Nothing else matters ...

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero



Blurb:

In 1977, four preteens and a dog--Andy (the tomboy), Nate (the nerd), Kerri (the bookworm), Peter (the jock), and Sean (the Weimaraner)--solved the mystery of Sleepy Lake. The trail of an amphibian monster terrorizing the quiet town of Blyton Hills leads the gang to spend a night in Deboën Mansion and apprehend a familiar culprit: a bitter old man in a mask.

Now, in 1990, the twenty-something former kid detectives are lost souls. Plagued by night terrors and Peter's tragic death, the three survivors have been running from their demons. When the man they apprehended all those years ago makes parole, Andy tracks him down to confirm what she's always known--they got the wrong guy. Now she'll need to get the gang back together and return to Blyton Hills to find out what really happened in 1977, and this time, she's sure they're not looking for another man in a mask.

I've had this on my wishlist since it was published in 2018 - how could I not? A riff on Scooby Do?

But a grown up Scooby Gang where Fred went to Hollywood and OD'd in a motel room, Shaggy is in a mental institution because he's haunted by Fred's ghost, Velma has so many anger issues that the even military thought she was too much, and Daphne lives in an unheated tenement in Brooklyn with Scooby's great-great grandson. The whole premise is amazing.

I struggled which bingo square to use for this book. I thought it would be the crime/mystery one, and they do solve mysteries. Then I thought about using a substitution for horror/paranormal because that could also apply, but I'm a fraidy cat, and this book didn't scare me at all. I finally settled on thriller/suspense because this book reads like an action movie.

Literally. This was my biggest problem with the book - it randomly switches from paragraphs to script format, complete with stage directions. Sometimes it includes stage directions in the middle of the paragraph. It constantly breaks the fourth wall, destroying any of the tension that had built up. The author uses words that I don't recognize and that don't really fit what he's using them for. Sort of like the guy in The Glass Onion.

I also struggled to figure out how to rate it because the writing was so frustrating but the overall plot was good. There's the central mystery of centuries old pirate gold, someone accidentally raised an ancient underworld god, an army of amphibian monsters, and a scientifically plausible natural disaster. ( Read more... ) It would make a great movie.

Title: 'M' is for Monster
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing/Characters: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Rating: Mature
Summary: Warnings: homophobia, American imperialism, concentration camps, theocracy
Notes: This was a gateverse_remix fic that remixed xparrot's fic Kuro to Ao. I wrote this in July of 2008. Obama had not been elected president yet, and we were nearing the end of 8 years of GW Bush. This is where my head was at the time. Given some of things going on in the world, this fic may not be for you. Beta by lilithilien who steered this thing when I was afraid it was going to crash and held my hand when I freaked out about creating a repressive society in the place of a light-hearted fairy tale. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Podfic available: M Is for Monster read by Rhea

On AO3: 'M' Is for Monster

On raselgethi: 'M' Is for Monster

West with the Night by Beryl Markham



Blurb:

This 1942 memoir (not a complete autobiography) by Beryl Markham chronicles her experiences growing up in Kenya (then British East Africa) in the early 1900s, and her stellar careers as racehorse trainer and bush pilot.

Markham was the first woman in East Africa to be granted a commercial pilot's license, piloting passengers and supplies to remote corners of Africa. She became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west.

Considered a classic of outdoor literature and ranked #8 by National Geographic Adventure in 2008 on its list of the 100 best adventure books.

I absolutely loved this book - the language was evocative of all the sounds, scents, and allure of Africa, the anecdotes were thrilling, and the other people in the story were well-characterized. She left out a lot of things, like for instance, she never once mentions her mother, and the reader is left to surmise what might have happened. Markham also never mentions any lovers, husbands, or children. This book isn't about her life in total, but about three main events/sections of her life: her experiences learning to hunt with the Africans who lived near her family's farm in Kenya; her time as a racehorse trainer (at age 17!); and her experiences as a bush pilot and record breaker.

One caveat: this was written in 1942. Markham acknowledges that she is part of a colonialist empire and is mildly critical of the British Empire. However, she makes no reference the privilege she had as a member of that empire. She is also an enthusiastic participant in hunting elephants for their tusks. She treats the Italian Fascists that she encounters with an amused contempt. Which, fair, probably.

The story of the book itself it nearly as fascinating as the contents. I had to go to Wikipedia after I finished it to verify some things and find out more. Turns out Markham had an older brother, too, who is never mentioned. Back to the book - it was published in 1942 and sold terribly, thus was out of print rather quickly. However, in the 1980s, a Hemingway scholar was reading some of Hemingway's papers and found a glowing review of the book that was written by Hemingway himself (you can see part of what he wrote on the book cover above). The scholar decided to track down the book's rights and Beryl Markham. She was found living in poverty in Nairobi. The book was republished in 1983 and did much better this time. Enough to let Markham end out her days in relative comfort until her death in 1986.

Highly recommend as an adventure story about a woman who broke barriers in a world that hadn't been fully explored.