Seattle weather and Louis Bayard

It's a very drippy day out there today. It's sprinkling - not very hard - not a very Tri-Cities sort of rain at all. Of course, I think this is yet another example of the strange weather we're having recently. As I've said/blogged before, there's something wrong when it's forecast to be 75 degrees and it's mid-June. The slightly damp breeze and overcast weather just didn't feel like June - but it didn't stop us walking.

I needed to shop for Father's Day and being on a fixed income, I thought I could just go to Yoke's and buy him some cheese and other food items. I know that's being cheap, but he does love cheese. The cheese section is quite good at Yoke's with all kinds of cheese. There are even some that look kind of disturbing. The only problem shopping for my father is being careful of his diabetes.

My audiobook today was The Black Tower: A Novel (P.S.) by Louis Bayard. I have read his previous books: Mr. Timothy : A Novel (P.S.) and The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel. His books are mysteries and thrillers with a literary bent. What makes them interesting are the central characters. Mr. Timothy's main character was Timothy Cratchit from A Christmas Carol - Original Unabridged Version and The Pale Blue Eye used Edgar Allen Poe.

This book is not his latest. He has another book out called The School of Night: A Novel too. This book also features a historical figure - Vidocq - the famous French crime fighter. I am only 10% done with the audiobook, which is narrated by Simon Vance. It's very atmospheric and reminiscent of a Sherlock Holmes story, so far. There is only one thing that is noticeable about the audiobook. The decision to have Vidocq speaking with an East End accent. Isn't he French? It is a little irksome. I wonder if that was a conscious decision and why?

I also listened to an interesting podcast from Australia. The Book Show did a segment on the 400th anniversary of the King James bible (400 Years of the King James Bible). Some of the points that expert historian made were really interesting. I never realized that Hebrew and English were very similar in rhythm. He made the point that the Bible in English has a better rhythm than in one of the romance languages (i.e., Latin, French, et al). He also explained what certain phrases meant. For instance, "cover his feet" was a colloquialism for going to the bathroom (!!).

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