There's no Toilet Paper by Doug Lansky, ed.

So, I picked this one up thinking it was going to be some funny travel stories, like we all have, and was disappointed to find that it was a series of stories by professional humorists, like Dave Barry, and sarcastic travel writers, like Bill Bryson, and not merely humorous anecdotes regarding travel mishaps and misunderstandings. "Too over the top".

Disrupted by Dan Lyons

This is the story of a middle-aged man who loses his job as an editor of a prestigious print magazine, and takes a new job with a high tech startup, filled with twenty-something hirelings, and run by a megalomaniacal duo of entrepreneurs. Things go just about as one might expect, with a clash of cultures that a man in his 50s will not win, in the long haul. At least he got a semi-amusing book out of the deal.

Lyons' style reminds me a bit of Bill Bright, who has written a number of travel diaries. He doesn't seem to have a lot of respect for anyone he encounters, and his cynicism shines through, loud and clear.

Nefarious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich

My wife and I listened to this audiobook on our way to the coast last weekend, and it timed out just right around nine hours of driving. I have never read any of the Stephanie Plum mysteries before, but it didn't seem to be a requirement to understand "all that has gone before" in order to enjoy this one. The characters in the book were fun and amusing, especially Plum's sidekick, Lula, an enormous black woman with a very strong personality to match her opinions.

The mystery wasn't all that mysterious, but spun out slowly and with enough twists to keep Plum's character guessing, at least, and the entire story was liberally spiced with a great deal of humor. I might have to check out some more of Evanovich's books.

Dog Days?

Are we in the summer publishing doldrums, or what? I've had a difficult time finding anything new by most of my favorite authors for a couple of months now, it seems, so rather than hunt up something new and fresh, I've simply gone back to some of my old favorites, like Lois McMaster Bujold, working my way from Warrior's Apprentice all the way up through Komarr, at this point.

My wife and I also began listening to Skin Game, by Butcher, on audiobook, returning from our recent wedding anniversary trip, but didn't make it past Chapter 25 on our nine hour drive, so I picked up my personal library copy of it late last night and chewed on that for a bit, since my memory of the ending was a little fuzzy.

And this is why I amassed such a humongous library in the first place - you just never know when you'll get the urge to re-read an old favorite.

I do hope, though, that the drought of new books ends soon.

Afterthoughts

In Italy, take every opportunity to use a free, and CLEAN, restroom possible, even when you don't think you need to. Decent bathroom facilities are few and far between, and can range from squat toilets with no paper available - always carry pocket packs of tissues!, to more American-style fixtures if you're lucky. Carry 1 Euro coins for the pay toilets, which are generally a little better-maintained than any you will find for free. The trains usually have bathrooms available, so it's always wise to use them about ten to fifteen minutes before you arrive at your destination - the stations' restrooms may be "pay" style.

Zip Loc baggies are a wonderful thing to pack. Throw in a couple of quart, gallon, and sandwich sized. If you buy some food item that isn't completely sealed, you can put it in one, you can store a wet washcloth, or other clothing item in the large size, or you can use them to keep snacks for munching on while you're walking around. Also, if you happen to freeze a water bottle so that you have cold water to drink all day long, you can slip it inside a gallon sized bag and keep the condensation from getting other things in your purse or backpack damp. Rubber bands and paper clips take up little room, also, and can be used to re-seal food packages.

While it may prove difficult to get out to the outskirts of places like Rome, Florence or Venice to where the "real" people live and shop, I think the prices are much lower there, if you do get a chance. The markup on goods sold in the "centre storico" is unreal. You have to make at least a token effort to haggle, or you'll miss out on an easy discount, and if you're serious about buying something, you'll probably spend as much time really dickering over the price as you do making your selection, and you still probably won't get anywhere near cost, but we routinely saw discounts of 40% and up when we spent a little time at it, and simply asking, "Can you make me a better price on two?"or "That's too much" will get you a few euros off nearly anything.

While for the most part I found Italy and the Italians charming, friendly and fun, there were a few grumpy grocery checkers, waiters, and salespeople, too. I find the same thing back home some days. I try not to let the bad experiences, like the leather salesman who got angry with me for not buying the perfect jacket, and the gelateria girl whom I believe intentionally short-changed me - we had been at that shop before and listened to an American accusing the other man there of short changing him, then giving up on it when his wife undercut him, so when it happened to me on a later visit, I kinda had to figure it was something they tried there every once in a while, counting on confused tourists not being willing to push things in a foreign country. The street vendors can be a bit pushy, and some of them will try to run a con on you to get money, like the East African who gave us "gifts" because he "loves America", then demanded money for them moments later, but there are just hordes of them out and about, so you have to take it in stride. Again, I see the same thing in U.S. tourist traps, just not in the same sheer numbers, plus it's illegal here for unlicensed vendors to sell and for tourists to buy from them.

For every Grumpy Gus, there seemed to be many an amiable soul who went the extra mile for us, like bringing us shots of homemade limoncello, gratis, after our meal, leading us all the way to the right bus stop several blocks away, comp-ing us some mind-blowingly good sorbet, sending us to amazing wineries, chatting with us about their families, describing the process and materials used in producing their hand-made wares, and many other small kindnesses.

One of the most important things that I feel one should do when traveling is to engage. So many folks are rushing from attraction to attraction, trying to tick the boxes on their bucket list du jour, and missing some of the richest experiences available. Now, to be perfectly fair, it seemed to me at times on this trip that we were rushing around, trying to squeeze in too many must-see things into too short of a time period, but we really did try to slow down and enjoy the pace of life, and to get down to a deeper level of engagement with people here.

GPS sucks. There's no other way I can put it, really. The mapping applications on the local phone my friend loaned me, my own iPhone and iPad, were never really reliable out in the field. If you have wifi access in your hotel or apartment, you can get the maps to pull up, and give you directions to your destination, but out in the maze of streets of Rome and Florence, GPS signal is sketchy, and when you need it the most, it can disappear entirely. I finally learned to get my directions pulled up before I left the house in the morning, write them down "old school" on my pocket notebook, and then when the mapping app went belly-up, I could still get where I wanted to go. Forget e-maps, and buy a Michelin guide. Lesson definitely learned. 

Holy Flying Pizza Pie! Italian motorists, motorcyclists, scooter pilots and bicyclists are absolutely and completely out of their minds!

Wolf Land by Carter Niemeyer

Though it is always a pleasure to read about new and exciting places that I might like to travel to someday, it is even more of a joy for me to read stories set in places I've visited before. Many of the stories that Carter Niemeyer tells in Wolf Land are like that, vignettes from the wild places of  Idaho and Montana that make me exclaim, "Ah, I've been there!" What I haven't done, however, is to track down wolf packs, listen to their mournful calls, or see them playing in the meadows of the Idaho back country. Some day, perhaps.

In Wolfer, we got the story of how Carter came to the task of reintroducing wolves into the lower 48 after they had been driven to extinction - deliberately some years past, but in Wolf Land we can enjoy some thought-provoking tales about the long term effects of the interaction between wolves and men. When wolves stray out of the ranges where they were introduced, they often get into trouble because, as predators, they like to feed on easy targets, such as sheep and cow herds which are often grazed on federal lands, which make up a huge percentage of some of our Western states. When the wolves get out of line, then Carter was often called in to trap them, and either transport them back to where they belong, or sometimes make the decision to kill them, if nothing else worked.

From Yellowstone to the Frank Church Wilderness, through the Sawtooths and the headwaters of the Snake and Salmon rivers, Carter relates the stories of his interactions with one of the most controversial and fascinating animals of our time. The book may not make you change your mind about whether reintroduction was the right thing to do or not, but it will surely make you think a bit differently about the subject, no matter which side you're on.

The Reburialists by J. C. Nelson

Got this book as part of a giveaway bundle from Ace Books.

So much fiction these days is just getting to be more of the same thing. In this case, we have a government task force that fights zombies (or reasonable facsimile thereof). The zombie attacks are growing stronger and more frequent, and it becomes apparent that there is some deeper force pushing the attacks, so the Reburialists put their "top men" on the job - a Bond-ish serial womanizer, Brynner Carson, who tends to shoot first and ask questions...well, never, teamed with a female linguist, Grace Roberts, non-combat branch, who is supposed to interpret the diaries of Carson's father to help them deal with the latest threat.

They hate each other at first sight, so of course you can tell exactly where they're going to end up - in bed together, and from that point on the novel seems to be filled with the tritest plot devices from every romantic comedy you've watched on Netflix. At the point where they had both done such horrible things and lied to each other that they obviously could never forgive one another, I gave up and quit giving a hoot how it all ended up.

Gemini Cell by Myke Cole

This story is about a special operations warrior whose group is tasked with even more special operations, those dealing with supernatural incursions. When he is attacked in his home and killed, he is brought back to life, possessed by the spirit of a long-dead sorcerer king, and sent out on some really difficult missions, as part of a secret government task force so secret, even the government doesn't know about it.

Brutal, with a tortured hero. I couldn't get into it very far before my attention wandered.

Night Shift by Charlaine Harris

Starting to feel like a theme here in my readings, recently. There is an evil presence in the crossroads at the heart of Midnight, Texas, and it is drawing people to its heart, where they commit suicide, and fuel its escape from captivity. We have some growing sub plots, as well, with our discovery that Midnight is being watched by allies of Olivia's father and enemies at the same time, Fiji's discovery of her maturing witch powers, and Diederick's discovery of the opposite sex.

Lemuel must decipher the ancient account in Etruscan of the binding of a demon to help his friends in Midnight to recreate the bonds holding a powerful being captive, and the denizens of Midnight will have to work together to defeat this evil.

A fun, quick read. I'm not enjoying this series as much as the Sookie Stackhouse novels, but Harris is always entertaining.

Thicker than Water by Mike Carey

When an attempted murder victim writes Castor's name on the inside of his windshield in blood, and it turns out that Felix and he were childhood acquaintances, the police are understandably suspicious. And Felix, in his usual bull in a china shop way, goes blundering in to try to find out why the message was left for him.

A very dark tale of old sins and new, as Felix discovers a growing demonic presence, and tries to exorcise it, while hunting down shades from his own past.