V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton

This is the 22nd book that I have read in Sue Grafton's alphabet series.  I just finished this one and already I can't remember much about the book.  Why do I keep reading, you ask?  My standards are pretty low.  I have to be entertained, I can not get bored and a book must flow smoothly.  If I start a book and it moves in that manner, I read it.

This latest book fit all my requirements.  Kinsey Milhone is a private detective.  In this book she stumbles onto a retail theft that spirals her into a world with a local mob family.  The part about retail theft rings being a real threat to retail companies is fascinating.  Kinsey's investigation brings out a bad cop, brothers struggling for power, a mob boss and loan shark with a conscience, a betrayed wife who discovers new love and a career criminal who suffers a loss and seeks revenge.

I could go into more detail but I don't want to think about this book anymore.  It's easy to read and that is enough sometimes.

I think I know why I forget about the books right after I read them.  Kinsey is not an easy person to care about so I chose not to.  She has only one person in her life that she cares about, a lovable elderly neighbor, Henry.  She's a grouchy person who usually blames her lack of companionship on a less than ideal childhood.  Boo hoo!  Try getting a REAL childhood story for peat sakes.  She never went hungry, she knew her aunt loved her, and she was never mentally or physically abused.  Many children only dream of so poor a childhood.  If she were real I would tell her to shop being a "whiny ass" and grow up, get a grip and get a freaking life!

The other book I am in the middle of is the story of Doc Holliday.  Awesome story!  Details soon.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

In 1938 a born and bred New York woman works in a law firm typing pool and lives with a roommate from the Midwest.  They meet a man one night from high society and for the next couple of years Katey Kontent and her roommate Eve's lives are forever changed.

Katey falls in love with the New York banker and her roommate Eve wants him too.  The banker feels obligated to Eve and Eve as a result of her high society connections ends up dating several of the men she meets.

As Katey reflects on those years, she illustrates how life is not always as it appears in high society.

The author does a great job of describing every single solitary item she comes across in her story.  I almost died from boredom at the description of a desk, Katey's friend Ann was sitting at in one scene.  It's really a lovely story though about nothing else than a year in the life of Katey, with no more point to it then to say, the people we meet in our lives mean something to us and should not be forgotten.   That is a good point to a story but from the books tone, I think the author wanted there to more to it about the rules of civility and high society, yadah yadah yadah.

I admit it, I'm not a scholar and this book is probably considered literature.  It's lost on me.  Guess you really can't take the ghetto out of me.

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Wow, this book is pretty interesting.  It is a wonderful book about teenagers having Cancer and trying to live the best life possible.

There are three teenagers, all with different forms of Cancer and all with wonderful families.  One of the teens, Issac, has a rare cancer that affects the eyes.  Augustus had a cancer that caused him to lose a leg.  Hazel's cancer affects her lungs and she has to carry oxygen with her at all times.

Augustus says he is so awesome that he takes Hazel's breath away and that Issac is blinded by his awesomeness.  It makes his family uncomfortable but you can certainly see how kids suffering from Cancer would enjoy the banter. The levity makes things bearable for the teens and frankly for myself as the reader.  I don't know if real teenagers would be capable of so much great wit but for this story it was wonderful.

There are a lot of interesting things going on in this story but what stands out for me most besides a love story is Hazel's realization that she is much more than just a grenade.  You see, she thinks that those who love her will have their life exploded like a grenade when she dies.  She feels this a lot about her mom who is always there for her and it's her job to take care of Hazel.

Another thing that I gleaned from reading this story is that Hazel and maybe other Cancer patients are really affected by parents and other family members and friends that feel so much sorrow and sadness when they look at her.  Hazel really felt that and it brought her down a great deal and sometimes she just could not take it and didn't want to be with those loved ones.  She sought the comfort of her friends who knew about cancer and more importantly didn't look at her with pity.

I found out several years ago that my son had a tumor in his head.  It brought my world to a screeching halt and I spent every day for a long time crying every quiet moment I could find.  I find that the shower is the best place to have a good cry.  The noise covers up sobbing and most of the time we are alone in there and the shower washes off your face and doesn't leave puffy eyes.

As a result of the news of a tumor I never wanted to be away from my son and I am sure I looked at him with much pity and sorrow.  How hard it must have been for him to carry that burden.  We found out the tumor is benign and after a scary surgery to attempt removal unsuccessfully my son lives with his tumor daily and for now that is all we can do.  He is healthy and active and we have so much to be thankful for and our story is not to be compared to the story in John Green's book, but I did know for a time how desperate and powerless a parent can be and to that end I felt a bond with the parents in the book.

John Green's teenagers didn't save the world or create an international cause to fight for.  They lived, they loved and they laughed and they mattered.

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Acupuncture Update

I said in the beginning that I would blog about my treatment but then life kept happening and I wasn't able to update.

I barely remember having arthritis in my right hand.  It took awhile to get rid of it but now it is just fantastic.  I was not able to grab a load of wash from the machine to put it in the dryer without tremendous pain.  Now I have no paid whatsoever.

My left knee used to hurt going up and down stairs.  Every now and then I feel a slight tinge in my knee but nothing like pain.  I can do exercises on my knees now and I do stairs without any problems.  It is really great and I have a hard time believing it since my next step was to have an MRI done and most likely surgery.

I am still going every other week to acupuncture because I have some PMS symptoms that Cindy thinks she can help me with.  I go from being teary to angry and from having headaches to my jaws tightening up on me.

I am trying some herbs to help me with my feeling bloated.  It had been better in the beginning of acupuncture but then went back to the original problem.  The herbs at first helped me out a great deal and now I have gone back to being bloated again. It's like my body keeps adjusting back to being bloated no matter what I do.  The times when the bloated feelings subside are great.  I have gone down in weight to 139 lbs (not seen in several years) but I am back up to 144.  My goal is to get to 135 and maintain it.

Overall, I feel fantastic and not for being 50, for any age.

Lies that Chelsea Handler told me

I listed to this book on tape for about 15 minutes and it was so nauseating that I took out the CD and returned the book to the library.

I am too old to read Chelsea Handler.  I watch her tv show occasionally and laugh because she is so shocking and usually makes fun of people who ask for it.  Her earlier book "Are you there Vodka" was amusing.  It was very light and often funny and Chelsea was making fun of herself most of the time.

This book wasn't funny at all, it was non-stop putting other people down and not in a funny way or for any reason.

Putting people down like that is hurtful and mean.  I know Chelsea does that and it is funny when she does it to people who throw themselves out into the public eye and they do stupid things.  Making fun of people simply for the way they look or talk is just wrong and it isn't funny.  It's not even witty or clever, it's just STUPID.

Imperium by Robert Harris He

In Rome at the time of Caesar's youth, Rome was ruled as a republic.  So many years ago there was a court, courts actually, and men who would rule the courts with their oratory skill and jury's made up of men who issue the justice of the time.

This is a book about Cicero, and how he beat the odds to become the leading councilor of his time.  The story is told by his slave and secretary, Tiro.  The time of history, 1st century BC is well documented but I believe that Tiro is a fictional character.  In the story he gives himself credit for developing the current shorthand.

Cicero did not come from wealth or have a famous family to give him an advantage in society like the other famous people from that time.  He was always an orator and found a way to make his speeches even the playing field between himself and his competitors.  He was also very clever and chose cases that appealed to the masses instead of ONLY the aristocrats.

I was shocked to see so much of the current legal system alive and well back in that early time.  I had previously thought it to be so much more primitive.  What was not surprising was the gross cruelty by rulers of the surrounding districts.  Men of that time were not supposed to be thieves and murderers but since so many feared them they were able to rule by terror without justice for the most part.

Cicero's first major case was bringing one such ruler to justice.  It was not an easy rode and he had to fight the aristocrats who were heavily bribed.  It is a wonderfully told story of a man who stands up to the system time after time in a very primitive and political time.  The story is made more endearing with Tiro, the always faithful loyal servant who cares for and respects his master.

I was worried that this early time period would bore me to tears with details but it was easy to listen to on CD's and only in a few cases did this very long story go on too long.  I would recommend this to anyone how loves historical fiction.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

My daughter told me about this book and I was very skeptical about it.  I am glad I read the book anyway.  It was so much fun.  I have said it before, I will read anything!  This book proves that again.  This is a story about a man and his grandson.
The grandson grows up loving his grandfather deeply and loving the stories that his grandfather has told him his whole life.  The stories were about monsters and about peculiar children that could do amazing and extraordinary things.
At some point the grandson's father told the boy that the stories were untrue.  It was heart wrenching for the boy to hear that.  He had looked up to his grandfather for so many years.
When the boy is a teenager he checks on his grandfather and finds some strange things going on.  When he tells his father what he sees, the father doesn't believe him and forces the teen to see a therapist.
At some point the teen wants to see where his grandfather grew up to do some research of his own.  It is hard but he and his therapist convince the father that going to the island where his grandfather grew up would be a healing process for the teen.
The teen and his father embark on an adventure and the teen soon finds out that his grandfather knew about things that were seemingly out of this world and possibly very dangerous.  He makes a lot new friends along the way in his adventure and instead of a conclusion to the book the end is a beginning to a new adventure.
The story flowed so well and was so entertaining along the way.  My only complaint is that I don't like books to end at a beginning.  I think it is a rip off by the author to end a book that way.  I think if you want to write a series do it like the Harry Potter and other novels where each book is a complete story of it's own.  This could have been done very easily in this case but the author chose to begin the next story to tease the reader into buying his next book.  Shame. Shame.  That being said I did enjoy the story of the Jacob and the Peculiar children and I will most likely read the next book.