Another month where every book was a very good read. I finished seven books in July. Two were short story books; that is unusual. Four were crime fiction, including one espionage thriller. And one science fiction story in a military setting. At the end of July I had only read 12 books for my 20 Books of Summer list. It is now mid-August (unbelievable!) and I have only read two more. So I don't think I will finish all 20 books for the challenge. We'll see.
Fiction
Five Tuesdays in Winter (2021) by Lily King
I started this book of short stories in December 2024. I read the first four stories and I liked them all; you can check out my thoughts on those stories here. In July, I read the remaining six stories in the book. Many of those stories are slice-of-life stories. I especially liked the characterizations; the stories were serious but ended on an upbeat note. Check here for my thoughts on the last six stories.
Olive, Again (2019) by Elizabeth Strout
Olive, Again is the follow-up book to Olive Kitteridge. It is a very good book but not an easy read. Olive is in her seventies in this book. She is widowed and has a tenuous, troubled relationship with her son and his family. This is described as a novel composed of interrelated short stories. Only seven of the thirteen stories are directly about Olive and her life in Crosby, Maine. The other stories take place in the same area or nearby but Olive is not the main focus. See my thoughts here.
Science Fiction
Ninefox Gambit (2016) by Yoon Ha Lee
Ninefox Gambit is a military science fiction/science fantasy/space opera novel. I did not know a lot about the book going in, although I assumed it was a space opera because of the cover illustration. The world building was very complex and confusing for me, but the writing was very good and pulled me into the story. I loved the ending. See my thoughts here.
Crime Fiction
At Bertram's Hotel (1965) by Agatha Christie
This is a Miss Marple mystery with a huge cast; the plot can be confusing, but it is an entertaining story set at a lovely hotel. Chief Inspector Fred Davy is a Scotland Yard detective who does most of the detecting. See my thoughts here.
The Amateur (1981) by Robert Littell
Charlie Heller is a cryptographer for the CIA. When his fiancée, Sarah Diamond, is murdered by terrorists at the American Embassy in West Germany, the CIA decides not to pursue her killers. Heller is determined to find them and kill them himself. So this is a revenge thriller. Heller has none of the necessary skills, but he forces the CIA to train him. Nothing in this book is predictable; the story was compelling and I enjoyed it very much.
The novel has an interesting history; the story was first written by Littell as a screenplay, and was made into a Canadian film released in 1981. Shortly after that, the novel was written based on the screenplay. Recently another film adaptation was released starring Ramie Malek.
The Murder of Mr. Ma (2024) by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan
Reading this book was a no-brainer for me. I will try anything written by S.J. Rozan. I was a bit uncertain about a book that she co-authored but still, it seemed like a safe bet.
The two protagonists of the book are fictionalized versions of Judge Dee Ren Zie and Lao She, a Chinese academic and author. I have never read any of Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee mysteries, but my husband has. The story focuses on their investigation into the deaths of Chinese immigrants in 1924 London.
I was very happy with this book. It felt like an adventure story as much as a mystery, and was a lot of fun to read. John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan have come together in a great writing partnership and you can read about that at CrimeReads and Mystery Fanfare. The second book in the series is already out and I will be reading it.
A Death in Tokyo (2011) by Keigo Higashino, translated by Giles Murray
This is the third book in the Tokyo Police Detective Kaga series to be translated to English from Japanese. I have read the two previous books that are available in English, and they all work well as standalones. Detective Kaga is not part of the homicide division, but he often works with the homicide detectives when the case in in his district. He works in an intuitive way, and follows up painstakingly on every detail. In this case a prominent business man has been murdered; he is found at the base of a statue on a bridge, but that is not where the murder took place. His wife and two teenage children don't know why he was in that area of town. It is a very complex case, and has an interesting and complex resolution.
The photos at the top and bottom of this post were taken by my husband at the garden center during our last visit. We enjoy both buying plants and supplies and viewing the variety of plants and pots and decorations on display. Click on the images for best viewing quality.
17 comments:
I have The Murder of Mr. Ma but haven't read it yet.
The Higashino interests me the most. A lot of time has passed since I last read him.
Anonymous = NancyElin Tracy, for the first time in many years I stopped reading for 6 weeks blogpost dd. 03.08.2025. I traveled being a "tourist" in my own country. It was a wonderful break from blogging and reviewing and I've come back energised! That is very lucky to read so many books in July and there wasn't a "lemon" among them. I'll have to look at that SF military book. It is a subgenre from SF that I never heard of!
First of all, Tracy, I love those photos. The flowers are beautiful. As for the books, I've read a bit of the Judge Dee series, so the S.J. Rozan interests me. And I do like her writing a lot. I also really like HIgashino, but for some reason, haven't read A Death in Tokyo. Not sure why, but I need to do that.
I like the three frogs!
You had a good reading month in July. I somehow missed your review of Ninefox Gambit so I went and checked it out. Sounds like an interesting read so I'll give it some thought, I like a good space opera yarn but it does sound like it's challenging.
Given the popularity of Japanese lit at the moment, it's surprising I haven't read any of it. I need to do something about that.
I did a personal list of 14 books I wanted to read this summer and have read 9. And I have a couple more weeks so we'll see if I read any more. I've already started a similar, shorter, list for autumn.
It was a good reading month for you. I love the photos and think you need one of those cute Zen frogs for your own garden. That flower at the bottom is beautiful.
I enjoyed The Murder of Mr. Ma very much, Ryan, and it was very different from anything else I have read by Rozan. The story had a lot of energy.
Neeru, I haven't read a book by Higashino that I did not like. I have read all but two of his mysteries that have been published in English.
Nancy, I checked out your post and that does sound like a great break from blogging.
July was very good reading, I was lucky to find that I enjoyed all of them. I have only read two books in August so far. One of them was nonfiction.
Margot, I am glad you liked the photos. I did not know what to expect with the new series from John Shen Yen Nee and SJ Rozan, and it surpassed my expectations.
Is that a lantana flower at the bottom? So pretty. The monarch butterflies are loving those flowers here right now while I'm at the beach in SoCal. You had a good reading month and I still think 12 books finished on your Summer List is good. I'm about at 12 as well trying to finish 15 on my List. But don't think I'll make it. Still got to most of them. Good luck
Cath, the three frogs are very cute. I did not even see them when we were at the plant nursery.
I first got interested in Japanese books, especially mysteries, because Glen liked them. Which gave me a good selection to choose from. I am currently reading a Japanese time travel fantasy book, a book that has four novellas about a coffee shop where people can experience time travel. It is Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, #3 in a series.
Since I have been concentrating on a set of book for Summer, I was looking forward to less structure in my reading for the fall, but I already have listed a lot of books I want to finish by the end of the year.
Kelly, I agree, I would love to have one of those frogs for myself. I hope they still have them when I go back again. I like the flower at the bottom too and I cannot figure out what it is.
Susan, I don't think the flower at the bottom is lantana. I have lantana in the front and the flowers do have a resemblance but not the same center, although of course it could just be a variety I am not familiar with. I thought it might be verbena but I am not familiar enough with that plant either.
I would like to try lantana in our back area but half the year it gets no sun and I think lantana needs sun.
Twelve books on the summer list is good, and my reading has been much slower lately. I was also slowed down by a nonfiction book about crime fiction novels and films, which was very good but academic and harder to digest.
Such a fun mix of books! There are several here that I wouldn't mind reading.
Lark, it did feel like quite a variety of books, even though 4 of the 7 were mysteries. But each was quite different.
Susan, I finally did identify the flower at the bottom of the post. I knew Google could find it but it took me a while to find that functionality.
It is Yarrow (or achillea millefolium) and a few years back I actually planted some in my back fenced in area. But mine were yellow. They are perennial but mine did not behave that way. I think they needed more sun.
Post a Comment