The #1970Club – some books I have enjoyed as recommendations for next week

On Monday, October 14th, Karen and Simon will launch the #1970Club, a week-long celebration of books first published in 1970. It is very entertaining to see what everyone comes up with and when I started to consider what to read, I saw that I had already reviewed some of the best books published that year. Some of these might appeal to anyone still looking for the right book to read this weekend!

My September 2024 Reading

A few books stood out this month, including Radio Girls, about the early days at the BBC, and The Trap, the newest book about Emma Makepeace. I also enjoyed The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher, which follows what seems like a recent trend in senior citizen sleuths but features an appealing heroine who is both vulnerable and resilient. I couldn’t decide if I liked or disliked The Second Lady by Irving Wallace but I couldn’t stop reading! There were also some disappointments.

Lois Lowry

I was pleased to be invited to an event at the Boston Public Library (BPL) last week featuring two-time Newbery Award winner Lois Lowry. All we children’s book fans must have RSVPd at once because first I was on the waiting list, then the evening before I received an email saying there was a seat for me. The event was actually to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BPL's Writer-in-Residence Program.

Six Degrees of Separation - from Long Island to Patriot Hearts

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. This month’s starting point is Colm Tóibín’s Long Island (2024), which I recently enjoyed (my review).  My book group read Brooklyn, the earlier book about Eilis, and I think we saw the movie together as well.

The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher

Florrie Butterfield has cherished her independence all her life, so losing a leg in her mid-80s was devastating. Forced to leave the cottage she loved, she found a residential community in Oxfordshire that accepted people in wheelchairs, Babbington Hall. But just as Florrie has settled in, things start to go wrong. When the story begins, she is mourning Arthur Potts, a friend who fell out a window and died four weeks earlier.

The Trap by Ava Glass: a race against time in Edinburgh

Emma Makepeace works for an espionage organization so secret it has no name but The Agency. There is no mistaking its role, however: to hunt Russian spies. Emma has her own motivation for this work – her father was Russian and was killed before she was born for being an informer.

Falling for Provence by Alison Roberts

When Ellie, Laura, and Fiona Gilchrist inherit a house in Provence from an uncle they never knew, Laura organizes a trip to inspect it and brings Ellie along. Ellie is recovering from the tragedy of losing her infant son and her family wants her to try to move on. The little house has been empty for years but artistic Ellie is intrigued by terracotta tiles and the neglected garden; impulsively, she decides to stay behind to get the property into shape so it can be sold.

Conrad's Fate by Diana Wynne Jones, a Chrestomanci novel

When Anthea Tesdinic turns her back on her family and leaves for university, her brother Conrad is left at the mercy of his magician uncle Alfred and his distracted mother. Conrad helps out at the bookstore his father and uncle founded in the English alps and hopes to attend high school until Uncle Alfred says he has bad karma, likely due to something he did in a previous life. 

Spell the Month in Books – September

Spell the Month in Books is hosted by Reviews From the Stacks and occurs on the first Saturday of each month or maybe later! 

Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes (2000). I originally thought of Keyes as a Maeve Binchy wannabe but I have enjoyed her books and this was a pleasant story about three women, two of whom work for a fancy magazine in Dublin.

Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie – #ReadChristie2024

Two years ago, Jacko Argyle was convicted of murdering his adoptive mother, despite his denial. He died in prison. His family is still recovering from the horror of these events when they are visited by Dr. Calgary, a geophysicist who has just returned to England and explains that he was Jacko’s alibi: the young man was innocent! 

The Scarecrow of Oz by L. Frank Baum - Ozathon24

Trot, a serious little girl, and her devoted friend, Cap’n Bill, are exploring the California coast when their boat hits a whirlpool. They are brought down, down, down into the depths of the ocean and eventually resurface in a cave where they are temporarily safe (if you are like Alec Ramsey and can survive on seaweed). 

Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford

It’s 1926 and Maisie Musgrave is desperately down to one pound, thirteen shillings, and ninepence when she finally gets offered a job. It’s at the new British Broadcasting Company where she is interviewed by the Director General’s dragonlike assistant to provide additional secretarial support to the legendary John Reith. 

My August 2024 Reading

No 5s this month: I liked The Briar Club but not as much as Kate Quinn's other books. I enjoyed Long Island and will suggest my book group reads it but his style is very understated and I wasn’t sure I understood the ending. The Rom-Commers was fun and I’ve decided I like Center’s books much better than Emily Henry’s: although their styles are not dissimilar, I think Center demonstrates more sense of humor.

Six Degrees of Separation – from After Story to A Springtime Affair

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. This month’s starting point is After Story by Larissa Behrendt. It sounds like something I would enjoy: When Indigenous lawyer Jasmine decides to take her mother Della on a tour of England's most revered literary sites, Jasmine hopes it will bring them closer together and help them reconcile the past.

Good Night, Irene by Luis Aleberto Urrea - 17/20 of Books of Summer

Title: Good Night, Irene
Author: Luis Aleberto Urrea
Publication: Little, Brown & Co., hardcover, 2023
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: WWII

There are books about wartime nurses and an abundance (at least, recently) of stories about female spies and even a few aviators, but this was the first book I came across about Donut Dollies!

What to Read - Fall 2024

I started thinking about Fall 2024 books today and there are quite a few that sound appealing:

Mystery/Suspense

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson (September). I am a big fan of Yorkshire-based PI Brodie. In this sixth book, Jackson is pursuing some mysterious art thefts when he gets stranded in a snowstorm with a vicar, a soldier, and a dowager at a hotel hosting Murder Mystery weekends.  You know such weekends are an invitation to commit actual murder!

The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells by Rebecca Rego Barry – 16/20 of Books of Summer

When a former colleague, Deb Englander, mentioned this book early in 2024, the subtitle – Investigations Into A Forgotten Mystery Author – immediately caught my attention and I asked the Boston Public Library to order a copy.

Maine

I am in Maine for a few days with my sister and niece. I am always entranced by the ocean and would be happy to sit with my book and look at the water all day.  But occasionally it is nice to explore the area!  We were staying in Rockport, Maine (which was about a four hour drive from Boston) and one of the things we did was go to nearby Mount Battie.

Two's Company - set during the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg

Whe Claire Farrell left New York, heading south in her new convertible, it was ostensibly to visit her grandparents in Williamsburg, but really to pursue a handsome actor, Whit Bowdon, performing in summer theater. Whit is sophisticated and willing to do whatever it takes to advance his career, in contrast to Philip Young, a young architect boarding with the Farrells, who is focused on the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg – and enjoys teasing Claire about her lack of interest in history.

Long Island by Colm Tóibín – 15/20 Books of Summer

In Brooklyn (2009), Eilis Lacey was encouraged by her sister Rose to leave her small town in Ireland for better employment prospects in New York. She finds a job in a department store and takes bookkeeping classes at night but is lonely. Eventually, she began attending Friday night dances with a friend and meets an Italian-American plumber. When she gets bad news from home that Rose has died, Tony persuades her to get married secretly before she returns to Ireland to be with her mother.

Tik-Tok of Oz and Rinkitink of Oz #Ozathon24

I got a little behind with Lory’s group read of the Oz books but here are two more, slightly out of order:

Tik-Tok of Oz (1914). This book starts off in an obscure part of Oz called Oogaboo, where a dissatisfied young woman called Ann Soforth decides to muster an army and go conquer the rest of Oz. Elsewhere, Betsy Bobbin and Hank the mule, wash up from Oklahoma into the Rose Kingdom, a land bordering Ev (see Ozma of Oz) and the Nonestic Ocean, where they meet our old acquaintance, the Shaggy Man, searching for his brother who was captured by the Nome King.

Spring Dream by Rosamund Hunt

Carolyn Chandler is an attractive young woman (auburn hair, creamy skin, green eyes) who lives in Manhattan with her widowed mother, Vivian. Vivian’s life is a round of parties and it has been up to Carolyn to manage their home and finances since she was 16. Now, although Vivian is reluctant to leave her social life and Carolyn does not want to leave handsome Whit Dryden, her new beau, they travel 200 miles north when they get the news that Vivian’s sister, Blanche Storrow, had been hospitalized.

My July 2024 Reading

My two favorite books this month were Mrs. Plansky's Revenge by Spencer Quinn and Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane - one light-hearted and amusing and the other dark and compelling - both memorable.  

Mystery/Suspense

The Risk of Darkness by Susan Hill (2006). I really liked the first two Simon Serrallier books I read in June so read three more in July – compelling police procedurals set in a small cathedral town with a lot about Simon’s family as part of the plot, which adds to their appeal, in my opinion.

A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey: A Maeve Kerrigan Mystery

Helena and Bruce Marshall have not been the same since their nine-year-old daughter Rosalie disappeared 16 years ago, so when they are murdered Detective Sergeant Maeve Kerrigan and Inspector Josh Derwent have to investigate both incidents to determine if there is a connection. Maeve and Josh have not worked a case together recently, following their undercover work together in The Close, and his live-in girlfriend is jealous of Maeve, who tries to concentrate on the case at hand.

Two More Mysteries from My 20 Books of Summer

Gunpowder Plot by Carola Dunn

The Honorable Daisy Dalrymple is now married to Alec Fletcher, whom she (and we) met in Death at Wentwater Court, and is now a Detective Chief Inspector at Scotland Yard. She has not forgotten her first love, who died in the Great War, but she has built a new life with Alec and his daughter. 

Six Degrees of Separation – from The Museum of Modern Love to Demon Copperhead

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. This month’s starting point is The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose (2016). It’s about a man who becomes mesmerized by a performance art exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I used to work around the corner from MOMA so have been there fairly often (before it cost $30 per visit) but I kept my obsessions under control.

WWW Wednesday - July 31

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?

Currently Reading: 

I have been reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022) for what seems like forever but is probably just a week. It is clever but so depressing and seemingly endless; it’s like being trapped in a room with J.D. Vance.

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane – 12/20 Books of Summer

Mary Pat Fennessy lives in public housing in South Boston, working as a health aide at a nursing home, trying to pay her bills and worrying about her children. Her son died of a drug overdose after coming back from Vietnam. Her daughter Jules is going into her senior year of high school, hanging out all night with teens her mother distrusts.

The Song of Hartgrove Hall by Natasha Solomons

This dual timeline novel moves back and forth from post WWII to the early 21st century, following the youngest of three brothers over the course of his life as he seeks love and music.

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn

Loretta Plansky is a tennis-playing retiree in Florida; she is comfortably off but misses her deceased husband. She has a demanding family: a 98 year-old-father whose unruly behavior in assisted living is about to cost her additional thousands per month, a daughter who wants money for a start-up (and her new fiancé), and a son who wants her to fund a dubious business venture. It is easier to say yes than to argue, also she's generous.

Spell the Month in Books - July 2024

Spell the Month in Books is hosted by Reviews From the Stacks and occurs on or near the first Saturday of each month, so I am quite late this month - and it took some finagling! But here goes:

Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie2024

Gordon Cloade’s family has always relied on his wealth and generosity so they are appalled when he marries an attractive widow less than half his age. Weeks later, he dies tragically in the London Blitz and his new bride, Rosaleen, inherits everything. 

Guest Review: A Parcel of Rogues by Pamela Belle

A Parcel of Rogues begins with Sam, a middle-aged businessman from Oxford, rather lost in London as he searches for his runaway daughter Mary. It is 1715, and James Stuart, the “Old Pretender,” is gathering supporters to overthrow the Hanoverian King George I. For a while we stay with Sam and a new acquaintance, Mr. Dark, as they follow leads toward Mary. They are joined by a beautiful young woman of dubious virtue, Polly Paradice.

The Secret Stealers by Jane Healey - Review

In this historical novel set during World War II in the United States, England, and France, a lovely young widow from Boston is determined to show she can contribute meaningfully to war effort, using her language skills and experience living in Paris.

Since Anna’s doctor husband died near Pearl Harbor, she has taught French in Washington, DC and resisted her family’s efforts to get her back to Boston.

The Last Apple Tree by Claudia Mills

Description: Moving to a new state, a new school, and into a house with family she barely knows is challenging for twelve-year-old Sonnet, especially when she begins to worry about Gramps’ memory issues, in this absorbing story by veteran author Claudia Mills.  Sonnet, her little sister Villie, and their mother moved to Indiana from Colorado recently to live with her grandfather after his wife died. 

My June 2024 Reading

June found me starting an absorbing new-to-me series by Susan Hill about Simon Serrallier, a police detective in a Cathedral town in southern England where there is an unexpected amount crime. I am already on book five! Other winners this month were two new historical novels, the delightful The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson, which reminded me of Flambards, and the more serious Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray, about Roosevelt’s female Secretary of Labor.

Two Historical Mysteries From My 20 Books of Summer

Many books from the Golden Age of Mysteries involve a detective analyzing all the witnesses’ stories and alibis to determine who is lying (although that does not necessarily mean that person is the killer). I am not very good at this although I read attentively and look at maps, if they are included.

It is helpful if there are characters discussing these issues (this is why Watson and his ilk exist; in The Word is Murder, Daniel Hawthorne refuses to discuss, just tells the Anthony Horowitz character how obtuse he is).

Six Degrees of Separation – from Kairos to Season of Storms

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where you end up.  The starting book this month is Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize, which is described as a German novel about a tortured love affair.

The Maplin Bird by K.M. Peyton

In this historical novel set in 19th century England, orphaned siblings escape their abusive relatives and try to make a new life for themselves in a coastal fishing village.

After Emily and Toby Garland’s parents die from cholera, they are lucky to have a home with Uncle Gideon and Aunt Mercy, although it’s hardly charity, as Toby (16) is beaten often and works unpaid on his uncle’s boat while Emily (15) slaves away on household chores.

Testimony by Anita Shreve - 5/20 Books of Summer

In Testimony, Shreve’s fifteenth novel, a night of underage drinking at a boarding school in Vermont ends in disaster, resulting in a sex scandal that destroys several lives. Rumors start quickly because there is an explicit video of the incident.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum #Ozathon24

Title: The Patchwork Girl of Oz
Author: L. Frank Baum
Illustrator: John R. Neill
Publication: Dover paperback, originally published in 1913
Genre: Juvenile fantasy/series

Description: The seventh Oz book features Ojo, a Munchkin boy who lives in an isolated part of the magical realm with his taciturn Unc Nunkie. When their food supply runs out, they realize they must leave home, and head to their closest neighbor, the Crooked Magician, who was responsible for the magic powder that Ozma (then Tip) used to bring Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse to life back in The Land of Oz.

WWW Wednesday – June 26

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?

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson

Title: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club
Author: Helen Simonson
Publication: Dial Press, hardcover, 2024
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: Seaside England

Description: Recently orphaned Constance Haverhill is staying at the Meredith Hotel at Hazelbourne-on-Sea as a sort of companion to elderly Mrs. Fog (in reality, they are chaperoning each other). Mrs. Fog’s daughter, Lady Mercer, and Constance’s mother had been at school together and continued as neighbors when one married a lord and one a farmer, exchanging favors. During the Great War, Constance did invaluable work running the Mercers’ estate office but has been relieved of her (unpaid) duties once the men returned home.

The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill, an addictive series launch

Title: The Various Haunts of Men: A Simon Serrailler Mystery
Author: Susan Hill
Narrator: Steven Pacey
Publication: The Overlook Press, hardcover, first published in 2004.
Genre: Mystery
Setting: England

Description: People – and a dog – are disappearing without a trace in the fictional Cathedral town of Lafferton. After leaving an unhappy marriage in London, Detective Sergeant Freya Graffham is making a new life for herself at the CID division in Southern England, regaining her confidence and joining the local choir.

The Ration Book Baby by Ellie Curzon

Title: The Ration Book Baby
Author: Ellie Curzon
Publication: Paperback, 2023
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: WWII Britain

Description: It is a dark night in West Sussex, 1940, when nurse Annie Russell hears a knock on her front door and finds a newborn baby girl in a hat box on the front steps, with a ration book tucked beneath her.

My May 2024 Reading

There is no doubt my two favorite books of the month were Going Zero, a thriller involving a chase I am still thinking about, and The Diamond Eye, about a Russian sniper during WWII. I suspect they will be on my "Best of 2024" list and I recommend both of them highly.  Overall, there were some very strong and some disappointing books with two good rereads, Lucy Parker's Act Like It and The Emerald City of Oz for Ozathon24.

A series set in Northern Ireland featuring a magical cat for #ReadingtheMeow2024

Mallika of Literary Potpourri invited us to read and discuss books with cats in them this week.

I recently came across Meta Mayne Reid (1905-1991), who wrote some twenty children's books as well as two novels for adults and one collection of poetry from 1936 through 1980.

Two Recent Mysteries

I always try to find a few mysteries for my sister’s birthday that she hasn’t read (especially if the new Jane Casey isn’t available yet) but I had mixed feelings about these two:

Jack Russell https://www.akc.org

Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray

Title: Becoming Madam Secretary
Author: Stephanie Dray
Publication: Berkley, hardcover, 2024
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: United States

Description: This fascinating historical novel about Frances Perkins, Franklin Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor, begins in 1933 when FDR asks her to join his Cabinet and she presents him with a list of ground-breaking goals she would need him to support – get rid of child labor laws, limit working hours, create a minimum wage . . .  .

Spell the Month in Books - June

Spell the Month in Books is hosted by Reviews From the Stacks and occurs on or near the second Saturday of each month:

20 Books of Summer 2024

This is my third time participating in the 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge, which is hosted by Cathy at 746 Books from June 1 to September 1, and gives me a fun opportunity to prioritize some books for summer and not simply read my library reserves as they come in.  This is a week late but I was busy trying to organize the world, or at least, my particular corner of it (middling success so far). I have enjoyed Cathy’s challenge twice before although last year I just read 11/20.  I added one of those unread books to my list.