The Spellman Files

Another reader recommended a delightful series (only two volumes so far) featuring the Spellman detective agency (a family business run out of a Victorian home in present day San Francisco). The narrator is  a daughter and an investigator. She is the wild rebellious sibling (unlike her perfect older brother and scarily precocious younger sister). Full of fun characters, I highly recommend The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz as a perfect summer read.

Similar in feel and style to this book are Joe Gore’s classic “repo” mysteries my favorite of which was 32 Cadillacs. These stories center around a car repossession business and as zany a crew of characters as you could want! In this tale two gypsies vie to be the new leader of the gypsy families -one of them steals 32 cadies !

 

 

Thank you and catch up on current reading

Thank you to all my friends and loved ones who had conversations last week about the joy and passion of reading. My dear friend, April in New Jersey had a small and enthusiastic group discuss reading. Two favorite comments were from two older women. One thought of reading as a treat which she “allowed” herself throughout the day rather than only at special times.  Another gave herself permission NOT to finish a book that didn’t interest her. I LOVE these “tips”.

I simply MUST give you the short version of what I have been reading- too many books are piling up and I must get them back to the Library.

Eva Moves the Furniture by Margot Livesey deals with the “imaginary” friends of a seven-year-old girl. Born in rural Scotland in 1920, Eva’s mother dies of the influenza soon after Eva’s birth. Loved, but a lonely child, Eva yearns for friends. Two “ghosts” join her in the garden one day and come to stay. They even follow her into adulthood. Why? Read this and find out !  

Recommended by my friend, John C., The Camel Club by David Baldacci deals with terrorism (both international and of the home-grown variety).  John said I would like the characters in this thriller and I really, really do ! A page turner with people you want to know more about- I highly recommend this book.

Garden Dreams is a graphic novel by Fumi Yoshi.  A young Arab finds himself the squire of a French Baron during the Crusades.  This book is romantic, historical, and deals with real emotions.  A good introduction to the graphic novel format. Although (I admit that reading the book from back to front was a challenge- and I enjoyed the story.

I love Janet Evanovich’s “naughty” humor and I am so glad that she does the “Between the Numbers” series of books that feature Stephanie Plum and the mysterious “Diesel”. Is he an angel, a devil, a god, a lunatic, just very, very mysterious or all of the above? Plum Lucky  features a self-proclaimed leprechaun and his missing bag of gold. Laugh out loud moments with the ususal crew of Lula, Grandma Mazur, and Connie. The scene with the rocket launcher is NOT to be missed !

 

 

 

 

An Interesting Conversation on Reading

As with my nephew, I am finding many smart, articulate young people who when I first ask them, “What do you like to read?” respond, “I don’t read.”  Just recently, I asked a young man at work what he liked to read- and he gave this “typical” answer.  Perhaps it is not too strange that he should say this: after all he was in a library- the temple of The Book. He is surrounded by people who do read and talk about books all the time.

Yet, as we explored what he did read, it turned out that he probably spends more than a few hours per week (if not per day) reading blogs.  His abiding passion is technology, but as you will see from his written response to my request for his blog favorites, he has eclectic interests.  He gave me permission to share his response:

I enjoyed our conversation, as odd and narrowminded as it sounded I never
considered what I was doing "READING".  When I think reading I immediately
think 'books'.  You make a great point!

A few of my favorite sites, you may also find intersting....

Digg.com  User aggregated news site.  Probably the first site I check in
the morning and regularly throughout the day.  You should consider joining
and 'Digging' articles.

Gizmodo.com  A technology newsite; they take a somewhat childish yet
informative take on new tech.  Good for a few laughs. Owned by Gawker
media group who also have other interesting blogs such as Kotaku which is
about Video Games, LifeHacker, Jalopnik which is a car blog, Consumerist a
consumer advocacy site and Valleywag.

Engadget.com  Another site that reports on tech. Owned by AOL media.

Cnet.com  A tech website aimed at the masses.

ARStechnica.com  Very well written articles about technology; articles are
written with a more technical aspect.

There are way too many sites I visit to list but it is worth mentioning
that there are plenty of forums out there that are great resources for
whatever interests you.  Recently I've been frequenting forums ranging from
Home Theater to Saltwater Aquariums.  The draw for me is the immediate
User interaction/discussion with people of a similar interest.

Hope you enjoy some of these sites!

So here is the deal, if I had never started this conversation (and looked beyond the original answer) I never would have known this young man at all. Now I know a few very interesting things about him and he has taught me (in a fun coversational style) about information sources of which I had no idea. 

Give it a try… ask someone you know, “So what have you read recently?” and see what kind of response you get. If you want, report back via comment to this blog.

Kathleen