The Last Kingdom--#70 finished

 This is the next in Cotton Malone series by Steve Berry.  I enjoy the series and he tries to tie them in with sort of true investigations or possibilities.  This is about Bavaria in Germany--where it was ruled by a King prior to Bismark I guess and incorporated into Germany.  The story goes before King Ludwig II was forced to give up the crown, he had agreed and signed papers to become the new King of Hawaii--this is back in the 1880s or earlier.  A stretch of the imagination but points to the sort of raw deals Bavaria got being pushed into Germany and Hawaii got when the US basically tookover the islands from the ruling family.  All the action happens in Germany and bad ex-CIA guys, China, the would be new King and brother of Bavaria and the US with some good CIA, Luke Daniels and Cotton are all looking for the paperwork/deed to show ownership to force what they want.  If you buy all that okay, then also have to buy that Cotton can figure out a bunch of mystery clues and avoid plenty of opportunities to be shot or killed too.  A little out there but just reading for the quick action page turner so it still worked for me.

There are like 23 WL for this book on PBS so will try to post & mail off, I like sending these off since I get them from PBS.  Problem is I have too many of these WL books that I have read but also have enough credits so don't need more yet.

We Die Alone--#69 finished

 This is an older book that I did get the copy from PBS.  It was book was printed in 1955.  It is a true story of a Norwegian during WWII.  He was fighting against Germany & the Nazis.  He ended up in England and trained for going back to Norway and starting underground units with 3 others.  They took a larger type fishing boat to way northern Norway that had I think 12 sailors and the boat had their equipment--guns, radios, ammo, etc.  They get to the coast of Norway and have some names of people that should help them--they reach out to one that owns a shop in a very small town not knowing the shop owner has changed.  The new owner worried about being setup by Nazis to test his loyalty to them, calls this in.  A German boat comes into harbor where fishing boat was sort of hiding and is sank, everyone but one person is captured or killed.  The one survivor is Jan Baalsrud and he is on the run--it is winter and bitter cold and several storms--wind & snow.  He gets help from several people in the small towns and just an amazing journey and story about how he gets to Sweden and survives and also keeps his limbs which were frostbitten to where he thought he would lose his legs.  This book includes photos of areas and some of the people that helped him.  Also book includes the insight about the terror the Germans had set into the people of this area even if the war never really reached them--they were still terrorized by the Germans.  A really good and interesting read.

This is a keeper for me, no reason go give away or post on PBS.

When--#68 finished

 The rest of the title is: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.  Goes into when people seem to be most aware and able to make good decisions--morning.  There is a lag time in early afternoon and then a little resurgence.  This changes by your age.  Most interesting I thought was info on school starting times and also school testing times.  Sounds like his info/data shows what he is talking about, not sure if any school districts in this area have adjusted their times for these ideas.  Overall some interesting stuff but this quasi self-help type book is something don't really get into but was at least short enough and simple enough ideas though.

There are 28 WL for this book on PBS so might post and mail at some point.  I guess could address here--the cost of mailing media mail books at post office has gotten higher and I am getting fewer books from PBS so consequently I am mailing fewer books.  It is a tough cycle because I like getting my PBS books but I have over 20 credits right now so don't need to mail to get more.  Oh well, hope PBS hangs on since I do like getting books from there even if slower than has been in past.

Last Looks--#67 finished

 This is the first book in a detective series with character Charlie Waldo.  He is an ex-detective in LA.  A case that he solved made him locally famous & helped his career but then comes out he had it wrong.  He spent years trying to correct and instead it all fell apart and his life went with it.  He cashed out everything and bought a few acres way outside LA and lived simply with 100 items only.  Interesting in his mindset on how living like that.  Well he gets pulled back in as a private investigator about a world famous actor being figured for the murder of his wife.  A few things going on that have to get figured out along with how Charlie gets around with his bicycle.  A good read and a good start to the series, I know there is a 2nd book which I have, not sure if more coming yet or not.

I have posted it on PBS, it is the only copy in system so could move at some point.

Grandmaster--#66 finished

 This is a chess book but is a teen fiction book.  The chess talk was kind of fun but the characters were well about what expected for a teen novel.  Obviously bad people, parents that surprise you, dorky kid starts dating a mysterious type girl chess player.  A nice quick type read but nothing too great.  I bought at a library sale and almost didn't because typically avoid the teen type books but got it because it was about chess.  It worked for that reason.

There are no copies on PBS but this book does have some stains in it so cannot post there.  I will set aside and probably donate back to the library for them to sell again.

The World According to Garp--#65 finished

 This one took a while in a few ways.  Obviously to read, it is 609 pages and is not a book you can just run through--at least for me, also it has been on my shelf for a long time waiting for me to get to it which I finally did.  I have read other books by John Irving and enjoyed them and I have seen this movie--long time ago, but also enjoyed the movie.  Since I saw the movie I did kind of remember what this book was about but obviously details come out in the book.  I really enjoyed this book, interesting characters and interesting times being written in the 1970s.  Reading the book does sort of make me want to watch this movie again, I remember Robin Williams as Garp and John Lithgow as Roberta, not sure about other actors.  This is one I am counting as a classic this year--it fits my very general feel for the term.

This one is a keeper for me, won't be posting it on PBS.  I don't think there are any copies but doesn't matter no need to send this one away.

Lake of the Ozarks--#64 finished

 The author Bill Geist worked at his aunt & uncle's hotel at the Lake of the Ozarks back in the early 1960s, maybe started late 50's--not sure.  But he talks about how crazy it was and the interesting characters around then.  Of course the employees mostly being teenagers and some college kids over the summer, plenty of stuff going on with them as well.  This is all way before my time, we vacationed at the lake a few times, usually for a week at a cabin but drove through this area where I think this hotel was located.  It is still a sort of different place but much more modernized and touristy but still can see areas of older & rural mid-MO around there. 

There are already 2 copies on PBS system so don't need another one.  Will keep this book for now since it is a MO book.

The Wrong End of the Table--#63 finished

 The rest of the title:  A Mostly Comic Memoir of a Muslim Arab American Woman Just Trying to Fit In.  Ayser moved with her family at age 3 from Iraq to Columbus, Ohio in the 1970s.  A few years later moved to Louisville, KY and then went to Saudi Arabia for a few years before back to Louisville to finish out high school and she did undergraduate school there too.  She moved to LA for grad school and at some point before her parents moved to Las Vegas and then later to Austin, TX--I think.  Lots of moving around which played into her book of finding a hard time fitting in.  Lots of relationship stuff with friends, boy friends and especially her parents.  A good quick read type book.

There was 1 WL for this book when I was reading it but when I finished it was now at zero.  I will probably post on my bookshelf on PBS & see what happens.

Burner--#62 finished

 This was the next in the Gray Man series.  Court Gentry is not in with the CIA but gets pulled back in by them in of course a covert way to track down a guy with info.  Info was leaked out of Russia showing where the money goes into Austria and then around the world.  People want this public to thwart restoring relations with Russia and giving up on the Ukrainians.  This is going on in a couple levels with Court's lover/friend Zoya also involved.  Lots of near death action.  Is a good quick read.

There are 22 WL for this book on PBS but as it seems like always I have enough credits there so will probably be a while before I post & send off.

Killer Diller--#61 finished

 This is an older mass market paperback, published in 1991.  It is the kind of book I start when I know I will be reading outside & carrying in a backpack.  It is Muny time again in St Louis and it was the book for the first show--we missed the 2nd show so this book only got the one show.  It is a goofy sort of book about some people in a halfway house in North Carolina that start a band and also become associated with the local Baptist church university.  It tries to be funny but maybe that 1991 humor doesn't carry over.  I guess there was an earlier book with some of the characters but I won't bother looking for it.  This was okay just barely. 

There are 3 copies in system at PBS so I won't add another.  This will go into my give away pile.

The Left-Handed Twin--#60 finished

 This is, at least for now, the last book in the Jane Whitefield series by Thomas Perry.  A good series but I think it might have run its course.  Spoiler, at the very end Jane is expecting and I figure that is probably a good time to call an end.  Of course during this series there have been a few gaps of several years so I guess could come back.  A good read about another young woman having to get away from killer ex-boyfriend.  The ex gets help tracking her down from Russian mafia types, that figure out Jane is worth a lot of money if they can capture her so quit looking for young woman and focus becomes on Jane.  Jane out wits the Russians and gets away.  Good quick read.

There are 14 WL for this book so I will post & mail off at some point, I did not save this series.