call a witness who can be safely predicted to decline to testify, citing the Fifth Amendment, and thereby manuevering another witness into unknowingly revealing the truth. Connelly is one of my favorites, and he manages to keep his quality high.
A SEPARATE PEACE by John Knowles
Another one for a book discussion evening. An American classic by now, about an enigmatic event at a boys boarding school just before WWII.
THE CAT'S TABLE by Michael Ondaatje
A young boy is sent by his parents to a school in England, traveling alone by ocean vessel from Sri Lanka to London. He is loosely chaperoned while on board, and in the company of other boys on similar voyages, has quite a few intriguing experiences during the trip. I really enjoyed the book, and am finding it's hard to sum up in a few sentences.
BLOOD IN THE WATER by Jane Haddam
When a fire destroys the recreation building of an upscale gated community, investigators find two bodies in the rubble. One floating in the swimming pool, and another charred corpse in a locker room. Haddam weaves in the fallout from a Bernie Madoff style crime; the problems of dealing with a sociopathic teenager; as well as several other contemporary issues. If I listed them all, I would reveal too much!
EDGE OF DARK WATER by Joe R. Lansdale
In a rural community in Depression era Texas, a young woman's body is found tied to a heavy sewing machine and submerged in a small lake. Three of her friends start out to escape their circumstances and flee to California. They don't get very far, and are pursued by several assorted bad guys. Lansdale writes very evocative fiction, not exactly mysteries, not exactly Westerns, hard to categorize, in other words. But always worth the time.
BAD INTENTIONS by Karin Fossum
Fossum is one of the authors from the current crop of writers of Nordic Noir - translations of the rich quantity of excellent suspense fiction published in Scandinavia. Her main character is Inspector Sejer, but he is only a peripheal character in this book. Two young men have died, both bodies found in or near water, and the reader begins to understand the deaths are connected in more ways than one.
Instead of following police procedure, the book presents a tense psychological scenario of control and manipulation. Excellent mystery, but without a murder!
Non fiction to come, probably sometime tomorrow.
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