880. Naked Lunch (William S. Burroughs)

Synopsis from Amazon:
A classic of modern literature for over 35 years, Naked Lunch is the unnerving tale of a narcotics addict's monumental descent into hell, as he travels from New York to Tangiers, and then into the Interzone. There he finds a nightmarish modern urban wasteland in which the forces of evil vie for control of the individual and all of humanity.

My rating: 2 stars

879. Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)

Synopsis from Amazon:
At the height of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1930s, Zora Neale Hurston was the preeminent black woman writer in the United States. She was a sometime-collaborator with Langston Hughes and a fierce rival of Richard Wright. Her stories appeared in major magazines, she consulted on Hollywood screenplays, and she penned four novels, an autobiography, countless essays, and two books on black mythology. Yet by the late 1950s, Hurston was living in obscurity, working as a maid in a Florida hotel. She died in 1960 in a Welfare home, was buried in an unmarked grave, and quickly faded from literary consciousness until 1975 when Alice Walker almost single-handedly revived interest in her work.

Of Hurston's fiction, Their Eyes Were Watching God is arguably the best-known and perhaps the most controversial. The novel follows the fortunes of Janie Crawford, a woman living in the black town of Eaton, Florida. Hurston sets up her characters and her locale in the first chapter, which, along with the last, acts as a framing device for the story of Janie's life. Unlike Wright and Ralph Ellison, Hurston does not write explicitly about black people in the context of a white world--a fact that earned her scathing criticism from the social realists--but she doesn't ignore the impact of black-white relations either:

It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things. They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment.

One person the citizens of Eaton are inclined to judge is Janie Crawford, who has married three men and been tried for the murder of one of them. Janie feels no compulsion to justify herself to the town, but she does explain herself to her friend, Phoeby, with the implicit understanding that Phoeby can "tell 'em what Ah say if you wants to. Dat's just de same as me 'cause mah tongue is in mah friend's mouf." Hurston's use of dialect enraged other African American writers such as Wright, who accused her of pandering to white readers by giving them the black stereotypes they expected. Decades later, however, outrage has been replaced by admiration for her depictions of black life, and especially the lives of black women. In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston breathes humanity into both her men and women, and allows them to speak in their own voices.

My rating: 3 stars

878. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke)

Synopsis from Amazon:
It's 1808 and that Corsican upstart Napoleon is battering the English army and navy. Enter Mr. Norrell, a fusty but ambitious scholar from the Yorkshire countryside and the first practical magician in hundreds of years. What better way to demonstrate his revival of British magic than to change the course of the Napoleonic wars? Susanna Clarke's ingenious first novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, has the cleverness and lightness of touch of the Harry Potter series, but is less a fairy tale of good versus evil than a fantastic comedy of manners, complete with elaborate false footnotes, occasional period spellings, and a dense, lively mythology teeming beneath the narrative. Mr. Norrell moves to London to establish his influence in government circles, devising such powerful illusions as an 11-day blockade of French ports by English ships fabricated from rainwater. But however skillful his magic, his vanity provides an Achilles heel, and the differing ambitions of his more glamorous apprentice, Jonathan Strange, threaten to topple all that Mr. Norrell has achieved.

My rating: 4 stars

My review: The writing is excellent and the basic plotline is very interesting. Unfortunately, it takes a while for the story to gather momentum and capture the reader's interest (or at least this reader's interest -- for the first 100 pages I had no idea where the story was going). But, once it does, the book is fun.

877. Daniel Deronda (George Eliot)

Synopsis from Amazon:
George Eliot’s final novel and her most ambitious work, Daniel Deronda contrasts the moral laxity of the British aristocracy with the dedicated fervor of Jewish nationalists. Crushed by a loveless marriage to the cruel and arrogant Grandcourt, Gwendolen Harleth seeks salvation in the deeply spiritual and altruistic Daniel Deronda. But Deronda, profoundly affected by the discovery of his Jewish ancestry, is ultimately too committed to his own cultural awakening to save Gwendolen from despair.

My rating: 4 stars

876. Kaffir Boy (Mark Mathabane)

Synopsis from Amazon:
Kaffir Boy does for apartheid-era South Africa what Richard Wright's Black Boy did for the segregated American South. In stark prose, Mathabane describes his life growing up in a nonwhite ghetto outside Johannesburg--and how he escaped its horrors. Hard work and faith in education played key roles, and Mathabane eventually won a tennis scholarship to an American university. This is not, needless to say, an opportunity afforded to many of the poor blacks who make up most of South Africa's population. And yet Mathabane reveals their troubled world on these pages in a way that only someone who has lived this life can.

My rating: 4 stars

875. Rumpole and the Angel of Death (John Mortimer)

Synopsis from Amazon:
The irascible but always entertaining Rumpole is back, this time in a series of short stories that have him facing the usual assortment of human detritus at the Old Bailey. Rumpole's delightful compatriots--the determined and politically correct Miz Liz Probert, Mr. Injustice Graves, the beleaguered Claude Erskine-Brown, and, of course, She Who Must Be Obeyed -- are once again in evidence, as are Rumpole's inadvertent humor, his keen understanding of the criminal and not-so-criminal minds, and his wily defenses of some of life's biggest losers. Here the barrister must defend, among others, an animal-rights activist accused of murder and a wife-killer whose dedication to teaching wins him a dangerous friend. In addition, there's a story told by the never-before-heard-from Hilda (She Who Must Be Obeyed) that's subtly hilarious and chockful of sharp-tongued wit.

My rating: 5 stars

874. The House With a Clock In Its Walls (John Bellairs)

Synopsis from Amazon:
Lewis always dreamed of living in an old house full of secret passageways, hidden rooms, and big marble fireplaces. And suddenly, after the death of his parents, he finds himself in just such a mansion -- his Uncle Jonathan's. When he discovers that his big friendly uncle is also a wizard, Lewis has a hard time keeping himself from jumping up and down in his seat. Unfortunately, what Lewis doesn't bank on is the fact that the previous owner of the mansion was also a wizard -- but an evil one who has placed a tick-tocking clock somewhere in the bowels of the house, marking off the minutes until the end of the world. And when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead on Halloween night, the clock only ticks louder and faster. Doomsday draws near -- unless Lewis can stop the clock!

My rating: 5 stars

873. Private Games (Tawny Taylor)

Synopsis from Amazon UK:
Playing for Keeps
Maddy Beaudet needs to shake things up a bit, but playing a board game isn't exactly what she considers exciting. Jace Michael has just moved across country to recover from an ugly divorce. Anxious to dive into work with both feet, the last thing he needs is a distraction, but the minute he meets Maddy, his employee no less, and learns about the game she's playing with her friends, a whole different game comes to mind.

Master May I?
Britt Olsen is shocked when Andre Cruz-Romero delivers a birthday gift, mistakenly mailed to Britt's former home. Unfortunately, what she finds in the box isn't what Britt expected. Then again, neither is Andre. The sexy entrepreneur who sports golf shirts and khaki pants by day wears leather by night. And the room that used to house Britt's workout equipment now holds a different kind of apparatus for an entirely different kind of game.

A Game of Risk
Taking risks is what day-trader Olivia Blake's life is all about. Well, at least financially. Personally, is another story. It takes the draw of a card for her to approach the man she's pined over, her older sister's brother-in-law. The minute she does, she wonders if she's made the right decision. "EMT" - Ty Wilcox spends his days rescuing people who toss caution to the wind and get injured-or worse-in the process. Playing it safe is the only way to live. But after seeing Olivia in a skimpy dress that almost covers her vitals, he wonders if risk is the four-letter word he'd always thought it was.

My rating: 2 stars

872. My Surrender (Connie Brockway)

Synopsis from Amazon UK:
Determined to uncover the truth about her father's death and to assist English spies in infiltrating Napoleon's inner circle, impulsive Charlotte Nash uses her position as a London debutante to garner crucial intelligence information for the English Crown, but her self-proclaimed mission is threatened by the arrival of Dand Ross, a dangerous Highlander.

My rating: 4 stars

871. The Book of Three (Lloyd Alexander)

Synopsis from Amazon Canada:
Since The Book of Three was first published in 1964, young readers have been enthralled by the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper and his quest to become a hero. Taran is joined by an engaging cast of characters that includes Eilonwy, the strong-willed and sharp-tongued princess; Fflewddur Fflam, the hyperbole-prone bard; the ever-faithful Gurgi; and the curmudgeonly Doli-all of whom have become involved in an epic struggle between good and evil that shapes the fate of the legendary land of Prydain.

My rating: 5 stars

870. The Seduction of His Wife (Janet Chapman)

Synopsis from Amazon:
Sarah Banks grew up on an isolated island off the coast of Maine. Her innkeeper parents died when she was a teenager, and she found a new family with former guests, the Knights. She agrees to work as their housekeeper over the winter; then, when their oldest son, Alex, is presumed dead, she marries him by proxy so his children can remain with their grandfather and uncles. Sarah is shocked and amazed when a stranger materializes, claiming to be the missing father of the children she loves. After evading rebels in Brazil, Alex doesn't trust beautiful Sarah, who he thinks is scheming for his family's money. As Alex gets to know her, however, he realizes that the spunky, naive blond bombshell has no desire to exploit the wealthy Maine landholders. Now the challenge is to convince Sarah to trust him and make theirs a real marriage.

My rating: 3 stars

869. Shameless Embraces (Lora Leigh)

Synopsis from Amazon:
Embraced
Marey has run from herself and from Sax for over three years. Lost years, hiding in the home her parents left her, living on the fantasy, too wary to reach out and make real the dreams of the life and man that torment her. Sax Brogan is the embodiment of sinful and sexy - tall, dark, handsome and every inch of him the fantasy of Marey's dreams come to hot, throbbing life. And he's more than ready to claim his woman. Now the time has come for Marey to stop running and embrace not just the fantasy he represents, but also the reality. That is, if her ex-husband will let her live long enough to enjoy it ....

Shameless
She's a temptation he can't afford. Ian Sinclair, the man with no heart, the ultimate Trojan, the untouchable, the unreachable, may just have met his match. As wild as the untamed winds, as innocent as love itself, Courtney's vivacious spirit shines as brilliantly as the brightest star. And he wants nothing more in life than to see the sweet innocence that is so much a part of her survive. That can never happen if he allows her to be drawn into the wicked, sexual excesses of his life. He's a hunger she can't deny. Courtney Mattlaw has understood her destiny her whole life. Her lifetime of happiness hangs on this moment in time, and forcing a man who feels he is unable to love, to trust his heart. Haunted. Filled with loneliness. Incomplete. Ian is the very breath of her soul. She knows the battle to steal his heart could ultimately destroy them both, but it's a risk she must take. When these two come together, sparks fly and the lust simmering between them ignites in a conflagration that will burn them to their souls and leave them ... shameless.

My rating: 4 stars

868. Completely Irresistible (Sheridon Smythe)

Synopsis from publisher:
It all started with three spoiled standard poodles with an uncanny knack for mischief. Kasidy Evans knew she’d have her hands full, but she never imagined she’d find them engaged in a tug of war with a gloriously naked man — over his shorts. Apparently the willful canines took exception to their new owner, and Kasidy had to agree. Wyatt Love was nothing but a gigolo. Kasidy told herself his gorgeous, bronzed body was off limits, and his unexpected sweetness did not touch her heart, but the truth was, she found Wyatt Love … Completely Irresistible.

My rating: 2 stars

867. Rumpole a la Carte (John Mortimer)

Synopsis:

• Rumpole a la Carte
• Rumpole and the Summer of Discontent
• Rumpole and the Right to Silence
• Rumpole at Sea
• Rumpole and the Quacks
• Rumpole for the Prosecution

My rating: 5 stars

866. Pleasure Control (Cathryn Fox)

Synopsis from Amazon:
Dedicated scientist Laura Manning's I.Q. is off the charts. But beneath her pristine white lab coat is a curvaceous body that craves satisfaction. And it's hard keeping her mind on the experiment and off what's under the lab coat of her research partner, Jay Cutler, whom she's working with to develop a libido suppressant for a society gone sex-mad — especially when Jay offers to act as a human guinea pig.

Laura's job is to entice Jay, to determine if the suppressant tamps down his desires — but the "antidote" only seems to heat them up ... and there's only one scandalous way to deal with it! With long days of laboratory work giving way to sizzling nights of sensual experimentation, soon their pleasure games are getting a bit out of control.

But who in her right mind would pull the plug on her man's libido when the loving is this deliciously hot?

My rating: 3 stars

My review: A pretty enjoyable read but I had to dock a star because I kept thinking of this guy when I read the name Jay Cutler.

865. Lady of Skye (Patricia Cabot0

Isle of Skye

Synopsis from Amazon:
Dr. Reilly Stanton, the Marquis of Stillworth, comes to the remote Scottish village of Lyming to prove to his pious and sweet ex-fiancee that he's a serious physician and not a wastrel. It appears that Reilly's handsome but loutish patron, the Earl of Glendinning, has hired him in an effort to lure Brenna Donegal, the gorgeous, independent and intelligent daughter of the town's former doctor, away from her interest in medicine so that she can become his beloved bride. But the strong-willed Brenna wants no part of Glendinning and, like Reilly, is determined to discover why epidemics of cholera continue to plague Lyming. Meanwhile, Reilly finds his fondness for his former fiancee waning and his love for Brenna growing.

My rating: 3 stars

864. Once a Scoundrel (Candice Hern)

Synopsis from Amazon:
After winning the Ladies' Fashionable Cabinet in a card game, Anthony finds to his great surprise that he owns not a piece of furniture but rather a ladies' magazine. Once Tony discovers that the editor is not the dried-up spinster he envisioned but instead is his childhood friend and nemesis, Edwina Parrish, he comes up with a wonderfully devious scheme to pay Edwina back for all the humiliating wagers he lost to her as a boy by wagering her for ownership of the magazine. The chance to win control of the magazine is too tempting to resist, but it means Edwina must prevent Tony from discovering her creative uses for some of the magazine's profits. As both try to gain the upper hand in their little competition, Edwina and Tony gradually realize that they might be playing for a different, more important prize.

My rating: 3 stars

863. Nemesis (Agatha Christie)

Synopsis from Amazon UK:
In utter disbelief Miss Marple read the letter addressed to her from the recently deceased Mr. Rafiel -- an acquaintance she had met briefly on her travels. Recognising in Miss Marple a natural flair for justice, Mr Rafiel had left instructions for her to investigate a crime after his death. The only problem was, he had failed to tell her who was involved or where and when the crime had been committed. It was most intriguing.

My rating: 4 stars

Publication information:

• 1971
• Collins Crime Club
• London
• Orange/red cloth with gilt lettering
• Dust wrapper priced at £1.50