I read eleven books in June and that was many more books than I expected to read, considering that I had cataract surgery in the middle of the month. I ended up having more time to read and not much energy or motivation for anything else, including blogging. Nine of the books read in June were from my 20 Books of Summer list. Unfortunately I am very late in posting about my reading for June but I hope to catch up more in the next few weeks.
Graphic memoir
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (2003) by Marjane Satrapi; Mattias Ripa (Translator)
This graphic memoir tells the story of the author's life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, from the point when the Shah is overthrown through the war with Iraq. Reading about those times from the viewpoint of a child is interesting and entertaining. The story is continued in a second volume, and I will be reading that too.
Fiction
The Lonely Hearts Book Club (2023) by Lucy Gilmore
This story has a book club theme, and it also has romance, dysfunctional families, and lonely people making friends. See my thoughts here.
Redhead by the Side of the Road (2020) by Anne Tyler
Micah Mortimer is a creature of habit; he wants everyday to be the same. He has been with his girlfriend for three years. Two new events happen in his life that shake up his normal life. I liked the story a lot, the length was perfect at under 200 pages, and I want to read more of Anne Tyler's books.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2014) by Gabrielle Zevin
This book is centered around a bookstore and of course books are discussed throughout. This was a lovely story with a little bit of romance and a lot about relationships, friends, and community. See my review.
Fantasy, Time Travel
Tales from the Café (2017) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This is the second in a series of five books about time travel that takes place in a café in Tokyo which has been serving a special coffee for more than one hundred years. There are four connected stories in this book. The stories of the people who run the café are just as interesting as the time travel stories. The first book in the series is Before the Coffee Gets Cold.
Crime Fiction
Skeleton-in-Waiting (1989) by Peter Dickinson
Peter Dickinson is one of my favorite authors. I prefer his mysteries, but he also wrote children's books and fantasies. This is the second book in a duology, set in an alternate Britain with a very alternate royal family. The first book is King and Joker, and in that book the two main characters (Prince Albert and Princess Louise) are teenagers. This book takes place over ten years later and both Albert and Louise have married and have children. This was a reread, and this time around I was more impressed with the story and enjoyed it very much.
Nearly Nero (2017) by Loren D. Estleman
Between 2008 and 2016, Estleman wrote nine humorous short stories about Claudius Lyon, a man who is obsessed with emulating Nero Wolfe in all ways, and his assistant, Arnie Woodbine. Most of these stories were published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. This book includes all of the stories. I reviewed the stories here and here.
Family Business (2021) by S.J. Rozan
S.J. Rozan won the 2022 Shamus Award for this novel, her 14th book starring New York City private eyes Lydia Chin and Bill Smith. When the powerful Chinatown crime boss Big Brother Choi dies, he leaves the Tong headquarters building to his niece, Mel, who hires Lydia and Bill to accompany her to inspect it. They discover the body of another Tong member in Choi's living quarters. I will be reading the latest book in the series, The Mayors of New York, very soon.
In the Midst of Death (1976) by Lawrence Block
This is an early book in the Matthew Scudder series. Scudder is an ex-cop who works as an unlicensed private detective. In this case he is helping out an old friend on the police force who is accused of murdering a prostitute. I liked the book but it was very dark, especially the ending.
The Cipher Garden (2005) by Martin Edwards
The books in this series are set in Cumbria, England's Lake District, and feature Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Scarlett and historian Daniel Kind. DCI Scarlett heads the cold case division. Here, an old cold case involving the death of a gardener is reopened because of poison pen letters sent to the police and to people involved in the crime. I like the mystery plot but could do without the romantic subplot.
A Caribbean Mystery (1964) by Agatha Christie
This is the 9th book in Christie's Jane Marple series. It is not set in Miss Marple's village of St. Mary Mead and I missed that setting. On the other hand it has a nice depiction of a Caribbean island vacation spot and any Miss Marple story is going to be entertaining. Another elderly visitor to St. Honoré, Major Palgrave, has been monopolizing Miss Marple's time, telling stories of his adventures during his travels. At one point he tells her about a murderer he met, starts to show her a picture, then gets interrupted. Shortly after that Major Palgrave dies, seemingly of natural causes. We just watched the film adaptation starring Helen Hayes tonight, and saw another adaptation with Joan Hickson a couple of weeks ago. Both were good.
Currently reading
I have just started reading A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny, the 12th book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. The story begins with Gamache taking on a new job and the discovery of an old intricate map.
The subject of the photos at the top and bottom of this post is our cat, Rosie. At the top, Rosie is helping me read. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.
20 comments:
Great to hear your surgery has gone well. I know how it feels to get "new eyes" !! I could not stay on my reading schedule in July...too much polititcs on my mind! Glad you liked my #Election posts. I added a new one today! Now that the campaigns are progressing w/o too much drama this month...time to start reading again. I even read some French books b/c I could finally concentrate again. If you've been laying on the sofa (reading) this summer, rising only for more food or to go to bed, congratulations; you're an honorary cat! Shout out to Rosie!
I love posts like this and you have a great variety here! I've read collections edited by Martin Edwards, but don't think I've read any of his own fiction.
Rose is adorable, Tracy! Sorry to hear you needed surgery, but I hope it all went smoothly. As for your reading, I'm happy to see an S.J. Rozan in there; I like her work. I really like Lawrence Block's writing, too, and as far as I'm concerned, you can't go far wrong with Christie. You've got a real variety here!
I meant to also say I think Rosie is beautiful! We've always had dogs, but all my kids have kitties. I love them!
Nancy, it is good to have the eye surgeries behind me. I was stressed before and after and now I am feeling better emotionally, in addition to improved sight. I am glad to hear that you are able to read more in August. The political situation does seem less stressful now too.
Kelly, Martin Edward has written two other mystery series and I have read one book from each of those. His first series is set in Liverpool and the protagonish is a lawyer. The more recent series is a historical mystery (set in the 1930s in London) and the first book was very unusual. I want to read more from both of those series.
Rosie thanks you for the compliment. How lucky you are to have access to both dogs and cats.
Margot, Rosie is very cute. She is getting older, 14 years old now we think. I was glad to read books by both S.J. Rozan and Block in June. And hope to get to more by those authors soon.
Wow. That's a great stack of books you managed to get through in June. I've read several of them, and another couple of them are on my TBR. You chose from some of my favorite authors. Hope the new eyes will allow you to keep up the pace and that you are settling in with them now.
Sam, eleven books is a bit more than I want to read in a month. I cannot keep up the pace of reviewing them, and although I don't expect to review every book, half would be nice. Many of these books were short though, so that made a difference.
I did enjoy the Anne Tyler book and already have a few more on my shelves to read.
I am getting more used to the changes in my eyes, with less frustrations now. My vision is much better on the computer, and that was a big frustration pre-surgery.
Rosie is a good looking kitty and a good reading buddy it seems. You read quite a lot and a variety in June of various genres and new & old. All look quite appealing. I've read just the AJ Fikry novel. How are you doing now after the surgery? Now I see your answer above ... I'm glad things are getting better now. I know it was frustrating for a while. I have to get a second knee replacement (likely in Nov) ... so bracing for that again. Enjoy your August.
Hi Tracy, I hope you are feeling better after your surgery. I love the pictures of Rosie and congratulations for reading 11 books in a month!
I have to get back to Matthew Scudder and Lawrence Block. I was reading the series in order and then book 6 I didn't care for so never went on to book 7 but maybe I need to begin reading the series out of order. But I agree Block is a great writer but his books are dark.
Susan, Rosie sits with me while I read nearly every night. Sometimes she just sits, sometimes she wants a lot of petting.
Reading books is much better now, and so is working on the computer, but I now have problems with situations where I going back and forth between distance vision and near vision, like preparing food or eating, etc. I am planning to get progressive lenses with clear tops for that.
Sorry to hear that you will be going through another knee replacement. It is good that you weathered the first one and know what to expect.
Kathy, I owe it to you that I have returned to reading the Matthew Scudder series, since I saw it mentioned on your blog that you liked the series. I read the first book in the series back in 2011 and I did not read the second one until last year. My goal is to read as many books in the series as I can.
Well done on so many books read for June! A nice variety too. Pleased to hear your 'new eyes' are making things easier for you. I need to bite the bullet and get mine looked at. 'But' I did get my ears done last week and can now hear better so 'progress' is being made. One thing at a time. LOL
Cath, it was good to read so many good, and shortish, books in June.
I am glad to get the cataract surgeries behind me. I kept putting it off but the results are worth it. Glen and I both have problems with hearing (in my opinion) and we should have that checked out.
My family has had a couple who have made it to 18 and 20yo, so we can hope Rosie had a long life ahead of her. (My ex's family had a charming dog and several rabbits, so when they were on vacation as a family one summer, I took care of our cats and their group...happily I could drive down to the family house to do so...the cats wouldn't approve of the crowding otherwise. The dog very much enjoyed letting the rabbits chase him around the yard.)
And further congratulations on the success of the cataract surgery! Am trying (not hard enough) to summon the energy to get a variety of things done, myself. Reading and typing is easier.
Todd, we do hope Rosie lives many more years. She does take thyroid medication but she is keeping her weight up. I have often wondered how rabbits and other animals coexist as pets.
I agree, reading and typing is much easier than dealing with health stuff.
I really liked the Anne Tyler book, and really all of them I have read.
Rosie is adorable.
So happy that your operation went so well.
Nan, I did enjoy Redhead by the Side of the Road and I have these books on my shelves: A Spool of Blue Thread, Clock Dance, and A Patchwork Planet. And I will be looking for more at the book sale in September.
Rosie is cute and sweet. I am grateful that my cataract surgeries went well. Glen has had so many eye problems over the last 25 years that I am very anxious about my eyes.
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