My July 2023 Reads

Summer days drifting away . . . even if you can’t take time off to sit on the beach in July, it seems appropriate to read lighter fiction, which I needed after I finished Middlemarch (despite enjoying it).

Fiction

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune (2023). Ten years ago, Fern spent a memorable 24 hours in Toronto with a talented young artist. They planned to meet up exactly a year later but he stood her up. Now, he has reappeared after nine years as a consultant when she needs help managing her inheritance but can she trust him? Did you see that Harry and Meghan just bought the movie rights to this book for $3 million?  My review.

* Country Lovers by Rebecca Shaw (2003). This was a disappointing installment of a series set in a veterinary hospital, perhaps inspired by All Things Great and Small but missing the boat. My mini-review.

* Homecomings by Marcia Willett (2018). Willett is skilled at interrelationships and, here, the friendship between two families living on the Cornwall coast creates lively social activities for all, which lead to healing for those who need it. The book follows Postcards from the Past, including several of the same characters.  My mini-review.

Historical Fiction

* The Puritan Princess by Miranda Malins (2020). Told from the perspective of Oliver Cromwell’s youngest daughter Frances, this is an appealing depiction of the dour Civil War general turned uncrowned king and a young woman who does not want to be a political pawn. Yes, it was a bit anachronistic but I enjoyed it anyway. My review.

* Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871). I enjoyed the story of idealistic Dorothea and Dr. Lydgate, who would have been better suited to each other than the partners they chose. I had not expected the book to reveal so much humor or that every word Eliot uses is so carefully chosen. I started off with a hefty paperback but realized I might not finish in time for my book group without a little help so switched to the audiobook, beautifully read by Juliet Stevenson whose light ironic tone was perfect. My review.

Starring Adele Astaire by Eliza Knight (2023). I wanted to love this novel about Fred Astaire’s older sister and it was well-researched but, somehow, it never felt convincing to me. I knew the basic facts about Adele and was certainly interested in knowing more; however, the first-person voice did not seem authentic to me. Elswyth Thane fans will recall that Stephen and Sylvia Sprague were inspired by Fred and Adele; maybe I’d rather go on reading about them instead!

Historical Romance

The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer (1959)(reread). When Hugo learns he is the heir to the title and estate of a grandfather he barely knew existed, he travels to the southeastern coast to meet his newly discovered relatives. Then he realizes they think he is a lower-class oaf due to his upbringing, and he cannot resist acting the part. He also learns his grandfather wants him to marry his cousin Anthea, a pretty girl who treats him with glacier coldness. My review.

Mystery/Suspense

Memory Man by David Baldacci (2015) (reread). I used this in July’s Six Degrees of Separation, which was about time and memory. Naturally, when I finished I wandered into another room to see if this, which launches the Amos Decker series, is a book I own. I pulled it down to read one chapter and, before I knew it, I had reread the whole book.

The Glass Room by Ann Cleeves (2012) (audiobook). This is the fifth book about Vera Stanhope, the oversized police detective in Northumberland. Here, she is asked to look for her missing next door neighbor, Joanna, whom she then finds at a Writers’ retreat accused of murdering one of the instructors. Cleeves’ observations of the publishing scene in the UK are quite amusing.

Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie (1941). When Hercule Poirot goes on holiday to a quasi-island resort in Devon, it is inevitable that murder will follow but even Poirot is puzzled when the most obvious suspect has the perfect alibi. However, I doubt anyone was enjoying leisure at the beach in that part of England in 1941! My review.

* A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie (2023). Duncan Kincaid and his sergeant Doug are the last people to see a talented young doctor alive – except for the killer who stabs her as she hurries to a meeting. As Gemma and Melody are now in a unit focusing on knife crimes, they can assist on this investigation, although it turns out the deceased is a close friend of their occasional babysitter, Wesley. My review.

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths (2023). I did not want this series to end but ever since Dr. Ruth Galloway met DCI Harry Nelson in the first book, their relationship has been a roller coaster around which they have solved some 14 crimes. Now Ruth’s archeology department is being cut by her university to save money, Nelson’s wife has moved out, and a body has been discovered in a coffee shop. What’s next for these characters before Griffiths sends them off into the sunset? A strong conclusion to the series!  Or is it?  I saw that, Ms. Griffiths!

Children’s/YA

The Awakening (2009) and The Reckoning (2010) by Kelley Armstrong. In the second and third books of the Darkest Powers trilogy, Chloe and her love triangle – brothers Simon and Derek – are trying to escape from The Edison Group, scientists trying to capture them and control their paranormal abilities or possibly just kill them. I did not think this was as strong as her Rockton series but I was curious about how it would end so kept on reading (the end was very unsatisfying).

Hot Dutch Daydream by Kristy Boyce (2023). Sage Cunningham has an ambitious academic career planned and this summer after high school she agreed to be an au pair for a medical researcher in Holland in return for being allowed to work on cancer research projects. Her host’s son is an attractive distraction Sage has been forbidden to date, which makes him all the more intriguing.  The title was stupid but maybe chosen by the publisher . . .

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (2004)(reread). This 2005 Newbery winner is about a Japanese family forced to move to the Deep South after losing their Midwest home. While the parents obtain exhausting jobs at a poultry factory, their three children try to cope with the stress of being different, followed by the eldest child’s devastating illness. This was the NY Betsy-Tacy group’s July discussion title and I swear we read it before but no one else remembered it.

* The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Drama and Danger by J.T. Williams (2022). In this improbable and anachronistic juvenile mystery, two black preteens in 18th century London – one, the daughter of Ignatius Sancho, the first man of African descent to vote in a British general election, and the other, the bi-rachial great-niece of Lord Mansfield – are investigating an attack on Sancho. Despite its flaws, I thought it was a good concept and appealing story. My review. My friend Katrina read and reviewed an interesting book about Ignatius Sancho that I mean to hunt down.

* 20 Days of Summer 2023