A Work in Progress

Sept Prompt: Ready for New Beginnings

I am ready for a new beginning.  My September prompt is not in need of any tweaking at all this time around.  I could use a story with characters looking for a new situation or a new path in life or some kind of a new start.  My stack was much larger, but I have managed to whittle it down to a (mere six) novels.  There is a modern classic, some historical fiction, a couple with romantic leanings and one YA.  

Josephine Kamm's Peace, Perfect Peace -- "Set just after World War II, Peace, Perfect Peace is a poignant and humorous tale about women readjusting and rebuilding their lives after the upheavals of war."

Virginia Bailey's The Fourth Shore -- "Liliana is sure she was on the brink of a great adventure, but what awaits her is not the Mediterranean idyll of cocktail parties, smart dances, dashing officers and romantic intrigues she had imagined. Instead she finds a world of persecution, violence, repression, corruption and deceptions both great and small."

Jean Stafford's The Mountain Lion -- "Eight-year-old Molly and her ten-year-old brother Ralph are inseparable, in league with each other against the stodgy and stupid routines of school and daily life; against their prim mother and prissy older sisters; against the world of authority and perhaps the world itself. One summer they are sent from the genteel Los Angeles suburb that is their home to backcountry Colorado, where their uncle Claude has a ranch. There the children encounter an enchanting new world—savage, direct, beautiful, untamed—to which, over the next few years, they will return regularly, enjoying a delicious double life." 

Nicky Pellegrino's Delicious -- "Italy, 1964. Maria Domenica is the eldest daughter in the Carrozza family from the tiny southern village of San Giulio. At 16, Maria's life is limited to the confines of her mother's rural kitchen (where she bakes bread every morning, the way the Carrozza women always have), and the Caffe Angeli, a place of friendship, strong espresso and famous ricotta sfolgliatelle. Her parents have high hopes for their beautiful first-born, but she has other plans."

Rosy Thornton's The Tapestry of Love -- "A rural idyll: that's what Catherine is seeking when she sells her house in England and moves to a tiny hamlet in the Cevennes mountains. With her divorce in the past and her children grown, she is free to make a new start, and her dream is to set up in business as a seamstress." 

Dandi Daley Mackall's Eva Underground -- "The year 1978 has been a pretty good one for Eva Lott. She has a terrific best friend, she's dating the best-looking guy in school, and she just made the varsity swim team. So when her widowed dad says it's time for them to move, she's not exactly thrilled. And when he tells her that he intends to move to Communist Poland to help with a radical underground movement . . . Well, it's all downhill from there. Soon Eva has been transplanted from her comfortable Chicago suburb to a land that doesn't even have meat in its stores, let alone Peter Frampton records."

They all sound good.  Maybe I will choose more than one to make up for a month or two this year where the book sits unread or languishing.  I have mostly thrown up my hands in submission that this year is just an off year for a lot of things (reading included), but that does not mean I can't make the best of what is left and just enjoy the stories that do pull me in!  Fresh books for a fresh month for a hopefully fresh start to the rest of my reading year.

August Prompt: The Bedside Pile Beckons

Can you believe it is August already?  It's not such a bad thing, maybe, that the year feels like it is flying by.  The sooner it is over, the better (and maybe the closer we will be to better and healthier times).  My August prompt was meant to be 'la dolce vita', but life is just not feeling very sweet right now and I was not feeling very inspired when thinking about books.

I have for some time, however, been thinking of the pile of books by my bedside.  Now I do my daily (well, my own version of) yoga routine in my bedroom.  Sitting on the floor I'm at birds eye view of the little stacks and they keep beckoning to me.  Why ignore them.  So here are five possibilities.  Never judge a book by the cover?  Well, just a cover and a line or two from the novel to help decide.

"First of all, it seemed to us you were very handsome.  And the principle windows of your house were perfectly positioned to display a blazing reflection at sunset."

"Where did life go?  Everyday I find myself asking this one same question of the mirror, yet the answer always eludes me.  All I see if a stranger staring back."

"Her destination was the Mirrormakers' Club, but she did not know it.  Her feet guided her through the two-hour walk through to the City of London, that maze of streets which sat behind ancient walls in the heart of the wider city."

"Amma is walking along the promenade of the waterway that bisects her city, a few early morning barges cruise slowly by"

"One we had a father, but our father dies without us noticing.  It's wrong to say we don't notice.  We are just absorbed in ourselves, that afternoon when he dies."

How to choose.  I might just close my eyes, spin around a few times and point to the one I will read.  But will I stick to it, or look at the ones not chosen longingly?

In Consideration of Weeding My Books

This is how distracted I have been.  It's July.  Almost mid-July and not only have I not even thought about my new prompt, am still working on last month's prompt, but had to go and look and see what this month's prompt is even meant to be.  "In Sickness and in Health".  That is almost funny as apparently I am in maybe a little sickness?  Too much heat?  Too much sun?  Too much anxiety is more like it.  This year's reading (like everything else in life these days) is sort of thrown out the window.  

How to even interpret (book/story-wise) in sickness or in health?  Actually, now that I think about it, I am reading Otessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation (and my friends, there is not really the kind of rest or relaxation going on in that story I would happily consider) fits the bill as the narrator is not in a happy state of mind--so little that she wants to sleep her life away.  Problem identified and problem solved.  Whew.  

Now to what has been on my mind lately.  Since December I have been working on cleaning out my parent's house.  My mother passed away in December unexpectedly.  The house she leaves behind is my childhood home and it was filled to the brim with lives lived and still in progress.  Slowly (and with some difficulty--especially now in the middle of a pandemic) it is being emptied.  Anyone who has gone through this knows how painful and difficult it is to go through other people's belongings.  It's almost like erasing a life.  As someone who has put a fair share of years behind me (and with my own house full of things), it has made me realize how much baggage you accumulate over time.  All those nooks and crannies fill up so easily.  

I consider myself fortunate indeed to be able to collect books and have so many, literally my own library, at my fingertips.  But they seem to expand and fill a space.  Like weeds I have piles of books that have popped up all over the place.  Since I have also been fortunate to be able to work from home (though now I split my work time between a laptop at home and my desk at the library) I have really noticed those ever expanding piles of books.  So very many books.  And here is me reading more slowly than I have in years.  Those unread books begin to weigh on me.  I have more books on hand that I will ever get to read and the feeling begins to be overwhelming.

I have weeded books in the past, but now I am embarking on a very serious weeding project.  This is the start of my first foray into my shelves.  So many I have owned for so long and many of them have been read and loved, but I wonder will I ever get around to reading them again.  I think of them as friends almost, but maybe it is time to send some (many, I hope) out into the world and make another reader happy to know and experience them.  It is somewhat agonizing to do this, but at the same time once I start I find that a second or third sweep of a shelf or pile makes it easier to pull another few books.  Interests and passions I had at one time have faded and others take their places.  Why am I keeping books that I am not likely to reach for anytime soon?  Even with this first weeding I think I will still end up with more books than I really "need".

Do you actively weed your book collection?  Do you borrow rather than buy (and then not have this problem?)?  Do you recycle them after you read them?  Or do you keep them (as I have tended to do) and feel you cannot part with them?  They are not all going away, of course.  Someday, though, I hope to downsize my life and move into a smaller home with few maintenance issues.  This means I need to pare my belongings down to maybe half of what I own (less is more these days, I think), and maybe even half of that half.  Hopefully when I have cleared away so many piles and stacks it will be more freeing and the sheer number of unread books will not be overwhelming but a pleasure to enjoy reading.

June: Exit Stage Left (Prompts!)

June is here and now flying by so quickly!  I didn't think it possible, but life as become even more of a roller coaster ride.  The world has become a vert stressful place to negotiate.  I guess all the elements have come together to create a "perfect storm" of change.  It feels all very painful, but hopefully when we come out on the other side some good things will have come of it all.  It's hard to see that light yet, however, at the end.

To bookishness . . .

Late or not, I will press on with my prompts.  If I at least fake some kind of normalcy, perhaps a better routine will follow.  I AM reading, just not like I was a year ago.  So prompts thus far this year and what I have "accomplished".  Not surprisingly I have not written about the books I have been finishing (there have been a few, slow going though it may be), but a little accounting in any case.

January: The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor (I've been Meaning to Read This)-- I like his writing and this was an engaging and well done historical mystery!  (Have the second book in my pile, too).

February: The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner (It's a Woman's World) -- Great writing, not a happy story, but one that has stayed with me.  Lately I tend to avoid 'difficult'' reads, but this reminds me why they are so rich and rewarding.

March: The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths (A Book from-an old-New Books List) -- A story of suspense right up my alley--a story within a story with a strong nod towards the kind of twisty tale as told by the likes of Wilkie Collins.  I wouldn't mind if she returned to the world of DS Kaur by the way!

April: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Read, Enjoy, Repeat) -- This is the nth time I have read this book.  Surely it has to be the most reread novel in my entire collection of books.  It stands up only too well in the test of time.  It was in part in anticipation of reading The Testaments later this year.

May: The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy (Any Green Spine) -- This one is still in progress and with its Paris setting is perfect for my summer in France armchair reading!

And that brings me to June (Exit Stage Left).  A bit late in sharing the stack of books I chose from, but see above.  In the end I opted for something light and frothy but still well written, Elizabeth Gilbert's The City of Girls set in 1940s New York.  Vivvie, a Vassar reject has been sent to her aunt in NYC where she becomes involved with the drama that is the Lily Theater--not high brow theater, but more theater of the people.  I am not far in but enjoying Vivvie's sassy-ness.  

I hope your reading is going better than my own which continues to be all over the place.  I admire the readers I come across who seem to be doing amazing things on Goodreads and Instagram.  I wish I could get my equilibrium back.  If you have any hints, do please share.  I think this year is easily going to continue on the same trend, but I hope I can still find some escape and inspiration in the books I read.

May Day & May Prompt: Any Green Spine

Happy May Day!  I bet someone is celebrating somewhere.  My own celebration might include a little trip for takeout coffee and scone to have alongside my perusal of this new stack of books--my May prompt books.  This month's theme is " Any Green Spine".  I think when I first chose the theme I had in mind a stack of Virago Modern Classics, but I decided that some other green spines were calling out to me as well.

I mentioned before that May was going to be my unofficial new start to the year, or at least my reading year.  I have a new reading journal ordered and want to give myself a fresh start.  Maybe not exactly a fresh start, but just move forward in a way that reading is a pleasure and there is no pressure to achieve something--just enjoy what I pick up.

With that in mind, I am going to pick a new May read despite having both March and April books on my reading pile in mid-read.  When the mood strikes I will pick them up and finish (or not, and that's okay, too).  But for me happiness is also thinking about new books to read and perusing them and starting them.  Just a little blurb for each book--I think most are pretty well known.  These have either been on my mind or in my bedside pile or recently mentioned online somewhere and caught my attention.  To keep it simple I just picked books close at hand and didn't search my shelves too much.

Shadows on the Mirror by Frances Fyfield -- This is the first in a series of mysteries featuring lawyer Sarah Fortune.  My friend John in the UK has read all of them and recommended them, so that is enough for me!  One blurb calls this "an offbeat and unpredictable thriller."

The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy -- I think this is a cult classic in its own right.  I have read another book by Dundy, but not this one.  "A champagne cocktail" the Observer called it.  "...rich, invigorating, and deceptively simple to the taste."  Who can resist a champagne cocktail?!

The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins -- I saw a BookTuber gush over this book, so it was ordered right away.  Blurbs read "a heroine for our times", "stunning", "compulsive" and "dazzingly original".  It also won the Costa Book Award last year.

The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh -- This was longlisted for the Booker last year.  Maybe a good follow up read to my recent Handmaid's Tale reread?  "Part fable, part feminist dystopia, Mackintosh's taut novel turns a keen, unsparing eye on violence, patriarchy, and desire."

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths -- This just won an Edgar Award.  I liked the sound of it so much I bought it twice!  (I hate it when that happens!).  One blurb mentions it has one of the most likable detectives recently encountered.  And also "intelligent and mesmerizing" and a "beautifully turned chiller".

A particular strong list of potential reads, don't you think?  Have you read any of these?  Which would you be most compelled to pick up?  

Aside from picking from this stack of books I hope to finish Barbara Comyns' The Vet's Daughter and my graphic memoir, Soviet Daughter.  I hope to add some more stitches to my newest cross stitch project and maybe watch a movie or two and take a few long walks.  Have a great and very safe weekend everyone!

April: Read, Enjoy, Repeat!

And moving right along.  I am moving along very slowly these days with my reading, but the will and desire is there--I just need to work out my 'at-home' routine and settle into a good pattern.  I am not going to overthink my GoodReads challenge.  I am behind in completing books to reach my goal by the end of the year, but this is an extraordinary time and I am only happy that I have the luxury to even think about reading for pleasure at all.

So while I am still working on Jessie Burton's The Muse, it is April and I am happy to choose new prompt book.  This month my theme is "read, enjoy, repeat".  I have a small but very reliable mental list of books I like to revisit when in need of something comforting.  I decided, though, to jazz it up a little.  My pile is made up of books I have read and remember enjoying and would happily read again.  So here is my chance.

Rather than give a description of the story I will share a line or two from the opening pages and see what really grabs me.  Always the problem is making a choice!

The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley -- "Helena Cuthbertson picked up the crumpled Times by her sleeping husband and went to the flower room to iron it.  When she had suggested they should buy two copies of the paper, so that each could enjoy it in its pristine state, Richard had flared into rage and his accusations of extravagance had gone on for weeks, made worse when she pointed out that it was her money that paid the paper bill."

The Palestine Affair by Jonathan Wilson -- "Bloomberg came out of the house in North Talpiot and bicycled toward the Arab village of Abu Tor.  After ten minutes or so he dismounted and found a spot where the moonlight shone brightest on a stone wall.  It was a clear night.  He unstrapped his artist's box and retrieved his pallete.  Back in London Joyce had carefully, kindly numbered the tubes in white so that he would be able to continue to paint even when the light grew dim.  He didn't love her anymore, although he wished that he could."

A Running Tide by Ann Swinfen -- "Tirza Libby's life had rolled her, unexpectedly, into this remote corner of north-west Scotland, and she had grounded here like a sea-washed stone come finally to rest.  The very blood in her veins had thickened and slowed.  Her island lay a quarter of a mile offshore--west and slightly to the south of the mainland village of Cuillard.  No more than a few rocky acres thrust up from the sea, it supported a thin layer of salty turf, some gaunt  bushes of thorn and whin and broom, and a small central hillock almost bare of vegetation."

More Than You Know by Beth Gutcheon -- "My children think I'm mad to come up here in winter, bu this is the only place I could tell this story.  They think the weather is too cold for me, and the light is so short this tie of year.  It's true this isn't a story I want to tell in darkness  It isn't a story I want to tell at all, but neither do I wan to take it with me."

Snow Island by Katherine Towler -- "George Tibbets stepped from the 4:03 with a small leather suitcase, the only passenger to disembark in Barton.  A moment later the train pulled away and left him alone on the platform.  Through the rain-streaked window of the station, he could see the attendant seated in the ticket booth.  He envied people who had jobs that required a uniform.  When you wore a uniform, people knew who you were without asking."

The Chatham School Affair by Thomas Cook -- "My father has a favorite line.  He'd taken it from Milton, and he loved to quote it to the boys of Chatham School.  Standing before them on opening day, his hands thrust deep into his trouser pockets he'd pause a moment, facing the sternly.  'Be careful what you do,' he'd say, ''for evil on itself doth back recoil.'  In later years he could not have imagined how wrong he was, nor how profoundly I knew him to be so."

It's always a nice way to start a new work week--picking out a new book to jump into and myself in.

March: A Book from a 'New Books' List

Slowly my reading is moving this year, but I have at least managed to start and finish (in a reasonable amount of time) my monthly prompts.  January 's book took two months, but I thoroughly enjoyed Andrew Taylor's The Ashes of London.  To be honest I am not all that fond of reading about Restoration era England, but as historical fiction goes, Taylor is so talented at bringing the period to life.  I believe there are already three books out in the series and I immediately acquired the second book. 

February's The Mars Room, by Rachel Kushner was heartbreaking and eye opening--a train wreck, really, of a story, but I really could not look away.  I have to say that anyone who can make characters who you might normally shake your head at, very sympathetic, is a talented writer/storyteller indeed.  I had been so curious about the book for so long I am happy I finally gave myself an excuse to pick it up.  Must read more of her work, too.

So this brings me to March and an easy (well not in the choosing anyway) prompt to inspire me to pull books from the shelves--"pick a book from an (old) new books list".  I am fond of sharing books that cross my path that I am looking forward to reading or perusing once they are published.  It was fun to go back over some of those lists and see which books I was prompted to eventually buy.  Here are my choices--too many good ones to choose from as always.

The Muse by Jessie Burton -- "Seductive, exhilarating and suspenseful, The Muse is an unforgettable novel about aspiration and identity, love and obsession, authenticity and deception."  Have not gotten around to her first book but this one is quite enticing.

Goodnight from London by Jennifer Robson -- "Goodnight from London, inspired in part by the wartime experiences of the author’s own grandmother, is a captivating, heartfelt, and historically immersive story that readers are sure to embrace."  I have read Robson before and enjoyed her writing--and a romantic story mixed with a bit of war era setting is most appealing.

Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor -- I love the description by author Kate Quinn, "A fragrant French bonbon of a book: love, glamour, perfume, and paparazzi all circling around the wedding of the century...".  I am not always attracted to stories featuring real people, but from what I have read Grace Kelly's wedding to Prince Rainier is only a backdrop and the story inside the story is supposed to be very good.

The Storms of War by Kate Williams -- This is the first in a trilogy, and while I know I said I am tired of so many books set in the war eras, this one has long been on my list of books to read.  Good Housekeeping calls it a "big juicy drama set on the eve of the First World War."

Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford -- How many times have I pulled this one of my shelves . . .  "The Great War is over, and change is in the air, in this novel that brings to life the exciting days of early British radio…and one woman who finds her voice while working alongside the brilliant women and men of the BBC."

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths -- Just one novel of suspense on my list this time, but a good one, I think.  "A deviously plotted modern-day tale that's rooted in a flesh-creeping Victorian past. Elly Griffiths' clever and original murder mystery plays deliciously on the nerves and kept me guessing until the end -- Lesley Thomson, author of The Detective's Daughter series."  Yum (if you can say that about a story).

It seems to be the world has gone really wonky (sadly, and I do not jest about this), so a good story to distract me from the dire news is just what I need at the moment.  How are you managing to stay sane in these troubled days?

February: It's a Woman's World

When I was making my list of reading prompts for the year and I chose "It's a Woman's World" I was thinking along the lines of domestic fiction, maybe something by Elizabeth Taylor.  Now that the prompt has come up, however, I was thinking about various situations or places or worlds that are mostly women, so I have put a slightly different spin on the theme.  Here are novels and a graphic memoir that are all made up of primarily women.

Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden -- "High in the Himalayas near Darjeeling, the old mountaintop palace shines like a jewel. When it was the General's 'harem' palace, richly dressed ladies wandered the windswept terraces; at night, music floated out over the villages and gorges. Now, the General's son has bestowed it on an order of nuns, the Sisters of Mary.  Well-intentioned yet misguided, the nuns set about taming the gardens and opening a school and dispensary for the villagers. They are dependent on the local English agent of Empire, Mr Dean; but his charm and insolent candour are disconcerting. And the implacable emptiness of the mountain, the ceaseless winds, exact a toll on the Sisters."  I will be seeing the film adaptation of this book in March as part of a film class I am signed up for and hope to read the book first.

The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh -- "King has tenderly staked out a territory for his wife and three daughters, Grace, Lia, and Sky. Here on his island, women are protected from the chaos and violence of men on the mainland. The cult-like rituals and therapies they endure fortify them from the spreading toxicity of a degrading world.  But when King disappears and two men and a boy wash ashore, the sisters’ safe world begins to unravel. Over the span of one blistering hot week, a psychological cat-and-mouse game plays out. Sexual tensions and sibling rivalries flare as the sisters are forced to confront the amorphous threat the strangers represent."

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner -- "It’s 2003 and Romy Hall, named after a German actress, is at the start of two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility, deep in California’s Central Valley. Outside is the world from which she has been severed: her young son, Jackson, and the San Francisco of her youth. Inside is a new reality: thousands of women hustling for the bare essentials needed to survive; the bluffing and pageantry and casual acts of violence by guards and prisoners alike; and the deadpan absurdities of institutional living, portrayed with great humor and precision."

Five Days of Fog by Anna Freeman -- "As the Great Smog falls over London in 1952, Florrie Palmer has a choice to make.  Will she stay with the Cutters, a gang of female criminals who have terrorized London for years and are led by her own mother? Or leave it all behind to make a safer, duller life with the man she loves? And what will she do if she's too crooked to go straight, and too good to go bad?  Over the next five days, Florrie will have to find her own path and the courage to stumble along it - in a fog so thick that she can't see her own feet."

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu -- "With her characteristic wit and dazzling drawings, celebrated graphic novelist Pénélope Bagieu profiles the lives of these feisty female role models, some world famous, some little known. From Nellie Bly to Mae Jemison or Josephine Baker to Naziq al-Abid, the stories in this comic biography are sure to inspire the next generation of rebel ladies."  If you have never come across this, it is well worth searching out--the illustrations are wonderful.  I will definitely be reading this at some point this year!

So, I have a variety--a nunnery, a dystopian world, a women's prison, an all-female criminal gang and a survey of strong, independent women.  Definitely a list of excellent books to choose from this month!

January: I've Been Meaning to Read This

What better prompt to kick off the new year than to choose a book "I have been meaning to read".  I mean to read all my books, but there are always a few that are more "in mind" than others.  A few sit right next to my bed, or I have heard especially tantalizing things about others.  I have a sheet of paper I cart around with me, tucked into whatever I happen to be reading at the moment which has reading notes and a list of my in progress books, but on it I also jot down books that come to mind that I feel like reading next.  Here is a sampling of those books.  Tonight I will tuck into bed with the stack near at hand and peruse until one simply won't be set aside any longer.

The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor -- "London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul's is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is Richard Marwood, son of a disgraced printer, and reluctant government informer. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's, in a tomb that should have been empty. The man's body has been mutilated and his thumbs have been tied behind his back - the sign of a Regicide, one of those who signed Charles I's death warrant. Under orders from the government, Marwood is tasked with hunting down the killer across the devastated city. But at a time of dangerous internal dissent and the threat of foreign invasion, Marwood finds his investigation leads him into treacherous waters - and across the path of a determined, beautiful and vengeful young woman."

Gallows Court by Martin Edwards -- "A heroine called Rachel Savernake had better live up to that dangerous-sounding name, and in Martin Edwards's Gallows Court, she does...Is Rachel a female Moriarty? A lucky dilettante? An avenging angel? Edwards keeps the reader guessing deep into the lively narrative...a clever pastiche of the golden-age mystery." - Air Mail

House of Glass by Susan Fletcher -- "June 1914 and a young woman - Clara Waterfield - is summoned to a large stone house in Gloucestershire. Her task: to fill a greenhouse with exotic plants from Kew Gardens, to create a private paradise for the owner of Shadowbrook. Yet, on arrival, Clara hears rumours: something is wrong with this quiet, wisteria-covered house. Its gardens are filled with foxgloves, hydrangea and roses; it has lily-ponds, a croquet lawn - and the marvellous new glasshouse awaits her. But the house itself feels unloved. Its rooms are shuttered, or empty. The owner is mostly absent; the housekeeper and maids seem afraid. And soon, Clara understands their fear: for something - or someone - is walking through the house at night. In the height of summer, she finds herself drawn deeper into Shadowbrook's dark interior - and into the secrets that violently haunt this house. Nothing - not even the men who claim they wish to help her - is quite what it seems."

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis -- "Judith Kratt inherited all the Kratt family had to offer--the pie safe, the copper clock, the murder no one talks about. She knows it's high time to make an inventory of her household and its valuables, but she finds that cataloging the family belongings--as well as their misfortunes--won't contain her family's secrets, not when her wayward sister suddenly returns, determined to expose skeletons the Kratts had hoped to take to their graves.  Interweaving the present with chilling flashbacks from one fateful evening in 1929, Judith pieces together the influence of her family on their small South Carolina cotton town, learning that the devastating effects of dark family secrets can last a lifetime and beyond.

Outline by Rachel Cusk -- " . . .a novel in ten conversations. Spare and lucid, it follows a novelist teaching a course in creative writing over an oppressively hot summer in Athens. She leads her students in storytelling exercises. She meets other visiting writers for dinner. She goes swimming in the Ionian Sea with her neighbor from the plane. The people she encounters speak volubly about themselves: their fantasies, anxieties, pet theories, regrets, and longings. And through these disclosures, a portrait of the narrator is drawn by contrast, a portrait of a woman learning to face a great loss."

There There by Tommy Orange -- "Tommy Orange’s wondrous and shattering novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle’s death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American—grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism." 

You'll Never See Me Again by Lesley Pearse -- "Heart-pounding, exhilarating and ever suspenseful, Lesley Pearse's You'll Never See Me Again is a tale of one woman's fight to find her destiny."

Out of curiosity--have you read any of these or heard good things about one or another or are there any that sit on your TBR as well?

A Year of Bookish Prompts

I fudged a little this year on my prompts and I am finishing up December's book, but of any plans I made at the start of the year, this is the one I actually stuck with.  I am working on my new list of prompts and am thinking about January's book, but more about those later.  Just a quick look back over the books I read for each month's prompts.

January: Crime and Punishment
Maigret's Mistake by Georges Simenon

February: Something Old
A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

March: Upstairs Downstairs
The Land of My Dreams by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

April: Rain or Shine
Lock 14 by Georges Simenon

May: Something New
The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith

June: I Could Have Danced All Night
All the Beautiful Girls by Elizabeth J.Church

July: A Day at the Beach
As Close to Us as Breathing by Elizabeth Poliner

August: Something Borrowed
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie

September: Swinging Sixties
Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg

October: Call of the Wild
Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce

November: Something Blue
The Deep blue Good-by by John D. MacDonald

December: Cold War December
Berlin Game by Len Deighton--I'll be carrying this one over into 2020.

I'm looking forward to another year of prompts/themes to inspire my reading in 2020.