What We're Reading: July-December, 2024

Happy Canada Day!

I'm reading We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age by Wendy H. Wong

Happy Canada Day!
I'm reading a fun mystery How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin.

I'm reading Black Boys Like Me: Confrontations with Race, Identity and Belonging by Matthew R. Morris because I'm neither Black nor a boy. I hope to gain perspective.

I'm reading All the Broken Places by John Boyne

I finally finished The Covenant of Water yesterday. Long book, but and easy read, definitely fits what I would call a modern epic. Loved the writing.

I'm on a slight nautical kick. I have A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks, by David Gibbins, on the go, and I've put The Serpent's Coil, by Farley Mowat, in my purse for my bus book next week.

Women Talking / Miriam Toews
3.5 stars

In the mid-2000s, in a remote Mennonite village in Bolivia, several of the women (and some children) were waking up in the mornings, bleeding, sore, and bruised. They were told they were being punished for sins, etc. It was only when one of the women caught one of the men coming into her bedroom did they figure out that multiple men were drugging and raping them in the night. When one of the women attacked one of the men with a scythe, the eight accused men were sent away to jail (for their protection). But the other men wanted to bail them out and bring them back. The women would then be expected to forgive them, or they would lose their place in heaven.

This really happened. This book takes that situation and (fictionally) has the women discussing what to do while the men are away. Three options: they can do nothing, they can stay and fight, or they can leave. These are the options being discussed (at least among those who don’t want to simply do nothing). They need to decide before the men return, so there is a limited time frame to discuss and decide.

One man, a teacher who once left the community with his excommunicated parents, but did return, is in the women’s meeting to take notes. None of the women can read, they do not know their way around very far outside their own community, and they only speak Low German (not any local languages outside their community).

What a horrible situation! Their were even children who were violated. It was an interesting discussion happening among the women (though told from August’s POV, and what he was seeing and hearing during the discussions). I would have liked to know what the women really did in the end (if anything), and will likely look that up.

I'm reading Our Crumbling Foundation: How We Solve Canada's Housing Crisis by Gregor Craigie

I finished Thérèse by Arthur Schnitzler, published in 1928. Schnitzler, influenced by Freud and Jung, was interested in social injustice. In this novel, he examines the plight of an unwed young woman who is abandoned by her beau when he finds out she's pregnant. She decides to keep the child and live interdependently. It's a remarkably modern tale and Thérèse is certainly an example of resilience and courage. This said, she's also vain and arrogant so it's tough to cheer her on.

I definitely liked the modernity of the novel: both Thérèse and her mom are able to make ends meets one as a teacher, the other as a writer (despite very precarious conditions); there's a unique look at motherhood where Thérèse readily admits that she does not love her child (and feels guilty); there are a lot of lovers, dispelling the myth of mariage. In other words, while working conditions for women are much improved, overall societal norms have not evolved that much (we tend to glorify the past).

>8 LynnB: Any good, affordable solutions? It's shocking to me that people with good incomes can't afford a home!

>10 Cecilturtle: I'm about 1/2 way through. He's showing how other countries have addressed housing shortages. It's interesting so far.

I'm reading Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Just finished Recipe for a Good Life by Lesley Crewe. It's a gentle, humorous story set in the 1950s with lively characters-a good read for my troubled mind right now.

Back to crime fiction reading and I just finished a book in one of my favourite series. The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths, one of her Ruth Galloway novels.

I'm reading The Peace: A Warrior's Journey by Romeo Dallaire

I'm starting Indictment: The Criminal Justice System on Trial by Benjamin Perrin

Still catching up on one of my favourite crime fiction series so just finished The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths. Comfortably enjoyable as usual-never a challenge to read so they make for great summer time reading!

I'm reading Our Tribal Future: How to Channel our Foundational Human Instincts into a Force for Good by David R. Samson

After listening to many recommendations, I finally read The Women by Kristin Hannah. I've never been a huge fan of her books, sort of consider them just a step or two above basic romance novels, but this one I enjoyed more than the few others I've read. As I came of age during the Vietnam War era, I was interested in reading about the perspective of American women serving in that war. I found the part of the novel dealing with the main character's time in Vietnam riveting; the second part about her return to civilian life, not quite so much.

>19 ted74ca: I can't read Hannah. The Nightingale was a poorly researched rip-off of La bicyclette bleue by Régine Deforges (it was HUGE in the 80s in France with a film and everything but it never crossed the Pond). It was full of anachronisms and cultural bungles that made my French skin crawl. The irony is that Deforges was accused of plagiarizing Gone With the Wind. Hannah didn't even bother transposing Deforges's characters into a new setting; she just rewrote a crappy version of it. (Can you tell I'm bitter? lol)
Conclusion: take any history from a Hannah novel as fiction and not fact

I'm reading Blood and Salt by Saskatchewan author Barbara Sapergia about the internment of Ukrainian Canadians during WWI.

More crime fiction this week for me: The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths

I'm reading Permanent Astonishment by Thomson Highway

I'm rereading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

I finished A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and absolutely loved it: so charming, brilliant, generous and fundamentally optimistic.

I finished the last in Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway series: The Last Remains. I've loved reading this series over the years and will miss it, but appreciate it's all wrapped up nicely and not dragging on forever. I loved Ruth and her self deprecating humour and the history and the archaeology aspects.

I finished The Old Silent by Martha Grimes. It was my first Grimes and the 7th in the Jury series - there were references to previous books but I still really enjoyed the almost Gothic atmosphere and passionate characters.

I've also picked up Histoires jamais entendues dans un pub en Irlande by Tom O'Barley. It's part of a series, Histoires jamais entendues, which I've generally liked. So far, not the case with this one - the stories are really bland.

More Elly Griffiths mysteries for me this week. Just finished The Midnight Hour, but found it a bit dull.

I'm half way through both Germinal by Émile Zola and E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton - two very different reads, but I least I won't get them mixed up :D

Gutenberg's Fingerprint / Merilyn Simonds
3.5 stars

The author collected some stories she’d written and decided to publish them in an old-style way: hand made paper and an old-style printing press where the type is set by hand, etc. This documents that procedure along with plenty of history of paper, ink, type, the printing press, and much much more. It also looks at how she (and her son) created the ebook, and the last chapters of the book talk about the history of ereaders and ebooks.

This was interesting. It took me back to my “History of the Book” class in library school when we did field trips to learn to make paper, then we later went to a printing press where we hand set the type and printed our names on our paper that we’d already made. The modern technology was also interesting to read about. It’s not fast paced or “can’t put the book down” kind of read, but it was definitely interesting to read about all those things.

I'm re-reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

I'm reading The Secrets of Spring Lake by Lynne Blackburn Wren

More mystery novel reading for me: A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie. One in a favourite long running series.

I've finally finished the epic Germinal and am now loving Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer while reading the occasional short story from Françoise Sagan's Musiques de scènes.

I've just received and started my LTER book, Daddy's Little Stranger, a memoir by Acamea Deadwiler

>35 Cecilturtle:

Would you consider Germinal accessible to an Anglophone who reads modern French pretty easily? Or, put another way, how archaic are Zola's vocabulary and syntax?

I'm working my way through the door-stopper Spinoza : l'homme qui a tue dieu by J. R. dos Santos, which is not available in English, as perhaps a gentle way of getting a broad notion of Spinoza's thought while also exercising my French.

>37 librorumamans: Good question! The vocabulary is less archaic than it is technical and literary (so not your everyday vocab). There are descriptions of the mine and conditions with very specific terms, like "grisou" for toxic mine gasses. Mind you, these terms were new-to-me too as a native speaker, and you can guess from the context what they mean. This might add to the barrier of a more literary vocabulary (not necessarily archaic but formal). Also, my edition was 540 pages so it's an investment of time!
Here's a pretty good sample of a descriptive passage. You can be the judge:

Et en effet, la colère, la faim, ces deux mois de souffrance et cette débandade enragée au travers des fosses,avaient allongé en mâchoires de bêtes fauves les faces placides des houilleurs de Montsou . A ce moment, le soleil se couchait, les derniers rayons,d'un pourpre sombre, ensanglantaient la plaine. Alors, la route sembla charrier du sang, les femmes, les hommes continuaient à galoper,saignants comme des bouchers en pleine tuerie.

>39 Cecilturtle:

Thanks! I've held the book in my hand but was too intimidated, in part by its size, to buy it.

Without resorting to Le Robert, the first sentence seems to be saying that folks' faces have become gaunt from two months of hardship. There's no problem with the second sentence.

>40 librorumamans: You should be fine, then! The dialogue itself is easy enough. It's a long book but also a gripping one once you plunge into the story.

I finished Ejaculate Responsibly by Gabrielle Blair. It's a short book with 28 arguments about why men should be much more involved in birth control than they are, starting by the fact that they are fertile 100% of the time and women only 24 hours of every month. Blair does not say women need to shrug their responsibilities but rather that men need to step up. It's a really interesting, quick, accessible read that shifts the discourse in a powerful, meaningful, and practical way. Definitely recommended reading for both men and women.

>41 Cecilturtle:

I have a friend who could profitably have read that book sixteen years ago (and counting). I suppose many of us do.

I'm reading The Prince: The Turbulent Reign of Justin Trudeau by Stephen Mayer

>42 librorumamans: yep: I hope my 23 year-old reads it!

I'm reading The Distant Hours, the only book by Kate Morton I haven't yet read.

The Northwomen / Heather Pringle
3.5 stars

This is a look at the women in Viking society. The author looks at archaelogical evidence of the kinds of activities women likely did. Many are things that people do not assume of Viking women. They do include things like weaving (sails, armour, etc.) and there were slaves, but there were also women warriors, merchants, voyagers, and more.

This was good. Interesting. I’ve really not read much about Vikings. This did include some broader Viking history, but with a focus on the women and the archaeological evidence that has been found to refute the assumptions that it was men only who were the warriors, merchants, and travellers. I did find this mostly interesting, but I did also lose focus at times. Being nonfiction, it did take a bit longer to read.

I'm reading Emma: The True Story of Canada's Unlikely Spy by June Callwood

I'm reading The Housekeepers by Alex Hay

It's been a slow reading month so far. I finished Old Filth by Jane Gardam, a peek into colonial Britain.

>49 Cecilturtle:

Thanks you for that reminder! I read that years and years ago. All I can remember is that I enjoyed it. Did you?

The first of her books that I read was Bilgewater, an excellent book which sadly seems unavailable.

>50 librorumamans: abebooks.com has it. They have everything. They sent me a bookmark once with a picture of a fake book called "Making Marriage Work" by King Henry VIII. The caption beneath read "If abe doesn't have it, it doesn't exist".

>51 LynnB: OMG they do have everything... and I found a book I was looking for in French. Thanks for the resource, Lynn!

>50 librorumamans: yes, I very much enjoyed it and I'm curious to read the other two in the trilogy. It's very steeped in British culture, though, and I wondered how much I was missing in terms of subtleties and references. Nonetheless a very interesting book... I knew nothing of "Raj Orphans".

>51 LynnB:

Yes, I wrote in haste, meaning no longer available from public libraries in my area.

I actually prefer BetterWorldBooks to Abe, largely because it's not Amazon (I think) and it ships free.

>53 librorumamans: Free shipping is nice! I'll check them out. But I love abe, partly because it was created by Canadians.

I'm starting The Porpoise by Mark Haddon

Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World / John Vaillant
4.5 stars

Record-breaking heat, strong winds, and desert-like humidity all played a part in the wildfire that hit Fort McMurray, Alberta in May 2016. This book initially introduces the reader to Fort McMurray and its main industry, the oil patch (or tarsands, to be more accurate – that’s not just the environmentalist in me saying that; it seems that really is the most accurate term for it (vs “oilsands” – it really is tar until a lot of equipment, energy, money, etc. go into it to make it liquid)).

The next section is all about the fire, as 88,000 people evacuated the city with no notice, almost all heading out the one highway in/out that doesn’t lead to a dead end. The book then mostly followed first responders who stayed back to fight the fires.

The last section of the book discusses climate change. And the impact this has on the environment, the temperature, fires, and other major disasters that are now happening much more frequently and are stronger than ever before.

I live in Alberta and very distinctly remember the wildfire; I expect many people around the world also remember, with the images and videos that came out as people were evacuating. I remember the one person’s camera inside their house with the fish tank that recorded the fire taking over the house until the camera cut out – this is described in the book (and I went to rewatch the video – those poor fish!).

I have never been to Fort McMurray, nor do I know anyone who works in the oil patch (if I do, I don’t know them well). Of course, the fire was the main pull for me to read the book; I also am fascinated by disaster stories. But also: has anyone else heard of “fire tornadoes”!? Holy crap! New phenomenon. The first one ever occurred in Australia in 2003, then it happened in California in 2017 or 2018. Crazy! The author did provide a lot of information on fires, in general, as well, which I found interesting.

I also read a lot about climate change, and Vaillant had a lot of information in this book, including quite a bit about oil companies that knew what was happening and that humans (and the contributions from oil/gas production) were part of (that is, the main) cause of climate change this time around. It made me think of tobacco companies who didn’t want to lose their profits, so they not only do nothing, they stifle attempts to make things better.

I'm reading Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano which has been on the TBR shelves long enough.

I'm finishing 10:04 by Ben Lerner. I'm torn: just when the author starts writing about something I'm interested in, he ruins it by introducing a new element. For example, at first the style is quite refined, creating an interesting distance between the reader and characters, then it just becomes pompous and finally just banal. Then, he creates an interesting narrative structure, overlaying plots, but then he explains the whole process, reducing the book to a dull analysis. It's a little discouraging.

I've been away for a few weeks so have done only a little reading on my Kobo. Finished an older novel in a mystery series I've long enjoyed-out of sequence, but still a good read. All Shall Be Well by Deborah Crombie

I'm finishing The Librarianist by Patrick DeWitt. What starts out as a well written but ordinary story of an ordinary man is spinning into a delicious tale of eccentric and delightful characters such as DeWitt has accustomed us to. He does it in such a low level, quiet way (just like the Librarianist) that we could almost miss it. I can't wait to see how it all concludes.

I'm re-reading Sweetland by Michael Crummey for a book club discussion.

Recently reread Swamp angel by Ethel Wilson some forty years after I first read it. It's still a good character study enhanced by evocative descriptions of the British Columbia interior.

Just finished The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield. A science fiction/James Bond/spy thriller, all combined. A bit too heavy going at times for me because of the technical details, but it was a gripping storyline.

I'm reading All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker, recommended by two friends.

I also just read an Apollo-themed book: Apollo 13, by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger (originally published as Lost Moon, and the basis for the film). Excellent read.

I'm reading No Exit by Taylor Adams. Mindless but mildly entertaining. Apparently the movie is worse. I won't be tempted, lol

I'm reading Kukum by Michel Jean

I'm reading At a Loss for Words: Conversation in the Age of Rage by Carol Off

I am always trying to fill in my gaps of “minor” 19th Century novelists, although I don’t really believe in “minor” - it makes a writer sound dismissible. Two of the books I have going right now by authors I haven’t read before overlap interestingly on the theme of inheritance, which could be a very big deal if a family had a fair amount of money. The Entail, by the Scottish writer and businessman John Galt (1779-1839), shapes up as tragic, with the ghastly character of the monomaniacal Laird, Claud Walkinshaw, dominating the proceedings. Ravenshoe, by Henry Kingsley (1830-1876), is comical / adventurous in tone.

Interestingly, both Galt and Kingsley (brother of the more famous Charles) spent time in the colonies, Galt in Canada and Kingsley in Australia (where he set some of his novels). Galt’s son Alexander was one of the key figures in the founding of the Canadian Confederation.

>69 PatrickMurtha: Very interesting! I may have to add to my ever-growing wish list.

>70 LynnB: Both those novels, and others by those authors, are available at Project Gutenberg.

I'm about to start Carrie's War by Nina Bawden.

I'm finishing The Winemaker's Wife by Kirsten Harmel. It's a pretty non descript historical novel set in WWII France. It gives a bit of insight into resistance efforts and champagne-making. The main plot of love and betrayal is meh.

I needed a light read, so I picked up McNally's Gamble, by Lawrence Sanders, for a re-read. I last read this over 20 years ago.

I'm reading The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong

I've finished and loved My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. Quirky and unique, it's a great satire in how we numb ourselves to avoid our personal and collective traumas.

Another light read: What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust, by Alan Bradley.

Runaway / Alice Munro
2.25 stars

This is a book of short stories. Set in various parts of Canada. In the first one a woman was trying to get away from her husband. A few others (same characters) involved a woman and her daughter.

I listened to the audio and short stories make that difficult. If you lose focus, the stories are usually too short to figure out what you missed, as the percentage of the story you miss is much larger than that of a novel if you miss bits and pieces. The first story kept my attention the most, I think – where the woman was running away from her husband. The other series of stories mentioned with mother/daughter, I probably caught more of because there were multiple stories. But really, none were overly exciting where I wanted to keep listening. The first story was the closest to that. Not a fan – of short stories or Alice Munro, really.

I'm loving Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - so fun!

I've read Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit by Nadine Sander-Green. Still mulling it over.

Also finished and enjoyed The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel and Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman

Currently reading Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

I really liked my book club's selection for October: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. Very sad, but a well written and poignant family drama.

>81 ted74ca:

I'm curious: why did your book club choose this ten-year-old title this year? I notice that Toronto Public has almost five times as many holds as copies, all of which are currently signed out.

I'm reading Dropseed: The Story of Three Sad Women by Nettie Marie Magnan

Continuing my crime-reading kick with On Beulah Height, by Reginald Hill. This was a chunky paperback, so I'm glad to have read it and freed up some shelf space (I don't intend to keep it).

I'm reading Miss Morgan's Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles

>82 librorumamans: Our book club is affiliated with our local public library, so all our selections are from the library's book club "kits" that contain at least 12 copies of the same book. Those kits rarely include "new" books.

>86 ted74ca: I've discovered we have this at our public library. It's such a clever concept and I'm impressed with the choices both in diversity and, for us, English and French.

I've finished Psychopompe by Amélie Nothomb, a subtle but haunting read.
I've started The Life Impossible by Matt Haig.

Just finished Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian. A bit slow, but a decent read. I don't tend to read many American authors for some reason, but I generally really like his books.

>88 ted74ca: I like him, too.

I'm reading Long Island by Colm Toibin

I'm reading k.d. lang: All You Get is Me by Victoria Starr

I finished The Life Impossible by Matt Haig. Some really great passages and some really superhero vs villain nonsense (not my jam). Too bad because this book has a lot of potential as an exploration of deep feelings, overcoming loss and grief and embracing the beauty of life.

I'm reading Lost Science: Astonishing Tales of Forgotten Genius by Kitty Ferguson

I've started Breakfast at Tiffany's by Capote and finished L'Impossible Retour by Amélie Nothomb, a beautiful account of a return trip to Japan where she lived as a child.

Just finished a light, very funny and somewhat farcical novel by one of my very favourite authors Kate Atkinson. Really liked Death at the Sign of the Rook. A good read for these dreary, somewhat depressing times.

I'm going for some dark humour with How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

Somehow I'd missed reading the first in a crime fiction series (the Kincaid and James mysteries) that I've been enjoying for years now. Just finished A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie

I'm reading Katherena Vermette's new novel, Real Ones

I've finished The Exchange by John Grisham. Meh. Could've been about 300 pages shorter.

I'm reading The Untimely Resurrection of John Alexander MacNeil by Lesley Choyce

I'm loving La mort, entre autres by Philip Kerr, a thriller-espionage in post WWII Germany.

I'm reading The Witch of New York: The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice by Alex Hortis

>102 LynnB: my book was much more lighthearted with the fun side of being a witch...

La Sorcière moderne du foyer by Arin Murphy-Hiscock is a collection of lore, traditions and practices to inject a bit of magic in the everyday.

I've picked up Sunset Park by Paul Auster, written in the wake of the Occupy movement.

I'm reading How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

Len & Cub reveals the relationship between Leonard Keith and Joseph "Cub" Coates, both born in the last years of the nineteenth century in rural New Brunswick. Through Len's photos and considerable archival research, the authors piece together a portrait of what a same-sex relationship might look like at a time and in a place where neither man probably had a vocabulary to really describe it but did know that it was a relationship that had to remain concealed.

I'm reading The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization by Martin Puchner

I've started a collection of short stories with Lord Peter by Dorothy Sayers. They are way too grim to be cozy murders - I didn't remember Sayers to be this hard core !

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act / Bob Joseph
3.5 stars

This book goes through to explain parts of Canada’s Indian Act, originally created in 1876. Though there have been some updates, much remains. The author also includes, in an appendix, all 94 calls to action in the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Ultimately, though some (Indigenous people) are concerned about ramifications of getting rid of the outdated Indian Act altogether, the author (also Indigenous) believes it should go, and explains why.

Most people don’t know much about the Indian Act. I didn’t until earlier this year when I took an extremely comprehensive online (free!) course from the University of Alberta called Indigenous Canada (highly recommended, though it does take a chunk of time). So, I had heard (via that course) a lot of what the author mentions in this book. But that doesn’t mean a reminder wasn’t a good thing, because it is. It’s a short book; it sounds like the author did that on purpose. It’s not super-exciting reading (it’s explaining legal things), but it’s something that Canadians should read and educate themselves about.

>109 LibraryCin:

Thanks for the mention!

I'm reading Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Stars Between the Sun and Moon / Lucia Jang
3.5 stars

The author grew up in North Korea but soon learned she wanted out. She went through abusive relationships, two children (one who was sold, not by her choice), landed in jail more than once, went back and forth between China, and more. Eventually, she got out for good and made her way to Canada.

I listened to the audio. Unfortunately, that meant it was a while before I got interested. And it was interesting (and awful for her) once it was holding my attention, but I’d already missed a bunch of what was going on by that point, and I continued to lose focus at times. You could say there were some technical issues with the audio that didn’t help, but it’s hard to say if that would have made a difference in the rating or not. I actually thought I caught more than I did, but in reading some of the other reviews, I guess I missed more than I thought, even.

Back to my favourite genre-crime fiction/mysteries. I just finished The Last Word by Elly Griffiths and enjoyed it.

I'm reading Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

I finished the thriller Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf, which I enjoyed but, as in most cases, found the ending unbelievable.

I finished Beneath of the Sands of Egypt by Donald Ryan which gives great insight into an archaeologist's work.

December is off to a good start with one book on the board: The Trojan Horse, by Hammond Innes. I didn't enjoy it that much -- I think I've gone off this sort of thriller -- but at least it's one more book read and out of the house.

>117 rabbitprincess:

My goodness! Hammond Innes! It must be fifty years since I read those books. I have forgotten completely about The Trojan Horse (and the summary rings no bells) and The Wreck of the Mary Deare. I'm certain I did read at least those two.

I'm reading The Onion Field by Joseph Wambaugh, which I may have read as a teenager.

I just finished The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe and though it was a tad over sentimental and I definitely could have done without the talking dog scenario, I still really enjoyed it. My daughter and family live in the same area in Nova Scotia where the main character lived as a child, so I recognized a lot of the names of the surrounding towns when they were referenced in the novel, too.

>118 librorumamans: The Wreck of the Mary Deare is also in my collection! I've picked up a few over the years. My favourite so far is probably Air Bridge.

I'm reading Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton

I finished Baby Proof by Emily Giffin. It was the same disappointing drivel as the book I read from this author. This will be my last.

I'm reading Prairie Edge by Conor Kerr

I'm reading The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

Just finished a book in what used to be one of my favourite "mystery" series-the Flavia de Luce novels- but I didn't enjoy this one as much as I remember liking the earlier ones. What Time the Sexton's Spade doth Rust by Alan Bradley.Maybe it's time for this series to end....

I'm reading Normal People by Sally Rooney

More crime fiction for me: The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves

>127 LynnB: Curious to know how you like it, Lynn. Everyone seems to have loved it but I found it meh. I find it's a very generational read (aka for Millennials).

>129 Cecilturtle: I'm half way through Normal People and am wondering what it's really about. The relationship between Marianne and Connell isn't that interesting to me.

>130 LynnB: Eaxctly!

>131 Cecilturtle: Finished Normal People and it didn't wow me.

I'm reading Friendly Fire by Lisa Guenther

I'm reading Sociopath: A Memoire by Patric Gagne. Her first name is pronounced "Patrick" and she writes about her own diagnosis as a sociopath. She has a PhD in the subject so it should be interesting.

>133 LynnB: Oooh, that does sound interesting.

I finished La Reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas, my first Dumas! I was enthralled from beginning to end - what an amazing storyteller. I only wish we'd read this book in school for history instead of learning dates and battles.

I'm reading Oh William by Elizabeth Strout.

I just finished Looking for Jane, a debut novel by Heather Marshall. While I found some of the coincidences in the book were implausible, I did think the stories of the characters' experiences with reproductive freedom and societal mores (in Canada between 1960 and 2017) were very interesting. A lot of food for thought, especially in light of the current political shift to the right and the overturning of Roe vs Wade in the US in 2022....

I'm reading The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

Back to crime fiction for me: Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin

I finished Les fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon. I remember seeing the movie in the late 80s and loving it; I think that's what tuned me into Simenon. He's a master at turning everyday dreary events into suspenseful, creepy stories. This one is particularly cynical and cruel.

I'm starting my latest LT Early Reviewers book, Crossing from Shore to Shore by Jean P. Moore

I really enjoyed my latest read: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng