Books Read in July 2025

 

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.

A Summer Challenge: 20 Books of Summer 2025

It's almost time for 20 Books of Summer. This is my tenth year of participating in this reading challenge. The event was previously hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. When she decided to stop hosting last year, Annabel from AnnaBookbel and Emma from Words and Peace took up the mantle.

The challenge is very flexible. You don't have to aim for 20 book but can also opt for 15 or 10. Here are some of the rules...

• The #20BooksofSummer2025 challenge runs from Sunday June 1st to Sunday August 31st
• The first rule of 20 Books is that there are no real rules, other than signing up for 10, 15 or 20 books and trying to read from your TBR.
• Pick your list in advance, or nominate a bookcase to read from, or pick at whim from your TBR.

For more information and the place to sign up, check out this post at AnnaBookBel. There is also a book bingo card, which is new.

I love to make lists of books to read, so I would start with a list whether I plan to stick with it or not. However, I do plan to stick with my list, and here it is...

At Bertram's Hotel | Agatha Christie   (mystery)

The '44 Vintage | Anthony Price   (spy fiction)

State of Wonder | Ann Patchett    (fiction)

Before Your Memory Fades | Toshikazu Kawaguchi   (fantasy / time travel)

The Burgess Boys | Elizabeth Strout   (fiction)

Olive Again | Elizabeth Strout   (fiction)

Table for Two | Amor Towles    (short stories)

The Murder of Mr. Ma | John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan   (mystery)

A Death in Tokyo | Keigo Higashino   (mystery)

A Death in Summer | Benjamin Black   (mystery)

Death by Accident | Bill Crider   (mystery) 

The Amateur | Robert Littell   (spy fiction)

The Killing of the Tinkers | Ken Bruen    (mystery)

Mrs. Dalloway | Virginia Woolf    (classic, fiction)

Oona Out of Order | Margarita Montimore   (time-loop fiction)

Pesticide | Kim Hayes   (mystery)

The Day the World Came to Town | Jim DeFede (nonfiction)

Perplexing Plots | David Bordwell   (nonfiction)

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone | Benjamin Stevenson   (mystery)

Ninefox Gambit | Yoon Ha Lee   (science fiction)

Six Degrees of Separation from The Tipping Point to Ask for Me Tomorrow

The Six Degrees of Separation meme is hosted by Kate at booksaremyfavoriteandbest. The idea behind the meme is to start with a book and use common points between two books to end up with links to six other books, forming a chain. Every month she provides the title of a book as the starting point.

The starting point this month is Malcolm Gladwell’s debut, The Tipping Point. Per the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the tipping point is defined as "the critical point in a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place." Malcolm Gladwell explores that idea in this non-fiction bestseller, published in 2000. I have not read the book but it does sound very interesting.


That book leads me to another non-fiction book that I recently read: A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre. I read this book because I wanted to know more about the Cambridge Five before I read any more fictional works based on one or more members of that group.

At this time, the particular fictional book I want to read about the Cambridge Five is Young Philby by Robert Littell, one of my long list of favorite authors of spy fiction. Another book by Littell is The Defection of A. J. Lewinter, in which an American scientist defects to the Soviet Union.

This reminds me of one of my favorite series set in Russia, the Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov series by Stuart M. Kaminsky. My most recent read in that series is Hard Currency, published in 1995, which features a trip to Cuba. One of the things I like about the series is that there were books written before and after the break up of the Soviet Union, and the series reflects the changes in Russia over those years.

I will stay with the same author but a different book for my next link: Bullet for a Star, the first book in the Toby Peters series, published in 1977. The Toby Peters mysteries feature a private eye who often works for the movie studios. Each book centers around a real person, usually a movie star. This one features Errol Flynn and is set in 1940 in Hollywood, California.

Another mystery novel that features a real life movie star is Bye Bye, Baby by Max Allan Collins. In the 15th book in the Nate Heller series, the private detective is hired by Marilyn Monroe shortly before her death. Other books in the series deal with real crime and real people from the 1930's into the 1960's. Max Allan Collins is a very prolific author (see his books listed at Fantastic Fiction) and was honored with the Grand Master Award by the Mystery Writers of America in 2017. This is another author whose books I have not read yet, although I have several on my shelves.

My last link is to a book by another Grand Master of the MWA ... Ask For Me Tomorrow by Margaret Millar, Originally from Canada, she later moved to Santa Barbara, California with her husband, Kenneth Millar (who wrote as Ross Macdonald). This book was published in 1941 and partially set in a town very much like Santa Barbara, although the town is called Santa Felicia in the book.

I find it interesting that the books in my chain all have links to the past, whether the books are historical fiction or non-fiction or actually written at an earlier time.

Next month (July 7, 2018), we’ll begin with Tales of the City, the first in the much-loved series by Armistead Maupin. I haven't read that one either, but I have it on my Kindle, and I will read several chapters from it in the next month, at a minimum.

Robert Littell's Debut Novel, The Defection of A. J. Lewinter

A. J. Lewinter is an American scientist who works on the ceramic nose cones for the MIRV program. He is attending a symposium in Tokyo when he walks into the Soviet embassy and declares his intention to defect.

He had planned the defection for months with his usual relish for detail—the trip to Japan, the pills, the shampoo, the X rays, the last-minute postcard to Maureen, even the book to read on the plane to Moscow. But somehow he had ended up on the set of a Hitchcock film—in a shabby embassy, in an antique room, in the midst of people who did not speak his language.

From that point on both sides are trying to decide how much damage has been done. How useful is Lewinter's knowledge is if it is shared with the Soviet Union? Will the Soviet Union even want to make use of his information? Could he be a double agent?

The story unfolds with cynicism and humor. The structure of the book follows the stages of a chess game. There are six sections: The Opening, The Response, The Middle Game, The Gambit, The End Game, and The Passed Pawn. The game being played is ruthless. One player even admits that he would be willing to play for very high stakes:

"You know, I've often dreamed of playing chess with live people. The ones that are taken off the board would be killed—" 

"Could you do it?" Sarah interrupted in a low voice. "Could you really do it?" 

"I know I could. I could even sacrifice—give up one man in order to gain a position or advance a gambit."

This book has a bleak outlook. I have been reading a string of spy thrillers by John le Carre that have a darker, less optimistic mood. Even so, this book was very enjoyable. This is a book I could reread right now.

The characters are well drawn and interesting, on both sides. In some spy fiction, one feels that the players are doing what they do for the greater good, even if they or others must make sacrifices. In this case, each person has more invested in achieving personal success than in the success of their country's political ideals.

The Defection of A. J. Lewinter was Robert Littell's debut novel; it won the British Crime Writers Association's Gold Dagger Award in 1973.

I have read two other books by Littell. One is Legends, which I loved. It is about an ex-C.I.A. operative who has had so many false identities (“legends”) that he is not even sure who he really is.

The other is The Company, which is a very, very long saga of the Cold War beginning in the early 1950's and going up to the collapse of the Soviet Union. After finishing that book, I passed along my copy because I was sure I would not subject myself to that long story (with lots of boring bits) again. But a couple of years ago I bought a hard back copy because I think I would like to give it another try. I have a few more books by Littell to read first, though. Recommendations would be appreciated.


 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Penguin Books, 2003 (orig. pub. 1973) 
Length:       293 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Setting:      US, Soviet Union
Genre:        Espionage fiction
Source:      I purchased this book.