Finished THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING

For everyone who thought I'd never finish this book--Nyah, nyah, n-nyah hyah!  The story ends nobly and wise with great insights.  It is the best telling of what happened at the end and how Camelot disintegrated that I have read.  It made sense.  This book does a great job of bringing the various tellings of the Arthurian legend together into a sensible, noble and sensitive tale.

I am now about to start Intervention by Robin Cook.  Jack Stapleton begins the book with a nightmare--a nightmare he used to have shortly after his family was killed, but hasn't had in a very long time...

Finished KITE RUNNER

After having read True American about a Pakistani man translated to Texas, I wanted to read a novel that would give me more insight into Muslim culture.  This certainly is a beginning of that.  The clash between Sunni and Shea is discussed as it effected (effects) culture in Afghanistan and I rapidly found I had no trouble equating the Taliban with Nazis (Hosseini strongly implies it).  It is not an easy book to read, since so much of the inhumanity described cannot be shrugged off as fiction--it had happened and is probably still happening.  It probably also describes life under ISIS and the Boco Harram.  But, I believe, it is a hopeful book written by a hopeful and involved man.  I will read more books by him.



With only a few more an 100 pages left, I am returning to The Once and Future King.  I will now read the fourth and last book about the overthrow of Arthur.

Finished A WRINKLE IN TIME

I think calling this Science Fiction is not specific enough.  It is highly acclaimed and has been for a very long time, but this classification may have been part of what kept me from reading it.  I've had a love/hate relationship with SciFi in my lifetime, but have always enjoyed Fantasy.  I believe this is a Space Fantasy.  Of course it is childish--it is for children--but it is also mind expanding, and therefore, excellent for children (and maybe me.)  Probably my quibbling with genre is picky, because,  since it was classified, a huge body of knowledge about space has been accrued...

I have now begun Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.  Themes of class exploitation, friendship, and gentle enjoyment of ones culture, as well as growing up make up this book.  I am already into the characters of the two fathers and their backgrounds.

Finished PEOPLE OF THE RAVEN

I swear each of these books is better than the last.  Since writing People of the Wolf new people have been discovered living in the area that is now Seattle--Caucasoid people.  Where they came from is a mystery, but the bones were definitely dated to about 9000 BC, meaning both Mongoloid and Caucasoid people existed at that place and time.  Using that discovery, the Gears come up with a whole new story focusing on suspicions these people might have of the other while able to see and understand the obvious similarities.  Add serious climate change at the same time, and the story just gets better.

I have now started A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine l'Engle.  How I have missed this book, I have no idea, but I have indeed never read it.  I have read the first two chapters and have met several most delightful characters.

Finished FLEECED

I think I actually enjoyed this more than any other book I have read (so far) by Carol Higgins Clark.  Now we have two murders, people whose lives are in danger, multiple villains, flawed heroes, and a budding romance in the background of the action.  It was mystery, thriller, and really fun character study.  Loved it.

I have just started reading People of the Raven by Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear.  It appears to be set at about the same time as People of the Wolf  (about 7000 BC) and is correcting/ adding to the information in that novel after the discovery of a Caucasoid skeleton from about the same time as the appearance of the first Mongoloid skeletons found on our continent.  I can't wait to get into it.

Finished COLD DAYS

Dresden, recovered from a really bad case of death, is now the Winter Knight and is charged with killing the Winter Lady, Maeve, an immortal.  He is not sure he even can kill an immortal, and he sure doesn't want to...not without a really good reason.  But, boy, is there a good reason!

Not only is the book exciting reading from cover to cover, but there are also a lot of good belly laughs along the way.

I have now started Fleeced by Carol Higgins Clarke.  Two likable old men are dead, one of an apparent heart attack and the other of accidental drowning.  However, one of them appears to have been robbed as well, and the robbery is looking to have been committed by the manager of his building.  Regan Reilly must attempt to discover the truth in just one week-end.

Finished MURDER ON THE BALLARAT TRAIN

Once again Kerry Greenwood has done it.  Complicated triple plot, red herrings, character development, violence and danger, and satisfying solutions all in 151 pages.  Lots of fun.

I have now started Cold Days, a Harry Dresden novel by Jim Butcher.  Having been murdered with several bullets, Harry now finds himself recovering in the home of Queen Mab for whom he is now to serve as Winter Knight...and office he is not enamoured with, to say the very least.  Like the others in the series, this starts with Harry in danger and contending with supernatural violence from page one.