Oct 9 - 15, 2017

Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford - a twelve year old half Chinese boy finds himself being raffled off at the 1909 Seattle World's Fair. The winner is the madam of a brothel, a house where Ernest finally finds a sense of belonging. He also meets the two girls he will almost simultaneously fall in love with. In 1962, at the beginning of a new World's Fair, Ernest remembers his old life while his wife is forgetting him. We go back and forth between the two times, almost too much in my opinion. It made the story a little jerky. I almost quit this one but felt it got much better about half way through.

3 stars
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Cold in the Earth by Aline Templeton - set in a remote area of Scotland during the hoof and mouth disease catastrophe of 2001. DI Marjory Fleming is the wife of a farmer and so is caught between both sides as her officers must enforce the slaughter orders on the farms of her friends. And though the book spends a great deal of time on this it isn't what the mystery is about. Finally, halfway through, a body is found and a murderer from the past must be caught. The writing is nice but there is just too much extraneous plot. And Fleming's father is the kind I detest - bombastic, a misogynist, and thoroughly unimpressed with anything she does. This is the first in a series I won't continue.

2 stars
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Chasing Space by Leland Melvin - the author is the only man to be drafted into the NFL and go to outer space. Basically a book about overcoming obstacles and keeping on no matter what. I somehow ordered the young readers edition from the library but don't think I missed too much. I would have liked to know a little more about his personal life or if he sacrificed that for his career.

3 stars
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Within Arm's Length:A Secret Service Agent's Definitive Account of Protecting the President by Dan Emmett - as an 8 year old, the author was so inspired by the actions of one Secret Service agent when President Kennedy was assassinated that he vowed to become one. We follow his career in the Marines and then as an agent eventually earning his place in the Presidential Protection Division. He's very careful not to spill any dirt about the people he protected. Lots of acronyms that dulled my enjoyment. A little bland but I did learn lots I didn't know about the Secret Service.

3 stars