December 2024

A good month for reading but not for making notes. Not in the mood to pick a cover either. Maybe I'll come back to edit this psge.

Fiction:

The Secret Keeper by Morton, Kate 

The Once and Future Witches by Harrow, Alix E. 

Rental House by Wang, Weike 

Four Souls by Erdrich, Louise 

The Phoenix Ballroom by Hogan, Ruth 

The Decent Proposal by Donovan, Kemper 

Aliss at the Fire by Fosse, Jon; translated from the Norwegian by Searls, Damion

Brightly Shining by Rishøi, Ingvild H.; translated from the Norwegian by Waight, Caroline

Cutting for Stone by Verghese, Abraham

The Question of Red by Pamuntjak, Laksmi

The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia by Grames, Juliet

The Murders in Great Diddling (Berit Gardner #1) by Bivald, Katarina

The Lake House by Morton, Kate

Maud's House by Roberts, Sherry

The Greenhouse by Ólafsdóttir, Auður Ava 

Territory of Light by Tsushima, Yūko; translated from the Japanese by Harcouty, Geraldine

Poetry:

Mojave Ghost by Gander, Forrest

Nonfiction:

Forged In Fire: Stories of Wartime Japan by Montibon, Rita Tomoko

Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Nussbaum, Emily

When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion by Satow, Julie

In France Profound: The Long History of a House, a Mountain Town, and a People by Allman, T.D.

Extinct: A Compendium of Obsolete Objects edited by Penner, Barbara

 

November 2024

 

Several  mysteries this month and what a variety of settings and investigators! A  pony in New York (and LA and points inbetween).  Teddy bears in Japan. A Vietnamese women in Paris searching for the man who may be her father. Three generations of women seeking their roots in a Cornwall garden. Treasure searchers in Nova Scotia. A teenage girl tracking down her stolen bear (live, not plush) in New Brunswick. And true (unsolved) crime in the Galápagos. 

Fiction:

Elevator in Sài Gòn by Thuận; translated from the Vietnamese by Nguỹên An Lý

Wonderful! Wandering the streets of Paris. Very like Modiano. Wish I could get more by her.

Playground by Powers, Richard 

Confusing at times but very good.

Blue Light Hours by Dantas Lobato, Bruna 

A quiet gem. A Brazillian mother and daughter try to stay connected while the daughter is at college in the US.

Our Evenings by Hollinghurst, Alan 

Really liked this, though it's not my favorite of his works.

The Forgotten Garden by Morton, Kate

This has everything: family secrets, mystery, a search, romance, artists, a writer, jumping back and forth in time in place, twists and turns. I loved it!

Pearly Everlasting by Armstrong, Tammy 

A girl and her bear in turn of the century (1800s/1900) New Brunswick. I  waver between three and four stars...

Small World by Evison, Jonathan 

Four families cross paths in the 19th Century and then three generations later in the 21st Century. Irish immigrants,  a Miwok Indian, a fugitive slave, and a Chinese prospector are the forebears. Their descendents are a train engineer, a battered wife running from her marriage, a single mom and her basketball playing son, and a woman who is trying to simplyflify her life. The are all headed to Seattle on a northbound train which has an accident....

The Evolution of the Gospelettes by Oberhausen, Tammy 

A family of gospel singers gets mixed up with a shady evangelist and his mega TV church.

The Boxcar Librarian by Labuskes, Brianna 

Advance Review Copy via Goodreads.  Three women and heir stories come together in 1920s & 1930s Montana.

Friends in Napa by Marikar, Sheila Yasmin

Rich couple who have just purchased a winery invite old college friends for a lavish weekend celebration. Mayhem ensues.

Don’t Forget to Write by Confino, Sara Goodman 

A pleasant bit of fluff, not at all deep coming of age (20 year old sheltered Jewish girl).. Set in the summer of 1960 in a New Jersey resort town.

Pony Confidential by Lynch, Christina

A mostly fun read but maybe could have been a little tighter. The pony had too many adventures,

The Treasure Hunters Club by Ryan, Tom

Another fun mystery, this one set in a seaside village in Nova Scotia.

The Story of the Forest by Grant, Linda 

Family story of Jewish Latvian immigrants in Liverpool. Time period: about 1913-2000.

Ophelia's Voyage to Japan by Clise, Michele Durkson 

Stuffed bears have an adventure.

Dogs and Monsters: Stories by Haddon, Mark 

I didn't much care for these. I'm tired of retellings of classics.

Contents: The mother's story -- The bunker -- My old school -- D.O.G.Z. -- The wilderness -- The temptation of St Anthony -- The quiet limit of the world -- St Bride's Bay.

Nonfiction:

The Position of Spoons: And Other Intimacies by Levy, Deborah 

Essays on women's writing and art plus other subjects.

The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice by Parkin, Simon 

Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II by Kahler, Abbott 

True crime on Isla Floreana in the Galápagos. 

The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir by Dunne, Griffin 

Sub title is a little misleading since almost everyone in the family was dead when Griffen Dunne published this gossipy book. Most of the people whose names he dropped are also gone so there's not many left who can challenge the reliability of his narration.

The Wall of Life: Pictures and Stories from This Marvelous Lifetime by Maclaine, Shirley 

Everybody was wonderful and (mostly) photogenic too. Gee.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Bechdel, Alison 

Memoir of a troubled childhood in small town Pennsylvania funeral business.

A Gentleman from Japan: The Untold  Story of an Incredible Journey from Asia to Queen Elizabeth’s Court by Lockley, Thomas 

This might have made a good article in a history magazine but there is not enough information about Christopher (the title figure) to make a full length book, There is a lot of historical background and much "Christopher might have seen..."  or "Christopher must have thought..." and a lot of made up conversatuions and scenarios. It was rather boring.

Online:

Tibet & Nepal: Painted & described  by  Landor, Arnold Henry Savage.  (Published January 1905)

On Project Gutenberg. I've been reading this off and on all year. It's best taken in small doses. 

Santa Maria by Gurba, Myriam

"A youthful obsession with Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother turns to frustration over how its subject, Florence Owens Thompson, an Indigenous woman, has been misperceived."

The Science of Fighting Our Nightmares by Cassels, Pat

Whose döner kebab? Why the beloved late-night snack is at the centre of a meat-fuelled food fight by Ute Junker, Ute

October 2024

So I went to the library to pick up my holds and do a bit of browsing. I found this in the fiction shelves and it looked interesting so I put  it in my stack. I checked out a number of books, loaded them in my tote bag and headed home with a deli stop on the way. When I got home there was a message from the library. It seems I had left this book on the counter. Did I want them to hold it for me or should the check it in and reshelve it? I told them to reshelve it.

Next time I was in the library I remembered to check it out again and remembered to actually take it home. Which is a good sign as it turned out to be about a woman in the early stages of dementia who is having memory problems. So now I wonder if the librarians knew the subject matter and wondered about the memory status of their elderly patron (me). 

I enjoyed the book and also many others in this month's list.  Found a new (to me) author, Katie Kitamura, whose writing I very much liked. Happily the library has more by her. I also enjoyed some mildly creepy stuff because - October.

October is also my birthday month and of course my daughters gave me books! Forged In Fire: Stories of Wartime Japan by Montibon, Rita Tomoko and Amanat: Women’s Writing from Kazakhstan by Batayeva, Zaure. I also purchased a few hard to find ones for myself. Plus I won some ARCs so my TBR list is, well, just where it should be. Long.

And I'm liking my carry-over-to next month read: Richard Powers' Playland.

Fiction:

Suite Française by Némirovsky, Irène; translated from the French by Smith, Sandra

Life in German occupied France in WW2. Excellent. 

The Mighty Red by Erdrich, Louise 

Super good novel set in Red River Valley sugar beet farming area of North Dakota.

Intimacies by Kitamura, Katie 

An interpretor for the International Court of Justice is searching for a meaningful life.

A Separation by Kitamura, Katie 

A woman goes to Greece to confront her etsranged husband but he has disappeared.

Polostan (Bomb Light, #1) by Stephenson, Neal

Haven't read any Stephenson since Snow Crash (1992)  and decided to give this a try.  It's good enough to look forward the numbers 2 & 3.  Maybe I should go back and fill in my Stephenson gaps.

Takaoka's Travels by Shibusawa, Tatsuhiko; translated from the Japanese by Boyd, David 

Strange creatures, strange adventures in the Ninth Century as a prince/monk and his three companions (two monks and a girl disguised as a boy) travel Southeast Asia. I got bored. 

The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Huynh, Carolyn

A sprawling, squabling family of Vietnamese women in Orange County's Little Saigon come to terms with a each other and their family's curse and the fun romp.

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Loigman, Lynda Cohen

An eighty year old retires to Boca Raton only to find the man who deserted her sixty years ago is living in the same retirement community. Silly, sentimental fun as they renew their friendship.

The Mistletoe Mystery (Molly the Maid, #2.5) by Prose, Nita 

Not a who done it, but a sweet Christmas story.

The Night We Lost Him by Dave, Laura 

Meh.

Last House by Shattuck, Jessica 

A "family saga" reaching from 1953 to 2026 told in 325 pages. A "end of the world" retreat house in Vermont is supposedly refuge from the cares of mankind. We get a lot about the restoration of the Shah of Iran, a lot about the protests of the sixties, and absolutely nothing about 2001. And where was this family in 2020?

One Puzzling Afternoon by Critchley, Emily 

Aging woman tries to solve the long ago disappearance of a schoolmate.

The Hitchcock Hotel by Wrobel, Stephanie

A creepy hotel...

The Haunting of Velkwood by Kiste, Gwendolyn

A creepy suburban street...

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow 

A creepy house in a rural town...

The Hundred Waters by Acampora, Lauren 

An arty, but creepy, triangle.

A Sunny Place for Shady People by Enríquez, Mariana; translated from the Spanish by McDowell, Megan

A disappointing collection. Tried so hard to be macabre that the stories were lost.

Contents: My sad dead -- A sunny place for shady people -- Face of disgrace -- Julie -- Night birds -- Metamorphosis -- Hyena hymns --   Different colors made of tears -- The suffering woman -- The refrigerator cemetery -- A local artist -- Black eyes.

Your Utopia by Chung, Bora; translated from the Korean by Hur, Anton 

Enjoyable SciFi short stories involving robots and programmed machines--one is from the POV of a car, another is narrated by an elevator....

Contents: The Center for Immortality Research -- The end of the voyage -- A very ordinary marriage -- Maria, gratia plena -- Your utopia -- A song for sleep -- Seed -- To meet her -- Author's note: the act of mourning. 

There is a Rio Grande in heaven : stories by Reyes, Ruben, Jr.

Hit and miss collection. I didn't care for it.

Contents: An alternate history of El Salvador or perhaps the world -- He eats his own -- Try again -- An alternate history of El Salvador or perhaps the world -- The myth of the self-made man -- Quier Perrear! and other catastrophes -- An alternate history of El Salvador or perhaps the world -- My abuela, the puppet -- The Salvadoran slice of Mars -- An alternate history of El Salvador or perhaps the world -- Variations on your migrant life -- An alternate history of El Salvador or perhaps the world. 

Mixed genre Anthology:

Relations: An Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices edited by Brew-Hammond, Nana Ekua

Includes essays, poetry, and short stories. I read most of it but skipped a few stories and essays.

Contents: Introduction -- Nanyuman / by Ayesha Harruna Attah -- So long and Fuji-san / by Mogolodi Bond -- Body is more than a landfill and less than all that I am / by Sarah Uheida -- To the woman who accused me of breastfeeding the madman's child and by any other name / by Phillippa Yaa de Villiers -- Ezouga and post mortem / by Bahia Mahmud H. Awah -- Daughter of a bedouin chief / by Miral al-Tahawy --   God's plan / by Boakyewaa Glover -- Her sweetie, her sugarcane / by Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda -- Krifé / by Chiké Frankie Edozien -- Queens and sleeping beauty (of Borehamwood) and waterstones and ode to a discarded face mask and denouement/ by Dami Ajayi -- Finding Descartes / by Reem Gaafar -- Fulbright / by Rémy Ngamije -- Dirty money / by Kim Coleman Foote-- Kilmonger doctrine of color and humanity / by Joe Robert Cole-- Churai / by Fatima Camara -- [Coolitude: ce balisier-mirador] / by Khal Torabully -- This tangible thing / by Yejide Kilanko -- In a yellow dress with red flowers / by Lillian Akampurira Aujo -- A honey-headed child / by Nana Nyarko Boateng -- Napoleao / by Conceiçāo Lima -- Atat / by Arao Ameny -- Sontem and Ne na'a mpurí haalo and en la puerta primavera / by Recaredo Silebo Boturu -- Lagos wives club / by Vanessa Walters -- I am lost! / by Richard Ali a Muti K -- Poor men have too much ego / by Edwige-Renée Dro -- Sundays in Nairobi / by Jacquelynn Kerubo -- Mbuya Baines / by Makananka Mavengere -- Swagger stick man of June fifteen / by Chuma Nwokolo -- Heart of the father / by Enuma Okoro -- Trophy / by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond -- Célebrons la culture / by Salma Khalil -- Word maker. / by Ayi Renaud Dossavi-Alipoeh.

Nonfiction:

Other Rivers: A Chinese Education by Hessler, Peter 

Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting by Hood, Ann 

Essays on the joys (and pitfalls) of learning to knit, knitting, and teaching knitting.

Contents: Knitting pattern: "Banks" fingerless mittens / Helen Bingham -- The pretend knitter / Elizabeth Berg -- The perfect gift / Lan Samantha Chang -- Blood, root, knit, purl / Andre Dubus III -- To knit a knot, or not : a beginner's yarn / John Dufresne -- Home ec / Hope Edelman -- Knitting pattern: "Bingham" cabled head wrap / Helen Bingham -- Soft, warm, and fuzzy / Janice Eidus -- Looped yarn / Martha Frankel -- Teaching a child to knit / Sue Grafton -- Knitting in Kathmandu / Jessi Hempel -- Ten things I learned from knitting / Ann Hood -- Knitting pattern: "Bowden" coffee cozies / Helen Bingham -- Judite / Kaylie Jones -- Where to begin / Barbara Kingsolver -- The one-year marriage / Jennifer Lauck -- Knitting a family / Anne D. LeClaire -- Knitting : epic fail / Marianne Leone -- I bought this pattern book last spring / Elinor Lipman -- Knitting pattern: "Ashworth" ruffled slipper socks / Helen Bin(qham -- The supernatural power of knitting / Alison Lurie -- Straw into gold / Joyce Maynard -- Failing better / Bernadette Murphy -- How knitting saved my life. Twice. / Ann Patchett -- The clothes make the dog / Taylor M. Polites -- Knitting pattern: Clovis's perfect-fit sweater / Taylor M. Polites -- High-strung knitter / Elissa Schappell -- Knitted goods : notes from a nervous non-knitter / Elizabeth Searle -- What are you making? / Ann Shayne -- Crafty critters / Suzanne Strempek Shea -- Found objects / Anita Shreve -- Why bother? / Jane Smiley -- Knitting pattern: "Fisher" lacy wrap / Helen Bingham. 

Online:

Early June by by Flora Qian  (in Asia Literary Review, No. 32, Winter 2016)

and I add a journal to my TBE (to be explored).

Brightly, Brightly a short story by Latham, Kathleen (in The Ilanot Review, Parents: Prose Edition, Spring, 2024.)

another journal for the TBE.

Farmland by Conway, Elizabeth (in New Flash Fiction Review, Issue 33, May 15, 2024)

and yet another journal TBE...

September 2024

Love this cover!

A really good reading month.  There were some disappointments but even those weren't total losses as I did finish them, sort of.

I found some good online stuff this month. Oh, dear - the map thing! 

Fiction:

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Shafak, Elif

A tale of two rivers (the Tigris and the Thames) is mostly set in two eras (1800s and 2010s) but it begins in Nineveh with a single raindrop and a stone tablet containing part of the Epic of Gilgamesh. A good read.

The Life Impossible by Haig, Matt

Good but not as good as The Midnight Library.

Mina's Matchbox by Ogawa, Yōko; translated from the Japanese by Snyder, Stephen B.

A year (1972) in the life of a twelve year old Japanese girl who goes to live with relatives while her mother studies. Her cousin, Mina, has a pet pigmy hippo.

The Rhino Keeper by Forsberg, Jillian 

Advance review copy via LibraryThing. So-so.Split timeline with the historical (18th Century) being more rewarding than the modern one.

Burn by Heller, Peter 

Dystopian novel set in Maine in the near future. Two hunters stumble into a civil war.

Scattered All Over the Earth by Tawada, Yōko; translated from the Japanese by Mitsutani, Margaret

Refugees form a sort of troop and wander around Europe looking for something. I enjoyed the trip.

The Fires of Autumn by Némirovsky, Irène; translated from the French by Smith, Sandra

A French family endures. 1918-1941. 

The Most by Anthony, Jessica

A clever game of marriage.

The Love of My Afterlife by Greenwood, Kirsty 

So. Much. Fun. meta-romance

West Heart Kill by McDorman, Dann

More. Such. Fun. meta-murder mystery.

The Golden Spoon by Maxwell, Jessa

Another fun mystery. In this one six contestents and the hostess/crator of a TV baking competition tell about a week of filming gone horribly awry.  Love the cover! 

Tell Me Everything by Strout, Elizabeth 

Lucy, Olive, the Burgess boys, and all the other flawed folks from Crosby, Maine

Yerba Buena by LaCour, Nina

Sara, at 15, runs away from her Northern California home. Emelie lives a troubled life in Long Beach CA. They meet, part, meet again....

The Examiner by Hallett, Janice 

Six students work an a group project whilst persuing an MFA degree but all are not what they say they are. In fact, nothing about their project is what it's billed to be. There is a mysterious radio, someone disappears, and the plot thickens.

The Library of Lost and Found by Patrick, Phaedra 

Lots of family secrets in this one. Also it's never too late to come of age.

Sandwich by Newman, Catherine

What can I say? The family relationships in this struck me as unreal and creepy.

War by Candlelight by Alarcón, Daniel

Disappointing story collection by an author I usually like. Maybe it was the subject matter but I started skimming and skipping.

Contents: Flood; City of clowns; Third avenue suicide; Lima, Peru, July 28, 1979; Absence; Visitor; War by Candlelight;  Science for being alone; Strong dead man.

Nonfiction:

Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers by Smith, Emma 

A fun read.

Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You by Wilson, A'ja 

The target audience, obviously, is black girls, but this would be a good read for teachers, coaches, counselors, and others working with black girls. I can see it being read and discussed in a mixed race environment. 

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Tan, Amy

Interesting at first but there was a bit too much. So she fed the birds and felt good about it. BUT. I was bothered by her horror at how outdoor domestic cats impact wild birds but was gleeful about turning her little dog loose to terrorize the squirrels and other creatures she didn't want in her yard. She also a bit judgemental about which are "good" birds and which are "pests." The pictures were nice.

The Seine: The River that Made Paris by Sciolino, Elaine 

Lots of information about the river from it's source to the sea.  

Online:

What Comes Along by Henry Gifford 

"An arachnid in the corner carefully traipses through the crack, under where the baseboard just fails to meet the worn and oaky floor."

Impressions of the South of France by Hugo von Hofmannsthal; translated from the German by Henry N. Gifford

Interiors of Pastry Shops and Bakeries: Design Strategies that Integrate Functions, Users, and Materials by Agustina Iñiguez; translated by Antonia Piñeiro

The Greek-American Guardian of Neoclassical Athens by Tasos Kokkinidis

Google Arts & Culture

Spent almost as much time here as I did at the train thing.

David Rumsey Map Collection

I'm going to have to set aside a day or two (or more) to explore this. It has a search feature for text on the maps!

August 2024

August was off to a mixed start. It started with a fine romp with The Wedding People  which was a holdover from July. Then I picked up a bunch of holds and some were real bummers. This led  to a lot of skimming and skipping and DNFs until, finally, on August 11th I picked up Fire Exit and read it in one sitting. Excellent! Some other good stuff followed. 

The month is ending with me about one third through Elif Shafek's There Are Rivers in the Sky which I am enjoying. 

Fiction:

The Wedding People : a novel by Espach, Alison

Lots of fun and some romance, growing up, etc. during an especially lavish wedding week in Newport, RI.

The World After Alice by Green, Lauren Aliza

Another wedding; This one is in Maine and not quite as lavish as Newport. And it wasn't nearly as much fun. A disfunctional family function. 

Liquid, Fragile, Perishable by Kuebler, Carolyn 

A year in the life of a Vermont village. A very good debut novel.

Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight by Onda, Riku; translated from the Japanese by Watts, Alison

Billed as a thriller but this more of a psychological game between roommates (brother and sister) who deal with a past event while breaking up house to move off in separate directions. Good Read; good cover.

Silken Gazelles by Alharthi, Jokha; translated from the Arabic by Booth, Marilyn

Childhood friendship and loss as two Omani women go their separate ways. A very good read.

The Keeper of Lost Things by Hogan, Ruth 

A bit on the sentimental side but it was a pleasant read with some fun characters. 

Fire Exit by Talty, Morgan 

What is family? How do we self identify? Should family secrets be revealed? In this fine novel set in Maine on and near the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation a man struggles with his own identity and that of his daughter. 

Our Narrow Hiding Places by Jansma, Kristopher

Locale shifts between New Jersey in 2017 and Den Haag during WW2. It deals with the Dutch Famine of 1944-45 and the transgenerational physical and mental effects of starvation.

The Illegal Gardener  (Greek Village/Greek Island #1) by Alexi, Sara 

A British ex-pat buys a house in a mainland Greek village. It's rundown and the garden is a mess. She hires a Punjabi day worker to help her clear things up. They bond (not romantically) and she ends helping him earn enough to return to his homeland. A bit too simplistic: not sure if I want to read more in this series.

The Unmaking of June Farrow: A Novel by Young, Adrienne 

Confusing time travel which I skimmed a bit just to see how it turned out. Set in North Caroline Blue Ridge area.

James by Everett, Percival 

Why do prize winning books so often disappoint me?

Beep by Roorbach, Bill

Beep is a monkey secretly transported from Costa Rica to Manhattan by an eleven year old girl. He has adventures, he leads a rebellion, maybe even saves the world (sort of). Sounds promising but it wasn't very good.

The Thirteenth Husband by Macallister, Greer 

So many facts were changed to fit the narrative that this biofic of Amy Crocker was a whole lot more fic than bio. Ugh!

Catalina by Villavicencio, Karla Cornejo

Coming of age DACA, Harvard. Meh 

Nonfiction: 

Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius by Courogen, Carrie  

More pop analysis (both psycho and social) than I wanted to read.

Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell by Montgomery, Sy; illustrated by Patterson, Matt

The parts about turtle rescue, rehab and release were very interesting and engaging. The attempts to tie it all to "mending the world" were a bit of a stretch. 

Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation by Miles, Tiya 

This seems like an attempt to get more milage out of an acedemic thesis by publishing it as a book. Not worth the time it took to read it.

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Hessler, Peter 

Whew! After three disappointing nonfiction reads I finally read one I enjoyed. The two years are 1996-97 and the place is a teacher's college in Fuling in Sichuan province. 

The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by McCammon, Sarah 

Another winner in the nonfiction categpry.

July 2024

Some really good covers this month. This one captures the spirit of the book.

Lots of sisters this month (the first six novels in the list below) in varying degrees of light and serious reading. I enjoyed all six.

Also this month gave me three books from three different mystery series. I enjoyed them but don't especially want to follow any of these characters but I might pick one when I'm in the right mood.  Flavia could be very annoying, the California/Scotland Last Ditch crew were fun in a small dose, and Sharon McCone is mildy interesting.

Fiction:
Shanghailanders by Min, Juli 

Three sisters, lots of money

Tehrangeles by Khakpour, Porochista 

Four sisters, lots of money, covid-19 defiance, Kardashian wannabes.

One Big Happy Family by Day Jamie

Three (possibly more) sisters, an inheritance, murder, and more.

The Other Side of Disappearing by Clayborn, Kate

Two sisters, not much money, two podcast (true crime) journalists, one missing mother, a road trip. 

 A Good Life by Grimaldi, Virginie; translated from the French by Serle, Hildegarde

Two sisters, not a lot of money, clearing out a beloved grandmother's home, set in Anglet, France

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce, #1) by Bradley, Alan

Two sisters, maybe money, maybe land poor, country house, English village, mystery. 

Hop Scot (A Last Ditch mystery Book 6) by McPherson, Catriona 

Set in Scotland.

Circle in the Water  (Sharon McCone #35) Muller, Marcia 

Set in San Francisco and other Northern California locations.

No Two Persons by Bauermeister, Erica 

A book comes into the lives of nine different persons in these interlinked stories.

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Mishima, Yukio; translated from the Japanese by Nathan, John

Coming of age in Japan. A short book but not an easy read.

Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Segal, Francesca

A woman travels to a remote island in search of her father. A fun read.

The Heart in Winter by Barry, Kevin

Lame Irish western

The Berlin Letters by Reay, Katherine 

I enjoyed this one that spans the time from the night the Wall went up to the time it came down.

Ninetails : nine tales by Mao, Sally Wen

These stories are tied together by the Angel Island Chines immigrant experience and by the spirits of the Asian fox and ghost women legends.

Contents:

The haunting of Angel Island : Arrival. Love doll ; Beasts of the chase

The haunting of Angel Island : parts 2-3. Turtle head epidemic ; The fig queen

The haunting of Angel Island : parts 4-5. A Huxian's guide to seduction revenge immortality ; Thegirl with flies coming out of her eyes

The haunting of Angel Island : parts 6-8. Lotus stench ; The crush

The haunting of Angel Island : departure.

The History of Sound: Stories by Shattuck, Ben

More linked stories, these set in Northern New England.

Contents:  The history of sound -- Edwin Chase of Nantucket -- The silver clip -- Tundra swan -- August in the forest -- The journal of Thomas Thurber -- Radiolab: "Singularities" -- The auk -- The children of New Eden -- Introduction to The Dietzens: searching eternity in the North American wilderness -- Origin stories.

Nonfiction:

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Dench, Judi; O'Hare, Brendan; illustrations by Dench, Judi

A memoir told in a pleasant interview style.

Into the Amazon: The Life of Cândido Rondon, Trailblazing Explorer, Scientist, Statesman, and Conservationist by Rohter, Larry 

Good biography of a man we should have heard of.

Dragon Hoops by Yang, Gene Luen; color by Pien, Lark

A non-athletic (dare we say nerdy) high school teacher learns to love basketball.

Snacks for Dinner: Small Bites, Full Plates, Can't Lose by Volger, Lukas

Why not? But is it a snack if it takes a  lot of planning and prep?

Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes by Nguon, Chantha

Not snacks. This is refugee fare, comfort food (when available), and hunger.

The Manuscripts Club: The People Behind a Thousand Years of Medieval Manuscripts by de Hamel, Christopher 

Nice to read about these obsessive people but a bit more detail than I needed. Still, it was a pleasant slog. Even though the library let me renew it twice I still had to skim a bit to get it returned in time. 

Contents:  The Monk: Saint Anselm; The Prince: The Duc de Berry; The Bookseller: Vespasiano da Bisticci; The Illuminator: Simon Bening; The Antiquary: Sir Robert Cotton; The Rabbi: David Oppenheim; The Savant: Jean-Joseph Rive; The Librarian: Sir Frederic Madden; The Forger: Constantine Simonides; The Editor: Theodor Mommsen; The Collector: Sir Sydney Cockerell; The Curator: Belle da Costa Greene.

The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi by Upholt, Boyce 

This was slightly better than just ok. I would have liked a good bibliography of the "suggested further reading" type.

Why Italy Fell Out of Love With Cilantro

by Andrew Coletti July 1, 2024

 

Faroe Islands: Inside the undersea network of tunnels

Film by Adrienne Murray & James Brooks; Executive Producer: Camelia Sadeghzadeh

June 2024

June had plenty of hot days in which I didn't do much but read and eat!  Good news for my various TBR lists. Especially since one of my few trips to the library involved just picking up some holds and no browsing, I ended up with some that I actually didn't want to read. 

Books listed here are from the public libraries unless otherwise noted.

For July? I hope I can keep chipping away at the TBRs but there is, perhaps, too much good stuff on my holds list!

Fiction:

A Northern Light in Provence by Birkelund, Elizabeth 

Greenland woman goes to France to translate a poet's work from Provençal to English. Enjoyable read.

Why I Killed My Best Friend by Michalopoulou, Amanda; translated from the Greek by Emmerich, Karen

Good one from my "owned but unread cart."

Everyone Leaves by Guerra, Wendy; translated from the Spanish by Obejas, Achy

Coming of age in Castro's Cuba. From my "unread on Kindle" TBR list.

October Light by Gardner, John 

Elderly Vermont siblings get into a stubborn standoff.  Another good one from my Kindle backlog

One of Us Is Sleeping by Klougart, Josefine; translated from the Danish by Aitken, Martin

Grieving the end of a relationship. Plus mother/daughter issues. From my TBR cart.

Under a Neon Sun by Gale, Kate

Covid-19 in Los Angeles. Gen Z domestic workers who can't afford to stay home. I really liked this ARC (via Librarything). I've read several Covid related novels but this was different because of the "I don't have the choice to quarantine" pov.

You Are Here by Nicholls, David 

Five people set out on England's  Coast to Coast Walk, One of them nearly completes it. 

The Safekeep by Wouden, Yael van der 

This novel is set in The Netherlands in 1961.  A post WW2 novel.  The cover depicts two pears but it's not a cookbook nor a "foodie" book. The cover is appropriate because two pears are eaten and they become symbolic. 

This Strange Eventful History by Messud, Claire 

A family saga (three generations from 1940-2010) about pieds-noirs displaced from Algeria and roaming about the world.

The Turtle House by Churchill, Amanda 

Two points of view:  that of a Japanese war bride from Osaka now in Texas and that of her  grandaughter. The parts about the grandmother in WW2 are interesting. The Texas parts aren't. An ARC (via Goodreads).

Bear by Phillips, Julia

Two sisters struggling to make end meet and care for their dying mother encounter a bear, Set on San Juan Island, Washington. These women are supposed to be in their late twenties but seem more like teenagers. Not good.

Regarding Anna by Osmund, Florence

Young woman becomes a private investigator in order to learn the skills to find her birth mother. A very complicated plot with lots of twists and interesting characters. From my Kindle backlog.

Fresh Water for Flowers by Perrin, Valérie; translated from the French by Serle, Hildegarde

Another complicated plot. This takes place in France. Lots of back and forth in time and pov and this one also has lots of twists and odd characters.  An enjoyable read.

The Flower Sisters by Anderson, Michelle Collins

Family secrets and town secrets are revealed when teen is dumped (by her mother) on her grandmother in a small Missouri town. An OK read.

The good, the Bad, and the Aunties (Aunties, #3) by Sutanto, Jesse Q.

I enjoued this frolic but not enough to read more in the series.

The Werewolf at Dusk: And Other Stories illustrated by Small, David

Three dark stories in graphic novel format.

Contents: Introduction: The beast within -- The werewolf at dusk by Michel, Lincoln -- A walk in the old city by Small, David -- The tiger in vogue by Jean Ferry, Jean.

St. Petersburg Noir edited by Goumen, Julia and Smirnova, Natalia; various contributors and translators

Not my favorite of the series but ther were a few good stories in this. From ny Kindle backlog.

Contents: Introduction -- Part I: Gangsters, Soldiers & Patriots "Training Day" by Andrei Kivinov (Kupchino) -- "The Sixth of June" by Sergei Nosov (Moskovsky Prospect) -- Wake Up, You’re a Dead Man Now by Vadim Levental (New Holland) -- “The Witching Hour” by Alexander Kudriavtsev (Dostoevsky Museum)

Part II: A Watery Grave “Peau de Chagrin” by Natalia Kurchatova & Ksenia Venglinskaya (Rybatskoye) -- “Drunk Harbor” by Lena Eltang (Drunk Harbor) -- “Barely a Drop” by Andrei Rubanov (Liteyny Avenue) -- “Swift Current” by Anna Solovey (Kolomna) -- “The Phantom of the Opera Forever” by Julia Belomllinsky (Arts Square)

Part III: Chasing Ghosts “The Nutcracker” by Anton Chizh (Haymarket Square) -- “Paranoia” by Mikhail Lialin (Lake Dolgoe) -- “The Hairy Sutra” by Pavel Krusanov (Moika Embankment, 48) -- “A Cabinet of Curiosities” by Eugene Kogan (Kunstkamera) -- “Hotel Angleterre” by Vladimir Berezin (Hotel Angleterre).

 

Verse:

The Jumblies, and Other Nonsense Verses by Lear, Edward; Illustrations by Brooke,  L. Leslie

I had a reading prompt to read "something frivolous" so if frivolous=silly, this fits the bill. From Project Gutenberg

Nonfiction:

Have You Eaten Yet: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World by Kwan, Cheuk 

An interesting tour. This was a birthday gift and that meant I could savor it in small bites. Nice.

Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Nezhukumatathil, Aimee 

Essays on food (mostly fruit) and personal memories of food.  One reviewer wanted more personal stuff butI at first I wanted less. But then it kind of grew on me and I ended up learning from it. 

The Mystery Guest by Bouillier, Grégoire; translated from the French by Stein, Lorin

Delightful! and I learned a lot too. One of my favorite reads this month.

1974: A Personal History by Prose, Francine

Gives a partial answer to "Whatever happened to Tony Russo?" As for Francine? Well, she is very good at looking back to a time when she was very young. 

The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise by Laing, Olivia

A delightful account of the restoration of an English garden. This was an ARC (via Goodreads) and I'm glad because I can keep it.

Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley by Underwood, Brent

Disappointing.

The Spice Must Flow: The Story of Dune, from Cult Novels to Visionary Sci-Fi Movies by Britt, Ryan

This was fun to read. It's been many years since I read the first three Dune books and I haven't seen any of the various film or TV adaptations but that didn't affect my enjoyment or interest in this book.

Secrets of the Sun: A Memoir by Yoshikawa, Mako 

Apparently I liked this well enough to give it three Goodreads stars. However, after three weeks, I can barely remember it even when I reread the blurb.

How to Kill an Earworm: And 500+ Other Psychology Facts You Need to Know by Smit, Jana Louise 

Mostly "facts" I already knew.

May 2024

What a good reading month! Lots of social, genre, gender, mood, geographical, and historical variety. There was even a wide variety in length from the numerous short stories to a 700 page history.

Of the over 30 books read  most got three or more stars. Four got only two stars. There were none with only one star but two or three I didn't finish.  (They weren't terrible they just weren't to my taste.) I also had to return a few to the libraries because I didn't have time to get to them. Those went on my TBR lists (which never seem to get shorter).

Fiction:

Change: A Novel by Louis, Édouard; translated from the French by Lambert, John

Gay coming of age in Amiens and Paris.

The Waiter by Faldbakken, Matias; translated from the Norwegian by Menzies, Alice

A traditional waiter, a traditional Oslo restaurant, traditional are pretty much set in their ways until they aren't.

Wives Like Us by Sykes, Plum 

A fun farce among a trendy Cotswold set.

A House for Alice by Evans, Diana

After living most of her adult life and raising a family in London, Alice wants to return to her homeland.

Pete and Alice in Maine by Shetterly, Caitlin

New York couple flees to Maine during Lockdown. It doesn't go well.

Blue Ruin by Kunzru, Hari

More folks from NYC fleeing Covid. In this one it's an artist, his wife (another Alice), a gallerist and his girlfriend on a large property in Upstate New York. Alice's long ago lover Jay (an artist ) accidently stumbles into their retreat. Twenty years ago it was not a happy breakup and it's not a happy reunion.

Women and Children First by Grabowski, Alina

A small New England town copes with the death of a high school girl. Told from several women's points of view.

Miss Morgan's Book Brigade by Charles, Janet Skeslien 

Women war volunteers working among French civilians on the edge of the Zone Rouge during World War I.

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Simonson, Helen

Post World War I British women dealing with the loss of men and jobs.

The House of Broken Bricks by Williams, Fiona 

A mixed race family strugles with loss and hardships in the UK marshes.

The Good Deed  byBenedict, Helen

An American woman seeking a retreat from her poblems is staying on the Greek island Samos. Seh rescues a drowing child and becomes involved in the world of a nearby refugee camp.

The Titanic Survivors' Book Club by Schaffert, Timothy 

A group of people who "survived" the Titanic disaster by having had tickets but never actually having boarded the ship form a reading group based in a rather unsuccessful book shop in Paris.

Library for the War-Wounded by Helfer, Monika; translated from the German by Davidson, Gillian

Post WW2 Austria.

Daughters of Shandong by Chung, Eve J.

Historical novel set in mainland China and Taiwan during the late 1940s 

The Cursed Friend by Salvioni, Beatrice; translated from the Italian by Pala, Elena

Coming of age in 1936 Italy.

Again and Again by Evison, Jonathan 

Is the old man delusional or did he really live several lives?

The Paris Novel by Reichl, Ruth 

Coming of age in Paris in the 1980s, surrounded by fashion, food, and family secrets. 

Infinite Country by Engel, Patricia

A Columbian family is separated by US immigration policies. 

The Spoiled Heart by Sahota, Sunjeev 

Meh

All Fours by July, Miranda

The premise was good--a woman set out from LA on a solo cross country road trip and makes it as far as  Monrovia. Goofy choices follow as she spends her entire trip there. The writing was good EXCEPT: too much graphic sex. Yuch!

Indian Burial Ground by Medina, Nick 

Strange things happen on the Rez. Paranormal? Imagination? Hallunication? Whatever, it was a good read and makes me wonder whaat good books I may be missing because I shy away from things tagged as "horror."

The Twilight Garden by Adams, Sara Nisha 

A shared garden in London comes back to life.

So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men by Keegan, Claire 

Contents: So late in the day -- Long and painful death -- Antarctica.

The Faraway World: Stories by Engel, Patricia

Contents: Aida -- Fausto -- The book of saints -- Campoamor -- Guapa -- La ruta -- Ramiro -- The bones of Cristóbal Colón -- Libélula -- Aguacero.

Soul Food: Life-Affirming Stories Served with Side Dishes and Just Desserts by Gibbs, Beth 

Fifteen inter-related stories.

Green frog : stories by Chung, Gina

Contents: How to eat your own heart -- Green frog -- After the party -- Rabbit heart -- Presence -- Human hearts -- Mantis -- The sound of water -- Attachment process -- The arrow -- Names for fireflies -- Honey and sun -- You'll never know how much I loved you -- The fruits of sin -- The love song of the Mexican free-tailed bat. 

The 2023 Larry Brown Short Story Award Issue (Pithead Chapel; Volume 13, Issue 1; January 1, 2024)

Award Winner: Orange by Siamak Vossoughi

Second Prize: Cosmic Acceleration by Bec Bell-Gurwitz

Third Prize: Lady Luck by T.E. Wilderson

Finalist: The Wall at the Back Garden by Mary Hannah Terzino

Finalist: Full Tour with Death House by Mark Doyle

Nonfiction:

Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by DuVal, Kathleen

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Goodwin, Doris Kearns 

The Sister: North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the Most Dangerous Woman in the World by Lee, Sung-Yoon 

A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection by Bliss, Harry and Martin, Steve

Fine: A Comic About Gender by Ewing, Rhea 

Stranger on a Train: Daydreaming and Smoking Around America with Interruptions by Diski, Jen

The Secret Life of the Savoy: Glamour and Intrigue at the World's Most Famous Hotel by Williams, Olivia 

The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Schlanger, Zoë 

The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age by Wolraich, Michael 

April 2024

So....I decided to try an experiment this month. I just listed the books as I read, making no comments, Now at the end of the month I'm going through the list to see what I remember (if anything) about each book. 

It was also a month to visit various Connecticut libraries with the promotional "Passport to Connecticut Libraries" program. We got off to a slow start as we were having repairwork done in the house.  Once we got started with our visits I was able to track down some really good reading. But I only got to about ten of the 150 participating libraries. Most of my May reading will be from this haul.

Fiction:

Clear by Davies, Carys

Set in 1843. A minister accepts a side job to evict the last resident from a remote Scottish isle during the Highland Clearances. One of the best books I've read this year.

The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Baker, Ellen

In the 1920s an orphanage sells a seven-year-old child to a circus. She becomes a bareback rider and later ends up pregnant in a juvinile facility. She manages to run away and live a fairley normal life. When she is 94 a family member buys a DNA test and the past comes tumbling out. 3+stars.

The Morningside by Obreht, Téa

The Morningside is a decaying high rise apartment on an island that has seen better days. The people are mostly refugees trying to cope and make the place better. A mother and daughter aree sort of supers of the building. Nicely told 3+ star read.

Wild and Distant Seas by Roberts, Tara Karr

A Nantucket story set in the Moby-Dick era. What if Ishmael made a stop at a widow's Inn before he signed on with Ahab? I really liked this debut novel. I must confess to have never made it all the way through Melville's novel but that didn't spoil my enjoyment of this novel, A solid 4 star read.

You Dreamed of Empires by Enrigue, Álvaro; translated from the Spanish by Wimmer, Natasha

Tenochtitlan, 1519, Hernán Cortés and company settle in. Another solid read.

Good Night, Irene by Urrea, Luis Alberto 

Irene is part of a Red Cross donut crew in WW2. This novel is based on the actual experience of the author's mother. It was a quick read and reminded me a bit of the Cherry Ames Series altho Irene's romantic adventures are a bit mor sexy than Nurse Ames'.  The Ames books were pretty tame.

The Husbands by Gramazio, Holly 

This was delightful! Lauren has a magic attic that keeps providing husbands for her. Fives stars for this fun romp.

The Curse of Penryth Hall by Armstrong, Jess 

A so-so gothic set in Cornwall. Not a bad read but I gave it only 2 stars. 

Ilium by Carpenter, Lea 

Lea is a sort of reluctant spy whos doesn't exactly comprend the nature of her mission which takes her from London to Paris to Cap Ferret. She's not totally clueless but there is a sort of dream like quality to this. 3+

Perris, California by Stark, Rachel 

Another 3+ read. This one is set in rural California (yes, there really is a Perris, CA). An abused woman makes a fairly successful marriage but has mother-in-law problems. A former high school friend returns to town and things get complicated.

Bottled by Gooch, Chris

Only 2 stars for this graphic novel. Set in Melbourne, it's a tale of millennial alienation and bad choices. So-so art work.

The Plains by Murnane, Gerald 

I've been wanting to read something by Murnane for the longest while. This was a good place to start. Wonderful sense of place. A 4+ read. and another Murnane book on my pile of books for next month!

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Bo-reum, Hwang: translated from the Korean by Tan, Shanna

This was a feel-good story of a group of South Koreans trying to establish a work/life balance. A found-family story that I couldn't manage to justify giving more than two stars. 

River East, River West by Lescure, Aube Rey 

American/Chinese teenage girl in Shanghai. Her mother is American, her unknown father was Chinese as is her step-father.  An ok read.

Where the Wild Things Are by Sendak, Maurice 

Always meant to read this....

Nonfiction:

Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner by Dykstra, Natalie 

When I was in grad school I would myself for a completed project by treating myself to lunch at the Gardner Museum cafe. I also enjoyed the art work and recitals and concerts at the Museum. It was such a special place but I had a heavy workload and I never had time to find out much about the museum's founder. So now, after 30 years, I finally know.  4+ stars.

The Secret Life of Hidden Places: Concealed Rooms, Clandestine Passageways, and the Curious Minds That Made Them by Bachmann, Stefan 

Some places I knew about, some new (to me) ones. A fun armchair travel book. 

Inventing the It Girl: How Elinor Glyn Created the Modern Romance and Conquered Early Hollywood by Hallett, Hilary A. 

Loved this! 4+

Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir by Weiwei, Ai; Stamboulis, Elettra (Contributor), Costantini,Gianluca (Illustrator)

Another 4+ hit! 

Everything and Less: The Novel in the Age of Amazon by McGurl, Mark 

Ah well, you can't win them all. 

March 2024

Some good stuff this month and some disappointments.

Fiction:

Float Up, Sing Down by Hunt, Laird

Nice collection of linked short stories set in small town Indiana. Fun to meet up again with some characters from Hunt's earlier books.

Extinction of Irena Rey by Croft, Jennifer 

Eight translators go to a retreat at their author's home by a forest on the border of Poland and Belarus. The author disappears and confusion reigns. Really good.

Strega by Holm, Johanne Lykke; tramslated from the Swedish by Vogel, Saskia

Atmospheric and boring tale about a maid in a hotel with no guests. Not very good.

In Case We're Separated : Connected Stories by Mattison, Alice

Stroies of a Jewish family in America. Good

The Underground Library by Ryan, Jennifer 

Good. but not as good as Ryan's earlier books. Things wrapped up a little too neatly.

The Newton Letter by Banville, John 

Meh

River Mumma by Reid-Benta, Zalika

Jamacians in Toronto. Very good

How to Find Your Way in the Dark by Miller, Derek B. 

Jewish boy set on avenging his father's death comes of age.  Set mostly in Hartford, CT and the Catskills.  Very good

The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West by Ackerman, Sara

A female pilot in a 1927 air race from Oakland California to Hawaii. Not bad

A Fire So Wild by Grossman, Sarah Ruiz

Wild fire in the Berkeley Hills. A fine debut novel.

Piglet by Hazell, Lottie

A mess of a wedding, the groom to be has a terrible secret, and the bride likes to cook and eat.  Another good debut novel.

Green Dot by Gray, Madeline

Millennial has affair with older, married man. Coming of age in Sidney. Another well written first novel.

She Started It by Gilbert, Sian

Four stupid twenty something women accept an invitation to a hen party on a remote island. Their hostess ia someone they bullied ten years ago in school. Dumb, dumber, dumbest.

Nonfiction (all good):

Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Blackstock, Uché

Whiskey Tender: a memoir by Taffa, Deborah Jackson

2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed by Klinenberg, Eric 

Singled Out: How Two Million Women Survived Without Men After the First World War by Nicholson, Virginia 

Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets by Dittrich, Luke 

Online:

The Manor by Cox, Tom

The writer explores the abandoned house of a book collector.

February 2024

Lots of bodies in my February fiction reading--I lost count. 

Everything this month was from public libraries.  No Gutenberg, no online reading to speak of, and I didn't get to the two ARC on my nightstand. Maybe next month....

Fiction:

The Storm We Made by Chan, Vanessa

Life of a family in Japanese occupied Malaysia. A decent read.

The The Excitements by Wray, C.J. 

A fun romp to Paris with two ninety year old sisters and their nephew.

Dead in Long Beach, California by Blackburn, Venita 

A woman finds her brother dead by suicide in his apartment and she does some strange things.

The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Schillace, Brandy

An enjoyable village mystery. I think it's going to be a series. If so, I will read the next one.

Who to Believe by Hill, Edwin

Several murders, several suspects, several narrators....  Once I got into it I liked it.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Hallett, Janice 

Murders, more murders, and a very convuluted conspiracy. Also, a very good read

The Adversary by Crummey, Michael

I didn't like it as much as others by Crummey, but it is very good.

Interesting Facts about Space by Austin, Emily

The blurb calls this "...fast-paced, hilarious, and ultimately hopeful...." Uh, the first and last might be true--it was nicely paced and ended on an optimistic note. However, "hilarious" just doesn't fit. This is not laugh-a-minute funny. There are some amusing monents and it's not too dark and dreary but there is a lot of unhappiness.

The Swallows of Kabul by Khadra, Yasmina ; translated from the French by Cullen, John

Good but a difficult read.

The Ghosts of Rose Hill by Romero, R.M.

Y.A.  A nice coming of age story. With ghosts.

The Phoenix Crown by Quinn, Kate and Chang, Janie

An earthquake (1906), a couple of murders, a grand ball, an abduction, a rescue, and more.... How did they manage to make it all so boring?

Fourteen Days edited by Atwood, Margaret

A collaborative novel where the tennants of a rundown NYC apartment bulding gather on the roof each evening for fourteen days of the early Covid lockdown. Each has a story to tell. I enjoyed it.

Contributors: Charlie Jane Anders, Margaret Atwood, Joseph Cassara, Jennine Capó Crucet, Angie Cruz, Pat Cummings, Sylvia Day, Emma Donoghue, Dave Eggers, Diana Gabaldon, Tess Gerritsen, John Grisham, Maria Hinojosa, Mira Jacob, Erica Jong, CJ Lyons, Celeste Ng, Tommy Orange, Mary Pope Osborne, Douglas Preston, Alice Randall, Ishmael Reed, Roxana Robinson, Nelly Rosario, James Shapiro, Hampton Sides, R.L. Stine, Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Monique Truong, Scott Turow, Luis Alberto Urrea, Rachel Vail, Weike Wang, Caroline Randall Williams, De’Shawn Charles Winslow, and Meg Wolitzer.

Nonfiction:

Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks by Wilkinson, Crystal

I really enjoyed this memoir. 

Hollywood: The Oral History by Basinger, Jeanine and Wassan, Sam

Many, many clips from a series of interviews with representatives of all facets of production (producers, executives, directors, actors, set and costume designers, cinematographers, editors, etc.) for the American Film Institute. Nicely arranged in a thematic/chronological order. Interesting but they soft pedal a lot of stuff and I think they (the interviewees) make it look better than it was.

Inside Qatar: Hidden Stories from One of the Richest Nations on Earth by McManus, John 

The writing annoyed me, I'm not sure why, but the book is informative.

Islands of Abandonment by Flyn, Cal 

Lots of lovely descriptions, lots of viewing with alarm, lots of sad stories, and a bit of optimism. An ok read.

 

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Kolker, Robert

I don't know what to say about this other than it was confusing to have the experience of one family mixed in with a summary of research into the causes of schizophrenia. 

January 2024

Lots of good stuff this month plus a couple of not-so-good ones.  Fun with The Raven .

Gustave Doré (Illustrator)

Fiction:

The Fury by Michaelides, Alex

Twists and turns among seven people on a Greek island. A most inreliable narrator. A great read.

Vengeance Is Mine by NDiaye, Marie; translated from the French by Stump, Jordan 

Vague, meandering...just what's really going on here?

The Ascent by Hertmans, Stefan; translated from the Dutch by McKay, David

Based on a true storyof a Flemish Nazie collaborator and his family.

The Wide World: A Novel by Lemaitre, Pierre; translated from the French by Wynne, Frank

I liked this Fremch family saga set in post-war Paris, Beirut, and Saigon.

The Book of Fire by Lefteri, Christy 

Aftermath of a wild fire in Greece; it's effect on a marriage and family. A good read.

California Bear by Swierczynski, Duane

Assorted characters (The Killer, The Bear, The Girl Detective, a geneologist, an excop, and more...) unite (more or Less) to solve a couple of cold cases. There are many mishaps due to alchol and/or incompetance and some successes due to accident and/or solid reasoning. A fun read.

Call and Response: Stories by Moeng, Gothataone 

A nice debut collection of stories about women and families in Botswana.

Contents: Botalaote -- A good girl -- Small wonders -- Bodies -- Homing -- When Mrs. Kennekae dreamt of snakes -- Early life and education -- The first virginity of Gigi Kaisara.

Holiday Country by Atrek, İnci 

A Turkish/American young woman  spend each summer on the Aegean coast of  Türkiye with her Turkish mother and grandmother. But now she is nineteen, a college student in California, and she knows this may be the last year she can have a long vacation. A nice coming of age story with family secrets being reavealed. 

Half a Cup of Sand and Sky by Bjursten, Nadine

Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the country's politics afterward. Protaganist is a young university student in 1977, she marries a somewhat older man they have two children. while struggling to come to terms with the new regime.  A lot about  nuclear arms and disarmament so that part was new to me.

A review copy from publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

Horse by Brooks, Geraldine

Not a good book. All that complicated stuff about horse skeletons and horse paintings and the simplistic treatment of racism in the USA just didn't fit together. 

The Wildest Sun by Lemmie, Asha 

Seventeen year old French girl runs off to New York to try to connect with Hemingway because she thinks he's her father. An easy book to set aside. Also easy to skim. Language that didn't fit the times. Meh.

Nonfiction:

Unique Eats and Eateries of Connecticut by Urban, Mike 

Over 80 restaurants are covered and, judging from his descriptions of the ten I've eaten in, this is an excellent selection. 

Cinematic Places (Inspired Traveller's Guides, 7) by Baxter, Sarah; illustrated by Grimes, Amy

Short essays with synopses of movie and suggestions on how to visit the selected locales. Fun to read whether you've seen the movie and/or visited the place. Nice, moody illustrations. 

A White House Diary by Johnson, Lady Bird 

I admit to not reading all 858 pages. I jumped around and read the parts that most interested me or that I didn't know much about. Lady Bird is thorough making this a great historical resource.

Following Caesar: From Rome to Constantinople, the Pathways That Planted the Seeds of Empire by Keahey, John

So,so travelogue. Not sorry I read it but....it's kinda shallow.

Gutenberg:

William Ladd Taylor (Illustrator)

Not that I haven't read this poem before (aloud, in class, in the seventh and/or eight grade). This time I was "reading" for the illustrations (and, incidently, the introductory essays).

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Gustave Doré (Illustrator), With Comment BY Edmund C. Stedman (Published by Harper Bros. 1884)

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrator William Ladd Taylor (Published by Dutton, 1884)

The Raven, and The Philosophy of Composition by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Will Jenkins, Galen J. Perrett. (Quarto Photogravure Edition, published by Paul Elder, 1907)

Will Jenkins (Illustrator)

Le Corbeau = The Raven by Poe, Edgar Allan; in English and with a French translation by Mallarmé, Stéphane; illustrated by Manet, Édouard. (Published by Richard Lesclide, Paris, 1875)

Édouard Manet (Illustrator)

Other Online Reading:

Cookie Jar by By Stephen King: Illustrations by Pat Perry

Also, the Cat by Rachel Swirsky; illustrated by Rovina Cai

River Runner by Sam Learner

I played with this for a while. You drop a raindrop anywhere in the world and this tracks it to the sea, Or not. One of my raindrops ended up in Tulare Lake.

The Appian Way: From Its Foundation to the Middle Ages edited by Ivana della Portella, photography by Franco Mammana; Authors: Ivana Della Portella, Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio, and Francesca Ventre.

Translator: Stephen Sartarelli

Much more detailed and, to me, far more satisfactory, the the Keahey book (listed above under nonfiction).