Augustus Green in the Lair of the Pye-a-Saw
by Thomas G. Lammers

There are self published books galore on Lulu.com, CreateSpace and elsewhere.  Then, there are self-published chap books such as Thomas Lammers debut foray into the realm of Tale-Telling.  This is a stellar example of the DYI ethic in action.  Self-printed, bound and stapled and available via mail order only.  

Tom Lammers is a botanist and that informs this particular tale of derring-do.  In Augustus Green, Lammers tells the story of Augustus Green, out collecting samples in the Louisiana Territory shortly before it is purchased by the United States.  He finds samples and an adventure that borders on the fantastic.

The story is set up with a nifty, if oft-used, framing sequence.  A present day Academic finds the heretofore unknown journal of Green, and gets caught up in reading it.  We do as well as the journal entries become the narrative vehicle for the framed part of the story.  What makes this work so well is Lammers journal entries.  They show the voice of somebody who was there, who was what he claimed to be.  Small sidesteps into botany flavor the journal with more than a little degree of authenticity.

Lammers Academic credentials inform the story, but don't get in the way.  This is no dusty, dry, boring tale written by a PhD with some time on his hands.  This was well thought, well plotted and well executed.  Dialogue was crisp, and believable.  Overall, this is a well written novelette.  And according to Lammers, "everything is true, except what I made up."

Sadly, this book is not available at fine book stores, nor even seedy book stores.  The only way to obtain a copy is to contact Tom directly.
tlammers@new.rr.com  Cost if $5 postpaid.  And worth every nickel.

Tell 'em Mark sent you.

Cover by Jeff Suntala

Mighty FList member joncwriter  recently hosted the Annual Book Purge.   The basic idea is to post a list of books he is no longer interested in owning.  People then indicate their interest in which books they'd be interested in obtaining.  He gets your address then mails them to you.

At no charge.

Free.

He picks up the tab.

I am grateful because I received a box of books from him today.  I am impressed that there are people who would do something like this in our world today.    A world where many people are out for themselves or seldom think of others.  It's a small thing to give some books away postpaid.  But it impressed me.

Thank you, Sir. 

(I have a well developed ability to gush...)

Peter Loon, A Novel
Van Reid
ISBN: 0142003115


Up front, I must state that it is difficult for me to be totally objective about Van's books.  He is a friend of mine, and I tend to gush.  Just thought I would get that out there before I commenced.

Peter Loon is the main character, and the story is told from his point of view.  It essentially is a coming of age tale set 18 years after the Revolutionary War in the Maine Territory.  It was still part of Massachusetts at the time.  He is sent off by his mother to find an Uncle he didn't know he had, who wasn't really and uncle.  In many ways, the search for "Uncle" Obed was a MacGuffin.  A device to get Peter out of his home territory and out in the larger world around him.  As such, it wasn't a bad device.

In reality, Peter's adventure takes place over a few days.  Yet, so much happens in those few days.  At times, he appears clueless.  While true, it isn't accurate.  He's not an idiot, by any stretch.  He just doesn't know about some things.  And Reid does a nice job of showing his wonder, yet not making him out to be a bumpkin.  He learns from what he sees, who he meets and uses his own judgment as he sees himself being buffeted about.

He meets several girls along the way, meets up with a good-hearted Parson who looks after him and gets involved in jailbreak that isn't quite what it seems at the moment.  He comes off looking like a hero to others, yet doesn't see it in himself. 

Peter grows up some during the story. His view of the world around him changes and he sees more possibilities and more in people.  And in himself as well.  In this, the coming of age part of the novel works very well.

However, I was left wondering what happens next.  The close of the book was satisfying, yet more than hinted that more was planned.  That we were supposed to know more of what happens to Peter Loon and the people he has met in his life.  It was almost, but not quite, a cliffhanger ending.

I grew to like Peter Loon.  I also liked Parson Leach quite a bit.  The characters you were supposed to like, you did.  The ones you weren't supposed to like, you didn't.  Reid was effective in showing and not telling about these people.  They were real people, solid characters and people for the most part you'd enjoy meeting.

I recommend this book.  Affordable copies can be found on Alibris.com and outrageously overpriced copies can be found on Amazon.com.  If this book pleases you, the entire Moosepath League series is equally as wonderful and also recommended.

1. My Bible
2. The Complete Sherlock Holmes
3. Daniel Plainway
4. The Glory of Their Times
5. Great Expectations

These are the books I'd take today.  The bottom three would change with the seasons or my moods.

In many ways, these desert island lists are a cultural short hand fashion of getting to know somebody.  You look at the lists and try to find people of like mind or tastes, feeling that you would have something in common and making something to talk about easier.   They are also fun to look at to see what others hold dear in different areas, be it books, movies or music.

The question you'll never see asked or answered is:  You're packing for the desert island, what five people, living or dead, would you want along with you.  Must be people you know.

And that last is the kicker.  Who wants to be the ones left off the island?

His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis


We see him almost everyday.  He's on the quarter, the dollar bill, Mount Rushmore and has the most famous phallic monument named after him.  Somewhat appropriate the he was called the Father of Our Country with that in mind, don't you think?

But what do you really know about Washington, beyond the Parson Weems legend about the cherry tree.  We all know that it's a legend and not true.  We know he had wooden teeth.  Or did he?  What do any of us know about our First President?

This is the angle that Ellis brings to the table with this well written and researched biography.  It's written in the more popular history/biography style that holds your interest.  It gives enough facts that you get a real sense of the man and his times, but not so much that you fall asleep or skip pages.  Or worse yet, put the book away before you've finished it.

Ellis' writing style is simple, almost lyrical in places.  He has some notes at the back, but he keeps his audience in mind and keeps them to a minimum.  This is an  outstanding biography, and a great place to start to get to know the enigma that is George Washington.  Washington, like all of us, was a complex man.  He had his faults and foibles like all of us do.  Ellis draws that out, puts some things in context and lets the reader make his own conclusions about others.  He doesn't pass judgment.  This book is highly recommended.

The Annotated Christmas Carol: A Christmas Carol in Prose by Charles Dickens (Michael Patrick Hearn, annotations, introduction)

I would be willing to be that while you know the story of The Christmas Carol from watching any number of film adaptations, that most haven't ever read the story that Dickens wrote in 1843.  I am an unrepentent fan of Dickens.  I've read several of his novels and enjoy them.  I do tend to get a bit confused at times during the novels as some of the references are quite dated.  This makes sense as these were mostly written during the Victorian Era (19th Century) and that was a heckuva long time ago.

That said, The Annotated Christmas Carol: A Christmas Carol in Prose is well worth reading.  Hearn republishes his book from 1976 with more research materials available to him which brings so much more to the reader's enjoyment.  Little entries about outdated words or word uses, common slang of the time is explained, and notes about possible locations used and sources for the scenes themselves as well as Dickens motivation behind them.

I found that even knowing the story so well, that I took great pleasure in reading Dickens words, his pacing, his sense of the time and of Scrooge.  There are bits of Scrooge in all of the film adaptations, yet none capture him completely as Dickens wrote him.  That's not a criticism, just an observation as film adaptations always differ in small ways from books.  Different medium and all.

Even if you know the story forwards and backwards, it would behoove you to read Dickens tale as he originally invisioned it.  Also included in the book is the Public Reading Copy Dickens employed in the last years of his life.  That hasn't been available for over a century.  Well worth the perusing in and of itself.

Van Reid, hands down.  His Moosepath League books are an absolute blast to read, and so flowing with brilliant prose that hearing him, with his Maine accent, read them aloud would be stupendous.

Sadly, his publisher has a severe case of HeadUpAssItis, and doesn't know how to publicize a book that got RAVES from the New York Times Book Review (a Notable Book, for the love of Mike!) because his books don't neatly fall into a particular genre.  They're just good.  Moron Book Publishers....the upside is that the books are cheap from places like Amazon.com and Alibris.com

Not that I'm bitter or anything...oh no!  (My copies are all autographed!)

Reid's writing is somewhat reminiscent of Dickens, but it's far more accessible.  There's whimsy, adventure, romance, farce, and memorable characters galore with such great names as twin Varius &  Sundry Moss, and the beautiful ascenionist, Mrs. Roberto.  I cannot recommend these books highly enough.  Read the first chapter of Cordelia Underwood for yourself, and you'll see what all the fuss is about.  Here's the link to the NY Times review of that same book

So delve into the world of Maine, in the 1890's that Reid has so brilliantly created and lovingly written about.  And when you do?  Tell 'im Mark sent you.

------

A couple of other author's I'd love to hear read their work out loud would be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  His creation, Sherlock Holmes became the bane of his existence at one point, so it would be grand to hear him read aloud something he didn't particularly like.  I'd also be interested in hearing Erle Stanley Gardner read one of his Perry Mason books aloud.  And hearing Truman Capote read anything would be amusing.

Certainly for more sexually explicit than one would imagine a book set in that time period, it is a cracking good story with many real people and events thrown in for good measure.
Palmer does tend to liberally use sensationalism for its own sake, and not to move the story along. My guess is that he wanted to illustrate that sexual depravity wasn't anything new. That even supposed upper class people were just as apt to be involved in perversion as anyone else.
Palmer's characters, as depicted in the book, were interesting and the use of the First Person narrative makes it seem like we are actually witnessing the same events as Wilkie, the teller of the tale.
Worth a read, whether you are a fan of Dickens or not.

I couldn't finish it.  This book was written with excuses for the bad behavior exhibited by the Maxwell Brothers.  The psychological bombs were being dropped from the very beginning of the book, rather than focusing on telling the story, offering the authors conclusions at the end of the book.  This makes for an annoying read, to be honest.  Don't try and tell me what to believe, lay out the facts, show me why you came to the conclusions you did, but leave me to arrive at my own conclusions by myself.

This is really sad for me to say.  I'm the target audience of books like this.  I enjoy reading about the Old West, and the cover of this book promised much.  So did the advertising blurbs.  Too bad the author didn't or couldn't deliver.  His research was solid, although he tended to use the phrase "almost certainly" or variations on that ad nauseum.  It became clear to me that this was a writing crutch that a good editor should have shot down as over used.

This is flawed history and biography, at best.  At worst, it's insulting to anyone with a modicum of intelligence.  Show, don't tell.  Avoid this piece of clap trap like the plague.


A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

I'm not a huge NASCAR fan.  I feel compelled to state that up front.  I've watched some over the years, and when it was more of a regional sport and the cars looked more like something you could actually buy, it was more fun for me.   As NASCAR has increased in popularity, it has decreased in interest for me, personally.

After reading Donovan's biography of Wendell Scott, I was left with the same set of feelings I had when I visited the Negro League Museum in Kansas City.  First, an appreciation for the stories of what Men of Passion were willing to do to chase their dreams and do the things they loved.  The stories of Men and the inspiration that could be had from their stories of overcoming overwhelming odds.

Secondly, I feel shame.  Shame that other white people could, would and did some of the awful things to another person simply because of their color.  Wendell Scott never set out to be a trailblazer or make a racial statement.  Wendell Scott wanted to drive race cars for a living.  That he chose to do this in the Red Neck world of NASCAR, in the Deep South with Jim Crow in full flower is a testament to his desire to do what he wanted to do.

Donovan does a fine job of showing the trials and tribulations that Scott faced, the overt racism both in and out of NASCAR, and the good and less than good people that helped or hindered Scott as he chased his dream.  He also shows a side of NASCAR, both past and present to some degree, that they would rather not have aired.  Namely that NASCAR was racist, that promises made to Scott by founder Bill France weren't honored, that NASCAR did nothing to ensure that Scott was treated fairly.  He won a race in Jacksonville, and to avoid him getting a peck from the track Beauty Queen (naturally a white woman), they jobbed him out of the victory celebration at the time.  It was later awarded to him, with no fanfare, and blown off to a scoring error.  A fiction NASCAR still stands behind.

Wendell Scott was hardly perfect, but who of us is?  He was the first of four (4!) Black Drivers to have driven in NASCAR races, and while never a huge winner, he was a competitive driver for quite some time.  Donovan presents not only the story of Wendell Scott, but the story of NASCAR, Civil Rights struggles, political skullduggery and institutional racism.  He addresses the fictions of the "Greased Lightning" movie starring Richard Pryor and Scott's lack of concern for accurary.  He paints a solid picture of a man trying to do something he loved, and how he overcame and dealt with obstacles.  A highly recommded biography and history book.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review as part of the LibraryThing Early Readers Program.

  Ranger Jim Blawcyzk returns in this, Griffin's 7th novel.  Griffin has grown rapidly as a writer, proving that you get better by doing and not wishing. 

The basic plot has renegades ambushing Blawcyzk when he at home, attacking his wife and son and leaving them all for dead, while rustling off their stock in the process.  This puts Ranger Blawcyzk in a killing rage, as he disobeys orders to track down the ranny's who attacked his family.

There was a higher level of violence in this particular book, and quite a few lead belly aches administered by either Blawcyzk or his associates.  The anger and barely controlled rage disappates through the book, but not in a fashion I can truly believe in.  Rather than that expected mental tussle with his faith in God, or with his calling as a lawman, Blawcyzk just sort of winds down and wants to bring them in, rather than gun them down.  No real reason beyond physical fatigue is given.  For me, that was a bit of a letdown, as the chance to witness a serious mental struggle was lost. 

Blawcyzk is an atypical series character in the Western Genre and Griffin has done a wonderful job in fleshing out the character over the course of 6 books (one was about another character).  He has given us insights into what makes Blawcyzk tick and the kind of man he really is.  That's why the lack of serious attention to the struggle internally is bothersome to me. 

Still, for all that, Griffin writes a good adventure yarn, with plenty of page turning action.  If you like lots of riding and shooting in your westerns (which I do) then you'll enjoy this book.  Available from the Silverjack Publishing web site or from Jim's own web site (tell 'im Mark sent ya...)  The autographed copies don't cost anymore than the regular copies...so what are you waiting for?!?