November was a quietish reading month for me. Not sure why but that's the way it goes sometimes.
I started the month by finishing Inheritance by Nora Roberts. My review of that is HERE. Thoroughly enjoyed that and then went on to read book 2 of the trilogy, The Mirror. That was basically more of the same, more hauntings, more stories of dead wives, more of Sonya's new business, her friends, and all of their new romances. Good fun, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading book 3 soon.
I then went back to a series I haven't read anything from since 2018, apparently, and that's the Kate Shugak books by Dana Stabenow.
Midnight Come Again is book 10 in the series. It sees Kate burying her grief from a terrible incident in the last book by working all hours for a flying freight company in Bering, Alaska. No one knows she's there but state trooper, Jim Chopin, comes across her when he's sent to work for the company, undercover. Kate naturally gets embroiled in Jim's case, involving Russian smuggling and more danger than either of them bargained for. So this was 'ok'. I felt it got bogged down in too much superfluous detail and Kate's selfishness annoyed me. She left all her friends worrying about her and didn't bother to let them know she was ok. But then I have always thought that one of Kate's faults is that she is rather self-absorbed. It might be why I've not read anything from this series for 7 years. Will I read on? I'm not sure.
Next up, I read a delightful fanfiction novella for the Book Bingo challenge I'm doing. Only three categories to fill now, Thriller, Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. I've just started the thriller, will probably reread The Hound of the Baskervilles, and am not sure about Agatha yet... plenty to choose from.
All month I've been reading a non-fiction book by Guy Shrubsole, The Lost Rainforests of Britain.
The Amazon is not the only place in the world that has rainforests. There are plenty of places in the world where there are 'temperate' rainforests as opposed to 'tropical' ones. I suppose the most famous would be The Pacific Northwest but at one time Britain had a huge stretch running the length of its west coast from Cornwall to Scotland. There are still remnants but they're rapidly disappearing for many reasons. Yes, climate change, but a bigger culprit is the grazing of sheep that eat the saplings in these small woodlands, so they can't regenerate. Can anything be done? Anyway, this was a bit dry in places, info dumps etc. but all in all I enjoyed this trip around the small rainforests of the UK and learnt quite a lot. Dartmoor, one of our Devon moors, featured quite a bit which is probably why I fancy rereading The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Lastly, I've just finished a collection of weird Winter/Christmas short stories, Sunless Solstice edited by Lucy Evans and Tanya Kirk.
This collection was so good I almost gave it 5 stars. Then towards the end two really very average stories cropped up that I was not enthused by, so it ended up a 4 star read. (It's a 4.5 really.) It starts with an Irish yarn, the author of which is anonymous, that one was good. I liked On the Northern Ice by Elia Wilkinson Peattie, a story about a man skating to a village on Lake Superior... very full of atmosphere. The Black Cat by W.J. Wintle is about someone who hates cats being haunted by one. Mr Huffam by Hugh Walpole is one of those tales where someone picks a stranger up, takes him home and said stranger changes the household - in a good way. The Third Shadow by H. Russell Wakefield was an excellent mountaineering story, bit of a murder mystery. Daphne du Maurier's The Apple Tree was quite depressing, about a marriage gone sour, but so beautifully written that I enjoyed it. The last story in the collection, A Fall of Snow by James Turner concerns a 15 year old lad who goes to spend Christmas with an uncle and his family in Norfolk. While out tobogganing with his cousin he sees the dead body of one of the maids. Only it's not, she's in the house and is fine... good twist at the end. I think if you're looking for some spooky or weird stories to read over the Christmas you could do a lot worse than this anthology. The writing is superb throughout and with only two stories I didn't like (your mileage may well vary on those), I was very happy with this collection.
So that's my reading up to date. I hope yours is going well and that you're managing to escape all the marauding lurgies.
16 comments:
I love this time of year and I have gone online and Sunless Solstice is available at kindle unlimited so I have downloaded a copy. I also plan to read Starry Night by Debbie Malcolmer. Its about Christmas and a starred review from Publisher's Weekly so I am psyched. Hope you have a very good Holiday Season Cath.
I read the first Dana Stabenow more than 20 years ago and I don't remember why I didn't continue with the series. Maybe it was just too outdoorsy for me! Cold weather is so depressing and I figure I have four more months of it. Ugh.
I'm glad you got some good reads in, Cath, even if they weren't all five-star books. It's so nice, isn't it, when the second of a trilogy turns out to be as good as the first? It whets your appetite for more. And I love the idea of re-visiting a book you've liked, and The Hound of the Baskervilles is a good 'un. And you can't go far wrong, as far as I'm concerned, with Agatha Christie.
Kathy, I'm really pleased that you got Sunless Solstice via Kindle Unlimited! I have a Christmas Debbie Macomber book to read too, Choir of Angels. I like her writing. I hope you have a good holiday season too!
Constance, Oh yes, the Kate Shugak books are very outdoorsy and often snowy although some of the books are set in the Alaskan spring or summer. I don't mind the cold settings but Kate's annoying me more than she used to.
Thanks, Margot. I'm happy if books are anywhere from three to five stars. Lower than three and I tend to dnf. My first experience of the Hound of the Baskervilles was an ancient black and white movie on TV. I was smitten with Sherlock Holmes then and seem to have watched its various incarnations all my life.
Cath, nice to hear what you've been reading and how you felt about all of them. I'm planning on reading that Nora Roberts trilogy in 2026. Looking forward to it. Dana Stabenow - it's been a long time since I read any of her books, though I did enjoy Kate Shugak. Hmmm....can't remember exactly where I left off, but I know I am way behind on the series. Something to explore next year as well. I've been looking at a few mystery series to either catch up on or reread next year. I'll think about this one. And if it doesn't work for you, I say go on to one that does. We both know that not every book speaks to us. I do love the Alaska setting of that series. Hope you have a good weekend!!
You've read some good books this month. I read the first in the Kate Shugak series, A Cold Day for Murder back in 2012 which I enjoyed but somehow never got round to reading any more of Dana Stabenow's books. Sunless Solstice looks like a good collection for this time of year. It's been really cold here and loads of rain - hope it's not too bad where you are.
Always fun to see what you've been reading. I think I've read one Kate Shugak mystery. And I think I liked it? It's hard to remember. ;D I ended up DNFing a lot of books in November. Sometimes tiredness and holiday stress makes it hard for me to concentrate on a book that doesn't immediately grab me. Hopefully my December reading will be better. And yours, too. :D
This sounds like a good month of reading with a lot of variety. I have only read the first book by Dana Stabenow in the Kate Shugak series. I liked that first one, I think, and I have two more but haven't read them yet. The book about rainforests in Britain might be interesting. Glen read the Sunless Solstice short story book and he must of liked it because he still has it on his shelves. Right now he is reading one of the British Library Crime Classics short story anthologies (Christmas stories).
Kay: Pleased to hear you're going to read the NR trilogy in 2026, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and also that you'll post your thoughts on your blog. I'm way behind with Kate Shugak too, I think the books number in their twenties now and I've just read book ten! Oh, well. I've made a list of various series I want to catch up on for next year too. I did that this year with just one series, for 2026 I've picked out quite a lot, so we'll see how that goes. LOL
Margaret: I think the problem with the Kate Shugak series is that that first book is a bit dull. I found it so but people said 'Carry on' and they were right, books 1 to 9 are very good. Yes, we had a very cold week here too but it's milder and a 'lot' wetter now. I hope you're keeping well!
Lark: The Kate Shugak books definitely improve after book 1, which is not the best to be honest. I've now read 10 and that may be my limit, I'm not sure yet, so many other books... :-) I hope your reading in December improves and you find better books. Thank you!
Tracy: Yes, I rang the changes a bit in November. It seems you're the same as several people here in that you've read one KS book but no more. It doesn't surprise me as that first book is rather average. They get better. Oh good, I'm glad Glen read Sunless Solstice and you think he liked it. I think I've read all of the BLCC Christmas anthologies and they're all good, so I hope he's enjoying it.
I think I would thoroughly enjoy Sunless Solstice. Hope you are having a great week.
Ryan, it's an excellent collection of mostly great stories. Thank you! Busy with Christmas preps. I hope you're having a good week too.
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