REVIEW: Historical Mystery

The Guardian Stones by Eric Reed
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

[2016] #1 Grace Baxter, WW2, rural Shropshire England, 1941. A tiny village, "odd" inhabitants, much darkness and sadness, mixed with a stalwart young woman and a tired and damaged Visiting Academic. Unsettled times and places indeed, especially so once the children begin to vanish... Interesting setting and characters, and a good plot, but a somewhat sketchy execution at times. Entertaining, but I had hoped for a bit more substance: 3-and-one-half out of five stars.

It's a society falling to pieces, falling into darkness, hurting all that come within reach, a truly diabolical - and unsettling - story; a darkly atmospheric thriller set at a time when all the world (at least in Europe) seemed to be falling -literally- to pieces. And the village of Noddweir most of all. Known (mildly) in Academic Circles for its standing stones, no-one appears to have investigated them in centuries, well, not "properly", that is. So Professor Carpenter comes to the village to look them over and perhaps excavate a bit, learn the history of the village, and The Old Ways and mores of The Locals. He gets more, finds more, than he had bargained for. He meets Grace, for one thing, and she's quite a handful, as are her family and friends. With no police in or nearby the village, investigating the odd - and then deadly - happenings as they escalate, falls to Grace, daughter of the former Constable. She has a far better grip on both reality and on the local mysteries both past and present, than does the putative Law officer sent to investigate.

The pacing is fairly good, and the plotting is very good, spiraling and twisting around several mysterious themes: missing children, robberies, possible sex crimes, a fire, a murder. Another murder. Another murder, or, maybe not. A missing adult, then another. A great set-up, in fact, and the denouement was sharply drawn and extremely dark. However:

There were many small things that distracted me from the flow of the story, particularly the use of very short chapters, each with a "thrilling hook!" meant to pull the reader on to the next bit. And the use of italics as a change in viewpoint for A Mysterious Observer was incredibly annoying as well. The short short chapters mixed with the multiple abrupt changes in viewpoint were terribly distracting, and never allowed me to actually "get into" the story. Unfortunately, those sorts of techniques are far overused in general these days, and remain "Pet Peeves" of mine. They broke any chance at a reading "flow" and didn't allow the developement of deeper emotional connections with Grace or the Professor, although the characterizations were generally good. I enjoyed the slight bits of personality shown, but they felt like chess pieces, not people in trouble.

This plot was strong, and *should* have been absolutely terrifying - all the right bits for that were present, but the ending was rushed, and not enough attention paid to what really matters most in this kind of psychlogical-based thriller story: we needed to fear for, hope for, Grace and/or Edwin, but all we were given were tiny glimpses into their selves; so many people died or went missing that it seemed as though Grace and/or Edwin would be next, and that this would have been just another chess piece so as to move The Plot along!

And there was, alas, yet another Pet Peeve of mine: The Big Twist was slyly and well-hinted at throughout the novel, but we were never led to believe that it actually *was* a possibility. It's potentially an enormously emotional and evocative ending and concept that ought to have ripped my guts out; when it actually arrived it was with a big "Ta-Da!!!" and only seemed thin, not truly horrifying. The revulsion and horror I ought to have felt at the denouement, the sadness and hurt I ought to have felt for the villagers that I had rather liked at times, seemed to have faded into pastel. This ought to have had a Technicolor strength of feeling.

BUT. Mary Reed and Eric Meyer ("Eric Reed") are superb writers, justly renowned for their many wonderful books. So perhaps I am grading too hard? It's true: I had *expected* something superb in this first-in-series, and what I read was good entertainment; that disappointed me rather. Yet, Grace Baxter is an intriguing character; I liked her. This series has many places it might go, many stones it might look under (sorry, couldn't help it), much darkness and upheaval in a world and at a time when nothing - and no-one - seemed secure. That holds promise.

[NOTE: not for the squeamish, a goodly amount of blood'n'guts, plus there are children and vulnerable elders in much fully described danger and then there's the particularly harrowing bits about a dog...]


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REVIEW: Mystery

Island Of Tears by Troy Soos
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

ISLAND OF TEARS, Troy Soos, 2001, #1 Marshall Webb, reporter, Rebecca Davies, social worker, NYC 1892. At the Opening Day ceremonies at Ellis Island, a reporter makes the acquaintance of a nice young immigrant girl and decides to follow her story as she adapts to life in America. When a few days later he finds she's gone missing, he tries to track her down.

I very much enjoyed this author's earlier, baseball-centric historical mystery series: smoothly written, funny, AND baseball! Plots were good too. (and one of them was about my beloved Red Sox). His writing here is even better, richly plush, almost Victorian in its depth and complexity. But heavy, and dark. Excruciatingly dark.

I suspect the plot is a good one; there are likely lots of twists and many interesting characters. But I don't know for certain, and won't, since I will not be finishing this book. I read fifty pages and, sadly, must consider it as "Did Not Finish". This is far too dark and, yes, grubby for me, too much ugliness and dirty streets and truly foul people. This historical mystery may be true to its setting, it may be an accurate representation of the period as well. But I did not enjoy reading about it in those fifty pages; the book has over 200 pages total. But that's just me. YMMV.

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REVIEW: Mystery

The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

THE GIRL I USED TO BE, April Henry, 2016. Stand-alone YA mystery/thriller; entertaining, fast-paced, predictable but very smoothly written and well-plotted, with no loose ends, an enjoyable read: 3.0/5.0

When she was three years old Ariel Benson saw her mother killed, and her missing father assumed to have done the deed and run away. Entering the fostering system, by age 17 she is on her own, capable and looking for the truth of what happened that frightening day so long ago, since she remembers very little about either of her parents. And now some of his bones have been found, and it becomes clear that he died the same day as her mother. Returning for his funeral she finds that with a changed name (a failed adoption by a long-ago foster mother) no-one seems to recognize her. To the little town where she had been born she is Olivia Rheinhart, and that no-one there questions it.

This is one of the implausible things that I actively dislike in mystery plots, where practically no-one "recognizes" a long-gone newly returned heroine who has changed so much that she can "pass" for somebody else, but it's smoothly done here, with only a bit of slight fudging to make things flow smoothly. But you will need to suspend belief that a girl who is repeatedly mentioned as looking very much like her mother did at the same age (17) and is now living in the same house, and spends most of her time in this small town asking questions about what happened is *not* going to be suspected as at least a relative of some sort? But the narrative flows along, and I went with it.

Ms. Henry also uses a technique that I abhor in adult mysteries but which works very well in a YA mystery: the device of very short, fast-moving chapters, each of which ends with a "thrilling!" hook. I'll grant that maybe YA readers tend to have shorter reading spans for plots, and are accustomed to, expect to have their stories rush along. Not often my favorite thing, but this was a very short read, and sped by before my slight annoyance was transformed into actual dislike.

April Henry can write very well. I enjoyed this quick read, possibly because I did not expect to be overwhelmed by complexity or a deeply twisted plot, and I wasn't. Yes there are decent twists in the plot, and the character revealed as the murderer in the last scenes is not sprung on us unexpectedly, for although we're not told much about him he *is* present in most of the group scenes of the novel. So it was fairly played. She could have given us a bit more about his background, though, but that's a small quibble.

Comfortable, fast-moving, well-structured and written, if this was promoted as an adult thriller I would have been PO'd; as a YA novel it was a very good thriller, 3.5 stars out of 5, and recommended for YA and those adults who just want a comfortable, quick read.

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REVIEW: Mystery

Death in the Off-Season: A Merry Folger Mystery by Francine Mathews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

1994, #1 Merry Folger, third-generation police officer, Nantucket Island, New England. Cosy police procedural with an interesting case and a good plot, wonderful characters, will gladly try another.

Merry Folger works for her Dad, in the family business: she's a police detective, and he's the Chief of Police. Male detectives hate and/or envy her, even her Dad seems to think she can't do the job. Locals accept the family, the rich look down their noses at the locals, and the tourists don't seem to much care about the social strata on this small island. Merry is gorgeous and falls a bit for the Lead Suspect, brooding hunk old-monied Peter.

Sounds like a cutsey disaster, right? Sweet romantic fluff? Nope. Think Again.

Yes, Merry is beautiful but she's also smart and tough, with a realistic strength that comes from being part of a long established, well-respected, genuinely loving family. And the characters here are very well drawn, with good shadings and nice touches despite much of the writing seeming to be superficial at first look: Peter, whose black sheep no-good, high-flying big brother comes calling one night and dies in a cranberry bog on Peter's farm, and is found by the fragile Will, a young employee who has simply suffered far too much in his short life. Peter is fixated on his Lost Love who ran away with the brother years ago, and a reclusive schoolteacher is in love with him. There's more in this vein, but it's surprisingly woven in nicely and doesn't actually distract from the mystery plot:

Rusty the black sheep was once their powerful, wealthy and avaricious father's pride'n'joy - until he attempted "something" the family won't mention and got caught by Dad who not only disowned him but also turned him in to the goverment, so Rusty's been on the run for a decade. Killed immediately in the story, the plot centers on who and why, and Peter and his relations are not talking. We follow along with Merry as she works her way through what turns out to be a nicely twisted plot until the final denouement, as red herrings slide by and bits and pieces of clues surface and fade.

Over all this was well done, tidy, and interesting - I enjoyed it. And for a first novel (not just first-in-series) the flaws were minimal. But present, and that's why the comparatively low rating - for me - for a book I quite enjoyed. The ending was rushed, the "reveals" close to the end much too abrupt and portentous, without any real feeling for or about the current state of plot or character, got the feeling she knew she was coming to the end but still had a few "good bits" she simply HAD to put in! So she tumbled things down. Not bad, but not smooth - first-book-itis. The final "take-down' scene with the murderer is sketchy and too quick, not prepared for enough as well. We needed a bit more rounding out of that character and didn't get it. The feeling the murderer was only a chess piece was pretty clear, and that was disappointing, but not really bad.

And that's how I felt, ultimately, about this book: entertaining, pretty good, "not bad" for a first book, and will gladly read another in the series - I love what are for me "local" mysteries.

[NOTE: my indicator "cosy police procedural" means the lead is a working cop, but the slam/bam!!! quotient is low, as is the general blood'n'guts level. "Cosy" for me does not mean a book is sweet and "cuuu-yoote!!" in any way, it mainly means traditional format(s) of story and/or settings]

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REVIEW: History, Philosophy

Our Oriental Heritage: A History of Civilization in Egypt and the Near East to the Death of Alexander, and in India, China, and Japan from the Beginning to Our Own Day, with by Will Durant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First volume in Will (and later Ariel as well) Durant's enormous series STORY OF CIVILIZATION, this is nearly glacial in movement, very old-fashioned in its approach, and yet completely compelling and endearing, as well as enduring. Filled with a wide variety of "asides", footnotes (heck, even the footnotes have footnotes...), and sometime quite amusing little bits of story, hint, and twist, the overall writing is, while very (almost overwhelmingly) pedantic at times, enjoyable.

Best sampled in small sips, the overall narration here is very good, not too "precious", and made for a lovely way to end the day, as "this sort of thing" is the majority of books I read (listen to, usually) for a half- or an hour each night last thing before bed. It helps slow my brain, gives me something to concentrate upon that is interesting without becoming "too much!", kwim?

The hardcover or digital editions are, of course, a lot more fun, as they have pictures, albeit black and white, but many of the places visited by the Durants in the 1920s and 1930s and the pictures shown here are gone now. And far too many of the beautiful and/or interesting artifacts are destroyed as well. But the pictures as described via audio may still be found on the web, or via the Kindle edition of this (and possibly other formats or PDF-type documents). Yay, for technology!

BOTTOM LINE: Superb but slow beginning to a long, deservedly considered "classic" multi-volume work of history, sociology, anthropology, archeology, philosophic thought, and a bit of psychology too.

REVIEW: History

A History of Europe by J.M. Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Long audio book, beautifully written but terribly narrated, alas. Best listened to in small bits as the reader has the most a-NOY-ing accent I've ever heard in an audiobook reader! I eventually got accustomed to him - there are over thirty hours worth of book - but for a while there, geesh...!

Otherwise this is actually a comparatively quick/short history of the entire continent; must admit, Mr. Roberts wasn't shy about tackling big subjects, was he? Enjoyed the fast pace and his rather sly writing - there's definitely humor here, both deliberate and otherwise (thanks to the narrator). The narrator uses an incredibly "posh" voice that cannot be real, simply must be affected in this day and age - he generally sounds as if he's auditioning for a Noel Coward play circa 1932 - that stilted sort of overly-"plummy" emphasis that the earliest sound actors in films used - it was terribly popular then as a shorthand for "upper class" but not now.The funny thing is I usually enjoy that sort of accent, just not one so, um, lavishly laid on, as it were... YMMV. I certainly hope he was just "having us on"...

2017 reread:
seem to have acclimated to narrator, enjoyed very much!

Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


BOTTOM LINE: This third Spenser story is a tidy PI tale centered around baseball, porno movies, and blackmail, mixed with a good deal of information about what makes Spenser "tick". A bit old-fashioned seeming now, but still powerful - and entertaining. Three-and-one-half stars, but I don't know how to give a rating of a half-star.

Marty Rabb is a terrific pitcher, and with him on the mound it looks like Spenser's (and my) beloved Red Sox are going places. Plus he seems to be, PR-wise, one of the original good guys, a kindly, not too bright jock, with all the best components of that sort of man, including a high sense of personal honor, and a joy of "playing the game" that's very old-style honorable. (and seems rather innocent now). But now there's a nasty rumor going around that somebody on the team is throwing games, and it might be good-guy Marty; the PR department hires Spenser to find out the origin of the rumor, and if there's any truth to it.

Spenser turns up lots of creepy-crawly stuff by turning over lots of rocks, and meeting with some extremely questionable folks, and we come along with him every step of the way. It's mostly first-person narration/description throughout, and it's smoothly done, in the best PI tradition. And the tone of this nicely written, old-fashioned novel does seem rather innocent when compared with mores of the current day, but I enjoyed tripping back to a time (and place) when I, too, wanted to believe in The Good Guys and their ways.

There's a good deal of examination of Spenser's rules for living and his code-of-honor and, indeed, he certainly fits the stereotype of White Knight PI to a T. And we love him for it. Plus the plot is tidily resolved, and not too sweetly neither. And, as an extra nice little bit, we get to watch Spenser and Susan's relationship developing - it's early days as yet, and she hasn't yet developed many of the quirks that make her so annoying in some of the later novels. Here she's still funny, sharp-witted (and sharp-tongued), and a nice foil to and for Spenser. All-in-all, this third Spenser novel is quietly forceful, rather like Spenser himself.





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A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


BOTTOM LINE: Thoroughly old-fashioned "good read!", with an aristo-detective, all the suspects gathered in A Great House for a weekend house party, a peculiar murder method, wild Bolsheviks complicating everything, family intrigues galore, an affable-but-dim Watson - what's not to like? First mystery novel (1934) from a now-classic author isn't challenging, brilliant, or particularly special, but is still entertaining, giving a hint of her good books yet to come and, as is usual with Marsh, there are nicely pointed sly digs here'n'there.



Nigel Bathgate's cousin Charles is a bit of a dog - loving the pursuit of ladies rather too much, he enjoys playing with fire, and gets burned, in many ways. He loses a girlfriend/possible wife (who truly loves him) while in pursuit of an already-married woman, whose current husband isn't much pleased. And while remaining rather likable (at least in callow Nigel's eyes) his superscilliousness and air of "I know better/all!" gets on not a few raw nerves during an extended house party. And not many are surprised when, in the course of A Murder Game, he winds up truly dead - and in a spectacular (how like Charles!!) fashion.



Enter Inspector Alleyn - obviously refined, very well-educated, extremely likable, his smooth demeanor hides a mildly tormented psyche, as he finds he must expose Nice People to the machinations of the police force and its subsequent events, some not at all well-mannered. With these attributes Alleyn, in Marsh's first novel, is quite ordinary, an oft-used character in popular novels of the time, and although in future novels he becomes a rather interesting personality with a fascinating backstory, in this his first recorded case he is quite traditional, and rather stodgy. And while in subsequent novels Marsh builds up the cast of regulars around Alleyn (especially the wonderful Mr. Fox), here he's pretty much the entire show, except for a funny local policeman named Bunce - yet another character that often shows up in mysteries from the 1920s and early 1930s.



The plotting, while good, is also quite ordinary for the period - a stilted setting, a twisted murder mystery with overlapping elements of several crimes, a bit of spy-thriller nonsense, some slight omnipotence from the police, and a thoroughly ludicrous bit of play-acting-cum-reconstruction of the crime at the end. But it's all very smoothly written, and while now a curiosity, at the time "this sort of thing" was quite popular.



Now considered one of the Queens of Crime of the period (along with Christie and Allingham), Marsh's first mystery is still enjoyable, if not special or especially thrilling.



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Ghost Story by Jim Butcher



BOTTOM LINE: Unlucky #13 for Butcher/Dresden Files? This was the first novel of the series that hasn't completely grabbed me by the throat from the get-go and MADE me read desperately to the end. Or, perhaps, it's just that the author has slowly become more subtle in his effects....? I'm of at least two minds about this novel.

True, I couldn't easily put it down until I'd finished, but my feeling for, terror for, Harry Dresden's plight (and the fates of those he loves) was strangely muted all through this book, and that made me uncomfortable. See, Harry has changed a great deal along the way of this long series, and I'm not so sure I like the way things are progressing. He started out a brash, young adult, (but adolescent in behavior) a lippy wanna-be-hard-nosed-detective with an infectious sense of humor, a ton of guts, and a sense of honor that I appreciated and understood. And I fell in love, completely and utterly in love with the character, the fantastical setting/universe as it grew up around him, and the people/creatures who inhabited it. And, yes, those characteristics are still present in this novel, but somehow things/his plight didn't seem as acutely desperate to me as it has in the earlier novels. I guess his death in the previous book changed him AND me in many subtle ways...


Butcher is still being coy about whether or not Harry has actually, *finally*, completely died and can never come back to "our" world, leaving devoted readers in a very complicated emotional situation. He's been slowly growing Harry up, making him more and more admirable, and now seems to have deliberately disconnected him - and us - from many of the human connections that used to make this series so compelling. Gawd, I'm so confused about this novel! When I finished it I was angry - angry at Harry's ending situation, and not a little because I'd known that was where the plot was heading, and dismayed as things unfolded that way. I wanted Harry to be OK! at the end of this novel; the previous novel had ended on a superb cliffhanger that was expertly gauged and calibrated, and I wanted A Resolution!! in this one. And didn't get it.


Aha!. *That*'s what's been bothering me. This is a place-holder of a novel, an in-depth examination of a few, very particular aspects of Dresden's universe. And as such, it's superbly done, detailed, interesting, well-paced, and with a really neat plot. Harry's dilemma (he's a ghost) is amusing at times, annoying much of the time, and scary sometimes. But. I absolutely HATE being strung along like Butcher has been doing lately. The earlier novels were complete in and of themselves, and while the interactions of the plot lines always left lots of unfinished bits, the main thrust of each story was complete within that novel, thus satisfying and completely entertaining. And as Butcher slowly developed that universe each book became richer and deeper and more complex - and I loved that! But along with that, each story seemed to leave more and more tendrils reaching into the next story, although his touch used to be very subtle, pulling the reader along gently.


Novel #12, CHANGES, sledgehammered this reader into finishing - it was a simply glorious thrill-ride with a stunner of an ending. But with that ending Butcher not only changed many of the rules afficionados of the series have enjoyed, including Harry's persona, he also seems to have changed his own connection to/with the readers, distancing not only Harry, but himself, from those fans. Number 13, GHOST STORY, takes us further along that road. Like many series readers, I hate big changes in a beloved character! And while Harry's final predicament in this novel and the hook at the end is nicely, gently foreshadowed in several earlier books (and *is* interesting), it is just not satisfying.


So. Why such a reaction from me? Obviously, Butcher has become a superb writer - he's played on my (and likely most of his fans') heartstrings perfectly, and kept our interest, nay, our affection, for many years. And with these latest novels he's extended the reach of Harry and his universe, and shows promise of doing even more in the future (we're likely going to see a lot more Faerie...). And I've loved watching Harry's friends deal with everything that's been happening, plus even the painful bits (and the potentially sappy ones as well) were very carefully, beautifully written. So, why am I dissatisfied?

I WANTED A RESOLUTION, DAMMIT!!!!

According to things he's written and other folks supposedly in-the-know, Butcher had a difficult time working his way though this book. Making such a major change in your main character's world-view must be as wrenching for the author as for the character(s) and readers, and I wasn't at all surprised to learn that he'd had problems with making this novel go where he wanted it to go. But I sincerely hope that the next book won't be many years in the coming. I want/NEED to know what happens next... and that's the true bottom line, ain't it?

Damn, The Man can *write*!

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HELLO?? Anybody Home?

I'm unsure as to whether or not anyone would still want to read my rantings and ravings, as I've not submitted a new post for almost a year now, but I'm going to try and post one a week in 2012. Likely to be about books, what I'm reading or discussing at Goodreads or 4MysteryAddicts or DorothyL, or maybe crafts or cats or spiritual matters...!

It's bitterly cold around here (Boston) today, and I'm pretty much inside for the duration - my cranky old body does NOT like weather extremes any more. I'll hopefully be back later today with a post that will

1. Make more sense. (yeah, "as if" *that* is likely to happen any time soon...)
2. Contains something somebody might actually want to read
3. and has actually been thought out and organized!

Here's Hoping! that 2012 will prove to be an entertaining, interesting, happy year for us all.


affectionately, Abbey

Library Loot: "The Rich Get Richer":

What's going on in your neck of the woods re. library funding and usage these days? I've just heard that my local library branch is coming extremely close to the ol' guillotine,

its small size having likely condemned it to extinction due to budget cuts. Most folks in Boston have known that city and state funding to libraries will be a lot less this year, but to hear that my local library is definitely "being considered" for closure is terrifying for a book junkie like me.

But this sort of behavior has been going on 
in Boston's neighborhoods for decades,

as hours and services available at many branches
have been reduced and staff "let go",

so why am I so upset by this latest increase
in "cost cutting measures"?

After all, everybody needs to cut back 
"a bit" these days, right? Agreed.

BUT - compared with many other major city library systems the Boston Public Library system has fairly generous and stable funding, with both private and tax monies to help in its upkeep. The problems mainly arise regarding the dispersal of said monies and their tendency to flow to "friends". For decades the scuttlebutt has been that when push-comes-to-shove re. money, the folks at the BPL will always fund the main branch at Copley quite well, and pretty much let the outer branches wither on the vine - if there's "extra" then the branches might get some. And this folklore appears to be true, at least in my admittedly limited experience - whenever cuts need to be made, it always seems as though it's the branches that get whacked, while Copley gets at least level funding, and often a great deal more besides.

Now, don't get me wrong - the Copley (main branch) is a gorgeous thing, a Landmark site, and justifiably "worthy!". Its upkeep must be enormous - its two connected buildings (particularly the elderly flagship McKim) must cost a fortune to heat, and the many collections are quite fabulous and need - and deserve! - extremely expensive care to keep them in their best shape. Not only do I not begrudge them funding for those purposes, I encourage it - that's money well-spent IMO.

The joker in all this, however, is that the BPL has an unsavoury history of cronyism, at least by my memory (while long, it's admittedly faulty and quite perverse at times). Boston can be a mares nest politically, and if you're IN, you get lots of perqs - and funding. And if you're out, well...


In the last couple of decades it has appeared to many patrons as though the folks who run the Boston library system positively adore their flagship location of beautiful Copley and don't seem to care what happens to the peons who utilize the branch libraries' services. This may be my skewed impression as a library user in only the poorest neighborhoods of the city, but I have heard similar complaints from folks all around the city (and librarians!), not just in my local area. And the future does not bode well for many local branches, as service cuts at, and elimination of entire branches are becoming more prevalent across the USA as more and more drastic measures get proposed, purportedly to "eliminate waste". And while I will not use any other toilet jokes herein, I will segue into dumpster diving: one man's trash can be another one's dinner, and it often seems to this personally cash-strapped (and thus very aware of finances) library patron that the branch libraries get the barest sliver of the funding pie already, with likely worse prospects on the horizon given these tight fiscal times.


The Boston Public Library was once famous for its system of "branch libraries", and very (and justifiably) proud of them, but that ethos has gone the way of the dodo over the last twenty or thirty years. The branch library system ought to be receiving increased funding, and a higher profile, not being chopped to bits. BECAUSE:

Most library branches in major cities (including Boston) are reporting increased levels of activity as many out-of-work folks use their computer and networking facilities to search for jobs or just occupy their time, and the boomers are retiring in droves (or being forced to retire, but that's a rant for another day) and thus likely in need of increased library services to help with their increased "leisure time" (oh, gawd, that's another rant in itself!). 
So: 

Isn't it counter-productive for library systems to cut back on getting library resources out to the people who most need them - the poorer and/or older folks in the local neighborhoods?

And in Boston, so very proud of

her library history and cultured associations, 

it's downright despicable.

We could, and should, do better. 

There. Bet you thought I'd never actually get to my point, now, did you?  Affectionately, Abbey

What's going on in your neck of the woods re. library funding and usage these days?

AND THUS, WE BEGIN:

ALL right.

as you may have already suspected, I haven't a clue as to what I'm doing here, but wanted to claim the name for myself since I can't think of anything better and, well, "you know".

Despite many urgings by my overwhelmed email correspondents over the years I have resisted starting my own blog but have finally decided to give 'em a break.