A Mid-Month Reading Update

2022 Blue Jays All-Stars

Congrats to the Blue Jays players going to the All Star game this week. This picture that I borrowed on-line has been updated in the past couple of days. George Springer is taking the game off to rest his aching elbow and Santiago Espinal, 2nd base and Jordan Romano, our Toronto - born closer, have been added to the team as well. CONGRATS!!!

For the past half year or more, I've been providing a mid-month reading update, along with my end month totals in my reading group on Goodreads. I have been providing my end month statistics here for a few years now. I've decided to include my mid-month info as well. It's not as extensive, basically just listing the books I've read so far in the month, those books I'm currently reading and then the next books in each of the various challenges I started during the year. I'll include any new books I've purchased since my last reading update, as well. So here we go.

July 2022 Mid-Month Update

Books Completed

(I have provided reviews for each of these books in previous posts in this BLog)

6 books completed.. well, 5 completed, one given up on....

1. Dominion by C.J. Sansom (2014) - a standalone by the author of the Shardlake historical mysteries. This is set in a dystopic future where Germany won WWII.. Interesting but I prefer the Shardlakes. 3.5 stars

2. The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry (Cotton Malone #3). My 1st book by Berry. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I gave up; mysterious corporations, mysterious foreign leaders, Alexander the Great... etc etc... (No rating)

3. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (2006). My second book by Didion, non fiction. How she tried to deal with the sudden death of her husband. Such beautiful writing. I have another book of hers on order (4.5 stars)

4. Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith by Grace Ellis (2022). Interesting novel about Highsmith, in graphic novel form, how she came about with the idea for Carol (The Price of Salt). (4.0 stars)

5. Divergent by Veronica Roth (Divergent #1) YA, fantasy or dystopic future. I've had for awhile, liked the movies and discovered I enjoyed the novel too. (3.5 stars)

6. The Napoleon of Notting Hill by G.K. Chesterton (1904). I keep trying Chesterton and not really getting him. Didn't get this. (2.5 stars)

Currently Reading

(I've got more books on the go than I normally would, as I usually only have 5. But I've had other challenges in another group plus have been trying some of the new books I've recently purchased because I couldn't wait. I'll get back to 5 by years' end.)

1. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (1925).. I've enjoyed everything I've read by Maugham, to varying degrees. In this, a woman is having an affair in Hong Kong, discovered by her husband, rejected by her lover and heads off to a cholera-ridden Chinese city as sort of punishment and to prove her worth to her husband... So far, anyway..

2. Death At The Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh (Inspector Alleyn #24). Marsh is one of the members of the Golden Age of women mystery writers. I always like her stories. This one set at a playhouse in London. Enjoying so far.

3. The Chronicles of Clovis by Saki (1911). Saki is the pen-name of H.H. Munro and this is the 2nd collection of his short stories I've read. Dark, humorous (sort of) in a biting way. (think P.G. Wodehouse with an edge). But if anyone can write a short story, Saki can.

4. The Nightmare by Lars Kepler (Joona Linna #2). A bit of a tome but I'm enjoying getting into this mystery / thriller set in Stockholm. Nice methodical way of working into the story

5. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Ready Player #1). I'm enjoying this very much. Another dystopic future lived in a computer world. Fascinating

6. A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton (Zaniel Havelock #1). Instead of Anita Blake, vampire hunter, you've got Zaniel Havelock, cop/ part angel and demon hunter. It's a page turner and has undertones of the Exorcist. Very creepy.

7. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson. (1990). I like Bill Bryson. This isn't my favorite, an examination of the quirks of the English language, but it's still interesting

8. The Peripheral by William Gibson (Jackpot #1). Having some difficulty with the terminology in this one, but I'm still enjoying... I think. sort 2 realities and how they communicate and work together. An assassination in one but viewed by someone in the other... 

9. Ha'penny by Jo Walton (Small Change #2). A new series for me and I'm just getting into it. Another dystopic future where the Nazis won. A play in London, a murder, a police investigation. Hitler will be coming to the play. Sounds convoluted, maybe but enjoying delving into it.

In the Hopper

1. While the Patient Slept by Mignon G. Eberhart (Sarah Keate #2 / 1930).. A new author for me and a new mystery written in 1930.

2. The Second Man by Edward Grierson. Another new author for me, sounds like a courtroom drama or murder. Written in 1956.

3. Sanditon: Jane Austen's Unfinished Masterpiece Completed by Jane Austen & Juliette Shapiro (1975). I bought this for my wife for Xmas many years ago. 

4. Something Nasty in the Woodshed by Kyril Bonfiglioli (Charlie Mortdecai #2). I enjoyed the 1st book in this series.

5. Red Rising by Pierce Brown (Red Rising #1 / 2014). I've had this on my shelf for awhile. It attracted my attention, I bought the first three and like many other new series, I've yet to try it.

I may sneak in A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk and Robot #2, see new books below). I enjoyed the 1st book so much and this one just came out. I can't wait to read it.

Newest Purchases

(Six new books since my last update.)

1. A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk and Robot #2).

"After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home.

They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

Becky Chambers's new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter"

2. Fanny Hill by John Cleland (1748).

"For lovers of timeless classics, this series of beautifully packaged and affordably priced editions of world literature encompasses a variety of literary genres, including theater, novels, poems, and essays."

3. Death at the Savoy by Prudence Emery (Priscilla Tempest #1).

"It’s 1968. London is in full swing and the Savoy Hotel is at the height of its legendary glitz and glamour, welcoming the rich, famous and aristocratic into its rarefied world of perfection. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are squabbling in the American Bar while Noël Coward drinks champagne. Royals wait upstairs in luxurious suites for discreet encounters. In short, all is as it should be at the Savoy.

If only it weren’t for the dead body in River Suite 610.

Could it be murder at the Savoy? Impossible! Who could have done such a thing?

Suspicion falls upon Priscilla Tempest, the quick-witted Canadian head of the Savoy press office who has a penchant for champagne, the wrong sort of men―and trouble.

When it is discovered that Priscilla had been with the deceased―a notorious international arms dealer―the night before he was found dead, she is questioned by Scotland Yard Inspector Robert “Charger” Lightfoot and is suddenly under the unforgiving eye of her boss, the Savoy’s straitlaced general manager, Clive Banville. Her job on the line, her life in danger, Priscilla must elude the police and the general manager’s duplicitous wife, ward off the amorous advances of a famous drunken actor, and discover whether that really was a member of the royal family seen leaving the victim’s suite shortly before his body was discovered.

Death at the Savoy is an intoxicating blend of mystery, suspense and humour. And it’s just the beginning!"

4. The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett (Her Majesty the Queen investigates #1).

"It is the early spring of 2016 and Queen Elizabeth is at Windsor Castle in advance of her 90th birthday celebrations. But the preparations are interrupted when a guest is found dead in one of the Castle bedrooms. The scene suggests the young Russian pianist strangled himself, but a badly tied knot leads MI5 to suspect foul play was involved. The Queen leaves the investigation to the professionals—until their suspicions point them in the wrong direction.

Unhappy at the mishandling of the case and concerned for her staff’s morale, the monarch decides to discreetly take matters into her own hands. With help from her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a British Nigerian and recent officer in the Royal Horse Artillery, the Queen secretly begins making inquiries. As she carries out her royal duties with her usual aplomb, no one in the Royal Household, the government, or the public knows that the resolute Elizabeth will use her keen eye, quick mind, and steady nerve to bring a murderer to justice.

SJ Bennett captures Queen Elizabeth’s voice with skill, nuance, wit, and genuine charm in this imaginative and engaging mystery that portrays Her Majesty as she’s rarely seen: kind yet worldly, decisive, shrewd, and most importantly a great judge of character."

5. Death in Brittany by Jean-Luc Bannalec (Commissaire Dupin #1).

"At the Central Hotel in Pont-Aven, Brittany, ninety-one-year-old manager Pierre-Louis Pennec is found murdered. Commissaire Georges Dupin and his team take on the investigation and narrow the list of suspects down to five people, including a rising political star, a longtime friend of the victim and a wealthy art historian. Further incidents – first a break-in, then another mysterious death – muddy the waters yet more. As Commissaire Dupin delves further and further into the lives of the victim and the suspects, he uncovers a web of secrecy and silence that belies the village’s idyllic image.

A summer hit in its original German, Death in Pont-Aven introduces readers to the enigmatic Commissaire Dupin, an idiosyncratic penguin lover and Parisian-born caffeine junkie whose unique methods of detection raise more than a few eyebrows. It is a book so atmospheric readers will immediately want to wander through the village’s narrow alleyways, breathe in the Atlantic air and savour Brittany’s seaside specialty dishes. Death in Pont-Aven is a spellbinding, subtle and smart crime novel, peppered with cryptic humour and surprising twists."

6. Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe (Lore Olympus #1).

"Experience the propulsive love story of two Greek gods—Hades and Persephone—brought to life with lavish artwork and an irresistible contemporary voice.

Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love—witness what the gods do after dark in this stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of mythology’s most well-known stories from creator Rachel Smythe. Featuring a brand-new, exclusive short story, Smythe’s original Eisner-nominated web-comic Lore Olympus brings the Greek Pantheon into the modern age with this sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This volume collects episodes 1-25 of the #1 WEBTOON comic, Lore Olympus."

There you go. Lunch is here. Enjoy your upcoming week.