Book a Week 2020 - BW9: Ladies of Fiction - Deborah Crombie

[Kareni]

I found out yesterday morning that there was a new book available in one of my favorite series; I bought it and finished it last night. I enjoyed it but not as much as some of the earlier books in the series.

Murder in Deep Regret: Doyle & Acton #11 by Anne Cleeland

 "A shocking death at St. Michael's Church pitches Detective Sergeant Kathleen Doyle into a confusing case--one where the motive for the crime is not at all clear, and only becomes less so as the investigation unearths a massive criminal enterprise.
Why was the murder of such a famous man necessary? And why does Doyle have the sense that the killer had to steel himself to commit the crime?
Once again, Doyle has to keep a wary eye on her husband, Chief Inspector Acton, as she ponders these strange events; Acton may protest his innocence but she knows--in the way she knows things--that he's harboring a secret, which does not bode well for her peace of mind. . ."

 Regards,

Kareni

[Miss Tick]

1 hour ago, Kareni said:

I found out yesterday morning that there was a new book available in one of my favorite series

Isn't that a great feeling?!!?

[SKL]

Howdy.

I just finished the 5th "Rose book" ("Little House" series about Rose Wilder Lane).  On to the 6th book.

My kids and I are listening to Talking Back to OCD.  It's long for a 13yo but she is seeing a lot of truth in it.  (We are still early in Chapter 2.)

We are also listening to Johnny Tremain again, as they are reading this for school.

Cleaning out my book fiend's bedroom and I have piles of "too young" nonfiction books to deal with.  I still want to read many of them with my kids before we pass them down.  So I need to come up with a plan for that.

[Kareni]

3 hours ago, Kareni said:

I found out yesterday morning that there was a new book available in one of my favorite series...

 

2 hours ago, SusanC said:

Isn't that a great feeling?!!?

It is indeed!

Regards,

Kareni

[Ottakee]

I just finished The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek  When I first started I wasn't sure I wanted to continue but I kept being drawn back to the story.  I listened to it as an audio book and it was very well done.  It was the kind of book where I would sit in my car for a few extra minutes just to listen to more of the story.

It is the story of Bluet, as she was often known, a blue woman from deep in the Kentucky mountains that was the local Book Woman.  She brought reading materials by mule deep into the mountains.  

This is a book that makes you think about things back then, just how hard people had it, prejudices, etc.  One of those books that just sticks with you even after the last page.

[Laurel-in-CA]

Speaking of nautical novels, here's a series that *sounds* like it's about seafaring (The Steerswoman) but really is more about exploring and drawing logical conclusions.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074B7S1VJ?ref_=dbs_s_ks_series_rwt

And here's another series of post-apocalyptic nautical novels with *lots* of sailing, reflecting a civilization recovering on islands that were barely settled pre-apocalypse. Really good!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074C3ZKTC?ref_=dbs_r_series&storeType=ebooks

Not much reading getting done here due to sudden change of situation -- dh is OUT of work and I am doing editting from home, hoping to work more hours soon. He's taking up the kid transport duties and we're struggling over computer access, but I sure hope it won't be this way for very long. Shall we say, financial storms on the horizon, or just in the forecast?

 

 

 

[Kareni]

Sending good thoughts, @Laurel-in-CA, that your husband will soon find work that he enjoys.

I've heard good things about the Steerswoman books. I've also added the other series to my wishlist with my husband in mind. One of the reviews mentions the Aubrey/Maturin series which my husband loves.

Regards,

Kareni

[Lori D.]

Just popping in to list the 3 light read books I've squeezed in over the past few weeks -- too hectic here to do anything heavy and long, lol:

- The Gown (Robson)
A fictional tale of the real Queen Elizabeth II wedding gown; fascinating look at the times and a fast and very enjoyable (except the VERY unpleasant/unnecessary r*pe scene... why?? -- other than for sensationalism and a "reason" to get one of the fictional wedding veil embroiders to move to Canada to hide her r*pe pregnancy and to create a contemporary Canadian character to intersperse with the two 1940s embroider characters... sigh...)

- The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Kelly)
Upper elementary age book I've been meaning to read. Fun! Sort of reminds me of some of Richard Peck's "rural kid misadventure books", but set in 1899.

- Raven Tower (Leckie)
LOVED it! A very unique world and first person protagonist 😄 . The writing style and the way the world is built might throw some for awhile, because this is NOT your typical fantasy novel. More of a mythic quality, told from a unique perspective.

 

Also finished a re-read of Animal Farm as I completed creating lessons in advance for my class for this one. We're in the midst of Ender's Game right now, and the students are absolutely loving discussing this one. Hope they'll enjoy Animal Farm as well...

Edited March 5, 2020 by Lori D.

[Penguin]

Hello, all.

I am currently on a road trip: MD-NC-WV-OH-MD.

For the moment, I'll just talk about my audio entertainment.

MD to NC: Solo drive, 7 hours. I had a lot of non-bookish things on my mind, so I chose Breakfast at Tiffany's read by Michael C. Hall (of Dexter fame). Perfect! I read the book not long ago so I didn't have to concentrate too hard. And Michael C. Hall was the perfect narrator for this novella. I also listened to some podacast episodes. The only bookish one was Myths and Legends, which I highly recommend. You can sort of jump around. I am going to finish all of the Greek and Roman myths and legends before I move to another subcategory.

NC to WV: Solo drive, 4+ hours. I listened to June Jordan's 1971 YA novella, His Own Where. Wow. I loved it so much. Five stars. I don't think that I would have appreciated it nearly as much in print.

Here is the description of His Own Where from Feminist Press, who reissued it in 2010:

"When His Own Where was first published in 1971, it gained both praise and notoriety. A finalist for the National Book Award, a New York Times Most Outstanding Book, and an American Library Association's Best Book for that year, June Jordan’s first young adult novel was considered controversial for being written entirely in Black English. Would children be encouraged to shirk the mastery of standard English, or would they, as Jordan proposed, become more engaged in a story about urban survival and the power of love, written as people actually speak?"

I can now highly recommend two of June Jordan's books as audiobooks: both His Own Where and her memoir of childhood, Soldier: A Poet's Childhood. I am convinced that June Jordan deserves to be better known.

I also listened to more Myths and Legends, and caught part of an interview with author Louise Erdrich that happened to be on NPR's Fresh Air yesterday.

It was a good listening day!

 

[Kareni]

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

Mathilda by Mary Shelley 

 "Mary Shelley’s shocking, tragic, and some say autobiographical tale of incestuous love.

Confined to her deathbed, Mathilda narrates the story of her life. It is a tale of sweeping emotion, shameful secrets, and wretched love.
 
Her mother having died in childbirth, Mathilda is raised by her aunt until the age of sixteen, at which point she happily returns home to live with her father. But he turns deeply melancholic when a young suitor begins to visit Mathilda at their London home, and the idyllic life parent and child once shared turns sour.
 
Pushed to confess his all-consuming love for his own daughter, Mathilda’s father bids her farewell before shame drives him to drown himself. Finally, after years of solitude and grief, Mathilda’s hope for happiness is renewed in the form of a gifted young poet named Woodville. But while his genius is transcendent, and he loves Mathilda dearly, the specter of her father still lingers.
 
Though Mary Shelley wrote Mathilda in 1819, directly after the publication of Frankenstein, her father and publisher, William Godwin, refused to print it. Nearly a century and a half later, in 1959, the manuscript was finally published and has become one of Shelley’s best-known works. "

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

A free book....

See the link here.

Regards,

Kareni

 "NEVERTHELESS SHE PERSISTED: FLASH FICTION PROJECT

A Tor.com Original

Charlie Jane Anders, Brooke Bolander, Amal El-Mohtar, Maria Dahvana Headley, Kameron Hurley, Seanan McGuire, Nisi Shawl, Catherynne M. Valente, Carrie Vaughn, Jo Walton, Alyssa Wong

Tor.com's science fiction and fantasy flash fiction collection originally published in 2017 inspired by the now-iconic statement, now available in e-book format.

 

She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.

Three short lines, fired over social media in response to questions of why Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced on the floor of the United States Senate, for daring to read aloud the words of Coretta Scott King. As this message was transmitted across the globe, it has become a galvanizing cry for people of all genders in recognition of the struggles that women have faced throughout history.

Three short lines, which read as if they are the opening passage to an epic and ageless tale.

We have assembled this flash fiction collection featuring several of the best writers in SF/F today, including Seanan McGuire, Charlie Jane Anders, Maria Dahvana Headley, Jo Walton, Amal El-Mohtar, Catherynne M. Valente, Brooke Bolander, Alyssa Wong, Kameron Hurley, Nisi Shawl and Carrie Vaughn. Together these authors share unique visions of women inventing, playing, loving, surviving, and – of course – dreaming of themselves beyond their circumstances. "

[Lori D.]

17 hours ago, Lori D. said:

- Raven Tower (Leckie)
LOVED it! A very unique world and first person protagonist 😄 . The writing style and the way the world is built might throw some for awhile, because this is NOT your typical fantasy novel. More of a mythic quality, told from a unique perspective.

Quoting myself because I forgot to mention that Raven Tower is the new book by the Ancillary trilogy author.
After the Ancillary Sword/Justice/Mercy trilogy, she wrote Provenance, a stand-alone book set in the same Ancillary world, but with all new characters.
Provenance was also quite good. 😄

Edited March 6, 2020 by Lori D.

[mumto2]

20 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Just popping in to list the 3 light read books I've squeezed in over the past few weeks -- too hectic here to do anything heavy and long, lol:

- The Gown (Robson)
A fictional tale of the real Queen Elizabeth II wedding gown; fascinating look at the times and a fast and very enjoyable (except the VERY unpleasant/unnecessary r*pe scene... why?? -- other than for sensationalism and a "reason" to get one of the fictional wedding veil embroiders to move to Canada to hide her r*pe pregnancy and to create a contemporary Canadian character to intersperse with the two 1940s embroider characters... sigh...)

- The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Kelly)
Upper elementary age book I've been meaning to read. Fun! Sort of reminds me of some of Richard Peck's "rural kid misadventure books", but set in 1899.

- Raven Tower (Leckie)
LOVED it! A very unique world and first person protagonist 😄 . The writing style and the way the world is built might throw some for awhile, because this is NOT your typical fantasy novel. More of a mythic quality, told from a unique perspective.

 

Also finished a re-read of Animal Farm as I completed creating lessons in advance for my class for this one. We're in the midst of Ender's Game right now, and the students are absolutely loving discussing this one. Hope they'll enjoy Animal Farm as well...

Totally agree about The Gown.  So much of it was wonderful and fascinating and then we had to have a r*pe added for some unknown reason. 😞

Eventually I will make it to the Leckie series.  I keep getting sidetracked!

I finished listening to Out of the Deep I Cry today.  It’s the third Julia Spencer Fleming and it occurred to me that that series will cover all four seasons very dramatically by the time my reread/listen is done so they will be my Bingo Square for Four Seasons.  I soon as I started reading it I realized it was plague reading ........ Diphtheria filled a small graveyard in the 1920’s and the graves sat in the background for the current events in the book. 
 

@JennW in SoCal Station Eleven will be next weeks quilting listen.  Robb’s Golden in Death also arrived in my Overdrive and I want to return it as quickly as possible because the line is long but moves quickly from this experience.

I am reading Running with Sherman and so far am absolutely charmed.  Four legged Bingo square.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43834684-running-with-sherman

[JennW in SoCal]

This might be the first time I've read a book related to theme of the week. I found a copy of A Share in Death by Debora Crombie at the library and stayed up last night to finish it. Thank you @Robin M for putting it on my radar! I enjoyed it and am happy to have a new mystery series to follow.

I also love when 2 books I'm reading have a serendipitous connection. I am part way through The Plague by Albert Camus, and lo and behold that author's name came up in my mystery! Our hero, Detective Superintendent Kincaid, is pondering the guests at the country home (classic closed room mystery), and pondering his position in the murder investigation as he was also a guest at this country home. He shakes off his moody thoughts about the case and goes back in action with the following lines:

Quote

Enough. Kincaid stood up abruptly. He'd be reading Camus and crying in his beer if he went on like this. It was time he did some more digging of his own.

 

I am reading Camus, but am not [yet] motivated by the absurdities in life to cry in my beer!

[Pen]

Kind of “plague” ish theme (Lyme)— woman writer:

Sick: A Memoir https://www.amazon.com/dp/006242873X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_QAEyEbF6RP4DY

 

[Robin M]

17 hours ago, JennW in SoCal said:

This might be the first time I've read a book related to theme of the week. I found a copy of A Share in Death by Debora Crombie at the library and stayed up last night to finish it. Thank you @Robin M for putting it on my radar! I enjoyed it and am happy to have a new mystery series to follow.

I just finished it myself.  Thought I had figured out the the culprit was, but I was wrong. Thoroughly enjoyed it as well and look forward to reading more. 

[Kareni]

This afternoon I finished False Value (Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch.  I enjoyed it, but like @JennW in SoCal I'd forgotten details of the prior books. It would probably help to start with book one and do a reread of the entire series. I'll post the blurb, but this is a series that should definitely be read in order.

 "Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner's brand new London start up—the Serious Cybernetics Company.

Drawn into the orbit of Old Street's famous 'silicon roundabout', Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle. But magic is not finished with Mama Grant's favourite son.

Because Terrence Skinner has a secret hidden in the bowels of the SCC. A technology that stretches back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and forward to the future of artificial intelligence. A secret that is just as magical as it technological—and just as dangerous."

Regards,

Kareni

[Dicentra]

I finally finished another book. 🙂  Between opening up registration on my online courses this past Sunday and doing a few paint night classes this week, I'm actually surprised I managed to do much reading at all!  I finished The Lost City of Z.  Well written, interesting.  His style is definitely different than Douglas Preston in The Lost City of the Monkey God.  I think the fact that Preston is a fiction writer really comes through in his nonfiction books - they are very readable and... swashbuckling. 😉  I think someone had mentioned before that these two books, while both about journeying into the rain forest, are not about the same thing.  Both excellent books in their own right, though.  I recommend them both!

Books read in 2020

7. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann  *Nonfiction – 5 stars

6. Crooked River (Pendergast #19) by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child  *Mystery/Thriller – 4 stars

5. Village School by Miss Read  *Historical fiction - 4 stars

4. The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike  *Horror - 5 stars

3. Daughters of the Grail by Elizabeth Chadwick  *Historical fiction/romance - 4 stars

2 1/2.  Extraction (Pendergast #12.5) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child  *Fiction (short story) - 4 stars  (I didn't think that a short story would count but I did finish it 🙂 )

2. The Case of the Chocolate Cream Killer: The Poisonous Passion of Christiana Edmunds by Kaye Jones   *Nonfiction (history) - 4 stars

1. The Love Knot by Elizabeth Chadwick   *Historical fiction/romance - 3 stars

[mumto2]

I just finished Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6611038-spider-s-bite. It’s the first book in the Elemental Assassin  series.  I enjoyed it, particularly liked the ending which actually was a bit predictable but sometimes predictable is great!  Wondering who else has read these......... @Robin M @melmichigan @Kareni
 

14 hours ago, Kareni said:

This afternoon I finished False Value (Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch.  I enjoyed it, but like @JennW in SoCal I'd forgotten details of the prior books. It would probably help to start with book one and do a reread of the entire series. I'll post the blurb, but this is a series that should definitely be read in order.

 "Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner's brand new London start up—the Serious Cybernetics Company.

Drawn into the orbit of Old Street's famous 'silicon roundabout', Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle. But magic is not finished with Mama Grant's favourite son.

Because Terrence Skinner has a secret hidden in the bowels of the SCC. A technology that stretches back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and forward to the future of artificial intelligence. A secret that is just as magical as it technological—and just as dangerous."

Regards,

Kareni

For my reread I was able to use mainly audiobooks thanks to Goodreads and this series is done really well.  The voices were great and the books draw on myths/history really well.  Very entertaining. Btw,  I now officially have False Value on hold.

[Kareni]

1 hour ago, mumto2 said:

I just finished Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6611038-spider-s-bite. It’s the first book in the Elemental Assassin  series.  I enjoyed it, particularly liked the ending which actually was a bit predictable but sometimes predictable is great!  Wondering who else has read these......... @Robin M @melmichigan @Kareni

I read a portion of this book when it was new but did not finish it. I may need to give it another try!

1 hour ago, mumto2 said:

I now officially have False Value on hold.

I hope your copy will arrive soon.

Regards,

Kareni

[Emba]

When I went to the library and got the Kensington Cozies Club card, I checked out a book called Cat in the Dark by Rousseau Murphy. It was s quick impulse, i totally judged a book by its cover and didn’t even read the back to know what I was checking out. That had a predictable result. I like some cat mysteries but in this one two cats cats are not only totally sentient, they can talk (though only a few humans know)That’s a lot of disbelief  to suspend. I spent a few chapters trying to decide if I even wanted to keep reading, though I eventually finished. I remember reading one or two in the series years ago. If I’d recognized the author’s name in the library I would not have checked it out. I don’t plan on reading any others, except DD seemed interested so I might pre-read one or two and see if they’re suitable.

DD has been getting into mysteries. So i checked out a Mrs. Pollifax book to pre-read for her, as I remember them being clean but it had been decades since I read one. I started with The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, since it is first, and I now have a thing about reading series strictly in order. I have not always read series in order, as demonstrated by the fact that I am quite sure I never read this one. But it was very good, better than I remembered the Pollifax books being, probably a result of me being older and appreciating the historical context as well as the premise better.

eta: so I do plan on reading the other pollifax books (in order!) quite aside from previewing them for DD. 

Edited March 7, 2020 by emba56

[Kareni]

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill

 "In the very first locked-room mystery, a wealthy man dedicated to helping London’s working classes is brutally murdered

On a gloomy December morning in the East End, a landlady asks former police inspector George Grodman to help rouse her unresponsive tenant, Arthur Constant. Forced to break down the labor activist’s door, Grodman discovers Constant’s body, his throat gruesomely slit. With every window securely latched and the front door locked from the inside, no one could have entered or exited the room. But the instrument that did the bloody deed is nowhere to be found. Reluctantly joining forces with his rival, Edward Wimp of Scotland Yard, Grodman quickly becomes tangled in a sticky mess of lies, betrayals, and political chicanery.

The Big Bow Mystery’s conclusion is shockingly unexpected and fiendishly clever, and it served as an inspiration to such masters of the locked-room mystery as Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr."

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

4 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I just finished Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6611038-spider-s-bite. It’s the first book in the Elemental Assassin  series.  I enjoyed it, particularly liked the ending which actually was a bit predictable but sometimes predictable is great!  Wondering who else has read these......... @Robin M @melmichigan @Kareni

Glad you enjoyed it.  I've read the whole series except for #18 which I haven't gotten too yet. 

[Negin]

Kindle book on sale today - historical fiction

[Robin M]

Week 10 is live - please continue the conversation in the new thread