An Almost End - August Reading Update

So I'm watching an afternoon Blue Jays game while Jo is at work. I won't make any comments as any time I say something I tend to jinx teams for whom I'm cheering. We've had a couple of rainy days and today it's sunny and fresh. Sort of perfect right now.

As we wind down August, I've completed two more books. Happy with my August reading. I'll provide the reviews of both and the synopses for the next to books in line. September will focus on Non-Fiction, besides my other normal challenges. I'll also provide synopses of a couple of new books as well.

Just Finished

1. The Stepdaughter by Debbie Howells (2020). A new author for me.

"The Stepdaughter, written in 2020, was my first exposure to British thriller writer, Debbie Howells. As of 2023, she has published 13 books. The Stepdaughter is an interesting mystery, told from the points of view of three characters; housewife, Elise, her daughter, Niamh, and police investigator Nicki. 

Niamh's friend, Holly is having problems at home but it's not clear what they are as she is very mysterious about them. Holly disappears and this starts a police investigation. Nicki is called in by her DI. She seems to have been off on some sort of medical leave (more will become apparent of course).

Elise is a stewardess and is away on day trips fairly regularly. Her relationship with husband, Andrew, a local GP, is strained. Andrew is domineering, cheats on her and is basically a nasty individual. Niamh is dealing with this as well as some other secrets.

When Holly's body is discovered, the investigation becomes more and more intense. There are also intimations of a local child porn ring. Nicki must determine if Holly's disappearance is related.

It's a very nebulous story at times, lots of threads that are difficult to grasp onto. The suspects keep changing, the secrets become irritating at times. I wanted to shout to the characters, 'Just tell the truth!!'. It is very much a psychological thriller, with spousal abuse (maybe), child porn (maybe). It was interesting all in all. The ending was somewhat unsatisfying but still, I found my intro to Howells' writing was interesting and worth continuing to explore. (4.0 stars)"

2. Vanish in an Instant by Margaret Millar (1952). Probably my favorite mystery writer. Check her out.

"I've said it before and I'll trumpet it again. Since I discovered her mysteries, Margaret Millar has become my favorite of the genre and just a favorite author. Vanish in an Instant, published in 1952, was no exception.

Philanderer Claude Margolis is found murdered and troubled Virginia Barkeley is charged with the murder, Virginia's mother and her assistant, Alice, fly to Michigan from California so Mrs. Hamilton can help her daughter. Lawyer Eric Meecham gets involved in the case. Before it goes too far, Virginia is released as Earl Loftus confesses to the murder.

Although Meecham isn't representing Earl, he finds himself continually involved in the case as he doesn't seem to believe that Earl did commit the murder. So the follow-on investigation and the relations between the various characters is where the story continues to develop.

I love how Millar develops and presents one of her stories. There is a clarity to her writing. Each and every character, no matter how minor, seem real and accessible and add to the richness of the story. Millar presents the setting so you feel you are there, feeling the chill and dampness. You get to know the characters. Meecham and Alice, especially are interesting and their developing relationship grabs you and pulls you in. It's an interesting story and even though the ending was a bit nebulous, it was satisfying and the story was pretty darn good. I've ordered two more of Millar's books. I look forward to trying my next one. (4.5 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962). A book I should have read many, many years ago.

"Silent Spring came as a cry in the wilderness, a deeply felt, thoroughly researched, and brilliantly written argument that changed the course of history. Without this book, the environmental movement might have been long delayed or never have developed at all.

-- from the Introduction by Vice President Al Gore

Rarely does a single book alter the course of history, but Rachel Carson's Silent Spring did exactly that. The outcry that followed its publication in 1962 forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carson's passionate concern for the future of our planet reverberated powerfully throughout the world, and her eloquent book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement. It is without question one of the landmark books of the twentieth century.

Silent Spring served as a touchstone for Al Gore while he was working on his widely praised, bestselling book on the environment, Earth in the Balance. Now Rachel Carson's message is more important than ever, and no one is more qualified than Al Gore to introduce her classic book to a new generation of readers."

2. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America by David Hajdu (2008).

"In the years between the end of WWII & the mid-1950s, the popular culture of today was invented in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. But no sooner had comics emerged than they were beaten down by mass bonfires, congressional hearings, & a McCarthyish panic over their unmonitored & uncensored content. Esteemed critic David Hajdu vividly evokes the rise, fall & rise again of comics in this engrossing history."

New Books

1. Wallace of the Secret Service by Alexander Wilson (Wallace #3).

"Extreme Nationalists are fighting to relinquish the British government’s power in Egypt. Secret agent Henderson, deployed to Egypt to assess the trouble, sends a coded message to say he’s on the trail of something big. But there’s been no word since."

2. The First Lady of WWII: Eleanor Roosevelt's Daring Journey to the Frontlines and Back by Shannon McKenna Schmidt (2023).

"The first book to tell the full story of Eleanor Roosevelt's unprecedented and courageous trip to the Pacific Theater during World War II. On August 27, 1943, news broke in the United States that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was on the other side of the world. A closely guarded secret, she had left San Francisco aboard a military transport plane headed for the South Pacific to support and report the troops on WW2's front lines.  Americans had believed she was secluded at home. As Allied forces battled the Japanese for control of the region, Eleanor was there on the frontlines, spending five weeks traveling, on a mission as First Lady of the United States to experience what our servicemen were experiencing... and report back home. "The most remarkable journey any president's wife has ever made." ― Washington Times-Herald , September 28, 1943 "Mrs. Roosevelt's sudden appearance in New Zealand well deserves the attention it is receiving. This is the farthest and most unexpected junket of a First Lady whose love of getting about is legendary." ― Detroit Free Press , August 28, 1943 "By a happy chance for Australia, this famous lady's taste for getting about, her habit of seeing for herself what is going on in the world, and, most of all, her deep concern for the welfare of the fighting men of her beloved country, have brought her on the longest journey of them all―across the wide, war-clouded Pacific." ― Sydney Morning Herald , September 4, 1943 "No other U.S. mother had seen so much of the panorama of the war, had been closer to the sweat and boredom, the suffering." ― Time , October 4, 1943"

So there you go, some reading ideas for you. Check them out.