A Spring Challenge

I have been meaning to join this challenge for a couple of weeks now. It is a shorter challenge, only for the months of Spring (actually, the days of Spring, March 20th – June 19th).

There are several versions of this challenge... see the rules and sign up here.

I am choosing the option:
a. Read books where the first word in the title begins with each letter in the word SPRING.

At this point I have already read three of the books I need to finish the challenge and I know which ones I will probably read for the rest. Right now I am actually reading In the Woods by Tana French for this challenge, so I thought I should go ahead and sign up.

Second Violin
Political Suicide
Redbreast, The
In the Woods
Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street
Green for Danger

Links to reviews:

1. Green for Danger by Christianna Brand (read March 22, 2012)
2. Second Violin by John Lawton (read April 4, 2012)
3. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo (read April 8, 2012)
4. In the Woods by Tana French (read May 1, 2012)
5. Political Suicide by Robert Barnard (read May 12, 2012)
6. Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street by William S. Baring-Gould (read May 28, 2012)

Completion of Challenge: I completed this challenge on May 28, 2012, when I finished reading Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street.

The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep: Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block started publishing mysteries in the early 1960s. This first entry in the Evan Tanner series was published in 1966.

From the description of Evan Tanner at a UK publisher, No Exit Press:

He is 34 years old and hasn't slept a wink since a piece of shrapnel destroyed the sleep centre in his brain during the Korean War. Tanner loves lost causes and beautiful women.

This is a very entertaining caper novel. I went into it thinking it was the first book of a spy series, and in a sense it is. But it is more of a spoof than a real spy story, and much less realistic than most spy novels I read.

For the first half of the book I was thinking the story was just too fantastic, even though it was an easy read and entertaining. In fact, it did remind me of fantasy novels I have read where the most unusual things happen and the hero gets in lots of deep water and is rescued time and again magically. At about the half way mark, the story becomes a bit more realistic -- just a bit.

Even when I was having problems with the plot or the whole impossibility of the situations he gets into, I still found this a fast, entertaining read. I have the next book in this series, The Canceled Czech, and plan to read it. At that point, we will see if I continue on

An interesting note: Most of the book is a wild, funny ride. But parts of this book are set in Turkey, and a large part of the plot depends on Tanner's research related to the Turkish massacres of Armenians during and after World War I. Before reading this book, I did not know much on that subject. I discussed it with both my son and my husband, who are more knowledgeable of both history and current events than I am. And did a little research on my own.

A quote from the book:

But it was during World War I, when Turkey fought on the Axis side and feared her Armenian subjects as a potential fifth column, that the Armenian massacres reached their height and the phrase “Starving Armenians” found its way into our language. In mid-1915 the Turks went berserk. In one community after another the Armenian population was uprooted, men and women and children were massacred indiscriminately, and those who were not put to the sword either fled the country or quietly starved.

I don't read mysteries to educate myself, I read them for entertainment. But knowledge gained from reading fiction is a welcome side effect. There is an afterward by the author describing his circuitous route to coming up with this plot.

I have read some books from two of Lawrence Block's other series: the Matthew Scudder series, which is very dark, and the Bernie Rhodenbarr Burglar series, which is funny. I read those books long ago and have plans to re-read them soon (gradually, over time). I like his writing no matter whether it is light or heavy.

This counts as one of my books for the following challenges:
Mt. TBR Challenge
Read Your Own Books Challenge
A-Z Challenge
1st in a Series Challenge
Merely Mystery Reading Challenge
Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge

Book Beginnings: In the Woods

Today I am participating in Book Beginnings on Fridays over at Rose City Reader, for the first time.

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a meme with this theme: Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

The best part is visiting the post at Rose City Reader and viewing the other links and getting glimpses at books you may not be familiar with.

This is the first sentence in the book I am currently reading:

Picture a summer stolen whole from some coming-of-age film set in small-town 1950s. This is none of Ireland’s subtle seasons mixed for a connoisseur’s palate, watercolor nuances within a pinch-sized range of cloud and soft rain; this is summer full-throated and extravagant in a hot pure silkscreen blue.

The book is In the Woods by Tana French.

So far, I am loving this book. I am at page 59. The Prologue and the first chapter pulled me in immediately. The first two sentences are beautiful and intriguing, although the tone of the novel changes quickly.

2012 WWI Reading Challenge: Books Read

In late March I joined the World War I Reading Challenge at War Through the Generations. My goal is to read at least 4 books that have World War I as a major theme. Either fiction or non-fiction can be included and you can even include one or two movies to reach the goal.

My joining post is HERE.  I am tracking my list of books and films below.

1. The Fighting 69th (a film)
2. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
3. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
4. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
5. Joyeux Noel (a film)

A Duty to the Dead: Charles Todd

For me, the main attraction of this book is the picture it gives us of life during World War I in England. The main character, Bess Crawford, is a nurse on the Britannic, a hospital ship, when it sinks. She survives, but an injury forces her return to England on leave. Each new book that I read about World War I or World War II leads me to new knowledge about those time periods and events.  I had no knowledge of hospital ships and know little about women's roles in those conflicts.  I did not know that the Britannic was a sister ship to the Titanic and that she also sank.

Bess has experienced nursing many men injured in the fighting and watching men die of horrible wounds. She is not a part of the fighting but she has been close enough to see the horrors that the soldiers have to experience. The author uses Bess's experiences to contrast with those at home who cannot sympathize with what the men have experienced in war.

After recovering from an injury incurred during the sinking of the ship, Bess is allowed to go home on leave, and plans to follow up on a request by a soldier to deliver a message to his family.  She had grown close to the soldier, and she ends up getting involved with his family. Her dedication in her nursing career gets her more and more deeply involved.

Did I like this book? My opinion is in the lukewarm range. The mystery itself was not compelling, but I did enjoy the story. It was more psychological suspense than whodunit. The actual crime committed is not clear until deep into the story. The writing was too slow for me, but I persevered and was rewarded. Several reviews described it as an old-fashioned mystery, and I suppose that fits with the time and setting. I found it somewhat unbelievable that the protagonist is able to successfully investigate the mysteries she is confronted with and that her family would (reluctantly) support her in this. But I don't usually require that mysteries be totally realistic and believable. Most interesting novels are not realistic, but take us to a place we haven't been.

Charles Todd is the pseudonym for a mother and son writing team. They have written three other books for this series (one to be published in June 2012) and also have written an earlier series about Ian Rutledge, a Scotland Yard Inspector suffering from shell shock following World War I. The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear is similar, although Maisie comes from the lower classes and that series takes place after World War I. I have read the first book in all of these series and I plan to read more of them.  So far I like the Maisie Dobbs series best.

This is an in-depth review of  A Duty to the Dead, with more background on the authors. A little warning: It has more detail about the plot than I like to know before reading a book.
At Open Letters Monthly.

Reading this book has inspired me to learn more about nurses in World War I and hospital ships in general.

• This review at HistoricalNovels.info lists other fiction set in this period and resources for more information on the Britannic.
• The website for the Women in World History Curriculum has reviews of many historical mysteries featuring women. Here is a review for A Duty to the Dead.

This counts as one of my books for the following challenges:
Mt. TBR Challenge
Read Your Own Books Challenge
Cruisin' Thru the Cozies Challenge
1st in a Series Challenge
Merely Mystery Reading Challenge
Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge
World War I Reading Challenge

This book has been been on my TBR pile for about a year. But I was motivated to read it at this time by the 2012 reading challenge at War Through the Generations. I cannot say enough good things about this site. Not only does it encourage reading about history and war, providing lists of resources for both non-fiction and fiction books, it allows participation.

The Fighting 69th: a film review

The Fighting 69th (1940 - Warner Brothers - 90 minutes). Starring James Cagney, Patrick O'Brien, and George Brent.

I watched this film as a part of my commitment for the World War I reading challenge at War Through the Generations. It is part of a DVD set (James Cagney: The Signature Collection) and it is the first I have watched from the set.

This movie is a film about events in World War I produced by Warner Brothers in 1940, at a time that the second World War was escalating in Europe. I found this movie to be a confusing mix of propaganda, humor, and depictions of the grim realities of war. Since it features a real regiment, with some characters who really fought in the war, it does give us a picture of that time.

The movie starts with a group of new recruits (to the 69th Infantry Regiment) arriving at a base; it  takes us through the training process, establishing relationships between various members of the Squadron.  Jerry Plunkett (Cagney) is just one of the recruits; he is a misfit who has a chip on his shoulder and just wants to get into battle as soon as possible. Once they reach the front, he finds the realities of battle overwhelming.  Several of the characters in the movie were real people, including Father Francis P. Duffy, Major "Wild Bill" Donovan, and  Sergeant Joyce Kilmer (the poet). Father Duffy, a major character in the movie, was a highly decorated cleric in the U.S. Army.

I approached this movie with expectations of liking it... a lot. James Cagney is one of my favorite actors, although I lean toward the movies where he dances.  I knew a movie produced in 1940 would probably be a propaganda piece, and I was prepared for that slant. I was not prepared for the religious overtones. The movie was just too heavy-handed in that area for me.  As my husband said, it is a movie of its time.

For the most part, the acting was just OK, although James Cagney did well in his role, despite playing a very unappealing character. From what I know of World War I, it seems that the scenes in the trenches are fairly realistic and portray the horror of the that war.  I had never heard of the Irish heritage unit, the 69th Infantry Regiment.

From the article on Wikipedia:

The outbreak of World War I saw a resurrection of the old spirit of the 69th. Doubled in size by new War Department regulations, its ranks were filled with Irish-Americans and New Yorkers detailed from other regiments, and it was sent over to France in October 1917 as part of the 42nd "Rainbow" Division of the American Expeditionary Force. All National Guard regiments received new "100 series" regimental numbers at that time. The 69th was renumbered the 165th Infantry Regiment, but retained its Irish symbolism and spirit...

This site has detailed information about the regiment, from the Civil War up to today: http://www.nyfighting69th.com/