What are you reading the week of June 1, 2024?

I'm about two thirds of the way through Evolutionary Genetics. I've also begun House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. I'm not far enough into it yet to have an opinion on the book.

Currently working on The Iron Khan, and expect to get to The Union Cavalry and the Chickamauga Campaign and Orbital in the course of the week.

After doing a 12 day British Isles cruise and 4 days in London in May, I am going to read the Phillipa Gregory books I have on my shelf. I started The White Queen yesterday.

Enjoying this eBook via Libby ~

What This Comedian Said Will Shock You
by Bill Maher

>1 fredbacon: House of Leaves, what an experience! I had weird dreams while reading that book.

I'm reading A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power for my book club. It's very good so far, but maybe unintentionally scary for someone with a minor fear of dolls.
I'm also reading How to Keep a Sketchbook Journal by Claudia Nice.

I was sick this week, and a) it sucked and b) I had lots of time to read. I mainly listened - the audiobook of Halldor Laxness's Independent People was 20 hours long. It is a magnificent book, much more accessible if you listen to an audiobook.

I'm about 60 pages into Gone with the Wind; I'm having a hard time getting into it.

The Little Liar
Mitch Albom
4/5 stars
A story of the holocaust and the young man, Nico Krispis from Greece who never told a lie yet convinced his countrymen to go to safety and jobs. But seeing them on the station he realizes they were being sent to Auschwitz. Well written! Books Off My Never-Ending Reading List

I just started Louise Penny's A World of Curiosities, the 18th book in her Gamache series. Where have the years gone!

>6 ahef1963: I've tried starting Independent People several times and it never seems to click. Maybe I should give the audio a try. (Hope you're feeling better!)

>8 Copperskye: I have done the same thing - tried to read a paper copy and couldn't manage it. The audiobook was excellent and drew me in for hours at a time. It's a story not to be missed; I hope you'll try it. Thanks for your good wishes; I am much better!

The Christie Affair – Nina de Gramont
Book on CD performed by Lucy Scott
3.5***

On December 3, 1926, Agatha Christie drove away from her home after an argument with her husband. Her car was found at the edge of a chalk pit, and it was feared she had drowned herself. A nation-wide (perhaps international) search began for her. She was found eleven days later, claiming to have no memory of the time she spent away from home. All this is true. In this fascinating novel, Nina de Gramont imagines what happened to Mrs Christie during that time period.

This is a novel about marriage, about motherhood, about love, about grief, about how society punishes those who fail to follow the rules, about forgiveness and justice.

De Gramont took the story in a direction I wasn’t expecting, and at first, I was unhappy about the focus being NOT on Agatha Christie’s disappearance, but on her husband’s mistress. But eventually the stories of these two women merge in an unexpected fashion that fascinated me.

Lucy Scott does a marvelous job of narrating this audiobook. I was sometimes confused about who was speaking, especially at the beginning, until I recognized the author’s choice of first-person narrator. But that is not Scott’s fault.

Royal Blood – Rhys Bowen
3***

Book number four in the delightful Lady Georgiana Ranoch series of cozy mysteries takes us out of London and to a remote castle in the mountains of Romania for a royal wedding.

I like this series. Georgie manages to get herself caught up in all sorts of intrigues, while struggling to make it on her own without much money. When the queen asks her to represent the royal family at the marriage of Maria Theresa, princess of Romania, to Nicholas, prince of Bulgaria, of course she must go. But she has an uneasy feeling that she is being watched. And her companion / chaperone sees “death lurking.”

This episode in Georgie’s life was a little over-the-top, what with the castle having once been the family estate of Vlad the Impaler (i.e. Dracula). There are plenty of suspects, including an imperious head butler, Dragomir, who skulks around. Hard not to let one’s imagination run away in such a setting. Georgie, of course, keeps her head and manages to help solve the case. She’s certainly resourceful!

An entertaining quick read for either a snowy day indoors, or a comfortable lounge chair on the beach.

>9 ahef1963: Thank you for the encouragement!

I finished A World of Curiosities which I really enjoyed despite how unlikely it all seemed. Now I'm reading Sipsworth by Simon VanBooy, a charming story about an elderly woman and a mouse.

Enjoying Days Without End by Sebastian Barry.

Deep into September
by Rosamunde Pilcher

The new thread is up over here.