She's Baaaaack...

I know I've been quiet for the last few weeks - too busy writing novels and short stories to write about my reading. But I will do that later today.

Right now I must tell you, Constant Reader, about my dream. As with reading Quietus a few months ago, my reading of Son of the Endless Night by John Farris is giving me dreams - very real dreams that I'm writing down in a notebook for future reference.

This one was about a group of people lost in very unusual woods, trying to find the main road. There were found by another group of people who lived in the woods, actually had a thriving commune there. They took the strangers in and showed them that there was no way they could get back to the main road (convoluted reasoning in my dream that was accepted). Then the commune decided to "adopt" the lost group. Not only adopt but match them up with partners and give them living arrangements - luxurious living arrangements. I was matched up with a guy named Mike who looked like Paul Rudd. I was happy; Mike...not so much.

And then my knee woke me up...Paul Rudd got a reprieve.

BTW: This book is just spooky enough to make a great movie. Has anyone used demonic possession as a defense in court - has anyone made a movie about it?

Still Reading...While Writing

I just finished tow very different mysteries:
Murder on the Cliffs - book with a famous amateur detective: Daphne DuMaurier and so set at the end of World War I
Stop Me - a very modern murder mystery that uses emails as clues and lures.
Both were very entertaining but Murder on the Cliffs disappointed me because I was looking for the DuMaurier atmosphere and voice. I have to read the orginal books for that.
Stop Me kept me turning the pages and up at night to finish it.
Along with reading those two books, I listened to Kathy Reich's Spider Bones - interesting premise and lots of Hawaiian scenery.
Total number of books by this date: 33

I'm not quite where I need to be to make to 100, but I'm moving along.

Impact - again

I'm  listening to this book by Douglas Preston and then there's this picture on CNN with lots of speculation about what it is. Very similar to the book but closer to earth. And that's all I'm going to say.

Read Impact - it's a fun ride.

Impact

Impact is one of the best thrillers I've listened to/read this year.
Douglas Preston hits this one out of the park...actually somewhat further...but I don't want to give anything away.
I was listening to Impact as I drove down the Northeast Extension of the PA turnpike and tried to guide my car from being in one of seven lanes, into being in one of two lanes. I was on my way to a work-related meeting - a meeting that was NOT pleasant in its message and I couldn't wait to get back in the car to listen to the story.

Listening to Preston Douglas or Lincoln Child or a Douglas/Child book is a tutorial in writing the thriller. I say "listening" because listening gives me, as a writer,  a deeper sense of how to move the action.

Going to Amazon now to see if I've missed one of his/his/their books.
But I doubt it.
Preston Douglas rocks and Preston Douglas and Lincoln Child rock!!!
Can you tell I'm a huge, huge fan?

Re-imagining Weres.....

I have to admit a fondness for were-animals.
I love the idea that humans have animal instincts and abilities and that those abilities could magically manifest themselves into the actual animal.
Shape-shifting has been a belief of many indigenous people and there must be good reasons - the closeness to nature or the need to feel one with all beings.
Somehow modern people have lost that feeling of connection.
Is that why we have the fascination with werewolves, cats, lions, bears....werewhatever?
Or is it because in a different shape we can transcend our human-ness and do what humans can't or won't?
I love wolves, so it's natural for me to gravitate to their weres.
And so I've been indulging in some werewolf books lately.
Shannon Delany's Thirteen to Life Series is a re-imagining of the werewolf legend by a new young adult voice.
The Kiss of the Silver Wolf  by Sharon Buchbinder is definitely a new way to look at the legend as are Lori Handeland's Marked by the Moon and Bonnie Vanak's Immortal Wolf.
My own werewolf novel is one of the books of my heart because I use the ancient legend of wolf as guardian, not predator, as its basis.
I don't think these stories will ever go out of style.
The legends themselves have been with us- through many cultures and many centuries.
Animals are our cousins, ourselves.
Maybe...just maybe...we all shift at one time or another.
Do you really know what you do, at night, when you're deep asleep?
Hmmmmm?

Sick but still "reading"

While running to Doctors to CVS for meds to home, I was listening to Impact by Douglas Preston. I'm a huge fan who reads anything and everything he and Lincoln Child write - together or separately.
Impact is (at least in the beginning) about an asteroid but Preston uses Corso  and Friedman as names for two of his characters.
Am I the only one that sees the relationship? As soon as I heard them, I went "Whoa!"
But that's because I'm weird.
I will be back to read more when the medications kick in.
But I'm also doing NaNoWriMo.

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

I loved this book and not because Jonathan wrote it and not because it's about Zombies and not because it's a coming-of-age story.
I loved it for all of the above and more.
This is a Zombie book with "heart". I know that sounds funny but it's true. Our hero, Benny, learns many life-lessons, mostly from his older brother Tom, but from some of the secondary characters as well, and even from the Zombies that stagger through the story.
When I first started reading this book, I compared it to The Hunger Games. I need to read the next two books in that trilogy; however, Rot and Ruin's future was more hopeful - mainly because of the central characters and the attitude toward Zombies.
Jonathan Maberry can take an almost-worn out theme- zombies in the aftermath of the apocalypse - and make it feel new.
Now, I'm waiting for the next one.

It's My Birthday......

But that's not the reason for this post.
Reading and posting about the books I'm reading slowed down the last few days - NJRW conference and getting ready for Seattle.
But I should be back on track once we get situated in the hotel this evening.
I've downloaded way too many books on my Kindle.
So I'll have new titles and new subjects to write ab out.

Packing Light

Tomorrow Morgan and I fly to the Pacific Northwest. Look out, Heather. Here we come.
No matter where I go, I take books. And it's usually a wide assortment because I never know what I'll want to read. My suitcase is usually full of books.
But not tomorrow.
Tomorrow I will carry my Kindle.
I just finished ordering some books by speakers at NJRW and WAR, PennMed's latest book for our book club.
So, when Heather gets tired of us and dumps us back at our hotel, I can write OR read - anything from WAR to a mystery with Daphne DuMaurier as the main character.
Definitely will be heaven: Heather, Morgan and books (including the one I'll be rewriting).

Total Books as of Today...

27

The Swan Thieves

I was with this book until the end. I felt the truth of creative obsession - especially after reading The Monsters. I felt the truth of obsessive love - again, especially after reading The Monsters. I could almost smell the linseed oil and paint and wanted to buy canvas and oils and an easel - I wanted to paint, to feel the pull of repeating what I saw in my own colors and light.
But the final "cure" of the painter, Robert Oliver, was too pat, too obvious, too easy. That's not how it really happens. I know. I've worked with patients like Oliver - silent, moody, cyclical in their psychopathy.That's when Kostova lost me. She had me for almost 600 pages and then she lost me.
And I'd also had the center issue figured out before it was revealed.
Because that's how I would have written it.
Sometimes it doesn't pay to be a writer-reader.

Life's Centerpiece

I read a short article yesterday in Real Simple magazine about the Thanksgiving centerpiece the writer's non-crafty mother had used each year. It was a lovely story but it got me wondering about the centerpieces of our life.
If you look at life as a table set for a meal and all your family sitting around it, what would be the table's centerpiece?
For me "family" would include my four-legged companions, probably sitting expectantly around the table waiting for droppings.
The centerpiece? It would be a stack of books - all shapes, sizes, colors, authors, genres, ages...
Books have been, will always be, the centerpiece of my life.
I hope to die with a book in my hand...I'm not sure which one right now.

Finished....

... listening to Linda Fairstein's Hellgate. This wasn't my favorite in the Alex Copper series but maybe it was the woman who read it. I've heard her read other mysteries, lighter ones - so that could have been it. My favorite so far has been Entombed but that's because it's about Poe. I did learn a lot about the Federalist mansions in New York, including Gracie Mansion. I also have to look for a biography of Eliza Hamilton - she seems to have been quite something.

And I've finished reading Mourn the Living by Henry Perez, the first book I've read by this writer. I found the premise a little contrived - but then I reread one of my own manuscripts while reading this book and thought, "Uh..huh..Who are YOU to say anything?" I did like the character of reporter, Alex Chapa who is going through personal and professional issues. Hm? Aren't all good protagonists doing that these days?

Soon I'll be finished with The Swan Thieves - moving away from creativity and obsession ...or will I?

Swan Thieves

I'm almost finished reading this wonderful book about obsession, love and the madness of creativity. I do believe that anyone with a strong creative streak is a "bit off."
Like Lewis Carroll said in "Alice...": "We're all mad here."
To be obsessed with one's creativity must be the bliss of madness.
To have one person be the center of that creative obsession - and a dead person at that - could lead the artist down a long tunnel of insanity, the creativity lost forever.
Such a fine line...

When Fiction seems to be reality...

The Swan Thieves....
I returned to that book and now I wonder why I'd ever stopped reading it...why did I put it down for a mystery or a thriller.
It's a book about obsession and love and painting and...
And have you ever been reading a book and suddenly think "that's me - that's what I feel..."? I'm finding this in the Beatrice and the Mary characters in this book (not, however, in the Kate character - the wife of the haunted painter, Robert Oliver). My emotions are wrapped up in theirs or theirs are wrapped up in mine.
I had a difficult time putting the book down last night to go to bed. I was up at 4 AM this morning, took a quick shower, got my coffee and began again.
Obsession. Is there anything that I would do above all other things?
Read and write. But the fire in the belly can be doused by rejection.
Would I feel the same way if I were a painter? If my work could be viewed almost instantly - not requiring time to read through a manuscript? At least the entire "product" would be there, out in the open, not sitting in the confines of two hundred plus pages.
I want to work at my obsession - like Mary, like Beatrice, like Robert and Olivier. I want to work at it to the detriment of everything else - to have the cats crying at me that I've forgotten the evening treat, that I can't find toilet paper or even tissues, that my hair is unkempt and I've ignored eating while I put just the right words together.
And I want to love...oh, to love...someone who understands that obsession. Happily, I believe, I've found that person to love.
I'll finish reading this book today but I will not be finished with it.
The fate of the world does not rest on the shoulders of these characters - possibly not even their own fates for that may have been taken out of their hands more than a hundred years before. But the telling of their stories, their loves, their obsessions...it all makes me want to keep on reading...
And it makes me want to paint.

Total So Far...

I've finished Dismissed with Prejudice and I'm almost half-way through Rot and Ruin and Henry Perez's Mourn the Living (another mystery - this one about a serial killer with a reporter as the protagonist). I'll probably finish both tomorrow (and soon I'll be finished listening to Hellgate), but as of now, my total is 25 books read/listened to.
I've also read half of Morgan's manuscript: Somewhere in Space and Time.
Coming up will be The Swan Thieves, Riptide and Wolf Manor.
I also have Muhammad by Deepak Chopra waiting on my Kindle.
And, of course, I'm also re-reading Dracula...it's just that time of year.

A note about Jonathan Maberry's Rot and Ruin: it reminds me of the Hunger Games; an apocalyptic setting with a area of land designated dangerous. IN R&R by 15 everyone has to have a part time job or gets a decrease in rations. In HG, there is a lottery for participants in the "games" for food. I hope to read a YA novel with a happier future...oh, wait...no drama. 

Reading at 2 AM

It was unusual for me - being awake at 2 AM - wide awake.
What to do?
Yeah, right.
I read. I went back to JA Jance's Dismissed with Prejudice, one of her Detective J.P. Beaumont mysteries. I found Jance in a used book store in Everett, WA - a short walk from my daughter's apartment. I was just learning about Seattle and the Pacific Northwest and reading a book set in an area that was becoming familiar to me was fun. Now I'm hooked and I will soon be moving to Jance's desert mysteries. But I do love Beaumont - love those tattered heroes. Unfortunately I started reading the series in the middle. Dismissed with Prejudice is giving me the Detective's history - difficult history.

As you can see, I jump around a bit with what I'm reading - from Rot and Ruin to Dismissed with Prejudice.
I've always done this - had at least two or three books going at once. That's why I love my Kindle - can carry lots and bounce back and forth, depending on my mood.

Today I'm in the mood to finish a mystery - or two.
And to finish Morgan's Somewhere in Space and Time.
Busy day - but I got a head start on it at 2 AM.

What I'm Reading Now...

Jonathan Maberry's YA novel: Rot and Ruin.
JA Jance: Dismissed with Prejudice.
Morgan Reinbold: Somewhere in Space and Time (working title)
Mitzi Flyte: The Last Prophecy (revising/rewriting)
Listening to Linda Fairstein's Hellgate

When Reading Isn't Enough

I've been trying to go to work through this terrible bronchitis that won't let go of me.
Yesterday my doctor wanted to know if I wanted to be admitted to the hospital. Like, what? Why? What can the hospital do for me that I haven't been doing for myself?
Oh, yeah - that's right - fix my meals, get me my meds, but also poke and jab me - stick IVs in me - make me go for tests I don't need. I think the just wanted to put me where I wouldn't get into trouble - ie: work.
Even though I turned down the opportunity, I felt crappy - couldn't read, couldn't write - heck! May as well go to the office.
But I did manage a peek at Jonathan Maberry's wonderful YA novel, Rot and Ruin, and I'm loving it. I'll probably have it finished by the weekend and then I'll delve into The Swan Thieves.
And waiting for my ears is Impact by one of my favorite authors, Douglas Preston.
Bronchitis will not stop my goal of 100 Books in One Year.

'Tis the Season

It has to be because it's October.
I decided to read Polidori's Vampyre, a novella that is steeped in Gothic atmosphere and very much a tell and not show story. If written as a modern story, it would be hundreds of pages long instead of less than 50.
But it does show the seductive lure of the vampire, before and after he became undead. Lord Ruvhen, Polidori's vampire, was not a good person before he died...and afterward, he was worse, preying on his only friend's sister.
Since Vampyre is short, I won't count it as one of my 100 books - see how honest I am?

Angel Interrupted ---

Did I say this book was "light" reading?
Well, color me wrong.
As the characters careen to the ending of this mystery, they're confronted with the meaning of good vs evil, immortality, revenge and redemption. All the characters - the "real" ones and the "spirit" ones.
I had to stop to catch my breath.
And I have to go back and see if I have enough layers in my own paranormal mystery.
Damn. I hate when that happens.
But I'm thoroughly enjoying the careening.... 

Angel Interrupted

After the "heaviness" of The Monsters and "In Defense of Harriet Shelley", I'm enjoying a bit lighter reading.
As I said previously, I would love my own book, Elizabeth Peacock and the Body on Abbey Road, to be published by Prime Crime. (Any editors out there? Huh? Please....)
Oh, well...I digress.
So I make it a point of reading mysteries from that imprint.

This book combines two of my favorites: police procedural and paranormal. I love the scarred main character, the ghost of an alcoholic cop who has a beyond-the-grave crush on a fellow detective - he still follows her around and tries to help her solve a case even though she can't see him.

My next book? I may go back to "heavy." 
I started The Swan Thieves by The Historian author Elizabeth Kostova. I loved, loved, loved The Historian but I was having problems getting "into" this new book. But after hearing a coworker rave about it, I've decided to return to Kostova and give her book a second chance (thanks Steve - I think).

Twain vs Shelley

The Monsters lead me to this wonderful literary criticism  by Mark Twain of a Percy Bysshe Shelley biography. The criticism was titled "In Defense of Harriet Shelley" and was wittily scathing towards the biographer and the famous poet.

I loved it. But of course, it was Twain. And once again, one book has lead me to more.

Now back to Prime Crime's Angel Interrupted, a totally different book.

The Monsters - The Monster Inside

I often regret not having a college degree - not that it would have given me any more money a year - but what I missed learning. I did take some night courses, but nothing that would have given me the depth of a four-year degree, probably one with a major in English/Journalism or History.

For the last forty-odd years I've been trying to make up for those lost four years I never had in my youth. Reading Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler's The Monsters was part of that.

The Hooblers' biography of the "monsters" that gathered at Villa Diodati in the summer of 1816 - a summer of darkness and thunderstorms caused by a volcanic eruption half a world away - was also a biography of the "real" monsters who were conceived during that tumultuous summer: Frankenstein's monster and Vampyre (by John Polidori). "Root cause analysis" is a modern term but this bio certainly is an analysis of the monsters' creative birth.

Frankenstein's monster, ugly on the outside  and rejected by his creator because of that, taught himself by viewing a family secretly through a hole in a wall of the family's home. The monster became a being of knowledge and sympathy but was still ultimately rejected by his creator, much as Mary Shelley was rejected by her father, the philosopher, William Godwin.

Although many traditions have vampire folklore, the monster was usually a peasant. Polidori made him an aristocrat, handsome and seductive - the view that has been handed down for the past 200 years.

By the time I finished The Monsters, I felt I'd had a college course in the Romance Poets. The Hooblers have led me to the biography of Mary Lamb, Polidori's Vamprye and Anne Radcliffe's works - and help me to continue my education.

At the end of The Monsters, the Hooblers write:

At the heart of the book is the mystery of creativity and its consequences, something  that concerned -

   even at times - tormented - all...the people at Villa Diodati. In their out-sized passions, their remarkable talents, their distorted personal lives, their never-satisfied yearning for love -

they were all monsters.

And as I peak through the wall of a college education I know which "monster" I am.

The Shelleys and George Gordon, Lord Byron

I've immersed myself in early 19th century Europe today while trying to get rid of this terrible bronchitis. I've learned so much about these very talented and very flawed (by any standard) people - more than I ever learned in school. In fact information I would never had been taught in school, at least not in a high school in the 1960s.

I found myself wondering if in getting the gift of genius means you give up something else - for these people, a sense of responsibility to themselves, their families. Percy Bysse Shelley was a self-involved child who never grew up, not even when he was married and a father. To all of them (the women less than the men for they always had to care for the children), the discussion of the intellect and creativity was more important than anything else. Of course they also came to adulthood during a time of great social upheaval - but they seem to take it a few steps too far.

The correlation between Frankenstein's monster and Mary Shelley's life is remarkable. A mother who died giving birth and father who rejected her when she ran off with a married Shelley - so very much like the motherless monster also rejected by his creator.

So now I'd like to learn how Dr, Polidori came to write Vampyre,  inspired by the time he spent with Byron and the Shelleys. I think I have an idea - blood suckers all around.
 

The Monsters

I have to post before going to bed:
I'm loving this book about Mary Shelley, PB Shelley, et al.
I'm so into it that I just got Mary's complete works on my Kindle and I ordered a bio of Mary Lamb.
English Lit/American Lit classes should include this type of biography before actually reading the author's works.
Which leads me to another thought: why isn't everything in our education intertwined? I mean like learning about the history of the time while reading the literature of the time while learning about the science of the time.
Or is that too simplistic?
Shouldn't kids be reading Franklin's papers while learning about the American Revolution or Shakespeare's Henry plays while learning English history?
And while I'm at it: I want my Kindle to link into sites about certain things in the book. Yeah, I want those nice blue words that tell me I have a link for more information.
At 63 I devour information 'cause I'm still learning.

And the next book(s) are:

Angel Interrupted by Chaz McGee - a cop who is an angel.
The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein by Dorothy Hoobler and Thomas Hoobler - a biography.
Two very different books.


Angel Interrupted is from Prime Crime and since I would love to have Elizabeth Peacock and the Body on Abbey Road picked up by that imprint, I read from that line. 


But I must have my share of the "different" - hence The Monsters.


I've always been fascinated with the beginnings of the Gothic novel and the horror novel - two of the genres I write. The Monsters should give me some odd dreams and hopefully some story ideas.

The Hunger Games and Reality TV

An afternoon on the sofa with a cat on my lap and trying not to cough (me, not the cat): I finished reading the first book in The Hunger Games series.

The premise of the book bothers me but the story was so well-written that I'll be reading the other two books in the series. Maybe it was the medicine or my own twisted viewpoint but I could see the TV show "Survivor" morph into the Hunger Games.

Reality television is becoming TMI: Too Much Information...from Hoarders to Bridezillas to the Real Housewives of anywhere. I admit watching some of these shows of virtual self-destruction in front of a camera crew. It seems that each new season ups the ante for the participant in search of viewers, ratings and money.

In a post-apocalyptic world it's not a stretch for one to imagine a televised program of young people fighting to the death to assure that their District is well-fed and their own family safe. And that the government, not a TV channel, sponsors this "show", not only to keep the people entertained, but to also show the "Capitol's" power over the individual Districts - a necessity after a failed rebellion.

I wonder if the next books will take a George Lucas turn and tell the reader more about the rebellion.
As they say in TV land (and "on" TV Land), stay tuned.

The Hunger Games

I know why this book bothers me.
It's because I can see it as a possible future.
The Hunger Games in the plot could be the extension of our "reality" television shows.
With the increasing divide between those that have and those that don't, I can see fighting to the death to provide food for your family becoming a program for the amusement for the "haves".
And that thought is frightening...
I'm not sure that, even if I finish the first book of this series, I can even read the other two.
The premise bothers me that much.
Maybe I should stick with zombies and werewolves and ghosts...

And the Number So Far Is....

21

From July through September I've read/listened to 21 books. Tonight I finished Craig Larson's Mania. I'd started it yesterday and it was a fast paced suspense; therefore, a fast read.

And no, I'm not becoming obsessed by writers named Larson - with one "s" or two. It was a title on my Amazon recommended list.

I also started listening to Linda Fairstein's Hellgate - one of her Alex Cooper mysteries. I'm closing in on reading or listening to all of the books in the series. As you can tell by my choices, I love mystery but I really love mystery with history and Fairstein gives the reader both - the history is usually centered around New York City. I started with the wonderful Entombed, a homage to Poe, and I was hooked.

Hellgate's theme centers around human trafficking - as did parts of London Bridges. It seems to be the crime du jour these days (is that redundant...well, so be it).

Twenty-one books in 3 months. I'm certainly not going to get to 100 at this rate. In addition to my One Hundred Books in One Year Challenge, I'm rewriting one of my own books and planning for NaNo.

I must be crazy. But that's beside the point.
I get more done when I set goals and have a time frame.

Maybe This Time

I just finished Maybe This Time.
Jenny, I just knew there had to be a twist.  There had to be something...something...it just couldn't end so easily. Especially when I saw on my Kindle that I had 6% left.
You were going to do something with the heroine.
And I was not disappointed.
I hadn't even figured it out.
And, Jenny, that last little bit at the very end....nice...very nice.
Thanks for an enjoyable time.
Now back to Hunger Games and the world as we don't want it.

Maybe This Time

I'm nearly finished with Jennifer Crusie's latest romance and I've been enjoying it. It's a wonderful mixture of odd characters, humor and ghosts.

The beginning bothered me a little. The heroine decides to give her ex-husband back all of his alimony checks - years worth. I just wondered why she waited so long and why he didn't realize that they hadn't been cashed....

But that was the only fly in a great read - true to Crusie-form.

Tomorrow I will count up the number of books for September and the total since July. I should have Maybe This Time to add to the count by then

I Love Romance

So I'm reading Jennifer Crusie's new book, Maybe This Time.
Jenny seems to be going back to a light gothic theme - "governess" in a falling down mansion, children with issues and even an odd housekeeper - with her usual humor and love triangle. I'm enjoying this book but I have one problem.
The heroine is 34 years old. Now I know the "romance industry" like younger protagonists - except for the cougar younger man, older woman - and even those "older" women have to be around 40.
With few exceptions there are almost no books about an older couple finding a passionate romance - an older couple say...in their 60s.
I think I'll write that book during NaNo. It may never get published but at least it will get written.
And I have the "marketing"  platform for it, too.

A Day without Reading

I was so tired that I slept 14 hours - from 8 PM until 10 AM with breaks for bathroom and telephone calls - to call off from work. My cough was worse and I needed some time just to rest.

I didn't read and I didn't write anything except a short blog. I couldn't concentrate long enough.

I just watched hours of recorded X-Files, jotting down story ideas when they came to me. I hardly ate, either - mostly a bowl of cereal and lately a bowl of fat-free, sugar-free ice cream.

Watching another X-File before going to bed - always good to get the creative juices flowing - in my sleep.

Changing Themes

Lately I've been reading books with dark themes. Today I started something different: Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie.

I've been a Crusie fan for years -before she became a big name - even before she began writing with Bob Mayer. Crusie mixes romance with humor and gives the reader a heroine that is feisty, smart and ready to fight for love.

So in addition to listening to Patterson's London Bridges this week, I'll be reading a romance.

It's not I don't have romance or humor in my life - I have my Morgan. I just need a little Crusie.

Quietus by Vivian Schilling

I finally finished Quietus, the very disturbing dark novel about destiny.
One of the overriding themes of the book was the ancient legend of the Nephilim. This morning I found a NaturalPlane blog in my email. The lead-off article was about these beings.

The novel was disturbing because it left one's destiny to fate. Ouietus's story:  If one is supposed to die at a certain time and didn't, then the beings from the underworld would return for you at another time. Kylie O'Rourke's trip through death, life and then another pending death.

Blurbs on the cover and inside the book compare it to King or Koontz.
Maybe.
At 600 pages it was as long as either one of those author's recent books. However, I would have edited this book down. Psychological drama can be more tense when the writing is spare.

Now saying that, I also have to admit that the writing, the characters, the theme caused me several difficult nights - especially if I'd read it right before going to bed.

I could find only one other book written by Schilling, Sacred Prey. Her website states that this book, about a murderer who must seek his own redemption, was optioned by Warner Brothers. Scared Prey was published in 1994 and Quietus in 2002.

I hope we hear more from Schilling. I can stand a few more sleepless nights.

Saying Good-bye to Stockholm

I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest today and I realized that maybe it was Blomkvist, the investigative reporter, that interested me. Fifty-some years ago I wanted to be a reporter. As a teenager I wanted to go to college, major in journalism with a minor in political science. I remember reading the Washington Post before going to school, thinking I wanted to be one of its writers. Sometimes I joke that I could have been Woodward or Bernstein.

Was the Blomkvist character autobiographical for Larsson? After reading articles about Larsson's own crusading journalism, I would have to say yes.

So maybe it was Blomkvist, the journalist, not Lisbeth, the computer-savant. Maybe Blomkvist represented a lost dream - what I once wanted to be.

Maybe it's Blomkvist I'll miss and not Lisbeth.

I loved Lisbeth but I wanted to be Blomkvist.

The Book I'm Not Reading....

Right now it's Quietus.
I'd actually forgotten about it and found it in my suitcase from last week's business trip.
The theme disturbs me. The writing is good enough to move the story along, but the theme...
I have nightmares and wake up in the middle of sleep after reading it.
Maybe I'll go back to it this evening or maybe I'll just stay in Stockholm.
I hate not finishing a book when I'm 3/4 of the way through it. So I'll take a deep breath and dive in again and wait for the bad dreams.

Reading as a Writer

Yesterday I mentioned that Suzanne Collins' series, The Hunger Games, began with a Shirley Jackson-type lottery.
That got me to thinking about how kernels of stories get implanted in one's brain to grow into a story.
I've been listening to Patterson's London Bridges and had a brainstorm for a long short story. I immediately wrote the thought down, not wanting it to escape into the dark reaches of the inner space of my brain.

It is a rare book that is written so well that I don't act as an editor...at least at times.
I even find myself editing Stieg Larsson at times. But I must admit that if the story moves and moves me, I ignore some things that could throw me.

One of the differences I've noted between most male and female writers is head-hopping: going through at least two different points of view without a transition. Nora Roberts can do it, but she does it seamlessly and you're not left wondering who's talking/thinking. Some male writers, not so smoothly. I'm not sure why that happens, unless many female writers have been taught certain "rules" of writing as professed by the educators in Romance Writers of America - make sure your reader can tell the POV.

I want to finish The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and the first book of The Hunger Games this weekend - two very unusual and disturbing books - but two books about strong women.

And I want to start on that short story.

The Future...

A couple of weeks ago I started Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games.  I wanted to read the much bally-hooed The Mockingjay, the third in the series and thought I should began at the beginning. So I started Collins' futurist YA novel. Unfortunately I then got involved with Lisbeth Salander in Stockholm. But as Lisbeth's story is winding down, I returned to Collins' futuristic world and I'm very disturbed by it.
Collins' future is not rosy. It's bleak and divided into "Districts" - some wealthy and others poor - very poor.
These Districts run a Shirley Jackson-type lottery to determine what two teenagers will be sent to The Capitol to via in The Hunger Games - to the death. The winner's district and, more importantly his/her family, receive benefits, including food.
So that's Collins' future in The Hunger Games series, a future where people fight to the death for food.
Anyone remember Les Miserables or any of Dickens' darker stories?  Is this really "back to the future"?
Collins' heroine, Kasnip" is well-rounded and at a young age works daily to put food on her family's table. She volunteers to be the District's entrant into the "Games" so save her younger sister, who had "won" the lottery.

 Image from www.blingcheese.com

Collins takes Shirley Jackson's story to the max in this well-written and exciting series - as many YA novels are these days. This is a great lesson for writers - take a classic and stand it on it's ear.
I will be going back to the future as soon as I can get myself out of Stockholm.

Sunday was a day to rest...

Well, that's my excuse for missing a day.
But I did read. I immersed myself in Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest again. I'm beginning to understand Lisbeth and why I'm drawn to her - why Larsson is drawn to her.
To be blunt: "She takes no s--t from no one."
Even when she had little money she didn't bow to anyone for a job.
She does what's right for Lisbeth; not only because it's right for her, but it's what's...well...right.
For Lisbeth Salander there is no gray - only black or white,
She's a vigilante in the purest sense of the word. In Larsson's books she becomes a vigilante because her world is violated. In another time, in another country, I can see her being a gunslinger roaming the West, making wrongs right.
I admire another thing about her - her computer abilities.
Even in my dotage I love my electronic toys - my Blackberry, my Kindle, my laptop.
I love Skype and seeing Heather 3000 miles away.
I would love to have Lisbeth's computer talents. I don't know what I would do with them - maybe just exactly what Lisbeth does.

And then there's Blomkvist, the crusading journalist, who may be fashioned on Larsson himself.
Fifty years ago I wanted to go to college, to major in journalism with a minor in political science with my teenage goal to write for the Washington Post.
We all know that didn't happen. I went to nursing school and the "rest is history." Well, maybe not big history, but my history. That could be another reason why I'm drawn to these books, not just Lisbeth but Blomkvist.
Once upon a time I wanted to be him.
Now I want to be her.

My next book to finish for September will be The Hunger Games....disturbling.

Saturday Evening

The TV's turned off.
The laundry's done.
The cats have been fed.
The garbage has been gathered for the dumpster.
It's quiet and calm...
It's time for me to return to Stockholm and Lisbeth.
Maybe it's time for me to really think about why these books resonate with me so much...why Lisbeth seems so real to me.
Maybe that's the sign of a great story - a plot, a character, a theme that haunts you even when you're not reading the book.
Larsson had ideas for at least ten books in this series - or at least that's what's been reported. I would have read every one and one right after the other.
Such a loss.  I wonder what other themes and characters are now lost to us.
Don't worry - next month I may be on to another author, another series.
But Lisbeth will haunt me always.

Too Tired to Read?

Yes - that was me last night.
I was exhausted from work and just vegged in front of Law and Order and Bones.

However, the drive across Pennsylvania back home today was made better by listening to James Patterson and Andrew Gross' Judge and Jury. I enjoyed the story - not as predictable as some of Patterson, et al's other mysteries, although I am getting a bit ticked off with the Italian-as-mob stories - even though I loved The Sopranos. Maybe it's just that I've reached a saturation point.

Judge and Jury encouraged me to go right to London Bridges, another Alex Cross mystery by Patterson, one I haven't "read".

So even though I was too tired to read last night, I still got my book fix for today.

The Sinister Pig

I finished Tony Hillerman's Sinister Pig.  I'd missed this one in my "reading" of Hillerman's Navajo mysteries and didn't know how Bernie and Jim finally, finally got together - this book explains it. Luckily Bernie did not need rescuing from a dangerous situation; she'd done that herself. The only thing she needed was to know that Jim really loved her.

I can relate. Some of us have a hard time saying those words. I think it's because it's admitting that you're turning over part of your life to someone else, making you vulnerable. Opening yourself up to another, to give your heart to someone and ultimately give your life over to someone can be a difficult thing to do.

I know. After many many years, I'm doing it.
Did Jim Cee have trust issues?
Did Lisbeth Salander?
Did Mitzi Flyte?

Count...so far...

I'll do another one at the end of this month. But so far, I've listened to/read 16 books since the beginning of this countdown in July - a bit less than I have to do in a quarter to make my 100 book goal.

Lisbeth and Me

 (Picture from the Swedish film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

I admit it: I'm fascinated with Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander.

Do we have anything in common?
Lisbeth is Swedish, thin to the point of anorexic and petite.
I'm from an Italian background, chubby and tall.
Lisbeth is bisexual.
I'm heterosexual.
Lisbeth has abilities that make her an invaluable investigator.
I have none of those abilities.
Lisbeth trusts no one.
I trust everyone.

Maybe she fascinates me because of the differences...maybe.
But even more than that I love the fact that she's been independent and fought for her rights since she was 12. She bowed to no one. Larsson writes her as a person with a strong sense of who she is and how she fits into a world that gave her no reason to trust anyone; therefore, leaving her to live a life alone.

The life alone has always been a favorite theme of mine. I've written several short stories about it: a man living on the median of a highway, a woman who lives in a secret room under a library, a woman who walls herself into her apartment to keep herself safe from the outside world. In fact Larsson has Lisbeth do just that metaphorically - wall herself away from others, keeping her distance - because of the lack of trust.

Maybe I secretly long for that room lined with books, an easy chair and a good reading lamp. No one to bother me; a cat on my lap. But is it more than that?

Maybe if I was in my twenties now, I would be more like her and less like...well...like me. Maybe if I'd had the abusive family life...well, more abusive...like Lisbeth. My rebellion in the middle 1960s was to be a Beatle fan. My rebellion if I were in my twenties today? The piercings, the tattoos, the solitary life.

The solitary life? Living inside one's head, inside a computer, inside books.
Even now, at 63, I can see how enticing that can be...

Lisbeth has a dragon tattoo.
I have a tattoo but of the Triple Goddess.
Okay - similarity.
 And I can see myself living inside my head...

What Stieg Larsson is Teaching Me about Sweden...

I'm half-way through The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I'm devouring it. I love the action and suspense and I bonded with Lisbeth 2 books ago. (More on that in a later post). But I'm also learning about Sweden - something I wouldn't have spent time doing if not for Stieg (and yes, I can call him by his first name - I feel I know him that well now).

Stieg's descriptions of Sweden, specific neighborhoods in Stockholm and vacation areas in the countryside, make me want to visit. I've never had a desire to go to Sweden. I mean like I'm a chubby dark-haired old second generation Italian. Do I really want to be walking around among tall, blond, good-looking Swedes? Uh...like..no. But now....I would love to spend time in a cabin in the Swedish countryside. Besides, I now know how to use a compost toilet (one of the appliances mentioned when Stieg writes about the cabins).I want to walk through Lisbeth's neighborhood, Blomkvist's neighborhood, see the building that houses Millennium magazine - all fictional, of course but the neighborhoods are real.

However, Sweden, as viewed by Stieg Larsson, seems to be a hot-bed of political intrigue - more so than the US, even today. This could be a result of Stieg's many years of political activism and journalism. The books do express his political ideals.

Still, I would like to eventually visit Sweden - maybe even take one of The Girl Who tours.

Now...just what do Lisbeth and Mitzi have in common...lots.

A Quick Note

I sat in a rest stop on the PA Turnpike reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest on my Kindle!
I was so absorbed in the story and my neat device that I almost forgot to get back on the road.
Now I'm reading on it in the hotel.
I LOVE it!

Traveling with a Kindle

I'm on the road today - to the Pittsburgh area for work.
I'm almost packed but need to gather up all of my chargers for what Heather calls a "bag o' cables." I have two Blackberrys - work and personal just because I like keeping that separate. Now I have the Kindle charger.
When I travel for work, I also travel with two laptops, for the same reason I have two Blackberrys (even more so because of potential HIPA violations if something untoward from work goes out to my private list) - so I have those cables, too. I'm going to put all charging cables in my personal laptop bag, except for the work laptop - will keep all of that together.
Geesh - you think I was working for national security with all of this stuff.
But back to the Kindle: I'm looking forward to traveling with my new flat friend. I love the idea of having many books at my fingertips while I'm 300 miles from home.
If I want to be serious, I'll go to Pride and Prejudice. If I want to see what's happening to Lisbeth, I'll click on The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. If I want a bit of romance, I have Maybe this Time. If I want something entirely different and I don't have it...well, I just go online on my Kindle.
BTW: Morgan's is on its way. Soon my cowboy, shootist will be reading Louis L'Amour on his own Kindle. I have a picture in my head of a cowboy on his horse, Kindle in hand.

The Problem with Books....

What problem could there be with books- especially for a constant reader?
Well, the problem is: What to do with all of them....
Morgan built book shelves on his sun porch to move books from his den. He also bought a bookcase...er...another bookcase. He's been finding more and more books, books he doesn't want to give up...give away.
I know his pain. I purged bags and bags of books before I moved two years ago and I still have four large bookcases and several smaller bookcases - full bookcases. One bookcase is dedicated to books of my friends - of course those will never be given away. I tend to keep my hardcovers and give away my paperbacks, unless they're research-type, nonfiction books...those I keep.
At a mystery writers conference I met a couple who said their home looked like a library - not bookcases against the walls - bookcases in rows in the middle of the rooms. Sometimes I don't think that's such a bad idea. Rows of books, several comfy chairs and good lights. What's wrong with that? Really?
I love genre fiction, almost any genre. Morgan loves westerns and historical fiction.
I just gave myself a Kindle (my birthday present to myself).
Morgan said, "If all of Louis L'Amour's books can be found on Kindle then I'll get one."
Well, sweetie, guess what?
They are and guess what you're getting for YOUR birthday. Your very own Kindle.
Our Kindles will, hopefully, keep our home from looking too much like a library, at least not like a library with ROWS of bookcases.

The Meaning of Today

I had an idea for a blog post today when I woke up but when I remembered what today was, I decided to change my idea.

As you probably realize, gentle reader, I have a home full of books. Many of those books are esoteric, unusual subjects. Many are about an ancient religion with a new name, Wicca. My Wicca books sit alongside my Bibles. I don't find that at all a problem. The religions of Jehovah were based in the very beginnings of my religion, many thousands of years ago.

I firmly believe in many paths to a Single Source. I believe that you can be lead along that path by The Great Spirit, Grandmother Spiderwoman, Jesus, Jehovah, Goddess, Mohamed, Buddha.... It makes no difference; as long as you follow the teachings of that belief. All of these religions honor life, nature and family - is there anything else?

Sometimes when I need a reminder of my beliefs, I go to one of those books.

This morning, I went to my Bible (a witch who reads the Bible - who knew?) and just opened a page in the New Testament:

My doctrine is not mine but he who sent me.*

John 7-16

And then I opened another book: Apprentice to Power: A Wiccan Odyssey to Spiritual Awakening by Timothy Roderick:

Chaos: From immediate experience comes powerful knowledge.

Do we really know who sent the Teacher Jesus, or the Prophet Mohamed for that matter? The American Indians call him/her The Great Spirit. I call her/him Goddess. Others call him Allah. The important thing is the message. 

Belief in a higher power. Love each other. Respect the earth and those on it.

I pray that we can learn from our "immediate experience".

* The word "he" was not capitalized in my Bible (The Holy Bible, Illustrated Rainbow Edition I received in Sunday School many, many years ago.)

Reading with My Ears

Years ago I started driving across Pennsylvania for my job as a quality assurance nurse for a company that owns nursing homes throughout the state. I discovered that driving on the PA Turnpike and Rt. 80 was mind-numbing and after several hours, even listening to my beloved Beatles got boring.

I decided to start listening to books on tape (and now CD) while on my business trips. I've even collected audio books of a mystery series: Lillian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who...series.   My darling daughter started me on this series, usually read by George Guidall. I fell in love with the characters and they helped me survive five to six hours of driving. The Stephanie Plum series by Jane Evanovich also became a favorite. I remember listening to one book right after breaking up with my long-term boyfriend and laughing out loud for the first time in days.

Tony Hillerman's Navajo/ Four Corners books became favorites, too. Morgan just gave me The Sinister Pig and I'm having a great time listening to the trials of Bernie Manuelito as a Border Patrol officer chasing down "coyotes" and illegal immigrants - very timely. I've been following the lives of "The Legendary Lt. Joe Leaphorn" and Jim Cee and learning about the area of the Navajo rez and the Navajo way for many years. I mourned Hillerman's death (like I'm mourning Larsson's) - I wanted more stories; selfish of me, I know.

Audio books helped me discover Lisa Scottoline, Linda Fairstein, J. A. Jance, three of my favorite mystery authors. Scottoline's themes are close to a woman's heart and Fairstein gives you New York City politics and history along with mystery. Many of Jance's mysteries are set in the Seattle area, a place that I've come to love.

As a writer I found that listening to books imprinted (almost magically) on my brain plotting, dialogue, pacing. The best audio book for writers, one I listen to at least once a year, is Stephen King's On Writing. This book, audio or print, should be required reading for every would-be-writer.

When I no longer have to drive across the state, I'll still be "reading with my ears."

Note to Self...

Do NOT read Shilling's Quietus before going to bed.

I did it last month while staying at the cabin with Morgan and again last night. And during both nights I hardly slept; I tossed and turned, woke up frequently; and did not get that deep refreshing sleep I needed.

The word quietus means a finishing and that's how Shilling uses it in the title. This is a book about finishing something that wasn't completed. The thing not completed was death. But there is another underlying theme, connection. We are all connected and what happens to one, ultimately affects us all. Shilling notes this idea with the quote:

  

There is not any present moment that is unconnected with some future one. 

The transition from cause to effect, from event to event, 

is often carried out by secret steps, which are foresight cannot divine

and our sagacity is unable to trace.

Joseph Addison 1723

(I'm watching the news while writing this and there is an outcry about the burning of the Qu'ran and I'm reminded of the sense of connection - what that act will do to all of us, either now or later.)

Shilling uses the finishing and the connectivity in a very personal sense. What would happen if one was supposed to die, but didn't. If during that time right before "death" we would have a vision of those that come for us. However, when we are brought back from the brink, those "watcher", guardians, earthly angels, may still hover, waiting or working for the finishing, the quietus, that was denied them - our death.

And what about the connection? If those who are supposed to have died still live and connect with others, does that connectivity cause problems? What are the results of those unintended-by-fate problems? Have we changed the world just because we survived?

Shilling's prose is vivid, at times a bit purple but mostly effective in telling the story of several people who cheated death in a small plane crash.

But the varying themes of connection, death, loss, along with passages about medieval death art can lead to sleepless nights.

Although I'm also reading The Hunger Games (more on that in a later post), I think I need a change of pace soon.  Jennifer Crusie's Maybe this Time is waiting in my Kindle. Time for some romance.

September 8 - Stieg

Sometimes I wake up thinking about Morgan, my significant other, which makes him sound a bit paranormal (not necessarily false).
Today I woke up thinking about Stieg - Stieg Larsson.

I didn't order the biography. I don't need another book to read. But I really wanted to know about the man who'd written so eloquently about violence against women. So last night I decided to Google him.
I found:
A New York Times Article
A Huffington Post Article on the fourth (unfinished?) novel

There's other, many other, articles but I had the time to read these two. I'm not surprised at the intrigue surrounding his estate and the unfinished book. Of course, it's a multimillion dollar venture. I read that Larsson felt he was securing his and his partner's retirement by writing this series (that he'd envision as ten books)*, but I doubt if he thought it would ever be like this. And I doubt if he thought his family and the woman he loved would be squabbling over the money - past, present and future. But, of course, he didn't think he would die at 50.
What does this teach me, another writer, hopefully with a series one day:
1. Don't smoke and eat fast food
2. Try to stay in shape
3. Have a will
What did I learn about Stieg Larsson, the man?
He was someone who didn't compromise his ideals. He made sure he was true to those ideals. He fought for them until his death and wove them into his books.
I should be so good a person.

*Stieg and JK: They both envisioned a series of books with twist and turns. How did they do it? Can I do it? Can I tap into the uncharted territory of my own brain - the area Stephen King calls "the boys in the basement" or my "girls in the kitchen"? I need to think about that some more.

A Change of Pace...

In between The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and Quietus, I've been rereading Pride and Prejudice.
Of course Jane Austen's P&P is a completely different type of book. Can you say "whiplash"?
I've returned to P&P for a very good reason. The book club at work picked it and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. I'd recently read P&P&Z but wanted to refresh my memory of the original since we'll be discussing both books. And for the third or fourth time I find myself once again drawn into the world of the Bennetts, Bingleys, Darcys, et al.
In the course of reading P&P I found the answer from Charles Bingley when asked by his sister about a ball at Netherfield Park*:

"As for the ball, it is quite a settled thing;
and as soon as Nicholls has made white soup enough
I shall send round my cards."

Just what is "white soup" and why was it important? Well, according to The Jane Austen Centre , white soup was a very fashionable Regency dish served at balls. The Centre's website included the recipe and I considered making it, but I don't eat veal and I'm not that fond of chicken. And besides that would, at least right now, be too much like Julie making Julia Child's recipes. But I did bookmark the site for another time.

And now back to Stockholm...   

* I really must find out the meaning of that name. 

September 7 - Disturbing

I may be using that word frequently this month.
In addition to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, I've been reading Quietus by Vivian Shilling.
I found Shilling's book while foraging through a used book sale for the Oley Valley Community Library.
There is no Oley Library, hence the book sale. I also bought the memorial edition of Profiles in Courage (immediately borrowed by Olivia). I started reading Quietus in August. I'm still reading it - unusual for me.
It's taken me weeks because the story is...well...disturbing. It's not blood and guts; it's psychological and that's more difficult to get through.
As for the writing: if Shilling were a bit more spare with her words/descriptions, this book would be a literary gothic like The Little Stranger. But even with the small albeit amateurish problems, it's the kind of book that gives you bad dreams.
It gave me bad dreams one night while Morgan and I were staying in the cabin in the woods. I love the cabin. I love the woods and the sounds of the night and the absolute darkness. But this night I'd fallen asleep reading Shillington's book and the disturbing dreams...the nightmares...came. I rarely have nightmares, vivid dreams, yes, nightmares, no.
Quietus gave me nightmares. That's why I'm taking my time reading it.
But I am still reading it before I go to sleep.

The Almost Daily Blog Begins...September 6

September began with The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. I cannot say enough about this series and this author. I read this book in less than a week. I couldn't stop. I've come to love Lisbeth in my own way and understand her, even though she wouldn't like that. I found the premise of this book disturbing - I find violence against anyone disturbing. Lisbeth as vigilante was a scenario that I enjoyed even though it bothered me - how's that for schizophrenia. I could do that, I thought. I could do what she did, out of anger, out of frustration, out of revenge, out of justice.

I've already started The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I'm ambivalent about reading this book. I know it's the last one although I've read that Larsson had notes for at least seven more. I want to keep on reading, but I don't want the book to end. How many books have I read in my life like that? Too many to count. I have found a favorite author and he's dead, too soon.

I hate when that happens. So I'll go to Amazon and get The Man Who Left Too Soon.

August Reads

1. The Lost City - Clive Cussler, et al. This was another NOMA-centered story and Cussler has become a formula-writer, or his partners have. I still enjoy listening to these books and every so often they lead me to a new idea; however, still not as well-written or exciting as the Preston/Child books. (see #2).

2. Thunderhead - Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child. This was the second book I read on my Blackberry - which I found was not a difficult thing to do, especially this book. I've always been fascinated with the Anaszi, the Ancient Ones, and how they lived and then suddenly disappeared in the American Southwest. This book is not an exciting thriller but it shows the reader how an archeological study is performed - from beginning to almost-end. Because of this book, I bought two other books about the Anaszi, one by Douglas Preston and Morgan and I are planning a trip to that area when I retire.

3. The Codex- Douglas Preston. Can you tell I'm a huge fan? This was the third Blackberry book. I picked this one because the plot centers around finding a Mayan Codex that has been reburied. My own book, The Last Prophecy, (which I'm revising) also mentions a Mayan Codex. This is another thriller - a bit of archeology and with a lot of anthropology thrown in. I do pick books that have themes that interest me.

4. Cross- James Patterson. I listened to Cross again. I rarely repeat books, there's just too many. But I fell in love with Alex Cross from the first book and, along with The Cat Who books, reread/listen to them. Actually I listened to this in preparation for Double Cross. I think the Cross series was the best Patterson has done and when he branched out and/or let others "assist" he lost me. I want more of Alex. Heck, if I didn't have Morgan, I would love to have Alex - although it's just getting past NanaMomma that would be the problem.

5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson. I admit that I started this book out of curiosity. I know the man's dead and that gives it a hint of mystery. And set in Sweden? Pfft...boooor-ing. I know it's been on the best seller list for umpteen weeks, so I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Even though I felt the beginning was a bit slow, I stuck with it and boy! am I glad I did. I loved, loved, loved this book. I couldn't wait to get back to reading it. I fell into it - just what I love to do with a book. I found myself admiring Lisbeth, a social outcast (Hmm? Sisters under the tattoo?). I found myself wanting to read more. Damn, the man, uping and dying like that. How many great books have we lost because of that. Damn, you Stieg. You should have stopped smoking years ago! I'm now going to get a biography about him. I may even visit...gasp! Sweden because of him...

Now onto September and The Girl Who Played with Fire (you knew I would HAVE to read that next).

Why I'm a Voracious Reader

I guess I could blame summer heat and my mother.

When I was growing up in Laurel, Maryland in the 1950s not too many places were air-conditioned. The Laurel move theater had a huge sign stating that it was - a great boon to sales. Our little family apartment over the barbershop was certainly not air-conditioned and on hot summer days, Mom would take me and my little sister, Pattie, a couple of blocks up Main Street to the Laurel Library - it was air conditioned.
I still can remember how the library looked and smelled. I remember the feel and the smell of the small red books for children. I still remember exactly where The Witch of Blackbird Pond (my very favorite young adult book when I was in my tweens) was shelved.
Until I was eight years old and we moved away, the library was within walking distance of our apartment and a place I could go any time. I learned to love books. I learned to love reading.

As I grew up (and grew out) books became my friends. I had "real" friends, of course, I was bright and funny. But I was also overweight. My teenage years were not peppered with dates and fun times. I rarely went out with friends. I would stay home and read. I read and read and read. I've been told that my large collection of books could be a form of protection - walls of books to keep people outside.

Or maybe I just love to read and value the books I've read.  I don't read as opposed to having a social life, so I don't believe in the wall of books theory.
I read because I enjoy reading.
I read because books and their authors take me to places and times I've never been to - may never get to.
I read because it's fun.

July's Books

1. Sizzling Sixteen - Janet Evanovich.
The Stephanie Plum series is one of my favorites but by number 16, I'm waiting for Steph to just frickin' grow up and make a choice between Ranger and Morelli. However, I did laugh out loud - which I like while listening to an audiobook. And my very favorite character, the one who makes each book, is Lula.

2. Atlantis Revelation - This is the third in Thomas Greanais' series. I love thrillers (hence my love affair with Preston/Child's books - together and separately) and I loved the first two - but I wanted more Atlantis...well...uh...revelations. It was still an exciting read. I'm hoping for more.

3. Apartment 16 - I bought Adam Nevill's book at Heathrow Airport and read it on a long, boring flight home across the Atlantic. It was scary and at times fascinating but Nevill doesn't yet present the characterizations that make Stephen King's books frighteningly real. I love being scared - especially 30, 000 ft up.

4. Ice Cold - Tess Gerritsen. Tess Gerritsen got me into Cosmos - well, almost. I saw her at an RWA conference and she was carrying this lovely pink drink and I asked her what it was. She looked at me like I was nuts - like: "everyone drinks Cosmos." I had yet to see Sex in the City - no HBO. Anyway, this book was my first to read on my Blackberry. I loved the book - hot murder in winter and I loved the mobility of reading on my Blackberry. I decided on my Birthday present to myself: A Kindle.

5. Blue Medusa - Clive Cussler et al. Back to the thrillers and on audio. I enjoy most of Custler's work, but at times I think: I can draw the map of where this is going. And I'm right 99% of the time. This was no exception. It was fun listening to it but no repeats.

6. Thirteen to Life - Shannon Delany. Shannon's Morgan's daughter, a beautiful woman and a great writer. And no, I didn't have to say that. I enjoy reading what is pigeon-holed as "young adult" - sometimes the stories and the emotions are more real than in the "adult" literary world. In the age of vampires, Shannon wrote (and is writing) a series about werewolves - much warmer than vamps any day. I loved the heroine and the premise for the hero's...er...issue. Something new and something well-written.

7.The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters. Okay, I have to admit it. Nothing suits me like a good old fashion gothic - and this is more than that - this is a good old fashion literary gothic. There's that dirty word: literary. That doesn't mean anything other than this wasn't shelved in the horror section -but it damn sight could have been. It scared me. And Waters scared me without anything showing up - nothing like a ghost, a vampire, nothing...damn good book. How many times can I say damn in this blog? Damn fine book.

8. Horns - Joe Hill. Did I mention that I like to be scared? I also like to fall into a book and have a hard time climbing my way out of it. That's what happened with this book. Joe Hill is his father's son - creatively and skill-wise. I cannot wait to read all of his books as he matures. I read this book two months ago and I'm still thinking about it.

How This Will Work

Actually I have no idea.
I will attempt to blog daily - thoughts on the books I'm reading/listening to at the time and how the book(s) affect my daily life.
I'll warn you, gentle reader, that I am an eclectic sort. I'll read almost anything that looks interesting and in almost any genre. I do get on "kicks" and archeological thrillers seem to be my latest. However, I'm also a member of a book club and I don't get to pick the books, so there should be some diversity.

Since it's September and I started writing down titles and thoughts in July. I'll start with one post to cover July and one to cover August. Then we'll swing into September.

I enjoy cooking and may one day do some of Julia's recipes but reading is my passion, closely followed by writing, and I think writing about books and how what I'm reading is shaping my life is more interesting that whipping up a fondue. No offense to cookbook authors everywhere.

Reviving....

...this blog.

I've given myself a goal - a personal best: to read/listen to 100 books from July 2010 to July 2011.
I must admit I stole the idea from the "Julie" in Julia and Julie, the young woman who blogged about making one of Julia Childs' recipes every day for a year.

I never read the book but I did see the movie and although I loved Julia, I thought Julie was a bit of a self-absorbed whiner who was lucky to have a husband who allowed her a lot...a lot of emotional latitude.

Therefore, I revive this blog with the caveat: I will NOT be lying on the floor in the middle of a dozen books, having an emotional meltdown. I MAY take off June 2011 in order to meet my goal - we'll see.

So...here we go...