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Friday, August 19, 2011

Martha's Spring/Summer 2011 Picks

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. Psychological Fiction.

Artists, compulsion and mental illness..the author has done an amazing job of intertwining the lives of three artists, both modern and historical, and covering several centuries. The story hinges on the degrading mental state of a modern day artist, finally confined to an institute. His doctor seeks to find the source of his compulsive paintings...which leads the reader on a whirlwind tour through art schools, Europe and elsewhere to solve the mystery - compelling, intelligent and an insider's view into the minds of working artists.


The Terror by Dan Simmons. Fiction.

Wow! My pick of the decade! "The Terror", while actually the name of a ship, is also aptly titled for the style of the book - The H.M.S. Terror and her companion ship the Erebus, are off on an Arctic exploratory expedition to find the Northwest passage in the 1840's. They are trapped on the ice for three years....The book is laced with historical fact and made doubly entertaining by the vivid descriptions of the crew's physical and psychological descent into, basically, a frozen hell. While I have never been enamored of "maritime" literature, I found myself completely terrorized and totally gripped by each page as the story unfolded. The addition of some Eskimo folkloric devices seemed almost unnecessary, but they do add a mystical sense to the already frightening realism of "The Terror".


Spellbound: Inside West Africa's Witch Camps by Karen Palmer. Non-Fiction.

A man throws a chicken..it lands face down..the woman is found guilty of being a witch. The chicken lands face-up, she is found not guilty and can remain with her family. This is not a historical account of the treatment of women in West Africa, it is happening today. If you need a good reminder of the freedoms women enjoy in the developed world, this book will provide it. The author goes to Ghana and gives a first-hand account of what she hears and witnesses concerning the very active witch camps in West Africa, where magic still invades the modern world.

The Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child mystery series have captivated me for several weeks now....It all started with:
The Reliquary (sequel to The Relic). The scenario involves a series of gruesome murders and rumors of human mutations, all taking place in the abandoned tunnels underneath New York City. Through reading this book, I became familiar with the characters that reappear, comfortingly, in numerous related books in the series. The educated FBI Agent Pendergast, Nora, the Museum of Natural History curator, Bill Smithback, the NY Times reporter, D'Agosta the NYPD cop, and others. I loved the setting in NYC and the great mix of fact, fiction, suspense and mystery.


As a result of this first book, I read the non-fiction book "The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City", by Jennifer Toth. Equally as fascinating as the fiction, the author has interviewed and spent time with the various "levels" of humans currently inhabiting the tunnels under New York City. It would
appear that whole villages, with a sort of governmental policy are actually functioning underground in New York. Eye-opening and a little sad and scary.

Well, I didn't stop at just one of these books - I have probably read through 9 of them now! Like a good addictive television show, each book provides a very unique and creative murder/mystery to solve, often in the environs of the New York Museum of Natural History, NYC in general, or in Europe.

These books do not need to be read in order, they stand alone, although there is some overlap of characters and story line. At times, the story line can be a bit far-fetched, but I forgive this as it also adds to the creativity and general entertainment of the series. Some examples:


"The Cabinet of Curiosities"- Bizarre surgical murders and the original natural history museums, often called"cabinets of curiosities".

"Dance of Death" - A diamond heist at the Museum of Natural History, Pendergast's diabolical brother, action-packed.

"Book of the Dead" - Egyptian mummy curse at the Museum of Natural History, psychotic behavior.

"Brimstone" - Mysterious cases of instant human conflagration, a missing Stradivarius violin, Italy.

"The Wheel of Darkness"- A stolen Tibetan mandala and murders on a cruise ship.

"Cemetery Dance" - Zombies and cults in NYC.

"Riptide"- Buried treasure and a mysterious illness.


One for the road...


"High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly", by Donald Spoto.

I enjoyed listening to this book in the car. Not only did I learn a lot about the life of Grace Kelly, but the book is also full of informative detail about Hollywood, Hitchcock and the movie industry of the 1950's and 1960's. The narration by George K. Wilson was expertly done.


Armed with my new knowledge of Grace Kelly, I then had a film fest of some of her movies, all very good, with great costumes. Here are the movies I watched, though there are a few others:

High Society(musical, set in Newport. RI),









High Noon (western),







Rear Window (Hitchcock),








The Country Girl (she won an award for this one), and









To Catch a Thief (Hitchcock)