Amelia, Elizabeth, Margaret and Archie...

Amelia Peabody Emerson and company are marching bravely into WWI in the last book I read in the Emerson series; He Shall Thunder In the Sky. This book is one of the best in the series I am sure. By the time you get to it, you know the family so well, and you know how you want thing to go! The vicissitudes in between are written so skillfully. I have to wonder how Elizabeth Peters keeps it up! Both her skills and her enthusiasm for the family Emerson and Egyptology! I do understand that the lady is an archaeologist, and a good one, so I can feel the same thrill for the subject. I would have been an anthropologist had I read the biography of Margaret Mead in time, but it came to me in my late thirties, and was the inspiration for my going back to college for that BA in Cultural Studies. Ahhh, the memories. To get back on-topic, read Amelia Peabody and you won't regret it!

Lately I have begun to listen to audio books streaming from Librivox. If you haven't already done so, check this out. I don't want anything too somber to listen to while working, so I have listened to a bit of good old Wodehouse, by Jove, and let me tell you he doesn't lose the humor in the passage of the years. Written in 1921 or 1922 and out of copyright, those old stories I heard last week were still riotously funny. Even without Bertie and Jeeves, the early stories are a hoot, and so cleverly done. I mean to say, objet d'art means, to Archie, French for "junk"! That is hysterical. The term had been delivered in the most pretentious possible way, and Archie summed it all up. Oh, that is The Indiscretions of Archie.

Librivox is a volunteer organization. People actually read these books out loud for recording, and you and I benefit from their work. Pretty dedicated bunch, and I really appreciate what they do.

Dortmunder and Thank you Donald Westlake...

This is Pear Pie, by the way (I didn't make it, my favorite daughter did)...but that's not what I want to talk about. Donald Westlake died just a few months ago, and that was very sad. We don't expect our favorite authors to leave us, somehow, and lately it seems as if a lot of my favorites in the entertainment industry, and in the world of books are passing on. John Dortmunder lived inside Donald Westlake, and sadly, he died as well. I will miss Dortmunder. Something about that pensive, intelligent yet nefarious character appeals to me at a basic fundamental level. Tonight I got good news. There is a 14th Dortmunder book due out in April. Get Real. Thank you Donald Westlake for leaving us with a special gift of laughter once again. I shouldn't wonder if you are just now entertaining angels.

Bernie Rhodenbarr Quote...

"How'd you break the addiction?"

"I didn't," I said. "I just substituted another addiction for it. I found something even more addictive than running."

"What?"

"Not running," I said. "It's got to be the most addictive thing ever. Believe me, a few days of not running and I was hooked."

--Lawrence Block, The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams]

As referred to in a post just awhile back, this is me. That's my addiction. I love that quote. Just about fell out of my chair when I read it. It's my current eReader selection. Bernie is an interesting character. He grows on you after a book or two.

An Uncommon Read...

While browsing the books in a local benefit shop, I came across the small book, The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. I almost put it back, but then I thought: "For a dollar, who cares? I'll try it!" And what an inspired thought that was. This is a treasure, a once in a year find, a delight and a privilege to read. Truly comic, yet touching, it concerns the Queen of England, and a fanciful tale of what her fall into the pit of reading might entail. Buy it, borrow it, read it and enjoy. I drew out the last few pages over several days because I didn't want it to end.

Winter with Amelia Peabody...

Thank you Elizabeth Peters. Again, I appreciate the sun of Egypt in the background of the droll adventures of Amelia and her crew. Having read my way through a few more Peabody books, and looking forward to a few more before the dawn of Spring and the return of civilized weather, I am more than glad to reflect on the wonderful that is books. What would I have done all these years if I didn't read? There are people who don't read. Perfectly intelligent people who will tell you they don't read. To me it is incomprehensible. Rather like the feeling they must get when I tell a person of what I call the "gym-species" that I don't run, or climb, or bench press, or hike, or ski, or swim, or really - hardly move around at all! They cannot imagine life without the frenetic movement which they so love, and I cannot imagine life without the escape into thought.