The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
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GETTING TO KNOW YOU
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<closed thread>What are you currently reading?
L.A. Weather – María Amparo Escandón – 3.5*** Rounded up
This is a funny, engaging, endearing novel that looks at a year in the life of one affluent Mexican-American family. It starts with a near tragedy and the characters (and reader) hardly have time to recover from that event when yet another crisis looms, and before long everyone in the family is spinning and bouncing from issue to issue, like balls in an out-of-balance pinball machine. The winds, drought and fires add more tension to the family’s internal strife, and ultimately help them focus on the things they CAN change, rather that what they have no control over. They still make bad decisions, and there is no HEA ending, but I was completely invested in these characters by the end, and I want more!
My full review HERE
The Power Of One – Bryce Courtenay – 4****
A challenge to travel the world combined with a challenge to read a book that “made-me-cry” brought this one to my attention, and am I ever glad it did! I’m not the writer Courtenay is, so can’t really do justice to the plot of this coming-of-age story. But the writing grabbed me from page one and I was sorry to see it end. I was cheering for Peekay throughout. And while I’m no fan of boxing, I even enjoyed the lessons on strategy and technique.
My full review HERE
Finished: 
- 3*,
- 3*,
- 4*Reading:
Gods of Jade and Shadow - Library
The Frozen Rabbi - Ebook
Life After Life - Library
Haunting Violet - Library
Dragonfly Summer - Audiobook
Tooth And Claw – Jo Walton – 4****
What a fun romp of a story! It’s a typical regency (or Victorian) romance, but all the characters are dragons. I was captured from the first page and enthralled and entertained throughout.
My full review HERE
Finished: 
- 4*,
- 4*Started:
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
Starting (all Library):Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Dead Body Language
The Prisoner's Wife
The Story of Beautiful Girl
Reading:
Gods of Jade and Shadow - Library
The Frozen Rabbi - Ebook
Life After Life - Library
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
What We Keep – Elizabeth Berg – 4****
Do we ever really know our parents? Would we still love them if we did? Could we forgive them their mistakes? Berg writes family relationships so very well. All the ways in which we rely on and trust one another, show our love and loyalty, and hurt or betray one another. There are always two (or more) sides to any story, and it takes a mature person to wait to pass judgment until all parts are known. My heart broke for all the family members, and my loyalties shifted as I learned more.
My full review HERE
Finished:
- 3.5*It is a mythical story of a Mayan god, who was imprisoned by his twin and released by a peasant girl, Casiopea Tun. The story centers on is desire to regain his throne and the parts of his being (an eye, a hand, etc) that his twin had hidden. Only when he regained his parts would he be whole and, therefore, powerful enough to return.
Casiopea finds that in order to save her own life, a bone shard of the god's bone is draining her life to provide life for the god, she must help him with his quest. And, so the story begins and unfolds.
I did like that Casiopea found her own courage and wasn't driven just because of fear of death but rather because of her own high standards. I do think I would have gotten more out of the story if I knew more about the Mayan beliefs and stories.
Eat Cake – Jeanne Ray – 4****
Ruth Hopson likes to bake cakes. She finds comfort in comforting others, and lately everyone – including Ruth – needs some comfort. I have loved every book I’ve read by Jeanne Ray, and this one is no exception. Her writing reminds me of Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Berg. Her characters experience everyday life, with all its joys, crises, heartaches and triumphs.
My full review HERE
Devil’s Peak – Deon Meyer – 4****
Book #1 in the Inspector Benny Geissel mystery series, starring the South African detective. Benny is such a flawed character and watching him try to make sense of his life and keep away from the bottle while he tracks the serial killer had me backtracking and re-reading sections to try to make sense of what was happening. Meyer does a great job of adding layers to an already complicated plot. And the final chapters are a wild ride!
LINK to my full review
Finished:
- 4*A different take on the usual cozy mystery protagonist. This one is deaf. And, I loved her! Many of the scrapes she got into were punctuated by the fact that, although she read lips, she did not get all of the conversation due to mustaches, food (or other objects in the speaker's mouth) or the fact that the speaker was not totally facing her.
Still Connor was brave, daring, and not exactly sure who she could trust. And those were qualities that endeared her to me.
The there was Dan, who was supposedly a brother of the PI across the hall; Miah, the teen who ran a comic store and helped her out with the newspaper Connor ran; the local sheriff, and a cast of other characters...some good, some shady.
Loved this slightly skewed take on the cozy mystery genre. I will be wanting to read more of Connor's escapades.
Finished:
- 3.5*Although this was not exactly the reincarnation story that I thought it was going to be, it was a bit hard to follow at times.
This is the story of Ursula's life or rather the story of the possibilities that Ursula's life held at her birth. It is about the many ways she could have died but didn't...or did she?
What helped was that the chapter headings were dates and, thus, knowing her date of birth (November 2010), it was a bit more possible to figure out what was happening in her life.
At most, although the story was interesting, I give it a 3.5* for the difficulty in figuring out what life she was living.
Elizabeth Blackwell: Girl Doctor – Joanne Landers Henry – 3.5***
This is part of a series for middle-school readers about the “Childhood of Famous Americans.” This fictionalized biography focuses on Elizabeth Blackwell’s childhood in England and the United States, the incidents that piqued her interest in healing, and her constant goal to become a doctor and practice medicine. It is both entertaining and informative.
LINK to my full review
The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel – Renee Nault / Margaret Atwood – 5*****
I’ve read and reviewed Margaret Atwood’s novel previously, so will confine this review to the graphic novel adaptation. Nault’s interpretation of Atwood’s novel is marvelous. Her imagery is even more vivid and memorable than some of the same scenes as described in the original novel. I do not recommend that you skip Atwood’s novel, but this is a great introduction.
LINK to my full review
The House of Broken Angels – Luis Alberto Urrea – 3.5***
A large Mexican-American family plans a get-together for the patriarch’s birthday. I have read two of Urrea’s novels previously and am a fan of his writing. He peoples the work with a wide variety of characters and balances tender scenes against highly comic ones or anxiety-producing tragic occurrences. I do wish I had had a family tree handy, however.
LINK to my full review
Finished:
- 4*OK...think of a spy who gets older and fed up with some of his past actions. Who is forced out of the Agency but then finds a better way to live. Who is a womanizer of the first level who then marries his deepest love and loses her to cancer. And, who is then hired to find a guy and finds himself trying to survive in the GAME again.
Clearly it is a book that got my attention and empathy.
This story describes the actions of many of the off-record activities of the spy agencies, which have come to light in recent years. It does not surprise me, nor does it leave a particular good taste in my mouth about the realities of my own country's approach to other countries and citizens. Although I would like to believe the GAME can be pursued with more integrity, I suspect that, as a nation, we have not yet found that to be desired in the pursuit of our interests. Sad, isn't it?
- 5*What an important story this book conveys! It is the story of hidden family shame and the treatment of those hidden away children.
Yet, it is also the story of a staff person (Kate), a IQ challenged girl (Lynnie), and a deaf boy (Homan) who find redemption and love. It is a story that reminds the reader that life may be tough but there are choices that can be made...and love never gives up. I highly recommend this uplifting book that tells of the choices society and individuals made and can make.
OK...enough of the over-the-top societal response to this book.
Lynnie is placed by her family in a Home (an institution) for those who do not fit in society. This includes those with low IQ, those who are delinquents with bad or no homes, and those who have other disabilities such as deafness. Homan, a deaf boy who was homeless, got place in the same Home by the justice system and, since he could not speak was given the name of 42, which was the next number for those whose name was not known.
Lynnie got raped by one of the workers. Forty-two found Lynnie to be one sympathetic person who tried to communicate with him and to learn his signs. So...when 42 found that Lynnie was afraid, he and she ran...and thus begins the story of how the lives of Lynnie, Martha, Kate, Hannah, and Homan proceed and intersect.
A book and a story that has so many meanings and depths. I am still thinking about it a day later.
Reading:
The Frozen Rabbi - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God - Library
The Spirit Child - Kindle
Murder With Puffins - Library
Finished:
- 4*To be upfront, I did not really "get" the ugly & pretty concepts at first. But, then when I read that Rusties magazines showed all the many variations of our current normal...that I began to understand. This may have been a matter of my own societal normal or the fact that I am in my 7th decade of life, still it took me a while.
Perhaps, a teen might have picked up on this earlier than I did as it seems to me teenagers are in the midst of the wanting to be part of the group think thingy.
Still this story is not just a story of ugly vs. pretty in looks, but also in behavior and thought. To me, the variety of bodies, thoughts and behavior seems more real, but it does mean that some choose behavior or ways of thinking that to me are "ugly". Hmm. Much to think about.
Finished:
- 5*I give this rating when I book impacts my life. Thus...
This book has made me think in ways I haven't done very often. I am aware that I am reading it with my past journey in faith before me. I am also reading it from the perspective of being in my 7th decade of life...and having come through a period of grief that renewed my relationship with the divine. I am not sure where I go from here...but I will be open to where the journey goes.
Reading:
The Frozen Rabbi - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
The Spirit Child - Kindle
Murder With Puffins - Library
The Return of Merlin - Own
Painted Ladies - Library
The Art of Forgetting - Own
Circe – Madeline Miller – 5*****
In this marvelous work of literary fiction, Miller, tells us the story of Circe, daughter of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, and possibly best known for turning Odysseus’s men into swine. I studied the classics in high school so was familiar with the basic story line, and some of the family connections, but Miller gives me so much more detail and really fleshes out these characters. Miller’s writing wove a spell that completely enthralled me. I was so beguiled that a part of me wished the novel itself were immortal, and that I could keep reading forever.
LINK to my full review
Young Jane Young – Gabrielle Zevin – 4****
The novel is divided into five sections, each narrated by a different character: Rachel, Jane, Ruby, Embeth and Aviva. The basic plot is that a young woman gets a job interning with a congressman, and then begins an affair with him. Can you forgive yourself your youthful mistakes? Can you recover from such a public humiliation? Will you make further bad decisions to compound the problem? Or will you be able to put it behind you and go forward with grace and dignity and courage? Will the public let you? This is a wonderful exploration of the ways in which women deal with such personal disasters.
LINK to my full review
Finished: 
- 3*,
- 3*,
- 4*,
- 4*Reading:
The Frozen Rabbi - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
The Spirit Child - Kindle
The Return of Merlin - Own
Better Read Than Dead - Library
Night Broken - Library
Olga Dies Dreaming – Xochitl Gonzalez – 2.5** (rounded up)
I really wanted to like this. I’d heard the author in a virtual event and felt her enthusiasm for the story and for her characters. I liked that her focus was on two successful siblings and their rise to those positions, and on the issues of living up to expectations (our own and those of our parents and community). But I never warmed up to the characters, even though I like how Gonzalez portrayed the siblings’ relationship.
LINK to my full review
Finished:
- 2*,
- 4*,
- 4*Reading:
State of Wonder - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
The Spirit Child - Kindle
The Return of Merlin - Own
Bookmarked for Death - Library
The Diva Runs Out of Thyme - Library
Aiding and Abetting - Library
An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed - Library
Finished:
- 4*,
- 3*,
- 3*,
- 4*Starting:
American Spy - Library
Lemon Meringue Pie Murder - Library
Well Read, Then Dead - Library
A Fall of Marigolds – Susan Meissner – 3***
A vibrantly printed scarf connects two women across a century; both lost someone in a horrific tragedy, both experience grief, guilt and PTSD. Meissner does a good job of weaving these stories together and moving back and forth in time across a century to explore the common elements. I liked Clara’s story better than that of Taryn, probably because of it’s setting on Ellis Island. Both women struggle with the ethical dilemma of what (and when, if ever) to reveal or withhold to others. My F2F book club had quite the discussion about this.
LINK to my full review
Finished:
- 3*I am not sure what I thought about this story.
It seems to have been a story with many layers but none of them hung quite evenly together for me.
There is a psychiatrist who was a fraud in younger days...and feels like a fraud now. There are two patients who claim to be the same man, one who killed the nanny and attempted to kill his wife. Are either of them the man? There are other characters who move in and out of the story in the attempt to offer understanding who the real murderer is.
It is a story of not knowing who people really are...and the fraud that is shared by all in hiding behind a mask...and the help each gives to allow the other to hide.
I think it was too deep for my current reading status. Not something I really wanted to delve into at this time. Thankfully it was short.
Reading:
State of Wonder - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
The Return of Merlin - Own
Well Read, Then Dead - Library
American Spy - Library
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
The Chardonnay Charade - Library
Lemon Meringue Pie Murder - Library
Looks like a lot of books, doesn't it? Most (5) are nearly done and will be completed, if not today, then tomorrow. Three are cozy mysteries...an easy read.
Finished:
- 4*This is a story set in Fort Myers Beach, FL, an area I got to know due to family living in Fort Myers and on Sanibel Island. So, the setting made it a fun background for me.
Sassy and Bridgy own a restaurant/bookstore together. Bridgy and Hector (the cook) are the restaurant side...Sassy is the book person. The area has a lot of characters from Augusta and her cousin Delia to Blondie, a neighbor of Austusta's, to Skully...a bum/handyman who makes shell jewelry as an avocation, to the pastor John and his wife Jocelyn, to Ophie - Bridgy's aunt.
There are Southern lady manners to food to bookclubs. There are the requisite local cop to the hot Lieutentant characters. And, of course, there is murder...and questionable characters like wreckers and real estate pirates.
What a wonderful romp with fantastic but believable characters to a surprising but satisfying ending.
Reading:
State of Wonder - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
The Return of Merlin - Own
American Spy - Library
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
The Chardonnay Charade - Library
Lemon Meringue Pie Murder - Library
Looks like a lot of books, doesn't it? Most (4) are nearly done and will be completed, if not today, then tomorrow. Two are cozy mysteries...an easy read.
Finished:
- 4*I really enjoy flawed main characters...particularly in cozy mysteries.
The thing about a cozy mystery is that it is a setting, a community, a place and people that feel to the reader like a place to make a home. When the hero/ine has a flaw of some kind, it makes it easier to think, as a reader, that could be me.
In this story, the flaw that does not grab me, a disfigured foot and, thus, a physical handicap is not so much the identifying point for me as the emotional flaw of not having it all together...of not knowing what she (Lucie Montgomery - vineyard owner) wants in a relationship. She and her siblings have misunderstandings and disappointments with each other. Lucie and Quinn (vineyard wine master) are oil and water...and then there is Mick, a British guy who buys the next door property to start his own vineyard. And, murder.
It is set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia...and it has the requisite Civil War interests and local politics that one would expect for that region.
I love the history of the region, the overall setting and what I learn about wine and vineyards as well as the well-told story of murder and betrayal and corruption.
Reading:
State of Wonder - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
The Return of Merlin - Own
American Spy - Library
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
Lemon Meringue Pie Murder - Library
Looks like a lot of books, doesn't it? Most (3) are nearly done and will be completed, if not today, then tomorrow. One is a cozy mystery...an easy read.
Finished:
- 4*Reading:
State of Wonder - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
The Return of Merlin - Own
American Spy - Library
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
Looks like a lot of books, doesn't it? Most (2) are nearly done and will be completed, if not today, then tomorrow.
You are a reading machine Bea. I love the Hannah Swensen series.
Jayme wrote: "You are a reading machine Bea. I love the Hannah Swensen series."Jayme, when I have a bunch of books in the works and I am getting down to 100-150 pages on many, then I really try to finish the easier reads quickly. That is the stage that I reached yesterday with that list of books. I did get 3 done, all cozy mysteries. I have a couple today that are close, but I am not sure if I have it in me today to finish them off. The Kindle (night), Audiobook (car) and Ebook (computer) are slower as I am not as long with each at a time as I am with regular books.
Finished:
- 3*Reading:
State of Wonder - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
The Return of Merlin - Own
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
Starting:Parable of the Sower - Library
Hexes and Hemlines - Library
Guidebook to Murder - Library
Carte Blanche - Library
Finished:
- 5*Reading:
State of Wonder - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
Parable of the Sower - Library
Hexes and Hemlines - Library
Guidebook to Murder - Library
Carte Blanche - Library
Finished:
- 4*,
- 4*Reading:
State of Wonder - Ebook
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America - Audiobook
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
Parable of the Sower - Library
Carte Blanche - Library
Finished:
- 4*This book was first published in 1993; so when the first journal entry was dated 2024, it must have seemed to have been far into the future. Reading it in 2022, though, made me wonder if it would be true in a few years.
The background of the story is bleak. The known world has been divided off into neighborhoods that are walled, and people live in fear of others breaking in and wreaking havoc. The police and public services cannot be counted upon for those who have little or no money to pay for them. Children are home-schooled. Most are illiterate. Jobs are scarce.
Into this we have a young girl, daughter of a preacher, who understands that it will become worse...and it does. The story follows this young girl.
There is hope slyly hidden in the story...and it ends with a possible beginning again started. It is also a hidden comment on religion and belief in G-d and challenges the reader to think about what belief is in light of such a world.
Reading:
State of Wonder - Ebook
Ghost Gifts - Audiobook
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
Carte Blanche - Library
A Quiet Life in the Country - Library
Sew Deadly - Library
A Few Right Thinking Men - Library
Finished:
- 3*For those who are interested in history, especially the Chicago world's fair of 1893, this book goes into the detail of building it as well as the events of the fair. The reader will learn a lot about the architects themselves and their passion for this great accomplishment and the many hurdles that had to be overcome to complete it. But...as can happen to all long books, at times it droned on and on.
The story of murder and madness was a subset of the history, and the author moved in and out of it in the midst of the history of the fair.
I think these two threads could have been better served to have been separated into two books. One a history of the fair and its building...and the many new marvels introduced to the world. The other the story of the man who murdered so many and got away with it for so long.
Finished:
- 4*Reading:
State of Wonder - Ebook
Ghost Gifts - Audiobook
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
Carte Blanche - Library
A Quiet Life in the Country - Library
A Few Right Thinking Men - Library
The Women’s March – Jennifer Chiaverini – 4****
The novel focuses on the women who risked their liberty, and their lives, to win the vote for women, including women of color. Chiaverini focuses on three of the most important suffragists of the day: Alice Paul, Maud Malone, and Ida B Wells-Barnett, to tell the story. The chapters alternate between these three central figures, showing how each approached the issue and the unique challenges each faced. The scenes of the march itself, and the near disaster it became are harrowing. While the novel itself is interesting and engaging, I really enjoyed the author’s notes, where Chiaverini gives more details on what happened after the march. As of this writing, the Equal Rights Amendment is NOT yet ratified.
LINK to my full review
Thirteen Hours – Deon Meyer – 4****
This is a hard-hitting, fast-paced, police procedural with a complicated plot, a second, unrelated (or is it?) killing, and multiple twists: drugs, human trafficking, the music industry, and, of course, Benny’s continuing struggle as a recovering alcoholic. He's also been named as a mentor to a group of younger investigators, and Griessel is having a hard time with his recent assignment: Inspector Mbali Kaleni, a black woman, a Zulu, a feminist. This is an interesting pairing, and I’d like to see it continue in future books.
LINK to my full review
Finished:
- 4*,
- 4*,
- 3*,
- 4*Reading:
Ghost Gifts - Audiobook
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
Carte Blanche - Library
A Loyal Character Dancer - Library
French Rhapsody - Ebook
Fatal Fixer-Upper - Library
Cappuccinos, Cupcakes, and a Corpse - Library
Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger – Lisa Donovan – 3.5***
Donovan is a chef and award-winning essayist who has worked in a number of celebrated restaurant kitchens throughout the South. This is her memoir. Her passion and focus has been on desserts but she knows her way around the entire kitchen. Her journey from Army brat to single mother to just-another-restaurant-worker to pastry star is interesting, and she tells her story with insight and honesty.
LINK to my full review
Interior Chinatown – Charles Yu – 3***
Yu’s inventive novel won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2020; he uses a second-person narrative voice and writes as if this were a screenplay. Personally, I found the structure off-putting. It seemed to me that Yu was trying too hard to be clever. Be that as it may, he had a pretty good story to tell, and eventually I came to appreciate his message.
LINK to my full review
Finished:
- 2.5*,
- 4*,
- 4*Reading:
Ghost Gifts - Audiobook
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
A Loyal Character Dancer - Library
French Rhapsody - Ebook
The Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece - Library
The Lady Chapel - Library
Eye Of the Needle – Ken Follett – 4.5****
Wow. Just, WOW. Fast-paced and engaging, this WW2 espionage thriller was Follett’s first successful endeavor as a novelist; he wrote it when he was only 27 years old! Follet uses three story arcs – the German spy, the British intelligence team on his trail, and the innocent woman who holds the key to success for one side or the other. Virtually every chapter ends in a cliffhanger, and Follett keeps the tension high, with the three storylines converging in a heart-stopping scenario.
LINK to my full review
Finished:
- 4*,
- 4*Reading:
Ghost Gifts - Audiobook
Nora Roberts Land - Kindle
French Rhapsody - Ebook
The Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece - Library
Vision Impossible - Library
Booked - Library
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The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Opposite of Everyone (other topics)Small Wonder (other topics)
I, Alex Cross (other topics)
Fox & I (other topics)
On Gold Mountain: The 100-Year Odyssey of a Chinese-American Family (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Gill Paul (other topics)Elizabeth Peters (other topics)
Rainbow Rowell (other topics)
Liam Moiser (other topics)
Barbara Mertz (other topics)
More...
Reading:
The Saint and the Sorcerer - Kindle
Gods of Jade and Shadow - Library
The Frozen Rabbi - Ebook
Unshelved - Library
Life After Life - Library
Pont Neuf - Audiobook