Happy Atheist Forum

Pyramids by Terry Pratchett
It's bad enough being new on the job, but Teppic hasn't a clue as to what a pharaoh is supposed to do. After all, he's been trained at Ankh-Morpork's famed assassins' school, across the sea from the Kingdom of the Sun. First, there's the monumental task of building a suitable resting place for Dad -- a pyramid to end all pyramids. Then there are the myriad administrative duties, such as dealing with mad priests, sacred crocodiles, and marching mummies. And to top it all off, the adolescent pharaoh discovers deceit, betrayal - not to mention a headstrong handmaiden - at the heart of his realm.

The Reporter by Scott Sigler
The Reporter follows Yolanda Davenport, a reporter for Galaxy Sports Magazine, as she searches for the truth about Ju Tweedy's involvement with the murder of Grace McDermott - the incident that drove Ju to join the Ionath Krakens. The Reporter takes place between week three and week six of the 2684 Galactic Football League season, the season that encompasses The All-Pro.

The Tortilla Curtain, by T. C. Boyle
A novel set in Southern California about middle-class values, illegal immigration, xenophobia, poverty, and environmental destruction. 

Under the Skin by Michel Faber
Set in northern Scotland, it traces a woman who drives around the Scottish countryside picking up male hitchhikers whom she drugs.  (sci fi)

The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon
For sixty years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a "temporary" safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel, cut now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control.

Since I haven't done it in a while, I'll break this month's tie: The Yiddish Policemen's Union.  That one's been on my TBR pile the longest.

Alright, looks like a good one.

So I finished the book yesterday, a bit longer than I planned on, but it was tough to get through. I liked the book, but there are a lot of terms used that I found difficult to keep straight. Like was that the word for phone or the one for a watch man? Shoyfer or shoymer?

But the first page got me hooked in.

Quote"Did you touch anything in the room?" Landsman says.
Tenenboym says, "Only the cash and the jewelry."

That made me laugh and I found that the first chapter is a good representation of the whole book. It also helped that I'm a fan of noir.

I'm not going to mention all the bits that made me laugh but here's another:

Quote"Indeed the man has a very big head"
"Every time I see it, I feel sorry for necks.

There are some sadder parts, when the father of the murdered guy that started the whole book talks about his son's fall into the life of a drug addict.

It had a good full range of emotions. The story was good as well. And if you like noir, the main character never had the upper hand.

Anyway, I really liked the book for the story, the humor even though it's not a comedy, and everything else.

I'm about half-way thru, and planning to buy some more of Chabon's work.  I had to admit that my main reaction was relief at reading a simple murder mystery after last month's book.

OK, finally finished.   For the most part I liked it (enough to buy other books by Chabon), it was a good, meaty story tho there were a few things that gave me pause -- for instance an alcoholic, out of shape man in his forties having the recuperative powers that Landsman demonstrated.  Just couldn't buy that.

But then there were the funny bits which made up for it.  My favorite:

Quote"Jesus fucking Christ", she says with that flawless hardpan accent of hers.  It is an expression that always strikes Landsman as curious, or at least as something that he would pay money to see.

That was a good line. There were a lot of them.

I guess the protagonist getting beat up a ton is normal for that genre that I'm used to it and it doesn't bother me that much.