Jack Reacher isn't short

I keep picking up Lee Child books at every book sale I run across. He has so many books out, I figured it will be some time before I end up with a duplicate Jack Reacher book. So far, that's held true. Gone Tomorrow is the 13th Reacher book and, while I am clearly reading out of order, it doesn't seem like it matters. Each book is a stand alone that catches you up with what you need to know.

Child describes Reacher constantly and I have a picture of him in my head. It's vague, sure, but Reacher is a giant. He can't hide, he can't be "Everyman" invisible. Yet, Tom Cruise plays him in movies. Cruise is my height. I'm not intimidating and I blend into a crowd. C'mon.

(Rumor has it Reacher is getting a Netflix show? And will be played by a new actor? I hope so!)

This story has Reacher in NYC, on a subway, eyeballing his fellow passengers. He walks us through a list of 11 points of a suicide bomber. The lady on the train tracks on nearly all of those points. Ruh Roh, Reacher. In a move I don't quite understand except as a plot moving device, Reacher confronts the woman who then blows her brains out with a gun that was hidden in her bag.

This could seem to end all right here. But wait, there's more.

Cops come in and take Reacher to the precinct for questioning. The lead detective claims, possibly jokingly, that Reacher pushed the suicide lady to the edge. Feds come in with more questions. Reacher is released and...wait, there's more. Guns for hire have MORE questions. Now we know, this lady wasn't just a run of the mill lady, she was somebody and lots of people want to know what she gave Reacher before she killed herself.

Enter in a gorgeous Ukrainian and her old mother. But wait...you get the picture.

This one just piled WTH on top of WTH until I was slightly confused on who was who and who I needed to care about. People dropped like flies in this book, mostly thanks to Reacher.

The final showdown was quite excellent.

But wait.....

Just kidding :)

I'm leaving this here because Lee Child AND Stephen King

The Science of Compassion

"No one has ever become poor by giving"

Anne Frank

I was listening to a random podcast I had downloaded on Stitcher and was instantly intrigued by the guest. The podcast: Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris. The guest: Kelly McGonigal. Episode #219 about making and breaking habits.

I'm an almost-Buddhist. I've read a lot and try hard to practice meditation (monkey brain says no). I do my best to be a compassionate, good person who doesn't hold on to anger. I fail more often than I succeed, unfortunately. I also noticed that when I am letting go of anger and not engaging with negative people, that's when I'm most often called a doormat. Weird, huh? (hey...there's that anger)

I downloaded one of McGonigal's books from Audible: The Science of Compassion: A Modern Approach for Cultivating Empathy, Love, and Connection. It's a relatively short book that really offers up a lot of the why behind compassion. This is something of a training book as well, with meditative exercises at the end of each chapter (monkey brain says no). But overall, I got out of it what I was expecting and some new things as well.

I'm a giver, to a fault. Need someone to head up a fundraiser for a good cause? I'll do it. Donations to shelters? I'll knit them and collect them and deliver them. Need money for something? I'll help. Need a volunteer? I got you. I'm the most social introverted person I know, putting aside my uncomfortableness to help out (I never put aside my awkwardness, sorry). McGonigal points out studies that prove that compassion, for the sheer desire to give compassion, actually has health benefits. There is a little moment of happiness in giving, a little rush of feeling good. It's nice to know it's helping me too! An interesting aside to that is if you are compassionate because you feel you have to be, are forced to be, or are doing it because of selfish reason? You do not get the same benefits.

She offers up guides on how to not get overwhelmed with empathy. There is such thing as a compassion burnout. Let's not forget self-compassion. For some reason, that's a hard one, right? Being kind to myself is the last thing on my mind and usually isn't practiced until....actually, it's not really practiced. I'm encouraged from this book to give it a try though. Being compassionate towards those who give you pain is another difficult one (yet easier than self compassion. I have issues).  I tried this mediation practice after the death of an uncle. I truly tried to push positive energy towards family that has caused nothing but grief.  I think I succeeded about 1% of the time.

Maybe 1% is too high.

Either way, this book gave me a lot to think about. With my history of illness and bad health, I've always felt the draw to help others. I need to learn that doesn't involve money and things all the time. It also involves sitting, listening, and being quiet.

Kelly McGonigal -This story is one of the ones in the book

Well, That Was A Twist

Agatha Christie is a gem, isn't she? I love her mysteries so much so that I don't even get upset when a twist comes out of nowhere. I never, ever see them coming. Maybe I'm slow? Or Christie is just that good! (Let's go with the latter to save my self-esteem)

I don't usually read up on the books I'm reading. This was an older book on my 1st generation Kindle and, since I had insomnia on New Year's Eve, I read the bulk of this then. I thought it odd that every scene was taking place in one room but now it all makes sense! This was originally written as a play and Charles Osborne turned it into a novel.

Michael Starkwedder's car breaks down so he walks to a nearby house for assistance. He happens upon a dead body (as one does) and a woman standing over the body with a gun in hand.  The woman is Laura Warwick, the victim's wife. She claims to have killed her husband, Richard.

Instead of just calling the police, Starkwedder wants to hear the Why and decides to help cover up the murder. I thought this was just a little too trusting but he was smitten with Laura and smitten people do weird things.

Once the police come to investigate, things just keep rolling around on top of one another and twisting all up. Did a servant kill Richard? He was a terrible person, apparently. Did Laura? Did someone else in the community do it?

What was interesting was seeing how everyone had their favorite perp picked out from the family and employees. They all had perfectly sound reasons why this person did it and this other person couldn't possibly had committed the murder.

In the end, all the possibilities started untwisting pretty quickly. And just when you knew who the murderer was.....


You were wrong.


Take a listen to the book/play here. You'll be glad you did!

I think this would be a fantastic play to see

Creep Factor: 10/10

In lesser hands, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson would just be silly. But Jackson is brilliant. She deftly handles gothic horror better than anyone I know. My Goodreads review is in the link above!

Doing some research, it looks like Hill House has been a favorite at being made into movies/TV. But none look quite right. Why change up the story so much? The Netflix show actually looks good, if you pretend you've never read the book and have no idea what it's about.

Netflix trailer

Then we have a 1999 movie, The Haunting (heeeey Liam Neesom). This looks a bit more to the plot of the book and a reliable source said it was a good one.

The Haunting (1999)

The 1963 version looks to be the most like the book, nicely done without all the special effects and CGI. I hope I can find a copy somewhere.

The Haunting (1963)

I'll probably try them all and then report back. I do love a good scary story!

We close on 2019

Turns out I overmet my book goal of 45 books. I finished book 50 on NYE, right before midnight.

I've noticed some debates going in the Goodreads FB posts about whether audiobooks count as books read. Some folks are vehement they should not count since you didn't read the books with your eyeballs. Vehement to the point it makes me wonder, why? If someone is reading a book by e-book, hardback, paperback, braille, or audio, what affect is that on that other person? Some posters were downright angry that it was GoodREADS and not GoodLISTENS (I hope their resolution is to calm themselves down in 2020).

I count every book I absorb, be it audio or paper or electronic. I count comic books and graphic novels. I count short story collections and novellas.  In the end, I think it's just the reading that is important. Don't read books? How about magazines or newspapers? Podcasts? Just absorb something new that you didn't know before. Learn. And don't listen to the angry people writing in all CAPS that what you read didn't count. It did.

Maybe skip reading comments on the interwebz. They are full of angry people.

Onward!

My recap of my last books of 2019 and my goals for 2020.

Queenie  by Candice Carty-Williams - Not quite what I expected from such a talked about book. I didn't dislike it, although Queenie made me want to shake her to pieces at times.

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan - My nephew finished this series WAY before me. I actually really enjoyed the Percy Jackson series quite a bit. It is YA but a good series.

Lou Reed: The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Lou Reed - I think Lou was an asshole. But he was an interesting asshole.

The Alibi Man by Tami Hoag - Decent mystery involving Russians, polo and rich people!

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Another book for the IRL book club that I missed. Highly recommend the audiobook for the character voices and accents. Stick with it. I found it a bit slow in the beginning then got caught up in the story.

Match Up Edited by Lee Child - I'm getting more into mystery/thrillers lately and I was lent this book of short story collaborations. I think I found some new authors I want to read!

The War of the Worlds by HG Wells - My Big Damn Classic of 2019! I listened via Librivox and was very happy that this was the pick of the year.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - Read via Craftlit this turned out to be another big damn classic in 2019. Long John Silver is most complex, not the cartoony pirate we think of now.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean - My last postal book club book of 2019. I wish I had pursued becoming a librarian earlier in life but alas, I'm a data developer. Great book that reminds you how important libraries and librarians are.

Deadpool Complete Collection #1 - Not ashamed :) This was my last read of 2019. I had finished watching Deadpool 2 and dug this collection out of my stacks.

For 2020, I won't be doing a Big Damn Classic poll. I decided to read Les Mis by Victor Hugo (most likely on audio so I really get a feel of the French) and Roots by Alex Haley. I have on my Goodreads challenge to read 50 books in 2020 (AUDIO AND EVERYTHING).

Here's to a fruitful year of good books to keep you busy!