March 2019 Book Report

Go Set a Watchman (2015, written in 1957) by Harper Lee

This was written before To Kill a Mockingbird, and takes place after Scout is a grown woman and goes home for a visit. There are flashbacks to when she was a child, and reference is made to the famous trial. Good book, but I found it pretty depressing.

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Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (2012) by Robin Sloan

Clay drifts into a job for the night shift at the bookstore and discovers some very odd patrons that frequent it. Very few books are purchased. They are rather checked out by these patrons and then brought back. Clay begins to see a pattern and searches for just what it is they are looking for. I learned a great Latin phrase: Festina Lente – Make Haste Slowly.

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Hidden Place (1986) by Robert Charles Wilson

Good little sci-fi book. In a small Midwest Depression town, aliens Anna and Bone have traveled from another dimension and are separated. Bone has little memory of who he is and what his purpose is. Anna doesn’t know how to reunite with him and sickens. Humans Travis and Nancy know there is something odd about Anna and that she needs help.

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Mister Posterior and the Genius Child (2002) by Emily Jenkins

Brutal little book about just how crappy grade school can be and how vicious other children are. Told from the view of the adult Vanessa looking back. Well written. I’m so glad those years are far behind me.

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The Infinite Moment (1961) by John Wyndham

I’m a big fan of Wyndham. These are short stories about skewed time. There are no rules when it comes to mucking about with time, so some of the stories are better than others. All were enjoyable.

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Halfpenny Linda (1963) by Jean Nielsen

A rather dated YA book that I got years ago and loved. This was a final re-read before donating it. Linda messes up in her school in America and goes to her mother’s school in London. She stays with her aunt, who is her mother’s twin. Aside from the dated stuff, an enjoyable book about how brash Americans can be amongst the more reticent Brits.

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