May 2021 Reads

May was a good reading month with several 5-star reads, including a few books I have not had time to review:

20 Books of Summer

Since the pandemic-caused work-from-home began on 3/17/20, I have moved my laptop and self from the den (too hot in the summer although adding a bird feeder to the window provided entertainment and extended my loathing of the squirrels trying to access the birdseed) to the dining room (too cold in the winter, I had to remove the tablecloth lest the space heater set it on fire) and finally to the small office (which the realtor pretended was a bedroom), which first had to be massively tidied. 

Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher

Title: Shadow Spinner
Author: Susan Fletcher
Narrator: Suzanne Toren
Publication: Recorded Books, 1999 (originally published by Atheneum, 1998)
Genre: Middle-grade fantasy/fairy tale retelling
Setting: Ancient Persia

Description: Every night Shahrazad tells the Sultan a story, pausing at a suspenseful moment so that he is intrigued and lets her live another 24 hours to finish, at which point she proceeds to another cliffhanger.

WWW Wednesday – May 26, 2021

WWW Wednesday is run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

Currently, I am reading Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix.  It’s a feminist version of what happened to Cinderella after the ball – did she live happily ever after with Prince Charming? 

Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer - a crime novel set in Cardiff

Title: Rubbernecker
Author: Belinda Bauer
Publication: Atlantic Monthly Press, hardcover, 2013
Genre: Mystery
Setting: Wales

Description: Patrick Fort is an 18-year-old anatomy student who never recovered from the death of his father when he was a child. As his mother dealt with alcoholism, he tried to figure out how life can be so fleeting and his dissection and examination of animals provides no answers, just freaks out his mother, who does not understand the single-mindedness resulting from his Asperger’s Syndrome.

Do you miss library book sales?

I do!  Mind you, there are hundreds of books in this house I have not had time to read.  But there is nothing as delicious as ambling into a used bookstore or going to a library book sale and finding an old treasure, discarded by the library or a patron, that is not available elsewhere.  Alternatively, sometimes one finds an appealing but unknown book or something one meant to read but had not got around to, such as The Goldfinch.  Or a handful of paperbacks to bring on vacation.

The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler

Title: The Perfect Couple
Author: Jackie Kabler
Publication: One More Chapter, trade paperback, 2021
Genre: Psychological Suspense
Setting: Present-day Great Britain

Description:  Are they the perfect couple . . . or is everything about Gemma and Danny's new life a complete lie?

The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery (an American rebel in England)

Title: The Reb and the Redcoats
Author: Constance Savery
Publication: Bethlehem Books, paperback, 1999 (originally published in 1961)
Genre: Juvenile historical
Setting: 18th century England

Description: The Reb is young Randal Everard Baltimore, an American prisoner of war, who encounters the Redcoats, the four Darringtons, children of a British officer fighting in the War of American Independence.

Daphne du Maurier's Mary Anne: Rewriting the Regency Romance as Feminist History #DDMreadingweek

I came across an interesting article, Daphne du Maurier’s Mary Anne: Rewriting the Regency Romance as Feminist History, by Katherine Turner, and decided it was perfect for Daphne du Maurier Reading Week despite my not having time to read Mary Anne (1954). 

Coincidentally, the du Maurier books live next to the Heyer paperbacks

Turner describes how du Maurier based this novel on her great-great grandmother (c. 1776–1852), who was the mistress of the Duke of York and involved in a huge scandal for selling army commissions, promotions, and transfers.  

The Parasites by Daphne du Maurier #DDMreadingweek

Title: The Parasites
Author: Daphne du Maurier
Publication: Doubleday & Co., hardcover, 1950 (originally published in 1949)
Genre: Fiction
Setting: 20th century England and a little Paris

Today is Daphne’s 114th birthday! Please visit Heaven-Ali to read about Daphne du Maurier Reading Week. Happy Birthday also to Ali – I hope there are new books and dinner prepared by someone else.

Description: The Delaneys were an eccentric theatrical family – Pappy, a world-class singer, with a daughter, Maria; Mama, an unforgettable and indescribable dancer, with a son, Niall; and Celia, the only joint child from their marriage.

The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier #DDMreadingweek

Title: The House on the Strand
Author: Daphne du Maurier
Publication: 1969     Genre: Fiction     Setting: Cornwall

Occasion: Heaven-Ali's Daphne du Maurier Reading Week 2021

Description: Publishing executive Dick Young is between jobs when his old friend Magnus Lane lends him a vacation home in Cornwall, somewhat in exchange for Dick’s assistance with a mysterious project.

Her Last Holiday by C.L. Taylor

Title: Her Last Holiday
Author: C.L. Taylor
Publication: Avon, trade paperback, 2021
Genre: Suspense

Description: You go on a retreat to be healed. You don’t expect to die. But two years ago, Fran’s sister Jenna disappeared on a wellness retreat in the Mediterranean that went terribly wrong.

The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson - my first summer reading recommendation

Title: The Narrowboat Summer
Author: Anne Youngson
Publication: Flatiron Books, hardcover, 2020
Genre: Fiction
Setting: England

Description: Three women meet by chance and reassess their priorities in this novel about friendship and second chances.

The Academy Saga by CJ Daly - an intriguing series launch

Title: The Academy Saga, book 1
Author: CJ Daly
Publication: Trade paperback, 2019; also available in Kindle
Genre: YA series
Setting: Present-day New Mexico

Description: At barely 17, Kate Connolly is stuck in a trailer, raising her precocious younger brothers, with a father who was abusive even before her mother died several years ago.

Six Degrees of Separation — from Beezus and Ramona to My Own Two Feet

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place, add six books, and see where we end up. This month’s starting point is Beezus and Ramona, the first book in the Ramona series, by Beverly Cleary, who died on March 25, 2021 at 104.