Cottonwood Memories
L.C. Chase
Brandon and Zach bond over Avery's grave.
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Hans Waldemar Remembers Normandy: A German-Perspective Novelette of World War II
Hans Waldemar Remembers Normandy: A German-Perspective Novelette of World War II
Aubrey Taylor
A great-grandfather remembers the war from a Hitler Youth's point of view. And yes he was a tank driver in the Waffen SS.
Thursday, June 27, 2024
The Wreckage
The Wreckage
Michael Crummey, Mary Lewis (Narrator)
With his bowl hair cut Crummey is the rare Newfoundland writer to return to Newfoundland. Having won a $300 prize for the poetry he wrote while at Memorial for a BA he got the idea that he could make a living writing poetry. After getting an MA at Queens he abandoned PHD studies to take up writing.
What the brutal prelude in Vietnam has to do with anything will become apparent later it would seem. Life on a fishing boat is equally perilous.
The characters offer flashbacks to Vietnam, the Korean War, the dropping of the bombs on Japan. Not a feel good read.
Crummey uses profanity and Newfie turns of phrase. We get a vignette of outport life.
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Titus Awakes: The Lost Book of Gormenghast
Gormenghast #4
Titus Awakes: The Lost Book of Gormenghast
Maeve Gilmore, Rupert Degas (Narrator)
The Gormenghast Trilogy was recommended me by a favourite librarian decades past at Oakville's Main Library, a place I haven't been thanks to parking charges since I stopped working in the area. Titus Groan is a rather surreal character in weird fantasy novels who is totally lacking in magical powers.
The present 4th novel was written by Peake's wife after his death and there exists a short story I hope to read on Open Library. The present book borrowed on Hoopla.
Groan is off on an independent adventure and encounters life as his subjects live it. The audiobook ends abruptly without THE END or any credits.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
The Crossing
Harry Bosch #18
The Crossing
Michael Connelly, Titus Welliver (Narrator)
Harry has retired or is on suspension as this book begins. He may get results but he's not easy to get along with. His half brother wants to hire him to prove his client is not guilty of the murder with which he is charged. To do so would mean switching from a lifetime of preparing cases for the prosecution to aiding the defence.
If he accepts the assignment he has to discount DNA evidence--was it planted?--prove the client has a valid alibi and find a guilty party. His former partners are not going to help him here.
The case is filled with twists and turns and the deaths or murders of crosspiles worth of Shakespeare.
Monday, June 24, 2024
Louise Penny Books Quiz - 50 Questions
Louise Penny Books Quiz - 50 Questions: The Ultimate Quiz Challenge for all Louise Penny Inspector Gamache series fans
I knew the basics but my short-term memory is not what it used to be. I no longer fixate on trivia as I once did.
Friday, June 21, 2024
Hiking Trails of Nova Scotia
Hiking Trails of Nova Scotia
Michael Haynes
p. 8 "Every regional section begins with a brief introduction [pictures, no intro], including a map [combined in one single map of the entire province]
And for those attached at the hip by their cellphones coverage in wildlands has become important though sticking you nose in a cellphone while you hike can be both dangerous and defeat the purpose of getting out in the wild in the first place. Just as being plugged into an i-pod will rob you of birdsong and babbling brooks. Why go hiking if you're not going to immerse yourself in nature.
p. 84 "Turn left and follow this track" The map makes it obvious the turn is to the right.
No mention is made of the fact that exiting the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton National Park incurs a day use fee.
There is a day use fee for entering Kejimkujik National Park and a hefty back country camping fee per day requiring a reservation.
Day use is free in provincial parks but there is an unserviced campground fee for overnight camping.
Provincially operated ferries in NS are now free.
Unless one possesses a good map of many of these areas, excellent map-reading skills and an understanding of declination and compass use many of these trails could be very dangerous.
The Drop
Harry Bosch #15
The Drop
Michael Connelly
DNA evidence has been a game changer in crime detection just as blood matching and fingerprints were earlier. Me-too and the lure of cash settlements has brought forth sex abuse claims decades old.
So, murder or suicide. And the uncovering of a serial sexual predator and killer. The book makes gruesome reading.
Police admins who are more political animals than law enforcers get rightful derision. Cases that will make them look bad get suppressed.
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
The Burning Room
Harry Bosch #17
The Burning Room
Michael Connelly
I've been confusing this case with Bosch The Legacy, the TV Series where he is retired and working as a gumshoe.
In this episode Harry is working cold cases with a newbie female detective. As the teaser states the murder victim here died 10 years after receiving the fatal shot to his spine that rendered him paraplegic. Tracking down the why and the who after all this time was not easy.
As usual he is hampered by bosses who play politics but have never worked a case. Interestingly the narrator here executive produced the TV Series and starred in it.
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
The Perfect Front Man
Rock U #0.5
The Perfect Front Man
Christie Gordon
Not the first time a band had a lead singer who couldn't sing or did so off-key.
There's gay sex play here and a come-on for a karaoke singer.
Monday, June 10, 2024
Sunsets at Sea: A Sol and Seth Story
Sunsets at Sea: A Sol and Seth Story
Leona Windwalker
The gay pair at the centre of this short story are on a honeymoon aboard a luxury yacht complete with captain and cook. Sol's twin brother is along for part of the ride. They dine at a high end restaurant where a prejudiced woman objects to their holding hands.
Thursday, June 06, 2024
Keeper of Light : A Fantasy Short Story
Keeper of Light : A Fantasy Short Story
Drew Avera
Fantasy Horror. A sword and sorcery short that delivers a happy ending.
Tuesday, June 04, 2024
Up North: A Guide to Ontario's Wilderness from Blackflies to the Northern Lights
Up North: A Guide to Ontario's Wilderness from Blackflies to the Northern Lights
Doug Bennet, Tim Tiner, Marta Scythes (Illustrator)
My edition came out in 1997. There has been a second volume and combined edition published since.
Fairly detailed descriptions of the limited species covered.
page 16 Red-Wing Blackbird wingspan conversion should be feet, not inches.
The authors have a sense of humour. Herring Gull's diet includes Kentucky Fried Chicken Bones.
I've personal experience of the chattiness of Barred Owls a nesting pair carrying on a varied conversation for 6 hours after an owl call was played in their hearing at Queens Biological Station.
The Sacred Carrion Vultures of India suffered a 97% decline until a certain anti-inflammatory drug was outlawed. Since this book was written it has been determined that vultures' eyesight extends to the infrared zone and they detect the heat caused by rotting corpses. Their digestive systems make them immune to deadly botulism.
p 101 6 Metres is c. 20 ft, 3.20 is the approximate conversion rate.
p. 139 (6 cm.) should be in. for inches.
p. 163 Adult body length should be ft not in.
Research goes on that makes some of the information here dated. And politicians such as the present Ontario Premier continue to attack wildlands. Parks that protect wildlife are unpopular with local hunters. The band of trees that edge major highways disguise the clear cuts a short walk inside.
A monoculture of regimented pines does not constitute a park.
Monday, June 03, 2024
A Darkness More Than Night
Harry Bosch #7
A Darkness More Than Night
Michael Connelly, Richard Davidson (Narrator)
I'm reading earlier books in the series as they become available.
A retired profiler uses the art of Harry Bosch's tortured namesake the artist to delve into the mind of the perpetrator here. As he discovered the MO and torture scene is made to look like one in the artist's paintings complete with an owl watching.
There's a touch of insanity and mysticism to the tale.
Thursday, May 30, 2024
All Hail the Underdogs
Breakaway #3
All Hail the Underdogs
E.L. Massey
Patrick Roman (Rome) is a poor heavily freckled white boy from Northern Maine. Damien Boudreaux is black and gay and adopted by super rich white parents. Too accustomed to being reported for break and enter by his white neighbours and being pulled over for driving a porche. As a centre and wing man they make beautiful hockey but the cultural divide.... Damien and his trust fund school mates are so rich they don't consider sharing it with the less well off charity. He has no concept of Rome being unable to afford to go out with his teammates, owning only 3 shirts which he patches or having no bed sheets. And having never met someone of colour and having no understanding of being gay Damien's world is utterly foreign.
AIDS is seemingly not an issue for this pair but testosterone fuelled egos plagued by acceptance issues make trusting one another difficult. They are hockey players but the game takes back seat to emotional issues and the interplay between team members who are not cut-out extras. The pair explore one-another's bodies and do a great deal of petting but we are spared coital probing. Several epilogues take us past the point we reached in book 2 and a book 4 seems to introduce yet another set of players. I will say that I enjoyed this outing.
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Nine Dragons
Harry Bosch #14
Nine Dragons
Michael Connelly, Len Cariou (Narrator)
One of the talking points in this story is the known fact that the Triads made inroads into Southern California in particular because recruitment standards precluded anyone who spoke Chinese dialects joining the police service so they had no one who spoke the language.
I'm "reading" earlier books in the series as they become available. In this one Harry has a young rookie detective partner who is preoccupied with a demanding wife, newborn twins, and lack of sleep. Failure to follow Harry's advice gets him killed.
And that isn't the only loss in his life. Bearding the Triads in their stronghold in Asia to find his kidnapped daughter seems rather daring.
Harry insists on independent action as leaks within police ranks compromise most enforcement efforts.
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Bruno's Challenge: And Other Stories of the French Countryside
Bruno, Chief of Police
Bruno's Challenge: And Other Stories of the French Countryside
Martin Walker, Robert Ian MacKenzie (Narrator)
A series of short stories. Bruno tends his garden, harvests his truffles, walks his dog Balzac, rides his horse Hector, and wines and dines his friends.
The final story is a reader digest version of a previous book.
Friday, May 24, 2024
Two Kinds of Truth
Harry Bosch #20
Two Kinds of Truth
Michael Connelly, Titus Welliver (Narrator)
I'm reading, or in this case listening too, the books available at my local library. Harry has finally retired and is now doing volunteer work on cold cases for an understaffed police division. His workplace is an old jail cell.
Modern DNA evidence would seem to exonerate a murderer who has sat on death row for 30 years and the case was Harry's. Meanwhile he's called out to investigate a live case involving a young druggist.
The cold case involved evidence tampering, the druggist a cartel.
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
A Château Under Siege
Bruno, Chief of Police #16
A Château Under Siege: Library Edition
Martin Walker, Robert Ian MacKenzie (narrator)
Bruno enters the world of international espionage when a re-enactor is injured during a melee near Bruno's turf. The local listening centre is an open secret among locals just as a similar one in South Dakota located in a cornfield collects terabytes of data from satellites in space.
Bruno is in over his head on this one but his local savvy is more important than understanding electronic surveillance, drones, and computer tech.
Friday, May 17, 2024
To Kill a Troubadour
Bruno, Chief of Police #15
To Kill a Troubadour
Martin Walker, Robert Ian MacKenzie (Narrator)
Once more Bruno is drawn into international intrigue as he seeks to protect a group of musicians intent on presenting a concert in Bruno's bailiwick. Balzac and his puppies figure in the tale along with Bruno's gastronomic creations.
And we see how those who are being the subject of protection can often be their own worst enemies.
For once only the bad guys die here.
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