Even more great books in March!

James - Percival Everett
Certainly lived up to all the hype. I've only read Huckleberry Finn once, so I'm not familiar with the story, and not being American, it isn't part of my growing up. But Everett wrote a great version of the story, and I love a good retelling that gives a different view of books.

Goodnight from London- Jennifer Robson (Canadian author, paper)
Historical fiction, book club read, and great fast read. Almost romance, but not overtly. Plucky little American girl get transferred to London for the blitz, to write stories for a newspaper in London and back in NY. A few characters are sacrificed as many did not survive the Blitz, but overall a positive view of her time in London.

The Burgess Boys - Elizabeth Strout
The last of my rereads of Strout-verse before I reread Tell Me Everything with a better memory of Lucy, Bob, and Olive. Oh, families, and the tenuous relationships, based on childhoods together. Bob and his reknown brother Jim, and their sad sack sister Susan, still sticking together even though if they weren't related they'd have nothing to do with each other. Sue's son is charged with a hate crime in Maine (another sad child) and Jim is called on to represent him. He unloads the actual work on Bob, who does little right in Jim's eyes. Which works out because Bob doesn't have much faith in himself. All these relationships are built around an incident which happened when the children were young. Stout does relationships so well!

Prophet Song - Paul Lynch (ebook)
Wow, this was really good. It won the Booker Prize so I shouldn't have been surprised. It is scary to see how easily a society can slip into chaos. It might be a warning for a large country near me. First they came for the unions, etc, etc. A family in Dublin sees itself fall apart after the father is removed (arrested?) for his union activity. The mom tries to get him out, the teenage son is drafted, so joins the resistance, and civil war breaks out. Very scary how it happened. Dystopian novels for the win, and the lessons we need to learn.

The Queen of Dirt Island - Donal Ryan (paper)
I used March as a time to read some Irish books and after @lauralkeet's review, I picked this one up at the library. I love a strong matriarchal book, and the women in the house in this small village were delightful. A woman who's family disowned her, her mother-in-law, and the baby girl who caused the disownment. The story is from the babies view, so in the beginning she only overhears some things, and we just get a sense of her happy life and the people around her. As she grows, her story takes center stage, and we just get to watch her grow, how the women love each other, and how the outside world comes in, but that bond never changes. Delightful.

First half of March

March was a pretty great reading month, or I am getting better at picking what books to read, lol.

Salvation of a Saint - Keigo HigashinoJapanese mystery, sequel to The Devotion of Suspect X, with the physics professor mentor back to help. I listened to this and it was good. A man is poisoned and the police try to figure out how, and whether it was his wife or girlfriend.

Bleeding Heart Yard - Elly Griffiths
I am really enjoying the Harbindur Kaur books. A death at a high school reunion of a politician is Harbindur's first case since moving to London. But this death appears connected to a death from when the gang was in highschool twenty years before. I missed her old assistant, but I liked her making new friends and her adjustment to a new crew. Excellent series, and mystery.

Intermezzo - Sally Rooney
Two brothers in Ireland, one a lawyer in his 30s, one a chess player in his early 20s, dealing with the death of their dad. Peter the lawyer is completely coming apart, but is apparently the more confident brother. Peter has two very different women, both with issues. Ivan is beginning a relationship with an older woman and I much preferred this half of the story.

Amy and Isabelle - Elizabeth Strout (ebook)
I recognized the names Amy and Isabelle from Olive, Again when Olive makes friends with Isabelle so I had to go back and read this as part of my immersion in Strout-land. It is an early book, but you can feel the beginnings of Strout's style and brilliance. It covers mainly one summer in their lives in Maine, and the 'incident' in this book is mentioned later in talks with Olive. It was a little slow as I was reading, but now as I think about it, it was very good.

The Favorites - Layne Fargo
Very much like Daisy and the Six as told like a documentary, with comments from characters interspersed. I like to read a book like this now and then, pure trashy characters with a fast moving story. This is set in the figure skating world, elite people with money and talented people with not much. I liked how it was a play on Wuthering Heights, with Katerina and Heath as the main star-crossed lovers. I hated Wuthering Heights in high school but I like retellings usually better than the originals. I also don't usually like love stories where the characters love so much they destroy each other (lol, not a spoiler if you know anything about Wuthering Heights) but this was a lot of fun!

Crooked Seeds - Karen Jennings (ebook)
I found this Women's Prize for Fiction longlisted book on sale on Kobo so grabbed it. It was a short book which is good because it was pretty sad. Deidre, living in South Africa is a pretty miserable character, to herself and others. It was billed a mystery, and while the police come around asking questions about her old house, I wouldn't really call this a mystery. This event causes Deidre to remember about growing up, so the mysteries are the reveals that happen, but it's not really a mystery. It's much more a story about alcoholism and defeatism, which can be pretty depressing.

I Hope This Finds You Well - Natalie Sue (Canadian)
I can't even remember why I requested this one but it was good, and a quick read. Jolene is working a soul-sucking job at a large business in Calgary. She is not getting along with her co-workers, and not doing well with her over-bearing Iranian mother wanting her to get married. She is called in to HR meetings after a complaint about her and meets cute Cliff. He accidentally gives her admin access to emails and Jolene, in desperation, can't help herself from reading what her co-workers are saying about her, setting off lots of office issues. There is a humour to the book, but much of the story is more serious. The author does a pretty good job of balancing the humor (two Iranians pretending to be engaged to keep their parents off their back, but that doesn't really help) with the seriousness of 'you never know what other people are dealing with' coworkers.

February 17-28

 

Etta and Otto and Russell and James - Emma Hooper
I have not been enamoured of the old person on a trek books (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry The One Hundered Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, and this book continues. It's not bad, but I don't really understand the motivation to walk. Etta leaves from Saskatchewan and heads east to the ocean. She has some dementia/alzheimer's so that at least makes some sense why she would wander, but I also don't often like books from a point of view of someone with dementia. (boy, I sound cranky today, lol) There's a past and present story, and a Etta and Otto, her husband, point of view so some historical fiction.
I read it because I've had my eye on the book, and it was picked for Canada Reads this year which made it more available at the library.

Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Grow Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman - Brooke Shields NF
I'm a fan of Brooke Shields, watched the Prime mini-series Pretty Baby, and we are very close in age. I grew up with her, and loved her in The Middle, a family-favourite sitcom. It's a memoir (not her first but the first I've read) about aging woman. I liked her persepective and since this appears to be my year of menopause reading, this book fits right in. She is remarkably down to earth, as presented here and she narrates the audiobook so it feels like we had a great chat. She is critical of doctors and how they give information to women, and she details several medical experiences as you'd expect from an aging woman, lol. She included a lot of research in her book so it wasn't just a celebrity tell-all that you'd expect.

Scandal in Mayfair - Katherine Schellman
This is the fifth in the Lily Adler mysteries, set in Regency London. Lily Adler is a young widow with enough money and freedom to do as she pleases. She gets mixed up in upper class scandals that often lead to murder. I've enjoyed this series with a bit of romance, and manners, and murder.

Rejection - Tony Tulathimutte (ebook)
I particularly like connected short stories so was drawn to this one, despite the mixed reviews I read online. I understand why readers didn't recommend it to people as there is a terrible chapter that I can't imagine anyone finishes. I do look forward to the Tournament of Books discussion on this one. Each story main character is unhappy, sharing through social media, in some way looking for love. Waiting to see them in another character's story where they appeared normal, was my favorite part. There is a meta chapter where the author gets involved, and I do like this experimentation.

Feeding My Mother: Comfort and Laughter in the Kitchen as My Mom Lives With Memory Loss - Jann Arden
Canadian singer Jann Arden shares life with two aging parents from it appears her diary. She is truthful and raw and the topic is not easy to read about but at least it was short, ~ 3 hours.

February 10 - 17

 Some quick little reviews, to help me remember what I've read.

Sandwich - Catherine Newman (ebook)
I really liked this family drama of a family going to their annual summer vacation week at a cottage. Themes of adult children, and menopause, and aging parents. Maybe I identified a little too closely in some regards, or I am picking books for my demographic. Gen X for the win!

The Wedding People - Alison Espach
This was another very good read. A bit of midlife crisis, and relationships. The main character, Phoebe, has been divorced by her cheating husband and she is thrown for a loop. She decides to kill herself, and checks into a post hotel to do it, but ends up the only guest there who is not part of an elaborate wedding. Super elaborate. She makes friends with the spoiled bride, Lila, and much becoming aware ensues. How your past affects your present, and recognizing your self-worth. Nice story about friendship and love.

What Happened to Nina? - Dervla McTiernan
It was time for a suspenseful thriller, and who better than Dervla McTiernan? Interesting take on it as information is revealed during the story that I will not reveal but there shouldn't have been as much suspense as there was given the story-telling. How families are torn apart when child (young adult) goes missing. Told from many different perspectives about the disappearance of a young white girl in a small town, with a very rich boyfriend.

The Postscript Murders - Elly Griffiths
Did Richard Osman write his Tuesday Murder Club after reading this book? I am getting such similar vibes that he must have been inspired. From elderly women who played roles in the Europe WW2, a few random amateur detectives, old age communities, and a very tolerant police officer. I very much enjoyed this second Harbindur Kaur mystery book, and I've already requested the next book.

Four very good books!

Leaving Home - PEI Farm Boy to CNN Anchor - David Compton (paper) NF
This was a somewhat local memoir written by the uncle of my brother-in-law. Compton came from a fascinating family that grew up from the 1940s PEI to present day and all the changes that happened.

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February 2-10

 What's new this week?

Started a new semester which is always tiring, meeting and trying to remember all the new faces. But it's the last time, so that is exciting. With my daughter back from her semester in Brussels, ringette games are back on the schedule, including a road trip this weekend to Moncton (~2 h away) for Atlantic Championships.

Wandering Stars - Tommy Orange
"Wandering Stars traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Industrial School for Indians through to the shattering aftermath of Orvil Redfeather's shooting in There There"
I only kinda liked There, There, and I felt the same about Wandering Stars. It was a little disjointed for me with all the characters. Sections were engrossing. It felt a bit like a series of connected short stories, where I didn't always feel the connected parts. If you liked the first book, I'd recommend the second.

Wisdom in Nonsense: Invaluable Lessons from My Father - Heather O'Neill (paper) NF
This is a series of short essays given at a lecture, where we realize that Lullabies for Little Criminalswas much more autobiographical than you would like to believe. Very short but amusing and enlightening of how other people live and how it frames their present lives.
This might be a big Heather O'Neill year, for me, with her last book to read (Capital of Dreams) and a new one coming out this summer.

The Last Runaway - Tracy Chevalier (paper)
Chevalier is one of my most favourite authors, and I've been holding off on this last book to read as I do not like reading about slavery (see also: holocaust). I know it was awful and I don't need to read more about it to know how awful. I did like this take on it, as Honor Bright, immigrant Quaker from England, faces many new challenges in a new country, and with her faith. Set in Ohio, she is left alone in a new country and has to figure out her life, as a woman with not a lot of choices. Quakers were staunch abolitionists, but as with today, when others are in power, it takes a lot of fortitude to fight for right.

Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar
Lots going on here, but I liked it better than Wandering Stars. Cyrus Shams is a young American of Iranian descent, struggling. He is an orphan now, recovering addict, trying to find his place in the world, writing about martyrs. I didn't always like the martyr stories interspersed, but his family's stories - father, mother, uncle, gave more background. Actually a lot of similarities between this and Wandering Stars. I liked the parts with Cyrus best, and even the ending, which while slightly improbable, worked for me.

Jan 27- Feb 2

 What's new this past week?

I got my second Shingryx vaccine, which knocked me out for a day. I lay shivering under my heated blanket all night, but my body temp regulated sometime through the night, and I felt better the next day. I had shingles when I was in university, and I definitely don't want it again. My province made the vaccine free for people over 50.

Reading wise, I only finished one book, All Fours but I did finish the 97 final exams, which makes this week-end very enjoyable with no correcting to do.

All Fours by Miranda July
This is a play-in book for the Tournament of Books. Mixed feelings on this one. The beginning was strong, I loved the main character's voice, as a woman of a certain age. Things started to go off the rails in the middle during the mid-life crisis, with some descriptive sx* passages, which I don't usually mind, but this felt off. The last third of the book was better, in showing how families can be different. I did appreciate the perimenopause focus of the book as I haven't noticed it in a lot of novels.

Still reading: The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier who does historical fiction, while also focusing on some type of art, so well. There is much quilting in this one. I've got two audiobooks on the go because of due dates: Martyr, and Wandering Stars.

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January 20-27

 What's new this past week?

Emma Donaghue is coming to PEI in April, to promote her new book, Paris Express. To PEI! I've already booked my free tickets. She's on my MRE list, I can't believe she's coming to little ol' PEI.

Not reading, but I watched a movie based on a book, Women Talking by Miriam Toews, and directed by Sarah Polley, who's memoir I really enjoyed last year, Run Towards the Danger. The movie was very good, very atmospheric, and infuriating- patriarchy and religion all mixed up. I read the book about 5 years ago, and felt the same.

Books Read:
Poemsia - Lang Leav
A young adult book set in Australia, where a young girl becomes famous through social media for her poetry. Since social media, there is also online bullying. This was from YA Sync free audiobooks that I am gradually working through.

The Stranger Diaries - Elly Griffiths (ebook)
It's exciting to start a new series, and Harbinder Kaur did not disappoint. I love trying to anticipate which characters will continue on to the next book. Lots of gothic atmosphere, lots of murder, interesting back and forth point of views. With only 4 books in this series, so far, I expect to enjoy this year of catching up.

Colored Television - Danzy Senna
I read this one because it is on the Tournament of Books shortlist, but I won't remember it next month. It might be a book that I understand/enjoy more once I've read some other explanations and reviews. I don't always see the layers or meanings in some ToB entries.

reading now: All Fours on audio, The Last Runaway from the library, and 97 final exams in math and physics

Jan 12-20

 My reading for the past week: 

The Vacancy in Room 10 by Seraphina Nova Glass
A TIOLI book, found while searching for an available audiobook, this wasn't a too bad thriller, and I'd read another by this author. It felt a bit like a Simone St James type book. Mysteries abound among the characters staying in a motel. Good twists, interesting characters.

For the Love of My Sister: Paula Gallant's Legacy by Lynn Gallant Blackburn
This was a personal read, a local nonfiction true crime book about a teacher who was found dead in her trunk in her school parking lot over Christmas, twenty years ago. My cousin R was her very good friend. Paula's two sisters fought for five years to see justice done (of course, it was the husband). The book tells their family story, the days leading up to her murder, and their struggle to keep Paula's story in the news. The police eventually did a huge undercover sting operation over a year, convincing him to tell what and how he killed her, as he thought the undercover cop was a crime syndicate boss who would help him get off. The book is also about the awareness they are fighting for about intimate partner violence. I spent yesterday in tears reading this tragic story.

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty
My audio book was also about three sisters, which did confuse me a bit at times with my other book, but this was much more fun. As part of my MRE, I read the first book by Moriarty and it didn't disappoint. It had her trademark style - perspective switching between several people, including random people recounting their view of events. They weren't the best of people, but they were dealing with pregnancies, marriage break-ups, sibling rivalries, past events. For a first book, I thought it was pretty good, and reminded me of Big Little Lies in style and theme.

Janury 5-14th

 My reading this week, or since my last update:

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year - Margaret Renkl NF
I found this one on the Top Five of 2024 list on LT. Quaint, ecology, nature, southern, and a woman of my age, I enjoyed these weekly essays. I very much identified with the essays on her eyes/vision, and having young adult children who come and go. Easy listening, read by the author with her southern drawl adding flavour. It reminded me a bit of Bailey White's Mama Makes Up Her Mind.

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout 4.5 stars
After reading Tell Me Everything, I wanted to go back and reread Elizabeth Strout. I loved Olive Kitteridge when I first read her, and also Olive, Again. Olive was a great part of Tell Me Everything, as she visits her friend Isabelle. It's Isabelle from Amy and Isabelle! We get to see how their friendship develops in Olive, Again which given how cranky Olive can be, is a little surprising. The Burgess brothers also show up in this book. I am so enjoying the Strout metaverse. Next up will probably be Amy and Isabelle, and then a reread of the Burgess Boys.

Dark Storm Rising (15.5) - Linda Castillo
I never thought I'd read an Amish book, but once I found this police mystery series recommended by lauralkeet rather than an Amish romance, I was hooked. I found the short stories that fill in between the main books which are a quick fix. I am up to date now on Kate Burkholder, and waiting for book #17.

Memory Man by David Baldacci
My dad (83) always read a lot and he has figured out how to borrow ebooks from Libby and to read them on his Ipad. He recommended this Amos Decker series so I am trying this first book. It's fast moving, lots of twists, mass market pb mystery. He's got synesthesia from a football hit, his family has been killed, and he gets pulled back into a case in his hometown. Some interesting production decisions in the audio - some weird background music to finish a few dramatic chapters, and a female to read only the parts of his cop partner. Slightly distracting, but I'd probably read another in the series.