Another Revival...of this blog

I figured it would so much easier to do a 100 books in a year challenge, if I make it a calender year. So this will be my first entry for 2012:

I love it when one book leads me to another book and another book and another book. Right now I'm reading Frozen in Time by Owen Beattie and John Geiger. I was drawn to this book while reading The Third Man Factor. I may never have read either one if it hadn't been for Dan Simmons' Terror,  fictionalized account about the tragic Franklin Expedition of the mid nineteenth century--an expedition searching for the elusive Northwest Passage over the Arctic to the Orient.

I have to admit that Terror was a difficult book to listen to...it' not fun hearing how the men on two ships meet their end. I hadn't heard of the Franklin Expedition....ashamed, I am that I missed that in history. However, I think history studies (at least on this side of the pond) are remiss in the stories of later-day explorers, like Franklin and the others who followed, looking for a sign of him and his two crews.

The Third Man Factor is about the phenomena of believing that, when faced with severe stress and possible death, one believes that someone, some unknown stranger, is with them, leading them to safety. There are anecdotes about that in this book, many taking place in the coldest regions on earth. Is the third man an angel, a guide or a figment of an overactive, afraid brain? Good question. But many have survived great hardships and credit someone who "wasn't there."

The archaeological hunt for a reason for the death of Franklin's entire crew is covered in Frozen in Time. Three crew members were successfully buried on Beechey Island in the Arctic and a team exhumes (with all the proper documentation of an exhumation) the bodies to do autopsies. The fact that the bodies are in pristine condition (the book has color pictures of the bodies) because of being buried in the land's permafrost helped to make the final determination. The reason for the deaths? A very different one than most historians have believed for more than 150 years.

So why these books? Books about death in a frozen wasteland.
Man's ongoing searches on this planet fascinate me, especially the ones on the forbidden areas of snow and ice.

I'm now writing a short story about the two survivors of a fictitious Arctic expedition. I love when I'm inspired by what I read.

Another Year and More Books

I’m reviving this blog but not the 100 books in a year challenge I made for myself. I didn’t make. I did read/listen to 75 books so I came close – but no cigar.

This year I’ll just mention the books I’m reading and a bit about them – no big reviews – just my thoughts – for whatever they’re worth. I’ve decided that I’m a book/reading/listening to addict. I do not want to be cured. I will probably take my last breath with a book lying open on my chest.

So let’s get started again:

The book club book for last month was Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit. I enjoyed the book even when the scenes were difficult to read – torture of American prisoners in Japanese POW camps—that’s because of Hillenbrand’s almost reporter-like writing. I’ve usually read about the European Theater—Unbroken was about the war in the Pacific.

Making a 180 degree turn, I read Some Like It Hotter, a romantic time travel to the Civil War, by Deb Stover. I loved this book. I loved the Civil War. I love time travel. I love Deb Stover. The only problem is this book was written awhile ago and time travels are no longer “hot” or as hot as I think they should be. Fair disclosure: one of my WIPs is a time travel.

And then there was Claire Dewitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gann. Claire Dewitt is not your usual PT. She’s hard-boiled and smokes, but not the usual type of tobacco. “The City of the Dead” is not really the cemetery – its New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I’m happy to say I didn’t figure out this mystery until right before the end.

Audio books

The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry was full of history, twists and turns, and intrigue, what I’ve come to expect from Steve Berry.

James Rollins is another history/thriller writer that I read/listen to often. Sandstorm takes the listener to the Middle East. One of my favorite Rollins characters, Painter Crow, is front and center in this thriller.

I saved the best for last: Preston/Child’s Cold Vengeance. Two of my favorite writers come back again with one of my favorite characters of all time, Agent Pendergast, and take him from the mires of Scotland to New York. And the ending…yes, the ending. I love this series so much that I’ve got My Guy and a friend started on these books. I may even reread/listen to them all over again…just like Braun’s The Cat Who…books.

Soon I’ll be blogging about A Discovery of Witches and Tigerlily’s Orchids.

The King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry

There are books that I "fall into". Books that weave a plot and characters so well, that I can't wait to get back to them. Books that I hate to put down at night to go to sleep or in the morning to go to work. Books that make my lunch hour run over a bit because I have to get to the end of a scene, a chapter.

The World War II Gothic The Distant Hours was like that and so was, a totally different book, The King of Plagues. I've been a Maberry fan for years and had devoured the first book of the Joe Ledger series, Patient Zero. For some reason the second book, Dragon Factory, is still on my TBR pile. I will definitely be searching that one out and probably starting it this weekend.

I'm a fan of the thriller... historical, archaeological, Biblical, political, world-domination through secret societies...you name and I'll read it or listen to it. Steve Berry, James Rollins, Dan Brown, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child...they can't write these books fast enough for me. I'm like a kid with a bag of potato chips - can't just read one and be done. And now Maberry's been added to that list.

The King of Plagues is exciting and moves quickly, especially with Maberry taking the reader back and forth through time to give one the hint of what's to come. This is done well with the headers for chapters, dated and location noted. He also maintains and increases the tension and suspense by using first person (Joe Ledger) and then third person point of view. As a writer, I loved it.

If you need a little (a lot) of excitement in your life, join Joe Ledger and Echo Company in Patient Zero and end (for now) with The King of Plagues. Don't forget The Dragon Factory.

The Cat Who....stole my heart

Lilian Jackson Braun, the author of 29 cozy mysteries set in Moose County, 400 miles north of everywhere, died this week at the age of 97. She leaves behind her legacy of wonderful The Cat Who...books which began the animal-based cozies that are in abundance today.

I recommend these books for anyone wanting a break from violence (and overt sex). There is romance and couples spending the night together. But the bedroom door is closed to the reader. And, of course, there are KoKo and YumYum, the lovely Siamese cats that became the center of James MacIntosh Qwilleran's world.

Thank you, LJB, for some wonderful hours and many smiles. RIP, dear lady.

The Camelot Caper - Elizabeth Peters

A lover of all things Arthurian, I picked this book for the title.
I found that I had not read any of Elizabeth Peters historical mysteries/romances and that surprised me. She's very prolific and I really should have found her before this.

The Camelot Caper was originally published in 1969 with several reprintings until the 2001 Avon paperback I bought at The Book Rack in Allentown (one of my haunts). Knowing that it was a book from 1969 does help the reader with understanding some of the clothes (short yellow suit on the heroine) and the fact that there were no cell phones.

I did find the plot a bit simplistic and wondered if the "villains" would actually do what Peters' bad guys were doing. But maybe that goes back to the 1969 era and the fact that I've been reading Jonathan Maberry and listening to James Rollins, authors with more intricate plot variations.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes of very familiar places to me, from Glastonbury to Cadbury Plateau to St; Ives, places I've been and love.

Peters does write beautiful descriptions:

Glastonbury, under a full spring moon, was sheer romance, 

a shining ghost of what had never been, a truth that was eternal 

because it had lived, never in time, but in the hearts of men.

If that doesn't describe the Arthurian legend, nothing does.

The Camelot Caper is a lovely escape into England. Just don't yell, "Use your cell phone," to the heroine.

60 Books and Counting

I missed a book when going over the last two months: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King (at his best!) I cannot wait until his latest, 11/22/63: A Novel is released.

Well, Constant Reader, I won't make my 100 books in one year...not with only three weeks to go and RWA National during the last week. But I'll keep reading. And writing...

Counting Books

Since I've been silent for almost two months - work and life intrudes at times - and it's almost one year since I set a goal of 100 books in 1 year, I've decided to update this blog and see just exactly where I am.

Latest books on CD:
I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
Cross Fire by James Patterson
The Doomsday Key by James Rollins
Silent Mercy by Linda Fairstein
The Last Oracle by James Rollins
Crossed Bones by Kathy Reichs
On Writing by Stephen King - for the fourth time

Latest books read:
Room by Emma Donohgue
The Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
Atlantis by Bob Mayer
The Real Men in Black by Nick Redfern
The Haunted Mesa by Louis Lamour

Yes, the books on CD do out number the read books. I've been doing a lot of driving for work lately.
It took me forever to get through The Weird Sisters by Brown. I think it was because I really didn't like the sisters all that much. There were quotes from The Bard scattered throughout because The Father was a Shakespearean scholar; however, Pratchett's The Wyrd Sisters was more of an homage to Will. Practchett used some Shakespearean themes and paraphrased quotes that fit in beautifully with this Disc World book. it was enchanting and made me want to read more. The other sisters...er...not so much.

Other than that one issue, I loved all of the above.
I'm now reading and enjoying a good old chase-mystery in The Camelot Caper by Elizabeth Peters, first published in 1969 which is good for a reader to note so she doesn't say, "Why don't they just use the cell phone?"

Nella Last's Peace

I've ignored this blog long enough. Soon I will list the books I've completed but I had to take time to mention Nella Last - again.

I've already written about Nella's war diary. This book is about her life immediately at the end of WWII. It was not as wonderful a time as we might imagine, looking back after 60+ years. The fear of another war was quite apparent in much of Nella's writings and the shortages that seemed a necessity during wartime continued after peace finally arrived.
Nella continued to "make-do" and maintain her new-found independence while wishing for another project like her beloved Red Cross shop or the Canteen. Nella's energy and creativity needed an outlet, more than her little "dollies". And her diary served part of that.
Sometimes I think she died with only half her life realized - that she could have been so much more.
And then again, who am I to judge?
With her millions of words, with her diary - one of the longest continuous diaries in history, she did so much more than I have.
At this point, after reading her intimate thoughts, I almost consider Nella a friend.
I have Nella Last in the 1950s to read next.

The Templar Salvation - Raymond Khoury

Driving back and forth across the state is eased by listening to audio books.
The long drive is further eased by listening to an exciting story.
This was an exciting story.

Khoury follows the thriller writer's rule of "put your hero/heroine in a tree and throw rocks at them" and then goes a step further: he cuts down the tree.
Khoury uses the what-if principle and expands upon it. He must have mused one day: "What if the lost chapters of the Bible, the ones eliminated at the Council of Nicea, were found?  What if the Knights Templar had hidden  these books for years? And what if someone today was ready to kill for them?"
I have to admit I'm a sucker for the archeological thriller and this was a good one.
The Templar Salvation  is actually the second book in Khoury's Templar saga - the first one, The Last Templar, is waiting for my next trip across the state.

But even before my next adventure with the Knights, I have to finish listening to Preston & Child's Gideon's Sword. Yes, I'm back with Preston and Child....two of my very favorite writers.

Hunt for the Skin Walker

Hunt for the Skinwalker - Science confronts the unexplained at a remote ranch in Utah    Colm A. Kelleher, Ph.D. and George Knapp

I was drawn to this book because of the title - as someone interested in all things Native American and/or paranormal. The fact that there was a scientific approach to unexplainable activity was also important. Too many times skeptics note the lack of "scientific" basis for the paranormal.

By way of background: "Skinwalkers" are NA witches, usually in the Navajo tradition, that are more than tricksters - they can be evil doers and use black magic. The "Gorman" ranch (names were changed) was on land that had seen more than its share of the unusual for hundreds of years.

I was impressed with the strength and stubbornness of Gorman family who suffered through financial and psychological hardships because of the other-worldy chaos on their land. The chaos included large blue orbs and UFOs over their land, the murder of their dogs and the mutilation of their cattle, along with sightings of strange creatures including a wolf-like beast that was able to withstand bullets and disappear.

The most practical explanation - and there is one from science - is that the multiverse theory - many universes with the ability of some beings to go between them.

This was a fascinating book about a fascinating subject.

Nella Last's War - the Second World War Diaries of Housewife, 49

I did not want Nella to leave when she finished with her diary of the years from 1939 through 1945. She'd become a friend and I her confidante. So I went on Amazon and now I have Nella Last's Peace and Nella Last in the 1950s. Her time dovetails from my parent's and into my childhood and I want to revisit it.

As for Nella's first book (she had always wanted to be a writer), I will use her own words:

22 January 1940
I feel as if my efforts are so tiny and feeble - so little to help all the trouble and pain in the world.
(Nella had started to do volunteer work for the Woman's Volunteer Services as soon as war had been declared.)

5 March 1940
...I thought of all the mothers whose boys have gone off to fight and who suffer, and I felt pity wrap me like a flame.
(Nella knew that at least one of her sons would see combat.)

12 May 1940
But a riot of pink and white apple blossom, soft misty fields, woods of hyacinth blue...
(I've been to England in the spring and her descriptions actually made me homesick.)

3 January 1941
Dorothy L. must have been pleased to see her brainchildren come to life.
(Nella wrote this after seeing a movie based on a Dorothy L. Sayres book. Nella was a great reader and the icon Dorothy L. was one of her favorites)

1 August 1943
On the way women were beginning to dress and other changes, in herself:
I feel pants are more the sign of the times than I realised. A growing contempt for men in general creeps over me...I'm beginning to see that I'm a really clever woman and not the 'odd' or 'uneducated one' woman that I've had dinned into me.
(Nella had spent a marriage catering to an unresponsive husband and the war had caused her to discover that she was quite good in managing a business, albeit a Red Cross second hand shop.)

6 May 1945
On seeing newsreels of the concentration camps:
No power can be left so alone that, behind a veil of secrecy, anything can happen.


Nella was a woman of her time and ahead of her time.
I cherish "knowing" her.

Two Totally Different Books

Winter Sea - Susanna Kearsley
Winter Sea is that rare romance book that is almost a time travel/historical/modern story. Kearsley deftly travels from Jacobite Scotland to modern Scotland without missing a beat, bringing the reader along for a ride filled with interesting characters. A historical romance author finds herself in the ruins of a Scottish manor and in the mind of one of her own ancestors.

I learned more about the formation of the British union and the attempt by the Jacobites to disrupt that union by placing a Scottish king on the Scotland's throne.

Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
This is the story of the life of two co-joined but separated twins told narrated by one, Marion Stone. The brothers are separated at birth by the doctor who informally adopts them when their birth mother dies. Of mixed race, Caucasian and Indian, the brothers lives seem to mirror the turmoil that arises in their adopted country, Ethiopia.

As  a nurse I usually forgo reading any books about the medical profession but CFS was our book club selection. I enjoyed the story of the brothers Stone and learned more history, modern history.

Note: I am continuing to work toward the 100 book mark - about half-way there.

Nella Last's War, Housewife, 49

Before I start this blog over again, or renew it by writing about the books I've finished reading, I wanted to mention the one I am reading: "Nella Last's War".

Nella Last, a housewife who lived near Liverpool during World War, was part of England's Mass Observation Project - citizens who kept diaries during the war.

Nella has quickly become part of my life, as I've become part of hers. I've started crocheting - not for soldiers but for other charity projects- and today I actually made vegetable soup from scratch. Cooking things from scratch is something I rarely do, but after reading about Nella's wartime cookery and how she saved bits of this and that and came up with a meal, I thought I should use my time to do something equally constructive if not equally frugal.

The many Nellas of this time period are easily forgotten because they didn't drop the bombs or storm the beaches; however, they were just as important as those that did. They were (are) the backbone of a country that survived.

Many of us today can learn from them - and more than crocheting for charity or making soup from scratch.

A MUST read...

...if you like gothics...if you like DuMaurier...if you're interested in England during WWII.
And if you just want a very good read:
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

This is a wonderful book - one I couldn't put down and didn't want to end. Morton writes as if she's inside the head and heart of each of her characters - it shows in the story.

I will read all of her books and can't wait for the next one.

December's books...

... several were related to the Templars:
Sanctuary by Raymond Khoury
The Grail Conspiracy by Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore
The Templar Code by C. M. Palov

I've always been fascinated by the Templars and now I'm contemplating how to relate Arthurian Legend with those Knights - shouldn't be too hard...Merlin was aging backwards. He could have been DeMolay...I think I have a kernel of a story.

Total number of books by the end of December is 38...I need to speed up a bit but winter is upon us. Great reading time. The problem is that it's also great writing time.

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?