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 September Reads

Interesting mix of nonfiction, fiction, and fictionalized biography this month.

Improbable Women by William Woods Cotterman Interesting concept--compare five of the women who explored the Near East in the nineteenth ad early twentieth centuries,  all of whom the author asserts were influenced by the legend of Zenobia. Unfortunately, he doesn't demonstrate an interest in Zenobia on the part of the two twentieth-century explorers, but the book would have worked fine without this hook. The book does well by the first three women, Lady Hester Stanhope, Lady Jane Digby el Mesrab, and Isabel Burton, with interesting biographical information and excerpts from their memoirs and letters and others recollections to breathe life into these women. The book falters when it discusses the two more recent explorers, Gertrude Bell and Freya Stark, although Ms. Bell's life is more fully fleshed out than Ms. Stark's. This is a bit incongruous, as there is an excellent recent biography of Gertrude Bell and previous biographies of Freya Stark that could have been used to flesh out the women.  Nonetheless, if you enjoy biographies and travelogues, this book will keep you entertained. (Net Galley)

Richard III by Annette Carson A distillation of Ms. Carson's recent biography of Richard III (on my Amazon wish list, buy the way), the short book focuses on what she calls the Great Debate, the accuracy of his reputation as it has come down through 500 years. Nice summary of the actual facts as known, what is not known, where the popular factoids originated, and the players in the complicated War of the Roses. And it gladdened my heart to read "history is written by the winners" and the reader being urged to consider the sources and mull that facts herself before coming to a conclusion. (Net Galley)

Murder on the Orient Espresso by Sandra Balzo Nifty little twist on the country house murder mystery of classic novels, with a group of mystery conference attendees, organizers, and speakers marooned on a train ride in the Florida Everglades while a fierce storm rages around them, nasty enormous snakes threaten them, and someone is killed. Honestly, the snake incident totally grossed me out. But the main character, Maggy, is likeable, the action moves along at a fair clip, and the revelation of whodunnit, while not completely surprising, included enough red herrings to please cosy mystery lovers.  (Net Galley)

A Wilder Rose: Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Their Little Houses by Susan Wittig Albert Ms. Albert and I seem to have loved the same children's authors: first she wrote about Beatrix Potter, and now Laura Ingalls Wilder. This ficitonalized account of the collaboration between Rose Wilder Land and Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Little House books addresses aspects the recent biography of Rose Wilder Lane has made famous--namely, that Rose edited, in come places, extensively, her mother's books to make them more professional. I have no problem with that concept, but when that recent bio was published, the vitriol directed at the author was stunning. Apparently there are a lot of Little House lovers out there who are convinced that a frontier woman with a grade school education didn't ever need the services of an editor, and anyone who says otherwise is the devil. While the shifting POV is not my favorite literary device, I enjoyed the book. And have not had my fond memories of the Little House books forever tainted.

St. Peter's Bones by Thomas Craughwell Interesting short nonfiction book on twentieth century archaeology beneath St. Peter's Basilica that may have identified the bones of St. Peter himself. Good summary of the archaeology completely marred by the author's personal diatribe against the reforms of Vatican II at the very end of the book.

Middle Sis' Books o'September (and a Couple I Forgot from August)

Happy autumn! Now the perfect time to settle in with a god book and the soothing hot drink of your choice has finally arrived. Well, maybe for you, sisters, but it's still dang hot here in the desert. I forgot to include some books from last month, so here's what was on my nightstand this past very hot and very wet month.

• Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers  The classic whodunnit with an introduction that summarizes the backstory of Lord Peter Wimsey. I thought I'd read all of Sayers, but I don't remember this one. And that's a good thing--I can reread and enjoy them all over again. In this story, Peter's brother, the Duke of Denver, is accused of killing their sister Mary's fiance, and while denying the accusation, he refuses to provide an alibi. Enter Peter to untangle this family mess. Period talk and situations (early 20th century England). Very enjoyable. 
• The Tale of Applebeck Orchard by Susan Wittig Albert
• The Tale of Oat Cake Crag by Susan Wittig Albert
• The Tale of Castle Cottage by Susan Wittig Albert Yes, a Beatrix Potter mystery series marathon. I read that the last in the series, The Tale of Castle Cottage, was released this month, and realized I'd fallen behind. So in three marathon days (thank you, MCC, for the fieldwork with all the 10 minute down time stretches in which I could read), I finished off the series. Very cosy, but not for people who don't enjoy talking animals who take tea and have underground setts furnished with fireplaces and libraries. The only jarring note was where an incident from one book was recounted in the next, verbatim (which you would only realize if you read them back to back, as I did). I may cut and paste in my technical writing, but I don't like it in my fiction. But yes, the series ends on the real-life happy note of the wedding of Beatrix Potter and Will Heelis.Period talk and situations, with commentary by the author directly to the reader that some may find annoying after a while.
• Goodness Gracious Green by Judy Christie Modern cosy novel centered on a small town. I'm not sure how I feel about this series. It didn't help that I haven't read the several that came before this one, and the author does a lousy job of introducing characters, assuming that her reader has been following the inhabitants of Green all along and knows them all. Well, after a little befuddlement, I got everyone straightened out. The book could have used a little editing work (e.g., at location 2612, our main character Lois thinks to herself that she wishes someone else would take over the conversation as she was uncomfortable with the talk, but she was the one who initiated it; location 3076, teeth are clenched, not clinched; some missing words at location 3098 found at location 3113). There are apparently no non-Christians in Green (and thus no need for separation of church and state and the fourth estate), nor any bad people or even unlikeable people. If you're in the mood for a super cutesy, schmaltzy, slight mystery with a squeaky clean romance, than you'll enjoy this series.
• Saving Sailor by Renee Riva Young adult coming of age story set in 1968. The author has done a great job of getting into the mind of 10-year-old A.J. and reconstructing a more innocent childhood that reminded me strongly of my own. Except that A.J. is a bit more precocious and philosophical than I was at 10. I loved her parents and family life. I'd love to attend her family's big summer bash.This was a great book to read in the summer, taking place largely as it does during A.J.'s summer vacation, with flashbacks to when she got Sailor, her dog, and other events.  Recommended for any age.
• Walking Into Murder by Joan Dahr Lambert First in a new series. Professor Laura Morland is on a walking vacation in England (aha, now you know why I read it) when she gets caught in a torrential downpour. A tall, handsome stranger looms out of the dark and begs her to pretend to be his wife, and Laura finds herself in a strange manor house, populated by a strange family, with a strange corpse in her bed that disappears. There were some rough passages that could have used some editing (we know right away something is not kosher when Adrian shows his vault of priceless art to a complete stranger; people pop out from behind trees in the forest so often in one scene that it reads as repetitive and silly, not scary, and there were typos and other typeset and grammar mistakes that could have been caught). The Thomas and Catherine subplot seemed a bit contrived and coincidental; Catherine's character was useful, but making her Thomas' daughter was a bit of a stretch. Laura was almost too naive for believability as the heroine, and utters some senseless lines. But all in all, not a bad first effort. I might continue to read the series, especially if a good editor is hired to tighten the plot and prevent inconsistencies.