October 18, 2024 – Still Waters

Carrying on with my nearly finished A-Z challenge of finding work by unread authors, I’ve come up with some very short, some very old – as well as some very different ones
A mixture from the library as well as online sources..

The Boy who Lived with the Dead – Kate Ellis 2018

A child haunted by the past . . . A village troubled by secrets …..
…..unsuccessful investigation into the murder of little Jimmy Rudyard in the village of Mabley Ridge. Now a woman has been murdered there and another child is missing, the sole witness being a traumatised boy who lives in a cemetery lodge. Albert’s first investigation was a failure but this time he is determined to find the truth . . . and the missing child.

A very readable story – a 2 day page turner with lots of twists and turns that have you wondering ‘who dun it and why’. The boy in the title lives next to the cemetery, sees things from his window but isn’t believed.
#2 in a series about Inspector Albert Lincoln- I was attracted by the title but definitely try to read more of them.
*****

The Lost Weekend – Charles R Jackson 1944
Free download available at fadedpage.com HERE.

* Don Birnam is a sensitive, charming and well-read man. Yet when left alone for a few days by his brother, he struggles with his overwhelming desire for alcohol, succumbs to it and, in the resulting prolonged agony, goes over much of his life up to and including the lost weekend..

The Goodreads blurb above says it all. An interesting but confronting read

Also if you have an interest in ‘old movies’ a free(full length) film version (Ray Milland/Jane Wyman) directed by Billy Wilder has recently been added to this site :- https://archive.org/details/the-lost-weekend-1945.
*****

The Rector – Mrs (Margaret) Oliphant 1861.
Chronicles of Carlingford #1.
Downloaded from Project Gutenberg HERE.
The Rector opens as Carlingford awaits the arrival of their new rector. Will he be high church or low? And – for there are numerous unmarried ladies in Carlingford – will he be a bachelor? .

A very short story written (in the language of the day that some may not enjoy) by Mrs (Margaret) Oliphant- who I had heard about but never come across- dealing with Mr Proctor the new vicar.
Never actually having had a parish of his own before he finds it difficult to communicate with the villagers: especially the females. Made even worse by the fact that his mother, whom he has relocated to the village, continually suggests he needs to be married…..plus he has reservations about whether he has ‘done the right thing’ by moving from his academic post in Oxford.
An interesting little read that has you thinking about what you really want in life
*****

My Dog Daisy- Jean Ure 2015.
A little chapter book for readers maybe aged about 9, old enough to read by themselves and understand a story plus the ‘hidden emotions’.
Picked for the letter U but turned out to be quite an interesting read…….Lily wants a dog….not feasible in a flat with no garden. She meets Charlotte and Fred (the dog) and a different sort of friendship begins.

This small book (67pgs largish print) covers a lot – teenage anger and moods, friends plus family relationships, ‘boys’ , confronting aging then euthanasia in animals, grief, compromise then finding happiness again.

*****.
I will confess I was hoping to have Simon Van Boy’s Sipsworth as my V author but with just 2 library copies and readers hanging on to their’s for what seems like the allocated lending time my name hasn’t come up (in fact I’m still 3rd on the list!) so when I saw this the other day it came home with me

The Polar Express – Chris Van Allsburg 1985
A story of how a young boy takes a ride to the North Pole on a steam train where he meets Santa Claus and the Elves. A story about believing..

Each of the pages comprises of an almost two page spread picture with words running down one side…..the story itself seemed imaginable and I’m sure children would be able to relate to it but looking at the pictures through adult eyes, apart from a couple, I found them rather dark and overwhelming with a very European look and feel about them. But then again, I’m not familiar with the author and any of his other works.

When he gets on the train this is what he finds…..

The train was filled with other children all in their pyjamas and nightgowns. We sang Christmas carols and ate candies with nougat centres as white as snow. We drank hot cocoa as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars.
******

Sky Burial – Xinran 2004 nf .
…( Xue) Xinran, a journalist….received a telephone call asking her…. to meet an oddly dressed woman who had just crossed the border from Tibet into China. Xinran….met the woman, called Shu Wen, who recounted the story of her thirty-year odyssey in the vast landscape of Tibet.

And that’s just what this short (as in 156pgs)book is all about. The retelling of Shu Wen’s search for her missing husband , for all to read. A simple (true) tale (interestingly eye opening at times) too detailed and involved for me to describe- the reviews on GR (link above) do it far better than I could. Thoroughly enjoyed it – one I would never have come across except for this challenge – try to find it if you can
******

Looking for a Z author wasn’t easy – I didn’t fancy any of the library books/authors (shouldn’t be picky I know- a challenge is a challenge) then saw the name Zagat on a list – ooh, sci fi, that’s different.

The Landon Screen – Arthur Leo Zagat 1936.
Free download available at fadedpage.com HERE

“At noon the newspapers came out with scare headlines. Every bridge out of the city is closed off by the veil of—what can I call it?.
A cover has shut down over us as if Manhattan were a platter on which a planked steak was being brought from the kitchen of the Ritz-Plaza. ”.
Excerpt from The Lanson Screen Arthur Leo Zagat

About 10yrs ago there was a tv series called Under the Dome…..which told the story of the residents of the fictional small town…..,and how a massive, transparent and indestructible dome suddenly cuts them off from the rest of the world.

Sounds familiar – I didn’t watch the tv series (based on a Stephen King novel) but did read this short story by Arthur Zagat.
******

And there you have it……
Similar to the ‘alphabet soup’ challenges linking letters to book titles
here’s my attempt at A-Z of previously unread authors (plus some extras)