November's Books

It's been so long since I posted on this blog that I barely remember how to do it!  Life hasn't let up.  In fact, it's gotten more chaotic.  This should be a happy time, but it's very stressful.  I abhor disorder.

We bought a house in an old neighborhood just outside of the small city I was born in.  It has many different styles of architecture and huge old trees.  It's picturesque and quiet and good friends live close by.  Family, too, is closer in some cases.

But before we move in, we want a few changes made.  We want to paint, clean, etc.  We haven't put our Philadelphia house on the market yet, so we've been gradually moving smaller things from Philly to Lancaster.  That will help with the final move and should declutter the house to make it ready to sell.  But it's all taking so long!

The workmen are just getting ready to start on the 'new' house (built in 1954) renovations and the old house (which is really old, having been built in about 1840) won't go on the market until after the first of the year.  My baby grand piano is being moved tomorrow.  The rest of the big furniture will stay in Philly until the house has been sold.  Everyone wants 'staging' these days.

I've had little time to read.  If I do have time, I spend it packing or feeling guilty that I'm not packing!  I hope that things get back to normal one day soon.  This is the list of books I finished in November.

The Dry  -  Jane Harper  This is a murder mystery that takes place in Australia during a drought.  Did the drought make the murderer do it?  The ending moves as quickly as wildfire.

Caroline Writers at Home  -  Meg Reid (Ed.)  Belle's post on her blog made me want to read this book.  It's essays by writers from or living in the Carolinas.  Most are about place, about home.  I enjoyed it and delved into it on and off for several weeks.

The Bookshelf on the Corner  -  Jenny Colgan  Another of Belle's recommendations.  This was a quick, light read.  A romance and an adventure story.  I saw the ending coming, but that didn't take away from the pleasure.

The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras & The Pot Thief Who Studied Ptolemy  -  Michael Orenduff  Dare I say it?  Two more that Belle liked!  I really don't read everything she reads, but she reads many books that appeal to me.  The Pot Thief digs up old pots in Arizona and sells them in his shop.  He doesn't consider it stealing.  Sometimes he liberates pots from museums, where he doesn't think they belong.  I like the characters in the books.  I have trouble seeing the connection between what he's studying and how that affects his ability to solve mysteries.  I have one more to read in the Kindle 3-pack of Pot Thief books I bought.

At this point, I think I have to give Belle more credit for all the links I've provided to her blog.  She writes descriptive and short posts, just the way I like them.

The Woman in Cabin 10  -  Ruth Ware  Many people wrote about this book.  I seldom read new books, so I waited for a year or so before I cracked this one open.  Laura (Lo) Blacklock, a travel writer who drinks too much, is invited on the virgin voyage of a posh small cruise ship.  She borrows mascara (yuck!) from the women next door, in cabin 10.  During the night, she's awakened and hears a thud and a big splash.  She sees blood on the glass divider between her terrace and that of cabin 10.  She's sure that a crime has been committed, but the cabin is empty and no one admits to seeing the woman she met.

Y is for Yesterday  -  Sue Grafton  This is a new book that I couldn't wait for, so I got in line at the library and, eventually, it showed up.  I've read all the Kinsey Millhone mysteries and I can't think of one that truly disappointed.  I like Kinsey, her lifestyle, her neighbors, and her friends.  This mystery spans 10 years.  A young girl is murdered by one of her friends, manipulated by another of their friends.  The boy who shot her has just been released from prison and someone is trying to blackmail him with a film he and his friends made of them sexually abusing another of their friends.  With friends like these kids ....  Kinsey is hired to find the blackmailer.  Then the kid who shot the girl disappears.  That can't be good.  Meanwhile, Ned Lowe, the serial killer who tried to kill Kinsey in a previous book, returns to collect the mementos from his killings and to finish off Kinsey.  I won't spoil anything for you, but I will tell you that Ed, her neighbor Henry's cat, is rescued before anything too awful happens to him.  I was feeling very apprehensive for a while, but don't worry.

Maybe once life settles down, I'll get back to books that require a bit of concentration or that allow me to escape completely into their stories.  Fingers crossed that all goes well over the next couple of months.

July Books

I've had an extraordinary reading month.  Maybe because it's been too hot and humid to go outside.  This weather makes me physically sick.  I feel faint if I'm out very long.  It's so frustrating.  I'm going cabin crazy!

But I've read a lot of books this month and they span several genres, not just my usual list of mysteries.  I'm happy I've read so many books, but I'd gladly read fewer if only I could have some cooler weather!

V is for Vengeance  -  Sue Grafton
Temples of Delight  -  Barbara Trapido
Extra Virgin  -  Annie Hawes
The Blue Castle  -  L. M. Montgomery
Dreamthorpe  -  Chet Williamson
A Cathedral Courtship  -  Kate Douglas Wiggin
Cimarron  -  Edna Ferber
The Suspect  -  L. R. Wright
Walking Home  -  Simon Armitage
Death of an Old Goat  -  Robert Barnard
The Drowning  -  Camilla Lackberg
There's a Porcupine in My Outhouse  -  Michael J. Tougias

W is for Wasted - Sue Grafton

I was just complaining about series books written by authors other than the original author, like The Girl in the Spider's Web, and others I can't think of at the moment.  Authors of series with many, many books often run out of steam, or plots.  Sue Grafton amazes me.  I've read all of her Kinsey Millhone books except 'V' is for Vengeance and X and I still find them exciting.

I like that Kinsey hasn't aged dramatically from the beginning.  I don't want to read about an old Kinsey tracking down criminals in her wheelchair.  The books are full of familiar people, places, and situations, but they're not stale. 

In W is for Wasted, Kinsey finds a new group of friends:  a bunch of homeless people, most of them  addicts or alcoholics.  But they're not bad people.  MOST of them are not bad people.  R. T. Dace, one of them, dies.  Kinsey's name and number are in his pocket.  She has no idea why.

As she gets more involved, she's astounded to find that she's been named executor of his estate and is  his sole heir.  There's a good reason for this, but it takes some digging to find out what it is.  His three grown children are not happy at being cut out of the will.  He had been convicted of a crime he didn't do, was exonerated, but at least two of them still didn't believe he was innocent.  When he tried to make amends, they turned their backs, so he disinherited them.

Kinsey wishes that she had no family.  She had enjoyed being an orphan most of her life.  Families are complicated.  As they say, you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family.  And some of hers are dillies.

There's also the mystery of who shot and killed another private investigator, Pete Wolinsky.  When Kinsey finds a connection between Dace's death and Wolinsky's, many things fall into place.

There are some medical matters that had me skimming, but not big bits.  I'm not as patient as I used to be.  They were necessary for the story and were interesting  -  to a point.

I'll be looking for V is for Vengeance and for X to bring me up to date.  I'll be waiting for the end of the alphabet, too.