What are you reading the week of August 26, 2023?

I finished Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out which was sort of okayish. Now I'm about half way through Someday the Rabbi Will Leave. I am not fond of this book. I will probably set the series aside after finishing this one. Kemelman is too conservative and sexist for my taste.

Having finished up Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero, I'm continuing to bounce back and forth between Armoured Trains and Origin. Mickey7 will be the next novel.

Hey, guess what? I'm still reading The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson.

I've just finished Three Thirds of a Ghost by Timothy Fuller. This is the third book in Fuller's Jupiter Jones mystery series, a now obscure set that was evidently relatively popular when the books were first published in the early 1940s. In the series' first book, Jupiter Jones, a wise-cracking, over-confident know-it-all, had just graduated from Harvard and got involved in a Thin Man sort of way in helping the police (who of course didn't want his help) solve the murder of a Harvard professor. Jones' saving grace is his ability to laugh at himself and his pretensions. In this third book, Jones by by now is himself teaching literature at his alma mater. I've got a review up on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

Next up for me will be Ghost Season, a novel by Sudanese-American author Satin Abbas.

I spent much of my reading time this week listening to The Forgotten Sister by Jennifer Paynter. The story was Pride and Prejudice as seen through the eyes of Mary Bennet, and it gives her a much happier ending than does Austen. I absolutely adore Jane Austen fanfic!

Now I am reading Homecoming by Kate Morton, a nice, fat, juicy love of a book, and I'm listening to The Girls in the Garden, by Lisa Jewell. My reading seems to have slipped off the shelf of self-education, and into the heap of pure reading for fun.

I finally finished Freedom which took me longer than usual in part because I found it hard to like any of the characters. It was a deep dive into a dysfunctional family that found a way to coexist and find a peace and appreciation of each other after many years, when they finally achieved some self knowledge..

>6 snash: I didn't care much for that book when all was said and done, and for the reason you provide. I wouldn't bother to read another of Franzen's.

I finally gave The Bourne Ultimatum a new home at my local used bookstore, after deciding that it was not my style and someone else would be happier with it.

When I got home I saw The Eternal Ones on my shelf and thought, "Why not?" Now I'm halfway through and may finish it by next week.

Yesterday I finished The Cat Saw Murder by Dolores Hitchens, a Golden Age mystery, first published in 1939. It was a fun read and my first "cat" mystery. Now I've started Righteous by Joe Ide

The Narrowboat Summer – Anne Youngson
3.5***

Original (UK) title: Three Women and a Boat

Eve has recently been let go from her high-powered job and is struggling with what to do next. Sally has decided that her marriage isn’t working for her, and she wants to leave it … at least for a while. The two happen to be walking on the same towpath when they meet Anastasia, the elderly owner of The Number One, and the rather anxious dog, Noah, who lives aboard the narrowboat with her. Serendipity? Chance? Fate?

This was a charming coming-of-middle-age book. As Eve and Sally help out Anastasia by taking the boat through a series of canals and locks to dry dock for servicing, they get know one another and, more importantly, themselves. They meet the many other people who live on the canals, most of whom know Anastasia, virtually all of whom are willing to lend a hand when needed.

I’m not sure this would be the life for me, but I sure enjoyed spending some time with them, and imaging myself lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of waves, or feeling the sun on my skin as we gently moved through the canals.

We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy
Caseen Gaines
4/5 stars
Wonderful book about the Back To The Future Trilogy. Gaines writes a thorough synopsis of the movies and what has been going on with the films and actors, and how the movies impacted on the public and fans. Books About Film and Television

The Dog Who Came In From the Cold – Alexander McCall Smith
Digital audiobook performed by Simon Prebble
3***

Book Two in the Corduroy Mansions series, starring Pimlico terrier Freddie de la Hay.

I love these ensemble works that Alexander McCall Smith writes, where we get to know the residents of a building or neighborhood over time. In this episode a literary agent is representing a new author – The Abominable Snowman; a pair of new-age operators have decided to set up their center for cosmological studies; and Freddie is recruited by M16 to infiltrate a Russian spy ring.

It's been quite some time since I read the first, so, other than Freddie (and his owner James), I don’t remember if these characters are recurring. Doesn’t make much difference, really. Even this snapshot is enough to endear them to me.

Simon Prebble does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. He has quite a lot of character to deal with, and he is up to the task .

The Virginian by Owen Wister
The seminal novel in the Western genre first published in 1902. I'm reading the Penguin Classics edition from the library. The novel has been adapted as a movie several times and the long running TV series starring the late James Drury in the title role from 1962-71.

You’re Not You – Michelle Wildgen
4****

Bec is a college student who is not sure she’s still interested in her major, working as a part-time waitress, and involved with a married man. Hoping to make some extra money over the summer, she answers an ad looking for a caregiver / helper for a woman suffering from ALS and is hired despite (or perhaps because of) her lack of relevant experience.

Kate is not an elderly person, but a vibrant 36-year-old former advertising executive now confined to a motorized wheelchair and having to rely on someone to bathe, dress and feed her. Slowly Bec becomes adept at the required tasks and comes to look on Kate as a friend and mentor.

This was at times very difficult to read. I could see Bec identifying more and more with Kate, and Kate relying on Bec as one would a best friend rather than an employed helper. And yet, Kate, kept a certain distance, because only she could, after all, truly experience this debilitating and ultimately terminal condition.

The title comes from an incident where Bec is speaking for Kate, whose speech is garbled at best. Kate, dissatisfied with Bec’s interpretation, informs her that when Bec is “translating” for Kate “You’re not you. You’re me.”

I knew “that scene” was coming and could hardly bear to watch it play out. And yet, there were still fifty pages to read. Fifty short pages for the author to resolve Bec’s grief and her sense of purpose. For her to find the path forward again.

It’s a great debut, and I’d be interested in reading more of her works.

The book was made into a movie, starring Hillary Swank.

Harlem Shuffle – Colson Whitehead
Book on CD performed by Dion Graham.
4****

Ray Carney has worked hard for success. He has a furniture store where he sells reasonably priced sofas and dinettes. He’s carved out a decent life for himself, wife Elizabeth, and their children. But cash is tight and Carney does the occasional “favor” for old acquaintances, helping them sell a television or radio or even a ring or necklace. And then his cousin Freddie falls in with a gang who plan to rob a hotel, and suddenly Ray is having to use all his salesman’s charms and Harlem wits to keep himself and his family safe. Is he a crook? Or an upstanding businessman? Can he afford to be loyal to family ties? Or should he tip off the police? Can he trust anyone but himself?

Whitehead is a talented writer and I love the characters he creates. I was invested in Ray and Elizabeth. I worried for his safety several times, especially in the last third of the book. I could feel his fear and anxiety when things went wrong. I may not have agreed with all of Ray’s decisions, but I certainly came to understand why he acted as he did. He had his own code and he stuck to it.

The novel covers five years, from 1959 to 1964. Whitehead takes the reader right to those hot, steamy streets. I could hear the traffic, smell the garbage in the street, feel the sticky heat of a humid summer. I could feel the tension of race riots, see the orange glow of fires burning a few scant blocks away, and smell the smoke.

Dion Graham does a marvelous job of voicing the audiobook. He really brings these characters to life!

The new thread is up over here.