Saturday, April 28, 2018

Getting back to reading books

As you can see from my "Reading Now" note at the top left of the page, I do have a few books I have started reading. Unfortunately, I haven't been consistent with reading them. They are books that I thought I should read, and I do want to read them, but they haven't been holding my interest. I have been spending far too much time on my iPhone and laptop, playing games and reading Facebook.

A few days ago, I picked up Evening Class, a novel by Maeve Binchy, 0ne of my favorite authors. She had a way of telling the stories of many individual people, then winding all the threads into a unified whole. I find it very satisfying.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Crescent City, by Belva Plain

Historical fiction/romance set in New Orleans, Louisiana and a plantation near New Orleans prior to and during the American Civil War.
Miriam's mother had been brutally attacked in a pogrom against Jewish villagers in a small German town, and tragically died moments after Miriam's birth. Her father left shortly afterward to make his fortune in America, leaving Miriam and her brother David with their grandfather and spinster aunt. Years later, he returned and took the children to his grand home in New Orleans. At the age of 16, as was the custom at that time, Miriam was given in marriage to Eugene, a man at least ten years older. Miriam and Eugene doted on their twins, a son and a daughter, but there was no love, no joy between them. They lived separate lives in the same house, even in the same bedroom.
These were perilous times; abolitionist feelings against the "peculiar institution" of slavery were mounting, and soon the storm of Civil War broke loose. There was a storm in Miriam's heart as well, as she dealt with guilt, loss, tragedy, and heartbreak.

Friday, January 26, 2018

The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks

This is a children's/young adult fantasy novel. An interesting premise: a young boy is given a plastic Indian (native American) figure, the kind of toy that comes in a package of many. There are many kinds of these sets: cowboys and Indians, soldiers, farm animals. Not very grateful for the toy, he stashes it away in a "cupboard" (medicine cabinet to Americans; Ms. Banks is a British author) and locks it with a very unusual old-fashioned key that his mother's grandmother had given to her long ago. Next morning, he awakens, hearing mysterious noises in the cupboard which he is keeping on his nightstand.

The Indian, though still very tiny, is alive! Alive, and not at all happy to be snatched from his Iroquois people of 1700s North America. Gradually, the boy, Omri, and the Indian, Little Bear, begin to understand and respect one another. As one might imagine, it is of utmost importance to keep Little Bear a secret from Omri's parents and brothers and his best friend Patrick, who gave him the plastic Indian. As Little Bear understandably becomes more and more insistent on having his needs met, Omri feels a deepening sense of responsibility that begins to weigh on him heavily. As he thinks of the future, he realizes that decisions must be made, and soon.

This book was made into a movie, and several sequels were written.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

The Rustlers of West Fork: A Hopalong Cassidy Novel, by Louis L'Amour


An exciting, suspenseful Western drama, a psychological thriller as Hopalong Cassidy (the good guy) and his handful of cowboys strive to outwit a band of sly and stealthy outlaws who have taken over Cassidy's friends' ranch, home, and lives. The plot includes a harrowing trek across the forbidding peaks of the Mogollon Mountains in unexpected early freezing weather and snowfall, fleeing the crooks and battling Apaches as Hopalong tries to lead a crippled old man and his daughter to safety.

I was only familiar with the character of Hopalong Cassidy from the television shows of the 1950s. As it turns out, the TV shows and movies stemmed from a series of books written by Clarence E. Mulford in the early 20th century. The first of these movies was produced in 1935, featuring William L. Boyd in the leading role, which he continued through the run of movies and TV shows. (Many of us of a certain age have the image of Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy firmly etched in our minds.) In the 1950s, Doubleday Publishing revived the H. C. books to be based on the character as presented by Mr. Boyd, which was considerably different from the rough-talking, hard-drinking cowpoke of Mulford's early novels. Mulford declined to come out of retirement, and handpicked the rising young writer of magazine short stories, Louis L'Amour, to carry the torch. The following four H. C. novels were Mr. L'Amour's first published novels, although they were published under a pseudomyn, Tex Burns. They were The Rustlers of West Fork, Trail to Seven Pines, Riders of High Rock, and Trouble Shooter. Mr. L'Amour went on to write more than 100 novels under his own name, and passed away in 1988.