Vintage Tales discussion

Werner wrote: "As it turned out, The Queen of the South flunked its second chance; I read through Chapter 7 and skimmed the rest carefully enough to do a review for another site (though not for Goodreads), but I'..."

Werner, Border Noir has taken over my reading for about the last ten days. At first, it was James Carlos Blake's The Rules of Wolfe, which was great as a crime genre novel. But then I picked up Don Winslow's The Cartel and found myself just transfixed by the story that he tells about the ongoing drug wars between the cartels in Mexico, including the SInaloa cartel. It is written from the viewpoints of two main characters, DEA agent Art Keller and Sinaloa cartel head, Adan Barrera, as they try to kill each other while they both pursue several other objectives. It is absolutely beautiful writing about the most terrible things, a novel that transcends genre. (It's also worth noting that it's a sequel to Winslow's earlier novel that has the same two main characters, The Power of the Dog) In reading this novel, you will understand Mexico and how the Mexican cartels in pursuing dominance to supply American drug users have ripped apart the fabric of their own country. I still have about a third of the long novel to go, but I know that I will give it five stars when I finish it.

The Queen of the South is definitely in the noir tradition, and the first and last parts take place in Mexico, in the drug-smuggling milieu. But most of the novel is actually set in southern Spain; so I don't know if it strictly qualifies as Border Noir.

Since he knows that I'm a fan of the work of H. P. Lovecraft, my good friend Andrew Seddon recently gave me a copy of the new anthology Eldritch Embraces: Putting the Love Back in Lovecraft (which includes one of his stories), so I've now started reading it. Personally, I have my doubts whether the kinds of themes Lovecraft worked with blend well with romance; but of course the "love" involved doesn't have to be of a romantic sort. (For instance, in Andrew's story, which I beta read, it's the love bond between the protagonist and his dog.)

Yesterday, I started reading the second book of C. S. Forester's Hornblower Saga, . This continues my reading of , which I got back in the 90s; I've previously read the first novel of the series, , but despite my good intentions, what with one thing and another, I've had to wait quite awhile to get back to it. It'll be interesting to compare the novel with the A & E movie adaptation(s), starring Ioan Gruffudd, which I've greatly enjoyed!

Having finished the second installment of the Hornblower Saga, I'd planned to start the third over the past weekend. To my surprise, though, I discovered that the third and last novel of The Young Hornblower Omnibus is the fifth novel of the series, not the third (and I want to read them in order). That left me scrambling to choose a different read from the many here at my house. The one I picked is one of the many Westerns my wife Barb owns, The Ballad Of Cat Ballou (1956) by Roy Chanslor. It's been on my to-read shelf for quite awhile.

I've finished reading Carol Shields' Unless. It's a haunting read; the writing is witty and crisp.

In keeping with my program of more seriously following up on the many series I've started and left hanging, I've finally started on the second installment of the adventures of my favorite urban fantasy heroine, Jane Yellowrock: Blood Cross by Faith Hunter. (It will also count towards my goal of reading 10 books with action heroines this year, for a challenge in another group.) I read the first book, Skinwalker, a bit over three years ago (my review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ), but was able to re-immerse myself in Jane's world very quickly!

Over the weekend, my wife and I started a new "car book:" Wizard's Daughter by Catherine Coulter. It's actually one she got for me for Christmas a few years ago at a local flea market, picking it because of the supernatural element (though truth to tell, Coulter is a writer whose work I've never read, and would probably not have picked for myself). Although it's the tenth book in a series, Sherbrooke Brides (Barb didn't know that when she bought it), my impression is that the series is a multi-generational saga, in which the books can stand alone pretty well. We'll see how we like it!

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (1951) is the fifth novel in her mystery series featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant. This one, however, is unusual in that it finds Grant laid up in the hospital, recovering from a work-related injury. To cope with his boredom, he decides to investigate and "solve" (at least to his own satisfaction) a real-life mystery nearly 500 years old: what really happened to the sons of England's King Edward !V, supposedly murdered by their usurping uncle Richard III? This month, I'm joining in a read of this book in another group.

I don't read a lot in the electronic format; but last night, when my Internet access was down for a time, I started on a sci-fi novel I'd recently downloaded to my Kindle app, The Fated Sky: Transgressor Trilogy Book One. It's written by my Goodreads friend E. M. Swift-Hook, and has a kind of Edgar Rice Burroughs vibe to it, only with more polished writing. Currently, it's only available as an e-book, but the self-publishing author hopes to bring out a paperback edition eventually.

While on vacation recently, during the times when I was reading in the fine public library in Harrisonburg VA, I started on an anthology edited by Marvin Kaye, Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural. I plan to finish it when I come back up there, Lord willing, next summer; so it goes onto my "being read intermittently" shelf.

The unifying theme of the anthology Unintended Consequences is, as the title implies, choices or actions that turn out (for good or ill) in unexpected ways. It's newly released by WolfSinger Publications (which also published Misunderstood and Tails From the Front Lines); and since my friend Andrew Seddon has a story included, he was kind enough to send me a review copy. I've just started it today, and I expect it will be a fairly quick read.

While I'm waiting to take part in our group's common read next month, I'm filling in the time by starting on The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour, Volume 2: Frontier Stories. Of course, I consider this a continuation of my read of The Collected Short Stories of Louis l'Amour, Volume 1: Frontier Stories; I'm reckoning the whole set as one three-volume book.

I have just joined your group today because as I was looking at your home page I noticed that you had previously read White Fang, which I am now reading. I just finished Call of the Wild, so this seemed like a logical choice as a companion book.
I noticed in one of the earlier posts that someone had read the book Unless by Carol Shields. I enjoyed parts of the book, but some parts not as much. I found the scenes with her daughter outstanding, which made the book a very worthwhile experience for me. She really makes you think.

Rosemarie, when you finish reading White Fang, I hope you'll chime in on that thread and let us know what you thought of it!

I will do that, certainly, thanks.

Rosemarie wrote: "I will do that, certainly, thanks."

Great!

This month, I'm taking part in our group's common read of Daddy-Long-Legs.

Barb and I started a new "car book" (that is, one I read to her when we're traveling in the car) this week: Dragonfly, by Frederic S. Durbin, a former Lutheran missionary. Originally published by Arkham House in 1999, it's something of a cross between Lovecraft and Bradbury, but with more influence by the latter. It's not a well-known book (I'd stumbled across it at our local flea market a number of years ago, and been intrigued by it), but it's quite good so far.

Usually, books I buy sit around for quite awhile (as in years) before I ever get around to reading them. But my Goodreads friend David Wittlinger, who recommended A Shot Through the Heart by J. C. Antonelli (which I bought earlier this year) to me, is anxious to know how I like it. So I promised him I'd give it as much priority as possible; and I've just started on it today. It would count toward a challenge this year in one of my groups --except that I already met my goal before I learned that you can't raise your goal after the fact. :-( (But I'll keep that lesson in mind the next time I take part in a challenge!)

I've just started Daughter of the Eagle, the sixth novel in Don Coldsmith's multi-generational Spanish Bit saga, tracing the history of a Plains Indian tribe, "the People," from the introduction of the horse through the succeeding centuries. This installment is set in the late 1500s, and the heroine is a young Indian woman who chooses to opt for the path of a warrior. This is a re-read for me; I want to review it for another site, but to do so well, I'll need a refresher for my memory!

This month, I'm taking part in a common read of Stephen King's Joyland in my Supernatural Fiction Readers group. Despite his popularity, I've only read two novels by King before (and some of his short stories).

I am reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. It is a reread but I read it a long time ago and don't remember any details, including the ending.

Another of my groups, Reading for Pleasure, also has a spooky mini-common read going this month, of Henry James 1898 classic The Turn of the Screw; so having finished Joyland, I've now joined that one. This will be my third read of this tale, which is unusual for me in recent decades; but I want to re-do the review which I've posted here on Goodreads, focusing more on the text itself, and I want to do a re-read so the text is fresh in my mind.

I finished The Moonstone late last night, and am now reading The Monk by Matthew Lewis. It is very dramatic, so far.

Following up on my reread of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, I'm now reading A Casebook on Henry James's The Turn of The Screw. I'd originally had this on my "read" shelf, but I'm thinking now that I only read part of it the first time around.

Since I'm expecting to receive a review book in the mail anytime now, and want to start on it ASAP once it arrives, I deliberately wanted to choose a book that would be short and quick for my current read. So I selected Carpathian Castle by Jules Verne, which I picked up at a flea market a few years ago. It's not one of Verne's better-known works, and my expectations for it aren't high; but it should provide passable entertainment for a few days. :-)

I finished The Monk in time for Halloween. This book had every feature of a gothic novel, as well as poetry, and written by a 19 year old in 1796. What a book! I gave it four stars.
I am reading somethin less lurid now, The Pioneers
by James Fenimore Cooper.

Rosemarie, I read The Pioneers back in 1971, for a book report in my junior college American Literature class --we got to pick our own choice of book, and I liked Cooper as an author, having previously read The Last of the Mohicans and The Spy. I liked all three of these books, though so far I've only reviewed the Last of the Mohicans here on Goodreads.

Both the latter book and The Pioneers are part of Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales series, following the life of woodsman hero Natty Bumpo. I read these out of order; but in keeping with my resolve to be more intentional about finishing up series I've started, I hope to eventually read the other three books in order. The series opener is The Deerslayer; I've sometimes thought about nominating that one for a common read in this group, but I don't know how much interest there would be.

I am chose to read The Pioneers because it is about a family. I have always enjoyed books about pioneers and settlers, not so much about the earlier days.

Like The Pioneers, The Deerslayer is set in upstate New York, but around 1740, so about 50 years earlier than the former novel. Settlers are there, and there are some family relationships in the book; but human settlement on the New York frontier wasn't nearly as extensive in this period as it would be later.

While still filling in time as I wait for a book in the mail, I opted for another quick read: Wonder Struck by Brian Selznick. This book was a kind gift a while back from one of my Goodreads friends, Jackie; it's quite thick, so doesn't look like a quick read at all, but the thickness is deceptive. Much of the story is actually told in pictures, although it's not a conventional "graphic novel" either --Selznick's concept is actually something quite unique. I started it this morning, and have already "read" over 100 pages.

Holly- I had the same trouble with Catch 22, in fact I had trouble getting through but if you keep going to the end it is rewarding.

I enjoy the Selznick books and have enjoyed all three. The combination of graphic novel and prose novel is intriguing.

As for Catch 22, it was a book worth reading, but I didn't think it was funny.
My humour is more along the lines of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- a Trilogy in five parts.

Continuing my reading of relatively short books while I wait for a coming review copy (I understand that it's now in the mail!), I started today on The Politics of God and the Politics of Man, by French historian and sociologist Jacques Ellul. Even though Ellul was one of the more significant Christian thinkers of the 20th century, I've never read any of his writings. This book has been on my to-read shelf for a long time, so I thought this was a good opportunity to finally read it.

I've been champing at the bit to begin reading my review copy of Christian author Heather Day Gilbert's newly-released historical novel Forest Child, the sequel to her outstanding God's Daughter (which earned five stars from me). Today, I finally got started on it! The two books together make up her Vikings of the New World Saga, a re-telling of the medieval Icelandic Saga of the Greenlanders from the distaff perspective.

I'm reading Shopgirl and other library books afterwards

I have started reading Jules Verne's Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (20 000 leagues etc.). I am enjoying it much more that From the Earth to the Moon, which was about the building of the rocket to the moon.

Having started a new paper book yesterday morning, I also started a new e-book before going to bed last night: Black Amazon of Mars by Leigh Brackett. Despite her stature in the SF genre, Brackett is a writer whose work I've never yet read; so I'm badly overdue. This particular book is the second installment of her Eric John Stark series; I opted to read this one out of order because Kindle gave me the chance to try it for free before I buy a paper copy.

Ordinarily, I don't do holiday-themed reading. But this year, I'm trying to be more proactive about pursuing series I've started; and although I've read a number of the books in Sharyn McCrumb's Ballad series, I've neglected it in recent years. So this time of year seemed like a good one for reading Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past, especially since it's short. I won't have a lot of time for reading for the next few days, but I actually was able to get a start on this one today.

I am still reading the Jules Verne book and am over half-way. I am also reading some children's lit, including The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare.

I finished the Verne book. I am reading a book by the Canadian author Ralph Connor, Glengarry School Days: A Story of Early Days in Glengarry. This is his most popular book and a very enjoyable read. It was written in 1902 and is based on his memories of growing up in Glengarry County, Ontario in the 1860's. This is a reread for me, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a cozy Canadian read.

As our current "car book" (that is, a book Barb and I read out loud in the car when we're riding together --not a book about cars!), we started yesterday on the fifth book in Suzanne Arruda's Jade del Cameron series, Treasure of the Golden Cheetah. These are historical mysteries set in colonial Africa just after World War I, and featuring one of our favorite fictional characters: former wartime ambulance driver turned photojournalist Jade, who has a Winchester rifle, a pet cheetah, a green-eyed stare that can face down most people, and more than her share of both guts and heart.

Most people, at least in the U.S., have seen or heard of the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th St., starring Edmund Gwenn as a department store Santa Claus who believes he's the real thing (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039628/ ); but the 1947 novelization by Valentine Davies Miracle on 34th Street, who also wrote the story the movie script was based on, isn't nearly as well known. (I had to add it to the Goodreads database yesterday!) But the BC library has a copy, so I decided to read it this month. It'll be a quick read; I started reading it yesterday, and expect to finish it tomorrow.

I am reading Just William by Richmal Crompton. It was written in 1922 and is still funny.

One of the members of another Goodreads group I belong to uses the name "martin eden" as her Internet handle, so it's not a great surprise that she's a big fan of Jack London, and particularly likes his autobiographical novel Martin Eden. So I've started reading that one on her recommendation. I'm a long-time London fan (I discoverd The Call of the Wild as a kid), but this one and The Iron Heel are the only two of his major novels that I haven't read.

I'm still reading my final read of 2016 Academ's Fury and hope to finish it in the next few days. It is still a pretty good read for book II of a six book series.This fantasy series by Jim butcher is great thus far.

I promised my Goodreads friend Chandler Brett that his debut novel, A Sheltering Wilderness, would be the first book I started reading in the new year, so I kept my word and started it this weekend. (Before, I was finishing up a book I'd started last month.) This isn't a review copy however; it was a kind gift last year from another Goodreads friend, who often passes along books she's liked but doesn't expect to read again to friends. So far, I'm liking it!

I've never read anything by Hardy, so I'm starting with Jude the Obscure

I am reading Little Women for the first time. I find some sections more interesting than others, but am enjoying the book as a cozy winter read. And Jo is definitely my favourite character.

I am reading Jude the Obscure as my first classic novel of 2017. I started it on January 1 and am already 3/4 of the way through. I had heard how depressing it was, but so far I am really enjoying it. Hardy writes so well and so simply in this novel. He leaves a lot unsaid, but his message comes through loud and clear.