Books books books

Now that school is in session again, it is harder to get around to blogging about my reading. 

Here is what I read - as far as I can remember

The Lies of Fair Ladies - Jonathan Gash - Lovejoy book - loved it.
The Moor - Laurie R. King - a Sherlock Holmes, Mary Russell book - I listened to it and loved it.
Deep Shadow - Randy Wayne White - A Doc Ford mystery - probably his best yet.

If I think of anything else, I will write again.

A Real Slog through a Lovejoy Mystery

The Great California Game by Jonathan Gash was quite a slog.  This one takes place in the US, but the slang was so weird that you would never recognize it as anything American.  Lovejoy gets himself involved in some sort of country-wide gambling scheme aimed at control of the major markets of America.  You can tell from that last sentence that I never quite figured out what was going on.  Give this one a miss. 

The Very Last Gambado by Jonathan Gash

Antiques and women, being passion, are the only living things you can depend on.  Trouble is, they come with this other stuff called crime.    --Lovejoy

Thus begins the latest read in my quest to re-read all the Lovejoy books until I reach the ones I have not yet read. 

In this novel, a movie crew has come to town to film a story about the robbing of the British Museum and hired Lovejoy to be its antiques expert.  What's the problem?  Well, the museum has never been robbed and all possible plots can be foiled.  Can Lovejoy come up with a plan?  And why do they need him anyway?  Could this be the first successful robbery of the beloved institution, the "very last gambado?"  Join Lovejoy on his first adventure with Hollywood.

Lovejoy in Hong Kong

In Jade Woman by Jonathan Gash, a penniless Lovejoy is sent to Hong Kong to escape Big John Sheehan's thugs.  He is promptly robbed of the money he was given by Janie, the woman who is helping him, and all of his belongings.  How does one survive in a country where you do not speak the language, have no possessions, and know no one?  Well, in Lovejoy's case, you get yourself in more trouble than you started in.  Lovejoy becomes a gigolo for hire, manages to get involved in the local triad, and plans an antique scam.  All action, no thinking!  Love it!

Moonspender

Take murder, mayhem and antiques, add women, treasure hunters and a few witches and you have another fun Lovejoy mystery. This time, someone is unearthing and stealing national treasures and Lovejoy is determined to find out who it is. Enjoy Moonspender by Jonathan Gash for a good read.

I Love Lovejoy

After the brutal murder of two of his acquaintances, Lovejoy is forced to submit to a plan to, of all things, steal Venice.  Once in Venice, Lovejoy skulks around the city trying to suss out the best way into the Palazzo Malcontento to learn where the forgeries are being produced and determine the principle players in this scam.  Once again, Lovejoy has too many women from which to choose, and one of those women may be a murderer.  Who can he trust?   In The Gondola Scam by Jonathan Gash, until the last pages, you will never know. 

Lovejoy

Spend Game 
          Lovejoy and his love of the moment witness the murder of an antique dealer.  Why murder Leckie?  What had he been involved in?  Of course, Lovejoy never dreams of telling the police what he saw and pursues the murderers himself.  As usual he ends up in a tight spot clamoring for an antique no one is really sure exists.

The Sleepers of Erin
          This one begins with Lovejoy in the hospital bleeding from a wound he acquired while trying to stop the robbery of a church's priceless antiques.  Before he is released, he finds that he is under arrest for the very robbery he tried to prevent.  How will he get out of this one?

I still have many Lovejoy books to re-read before I begin the new one.

Another Lovejoy Mystery

I just finished Firefly Gadroon.  Lovejoy is forced into finding and rescuing a cache of stolen antiques in the North Sea before they are shipped off to Europe.  Will he succeed?  Can he rescue these prizes?  Would he give them to their rightful owners?  Can he manage all this, save his skin, and avoid killing the bad guys? Oh, and what is a gadroon, anyway?

The Vatican Rip

I just finished The Vatican Rip by Jonathan Gash. Lovejoy is blackmailed into stealing a valuable antique from the Vatican museum. A good book, but a bit more confusing than his others. I am still waiting for a copy of his book The Spend Game to arrive. I skipped it for this title.

Now I have to work on homework. To begin with I have to compare the second week Ignatian Spiritual Exercise on The Kingdom, with the exercise The Two Standards. There is a whole bunch more, but I take it one piece at a time.

My Busy Sunday and a Reading Update

Today I must begin work on my next class assignment. I am reading about and writing on the 2nd week of the Spiritual Exercises and the Prayer of the Senses. I have five topics to consider for my paper and have managed to get two of them into a rough draft. The next one is going to require a reread of the material - a short handout from Sandra Schneiders' The Revelatory Text.

I also finished yet another Jonathan Gash book, The Grail Tree. I have not mentioned what his books are about. They take place in a village in England. The main character, Lovejoy, is an antique dealer and a "divvie." A divvie is someone who can tell if something is an antique through his own internal senses: think of a water diviner for antiques. The books are murder mysteries with plenty of antiques information thrown in. I think any antique collector would enjoy them. I am not into antiques, but he talks about human greed frequently, and I confess that if I could make money off something priceless I just might.

The Grail Tree assumes that there has been a finding of the Holy Grail and the machinations of the various characters to acquire it and profit from it.

The Lovejoy books are irreverent, definitely chauvinistic and fun.

More reading

In my quest to re-read all of Jonathan Gash's books before I enjoy the newest one, I just finished Gold by Gemini.

Reading update

I am trying to re-read all of the Inspector Monk books by Anne Perry - or listen to the books if I can easily get the tapes. I just finished reading Cain His Brother and am listening to A Breach of Promise.

I am also re-reading all of the Jonathan Gash books since it has been so long since I read any of his. I just finished The Judas Pair.

Finally, I just finished Retail Hell by Freeman Hall.

Last night I started on Acedia and Me by Kathleen Norris.

It amazes me how much reading I can get done when I am home sick!

See the reading list on the right side of the page.