Finished JACKDAWS

This is a wonderful WWII thriller about an all female sabotage team.  They were up against a very smart anti-resistance intelligence officer.  It was an "edge of my seat" book that I absolutely had to stay up long enough last night to finish.

I have now started Blood Communion by Anne Rice, in which I get to drop in on Lestat's life again.  And, again I can't rave enough about Rice's lush environments and especially view of history which I understand from the blurb this book will visit.



I am able to start this because Julie (TR's daughter) has sent me another box of my books from home.  She also sent three more of The Enchanted World series, this one The Fall of Camelot.  I am about to start it.

Read first 100 pages of JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL

The book is linguistically readable and very interesting with tongue-in-cheek humor (similar to Mark Twain's) which I easily relate to.  However the print is so small and the binding is so strong that I physically struggle to read the print near the binding and, after a very short time, my eyes and hands are tired.  So I am pausing to pick it up another day.

I have now started Jackdaws by Ken Follett.  Jackdaws are a number of young women who were sent by Britain to France during the Nazi occupation to work with the French Resistance and sabotage strategics targets.  It starts with one young woman and her husband who are trying to destroy the communication network in Paris using which troops would be sent to the beach(es) invaded on D Day.  The Nazis needed this since they didn't know which beach(es) would be invaded.

Finished TALES OF TERROR

I didn't expect to enjoy this one because the horror genre is not my favorite.  But this surprised me.  Many of these stories had a sweet aspect to them, and as usual, the illustrations and the storytelling was superb.

Unfortunately I am now close to out of books.  I don't have another bathroom book at the moment and I am closing in on being out of other books.  I need to get more...quarantine may be good for my reading list.

Finished Trevor Noah's BORN A CRIME

As I watched our taped Daily Show from last night, Trevor mentioned something about how much he had learned from his mom, and I was able to understand where he was coming from having finished the book last night.  Though we have some idea of how oppressive apartheit was, Trevor shows it to us through the eyes of a little kid--a kid whose mom was black and father was white.  The book's organization reminded me a bit of Larry Sander's Incoming in that is was sort of chronological and sort of his normal-ish to really traumatic!  These are stories, loosely organized, that give insight to South Africa under apartheit and the during the gradual ending (and not ending) of apartheit.   Noah's personality, sense of humor, and style make this eminently readable.  Loved it and learned from it.

I have now started Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.  At first, the length of it--1006 six pages of very fine print and the character of Dr. Strange in the Gotham TV series made me think it might be a comic book story made really long.  I wasn't sure I wanted to read it.  After reading the blurb on the back of the book and the reviews, I figured I'd read the first chapter and decide then.  I'm only 8 pages in, and nothing has happened, but the writing is engaging and a little humorous...so we will see...

Finished THE BETRAYED

As usual, it was an enjoyable read.  It varied from the formula a bit.  Though I've never been to Tarrytown, NY or Sleepy Hollow, I enjoyed the scenery described and the references to Washington Irving, whose stories I, along with everyone else in the world, have read.

I have now started Trevor Noah's Born a Crime.  His childhood was very different from that I have encountered in any other biography.  Fascinating.  I love seeing life through another person's eyes, especially a person growing up under circumstances so different from mine.

Finished KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

I hadn't known anything about this....it is shocking.  Especially since my husband is part Osage.  Even if you are very very smart, if you are a member of a minority, our government has evidently always been able to figure out how to screw you.

I have now started The Betrayed, by Heather Graham.  It is another Krewe of Hunters, ghost driven mystery/ romance.  This one is set in Tarrytown, NY, specifically in Sleepy Hollow.  These books are relaxing and fun.

Finished POWER OF THE U'TANSE

Henry Melton obviously has a powerful background in math, science, and engineering leading him to speculate on all things futuristic and sci-fi.  The world he has created in which humans are forced to adapt to a poisonous planet, Ko, and a vicious race of monsters who are their slave masters continues after four preceding books of the series to be infinitely fascinating and inventive.  The free U'tanse of Ko live in hiding and keep themselves supplied with breathable air, transportation, and food by generating hydroelectric power in a plant left by a previous slave race who were wiped out by the present slave masters.  But the equipment is wearing out and failing.  This is the story of the U'tanse finding alternative sources of power in the face of extraordinary danger.  As with all other books by this author, I loved it and can't wait for more.

I have now started Killers of the Flower Moon:  The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.  In the 1920's the Osage Indians of Oklahoma were rich, since oil had been discovered on their reservation.  Each registered member of the tribe got a monthly check and their lives had now become a wonderful mix of ancient tribal customs and modern comforts.  But people began to be found murdered (the first two by gun shots) and the situation is to deteriorate from there.