Middle Sister's June Reads

Well, one of the dogs that inspired BTCD has been in the hospital the entire month. I always read to my animals when I'm in bed (I even try to do the accents; they must think I'm crazy), so I've been reading to him for an hour or two every night when I visit. Between that and waiting in the lobby, we've read a lot of books this month. The veterinary hospital thinks this is hilarious and has joked about putting a shelf in his kennel for his library. Perhaps I should add his 'reviews' of the books, too?

Pocahontas and the English Boys by Karen Ordahl Kupperman The life of the real Pocohontas was not what little we learned in grade school, nor what the movies portray. Ms. Kupperman takes a unique look at early Colonial history through the eyes of the young English boys who sailed as indentured servants and Pocahontas, and investigates how the early settlers used these children and sometimes abandoned them. I knew there were indentured servants who earned their freedom after 7 years, but I never knew that some of these were young teen-aged boys, and I never knew that in some cases, they were abandoned. They were not even considered important enough to have their names recorded; they were simply called 'a boy' in some memoirs or legal papers. These boys were sent to live with Native Americans so they could eventually function as translators for the English. But their lives and fates took unexpected twists the longer they stayed with the various tribes. Failed settlements often returned to England, leaving the boys behind with out any compunction or second thoughts. Kupperman has done an admirable job finding what few references exist to these boys, reconstructing their lives when possible, and considering their fates when they disappeared from history. Early colonial history is an interest of mine, and I enjoyed learning about a slice of it I'd never heard of before. Recommended. (NetGalley)

Pride, Prejudice, and Poison by Elizabeth Blake Ah, gentle readers, I confess an admiration for Ms. Jane Austen and her literary masterpieces. Naturally, I am a sucker for most novels that utilize her canon. And if it takes place in a bookstore, in England? Well, I'm all in. Erin Coleridge runs a small bookstore (and admits most of her sales are via the Internet; a nice touch; most fictional independent bookstores are extremely successful and never mention competition from large online storefronts) in North Yorkshire and is a member of the local Austen society. When a member is murdered and Erin's friend is the chief suspect, she tries to solve the mystery without becoming the next victim. I loved Erin's house, I loved her bookstore, I loved her town, I envied her having two suitors (a suspect and the policeman), and I really enjoyed this mystery. Highly recommended, and you don't have to be a Jane Austen fan to enjoy it. (NetGalley)

Death at Dearly Manor by Betty Rowlands The author's two mystery series are being reissued as ebooks. Originally published in the mid 1990s, this was one of two Rowlands mystery I read this month, featuring her second amateur detective, Sukey Reynolds. Sukey is a scene of crime officer, and in this, the second book in the series, her ex-husband is accused of the murder of his second wife. I enjoyed this twist on a mystery--Sukey is removed from working on the case because of her connections with the victim and the main suspect, but, those connections, her personal ties, mean that she is drawn into the hunt for the killer. I liked Sukey, and I thought her reactions to the needs of her ex-husband, her son, and her boyfriend the inspector were portrayed realistically. The solution to the mystery left me somewhat disappointed, but the author may have been still developing the character. I enjoyed it enough that I'll overlook that weakness. Recommended (NetGalley)

Murder at Larkfield Barn by Betty Rowlands The seventh in the Melissa Craig series, centering on a mystery writer who has moved to a small village in the Cotswalds and finds both romance and plenty of murder. Although this is Rowland's first series, by the seventh title, Melissa should have been a well developed character. While she may have been well-developed, I didn't like her as much as I liked Sukey. Melissa's character came across as quite old-fashioned, despite the original publication of the book in 1996. The murders of several people, united by a garish clown smile painted in lipstick on them, don't seem nearly as gruesome to me as Melissa's and the townspeoples' reactions would warrant. The complicated ending was somewhat of a surprise, although the dearth of suspects clearly indicated who had done it; the mystery was why. Recommended (NetGalley)

Plate Tectonics and Great Earthquakes by Lynn R. Sykes After reading several very interesting nonfiction titles in a row (several from NetGalley), I was looking forward to reading about plate tectonics and earthquakes. I took geology classes and worked with geologists and geomorphologists, so I consider myself more versed in geology and scientific jargon than the average reader. The book addressed some very important topics: can we predict when and where the next great earthquake, like that which produced the tsunami that battered Japan in 2011, will strike? What is fracturing and its relationship to earthquakes? Unfortunately, even a better-than-average educated reader with an interest in plate tectonics will find this a slog to get through. The lack of definitions for some terms is problematic (and there's no glossary, so while I know the difference between p and s waves, some readers won't remember), and I'd have liked more discussion of how prehistoric and historic earthquakes and their affects are detected and studied. In some places, the author almost comes across as exhibiting sour grapes when his recommendations were not followed and his predictions were correct, or when other scientists failed to mention his contributions to a particular theory or methodology. The writing is very dry, and the chapters read like scientific abstracts for a national professional meeting ("In this chapter, I will talk about X and use Y to prove my point." Dullsville and not appropriate for a general audience). Recommended only for geologists and seismologists. (NetGalley)

Middle Sister's Mid-Month Review

One of the BTCD dogs has been in the hospital for 2 weeks, so there's been a lot of reading going on--in the lobby, in the visiting room, even to him. Both the dog and I loved one of these books, so I had to write a mid-month review.

The Ice at the End of the World by Jon Gertner I loved this book! Mr. Gertner provides a riveting history of exploration of the Greenland ice sheet and glaciers, beginning with Nansen, and progressing through ongoing research in 2018. Through the narrative, he outlines the historical growth of scientific research on the Greenland glaciers, the difficulties conducting these researches, and succinctly summarizes the evidence of the results for climate change and global warming. This book is beautifully written, with good illustrations (so good I wanted more of them), and based on extensive research and oral interviews. I cannot recommend this book enough. Best book of 2019 to date. (Net Galley)

A Plain Vanilla Murder by Susan Wittig Albert  I've fallen behind in the China Bayles series, so looked forward to the latest entry in the series. I've traveled through the vanilla country of Veracruz several times, and am currently growing my first two orchids, so naturally I was interested in the premise of this mystery: the death of a professor and international orchid smuggling. The novel is fast paced and told from different points of view--and therein is my only objection. Not the different points of view--I don't mind that technique at all. But China's first person point of view, written in the past tense, but other character's chapters (largely told from the very pregnant Sheila's point of view) are written in the present tense. And the switch back and forth between these was very annoying. Otherwise, this is another good book from Albert, with some surprising twists at the end that kept the suspense level high and surprised even me. (Net Galley)

Middle Sister's May Reads

More flights in May plus unusually cool weather gave me lots of reading time this month; see earlier mid-month review for another title.

Trilby by George Du Maurier We all know the term Svengali, and I've even seen the black and white silent movie, but I'd never read the book about the terrifying mesmerist. My book club had read it years ago, but with so many new members, we decided to read it again. It's an interesting look at the bohemian lifestyle in Paris in 1894, although I suspect highly whitewashed for reader sensibilities. Blatant anti-semitism running through the novel is uncomfortable for a modern reader. However, as an early psychological thriller, Trilby was an interesting novel. I just wish I spoke French. Gentle reader, beware, there is a lot of French in the novel that was not translated in my edition, and that did affect my enjoyment and perhaps comprehension of the story. 

A Crafter Hooks a Killer by Holly Quinn There are a lot of knitting mystery series out there, and only a small number that feature crocheting; these could be counted on one hand. This crochet lover naturally wanted to dive into a story that featured crochet, the cover of which had a golden retriever on it. WHat's not to love? Sadly, this book. It's the second in A Handcrafted Mystery series, and it seemed to me that there were plenty of holdovers from book one that were not explained very well in book 2. The timeline was confusing to me--Sammy has taken over her friend's community crafting commission store because her friend was murdered, but one of the characters in this book is a young man who witnessed her murder as a boy. How many years have elapsed here? Sammy, Ellie, and Hannah and the ridiculous S.H.E. Nancy Drew wannabes was very immature and the constant reference to S.H.E. was very annoying. Their actions were not those of mature women, sisters and cousins who'd shared a love of mysteries as kids now faced with a real life mystery, but of high schoolers on a lark. The romantic interest was very tame, so readers who don't like any spice in their books will appreciate that, but to me it was just boring and bland, and Sammy's rudeness to Nash and inability to understand her actions were actually hurting the chances of finding and convicting the murderer made me want to throw the book across the room. Some parts dragged really slowly; the writing (downright terrible in some parts), the story, the pace, the characters--everything would have benefitted from a strong editor. Let's put it this way--I wrote a record 66 notes on my Kindle about errors, issues, and inconsistencies in this book. Not recommended, even as a beach vacation read.

This mystery left such a bad taste behind that I had to read the exact opposite of it. I'm currently reading an excellent, well-written nonfiction science book that I'll review early in June.