Category: Books

New Year: Books and Reading

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BOOKS AS GIFTS

Happy New Year!  I hope that you had fun and relaxing holidays and made it to to your intended destination.  We survived two cold weeks in Manhattan and were fortunate not to have any snow.  We gladly welcomed in the new year in Florida with fog and the return of temperatures around 70!

I’m always delighted to receive books as gifts, and this year was no exception.  I vow every year that I will give priority to my Christmas books and read them all before mid-year. Sounds like a simple goal to accomplish, but I admit to getting sidetracked by other books that have been languishing in my stack or by new books that call out loudly to me.  Pictured are the books I received on paper, and here are the titles.

April in Spain by John Banville (crime novel by a noted Irish author)

The Grimkes:  The Legacy of Slavery an American Family by Kerri Greenidge (biography)

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (novel inspired by David Copperfield)

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson (novel by a favorite author)

The Orphan of Salt Winds by Elizabeth Brooks (gothic tale set in a mysterious house)

Stack of books

In addition, I have four Kindle gift books.  I’m happy to report that I’ve already read three of them!

KINDLE READING

Works by Claire Keegan

Claire Keegan (The New Yorker)

Claire Keegan is an award-winning Irish writer known for her short stories and novellas.  She has received considerable publicity of late given her nomination for the 2022 Booker Prize.  Her writing is spare and exact and yet presents the quotidian details of life in an understated way.

I received two of her recent works and found them both quick reads, but powerful in the sense of the community she creates and the impressions they left on me as reader.  I highly recommend both!

Small Things Like These

It’s 1985, just before Christmas in a small Irish town.   Coal vendor Bill Furlong is making deliveries to the locals and to the convent.  When he stops at the convent, he sees something that gives him pause, but he continues with his rounds.  What he saw at the convent and his dealings with the sister in charge haunt him and present him with a complex dilemma.  This is a quiet story and a demonstration of one man’s provocative courage. It was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize.

Foster

In the summer, a father takes his little girl to the country to stay with relatives.  She is one of many children in her family, and no one tells her why or for how long she will be away from home.  She doesn’t know what to expect, but with the Kinsellas, she finds kind attention, respect, and even affection.  But there’s also a mystery in this house.  This is a story of love and loss as perceived by a young girl.  It’s poignant and sad. 

Domestic Suspense

Shari Lapena (The Toronto Star)

The End of Her by Shari Lapena

The End of Her was my first exposure to the works of Shari Lapena.  A Canadian novelist, she writes domestic suspense fiction.  Patrick and Stephanie have been married for several years.  He’s an architect and they have twins.  Stephanie knew that Patrick’s first wife had died in a car accident, but not much more.  Erica, a woman from his past, appears and has all sorts of damaging information to share with Stephanie about how his wife really died.  Patrick proclaims his innocence, but Stephanie, and the reader, are unsure what the truth is and who to believe.  

This was a real change of pace after Keegan’s works.  I found it gripping and I raced to the finish.  Some of the actions or lack of action by Stephanie aren’t quite convincing, but the book is a heart-pounding rollercoaster ride.  

Still awaiting me on my Kindle is:  The Night Singer by Johanna Mo.  It’s the first book in a Scandinavian crime trilogy.  

Tidy Tidbits: Reading & Watching

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Although it is still warm and summery in Florida, November ushers in a season for looking inward and spending time inside. With that in mind, here are thoughts on some of my recent reading and viewing.

RECENT READING

SURVIVING THE PANDEMIC

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

If you’ve read other novels by Mainer Elizabeth Strout, you may be acquainted with Lucy Barton.  She was introduced in My Name is Lucy Barton, and readers learned about her marriage to first husband William in the most recent work, Oh, William.  I’m a big fan of Strout’s work and have read almost all her novels.

Illustration from The New Yorker

This one, I found especially poignant and meaningful.  Lucy by the Sea takes place from the beginning of the pandemic until the vaccines become available.  The first part is hard to read; it brings back so many memories of the uncertainty and then fear, many of us felt about this deadly new virus.

Lucy’s second husband David has died, and William comes to New York to take Lucy to Maine—initially she thinks for just a few weeks.  They are in a rented house by the water and the changing weather, and the roll of the seasons, play a role in the story.  Lucy is a novelist but also a fearful person, whose deprived and neglected childhood has made her feel inferior and not special.  

The novel is told primarily through Lucy’s voice.  It’s a strong voice on the page as she muses about William’s quirks and lacks, reflects on past events in her two marriages, and worries about her grown daughters, Chrissy and Becka.  Given that she and William are in lockdown away from all but a few new friends, it’s a time for contemplation and assessing one’s life.  

For me, this book was a meditation on love of all sorts: marital, maternal, friendship—and on grief.  Grief over the losses of spouse and friends and grief over the troubles and trials of her daughters’ marriages.  It’s a beautiful novel, and I highly recommend it! (~JWFarrington)

RELIGION IN AN ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE

Ashton Hall by Lauren Belfer

Lauren Belfer came onto the scene in 1999 with her wonderful historical novel, City of Light.  Subsequent books include A Fierce Radiance about the invention of penicillin and After the Fire, a quest to learn about a long-hidden music manuscript.  I thoroughly enjoyed all three novels. Her latest novel, Ashton Hall, is set in the present, but in an old English country house with secrets in its attic.  

As usual, Belfer’s latest work is thoroughly researched, so much so that at times I felt the history she wanted to share slowed down the narrative.  One of the contemporary characters is a boy who suffers from autism.  His behavior is challenging and yet, he is the one who uncovers the initial secret.  Creating this character and making him a focus were obviously important to Belfer.  I read the novel through to the end, but overall was disappointed.  There was too much going on and too many disparate strands for it to be a satisfying whole.  

VIEWING

CRIME OFF SCOTLAND

Shetland Season 7 (Amazon Prime)

Jimmy (Henshall) & Tosh (Alison O’Donnell) (The Sun)

This is Douglas Henshall’s last season as detective Jimmy Perez, and it’s an excellent season.  A young man, a graphic novelist, is reported missing.  His mother is distraught and his father, an ex-policeman, has skeletons in his past.  When there seem to be possible links to eco-terrorism, the search for Connor becomes more complex, and there are more bodies.  

Perez is dedicated to his job, but the strain of it is beginning to tell.  He is both burying and fighting his feelings for Meg, a nurse.  Meanwhile, his team of Tosh, Sandy, and Billy, are as engaging and effective as ever, making for some great ensemble acting.  There are seven episodes encompassing one overarching storyline.  Highly recommended for fans of complex crime series! Season 8 with a new, yet-to-be-named lead will be filmed and released in 2023.

CROSS CULTURAL LOVE STORY

From Scratch (Netflix)

Lino & Amy (BuzzFeed)

From Scratch, a Netflix original series, is the story of what happens when a young Black artist from Texas goes to Florence and meets an aspiring chef from Sicily.  Against her parents’, particularly her father’s, wishes, Amy leaves home to take a painting course in Italy.  Lino, estranged from his farmer father, is working as a cook in a Florentine restaurant.  They both have dreams of greater success, and they resolve to make a life together.  Initially, it seems that bringing their respective families to acceptance of their relationship will be the greatest challenge.  But not so.

I thought the first few episodes were overwritten and overplayed in terms of racial and cultural stereotypes.  Amy’s father was particularly egregious.  Later episodes are tamer, and I’ve stuck with the series (eight episodes), having become fully immersed in Amy and Lino’s story.  It’s a passionate, at times heartrending, drama, based on Tempi Locke’s memoir of the same name published in 2019.  

Note: Cover photo of a November sunset ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

After Ian: Diversions

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HURRICANE IAN

It was a wild and crazy week for many residents of Florida, especially those on the southwest coast. Ian initially was predicted to hit near the Tampa area and a bit south and then went farther east and pummeled the folks in North Port, Englewood, Ft. Myers, Sanibel, and Captiva. We left our home after we were under a mandatory evacuation order and went an hour south (which turned out to be closer to the storm) to stay with a longtime friend.

We stayed with him for three nights and had some loss of power and lack of water, but were safe and dry and well protected. He’s a good cook whose stove is gas, and we were well provisioned. We were gratified when we returned home yesterday that our condo building was here and intact. Most of the storm damage here was restricted to landscape issues.

As an antidote to the Ian’s wild winds, I offer up a wonderful memoir about friendship and a TV series that doesn’t seem like it should be compelling, but the Chief Penguin and I have found it somewhat addictive.

MARVELOUS MEMOIR

Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg

When I commuted to Penn by car years ago, I used to hear Nina Totenberg on NPR.  Her analysis of Supreme Court cases was always clear and insightful, and I became a fan.  Long before Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a household name, Totenberg interviewed her, got to know her, and they became friends.  They were both pioneering women in their professions. They shared conversation and bonded over their work’s importance to each of them.  As time went on, they socialized with their spouses and were supportive of each other in times of illness and sorrow.

Totenberg’s focus is on female friendships in her life (her colleagues Linda Wertheimer and Cokie Roberts being other prime examples) with a specific spotlight on her almost 50-year friendship with Ruth.  Ruth was a great support to Nina when her first husband endured years of illness.  Later Nina and her second husband David were protective and caring toward Ruth after her husband Marty’s death and during her last illness.  

You might think that this is a sad book, but rather, it is a wonderfully uplifting and endearing account of deep friendships that enriched Totenberg’s life, including her friendships with male judges and justices.  Along the way, I also learned more about the functioning of the Supreme Court.  Highly recommended!  (~JWFarrington)

ADDICTIVE TV SERIES

Suspects  (Acorn)

This crime series set in London is about 10 years old, of lesser technical quality, and  with dialogue partially adlibbed.  Yet, the Chief Penguin and I are finding it quite addictive.  A crime has been committed, and three detectives are involved in finding out who did it.  Detective Jack Weston and his colleague, Detective Charlie Steele are usually first on the scene, sometimes accompanied by their boss, Detective Chief Inspector Bellamy.  The crimes are messy and nasty and often are attempted murder or rape.  

Each episode then consists of the team bringing in a series of suspects and interviewing them and then following up on possible arrests.  Almost no time is spent on the detectives’ lives outside work, and in the early episodes, it’s sometimes unclear if they have really resolved who will be charged with the crime.  Each episode is an hour, and so far, we have watched almost three series or about 8 episodes.

Ibises enjoying the view

Header photo shows trees bowing into the water, thanks to Ian. Photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Tidy Tidbits: Book Notes

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FEEDBACK FROM MY READERS

Here are several titles my readers especially enjoyed this summer. Plus two mystery series they recommended that I didn’t know about. Fun!

SUMMER FAVORITES

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark (Kathy & Alice)

Leaving Coy’s Hill by Katherine A. Sherbrooke (Sally)

Mercury Pictures Present by Anthony Marra (Claudia)

RECOMMENDED MYSTERY SERIES

Elly Griffiths (author interviews.co.uk)

English archaeology professor Ruth Galloway, whose expertise is bones, works with the police in a series by Elly Griffiths.  First book is: The Crossing Places which I’ve now read and enjoyed.  Set in a salt marsh, it’s atmospheric with myth and legends too. Now I’m into #2 in the series.  (Thanks to Claudia for this suggestion.)

Fred Vargas (fantastic fiction.com)

Commissaire Adamsberg is the detective in a French series by historian and archaeologist Fred Vargas.  Her books were recommended to me by Ed, and I have the first one, The Chalk Circle Man, waiting on my Kindle.  It was published in 1991, but only recently became available in English.

Both of these are long-running series with 9 titles in this series and fourteen in the Galloway one.

RECENT READING—LIBRARIANS & MORE MAINE

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin

(madelinemartin.com)

In the continuing spate of books about bookstores, libraries, and librarians, Madeline Martin’s entry, The Librarian Spy, is a gripping story that may haunt your dreams.  Based on actual events with fictional characters inspired by real people, this novel of WWII is set simultaneously in Lisbon and Lyon.  Although Portugal was neutral, refugees and spies were numerous and the Portuguese secret police to be feared.

Ava Harper, a rare book librarian at the Library of Congress is sent to Lisbon to work for the government collecting newspapers and magazines to be microfilmed and sent back to Washington.  Her daily work is important, but seemingly routine until she becomes involved in trying to get refugees safe passage out of Europe to the States.  Over in France, housewife Elaine, volunteers for a Resistance group printing and distributing anti-Nazi newspapers.  These clandestine activities put her and her colleagues at frequent risk of arrest and imprisonment or worse.  Unknown to each other, she and Ava exchange coded messages while working to assist those in danger.  

Many of the characters are based on historical figures.  And the IDC (Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications) for which Ava worked, was a real organization, but did not have any female operatives.  Martin’s novel is a compelling addition to the literature about WWII.  (~JWFarrington)

Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore

Meg Moore (rjjulia.com)

Consider this domestic novel a last gasp of summer.  Louisa, a professor, is spending the summer with her three children at her parent’s house on the coast of Maine.  She loves this place, and it has a strong hold on her emotions.  While struggling to write a book on deadline, she must deal with her children’s various issues, her father’s declining health, and the fact that her husband seems content to stay back in Brooklyn working on his start-up. 

Enter Kristie, a young woman with a sad past, lots of baggage, and a secret she wants to explore.  Her interactions with Louisa and her family disrupt summer’s idyll.  Both Kristie and Louisa must face the consequences of their own and others’ actions. 

I thought this novel was excellent in its depiction of daily life with three active children, but, for me, Louisa was undisciplined and too whiny.  I also enjoyed the setting near Camden and references to places I know. (~JWFarrington)

Note: Header photo is interior of Scuppernong Books in Greensboro.