I Did It Again

I started a book that had horror mentioned as one of the genera listings.  The book was "Abandon" by Blake Crouch.  Since I have Amazon Prime, it was the book I borrowed for May.  It had a really interesting premise-all the people of a small mining town in Colorado disappeared on Christmas Eve a hundred years ago.  It was very well-written.  It went back and forth between current time people and those of the town back the hundred years.  Even though I found the book disturbing, I had to keep reading to find out how it ended.  And I could not just jump to the end to see how it ended.  You had to go step-by-step with the author.  The few days that I was reading it, it was on my mind and in my dreams.  I think it will be a while before I get this one off my mind.  And yet, it was a satisfying book.  The author did not leave  a lot of loose ends.  I really like that.  So, for those who like horror, it was a great book but I hope I don't ready any more like that.  When will I learn?

Note To Self

Note to Self:  Do not read zombie book before going to sleep.  Two nights of disturbed sleep is enough.  I have been reading "The Creepers" by Norman Dixon.  It has a good premise and reasonable post-apocalyptic situation.  However, it is too disturbing and I realized why.  It is too horribly realistic.  I cannot denigrate Mr. Dixon's writing ability but I am not going to finish this book.  

On the other hand, I just finished W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge".  I loved it.  It is an older book, and the copy I had was falling apart.  I literally had to hold it together to read it.  Maugham relates the story of a man who was disillusioned by war and sought the meaning of life.  You feel as though Maugham is sitting at a table with you telling the story.  You feel as though you know the people he talks about. He writes in an unhurried way, which I find refreshing.  I wish I had discovered this author earlier.  I thought it was interesting to read about his life.  It helps to see where he is coming from in his writing.  I am going to search for more of his books.

Out of Character

I enjoy reading "The Destroyer" series.  I have been told this is totally out of character for me. In delving into my book horde, I found the "#103 Engines of Destruction".  I love the tongue-in-cheek humor as well as the not always so subtle social commentary.  The premise is that an American is trained by an ancient Korean master to be an assassin.  It is less believable than a science fiction book, but I don't care.  In a subtle way, they make you think.  

Desperate For Something to Read

     On a recent trip to a third world country, we rented a house.  Wi-fi service and electricity were not a constant.  In searching the house for books to read, I found that most of the ones there were written before the 60's.  Okay, there were authors that I had wanted to read so was not destitute.  I read "A Moveable Feast" by Ernest Hemmingway.  The book was about when he lived in Paris.  Only he was writing it 20 to 30 years later.  It makes you wonder how accurate his memories were.  His descriptions of some of the famous people he knew then-could the intervening years have changed his opinion of them?  Hard to draw the line at what you think of someone 25 years ago.  I enjoyed the book.  His deceptively simple method of writing hit on some things that made me think.  That is a good thing. 
     Another book I have always been curious about was "Out of Africa" by Isak Dinesen.  The tone of the book struck me as a very rose-colored view of Africa and its people.  She did have a marvelous way of creating pictures with words.  Shame on me, but I did not finish that book.  It was not something I could read a lot of at once and ran out of time.
     There were 4 other books I read but only one of them really stayed in my memory.  That was "Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal" by Conor Grennan. The desperate straits of children during war is heart-rending.  He did an admirable job of describing his frivolous reasons for volunteering at an orphanage in Nepal and the painful journey to the point where he had lost his heart to the orphans and was compelled to help them.  Hmmm-this was about a third world country.  I wonder how often our current circumstances effect what we are drawn to read.