The Monogram Murders: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah

Hercule Poirot meets a young woman in distress at Pleasant's Coffee House in London on a Thursday evening. He goes there because they have the best coffee in London. He worries about Jennie all through the book, sure that she is tied to the murders discovered at the Bloxham Hotel, the case of Edward Catchpool, a policeman friend of Mr. Poirot's from Scotland Yard. Catchpool is the narrator of the story. Poirot helps the investigation by asking all the right questions and by using his little gray cells. All through the book he is trying to educate Catchpool in the ways of detection. Three people are murdered in the Bloxham Hotel, all from the same small village, all found in their own rooms, poisoned. Hannah does an excellent job of recreating the 1930's London so familiar to readers of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot mysteries. It was a good read and had me guessing to the end.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

I always enjoy a historical fiction based on real people's lives. This was a surprise to me as I thought when I started it the the book was all fiction. I liked how Sue Monk Kidd told at the end what parts she re-imagined and what parts were based on actual facts from letters and journals. As she was writing about authors from the 1830's this helped to make the story more authentic. Slave narratives are difficult for me to read, but the story was well-written and I kept up with the story, even t I always enjoy a historical fiction based on real people's lives. This was a surprise to me as I thought when I started it that the book was all fiction. I liked how Sue Monk Kidd told at the end what parts she re-imagined and what parts were based on actual facts from letters and journals. As she was writing about authors from the 1830's this helped to make the story more authentic. Slave narratives are difficult for me to read, but the story was well-written and I kept up with the story, even though I had wanted to quit when the story became too gruesome. It's amazing how abolitionists became women suffragettes, fighting for the rights of women and slaves both. Amazing that these women wrote about slavery before Uncle Tom's Cabin was published. I liked reading about the bravery of these two sisters. This would make a good movie.

Borrowing from another blog

In Autumn by Winifred C. Marshall

They're coming down in showers,
The leaves all gold and red;
They're covering the little flowers,
And tucking them in bed. 
They've spread a fairy carpet
All  up and down the street;
 And when we skip along to school,
They rustle 'neath our feet.

The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett is the story of a woman in love with a gay man, the magician Parsifal. She lives in the house that  Parsifal and his gay lover, Phan lived in. After Phan dies of AIDS Parsifal marries his long time friend and assistant, Sabine. Sabine inherits the house and most of his assets when Parsifal dies in the first chapter of the book. She learns form the lawyer that Parsifal had indeed had a family, which he had kept a secret from her for over twenty years that they were close. She learns more about his past from this family which she chooses to visit in Nebraska. Ann Patchett's writing is magical itself. I listened to the audio by performer Karen Ziemba. Beautifully done. Highly recommended.~

From Publishers Weekly

After working as his assistant for more than 20 years, Sabine marries her beloved boss, Parcifal, knowing that he's gay and has just lost his lover. What she doesn't find out until after his death from AIDS is that Parcifal was actually Guy Fettera from Alliance, Neb., and had a family he never spoke about. Karen Ziemba creates an appropriately light tone for the narrator, despite some dark events that Sabine discovers when she visits Parcifal's sweet, dysfunctional family. She crafts clear, flat Midwest accents for the magician's mother and sisters and her pace and annunciation are excellent. Ziemba's men all sound alike, but they play minimal roles. She is an experienced and professional reader with just the right stuff for Patchett's 1997 novel, which probes the complex motives of Parcifal and his assistant. A Harcourt paperback (Reviews, July 14, 1997)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

West of Sunset

After reading about the Great Gatsby this summer and then re-reading the novel, I was surprised to find a new novel written by Stewart O'Nan about the last years of F. Scott Fitzgerald in "West of Sunset." F. Scott Fitzgerald in the middle of the 1930's was broke as he had large bills paying for his daughter Scottie's boarding school and his wife's mental illness and the sanitarium that took care of her. He hadn't had much luck writing short stories or novels; at one point in the story he receives a royalty check for under two dollars. "The Great Gatsby" was not a financial success, it came out to mixed reviews. So, he heads to Hollywood lured by a set salary for working on various screenplays. The book gives a good idea of the work schedule that Scott kept, and the difficulties he had with various Hollywood types. The frustration was great as the studios would take him off a job as they would make a decision that would stop production and send him off onto a new project. As soon as the studio would move him it was expected of him to turn over his writing on one project and start on another one in short order. One could say, his work was not his own, that it belonged to the studio as long as it was paying his salary as a scriptwriter. Included in the story is his various friendships with other writers and actors and his affair with Sheliah Graham, the Hollywood columnist. He meets her early in the Hollywood years, and she keeps him company off and on as she tries to get him to stop drinking, and nurses him in his final days. F. Scoot Fitzgerald died December 21, 1940 at the age of 44.

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

I just finished reading, "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough, published 2015. Living near Dayton, Ohio I think this is a necessary story that should be known by the Dayton population. In an era where so many things were being discovered and manufactured in Dayton, OH, there was much speculation and disbelief in the ability for man to fly in 1900. But, the Wright brothers were unique in that their parents supported their experiments and encouraged their research. Brought up in a home with many books, both Wilbur and Orville Wright were curious by nature. Without the support of their parents I don't think they would have accomplished all that they did. Everything they touched as children was carefully picked up by their mother and put on a shelf until they could get to it later. This in a house of five children. Even when Wilbur failed to go to college after such promise, they patiently let him think his own thoughts and try his own hand at business. The companionship between the two brothers was another great asset to their quest for knowledge. They talked over everything, with little competition between them. Being so able to work together side by side for so many years helped them accomplish their amazing work. This was a fascinating look at the lives of the whole Wright family. I even learned that the Wright Library in Oakwood, OH is named for their sister, the teacher and college graduate, Katherine Wright who was also a huge asset to their work, as the three of them lived in the family home while the Bishop, their father, traveled all over the country in his work. Their mother had died earlier. I learned that they spent many years perfecting their "Flyer" as they called it, taking it to many countries to demonstrate their invention. There were many Flyers as improvements were made.

The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel

I read “The Astronaut Wives Club” by Lily Koppel after I saw part of one episode on this season’s ABC program called the Astronaut Wives Club. As much as I like to watch TV, I always feel a book is better. I remembered that the book had come out in 2013 so I decided to look into that. Once again I wasn’t disappointed. I knew some of the stories because I recently read Jim Lovell’s book, “Lost Moon,” after I saw the Apollo 13 movie. I liked the way Ms. Koppel told the stories in quick bursts, but sometimes she jumped right over important events and didn’t elaborate on them. On page 275 when Rene Carpenter was with the Bobby Kennedy campaign, Ethel asked Rene to: “please help Bobby.” Ms. Koppel writes that “Rene came in and saved the day,” but never explained what that meant. Two paragraphs later “Bobby Kennedy was shot in the Ambassador Hotel,” and John Glenn and his wife Annie were taking five of Bobby’s eleven kids to their home Hickory Hill.

                The growth of the space program took place from 1959 to the present day, but they had their disappointments such as Nixon cancelling the Apollo program, even as two rockets had already been built. This was the time of empowerment for women with the start of NOW. These conservative women and their star-struck men had to grow with the challenges to their beliefs and life style. The support that the Astronaut Wives Club offered to the women was important. From the book we learn that Marge Slayton considered it “a lifetime membership.” They still hold reunions and consider it a privilege to be on-call to their friends from the space era. I recommend this book.

"So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to be and Why it Endures" by PBS Fresh Air book reviewer Maureen Corrigan is a delightful book. Ms. Corrigan teaches a class on "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald at George Washington University in Washington, D. C. and presents programs on the book for The Big Read, a National Endowment for the Arts promotion on classic books around the country. From this latest book of hers we read about her absolute passion for the greatest novel in American Literature, and she does take passion to a whole new level. She takes her research into obscure rare book and special collections in various libraries around the country to research why "The Great Gatsby" continues to be the great American novel even though at the first printing it was a flop, selling a measly 23,000 copies for Fitzgerald and leaving a mass of remainder copies at Scribner's. Her question is how it has remained one of the top novels read in high school English classes around the country and stays on some of the syllabi of various colleges in the United states. The book was published in 1926, and one accounting of the poor readership was the onslaught of the great depression in 1929 that left little taste for the flamboyant lifestyle presented in the Great Gatsby, a life of booze, bootlegging and marital bed swapping. Fitzgerald was known for his wild drinking and bizarre behavior in the 20's. His novel came out when he was just 26 years old himself, living the good life that many people could not relate to in the ensuing years. One thing Ms. Corrigan uncovered was that after his early death in 1940, Fitzgerald had his handful of literary critics who felt that his effort was to be applauded and kept the American people from forgetting his name. She also uncovered the effort during the war to replicate great novels for the American servicemen in paperback to accompany them into battle and prison of war camps. The government issued copies were called Armed Services Collections, a total of 1322 titles that were printed in small paperback form, "nearly 123 million books were distributed to U.S. troops overseas." p.230 If you love "The Great Gatsby" then you'd love to read how it has remained in publication for many years, with several movies being made for good measure.

Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading

I just finished Maureen Corrigan's 2005 memoir on reading. She is the book reviewer on NPR's Fresh Air and has been since 1989. She lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and daughter. She is also a literature instructor at George Washington University. Maureen Corrigan has a PhD. in literature from the University of Pennsylvania, and I found the beginning of the book a little off-putting. Maybe because I haven't read all the great English literature she was writing about and making the comparisons with. She writes a lot about the "women's extreme-adventure stories" and this was a new genre to me.  But I learned and isn't that what you are supposed to do when you read. Because she is such a voracious reader she keep talking about why we read. I am very interested in that because I read so much also and often ask myself that question. For me, reading jars my memory in a way that is comforting to me; that I can remember and that I find myself in my reading. She also has a new book out, " So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures." Because I think that "The Great Gatsby" is one of the finest books in American literature I am finding this a very interesting book to read also.
    Back to "Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading" I was excited to get into the part of the book that she writes about her love of the detective series. That's where we hit a common thread. Since leaving the library I have been free to read just for myself and I keep coming back to the detective series for pleasure. I like to start at the beginning of a series that has the same character and read in the published order of the books. I find that FantasticFiction does an excellent job of listing the books in order in an author's series. Some series must be read to follow the story line, others are written so that if you jump right in anywhere you get the gist of the storyline and you can enjoy the books that way. The alphabet mysteries by Sue Grafton don't have to be read in order. For example her book "W is for Wasted" has her living in the same apartment with the same landlord and time just seems to standstill at 1986. I have jumped around in that series without missing a beat. But Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley moves the characters along in their own storyline apart from the mystery, and I think they are more enjoyable read in the order they were published. That is just my personal preference. In the back of Maureen Corrigan's book is a list of Recommended Reading and I think I will be reaching for my book for this list in the future.

Death on Demand series

Carolyn Hart writes mysteries for the light-hearted. I love the Death on Demand series. Annie and Max Darling live on Broward's Rock, an island off the coast of Georgia. Annie's business venture is the Death on Demand Bookstore that features the latest mystery novels, nonfiction books on mysteries, and collectible mystery novels. Max is involved with his choice job as a consultant for his own firm, Confidential Commissions. "Max's agency specialized in solving problems." This novel, "Death by Midnight" has Annie and Max baffled as they try to be amateur sleuths trying to solve the murders on their island. One of the clues is found on the murder victim's cell phone, a picture taken at midnight of a bundle wrapped in a towel, but where was this photograph taken? Of course as usual Annie gets wrapped up in the murder of friends and neighbors, and invariably gets too close to the murderer for her own good. The mystery keeps one involved and the name-dropping of all the classic mystery novels that Annie can think of keeps a booklover like me entertained. To keep myself in the spirit of the Annie-Max mysteries I am now reading, "A Little Class on Murder", which is educational as well as good fun. This book reminds me that Carolyn G. Hart is also a teacher, as Annie tries to teach as an adjunct professor thirteen miles from Broward's Island, on the mainland. A good academic novel.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Christina Baker Kline Ms. Kline's novel transports us to 1929, New York City when an Irish family faces hardship after a fire devastates their family and the Children's Aid Society has a solution. Children who are orphaned in New York City are sent out west on Orphan Trains where the children can be adopted by willing Midwestern families. The novel is based on the historical fact, but weaves a fictional tale about the events in 1929 with the events in 2011 when the protagonist, Niamh, meets up with another orphan teen in foster care. An unusual friendship develops between 91 year old woman and Molly. Understanding the hardships each other has faced brings these two unlikely women together, each offering something to the other that surprises even themselves. A good story with natural surprises at each turn.

Winter reading, 2015

After leaving a great job in January, 2015, I am having trouble finding the time to read. My new job leaves me exhausted. Midnight to 8 am schedule leaves me asleep all day just to go back and do it again. I have re-read Murder at Hazelmoor by Agatha Christie, 1931. I like to read this when the winter turns nasty and cold, especially if we are in the middle of a snow storm here in southwestern Ohio. The winter is hanging on with this sub zero temperatures and my cozy read comforts me. Another book I read this winter was "Berlin Underground" by Ruth Andreas-Friedrich about the resistance by the Germans from 1938-1945, especially her small group of saboteurs. From the book jacket, "Mrs. Friedrich's group was the only non-Communist resistance group in Berlin to be recognized by the Russians. They had already been 'screened,' and given a clean bill of health by the American." This book really gives a clear picture of war on the city's citizens and the chaos that ensues at the end of the war. I am  in the middle of the sequel, "Battleground Berlin: Diaries 1945-1948." There seemed to be little hope that things would ever improve, but most problems stemmed from the precarious alignment between the Allies and what they were trying to accomplish. The Russians and the Americans were busy shooting at each other at various skirmishes many nights and made life very difficult to continue with good faith. Many efforts were an example of one step forward and two steps backward. There isn't a good track record of life to return for the innocents after a war. A sad story, but a record of many brave attempts to build a new political order out of rubble, and still this continues. I heard today that there is a effort to re-take Mosul, I can only imagine the misery that continues. All three of these books have been good to read, and for that I am grateful.