There is one advantage to looking back on my August reading six weeks later. I was very glad to see that most of the crime fiction I read was from older books, published between 1925 and 1978.
Here are the books I read in August...
Nonfiction / Letters
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters (2007) by Charlotte Mosley (Editor)
I enjoyed reading this very much, even though it was 800 plus pages long and took me over a year to finish. In some ways it was like a social history of the UK, covering the effects that different times had on the Mitford sisters. Most of the letters seem to have been between Deborah, Diana, and Nancy, but Deborah also kept in touch with Jessica, who moved to the US, became a US citizen, and lived a very different life from her sisters. Although each letter was clearly identified as to who was writing and who was the recipient, plus date written and location of the letter writer, they were not an easy read because the sisters always used nicknames when writing to and referring to the others. I would only recommend this to those who are very interested in the Mitford family; the letters allow the reader to see a different side of them that doesn't come through in the biographies.
Science Fiction / Time Travel
A Symphony of Echoes (2013) by Jodi Taylor
This is the second book in a time-travel series. The main protagonists are historians or technical people who provide support for the historians. They all work for St. Mary’s Institute of Historical Research. This book was a very fast-paced adventure. It strains one's ability to suspend disbelief at times, but it moves so fast that you hardly notice. The characters are engaging but there are a lot of them to keep track of. The story is a combination of hopping around in history, and the adventures that come along with that, and a good bit of humor and some romance.
Crime Fiction
Birdcage (1978) by Victor Canning
This is the fifth book in a very loose series about the Birdcage group, a covert British intelligence agency. I love this series, even though the books are often very dark. See my review.
The Madonna of the Sleeping Cars (1925) by Maurice Dekobra
This is a fun and sometimes entertaining espionage story from 1925, but it did not work well for me. It seemed much more like an adventure story with some political intrigue. See my review.
A Great Reckoning (2016) by Louise Penny
This book is the 12th in the Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny. I enjoyed it immensely. See my review.
The Lady in the Lake (1943) by Raymond Chandler
This is the 4th book in the Philip Marlowe series. My favorite thing about reading Chandler's books is his beautiful prose. See my review.
Curtains for Three (1950) by Rex Stout
This book in the Nero Wolfe series consists of three novellas: "Disguise for Murder", "Bullet for One", and "The Gun with Wings". See posts on these here and here.
The Case of the Late Pig (1937) by Margery Allingham
This is the 8th book in the Albert Campion series. It is unusual for this series because it is told in 1st person narration by Campion. It is very short at 148 pages and I got confused with all the characters at times, but I enjoyed it still. Allingham is one of my favorite Golden Age authors; I put her at the same level as Agatha Christie although their writing style is entirely different.
Currently reading
I am now reading Then We Take Berlin by John Lawton, published in 2013. This is the first book in the Joe Wilderness series. I think others in the series are set in the 1960s, but so far this book has focused on Berlin and other parts of Germany at the time World War II ended.
The three photos at the top and bottom of this post are from years ago (2011 and 2012) when we visited the Santa Barbara Zoo, the grounds of the Natural History Museum, and Rocky Nook Park. Click on the images for best viewing quality.
20 comments:
Those are great pictures, Tracy; thanks for sharing them. It's interesting how reading can almost go through phases, where a person reads more older crime fiction, then more recent crime fiction, etc.. I've done the same thing. I'm glad one of the books you read was a Lawton; I need to read his work, and it keeps not getting on the list *sigh*.
The Mitford Sisters are so fascinating and I must read one of the group biographies about them. Their lives and the different and in some cases disastrous choices they made are a window into the first half of the 20th century.
Margot, My reading has definitely changed over the last two years. Still love mysteries of course, but I am trying other genres more and more contemporary fiction.
I think you would like Lawton's books. Most of his books have some element of espionage, but it does not always dominate. And he does well with developing characters and historical settings.
Kathy, I am also fascinated with the Mitford sisters.I have read two biographies, and I like the one by Mary S. Lovell the best. The other one I read concentrated on Diana, Unity, and Jessica. Lovell's gives a good amount of time to the other sisters: Deborah (my favorite), Jessica, and Pamela.
I want to find more to read, either another book by Deborah Mitford, or maybe something by Jessica.
What a great reading month. I am very lucky to have read three or four books in a month. Too much time on the Internet, no doubt.
Very nice pictures! The only one of the books you read that I've also read is the Louise Penny book. Glad it worked well for you. I also keep meaning to read older books, but then new ones will insist on coming out - ha!!
That Mitford sisters book interests me of course although I have already read quite a lot of Deborah's correspondence with various people. I have one with Nancy writing to someone too but I've forgotten who now. LOL! Deborah is my favourite but I do find myself fascinated by the shenanigans of Unity and Diana in pre-war Germany. I thought the Lovell book dealt with that brilliantly.
Patti, it was a good reading month. All of the books were good, most were exceptional. I spend too much time on the internet also, sometimes it just pulls me down rabbit holes. But you go out to movies and plays and do lots of extracurricular activities.
Kay, it is nice to hear from you. I know what you mean about the newer books coming out all the time. I am trying to balance old and new but some recent months it has been mostly newish books.
Lovely photos! I might have to check out that science fiction, though I hate it when there are too many characters to keep track of!
I've been thinking about that Jodi Taylor series - I am glad to know you are enjoying it.
But I am more likely to try the Birdcage books. I don't remember your mentioning those before but I must have missed it.
Cath, All sections were not equally interesting in the book of Mitford sisters letters, but I am so glad I read it. The early sections were sparse and the later sections were sad when only Deborah and Diana were left. Diana's letters were very interesting.
I am interested in a book titled The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh (also edited by Charlotte Mosley). I think it would be very interesting. Thanks for reminding me of that one.
Thanks, Kelly. A Symphony of Echoes has a list of characters, arranged by department in the Institute, and it is useful. But still I got confused with all the names. But I enjoy the series and will continue reading it. There are some short story books in the series, too.
Constance, I think I usually label the series as the Birdcage books, but the plots and the actual text in the earlier books usually don't even mention that designation for the group. It is usually called something nebulous like "a covert security group in the UK" or "the Department was an offshoot of the Ministry of Defence." So it is confusing. The plot of the novels is each very different and sometimes have a specific theme.
A Symphony of Echoes sounds like fun.
It was a fun read, Lark. Very good characters, especially the main ones. In my opinion, the series has to be read in order to get full enjoyment but I am sure there are those who don't worry about that.
Madonna of the Sleeping Cars has a wonderful cover.
I like that cover, too, Neer. It has a map on the back which I don't think matches up with what happens in the book, but still is very nice.
The Lawton novel looks good. Is it? I like historical fiction. And I imagine Berlin was dark chaos at the end of the war. Is it really a series?
Susan, I did enjoy the Lawton novel. Although it had a cliffhanger ending which was a disappointment. I will still read the next one, and soon I hope. It is a series of four books; the second is at least partially set in Berlin but the last two are in other locations. I do like the author's writing; I read all of the books in his first series, which is also historical fiction. That one was set around World War II, but was not in chronological order.
I got a copy of The Women by Kristen Hannah; I saw it at Costco and I decided that was sign that I needed to get a copy.
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