October 2015 Book Report

The Rightful Owner (2014) by Emily Thomas

A Blue Hill Library mystery. Anne finds a rare book of Edgar Allen Poe stories in a box of donated books for sale. She discovers it's worth a lot of money and wants to find the owner, who may have donated it without realizing it's worth.

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Cracking the Code (2014) by Emily Thomas

Another Blue Hill mystery. Someone leaves a bag of money on the steps of the library. While the money would go a long way for much needed repairs, Anne needs to find out first who left the money and why. She also discovers information leading her to wonder if her late Aunt Edie was a spy for the US during the Cold War.

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The Case of the Beautiful Beggar (1965) by Erle Stanley Gardner

I grew up watching Perry Mason on TV. I had a mad crush on Paul Drake (William Hopper). I had never read any of the books, though. I got this one from a used book store in Eureka. Great read! I could picture it all so clearly in my mind, since I already knew what the main characters looked like. It was like watching one of the TV episodes. In this one, young Daphne, ward of the rich Horace Shelby, is set to inherit his vast fortune until greedy relatives try to cash in sooner.

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Laura, the Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder (1976) by Donald Zochert

Another awesome find at the bookstore in Eureka. I read and loved all the Wilder books in my youth. I thought the TV show was OK, but they changed a lot of things from the books that I didn't care for. Reading this biography made me want to get all the books and read them again.

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Dead Matter (1993) by M. K. Wren

Huge fan of this woman! Especially her Conan Flagg mysteries, and this is one of them. They always make me want to go to that area on the Oregon coast. And I love the fact that Conan has this cozy little bookstore that is ruled by his cat. In this book, Conan tries to find out who killed the beautiful movie star's writer husband. What makes it harder is the fact that no one mourns the guy.

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In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (1984) by Bette Bao Lord

Awesome, awesome book! And it was FREE from that bookstore in Eureka. Probably because the cover had been torn off, but was otherwise fully intact. It was a paperback like the kind kids get at book sales at school. Good story about a Chinese family that comes to the US after WWII. The father came over first to get established, and then sends for his wife and daughter. When the little girl is asked to chose an American name to use as her own, the only American name she knows is Shirley Temple. So she becomes Shirley Temple Wong. As she slowly gets used to a very new way of life, she is introduced to American baseball. She quickly becomes a huge fan, especially of Jackie Robinson. She lives for when the games are broadcast on the radio at home. The author drew on her own experiences as a newcomer to this country.