Hi everyone. It's time for another book post for those of you who enjoy them. Today I’m wrapping up 2024 with my December books. Most of this month's reading/listening were shorter volumes, except for the last book which I finished. I'm not including my latest listen that I started right after Christmas as it is over a 50 hour story, and I’m not even close to finishing . Ha ha-maybe I'll have it done by March. 😏
It was time to read book 11 in the Maggie Hope series, which from all reports, will be the last. I suppose you can only have Maggie be involved with so many events during the Second World War since the war (luckily) did not go on indefinitely. However, I am sad to see this series end. But I must say this last book was one of my favorites, and it was a great way to end the series. (Although I think that the novel ends open enough that another book could come along if the author ever feels like writing one.)
This time Maggie goes undercover to Spain on a mission. She'd been requested by Coco Chanel to retrieve a letter for Prime Minster Winston Churchill. This fictional Maggie Hope story made me think of the book Aline, Countess of the Romanones by Larry Loftus which was a fascinating real life story of an American woman spy in Madrid. I was glad to see that the author had read that book (as well as a few others) and that she incorporated bits from that real life spy's life to Maggie's fictional one.
I like how the author had Maggie develop over the 11 books, and at this point, she is older, wiser, and looking for something different. I also like how the author brought back Coco Chanel, and I learned something about this woman other than what I already knew (that was that she was a fashion icon). The author also doesn't wrap up certain story lines either, which is why I mentioned she left things open for another book. Not that I think anything will be coming along soon, but if it ever does, I’ll be reading it.
Reykjavik is an enjoyable murder mystery that is told over ten year periods through the eyes of several characters. It all begins in 1956 when a 14 year old girl who is working as a summer housemaid on Videy Island just outside the city of Reykjavik disappears. According to the people running the house where she works, she told them she was done and was leaving. However, she never went home and has never shown up in the decades since she was reported missing.
You follow the investigation of this girl Lara through many eyes in this mystery, starting with the detective who originally investigated the case and who was told not to look too hard. Then you jump investigations to 1966, 1976 and finally to 1986, when a young reporter for a new start up newspaper pulls the case out and decides to write about it. It gets a lot of attention, which is good for the new newspaper but maybe not so much for the reporter.
I'm trying not to spoil this for those who might read it. Briefly, most of this book is set in 1986, and about half way through there is a BIG twist. In the second half of the book you have (mostly) a single narrator who interacts with many of the characters you have already met earlier in the story.
One thing I enjoyed about this book was how the book refers to various modernizations in Iceland during the time frames in this story. It’s easy to forget all that has changed since the 1950s, and fascinating to see those changes through Icelandic society. This book even mentions the Reagan-Gorbachev meeting in that city in the 1980s, and it was interesting to read about it through the city residents eyes. Plus when the book wrapped up, I was surprised who the killer was. This was a good read and not part of any series.
My first listen for the month was the newest biographical book by Stanley Tucci. Last year I listened to his other biographical book, Taste, My Life Through Food, which I very much enjoyed. I liked this new book, but not quite so much as I liked his other book. I do like when books, especially biographies, are read by the author, and that was true for both of Tucci's books.
This book is a diary like read. Tucci did not write daily, but each section has a date entry. And each entry tells a story, often about food, family, being an actor or being with friends. I did enjoy his stories and also hearing about food, but sometimes he got a bit in a "cranky old man" mode and was a bit preachy. But that was only here and there, particularly early in the book, and that is what I didn't like as much about the book as I did the first book.
Most of the book was filled with good stories and some inspiring food. On days I listened, I felt like cooking. (Perhaps I need to listen to this book daily so supper might be a bit more inspired-grin.) Tucci made me laugh which is always a sign that I like the book.
The Christmas guest was a novella (just around 2 hours of reading) by Peter Swanson. It's a mix of murder mystery and holiday ghost story.
Ashley Smith is an American art student in London with no one to go home to for the Christmas holiday. Instead, she decided to stay in London and is thrilled when Emma, one of her new "acquaintances" invites her to spend the holiday with her and her family at their Cotswold home.
This story is divided into 2 parts. The first part is Ashley's diary about her time in the Cotswolds. This sets up the background for part 2 which is more of the murder mystery- ghost story. I felt the first part could have been a bit shorter, but I definitely liked how part 2 took off from part 1. This book wasn't a bad way to spend part of an afternoon on the couch, and I never suspected part 2 would go where it did.
Having read the 3 Housemaid books by Freida McFadden this year, I figured I needed to complete the series by reading this short story. This story was a very quick read (under or about an hour), and as the author stated in a preface, this was meant to be read either between the second and third book or after the third book. The author states she is trying to bring the reader "up to date" from where book 2 ends to where you pick up in book 3.
It is Millie's (who is the main character in all 3 books) wedding day, and there's a threatening phone call. When Millie hangs up, the caller just calls back. There's suspense, since the caller seems to know exactly what Millie is up to, but Millie is not going to let that ruin her wedding day.
I think this was a nice little story that connected book 2 to book 3. This series is not the deepest most profound literature you will ever read, but it is enjoyable. McFadden does a good job with surprising twists in all the books and even in this short read. I enjoyed this story, and I think the author did exactly what she said in the preface she wanted to do.
You can’t go wrong with an Elizabeth Peters book, and even though this book is not a set in Egypt with archaeologist Amelia Peabody, Peters wrote some other romantic mysteries which are always also a fun read. Or in this case a fun listen. In this cozy mystery we meet Dinah Van Der Lyn, daughter of a preacher and on a journey visiting some ancient sites in Beirut and other parts of the Holy Land. Very quickly into the story she hears some men arguing in the hotel room next to hers, and then, even though the argument was not in English, one of them yells "help." It is only a matter of moments before she discovers a dead body.
Elizabeth Peters had a PhD in Egyptology/archaeology, and even though Dinah Van Der Lyn is not an archaeologist, there's lots of ancient sites visited in this book. And, as the title says, there is intrigue about the Dead Sea Scrolls. A wayward archaeologist who is convinced he knows where more of them are located. However, he has gone missing, and because of those moments back at the hotel when Dinah couldn't mind her own business, she seems to have become involved in some nefarious moments connected to the scrolls.
This book was originally published in 1970, and it is still a good mystery with some expected romance thrown in. It's light and not a long read, nor if it part of a series. Peters did write several mysteries about various archaeological sites that are generally similar to this one but still good reads when you want something light.
If you saw an earlier December T day post about a day out with my daughter, you might remember that I visited this awesome used book shop and bought myself a couple of books. Kind of Love, by May Sarton was one of those books. This novel (and my printed version) by Sarton was published in 1970, but her books are still available. I was attracted to this book because not only is Sarton a talented writer, but this story is set in fictional Willard, New Hampshire. Willard is a great name for her fictional town because it sounds so much like a real New Hampshire community. Sarton also lived in a quaint real life little New Hampshire town called Nelson for part of her life, and perhaps that town helped inspire her to write this novel.
The 2 main characters are Chrstina Chapman and her friend Ellen Comstock. As is true (still) for my state, many of the small towns are made up of long term residents who work hard to get by, and those residents who come in from out of state and have plenty of money to buy to second homes and come to spend all or part of the summer. Ellen is the long term resident and is friends with the more wealthy Christina who is one of those seasonal people. However, Christina is spending her first winter in Willard with her husband who has had a stroke, and she is learning more about the people of the town and why being tough becomes part of so many of those locals personality. Ellen's marriage had been a hard one, and she is now a widow. Christina's not as much. But their friendship has survived from childhood, and they are now both women in their 70's.
The second story running through this novel is the town's bicentennial. To celebrate, the committee in charge wants to look back at the town over those years. However reality isn’t always as glamorous as ideas of the past are, and you get to meet other town residents around this story also.
Sarton’s book still rings true for many things about New Hampshire. At least as far as some smaller rural towns go. Her characters are very relatable, and it is a richly written story. I liked this book very much; in fact it was one of my best books of 2024. Although not hard to follow, it wasn't the quickest of reads mainly because the story makes you/the reader very immersed in the people, places and time. It made me stop reading as I wanted to take in the story and mull it over.
That's it for my December books. I'm working on a 2024 year in review book post which I'll share another day. And since my goal is to read down some of my book pile, I'm not asking for any recommendations unless you have something really spectacular. 😏 But writing that and because I love books, I'm still interested in any book titles you might want to pass along.
Happy reading in 2025 to you!