Fiona Friday

Watch out for those murder mittens. 

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump

I pre-ordered Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump, the current president's niece, and then waffled over whether or not to cancel the order because I've been reading about him since the 1980s. I figured I'd already know most of what she had to say. As it turned out, I was correct in some ways but not others. Too Much and Never Enough is more of a family history than a book specifically about the president, although the author explains very nicely the reasoning for his behavior in a way that others have only guessed at. So, it's marginally different from the other psychological assessments (Mary Trump is a psychologist) and explains his actions more broadly by digging into how his domineering father and absent mother formed him into the man he is today.

It was fascinating reading about the family history because Too Much and Never Enough went deeper into the dysfunction of the family than I've ever read about in any article and made sense of many things that were a little fuzzy on detail. I knew, for example, that the president's eldest brother was an alcoholic, that he died fairly young, and that the president cut off the insurance for Freddy's family members at some point in time. I didn't know much beyond that; and, the story of Freddy Trump is much, much sadder than I realized.

At any rate, I don't want to go into too much detail but there were some little bits and pieces that I found of interest. For example, I was aware that the president was not being honest when he referred to himself as a self-made man and said he'd gotten "just a million dollars" from his fabulously wealthy and controlling father. But, I didn't realize that he pretty much lived off his father's money and was allowed to spend extravagantly because he was, after Freddy failed to live up to expectations, the chosen son. Nor did I know that he was really only the publicity man and the face of the family business while his father was alive. Too Much and Never Enough also nicely explains how and why Freddy fell from grace and the president took his place, as well as why the president was held up as a success by his family and the press, even when he wasn't actually making business decisions and, later, after he'd failed so thoroughly at his own ventures that the only banks that would loan to him were outside of the country.

The author does a good job of laying out the growth of the family's wealth and how they are all about money and power. She vaguely describes their tax evasion; talks about how they've used political and mob connections to their advantage; and, describes their decadent spending contrasted with cheapness in buying gifts (often regifting unwanted items or giving items that were wholly inappropriate to each other).

There's also this paragraph, a portion of which a friend on Facebook posted and I went to look up (I'd forgotten all about it):

While thousands of Americans die alone, Donald touts stock market gains. As my father lay dying alone, Donald went to the movies. If he can in any way profit from your death, he'll facilitate it, and then he'll ignore the fact that you died. 

~p. 209

Recommended - Too Much and Never Enough was much better written and more informative than I expected, if a little uneven, as it jumped back and forth in time. But I can't say I enjoyed the reading because the family is described as such a greedy and vicious bunch (the kind of people who spend a holiday together making cutting remarks about each other, except the favored child, to whom praise is expected from everyone) that I was sick of them by the time I was halfway through the book. Still, I think it's worth the read and I have no regrets.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

They Called Us Enemy - George Takei, Elsinger, Scott, and Becker

They Called Us Enemy is George Takei's graphic novel about his family's time in two separate internment camps during WWII. It tells a little about his life before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and how sentiment turned against Japanese Americans, the signing of the bill that led to the imprisonment of both American citizens and those who had been residents of the US for a long time without becoming citizens, how traumatic leaving their home was, the conditions they lived in at the camps, and how people banded together to make their lives more tolerable.

Takei talks a little about how this experience fed into the kind of escapism and pretend that led to his acting career and how this story was told as a play.

Highly recommended - I'm not a big fan of graphic memoirs but this one is excellent and very moving. It has very clear illustrations and text. My distaste for graphic memoirs is two-fold: sometimes people seem to share a little too much for my taste (a little harder to ignore if there are illustrations) and I don't always understand what's happening. There was never a point that I didn't understand what was going on in They Called Us Enemy. It's very well done. I thought Takei's story was also fascinating for the fact that his story was a little different than the other tales of Japanese Internment I've read because his parents made the choice not to sign a document saying they rejected the Emperor of Japan, due to the wording. That put them in much worse circumstances, for a time.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Plains by Gerald Murnane

The Plains by Gerald Murnane is an Australian modern classic about a man who goes to the Plains region of Australia for a filmmaking project. But, first, he must get to know the Plainsmen and what makes them tick. He finds a patron, a wealthy landowner willing to pay him to spend time reading diaries and documents on the Plains to research his film.

~~~Warning: This next paragraph may contain spoilers. Skip it if you are planning to read The Plains and want to be surprised, please!~~~ 

The storyline in The Plains is predictable, at least in part, but still managed to surprise and tickle me. It's told in three parts. In the first part, the narrator travels to the Plains and hangs out where the Plainsmen do, hoping to learn about them and understand them enough to create his film. At the end of the first section, he finds his patron. In the second part, the narrator (I don't recall whether or not he was ever named) is living with his patron, admiring the patron's wife, and spending most of his time in the library of the patron's estate. In the final section, years have passed and the narrator realizes he has become a Plainsman, himself. But, I won't tell you what happens to his filmmaking process because it's worth discovering if you're at all interested in reading the book. And, it's quite funny.

It's safe, now. 

I got of whiff of the slyness of the author's sense of humor when the narrator made a comment about not knowing quite when he left Australia. That's like saying you aren't quite sure when you left America as you entered Kansas. But, I think it's likely I would have missed out on a lot of the subtle humor if I hadn't read the introduction, which was written by a writer who was so impressed by The Plains when he first read it that he started corresponding with the author. I highly recommend reading the intro, if you have this copy of the book.

I found the beginning and the last section of The Plains a little difficult until I stopped thinking so hard about what the author was trying to say. Oddly, The Plains made more sense when I put less effort into figuring it out.

Recommended with a note - The Plains is a very Australian book and you have to kind of shift your mindset to get it if you're not Australian. It's best to embrace the quirkiness. It's not often I read a book that's more difficult the harder you try to understand it but this is definitely that kind of book.

Side note: The Plains caught my eye in an Australian bookstore because I grew up on the American Plains and have a fondness for wheat, which would get blown into our yard during storms when I was young; there was a wheat field not far from us at the time (it eventually became a Walmart, ugh). I didn't buy a copy when I was in Australia but my husband went back there on business, after we vacationed Down Under, and I sent him with a list. The Plains was at the top. He tried to read it and found it a little too weird.

Reminder: I've gone to every-other-week Monday Malarkey posts, so there will be a Malarkey post next week.

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday - Sweet kitty kiss and new catnip toy

I forgot it's Friday! Darn Coronavirus throws everything off. I've already posted this image to Facebook but I adjusted the color a bit because it was a little yellowish. It was by far my favorite kitty photo of the week so apologies to those who have already seen this one. I'll throw another below for funsies.

Fiona got a new catnip squirrel, last week. Isabel occasionally plays with it, too, but I've found Fiona using it as a pillow, occasionally. She is definitely appreciating it the most.

It was a delightful week with the kitties. :)


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is the sequel to The War That Saved My Life, which I reviewed, here:

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

And, because it's a sequel, there may be some spoilers, so I'd advise you to skip this review if you're concerned that I might give away a plot point or two from the first book. 

In The War I Finally Won, this middle grade WWII fiction continues the story of Ada, her brother, Jamie, and Susan. In case you don't want to click through to the first review, just a quick reminder of what happens in The War That Saved My Life: Ada is stuck at home with a cruel mother who occasionally locks her into the cabinet and won't let her leave the apartment, even to attend school, embarrassed about Ada's club foot. But, when her little brother Jamie is evacuated to the country, Ada finds a way to tag along and they end up with a depressed woman, Susan, who rises to the challenge of dealing with a traumatized child who has not attended a single day of school.

In The War I Finally Won, Susan has become the children's permanent guardian, Ada has surgery to fix her club foot, and the family has moved after losing their home to a direct hit by a bomb. Now that they know their mother has been killed, Ada is struggling with whether or not Susan will abandon them and upset by the fact that Jamie has begun to call Susan "Mum". There are some other plot points I don't want to give away because I think it's best reading them as they unfold but, as in the first book, there's a good deal about horses. In The War That Saved My Life, a horse named Butters figures heavily into the plot about Ada's healing.

The War I Finally Won is a very plot-driven story packed with emotional scenes that gives you that wonderful "you were there" sensation. There are so many moving scenes, in fact, that I pretty much cried my way through the book. At one point, I was reading in bed and I cried enough that I had to sit up because I was soaking the collar of my shirt. I consider that a positive. I like a deeply affecting book.

Highly recommended - It is necessary to read The War That Saved My Life, first, because The War I Finally Won is a continuation of the story in that book and much of what's in the latter will not make sense if you haven't read the first book. Both are excellent. While I didn't think the characters sounded British when I read their dialogue, that was the only indication that the author is American. Otherwise, the time and place were clearly thoroughly researched.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan was one of the most exciting things I found on that day I flipped through every fiction page on Book Outlet. Friends have been gushing about Shaun Tan's illustrations for years. I honestly didn't pay attention to the title so it wasn't until right before the book arrived and I read a review that I found out Tales from Outer Suburbia is just what it sounds like, a slim book of short stories, beautifully illustrated.

I thought of Tan as merely an illustrator but his quirky stories are loads of fun. My particular favorite is the one that goes with the cover image. I don't want to give anything away because all of the stories are so surprising and fun. At least one made me laugh out loud and repeat the story to my husband. I will reread this book numerous times, I'm sure.

Highly recommended - Tales from Outer Suburbia is a pure delight, not only for the uniqueness of the short fiction but also for the stunning illustrations. It's an eyeball feast. I'll be looking for more by Shaun Tan.

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals (all purchased, top to bottom):

• In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders
• Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
• My One Square Inch of Alaska by Sharon Short
• Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
• Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
• Seventeen by Hideo Yokoyama
• Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken
• Golden State by Ben H. Winters
• The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman
• Trumpocracy by David Frum

A lot of these have been on my wish list for some time, so I went a little hog wild on a day I was feeling down in the dumps. Apparently, this is a common thing for book lovers. Someone in one of my book groups on Facebook asked people to admit how many books they have coming in the mail *right at this moment* and one woman said, "I have 48 in my cart at Book Outlet."


Books finished since last Malarkey:

• Bubble Kisses by Vanessa Williams and Tara Nicole Whitaker
• Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
• The End of October by Lawrence Wright
• Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
• I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell
• The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
• Stop! Bot! by James Yang
• Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
• The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
• The Plains by Gerald Murnane
• They Called Us Enemy by Takei, Elsinger, Scott, and Becker
• Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump
• Dominicana by Angie Cruz

I guess it's been a while since I did a Monday Malarkey post. I'm planning to do them every other week, so there will not be a Monday Malarkey next week but I'll post one two weeks from today. In case you're wondering, part of the reason I managed to read so many books in the past few weeks was my participation in the "Laid-back reading challenge" via Instagram. I enjoyed being in a small group reading for a week together and chatting. It inspired me.


Currently reading:

• Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum

I'm still not even past the introduction of the Tatum book so I imagine it will be one of those books I put in my "currently reading" category a couple of times and then potentially drop, even though I'm still reading it because saying I'm still reading it makes me cringe. But, I'm sure I'll eventually finish it. It's just going to take some time.


Posts since last Malarkey:

• Bubble Kisses by Vanessa Williams and Tara Nicole Whitaker (book review)
• Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle (book review)
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (book review)
• The End of October by Lawrence Wright (book review)
• Fiona Friday: Just pointing this out (cat photos)
• Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (book review)
• I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell (book review)
• The Good Girl by Mary Kubica (book review)
• Stop! Bot! by James Yang (book review)
• Fiona Friday (cat photo)

I decided I like doing a sort of "round-up" post of what I've read and posted, now and then, so while I considered getting rid of Monday Malarkey, I've wholly rejected the notion, now. It will continue, just spaced out a bit more.


In other news:

This week, Huz and I were watching a medical professional on the news. He said that even after the human trials for COVID-19 vaccines are finished, a vaccine will have to be mass produced and then somehow distributed to the public and because all of that takes time, he couldn't imagine that it would be less than a year before we can go back to normal. Huz turned to me and said, "Another year with you? Ugh," and I laughed because I know when he's joking. Seriously, kids, this is the best thing about a long marriage. Get yourself a partner who can insult you and make you laugh because you know he's kidding.

Anyway . . . a year. What an awful thought. We are introverts and we're doing okay but we still occasionally get a little stir crazy. Yesterday, we drove the 30 miles back to Vicksburg to go through a drive-through Mexican place, really just to get out of the house. The girl in the drive-through window wasn't wearing a mask (against local mandate). I don't know if I'll go there, again.

The worst news of the week is that I have finally reached the stage of knowing someone personally who died from COVID-19. I knew that time would come. First, it was knowing people who knew people who had the virus, then knowing someone personally, then knowing a bunch of people who had it personally, and now . . . my favorite childhood Sunday School teacher, the mother of one of my best friends has passed away.

Please wear a mask and socially distance.

Here's a behind the scenes photo of Fiona with my books because . . . of course she had to check them out:

The purple is a tumbling mat I use for yoga because a yoga mat is too thin for me, now.

I'm on my last week of that painting class, Postwar Abstract Expressionism. It has been the most amazing learning experience. I've taken some so-so classes through Coursera but Postwar Abstract Expressionism was first rate. The only problem I had with it was the inability to ask questions of the instructor. There was no common board where that kind of interaction could take place. But, I learned a lot and have had so much fun with the painting lessons. While I'm working on the final lesson, I'm already scouting around to see what kind of class I can find to participate in, next.

Have you found anything wonderful to help fill your time with new learning experiences during the pandemic?

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Stop! Bot! by James Yang

Full disclosure: I went to high school with the author of Stop! Bot! (we were in journalism and on the school newspaper staff together) so I buy his books at least in part to support him.

Having said that, Stop! Bot! by James Yang is simple and silly with an unexpected ending. A little boy's bot (a drone) has gone out of control and is flying up the outside of a high-rise building. As the bot heads upward, people try to catch it to help the boy in increasingly ridiculous ways. For example, a giraffe tries to reach it with its long neck and someone reaches out with one of those oversized sponge hands you can buy at sporting events. Everyone fails until the surprise twist, which has something to do with bananas.

And, it really is bananas. But, clever, which reminds me that back in high school James had a comic strip in our school newspaper. I remember saying, "James is so clever!" about a million times. I always loved that comic strip.

Recommended - I like this book, particularly the ending, but I must add that I read some reviews and noticed the chief complaint is the minimal number of words. James is a graphic artist and his books tend to be low on text. If that bothers you, Stop! Bot! is not the right book for you. I buy them more for the joy of owning some of James' illustrations than for the wording, myself. But, I do like the story. I wish my grandchildren were nearby so I could read it to them and see their reaction to it.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica is about a judge's daughter who is kidnapped. The fellow who kidnaps her was supposed to drop her off with a criminal for whom the kidnapper does various jobs, but he thinks she might be in danger of being killed and decides to hide out with her in a remote cabin. The decision to go to the cabin is so spontaneous that he has no idea how they're going to survive, how long he'll keep her captive, or how to end the mess he's gotten himself into. Months pass and winter sets in. Will they both survive?

In a second timeline, the judge's daughter is no longer a captive but she has selective amnesia and is so traumatized that she hardly speaks or eats. What happened and is there a way to jog her memory?

I remember hearing a lot of positive buzz about The Good Girl when it came out. I wasn't as enthusiastic as most, when I closed it. I figured out literally all of the plot twists way early in the book. Whether that was just lucky guesswork or the author dropped too many hints, I can't say. But, in spite of that, I enjoyed The Good Girl and would probably read Mary Kubica again.

Recommended but not a favorite.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell

I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell is definitely in my Top 10 2020 reads, so far. Subtitled "Seventeen Brushes With Death," it is a memoir that examines 16 times O'Farrell easily could have lost her life but survived or escaped danger. The final essay is about her daughter's extreme allergies and how the author cherishes every day with her, knowing that she could lose her daughter at any time.

Highly recommended - The writing in I Am I Am I Am is spectacular. Stunning prose, often unsettling but always written in a way that makes you feel the raw emotion of near drowning or the sharp fear of encountering dangerous men, the genuine grief of loss after a pregnancy disaster. Just an amazing work of art, really. I don't know about other readers, but O'Farrell had me thinking about my own frightening experiences for days. Also, the last line of the final essay choked me up.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (#2 in the Murderbot Diaries series)

In Artificial Condition by Martha Wells, Murderbot (a part human/part robot that is neither male or female) decides to flee the area in which it is required to stay after being freed from the watchful eye of the corporation that used to own it. Murderbot is in search of answers about what happened in the disastrous killing for which the security unit has given itself the moniker "Murderbot". Was Murderbot responsible for scores of deaths? Did it go rogue or is there more to the story?

To keep from being detected, Murderbot has to interfere with cameras, convince various spaceships to let it aboard, and figure out how not to look like a security unit. During the long, boring parts of flight, Murderbot watches videos.

The best thing about Artificial Condition is probably the relationship that Murderbot builds with a particular ship's bot pilot. I didn't know whether the pilot should be trusted or not for a good portion of the book and I liked that uncertainty.

Recommended - While it takes longer for the action to crank up in Artificial Condition than it did in the first book, Martha Wells' writing is stunning and I have no regrets about buying the entire series. I'm deliberately spacing out the reading and trying to save my Murderbot books for times when I feel myself falling into a slump. They're fantastic for breaking the spell because they're so action-packed it's almost impossible to put a Murderbot book down.

Click through to read my mini review of the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series, All Systems Red. You'll need to page down a bit.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday - Just pointing this out

After saying I was unsure about whether or not I'd continue with Fiona Friday, I remembered this photo and decided it's worth putting up on the blog. Such a perfect little pose. There are two other photos of Isabel with The End of October, but this was my favorite because of the little gesture with the paw.

Eh, might as well share all three. She's such a cutie.

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The End of October by Lawrence Wright

OK, a little commentary on blogging, first. I disappeared briefly because I was considering giving up blogging but chose not to say I was leaving for good, just in case. I mean, I have to write. I just didn't know if I needed to keep writing about books, if that makes sense. And, sure enough, I decided I'm not done. I need to write about books, at least occasionally. The End of October is really the only book that I've felt like I really needed to talk about. A week has passed since completion, but I still have thoughts and would love to hear what anyone else thinks. I have a few ARCs left but not many, so if I don't mention receiving a book from a publisher, you can assume it's owned or borrowed, from now on.

The End of October by Lawrence Wright is a pandemic novel. When I first started reading it, I referred to it (on Instagram) as "dystopian" but then I started rethinking that and decided it's really a medical thriller, although things fall apart and society becomes a bit dystopian because of the illness. And, while I think it's a bit too long and occasionally dives into unnecessary detail, it still managed to be a page-turner, most of the time. There are some slow bits.

When Dr. Henry Parsons hears that there's been an outbreak of a mysterious illness in Indonesia, he goes there to investigate, telling his family that he'll be home in time for his son's birthday. Instead, he finds a novel virus (yes, much like our current virus situation) that has been contained to an encampment. But, shortly after, the virus begins to spread and one of the people who has been exposed hops on a plane to Saudi Arabia for his once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage, the Hajj, to Mecca. Henry follows to try to contain the disease. There, the virus takes hold with a vengeance and Henry is stuck for months, once the country is locked down.

OK, so hmm. I had so many thoughts about this book. Henry works for the CDC and I had a bit of a problem with the major plot point of Henry being stuck in a foreign country for two reasons:

1) The author repeatedly says Henry is very, very important - I don't think I would have believed an important American government official would be left stranded in another country, anyway, but . . .

2) Recent events show that it's possible to get out of a locked-down country. In fact, a friend's daughter was stuck in Peru when the country locked down. My friend had to make a lot of phone calls to get help from local government, who assisted her in acquiring the right documents and advised her on where to have her daughter go and when. I don't know if the US government charged my friend to get her daughter home but they did send at least one plane to pick up American citizens who had been stranded and wanted to return home (apparently, you could stay or go; it was up to the stranded individual).

So, that bugged me. But, the other thing that drove me crazy was how Henry was portrayed as heroic and a wonderful husband, father, and lover, blah, blah, but he definitely put his job ahead of the family. Having been the wife of someone who travels constantly and has put his job first, sorry, I could not see Henry's choices as heroic.

Having said all that, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to those who enjoy Robin Cook, Michael Crichton, and whoever else writes medical thrillers (I haven't read one for a while, so I don't know who the current shining stars may be), if only for the ability to compare the book to current events.

The virus in The End of October is different than Covid-19. It's a hemorrhagic virus (eww) like Ebola and it's much more deadly. During the time Henry is stuck in another country, the US is being ravaged by the disease and it's so easily transmissible and deadly that it becomes difficult to obtain food and other necessities. At one point, the electricity goes off and stays off for days.

Anyway, sometimes it can be a bit gruesome but that kind of goes with the territory when you're talking medical thrillers. I didn't rate it at Goodreads and I still don't know how to rate the book. I liked it but didn't love it. I thought it was a pretty quick read but a bit overlong. I probably would not read it a second time. Besides finding Henry a bit too heroic, I thought he was a little distant and difficult to relate to or even like; he's a bit gruff. There are also some weird little details, like Henry losing a cane (he's a little damaged from childhood illness) and not even trying to acquire another one. Either you need it or you don't, right? I just thought that was bizarre. While in Indonesia, he probably could have easily found a branch to whittle into shape but he didn't even try to locate a substitute.

So . . . this review and the last were slightly more casual and I plan to continue that way. I don't want to spent an inordinate amount of time on the computer and am planning to shut down my social media till after the election, soon (except Instagram). Most of my posts will probably be more Instagram-like, with a nice photo of the book and minimal description. I haven't decided whether or not to bother with Monday Malarkey and Fiona Friday. Maybe I'll just post a cat photo when I've got one that I want to preserve? We'll see. I'm feeling my way, right now. Change is good.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Quick thoughts only. Northanger Abbey is probably the last book by Jane Austen that I'll read and that puts me at 5/6 of her novels, plus the unfinished Sanditon (the version finished by Kate Riordan), Lady Susan, and her juvenilia. The only book I couldn't get through is Mansfield Park. I hated the book and I hated the movie so much that I abandoned both so I doubt I'll ever get to that one, but who knows?

The writing in Northanger Abbey reads a little less mature than that of Pride & Prejudice and other works so, without looking up the publication date, I'm presuming it's an earlier work. I have no idea, though.

Catherine is invited to Bath by a neighbor. There, she meets and falls for a man named Henry Tilney while also becoming friends with a couple young ladies, one of whom is obviously attracted to Catherine's brother, James. When she's later invited to the Tilney home, Northanger Abbey, to stay with Henry's sister, Catherine is made nervous by a story Henry tells her (the Gothic elements of the novel) and she keeps getting caught opening doors and drawers that she shouldn't because her vivid imagination has her conjuring up all sorts of frightening possibilities. Northanger Abbey is really quite funny and a little nerve wracking. I enjoyed it immensely. Recommended.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle

I wrote about the first collection of Nathan W. Pyle's alien comics, Strange Planet, in a mini review post, which you can find by clicking on the title in this first sentence. Suffice it to say, I've been following Pyle for quite some time, first via Twitter and then Instagram, and I just love his sense of humor.

The comics are based on language. Aliens express the same things we do (or, at least, the expressions Americans are familiar with) using different words, like "imagine pleasant nonsense" for "sweet dreams". I've snagged this page off the internet and am pretty sure it's from the first book but it's a great example.

Lovers of words can't help but appreciate Pyle's cleverness. I adore how he thinks. I'll often read his comics and then walk around thinking about how these aliens might reword the things I'm doing. Plus, they're really cute.

Highly recommended - I think I expressed my love of Strange Planet better in my mini review, so I encourage you to hop through the link if you're interested in reading more. Stranger Planet is more of the same and I can't even tell you how excited I am to expand my collection. I hope Pyle publishes a dozen more of these books. His delightful aliens always make me smile. I'm going to find a special place on the shelves for these two and hope I'll have to make room for more.

Fiona was very helpful when I did my photo shoot of the book cover, btw. I got some nice laughs watching her play with the spaceship.

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Bubble Kisses by Vanessa Williams and Tara Nicole Whitaker

In Bubble Kisses by Vanessa Williams (the singer) and Tara Nicole Whitaker, a little girl sings about her goldfish, Sal, and why they're the best of friends. As she's talking about Sal and how she gives perfect bubble kisses, the heroine (the little girl on the cover) is swept into a fantasy world in which she has become a mermaid and the goldfish is no longer trapped in a bowl but free in a large body of water.

The entire book is a single song and it comes with both a CD and a QR code that you can scan with your phone or tablet. I mentioned Bubble Kisses when it arrived and at the time, I thought it was very strange that it had a CD because most people don't have CD players, anymore. Mine is in the garage, somewhere, and I have no idea how to load music to a phone so I have to listen to the radio in the car and thought I'd have to pull out my old car to listen to it! But, I hadn't bothered to take the CD out, yet, so I didn't realize there was a QR code behind it (although that was probably in the publicity material and I just forgot).

At any rate, all that's to say that I was wrong and unless you have no phone, tablet, DVD player, or CD player, you're going to be able to listen to the song. I presume probably 95% of people have access to at least one of those.

The song is kind of an upbeat, jazzy song that . . . sorry . . . reminds me of a 1950s television advertisement. I can't think of anything else to compare it to. I can easily imagine my eldest granddaughter bobbing to the song when she was a little bit younger (she's 5 and reading at 3rd grade level, now) and I have a feeling my youngest granddaughter would enjoy it, too. It's definitely got the sound of a children's song, a little repetitive and very cheerful.

Recommended but not a favorite - Maybe one of the best things about Bubble Kisses is the fact that it has an African American heroine. I really appreciate the fact that children's publishers have been working hard at embracing diversity in the stories they acquire, in recent years. I do like the upbeat music, the quirky but charming illustrations, and the fantasy of the story. The only thing I dislike is the fact that it's written as a song and if you just want to read the book aloud, it's going to sound a little weird. That keeps it from being a favorite because I love to read aloud to children and a good story that's readable will always be my favorite. But, it only takes one listen to catch on to the rhythm and for children who love to dance and sing, Bubble Kisses will make a cute and fun addition to a home library.


©2020 Nancy Horner All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals:

• The Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay - from Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for review

Well, heck. Who knew the books were just going to keep trickling in? LOL It's getting pretty hilarious, at this point. Not a problem, though. I am no longer requesting any books at all but if one shows up, I'll read it and talk about it. It's just what you do if you love books, right?

Incidentally, I don't know when they'll arrive but speaking of things that are just part and parcel of the booklover experience, I went to Book Outlet in search of a particular book (I don't even remember what book, now) and bought a small pile. I have been avoiding Book Outlet for so long that I got the name wrong. They've been through at least 2 name changes since their beginning and I tried Book Closeouts but met a dead end. Anyway, I had a hilarious cartload that I fortunately pared down dramatically before actually buying. When you just look at fiction, in general, and go through 100 pages of book titles? Well, let's just say I saw a lot of books that I knew to be on my wish list.



Books finished since last Malarkey:

• A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
• Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
• Devil Darling Spy by Matt Killeen

I stopped in the midst of reading Devil Darling Spy for a humor break (Stranger Planet). The quick version is that Devil Darling Spy is about the attempt to stop the Nazis from getting their hands on a biological weapon and there is some cruelty (giving people a deadly disease, using them as test subjects) that was almost unbearable to me, especially in a time during which a deadly disease is spreading. That may not bode well for the eventual reading of The End of October by Lawrence Wright, a dystopian plague book, but I guess we shall see.


Currently reading:

• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

I finished Devil Darling Spy in the early evening, yesterday, and then watched Husband TV (whatever he happened to flip to, mostly Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives) followed by a little of A Midsummer Night's Dream from the Globe Theatre. I didn't spend much time reading after that, but I'm definitely enjoying Northanger Abbey, so far. Jane Austen is a good palate cleanser. 

Last week's posts:

• What You Wish For by Katherine Center (book review)
• A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow (book review)
• Fiona Friday (cat photo)

In other news:

Last week's free streaming from the National Theatre was Small Island. We managed to watch half of it on Tuesday night but on Wednesday we were both too tired to finish it. Fortunately, I still have the book sitting unread on my shelf and I've seen the mini series starring Ruth Wilson. I think I'll move Small Island by Andrea Levy up on my stacks. The play was great, a nice blend of darkness and humor. I recall the mini series as somewhat heavier but from both I got the sense that Queenie was a mensch, a character who wasn't given the best set of circumstances to live with but did the best she could with her lot in life and always with kindness. I wish we'd been up to finishing the play but I'm glad we saw the first half, at least.

I'm still watching Downtown Abbey, Season 1, usually while eating lunch so I only tend to watch half an episode at a time. It's going to take a while to get through the entire series. I enjoy being swept into the world of Downton. It's so blissfully escapist, a world in which women moan together over the horror of losing a maid. We're now at the point that Mrs. Patmore is getting her vision fixed, Mary has hesitated to give Matthew an answer about marriage since finding out her mother just might give birth to an heir after all, and poor Edith. Sigh. Edith always did me in. My one biggest wish was for Edith to find happiness when I found out the series was coming to an end. I haven't seen the movie, incidentally.

I've been away from my Coursera class (Postwar Abstract Expressionism) for about 2 weeks, now, so this week I'll dive back into it. I did finish my attempt at a Mark Rothko painting and the result was disappointing. I love the colors I ended up with (the final layers were deliberate, although at times I intentionally just blindly grabbed a paint tube and let chance guide the layers of color) but I don't think it has the characteristics that make a Rothko something worth standing in front of and staring at. That's undoubtedly at least partly because I still don't have all the supplies I need for oil painting, so I went with watered-down acrylic, again. I'll give it another shot when I get what I need for oil painting. I'm learning a lot from this course and I feel like I get as much learning out of the failures as I do from my more successful hands-on lessons.

And, finally, I hope everyone who reads my blog is handling the continuing Covid-19 mess well. Kiddo finally has started going to the office to work and is absolutely loving his new job. Husband still only goes 2-3 days per week and works from home, the rest of the time. We had begun to spread our wings just a bit (going to the store a little later in the day, for example) but not much had changed for us, otherwise, before our state's spike. We made a decision early on that we were going to stay in lockdown mode as much as possible until there's a vaccine and we have worn our masks everywhere since we finally managed to acquire some (I am super grateful to the two friends who made us fabric masks during the time that it was impossible to acquire them, otherwise). The one area in which I've been slacking is mail. I no longer set the mail outside to air out. It would get warped by the humidity, so that would be pointless. I do wash my hands thoroughly after handling it, though.

I hope and pray that a vaccine will be found as soon as possible and that we will have learned to appreciate normal life a little more, when this is over.

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.