What are you reading the week of July 1, 2023?

Still reading Serhii Plokhy's The Russo-Ukrainian War which I hope to finish this week. I also read Maigret and the Loner. I have only two books left in the series.

Re-reading Montaigne's Essays: "Of Cannibals" - In this essay, Montaigne reflects on the customs of the Tupinambá people of Brazil, whom he describes as "natural" and "uncivilized" in contrast to the Europeans of his time.

"Of Experience" - In this essay, Montaigne reflects on the importance of experience in shaping our understanding of the world, and argues that we should be open to revising our beliefs based on new information.

"Of Friendship" - In this essay, Montaigne explores the nature of friendship and the qualities that make for a good friend.

"Of Coaches" - In this essay, Montaigne reflects on the experience of traveling by coach and the various discomforts and inconveniences that come with it.

"Of Books" - In this essay, Montaigne discusses the value of reading and the role that books can play in shaping our understanding of the world.

The Complete Montaigne's Essays

This week's line-up is The Broken Kingdoms, Admiral John S. McCain and the Triumph of Naval Air Power, and Scan Artist.

Last night I started reading my Early Reviewer, Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline. I will probably finish today because I'm flying through it.

I finished the baseball biography Tom Seaver: A Terrific Life by Bill Madden. It was fun, a good but not great biography, and a fine survey of Seaver's life and career for anyone not familiar with Seaver.

I'll next be finishing The Trackers by Charles Frazier. My wife and I listened to around the first third of this novel (by the author of Cold Mountain) during our recent drive across the U.S., but once we arrived in NYC decided to take a paper copy out of the library and read the rest in turn. She's already finished it so now it's my turn.

started this audio via hoopla ~

Mother of the Bride Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #29)
by Leslie Meier

The Second-Worst Restaurant in France – Alexander McCall Smith
Digital audiobook performed by Timothy Ackroyd
3***

This is the second book featuring Paul Stuart, the “renowned Scottish cookbook writer.” He’s trying to write about the Philosophy of Food but his muse has left him. His home situation isn’t helping, so when his eccentric cousin Chloe suggests he accompany her to France, where she’s rented a cottage in a small village, he agrees.

Much as in the first outing (My Italian Bulldozer), there is not a central plot to move the story along. Rather, Paul just stumbles into situations in the village; he meets new and interesting people among which are the twin-sister owners of the cottage he and Chloe are renting, as well as the local eatery widely known as the second-worst restaurant in France. Paul begins to learn more of Chloe’s colorful (and barely believable) background; he befriends the very pregnant waitress, and gets involved in the lives of several of the local residents.

What I like about this book and several of McCall Smith’s other works are the characters. I enjoy peeping into their lives for a bit and watching the goings on from afar. I’m interested and entertained but can easily drop it for a time and then come back when I start to wonder “whatever happened to …?” Because this is only book two in the series (if I can even call it a series at this point), I have no idea which, if any, of these people will reappear in future installments. But I’d be willing to read more of Paul’s adventures in food.

Timothy Ackroyd does a fine job of performing the audio. There are a lot of characters to handle, and he is up to the task.

The Night Masquerade – Nnedi Okorafor
3.5***

The final book in the Binti trilogy, has Binti trying to broker peace between the Meduse and the Khoush. As the book opens, her home village is under attack while she roams the desert with her new friend, Mwinyi, who is a harmonizer.

I really like Binti, but I felt lost. Perhaps it’s been too long since I read the previous installments because I did not remember much basic information and felt confused several times. That didn’t stop me from going forward, however. Even as Binti is frequently unaware of all she is capable of, or of all that has happened, she perseveres in her goals. She will get back to her village. She will convince the elders to seek a peaceful solution.

There are a couple of rather stunning developments that had me literally exclaiming aloud, “No!” or “WHAT????!!!” But I never stopped turning pages.

I really marvel at the world-building that Okorafor has achieved here. The imaginative alien species are a marvel. And because I had come to trust her writing, I went with the flow and didn’t question the abilities of Okwu or New Fish.

The ending is a bit of a cliff hanger. Makes me wonder if this is really a trilogy, or if Okorafor intends to continue the series.

Time for a little "Christmas in July"


A Cowboy Under the Mistletoe – Jessica Clare
3***

This is the second book I’ve read in this series set in and around Painted Barrel, Wyoming. Jason Clements arrives in town desperate for a new start. His cousin has recommended him for the job, but Jason knows absolutely nothing about ranching, although he’s always been a willing worker and he’s not afraid of hard or dirty work. A veteran of the Afghanistan war, he suffers from PTSD. Faced with the reality before him, Jason begins to panic and hastily invents an errand in town, promising to return after the weekend. As his anxiety increases, he runs into the nearest shelter … the townhall / library / post office. Here he meets Sage Cooper, a kind woman who is everyone’s friend and no one’s girlfriend.

Well, it’s a holiday cowboy romance … you were expecting a realistic plot? The town residents include an innkeeper who fuels the gossip mill, a bartender / café owner who has Sage’s back, two couples who run the Price Ranch, a beauty-parlor owner planning a wedding, and Sage’s old high-school crush who is a jerk. I expect one or more of these people to appear in future episodes in this series.

It’s a fast read and there are the requisite hot-and-steamy sex scenes. Not to mention a great dog, Achilles (who is described as a setter in the book, but shown as a Labrador on the cover).

>1 fredbacon: I read a library copy of the book. I thought it was ok. His previous book about Ukraine, The Gates of Europe, was good.

Started: A Fatal Illusion by Anna Lee Huber
New and #11 installment in the "Lady Darby Mystery" series.

My latest Cedar Valley by Holly Throsby really enjoying.

Love, Loss, and What We Ate– Padma Lakshmi
Book on CD narrated by the author.
3***

I don’t read a lot of celebrity memoirs, but when a friend recommended this one I had to see what the fuss was about. I’ve never seen Top Chef but I know of its existence. And I’d heard of Lakshmi, though I was completely unaware of her personal drama. (Don’t follow celebrity news outlets either.)

I liked the portions of the book that took us back to her childhood in India, to the cultures, foods, sights, sounds and smells that helped form her. I was much less interested in her marriage, divorce, new relationship(s), and pregnancy. From what she relates of her early adulthood (into her 40s), I got the impression that she identified herself by the man she was attached to. This irritated me and I didn’t really like her all that much as a result.

However, I still found her story compelling, and I kept listening and came to appreciate the woman she is today more than I did at the beginning.

Lakshmi narrates the audiobook version herself. I cannot imagine anyone else doing a better job of it. The CD has a bonus PDF file with all the recipes that are included in the book.

I'm reading and enjoying Helen Simonson's The Summer Before the War.

I read What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? by Frederick Douglass.

U Is For Undertow – Sue Grafton
Digital audiobook performed by Judy Kaye.
4****

Book # 21 in the mystery series starring private investigator and former cop, Kinsey Millhone. This time she gets involved in a cold case when a man comes to her with a memory from when he was only five or six years old of two “pirates burying treasure.” He thinks it may be related to a case of an abducted child who was never solved. Meanwhile, Kinsey is, herself, digging into her own murky past and uncovering some things she was never privy to.

Grafton sure could write a compelling mystery! The plot moves forward at a steady pace, not so fast to as exhaust the reader, but fast enough to keep the pages turning. She includes a couple of wonderful side characters, chiefly Henry (Kinsey’s elderly landlord), and Rosie (owner and cook of a local bar/eatery). Grafton purposely set the series in a time before cell phones and the internet, so Kinsey needs to use the old-fashioned (by today’s standards) resources of reverse directories and pay phones. Not to mention a lot of leg work.

Because this is a cold case, the plot moves back and forth between Kinsey’s current investigation and events that occurred some twenty-five years previously, and switches between different characters’ points of view. I thought the final confrontation wrapped up a tad too quickly, but it was a satisfying ending, nonetheless.

I really like this series, but I haven’t been reading them in order. I think I need to go back to earlier books and correct that. While the stories can stand on their own, and Grafton wrote them with little time elapsing from A to Y, there are some revelations about Kinsey and her background that might be best revealed in order.

Judy Kaye does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. I really like the way she interprets Kinsey, Henry and Rosie.

The new thread is up over here.