The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Power-House

The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Power-House

John Buchan

This book is comprised of two rollicking-good novellas.

In each of these tales, the protagonist stumbles upon a plot that would have devastating consequences to the world. These protagonists, however, are no bumbling characters.

Both are pulled out of their comfortable lives, and both display razor-sharp wit and nerve as they desperately race to unravel and foil the plots. In the process, they put their own lives at risk.

I was delighted to find that The Thirty-Nine Steps is one in a series of four books featuring Richard Hannay. I'll be looking forward to reading them all. I still have to investigate whether The Power-House, which features Sir Edward Leithan, is part of a series or not.

These were wonderful tales of high adventure, espionage and poltiical intrigue, told with the kind of subtle humor that appeals to me.

I loved this book! It was great fun!

Footsteps in the Darkl

Footsteps in the Dark

Georgette Heyer

An old priory, the ghost of a monk, a skelton in a priest's hole, secret passages, and a murder sprinkled with a dose of humor and a small dash of romance is the perfect recipe for a great ghost story/mystery.

This book was so much fun! Add in some chilly, rainy weather that's perfect for bundling up and reading, and I feel as if I've nearly reached reading nirvana! I was almost sorry to have finished this book, and I will definitely be reading more of Georgette Heyer's mysteries in the future.

Exit the Milkman

Exit the Milkman

Charlotte MacLeod

When Jim Feldtster, the head of the dairy dept. at a small, New England, agricultural college disappears under mysterious circumstances, his unpleasant wife rouses her neighbor, Professor Peter Shandy, in the middle of the night. Shandy dismisses her pleas for help as attention-seekkng hystrionics.

When Feldster still hasn't turned up to teach his classes the next day, Shandy has second thoughts, and regrets being so dismissive the night before.

After Peter and Helen Shandy's friend, Catriona McBogle, gets lost on a rarely-used backroad and finds Feldster strapped into a wrecked car and apparently suffering from amnesia, the mystery only deepens.

The mystery becomes even more profound when Feldster's unpleasant wife is found dead in their immaculate home.

This was an entertaining read. Among the cozies I've read, I'd probably rate it somewhere in the middle - not the worst by any means, but certanly not the best.

The Australian Pen Pal

The Australian Pen Pal

Michelle Linn-Gust

Rachel Monroe has lost her husband, Tom, to cancer. During Tom's illness, she promised him that she would pursue the dreams that she had deferred during their marriage and his illness. Honoring Tom and her promise to him has made her a successful novelist.

When she is sent to Australia on a publicity tour, she seizes the opportunity to search for her teenage pen pal, who abruptly stopped writing.

What she finds is that life, in all of its aspects and fullness, can indeed move forward again, after loss.

I found Rachel's story moving. It was satisfying and inspirational to witness Rachel's heart learn to open up again.

Quoth the Raven

Quoth the Raven

Jame Haddam

Former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian is schedued to give a lecture at a small, private college in the Pennsylvania mountains on Hallween night.

When the school's most eminent professor disappears and the secretary is poisoned with lye in front of a cafeteria full of students and faculty Demarkian gives a lesson in applied investigative skills as Hallween revelers party and prepare the school's traditional annual bonfire.

This was quite a pleasant cozy, and I enjoyed it, though I did have a couple of problems with it.

I found the author's choice of words distracting at times. I'm not referring to the dialogue.

Another thing I found distracting was that although it was set in the 1990's, it seemed dated to the early 1960's in many respects, and many of the students seemed naive and childish, as did much of the Halloween motif. I just can't picture female college students dressed en masse as pumpkins, or male college students in Batman costumes. The repeated mention of girls sewing costumes and making paper crepe decorations was dated and a bit distracting as well.

Even with the problems I had with this book, I enjoyed it and am inclined to give the author and the series another try.

War and Peace

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace is a stunning panorama of Russian life during the Napoleonic Wars, mostly from the perspective of the nobility or upper class.

Tolstoy's ability to pull the reader into the story is, IMO, unsurpassed. I feel as if I not only followed the fortunes of the Bolkonskys, the Rostovs, the Bezukhovs, etc., but I feel as if I lived with them for the six weeks or so it took me to read this book. I even feel as if I were able to catch glimpses into the minds of a few of the world leaders of the time, like Napoleon and Czar Nicholas.

My only complaint is the ending; the last 40 pages or so. It felt, then, that Tolstoy was speaking in his own voice. It seemed like a piece of expository writing, as if it might have been an excerpt from an essay. Since this only pertains to the last 40 pages or so of the book, and since I was immersed in the world crafted by Tolstoy for more than 1400 pages and for over six weeks, this complaint seems petty and insignificant.

War and Peace confirmed the love for Tolstoy that I discovered when I read Anna Karenina, and has become my favorite book of all-time.

Night and Day

Night and Day

Virginia Woolf

This book is about love and marriage - how relationships are affected by social mores and perceived obligations. Woolf also asks the bigger questions: What is love? What constitutes marriage? What is necesary for marital happiness? Is marriage necessary for happiness? What is happiness?

These are the questions facing Katherine Hilbery, who has been a willing, but bored, drudge, helping her mother with the task of researching her worthy grandfather, a well-known poet and family icon. These are questions also affecting her friends, William Rodney, mary Datchett, Cassandra Otway, and Ralph Denham.

I have loved every one of Woolf's works that I've read so far, and this one is no exception. Her writing rings as clear as a bell, yet every word, every phrase, every object is imbued with layers of meaning.