It’s Thursday, that day we all get to talk about what we’ve been reading in the last week.Yay!
I’m finishing the third book in Anna Lee Huber’s Verity Kent mystery series, Penny for Your Secrets, although I haven’t read the earlier ones. It’s a fascinating book, a post-war novel set in England in 1919. I’m enjoying the mystery, but it’s the atmosphere and background that is truly fascinating. Huber discusses the frantic nature of post-war life for the upper class, as they dance and drink their memories away. The character, Verity Kent, knows that her husband, in 4 1/2 years of war, must have seen a thousand men die. Huber talks about the loss of half the men in the country, and that women, who had jobs that interested them, lost them when the men came home. If you ever saw “The Bletchley Circle” series about women code-breakers in 1952 England, you’ll know what I mean about women who couldn’t adjust to post-war life. Huber does an excellent job showing that with both men and women in this book.
So, that’s my current reading. What are you reading this week?
I'm caught up in Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell. It's about the strike at the Calumet Mine in the Upper Peninsula, told from the point of view of women union supporters, in particular Annie Klobuchar Clement, called the Joan of Arc of the movement. It is very well-written!
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lesa, thanks for reviewing SMALL KINGDOMS AND OTHER STORIES by Charlaine Harris. Both my mom and I enjoyed the book.
I also read A WITCH IN TIME by Catherine Kean and Wynter Daniels. It’s a short paranormal time travel romance.
INHERIT THE DEAD which is a noir mystery where each chapter is written by a different author. It was done as a fund raiser for a charity. It was an OK read.
And my favorite book of the week was Seanan McGuire’s latest October Daye book, THE UNKINDEST TIDE. Being a hero in Faerie will be hazardous to your health so it’s good to be immortal.
Nann, I had Women of the Copper Country at home, and didn't get around to it before I needed to bring it back to the library. Maybe someday. Glad you thought it was well-written!
Oh, good, Sandy. I'm glad you and your mother both enjoyed Small Kingdoms. Oh, yes. I haven't read the October Daye books, but I've read Harry Dresden's problems in the Faerie world. Quite a bit of trouble.
As a far of Bletchley Circle (have you seen the sequel, set in San Francisco?), this does sound interesting.
I've been reading, and kind of enjoying, Richard Russo's academic comedy (set in central Pennsylvania), STRAIGHT MAN, on the Kindle. But it is not (for me, at least) a fast read. I will read a couple or three chapters a day but feel no need to keep going. I wanted something more compelling, and I found it, in Irish author (now living in Australia) Dervla McTiernan's outstanding first mystery, THE RUIN. It's set in a place you are familiar with, Galway. Can't remember if you've already read it, but if not, you should. I started reading it yesterday and when I looked up, I was 160 pages in. Briefly, then, 20 years ago, young copper Cormac Reilly found two children with the body of their dead (overdosed, apparently) mother. The young son, Jack, was adopted, while his teenage sister Maude disappeared. Twenty years later, Reilly (her series character) is in Galway, working cold cases, when Jack drowns, an apparent (there's that word again) suicide. Jack's girlfriend and his sister, newly returned, doubt the suicide call. Reilly is assigned the 20 year old death of the mother, but you know it will all be connected eventually, right?
I also read P. J. Tracy's ICE COLD HEART, another good Monkeewrench/Magozzi and Rolseth book, though perhaps nastier and missing some of the humor that made earlier books in the series fun.
I loved THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK by Kim Michele Richardson. It's about Cussy Marie, a worker for the Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project (part of FDR's WPA project) in the 1930s, crossing treacherous terrain on her mule almost every day to bring used books, pamphlets, magazines and scrapbooks to areas where grinding poverty kept the inhabitants isolated and sometimes illiterate. It was a perilous job, made even more dangerous by the fact that Cussy Marie was also one of the "blue people," a group of people whose genetic defect made their skin blue and was the cause of immense prejudice against them. The extraordinary story, based on real life, immerses the reader in the setting and the dialogue of the hill people and is often heartbreaking, resulting in an authentic look at this largely unknown (at least to me) time and place in history. I highly recommend it.
Lesa was right–THE SUMMER OF SUNSHINE AND MARGOT by Susan Mallery is an utterly charming book that hit the spot when I was looking for something light. Sunshine and Margot are fraternal 31-year-old twins who haven't had much luck with men. Sunshine is an good nanny whose unfortunate pattern is to leave a job suddenly when a new boyfriend beckons. Margot has been hung up on the same man for years. Both sisters are trying to make new starts–Sunshine as a live-in nanny to an endearing 8-year-old boy who loves ants, and Margot as a live-in etiquette counselor for an irrepressible, eccentric 60-year-old actress who wants to fit in with her new fiance's world without embarrassing him. For both sisters, there are interesting men on the scene at their new assignments, and you can predict how they play into the story. I liked the book for its likable characters and their development and the interesting details of their lives and those with whom they interact in their new surroundings.
Thrillers are only occasionally my cup of tea, but I liked THE TURN OF THE KEY which I read for a book club) better than the two other Ruth Ware novels I have read. I enjoyed the setup for the basic premise–Rowan is shocked that she got the job of live-in nanny for the four daughters of an architect couple that travels frequently (their first trip was the day after Rowan started!), especially since it comes with what seems to her like an exorbitant salary. Her enthusiasm wanes, however, as she tries to figure out how to navigate their inconsistent (and sometimes menacing) "smart home" and deal with children who are not at all welcoming, not to mention that she is the fourth nanny hired over a year's time. Then there are the mysterious noises and events that keep happening, a poison garden, and another employee who seems helpful, but is he really? The creepiness is palpable, and we know from the start that Rowan ends up in prison for murdering one of the children. But the ending came too abruptly and seemed rather contrived.
Another book recommended by Lesa, THE BOOK CHARMER by Karen Hawkins is an engaging story about two strong women in small-town Dove Pond, NC. Sarah Dove is a librarian whose books speak to her (in her head) and tell her who needs to read them. Grace Wheeler, once a troubled child, gave up a high-powered job to move to Dove Pond with her beloved foster mother, who is starting a downturn into dementia, and her guardian, her late sister's young daughter. Grace eschews Sarah's friendly advances and plans to move away in a year, but Sarah knows in her bones that Grace is the key to saving the town's downward spiral. Hopefully, by taking over leadership of Dove Pond's annual (but declining) Apple Festival, Grace can help the town flourish again. The characters are all interesting, and there is both humor and sadness in the story, but it is heart-warming and life-affirming, and well worth a read.
Yesterday, I finished up FINDING ZELDA, the new non-mystery from Sue Ann Jaffarian. It started life as a series of short stories, but she’s fleshed them out and written the second half of the story. I really enjoyed it.
I finished it early enough to get a jump on A LEGACY OF MURDER by Connie Berry. So far, I’m enjoying it. Enjoyed her debut earlier this year.
This week I finished WORD TO THE WISE by Jenn McKinlay. As you mentioned Lesa, it is a little more sober than her previous books in the series but I liked it very much. I was less happy with the twist at the end concerning the murderer but I didn't let that ruin the story for me.
Next I read A DANGEROUS ENGAGEMENT by Ashley Weaver. I think I liked it better than Margie did. I find Amory and Milo great fun despite being rather superficial. I feel like the author captures the time very well. This one took place in New York rather than England.
Now I am reading DRAWING HOME by Jamie Brenner. It was recommended from a blog I follow.
Happy Reading!
I haven't seen the sequel to Bletchley Circle, Jeff. However, I work on the second floor of our Central Library, and I did run downstairs and get Dervla McTiernan's The Ruin as soon as I read your description. Thank you. No, not a lot of humor in Ice Cold Heart, but I liked the focus on Roadrunner.
Margie, JoJo Moyes has a new novel coming out about the bookwomen, The Giver of Stars. I'm looking forward to reading that.
I'm glad you enjoyed the two lighter books I reviewed. They were both fun.
I loved Connie Berry's earlier book, Mark. I'm glad you're enjoying them.
I know, Sharon. The ending wasn't quite what I expected in Word to the Wise.
I read:
Whisper er Name by Howard Hunt. Most people don't know Hunt was a highly regarded writer at one time. This is a typical Gold Medal Noir novel, only set in South America.
The Saint In Miami by Leslie Charteris. Just before WWII, the Saint encounters mobsters and Nazis.
The Body Lies by Jo Baker; a properly creepy psychological thriller.
The Return by Rachel Harrison; A woman disappears for two years. Upon her return, her Sex in the City type friends take her on a girls' vacation, only to learn she has really changed.
Afrika Korps; A WWII history of Rommel's war.
Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog by Boris Akunin; A nun is sent to find out who is trying to poison a noblewoman's bulldog. Too much symbolism for its own good.
I hope you like The Ruin. I ordered the sequel, which is already out, which seems to be about the cop's girlfriend.
One thing I liked. When he asked one character how he knew about a person he didn't know, he said that even though Galway had 80,000 people, it was a small town and everyone knew everyone else.
I knew that, Glen, about Howard Hunt! But, then, librarians know really odd facts sometimes.
Sounds as if you had a pretty good week of reading this time.
I hope I like it, too, Jeff. Looking forward to it.
I just finished Ice Cold Heart and agree with Jeff. I am now reading Small Kindoms, etc…and enjoying that one as well. Still slowly reading The Testaments.