The Meaning of it All, Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist --Richard P. Feynman

 Nonfiction / lecture transcription

133 pages

3 Stars

 

I feel like I’m committing a heinous crime in giving this book only 3 stars. I love Feynman’s books, but this one, well, meh. Perhaps, had I attended the lectures at the University of Washington, I would have enjoyed the book more, but I found them to be meandering, with little to no point. I gather from some of his remarks, they were humorous, but on the page, the humor fell flat. 

 

Read his other books but skip this one. This isn’t a bad book but it isn’t a good one, either.

Stronger Than the Current --by Mark Thalman

 Poetry

54 pages

5 Stars

 

These are poems of history, of the perils of logging in the wet forest of western Oregon. They are poems of living in the forest, of living on the coast, and of the beauty of that land.

 

From “Extended Forecast: More Rain” (“The ran taps at windows / with thousands of little fists, / fades to mist, ghosting the hills. //) to “Escape” about sunflowers who escape their confines, these poems will transport to a different time, and a different and beautiful way of seeing, the landscape and all in it.

 

If you’ve never seen an old growth forest, read Thalman’s book. If you’ve always wanted to see a storm at sea from the safety of your home, pick up this book. The poems are lyrical, plain -spoken, and wonderful.

the lost spells --by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris

 Poetry

120 pages

5 Stars

 

Normally, when I get my hands on a really good book, I devour it, I read it in one sitting, maybe longer depending on length and time of day started. Seldom do I read a few pages, then put it down to cogitate what I’ve read. Seldom do I parse out the pages so the book lasts longer. This is one of those seldom books! Equivalent to mouse bites to make the cake last longer.

 

From the very first spells and art, I was captured and held in thrall until, finally, I had no choice but to read the last pages. Poems and art about barn owls and winter hares, grey seals and gorse. Speak them aloud, enter the art, close your eyes and be there, in a world different from the one you normally inhabit.

 

Read to a child, read to your partner, read to yourself. Yes, it’s that good.

Gone Astray --by Terry Korth Fischer

 Fiction / Mystery / Cozy

222 pages / 1855 KB

5 stars

 

If you like murder mysteries that won’t give you nightmares from all the violence but will give you people you like and people you like to hate, then this is the book for you! Detective Rory Naysmith is middle aged, has heart problems (physical as well as emotional), and moves from the big city to a small mid-west town to lead the life of a small-town cop. His first assignment is a cold case to be worked with an eager rookie who wants to please (think puppy), and a middle-aged woman who wants to be friends. From there he tumbles into intrigue, murder, and mayhem.

 

The characters are believable, and the good guys are lovable. A great read, a one-sit read (be forewarned), and a most satisfactory mystery.

Occoquan --by Gary Worth Moody

  

Nonfiction / poetry / historical

Red Mountain Press

March 15, 2015

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0985503149

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0985503147

122 pages

5 stars

 

 

The first thing we learn from Mr. Moody is to pronounce this Virginia river OCK-koe-kwan. The “Occoquan River takes its name from syllables in the indigenous Doeg language…and mean the end of water.

 

We are taken on a trip through the surrounding country, and through time to a less gentle era. We will meet “Agnes in Brentsville,” hanged for killing her master. And Harriet Newby, owned by a doctor in Brentsville who wrote her husband, Dangerfield, who joined John Brown’s attempted seizure of the armory. Dangerfield was the first casualty. And we meet other people, in other times in the country of that era.

 

Some poems will make you cry, and some will make you angry. These poems are history, and not for the faint of heart. In Age of Consent, Virginia, 1901, we learn of a girl whose daddy gave her consent for a few coins to any man who wanted her. All these poems are not about the dark slaves of Virginia, some are about the white ones, the ones who were not quite human enough to vote, until they paid for that right. Inez Scouts the Tombs, “Tonight she prays / the ghost breath enters her; her tongue, tomorrow, becomes / unbridled; her teeth, free forged…”

 

These poems are well-written, and accessible to anyone who cares to pick the book up and read whether they like poetry or not. They are about the enslaved Africans, the suffragettes, a child sold by her father. They are about people who lived, and died, and helped define who we are today. They are also about place and time. They are hauntingly beautiful.

 

Twenty Poems That Could Save America and other essays --by Tony Hoagland

 Nonfiction / Essays on poetry

256 pages

5 Stars

 

I love good essays, and I love Tony Hoagland, uh, literarily that is. I read real sofistikashun: essays on poetry and craft by Tony Hoagland a little over two years ago and loved it. As soon as I knew this one was out, I ordered it, and promised myself I would only read one essay a night. I mostly succeeded.

 

I feel like I’ve had college-level classes on how to write poetry not just from a good teacher, but from a man who loved poetry and wanted to share his love with the world. My perception is he wanted everyone to enjoy poetry as much as he did. Out of the twelve essays, there were one or maybe two I didn’t care for all that much, a couple I loved, and the rest were merely wonderful. His enthusiasm for the craft comes through the printed word.

 

The last, and title essay had me laughing out loud in places. He was lamenting that poetry never got a really good foothold in the US schools, and will present 20 poems to take the place of some of the old standbys, but this sentence grabbed me. “Let us blame instead the stuffed shirts who took an hour to explain that poem in their classrooms, who chose it because it would NEED an explainer; pretentious ponderous ponderosas of professional professors will always be drawn to the poems that require a priest.” Yep, I think he nailed it, why a lot of us never ‘got’ into poetry until we were adulting.

 

A wonderful book, full of wisdom and explanations in plain everyday English. Even if you don’t read (or write) much poetry, I think you’d find lots to like in this book.

Cozy Up to Death: a novel about a bookstore, a cat, knitting, and blood (The Cozy Up Series Book 1) --by Colin Conway

 Fiction / Mystery / Cozy

268 pages / 3102 KB

5 Stars

 

Buckle up, Buttercup! This ain’t your standard Granny-owns-a-bookstore cozy. In the first place, Granny has disappeared and the Witness Protection people, in their infinite wisdom have ‘sold’ The Red Herring Mystery Bookstore to a Biker-turned-snitch now named Brody Steele. He knows books from zero. And he has a store full of them, in a quaint and cozy town in Pleasant Valley, on the coast of Maine. He also inherited a cat. And customers who want to know what he did with the previous owner.

 

And, of course, a mystery. And murder. And mayhem. And a girlfriend. He just wants to live a quiet life in the cozy town, maybe settle down with his new girlfiend, in a town where his old motorcycle gang will never find him. He’s not interested in the mob next door, or the knitting circle, or even his cat. Alas, they seem a tad interested in him. Too interested.

 

I have to admit, this is one of the bestest cozy mysteries I’ve ever read. However, trigger warning: don’t start this late in the day—it’s a one-sit read! 

 

 

The Cooking Gene --by Michael W. Twitty

 Nonfiction / African American / Memoir / History / Recipes (some)

480 pages

5 Stars

 

I first reviewed this book, September 2019. I read it on my Kindle, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am one of those people who retain information better when read from a paper copy rather than an electronic one, so recently purchased a hard copy of the book, and reread it for the first time.

 

I remembered a great deal of the book, but had forgotten a great deal, and it was a pleasure to read it again. Originally, I was in hopes it was a recipe book with stories, but it’s a story of his search for self, with a few recipes. BTW, I’ve tried a couple, and they’re wonderful. I love the Kitchen Pepper!!! 

 

My imagination is pretty good, but I cannot, try as I might, understand on a bone-deep level what it means to be black in America. I grew up knowing I came from Scot/Irish stock. I had it more or less drummed into me from childhood. I’m a descendant of Robert the Bruce. I can trace my family back to before his time. Big Deal.

 

But, if my family had been stolen, sent to another continent, enslaved, their names taken and given new names that mean nothing to them, I’m pretty positive I would have different thoughts and emotions about my ancestry. I would want to know, who am I? From where did I come? Who are my people? What is my heritage? I would have hundreds, if not thousands of questions. Michael Twitty had those questions, and this delightful book tells how he found many of the answers, and what they are.

 

I now realize the history I learned in school had been pretty well bleached, especially about the enslaved and their owners. Still, there were several parts in this book that brought tears to my eyes. I’ve seen and photographed many cotton plants through the years. But never reached a hand out to pick it—it wasn’t on my property, and I didn’t want to be caught ‘stealing.’ I had no idea of the pricklies hiding in wait for a cotton-picker’s hands. If you’re interested in the history of our country, I heartily recommend this book. If you want a good understanding of the African American history of our country, I heartily recommend this book.

Death Retires (Death Retired Mysteries Book 1) --by Cate Lawley

 Fiction / Mystery / Cozy /paranormal

298 pages / 1482 KB

5 Stars

 

 

This was my first Cate Lawley book. It will NOT be my last. Full disclosure here, but I found the beginning humorous, but not overly so. After reading the book, I think that was Reader Error, not Writer Error. Once into chapter 4 or 5, I had a hard time putting it down. I was reading in bed, and kept saying, ‘Just one more chapter,’ until I reached the end. Loved it. I haven't laughed this much in ages.

 

Clarence, the bobcat, stole the book. What’s odd is, many years ago, I had a cat who was half ‘wild cat’ of some description (daddy was a cougar is the best guess), and I had NO problem visualizing Clarence. If my cat could have talked, I think it would have been much the same.

 

No bad language, in fact Geoff (the retired death) forbids it. Poor Clarence. I look forward to reading the rest of the series, especially Clarence. No sex. Adult situations. Yes, I would let my younger kids read the books. If my younger kids were still younger;-)

The Consorts (Forbidden City Book 1) --by Melissa Addey

 Fiction / Historical / China / Novella

123 pages / 1430 KB

5 Stars

 

This was my first venture into the Forbidden City—I dare say it won’t be my last. A one sit-read, this story captivated me and I look forward to reading the others in the series. 

 

The Consorts tells the story of two young concubines to the Emperor who come of age locked away behind the walls of the Forbidden City and how they find love in a loveless place.

 

The sex scenes are a tad graphic, but I did not find them gratuitous. They fit the story and were tastefully done. 

 

Ms. Addey is from the UK, hence some of the grammar may be a tad ‘off’ for some American readers who haven’t read many books from across the pond. It certainly wasn’t enough off to throw me out of the story. As mentioned earlier, I found this to be a one-sit read. A perfect escape for a Covid afternoon.

 

The Cup (The Moroccan Empire Book 1) --by Melissa Addey

 Fiction / Historical/Romance/Middle Eastern/North Africa

128 pages / 4386 KB

5 Stars

 

Hela is the daughter of a man who sells slaves. As a child, she frequently accompanies him to the souk. An untrained empath, she ‘knows’ who will pay more, who will pay less, and sometimes where the salve should go or not go, and is able to convey the information to her father. Until an old and misshapen crone is sold off, and gives her a red cup. A magical cup. Hela is so shaken by the experience, she no longer attends her father, and instead, learns the healing arts from her mother. During which time, she discovers the magical properties of the cup, and at one point, tries to use it to her own use to disastrous consequences. For every action, there is an opposing reaction.

 

This is a lead-in to a series, which I have not yet read. The author covers many years, in a short period of time, and I assume we really don’t need the info in the lost years to dive into the series. I gather the books are about different women, and the last book will tie it all together. It should be an exciting and fun read to go through the series.

 

River Hoard --by Neil Leadbeater

 Nonfiction / poetry

59 pages

5 Stars

 

 

Neil Leadbeater lives in Scotland and reading this collection of poems is like a mini vacation to the land of Bobby Burns or Robert the Bruce. At least, for me.

 

Most of the poems are short, interesting, and accessible and about the natural world and beauty of the areas Leadbeater visits, sharing the intimate details of of those visits.

 

In short, this book is a delight. I envy his talent of seeing and writing of such beauty.