A Spenser Novel

Painted Ladies – A Spenser Novel –by Robert B. Parker

Fiction

Number of Pages: 291

Footnotes/Endnotes: No

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReader: Yes

Rainy Day hasn't read a Spenser novel in a long time, and went to bed last night to snuggle in with the doglet and cat and begin the book. It was a couple hours later, when she finished it, that she turned off her light.

Her biggest complaint is that there will be few, if any, more Spenser novels, as Mr. Parker is now deceased (With luck, there may be enough notes in his files for someone to write a few more?). Her second biggest complaint is that Hawk was merely mentioned, not an active participant in the story. Rainy Day really likes Hawk.

Spenser novels are what Rainy Day calls 'brain candy' – pure, unadulterated fluff; calorie-free confections; or, if you prefer, escape. And Painted Ladies did not let her down.

The book opens, along with Spenser's office door, with a new client who hires Spenser to protect him as he makes the exchange of ransom money for a priceless art object. Spenser fails, and the new client is blown to smithereens along with the priceless objet 'art. Or is it? And why are 'they' trying so hard to kill Spenser?

Those of you who like to read these kinds of stories, and figure out who done it early on, will possibly be able to do so. Rainy Day doesn't like to try to figure it out; she likes to be surprised. Which is a good thing, because she would be wrong more often than not.

For a bit of light reading, you just can't go wrong with a Spenser novel!

Mr. Parker, you and Spenser will be sorely missed!

Write Fast, Not Good

From Idea to Story in 90 Seconds: A Writer's Primer –by Ken Rand

Nonfiction

89 Pages

Footnotes/Endnotes: No

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes (but harder to use a pen for margin notes or a highlighter;-)

Rainy Day attended a writer's conference a while back, and noted there were several books on the Door Prize Table, a couple of which she really, really wanted. Well, her name was called first, and she thought she would get to pick her book, ohboyohboyohboy, was she ever excited. She got up to the table to claim her prize and was handed From Idea to Story in 90 Seconds: A Writer's Primer. Not, she hastens to tell you, one of the books she had her eye on!

However, Rainy Day spent time, several years ago, doing volunteer work with Shanti, and one of the things they emphasized was to 'trust the system' so she decided to trust the system, and excitedly accepted her book, put it in her purse, and forgot about it. (She has a big, black purse, and the book is small, dark, and slender – easily lost in the cavernous bag;-)

The other day, she found the book, while waiting for the Dentist to call her. And she started reading it. She was not happy at the interruption of her reading. She had trusted the system, and discovered somewhat belatedly, she got the bestest book on the table. She doesn't even remember the ones she thought she really, really wanted.

This is a 'how to' book every Writer and Wannabee Writer should have on their desk. Not their bookshelf, unless the bookshelf is within reaching distance of their chair. Ken Rand is a writer who presents his theories, practices, and ideas in a humorous and accessible way.

Where do you get your story ideas? Try the grocery store. At one end find your antagonist, at the other end your protagonist. (Grocery shopping for Rainy Day may never be the same again, she might actually enjoy it a tad, now;-)

Got Writer's Block? The solution is on pages 42 and 43.

Want to write with a partner? There are some things you really need to know, and Ken Rand tells you how -- or expect failure. (It's a Right Brain/Left Brain thing times two.)

If you are an established author or a beginning writer, this is a book that should be in your library. Trust Rainy Day on this one! Buy this book. Read it. Write!

Depressing Truths

The First Noble Truth  --by Steve Kowit

Poetry

77 Pages

footnotes/endnotes: No

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

The First Noble Truth:

all humanity suffers --

but we bring it on ourselves

and it is within ourselves

to choose to continue the

suffering, or to find enlightenment.

After the first six poems

of this book, I chose

to leave the suffering of

others for something more

enlightened and peaceful.

If the suffering of other

beings is what you long for,

if their suffering somehow

makes your suffering less,

by comparison, then by all

means, buy and read this book.

I did not finish this book, and doubt, seriously, that I ever will. The writing and style appeal to me, but the poems were just too darned depressing. The writing is clear, the style accessible, but....

Take a Trip Through Time and Africa

 

Belonging in Africa – by Jo Alkemade

Fiction

288 pages

footnotes/endnotes: No

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

Disclaimer: I am a friend of Jo's, so my review might be just a tad biased, but don't let that stop you from buying and reading this great book!

Sara, the protagonist of the novel, is a Dutch girl coming of age in Nairobi, Kenya in the 1970s. She has lived all over the world, as her father's job moved, but Kenya, Africa, is where she feels she belongs. Her overbearing parents want her to return to their native country, Holland, to be near her aunties and attend secretarial school. She wants to remain in Kenya.

She meets, and falls in love with Sam, a traditional African man, who is from Uganda. His father is imprisoned there, and Sam, as the first son of the first wife, is 'man of the family.' Sam has been accepted at university in London, and wants Sara to accompany him, and when their schooling is over, they will return to Kenya. However, he must first return to his family and make sure everything is in order before travelling so far.

This is Sara's dream come true. Until Fate steps in. While Sam is in Uganda, she receives a phone call that changes her life. Ignoring her father's demand she remain home, she journeys to the village of Sam's birth a young and naive girl. She returns to her home a few days later, a young woman of resolution.

Reading this book is like taking a trip through time to 1978 and a safari through parts of Africa where Jo has lived, but I have only dreamed. Jo tells a great story – I laughed, I cried, and I loved this book.

Lying -- by Sam Harris

Lying – by Sam Harris

Essay (nonfiction)

84 pages

footnotes/endnotes: Yes

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Depends on whether you want to read the endnotes

Rainy Day subscribes to Sam Harris' Project Reason. Today, the new article was, "The Fall of Jonah Lehrer" the young science journalist and author recently fallen from grace for lying in his articles. To read the article, go here:  http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-fall-of-jonah-lehrer.

In reading the article, Mr. Harris made the content of his essay Lying available as a free download for a limited time. Rainy Day took advantage, downloaded it, and read it.

As stated above, it contains endnotes, and Rainy Day would be telling a lie if she said that was okay. It is not. If the notes were bibliography only, it would be acceptable, however, many contain relative information that was not easily accessed at the appropriate time.

However, the essay itself is well worth the read, and the investment in time and money. It is an accessible book, and guaranteed to make one think about the lies they tell – and Rainy Day is positive all of us do, at one time or another.

But, are our lies ethical? Do they really hurt anyone? And, once told, what do we think of the person we lied to, who bought our story? Yes, Rainy Day admits, she lies. Daily. After all, she writes stories – but she doesn't claim them as truth. What about the Politicians. They lie, and what do we think of them? (And what do they think of us?)

The chapters cover What Is a Lie? to White Lies, Integrity, Big Lies, and several other lies. And ways to tell the truth when asked questions like, "Does this dress make me look fat?"

Read this book, take his advice, and live a happier, fuller life!

To buy the essay ($1.99) go here:  http://www.samharris.org/lying

How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great --by Karen Karbo

How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great --by Karen Karbo

Nonfiction

Number of Pages: Unknown

Footnotes/Endnotes: Yes

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReader: Depends—do you read end notes?

For a light, summer read, and if you're a fan of Kate Hepburn, this might be the book for you. Rainy Day can't tell you how many pages, because she read it on her phone, and Kindle seems to think you don't need page numbers. There are end notes, and Rainy Day was delighted when she got to the first one and discovered it was hot linked to the actual note – until she discovered she couldn't find a link to get back to the text, so she read the text then the notes at the end of the chapter.

Has Rainy Day ever told you how much she hates end notes? Especially chapter end notes?

The book is light and breezy, and guaranteed not to tax your brain, but also great fun. If you want the nitty gritty of her life, this may not be the book you want, but if you want to read something about the Great Kate that wasn't written by the Publicity Department or one of their minions, enjoy!

It seem obvious to Rainy Day that Mz Karbo genuinely liked the Great Kate, and though Rainy Day didn't really learn anything she hadn't already known, it was a delightful read for a summer's day.

The Eleventh Jaguarundi and Other Mysterious Persons –Jessica Amanda Salmonson

The Eleventh Jaguarundi and Other Mysterious Persons –Jessica Amanda Salmonson

Surrealist Short Stories

98 pages

Footnotes/Endnotes: None

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

Rainy Day is fortunate enough to have a phone with a Kindle App. She says fortunate, because the other day she found herself in a waiting room for over two hours, and had nothing to read but the usual magazines. She hauled out her phone, and instead of playing solitaire she read this book. On her phone. (Rainy Day remembers when phones were black, connected to the wall, and the only things you could do on them was to make & receive calls, or if one was very, very stealthy, listen in on the party line conversations!)

But, back to the short stories. They are not, obviously, the usual fantasy. Jessica Amanda Salmonson after all, wrote them;-) The stories are surreal. This is not a genre that appeals to everyone, and even Rainy Day doesn't read a lot of it. But the stories were great fun, filled with patterns and shapes and sounds more than with plot and sense and character. A great way to enjoy a gentle vertigo while sitting, and not affecting your inner ears. think literary fiction turned inside out, cut into pieces and reassembled into different pictures.

If you need a linear story, a beginning, a middle, an end; if you need the standard plot structure to enjoy a story, then The Eleventh Jaguarundi and Other Mysterious Persons is probably not your book. However, if you enjoy the unusual, the off center, Salvatore Dali in words, then you stand a high chance of enjoying this book.