Pat here with May’s collection of favorite reads. Some of us are apparently hunkered down in this enforced isolation and have read entire libraries. And then there’s Jo Bourne:
Jo B:
What people think Romance Writers read: Love's Inventive Gymnastics.
What Romance Writers Actually Read: Essays in Social History, Volume I: The Preindustrial Millennia and The ZTE Cell Phone User's Guide.
We read this stuff because we are nerds and cannot safely be turned loose in a library. Preindustrial Millenia is an interesting look at the economics of Greek and Roman slavery versus peasantry. I come away renewed in my determination to avoid being the bottom rung of the social ladder in the Classical period.
Another ladder I would probably avoid any rung of is Revolutionary France, but it's still a joy to pick up Daily Life in the French Revolution by Jean Robiquet, which is full of pithy wisdom and quotes from original material. I am a sucker for "Daily Life in ..." books altogether. Just skip the politics and battlefields and tell me how they got the clothes washed. I'd recommend picking up Robiquet second hand since it hasn't been put in ebook or even paperback.
Pat again:
I’m doing a little better than Jo. I snagged an ARC from one of my favorite mystery writers—The Last Curtain Call, A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery by Juliet Blackwell. Blackwell writes about two of my favorite topics—house renovation and ghosts. Best of all, she does it well, with in-depth characterization, rich history, and intelligent plotting.
Although her father still participates in his renovation contracting business, Mel Turner has taken it over. She’s engaged to a hunky math professor who worries about her affinity for ghosts but accepts it. I love that Mel is savvy and not prone to pulling stupid stunts. She does her research—and this time its for an early 1900s movie palace, complete with its own ghost story. The reader is given lovely glimpses into the city of San Francisco, the background of early movies, and insights into the immense undertaking involved in restoring one of these grand old palaces.
At the same time, she’s renovating the old home her fiancé has bought—which has its very own ghost, an old-time movie starlet who reportedly killed her lover, then herself. The ghost is charming, but it’s the murder of a squatter in the movie theater that keeps the story rolling. The mystery takes a journey through the theater’s history to uncover the motive for the killing—and the connection to Mel’s ghost. I’m just thrilled to go along for the ride!
Nicola here.
This month I’ve not been able to concentrate on reading fiction. We’ve had some really tough things going on in the family and my heartfelt sympathy goes to everyone who is struggling with these challenging times. When reading is a treat and a refuge for you it’s particularly hard to find you can’t escape into a good book, for whatever reason. I’ve turned to non-fiction this month, the sort of non-fiction that can be enjoyed in small chunks. Among my favourite reads has been Tiny Castles (UK link) by Dixe Wills.(US link) He is an author and travel writer who has produced a series of books focusing on all things tiny in the UK, such as islands, churches and campsites. Since we can’t travel to visit places at the moment, this is the next best thing! As Dixe points out, diminutive castles can often have a very big part to play in history. Amongst my favourites are ones I’ve seen, such as Ardvreck in Scotland and gorgeous Stokesay in Shropshire, to others I’m looking forward to seeing when lockdown is lifted, such as Daws Castle on the coast of Somerset which was built to see off Viking raids and really is very small indeed. When there is so much attention given to palaces and stately homes, it’s fun to enjoy the smaller castles there are around. There are some great illustrations too!
Christina here and my reading this month has been very eclectic – a little bit of everything for variety. First, with no holiday possible this year, I decided to do some armchair travelling and went to Malta courtesy of Sue Moorcroft and her lovely book Summer on a Sunny Island. I have never been to this Mediterranean island for real, but this was definitely the next best thing. The descriptions make you long to go there and I was clearly able to picture this wonderful, sun-drenched place. I could feel the heat, smell the brine in the air, and imagined myself snorkeling in the clear waters – pure bliss! The whole story was like a brilliant ray of sunshine and for anyone longing to escape the present, this is perfect!
Next, I picked up a time slip/dual time novel by Kate Ryder – Secrets of the Mist. I’m a huge fan of time slip and this didn’t disappoint. Set in Dorset, a part of the UK where my ancestors come from, and partly during the English Civil War period, which I love, it already had the best possible ingredients for me. I found it a gripping and very spooky read (although spooky in exactly the right way for a time slip), with plenty of atmosphere and a heart-breaking back story. If you like ghosts and Barbara Erskine novels, you’ll like this.
As I’m always interested in history, I was delighted when a friend gave me a signed copy of Lucy Worsley’s Queen Victoria: Daughter, Wife, Mother, Widow. This book is written in a very unusual way for a biography – the author has chosen just 24 days out of Queen Victoria’s life and tells her story by describing those days in detail, adding lots of other interesting information to fill in the time in between. It may seem like an odd way of doing it, but it works surprisingly well and makes it more exciting to read. I did feel that I missed out on parts of Victoria’s life which I would have liked to know more about, but on the whole, this is a great way of getting to know Victoria as a person.
Finally, with all the recent VE Day anniversary celebrations, I delved into A Ration Book Wedding by Jean Fullerton. Set during the second World War, this is a heart-warming story that really brings the East End of London to life. The author has clearly done a lot of research and the authentic details helped me to visualise it all – trying to find enough food to buy, your bus being diverted because a street has a bomb crater in the middle of it, or bedding down in the dark underground shelters while the ground shakes beneath you from the bombs being dropped overhead. I’d heard relatives talking about what it was like (my father’s family lived in London at that time), but this gave me a much better understanding of that time. It’s a story of courage, resilience and love, and ultimately hope.
Anne here, and this month I'm recommending a general/women's fiction book, a contemporary romance and a fantasy.
The first is Saving Missy, by Beth Morrey, a bestselling debut book that was recommended to me by a friend. Saving Missy is the story of an old lady trying to find meaning and purpose in her life after losing her husband of 50+ years. It's a story of friendship and community and kindness, and though it's a little bleak at the start, it has a lovely feel-good ending.
Sarina Bowen—Sure Shot
I'm a fan of Sarina Bowen's sexy contemporaries set in the world of professional hockey, and Sure Shot is the latest in the series.
A new player is transferred to the Brooklyn Bruisers — a guy with a reputation, and a lot to prove. Sports agent Bess Beringer is about to hit 30 and is planning to make some changes in her life — but the new player turns her plans upside down. The book can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone, but one of the pleasures in this series is the reappearance of characters from the previous books.
Finally there is Lois McMaster Bujold with Mira's Last Dance
This is book #5 of the "Penric's Demon" series, and it provides a satisfying follow-up to book #4 which left me hanging on an emotional cliff-edge. <g> I've really enjoyed this series. Bujold's sorcerers and demons are not the usual zap! and pow! point a finger and destroy an enemy magical types — Penric's demon is a collection of older women (and a couple of animals) who live inside his head, and provide advice, information, and the occasional exotic skill. The characterization is wonderful. If you haven't read them, start with Penric's Demon.
Andrea:
I’ve been reading a little outside my usual genres this month, and reading two authors highly recommended by good friends. One won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and the other was a finalist, so that was added incentive . . .and I’m very glad I did!
I’ve been meaning to pick up Geraldine Brooks for a long time, and her prize-winning People of the Book was an irresistible choice, as the plot revolves around a priceless illuminated manuscript. The story starts with a book restorer called in to work on a museum treasure saved from the conflict in war-torn Bosnia. As she is drawn into the manuscript’s history, the reader gets flashbacks, going back sequentially in time, that tell the story of how it survived over the centuries. It’s beautifully written, and a fascinating look at history and family conflicts—made even more poignant by the book restorer’s personal family secrets and heartaches that are slowly revealed, too.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich is getting a lot of buzz these day, and is based on her grandfather’s experience of his David vs. Goliath battle against the U.S. government in the 1950s over Native American rights. Again, it’s beautifully written, with quirky, surreal characters and scenes. The portrait of the intertwining native American families and their mystical serenity in the face of heartbreaking challenges is so well wrought. It’s not always easy going but well worth sticking with. I highly recommend both.
And Susan:
Now and then I go on an art reading binge and make my way through a hefty monograph or an art study (my shelves are groaning full of such things after years of grad studies in art history—I still update, and they're still useful for romance or just a fun-if-you-like-scholarly-stuff read!). Recently I picked up a paperback I hadn't yet got around to reading--The Irish Game by Matthew Hart. I'm glad I found the time. Hart examines some of the great art heists in Irish collections (and elsewhere, as they connect), beginning with the theft of a priceless Vermeer and other paintings from Russborough House by IRA radicals in the 1970s. Along the merry way—his readable, breezy style is laced with humor—he describes mastermind criminal schemes and things gone wrong, and dives into restoration techniques and discoveries. Hart writes nonfiction in the best way, with a nimble hand for characterizations, plot, cliffhangers and tidbits. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The discussions of Vermeer in particular, with the mention of one of my own professors during my PhD studies, led me back to my prof's major work on Vermeer, which I haven't read for years. Yum.
A lovely mental vacay while the world finds a way to right itself
Mary Jo here, happy to report on stories by two of my favorite fantasy authors. False Value is the 8th in Ben Aaronvitch's Rivers of London urban fantasy series. The narrator, Peter Grant, is a mixed-race police wizard who is very funny and also a very decent guy.
The London police have one very small unit devoted to dealing with Weird Stuff. Peter has been an apprentice learning magic since the first book, when he kind of stumbled into it by accident in the course of doing routine police work. In False Value, Peter goes undercover at a computer company, originally from America, founded by an Australian, and committed to a Silicon Valleyish need to be desperately cool.
As usual when Peter goes in, he finds things very different and complicated and barely escapes with his skin intact. He lives with his girlfriend, Beverly Brook, who is the embodied goddess spirit of the London Beverly Brook stream, hence her name. She is lovely and smart (working on her PhD) and is pregnant with his twins, currently referred to as the Bulge. <g>
It's kind of hard to explain all this, but the books are fun and very original, demonstrate the author's deep love of his native city, and things always work out well for Peter. It would probably be best to start with Midnight Riot, book 1 of the series.
Penric and the Physicians of Vilnoc by Lois McMaster Bujold is also the 8th in an ongoing series of which it's best to start with the first book, Penric's Demon. Penric was a nice young man from a gentry family in the mountains when he met a dying priestess divine on the road, and accidentally agreed to accept her demon when she died. It was a—considerable shock. <g> The demon contained the spirits of ten women who had previously carried the demon, all of them like bossy aunts. The first book shows how he and the demon, whom he names Desdemona, come to terms. His adventures continue through the subsequent novellas as he falls in love, travels to various lands and escapes alive, and helps people (and foxes) along the way.
In Penric and the Physicians of Vilnoc, his brother-in-law, a general, calls him in when a mysterious plague is sweeping through his army. Interestingly, a mutual friend said that Bujold had started the book before the coronavirus came to stay, but being a fine writer, she anticipated what a plague was like, and the incredible strain on the front line physicians like Penric. In the end, all comes right. I'm ready for Penric's next adventure!
Pat again:
We have bared our library shelves. Your turn! Did you find any really good reads this month that you'd like to share?