Kill Two Birds & Get Stoned--#70 finished

I novelist with writer's block meets up with 2 people--a beautiful lady & a crazy guy.  Both like to do pranks or maybe a couple steps worse than pranks at first with breaking the law included.  He joins them & is enchanted with the lady and through their adventures he is able to start writing again.  It is supposed to be funny or at least off beat, I just found it to be boring and painful mostly.  I really did not like the book or the characters.  Struggled to get through the first half and then just pushed through the 2nd half just to be done with it.  Luckily for me only 220 pages, anything more I probably would not have bothered finishing.

I have posted it on PBS, there were already 3 copies on system so don't expect it to move anytime soon.  For anyone that is a fan though this is an autographed copy, still not enough of a reason for me to keep.

The Traitor's Emblem--#69 finished

This involves people in the lead up of Nazi Germany and how basically 3 people develop.  The girl is a Jew that was supposed to marry the Baron's son in the early '20s but she refuses.  The cousin of the Baron's son is obviously the good guy and the Baron's son is obviously the bad guy.  Conflict between them and cousin & mom have to leave the household.  A kind of mystery about the cousin's dad is involved and mistakes made all around.  It was a fast easy read but only moderately entertaining.  Not too bad but seems like the potential for more was there.

I have posted it on PBS & it is the only copy in system.  I would think at some point it will get requested & moved but you never know.

Gods and Generals--#68 finished

The first of a Civil War trilogy, this starts before the war & gets through the early part of the war.  The 2nd book in trilogy--written first by the author's father--is about Gettysburg.  It is historical fiction, author obviously cannot know conversations & details of the time but does piece it around the war happening.  The Civil War is a tough topic, hard to imagine and realize what happened in our country at the time.  I enjoyed the book & already have the next two books so looking forward to getting to them in the near future.

This is a keeper for me, there are already 4 or 5 copies in system anyway.

Monster: The Autobiography of an LA Gang Member--#67 finished

A powerful memoir about a young kid that gets involved in a gang around age 11 and how he grows in the gang and the crimes he commits and the juvenile sentences and eventually prisons he goes to for this.  A true story that ends with what sounds like him figuring out life to a degree and wanting to be a father to his children and a husband to his wife.  The epilogue mentions that he beat up a crack dealer because he wouldn't leave the neighborhood and for this reason he was back in jail.  Reading on wikipedia it sounds like he has had a few more arrests and more jail time and is in jail now.  I understand the need for incarceration but given how tough his life was growing up, I really hope he can remain out of prison and living a lawful life yet.  He has written a few more books but I don't think I will look into them but this was a powerful book that really gives a level of understanding what the gang life was like back at end of '70s and into the '80s pretty much right before the crack epidemic came along.

I have posted it on PBS there were already 5 copies in system so probably won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

If You Find Me--#66 finished

A very good read about 2 sisters that their mom took away when separating from the oldest's dad and hid away in a large national forest in a trailer.  Mom is bi-polar and drug addict and would disappear for long stretches and the oldest would have to raise the youngest by herself.  The youngest was a kind of one night stand baby that had only known life in the trailer.  The older daughter lived at home for around 5 or 6 years.  The mom had been gone for over a month--maybe 2 I can't remember and the kids were down to eating beans and running low on those.  They are found by the oldest's father and a social worker and are brought back to live with him and his new wife and step daughter.  The 2 girls had several issues too--mom had whored out the older one to men for money to supply her drug habit.  One of the men had come back on his own when the mom wasn't there and raped the oldest and was about to do the same on the younger when she was around age 5--the older one was able to get up & the man ran.  She tracked him down and shot him dead.  The younger had quit talking at that point.  Obviously the kids had issues & putting them in a home situation and school was good but with bumps.  This is more of a young adult book but I still really enjoyed it.

There are 4 WL for it so I will be posting & mailing it off through PBS at some point.

Wunnerful, Wunnerful!--#65 finished

This is the Autobiography of Lawrence Welk.  I remember watching him on TV growing up, I guess this was repeats but maybe not, it was the 1970s.  I don't remember liking his show very much but with only 1 TV in the house and 3, or maybe 4 channels on a good day, you were kind of at the mercy of what your parents wanted.  An interesting read about his life and how he had to really work and travel to earn a living and how his eventually keeping at it and being in LA at the time when TV was taking off he was able to turn his show in to a TV show that lasted for years.  Sounds like just a really nice guy that was able to turn his love of music into a memorable career.  A really nice read.

This book has a stain on first several pages so cannot post it on PBS.  I will donate it away at some point.