Bookshelf Traveling - November 21

Time for another round of Bookshelf Traveling in Insane Times which was created by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness and is currently hosted by Katrina at Pining for the West. 

This is another bookshelf from my living room.  On the left are several books by Jodi Picoult. For those who have not read her, she writes contemporary fiction with themes that seem torn from current headlines: suicide pacts, school shootings, manipulative talk show hosts.  Most readers either love them or hate them; I am more in the middle as I used to enjoy them a lot but now find some are very readable and some are just tedious. 

Back before she was a bestselling author, I picked up one of her books my then company had published – I think it was Picture Perfect, which is about domestic abuse.  I found it extremely readable but very disturbing.  Books on this topic are not uncommon now but I think this one was the first I had read (I seem to recall And the Ladies of the Club includes this theme too but I don’t recall exactly when I read that).  Publishers sometimes give up on an author they can’t break even on, and it took Picoult several publishers and quite a few books before she became a bestseller with My Sister’s Keeper.  Two of these are autographed so I can’t discard them, can I? But I might need space on this shelf!  

Five Things

One of my favorite mystery authors is Julia Spencer-Fleming, who writes about an Episcopalian minister/former helicopter pilot in small-town Millers Kill, NY.  My mother and I met her a couple years ago at a Brookline Library event, which was really fun.   Spencer-Fleming is doing a virtual Mystery Night event on Wednesday, 9/16 at the Maynard Library with Paula Munier (whose books I recently discovered but which made my Best of 2019 List), also Archer Mayor, and Sarah Stewart Taylor.  You can register here.  

What to Read During a Pandemic

While some people are compiling recommendations of dystopian angst or Stephen King-like disaster, my rules are different. The book can’t be depressing (of course, depressing is in the eye of the beholder), it has to be worth reading more than once, and it needs to be available as an eBook or from Project Gutenberg.  It would be diabolical to make you long for something you cannot get quickly and I am rarely so cruel!  Also, remember that your library owns many eBooks and may be willing to purchase more.  Download Libby, if you haven't already!

Fiction

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson: Major Ernest Pettigrew is perfectly content to lead a quiet life in the sleepy village of Edgecombe St Mary, away from the meddling of the locals and his overbearing son.  Then an unexpected friendship between the crusty, retired military officer and Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village, scandalizes everyone.

The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman: Natalie’s family is stunned when the Vermont resort they want to visit answers their inquiry, “Our guests who feel most comfortable here, and return year after year, are Gentiles."  She is determined to go anyway and it becomes a mission.

Books I'm looking forward to in 2020

Historical Fiction

The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel                                March 2020

This is the final novel in Mantel’s trilogy of historical novels about the life of Thomas Cromwell, and will cover the final four years of Cromwell’s life, starting with Anne Boleyn’s execution in 1536, and (spoiler!) moving to his own execution for treason and heresy in 1540.  And she'll be in Boston on March 20th!  Unfortunately, I know from a family member that she is quite unpleasant.

The Land Beyond the Sea by Sharon Kay Penman                 March 2020

From the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Sharon Kay Penman comes the story of the reign of King Baldwin IV and the Kingdom of Jerusalem’s defense against Saladin’s famous army.  I have been a huge Penman fan since the summer I spent in DC, poor and only allowed to check out two books at a time by the library.  I bought The Sun in Splendor for $1 on the street and, entranced, made it last an entire week.  

Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Title: Through the Evil Days 
Author:  Julia Spencer-Fleming

Publication: St. Martin’s/Minotaur, hardcover, 2013

Genre: Mystery

Plot: In the tense and emotional eighth book of the series, Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne and Reverend Clare Fergusson are finally married but their lives remain professionally and personally complicated.  Clare is pregnant (as we learned at the very end of the last book), Russ is unhappy about becoming a parent at what he considered his advanced age, and a fire and related kidnapping threatens to derail their postponed honeymoon.  In the meantime, Hadley Knox, a relatively recent addition to the Millers Kill police force, is somewhat regretting having blown off coworker Kevin Flynn merely because he’s younger and she is getting over a bad divorce (soon she will have real problems!).   When Russ and Clare finally leave town for a week to “enjoy” an isolated cottage convenient to ice fishing (my idea of hell), they find the criminals are hiding out nearby.  Marooned by bad weather, Russ and Clare are caught between old rivalries and new enemies.

My Impressions: Despite the fact that Julia Spencer-Fleming is one of my favorite authors, I somehow had been saving this so long for a special occasion that I hadn’t read even read it! (I suspect my mother borrowed it and did not return it promptly but it is nice that she and my sisters and I all like this author so much.)  I reread One Was a Soldier to get in the mood – that is really exceptionally well done with flashbacks that advance the plot instead of exasperating the reader (a pet peeve) and vivid characters.   While I enjoyed this one, I had a hard time following the plot and need to reread it to fully grasp what was going on.  Russ is a pain for most of the book but I especially like Hadley and Kevin and was hoping things would work out for them: great cliffhanger ending!

One advantage of waiting this long to read Through the Evil Days is that her new book, Hid from Our Eyes, is coming out in April!   I had missed the sad news that Ms. Spencer-Fleming lost her husband in 2017; I am sure that getting back to writing after such a loss is much harder than simply going back to an office, so I am glad she was able to finish a new book and I hope it was a good distraction for her.

This is the tenth of twelve books that are part of my 2019 TBR Challenge, inspired by Adam at Roof Beam Reader, to prioritize some of my unread piles.  Two more to read by the end of the year!

Off the Blog: Merry Impeachmas!

Source: I highly recommend this series but do suggest you begin at the beginning with In the Bleak Midwinter.  My mother and I enjoyed meeting Julia Spencer-Fleming at the Brookline Library several years ago and I thus own an autographed hardcover.  She told us her daughter was studying for an MLIS at Simmons, making a tough commute down from Maine.  My mother, a (retired) librarian, sympathized as she commuted to URI while earning her library degree.  

Favorite Reads of 2011

How could I have forgotten a year as good as 2011?  I suspect it was a good reading year but an exhausting lawyer year which must be why I never posted this list, now recreated:

Suspense

One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Long Time Coming by Robert Goddard

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King (recommended by my mother and subsequently enjoyed by my book group)

Case Histories (Jackson Brodie #1) by Kate Atkinson (had started this unsuccessfully previously but was captivated by the audio)

Fiction

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (entertaining, and was another book group read, but Count Them One By One remains my favorite book about Mississippi - and is dedicated to me)

Historical Fiction

An Accomplished Woman by Jude Morgan

Nonfiction

Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden

YA

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahen

Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Picture Book

How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills

Best Rereads

Emily and the Dark Angel by Jo Beverley (sadly deceased in 2016)

Pauline by Margaret Storey

The 2019 TBR Challenge

Like many avid readers, I often find myself waiting eagerly for new pubs or library books to come in, despite piles of books waiting to be read at home that I already own. But the only time I tried to deal with this was during my last year of law school when I knew I would be moving back to Boston, so I tried to read only books already in my possession with the objective of reducing the quantity I’d have to pack.  It worked to some extent because once I have read a book I usually decide whether to keep it or donate it (sadly, I still had to donate hundreds in 2006 that I hadn't had time to read).   However, lately I realized I am missing out on some great books I already own as well as purchasing more books than I have space for (this only stops me when I am traveling with already heavy luggage).  Yesterday, when tidying up for a visiting puppy, I was newly aware of my (otherwise delightful) piles.  

When I read about Roof Beam Reader’s 2019 TBR Pile Challenge, where the goal is to read at least 12 books that have been on my “to be read” list for at least a year (thus published before 2018), I decided to join in:

2019 TBR Pile Challenge

1.     Avalon by Anya Seton (1965) - reviewed 10/27/19

2.     Niccolo Rising by Dorothy Dunnett (1986) - reviewed 8/28/25

3.     The Crystal Snowstorm by Meriol Trevor (1997) - reviewed 8/26/19

4.     Set in Stone by Robert Goddard (1999) - reviewed 8/13/19

5.     Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum (2004) - reviewed 9/11/19

6.     Patriot Hearts by Barbara Hambry (2010) - reviewed 2/23/19

7.     The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin (2010) - reviewed 12/12/19

8.     Sisters of Fortune by Jehane Wake (2010)

9.     Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (2013) - reviewed 8/3/19

10.  Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming (2013) - reviewed 12/19/19

11.  A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner (2014) - reviewed 7/27/19

12.  The Travelers by Chris Pavone (2016) - reviewed 7/11/19

Alternates

13.  If You Go Away by Adele Parks (2015)

14.  The Gates of Bannerdale by Geoffrey Trease (1956)

Some of my TBR came from this windowsill pile.  Sometimes
it overbalances and comes crashing down.

For my Boston friends interested in finding a good home for their "read" books, I recommend donating to More Than Words, a youth development program that trains at risk young people to work in their two bookstores.


Girl Reading borrowed from this site: https://tinyurl.com/ycxv52lq

What to Read in a Blizzard or During the Long Winter

My part of Boston got about ten inches of snow yesterday so it's the perfect time to recommend some winter favorites!  These are books that would make you feel the cold even if it were a warm July day.

Children's:

Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik (illustrated by Maurice Sendak) - This is one of the first books I remember, and I can hear my mother's voice reading to me:  It is cold.  See the snow. See the snow come down.  Little Bear said, "Mother Bear, I am cold. See the snow.  I want something to put on."

Snowbound with Betsy by Carolyn Haywood - Several years before I encountered Betsy Ray, I had met this other Betsy, an outgoing girl with pigtails and (later in the series) a little sister named Star.  I read every book by Haywood several times and even named my Teddy Bear after a minor character.  In this book, a storm cancels school the week before Christmas and some travelers are stranded at Betsy's home.   

Winter Cottage by Carol Ryrie Brink - A father and two daughters, down on their luck, appropriate a Wisconsin summer cottage when their car breaks down.  The father tries to repair their fortunes by entering contests while teenage Minty yearns for a permanent home.  Along with Two are Better Than One, this is my favorite Brink.

Reading Group Guides

I enjoyed this essay on the Reading Group guides found at the end of the book from last week's NYTBR.

It reminded me of many discussions about said guides over the years, particularly at Avon. Back then, I was the only one in a book group, and I remember explaining to the publisher (an individual with decided ideas and little tolerance for those of others unless they were rock stars he had admired growing up) that whether or not people actually use the guides, they are influenced by their presence when selecting books for their groups. He did not want to copy Ballantine's concept - perhaps admirable but shortsighted. It was not long before everyone was doing it.

I think if the publisher is really trying to grow the author it is likely they will pay for someone to create the questions (which, as seen in the article, may be incredibly obvious or absurd but may be thought provoking) so I was surprised to see that for a while author Julia Spencer-Fleming was somewhat plaintively asking readers on her website if they'd be willing to create one for her! It seemed odd to me that St. Martin's wasn't willing to organize this, and failing that, why couldn't she do it herself? I am a huge fan of her books, and even got distracted while studying for the bar exam when someone at B&N thoughtfully gave me one that was hot off the press. Knowing that JSP is a lawyer herself, I sent her an amusing letter thanking her for giving me a few hours of pleasure during a miserable three months; however, she did not reply, simply added me to her mailing list! Oh well, I am still a fan, and eagerly awaiting I Shall Not Want, coming in June, although I recommend that new readers begin with In the Bleak Midwinter.

Happy Third Birthday to my godson, Nicholas!