Finished BELLA POLDARK, the last book in the series

 

This was  a great last book for this series.  We are left knowing what has happened to most members of the family and, though some are unsettling, others are more than satisfying.  This book is the best of the series, and an excellent series it has been.  I'd be feeling the loss of this great world I have loved to visit, except for the fact that I have seven Outlander series books still on the shelf.

I am now about to start Sucker Punch, the last book in the Anita Blake series I could find on Amazon when I was shopping.  I hope Laurell K Hamilton is writing more...

Finished TREJO

 

This is at the very least, one of the best autobiographies I've ever read, and I'm toying with calling it the best.  Partially because Danny has led a very interesting life and also because he is so honest and soul searching.   The reader does not only learn about Danny's life, but also how he survived the worst of it (I'm certain most people would not), and the insights he has gained as he has matured.  Through the years as I have set up novelty booths at various events and celebrations around Dallas, I have fallen in love with the joy in which Mexican families celebrate and enjoy each other.  But, I have never understood machismo.  I've seen it throughout my teaching career, but have never understood what good it could possibly do.  Well, the early part of this book certainly answers that question.  But as the book progresses, we see Danny coming to grips with the destructiveness of it.  Now he just has to live a very long time to be able to take full advantage of this growth.  I have had the privilege of meeting him at a couple of fan conventions, and have to say he is one of the most caring and grateful humans I've met.  He seems to love his fans and he certainly deserves that long, long life....

I have now started Bella Poldark the twelfth and and last of the Poldark series.  This book starts catching us up with the major characters and what has been happening over the last 3-4 years.  I am looking forward to spending one last visit with this amazing family.

Finished VIRAL

 

A cautionary tale for those of us who don't have great health insurance and for people who capitalize on a health care system that is out of control.  I loved it, though it was not as gripping as most of his books.  It certainly was infuriating.

I have now started Trejo by Danny Trejo, a character actor I'm sure whoever is reading this has seen in something somewhere.  He has even been in a Snickers commercial and on Desperate Housewives as a self-styled emotional healer.  I have met him at a couple of fan conventions and I have not really met many actors as friendly to fans.  The man is very sweet.

But now, as I read the blurb on this book (and saw him in an interview promoting the book), I see he has not always been so.  I look forward to reading an optimistic biography of a person finding his way to a healthy and happy life.

Finished WAITING SEASON

 

It turns out there are problems and danger to be had during a Midwest winter.  But with fortitude and good friends and family, all can be endured and even enjoyed.  There is peace on the farm, separated by moments of sheer terror.

I then went back to War and Peace for another 50 pages.  Again I am struck with the similarity of writing styles with Mark Twain--tongue in cheek exaggeration and understatement.  The first skirmish  many of our characters experience with Napoleon's army is really a comedy of errors (if lives weren't lost) with neither army knowing what they are doing, communication being pretty much non-existent and exploits being greatly exaggerated (or outright lies) in reports to command.

I have now started Viral, by Robin Cook.  The pandemic causes a young couple to suspend usual vacation plans and rent a cottage on the Atlantic side of Cape Cod, where they encounter another kind of virus.

Finished THE DROWNING MAN

Who would crack a 2000 year old petroglyph out of the rock to sell to wealthy collectors?  And is the value of it worth human lives?  Father O'Malley and lawyer Vicky to the rescue...wait a minute...neither of them carries a weapon.  I think this was one of the best in the series.  Very suspenseful.

Then I read Falling BAKward, another of Henry Melton's YA sci-fi books.  And I think it is one of the best, just because of the suspense.  Suppose you decided to dig in your back yard looking for Native American artifacts and find instead a flying saucer complete with skeletons of aliens and a portal to another world!  And the story began so sweetly...  Loved this.

And yesterday evening, I started Waiting Season by Melanie Lageschulte, the fourth book in this series.  Thank goodness.  After two such suspenseful books, this one promises to be peaceful and very sweet.  Although winter on this Iowa farm may well turn out to be difficult for a woman alone.  Let's see...

 

Finished KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM CRY

 

This was not as "edge of your seat" thrilling as most of Clark's books that I have read.  (Is this her second last book?)  It is so new, it mentioned Biden!  It does methodically describe how everything happened step by step, which I appreciate.  I guessed who the murderer was very early in the story, but there were so many clues to the contrary, I wasn't sure.  There was also painfully few suspects.  Nevertheless, I stayed up very late last night finishing it.

I am now about to start a new Wind River Reservation Mystery, The Drowning Man.  I am looking forward to it.

Finished PEACE TALKS

 

For the first time in the Dresden Files this book does not finish the story.  It ends with a cliffhanger, and will be continued in Battle Ground when Harry and the other allied supernatural inhabitants of Chicago, will battle a strong and evil force lead by a god! In this Peace Talks, Harry has been summoned as security for the peace talks between the united sups and the Fomor (an arrogant race.)  This is complicated by the Wardens entertaining a resolution to expel Harry as a Warden while all his allies are occupied at the peace talks.  As usual, this book contains an exciting and bumpy ride.

I am now about to start Kiss the Girls and Make them Cry by Mary Higgins Clark.  When she died, I decided I'd better finish reading as many of her books as I could find.  I've read a pretty fair amount and was surprised at how many more there were.  I bought all I could find.