Joe’s Book Club: Chapter 27, Happy Anniversary

Today’s Post by Joe Farace

“Reality doesn’t always give us the life that we desire, but we can always find what we desire between the pages of books.”―Adelise M. Cullens

Crossovers & Miscellaneous Ramblings

In the comic book world—yes, I also like to read comics, not the superhero ones, except for Batman—there is a thing called crossover when one character interacts with another superhero, who may have their own book, into a combine comic. Last time there was some crossover between the Chapter 26 post and Joe’s Movie Club abut a question from a reader about, “What’s the Best Movie Ever Made?” and I opined on the subject. So here’s another response to a question I received from another reader: “What was the best book you read last year?”

Easy, peasy…It was Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris. This is a non-fiction book about what, for its time, may have been one of greatest manhunts in history. The book concerns the search through the wilds of seventeenth-century New England for two Englishmen who were peripherally involved in the assassination of King Charles I by an Inspector Javert-like pursuer. It’s a real-life chase, that reads much like the fictional The Fugitive and while Harris descends into speculation for the ending, it is the ending you wished it would have.

Runner-up is the sci-fi book, The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi. Yes, it’s about dinosaurs (sorry, not sorry) that flips the whole Jurassic Park trope and even The Lost World concept and turns it on it’s head. It’s about Tom, who works for what is described as an animal rights organization.” In fact, it takes place In an alternate dimension, where massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a  human-free world.

Books I’ve Read Lately

I just finished reading Black Dahlia, Red Rose by Piu Eatwell and it’s one of the most well researched and fascinating true crime books I’ve ever read. The author combines meticulous research with scholarly attention to detail—there are lot’s of footnotes and extensive list of resources—while retaining a sense of a good narrative story teller. And while many books about unsolved murders often feature the author’s guess as to who the killer might be, Eatwell give you not just her opinion but that of many experts as to who the perpetrator was and why he was never brought to justice. In fact, if this was a book of fiction and you were reading it when the “killer” gets introduced as a character, not as the “killer”but a suspect, you would say to yourself, “he’s the guy!”  And I expect you will come to the same conclusion when reading this non-fiction book. Heck, there’s even a photograph of the guy leaving town because of how and why the sensational press in Los Angeles of this era treated the story and also plays a big role, both positive and negative, in the Black Dahlia saga. If you like to read true crime and may have heard of the Black Dahlia murder case, you need to read this book, especially if you’ve already read other books such as Black Dahlia Avenger.

I’m currently reading The Girl Who Took What She Wanted by David Handler (Book 17 on my Books Read 2023 list) as well as Porsche 365: 75th Anniversary. You can find my take on reading two books at the same time here.

PS. In case you wondered, almost all of the books that are provided to me for review by their publishers are donated to the local library who, in turn, sells them to fund future acquisitions. There are also many books, mostly about photography, that are sent to me and that I don’t chose to review. These are donated as well. Most but not all of the car books reviewed, I keep for my library.

PPS. And to quote Cinzia DuBois, “Books save lives, so keep reading.”

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