Time to get out the Raymond Chandler mug

Today is Thunderball day, I've pulled it off the back burner and intend to get the first fifty pages firmed up. That sounds like a big job but it will mainly be editing. There will be lots of coffee involved hence the Chandler mug.

I have been reading, Sentinel, Matthew Dunn, Let the Devil Sleep, John Verdon, Off the Grid, PJ Tracy all reviews coming, all are excellent.

Quiet by Susan Cain

Are you an extrovert or an introvert? I did the test in Susan Cain’s fascinating book and it confirmed what I already knew I’m an introvert, a creative introvert in an extrovert candy shell. Cain discusses the quiet strength of Rosa Parks, takes us to an amped up Tony Robbins seminar and the hallowed halls of Harvard Business school. She shows us that despite appearances you can find introverts in all walks of life. 

Great thinkers, Einstein being a classic example, never had a brainstorming session. Nothing groundbreaking has ever been created in face to face committee and cramming workers together in open plan offices or kids in open plan pods actually stifles creativity. Cain even includes some strategies for supporting your introvert child and helping them to develop and grow their gifts. As an introvert good at faking extroversion I didn't feel quite so in need to after reading this.

Bookstore Life

So we're at the front desk, discussing books and I was talking about Quiet by Susan Cain (review follows) and one of my colleagues laughs at my 'introvert in an extrovert candy shell' comment

"You're the red M&M," he says.

Still laughing at that one (thanks Nathan and Wendy)

What Dies in Summer, Tom Wright

I did what I did and that’s on me,

Jim and his cousin L.A were both runaways in a sense. Jim’s stepfather kept mistaking him for a punching bag and L.A. won’t talk about her reasons for arriving on their Grandmother’s doorstep with nothing but the clothes on her back.  Now they’re safe, until the pair stumble across a dead body in a field. Jim knows her face she’s been haunting his dreams for weeks. Wright’s coming-of-age tale of young love and murder in a small town, plays out over a long hot ‘70s Texas summer. His characters pull you into their world, and Jim’s calm resilience will resonate long after the last page.

Midnight in Peking, Paul French

An English schoolgirl’s brutal murder sends shivers through the besieged city of Peking. 1937, the Japanese are poised to invade and a body is found at Fox Tower. The victim Pamela Werner was one of the privileged foreign community and the daughter of a former consul. Two detectives one Chinese, one British attempt to solve the crime, obstructed by British officials, silent Americans, frightened Chinese and their own officers. A true story of murder in a city teetering on the edge of destruction.

Lucky Bastard, S.G Browne

Meet Bay area PI Nick Monday (not his real name). Nick’s true talent is luck, because for the right price Nick can give you the kind of luck to take to Vegas or the slightly less potent kind to ace that job interview. A simple handshake and your luck walks away with him. With a talent like that it doesn’t pay to advertise but somehow Nick has the Chinese mafia, Tuesday Knight (both of them) and a murky government agency all clamouring for his services. Nick could up and leave town if the Feds weren’t threatening his twin sister. Is Nick’s luck about to run out or worse turn into bad luck?

code name verity

I read this young adult novel on the plane to UK, twice.

Wein's book is a brilliant tale of female friendship and heroism, but it also gives the flavour of 1940's Britain.

In the world of the SOE nothing is ever as it seems.

‘Verity’s’ mistake was simple and will probably cost her her life. In occupied France in WWII capture is an allied spy’s worst nightmare and faced with imprisonment and torture by the Gestapo ‘Verity’ chooses instead to confess, buying time by spinning out her knowledge of British codes and ciphers while telling the story of her unshakable friendship with Maddie the pilot whose wrecked plane lies in a field a few miles away. ‘Verity’ has a purpose, she wants her words to survive even if she doesn’t. As soon as you finish this tale of brave Brits and evil Nazis you will have to read it again to unlock its secrets