Tuesday, October 30, 2018

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, by Benjamin Franklin

This was not at all what I expected.  Very enjoyable, but I expected Franklin's personal history of the revolution.  Instead, it was his rags to riches story, something of a manual for life.  Including such minutia as people who still owed him debts (large & small), if street gutters should be one in the middle of the road or two with one on each side (Franklin says one gutter in the middle).

It was bizarre, but enjoyable all the same.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys

Title: Wide Sargasso Sea
Author: Jean Rhys
Borrowed from DC Public Library paperback
Started: 10/23/2018
Finished: 10/27/2018

This book was the only reason I read Jane Eyre -- even though reviews said you didn't need to read that book to appreciate this one, I wanted to do so. 

I'm glad I did, I liked them both. 

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Follow Me Down, by Shelby Foote


  • Title:  Follow Me Down
  • Author:  Shelby Foote
  • Borrowed from Fairfax County Public Library (Audiobook)
  • Started: 10/23/2018
  • Finished: 10/27/2018
Very enjoyable book told somewhat "Roshomon" style, with various characters providing their point of view of the events in the book.  It isn't quite Roshomon, because as you proceed through the novel each character is providing more information, not contradictory information as in Roshomon.  However, like Roshomon, the deceased victim also has her say.

Really enjoyed this one, and it was narrated by a long time favorite, Grover Gardner.  

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Swag, by Elmore Leonard

Title:  Swag
Author:  Elmore Leonard
Borrowed from Worcester County MD Public Library Audiobook
Started:  10/21/2018
Finished: 10/23/2018

Another enjoyable Elmore Leonard book, not a western, one of his Detroit crime novels. 

Sunday, October 21, 2018

The Man Who Came Uptown, by George Pelecanos

Title: The Man Who Came Uptown
Author : George Pelecanos
Purchased from Amazon Kindle edition
Started: 10/18/2018
Finished: 10/21/2018

Book club book, not the best Pelecanos but he is good to librarians.  

Friday, October 19, 2018

Whose Body, by Dorothy L. Sayers

  • Title:  Whose Body
  • Author:  Dorothy L. Sayers
  • Borrowed from DC Public Library (Audiobook)
  • Started: 10/17/2018
  • Finished: 10/19/2018
Very entertaining mystery, but very dated in it's treatment and discussion of Jews.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

Title: Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Borrowed from Worcester County MD Public Library Audiobook
Started: 10/11/2018
Finished: 10/17/2018

Listened to this one because I wanted to read "The Wide Sargasso Sea" but saw that it was a prequel to Jane Eyre. 

This book was entertaining, if melodramatic and frustrating to my modern sense. 

Thursday, October 11, 2018

The Secret Place, by Tana French

Title: The Secret Place
Author: Tana French
Borrowed from DC Public Library Audiobook
Started: 10/8/2018
Finished: 10/11/2018

Another Dublin Murder Squad book, but this one was different from the rest.  I enjoyed it a lot, but it took me a while to get into it.  

The supernatural element was interesting as well. Overall very enjoyable. 

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Forrest Gump, by Winston Groom

Title: Forrest Gump
Author: Winston Groom
Borrowed from Worcester County MD Public Library Audiobook
Started: 10/3/2018
Finished: 10/7/2018

Very enjoyable first half of a book that devolved into absurdity and never recovered.  About the time Forrest is shit into space with the wrong Ape (you read that right) the book lost me. 

Made a good movie though...

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

The Glorious Cause, by Jeff Shaara

Title: The Glorious Cause
Author: Jeff Shaara
Borrowed from Fairfax county VA public Library Audiobook
Started: 9/26/2018
Finished: 10/3/0218

Loved this book. A historical fiction (if that's the correct way to describe this one) of the entire revolutionary war.  Extremely enjoyable.