Return of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked up the first book off a bookshelf of a place I was visiting. Read it and now I’m amongst the very apparent many who are collecting the series of series. The first book drew me in as it fleshed out quite a set of characters and told a great story. I delved into number two hoping to find more of the same and did. It is a continuation of the first book and wraps the loose ends. Obviously a setup to get the reader on to number three. Though i doubt at the time William Johnstone in the mid-’80s knew of the industry he was about to spawn. Quite a set of books are coming out this year of 2013 years after his death.

I highly recommend this book, AFTER one reads the first.

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Moonraker by Ian Fleming
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The best of the first three Bond books. Fleming moved forward with this far better fleshed out novel and a true threat for Bond to go after the bad guy. The beginning premise is a bit flimsy as to how the bad guy and Bond get connected, but the rest of the book makes up for the contrivance.

Reading this over fifty five years since its being written makes one marvel at Flemings ability to conjure rockets so well before anyone could get very familiar with them. I urge a reader to slow down reading parts about the rockets and take in Fleming’s depiction of the machinations of the rocket involved. Can’t imagine what that was like reading the same parts in the ’50s.

I recommend this and the previous two Bond books: casino Royale and Live and Let Die.

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Here are caricatures drawn today during an event in Moss Park in south Orange County, Florida.

Got a chance to pick some oranges in a grove in Tangerine, Florida, today.

Found a great sight for a future Swampy’s Florid watercolor painting! See the pitcher plants? Saw a boatload of them at Clear Creek Nature Trail near Milton in the past hour.

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I felt as if I had just read a short story than a book. This really goes quick. Part of the reason is the very good writing and pacing. The story itself was, oddly enough, a bit like the book I read before this in which it is a kind of a novel-length chase scene. This chase involving a deck of Bicycle. Unlike the book I read before this, this has far better writing and a real development of the characters. The ending is rather overdone. But then so is the card game which is central to the story. Meaning this short story novel could have been even shorter.

Involving the movie series: I really like the James Bond character in this book better than all the film versions. More intriguing character. This first of the set should be leading me on to the next in the series.

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Trail from St. Augustine by Lee Gramling

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Folks have been telling me for years to read Lee Gramling and, over the years, I picked up the Pineapple Press series. I just read my first one after starting to collect them in the 1990s. I almost wish I had not cracked open the book and just ride the praise I’ve heard of them.

The story starts in 1700s British St. Augustine and continues in the northern part of the state. That is, if you want to call it a story. It’s a very flimsy premise that is cloaked in a novel length chase toward a common goal. The writing is almost Ok and the narrative about the outdoors is less than that. His best writing is during the many scenes of action.

What might have my opinion extra low is reading prior to this Frank Slaughter’s ‘Storm Haven’ that is so beautifully written and well researched. This book pales in comparison. Gramling, being a fifth generation Floridian, I am sure did his best to construct the best novel he could about early Florida. He just needed direction in plotting, narrative and story telling.

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Here’s a cartoon illustration for an upcoming Swampy’s Florida book for Marion County, Florida. The ‘Swampy’s Florida: Marion County Museum of History’ coloring book is an A to Z count of items in the museum in coloring book form to help educate young people about the history of Marion County. I’ll post more images as they I get them drawn.

Here are a bunch of photos from an event I drew in Boynton Beach a couple weeks ago. Below is a photo of a lady who likes fantsy stories and is a manager ay a Publix. So, here she defends her employees in the cereal aisle against an approaching dragon!

Another meeting. Another batch of artwork done! Needed to riddle a stack of pencils for projects and did a bunch during a two and a half hour meeting…Participated in the meeting, too! Even got to ink a bit. Next is to send off the pencil work to a slew of clients for OKs, then I can figure time to ink some and color some. Some of these i can show final versions of later.

De Soto Didn’t Land At Tampa by Rolfe F. Schell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

‘De Soto Didn’t Land in Tampa’ is a hard book to review without balancing it with other accounts as to just where others think Hernando landed. Author Schell does an outstanding job making his point in under a hundred pages and it would seem he is correct. Punta Gorda sure feels he is with all their recognition of Hernando.

I’ll press on with my reading and have a few texts that have alternate ideas. I might come back and change my rating of the book and this review.

I’m giving this such a high rating because of how thorough Schell has accomplished his goal. The comparative chart of separate diaries of the explorers is very impressive. Schell’s knowledge of Spanish and his translation, further adds to his credibility.

I’m very familiar with the territory of the state that Schell lays out in his narrative as Hernando’s trail. Most all makes sense with the exception of the location of Ocali. Though, I think we may have spent too much time trying to interpret something that is not interpretable. We know names changed over the years and even Schell points out the trouble of multiple names for a single location.

Nevertheless, Schell’s effort in this book is impressive and I recommend it for those who wish to chase this ghost of a mystery.

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