Mr. Burke's Reading List

An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew , Annejet van der Zijl, (20`5), translated by Michele Hutchison (2018) I left the following review on Goodreads : A fascinating look at high-society and old money meets new at the close of the 19th century, in New York and Pittsburgh, focused on the life of Allene Tew of Jamestown, NY who went on to make the society pages in the 20th century and marry an actual prince (among others) in the course of a turbulent life that weathered two world wars, a market crash, the Depression, and the start of the Cold War. Through it all, she persevered. Not the kind of book I normally read. It was a suggestion from Amazon (World Book Day). I didn't know at first that it was a biography of an actual person -- I'd never heard of her, but I have heard of many of the names that were dropped. Even more surprising was I thought it would be more about Europe because the author in from the Netherlands. (The author has done a bo...

Go: A Coming of Age Novel , Kazuki Kaneshiro (2000), translated by Takami Nieda (2018) Not a review. Just a reminder of what I read recently. I probably would not have read this were it not for Amazon's World Reading Day. As I did last year, I downloaded a bunch of free books from around the world. Last year, I only read two of them (so far). Once again, I read a book by about a Korean living in Japan, but unlike A River in Darkness , Go wasn't anywhere near as depressing. That said, it wasn't particularly cheery either. The book was from 2000, which is something to keep in mind whenever there are mentions of technology or pop culture. Some references become dated. The story follows Sugihara, whose family in Korean. When the North Korea had been founded, Koreans in Japan had to choose to register as North or South Korean. The book opens with his parents deciding to switch nationality to South Korean, so they'll be able to go to Hawaii. (At first, I ...

Mermaid Precinct , Keith R.A. DeCandido (2019) Not a review. Just a reminder of what I read recently. I was lucky enough to be at the book launch party for Mermaid Precinct at Heliosphere in Tarrytown, NY recently. I was even luckier to already have a copy of the ebook from winning a flash fiction contest at eSpec Books , the publisher. The plan was to buy the Tales of book to get signed since I can't sign my ebook. ( Sidebar: my winning story was The Feast of Groggry the Cronaut . ) This is the first one three books to be written for eSpec Books. To expand the series, DeCandido expanded the town. This book takes place a year after Gryphon . In that time, there was a fire in Barlin, and many refugees flooded Cliff's End. As a result, a new neighborhood was built, and while the official name is Albinton, everyone calls it "New Barlin". This neighborhood has been designated Phoenix Precinct. Also, there is now a prison barge offshore, which has been d...

Gryphon Precinct , Keith R.A. DeCandido (2013) Not a review. Just a reminder of what I read recently. Read this a month or so ago. Spoilers from previous books in the very first paragraph. The end of Goblin Precinct was marked by the death of Dru's partner, Lieutenant Hawk, as well as the Lord Albin, who had been sick with more than allergies. Albin's son, Lord Blayk comes in and immediately starts making changes. First, he gives both Captain Osric and Lt Iaian full pensions to retire. Then he makes Grovis the new Captain based purely on his status as the son of a Cliff's End banker. Blayk expects Grovis to be his mouthpiece and do whatever he's told. This doesn't play well with Torin, Danthres, Dru or even the new lieutenants. Blayk splits up Torin and Danthres, so they can take each train new partners. He also doesn't want them investigating Albin's death. However, his mother overrules this and wants Danthres to investigate. The entire...

Goblin Precinct , Keith R.A. DeCandido (2012) Not a review. Just a plot summary, for future reference. Read this a couple months ago. The third book in the series brings us to another precinct. The book opens with a former aristocrat in Elven society, one who had been close to the Elf Queen and who fled when the end was near, is now a poor beggar in Cliff's End, having never found a new way to support himself. In the end, he gives in and tries a new drug called "Bliss", which makes the user happy beyond belief. He's instantly hooked, but the high never lasts as long, and it's a short matter of time before he overdoses. Not exactly murder. And not something that would merit the involvement of the Castle Guard detectives. However, when another Elven aristocrat shows up looking for the first one to try as a war criminal. Using his credentials, he forces the Castle Guard to find the body and prove cause of death, to make sure it wasn't a political...