What are you reading now: March 1, 2025.

Currently working on A Contest of Civilizations. The Runes of Engagement and Ancient Worlds will follow.

Moved Palestine 1936 to the top of the pile and have basically finished that up.

I hope to finish The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters this weekend.
Also started The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear for my library book club read.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Good People by Israeli novelist Nir Baram. The story follows two characters starting in 1938: Thomas, a German trying to navigate Nazi rule in his desire for personal success in the business world in Berlin, and Sasha, who, as the book opens, is trying to protect her family by spying for the NKVD in Stalin-era Leningrad. The novel, which is 420 pages in length, could have maybe used a touch of editing, but overall it's quite interesting and enjoyable.

I'm re-reading Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. It's very good.

I'm listening to the most amazing audiobook, a Booker Prize winner called The Promise by Damon Galgut. I always seem to love South African literature, and I will definitely be reading more of Galgut's work.

I'm still reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. It's a little hard to read a dystopian story starting in 2024 with everything going on right now.

I am reading From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

For the first time in a long time, I am not sure what I will start reading this week. I have finished 2 plus a group read, and will scan my shelves for TBR and Challenges for my next reads this week.

From the library: The Woman Who Spoke to Spirits by Alys Clare
The 1st installment in "A World's End Bureau Mystery" series. It's set in 1879 London.

I recently finished and enjoyed Good People by Israeli author Nir Baram, which takes place from 1938 through 1941 in both Germany and Russia. You can find my review on the book's work page or on my 2025 50-Book Challenge thread. The novel has two protagonists, both trying to keep their heads above water by compromising "just a little" within the authoritarian regimes of Hitler and Stalin.

Now I'm back to Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt, which I'm reading in quarters. I've now started "Part 2- Prosperity and Its Discontents: 1953-1971."

started this audio via Libby ~

The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Kamogawa Food Detectives Novel, #1)
by Hisashi Kashiwai (Author), Jesse Kirkwood (Translator)

Something Like Home – Andrea Beatriz Arango
4****

This is a moving novel in verse written for middle-school-age children, dealing with foster care. As the novel opens, Laura is en route to her aunt’s apartment, accompanied by a social worker from DSS. Her parents are in rehab, as a result of Laura calling 9-1-1 when she found them unresponsive due to drug overdoses. Now Laura is with an aunt she doesn’t even know, and she feels guilty for causing this mess.

My heart broke for Laura. But she is a resilient child, clearly intelligent but confused by her situation. Her aunt, who is a doctor, tries her best, but is not used to having children near her and had been estranged from her sister (Laura’s mother) for some time. Aunt Titi must learn how to express her feelings for Laura, and Laura needs to learn to trust her aunt.

Laura finds herself in a new school and has trouble making friends. She doesn’t expect to be here long enough to forge the kind of friendships she had “at home.” When she finds a neglected and abandoned puppy, however, she begins to open up, making a friend, and formulating a plan for reuniting with her parents. Most importantly, she begins to speak up to the court-appointed guardian and to her aunt and insists that they listen to her point of view when formulating a plan for her care. Brava, Laura!

The Housemaid – Freida McFadden
4****

Millie Calloway is homeless when she arrives at the pristine, large suburban home with a gated entrance. She desperately needs the job as a live-in maid / nanny / cook. She’s a hard worker but she’s also a convicted felon on parole. She’s stunned when the immaculately groomed Nina Winchester offers her the job. Nina must not have done a background check, but Millie isn’t going to ask questions. But when she arrives for her first day, she finds the house a complete wreck with days’ worth of dirty dishes in the kitchen, clothes and wet towels on the floors, dusty furniture and food dropped on the floor. And her room is a tiny attic space barely bigger than a closet, and with a door that locks only on the outside! Still, she’s desperate and she will do whatever it takes to keep this job, at least until she can establish herself and move on.

Wow. This was gripping and I read it in one day. Nina is completely unstable. She’s ranting and raving one minute, sweet as pie the next. Her daughter Cecelia is a spoiled brat, who behaves only around her father, Andrew. Slowly but surely, Millie learns about Nina’s history of mental breakdowns. She sympathizes with the long-suffering husband and slowly falls in love with him.

There were several twists and turns in this tale of intrigue. Who really is the unstable person here? Millie and Nina are both smart women with goals that are at cross-purposes. Andrew is kind and loving and apparently dedicated to his wife and child. He’s also rich and incredibly handsome. And what’s with the hunk of a gardener, Enzo?

I really can’t say more without giving too much away. But I highly recommend this psychological thriller!

>11 BookConcierge: Sounds like a very emotional read.

Murder in G Major
Alexia Gordon
4/5 stars
Gethsemane Brown, who is African American has no choice but to accept a job at an Irish all-boys' school. A ghost appears in her home and she learns that he has supposedly killed himself and his wife. The ghost begs her to help him clear his name. This is a series that I found on Goodreads and I plan to read more of her books. Mystery

The new thread is up over here.