Below are the first lines of the books I finished reading in February. Once again, it was hard to concentrate on reading – 679 pages total.
Book 1
My Dungeon Shook
Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation
Dear James,
I have begun this letter five times and torn it up five times.
Book 2
Count Camembert’s estate, Gougère
“Come back here, young lady!”
“No!”
Book 3
The Clothes of Others
Mma Ramotswe, owner of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (as featured in a two-page article in the Botswana Daily News, under the headline “A Lady Who Definitely Knows How to Find Things Out”), had strong views on the things she owned.
Book 4
“The English understand wool.”
My mother sat on a small sofa in our suite at Claridge’s, from which the television had been removed at her request. She held in her lap a bolt of very beautiful handloomed tweed which she had brought back from the Outer Hebrides.
Book 5
In October there were yellow trees. Then the clocks went back the hour and the long November winds came in and blew, and stripped the trees bare.
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| Sweeter times. Early November 2016. |
Finished ¼ of, on purpose
Wherever You Are, Stop What You’re Doing
Stop and look at the tangled rootlets of the poison ivy vine climbing the locust tree.
Did not finish #1
Chapter One: Cecily
Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, February 1945
Japanese-occupied Malaya
Teenage boys had begun to disappear.
Did not finish #2
After distributing the eight ice-creams – they were the largest vanilla, chocolate, and raspberry super-bumpers, each in yellow, brown, and almost purple strips, Pop Larkin climbed into the cab of the gentian blue, home-painted thirty-hundredweight truck, laughing happily.
The titles and authors revealed:
Book 1
The Fire Next Time
By James Baldwin
128 pages • 1963
nonfiction classics essays memoir race challenging informative reflective medium-paced
I recommend this book which consists of two essays. The title is from an African American spiritual. Baldwin’s epigraph:
“God gave Noah the rainbow sign,
No more water, the fire next time!”
The “fire next time” likely refers to the final day of judgment. (2 Peter 3: 5-7) The phrase appears in the final sentence of the second essay. The thoughts Baldwin expresses are still relevant in 2026. In 1963, Baldwin said that if- if- if- people of good conscience work at it, America might be able to become a place of freedom for all. The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act were passed in 1964. And then the Voting Rights Act was gutted by the Roberts Court (SCOTUS). Right now it doesn’t look all that likely that our country is headed toward freedom for all. I feel as if we are actually living through the “fire” phase predicted by the spiritual.
Book 2
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich. (graphic book) by Deya Muniz.
256 pages • paperback • first pub 2023
fiction graphic novel lgbtqia+ romance young adult funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
It took me 15 days to finish Baldwin’s short book of essays. I needed this graphic book to restore my reading pace.
Imagine a kingdom where females cannot inherit, so the heir must hide her identity and appear in public as a man. Don’t need to think too far, do we? Now imagine that all the characters are named after cheese. This is a whimsical queer romance told in bright colors with lots of defiant characters yelling or sobbing, I mean, understandably, given their situations. I read it in a few hours. It has a happy ending.
This is a YA graphic book I found when I looked on Libby for a book titled “Sandwich”, recommended by Bibliomama.
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| Il ne faut pas mourir sans avoir mangé tous les fromages. |
Book 3
The House of Unexpected Sisters (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #18)
Alexander McCall Smith
226 pages • first pub 2017
fiction mystery lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
Just when I said (last month) that McCall Smith never includes LBTQIA characters, this book introduces one, quite positively portrayed. And the way the character is written, perhaps this character is included in future books in this series.
Book 4
The English Understand Wool
By Helen DeWitt
69 pages • 2022
Fiction literary
Contrary to my expectations, this novella does NOT take place in England, nor in Scotland, nor in Ireland. It’s a clever story, in which none of the characters are particularly likable. Includes an interesting twist.
 |
| Perhaps Einstein understands wool. I do not think those skeins are wool. |
In a French book, a character might say:
– Il ne faut pas mourir sans avoir vu Carcassonne.
In a book in English, the character would say:
“One must not die before having seen Carcassonne.”
I have, in fact, seen Carcassonne, so I’m all set.
Book 5
Small Things Like These
by Claire Keegan.
112 pages • 2021
fiction historical literary
It was a joy to re-read this book. I highly recommend it, again. I am leading the book discussion in March. The writing is excellent and the events of the book are relevant today.
Finished ¼ of
The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year
Margaret Renkl
270 pages • first pub 2023
nonfiction essays nature
I enjoyed reading the “Winter” portion of this book. I want to wait until spring to read the next section. I can’t bear to read about spring during this particular winter.
Did not finish #1
The Storm We Made
By Vanessa Chan
339 pages •first pub 2024
fiction historical dark
This was for book club # 1, but I simply could not read it. Too much trauma inflicted on children. We’ve heard enough of that in our own news these days. I can’t stomach it in a novel. It has war spies in it – I probably would have liked that part.
Did not finish #2
The Darling Buds of May (the Pop Larkin Chronicles Book 1)
By H.E. Bates
160 pages • first pub 1958
Started out funny, but became silly and rather annoying. I think this was recommended by a booktuber as a light, amusing read.
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| A darling bud of May, from 2014. This was the last time we grew a tulip in our yard. Tulips are simply dessert for deer. |
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