A Work in Progress

Almost Mid-December Reading Notes

I am not lacking in good reading material, and as a matter of fact am mid-stream in a number of books at the moment.  I am, though, lacking in inspiration (or maybe time, ability?) to write about those books lately.  I fear I am going to regret this year of almost no blog posts about the books I am picking up.  This might just be a lost year and probably like so many others, one I would rather simply put behind me.  However, I do want to share my current reading, if only a post a week going forward?

I have a handy list that I created of my in-progress-books that I would love to finish before the end of the year which would put me just over the goal I set for myself (actually the goal in January was revisited several times this year to try to stop the lag on GR as I continually fell behind the pace I had set myself).  It is definitely going to be a year that I just need to forgive myself of all the shortcomings and misdeeds and disappointments and hope for better things in 2021!

This year I think there will be no end of year clean up posts or statistics of what I accomplished (or tried to accomplish), though I do want to share some of my favorites that I discovered this year before January arrives.  I might have to have a few goals for next year, though they will just be ideas to start the year and hopes and desires very loosely planned (or maybe panned).  A different set of prompts  Maybe still a few reading projects or series of books to inspire me?  

For now, though, just a few mentions of some of the books I have been enjoying.

What am I going to do when I finish with Sue Grafton's alphabet series?  I am on S is for Silence, which is a little different from Kinsey's usual cases.  It is one of the few cold cases she has undertaken.  In this instalment a woman has hired Kinsey to try and locate the mother who left one Fourth of July in the mid-1950s never to return.  A body was never found and she never reached out to her daughter later.  Is she still alive or dead and was she murdered?  What is interesting about this story is it is narrated by some of the people involved at the time.  The narration moves forward and backwards, which is very effective.  I will have six more letters to go when I finish, plus a book of short stories and I may have a biography/memoir of sorts somewhere on my shelves.

Thanks to Buried in Print I have discovered a trio of linked novels (novellas?) by Wendy McGrath.  I am reading the second book, North East, at the moment.  The story follows a young protagonist called Christine.  In the first book, Santa Rosa, the prologue reads almost like poetry, which I loved as it felt impressionistic.  I wasn't sure who was talking and where things were going, but once into the meat of the story I sussed out this is about Christine of the prologue.  She begins as a woman expecting a child, but then quickly it is Christine a young girl we see.  The story is both knowing and unknown, if that makes sense.  It sounds like it might be confusing, but it is so easy to fall into these lives.  Christine is both telling the story as an adult looking back but also living the story as a child not quite understanding her parent's fraught relationship.  The family of four (Christine has a younger sister) lives in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada in the 1940s(?)--there are references to hand wringer washing machines and Melmac dishware but the sense is that this is not a wealthy family by any means so the time period is uncertain.  It has both a nostalgic feel but also a timeless quality.  I can see why BiP called this a standout read this year and I concur!  I am looking forward to reading Broke City this weekend.

For something light and totally distracting I have been reading The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman.  I am not sure where I came across this novel.  Maybe in my online browsing or a newsletter?  A many generations curse concerning second daughters, a family run Italian deli in Brooklyn, and an unexpected journey to Italy (to break said curse).  What's not to love?  Emilia is the almost-thirty unmarried second daughter who spends her days happily working in the family deli and at the beck and call of her nonna.  She is the favored aunt  who is mostly asked to do things for others rather than for herself, but going to Italy is her step forward to independence.  We have just arrived in Venezia.  Clicking my heels and imagining myself there!  The story takes place mostly in the present but flips back to fill in details.  If you are looking for some sunny Italian distraction, I think this is a winner.

One more notable mention for now is my prompt for the month (though I might try for two since the decision was a hard one) is D.E. Steven's Mrs. Tim of the Regiment.  Delightful.  Charming.  Witty.  Yes, to all three.  I am loving the style and humor of Mrs. Hester Christie, wife of British Army officer, Tim Christie.  She writes in her newly gifted journal of all the trials and tribulations of being a mother of two and wife of an officer soon to be posted to Scotland.  This feels like the best of British mid-century (okay, this was published in 1940) middlebrow literature of which I am a very great fan!

And two books that are going to be added very soon to my reading pile: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, and Spring by Ali Smith!  And you should see my 'on the horizon' reading pile . . .  (Maybe I will share it one day soon).  So, what are your good distractions at the moment?  Finishing books up for the year?  Holiday reading?  Reading along with some special group?  I am looking forward to and hoping to have a better reading and blogging and bookish chatting year in 2021.  (But there is still lots to talk about as this year winds down)!

December Prompt: Dear Diary/Dear Friend

Last prompt of the year.  Can you believe it is December?  This has been the strangest year for obvious (and maybe not-so-obvious) reasons and I will not be sad to say goodbye to 2020.  We all just need to hang in there a little longer and make safe choices and I hope 2021 will bring happier days.  To wrap up my year of prompts I have a genre I love to choose books for.  I love diaries and books of letters and it has been some time since I last dipped into either kind of book--nonfiction or fictional.  I have chosen a small stack of novels that are either told via diary entries or in a couple of cases through letters and other forms of memoranda.

She Goes to War by Edith Pargeter -- "When Catherine, a teleprinter operator in the WRNS, is posted to the war-torn city of Liverpool, she meets Tom Lyddon. The usual stages of courtship are dispensed with, and the two begin an affair. But their idyll is soon to be shattered by the realities of war."

The Diary of Emily Dickinson by Jamie Fuller -- '"A workman stumbles upon Emily Dickinson's journal in a crevice in her conservatory, a diary that reveals Dickinson's views on God, family, nature, death, love, poetry, fame, her role as a woman in a patriarchal society, and the trials of her everyday life."

Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D.E. Stevenson -- "Vivacious, young Hester Christie tries to run her home like clockwork, as would befit the wife of British Army officer, Tim Christie. However hard Mrs Tim strives for seamless living amidst the other army wives, she is always moving flat-out to remember groceries, rule lively children, side-step village gossip and placate her husband with bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade. Left alone for months at a time whilst her husband is with his regiment, Mrs Tim resolves to keep a diary of events large and small in her family life. Once pen is set to paper no affairs of the head or heart are overlooked." I think there is a quartet of these Mrs. Tim novels!

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys -- "Spirited Henrietta wishes she was the kind of doctor's wife who knew exactly how to deal with the daily upheavals of war. But then, everyone in her close-knit Devonshire village seems to find different ways to cope: there's the indomitable Lady B, who writes to Hitler every night to tell him precisely what she thinks of him; the terrifyingly efficient Mrs Savernack, who relishes the opportunity to sit on umpteen committees and boss everyone around; flighty, flirtatious Faith who is utterly preoccupied with the latest hats and flashing her shapely legs; and then there's Charles, Henrietta's hard-working husband who manages to sleep through a bomb landing in their neighbour's garden."

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flag -- "Sassy and irreverent from the get-go, Daisy Fay takes us on a rollicking journey through her formative years on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. There, at The End of the Road of the South, the family malt shop freezer holds unspeakable things, society maven Mrs. Dot hosts Junior Debutante meetings and shares inspired thoughts for the week (such as “sincerity is as valuable as radium”), and Daisy Fay’s Daddy hatches a quick-cash scheme that involves resurrecting his daughter from the dead in a carefully orchestrated miracle. Along the way, Daisy Fay does a lot of growing up, emerging as one of the most hilarious, appealing, and prized characters in modern fiction."

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman an Jay Kristoff -- "Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the worst thing she'd ever been through. That was before her planet was invaded. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit. Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents--including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more."

Another difficult choice as they all look good and in some cases intriguing.  Most of these books are older titles that have been on my shelves for years.  I am finding lately that I am turning to my own books, older books, over new releases.  I have had to let several promising new library books go due to due impending due dates and in a couple of cases I was already reading them but knew I could not finish them fast enough, so back they went.  As with everything else this year--it is the year of an upended reading, slow going and not always very steady.  But what I am managing I am enjoying and surely that's all that matters in the end.