Mick Herron is the genius behind the Slough House series.
This Is What Happened (2018) is a standalone novel. Quite different than the Slough House books.
I enjoyed it for being so different.
In London, Harvey Wells, an MI5 agent, recruits lonely 26-year-old mail room employee Maggie Barnes to spy on her firm.
What at first appears to be a tale of spycraft and intrigue turns out to be something entirely different.
Very well written. I recommend the book.
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”.
Bhagavad Gita
Initially, I wasn’t all that interested in either the long non-fiction book, nor the film.
BUT finally got around to both.
The movie is better. Not perfect, but a fantastic job telling a difficult story.
I streamed it on Prime over 3 nights as it is LONG.
Cillian Murphy would seem to be the best possible actor to play the brilliant, complicated J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Robert Downey Jr. is excellent.
Matt Damon as Gen. Leslie Groves, as well.
Kenneth Branagh as Niels Bohr is perfect. He has the gravitas to bring depth to Oppenheimer’s hero.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I read American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2005) by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
Surprisingly, I was quite engaged in his early years. The beginnings of the theoretical Physics that would lead to the nuclear bomb.
Once it got to his downfall due to his security hearing in the McCarthy era. The efforts by Lewis Strauss and the FBI to undermine Oppenheimer — I got restless.
Always conflicted, I wished Oppenheimer had simply walked away from the controversy.
I also read The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer, the author being a friend of my brother.
It’s an interesting alternative history of the Manhattan Project historical figures.
Nobody calls James Patterson a great novelist.
BUT he has a lot of books. They’ve sold more than 425 million copies. And he’s helped thousands of people earn a living through the book industry.
Not to mention the dozens of author’s he’s promoted by co-authoring.
James Patterson is one of the good guys.
He calls himself a left-leaning political independent — but is disgusted with his neighbour, 4-time-loser Trump.
His 2024 nonfiction title, The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians takes us inside the lives, and livelihoods, of the everyday heroes surrounding us in the literary trenches: booksellers and librarians.
In a collection of profiles that includes professionals of all types, from school librarians to independent booksellers to big box chain employees, Patterson and his co-author, Matt Eversmann, delve into how these reading gurus inspire young and old every day.
Publisher’s Weekly review – James Patterson’s ‘The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians’
In November 2015, Patterson received the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation.
Patterson has donated millions of dollars in grants and scholarship to various universities, teachers’ colleges, independent bookstores, school libraries, and college students to promote literacy.
In 2013, Patterson took out ads titled “Who Will Save Our Books? Our Bookstores? Our Libraries?” in Publishers Weekly and The New York Times Book Review, which employed the text “If there are no bookstores, no libraries, no serious publishers with passionate, dedicated, idealistic editors, what will happen to our literature? Who will discover and mentor new writers? Who will publish our important books? What will happen if there are no more books like these?”
Breathless is a murder mystery set on one of the 8000m peaks.
Not a great mystery — but I enjoyed hearing about the challenges of high altitude climbing.
When journalist and novice climber Cecily Wong is asked to summit Mount Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world, it’s a career-making opportunity. She’s been personally invited by Charles McVeigh, one of the most acclaimed mountaineers in the world, who wants her to report on the final leg of his record-breaking series of summits. But there’s one caveat: he won’t give her the interview until she’s scaled the mountain as part of his climbing party.
Amazon
Amy McCulloch actually knows what she’s talking about. September 2019, she became the youngest Canadian woman to climb Mt. Manaslu in Nepal — the world’s 8th highest mountain.
She also summited Aconcagua, in -45C and 90kmph winds, and has visited all seven continents.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Gudenkauf has created a memorable character in Amelia.
I do recommend this book.
After losing her hearing in a freak hit-and-run accident that also killed a woman, Amelia has struggled with alcoholism and unemployment and is finally striving to get her life together.
She finds peace on the water, kayaking or paddleboarding with her service dog, Stitch, another survivor and misfit, until the day she discovers a body left in a shallow channel.
Shocked not only by her discovery, but also by the realization that she used to be friends with the victim, Gwen, Amelia also worries that the publicity surrounding her 911 call might lead the killer right to her doorstep. …
Come for the mystery; stay for the taut suspense, the unique heroine—and of course, the ugly, loyal dog.
Kirkus
Cute title. I ASSuME it’s yet another British Cozy Mystery.
I asked Perplexity AI to generate some possible Cozy Mystery titles:
But this book is actually by an Australian comedian. A black comedy.
I enjoyed the humour far more than the murder mystery.
He speaks directly to the reader, as well, which I found very entertaining.
Of course a group of possible suspects are all stuck in one place, like Agatha Christie.
Oddly, they are Aussies all trapped due to a snow storm.
I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.
Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.
Who was it?
Let’s get started.
EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE
My brother
My stepsister
My wife
My father
My mother
My sister-in-law
My uncle
My stepfather
My aunt
Me
Jeffrey Eugenides has only written 3 novels. But Middlesex (2002) won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
It’s excellent.
He teaches now at Princeton.
I’ve tried a few times to get through The Marriage Plot. (2011)
25% of the book on my last attempt.
It’s well written and poses interesting philosophical discussion points from the perspective of literature.
But I was turned off by the main story line — a (love?) triangle between three college friends from Brown University.
Brown is the author’s alma mater.
It’s praised for “texture and pain” of lived experience.
But I found those torturous life experiences to be torture to read.
Once again, there are no characters to cheer for in this book.
Long before I started this blog (weblog or online diary) — I was a list maker.
For example, I had a long, long list of books I’d read.
One day I drew up a list of favourite authors.
At some point I noticed that this list, and my full list, had very few female writers. (Dervla Murphy was a conspicuous exception.)
I had grown up with some kind of white man born in Canada 1957 bias towards male writers. Subconscious.
Since then I’ve made every effort to pay attention to female writers. And they now make up 50% of my books.
Even an old dog can learn.
Here’s that old list.
GREAT. But not as fantastic as I had hoped.
Watch it just for the cinematography. I sat in the 2nd row in IMAX so the images filled my vision.
YES a bit blurry, but it feels more like I was actually riding a sand worm. 😀
Dune (1965) is one of my favourite books. I read it for the 4th or 5th time in advance of seeing part 2 of the Denis Villeneuve adaptation.
The best character in Dune 2 is not my (alleged girlfriend) Zendaya, but Feyd-Rautha, Baron Harkonnen’s younger nephew. Perfectly played by Austin Butler.
What a transformation from Elvis to the epitome of evil.
Chalamet was inspired by Austin’s commitment to the role.
Casting is all good, however.
Javier Bardem as Stilgar, is better than in the book. And he’s great in the book. 😀
Stilgar given a larger leadership role on Arrakis in future books. So he’ll likely be back in the 3rd film.
As nearly all books were in 1965, the roles played by women are quite cliche. Powerful — but mainly in devious, backroom scheming.
In this movie, Zendaya is more independent than in the book. And she rides off into the sand at the end. Alone.
In the book she meekly follows Paul as his concubine.
Of course no film can include EVERYTHING in the book.
For the most part, I liked the changes.
It was better — for example — that Chani didn’t get pregnant. That’s quite confused in the books anyway.
In the Lynch, Paul’s sister Alia was one of the most interesting characters. She’s only hinted at in the Villeneuve – part 2. I suspect she’ll be central to the 3rd movie in the series.
I quite liked the 1984 David Lynch adaptation, by the way.
Because the timeline of the Villeneuve is accelerated, Alia isn’t born yet when part 2 ends.
I do wish Thufir Hawat had been back for part 2.
Mainly I felt the first half of the long movie was near perfect. The second half less believable.
It may be that there was no perfect way to explain the beginnings of Paul conquering the galaxy with fanatic super fighters.
The knife fight between Paul and Feyd-Rautha’s is the climax of the film. And it was well done.
See it.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
related – Lynch doesn’t like the final cut of his version of Dune.
Tana French is widely considered one of the best murder mystery writers working today.
A skillful wordsmith, many of her novels are slow burn.
Too slow for me, at times.
But this one works.
“The Hunter” is sequel to “The Searcher” (2020).
Cal Hooper is a retired Chicago police detective who bought a derelict cottage in the west of Ireland precisely so he would never again have to chase down criminals or use his service weapon.
And things are quiet until the return of Johnny Reddy, the absentee father of Trey, Cal’s now-15-year-old protégée and de facto child.
Johnny is a grifter. Gift of the gab but it’s all bullshit.
This time Johnny proposes a con to fleece a rich British nob named Cillian Rushborough.
He convinces his former neighbours to salt their river with gold — in order to convince the Brit to buy mining rights in their rural properties.
If interested, definitely get the audio book to enjoy the Irish lilt and local slang.
Rick McCharles 