Hi everyone :)

This is to let you know that I'm moving this blog to Blogger. http://christinesreadingcorner.blogspot.com/

The RSS feed is the same - if you're signed up, you don't need to change anything.

The website addresses will be different. If you're bookmarking any pages of this blog, you may want to change the links.

I didn't include some reviews of books I didn't like on the new blog. I dislike Stephen King's Dark Tower series so much that I may yet decide to keep the reviews in hopes I can dissuade someone from buying and reading them. Too early to tell.

by Arthur Conan Doyle. First published 1901 - 1902 in Strand Magazine. I read the etext from Gutenberg; approx. 110 pages.

Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, take on the case of a mysterious death of a nobleman. The case is surrounded by an old legend of a hound from the fires of Hell which kills off the members of the Baskerville family. Sherlock is not taken in by such rubbish, and intends to find the man responsible.

This is the first Sherlock Holmes story I've read. My very first impression, within the first few paragraphs, is that he's quite the egomaniac who doesn't mind insulting his buddy, Watson, to boost his own already inflated ego. So it was an immediate turn off.

Being bored, and thinking that since these stories have been so popular that there may be something worthwhile to them, I persisted with my reading.

It is, of course, a murder mystery. The goals are to solve the murder and prevent another one. The story is strictly clues about the case with a little worship of Sherlock thrown in besides. The characters are not overly developed. Holmes and Watson are quite stiff, like the English are often represented to be (I have no idea how accurate that is). The environment is somewhat described, not in great detail, but some.

Holmes raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I had no idea that so gigantic a sum was involved," said he.

"Sir Charles had the reputation of being rich, but we did not know how very rich he was until we came to examine his securities. The total value of the estate was close on to a million."

"Dear me! It is a stake for which a man might well play a desperate game. And one more question, Dr. Mortimer. Supposing that anything happened to our young friend here--you will forgive the unpleasant hypothesis!--who would inherit the estate?"

"Since Rodger Baskerville, Sir Charles's younger brother died unmarried, the estate would descend to the Desmonds, who are distant cousins. James Desmond is an elderly clergyman in Westmoreland."

"Thank you. These details are all of great interest. Have you met Mr. James Desmond?"

"Yes; he once came down to visit Sir Charles. He is a man of venerable appearance and of saintly life. I remember that he refused to accept any settlement from Sir Charles, though he pressed it upon him."

"And this man of simple tastes would be the heir to Sir Charles's thousands."

"He would be the heir to the estate because that is entailed. He would also be the heir to the money unless it were willed otherwise by the present owner, who can, of course, do what he likes with it."

page 35

The story was interesting, and there were surprises along the way. Most everything was very neatly wrapped up at the end. I hate endings that leave things unresolved, so I liked this, but noted the unusual extent and structure of it. I can picture the author as being every bit as stiff and uptight as his characters.

I was struck by the characters walking for transportation, like it was nothing. Yeah. We don't do that so much anymore, and it makes me realize we almost have no choice but to be getting fatter and fatter with our motor vehicles and ready availability of unhealthy food options.

I don't know if I'll read another Sherlock Holmes story. The entertainment value was not great, not terrible. I did not feel myself wrapped up in the story, which is something I like - to sort of lose myself in them. It's always interesting to learn a bit of another place and time, and this story offers that, although not to a great extent. I have the feeling that I'd get bored with them quickly, if I started reading one after another.

I've reread the book, and published a new review of The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman.

Published 1995 by Ortho Books, copyright Monsanto Company. Writers Robert J. Beckstrom, Jeff Beneke, Matt Phair, Naomi Wise. Project Editor Sally W. Smith. 320 pages.

I currently have yet another problem around the house which demands my attention. The faucet on my kitchen sink is dripping to the point it's no longer "dripping" but more accurately described as "running." I bought a new faucet and came home to switch the old for the new.

After cutting off the water supply, and crawling under the sink to unscrew the water pipes from the underneath of the faucet, so I can lift it out and insert the new one... I discovered that behind the sink, way up under the faucet is a very tight, small, dark, hard to reach and work in space; and that the nuts holding the pipes to the faucet are on there nice and tight. After much effort and cussing and shifting of position I decided I simply can't loosen the darn things. If I could just get them disconnected, I know I could do the rest without too much trouble.

I finally decided I have little choice but to call a plumber (that or let the water run all the time, or crawl under the sink to cut the water off and on as needed- on both hot and cold).

Half the plumbers I called only do new construction and of course couldn't recommend anyone to take care of my little problem. The other half do this type of work, but are so busy that they can't be bothered to call me back.

Here I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out how I can get some nice strong man to come loosen these stupid nuts so I can change out the faucet. Then I remembered this book I've had for years and years. Ortho's Home Repair Problem Solver. If you look at the image I've inserted you can see the magic words... BASIN WRENCH. What I need is a basin wrench. Of course, I've never heard of a basin wrench until the moment I saw this picture.

I've included the little write up and picture from the book to show you how incredibly easy it is to read and understand, and how they include these wonderful, easy to understand illustrations. The book covers a multitude of common home maintenance problems, organized by type. Plumbing, electrical, mechanical, etc. It covers major appliances and outdoor problems, and just about anything you can think of. And when a problem is too much for you to do yourself, it tells you to call a professional.

This is simply the best, most useful book I've ever laid my hands on. It has saved me more money than I'll ever know. Tomorrow I head to the mega-hardware store to purchase a BASIN WRENCH, which will undoubtedly cost me much less than $100 (the cost of an hour of a plumber's time), and will serve me long into the future.

Everyone should own a copy of this book.

by Anne Rice. Copyright 2005; Published by Alfred A. Knopf ; 301 pages.

This is a story of a seven to eight year old Jesus, who's lived all his life that he can remember, in Egypt. His father Joseph has received word from an angel in a dream that King Herod is dead and it's time for his family to move back to the Holy Land. They go back to settle in Nazareth. Along their journey they find themselves in the midst of fighting and chaos, the Jews are rebelling against the oppression and cruelty of Herod (I think- I'm not entirely clear what the fighting is about). They attempt to celebrate the Passover in the Temple in Jerusalem but a massacre ensues and they leave town for their safety. It's also about the child Jesus trying to unravel the story of his birth, trying to understand his unexplainable powers, and figure out who he is.

The book does a good job of putting this child Jesus in a warm family environment, and of showing him as a Jew in the location at the time. Anne Rice is always very good at creating the place and time, it's one of the things I love about her books. It helped me to imagine Jesus as a child, as a real person, the environment in which he lived. The Temple with real people coming from miles around to worship, it's size and significance in their lives. It also made me think what it must have been like to be an adult raising this child, which was an interesting consideration. The family is shown to be of strong Jewish faith, and a group to whom God communicates through angels. They are hard working, peaceful, close-knit people.

John the Baptist makes a small appearance but it left an impression on me. I love the child, same age as Jesus, who is quiet and seems to be totally aware of who Jesus is and seems to be in awe of Him. At the same time the young Jesus doesn't know himself.

The story is written in the first person, told to us by the seven year old Jesus. It did not bother me in this book like it did in Remains of the Day, I'm not entirely sure why. The author didn't explain who we are that Jesus is talking to, but there was a comment somewhere which I can't find now, which said something to the effect: he is trying to tell the story through his child eyes. So that was some kind of admission that he was telling us a story, and that an older Jesus was remembering back. And I think this Jesus character would be very likely to tell us his story, where the character Stevens would never tell his.

I didn't buy into the whole thing where the adults in Jesus' life would say something about his birth and Bethlehem, then refuse to tell him more, forbid him even from asking. I know the wondering about Bethlehem was a large part of the story, but I just don't buy that the adults would keep bringing it up if they truly didn't want the child to know the truth. And if they did want him to know the truth, they should have just told him- it would have been better than the way he found out. It's almost like torture to mention it, then clam up without giving him answers. And of course- knowing there are answers to be had, he's not going to stop before he has them. I have raised children, and when I didn't want them to know something, I didn't mention it around them. Still don't. It's not that difficult when it's something that really concerns you.

The author makes Mary a lifelong virgin- sure to be controversial. Personally, I lean towards: probably not.

This is not the best Anne Rice book I've read. It's not a bad book either. I found most of it's value in the placing of the characters in the historical setting. If I were rating on a scale of 5, I'd give it a solid 3.