What are we reading now ? (Oct - Dec 2019)

I stayed up way too late last night to finish a good thriller; The Nanny by Gilly MacMillan

I've started Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

Planning to start Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival, by Laurence Gonzales.

Vanishing Girl / Shane Peacock
3 stars

A young Sherlock Holmes wants to prove himself worthy of one day working for Scotland Yard, so he sets out to solve the kidnapping of a young rich girl. In doing so, he is also in a race to beat his rival for Irene Doyle’s affections, the young criminal, Malefactor, who Irene has also tasked with solving the crime.

This was ok. It’s another series where I think I will not continue with, though. There were interesting parts, but overall not enough to keep my interest throughout, nor enough to make me want to pick up the next book.

I'm re-reading (after several years) The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut. Not related at all to the TV series....maybe that's why I found it abandoned in the leave one/take one box at my gym!

Another thriller-The Liar's Room by Simone Lelic.

And more crime fiction for me: Perfect Crime by Helen Fields

I've been off sick with a cold, and in between naps I've managed to finish off Pawn in Frankincense, by Dorothy Dunnett, and get a fair way through Shrill, by Lindy West.

I've started Claws of the Panda: Beijing's Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada by Jonathan Manthorpe.

A new series and a new detective, written by one of my favourite crime fiction authors-Ann Cleeves. I'm on the fence about this new guy in The Long Call though I love her Vera and Jimmy characters. Have to wait and see how he develops.

I'm getting disgruntled with the books I have on the go, so I'm pulling out The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, for a long-overdue reread. (I was also having a quote-off with one of my colleagues today, which is what put it into my head.)

>9 LynnB:, looking forward to your review of that one. Nobody else has posted one so far.

I finished 2 books this week: After the Eclipse by Fran Dorricott-not very good- and The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook-pretty good.

I'm reading The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

Yesterday I started Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps, the biography of John Buchan by his granddaughter Ursula.

Today I finished Lone Wolf, by Linwood Barclay, and am preparing to start Vol de nuit, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

(edit to fix touchstone)

I think Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway mystery series is one of my very favourite (and I read a lot of crime fiction!). Just finished her latest: The Stone Circle and loved it.

I'm about to start The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah for a book club. I've read one other by this author and didn't like it much, but here goes...........

>17 LynnB: I've tried hard to like this author's books, too, as several of my friends and co workers rave about them, but...just haven't enjoyed the couple I've read very much at all.

Just finished a very odd book, that I can't decide whether I liked it or hated it; definitely don't understand a lot of it! I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

I read that one, ted74ca....I thought it was ok, but I've not looked for anything else by Mr. Reid.

I've been having a productive reading weekend. Finished two books: Concorde: A Photographic History, by Jonathan Falconer; and The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last, by Azra Raza.

Now I'm looking to start Circe, by Madeline Miller.

I'm reading The Unlikely Redemption of John Alexander MacNeil by Lesley Choyce.

A good, quick read for the weekend: The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz, a Sherlock Holmes novel. Quite enjoyable.

I'm reading The Power by Naomi Alderman

Re-reading The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, by Agatha Christie. Goodreads says I read this in 2007, but I have no recollection of doing so. (Also, I only joined Goodreads in 2008, so that would have been a bit of backdating on my part.)

Getting on the Remembrance Day theme with Vimy, by Pierre Berton. I'm pretty sure I read this in high school, but maybe only part of it to supplement history class.

I'm reading The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing by Merve Emre.

I've started The Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davies.

Just finished reading and was really touched by Daughter of Family G by Ami McKay. So sad and yet so hopeful, beautifully written.

I've finished 2 books this week, very different from each other and neither my typical reading fare (crime fiction)
I had high hopes for Ghosts Know by Ramsey Campbell, because I secretly love a good ghost story and the reviews on the dust jacket from Peter Straub and Stephen King seem to promise just that from this author. However, not a hair was raised during the reading of this book and I was so glad when it was finally finished and I could get on to reading something else.
Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen was a very pleasant, heartwarming read. I haven't read much by Anna Quindlen but I've liked what I have read so far.

Going the thriller route with Bear Island, by Alistair MacLean.

I'm always interested in novels set in wartime or post war eras, but had never read anything about what life was like for people in the Balkan states during WWII or afterwards as a Soviet state. Based on a true story, I thought The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos was a good read, though a bit over sentimentalized for my taste.

Just perfect for a very dreary, rainy day read The Whisper Man by Alex North. Part crime fiction/police procedural, part psychological thriller and part ghost story. I really liked it.

Back to crime fiction-really enjoyed And Justice There is None by Deborah Crombie

Going to Montreal for a quick visit this weekend, so I'm packing Montreal Stories, by Mavis Gallant.

I've finished The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupre by Sarah Kathryn York and am about to start The Dress in the Window by Sofia Grant.

>36 LynnB: I'm curious what you thought of Edouard Beaupre? I read it a few years ago (? not positive of timing!), as well.

LibraryCin, I enjoyed Edouard Beaupre. I still have family not far from Willow Bunch, but had never heard of Edouard Beaupre. The book is written in a quiet, often understated way which, I think, added poignancy to the sense of sadness of his life and his quiet braveness and integrity. I am glad his remains are back in Willow Bunch, and I plan to visit next time I'm in Saskatchewan -- well, the next time I'm there that isn't winter!

My book club has decided to read An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, so here I go............

>38 LynnB: I grew up in Gravelbourg, maybe an hour-ish from Willow Bunch. I just knew of the "Willow Bunch Giant" when I was younger; I didn't know his real name.

(Are you in Canada - do you watch CBC's "Still Standing"? Gravelbourg was just featured last week. :-) It seems (I have it taped, but haven't watch it yet) they also went to Willow Bunch, not sure how long ago. If you're in Canada, you can find the old episodes on Still Standing on the CBC website, if you are interested in watching the Willow Bunch one.

I tried Still Standing once and didn't like it, but maybe I would enjoy it if it's set in places I'm familiar with, so I'll check it out.

I'm reading Mr. Flood's Last Resort by Jess Kidd

I'm reading The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Following up my Mavis Gallant read with Scotty: A Hockey Life Like No Other, Ken Dryden's biography of Scotty Bowman.

>42 LynnB: Loved that one! Hope you do, too.

Finished # 26 in Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks series which is set in Robinson's birthplace of Yorkshire. This one was Many Rivers to Cross. Well devised plot as usual-good read. Peter Robinson lives part time back in Yorkshire and part of the time in Toronto.

Just read an excellent book about hearing: Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World, by David Owen.

I'm starting Chaudiere Falls by David Mulholland

Finished a fun, clever murder mystery novel by Anthony Horowitz: The Sentence is Death today. I've been enjoying Horowitz's screenwriting for some of my favourite TV programs for years (Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War, for example) and now I'm enjoying his novels.

Lots of difficulty this year finishing off the books begun, but Babbitt is now off the list. Satire is not my strong suit but it's growing on me.

Guilty pleasure-I have a weakness for true crime stories. This week I finished The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule, about the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy.

The Right to be Cold / Sheila Watt-Cloutier
3.5 stars

Sheila Watt-Cloutier was born in a Northern Quebec Inuit community and raised by her mother and her grandmother. She was sent away to school in Churchill, and (mostly) enjoyed her time there. She later married, had kids, and went back and forth between her home in Northern Quebec and the southern part of the province.

Eventually, she would become an activist; she is most commonly associated with environmental activism, but really she is an activist for her Inuit culture, for education and health care, and yes, for the environment and climate change, and how it is currently affecting the Inuit culture and lifestyle. They are seeing the effects of climate change now, and they feel that they deserve “the right to be cold” – they need that cold – in order to sustain their traditional culture.

This was good. I expected more of the environmental aspect in the book (and a lot of that did come in the 2nd half), but actually ended up enjoying the biographical part of the book best. Much of the 2nd half of the book included her travels to various conferences and counsels to tell the story of the Inuit to put a “human face” on the environmental crisis in the Arctic. Surprising to me, I just didn’t find that part as interesting. Overall, though, I liked it.

A total switch in genres for today's read: a very moving novel about life and death and choices: After the End by Clare Mackintosh

I am a proud Canadian having just finished The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland for a book club in my winter home in Florida. The musical, Come From Away (based on those days in Gander) is coming to this part of the world soon. I may have to go and see it again!

>53 Penske: I really liked that one. I just listened to the audio earlier this year. (Haven't seen the musical.)

Why haven't I read anything by Lynn Coady before??!! I really liked Watching You Without Me.

Just finished a not so thrilling thriller: The Man With No Face by Peter May.

Finished another rather lacklustre book today that I've had on my e reader to read during my work breaks for months now-a "thriller" entitled Beautiful Liars by Isabel Ashdown.

Beautifully and eloquently written-a very touching and thought provoking memoir When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.

I'm about to start I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

Just what I needed to read to brush aside all the Christmas time hype-a good horror story! I really liked Fogheart by Thomas Tessier and will look for more books by this author.

Currently working on one of Sarah Vowell's earlier books: Radio On: A Listener's Diary.

I've liked everything I've read so far by Sadie Jones and The Snakes is no exception. Very compelling, multilayered- a combination of literary thriller/dysfunctional family/corruption in modern society commentary. I couldn't put it down once I started it.

I enjoyed Cea Sunrise Person's first memoir, North of Normal, so have moved on to the sequel, Nearly Normal: Surviving the Wilderness, My Family and Myself.

>63 LynnB: Interested to hear what you think of the sequel! I haven't read it (yet), but likely will at some point.

Raided the hometown library (with my mum's library card) so that I could read The Nocturnal Brain, by Guy Leschziner.

Will now be raiding my parents' bookshelves...thinking of A Taste for Death, by P. D. James.

Nocturnal Brain, that sounds like a good one. And the library has it too. Yeah.

>66 mdoris: Excellent! Hope you like it :)

>67 rabbitprincess: I have you to thank rabbitprincess for The First Cell. I read your review and had to read it! I did and was glad I did.

>68 mdoris: You're very welcome! My cousin brought that one to my attention, and I'm glad she did :)

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Finally finished The Collected Ghost Stories, by M. R. James, which I've been reading off and on since August.

good for you, rabbitprincess!

I'm reading Travel Light, Move Fast by one of my favourite memoirists, Alexandra Fuller

Quite enjoyed Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear.

I'm going to start one of my Christmas gifts: A Nearly Normal Family by M. T. Edvardsson

Trying to get in one last book from my parents' shelves: The Body: A Guide for Occupants, by Bill Bryson. Mum bought her own copy, so I don't have to wait for it to come in at the library.

Just finished a memoir: From the Ashes: My Story of Being Metis, Homeless and Finding My Way by Jesse Thistle. Very moving story of redemption and hope.

I'm reading Final Things by Richard B. Wright

Bingeing on some American Mystery Classics: The So Blue Marble, by Dorothy B. Hughes; and The Bellamy Trial, by Frances Noyes Hart (which is also available as a public-domain ebook from Faded Page).

The Forgotten Home Child / Genevieve Graham
4 stars

When Winny is young, she finds herself in the streets of London and finds friends in Mary, Jack, Cecil and Edward. They are caught stealing one day and are taken to an orphanage. From there, they eventually are sent to Canada, where they will be sent out to families and should have a better life. They are split up, but vow to find each other again.

Apparently, between the mid-1800s and up to 1948(?) over 100,000 children – the British Home Children – were sent to Canada. Sadly, for the majority of these kids, it was not a better life. Many (most) were neglected, malnourished, abused. They were indentured servants and most were not treated well.

In the book, Winny is actually 90-some years old, and having been ashamed of her background all these years, she never told her family. But, the book goes back and forth between Winny telling her granddaughter and great-grandson her story and, of course, the story itself: Winny and her friends in the 1930s and through WWII.

This was very interesting. I had never heard of the British Home Children, and that’s why the author wanted to write the story. It’s not taught in schools, and many of the kids sent over kept their stories to themselves, so it’s not well-known. The author includes a good historical note at the end. The author used examples from many of the people she talked to – things that really happened. It was a quick read, but I hope I don’t forget it soon.

I'm ending the year with A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin.

I started a new thread for 2020. You will find it here.....Happy New Year to all!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/314731

I have at least 2 Home Children ancestors whom I had never heard about until I found them in my family tree. There are at least 2 Facebook groups: Families of British Home Children and British Home Children and Child migrants- Western Canada. I went to a Calgary meeting on Sept 28 celebrating 100 years since the first Home Child came to Canada and was surprised at the number of people attending. At Pier 21 in Halifax there is a memorial to"more than 100,00" of them. Many Canadians are descended from them although unaware of it. " The Forgotten Home Child" is on my reading list.

>81 19anne44: Wow, that's really interesting! I do hope you enjoy the book!

Feeling very engaged so far by Not Wanted on the Voyage.

Cecrow, that is one of my top 3 favourite books.

I'm reading Little Fish by Casey Plett.