EyeBeam

Just finished Bone Yard by Jefferson Bass. Found a copy autographed by Bass at a Habitat For Humanity thrift store.

My other recent acquisition is Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot. I don't usually seek out graphic novels, but got a good deal on this one because it was (mis-)classified as children's lit. It looks interesting, broad in scope, and a candidate for the 'beautiful cover' bingo square.

Finished Ireland by Frank Delaney, who fittingly, is himself Irish which I'm claiming solves the top row of my bingo card.

This book follows one of the last traditional itinerant storytellers in Ireland who visits a home in 1950 and has a lasting impact on the young boy there. It's about this mysterious Storyteller, the boy, and Ireland. It includes a decent summary of Irish history from Newgrange to the Easter Rebellion of 1916, which I did need a refresher on. I suspect it's not a very academic history of Ireland and that some of the Storyteller's versions are probably embellished if not fabricated, but it's good enough for me.

No bingo yet, but if I finish the book I'm about 30% through, I can claim the top row^*^. That one seems to be easy mode for my reading strategy (I read what I want, at the pace I want, and think and occasionally comment about if and where it fits.) A few other squares scattered about, and some unscored reads that if applied to free space or alt prompt gets close in other directions.

^*^Considering the content of his novels, I've deemed it within the spirit of the rules to call Frank Delaney an Irish author, even though he eventually moved to my continent.

Finished reading 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, because last month someone here reminded me about it and said it didn't suck. He's right. It's not a best in breed of the alien invasion genre, and some of the YA themes weren't intended to captivate guys who'd cross the street to avoid overhearing teenage girls gushing about dreamy teenage boys. But it's good enough that I can donate it to a neglected little free library and not feel guilty about shortchanging whoever takes it. I think the reason I passed over it earlier was that I thought it was the 5th in the series, not the first.

Now I'm re-reading Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver. I've read some of his Lincoln Rhyme mysteries, but couldn't remember which ones. I'm only about 50 pgs in, but it looks familiar. I expect it to end with some unrealistic coincidences, but can't remember what, so I'll continue.

From a little free library, just finished Burn by Nevada Barr, part of her Anna Pigeon series. Normally these are all set in a national park, where the natural geology plays a major role in the mystery. This one happens near the New Orleans Jazz Historical Park, but doesn't have anything to do with the park, or jazz, or even New Orleans and could have taken place anywhere there's a black market for certain illicit services. I liked some of the more outdoorsy ones a bit better, but this was worth the read. I have to think about whether Anna Pigeon qualifies as an E5-caliber grump for bingo card.

It's Banned Books Week, so I downloaded a pdf of The Turner Diaries. I'm told this book is considered inspirational by those who think having a race war would be fun and glorious. It might also be of interest to non-racists with morbid curiosity about White Nationalist ideology. Otherwise, I do not recommend it for its literary value. I read this so you don't have to.

They changed quite a bit, but yes, The Meg (2018).

Jonas Taylor is the human protagonist and megalodon expert. Mac and Heller are approximately the same character as in the book. Most of the Japanese characters got changed to Chinese. The (ex-)Mrs. Taylor got completely remade. There are some other major plot adjustments.

MEG by Steve Alten

The titular megalodon qualifies it for the 1C bingo square. Unfortunately, the human characters were all disappointing, and some of them survive long enough to appear in sequels which I won't bother with.

Asimov's Breeds There a Man ...?

A suicidal genius figures out the relationship between his brilliance and his mental health.

Recently finished Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan.

It starts off by confusingly introducing a large number of characters at the narrator's funeral, but gets good once 12 of them arrive in China for the Burma Road trip she organized for them. She joins them in spirit, but can only observe cultural misunderstandings she would have saved them from had she been alive, culminating in 11 of them going missing without explanation when their lake excursion never returned.

It's surprisingly funny given the subject matter involving oppressive regimes and human rights abuses. It's also entertaining and informative and gets a positive recommendation.

I scored it under Minority Author for bingo as she is Chinese-American. However, I think Amy Tan's more interesting affiliation is as vocalist with the Rock Bottom Remainders, who I learned about after reading a good book by their guitarist.

Recently finished The Housemaid. It felt more like chick-lit than what I'd normally go for, but someone said I should read it and lent me a copy. The main plot premise was solid. The reveals were less surprising than perhaps the author intended, but well written regardless. I've scored it under film adaptation which is cheating, but I'm told Sydney Sweeny will make it valid before the bingo closes.

Up next I think is going to be Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan. Not far enough into it to recommend yet, but looks as if it could be interesting, and set in a part of the world I'm underinformed about.

The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharon McCrumb.

The sheriff of a fictional rural county in East Tennessee is invited to witness the execution of a local man he arrested 20 years ago for a double murder on the Appalachian Trail. He remembers what the then sheriff told him at the trial:

There's only two murder cases in these mountains I'm not happy with. One is the fellow you're about to put on death row, and the other is Frankie Silver.

So he ruminates over both of these cases, wondering if justice was served, or if something was missed. The Frankie Silver case is told through Burgess Gaither, clerk of the court that tried and executed her.

I think I'll count this for folklore (3A) bingo square. The author did significant historical research into Frankie's case which after 200 years is probably more legend than fact. Other of McCrumb's novels might also be good recommendations for this category, or just in general.