Finished Book 3 of Poldark: JEREMY POLDARK

In the third book of the series, Ross is tried for rioting and looting two ships and causing injury to tax men interfering.  The feud with George Warleggan deepens.  The everyday difficulties of life in post American Revolutionary England is enhanced by characters I find myself liking and therefore deeply invested in.  Excellent.

I have now just barely started The Girl in the Spider's Web, a continuation of the Lisbeth Salander saga, this one by David Lagercrantz.  Prior to this, this Swedish author has been concerned with mostly journalism and non-fiction.  But reviews for this seem pretty good.  Having mourned Stieg Larsson's death after having read his three Lisbeth Salander books, I hope this one stands up.  What a shame for the series to die.  I've already encountered an autisic child who hasn't had much of a chance in his world and am now catching up on what Mikael Blomkvist has been up to.

Finished NORSE MYTHS AND LEGENDS

I had known virtually nothing about these and thus everything I now know on this subject came from this book.  I liked the format of this book much more than the Usborne Greek Myths and Legends that I had read before it.  This read much more like a saga...a group of stories that are connected and organized chronologically and by realm.  Norse mythology is much different from the Greek in that the Greek gods were interested in love and having children as well as the jealousy deriving from such philandering.  Norse Gods are interested in fighting, bragging and bullying.  Thor, shown as a hero in modern comic books as movies, was just a mean bully.  Loki, portrayed as a villain, was, at least at the beginning of the saga, just a clever trickster.  His evolution into a villain is explained by the rest of the gods bullying ways.  I kind of sided with Loki until the end, when he went overboard.  Informative book with good stories and great illustrations.

It occurred to me that I have several "coffee table" and reference books in areas of my interest that are just too large to carry around with me all the time.  They are also too heavy and cumbersome for me to hold for the long periods of time required for reading.  But, they really make perfect bathroom books in that they contain short stories or article which can be read in snippets of time.  The next of these I will tackle in the bathroom is Broadway Musicals, 101 of the Greatest Shows of All Time by Ken Bloom and Frank Vlastnik.

Finished THE NIGHT OF THE SOLSTICE

It was strange that I read it four years ago (according to Goodreads) and didn't remember it.  It was pretty much new to me through the whole thing.  I will add to the review I did then than it reminds me a little of A Wrinkle in Time in that the children were up against enormous odds.  The ending is satisfying, but a major problem remains to be solved in the next book, Heart of Valor.

I am now about to start the third book in the Poldark series, Winson Graham's Jeremy Poldark.

Finished SHIRLEY JONES, A MEMOIR

As always with celebrity biographies, I learned she was in more than I'd realized.  I also enjoyed following her progress on Broadway and in Vegas as well as touring--things that don't stay in my perview daily.  I enjoyed reading about her experiences of people she worked with and, as always, was very disappointed in some of them.  These biographies always underline how much like the rest of us and how very human celebrities are as well as letting us see that a celebrated lifestyle is not always what is it seen as by those of us watching from the outside.



I've now started The Night of the Solstice, by L. J. Smith.  Oddly, Goodreads tells me I have read it--four years ago and I see my review of it...  But, I have no memory of it.  Alzheimers?  I will stop reading if I get to the point where I am remembering it and know what is happening next.

Finished NIGHT DIVER

Typical romance in a number of ways, but adventure and thriller was mixed in making the reading quite enjoyable.  However, I suspect this will be the last Elizabeth Lowell I will read.  The sloppy romance does not interest me as much anymore as the adventure in thriller aspects.

And now I proceed to a light autobiography of Shirley Jones.  I'm looking forward to reading about her interactions with other stars of musical comedy which I very much enjoy (and enjoyed).  Although I have seen Elmer Gantry, I didn't even realize that was her in it, so those chapters should be exceptional.  This will be fun.