Agatha by Kathleen Tynan

A Novel of Mystery

I’m a huge Agatha Christie fan, so when I stumbled across this novel in the library, I couldn’t resist.  Having already read all of her works, I’m always hoping that some undiscovered manuscript will come forth from someone’s dusty attic.  This novel isn’t quite that, but it was fun anyway.  

When in her 30s, Christie disappeared mysteriously for eleven days.  Despite enormous publicity, it has never been determined what really happened during that time.  Even in her autobiography, Christie makes no mention of it.  This novel by Kathleen Tynan invents an interesting tale of what could have happened.  I enjoyed reading it, mostly because I like Christie, but also on its own merits.

The FairTax Book by Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder

Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS

In a nutshell, all federal taxes (including Social Security and Medicare) would be replaced with a retail tax of about 23%.  I think it sounds wonderful!  At any rate, even if it’s just a mediocre idea, it can’t be any worse than our current system.  Critics say that it would be hard on the poor, but not so.  This varies from traditional sales taxes in that everyone would receive a monthly “prebate” to cover the tax on the basic necessities of life.  So the poor would pay little or no tax.  

Currently in Congress as the FairTax Bill (H.R. 25) it does not aim to reduce or increase government spending.  The 23% is calculated to keep revenues at their current levels.  I love that it is such a simple plan.  You keep all the money you earn, and pay tax only when and if you buy something (above the basic necessities of life).  No taxes on savings or investment earnings.  No more loopholes for the rich.  No more tax evasion for “under-the-table” payments.  Even drug lords and criminals will pay their tax when they spend their loot.  No corporate taxes – thus bringing back businesses and jobs to the U.S.  The authors propose that once the current embedded taxes on all goods and services are abolished, actual retail prices will decline, so adding on the FairTax will not make prices much different than what you are paying now.  That part I’m not so sure about, but we’d still be getting our entire paychecks plus the “prebate,” so it would at least even out.   The only real problem that I see with this plan is that it is just too good to be true!  I guess there is another problem, and that would be getting it through Congress.  So read the book, go to www.fairtax.org, write your Congressman, and get involved!

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

My mother gave me this gem a few years ago, and I have since enjoyed reading it several times.  Published in 1948, it is a young Englishwoman’s journal account of her eccentric, poverty-stricken, family’s encounter with new neighbors from America.  Cassandra is the most delightfully refreshing narrator – she seems quite real.  Dodie Smith’s writing is of a style that I particularly admire, and wish I could emulate.  The title refers to the run-down old castle that Cassandra and her family live in, and how she “captures” it in her journal as she strives to become a better writer.

I particularly like how Smith portrays the fledgling romances.  How typical of teenagers to struggle with their feelings like that.  The “bear chase” scene is hilarious.  There is also a good undercurrent of ye olde British social class struggle; village boy Stephen is in love with Cassandra, but alas, she is above him in class.  

Dodie Smith is also the author of 101 and Dalmations, but don’t let that put you off from reading I Capture the Castle.  It ranks as one of my favorites.  Although, Dalmations isn’t bad either – Disney massacred the book.

Cheaper by the Dozen

By Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Nonfiction

I first read this book in high school, and have enjoyed it many times since.  I was reminded of it last night when I saw a commercial for the Cheaper by the Dozen 2 movie coming out soon.  For those who don’t know, that Steve Martin film bears almost no resemblance to the book.  Not only is it modernized, but the plot and characters are almost entirely changed.  The title and lots of kids are about the only things they have in common.  It’s a harmless film (although I’ve only seen parts of it), but in no way measures up to the book.  

The book is the hilarious true tale of an early 20th century family.  Written by two of the twelve children, it is basically a memoir of their childhood, and a portrait of their remarkable parents.  Mr. Gilbreth was the founder of motion study, and the book is worth reading just to learn a little about that little-know topic.  You also get a good glimpse of the culture of that time.  My mother read this book as a child, and credits it as being part of the reason she wanted a large family.  There are ten of us, so reader, beware!  This is powerful stuff!

Suspense and Sensibility by Carrie Bebris

A Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery
I’m a little embarrassed that I read another one of these, after I was critical in my review of her other book, but I had nothing else on hand to read.  This one was a little better, but still much too predictable.  It mixes Pride and Prejudice characters with those of Sense and Sensibility.

Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris

A Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery

First, let me state that I am a huge Jane Austen fan, and have been since long before the current Hollywood-induced revival.  I consider her writings delightful and masterfully crafted.  It is a joy to savor every sentence.  But as much as I love her, I do not take offense at those writers who try to capture her world in sequels or alternative-point-of-view novels (such as Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken – very good read).

That said, there are only a few reasons why you would want to read this book.  You are marooned on a desert island, and have nothing else.  You so desperately wish that Austen had written more, that you will accept anything that has remotely to do with her original works.  Once you start a book, you have a compulsion to finish it.  You are very bored.  

Bebris does not even come close to getting Austen’s style right.  Granted, this is a hard task, but I have read others who have done better.  After a few chapters, you can get over this, but I had a hard time getting over how obvious the plot was.  I had no problem figuring out the villain and his methods very early on in the novel.  Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by reading too much Agatha Christie.

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan

What a marvelous cultural experience!  It is fascinating to read such rich detail about China and the American-Chinese cultural blending.  Just as good as her other books I’ve read, The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife.

WARNING: SPOILER
I thought the depiction of the problems and staleness of Olivia’s and Simon’s marriage quite apt.  It’s amazing how many people do get divorced for similar reasons these days.  However, I did think it was a little unrealistic that two whole years after Olivia has made her discoveries and shed her emotional baggage, that she and Simon are still not totally back together.  

I was a bit confused at the beginning, but maybe I’m just slow.  It took me a while to catch on that this is a reincarnation story.  By the end, Tan pulls the plot together convincingly, and it almost made me wish I believed in reincarnation.  The yin people, or ghosts, that only Kwan can see, are great.  That’s just how I believe people are in the spirit world; moving along, going about business, still learning, not knowing everything, rarely interfering with mortals, and waiting for the next step.

I’m sorry to say that bad language increased in frequency toward the end of the book – one of my pet peeves.

The Widow's Tale by Margaret Frazer

This is another enjoyable Dame Frevisse mystery.  It was a bit more of a page turner than The Reeve’s Tale; the story of a widow brutally torn from her children and shut up in a nunnery (where she meets Frevisse).  Alas, this book didn’t deal with the peasant class as the other one did, but Frazer was at least accurate in her depiction of these upper class characters.  The ending was a tear-inducing shocker.

The Reeve's Tale by Margaret Frazer

This is a historical detective mystery, and one of a series of Sister Frevisse mysteries.  I haven’t read any of the others, but I will now.  I wish I could have started with the first, but the library didn’t have it.  The setting is a 15th century English village and priory.  Frazer is accurate in her period detail, and stays away from the upper classes, thank goodness.  There are already too many books with ladies fainting in castles and knights galloping to their rescue.  Those sorts of books tend to be historically inaccurate, anyway.  With The Reeve’s Tale, it was refreshing to read about a manor village and its villeins and freeborn, instead of the inhabitants of the manor.  In fact my main enjoyment of the book came from its social history, and not from the detective plot.  The latter was pretty good, although a little easy to guess the “whodunit”.