Into the Water

Finished September 29
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins, read by Laura Aikman, Sophie Aldred, Rachel Bavidge, Imogen Church, and Daniel Weyman

This suspense novel begins with a death. Nel, single mother of a teenage daughter, Lena, has been found dead in the river in a small English town. Nel and her younger sister Jules had grown up there, living in the Old Mill House, the same house that Nel and Lena live in now. Nel always overshadowed her sister, more outgoing and prettier than her. When Jules was only thirteen something came between the sisters, causing Jules to draw away from Nel. Now Jules must return to deal with her sister's death and take charge of Lena.
The death seems like a suicide, taking place in a spot known locally as the drowning pool, where women going back centuries have taken their own lives. Nel was obsessed with the river and the women, and was planning to write a book about it. One of the stories that the reader becomes aware of is the deliberate drowning of a seventeenth-century girl who was suspected of being a witch. Another is a woman who drowned herself shortly after the first World War, after killing her husband who had returned from the war a changed and difficult man. More recently the local policeman's mother had supposedly drowned herself after a love affair gone wrong when he was only a boy, and Lena's best friend Katie had drowned herself for no explicable reason just a few months ago, filling her pockets with stones.
The police brass are eager to close the case quickly, but there's a new policewoman in town and as she begins talking with the locals and getting a feel for the various players, more inconsistencies come to light. Lena and Jules have both noticed the absence of Nel's bracelet, a bracelet that belonged to her mother and that she wore constantly. Katie's mother is still looking for answers, and for someone to blame. As both Jules and the policewoman make headway, the question arises of whether the drowning pool has drawn women who see no other choice or men who see a way to get rid of troublesome women.
I liked this novel better than her first, and found the tie to historical cases interesting. Things are always what they seem and this town has more than its share of secrets.

What's In a Name Wrap-Up Post

This is always a fun challenge to do, and I'm pleased that I completed it so early.

Here are the basics.

The challenge runs from January to December 2017.
You need to read books in the following categories, and the host gives examples for each category at the host page.  Here is my sign-up page.

1. A number in numbers (examples: 84 Charing Cross Road; 12 Years a Slave; 31 Dream Street)
* Boy, 9, Missing by Nic Joseph. Finished September 22

2. A building (examples: The Old Curiosity Shop; I Capture the Castle; House of Shadows; The Invisible Library; Jamaica Inn)
* The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure by Adam Williams. Finished February 4.

3. A title which has an X somewhere in it (examples: The Girl Next Door; The Running Vixen)
* Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston. Finished March 29

4. A compass direction (examples: North and South; Guardians of the West; The Shadow in the North; NW)
 * Road Signs That Say West by Sylvia Gunnery. Finished August 1

5. An item/items of cutlery (examples: The Subtle Knife; Our Spoons Came from Woolworths)
* Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman. Finished June 8

6. A title in which at least two words share the same first letter -- alliteration! (examples: The Great Gatsby; The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite; Gone Girl; The Cuckoo's Calling)
    Eel River Rising by Laura Reasoner Jones. Finished January 14

Baby Cakes

Finished September 24
Baby Cakes by Theo Heras, illustrations by Renne Benoit

This picture book shows a young child and the family cat helping mom make cupcakes. They gather ingredients, measure, mix, spill a little, fill the pans, and wait for the cakes to back. The illustrations are cute and everyone looks like they are having fun. It's a nice idea for kids who like to help in the kitchen. Included in the end papers, are a recipe for chocolate cupcakes in the front, and vanilla frosting in the back. This is where a few minor inconsistencies came up. The characters in the book make vanilla cupcakes, but the recipe is for chocolate cupcakes with a vanilla option noted. The recipe is in a different order than the story. In the story, they mix the dry ingredients first, but in the recipe they cream the butter first. The characters in the book seem to be eating baby cakes with frosting at the end, but there is no activity of them putting frosting on the cakes. I know these are minor inconsistencies, and don't have an effect on the fun of the book, but they just jumped out at me.
One very positive note: I know there has been much discussion of late of more children's books where the children can see themselves in the books they read, requiring more diverse characters in kids' books, especially where the characters are just themselves without commentary on race or ethnicity and I was pleased to see this book as a great example of filling that need.

Slug Days

Finished September 23
Slug Days by Sara Leach, illustrations by Rebecca Bender

This chapter book features Lauren. Lauren has Autism Spectrum Disorder, and she has several tools at her disposal both at home and at school to help her when she begins to feel frustrated or panicky. Those days when things don't go well Lauren refers to as slug days.
As the book begins, Lauren's day starts off badly when her usual seat on the bus is taken by another child. The bus driver is a substitute driver, and so when Lauren's initial solution doesn't work, she must find a new seat, and find a way to control her bad feelings.
As we see Lauren encounter different situations in her life, in the classroom, at home, and elsewhere, we learn the different types of challenges that she must deal with.
This book works well to explain some of the typical challenges for children on the spectrum, and shows some of the different techniques that can help. Good days for Lauren are referred to as butterfly days by her, and we see her enjoying these as well.
Having a new baby sister is one change to her routine that she has found challenging, but we see her find a way to make that connection for herself. We also see her finding a friend at school. We see the reality of teachers and other adults not noticing behaviours and Lauren needing to find her own solutions.
The illustrations are charming simple black and white drawing, but give a sense of the situations Lauren finds herself in.
A great choice.

Boy, 9, Missing

Finished September 22
Boy, 9, Missing by Nic Joseph

This novel has flashbacks to an event that happened when Francis was thirteen. His parents had another couple and their young son, Sam, over for dinner. Sam was 10, and Francis' younger brother Lucas was 9. After dinner, Sam did a special presentation for the adults, and when he went back upstairs he quickly returned, speechless and upset. Lucas is found unconscious in the bathtub. Despite Francis' parents efforts, Sam never spoke of what he witnessed that day.
Francis' parents divorced, and he moved on, changing his last name. But when he returns to his hometown of Lansing, Illinois to take on a job at the local paper, the past comes back to haunt him. Sam's own young son, Matthew, only 9 years old, has been kidnapped. Francis' father is one of the key suspects. Francis begins the search for his father, which also leads him to the truth about that evening so many years ago, and what really happened to his younger brother.
Francis is separated from his wife and his teenage daughter Amy is coming to live with him for a year while his wife takes on a European assignment. Francis is eager to ensure his daughter is made welcome, but he has never told her of his own past. The day she is due to arrive is the day that the news about Matthew's kidnapping breaks, and Francis finds himself first threatened, then offering his assistance in the case.
This is a sad story about justice delayed, about a child caught up in an incident not of his making, about how love can lead us astray, and about how secrets can change lives.

It Happens in the Hamptons

Finished September 20
It Happens in the Hamptons by Holly Peterson

This novel includes romance, mystery, and new beginnings.
Katie Doyle was in a bad place emotionally when her mother died. A man she had an affair with at a work conference, George Porter, helped her with some of the things that needed to be dealt with, and suggested that she spend the summer at a cottage in the Hamptons owned by his family. Moving from Oregon to New York was a big step for Katie, but she felt her and her young son Huck need a new start. She's done some pre-work, applying for a job in a local school, and registering with a tutoring agency. She also doesn't feel comfortable living in the cottage without paying rent, so George's mother has agreed to accept $500 a month for the rent.
Arriving in her new home, Katie and Huck explore the area, wander through local shops, check out the beach, and get themselves bicycles to get around. Katie finds that George's mother, Poppy is one of the long-time summer people here, with a staid club and lots of good works on her agenda. Katie is corralled into being on a committee associated with one of them.
Katie also attracts the attention of a local man, Luke, who runs a surf school during the summer and teaches during the rest of the year. She enrolls Huck in the surf school to get him more comfortable in the water, and Julia, the mom of another student, befriends her. She starts to settle into her new life.
George doesn't seem to be around much, which surprises Katie, but also frees her to find her own way of doing things.
There are three groups here. One is the old cadre of summer people, who support the library and other local endeavors, but also tend to treat some of the public areas as their own, and come across to me as a bit paternalistic. There is a division here between the locals, such as Luke's group that run the surf school, and the club people who want the beach pretty to look at all the time. This group is led by Bucky and the Seabrook Club.
The locals include the shop owners, the business people such as Luke and his partners Kona and Kenny, and many of the employed staff at people's houses and clubs. They are aware of their reliance on the summer people, but don't like getting treated as objects or impediments.
The third group is the newer summer people, many of them self-made. One example here is the couple Julia and Jake Chase. They have a lot of money and have built fancy homes, but they are just looking to enjoy life and have fun. Jake tries to befriend Luke and the guys, but you can see he tries too hard to impress. Julia is a bit better at this, and successfully befriends Katie.
But this story has a more serious side too, and that involves all three groups. It was interesting the way this unfolded.
An enjoyable read.

Dodge City

Finished September 21
Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West by Tom Clavin, read by John Bedford Lloyd

This history looks at more than just Dodge City, Kansas. It looks at the general wild west, including Kansas, Arizona, Texas, and Colorado, among others. It mostly covers the period following the U.S. Civil War through the 1890s, but occasionally takes us further back or forward in time.
It tells us of Wyatt Earp, but also of all his brothers and their lives, and similarly with Bat Masterson, telling us of his brothers escapades as well. We see many other figures of the west including Doc Holliday and his on again, off again woman Big Nose Kate. We see Buffalo Bill, the McLaury brothers, the Clanton Brothers, Mysterious Dave, Belle Starr, Billy the Kid, and many more.
I didn't realize the way many of these people moved back and forth from one side of the law to the other, some breaking the law openly even while enforcing it.
Many of the men who spent time as lawmen also operated brothels, married prostitutes, and ignored the law when it was inconvenient to them. Some spent time for minor crimes, and got no jail time for bigger actions.
Sometimes, killing a man in self defense got them in trouble and other times it got them accolades. This was a time when things were wild indeed, where the men who didn't fit in found a way to live without boundaries. Men would shoot guns off just for fun, and as "western civilization" expanded to the west, wildlife grew scarcer and the relationship with the natives grew worse.
I learned a lot I didn't know.