Finished REDEEMED

This was the twefth and final book of the series.  The end was certainly satisfying, but I am mourning over finishing.  It is like finishing Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter.  I am sorry to leave this world.

I have now started Hornet Flight, by Ken Follett.  This is a WWII thriller about an attempt to defeat Germany's radar.  It has started with, as Ken Follett does, interesting and exciting characters.

Finished IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS

Thank God!  Now Trump is talking about showing off the military with marching and parades and aircraft.  Just like Hitler.  The book shook me quite enough.  Interesting that Ambassador Dodd understood what was happening in Germany in 1934 way ahead of the rest of the world.  He was ignored everytime he warned DC in his hundreds of dispatches, mainly because he was a lowly college professor and not rich...



Now I am going to bury my head in a fantasy for awhile...Redeemed, House of Night # 12. by P. C. and Kristin Cast.  Back to Zoey and her friends, all vampires or fledging vampires.  You know, reasonable humans.  I am enjoying this series very much--a welcome break from reality.

I Should Maybe not be Reading this Book Now

This book is a limited look at Hitler's Germany--from June 1933 for a year.  I am now to November.  Hitler is vice-chancelor (Hindenburg is still alive, though old--85).  Earliest developments are that news media is discredited--by November, the only three newspapers still in operation are loyal to and controlled by Hitler and the Nazis.

An early law has been passed that will assist in the suicide of anyone who is disabled or chronically ill.  Later, this will be used to "euthenize" all such people manditorily.  They are not considered "Aryan" because they cannot contribute to the Third Reich.

People are required to stop whatever they are doing and give the Hitler salute whenever they see anyone in uniform (who are forever marching in the streets.)  People who fail to do this are beaten.  Of course, state policy is that foreigners are exempt from this, but, in practice, many Americans and other foreign nationals were attacked.

The attitude of the state is to ridicule the press, the disabled, anyone non-Aryan, and anyone foreign....  Hitler and his ministers are described as progressively more arrogant and dismissive of all but the most inner circle.

Finished THE UNINVITED

Great supernatural mystery with an unexpected ending.  Note to Amy--you may enjoy this author.  Most of her books that I have read have been about ghosts.  It certainly kept my interested to the end.  My only grumble is that Heather Graham creates wonderful characters, matches them up romantically, and then we only see them in passing in subsequent books.  I'd love to check in with those characters again and again.

I have now started In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.  I have read The Devil in the White City and enjoyed it and decided to read more by him.  I have just barely started.  The time is 1933 Berlin and William E. Dodd has just been appointed ambassador to Germany from the USA.  The point is to explore the experiences and attitudes of innocents thrown into a quickly changing world.  Non fiction.

Finished WITHOUT RESERVATIONS

I had actually been forgetting about this until I took Greek Myths and Legends into the bathroom to sit next to it.  The cartoons are right down my alley--my sense of humor.  Of course, Mark Twain is also my sense of humor.  The back cover say that Ricardo Cate uses irony in his humor...isn't that what humor is???  It certainly is in Mark Twain's humor as well.  Many belly laughs are in this book.  Though Native Americans are featured in most (not all) of the cartoons, if it is Native American humor, I guess the moral is funny is funny is funny.  Amazing how human this sense of humor is (my form of irony...)

I am now going back to Greek Myths and Legends in the bathroom.

Decided to relegate GREEK MYTHS AND LEGENDS to the bathroom.

After starting this book, it was obvious (as it probably should have been just from the title) that this is full of little short stories which makes it a perfect book for the bathroom.  The problem with this remedy is that I have already been reading a book in the bathroom:  Without Reservations, The Cartoons of Ricardo Cate.  I had bought this book when we were in Tucson last year at the Native American Center and have been enjoying it when I remember to pick it up.



I am now about to start The Uninvited, the eighth book in Heather Graham's Krewe of Hunters series. Have I actually read seven of these books already???  Maybe.  This is a group of FBI agents who investigate hauntings and possible hauntings.  It is a lot of fun.

Finished LES MISERABLES

When Hugo gets around to telling his story, he becomes edge of your seat interesting.  His descriptions of people are also quite beguiling along with descriptions of place.  But, when he goes off on his tangents or into his opinions, he can be quite dry.  It will be awhile before I attempt another unabridged Hugo, but, if I live long enough, I may tackle Hunchback.

I am now about to begin a children's picture book--Usborne Illustrated Guide to Greek Myths and Legends.  I have a number of books on legends and myths of the world which I have kept as reference materials when I encounter a creature I've not heard of before in my reading of fantasy.  But, now I have decided to go ahead and read these...