History Lessons

 I started reading Zoe B. Wallbrook's debut mystery novel History Lessons (#1,737) because of its positive reviews.  To me, the mystery is how.  Did not finish.

The Correspondent

Honestly, I can't decide whether or not I liked Virginia Evans epistolary novel The Correspondent (#1,736).  I couldn't stop reading it because most of it was written in short bursts, but I never did warm up to Sybil Van Antwerp, the main character.  I think her writing keeps everyone in her orbit at bay, including the readers.

Without giving too much away, Sybil is writing letters non-stop, as she has throughout her life, as she is aging and her health is declining.  She is at odds with most of the people who matter in life and still trying to get her own way.  Her past is colored by a major tragedy, but when it comes down to it, whose life isn't?  But it does reflect in her attitudes on what she feels she is owed by those around her.  In those few confidants she is lucky, but doesn't realize it until almost too late.

I will say that Virginia Evans does have the knack of keeping the readers' interest.  I wish her a long and fruitful career as an author.

Replaceable You

I always know I will learn a variety of wacky facts when I pick up one of Mary Roach's fascinating non-fiction books.  That proved to be the case with her latest, Replaceable You - Adventures in Human Anatomy (#1,735).  This time, she tackles the subject of replacing body parts with a variety of things - metal objects, cultured cells, animal parts - the list is seemingly endless.

I did learn a lot about the cataract surgery I had which I definitely did not learn from my doctor!  But humans' efforts to experiment with replacement parts is in equal parts amazing, heroic and horrifying.  Ms. Roach also introduces us to a host of courageous people who have been willing to play their parts in perfecting replaceable parts for future generations.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book for mealtime reading, but do give it a read!

The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne

I thought a romantasy with garden magic and a quest sounded interesting, so I picked up The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne (#1,734) by Summer N. England.  I stuck with until it turned into a lesbian romantasy.  Not my thing, and the story wasn't compelling enough for me to stick around.  Did not finish.

The Night Watchman

I went back to re-read the post I wrote after I read Louise Erdrich's novel The Night Watchman (#1,373) the first time in December of 2023.  It's been so long that I had to re-read it for my book club.  As far as I'm concerned, it was even better the second time around.

Ms. Erdrich writes about her Chippewa background - ordinary people just trying to survive on the meager scraps the American government is constantly trying to take away from indigenous tribes (and who's the "Indian Giver" here?).  This time the threat is real, and Thomas Wazhashk is doing his best to combat the House Bill proposed by the Utah Senator to "terminate" the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe.  In other words, using seemingly benign phrases to wrest away the tiny scraps of land left in their reservation and stop providing any kind of services - health, education, agricultural - in a way that sounds as though it's beneficial to the tribal members, and not an effort to leave them destitute.

As Thomas mounts his campaign, we are introduced to a variety of characters whose lives intersect with Thomas's.  It makes for an enthralling read.

The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake

 A book about family, loss, hard choices and cooking, all set in the picturesque Lake Garda region of Italy.  What's not to like about Rachel Linden's The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake (#1,372)?  And the author and her mother actually developed the Orange Blossom Cake featured in this story!

Juliana Costa's life seems to be at a dead end.  She and her roommate have just shot the last episode of her vintage recipe cooking show which got them through the Covid pandemic.  Now Drew has a shot at Hollywood, and she's being left behind with eccentric roommates taking over Drew's part of their Seattle lease.  Plus she's already spent the advance for her cookbook contract due in September, and the samples she's sent are not even what they want! 

So when her mother contacts Jules to see if she will chaperone her half-sister Alex to Italy for the summer, all expenses paid, Jules jumps at the chance.  She barely knows Alex, but it will give her an opportunity to see her aging nonna at the olive farm where she spent so many happy days of her childhood learning to cook at her nonna's knee.  Jules hasn't seen Nonna Bruna since that summer when her father died and the bottom dropped out of her world.  Maybe this trip is the solution to finishing her cookbook contract on time.

It turns out that she's not the only one returning home; Nicolo, her first love, has come back to manage his nonna' s olive farm as well.  With the help of a magical cookbook Jules begins to see what was right under her nose the whole time...

Evensong

There are so few books out there written about women of a certain age which don't turn them into amateur detectives or murderers, that to find one which treats them seriously as actual people makes it a rare treasure indeed!  Evensong (#1,371) by Stewart O'Nan is indeed such a gem!

Set in Pittsburg, the story centers around the relationship between four women, the youngest of whom is a sprightly sixty-three.  What binds them together is Calvary Church where they are, or were, choir members, bridge partners, and active members of the Humpty Dumpty group.  The HDs, as they call themselves, perform a myriad of "church lady" functions: visiting the sick, bringing meals to shut-ins, sending cards, picking up groceries and medicines and bringing people to doctor's appointments for those who cannot drive.  

These activities have always been managed by the dynamic Joan.  But when Joan takes a tumble down her stairs and is incapacitated for weeks, her responsibilities are delegated to Kitzi, a member of the central quartet.  With Kitzi taking on added responsibilities, the dynamics of this group are shifted, and Evensong deals with the subtle changes and losses each member of the group endures.

It's so real that I felt Mr. O'Nan was channeling me.  Much of the ladies' social life revolves around the choir.  Although only Susie is still singing, the others are always in attendance supporting her.  For me, it was fun reading about the Anglican  (Episcopal) traditional services and musical selections for Evensong, Requiems and Lessons and Carols; Charpentier? check!  Faure's Requiem? check!  Jesus Christ the Appletree? check and why didn't the ladies know this one?!  But mostly it was the sympathetic way the characters are portrayed that appealed to me so strongly.  

I understand that Emily and Arlene, two of the main characters, are not new.  They are apparently in some of Mr. O'Nan's earlier books.  I look forward to spending more time with them there!