"I" is for Innocent--#77 finished

This is the next in the series, it is a re-read series for me and while parts of the story come back to me, many details had been forgotten.  I guess that is typical, just funny though.  I have no idea how people memorize lines or poems and can repeat them back--that is so not me.  Kinsey has been kicked out/fired from her insurance company office and lands an office with lawyer Lonnie Kingman.  She has to take over an investigation for an upcoming trail that another PI was working but he just died.  Going through his work and following leads with again just interesting characters in all directions, this is a good story.  A fun read that pushes along this series.

There are plenty of copies in system, in fact I had just ordered this one when I realized I did not have it.  I am not sure if I had loaned my copy out or maybe I had checked it out from library--just don't know.  I know I read this one years ago but don't know what happened to the book.  Oh well, this series is a keeper so I will put with the others and grab the next when I feel time.

Ogallala Blue--#76 finished

Growing up in Nebraska I heard about the Ogallala Aquifer at times in school and probably in the newspaper.  Since moving to Missouri many years ago, surprised at how people here have not heard of it and how important it is, I guess since not directly under, was never really a topic.  This book gives a lot of details and information that I didn't know or think about this large aquifer.  I knew that it was being drained and that crop irrigation was one of the main culprits.  I also know that west of the Rockies there is a drought going on so figured now was a good time to read this book for a little more understanding.  The book is around 20 years old so all while reading it, I kept wondering if things had gotten better since it was written.  I quick read of wikipedia makes it sound like no, not gotten better.  The worse maybe slowed some but not better.  Lots of information in the book, I am not at all a scientist so some of the details, geology, engineering, etc were beyond me but I certainly understood the issues involving this.

Well there are no WL for this book on PBS, it is one that I got through Thrift Books anyway.  This will be a keeper for me.

You Exist Too Much--#75 finished

A Palestinian young woman is struggling in her life.  She is bi-sexual but cannot let her family know this.  Her parents are divorced and she mostly lived with her mom but her mom was tough to live with.  she almost was like living in the shadow of her mom.  And with her troubled relationship with her mom, it carries over into making trouble with the relationships she gets in.  The book reads almost autobiographical in many ways since the main character is a writer too that goes to Iowa writing school as author did too.  The book sort of ends on a hopeful note where main character is in a good relationship even if her mother cannot approve.  This was a good and interesting read.

There are 7 WL for this book on PBS so like so many others I will file away for now & probably post at some point down the line when more in need of credits.

The Tree of Light and Flowers--#74 finished

This is the last in the Jane Whitefield series by Thomas Perry, the author passed away shortly after finishing this book.  This book actually did a nice job of wrapping up the story.  Jane was able to kill off bad people and threaten the leader to never again come after her.  She has her baby and a teenager that is a runner they are kind of adopting till an adult.  Good series, sad that author Thomas Perry has passed away, I have enjoyed this series and several of his other books.

There are 20 WL for this book so will probably post & send off at some point.

The Paris Wife--#73 finished

This is a historical fiction book about Hadley Richardson who became Ernest Hemingway's first wife.  Is a really good read about their relationship and their early struggles with his writing and trying to get published.  It is fiction so while there are lots of details here, conversations, thoughts, etc are by the author so to speak.  Still a good read and insight to them both as well as the whole Americans in Paris culture of the time.

There are 4 copies already on PBS and more that are hardcopy so no need to add another one.  I have had this one on my shelf for a long time so will probably put back on shelf at this point.  Might be a loan away or donate away book down the line.

How to Mars--#72 finished

A sort of fun book imagining a reality TV show finding a way to get 6 people to Mars and establish a home there.  Chapters with the handbook for what to do there are also thrown in.  The big no no was no sex because of the dynamic with the 6 people and issues that might cause.  Well of course sex happens and a women becomes pregnant and a lot of the book is about the upcoming birth.  Mostly funny, with some strange people and some of their backgrounds and some on how they got picked.  Some weird stuff with floating ghost like people of Mars.  Overall an okay read, by end of it I just wanted to get it over with.

There were no copies on PBS so I have already posted it.  Will see if ever requested now.

Recipe for a Perfect Wife--#71 finished

A different type of story where the suburban house plays a major role.  A newly wed wife in the 1950s and a new wife in the current year are in this house with the chapters flipping between the wives.  Both are in tough kind of marriages, the 1950s a lot more so, but that is not surprising given the time and roles for women.  The current year wife and husband move from small apartment New York to suburbs and the house is newly bought but no updates have been done it sounds like since the 1950s wife passed away as widow just a few years before.  There are also some old recipes in this book as well.  It is a mostly fun and enjoyable read but also hits on tough times as well.

There are 16 WL for this book on PBS so will probably post & mail off at some point.

No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy--#70 finished

The rest of the title: Memoirs of a Working-Class Reader.  The author Mark Hodkinson grew up in northern England in a tough working class area and in school was sent to the working class studies instead of the studies that would lead to college.  He did get into journalism knowing he wanted to be a writer and worked from there.  I picked this book basically because of the title but did find it to be interesting and enjoyable.  Definitely English so some words and phrases I just didn't get.  Talks about his love of books where he has over 3500.  He also later becomes a small publisher and the struggles that entails.  I really liked he wrote about things that were floating in my mind--what is well read and even if given someone is well read they really can't expect to remember something in a book they read years before.  I enjoy reading and do read a lot but would not say I am well read.  I also don't expect myself to remember quotes or anything more than simple remembrances of books I read. 

I got this book from PBS from the multiple order listing--where a member lists books that are on WL but they only want to mail as a group of usually at least 2 or 3.  So I sort of skipped ahead of someone waiting.  There is 1 WL for this book and the author talks about how he buys used books, I think he would like PBS.  I used to try harder to read and then mail back off the books I get from the multiple listing but have been slacking off on that.  This one I will get posted & mailed off though, seems like author would want that too.

"H" is for Homicide--#69 finished

I wasn't planning on jumping into the next book in this series so quickly but I was donating blood and wanted a book along in case there was a wait and this being one of the old mass market paperbacks that fits into my pocket I grabbed it.  Now days later I have finished it.  Like all in this series it was a quick and fun read.  Kinsey gets pulled into an insurance scam gang but at least the police know she was pulled in & they wanted her help.  Action starts in home town Santa Teresa but moves to LA.  A more gritty kind of book that some in this series.  A good quick read.

This stays on my keeper shelf.

Trumpocracy--#68 finished

The rest of the title: The Corruption of the American Republic.  David Frum was a Republican that like many left the party after the election of Donald Trump back in 2016, maybe earlier since some were actively trying to help Hillary then.  This book was published in Jan 2018, so most of 2017 is what he was writing about--not even 1 year after the inauguration.  Things he pointed to and the dominance over the party that Trump was already establishing seems even funnier/pathetic when reading you realize this whole book was before Impeachment #1, Jan 6th, Impeachment #2 and then the investigations and then his re-election.  Just amazing that Trump has kept his position as the main person in the Republican party, everyone in the party & I mean everyone has to kiss his ring or risk being run out of office or positions.  I do worry for our country.

There are no copies in PBS system and no WL for this book either.  I have a bunch of politics books so I figure it will go on that shelf for now.

Whirlaway--#67 finished

This is a book of strange characters doing strange things.  The main character Eddie Plum is in a state psychiatric hospital where he doesn't see himself as belonging but refuses to work to get out either.  After years a new director--that is not qualified, just an actor making it up as he goes--helps him escape and gives him a new license and identity.  He goes back to where he was before and meets up with an old friend that is more screwed up than himself.  Characters are interesting and have to kind of read between lines a bunch to get what is actually going on.  I really enjoyed some of this author's other books/short stories, this one not as much.  Still overall interesting and entertaining.

This one is a keeper for me as all the books by this author, Poe Ballantine, since he lives in NE--way out western NE.  

This Town Sleeps--#66 finished

A really different sort of story.  It is about characters around a Ojibwe reservation in MN.  The main character grew up there and lives outside reservation but only a 1/2 hr away and he is an out gay man.  There is a lot about a relationship with a former high school classmate who is not out.  There is also a 2nd story about a boy that was murdered at 17 in the reservation town and how his spirit is still there first as a wolf and then later as a person.  Some mystical storylines like that that I am not quite sure about but in a native American sense does carry or make sense.  Like I said a little different kind of read.  

I have already posted it on PBS and it is the only copy in system.  

A Chain of Thunder--#65 finished

This is the 2nd novel in the Western series of the Civil War.  This one is about the Siege of Vicksburg.  Vicksburg is under Confederate control and the Union wants it so they can control all of the Mississippi river a main source of shipping equipment, supplies, men around the West.   I like the writing style of focusing on a couple people on each side & talking about what they were going through day to day along with the generals.  Grant had the numbers and better supply lines and basically forced the Confederates back into Vicksburg where they were stuck.  Not sure why Confederate general Johnson didn't come to help.  Good read that gets into the details of the people and battle.  I think there is 1 more in this series that I need to get to in the coming months.

There is 1 copy already on PBS but this series is a keeper so will be going back on my shelf.

"G" is for Gumshoe--#64 finished

I am back on the Kinsey Millhone series running through F & G this month.  This one she is being tracked by a contract killer.  A guy she helped get arrested has put contact on her a judge & maybe prosecutor and judge has already been killed.  A bodyguard comes to help her Robert Dietz.  Kinsey also moves into the rebuilt apartment but her VW bug is a total loss.  Books ends without knowing what happens to car.  Dietz has moved on.  She does solve a case and actually a murder case from long ago along with it.  A good story that keeps moving.  Maybe too many moving parts on this one, gets confusing.  Also a few times where not sure why she didn't step back & let police takeover.  Oh well still a fun read and a fun series.

This is a mass media paperback and plenty of copies on PBS but this is a keeper series for me so will go back on my shelf.

Grit, Spit and Never Quit--#63 finished

This is by Rob Riggle, a comedian that also served as a Marine--getting deployed to Liberia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan.  I saw him doing the NFL picks and seemed like a pretty funny guy.  Reading this he also did a year on Saturday Night Live and also worked for The Daily Show--these were times when I wasn't watching these shows much so I don't remember him.  I have seen him on different movies and always plays a pretty funny character.  I guess he has done some drama roles but I haven't seen or at least remembered them.  I enjoy these type of memoirs, reading about how people--celebrities--got to where they are.  His is a really good story with also doing it while serving as a Marine--a lot of credit to him.

There are 2 WL for this book on PBS and since I got it from PBS I will probably post & send off at some point.

Commander in Cheat--#62 finished

The rest of the title: How Golf Explains Trump.  This is a book by a golf writer Rick Reilly about how Trump cheats at golf and so not surprising how he cheats at other things in life--wives, not paying workers, and then politics.  This was published in 2019 so before Covid and before Jan 6th riot.  It is funny how this sports writer was able to pull so much together and present it in a very easy to read book about Trump.  It really shows that Trump is a sort of one of a kind person--even with his many, many failings, he is also someone that people seem to like enough to get elected twice as president.  I have no idea how history will handle him but certainly is changing the way politics has been done.  This was a good quick read.

There are no copies in PBS system but for now I will keep this book, might hand out to friends. 

"F" is for Fugitive--#61 finished

This is that next book in the Kinsey Millhone series that I am re-reading.  I guess I started this over last year and slowly making progress on this.  I really enjoy this series and need to keep at it with a little quicker pace.  This one Kinsey is out of her apartment as it was blown up in the previous book.  She is living in landlord's extra bedroom while her apartment being rebuilt but this is just mentioned at beginning.  She gets a job out of town at a small town motel on ocean a couple hours away where she stays at the hotel.  She is investigating a murder from 17 years ago where the guy that pleaded manslaughter walked away from prison way back then and was just now caught.  Family wants him proven innocent and hires Kinsey.  A whole cast of characters and small town life unfolds.  Good story and investigation.

These are all keeper books, this one is an ex-library book in rough shape so wasn't going anywhere anyway. 

Making the Play--#60 finished

The rest of the title:  The Inspirational Story of Mike Jones as told to Jim Thomas.  This is Mike Jones of the Tackle that saved the St Louis Rams Super Bowl win in 1999.  This is a really good story.  Been more than a few years and even a bunch of years since the Rams were pulled from St Louis & taken back to LA.  St Louis was football crazy then and there is still and under current of crazy football here.  For me the sport of football is really hard to care much about.  I do enjoy going to our local high school games with my son when possible and I am still part of an on going fantasy football league and will probably continue to follow Nebraska football especially if they ever get back to relevance.  So not completely shut away but pro game really just isn't very good in my opinion.  Oh well, all of that it was a nice journey back in time to Mike Jones, Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and all the other Rams.  Good read.

I started this one to read and then mail off but in reading it, it just has too much St Louis history to send off.  It is a keeper for me, at least for now.  There is 1 WL for this book and I would guess it is someone in St Louis area wanting it.

Showdown at Shepherd's Bush--#59 finished

The rest of the title:  The 1908 Olympic Marathon and the Three Runners Who Launched a Sporting Craze.  That is basically the story--goes over some marathon history and then more in depth about the 3 main runners.  Johnny Hayes an American from Ireland, with obviously Irish Americans competing in London then was also part of the Olympic story.  Tom Longboat an Onondaga Indian from Canada who was probably the favorite--had to endure racists taunts, poor handling, etc back then.  Then Dorando Pietri from Italy who became the fan favorite even after being DQ'ed for getting assistance at the end of the race.  After the race a lot more good information about the marathon races they participated in eventually all turned pro to earn money from their racing.  Really good and interesting read.

There are 2 WL for this book on PBS but for now a keeper.  I got this book from Thrift Books too so don't feel to guilty about not putting into PBS as I do others that I get from PBS. 

Fallout--Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell--#58 finished

This is one that has been on my shelf for a long time.  It is the 4th book in a series, a series that I never bothered to track down the other books.  I finally decided it was time for me to read this one.  So I don't know if Tom Clancy wrote the first book or so in the series and then it was handed off or if was his idea and handed series off--just not sure and since book is almost 20 years old, I am not going to bother checking further into it.  A good enough typical book of a guy that was beyond the CIA and Special Forces with some amazing equipment and contacts to help him on his way.  Needle in haystack to find stuff & does find the stuff.  Just an easy read action book.

There are 8 copies in PBS system, no reason to add another.  This will go into my donate away pile.