My Books from the 2024 Book Sale

Every year we look forward to the Planned Parenthood Book Sale. This was the 50th year of the sale and the dates were September 12 – 22, 2024. Unfortunately we missed most of the sale because my husband and I both had Covid when the sale began. However, I did get there for a couple of the last days of the sale, and still bought a humongous number of books. On the last day of the sale, almost all of the books are half price.

So, three months after the event, I am listing six of the books that I purchased at the sale. 

A Bird in the House (1970) by Margaret Laurence

(Fiction, Short stories) This is the fourth book in the Manawaka Sequence, five books set in the fictional town of Manawaka, Manitoba, in Canada. I have read the first book in the series, The Stone Angel. A Bird in the House is the fourth book, consisting of eight interconnected short stories, each narrated by Vanessa MacLeod, starting when she is age ten up until she is twenty. I felt lucky to find any book in the series, and I was happy to find out that this one was made up of short stories.

The Accidental Tourist (1985) by Anne Tyler

(Fiction) I bought this one because I want to read more by Anne Tyler. I purchased quite a few of her books at the 2023 book sale but they were later books, published after 2000. This is one of her earlier books.

The description from the back of my copy:

Macon Leary is a travel writer who hates both travel and anything out of the ordinary. He is grounded by loneliness and an unwillingness to compromise his creature comforts when he meets Muriel, a deliciously peculiar dog-obedience trainer who up-ends Macon’s insular world and thrusts him headlong into a remarkable engagement with life.

Lent (2019) by Jo Walton

(Historical Fantasy / Time Loop novel) I have read several books by this author and I like her writing. I wasn't sure about this story, but when I found a copy at the book sale, it seemed a good idea to give it a try. I don't really know how to describe it briefly. It is set in the late 1400s in the city of Florence and the main character is the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola.

A Wind in the Door (1973) by Madeleine L'Engle

(Fantasy / Science Fiction / Time Travel) It was probably silly of me to buy the 2nd and 3rd books in the Time Quintet by L'Engle when I had not read the 1st book, A Wrinkle in Time. But the covers were so nice I could not resist. And the size of the text is much superior to the mass market paperback I have of the 1st book.

A Death in Summer (2011) by Benjamin Black 

(Historical Mystery) I have enjoyed the last few mysteries I read by Benjamin Black / John Banville, so I am glad I picked up a few more at the book sale this year. I read Elegy for April, the 3rd book in the Quirke series, earlier this month, and I look forward to reading the 4th book, A Death in Summer in 2025. Quirke is a pathologist in Dublin, Ireland in the 1950s.

The Charm School (1988) by Nelson DeMille

(Espionage novel) I have been wanting to try a novel by Nelson DeMille for a while, but I had been aiming at a shorter one to begin with. This one is 750 pages in trade paper format. It sounds like it will be a very good Cold War thriller.

Reading in February 2021

February was another good reading month. Out of the ten books I read, nine were fiction. Eight were crime fiction, and one was general fiction, a classic of Canadian literature. I read one nonfiction book, a book about books combined with memoir, and completed my second book for the Japanese Literature challenge.

I have been reading lots of books in the Hercule Poirot series lately, and I have tried to limit myself to three a month, but in February I actually read four of them. It is getting so that the plots run together (or maybe it is the titles). It has been a lot of fun though. We have watched the Suchet adaptations of all of the Poirot books I read this month.

Nonfiction

The End of Your Life Book Club (2012) by Will Schwalbe

I bought this book mainily because it was a book about books, including various books that the author discussed with his mother while she was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. I did learn about some books and authors I hope to try some day. It was also a very moving book about the relationship between a son and his mother, and I liked that part as much as the discussion of books.  

General Fiction

The Stone Angel (1964) by Margaret Laurence

This book is the first in a series of five books about Manawaka, a fictional town in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Hagar Shipley, a 90-year-old woman with health issues, struggles against being put in a nursing home by her son and his wife. Throughout the book, she looks back on her life, her childhood in Manawaka, and the following years as she marries and has two sons. Hagar is bitter and cranky and has been that way most of her life, but I loved this book and would gladly reread it. This was my favorite book of the month.

Crime Fiction

Appointment with Death (1938) by Agatha Christie

This was the first Agatha Christie book I read this month. Very different from the norm. A family is taking a trip to Jerusalem and Jordan, and Poirot happens to hear two members of the family talking about killing someone. The Boynton family consists of a tyrannical mother and several children, most of them adults. There are some very interesting characters in the area at the same time, especially a young female doctor attracted to Raymond Boynton and an older male psychiatrist. 

Mrs. McGinty's Dead (1952) by Agatha Christie

I found so many things to like about this book from the Hercule Poirot series. Poirot's valet, George, and the mystery author, Ariadne Oliver are included in the story. There is lots of humor. My review is here.

Third Girl (1966) by Agatha Christie

This is a later Hercule Poirot novel, published in 1966. Many reviewers don't particularly care for this story. I will admit that there is at least one plot point which requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, but apart from that I found it both a good mystery and an entertaining read. And it features Mrs. Oliver, a plus. I did not guess who did it, although my suspicions were close to the actual solution.

Murder on the Orient Express (1934) by Agatha Christie

This was the last book I read in February; it was a  reread. We had just watched the Alfred Finney version of the film for the third time, and I could not remember how closely that adaptation adhered to the book, including Finney's portrayal of Poirot. There was little humor in the film, but the novel also has a more serious tone. This time I read my facsimile edition with the original cover art. My review of the book from 2012 is here.

Murder in the Place of Anubis (1994) by Lynda S. Robinson

This is the first book in a historical mystery series set in the ancient Egypt of the boy king Tutankhamun. I will be continuing to read the series. My review is here.

Detective Stories (1998) chosen by Philip Pullman

This book of short stories was aimed at introducing younger readers (9-11 years old) to mystery stories. However, most of the stories were originally written for adult readers. I found this book a treasure trove of stories by authors I had read or heard of but had not sampled their short stories. There were a few stories I did not care for at all but that is fairly common when reading short story anthologies. After all, each of us has different tastes in stories. This post summarizes my thoughts on the book and links to some overviews of stories in the book.

The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin (1931) by Georges Simenon

This is the first book by Georges Simenon that I have read in many years. I enjoyed it and am encouraged to continuing reading his books. My review of this book is here.

Malice (1996) by Keigo Higahino

This mystery is a police procedural but the structure is different from most mystery novels. The story alternates between one of the suspect's written account of his actions related to the crime, and Detective Kyoichiro Kaga's notes. It is a very complex story and a satisfying mystery. This was the second book I read for the Japanese Literature Challenge.

Bookshelf Traveling for Insane Times No. 16

I am participating in the Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times meme, hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness. This week I have gathered a few of my books by Canadian authors. 

I am planning to join the Canadian Book Challenge at Canadian Bookworm soon and I thought I would share some books I plan to read. One of them I just bought recently; the others have been on the shelves for a while. I have listed the books in order by year of publication.

The Long November (1946)

by James Benson Nablo

Introduction by Brian Busby of The Dusty Bookcase. Reprinted by Vehicule Press as a part of the Ricochet series.

From the description on the back of the 2014 reprint edition:

The Long November is the story [of] Joe Mack, son of the grittier side of Cataract City – Niagara Falls – and his struggles to make something of himself; all for the love of well-to-do blonde beauty Steffie Gibson. It’s about rum running booze, Chicago beer trucks, Bay Street sharpshooters, the mines of Northern Ontario and fighting the Nazis in Italy.  It’s also about the women, the many women – married, unmarried and widowed – who shares Joe’s bed.

The Keys of My Prison (1956) 

by Frances Shelley Wees 

Introduction by Rosemary Aubert

Description from the book cover:

That Rafe Jonason’s life didn’t end when he smashed up his car was something of a miracle; on that everyone agreed. However, the devoted husband and pillar of the community emerges from hospital a very different man. Coarse and intolerant, this new Rafe drinks away his days, showing no interest in returning to work. Worst of all, he doesn’t appear to recognize or so much as remember his loving wife Julie. ... Is it that Julie never truly knew her husband? Or might it be that this man isn’t Rafe Jonason at all?

Originally published in 1956 by Doubleday, The Keys of My Prison is one of several suspense novels Wees set in Toronto. This Ricochet Books edition marks its return to print after fifty years.

The Stone Angel (1964)

by Margaret Laurence

This book was recommended to me by Patricia Abbott of pattinase.

Description from the University of Chicago Press website:

In The Stone Angel, Hagar Shipley, age ninety, tells the story of her life, and in doing so tries to come to terms with how the very qualities which sustained her have deprived her of joy. Mingling past and present, she maintains pride in the face of senility, while recalling the life she led as a rebellious young bride, and later as a grieving mother. Laurence gives us in Hagar a woman who is funny, infuriating, and heartbreakingly poignant.

Set in the fictional town of Manawaka in the Canadian province of Manitoba, based on Laurence's hometown, Neepawa.

A Necessary End (1989)

by Peter Robinson

This is the 3rd book in the Inspector Banks series. The author, Peter Robinson, is Canadian (born in the UK, but emigrated to continue his education in Canada) but the series is set in Yorkshire, England. Five of the novels in the Inspector Banks series have been awarded the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel.

From the description at Goodreads:

A peaceful demonstration in the normally quiet town of Eastvale ends with fifty arrests—and the brutal stabbing death of a young constable. But Chief Inspector Alan Banks fears there is worse violence in the offing. For CID Superintendent Richard Burgess has arrived from London to take charge of the investigation, fueled by professional outrage and volatile, long-simmering hatreds.

A Killing Spring (1996)

by Gail Bowen

This is the 6th book in a mystery series about Joanne Kilbourn, a political analyst and university professor who gets involved in criminal investigations. Set in Saskatchewan. Family and relationships play a large part in these mysteries. There are now 19 books in the series, published between 1990 and 2020.

This story begins as the head of the School of Journalism at the university where Joanne Kilbourn teaches is found dead, in embarrassing circumstances. Further misfortunes occur in Joanne's life, including a student who complained of sexual harrassment and then stops coming to class. Joanne looks into the student's disappearance.

City of the Lost (2016)

by Kelley Armstrong 

I first saw mention of this book at Cath's blog, Read-warbler. I love books set in  cold, isolated areas. Don't know why.

Two women have problems that they need to escape. People are looking for them and threatening them. They escape to a town in the Yukon wilderness. Per the book's description: "You must apply to live in Rockton and if you're accepted, it means walking away entirely from your old life, and living off the grid in the wilds of Canada: no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, no computers, very little electricity, and no way of getting in or out without the town council's approval."

That concept intrigues me, although it is possible the story will be too over-the-top for me or too violent and dark. But definitely worth a try. There are now five books in the series.

In the Dark (2019)

by Loreth Anne White

The premise of this book (eight guests invited to a luxury vacation in an isolated location) sounds very similar to two other books I have read recently: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. In fact, Agatha Christie's book under the name The Ten Little Indians is mentioned in this book. This story is set in northern British Columbia.

See this review at Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan.