Who Is Alex Trebek?--#21 finished

This is a biography of Alex Trebek, not sure if authorized.  Just checked his wikipedia page & looks like he had a memoir that came out about the same time as this book.  It is a good quick read with some insights into Alex Trebek, I watched Jeopardy but probably more so in the 1990s and sporadic since then.  He sounds like an interesting and caring person but he was also able to do what he loves.  A good life and a good person.

I was going to post & mail off on PBS but when reading it I found a few pages where something was spilled on them & stained.  This makes in no longer postable on PBS so will go on my give away pile instead.

Chaos Theory--#20 finished

This is an older book, published in 2001 so takes place in late 1990s.  A couple high school kids drive into a bad part of Washington DC looking to buy drugs.  A dealer type guy comes up to them & has a gone & after a sort of struggle, the gun is fired, hitting the car floor and the dealer guy is drug into a parked car.  Later it comes out that the dealer guy was an undercover police officer and people other than just police are looking for these 2 high school guys.  A decent fast paced type story, plenty here that you can decide to not buy & book/story becomes stupid, but just go along for ride & remember what late '90s was like and then not too bad.

This was another 2nd book ordered, that the original PBS person didn't have & it rolled over to next person who sent it.  Tried to help out person sending books to me by doing a multiple order & didn't work out.  I have posted this back on PBS & there is 1 copy ahead of it so who knows if it will move or not.

The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher--#19 finished

This is a book of short stories by an English author Hilary Mantel.  I didn't know anything about the author, this was a 2nd book ordered if I remember right, from PBS.  This is where I am offered a book on my Wish List & I look through other books the member has posted & I picked this one out.  I like finding short story books and this one had an unusual title so there you have it.  Some interesting stories, the Margaret Thatcher one was about a sniper trying to shoot her as she was leaving a hospital after eye surgery.  Since didn't follow English politics much, not sure if a sort of true story or not--the sniper was IRA so that has some truthful feeling to it.  Overall an okay short story book.

I have posted it back on PBS, there is 1 copy ahead of it so might not ever move, will just have to see.  

French Braid--#18 finished

This is a book by Anne Tyler, I have read a couple other of her books and enjoyed them.  This one was a different sort.  About a family starting in the '50s I guess and going through to today's time.  It only hits in snippets of time or happenings with the family so you have to sort of guess/figure out what was going on in between.  The family had issues but never really went into those issues.  Made it a different sort of read.  Hard to like the characters and get into what they were doing with their life the way it was written.  Not a bad read but just seems like too much was missing to make it a story I would have cared about.

There are 10 WL for this book so I will post & mail off at some point.

Hail Mary--#17 finished

The rest of the title is: The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League.  This is a league that I have to admit that I had never heard of before reading this book.  It talked about the history of women's football leading up to a sort of league in late '60s and then in to the formation of this league--NWFL.  Teams in Toledo, Cleveland, Detroit and that area, then teams in OK, Dallas area and then teams around LA.  Not sure about calling it a professional league, sounds almost semi-pro in that little pay and few people watching it.  It did get some coverage in a women's sport magazine that Billie Jean King started but otherwise seems like mostly out of the major news.  The writers did a nice job of interviewing and getting stories on the league and players from 40-50 years ago.  Interesting read of again something I hadn't heard about before.

I have already posted this book on PBS, only copy in system and has not been requested.  Who knows if it will move or not but there if someone else can find it.

This is What America Looks Like--#16 finished

 The rest of the title: My Journey From Refugee to Congresswoman.  This is a memoir by Ilhan Omar, one of the so called Squad in Congress.  Far left liberal women in Congress.  A good read about where she comes from & her struggles to get where she is today.  She & her family were forced from their home in Somali when she was 8 and were lucky to get to a refugee camp in Kenya.  They were there for 4 years struggling to survive until they received refugee status & able to come to the US.  Her struggles in school, struggles with their community and as she got older the patriarchal part of the community too.  Her struggles with love life & raising a family, she truly had to juggle a lot to keep going to get her where she is today.  Even if you don't agree with her politics, she is a true American success story and shows how our country is a great country.  A great country even if not everything about our country is great.  I enjoyed this read.

There is 1 WL for this book in PBS so plan to post & mail off hopefully soon.  Too much bad weather--cold and snow--to do so right now though. 

The Fourth Protocol--#15 finished

This is a Frederick Forsyth book written in the mid 1980s.  Forsyth is one of those writers I enjoyed when I first started reading back in junior high time--Day of the Jackal and Dogs of War were 2 I remember reading and being enthralled.  Also didn't know we had Peacock until around Christmas so watched the first season of Day of the Jackal and really liked it too.  This book is about the inner workings & an investigation about an internal spy in England along with what was going on in USSR to work to cause a major disruption in England and maybe turn them over to far left liberals starting them toward communism.  A very good read and interesting with how things turn on little things.  The details in his books are sometimes amazing to think about--especially in how things are investigated.  Really enjoyed the book.

There are already like 10 copies in PBS so I will not be posting it.  While I enjoyed it, the book is not a keeper for me.  I will look to donate it away.

Lord of the Pies--#14 finished

 This is the 2nd book in that short mystery series about an American chef in Kensington Palace.  As I think I mentioned in the other review, I don't usually read these types of books but this one I had gotten from my mom and figured why not.  It is a sort of cutesy quick read about that American chef that helps try to solve 2 murders that occurred where she was sort of involved.  Some investigation, some romance and worries about her job pushed the story along.  A nice kind of quick read.

I posted it & the 1st in series at same time.  This one has already been requested but they didn't need the first book, oh well.  Will get it mailed off today or tomorrow.

After All--#13 finished

 This is Mary Tyler Moore's memoir of her life.  I remember watching her show--The Mary Tyler Moore show, I guess this was on repeats when I saw it.  I never saw the Dick Van Dyke show but from a few clips, seems like a funny 1960s kind of show.  I didn't know really anything about her personal life--3 marriages, her son's early death but a gun accident while he was holding the gun, her younger sister dying of a drug overdose, really a lot of tragedies in her life.  Still her book is a mostly positive book on life.  I had to wikipedia her and she has passed away in 2017, this book was written in 1995.  She had several health issues so her career was mostly over by the time of this book.  An interesting read and an interesting time in TV as well.

There is 1 copy of PBS and I will go ahead and post this one as well.  Not sure if it will move or not but could I guess.

American War--#12 finished

 This is a futuristic novel about a family in Louisiana during a 2nd American civil war.  The time is 2070s and on.  It isn't spelled out exactly what happened but temperatures have risen and sounds like icecaps have melted, large areas of the coasts are now under water.  The south is Georgia, Alabama & Mississippi with South Carolina in quarantine from a chemical attack.  Mexico has taken large parts of the southwest and what is left is the north.  The new capital is Columbus, OH and for the south it is Atlanta.  The story follows a girl, Sarat, and her family forced into a refugee center that is eventually overrun by the north and a massacre happens.  She survives and becomes a rogue fighter for the south.  A really interesting book with a lot of makes you think scenarios.

There are 4 WL for this book on PBS so will probably post & send off at some point. 

So You Want to Talk About Race--#11 finished

 An interesting read about race and issues in America.  White privilege, white supremacy, police issues, etc--a lot of topics about race and the many issues here.  It is informative and certainly makes you think.  Reading this while DJT was being sworn in again as our president and the craziness that has started since then, this was just a reminder of how far we still have to go in this country.  This is not to say our country is a great country--I believe it is but there are many areas to improve and race is certainly one of them.  

It shows 8 WL for this book on PBS but this might be one to re-read or maybe hand off to one of my kids so is a keeper at this point. 

Burr--#10 finished

 This is Gore Vidal's historical fiction of Aaron Burr.  A pretty good and interesting read, I just wondered throughout how much was real and the afterward kind of goes over that.  An interesting life and interesting person.  He really doesn't like Thomas Jefferson and sounds like the feelings were mutual.  The book really brings out a division in the new USA of Virginians vs almost everyone else.  The rest of the south sort of siding with Virginia while many others were against them.  Interesting in that I hadn't heard this before--not sure if Vidal sort of made this up or if it was a real thing.  Of course slavery would be part of this north south issue as well.  This is a long read and at many times hard to fight through but was still good read with an interesting perspective on the time.

I had a day of jury duty on Jan 2nd and needed a paperback that I could easily carry or stuff in pocket and this is the one I chose.  Wish at time I had picked something smaller/shorter in pages but now glad that I did read this book--it had been on my shelf for more than a few years.

It is an older paperback and I think there is 1 copy in system for this edition but probably more in other editions.  I will not bother in putting on PBS, this one will go in my donate away pile.

Kale to the Queen--#9 finished

 This is a sort of mystery book.  A young chef gets hired to her dream job--being the chef to the British royal family.  She leaves Chicago and her boyfriend and starts at Kensington Palace right away and right away bad things happen--one of her assistants is murdered & the chef is the one to find the body.  While she is still trying to find her way at the job, she has to deal with everything else going on and her other assistant is arrested for the murder.  Chef believes he is innocent and starts sort of investigating things as well.  Throw in an unfortunate surprise visit by boyfriend and a smaller kitchen to use and other bumps along the way, it does make for an easy and nice read.  

I had the 2nd book in this series--so far only the 2 also from what I see--so that is why I ordered this book from PBS.  This mystery type is not really my thing but figured why not and it filled the need of an easy to read book.

There are no copies on PBS now but will probably wait to post with the 2nd book in series hoping someone would want both at once.

Rez Life--#8 finished

 A very good read about life on Indian Reservations.  The author grew up on MN reservations and talked primarily about those but also mentioned some others in CA, OK, SD & WI.  Interesting read about some of the history of these and the treaties signed forming them.  Also about the rights and problems with rights on the reservations.  Basically just awful in most places until recently when casinos were started on some reservations but still a lot of poverty and issues that go with poverty in many of the reservations.  It was hard reading about lots of the lives and their struggles.  Book was written in 2012 but not sure much has changed on many reservations since then.

There are 3 WL for this book but like I have said before--have enough credits right now so no hurry to mail it off yet.

The Darkest Game--#7 finished

 This is 3rd in series about an LA homicide detective--he was studying for a Phd and decided to drop that & join the LA police force.  He was older than most new officers so didn't really fit in and then a new program allowed him to apply for the detective position which he got.  He still has problems fitting in but has areas of knowledge that his partner and others don't have.  So anyway now on 3rd book, they have a murder of a guy who works at a large museum.  He is one that brings in/gets donations to the museum and then he also decides what is museum worthy as well.  The investigation leads to Catalina Island where a 2nd murder happens--one of the suspects into the first murder.  In the end the detective is nearly killed when finding out who was behind these murders but is able to kill the person.  Overall a good quick read with enough entertaining little story lines going on beside the investigation as well.

There is 1 WL for this book so will post & send off at some point.

Also like the previous book, I was reading this one during the LA fires and again hard to just imagine what that area is going through at this time.

She Rides Shotgun--#6 finished

 This is a violent type book.  An 11 year old girl is picked up at school one day by here dad that had been in prison for last 6 years.  Come to find out that he got out because of a unexpected legal ruling that allowed him out early.  Unfortunately while in prison others found out he was getting out and wanted him to join their gang on the outside.  He refused and during fight killed a prisoner but did get away with it but the gang knew.  They put a hit on him and his family.  He had gone first to his now ex-wife's house & found her murdered with her new husband.  That is why he picked up daughter at school to protect her.  He feels best way to stay alive is to take fight to the gang and does some training with his daughter as well.  They hit the gang's drug house and also a few other places.  Overall a pretty violent book, the child being 11 really seems too young for the actions being done in this book.  Some interesting insights into the whole gang system/drugs in the LA area.  

Was reading this when the LA fires started so sort of felt for the people in the areas mentioned in the book as well.

There are 2 WL for this book and will probably post & send off at some point.  I haven't mailed a book in probably a month but still have enough credits for now.  It is very cold and snow/ice still on ground so no reason to hit post office at this point.

Zoo Nebraska--#5 finished

This is a strange sort of story that happened only about an hour & half away from where I grew up.  A guy that grew up in Royal, NE town of 80 some people and was around 10 years older than me, was fascinated by apes, gorillas, chimpanzees and other monkeys from learning about them in school.  He goes to UNL--U Neb Lincoln and after getting degree works at the local zoo with the monkeys.  His real desire is to go to Africa and work and study them there but this becomes derailed.  The main chimp he was working with needed to be moved and he sets up a plan to make a zoo in his hometown and brings the chimp with him.  This was late 1980s into early 1990s.  He becomes the zoo director and eventually secures some funding--mostly from Johnny Carson--his hometown of Norfolk, NE was only about half hour or so away.  The zoo hangs on and Dick Haskin--the guy who started this eventually becomes burned out and is basically forced or decided to get out of it.  He finds a couple to take over and while some small improvements happen is still too much of a struggle.  The leadership devolves into locals that really don't have experience or training to take over.  Zoo ends after first chimp and 3 others get out an open door and terrorize the little zoo and town.  3 chimps are shot and  killed while other had returned to cage.  Book finishes with the complete ending with equipment sales, land sales and court fight over it.  Just a strange story that I hadn't heard of before finding this book.

There are 2 WL for this book on PBS but it is a keeper for me since about NE. 

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions--#4 finished

This is one of those library pickups I did for 50 cents and wasn't too sure about.  I have had it for probably over a year and kept looking at it and finally decided to read it.  Needing something a little easier to read instead of the Trump book and Burr--that I have been slowing reading the last couple weeks too and not getting too far.  This is about a widow that moved from Germany to Sicily where she has sisters and other relatives.  She is retired and her plan was to drink herself to the end while watching the ocean.  She found a house in a small village and was on her way there but a young man that was helping her restore this house went missing and then she found him dead--murdered.  Her husband was a detective and maybe her father so to her it was in her blood to investigate this.  She sort of works for and against the lead investigator and they sort of become an item and then not.  She meets with a lot of people and buts herself into situations but in the end she figures it out.  This is a series and this is the first book.  Not sure if I will continue this though, I have plenty of other books around to read instead.

I have posted this book on PBS & it is the only copy so it might move at some point.

I Alone Can Fix It--#3 finished

This is a book at Trump's last year as President--unfortunately, the last year of his now first term.  Reading this is just crazy to see how awful he was at being our President during Covid and then the election season and then Jan 6th.  Reading about this all again was like remembering parts of a nightmare that you had filed away.  Just how little he spent in governing and instead worrying about the election and how he looked.  Also that names that came up and that are coming up again with positions in his incoming cabinet or staff.  It is just sickening that he was elected again.  I can understand not liking the Democrats, I can understand wanting tax cuts or deregulation or a fear of trans or gay youths but even given that if someone was at all decently informed, how could you want this guy back.  I really don't get it.  While I am glad I read this book and all the stuff that went on then, it is also depressing to read this book and realize we are going back into this with this guy for 4 more years.  Just awful.

There are no copies in PBS system but I am not ready to post this book, it is a large hardcover and again I have enough credits so no hurry to post this one.  I have kept some of my other Trump admin books so will probably add this to that pile for now.

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea--#2 finished

 This is the 2nd book by comedienne Chelsea Handler.  She was a E channel host and a stand up comedienne that had a hot run for a decade or so I guess.  This book was from 2008.  I saw her a year maybe 2 ago hosting some movie/TV awards show on the WB if I remember right--so not a big time awards show.  She was funny enough then for an award show host & I ordered her first book.  It was funny but also pretty raunchy if I again remember right so I sort of stayed away from her other books.  It was a month or two ago that I was looking at the PBS list for most traded/mailed books & I ordered this one since it had been moved 5 times already.  I also needed some more light & funny reading and figured it would fit.  It did that, didn't seem as much jump into bed type stories but more how awful I am and I also have some crazy type friends.  Easy sort of light read.  I did also order another book of hers as well--I had too many credits on PBS & needed to use up some of them.  I will get around to reading that other book at some point too.

I have posted this one back on PBS, there are 13 copies ahead of it but if someone else finds that most traveled list I guess they could request this one.  That is sort of a needle in haystack type thinking.  I am guessing will be on my list for a long time.

Fortune's Children--#1 finished

 First book of 2025 finished.  This one was a long time in getting it done, I had started it sometime around Thanksgiving.  The rest of the title is: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt.  This is a book about the Vanderbilt family & how the Commodore back in the 1880s was probably the richest person in the world, at least for sure in the US.  The next generation did well in growing their money but also started some of the spending and splitting up of the money that caused it to dwindle then over the next couple generations.  The author mentions in the introduction that in 1973 when the first family reunion happened a 120 descendants gathered none of them were millionaires.  Now does this mean a few that didn't come were millionaires--maybe but still a kind of shocking result.  Reading this book it is crazy to think but this family sort of with a few other families, defined the Gilded Age in the US.  They built crazy large mansions and each family usually built at least 2 and probably 3 with a large farm/estate figured as well.  As the years went these mansions were too expensive to maintain & most have been tore down or donated off as museums, a university, etc.  The ones in New York around 5th street were tore down because the land underneath was more valuable than the enormous mansion.  Just a sad overall story of a super sized wealth and what became of it and especially the people. 

This makes you think about the super wealthy today the Warren Buffet, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, etc and what a couple generations later it will look like.  It does seem some of them are trying to set the politics up to help them grown and maintain their wealth, something the Vanderbilts never really did.

There are 12 WL for this book so I will probably post & send off at some point but since don't need credits right now, am in no hurry to do so.