Kate’s 2¢: “The cancer-fighting kitchen: nourishing, big-flavor recipes for cancer treatment and recovery” 2nd Edition by Rebecca Katz and Mat Edelson

“The cancer-fighting kitchen: nourishing, big-flavor recipes for cancer treatment and recovery” 2^nd Edition by Rebecca Katz and Mat Edelson

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   A few take-aways:

–Cancer is likened to a weed in the body’s garden. The intergraded oncologist aims to make the soil inhospitable for the weed to grow.

–The best is an organic, plant based, anti-oxidant rich, anti-inflammatory, whole foods diet.

–Blue berries, almonds, carrots, salmon, olives, cabbage, herbs and spices.

–Food as medicine; food can keep diseases at bay.

–Celebrate swallowing even the smallest sip of broth, if that’s all you can stomach.

–Between medication and sound nutrition, many side-effects can be reduced; tell your doctor when you’re experiencing side-effects.

–Soups can be the best solution.

–Vegetables have anti-inflammatory, anti- oxidant, high quality fats, and tumor pathway inhibitors. 

–Proteins rebuild the body; eggs, sea food, chicken.

–Perhaps, eat six small meals instead of three big ones

–Cold tonic smoothies can soothe sore mouths and provide needed nutrition.

   There are many wonderful recipes in this book that can easily be referenced by the sighted cook using the book or the blind cook using the BARB down-load. The authors are well-qualified and have several other cookbooks.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The cancer-fighting kitchen: nourishing, big-flavor recipes for cancer treatment and recovery DB96582

Katz, Rebecca; Edelson, Mat. Reading time: 9 hours, 36 minutes.

Read by Faith Potts.

Cooking

Collection of recipes designed to appeal to those undergoing treatment for cancer. Includes a discussion of treatment side effects plus tips for enhancing flavor, menu planning, and ways family and friends can help. Recipes include soups and broths, vegetables, proteins, tonics and elixirs, dressings, and sweets. 2017.

Download The cancer-fighting kitchen: nourishing, big-flavor recipes for cancer treatment and recovery

Kate’s 2¢: “Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip Ross

Kate’s 2¢: “Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip Ross

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   I can understand how this book became controversial when it was published. It is a disgusting stream of consciousness. I found it more interesting researching the author.

From Good Reads:

   The famous confession of Alexander Portnoy, who is thrust through life by his unappeasable sexuality, yet held back at the same time by the iron grip of his unforgettable childhood. Hilariously funny, boldly intimate, startlingly candid, Portnoy’s Complaint was an immediate bestseller upon its publication in 1969, and is perhaps Roth’s best-known book.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short-story writer.

Roth’s fiction, regularly set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey, is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophically and formally blurring the distinction between reality and fiction, for its “sensual, ingenious style” and for its provocative explorations of American identity.[1]

   Roth first gained attention with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus; the collection so titled received the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction.[2][3] He became one of the most awarded American writers of his generation. His books twice received the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle award, and three times the PEN/Faulkner Award. He received a Pulitzer Prize for his 1997 novel American Pastoral, which featured one of his best-known characters, Nathan Zuckerman, a character in many of Roth’s novels. The Human Stain (2000), another Zuckerman novel, was awarded the United Kingdom’s WH Smith Literary Award for the best book of the year. In 2001, in Prague, Roth received the inaugural Franz Kafka Prize.

   Roth’s work first appeared in print in the Chicago Review while he was studying, and later teaching, at the University of Chicago.[11][12][13] His first book, Goodbye, Columbus, contains the novella Goodbye,

   Roth’s first work, Goodbye, Columbus, was an irreverently humorous depiction of the life of middle-class Jewish Americans, and met controversy among reviewers, who were highly polarized in their judgments;[3] one criticized it as infused with a sense of self-loathing. In response, Roth, in his 1963 essay “Writing About Jews” (collected in Reading Myself and Others), maintained that he wanted to explore the conflict between the call to Jewish solidarity and his desire to be free to question the values and morals of middle-class Jewish Americans uncertain of their identities in an era of cultural assimilation and upward social mobility:

   The cry ‘Watch out for the goyim!’ at times seems more the expression of an unconscious wish than of a warning: Oh that they were out there, so that we could be together here! A rumor of persecution, a taste of exile, might even bring with it the old world of feelings and habits—something to replace the new world of social accessibility and moral indifference, the world which tempts all our promiscuous instincts, and where one cannot always figure out what a Jew is that a Christian is not.[25]

   In Roth’s fiction the exploration of “promiscuous instincts” within the context of Jewish lives, mainly from a male viewpoint, plays an important role. In the words of critic Hermione Lee:

Philip Roth’s fiction strains to shed the burden of Jewish traditions and proscriptions. … The liberated Jewish consciousness, let loose into the disintegration of the American Dream, finds itself deracinated and homeless. American society and politics, by the late sixties, are a grotesque travesty of what Jewish immigrants had traveled towards: liberty, peace, security, a decent liberal democracy.[26]

   While Roth’s fiction has strong autobiographical influences, it also incorporates social commentary and political satire, most obviously in Our Gang and Operation Shylock. From the 1990s on Roth’s fiction often combined autobiographical elements with retrospective dramatizations of postwar American life.    Roth described American Pastoral and the two following novels as a loosely connected “American trilogy”. Each of these novels treats aspects of the postwar era against the backdrop of the nostalgically remembered Jewish-American childhood of Nathan Zuckerman, in which the experience of life on the American home front during the Second World War features prominently.[citation needed]

   In much of Roth’s fiction, the 1940s, comprising Roth’s and Zuckerman’s childhood, mark a high point of American idealism and social cohesion. A more satirical treatment of the patriotism and idealism of the war years is evident in Roth’s comic novels, such as Portnoy’s Complaint and Sabbath’s Theater. In The Plot Against America, the alternate history of the war years dramatizes the prevalence of anti-Semitism and racism in America at the time, despite the promotion of increasingly influential anti-racist ideals during the war. In his fiction Roth portrayed the 1940s, and the New Deal era of the 1930s that preceded it, as a heroic phase in American history. A sense of frustration with social and political developments in the United States since the 1940s is palpable in the American trilogy and Exit Ghost, but had already been present in Roth’s earlier works that contained political and social satire, such as Our Gang and The Great American Novel. Writing about the latter, Hermione Lee points to the sense of disillusionment with “the American Dream” in Roth’s fiction: “The mythic words on which Roth’s generation was brought up—winning, patriotism, gamesmanship—are desanctified; greed, fear, racism, and political ambition are disclosed as the motive forces behind the ‘all-American ideals’.”[26]

   Although Roth’s writings often explored the Jewish experience in America, Roth rejected being labeled a Jewish-American writer. “It’s not a question that interests me. I know exactly what it means to be Jewish and it’s really not interesting,” he told the Guardian newspaper in 2005. “I’m an American.”[27]

Personal life[edit]

   While at Chicago, Roth met Margaret Martinson in 1956, who became his first wife in 1959. Their separation in 1963, and Martinson’s subsequent death in a car crash in 1968, left a lasting mark on Roth’s literary output. Martinson was the inspiration for female characters in several of Roth’s novels, including Lucy Nelson in When She Was Good and Maureen Tarnopol in My Life as a Man.[28]

Roth was an atheist who once said, “When the whole world doesn’t believe in God, it’ll be a great place.”[29][30] He also said during an interview with The Guardian: “I’m exactly the opposite of religious, I’m anti-religious. I find religious people hideous. I hate the religious lies. It’s all a big lie,” and “It’s not a neurotic thing, but the miserable record of religion—I don’t even want to talk about it. It’s not interesting to talk about the sheep referred to as believers. When I write, I’m alone. It’s filled with fear and loneliness and anxiety—and I never needed religion to save me.”[31]

   In 1990 Roth married his longtime companion, English actress Claire Bloom, with whom he had been living since 1976. In 1994 they divorced, and in 1996 Bloom published a memoir, Leaving a Doll’s House, that depicted Roth as a misogynist and control freak. Some critics have detected parallels between Bloom and the character Eve Frame in Roth’s I Married a Communist (1998).[10]

The novel Operation Shylock (1993) and other works draw on a post-operative breakdown[32][33][34] and Roth’s experience of the temporary side effects of the sedative Halcion (triazolam), prescribed post-operatively in the 1980s.[35][36]

Death, burial, and legacy[edit]

   Roth died at a Manhattan hospital of heart failure on May 22, 2018, at the age of 85.[37][38][39]

Roth was buried at the Bard College Cemetery in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, where in 1999 he taught a class. He had originally planned to be buried next to his parents at the Gomel Chesed Cemetery in Newark, but changed his mind about fifteen years before his death, in order to be buried close to his friend the novelist Norman Manea.[40] Roth expressly banned any religious rituals from his funeral service, though it was noted that only one day after his burial a pebble had been placed on top of his tombstone in accordance with Jewish tradition.[41]

   Among the admirers of Roth’s work is famed New Jersey singer Bruce Springsteen. Roth read the musician’s autobiography Born to Run and Springsteen read Roth’s American Pastoral, I Married A Communist, and The Human Stain. Springsteen said of Roth’s work: “I’ll tell you, those three recent books by Philip Roth just knocked me on my ass … To be in his sixties making work that is so strong, so full of revelations about love and emotional pain, that’s the way to live your artistic life. Sustain, sustain, sustain.”[42]

From NLS/BARD/LOC: This cartridge was sent to me in the NLS’s rotating books on loan.

Kate’s 2¢: “Educated a memoir” by Tara Westover with Julia Whelan

“Educated a memoir” by  Tara Westover with Julia Whelan

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   As we learned from the Watergate perpetrators, dressed in preppy outfits and crew cuts to the homeless man in rags who could sing opera with the best of the professionals, you can not tell a person’s intellect by their clothing. Obviously, Westover was a gem in the rough until a Brigham Young University professor saw her potential and guided her in a way her bipolar father never could have.

   One of the many key memories as a very young child, was the Ruby Ridge Massacre, which her father took to mean just because the Weaver family was home-schooled, that the Feds would be coming to take over his family for that reason, too. The obsessive stock-piling of food, water, guns, and “go bags” was one of the numerous episodes that emotionally scarred Westover forever.

   I vaguely remembered the incident, so I looked it up: …https://www.britannica.com/event/Ruby-Ridge

Ruby Ridge was the site of an 11-day siege in 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho, near Naples. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) initiated action to apprehend and arrest Randy Weaver under a bench warrant after his failure to appear on firearms charges. Weaver said he would not surrender, and members of his immediate family, and family friend Kevin Harris, resisted as well. The Hostage Rescue Team of the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI HRT) became involved…”

   I wonder if writing this book was cathartic for Westover and if she can now move on with her life without the baggage of her childhood and one brother who appears to have the same psychotic issues of their father.  It is not uncommon for members of the Mormon faith to use shunning as a punishment, but, usually there will be one or two family members who will keep in touch with the “bad seed”. Perhaps, the siblings she consulted to clarify her memory and journal entrees  will continue, or not, to support her.

   I wonder if she has conveniently forgotten whether or not her brother sexually assaulted her  during any of his out-rages.

From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35133922-educated

Book description:

“Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her “head-for-the-hills bag”. In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father’s junkyard.

Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent.

Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one’s life through new eyes and the will to change it. 

From her website:

Below is a bio, awkwardly written in the third person. Because people keep asking me for it.

Tara Westover is an American author. Born in Idaho to a father opposed to public education, she never attended school. She spent her days working in her father’s junkyard or stewing herbs for her mother, a self-taught herbalist and midwife. She was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom, and after that first taste, she pursued learning for a decade. She graduated magna cum laude from Brigham Young University in 2008 and was subsequently awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. She earned an MPhil from Trinity College, Cambridge in 2009, and in 2010 was a visiting fellow at Harvard University. She returned to Cambridge, where she was awarded a PhD in history in 2014. Educated is her first book.

Julia May Whelan (born May 8, 1984) is a screenwriter, life-long actor, and award-winning audiobook narrator. She graduated with a degree in English and Creative Writing from Middlebury College and Oxford University. While in England, her flirtation with tea blossomed into a full-blown love affair, culminating in her eventual certification as a tea master.

   A tea master is to tea what a sommelier is to wine: an expert who can identify the drink’s origin, aromas, mouthfeel, and much more.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Educated: a memoir DB90188

Westover, Tara; Whelan, Julia. Reading time: 12 hours, 12 minutes.

Read by Julia Whelan. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Religion

Biography

Memoir exploring the author’s path from being raised in a fundamentalist, paranoiac Mormon family where she was homeschooled to eventually working her way to graduate degrees at Cambridge and Harvard. Discusses hardships faced by the family, abuse at the hands of a sibling, and more. Some violence, strong language. Commercial audiobook. 2018.

Downloaded: September 1, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “The Shadows” by Alex North

“The Shadows” by Alex North

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Well done! This story plays on children’s fears of the dark, deep woods, knives, bullies, and parental abandonment.

   One of the many homes my parents, brother, and I lived in, was a ranch-style home with a short backyard edging a forest. There were crows in the dark forest, a narrow path that led back to the family’s ancient burial ground of the original owner of the former estate, and it all made my 8-year old self feel creepy.  My brother and his friends used the large wooden crate my parents new chest freezer came in, to make a fort just inside the forest. They used to spend warm summer nights there, so my friend and I wanted to try it, too. It was fortunate that mom left the backdoor light on, because we didn’t last long out in the fort.

   “The Shadows” brought a lot of my own childhood memories to the forefront. So much so, that I didn’t read this story before bedtime.

   John Heffernan and Hannah Hartinen did a wonderful job of alternately reading sections of the story to move it along forward, but also provide the back story. 

…I have never liked pseudonyms. Be open and honest about who you are and pleased with your accomplishments, otherwise we’ll wonder what you’re hiding.

   Alex North was born in Leeds, England, where he now lives with his wife and son. The Whisper Man was inspired by North’s own little boy, who mentioned one day that he was playing with “the boy in the floor.” Alex North is a British crime writer who has previously published under another name.

   Alex North is actually a pseudonym and his real name is unknown. North has actually published books under a different name prior to this, but has not released that name publicly. North keep his identity secret has added to the mystique surrounding him and the intrigue surrounding his stories.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The shadows DB99568

North, Alex. Reading time: 9 hours, 7 minutes.

Read by John Heffernan. (and Hannah Hartinen)  

Suspense Fiction

Even when they were teens together in a small English town, Paul Adams knew there was something wrong with Charlie Crabtree. It’s been twenty-five years since Crabtree disappeared after committing a shocking murder that inspired more than one copycat, and Paul is back home. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

Downloaded: September 16, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “The dog who knew too much: a Chet and Bernie mystery” by Spencer Quinn

“The dog who knew too much: a Chet and Bernie mystery” by Spencer Quinn

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

Well now, who isn’t going to fall in love with Chet? He’s big, affable, intelligent, and sees the world from a different perspective. Oh, Bernie’s okay, too, but Chet is the attraction.

   Chet displays his droll sense of humor with his musings and mis-interpretations of colloquialisms, such as a wild goose chase, wishing time would stop – leaving us with the crusts of one egg salad sandwich, How could she even try to smell anything with her tiny nose?, and pot head  to name a few.

   This was the first Chet and Bernie book I’d read and enjoyed it. I’ll look for other adventures of the Little Detective Agency.

From Spencer Quinn | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster

Spencer Quinn is the bestselling author of eight Chet and Bernie mystery series, as well as the #1 New York Times bestselling Bowser and Birdie series for middle-grade readers. He lives on Cape Cod with his wife Diana—and dogs Audrey and Pearl. Keep up with him by visiting SpenceQuinn.com.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The dog who knew too much: a Chet and Bernie mystery DB75402

Quinn, Spencer. Reading time: 7 hours, 55 minutes.

Read by Michael Scherer. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Animals and Wildlife

Worried that her ex will bother her when they both visit their son at summer camp, Anya hires PI Bernie to accompany her, posing as her friend. But her son goes missing, turning the job into real detective work for Bernie and Chet. Strong language and some violence. 2011.

Kate’s 2¢: “The Dilemma” by B. A. Paris

“The Dilemma” by B. A. Paris

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Peter Noble did a wonderful job of reading this suspenseful story for the National Library Service.

   Organized by using a time-line, the story progresses hour by hour with Adam and Livia alternating what they’re doing during that hour. The story progresses slowly, with a few back stories to flesh out the characters.

From the WEB:

B.A. Paris is an author of suspense novels. She grew up in England but has moved to and spent most of her adult life in France. In the past, she worked in finance and also as a teacher. She has written two books, Behind Closed Doors and The Breakdown, both of which have been published by St. Martin’s Press.

B. A. Paris is from a Franco/Irish background. She was brought up in England and moved to France where she spent some years working as a trader in an international bank before re-training as a teacher and setting up a language school with her husband. They still live in France and have five daughters.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The dilemma DB99581

Paris, B. A. Reading time: 9 hours, 11 minutes.

Read by Peter Noble.

Suspense Fiction

Psychological Fiction

Livia’s husband Adam is throwing her a blowout fortieth birthday party. Everyone will be there, except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad. Livia recently uncovered a shattering secret about Marnie. She needs to tell Adam, but she’s waiting until the party is over so they can have this last happy time together. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

Downloaded: September 16, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “The Boy From the Woods by Harlan Coben

“The Boy From the Woods by Harlan Coben

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   If the back story in the prologue had been incorporated into the first chapter, the reader wouldn’t be misled in thinking Matthew was the boy from the woods.

   After that initial confusion, I settled in to enjoy the story, even though, it took a convoluted path to come to the unsettling conclusion. The story left several unanswered questions for me.

From HarlanCobin.com:

With over 75 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the #1 New York Times author of thirty one novels including THE BOY FROM THE WOODS, RUN AWAY, FOOL ME ONCE, TELL NO ONE and the renowned Myron Bolitar series. His books are published in 45 languages around the globe.

Harlan is the creator and executive producer of several Netflix television dramas including THE STRANGER, SAFE, THE FIVE, and THE WOODS.  Harlan was also showrunner and executive producer for two French TV mini-series, UNE CHANCE DE TROP (NO SECOND CHANCE) and JUST UN REGARD (JUST ONE LOOK). KEINE ZWEIT CHANCE, also based on Harlan’s novel, aired in Germany on Sat1.

Harlan’s novel TELL NO ONE (NE LE DIS A PERSONNE) was turned into the renowned French film, directed by Guillaume Canet and starring Francois Cluzet. The movie was the top box office foreign-language film of the year in USA, won the Lumiere (French Golden Globe) for best picture and was nominated for nine Cesars (French Oscar) and won four, including best actor, best director and best music.

Winner of the Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award – the first author to win all three – international bestselling author Harlan Coben’s critically-acclaimed novels have been called “ingenious” (New York Times), “poignant and insightful” (Los Angeles Times), “consistently entertaining” (Houston Chronicle), “superb” (Chicago Tribune) and “must reading” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

In his first books, Coben immersed himself in the exploits of sports agent Myron Bolitar. Critics loved the series, saying, “You race to turn pages…both suspenseful and often surprisingly funny” (People). After seven books Coben wanted to try something different. “I came up with a great idea that simply would not work for Myron,” says Coben. The result was the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller TELL NO ONE, which became the most decorated thriller of the year. Two books later, Bookspan, recognizing Coben’s broad international appeal, named NO SECOND CHANCE its first ever International Book of the Month in 2003 – the Main Selection in 15 different countries.

Harlan was the first writer in more than a decade to be invited to write fiction for the NEW YORK TIMES op-ed page. His Father’s Day short story, THE KEY TO MY FATHER, appeared June 15, 2003. His essays and columns have appeared in many top publications including the New York Times, Parade Magazine and Bloomberg Views.

Harlan has received an eclectic variety of honors from all over the world. In Paris, he was awarded the prestigious Vermeil Medal of Honor for contributions to culture and society by the Mayor of Paris. He was won the El Premio del Novela Negra RBA in Spain, the Grand Prix de Lectrices in France, and the CWA/ITV3 Bestseller Dagger for favorite crime novelist in England. On the other end of the spectrum, Little League Baseball inducted Harlan into their Hall of Excellence in 2013, and Harlan is also a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame from his playing days at Amherst College.

Harlan was born in Newark, New Jersey. He still lives in New Jersey with his wife, Anne Armstrong-Coben MD, a pediatrician, and their four children.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The boy from the woods DB98760

Coben, Harlan. Reading time: 12 hours, 27 minutes.

Read by Joe Wilson.

Suspense Fiction

Bestsellers

Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods. Now, no one seems to take teen Naomi’s disappearance seriously. But attorney Hester–whose grandson told her that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school–asks Wilde to use his unique skills to find Naomi. Strong language and some violence. Bestseller. 2020.

Downloaded: September 1, 2020

Download

Kate’s 2¢: “Sliver moon: a new Chris Sinclair thriller” by Jay Brandon

“Sliver moon: a new Chris Sinclair thriller” by  Jay Brandon

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   This was a good story. Eye witness descriptions of the same event are notoriously unreliable. Then, mix in what is logical about an already dead body falling over a balcony rail and the mystery is afoot.

   The back story surrounding Chris’s daughter, Clarissa is still a mystery, but, maybe this was explained in a previous book.

Ev Lunning did a good job of reading this book.

www.jaybrandon.com:

   “I began writing at an early age, soon after I started reading.  Luckily I had teachers in elementary school who encouraged my writing, reading my stories to the class.  My sixth grade teacher Mr. Clarkson even “commissioned” me to write a story for a special occasion, St. Patrick’s Day. At Robert E. Lee High School in San Antonio I did the usual writerly things, was copy editor of the yearbook and a columnist for the newspaper.  (Both won best in state in UIL competition.)  But mainly I just wrote, all the time, short stories, poems, fragments, ideas.  My preferred medium was a Big Chief tablet and a blue medium point Bic pen. I attended Trinity University in San Antonio for two years and took every writing class they offered.  One of my professors, then novelist-in-residence Bob Flynn, is still a friend of mine.  A play of mine was given a student production.  It was a short two-character play about Prometheus, after he’d given fire to mankind and was punished by the gods by being chained to a rock and having a vulture eat his liver every day.  The other character was the vulture.  (“Whine, whine, whine, that’s all I ever hear from you.  You think I have such a great job, this again day after day?  And never a change in diet.  Liver, every damn’ day.”) I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in English, a guarantor of unemployment.  For three years I did odd jobs and wrote, collected a world of rejection slips, finally had a couple of short stories published.  Then I applied to graduate school at The Writing Seminars of Johns Hopkins, and had one of the best years of my life.  It was a small class of graduate students, about twenty-five, half poets and half fiction writers.  We spent our lives together for a year, doing nothing but reading, writing, reading each other’s writing, and talking about writing.  (And socializing.)  John Barth was director of the fiction workshop, a wonderful teacher.  Another great teacher was Edmund White.  Ed taught a class in world literature and began the discussion of each novel with a very writerly question: “What can we steal from this book?” I wrote a very literary sort of novel toward the end of that year. It helped me acquire an agent but was never published.  Hearing that it was easier to get genre fiction published, I quickly wrote a suspense novel.  My agent told me it was wonderful, the best thriller he’d read in ten years.  I quickly wrote another which he said was even better.  He kept telling me things like that for three years and never sold either novel. A new plan was called for.  I moved to Houston, worked in a bookstore, then went to law school.  At the end of my second year of law school I changed agents.  My first agent gave me a list of about twenty-five publishers to whom he’d tried to sell my suspense novels.  My new agent sold both books to the first publisher she tried.  Virginia Barber was a great agent and I’m still grateful to her. So my first novel, DEADBOLT, was published the same year I graduated from law school.  The lag time in getting a book published turned out to be a blessing for me, though, because in the meantime I acquired another profession.  Law has turned out to be a good subject for me.  Good novels put characters under pressure to see how they react, and nothing puts pressure on someone like being charged with a crime or representing someone charged with a crime.  And within the context of the legal thriller I can write about any subject I want, and have: love, death, sex, family, race. Because I didn’t set out to be a mystery writer.  I wanted to be F. Scott Fitzgerald.  That’s true of a great many “genre” writers, and their novels show it.  There’s nothing about a genre that dictates how good or bad the writing is.  Some of the best writing being written today is in so-called genre fiction.  I’m glad to have been able to do what I love for as long as I can.”

   Jay Brandon is the award-winning author of many novels and short stories acclaimed both critically and by readers.  His first novel, DEADBOLT, was awarded Booklist magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award, after a starred review.  His first legal thriller, FADE THE HEAT, was short-listed for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award for Best novel, was optioned by Amblin Entertainment, and has been published around the world.  LOCAL RULES was a selection of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books.  In all, his novels have been published by more than a dozen foreign publishers, with worldwide distribution.

   Jay is a practicing attorney, and many of his novels are legal thrillers.  He has departed from the legal genre, however.  THE JETTY, co-written with Joe Labatt, is a ghost story and romance set at the Texas coast. 

   MILAGRO LANE is the definitive novel of Jay’s home town of San Antonio, a family saga, mystery, and love story.  Author Rick Riordan said of it, “Part mystery, part insider’s guide, MILAGRO LANE is a wonderful romp through a wonderful city.” 

   Jay’s latest, SHADOW KNIGHT’S MATE, which bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb called “a wonderful novel,” is an international thriller featuring a long-hidden secret society, their implacable enemy and, possibly, the end of the world as we know it.  Another bestseller, David Liss, appraised it this way:  In SHADOW KNIGHT’S MATE, Jay Brandon creates an irresistible mix of vivid characters, a thrilling conspiracy, a broad (and clever) historical scope, and a great narrative voice.  In short, this is an absorbing, exciting, and absolutely entertaining novel.”

   Jay’s most recent short story, “A Jury of His Peers,” was chosen by Lee Child for inclusion in THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES.  Jay lives in San Antonio, Texas.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Sliver moon: a new Chris Sinclair thriller DBC18013

Brandon, Jay. Reading time: 12 hours, 2 minutes.

Read by Ev Lunning. A production of Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Legal Issues

There’s a bare sliver of moon on the dark night when a shot kills a man during a party at the home of child psychologist Anne Greenwald’s father. Anne and her boyfriend, District Attorney Chris Sinclair, both see the shooting, but can’t agree on who pulled the trigger. The dead man was involved with Anne’s father in political deals with shady implications. Investigating, Sinclair finds a wall of silence built of blackmail, bribery, coercion, and intimidation covering up dirty politics that will send Anne’s father to prison unless Sinclair can clear him. Violence, strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 2003.

Downloaded: August 30, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “decent inn of death” by Rennie Airth

“decent inn of death” by Rennie Airth

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   This is the first John Madden mystery I’ve read. When Angus Sinclair apparently goes missing, I thought he was the protagonist, only to find John shares that honor. Having the events reiterated every time a new character came on the scene or one needed to be up-dated, I found the repetition a bit trying.

   Over all, though, armchair sleuths will be kept on tender hooks until the mystery is explained…again.

   Yes, I’d recommend this book, especially, the way John Curless  reads it.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rennie Airth (born 1935) is a South African novelist who currently resides in Italy.[1] Airth has also worked as foreign correspondent for the Reuters news service.[1]

From NLS/BARD.LOC:

The decent inn of death DB99462

Airth, Rennie. Reading time: 10 hours, 27 minutes.

Read by John Curless.

Historical Fiction

Mystery and Detective Stories

Snowed in at a country manor during an unofficial investigation, former Scotland Yard inspectors John Madden and Angus Sinclair find themselves with little to do at first but to analyze the case. Then a murder takes place, and everyone becomes a suspect. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

Downloaded: August 30, 2020

Kate’s 2¢: “Walk the Wire: by David Baldacci

“Walk the Wire: by David Baldacci

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   My introduction to David Baldacci was when Jordan Rich interviewed him about “The Flight Attendant” for the podcast “Books in Three Bytes”. The book had just come out, so I had to wait until the NLS/BARD had recorded it. After that, I was hooked on Baldacci and found it interesting that the ‘after chat’ mentioned how his daughter was instrumental in advising him of certain aspects of troubled girls, as well as, narrating some of the story.

Of course, this  story is going to start out with a dead body, but, yuck, what condition that body was in!  As in all of his many books, Baldacci doesn’t disappoint the reader with “Walk the Wire” and has a variety of plots and sub-plots to keep the most avid amateur sleuth on his or her toes.

   WILL ROBIE comes across as very mysterious and intriguing. No wonder he stars in his own books series.

   Orlagh Cassidy and Keith Brewer narrated this book for Hachette Book Group. I found having a female voice pop in every now and then to be distracting. Maybe it’s because I’m used to hearing the fluidity of one narrator just make a few voice alterations to indicate a different speaker.

   I’m still hooked on Baldacci and will watch for his other books.

From https://www.davidbaldacci.com

David Baldacci, born August 5th 1950, is the bestselling American thriller writer whose first novel, Absolute Power became an immediate bestseller. He has gone on to write a string of best selling thrillers including Total Control and last man Standing. In addition to his thrillers, Baldacci has also written three children’s books.

   Baldacci has been writing since childhood, when his mother gave him a lined notebook in which to write down his stories. (Much later, when David thanked her for being the spark that ignited his writing career, she revealed that she’d given him the notebook to keep him quiet, because “every mom needs a break now and then.”)

   In addition to being a prolific writer, David is a devoted philanthropist, and his greatest efforts are dedicated to his family’s Wish You Well Foundation®. Established by David and his wife, Michelle, the Wish You Well Foundation supports family and adult literacy programs in the United States. In 2008 the Foundation partnered with Feeding America to launch Feeding Body & Mind, a program to address the connection between literacy, poverty and hunger. Through Feeding Body & Mind, more than 1 million new and gently used books have been collected and distributed through food banks to families in need.

David and his family live in Virginia.

** © 2018 Hachette Book Group

Portions of data on DavidBaldacci.com are supplied by Books In Print ®. Copyright 2018 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. All rights in images of books or other publications are reserved by the original copyright owners.

From the NLS/BARD/LOC:

Walk the wire DB99196

Baldacci, David. Reading time: 11 hours, 59 minutes.

Read by Orlagh Cassidy.

Suspense Fiction

Adventure

Mystery and Detective Stories

FBI’s Amos Decker and Alex Jamison are called to London, North Dakota, a thriving fracking town. Irene Cramer’s body was expertly autopsied and then dumped in the open. They are shocked to discover that the woman–who was a prostitute–was also a teacher for a local religious sect. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

Downloaded: September 1, 2020