Ill Met by a Fish Shop on George Street - Mark McShane

This is the third and final book I bought at the used book store. The cover and the title were enough for me to snatch it up, but I hoped that the book would be good as well. So far, I'm at 50%, since one was good and the other was something of a dud.

A chance meeting in town has brought together two men who have not seen each other since the night of a murder 30 years ago. Now that he's been recognized, the murderer waits for the police to arrive at his door, but when they don't come, he wonders what the other man could be up to. And now comes the chess game between the two men. But there's a third player moving the pieces, but neither man realizes it. It's pure brilliance.

The cover is hideous and has nothing to do with anything, but the book was great. I loved the ending. It kept me guessing, which is something that most mysteries struggle to do with me. At 159 pages, it started a bit slow, and I wondered why some things were mentioned, but it all became clear in time. For some reason, the only book I saw available from this author for Kindle was his book Seance on a Wet Afternoon. Why not this book? It's wonderful! Definitely gets a Good Book! review! If you love a good mystery with a twist ending, see if you can find a copy of this book. 

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport - Mark Jonathan Harris & Deborah Oppenheimer

The Kindertransport was a rescue effort organized to get children away from the danger of the Nazis before the breakout of World War II. Nearly 10,000 children, mostly Jewish, were sent to England with the hopes that they would shortly be reunited with their families. In many cases, this was a hollow hope. 

This particular book tells the story from the perspective of children, parents, and organizers through the duration of the war. It has a nice mix of boys and girls that took the trains and children from different backgrounds. Some children were from Germany, and others were from Czechoslovakia and Austria. The last chapter is final thoughts from everyone and a kind of "where are they now" from some of them.

The main issue I have with this book is the organization. I hate it. I hate it with a burning passion. It's in chronological order, but once I started the book, I noticed they kept adding more people. I grabbed a notebook and started keeping little notes of who was who. Then I had to number them because there were too many. By the end, I had 18 people I was keeping track of, and there were 19 total people whose stories were told. Now imagine taking 18 people and breaking their story into 10 parts, and that's what I was reading. The stories were disjointed, their pictures were sprinkled throughout the entire book here and there, and all I could wonder was, "Why didn't they just tell each person's story?"

The chronological approach might have worked better with three of four people, but with this many, it just doesn't. One of the sections at the end of the book has a short summary of each person and references each page they appear on. If the authors thought this was necessary, why not just keep the stories together? I like to be immersed in people's stories, but I was constantly brought out of that. A few times the same person had multiple contributions in the same chapter. WHY?!

This was one of the most frustrating books I've ever read. It was also a great book. I'm so torn on it because of this. I hated it so much because I knew I was in for a slog once I picked it up. I'd have to get out my pen and notebook and refresh my memory on who I was reading about.

0 stars for organization. 5 stars for content. I can't blame the contributors for what the authors did to their stories, so I'll give it a 4 overall. Had I known how it was set up ahead of time, I would've found another book on the topic. I realize I didn't have to spend all that time taking notes, but what was the point of reading it if I didn't want to keep track of each person's journey?

The Glass-sided Ants' Nest - Peter Dickinson

This is the second of the three little "gems" I picked up at the second-hand bookstore. I picked this one because it had an interesting cover, and the summary on the back was intriguing.

A man has been murdered. Jimmy Pibble has been called in to solve the mystery, but he's up against a strange set of people. They're a relocated tribe from New Guinea, and they aren't very forthcoming about what's been going on in the house. There are other people related to the tribe's past that may also be involved in the murder, but Pibble is having trouble getting anywhere with the case.

This book is a strange one. The chapters are excessively long and only change when one specific character has a flashback. And those don't seem to be relevant. The tribespeople are referred to with derogatory terms throughout the entire book, and I wasn't overly fond of the style of writing. The end also bothered me. It wasn't coherent and didn't make a lot of sense to me. 

I didn't really like this book. I think I would've quit reading it had I not wanted to find out who the murderer was. And even then, I wasn't really happy I'd read it. Sadly, this book just wasn't for me.

Castle Midnight - Evelyn McKenna

Last week, we went on a family trip to one of my favorite places, Adventures Underground. Normally, I'm drawn to the board games, but this time, I went in search of some older and unloved-looking titles in the used book area. I found three candidates. This was one of them.

Beverly has lost her job, so it's not hard for her best friend to talk her into joining his scheme of tricking his girlfriend into thinking he's rich. Add to that, Bev has been secretly in love with him for years, so she knows it's going to be hard for her to help him with his "perfect match." Her job is to go to the remote Castle Midnight and get it ready for his rich, European love interest and her family. She heads off to the castle with another couple.

From the moment she arrives, strange things start happening. Things move without explanation, and when more help arrives, the danger increases. Her friend shows up and lets her know that the guests are arriving earlier than expected. From there, she's got her hands full.

At 192 pages, it only took me two days to read this book, and I actually liked it. It was pretty fast-paced for the most part, but I had one complaint. The end. Everything was explained so fast, I almost had whiplash. I did a brief bit of searching, and it doesn't look like this book is easy to find. And I think that's a shame. Sure, there's a few typos here and there, but I think it deserves to be digitized. Good Book!

Beyond the Medal - Peter C. Lemon

I can't remember where exactly I first saw this book, but I ordered a used copy off the internet. As my taste in reading has been evolving, I appreciate it when books have been made available in a digital form. I don't mind if they are in physical form as well, but with some of them, I'm afraid that as time passes, many memoirs that may not be as well known may fade from existence. I think that would be a shame.

In this book, you'll find short entries about 94 recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Many of the entries are from the men themselves, but some are from family members and one is from a friend. Along with a picture is a short summary of the act of bravery which resulted in the awarding of the medal. On the opposite page is their contribution. Sometimes it's a poem and other times it's a story. 

If you're wanting a bunch of war stories, don't come here. Very few of the men say much about the events that resulted in them being awarded the medal. I found this to be an interesting take on the topic, and it made me more interested in some of the people. I looked up to see if a couple of my favorites had published memoirs, but unfortunately, most of them hadn't. My favorite story was from a humble man named Charlie Morris, who thought of himself as a mere custodian of the medal and who saw the men he fought with as the heroes, not himself. Many stories touched me, and I can see myself leafing through the book at a later date and being amazed at the humility and bravery that these men exhibited in the face of danger.

I learned a lot about the Congressional Medal of Honor and a small number of the men who received it. I learned that the appearance of the medal changes for the branch of service the recipient serves in. Since the book was published (1997), approximately 25 medals have been awarded. By far, the most medals were awarded during the Civil War, with 1,520 recipients. Overall, more than 3,500 medals have been awarded, and 19 individuals have become double recipients.

One last thing I'd like to add. At the end of the book, there's a breakdown of how many medals were awarded during each war and to which branch. My eyes immediately went to the one Medal of Honor awarded to the Coast Guard. With a bit of research, I learned the story of Douglas Albert Munro, a brave young man who aided in the evacuation of marines at Guadalcanal in 1942. After his death, his mother, at the age of 48, joined the Coast Guard to honor his legacy. What an amazing family.

Maybe I would've never heard many of these stories without this book, and I'm glad I read it. Remember the fallen. Honor those who fought for your freedom. Good Book! 

The Brass Bowl - Louis Joseph Vance

This is one of the older titles that was advertised in the back of another book, and I chose it randomly. I had no idea what it was about, but I admit, I was a bit nervous based on the title.

Our main character is made aware that a thief might be after the family jewels, so Dan Maitland decides to head to the family estate to make sure they're safe. On the way there, he comes across an intriguing young woman dressed in gray who mistakes him for someone else. What happens after that is a case of mistaken identity that causes confusion and danger for both of them.

I found the beginning and end to drag a bit, but I really enjoyed the middle. I think the melodramatic nature of the characters brought it down for me. After glancing at the woman in gray, Maitland basically decides he's in love with her. She's not much better. The end especially didn't make sense to me, but I'll let it slide.

It's hard to describe how exactly I felt during much of the book. Most of the emotions are coming from Maitland (since we read more from his point of view), but the woman is just as bad.

I didn't see the cover until I was trying to find the picture for this review, but jeez, it's not very attractive. If the story was less corny in the romance department, it would've been really good. Overall, it had potential, but it wasn't one of my favorite things I've read lately.

Letters Written from the English Front in France Between September 1914 and March 1915 - Edward Hulse

I found this after a bit of research on the Christmas Truce of 1914. Captain Hulse was mentioned in a video I watched, and I looked to see if he had written anything. What I found were letters that were originally published in 1916. They were signed, "Ever your loving Ted," so I am going to refer to him as Ted in this review.

The book is almost entirely letters written to his mother (with some random diary entries) and are more descriptive than I thought they were going to be. The monotony of trench warfare during the first world war is illustrated pretty well, but Ted made it interesting enough that it wasn't a slog to read. The weather was depressing, and I felt sympathy for the men in the trenches.

By far, the most interesting part of the book is the letter written after Christmas, where Ted describes the Christmas Truce. It was a long letter and told of the event in great detail. 

If you're at all interested in that first winter of WWI or the Christmas Truce, this is worth a read. Ted is in a place where the truce persisted beyond Christmas Day, so that made it even more interesting. As I got closer to the end, I knew I was edging closer to Ted's last letter. The book ends with a couple letters sent to his mother regarding his death. Good Book!

 

The Adventures of Gerard - Arthur Conan Doyle

Yes, I let my daughter pick another book for me. I'm a sucker. What else can I say?

So, what's the first thing you think of when you hear the name Arthur Conan Doyle? Is it...a French soldier sitting around telling war stories? No? 

This book is a collection of stories told by an old soldier talking about his glory years when he was the best soldier on the field and everyone knew it. We're talking the early 1800s, so our "hero," Etienne Gerard, is serving his Emperor, Napoleon. We learn how fearless, brave and vital he is to the cause, and at one point, he wonders if Waterloo could have been won if he'd been part of the battle.

I can't help but make some comparisons with Sherlock. Both characters are annoying in their "I'm better than everyone around me" attitude, but I think here it was more annoying because it didn't mean anything most of the time. I did enjoy a few of the stories, but overall, it felt like a dude bragging about how awesome he was and how everyone knew it. 

While Gerard is an interesting character at times, I wouldn't be interested in hearing more of his exploits. He was just a bit too much for me. Sorry, Etienne.