The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
by Edmund Morris


I grabbed this because it was the oldest thing on my 'to-read' list, and I was in the mood for a history book. I've since become old and wiser and generally stay away from epic history tomes of this nature (they often just have too many small details and the bigger, more interesting bits get lost), but in this case, Roosevelt just did so much stuff it just moves along nicely.

You won't find any criticisms of Teddy in these pages.. the author is very clearly a big fan, and glosses over anything that would be considers a scandal or a failure. The writing is great though, and details all the important stuff without getting too bogged down in details.

It was especially interesting to me to compare Roosevelt and what he was and accomplished to today's politicans... it feels like maybe a certain orange-tinted candidate could be the the Mirror version of Teddy... I wonder if a less positive portrayal would lean into more similarities?

I'm very happy I finally got around to this one!

Finished the last few stories in The Hastur Cycle collection. Like any collection of Mythos stories form multiple authors, it was a mixed bag, but overall I enjoyed it.



The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander has been popping up in my conversations frequently that past few moths both online and in person, and I realized I hadn't revisited it since I moved to Ohio, so I pulled my omnibus copy of the shelf yesterday and finally dove in again. I finished the first book, the Book of Three, this morning (their short and easy to read), and will probably start on the Black Cauldron tonight. Though I love the convenience of the omnibus edition, I miss the artwork from the vintage paperback versions I had as a kid...



makes we want to go dig out my copy of the Mabinigion and sample some tales from there as well.

-M

Earthquake Weather
Tim Powers, 1997

The conclusion to Powers’ Fault Lines trilogy; I reviewed the preceding book, Expiration Date, upthread and read the first one, Last Call, several years ago (I also mistakenly noted that the latter book also takes place in 1992, when in fact it is set in 1990). While those two books have virtually nothing to do with each other, i.e., entirely different characters and situations, this third book brings it all together, with several characters from both being integral to the story, while introducing new ones. Events here seem to be set off after an earthquake hits near Hoover Dam (which actually happened) on New Year’s Day, 1995. On that same day, Janis/Cody/Valorie/etc. Plumtree (she has multiple personality disorder) is committed to a psychiatric hospital in LA after making an allegedly fake 911 call in which she claimed to have stabbed and murdered a man whose body the police can’t find. About a week later, she meets Sid ‘Scant’ Cochran, who was placed there under 48-hr observation after being taken in by police at LAX for erratic and delusional behavior. The psychiatrist to whose care they are charged, Dr. Armentrout, is actually a rather vile man who also has knowledge of arcane, supernatural practices which he uses, among other things, to experiment on his patients. He’s particularly interested in Plumtree, but as he starts giving her medically unnecessary electroshock treatments, he realizes that she wasn’t lying about killing a man, in fact it was none other than Scott Crane, the main character in Last Call, who is now the ‘(Fisher) King of the West.’ With the throne apparently empty, the whole supernatural balance on the West Coast is off-kilter (which among other things is manifesting itself in a series of minor earthquakes), and a few individuals and one secretive group want to seize the throne. Again, I’m finding it really hard to summarize this book, because it’s so damn dense. Needless to say, the Fisher King (and also Dionysian) mythos of Last Call is blended with the ghostly underworld of Expiration Date, and the spirits of several historical figures again play a role here, mainly Mary Ellen Pleasant and Sarah Winchester, as most of the events take place in San Francisco and partially the south Bay Area – and yes, the Winchester Mystery House comes into play, as does the history of the California wine industry, with emphasis on Zinfandel (some of which, unfortunately, is now dated and incorrect given the more recent genetic testing on the origins of that variety).
To sum up, I’ll say that I liked this one quite a bit but didn’t love it. Without giving too much away, part of the way the whole story wraps up (including one aspect that I consider a loose end) left me a tad unsatisfied, and Powers made a few factual errors, a minor point concerning Zinfandel, and two others that were really glaring (and, if nothing else, should have been caught by one of his editors): he refers to the song “Candles in the Rain” by Melanie as “Candles in the Wind” (three times!), and also has one character opining that kids growing up in the 1970s would not have been familiar with Captain Kangaroo, which literally made my jaw drop – the show ran from the mid-‘50s to the early ‘80s, and I distinctly remember watching it back in the 1970s. Outside of that though, Powers did an amazing job in integrating a ton of real-world history and facts into his fantastical world.

Rivers of London aka Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

Probationary Constable Peter Grant longs to be a detective.  He seems destined, however, to be a paper pusher.  That is until he gets information about a puzzling mystery from a ghost.  That puts Grant on track to become the apprentice to wizard and Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and magical creatures.  Grant and Nightingale get involved in two different matters here.  One is a series of brutal murders that tie in with the ghost that talked to Grant, possession, and Punch & Judy.  The other is increased tension between Father Thames, the God of the upper Thames, and Mother Thames, the Goddess of the lower Thames.  

This is a super fun urban fantasy and I definitely look forward to more entries in the series.  

I’m after some recommendations, please. Always nice to have personal recommendations rather than just browse Waterstones’ site.

The Spitfire is considered an iconic WWII aircraft. Fair enough, and I have read books about it. But I’d like to try at least 3 books about equally effective WWII aircraft. Whether it be the Supermarine Seafang, the Hawker Hurricane, etc. I feel I’ve learnt all all there is to know about the Spitfire.

So, can anyone please recommend, based on personal reading experience, at least 3 books (preferably in print) about other WWII aircraft? They don’t necessarily have to be British, I’d be equally interested in well-written books about aircraft that is German, American, Soviet, etc.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Note to autocorrect: trying to change “thanks in advance” to “thanks I’m advance” shows just how stupid you are. Go away.

I’m looking for books about the development/design - and then the operational history of such craft. Hope that makes sense. Thanks.