“Death in the Clouds” ©1935 by Agatha Christie
Hercule Poirot is aboard an airplane traveling from France to England. While he is sleeping during the flight, someone is murdered.
Even though nobody witnessed anything unusual, there are only a few possibilities as to who could be the murderer. It takes the “little grey cells” and thorough investigation to uncover the murderer and their motivation. So good!
“The St. Zita Society” ©2012 by Ruth Rendell
One older lady starts the “St. Zita Society” as a support group for the servants and domestics of the affluent neighborhood where they work and/or live. We get to know them and the people they work for. Most of the characters are not very likeable and even the ones who are have issues. A hired gardener is a psychopath who hears God in his phone. A rich woman’s husband accidently kills his wife’s lover and then with the aid of their au pair, tries to cover it up. Another domestic dyes her red hair dark and is mistaken for someone else and is murdered in the street. And etc.
So many twists and turns and mostly the story trudged along from different characters point of view with no satisfying solving, growth of characters or solution. Meh.
“King Solomon’s Mines” ©1885 by H. Rider Haggard
This is an adventure story set in Africa in the late 1800’s. Four men set out to find a missing brother and the gold mines and treasure of King Solomon. There is a bit mystery to solve with an old map drawn in blood on a shirt tail. The map leads them to a hidden land that has a straight stone road running through it, new people and mysterious mountains and caves. There is also mystery within their group, will they find the brother? Also, one of the members has a hidden identity.
The main character and narrator, Allan Quatermain, is a big game hunter and it is hard to read about the slaughter of so many animals and especially the elephants. While there was much respect given to their African friends, it was also hard to read because of the racism that is expressed throughout the book.
“The Library: A Fragile History” ©2021 by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur Der Weduwen
From stone, clay, papyrus, scrolls, manuscript books made of parchment, to paper and the printing press, this book is an accounting of book collections and bookmaking in the world through-out history. Some topics covered include:
-The infamous and famous collectors and the lengths they would go to acquire books.
-The multitude of tragedies – fire, war, wet, rot, insects, neglect and all the books lost.
-During the manuscript/parchment era, 200 books were considered large library, now 20,000 is not that big of a collection.
– China invented paper, but turned their backs on the printing press.
– How book collecting changed and how reading and information sharing changed after the printing press (pamphlets!).
-Books are a conquest of war as well as propaganda. They are also something to destroy – eliminate a people’s history, eliminate the people.
-When we speak of libraries, through most of history that means a personal, institutional or monastery library. Public libraries are a 20th century phenomenon. (Mr. Carnagie helped the cause along!)
I found this book to be very well researched and all- encompassing as possible to be in one book. It had a lot of personal stories, but the stories did not come “alive”. An interesting if not very fun read.
“Trixie Belden: The Gatehouse Mystery” (#3) ©1951 by Julie Campbell
This is the third book in the “Trixie Belden” young adult series. Time line wise it takes place at the end of the summer that the first two books take place in. Trixie’s older two brothers are home from being jr. camp counsellors and, with them, Trixie, Honey and Jim are set to enjoy the last bit of summer before school starts. While Trixie and Honey are exploring an old gate house on Honey’s property, little brother Bobby trips and cuts himself. When they look to see what he fell on, they discover a diamond!
I like how much conversation there is. Lots of back and forth, trying possibilities and making plans to catch whoever dropped the diamond. Trixie continues to act and speak before thinking at times, but she is pretty smart too. Just a fun read.
“The Eye of the Heron” ©1978 by Ursula K. Le Guin
Two groups of people in this science fiction novel were sent by earth to another planet because they were troublesome to earth. The first group were thieves and murderers and were sent as punishment. Years later, a second group, called “People of Peace” were sent because their politics and way of life were irritating to those in power on earth.
These two groups are alone on a jungle-like planet with no large animals, little technology, lots of rain and no way back to earth. How they manage their environment and their cultures fuels the plot.
So very interesting and thought-provoking as well as relevant for our society today. Somebody always wants power. People often refuse to or are incapable of imagining another way of being or doing things and call the ‘other’ crazy, less-than, unworthy, etc. So good!
“Spinsters in Jeopardy” ©1953 by Ngaio Marsh
Inspector Alleyn thinks to combine a family vacation with a job, in part to give him a better ‘cover’ for his under-cover investigation of a drug ring associated with a resort/chateau in France. He did not count on the bad guys kidnapping his young son in hopes of distracting him from his investigation.
This mystery is part of Ngaio Marsh’s Inspector Alleyn series and has lots of subplots, a few twists and an interesting new character in Raoul the driver. Good read!
“Spark Joy: an Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up” ©2016 by Marie Kondo
I had read Marie Kondo’s first book “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” years ago and I thought this might be a good refresher course and renewed inspiration. It was! Marie Kondo is such a fierce yet gentle teacher. She is passionate about her calling, and understanding of others difficulties.
Her tips, insights and backgrounds stories are helpful. Her unique folding and organizing into little boxes are right up my alley. Add a label and I’m content. I do feel re-inspired to tackle more tidying and appreciate Marie Kondo’s philosophy that if it brings you joy, keep it without reservation. Every one of my books that make it to my shelves brings me joy and I will always have lots and lots.
“The Growing Summer” ©1966 by Noel Streatfield
After years of searching for, and finding, a copy of this childhood gem, a friend recommended and lent it to me. Noel Streatfield’s stories are always good and this one is no exception.
Four siblings from London are sent to an eccentric great-aunt in Ireland for a few months while their mother nurses their scientist father back to health in the Far East. Life with Great Aunt Dymphna in her dilapidated old mansion in the country is not what the children expected. Their Aunt sees no reason to ‘mother’ them and they are mostly left to fend for themselves. As the children cope with taking care of themselves, they have several adventures and mis-adventures, discovering their strengths as well as their short-comings and work to improve.
As always, Noel Streatfield lets her characters have flaws and learn and grow because of them.
“The Hollow Man” ©1992 by Dan Simmons
Jeremy and his wife Gail have a unique gift in this science fiction novel. They can hear other people’s thoughts. This ability is a blessing within their relationship, bringing them closer to each other, and a curse when in a populated area. The couple also help mentally shield each other from the bombardment of other’s thoughts.
Jeremy is a mathematician working on wave theory and memory in humans. There is a lot of theoretical math talk, but it is interesting and well written for understanding. Jeremy is lost when Gail dies of a brain tumor and is also overwhelmed by others negative thoughts. He takes off headed to no-where in particular, but ends up continually heading west, having weird adventures along the way.
I enjoyed the inter-connection of ability, math, theory, people, the mind, love, multi-dimensions, and the mystery of it all. The book was a satisfying and page turning read!
“The Troll Garden” ©1905 by Willa Cather
I enjoyed this book of seven short stories. This was Willa Cather’s first published work and all the stories were set in her current time period of the turn of the last century. The stories were not interconnected, but all had a theme of art, artists or musical artists in some way. They also, to me, had a slightly to pronounced melancholy air to them.
Yay for The Growing Season!
It was a fun story! Thank you for sharing! I’ve read a few of Noel Streatfield’s books and I wouldn’t mind reading more.
That’s a lot of books – I’m glad you’re finding some good ones!
There are always good books, the trouble is having enough time to read them all.😊