Six Cats a Slayin'

Finished April 28

Six Cats a Slayin' by Miranda James

I've read other books in this series (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery) and enjoyed them. I picked up this one at my local library. In mid-December, Charlie Harris is making his Christmas list, something he always intends to do sooner, but ends up last minute. This year he has a new neighbour, Gerry Albritton, who seems overly friendly, which makes him uncomfortable. She's having a party before Christmas and sent him an invitation. He doesn't want to go, but feels he should. She has a last name known in their town, but no one Charlie knows seems to be able to place her. He and the department secretary work together on trying to figure out who Gerry is.

It is also Charlie's first Christmas with grandchildren, something he is very excited about. Both of his children now have children, and his daughter is dealing with a colicky baby and facing exhaustion, refusing to get help. Both Charlie and others in the family are worried about her. 

When he answers the doorbell one day, he finds a box with five kittens and a note in obvious children's writing asking him to look after them as "he says he'll drown them." Having five kittens is quite a surprise and disrupts the household. His housekeeper Azalea is patient, but Charlie soon gets help on a way to contain them. Diesel, his cat, is very interested in these kittens, and takes an almost fatherly role in looking after them and trying to keep them out of trouble. Meanwhile Charlie tries to figure out who the child is and how he can help them. 

When the night of the holiday party arrives, Charlie and his girlfriend Helen attend, but things seem odd. Many of the partygoers seem nervous, and Charlie and Helen overhear a strange conversation. When the host suddenly collapses, they have another mystery on their hands. 

There is lots going on, and several storylines to keep the reader interested. The kittens are up to trouble, and so is someone else in the neighbourhood. I enjoyed the lighthearted parts, like the kittens, and worried along with Charlie about his daughter. But the neighbour's collapse is the central mystery that involves the police and this time the detective wants Charlie's help. 

I always enjoy this series and this one is a real pageturner with so much happening. 

Twelve Angry Librarians

Finished April 2

Twelve Angry Librarians by Miranda James

This is the eighth book in the A Cat in the Stacks series which features librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine coon cat Diesel. I've previously read the fourth book in the series Out of Circulation and the fifth book, The Silence of the Library. 

The books are set in the small town of Athens, Mississippi, and here Charlie has been working as the interim director of the Athena College library. Normally he works in archives and rare books, and he had a career in the public library in Houston. Charlie returned to Athens after the death of his wife, and both of his children live and work nearby. 

As the book opens, it is a few days before the Southern Academic Libraries Association conference which the college is hosting, and Charlie is learning that he will have to make a short speech at the opening ceremony. He is dismayed to find out that the keynote speaker, Gavin Fong, is a man he can't stand, a man he went to library school with, and had a run-in with back then. He is even more dismayed to find out Gavin has applied for the library director position. 

As Charlie looks up what Gavin has been up to since they last me, he finds a pattern of short-term positions. When he sees that a couple of papers cited have other library school friends as co-authors, he decides to contact them to see if they are coming to the conference and if they have any more information on Gavin. 

At the conference Charlie finds out there are a lot of people who don't like Gavin, so when Gavin dies suddenly many people come under scrutiny, including Charlie. 

Diesel shows up often in the story, as Charlie takes him most of the places he goes, including to work, and out in public Diesel is usually on a leash. Diesel serves as a sounding board for Charlie when he thinks out loud, and sometimes inspires a useful idea.

This is an enjoyable series and I like the library content that is included. Gavin makes for an easy character to dislike, and the investigation is one that leads in interesting directions. 

The Silence of the Library

Finished October 4

The Silence of the Library by Miranda James

This is the fifth book in the "Cat in the Stacks" series featuring retired librarian Charlie Harris. Charlie is a widower and lives with his two adult children, Sean and Laura; a boarder; and his beloved Maine coon cat Diesel in Athena, Mississippi. Diesel goes almost everywhere with Charlie, and most people are familiar with him. Charlie is close friends with the library director and seems to give her advice and help with events as well as volunteer at the service desk on a regular basis. 

They have an upcoming event planned that is focused on classic children's and youth mystery series like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. One of the series is Veronica Thane and as the book opens they find out that the author is still alive, even though she is over a hundred. She also lives fairly locally, so plans begin to visit her and see if she might be willing to make an appearance at the event. 

Charlie grew up with these books, after being introduced to them by his favourite aunt. 

When word begins to leak out about the author, some of her most ardent fans show up, and when someone associated ends up dead, things start to get worrisome for the library and Charlie. 

This is a cosy series I hadn't come across before, and I found it didn't grab me as much as others. Charlie's role with the library was vague and for a small town, it was surprising how many people seemed to be unfamiliar with library staff and the other main players. 

The plot was interesting in some ways, and I did like how the old series books played a role in figuring out what was going on. 

South and West

Finished September 11
South and West: From a Notebook by Joan Didion, read by Kimberly Farr, with a foreword written and read by Nathaniel Rich

This is a never-before-released glimpse into Joan Didion's famous notebooks. The sections on the South are from June 1970 when she and her husband, John Gregory Dunne, took a road trip through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The include detailed looks at the people she saw around here, the conversations or fragments of conversation that she overheard, the images of small towns and cities that she passed through. She also had a few interviews with people from the south, prominent locally. The topics of race, class, tradition, and history seem to show how little has changed in the nearly fifty years since this trip was made.
She noticed the Confederate flags on everything from towels to clothing, the race divide that did not differentiate between wealth and poverty, and the class divide that did. She noticed how people talked of the past as something they had to hang on to, how people expected their lives to go on unchanged, despite larger change in the world. It was an incredibly engaging piece of writing.
The section on the West is much shorter and deals only with California. It dates from 1976, and the notes were taken for a piece she was to write for Rolling Stone magazine, a piece that was never written. Topics here included Patty Hearst (her trial was on at the time), images of San Francisco, and a visit to Sacramento that brought her back to her own younger days in that city when she was growing up.
Both show her focus, her powers of observation and memory, and her ability to internally stand back and observe even while being involved physically. These are a seldom seen door into the behind-the-scenes life of a writer. In this case, a writer of great skill.

Miss Jane

Finished December 18
Miss Jane by Brad Watson

Watson was inspired to write this novel based on the real story of his own great-aunt. Miss Jane Chisolm was born in the early twentieth-century in rural Mississippi with a genital birth defect. At the time, there wasn't the knowledge to correct the situation and so the local doctor watches carefully for signs of infection and other issues. This defect left her incontinent and unable to participate in the life that would otherwise be expected of her, that of wife and mother.
We see how the local doctor, intelligent and well-trained, asks for advice from colleagues back east in Baltimore and becomes a guiding force in young Jane's life. Her parents are supportive but rely on the doctor to explain things to Jane as she gets older, and Jane's older sister Grace becomes her primary caregiver early on.
Jane is a strong and intelligent girl and woman, curious about life and about her own situation. She would love to be a normal girl, but in some ways she always stands apart from her peers. Her efforts to engage in normal behaviour, from attending school to becoming interested in boys, are intense but ultimately she must rely on herself.
She feels most content on her family farm, living a simple life. I found her a fascinating character for her openness and acceptance of her situation, and her internal strength.

When Mountains Move

Finished May 31
When Mountains Move by Julie Cantrell

This novel begins in Mississippi, but is set mostly in Colorado. It is the spring of 1943 and young Millie is about to be married to Bump (Kenneth) Anderson, but has reservations. Not about Bump, but about herself. Something happened to Millie recently that has affected her trust in others and how she reacts when a man touches her.
Millie marries Bump in happiness and the two move forward to a future in Colorado where they will manage a ranch for Cuay Tucker. Millie has a natural affinity with horses and Bump has recently qualified as a veterinarian, and both are hard workers, so they are perfectly suited for their new lives. When they arrive, they find a small welcoming town not that far from the ranch that is their new home. There is an older man, Fortner, who is the son of the original ranch owners and who is looking to work at the ranch again. There is Oka, Millie's newly found grandmother, a Chocktaw woman, who comes to help in the ranch's early days.
As Millie learns the nature of this new landscape, and makes a home for her family, she also finds a way to come to terms with what has come before and move forward in strength and hope for a future.
Millie epitomizes the pioneer spirit, adventurous and hardworking and willing to see the best in others. The life she and Bump lead in Colorado is one that sets them on the path for a better future than either of them grew up with. This is a novel of hope and positive outlook in the face of adversity. I liked the inclusion of positive native culture here as well, respecting the hardships dealt to them and the traditions they observe.

Out of Circulation

Finished December 30
Out of Circulation by Miranda James

This is part of a mystery series called "A Cat in the Stacks" featuring library board member, archivist and library volunteer Charlie Harris and his thirty-six pound Maine Coon cat Diesel.
Two local older ladies An'gel and Dickce Ducote, also on the library board are having another instance in a long-standing disagreement with another library board member, this time over where to hold this year's fundraising gala. Charlie tries to stay out of these as both he and Diesel dislike disagreements.
But it does seem like the one older woman, Vera, has no shortage of enemies. When Vera turns up dead at the gala, held at the Ducote sisters large house, the sheriff seems to suspect the only witness and Charlie is asked to help get to the bottom of things.
We are introduced to Charlie's lady friend, as well as his two children and their friends, as well as Charlie's boarder Stewart.
The deputy has a personal interest in the case since the witness is her mother, and Charlie's housekeeper. Lots of false trails and intrigue and some family skeletons that emerge.
Despite the presence of cats and libraries and a decent plot, the book didn't grab me and I won't be going out of my way for more of the series.

Crooked Letter Crooked Letter

Finished June 24
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
This author was new to me, but definitely caught the flavor of the setting here. The book's title refers to the spelling of Mississippi, a new fact to me.
The action is in the present, but has flashbacks to the 1970s when the two main characters were young.
Larry Ott was a bit of an outsider, a reader rather than a jock, lacking any real friends. When he encounters Silas Jones, a black boy near his age, he makes some overtures. The two boys begin to hang out together when they aren't in school, finding a way toward a friendship of sorts.
Action by Larry's father creates a barrier between the two and the friendship falters.
Fast forward a few years and Larry takes a neighbour girl to the drive-in, his first date. He returns home without her, and she is not heard from again. Larry denies any wrongdoing and is never charged, but becomes ostracized further by the community.
Go forward a few decades and there is another missing girl. Larry is under suspicion and Silas is the town constable. As Silas tries to chase down the facts around the case, he and Larry must face the events of their past and make their way through them.
A fascinating tale of suspicion and prejudice, this book is a great read.