Books Read in July 2024

 

I am so far behind on my monthly reading lists; I am writing this summary of July reading in early September. Looking back on July, there was a good bit of variety in my reading. Only three of the seven books I read were crime fiction, which is unusual. The five novels were from my 20 Books of Summer list but the two nonfiction books were not.

So here are the books I read in July...

Nonfiction / Books about Books

More Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason (2005) by Nancy Pearl

This book is part of Nancy Pearl's Book Lust series, which includes Book Lust and Book Lust to Go. I have read all three of these books multiple times, and I believe this was my fourth time to read More Book Lust. One of the limitations of this book is that it was published almost 20 years ago and so could be considered out of date. For me, that doesn't matter, as I want to know about older authors as well as newer ones. The book is divided into various topics. Many of the topics include mystery and crime fiction suggestions, which I appreciate. And each time I reread the books, I discover new books and authors.

Nonfiction / Travel / Adventure

Lost Lands, Forgotten Stories (2002) Alexandra Pratt 

The subtitle of this book is "A Woman's Journey into the Heart of Labrador." Pratt describes a challenging canoeing expedition that she took with a native guide (of the Innu tribe) on a series of rivers in Labrador. It was an amazing journey. See my review.

Science Fiction

A Closed and Common Orbit (2016) by Becky Chambers

This is the second book in the Wayfarers series; the first two books are only loosely connected. The only characters shared between the two books are Pepper, an engineer, and Lovelace, an AI that ran the ship in the first book. I loved the writing and the story telling and the world building.

Fantasy

The Dead Fathers Club (2006) by Matt Haig

This is a modern retelling of Hamlet. The main character and narrator is 11-year-old Philip Noble whose father recently died in a car accident. I am not sure if it was aimed at adults or young adults, and I am still not sure what I think of it. I liked it, mostly, and it definitely wasn't boring. It was very funny at times and I was pleased with the ending.

Crime Fiction

A Cast of Falcons (2016) by Steve Burrows

Steve Burrows is a Canadian author and this was the first book I read for the Canadian Reading Challenge. A Cast of Falcons is the third book in Burrow's Birder Murder Mystery series. See my review.

War Game (1976) by Anthony Price

Anthony Price published 19 novels; all featured David Audley, a British spy during the Cold War. The focus in this espionage series is on characterization and intellect, not action, although there is some of that present. Most of the books in this series have historical events infused into a present day story (keeping in mind that they were written between 1970 and 1990). In Other Paths to Glory, which won the Gold Dagger in 1974, it was World War I and the battlefields of the Somme. In Colonel Butler's Wolf, the site of the story is Hadrian's Wall. War Game is the seventh book in the series and centers around the English Civil War and events in 1643. I love this series, but I need to read them closer together because I forget who the continuing characters are, except for David Audley.

Dark Fire (2004) by C.J. Sansom

This is a historical mystery set in London in 1540; it is the second book in a series of seven featuring lawyer Matthew Shardlake as the protagonist. In the first book, Dissolution, Shardlake was working for Thomas Cromwell, helping with the dissolution of the monasteries. In this book, it is three years later, and he is again working for Thomas Cromwell, this time under duress. See my review.

Currently reading

I am now reading The White Lioness by Henning Mankell, the 3rd book in the Wallander series. It was published in 1993. It is the story of a murder in Sweden that has its roots in South Africa, and it addresses the issues of Apartheid at that time.

 

The two photos at the top of the post were taken in our back fenced-in area in 2010. They are motivating me to spend more time cleaning up the back yard and potting up more plants. The photo immediately above is Rosie the cat, taken in 2013, the year that she came to live with us. Click on the images for best viewing quality.

Books Read in November 2023

November was a very nice reading month. Two science fiction novels! Three novellas! A children's book set at Christmas! Two books from my Classics List! My total for the month was nine books, but that was mostly because I read three very short books and finished a book I had been reading over the last few months.

Nonfiction / Books about Books

Book Lust (2003) by Nancy Pearl

This is at least my third read of this book since it first came out. The subtitle is "Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason." Nancy Pearl was a librarian for many years and obviously has read a lot of books, and books from practically every genre. This book is filled with recommendations. I reread it because my tastes have changed over time and I always see some books that are new to me in it on each read. This time I was looking specifically for books about countries all over the world, or books using those countries as a setting. Since the book was published in 2003 it is not up to date, but I have always read more older books than current books so that does not matter to me.

Fiction / Children's 

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street  (2018) by Karina Yan Glaser

This is a middle grade children's book set at Christmas, and a very lovely read. It is the first in a series of seven books about the family. See my review.

Fiction / Horror

Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker

Many people, including my husband, have told me that Dracula is a very good read, and they were all right. The story is told through letters and diary entries and I enjoyed that format. It was much more accessible than I expected, although parts of it were challenging to read. This book is on my Classics List and I am glad that I finally read it. 

Science Fiction

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (2014) by Becky Chambers

This book is an excellent space opera, the first book in a three book series called Wayfarers. See my review.

Rogue Protocol (2018) by Martha Wells

The protagonist and narrator of Rogue Protocol is a security robot that has both human and robotic parts. This third entry in the Murderbot Diaries series is a novella, as are most of the books in the series. My review of the first book, All Systems Red, is here. I would not start with Rogue Protocol because there is so little backstory for what has gone before. I have enjoyed all of the books so far and the fourth book is already on my shelves waiting to be read.

Crime Fiction

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) by James M. Cain

Cain's first novel is a noir mystery and very brief, only 120 pages long. This was another book from my Classics List. See my review.

Where There's Love, There's Hate (1946) by Adolfo Bioy Casares and Silvina Ocampo

Translated by Suzanne Jill Levine and Jessica Ernst Powell

This was a lovely short read at 128 pages. It may turn out to be one of my top ten books of the year. The introduction by Suzanne Jill Levine describes this book as a "tongue-in-cheek mystery somewhere between detective spoof and romantic satire." See my review.

Favor (1988) by Parnell Hall

Stanley Hastings is a licensed private detective in Manhattan, but his job is to pursue leads for an ambulance chaser lawyer. In this 3rd novel in the series. Stanley does some investigating in Atlantic City, to help out a policeman friend of his. See my review.

City Under One Roof (2023) by Iris Yamashita

This debut novel is set in an isolated small town in Alaska, Point Mettier. The isolation is imposed by natural forces, a major storm that closes the tunnel that provides the only access to the city. All 205 residents in the town live in one high-rise building. The story follows three characters: Amy Lin, a teenage girl who lives with her mother; Cara Kennedy, a detective who has come to the city to investigate some body parts found on a beach; and Lonnie Mercer, an eccentric loner who has a pet moose. All the main characters were interesting and most of the secondary characters are suspicious. Just about everyone has secrets they are hiding. A second book is scheduled to come out in February 2024, and I will be reading it at some point.

The photos at the top and bottom of this post were taken when we were walking to the Monarch Butterfly Grove in Goleta. It wasn't the time of year for the butterflies to be there, but it was a great walk and our first visit to the area in years.

Photos were taken and processed by my husband. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

My reading in May and June 2023

In May and June, I read a total of 17 books. Two were nonfiction, and two were general fiction, both from my Classics Club list.

The other 13 books were crime fiction. Two of those were short story books that I was finishing up from previous months. 

In June I started on my 20 Books of Summer list and read 6 from that list. I have even posted my thoughts on four of those. 

So here are the books I read.

Nonfiction / Health

Hello, Sleep (2023) by Jade Wu

The focus of this book is insomnia. The subtitle is "The Science and Art of Overcoming Insomnia Without Medications." The book offers a self-guided program that helps change a person's sleeping patterns and behavior using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). The book was extremely interesting to me and I learned a lot from it.

Nonfiction / Books about Books

Book Lust to Go (2010) by Nancy Pearl

My third read of this book, and I enjoyed it every time I read it. This time I read it specifically for the Bookish Books Reading Challenge and to look for some books for the Wanderlust Challenge at FictionFan's Book Reviews, which I am planning to start working on (after 20 Books of Summer).

Fiction

The Optimist's Daughter (1972) by Eudora Welty

I read this book for the Classics Club Spin #33. The book is very short, 180 pages in the edition I read. It was published in 1972 and won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1973. Welty was a well-known author of Southern fiction but she only wrote five novels, between 1946 and 1972. See my thoughts here.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) by Carson McCullers

I read this book for the Classics Club Spin #34 and it is also on my 20 Books of Summer list. How lucky was that? I liked the book a lot, and will be reviewing it in July.

Crime Fiction

Murder by the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles (2021) ed. by Martin Edwards

Murder by the Book is a short story anthology edited by Martin Edwards. It is a part of the British Library Crime Classics series, published in the US by Poisoned Pen Press. I reviewed some of the stories in this book here and here.

Paper Chase (1989) by Bob Cook

This is a humorous book about four old spies who retired years ago, and only get together at the funerals of other old friends who were intelligence agents. They are forbidden to publish their memoirs, and they decide to deal with this by writing and publishing a fictional story based on their memoirs. I enjoyed the book, it was short and fun but serious enough. And I love the cover.

Slough House (2021) and

Bad Actors (2022) by Mick Herron

Books 7 and 8 in the Slow Horses series. Mick Herron is an author that has never disappointed me. The "slow horses" are MI5 agents who have been demoted due to some disgrace or screw up in their jobs, and are now working under Jackson Lamb. Amazingly, this is one series I have kept current with. I love the writing, the characters, and the plots get better and better.

Murder is Easy (1939) by Agatha Christie

This is one of Christie's standalone mysteries, published in 1939. It isn't one of her best, but most books by Christie are worth reading, and this one was fun and entertaining. Luke Fitzwilliam, a retired policeman, returns to England after several years in the East. He is on a train when he meets Miss Fullerton, an elderly woman on her way to Scotland Yard to report some murders in her village. Later, when he finds that Miss Fullerton was killed in a hit-and-run accident in London, and that the man that she thought was going to be the next murder victim had also died recently, he goes to her village to investigate. 

Killers of a Certain Age (2022) by Deanna Raybourn

This story is about four older women who have worked for years as assassins. The organization that hired and trained them is the Museum, and now the Museum has turned against them and ordered their deaths. At first I was reluctant to read this book because I have had problems with books centered around hitmen, but I had heard so much about this one, I had to try it. I loved this book, and I regret that I did not have time to review it. 

Dolphin Junction: Stories (2021) by Mick Herron

This collection was published in 2021 and features 11 short stories previously published between 2006 and 2019. There are four stories about the Oxford wife-and-husband detective team of Zoë Boehm and Joe Silvermann, characters from Herron's Oxford Investigations series, plus a story about Jackson Lamb, top agent in the Slow Horses series, which goes back to a time in the past when he had an assignment in Berlin. There are also six short stories with no connection to any of his novels. I reviewed some of the stories in this book here and here.

Clark and Division (2021) by Naomi Hirahama

This is the first book I have read that gave me any insight into the internment of Japanese Americans into "relocation camps" during World War II. In this novel, the Ito family are sent to Manzanar shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Later they are resettled in Chicago, far from their original home Southern California. The oldest daughter was sent to Chicago first, and when the rest of the family arrives, they find that she has committed suicide. This was a good read, and it inspires me to read more about the subject. The second book in this series, Evergreen, will be published on August 1, 2023. In that book, the Ito family has been allowed to return home to California.

The Mitford Murders (2017) by Jessica Fellowes

The first book in a series set among the Mitford family, in 1920.  My review here.

Mindful of Murder (2022) by Susan Juby

Helen Thorpe returns to the Yatra Institute, a spiritual retreat where she used to work, after the owner of the institute dies. The author is Canadian and the setting is one of British Columbia’s gulf islands. My review here.

Our Man in Camelot (1975) by Anthony Price

This is the 6th book in the David Audley series, a Cold War espionage series usually set in the UK. See my thoughts here.

A Dying Fall (2012) by Elly Griffiths

This was the fifth book in the popular Ruth Galloway series, which features a forensic archaeologist living in Norfolk in an isolated cottage on the saltmarsh. Since both this book and Our Man in Camelot centered around the Arthurian legend, I combined my reviews in one post.

Sworn to Silence (2009) by Linda Castillo

I had been putting off reading this 1st book in the Kate Burkholder series, another very popular mystery series, set in an Amish town in Ohio. Kate Burkholder is the police chief of the town. One of her deputies finds the body of a dead girl who has been raped and mutilated. I thought this book would have too much graphic violence and tension. It was not too tense (for me) and I loved the characters. The violence was a bit too much for me, but I will be reading more of this series. 

Walks

The images at the top and bottom of the post were taken in May, when we visited Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden, a small park in Santa Barbara. It covers only one city block, but has lots of paths to walk around on, and is a favorite for dog walkers. For three years when our son was very young, we lived across the street on Garden Street. It was the only time we have lived in the city rather than an unincorporated area.

My husband took the photos. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

Reading Summary for January 2022

 

This month I read a strange (for me) assortment of books. A total of six books, and only two of them were crime fiction. The crime fiction novels and short stories I read were all published before 1960, although the stories by Georges Simenon were collected in book format years later.

Nonfiction, Books about Books

More Book Lust (2005) by Nancy Pearl

This book is part of Nancy Pearl's Book Lust series, which includes Book Lust, More Book Lust and Book Lust to Go. I have read all three of these more than once, and I believe this was my third time to read More Book Lust. The book is divided into various topics. Many of the topics include mystery and crime fiction suggestions, which I appreciate.

General Fiction

The Dining Car (2016) by Eric Peterson

This book follows three people who travel around the country on a train, in a luxurious private railroad car. Horace Button is a food writer and social critic who writes for Sunshine Trails, a magazine that he and a friend founded many years before. He eats and drinks a lot, and smokes cigars, and is often very obnoxious and opinionated. Jack Marshall is a former football star who was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident, and needs a job badly. Horace hires him as the bartender for the railroad car. Wanda is the chef, with her own set of problems and prejudices. They have just settled into their new working arrangements when two events threaten their way of life. First, a group of people try to take over the magazine and ease Horace out. Then, Horace's sister, a famous Senator, is killed by terrorists. I enjoyed reading this book. Not a mystery, and I can't remember why I was interested in it, other than it is set on a train, and about a man travelling around in a vintage private railroad car. 

Olive Kitteridge (2008) by Elizabeth Strout

This book is a novel told in short stories. Olive Kitteridge is the focus for many of the stories, but the stories are told from varying viewpoints. Most of the book is about Olive's later years, after she and her husband retire, but the stories look back to her earlier years also. My review here.

Fantasy, Time Travel

Before the Coffee Gets Cold (2015) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

This book is about a tiny café in Tokyo where visitors are able to travel back in time for a short time, under specific conditions. I loved this book, but I like time travel stories of any type. My review here.

Crime Fiction

Last Seen Wearing (1952) by Hillary Waugh

This book is one of the first true police procedurals, and in the last two decades, I have considered police procedural novels my favorite subgenre of crime fiction. I was happy to see it reprinted as a part of the Library of Congress Crime Classics series. The introduction by Leslie Klinger is very good, with an excellent overview of the first police procedurals. There is also an "About the Author" section that is very useful and a list of recommended further reading related to this book. Full review soon.

Maigret's Christmas (1976) by Georges Simenon

Translated from the French by Jean Stewart

In the last year I have started reading novels and stories by Georges Simenon again. This one was a great addition to my shelves. Some of the stories have a Christmas theme, others are not related to Christmas at all. All of the stories in this book were originally published between 1947 and 1951.

In November, December and January, I talked about some of the stories from Maigret's Christmas: 

The title short story, "Maigret's Christmas."

Another Christmas story, "Seven Small Crosses in a Notebook."

The remaining short stories in the book, including "The Man in the Street."

My husband took both of the photos in this post on the grounds of Stow House in Santa Barbara County. Click on the images for best viewing quality.