Goodbye to All That

Finished August 9

Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves

I've had this book for a while and picked it up to meet a reading challenge. This memoir was first published in 1929 and was very controversial for its honest portrayal of the realities of World War I and of the author's personal life. My copy has an epilogue from 1957 that gives an brief overview of his life since then. The epilogue had an interesting Canadian connection as he mentions an officer he'd met during the war was now a Canadian politician. It was just after this was written that Pearson became leader of the Liberal party and later, our 14th prime minister. 

Graves work talks about his early life and growing up in Wales, with influences from his father's Irish side of the family and his mother's German side of the family. The main portion of the book covers his World War I experiences, and they are written almost dispassionately, telling of the horrors of being on the front lines, the violence and conditions of war, and of the friendships formed. Graves had many friends who were also writers and poets, and one of them that appears repeatedly is Siegfried Sassoon, another officer who had some German ancestry. The realities of the war are sometimes hard to read, and unfathomable for me to understand how anyone could have lived through it without psychological damage. 

He also talks about his marriage to Nancy Nicholson, who he first met in April 1916 at a friend's house he visited and who he corresponded with after that. She was just sixteen at the time, and they married when she was eighteen and he was twenty-two. Nancy was an artist and an ardent feminist who wanted a full life. I was surprised to see what an equal marriage it was, with them sharing the parenting of their four children, and him doing the cooking for the household. They struggled financially, with his writing providing their main income. They did go to Cairo for a year where he taught at a university, but he didn't enjoy it and they didn't fit into the expatriate society well. He had both a brother and sister in Cairo at the time, and while they were welcoming, particularly his sister, they didn't have the same outlook on life. 

The title of the book represents his feeling at the end of the time he was writing about. When his marriage to Nancy ended, he left England and lived in Majorca (except for the years of World War II, where he did return to England)

I am really glad I read this book as it offers a glimpse into personal experiences at the time.

Some Like It Scot

Finished June 29

Some Like It Scot by Pepper Basham

This romantic comedy was a real page-turner for me. Katie Campbell is an award-winning travel writer. Besides writing for the travel magazine World on a Page, she also has a blog and podcast Where in the World is Miss Adventure. She gained the moniker Miss Adventure from the many mishaps she's had on her travel adventures. Dave, her boss at the magazine wants her to travel a bit less and begin editing and mentoring other writers. Katie is also close to her brother Brett and his wife Jess and their kids and talks to them frequently. She has a home base, the farm in North Carolina that she inherited from her grandparents. She also has a secret writing project that she hasn't told anyone but Brett and Jess about. 

Katie has just arrived on the Scottish island of Mull for a three-week assignment on a media introduction to a new specialty resort, where participants are immersed into Edwardian life through activities and dress, in an ancient Scottish estate. This is longer than her typical assignment, but since her grandfather came from Scotland she is interested to see the country. Soon after her arrival at Craighill, she has a mishap spill while trying to avoid a loose bird in the house. 

Graeme MacKerrow is a woodworker and carver whose family has just bought their ancestral home back after more than a century of not owning it. He is working on the restoration, but the family have leased it to the Lennoxes to fund their restoration. It is the Lennoxes who are running the immersive holiday that Katie is experiencing and writing about.

On a solitary excursion into the nearby village, Katie finds herself welcomed into Mirren's Books and the older women who make up the Stories and Stitches Book Club there. As she learns more about the area, thanks to the locals, she also finds herself enjoying many aspects of the Edwardian Experience. 

Graeme has sworn off women after a recent breakup, and the grieving he's done after the recent loss of his sister. He is focused on the estate's renovation, his family, and his carving business. When he finds himself repeatedly being drawn into Katie's activities, he finds himself partly resentful and partly fascinated. 

I enjoyed this romance, getting to know the two characters as we see both points of view. I also liked the depth of character in them. The inclusion of Scots dialect and Scottish/Gaelic terminology was well done and felt natural. A great read. 

Two People

Finished June 25

Two People by A. A. Milne

Published in 1931, this understated novel follows a couple, Reginald and Sylvia through some changes to their lives. They live in the country and enjoy the life they have. Reginald is forty and Sylvia is twenty-five and they've been married for six years, which is somewhat more common an age difference in that time period. Reginald admires Sylvia for her beauty and kindness and they are well-suited in their physical relationship. When Reginald writes a book, he finds a publisher and then is a bit astonished when it does very well, becoming a talked about novel and made into a play. This success takes them to a rented house in London for the season, and they find themselves meeting new people and interacting in different worlds than they've been used to. They spend less time together, and while they enjoy themselves, there are moments where they worry about their relationship.

Through a series of incidents, Reginald begins to see that Sylvia is also smart and observant and he finds even more to love about her, but he worries about whether he is still appealing to her. 

I really enjoyed a side story that emerges at a dinner party of a missed opportunity for love for their host and how they seem to be the only ones who notice something about the story.

Wry with a dry humour, this novel was a satisfying and surprising read.

Death on Beguiling Way

Finished June 19

Death on Beguiling Way by Patricia McLinn

This is the third book in the Secret Sleuth series. Sheila Mackey has started a new life in small town Haines Tavern, Kentucky. She and her new friend Clara go to yoga twice a week. One evening, their usual instructor is away with a more energetic substitute leading the class. When they go to class the following morning they find their instructor from the previous evening was killed just outside the studio and the police are on the scene. 

While the police talk about the murder being random, Sheila and Clara are sure it wasn't and begin to investigate. As usual, their dogs Gracie and Lulu are helpful in engaging with others and in providing a reason to be places. 

Sheila also has new friend Teague reconfiguring the bedroom closets in her house, bringing along his dog Murphy when he works there. Teague, an ex-cop and now teacher and handyman is discouraging of the amateur detective work, but seems to have inside knowledge of his own. 

I enjoyed this plot, with themes of financial fraud, family disfunction, and women trying to restart their lives. A light, engaging read. 

Good Taste

Finished June 16

Good Taste: A Novel In Search of Great Food by Caroline Scott

This historical novel takes place beginning in 1932 and follows writer Stella Douglas. Stella recently finished a biography called The Marvellous Mrs. Raffald about a female cookbook writer. It's doing okay, but isn't a best-seller. She has plans for another biography, but when her publisher Mr. Williamson asks her to take on a more broad-ranging project, a history of British food, she feels both honoured and overwhelmed. She isn't sure how to decide what to include and how to treat the inevitable foreign influences that exist in the nation's food traditions. 

She has a budget that allows some travel, but decides to place advertisements in some regional newspapers asking for recipes. Stella's best friend of many years is Michael, a chef in a French restaurant in London. She lived in London until her mother became ill and she moved back to her home village in Yorkshire. She rents a furnished row cottage called Celandine Cottage and visits her father regularly. When she goes up to London, she often stays with Michael and spends time with him and their mutual friend Lucien, a Frenchman who has unrequited feelings for Michael. 

When Stella's car breaks down on one of her information gathering trips, she is rescued by antique dealer Freddie, and he soon insinuates himself into her life. As she finds his influence affecting her choices, she starts to question herself and decide what she is comfortable with as a writer. 

This is a book that raises a number of things to think about. These include what real friendships look like, the fear of other cultures, anti-immigrant mindsets, and how to move forward from grief. It gave me a lot to think about and was relatable to things happening in the world today. 

I loved the discussions around food and folklore. The inclusion of diary entries and letters responding to Stella's ads gave another layer to the writing. 

Scott was inspired by the real life Florence White, author of Good Things in England, which was published in 1932. White is considered the first female freelance food journalist in England. 

Rest and Be Thankful

Finished May 14

Rest and Be Thankful by Helen McInnes

I read many of this author's romantic suspense novels when I was a young woman and enjoyed them, so picked this title up when I saw it fit one of my reading challenges. It is a very different book from the others of hers I've read. First published in 1949, it follows two women, close friend. Their friendship was forged by their experiences during World War II and earlier when Margaret Peel, the older of the two, guided Sarah (Sally) Bly through a very difficult period of her life. 

They are driving across the continental United States, with their driver a middle-aged Hungarian man who goes by the name of Jackson. In Wyoming, the end up in the middle of a cattle drive, and go to the lodge at the ranch the cattle are from. The ranch is owned by Jim Brent, a veteran of the war, as are some of the cowboys who work there. 

They love the atmosphere of the mountains and the lodge itself, built as a family home, but now housing only Jim. Jim is fighting for the ranch's future and when the women ask about buying the lodge to use as an occasional writers' retreat, he agrees.

The women plan for a month-long retreat for that summer when Atherton Jones, a man they know, has his venue fall through. He sends them the information on the writers he planned for and while they have a different idea of how the retreat will work, they do give in to some of his ideas. The group of writers is mixed consisting of both men and women, older and younger people, and people of different political views. 

The life of a ranch and its work is depicted well, as is the landscape of Wyoming. Many of the characters are working their way through their own issues, whether they realize it or not, and we growth in almost all of them. MacInnes' insight into human behaviour shows here, and while in some ways the novel is very much of its time, it also has themes that are more timeless. An enjoyable and thoughtful read.

The Book Witch

Finished May 2

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

This novel started slow with me, but then became hard to put down. The main character here is Rainy March, who is one of many book witches. Her mother and grandmother were/are as well. Rainy showed early aptitude and has been active since she was fifteen. She is now twenty-five. She lives with her grandfather and their housekeeper, Mrs. Turner, in an old house called Pilcrow House in Fort Meriwether, Oregon. Rainy's mother disappeared for around a year just before she was born, but died shortly after her birth without revealing anything about her father. The only memento she has is an old copy of the first Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret of the Old Clock. 

This novel has an interesting structure. It is split into seven sections: romance, mystery, fantasy, nonfiction, young adult and horror, thriller, and science fiction. These names are suited to the actions in that section. I liked this sentence from the job description of a book witch "Ideal candidate should be willing to jump into and out of books, short stories, and the occasional epic poem." She travels into and out of books using an umbrella, using the phrase "Our revels are now ended" to exit the book, and is accompanied by her familiar, a Russian Blue cat named Koshka. The leader of her cover is Dr. Regina Fanshawe, who is described as a taller, angrier Judy Dench, and she is very critical of Rainy, often holding up Rainy's mother as an ideal to strive for. 

Like many readers of his books, Rainy has a crush on a book character known as the Duke of Chicago, whose noir mystery stories are set between the World Wars in Chicago. He is an actual English Duke, who came to his title after the death of all three of his brothers in World War One, and he fled his home to deal with his trauma and now works as a private detective. The fans call themselves Duckys. When a situation arises in one of Duke's books requiring a witch to enter the book and resolve it, Rainy insists on going. 

There are eight Black and Whites or rules that witches are expected to follow. These rules include include no eating, drinking, or sleeping within the books they enter as these activities can cause them to forget their own identity and purpose. 

As Rainy breaks one of the rules and becomes romantically attached to the Duke, she is discovered and becomes restricted until her grandfather becomes absent for an extended period and she is determined to find him. Her adventures take her into many other books from Through the Looking Glass, to The Great Gatsby, and to closed theme parks, book burnings, and many more interesting situations. 

There is so much fun and quirkiness in this book that it is definitely one of my favourite reads. Other things I love, such as: Plan C in a situation means crying. 

Other quotes I loved: "Pencils down" and "All stories are love stories if you love stories".

Casually Yours

Finished March 23

Casually Yours by Vivian Jia Lac

This debut by Toronto writer Vivian Jia Lac is a winner. Set partly in Manhattan and partly in Oregon, the main character is only child Dani Tsai. Dani grew up in small town Silverpine, Oregon, in a house she and her father moved to after her mother returned to Taiwan to pursue her artistic career. Next door lived the Trans, a warm and rambunctious family who ran a local pharmacy. Their son Parker was the same age as Dani and the two became unlikely best friends. Parker was popular at school, always into sports, and became a local football star in high school. Dani was bookish, artistic, introverted, and has a passion for the idea of parallel worlds. Their families spent holidays together from the Fourth of July to Thanksgiving. Parker's mom, Cô Tran, was like a mother to her, much appreciated with the absence of her own mother. Parker's older brother Nathan went to university in Philadelphia and ended up settling there.

When they went to college, they went in opposite directions: Parker to the University of Oregon on a scholarship and later to San Francisco, and Dani to New York City. They stayed in touch until Christmas their sophomore year. Parker was supposed to come to New York for Christmas, but didn't show and basically ghosted her, refusing to respond to her, or even discuss what happened and why. 

Dani works for a magazine, Adagio, as a copy editor, but often writes freelance articles for it and other publications as well. She gets along with her co-workers for the most part and, as the book opens is looking forward to an interview for an online publication, for a contract 18-month position travelling through Asia, something her boss has already approved as a side gig as long as she meets her deadlines. 

After the dinner interview goes drastically wrong, Dani runs into Parker, in town for work as a sports marketing specialist, and the two reconnect. He even invites her to a gala his company is co-sponsoring that weekend. There, the evening takes a turn neither one planned for. 

Their casual relationship takes off from there. Regular meetups at his hotel suite and soon more. But whether it will last past his current New York-based assignment or not is unclear, and insecurities abound.

 I enjoyed the connection between the two characters, built from their past friendship, but with added passion. Shared memories, plus now secrets that just they know. Lac is great at characterization, and her dialogue is perfect. I got a good sense of even the less major characters of friends and family. A definite winner and an author I'll be looking for again. 

A Scottish Country Escape

Finished March 17

A Scottish Country Escape by Julie Shackman

This is the fourth book in the Scottish Escapes series, where each book is a standalone story. Here the main character is Elle Cassidy, and it is almost a year since her parents died in an accident. Since then, she moved back into their home where her grandmother has a suite to herself. Now she is ready to tackle her mother's newsagent shop, deciding to reopen it as a stationery shop, carrying a range of fine stationery as well as stationery items for children. As she is beginning her renovations to the shop, she has an encounter with a newcomer to the town, famous mystery author Dexter Grayling. He has ignored the signs indicating the narrow street is pedestrian only and not only nearly hit her and another local woman, but also had a condescending attitude that didn't include recognition of the situation or any apologies.

When the local woman, Linda Carlucci, has a strange reaction, muttering at him with her hand on her necklace, she doesn't think much of it until he returns soon after looking for Linda as he is sure that she laid a curse on him. Elle doesn't believe it, but her grandmother does, and urges her to help him.

As she spends time with Dexter, she changes her feelings about him, and an attraction is formed.

As Elle is dealing with the logistics of her work around the shop, and becomes involved in the fight to save their local forest trail, she does help Dexter. But the questions lead her into not only past events in their small town, but also into her family's past. 

This book has a mystery element, a paranormal element regarding the curse, and a romantic plot line for Elle. I really got a feel for the setting, and Elle's home and shop. I enjoyed the read, which is the second book I've read in the series. 

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

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.

Meet Me in the Margins

Finished December 7

Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson

This novel, set in the publishing world follows assistant editor Savannah Cade as she works to survive the changes at the firm she works for and (hopefully) launch a new career as an author. A chance meeting with one of the biggest editors in the romance world, Claire Donovan has gained Savannah an in to get someone to look at her manuscript. But Claire is soon to retire and Savannah hasn't quite finished her book, so with a deadline and a writing demands, Savannah finds herself stretched thin. Add to this, the son of her present CEO coming on board as a problem solver to save her niche firm from going under, and one can sense the stress right away. William Pennington has moved back to Nashville from New York City to take this on, and Savannah finds that she isn't as intimidated by him as she expects, partly because he actually seems interested in her opinions.

Some time ago Savannah found a secret room leading off the book room of her firm, one accessed through a filing cabinet. She goes there when she can to relax and think. When she leaves her manuscript there, she returns to find the first few pages marked up with critical advice. When Claire's response to it echoes some of what those mark-ups said, she finds herself returning to her anonymous editor for help.

As Savannah finds herself conversing on paper with this person, she also finds herself increasingly drawn to William, and is confused by her feelings. 

As always, any book about writing or reading is one that intrigues me, and I found myself hoping Savannah would find both love and a publisher for her book, but I was a bit surprised by how things happened. I found the characters interesting, even the secondary ones like Savannah's cover designer, country song singing friend. Touches of humour only added to the experience. 

Super Bloom

Finished December 3

Super Bloom by Megan Tady

This debut novel has a lot going for it, from an interesting main character and plotline to touches of humour and hope. The main character is massage therapist Joan Johnston, who works at a luxury hotel spa in Vermont. She chose massage therapy because a good friend of hers did, and began a relationship with another massage therapist, Samuel. Unfortunately, Samuel died in an accident several months ago, and Joan is still grieving him. 

Joan is on thin ice in her job, and her manager assigning a problematic customer to her as a last test goes in a different direction than Joan expects. The customer, bestselling romance author Carmen Bronze has a writing block, and wants Joan to dish inside spa secrets and stories for a fee, and a great review. Joan agrees, and finds herself coming up with lots of ideas, until she realizes that she wants to write them herself, not share them for Carmen to use. 

As Joan works through her grief, makes new connections with her coworkers, and learns to stand up for herself with her friends and in her job, she also deals with a mother who seems to be going through a Swedish death cleaning phase, a stalker in a van, and hope for a more promising future. 

I really enjoyed this read, and the way that Joan found this opportunity to be a way forward for herself.

Death on Torrid Ave

Finished November 12

Death on Torrid Ave. by Patricia McLinn

This is the second book in the Secret Sleuth series and the first with the main character Sheila Mackey in her new home in north west Kentucky. She has adopted a rescue dog, collie Gracie, who is about a year old, and Sheila is intent on being a good dog owner. She goes regularly to a dog park near here, one that has four different areas all accessed by gates from a central area. Two are intended for small dogs and two for larger dogs. There are a lot of people who use the park, and among them are two men who have a longstanding disagreement regarding proper dog training, Bob Coble and Dwight Yagos. They argue a lot and both have a group of followers. There are also many people that try to avoid those two factions. 

Sheila has made a friend, Clara, who has a dog Lulu that Gracie loves to play with. She is also working on repairs and changes to her older house. She's looking for a contractor now to add shelving in a couple of rooms, but has been disappointed in the lack of professionalism in the ones that she's contacted, who either come late to appointments or don't show up at all. 

To avoid being outed as the famous author she previously pretended she was, she has come up with a backstory of being an English teacher in upstate New York who has received a small inheritance allowing her to retire. 

When the two women befriend another new arrival in town Teague O'Donnell and his dog Murphy. He's a substitute teacher and a tutor. Sheila worries about whether him also being a teacher might jeopardize her cover story, and he does ask a lot of questions. But when he turns out to be handy, she hires him to do the shelving project in her home. 

Soon, though, there are more things to worry about, when one of the regulars at the dog park turns up dead in the park without their dog. With Sheila and Clara making the discovery, the local law enforcement seems to focus on Sheila as a newcomer. She and Clara decide to do a little investigating on their own. 

I liked the characters, including the details that gradually came out as the story unfolded. I liked the dogs and how the different breeds and individual dogs had their own quirks. The plot worked well, and didn't feel contrived. I like this series.

6:40 to Montreal

Finished November 9

6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk

This locked room mystery is quite the page-turner. The narrator is Agatha, a woman who wrote a mystery book featuring a yoga instructor that became a best seller. Now, she's trying to work on a second book, but is coming up short on ideas. She's also been undergoing cancer treatment and as a result has been stuck in a depression. Her husband Teddy has given her a gift of a business-class, round-trip ticket from Toronto to Montreal by train, thinking that she can use the uninterrupted, mostly internet-free journey there and back to write. She's a little disappointed in the gift, which doesn't even include a night in Montreal before returning, and she has planned something on her own that he isn't aware of.

It a day of a winter storm, and by the time Agatha gets down to Union Station the snow is coming down quite intensely. The attendant, Dorcas, seems professional and friendly and then gets distracted by the task of teaching an intern the basics of the job. Agatha is one of the first people on the car, and notices a mother and young adult son, Vivien and Rupinder get on because they are seated in the emergency exit row, and Dorcas explains the emergency procedure to them. 

The car isn't full, yet an older man, Finch Weatherby, sits beside her and tries to get her to give up her seat to him. She takes an immediate dislike to him, and that only increases as he makes some loud phone calls that are abusive and demeaning to the person on the other end. A couple other people get on, but Agatha has been distracted by Finch and doesn't really notice them.

She still has trouble focusing on writing and finds her mind going in other directions. When the train suddenly stops and all but emergency power goes off, the passengers begin to ask questions and worry about how long they will be stopped. When they discover that one of the passengers is dead, they begin to suspect each other. As the passengers begin to get more anxious and the tension increases, they find even more to worry about and tensions continue to build. The doors on their car have been locked in the emergency and they can't move away from each other. 

Fast-moving and dark, this novel offers lots of twisty elements. 

Did one of them kill the passenger, and if so, why? 

Death on the Diversion

Finished October 8

Death on the Diversion by Patricia McLinn

I was introduced to the main character in this series, Sheila Mackey, in the novella Before the Murders. Here Sheila is on a cruise, something that she has done plenty of times before, but this is her first time without her aunt Kit. They've also taken a relative along with them, and this trip Sheila is travelling with a distant cousin, Petronella, who is recently divorced from her abusive husband because he found a new woman. She has obvious confidence problems and is also protective of Sheila. 

Sheila meets a member of a group travelling together as she gets a manicure at the start of her voyage. Odette is friendly and has travelled on with her group before, but there are interesting dynamics between what used to be three couples. Spouses are now in relationships with other of the group's partners, with Odette the odd woman out and seemingly not bothered. Another woman in the group, Leah, is the one who seems often in a bad mood, and is unpleasant to fellow travellers and staff alike. 

There is also another repeat group aboard, a group of women who are loud, with flashy clothing, cosmetic enhancements and and entitled attitudes. 

As Sheila, with long distance advice from her aunt Kit, endeavours to figure out the mystery, she gathers information from crew members, members of both travel groups, her own companion, and her helpful dinner table companions. 

I enjoyed this mystery, and the way that Sheila became more confident of her own observation and problem-solving skills. There is humour here as well. An entertaining read. 

The Summer of Yes

Finished September 2

The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh

This is a great summer novel, perfect for vacation reading. The main character is Kelsey Worthington. One day, on her way to work, after picking up her boss's coffee for a favour, she is hit by a car that jumped the curb. The next thing she knows is waking up in a hospital bed. She is lucky to not have more serious injuries than she does, and she begins to reconsider some of her life choices. 

When the other bed in her room is taken by legendary businesswoman Georgina Tate, she thinks of it as an opportunity. Not necessarily to further her career in publishing, but to get her out of her rut. 

As the women exchange advice, Georgina finds herself swept along in Kelsey's plans to have a summer of saying yes to opportunities. 

One of her first steps once she is out of the hospital is to reengage with her best friend, and then to take a leave of absence from her job to work on her own writing dreams. 

Georgina has focused her life on her business, leaving little room for the family that moved away from her years ago. Now that she is facing health issues, she too is thinking about her life and what she gave up in her quest for business success. 

This is a tale of second chances, risk-taking, and being open to what life offers you. A book that is full of emotions. 

The Truth According to Us

Finished August 30

The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows

This is an historical novel set in the summer of 1938 in a small town, Macedonia, in West Virginia. Layla Beck is the daughter of a senator and niece of a man in charge of the Federal Writers' Project, one of the programs under the New Deal. She has refused to marry a man of her father's choosing, so he has cut her off financially and had her assigned to write a pamphlet on the history of Macedonia under the Federal Writers' Project. Layla has expectations of where she is being sent that are quite unlike the reality that she finds herself placed in. Layla's point of view is mostly shown through letters between her and her friends and family. 

She is boarding in the house of Jottie Romeyn, a woman with a strong personality whose household also includes two of her married sisters Minerva and Mae (except on the weekends when they visit their husbands), her nieces Willa, twelve, and Bird, as well as the girls' father Felix. Felix travels a lot for work and is only home occasionally. Willa is the main narrator in the book, and it opens with her and her aunt Jottie watching the town Decoration Day parade. Willa is observant and beginning to be interested in the nuances of the world of the adults in her life. At the parade, she watches as her aunt has encounters with two people she doesn't know, but notes. She has questions about them, her aunt, and her father, and begins to investigate. 

Meanwhile, as Layla arrives in town, she finds the various members of the household eager to help her in her research, as is the town librarian. She learns not only the stories that the town officials are eager to tell her, but also the lesser known stories, some of which contradict the official stories. 

We also see Jottie's point of view as she deals with a man from her past, Felix's expectations, and her own feelings. 

I really enjoyed seeing Willa discover the secrets of her family and community, Jottie bringing her own strong will to the fore for herself and those she cares about, and Layla discovering her own skills and asserting independence for herself. This novel deals with history that can sometimes be uncomfortable, but is also important to be able to deal with the world as it is for the characters. With the strong female characters, including Minerva and Mae, I enjoyed this novel immensely. 

Sweet Savage Death

Finished August 2

Sweet Savage Death by Jane Haddam

I was looking for a book to fit a challenge and found this older title in my library's offerings. I'm glad I did, I really enjoyed reading a book written in the early 1980s, without knowledge of all the technology, and I loved the humour of the author. The main character Patience (Pay) McKenna is a writer that writes both well-researched articles freelance and romances. 

Before the novel proper starts, there is a section called Fires of Love General Editorial Guidelines. This is typical for category romances at the time, where the publisher determines certain aspects of the book and a formula for the plotline. We will learn that this is a relatively new publishing line that Myrra, Pay, and many others have written for. This gives some insight into the area of the publishing world that this book is set around. 

As the novel begins Pay is at the funeral for a fellow romance writer, Myrra Agenworth, who had died as a result of a mugging. It was unusual that she was out walking her dog in the middle of the night, but the authorities didn't make much of that. Pay had liked Myrra and Myrra had taken her under her wing a bit, since all her own children were dead and her granddaughter lived overseas. Pay is sitting with a fellow romance author and friend, Phoebe Damereaux who has been very successful. They are noticing the other authors, the agents, and the editors who are also attending, and we get some background on the ones who will appear later in the novel, which is helpful. 

Pay and Phoebe go out for dinner together after the funeral, and then back to Phoebe's place. Pay doesn't get back to her apartment until after midnight, where she grabs her mail, and walks up the stairs to her third floor apartment. But then things go sideways. Her apartment is not only locked, but also bolted from inside. She goes for assistance, and when the police break down the door, they discover the body of Julie Simms, literary agent to many top romance authors. Despite her alibi, she is a suspect in this death, and Myrra's death is now being looked at again. As Pay decides she must figure out the real killer to save herself, she finds several people who could be responsible and doesn't know who to trust besides Phoebe. 

I found the writing refreshing and the plot intriguing. Pay is a woman who isn't intimidated easily, and she is smart with a wry sense of humour. I will look for more books in this series. And yes, she has a cat. 

Memorial Days

Finished March 2

Memorial Days: A Memoir by Geraldine Brooks

This memoir moves back and forth between two times: one beginning on May 27, 2019, when her husband Tony Horowitz died suddenly; and one beginning in February 2023 when Geraldine went on a solo retreat to a small beach house on Flinders Island in Australia, her home country. 

Tony was on a book tour at the time, after writing a book that required intense research, and a tight deadline. She had met up with him at other points on the tour, but decided not to on this weekend. Their older son was on his way to Australia with his girlfriend, and her younger son was at boarding school. Tony's mom and siblings were at a family get-together in Maine. 

Geraldine was notified of Tony's death through a terse phone call from a hospital. When the follow-up call from the police came, they were, at least, kind. 

Because she was alone and far from where he died, on a holiday weekend where travel was difficult, she felt that she couldn't react the way that she wanted to. She had to hold herself together, and do what needed to be done. It wasn't until the trip she went on nearly four years later that she was able to truly grieve. 

The book moves back and forth between these two times, as she points out flaws in the system that she dealt with, the lack of planning for death she and Tony had done, and the various bureaucratic issues that she had to deal with immediately after her terrible loss. 

Geraldine grew up in Australia, and until she met Tony, an American, had every intention of living there and making her career there. Flinders Island, part of an archipelago between Tasmania and the rest of Australia had drawn her early in her adulthood, and in 2023, she tries to imagine what her life would have been like if she had spent it there instead of where her life took her. 

The beauty of the island, the nature that she describes paints a picture that is both wild and immersive. She watches the ocean, the sky, the land, and its creatures as she comes to terms with her loss and where it leaves her now, facing a future that is different than what she had imagined. 

This is a moving book, one that brought out emotions in me as I read it. She is an author I have read a lot and enjoyed immensely for her beautiful prose. Highly recommended.