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| VIEW FROM SANT' AGNESE |
(from: Mentone, Cairo, and Corfu by Woolson, Constance Fenimore)
Wow! I read a lot this month. Heat wave & crappy air quality meant I couldn't do much else. Other than reading my activity was pretty much limited to trips to the library with stops to pick up take out food. But there was a lot of variety in the reading so I wasn't bored.
Everything was from public libraries except the two from Project Gutenberg (the Cather and the Woolson). The Woolson led me to some fun Internet searching.
fiction:
Alexander's Bridge and The Barrel Organ by Cather, Willa; Noyes, Alfred
Not the greatest Cather but it was her first published novel.
A Most Agreeable Murder by Seales, Julia
A fun mash-up of Agatha Christie and Jane Austin. Murder at a house party where everyone is so polite until.... Also might be a set up for a series. I could read another.
Afterparties: Stories by So, Anthony Veasna
Growing up Cambodian and Gay in Stockton, California
Year of the Rabbit by Veasna, Tian; translated from the French by Dascher, Helge
Graphic biofic about a familiy's escape from Cambodia. Excellent!
After Me Comes the Flood by Perry, Sarah
A man stumbles into a strange household, is mistaken for someone else, accepts the mistaken identity. Do we ever find out what is going on? I'm not sure but it was a good read.
Open Throat by Hoke, Henry
A fine novella told from the poit of view of a mountain lion living in Griffith Park in "ellay."
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Azar, Shokoofeh; translated from the Persian by Kijek, Adrien
Iranian family, post Revolution. Excellent!
Hotel Laguna by Harrison, Nicola
Young woman laid off her job in a airplane factory at the end of WW2 ends up i Laguna Beach looking for a job.
Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House, #1) by Holmberg, Charlie N.
Magic and haunting in an island house in 19th Century Rhode Island. Dragged a bit in the middle, but not too bad. I tried the second in the series, but got restless and skimmed a lot so I won't claim to have read it.
The Little Italian Hotel by Patrick, Phaedra
Friendship and emotional healing among five strangers at a somewhat run-down hotel near Bologna.
Block Party by Day, Jamie
A fun mystery where you don't now the identity of the victim until almost the end. There's lots of serious stuff leading up to the finale so it's not exactly a romp. There's infidelity, suicide attempts, spousal and child abuse, alcoholism and drug addiction to name a few.
The Centre by Siddiqi, Ayesha Manazir
A debut novel. A Pakistani woman living in London enters a mysterious language learning program. I felt a bit of a letdown when the mystery was revealed--too much foreshadowing perhaps? Writer has potential and I would read a next novel hoping for better plotting.
The Night Flowers by Herchenroether, Sara
Cold case in New Mexico. I read it through . Good story but a bit too much back story of the female investigators (a law enforcement professional and a librarian/genealogist).
Night Will Find You by Heaberlin, Julia
Another cold case, this one set in Texas. The investigators are a couple of male cops and a female psychic (who is also an astrophysicist). This one works better than the Heaberlin one. Although there's also a lot of backstory it seems much more relevant to the story.
Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Pooley, Clare
And now for something much lighter. A half dozen London commuters are forced to break the rule "never talk to strangers on the train" (even if you've seen them every work day for years) when one of them chokes on a grape. Friendships ensue.
Excavations by Myers, Kate
Two stars? No, three. No, two. Ummm. Good idea. Academic hijinks at a Greek archeological dig. But: a stereotypical villain and too many characters with the same voice. Ended up with two stars on Goodreads, 2 1/2 on LibraryThing.
Onlookers: Stories by Beattie, Ann
Good collection of interrelated short stories set in Charlottesville, VA during COVID pandemic.
My Husband by Ventura, Maud; translated from the French by Ramadan, Emma
Odd little book about a sort of marriage game. I'm glad this got translated!
nonfiction:
Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America by Wilbur, Matika
Wow! beautiful portraits, inspiring stories that lead to lots of Googling for more info.
Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Kennedy, Jonathan
A "great pandemic" theory of history.
Connecticut Characters: Profiles of Rascals and Renegades by Beach, Randall
A collection of columns that originally appeared in The New Haven Register from 1980-2022.
Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride by Knisley, Lucy
Fun graphic memoir about wedding planning.
Chita: A Memoir by Rivera, Chita
Fun memoir.
Profiles in Ignorance: How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber by Borowitz, Andy
A lot of stuff I already know but when it's all put together it's really scarry.
Mentone, Cairo, and Corfu by Woolson, Constance Fenimore; (Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.)
PUBLISHERS' NOTE. The substance of this collection of Miss Woolson's sketches of travel in the Mediterranean originally appeared in Harper's Magazine. "At Mentone" was published in that periodical in 1884; "Cairo in 1890," and "Corfu and the Ionian Sea," appeared in 1891 and 1892. As presented in this volume, the two sketches last mentioned contain much interesting material not included in their original form as magazine articles.
I really enjoyed the three 19th Century travelogs. Each was told in a different manner: Cairo was a pretty straightforward description and travel piece which, to me, was the least interesting; Corfu seemed a little more personal (I've been there) and a bit snippy; I liked Mentone the most because she fictionalizes it into a sort of group tour while keeping factual with her descriptions of the places they visit. (I have also been to Menton but just to pass through.)
Searched while reading Mentone Woolson:
Hôtel des Anglais,
" Ruffini's
novel called Doctor Antonio"
""Do you see that blue line of coast?" said Verney. "That is the island
where lived the Man with the Iron Mask.""Bazaine was confined there also," said the Professor. (François Achille Bazaine ; the island is Île Sainte-Marguerite
"But none of us cared for Bazaine. We began to talk about the Mask, and then diverged to Kaspar Hauser, finally ending with Eleazer Williams, of "Have we a Bourbon among us?" who had to be explained to the Englishmen."
A bit from Woolson on what to call and how to pronounce the name of the place:
"What shall we call thee? Shall we give our ownPlain English vowels to thee, fair Mentone?"Or shall we yield thee back thy patrimony,The lost Italian sweetness of Mentone?"Or, with French accent, and the n's half gone,Try the Parisian syllables—Men-ton?"
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