Middle Sister's September Reads

September smorgasbord, with books from all over the place.

Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories from History without the Happy Ending by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie This audio book started off well, with sly innuendo and auditory sleights that let the listener feel like they were in on a joke with the author. But then Cassandra Campbell, the reader, starting using a breathy, childlike voice to impersonate all the princesses and that got irritating really fast. Especially when the princess in question was neither young, romantic, or innocent. While some of McRobbie's historical accounts were interesting, some were little more than an encyclopedia entry, brief and dry. about a third of the way into the book the focus shifted to the sexual exploits of many of the women. Surely they were important for other reasons? Surely they did other things? This feminist reader hates seeing people objectified, regardless of the justification, which most of the time renders the subject an object, just as these accounts did. The WWII spy who was arrested, tortured, and executed by Gestapo was dealt with very perfunctorily but the peccadilloes of Napoleon Bonaparte's sister went on and on and on. Tending to mediocre despite a good start.

Black as He's Painted by Ngaio Marsh  I love Ngaio Marsh and have a tremendous fictional crush on her detective, Roderick Alleyn. Sadly, this particular title doesn't age as well as others in the series. There are too many period terms that are cringeworthy today: e.g., "nappy head" which it hurts to even type.  I literally grimaced every time the phrase "the smell of people of other races" appeared, and is appeared way too frequently to be ignored. However, there were several side plots that were delightful and charming: the descriptions of the acroabtics of Lucy Locket the cat are so perfect I assume Marsh was a cat lover who had plenty of opportunity to witness cat behavior; and The brief presentation of Rory and Troy's marriage, which is always so solid and deep and inspiring. Despite the skin crawling that the offensive language caused, I did feel, some ways, the racism so evident in the behavior of certain characters in the book is very timely in 2017. Recommended

The Impressions of Theophrastus Such by George Eliot I'd never read Eliot, so when my book group selected this, her final literary effort, I was intrigued, especially when researching and learning that it was social commentary disguised as fiction. I was further intrigued upon reading it. The first half was good but somewhat uneven in my opinion, although Eliot's sly humor often poked out. But she hit her stride in the second half, with scathing social commentaries such as "So Young" and "The Too Ready Writer." In the current political milieu, "Moral Swindlers" should be read by every journalist and opinionator. Skewered by rapier words. Recommended.

Middle Sister's February 2015 Reads

Hi ho, book lovers! I haven't been shirking my reading (well, not too much), but after a near-killer, 3-month out-of-town work project, during which I could only read magazines because I was so tired at night, I am back in the reading groove. Alas, I have to report the death of my Kindle 2, but am awaiting delivery of my Kindle Voyage eagerly.

Old Age Can Kill You by Rita Laken Fifth in the series set in a retirement community in-where else?-Florida. The characters were cliched but still endearing, but the mystery left a little bit to be desired for this reader. C for effort, and recommend edonly to those who like squeaky clean mysteries with little action.

Death Times Three by Rex Stout Three novellas featuring Nero Wolfe that were originally published decades ago, then re-worked by Mr. Stout but never re-published. Nero Wolfe is always entertaining, but the introduction, which details the original stories and how they were reworked, makes this a winner. A all around

When William Came by Saki The favorite author of E.F. Benson, perhaps my favorite author, the book, originally published in 1913, presents an England that has lost a major war to Germany (note this was published before World War I) and is now living under a new German king. Written to warn England against its isolationism, there were some interesting parallels to modern society. The character of Joan Mardle could, with some embellishment, been part of Benson's Tilling society easily. B, and recommended only to those with an interest in Saki, Benson, or Britain at the turn of the 19th century

Death of a Fool by Ngaio Marsh One of the grand dames of the golden age of mystery and one of my favorite authors and favorite characters--what's not to love? Set in a small English village where a centuries-old mummers play is performed every winter solstice, this was a great read. Yes, I figured out whodunnit and partially why, but that did not detract from my enjoyment. A

Death in an Ivory Tower by Maria Hodgins Academics, Oxford, Shakespeare, King Arthur--it should have been an easy sell to this reader. However, I never warmed to Dotsy Lamb, the narrator and amateur sleuth, and the setting is only minimally present (disappointing, since I've been to oxford and would have been delighted to revisit in the pages of this book). Another where I knew whodunnit pretty early, although not exactly why, and that's where my major problem with the book derives. We learn the reason for the murder (blackmail) in the final pages, but how the blackmailer discovered the information they were using to blackmail was never revealed; at least, I searched several times for it and never found it. So it left me supremely dissatisfied at a murder with only a partial explanation. For this reason, a D.