Talk about crooks ...

Bain, David Haward / Viking Press, 1999

For young readers. So far so good. I'm fascinated by the ultra glide:

Third Nick Stafanos book.

Pelecanos is a genius at noir.

I read some reviews that said it was a slow start, but that the characters were well developed. The slow start was warning flag for me as I don't always have the staying power to slog through a "slow start".

Couldn't find this at the library, or in book form at Amazon, but found it there under the author's name, A McLean Swanson. It's only available in Kindle form, which I don't have or use, so I won't get this to read, but it sounds good and got 5 stars at Amazon in 6 reviews...

for the Kindle or the Nook or some other device I don't own and don't intend to go out and buy. Despite the enthusiasm many have for the ereaders, the majority of books are still being read the old-fashioned way.

Is that we love books, real books.

by Kim Barnes. In 1967 a young woman moves to Saudia Arabia when her husband gets a job there.

Unfortunately, it's already overdue at the library, so I may have to return it and then check it out again.

Also The Great Mortality by John Kelly about the Black Death. And Spillover by David Quammen about diseases that leap from animals to humans.

light, upbeat, and comedic this week, eh?

A cheerful assortment of books!

Actually, I have long been interested in epidemiology and I've read quite a bit of what's out there. As someone who is stunningly healthy, I am fascinated by disease.

Just finished reading 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' - a suprisingly moving book about redemption. Highly recommended.

I looked up your book written by Rachel Joyce in Amazon, saw a good review, and I think I'll like the book too.

Just ordered it from the library but I have 3 or 4 to finish before I get to it. I usually read only mysteries, but in this case, I'll make an exception. Thanks for the rec.

http://www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Pilgrimage-Harold-Fry-Novel/dp/0812993292/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353378667&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Unlikely+Pilgrimage+of+Harold+Fry

Last edited Wed Nov 21, 2012, 12:15 AM - Edit history (1)

This is first book in this series. Second book is due out UK in Feb. 2013.

Aector McAvoy, a detective sergeant in Hull, East Yorkshire, England. His wife's name is Roisin. Aector and Roisin.

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/M_Authors/Mark_David.html


Book 115 of 2012

Just finished this - I think it was pretty good, not great, but good.

About John Puller, a combat veteran, now Special Agent in the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Division. This is the first of a new series. The second was due out 11/20/12 - The Forgotten. I'm up to page 27 or so, and it looks like it might be pretty good.


http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/B_Authors/Baldacci_David.html

Book 116 of 2012

I think of Baldacci's books as tasty snacks to be ripped through in a day or two, standalone, Camel Club, or King and Maxwell.

Too long and only worth reading for 200 or so pages.

Usually a book starts out poorly and get better. This one does the opposite.

I checked it out of the library yesterday, but haven't started.

I read it to the very end. I'm dying to get another opinion. Maybe it's just me...

The Great Mortality. Really, really good. Maybe I should go over to the Health forum and suggest it.

The mortality rate from the plague during that time, 1347-1351 or so, was staggering. I town or locality got off lightly if only 20% of the population died. In contrast, the 1918 flu epidemic which is considered to have been quite deadly, only 10-20% of those infected died. And the infection rate was considerably less than what occurred in the 14th century. And 20% was a low death rate. In most places anywhere from 30-70% died. Not of those infected, but of the original population.

John Kelly, the author, spends a fair amount of time discussing the various death rates in different areas, how good the statistics are, and why it was so deadly and why the death rates varied so much. Several things are important. One is that the level of cleanliness on the part of Europeans was low. That doesn't even describe it. Most people did not change their clothes for months at a time, and rarely if ever bathed their entire bodies. People were routinely infested with fleas and lice. Peasants typically lived right alongside their animals. Public sanitation and removal of garbage or human waste was essentially non-existent. Another fascinating aspect was that about 25 years earlier there had been famine conditions in most of Europe. In those areas where the child mortality from the famine was greatest, there were fewer plague deaths. The reason? Childhood malnutrition keeps the immune system from developing properly. So in those areas where more children survived, they weren't as readily able to resist the plague as adults.

We also forget that plague stuck around, and kept on breaking out all over Europe every few years for about three centuries. It was the huge number of deaths in that first outbreak that altered life permanently. Anyway, I highly recommend this book to anyone at all interested in the topic.