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.

March Reviews for the 19th Annual Canadian Reading Challenge

 This is where you add the links to the reviews meeting this challenge that you finished in March. 

A Place of Pretty Flowers

Finished February 18

A Place of Pretty Flowers by Jerrod Edson

This short novel is beautifully written. The events take place within a week, and each chapter has the date at the beginning so the reader can see when it happened. Set in small town New Brunswick, the story begins on August eleventh at the cemetery where Kevin Finch, a young man who aspired to be a professional writer, but who hasn't tapped into real success yet, is to be buried. The funeral party is waiting, as the hole where Kevin's grave should be isn't dug, and they aren't sure what to do.

As we jump back a few days to August sixth, and other days in between, we follow the lives of people whose lives interact with Kevin's in some way. Besides his parents, Joan and Jerry, we also see Jeremy Wiggins, the son of the owners of the funeral parlour, who is driving the hearse with Kevin's casket in it, and his older sister Carol who prepared the body. We see Reverend Richard Grey and his wife, who are dealing with their own life challenges. 

There are also Joan's friends, who include younger members such as Carol and her partner Amy; Prin, a young single mother with a baby daughter Daisy; Sonia, a university professor; and Barb, similar in age to Joan, who has a strong rebellious streak. 

There are also the medical examiner at the local hospital, Dr. Edward Ramsey; one of the cleaners at the hospital, Irene Thorne; and Irene's husband Carl. Key to the action are gravedigger brothers Pete and Gabe Landry and the scheme they have going on the side. 

One of the stories is the wedding that Kevin was attending the night he died, with old acquaintances and his ex-girlfriend Kate, including his backstory with her.

And watching everyone is Detective Harry Ross and Constable Ladd. Harry is an old pro at police work, and Ladd is new, bright, and eager to learn. The title of the book comes from a comment Harry makes to Ladd about the cemetery, that it is a place with pretty flowers, but there is a lot buried beneath that façade, a statement that relates to the work they do. 

I really enjoyed this novel and was interested to see how everything came together and the stories of the people that go deeper than what those around them see. The story has real meat to it, and left me lots to think about.

Witcha Gonna Do?

Finished February 17

Witcha Gonna Do? by Avery Flynn

This is the first book in a series called The Sherwood Witches. There are two points of view in the story, and the main one is Tilda Sherwood. She is the youngest child in her family, and the only one who seems to have no magical ability. Her family is an old and established one and seen as one of the stalwarts of the community. She manages the family's social media accounts.

Tilda is also lonely and longing for a romantic relationship, so she's been trying some online dating platforms, but has now been matched with Gil Connolly for the third time, and is feeling frustrated. She does find Gil attractive, but also somewhat full of himself.

Gil is the other voice and he is from a family who has a power to intensify existing emotions. It's often interpreted as manipulating emotions, and the Council (a group that is thought by many to have been disbanded years ago) has placed his family in exile. Gil is working with the Council to try to get his family allowed back, or at least treated with more empathy and compassion. Gil is also working for a Resistance group against the Council, one of whom is Tilda's great aunt. The matching with Tilda is part of his research for the Council. He's trying to find out if she is indeed without magic. At this most recent meeting, he accidentally uses his magic and he and Tilda become obsessed with each other.

Tilda is part of a group of young people who either have no magic, or have some difficult issues with it. For example, one member is allergic to her own magic. Little does she know that she actually has a kind of magic that is rare and powerful.

When Tilda, while recording a social media post with her sister, accidentally has an influence on a spell, she finds that her whole family, including extended member, has been frozen in limbo.  When Gil shows up at her family home, she enlists his help, and they also rope in a few of her magically challenged friends, and work to steal a spell book that may hold the only solution to undoing the spell binding her family. They are working against time, hoping that the Council doesn't find out about the situation and take advantage of the fact that he family is out of action to stage a takeover. 

I liked the light humour embedded throughout the story and the race against time that really moves the plot along. The attraction between the two main characters feels real, and the magic that amplifies it makes the passionate actions believable. A fun read. 

To Have and To Hoax

Finished February 15

To Have and To Hoax by Martha Waters

This Regency romance is the first in a series called The Regency Vows. I've read others in the series and enjoyed them: To Marry and To Meddle (#3) and To Swoon and to Spar (#4). The series is set around a group of young upperclass adults in Regency England, many titled. 

Here, we have Lady Violet Grey, who married Lord James Audley five years earlier, and we see how they met and came to marry in the early part of this novel. Their first year together was passionate and tumultuous as they fought and made up multiple times, but when a secret about how they met is exposed, the fight became a rupture, and the two have not been intimate since. 

One of the issues was a gift that James' father made to him upon his marriage of a country estate that is also a centre for horse breeding. James was determined to make a success of it, and he claimed it was for Violet, but she worried constantly about the risks he took riding untrained horses and about the time he spent on paperwork. She sees that he is trying to prove to his father that he runs the estate better than his father did. 

Now, she is having tea with two of her good friends when she gets an urgent message from one of her husband's friends (a man who is also the brother of one of her friends) telling her that James has fallen from a horse and is unconscious and possibly badly injured. Violet immediately takes action, taking her carriage out to the estate, but she meets her husband, much recovered, and his friends on their way back to London and is infuriated that she wasn't sent an updated message. 

James hadn't realized that a message had been sent, and his friend had forgotten, but the damage is done, and Violet is determined to get revenge. She decides to fake an illness, but she must find someone willing to act as a doctor to back her up, and things start to get very messy. 

Violet and James have a mutual attraction that has not gone away, and both have remained loyal to each other despite their emotional distancing. As each realizes what the other knows about Violet's plan, they do interact more and fight more, but the also notice the attraction. Instead of talking to each other about the reasons for their estrangement, they each take further action, until talking becomes very necessary. 

A fun read. 

The Deep

Finished February 14

The Deep by Mary Swan

This novella was originally published as a short story that won the O. Henry Prize, and is told through a series of short chapters that have a variety of narrators. The central characters are twin sisters, Esther and Ruth, who leave their North American home to volunteer in Europe during World War I. The narrators include teachers, school friends, family members, and acquaintances. 

The twins, throughout their lives referred to themselves as one, always saying 'we' and acting and speaking together. Their birth had a detrimental effect on the health of their mother, and although she lived for several years beyond the birth, she was confined to bed, and there is a sense that the twins are blamed for this by both their father and their older brothers, but more so their older brothers. 

As the war ends, and the women prepare to leave France, there is a situation where they acted as separate individuals, with both recognizing that and being unsure how to deal with it. It is obviously disturbing to both of them, and we see their actions following this. 

When We Were Young and Brave

Finished February 11

When We Were Young and Brave by Hazel Gaynor

This historical fiction novel was inspired by real events. The story is framed by one of the narrators, Nancy, looking back at this time from 1975. Near the end of the book, the framing is completed with a more full explanation of what happened to the various characters after their time in China ended. 

The main story begins in December 1941, with Elspeth Kent, one of the teachers at the Chefoo Mission School considering resigning and returning to her home in England. She came to China after her fiancé was killed in a mining accident and she couldn't see how to move on there without him. But her plans are thwarted with Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and their declaration of war against the United States, the United Kingdom, and other Allied countries. 

Among the students at the school is Nancy Plummer, along with her older brother, and Nancy's friends who include an American girl named Dorothy (nicknamed Sprout as she is tall and thin) and Joan (nicknamed Mouse because she is small and quiet). The girls are part of a Brownie troop and studying to move up to Girl Guides. Elspeth and another teacher, Minnie, lead the girls in this endeavour. 

When the Japanese arrive to occupy the school, the headmaster is taken away, the Chinese servants are sent away, and the soldiers label everything the property of the Japanese emperor. When Minnie tries to make a stand, she is beaten with a pole by one of the soldiers, and Elspeth tries to intervene drawing attention to herself. We watch as the situation evolves over the years. 

Without the servants, the teachers and students must cook and clean and the teachers try to manage morale. Elspeth and Minnie use the Girl Guide teachings and badge earning to get the girls to work and treat the situation optimistically. After a year, the group is moved across town to another school, which has been abandoned for some time. There, they have to make the spaces they are billeted in liveable, and consider safety and continue teaching. The headmaster is back by now and is a great leader in this and the future situations. 

When they are moved again, it is farther away, to an internment camp near Weihsien, where they are the most recent additions. They find support from some of the other prisoners, who have organized a library, and a system of work responsibilities. 

With two narrators, Elspeth and Nancy, we get different viewpoints from different levels of understanding the situation. The author did a lot of research, trying to talk to survivors from Japanese prisoners and using real examples, such as the presence of the Olympic runner Eric Liddell in the camp. 

I found the story interesting and believable and liked the nuances of the people, with both bad and good people among their Japanese captors. I also enjoyed the use of the Girl Guide training and expectations to motivate the young girls and keep up their morale.  

The Fiercest Joy

Finished February 9

The Fiercest Joy by Shana Abé

This is the third novel in The Sweetest Dark, a historical fantasy series. I also noted that it tied in with the Drákon series by the same author, in an interesting way. 

Eleanore (Lora) Jones is in her final year as a scholarship student at the prestigious Iverson School for girls, and torn between two drákon men she loves, brothers Aubrey and Armand. This year there is also another scholarship girl at the school, and it would appear that she is a drákon as well, going under the name Smith. She cannot apparently turn into a dragon, but she has other skills. The three can't help wonder what she is doing there and whether she is putting them at risk. 

When Lora gives into her intuition one night and engages in a coastal battle, she encounters another dragon, and feels threatened by his presence. 

Soon after that two drakon people, brother and sister, arrive at the school, claiming to have been searching for Eleanore for years. They intend to take her to join her family. But Eleanore is still unsure and since she is now engaged, she insists that her fiancé come as well. 

Meanwhile Aubrey is researching Lora's past with a clue from a memory of hers, by searching for ship passenger lists near the time of her birth. He and Armand have also shared historical letters regarding their family with both her and Miss Smith. 

This tale has lots of dramatic moments and suspense as well as moments of strong emotion. It wraps up this series nicely, while still offering possibilities for future books.  

Yellowhead Blues

Finished February 7

Yellowhead Blues by R.E. Donald

This is the fifth book in the Hunter Rayne Highway Mystery series, and is set along the B.C. portion of the Yellowhead highway. Hunter is a retired RCMP officer that now works as a long-haul truck driver. He is on his way to Edmonton with a load when a man who has stopped coming the other way flags him down and asks for help catching a loose horse. The man, Leon, is a horse trainer and breeder coming from a cattle penning competition at Teepee Creek. He stopped when he saw a loose horse and then stopped Hunter before trying to catch it. The horse was scared and had blood on it. 

They managed to catch it and used Leon's dog Blue to track the trail back to where the horse came from, finding a badly injured man sitting with his back against the tree. He was near death and the two men, with no cell reception, decided to carry him on one of the horses back to the highway. 

Bianca Morrison, a RCMP Constable, was the first officer on the scene, shortly after the ambulance arrived. Bianca is from Quebec, and has felt isolated as a female officer. She hopes that she will get a chance to participate in this case. 

A couple days later Hunter gets a call from Leon, who has been arrested for the murder of the man they found. Hunter is pretty sure Leon is innocent, but he'd had an interaction with the man before, so there is history. As Hunter digs deeper into the circumstances surrounding the crime, he asks Bianca for help and gets his dispatcher El to find some of the people he wants to talk to as well. 

I found this mystery quite interesting, with lots of possible suspects. I liked seeing Hunter's personal circumstances, as well as learning of Bianca's experiences with the RCMP. Leon's dog Blue was an active player, and an engaging dog as well. 

A Detective at Death's Door

Finished February 6

A Detective at Death's Door by H.R.F. Keating

This is the fifth book in the Harriet Martens mystery series, but the first in the series that I've read. Harriet is a Detective Superintendent for the Greater Birchester Police, and as the book begins, she awakens in a hospital with some memory loss, wondering how she got there. As she fades in and out of consciousness she overhears her husband John and a doctor discussing her close call with death. 

She learns that she has been poisoned with aconitine, a derivative of the wolfsbane plant, and part of her survival is due to the face that John Piddock had been reading an Agatha Christie novel with the same poisoning and forced her to vomit as soon as he returned to her side. The two were enjoying a hot day by the pool at the Majestic Insurance Company Sports and Social Club, with the insurance company being John's employer. She'd been drinking Campari and soda and fallen asleep as John went to the bathroom. When he returned she awoke and saw him coming toward her and picked up her drink and took a swallow, to find that it didn't taste right. 

One of her colleagues, DS Pat Murphy is in charge of her case and eager to speak to her as soon as she's well enough, which is days later. She becomes eager to get home and despite her still weak condition, John agrees as long as she follows the conditions he sets. She agrees, and she does try, but her instinct to solve the case gets her out of bed long before she should and sets back her recovery. When she hears that there have been more poisoning victims after her, and they didn't survive, she becomes determined to try to stop the killer. She reaches out to people who might help, grasping at straws as she trusts her instincts and as she goes against the new London-based police officer who has taken over the case. 

Harriet is a strong-willed woman, with a good marriage and a strong reputation at her workplace. She is not about to let her health set her back, but she isn't in control of that and finds that, if she doesn't want to suffer a fatal setback, she must take better care of herself. 

I enjoyed this mystery, both the skills that Harriet displayed as she followed the case and the plot overall. A very interesting read.

The Gingerbread Bakery

Finished February 2

The Gingerbread Bakery by Laurie Gilmore

This is the fifth book in the Dream Harbor series, but the first one I've read. The main characters here are Annie Andrews, who is the owner of Gingerbread Bakery, and Mac Sullivan, the owner of Sullivan's Pub, which he bought from his parents. 

The two have known each other most of their lives. Annie took a dislike to Mac from elementary school, when he bullied her best friend Logan. Her opinion of him hasn't improved. But when they finished high school, most of their contemporaries went on to college and in November they encountered each other at a local event. Mac bought some of Annie's cookies from her home-based business, and then arranged to meet her again. They found themselves spending time together and beginning a friendship. Something happened to change that, but we don't find out what until later in the book. Now, Mac has been back in Dream Harbor for three years, and Annie has been avoiding him every chance she gets. With Logan getting married to Jeanie, a more recent addition to the town, they find themselves both part of the wedding party and forced to spend time with each other. When a small crisis arises days before the wedding, and Annie determined to keep Logan from worrying, she finds Mac is the one who helps, and doesn't give up. Not only does he help with the crisis, but he also forces Annie to deal with the past and the events that drove them apart.

A Christmas season romance with a small town setting and even some kittens. 

Company Town

Finished January 31

Company Town by Madeline Ashby

This science fiction novel is set in the near future on a city-sized oil rig called New Arcadia located off Canada's east coast. New Arcadia has recently been bought by a family-owned corporation called Lynch Ltd. The rig consists of five towers, each built in a different time period, with the oldest housing some of the poorest of the city's citizens. The main character Go Jung-hwa (Hwa) is one of these. She was born to a Korean-Canadian mother who didn't want her, and with Sturge-Weber, a rare disease that means she has a large birthmark and is more susceptible to certain conditions like seizures. Hwa is also on of the few people in New Arcadia that has no technological enhancements. She is an expert in tae kwon do, and works as security for the United Sex Workers of Canada, of which her mother Sunny is one. Hwa also had an older brother she was close to that died when the Old Rig exploded a few years ago. She is close to many of the sex workers and respects her union representative Séverine. She is given an assignment to watch over two union men who will be attending the official handover of the city to the new owners. 

When there is an incident at the handover, Hwa tries to get a better view of the situation and ends up meeting Daniel Siofra, a high level employee of the new owners who uses technology to affect the mood of groups of people. He is impressed with her skills and wants her to train Joel, the youngest son of the new owner and also act as his bodyguard during the day. Hwa doesn't want the job as she is loyal to her employer and the women she protects, but she is given now choice. As Daniel tells her when she protests "I'll find something you want and give it to you." She will be well-paid and she does set up her own apartment, but stays in Tower One. She also attends school with Joel, offering her a chance to further her education. 

When Joel is attacked and her friends start being murdered in violent ways, Hwa isn't sure who she can trust and who has ulterior motives, maybe for her, and maybe for the whole city. 

This is suspenseful and intriguing and I really cared about Hwa and what happened to her. Daniel appears to like her and support her, and she begins to feel something for him, but doesn't know if she can trust that feeling, or him.

Ashby has created characters with depth and personality, and I particularly liked her choice to give Hwa a Newfoundland accent. Great read. 

The Glitter Scene

Finished January 28

The Glitter Scene by Monika Fagerholm, translated from Swedish by Katarina E. Tucker

This literary mystery novel is told out of chronological order and from a variety of viewpoints. 

The story starts with the most recent time period, from 2004 to 2006. Johanna lives with her aunt Solveig in a house outside of town. When a girl a little older than her Ulla, tells her of a tragedy nearly forty years earlier, where an American girl died and then her boyfriend killed himself, she is intrigued and wonders where her parents, who were children at the time, fit into the story. She knows her father, Solveig's brother, is dead, but she doesn't know who her mother is. 

We then jump back in time to a story about a mask and some shoes, with the intriguing subtitle "an entirely different story, or maybe not?" and a second story about a girl who pretends she is a wild child from far away. We see Solveig and her twin sister Rita, girls who plan to become swimming stars; a brother and sister, Tom and Maj-Gun Maalamaa; Solveig and Rita's brother Bengt; their cousin Bjorn; and Doris, a girl looking for a more welcoming home than the one she was born into.

From there we move to 1989 when Maj-Gun and another local girl Suzette are in their late twenties and still unsure of their futures. When the two girls reconnect, a friendship of a sort is formed, but Suzette has secrets she doesn't want to share. 

This is a complex read, with interactions between locals and a wealthier group of people who move into a new, gated development that has repercussions. 

Somewhere Among

Finished January 28

Somewhere Among by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu

This children's novel is narrated by eleven-year-old Ema. As the story opens Ema and her parents are taking taxi from their small apartment to the other side of Tokyo where her father's parents live. Ema's mother is from the United States and teaches English at a college. She's having a difficult pregnancy, so the plan is to live with her Obaachan (grandmother) and Jiichan (grandfather) so that her mother can rest. This means that Ema can't go to her usual school as it is too far away. 

At first her Papa tries to stay there as well, but the commute to his work is too long and he gets too tired. It is June, shortly before the normal school year ends, so Ema will get tutored by her Obaachan until she starts at the new school in September. Ema is a pretty good kid, and she's excited to have a sibling, so she tries to not worry her mother over things. Usually in the summer she goes with her mother to visit her California grandparents, Nana and Grandpa Bob, but this year she will miss that, so she talks to them on the phone and writes to them. 

The novel is told in a series of poems, with each one dated. We see how Ema has some trouble adjusting to living with her grandparents. Her Obaachan runs the house and has rules and expectations, so Ema finds her a little cold, but she is close to her Jiichan and they spend time together. 

By the time school starts, he finds her a used bicycle to go back and forth with and he fills in her mother's duties on the Mama Patrol that watches out for the kids safety going to and from school. But this novel also takes place in 2001, and when the planes hit the towers in New York City, Ema is unable to prevent her mother from learning the news. 

I really liked Ema and understood her feelings of not fitting in due to her mixed heritage. Changing schools is hard and she also has to deal with a bully, something she hasn't encountered before and tries to hide from her mother. 

This is a book that draws you in with the character and the poetry format means that a reader can take their time as they go through the book. 

The Midnight Land I: The Flight

Finished January 23

The Midnight Land I: The Flight by E.P. Clark

This is the first book in a high fantasy series that is inspired by Russian folk tales, literature, geography, and language. The series is called The Zemnian.  The land of Zem is a matrilineal society where the women hold positions of power and influence and the men are seeing as strong and good-looking, but not as intelligent.  Clark has built a complex world that has a court that is gossipy and full of plots. The Tsarina and her court live in Krasnograd, in a building called the kremlin,a generic term for castle. Her younger half-sister, Krasnaslava Tsarinovna (Slava) is a woman with the skill of deep empathy. She can feel other's emotions and sometimes even their thoughts. Her role at court is to attend and give advice which sometimes encourages mercy to the wrongdoer. She finds her life tedious and the feeling of being constantly bombarded with the emotions of others tiring. 

When the daughter of a smaller kingdom within Zem, Olga Vasilisovna comes to the Tsarina to ask for funds to go to the Midnight Land, beyond the trees and map what she can, Slava finds herself asking to go along on this journey and receiving permission. Slava's father was a warrior from the land of the Steppes, and she is proud of that heritage even though she herself has never been outside the city. 

Olga helps Slava get together a suitable wardrobe, including trousers, and picks a horse from the royal stable for her to start the trip out on. 

As they journey, Slava finds the experience enlightening, as well as physically demanding. It takes her some time to overcome the pain from being on a horse all day, and being able to keep up with the rest of the group. At first the vast forest they travel through scares her, and staying in the barricaded shelters spaced along the roads feels odd. She is gradually accepted by the men with conversations between Olga, her men and Slava happening as they ride. But when she convinces the men to spare an elk they came across instead of getting fresh venison, she feels an outsider again. Slava dreams of the elk and when the group gets lost, Slava leads them in following the elk back to the main road. This example of her ability to talk to animal spirits causes curiosity and discussion about the different animal and tree spirits that exist. 

When, after visits to other small kingdoms within Zem they reach a small village near the treeline, and must switch from horses to dogsled, Slava finds that her presence is helpful for a reason she hadn't expected. As they travel and Slava's skills grow, she dreams and talks to various animal spirits, but also of the tree spirits (leshiye) who seem to want something from her, at least until they fully understand her skill. This is a tasking journey, where the group encounters a variety of dangers from weather to wolves to thieves, and sometimes Slava is placed in a leadership role. 

The novel ends with the group in Lesnograd, the capital of Olga's kingdom, where she hopes to ask her mother's sorceresses for help in understanding Slava's gifts. But there they find a very different situation than expected, and new dangers await. 

I really enjoyed this world, and the plot. Clark has done a lot of work building this world, and it shows. I've bought the rest of the series and look forward to following the story as it unfolds. 

Slava is an interesting character whose empathy makes connections with others, and whose growth gives her strength as she better understands what she is capable of. I also liked Olga and her rebellious nature where she has spurned the husband her mother arranged for her and taken one of her men, who is thoughtful and caring as her partner. 

The element of nature is strong here too, and important to the story. 

The Weekend Crashers

Finished January 16

The Weekend Crashers by Jamie Brenner

This women's fiction novel has three female characters that we follow over the course of a few days. Maggie Hodges is in her 40s, raised her adult daughter as a single mom, and works at a clothing store in New York City. She started the job when her daughter was young, and stayed. The owner, an older woman named Elaine, is a woman that has invested in a variety of businesses.

Piper Hodges, 23, daughter of Maggie has been working as a model since being discovered by a reputable agent. Piper lives with her boyfriend Ethan, and has paused her college education to focus on modelling. 

Belinda Yarrow owns a small hotel in small town Pennsylvania with her husband of 35 years, Max, something they bought into decades ago after a crisis in their marriage.

All three of these women are knitters. Belinda runs knitting retreats on a regular basis, with some people coming regularly. Elaine grew up in the town Belinda's hotel is in and told Maggie about the retreat.

As the book opens, Piper is doing a show in New York City, and Maggie has scored a ticket. For unknown reasons, as Piper is walking onto the runway, she faints and collapses. 

We can see Piper is less enthused about her modelling career than her mother is. Piper has other interests, and hasn't made big money so far, and she finds herself feeling relieved that this may end her career. Maggie is worried about her daughter in many ways, including that she is in a serious relationship at such a young age. This may be because Maggie herself got pregnant with Piper when she was quite young and gave up her college education to be a responsible mom. She wants Piper to have more options.

Maggie brings up the knitting retreat as a way to take Piper's mind off her mishap and have some mother daughter time. 

Belinda's husband has booked another group into the hotel on the same weekend as the retreat, a bachelor's party where the focus is on outdoor expertise and survival skills. They've also had an offer from a chain to buy the hotel and Max is eager to move to another stage of life. Belinda isn't so sure. 

As we see the possibilities for people who truly care about each other want different things in life, we also see how throwing two disparate groups of people together by change can create interesting situations. 

I think I liked Belinda best of the characters, perhaps because she is closest to me in age, I found her insightful, thoughtful, and good at her job. She isn't as good at communicating her own wants and isn't always diplomatic when she does.

Each women grows in some way during this weekend and its aftermath, and many of the men face issues of change as well. I enjoyed the read. 

The Ghostly Grounds: Murder and Breakfast

Finished January 11

The Ghostly Grounds: Murder and Breakfast by Sophie Love

This is the first book in a paranormal cosy mystery series called Canine Casper Cosy Mystery. Marie Fortune, a woman in her late thirties, has been working in an upscale dog grooming salon in Boston and as the book opens, she finally loses her cool at the attitude of the clients and her boss, and quits. She reflects on the life she is living and her long-harboured dream of running a bed and breakfast on the coast of Maine. This was a dream inspired and encouraged by her Great Aunt June, whom she spent summer childhoods with in Maine. She worries over what she will do next and when she invites her boyfriend Chris over to tell him, she finds evidence that he's been involved with someone other than her and finds herself ending that relationship as well. As soon as he leaves, she gets a call from a police officer telling her that her Great Aunt June has died.

Naturally she goes to the small Maine town June lived in for the funeral, and finds that June has left her the large house she lived in there and the property it was on, which includes beachfront. Marie can't help but see this as an opportunity to live her dream. She also finds another surprise waiting for her there, as was promised in the note June left for her. It turns out to be a dog, and Marie is happy to take it on as well. 

As she uses the last of her savings to do needed renovations to the house to make it work as a bed and breakfast she leaves in place the gothic touches that June decorated the house with as they seem to fit the place, and despite the fact that the house has a reputation for being haunted Marie doesn't really notice anything like that. But one of her first visitors seems to see something and before she knows it, she finds believers and nonbelievers making bookings hoping to either see something or disprove that there is anything haunting about the house. 

When one of those visitors dies soon after leaving the house, she finds herself under suspicion for the death, and questioning the activities that have been occurring at the house. 

A fun read, with touches of humour and romance. 

The Treasure Keeper

Finished January 10

The Treasure Keeper by Shana Abé

This is the fourth book in the Drákon series, a historical fantasy series I've been reading completely out of order. The main character here is Zoe Lane. Zoe is the daughter of a seamstress in the English town of Darkfrith, a drákon town hidden from discovery by humans. When she was a child she used to play with Rhys Langford, the son of the head of the town. Rhys disappeared months ago, and men sent after haven't returned either. One of them is Zoe's fiancé, and she doesn't like sitting around waiting. 
Zoe, like many of the more recently born women in the community doesn't have the ability to shapeshift to either smoke or a dragon, let alone both, but she does have two gifts that no one knows about. One is the ability to become invisible. the other is the power to feel other's emotions, and often see their thoughts. 
Using her first power, she escapes Darkfrith and follows the trail to Paris, the last place her fiancé wrote her from. She bases herself out of a room in an abandoned royal residence, and frequents cafés listening to others' emotions and trying to find the men who have been hunting dragons, men known as the sanf inimicus.  
However Zoe is also finding herself seeing Rhys and she doesn't understand why. She is sure he must be dead, but she can talk to him and he seems to be the same as the man she knew. She believes that she is talking to his soul and that she can therefore talk to the dead. 
When his presence saves her from a confrontation with someone working for the sanf inimicus, she is taken aback, but very thankful. When a clue leads her to drákon men hunting the same people as herself, she asks to join, but is refused. She is hesitant to reveal her gifts, but may have to do so to be successful in her hunt. 
I really enjoyed this novel, cheering Zoe on as she revealed herself as a strong woman, and willing to learn how to take best advantage of the gifts she has been given.

Regreen

Finished January 8

Regreen: New Canadian Ecological Poetry edited by Adam Dickinson and Madhur Anand

The anthology is one I've owned for a while, but only got to reading late last year. As with most poetry I read, it is something I tend to take my time with, reading a poem to two at a time, and thinking about what the poem says.

There are thirty-five poets represented here with the number of poem from each ranging from one to eight. Most are short, a page or two. 

Both editors wrote informative introductions that I found helpful. Besides both of them being poets, Madhur was at the time of this book, the Canada Research Chair in Global Ecological Change at the University of Guelph. I think this brings an interesting consideration to the collection.

The poems are divided into three sections: a triumph of tubers; pristine modernity, the dreams; and a leaf that looks like a mouth. The all have some relation to the environment, sometimes nature-based, sometimes to do with man's activities that affect nature. There is joy and there is regret. There is also hope.

Running for My Life

Finished January 5

Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games by Lopez Lomong with Mark Tabb

This autobiography takes us from Lopepe's (Lopez's) kidnapping from his parents at an outdoor church service near his Sudanese home when he was six years old to his life at the time of publication (2012). When the rebels attacked the church congregation, his mother held him close, but the chose him anyway and threw him in the back of a truck with other children. By luck, none of his siblings had come with him and his parents that day. His brother planned to take them to a later service. Three older boys who said they knew his older brother took him under their wing and protected him as best they could on the truck journey and in camp once they arrived. 

While the older boys were soon forced to train as soldiers, the younger ones like Lopez remained in their tent prison all the time. The older boys planned an escape during the night and took him with them. Lopez was already known as a fast runner, and this escape was a real test of both his swiftness and his endurance. The boys made it to the Kenyan border and were taken into a refugee camp, and Lopez never knew the exact identity or what became of his saviours. In camp, Lopez attended classes and ran the perimeter of the camp to earn his right to play football (soccer) and to keep himself busy. He grew to a leadership position in his group and ensured fairness and responsibility for the members. They gathered and shared food and made sure it lasted. 

There was always a dream among the boys to find a life in the West. At one point, Lopez was lucky enough to get to see Michael Johnson run in the Olympics on a staff member's television and this became his dream. When he was sixteen, he was chosen for adoption in the United States and found his new family. Lopez had blocked thoughts of his family from the beginning of his time in the camp, convincing himself that they were dead so that he would be able to move on. This was how he came to be eligible for adoption. 

It took him some time to get used to his new life and we see him go through adjusting to having dependable access to food, to having a bedroom to himself, to learn about electricity and running water that was part of his new home. He called his adoptive parents Mom and Dad right away though and trusted them completely. 

As they soon realized his running skills, he was connected with a coach, and his new parents sought out other boys from the camp who had settled nearby and ensured he had contact with them. They ensured he had academic support to catch up with his schooling, and that he plan for the future. 

When it came to light that his family in Sudan was still alive, they encouraged contact and he has since worked to create a charitable foundation that helps his old community. 

As we see his drive and his empathy, we find a young man that has not only fulfilled his own dreams, but also helps other fulfill theirs. 

February Reviews for the19th Annual Canadian Reading Challenge

 This is where you add the links to book reviews that meet the requirements of this reading challenge.

The Last Thing He Told Me

Finished January 4

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

This standalone suspense novel was recommended to me at the library when I asked about a book to meet a challenge. The challenge was a book published in the last five years that had been adapted into a movie or television show, and this was adapted into a television series.

The main character is Hannah Hall, a wood turner, and furniture maker. Hannah had lived in New York City until recently, when she married Owen Michaels, a coder that she met through one of her clients. After their marriage she moved onto the houseboat in Sausalito, where Owen lives with his sixteen-year-old daughter Bailey.  She made some missteps with Bailey at the beginning, but is trying to come to a better relationship. 

One day a kid from the sports team Owen coaches shows up at Hannah's door with a note that just says 'Protect Her.' Hannah knows that he means Bailey, but isn't sure what is going on until she finds that Owen's workplace was raided by the FBI for fraud. She can't believe that Owen would have anything to do with that, but why else would he disappear? When she picks up Bailey from school, she finds that he's left something for Bailey as well. 

As Hannah tries to make sense of things, she is visited by a Texas Ranger who offers help, and she begins to dig into Owen's past, finding that he isn't who he said he was. This is a mystery with some suspenseful moments, and Hannah ends up faced with a decision that is difficult on the surface. 

First Date: Divorce

Finished January 2

First Date: Divorce by Patricia McLinn

This book is the first book in the series The Wyoming Marriage Association. 

I've read books in three other series by this author and enjoyed them. I chose the book to meet a reading challenge left over from 2025. This book lets us see a variety of viewpoints. The main female character is K.D. Hamilton, a sheriff's deputy from Montana who has been trying to get her boss to let her do investigative work. K.D. was raised by a single mother after her father abandoned the family, and her mother remarried after K.D. left home. She is wary of relationships. She has been lent to the sheriff's office in Bardville, Wyoming and has just arrived at the ranch she was told to come to as the book begins. 

The main male character is Eric Larkin, a lawyer who has been living in Bardville for a short time, having moved there from Chicago after his divorce to be close to a couple of friends and have a fresh start. Along with him has come his assistant, a widowed friend of his mother's. The assistant is on the ball and trying to get Eric to be more social. Eric has kept to himself for the most part, except for his friends, the sheriff and a private investigator who is ex-FBI. 

The situation is a local business just outside of town, who is leasing a county-owned building and operating as a luxury retreat specializing in marriage counselling. A number of couple who stayed there left even more determined to split up, and they've all had one person who engaged a local lawyer for a divorce. Before renewing the lease, the county wants to ensure there isn't anything shady going on. 

K.D. and Eric will pose as a married couple who've been separated a while, but are attempting a reconciliation. Since Eric has kept to himself, no one in town outside of his friends is aware that he's divorced. There is a tight timeline, and they have to create a backstory complete with photographic evidence, so a few ranching women come together to stage wedding and other couple photographs. As K.D. gets involved, she learns more about Eric's ex and why they split. 

The mystery is pretty tame, but the romance has some sizzle. A fun read.

Roundup of Reading for 2025

 

Here are the numbers.

Total books read was 180.

Total pages read was 56,266.

Audience

Adult            169

Teen                  3

Children's         8

Genre/Subject (Note that some books have more than one genre

Fiction                164     of which 69 were part of a series

Mystery                  55

Romance                56

Literary                  21

Historical                26

Fantasy                   16

Science Fiction        2

Horror                      5

Western                    1

Nonfiction                    14

Biography/Memoir        9

Essays                            2

Travel                             1

History                           3

Social History                2

True Crime                     1

Science/Social Science   2

Arts and Crafts                1

Translated from another language to English: 12

From French        3

From Arabic         1

From Japanese     1

From Dutch          1

From German       2

From Italian          1

From Chinese       1

From Hindi           1

From Spanish        1

Setting (some books will have multiple settings)

Other world                    5

Other real world             4

Canada                         20 

United States                93

Europe                          61

Asia                              13

Latin America                9

Africa                             6

Australia / Pacific          6

Where I got the books

Library                        75

Owned                        94    of which 44 of the print ones got gifted elsewhere

Borrowed                      3

Temporary (Netgalley) 8 

Author Gender

Male                            35

Female                       140

Unclear                          1

Both                               2

Format

Graphic Novel                1

Large Print                     2

Regular Print

ebook                            58