Short Stories By Louis L'Amour

“Four Card Draw
“Desert Death Song”
“Trap of Gold”
“Keep Travlin’ Rider Louis L’Amour

Louis L’Amour has entertained me for many years and I keep finding little gems that I missed. These four short stories involve a murder that the people of the town want to keep secret, a hunted man who tries to survive in the desert, a prospector who finds a rich gold vein, and a stranger riding into a town controlled by bad guys. Always great characters and great fun!

The Magicians By Lev Grossman

This is the story of, still another, magical world. A bit like C. S. Lewis but more liken to J.K. Rowland. The novel details the adventures of precocious young people selected to attend “Brakebills College of Magical Pedagogy” an invisible (to the uninitiated) place where students spend some five years learning to be magicians. As compared to Harry Potters Hogwarts, Brakebills was a lot rougher; the training was very rigorous and the professors were very strict. For the final exams, the students were led to the roof of one of the buildings, removed their clothes and were transformed into geese whereupon they flew to the frigid South Pole area where they were told that now they would begin to really learn to do magic. Difficult and harsh times were ahead. I enjoyed the interplay between the students which was very adult and interesting. Overall, a good read.

Follow Me Down By Shelby Foote

Southern writer, Shelby Foote writes of a “crime of passion”. Farmer Eustis, leaves his family and runs off with a young girl to a deserted Mississippi island where, after a week, he drowns her. Foote uses the convention that Wilkie Collins first used in the mid 1800’s where, as the novel unfolds, each of the characters involved narrates their own history and the role they played until everything all comes together.

Hothouse Orchid By Stuart Woods

With the exception of “Chiefs” a very early Woods novel, I have steered away from this author because of the way he handles his female characters. Woods always portrays them as slutty, overly aggressive women who jump in and out of bed throughout the story. This is his latest novel; found it at the library; he is still at it.