Lamplight in 2023

I read 85 books in 2022. It was a tough year and I needed a friendly book when I sat in waiting rooms while my husband had various tests and appointments. It was certainly a bit of escapism for me. But things have settled down and I’m sure I’ll find another excuse to keep my nose in a book. Continued happy reading in the new year everybody.

Happy reading to you, as well. I'll look forward to seeing what books your nose gets stuck in this year!

2023 List
1, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis -- fiction
2. Sisters of Mercy Flats by Lori Copeland — Christian fiction
3. The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendshp by Lisa Verge Higgins — fiction
4. For one more day by Mitch Albom — fiction
5. The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman — historical fiction
6. The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith — mystery
7. The Bat by Jo Nesbit — mystery
8. The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick -- fiction
9. The Hanged Man’s Noose by Judy Penz Sheluk — Canadian mystery
10. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus — fiction
11. Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult — fiction
12. The Year of Less by Cait Flanders — self help, Canadian
13. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty — fiction
14. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson — mystery
15. Do or Die by Barbara Fradkin — mystery
16. Organize Your Corpses by Mary Jane Maffini — Canadian mystery
17. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah — historical fiction
18. A Sorrowful Sanctuary by Iona Whishaw -- Canadian mystery
19. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson — young adult fiction
20. Self-defense by Jonathan Kellerman — mystery
21. Horse by Geraldine Brooks — historical fiction
22. Quilt or Innocence by Elizabeth Craig — mystery
23. Once Upon a Time by Barbara Fradkin ~ Canadian mystery
24. A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny — Canadian mystery
25. The Beatles, Babies and Broken Bones by Pat Zehr — Canadian nonfiction
26. Mist Walker by Barbara Fradkin — Canadian mystery
27. The Web by Jonathan Kellerman — mystery
28. Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose — mystery
29. Murder at Half Moon Gate by Andrea Penrose — mystery
30. The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe -- Canadian fiction
31. Beautiful Courage by Sam Wellman —. Biography
32. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek — Kim Michele Richardson—historical fiction
33. Fifth Son by Barbara Fradkin — Canadian mystery
34. The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman — historical fiction
35.Verity by Colleen Hoover — suspense
36. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver — fiction
37. Honour among Men by Barbara Fradkin — Canadian mystery
38. The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray — historical fiction
39. The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman — fiction
40. Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout — fiction
41. Murder at Kensington Palace by Andrea Penrose — mystery
42. Dream Chasers by Barbara Fradkin — Canadian mystery
43. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles — historical fiction
44. Murder at Queen’s Landing by Andrea Penrose __ mystery
45. The Clinic by Jonathan Kellerman — mystery
46. A Deceptive Devotion by Iona Whishaw — Canadian mystery
47. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford — historical fiction
48. Dead Irish by John Lescroart — mystery
49. The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley — mystery
50. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters — mystery
51. My Mother’s War — The Incredible True Story of How a Resistance Fighter Survived Three Concentration Camps by Eva Taylor — biography
52. Tracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom Perrotta — fiction
53. Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner — fiction
54. Full Tilt by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes — fiction
55. Spider Woman’s Daughter by Anne Hillerman — fiction
56. This Thing of Darkness by Barbara Fradkin — Canadian mystery
57. Beautiful Lie the Dead by Barbara Fradkin — Canadian mystery
58. When I was a child I read books by Marilynne Robinson — nonfiction
59. The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff — fiction
60. Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens by Andrea Penrose ~ mystery
61. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin — fiction
62. The Whisper of Legends by Barbara Fradkin — Canadian mystery
63. None So Blind by Barbara Fradkin — Canadian mystery
64. What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey — Christian nonfiction
65. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger — fiction
66. Survival of the Fittest by Jonathan Kellerman — fiction
67. The Devil to Pay by Barbara Fradkin — Canadian mystery
68. The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn — historical fiction
69. Monster by Jonathan Kellerman — fiction
70. By Book or by Crook by Eva Gates — mystery
71. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides — psychological thriller
72. Are You There God. It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume — young adult fiction
73. Shifting Currents by Paula Dunning — Canadian nonfiction
74. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck — fiction
75. The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill — mystery
76. Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand ~ fiction

New Year’s tally:
Fiction- 69
Nonfiction- 7
Canadian- 19

Thanks rocketjk for making me smile. For one of my book clubs, we had to read (in this case, a re-read) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I quite enjoyed it just as I did the first and second time I read it. The first time was when it had been turned into a graphic story in a Sunday School weekly newspaper. I remember being quite eager to read the next installment, and then something happened that we didn't get the end of the story (summer holidays or something, I can't remember). I wondered if I had been the only one reading it if no one else noticed. OR maybe back on those days, we just didn't complain about anything. Anyway, it is a great adventure, with obvious religious ties that we will discuss at our book club.

Sisters of Mercy Flats by Lori Copeland was a fun Christian fiction read. Three sisters get whisked away by three different men after their jail wagon topples due to an ambush. They are dressed as nuns to help them with their deceitful ways of getting money. This story was of one sister and an alleged shoe salesman. Really a captain and spy.

The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship by Lisa Verge Higgins made me laugh and cry. One friend leaves requests to her friends in the form of letters written on her deathbed. So three friends oblige the requests which have one sky diving, one hunting down an old love and one adopting a six year old. All lives are disrupted but friendships thrive.

I love all of the Narnia books, they're so wonderful, and always worth a re-read. Happy reading!

I don’t really care for Mitch Albom’s books but read For One More Day for a book club. Chick is a bit of a despicable character even though there were hints at goodness and excuses given. His mom was more noble but somehow Albom’s writing style creates simplistic two-dimensional characters. It would be interesting to study what he doesn’t do.

Wow. The Light Between Oceans sure tugs at your heart. There is a beautiful family running a lighthouse on Janus (Australia) post WWI. But how they got to be a beautiful family and their undoing is an exploration of mercy, forgiveness, love, motherhood and constancy. Tom begins and ends the book and is the best example of a good human being that I’ve read about in a long time. Things happened differently Than I wanted but more realistically and with a loose grace ! that makes for a satisfying ending.

A tad long…over 1400 pages! The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith showed an interesting world of on-line gaming and some fanatics who get sucked into it. It did go on too long though and was a little anticlimactic because the conclusion was really no surprise despite all the buildup and red herrings. I don’t think I’ll waste my time on her next book if it is this long. And Cormoron and Robin are still awkwardly in love with no real steps forward.

The Bat by Jo Nesbo is not really my cup of tea…won’t be reading the rest in the series. I hated the girlfriend as bait and the loss of interesting characters to be stuck with Norwegian police officer Hole…who left a wake of death and mayhem in his wake.

The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick is a cute story about Martha, a do-gooder who takes on jobs to help others, but fails to take care of her own wants, needs and dreams. The story centers around her grandma, Zelda, who she believed had died many years before, but a story book brings them together, and turns Martha's life around in a big way. It's also a sad yet understanding story of a dysfunctional family.

The Hanged Man’s Noose is the first in the Glass Dolphin mystery series. I can’t get the second on Libby. It takes place in a small town near Toronto and the Glass Dolphin is an antique shop.

Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is about a young woman/mother/chemist who winds up hosting a revolutionary cooking show. Elizabeth Zott is an odd duck as was her brilliant husband, Calvin Evans. Some laughs, some sadness and sympathy for pain, and some brilliant successes. A good book.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is a work of fiction that documents the pandemic in a unique way. In particular, people who survived incubation talked about believing they had lived a different life and it seemed so real. The main character, Diane, has a life in New York that paled in comparison to the Galapagos life she felt she lived while sedated.

The Year of Less by Cait Flanders is about finding value/worth in life without being triggered to buy, drink or accumulate too much. It was interesting although I found it annoying sometimes that the author seemed so self-involved. Lots of thinking and re-thinking but I guess that’s the self help genre. She seems genuine in her sharing.

I really enjoyed What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty and it got me thinking what a difference 10 years can make in a life. Alice wakes up from a fall induced blackout and has lost 10 years of memory. She doesn’t know her childr3n, or her marital distress or her other changing relationships.

I might have enjoyed Case Histories by Kate Atkinson more if I hadn’t watched the mini series version on Tubi. They were different and I had enjoyed the Tubi version so much that the book sort of disappointed me. Brodie Jackson is a good but tough guy.

It was fun to read Do or Die by Barbara Fradkin because Inspector Green lives and works in Ottawa. So I recognized the setting. And it involved a university professor and fraudulent research.

Organize Your Corpses by Mary Jane Maffini is a cozy mystery where a career organizer stumbles on a mystery, makes new friends and faces a murderer in a surprise twist at the end of the book.

The Four Wind Kristin Hannah was a re-read for book club but actually I listened to an excellent audio version. The bonus was an author interview at the end. Sad, intense, and vividly informing about the depression and dust bowl years.

Iona Whishaw has the relationship between Lane Winslow and Inspector Darling moving along nicely in A Sorrowful Sanctuary. In between sleuthing. This time a German fellow who came to Canada as a refugee before WWII (anit-Nazi), died a sad a lonely death, to be found in a rowboat by Lane and friends who were at the beach. A despicable politician, an antiques thief, and a bunch of puppies...pretty entertaining!

A Young Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson is considered young adult. The two main characters, Pip and Ravi, solve a five year old murder which devastated many lives.

The good guy/gal — Lucy— survives amidst the mayhem of dysfunctional family created by celebrity father who was a famous author. Self-defence by Jonathan Kellerman is ninth in the Alex Delaware series. A minister who serves the poor lost his daughter over 20 years ago. He and Lucy become the survivors and support one another.

Horse by Geraldine Brooks covers a lot of ground which includes Lexington the pre civil war racehorse, race, painters and paintings and bones in museums, and the civil war. I loved the horse part especially and the evolution of Jarrod the groom.

A cozy mystery and info about quilting but not very taxing on the brain: Quilt or Innocence by Elizabeth Craig — cute though

Inspector Green remains an imperfect husband and friend I the second book I the series…Once Upon a Time by Barbara Fradkin. This book deals brilliantly by the effects of the holocaust on individuals and families, and the effects start out as historical but colour modern times too. This book delves into the complexities of various kinds of guilt.

I liked this book by Louise Penny whereas I had been growing tired of her books as time went on. A World of Curiosities is about a painting, a hidden room, child abuse, a psychopath or two, and an escaped convict. Yep there is a lot packed in this book.

The Beatles, Babies and Broken Bodies by Pat Zehr is the biography of a doctor who navigated the healthcare system as a nurse, doctor, and patient. She practiced in my home town. This is an honest and caring book.

loved loved loved The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe. Wow. Reading this book has made me a better person. Such a powerful response to family, trials, love, being bullied....but the powerful response is full of love, generosity, acceptance, and strength. loved, loved, loved this book

Demon Copperhead Wow just wow.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict is a historical fiction about J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian Belle Da Costa Green. It’s an interesting true story about a brilliant and headstrong black woman who passes herself off as a white woman. I did not enjoy the writing style or the audio narration.

Another wow book…The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. So many twists and turns.

I just finished The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn. It was a very slow read for me, mostly because the topic of war and calculated killing was hard to take, given the current events darkening our world. But it was good and introduced a Russian female sniper to me that was a real person, yet seemed unbelievable.