Ship of Dreams

Finished March 6

Ship of Dreams by Donna Jones Alward

This novel is set mostly aboard the Titanic. Two friends are at the centre of the story. Hannah Martin is married, but has found her husband distant since the miscarriage that almost killed her. She hopes accompanying him on this business trip will provide the opportunity to add life back to their marriage. She has asked her best friend Louisa Phillips, the unhappy and rebellious daughter of an earl, to accompany them. The two women plan to stay in New York City while Charles Martin travels west on business. But Louisa has another purpose to her trip. Her father has decided to force her into a marriage that she does not want. She grew up ignored or a target with him, and things haven't improved. She's directed her energy, and her money, towards fighting for women's rights and helping those less fortunate. But if she doesn't marry as her father wishes, he has told her that he will kick her out of the homes she has been living in, and cut off her money. She has a plan that we gradually learn, but it wasn't well thought out, and doesn't reflect well on her. 

She has also invited a man she's known socially on the trip as a side interest. She likes flirting with him and has led him to believe she might be interested in more. Reid Grey, the man in question has come, solely for her, and is definitely interested in Louisa. The author includes a few of the ship's travellers that were actually on the boat, from the feminist Margaret Brown, to the newly married Astors.

As the women interact socially with their shipmates, they also share the truth about their own lives, which proves emotional and enlightening. 

While Hannah tries to force a confrontation with Charles, Louisa finds that her problem may have an different solution that she hadn't expected. 

Alward has done her research and the descriptions of the ship and its amenities really bring the setting to life. The strong friendship between the two women is tested here, and the crisis of the ship itself changes so many stories. A really great read. 

A Nose for Mischief

Finished March 6

A Nose for Mischief by K.T. Lee

This is the first book in the Riverbend K-9s series. Zoey Butler was a materials engineer working on a renewable energy project for Future State Energy in Denver when the FBI came in, charging the company with fraud. Zoey spent a lot of time helping investigators find answers, and then decided to leave the company. But with the company reputation what it is, she finds herself unable to even get an interview. She reaches out to the main FBI investigator, Alexis, and asks if there is any opening with them. She is offered an unpaid intern position at Alexis's division of K-9 training in Riverbend, Indiana, which is located at an old airport. It includes accommodation at an apartment in the small town. Zoey is paired with Liam, one of the trainers, with his dog, Tank. She is assigned a rescue dog, Tasha, that didn't meld well with its original trainer, and she finds the job interesting and is drawn to both the small town camaraderie and Liam. 

When her apartment back in Denver that she shares with her sister Elise is broken into and tossed, she is worried for her sister, and asks whether there is still something the FBI didn't learn about Future State Energy's activities. After some discussion with Alexis, she offers to take the job she's repeatedly been offered back at her old company and look for answers. Liam will be accompanying her as an undercover agent, posing as an entry level project manager. The two rent a house and pose as a couple for the purposes of this. 

As the two and their dogs become a real team, she and Liam become close, but the investigation at the company heats up as well as corporate espionage and possible sabotage.

I enjoyed the characters, particularly Zoey with her quick intelligence, and the engaging dog Tasha. 

A Bramble House Christmas

Finished March 4

A Bramble House Christmas by C.J. Carmichael

This is the sixth book in the series, Carrigans of the Circle C, but the first I've read. The main female character is Willa Fairchild. As the book opens, she and her six-year-old son Scout are travelling to Marietta, Montana for a much-anticipated winter vacation. The trip is a gift from her most recent client, Mr. Conrad. Willa has worked as a private nurse since Scout's cancer diagnosis, which also marked the end of her marriage. Scout is now cancer-free and looking forward to engaging in normal activities for his age. Conrad learned enough of Willa's story to also include her in his will, something his family is surprised at, and suspicious of. 

Finn Conrad, his son, has given in to pressure from his family to find out more, and has booked into the Bramble House B&B under his professional name, Finn Knightly. He is a successful children's book illustrator. As he spends time with Willa and Scout, he learns more about them, and finds himself drawn to both of them. He also finds himself curious about his father's focus on Marietta, and begins to look more closely at the secrets in his own family history.

I liked both the main characters and found the plot believable. The setting is a real town, and is brought to life here, giving a cosy Christmas vibe. A light and enjoyable read. 

Room on the Sea

Finished March 1

Room on the Sea: Three Novellas by André Aciman

This was my first encounter with this author and I really enjoyed these novella. I think my favourite is the title one. 

The first novella in the book is The Man from Peru. It is set in coastal Italy, at a hotel in a small town. 

A group of American, friends from college, is there, meeting ten years after graduating. One of them was unable to attend, but the others are letting him know about the good time they are having. They've noticed an older man by himself, along with other fellow guests, and some of them have been making unkind comments about them and guesses about their lives. 

On of the Americans, Mark, has a shoulder injury that is bothering him and the older man stops at their table and holds his shoulder for a moment while telling him it might help and the shoulder appears healed. The man, Raul, reveals that his family used to vacation here regularly when he was a child, and he offers other predictions and advice that proves to be true. He seems to have an interest in one of them, Margot, even though she is the most catty of the women, and gets her to spend some time alone with him. The outcome is interesting and unexpected, but fits with the other strange stories he has.

The second novella is Room on the Sea, and takes place mostly in New York City. Two people in their sixties are both attending the courthouse for jury duty. They begin a friendship, going for lunch together, meeting for coffee before jury duty, wandering the streets and visiting art galleries. As they share details of their lives, they also befriend an Italian-born barista at the coffee shop and his stories of Naples get to be part of their story as well. This is an interesting look at the serendipity of relationships and how we as people change over our lives as well.

The third novella is Mariana and is also set in Italy. The title character is attending an art school, and she is drawn to a man already there as a student when she arrives. They have a short relationship, and he moves on, but she finds herself unable to get over him. Her actions draw attention and she learns more about herself and the other women he has spent time with.

A Chance Meeting

Finished February 23

A Chance Meeting: American Encounters by Rachel Cohen

I received this book as part of a subscription from the New York Review Books. It was an interesting read, and I think you could read the sections that interested you most, rather than the whole thing in order. The only issue with doing that would be the background she gives the first time you encounter one of the subjects of her writing. There are many people who appear more than once as they 'encounter' someone else, but the background is given more deeply during the first time they appear, which is actually great if you are reading in order, because you would end up being bored by the repetition otherwise. 

The forward by Vijay Seshadri is insightful and helps place this work in context. 

There are many interesting people covered in the thirty-six encounters here, and I learned a lot about even the ones that I was already familiar with. She includes writers, editors, photographers, artists, critics, and entertainers. Here is a list of the encounters:

1. Henry James and Mathew Brady

2. William Dean Howells and Annie Adams Fields and Walt Whitman

3. Mathew Brady and Ulysses S. Grant

4. William Dean Howells and Henry James

5. Walt Whitman and Mathew Brady

6. Mark Twain and William Dean Howells

7. Mark Twain and Ulysses S. Grant

8. W.E.B. Du Bois and William James

9. Gertrude Stein and William James

10. Henry James and Annie Adams Fields and Sarah Orne Jewett

11. Edward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz

12. Willa Cather and Mark Twain

13. Willa Cather and Annie Adams Fields and Sarah Orne Jewett

14. Edward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz and Gertrude Stein

15. Carl Van Vechten and Gertrude Stein

16. Marcel Duchamp and Alfred Stieglitz

17. Willa Cather and Edward Steichen and Katherine Anne Porter

18. Alfred Stieglitz and Hart Crane

19. Hart Crane and Charlie Chaplin

20. Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston

21. Beauford Delaney and W.E.B. Du Bois

22. Hart Crane and Katherine Anne Porter

23. Elizabeth Bishop and Marianne Moore

24. Zora Neale Hurston and Carl Van Vechten

25. Joseph Cornell and Marcel Duchamp

26. Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin

27. Joseph Cornell and Marianne Moore

28. James Baldwin and Norman Mailer

29. Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop

30. John Cage and Richard Avedon

31. W.E.B. Du Bois and Charlie Chaplin

32. Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten and Richard Avedon

33. Richard Avedon and James Baldwin

34. Marianne Moore and Norman Mailer

35. John Cage and Marcel Duchamp

36. Norman Mailer and Robert Lowell

Losing Your Head

Finished February 21

Losing Your Head by Clare Kauter

This humorous mystery was a great read. It is the first book in the Charlie Davies series, which is set in a small town in New South Wales, Australia. Charlie, nineteen, has been working as a cashier in a run-down grocery store in town, living at home with her mom, and hoping to save up for a better car. Her boss at the store is a creep and always makes her do extra work. When he asks her to lie for him and she does, albeit sarcastically, his wife threatens him with divorce. Charlie decides enough is enough and quits. 

Charlie goes to explain to the wife that she wasn't serious, and ends up inviting her back to her place to stay. 

With a new housemate and no job, Charlie goes looking, and finds herself in the right place at the right time to get hired as a receptionist for Baxter & Co., a security and investigation company. When she encounters her high school enemy James McKenzie, a man estranged from his family and who has lived with his uncle for years, the conversation turns to the recent murder of said uncle. Charlie bets James that she can find the real killer in exchange for a few thousand dollars and a house, he jokingly agrees, but she's serious. 

As she investigates, using tools at her new job, and enlisting the help of her new housemate, she finds herself in some interesting situations. 

Charlie is delightful. She's a tad klutzy, and known for sabotaging herself, but she has a great wit, isn't afraid to talk back, and is impulsive. She's also a hard worker, and isn't afraid to try new things, which serves her well. 

The mystery was interesting, and I liked the vibes of future romance between her and James. 

Chronicle of a Last Summer

Finished February 20

Chronicle of a Last Summer: a Novel of Egypt by Yasmine El Rashidi

This novel is a gem. Although the title refers to a single summer, the novel is written about three summers. The first is in 1984, after the assassination of Sadat with Mubarak newly elected. The female narrator is six years old, and she spends her life going to English school, interacting with her extended family, particularly her older cousin Dido, watching the three television channels available and trying to figure out her world. Her father has gone away, but no one says where he's gone and when he will return. She makes up stories in her head about his absence, but misses him. Her mother is distracted and often has telephone conversations that seem emotional. One of her Baba's close friends, a man she refers to as 'Uncle' visits regularly and talks politics. 

The house by the Nile that she lives in is a family home, with her family living on the second floor. Her grandmother and aunt lived on the first floor until her grandmother died, and then her aunt, born with Down's Syndrome, moved up with them. Her aunt died not long ago as well. 

The second summer is in 1988 and she is in university, studying to be a filmmaker and Dido keeps trying to convince her to make political films, but she isn't interested. We see her taking the bus to university, visiting the gallery there, and borrowing equipment to make films. One time her class visited a prison, and she thinks of that experience. There are sit-ins after a recent attack downtown where sixty-two people were killed. 

The third summer is in 2014. She is now a writer and thinking back on her experiences. She has packed up most of her grandmother's belongings and moved down to the first floor, her own space. One of her finds was small paintings her grandmother had done and she has hung them all together. There is more political upheaval, and attacks on Copts and their churches have been happening. She and Dido have become more distant with each other as he became more active politically. Her father has returned and she tries to create a new relationship with him after his long absence. 

We see what has changed over time and what has remained the same. She has grown up and made decisions about her life that are hers alone. She is observant and curious, and that has shaped her life. 

A lovely read, and I got a feel for her inner life.