Short Story Wednesday: Stories from Home Schooling by Carol Windley

I honestly don't know how I happened upon this book, except that I always have an eye open for books by Canadian authors. This one seemed especially appealing because the stories are all set in the Pacific Northwest, and many of them are set primarily on Vancouver Island.

The first three stories in the book focus on some upheaval or major change in the characters' lives. These events are seen mainly from one character's point of view, although multiple characters may be affected. At the center of each story is children and their families.

I was rooting for that central point of view character in each story, which was always one of the children, but sometimes there was no real resolution. That is realistic, but I found it somewhat unsatisfactory. Yet, I kept thinking about all three stories after I had finished them. They stuck in my mind. The writing was very good. I would have read the stories just for the author's way with words. 

My favorite of these three stories is "Family in Black." 

It is a familiar story of a family split by divorce and children adapting to two households. The point of view character is Nadia, a teenager as the story begins, out of high school by the time it ends. Her mother leaves her father for a wealthy logging contractor. Everyone in both families has to change and adapt, but this story focuses on Nadia's relationships with her mother's new family, including the new husband's daughter who is about the same age as Nadia. There is also a theme of environmental issues and climate change.

There is a great quote in the story, from a bookstore owner:

He'd always had a fondness for books, he said; the way their spines lined up on a shelf; the prickly sense of expectation and dread in just taking one down and opening it.

I did have one quibble with "Family in Black." The novel, Rebecca, comes up, and the ending is revealed, in detail. I have read the book, years and years ago, and seen the movie, but still that bothered me. 

I also read:

"What Saffi Knows"

A woman remembers events in her childhood related to the disappearance of a child. Very affecting.

"Home Schooling"

A couple runs a private school, but the school is shut down due the accidental drowning of a 10-year-old student. With no students at the school, the school reverts to a farm and the couple continue to home school their teenage daughters. A complex story, and one with a nebulous ending.

I will continue reading the remaining five stories in the next couple of months.

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2021

This year I will be joining in on the Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge, hosted by Carol's Notebook. The Challenge will run from Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st. (Sign up ends March 15th)

The goal is to read and review any book that is from the mystery/suspense/thriller/crime genres. Any sub-genres are welcome as long as they incorporate one of these genres.

More detailed rules can be found here. 

The levels are:

• 5-15 books – Amateur sleuth
• 16-25 books – Detective
• 26-35 books – Inspector
• 36-55 – Special agent 
• 56+ books – Sherlock Holmes

I will be aiming at the Special Agent level, 36 - 55 books. I usually read more mysteries than that in a year, but I don't review them all.

Back to the Classics Challenge 2021

I am joining the Back to the Classics Challenge for 2021. The challenge is hosted by Books and Chocolate and is in its 8th year.

The challenge consists of twelve prompts for classic books. All books must have been written at least 50 years ago to qualify; therefore, books must have been published no later than 1971 for this challenge. More detailed rules can be found here. Ideally I would read one for each prompt for a total of 12, but as long as I read at least 6 books for this challenge, I will be happy.

I have listed possibilities for books I may read but I am not committed to those choices. In some cases there are many possibilities on my Classics Club List to fulfill the category description.

1. A 19th century classic: any book first published from 1800 to 1899

H. G. Wells – The Invisible Man (1897)

2. A 20th century classic: any book first published from 1900 to 1971. 

(so many to choose from)

3. A classic by a woman author.

Madeleine L'Engle – A Wrinkle in Time (1962)

4. A classic in translation, meaning any book first published in a language that is not your primary language. 

Leo Tolstoy – Anna Karenina (1878)

5. A classic by BIPOC author; that is, a non-white author.

Zora Neale Hurston – Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)

6. A classic by a new-to-you author, i.e., an author whose work you have never read.

Bram Stoker – Dracula (1897)

7. New-to-you classic by a favorite author -- a new book by an author whose works you have already read. 

Margaret Millar – Beast In View (1955)

8. A classic about an animal, or with an animal in the title. 

Virginia Woolf – Flush: A Biography (1933)

9. A children's classic. 

Roald Dahl – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)

10. A humorous or satirical classic.

Leo Bruce – A Case for Three Detectives (1936)

11. A travel or adventure classic (fiction or non-fiction). It can be a travelogue or a classic in which the main character travels or has an adventure. 

Laurence Sterne – A Sentimental Journey (1768)

12. A classic play. Plays will only count in this category.

William Shakespeare – Much Ado About Nothing (1598)

The Hollow: Agatha Christie

As I read more of the Poirot books, I find more to add to my favorite Christie novels. This one may be in my top ten, if I ever try to list them.

Sir Henry Angkatell and his wife Lucy have invited several people to their home, The Hollow, for the weekend. Dr. John Christow and his wife Gerda. Henrietta Savernake, the sculptress. David Angkatell, a young member of the family. Midge Hardcastle, who works in a dress shop in London, and is getting a brief vacation.

Then Edward Angkatell invites himself, and Lucy, the hostess, is concerned that the balance of the group will be ruined by his presence. Except for John and Gerda , these people are all related, distant cousins in some cases.

There are so many interesting characters in this story. They are mostly likable, but while reading the book I was never sure of them. Are they manipulative? Are they evil? How much of themselves are they revealing to others? The point of view changes often, revealing more of John, Gerda, Henrietta and Midge. And the servants play an important role, which I like in a country house mystery.

Some mystery readers prefer the murder to take place early in the story. I usually prefer some build up of the plot, some introduction to the characters and the relationships. In this book, the murder occurs at page 83 (out of 230 pages) before the murder takes place. Poirot shows up for the first time shortly after that. 

Even after the murder, there is not a lot of Poirot or his detection in this book. I thought the plot worked well and I enjoyed it, nevertheless. Early on, I guessed who the murderer was. As usual when that happens, Christie led me away and convinced me that there were other more viable suspects. 

The evening after I finished reading the book, we watched the TV adaptation starring David Suchet. I have enjoyed all of the Poirot TV episodes that I have seen so far, but this adaptation adhered more closely to the novel than most I have seen. There were a few changes, and one character entirely omitted, but no major changes. I especially liked Edward Fox as Gudgeon, Sarah Miles as Lucy Angkatell and Megan Dodds as Henrietta Savernake.

See reviews at Clothes in Books, Dead Yesterday, Pretty Sinister Books, The Art of Words, and Peggy's Porch.

 -----------------------------

Publisher: Berkley Books, 1984. Orig. pub. 1946.
Length: 231 pages
Format: Paperback
Series: Hercule Poirot, #25
Setting: UK
Genre: Mystery
Source: Purchased at the Planned Parenthood book sale, Sept. 2007.

Short Story Wednesday: Two Stories from OxCrimes

 

I have had OxCrimes, edited by Mark Ellingham and Peter Florence, for several years and previously had only read six stories from that anthology. This week I read two more stories and both were very good. 

First is "The Sin of Dreams" by Walter Mosley. This is a cross-genre story, a combination of science fiction and crime fiction, although heavier on the science fiction side. As the story begins, a hip hop promoter who runs a biological research company is trying to convince a very young expert in bio-storage technology, Carly Mathews, to join a company that plans to transfer one's memories along with the soul from one body to another. The intent is to provide a way to move the soul of a dying human to a new body. Carly doesn't believe that this is possible, but she is lured into the proposition because the work would be so challenging and she would gain from it whether it is successful or not. Mosley writes so well that I was pulled in from the beginning. It was a very interesting story with a weird ending.

This story was first published in OxCrimes in 2014, but was also published in the recent collection of Mosley's short stories, The Awkward Black Man, released in September 2020.

The second story I read was "Underneath the Mistletoe Last Night" by Mark Billingham. It featured his series character, Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, and it almost made me want to try that series. I read the story now because it is still close to the holidays. The ending was kind of obvious but I liked the story anyway. It is not your usual uplifting or festive Christmas tale.

All of the stories I have read in this anthology have been excellent. I am sure I will continue and read all the stories in the book (eventually).

2020 Overview and Reading in December

I don't keep statistics as I go along during the year (although I may do that in 2021) but I was curious about my reading this year, so I looked at my counts for various genres. This year I read 113 books. I usually aim at 84 books in a year, which would be seven books a month. In 2019 I read 120 books, but that was an unusually high number for me.

My reading has always been focused on mystery novels, at least in my adult life. This year I read 75 mystery novels. That group includes any historical mysteries and spy fiction I read. Of that total, 25 were published before 1960, 24 were published between 1960 and 1999, and 26 were published after 1999. That seems like a good mix.

Other fiction reading was divided thus:

• Science fiction: 5
• Classics: 4
• General fiction: 4
• Historical fiction: 7

I read more short stories than usual this year, and ended up completing 6 books of short stories. I joined in on Short Story Wednesday at Patricia Abbott (pattinase) and sampled short stories from several anthologies. 

That leaves 18 non-fiction books, which includes 7 mystery reference books. 

And now, on to books read in December 2020... 

General Fiction

Little Women (1868) Louisa May Alcott

I think I read this book when I was younger but maybe I just remember what I saw in film adaptations. The story was somewhat familiar to me but my memories were garbled so that there were enough surprises to entertain me. See my review here.

The Queen's Gambit (1983) by Walter Tevis

I was motivated to read this book because of the new mini-series on Netflix. I still haven't watched the TV series, but I am very glad I read the book. Beth Harmon is an orphan who discovers she has a gift for playing chess, and becomes obsessed with it. The relationships in this book are fascinating.

Crime Fiction

The Absent One (2008) by Jussi Adler-Olsen, Translated by K. E. Semmel

#2 in the Department Q series. Set in Copenhagen, Denmark. See my review here.

Murder in Retrospect (1942) by Agatha Christie

Poirot is hired to investigate a murder that took place in the past. Carla Lemarchant's mother Caroline Crale was hanged for the murder of her husband. Sixteen years later, Carla wants Poirot to prove that Caroline did not commit the murder. This is one of my favorite Agatha Christie books of the ones I have read so far. This title was published as Five Little Pigs in the UK. 

Hickory Dickory Dock (1955) by Agatha Christie

Miss Lemon, Hercule Poirot's secretary, is obviously worried and he insists she tell him what it is. Her sister is the warden at a youth hostel. There has been a series of thefts and vandalism there. Poirot volunteers to investigate this issue. And then there is a death.

Sad Cypress (1940) by Agatha Christie

At the beginning of this novel, Elinor Carlisle is on trial, accused of the murder of Mary Gerrard by poison. The prosecutor alleges that she is the only person with a motive for this murder. Her engagement to Roddy Wellman had ended because he had fallen for Mary Gerard, the daughter of the lodge keeper at the aunt's estate. Poirot is hired by the aunt's doctor to look for evidence that Elinor did not commit the crime.

This month, I read three books in the Hercule Poirot series, and in October and November I read two each month. It is an interesting experience to read so many of the Poirot books so close together.

The Word is Murder (2018) by Anthony Horowitz

As soon as I started reading this book, I knew that I was going to love it. The premise is that the narrator is a writer who plans to write a true crime novel about a consulting detective who is investigating a murder. The narrator's name is Anthony Horowitz. It is very well done, and I am looking forward to reading the next one, The Sentence is Death.

Crimson Snow: Winter Mysteries (2016) edited by Martin Edwards 

This is an anthology of vintage crime stories set around Christmas time. I wrote two posts about stories in this anthology, here and here.

The Beautiful Mystery (2012) by Louise Penny

#8 in the Chief Inspector Gamache series. This one is set in a monastery and eventually addresses some difficulties that Gamache has been having with his superiors in the Surete. 

What I will be doing in January:

I have signed up for one challenge already and I have about nine more I plan to sign up for. I don't think any of them will be a big strain and I will be using them as guidelines for my reading over the year, not something to stress about. 

In January I plan to read a book for the Japanese Literature Challenge at Dolce Bellezza.  Also Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, Black Robe by Brian Moore, and at least a couple of books in the Hercule Poirot series. The Master and Commander read is intended to be a slow read (one chapter a week for about three months) for Nick Senger's Aubrey/Maturin Chapter-a-Week Read-along, but I may decide I want to read it faster than that.