Finished THE VAMPIRE DIARIES THE RETURN: SHADOW SOULS

There were some areas toward the end that were not well edited--an artifact figured in that had never been introduced and the action became hard to follow occasionally, but it was in the climax and I didn't care.  Otherwise it was pretty good alternate universe stuff and we will continue to be plagued by the kitsunes in the next book, so I am enjoying the mythology of the story.



I have now started Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and am so far very much enjoying the characters and the times of it.  This is my first book by this author, but I have seen the mini-series of the sequel to this one.  I am already hooked enough to want to see the mini-series of this as well.

Gun Control?

This coming Wednesday would have been my sister, Wendy's 60th birthday.  But, she never actually saw her 24th.  My goodness...seems like yesterday that a gunman shot her in the back of the head as part of a gas station robbery in Atlanta.  This week has brought it up, of course.

She was not just a young adult killed by a thug...  She was an accomplished musician, trained music teacher as well as performance artist who could play every instrument in the orchestra and was virtuoso on flute and harp.  When she died, she was the concert harpist for the Atlanta Symphony.

She was also my sister.  Eight years younger than me and partially raised by me.  I remember going out to dinner with her near Underground Atlanta the Christmas before she died, walking together through a nearly empty parking lot singing a duet from HELLO DOLLY as loud as we could to enjoy the reverberation of the place.  She was full of life and exuberance and music.

Would increased background checks of potential gun buyers have stopped her killer?  I don't know, but it might have saved some one's sister...  Perhaps we should only elect legislators who have lost someone they love to an a--hole with a gun.

Or an explosion, for that matter.  I understand that one of the factors at play in West, Texas, is the under enforcement of existing regulations on businesses handling potential explosives.

I know this entry has nothing to do with reading.  The next one will be back on topic.

Finished ME by Katherine Hepburn

Katherine writes like she speaks (spoke.)  The language is elegant and conversational, but sometimes she just strings phrases of impressions together and becomes hard to follow.  That said, I enjoyed  the journey through her memory--what she remembered about friends, family, acquaintances, movies, and above all Spencer Tracy.  Her memories triggered memories for me of her movies and made me want to revisit quite a few of them.



I am now starting The Vampire Diaries   The Return: Shadow Souls.  I had liked the last book in the series because of the use of the Japanese mythical creature--the kitsune.  The set of kitsune twins that Smith created for the last book are still in this one and still wreaking havoc, so I am happy.  The odds against Elena and her friends defeating them seem quite great, so, great fun.

Finished Part 5 of Le Morte Darthur

This was the longest single section of the book, about 300 pages.  The next time I come back, I'll just have about 250 pages to finish up.  The book is just too long and too redundant to read straight through.  I admit there are some interesting incidents along the way, but is seems most of what knights do is joust (it is their way of saying "hello,") and covet other knights' (and kings') wives.  Since they travel around in armor, they never know who they are jousting with until they ask...often they wind up jousting the same person over and over again.  And there are only about four methods of winning a joust, so even that is redundant.  At the same time, this was the first complete account I've read of the story of Lancelot and Elaine as well as Lancelot's madness.  And, I'd never heard of Sir Tristram before.  I also found the earliest account I've read of an encounter with the Holy Sangreal (Grail???).  Altogether it has filled in some background in my knowledge of the story.  At the same time, Merlin, King Arthur, and even Morgan le Fay are only mentioned occasionally, so far.  Though everyone except Arthur knows what Lancelot and Guinevere are up to, we never linger on that tale much, either.



Now I have started Me by Katharine Hepburn.  Already I am fascinated and she isn't even out of her teens, yet.  I have already laughed and cried, and I am only 50 pages in.

Finished Sanctus

I loved this book.  Thought provoking.  It has been compared to DaVinci Code.  I think I liked it better.  This is a "must read" for people who don't mind questioning established tenants of religion.



I'm now going back to the next section of Morte d'Artur.

Finished Strange Brew

Although "Bacon" by Charlaine Harris was not about Sookie, it was set in her universe.  A vampire goes after revenge on people who killed her husband.  In "Signatures of the Dead," a witch and a werewolf go after a nest of vampires who have been killing people in their neighborhood.  In "Ginger", an Earth witch and several children are captured by two dark witches who are attempting to gain power in the community.  In "Dark Sins," by Jenna Maclaine, a witch who has been made a vampire discovers her power.  There was not a single story in the book that I found dull.  Great book of stories.



I have now started Sanctus by Simon Toyne, a religious thriller which is supposed to rival Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.  A monk has escaped the Citadel near Ruin, Turkey after learning the secret of the Sacrament that the monks have been guarding for, well, a long long time.  The repercussions this sets up are just starting to kick in (I'm on p 76.)  I'm already into it.

Finished 2061 Odyssey Three

This seemed really out there and strange.  But everything bizarre was verified with research done before Arthur C. Clarke started writing it.  Which made it weirdly believable every step of the way.  I love that he can make the most complicated concepts understandable.  The man is superb.



I have now started Strange Brew, a book of short stories about witches (and wizards) edited by P. N. Elrod.  So far I've read "Seeing Eye" by Patricia Briggs about a blind witch who goes up against a scary rival coven, "Last Call" by Jim Butcher about Harry Dresden coming up against a demon witch who has bespelled his favorite beer, "Death Warmed Over" by Rachel Caine, about a "resurrectionist witch" who raises a corpse to help her solve several murders, "Vegas Odds", by Karen Chance, about a war mage attacked by bespelled people she knows, "Hecate's Golden Eye" by P. N. Elrod in which Jack Flemming must recover a purloined cursed diamond.  I have just started "Bacon" by Charlaine Harris, in which a vampire contacts a witch for what purpose I have not yet discovered.  So far all of the stories have been very entertaining and there are none I'd pan.