Helle, Gentle Reader, and welcome to spring, and a March full of excellent reading, home and abroad.
And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou The month's banned book is one of powerful poetry written by a modern literary giant. While I don't feel qualified to judge the poetry on its literary merit, nor, in some ways, as a person (I may be a woman but I am not Black, and so my experience is so vastly different), I can say that the book was immensely powerful. The imagery is strong, sometimes subtle, sometimes blunt. The only slightly veiled allusions to physical and sexual abuse are, I presume, why the book was banned, but the 'children' reading this would be high schoolers, and some may even have been abused or raped themselves. They would recognize the cry and pain, and it might help them. Others without those experiences may not even recognize the experience behind the prose. I think this would be totally appropriate in a senior high school literature class. To those who ban it, I say this: bad things happen in this world. It's our job as adults to teach our children that bad things happen, how to protect themselves from it, how to fight it, and how to sympathize with those to whom bad things happen. By hiding this from your children, you leave them unsympathetic at best, and ill-equipped to deal with real life, so that when bad things happen to them, they are crushed by it, at worse.
Moonspinners by Sally Goldenbaum Continuing in my reading of all the Seaside Knitters mysteries in order. In this book (number 4, I think), we are introduced to more of the residents of Sea Harbor, notably Danny Brandley, son of the bookstore owners. He has returned to Sea Harbor to finish writing an article, but Izzy and her knitters soon discover that he has a connection to the late Sophia, wife of a wealthy industrialist who was killed in a car accident that, as it turns out, was no accident. We also meet Liz, the daughter of Annabelle Palazola, who owns the knitters' favorite breakfast restaurant, and Mae's twin nieces play a minor role in the drama. I will admit that I saw the solution to this mystery immediately, as soon as the murderer was introduced, but that still did not color my delight in disappearing into the fictional world of Sea Harbor. By book 4, Ms. Goldenbaum has established the rituals that readers (at least this one) envy: Thursday knit nights, Friday dinners at Nell and Ben's, and we know the 4 main characters well enough that she can elaborate on the supporting townspeople a little. I read this book on a disastrous travel day full of plane delays, missed connections caused by airline incompetence, downgraded seat assignments, and it was a wonderful escape from a reality that was incredibly upsetting and stressful. As always, I recommend the series.
Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge Ms. Cambridge has established herself in a genre niche in which her main characters are adjacent to well-known real (although now deceased) historical figures. I enjoy the Phyllida Bright series, in which the main character is Agatha Christie's housekeeper. In this new series. the main character, Tabitha, has recently moved to Paris to live with her grandfather and her 'oncle.' It's 1950, and the post-war deprivations are only just starting to ease while the war memories remain strong. Tabitha's neighbor is Julia Child, living in Paris with her diplomat husband Paul, and the two become fast friends. In this first book, Dort, Julia's sister, throws an evening soiree that ends in murder, and Tabitha and Julia try to find who of Dort's friends and coworkers could have wanted Therese to die. The book is very atmospheric and without diving too deep into research myself, it reads as if the author has done a good bit of research herself. Paris and Julia's cooking and food are described in detail, so lovers of foodie mysteries and lovers of historical mysteries will both enjoy it. (NetGalley)
Murder Most French by Colleen Cambridge I had originally intended to read this book first, which was due to be published soon, but I thought I'd read the first in the series and then this second. While I am glad I did, it isn't, at this point in the series, necessary to have read the first. Ms. Cambridge does a good job in introducing the characters and obliquely explaining relationships and their past adventure together so that the reader will not get lost. In this book, we learn a bit more about Oncle's background prior to and during the war, enough to intrigue us and set him up to be pivotal in future books. His and Grandepere's relationship is still largely veiled, but it's clear they are an established couple whose long relationship does not seem to bother anyone in 1950 Paris, although it may upset puritanical modern readers. After exploring food and cooking in the first book, Ms. Cambridge turns to the other great love of the French in this second--wine. Interestingly, after having just finished this book, I was having dinner with a man who had just finished reading a nonfiction book about France and the wine industry in WWII, and we began comparing notes about how the fictional book represented the war and French winemakers. It appears that again, Ms. Cambridge has done her homework, as specific things she mentions were well documented during and after the war and recounted in the nonfiction history. Two good books point to a promising series, and I recommend this title, too. (NetGalley)
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