December 2023

My favorite cover from my fiction reads
(Also one of my favorite reads.)

Fiction:

The Love Parade by Pitol, Sergio; translated from the Spanish by Henson, G.B.

In 1973 an historian tries to investigate a murder that took place in 1942 in the building he lived in as a child. This is more about the factions in Mexico in 1942 than it is about the murder.

All the Little Bird-Hearts by Lloyd-Barlow, Viktoria 

Autistic single mother of teenage daughter.

America Fantastica by O'Brien, Tim 

Really enjoyed this.

Small World by Zigman, Laura 

To sisters, both in their fifties and both recently divorced, become roommates after about thirty years apart. 

Flight by Strong, Lynn Steger

Adult siblings and their families spend their first Christmas together after the death of their mother.

The Mystery Guest (Molly the Maid, #2) by Prose, Nita

Enjoyed it but maybe not as much as I enjoyed the first one.

A Nearby Country Called Love by Abdoh, Salar 

An Iranian man returns to Tehran after several years in NewYork City.

A Grandmother Begins the Story: A Novel by Porter, Michelle

Told from the POV of five generations of Métis women (and some bison, and the prairie grasses too) this is a jumble of inter woven narratives. Sort of like looking at the back of an embroidery and trying to figure out a pattern. 

Edith Holler by Carey, Ed

If young Edith leaves the premises of the theater she and her father live in she will die and the building will collapse. Suspend your disbelief and meet ghosts, monsters, beetles, spiders, evil stepmother, loving (and not-so-loving) aunties, and more. 

The Body by the Sea (Commissaire Dupin, #8) by Bannalec, Jean-Luc; tramslated from the French by McDonagh, Sorcha

A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself by Howe, Kathrine

A bit disappointing as the blurb mentioned nothing about the student who was acrucial part of the story.

Straw Dogs of the Universe: A Novel by Chun, Ye 

Chinese in California building railroad, working in brothels, as servants, opium dens, etc. It was ok, good writing but by three quarters through I just wanted it to be over.

Good Taste by Scott, Caroline

Problems of a single woman in 1930s England. She's trying to write a history of British food but men (her father, her longtome best friend, and a rogue she meets whilst doing research) get in the way. It'ss an ok read but could use a little tightening up.

Nonfiction:

Thieves of Book Row: New York's Most Notorious Rare Book Ring and the Man Who Stopped It by McDade, Travis

A good read but perhaps that subtitle should read "...and the men Who Stopped...."  It took a team.

A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance by Abdurraqib, Hanif 

Not sure what happened here. I was really enjoying this and then I wasn't. It seemed like I was reading the same thing over and over. I gave up. 2/3 read.

Miss Florence and the Artists of Old Lyme by Heming, Arthur; illustrated by Stevenson, James

A  reminiscence written in 1937 (shortly after Florence Griswold's death) about events that happend in 1910, but not published until 1971

Einstein in Time and Space: A Life in 99 Particles by Graydon, Samuel 

Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties: The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher--Television by Hirsch, Foster 

The Secret Life of John le Carré  by Sisman, Adam

Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather by Taylor, Benjamin 

The Once Upon a Time World: The Dark and Sparkling Story of the French Riviera by Miles, Jonathan 

Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan by Fatland, Erika; translated from the Norwegian by Dickson, Kari

Empire of Ice and Stone by Levy, Buddy

This was OK. I skipped around a bit as I was already somewhat familiar tith the material

A favorite cover from my nonfiction reads.
(But not my favorite read.)