Long time no see!

Tweet Golly, I didn't realize it had been so long since I wrote here. Over a year and a half? Thereabouts. I've read a lot of stuff. A lot of junk, really. A few good ones here and there. I'm currently listening to the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn, who died of prostate cancer last year. That is sad, really. The series has some kind of appeal even though I'm violently opposed to his political views. An assassin CIA agent? Good grief. A lot of it is dated, really. Written pre 9/11, although he was certainly prescient in his views that Islamic fundamentalists would be our next problem. I've also discovered m/m romance/mystery. There's a lot of good stuff out there, although there's also a lot of junk. I'm on vacation for a week and should be doing my taxes! Bad girl, shame, shame. :-)

The New Tana French

Broken Harbor by Tana French

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had very mixed feelings about this book.  I see it's the first French that I haven't rated 5 stars.  In the beginning, I didn't like the detective at all.  The book is written in first person, from his point of view.  I quickly became suspicious that he was going to be an unreliable narrator, or at least an insufferable SOB.  Then layers unfolded and he became more sympathetic.  Then I got caught up in the crime.  I was fairly certain that the guy they arrested didn't do it, but couldn't imagine who had.  The second suspect didn't seem likely, either.  I never did suspect the one who was finally revealed, but I found the whole thing unbelievable.  As the murderer began telling the story, the book lost me.  I just didn't buy it.  And if it's true, then these were the most superficial people imaginable and they all were better off dead.  The detective's story was believable.  His tight lid on his inner chaos, his crazy, fragile sister, his guilt.  All of that is quite believable and sympathetic.  Whatever my misgivings about the actual crime and the perp, the book kept me deeply engaged for most of the read.  Tana French is very adept at the psychological stuff.  Too bad about the murderer.



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Thomas Friedman Declares An End To Math, Urges Working Class To Get Awesome!

Sigh.  I may have to end my love affair with Apple.  I was mad anyway that the latest software update to my iPhone no longer allows me to play my books from Audible.com.

Thomas Friedman Declares An End To Math, Urges Working Class To Get Awesome!

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Gotta love Maxine!

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HOLSTEE - Holstee Manifesto Poster

HOLSTEE - Holstee Manifesto Poster

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Rooted in Politics, Austerity Worsens the Greek Tragedy | Truthout

Rooted in Politics, Austerity Worsens the Greek Tragedy | Truthout

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Awesome article exposing all those austerity advocates.  Austerity - the classic stance of the negative, withholding mother. 

Book review - Deerskin by Robin McKinley

Deerskin by Robin McKinley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Oh my, I scarcely know what to say about this book.  It's actually not quite 5 stars, but I'd feel bad only giving it four.



It's wrenching, maddening, lyrical, unflinchingly honest in the way of fairy tales, and it's terribly sad.  If it weren't for the dogs, I'm not sure I could've read it.  I knew it was about a woman who was raped by her father when I bought it.  It was on a list compiled by NPR of books about strong women.  That's why I bought it.  I thought I was prepared for it.  I work as a practicing psychotherapist, and have sat in my office with women (and men) who have been through this same thing.  I have been enraged before by the way families and society blame the victim in situations like this.  And yet when I read it in this book, I was so upset I had to stop reading for a while.



I got up and cleaned my kitchen, walked the dogs, cast around for some light hearted simple minded book to read.  Then I decided to pick it up again.  I'd put it aside right after the rape and his killing of her beloved dog.



But the dog was not dead.  The rest of the book is about her healing, and her recovery, and the way she comes into her own power.  It's also about the dog, and then dogs, as she finds her way to the court of the man who'd given her the dog in the first place, and she nurses a litter of puppies whose mother died and she keeps them alive along with herself.



I hadn't read Robin McKinley before, but now will have to look at her other books.  I love dogs.  :-)  And they save this book from being unbearable.



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