This month, I was reading books pretty quickly at the beginning of the month and then slowed down near the end, the opposite of last month! I read ten books.
1. Wolves, boys and other things that might kill me by Kristen Chandler. This book, by a Utah author, was an interesting look at the competing interests of environmentalists who have championed the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park, and ranchers, who were and are unhappy about the wolves in the park because of the danger to their cattle. KJ is a teen living with her father in a small community, where he owns a store and also is a guide for park adventurers. Virgil's mother is researching wolves and moves to town temporarily to follow the wolf groups in the park and learn from their behavior. The teens inadvertently stir up the feelings of the competing interests in the town, and some crazy things happen because of it. This book made me think--how important it is to look at things from multiple points of view.
2. The Secret Hangman by Peter Lovesey. One day when I drove Josie to work, I saw that Orem Public Library had put out a cart full of books to give away--book sale books that did not sell. I felt like I was kind of in a reading drought--unsure what I even wanted to read next--so I decided to park and hop out of the car and have a look. There were a bunch of large print books, and I knew that you can't go wrong with large print. Why? Because publishers don't want to invest in printing any books in large print, which use more resources, unless those books have already proven themselves in the regular market. So, I grabbed two of them, one of which was this one. I was familiar with the name Peter Lovesey, but had not read any of his books before. Even though he has written plenty! This one was one of his Inspector Diamond books, the ninth of 20, written between 1996 and 2021. The murder victims are couples--and are hung in a voyeuristic way. Even though they might initially look like suicides, they are in parks or towers in very public places. Who is doing this and why? I decided that I like Peter Lovesey's writing style.
3. Swim Back to Me by Ann Packer was the other large print book I picked up that one day. This was a collection of short stories. I liked that, small bites to read and finish and think about. There were seven stories, starting and ending with stories about a girl named Sasha, the first when she was a preteen, the last when she was an adult. The first story about her is written from the point of view of her friend, and the last from her point of view. So interesting to see how differently the two characters perceived her family dynamics!! All the stories are set in California, San Francisco Bay area. All the stories involve loss and grief--sometimes the loss is because of divorce, or death, or trust, or sense of self. Very interesting, thought-provoking stories.
4. Lord of Garbage by Kim Fowley. My Clinger Sisters research piqued my interest in learning about one of their producers, Kim Fowley, who I didn't much like, so I decided I should read his autobiography and gain some understanding. Doing so was a gift of compassion to me--I could see why Peggy Clinger was so kind to him--kind enough to invite him to spend Christmas with their family one year, even though her parents felt like they had invited the devil into their home. Kim Fowley liked two things, by his own admission: he liked to get laid, and he liked to get paid. Not the Clinger family vibe! So, reading about his very difficult childhood allowed me to understand him, and have pity for him. He was really passed around as a child, and neither of his parents were great examples of fidelity. He survived polio not once, but twice. (Peggy Clinger was also a polio survivor.) Interesting read that would not be everybody's cuppa.
5. The Body on the T by Mike Martin. I just wanted to spend some more time in Newfoundland, so I ILL'd the second book in his Winston Windflower series. Still not the best books as far as the writing and editing go, but a nice dose of Newfoundland for me. I am a bit perplexed by "the T," which is a peninsula or jutting of land into the ocean that is shaped like a T. Is it T or t? I am not sure. I have been looking at the map and cannot be sure. Still, there was scenery and moose, and Newfoundland food. Winston Windflower is a reader. In his first book, the one I read in June, he was reading Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden (which I checked out but then couldn't read: too much war for me, although since it was a book about Cree boys who went to war, what did I think it would be about?) In this book he was reading a Louise Penny novel--and I already like Louise Penny, so I liked that.
6. The Happiest Girl in the World by John Held Jr. You will remember that I read one of John Held Jr.'s story collections last month. So I ILL'd this novel by him. At the book event for Glen Nelson, he had recommended this book as the one with Mormon characters, even though he never says so. Like, they are from Duchesne, Idaho. (There is no Duchesne, Idaho, but there is a Duchesne, Utah.) Salt Lake City is the nearest big city. Delphinium, the oldest child in a family of girls named for flowers, makes a promise to Steve, the boy she has a crush on, that when she is a famous actress and he is a famous cornetist, that she will marry him. Della, as she is called for short, becomes Miss Duchesne, then Miss Idaho, then Miss United States, and then Miss Universe before ending up on Broadway. She is not aware of Steve and his trek to California to play in Big Bands, and then coming to New York as the top trumpet player in a band that is going to be in the show she is in. They re-meet and marry, and she is the happiest girl in the world. This book was written in 1935, for some context.
7. The other non-fiction book I read this month (besides Kim Fowley) was Colorful Characters in Mormon History: The Good, the Bad and the Hilarious by Kathryn Jenkins--was interesting, but I did not find any of the colorful characters she included to be hilarious, honestly. I also wished she had included stories of more women. There was only one. There was only one historical woman who was either good or bad or hilarious? Surely there were more. Anyways, I didn't love this book. But since it was written as little capsules, each chapter about a different person, I could read at it slowly and it was interesting.
8. The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey was actually the FIRST Inspector Diamond book. There's a conundrum for you! He thinks he is the last detective to use old fashioned detection, instead of relying on technology and forensics to do all the work. When pushed out of a case, he resigns. But still can't help but work on the case. This book was written so differently from the other Inspector Diamond book I had read that I was fascinated. Reading the last couple of pages, as I routinely do, I was upset to learn that the character I didn't want to be the murderer was the murderer!!! That made me not want to finish the book--so clearly I should not have read ahead!! The book was so well-written that I decided to finish it, so I could learn the WHY of it. And I am so glad I did. It was a good book, and nobody suspected the murderer. (He didn't mean to do it.)
9. As a read-ahead reader, I was in good company with Nora Stephens, one of the protagonists of Book Lovers by Emily Henry. This is a highly regarded romantic comedy, which sometimes was a bit Harlequin Romance-y to me, but in the end, I really liked it. Nora Stephens is a book agent, and she always reads the first chapter, and then flips to the end. Good ending = good book. From her point of view as a person who needs to promote books, to get a good editor to work with an author, to get a good publisher to pick up the book. Nora's sister Libby takes her on a holiday with a list of things to experience in a new setting. They meet wonderful people, and Nora does fall in love--just not quite in the way that Libby wanted or Nora expected.
10. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. What a book! A New York Times best seller. A read with Jenna pick, for those interested in reading with Jenna Bush Hager. Being made into a Hulu series. And truly a riveting book. This is Wilkerson's debut novel, and it is amazing. The way she moves between characters and through time, and slowly reveals to Byron and Benny that their heritage and their parents are so very different than they thought. And there is no recipe for Black Cake, by the way, just a list of ingredients--when Benny looked for her mother's recipe, that is all there was. In life, as in cake, there are ingredients--how are you going to mix them? How are you going to realize them? Seriously, read this book. I would be very surprised if you don't love it.
