What are you reading the week of July 8, 2023?

Because of the holiday, I was confused about what day of the week it was.

I read Maigret and the Informer this week. That leaves me with one book left in the series. I'm two thirds of the way through The Russo-Ukrainian War. It's an excellent survey of the war and the political origins of the current invasion. I highly recommend it. The first few chapters can be a little difficult because there is so much background information that needs to be covered. Once the book begins recounting the actual invasion, it becomes a gripping read. No doubt the book will have to go through several revisions over the next couple of years.

Currently working on Marconi and For the First Time, Again. Will probably get to Godforsaken Grapes after those.

Just started Revolutionary Nativism and will probably start Tread of Angels before Saturday; three cheers for short books!

Started this audio via hoopla ~

Murder at the Mayfair Hotel (Cleopatra Fox Mysteries Book 1)
by C.J. Archer

The Haunted Looking Glass
Edward Gorey
3.5/5 stars
This is a collection of haunted ghost stories written by several authors including Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson. However, all of the stories have been illustrated and picked by Edward Gorey. Interesting!

I recently finished The Trackers by Charles Frazier, a good historical novel set during the later stages of the Great Drepression in Wyoming and elsewhere throughout the U.S. You can find my longer review on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

Next, I'll be returning to my twice-yearly Isaac B. Singer novels read-through project. I'm up to his 1962 novel, The Slave.

>1 fredbacon: I'm confused about the day of the week because I'm a teacher on summer vacation, so no worries!

Today I finished Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline.
I'm either going to read The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams or Turtles All the Way Down by John Green next. Thoughts?

Peppermint Twist: The Mob, the Music, and the Most Famous Dance Club of the '60s
by John Johnson Jr., and Dick Cami
The title tells it all. This is a very interesting story of the mob and the 60's dance club that they hung out at, along with the singing stars that performed there.

I finished Dreiser's Sister Carrie. It presents a collection of complex imperfect characters coping with moral dilemmas within the enticements and brutality of urban life, each suffering or gleaning the results of their decisions.

Finished A Voice in the Wilderness by John Scalzi and started the next story, Tales From the Clarke.

Upright Women Wanted – Sarah Gailey
Digital audiobook narrated by Romy Nordlinger.
3***

From the book jacket: The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing. They’ll bring the fight to you.

My reactions
I picked this up because I needed a book to satisfy a challenge, and this was readily available at the library. What an interesting plot!

Esther Augustus is trying to escape an arranged marriage to a man who was previously engaged to her best friend – a woman Esther was in love with. This future America is a dystopian fascist environment. The librarians who discover Esther hiding in their wagon are divided but allow her to stay, and Esther quickly discovers that, like her, they are lesbians. They are also spies for the resistance and their journey to Utah will be fraught with danger, from routine checkpoints to a posse intent on capturing one of them.

There are many elements of traditional westerns in this work, from campfires to gunfights. But Gailey gives us a few surprises. One of my favorites is that Utah is the home of the insurrectionists who fight against the existing regime. I could see this being adapted to a film.

Romy Nordlinger does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She brings the librarians to life.

Bettyville – George Hodgman
Book on CD read by Jeff Woodman
4****

Hodgman’s elderly mother was clearly in trouble. He had lost one job and had the time to spend with her back home in Missouri. His work as an editor allowed him to continue “remotely” while he shepherded his mother along a path neither of them wanted to take. In this memoir he relates not only their fractious journey together, but the many incidents in their backgrounds that brought them to this place.

I found this tender and funny, heartbreaking and hopeful. There were times when I wanted to slap him (or Betty) upside the head and force one or both of them to face reality. There were times when I wanted to just wrap them in a blanket and give them little “now, now and there, there” comforting pats. I was reminded of the many trips I took to Texas to help my parents as they faced these same demons: of aging, of loss of independence, of loss of control, of loss of identity.

This snippet describes perfectly the relationship I had with my mother during the earlier stages of her disease process: I know she hates me sometimes. how could she not? I am the guard at the prison she will never get out of. Sometimes I am just as pent-up and angry. I loathe her too. Just a typical American family, torn between love and homicide, but united in our way.

Not that you need my opinion, George, but you did the right thing. Always.

The audiobook was masterfully performed by Jeff Woodman.

A Loyal Character Dancer – Qiu Xiaolong
3***

Book two in the Chief Inspector Chen Cao mystery series set in Shanghai. This one starts with a body found in Bund Park. But before Chen can really get started on investigating this murder, he’s tasked with a politically sensitive assignment. A U.S. Marshall, Catherine Rohn, is on her way to China to collect an important witness who has now disappeared. Chen must show Rohn a “modern China” and also find the missing woman.

I like this series. Chen is a complicated man. Educated and a poet, he walks the tightrope between political correctness and professional police duty. Like a master of chess, he is always thinking several steps ahead. While Xiaolong gives the reader the same view of clues as Chen has, the reader is not always privy to Chen’s thinking about what he has observed.

This makes for a more slow-moving work than is typical for mysteries. But I didn’t mind that so much. I’ve been to Shanghai and other cities in China, and I appreciated the time spent on the history of this complex culture.

I really like Chen’s “apprentice,” Detective Yu, as well as Yu’s father “Old Hunter,” and hope they’ll continue to make appearances in future installments.

I finished Daphne du Maurier’s Frenchman’s Creek a couple of days ago and loved it. Now I’m reading Mick Herron’s latest Slough House book, Bad Actors.

The Blue Diamond: A Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Leonard Goldberg
6th installment in the series

I'm curious how Dr. John Watson, Jr. (the main narrator in the series) wasn't called up for military service during WWI--the time setting of the series. Protected occupation?

You Might Remember Me: The Life and Times of Phil Hartman
Mike Thomas
This is a well-written biography of the fabulous and funny Phil Hartman, comedian and actor. Author, Mike Thomas does a great job of chronicling the life and career of Hartman and the tragic outcome of his life.

Eight Hundred Grapes – Laura Dave
Digital audiobook narrated by Joy Osmanski.
3***

From the book jacket: Growing up on her family’s Sonoma County vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.

My reactions:
I had read Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me with my F2F book club last year and thought it was a decent thriller. This one piqued my interest because of the setting in the Sonoma Valley, and the book jacket blurb led me to believe it would be a lighter, romantic read.

There IS some romance involved … but …

Georgia turns out to be a bit more complex that I originally gave her credit for. The book DOES start out with her running out of her wedding-dress fitting … still wearing the dress. Shocked by the discovery of her fiancé’s secret she immediately heads home to her family’s winery, only to discover disarray. She puts her skills as a lawyer to use in an effort to help the family, but what she really wants for her life will take some serious thinking. Should she go ahead with the wedding, now that Ben has explained? How can she help her parents, and her brothers with the winery and with their lives?

The resolution of the difficulties has to wait for a few more twists and turns and complications, but the ending is still satisfying in a chick-lit romance sort of way. Not exactly tied up in a pretty bow … but the ribbon is there.

Joy Osmanski does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She has clear diction and sets a good pace.

The new thread is up over here.