2020-02-24

"Career of Evil" by Robert Galbraith



Publisher:New York : Mulholland Books, 2015.
Edition:First North American edition.
ISBN: 9780316349932
Characteristics: 497 pages.

Career of evil is the third book in the Cormoran Strike series. These books as I've said before are  reminiscent of the hard-boiled detective novels of the early 1900s, but with a flair for today, as is necessary. The stories take you right into the heat of the action, and lay bare what the life of a struggling private detective might really be like.

In this book Strike faces an unknown assailant who is out to get him and ruin his business by pretty much any means possible. This includes targeting his assistant Robin as one of his future victims. In addition to the main plot line, the author also looks briefly into various psychological phenomenon that are interesting, but could be quite disturbing to some at the same time.

During this whole time Robin and Matthew are planning their wedding which gives an interesting background flavour to the entire story. Their assailant, who could possibly any one of four or five different people continuously eludes them, until the very end.

This is a fantastic third novel, in a four volume series -- so far. I do hope the author plans on writing more in the series as I only have one left to read.

2020-02-17

"So You Want to Move to CANADA, Eh?: Stuff to know before you go" by Jennifer McCartney



Publisher:Philadelphia : Running Press, 2019.
Edition:First edition.
ISBN: 9780762495078
Characteristics: viii, 179 pages :,illustrations, map ;,21 cm

For anybody who has ever contemplated moving to Canada, especially any of you Americans out there this book is aimed directly at you. That being said just because Canada is America's friendly neighbour that doesn't mean we are an extension of the United States, which unfortunately is how many people seem to see us.

The first section has numerous fun facts, as well as many explanations on why we do things the way we do. It delves into such things as our geography, the metric system, our flag, the Canadian National Anthem, stuff about our government, and explanations of our holidays.

The second section explores how a person goes about immigrating to Canada, not something I have to worry about as it looks like there really is a lot of paperwork to do.

The third section takes us back to the fun stuff and explains our culture, touching on subjects such as our laws on guns, alcohol, and cannabis; our language, cuisine, etc.

Ms. McCartney then goes on to give lists of things a prospective immigrant should consult, to help them along their journey.

I found this to be a very well written, and at times hilarious review of our culture, the country itself, and much more. Read it even if you aren't planning on coming here, if nothing else it might help explain our quirks.

2020-02-10

"The Ballad of Cat Ballou" by Roy Chanslor (1899-1964)



Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Copyright 1956


"The Ballad of Cat Ballou" is a classic western by an author that researched his work. It tells the tale of Catherine 'Cat' Ballou a young girl who grows up amidst in Wyoming amid ongoing between the Cattleman's Association and her father who was sold a parcel of land in order to keep the cattlemen from using the area as a thoroughfare for their cattle.

The book tells the tale beginning with the courting Cat Ballou's mother (Catherine) who runs away with an outlaw whom she becomes smitten with, even though she promised to consider marriage to an important rancher Adam Field. This begins a life long hatred between Field and Frank Ballou (Cat's father). Eventually Cat is born, and everything is fine until she grows up and a lot of men begin to notice her, including Abe Field (Adam's rather useless son).

There are a host of other characters in this novel which round out the tale very well, and show what a good writer Mr. Chanslor was.

This book was made into a movie in 1965 starring Jane Fonda, and Lee Marvin and was well received. As per usual Hollywood made significant changes and turned it from a well-written, serious western into a musical / comedy. The movie is enjoyable, but is nowhere near as good as the book.

2020-02-03

"An Atheist's Guide to Christmas" edited by Robin Harvie and Stephanie Meyers



Publisher:New York : Harper Perennial, 2010.
Edition:First U.S. edition.
ISBN: 9780061997976
Characteristics: xi, 307 pages :,illustrations

"An Atheist's Guide to Christmas" is a collection of essays from noted skeptics, atheists, and others that give the reader an interesting, and refreshingly different outlook on the subject of christmas.

It is likely that many people when they consider christmas and atheism that the first thing that's comes to mind is Charles Dickens' short novel "A Christmas Carol" in which Ebenezer Scrooge is portrayed as an atheist, even though it is not stated as such. Many feel, or at least seem to feel that atheism automatically makes you a bad person, and therefore a threat to them somehow. I'm not sure exactly how they come by this rather odd deduction, but it exists.

These essays however show that the exact opposite is true, and that even if you do not subscribe to the christian version of christmas you can still celebrate the season with your friends and family as it was intended.

Some of the twenty plus authors included in this book are Richard Dawkins, Phil Plait (who runs bad astronomy.com), Neal Pollack, Simon Le Bon (of the band Duran Duran), Simon Singh to name but a few. All of the essays, and stories are insightful, and informative, and some quite humorous as well.

A great read, and highly recommended especially to those people who are unsure as to exactly where they sit on the religious vs. non-religious fence.

Going on Hiatus

 Greetings, I have decided to put a hold on doing further book reviews for a while. In fact I'm not sure if I will resume doing reviews ...