Breathing new life into this blog: books 1-5

I have read a great number of books since last posting on this blog. But in 2018 I didn't read very many. That's why I've decided to revive this blog; as a celebration of the fact that I'm reading again.

It's much slower than before, I find it harder to concentrate at times, and then off I'll go, ravenous for the written word. I'm reading in fits and starts, bursts of excitement followed my lulls in which I'll reread the same words for weeks on end. 

It's frustrating, but I'm reading. 

And to help me with my reading, I've rejoined my former book club. It's thanks in great part to them that I have found several of the books I'll write about today. 

I may have read other books in January, but I can't remember. However, our January book club book was An Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet. I can hardly count this as a book I read though, because I hated it so much I didn't finish it.

I'm not sure if it was trying to read it on an e-reader, the fact that the queen was so very unqueenly, or just the book. It didn't do it for me.

In February, for book club, we read the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. We originally read this book years ago and it was just as good this time. Maybe even better because I managed to read it with my post it notes in hand and looked up all kinds of references the author made and felt like a smart person doing it!

James Rollins came out with a new book, The Crucible. His books are still formulaic. Some better than others, but I like them because they're a quick easy read. Even now. This wasn't his best story, and the iRobot element was a little anxiety inducing. Still, I love his characters (as 2 dimensional as they are). So a good, quick, fun read. A bit like a Mission Impossible movie!

March at book club is mystery month. My favorite genre! So many good books were recommended, that I decided to request them all from the library.

First came Magpie Murders. I really loved this book! I tend to get stuck with an author and then I read everything by that author. Which means I read a lot of the same kind of book. I love quirky, and I love a story that keeps me guessing until the end. Magpie Murders was really unlike anything I'd read before: a story within a story and I didn't guess the solution to the mystery. Endings are hard, and this one was a little too easy, but I loved it anyway.

Next up was Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour Bookstore. I'm still working on this though, so I'll skip to the Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (aslo called the 7.5 deaths. I'm not sure why the variance in titles.

You know when your life becomes completely wrapped up in a book, so much so that every waking thought is consumed with reading? You're at work and all you can think about is getting home to keep reading? You find yourself racing through the words and have to force yourself to slow down and read at a better pace? That was this book for me. This was a first novel for the author and I'm so very pleased to see he's already working on his next. I hope I love it as much as this one. 

One

I finally finished another book. Yes that's right. It's not that I deserted this blog, I just haven't had time to read in two and a half months. But, after six weeks of faithful slogging, I finally finished The Witness by Dee Henderson. The sad thing is, the book wasn't even fantastic literature, though the story was enough to keep me going through all those weeks.

Let's hope I manage to read a few more books in 2011.

55 & 56

The Language of Secrets by Dianne Dixon - this promised to be a twisting thriller, but it didn't deliver. It was an okay read, but not really what it claimed to be. Plus - I figured out all the "Shocking twists and turns" way ahead. booo.

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner. Again, an okay read, but not really what I've come to expect from Weiner. Good thing the book I'm on now is satisfying!

54

My next book was Day After Night by Anita Diamant. In some ways this reminded me of the Jerusalem series by Brock and Bodie Thoene, though of course it's only one book, not 13+.

52 & 53

I was thinking a little more about that last book I read: The Shadow of the Wind. It really reminded me of Wuthering Heights. Only the characters were likeable. Now, I haven't read Wuthering Heights, I've only see the movie (this version), but after labouring through it, I really felt kind of dirty. Like I'd wasted two days on despicable characters and that nothing about the story or the characters had any redeeming qualities.

Shadow of the Wind had a lot of elements that would make me hesitate to recommend it to, say my book club, but when it comes to it, I really enjoyed the story.

I started reading The Help, but unfortunately, the library needed it back before I could get through it. This is the trouble with busy months and library books. I'll try and get it back again. So then I turned to The Grave Savers. This one's a book for young adults that deals with all kinds of weighty subjects. But the story was good, and the writing was good. I kinda like young adult books if they're well written.

Then I turned to The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger. I loved this book. I was a bit disappointed by the ending (I do love when everything gets tidied up at the end), but then I kept reading and found out it was based on a true story. So here's what the internet says about it: Lady Duff Gordon is the toast of Victorian London. But when her debilitating tuberculosis means exile, she and her devoted lady's maid, Sally, set sail for Egypt. It is Sally who describes, with a mixture of wonder and trepidation, the odd menage marshalled by the resourceful Omar, which travels down the Nile to a new life in Luxor. When Lady Duff Gordon undoes her stays and takes to native dress, throwing herself into weekly salons; language lessons; excursions to the tombs; Sally too adapts to a new world, affording her heady and heartfelt freedoms never known before. But freedom is a luxury that a maid can ill-afford, and when Sally grasps more than her status entitles her to, she is brutally reminded that she is mistress of nothing.

50 &51

Book number fifty on my list was Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. This new (to me) mystery series about an enterprising personal investigator (sort of a Hercules Poirot type) sounded like it would be right up my alley. Even better was that the book was set in the midst of the flapper era and was about a girl from humble beginnings who rose above her station.

It was a good read, but I was disappointed with the overly dramatic language the author employed. I felt like I could hear the cinematic music all the way through the story...though maybe she did that on purpose?

Oh well, I still plan on reading more of Maisie's exploits.

Next up was worldwide bestseller The Shadow of the Wind by Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón. All the praise on the inside jacket was spot on. If you enjoy Gothic stories or even the Three Muskateers, I think you'll love this.

49

Sometimes my library books are busts. I try not to waste too much time on books I'm not interested in. Unfortunately sometimes I keep hoping that they'll improve and they don't. I finally gave up on Sue Miller's The Lake Shore Limited. I just couldn't see that it was going anywhere I cared about. I decided to stick with something I know I love and read Peter Robinson's A Necessary End instead. Gotta love a good mystery.