Today, I'll provide my Monthly summary. I've completed 102 books so far in 2018, well on the way to my Goodreads planned total of 110. Below are my summaries -
October 2018
General Info Oct Total
Books Read - 11 102
Pages Read - 4,200 33,500
Pages Breakdown
< 250 2 31
250 - 350 6 33
351 - 450 0 21
> 450 3 17
Ratings
5 - star 3 8
4 - star 5 61
3 - star 3 32
2 - star 0 1
Gender
Female 8 35
Male 3 67
Genres
Fiction 2 20
Mystery 5 56
SciFi 2 15
Non-Fic 5
Classics 2 4
Poetry 0 2
Top 3 Books
"What a perfect book Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott is! It reminded me of books I read back during my university years when I took my Canadian Lit course; books like Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell or Why Shoot the Teacher by Max Braithwaite. It's a gentle, loving, caring story that had me smiling and crying at different moments.
Clara Purdy lives in Saskatchewan and while driving home gets into an accident with a young family. Clara lives alone, her mother having passed away and is in a rut. When she goes to the hospital to check on the family, she discovers that the mother, Lorreine has to stay because they've discovered she has cancer. The family; Lorreine, hubby Clayton, grandmother Mrs. Pell and three kids; Dolly, Trevor and Pearce are basically homeless, living in their van as they drive to find work.
Clara makes a big decision and lets the family move into her house while Lorreine is in the hospital. Clayton takes her mother's old car and leaves (to find work somewhere?) and leaves Clary to fend with the rest. That is the gist of the story and we follow Clary (her nickname) as she recreates herself, rearranging her home to accommodate them all, learn to live a life with children (she is a divorcee who never had the chance to have children of her own) and all the things that entails.
It's a rich, wonderful story. The book is peopled with a wonderful cast of characters, starting with the lovely Clary. The kids are great as they try to adjust to living with her, trying to cope with their mother's illness. Grandma Pel is a cantankerous old biddy but a great character. Lorreine is brave, hard put. Her brother Darwin shows up, moving in with Clara and is fantastic, looking after his sister, helping Clary, recreating her home. And you've got so many others, the local priest, Paul, trying to cope with divorce and finding solace with this strange put - together family. I could go on; her neighbour, Mrs. Zenko, who helps so much and Clary's sister Grace, her hubby Morland and their daughter, Fern. There is something about them all to love and cherish.
The story is so well-written, and it draws you in. I wanted it to end a certain way, but it took a twist at the end and then another. I can't recommend this book more. It's a must read. Beautiful story and characters. (5 stars)"
"Can You Forgive Her? is the first book in the Palliser series written by Anthony Trollope. The book was initially published in 1865. It is a long book; my Oxford University Edition, published in 1972 is 1,000+ pages. While it is a long book, it is definitely not a slow book. On paper, it's not my type of story at all but that makes it even better.
The story centers around 3 women, Alice Vavasor, Lady Glencora and Mrs Greenow, a widow. If you want to look at in its simplest form, each is sorting out her relationship, each has two suitors and must decide between them. But, of course, there is so much more to it than just that, politics, and an exploration of English life.
The main character is Alice. She had previously been engaged to her first cousin, George Vavasor. This engagement, which was not supported by her father, was broken off when it was discovered that he had cheated on her. When the story begins she is now engaged to John Grey, a sturdy, dependable man, but one who Alice finds it difficult to love. Going on a trip to Switzerland with George's sister, Kate, and escorted by George as well, her relationship is turned upside down as she once again agrees to wed George and to help him financially with his run for Parliament. (Yes, George is money-poor and has a bad relationship with his grand father whose estate and wealth he stands to inherit). What you have here is a woman who must decide between a steady, somewhat boring man and a 'bad' man.) Breaking her engagement is the premise for 'Can You Forgive Her?' Can Grey forgive her? Can Alice forgive herself?
The other relationships involve Lady Glencora, Alice's cousin and her aunt, Mrs. Greenow. Lady Glencora, a wealthy woman, loves Burgo Fitzgerald, a handsome wastrel, but was pressured by her family to instead marry, Plantagenet Palliser, a wealthy Member of Parliament with designs on the position of Chancellor of Exchequer. Having a beautiful, young wife who might provide him an heir will only help him. Glencora still loves Burgo and wants to run off with him. Mrs. Greenow is a wealthy widow. Two men are her suitors, a penniless Capt in the Army, Capt Bellfield and a farmer, Mr. Cheeseacre. Mrs. Greenow plays the two off against each other as she doesn't need any money.
This is the gist of the story, which moves between the three women at a leisurely pace. It's well written and kept me reading throughout. The men are all different with George Vavasor being the surliest, hardest to like. I particularly liked Lady Glencora, funny, a trouble maker but so likable. She brings me to mind of Carolyn Enys of the Poldark series. I also particularly liked George's sister, Kate who sets up her brother and Alice and comes to see him for what he is.
There is so much to the story that it's hard to describe in toto. But you have to discover that for yourself, don't you. There are 5 more books in the series. I will hopefully get to try them as well. Please check out Can You Forgive Her? (5 stars)"
"Death Without Company is the 2nd Walt Longmire mystery by Craig Johnson. It's been awhile since I read the first and I'm so glad to revisit the Absarka Police Department in Wyoming. Such a great, entertaining, engrossing story.
It's near Christmas and the snows are starting to fall in the community that Walt Longmire polices. He's waiting for his daughter Cady to come for the holidays from Philadelphia. He is interviewing and considering hiring a new detective, Santiago Saizarbitoria and also heading to the Durant Home for Assisted Living for his weekly chess game with Lucian Connally, the previous sheriff. The trip takes a turn when a woman of Basque heritage, one Mari Baroja, is found dead at the home. It turns out that Lucian was once married to her, for all of 3 hours, and he claims that she has been murdered.
Thus begins a sometimes convoluted murder mystery, more bodies will crop up and there will also be attempted murders. How is Mari involved and for that matter, how is Lucian. Family members begin to arrive to find out what they might have inherited. It turns out Mari was a bit of a financial expert and is worth quite a bit. Her second husband, the father of her children, was an awful man, one who beat her and who has 'disappeared'. Are drugs involved? What about this past? What about the granddaughter who runs the local bakery?
It's such a fascinating story. The cast is excellent, from Longmire himself, to his assistant, Vic, down to earth and sexy, to Henry Running Bear, Longmire's oldest friend, to the other people who work at the Police department and even Dog, Longmire's inherited pet. There is great wit and humor (check out the stake out at the hospital, some laugh out loud moments there) and awful violence (the incident at the river had me holding my breath) and even spirituality (Longmire has dreams and visions that are interesting to try and dissect). It's not a perfect story (some of the crime solving seems a bit convoluted) but it's just an excellent read. (5 stars)"
12 + 4 Challenge (completed 15)
1. Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope (5 stars)
2. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (4 stars)
New Series (completed 24)
3. The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker (4 stars)
Ongoing Series (completed 19)
4. Death Without Company by Craig Johnson (5 stars)
Decades Challenge (completed 27)
5. Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer (3.5 stars)
6. The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper (4 stars)
7. The Goblin Reservation by Clifford D. Simak (3 stars)
8. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier (4 stars)
9. The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green (3.5 stars)
Canadian Content (completed 16)
10. Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott (5 stars)
11. Ice Lake by John Farrow (4 stars)
Nov 2018 Books
Currently Reading
1. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
2. Shift - Hugh Howey
3. Outsider in Amsterdam - Janwillem van de Wetering
4. The Pusher - Ed McBain
5. The Drowning Pool - Ross MacDonald
In the Mill
2. A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes
3. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag - Alan Bradley
So there you go folks. Another month's statistics. Enjoy your November!
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