Audiobook – Page 74 – Carol's Notebook

Accessory to War by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Avis Lang

May 28, 2019May 24, 2019 by Carol4 Comments

My non-fiction reading really has little rhyme or reason to it. I pick up books that grab my attention or that I've seen other people love. I have to admit I don't really have a huge interest in space exploration or military history, but Neil deGrasse Tyson is a big name and I've seen a show or two on tv and at a planetarium that he's hosted, which is why I picked up Accessory to War. At times Accessory to War is just fascinating. For me, that was mostly when it was discussing the history of astrophysics and how its beginnings affected armies and explorers and merchants. I also found the parts about how current countries approach space interesting. It's well-written. It doesn't talk down to those of us who don't know much, but it also wasn't over my head. It was conversational and easy to follow. Unfortunately, there were other parts that were dry and boring. Lists of treaties...

Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham

May 3, 2019May 3, 2019 by Carol7 Comments

After listening to the first Albert Campion mystery I wasn't sure how I felt about the series. Look to the Lady is definitely a funner book. Campion is our main character now, and while he's still an odd duck, he clearly knows a lot about what is going on and has quite a few influential friends. The chalice is a priceless, ancient relic and a rich collector wants it. This collector is a member of a group that has its own methods and rules, and Campion is quite familiar with their system. Campion is becoming an interesting character. He is not quite a detective, more like a clever, innocuous man for hire. His plan this time is to figure out who the collector's agent is and basically make sure that person ends up dead. I listened to this one right after the first, so comparisons are inevitable. Allingham took more care of the secondary characters this time around. They were more fully...

The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

May 2, 2019May 2, 2019 by Carol6 Comments

I knew going in that The Crime at Black Dudley is not the best of Allingham's Albert Campion series, but it's the first even if he is only a minor character, and if you can start a series at the beginning, why not? Allingham, along with Christie, Sayers, and Marsh, is one of the "Queens of Crime," the only one I hadn't read. I love Christie and Marsh, couldn't care less about Sayers, and am undecided on Allingham. We've got a country house party with an odd assortment of guests. And then somebody's killed, but then it kind of runs amok and the younger set of guests, in their 20's give or take, are held hostage by a batch of criminals, and they need to escape before they end up dead. I'm not a big fan of the international gang type of mysteries. I want smaller mysteries if that makes sense, not ones that could have CONSEQUENCES. It all...

The Dispatcher by John Scalzi

April 26, 2019May 4, 2021 by Carol10 Comments

The Dispatcher was one of the the free Audible Originals this month and since I'm a Scalzi fan of course I picked it up. At heart it's a mystery. A man is missing, probably kidnapped based on the evidence at his home. One of his co-workers is coerced by the investigator on the case to help her, since he knows the ins and outs of the victim's job better than she does. The kicker is that the man was a dispatcher. In a world where it's almost impossible to be murdered—you can die of natural causes or an accident, but those who are murdered come back 99.9% of the time—dispatchers provide a second chance. They kill you if an operation goes awry, if you're injured beyond hope in a car accident. Then, you wake up at home, naked, but otherwise fine, just like you were in the few hours before the trauma. Tony is a good guy, at least at the...

Blood Money by Doug Richardson

April 25, 2019April 25, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

Blood Money is an action-packed thriller with plenty of violence—it's not surprising to learn the author is also a screenwriter of action movies. The book is non-stop, it never gives you time to breathe. There are several people whose lives intersect in disastrous ways. Few of the characters are likable, but you get their motives. Lucky Dey is out for revenge against the man who killed his brother, if he can find him. He is relentless and is basically a renegade cop at this point. He is hard to like. He's mean and single-minded and just a tough guy. He is joined by Lydia "Gonzo" Gonzalez, his "chaperone" from the LAPD, who is my favorite character. She's a single mom who realizes how close to out of control Lucky is, but still hangs on for the ride. Lucky's interactions with Gonzo and her son let you see his softer side a bit, which helps. The man Lucky is hunting is a...

Willful Behavior by Donna Leon

April 11, 2019April 12, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

I don't read the Commissario Guido Brunetti series in order. I jump around depending on what's available at the library. The series is currently at 28, so Willful Behavior is toward the middle. Paola, Guido's wife, brings the case to his attention. One of her students has a question about receiving a pardon for her dead grandfather. She doesn't provide many clues, just enough to make Brunetti curious. And then she ends up dead, killed. This time the mystery involves events from World War II and Guido talks to his father-in-law and some friends about their experiences during the war and stories they've heard. The most interesting part of the story for me was the history of Italy during World War II. I honestly don't know much about Italy during that time period. World War II tends to come up in European mysteries much more than American ones, for obvious reason, but I still find it rather fascinating. Mussolini led Italy...