All Joe Pickett novels are good — BUT I can’t say this is one of the best.
A brilliant villain is released from prison. Back to take revenge on Joe Pickett and family.
Good start.
But is his band of outlaws incompetent or what?
Category: books
Parting Shot by Linwood Barclay
This is the first book I’ve read by Linwood Barclay, though he’s a Canadian.
It’s excellent.
The premise of the plot is fantastic. Private Investigator Cal Weaver is hired to help protect an 18-year-old who had run over a friend while blind drunk. Killed her. And had somehow been found not guilty in court because he (supposedly) did not understand the consequences of his actions because he was coddled by an overprotective mother.
Simultaneously, but apparently unrelated, Detective Barry Duckworth is dealing with a case of a young man abducted and tattooed by … aliens?
Both Duckworth and Weaver are fictional characters well worth spending time with.
I’ll be reading more Barclay.
James Taylor Autobiography
Like most people my age, I’m a big fan of James Taylor.
My favourite is “Long Ago and Far Away“.
In 2020 he published an audio/music autobiography of his first 21 years:
Break Shot: My First 21 Years
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
In an era of many folk singer / songwriters, James got lucky when a friend gave a demo tape to Peter Asher, head for the Beatles‘ newly formed label Apple Records.
Paul McCartney and George Harrison liked his voice. Told Asher to sign him to the label.
James recorded his 1st album 1968 at Trident Studios, at the same time the Beatles were recording The White Album.
Though born into a privileged (dysfunctional) family, James struggled with depression and drug addiction.
The big breakthrough was 1970 with “Fire and Rain“.
“Fire and Rain” was inspired by the suicide of Suzanne Schnerr, a childhood friend, and James’ experiences with drug addiction and fame:
I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again
Carole King wrote You’ve Got a Friend” as a reaction to that line. It was his first #1 hit 1971.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch You’ve Got A Friend on YouTube.
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Louise Erdrich (age 68 as I post) is a much respected author.
In 2021, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel The Night Watchman.
She is also the owner of Birchbark Books, a small independent bookstore in Minneapolis that focuses on Native American literature.
In The Sentence, the narrator, Tookie, works in a bookstore in Minneapolis that carries Native American literature. Tookie, like the author, is a Native American.
As a young woman, Tookie was sentenced to 60 years in prison. But later had her crime reduced to some years time served. That part of the book I found fascinating.
She became a serious reader in prison, one reason she ended up working in a bookstore — haunted by the ghost of a former customer — before the pandemic broke in March 2020.
I’d forgotten how confusing it was mid-March when we had no masks or gel yet. And didn’t know how serious it would become.
The story in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd was super interesting too. Her step daughter was out protesting. But Tookie was worried about looters burning down the bookstore.
Overall — however — I found the book too long and rambling.
It’s supposed to be mainly a ghost story. But I didn’t really buy the resolution of that.
This book should have been shorter.
10 Years a Nomad by Nomadic Matt
In the 1990s my main focus was travel. My recreational reading was mostly travel books.
On my year long trip to Asia, I emailed text and a few crappy photos to Warren who posted them to early blogging platforms.
I recall checking books like 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Travel for travel’s sake.
After hiking the West Coast Trail for the first time in 1999, I decide to switch to what I called destination travel. I’d travel to do something specific — a specific hike, for example. I’d travel less, but with a GOAL.
The first blogging I did was on WordPress.org, launched 2003. For a couple of years before that I hand coded HTML which was difficult.
Matthew Kepnes — Nomadic Matt — started traveling abroad in 2005 and quickly became one of the most popular on the web. The site is still going strong as Matt hired a team of 5 people to keep it going.
Matt traveled nearly non-stop for 10 years. And then wrote a memoir.
Ten Years a Nomad: A Traveler’s Journey Home
I found it surprisingly honest. Matt spends more time detailing the MANY things that went wrong than humble bragging his awesome accomplishments.
It would be a good book for 1st time backpackers to read on the way to the hostel.
Note — the guy famous for dancing around the world in the early days of YouTube was another Matt — Matt Harding. I confused the two for years.
Visiting Coimbra, Portugal
Coimbra is a popular stop for tourists coming to visit the archaeological structures dating back to the Roman era, especially the well-preserved aqueduct and cryptoporticus.
It’s even more famous as the home of the University of Coimbra (1290), the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world. Its historical buildings were classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 2013.
I bought a ticket to see the Joanine Library (Biblioteca Joanina), continuing my quest to visit all the most beautiful bookstores and libraries in the world.
It’s small, but well gilded. 😀
The most interesting part of the story is that this is one of the Portuguese libraries that encourages bats to make residence. The thinking is that they eat insects that might damage the ancient treasures.
Biggest man on campus. King Joao III (John III) 1521 – 1557.
Though King John accomplished a lot, the Inquisition was introduced into Portugal in 1536. Just like in Spain, the Inquisition was placed under the authority of the king.
In Portugal the first Grand Inquisitor was Cardinal Henry, the king’s brother
If Belgium was the most horrific European nation for brutalizing people in their colonies, Portugal and Spain were next worst. I blame the Catholic Church out of Italy equally.
Dark Horse by Gregg Hurwitz
I don’t read many thrillers.
Too over the top. End of the world drama.
But I tried the most recent book in the Orphan X series.
… at the age of 12, Evan Smoak was enrolled in a top-secret operation known as the “Orphan Program.”
He is the 24th recruit in the program and is known only as Orphan X.
The goal of the program is to train orphans so they can be assassins for government agencies. The program is shut down but Orphan X maintains access to the program’s funding and weapons.
In his 30s, Smoak begins freelancing as an assassin, using his skills to fight corruption in the form of vigilante justice …
There were a few things I enjoyed in this story.
Joey, his hilarious and sassy teenage techie assistant.
OK. … That’s my only highlight.
I won’t be reading more Orphan X.
I quit this one at 66%.
Lisbon photos 2022
BACK in Lisbon to have a tooth implant installed, I posted some Instagrammy pics on Instagram.
Having visited most of the major tourist sites last year, I looked for less visited photo ops this time.
For example, I caught the ferry over to the former industrial suburb city Barreiro. I saw no other tourists wandering the streets that day. Augusto Cabrita, local photographer, cinematographer and film director is celebrated with this massive wall portrait.
Many of my photos are of street art. I tried an experiment taking pictures of street art alongside REAL LIFE. One example.
The installation of my tooth implant was delayed by a couple of weeks. So I’m still not smiling in any photos prior to June 9th.
I finally got out to the Cascais beach area, about 45 minutes by train from the city centre.
I feel more like a local than tourist.
Here are my Lisbon photos and video from November 2021.
Hound of the Baskervilles by Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. …
… tells the story of an attempted murder inspired by the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. …
As usual, it’s told by Watson. BUT the main character is Watson, as well. Not Holmes.
As I’ve been reading Agatha Christie, I couldn’t help but compare the two greats of British murder mystery.
Christie is about 100 times better in every way. Better plots. Better writing.
She said she enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes books, however.
Are YOU a Manual or Knowledge Worker?
In the 1970s academic kids in my neighbourhood went to Viscount Bennett High School. The rest (losers 😀) went to Earnest Manning High School which had far superior TRADES training.
The internet accelerated the fortunes of knowledge workers. Relative wages of those working in trades declined.
Everyone wanted to be a white collar worker. Sitting all day at a computer manipulating electrons.
Author/mechanic Matthew Crawford argues that is wrong. And is changing.
He quit his job at a Think Tank, instead opening a Motorcycle repair shop.
Matthew’s book is titled Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Van Neistat makes an even better argument. A Spirited Man can build and fix things. Help his friends and family. A real man can do manual labour.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Me?
I’m hopeless. Not the least handyman you know, … but close.
I ride bikes but can’t fix them when they breakdown.
By comparison, my Dad and brother Rob are career Jack-of-all-Trades.
The late great buddy Rob Glaser was probably my most trusted authority for all things broken.
Needless to say, he was expert in living outdoors. Manipulated firewood with his bare hands, for example.
In the wild you want to carry only those items which can be repaired on the go. Metal, not plastic.
In 2022 it would be smart to seek work in an occupation where you can’t easily be replace by a computer. Gymnastics coach, for example. It will be a long time before Artificial Intelligence replaces human sport coaching.
Take pride in being able to physically make and repair things.
Rick McCharles 