Finished FREE U'TANSE

Having read this book after Secrets of the U'tanse, which came chronologically first, this felt a lot like de'j'vue.  But I did learn where some of the characters I met before came from and why some of the subjects were being discussed.  In this, one of the owners of a slave home has decided to get rid of all his slaves, one way or the other...Can they be rescued before they are obliterated?  As usual, I enjoyed this book along with all of Henry Melton's books.

I have now started Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow.  This has started differently from any novel I can remember.  It reads like non-fiction.  It is interesting, but I haven't picked up a lot of story yet.

Finished PEOPLE OF THE SONG TRAIL

However, if anyone reading this is a person I normally lend or give books to, this one fell apart in my hands within the first 100 pages.  I finished anyway (tenacious reader) but it is now going in the trash.
This was occupied with early Vikings looking for places in Greenland and Northeast Canada to settle.  Of course there were clashes with the people already here as well as between Vikings.  The adventure is filled with spirit power and is fascinating as usual.

When I read Secrets of the U'tanse, I speculated that I might have missed a book in sequence.  Now suspect that I may have.  The protagonist in this book is the same as in that one and when I started this book it felt like I had already read it.  Perhaps this is the book that introduces Joshua.  I shall see.

Finished GODS AND GODDESSES

Again, this is a beautifully illustrated series.  I especially loved the sections on Hindu deities (which I knew nothing about) and on the Norse gods (which I only knew a little about.)   I was completely surprised at the legend of the demise of the Norse gods.

I am now about to start Fairies and Elves from the same Enchanted World series.

Finished BULLET plus 3

A very old and powerful vampire who rules through fear is threatening to take over all vampires in America and instituted a blood bath.  Anita and allies begin making moves to consolidate American vampires to resist this force.  I continue to enjoy this series.

We started toward Florida on July 1.  I finished Bullet on the 4th when we arrived.  We spent a week without TV or the internet while we waited for our installation appointment with Xfinity.  However there was lots to do.  Quite a few things were here...the mobile as furnished, but the kitchen was only partially ready for cooking, we had no food, and we had certain needs (tables for instance) so there was plenty to do.  There was also plenty of time for reading.




I started Precious and Grace on the 4th after finishing Bullet, (the only Independence Day celebrating we did was hot dogs for supper).  I enjoy this relaxing sweet series.  Now the agency is tasked with helping a Canadian woman find her childhood.  The unexpected place the investigation leads to is, of course, gently and brilliantly navigated by Precious.



Wow.  Goodreads says I read this in February of 2013.  It was evidently the first book I read by this author.  My review was right on.  I read the entire book not remembering any of it.  And it has and unusual plot.  This is what happens when you get old, I fear.  I thoroughly enjoyed it all over again.



I have been reading The Vampire Files by P. N. Elrod, set during the 1930's, among the gangsters of Chicago.  Now this new (to me) series is set during the Revolutionary WI ar on Long Island.  Our gentleman vampire is a Tory.  This book explains, in 1st person, how Jonathan became a vampire which is, at least methodically, the same way Jack Fleming of The Vampire Files did.  That said, I enjoyed the story telling and the characters as much as I do the first series.
On Sunday, TR and I went to a movie (the first one we have gone to since Part 2 of The Deathly Hollows) at the clubhouse here in our mobile home park.  We saw Stan and Ollie. It was beautiful and remarkably done.  Funny and sad, ending with sweet pathos. I came away blown away by Stan Laurel's brilliance as the inventor and writer of all their routines.  Fabulous movie.

On July 14, I started People of the Songtrail, the 22 book in their America's Forgotten Past series.
Set about 1000 a.d., several people including Vikings and early Christians sought to colonize Iceland, Greenland, and Eastern Canada.  Of course, there were people already here and the colonizers were enemies to each other as well.

Finished ANGRY TIDE

Skipping a book in the series didn't bother me much, maybe because I've been seeing the series on PBS.  This book pretty much caught me up with where PBS is.  Which is good.  The book I missed is in my wish list on Amazon.  I wait until I have at least 5 books in there before I order.  This book ends with a wonderful bit of advice from Damelza which was not covered on PBS..at least, not yet.  It was advice for all of us for always.  Loved it.

I have now started Bullet, another in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series.  It begins with the customary humor, though not as funny as some.  This is a very normal life beginning which, we all know, is not typical of Anita Blake.

Finished FALL OF MAN IN WILMSLOW

We see a man's character and self-esteme gradually change in this book.  At times, the images and discussions were a bit technical, but not so I couldn't understand them.  The book was thought provoking and satisfying.

I have now started The Angry Tide, the seventh book in the Poldark series by Winston Graham.  This is a serious book crisis because I haven't read The Four Swans, the 6th in the series.  I thought it was in my epics pile, but could not find it anywhere.  TR said he might have left it at the Y.  Well, that would have been a long time ago and the Y has given away it's library...so it is gone.  I will order another one, and will continue on...but it is a true reader's crisis!  This book starts with Ross returning from parliament a little ahead of time...we haven't learned why yet.  So far we are being reintroduced to the characters and are being rubbed the wrong way by Vicar Osborne again.

Finished THE NIGHT IS FOREVER

This is, as with all of the books in this series, another one of these books that I enjoyed so much that I am sorry I have finished.  There are things that are alike in all of these books, but the things that are different are locations,  the character of murders and their motives, and, the character of the ghosts.  The ghosts never make the solution of the mystery easy, but they are helpful.  And it is very rare that I figure out who the murderer is ahead of the end.

I have now started Fall of Man in Wilmslow, a Novel of Alan Turing.  Lagercrantz (The Girl in the Spider's Web) has started at Alan Turing's death with the police inspector that is investigating his death.  It is shocking how much the fact that he was gay seems to rule the investigation, causing the officers to assume he was probably selling secrets to the Russians, etc., because of course someone capable of being gay must be doing all kinds of illegal things....  It was the mindset of the times...