Book #9 in the Inspector Gamache Canadian mysteries, this title is a strong entry in the series (#10 is due to come out in a few weeks). Possibly his last case, Gamache is summoned to the town of Three Pines to help a friend there discover what happened to a friend to seems to have disappeared. That story line runs parallel to the one of Jean-Guy Beauvoir, Gamache’s former right-hand man who is now estranged from Gamache after their last investigation ended up with fatalities and Jean-Guy addicted to drugs. The two stories work nicely together: the missing woman is one of the famous quintuplet sisters who had kept her identity a secret. Uncovering the woman’s past is fascinating (somewhat based on the real-life Dionne quints). Exciting culmination and character-driven plot.
Month: July 2014
Peter Mendelsund
I’ve recently read two flattering articles about Peter Mendelsund who is a book cover artist. Now he has written a book of his own, What We See When We Read, “a quirky, fresh and altogether delightful meditation on the miraculous act of reading.” I’ve put it on order. To see some of his covers visit mendelsund.blogspot.com.
Wearable technology includes books
The latest craze is technology that you wear. Watches that display text messages, Google Glass and Fitbit are some popular examples. I wondered what a wearable book would be like and discovered that students at MIT have developed one. Strap it on and it allows you to feel the emotions of characters in books.
Would you want to feel that deeply?
Read the CNet article.
“Book Thief”
When a popular book is made into a movie, I have a hard time deciding whether I should read the book first or see the movie and then read the book. “The Book Thief” is not a new book, but one I have wanted to read for a long time. When I came across the DVD last week, I decided to see the movie and then decide whether to read the book.
I was very impressed with the movie version. As it is classified as YA, events and characters relating to the Holocaust and World War II are not graphically portrayed. Yet, the cruelty of the war and how people suffered still pack an emotional wallop. Emily Watson and Geoffrey Rush give outstanding performances as German citizens who are not Nazi supports. The two children 
Sophie Nelisse as Liesel and Nico Liersch as Rudy did an amazing job in these two important roles.
“The Book Thief” is on my read next list. I hope that the movie will enrich the reading experience.
Seuss returns with “Lost Stories”
On September 9, Random House will publish four stories originally published in Redbook magazine from 1950 to 1955 and then largely forgotten. “Horton and the Kwuggerbug and Other Lost Stories” is the product of the detective work of Charles Cohen, a collector of all things Seussian. He calls the four story “fresh encounters with old friends familiar places.”
“Horton and the Kwuggerbug” features Horton, Seuss faithful elephant, and a crafty insect. “Marco Comes Late” is about Marco from “And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and why he is late for school. “How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town” is set on Mulberry Street. “The Hoobub and the Grinch” is about another Grinch, not the 1957 Grinch, who feels that “everyone is a mindless consumer who can be manipulated.”
Seuss fans will enjoy these “new” stories that feature something old, as well as, something new.
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