Some Christmas Reading (various)

Some Christmas reading by numerous authors (see below).

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

LAST ENTRY OF THE YEAR!

As the year winds down, I remember reading a holiday story or two last year, and I thought doing so this year might put me in the mood. Plus, I discover that a former student of mine has a second book of poetry published, and it is a holiday collection. So I scoped out some free kindle books before trolling Project Gutenberg for stories or novellas to finish out the year. It was an interesting experience.

A note to myself for next year: when searching for "free kindle Christmas ebooks" make sure to include "-romance", because the first few pages of results will be Hallmark Channel wannabes, even if they include elves or vampires or Lord knows what else. Okay, without further ado:

Book One

First up was A Country Christmas (2021) by Azmat Hussein. The date is not on the cover, but it appears to be a part of the title. This book was so terrible that it was terribly entertaining. I would NOT have read past the first few pages except for the fact that it was only 38 pages long with an estimated reading time of less than an hour. It took longer because I stopped to laugh often. It is unintentionally amusing.

When I saw the book on Amazon, I assumed it would take place in rural Pennsylvania or somewhere down south. Actually, the story takes place in Vermont, although I may have missed this being mentioned in the first paragraph. It wasn't mentioned again. Likewise, I'm not sure of the year because of the quaint references, plus references to a war. Again, this isn't exactly a choice candidate for close reading of the text.

What's wrong with this book? For one thing, I would suspect that English is not Azmat Hussain's first language. For another, it seems like the book was translated, for the most part, by software such as Google Translate, with some crazy thesaurus usage during the editing phase. It was definitely edited because of what was supposed to be regioanl dialect in spots. Odd contractions of words, and things like "pears" for "appears". It was hysterical to read, even if because some passages had a poetic beauty to them that fell flat on their faces before they ended because of some poor word choice. Two outstanding memories: a woman sitting on a coprolite (I could find no other defintion besides fossilized dung) and the Aunt jerking in the closet. In the latter case, the closet seems to be her kitchen, and she was dancing. (Dis)honorable mention goes to "the dainty shoe tapped the bare bottom impatiently", which is refering to the bare floors of the house.

What is this story about? I haven't a clue. A writer visiting his Aunt Plumy in Vermont, and there are a bunch of other people around. I couldn't keep track because the writing itself was a distraction.

I checked Good Reads and Azmat Hussein has over two dozen books listed, many of them Christmas books. This one wasn't there. I didn't add it because the copy I downloaded had no publication information, other than the 2021 in the title.

If you can download this for free, this could be the next The Eye of Argon, the Christmas variant.

Book Two

Two disclosures: First, this volume of poetry was written by a former student of mine (I'm a math teacher, who sometimes writes). Second, this is not the book that I planned on downloading. I saw this when I was looking for Christmas books.

Hectic Holidays by Heaven Santiago is the author's second collection this year. Written after Thanksgiving, it's about the mixed, conflicting feelings and emotions we may feel this time of year between Thanksgiving and New Years. There is some wonderful wordplay in some stanzas while others are brutally honest dealing with the realities of her world. (I can't say that I can relate to all of it, but maybe some of it.)

I don't fancy myself a judge of good poetry (as most people who know me know that I soured on most of it before I was a teen). But I'm happy to see a young writer finding her voice. And Heaven, if you somehow see this, yes, I chose those words with care. I wish you candy cane hugs and Hershey kisses for the holidays and the new year.

Book Three

A Christmas Novel by Stephen Leacock is a short story of fewer than 50 pages. It was also produced by whoever created the Country Christmas book above. This was obvious not only from the bad formatting, particularly with the quotation marks along with lack of spacing after punctuation, but also from overuse of the word "veritably", overuse and misuse of the "commodity" (not sure what they were going for), and the frequent use of "Noway" possibly meaning "never". Unlike the previous book, this one mostly reads as a normal book except for these jarring verbal slaps. (Like I what assume to be a mistranslation with a reference to "The House That Jack Erected" (emphasis mine).) So it isn't unintentionally amusing, but it's not intentionally good either.

There's a little tale of a man named Joe, talking to Father Time, who recounts Christmases from long ago, even back to Babylon and Ancient Egypt because there's always been a Christmas. While they are talking, they spot Father Christmas outside and invite him in. He dries out his books that the little ones don't seem to want any more. Children today have lost their awe and sense of wonder. And it's something that needs to be addressed in today's world.

Book Four

Sneaky's Christmas Mystery by Debbie De Louise is listed as Cobble Cove Stories Book 2. There's a cat with a Santa hat on the cover. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but this is not a great cover. And it's not a great book, either. There's a cat and a library and a bunch of talking. The book was only 32 pages and I lasted my usual 10% and then bailed on it. It wasn't good writing, wasn't good reading and I wasn't wasting time.

Book Five

The Christmas Eve Crash Landing by John O'Boyle turned out to be a picture book. LOL. I read it anyway. It started like "Twas the Night Before Christmas" but went its own way, even though it had the same meter (which seemed a little forced at times). Santa's sleigh broke down -- it has an engine and the reindeer are just for show -- and the protagonist has to help him fix it while everyone else is frozen in time. You'd think Santa might've asked the responsible adult who might have some experience with engines, instead a kid who says maybe whack it with a hammer.

Book Six

Frosty Blend by Kennedy Layne is another abandoned book. I stayed with it for about 10 pages but it just didn't grab me. It didn't repel me either but I had the feeling I wasn't going to finish it, so I bailed early so I could move onto the next novella. Too much of an info dump in the opening and the cat/familiar interrupted the narrative a few times. There's a witch and her mother is marrying a vampire, and the cat is friends with the vampire. And ... there's probably more but I didn't care about it. This book was listed as "a Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Number 15", so I could be reasonably sure that the author's style wasn't going to change any as the story progressed. After 15 books, one usually has that their writing style pretty much set. **** Okay, I just took a quick check. There are 23 books in the series, so far, and the first one has a publication date of 2018! Twenty-three books in three years? Is she writing a cable sit-com? No judgment because she's obviously making bank. Just not from me, I downloaded one book for free and I'm fine with that.

Book Seven

Old Christmas by Washington Irving. It wasn't really short stories, more like five essays which were strung together into one narrative, traveling to get home for Christmas with a big collection of family and friends. I liked the "old world" charm of it all but is was hard to keep up with. And, again, nothing really happens because it's an eassy. This could've been a standalone entry on the blog (and added into my book count for the year). But it's short, and I didn't want to comment on it much because there isn't much to it.

Book Eight

Christmas Elf, Christmas Stories, Funny Jokes, and Amazing Christmas Activities by Arnie Lightning. That's a great pen name. This was a cute book, and had I read it before Christmas, I might've looked for a paperback copy to give me my nephew. (He might be just past the age for this.) There are a handful of stories about Tinsel the Christmas Elf, who Santa made the Chief Christmas Spirit Elf, cheering up a different child each year. The stories are cute and touching. The jokes are riddles of the "Sandy Claws" variety and totally unapologetic. The activities are 3 holiday-themed "Find 10 Differences Puzzles", which were a little of challenge. Nice job, Mr. Lightning. A great way to end my Christmas reading for the year!

My 2021: Year in Review will publish on New Years Day!

ANALOG PLUS 50: Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact December 1971

ANALOG PLUS 50: Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, December 1971

Twelfth Issue! I made it through One Year!

The December Analog in my Deep Dive brings .... For anyone finding these reviews, my purpose is two-fold: enjoying some "classic" sci-fi, and looking for stories that I think could be adapted for TV broadcast since so much of what shows up on anthology shows is rough to awful. Additional Note: I do NOT work in television. I just watch it.

In this issue:

The Editorial: "Those Impossible Quasars", by John. W. Campbell. In a purely scientific essay, Campbell starts with the differences between optical telescopes and radio telescopes and radio astronomy interferometry. This leads into the discussion of quasars. They seem impossible because they are billions of light years away, putting out massive amounts of energy and moving at speeds of 10c. However, if the red shift calculations were incorrect, it could turn out that they are only millions of light years away. The resulting calculations would mean that their energy output would actually be reasonable and they would be moving at about 1/10 c.

Serial: "A Spaceship for the King" by Jerry Pournelle (Part One of Three Parts) with an illustration by (unknown), A castle on the shore and a classic looking rocket taking off. The caption reads, Primitive is a relative term. The Empire was oppressive, not evil, and its weapons could kill men and defeat nations but it takes a lot more to defeat men!

I'm looking forward to reading this, either in Februaru when it concludes, or sooner if there is a novelization available from the library.

Science Fact: "A Matter of Perspective" by Gordon R. Dickson and Kelly Freas, with an illustration (presumably) by Kelly Freas, labeled Night Launch at Cape Kennedy. The caption reads, Some Cape Kennedy constructions are so big they trick the eye. Perhaps the same thing is true about some potentials of the Space Program itself?

Short Story: "The Incompetent" by Chris Butler, with an illustration by Kelly Freas, showing a panicking man parachuting with the word "SPY" imprinted in reverse on the bottom of his boots. The caption reads, Now you may not believe this -- so ... So have fun with it!

World War III started in 1983 and has continued for 40 years. It's been good for the world's economy and doesn't seem much hotter than the Cold War. Into this (now) alternate Soviet Union, a man named Carsdale is dropped into Russia, given a limited objective and not much information. It is patently obvious to all who meet him that he's a spy. Back at home, in Omaha, General Gary Peters thinks that the entire mission is preposterous and is waiting for Carsdale to be captured and executed. The whole point of the endeavor is to keep the Soviets (and every spy from every other country) guessing as to what Carsdale's mission actually is. Since few (or none) in the U.S. seem to know, that information cannot be leaked. So the Russians allow him to continue on his way and watch him, until they finally pick him up and bring him to a secure facility to interrogate him. And once there, his incompetence pays off.

Obviously, the story would have to be played for laughs, and would have to take place in a future with the Cold War restarted and heated up again, which would be a more humorous background (or at least allow for more humor) than a full-scale World War. A big budget wouldn't be required, except for some special effects or CGI at the end. It could have a small with a handful of extras.

Short Story: "Ecology Now!" by Wade CUrtis, with an illustration by Kelly Freas, showing a group of people (of different walks of life) protesting with signs to liberate Ecology and to get Career men and technology out of ecology. The caption reads, IN a world Man dominates, the most critcal ecological area has never been reduced to a science -- it's handled entirely by rule-of-thumb engineers.

Dr. Arturo Martinez is the Acting Director of Nuclear General's San Juan Capistrano Breeder and Power Reactor. Bill Adams in a younger troubleshooter who wants to see if Martinez can handle the job of Director, with all of its distractions. The rumor is that Adams is only sent to places where they expect trouble. Martinez gives him the tour, showing him things like how they are using the reactors waste heat. Among other things, they've been a desalinization plant (California needs water) and a plankton farm (the world needs food) that produces tons of protein per square mile. They're trying to breed oysters that can survive the high temps.

Thrown into the mix is Senator McGehee, a man of the people, who pretty much inherited his seat. He can talk to the ecological protesters outside, but chooses not to. He is against nuclear power as a general rule and would like to see the plant taken offline. He says the eco-protestors, who threaten the plant, would disperse if they take it offline temporarily. He doesn't want to understand that such a thing is not possible. You can simply shut down a reactor with the flip of a switch, and if the reactor is such down, it would destroy the ecosystem that they've created.

While Martinez tries to argue and persuade, Adams has a plan of his own, and soon another Senator arrives. He is a friend of the McGehee family and a mentor to the young Senator.

It's an enjoyable story, but I don't know that it would get made. Hollywood types are usually pro-ecology and No Nukes. This would put the ecologists in a bad light and make this nuclear power ecosystem the savior of a hungry and thirsty California. For all that, I don't think the success of a Chicano rising to the position of Acting Director of a power plant would be enough to offset it -- particularly because that part of the story has slowly become mainstreamed over the past 50 years. If Martinez appeared onscreen today in that position, it would be met mostly with shrugs and "Okay".

Basically, even though I enjoyed reading it, it would be boiled down to a tour of the facility and a lot of lecturing back and forth if adapted for television. There's more to it than that, but that's what we'd likely get.

Short Story: "Priorities" by Ben Bova, with an illustration by Leo Summers, showing an older man pounding the table with one fist while raising a pointed finger in the air with the other hand. Another man sits next to him. In the foreground, there is another raised hand with point finger. The caption reads, Do you suppose Puck was right when he said: "What fools these mortals be"?

The old man is Dr. Ira Lefko and he isn't as timid as he seems. The man next to him is Major Robert Shawn from the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories. They are in the office of Harrison Bower. Basically, they are searching for life in the universe, they are making breakthroughs, finding evidence of high technology on distant planets, and their fund has just been cut. If they wish to continue their work, they need another agency to fund it.

The doctor and the major travel to an airport bar where they vent a bit about their program. Other planets are putting out the same intense microwave radiation that we are. Who knows? Maybe some day, they'll come and find us instead. In the final paragraphs, we meet Tor Kranta, complaining to his wife that the idiotic priests have objected to his research. And he hopes that other races in the universe aren't so blind.

I wouldn't normally give away the ending, but the story isn't much without it. The funny thing is that I remember a story with a similar central idea appearing in Analog in the late 80s or early 90s. But that would've been more than 15 years after this story. It, too, was short. The one I'm thinking of was a Probability: Zero short short (what I'd call "flash" these days).

This one is easily filmable, and could probably be made cheaply. Any necessary sets probably already exist and just need to be rented. The only expense is creating two aliens for the final scene and they can be humanoid. (Again, I don't work in the business, and I don't know how much of this paragraph is actually true. But that is my perception.)

The only problem is that the "twist" at the end might be cliche by now.

Novelette: "Foundlings Father" by Jack Wodhams, with an illustration by Kelly Freas, showing a tall man dressed in black with a wide-brimmed hat, framed with the Sun behind him like a religious figure, is pointing his finger in a "Get Out" fashion. In front of him are a naked man and naked woman, the latter of whom is eating an apple. And, yes, they're all standing in the middle of a large garden. The caption reads, It's not necessarily true that what men want is what they need -- and tumbling with friction is a great polishing agent!

The story takes place in two parts, which are interwoven. There is the Program Manager, who wants to ensure the enduring happineess of people he directs, along with history about rockets and people going out into space. The main part of the story centers on two groups that both settle on same planet about a thousand miles apart on one of the continents.

The group that arrived first are Puritan in nature and they want the nudists to leave. (The back and forth about leaving goes on for a couple of pages.) The Puritans, led by, not making this up, Humble Rector Galvin Khodpease (codpiece), try to limit technology and get back to basics, which could be part of the reason the naturalists didn't discover them. (It also seems like they didn't look very hard.)

Khodpease gives them a week to leave, but neither side believes that the other will use force. Some of the religious folks think that the new colony will die out on its own, but the Rector believes that their depravity will spend if it is not taken care of. The two sides start capturing each other, stripping the religious naked, or putting the nudists in clothing in the chilly northern territory.

They form an uneasy truce when a third group arrives and plans to take over anotehr continent. This circles back to the Program Manager believing that another Utopia has been created.

The story was amusing but the final payoff was lacking for me. Obviously it will play well on TV depending on the outlet and the amount of nudity. (Honestly, directors are more creative when it comes to hiding what they need to with nude bodies without resorting to black boxes and pixelations.) Also, it should be played for laughs because the entire setup is ridiculous from the start. I'd also leave out the Program Manager and focus solely on the planet because that's where the heart of the story was.

Casting-wise, since these are two disparate future communities of people, pretty much anyone could be cast into any of the parts. But you know that casting folks will go with "young" and "pretty" for the nudists.

Novelette: "Just Peace" by William Rupp and Vernor Vinger, with an illustration by Leo Summers, showing a blimp in the sky, people on the ground and smoke or fire or something in the background. The caption reads, When war is a century-old tradition -- how can you bring essential cooperation? Teddy Roosevelt had a valid answer ...

I didn't get the Roosevelt reference, but I'm not a history buff.

Chente, aka Vincente Quintero y Jauleiro, is an agent of the Canadian Hegemony. The actual man is near Jupiter where an artificial star flickers and sends a copy of the man to a receiver 19 light years away to a planet orbiting Delta Pavonis. That planet is New Canada. This isn't the first time he's made this trop, but the last time, his double didn't come back. He was killed on the planet.

The colony was settled several centuries earlier, but a great Cataclysm shattered the planet and flooded most of the low ground. There is a chain of islands that used to be mountaintops. As a result, rival politcal blocs have formed bewteen the Ontarans and the New Provinceans, which are always at odds with each other. The problem is that another cataclysm will be coming within the next century, and if they don't all work together, they will all be doomed. This message doesn't resonate.

There's a dirigible ride to another island. While hiking there, there's another attempt on Chente's life. He defeats the people who want to kill him. He and Marge Blount make their way across the land to a secret N.P. naval base, where they're building up forces. Chente has a GPS tied into the orbital satellites that are still working even though no one on the surface knows about it. The other thing that there seems to be an abundance of (at least five of them) are "communincation bombs", which seem to be for sending information back to Earth but can also blow things up real good. (They're little nukes, but without the heavily radioactive fallout.)

Chente has to conspire to eliminate the bombs and bring everyone togther, which he does by trickery and becoming everyone's enemy.

This is an interesting play on the Cold War where everyone is Canadian (but not overly polite). The other thing that stands out is a reference to Canadian IBM, which is right up there for 1970s stories with phone booths and Ma Bell. For television, this would be a little on the expensive side to produce. It's movie material, but perhaps not enough plot for a movie. It would make amusing satire if they play up the Canadian thing (for a U.S. audience, that is) because who could imagine a Canadian civil war, unless it's French vs English, and this story is not that.

I rushed a little to get through it because it's close to the end of the month but it wasn't holding my interest totally either.

The Reference Library , by P. Schuyler Miller. The intro is about the book Science Fiction: What It's All About by Sam J. Lundwall, which tells about the building of the genre in the preceding decades.

Reivews include Analog 8 edited by John W. Campbell; Destiny Doll by Clifford Simak; Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson; Sleepwalker's World by Gordon R. Dickson; and World's Best Science Fiction: 1971.

Brass Tacks: The opening letter is from Arthur C. Clarke about malaria and the use of DDT is Ceylon. A letter from G. Harry Stine about the miscoloring of the Saturn V rocket on the July cover illustration by Kelly Freas, and then a response from Freas. And then the usual commentary that you can expect to find.

And that concludes my first year of Analog. On to the next year! I'll keep this going for a while.

Prince Ewald the Brave (Madeley)

Prince Ewald the Brave, Dylan Madeley (2021)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This book was purchased as part of an Author's Secret Santa book exchange. I selected "Fantasy" and labeled my own book as such, even though mine contains both fantasy and science-fiction stories. A third author purchased my book, and this author purchased someone else's. First off, I was a little confused that the top of my Kindle screen lists this book at part of "The Gift-Knight Trilogy" while Good Reads lists Madeley's earlier books as that trilogy. This is a standalone book. A sequel could be written to it, but there's no underlying plot line that would make a trilogy out of it, other than the characters within it.

There is a cartoonish illustration on the cover, leading me to believe that this might be a light-hearted fantasy tale, especially when combined with the title, which sounds like it goes with a young person's story. Not in the slighest. The main character isn't really the prince, but the King who might as well be Genghis Khan and Hitler. Basically, he's not a nice person, and possibly a little nuts. He rules the way the family has ruled for generations, and despite this, his kids are normal, loving and not at all dysfunctional. This, of course, is the Queen's doing, which makes one wonder why the King allows it. You know the story will be about his downfall, how it will happen and who will bring it about. The question is if the kingdom will continue, in what form and who will be in charge of it. (And regardless of whatever schemes were being put into place, I noted that the last chapter was entitled "Duel".

Oddly, in one section of the book, one territory that was given to a noble to run as he see fit breaks away. The people were giving more freedom. They used that freedom to kick out the noble, and his own family was part of his downfall. The King has no use for the man and strips him of his now-empty title (but lets his live). I would say this foreshadows events later in the book, but it doesn't seem to be written in that matter. Also, it seems to be saying that if you give the people more freedom, they'll rise up against you. Except that the King was incredibly controlling, and people finally rose up.

There's a lot of history and geography and other details thrown in different parts of the book, but at times this was a distraction, but I never really got a sense of the kingdom, the bordering territories, or the far off land that the King wanted to make a deal with, and then forgot about. (I think this section was just to get the King somewhere else during the narrative.)

The kings three kids appear to be young. Prince Ewald is the oldest and well-educated, but he's never fought in the army. One would think that the King would make sure that any heir of his when he reached the proper age, would have first-hand military training, even if an entire squad of protection at all times. What I'm saying is that the character seems young, just barely "of age". This is important because of the younger sister who sneaks off into the night and runs an underground club as its Matron. As a rebelous teen of means, this isn't outrageous -- one could seen a modern-day 16- or 17-year-old daughter of whichever power couple with insane wealth pulling this kind of stunt. But then when she's disowned, she gets married, which in itself, in this kind of setting wouldn't be unusal either, but she gets married to another girl about her own age. Apparently, the mother had a secret slush fund going to a non-existant family which the two young woman become the head of. Neither having a means of supporting themselves, they'll continue to live off the people.

I may have liked this book had it focused on fewer events and developed the characters a little more. There's little growth in any of them. They are who they are. And reading the final chapter, I wondered if the writer had issues with his own father that his was trying to work out here (which, if he did, he had my sympathies for that).

Jake and the Gingerbread Wars (Foley)

Jake and the Gingerbread Wars, by E. J. Foley (2013)

The Gryphon Chronicles #3.5

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Another Christmas book that I thought should get its own entry. It's a standalone book in a series, but you don't need to know anything about it. For once, the chapter at the end of the book is a reprint of the first book to interest new readers into investigating the rest of the series instead of a chapter from the next book.

The story is set in Victorian England. Jake Everton grew up in an orphange and stealing on the streets. It turned out that he was part of a magical family and the lost heir of Griffon (the first book is called "The Lost Heir"). The only magic he does in the book is telekinesis, although he does use a borrowed wand at one point.

Jake has cousins Archie and Isabelle, and Isabelle has a friend named Dani. Jake also has a pet Gryffin named Red. While in London, they come across two bake shops, a French one upstairs and a British one downstairs. The owners seem to be rivals in a contest with each other. While in Madame Marie's shop, Jake sees a trail of sparkles which he is sure belongs to a fairy. He believes that Marie is cheating in the contest and decides to find the fairy. In the end, the fairy sets Jake up to take a fall. The Constable comes in, and it's a former foil of Jake's from his thieving days. Jake leaves but vows to get rid of the fairy.

It turns out that the creature is actually an elf named Humbug, who ran away from the North Pole. He hates Christmas and wants to impress Old Turnip Head, Jack O'Lantern. and became a Halloween elf. (He'd be the first, obviously.) The group catch him, and discover that Santa has offered One Wish for his safe return. The elf had put a spiteful spice on some of the confections in the bake shop and had brought the gingerbread people to life in both shops. The gingerbread, taking after their owners, are now at war with each other.

The four kids and the elf flew in a sleigh, lifted by fairy dust, and pulled by Red, off to the North Pole. Humbug manages to free himself enough to cause chaos. They sleigh drops in the Arctic at a point where it could be attacked by Yeti. Humbug escapes while the four defeat the Yeti. They follow the elf's trail to a castle that it owned by Jack Frost and occupied currently by the Snow Maiden, who wants them to be her friends and entertain her.

The four manage to escape with Humbug's help because he doesn't wish to be a prisoner either. They then have to get to Santa's workshop and find a way home.

Enjoyable and well-written. The series should be popular with kids. Will I read more of them? I don't know. Maybe if I set aside some time in a couple of months to go through my "series" tag.

Claus for Concern (Lester)

Claus for Concern, by Paula Lester (2020)

An Aurora Aspen Magical Holiday Mystery

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Another Christmas book that I thought should get its own entry. And this one appears to be the first in a series, which was nice. (Other books were Chirstmas books in the middle of their series.) It was written well-enough and the main character was good, but the mystery was not. When a character dies, the waiter who served a drink is arrested. There is literally no evidence other than he handed the sheriff a poisoned drink. But Aurora Aspen is determined to find the real killer to help her ex-boyfriend.

The town hasn't seen a murder in years, and you would htink that they would want to get this one right. Even if the police were inexperienced (mentioned at the end of the book), you would think that they would want to get help to get it right instead of getting it done. They know the victim was killed with heart medication, and yet no one wonders where a healthy young man got the medication from. For that matter, in hindsight, using it to kill the man seems like a boneheaded move on the part of a killer who should've been smarter and not just lucky. Then again, the final actions of the killer were pretty stupid.

Speaking of the killer, when Aurora realizes who the killer is, and the killer is in the next room, she withholds that information from the reader even though it should be foremost in her mind. Granted, by this point, it's obvious because there's really only one other character of note in the book. So the resolution is somewhat less than satisfactory.

Anyway, Aurora Aspen runs a catering business. She is a witch by birth but her grandmother is no longer alive to explain how to be one. She doesn't understand how her magic works except that she can tap into the spirit of the holidays and focus it to make things a little better. Christmas trees and cookies look better with just a little push. Her Dad, whose house she still lives in, knows about it. Her mother left them many years ago, but her presence is felt during the book. And there's more to her that needs to be revealed. Her best friend has known about her powers since they were little. Her ex-boyfriend, Cam, does not, but it seemed like he did in the chapters after bail was posted, but then it stated that he did not.

The Santa and Mrs. Claus characters who turn out (people dressed as them for Christmas) are a bit of a mystery themselves, but apparently, not one worth investigating farther by the main character even though their presence is somewhat unusual. For one thing, they seem to know a bit about her and her power. For another, the word "Claus" is in the title. Yes, it's a Christmas-time story but Santa plays only a tangential role in a couple of minor scenes.

One spoiler I will disclose is that none of the other players, many of whom seem odd, are revealed to be magical in nature themselves. One would expect more witches to appear in the series before long. I probably won't be reading the Valentines Day book, which should be the next in the series.

The Ghost of Christmas Past (Fox)

The Ghost of Christmas Past, by Angie Fox (2019)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

A year ago, around Christmas, I downloaded A Very Beechwood Christmas by Danielle Garrett. Oddly, it wasn't because I wanted to get into the holiday mood, but because I was looking for books with gnomes in them. But it fit the spirit of the season.

So this year, I decided to try that again, and I downloaded a handful of short novels and stories with the criteria free kindle Christmas -romance. Sadly, that exclusion was necessary. The first several pages looked like things from the Hallmark channel, even though some had vampires, elves or ghosts in them. Not the kind of mood that I was looking for.

Anyway, I will be posting another thread containing a list of the shorter Christmas books and stories that I stumbled across and read. However, this one (and likely one or two others) were long enough and enjoyable enough that they should merit a separate entry, as Ms. Garrett's book did back in January. Thi is the first of them.

The cover of The Ghost of Christmas Past states that it is Book 8.5 in the series. That .5 is important because it tells you that it's a side adventure from the main series. That also makes it a good place to dip in and get a sense of the series. I would gather that some of the story will be spoilers for the first book but probably nothing major. No worse than starting a show in season 3 and then thinking about catching the reruns on cable. (Note: I haven't thought that far ahead!)

So what is this about?

Verity Long is a ghost hunter and she's aided by a ghost named Frankie, who is Prohibition-era gangster who is bound to an urn Verity has. He can enable her to see ghosts and be in contact with the spiritual world. It helps her solve mysteries, fix problems or rescue animals. That last one is importnat to her and also the reason that she has a pet skunk named Lucy.

There are two competing stories here than collide in both realms. Verity's boyfriend is the brother of her ex-fiance. His mother isn't a likable person and definitely doesn't like Verity. She sends her a basket of pears, along with the bill for them, so she can bring it as a hostess gift to the Wyndell family dinner. She gets into an argument with Virginia (the mom) and decides to stay home and skip the party. Next, the ghost of Donna Lankin shows up -- she is responsible for Verity's rescuing Lucy -- and she sends Verity off to save a sow in need of rescuing. Turns out that "sow" could mean pig or bear. In this case, it's a bear and three cubs, sleeping in an old mill, in danger of being struck by a heavy hook that's going to fall from its pulley as the ancient rope frays. And naturally, this mill in on the Wyndell property.

While there she encounters a ghost of the past, but she'll soon meet one of the present, and an ancient powerful one rooted to the land who shows her the future. So you have A Christmas Carol going, but there's also a bit of It's a Wonderful Life because the choice to save Christmas for the Wyndells is up to her, but she's not really the Scrooge here.

Naturally, the day is saved and the old matron, rather than being told off, gets to come around and not be so crusty that she drives a wedge through the entire family.

A quick read, entertaining light fare. Would I get more of them? Not really my thing, but I could think about one or two. Then again, I probably said the same about the Beechwood Witch.

My Hero Academia Volumes 15 Through 21

My Hero Academia Volumes 15 Through 21 , by Kōhei Horikoshi (2017-2019)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

The Yakuza line plays out (and some of the visuals get very complicated to look at) and Eri is saved, and her power saves Deku.

After this, it's time for the school festival which is a chance for the non-hero courses to be recognized. Class 1-A decides to put on a dance for the students, allowing Jiro to shine. Bakugo is a mad drummer. (He's a mad everything, I guess.)

This also introduces the Gentle Criminal arc, which is thankfully brief. He just wasn't that good a villain on TV and his sidekick was annoying. I thought she was a child at first, but she's just a very short woman.

Next Endeavor steps up as the Number One hero, and he needs to show the world who he is. He immediately gets his chance facing a more evolved Nomu. It's a long fight that he finally wins, with a little assist from Hawks (who is hiding things). Finally, it's back to training for Class 1-A and 1-B. Shinso shows up to train with them and he has Eraser's scarf on him. By the end of book 21, there have been two of the five matches before the classes.

Side Note: I borrowed the first volume of SMASH!, to see what that was about. It's like daily strips (4-panel vertical) that satirize or parody the main story line. I didn't make it through the first half of the book. Maybe it's the cartoony 3-head artwork, maybe it's the level of the humor, I don't know. I tried. Couldn't do it.

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry (Zevin)

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin (2014)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a book group selection. The club organizer had revealed that the vote for December book was split 2-2-2, which made me question my decision numerous times before voting. One more vote was cast after mine (I don't know if he know the standings at the moment) and it also went to "Storied Life". It's short and it reads very quickly. I breezed through it in a few days of subway rides, hall duty and and before bed reading. Apparently, there is a movie in production with Christina Hendricks and Lucy Hale.

The chapters are introduced with capsule book or story reviews written by A.J. Fikry to his daughter Maya and are usually about what makes a story good or what makes a writer good. I got a chuckle out of the first one, "A Diamond as Big as the Ritz" because back in the 90s I actually heard an Old-Time-Radio adaptation of it (probably for Suspense, but it might've been a different program), but I never actually knew the origin of the story.

The story opens with Amelia Loman of Knightly Press traveling to by ferry to the lone bookstore of Alice Island, near Hyannis, near Boston, to present the new books in their catalogue. The owner of Island Books, A. J. Fikry, is a cranky, old man (not actually very old) with peculiar tastes who is upset to hear that the last rep is no longer around as he knew A.J.'s tastes. He has certain tastes and won't carry what won't sell. The story then shifts to A.J. who we discover is a widower who is drinking himself to death in the year since his wife's (Nic) death. His sister-in-law, Ismay, checks in on him from time to time. She is married to Daniel, who is a somewhat successful author, whose first book sold well and everyone loves it better than all his later books.

A.J. wakes up one morning after drinking too much to find that the place has been cleaned, but also that someone has stolen his prized copy of Tamerlane, the first work ever published by Edgar Allen Poe, and credited only to "A Bostonian". Only 50 copies were printed, and he likens it to "the Honus Wagner of rare books". I understood that reference, and I pity anyone who didn't get either reference. He reports it to Alice PD officer Lambiase, who looks into it, but other than alerting the auction houses, there isn't much to be done.

A.J. is more depressed by this, seeing that Tamerlane was to be his retirement plan. He takes to not leaving the door locked when he goes for a run (he lives in an apartment above the store) because there is no longer anything worth stealing. He comes back to find that a woman has left a baby named Maya in his care. The mother washes up on the shore a few days later. A.J. ends up adopting the girl and raising her, and in the process becoming a changed man. So much so that he decides that he would like to see if Amelia (who I was wondering whatever happened to) if she'd be interested in dating. She's actually engaged to an American hero ... but that eventually dissolves before they can get married. Ameila and A.J. become a couple and she moves to Alice, even though she'll need to travel a lot.

The store grows a bit and changes, as A.J. stocks more children's books (things other than Elmo, or The Monster at the End of This Book, which is actually about Grover) and starts hosting events. In particular, he hosts an author event for a book that he never gave a chance to but Amelia loved. When he finally read it (four years later), he enjoyed it so much. He wanted this to be a surprise for Amelia and a good time to propose. Well ... there were a lot of surprises that night. But there were still book clubs and events in the store for years after, and the store seemed to thrive despite the coming of ebooks and ereaders.

I did like the reference that the only thing worse than a world with big chain bookstores was a world without them. Those chains (many of which have disappeared in the past 20-30 years -- this is me reporting this) allowed the little stores to carry more of the literary books and fewer of the mass market blockbusters. A small shop can't be all things to all people but it can respond to what the public enjoys, and it can try to persuade the public to try new things. It also helps that Ismay is an English teacher, so if her students need a book, she can tell A.J. to order it.

There was one bit, about halfway through, where the Cops book club were debating loose threads and leaving things unresolved, if ambiguous endings were okay. My takeaway from that section was, okay, I get the feeling we'll hear more about that Tamerlane before this book is over. And we do. And we leaving more about Maya's background.

I enjoyed the book, and it ended as I suppose it should have. I'm going to look for some Christmas-themed stuff to get me in the mood for the holidays, but I already reserved the other book club selection that I was deciding between. Maybe lightning will strike twice.