Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Wear the old coat and buy the new book.—Austin Phelps
First some kvetches about uncorrected mistakes in books: I just finished reading Broken Trust the first of the Spenser novels created that were by the late Robert B. Parker and are now written by Mike Lupica. He is a American newspaper columnist, known for his commentary on sports in the New York Daily News. Lupica = is no stranger to writing fiction having written dozens of novels and had previously successfully taken over the helm of the Jesse Stone novels, also created by the late Mr. Parker and he’s done a great job. with Broken Trust , Mr. Lupica includes a paragraph that includes an analogy where he referenced Thomas Edison calling his assistant Watson on the telephone. On March 10, 1876, it was Alexander Graham Bell, who said, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” Not Edison.
I don’t want to criticize Mr. Lupica for this mistake but innumerable people must have read that book before it was submitted to the publisher and while at the publishing house copy editors and proof readers also read the book. But nobody caught this mistake, Nobody bothered to Google the fact that it was Graham Bell who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone not Edison. Yet, I have had copy editors beat me about about my use of “which” or “that” and most photography books—at least in the pre-social media day—had technical editors who fact checked the text. Nowadays I don’t think anyone in publishing cares about anything other than the authors’ number of social media followers or subscribers. By the way, Broken Trust is a great read and highly recommend to mystery novel fans. I will now descend my soapbox and continue with the “rest of the program.”
Starting a New Book List
And now to answer the question that so many,—probably none—of you have wanted to ask: “How many books did you read in 2023”. Well, the answer is 71, which by an interesting or maybe not-so-interesting coincidence is the same number of books that I read in 2022. And while that number may not be important to your, it is one that I find notable for myself. I look forward to seeing how many good books and maybe some new authors I’ll find and read this year.
The book I’m reading to kick of the new year in my next SciFi book club pick: The Mountain In the Sea by Ray Naylor. The book is set in the near future and is about research by a small group of scientists into what may be sentient octopuses located in the waters around Vietnam. Oh yeah, and there;s an android character, as part of the team, so you know that I’m lovin; that part of the book.
And before you freak out that you don’t care about octopi, here’s some interesting facts from The Shedd Aquarium: Octopuses are standouts among cephalopods, and among all invertebrates, for their large brains. They can navigate mazes, solve problems, remember, predict, use tools and take apart just about anything from a crab to a lock. And then there’s this: A scientific paper claims that these wondrously smart undersea animals are actually aliens brought to Earth by meteors. “But wait, it gets better from here. How about frozen octopus eggs riding a meteor to Earth 540 million years ago.” Now does the book sound intriguing?
Structurally, each chapter in the the book shifts to different character’s perspective who are seemingly unrelated, much like
In Memoriam
From the Miami Herald: Tim Dorsey, author of 26 popular novels about a unique Florida Man named Serge Storms, has died at age 62. Dorsey, who had recently had health problems, died at his home in Islamorada.” I was a fan of Dorsey’s books since 2000 when my wife gave me a paperback copy of his second book, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, and I was hooked. If you are a fan of wacky, funny and clever mysteries, I strongly suggest that you pick up any of his books from your friendly neighborhood bookstore or library. You’ll thank me later.