Category Archives: Reading Challenges

Satellites and the Truth About Bodice Ripping

I just love technology, especially satellite technology. My favorite hobby is geocaching. I’m going to take this space to again thank my fellow Americans for taxing themselves and taking out loans for billions of dollars so that I can find tupperware in the woods.

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I’m not kidding, I really appreciate it!

I use a watch with a GPS that accurately measures just how miserably slow I run.

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Many people can walk faster than that. I salute them.

Recently I bought a new car. A Korean Kia Soul.

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It has Satellite Radio in it. I’ve had Satellite Radio in my truck, but I have more channels in my new car. It has a book channel where they actually read books. All kind of books, I’m listening to Anna Karenina by Tolstoy and Presumed Innocent by Scott Turrow. I’ve also listened to some Romance Novels which reminds me of the that sub genre “Bodice Rippers.”

I haven’t read one all the way through myself. I used to have a secretary who read them though. She would leave bookmarks with yellow stickies for all the “good parts.” I would grab it and read the good parts aloud. The good parts sound hilarious when you say them aloud as opposed to reading them. I thought it was great sport.

They are still hilarious. All the pulsating, quivering, thrusting, gasping, panting, and grunting sound really funny spoken out loud. I wasn’t thinking anything about it though until I saw yesterday morning that the esteemed Wall Street Journal had a video on Victorian Ladies Underwear and the research that some Romantic Novel Writers are doing on Victorian underwear so they can write Victorian “romance” scenes properly.

I’m all for following the truth wherever it leads you, but I’m not sure that this endeavor is going to go anywhere good. For one thing, have you ever seen Queen Victoria’s underwear? (Warning this photograph is really disturbing.)

Anyway, you can see the video yourself below.

So what do you think? Do you demand historical accuracy in your reading or would you rather have a good story?

Happy Birthday Martha Berryhill

I opened up the Tulsa World this morning and they had an article about Martha Berryhill of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, a Muscogee (Creek) citizen who celebrated her 109th birthday yesterday. She may be the oldest person in Oklahoma. That is quite a feat in anybody’s book.

What makes it even more amazing is that she is the tribes last surviving Dawes allottee. The Dawes Rolls are the basis of membership in many of the tribes in Oklahoma. The whole process of the Dawes Rolls that were compiled in from 1898 to 1907 is described very well in Angie Debos, “And Still the Waters Run.“

Anyway, enough for that, Happy Birthday Martha!

Even more Shots of Short

I have really not kept up on my short story reading in a while for the “100 Shots of Short” Reading Challenge. Following is an update.

“The Limner” by Julian Barnes -A limner is a portratist. In this case a deaf man who travels the country on his mare painting portraits of those who hire him. He has been hired by a customs collector, a pompous oaf, who desires “more dignity” in his portrait while mistreating not only the limner but the family and hired help. The story is about dignity, communicatin, and consequences. A big Thumbs Up on this story.

“Al Roosten” by George Saunders -Al Roosten is a loser. We meet him as he is about to go down the runway in a Gondolier outfit at a celebrity auction behind Larry Donfrey who is wearing just a swimsuit. Larry is a wineer, Al is a loser. This is a story about male anxiety. An anxious ridden Thumbs Sideways on this.

“The Slows” by Gail Haraven – A chilling sci-fi piece about a scientist studying “Slows” in “the Preserve.” Slows are humans who resist A.O.G. (“Accelerated Offspring Birth”). A big Thumbs Up on this.

Murder in the Latin Quarter by Cara Black

Murder in the Latin Quarter by Cara Black is a murder mystery featuring private detective Aimee Leduc. The ninth in a series and my first. Aimee is minding her own business in her office in the Latin Quarter of Paris when a Haitian woman shows up claiming to be Aimee’s sister. The woman bugs out though and so Aimee spends the rest of the book looking for her while investigating three murders involving a mysterious water company in Haiti.

The book is set in Paris and there all sorts of scenes in obscure little bars and bistros with lots of cigarette smoke, expresso, wine, and cognac. There are all sorts of colorful characters and many twists and turns in the plot.

I enjoyed the book, but could have used more of a story to go along with the atmospherics, and rate it 2.5 stars out of 4.

This is my third book completed in conjunction with the 2009 Pub Challenge.

“Runner” by Thomas Perry


I am a Thomas Perry fan and have enjoyed his books but I just couldn’t get into this book. This was my first Jane whitefield book of his and Jane and I never quite hit it off. The action seemed perfunctory, the suspense wasn’t there. I didn’t feel anything about the characters at all.

I rate this book 1.5 stars out of 4.

Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell

I just finished “Scarpetta” by Patricia Cornwell. Baloney at “That’s Baloney” asked me if I had ever read her. Another friend Diamond Girl was also a fan. So I had to try and I’m glad that I did.

In my book reviews I don’t try and examine how the book helped me explore the inner realm of my outer consciousness, or wait, is it the other way around? Oh, darn I forget. Nor do I worry about the plot, unless it is cheesy. I just try and report if the book is a good read. A good read is a book that just grabs you and makes you read it. Necessary are good characters, a believable story, and a smooth writing style.

This book is a good read and is not cheesy. The plot is not for the faint of heart. But hello, the lead character is a medical examiner. You got a weak stomach go read something else.

This book rates 3.5 out of 4 stars.

I recommend it highly. It has been out for a while. I got my copy readily from the library. Don’t buy it!! Its a great book but go to the library, get a card, get the book.

Roads to Quoz – An American Mosey by William Least Heat-Moon


Roads to Quoz” is William Least Heat-Moon’s latest book. It based on travels that he and his wife took to various parts of the United States. Quoz refers to the odd and remarkable but unexpected that one finds on the road while traveling. This book is not so much a travel book but a book of stories that he picked up while traveling. Darned good stories also about forgotten expeditions, drug running, real estate speculation, childhood escapades. Story after story.

Is this a good read? Sure. Just be ready to jump ahead because he bogs down every now and then. There is an excellent 250 page book in this 535 page book. I rate this 3 stars out of 4.

“Blue Highways”,”PraireyErth”, and “River-Horse” are other books that he wrote that I read. They are all travel books except that PraireyErth was confined to a township in central Kansas. Blue Highways was his first book. He had just got fired and divorced. The writing was to the point. Hey, he needed the money. Its the only book besides Tom Sawyer that I’ve read three times.

Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge

I am really into these Blogging Reading Challenges. So far, I’ve entered more challenges than what I’ve read books in 2009. Let me see, so far, four challenges and, well, … one boook. Hey, quit smirking.

I use the Tulsa City County Library a lot so I wanted a challenge for public libraries and I found one on the Oklahoma Book Lady blog. It is sponsored by J. Kaye’s Book Blog and you can read all the rules and enter the challenge by clicking on the graphic above.

There are three levels of participation: 12, 25, or 50 books. They all have to be checked out from a library and they all have to be begun and finished in 2009.

I’m going for the 12 book level. I picked up my first book on Tuesday.

Here are my 12 books.

1. “Roads to Quoz” by William Least Heat-Moon – 1/20/2009
2. “Scarpetta” by Patricia Cornwell – 2/20/2009
3. “Runner” by Thomas Perry, due January 2009
4. “Murder in the Latin Quarter” by Cara Black, finished 5/2/2009.
5.”The Associate” by John Grisham , finished in April 2009.
6. “The Monster in the Box” by Ruth Rendell, finished November 2009.
7. “The Year of the Flood” by Margaret Atwood, finished November 2009.
8. “The Associate” by John Grisham
9. The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power” by Jeff Sharlet, 2009

10. “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown 2009
11. “War Dances” by Sherman Alexie 2009
12. “The Scarecrow” by Michael Connelly 2009
13. “Roadside Crosses” by Jeffery Deaver 2009
14. “Road Dogs” by Elmore Leonard 2009
15. “Parallel Play – Growing up with Undiagnosed Asperger’s” by Tim Page 2009
16. “Runner” by Thomas Perry 2009
17. “That Old Cape Magic” by Richard Russo 2009
18. “Rough Country” by John Sandford
20. “The Addict: One Patient, One Doctor, One Year” by Michael Stein 

Read Your Own Book Challenge

I found another Reading Challenge listed on the Oklahoma Booklady blog. It is called the Read Your Own Book Challenge. You challenge yourself to read in 2009 a certain number of books that you already own. You sign up for it with MizB here.

I’m going to do 12 in 2009. One a month.

1. Asperger’s from the Inside Out by Michael John Carley – finished.

2. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer – in progress

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Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” for Guys

I had never heard of the Twilight series until the middle of last year when I noticed the books all over the place. People were reading them on airplanes, in restaurants, everywhere. It seemed like it came out of nowhere.

When I checked into it a little, I found that the books were initially marketed to young adult girls but it had morphed into a hit for women. I didn’t know of any guys that were reading it.

I was reading that this was the next Harry Potter series. That really perked my attention since I love the Harry Potter books.

The thing that puzzled me though was when I asked women if they thought a guy would like it, I never got an answer. Not once. Strange. Sweetie told me that I wouldn’t “get it.”

I couldn’t resist, especially if the series is the next Harry Potter series.

I read it. I liked it. The writing just sucks you in. Not much happens for the first 335 pages. The female protagonist, Isabella (“Bella”) and Edward Cullen engage in endless conversations that establish the relationship and sets up the yin and yang of attraction and danger that drives the plot. I saw this a being in a tunnel, all Bella and Edward see is each other and the rest of the world doesn’t really exist.

Finally they are deeply in love and meet each others parents and then stuff start happening. Meyer engages in a little too much “deus ex machina” rescues for me but given the target market of teenage girls the mechanism is needed to avoid too much blood. Given that, there is enough drama and tension in the last part of the book for anybody. However, a little more description and detail of what happened in the final crucial rescue scene would be much appreciated.

There are lots of plot holes in the book and I could enumerate them but they don’t really matter. What matters is the relationship between Edward and Bella, how it began and how it develops.

The ending leaves me wanting to read more and I will.

Did I “get it?” Nope, not entirely. Why Bella was attracted to Edward mystifies me. Did I like it? Yep. Is it the next Harry Potter series? Not even close, but it wasn’t meant to be. “Twilight” is its own thing. Will guys like it? If they have patience to get through the first 2/3 of the book, sure they will like it.

I give the book three stars out of four.

There is a Stephenie Meyer reading challenge out there. I’ll post about it soon.