Middlesex

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

"Middlesex" is the story of a family. From the grandparents' early life in Asia Minor to the sexually misidentified Cal/Callie born in Detroit. The grandparents were siblings who fell in love. After fleeing a war, they moved to Detroit where a cousin lived. Free of the people who knew them, they married. The cousin had secrets of her own and kept theirs.

Because of a genetic defect, Cal/Callie is intersexed and must figure out which sex is the best fit.

Catch Up

I can't believe it's been 9 days since I posted. I think I burned out. I've been doing other things. I've got a couple of Christmas gifts I'm making, so I've spent alot of time doing that. And I take Time Magazine and read them cover to cover. I got behind and have been working to catch up. I'm not very politically minded and this magazine is the closest I come to political awareness. I like to think I halfway know what's going on in the non-fiction world.

I also worked on my financial spreadsheets. I made a new one for my book purchases. I went through all of my bank and credit card statements and added it up. $461.32. It was a lot of work getting all of that together. But I had a brainstorm. I applied for a B&N credit card. So from here on out all of my book purchases will go on that card. And nothing but books.

Shoot the Moon

Shoot the Moon
Billie Letts
In 1972, Gaylene Harjo was murdered and her 10 month old son disappeared. All that was ever found was pajamas by the river. The only suspect was murdered before he could come to trial. So, being a small town in Oklahoma, everyone assumed the case was solved.

27 years later, Mark Albright comes to town. After his father's death, he gets access to the safety deposit box where he finds a birth certificate for Nicky Jack Harjo and adoption papers. He didn't know he was adopted.

So he takes off for DeClare Oklahoma to find the mother who gave him up. But the more he learns about her murder, the more he wants to know.

"Shoot the Moon" was a fast reading book. I read it in about 7 hours. It read like a typical mystery book, but some of the characters were a bit more developed. You can see Mark evolving as he learns about the life he almost had. He's much more likable by the end of the book.

Don Quixote

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote is a middle-aged Spanish gentleman who has been obsessed with books of knightly chivalry. He has sold land so he could afford more books. He has let his property go to seed. Finally, he armors up and hits the road. His armor is old and battered. He creates a make shift helmet. And he takes his old work horse which he renames Rocinante. He hires Sancho Panza as his squire. Sancho is a bit slow but he knows every proverb ever uttered.

The book is a series of adventures. Quixote sees what he wants to see in the world around him. Anything he sees can be explained in the language of chivalry. He believes there are enchanters that either aid or hinder knights.

"Don Quixote" is a wonderful book. It's funny. When it was published it was so popular another author of the time took it upon himself to write a sequel. Cervantes was not pleased and wrote his own. He then ridicules the other in his version.

Being two books added together it turns out to 890 pages. But the stories break it into sections. The familiar "tilting at windmills" is short. But my favorite was the puppet show. Quixote thought the puppets needed assistance so jumped to the stage with his sword and attacked the Moor puppets, demolishing the show. I laughed out loud.

It's really a great book. There's a reason people have been reading it for 400 years.

Booking Through Thursday-Live and In-Person

Booking Through Thursday



Have you ever met one of your favorite authors? Gotten their autograph?
How about an author you felt only so-so about, but got their autograph anyway? Like, say, at a book-signing a friend dragged you to?
How about stumbling across a book signing or reading and being so captivated, you bought the book?

No to all of the above.

The Wrong Hostage

The Wrong Hostage by Elizabeth Lowell

Judge Grace Silva's son is a student in a private Mexican school. Problem is her ex-husband had placed him there as collateral against drug money laundering schemes. Now Judge Silva has to turn to an old flame, Joe Faroe, to help her rescue the boy before he is executed.

As far as mysteries go, there wasn't much of it here. Predictable from page one.

Booking Through Thursday-Decorum

Booking Through Thursday


Do you have “issues” with too much profanity or overly explicit (ahem) “romantic” scenes in books? Or do you take them in stride? Have issues like these ever caused you to close a book? Or do you go looking for more exactly like them? (grin)

I haven't actually run into much. I'm going through a lot of classics these days. And in most of them, sex hasn't been invented yet.

A Passage to India

A Passage to India by E. M. Forrester

Set during the British colonial era, "A Passage to India" explores prejudice between the British, the Indians and Hindus. During an outing to the Marabar Caves, Adela Quested believes Dr. Aziz attempted to rape her.

To tell you the truth, I didn't get much out of this book. It was hard to keep the characters straight. I'm not familiar with Indian culture. And I can't figure out what happened in the cave to make Adela think Aziz was trying to rape her.

Maybe someday I'll try to reread it. But I doubt it.