Working on Trust and Sipsworth from my reading list{and preparing for hurricane Helene}

Earlier this month we had my husband's birthday and some surprisingly nice weather.  He has been able to get out with his solar telescope in the daytime and a few evening sessions with his other scope.  Perfect.  

Now we are prepping for Hurricane Helene.  Getting the Kindle, phones, etc all charged for the loss of electricty. 

My week has been a dermatologist appointment, biopsy, bread making and a slow cooker recipe my son sent. The excitement never ends :-)

While looking at a news story on my phone I saw there was an Instagram post embedded and I couldn't access it.  So I dusted off my old Instagram account to have a look.  Then I tried to follow a few book blogs and authors.  Apparently you have to get permission now even if the accounts are public. 

Currently reading Trust and while very well written it's more narrative than dialogue. Thus I took a short break to read Sipsworth.  I finished this in a day and it's a sweet story.  Helen Cartwright is in her eighties and returned to England to live out her last years quietly and alone.

She had a full life in Australia with her husband and son but they are gone now.  She isn't ill but she knows at her age the end is coming.  Without friends or family she decides to settle in the English neighborhood where she grew up over 60 years ago.  Helen finds that life still has a few surprises for her.

Simon Van Booy is an author new to me. He grew up in rural Wales and currently lives in New York, writing and volunteering as an E.M.T.  I will seek out more of his work.

Once I finish Trust I am starting Long Island by Colm Tóibín.

All three of these books are on my fall reading list.  Has anyone else read books by Simon Van Booy and if so, recommendations?  I hope you have nice weather and good reading.

 Sharing with:

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

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Fall reading and list making

First off, a shout out to ShelleyRae at Book'd Out.  I haven't seen you post in a while, you've been in my thoughts and I miss you. 

Let's talk fall reading.  Or Spring reading if you are in the southern hemisphere :-)

I enjoy making lists as it keeps me focused.  Sometimes I deviate but overall, it's helpful. Here's what I have so far but some could get swapped out depending on interest.

Trust by Herman Diaz (currently reading)

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy (currently reading) #BriFri

Long Island by Colm Toibin  #BriFri

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig #BriFri

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante  (a buddy read with Susan at The Cue Card)

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger 

The Woman Behind the Door by Roddy Doyle #BriFri

This is a list in progress so I welcome suggestions and comments on any of these you have enjoyed.  Four of my books will be linked with Joy's British Isles Friday.  Love my U.K. authors :-)

 Sharing with:

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

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Herman Diaz, Mario Batali and Peter Heller

Earlier this month Deb at Readerbuzz posted Armchair Foodie Travel Books which I found interesting.  Several I had previously read but the Batali book about Spain was one I sought out. Luckily the library had a copy.

I will go through this nonfiction while I read Trust by Herman Diaz. Trust is on my fall reading list (which is still shaping up), won a Pulitzer prize in 2023 and is grabbing me from the start. 

Finished last night - The Orchard by Peter Heller was on sale for one dollar for Kindle so I couldn't pass that up. Check that out HERE.  That's a great price for a Peter Heller novel.  I'd told a friend about it but I think this price might only apply to U.S. based accounts.

This is an interesting book as it's told from a woman’s perspective.  All the other books I have read by Heller focus on male characters in a wilderness setting, outdoorsy men who have deep thoughts, some insecurties about life choices/relationships being a key component.  The Vermont setting here features a defunct orchard, nature and living off the land.

There are haunting characters, the mother with a sad and educated background.  Frith is the daughter, named for a character in The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico.

Frith refers to her mother as Haley; this is a bit of a coming of age story.  Something which doesn't usually appeal to me.  Haley is a translater of Chinese poetry and rears her daughter in a wooden cabin with a wood stove for heat and very little money.  Haley and Frith are very well read - anything from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Treasure Island, The Old Man in the Sea, We Die Alone (about the Norwegian commando who outskied a Nazi division)  to Grendel.

There is quite a bit of poetry in this book, there are some wonderful reflective passages from Frith as an adult, an educator who teaches at Amherst, and the memories of her unusal childhood with an amazing woman.

Heller brings you straight into this unusual family situation and pulls at your heartstrings at the end. 4.5 stars 📚

On this rainy day in north Florida I am working on book lists, baking bread and reading of course :-) Hope your week is going well.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

Peter Heller and Nigel Slater

Last week's post inspired me to make a new reading list for fall.  More on that later as I round it out.

Here is my update of Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries.  Funny I started up with this again in the middle of the year. 

I finished reading the diary entries for August and decided to make a white bean soup. Nigel has an entry with photo of a white bean salad sitting on greens with lots of garlic.  No matter that it's quite hot where I am, I have always liked soup so I thought I'd adapt the ingredients.  Today it's rainy so this worked out well.

I used great northern beans, garlic, onion, spinach and oregano. Loved it and everything was in the pantry and fortuitously a bag of baby spinach in the fridge. Now I am reading his September entries.  It's getting cool in his London garden and I'll take some of that weather here please.

Reading: This week I read Burn by Peter Heller.

Jess and Storey grew up together with Jess spending more time at Storey's home than his own.  They are more brothers than friends, going off on hunting and fishing trips several times a year.  The beginning of this plot has them coming off a two week moose hunt in Maine, far out in the wilderness with no knowledge an uprising has taken place.

The first town they come to is burned to the ground, houses smoking, bridges blown up and a few bodies strewn in the streets as they were shot down trying to escape something. Boats in the harbor remained untouched so they cautiously look for supplies in the boats.  As they move on, carefully sticking to the woods and staying off the road, they search for a cell signal and news of what could have happened.  Eventually from their hidden spot in the wood line on a hill, they see a woman in a small boat, obviously rowing as fast as she can when a black helicopter appears and cuts her down.  What is going on?

This is a dystopian novel yet a plot involving a succesionist movement that could have been all too real during the trump presidency. It plays out slowly and in my opinion didn't have an end to give you resolution.  The excellent author that he is, perhaps he left it to us as readers to figure out the many possible outcomes.  I didn't give away the story here and there are some surprises in store.  The flashbacks gave us Jess and Storey's background, lots of ruminating on Jess's part about why his marriage failed and unnecessary memories about a situation involving Storey's mother.  That last part added nothing to the development of the story in my opinion. Rounded up to 4 stars.

Finally, Loki using his stuffed tiger as a makeshift pillow.

Sharing with:

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

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My Books of Summer List

 I joined up with Cathy at 746 Books for her summer reading challenge and while I didn't complete my orginal list, I did read ten books.  I had a DNF with North Woods by Daniel Mason, substituted The Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio for Women in Translation Month and couldn't get my hands on Long Island or The Alternatives on time.

The longest book was September at 613 pages and most others averaged 325 pages+

1. The Night of the Flood by Zoe Somerville (352 pages)
2. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane (388 pages)
3. A Time Remembered by Olga Gruhzit-Hoyt
4. September by Rosamunde Pilcher (613 pages) - buddy read!
5. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano (340 pages)
6. Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Conner (224 pages)
7. Forgotten on Sunday by Valerie Perrin (316 pages)
8. Long Island by Colm Toibin
9. The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes
10. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (379 pages)
11. North Woods by Daniel M
12. The Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio (167 pages)
13. Trust Her by Flynn Berry (304 pages)
14. The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane (304 pages)

My favorites were September, and Ask Again, Yes.  Excellent stories. It was fun to enjoy a buddy read with JoAnn and Les for September :-)

My fall reading list includes the couple I did not get to as well as many other titles.  It was fun to make a list and I had some great reading! Please click on the titles/hyperlink if you'd like to read a review.  I never give spoilers.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon and Cathy at 746 Books

I'm ready to read

My big plan for this week was to post about a couple of new books I had but I was sidelined by Covid. My husband got it first which of course meant I got it two days later. It's been a rough week, especially when food supplies dwindled.

We can't get delivery of anything here but when I was alert enough to make the 25 mile round-trip to the grocery store, I did manage to get groceries via an Instacart order. Thank you Jinjer for talking to me about Instacart! First time I have used it.  They were able to place our order for fresh vegetables and fruit directly into our hatch with no contact. What a blessing that was.  Ok, I am done whining....

Today I will do blog housekeeping.  See the list called Listopia on the right? 👉

If you are ever interested in books with a setting in a particular country (or an author specific to that country) just click on the hyperlink. Any books I have reviewed on this blog will take you to those posts. Looks like some countries need to be added from my tags.

Update since I posted this yesterday - If interested Peter Heller's book The Orchard is on'y $1 via Amazon for Kinlde.  Quite a deal HERE.

Tomorrow I am planning on starting September by Rosamunde Pilcher. Then I will see about a books-of-summer roundup and decide what books I fancy in autumn.

That's about it...here's a photo of Loki chilling out with me on the sofa.  He's a good boy,  knows how to relax and is never without his tiger. 🐅

I will be visiting and catching up on blogs over the next few days.  You all weren't forgotten :-) Wishing you good health and good reading.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

A Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio #WIT

I just finished my first book this month for the Women in Translation project.  I'd hoped to read another translated book but I did not plan well.  Here is my reading buddy Loki keeping me company.

A Girl Returned is a heartfelt story about a thirteen year old girl who suddenly finds out her mother is actually her aunt.  It gets worse when she is deposited in a run down home, introduced with zero fanfare to her birth mother and natural siblings.

Apparently she had been living with her aunt since she was an infant, believing this to be her natural mother.  She had a good life near the sea, friends at school, activities, love  and solitude. Her new home is hectic and financially insecure.  Her first meal at a table with her mother, father, two brothers and a sister was chaos as hands were flying across the table to grab food. Talk about culture shock.

Her sister Adriana was a blessing to her as they became devoted to one another.

I felt very sorry for her when she bought herself a birthday pastry and a little candle, then secreted herself in a room and quietly sang happy birthday. No one remembered, no one knew. 

A great revelation near the end as to why her aunt gave her up then returned her back to her birth mother came as a surprise.  This story is told roughly twenty years in the future by the girl who is never called by name. 

This book was first published in 2017 in Italian and is now available translated by Ann Goldstein.  I read this for the Women in Translation August event.  I have rounded to 3.5 stars and would read more by this author.  Adding it to my summer reading list as well.

I'm with Jinjer, I wish there was a Linky party to join in for the Women in Translation month.  Perhaps next year someone will do that.  I have never been able to figure out the link parties setup or I would volunteer to host :-)  

How is your summer reading going?  My list has fluctuated from my original list but I will get to those titles this year.

Sharing with Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Women in Translation month and zucchini fritters

Let's start with my PSA regarding turtles and comments :-) So far, no turtles I can see and the nest does not appear to be disturbed but..we have had some serious storms and hard rains so, who knows.  

Also, if you don't see your comment here within 12 hours or so you can email me.  What is up with the spam redirect? Ugh.

What is new....

Watching the first two seasons of The Unit, an older series from 2006.  This is based on Eric Haney's nonfiction book Inside Delta Force.

I have read through the July entries of The Kitchen Diaries. Inspired I prepared the zucchini fritters.  I've done the fritters before and if you'd like to check out that recipe, click HERE to see it on my retired food blog. I've started Nigel's August entries already.

Currently reading A Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio for Women in Translation month.

Just finished Trust Her by Flynn Berry.

More about this author HERE.

Coming up is September by Rosamunde Pilcher and one other book I haven't decided on yet. I need to rework my summer list as some titles weren't available and I bailed on others.

That's it.  Just in and felt like updating. Hoping you are well, the storms have missed you and you've good books lined up.

Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

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

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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.