Louis Armstrong was known as a jazz trumpeter, but he sang ballads with a raspy and nuanced voice. One of his best songs was performed in 1967. the song was written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss and has been recorded many times, but none matches the first rendering by Louis Armstrong.
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny
A World of Curiosities in the 18th book in the Inspector Gamache series by Canadian author Louise Penny. It is a police procedural crime novel, but there are many layers and intriguing developments throughout the story, completed by a thriller ending.
The tale begins with several back-stories. The main story is an early Gamache case in which a prostitute is killed and her two kids are orphaned, but they have been damaged, and the echoes are part of the current murders. There is a look back at the killings at the Ecole Polytechnique, with a real life survivor as part of the narrative. And there is look back at when Chief Inspector Gamache first takes on his protege, Jean-Guy Beauvoir.
Ten years later, the events of the past collide with murders near Three Pines, a small village in Quebec and the clues start with a mysterious painting (A World of Curiosities) within a hidden room. A spider is building his web, with revenge on his mind.
The multiple strands and layers of this story make it a page-turner, one of the best of its genre. Highly recommended – 4.8/5 stars.
Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
For years we have been seeing more and more people who seemed to spend a lot of time in trailers or vans. When we talked to a few people we were surprised to find out that they were actually traveling in their homes. We assumed it was just a choice they made, to be unattached, except to a love of travel. We did not really think that this was an economic choice. In Canada, it is very hard to live in a van or trailer over winter, so we just don’t see the nomads. Nomadland helped us to understand this phenomenon better.
We could not see ourselves choosing to live in an RV or van. We have stayed up to a month in a campervan and have spent many weeks in our recreational trailer, but after a couple of weeks, we are looking for more room, better plumbing, and some comfort. We stay in our RV to basecamp close to hiking and paddling, but sometimes for touring too. Could we adapt to becoming a long-term RVer? Probably, but we would not choose that way of life. The people that the author of Nomadland Jessica Bruder followed were mostly not nomads by choice, but for economic reasons.
The nomads faced some hard choices later in life for a variety of reasons and ended up in vans and RVs. Many had to travel from place to place, doing seasonal work as campground hosts, working for Amazon, or as seasonal laborers. In winter, most traveled to warm spots in the desert. Although there are undoubtedly nomads in Canada, the only part of the country that would allow overwintering in an RV or van would be the Lower Mainland, so we just don’t see large numbers of them.
The author follows some groups as they completed their seasonal cycles, as Campground host, in Amazon’s peak season, in harvest season, and in the off-season in winter. With lots of people facing this lifestyle, there are now blogs, conventions (of a sort), and speaking engagements, many focused on sharing the do’s and don’ts, secrets of the trade, and success stories. A network now exists on where to camp, how to save money, what to avoid, how to service and repair, and other parts of the nomad lifestyle.
The book is journalistic reporting, but it is coherent, well-crafted, and interesting from start to finish. I found it to be an eye-opener, a book I was thankful for.
Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
A few songs stick with us, embedded into our bones for life. Both Sides Now is one of those songs. I first heard it sung by Judy Collins about 1968, then in 1970 I bought Joni’s album “Clouds.” It was played many times. Joni recorded it in different versions on later albums and she has sung it live at festivals, on TV, and on request. It has been recorded by other artists, often as a tribute. The message is universal and her rendering of the song resonates and reverberates for days after each listening.
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Nickel Boys is narrated by Elwood Curtis living in New York City in the present time, looking back at a period of time when he attended the Nickel Academy (a reform school in Florida) when he was a teenager. Colson Whitehead tells the story at various points in Ellwood’s life and it isn’t until the end of the story that we find out that there are really two narrators and two lives told in this narrative. The storytelling is skillfully shifted to different times, different places, and different points of view, all to paint a larger portrait of systemic racism, societal power structures, suppression, greed, and white-blindness to abuses in the American justice system.
The story is told in a quiet, understated narrative by a character we can relate to and fear for. The author winds the events and the background of the place from a true account of a similar institution, the Dozier School in Florida, with documented corruption and abuse of young boys. The story could just as easily have been about the Residential Schools in Canada, with as many unmarked graves in the property behind the school.
In a way, this is also a horror story, a tale of a naive and diligent young man who thinks he can expose the wrongs of the system, but finds instead the powers of the institution to suppress, punish, and silence those who would reveal the truth. Elwood’s friend Turner has a more realistic view and we benefit from his thoughts from his time at Nickel Academy, but also in the decades that follow.
Colson Whitehead adds some subtle irony in the final chapters as Turner follows up on the investigation into the school, again, inserted without fanfare. The writing of this book was done with great skill and vision, one that leaves a long-lasting impression on my own journey to understand the lives of others in our collective history. It won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, deservedly so.
My rating – 4.9/5
No Regrets by Tom Rush
No Regrets is a folk-rock song written and sung by Tom Rush. The album was The Circle Game and it was released in 1968. I had this album and have listened to the song many times over the years. It was covered by a number of other artists too, and in soundtracks for movies.
“No regrets
No tears goodbye
Don’t want you back
We’d only cry again
Say goodbye again”
A simple song that resonates with Tom Rush’s distinctive voice.
The Mist by Stephen King
The Mist is a novella first published in 1980 and also included in the short story collection Skeleton Crew. It is a horror story complete with horrific creatures, exciting encounters, savage killings, and a desperate attempt to escape. Characters are well-developed (though most don’t survive).
Stephen King is adept at setting up the “What if” scenario in which he inserts a variety of characters. As fear and horror develop, conflicts arise, in this case between the people trapped inside the grocery store. We have seen this type of psychological horror story for 30 years in books like Under the Dome, The Stand, Dr. Sleep, Misery, It, and a number of short stories.
This novel stands alone since we do have a full explanation of the Mist and its denizens, nor do we find an ending that comes full circle, but those elements may be the story’s strength. The experience of reading the story is like a Lovecraftian fever-dream.
“When rationality begins to break down, the circuits of the human brain can overload. Axons grow bright and feverish. Hallucinations turn real: the quicksilver puddle at the point where perspective makes parallel lines seem to intersect is really there; the dead walk and talk; a rose begins to sing.”
This novel has is a combination of science fiction and psychological horror, with the pace of a thriller. It is an exciting read, but a disturbing one too. Classic Stephen King and recommended – [4.5/5]
The audiobook excerpt is read by Will Patton, the best of the Stephen King audiobook readers:
The House on the Cerulean Sea by T. J Klune
The House on the Cerulean Sea is a fantasy about an orphanage of very unusual magical children. Each of the children are interesting and unique characters and this could have been the central part of the story, but it is a tale of redemption, compassion, and humanity as seen through the lead character, Linus Baker. As a worn-out case worker he arrives on the island with some trepidation, sent by Extremely Upper Management to investigate the enigmatic caretaker Arthur Parnassus.
Surprises and revelations unfold as the children and Arthur interact with Linus, but also with people in the outside world. Linus is a representative of the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, a bureaucratic and distant rules-based organization, but the model doesn’t work for these children and the result is that they are usually treated with both fear and discrimination. Faced with the unfairness of the situation, Linus grows from the role of inspector to a role of caregiver and protector. Over a period of time, Linus becomes part of a family and he has to make some hard choices. Early in the story we meet a number of endearing characters, but by the end of the book, we are also proud to know Linus and Arthur too.
An endearing tale and recommended to anyone whose heart strings need a tune-up. 4.7/5
Conclave by Robert Harris
Conclave is a fictional story based on the Vatican’s practice of holding a sequestered meeting of all Cardinals after the death of the Pope, in order to elect a new Pope. Robert Harris writes historical fiction which is thoroughly researched, but he also creates fictional characters who are well-defined, believable, and interesting. In this case, he has created Cardinal Lomeli, the Dean of the Vatican, as the main character. It is his job to administer the Conclave, following the centuries old traditions and canons of the Church.
The story’s location is the Vatican and its time frame are the few days of the Conclave, from the gathering of the Cardinals through a series of votes, discussion, and politics, up to the final announcement of the new Pope. There are thriller elements, Church politics mirroring the world outside the Vatican, intrigue, mysteries to solve, and a rich tapestry of the details, rituals, doctrines, and traditions of the Catholic Church.
The book starts slowly, but the second half is a page-turner and there are a number of surprises and ironic elements within the last part of the book. This was a book I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend – rating – 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Nobody Loves Me but My Mother by BB King
I was a BB King fan in the 1970’s and bought the album Indianola Mississippi Seeds in those years. It was a vinyl record and I played it frequently. In the years that followed I bought more albums and looked for chances to see a performance on TV (before YouTube). Then decades later I got to see him perform live in Kamloops. It was a stunning performance by a master. He is gone now, but we can enjoy his music in videos. One is provided here: