In a Sunburned Country

 

I love Bill Bryson's books. They're always so funny and clever. 

I have always wanted to visit Australia (among a million other places, like Havana). There are, of course, a couple of things that give me pause: the cost, the time, the gigantic and deadly spiders. Bryson tackles all of these issues and more but makes a really good case for getting over it and coming to the happiest country on Earth (I know it isn't really but it seems like it is). 

And I'm obsessed with Silverchair right now. Has absolutely nothing to do with Bryson's book, but they're from Australia, so it's (marginally) relevant.  

Wing-Walkers

 

This one wasn't bad, but it wasn't one of those books that will stick with me. Even if William Faulkner was a main character (which is exactly why I read it).

The story alternates between Zeno and Della, who are barnstormers, and Bill Faulkner. After WWI, pilots came back home and bought cheap planes and flew around the countryside, taking ordinary folks up for quick rides. Some of them had wing-walkers: brave people who would walk along the wings and dangle from various parts of the plane, dazzling everyone watching below. Zeno is the pilot and Della is the wing-walker. They're accompanied by their Scotty, Sark. Zeno is content to keep flying around and passing the hat in the communities they entertain, but Della dreams of going to Hollywood and flying for the movies.

William Faulkner and his brothers all became pilots. Bill, by all accounts, was not great at it but his youngest brother Dean had a real affinity for it. Bill's early years as a writer are tough but he eventually starts to gain some fame after his third book, "The Sound and the Fury". He's inspired to write a book about barnstormers after attending the opening of the new airport in New Orleans (and meeting the fictional Zeno and Della). The result is "Pylon". 

Bill's brother Dean dies in a plane crash, in the plane Bill gifted to him, leaving behind a pregnant wife. Bill felt guilty about Dean's death and blamed himself. He cared for his niece, Dean (named after her dead father) until he died. Zeno and Della's parts sort of dragged along but Bill's sections were quite good. 

Crown & Sceptre

 

My American software doesn't like how I spell "Sceptre" 😊

"Crown and Sceptre" was an overview of the British Monarchy from William the Conqueror to present day. Most of the very early kings just got a page or two, not much information about them, I would imagine. It was good to learn more about some of the time periods I didn't know very much about. I'm good with the Plantagenets (obviously) and the Tudors, but after them I'm spotty until I get to Queen Victoria. I knew a little about Cromwell and the Stuarts but not much. It was well written and she was fair to Richard III, which is all I ask. 

Angel & Spike: Vol. One

 

So this collected issues 9-12 (I think) of the newish Angel and Spike series (why it was called volume one is a mystery). I was a little lost, since the story doesn't seem to follow canon at all. Angel has returned from Hell to find Gunn and Fred with Spike. He does not like that but they ask Angel to please give Spike a chance, as he's trying to make amends. Yeah, Angel, stop being a dick. 

No sign or mention of Cordelia, Lorne, or Wesley, which was a bummer. Meanwhile, Detective Kate Lockley is trying to help a street kid named Dre when he gets bitten by some weird creature who looks like a man but is clearly dead. A woman shows up at the hospital and says she knows someone who can help Dre and gives Kate Angel's business card.

Kate and Angel have never met in this alternate reality, so she's reluctant to call him but she has no one else to turn to. Kate seems to get infected with something and Fred has to sacrifice herself to save everyone and I don't know what the heck all was going on. Angel and Spike never ended up in a car together like the cover shows, which was disappointing. I was hoping for a Vegas road trip.   

Call Me a Cab

 

This one was really fun, I enjoyed it. Back in 1977, Donald Westlake decided to try his hand at writing a suspense story without any crime in it. The result was "Call Me a Cab". 

Taxi cab driver Tom Fletcher picks up Katherine Scott on her way to the airport. Katherine is flying out to L.A. to give her boyfriend, Barry, her final answer as to whether or not she'll marry him. She's kept the poor guy on the hook for two years, dilly dallying. (Barry is literally a saint). She's wavering in the cab, telling Tom she doesn't know what to do and then she asks him what it would cost her to have him drive her out to California so she can have more time to think about it (because two years isn't enough, I guess). Tom thinks she's joking, but she's not. After getting the okay from his boss (his father) and packing a bag, Tom and Katherine are off to Los Angeles.

Their cross country drive is lots of fun. They run into some characters. The story was very suspenseful. Will she say yes or no to Barry? Are the two of them falling for each other? The ending was kind of perfect. I had a hard time putting it down.