April 2026 Reads

Reading No Small Thing, A Novel of the American Revolution by Harold Coyle and The Monk, A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan. Both were won from GR or LT.

I am still reading Amanda by Kay Hooper and plan to start reading London by Edward Rutherfurd it is over 1000 pages so it take a while to finish.

Just finished These Days Will End by Kevin Wignall. I'm pleased to say that I guessed whodunnit several chapters before it was revealed.

>2 GrammyTammyM: I have London on bookshelf. Are you liking it so for?

>4 mnleona: I've never not liked an Edward Rutherfurd novel, but I have been known to skip-read when I get bogged down! I read London years ago and found a cheap secondhand copy that's on my stack for when I'm feeling ambitious.

>4 mnleona: Oh yes, I have several of his books. I read London about twenty years ago so it is like visiting an old friend.

Just finished Goodbye California by Alistair MacLean. Not one of his best.

Finished Nine Goblins: A Tale of Low Fantasy and High Mischief by T. Kingfisher. A lot of laughing out loud occurred 😂

A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao. Excellent. A murder mystery set in the British Empire in 1914, but also a social commentary on some aspects of said Empire.

The Wizard's Butler by Nathan Lowell. Nice book.

I've just read WW2: A Layman's Guide by Scott Addington. It was free on Kindle and I just wanted to see what it was like. For anyone who knows anything about WW2 it was rather shallow and superficial, and at times the writing style was annoyingly flippant. However I realise that although it may seem strange to people of our generation who grew up in the immediate post-war period, there's now a whole generation who know absolutely nothing about WW2, and I think this is not a bad summary of many of the main aspects of the war. To its credit it mentions the war in China, gives due credit to the USSR, and reminds modern readers that there were five, not two, beach landings on D-Day, and that British and Canadian troops outnumbered the US participants on that first day. It does include a limited but serious bibliography.

I've also just finished The Last Conclave by Glenn Cooper, a Vatican-oriented thriller.

>7 John5918: I agree - I found the book to be extremely underwhelming.

Just finished Paddy Mayne by Hamish Ross, a readable and enjoyable biography of one of the early leaders of the Long Range Desert Group and the SAS, with a quite a bit of history of these units in the WWII era.

I just finished The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller. I studied Homer's The Odyssey in the Robert Fitzgerald translation way back in college (geez, over 60 years ago!) but never sat down with The Iliad, instead moving on to The Aeneid of Virgil. I'm glad that I put off reading the Iliad because I think it helped me appreciate Miller's The Song of Achilles much more. Of course I knew the basic legends about the Trojan War and enjoyed the various movies about it (especially Brad Pitt in Troy) but while I knew the plot points, I had missed out on the personalities and interplay of the characters involved. The Song of Achilles was revelatory and I actually teared up over the final pages, something totally unexpected.

April was very slow reading-wise. I managed a re-read of The Beekeper's Apprentice, (wonky touchstone), the first of Laurie King's Mary Russell series, for the Thursday mystery book club that I've joined at my favorite local library. I had read it when it was new, almost 20 years ago, along with the second of the series. I've got way too much on Mount Tooby at the moment to consider reading the whole series, but I think I might enjoy it someday.

I've just re-read The Chase by Clive Cussler from my bookshelf after so many years that I could barely remember the story line. Classic Cussler, with railway interest.

>15 Jim53: I'm a fan of the Laurie King Mary Russell series, but the quality is inconsistent. I like the earlier ones much better, with the exception of The Murder of Mary Russell. That one is almost a standalone and features the backstory of the ever-faithful housekeeper Mrs. Hudson.

Another Clive Cussler classic with railway interest, The Wrecker. I was struck by the number of proofreading errors in both the Cussler books. I know from my own books that no matter how often the manuscript is checked by many different proofreaders, errors still creep in, but I must say I would have expected something better from a publisher of Penguin's reputation and professionalism.

Just started reading Sniffing Out Murder by Kallie E. Benjamin have been needing to read a cozy mystery between reading London by Edward Rutherfurd

>16 John5918: I don't think I have that one. I recently read Inca Gold. I found a lot of his books at Goodwill. Looked like someone cleaned out their books.

Finished The Chocolate Maker's Wife by Karen Brooks. I liked the history but book was dark reading for me.

After weeks not able to sine into LT, I finally made it today. Cloudflare thinks I am a "malicious bot".

I didn't get much read this month. I did get Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller read, and I read Thoughtful Alphabets: The Just Dessert and The Deadly Blotter by Edward Gorey.

I did visit two area Indie bookstores last weekend on Indie Bookstore Day. I came home with five new books. I did not need five new books. But they made me happy, so maybe I did need five new books. And I had a very enjoyable day with my daughter, so I'll take the entire day as a win.

"there was an old woman" by Hallie Ephron (the title is deliberately lower case). In short, bad guys trying to convince elderly homeowners to sell up property cheap, hiding their purses and paperwork, setting dry teakettles on the stove, moving parked cars to different spaces ... frankly, it's hitting a little too close to home!

I am persevering, however...can't let those whippersnappers win.