Finished DEATHSTALKER REBELLION

 

Once again great characters, lots of action, and an epic quality make this book quite readable.  I enjoyed this book much more than the first in the series, but I enjoyed that one enough to buy more of the books.

I have now barely started Hell on the Border (Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book 2).  It picks up with Bass hunting a pair of outlaw brothers.  In disguise as a very hungry bum, he convinces their mother to invite him in a give him something to eat.  When the brothers come home, he drinks with them, waits for them to go to sleep, then handcuffs them.  Sneaky and effective.  I'm hoping for a flashback to explain how he got from his escape from slavery to here.

Finished MURDER IN THE VILLAGE

 

I do not particularly like Belinda.  She is too bossy.  (She says she is aggressive...OK)  But she is working with a retired police detective to solve a murder.  Wouldn't you think she would listen to him...at least a little?  He seems pretty passive (probably because he finds her attractive, but I can't see why.)

I have now started Deathstalker #2...Deathstalker Rebellion.  If you want action in a totally foreign universe with diverse and interesting (even when not likable) characters, this is fun.  Second book I have read in the series.

Finished FOLLOW THE ANGELS, FOLLOW THE DOVES

 

The first book of the Bass Reeves Trilogy (an early black lawman and marshall in the west) begins with his birth in slavery and takes him through his freedom.  It is set in Arkansas and Texas and includes some of the Civil War with Bass as personal servant to his master, a general among the Texas contingent.  I enjoyed the book, as I had enjoyed the tv series.

I have now begun Murder in the Village, by Lisa Cutts.  I think I am drawn to these murder mysteries set in English villages by way of loving the PBS series, Midsomer Murders.  I am enjoying getting to know Belinda Penhurst, a 41 year old woman who has lived in a castle in this small village most of her life. Of course it is set in present day and the castle does not support itself, so Belinda has organized tours and books events to help pay the overhead.  Her unpredictable brother often skirts the edge of the law requiring her to rectify his messes.

Finished MURDER IN AN ENGLISH VILLAGE

 

I must say most of what I like about this book is the variety of characters (I love that also about the tv show Midsomer Murders.)  This one also, set just after the end of WWI, brings up classism pretty strongly.  Enjoyable, liesurely read.  

I have now begun Follow the Angels Follow the Doves, a fictionalized biography of Bass Reeves (black US Marshal born into slavery in Oklahoma.)  This is a trilogy of books.  This first book deals with the raising of this young slave, favored by his master, but carefully taught to be wary by his mother.

After finishing 50 more pages of JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL, I started a new mystery.

 

These pages were mostly dealing with Jonathan and Mr. Norrell's relationship, which is kind of love/hate.  The book continues to amuse.

I have now started Murder in an English Village (A Beryl and Edwina Mystery).  One of my Goodreads friends was reading it and I thought it sounded interesting, so I bought it.  Our two heroines couldn't be more different, but they are great friends and work very well together, though a bit shocked by each other.  So far the book has been fun.

FINALLY Finished WOLF HALL

 

Several times, I asked myself, "Why am I finishing this."  It wasn't boring...it was at times incomprehensible, however.  The author's way of punctuating dialogue is, shall we say, creative.  Which can be confusing.  She often uses "he" with no anticedent.  It took me the longest time to realize that was when she referred to Thomas Cromwell.  Since he was in every scene and was the obviously main character, I was just supposed to realize that "he" was Cromwell.  Imagery was beautiful.  This is a novelized explanation of what may have happened during England's transition, with Henry VIII, from Catholicism to Anglican, caused by the king's need for an heir (a male heir...he already had a female one.)  So the plot was fascinating.

I will now be returning to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

Finished BREAKING ANCHOR

 

A seventeen year old boy must keep his family's sailboat away from very diligent pursuit.  It was only about his trip, but was exciting and enough science to make it sci-fi.  Loved it as I have every Henry Melton book I have read.

I have now started Wolf Hall, the first book in a trilogy about Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII.  Of course, all I have read is his mistreatment as a boy by his father and his excaping his home at age 14 (started with a bang.)

Finished BUFFALO BILL'S DEAD NOW

 

I like these narratives of two stories, one in the present and one in the past.  Why did it take over 100 years to discover Chief Black Heart's headress, beaded vest, and other paraphenalia in a safe under a house in Germany?  And where are these same items now after being brought back to Wind River.  Father John and Vicky Holden are on the case.  

I am now about to start another Henry Melton YA Science Fiction story.  I love his stories because they make me think and I believe they most likely make young people think as well.

Finished KITCHEN PRIVILEGES, A MEMOIR.

 

Very readable, she starts with earliest memories, and we learn that she and her family, through no fault of love, had a really hard time with illnesses and deaths.  She takes us through her first two books sold when her life went from a struggle to comfortable and more.  She raised 5 children, much of their childhoods she was raising them alone.  Fascinating story.

I have now begun Buffalo Bill's Dead Now (A Wind River Mystery).  This appears to be the 16th book in the series and it looks like I have read all 15 leading to it.  A generous benefactor (or perhaps a contrite benefactor) bought a collection of artifacts belonging to a Chief Black Heart who toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show to donate to the mission's museum.  But, all that arrives is empty boxes. 

Finished DEATHSTALKER

 

I really enjoyed the action of this book, the really quirky characters (if made into a movie this would be a riot to costume!), and the environment....pick a world, any kind of world.  This series will have absolutely no limitations.  Now, what is it?  Science fiction...no, not enough science.  How about scientish action fantasy?  Just ordered more books in this series.

I have now started Kitchen Privileges, A Memoir by Mary Higgins Clark.  Not surprisingly, it is very readable optimistic poinance.  She does not take her world too seriously...at least not from the age she writes this book.

Finished DEAD MAN'S CHEST

 

Unlike most others in this series, it was not a murder mystery.  There were a number of mysteries, though, some of them quite serious.  And Phryne has added another person to her household,  a teen-age boy I quite liked and was hoping he would become an ongoing character.  All mysteries intriguing and characters enjoyable.

Taking a number of used books to Half Price Books for a little money, I also browsed a bit and found a series by an author new to me.  I thought he was an author whose books I'd been reading, but nope.  Whole new author...similar name.  That gives me a bit of a pause, jumping into a new series, but I was hooked on this one with the first sentence...dropping me into a very new environment and intoducing me to a new and intriguing character.  I was up late last night...reading.

Finished THE FIERY CROSS

 

I think for me it is best to read the book first, then see the tv series or movie.  This way, having seen the series first, I am always saying to myself, "Oh, that's why that happened," or, "oh, that made what happened less shocking."  But I am also enjoying everything that wasn't in the series.  Probably 2/3 of this book was not in the series and other parts were only hinted at.  If I read the book first, then I can enjoy the production while criticizing acting, casting, production values, but mostly screenplay.  However, I am enjoying these books very much because they are explaining and broadening my appreciation of the characters I met on the screen.  Absolutely worth the read.

I am about to start reading Dead Man's Chest, another Miss Fisher's Murder Mystery.  These are always fun and compact.