A mid-January Reading Update

Jo is hard at work today. I've been a bit lazy, although to be fair, I've cleaned the kitchen and have a load of laundry in the washer. I've got time before it's doggie walking time and then it'll be time to get a Greek salad made before I go pick up Jo at work. So for the next hour, let's do a reading update.

Since my last update, I've completed two more books, making six completed so far in January. I've also acquired a couple of books. So as per normal, I'll provide reviews of those I've completed, synopses of those next in line and also synopses of any new books. Ready? Let's do it.

Just Finished

1. The Decent Inn of Death by Rennie Airth (John Madden #6 / 2020). A series finished (so far anyway); a most enjoyable series it was too.

"One of my aims in 2023 is to finish some series I've been enjoying. The first one completed is the John Madden mystery series created by South African mystery author Rennie Airth with the sixth book in the series, The Decent Inn of Death. Funny factoid; I actually thought I'd finished the series in 2020 when I read The Death of Kings, but then I discovered that Airth had published Inn that same year.

OK enough rambling preambling. 😎 It this is the final book in the series, it was a satisfying story with which to conclude the series. Retired Chief Inspector Sinclair takes a trip to visit an old friend from Scotland Yard and becomes involved in a possible mystery, that being the death of Greta Hartman. Hartman had lived in a community near Winchester, a German who'd moved there before WWII had settled in. Her husband had been executed in a concentration camp and she had escaped to England and gradually become accepted in the community. 

Greta had been found dead, after seemingly slipping on a stone crossing a creek and bashing her skull. While the death is deemed an accident by local police, her best friend, Vera, can't believe it. Sinclair arriving for his visit, listens, does a little investigation and thinks there are enough questions to keep investigating on his own. He plans to make a brief visit to Oxford to check on a mysterious man who was seen the day Greta died. Sinclair is struggling with a weak heart and hopes to return to his home, in Sussex before the Madden's, vacationing in Italy, return as Helen Madden, his doctor and friend, wants to keep an eye on him.

Unfortunately for Sinclair, his visit to Oxford and then onward the isolated manor of cripple Julia Lesage will result in him being snowed in and isolated, possibly in a dangerous situation for them all, as  he tries to discover if a cold-blooded psychopath might be threatening Julia's life, and all those at the manor. John Madden, arriving home also heads to Oxford to find out what the heck Sinclair is up to and, more importantly, where the heck he is! The phone lines are down, dontcha know.

The story is a slow build, introducing characters, nicely developing the plot and mystery; kind of cozy but threatening at the same time. The list of suspects is small but there are nice little twists and turns as Sinclair and Madden, with the help of Scotland mates, Billy Styles and Lily Poole, try to discover if there is a mystery, and if so, who is this murderer who seems to have left a series of murders, from Argentina, through Mexico to Germany in his wake. It's an entertaining mystery people with interesting characters and finishes with a tense, satisfying conclusion. Will John Madden possibly come out of retirement one last time? We'll see. But if not, The Decent Inn is an excellent way to close down the series. (4.0 stars)"

2. Stories I Might Regret Telling You: A Memoir by Martha Wainwright (2022).

"I saw Stories I Might Regret Telling You: A Memoir by Martha Wainwright in my local bookstore last August (2022) and it looked interesting so I decided to buy it and check it out. I knew nothing about Martha except that, from reading the blurb, she was the daughter of Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, and sister of Rufus Wainwright. Back in my university days, I remember purchasing Kate and sister, Anna's Dancer with Bruised Knees album and I also remember her father appearing on an episode of M.A.S.H. back in the day. So based on that brief knowledge, I was looking forward, somewhat to trying the book.

Well, I have to say, the book didn't let me down. It provides a fascinating view of an interesting family; half Canadian (the McGarrigles) and half American (the Wainwrights). Kate and Loudon divorced after the births of Rufus and Martha and this extended family got even more extended, due to the follow-on relationships both parents had afterwards. Martha describes with feeling the impact of the marriage, the break-up, the influence of both parents, the competition she had with her talented brother, the struggles she had to create her own path. It's a fascinating insight into a unique family dynamic.

They fought, even physically. They supported each other, Kate, touring with her children, the children touring with each other. There are the annual family gatherings which included other musician friends. The impact that the McGarrigle sisters had on other musicians, like Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and others. I was surprised (I guess) to discover their popularity in England and Australia. It must have been so fascinating to attend a concert where the whole family and friends gathered for a McGarrigle celebration, to play each others' music, to sing each others' songs, so fascinating.

Of course the story follows Martha's life, her growing up, her relationships, her partying, her attempts to get her career going, her successes and struggles, her family relationships. It's all told so very well and passionately. It was terribly emotional as she deals with her first pregnancy and at the same time, her mother's increasing frailty as she struggles with cancer, and also the friction in Martha's own relationship. The book is just a page-turner, a fascinating look at an interesting woman and family. I wish her the best for her future. Check it out. (4.0 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. Hag-Seed, The Tempest Retold by Margaret Atwood (2016).

"Hag-Seed is a re-visiting of Shakespeare’s play of magic and illusion, The Tempest, and will be the fourth novel in the Hogarth Shakespeare series.

The Tempest is set on a remote island full of strange noises and creatures. Here, Prospero, the deposed Duke of Milan, plots to restore the fortunes of his daughter Miranda by using magic and illusion -- starting with a storm that will bring Antonio, his treacherous brother, to him. All Prospero, the great sorcerer, needs to do is watch as the action he has set in train unfolds.

In Margaret Atwood’s ‘novel take’ on Shakespeare’s original, theatre director Felix has been unceremoniously ousted from his role as Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Festival. When he lands a job teaching theatre in a prison, the possibility of revenge presents itself – and his cast find themselves taking part in an interactive and illusion-ridden version of The Tempest that will change their lives forever.

There’s a lot of Shakespearean swearing in this new Tempest adventure…but also a mischief, curiosity and vigour that’s entirely Atwood and is sure to delight her fans."

2. Idoru by William Gibson (Bridge #2 / 1996). This will complete my reading of the Bridge trilogy. And yes, I read them out of order. 😕 I like how it's started.

"21st century Tokyo, after the millennial quake. Neon rain. Light everywhere blowing under any door you might try to close. Where the New Buildings, the largest in the world, erect themselves unaided, their slow rippling movements like the contractions of a sea-creature. Colin Laney is here looking for work. He is not, he is careful to point out, a voyeur. He is an intuitive fisher of patterns of information, the "signature" a particular individual creates simply by going about the business of living. But Laney knows how to sift for the interesting (read: dangerous) bits. Which makes him very useful--to certain people. 

Chia McKenzie is here on a rescue mission. She's fourteen. Her idol is the singer Rez, of the band Lo/Rez. When the Seattle chapter of the Lo/Rez fan club decided that he might be in trouble, in Tokyo, they sent Chia to check it out.Rei Toei is the beautiful, entirely virtual media star adored by all Japan. The Idoru. And Rez has declared that he will marry her. This is the rumor that brought Chia to Tokyo. 

But the things that bother Rez are not the things that bother most people. Is something different here, in the very nature of reality? Or is it that something violently New is about to happen? It's possible the Idoru is as real as she wants or needs to be--or as real as Rez desires. When Colin Laney looks into her dark eyes, trying hard to think of her as no more than a hologram, he sees things he's never seen before. He sees how she might break a man's heart. And, whatever else may be true, the Idoru and the powerful interests surrounding her are enough to put all their lives in danger."

New Books

1. Ms. Tree, Vol. 3: The Cold Dish by Max Allan Collins (Ms. Tree #3). I've enjoyed graphic novel series very much.

"From the minds of Road to Perdition author Max Allan Collin and artist Terry Beatty, comes the third collection of five classic Ms Tree comics. Follow the private investigator Ms. Michael Tree through even more thrilling cases, as she races to solve crimes of passion, murder and intrigue!

The black widow of detective fiction returns in this third volume of classic Ms Tree stories by the award-winning writer Max Allan Collins. Join Ms Michael Tree, the 6ft, 9mm-carrying private eye through her thrilling casebook following the death of her husband on their wedding night.

No case is too small, no violence is too extreme - just as long as it gets the job done."

2. The Break by Katherena Vermette (2016). Last year I enjoyed a graphic novel series by Vermette about a Metis girl, Echo, who traveled in time to see the history of Canada from the Metis perspective in Manitoba. I saw this book at my local book store and thought I should check out more of Vermette's work.

"When Stella, a young Métis mother, looks out her window one evening and spots someone in trouble on the Break — a barren field on an isolated strip of land outside her house — she calls the police to alert them to a possible crime.

In a series of shifting narratives, people who are connected, both directly and indirectly, with the victim — police, family, and friends — tell their personal stories leading up to that fateful night. Lou, a social worker, grapples with the departure of her live-in boyfriend. Cheryl, an artist, mourns the premature death of her sister Rain. Paulina, a single mother, struggles to trust her new partner. Phoenix, a homeless teenager, is released from a youth detention centre. Officer Scott, a Métis policeman, feels caught between two worlds as he patrols the city. Through their various perspectives a larger, more comprehensive story about lives of the residents in Winnipeg’s North End is exposed.

A powerful intergenerational family saga, The Break showcases Vermette’s abundant writing talent and positions her as an exciting new voice in Canadian literature."

3. Ottoline Goes to School by Chris Riddell (Ottoline #2 / 2008), Chris Riddell has become one of my secret pleasures, even thought the books I've read are definitely Children / YA focused. He has great art work and just fun stories. Try the Ottoline and Goth Girl series for your kids. It'll get them interested in reading.

"Ottoline Brown and her best friend, Mr. Munroe, are going away to school . . . and they're not scared in the least—even if it is haunted!"

I'll get back to my ongoing look at Women Authors whose Work I'm Enjoying in my next post. Heck, I've got all year, right? Anyway, check out some of these books. You might find one or two that you like. Enjoy the rest of your week.