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Page from "Altered Book"
Artist: Chris Fondi |
I drastically altered my reading habits after Nov 5th. No news. No opinion pieces. Only books. Among the things I am mourning, one is this loss, this big change in what I read.
Animals encountered in this month’s reading include: an elephant detective, giraffes who travel, a dog with a gold tooth, modern-day dinosaurs, and a bear.
Book 1
In Which My Grandmother Tells the Story of My Mother’s birth
Lower Alabama 1931
We didn’t expect her quite as early as she came. We were at Mother’s peeling peaches to can.
Book 2
A TRIP TO SEE A DIAMOND
‘Arise, Sir Chopra.’ As the gleaming blade touched gently down upon his shoulder, Inspector Ashwin Chopra (Retd) found himself overcome by a jumble of conflicting emotions.
Book 3
Woodrow Wilson Nickel died in the year 2025, on a usual day, in the usual way, at the rather unusual age of 105.
Book 4
CORONADO ISLAND, CALIFORNIA
MAY 1966
The walled and gated McGrath estate was a world unto itself, protected and private.
Book 5
In the distance a thunderous bellow rang out, followed by the terrible sound of falling trees and a stampede of terrified animals.
Book 6
1. Knives and Chromosomes
Bertie Pollock (6) was the son of Irene Pollock (37) and Stuart Pollock (40), and older brother of Ulysses Colquhoun Pollock (1).
Book 7
August 7
When I tell you that my white name is Cedar Hawk Songmaker and that I am the adopted child of Minneapolis liberals, and that when I went looking for my Ojibwe parents and found that I was born Mary Potts I hid the knowledge, maybe you’ll understand. Or not.
Book 8
If I’d known what there was to know about Early Auden, that strangest of boys, I might have been scared off, or at least kept my distance like all the others.
Book 9
In the first place, it did not seem quite right that a girl that young should be free to wander the hotel and seaside town without a chaperone.
The titles and authors revealed:
Several of my reads this month included a character with a physical disability, including:
character with withered arm, in West with Giraffes. Brutal combat injuries in
The Women. Character with amputated limb (war injury) in The Hazelbourne…
Book 1
Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss
By Margaret Renkl
240 pages • first pub 2019
Extremely short and poignant essays. Some about nature, some about loss, and love mixed into all of it,
as the subtitle says. I finished this book on Nov 3rd. Otherwise, I might not have made it
through. Includes encounters with animals but I forgot to note any.
Book 2
The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown
(Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation series #2)
By Vaseem Khan
368 pages • first pub 2016
Started on Nov 6 because I could not concentrate on anything else, and did not want
to see ANY news. Highly entertaining. I have no idea if books like this, that take
place in other countries but are written for an American audience (e.g. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency),
give an accurate portrayal of the country, but this one seems to. Except for the
elephant detective, that is. That’s highly imaginative.
Book 3
West with Giraffes
By Lynda Rutledge
346 pages • first pub 2021
Fictionalized account of the improbable but true travels of two giraffes in 1938 US.
Repetitive, but I liked the characters.
Book 4
The Women
By Kristin Hannah
471 pages • first pub 2024
The only reason I completed this book at this time was because it was for book club.
The book is useful for learning in a visceral way about the lives of US Army
nurses during the Vietnam War. The first half was interesting if desperate and gory.
The second half seemed to me quite a soap opera. Everyone raves about this book.
My response is: I didn’t enjoy reading it but I learned from it. Also, huge
number of content warnings. Surprisingly, rape is not one of them. What I mean is, I do
not remember reading about rape, although the conditions described in the book seemed
ripe for it.
Book 5
The Fairy-Tale Detectives
The Sisters Grimm #1
By Michael Buckley with Peter Ferguson. Children’s lit.
284 pages • first pub 2005
I liked the main characters - the Grimm sisters. Even though it’s kids’ lit,
I was supremely annoyed by the resemblance of the bully character to
some real-life prominent people.
Book 6
Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers (44 Scotland Street series #9)
By Alexander McCall Smith
295 pages • first pub 2013
The book was good, but I was annoyed that it was not available in kindle
format from the library. I had to read it on Libby. Not optimal. But still,
I so much need to escape to Scotland at this time. Includes the familiar character
Cyril the Dog With the Gold Tooth.
Book 7
Future Home of the Living God
By Louise Erdrich
288 pages • first pub 2017
A weird book. Written in 2017 but incredibly prescient about what has now
happened to women's rights. Also addresses climate change, but in a way I would
not have thought of, with the occasional appearance of dinosaurs. The only reason I
read this book was because it was for book club, coming up in December.
Book 8
Navigating Early
By Clare Vanderpool
306 pages • first pub 2013. Y.A. lit.
Really enjoyed this book - full of symbolism and very interesting characters.
Includes an important encounter with a bear.
Book 9
The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club
By Helen Simonson
420 pages • first pub 2024
Takes place in Hazelbourne-on-Sea, a British seaside town, after WWI.
Less jolly than I had assumed based on the short blurb I read. Kinda hits you
over the head with the sexism, but that is probably accurate for post World War I
Britain. Also portrays the racism of that time, but in a more muted way than the sexism.
The amount of mental energy the characters spend on appearing proper is huge.
The need for chaperones in every circumstance, oy!
There are many characters, and key facts about them, introduced in the first 30 pages.
It took a lot of concentration, and I had to read that part twice.
And then there are the names of residences to learn, because Britain:
Hotel Meredith
Clivehill - residence of Lady Mercer.
Penneston - mansion of Lady Wirrall.
Cabbage Beach - residence of Mrs Fog’s childhood friends
Quote:
“Of course it is so much nicer to have your own cook. Hotel cooking is all
theater and suspicious butter,” she said, as the waiter presented her a bread roll
and a small china pot of butter with his silver tongs.
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