A Work in Progress

Stories I Want to Read (making lists again)

I am happily reading from a stack of in progress books.  I have a whole list/pile of summer reads (see previous post), but when you have tasks at work where your mind can wander as you work on something repetitive and maybe a little tedious, you can think of other things. 

Is it any surprise that my mind tends towards books and stories?  I might see a movie or come across a list of forthcoming books ... really anything might prompt the desire to read a particular kind of story.  So, today my mind gravitated towards two kinds of stories that I feel like investigating and maybe making a list of potential reads, for ... well to have in reserve for the  moment I simply must pick up that book.

So, help me make lists.

First scenario.  I came across a recently published book called One Girl Began by Kate Murray-Browne.  The teaser goes: Three women, one building, 111 years.  I know I have read books like this.  One building but many lives lived in that place.  Maybe interlinked stories.  Or a painting that is handed down through time and the reader follows its provenance and where it journeyed from start to present.  I am intrigued by a single object or a single place but it is rather the lives lived or touched upon that makes the story.

Second scenario.  Actually this is really more of a mystery/crime novel trope and I am sure (and I probably have many books on hand already) where there is a murder that happens sometime in the past but the friends or family return to it many years later.  Something happens in the present, the victim is found perhaps, that brings that moment of history back into the present.  I came across Vanessa Lillie's Blood Sisters and have requested this from the library. 

Okay, maybe one more.  I have picked up Ramona Emerson's Shutter from my Baker's Dozen summer reads (see again, previous post), which I am very much liking so far.  The protagonist is a photographer for the Albuquerque police department.  She is a member of the Navajo Nation and has the gift (? or maybe a curse) of seeing dead people.  I am intrigued when an author can pull off a story like this.  (Who knows, maybe some people really can see ghosts).  Another author who has played with this trope is Charles Todd with his Inspector Rutledge mystery series as well as Maurizio de Giovanni with his Inspector Ricciardi novels.  I am happy to see a woman in this role, but surely there must be other books with characters who can see/speak to the dead?

If any books come to mind, I am happy to take suggestions and share my lists.  I am sure I can think of a few titles myself, but this is what I have been keeping my mind busy with today.  (And I feel like I want to read maybe a seafaring novel ...  Patrick O'Brian comes to mind or C.S. Forester).

I know.  All over the place here today.

A Baker's Dozen for Summer (or Beyond)

I love reading plans like this: The 20 Books of Summer (open to interpretation, which for me I managed to whittle down to a baker's dozen of 13).   Of course if you asked me to create another stack of books next week there would be an almost completely different set of books, but most of these have been high on my TBR.  For me, this many books even in the 'carefree' days of summer is unlikely to be read.  But it's fun to think about all the books I want to read (not thinking about those in progress books or library holds that are on the hold shelf or soon to be available...).  If I can manage five or six books from these stacks I will consider it a big goal accomplished.  Some have been on my TBR for many years and others very recent additions.  Not shown is the book I have picked up and started to read:

Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck (International Booker Prize winner)

The other hopefuls:

Second Self, Chloe Ashby

Bright Young Women, Jessica Knoll (crime)

Only Every Yours, Louise O'Neill (dystopian)

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man, Fannie Flag (Fried Green Tomatoes was a much loved read)

The Leviathan, Rosie Andrews (a much anticipated gothic novel)

The Chatham School Affair, Thoma H. Cook (a reread--he is such a great crime/mystery storyteller)

Shutter, Ramona Emerson

Drowning Ruth, Christina Schwarz (another reread)

The Trespasser, Tana French (love her novels and it's been a while)

The Strangeness of Beauty, Lydia Minatoya (another long held TBRer that I keep looking at and picking up)

Secret Identity, Alex Segura

The Last Days of Leda Grey, Essie Fox

Honestly, I think this is just an excuse for me to start yet more new books. (Blink blink).  Are you reading anything in particular for summer?  A special project, something studious or just pure escapist?

A Reading List Inspired by The Women

My library has a three week check out for books, and I am now well past the midway mark until that looming due date (the holds list is remaining at a steady 440 or so people waiting), but I am not quite at the midway mark of Kristin Hannah's The Women.  I am very much enjoying the story and writing and can see why she is such a popular writer as she is a very good storyteller.  However, I need to step up my game this weekend (and really the book does read pretty fast), as I don't want to hold on to the book too far past that due date.

Along with the novel, I requested the first season of China Beach through interlibrary loan (I love libraries!).  Once again, I only have a two week window to get through six episodes plus the pilot.  It is interesting to have visuals to go along with my reading and will see how the two compare.

I have been thinking a lot about this period and my curiosity, of course (this happens to me a lot), has extended to other stories.  I have been adding to a list of other books about the period, though have broadened things a bit from 'women nurses in Vietnam' to other stories set there (though with women as more of the focus) as well as related stories peripherally set in that era.  So here is a mishmash of a list of books (fiction and nonfiction) with a very few movies thrown in.  Most of these are just books I have come across that sound interesting, but I admit I have not read most of them--they are books that I found in my library catalog or that struck me as books I want to try and look for and peruse/read.  I am happy to add to the list if other suggestions are made!

Novels:

A Catalog of Birds, Laura Harrington

In Country, Bobbie Ann Mason

Absolution, Alice McDermott

Haven Point, Vrginia Hume

Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam, Susan O'Neill (written by a nurse who served there).

Ru: A Novel, Kim Thuy

If I Had Two Lives, Abbigail N. Rosewood

Spearfield's Daughter, Jon Cleary

Signal Flame, Andrew Krivak

Between the Battles, Helen Nolan (this is fiction, but it appears to be based on her experiences there).

Nonfiction:

Close-Up on War: The story of Pioneering Photojournalist Catherine Leroy in Vietnam, Mary Cronk Farell

War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam, Denby Fawcett

Girls Don't: A Woman's War in Vietnam, Inette Miller

Round Eyes: An American Nurse in Vietnam, Diane Klutz

Officer, Nurse, Woman: The Army Nurse Corps in the Vietnam War, Kara Dixon Vuic

Home Before Morning: The Story of an Army Nurse in Vietnam, Lynda Van  Devanter

Donut Dolly: An American Red Cross Girl's War in Vietnam, Joann Puffer Kotcher

Movies:

I know there are many movies about the war, but these are two that I have seen and really loved and were memorable to me.

Coming Home (1978)

Dogfight (1991)

I know there has been a LOT of books written about the war, many classics of literature (Tim O'Brien is a favorite and his The Things They Carried is literally one of the best books I have ever read), so this very brief list is a mere pebble drop into an ocean.  I hope I can add more books in the future (and hope to read much more about women in this era).

Happy weekend everyone.

**************

Edited (4/4/24)

Books mentioned in Kristin Hannah's acknowledgements section in her book The Women:

Healing Wounds, Diane Carlson Evans with Bob Welch

American Daughter Gone to War, Winnie Smith

Home Before Morning, Lynda Van Devanter

Women in Vietnam: The Oral History, Ron Steinman

A Piece of My Heart, Keith Walker

Also:

After the Hero's Welcome, Dorothy H. McDaniel

The League of Wives, Heath Hardage Lee

In Love and War, Jim and Sybil Stockdale

The Turning: A History of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Andrew E. Hunt

Tagging Along with the Classics Club: A Spin

A long time ago, I think I was a (sort of) active participant of the Classics Club.  These days I am just trying to keep my reading going and hope that someday I can be at least a little bit ambitious (re: see pre-covid blogging days) again in other aspects of life.  I came across a Tweet where someone mentioned there is a classics club spin coming this weekend.  I am 'trying' to be more cognizant of my reading choices (still very much influenced by my mood of the moment which seems to change daily).  I do want to get back to reading the 'Classics'. 

I thought I might join in quietly on my own.  For those actually involved, they are working from a beginning list of 50 classics and narrowing things down to twenty for the upcoming spin.  The idea is to list the books and when the spin is made to match their number with the corresponding book on the list.  I think it sounds like a fun idea.  However, I am going to be rather loose with my idea of a 'Classic'.  Some are more modern or contemporary or genre-inspired.  But I think the are all classics in their own right.  And I wanted to choose 20 books that have been on my mind or in piles close by.  

So here goes, a random twenty books, one of which I shall pick up to begin reading this weekend (with the hope to finish by August 7.  Okay rolling the dice, so to speak:

1. Hamnet, Maggie O'Farell
2. The Group, Mary McCarthy
3. A Sport and a Pastime, James Salter
4. White Teeth, Zadie Smith
5. An Academic Question, Barbara Pym
6. Break of Day, Colette
7. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson
8. Cassandra at the Wedding, Dorothy Baker
9. Of Human Bondage, W. Somerset Maugham
10. A Lost Lady, Willa Cather
11. A Game of Hide and Seek, Elizabeth Taylor
12. Where Angels Fear to Tread, E.M. Forester
13. Laura, Vera Caspary
14. Voyage in the Dark, Jean Rhys
15. Delta Wedding, Eudora Welty
16. Voices in the Evening, Natalia Ginzburg
17. Eva Trout, Elizabeth Bowen
18. Good Behavior, Molly Keane
19. The Member of the Wedding, Carson McCullers
20. The Moviegoer, Walker Percy

So, we'll see where the spin lands!  These all sound wonderful today, but my mood varies so much I hope that the book selected will prove to captivate me or keep me motivated to finish another classic this year (so far only one slim novel, and not his best by any means, by Wilkie Collins)!

Books I Want to Read: Five New/Five Old

I can barely open my email these days, or look at the new books lists on the library's website or browse even just a tiny bit online before I am bombarded by books that catch my eye and my desire to go hide away (far away) and read by a sunny window in a quiet room.  The sunny window is not always in reach, but the desire remains and you know me--I am always trying to squeeze just one more book into my reading pile.  Here are five new books and five older (from my stacks) books that have been on my mind lately.  

The Paris Hours by Alex George -- Okay, what did I say about not wanting war stories?  Oh well, sometimes I can't resist after all.  Technically this is 'between' the wars!  Paris between the wars teems with artists, writers, and musicians, a glittering crucible of genius. But amidst the dazzling creativity of the city’s most famous citizens, four regular people are each searching for something they’ve lost."

The Body Double by Emily Beyda -- I love dopperganger stories!  "A dark, glittering debut novel, The Body Double is the suspenseful story of a young woman who is recruited by a stranger to give up her old life and identity to impersonate a reclusive Hollywood star."

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia -- This sounds really unusual--maybe a story that is not new but in a different setting that makes the story seem 'fresh'?  "From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes a reimagining of the classic gothic suspense novel, a story about an isolated mansion in 1950s Mexico—and the brave socialite drawn to its treacherous secrets."

Watching from the Dark by Gytha Lodge -- "One crime. One witness. One question . . . Why didn't he call the police? When a vibrant young woman is murdered while on a video chat, a small-town detective wades into a circle of friends and lovers with dangerous secrets.  Aidan Poole logs on to his laptop late at night to Skype his girlfriend, Zoe. To his horror, he realizes that there is someone else in her flat. Aidan can only listen to the sounds of a violent struggle taking place in the bathroom--and then the sound of silence. He is desperate to find out if Zoe is okay. But then why is he so hesitant to call the police? When Aidan's cryptic messages finally reach them, Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens and his team take the case--and discover the body. They soon find that no one has a bad word to say about Zoe, a big hearted young artist at the center of a curious web of waifs and strays, each relying on her for support, each hiding dark secrets and buried resentments. Has one of her so-called 'friends' been driven to murder? Or does Aidan have the biggest secret of them all?"

Things I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer -- "A poignant post-WWII novel that explores the expectations society places on women set within an engrossing family mystery that may unravel everything once believed to be true. With her father recently moved to a care facility, Beth Walsh volunteers to clear out the family home and is surprised to discover the door to her childhood playroom padlocked. She's even more shocked at what's behind it--a hoarder's mess of her father's paintings, mounds of discarded papers and miscellaneous junk in the otherwise fastidiously tidy house. As she picks through the clutter, she finds a loose journal entry in what appears to be her late mother's handwriting. Beth and her siblings grew up believing their mother died in a car accident when they were little more than toddlers, but this note suggests something much darker. Beth soon pieces together a disturbing portrait of a woman suffering from postpartum depression and a husband who bears little resemblance to the loving father Beth and her siblings know. With a newborn of her own and struggling with motherhood, Beth finds there may be more tying her and her mother together than she ever suspected."

***

The new books above I am looking forward to getting my hands on eventually.  But the books below are close at hand, mostly on bedside stacks and I find myself wanting to reach for one or two and start reading now (rather than waiting to finish something else first--my worst bookish-reading habit).  Most of these have been shelf sitters for a while.  I think the Barker on the top is the newest acquisitions.  

Come Tell Me Some Lies by Raffaella Barker -- This reminds me of I Capture the Castle.  "Gabriella lives in a damp, ramshackle, book-strewn farmhouse in Norfolk with her tempestuous poet father and unconventional mother. Alongside her ever expanding set of siblings and half-siblings, numerous pets and her father's rag-tag admirers, Gabriella navigates a chaotic childhood of wild bohemian parties and fluctuating levels of poverty. Longing to be normal, Gabriella enrols in a strict day school, only to find herself balancing two very different lives. Struggling to keep the eccentricities of her family contained, her failure to achieve conformity amongst her peers is endearing, and absolute."

Conversation Piece by Molly Keane -- Will this be the year I get back to reading Molly Keane's work?  "When Oliver visits Pullinstown, he is introduced to wild days of hunting and shooting, and to characters like his cousins, with their passion for horses and trickery, and Sir Richard, elderly, but a match for his headstrong offspring."

The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann -- I read Invitation to the Waltz several years back and this is a sequel of sorts.  "Taking up where An Invitation to the Waltz left off, The Weather in the Streets shows us Olivia Curtis ten years older, a failed marriage behind her, thinner, sadder, and apprently not much wiser. A chance encounter on a train with a man who enchanted her as a teenager leads to a forbidden love affair and a new world of secret meetings, brief phone calls and snatched liaisons in anonymous hotel rooms."  I am mostly just in the mood right now for a Virago of any sort, but she popped out at me when I was looking at my VMC bookcase.

Chronicle of a Last Summer by Yasmine El Rashidi -- Although this is not translated but written in English (and I want to read more translated fiction this year), I like the sound of the story and have picked this up more time than I can remember.  "A young Egyptian woman recounts her personal and political coming of age in this brilliant debut novel.  We meet her across three decades, from youth to adulthood: As a six-year old absorbing the world around her, filled with questions she can’t ask; as a college student and aspiring filmmaker pre-occupied with love, language, and the repression that surrounds her; and then later, in the turbulent aftermath of Mubarak’s overthrow, as a writer exploring her own past. Reunited with her father, she wonders about the silences that have marked and shaped her life."

The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp by Eva Rice -- I loved Eva Rice's novel The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets and hope this is equally as charming.  I Had to have it when it first came out (how many years ago . . .), and really need to get around to read.  "Country girl Tara is whisked off to '60s London to become a star; there she is dressed, she is shown off at Chelsea parties, photographed by the best. She meets songwriters, singers, designers, and records her song. And she falls in love - with two men. Behind the buzz and excitement of her success, the bitterness between her elder sister Lucy and her friend Matilda haunts Tara. Their past friendship is broken and among the secrets and the strangeness of both their marriages, the past keeps on reappearing."

So I am finishing Rachel Kushner's The Mars Room and it is really, really good, but it is not a feel good happy sort of story.  It is bleak and makes me happy to have a quiet, boring, very conventional life.  She is such a good writer that she can make a story set mostly in a women's prison both compelling and engaging.  However, I think I need something gentle and comforting to follow.

So I leave you with a (very easy) question for the weekend.  What is your favorite charming/comforting read?  Something newly encountered or an old favorite?

New and Forthcoming Books on My Radar

I have been a little self-indulgent when it comes to buying and borrowing (though, now that I think of it, is there ever a time I am not--only sometimes I have better excuses for it than others).  I have been adding to a list of books I want to peruse and look over and maybe read or buy.  The never-ending-list of book wants.  Here are some of the highlights from that list.

Summer of Reckoning by Marion Brunet (translated from French) -- "A psychological thriller set in the Luberon, a touristic French region that evokes holidays in magnificent pool-adorned villas. For those who live there year-round, it often means stifling poverty and boredom. Two teenage sisters have grown up in a world where the main distractions are hatred of Arabs and booze. When Celine, 16, discovers she is pregnant and refuses to divulge her lover’s identity, her father embarks on a mission of revenge. A dark and upsetting account of an ailing society, filled with silent and murderous rage." 

The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda (translated from Japanese) -- "The Aosawa Murders takes the classic elements of the mystery genre but steers away from putting them together in the usual way, instead providing a multi-voiced insight into the psychology of contemporary Japan, with its rituals, pervasive envy and ever so polite hypocrisy. But it’s also about the nature of evil and the resonance and unreliability of memory." 

Free Day by Ines Cagnati (translated from French) -- "In the marshy, misty countryside of southwestern France, fourteen-year-old Galla rides her battered bicycle from the private Catholic high school she attends on scholarship to the rocky, barren farm where her family lives. It’s a journey she makes every two weeks, forty miles round trip, traveling between opposite poles of ambition and guilt, school and home. Galla’s loving, overwhelmed, incompetent mother doesn’t want her to go to school; she wants her to stay at home, where Galla can look after her neglected little sisters, defuse her father’s brutal rages, and help with the chores. What does this dutiful daughter owe her family, and what does she owe herself?"

I decided to renew my NYRB subscription (despite the dire number of books I read that I got this year--thankfully books don't expire!).  This is the December book that I will get and am looking forward to.  And I will have another dozen or so forthcoming I can't wait to be surprised by!

And a couple of recently published books from Persephone Books which I am currently lusting after and will likely eventually order (well, at least one of them as a treat).

Expiation by Elizabeth von Arnim -- "The theme is faintly shocking, or was in 1929, since the book is about adultery: a 'happily married' woman has, it transpires, for years been meeting her lover once a week. (This is not a plot spoiler as the reader learns this early on.) And, although nowadays we read the novel as a satire, at the time the characters and their milieu may have seemed rather tame. 

The Second Persephone Book of Short Stories -- Loved the first one and read every single story, so of course this is a must have for me as well.  "Our proofreader wrote: ‘VERY ENJOYABLE, though some of the stories eg. “Monkey-Barges” by Emma Smith are exceedingly painful. It seems to me the common themes are grief over the two World Wars. This is stronger in the earlier part of the book, how to cope with a new order being stronger in the latter."

Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders by Tessa Arden -- Since I am in the thick of things with other WWII (mostly mystery) stories, here is another new one and the start of a new series).  'Summer 1942. The world has been at war for three long and desperate years. In the remote English village of Little Buffenden, Poppy Redfern’s family house and farmland has been requisitioned by the War Office as a new airfield for the American Air Force. As the village's Air Raid Warden, Poppy spends her nights patrolling the village as she tries to ease her neighbors’ fears about the 'Friendly Invasion' and what it means to their quiet way of life."

Trace of Evil: A Natalie Lockhard Novel by Alice Blanchard -- Another first in a series that looks quite promising.  "Natalie Lockhart is a rookie detective in Burning Lake, New York, an isolated town known for its dark past. Tasked with uncovering the whereabouts of nine missing transients who have disappeared over the years, Natalie wrestles with the town’s troubled history – and the scars left by her sister’s unsolved murder years ago."

Letters from Tove edited by Boel Westin -- I love Tove's writing.  It has been a while since I picked up one of her books (must rectify that) and I have several unread books by her waiting.  I think I need to add this book of letters to my pile--a perfect pairing with a biography of her I have!  "Penned with grace and humour, Letters from Tove offers an almost seamless commentary on Tove Jansson's life as it unfolds within Helsinki's bohemian circles and her island home. Spanning fifty years between her art studies and the height of Moomin fame, we share with her the bleakness of war; the hopes for love that were dashed and renewed, and her determined attempts to establish herself as an artist."

Maybe, as a matter of fact, I will look at my pile this weekend? . . . 

Violet by Sji Holliday -- "Carrie's best friend has an accident and can no longer make the round-the-world trip they'd planned together, so Carrie decides to go it alone.  Violet is also travelling alone, after splitting up with her boyfriend in Thailand. She is also desperate for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express, but there is nothing available.  When the two women meet in a Beijing Hotel, Carrie makes the impulsive decision to invite Violet to take her best friend's place.  Thrown together in a strange country, and the cramped cabin of the train, the women soon form a bond. But as the journey continues, through Mongolia and into Russia, things start to unravel - because one of these women is not who she claims to be..."

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (translated from Japanese) -- "In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a cafe which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time."  What would you change if you could go back in time--now THIS is the book for me as I think of it more often than I should!

The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and Her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton -- "Dubbing themselves the Mutual Admiration Society, Sayers and her classmates remained lifelong friends and collaborators as they fought for a truly democratic culture that acknowledged their equal humanity. A celebration of feminism and female friendship, The Mutual Admiration Society offers crucial insight into Dorothy L. Sayers and her world."

Beheld: A Novel by TaraShea Nesbit -- "With gripping, immersive details and beautiful prose, TaraShea Nesbit reframes the story of the pilgrims in the historically under-recorded voices of two women of very different status and means. She evokes a vivid, ominous Plymouth, populated by famous and unknown characters alike, each with conflicting desires and questionable behavior. Suspenseful and literary, Beheld is about a murder and a trial; but it's also about the motivations--personal and political--that cause people to act in unsavory ways.  Whose stories get told over time, who gets believed--and subsequently, who gets punished? Beheld is an intimate, personal portrait of love, motherhood, and friendship, and an exploration of what people lose and what they struggle to maintain."

And to round things off--a baker's dozen and this one not released until next summer!

The Lying of Adults by Elena Ferrante -- Better get moving on the rest of the "Neapolitan Quartet"!  "Two years before leaving home my father said to my mother that I was very ugly. The sentence was uttered under his breath, in the apartment that my parents, newly married, had bought in Rione Alto, at the top of Via San Giacomo dei Capri. Everything—the spaces of Naples, the blue light of a very cold February, those words—remained fixed. But I slipped away, and am still slipping away, within these lines that are intended to give me a story, while in fact I am nothing, nothing of my own, nothing that has really begun or really been brought to completion: only a tangled knot, and nobody, not even the one who at this moment is writing, knows if it contains the right thread for a story or is merely a snarled confusion of suffering, without redemption."

Good things to look forward to.

And Speaking of Library Books (on my list)

A note about the comments on my posts--I am not sure where they have gone.  I am assuming there is an issue with Typepad at the moment.  They are still there on the backend of the blog--I can see them in my list when I am logged in, but for some reason there is only a link to "view comments" on the public side, but when you click on it, nothing happens.  Hopefully the problem will be resolved soon (and I will reply as soon as they are viewable again).  Sorry about that if you wanted to leave a comment!

Since I have been thinking about library books--and that pile I have at home.  I should really be more discriminate when adding new books to my queue.  Rather than just get in line immediately I should just add it to my "later" list, but where is the fun in that?  I was looking at my account and trying to see if there are books I should save for later, but then there are so many that look good and I want to get my hands on soon.  Here are ten books I am really looking forward to.

Our Little Secret by Cate Holahan -- "The glass beach house was supposed to be the getaway that Susan needed. Eager to help her transplanted family set down roots in their new town―and desperate for some kid-free conversation―she invites her new neighbors to join in on a week-long sublet with her and her workaholic husband.  A taut, locked room mystery with an unforgettable cast of characters, One Little Secret promises to keep readers' eyes glued to the pages and debating the blinders that we all put on in the service of politeness."

The Secrets We Keep by Lara Prescott -- Women spies is a hot topic in books these days (and I am all for that!).  "A thrilling tale of secretaries turned spies, of love and duty, and of sacrifice--inspired by the true story of the CIA plot to infiltrate the hearts and minds of Soviet Russia, not with propaganda, but with the greatest love story of the twentieth century: Doctor Zhivago."

Commute: An Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame by Erin Williams -- "In Commute, we follow author and illustrator Erin Williams on her daily commute to and from work, punctuated by recollections of sexual encounters as well as memories of her battle with alcoholism, addiction, and recovery. As she moves through the world navigating banal, familiar, and sometimes uncomfortable interactions with the familiar-faced strangers she sees daily, Williams weaves together a riveting collection of flashbacks. Her recollections highlight the indefinable moments when lines are crossed and a woman must ask herself if the only way to avoid being objectified is to simply cease to draw any attention to her physical being. She delves into the gray space that lives between consent and assault and tenderly explores the complexity of the shame, guilt, vulnerability, and responsibility attached to both." 

Delayed Rays of a Star by Amanda Koe Lee -- "At a chance encounter at a Berlin soirée in 1928, the photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt captures three very different women together in one frame: up-and-coming German actress Marlene Dietrich, who would wend her way into Hollywood as one of its lasting icons; Anna May Wong, the world's first Chinese American star, playing for bit parts while dreaming of breaking away from her father's modest laundry; and Leni Riefenstahl, whose work as a director would first make her famous--then, infamous.  From this curious point of intersection, Delayed Rays of a Star lets loose the trajectories of these women's lives."

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys -- I have not yet read any of her books, but this one sounds very promising.  "Master storyteller Ruta Sepetys once again shines light into one of history's darkest corners in this epic, heart-wrenching novel about identity, unforgettable love, repercussions of war, and the hidden violence of silence--inspired by the true post-war struggles of Spain.  Includes vintage media interstitials, oral history commentary, photos, and more."

The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair -- The first book in a new mystery series--because you can never have enough of those, right?  "In a London slowly recovering from World War II, two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair―The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, quick-witted and impulsive, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, practical and widowed with a young son, are determined to achieve some independence and do some good in a rapidly changing world."  Yes, a death and then investigation ensues.

Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald -- This sounds like fun and I can't wait until I get my hands on it!  "On a clear December morning in 1937, at the famous gold clock in Grand Central Terminal, Joe Reynolds, a hardworking railroad man from Queens, meets a vibrant young woman who seems mysteriously out of place. Nora Lansing is a Manhattan socialite whose flapper clothing, pearl earrings, and talk of the Roaring Twenties don’t seem to match the bleak mood of Depression-era New York. Captivated by Nora from her first electric touch, Joe despairs when he tries to walk her home and she disappears. Finding her again—and again—will become the focus of his love and his life."

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern -- I really (still) need to read her first book . . .  "Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues--a bee, a key, and a sword--that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth."

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok -- Another much anticipated book.  "A poignant and suspenseful drama that untangles the complicated ties binding three women—two sisters and their mother—in one Chinese immigrant family and explores what happens when the eldest daughter disappears, and a series of family secrets emerge.  It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother—and then vanishes."

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier -- I went through a huge phase of reading her books.  I think I missed the last few, but this one is definitely on my wishlist.  "1932. After the Great War took both her beloved brother and her fiancé, Violet Speedwell has become a "surplus woman," one of a generation doomed to a life of spinsterhood after the war killed so many young men. Yet Violet cannot reconcile herself to a life spent caring for her grieving, embittered mother. After countless meals of boiled eggs and dry toast, she saves enough to move out of her mother's place and into the town of Winchester, home to one of England's grandest cathedrals. There, Violet is drawn into a society of broderers--women who embroider kneelers for the Cathedral, carrying on a centuries-long tradition of bringing comfort to worshippers."

So many good books.  I know what I'll be doing this weekend--reading, seeing a few movies (and continuing on with season one of Killing Eve, which has been hugely addicting) and a stop by the bookstore (where I might anxiously just buy one of these books on this list if I find I can't wait a moment longer?).  Happy weekend reading everyone.

Ten Books I am (Im)Patiently Waiting For!

Happy Valentine's Day.  Or better, what I would be celebrating, if I celebrated--Happy Galentine's Day!  I might treat myself to some chocolate later, but I think a better treat would be books.  So for Galentine/Valentine's Day, here are ten books I will (eventually) be treating myself to either by way of bookstore or library!

So, I am going to start with a book which has just been released--it is the February NYRB Classic which is part of my subscription.  I note it here as I am still waiting for my copy.  Each month's book comes at haphazard times.  You would (okay, I would) expect the book to come the first week or so of each month, but that is not always the case.  I am sure they are sick of me emailing them all the time--I never did get the freebie book that was supposed to be part of my subscription.  I emailed once and was assure it was on its way and I would have it by the end of January, but alas, here we are halfway through February and it never did come.  And now the February book is making a slow journey here, too.  So, rather than bug them again I am trying to be patient.  

Nothing but the Night, John Williams -- John Williams’s first novel is a brooding psychological noir. Arthur Maxley is a young man at the end of his emotional rope. Having dropped out of college, he’s holed up in a big-city hotel, living off an allowance from his family, feeling nothing but alone and doing nothing but drinking to forget it. What’s brought him to this point? Something is troubling him, something is haunting him, something he cannot bring himself either to face or to turn away from. And now his father has come to town, a hail-fellow-well-met kind of guy. They’ve been estranged for years, and yet Arthur wants to meet—and so he does, reeling away from the encounter for a night of drinking and dancing and a final reckoning with the traumatizing past that readers will not soon forget.

And my next book is also just out but I keep reading about it and hearing such good things that I went ahead and ordered a copy rather than wait in line at the library.  First I read this by Lucy Foley about Agatha Christie, and now it is first in the Vulture list of good locked-room mysteries.  Okay, so I am sold, and so too, as you see, is one of her books!  I will need to be patient until at least Monday when it should land on my doorstep.

The Hunting Party, Lucy Foley -- "For fans of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a shivery, atmospheric, page-turning novel of psychological suspense in the tradition of Agatha Christie, in which a group of old college friends are snowed in at a hunting lodge . . . and murder and mayhem ensue."

I must admit that I am not sure these days about historical novels featuring heroines who were real people.  I like them, but there seem to be so very many these days.  Curiously I think I prefer novels that might be peppered with characters based on actual people but I think I want the narrator to be a made up character.  Is that weird?  

Meet Me in Monaco, Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb -- "Movie stars and paparazzi flock to Cannes for the glamorous film festival, but Grace Kelly, the biggest star of all, wants only to escape from the flash-bulbs. When struggling perfumer Sophie Duval shelters Miss Kelly in her boutique to fend off a persistent British press photographer, James Henderson, a bond is forged between the two women and sets in motion a chain of events that stretches across thirty years of friendship, love, and tragedy."

I am seriously excited to see Anne Perry has a new sleuth and a woman at that.  I have gotten some of her holiday novellas as AREs and I wouldn't mind getting this as a review copy, but sadly I think I will just have to wait until it is released by the publisher.  

Death in Focus: An Elena Standish Novel, Anne Perry -- "In the start of an all-new mystery series set in pre-World War II Europe, an intrepid young photographer carries her imperiled lover's final, urgent message into the heart of Berlin as Hitler ascends to power."

Park Avenue Summer, Renée Rosen -- "Mad Men meets The Devil Wears Prada as Renée Rosen draws readers into the glamorous New York City of 1965 and Cosmopolitan magazine, where a brazen new editor-in-chief--Helen Gurley Brown--shocks America and saves a dying publication by daring to talk to women about all things off-limits..."

And, yes, a new series by Elly Griffiths--or maybe it just a standalone, but it looks vdry good as well.

The Stranger Diaries, Elly Griffiths -- "Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. A high school English teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she teaches a course on it every year. But when one of Clare’s colleagues and closest friends is found dead, with a line from R. M. Holland’s most famous story, “The Stranger,” left by her body, Clare is horrified to see her life collide with the storylines of her favorite literature."

This was just on Book Riot's All the Books podcast and it sounds so good, but is it actually coming out in the US or were they just teasing us?  I might have to get a UK edition.

The Psychology of Time Travel, Kate Mascarenhas -- "In 1967, four female scientists worked together to build the world’s first time machine. But just as they are about to debut their creation, one of them suffers a breakdown, putting the whole project―and future of time travel―in jeopardy. To protect their invention, one member is exiled from the team―erasing her contributions from history.  Fifty years later, time travel is a big business. Twenty-something Ruby Rebello knows her beloved grandmother, Granny Bee, was one of the pioneers, though no one will tell her more. But when Bee receives a mysterious newspaper clipping from the future reporting the murder of an unidentified woman, Ruby becomes obsessed: could it be Bee? Who would want her dead? And most importantly of all: can her murder be stopped?"

In Another Time, Jillian Cantor -- "A sweeping historical novel that spans Germany, England, and the United States and follows a young couple torn apart by circumstance leading up to World War II—and the family secret that may prove to be the means for survival."

The Wandering Vine: Wine, the Romans and Me, Nina Caplan -- "Impelled by a dual thirst, for wine and for knowledge, Nina Caplan follows the vine into the past, wandering from Champagne's ancient chalk to the mountains of Campania, via the crumbling Roman ruins that flank the river Rhone and the remote slopes of Priorat in Catalonia. She meets people whose character, stubbornness and sometimes, borderline craziness makes their wine great: an intrepid Englishman planting on rabbit-infested Downs, a glamorous eagle-chasing Spaniard and an Italian lawyer obsessed with reviving Falernian, legendary wine of the Romans. In the course of her travels, she drinks a lot and learns a lot: about dead conquerors and living wines, forgotten zealots and - in vino veritas, as Pliny said - about herself."

The Lovely War, Julie Berry -- "They are Hazel, James, Aubrey, and Colette. A classical pianist from London, a British would-be architect-turned-soldier, a Harlem-born ragtime genius in the U.S. Army, and a Belgian orphan with a gorgeous voice and a devastating past. Their story, as told by goddess Aphrodite, who must spin the tale or face judgment on Mount Olympus, is filled with hope and heartbreak, prejudice and passion, and reveals that, though War is a formidable force, it's no match for the transcendent power of Love."

So, there you have it.  Some of the books on my wishlist.  I always have more, but best not to be too greedy (or appear to be so . . .).

A New Books Wish List

I was going to write about my last NYRB that I just finished, but I'm just feeling out of sorts today, so I'll share a few new books I am really looking forward to.  I seem to have an endless list of those!  A few are very recent releases and a few forthcoming. 

No One But You by Tessa Levy and Shelley Cassidy -- " a fictional account of a young girl's extraordinary life, from the post-war East End of London to the high life of America and back again. It portrays Tessa Levy's yearning for adventure and opportunity and ultimately love on both sides of the Atlantic."

Summer of Love by Caro Fraser -- "In the hot summer of 1949, a group of family and friends gather at Harry Denholm's country house in Kent. Meg and Dan Ranscombe, emerging from a scandal of their own making; Dan's godmother, Sonia and her two young girls, Laura and Avril, only one of whom is Sonia's biological daughter. Among the heat, memories, and infatuations, a secret is revealed to Meg's son, Max, and soon a terrible tragedy unfolds that will have consequences for them all. Afterwards, Avril, Laura and Max must come of age in a society still reeling from the war, haunted by the choices of that fateful summer. Cold, entitled Avril will go to any lengths to take what is hers. Beautiful, naive Laura finds refuge and love in the London jazz clubs, but Max, with wealth and unrequited love, has the capacity to undo it all."

Belleweather by Susanna Kearsley -- "It's late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story."

Bryant & May: Hall of Mirrors: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler -- "London, 1969. With the Swinging Sixties under way, Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May find themselves caught in the middle of a good, old-fashioned manor house murder mystery."

In the Distance with You by Carla Guelfenbein -- "Vera Sigall, now eighty years old, has lived a mysterious, ascetic life far from the limelight of literary circles. This powerful character has a profound effect on those around her—Daniel, an architect and her neighbor and friend, unhappy in his marriage and career; Emilia, a Franco-Chilean student who travels to Santiago to write a thesis on the elusive Vera; and Horacio, an acclaimed poet with whom Vera had a tumultuous, passionate affair in her youth."  The author is Brazilian and the book is apparently inspired by Clarice Lispector.

Tango Lessons: A Memoir by Maghan Flaherty -- "Tango was an unlikely choice for Meghan Flaherty. A young woman living with the scars of past trauma, she was terrified of being touched and shied away from real passion. But by her late twenties, she knew something had to change. She dug up an old dream and tried on her dancing shoes.  Written in wry, lyrical prose, and beautifully enriched by the vivid history and culture of the dance, Tango Lessons is a transformative story of conquering your fears, living your dreams, and enjoying the dizzying freedom found in the closest embrace."

A Double Life by Flynn Berry -- I really liked her first book!  "Claire is a hardworking doctor living a simple, quiet life in London. She is also the daughter of the most notorious murder suspect in the country, though no one knows it.  Nearly thirty years ago, while Claire and her infant brother slept upstairs, a brutal crime was committed in her family's townhouse. Her father's car was found abandoned near the English Channel the next morning, with bloodstains on the front seat. Her mother insisted she'd seen him in the house that night, but his powerful, privileged friends maintained his innocence. The first lord accused of murder in more than a century, he has been missing ever since.  When the police tell Claire they've found her father, her carefully calibrated existence begins to fracture. She doesn't know if she's the daughter of a murderer or a wronged man, but Claire will soon learn how far she'll go to finally find the truth."

The Diamond Setter by Moshe Sakal -- "The uneventful life of a jeweler from Tel Aviv changes abruptly in 2011 after Fareed, a handsome young man from Damascus, crosses illegally into Israel and makes his way to the ancient port city of Jaffa in search of his roots. In his pocket is a piece of a famous blue diamond known as "Sabakh." Intending to return the diamond to its rightful owner, Fareed is soon swept up in Tel Aviv's vibrant gay scene, and a turbulent protest movement. He falls in love with both an Israeli soldier and his boyfriend--the narrator of this book--and reveals the story of his family's past: a tale of forbidden love beginning in the 1930s that connects Fareed and the jeweler."

Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O'Brien -- "Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. Thousands of fans flocked to multi‑day events, and cities vied with one another to host them. The pilots themselves were hailed as dashing heroes who cheerfully stared death in the face. Well, the men were hailed. Female pilots were more often ridiculed than praised for what the press portrayed as silly efforts to horn in on a manly, and deadly, pursuit. Fly Girls recounts how a cadre of women banded together to break the original glass ceiling: the entrenched prejudice that conspired to keep them out of the sky."

Okay Fine Whatever: The Year I Went from Being Afraid of Everything to Only Being Afraid of Most Things by Courtenay Hameister -- "Refreshing, relatable, and pee-your-pants funny, Okay Fine Whatever is Courtenay's hold-nothing-back account of her adventures on the front lines of Mere Human Woman vs. Fear, reminding us that even the tiniest amount of bravery is still bravery, and that no matter who you are, it's possible to fight complacency and become bold, or at least bold-ish, a little at a time."

So, a few books I am waiting for (most of these I am in line for at the library) thrown in with the serendipity of those unplanned finds. 

Reading the New Theater Season

This is a reading project in the making!  And you can really take it in a few different directions, too.  A number of years ago I started subscribing to each new season of Broadway show offerings.  I would just purchase the whole package (usually five or so shows during theater season which seems to run September through June) and I would see the odd opera as well.  Then I decided it was worth subscribing to each new Opera Omaha season as well since the package price is always such a bargain.  Generally there are three operas here each season but next season there will be four (not counting The Met: Live in HD performances held at local cinemas which I have yet to try).  Now you know how it goes.  Once you subscribe to your local performing arts everyone wants you to join in.  I thoroughly enjoy supporting the arts (and in the current political climate I think it is as important as ever!) since there is really so much cross over between the arts and literature (as you will see below).  I have decided this year to add some Omaha Symphony performances to the line up as well.  They offer a whole range of choices but their Masterworks offerings were what tempted me in the end.  I suspect I will add a few dance performances into the mix as well.

Opera Omaha was first up to announce their season and I am really excited about the upcoming performances.  I will be season Tosca, Falstaff, Medea and Proving Up.  I was thinking I should really read along.  In the past I have tried to read something of each opera before I attend performances as I am very much an opera novice.  I know next to nothing about opera really (though whenever Opera Omaha does community outreach (and on a few occasions now I have been able to go back stage and see it all from the performer's perspectives), so seeing and reading more about each opera just broadens my horizons a tiny bit more.

Tosca is a Puccini opera is based on a French play by Victorien Sardou from 1887.  I know I can read the libretto that Puccini based his opera on and the Sardou play if I can find it.  Falstaff is an opera by Verdi based on a libretto which is adapted from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and a few scenes from Henry IV.  Now I know I can have some fun with Medea and I am already thinking about that one!  Of course Medea is a myth from the Greeks, which I have read ages ago.  The opera is by Luigi Cherubini based on Euripdes' tragedy and Pierre Corneille's play Médée.  There are all kinds of retellings of this myth and I could make a whole project out it alone!  I think I will read a recent find, however, David Vann's recently published novel Bright Air Black.  I am thinking that maybe opera/Medea should be my summer reading project (I have been toying with a number of themes not quite settling on one--because of course they all sound tempting).  Proving Up is a modern opera based on a short story by Karen Russell (will be find that one for sure).  It is tied in with the One Festival coming to Omaha in 2018--which "spans two weeks that blend music, theater, visual art, dance, and film".  Proving Up is set in Post-Civil War Nebraska, so it has added ties locally.  It should be a really exciting opera season as Opera Omaha is celebrating their 60th Anniversary.  I suspect you'll be hearing much more from me about opera in the coming months.

As for Broadway the lineup is a fun one as well: Finding Neverland, Disney's Little Mermaid, Waitress, Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I and An American in Paris.  I am especially looking forward to the last two.  I can add on Wicked, too, but I have not yet decided.  Have you seen it?  Should I go?  I once tried to read the book, Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, but for some reason I didn't get on with it.  Of course that was literally years ago and I might give it another go if I decide to see the musical. 

So, if I did extracurricular reading, there would be Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Little Mermaid, Margaret Landon's Anna and the King of Siam, and L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz.  I'm sure if I dig around a little there are retellings and reimaginings of some of the stories as well. 

I think my biggest showgoing bargain was the symphony package I got, which is eight performances at a very economical price (and as I am an early subscriber my seat was half price).  I am going to do the MasterWorks series which includes Mahler's Ninth, Dvorak's 7th Symphony, Rachmaninoff & Tchaikovsky, Appalachian Spring & West Side Story, Beethoven & Mozart, Bernstein & Mahler's 4th Symphony, The Planets (Bach, Berg and Holst), and Beethoven's 9th Symphony.  I don't know a lot about opera, but I knew even less about classical music, so this will certainly be an education.  I'm not sure what I might choose for 'reading along' but I bet I can get creative.

So much culture!  It seems to go hand in hand with reading--for me anyway.  As always any reading suggestions are very welcome to enhance the experience.