Well-paced and beautifully written. Rendell “hated” (her word) Agatha Christie, because Christie‘s characters are ordinary but turn suddenly turn violent. Rendell‘s own characters act in keeping with what would, in time, become established neuroses and behavior patterns. But this book is unquestionably dated. Modern readers will see the end of this coming far in advance; our ideas of “neurosis” have changed since 1964. Still highly enjoyable!

Here‘s my next to-read. I love a good mystery in the summer, and I‘ve never read Ruth Rendell. Excited! It‘s about 100 thousand degrees today, so I‘m happy to stay in the air conditioning with my dog and read. What are your plans today?

I was a big fan of Maguire‘s takes on Oz, so I picked up another of his novels. This one was just meh. The plot wasn‘t as tight as it could be, and devolved into a preachy, moralistic tone at the end, but without having any particularly compelling message. What-the-Dickens, a rogue tooth fairy, was a likable character. It was a mildly entertaining summer read.

“Truth cannot be separated from the people‘s struggle and the hopes and dreams that arise from that struggle. Truth is that transcendent reality, disclosed in the people‘s historical struggle for liberation, which enables them to know that their fight for freedom is not futile.”

Book and tea haul today.

I loved this as a novel. As biblical interpretation (I‘m a Hebrew Bible professor), I have reservations. Hurston gives Moses such power that it‘s debatable whether the God on Sinai is even real, or whether Moses himself is God. Also, I couldn‘t hate the characterizations of Miriam & Aaron more. But as storycraft, the book is wonderful & full of wisdom. The parallel of the Black experience in America with Israel is Ruch & thought-provoking.

Seems like folks in the White House and Congress could stand a refresher on some of Ms. Hurston‘s excellent advice on how to be a leader.

“Well, the present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell.”
...Just think on the richness of that metaphor for a while.