I seem to have been a little AWOL recently. No particular reason, just busy, July seemed to be full of routine medical appointments for my husband, he's diabetic with heart problems, a newish tendency towards pneumonia and now cataracts that need operating on. Fun, fun. In better news it's our Golden wedding anniversary tomorrow, I'm not certain where 50 years went but 'went' it did... We'll be celebrating over the weekend with the family.
So, I have been reading but not as much as usual: I read just six books in July, although I've just finished two others started last month too, so it's more than 6 really but I will count those for August as it makes no difference whatsoever.
These are the books:
59. The Fatal Flying Affair - T.E. Kinsey
60. A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Reasons Why We Can't Stop Reading Jane Austen, edited by Susannah Carson. This is pretty much what it says on the tin - 33 essays by all and sundry about Jane Austen's books, characters, the settings and of course Austen's life. I've been reading this slowly for months and it was well worth the effort, very interesting indeed.
61. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett
62. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires - Grady Hendrix
63. Every Dead Thing - John Connolly. I've read 13 of Connolly's 'Charlie Parker' books but never read book 1... now I have. Parker's wife and small daughter are brutally murdered and policeman, Parker, follows the trail to New Orleans to root out the culprit. Truthfully, I don't think I learnt anything I didn't already know but I'm glad I've now read the first book. I fancy subsequent books are better though.
64. Jane Austen: A Life - Claire Tomalin. An absolutely superb biography of Jane Austen. I learnt *so* much and found knowing these things helps make more sense of her books . Highly recommend.
Looking at Goodreads I see I gave every book I read 4 stars apart from Jane Austen: A Life to which I gave 5. So it was clearly a pretty good reading month despite being a bit on the slow side.
Quick reviews of the two books just finished.
First up, My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni.
Tracy Crosswhite is a police officer working in Seattle but back on her home turf of a small town in the Cascades in Washington State. It's where her sister, Sarah, disappeared 20 years ago, driving home after a shooting match on a lonely road. Tracy has never forgiven herself for allowing Sarah to drive home on her own, in a snowstorm, while she went with her fiancé. A man is in prison for the murder, despite the lack of a body. Tracy, however, feels the conviction was unsafe and convinces a childhood friend, now a lawyer, to reinvestigate with the aim of reopening the case. Of course, what she doesn't realise is that she'll also be opening a brand new can of worms. For those who like their crime books with a good dose of winter, lots of snow, mountains, back roads and so on, this is a perfct read. I enjoyed it despite the fact that there were a lot of courtroom scenes, which is not a favourite 'trope' of mine in murder mysteries. There was enough other action to keep me hooked and reading and not wanting to put the book down. I was sort of expecting the outcome, but that's fine, I'm always more interested in the journey than the destination and I loved the setting to bits. This is book one in the author's 'Tracy Crosswhite' series and I'll read more if I come across any.
Lastly, The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray.
Mr. Knightley and Emma (from Emma of course) are having a house party and invited are various heros and heroines from Jane Austen's other books. Darcy and Lizzy for instance, plus their son, Jonathan, Captain Wentworth and Anne, now married, Marriane and Col. Brandon. Halfway through dinner one night they're interrupted by a new arrival, Mr. Wickham who ran off with Lizzie's sister, Lydia, in the plot of Pride and Prejudice. Absolutely no one is pleased to see him. It seems Wickham has involved some of the people present in some financial scheme that has failed and money has been lost. When he's found battered to death in the long gallery, the list of suspects is as long as your arm. Only two people have no motive and are likely innocent, Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney, daughter of the Tilneys from Northanger Abbey. Naturally the two set about trying to find out who's responsible for the murder of Mr. Wickham. If you're not keen on your favourite characters from favourite classics being mucked about with then this book is likely not for you. It does involve a bit of suspension of disbelief not least because I couldn't understand why anyone would trust George Wickham enough to plough money into his schemes. Regardless, I did enjoy this romp, daft as it is, it was fun to imagine what has happened to the various married couples after the books they appeared in, finished. The author created a timeline, working out how old people would be, so some are not long married, others middle-aged with older children. Jonathan and Juliet worked well together despite the difficulties and manners of the day and I gather their adventures continue in book 2, The Late Mrs.Willoughby. I plan to read it.
I hope you had a good reading month in July and find lots of great reads for August!
18 comments:
I've been thinking about you, hoping all was okay.
Happy, happy anniversary!!!!!
Happy Anniversary! 50 years is pretty amazing. And you have been reading a lot of good books lately. I enjoyed My Sister's Grave and hope to read more in that series in the future. And The Murder of Mr. Wickham sounds pretty fun. Though it makes you wonder why he wasn't murdered sooner. ;D
Happy Anniversary, Cath, and many more! What an accomplishment! I hope your husband's round of medical visits has gone smoothly. It's good to hear you didn't have any real disappointments in your reading this month. I'd much rather read fewer books, but enjoy them all, than more books and be disappointed!
I hope that the routine appointments were just that and that everything is good until the next time.
Wishing you all the best for your special day tomorrow and hoping that you have good things planned to celebrate. We are a few years behind you (44), but catching up fast and still trying to work out where all that time has gone to!!
I have been following your reading progress during the month, but was interested to see the addition of the Robert Dugoni book. When I checked on FF, I see that the series is already ten books in, which doesn't bode well for a slow-coach reader like me. However, I maintain that on the whole, the first book in a series can usually be read as a stand alone story for all intents and purposes, so I am adding 'My Sister's Grave' to my wish list (See, I don't need much of an excuse - can't help myself!)
Have a lovely day and many congratulations to you both :)
First, Happy Anniversary to you both. That's quite an achievement these days and you should be proud. Sorry though to see that your husband is going through such a bad patch of health issues right now. Those appointments can become a full-time job sometimes.
You had a really nice reading month considering especially all the distractions. It's nice to have chosen titles that you really end up enjoying when that kind of thing happens. I've read that Dugoni book and another one from the series, and while I enjoyed both the ones I've read, I'm not sure when I'll get back to the series. Dugoni is a really good writer, and it's nice to see him have the kind of success he's had in recent years.
All of your Austin reading sounds both interesting and lots of fun. Have you ever visited the home in Winchester in which Austin spent her last days? It was open to the public when I was there, but it was very easy to imagine her looking out that upstairs bedroom upon the ruins just a short distance away.
Happy August Reading! Here's hoping your husband has a good month, too, and that the appointments start to come less frequently.
Nan: Thank you! Yes, all is well, just a lack of extra time to blog really. I hope all is well with you too?
Lark: Thank you! Yes, 50 years is quite a lot these days. My Sister's Grave was pretty good really and I would like to try more in the series. The Murder of Mr. Wickham was great fun but I'm with you... quite surprised someone hadn't knocked him off sooner. LOL
Margot: Thank you! Yes all the various appointments were fine but one lot revealed what we suspected to be true in that he does need cataracts done asap.
I've actually quite enjoyed a slower reading month, more time to savour the books, rather than rushing through them willy-nilly.
Yvonne: Yes thanks, the various apts. were pretty routine but some needed repeating or going to Exeter rather than local so it was all a bit tedious.
Thank you! I suspect we'll have a quietish day tomorrow and then Saturday will be a family day. 44 years is quite an achievement too... these days anyway!
Actually yes, I totally agree that the first book of a series can be read as a standalone. Sometimes it's enough and you don't feel any need to read more, that happens to me quite a lot. Sometimes I think I will read on and then I don't. LOL
Thanks again, have a good weekend.
Sam: Thank you... yes I suppose it is something to be proud of. These days anyway. My husband's health issues have been ongoing for a while but just lately there seem to have been a lot of appointments, some needing checking again and so forth. I'm not complaining as it's good the medical people are keeping a close eye on him, but some months it's just endless.
Dugoni is indeed an excellent writer and the book was sort of medium gritty which I really like. I hope to carry on with the series but we'll see, it depends on availability.
No, sadly I've not been to Jane Austen's last house in Winchester, silly of me not to take the opportunity while my daughter was at uni there. We plan to try to go to her house in Alton sometime soon though, either in the autumn or next year. Gilbert White's house is in the same area so visiting the two would make a nice combination.
Thank you!
Happy golden wedding anniversary, Cath! And best wishes for your husband's health too.
Apparently there're quite a lot of Jane Austen's fan-fiction, aren't they? I've read one from Being a Jane Austen Mystery last year, and quite enjoyed it.
Fanda: Thank you!
Yes, I read somewhere that Jane Austen has inspired more 'off-shoot' type fiction than any other author. Something about her characters that inspires people to wonder what happened to them next or to write modern retellings of her fiction. It's an interesting subject.
I had noticed your absence on your blog, but hoped you were just busy. Sorry that it has been medical appointments that are keeping you busy.
Congratulations on celebrating 50 years of marriage. We have 7 more to go to get to that milestone.
Your month's reading sounds good. I am especially interested in the two books about Jane Austen. In the last month we watched the TV miniseries Death Comes to Pemberley. And enjoyed it. I have not read the book by P.D. James that it was based on but I don't think I will.
Happy Anniversary to you and Peter! You were both lucky to find each other so very young and to make it last.
I used to have a windowsill full of books I could grab if I was going to the Emergency Room or a doctor's appointment with my father, which was useful (I read the entire first volume of Game of Thrones at one such event) but of course when you are worried or tired it is hard to concentrate. I am glad there is nothing seriously wrong. How is the garden? Because we had a very late frost, everyone local is complaining about shrubs that did not bloom. I have six hydrangeas and most have no blossoms at all, which is very odd.
Now they tell me!
Keep an eye on the weather forecast in the spring and when frost is in the forecast, protect the hydrangea with burlap, sheets, or blankets for the night. Remove the coverings promptly the next morning and repeat as needed.
Tracy: Yes, just busy with this and that and the medical apts. Thankfully nothing 'too' serious.
Thank you, hese anniveraries arrive quicker than you think. LOL
The two JA books were excellent, especially the Claire Tomalin biography. I have the Lucy Worsley one about the houses JA lived in too and also What Matters in Austen by John Mullen which looks very interesting. There's another one by Paula Byrne that I'd like to get too, The Genius of Jane Austen, which seems to be really popular.
As to Death Comes to Pemberley, it seems to be accepted that the miniseries is a whole heap better than the book. I loved the miniseries but like you don't think I'll bother with the book.
Constance: Thank you! Yes, pretty fortunate I think.
I tend to take my Kindle or Nook to hospitals, dentists, you name it, I hate having to stare at other patients while I wait. lol
The garden's doing well thanks, better than last year when we lost the gardener for a bit and it got away from us. It takes three of us to keep it going so this year it's looking a lot more tidy. I think a late frost would really affect your hydrangeas. We had a cold May and the tomatoes are really late this year. Normally by this time we'd have been picking for weeks but they're only just starting to come in.
I loved the Claire Tomalin, too. She is our best biographer and I think that is the definitive biography of Jane Austen.
Nicola: Yes, I would love to read more biographies by Claire Tomalin now. I must see what she's written.
Post a Comment