Finished A SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET

As Madeleine L'Engle's character describes his writing style, I realized it was exactly the style the author was using--not really sci-fi, but fantasy mixed with sci-fi.  Time travel mixes with a unicorn and telepathy to save the world.  A sweet and strangely Christian story.

I have now started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Kosseini, the author of The Kite Runner.  The latter was so well written and the world so foreign/ intriguing to me, I felt the need to read more of his books.  This one will be about women living in the shadow of the Afghanistan conflicts.

Finished PEOPLE OF THE THUNDER

Great characters.  Very satisfying ending.  I do enjoy these books by the Gears.

Have just started A Swiftly Tilting Planet, the third book in the A Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L'Engle.  Meg is now married to Calvin and pregnant with her first child.  The twins are in college and Charles Wallace is fifteen.  A petty dictator in a tiny South American country has decided he wants to nuke the world.  Charles Wallace is charged with stopping this by going back in time and helping people make better decisions.  Whew!  Big job!

Finished Mount Vernon Love Story

It was really quite a lovely read, especially if you like historical romance.  This was written early in her career and was well researched.  You need to understand that the copyright date was 1968, though. an be aware that the story nearly ignores the elephant in the room--slavery.  The word "slave" is mentioned twice.  Every other time they are "servants." and are, as was typical in that time (and before), portrayed as devoted and happy.  Read it for the romance---

I have now started People of the Thunder, by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear.  The is the second half of the story started in the last of their books I read, People of the Weeping Eye.  It starts right where it left off, and gives enough exposition to help me remember the last book.  This story may included some of their most fascinating characters yet.

Finished SKIN GAME

Stayed up late last night finishing this.  Page 1 through page 600 non-stop action.  Whew!  I slept until 10:00 this morning.  This 15th book in the series may be the best so far.  LOVE this series.

I'll be picking up a new book from the top of my Mary Higgins Clark pile tonight.  Out of the frying pan into the fire.  ⤗

Well, not frying pan to fire after all.  The next book on my Mary Higgins Clark pile is Mount Vernon Love Story, a biographical story of George Washington's relationship with Martha (known by her loved ones as Patsy.)  Turns out they were not as stiff or perfect as the legend says.  The technique she is using to tell the story keeps it moving and emphasizes how amazing our first peaceful turnover of leadership was.

Finished PICTURE MISS SEETON

Very British--vocabulary.  So that takes some work as does the author's tendency to report dreams, musings, and gossip in the same font as the action and without quotation marks.  Add to that the copyright date of 1969, and you just have to take some time to get used to the style.  Once you have, it is hysterical (in the very funny sense) as well as being both plot and character driven.  Loved it.

I am now about to start the 15th book in the Dresden series by Jim Butcher, Skin Game.  Harry Dresden was the only practicing wizard in the Chicago phone book (or maybe listed on line for Chicago to bring it up to date.)  Now he is the Winter Knight (subject to Mab) and has a demon growing in his head that will break out in three days killing him.  Mab will cure him, but only after he has completed an impossible mission with some of the worst beings in the universe....

Finished FLIRT

A short, fast read book, but even so, it was not innocuous.  Mayhem abounds, kicked off by what had appeared to be perfectly innocent flirting.  Fun.

Have just started Picture Miss Seeton, by Heron Carvic.  Set in England, it is pretty old (c 1968) and is the first of at least ten books in the series.  Miss Seeton is not (at least yet) a Miss Marple type character since she is quite conservative and does not look for or appreciate interaction with the law or controversy.  It was just a coincidence that she was walking past a man who appeared to be hitting his girlfriend, and she, considering such behavior rude, quite naturally poked him with her umbrella.  It was just a coincidence that she got a good look at his face and that, when it was discovered that he had just stabbed the woman to death, Miss Seeton, being a retired art teacher, was quite capable to drawing his face.  Now she is the only witness and the murderer is known to police as criminal, but still at large.

Finished DEMELZA by Winston Graham

It pretty well followed season 2 of Poldark on PBS.  There were other stories, though, and far better explained stories.  I'm glad I read it an am looking forward to book 3 of the series.

I have now started reading Flirt, the 18th novel in Laurel. K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series.  It opens with her consulting with a difficult client who seems seriously unwilling to take "No" for an answer.  And he is surprising worldly as well as intelligent.

This is the shortest of Laurell K. Hamilton's books that I have encountered.