Books I've Read

Great story of a little country that declares war on the United States back in the 50s. Peter Sellers played several of the parts in the movie.

Franny is an Air Force kid who lives near Andrews AFB. She is coping with growing up, an uncle with issues from WWI, and the threat of nuclear annihilation in the 60s. Profusely illustrated. It took me until page 276 to realize that Uncle "Otis" was actually spelled Uncle Otts. Ain't old eyes great?

Comfort's family lives in a large house that is also a funeral home, so she is familiar with dealing with death. Except when it's too close.

Ruby lives in a very small town in Mississippi. She love her grandmother, and she loves the chickens they rescued. But she hates Melba Jane. Dealing with a death in the family seems to be a theme of the author.

House Jackson is trying to get his arm back in shape for pitching the annual (and only) baseball game against the kids from the neighboring county, but a Pageant is scheduled for the same time. Ruby wants to be catcher (No Girls!), and even Comfort makes a cameo. And of course, someone dies.

An un-named fellow goes to a distant un-named city in an un-named country to house-sit for his college friend Oskar. Stuff goes wrong. Blurb on the back from the Daily Telegraph says "Fawlty Towers crossed with Freud." Well, shit gets real on page 90, but I didn't guffaw till page 221. All that blood!
Lou Reed Sunday Morning mention on page 14, always a plus.

In a world where the privilege to use color must be purchased as a "Pleasure" (and there are many other "Pleasures" one must purchase, too), a young apprentice artists discovers a secret world in paintings that he can enter into. First of a series, good stuff!

P.I Jake Blake has quite the wild (and some have called it "sleazy") time in this book. Copyright 1956, to help set the stage!

Three sisters go to Oakland in the 60s to visit the mother who abandoned them when they were babies. Interesting view of Black Panthers from the children's viewpoint.

A collection of wonderful stories with a Christmas theme. Five star!

A continuation of the story from Black Out, of the historians who time travel back to study WWII. Read on Libby.

A science fiction romance. Lots of historical references, many of which I looked up and were...suspect.

Time travel by historian back to World War II days. Something goes wrong... I read the eBook version, eISBN 978-0-345-51964-1

Briddey and her boyfriend get an brain operation to enhance their relationship by being able to share emotions more better. Yeah, well, that didn't work out so well. Good book, my usual complaints about Willis's obstinate characters.

Oxford Time Travel #1. Kivrin goes back in time to study Medieval times for a couple of weeks. Things, of course, go wrong. On both ends.

I was liking this book very much, then the author stepped on the gas. Woah!
Why the hate for Dances With Wolves, I like that movie. I liked the book Pollyanna, too, but I read it as an adult of maybe forty or so. I liked the movie Titanic, too!
I didn't realize Vielle was a black woman until chapter 32. Shows my reading comprehension level, I guess!

Francie goes to Roswell (New Mexico) to attend the wedding of her best friend from college. There is some sort of UFO event going on in town, too.

I didn't read Three Men In A Boat until I was like, forty, or so. My son said, "Dad, Heinlein mentions it in Have Spacesuit, Will Travel." Well, I read that when I was in junior high school, I didn't realize those book mentions were actual books I should read. Anyway, my thanks to Mr. Lampedusa for recommending Three Men to me!

This was a good book, the third I've read in this world/setting, and this fun is much more fun!

A very enjoyable book about some folks in a small town in North Carolina whose lives intertwine interestingly.

The trouble with this book was that every couple of pages I had to stop to look something up on the internet. Then, a few hours later, I'd get back to the book. Very slow going!