Cold in July / Joe R. Lansdale

Cold in July by Joe R. Lansdale
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Larry, Moe, and Curly plan a murder

Serves me right for choosing a book based on the title. This was my 2020 monthly pick for July for obvious reasons. Now, I am not a habitual reader of thrillers. I almost always find them at least faintly ridiculous because of their over-the-top action, people doing and getting away with outrageous things. This one for me descended to slapstick. I thought for a while that the author was perhaps going for humour, but other reviews and the afterword seemed to indicate that he means it to be taken seriously.

Go figure! How can I take a P.I. seriously when his name is Jim Bob? When he talks like a cartoon character? When the main character acts completely out of character for a family man? How likely is he to go all Dirty Harry? It was all just so bloody improbable.

But, as I said, thrillers are not my thing. I think that if you enjoy Lee Child, Michael Robotham, or Andrew Grant, you will probably enjoy this novel too.


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All Mortal Flesh / Julia Spencer-Fleming

All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, what an emotional roller coaster! By one third of the way through the novel and found myself weeping, moved by the suffering of a fictional character, Russ Van Alstyne. Not to mention Clare Fergusson. Two people trying to do what society deems to be the right thing and being stymied at every turn.

Spencer-Fleming is merciless in her tormenting of these two characters. They are thrown from one desperate choice to the next with barely a chance to catch their breath. Plus they have to deal with backstabbing colleagues, small town gossip gone wild, work situations out of control, and, of course, murder. All the while knowing that they have determined to part despite loving each other powerfully. So many people would just follow the path of least resistance, but Russ and Clare hold themselves to a higher standard.

The end of the novel is not what I would call satisfying--it's what had to happen, but it's not what my heart called out for. The only reason I didn't throw the book across the room (aside from it being a library book) is that I know there are more books in the series, so this can't (just can't) be the end. And I can't for the life of me figure out where things go from here. How can the author possibly bring these two lost souls back together again?

My only comfort at this point is knowing there are four, count ‘em four, more installments to this story. Can Russ and Clare each forgive themselves? Can they forgive each other? Should they? I'm having to resist the urge to search for the next book right away. I know I have other reading plans during August, but my impulse is to throw plans to the wind! However, I know that anticipation of a much desired book is just as good as reading it! I will give myself time to anticipate the next volume.


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How to be a Conscious Eater / Sophie Egan

How to Be a Conscious Eater: Making Food Choices That Are Good for You, Others, and the Planet by Sophie Egan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another impulse read, a recently purchased book in our public library. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but it turned out to be exactly what I wanted. Ever wonder which is better, cows milk or almond milk? Maybe you heard all the kerfuffle about the amount of water used by almond farmers? Well, they are starting to use water more responsibly, but even before it turns out that cattle require more water to produce the same volume of milk. Since I like almond milk in my coffee, this little nugget made me happy.

Comparing things like water use, distance that food items travel, how food is packaged, land use issues, etc. You are free to use the information to tweak your eating and cooking habits to suit your own values.

There are sections on processed foods (not all of it is bad) and making choices that match your ethics in restaurants. The book is chock full of useful, well researched information.

My only complaint is that it is very American oriented. The labeling section is useless to me, a Canadian. Many of the restaurant chains don't cross the border either.



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Herland / Charlotte Perkins Gilman

 4 out of 5 stars


What a great piece of feminist writing! Not exactly what I was expecting in a book published in 1915. It starts out rather like an H. Rider Haggard novel (as I suppose it was intended to), with three young men adventuring far from home, spoiling for exploration. They have all the stereotypical male entitlement issues, but three very different personalities.

Terry is the “man's man" among them and Gilman sets him up as quite the piece of work. She must have someone specific in mind as she created him, because she takes such obvious pleasure in skewering this character. He is absolutely convinced of male supremacy, that women exist to be submissive and subservient. In short, he's a misogynist asshole. Jeff is the Southern gentleman who is depicted as being rather worshipful with regard to women, putting them on a pedestal. Van is midway between these two extremes, more intelligent, and much more reasonable. Gilman tests them all when they find themselves in custody in a matriarchal society.

Gilman depicts Herland as a real utopia, filled with reasonable, happy, hard working women. They reproduce parthenogenetically, limiting their numbers by will power (not allowing the urge to have child taking over their lives, distracting themselves through work). They are strong physically through plenty of outdoor activity, they are all invested in child rearing, and they all contribute willingly to their society. There were several facets of this situation that really didn't ring true to me. The whole birth control through distracting work is just too good to be true! If only it could be controlled so easily! But what I just couldn't fathom was the asexual nature of the society—they are descended from regular, sexually reproducing humans, yet had no libido whatsoever. No lesbianism, no strong sexual attraction to these three men who are dropped in their midst.

 Obviously, the author is well acquainted with the mythological Amazons and is creating a female version of them. Literature written by men makes Amazons into sexual conquests, a bunch of women just waiting for men to arrive and fulfill them (or conquer them, which is understood to be much the same thing). Gilman's version are completely self sufficient and look at the men, especially Terry, with a jaundiced eye. She exposes femininity as a social construct designed to control women and masculinity as an excuse for male bad behaviour.

For a short novel, it packs in a lot of thoughtful ideas. Well worth your time should you choose to read it. 

Cat Among the Pigeons / Agatha Christie

Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A perfect summertime book! I'm not sure why espionage and murder are so suitable for the season, but they most certainly are.

One hardly expects international intrigue to centre on an English girl's school, which is one of the draws of this book. Christie does what she does so well—she finds a small enclosed community within the larger society and situates the murders there. A school where everyone is relatively well known, just like the small villages that she also likes to use.

Christie is also the master of fake identity, fooling us about who is actually who. I am always pleased when she pulls the rug out from under me, realizing that I had been reading trustingly along when I should have been suspicious!

I think I am going to have to read a biography or two of Dame Agatha. She delights me as a reader and I suspect she was an interesting person.


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The Phantom Prince / Elizabeth Kendall

The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy by Elizabeth Kendall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an impulse read, a book which I noticed our library had on order. Years ago I read Anne Rule's book on Ted Bundy The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story and she mentioned this woman (in a somewhat derogatory way, if I remember correctly). Bundy was a big story when I was in high school and his actions and trials may have been what started my life long fascination with true crime stories. Sometimes I wonder if I read this genre to get clues about keeping safe. On the theory that if I can figure out where other women went wrong, I can avoid the same mistakes.

Rule mentioned this book in passing and I tried to find it years ago without success. This version is a new edition with some new thoughts from a woman who has hit bottom and has struggled to free herself from the expectations of patriarchal religion, from addiction, and from an abusive, manipulative relationship. There were several times that it seemed to me that she was assuming responsibility for things that weren't hers. This idea that somehow women are responsible for the behaviour of their boyfriends and husbands. This lets the men off the hook and makes women feel like they are crazy. As if there was anything that Liz could have done to fix Bundy.

It's hard to believe awful things about anyone, let alone someone you have an intimate relationship with. This is one of the reasons that people remain in abusive situations. When one of my sisters was extracting herself from an abusive marriage, her counsellor told her that taking 4 to 6 years to take decisive action isn't unusual. This means that Liz, who was involved with Bundy for 6 years, was completely within the bounds of normal. But her subconscious was working overtime. Her drinking just kept getting worse, probably because she didn't want to see the situation clearly. Her suspicions kept driving her to talk to the police, followed by feelings of guilt for having those doubts. No wonder that these swings in view added to her substance abuse led the police to unkindly call her “a real squirrel.”

I wonder if she would receive better treatment today, with our greater understanding of addiction. One can hope so. I really felt for her daughter, who kept some unsettling experiences to herself for a long time. So many of us keep secrets for fear of not being believed. I think both of these women are exceptionally luck to be alive. I wish them both peace.

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The Ides of June / Rosemary Rowe

The Ides of June by Rosemary Rowe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For a book that was chosen frivolously for it's title, this was a pleasant surprise. My plan this year was to read a book each month that had the name of the month in the title. A silly thing, really, and then covid-19 screwed up my plans by closing the public library for 3 months. I'm only a month late reading this novel.

It's never ideal to start with the 16th book in a series, but I must say that Rowe made it easy to step right in and figure out who was who and what to expect. I keep trying these murder mysteries set in various ancient settings, hoping for something that I enjoy as much as Ellis Peters’ Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, but so far no joy. Peters seems to have been rather exceptional at grabbing my interest and attention.

However, this is a good, solid novel. I required a couple of chapters to get used to the author's form of “bygonese" and become comfortable with it, but I did make the adjustment. Libertus is a good main character, a man with a diverse background, a Celt in the Roman Empire in what we now call the United Kingdom. In this, he has some resemblance to Brother Cadfael, who had real world military experience before joining the abbey. The limitations of travel and communications in Roman Britain make some aspects of the mystery a bit clunky, but the author handles these drawbacks realistically.

I'm unsure if I like this enough to read further adventures of Libertus, but I certainly enjoyed it enough to rate it a 3 star read, straining towards the upper echelons of that rating. (Three stars tends to be a rather big, baggy category for me, asked to hold a lot of books that I like, but don't love).


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By the Light of Camelot / edited by J.R. Campbell & Shannon Allen

By the Light of Camelot by J.R. Campbell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2020 Summer Clearance Sale

I've only had this book on my shelf for about a year, so its relatively new in my backlog. I picked it up at the annual writers conference that I usually attend after hearing it talked about in a session. I am a sucker for King Arthur tales, so I parted with cash.

These are short stories & poetry. They may be set in Arthurian Britain, but many of the themes explored are very 21st century. As with any collection, the editors have worked to provide a variety of ideas and something in it should tickle each reader's fancy, though not all may impress everyone.

I found them all reasonably enjoyable, but I was particularly fond of The Prisoner of Shalott by Lawrence Watt-Evans and Shadow of the Wolf by Diana L. Paxton. Honourable mention to Sir Tor and the River Maiden by Colleen Anderson and The Song of the Star by Renee Bennett. Several of these tales show the definite influence of contemporary urban fantasy, something which I will never complain about.

An interesting collection and money well spent. And now I must find my CD of Lorena McKennitt singing her marvelous version of The Lady of Shalott.

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Murder in the Place of Anubis / Lynda Robinson

2020 Summer Clearance Sale

2.75 stars

The first in the series and I have the next three volumes, picked up at the second hand book store quite a while ago. I'm relieved that I don't mind Lord Meren, the Eyes and Ears of the Pharaoh. And of course, he doesn't serve just any old Pharaoh, he reports to Tutankhamen himself.

Which makes it somewhat ironic when the mystery ends up involving a tomb robbery, discovered by Meren's adopted son who has his own “Howard Carter moment.” There are a very few details that I wondered about historically, but they didn't annoy me during the reading. The author chose a way of writing dialog which managed to both convey the time period, not seeming too modern, but didn't feel as stilted as some historical fantasies.

The mystery is decent and Robinson plays fair with the reader, giving enough information to allow intelligent speculation about the murderer's identity without giving it away too early. She also provides continuing subplots that encourage the reading of the next book. Very wise.

I like Meren as a character, even if he does act like a gumshoe from a detective novel, dressed up in Egyptian garb. I'll happily read the remaining books in my possession.

Roses of May / Dot Hurchison

Roses of May by Dot Hutchison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A solid 3.5 stars

I think what I liked most about this murder mystery is that it's not told from the investigators' points of view, or at least not much. Priya, the sister of a murdered girl and potential victim herself, makes a strong main character and she is not going to be any one's prey.

I must confess that I chose this book for a frivolous reason. I chose 12 books this year with the months in the title. This one was meant to be read in May, but covid screwed up my reading plan. Here it is July and I have some catching up to do.

I did guess the identity of the bad guy relatively early, but couldn't be positive until much later in the novel. The author gave Priya (and the reader) more clues than she gave the FBI. I was pleasantly surprised by how much the story went on after the big reveal.

I am almost ready to go back and get the first book in the series, just to see how it compares to this one. It will have to wait, if I decide to do it, until some of my other reading goals are accomplished. A lot of unrealistic aspects to the relationships between the girls and the federal agents, I thought, but in a pleasant way, making me wish that this was actually how law officers treated people. A couple of jerks along the way made things a bit more believable, but still those are awfully nurturing agents. I loved Priya's mum, whom everyone finds formidable. I wish I knew anyone half as tough as her!

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The Crown in Darkness / Paul Doherty

The Crown in Darkness by Paul Doherty
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2020 Summer Clearance Sale

2.5 stars

The second book in this series and the last one in my possession, for which I am thankful. Doherty is decent at plotting—he keeps Hugh moving along, gathering clues, taking risks, and annoying all the people around him. But Hugh is so wooden, so unemotional. The author tells us what Hugh is feeling, rather than letting the character tell us himself. My other complaint is that clues which are obviously meant to be meaningful in the author's mind don't reveal much to me. He's been thinking about them as he writes and he forgets that the reader hasn't been privy to his thought processes. Some of them are pretty obscure, others completely opaque.

I suspect that Doherty would be happier writing nonfiction, perhaps text books, but the market for those is tiny. So he writes almost-text-books, lightly disguised as novels. They're not awful, but they're not very inspiring either. This is a relatively painless way to learn history, but I think I'll keep looking for more engaging historical fiction for my future history lessons.


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Assassin's Quest / Robin Hobb

Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I love Robin Hobb's writing. She writes so clearly and empathetically, I find myself deeply involved in the lives of her characters. So it surprised me greatly when I stalled at the 25% point in this one and had difficulty getting back into it. I struggled with the whole Nighteyes/”talking wolf" situation. I have no idea why it eluded my imagination, but I just couldn't embrace it. Then Fitz and Nighteyes went their own ways for a while and I regained my footing in the novel. When eventually the wolf returned to the narrative, I had found my rhythm and wasn't thrown off again.

Hobb uses echoes of the King Arthur mythos very skillfully in this volume, with King Verity and the Elderlings being roused to defend the Six Duchies and being potentially available in case of future dire need. She also explains the Forging phenomenon in brief, leaving the possibility that history could repeat itself (as it apparently had, as Verity followed in the steps of his ancestor). Looking at Hobb's Goodreads records, I see that Fitz and the Fool return for further adventures in later books. I understand this, as they are characters that readers can be fond of, with mysteries yet to be explored, in a well realized fantasy world. It would be a shame to waste these fictional resources.

Things are resolved by book's end, but very superficially. The details are skeletal, rather like saying “And they lived happily ever after" at the end of a fairy tale. I am delighted that I've got Ship of Magic in my reading plans for this year so that I can return to this universe for another visit.

Book number 372 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.


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The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore / Kim Fu

The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore by Kim Fu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I never went to summer camp as a camper—I waited until I was 15 or 16 and went as a camp worker. Kitchen work, mostly, setting out plates & cutlery, setting out food, and washing up afterwards. This book makes me think that I made the right choice.

So often people say that children are so resilient, that they can survive bad events much easier than adults can. I think Kim Fu is telling us that this assumption is wildly optimistic. She seems to prefer the old saying, “As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.” Like all authors do, Fu torments her characters to the edge of their ability to bear. I was particularly intrigued by how she envisioned their lives progressing in the aftermath of their disastrous camp experience. All the girls have interesting trajectories, but I must say that I was most entertained by Dina's lack of comprehension of her situation. Her mother's scorn seems to keep her locked into defiance and an adolescent mindset.

The girls belong to wildly different kinds of families and the reader can't help but compare how these very divergent children cope with both the camp situation and subsequent young adulthood. I found myself speculating about what I would have done as a child in the same situation, coming to no firm conclusions. I've survived many challenges, but always got through them by putting one foot in front of the other. Much easier to do as an adult!

This is an engrossing book that gives the reader plenty of issues to think about. If you are looking for a reason to avoid camping, this is your book!


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