Lethal Pursuit by Will Thomas and a Little About the Tennessee Black Market Scheme

The Prime Minister enlists Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewellyn to return a satchel containing a controversial gospel to the Vatican's emissary.  The agent who brought the document to England from Germany has been murdered, but his satchel containing the document has been recovered by the government.

England doesn't want the document, fearing an exacerbation of its situation with Germany.  An obsessive collector of an Austrian count would wants it as part of his collection.   The Vatican wants it returned posthaste.  

Cyrus Barker, however, delays getting the document to the Vatican's representative who grows ever more threatening.  Barker's delay puzzles Thomas, and the situation is getting dicey.   

For his own reasons,  Cyrus continues to keep the document from the Vatican's emissary, angering the Prime Minister, the Police Commissioner, the Vatican representative and endangering himself and Thomas.

from description:  "With secret societies, government assassins, political groups, and shadowy figures of all sorts doing everything they can—attacks, murders, counter-attacks, and even massive street battles—to acquire the satchel and its contents, this small task might be beyond even the prodigious talents of Cyrus Barker."

Of course, questioning Barker and Llewellyn's dedication is ill-advised... and underestimating the pair is reckless.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press
Historical mystery.  Nov. 12, 2019.  Print length:  320 pages.

-------Interesting--------

Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours novel (fiction based on fact) has led to Wingate teaming up with Judy Christie and publishing Before and After:  The Incredible Real Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived The Tennessee Children's Home.  It is estimated that 5,000 children were part of the black market scheme.  

Friday Musings

Still working on cleaning up my studio and planning activities for the grands.  Finished two Lovies that are not exactly what I want, and I'll have to make new patterns, but the ideas are there for possible success.

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 Reading:  I've had some success with a few books lately, but haven't reviewed them yet. 

Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton is the best thing she has written so far.  Great psychological novel with wonderful descriptions of the Falkland Islands.  Very different from the Gothic horror and the Lacy Flint series, Bolton takes an entirely new tact with this one.









Uprooted by Naomie Novik.  I enjoyed the first book in the Temeraire series and read a few more before losing interest.  This new fantasy was a rare pleasure.

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The last couple of days have been perfect for working in the garden--but the pollen is so bad that my eyes water and itch and swell.  Then my entire face itches.  This problem is worse than in previous years, and I'm not sure what I'm allergic to, but it happens within minutes of being outside.  Took a Claritin this morning, so hope to get some weeding done today.

This and That

38 Wonderful Foreign Words We Could Use in English

1. Kummerspeck (German)
Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon.

2. Shemomedjamo (Georgian)
You know when you’re really full, but your meal is just so delicious, you can’t stop eating it? The Georgians feel your pain. This word means, “I accidentally ate the whole thing."

3. Tartle (Scots)
The nearly onomatopoeic word for that panicky hesitation just before you have to introduce someone whose name you can't quite remember.

Those are just the first three on the list.  I wish I knew how to pronounce Shemomedjamo (the second on the list) because I could use that one!  You know, that bag of candy or half gallon of ice cream, or loaf of banana bread...shemomedjamo!  I'm practicing saying it, even if my pronunciation is wrong because it is a concise explanation.  I never intend to eat the whole thing, it is always an accident.

I'm now interested in reading The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre.  Here's why:





The reviews on Goodreads run the full gamut--from DNF to plenty of 5 stars.  Ordinarily, I would not be interested, but the songs by Shane Cavendish that were inspired by the book make me want to know more about the novel.

Of Interest to Me

Reading Is Fundamental

One example of some wonderful pics...

photo by Debbie Treloar 

Media Influence on our kids.

Pretty scary!  This also is a problem with some YA books.  Believe me, I don't want to go back to puritan standards by any means, but when the content of the media that reaches so many children presents these messages, the results can be devastating.  

Holy Angels Residential Facility  (much more positive!)

My daughter is involved with Holy Angels

 and whenever she talks about it, her face brightens. 

Quote

We are here on earth to do good for others.  What the others are here for, I do not know.  
 --W.H. Auden

Love this one!

Everything I Need

milkweed

My friend Thomas sent me this quote:


 “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." —Cicero

  I love this quote!  Thomas has been reading Fung Yu-lan, History of Chinese Philosophy.  In Mandarin or Cantonese or something, no doubt.  He did lift his head from translation long enough to think of me when he saw this quote, however.  Yea, Thomas!


Back to the quote--I have both a garden (although not nearly as wonderful as my previous garden, the one wiped out by the tornado) and plenty of books.  I'm posting  pictures of a few of my  delights as I work on creating a new garden .  

Cleome

garlic

For the last two years, I've done nothing much with my new small garden, but this year, I'm determined to include more plants that I love...thus the two new milkweed plants and the cleome.  The garlic is a volunteer from last year.  I love garlic, in food and in the flower bed.

And books--there are always books.  Some that are wonderful and some that are disappointing, but always a book to read for entertainment or information.  

I  finished Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper a while back and have been thinking about how to review it.  Such an auspicious beginning!  Sadly, after falling in love with the beginning, I found the rest of the book a painful contrast.  I've resisted reviewing it because ofthis, but do want to make some comments about it.  Has anyone else read this one?

On the other hand, I'm loving Cryptonomicon and am in awe of Neal Stephenson.   The more I read, the more invested I become in the characters.  At the moment, I'm very concerned about Bobby Shaftoe who is now in Manila awaiting the arrival of General MacArthur.  Stephenson deals with Japanese atrocities in a way that does nothing to ameliorate the horror,  yet somehow manages to keep enough distance (and enough satiric humor) to make it bearable.  

In the present day section, I think Randy Waterhouse will be OK, despite being in jail because someone planted drugs in his luggage.  The section on Randy's wisdom teeth is priceless and comparing the removal of his wisdom teeth to his love for Amy is...somehow...oddly perfect.  Randy was not one of my favorite characters initially, and I'm glad that I've grown so fond of him.

Stephenson is a Wizard!  

Slight Digression:  Has anyone watched The Guild?  Wil Wheaton has become a regular and the guest stars in Season Five are amazing!

This post jumps around like I was on Benzedrine (via Bobby Shaftoe)!

Interpreting Classics :)

Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries, interprets literary classics...

Mipham and Happiness Formula

Dorothy has had a couple of posts about "positivity," self-help, and happiness books.  It sent me searching for this video again (and yes, I know I've posted it before, but it is so cool).



 Here is a link to my review of the best book I've read on the subject of happiness.  The formula is a bit different from Mipham's, but I think that perhaps both approaches are necessary. 

And reminders are necessary.  Much of what is said about happiness and positive thinking is common sense, and we've heard many of the phrases, much of the advice over and over.  In my own case, however, I often need to be reminded.

I like the approach of some authors and am offended by the approach of other authors on the same subject.  Love some books and find them stimulating, inspirational, practical; other books, seem bland, repetitious, pretentious, and stale.

But I need and benefit from reminders.  All of the "brain" books I've read in the past year, continue to remind me of the ways in which the brain creates new maps.  Almost miraculous changes can be achieved by changing those patterns.  My favorite "brain" books so far are The Brain that Changes Itself by Dr. Norman Doidge and The Body Has a Mind of Its Own by the Blakeslees.  These books are not really about happiness, but neuroplasticity can be emotional or physical.

My yoga books are also about the possibility of change, both physical and emotional, and they blend pretty seamlessly with books about happiness, positive thinking, and neuroplasticity.  In fact, long before modern science was discovering scientific proof, yoga was engaged with the effects of many of these possible changes.

The comments on Dorothy's posts reveal our sceptical attitudes toward those who offer easy solutions (while making a profit), but every once in a while, it is possible to find something that works for us.

What about you?

Great Video

This is a fascinating video from the New Zealand Book Council:

The TBR List Grows (and Grows)

More books that sound good:

Two Guys Read Jane Austen by Steven Chandler & Terrence Hill (via Nicole)

Broadcasts from the Blitz: How Edward R. Murrow Lead America into War by Philip Seib
(via Jenny's Books)

Fudoki by Kij Johnson (via Nymeth)

Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly (via The Vigorous Mind & Unruly Reader)

The Real Life of Mary Ann Evans by Rosemarie Bodenheimer (via So Many Books)

Making a Good Brain Great - Daniel Amen (via a podcast)

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (via Nymeth)

Cool video that shows a little of what technology can do. The fMRI is discussed in The Brain that Changes Itself that I just reviewed.


Don't forget that if you are interested in a copy of The Reluctant Widow to go to this post and say so.

The Orphan Trains

One of my goals in my Renaissance Mind self-challenge was to watch 2 documentaries from Netflix a month. Last month, I watched 3-- two were interesting, the third was not so great.

The other night, I watched this month's first documentary, and it was fascinating! I'd never heard of this particular segment of our American history, and The Orphan Trains was so fascinating that I made Fee watch it with me the second time.

During the 1850's, a young minister named Charles Loring Brace was stunned and saddened by the abandoned street children in New York. I've read about these abandoned children many times, but was totally unaware of Brace's solution to the problem. He formed the Children's Aid Society and began shipping the children to farming communities in the West, hoping that loving Christian families could take the children in and save them from the horrible conditions they faced alone on the streets of New York.

Everything was well-documented. Names of children, where they went, entries in Brace's journals, letters from the children and their new families, etc. From the 1850's until 1929, the Orphan Trains carried over 150,000 children from New York to points west.

Some of these situations didn't work out so well; despite the efforts of the Children's Aid Society, many potential families were no better vetted than foster families are today and the check ups on situations were difficult and spotty because there were so many placements. Some families undoubtedly saved the lives of many children; other situations must have been terrible disasters. Photographs of the children taken by Brace's photographer and by the families that took the children in tell a remarkable story on their own, but the interviews with many elderly individuals who rode the trains to new homes from the early part of the 2oth century are both engrossing and touching.

Brace worked hard to save the children who wandered bare foot and slept in door ways, but he grappled with the dilemma of what to do to help:

"When a child of the streets stands before you in rags, with a tear-stained face, you cannot easily forget him. And yet, you are perplexed what to do. The human soul is difficult to interfere with. You hesitate how far you should go."

The Orphan Trains is a remarkable story and a remarkable documentary. I highly recomment it.

More information can be found here (and these are just a few sites):

Charles Loring Brace
Orphan Trains
The Adoption History Project
The Children's Aid Society
National Orphan Train Complex


Cross-posted at Bayou Quilts.

This Stack and Library video

This is the stack I was working on in February. I've finished Candide; Break, Blow, Burn; The Physics of the Buffyverse; Weight; and Palace Walk. Didn't get them all read in February (they moved into March), but it is a substantial improvement.

Now, I only have 3 left in this stack to get through. The two by Sharon Shinn were both supposed to be for Carl's Fairy Tale/Fantasy Challenge, but I've already started The Shape-Shifter's Wife (really good, so far), and it is short, so I'll have it finished today or tomorrow.

In the meantime, I couldn't resist starting a Victorian mystery by Deanna Raybourn as soon as I finished Palace Walk. More on that later.

Of course, there is another huge stack that has moved into "current project" status, but I will post on that later as well.

Found this video over at The Laughing Librarian.



And if you need more titles to choose from, the Shortlist for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize has been announced.