A Work in Progress

June Prompt: Locked Rooms/Closed Places

My prompts have been a little random this year.  My only thought was to choose places for my prompts rather than themes (though I am sort of missing those one-line themes).  More often than not I see a book on my shelves or in a pile and it calls out to me to be read and inspires a place, which in this case is locked rooms, hidden spaces, closed places.  Most of the books are obvious in their secrecy, but the Owens is an open space but a case of being 'hidden' in plain sight.

I've been trying to keep the piles to just five.  Here is what I found on my shelves and a little nudge for each book.  Instead of a description, how about a first line?

The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell -- "My sainted mother taught me the seven acts of corporeal mercy: to feed the hungry; refresh the thirsty; clothe the naked; shelter the traveller; comfort the sick; visit those imprisoned ; and bury the dead.  Most of these we undertook together, while she lived.  Then papa and I buried her, so that was another one off the list."  Nudge: creepy and compared to some favorites of min--Alias Grace, Rebecca, The Woman in Black, Shirley Jackson, Sarah Waters . . .

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena -- "The road curves and twists unexpectedly as it leads higher and deeper into the Catskill Mountains, as if the further you get from civilization, the more uncertain the path."  Nudge: Snowy setting, takes place in winter.  The cold may be very welcome later this week when the heat and humidity make an appearance!

The Crooked House by Christobel Kent -- "When it starts again she is face down on her bed with her hands over her ears and she feels it more than she hears it.  A vibration through the mattress, through the flowered duvet, through the damp pillow she's buried her face in.  It comes from below, through the house's lower three storeys.  BOOM.  She feels it in her throat."  Nudge:  Called Broadchurch meets Rebecca.  (Now that is an interesting combination).

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens -- "Marsh is not swamp.  Marsh is a space of light, where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky.  Slow-moving creeks wander, carrying the orb of the sun with the to the sea, and long-legged birds lift with unexpected grace-as though not built to fly--against a roar of a thousand snow geese."  Nudge: I must be one of the last people not to have read this yet?  Maybe not as dark as the two books above.

The Ballroom by Anna Hope -- "'Are you going to behave?' The man's voice echoed.  'Are you going to behave?'  She made a noise.  Could have been yes.  Could have been no, but the blanket was pulled off her head and she gasped for air."  Nudge: A hint of romance (finally--still haven't been able to find a satisfying story).  Had to have this one in hardcover when it was published back in 2016!

So, there is a prison, a remote inn during a snowstorm that loses electricity, a mysterious house, a marsh devoid of other people and a psychiatric ward.  They all appeal in different ways!  Any more nudges in a particular direction?

May Prompt: On Stage or Screen

Hello reading friends.  Welcome spring and a new month!  And a new pile of books to choose from.  I am still reading last month's prompt book, and I am thoroughly enjoying it.  But I must not tarry (what am I saying, I am tarrying all over the place these days, but we're talking about choosing a new book to read!).

I have been toying with the idea of presenting the books to you, and letting you help choose the next book to read, but I realize it is so quiet here (on my end) that I might not have enough readers dropping by to add their voice to the comments below.  Still, if you have a favorite here on this pile, a book you have read and enjoyed, or heard good things about, do feel free to leave a comment.

This month I decided (this year my prompt's are all 'places'/settings) a novel set in the world of theater or moviemaking might be entertaining (pun intended).  I actually have quite a few books with that setting, but I managed to whittle the number down to a smaller stack.  It is a world I am most interested in reading about, so if you have any other recommendations (for some other time) do please share.  

Show Boat by Edna Ferber -- "Bringing to life the adventurous world of Mississippi show boats, the grittiness of turn-of-the-century Chicago, and the majesty of 1920s Broadway, Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Ferber's Show Boat is a classic. Magnolia Hawks spends her childhood aboard the Cotton Blossom, growing up amid simmering racial tension and struggling to survive life on the Mississippi. When she falls in love with the dashing Gaylord Ravenal and moves with him to Chicago, the joy of giving birth to their beautiful daughter, Kim, is offset by Gaylord's gambling addiction and distrustful ways. Only when Kim sets off on her own to pursue success on the New York stage does Magnolia return to the Cotton Blossom, reflecting on her own life and all who once called the show boat their home."

Lucky Us by Amy Bloom -- "Disappointed by their families, Iris, the hopeful star and Eva the sidekick, journey through 1940s America in search of fame and fortune. Iris's ambitions take the pair across the America of Reinvention in a stolen station wagon, from small-town Ohio to an unexpected and sensuous Hollywood, and to the jazz clubs and golden mansions of Long Island.With their friends in high and low places, Iris and Eva stumble and shine though a landscape of big dreams, scandals, betrayals, and war." 

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (I have read all her books but this debut novel and her very last one--shouldn't she have something new coming out soon?).  "Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins."

Delayed Rays of a Star by Amanda Lee Koe -- "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; Anna May Wong, the world's first Chinese American star; and Leni Riefenstahl, whose work as a director of propaganda art films would first make her famous--then, infamous.The trajectories of these women's lives wind from Weimar Berlin to LA's Chinatown, from the Bavarian Alps to the Champs-Élysées, and the different settings they inhabit are as richly textured as the roles they play: siren, victim, predator, or lover, each one a carefully calibrated performance. In the orbit of each star live secondary players whose voices and viewpoints reveal the legacy each woman left behind. Intimate and clear-eyed, this is a visceral depiction of womanhood--its particular hungers, its oblique calculations, and its eventual betrayals."

The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin -- "It is 1914, and twenty-five-year-old Frances Marion has left her (second) husband and her Northern California home for the lure of Los Angeles, where she is determined to live independently as an artist. But the word on everyone's lips these days is 'flickers'--the silent moving pictures enthralling theatergoers. Turn any corner in this burgeoning town and you'll find made-up actors running around, as a movie camera captures it all.In this fledgling industry, Frances finds her true calling: writing stories for this wondrous new medium. She also makes the acquaintance of actress Mary Pickford, whose signature golden curls and lively spirit have earned her the title "America's Sweetheart." The two ambitious young women hit it off instantly, their kinship fomented by their mutual fever to create, to move audiences to a frenzy, to start a revolution."

Lucky Break by Esther Freud -- "It is their first day at Drama Arts, and the nervous students huddled in a circle are told in no uncertain terms that here, unlike at any other drama school, they will be taught to Act. To Be. To exist in their own world on the stage. But outside is the real world-a pitiless, alluring place in which each of them in their most fervent dreams hopes to flourish and excel."

So, which would you read?

April Prompt: In the Neighborhood

Since life these days is spent close to home (very literally), I thought I would choose a story set "in the neighborhood", so books about neighborhoods, neighbors, small town communities, or the fancy term I have come across for books like these--Suburbia!  Suburban fiction.  Is it a subgenre?  I managed to find more books than I expected to find and then whittled those down to just a few (all on my own shelves of course and some for many, many years):

The Ritual Bath, Faye Kellerman -- The first of a series.  "Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutally raped as she returned from the mikvah, the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.  The crime was called in by Rina Lazarus, and Decker is relieved to discover that she is a calm and intelligent witness. She is also the only one in the sheltered community willing to speak of this unspeakable violation. As Rina tries to steer Decker through the maze of religious laws, the two grow closer. But before they get to the bottom of this horrendous crime, revelations come to light that are so shocking, they threaten to come between the hard-nosed cop and the deeply religious woman with whom he has become irrevocably linked."

Portobello, Ruth Rendell -- So, I have a carryover Rendell book I am still reading (a pre-pandemic habit that seems to have just gotten worse), but here's one more just in case.  "Portobello is a wonderfully complex tour de force featuring a dazzling depiction of one of London’s most intriguing neighborhoods—and the dangers beneath its newly posh veneer.  Walking to the shops one day, fifty-year-old Eugene Wren discovers an envelope on the street bulging with cash. A man plagued by a shameful addiction—and his own good intentions—Wren hatches a plan to find the money’s rightful owner. Instead of going to the police, or taking the cash for himself, he prints a notice and posts it around Portobello Road. This ill-conceived act creates a chain of events that links Wren to other Londoners—people afflicted with their own obsessions and despairs. As these volatile characters come into Wren’s life—and the life of his trusting fiancée—the consequences will change them all."

On Bittersweet Place, Ronna Wineberg -- "On Bittersweet Place is the powerful coming-of-age story of Lena Czernitski, a young Russian Jew whose family flees their homeland in the Ukraine after the October Revolution.  The story unfolds in Chicago during the Jazz Age of the 1920's, where Lena's impoverished family has settled and where she must traverse the early years of adolescence.  Lena's new world is large and beautiful and full of promise, but it is also cold and unwelcoming and laden with danger.  Ronna Wineberg delivers a moving, universal story of family, self-discovery, young love, and the always relevant experience of the immigrant, the refugee, the outsider struggling to create a new home and a better life in an unfamiliar place."

Arlington Park, Rachel Cusk -- "Arlington Park is an ordinary English suburb. Over the course of a single day, the novel moves from one household to another, revealing its characters: Juliet, enraged at the victory of men over women in family life; Amanda, warding off thoughts of death with obsessive housework; Solly, about to give birth to her fourth child; Maisie, struggling to accept provincial life; and Christine, the optimist and host of a dinner part where the neighbours come together."

Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart -- Last year's Booker Prize winner!  "Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh “Shuggie” Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher’s policies have put husbands and sons out of work, and the city’s notorious drugs epidemic is waiting in the wings."

Ask Again, Yes, Mary Beth Keane -- "In Mary Beth Keane's extraordinary novel, a lifelong friendship and love blossoms between Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope, born six months apart. One shocking night their loyalties are divided, and their bond will be tested again and again over the next thirty years. Heartbreaking and redemptive, Ask Again, Yes is a gorgeous and generous portrait of the daily intimacies of marriage and the power of forgiveness."

Looking back over the last few months, it seems as though I make a pile of potential reads but then end up selecting some other book entirely!  But I am going to try and actually stick with this pile.  Why does every story sound so appealing.  I want to read them all, now.  Maybe I can squeeze in more than one this month?  Why not dream big, right?

March Prompt: Hallowed Halls of Academia

Just two weeks ago it was so cold here (subzero for the high temperature for several days!) you could barely poke your head out the door to throw recyclables into the bin on your back porch.  Today?  I wore a light spring jacket on my walk and it was still almost too warm.  Midwest weather!  But I am happy to see geese overhead in perfect formations flying north.  It makes me hopeful for spring.

Welcome March, so happy you have arrived.  A new month and a new prompt.  January's 'courtroom' read, The German House by Annette Hess, was an off the beaten path WWII (post-war actually) that I really enjoyed.  I am still working on February's 'garden/maze' theme read and I decided mid-month to change course.  I'm still planning on finishing Stephanie Barron's The White Garden, but to be honest I got a little bogged down by the story within a story.  I don't mind a story embdedded within the larger story, but it sort of depends.  In this case the main character finds a journal with writings that might have been penned by Virginia Woolf.  It just got a little distracting, so I picked up Barbara Michaels's The Dancing Floor, which I read many, many years ago.  I have zero recollection of the story, but BM is always reliably good for me and I was in need of some good escapism.

So, not quite finished with last month's choices, but I am ready to press on with a new month.  I've decided on 'academia', so a book set in a school or on a college campus.  Here's what I came up with from my stacks:

 A Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie -- "Late one night, two teachers investigate a mysterious flashing light in the sports pavilion while the rest of the school sleeps. There, among the lacrosse sticks, they stumble upon the body of an unpopular games mistress--shot through the heart point-blank.  The school is thrown into chaos when the "cat" strikes again. Unfortunately, schoolgirl Julia Upjohn knows too much. In particular, she knows that without Hercule Poirot's help, she will be the next victim...."

The Following Girls by Louise Levene -- "Amanda Baker is sixteen and sick of her lot as she moves miserably between lessons, her only solace her fifth form gang - the four Mandies - and a low-calorie diet of king-sized cigarettes. That is, until she teams up with Julia Smith, games captain and consummate game player. And so begins a passionate friendship that will threaten her future, menace her sanity and risk the betrayal of everything and everyone she holds dear."

Dare Me by Megan Abbott -- "The raw passions of girlhood are brought to life in this taut, unflinching exploration of friendship, ambition, and power. Award-winning novelist Megan Abbott, writing with what Tom Perrotta has hailed as 'total authority and an almost desperate intensity,' provides a harrowing glimpse into the dark heart of the all-American girl."

At Freddies by Penelope Fitzgerald -- "It is the 1960s, in London's West End, and Freddie is the formidable proprietress of the Temple Stage School. Of unknown age and provenance, Freddie is a skirt-swathed enigma - a woman who by sheer force of character and single-minded thrust has turned herself and her school into a national institution. Anyone who is anyone must know Freddie."

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah -- (I kind of want to try and read this before I watch the Netflix adaptation--is it worth reading first or should I just dive into the series?).  "Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives."

The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams -- "At their newly founded school, Samuel Hood and his daughter, Caroline, promise a groundbreaking education for young women. But Caroline has grave misgivings. After all, her own unconventional education has left her unmarriageable and isolated, unsuited to the narrow roles afforded women in nineteenth-century New England.When a mysterious flock of red birds descends on the town, Caroline alone seems to find them unsettling. But it's not long before the assembled students begin to manifest bizarre symptoms: rashes, seizures, headaches, verbal tics, night wanderings. One by one, they sicken. Fearing ruin for the school, Samuel overrules Caroline's pleas to inform the girls' parents and turns instead to a noted physician, a man whose sinister ministrations--based on a shocking historic treatment--horrify Caroline. As the men around her continue to dictate, disastrously, all terms of the girls' experience, Caroline's own body begins to betray her. To save herself and her young charges, she will have to defy every rule that has governed her life, her mind, her body, and her world."

Yes, too many good choices.  A dilemma, of course, but I think I am torn between two.  Maybe I can slip in an extra prompt this month (always the optimist when it comes to reading).

February Prompt: Gardens/Mazes/Labyrinths

I finished my January prompt book (courtroom setting) just in time to pick my February book!  It was one of my newest acquisitions that pointed me in this direction, Julia Kelly's The Last Garden in England.  But you know how it goes, faced with a stack of potential new reads I have to completely peruse all before making my selection.  I was mostly thinking how cool it would be to read something with a maze or labyrinth in it, but there was not much on my shelves.

I have to mention last month's book by Annette Hess, The German House.  I first came across it when it was published last year and I checked it out from the library.  As is so often the case I did not get around to reading it then but picked it up not long ago when it came out in paperback.  I am sort of reluctant to pick up war themed books lately unless there is something different about the storytelling.  WWII books especially seem to be everywhere.  It is definitely something a little different and has the added attraction of being translated from German.  

The story is set some twenty years after the end of the war and revolves around a young woman who is asked to translate from Polish to German at the trial of suspected war criminals.  It is a story about identity and guilt and memory as well this is a coming of age tale as Eva discovers the culpability of her own parents during the war.  To say they had nothing to do with the crimes is just as damning--the guilt of not having done anything but witnessing the crimes.  It is well done and sheds light on a lesser (it seems) written aspect of the post-war years.  Eva feels the guilt and looks for absolution or consolation for the sins of her parents.  I believe this is Hess's only book, or maybe the only one translated into English, but I hope she publishes more.

Nothing in translation in my next pile, and didn't I say I was going to try for a more diverse lineup of authors?  I don't think I did very well on that count either, but it remains in the back of my mind in and my intentions.  Despite feeling a little limited in selection, I have a healthy stack of six books to try out.

The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley -- I really love her work and it has been too long since the last book by her I have picked up.  This has the added benefit of actually having something to do with a labyrinth!  "Emily Braden has stopped believing in fairy tales and happy endings. When her fascinating but unreliable cousin Harry invites her on a holiday to explore the legendary town of Chinon, France and promptly disappears--well, that's Harry for you.  As the dangers of the past become disastrously real, Emily is drawn ever more deeply into a labyrinth of mystery as twisted as the streets and tunnels of the ancient town itself."

The White Garden by Stephanie Barron -- For a little mystery . . .  "In March 1941, Virginia Woolf filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in England's River Ouse. Her body was found three weeks later. What seemed like a tragic ending at the time was, in fact, just the beginning of a mystery. . . . Six decades after Virginia Woolf's death, landscape designer Jo Bellamy has come to Sissinghurst Castle for two reasons: to study the celebrated White Garden created by Woolf's lover Vita Sackville-West and to recover from the terrible wound of her grandfather's unexplained suicide. In the shadow of one of England's most famous castles, Jo makes a shocking find: Woolf's last diary, its first entry dated the day after she allegedly killed herself."

The King Must Die by Mary Renault -- I have never read her, but I hear that as historical fiction goes, she is very good.  And this one has to do with the minotaur myth.  "In this ambitious, ingenious narrative, celebrated historical novelist Mary Renault take legendary hero Theseus and spins his myth into a fast-paced and exciting story.  Renault starts with Theseus' early years, showing how the mystery of his father's identity and his small stature breed the insecurities that spur his youthful hijinx. As he moves on to Eleusis, Athens, and Crete, his playfulness and fondness for pranks matures into the courage to attempt singular heroic feats, the gallantry and leadership he was known for on the battlefield, and the bold-hearted ingenuity he shows in navigating the labyrinth and slaying the Minotaur."

The Forbidden Garden by Ellen Herrick -- "Arriving at Kirkwood Hall, ancestral home of Sir Graham Kirkwood and his wife Stella, Sorrel is shocked by the desolate state of the walled garden. Generations have tried--and failed--to bring it back to glory. Sorrel senses heartbreak and betrayal here, perhaps even enchantment. Intrigued by the house's history--especially the haunting tapestries that grace its walls--and increasingly drawn to Stella's enigmatic brother, Sorrel sets to work. And though she knows her true home is across the sea with her sisters, instinct tells her that the English garden's destiny is entwined with her own, if she can only unravel its secrets..."

The Maze at Windermere by Gregory Blake Smith -- Interlinked stories?  They move back in time from the contemporary to the American Revolution and all set in Rhode Island.  "Gregory Blake Smith weaves these intersecting worlds into a rich, brilliant tapestry. A deftly layered novel of love, ambition, and duplicity, The Maze at Windermere charts a voyage across the ages into the maze of the human heart."

The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly -- "From the author of the international bestseller The Light Over London and The Whispers of War comes a poignant and unforgettable tale of five women living across three different times whose lives are all connected by one very special place.  Present day: Emma Lovett, who has dedicated her career to breathing new life into long-neglected gardens, has just been given the opportunity of a lifetime: to restore the gardens of the famed Highbury House estate, designed in 1907 by her hero Venetia Smith. But as Emma dives deeper into the gardens' past, she begins to uncover secrets that have long lain hidden."

Has anyone read any of these?

January Prompt: Courtroom Drama

My January prompt is not entirely random.  I have a book in mind that I want to read, so I chose a courtroom setting to give myself an excuse to read it sooner than later (I tend not to need any excuse to start new books, but in keeping with the desire to try and keep the reading pile tidy . . . I will try and finish one book before starting a new one . . .).

It's a pretty safe bet that I am going to pick up and begin reading Annette Hess's The German House, which I bought over the holiday break.  I like the premise of the story--"Set against the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963, Annette Hess's international bestseller is a harrowing yet ultimately uplifting coming-of-age story about a young female translator--caught between societal and familial expectations and her unique ability to speak truth to power--as she fights to expose the dark truths of her nation's past."  There is a nice parallel to last year's first read of the year, the graphic memoir Belonging by Nora Krug.

However, in all fairness, I scanned my shelves for a few other potential reads to see what else I have on offer.

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty -- "Yvonne Carmichael sits in the witness box. The charge is murder. Before all of this, she was happily married, a successful scientist, a mother of two. Now she is a suspect, squirming under florescent lights and the penetrating gaze of the alleged accomplice who is sitting across from her, watching: a man who is also her lover. As Yvonne faces hostile questioning, she must piece together the story of her affair with this unnamed figure who has charmed and haunted her. "

The Pupil by Caro Fraser -- This is the first in a whole series of books called Caper Court Novels.  "Of the two pupil barristers at the prestigious chambers of 5 Caper Court, only one can win the coveted role of junior tenant. Penniless Anthony Cross is brilliant, hard-working, and longs to gain a foothold on this legal ladder to success. But his rival, Edward Choke - wealthy, good-natured, and not very bright - is also the head of chambers' nephew."

Madame Victoria by Catherine Leroux -- "In 2001, a woman's skeleton was found in the woods overlooking Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital. Despite an audit of the hospital's patient records, a forensic reconstruction of the woman's face, missing-person appeals, and DNA tests that revealed not only where she had lived, but how she ate, the woman was never identified. Assigned the name Madame Victoria, her remains were placed in a box in an evidence room and, eventually, forgotten.  But not by Catherine Leroux, who constructs in her form-bending Madame Victoria twelve different histories for the unknown woman."

Aside from the draw of the story itself, the Hess novel has the added benefit of being a book in translation (as does the last books on the list by Catherine Leroux).  I am always trying to read more translated fiction.  I have been thinking, however, I should really try and diversify my reading even more.  I normally have a variety of genres on the go at once--a novel, a mystery, nonfiction, etc.  I try and have translated works in the stack, but I really need to add (either choose one of the genre books or have as one of my current reads) a book by a BIPOC/ LGBTQIA+ author, too.  A good goal to strive for this year.

A New Year and a New Pile of Books

My nightstand is actually kind of tame right now!  I had to clear it mostly off as one of my cats has declared it a sleeping zone (I think she likes the heat from the lamp).  Rather than constantly fighting with her over not knocking things off, I gave in and cleared it for her.  A good lamp and my pile of books is all I require, so a happy compromise.

Three of my books are carryovers from last year, two are for dipping into and the four in front are my new reads for a new year.  I want to finish Valerie Perrin's Fresh Water for Flowers, D.E. Stevenson's Mrs. Tim of the Regiment and Ruth Rendell's King Solomon's Carpet.  Two books perfect for just dipping into now and again are the two standing upright--in the back is the Second Persephone Book of Short Stories and At the Pond, which is a book of essays. 

My newest reads: Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb (kindly sent by Smithereens), The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell, Spring by Ali Smith and my nonfiction read (which I have had a hard time deciding on and have not yet started this) Elisabeth's Lists by Lulah Ellender.  I am pleased with all my newest (and carryover) reads.

Now I just need to decide what to do about monthly prompts.  Rather than themes I have a list of places (settings?) that might be an inspiring way to choose a new story each month.  Rather than setting a specific place for each month I have a list I will draw from:

Plane/Train/ or Automobile
Ship or Sea
Hospital
Courtoom/Police Station (January prompt)
Mountains/Beach
Garden/Country House
Bookstore/Library
Museum
Gardens/Maze (February Prompt)
Haunted House
Island/Desert
Movie Theater
Bus/Subway
Stage/Screen
Great Plains

I'll cross off as I go along and there are a few extra in case something just does not pan out.

I don't really have any other plans, though I did set a reading goal at Goodreads and I hope that from the books I choose over the course of the year I can also use for my public Library's reading challenge (just twelve books with easy themes).  I just want to find some good stories to lose myself in this year!

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.

November Prompt: Wishing Myself Somewhere New

Who knew when I was making these prompts last year how appropriate this one would be!  Considering the crazy week ahead of us and the fact that covid cases are surging (in my state in particular), now would be the perfect moment to be able to click my heels together and wish myself somewhere else entirely new (and less stressful).  When in doubt, as the saying goes, go to the library.  My own personal library in the case of my prompt.

Some books to choose from to transport myself mentally to a new world!

Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima -Japan.  "At once tender and lacerating, luminous and unsettling, Yuko Tsushima's Territory of Light is a novel of abandonment, desire, and transformation."

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Mexico.  "A literary fantasy about love, music and sorcery, set against the background of Mexico City." 

The Diamond Square by Merce Rodoreda - Spain.  "A highly acclaimed classic that has been translated into more twenty-eight languages, In Diamond Square is the moving, vivid and powerful story of a woman caught up in a convulsive period of history." 

Tony's Wife by Adriana Trigiani.  New Jersey/Hollywood/Las Vegas.  "Set in the lush Big Band era of the 1940s and World War II, this spellbinding saga from beloved New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani tells the story of two talented working class kids who marry and become a successful singing act, until time, temptation, and the responsibilities of home and family derail their dreams."

Singapore Sapphire by A.M. Stuart - Singapore.  "Desperate for a fresh start, Harriet Gordon finds herself living with her brother, a reverend and headmaster of a school for boys, in Singapore at the height of colonial rule. Hoping to gain some financial independence, she advertises her services as a personal secretary.

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes - Troy.  "In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.  From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women embroiled in the legendary war.  Powerfully told from an all-female perspective, in A Thousand Ships Natalie Haynes puts the women, girls and goddesses at the centre of the story."

A nice variety, and it was hard to whittle things down to even six books.  Where do I want to spend some diverting time in the coming week or so . . .

October Prompt: A Month in the Country

A new month means a new prompt!  Although I am thinking of revamping my monthly themed reading for next year, I do like having a fresh stack of books (always my own from my shelves) to greet me every month.  Reading is my escape and a happy place I can turn to.  Fall is here and my books slant a bit toward the season as I choose a book for this month's theme "a month in the country".  As always I am stretching the theme a little--books set in the countryside that may or may not have the air of holidaymaking about them.  

I think this time around I will just give a little sentence or two from the opening pages as a tease.

A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym -- (picture of life in a village) "On the Sunday after Easter-Low Sunday, Emma believed it was called-the villagers were permitted to walk in the park and woods surrounding the manor."

Unexpected Night by Elizabeth Daly -- (Henry Gamadge #1-vacation on coastal Maine) "Pine trunks in a double row started out of the mist as headlights caught them, opened to receive the car, passed like an endless screen, and vanished.  The girl on the back seat withdrew her head from the open window."

The Torrents of Spring by Ivan Turgenev -- (Russian classic set in Germany) "...At two o'clock in the night  he had gone back to his study.  He had dismissed the servant after the candles were lighted, and throwing himself into a low chair by the hearth, he his his face in his hands."

Some Must Watch by Ethel Lina White -- (remote country house setting) "Helen realized that she had walked too far just as daylight was beginning to fade.  As she looked around her, she was struck by the desolation of the country.  During her long walk, she had met no one, and had passed no cottage.  The high-banked lanes, which blocked her view, were little better than steep mudslides.  On either side of her rose the hills-barren sepia mounds, blurred by a fine spit of rain."

House of Glass by Susan Fletcher -- (set in a large stone house in rural Gloucestershire) "My structure is not quite right.  By this, I mean my bones--the part on which the rest of me is stretched, stitched into place.  I have marrow and cavities; I have the smooth, rounded ends which are cupped by other bones, and so no part is missing.  But my skeleton is frail."

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley -- (an isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands) "I see a man coming through the falling snow,  Fromm a distance, through the curtain of white, he looks hardly human, like a shadow figure."

Any favorites on the list.  So now part of the pleasure of a new book--thumbing through and reading bits to see which one pulls me in!