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 - part the third
Rhubarb and em - get your pads and pencils, you're not done yet!
BEAUTIFUL RUINS by Jess Walter
Walter is one of my favorite authors. He writes in several genres. He has an excellent non fiction summary of the tragedy at Ruby Ridge Idaho; won the Edgar Award for best mystery novel for CITIZEN VINCE; wrote an excellent post 9/11 novel titled THE ZERO; and had a delightfully sardonic venture into humor with THE FINANCIAL LIVES OF THE POETS.
In this latest, he goes back to Italy in the early 1960's, to a small coastal village with hopes of becoming a haven for tourists yearning to experience "the real Italy." A young woman arrives, infatuating the hotel keeper and mystifying the other residents.
The story moves on to include present day Hollywood, a cameo by Richard Burton, the ruined life of a spoiled young man, and a community theater in small town Idaho. If this sounds like an unlikely group of topics for successful fiction, you have a pleasant surprise awaiting you.
THE FORGOTTON GARDEN by Kate Morton
In early 20th century Australia, a ship from London docks and as the passengers leave the ship, dockworkers find a young girl, perhaps four years old, with a small suitcase and no information whatsoever about her name, who is responsible for her, and whom she expects to meet.
She is taken in and raised by one of the workers on the dock, grows to adulthood, marries and has one daughter, and dies never knowing any of the answers to her life before she arrived in Australia. Her granddaughter eventually begins to seek the answers.
This novel is engrossing enough, but the author had some trouble with her back story. Events often ground to a halt while the reader was updated on some important fact which hadn't been mentioned earlier in the narrative. In the end, I was impatient to find out what the answer was and did a lot of skimming.
LIVE WIRE by Harlan Coben
Coben's favorite protagonist Myron Bolitar searches for the person behind some cruel messages posted on the Facebook page of one of his clients, and ends up investigating and answering some long festering questions from within his own family.
Coben writes nice, quick reading, entertaining stuff. His books are "change of pace" reads, and I mean that in a complementary way.
THE CORONER'S LUNCH by Colin Cotteril
This author was recommended to me quite some time ago, and I finally picked up the first in his Inspector Siri series. Siri is a government employee in post war Laos in the late 1970's. His lab is woefully lacking in important equipment and supplies. His bosses usually want him to provide quick, easily filed answers to the deaths he investigates. But Siri has several things on his side: two valuable assistants who respect him and work hard at their jobs; one or two other government officials who are also honest men and do their best to help him; and his own persistent intelligence and drive to keep working until all his questions are answered.
Vientiane, Laos is an intriguing setting for a good mystery story!
THE ADMIRALS by Walter Borneman
Regular followers of my blog might have already realized that one of my favorite non fiction topics is the history of the last half of the 20th century.
Leahy, King, Halsey, and Nimitz were at the very top of the heirarchy of the US Navy when war broke out. The first two remained posted in Washington and worked from there in directing the US war effort on the seas. The others were in the midst of the action in the Pacific.
In addition to four very readable, if abbreviated, biographies, the author also discusses the growing reliance on submarines and naval aviation; and has not a few swipes at the reputation of Douglas MacArthur.
THE CONFESSION by Charles Todd
In the Inspector Rutledge series of books, Todd writes about the England just after WWI. All levels of society felt the impact of the war, and the author moves from one part of England to the next, sending the inspector to investigate situations which most often no one else in Scotland Yard wants to handle.
In this one, he works in a small coastal village near the mouth of the Thames. Several deaths are connected with residents there. Not surprisingly, the truth behind the secrets is not easily uncovered.
REDBREAST by Jo Nesbo
Nesbo is another author I have been hoping to read for quite some time. This is the third in his Harry Hole series, the first to be available in English translation. Hole, who is a cop in Oslo, can't quite let go of his hunch that several strange deaths are connected somehow. Even against the express instruction of his superiors, he continues to look for answers. Answers begin to arrive when he learns of connections between present day Neo-Nazis and the Nazi collaborators of WWII years.
That's the end of my current reading log!
BEAUTIFUL RUINS by Jess Walter
Walter is one of my favorite authors. He writes in several genres. He has an excellent non fiction summary of the tragedy at Ruby Ridge Idaho; won the Edgar Award for best mystery novel for CITIZEN VINCE; wrote an excellent post 9/11 novel titled THE ZERO; and had a delightfully sardonic venture into humor with THE FINANCIAL LIVES OF THE POETS.
In this latest, he goes back to Italy in the early 1960's, to a small coastal village with hopes of becoming a haven for tourists yearning to experience "the real Italy." A young woman arrives, infatuating the hotel keeper and mystifying the other residents.
The story moves on to include present day Hollywood, a cameo by Richard Burton, the ruined life of a spoiled young man, and a community theater in small town Idaho. If this sounds like an unlikely group of topics for successful fiction, you have a pleasant surprise awaiting you.
THE FORGOTTON GARDEN by Kate Morton
In early 20th century Australia, a ship from London docks and as the passengers leave the ship, dockworkers find a young girl, perhaps four years old, with a small suitcase and no information whatsoever about her name, who is responsible for her, and whom she expects to meet.
She is taken in and raised by one of the workers on the dock, grows to adulthood, marries and has one daughter, and dies never knowing any of the answers to her life before she arrived in Australia. Her granddaughter eventually begins to seek the answers.
This novel is engrossing enough, but the author had some trouble with her back story. Events often ground to a halt while the reader was updated on some important fact which hadn't been mentioned earlier in the narrative. In the end, I was impatient to find out what the answer was and did a lot of skimming.
LIVE WIRE by Harlan Coben
Coben's favorite protagonist Myron Bolitar searches for the person behind some cruel messages posted on the Facebook page of one of his clients, and ends up investigating and answering some long festering questions from within his own family.
Coben writes nice, quick reading, entertaining stuff. His books are "change of pace" reads, and I mean that in a complementary way.
THE CORONER'S LUNCH by Colin Cotteril
This author was recommended to me quite some time ago, and I finally picked up the first in his Inspector Siri series. Siri is a government employee in post war Laos in the late 1970's. His lab is woefully lacking in important equipment and supplies. His bosses usually want him to provide quick, easily filed answers to the deaths he investigates. But Siri has several things on his side: two valuable assistants who respect him and work hard at their jobs; one or two other government officials who are also honest men and do their best to help him; and his own persistent intelligence and drive to keep working until all his questions are answered.
Vientiane, Laos is an intriguing setting for a good mystery story!
THE ADMIRALS by Walter Borneman
Regular followers of my blog might have already realized that one of my favorite non fiction topics is the history of the last half of the 20th century.
Leahy, King, Halsey, and Nimitz were at the very top of the heirarchy of the US Navy when war broke out. The first two remained posted in Washington and worked from there in directing the US war effort on the seas. The others were in the midst of the action in the Pacific.
In addition to four very readable, if abbreviated, biographies, the author also discusses the growing reliance on submarines and naval aviation; and has not a few swipes at the reputation of Douglas MacArthur.
THE CONFESSION by Charles Todd
In the Inspector Rutledge series of books, Todd writes about the England just after WWI. All levels of society felt the impact of the war, and the author moves from one part of England to the next, sending the inspector to investigate situations which most often no one else in Scotland Yard wants to handle.
In this one, he works in a small coastal village near the mouth of the Thames. Several deaths are connected with residents there. Not surprisingly, the truth behind the secrets is not easily uncovered.
REDBREAST by Jo Nesbo
Nesbo is another author I have been hoping to read for quite some time. This is the third in his Harry Hole series, the first to be available in English translation. Hole, who is a cop in Oslo, can't quite let go of his hunch that several strange deaths are connected somehow. Even against the express instruction of his superiors, he continues to look for answers. Answers begin to arrive when he learns of connections between present day Neo-Nazis and the Nazi collaborators of WWII years.
That's the end of my current reading log!
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