I read 12 books in September and October. I enjoyed all of them. Seven of the books were mysteries; five were in other genres.
Humor / Cartoon Collection
A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection (2020) by Harry Bliss and Steve Martin
In this book, Steve Martin partnered with the cartoonist Harry Bliss to create a collection of cartoons and comic strips. Steve provided caption and cartoon ideas, and Harry created the artwork. It was a fun read.
Fiction
My Ántonia (1918) by Willa Cather
The story, which is narrated by Jim Burden, focuses primarily on Ántonia Shimerda, the daughter of Bohemian immigrant parents who have settled on a farm on the Nebraska prairies. Jim and Ántonia were both children when they arrived in Nebraska, on the same train. See my review here.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012) by Maria Semple
Bernadette Fox and Elgin Branch have promised their daughter a trip to Antarctica if she makes excellent grades. She succeeds, but unfortunately Bernadette get so mired down in the preparations that everything falls to pieces in their already precarious marriage. This is a real mishmash of a book, and there were many times that I was totally lost. Fortunately, it was worth the effort getting to the end. Bee Branch, their daughter, was my favorite character. The story is told partially through emails and documents.
Orbital (2023) by Samantha Harvey
Although I did have a few nitpicks when reading this book, I loved it. I was very pleased and surprised when it won the Booker Prize. It depicts one day in the life of six astronauts on the space station, watching the sunrises and sunsets and monitoring a typhoon threatening inhabited islands. The reader is privy to their thoughts, and watches their activities and their regimen. It is short, about 200 pages, and very meditative. It inspired me to read more about the space station, and I wish it had been longer.
Fiction / Short Stories
Ladies' Lunch: and Other Stories (2017) by Lore Segal
This book of short stories was published by Lore Segal in 2023 on her 95th birthday. Ten of the sixteen stories in the book are about a group of older women, now in their 90s, who have been meeting for lunch for thirty years or more. See my review here.
Crime Fiction
The White Lioness (1993) by Henning Mankell
This is the third book in the acclaimed Kurt Wallander series. Henning Mankell is a Swedish author. This book is set mostly in Sweden but there are also sections of the book set in South Africa. See my review here.
Silent Voices (2011) by Ann Cleeves
This is the fourth book in the Vera Stanhope series. DI Vera Stanhope is relaxing in the spa of a health club, after swimming laps in the pool. I know this doesn't sound like Vera at all but her doctor has strongly recommended some exercise, and this is what she can manage. She discovers the dead body of a woman in the spa with her. This series has great characters; I like Vera's relationship with Sergeant Joe Ashworth, her 2nd in command, and the way she works with her team of investigators. The setting is very nice too.
The Mayors of New York (2023) by S.J. Rozan
I am a big fan of Rozan's Lydia Chin and Bill Smith series, totaling 15 books; this is the newest one. The first book was published in 1994. I started reading the books in 2008; since then I have read all the books in the series. See my review here.
Winter Work (2022) by Dan Fesperman
I regret not having the time to review Winter Work. This is the third book to feature Claire Saylor, an agent for the CIA. Safe Houses was the first book in the series, set in 1979 (Berlin)and 2014 (US), and it was fantastic. The second book, The Cover Wife is set in 1999. This book goes back to 1990; it is set in Berlin after the fall of Berlin Wall. The trilogy features strong female characters and intelligent plots.
The Hamlet Trap (1987) by Kate Wilhelm
Kate Wilhelm, who wrote both science fiction and mysteries, published her first novels in the 1960s and published her last novel in 2017. She was married to Damon Knight, a well-known science fiction author. This book is the first one in the Constance Leidl and Charlie Meiklejohn mystery series. The story is set in Ashland, Oregon and the story revolves around preparation for a play to be performed there, and the people involved in creating it, the author, director, set designers, etc. The story is excellent, very complex, with lots of characters. I have two more books in the series to read.
Then We Take Berlin (2013) by John Lawton
This is the first book in the Joe Wilderness series. Wilderness's real name is John Holderness; he is sometimes an agent for MI6 and sometimes a con-man and thief. I learned a lot about Berlin during the time immediately following World War II, when the city was divided up into four sectors. It was a good, although very confusing, story up until the end, which was a cliffhanger. I will be reading book 2 in the series.
Big Sky (2019) by Kate Atkinson
This is the 5th book in the Jackson Brodie series. Reading mysteries by Atkinson can be confounding. They just seem to meander along and several unrelated threads come together to resolve themselves. Nevertheless, I love them. The fourth books in the series, Started Early, Took My Dog, was published in 2010, and I read it in 2011. Big Sky did not come out until 2019, and I just read it this year, so after 14 years I had forgotten a lot about the series. But I settled into Atkinson's quirky approach very easily, and was certain that I would be satisfied with the experience and the ending. It was a wonderful book full of eccentric characters and I have bought the 6th book, Death at the Sign of the Rook, to read sometime in 2025.
Currently reading
The three photos at the beginning and end of this post are ones my husband took while we were walking around in downtown Santa Barbara. The ones directly above are from a bridal shop in 2014. The top photo was taken in 2010. Click on the images for best viewing quality.
14 comments:
You had some good reads, Tracy. I like Atkinson's, Cleeves', Mankell's and McDermid's work very much. That comedy book looks like fun, too. And those photographs are beautiful! Oh, and I haven't read My Antonia in such a long time. Thanks for reminding me of it.
You read quite a bit over the past two months, Tracy, and a good variety, too. Orbital sounds wonderful and I've just added it to my wish list at Libby. The comedy book with Steve Martin looks fun, as well.
Looking back, Margot, I am surprised I that I had so many good reads over those two months. Of course, with regards to the mysteries, I had read all of the authors before, except for Kate Wilhelm.
Kelly, I am glad you are going to give Orbital a try. It is a different type of novel but very successful for me. I like Harry Bliss's cartoon in the paper and his illustrations of dogs and cats are very good.
You did indeed have some good reads, Tracy. The only one I've read is the 'Vera' book and I really remember liking that one. I have her newest on my kindle and am thinking perhaps of doing a reread of the whole series in 2025. We'll see. Lovely pictures!
Kay, as usual, as soon as I finished the Vera book I wanted to read the next one. I like the Shetland series too and want to try the series she wrote earlier set in a birdwatching community (George and Molly Palmer-Jones).
You have read some really good books and for me I have to get to Anne Cleeves' Vera Stanhope series. I have heard such good things. I also need to check out Ladies Lunch. I like the pictures from the bridal shop and I hope you and your family have a very good Thanksgiving
I'm intrigued by the Dan Fesperman books! And happily, my library has all of them. I'm adding him to my list of books and authors I want to read next year. :D
Interesting bridal photos. I heard Fesperman's book Safe Houses was great and now he's written two others and I still haven't gotten to the first one. But I will put it on my list for 2025. The Val McDermid book also looks good. You had a couple good reading months. Much to grab one here.
Kathy, looking back, it was two great months of reading. So far I am enjoying the Vera Stanhope series a lot.
We have a simple meal for Thanksgiving, and watch movies in the afternoon and evening. Same thing for Christmas, although my husband makes his yummy Christmas spaghetti. I hope your Thanksgiving is good too.
Lark, I have read several books by Dan Fesperman and I like his writing in all of them. The Claire Sayers series is outstanding, and I like the way he depicts the challenges that female agents had to deal with (and probably still do).
Susan, Glen took those photos so long ago I don't remember them, but I was really taken with them when I saw them again.
I hope you enjoy Safe Houses. It is my favorite book in the trilogy, but I loved them all. I am enjoying A Darker Domain by McDermid very much. It is rare that I have no quibbles with a book but I am close to done with it and I like every thing about it. It does go back and forth from 20 years earlier to the present time (when written) but that works fine here.
You know, I could've sworn I'd left a comment here on this post but there isn't one to be seen so obviously I didn't. Old age sending me a bit doolally! I didn't realise Orbital was such an interesting sci-fi novel. I tend not to take a lot of notice of Booker Prize books as, being mainly a genre reader, I tend to think they'll be too literary for me and not of much interest. Did you find it very readable?
That happens to me too, Cath. I get distracted very easily while on the computer.
Orbital worked very well for me, I found it very readable. I love regular science fiction but this was more a look at how the astronauts might experience the space station. Opinions were very divided, but it is pretty short. I was surprised that it won the Booker, and pleased.
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