Happy Thanksgiving, gentle readers! This is my favorite holiday, and what better way to spend part of it than reading? Here's what I read this month of turkey, pie, and thinking about how lucky we are.
An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louise May Alcott My book group decided to read holiday-themed children's books for November and December, and I started it off by reading this little gem (my suggestion). A lovely, feel-good story, complete with apple slump recipe. Although a fan of Alcott, I'd never read any of her children's work, so I was delighted to read this. Perfect holiday reading, not smarmy or old-fashioned at all.
They Came for Freedom by Jay Milbrandt Colonial history is my favorite period to read about, and a new book about the Pilgrims and Puritans, European expansion in the New World, and my favorite holiday caught my eye. Milbrandt proposed looking at the settlement of Plimouth (the correct spelling, I learned) from a religious point of view, and I'm not a reader put off by religious content unless it's overtly preachy and proselytizing. Milbrandt does a good job explaining exactly the history of the religious separatists who fled to what they thought was the northern end of the Virginia Territory. I was especially interested to read more about Squanto and Massasoit and their lives. However, Milbrandt began the book at the end, with Governor Bradford writing the history of Plimouth Plantation and lamenting the dissolution of the colony by the younger members.When we finally get to the last chapter, this dissolution is given short shrift. Bradford, Brewster, and the important figures die and then, within paragraphs, we read that Plimouth dissolved as a community. It did not feel like the execution of the book's theme lived up to the exposition. Details that irked: the statement that in the local Native American culture, "Royal lineages held top honors, followed by nobility" (Location 605). Native American society was not organized like European monarchies. It was tribal, with leaders achieving power by their own merit. There was no such thing as royalty or a nobility. And while his later discussions of Native American culture do not allude to this mischaracterization, the anthropologist in me could not forget he wrote it. The editor in me could not overlook several typos, such as missing hyphens. But this is quickly read, well researched addition to the history of America.
Slay Bells Ring by Karen Rose Smith How could I not read this book? There was a big white dog on the cover. I'd never read a Caprice de Luca mystery, but that's never stopped me; I'm no adherent to the idea that series must be read in order. I admit I rolled my eyes at the name Caprice (does the author know what the word means? A sudden change of mood, foible, quirk, etc. Not something I'd want to be named after.). But when I've written several notes to myself by Chapter 2 that start with "Really?" I'm not hopeful for the rest of the novel. And I rolled my eyes at her job. House stager? A guest list for an open house? So not my thing, but the idea that her sister would cook entire meals so people who come to the open house can walk around eating entire meals and making a mess--I can't imagine this. I have heard of baking cookies so the scent of vanilla hangs around, since people think that's homey, but a full course meal? I got tired of references to how Caprice and Grant were waiting to marry for Grant's annulment to be finalized (which can take years), how they were refraining from sex until they got married (they may be waiting a long time), all of which is designed to show us how spiritual and better than the reader they are (at least, that's how it comes across, regardless of the author's intent). However, if the de Lucas are as traditional and conservative Catholic family as this implies, that would mean Grant was still married in the eyes of the church and she was dating, engaged to, and kissing a married man. Which kind of sounds like adultery to me. A great deal of time is spent with various dogs in the book, but the author must not be a dog person in real life because dog people would never use the word cage for a dog crate. By the time I got to the sentences "There was a schedule and everyone adhered to it. This was an important part of community service," and "Hugging as a family was an integral part of the De Luca legacy," and my personal favorite, "Conversation ran around the table and leapt across it" (location 501), my notes had deteriorated to "puhleaze!" (the only way to indicate rolling eyes on a Kindle, which happily does not have emojis). Then Caprice said "That's probably why Brett hasn't called me in yet." Brett is the investigating police officer. She is a house stager, not a police consultant, and you know how I am annoyed by amateur detectives who think they are better than the police. And pews are empty, not open, if there is no one seated in them. There were multiple other irritations big and small, but I'll stop here. The mystery was passable but cliched--a likable family man playing Santa Claus is murdered, and his secret life (naturally that's the explanation) emerges. The murderer is easily identified early in the book. I grew up around loud, large, boisterous Italian families, and you'd think I would have found the de Lucas appealing, but I found them actually a little annoying. No one fights or argues at a holiday? Not realistic at all, in my experience. As a character ,Caprice was shallow, saccharine, immature (she's excited at the thought of getting married, but doesn't want to move out of her house, doesn't want to talk about whether they will have children?), and not particularly likable. While other reviews of the series I've stumbled across say this is just a weak entry in an otherwise enjoyable cosy series, I won't be reading any.
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