2019 Reading List for Lamplight

Still haven't hit the 50 mark. Maybe this year. Happy reading to all.

Here's to a fun reading year!

1. Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke -- mystery
2. Still Life by Louise Penny -- mystery, Canadian
3, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep by Patricia H. Rushford -- mystery
4. Everyday Grace. Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness, and Making Miracles by Marianne Williamson -- nonfiction; religious
5. My Turn. The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan by Nancy Reagan and William Novak -- nonfiction
6. Shifting Currents. A Memoir by Paula Dunning -- Canadian non-fiction biography
7. Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce -- historical fiction
8. An Inconvenient Woman by Dominick Dunne -- fiction
9. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny -- mystery, Canadian
10. God Can't. How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and other Evils by Thomas Jay Oord -- non-fiction, religious
11. Thorn in My Heart by Liz Curtis Higgs -- historical fiction, biblical
12. The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny -- mystery, canadian
13. Of Fire and Lions by Mesu Andrews -- historical fiction, Biblical
14. Primary Justice by pp William Bernhardt -- legal mystery
15. A Few of the Girls by Maeve Binchy -- short stories
16. By Chance Alone by Max Eisen -- Canadian non-fiction, holocaust
17. One Fine Day the Rabbi Bought a Cross by Harry Kemelman -- mystery
18. A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny -- mystery, Canadian
19. The Time is Now. A Call to Uncommon Courage by Joan Chittister -- non-fiction, Christian
20, Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan -- historical fiction
21, People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks -- historical fiction
22. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles -- historical fiction
23. Agatha's First Case: An Agatha Raisin Short Story by M. C. Beaton -- mystery
24. The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny -- Canadian, mystery
25. Death of a Dentist by M.C. Beaton -- mystery
26. The Disappearance by J.F. Freedman -- legal mystery
27. The Light-Keeper's Daughters by Jean E. Pendziwol -- Canadian Fiction
28. The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths -- mystery
29. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
30. A Catered Thanksgiving by Isis Crawford -- mystery
31. The Girl Behind the Red Rope by Ted Dekker and Rachelle Dekker -- Christian fiction
32. American War by Omar El Akkad -- futuristic
33. The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman -- fiction
34. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte -- fiction
35. Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny -- Canadian fiction
36. Ice Run by Steve Hamilton — fiction
37. Jesus Means Life' by Patricia Wells and Harold Wells -- Christian non-fiction, Canadian
Total: 37; Fiction -- 30; Non-fiction -- 7; Canadian -- 9

Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke is full of recipes, cute little jokes, one murder, one bad guy and his female accomplice, and two proposals. Lisa, Hannah's assistant, gets married, so there is love in the air. Hannah's competitor (in business and in love) is found murdered just after Lisa and Herb's wedding. Turns out the culprit was an imposter, escaped convict who did some serious play-acting at love. Yes -- this is a fun, and lightweight book, but I don't apologize for enjoying it!

So many people have recommended Louise Penny to me, and I'm happy to say that I have finally taken the plunge. In Still Life, I met Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, who is capable but pleasantly human (gets a broken leg at the end of the story by falling through some stairs on his way to rescue someone who ended up having to help/protect him!), Jean Guy Beauvoir, the village of Three Pines and many of its delightful (and not so delightful) inhabitants. I learned about a painting called Fair Day that caused a murder, and also caused the murder to be solved. Jean Neal was the victim, but also became a hero in the story as we learned more about her through the discovery of hidden art in her house. We also learn a lot about her through the devotion and love of her friends. The murderer was a self-proclaimed 'nice guy' but really a spoiled and manipulating brat who decided the world owed him something. Lots of neat characters and a few red herrings to make Still Life a good read.

It seems that I have started 2019 in a mystery-frame of mind. I just finished Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep by Patricia H. Rushford. It was an easy ready, not particularly sophisticated, and at times it seemed that the author was trying a little too hard to throw in too many 'interesting' side stories (kidnapping, mysterious disappearances, exotic jobs). Yet, the protagonist is likable, and the attachment to family is commendable. There is an easy reference to church, prayer and God too that doesn't seem forced. Helen Bradley solves a few too many murders that took place at a residential seniors and rehabilitation home that also boasted research into cutting-edge new health treatments. She very nearly became one of the statistics, but her granddaughter's excellent timing and her own physical attack skills saved the day.

I've been reading Everyday Grace. Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness, and Making Miracles by Marianne Williamson for awhile now. I've been reading it as my morning devotional. I referred to it in a sermon a few weeks ago as a rather 'flakey' book. Yet, it has given me some real insights, particularly into the thought that those good, together, happy feelings we have are really when we are being our true selves, absent of ego, and connected with others and God internally as well as externally. She is unrelentingly positive and hopeful...a nice change from some of the January thoughts swirling in my head!

Okay...it's an old book, but there were parts of it that I would like current politicians (and their spouses) to read: My Turn. The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan by Nancy Reagan and William Novak. Particularly moving was the part near the end about a visit to a Russian elementary school. A quote from p.358: "One of the boys led me into a special wing of the building which commemorated the many graduates of this school who died during World War II. Pointing to a piece of artillery, he said, 'It's not usual to see a gun in a school. But this is why it is here, because this is a museum. We say that when a gun speaks, it's too late to talk. We hope the gun will never be used again.'" This memoir was very interesting to read, and I felt that I knew and liked Nancy Reagan from reading it.

I like the Joann Fluke books also and watch the movies on Hallmark Channel.

Yes, mnleona, I've seen the movies too but the characters don't look like I pictured them in my head! Isn't that always the way with books and movies?

I just finished Shifting Currents. A Memoir by Paula Dunning. This is a book about a couple who meet, fall in love, move to Canada from the States, and, through a series of destined (?) happenings wind up homesteading and then out-and-out farming in Northern Ontario. It is well written, and very enjoyable, but the publishing company left a few errors that kind of bugged me. This book was especially interesting because it takes place in my neck of the woods; I remember the muffin business she got involved in; and I worked with her husband at Algoma College for a few years...Well, I worked in the library and he was a professor, so I doubt that he would remember me. Paula has made her memoir both interesting and seemingly honest, raising some deep and personal concerns (farm wife versus career, concerns about child behaviour, farm safety) without wallowing in them. Glad to have read this book.

To be young, during a war that was affecting so many, and living in an area that was ruthlessly and regularly being bombed: That is what you find in Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce. But you also find humour, pluck, genuine kindness and a nod to all the brave people not on the front, but suffering none-the-same. What a good book!

An old book: An Inconvenient Woman by Dominick Dunne, but some of the issues are the same -- The rich and powerful get away with a lot. The other class represented by mistress, Flo Marsh, and porn star Lonny Edge, get no breaks. Crime against them goes unpunished. The rich and powerful are more evil in many ways, but get away with it.

I am so glad that I have started to read the books by Louise Penny. This is her second, called A Fatal Grace. I like how she builds on the characters from one book to the next...The second book wasn't just a re-hash of things we learned from the first, but a building on to. Armand Gamache is someone I would like to know. He is smart, thoughtful, dealing with imperfection, but really, a perfect character to read about. He finds God in this book too. But the main story was about a cast of characters who could be identified by uppercase letters: CC, L, K. M and B. To me, it was not really a surprise about who the true murderer was, because the author had forced that though early on in the book. The surprise was the 'three graces', their connection to the two murdered women, and the things they did to protect someone they felt was horribly wronged. And there are enough hints in this book about future book plots to make me look for the next in the series.

I've slowed down in my reading, since I have taken on too many other things in life. I've been reading a little of God Can't by Thomas Jay Oord for a couple of months now...a little each day over breakfast. I'm reading another book in the evening, and some other reading material as needed for the church services I lead. God Can't has some really good ideas about God's uncontrolling love. I agree with much of what Oord says about how we can't blame God for evil and tragedy, and how God needs us to influence love and good in the world. But somehow I find God a little limited in this book. I feel like it is a start at understanding but not the whole picture. The final chapter helped me with some of my doubts, and I wish I had read it first, or at least periodically throughout my other reading. A thought-provoking book, written with a genuine loving impulse.

Thorn in my heart by Liz Curtis Higgs takes place in Scotland in 1788, but is an interesting re-telling of the Jacob, Leah and Ruth story. It ends as I always wanted the Biblical version to end...in this case, with Jamie professing his love to Leana (although he had loved her sister Rose from the start). Lachlan the father had made Jamie work for his wife, which, through deception, turned out to be the elder and less beautiful Leana. Jamie himself was not without providing deception, as he did in order to get his brother, Evan's, birthright, and a blessing from his father. It was a clever story.

The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny -- The best book yet in the series. Gamache faces loyalty/disloyalty issues, learns of jealousy, and others in Three Pines face the same. There's a wiccan seer added to the mix, some ducks rescued by Ruth and Clara is on the verge of becoming an appreciated artist. Good stuff.

Of Fire and Lions by Mesu Andrews is about Daniel from the Bible. Now you understand where the title comes from. It is a broad interpretation of the life and loves of Daniel, including a sprawling family, but included real characters from the Bible, and political events. I teared up as Daniel was lowered into the lions' pit...even though I knew the positive outcome. The author certainly did a good job creating characters with both typical feelings as well as abiding faith. Early in the book, I felt there was something missing in Abigail's character, something that the reader wasn't privy to, but by the end of the book I had warmed up to her considerably.

Nothing to tax my brain too much, but a few stories to tug at my heart strings, or make me guffaw, or draw a tear or two from my eye. A Few of the Girls by Maeve Binchy is typical Binchy: I didn't want the book to end.

By Chance Alone by Max Eisen is the story of a young Jewish boy from Hungary/Czechoslovakia who survived Auschwitz. He tells of his typical life before Hitler's final solution impacted his family. As a 15 year old, he watched his mother, and younger siblings go to the gas chamber, was protected by a father and uncle, saw them go to the gas chamber as well, and somehow managed to survive work, starvation, cruelty, sickness, close quarters with endless atrocities. This is a disturbing book on some level, but hopeful in its courage and the message of survival. It was the Canada Reads winner this year.

One Fine Day the Rabbi Bought a Cross by Harry Kemelman is a free book that I found in my possession along with a lot of other tbr books. It was okay but not fabulous. Rabbi Small is not wonderfully likable or even knowable. A strong side theme seemed to be education in the Jewish faith, belief, practices. Not my favourite read, but not the worst either.

Louise Penny books just keep getting better and better! A Rule Against Murder took place in a Quebec lodge in the woods -- elegant, and hosting a dysfunctional family that happened to be Peter's. It involved secrets, a killer statue, and the usual human imperfections that are met with love and forgiveness.

I have great respect for Joan Chittister and her vision. But sometimes when one is too excited or hopeful about a book, the fall or disappointment comes hard when it doesn't live up to the hyped. Such was the case with The Time is Now, A Call to Uncommon Courage. I appreciate the message encouraging us to become prophets in this age, envisioning a better world, and rousing others to see those possibilities too. However, I felt much of the book was just repeating the same message over and over. Some of the language was colourful, and required re-reading. But at the same time, it became jarring, and pulled away from the intended message. I think the publisher forced a good article or sermon to become a book.

Until the last few chapters, I would have given Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan only 3 stars, but the ending bumped it up to 4. Maybe Joy Davidman's 'becoming' part was meant to be a little self-indulgent and annoying. She did overcome that at the end of her life, when, in her last 3 years, she became her true self, married to and loving Jack Lewis, and at peace with God, and having been given a reprieve from cancer. The author means to portray Joy as brilliant, open and honest, and seeking. She sees her as brilliant. The snippets of sonnets I read seemed very self-indulgent to me, and more....stream of consciousness. It was certainly an odd love story. In the end, I envy this particular kind of love, the soul-mate variety. Now, the challenge is: Do I recommend this book to my book club?

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks -- Now this is what historical fiction is all about! This is a re-read, but the first time I read it I was too preoccupied by life to appreciate it! The Sarajevo haggadad has a history of people attached to it, as does any book. This weaves imagination and fact together to create a beautiful story of religious faiths cooperating, kindness and cruelty, loves lost and regained. Deserving of all the accolades and awards it has received.

Count Alexander Rostov in A Gentleman in Moscow seems as real to me as possible! An aristocrat in background and upbringing, he becomes the quintessential good guy as he makes a loving and adventurous life for himself in the confines of house arrest in the Metropol hotel in Munich. Amor Towles is an author with magical powers to make characters slip into your life and become friends. A beautiful book.

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny took me to the Queen Charlotte Islands. Nice. And the author is courageous in how she dealt with one that I, as a reader, had considered 'the inner circle'. Olivier was not immune from the great detective's microscope. Murderous actions and other unseemly emotions were unearthed in this story of the murder of a hermit surrounded by the woods and priceless treasures.

Death of a Dentist by M.C. Beaton will make me want to read more of this series. Hamish MacBeth is flawed but likable. Am I reading too many mysteries? This was an e-book.

Yet another mystery, but this time, a legal mystery full of courtroom drama: The Disappearance by J.F. Freedman. Luke Garrison, and his love-partner, Riva, work to defend someone who appears to be as guilty as hell. Joe Allison is guilty of having sex, and impregnating the 14-year-old daughter of his media tycoon boss, but he is not guilty of murder (despite motive, opportunity, witnesses, and evidence found). Riva is an interesting character, formerly the partner of a drug dealer who was defended by Luke. After jail justice got rid of the drug dealer, Luke and Riva hooked up. Not a great read, but interesting enough to keep me engaged (and sometimes disgusted at what humans can do to one another!)

I loved The Light-Keeper's Daughters by Jean E. Pendziwol. It is one of very few books I gave 5 stars. It takes place on the shores of Lake Superior and includes landmarks with which I am familiar. The young girl, Morgan, doesn't feel any identity or connection. She goes from foster home to foster home, but ends up having a tremendous connection to Elizabeth/Emily Livingstone, who live in the nursing home where Morgan is forced to paint over her mistakes. Literally. She learns several secrets of Elizabeth's but ends up with a huge one of her own at the end. Which she feels no need to share. This book is one that is a page-turner, but stays with you long after you have read it.

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths is a spooky sort of mystery, with enough of ordinary life to make it even spookier. To me, the most unnerving part, was to think that someone was reading Clare Cassidy's diaries, writing I them, and responding to some of her feelings by 'taking care of things', which meant eliminating certain people. The story is told from multiple perspectives, and I enjoyed the daughter's perspective. It was so real in that it showed how much her mom didn't know about her. Isn't that probably a realistic picture of mother/daughter? There is an interesting detective who adds a bite to the story in her tenacious desire to get to the truth, but also her cynical view of the world. And there is a short story called "The Stranger" and its author that weave the whole story together, influencing setting and manner of murder.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan was funny, and also told an interesting story. I wonder: How did he know all those designers and other rich people info? I skimmed some of the over-the-top rich people stuff.

A Catered Thanksgiving by Isis Crawford is a copycat mystery, trying to be like Joanne Fluke or any other mystery-with-recipes book. But it was awful. Too chatty. Didn't explain things that needed to be explained; the characters didn't concern themselves with the obvious. I was really impatient with the main characters. I also read this on my I-pad, and I never enjoy reading as much on an I-pad.

Two books in a row that I didn't care for. This one is for a book club: The Girl Behind the Red Rope by Ted and Rachelle Dekker. Christians aren't as flakey and given to following every whim as this book makes them out to be. Ghosts, furies, demons, violent deaths, and the message is love instead of fear. Too many ground-shifting events that make it not at all something I can connect with. Yuk. The light and love in this book does not relate to any light or love I have experienced in my life.

That last book that I read ended up providing a really good discussion at one of my book clubs. This book, I also read for a book club: American War by Omar El Akkad. While I was reading it, I wondered why the author decided to write such a horrific story...It is about a future second Civil War, and includes much about climate change, the devastation of a changing U.S., much violence, and the sorry state of those who continue to revere the fossil fuel age. It is well-written, with the odd powerful sentence delivered in a way that makes you stop reading, put down your book, and think. Having read the whole thing, I actually would recommend this book to others. However, during the reading, when it gave me a few nightmares, I kept calling it 'that awful book'. It might be awful especially in the scary reality of it.

Nowhere near 50 yet. The latest was The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman. It includes some pretty cool recipes, some of which I might even try! It was a comfortable 'visit' with a group of women/friends who meet annually to do a cookie exchange early in December. They catch up on each other's lives, and, as life does, there are many twists and turns that can happen in a year. It was an okay book...not riveting, and some of the detail seemed an unnecessary filling of space, or just meeting a word count. One thing I really liked were the little asides or essays almost about ingredients...ginger, chocolate, salt etc.

Slowly making my way through the Louise Penny books. This one, Bury Your Dead was typically outstanding. But, it did leave me with questions and wondering if they will be answered in a future book. There were three stories going on simultaneously...one in Three Pines regarding the reopening of the murder 'solved' in the previous book, one in Quebec City involving Samuel de Champlain (was he really a Huguenot?), and one regarding a tragedy that killed too many, and very nearly killed Gamache and Beauvoir, but also saved many, many, many by putting a stop to terrorist actions. As always, the characters have become part of my life.

Ice Run by {{Steve Hamilton takes place in my neck if the woods, which was kind of neat. But way too many needless murders and people beating each other up. And the love interest was pretty sketchy if you ask me.

I think this is it for 2019. I finished with Jesus Means Life by Patricia and Harold Wells. I loved it, except for the appendices. Each chapter was well-reasoned, insightful, informed. This is my kind of theology.

So, only 37 books this year. I discovered Louise Penny though, so enjoyed reading some of those (will read more). I read a couple of books in digital format, and I joined a second book club. So, It was a good reading year. On to the next.