Seven Current Reads
Here are some books I’m currently reading. At this moment, my attention is divided between several excellent volumes, and there are a few books I’d like to buy when the budget allows, so here are the current cadre of contenders for my attention:
THE KIRKWOOD SCOTT CHRONICLES: Skelly’s Square
by Stephen Black
The book opened with a war scene reminiscent of a Dumas’ novel, sparely written yet stunningly complex and descriptive. Anytime I find a writer who avoids cramming the page with annoying words but manages to fill the soul with meaning and vision, I know I’ve found a writer of quality.
The book continues with a modern tale of a man struggling with mental illness but that seqment is tied in with a spiritual battle related to the first part. I’m excited to finish the book, but it is intense for me as a reader with mental illness, so I’m taking it in with small but pleasurable doses.
For more information about this talented up and coming writer from Northern Ireland, please visit his website, Fractured Faith Blog, on WordPress.
[image error]The First Segment of
The KIRKWOOD SCOTT CHRONICLES
2. UPLIFT THE RACE the construction of SCHOOL DAZE
by Spike Lee with Lisa Jones
I have been interested in African American culture for decades but have a guilt complex around this book independent of that. The author kindly signed my copy of this book some thirty-two years ago, likely at B. Dalton Booksellers, but I’ve only read it in fits and starts. It’s a great book.
My version is a first edition and the anecdotal shares from various staff and players are insightful, interesting and entertaining. I like to come back to Mr. Lee‘s book every few years, and read or reread about Ossie Davis, Laurence Fishburne and others involved with the film.
It’s a fun way to interact with a book, but in these times we’re in, while this book might not be the most up to date, reading books about African American culture and struggles should be a priority for anyone who wants to better understand today’s crucial racial dilemma, myself included.
I’m so addicted to a few mystery writers that when this type of nonfiction comes along, explosive and radical, relevant and fascinating, I have to revisist it. I’m just more into watching amazing films like BlacKkKlansman1 than reading. That’s just how I best take in true stories. In great depressions I’ve thrown out most prized treasures, however this one’s survived them all.
[image error]Spike Lee signed my copy in 1988
at B. Dalton Booksellers in NYC
by Lee Pfeiffer & Michael Lewis
Pre-COVID, I took walks around my office park, located against a major freeway on the one hand, and amongst peaceful majestic Redwoods and Pines on the other. Many were the times I trudged around the park, in search of respite from the stress of what is thankfully a very good job.
In maybe the third year of walking, I noticed one of the tenants had carefully placed about fifty or so books neatly at a curb of a parking section. I quickly perused them visually, and the only one that interested me was about film star Harrison Ford.
My favorite Ford movies hands down are Blade Runner, The Empire Strikes Back, Witness and The Fugitive. If I think longer, I recall others with fondness: The Frisco Kid (a real gem, with the late Gene Wilder), blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mosquito Coast2 and Working Girl, with costars Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver.
This volume is not a supermarket glossy book, nor an in-depth hardback bookstore biography. It is somewhere between: a large thickish paperback with lots of photos but plenty of insightful text; it is the perfect level of exploration for me… the Goldilocks solution. I recommend it as a fun and intersting jaunt of reasonable quality.
[image error]I found this fun book at a curbside Giveaway
4. Under the Lilac Tree (out of print)
by Ella Smyth
Ella is a brilliant writer who penned a book about loss from direct experience, but created a vehicle to convey her sorrow that is unique and comforting. I am very much enjoying Under the Lilac Tree, and hope to finish it soon so that I can write a full length review on Amazon and on goodreads.
5. Rule of Law
by Randy Singer
Singer writes legal thrillers with a Christian perspective but I really enjoy his even-handedness. I haven’t read much of Rule of Law yet, but in most of his books, he runs the gamut of each story’s issue. There was a book he wrote about the gun control debate, for example, and it was very balanced.
Today with all the mass shootings, despite the spiritual and psychiatric aspects, I’m more in favor of gun control, but the author wrote at a time when things were different, and he may not have been completely impartial, but would probably make a good judge as his mind seems to consider both sides of an argument.
My favorite book of his is The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ and The Cross Examination of Oliver Finney, but I also love Directed Verdict, Self Incrimination and The Judge Who Stole Christmas. If you are a reader who enjoys variety, you may appreciate Singer, as he employs both romance and humor to spike his thrillers with flavor.
[image error]I started reading Singer with
The Cross Examination of Oliver Finney
by David Baldacci
I was never a cop, I’m not a big guy except in the middle and in the ego, and I’ve never been part of the FBI, but otherwise, I identify with Amos Decker as a character, having suffered loss, searching for direction. If you’ve never read an Amos Decker novel, I highly recommend the series. Some are gruesome, others more caperish, still more are poignant. Most all three. I’m looking forward to getting ahold of a copy of the new Decker below:
[image error]The Latest Amos Decker
by Felix Francis
I read a lot of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers growing up, but when my mom gave me my first Dick Francis novel, Reflex, in 1982, I was in love. Francis’ protagonists were men I identified with and aspired to be like. I identified with the loners who had to endure suffering and I aspired to be a quiet hero as all of them are.
I’m not sure I succeeded, but before his father’s passing, dad and son Felix began the passing of the torch, so that Felix succeeded his father Dick (and mother Mary, who did a lot of the work) in writing the stories.
The elders were awarded masters, and some of Felix’ work is also quite good. I hope he proves to be as good as his parents. I enjoy his efforts and want to read his latest. It is a standalone, not a recurring character, as far as I can tell, and standalone’s have their merits.
[image error]The Latest Felix Francis
1I would assert that BlacKkKlansman should have been a best picture Oscar nominee; how the Academy overlooked Spike’s amazing and timely work is beyond me.
2The Mosquito Coast was fascinating to me, viewing as a kid. The film received mixed reviews and box office was abysmal, considering it lost over $10M dollars according to Google. The story was not an easy one to watch, but was extremely compelling.
[image error]
