Kenney, Catherine: The Remarkable Case of Dorothy L. Sayers (BC 273 pgs)

Kenney does a wonderful job of analysis of Sayers fiction as Christian literature (even though her main characters aren’t Christian). She also devotes a section to the play cycle, The Man Born to Be King and the book length essay The Mind of the Maker. Along the way she tells us a lot about Sayers life and other work. She recommends Barbara Reynolds book for information about Sayers work on Dante and her other “religious” writings. As many times as I’ve read Sayers novels this book whetted my appetite to read them again. I will be referring to the book for more insights when I do that.

Abbott, Anthony: The Girl in the Yellow Raincoat (BC 65 pgs) poetry

Tucker gave me this small volume of poetry several years ago—I think before we moved to California. It was written by one of his favorite professors at Davidson. I never got around to reading it, probably because I didn’t have very high expectations for the quality of the poetry. I picked it up this week at Vallejo because I had just finished reading the book on Dorothy Sayers and wanted something “light” to read before I went to sleep. It ended up taking me 4 days to read and I will definitely want to read it again—more slowly. The poems are wonderful and varied both in style and theme. There is a wide range of subject and of emotions. Love and grief and wondering why are presented. Many of the poems have Christian connotations but seem to ask questions rather than answer them. There is also underlying tragedy in many of the pieces. These are poems to ponder and return to. I wonder if I appreciate them more now as I approach “old age” than I would have when I was younger.

Thurber, James: Lanterns and Lances (BC 192 pgs)

When Tucker was a teenager he used to rave about James Thurber and read everything he could get his hands on, including this book. (I’m amazed that this one didn’t end up in Chicago!) The only Thurber I ever read was the required (in HS) Walter Mitty. I’ll have to read that again—perhaps I didn’t do it justice. I enjoyed these short humorous pieces which include a lot of word play. The longer piece he wrote about Henry James has reminded me that I plan to read one of his for the Book Challenge. This was an enjoyable read during my week R&R – and in honor of Tucker.

Desultory “daily” notes:

January 26—Saturday

I’ve been up at the Vallejo house for a week on R&R. Jim was here last weekend and then went to Bodega for the Walnut Board meeting. Marty came up last night to join us and will ride back with us. I’ve had a great time reading and resting. I’ve gotten a huge start on the Book Challenge plus a lot of J/].D. Robb covered. I hope I’m ready to go back tomorrow!

The Book Challenge was a great idea—I am discovering treasures in my library I was only dimly aware or, or had forgotten completely. I will have no trouble reading out of my library for 6 months—maybe longer. I do have to admit that sometimes I’m alerted to a book that I would like to own—especially while reading the Dorothy Sayers analysis. I should make a list of future purchases.

One thing that is helping me find great stuff to read is my new hobby—cataloging my books on librarything.com. So far I’ve catalogued nearly 1500 books. I have about a third of the library to finish, the sewing room to do, and the books in the kitchen to do. I’m pretty sure I will go over 2000 books. I should have it done by the end of February if I keep at it.

Last November one of my adult students introduced me to J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series.  The author is Nora Roberts writing under a pseudonym.  I don’t care at all for Nora Roberts novels; the couple that I tried that were recommended to me I could not even finish.  However, the Robb books are like giving me a box of chocolates when I’m hungry.  The series is set in New York in the mid 21st Century.  Eve Dallas is a Lieutenant in the NYPD whose specialty is homocide investigations.  Part of the interest of the series is finding out about Eve and her past life.  Another part of the fun is her love interest, Roarke (just one name) who is the richest man in the world and also has a mysterious past. I’ve decided that this series is just fantasy for women.  It has no staying power-I forget the plot almost as soon as I finish the book.  But what a fun ride while it lasts!

This series would definitely not appeal to everyone (I’m amazed that I like it–but it is a classic good vs evil series–even if sometimes it gets a little graphic).  So far there are about 24 in the series and I am only up to #9.  Since Robb cranks them out at the rate of two a year it will be interesting to see which gives out first–her interest in writing them or my interest in reading them.  In January the only mysteries I read were four Robb’s I borrowed from my friend Mary.  I’ll review just the last one to give you an idea of what it is about.

Robb, J.D.                   Loyalty in Death

An unknown bomber stalking New York City sends Eve Dallas taunting letters promising to wreak mass terror and destruction among the “corrupt masses.” And when his work of destruction threatens those she cares for most, Eve fights back to keep him from coming too close to home. It becomes a race against the clock before the city falls.

Her assistant Peabody’s brother, Zeke, figures in this.  Also Greek mythology-an old group called Apollo has spawned a new group, Cassandra-the prophet to whom Apollo gave the power of prophesy.   What is really amazing, to me is that this book, although set in 2059, was published in 1999.  The plot has to do with a group that is targeting major landmarks in New York for destruction and the Twin Towers are even mentioned as a possible target.   This book came two years before the Twin Towers and other landmarks were actual targets of terrorist attacks.  That is just a little spooky! 

E.L. Alban                  Stories That Words Told Me

This is the February selection for the Armstrong Book Group is Savannah, GA to which I used to belong.  The book was written by the husband of one of the members of the group so I was very sorry I couldn’t attend the meeting but I live in California now. His wife Joann was the friend who invited me to join the book group in the 1980’s.  It’s nice to know that it is still going strong.  They send me their reading list every year so I can keep with them.

The Foreword of this book alone was worth the price for those who love words.  Even though I entered this book in the fiction section of my journal it is really a combination of imaginative stories, some bordering on fantasy, and personal recollections from his life with words and people who love them. Two of my passions are words and music and this book contains plenty of both. I identified with several of Eddie’s personal encounters with words, especially the story where he talks about seeing a new word, finding out what it means and suddenly it starts to “pop up” everywhere. A favorite “memoir’ of mine was “From the Lips of Foreigners” about a young woman who came to the US from Argentina whose passion for learning English he writes about.  After reading that story I understood how Eddie, who came from Ecuador, developed such a prodigious English vocabulary.  Did I mention that you should probably have a dictionary close by when you read this book?  I very seldom need to look up word when I’m reading but Eddie provided several additions to my vocabulary.  So many of the stories I marked as “5 stars” but the one that packed the biggest punch for me was “Last Words.”

Cooper, Susan:            Over Sea, Under Stone (#1 The Dark Is Rising Sequence)

My son Tucker gave this set to me a few Christmases ago and several people, including my other son, Marty, have borrowed it from me and read it but I never have.  I thought this would be a good one for the Book Challenge.  This first book, written in 1965,  was mildly interesting-Marty says they get better.  Back then a smart 5^th to 7^th grader could have read and enjoyed it.  If I had known about the series in the ’80s I would have bought for my children. Today many students that age might have trouble reading something with so much description and a large vocabulary with references to the Arthurian legends.  An older reader might find the story a little childish.  This may be why this series, which promises to be very entertaining, is not wildly popular.  It could make a good series for a Harry Potter fan.

The first story tells of three siblings, Simon, Jane, and Barney Drew, who spend a vacation in a rather strange house on the Cornish coast.  Their Great Uncle Merry, who arranged for this vacation, pops in and out of the area helping and guiding them to find a missing grail.  Other, darker forces, are working against them to find the grail first.  The story is mildly interesting, but the children often seem to be pretty foolish and somewhat annoying.  It is also difficult to believe that the parents could be so oblivious to what is going on-even in England there must be some sort of parental supervision when you are in unfamiliar places.