Short Story Wednesday: Books from the Book Sale

 

Since I already own so many short story collections and anthologies, not to mention all my husband's short story books, I always plan to avoid those books at the Planned Parenthood book sale. This weekend, on the second day I visited, I got stuck in front of the table of short story collections and bought a lot more of them than I should have.

Below are three of my new short story books. None of them are very long, which is a good thing. 

Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan

Claire Keegan is an Irish writer who has gotten a lot of attention (and awards) for her novels and short story books in the last few years. I have some of her books in eBook format, but have not yet read any of them. So I picked up a paperback edition of her second book of short stories. From the back of the book: "Walk the Blue Fields is an unforgettable array of quietly wrenching stories about despair and desire in modern-day Ireland."

166 pages, 7 stories.

Seasonal Work by Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman is a well-known American mystery author and journalist; she worked for the Baltimore Sun for many years. In 2003, she published the first book in the Tess Monaghan series. Monaghan is a private investigator, based in Baltimore. Lippman has also written a good number of standalone mysteries. I have read two mysteries in the Monaghan series, but none of the standalone books, which I have always thought were about subjects too tense for me. The short stories in this book were written between 2009 and 2020, and Tess Monaghan is in some of them but not all of them, I think. 

322 pages, 11 stories.

The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr

I have read nothing by American author Anthony Doerr. He is the author of All the Light We Cannot See, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and Cloud Cuckoo Land. I was interested in this book of short stories because I thought reading them might get me interested in his novels.

218 pages, 8 stories.

Books Read in June and July 2026

 

I read a lot of good books in June and July. For various reasons I only read 3 books in June, and I was grateful that I was able to finish 6 books in July.  Since we are now in September, I can report that I did not even come close to finishing my list of books for the 20 Books of Summer event. In June, July, and August I read a total of 14 books. Two were not on my 20 Books list. So I am continuing to read books from that list through September and October, interspersed with other books.

Here are the nine books I read in June and July...

Fiction

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk (2017) by Kathleen Rooney

Lillian Boxfish is 85 years old and decides to take a long walk in New York City on New Year's Eve, 1984. That is very impressive to me, but for her it was easy because she always walks a lot. She meets a lot of different people along the way. The story of her life is told as she takes the walk, mostly through her thoughts. She loved her work in advertising and she was very successful, but there were some very sad stories about her life. Lillian reminded me of the protagonist of The Correspondent. She is outspoken, doesn't mince words, and is opinionated. But still a very likable protagonist. I liked that she did not conform to accepted norms and behaviors. Lillian is based on a real woman, poet and ad woman Margaret Fishback. I bought this book at the September book sale last year and I am so glad I did. 

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop (2024) by Hwang Bo-Reum, Translated by Shanna Tan

This was another great read. It is about a South Korean woman who left her high-stress job and got a divorce and started a book store. One theme is how reading and books help people, but it also has a strong focus on the protagonist's goal to create a good bookshop that people will visit again and again. What I liked best were the philosophical thoughts on what people want out of life. The characters (employees and customers) are all ages and visit the store for many different reasons. My husband read this book and Every Day I Read by the same author, and liked them both. In Korea, this type of book is called "healing fiction." Without a doubt, I will read this book again.

Fiction, Classic

Middlemarch (1872) by George Eliot

I read this book for my 20 Books of Summer list. I had never been interested in reading Middlemarch until recently, but in the spring  of this year I got interested in the book and my husband owned a nice copy. I started reading it on June 4th and finished reading on July 4th, with a 10 day break somewhere in there. It was quite an experience.  My review is here.

Science Fiction

Floating Hotel (2024) by Grace Curtis

This is another science fiction novel my son read first, then loaned to me. I am a sucker for novels set in hotels, so I was eager to read it. It starts out as a simple story about a ship that functions as a luxury hotel, going from planet to planet, with guests and occasionally employees taking time to visit the planet below.  My review is here.

Crime Fiction

Murder on the Yellow Brick Road (1977) by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Stuart M. Kaminsky is one of my favorite authors. His Toby Peters mystery series is set primarily in Hollywood, California. Each book in the 24-book series is centered around a celebrity. Toby is a perpetually down-on-his-luck private eye; the books are humorous and clever. Murder on the Yellow Brick Road is set in 1940, and Judy Garland is one of the primary characters. My review is here.

The Father Hunt (1968) by Rex Stout

Rex Stout is my favorite author. This book is part of his Nero Wolfe series, and one of my favorite books in the series. Amy Denovo asks Archie to find out who her father was. Her mother had been killed a few months earlier in a hit and run incident. I liked Amy because she is a strong young working woman who knows what she wants. She is living with Lily Rowan because she is working on a book about Lily's father. I always like the books that feature Lily, a very good friend of Archie's. I read this book when I was on jury duty for two days in June. It was the only book on this post that was not on my 20 Books of Summer list.

A Graveyard for Lunatics (1990) by Ray Bradbury

This is the 2nd in a three-book mystery series. The first book, Death is a Lonely Business, is a homage to mystery writers such as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Ross Macdonald. A Graveyard for Lunatics seems to be based on Bradbury's experiences in Hollywood in the 1950s and 60s. Both books include bizarre happenings and strange, eccentric characters. The story in this book is so fantastical that it is hard to take seriously as a mystery. Yet, in the end I enjoyed the story and was very glad I read it. The magic of Ray Bradbury's writing turns it into a lovely story.  My review is here.

Glass Houses (2017) by Louise Penny

This is the 13th book in the Inspector Armand Gamache series. I have been really impressed by the last four books I read in the series, and this was no exception. I always feel like Penny's Inspector Gamache novels are too dark and serious while I am reading them, but at the end I always give them 5 stars. This one had a very complex plot. The story starts out with Inspector Armand Gamache on the witness stand testifying at a trial, and after that it goes back and forth between the trial and the events that preceded it. Sometimes that gets confusing, but it also created a lot of suspense.

The Sisters (1985) by Robert Littell

This is a weird and wacky story of two KGB agents from the USSR. One of the agents is a sleeper agent in the US. The "Sisters" of the title are two male CIA agents; they are partners and have planned an illegal scheme which is not revealed until the very end. The whole thing is very complex, but the joy is in the journey of reading it, and it is very humorous. It has been a long time since I had so much fun reading a spy story. 

About the photos:

At the top of the post is our cat London, who has been living with us over a year now. He has changed a lot from the cat who first came to live with us. Glen likes to say that London has flipped the maturity switch, although he sometimes switches back to an earlier version. And he has gained 2 pounds; he is now at 14 pounds.

The two photos below are of plants on our front walkway, which were planted in March of this year. The top photo is a cuphea, in a pot. They attract hummingbirds, and we have at least four pots of those in the front. The bottom photo shows a geranium (or pelargonium), which we were lucky to find with that coloration. All of the photos were taken by Glen. Click on the images for the best viewing quality. 

Middlemarch: George Eliot

I read Middlemarch by George Eliot for my 20 Books of Summer list. I had never been interested in reading Middlemarch until recently, but my husband was interested in the book and found a nice copy at the September book sale in 2022. Then in the spring  of this year I got interested in the book myself. I started reading it on June 4th and finished reading on July 4th. It was quite an experience.

A summary of Middlemarch at the publisher's website:

A triumph of realist fiction, George Eliot’s Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life explores a fictional nineteenth-century Midlands town in the midst of sweeping change. The proposed Reform Bill, the new railroads, and scientific advances are threatening upheaval on every front. Against this backdrop, the quiet drama of ordinary lives is played out by the novel’s complexly portrayed characters—until the arrival of two outsiders further disrupts the town’s equilibrium. Every bit as powerful and perceptive in our time as it was in the Victorian era, Middlemarch displays George Eliot’s clear-eyed yet humane understanding of characters caught up in the mysterious unfolding of self-knowledge. 

For me, this was a book about marriages. Some of them were happy and some of them were unhappy, but all of them had bumps along the road. The story begins with Dorothea Brooke's engagement to Mr. Casaubon. Dorothea is nineteen and Casaubon is in his fifties, a clergyman and a scholar. Later, Dr. Tertius Lydgate, who is new to Middlemarch, courts Rosemond Vincy, who has a very high opinion of herself and is used to spending money as she pleases. Both of these couples go into their marriage with very little knowledge of their future spouses. 

My focus on the relationships of these characters may be misleading, because their stories and the stories of many others in the book give us a picture of life in provincial England in the early 1830s, and the many changes that were going in the nation and the world at the time. 

My experience with reading Middlemarch

I usually try not to read reviews of a book before I begin reading it. I don't want to know any plot points in advance. However, in this case, that probably was not a good idea. Although I had read suggestions to take time to read the book, I really did not plan to spend that much time on it. Otherwise I would not have put it in on my 20 Books of Summer list.

Once I got started I got bogged down immediately. I would estimate that the first 200 pages were very hard for me to read; I was not enjoying the writing style or the characters. At times I wondered if I could finish the book. The next 300 pages improved and I started liking all the separate story threads, some of them intertwining. The last 300 pages were very good and I was motivated to read more each day.

My takeaway from all of this is that anyone reading this for the first time should plan to spend a good bit of time on the book. I personally would not make it a year-long read, but I should have read the book at a more leisurely pace. 

 

What did I like best about Middlemarch?

How the story is told:

The narration in this book really impressed me. The narrator often breaks off and seems to have a conversation with the reader about the characters and their behavior, or admonishing the reader to have sympathy for some of the most unsympathetic characters. The narrator sometimes slips from third-person narration to first-person narration, which can be jarring but it kept me paying attention to what was going on.

Good characterization: 

A few of the characters don't show up that much and thus are not fully developed characters. But the majority of the primary characters are fully fleshed out over the course of the book. Some of the characters I did not like at the beginning but I sympathized more and more with as the story progressed. 

Caleb Garth is only a supporting character but he was one of my favorite characters. He is a land agent and surveyor, and he has integrity in his work and personal relations. 

I learned a lot:

The 1830s were an interesting time and I knew very little about that time. There was a section in the book about the railroads (and how their arrival could affect the area around Middlemarch) and I admit that I did not understand it at all. And that makes me want to learn more on the subject.  

It has an excellent ending:

Not every reader of Middlemarch would agree with that, I am sure.  But for me the last 100 pages had me on tenterhooks. The ending was very emotional for me.  

In conclusion, although my first experience with Middlemarch was not all pleasant, I plan to reread the book; I would like to reread it again in 2027, but before that I plan to read My Life With Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead, where she discusses her experiences with reading Middlemarch over the years. 

I read my husband's copy of Middlemarch. It is a Zodiac Press edition, first published in 1950. His copy was the 6th Impression, reissued in 1982. It is a hardback edition featuring a distinctive geometric patterned cover. The print size is not as large as I would like but I did not have a hard time reading it. The number of pages was around 790.

George Eliot was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. She wrote seven novels between 1859 and 1876. Per Goodreads, "her works are known for their realism, psychological insight, sense of place and detailed depiction of the countryside." I have not read any other books by her.

Floating Hotel: Grace Curtis

Summary from the back of the book:

Welcome to the Grand Abeona Hotel: home of the finest food, the sweetest service, and the very best views the galaxy has to offer. All year round it moves from planet to planet, system to system, pampering guests across the furthest reaches of the milky way. The last word in sub-orbital luxury—and an absolute magnet for intrigue. Intrigues such as: Why are there love poems in the lobby inbox? How many Imperial spies are currently on board? What is the true purpose of the Problem Solver's conference? And perhaps most pertinently—who is driving the ship?

This is another science fiction novel my son read first, then loaned to me. I am a sucker for novels set in hotels, so I was eager to read it. It starts out as a simple story about a ship that functions as a luxury hotel, going from planet to planet, with guests and occasionally employees taking time to visit the planet below. Eventually more and more facts about the ship and its visitors reveal that it may be much more than it seems to be. There is definitely a mystery at the core of the story, and there are even elements of espionage. 

Most of the chapters focus on a single character or in some cases a couple or a group of characters. The first chapter is about Carl, the manager of the hotel, who first boarded the ship as a stowaway at the age of twelve. There were a lot of characters, which can get confusing. I loved the way the story is gradually revealed, although even at the end I was still trying to figure out parts of it.

The  story is described as cozy science fiction, but initially I disagreed with that categorization. Not cozy at all. There is humor, but the story is serious, and a bit too much violence and villainy to be called cozy. 

I enjoyed this story; for me, it was a good read, and I rated it 5 stars. It had a lot of intrigue, and only 324 pages. I could easily read it again. First I will find some of Grace Curtis's other books to read.

Regarding the designation of this book as "cozy," I found an article at The Herrick District Library website titled "Cozy Sci-Fi: The Subgenre You Never Knew You Needed." In addition to explaining about this subgenre, it pointed to two series that fit that definition: The Wayfarers Series by Becky Chambers and The Murderbot Series by Martha Wells. That seemed reasonable to me, since I had read books from both series. 

Spin #45 for the Classics Club, August 2026

 

The latest Classics Club Spin has been announced. To join in, I choose twenty unread books from my classics list and list them in a post before Sunday, August 16th, 2026.  On Sunday, the Classics Club will generate a random number between 1 through 20 and post it at the Classics Club website. Then I will read whatever book falls under that number on my Spin List by October 4th, 2026.

So, here is my list of 20 books for the spin...

1. Patricia Highsmith – The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
2. Graham Greene – Our Man in Havana (1958)   
3. Edna Ferber – Giant (1952)
4. Edna Ferber – Show Boat (1926)
5. Virginia Woolf – Flush (1933) 
6. Roald Dahl – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)
7. Ray Bradbury – The Martian Chronicles (1950)
8. Ray Bradbury – Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
9. Charlotte Bronte – Jane Eyre (1847)
10. Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse-Five  (1955)
11. John Steinbeck – Cannery Row (1945)
12. Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
13. J. D. Salinger – Catcher in the Rye (1951)
14. J. D. Salinger – Franny and Zooey (1961)
15. Chinua Achebe – Things Fall Apart (1958) 
16. Dashiell Hammett – Red Harvest (1929)   
17. Dorothy Sayers – The Nine Tailors (1934)
18. Robert Louis Stevenson – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)
19. Lewis Carroll – Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
20. James Thurber – The 13 Clocks (1950)

The three books I would most like to read for this spin are Jane Eyre, The Talented Mr. Ripley, or Our Man in Havana. Same as for the last spin. But, really, any of the books on my list would be fine.  

Are there any books on my list that you have particularly enjoyed?

Short Story Wednesday: Stories from Midsummer Mysteries

I was initially attracted to Midsummer Mysteries: Short Stories, edited by Martin Edwards, because of its striking cover and the lovely sprayed edges. I am a sucker for beautiful books. But it did not hurt that the book was a Crime Writers' Association anthology, and that I was familiar with some of the authors.

In the Introduction, Edwards notes that he endeavors to include authors that have not shown up before in previous Crime Writers' Association anthologies, and that is true here. But for the first two stories I read from this volume, I picked two by authors I have read previously and liked.

"St John's Eve" by Christine Poulson

This was a very atmospheric and sometimes spooky story about a Midsummer Eve in 1585. A statute had been passed that Jesuit or seminary-trained priests were not allowed in the realm, and any support they received was considered treasonous. Two priests were being hidden in the manor house and the owners fear that they will be discovered when neighbors arrive for the celebration feast. The story is told partially by the house itself (or spirits in the house), and finishes up 400 years later when the building is being restored. I enjoyed this story immensely; it was 12 pages long, a very good length.

"The Widow" by Martin Edwards

This is a chilling story, set in the 1960s, about a wife who wants to protect her dead husband's reputation at any cost. 

Gerry and Beatrice had run a taxi service in Berwick-upon-Tweed since before the war; Gerry came back from the war and time spent in a prison camp a changed person. But between the two of them, they kept the taxis running and bringing in money. Until Gerry died unexpectedly. Now a policeman keeps bothering Beatrice with questions about deaths in the area.

The setting in time and place was very effective. This may have been the only short story I have read by Martin Edwards, but I would like to read more.