
I was hoping last month to tackle two books from my reading stack, but I did at least finish the one I set out to read. As always time gets away from me and my eyes are always always always bigger than my stomach. So here we are in a new month (and Fall has arrived with a bang by the way, as well) and a new prompt and I am going to have to agonize over my choice as they all really do look good and I want to read several, but likely I will manage one only. Maybe two if I can be especially diligent in my reading. But to choose one to start with!
So my prompt is "Call of the Wild" and initially I think I was aiming for a nature book with this theme, but now that the month is here . . . I do want to read a nature book still this year (and I still need to catch up--once again--on last month's chapter about Stillmeadow) . . . but I am not quite in the mood for it just this moment. So, maybe a little word play instead with the theme. How about nature words in the titles? My prompts are only meant to be inspirations and jumping off places anyway.
My "longlist" of books this month:
Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase -- I really liked the other book by her I read and this one is described as a cross between Daphne du Maurier and Ruth Rendell and they are both favorite authors of mine. "Amber Alton knows that the hours pass differently at Black Rabbit Hall, her London family’s Cornish country house, where no two clocks read the same. Summers there are perfect, timeless. Not much ever happens. Until, one terrible day, it does."
Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce -- "'This charming, irresistible debut novel set in London during World War II about a young woman who longs to be a war correspondent and inadvertently becomes a secret advice columnist is “a jaunty, heartbreaking winner' (People). I really want to read this, but do I really want 'heartbreaking' at the moment?
A Catalog of Birds by Laura Harrington -- This sounds like something more off the beaten path for me, which is very inviting to be honest. "A Catalog of Birds is the story of a family and a community confronted with a loss of innocence and wounds that may never heal. The legacy of war and its destruction of nature is seared onto the memories of a small American town. Laura Harrington has written a tale of forgiveness, of ourselves, and those we love. Illuminated by heartbreak and promise, the novel is alive with spirit and wonder and hope for the future."
Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham -- I do enjoy a good John Wyndham novel and it has been too long since I last read him. "Francis Saxover and Diana Brackley, two scientists investigating a rare lichen, discover it has a remarkable property: it retards the aging process. Francis, realizing the implications for the world of an ever-youthful, wealthy elite, wants to keep it secret, but Diana sees an opportunity to overturn the male status quo by using the lichen to inspire a feminist revolution. As each scientist wrestles with the implications and practicalities of exploiting the discovery, the world comes ever closer to learning the truth . . ."
The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon -- You can never read enough Simenon in my book! "In the course of this strange case, a customs official is shot, a retired journalist is lost and found, and a vagrant is attested, but through it all Maigret has his sights set firmly in the direction of the truth, even as a strange yellow dog haunts the neighborhood. Fast-paced and wholly unpredictable, The Yellow Dog is a sharp mystery set against the cutthroat backdrop of small town politics."
The Language of Bees by Laurie King -- I am ready for another Mary Russell adventure and this is up next. However, these mysteries require attention and commitment (and they are worth every ounce of effort by the way), so is this the best month for it--as I am rushing to catch up on so many things?! "Mary has often observed that there are many kinds of madness, and before this case yields its shattering solution she’ll come into dangerous contact with a fair number of them. From suicides at Stonehenge to the dark secrets of a young woman’s past on the streets of Shanghai, Mary will find herself on the trail of a killer more dangerous than any she’s ever faced—a killer Sherlock Holmes himself may be protecting for reasons near and dear to his heart."
The Peacock Emporium by Jojo Moyes -- "In the sixties, Athene Forster was the most glamorous girl of her generation. Nicknamed the Last Deb, she was also beautiful, spoiled, and out of control. When she agreed to marry the gorgeous young heir Douglas Fairley-Hulme, her parents breathed a sigh of relief. But within two years, rumors had begun to circulate about Athene's affair with a young salesman. Thirty-five years later, Suzanna Peacock is struggling with her notorious mother's legacy. The only place Suzanna finds comfort is in The Peacock Emporium, the beautiful coffee bar and shop she opens that soon enchants her little town. There she makes perhaps the first real friends of her life, including Alejandro, a male midwife, escaping his own ghosts in Argentina."
Not to make any snap decisions, but I don't want to spend ages over choosing either . . . What should I read next? I shall be giving the books the one page test--read the first page or so and whichever clicks--I hope that will be the one!