November was a very good reading month; I enjoyed reading all the books. I finished an excellent nonfiction history book that I had started in early September. I read a romantic comedy / chick lit book that was way outside of my normal reading. And five crime fiction books, all very good.
Nonfiction / History
Tudors (2012) by Peter Ackroyd
I read this book because I wanted to know more about the Tudors. The subtitle is "The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I." I had read novels that covered the Tudor years but those focused on specific events or people, such as the Wolf Hall Trilogy about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII. In this nonfiction book, I learned a lot about Henry VIII, including more about each wife and the religious turmoil at the time. I was surprised by many things that happened Elizabeth's reign. This was a great overview and I will look for more to read on the subject.
Fiction
The Rosie Project (2013) by Graeme Simsion
This novel is about a socially challenged genetics professor, Don Tillotson. He has Asperger's Syndrome, although that is never stated in the book. He lives an orderly life, planned to the last detail, but he has few friends. He decides he would like to find a wife, so he comes up with a questionnaire to eliminate women with habits or interests he could not tolerate. The story is unrealistic but lots of fun. I don't usually read romantic comedies, and I didn't really realize that this was one when I started it, but I liked it anyway.
Crime Fiction
Two Nights in Lisbon (2022) by Chris Pavone
This is not a spy thriller but it sure feels like one. The reader and the characters don't know who to trust. I did not know what was going on most of the time. Well, I knew the basic plot (a couple goes to Lisbon on business and there is a kidnapping) but it was clear from the beginning that a lot was being withheld from the reader. I loved it, but I have loved all of Chris Pavone's novels, so I am prejudiced.
Alias Emma (2022) by Ava Glass
This is the first book in a relatively new spy fiction series. Emma Makepeace has always wanted to be a spy. Her father, who died before she was born, was a spy, and she idolizes him. Emma's first important assignment is to bring Michael Primalova, the son of Russian dissidents, across London to a safehouse, so that he and his parents can be put in protective custody. My review here.
Three Men Out (1954) by Rex Stout
I am working my way through the novella collections in the Nero Wolfe series. All of them are rereads. The stories are "This Won't Kill You", "Invitation to Murder" and "The Zero Clue". The stories were first published in The American Magazine.
Deadland (2019) by William Shaw
Deadland is the second book in the DS Alexandra Cupidi series, but there is a book written earlier that introduced Cupidi, so I consider this the third book. There are multiple plotlines. Two teenagers steal a phone from a very dangerous man. They end up running and hiding to avoid him, because he wants to kill them. DS Cupidi's case revolves around a human arm found in a valuable vase in an art gallery. She has to determine whether the arm is part of a dead body, or if somehow the person is still alive. Both the main characters and the secondary characters are well defined and interesting and the mystery plots are good too. If I had any complaint is was that it felt long.
A Darker Domain (2008) by Val McDermid
This book is the second book in the Karen Pirie series. Detective Inspector Karen Pirie is in charge of the Cold Case department in Fife, Scotland. First, a woman reports that her father has been missing for over 20 years, from the time of the Miner’s Strike of 1984. Shortly after that, new information shows up in Italy related to a kidnapping that also took place in 1984 in Fife, and that case is added to Karen's workload. See my review.
Currently Reading
Actually, I will start reading this one tonight. Between 1952 and 1968, James Yaffe published eight short stories in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. In each story, Dave, a detective in the New York Homicide Squad, and his wife Shirley visit his mother and they discuss one of his cases over dinner. She asks some pertinent questions and solves the case; Dave is afraid that his coworkers are going to find out that his success rate with cases is due to his mother's help. Between 1988 and 1992, Yaffe wrote four mystery novels about Dave and his Mom. The four novels are set in Colorado, not New York. Mom Meets Her Maker is the 2nd of the four novels. The book is set at Christmas, and I think it will be a perfect read for this time of year.
The photo at the top of the post is a pot of succulents in our back fenced-in area in 2008. The photos immediately above were also taken in 2008, in Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden. The photos were taken and processed by my husband. Click on the images for best viewing quality.
