Yul: The Man Who Would be King by Rock Brynner. Too often, when a celebrity's child writes about their parent the book either portrays the celebrity as a demon or trys to gloss over the parents faults until the book is dull. Rock Brynner avoided both these pitfalls and wrote a very engaging book about his father. The two had a rather complicated relationship. Yul starts out as a great dad who spends a good deal of time with his son and treats the kid with a good deal of respect. Of course, Yul also had no problems with creating his own realities to suit his whims, so their relationship had a lot of ups and downs. Yul had a lot of potential and probably should have stuck to stage acting. He was rarely satisfied with his movies and so stopped trying to do his best in them. You can't help but feel a little sorry for Yul who ended up trapped in endless tours of The King and I in order to pay his bills, but on the other hand, he created his own problems.
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin. I always thought this was a book about gays in San Francisco, but most of the characters are straight (didn't matter either way, but I was a little surprised). Surprisingly fresh for having been written in the late 1970's. A young woman looking for change moves into a boardinghouse in San Francisco. There's a lot of oddball characters who interconnect in various ways. I'm looking forward to reading more of the series.
Murder at Madingley Grange by Carolyn Graham. Graham wrote the Inspector Barnaby mysteries which were the basis of Midsomer Murders, one of my favorite shows. This was not a Barnaby mystery. Two young adults minding their aunts manor house decide to raise money by hosting a 1930s murder mystery weekend. This sets the stage for the classic English country party murder. The book is about 50 pages too long and drags about about halfway through. The ending is somewhat clever and funny which almost makes up for it's needing a good edit.
The Case of the Fabulous Fake by Erle Stanley Gardner. Gardner always came up with decent and different plots (amazing considering his huge output), but there is always one common thread. Why is the client smart enough to hire Perry Mason, the best lawyer around and yet dumb enough to lie to Mason at every turn?
The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. A man's daughter is kidnapped and murder. He then receives an invitation from God to spend a weekend at a deserted shack. God is portrayed as three different people, separate but equal. Jesus reminded my very much of painter Bob Ross. God is all-encompassing love and not religion which might be a problem for some people depending on their level of open mindedness. Better than I expected it to be if a touch sappy at times.
The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene. The first Nancy Drew book. Got this for Christmas, and judging from the cover it's the early 1950s version which still had the original 1930 text (no longer available). I truly hope the day never comes where ebooks are the only books available. My copy has the best old book smell (yes, I sniff books--there's worse kinks to have). The plot holds up pretty well after all these years.
Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie. I often argue with family and co-workers over the state of the world. People insist that the world is constantly getting worse, but I know it is not since I read Agatha Christie. This came out in 1969 and there's a lot of characters making statements about the world going bad with lunatics roaming free. Of course, in the end it all comes down to love and greed. Christie might have disliked Poirot, but he's my favorite of her characters. I appreciate his sense of superiority in the power of his intellect.
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