August AlphaKIT: M and G

Welcome to the 2024 AlphaKIT.
This is an unofficial challenge for the 2024 Category Challenge Group. Each month has two letters selected for you to use however you choose.

There are no rules. Have fun and enjoy reading. August letters are: M and G

and

If you like, update the AlphaKIT wiki with your reading.

My book club's choice for August is "The Bridges of Madison County" by Robert James Waller.

I do have some possibilities for G but I'll decide after I've looked at other challenges.

M is a dangerous letter for me as I read a lot of Murder mysteries.
Currently reading

Art Lover's Guide to Paris and Murder ✅
Athenian Murders
Booked on Murder
Comic Sans Murder
FDR's Mentors: Navigating the Path to Greatness °
Murder in the Tea Leaves ✅
Murder at the Movies ✅
Murder in Portofino ✅
Murder Most Pemberley
Murder on Tour ✅
Murder, She Barked
Party to Murder
Rake Mistake
Snow Place for Murder ✅
Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper ✅
Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

I am thinking of reading Grimm Up North by David Gatward and Where the River Ends by Charles Martin but this could change as other challenges are posted.

I'm planning on Jerusalem Inn by Martha Grimes and Real Tigers by Mick Herron.

Tentatively planning to get both letters with Michael Bishop's retrospective collection The Door Gunner, but my plans have been unusually subject to change this summer, so who knows what I'll actually wind up reading?

I have an Elly Griffiths to read, so that's one.

>4 DeltaQueen50: - Where the River Ends might be my favorite Charles Martin book (so far).

>8 dudes22: LOL - this was a book bullet that I took from you, Betty!

>3 cyderry: Agreed! I will probably read Mai Tai Murder Cruise by Addison Moore.

My first book this month is Mord im Auwald by Beate Maly. A nice, cosy historical mystery.

I'm planning to read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride that covers both letters.

I read Gingerdead House by Nancy Warren (a fun re-read) and Crumbs and Misdemeanors by the same author.

Currently reading Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell

I finished Slightly Tempted by Mary Balogh, the fourth book in the Bedwyn series.

I finished The Mayor of Castro Street by Randy Shilts.

COMPLETED A Point of Law by John Maddox Roberts (though started in July)

Starting "Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain" by Amy Jeffs

I have finished Ich war den Hunnen untertan by Géza Gárdonyi.

I've finished The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges for M.

I've already got my second M with To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

I have also finished Lost in Fuseta, a very entertaining mystery set in Portugal written by Gil Ribeiro. It's a pseudonym, but that's what's on the cover.

Mysteries are such quick reads that I can add two more: Schlechte Karten für den Barista by Marco Malvaldi and Alter schützt vor morden nicht by Helene Tursten. The first was fun, the second a bit too predictable

M: The Mimicking of Known Successes, Malka Older

COMPLETED Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain by Amy Jeffs

Starting "The Boy Bishop's Glovemaker" by Michael Jecks

Finished 8 Lives of a Century old Trickster by Mirinae Lee.

Another one for M is Tod in Baden by Beate Maly.

Yet another M: Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda.

I recently read Tara Isabella Burton's Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World for G.

I finished The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.

COMPLETED The Boy-Bishop's Glovemaker by Michael Jecks

Currently reading Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

I returned to The Hollow Hills with Mary Stewart.

I finished Real Tigers by Mick Herron, A Blunt Instrument by Georgette Heyer and The Murder of Mr Wickham by Claudia Gray.

Both letters: A Comedy of Murders, George Herman.

I just finished Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews, which works for both letters.

I have finished Toine, a collection of short stories by Guy de Maupassant which works for both letters.

September AlphaKIT is up.

I read Galatea, a short story by Madeline Miller, catching both letters.

>36 majkia: - Yikes! Is it time for that already? Feels like August just started.

COMPLETED Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

I have finished Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin.

Starting Ten for Dying by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer.

Adding one more G book: Die Geschichte der Normannen, a non-fiction book about the Normans by Rudolf Simek.

I have finished a few Gs and a lot of Ms so far:

The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe
The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth
The Old Woman With the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo
Urgent Matters by Paula Rodriguez
Like LIfe by Lorrie Moore
Broken Summer by J. M. Lee
Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by MJ Wassmer
Classified as Murder by Miranda James
The Cowboy and His Elephant by Malcolm MacPherson

I've read two for M: N or M? and The Mirror Crack'd, both by Agatha Christie.

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.

One more M book is Mord auf der Trabrennbahn by Beate Maly.

I also read Herztier (translated to English as The Land of Green Plums) by Herta Müller.

Yet another M book -- The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.

Another twofer: Murder by an Aristocrat by Mignon G. Eberhart.

COMPLETED
Ten for Dying
Murder in Megara
An Empire for Ravens

all by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer

The Collector of Dying Breaths / M. J. Rose
3 stars

In the 16th century, Rene is a perfumer for Catherine de Medici. But even before that (and he continues on with his experimenting), he collected the dying breaths of people; the idea was that the person’s soul was in that last breath, and he hoped to find a way to reanimate that soul. Rene was continuing on the work of his mentor/father-figure. In addition, Catherine managed to convince Rene to also produce some poisons.

In the current day, Jac’s younger brother has also been continuing on this tradition of dying breaths, and Jac follows a trail to continue on after her brother dies. This bring her into contact with some… interesting people as she tries to find some of the ingredients that Rene might have used hundreds of years earlier. Jac also thinks she has been continually reincarnated and has been responsible for her love dying in more than one life, so she has pushed her current love away.

This was ok. It got more interesting at the end as things heated up particularly for Jac, but I found much of it unbelievable and slow-moving. It was interesting to read the author’s note at the end that indicated that Rene was Catherine’s perfumer; the dying breath theory was possible, but it’s not known if people thought that at the time.

I just finished Eager by Ben Goldfarb.

Starting The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

M: I read Little Mole's Week by Michal Černik, ill. by Zdeněk Miler & Kateřina Miler, a cute board book I bought in Prague this week. It was a trip down memory lane.

For G, I also read Glitterland by Alexis Hall, a five star read despite its difficult topics!

The Relentless Moon / Mary Robinette Kowal
4 stars

This is the third in a series. Series summary: In the 1950s a meteorite hit the Earth and wiped out much of the US East Coast. It also caused extreme climate changes. Now in 1963, there has been a decade of of space travel and plans to send humans to the moon and to Mars to start colonizing there as the Earth becomes more uninhabitable. There are protesters, though, as everyone knows there will be only some who will be able to move to the moon or Mars – not everyone will get that opportunity.

In this book, the 3rd in the series, one of the original women astronauts, Nicole, leaves her politician husband (he is governor of Kentucky) on Earth to help set up the colony on the moon. It is difficult for both of them, as Kenneth has just announced that he will run for president; they also know that because Kenneth has a heart problem, he will never be able to leave Earth. In addition, it appears that someone is trying to sabotage these colonizing missions; the sabotage is happening both on the moon and on Earth. While on the moon, Nicole, with the help of some of her friends, try to figure out who it is and things heat up when their communication to Earth is cut off.

I really liked this one. The entire series is very good. I think I liked this and the 2nd one more than the first in the series. This one was longer than the others, but I also think there was more going on, including Nicole dealing with anorexia and a polio outbreak on the moon. There was rarely a moment when I wasn’t interested in what was going on.

COMPLETED The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Starting "The Bridges of Madison County" by Robert James Waller

I listened to Unruly by David Mitchell.
I didn't learn a lot of history, but it was a fun canter through history.

I read yet another M, Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski. It's a postwar British novel about a man searching for his young son in a bleak France.

Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton hit both letters.
Elise King was a successful detective until breast cancer appeared. Now she is on medical leave and observing the conflicts of those around her in the small seaside town of Ebbing. What she misses, her cleaner Dee is sure to find out. A newcomer wants to make his mark with a giant music festival but two teens overdose on drugs and Charlie, a man with a disabled daughter, disappears from the event all of which tempt Elise back into unofficial detecting.

I listened to the audiobook and realized the print version would have made a better choice. The changing timelines and different perspectives made it confusing although different narrators helped identify the time. It was difficult to remain focussed but I limped along to a surprise ending.

I recently finished A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab. It's book #2 in her Shades of Magic series, and it definitely does not stand alone.

The Little French Bistro / Nina George
2 stars

Marianne and her husband are visiting Paris from Germany when Marianne heads into the Seine, planning to kill herself. Someone pulls her out. While Marianne is in the hospital, her husband heads home. Marianne recovers and stays in France, working at a cafe.

I was disappointed, as I thought the title was cute, but the book didn’t live up to it for me. I listened to the audio and this was boring. Slow-moving, not much really happened beyond some romances (not my thing). Oh, I do believe someone died. There were so many characters that (because I really wasn’t paying attention), I had no idea who they were or how they related to each other (except for a couple of them). I’d like to say I didn’t like any of the characters, but I probably didn’t hear enough to know if I might have had I been paying attention. From what I did hear, though, I didn’t like them. Weren’t there people cheating on other people? (I mean besides Marianne… not that her husband was a prize, either, but...)

Finally a G--Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim, a diary (lightly fictionalized) about an upper-class English-German woman's joy in gardening near the Baltic.

I finished Love Me Do by Lindsey Kelk for M -- a cute, undemanding contemporary romance with a Cyrano-esque plot.

Starting What Belongs To You by Garth Greenwell

Booked for Trouble / Eva Gates
4 stars

This is book two of a series. Librarian Lucy lives in a small town where the library is in a lighthouse and Lucy’s apartment is above the library. When Lucy’s mom (Suzanne) is visiting, Suzanne has a bad (very public) interaction with some people she knew back in high school. Later, Suzanne comes to Lucy’s book club, where both of those people also attend. Suzanne makes up with one of those people she’d earlier had a run-in with (Karen), but the next morning, Karen is found dead outside the library.

I really liked this. I love the library/lighthouse setting and I like many of the characters (though there were a number of unlikable characters, as well). Lucy does seem a bit innocent in her relationships, but even so, I like the two men who seem interested, though I might like one just a little more than the other.

Finished 6:

G books:
Greenbanks, Dorothy Whipple (1932)
Sylvia's Lovers, Elizabeth Gaskell (1863)

M books:
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, Elizabeth Taylor (1971)
The Last Bookshop in London, Madeline Martin (2021)
Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens (1865); audiobook
The Rector's Daughter, F. M. Mayor (1924)

I finished Here For the Right Reasons by Jodi McAlister.

I finished one final M with Death in August by Marco Vichi.

Yesterday I finished one last G book, The Ensemble by Aja Gabel.

I still have to report my last M book: The Roommate by Dervla McTiernan.

I finished The Woman in the Library BY Sulari Gentill for my "G" book.