Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
Diablo Mesa by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is the third book in a series featuring FBI Agent Corrie Swanson and archaeologist Dr. Nora Kelly. Having read the first two, I was eager to try the third.
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Short and simple, it offers good financial advice. It is easy to make mistakes which will just ruin your financial life. The full title is 33 Ways Not to Screw Up Your Financial Life.
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An enjoyable and thought-provoking book. The title was intriguing but I really did not expect much. I was pleasantly surprised by how interesting the book turned out to be.
But before I go on, I mentioned the title caught my interest so I should mention that. The title is “The First Robot President“ and it’s by Robert Carlyle Taylor.
I believe we are facing both a climate crisis and a population crisis. The book addresses both and by setting the novel about 500 years in the future shows clearly the consequences of our failures to act.
I found the story well done and it was a fairly quick read. It was interesting to watch the changes in attitudes about the robot as well as the robot’s developing intelligence. The novel works on several levels.
Of course some will agree with the political views expressed and others will disagree. But in either case this is worth reading.
I had thought I’d be able to get this review out around the date of publication, but unexpected things came up and I didn’t make my self-imposed plan. As it turned out, reading a book of short stories over a longer time is not a bad thing.
Continue reading “Many Deadly Returns : 21 stories celebrating 21 years of Murder Squad”
Much more than I expected. The book is Five Decembers by James Kestrel . In late November 1941 Detective Joe McGrady Is sent from Honolulu, Hawaii to the country-side to investigate a gruesome murder. It gets more complicated when a second body is found at the scene and Joe learns the identity of the first victim. And given the date you suspect World War 2 will soon enter the story.
Continue reading “Five Decembers, crime, war, love, fantastic reading”
Val McDermid is one of my favorite writers. So I jumped at the chance to read her latest. I thank Netgalley for that chance Of course my experience with her writing is limited to 3 mysteries in the same series (see reviews at https://www.jackreidy.com/blog/2020/10/05/still-life-by-val-mcdermid/).
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Mystery, thriller, and genealogy all in one fascinating story. The book is The Family Tree by Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry. It centered around the hunt for a mass murderer with an important genealogy mystery also at the heart of the story.
I did not know what to expect but was very glad I tried it. I thank Netgalley for a chance to read this book before publication.
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This book is both a good mystery novel and historical fiction.
Anne Emery’s The Keening: A Mystery of Gaelic Ireland, has 2 storylines involving the Tierney family one in the later 1500s and early 1600s when the Gaelic era was ending and the other in the modern era. These interwoven stories the modern family guest house threatened by development and a murder in Gaelic times near an earlier version of the guest house.
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I’ve read several books on the US Constitution. This was a great addition and I think one of the best. I learned quite a bit, especially the histories of the amendments as we try to progress toward a more perfect union.
Continue reading “The People’s Constitution”
I am presently reading A Republic, If You Can Keep It by Neil Gorsuch. The title comes from Benjamin Franklin who was asked after the Constitutional Convention what type of government we would have. He replied “A Republic, if you can keep it.” Now that the republic has lasted several centuries the question is still whether we can keep that republic. This book is Justice Gorsuch’s answer.
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I’ve enjoyed the Scotland mysteries I’ve read so I thought I would try a new series and I did like the first one. I just finished The Suspects by Jodie Lawrance. I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and Joffe books for the chance to read it before publication.
Detective Sergeant Helen Carter is the central character in this series. Like the earlier books in this series it is set in Edinburgh in the 1970s when it was unusual to see a woman in her role. Work is often difficult for her in this male dominated environment but in this third book in the series she is more accepted on her own merits.
The main story focuses on the return a major criminal and suspected cop-killer to Edinburgh, probably to collect some of the loot from a 1971 robbery. Of course there are a number of other crimes occurring shortly after his return which may or may not be related to his return. Like the other in this series I have read. this is a good detective story that is engaging and well written,
I believe each book can stand on its own but would suggest reading the first in the series before reading this one. It is not at all that following the mysteries in this book is dependent on prior books but reading the first will give you useful background on DS Helen Carter.
The full title is Google Drive & Docs In 30 Minutes: The unofficial guide to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets & Slides by Ian Lamont. I think this is an excellent introductory guide and reference book.
I’ve used Google Drive a little bit, especially Google Docs and I find 30 minutes to be overly optimistic. In 30 minutes you can enjoy the author’s overview which I found helpful and well done.
The explanations on using the various applications and how they fit together are also very helpful but I think being able to do a good job with any of them would require much more than 30 minutes He is very clear that these are free applications and someone may need a more polished product for presentations.
But there is much that can be done and done well with these free tools.
They may be more than adequate for many purposes. And why pay when free does the job. Many of us learn by trial and error and that takes time. Quite often a good reference is well worth the price.
A history that is important today as we try to understand the United States constitution. The full title is The Words That Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840 by Akhil Reed Amar.
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I’ve enjoyed the Scotland mysteries I’ve read so I thought I would give this new series a try. The book is THE UNIFORM by Jodie Lawrance. I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and Joffe books for the chance to read it before publication.
Detective Sergeant Helen Carter is having a hard time . It is not just that she is working a very difficult case. There is also the difficulty she is having with co-workers, including her boss. This mystery is set back in the day when a female detective is a very unusual addition to the mostly male police force. To make matters worse her father was high-up in the police and some believe she got job because of nepotism. Then there is her fiancé who would like her to quit her job and be the lady of his house.
A very good detective story with a character that is engaging and well written. It is a promising beginning to a new series: I am looking forward to the second.
Lieutenant Cassandra Morse, USN came from a Navy family, three generations of Admirals. She was on track to be the fourth until she was suspected of spying and forced out of the Navy. The same terrible event that ended her Navy career left her with terrible nightmares that predicted horrific events.
Cassie works to solve the mystery of what happened to her and works to understand her dream and prevent a disaster. I found the book hard to put down.
I recommend this book and thank Netgalley for the chance to read it before publication.
I especially enjoyed the strong characters and the humour. It was a fast paced thriller and seems to be a great deal. When I looked today, the Kindle version was 99 cents. It was free for those with the kindle unlimited program.