Reading Q3 2023

 I have continued reading in the third quarter of 2023, including books from my list, a few I bought impulsively at Barnes & Noble, and some others that people lent me or suggested to me and then I got it at the library. I have read ten books in the this quarter, keeping me on track of my yearly goal of 36 books. Here are the latest...

 My cousin Keith Willis lent me this book, A History of Canada in Ten Maps. Written in 2017 by Adam Shoalts, I give the book a 3.5 rating (Great to Excellent), which is high for a non-fiction book. I found all the maps and stories very interesting, and I actually learned some history I did not know and spent plenty of time looking up places on Google Earth. It is always interesting to hear stories about Canada since that is where my ancestors moved in the 1600s. There were actually stories told in this book that I knew from a book I read about the original Provencher (my French name) who came to New France. I have since lent the book out twice to other people.

A book I owned is the Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King, but it had been sitting on my shelf since the 1980s. It was published in 1983 and follows the year (the monthly full moon cycle) of a werewolf in a small Maine town. At 127 pages, it is considered a novella, and it was an easy and quick read. I give the book a 2.0 (Good). As I mentioned in a past post, I have a side reading bucket-list goal to enjoy every King Novel. Another one bites the people of Tarker's Mills. I should mention it was made into a movie called Silver Bullet in 1985.

I guess my goal was to buy every King novel and then not read them. This novel, The Eyes of the Dragon, has been on my shelf since the late 1980s. It was published in 1987 and is a Fairy tale that King wrote for his daughter since most of the novels he was writing (horror fiction) would not be appropriate for young people. The book is a work of epic fantasy in a medieval setting, with a clearly established battle between good and evil, and magic playing a lead role. It was originally titled The Napkins. If you read it, you will understand this alternate title. I give the book only a 2.0 (Good) because this is not my genre, but I think young people would love it.

Growing up in Addison County in Vermont, this nonfiction book of assorted cases by Lawyer Peter Langrock, was published back in 1998. I want to thank Bob Cameron for forwarded it to me, and to Sally Holdman-Bellavance for lending it out in the first place. I give the book a 2.5 (Good to Great). I think it would have been better if the author did not write so much like a lawyer, sometimes it was a little dry. What was great was reading about people I knew and stories I had heard. It covers the workings and complexities of small town America. Nuffer said!

There were two reasons that I read this novel The Last Station by Jay Parini. The first reason was I was reading War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy, and I thought this would be a nice break from the 1400 page novel. The second was that I had just returned from my trip to Vermont and I heard the author Parini speak at the Memorial they had for Steve's Park Diner. He was a regular at the diner and said he probably wrote 12 of his books while in there. Published in 1990, I give it a 3.0 (Great). I liked how the book was told from multiple points a view of people that were related to Tolstoy, or worked for him.

The novel was made into an Academy Award-nominated film (also The Last Station) that was released in 2009, directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer (as Tolstoy), Paul Giamatti, and James McAvoy. I have not seen the movie but I hope to when I finish War & Peace, maybe 2 or 3 years from now.

This book of short stories, Welcome to the Monkey House, was recommended to me by my friend Bill Lacy so I added it to my reading bucket list. This was the 57th book I have read from my list, and I give it a 3.0 (Great). I have always been a fan of Vonnegut and these stories were great. I should note that most of the 25 short stories were published before I was born in 1957. Great stories will always remain great stories.

Another book recommended by my friend Bill Lacy; I had already read a few novels by John Steinbeck so I decided to add Tortilla Flat to my bucket reading list. It became the 58th book I have read and I give it a 3.5 (Great to Excellent). I borrowed this 1935 book from the Melbourne library. It was great to read but it is a very sad book. It made me wonder if people still live like this today, and I assume that they do. I also recommend it...thanks Bill!

In my bucket reading list, most often I have particular titles from an author, but in the case of Sue Grafton, I had written in the Alphabet Mystery series. The first book was published in 1982 and that is where I started, A is for Alibi. It is the 59th book from my list, but after some research, I see that she had got all the way to the "Y" book (that is 25 letters). She had the title Z is for Zero, but she died before she wrote it. I give the book a 2.5 (Good to Great). The book features sleuth and private investigator Kinsey Millhone and is set in Santa Teresa, a fictionalized version of Santa Barbara. I probably will read more from the series but it will not be high in my list. 

Since the book is from 1982, half the book has the PI trying to make calls through or checking messages with a phone service. A lot of time is spent talking on the phone with people. I kept thinking how short the book would have been if it took place in our modern time with smart phones and easier messaging. The story itself was great but I got caught up with counting the times she was spending phoning people, an outdated activity.

This was another Barnes & Noble impulse buy, because it looked interesting. And you know what, it was very interesting. I give it a 2.5 (Good to Great). This book, A History of the World in 6 Glasses is a nonfiction book by Tom Standage, published in 2005. There are six sections, one for each glass: Beer, Wine, Spirits, Coffee, Tea, Colas.

He traces the history of the world from the view of these drinks. It was very intriguing and I actually learned some stuff. Always a bonus. I see he has done a similar book on food.

It took over two months for me to finish War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It was published in 1869, and it covers a period in Russia from 1805 to 1820. In that period, Napoleon attacked Russia and made it all the way to Moscow, which ended up being burnt down. See, it took me only one sentence to describe what took Tolstoy 1400 pages. I jest...it is a classic and I give it a 4.0 (Excellent). It became the 60th book on my bucket reading list.

I should mention that all the previous books I cover in this post were read after I started War & Peace. It is a novel which I found that I needed a break from once in a while. But I am very happy that I finished it. Even though he wrote it more than 150 years ago, a lot of his thoughts and ideas are still thought provoking in this modern day. I realize that technology has changed tremendously, but people have not. People wanted to have a good life and love, drink, dance, party, maybe marry and just do something useful for work. But war happens and lives are changed and lost.