... in the past month or so.

It's really, really bad. It's poorly written, and it's not even obscene!

Peg Bracken's I Hate to Cook, however, has stood up rather well.

(These were two books from the same stash, in case anyone wonders -- paperbacks more or less of the same vintage in the same pile.)

is Terry Pratchett's latest and he's really been on a tear, following up on Going Postal and Thud! The book looks at the banking system. In Disc World, of course. Our system is so much better, I'm sure it's not any kind of commentary. Heh.

He had bypass surgery this week. Baen Books has become my favorite publisher (since I got away from a job in a university press last fall).

*Aeryl raises hand*

I am a reader of trashy books. I mainly read non fiction from the library, and I haven't been attending the library much lately.

So I read science fiction/ fantasy fiction. And I read a lot. Two books a week. I like fiction, because I enjoy to reread books, and lately my kick has been historical "fantasy". An author takes our world, but changes the events of the past, creating "what if" worlds.

I stick to the few authors I enjoy, because I don't have much money to spend on books, so the few I do purchase, I like to have staying power, that I can reread for awhile, and continue to draw enjoyment. The three authors I read most often in this genre, are Stephen King, who is more a fantasy novelist than horror novelist, Sara Douglass, and Jacqueline Carey.

The most recent Douglas series I read, was The Troy Game series, a four book series that spans a 3000 year time period, where the major characters reincarnate into several major English monarchs, including William of Normandy, King Charles II, and King George VI.

It creates a creation myth for London, that links it with exiled Trojans who fled to ancient Britain, after generations of enslavement in Greece. the story begins in Greece, where it follows the story of Theseus, after he destroyed the minotaur of the labyrinth. This action has greater repercussions, as it is revealed that the labyrinth is not just a maze, but a magical construct that protects the Greek city-states. Theseus defeats the minotaur with the assistance of the Mistress of the Labyrinth, whom he later betrays. In her grief, the Mistress destroys all the games of Ancient Greece.

Decades later the leader of the Trojan exiles, who has the power to create a new Labyrinth is summoned by a descendant of the Mistress, to Britain for that purpose. Before the Labyrinth is successfully completed, the Kingman's betrayed wife slaughters the new Mistress, an act which ties all the major players to rebirth, until the game is completed. Characters evolve from antagonists to protagonists as the story unfolds, a technique that I now anticipate in every single one of Douglass' novels. She has a knack for taking the most reprehensible of villains, and rehabilitating them, while the "heroes" are revealed to be the puffed up self important douches they actually tend to be. The story eventually climaxes in the Blitz on London.

The Carey series I read takes place in time period 800 C.E., but the ways in which the past is different is very important. Everything is the same, until the death of Christ. At that time, the Earth Goddess, reached out to the tears of the Magdalene of the blood of the Christ mixed within the earth, and created her own son, named Elua. The Goddess tried to get the God to acknowledge him, but The God refused, and his Own angels left him in heaven to walk with Elua. The Jewish population accepted Christ, and wandered as a people without a nation after his death. So contemporary Christianity does not exist.

After a few generations, they settle in what is now France, and create a kingdom, where Elua teaches all its inhabitants that value love in all its forms, and to always respect it. After a few more generations, God relents and accepts Elua, but because Elua is part mortal, he instead creates his own "heaven" where all who follow his precepts can dwell beyond death.

Thirteen angels followed Elua, and they all made sacrifices to provide and protect Elua during the centuries they wandered the world after the exile from Rome. They are all revered with in the nation Elua founded, Terre D'Ange(Land of Angels, duh). There are sects devoted to their worship. The central character is devoted to Namaah, a woman angel who prostituted herself to provide for Elua, and her Servants, who are men and women, follow her example. It is truly interesting, because Terre D'Ange is a society without patriarchy, where men and women are valued equally, and sexual expression is not judged, as long as all consent.

Yet the book challenges, because much of the story involves the D'Angeline main characters, involved with people of other cultures, who don't view prostitution as a noble pursuit. Plus, you might think, that since the main character is a prostitute, she is nothing more. But she was trained as a spy, a uses her abilities to glean information that affects the fate of nations. Her skill as a courtier opens the doors, but her own intelligence and determination are why she succeeds. And she is also a noble of the realm, so its not like she screws her way character roster.

So, those are my trashy recommendations.

Sorry, no erotic Bulgarian jai-alai spy stories! That'll be my summer reading...

Lush Life by Richard Price. A novel set in my former neighborhood (I got gentrified out), set just a couple of years before the "fall" when housing prices were still expected to go up forever. That's not a theme of the novel (not explicitly, anyway), but does give it an extra ironic edge now. This review is pretty good and worth reading for its own sake.

I Am Murdered: George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson, and the Killing That Shocked a New Nation by Bruce Chadwick - this one was very interesting but, unfortunately, I did not think it was well-written. Actually, I think Chadwick had a good idea (of how to structure the story) that did not really succeed in the execution. But worth a look anyway. George Wythe is someone whose name should be more well-known, and the tale of his murder and the botched autopsy is an interesting peek into forensic science of 200 years ago. The only eyewitness evidence against his accused murderer came from people who were not allowed to testify... see if you can guess why. A nice little historical drama with a lot of themes cooking under the surface.

The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe: the pseudonymous author is "a North American literary novelist". Have fun trying to guess which one, if you like. This is a marvellous thriller whose main character is the 60-year-old female acting chief of police in a small Canadian town, who encounters evidence that a serial killer has passed through her jurisdiction. I loved this novel, among other things, for the feisty older woman protagonist and her relationship with her 80-something mother, who is what my own grandmother would have called "a pistol". Great characters and a really spooky serial killer. I'm looking forward to more!

... short story collection.

Not very good. But, as always, interesting for the unconscious subtext of imperial decline.

is pretty eclectic and I always have something that is just fun to read to balance the stuff I read to try to understand what the hell is going on. For fun I am rereading some of my favorite Egyptologist Elizabeth Peters' fabulous Amelia Peabody series. When I reintroduce felines into my life I will have two, a male and female, and their names will be Emerson and Peabody as a constant reminder of these deeply satisfying mystery/humor/romance stories circa 1890-1920.

I needed Amelia's wry humor to balance Peter Galbraith's "The Predator State". I took the full 3 weeks alloted by the library to read this short but enormously impactful book. As I read it I had a reaction similar to the one I'd had reading Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine"...like a fuzzy dimly grasped reality had suddenly snapped into a focus so sharp that I couldn't fathom why I hadn't seen the pattern myself.

And I just started a slim volume by neuroscientist David Eagleman entitled "Sum..Forty Tales from Afterlives"...a dazzling series provocative short (2-3 pages) essays describing afterlives so inventive you wonder how he came up with them. For example, in the title essay, you relive your life, but with all experiences shuffled into a new order---15 months looking for lost items, five months flipping through magazines while sitting on a toilet....and so on. An absolute treasure of a book.

by Marisa de los Santos is my mind candy book. I picked it up in a buy one get one deal or something like that and the book remained unread in storage for over a year. I've been looking to find interesting Hispanic/Latino/a authors so I picked up the book to see if it was OK. I wouldn't say its trashy, though.

The first 50 pages or so were gushy, cliched lovey dovey stuff that I don't really care for. The interesting twist was that the female lead ended up having to take care of the 11 year old daughter of her boyfriend that got killed in a car crash, the mother had vanished. That was unexpected given the cheesy love story start in the book. The ending veered off into start-of-the-book cheesy territory that took a bit away from the book. After the lead rearranges her life and begins planning a life with the 11 year old, the mother predictably returns. I could have lived with that but then she finds the love of her life and is all set to live happily ever after.

Not the best book, but if you take out the first and last 25-30 pages it's not *that* bad.

of mysteries starring geologist Frankie MacFarlane, a tough-minded female geologist.
I really think you'll enjoy them. Detachment Fault and Quarry are the ones I've read.

Trashy Eastern European sports thriller?

It sounds like you are describing The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts.

This book is a true story about an otherwise unremarkable Romanian/Hungarian/Gypsy hockey goalie who, through accidents of history and personal foibles, became a fascinating cultural phenomenon in the era just after the implosion of eastern European communism.

Truly a wonderful read. I urge you to take the time on it.