The Pretender by Jackson Browne

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Jackson Brown has written and performed many memorable songs for over 50 years.    We first heard him sing Doctor my Eyes on his 1972 album Jackson Browne.  A succession of songs and albums followed and he is still performing.   He has been an activist and has done a significant amount of charity work.    We have always enjoyed the song Load Out and also his many collaborations, but the song shared here is The Pretender, a song about living a life without reflecting on what we are doing.

We're gonna put our dark glasses on
And we'll make love until our strength is gone,
And when the morning light comes streaming in
We'll get up and do it again. Amen.

The Women by Kirstin Hannah

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The Women is a novel based on the memoirs of an army nurse during the Vietnam War.     The author chooses a well-to-do naive young lady (Frankie) who wants to contribute and make her family proud.      As a newly graduated nurse she enlists and after basic training lands in the war zone, as a novice in a Evac Hospital.    The experience is difficult, but she adapts and becomes a competent nurse, then chooses to reenlist for another year.    During her time she experiences all kinds of trauma and heartbreak.    She falls in love and after returning home she awaits her lover, but hears that he was killed in a crash.

Frankie has nightmares, fits of anger, and resorts to alcohol and drugs.     As readers we can see that she is suffering from PTSD, but it takes her years to learn to cope.     Her life is an emotional roller coaster and one disaster follows another.    The author sets up each emotional upheaval for the reader, but the plot felt somewhat contrived and predictable.    Some of the characters are one-dimensional and the plot sometimes feels like melodrama.

The strength of the story is the retelling of the plight of women who went to Vietnam, then returned to hostility and denial.    The author frames all of this with reference to the political history, the protest movements, and the changing culture of American during the war and afterwards.

There were similarities to another book by the author, The Great Alone.    Both books will be enjoyed by many readers, and will resonate for a large sector of the population.    When the book is adapted for the screen it will attract faithful viewers of prime time dramas.   For readers who wish complexity, character development, and a more subtle, imaginative storytelling, there are better books available.

Recommended for many readers, but with the caveats noted -4.0/5 stars.

The Tree of Hands by Ruth Rendell

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Tree of Hands is a psychological thriller about three people, each with their own stories, but there is a small connection between them that results in an unpredictable ending.     The main story is about a child kidnapping, an act by an unstable mother to help her own daughter who lost a child.   In Ruth Rendell’s books there are many shades of grey and even this crime may have some redeeming aspects.     The other stories are of a love-smitten man with a woman of poor character (the kidnapped child’s mother) and of a man swindling his partner of her assets while she is away.

The story is an unusual one, but the storytelling, as usual, is excellent.    The book is moody, atmospheric, and creepy, but there is also pathos, redemption, and hope.     The characters are ordinary people, but are well-developed, though not necessarily likeable.   In the end there are two flights from predicaments and two deaths.     The story appeared to have no possible satisfactory ending and then the  final chapters feel somewhat contrived by the author, but even with that fault, I was happy to have read this book.   This is not the author’s best book, but her books meet a high standard,  so it is the body of her work that brings me back to read one more.

Recommended, but not for everyone.   Rating 4.3/5 stars

One Deep River by Mark Knopfler

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Mark Knopfler has many songs on our playlist, going back to Brothers in Arms with the Dire Straits.    We have had albums over the years and we continue to listen to his music as a singer, songwriter, and collaborator.   One Deep River was his 10th solo album, released in 2024.    Some critics call it his best album in years.       We listened to the album and were immediately won over.    As usual his guitar is top notch, but for this album so is his singing and songwriting.

You’re one deep river, old friend
One deep river, amen

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

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The Silkworm is a British detective story in the Cormorant Strike series, written by Robert Galbraith which is the pen name for J.K. Rowling.   The first book of the series was The Cuckoo is Calling where we are introduced to a private detective, Cormorant Strike and his assistant Robin.   In this book Strike takes on another case, in which an author is killed in a dramatic gruesome manner.    The police warn him away and arrest someone, but he does not agree and follows many very small leads.     It is a longer book with many interviews and lots of detail.    People’s secrets are revealed and the whole plot is expertly wound to an exciting ending.

The characters are all part of the publishing world – editors, writers, publicists, critics, and publishers, something that the author knows well.   She spins a tale of obsession, jealousy, resentments, fame, and ultimately revenge.    The silkworm is boiled to access its treasure, and some of the characters also pay the price for success.

Cormorant Strike and his assistant Robin are further developed in the second book of the series.   The role of women in the business world is explored, the price of fame is noted, and the public profile of authors is compared to their private lives.    We are also provided insights and understanding of the lives of the other  characters, as only a master storyteller can do.   This is a recommended book – 4.6/5

The Children of Men by P.D. James

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The Children of Men by P.D. James is a dystopian novel set in recent times, in a world in which human fertility has failed and no more children have been born for 25 years.   The spirit of the people has been broken and as the population decreases, a universal malaise sets in.    Democracy fails and a dictator (Warden) rules, supported by State Police.    Criminals are sent to penal colonies for life, immigrants are put into service to support the work usually done by younger people, and suicide is indirectly supported by the state.    There is little opposition and any open criticism is met with a harsh hand.   The main character (Theo) is an Oxford Historian.    The early part of the story is slow as it follows Theo and it isn’t until he is approached by a former female student that the story moves along.    A small revolt has begun and Theo supports humanitarian efforts, but gets caught up in the conflict and the inevitable crack down.    It appears that the small revolt will be crushed and all parties eliminated, except that an unexpected “miracle” occurs which changes everything.

This is a speculative fiction story that asks the question of how Society would change if there were no more children being born.   Themes of loss, hope, faith, power, and the human spirit are wound through the narrative.    It is a discouraging tale for most of the chapters, but some hope is provided at the end.

A recommended book, but readers will need patience and some inner strength to finish this fine book.   (4.6 stars/5)

Tangled up in Blue by Bob Dylan

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Tangled Up in Blue was one of the featured songs on his best album Blood on the Tracks.   It is song which looks back at former relationship and themes of loss, love, regret, and the how the passing of time changes us.   It is a bit of a creative piece, but the lyrics stick with us over time:

Early one morning the sun was shining
I was laying in bed
Wondering if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was going to be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough
And I was standing on the side of the road
Rain falling on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I've paid some dues
Getting through
Tangled up in blue

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

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All the Pretty Horses is a novel set in southern Texas and Mexico in the 1950s.   It is the story of John Grady, a 16 year old who has become disconnected from his ranch home and family.   He was raised by a Mexican family and he and his friend Lacey Rawlings decide to look for work as cowboys rather than move into town.    They ride south into Mexico.   The author tells the journey of the cowboy life in detail, slowly, with great craftsmanship and passion.     The boys get jobs on a large ranch because of John Grady’s ability to break and care for horses.    Their connection to horses is an important part of the novel and about half of the book follows their lives as cowboys.

In all of Cormac McCarthy’s novels, violence and anarchy is out there, and a wrong decision can lead to disaster.   John Grady falls in love with a girl and faced with an ultimatum, he follows his heart, resulting in a series of deadly consequences.

“He saw very clearly how all his life led only to this moment and all after led to nowhere at all. He felt something cold and soulless enter him like another being and he imagined that it smiled malignly and he had no reason to believe that it would ever leave.”

The book won the National Book Award (1992)and the National Book Critic’s Award.    It is the first book in a trilogy and it was made into a movie in the year 2000.  It is widely acclaimed, but it is not an easy read.    The language is plain and the story is simple, but it has an unsettling tone.    The peace and harmony of life on a horse on the plains is contrasted with the turmoil of communities, and the conflicts of class society, poverty, corruption, greed, power, anger, and betrayal.    The prose is simple, but elegant.   The story is rewarding, but dark.   Recommended – 4.6 stars of of 5.

Billy Summers by Stephen King

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Billy Summers is a thriller-crime-noir story about a hit man who is asked to one final job, then he plans to retire.   Billy is a sniper who will only shoot “bad men”, but this leads to many moral dilemmas since he works for bad people and to not get caught, he has to undertake many questionable roles, leading a life of lies just to survive.   The first third of the novel follows the weeks of taking the job, going undercover in the set up, completing the hit, and engineering his own escape.   Then, the story changes when he meets Alice, a victim of sexual assault.

By the end of the novel there are really three stories and similar to most Stephen King books, there is deep and complex building of character, past lives, and a strong sense of place.    The story is a “slow burn,” but compelling and rich.   It is a tragedy with themes of revenge, integrity, and redemption.    We follow Billy and Alice on their journeys from damaged people to a path of restoration, finding their purpose in life, taking a stand, living with the consequences, accepting who they are.

As a long-term fan of Stephen King’s stories I read this one with anticipation.   I was caught up in the narrative right away, and I followed the tale with a close reading, savoring the rich storytelling.

A recommended book – [4.6/5]

Dr. Hook

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I first heard Dr. Hook (once called Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show) on the radio in 1972 with the pop song Sylvia’s Mother and over the next decade, I enjoyed a series pop tunes and ballads, with songs like Only Sixteen, The Cover of the Rolling Stone, Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk, Spending the Night Together, When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman, Sexy Eyes, Walk Right In, Little Bit More, Better Love Next Time, and other songs off their albums.   I was never a devoted fan, but over the years those songs become part of the soundtrack of my younger years and a few of the songs are still in my lifetime playlists.    Here is one of them: