Leaving ROUGHING IT for awhile

I journeyed with Mark Twain on the stagecoach to his first destination, Carson City, Nevada.  I enjoyed his anecdotes about the people he met and the descriptions of the stations and towns he passed through, including Salt Lake City with his account of the Mormons.  (So much enjoyed, that I laughed out loud much of the way.)  When reading Mark Twain, never skip around his digressions.  The story about the camel in Syria, though it had nothing to do with this trip, still makes me laugh out loud.  Things that would have been tragic or disgusting to most people are rendered, by Twain's gross understatement, to be quite hysterical!  Normally, I put aside prodigious books for a time to read something else.  This it the same, but unlike others I have put aside, the reading of it is not prodigious, it is the heft of the Heritage Edition I am reading--it must weigh 15 pounds, and my arthritis is not up to it for long.  So, I'll be back, but for now, I am moving on.

I have now started By Blood We Live, a collection of short stories about vampires, exploring the different kind of vampires written about by contemporary adult authors.  I've read stories by Neil Gaiman (an old telling of the Snow White story in which Snow is a vampire and her step-mother witch is the tragic heroine), Anne Rice about a traditional vampire, and am now into a story by Harry Turtledove.  Quite enjoyable....

Finished TREKS NOT TAKEN by Steven R. Boyett

In my creative writing course my freshman year in college, our assignment was to write a parody.  When mine came back, my professor had written, "You imitate Mark Twain's writing style very well, but the problem here is lack of plot."  True also of these stories.

Normally I would not have finished such a disgusting collection of disrespectful puerile testosterone-laced sexual fantasies, but TR had read it and was waiting excitedly for my commentary.  I'm sure he did enjoy it...part of what I love about him is that he is basically a 75 year old 7th grade boy.  Perhaps I'll only tell him the first part of my review...



I am now about to start Roughing It by Mark Twain.  I've seen the movie produced from it, which is not the order in which I normally like to approach a story, but, oh well.  Though the movie tried to give narration purportedly in the voice of an older Mark Twain, I'm sure I will love the book more.  I love his tongue-in-cheek country boy humor and wisdom.  This is not the actual edition I am reading, but has nearly the same number of pages.  I am reading a collector's edition hardback with some illustrations by Noel Sickles.

Finished BEAUTIFUL SACRIFICE by Elizabeth Lowell

This book, sent to me for my birthday by friend Judith, was wonderful.  It started romantically and respectfully of both protagonists' professions, though they were like exact opposites, but it was true that they had one common interest.  They are on the trail of undocumented artifacts confiscated by customs as they came across the border and stolen shortly thereafter.  About half-way through, the reader figures out what is going on (though not who the perpetrator is), but neither of the protagonists do.  The rest is pure thriller, exciting but also sprinkled with fascinating descriptions of the Yucatan jungle and various artifacts encountered.  I loved this so much, I intend to ask Judith about other books by this author that she may have read.



I have now started Treks Not Taken, by Steven R. Boyett.  The introduction starts by describing a portfolio of outlines for episodes of Star Trek, the Next Generation, by famous authors who wanted to write for the franchise.  I was nearly suckered in until it was pointed out that some were by authors who had died long before TNG was even a figment in Gene Roddenberry's brain.  All of these stories are parodies of how different authors might have written TNG scripts by Steven R. Boyett.  I have already laughed my way through the intro and the first story, "The Crusher in the Rye," not by J.D. Salinger.  And I am not fond of the book being parodied here, so....

Finished MY GAL SUNDAY, by Mary Higgins Clark

The longest story was the second which was the basis for the Hallmark movie of the same title.  However, unusually, the movie was better--explaining Wexler's motive better and giving Sunday much more to do.  The last two stories were also good, the last being a Christmas thriller, but with the scary parts quite short and the heart-warming parts quite satisfying.

I have now started a book given to me by friend Judith: Beautiful Sacrifice by Elizabeth Lowell.  I only just started it and know little except that the heroine is an archeologist and the man she is interested in does dangerous rescue work at least in Latin America.  They are already quite interesting characters.

Started MY GAL SUNDAY by Mary Higgins Clark

An unlikely couple solve mysteries in in four short stories.  The entire book is just over 200 pages, and the first mystery, at least, is not uncomplicated, though they are moving pretty quickly.  Promises to be pretty good.  I think I have seen one of the stories on Hallmark Mystery Channel.

Finished INTO THE WOODS, by Kim Harrison

I had already read most, but not all, of the stories from the Hollows in other anthologies.  The two I had not read, I very much enjoyed.  I had read none of the stories from beyond the Hollows.  These latter showed Kim shaping her mythology and playing with various fanciful figures as well as a human with supernatural powers.  These gave me insights into her very inventive mind as well as making me long for more of Grace, the last character introduced in this book.

I, then started to read a Mary Jane Clarke book I quickly figured out I have already read, so will start another later today.