Tell No Lies-Gregg Hurwitz

This book is not on the Reading the 100 list or on the 16 before the movie comes out list, but I wanted to read it anyway. It is TELL NO LIES by Gregg Hurwitz. It was released August 2013 by St. Martin's Press. Gregg Hurwitz spoke at the Book and Author dinner for RAMA in Roanoke, Virginia. Suring his speech he gave us an excerpt from this book, so I could not ignore it as it spoke to me, what happened and why. This is a thriller, based on an event that no one can figure out that linked people in horrible deaths and threats that eventually link back to one person. Just when you think you have it figured out, think again. I was in the middle of THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford which I knew had to be a daytime read, so I started TELL NO LIES as my night time read. Okay, I started it and then I could not put it down. I knew I had to finish it before picking up the other book. So now that I am finished, in two days, I need to get back to the other book. However, I am still haunted by the book I just read. Not only is MR. Hurwitz a good speaker but he is a very god writer. I cannot wait to find more of his books to read. Nothing like a thriller to get you checking around corners for people in yellow slickers, especially when it is raining outside.

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS-finished

I just finished reading THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, by John Green. This book can be found in the young adult section of a bookstore or in the library. It was published in 2012 by Dutton Books, PENGUIN GROUP. The book is dedicated to Esther Earl a 16 year old, who died of thyroid cancer. The book is written about a 16 year old girl, Hazel with thyroid cancer with mets in her lungs. She goes to Support group after being coerced by her mother, where she meets a boy named Augustus Waters. They develop a friendship and love, that helps them through the worst of times. They are on a mission to find out what happened to characters in a book called An Imperial Affliction by an author named Peter Van Houten, it is this quest that brings them closer together and Hazel's attitude about her condition. I will not be going to see this in a movie theater, this movie will be viewed best in my own home with Kleenex nearby. I hope that the young people who read this understand that these are true emotions. Death happens all the time. Cancer, unfortunately, plays among us, it is not fun, speaking from my own knowledge, but it is even more sinister when it takes a young person. I like Hazel's character she is feisty, she knows what is going to happen to her, she does not put up with platitudes from others. She gets strength from the relationships that are near and dear to her. Good book, if you read it, have tissues handy, especially if you have a propensity to cry. I cried when Miss Jane Pittman took a drink from a water fountain, and when The Champ died on the boxing table. My sister however, laughed at me, so now when I feel the need for a good cry I move to another room and then come back. This book is one of the 16 to be read before it comes out in the movies, not one of the hundred I am supposed to be reading. The next on that list is THE GOOD SOLDIER, by Ford Madox Ford.

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf- finished

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, by Virginia Wolf, published first in 1927 in Great Britain by the Hogarth Press, my edition is included in the Everyman's Library through the publishing company ALFRED A. KNOPF, 1991. I like the Everyman's Library books, they always give a time line that gives information about the author, current events, and other books and writer's at that time. It also gave an introduction by Julia Briggs, I have not read this yet as I like to form my own conclusions first, but after I write this I will go back and read that section. My first comment about the book is that it is divided into three sections: The Window, Time Passes and finally The Lighthouse. Each of these is written in a slightly different way with different points of view. The Window, encompasses the whole family and friends of the Ramsay's, mostly focusing on Mrs. Ramsay and her opinions and peoples opinions of her, her husband, each other. It starts in a summer house that more people are invited to because she cannot say no to people who want to visit. She wants to go to the lighthouse because her youngest son James wants to go. But the weather does not look like it is going to cooperate, so they are all having arguments, unspoken arguments sometimes. Mr. Ramsay is older than his wife, they have 8 children. He hates that they have so many people, long dinners and just about everything, he is often wandering around spouting out quotes. We find that even though his wife loves him in her own special way she does not ever say it, nor he to her. They are always tip toeing around one another. Apparently Mrs. Ramsay is a great beauty but people have differing reactions to her, which he is well aware of. You get to see many expressions of the rest of the people in the group. Mostly you are hearing their thoughts about everything. And windows are key, Mrs. Ramsay does not like the doors open, she wants people to open the windows so she goes around doing this. She is sitting at a window with her son reading, while Mr. Ramsay is ranting and Lily Briscoe, a guest is out on the lawn trying to paint and capture the window. We are also told about Mrs. Ramsay's love for the lighthouse, her watching for the long light that passes through her window. I feel that THE WINDOW is about the soul. We do not hear the words we are looking at what each person thinks, a window into the soul. A window into the life of these people, their likes, dislike the interactions. We see love lost, foundering, trying to find itself. We see the light house with its illumination, the center of a major fight. Disappointment in not getting to go because of things outside of their control, but wanting them none the less. There is a method I find that Mrs. Woolf used that was interesting in this section, whenever people intersected we would jump to the persons thoughts who they passed and stay with that character until they intersected someone else. I liked that, at first confusing, but then you get the rhythm. The second section, TIME PASSES, is about the house. The only voice we hear is that of the housekeeper. It is all about the house falling down. There are snippets of information about the family in this section, the sudden death of Mrs. Ramsay and two of her children who she had high hopes for. No one comes back to the house. There are rats, leaks, ceilings falling, butterflies beating their wings against the windows from the inside. Just a mess and the housekeeper lamenting that she is too old to keep this up. She also notes that the only constant is the light from the lighthouse trying to get in. Then after 10 years the family wants to return. They want the house to be as they left it, so this means the housekeeper has to hire people and get the place tip-top shape. The third section THE LIGHTHOUSE, this is mostly told through Miss Briscoe, who has come to the house with the family and several of the people who had been there ten years ago. She is trying to wrap her head around why she is here, why she is missing Mrs. Ramsay or is she, why she does not want Mr. Ramsay to pay any attention to her, because she feels that is what caused Mrs. Ramsay to perish. His always wanting praise, which Miss Briscoe is not willing to do. She watches as Mr. Ramsay, Cam (his daughter) and James(his son) go off to the lighthouse. Mr. Ramsay is urgent that they should do this. He is in his 70's and has never been the favorite of these his youngest children who are now 16 and 17. James has several times contemplated killing Mr. Ramsay if he speaks to him. He has had this hatred even before his mother died. I think that they are actually very much alike, both needing Mrs. Ramsay approval and praises. You the thoughts of the children in regards to the trip, there father on the way to the lighthouse. Cam is the first to acknowledge that her father is not as bad as she thought he was. It is not until he gets his first praise from his father that you see a positive but veiled response from James. The arriving at the lighthouse is the culmination of the trip needed so long ago. It is the acceptance of life lost, a reconciliation of what is left of the family. It is also where Miss Briscoe finishes her painting, though she is believes it will be thrown out. She draws a line between the two parts of the painting, across the wall that separates everything. Virginia Woolf had experience much loss at an early age her she has the death of her mother when she was 13 followed by the deaths of a half-sister, her father and her brother all within the first 23 years of her life. She starts with depression shortly after her mother dies (Everyman's Library timeline.) In 1941 she commits suicide because she does not want to succumb to more illness. We are never told how Mrs. Ramsay dies, just suddenly. We know that Mrs. Ramsay was in her 50's when she dies. There are several scenes in this book where the characters stand on the edge of a cliff thinking it would be so easy to go over, but then something holds them back, family, work unfinished. Virginia Woolf left a book unfinished when she walked into the River Ouse, the power of depression is so debilitating sometimes that nothing can hold you back. I do not know if I could do it, I always think what devastation that leaves behind for others.

The Maltese Falcon-fini

Yesterday I finished the MALTESE FALCON, by Dashiell Hammett, it is a fun read based on characters you would find in the real world of 1939. What I mean by that is that he did not fancy them up and Sam Spade is a reflection of our author, who was a Pinkerton Agent. Mr. Hammett was born in Maryland, yeah Maryland. He was born in St. Mary's County, I wonder if he knew any of my relatives. Anyway, he wrote several books, but when he felt he was repeating himself he stopped writing (page xv in the introduction.) Not to be mean but that should be the mantra of many writers. The book I read was published by Alfred A. Knopf in the Everyman's Library edition. It has a copyright of 1929, 1930 by Alfred K. Knopf, renewed in 1956 and 1957 by Mr. Hammett. This publishing was released in 2000. Also included in this book are two other stories by Dashiell Hammett, THE THIN MAN and RED HARAVEST. Neither of these books are on the 100 books to read, so I must take this book back to the library. The book is set in the 1920's, we have a artifact that everyone is looking for, we have three murders, several beatings and if you have ever watched the movie, you can add the twangs and voices of the characters as you read. When I see Sam Spade in the book, I do not see Humphrey Bogart, but that is the who we get to see in the movie. It is a perfect story for a movie. Short and to the point, my favorite kind of book. Sometimes I do not want to have to figure out what someone actually is trying to be symbolic about. For example, I do not want to believe that a rocking horse is sexual tool. Good Read.

Maltese Falcon

Now that I have finished ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, I am well on my way to finishing the THE MALTESE FALCON, by Dashiell Hammett. In between time I have read and listened to the following books, AMAZONIA, by James Rollins, SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES, by Alan Bradley, THE LAND OF MANGO SUNSETS, by Dorothea Benton Frank. Books I listened to while traveling included ALTARS OF EDEN, by James Rollins and THE DEAD IN THEIR VAULTED ARCHES, by Alan Bradley. I love to travel and listen to books. It passes the time, but sometimes I find myself paying more attention to the book than the road. That is usually when I tell my husband it is his turn to drive. Since both of us read the Alan Bradley books, I got him hooked, we figured we would listen to his last book together. I was not as impressed with this one as I was with his previous books, but towards the end it really picked up, the beginning was just a little slow. James Rollins was a guest speaker at the RAMA Book and Author dinner, so I had to read some of his books before the event. I have not read his Sigma series but some of his stand alones. The audio I listened to was also a stand alone. His books combine some of my favorite things, mystery and science, specifically genetics. Genetic mutations, treks in foreign places, death, mystery all the things to make a thriller. Plus I got to sit with him at dinner and he was great. Dorothea Benton Frank is an author who I like to read when I go to the beach, more specifically when I go to Hilton Head. But I am afraid that I had read this one before, so I was disappointed, but I read it anyway. I should have looked at my reading list. The MALTESE FALCON, was started before I went on vacation, but I could not find it while I was packing so it got left behind. It is a fun book, Sam Spade, womanizer, private eye. I will have to watch the movie and also look up the significance of this novel and the genre of mystery. After this book I will start TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, by Virginia Woolf and A FAULT IN OUR STARS, by John Green.

One Hundred Years of Solitude- finished

I have been talking about this book for at least 4 blog posts, so of course I have to post when finished. This book was originally published in 1967 in Argentina. The book I am reading appears to be published in 2006. I say appears because that is the date that I see, so it has to be at least 2006. In the back of the book we have the Gabriel Garcia Marguez inspiration for the book. This inspiration is the visits to his grandmother's house when he was a boy. The stories that she used to tell and her face as she told them. His quote "In previous attempts to write, I tried to tell the story without believing in it. I discovered that what I had to do was believe myself and write them with the same expression with which my grandmother told them: with a brick face."(page 9: About the book section, HARPERPERENNIAL MODERNCLASSICS) The woman in this story seem to have lived a long time, for example we have Ursula living to be over 140 years old. She is not the only one, and they all seem to be the ones that keep things moving forward. It is only after all these strong woman die that you have the ending of the Buendio family. There is a family tree at the beginning of the book, which is helpful and you can see that the names: Aureliano, Jose, and Arcadio are very popular. You will note that there is a notation for 17 Aurelianos but no mother names. These Aurelianos were born to Colonial Aureliano during his war campaign by different women. Each Aureliano used his mother's last name and each had a tragic outcome. So read this book it is full of male bravado, female strength, ghosts, miracles and just an interesting tale.

Vacationing

Reading ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE while vacationing, almost finished. I can tell you right now the women in this book were due for a vacation, girls night out, just about anything to get them to relax. While the men were out sowing their seed, fighting, and just being a pain in the ..., the woman were trying to hold down the fort keep things moving along. They needed to relax because sometimes they did not think things through, an example, Ursala talking to her dead husbands ghost who had been tied under a tree, when he died, so that is where she goes. Then there is Fernanda, who has been told from birth that she is to be a queen, she has married into the family and wants things to be civil. She sends he daughter away to save face and has mysterious conversations with who she calls invisible doctors about an invisible operation she should have. Of course there are two other females of the family that could have used a break from Macondo. Also some mean playing around with peoples lives. Almost finished and then I have some other books I brought with me and when I get back home I will finish up THE MALTESE FALCON. Did not want to bring a library book with me and leave it behind by accident. Happy reading and greet the sunrise with a smile.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I am still reading ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE but was dismayed to find that the author is in the hospital in Mexico. He is 87 years old. This book according to an article in the Roanoke Times, April 4th, 2014 edition has sold more than 50 million copies in more than 25 languages. It has also outsold everything published in Spanish except the bible. It is a pretty impressive book I do not think I could have remembered all the names and kept them in order. I said before the only name that is not repeated is Ursala, Rebeca, and Amaranta. All the male names repeated over and over. So I will report on more when I finish. But it is full of description and in my humble opinion the woman are the strongest. They are the ones that keep everything on track, though those characters are somewhat weird.