The July Roundup and Turtle Eggs!

Something unusual - we see turtles now and then in the field but this time, we saw one laying eggs!  I looked up the approximate time period for hatching so perhaps I can share turtle baby photos in the future .

Hopefully crows, possums or coyotes don't discover the eggs.  So far no disturbances. 🤞

July reading was quite varied in location and genres. I  had a DNF with Daniel Mason's latest book North Woods.  

Nope 🖓

Still trying to read This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud but it's slow going.  A host of characters and events happening all at once in the first part of the book.

📚📚   Books read  📚

The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

The Night of the Flood by Zoë Somerville

July book travel took me to New York, Norfolk England, Algeria, France and Greece.

 That's it for the July round up.   Looking forward to more good reading in August and a buddy read of September by Rosamunde Pilcher. I'd love to know what books you favored this month.  Hope life is good for you all :-)

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater

In the past I liked perusing  The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater .  It's been a while since I picked it up to read about a month in his life.  His thoughts on the London weather, his garden, the informal get-togethers he hosts and of course - recipes. One thing I love about this book is the diary format.  

One year I had planned to read through, month by month, and perhaps try a recipe or two.

It didn't pan out for as my proposed annual project. Alas.

So here I am, picking it up again as I am reading Claire Messud's tome This Strange Eventful History.  I needed something completely different to read at the same time, something without plot so I wouldn't be juggling two different stories/character sets.

This book has gorgeous photos and if you like a diary format with a foodie emphasis, you'd enjoy this book.  I’ve started reading July for now :-)

Sharing with Joy for British Isles Friday.

Ask Again, Yes and The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane

 I can't believe I didn't post this.  Well, I did on Goodreads but wanted to record it here as well.  It's one of my favorites from my Twenty Books of Summer event.

A+ 5 Stars

The title is a nice nod to James Joyce's tome Ulysses.  Molly Bloom's rambling " ...and I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and he then he asked me would I say yes to say yes my mountain flower..." That 700 page tome was one I had in English Lit class at university over 30 years ago :-)

Anyway.....

I absolutely loved this book and read it any chance I had. It starts in the 1970s with NYPD rookie police officers Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope. As they are patroling a call comes through about a robbery. They rush to the scene finding the owner of the bodega dead, blood all over him. Gleeson apprehends the suspect. It's the start of a partnership and good careers for Stanhope and Gleeson and, what you would initially think, a great friendship.

Both marry, have children, live next door to one another in a smaller town just outside the city. The neighborhood children had the kind of upbringing I had - kids running around across the lawns, riding bikes, catching fireflies and having birthday parties at each other's homes.

Ideal. Except there isn't an easy friendship and then there is a tragedy so great it shapes the lives of everyone in both the Stanhope and Gleeson familes permanently.

The story is told over a 40+ year timeline and from different perspectives. Such an excellent story. Themes of love, forgiveness, tragedy, mental illness and more.

This is an author new to me and I would group this story with Claire Lombardo's The Most Fun We Ever Had and Ann Napolitano's Hello Beautiful. A+ 5 Stars

******************

Next up was Keane's newst publication - The Half Moon

The Half Moon is a bar. The story is about Jess and Malcolm with The Half Moon figuring in prominently.   This story is ever evolving about their relationship, the love as well as the fractures as time goes on.  I see both sides of their stories.  Sometimes one is being unreasonable, letting pride overcome working things out.  As I read I found myself taking sides. I'll be Team Malcolm then switch to Team Jess and then ... neither one. 

You'll read how head-over-heels in love Jess was with Malcolm and vice versa. The initial thrill of being together, then the reality of marriage, the constant doctor appointments, IVF treatments and disappointments for seven years. Malcolm trying to keep the bar in the black and run his business.  It's mostly his happy place.

I can't enumerate the times I wondered WTF was going on with this relationship, if you could call it that.  I will say it took fortitude to finish the book, it was like an accident where you can't look away. About the 75% mark things started happening at a rapid progression.  

This book has more ruminations and observations from each character than dialogue between them and others.  There IS dialogue and you are in the moment for it.  I don't regret reading this book but I will say I loved Ask Again, Yes and this didn't meet that bar.  

My opinion - I am not recommending reading it or passing.  Keane is a good author and I will be reading another of hers next month.

Also on tap next month is a buddy read for the book September by Rosamunde Pilcher 😊📚

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

The latest issues of BookPage and some interesting interviews

 Yesterday I picked up the latest edition of BookPage and was happy to see a few interviews published by authors I am interested in.

The article on Flynn Berry was great, titled "I'm Used to Being Haunted by Characters".  I enjoyed Northern Spy by Flynn Berry and was pleased her latest book, Trust Her, will follow up on the same characters. Also in this piece it was nice to read about her characters but also how she feels about other books/characters we've both read. 

Flynn mentions she wonders about Rachel in The Rachel Incident, about how they might have been friends and where she is in London.  I wonder about characters like that as well. They seem so real and are so well developed that I hope to see them appear in other books.

Claire Lombardo's latest, Same As It Ever Was, is also featured in this issue.  She has an interview chatting about how her books come together and what she is working on.

Last month's issue here featured a good interview with Claire Messud.

The wrinkled pages are because I jammed it in my purse.  Messud talks about how long it took her to write the story and the inspiration from her family history.

This Strange Eventful History is Messud's sixth novel and draws from her own French Algerian family.

On tap today is getting back to a Mary Beth Keane novel and planning an enchilada dinner.  I hope your Sunday is going well :-)

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

The Night of the Flood by Zoë Somerville

This book is set in 1952 on a farm near the coast in Norfolk England. Verity Frost and her brother Peter live on the farm with their widowed father.  We start off with Verity meeting her friend Arthur on the anniversary of her mother's death.

 It is revealed Arthur was a child evacuee during the war, Verity's mother bringing him home to live with their family.  He grew up with them for several years but as an adult, he is no longer part of the family.  He is clearly in love with Verity but there are obstacles about religion and Verity's own hopes for her future.

She would like to attend Oxford and make a career and new life for herself.  Her father would like her to marry a local farmer and save their farm. Her brother Peter, expelled from a school for reasons of an improper relationship, wants to make something of the farm by modernizing the equipment and methods but the father won't hear of it.

The mother is rumored to have drowned by suicide and not accident so that comes up now and then.  And then there is the American pilot named Jack who befriends Peter.  Arthur suspects him of being a spy.  Those are the main characters and while the writing is at times stilted, you get a good picture of what is happening in Norfolk between these characters.

This is based on a true event about the flood that devasted Norfolk in 1953 with great license on the characters interactions.  This would appeal to someone who likes historical fiction but it isn't a fast read, slow going at times. 3 stars

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.

New books on my horizon

 I am so glad I set a goal and joined the Twenty Books of Summer hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. It has made a huge difference in selecting my books.  I am doing fairly well on knocking out some titles which have been on my radar quite some time.

There are new titles coming out from authors I have previously enjoyed so they are added to my list.  Hoping to get to those sooner than later.

Trust Her by Flynn Berry.  I previously enjoyed Northern Spy,  A Double Life and Under the Harrow so this one will make my summer reading list.

This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud is Messud's latest and I'm hoping to get a copy and fit it in before August ends.  My introduction to her work was The Woman Upstairs.

I am almost finished with Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane and like the writing style so much that I purchased The Walking People.

As the daily heat index is usually above 100 degrees, I am getting more reading time in.  This is just a short update.  Hope things are well in your part of the world.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

June books and flowers

 Reading and plants

The caladiums were a surprise in two ways.  Last year they were stunning but died off when we had temps below 40 F/3C.  Honestly, I thought they were gone and Doug was going to plant bushes when they were - suddenly they emerged. Also did not know they blossomed with pods.  There other photo is a Strawberry Candy Day Lily. That one was expected.

June reading was quite varied in location and genres. This month I did not have a single DNF and completed five books.  Yea!

Here's Loki, my reading buddy 🐕

📚📚   Books read  📚📚

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor 

Forgotten on Sunday by Valerie Perrin

The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey 👇

I enjoyed The Flight of Gemma Hardy much more than this one by Livesey

June book travel took me to New Jersey, Manhattan, England, Wales, Scotland and France.

 That's it for the June round up.   Looking forward to more good reading in July. I'd love to know what books you favored this month.  Hope life is good for you all :-)

Sharing with:

Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday. and Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

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Forgotten on Sunday by Valérie Perrin

Let's start with this - I would like to say that if you plan on reading one of Perrin's novels, my opinion is to start with Fresh Water for Flowers or Three.  I liked those books much better but that's my personal opinion. Links for those books take you to my Goodreads page.

For a great review check out the NPR link HERE.

What I didn't know, and it came as a complete surprise to me, is this is her first published novel.  It came out in 2015!   Last year I particpated in August's event Women in Translation and read Fresh Water for Flowers.  That was my introduction to Perrin. When I saw Forgotten on Sunday was to be published in June I assumed this was a brand new novel. So I preordered it.  * It was newly translated by Hildegarde Serle.

There are two main stories here which go back and forth between present day and WW II. The setting is mostly Milly France.

Here's the run down without spoilers.

 Justine Neige is the narrator; she works at a care home as an assistant, taking care of the old people.  She and her cousin Jules live with their grandparents as their parents died in an automoble accident when they were only 4 years old. (revealtions about that later)  Jules is about to leave for Paris and attend university.  Twenty-one year old Justine prefers to work at the old folks home and listen to the stories the residents share with her instead of seeking other employment, escaping the small town of Milly.

The WW II time period features the story of Hélène and Lucian and I liked that timeline/story very much.  In present day Justine takes care of the almost 100 year old Hélène and loves hearing her stories, especially the ones about Lucian as a young man and how their life progressed.

There is quite a bit going on and in the last 20% of the book, things coming together in both time periods.

Just another hot Friday....

Loki resting with his stick. His X is quite prominent today.

Comment field update! First off, some comments you've left me have gone to Spam and so now I check spam/junk folder everytime I log on.  Apologies. That's now handled . ✅

Also I found a way to leave comments on WP blogs, much to my delight :-)  I just use my old AOL email address as it's not ever been associated with WP. Problem solved. ✔

Books

Manod Llan lives with her father and young sister on a remote Welsh island. She is a curious young woman and wants more than her sheltered existence provides.  What she wants she does not know, she just knows there has to be more to life.  The dwindling population make a living fishing, living a very simple life until a whale washes up ashore.

 When English ethnographers (I had to look that up) arrive on the island to study the culture and the basic lives of the population, Manod's world is opened up and she is excited.  There is much Welsh language in the narrative but the translation is there as you read.  Manod is hired to make translations from Welsh to English to the reseachers.

Unfortunately the English researchers are scoundrals, in my opinion, and the book took a turn I did not expect.  I suppose if you are looking for imagery the dead whale would represent the dying community on the island. This is a short book and many of the "chapters" are half a page.

Forgotten on Sunday 

I've just started the latest Valérie Perrin book, the third I will have read, also translated by Hildegarde Serle.  That's my book wrap up for the week.  Hope you are reading some good books and having fun :-)

Sharing with:

Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday. and Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

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Dear Edward and Major Pettigrew

What's new here is...not much.  Our quest to find a good pizza to bring home for takeaway night is proving fruitless. There is one more place to try and then...guess I will make it here at home. My 68th birthday was good and uneventful - as I like it. The pizza wasn't great but the movie Chef was fabulous.  Great foodie movie.

North Florida heat has me settled in most afternoons so I am getting reading done.   I have read two of the books on my summer reading list.  Off to a good start :-)

I loved Napolitano's book Hello Beautiful and she does not disappoint with this novel. Wonderful writing. It was hard for me to put this down and I liked how she let us get into Edward's thought process while he responded to people about how he was doing.

How does one express their feelings and thoughts to someone who has zero point of reference? While everyone wanted to help Edward there are some things in life that you just can't "fix".

This book was inspired and loosely based on a Afriqiyah Airlines flight which crashed and had one survivor -a nine year old boy. I wonder what that boy is doing now? The fictional boy Edward was the only survivor of a crash taking the lives of 191 people. This is a study of how he tries to handle grief, survivor's guilt and a completely upturned life.

I know it sounds like it would be depressing but it's not. You get some back story on other passengers and crew interspersed in this book. It was interesting.

What a delightful book. Reading this I found Major Pettigrew to be one of my all time favorite characters and I would love to be his friend.  The setting is a small English village where widower Ernest Pettigrew develops a charming friendship with Mrs. Ali, owner of the Pakistani run grocery store.

Prejudices and gossip run deep with some of the characters ( I didn't care for them as much) but the overall interactions are marvelous. There is quite a bit of humor and an edgy situation near the end which shows a clash of cultures. It has a good ending and if a sequel was written I would most certainly read it.

So that's two for two and I haven't had a DNF from my list so far.  Would love to know what you are reading and any challenge plans you may have.

Sharing with:

Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday. and Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

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My ten books of summer

Recently I was visiting Susan's blog The Cue Card and read about a book event hosted at 746 Books called The Twenty Books of Summer. Now that I have noticed this event, I am seeing it on other friends' blogs. How did I not realize this before (head in clouds) ⛅

You can link up at 746 Books  HERE.  Check it out if you are interested. I don't think I can accomplish twenty books but I will give it a whirl on ten books to start.

Starting the list was fun and here are twelve titles I am considering.  I added an extra two in case in have a few DNF books. Seems I have one DNF a month on average.  Life is too short to plow through a book you aren't loving.

** For what it's worth, I don't use audible and read the books rather than listening.  That works for some people and I have tried but...sometimes the audible reader has an inflection or emphasis on certain passages which are different than my own when reading.    Does that makes sense?  

Think of The Martian movie, if you've watched it. The character Mark Whatney says  "Are you kidding me?" with exasperation verses "Are you kidding me?"  as a point of interest. 

  Anyway............ my list is below 👇

1. The Night of the Flood by Zoe Somerville 
2. Ask gain, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
3. A Time Remembered by Olga Gruhzit-Hoyt
4. September by Rosamunde Pilcher 
5. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
6. An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain
7. Forgotten on Sunday by Valerie Perrin
8. Long Island by Colm Toibin
9. The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes
10. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
11. North Woods by Daniel Mason
12. Before The Fall by Noah Hawley

I own the first four in hardcover and a few others in Kindle. The Valerie Perrin book is a birthday gift to myself, a Kindle preorder and will be auto delivered on publication date.  

Linking with Deb at Reader Buzz for Sunday Salon and Cathy at 746 Books