January 2026

  

One of my October birthday gifts. I loved it!

A really good reading month - or should I say "months" as it took me over two months to read one of my gifts. Fortunately it isn't something that to be read straight through and I was able to set it aside now and then to read some library books. Most of them were very good. 

Non-fiction was a mix. The two WW2 (one from the ETO and one from the PTO) were both very good. Strata was disappointing.  

Fiction:

The Crimson Petal and the White by Faber, Michel 

900 marvelous pages  

Cursed Daughters by Braithwaite, Oyinkan 

Multi-generational tale of a Nigerian family.

The Book of I by Greig, David

"I" doesn't refer to the first person singular, it refers to the Isle of Iona. A place I tried to visit years ago but could only view across a narrow strip of extremely rough water. (The ferryman refused to make the crossing.) 
The Weekend Crashers by Brenner, Jamie

Are the guys crashing the knitters' retreat, or are the women crashing the bachelor party? Whichever, high-jinks ensue.
The Rest of Our Lives by Markovits, Benjamin

An impromptu road trip by an ailing man.
The City in Glass by Vo, Nghi

Back in November I wondered if I might start a new theme - Books with "city" in the title. So I picked out a few. I decided not to vigorously pursue the theme, but I glad I considered it because it led me to this great story!
Beasts of the Sea by Turpeinen, Iida; translated from the Finnish by Hackston, David

A fine fictional account of Bearing sea explorations the led to the discovery of  Steller’s sea cow..

Is This a Cry for Help? by Austin, Emily 

A librarian's struggle with mental illness...
The Last Language by duBois, Jennifer

Meh. Maybe, after a year, it's time to let the "Books with 'last' in the title fade out. I seem to be rejecting or reluctantly reading a lot of them. (see February 2025 post.) No, I'll stick with it since there are five of them on my holds list!

 

Heart Lamp: Selected Stories by Mushtaq, Banu; translated from the Kannada by Bhasthi, Deepa

A disappointing collection. Maybe something is missing in the translation? It seemed like I  was reading the same story over and over. 

Contents: Stone slabs for Shaista Mahal - Fire rain - Black cobras - A decision of the heart - Red lungi - Heart lamp - High-heeled shoe - Soft whispers - A taste of heaven - The shroud - The Arabic teacher and Gobi Manchuri - Be a woman once, oh lord!

  

Nonfiction:

Matisse at War: Art and Resistance in Nazi-Occupied France by Gorham, Christopher C. 

Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds by Sakamoto, Pamela Rotner 
Strata: Stories from Deep Time by Poppick, Laura  

This really should have some visuals: photos, charts, timelines, etc. And I don't care what everyone she interview was wearing or how long their hair is.   

Ladies' old-fashioned shoes by Greig, T. Watson

Love these shoes! 

 

  

Checked out from library but decided not to read:

One Last Shot by Cayouette, Betty 

I was put off by the writer's introduction TMI! Then the awful characters. 

6:40 to Montreal by Jurczyk, Eva 

Boring, made it to p. 65 

Blue Ticket by Mackintosh, Sophie