You Don't Look Your Age...and Other Fairy Tales--#12 finished

 This is a book of essays about Sheila Nevins life and I guess the people around her.  She is a top documentary producer and president of HBO Documentary Films but I hadn't heard of her before this book--I enjoy documentaries but don't pay much attention to who is making them.  I am also not a big film buff so she was outside my areas of knowledge.  The book looked interesting and it was, some really interesting stories.  Some poems too but not really what I like.  A very interesting life--I am guessing the stories are true even though some sound more fiction to me.  A good and interesting read.

I have posted it on PBS, it is only copy in system so maybe this one will move but will see.

The Human Factor--#11 finished

 This is a 1970s different sort of spy book.  The story is in England & the main character had spent time in the field as a sort of spy for England in South Africa.  While there he falls in love and has to coordinate a way to get his black lover out of the country and to England & he does this.  He is reassigned to a desk looking at incoming messages from field ops and other things passed along.  He is also passing things to the USSR because the communists helped in getting his wife out of S Africa but this wasn't clear at first.  There is an internal probe into these leaks and this is where some action starts happening.  A different time with no computers, cell phones, etc.  Lots of drinking and eating at clubs.  A good read that brings you back in time.

There were already 10 copies in system but I still went ahead and posted it, probably going nowhere but figure can leave on bookshelf for now & can always pull and give away if need room.

8 Days--#10 finished

 This is a book that has been on my shelf for more than a few years and finally decided to read.  It is from a MO author, part of the reason I got the book & have kept it. It reads more like a young adult book and was written in 2004 time so the whole world gone to hell and a few survivors--what do they do story.  An okay read, simple characters but overall sort of a positive we will pull together kind of message.  I don't understand why electricity is still running and how they are able to keep cars gassed up but can't let those details bother you too much--like I said more young adult.

I have posted it on PBS and it is the only copy in system but who knows if will move or not.

Jungle--#9 finished

 This is a true story about backpackers that are in Bolivia and that different goals or directions that meet each other & a sort of local guy and get sort of talked into going into the Amazon jungle in Bolivia.  They will fly in and backpack a ways and then get to a very isolated native village and then float down river to where would fly out.  There are 4 men doing this and while the start seems okay there are factions developing and issues starting.  Also a harsh rash on ones feet, causing questions if can do entire trip.  Eventually to decide to hike back where started and 2 will skip the isolated village but instead float down river.  The story follows the 2 down river and how they became separated.  One gets to a village while other is sort of lost but is found after weeks in the jungle--when most thought he was dead.  The other 2 sort of disappear--the guide/local guy is suspected of being a criminal sort--at least not who he said he was.  The other is lost and presumed dead.  Having no interest in doing backpacking like this I really question many of the decisions they were making but I have to understand this is not my mindset.  Interesting read overall.

There are 7 WL for the book so I will mail off at some point.

Miller's Valley--#8 finished

 I enjoy Anna Quindlen books, they tell a good story about family struggles.  This one is a NE farming valley that the Miller family lived for years.  Flooding problems continued while family struggled with family issues.  Eventually they and others had to sellout so a dam could be build at the valley flooded for a lake.  A good story and interesting characters, nothing great but still a good read.

There are 13 WL for this book, it is a large print edition so I will probably post & send off some time soon.

Cari Mora--#7 finished

 This is a new book from Thomas Harris--2019, the author that did The Silence of the Lambs books.  I saw a couple of the movies and they are plenty creepy so wasn't too sure I wanted to even bother with this one.  This has enough creepy parts that to me are just not enjoyable but overall the action kept moving and good people won in the end.  Not a bad read but probably won't search out his earlier books either.  Not sure if this will be a series or not but would probably continue if there is another book.

I have posted it on PBS there were already 3 copies in system but since a newer book and popular author figured I would post it & see if gets requested down the line.

The Unraveling of Mercy Louis--#6 finished

A book about a high school girl growing up in a rough sort of refinery town on the Gulf coast of Texas.  The girl, Mercy Louis, is a star basketball player that sort of provides cover for the other areas of life where she is struggling.  She is being raised by her grandmother--who is a sort of religious freak type--world ending in months kind of way.  Mercy's best friend is a loose cannon sort of girl with her own struggles.  In the background is the other main focus of the book, the girls team manager a shadow of a person Illa.  I wasn't so sure about this book when I started but it did manage to come together in ways at the end. Book at least makes you think about things & story kept things moving.

I have it posted on PBS already, it is the only copy in system so maybe it will get requested at some point. 

Little Weirds--#5 finished

 I wasn't really sure what I was getting with this book.  It was sort of a throw in to an order on PBS.  I didn't know Jenny Slate the author at all--I have since found out comedienne, voice & regular actress and other sort of Hollywood things.  This is a short vignette type book--not short stories but usually just a few paragraphs about some random thoughts.  I really did get this book--the thoughts, the style or much of anything.  There were a couple that I thought were interesting but otherwise mostly just disappointing for me. The book has 9 pages of advance praise of this book by various reviewers--I just don't get it.

There are like 8 or 9 WL for this book on PBS so I will get mailed off at some point probably soon.

The Dependents--#4 finished

 This is a book I started over Christmas, had taken with me to parent's house as one to start if I finished one there.  Well I did so started this.  In grabbing it I hadn't spent much time thinking about it, a kind of spur of the moment packing thing.  About a longtime married couple and the wife dies and how the husband tries to adjust to life now.  Their daughter lives on the west coast--far away distance and also far away from real communication with her father.  I was sort of surprised how much I liked the book.  Some parts & decisions seem a little out there but certainly can understand with a man in his situation being like that. 

There are around 13 WL for the book on PBS so will get it posted & mailed off at some point.

Stalingrad--#3 finished

 This is one I had been working on for some time, I think started it back in November.  A lot of good information here about the different armies involved in Germany advancing into USSR and getting stalled at Stalingrad and then the USSR surprise offensive that circled the German army and wore it down to almost nothing to where it had to surrender.  Really interesting to see the interplay between the German generals and Hitler.  The propaganda the Germans used to justify there invasion sounds in some ways similar to what Putin used to justify his invasion of Ukraine.  This is still a time and battle of such enormous size that I really can't put my head around it--just such a huge waste of life.

This book is older & a little beaten up so I will not be posting it on PBS, for now is a keeper.

The Wars of Heaven--#2 finished

This is a short story book, I had taken it along when went out of town over Christmas and started it then after finishing a book there.  This is published in 1990 so the stories are from the 1980s I guess.  The short stories then just don't seem to appeal to me much--sort of weird and abstract.  A couple of them here were good including the novella at the end--The Love of a Good Woman but overall just okay.  It is a short book and mostly a quick read.  I finished this on the 1st during afternoon.

I have posted it on PBS & is only paperback copy and there is a WL for the hardback copy but so far not being requested.  Maybe it moves but short story books don't seem to move much.  I did order it from PBS so I guess some do move--ha ha.

Maybe We'll Have You Back--#1 finished

 First book finished in 2023.  I had only started it a couple days before but since stayed up late to get to midnight and then stayed past that still reading finished in the early morning of 2023.  I didn't recognize the name Fred Stoller but recognized his face on the cover of the book.  A guest star on many, many shows and a usually funny and memorable character too.  Glad to see that while he doesn't have a long stay on any shows, he is still a successful working actor.  I checked his IMDB and seems like he has moved to more voice acting and kids shows--both he mentions toward the end of his book.  Interesting read and a funny guy.

There was 1 WL for this book so I already posted it & is accepted.  I will get mailed off later this week.