Fiction and Comfort Reading

Confirmed readers almost always have some comfort books to which they return.   Sometimes we reread them, at other times, simply remembering the book or books provides a sense of consolation or contentment.  How many bloggers have mentioned their love of Anne of Green Gables (my personal favorite was Anne of Windy Poplars) or Alcott's Little Women (my favorite was actually Little Men)?  Not great literature, but amazingly influential and unforgettable.  

Now an entire generation has been influenced by Harry Potter.  Young people who became readers because of the imaginative impact of one book; who have grown up with the adventures of Harry and friends, even as the characters grew up and the plots grew up as well.

And sometimes we have comfort genres:  mystery, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy.  We read them because they are entertaining, not because they are going to win prizes (although the best often do).  Books that allow us to have adventures and experiences we would never have otherwise, to examine human motivation, to realize that the problems of human beings are essentially the same in different cultures and different time periods--that the human condition involves the same flaws and strengths, the same desires and goals, the same problems with relationships, the same fears of power and corruption.

Fiction doesn't have to be good literature to be good entertainment, or to be educational, or to broaden horizons.   

Many studies have been done and articles written about the benefits of reading fiction--not necessarily good literature, but good stories.  The Surprising Benefits of Reading Fiction lists 9 important benefits of reading fiction with which I'm sure all of you would agree.

The one thing the above article does not mention, but which applies to many of us is that reading fiction also encourages curiosity about facts.  I frequently go off on tangents relating to something I've read-- do a little Google research, follow up on bibliographical info, read nonfiction associated with some topic mentioned in a novel, check out allusions to music, pop culture, literature, or  historical events the author might include in the story.

Several years ago, I read The Terror by Dan Simmons, a fictional account of the Franklin Expedition after reading Stefanie's review on So Many Books .  After finishing the novel, I found myself reading more about the expedition (the search for the Northwest Passage and the search for Franklin and The Terror after the ship went missing) in nonfiction and some tangential fictional accounts as well.  In September of this year, The Terror was found in about 80 feet of water--so well preserved that experts said it could probably float.  

The original theory that lead poisoning from improperly sealed canned food resulted in the death of many of the crew members has been thrown out in just the last few days.  The analysis of a fingernail sliver from John Harknell's body reveals that a prolonged zinc deficiency resulted in Hartnell's death and would almost certainly have been the case for other crew members.

So...reading a highly imaginative fictional account of the Franklin Expedition led to reading a number of nonfiction accounts and an interest in that 168-year-old mystery that continues to fascinate me as new discoveries are made.   

----

I love Sandy Mastrioni's dolls, pillows, and plates.  

All of her creations are odd, whimsical, and amusing!  

Book lovers can appreciate this one.

Sandy's Etsy Shop

Three January Releases

Modern Crimes by Chris Nickson

Although the Women Police Service was founded in 1914 to deal mainly with pimps and prostitution, the founders of the WPS took advantage of the war situation by replacing men who were involved with the war effort in the hope that women could continue advancing after the war.  

 Female officers were allowed to go into brothels, nightclubs and betting houses to observe and gather evidence of untoward behavior, but at the first sign of crime being committed, they had to call in male colleagues. They were not allowed to carry handcuffs unless instructed to by a senior officer, and were not allowed to make arrests until 1923.  (source)

The novel takes place in 1924 in Leeds.  WPC Lottie Armstrong and her partner WPC Cathy Taylor are eager to take on larger policing roles, but must deal with the prejudices of many men on the force.   Lottie's ability to talk to people results in good information, and DS McMillan values her assistance, but not everyone appreciates a woman exceeding her prescribed role.

I enjoyed doing a little more research on women in the police at that time period in the UK.

source

NetGalley/Trafalgar Square Publishing.

Mystery/Police Procedural.  Jan. 1, 2017.  Print length: 288 pages.

Blood and Bone is the third entry (but the first I've read) in Giambanco's Alice Madison series set in Seattle.  

Alice and her partner Detective Sergeant Kevin Brown find themselves on a case that has some crossover with one of the previous books.  A bit complicated at times between two story lines.  Not bad, but could have used either a bit more back story and/or fewer complications.

Read in September

NetGalley/Quercus

Crime/Police Procedural.  Jan. 3, 2017.  Print length:  384 pages.




 

To  Clear the Air


First an old man from the small German village of Merklen is murdered, then another.  Clearly there is a connection to a decades old crime, but no one in the small village is much inclined to talk about it.  Inspector Peter Bohm needs to prevent another murder, but in order to do so, he needs information that the villagers are reluctant to provide. Someone is seeking revenge...or justice.

To complicate matters, Peter's marriage is unsettled.  His wife left town to attend a conference, then decides to stay away to give some thought to her situation.    

To Clear the Air was Borrman's debut novel, and she has written two, but I don't know how many have been translated.

"She [Borrmann] has been a full-time writer since 2001, and To Clear the Air was her first novel. Silence, her third, won the Deutscher Krimi Preis in 2012 for best crime novel and was nominated for the Friedrich Glauser Prize."

Read in November

NetGalley/Amazon Crossing

Crime/Police Procedural. Jan. 24, 2017.  Print length:  242 pages.

A Side Trip to Poetry

The other day, my Kindle failed to connect to the internet, and I was unable to download some recent books that I was eager to read.  In response, I turned to one of my Norton anthologies of contemporary poetry published nearly 50 years ago--so--hardly contemporary by today's standards.  I found this one at a library sale decades ago when another edition was published.

I read through Hardy and enjoyed reading the poems I've read many times and tackling a few that in the past I'd only skimmed through.  Hardy has never been a favorite, but he does have some wonderful lines that would make excellent book titles.  In spite of Hardy's rather bleak outlook, he occasionally reveals a wryly humorous  vein, and rereading The Ruined Maid gives me the same pleasure as the first time.

On through Robert Bridges--mostly skimmed.  I did try once again to appreciate Bridges, but failed.  His work doesn't engage me.  

Through Houseman, who though preoccupied with lost youth and wistful looks at times gone by, also has such memorable lines.  I do like many of his poems, and I always smile a little at the first lines of  'Terence This Is Stupid Stuff -- 

‘TERENCE, this is stupid stuff:
You eat your victuals fast enough;
There can’t be much amiss, ’tis clear,
To see the rate you drink your beer.
But oh, good Lord, the verse you make,	5
It gives a chap the belly-ache.

And then to Yeats.  I love Yeats' poetry, at least the ones I understand.  This anthology includes 89 of his poems, and I reread some of my favorites and worked at some of the ones that leave me bewildered.  Since this is my own copy, I added more underlining and marginalia to those I've added previously in many readings.  When I taught, I read all of my poetry books frequently, both for my own pleasure and for insights into teaching--so my anthologies are all marked up with thoughts, underlining, questions, and comparisons. With Yeats, my thoughts are both appreciative of poems and lines that I find amazing--and puzzled over those lines and poems that continue to baffle and perplex.

When I got about half way through the 89 poems, I decided I wanted to know more about the period before and after the Easter Rising, partly to know more about some of the people involved.  In Easter, 1916, Yeats mentions, among others, John MacBride, Maude Gonne's abusive husband from whom she was separated.   Below is an excerpt from the second verse:

This other man I had dreamed 

A drunken, vainglorious lout. 

He had done most bitter wrong 

To some who are near my heart,   

Yet I number him in the song; 

He, too, has resigned his part 

In the casual comedy; 

He, too, has been changed in his turn,   

Transformed utterly: 

A terrible beauty is born. 

and the final lines:

  

I write it out in a verse— 

MacDonagh and MacBride   

And Connolly and Pearse 

Now and in time to be, 

Wherever green is worn, 

Are changed, changed utterly:   

A terrible beauty is born.  

I don't think Yeats entirely forgives MacBride, but he acknowledges his commitment to the Irish cause in which Yeats himself believes.

source

Yeats' love of Maude Gonne resulted in her presence in many of his most loved poems.

Anyway, on my library trip Monday, I checked out The Apprentice Mage, without realizing that this is the first (huge) volume of a two volume set, which unfortunately ends in 1914 just when my interest picks up.  Yes, now I see the I in the title, but at the time with my arms full of books....

I'm giving it a try, and while not impressed with the writing, I have found some great bits embedded in the tedious detail. 

A section in the introduction says that one has to look at so many aspects of Yeats' life to gain insight into the man and his work; Foster calls it a "palimpsest of Irishness" that Yeats continued to develop, question, and change throughout his life. Not just for Yeats, but for all of us, our development is overwritten again and again by experience, even if the original is still there in large or small portions.  For Yeats, because of the times in which he lived and his own creative genius, the layers are more interesting and more important.

And yet...the author almost loses purpose in the extraneous detail.  The book is over 500 pages with another 200 pages of end-notes (to which I've already had to refer several times); the print is very small, and the line spacing very narrow (another element that makes for less pleasant reading), and it doesn't even cover the period I'm most curious about.  I may have to skim this one and look for another biography with a cleaner, more efficient style.

I've only been through about 1/2 the poems (so I have many favorites left--including The Second Coming, which once again seems prophetic), but I want more historical context, especially about the Home Rule crisis and the effects of WWI on Yeats' poetry.  (Not that I'm not interested in his love affairs, his fascination with spiritualism, automatic writing, and Honor Bright--I do love me some gossip.)  

The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe

The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe begins with the  horrific murder of an unidentified woman.  The macabre tale is told from three different points of view:  Peter, a detective; Hanne, a profiler who has done no police work in years; and Emma, a young woman who has been associated with the man suspected of the murder.

All of the main characters have issues that keep the reader alternating between sympathy and frustration, but it is easy to get caught up in their stories. 

The atmosphere throughout is creepy; and there is a question of the reliability of the narrators--creating that uneasy gut feeling of uncertainty.  All of the characters seem to have relinquished making decisions in their lives, choosing  a kind of passive aggressive acceptance of  events as they come.  

Hanne has, in the past, made one attempt to free herself, but when that fell through, she reverted to her previous passivity.  Despite the circumstances stacked against her, Hanne does again try for something better when she returns to her role with the police against her husband's wishes.

The weakest element is the too typical use of a bizarre murder to get the reader's attention. The murder does not require the shocking method to retain the symbolic concept the author intends, and strangely, the sensational aspect of the murder lessens as the plot proceeds.

Nevertheless, this is one of those psychological thrillers that will keep you riveted as you puzzle out the pieces of this enigmatic crime novel. 

Read in Aug.; blog review scheduled for Dec. 5, 2016.

NetGalley/Random House

Psychological/Scandinavian Crime.  Dec. 27, 2016.  Print length:  368 pages.

The Obelisk Gate and So Say the Fallen

Two more November books that kept me interested.

The Obelisk Gate is the second book in N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy.  I can't imagine what goes into writing a trilogy with the scope and depth that Jemisin produces.  The characters and the world continued to entertain me, and I was pleased to continue the development of Hoa and Nessun.  Essun remains the touchstone, but other curious stories are emerging around other characters.  

Did I like it as much as the first book?  No, and I'm not entirely sure why.  Maybe the world-building and character introduction were so unexpected in the first book that the second book couldn't compete with that novel experience. Some sections felt slow as well, and the deliberate hiding of certain information was less titillating and more frustrating than in the first novel.

Which is only to say that I didn't love it with the same intensity as The Fifth Season (reviewed here), but I'm still fascinated with some of the characters and eagerly await a conclusion to the trilogy.

Library copy.

Dystopian/Scifi/Fantasy.  August, 2016.  Print length:  448 pages.

So Say the Fallen by Stuart Neville  is the second in Neville's DCI Serena Flanagan series, but the first I've read.  

Serena Flanagan is not at first suspicious of the suicide of the severely disabled Peter Garrick.  His injuries from an accident are terrible; his wife seems devastated.  Yet some ambiguous, indefinite aspect of the death bothers Serena, and she finds herself unable to immediately sign off on the death as suicide.  The Reverend Peter McKay, a close family friend, comforts Roberta Garrick in her grief over her husband's death.  

Tragedy has followed the Garrick family, and even before Peter Garrick's accident, the couple had lost their young daughter, but even while feeling the sadness of two tragedies in the little family, Serena's instincts tell her to keep digging.

A well-plotted mystery with interesting characters.  A series I will happily pursue.

Library copy.

Crime/Police Procedural.  September 2016.  Print length:  336 pages.

Catching Up

I'm still reading Sei Shonogon's Pillow Book a little at a time and still enjoying it.  None of her entries are very long which makes it easy to read one, or several, within a short time.  It makes me smile to think of her interest in clothes.  The clothing for both men and women in that period (at least for the 10th c. court figures she describes) was elaborate and colorful, and Shonagon gives frequent admiring descriptions of what people were wearing.

The interest in poetry also surprises me--reciting famous poems on cue, recognizing a line from a famous poet and being able to complete the poem, and writing original poetry was both an entertainment and a challenge.  One person creates a line of an original poem, and another must come up with the first line.  Often notes were sent couched in poetry that must be replied to poetically--and the poems were read aloud and judged by an audience.  For example, if a court figure sent Shonagon a poem, she knew the poem she sent in response would be read and evaluated.  Word play is another form of entertainment appreciated by the court in both names and jokes--I frequently have to flip to the end notes to get the implied meanings.

In the meantime, I continue to read mysteries and police procedurals in a completely different manner from Shonogan's Pillow Book.  I swallow these whole.  No reading a few pages and putting down a mystery or a police procedural for me--I'm going to finish before going to bed in most cases.  

About two weeks ago, I read J.M. Gregson's An Academic Death from Endeavor Press offered through NetGalley.  I discovered that earlier books in this series are available for free in Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program and that was enough encouragement to read more.

Making a Killing is the second book in Gregson's Lambert & Hook series of police procedural series.  The cover has little to do with the book or with the murder of an estate agent whose body is discovered in a beautiful old home full of grace and character.

What I like about the series is the effort the author puts into character development.  All of the suspects have a grudge against the murdered Stanley Freeman, and as Superintendent Lambert and DS Hook investigate, the suspects reveal themselves little by little through the skillful questioning of Lambert and Hook and through their own thoughts.

First published in 1990, Making a Killing avoids graphic descriptions and concentrates on the investigation as each suspect evolves into a genuine individual.  Freeman was an unpleasant man whose actions caused grief and resentment both in his employees and his wife, and it is easy to sympathize with the grievances of each suspect.  Gregson manages to keep the field open through most of the book, relating the motives, the behaviors, and the alibis--and the failures of those alibis--gradually.  I enjoyed the skillful development of characters, the relationship of respect and wit between Lambert and Hook, the ability to visualize the scenes, and the author's intelligent and thoughtful prose.

I actually enjoyed this one more than An Academic Death (which was the 14th in the series and my first encounter with J.M. Gregson's Lambert & Hook).

And since they are free, I was on to the next in the series as soon as I finished.

Kindle Unlimited

Police Procedural.  1990/2015.  

Dead on Course finds Lambert & Hook investigating a man found dead on the golf course of the Castle on Wye Hotel and Country Club.  Once again, there are plenty of suspects and again, the plot avoids the sensational aspect of gore, concentrating instead on characters, motives, and careful plotting.

These books don't have to be read in order, each crime is conducted well within the confines of the book. The mysteries rely on astute and resourceful police work, not sensational or bizarre murders by evil or demonic characters.  The guilty party may have sociopathic tendencies--or may be an ordinary individual pushed by circumstance, but the murders are not senseless or random.  The killer has a reason for the murder, rather than killing simply for the pleasure of it.

Kindle Unlimited

Police Procedural.  1991/2015.


The Red Queen Rules by Bourne Morris is the third in the series featuring Red Solaris and the journalism department at a fictitious campus in Nevada.  It is a timely mystery that covers sex trafficking, freedom of speech issues on campus, and white supremacy attitudes. 

The issues covered are important ones and are given careful consideration, but the novel itself did not appeal to me as much as the two previous novels did.  Red, now dean of the journalism school, wants to stand up for freedom of speech when a group on campus that espouses white supremacy invites a speaker whose presence and opinions have initiated violent protests at previous engagements.   The dilemma--when does free speech become hate speech and is the purpose of the event to provoke violence?

While the issues are all quite pertinent at present and are interesting and well done, the involvement of Red strikes me as ridiculous for several reasons that I won't mention because they would reveal too much.  

Each of the three books in the Red Solaris series deals with important topics, but the romance side of the book detracts somewhat by adding unlikely scenarios.  Red's "detective" endeavors would satisfy me more if they were more realistic.

I did like the eventual response on the part of the students who opposed the philosophy of the hate group and could only wish that in this controversial period of our history people would opt for nonviolence with as much grace and determination.

NetGalley/Henery Press

Mystery/Crime.  Dec. 6, 2016.  

Three Totally Different Genres: Louise Penny, Julia Claiborne Johnson, N.K. Jemisin

In between researching stuff about making handmade paper and other crafty projects, I read several good novels this past week.  And made some more paper!  

A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny is now one of my favorites in the Three Pines series. Along with other followers of this well-loved series, I want to live in Three Pines and interact with Ruth (and Rosa), Gabri, Olivier, Myrna, Clara and other villagers.

The Great Reckoning takes place partly in Three Pines and partly at the Surete Academy of Quebec.  After nearly dying in his attempt to clean up the corruption in the Surete, Chief Inspector Gamache takes a new position as Commander of the Surete's Academy with the intention of getting rid of the vicious practices (and individuals) put in place by the previous adminsitration and intended to continue the corruption in the Surete itself.  The practices are ingrained and the solutions will be challenging.

As usual, Gamache's approach is unconventional.  His decisions about which professors to keep and which to get rid of and which young applicants to accept cause surprise and concern even among those who know and trust Gamache.  When some of his decisions result in unanticipated and unwelcome events,  Gamache and some of the young cadets are endangered.

I love this series, and A Great Reckoning exceeded my expectations.  This may be the best so far in this series...or do I say that too often?

Library copy.

Police Procedural.  2016.  400 pages.

Be Frank with Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson has been on my TBR list since Lark mentioned it.  Funny, poignant, and Salingeresque are some of the terms used to describe the novel, and I found all of them to be appropriate.  

When the reclusive author M.M. Banning finds herself in financial difficulties, she knows she must write another book, the first in decades.  In order to do so, she needs an assistant to manage her household--mostly as a nanny for her nine-year-old son Frank, an eccentric genius with an unusual wardrobe, an encyclopedic store of facts, and a few other quirks that make him uniquely interesting, vulnerable, and often difficult to manage.

Enter Alice Whitley, who at the request of her boss Isaac Vargas, Banning's publisher leaves New York to join the Banning household in Hollywood.

Parts of the novel are funny and joyful, but while we may love and admire a child like this in literature and revel in his eccentricities--life isn't always easy or fun for the child or for those who love him.  Julia Claiborne Johnson makes the most of both of these aspects without going overboard with the fact that children like Frank are alienated from their peers.

Be Frank with Me was a pleasure.

Purchased.

Contemporary fiction.  2016.  309 pages.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison was a compelling introduction to her new trilogy.  I read The Thousand Kingdoms trilogy (reviewed here) last year and was impressed, but this book blew me away.  I was immediately engrossed, found it difficult to put it down, read until late, and finished the next morning. 

From the blurb:  

It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. 

It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. 

It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester. 

This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.

Told in 3 narrative strands that you know will fit together, even though you don't know when or how, the novel begins with a mother who discovers her young son's body.  Essun is an orogene (orogenes can control the environment for good or ill and are feared or used according to the situation), but Essun who has disguised herself as an ordinary member of the community.  

Damalya's sections deal with the treatment of orogenes who are discovered in the general population and considered feral (orogenes are bred and trained at the Fulcrum).  Any orogenes found within the general population are either killed outright or taken by Guardians to the Fulcrum for training.  With this section, we gain a better understanding of Essun's need to hide her abilities.

The third narrative strand follows Syenite, a young woman trained at the Fulcrum, who has earned four rings and aspires to advance in the Fulcrum hierarchy.  She is assigned a mission with ten-ringer, and in the course of their association, learns a great deal more than she wanted to know about the Fulcrum.

A novel about the abuse of power, the artificial divisions of society, the subjugation of elements of the population, and the power of the earth.  Seems to fit right in with some of my own worries at the moment.

Library copy.

Dystopian/Scifi/Fantasy.  2015.  500 pages.

An Academic Death and Walk into Silence

An Academic Death by J.M. Gregson is the 14th book in the Lambert & Hook series, although it is the first one I've read.

Matthew Upson, a history professor at Gloucestershire University, is reported missing by his wife.  Not that she is in any hurry to get him back. 

 Initially, the fact that a grown man has been missing for a few days does not raise a sense of alarm, but when Upson's mother seeks an interview with Superintendent John Lambert, Lambert develops an uneasy feeling that this  may be more than a missing person case.

DS Bert Hook and Superintendent John Lambert are the main draw in this book; both are likable characters whose long relationship on the job gives them a sense of camaraderie that works well.  There are some wryly funny scenes on the golf course that made me smile and the plot and minor characters kept my interest.

I enjoyed the writing and the characters in An Academic Death, and will be happy to read more.

NetGalley/Endeavor  Press

Police Procedural.  2001; 2016.  Print length:  172 pages.


Walk into Silence by Susan McBride is the first book in a series featuring Detective Jo Larsen.  

Jo Larsen has left her previous job in Dallas for a small town on the outskirts of the city with fewer incidents of serious crime.  

Patrick Dielman's files a missing person report for his wife and seems genuinely concerned about her.  (Yep, another missing person case.)  Jenny Dielman had a bad first marriage which collapsed after the death of her son. Unable to get over the loss of her only child, Jenny has battled depression and grief for several years despite her efforts to start fresh with her marriage to Patrick.

Jo wonders if Jenny needed an escape from her husband, who apparently adores her, but seems controlling, or if Jenny's grief over her son's death has finally overwhelmed her.

Jo's investigation appears to offer a third option--Jenny did not leave by choice.  And if foul play is involved, who would want Jenny dead...and why?

I found Walk into Silence an interesting introduction to a series--allowing room for further character development in succeeding novels.  

Kindle First

Police Procedural.  2016.  Print length:  370 pages. 

Sei Shonogon's The Pillow Book

It was not my intention to choose The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon because November is nonfiction month, but I love serendipity.

 It started with a letter from an old friend who listed some of the chores she was finally getting around to--  you know, those things we all need to do, but frequently put off.  When writing my reply and mentioning  my own compulsive list-making, I thought about Sei Shonogon, the ultimate list-maker. 

 As soon the thought entered my mind, I had to stop and pull my copy of Philip Lopate's The Art of the Personal Essay from the shelf so I could share with Penne some of Sei Shonogon's clever and funny remarks.  (I keep my own list of things inspired by Shonogon's in the back of my journals.  Strange, how simply writing annoying things down turns them into something less annoying and how listing delightful things kind of reverberates through the emotions.)

Lopate only includes a few of the items from Shonogon's lists, although there are plenty available on line.  But I'd never read the entire book itself, and so even before getting back to my letter, I ordered a copy of The Pillow Book from AbeBooks.  I wanted a cheap copy because I didn't know if I would really read the whole thing.  The book arrived within a few days, and I've been reading it ever since with such pleasure that now I want a nice hardcover copy.

The Pillow Book isn't a book that you read straight through, there is no plot line or narrative continuity, and various translators put the writings together differently. The Pillow Book is made up of brief observations, comments, and lists.  I'm only on page 79, and have read 3 novels within the same time span.  But I am reading a little every day--a few pages at a time whenever I feel like sitting down and picking it up.  Usually a couple of times a day.  :)

What has been so enjoyable about it is not simply the lists of hateful things, amusing things, pleasing things, rare things, surprising things, etc., but Shonogon's observations of Japanese court life in the 10th c.  An astute observer, Shonogon makes life a thousand years ago and in a completely foreign culture amazingly vivid and oh-so-very human.  

What I take away from each reading is not the cultural differences or the differences between 10th c and the 21st c, but the similarities, and each time I set the book down, I'm smiling.  (OK--I admit that Shonogon's comments and opinions about plants and trees, while charming in small doses, did get a little tedious after a few pages).  On the other hand, her gossip about members of the court is witty and sly, compassionate and snarky--depending on the situation and the people she is discussing.  

There was a lot of night time visiting in the court, and several entries deal with things that are pleasing or displeasing about a lover's behavior:

A gentleman has visited one secretly. Though he is wearing a tall, lacquered hat, he nevertheless wants no one to see him. He is so flurried, in fact, that on leaving he bangs into something with his hat. Most hateful! It is annoying too when he lifts up the Iyo blind that hangs at the entrance of the room, then lets it fall with a great rattle. If it is a head-blind, things are still worse, for being more solid it makes a terrible noise when it is dropped. There is no excuse for such carelessness.

A man with whom one is having an affair keeps singing the praises of some woman he used to know. Even if it is a thing of the past, this can be very annoying. How much more so if he is still seeing the woman! (Yet sometimes I find it is not as unpleasant as all that.)

And for all book lovers:

Pleasing things: finding a large number of tales that one has not read before. Or acquiring the second volume of a tale whose first volume one has enjoyed. But often it is a disappointment.

Rare things:

A son-in-law who's praised by his wife's father. Likewise, a wife who's loved by her mother-in-law. 

The above excerpts are what first drew me to The Pillow Book when I discovered it by means of The Art of the Personal Essay some twenty years ago, but reading about the court activity is what fascinates me now. 

My translation is by Ivan Morris and includes much about the process of translation and organization of the book, as well as plenty of footnotes and additional information about the times in which Shonogon was writing.

Delightful.

Stalker on the Fens by Joy Ellis

Joy Ellis' first Nikki Galena book was published in 2010, and NetGalley has been releasing them for the last year here in the States.  This series has become one of my favorites, and with each NetGalley release, I have indulged in the world Ellis has created in the fens and in the characters of Nikki and her faithful team, reading and reviewing with genuine pleasure.

Stalker in the Fens, the fifth book in the series, continues the crime-fighting adventures of DI Nikki Galena and DS Joseph Easter.   Each book works as a stand-alone, so don't worry if you don't begin with the first book.  It is nice to see the development from book to book, but Ellis is skillful at developing each plot and set of characters--although there are occasional references to previous characters and events, each plot is self-contained.

Nikki's friend Helen is severely injured in a dreadful accident.  While she is trapped in a cellar and in and out of consciousness, someone speaks to her.  A man is also trapped and injured.  At first, his voice is comforting, but then he says something that shocks her.  

When Helen is discovered and rescued, her injuries are such that she remembers very little about her experience.  A year later, however, she begins having flashbacks; she remembers the man and what he told her.  The thing is--there was no one else in the cellar when Helen was found.

About the same time that Helen has begun remembering some of the events surrounding her injury, she feels she is being watched.  

Nikki and Joseph take her fear seriously, but are not certain whether her flashbacks and feeling of being stalked are real or part of post-traumatic stress.  

Another complex plot with well-developed characters.  Ellis can't write fast enough for me--I want the next one.

NetGalley/Joffe Books

Crime/Police Procedural.  Oct. 18, 2016.  Print length:  311 pages.

Saturday Thoughts

I'm still reading, but so many of the NetGalley books are not being published until 2017.  At present, I have 12 reviews scheduled through April of next year.  My last library books proved to be poor choices, but hopefully, this batch will be better.  And I have a stack of ARCs that arrived in the mail.  

My crafty and mail art activities continue, although those are mostly posted on my other blog.  My studio is complete chaos--even worse than usual and beginning to wear me down.  When I attempt to clean and organize, something turns up that I need to try, and I get distracted, start something new, and get more paste, paint, thread, and fabric all over me and my work area. 

One current obsession is making small collages and collaged tags, but collage is  a technique that seems to be impossible to keep corralled.  If I worked on only one project at a time maybe it wouldn't be so bad, but I rarely work on only one thing at a time.  Every work surface is covered with stuff for different projects--even my ironing board has become a work surface. 

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When the world seems to be going to hell in a hand-basket, it helps to look at the positives.

I'm watching the Dakota Pipeline stories with interest...and hope.  

 Another hopeful development is a possible new treatment for AD.   Too late for Terry Pratchett and my father, but may be a saving grace for many others.

A study suggesting that "... men do not enjoy the debauchery or the “extreme shaming, humiliation, and deviance” that are part and parcel of most modern stag dos."  Another example of the way peer pressure can go wrong and this can be an element for women, too.

Girl Power!  (gallery)



God, I love these girls!  

That's all, folks

Source

Delete by Karl Osberg

Have you ever wondered if the world we live in and our own interaction in it is being directed by some unseen power?  Not in a religious sense, but as if in a game?  Think The Matrix.  

That we are part of a virtual reality, a simulated computer game, is an actual scientific hypothesis and part of legitimate scientific research.  

Excerpt from the linked article:  

Researchers pondered the controversial notion Tuesday at the annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate here at the American Museum of Natural History.

Moderator Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the museum’s Hayden Planetarium, put the odds at 50-50 that our entire existence is a program on someone else’s hard drive. “I think the likelihood may be very high,” he said.  (Source)

The article covers some of the thoughts of philosophers and theoretical physicists on the topic.  

Delete begins with a strange prologue, but the first chapter moves into the story and introduces Chief Inspector Eisenberg, a member of the Hamburg police, when an attempt to end a human trafficking ring goes wrong.

Eisenberg's arrogant superintendent blames Eisenberg for  the debacle, and Eisenberg eventually looks for a transfer.  The opportunity that arises is to head a unit that focuses on pre-investigations and crime prevention using technology and the internet; the team, however, consists of brilliant, but fractious misfits.

One of the team members is a gamer, and when several strange disappearances occur in the online game, he is approached by a young woman who wants to find out what happened to her friend.  Was he deleted?  

An intriguing book with characters that hold potential for more episodes, but the pacing has some issues.  The translation by Carolyn Waight is excellent.

NetGalley/Bonnier Zaffre

Mystery/Suspense.  Oct. 25, 2015.  Print length:  358 pages.