ejj's 2016 attempt, one more time

Why not? I'm an optimist, after all . . . just because I haven't come anywhere close in recent years doesn't mean I'm not going to try. At any rate, I like to record my reading, no matter how much or little.

Good attitude I am hoping to get close to the mark this year. As long as your enjoying yourself along the way is at that really matters. Good luck and Happy reading!

Therese

Welcome back!

Gee, I think I already missed one . . . ! Well, here goes what I know:
1. Sins of the Fathers by Ruth Rendell. This mystery features her detective, Chief Inspector Wexford, but only marginally: a Reverend Archery comes to town and asks about Wexford's first big murder case. The convicted (and now dead) killer was the father of a young woman who is now the romantic interest of Archery's son, and Archery doesn't like the idea of his joining that genetic pool. Perhaps, he thinks, that wasn't the correct killer, perhaps his son is not in love with the daughter of a murderer. Archery investigates, eventually with the help of his son, and I wouldn't dream of revealing what they found out. Rendell is, as usual, atmospheric and sometimes creepy and a wonderful plotter. It's a satisfying mystery, as I expected.

2. A Valentine from Harlequin: Six Degrees of Romance by Nancy Warren, Catherine Spencer, Margaret Moore, Maggie Shayne, Michele Hauf, and Christine Bell. This lightweight bit of fluff had an interesting premise: Harlequin editors wrote the first couple of paragraphs and then six different authors finished the story in their own styles. I don't know that I'll remember any of the stories particularly, but they all included a "happily ever after" romance ending (even one with the couple having just been turned into zombies). Actually, that one also included the highly inaccurate hasty wedding with the priest in the kitchen just before he was bitten/eaten--but with no witnesses, so not actually a valid marriage. Pretty basic stuff, that.

I think it's pretty safe to say my next book will be just a bit weightier!

3. Weighed in the Balance by Anne Perry. This is a William Monk and Hester Latterly story, very interesting. Their friend Sir Oliver Rathbone take the case of the Countess Zorah Rostova, who has accused recent widow Gisela of murdering her husband, exiled prince Frederick. Gisela sues Zorah for libel, and Monk investigates. Was the prince murdered? Would he have returned home to lead the fight against what most agree is the inevitable unification of German states? Could he have forced his mother, the Queen, to accept Gisela after he choose exile in order to marry her? While it seems possible that the prince was murdered, the evidence suggests that Gisela could not possibly have done it. Hester actually unlocks this mystery at the eleventh hour . . . yay, woman power!

4. Photographs with Memories, a book--novella, really--I copy edited for a work colleague. Not published yet, so, as usual with things I've worked on, I won't say much about it. It's a romance (explicit) between two young marines.

5. Wake the Dead by Dorothy Simpson, a British murder mystery of the classic kind. Detective Inspector Luke Thanet is at a village fete when he learns that the lady of the manor, already bedridden by a stroke, has been murdered. The household includes her dependent spinster sister; her son, a member of Parliament; his cool, lovely wife; a spunky young housekeeper; a cook; and an elderly gardener. One is a secret gambler; one an unfaithful spouse looking for a divorce (and remarriage); one has suffered a terrible loss for which the victim was responsible . . . Thanet is a happily married man, a father, and less quirky than many detectives, but he approaches his job with dedication and solves the crime by inspiration as much as steady work. Well-written!

6. Sword and Sorceress IX edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Fun volume of short stories, though I have to admit that short stories aren't really my thing: I much prefer the depth of a novel and a longer unfolding of themes and plots and such. Still, it was fun. I made the mistake of Googling Bradley while I was reading the book and finding some not very pleasant history associated with her, which is another reason not to do that in the future--or to read things written by Anonymous, I suppose.

7. The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov. MINOR SPOILERS: I'm pretty sure I've read this before, but I didn't remember it well, so I enjoyed it all over again. The story starts on Earth, where a scientist accidentally discovers how to exchange matter with another universe and produce what seems to be unlimited amounts of free energy. Eventually, another scientist suggests that this is not entirely a risk-free exchange; that the laws of attraction are being changed so drastically that eventually the sun will explode. The second section of the book concerns the other universe, where triads live together and feed on the sunlight--which is beginning to wane, but the energy from the other universe (ours) provides plenty of "food" for these beings. Some realize that the exchange will make our universe's sun explode, but essentially they don't care. The third section of the novel concerns the society on Earth's Moon, where a disgraced scientist has come to prove the theory about the dangers of the energy transfer. Finally, a solution is found that is elegant in its simplicity: and the scientist finds love, too. Good fun.

8. The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie. I started reading this online at work one day (lunchtime, of course!) when I realized I had forgotten to bring a book or my Nook with me. It's the first Tommy and Tuppence adventure, and fairly good fun it was. There are secret papers and a mysterious foe, a missing girl, an American millionaire, and, in the end, not one but two successful romances.

9. Betrayer by C. J. Cherryh. Part of the longstanding Foreigner series, this is a somewhat tense outing. Bren, the padhi, has been sent by Ilisidi to negotiate with the leader of an area not part of the ashidi. He cautiously finds the young man a worthy ally, but doesn't know if Tabini supports Ilisidi's negotiations with the young lord. Gradually, he and his security discover that renegade Guild members are creating turmoil in the area, and he and his security are on the run for the second half of the book. Meanwhile, Ilisidi, the young heir, and others are under attack at Bren's estate.

10. The Truth About Billy, by Lori Lyn, another work I copy edited that's not out yet. So not saying much, but it was a fun adventure-romance set in the Amazon.

11. Intruder, by C. J. Cherryh, the next in the Foreigner series. Bren Cameron and staff are back in the capital, awaiting the signing of the historic treaty. The aiji's family is also back together, with Cajeiri on uneasy terms with his pregnant mother. The heir is also bored being so confined to the new living quarters, but he's given the option to pick out his own furniture, which he does with zest, including a cage for a not-quite-tame pet. The padhi worries a fair amount, but has little of moment to do in this episode--definitely less tense than the previous volume. It's a pleasant read, but I'm sure the next volume will ratchet up the tension again, and it's nice to have this momentary respite.

12. Protector by C. J. Cherryh. In this entry into the series, the tension does ratchet up, as predicted. Cajeri, on the verge of his fortunate ninth birthday, finally gets his human friends from the space station as guests. The children, along with Bren and his four bodyguards, go with Cajeri's great-grandmother, Illisidi, to his great-uncle Tatsiegi's estate. Security has been considerably upgraded there, but two intruders are eventually found. There's a tense visit to a neighboring estate, some shooting occurs, and the book ends with the party going back to the capital--and the feeling that one must get the next book immediately!

13. The Archery Contest by Lori Lyn. I copy-edited this previously published historical romance. As usual, I don't comment here on the books I've worked on!

14. Fire in the Mist by Holly Lisle. I may have read this book before, though I didn't remember it clearly if so. It's an unusual fantasy about a country girl and free spirit who herds sheep. Away in the mountains, she senses trouble and goes home to find her village destroyed and mother dead. She levels the village (magically) and heads for a larger village, eventually ending up confronted by female mages who insist she be trained. The city in which their school exists is divided between the mages and the male sajes, who have their own school of magic for boys. Meanwhile, an ancient evil has awakened and is killing young women who possess magic. Can the country girl Faia survive her encounter with the evil Sahendre and keep the mages from destroying the sajes?

15. Driving Force by Dick Francis. Set, as virtually all Francis's books are, in the world of thoroughbred racing, this entry centers on Freddie Croft, a former jockey who now runs a transport business. Two of his drivers come back late one night with a dead man in the truck, a hitch-hiker they picked up against his standing orders. It seems the man died of natural causes, but an attempt later that night to go through the truck, and another death a week or two later, start Freddie wondering what's going on and whether he's being targeted. The reason behind events, tied to a dead rabbit and some sick horses, is surprising and complex, and there's plenty of other activity to keep things humming along--Freddie's daughter from an earlier relationship, the crashing of his office computers, new clients and old, an annoying but worthwhile charity caring for old horses, and a possible new romance all combine to make a satisfying page-turner of a tale.

16. An Imperfect Spy by Amanda Cross. Hmm. I have just finished this book, and I may have further thoughts after a while. It was not, in important ways, a traditional mystery: the one suspected murder in the book turns out not to have been (most likely) a murder at all, and the one confirmed homicide was committed by someone in jail for it (justly? there's a question). At any rate, Kate Fansler, a literature professor, agrees to co-teach a law and literature course at an un-prestigious law school, while her husband agrees to run a law clinic that means to help those imprisoned without adequate representation. Kate is cornered by a woman who is the secretary at the school, Harriet, who turns out to be much more interesting and convoluted than she seems at first. There are many references to Le Carre and George Smiley, as Harriet quotes him frequently--she is, I'm assuming, the person referred to by the title. Fansler's character is one I want to admire more than I do: she has an attractive, adoring, intelligent husband but sees no real problem with occasionally sleeping with other men if she so desires (though, to be fair, she does not within this book--just thinks about it). This book, published in 1995, covers sexism in a way that seems oddly dated to me--not that I believe sexism is dead, but the landscape has changed a lot in my lifetime, and this sensibility seems to belong more to the 70s than the 90s.

17. Open Wings by Barbara Cartland. I'm sure I read this before, many years ago, but didn't remember it at all. What surprised me was that it was better than I expected; I know Cartland wrote dozens or hundreds of books and I vaguely remember some pretty silly plots. Not this one: This story was set during WWII; Lorna is a vicar's eldest daughter, who looks after her twin siblings, a pair of 17-year-olds, and her younger sister, who is a precocious 15. She has a busy and happy life, but then she meets a wounded pilot from a nearby convalescent home. Jimmy is handsome, wealthy, and in love with her almost immediately. He sweeps her off her feet: the local doctor, a kind and steady guy, loves her, too, but Lorna can only see Jimmy. They marry; Lorna experiences jealousy and comes to terms with it just as her husband is seriously injured. One of the things that struck me about this book was that nearly everyone was a nice, kind, upright, moral person, with minor flaws--but basically decent human beings. Lorna's brother (one of the twins) desperately wants to get into the war and become a pilot, though his twin sister is lost without him. Lorna's younger sister is rather a flirt and wants to grow up a little too fast. Jimmy has flaws, certainly, but Lorna grows as a woman in her understanding of what it will take to make her marriage work.

18. Run by Ann Patchett. My notes say I acquired this book for my book club, but I'm sure I didn't read it until now. It was a pleasure--beautifully written in terms of both the prose itself and the story/characters. Widower Bernard Doyle has three sons: Sullivan, a bad boy who has just returned from Africa, and the adopted black brothers Tip and Terry, one a studious ichthyologist and the other religiously devout and devoted to their uncle, a retired priest. Doyle is a former mayor of Boston, his career ruined when Sullivan's car accident resulted in his girlfriend's death, who has transferred his political ambition to his two younger sons. But Tip only cares about fish and Terry only cares about his uncle, who is reputed to be able to cure the sick. One snowy evening the two sons join Doyle at a Jesse Jackson speech, after which an SUV skids in the snow. Tip is pushed out of the way by a woman who is injured; he escapes with a broken ankle, but she is taken to the hospital for surgery. Her young daughter travels to the hospital with the Doyles, who learn that the woman is actually the mother who gave the two sons up for adoption. Kenya, the daughter, is a runner (hence the novel's title). The entire novel takes place in one 24-hour period, with a final chapter set about four years later.

I'm happy that I'm reading more these days and that I read this beautifully written book, a sharp contrast to some of the self-published, unedited dreck that has crossed my path. I'm reading two other works at the moment, but I'm nearly sure I won't finish one of them, a self-published, unedited piece of crap!

19. Eocene Station by Dave Duncan. This is a book I was given as an Early Reviewer. It begins in 2084, in a world of advanced communications but one in which there has been a reversion to an overtly strict morality--formal dress, no obvious sexuality, criminalization of homosexuality. K.N. "Cannon" Ball is a former football player, now an auditor, who has just reported a massive criminal operation based in Germany; it has world-wide financial repercussions. After there is an attempt to kill Cannon by crashing a jet into his private retreat. he escapes to the only place he can think he might be safe, Eocene Station, a scientific enclave reached by time travel tens of thousands of years into the past. Somewhat surprisingly, his young, famous, beautiful actress wife, Tempest Fugit (Cannon is her fourth husband), goes with him after she has had a traumatic experience. The little world of Eocene Station is a community carved out of a steaming jungle. It's surrounded by an electrified fence that, it soon becomes clear, is inadequate to keep out huge predators. Cannon is busy trying to perform the audit he was hired to do at the station, but between the chaotic dangers from outside the fence and the tumultuous relationship his has with his wife, Cannon has his hands full.

I have to admit that I was not entirely charmed by the future world--Cannon's and Tempest's current time--Duncan presents, as hypocrisy seems rampant and human rights have taken some steps backwards. However, Eocene Station is a fascinating world and the danger and issues there are presented seamlessly and believably. Cannon is an imperfect hero; neither he nor Tempest are flawless in the least, but they do have strengths that make them interesting and sometimes admirable. The book ends with some open questions, but it's a satisfying conclusion and the reader can easily assume a happy and interesting future for the two main characters.

20. The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman. Joe Leaphorn has retired, but he's restless and bothered by an old case. A friend sends him a magazine article with a picture of a very old Navajo rug, one that was supposedly destroyed in a fire years earlier. The friend then disappears, and Joe decides to go talk to the owner of the rug--is it a copy? or did the bad-luck original, which told the story of tragic events in the past, survive? and if so, how? Leaphorn visits Jason Delos, the rich man who supposedly owns the rug, though Leaphorn doesn't see it. He also meets Delos' servant, Tommy Vang, a man displaced since childhood from his home on the border of Vietnam and Laos. Vang gives Leaphorn a piece of fruitcake to take with him, and when Leaphorn meets Vang again, he's come to retrieve the uneaten fruitcake. With a little help from Bernadette Chee, Jim Chee's new wife, Leaphorn puts the puzzle pieces from the past together with what Vang has to tell him to unmask a "shape shifter," a man with many past identities.

21. The Earl's Error by Kathy L. Wheeler. This is a suspense/Regency romance book I read as a copy editor; it has not yet been published. As usual, I don't say much about books I edit!

22. The Lost Lady by Eva McDonald. Hester Gray, the companion to the Countess of Sunderland, is a quiet, plain, pale woman, who nevertheless attracts two men: first, Lewis Duval of Thurso Castle, who hears her sing in London one evening, and second, Patrick Sellar, the factor of the countess, who is responsible for evicting crofters from her Scottish estate. Sellar plans to become her tenant and run sheep on the land; he is a harsh and powerful man. He gives Hester a ride in his carriage and kisses her; a week later, at an evening entertainment given by the countess, Sellar asks Duval his intentions and the two fight. Hester disappears, and after a year of searching, she is finally found and confronted by her two swains. Forced to chose, she makes what every reader must believe is the correct choice! and all ends happily for the characters, though not without some final sobering thoughts about the inequality of the poor evicted crofters and the rich landowners who dispossessed them. (As a note, this book is falling apart, and I am going to throw it out, something that I find very painful to do with a book.)

23. I started another, longer book, but it's kind of depressing and I don't know if I'll finish it. Probably not. Went for the comfort: The Quiet Gentleman, by Georgette Heyer. As a note, the back cover of this book is quite misleading--it indicates that the heroine, practical Drusilla, is suspected by the hero, the Earl of St. Erth, Gervase Frant, of being involved in the plot to kill him. Not true. It also indicates that this is a "sparkling tale of Regency London," as many of Heyer's books are, but this is one that never gets to London--it's before the season starts and takes place in the country at the estate recently inherited by Gervase, who has left military service. He comes home to find his stepmother, the tedious Dowager Countess; her son, his half-brother Martin; his cousin, Theodore Frant, manager of the estate; and Drusilla Morville, the daughter of highly progressive neighbors, in residence at Stanyon Castle. They are shortly joined by his friend Lord Ulverston, who promptly falls in love with the neighborhood beauty (and heiress) Marianne, much to Martin's chagrin. But romance is secondary in this story, as several attempts of increasing seriousness are made on Gervase's life, including a shot that wounds him but just misses his lung. However, he survives and proves to be in command of the situation on every front, including the romantic one. Not my favorite Heyer, but all Heyer is very good.