false 3 15 15 true 5971098 read 0 true 3369767 currently-reading 0 true 3369766 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/238256-the-feng-shui-detective-nury-vittachi Catherine made a comment in the Constant Reader group:

I might incline to Feng Shui in moderation. Certainly I know the principles of tai chi are sound. This book is quite amusing but apparently hard to find. Looking on B&N I found he´s written some interesting sounding children´s books too. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/208633-have-you-ever-written-an-author-after-reading-his-or-her-work Catherine made a comment in the Constant Reader group:

I have written to two authors with whom I had some personal connections. One was the U of Conn essayist Samuel F. Pickering, the model for DEAD POET´S SOCIETY. His father, also named Samuel F. Pickering, was my first boss and I shared my memories of him. Daddy also wrote, sharing his memories of Ransom Elementary School in Nashville, which both attended at vastly different times.
Recently I picked up an autographed copy of Chester D. Campbell´s THE MARATHON MURDERS, and after reading the acknowledgements I had to email him. The setting of the story had been suggested to him by a neighbor, who happened to be one of Mama´s closest friends. This happened after Mama died, so I was happy to get an update on her friend. I was happier still because this friend became a tourist and world traveler because of what Mama had talked about when they were in high school.
Mama wrote to English author Angela Thirkell and received Christmas cards from her every year. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/199549-the-forgotten-legion-ben-kane Catherine made a comment in the Constant Reader group:

This is a first novel by a lifelong student of military history, and is it a corker! The legion in question is made up of the survivors of Crassus´ horrendous defeat at Carrhae. According to history, they were preserved to serve as mercenaries by the Parthians (northeast Iran) and later fought for a Hun leader in what was then called Margiana. I haven´t been able to find out what that now is except it is between Iran and Samarkand, then called Sogdia.
Crassus was a member of the First Triumvirate of Rome, with Caesar and Pompey. He was also the richest, having made his pile by having his thugs set apartment buildings (insulae) on fire and then making the owner sell the building before his personal fire brigade put the fire out. Feeling outdone by his two partners, in his latter years he decided to break the peace treaty with Parthia because they were rich.
The story is told from the standpoint of four people, an Etruscan trained as a soothsayer, a Gaul captured for the arena, and Roman slave twins who are the natural children of Julius Caesar. The girl is sold to the best brothel in Rome and eventually gains a patron, while the three men, all escaping from something or other, join Crassus´s army. The events in Rome and on the campaign are told in great detail. I even learned that Roman rations were very much like Civil War hardtack (American Civil War to our international friends). The main difference is the Romans used olive oil, while our people depended on flour, water, and salt.
The whole period lives and explains anew why I´ve always thought that if Rome was a republic make mine vanilla. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/151057-disappearing-history Catherine made a comment in the Constant Reader group:

If I may bring the discussion forward from pre-history a little, I´ve gotten some small shocks from my recent reading - the shock being IT´S THE SAME DAMNED THING ALL OVER AGAIN! The books were Jacquelin Winspear´s AMONG THE MAD and Barbara Cleverly´s BRIGHT HAIR ABOUT THE BONE. AMONG THE MAD features the chemical warfare testing being done hush-hush by the British government on veterans with PTSD. One of the characters in BRIGHT HAIR ABOUT THE BONE (set in 1926) reels off a list of American and international interests inclined to support the Nazis.
I hadn´t known about the weaponized chemicals testing on WWI vets, but I certainly know it´s happened since then and that it´s extremely hard to stop it from happening. As for the American interests supporting the Nazis, some of that is now belatedly trickling into the news. And it´s all the same. Monied interests pursue their own interests on the blood of everybody else. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/11729-writing-groups Catherine made a comment in the Constant Reader group:

I´ve just joined an online group called Critter Writers, since I almost accidentally found myself writing science fiction. Dr. Andrew Burt is the host. He has quite an impressive resume, and the site is ticking over very well. It focuses on science fiction, fantasy, and horror. There are also links about publishing, everybody´s dream.
Why science fiction? Well, my son started my interest. I was working on a novel set in Civil War Nashville and going nuts trying to research every aspect to get it just right. Historians are pretty unmerciful critics. I was trying to figure out everything from garbage disposal to what kind of music was available locally at the time. It was such a relief not to have to prove everything. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32698362 to: The Bloody Tower (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, #16) by Carola Dunn
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32698334 to: Die Laughing (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, #12) by Carola Dunn
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32698310 to: A Mourning Wedding (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, #13) by Carola Dunn
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32698290 to: Gunpowder Plot (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, #15) by Carola Dunn
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