What are you reading the week of December 31, 2022

Last thread of the year! I accidentally left off Maigret and the Minister last week from my reading list. That's a government Minister. This was a very good entry in the series.

I finished Diary of an Invasion by Andrey Kurkov last night. Kurkov is an ethnic Russian who grew up in Ukraine and lives in Kyiv. The first third or so of this book is gripping. His diary begins a few months before the invasion and continues until July. The early days of the invasion are pretty breathless as he tries to flee Kyiv with his wife and friends. The rest of the book details the life of refugees in western Ukraine and war news. In the afterword, he promises future volumes as the war continues. I look forward to the next volume which should come out in the spring or summer.

Now I've started Maigret and the Headless Corpse which should be my final book of the year.

Have pretty much wrapped up Slugfest. The choices for the first week of the new year look like The Golden Enclaves, An Informal History of the Hugos, and Bulgarian Fighter Colours, 1919-1948.

Happy New Year!

I'm reading Velocity by Dean Koontz. I was going to try to finish before the end of the year, but I don't think I'll make it.

If you're a list maker, please check the What Are You Reading Now? forum to share your favorite and least favorite books of the year.

Finished Hide by Tracy Clark. Enjoyed it.

Currently reading:
SF/F
The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie
Take a Look at the Five and Ten by Connie Willis
Other
Trigonometry for Dummies by Mary Jane Sterling

I finished listening to Cold-Blooded by Carlton Smith last night. It was a very detailed and interesting true crime book about a woman who seems to have had no scruples at all when it came to other people's money and other people's lives.

Next audiobook on the list is Odd Boy Out by one of Britain's best raconteurs, Gyles Brandreth. There's a man with whom I would like to have all-day conversations.

Going to read The Shadows in the Street by Susan Hill - the next installment in the terrific Simon Serrailler crime novels.

Happy New Year!

My final reading of 2022 was Watch Czechoslovakia!. Written in 1937, it is a short but extremely fascinating study of the country and it's geopolitical problems, especially concerning their Nazi German neighbors. The author, an obviously very knowledgeable journalist named Richard Freund, was able to visualize more or less every possible outcome except the one that actually occurred, the Allies handing the country over Germany via the infamous Munich Agreement. I've posted a more in-depth review in my 50-Book Challenge thread.

For my first book of 2023, I'll be continuing my recently begun tradition of starting every calendar year and every month of July with a novel by Isaac Singer. I'm reading them in chronological order as published, so I'm now up to Singer's third novel, The Magician of Lublin.

Enjoying this audiobook via hoopla ~

The Lindbergh Nanny: A Novel by Mariah Fredericks

Paper Money – Ken Follett
Audible audio read by Jonathan Keeble
2.5**

Before he rocketed to fame with Eye of the Needle, Ken Follett published a couple of crime novels under a pseudonym: Zachary Stone. In this one he explores how crime, high finance and journalism are connected through corruption, with the action taking place in a single day.

The relatively small volume is tightly packed, with a dozen (or more) characters and a complex plot. Follett structure the book by telling us the time of day, and then giving us several vignettes taking place simultaneously during that hour: a scene at the newspaper, contrasted with two or three scenes depicting the stories the newspaper is covering (or should be). It’s full of politics and scandal, and characters range from high-powered men to street criminals, and taking the reader on a tour of mid-1970s London from its tony neighborhoods to its slums.

Jonathan Keeble does a good job of reading the audiobook, but the many characters and some complicated financial elements taxed my ability to focus while listening. I might have rated it higher if I had read the text, but I’m not sure the story has really stood the test of time.

My last read of 2022: Take a Look at the Five and Ten by Connie Willis. Enjoyed it muchly.

Finished In Bad Company by Viveca Sten. This one dragged on and on compared to some of her others.

Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard
Tom Felton
4/5 stars
Tom Felton relates his acting career and the ups and downs of being a child actor, especially being in one of the most popular movie series of all times. Nicely written and very interesting!

Happy New Year all!!

>1 fredbacon: I read Maigret and the Headless Corpse a month or so ago and really liked it.

This week I'm reading The Soul of an Octopus. I have a new found appreciation of octopuses.

Added A beginner's Guide to Free Fall by Andy Abramowitz to my reading rotation.

Flower Net – Lisa See
Digital audiobook narrated by Elaina Davis (abridged)
3***

From the book jacket: In the depths of a Beijing winter, the U.S. ambassador’s son is found dead – his body entombed in a frozen lake. Around the same time, aboard a ship adrift off the coast of Southern California, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Stark discovers the corpse of a Red Prince, a scion of China’s political elite. The Chinese and American governments suspect that the deaths are connected, and they join forces to see justice done. In Beijing, David teams up with the female police detective Liu Hulan, in an investigation that takes them to every corner of China and sparks an intense attraction between the two.

My reaction
Before she rocketed to fame with Snow Flower and the Secret Fan See wrote a short series of mysteries, of which this is the first. What I liked most about this book was the look at China – from karaoke bars to the neighborhoods housing the working class, from high-powered businessmen to prostitutes, See gave the reader a look under the blanket of the typical tourist-friendly experience. The plot is convoluted and full of twists and turns, as much political intrigue as murder mystery.

Liu Hulan is an interesting and conflicted character. Having been educated in the U.S. she seems a logical choice to partner with the U.S. attorney for the investigation. But their previous relationship and the personal issues between them kept distracting me from the central mystery.

Elaina Davis does a good job of narrating the audiobook, but it wasn’t until after I had listened to about half of it that I realized it was an abridged version. Fortunately, I had the text as well so could read the full book, which meant I got much more of Liu Hulan explaining Chinese culture to David than action.

The Sweetness of Water – Nathan Harris
Book on CD performed by William DeMerritt
5*****

In his debut work, Harris explores rural Georgia shortly after the end of the Civil War, when slaves had been emancipated and Union soldiers moved in to enforce the terms of surrender and “reconstruct” the South. Prentiss and Landry are freedmen, brothers released from the only home they’ve ever known. On leaving the plantation where they were born and raised, they find refuge with the neighboring landowner, George Walker. George and his wife, Isabelle could use the help of two able-bodied men. So, they agree to hire the brothers, and allow them to live in the barn.

This is a marvelous debut. Full of complex characters and gripping scenes that move the plot forward. Harris explores moral dilemmas and the difficulties of trying to do the right thing against a post-war upheaval and tension. He gives us characters with strong principles who can be blind to their flaws, some of whom overcome and some who give in to those weaknesses.

If I have any complaint, it’s that the villain(s) in the piece are so obviously villainous. But that is a quibble. I loved George, Landry and Prentiss. I came to appreciate Caleb and his struggles. And Isabelle … this is one strong woman.

William DeMerritt does a fine job performing the audiobook. He has a lot of characters to handle and he gives each a unique voice. Unfortunately, two of his voices sound remarkably like real persons – one sounds like former President Bill Clinton, and another like John Wayne. This was definitely a distraction as I could not help but picture those famous persons in these roles. Harris’s writing still shone through, and I may re-read it in text format.

Button, Button - Uncanny Stories
Richard Matheson
I have always enjoyed Matheson's eerie stories and this one does not disappoint. This book is a compilation of dark short stories, one which became a film and a Twilight episode. Very enjoyable! 1970

I am currently reading Father Fiction: Chapters for a Fatherless Generation by Donald Miller which was previously published under the title To Own a Dragon. I am also reading Loves, Lies, and Tears: Volume I by Jacqueline Berger about the First Ladies up to Helen Taft.

>16 BookConcierge: My book club is reading this in February, so I'm delighted to see you enjoyed it so much.

I'm currently reading The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde and The Emma Project by Sonali Dev.

I expect to be starting The Untold Story shortly.

The Highway
C.J. Box
4/5 stars
Cassie Dewell, investigator, is on the lookout for 2 girls who have disappeared driving on a Montana highway. Can she find them and her ex-partner Cody Hoyt? I really enjoyed this and I look forward to the rest of the series.

I finished House of Meetings which was an exploration and immersion in the effects of extreme trauma (WWII, years in Siberia prison camp) on a man, the lifelong damage and the thread of humanity which struggles to maintain itself.

Whip Hand – Dick Francis
3***

Book # 2 in the Sid Halley series. Sid’s career as a top-rated jockey ended when a horse rolled over onto him, crushing his left hand. The hand was later amputated, and he now wears a state-of-the-art prosthesis, but he cannot be a jockey.

The plot is intricate and includes a couple of different mysteries, both of which involve unscrupulous business dealings and which involve Sid’s two loves: his ex-wife Jenny and thoroughbred racing. One of these will seriously threaten Sid’s life and his psyche. Both are complicated and require all his skill to ferret out the truth and bring the perpetrators to justice. Sid is forced to face his greatest fears and answer for himself: Is there anything you’re afraid of?

I love Sid. He’s determined, inquisitive, courageous, and principled. He’s got a great sidekick in Chico, as well; and his father-in-law has his back, too.

Lady In Waiting– Anne Glenconner
Book on CD narrated by the author
3.5***

Subtitle: My Extraordinary Life In the Shadow of the Crown

Glenconner has spent her life as an intimate friend of the royal family. As a child she played with Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, her family estate (one of the grandest in England) being next door to the Royal Family’s country retreat, Sandringham. She served as a Maid of Honor for Elizabeth II’s Coronation, and as Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret.

Her life has been full of ups and downs, including a broken first engagement, followed by marriage to the Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner who exhibited violent outbursts, engaged in extramarital affairs, and bought an island on a whim. That was Mustique, which became THE place where Jet-Setters escaped in the 1970s – ‘80s. Despite the volatility of her marriage, Anne stayed by her man; it was what was done in their set.

This is quite the autobiography, and Glenconner reads the audiobook herself. It took me a bit to get used to her delivery, but I cannot imagine anyone else (well, maybe Maggie Smith) doing a better job of it.

I finished my first full-length book of the year, continuing my "First of the year/first of July" Isaac B. Singer read-through with Singer's third novel, The Magician of Lublin. You can find my full review on my new 50-Book Challenge thread.

Next up for me will be If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery. This is the book my wife gave me to read as her favorite book read in 2022. That's a tradition we began a few years back. The book I gave her was The Sellout by Paul Beatty.

Just finished Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus and I loved it.
It's at the of the NYT best seller list right now; others are liking it too.
Now reading Carbonel, the King of the Cats by Barbara Sleigh. J fantasy
And listening to The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill. British mystery

>6 ahef1963:
Thanks for reminding me of the last one! Been meaning to read these for a while.

The new thread is up over here.

>24 BookConcierge: Adding to my reading list. Glenconner's book sounds interesting.