Books At Home

Books at Home hosted by Reader in the Wilderness.

These are books on shelves, either read, or waiting to be read.............



1......On the top is Neverland by Piers  Dudgan.  (new cover)
         

          The untold story behind Peter Pan: The shocking account of J. M. Barrie's abuse and exploitation of the du Maurier family.

In his revelatory Neverland, Piers Dudgeon tells the tragic story of J. M. Barrie and the Du Maurier family. Driven by a need to fill the vacuum left by sexual impotence, Barrie sought out George du Maurier, Daphne du Maurier’s grandfather (author of the famed Trilby), who specialized in hypnosis. Barrie’s fascination and obsession with the Du Maurier family is a shocking study of greed and psychological abuse, as we observe Barrie as he applies these lessons in mind control to captivate George’s daughter Sylvia, his son Gerald, as well as their children―who became the inspiration for the Darling family in Barrie’s immortal Peter Pan.

2..... Touchstone by Laurie R King.

It’s eight years after the Great War shattered Bennett Grey’s life, leaving him with an excruciating sensitivity to the potential of human violence, and making social contact all but impossible. Once studied by British intelligence for his unique abilities, Grey has withdrawn from a rapidly changing world—until an American Bureau of Investigation agent comes to investigate for himself Grey’s potential as a weapon in a vicious new kind of warfare. Agent Harris Stuyvesant desperately needs Grey’s help entering a world where the rich and the radical exist side by side—a heady mix of the powerful and the celebrated, among whom lurks an enemy ready to strike a deadly blow at democracy on both sides of the Atlantic.
Here, among a titled family whose servants dress in whimsical costumes and whose daughter conducts an open affair with a man who wants to bring down the government, Stuyvesant finds himself dangerously seduced by one woman and—even more dangerously—falling in love with another. And as he sifts through secrets divulged and kept, he uncovers the target of a horrifying conspiracy, and wonders if he can trust his touchstone, Grey, to reveal the most dangerous player of all ….

3.....Chariots of the Gods by Erich Von Daniken.  (original cover)
 

 

The startling book that asks: Did astronauts visit the earth 40,000 years ago? Is there evidence of a prehistoric airfield in the Andes? Did extraterrestrial beings help set up the giant stone faces that brood over Easter Island? And other earth mysteries unanswerable until our own space age.

 
4.....  Oscar Wild and the Candlelight Murders by Gyles Brandreth.
 

When Wilde discovers a murdered teenage rent boy, his naked corpse surrounded by guttering candles and incense, he enlists the help of his friend Arthur Conan Doyle to convince reluctant police inspector Aidan Fraser to investigate. They unveil a tangled web of underground male prostitution and vice in fin-de-siècle London.
Despite its premise, the book is not as suspenseful as one might expect, being so firmly, almost hagiographically, focused on Wilde, rather than on the unfolding mystery. The author delights in quoting Wilde’s witticisms and paints a very affectionate portrait. Unfortunately the other characters suffer in comparison—even Conan Doyle appears a pale shadow—and the female characters are so badly drawn, they border on the farcical.
The power of a successful murder mystery rests on the depth and intelligence of its villain. In this book, the murderer is so unconvincing that the entire dénouement falls flat. Not even Wilde’s most delicious bon mot can save the day.

 
5..... I Am Spock by Leonard Nimoy.
 

First time in trade paperback: the memoir by the late Leonard Nimoy, best remembered for his portrayal as everyone's favorite Vulcan, Spock, in Star Trek, the TV series and films.
Leonard Nimoy's portrayal of the ever-logical Vulcan, Mr. Spock, is one of the most recognizable, loved, and pervasive characterizations in popular culture. He had been closer to the phenomenon of Star Trek than anyone, having played the pivotal role of Spock in the original series, in six motion pictures, and in a special two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I AM SPOCK gives us Nimoy's unique perspective on the beginnings of the Star Trek phenomenon, on his relationship with his costars, and particularly on the reaction of the pointed-eared alien that Nimoy knew best.
Here, Nimoy shared the true story behind his perceived reticence to re-create the role and wrote frankly about how his portrayal defined an icon.

 
6..... To The Stars by George Takei.
 

From the program’s birth in the changing world of the 1960s and death at the hands of the network to its rebirth in the hearts and minds of loyal fans, the Star Trek story has blazed its own path into our recent cultural history, leading to a series of blockbuster feature films and three new versions of Star Trek for television.
The Star Trek story is one of boundless hope and crushing disappointment, wrenching rivalries and incredible achievements. It is also the story of how, after nearly thirty years, the cast of characters from a unique but poorly rated television show have come to be known to millions of Americans and people around the world as family.
For George Takei, the Star Trek adventure is intertwined with his personal odyssey through adversity in which four-year-old George and his family were forced by the United States government into internment camps during World War II.
Star Trek means much more to George Takei than an extraordinary career that has spanned thirty years. For an American whose ideals faced such a severe test, Star Trek represents a shining embodiment of the American Dream—the promise of an optimistic future in which people from all over the world contribute to a common destiny.

7..... Beam Me Up, Scotty by James Doohan.
 

The actor who brought to life Star Trek's engineering officer Montgomery Scott discusses his army service during World War II, his career, and relationships with his co-stars

 
8..... Chekov's Enterprise by Walter Koenig.
 

The actor who portrays Lieutenant Pavel Chekov of the Starship Enterprise describes his experiences and provides portraits of fellow actors during the filming of the Star trek movie based on the popular television series.

 
 
9..... Buck Alice & The Actor Robot by Walter Koenig.  (look at "new and used)

From a distant world the invaders came. In their wake nearly all of the human population is disintegrated. Now survivors, both human and alien, trudge through this wasteland. Some are aimless, others purposeful, but all cling to survival and their own sanity, unaware their fates are intertwined. ...

 
 
10.... Warped Factors by Walter Koenig.
 

The actor best known for his work on the Star Trek television series and films traces his life and career and offers his perspective on the success and evolution of Star Trek

 
11.... The View From the Bridge by Nicholas Meyer.
 

When Nicholas Meyer was asked to direct the troubled second Star Trek film, he was something less than a true believer. A bestselling author and successful director, he had never been a fan of the TV series. But as he began to ponder the appeal of Kirk, Spock, et al., he realized that their story was a classical nautical adventure yarn transplanted into space and-armed with that insight-set out on his mission: to revitalize Trek.

 
12... From Sawdust to Stardust by Terry Lee Rioux.
 

In the forty-year history of Star Trek®, none of the television show's actors are more beloved than DeForest Kelley. His portrayal of Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the southern physician aboard the Starship Enterprise™, brought an unaffected humanity to the groundbreaking space frontier series.
Jackson DeForest Kelley came of age in Depression-era Georgia. He was raised on the sawdust trail, a preacher's kid steeped in his father's literal faith and judgment. But De's natural artistic gifts called him to a different way, and a visit to California at seventeen showed a bright new world.
Theater and radio defined his early career -- but it was a World War II training film he made while serving in the Army Air Corps that led to his first Paramount Studios contract.
After years of struggle, his lean, weathered look became well known in notable westerns and television programs such as You Are There and Bonanza. But his work on several pilots for writer-producer Gene Roddenberry changed his destiny and the course of cultural history.
This thoroughly researched actor's life is about hard work and luck, loyalty and love. It is a journey that takes us all...from sawdust to stardust.