Review: Regicide's Widow

Regicide's Widow by Antony Whitaker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So a couple of years ago I was zooming a genealogy web site, and by zooming I mean picking a random n-great grandparent and drilling backwards through public trees to find new-to-me ancestors, and I happened across Lady Alice Lisle, last person to be beheaded in Britain, and according to the website, my 10th great grandmother. Also interesting was the last name Lisle, as that is the name of the town I live in. i found this book about Lady Lisle's life and mostly about her court case. Her husband was a judge who crossed a king and was murdered by his agents after fleeing to Switzerland. Lady Lisle stayed behind, but let an opponent of the king stay the night in her manor. The case is in great detail, although the author states that much of that detail seems to have appeared decades after the events, so no telling how true it is. Quite interesting. Did Lady Lisle get railroaded? Seems likely.

A coda to this review, in looking at a different genealogy website, I was surprised to see major dissent on the relationship with Lady Lisle. It seems more likely that my ancestor worked for Lisle, and was not her daughter. While it would have paid to have done this research first, I'm glad i read this book, as I had no knowledge of the times in Britain, and found this interesting background with a number of stories I'd like to follow up on.

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Review: Trying to Save Piggy Sneed

Trying to Save Piggy Sneed by John Irving
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Most of this was forgettable, as are most books of short stories when I don't write a review for 10 months. But i do remember "The Imaginary Girlfriend", not by name, but because it was an ode to wresting. I read Pat Conroy's "My Losing Season", about his basketball playing days in college, mostly, and could imagine Irving, having finished reading the Conroy book, saying to a friend "Hold my beer." Conroy's passion for wresting lasts beyond his youth, such that he's coaching and wrestling decades beyond his college days. Irving writes dedication well, and it is oddly inspiring to read about that dedication to an unmonetized sport.

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Review: Nine Inches: Stories

Nine Inches: Stories by Tom Perrotta
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Unease in suburbia. People in Perrotta's stories just aren't that happy. And the stories all seem a bit off kilter, which made them more readable but not so identifiable. Still, i enjoyed these, and though the situations were odd, the settings were very familiar.

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Review: Angle of Repose

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While the main story presented here is of the narrator's grandmother's life, the parts I found most memorable were the stories of Lyman, the narrator's life, writing his book through new disability and loss. It's almost as if I remember this as two books, both well written and telling their stories. More Stegner is called for.

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Review: The Last Bookseller: A Life in the Rare Book Trade

The Last Bookseller: A Life in the Rare Book Trade by Gary Goodman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An interesting book about used and rare booksellers in the era of Amazon and eBay. While the author tells the story of his own businesses selling used books in Minnesota, he also covers other sellers, include book cities, as well as book thieves, specialists, and more. As an eBay and Amazon book seller, I found this story of the other side of the tracks very familiar, and written with good humor.

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Review: Another Kind of Eden

Another Kind of Eden by James Lee Burke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Again, the writing is top notch. Will Paton's narration of the audiobook is exceptional. But the story is so similar to others by Burke that it becomes hard to separate. With the Holland Family Saga series, at least you can picture the times that the stories take place, there's a distinction there. But the evil, the touch of the supernatural, the loose cannon, the mostly just hero, they are all aspects of every Burke book. I kinda hope he writes about the bad guys winning once, not just about damaged good guys.

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Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make. -Beatles

I don't suppose that is the best way to sum up this final book in the series, but it's a song that sounds final, and this is a book that sounds final as well, even though it's left with open ends. Based on what ends up being faulty recollection, I assumed a different ending was coming. This one surprised me in both the back and forth battles and in the serenity in the conclusion. Quite intense, and overlong, but enjoyable.

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