December 2019 Reading

A mixed bag for December. Sometimes it takes me a while to come down from a really great book like Dicks Newburyport (which I read in November). So perhaps some of these ratings are a little too harsh (especially the Ali Smith Seasonals). Unless otherwise noted, these were all from the public library.

Fiction:
The Innocents by Crummey, Michael  5 of 5 stars    
Iza's Ballad by Szabó, Magda; translated from the Hungarian by Szirtes, George 5 stars
 My copy, a nice gift from my daughter
Invented Lives by Goldsmith, Andrea 4 stars   
 Advance review copy from LibraryThing giveaway
The Revisioners by Sexton, Margaret Wilkerson  4  stars
The Z Murders by Farjeon, J. Jefferson  2+ stars
 Advance review copy from Poisened Pen Press Not as good as others I've read in the British Library Crime Classic series.
The German House by Hess, Annette; translated from the German by Lauffer, Elisabeth 3 stars

Autumn (Seasonal, #1) by  Smith, Ali 4  stars
Winter (Seasonal, #2) by Smith, Ali  3+ stars    
Spring (Seasonal #3),  by Smith Ali 3+  stars

Short Story Collections:
Joytime Killbox by Wood, Brian W. 5  stars
 my personal copy purchasd from publisher
Flowers of Mold by Seong-nan, Ha; translated from the Korean by Hong, Janet 5 stars
 my copy, purchased from publisher
Public Library and Other Stories by Smith, Ali 2 stars
Sudden Traveler: Stories by Hall, Sarah 1 star
  advance review copy from LibraryThing. 

Nonfiction: 
The Kindness of Strangers by Viertel, Salka 4+ stars
 Informative without being too gossipy -- amazing considering she knew everybody.
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Levitin, Daniel J.  3+ stars
  Lots of neuroscience here and a very educational read. Interesting to read about the various approaches in research. As for the music: this neither increased nor decreased my appreciation of music. Nor did it fundamentally change the way I listen to and think about music. For me this was a brain appreciation exercise.
Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook by Malek, Tyler 4 stars
 If I ever decide to make ice cream again, this is the book for me.
Wild about Weeds: Garden Design with Rebel Plants by Wallington, Jack 3 +  stars
 Nice reading, pretty pictures. However, it seems to me that when you purposely design weeds into a garden plan you're going to work as hard maintaining them as you would work trying to get rid of them. But I'm not a gardener--I just have a "lawn" of mown weeds and "flower beds" of whatever comes up--if I like it, it stays; if not, zap!


For children:
The Land of Lost Toys by Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing;  Little, Brown, and Company, 1900. on Project Gutenberg

Partially read (on Project Gutenberg): Our National Parks by John Muir
I read only one chapter, but I enjoyed it so I may read more.
CHAPTER VI
Among the Animals of the Yosemite

A Cinnamon Bear.