November 2025 Reads

Re-reading The Great Ancestor Hunt by Lila Perl. Non-fiction.

Enjoying The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. Her books remind me of the old Victoria Holt novels my mom loved.

Currently reading A Great Marriage by Frances Mayes

Currently reading two Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child and Andrew Child, Exit Strategy and In Too Deep. Pulp thrillers, full of gratuitous violence and vigilantism, but I'm travelling and they make for something to pass the time without having to think too much.

I'm reading A Student of Weather by Elizabeth Hay to check whether it would be suitable gift. It's a fine book, but perhaps not the best fit for the intended recipient.

I read Wild Dark Shore, which is billed as a mystery/thriller sort of book but it has much deeper themes.

Finished The Great Ancestor Hunt by Lila Perl

This book is written for young readers to begin their search for their ancestors. At the back of the book, the author has said she worked with fourth-grade students at a school in New York. The book is also good for adults. The book was written in 1989 so a lot of the organizations are now found on the internet.
The pictures are very helpful and hope it encourages the reader to search for old photographs as they tell a lot of the family.
Contents:
1. Who Cares About Uncle Edgar?
2. Tracing Your Family's Roots.
3. Across the Ocean, Over the Plains
4. Family Treasures, Family Pleasures
Appendix:Digging Deeper:
Public Records That May Help in Your Ancestor Hunt
Bibliography
Acknowledgements And Photo Credits
Index
I own a copy of the book and this is a re-read.

>4 John5918: I have read all of the Reacher series written by Lee Child and enjoyed them, but that stopped when Andrew took over. His idea of a good plot is, as you say, gratuitous violence, and there is no character development. I wouldn't read Andrew's Reacher even while waiting for a delayed flight!

I'm currently reading R. F. Kuang's Katabasis and Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism and just finished Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing and Iron Flame.

>8 TempleCat:

I can't disagree with most of that!

Currently reading a Sigma Force thriller The Eye of God by James Rollins

I'm reading Nomad Century: How to Survive the Climate Upheaval by Gaia Vince which was given to me by a friend a couple of weeks ago. Despite the rather apocalyptic title it's actually quite a decent reflection on the connection between migration and climate. She argues that one of the ways the human species has survived numerous climate changes over the millennia is by migration. We're already beginning to see an uptick in migration as heat, drought and floods make some areas increasingly untenable, and this can only increase as the temperature of the earth continues to rise. Many, particularly in areas which have not been badly affected yet, are currently seeing migration as a threat. Can it not rather be seen as a global necessity to which we all will need to adapt?

Reading Christmas with Southern Living 1999I bought at a thrift store. These are always a fun read with many ideas.

I've just finished Call of the Camino by Suzanne Redfearn. It evokes fond memories for anyone who has been on the Camino, and I like the way she juxtaposes two generations thirty years apart. It's a novel, not a book on spirituality, but any serious attempt to engage with the Camino automatically includes elements of spirituality, whether explicitly or implicitly, and this one is no exception. An enjoyable read.

Two minor irritations. The first is that there is a thread of what I can only describe as "millennial angst" running through the story, something which I in my seventies can't identify with, but which I suppose is par for the course these days. The second is the list of "discussion questions" at the end. This is a novel, not a text book or training manual, and I think an author should have the confidence that her writing is good enough to inspire relevant questions in the mind of each reader without having to suggest her own.

>14 John5918: "The second is the list of "discussion questions" at the end. This is a novel, not a text book or training manual, and I think an author should have the confidence that her writing is good enough to inspire relevant questions in the mind of each reader without having to suggest her own."

I'm seeing that more and more these days, and I thought that perhaps the publisher is suggesting that the novel would be a good book club selection?