Books! More Books! Book Reports!

Having little else to do, I read. And in the past 4 weeks I have read many books. As a kid in school, we had to write book reports, telling what the book was about (plot spoilers) and who wrote it,  if we liked it or not and why.  I can't go down that path again, and if you have read this blog for a while (HA!) you know I don't do plot synopsis, I don't do character analysis, I try to not give spoilers.  But if I didn't like the book, I tell you why.  If I liked the book, well, it is usually clear and no explanation is needed.

In no particular order, here's what I have read lately.

James Lee Burke: his latest novel is "A Private Cathedral" and it is 100% true to his traditional themes: guilt, angst, alcoholism, lust and many more sins of the soul.  And kindness and redemption. There is no point in trying to tell you about the plot.... people get shot, people lie and steal and kill and do many things that are unmentionable. Burke's novels are not for the faint of heart but they are about the darkness of one's mind and soul and of one's past, coming back to terrorize you.  I have liked every one of his books and this one was no different.

And then I decided to go back to the beginning and read his first Dave Robicheaux novel, "Neon Rain" published in 1987. From then to now, 33 years have gone by and yet the character from that first novel is the same in the current publication, just wiser and less impulsive and less physically fit.  Not to say that Robicheaux has diminished, it's just to say that he, like all of us, has gotten older. But Burke's description of New Orleans has always been perfect: "The esplanade was shady under the spreading oaks, and the wind blew pieces of newspaper through the intersection. The streetcar tracks were burnished the color of copper, and they trembled slightly from the rumbling weight of the car that was still far down the esplanade. The wind was dry, full of dust, the burnt-out end of a long, hot afternoon, and I could smell the acrid scorch in the air that the streetcars made when they popped across an electric circuit. Overhead, clouds that had the dull sheen of stream floated in from the Gulf, where the sun was already sinking into a purple thunderhead."

OK: moving on: By Louise Penny: "All The Devils Are Here" was published this year. Again starring the amazing Armand Gamache, head of homicide in Quebec. This novel has Gamache in Paris (!) visiting his daughter and son and their respective families. Gamache sits in the garden at Musee Rodin and visits with his godfather. They talk about old times, about families, about politics. Later that night his godfather is run over by a hit-and-run van and thus the tale takes off.

This novel takes place in Paris, my favorite city in the world, so it's no wonder I liked it so much. They walked down streets I have walked along,  visited neighborhoods where I have stayed and they popped into bakeries that I have frequented! Penny writes so beautifully about Paris, it is clear she loves the city as much as I do, and for that more bonus points are awarded.

Being a huge fan of Penny's novels, I have written about them here many times. Yes, they are about a murder or a death that needs to be solved but they are more about the nature of humanity, about hate and greed and kindness and love. She is a fabulous writer.

And, as an extra bonus, read this:  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/magazine/lemon-meringue-cookie-gamache.html

If Dorie Greenspan doesn't convince you to read Louise Penny's novels, nothing will.

Third: John Grissom's latest novel: "A Time For Mercy."  I have read a lot of Grissom's books and have like most of them. This one, I liked but not hugely.  It felt plodding and padded. The story is of a young 16 year old boy/man who shoots the man who was beating his mother and terrorizing him and his sister. The trial comes down to this: cold-blooded murder or a murder to protect himself and his sister. 

I found the plot to be weak and predictable, the salient points are telegraphed to the reader much too far in advance and I never really came to like any of the characters, including the "hero" lawyer Jake Brigance. But hey, that's just me. Don't buy this, just download it or library it. Better than watching TV, although I am sure a movie is in the works. 

I have three more books to talk about, will do that tomorrow. Stay well, all of you out there.

xox