My August 2022 Reads

A few new authors for me this month: Martin Edwards, a British mystery writer and expert, whose newest nonfiction work was just reviewed by the New York Times; Sonali Dev, with a modern version of Pride and Prejudice; and Sarah Stewart Taylor, a writer from Vermont who set her suspense novel in Ireland.

Mystery/Suspense

The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie – What started off as a joke with seven alarm clocks turns into a sinister country house murder. My review.

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

Title: Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors
Author: Sonali Dev
Publication: William Morrow, trade paperback, originally published in 2019
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Present-day California

Description: Dr. Trisha Raje is a gifted neurosurgeon in San Franciso, whose arrogance masks the conviction she has disappointed her Indian-American family, despite her success.

Gerald and Elizabeth by D.E. Stevenson

Title: Gerald and Elizabeth
Author: D.E. Stevenson
Publication: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, hardcover, 1969
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Great Britain

Description: Gerald is returning to London after a disastrous experience in Cape Town working for a diamond mine. The lovely young American women aboard the ship cannot distract him from his gloom, although one tries to cheer him up and tells him about an incident when she too was misjudged.

Five Things

• Chincoteague is a town on the island of the same name, in Virginia’s Eastern Shore region. It’s a gateway to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, on Assateague Island, which has beaches and wild Chincoteague ponies.

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin

Title: The Last Bookshop in London
Author: Madeline Miller
Publication: Hanover Square Press, trade paperback, 2021
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: WWII London

Description: After her mother dies, Grace Bennett and her irrepressible friend, Viv, leave the country for 1939 London, accepting the offer of a rented room from Mrs. Weatherford, a friend of Grace’s mother.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Title: The Phantom Tollbooth
Author: Norman Juster
Illustrator: Jules Pfeiffer
Publication: Yearling, paperback, originally published in 1961
Genre: Juvenile fantasy

Description: Milo is a boy who is bored by everything in his life, until a mysterious package appears in his room. It contains a turnpike tollbooth that he quickly assembles.

WWW Wednesday – August 17, 2022

WWW Wednesday is hosted 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?

Miss Austen – historical fiction by Gill Hornby

Title: Miss Austen
Author: Gill Hornby
Publication: Flatiron Books, hardcover, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: 19th-century England

Description: In this historical novel set in 1840, Hornby imagines a purposeful visit paid by Cassandra Austen to Kintbury in Berkshire after the deaths of Eliza and Fulwar Fowle.

Spell the Month in Books – August

Can you Spell the Month in Books?  This meme is hosted by Reviews From the Stacks and occurs on the second Saturday of each month.

The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie

Title: The Seven Dials Mystery
Author: Agatha Christie
Publication: Bantam paperback, originally published in 1929
Genre: Mystery (well, obviously)
Setting: England

Description: At a country house party, Gerry Wade sleeps so ridiculously late every morning that his friends decide to play a joke on him by setting so many alarm clocks he will be forced to wake up.

My July 2022 Reads

My favorite July book was the audio of a book I had read when it first came out, The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher.  It was expertly narrated by Hayley Atwell and entertained me on my way back and forth to work for several weeks.

The Mountains Wild by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Title: The Mountains Wild
Author: Sarah Stewart Taylor
Publication: Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s, hardcover 2020
Genre: Mystery
Setting: Dublin

Description: Twenty-three years ago, Maggie D’Arcy’s cousin Erin disappeared in Ireland so she flew from Long Island to Dublin to represent the family and find out what was going on.

Six Degrees of Separation: from The Book of Form and Emptiness to Eloise

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 The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Oseki (2021), which I have not read. It’s about Benny who hears voices from inanimate objects while the story explores themes of mental illness and bereavement.  

From Spare Oom to War Drobe by Katherine Langrish

Title: From Spare Oom to War Drobe: Travels in Narnia with my Nine-Year-Old Self
Author: Katherine Langrish
Publication: Darton, Longman and Todd, hardcover, 2021
Genre: Literary Criticism

Description: Langrish is a British fantasy writer who loved the Narnia books as a child. Definitely more obsessed than the average fan. She drew pictures of Aslan. She wrote poems and crafted maps. The endpapers of this book display her own Narnia fan fic.

The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

Title: The Shell Seekers
Author: Rosamunde Pilcher (1924-2019)
Narrator: Hayley Atwell
Publication: Audio, originally published in 1987
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Cornwall, London, Gloucestershire

Description: Returning home after a mild heart attack, Penelope Keeling starts reflecting on her life: her carefree childhood with her artist father and youthful French mother in London and Cornwall, her decision to become a Wren during World War II, her return to Cornwall during the war, bringing up a family in London on little money, and her downsizing to a cottage in the country where she has created an idyllic garden.