Thursday. How many times have I told you it’s my favorite day of the week? Let’s talk about what we’re reading this week.
Today was my deadline for reviews, so I’m reading nonfiction. It’s a break from a straight crime fiction diet. I’m reading Janice Kaplan’s The Genius of Women: From Overlooked to Changing the World. Kaplan is the author of The Gratitude Diaries. Naturally, I haven’t had much time to get into it, but it’s a little startling. How about the comment that 90% of Americans believe that geniuses are always men? Or, when asked to name a genius, people mentioned Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs. Great women? In one survey, the only female genius anyone named was Marie Curie. I’ll admit, I’m as guilty as others on that last one. But, I certainly wouldn’t have said geniuses are always men. I think this book is going to be an eye-opener. In just looking at chapter headings, Kaplan mentions RBG, women scientists, Nobel Prize winners, and Geena Davis. The book is quite readable, too.
So, what are you reading this week? I’m sure I’m not the only one who is curious.
A slow reading week for me. I finished up THE BOOK OF CANDLELIGHT by Ellery Adams on Saturday . With the addition of Sheldon, this one might be my favorite of the series. Interesting subplot with banned books.
Yesterday afternoon I finished up DANGEROUS ALLIANCE An Austentacious Romance by Jennieke Cohen. My daughter recommended this YA book to me. I enjoyed it but not as much as she did. It is the story of the Aston family. Eldest sister Althea has run back home to escape her abusive marriage. Her 17 year old sister Lady Victoria must now marry to keep the family title and land away from Lord Dain, Althea's husband. As a big fan of Jane Austen's novels, Victoria tries to manage her predicament by relating to the well known characters in Austen's books.
My husband and I just finished up Lucy Worsley's British Romance on PBS Sunday. It covered Victorian romance novels as well as divorce. I found the parallel between the PBS program and the book interesting. The author definitely did her research.
I started a new book last night but quickly abandoned it after 20 pages or so. Not sure which of my stack I will pick up next.
Happy Reading!
I saw the most recent episode of British Romance, Sandie. Very interesting. And, your comment about Ellery Adams' latest made me want to catch up with the series.
After finishing THE GREAT MERLINI collection – and continuing the O. Henry collection – I am reading the latest collection of British Library Crime Classics edited by Martin Edwards, DEEP WATERS. Conan Doyle, Edmund Crispin, Phyllis Bentley, R. Austin Freeman, C. S. Forester, Christopher St John Sprigg, Josephine Bell are some of the authors in this collection, mostly murders on or near boats.
I read the latest (there is another coming next month) Insp. Salvo Montalbano book by the late Andrea Camilleri (there have been at least three more published in Italy), THE OTHER END OF THE LINE. This is absent much of the usual humor, as Salvo and his crew are mostly dealing with boatloads of migrants arriving on the shores of Sicily from Syria. But then a person connected to him personally is brutally murdered, and Montalbano has to figure out who would kill this seemingly beloved person, and why. Good as always.
I'm reading the fourth Margaret Mizushima book about Deputy Mattie Cobb and her K-9 dog Robo, BURNING RIDGE. A boot with a foot in it, partly burned, is discovered in the mountains, and when the rest of the body is discovered, Mattie finds a very personal connection. I'm only 30% in but this is another fast moving tale.
Nearly 20 years ago, Bill Bryson wrote the delightful NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND, about how a self-described hick from Iowa arrived for his first visit to Britain, where he met his future wife. His walking tour and his style of writing charmed me and I loved the book and went on to read several more of his works. Now he has come out with a revisit of sorts, THE ROAD TO LITTLE DRIBBLING, and there was no way I wouldn't read it. So far, so good, as I still like his style and humor. It didn't hurt either book that I am pretty familiar with Britain, some of the places his been, the little quirks he talks about, etc. I'd recommend either of them, as well as his American travel book, THE LOST CONTINENT: Travels in Small-Town America, where he revisited some of the "sights" his father had taken them to on vacations in Bryson's childhood, like the world's biggest ball of string.
In both of Emily Belden's novels, the story doesn't really pick up until halfway through or longer. And while I loved Hot Mess (2018), I wasn't quite as crazy about HUSBAND MATERIAL. Charlotte's husband died 5 years ago when they had been married only a year, and she hasn't told anyone but family about this part of her past, including her roommate. She loves statistics– known as the "Numbers Queen" at her influencer firm, she is also working on a dating algorithm, which she mainly uses (unsuccessfully) on herself. When her husband's ashes are abruptly delivered to her door, it brings her into contact with people in her life that she hasn't seen for years, including her husband's pushy mother and his best friend, Brian. It forces her to re-examine her life and gives her a new perspective (after she gets over the panic attacks). As I mentioned, it is late in the book when she learns some shattering secrets and how to deal with them. Only then does she become likable. I found her new romance unconvincing and felt that the book's epilogue was way too short to be satisfying. Disappointing, but still worth reading, I'd say.
I can definitely get behind Claire Pooley's THE AUTHENTICITY PROJECT. The premise is that one character writes about himself in a journal, urging others to add to it–to be authentic, to reveal the truth about themselves. Several others, in succession, find the journal, read what others have written, and provide their own revelations before leaving it for someone else. But the reality is that none of them are exactly truthful, perhaps because they don't know themselves as well as they thought. The story takes place mostly in the Fulham section of London, and the characters include an octogenarian who was once a flamboyant artist and unsatisfactory husband, a late-thirties woman who has great ambitions for her cafe and longs for a husband and children, a light-hearted Aussie gardener passing through for a few months, a young gay man and his disapproving Chinese grandmother, a recovering alcoholic who's just returned from a foreign resort vacation, and a popular Instagram baby fashion influencer who finds it impossible to deal with her own baby and an unhelpful husband. The characters are well developed and interactive, leading to a satisfying but not altogether expected conclusion. Highly recommended.
I'm glad I finally read Betty Smith's A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN for a book club. In this "modern classic" (1943), a 500-page look at life before and during WWI in a poor section of Brooklyn, NY. Francie Nolan is the centerpiece, with most of the book cataloging her life from birth to 15 years old. She has a one-year-younger brother (and a baby sister later on), a hard-working mother who keeps everything together, and a ne'er-do-well father—a handsome drinker and sometime singing waiter whom Francie adores. It isn't the plot the makes this book hum (because there isn't much of a plot). It is the details of Francie's daily life, and of those around her, that provide insight into what it was like when children collected junk for pennies and contributed most of it to the household bank, when one of the children had to stay home and work after age 14 while the other went to high school, and when almost everyone else had immigrant parents (Francie's parents were born in New York, although they came from Irish and German backgrounds). I enjoyed soaking it all in and fell in love with Francie, who yearned to feel and experience every aspect of life and to make something of herself, despite her humble beginnings.
Just finished "the Tenant" by Engberg – debut mystery which takes place in Denmark. I always like Scandinavian mysteries and since I manage 4 apartment buildings and have 43 tenants how could I resist! It was an enjoyable read and this was her first book and I think there will be more with the same two detectives. Now I'm on to Michael Connolly and Harry Bosch!
I should be finishing up MY FAIR LATTE by Vickie Fee today. It's the first in a new series from here, and I'm really enjoying it. It was a little slow to get started, but once it got going, it's been very good.
Jeff, I've loved some of Bill Bryson's books. I enjoyed The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid because I can't forget his story of sitting in his desk and reading instead of getting underneath it when his school had drills. I've read The Lost Continent, A Walk in the Woods, the book about Australia, and both England books. His last couple just haven't appealed to me.
Somehow, I just never have picked up Margaret Mizushima's next books, although I enjoyed the second one.
Margie, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was always my mother's favorite book when she was younger, probably because my mom's name was Elizabeth Smith.
Donna, You're right. How could you resist? I'm glad the book worked for you.
Oh, I really liked My Fair Latte, Mark. I hope it works as a series.
A very good reading week. Started with Matt Coyle's Yesterday's Echo the first in his Rick Cahill series. A gritty book featuring a man accused of the murder of his wife.
Then on to cozies – read Tide and Punishment by Bree Baker's series sent in Oceanside North Carolina. This is the third in the series and #4 comes out in May and I have it on order. Love the characters and the setting. However there are a lot of murders in the small town of Charm.
Based on Lesa's review of Tina Kashian's new book I found in my TBR pile the first in the series Hummus and Homicide. It was a quick read and delightful. I plan to read the series over the next couple of months. I liked the setting – the Jersey Shore and the characters.
Next up is a Maddie Day Country Store book When the Grits hit the fan.
I finished LOST HILLS by Lee Goldberg. I liked it but it’s not something I’d read again.My boyfriend listened to it on CD and he loved it.
CLAW ENFORCEMENT by Sofie Ryan. It’s the latest in her 2nd Chance Cat series and was an enjoyable cozy mystery.
UPRIGHT WOMEN WANTED by Sarah Gailey. I’m not really sure how I feel about this one. It’s a dystopian western about queer librarian spies.
NIGHT OF THE OWL by Judith Sterling. A scholar is transported back in time to medieval England. This made more sense than most of the time travel stories I’ve read since she was transported back to the time she was studying so she knew the language and what life was like then. It had an interesting twist at the end.
THE BOOK OF CANDLELIGHT by Ellery Adams. Like Sharon, I really enjoyed the addition of Sheldon to the cast of characters.
Darwin Elevator; a sci-fi book about a post-apocalyptic world where the elites live in space.
Warlord by Ted Bell; Alex Hawke has to stop the assassination of the British royal family. Low stakes, if you ask me.
The Cuckoo's Calling by JK Rowling; A PI mystery that isn't much of a mystery. Completely overrated.
A Deadly Wandering by Matthew Richter; A true Crime novel about texting and driving, before it was a crime. A bit of an odd duck.
I need to read Tide and Punishment, Netteanne, before the next one comes out. I like this series. I'm glad you enjoyed Tina Kashian's first book! Now, back home in Indiana, right?
Darn, Sandy. I really do need to catch up with Ellery Adams' series because I want to know who this Sheldon is!
Ha, Glen! Good line about low stakes with the royal family. Galbraith's book just looks big when I look at it. I'm going to accept your opinion.
I'm finishing up The King's Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal today. It's the ninth instalment in the Maggie Hope series, which I've been a fan of since its beginning. Maggie is a young American woman who ends up in London during WWII due to the inheritance of a house from an aunt who lived there. Maggie has been a secretary to Winston Churchill and a member of the SOE (Special Operations Executive, espionage unit), a protector for the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, worked undercover in Paris and Germany, and has helped solved murders, too. With a shattering event from the last book, Maggie has decided to either temporarily or permanently leave the SOE and defuse bombs instead. But with a serial killer once again operating in London, Maggie will find herself involved again in a Scotland Yard investigation. I love this series, and Susan Elia MacNeal brings the London of WWII alive for readers.