Book Review: Mailman by J. Robert Lennon

Albert Lippincott is a mailman, in fact he is one of those people who seems to define himself by his job, at least the author refers to him as Mailman, not Albert, only other characters call him that. He is 57, divorced, once had been in a mental institution when he attacked his college professor, he's been a mailman for nearly 30 years, he has cats, he doesn't like the cats, he doesn't seem to like much, and he reads some of the mail he delivers. He seems to live in the past  and also the future, never keeping his mind on what he is doing right then, which is probably why he has so many routines, that must be done the same way, like his mail route, or he freaks. He talks too much, he thinks too much, he thinks about things that may or may not happen, too much. He may be obsessive compulsive. His relationship with his sister is odd, his family is odd, his relationships with other people are odd, he is odd.

The story is told through flashbacks that break into Mailman's present as it falls apart around him. He thinks he's going to get caught by the postal inspectors, someone on his route dies while he was dithering over a letter he "borrowed". Is he responsible for that death? Who else knows? Does she know, the girl at the same apartment building who stares at him, saw his fighting with the mailboxes?

I liked the story.  I was surprised when I found myself at the end though not disappointed. I mean, the guy is so ordinary what would be the point of continuing? I learned enough about Albert, I don't need to know any more. He seems real enough, the author has a way with words, very descriptive in a Thomas Pynchon kind of way but not to the point of going on and on and on ad nauseum till you just want to skip over whole sections while yelling "get on with it, damn you!".

It's a hard book to describe, it's just a slice out of this one man's life and he isn't someone I would really care to know, but the slow train wreck of his existence is fascinating to watch. Can he can get off the train? But if he doesn't, oh well, no big loss. I'm not sure I care either way, but I'm still glad I read the book. Weird, huh?


I liked the story.  I was surprised when I found myself at the end though not disappointed. I mean, the guy is so ordinary what would be the point of continuing? I learned enough about Albert, I don't need to know any more. He seems real enough, the author has a way with words, very descriptive in a Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow"  kind of way but not to the point of going on and on and on ad nauseum till you just want to skip over whole sections while yelling "get on with it, damn you!".

Read it.

Book Review: The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

A nimble little regency romance novel by Julia Quinn. We have a stuttering duke, raised by his nurse with immense daddy issues because his father thought him an imbecile and essentially disowned him. The heroine is Daphne, the eldest daughter of 8 children, 3 of them older brothers. Their "cute meet" is over a drunken suitor to Daphne whom she wants nothing to do with, so she and the duke  decide to pretend to be courting to keep the "Ambitious" Mamas" of the ton from pushing their children onto either of them.

Things of course, get hairy as they do lust for each other, and Daphne wants lots of children while the duke wants neither children nor marriage. Daphne's eldest brother the Viscount knows his friend the duke to be a rake and should not be entertaining any thoughts of his sister never mind a false courtship so there is lots of bad blood there. And half way through the book, there's a duel, sort of.

I liked the book. I liked the characters, I wouldn't mind reading more assuming the author marries off the other 7 children. Series do seem to be common in the romance genre. Unlike the ones I've read by Stephanie Laurens there is no subplot of murder or mystery, (other than the duke's problem with his dad), this is a straight romance story. I wish it was a little meatier as I didn't find the 2 main characters very compelling but as I said, it was a nimble little story. A quick read.

Hit the Library Today

I had ordered a bunch of books through the online library system and one of them came in today so while picking it up I decided to see what the local branch had to offer inside. I picked up 5 books total.

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn, a romance novel recommended by the Smart Bitches,Trashy Books web site. Yes, I'm getting into romance novels because they're FUN! And fun is good!

Number 2 is the first book whose spine caught my eye in the fiction section: Mailman by J. Robert Lennon. Don't know anything about the book or the author but the jacket tells about a mailman who reads other people's mail, has a disastrous marriage, a "sexually ambiguous entanglement with his melodramatic sister" (there's weird, for ya) and something about attempting to reform Kazakhstan's postal system. Say, isn't that in a whole 'nother country?

Third book is Buckingham Palace Gardens, a Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novel by Anne Perry. My mom reads these Victorian mystery novels and since that's what she has scattered all over her house, I got into reading them too. I'm pretty sure I've missed a couple earlier ones, but this is what my tiny library branch had.

Fourth book is a science fiction novel called Harmony by C. F. Bentley. No idea what it's really about but it was one of the few SF novels on the half-shelf devoted to SF. The Lincoln library used to carry more. Not looking good, it's really filling up with paperback romance novels (could be a good thing except for sacrificing the SF!). Thank goodness for the online ordering system!

Last book is another fiction and happens to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I don't have as much respect for the Nobel as I used to, but we won't get into that now. It's Somersault by Kenzaburo Oe. I have no idea if it was written in Japanese and then translated into English or written in English. The story has something to do with an apocalypse. I'm hoping it's interesting.

I am currently reading a short, mediocre mystery I borrowed from Uncle Louie. The hero (I need a lesser description, this guy is kind of dull) is some strange character with a huge mustache and 2 Siamese cats living in a place called Pickax. I may as well get that done so I can get into the heavy reading next. Then I'll start posting reviews.

(edited for grammar and adding a link)

Its a Green Heron!

In the title photo. An immature one actually, DH saw it and I ran down with the camera and quietly took a couple dozen photos. Haven't seen it since. Took me longer to size the photo to fit the blog header than it did to take the dang picture!

Not much a first post for this "witty" blog but mainly I was setting up the fonts and colors today. After I have something to say I'll post the "real" stuff.