The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
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Trunk Music – Michael Connelly – 3***
Book number 5 in the Harry Bosch series finds the detective back on the job after a previous suspension. This is a typical Harry Bosch detective mystery. Lots of twists and turns. Lots of Harry battling against the police force bureaucrats that are the bane of his existence. It’s fast-paced and kept me guessing until pretty close to the end.
LINK to my full review
Strange Brew – Kathy Hogan Trochek – 3***
This is book six in the Callahan Garrity Mystery series, featuring former cop Callaghan and her mother, Edna, who run “House Mouse” maid service in Atlanta. I like this series. I like Callahan, who does have some reason to investigate and is at least skilled at it. She’s frequently helped by the House Mouse crew of eccentric ladies. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep even the best amateur sleuth guessing, and I didn’t figure out the perpetrator much before Callahan did. I’ll keep reading this series.
LINK to my full review
The Daughters of Yalta – Catherine Grace Katz – 4****
Subtitle: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War. I found this “behind-the-scenes” history fascinating. I had heard of Sarah and Anna, but knew nothing of Kathleen. These young women – beautiful, wealthy and vivacious – were treated by the press as “society” stories. But they were far more than just photo opportunities. Each was highly intelligent and quite accomplished. They not only witnessed history but helped to craft the world’s future.
LINK to my full review
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood – Howard Pyle – 3***
A friend loaned me her copy of the “Great Illustrated Classics” edition, adapted by Deborah Kestel. It’s a fast, fun adventure with lots of fighting, competition, disguises, and more than a few near misses. Most of the characters I remember are here, including Friar Tuck, Little John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. But Maid Marion is mentioned only once. I imagine the middle-school audience would enjoy this legend of adventure and derring-do. I wanted more depth to the story, though I doubt I’ll try to go back and read the original.
LINK to my full review
A Corner Of the Universe – Ann M Martin – 4****
This is a wonderful book written for middle-school-aged children. Set in about 1960, it focuses on Hattie Owens and her family, and the summer her Uncle Adam came home. There are some serious issues dealt with in this novel, but Martin handles them deftly, honestly and with compassion. Hattie is a bright girl, curious and resourceful. As Hattie pieces together the truth about her uncle she comes to understand that it is better to “lift the corners” and peek at what is hidden rather than try to forget about what is unpleasant or uncomfortable. She learns, too, that being different does not make you a lesser person.
LINK to my full review
Black Powder War – Naomi Novik – 4****
Book number three in the marvelous series featuring Captain Will Laurence and his dragon, Temeraire. Following their exploits in China (book two), they’ve received special orders to escort three precious dragon eggs purchased from the Ottoman Empire from Istanbul back to England. I love this series and this episode has more of the aerial “dog fights” that first entranced me in book one. Temeraire is a marvel; intelligent, fluent in multiple languages, an astute observer and a skilled warrior. He is also devoted to Will and their relationship is an important part of the series.
LINK to my full review
Dial A for Aunties – Jesse Q Sutanto – 3***
This was really ridiculously implausible, but still quite fun to read! The aunties steal the show at every opportunity, but I mostly liked the relationship between Meddy and her Ma. I’m glad I finally got to this book which so many of my book-loving friends have enjoyed. It was the perfect escapist light read during this time in my life.
LINK to my full review
You, Again – Kate Goldbeck – 2.5**
This is a retelling of the very popular (and brilliant) film, When Harry Met Sally. Ari is a wannabe stand-up comic, making do while she waits for her big break. Josh is a chef from a wealthy family who definitely does NOT want to follow in his father’s footsteps and take over the famous deli he runs. I really disliked these two characters. Ari, in particular, is a hot mess, while Josh is kinda full of himself. Well, you’ve seen the movie, so you know what’s coming. Do yourself a favor. Skip the book and re-watch the movie.
LINK to my full review
Ramón and Julieta – Alana Quintana Albertson – 3***
This is a retelling of Shakespeare’s most famous couple, set in San Diego’s thriving Mexican-American community. Ramón Montez is the scion of a family fast-food empire. Julieta Campos is a celebrity chef who is determined to save her sea-to-table taqueria from closing. Of course, these star-crossed lovers will find a way to join forces despite the bad blood between their families. It was a fast, fun read that made me hungry for Mexican food.
LINK to my full review
Tiger Honor – Yoon Ha Lee – 3***
This is a fast-paced space opera adventure tale. Lee has built a fantasy world that includes various shape-shifters, interplanetary travel, military jargon, and various magical elements. It’s the kind of book my nephew would have loved when he was about 10-12 years old. I haven’t read the first book in the series, so was a little lost in terms of the world-building. Still, it held my attention and I was intrigued enough that I’ll probably read more from this author.
LINK to my full review
Off Season – Anne Rivers Siddons – 3***
Lilly Constable, reeling from the sudden death of her husband, decides to go to her family’s Maine cottage to regroup and reflect on her marriage to the love of her life, Cam McCall. I thought this would be a book about her marriage, but at least half of it was about Lily’s first love, at the tender age of eleven. Siddons kept me turning pages, but it was far from memorable.
LINK to my full review
Finished "Closer To The Heart" and starting "Chocolate Cream Pie Murder"
The Letter Writer – Dan Fesperman – 4****
When a body is found floating in the Hudson, newly arrive detective sergeant Woodrow Cain accepts the help of an odd duck - Danzinger looks like a “crackpot” but he is clearly educated and has means. The question is whether he is helping Cain solve a murder, or ensnaring him in a clever espionage plot. A great historical thriller!
LINK to my full review
The Garden of Evening Mists – Tan Twan Eng – 5*****
What a marvelous book! Poetic writing. Complex characters. Atmospheric descriptions. Eng brought right into this world. I felt the peace and serenity of the garden, and the terror of guerilla attacks. I could smell the jungle, feel the humid heat, hear the rain.
LINK to my full review
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares – Rachel Cohn and David Levithan – 4****
This is a delightful young adult meet-cute rom-com featuring an implausible quest and two extraordinarily bright teenagers, set in the fabulous city of New York during the Christmas season. It’s charming and clever and the two main characters are very likeable. And I loved the literary references.
LINK to my full review
All the Ways We Said Goodbye – Beatriz Willliams, Lauren Willig and Karen White – 3***
Three women are linked by the legend of the talisman of Courcelles, across half a century: 1914, 1942, and 1964. The central setting is France. I figured out the big “secrets” as soon as they were introduced. It held my attention, but I’m getting tired of the World War II scenario and the various tropes used.
LINK to my full review
City of the Beasts – Isabel Allende – 3***
Allende has crafted a very engaging, fantastical adventure story, with a fair amount of information provided regarding environmental conservation. A couple of the adult characters were rather cartoonish, but the young people really shone, and I loved the way that the native indigenous tribes were portrayed.
LINK to my full review
A Spy In the House – Y S Lee – 3***
This is the first in a series featuring Mary Quinn (nee Lang), a Chinese-English young woman who has been recruited into The Agency – an all-female organization providing discreet investigations. Mary is intelligent, inquisitive, observant and compassionate. She is also self-possessed, resilient and quite capable of getting herself out of a jam, though Victorian gentlemen are prone to coming to her rescue regardless of her own abilities. I look forward to reading more books in this series, and more from this author.
LINK to my full review
Ten Bridges I've Burnt: A Memoir in Verse
4.5 stars
but I'm rounding up because
my goodness
the highs are so high
I was going to quote some of my favorite bits, but there's too many. Oath of Athenian Youth and Diversity Hire are immaculate.
(view spoiler)
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The House In the Cerulean Sea – T J Klune – 3***
Linus Baker is summoned by Extremely Upper Management and given a highly classified assignment: go to an orphanage on a remote island and evaluate the six dangerous magical children living there. This is a modern fairy tale for adults with a message of tolerance, kindness, courage and forgiveness. The sentiment is charming and Klune gives us a wonderful fairy-tale ending. But the story fell flat for me. I felt I was “missing the magic” that so many of my friends experienced.
LINK to my full review
The Starlite Drive-In – Marjorie Reynolds – 3.5***
The discovery of human bones when developers begin demolishing the old Starlite Drive-In site takes Callie Anne Benton back to her childhood. She was twelve the summer of 1956, when she experienced first love and began to understand the complexities of adult relationships. A great coming-of-age story that captivated me from beginning to end.
LINK to my full review
The Bear’s Embrace – Patricia Van Tighem – 4****
While hiking in the Canadian wilderness, Patricia and her husband were attacked by a grizzly bear. This is Patricia’s memoir of the years of reconstructive surgery and depression (PTSD) she suffered following that incident. I found this gripping and interesting, a tale of survival, courage and triumph. But I was not prepared for the severity of mental health issues she would suffer as a result of the attack.
LINK to my full review
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega – Crystal Maldonado – 4****
This is a wonderful coming-of-age story that deals with body image, friendship, parent/child relationships, and societal expectations. Charlie is a strong young woman, mostly sure of herself, though plagued with self-doubt. Still, she’s smart, funny, kind, loyal and determined. I liked how Maldonado had the teens deal with expectations, whether those of friends, each other, parents, teachers, or their own. And I really liked how Charlie found a way to shine and show her considerable talent.
LINK to my full review
Just finished the challenge, so I'm on a short story binge for a couple of weeks while page counts don't count.**The established series section. Be extra aware of spoilers!**
From the Murderbot series by Martha Wells
Compulsory (Murderbot #0.5)5* Excellent - Very short, basically a single scene, but it does a good job of capturing a Murderbot who's only beginning to grapple with the vagaries of free will and the logistics of hiding its hacked governor module.
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory (Murderbot #4.5)4* - Definitely read if you like the series, but it's probably better to grab it between books 4 and 5, where it's meant to go, than to go back and read it after finishing the whole series, like I did.
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From the Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Aloysius X.L. Pendergast: A Mysterious Profile4.5* - and the half star off is only for the misleading title. This is a nice insight into how Preston and Child met and began to collaborate, their writing process, and the genesis of Pendergast's character. It is not, by any stretch, a profile of the character himself. Preston and Child are engaging even in this format. It's particularly nice that they've maintained their back and forth style here, since that's apparently the way they co-write their books.
Extraction (Aloysius Pendergast #12.5)4* - A nice short story to scratch that Pendergast itch. It's spot on in terms of the atmosphere of the main series even though there are some contradictions, facts-wise. Still, it's a story that makes the Diogenes relationship/conflict ring a little truer than: I failed him that one time, his pre-existing 'messed up' got kicked into overdrive, and it was all downhill from there.
The Strange Case of Monsieur Bertin (Aloysius Pendergast #18.5)3.5* - Interesting, but despite being written after the other Pendergast short, it directly contradicts it in terms of the history of Constance and Bertin's acquaintance.
The illustrations weren't particularly to my taste either, but I'll give them one thing, I wish their depiction of Constance was used by the books. She's one of my least favorite things about the entire series, but seeing this portrayal made me realize exactly what puts me off about her character. She's constantly described as petite and childlike and in many ways naive and emotionally fragile, and then she's also constantly sexualized, not only by various characters but also by many purely 'authorial' descriptions, too. It's honestly almost impressive that Preston and Child managed to saddle a character over a century old with all the shortcomings of the 'born sexy yesterday' trope.
Don't even get me started on the potential romance between her and Pendergast. The fact that she was/is his ward - in fact, the entire history of their relationship - makes the idea of any sort of romance between them incredibly off-putting. I hope Angel of Vengeance ends with her (view spoiler) and at least it won't have to continue grappling with the incredibly obnoxious decision to make them a couple.
The Personal Librarian – Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray – 3***
As she has done with other women “lost in history,” Benedict shines a light on a little-recognized woman who had enormous influence on American culture. Belle da Costa Greene, a Black woman who passed as white to work as J P Morgan’s personal librarian. It’s an interesting history lesson and well told, if somewhat repetitive.
LINK to my full review
The Tuscan Child – Rhys Bowen – 3***
Bowen uses the ubiquitous dual timeline to tell this story that spans three decades: 1944 to 1973. Joanna finds some papers among her late father’s effects that indicate he had a love affair with a woman in Italy while serving as an RAF pilot in WW2. Joanna feels compelled to travel to the area where her father’s plane went down to find his lost love, Sofia, and to get answers to what really happened during the war. This was a fun, fast read with some intrigue to go along with the romance. And, I loved all the references to food!
LINK to my full review
One Italian Summer – Rebecca Serle – 3***
Katy has always been very close to her mother, Carol, and when her mother dies Katy is left feeling alone, abandoned and lost. At her husband’s suggestion, Katy decides to take the trip to Italy she and Carol had planned. I was fine with this story at the outset, though I thought Katy was very immature for a woman who is thirty. It held my attention, and it was a relatively fast read. But I’m not sure I’d recommend it.
LINK to my full review
Surely You Can’t Be Serious – David Zucker, Jim Abrahams & Jerry Zucker – 3***
Subtitle: The True Story of Airplane! This is the creators’ memoir of how they came to think of the parody, and their (often naïve) efforts to get it written, produced, cast, made and distributed. Yes, I saw the surprise comedy blockbuster movie when it first came out. I remember little about it. I laughed and thought some bits were hilarious, but I also thought that much of the humor was juvenile and typical of middle-school boys.
LINK to my full review
Vanderbilt – Anderson Cooper & Katherine Howe – 4****
Subtitle: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty. Cooper, the son of “the last Vanderbilt” (Gloria Vanderbilt), and a trained journalist, looks at the family legacy in this work of nonfiction. On the whole, it held my attention, and I learned a few tidbits I hadn’t previously come across.
LINK to my full review
The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese – 5*****
An epic tale of one family in Kerala, India, over nearly eight decades, spanning the time frame from 1900 to 1977. Gosh, but Verghese can write! There is a lot of drama in this decades-long story. Verghese touches on classicism, colonialism, racism and sexism. But this is NOT an unhappy book. The family relationships are loving and tender. And that ending! My heart swelled.
LINK to my full review
Ms Demeanor – Elinor Lipman – 3***
It begins when attorney Jane Morgan is spotted by a nosy neighbor with binoculars engaging in consensual sex on her rooftop patio. Soon she’s sentenced to six months of house confinement. And then she discovers there is another resident of her building also wearing an ankle monitor. Cute, modern, rom-com. I love Lipman’s sense of humor.
LINK to my full review
The short story binge continues. Ordered on the completely subjective basis of how much I liked them:
The Museum of Rain - 5*Uplifting and comforting, with a focus on family and generational relationships.
The Story Of An Hour: Short Story - 5*A painfully genuine peek into the mental toll of the constraints placed on women in the late 19th century.
A Grief Observed - 5*A bracingly open and honest admission of the difficulty of losing a loved one in the midst of a life of faith. It was also interesting that Madeleine L'Engle, who wrote the forward, had such a drastically different experience than Lewis, because reading his struggle felt like a glimpse into a universal human experience.
Recitatif - 4.5*Even more than a beautiful little short story, this book is a merciless tool for self-examination. However, unless you've read the story before, skip any intro or explanation and come back to it afterward.
Spy of the First Person - 4.5*An invitation to experience the raw and unvarnished degradations of physical decline first hand.
Galatea - 4.5* - There's no question that I'll be moving on to Circe in short order! This little book evoked the disgust and dehumanization of objectification with razor sharp (stone cold?) clarity.
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - 4.5*Cute and very charming, but don't read if some extremely 'dated' language will ruin your experience.
The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country - 4.5*It could've done without Oprah's intro, but the poem itself was just as heartfelt as it was live at the inauguration.
Philomel Cottage: A Short Story - 4*Some good stand-alone Agatha Christie. She's still leaning on one of her favorite tropes, the man who's just congenitally irresistible to all women, but it has a nice departure from the usual for the ending.
In a Grove - 4*Very short, and the contents were the basis of the movie Rashoumon even though they titled the movie after another of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's short stories.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge - 4*A civil war era anecdote from American author Ambrose Bierce, who disappeared in 1913. The wartime setting is a familiar one for him, but unlike his other work, this leans less witty/satirical or horror and more towards suspense/magical realism.
Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds: a Hercule Poirot Short Story - 3.5*Another short from Agatha Christie, but there's not much mystery to this one. It also leans on one of her most-often reused plot points, but isn't as successful (or as cleverly named) as Philomel Cottage.
Daisy Miller - 3.5*Tough to know what to rate this one. It has lots to say about mid-19th century society, but it's more interesting than enjoyable.
Oration on the Dignity of Man - 3.5*Really only three stars (or maybe less) for Mirandola's arguments, but the glimpses into some of the everyday facts of life in the late 15th century are fascinating.
The Body Snatcher - 3*Human nature is the real monster in this one. It's one of those older stories where the 'reveal' didn't really stand the test of time.
Something Special: A Story - 2.5*Let's just say, I've been meaning to read Murdoch's books for years, and now I think I might just give them a pass. Supposedly the short story format doesn't play to her strengths, which is the only reason I might give her another shot.
The Anatomie of Absurditie: Contayning a breefe confutation of the slender imputed prayses to feminine perfection, with a short description of the seuerall practises of youth, and sundry follies of our licentious times - 1.5*Renaissance Red Pill. If you wanted to hear a 16th century incel rail against women for half a pamphlet, then this is for you. There's being a product of your times, and then there's spending twenty pages bemoaning the fact that your contemporaries not only like women, but have the temerity to write about it. In evidence against the feminine: Greek and Roman myths, crabby ancient philosophers, and a heaping helping of hypocrisy.
Ruddy Gore - Kerry Greenwood – 3***
Book number seven in the delightful Phryne Fisher series of cozy mysteries set in 1920s Melbourne, Australia. I like Phryne as a character. She is her own woman and quite modern in her thinking. She’s independent, curious, observant and can take care of herself. She’s also beautiful and wealthy. And she quite enjoys time in the bedroom with a gentleman. Brava, Phryne!
LINK to my full review
First Gen – Alejandra Campoverdi– 3***
Campoverdi’s memoir details her experiences and that of her family, particularly the women. From growing up poor in a single-parent household with her grandmother, three aunts, and mother, the author writes about her path to success as a “First and only.” Her story is an interesting one, but I didn’t really identify with her experiences, and felt she was not fully identifying the causes of her feelings of inadequacy.
LINK to my full review
Flying Solo – Linda Holmes – 3***
This was a fun rom-com / mystery / heist caper! Laurie comes back to her Maine hometown to clear out her great-aunt Dot’s home. When she finds a wooden duck decoy in a cedar chest, she can’t help but wonder why Dot would keep such an item. Her efforts to solve the mystery of Dot’s past lead to a con job, a heist, and a counter-con job. And she begins to rethink her “I’m a loner” philosophy as she reconnects with her friends from high school.
LINK to my full review
The Christie Affair – Nina de Gramont – 3.5***
On December 3, 1926, Agatha Christie drove away from her home after an argument with her husband. She would be missing for eleven days. This is a novel about marriage, about motherhood, about love, about grief, about how society punishes those who fail to follow the rules, about forgiveness and justice. De Gramont took the story in a direction I wasn’t expecting, and at first, I was unhappy, but eventually the two parallel stories merge in a fashion that fascinated me.
LINK to my full review
Royal Blood – Rhys Bowen – 3***
Book number four in the delightful Lady Georgiana Ranoch series of cozy mysteries takes us out of London and to a remote castle in the mountains of Romania for a royal wedding. I like this series. Georgie manages to get herself caught up in all sorts of intrigues. This episode in her life was a little over-the-top, though Georgie, of course, keeps her head and manages to help solve the case. She’s certainly resourceful! An entertaining quick read.
LINK to my full review
Into Love And Out Again – Elinor Lipman – 3.5***
This is a collection of short stories set in New York City. As the title implies, the focus is on love … falling in love, attraction, heartbreak, excitement, intimacy, falling out of love. This was Lipman’s debut work. I’ve become a fan of hers in the last few years and decided to go back and read some of her earlier works. She writes with wit and tenderness and eyes wide open to her characters’ flaws and gifts.
LINK to my full review
The Fortunes of Jaded Women – Carolyn Hyunh – 3***
Mai’s ancestor was cursed by a Vietnamese witch: the women would birth only daughters, never a son. Oh, what a tangled web of melodrama! In general, this is about family – especially an extended family whose members are always in each other’s business. They meddle, fight, make-up, mourn, and celebrate. Ultimately, they come together as a family, rising in unison, ready to conquer the world.
LINK to my full review
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Butterfly Garden (other topics)A Certain Age (other topics)
The Secret, Book & Scone Society (other topics)
Exile's Honor (other topics)
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Mercedes Lackey (other topics)Richard Paul Evans (other topics)
Mercedes Lackey (other topics)
Douglas Preston (other topics)
Lincoln Child (other topics)
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Britt-Marie Was Here – Fredrick Backman – 3.5***
I thought this was a lovely little fairy tale. The scenarios were somewhat improbable, and Britt-Marie didn’t always behave the way I would have expected her to, but just as the residents of Borg grew on her, Britt-Marie grew on me. I found her insistence on structure exasperating at times, but I also loved how determined she was. While she kept her emotions in check, she still showed tenderness and genuine caring.
LINK to my full review