Reading Report: Jerusalem Inn

Jerusalem Inn
(A Richard Jury Mystery)
Written by Martha Grimes
First published 1984

Scotland Yard’s Chief Inspector Richard Jury is spending a dreary Christmas in Newcastle when he unexpectedly meets an interesting woman in a snow-covered graveyard. Helen Minton is beautiful, unhappy and mysterious, and Jury thinks she could easily brighten up his sagging holiday spirits. Unfortunately, the next time he sees her, she’s been murdered. 

Meanwhile, Melrose Plant, Jury's aristocratic sidekick and unofficial assistant, isn't faring much better. Snowbound at a stately mansion owned by critic Charles Sealingham and his wife Grace, Plant mixes with a group of artists and idle aristocrats. There he encounters another lovely lady, romance writer Beatrice Sleight. But shortly afterward he stumbles over her corpse in the snow. She’s been shot while wearing a distinctive ermine cloak belonging to her hostess, Grace Sealingham.

Seeking clues in Helen’s murder, Jury eventually arrives at the mansion, discovers Plant, and the two friends team up for the rest of the investigation. Both murders seem to be linked to a remote country pub – Jerusalem Inn –where the game of snooker, a Nativity scene, some fairly complicated family histories, and an old secret will all play their parts in helping Jury uncover a killer and solve a murder that has come to feel much too personal. 

I’ve heard so much praise for Martha Grimes’s series of Richard Jury novels, I was really expecting to enjoy this one more than I did. It’s number five in the series, but the first one I’ve read and I think I definitely would have benefited from reading at least a couple of the earlier novels first. I was a little lost at first – and while I liked the parts of the book that concentrated on Jury and his investigations, I had a hard time warming up to Melrose Plant and his ditzy Aunt Agatha and all their madcap friends and relations. 

At first, the “Jury” part of the book (which I liked) and the “Melrose” part (which I didn’t, much) really seemed like two completely different tales, one having nothing to do with the other. After they finally came together and I understood what was going on and how they matched up, I warmed to the story and characters a little more and actually enjoyed the last third or so quite a lot. But there’s a lot of needless “drawing room” chatter and more info than I really needed about the game of snooker. It diverts attention away from the mystery and sort of bored me. So, just an "OK" read and not one of my favorites of the year, but it certainly hasn’t put me off the idea of sampling more from the series. 

Rating: ✭✭½

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:

2021 Category Challenge at LibraryThing. 
2021 Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge. 
2021 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge. 

Reading Report: 1066 and All That

1066 and All That
Written by W.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman
Illustrated by John Reynolds
First published 1930

This classic satire on textbook history was first published in 1930, in Britain's comic journal Punch, and it's laugh-out-loud inspired British silliness. I've had it on my TBR pile for decades now, and finally pulled it out to read this year back in January. Why ever did I wait so long? I really loved it and it's one of those books I'm sure I'll read again. A lot of it reminded me just a bit of those crazy monologues Ronnie Corbett used to do on The Two Ronnies TV show.

A few very random samples:

"Canute had two sons, Halfacanute and Partacanute, and two other offspring, Rathacanute and Hardlicanute, whom, however, he would never acknowledge, denying to the last that he was their Fathacanute."

"Robin Hood was a miraculous shot with the longbow and it is said that he could split a hare at 400 paces and a Sheriff at 800."

"There was also in Queen Victoria's reign a famous inventor and poet called Oscar Wilde who wrote very well but behaved rather beardsley; he made himself memorable by inventing Art, Asceticism, etc., and was the leader of a set of disgusting old gentlemen called 'the naughty nineties.' "

The book even includes several helpful "test papers" at regular intervals, with such pithy questions as:

What would have happened if (a) Boadicea had been the daughter of Edward the Confessor? (b) Canute had succeeded in sitting on the waves? Does it matter?

Have you the faintest recollection of

(1) Ethelbreth?

(2) Athelthral?

(3) Thruthelthrolth?

What have you the faintest recollection of?

Did anybody say "I know that no one can save this country and that nobody else can"? If not, who did say it?

What is a Plantagenet? Do you agree?

The book's subtitle (in part) states that it's "A Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember...." And that's probably very true. It's certainly one of the funniest histories you'll ever read. 

Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:

2021 Category Challenge at LibraryThing. 

2021 Back to the Classics Reading Challenge. 

2021 What's In a Name Challenge. 

Reading Report: Nemesis by Agatha Christie

Nemesis (A Miss Marple Mystery)
by Agatha Christie
First published 1971

It's been quite a while since I posted any reviews here on the blog. I've been reading, and posting reviews in other places, but for some reason I've been neglecting the blog. So I thought I might start trying to do a little catch-up work and just say a few words about some of the books I've read during the first half of this year.

And I suppose a good place to start would be at the beginning, with the first book I read back in January. 

In this next-to-last Miss Marple novel by Agatha Christie, Jane Marple receives a posthumous request from recently-deceased millionaire Jason Rafiel to investigate a mystery. If she accepts the job and solves the mystery, she'll receive a legacy of £20,000. She's met Rafiel before — they worked together on an earlier mystery (which you can read about in Christie's A Caribbean Mystery, from 1964), so she knows he's eccentric but reliable.

Problem is, Mr. Rafiel doesn't leave any information about the mystery — no clues, no suspect or suspects, no advice about where to start. All she knows is that he wants her to go on a coach tour of English gardens and country houses, which he has arranged and paid for. Now in her eighties, Miss Marple is a bit reluctant at first, but ultimately can't resist the intriguing challenge.

This was a fun read and a good book to start the year with. And though it's hard to improve on Agatha Christie, I think this would have been an even better read (maybe even 5 out of 5 stars) if there hadn't been so much repetition throughout the book. It seemed like every few pages, we'd get another summary of the story so far, or  recap of the assignment Miss Marple was working on. That got very tedious very quickly. But any Miss Marple is better than no Miss Marple, and I'm very sad to realize that I've almost finished the series! (Well, finished with the novels, anyway.) Guess I'll have to start over from the beginning.

Rating: ✭✭✭✭

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:

2021 Category Challenge at LibraryThing. 
2021 Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge.
2021 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge.

Reading Report: The Body in the Wake

The Body in the Wake (A Faith Fairchild Mystery)
Written by Katherine Hall Page
HarperCollins Publishers
May 2019; 240 pages

Publisher's Description:

For the first time in years, Faith Fairchild has time for herself. Her husband Tom is spending days on the other side of the island using a friend's enhanced WiFi for a project; their son, Ben, after his first year in college, is studying abroad for the summer; and their daughter Amy is working at the old Laughing Gulls Lodge, now a revamped conference center. Faith is looking forward to some projects of her own. Her friend Sophie Maxwell is also spending the summer on Sanpere Island, hoping for distractions from her worries that she isn't yet pregnant. And the daughter of Faith's good friend Pix Miller is getting married to a wonderful guy . . . with a less-than-wonderful mother. Between keeping Sophie's spirits up and Pix's blood pressure down, Faith has her hands full. And that's before a body with a mysterious tattoo and connections far away from small Sanpere Island appears in the Lily Pond.

[Note: I received my copy of this book free of charge from the publisher, through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program, in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was received.]

The Faith Fairchild mystery series is one of the longest-running series around (this book is number 25!), and (obviously) one of the most popular. I haven't read any of the earlier books in the series, so I knew I was taking quite a chance when I requested this from Library Thing's Early Reviewer line-up. And it really wasn't surprising that I felt a bit lost right from the start. So many characters and relationships and past histories to figure out and catch up with — it left me feeling like an unwelcome guest at the party.

The book was a quick and easy read, but confusing. There were several subplots going on and quite a few references to happenings in other books in the series. Or at least, I'm assuming that's what they were referring to. After a while, I found myself skipping around in large parts of the narrative, looking for the "main" sections dealing with the actual crime that had been committed. They were not easy to find — really, there wasn't much of a mystery at all. Well, not one that seemed to matter much to anyone. And even if I were more familiar with this series, I think I'd still find that a little disappointing. Not sure if I could recommend this one, but for anyone tempted to try it, I'd definitely recommend reading some of the earlier books first.

Rating: ★★½

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:

2019 GoodReads Challenge.
2019 Print Only Challenge.

Reading Report: The Last Romantics

The Last Romantics: A Novel
Written by Tara Conklin
William Morrow, 2019
354 pages

Publisher's Description:

A sweeping yet intimate epic about one American family, The Last Romantics is an unforgettable exploration of the ties that bind us together, the responsibilities we embrace and the duties we resent, and how we can lose—and sometimes rescue—the ones we love. 

When the renowned poet Fiona Skinner is asked about the inspiration behind her iconic work, The Love Poem, she tells her audience a story about her family and a betrayal that reverberates through time. 

It begins in a big yellow house, with a funeral, an iron poker, and a brief variation forever known as the Pause: a free and feral summer in a middle-class Connecticut town. Caught between the predictable life they once led and an uncertain future that stretches before them, the Skinner siblings—fierce Renee, sensitive Caroline, golden-boy Joe and watchful Fiona—emerge from the Pause staunchly loyal and deeply connected. Two decades later, the siblings find themselves once again confronted with a family crisis that tests the strength of these bonds and forces them to question the life choices they’ve made and to ask what, exactly, they are willing to do for love. 

[Note: I received my copy of this book free of charge from the publisher, through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program, in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was received.]


I don't want to say a great deal about the plot of The Last Romantics because it would be very easy to give too much away and spoil the reading experience for others. But I will just say a word about that "Pause" mentioned in the synopsis. The Skinner children have their world disrupted after their father dies young and leaves their mother to cope with taking care of the family on her own. It's a task she can't handle, and she simply withdraws from the real world for a while, pretty much leaving the children to fend for themselves. By using incredible amounts of resourcefulness and relying heavily on one another, they manage to take care of themselves and their mother during that frightening time.

For the most part, I enjoyed The Last Romantics. I liked the atmosphere and the author's attention to detail. And I particularly empathized with her description of the children's lives during the "Pause," as I experienced something of the sort myself after my father died when I was ten years old.

However, there were a few things that bothered me as I read the book. I never was able to completely warm to any of the characters. The time setting wandered all over the place. Also, the feminism theme came and went, as though the author couldn't really make up her mind about it.

And I had problems with the voice and perspective of the book. Most of the time we're seeing things through the eyes and memory of Fiona, the main narrator. But then without warning, we're getting thoughts or situations or conversations that she wouldn't have been part of. I think I would have been more comfortable if there'd just been the ordinary omniscient narrator all the way through. Picky, I know — but it kept taking me out of the story.

Still, it's definitely a book I'd recommend and I'm grateful to the publisher and Library Thing for giving me the opportunity to discover an intriguing, new-to-me author.

Rating: ★★★½

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:

2019 GoodReads Challenge.
2019 Print Only Challenge.

Reading Report: Educated

Educated: A Memoir
Written by Tara Westover
First published February 2018
336 pages, Kindle edition

This is another book I read back in January, and it was certainly a powerful reading experience to start the year with.

Tara Westover's Mormon fundamentalist father was opposed to public education, so she never attended school. She spent her childhood and early adolescence working (and very nearly getting killed) in the family's junkyard, or learning herbal lore and midwifery from her mother, a self-taught healer. She had no birth certificate because her family didn't believe in registering with the state, and no medical records because they didn't believe in doctors or hospitals. What little education she got came from so-called home schooling, and she first set foot in a real classroom when she was seventeen. But after that first taste, she pursued learning for the next decade — eventually attending both Harvard and Cambridge.

This amazing memoir about growing up in an Idaho family preparing for the "end of days" is so fascinating and well-written, it actually reads like a novel. Some parts are hard to get through — child abuse is always ugly, even when (or maybe especially when) it's cloaked in religious nonsense. That she survived to tell the tale — and tell it so eloquently — is gratifying. That she can be so forgiving to her abusers is truly astonishing.

Rating: ★★★★

Note: I received my copy of Educated free of charge from the publisher, through the NetGalley website, in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was received.

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:

2019 GoodReads Reading Challenge.

Reading Report: The Janus Stone

The Janus Stone
Written by Elly Griffiths
First published 2010
337 pages, Kindle edition

Lately I really haven't been very faithful about posting reviews or reading reports here on the blog. I've posted reviews in other places, but not here — for some reason. And I regret that. I like to use my book blog as a record of what I've read and what I thought about it. So I'm going to try to play a bit of catch-up over the next week or so, and write a few words about some of the books I've read during this past year. Probably won't try to keep to chronological order, but I'm starting with one I did read back in January — The Janus Stone, by Elly Griffiths.

In the book, archaeologist Ruth Galloway, a forensics expert in Norfolk (England), gets called in to investigate when builders uncover the bones of a child in an area they're excavating for a new development. The headless skeleton has been buried beneath a doorway, in a fashion that suggests it could have been a ritual sacrifice. DCI Harry Nelson — someone Ruth has worked with in the past — must find out if this was indeed some sort of religious ritual, or straightforward murder. And he asks Ruth to help with the case.

The Janus Stone is the second book in Elly Griffiths' series of Ruth Galloway mysteries, and I should say right away that (as usual) I haven't read the first book of the series. Still, overall I enjoyed The Janus Stone quite a lot, although I definitely would have benefited from having read book number one first. There was a lot of to-do in this book about the goings-on in that earlier book and occasionally I felt a little lost. Not the author's fault, of course — it's always best to start reading a series at the beginning. My bad.

As I said, it was reasonably enjoyable, with a decent amount of suspense and atmosphere. And I liked the fact that Ruth is an adult with some life experiences behind her, and isn't portrayed as a raving beauty. She's quirky and enjoys her relatively solitary existence in a remote cottage with only her cats for company.

The one thing that really turned me off (and kept this from being a 4-star read) was the way Ruth's pregnancy and who the father might be becomes the main emphasis of the book about midway through. (**Sorry, but that's really not a spoiler: her "condition" is announced very early in the narrative.**) Well, that's the trouble with most books about expectant mothers: How can the coming event NOT be the most important thing in their lives? Which would have been OK if this hadn't been a whodunnit. In a thriller you really want the focus on the crime and its investigation. Baby bumps just get in the way.

Rating: ★★★

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:

2019 Calendar of Crime Challenge.
2019 Cloak and Dagger Challenge.
2019 Good Reads Challenge.

Reading Report: The Quiche of Death

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
Written by M.C. Beaton
First published 1992; first book in the long-running series
196 pages, Kindle edition

50-ish Agatha Raisin is fed up with her successful career as a PR whiz and decides to leave London and the fast lane behind for the delights of early retirement. Choosing the quiet Cotswold village of Carsely, she purchases a cottage and quickly settles in — and just as quickly becomes bored with life in the slow lane. Trying to fit in and become popular with her new village crowd, she enters a quiche in the local cooking competition. She's sure no one will find out that instead of preparing the quiche herself, she purchased it from her favorite London caterer.

And she might have gotten away with the little subterfuge, if only the tasty quiche hadn't killed the judge! The poisoning is ruled accidental, so she doesn't end up in jail. But Agatha thinks it was murder and decides the only way to clear her reputation in the village is to find out who really poisoned the quiche of death.

This strange little cozy has been on my TBR shelf for several years now. I went back and forth on liking/not liking, but ended up enjoying it quite a lot. Beaton keeps the story humming along at a good pace, there are a lot of laughs thrown in, and Agatha is a hugely appealing and gloriously flawed character. A good choice for the year's first read. I can definitely see myself continuing with this very quirky series.

Rating: ★★★★

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:

2019 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge.
2019 GoodReads Reading Challenge.
2019 Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

Reading Report: Call for the Dead

Written by John le Carré
First published 1961
George Smiley Series #1
Kindle edition, 2012; 171 pages

Publisher's Description:

After a routine security check by George Smiley, civil servant Samuel Fennan apparently kills himself — even though Smiley's report cleared Fennan of all the allegations. When Smiley finds the head of British Intelligence is trying to blame him for the man's death, he begins his own investigation, meeting with Fennan's widow to find out what could have led him to such desperation. But on the very day that Smiley is ordered off the enquiry he receives an urgent letter from the dead man. Do the East Germans — and their agents — know more about this man's death than MI6 previously imagined? 

Le Carré's debut novel introduced the tenacious and retiring George Smiley in a gripping tale of espionage and deceit.

My Thoughts:

This was another of those books I wanted to knock off my TBR list this year. It's been there for quite a while and I've passed it by several times — mainly because I'm not really a huge fan of spy novels, although I did enjoy several of Len Deighton's books back in the '70s. But John Le Carré's Call for the Dead is more whodunnit than espionage, with George Smiley investigating what actually happened in the death of civil servant Samuel Fennan. So even though I was a little dubious going in, I ultimately enjoyed this quite a lot.

Le Carré is rightly famous for his character development, and even the minor characters here are well-drawn, believable and interesting. Of course, George Smiley is his greatest creation — sort of the antithesis of James Bond and all those charismatic action heroes. Smiley is not dashing or handsome (his ex-wife called him "Toad"). But he does what he does very well, with intelligence and efficiency and a great deal of sympathy for his fellow human beings — whether or not they work in the spy trade. This book provides a fine introduction.

Rating: ★★★★

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Read in September 2018

Qualifies for the following reading challenges: Cloak and Dagger Challenge, Monthly Key Word Challenge.

Reading Report: The Dead House

Written by Billy O'Callaghan
Arcade Publishing, May 2017
Kindle edition, 224 pages

Publisher's Description:

Maggie is a successful young artist who has had bad luck with men. Her last put her in the hospital and, after she’s healed physically, left her needing to get out of London to heal mentally and find a place of quiet that will restore her creative spirit. On the rugged west coast of Ireland, perched on a wild cliff side, she spies the shell of a cottage that dates back to Great Famine and decides to buy it. When work on the house is done, she invites her dealer to come for the weekend to celebrate along with a couple of women friends, one of whom will become his wife. On the boozy last night, the other friend pulls out a Ouija board. What sinister thing they summon, once invited, will never go.  

Ireland is a country haunted by its past. In Billy O'Callaghan's hands, its terrible beauty becomes a force of inescapable horror that reaches far back in time, before the Famine, before Christianity, to a pagan place where nature and superstition are bound in an endless knot.

My Thoughts:

This is a wonderfully atmospheric and eerie thriller, told in first person by art agent Michael Simmons who befriends Maggie, the young artist at the center of the spooky goings-on. Put in hospital by her latest lover, Maggie turns to Michael for help while she's healing. He provides a spare room and emotional support. And when Maggie is able to get back into the world again, he visits her one weekend to view the remote cottage in Ireland she's chosen as her new home and inspiration. During the visit Maggie and her guests indulge in a little seemingly harmless play with a Ouija board, unknowingly unleashing the ancient evil that inhabits the house.

Yes, I know that sounds like a pretty standard haunted house tale, and in the hands of a lesser talent it could be trite and even a bit silly. But Billy O'Callaghan does a beautiful job of keeping it fresh and genuinely disturbing. Once I finished reading The Dead House, I actually turned back to the beginning and read parts of it over again! (I never do that.) This was O'Callaghan's debut novel and I'm definitely hoping there'll be more to come.

Rating: ★★★★

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(Note: I received my copy of this book from the publisher, free of charge, through the NetGalley website in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was received, and no one tried to influence my opinion of the book.)

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Read in August 2018

Qualifies for the following challenges: European Challenge, Monthly Key Word Challenge .

Reading Report: The Mystery of the Blue Train

Written by Agatha Christie
First published 1928
Kindle edition, 278 pages

Description:

After spending most of her life as a paid companion, Miss Katherine Grey is left a small fortune by the lady she's been caring for, and decides to visit some distant relatives at their home on the Riviera. So she boards the famous Blue Train for the trip, and meets both legendary detective Hercule Poirot and millionaire’s daughter, Ruth Kettering. Ruth’s marriage is heading for divorce and she's traveling to meet her lover.

The luxurious train carries its passengers across France to the sunny Riviera. And when it arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake Ruth Kettering but finds she's been killed, and a heavy blow has disfigured her features almost beyond recognition. What's more, her precious rubies are missing and her maid seems to have disappeared from the train back in Paris. The French police believe Ruth was most probably murdered by the thief who made off with her jewels. But Hercule Poirot is not convinced, so he asks for Miss Grey's help in staging an eerie reenactment of the journey, complete with the murderer on board.

My Thoughts:

This is the 6th book in Agatha Christie's series of mystery novels featuring Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. I'm very slowly working my way through the series (although not in any particular order), and I enjoyed this one — even though I believe I've read that it was not one of Christie's personal favorites. The book has everything I love in her work — luxurious settings, intriguing characters, great dialogue, lots of unexpected twists and turns. And Poirot exhibiting his amazing abilities, exercising his "little grey cells." How could I possibly not enjoy it? The only thing that might have made it better would have been just a little more time spent on that luxurious Blue Train. (Or maybe if Ariadne Oliver had been on board.)

Rating: ★★★★

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Read in July 2018

Qualifies for the following reading challenges: Cloak and Dagger Challenge, Monthly Key Word Challenge, Mount TBR Challenge .

The Cottingley Secret, by Hazel Gaynor

William Morrow, 2017
383 pages

In The Cottingley Secret, Hazel Gaynor reimagines the true story of cousins Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright from Cottingley, England, who claimed to have photographed fairies in their garden, back in 1917. The girls and their photos caused a sensation in post-WWI England and even convinced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of their validity. Gaynor alternates the tale of Frances and Elsie with that of present-day bookshop owner, Olivia Kavanagh, who discovers an old manuscript containing the hint of a connection between her family and the girls who photographed fairies.

Another book I read earlier this year, and I really thought I'd already reviewed it. But a little survey of the blog tells me that was not true. Brain fog, I guess.

It took me quite a while to finish this one. Couldn't get into the back-and-forth rhythm of the two different time periods, and ended up reading the last half of the book several months after starting it. But I did enjoy it, for the most part — had a little trouble with the "magical realism" of the story (it required a little more suspension of disbelief than I was prepared for). Overall, I thought it was a very intriguing take on the "fairy photo" girls and their story. I was impressed with the amount of research the author did and how she managed to tie it all in so creatively. And while I was at first put off by the present-day story of Olivia and her wedding angst, I actually became very fond of her as I got deeper into the book. Hazel Gaynor is a new author for me, but one I hope to meet again.

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(Note: I received my copy of this book from the publisher, free of charge, through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program. No other compensation was received, and no one tried to influence my opinion of the book.)

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges: Historical Fiction 2018; Mount TBR 2018.

Tailspin, by Sandra Brown

Grand Central Publishing, August 2018
432 pages (Kindle edition) 

In Sandra Brown's latest romantic thriller, Rye Mallett is a fearless "freight dog" pilot charged with flying cargo to far-flung locations. He'll fly anywhere, in any weather, under even the direst conditions, and he's not big on following rules and regulations that might keep him from meeting a deadline. So when he's hired to fly into a completely fogbound northern Georgia town and deliver a mysterious time-sensitive black box to a Dr. Lambert, he doesn't ask questions. But as he nears the isolated landing strip, his plane is sabotaged and he just barely survives the crash landing.

After climbing out of the hopelessly damaged plane, he's met by the strikingly lovely (well, it's a romance novel, right?) Dr. Brynn O'Neal who claims she was sent by Dr. Lambert to retrieve the black box. Rye is immediately intrigued by the mystery surrounding his cargo, and by the attractive Dr. O'Neal, and before long the two are dodging law enforcement officials and some pretty scary hired thugs in the race to deliver the box before time runs out.

I read this one back in July and it was perfect for summer, although a bit out of my comfort zone — I generally don't read romance novels. But I was offered an advance readers edition by NetGalley, and since I'd never read anything by Sandra Brown I decided to take a chance. And I have to say it was pretty good — a bit formulaic, but I was expecting that. I liked a lot of it, especially pilot Rye Mallett (terrible name, but a really intriguing character). And even the breath-taking Brynn wasn't too annoying. But I could have done with a lot fewer steamy sex scenes. Yeah, I know — that's what Sandra Brown is all about. Just sayin' — after a while, it just gets silly and kind of boring.

But even with all the gratuitous coupling, most of the book was very enjoyable — just not enjoyable enough to turn me into a romance reader. I'm very grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read the book and say what I think.

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(Note: I received my copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, free of charge, in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was received, and no one tried to influence my opinion of the book.)

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges: Cloak and Dagger 2018 .

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

Penguin / Random House / 
Wendy Lamb Books, 2009
Kindle Edition, 210 pages

Description (from GoodReads):

Four mysterious letters change Miranda’s world. 

Miranda and Sal are best friends, but when Sal gets punched by a new kid for no apparent reason, he shuts Miranda out of his life. Then she finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper: 

"I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.
I ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter."

Miranda finds other notes left for her in strange places and she realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that haven’t even happened yet... 

When You Reach Me is a story about friendship and time. It’s an intriguing puzzle with pieces that fit together in the most intricate and unexpected ways.

My Thoughts:

I've had this Newbery Medal winner on my TBR list for almost a decade now. I should thank Bev and the Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge for giving me just the nudge I needed — I was looking for a book for June and this one jumped out at me (Key Word: WHEN). And now I'm sorry I put it off for so long, because this is a wonderful book!

From the descriptions I'd read, I was expecting it to be much gloomier than it turned out to be. Although it does deal with some very serious issues, that's balanced with quite a bit of humor (especially around the subplot of Miranda's mother and her preparations to appear on a TV quiz show) and the characters are all wonderfully human and multifaceted. And then there are all those mysterious sci-fi aspects that I really wasn't expecting — kept me saying "Wow, what next?" right up to the end. I know it's aimed at middle graders, but this is one "kiddie lit" book that can be enjoyed by adults as well.


Rating: ★★★★

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Historical Fiction Reading Challenge .
Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge .
Mount TBR Reading Challenge .

At the Mountains of Madness, by H.P. Lovecraft

Written 1931; First published 1936
Kindle edition, 2016; 130 pages

In H.P. Lovecraft's horror novella from 1931, Professor William Dyer, a geologist at Arkham's Miskatonic University, recounts the experiences of his expedition to the Antarctic plateau. The group of scientists and academics were hoping to collect rock and plant specimens from deep within the continent and were at first discouraged to find no evidence of any kind of life in the barren wasteland. The explorers divide into separate groups, and then lose contact with each other.

When Dyer and his companions finally locate the other group, they find the camp devastated with most of the men and sled dogs slaughtered. Then they stumble upon strange fossils of unidentifiable creatures, which lead them further into the unexplored country. Here they find carved stones dating back millions of years, and the ruins of an unknown, lost civilization — incredibly ancient and horrifyingly alien. At last, they come upon a city built by the terrifying "Old Ones" where they face those well-known Lovecraftian "nameless horrors."

The tale is ostensibly told by Professor Dyer, in an attempt to deter a new expedition that's preparing to explore the same part of the Antarctic where his earlier party met disaster; and the very low-key academic prose provides a wonderful contrast with the fantastic happenings it details. It's classic Lovecraft, with mentions of Elder Things, shapeless shoggoths, the Necronomicon, and Edgar Allan Poe. Not great literature, maybe, but these Lovecraft stories have had such a huge influence on later writers and movie-makers — if you enjoy horror or science fiction, they're definitely worth a read. I've had this on my TBR shelf for many years and managed to keep passing it up, even though I've read lots of other Lovecraft works. So glad I finally managed to find time to read it.

I actually read this on my Kindle, but I've also got an old paperback edition with a much more interesting cover:

Rating: ⭑⭑⭑½

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Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter

Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels
by Katherine Anne Porter
First published 1939
Library of America edition, 2014; 150 pages

Katherine Anne Porter apparently disliked the term "novella," and preferred to refer to her brief fiction as short novels (or long stories). And probably none of the three pieces that make up this collection (Old Mortality, Noon Wine, and the title piece, Pale Horse, Pale Rider) would even qualify as novellas today. But for such short works, they pack a very solid punch.

The collection leads off with Old Mortality, set in the early 20th Century American South: Two young sisters (Miranda and Maria) learn the history of their family and especially the story of their Aunt Amy, a flamboyant figure who died young. As the story meanders through time, the girls grow up and find out more about their ancestors and relatives; and, right along with the girls, we learn the story of the family's decline. It's a deceptively simple, and very powerful work.

The second story Noon Wine is, as they say, much anthologized and I'm a little surprised I've never read it before now. It's set on a small dairy farm in South Texas, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and tells the story of the Thompson family and their enigmatic, mysterious hired man. Probably my favorite of the three, it's very different from the other two — darker, and with more of a conventional plot form and some intensely unattractive (though thoroughly human) characters.

In the final piece, Pale Horse, Pale Rider, we catch up with young Miranda from Old Mortality, now all grown up and working as a newspaper drama critic. The story is set at the end of the first World War, during that era's terrible flu epidemic. Through much of the tale, Miranda is dangerously ill with the flu and worrying about Adam, the young soldier she's lately been seeing. It's a story of love and death with an emotionally stirring impact.

This work has been on my TBR list for decades, and I've had the Library of America edition for a couple of years now. It took two reading challenges (Mount TBR and Monthly Key Word) to nudge me into finally reading it — and for that, I'm very grateful. But I'm sorry that I waited so long. Aside from "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," this has been my only experience of Katherine Anne's Porter's work. It definitely won't be my last.

Rating:  ⭑⭑⭑⭑

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Time Out of Joint, by Philip K. Dick

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012
240 pages, Kindle edition
First published 1959

In this early Philip K. Dick novel, 46-year-old Ragle Gumm has a perfectly ordinary life, living with his sister Margo and Margo's husband Vincent in a nice quiet, perfectly ordinary community. The only extraordinary thing about Ragle is that he makes his living by winning a daily newspaper contest — the contest is called "Where Will the Little Green Man Be Next?" and Ragle wins it everyday by predicting exactly where this little green person will show up. He has the world's longest-running contest-winning record, and his entire life is devoted to the task.

But lately Ragle has begun having doubts about both those things — his life and the contest. After having some very disturbing hallucinations and a few worrisome encounters, he begins thinking maybe there's more going on than just game-playing. Or maybe someone's just playing a game with him. And when he begins investigating, he comes to believe that there might be a lot more than his reputation resting on his daily win. It's beginning to seem to Ragle that the fate of the world might just be somehow centered on him and his ability to predict the outcome of the daily "Little Green Man" puzzle. But how much of what he imagines is just imagination? And how much is real? Or is any of it real?

Can't say much more about the book because there are twists and surprises I don't want to reveal. Some I saw coming, some caught me completely off guard.

This is the first Philip K. Dick novel I've read, although I think I might have read some of his short fiction back in the 1970s an '80s. I've had this one on my TBR shelf for literally decades, and I'm really glad I finally got around to reading it; for the most part, it was very enjoyable — a little slow in places, but not so slow that I felt like abandoning or skipping ahead to the ending. And it's definitely made me want to read more of his work.

Rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑

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Coffin, Scarcely Used, by Colin Watson

Farrago, February 2018
210 pages, Kindle edition
First published 1958

Description (from NetGalley):

In the respectable seaside town of Flaxborough, the equally respectable councillor Harold Carobleat is laid to rest. Cause of death: pneumonia.  

But he is scarcely cold in his coffin before Detective Inspector Purbright, affable and annoyingly polite, must turn out again to examine the death of Carobleat’s neighbour, Marcus Gwill, former prop. of the local rag, the Citizen. This time it looks like foul play, unless a surfeit of marshmallows had led the late and rather unlamented Mr Gwill to commit suicide by electrocution. (‘Power without responsibility’, murmurs Purbright.)  

How were the dead men connected, both to each other and to a small but select band of other town worthies? Purbright becomes intrigued by a stream of advertisements Gwill was putting in the Citizen, for some very oddly named antique items… 

Witty and a little wicked, Colin Watson’s tales offer a mordantly entertaining cast of characters and laugh-out-loud wordplay.

My Thoughts:

I am so happy to have discovered Colin Watson's Flaxborough Chronicles! Coffin, Scarcely Used is the first book in the long-running series, and I'm a little surprised that I've never even heard of the books before now. It's true, they're a trifle dated today — of course, you could say the same thing about the works of any of the other classic crime writers. But the clever word play and slightly wacky humor are still very fresh, and Inspector Purbright is an absolute delight. I do believe I've found a new favorite mystery series!

(Note: I received my copy of this book from the publisher, free of charge, through the NetGalley website. No other compensation was received, and no one tried to influence my opinion of the book.)

Rating: ★★★★

Notable Quotes:

The waitress drifted near, eyed them with sad disapproval, and retired to lean against the further wall like a martyr turned down by fastidious lions. (Loc.550)

'...The remark stuck in her mind. It's a very narrow mind,' Love explained. (Loc.645)

'...We're rather badly off for crime round here. Nastiness is as much as most of them can rise to.' (Loc.1720)

Since the war, the excitements of the place had dwindled to routine drunkenness at the week-end, the odd fight or two, and a little listless wife-beating in such households where that indulgence could be enjoyed without endangering a television set. (Loc.1865)

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Just Kids, by Patti Smith

Paperback cover

Ecco, 2010
304 pages

Patti Smith's memoir of her life in NYC during the late 1960s, early 1970s, and her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe.

Publisher's Description:

Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous — the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years. 

Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy..... A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame. (--from the dust jacket of the hard cover edition)

I really didn't know a lot about Patti Smith and was never much of a punk rock fan, so I had a few qualms about starting this one. But I knew it had won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2010, and my husband read it a couple of years ago and was impressed enough to recommend. So I put it on my TBR stack and finally managed to get to it this year.

And I'm happy to say it turned out to be an extremely accessible and interesting book, and really brought back memories and vibes from "back in the day" (even though I didn't live in New York at that time). Smith's writing style is effortlessly poetic and yet very down-to-earth. And she's an impressive memoirist, with what seems like perfect recall of her early years in NYC, and brings those times back to vivid life — the excitement and also the pain and confusion. A very moving and enjoyable read.

Rating: ★★★★

Notable Quotes:

I was superstitious. Today was a Monday; I was born on Monday. It was a good day to arrive in New York City. No one expected me. Everything awaited me. (pg.25)

Long-haired boys scatting around in striped bell-bottoms and used military jackets flanked with girls wrapped in tie-dye. There were flyers papering the streets announcing the coming of Paul Butterfield and Country Joe and the Fish. "White Rabbit" was blaring from the open doors of the Electric Circus. The air was heavy with unstable chemicals, mold, and the earthy stench of hashish. The fat of candles burned, great tears of wax spilling onto the sidewalk.
I can't say I fit in, but I felt safe. (pg.30)

I felt, watching Jim Morrison, that I could do that. I can't say why I thought this. I had nothing in my experience to make me think that would ever be possible, yet I harbored that conceit. (pg. 59)

Yet you could feel a vibration in the air, a sense of hastening. It had started with the moon, inaccessible poem that it was. Now men had walked upon it, rubber treads on a pearl of the gods. Perhaps it was an awareness of time passing, the last summer of the decade. Sometimes I just wanted to raise my hands and stop. But stop what? Maybe just growing up. (pg.104)

Original hard cover edition

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Five Children and It, by E. Nesbit

Faber Children's Classics, Book 17
Faber & Faber, 2014; 109 pages (Kindle edition)
First published 1902

The stories that eventually became Five Children and It were written by English author Edith Nesbit and first appeared in serial form in the Strand Magazine in 1900. Put together in one volume and expanded a bit, they were published under this title in 1902. The book was a huge hit and (so Wikipedia tells us) has never been out of print since that first appearance.

This is one of those classic early-20th-Century children's books that everyone should read, and it's been on my TBR shelf for several decades. So glad I finally got around to reading it — it's lots of fun and I definitely enjoyed it (with a few reservations).

It's the story of five English siblings (Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother, the Lamb) who discover a sand-fairy (a "Psammead") in a gravel pit near the house they've just moved into. The children are of course thrilled, and even more so when they find out that the marvelous ancient creature is able to grant them wishes, although the magic wears off at sunset everyday. Unfortunately, none of the wishes the children make go exactly the way they expect (or hope) they will; mostly they end in embarrassing chaos. Well, embarrassing for the children, but pretty hilarious for the reader. And along the way, the kids learn some very good lessons about watching what you wish for.

As I say, I enjoyed this a lot and probably would have loved it if I'd read it as a child. As an adult, I got a little impatient with the slightly moralistic tone of the book (although it never really gets "preachy"). And I also got quickly fed up with that irritating "Lamb" who was (I suppose) meant to be cute and precious and lovable, but only came across as extremely annoying. (But I guess most babies are pretty annoying, now that I think about it — in real life as well as in literature.)

So, three and a half stars. I might have given it four stars if I hadn't already read (and loved) Edward Eager's "Magic" books that were inspired by E. Nesbit's work. Even though he was definitely building on something Nesbit started (and even pointedly mentioned her in his books), I really think his stories are more readable for a modern audience.

Rating: ★★★½

Notable Quotes:

It is very wise to let children choose exactly what they like, because they are very foolish and inexperienced, and sometimes they will choose a really instructive thing without meaning to. (pg.37)

...I heard father say the other day people got diseases from germans in rain-water. Now there must be lots of rain-water here — and when it dries up the germans are left, and they'd get into the things, and we should all die of scarlet fever.'
'What are germans?'
'Little waggly things you see with microscopes,' said Cyril, with a scientific air. (pg.44)

'...You can't be really scalped or burned to death without noticing it, and you'd be sure to notice it next day, even if it escaped your attention at the time,' said Cyril. (pg.91)

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