Books Completed Since May 1

  Novel-in-the-Making, Mary O'Hara
Wyoming Summer is one of my comfort reads, but I didn't realize O'Hara had two more nonfiction books! This one is the story of writing her novel The Son of Adam Wyngate. It begins with her driving east with her collie after her divorce from Helge Sture-Vasa to re-establish herself in Connecticut, and thinking on what she wants to write next, a family drama based on her own father. I was heartened by reading about how many false starts she had! At one point, she envisioned it as a trilogy and began writing the second book first. It was quite encouraging to know that even as an experienced writer, she had so many false starts.

The book also makes me glad I live in the computer age: her talking about having to edit her drafts by cutting and taping multiple pages of typewritten manuscript together made me exhausted.

  Any Trope But You, Victoria Lavine
Margot Bradley's once-flourishing romance writer career has gone down the tubes: someone found her private file, the one the now-cynical author kept to herself because she wrote unhappy endings to all her famous rom-com epics after an epic breakup with her fiancé, and broadcast it to the world. Her sister Savannah, who has chronic autoimmune disease, proposes that she go away for six weeks to a lodge in Alaska and write in a new genre: mystery. But no sooner does Margot arrive in Alaska than she runs afoul of Forrest Wakefield, a former researcher who is now taking care of his invalid father and is guilty because he wasn't there to care for his mother.

Two cynics, in this genre, equal romance, although neither of them will admit it at first. Great fish-out-of-water protagonist who discovers the "cozy lodge" comes with physical challenges, and a hero with heart.

  The Rhine, Ben Coates
The Dutch are different, but then so are the Germans. And the Swiss, and all the other countries along the length of the Rhine River. Starting in Amsterdam, Ben Coates follows the path of the Rhine all the way to its source at Lake Toma, covering the history, sociology, and current political and social customs of the countries he travels through, comparing and contrasting the people, the food, and the treatment of the river.

Sometimes Coates has his tongue more firmly planted in his cheek than perhaps he should have, but I enjoyed his journey up...down?...along one of the most notable rivers in Europe. I bought this book because I was tired of all the good travel narratives being about France!

  Juneau, the Sleigh Dog, West Lathrop
Grosset & Dunlap's "Famous Dog Stories" series. I ate these up as a kid. Nope, didn't want to read about girls dating and gushing over boys, or, when I was younger, little girls simpering over their dollies and having tea parties. Adventures. I wanted adventures! These, along with Albert Payson Terhune's wonderful collie stories, captured my imagination.

Got this from a friend who knew I liked old dog books. It's a corker: an engineer and his son are on vacation in Alaska. Dad is called away unexpectedly for a few daysand wants to take son Pierre with him, but Pierre persuades him to leave him at the cabin with Juneau the husky, knowing a neighbor, Andy, will help him if there's a problem; besides, he's in the care of their Native-American guide Ka-uk, a member of the Tlingit tribe.

Alas, these books were not exactly enlightened: Ka-uk deserts the boy and proves to be treacherous, and Pierre and Juneau are obliged to fend for themselves. Considering when this was written, I was impressed that Ka-uk's problem didn't stem from being "naturally bad" due to his heritage, but because he was an outcast from both his own people and from white people. Pierre gains maturity and experience during his unfortunately long ordeal, and the dog is magnificent.

  Fake Heroes, Otto English
Nobody's perfect.

This is a book about ten heroes--historic and celebrity-- whose lives were not what the public believed. I admit, I bought this book because the first chapter was about Douglas Bader, a World War II pilot whose positive press covered up the fact that he wasn't who he seemed; my husband, the consummate fan of aviation heroes, had read about him and scorned his fame. My mother, the ultimate JFK fan, knew all about his peccadillos and, later in life, knew about his illnesses. Almost everyone knew he didn't write Profiles in Courage; Ted Sorenson did. And once Mother Teresa died, the word about her forcing people to suffer without painkillers because "suffering was good for them" became known. And how many people didn't know Coco Chanel was a Nazi collaborator?

English offers up as well, in each of ten chapters, people he believes more worthy of the honors.

  The Curse of Penryth Hall, Jess Armstrong
Ruby Vaughn had one chance at a good marriage, but was "ruined" by an in flagrante reveal. After serving in the first World War, she now lives in England working—and sharing a house with—an elderly bookseller, who unexpectedly asks her to travel to Cornwall to deliver some esoteric books to a folk healer. Ruby is reluctant to go because her old friend Tamsyn lives there after marrying an English aristocrat. Mr. Owens' client turns out to be the town Peller, a cross between a healer and, from what Ruby can gather, some type of witch.

When Tamsyn's husband turns up dead, everyone is under suspicion, including Tamsyn.

An atmospheric thriller set in the 1920s with lots of twists (although the characters seem to spend most of the book soaking wet).

  Re-read: The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by William Anderson
There is some meat to this collection of Wilder letters, including some of the letters she and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane shared about the editing of the "Little House" books. Sadly, Rose burned most of the letters, especially those from the 1940s, so we will never know the full editorial partnership she shared with her mother. There is an impassioned letter of Laura's insisting that The Long Winter be confined to the Ingalls and Wilders with a few supporting characters rather than a full pallet of townspeople as Rose wanted to give full import of the isolation families faced during that hard winter of 1880-1881, which showed she did have the flair for storytelling that some literary scholars have denied her. But most of the letters are banal little responses to schoolchildren, with a few lovely gems.

The trouble is, I've read so many books about Wilder, including the recently published Pioneer Girl, that I've already seen many of these "surprise bits" (like the fact that a young couple and their baby lived with the family during the long winter), so the revelations aren't. It's also sad to read Wilder's last letters with her longing for her late husband clear even in the few paragraphs, and it's also obvious that the sisters did not remain very close after Ma and Pa and Mary died.

I've been a Laura "junkie" since I first saw the television series and wanted to know "the real story," so I'm glad I picked this up, but if you have less of an attachment to her, I would invest in one of the biographies instead.

  The Pocket, Barbara Burman & Ariane Fennetaux
What's the one thing women always complain about in modern clothing? Of course, not enough pockets. From 1660 through 1900, however, most women did have pockets, often capacious ones, which tied around the waist and went under their skirts (the skirts usually had a slit/slits to access the pocket(s).

This is a history of those pockets, most made of cotton, some of wool or leather or linen, some embroidered and many plain, and what women kept in them, from valuable things like coins and keys, to items for beauty (powder compacts, rouge), to things like snacks, books, visiting books, and sentimental objects. Often the pocket(s) were the only private places women had for their cherished items and they were often stolen by cutpurses who cut the tie strings or brazen thieves who reached under a sleeping women's pillow for her stash. Other women used their pockets as shoplifters hide things under their coats, to steal.

This is a scholarly study, but an interesting one.

  Modern Loss, Rebecca Soffer and Gabrielle Birkner
These are selections from a website called "Modern Loss," where stories of grief are shared. One of the stories from the co-authors sounds like it came out of a Law & Order episode: her father and stepmother were killed by a handyman who, a few weeks earlier, had done repair work at their home. He intended to just rob the house, but when he found them at home, he beat them both to death.

This book made me more depressed, so, obviously not what I needed to be reading at this time.

  A Musical in the Making, Mary O'Hara
This book was interesting to me not only about how she developed, then wrote and re-wrote, her musical play The Catch Colt, but how much work some of the process was. Since she was composing the music and writing the book, she had quite a load on her shoulders, but I never realized how laborious the orchestrations were! Fully half the book is about how she had to work and work on these orchestrations, and then she had to finally sell the play. I've seen behind-the-scenes of play production, but not ones that include the writing and the music. Pretty much just for O'Hara or play fans, though.

  Anything from Nothing, edited by Mercedes Lackey
The 2023 collection of Valdemar short stories. Much better than Shenanigans, which I really didn't like at all. The quality in this volume is pretty solid, from the opening story about a blacksmith's son who feels stifled in his small town and requests that a Herald take him away to Lackey's own tale of a small town under siege. Several of the stories are serial in nature, so we continue the stories of Healer Erenal and Nwah the kyree being held captive. One of my favorites was the story of a traveling carnival, "What a Chosen Family Chooses," and how they help a captive in a stifling village. "Needs Must When Evil Bides" is another good one, about a herbalist who helps a servant rescue a wealthy family taken hostage by bandits.

All the stories are worth reading.

Books Completed Since March 1

 The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl
This is a beautiful nonfiction book in which Renkl shares her observations of wildlife in her backyard and neighborhood. Renkl's brother contributes the gorgeous cover and interior illustrations.

Oh, the chapter "It's a Mystery" is very funny. I read it to my terminally ill husband and it was one of the few things that made him laugh.

  Scythe & Sparrow, Brynne Weaver
This is the final book in the Ruinous Love trilogy featuring Rowan and Lachlan Kane's younger brother, a doctor, and circus motorcycle daredevil Rose Evans, a previously abused young woman who encourages other abused young women to fight back. Rose is a neat character, but Fionn remains a little dull until the end when he embraces his violent side. Still, you get updates on Rowan and Sloane, and Lachlan and Lark.

 The First Ladies, Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
From the authors of The Personal Librarian, the story of the friendship between Eleanor Roosevelt and famed Black leader Mary McLeond Bethune, although the former's friendship with the latter scandalizes half of the white community. Bethune hasn't been chronicled as much as Roosevelt, so one learns many of her accomplishments, but it's in a way that requires great swaths of dialog to lecture you about them, making some of the talk sound unnecessarily didactic. Those who recoil at the thought of Eleanor possibly being...gasp!...a lesbian will probably want to avoid this book

  Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop, Roselle Lim
Another winner from Lim, about a reluctant fortune teller who hates her fate. Vanessa has always been able to predict the future correctly, but she hates it when she has to give bad news. Predicting a death chills her, so she decides to train under the family fortune teller, Aunt Evelyn, who's setting up a tea shop in Paris, and resign herself to the fact that she will never have a relationship, just like her aunt. But life, and Paris, has a way of changing her.

  Maria, Michelle Moran
This book has some details about the Von Trapps I'd never read, but if you want to know about the family, you'd be better off reading Maria's books, especially the final one where she came clean about several incidents she'd skipped before, and Agathe Von Trapp's book. And the behind-the-scenes of mounting the musical are okay. Fran and her boyfriend, however, exist just as sounding boards to tell Maria's story.

Books Completed Since October 1

  Inventing English, Seth Lerer
I never could resist a good linguistics book, and this was an enjoyable one.

In nineteen chapters, Lerer sketches watershed moments in the English language, from the poetry of Old English to modern vernacular. Indeed, much of the changes discussed relate to poetry, which is different from most of the English language books I have. Once French enters the scene, it becomes the language of politics and of the wealthy. Words not only change, but word order changes as well, and dialects change depending on what region of England you're from. Then along comes the Great Vowel Shift (you didn't think we could talk about the English language without this phenomenon, did you?). Chapters on Samuel Johnson's dictionary and American English and regionalisms are especially interesting.

 The Comfort of Ghosts, Jacqueline Winspear
After seventeen mysteries and several adventures along the way, this is the final novel in the Maisie Dobbs series.

World War II is over. Maisie, consulting detective for several decades, is now married to American Mark Scott, a Federal employee. They have an adopted daughter, Anna. Maisie discovers that four teenagers are living in her old Belgravia house, and that they are nursing a shell-shocked and gravely ill former soldier. As she helps them, she discovers a secret about her late husband James Compton.

In Maisie's final story, her future takes a new turn, and we see somewhat into the future of her family, her friends, and even some new family. In a surprising turn, I learned that, because of fears of invasion by the Nazis, the British recruited and trained orphan teenagers to be assassins.

I will certainly miss Maisie and her extended family. Perhaps Winspear might update their story sometime so that we find out what happened to Anna, Priscilla's sons, and others.

  Lady of the Silver Skates, Catharine Morris Wright
This is a biography of Mary Mapes Dodge, who wore many hats in her life, especially as the editor of the magazine "St. Nicholas," one of my favorite things, but she is most famous as the author of the children's book Hans Brinker; or The Silver Skates. Known as "Lizzie" in her family, she grew up in a literary family who published magazines. Lizzie later married William Dodge, but when family fortunes started reversing, and one of their children became sick, Dodge abandoned the family and was later found to have committed suicide. Lizzie was forced to support her family and thus became the editor of one of the most famous children's magazines of all time, sharing correspondence with some of the most famous writers of the time.

I was happy to find this book because of my love for "St. Nicholas," and indeed, there is almost as much about the magazine as there is about her most famous book. It's very oddly written; I can't explain totally, but it has sort of a folksy narrative that is very odd in a biography. Sometimes it annoyed me a bit; I would have preferred it more conventionally written. But it was the most I'd ever heard about Mary Mapes Dodge, who was once a household name.

 The Black Bird Oracle, Deborah Harkness
This is the first book in Harkness' sequel to the All Souls trilogy that began with A Discovery of Witches. Matthew de Clermont and Diana Bishop have lived a quiet life since Diana confronted the Congregation, raising their twin children Philip and Rebecca. They are planning to take their usual summer in London when they are summoned: because they are "Bright Born," the children must be tested by the Congregation as they turn seven. Based on her own childhood experiences, Diana is afraid that Pip and Becca will be found wanting or dangerous, and will be spellbound as was.

Diana flees with the children to Ravenswood, her mother's family's home, where a community of witches also stand in judgment toward her. Later some of the community embrace her, and others see her as an enemy. It's here she will learn secrets about her mother's family.

It's not as compelling as Discovery, but I love the universe and the characters. I was a little disappointed that all of a sudden that Diana's father, who has appeared as a nice character in the previous books, seems to become a different person in this one, and not a pleasant one. I fear she might be retconning things to make the female characters more powerful. Still, I'm looking forward to the future of this series.

  London's Secret History, Peter Bushell
I picked this up at a book sale thinking it was about unusual places in London. Instead, it contains anecdotes about the eccentric people who lived in London over the years, including Samuel Johnson, Samuel Pepys, and Sydney Smith. Some of the names are well-known, like the Mountbattens, the Duke of Devonshire, Sir Walter Raleigh, the infamous Nell Gwynn, and more.

I found this to be very funny reading before bed and am glad I spent the $1.50 on tit.

  Spy, Spy Again, Mercedes Lackey
After her awful Eye Spy, which was ruined by her totally obvious hatchet job on an unpopular (yet truly odious) politician (it could have been done so much more subtly, but no, she had to be so obvious about it that it was stupid), this final book in the trilogy about Mags and Amily's brood is a corker. Tory, the youngest, has been the best friend of Prince Kyril "Kee" since babyhood. Neither of them have been Chosen by companions, and their combined Gift (Kee can amplify Tory's farseeing) makes them prime agents to go undercover in Karse to rescue the kidnapped daughter of Bey, Mags' cousin, a professional assassin.

Siratai, however, is holding her own. Being held hostage in a keep with magic baffles, the talented assassin is keeping her Karse captors at bay, but it will take more than the assistance from Earth elementals to get her from her prison.

Tory and Kee take second place in this story to Sira, who is a kick-ass, clever protagonist. You can read this just for her.

  Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America's Cemeteries, Greg Melville
This is a fascinating history of the United States from the point of view of the earliest graveyards in Jamestown which show the conditions that first winter were so bad that the remaining explorers resorted to cannibalism through the years of graveyards to cemeteries to memorial parks, and finally the future of cemeteries, given the lack of land and the damage modern burial does to the environment. One chapter talks about how Plymouth settlers' survival depended on robbing Native American graves; another addresses how enslaved persons' graves were relegated to neglected areas of plantations. Fascinating insights into how embalming became popular after the Civil War (and how embalmed bodies are polluting our planet), how cemeteries became parks, military cemeteries, the infamous "Forest Lawn," and more.

Terrific reading.

  From Bad to Cursed, Lana Harper
Part of the "Witches of Thistle Grove" series. Four families live in Thistle Grove, the earth witch Thorns, the Avramovs (who deal with dark magic), the Blackmoores descended from Camelot, and the Harlows. During Beltane celebrations, dark magic attacks Holly Thorn, nearly killing her and halting her magic. Her cousin Rowan Thorn, and Isidora Avramov, who summons demons for fun, are partnered to solve the mystery. Issy has a history with Rowan that isn't pleasant, but she tries to act professional. Naturally, they fall in love with each other.

I found some of the magic intriguing. Isadora and Rowan, not so much.

Books Completed Since September 1

  Winter's Gifts, Ben Aaronovitch
A re-read in real book form: FBI Special Agent Kimberley Reynolds, who was introduced in Aaronovitch's "Rivers of London" in Whispers Under Ground, is the focus of this short novella with a seasonal theme (after The October Man and What Abigail Did That Summer). A retired FBI agent calls in an alarm about a mysterious event in Eloise, Wisconsin, that no one understands until Reynolds finds out about it. She travels to Eloise to find that portions of the town have been destroyed by an "ice tornado," the FBI agent is missing, and some ominous creatures are wandering the shore of the nearby lake.

This starts out slowly, with Reynolds narrating her involvement due to her knowledge of esoteric activity that she learned from Peter Grant during his involvement in the previous case and talking about her past. However, the pace picks up very quickly as odd "monsters" creep out of a blizzard and wreak havoc in the town. The end is a tense chase straight out of a horror film as a long-buried curse has been unearthed involving Native American spirits.

I enjoyed this although it was a different narrative from the British-set books. Some British-isms do creep in, but I don't find them all that distracting. Reynolds herself is an interesting character because she was brought up as a strict Christian, but is now dealing with otherworldly events with no relation to the beliefs her mother tried to instill in her. I also liked the slow-attraction romance that is very peripherally part of the story (the ending is particularly sweet).

  Magical Meet Cute, Jean Meltzer
Faye Kaplan is an imperfect potter. Due to an abusive childhood, she has an injured hand, so her creations always turn out a little wonky, and she hates them for being imperfect. She lives in Woodstock, NY, with a rescue dog who's definitely not toilet trained, and feels her life is finally going the right way—until anti-Semitic flyers are scattered across town. Faye, who has embraced a future as a "Jewitch," in a drunken panic creates a protective golem which she buries in the backyard.

Next day, on the way to an emergency meeting at the local synagogue, she strikes and knocks over a man with her bike. Upon waking up, "Greg" can't remember anything about himself, so in a fit of remorse Faye welcomes him into her home to nurse him while he recovers. Did I mention Greg was a hot redhead, and looked a lot like the clay golem she created? Did I mention he was very sweet, but Faye was afraid he was going to end up like every golem in literature?

A whimsical story about magic surrounds a serious plot about growing anti-Semitism in the suburbs, as Faye fights the loathing of her imperfections and the growing kindness of Greg with the help of her elderly, hoot-and-a-half neighbor Nelly. A sweet, not spicy, romance about a serious subject from an unusual angle.

  Sensational: The Hidden History of America's "Girl Stunt Reporters," Kim Todd
In 1885, an "anxious father" wrote to a Pittsburgh newspaper asking what to do with his five daughters. They had graces but no marriage prospects, and everyone knew that all girls were "fit for" were having babies and marrying. A young woman who wanted to do neither wrote an impassioned response that women had brains and could do many things—if men would permit it. Invited to the newspaper office, spunky Elizabeth Cochrane was offered a job. Later she moved to New York City and became famous as "Nellie Bly," the woman who infiltrated a Gotham madhouse and told the truth about how the women were treated there—and that some people there weren't even insane; they were just there because they wouldn't do what their husbands or fathers told them.

Thus began the era of the "girl stunt reporters." After Bly's exploits, all the big newspapers wanted one; sales improved! They infiltrated sweatshops, visited abortionists, and generally went places a male reporter would have been seen as suspicious. They brought to light all sorts of social injustices and did bring about change. However, the rise of newspapers taking sides in political issues and promoting wars and colonialism brought the crusading women down: they were accused of contributing to "yellow journalism."

Fascinating study of Cochrane, Ida Tarbell, Helen Cusack, Elizabeth Bisland, and the other women who tired of reporting social events and clothing styles and instead went undercover in hidden places.

  Lunar Love, Lauren Kung Jessen
Olivia Huang Christenson is taking over her grandmother's matchmaking business now that her Aunt Lydia is retiring from Lunar Love, their family business based on the twelve signs of the Chinese Zodiac. Olivia believes in doing things the old-fashioned way, with strict adherence to the signs, and is dismayed when Bennett O'Brien, biracial like herself, sets up a "fun new dating app" ZodiaCupid that uses the same idea—sort of. Bennett, however, believes in only a loose approach to the Zodiac idea. It's even more awkward when Liv realizes Bennett is the cute guy she flirted with at her favorite bakery!

Slow moving but sweet romance about differing opinions (and emotions; Liv is reluctant to veer from tradition after her own match didn't work out and she lost a friend over another), plus enjoying the cultural traditions of the mixed Chinese families portrayed in the story. I never did figure out what Cookie Day was, but, no matter.

  Mrs. Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names, Stephen Moss
Long ago, a boy named Stephen Moss was fascinated by the name of a small bird, "Mrs. Moreau's warbler." Who was this Mrs. Moreau, and why did she get a bird named after her?

You'll find out this and the origins of other bird names, from the old, traditional ones which come from now-disused languages or onomatopoeia—did you know the oldest surviving bird name in English is probably "goose"?—to later words that relied on descriptions, to the development of scientific names.

Note that this is a British book and mostly British bird names, but some American English bird names are included. Along the way you meet the amateur and then professional ornithologists who gave us the names. Great fun if you are both interested in birds and love etymology.

  When Dogs Meet People, Gladys Taber
When they say "they don't make 'em like that anymore," it certainly applies to this book. It's a collection of Taber's short stories that would have been at home in any women's or general American magazine of the time, all concerning people and their dogs. Some are wartime/postwar stories, including the initially grim story of a soldier trapped in his wrecked tank and the tale of a shell-shocked man who's about to give up on life. Some are fit for teen magazines, like the opening story about a dog training club that admits a new member or the funny "Just a Little Havoc" about a young man who babysits his girlfriend's Irish setter.

All warm and cozy like a fleece blanket and hot chocolate on a winter's day.

Books Completed Since August 1

  Leather & Lark, Brynne Weaver
In Weaver's first book, Butcher & Blackbird, we met Rowan and Sloane, two serial killers who slake their thirst for death by killing other serial killers (and child molesters). Now we follow Rowan's brother Lachlan, a contract killer who is basically in thrall to the man who pulled him and his brothers out of trouble, and Lark Montague, Sloane's best friend since boarding school, where Sloane avenged her abuse and her best friend's abuse by a teacher.

When Lachlan has to get Lark out of a jam, he thinks she's a spoiled princess; when he locks her in the trunk of a car, she hates him. However, as the two re-encounter each other, they discover that an unknown killer is after Rowan and Sloane, and that Lark's family might be targeting Lachlan for the wrong reason. So they arrange a marriage of convenience—just to save his life, you understand—and then Lachlan discovers Lark's secret habit.

Lachlan and Lark aren't quite as spontaneous as Rowan and Sloane, but there are plenty of surprises in this dark romance. Warning: very violent with graphic descriptions.

  In Pursuit of Jefferson, Derek Baxter
Baxter was once a die-hard Thomas Jefferson fanatic, trying to look past the man's weaknesses, especially his adherence to that "peculiar institution," slavery, in the light of his ideas about liberty. He decides to tour Europe following Jefferson's itinerary after taking part in a marathon in which he dresses up as Jefferson. About halfway through, the specter of slavery begins to trip him up, and he wonders if he should follow this founding father after all.

I knew this book wasn't by a historian, and I generally like books by amateur historians following a certain historical path; what I wasn't prepared for was a wine tour, even though I know Jefferson was big into wines and planted a vineyard at Monticello. But there's too much wine-tasting here, and repetition of how guilty he feels for liking a man who supported slavery. The whole of Jefferson should be considered, including the bad; you can't stick him up on a pedestal and declare him perfect because he wasn't. Once or twice was enough to tell us about your guilt.

Wine-tasting is boring. Period. Enough books about wine.

  Happy Place, Emily Henr
Harriet and Wyn met in college and have been soulmates ever since, or so their best friends think. But when they reunite for one final get-together at a family-owned Maine cottage for the annual lobster festival before the cottage is sold, they're keeping a secret: they've broken up, and they don't know how to broach the idea to their friends. In the meantime, Harriet—working long hours as a physician—and Wyn, who's gone back to his family in Montana and is now happily making furniture, have to navigate the feelings they still have for each other, how their lives are changing, and the future.

As always, Henry discusses the serious things behind the fun and friends: family expectations, the effects of depression, the perils of not voicing your dreams. Enjoyed this one, but it makes you hurt, too.

  A Different Mirror, Ronald Takaki
While all those famous (and white Protestant male) figures in United States history were getting their names and the dates in the history books, what about the ordinary folks and the newcomers? Takaki follows each of the groups—Native Americans, Black, Latino, Irish, East and Central Asian, Jewish and other non-Christian, and currently Middle Eastern—as they try to fit into the mythology that has grown up around the founding of the country. Broken treaties, broken promises, and much bigotry ensued. See what "the little people" (the workers and the outsiders) were doing while "history was writ larger" in the traditional books. Brings a richer palette to the American experience.

  Valdemar, Mercedes Lackey
This is the final book in "The Founding of Valdemar" series, in which the refugees from Baron Kordas Valdemar's have taken root in an old Hawkbrothers stronghold on the banks of a river, building the city which will become Haven. They still worry about an attack from the old Empire, but the stakes become deadly when it's discovered that a vicious, rogue mage has been extending tendrils into the area for months. Can they defend themselves? Kordas' meditation brings about the creation of the Companions and the development of the Herald system. In the meantime, Restal, the king's oldest, discovers a kindred spirit, as does Delia, the queen's sister.

Enjoyed this, but what's with all the emphasis on the cat? I love cats, but the worshiping of Sydney-you-asshole is excessive.

Books Completed Since May 1

  Bitter Medicine, Mia Tsai
This was my first read for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month; the cover caught my eye immediately. Elle Mei is a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine. She's laying low because she has done an unspeakable thing in her society: taken away her brother's magic. Everyone believes Tony is dead, but Elle seeks to protect him. Instead, Elle works as a calligrapher at an agency that provides magical glyphs to anyone who pays. One of Elle's customers is Luc Villois, a half-elf who always seeks out Elle's glyphs, not only because he knows she's good, but because he is drawn to her. However, Luc has his own problems, including being held in servitude by a tyrannical boss who knows a secret about his past.

But Elle's hidden magic and Luc's talents are not going to shield them for long: larger forces are at work. And if Elle wants to protect Tony, she's going to have to risk her own talents to do so.

Slow-building, gentle romance with a magical system I've not seen used in any other book. Elle and Luc are unique (at least to me) leads, and Tsai only slowly unravels what ties hold both of them captive. The action shifts from Raleigh, NC, to London, to San Francisco in the course of the story.

 The Wonderful World of James Herriot, James Herriot, edited by Emma Marriott
I bought a copy of this despite the fact that I have all of the Herriot books and have since their original paperback American releases in the 1970s and 1980s. This is a good way to introduce fans of the new All Creatures Great and Small series to the real story of James Herriot rather than the fictional soap-opera stuff they toss into the new series (the actors on the new series are wonderful, I have to admit, and Samuel West is a treat to look at). The volume is chiefly memorable excerpts from all the Herriot books, but I bought it because, between the stories, Emma Marriott narrates the true story of Scotsman Alfred Wight and his wife Joan (James and Helen) and Donald and Brian Sinclair (Siegfried and Tristan Farnon), as names and locations were changed for the Herriot's veterinary memoirs. This also contains two introductions by Wight's son and daughter to their father's life which are illuminating and worthwhile. A photo insert of the family and the area is included; worth the "double buy" if you're already a Herriot fan.

  Misfortune Cookie, Vivien Chien
This is the ninth in Chien's "Noodle House" mysteries, and protagonist Lana Lee is far from Lee's restaurant; she and her attorney sister Anna May are headed for Irvine, California, where Lana will be attending a restaurant convention and the sisters will reconnect with their Aunt Grace, their mother's sister. At the first day of the convention, Lana witnesses a vendor and a journalist having a loud argument; she discovers at a cocktail party she attends with her aunt and sister that the journalist is a friend of Aunt Grace. During the party, this woman is killed. Despite the fact that Anna May wants Lana to stay far away from mysteries, Aunt Grace enlists Lana's help in ferreting out who killed her friend, as she can't believe Nora Blackwell committed suicide as the police believe.

So here's Lana with her nose in crime again. This time she can't ask help from her best friend Megan or work friend Kimmy, or even her cop boyfriend Adam, and she has a disapproving Anna May at her side, but Aunt Grace is definitely in her corner. Sunny California sights await as Lana once again puts her observational clues to the test. (And, needless to say, doesn't attend much of the restaurant convention!)

  Raising Cubby, John Elder Robison
Robison, author of Look Me In the Eye, a memoir of his Asperger's syndrome (and brother of Augusten Burroughs, who wrote Running With Scissors), addresses parenthood on the autism spectrum in this story of raising an autistic son. He opens with his son Jack's impending trial for being dangerous ("Cubby," Robison's nickname for his son, was fascinated with chemistry, especially explosives, and was accused by investigators of being a potential terrorist after his chem lab was raided, even though it contained no explosives and the chemicals were stored safely), and then flashes back to his courtship, marriage, and the birth and childhood of his son.

I know it's Robison's unique narrative, but he's so flip sometimes it irritates me, and the narrative diverges wildly on occasion. The part of the memoir about the trial is truly scary: that these little bits of "evidence" the police and FBI gathered could send this curious and obviously harmless kid to prison for the rest of his life! I found the rest of the book "so-so," but a still intriguing look at how a neurodivergent father and son navigate the neurotypical world.

 The Heart Principle, Helen Hoang
This is the third in Hoang's trilogy (The Kiss Quotent and The Bride Test precede it) where the protagonists are on the autism spectrum.

Anna Sun is a violinist who became famous due to a viral YouTube video, and a composer was so taken with her performance that he wrote a song for her to perform. Unfortunately Anna is now so self-conscious that she can hardly play anything, let alone the song; she decides she's not playing well enough and just plays and replays pieces until it frustrates her. She's also tormented by her ambitious sister Priscilla and an impeccably groomed, handsome fiance that her family loves but who just told her he wanted an open relationship. In revenge Anna goes on a dating app and finds Quan Diep (brother of Khai in Bride Test and partners with Michael in Kiss Quotient), a tattooed motorcycling maverick who, amazingly, makes her feel comfortable. Then her father has a stroke and Anna is expected to pitch in on his care.

Like Sophie Go (scroll down), poor Anna has this family who devalues her at every step. She's seen as "weird," "wrong," "selfish," and other negatives; when it turns out she's on the autism spectrum, a fact Anna can't initially wrap her mind around when her therapist introduces her to the idea, she keeps going back to her family's assessment, especially since the family rejects the whole idea that they have someone "imperfect" in their midst and that she's not just "lazy" and "odd." Anna, too, doubts herself so much she rejects the diagnosis and keeps saying "Yes" to her creepy family. Quan and his friends are the only ones who treat her decently. Keep that in mind when you read the book, because you'll want to cancel most of Anna's family, especially when you see how they treat her father during his "recovery.'

  Beaverland, Leila Philip
Beavers made the first American millionaire: Johann (later John) Jacob Astor. The fashion in those days was the beaver top hat, and every gentleman, especially every English gentleman, wanted one. Thereupon became the run on beaver fur on the North American continent.

Philip takes us on the journey with the beaver and the tragic history in which their numbers diminish due to overtrapping and farming, which changes the landscape of the North American continent. She talks to trappers and fur sellers, asking why they still participate in the lifestyle, and to scientists who have proven that reintroduction of beavers into ecosystems improves them and returns the land to a better state, even when it has been tragically polluted.

The trapping/fur chapters seem rather overextended as she tries to make sense of why ecologically-minded modern men and women would still participate in the activity (most of the trappers are actually game wardens who deal with overpopulation or beavers who are encroaching on farm areas). There's also an odd chapter about iconic New England stone walls in which she...gasp!...realizes were probably built by enslaved Africans or Native Americans and spends the entire chapter apologizing for liking them. This isn't a surprise for anyone who's studied American history—marginalized minorities (African slaves, Native Americans, Chinese/Asians, etc.) always provided brute labor—and discounts the undisclosed artistry with which the enslaved persons built and maintained the walls.

All-in-all the beaver lore is great to read, especially her observations of beavers themselves and the stories of people who interacted with them, like the "Beaver Lady."

  Sophie Go's Lonely Hearts Club, Roselle Lim
The last of my reads for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Sophie Go has just returned from Singapore having finished her training in traditional matchmaking, and has moved into an apartment in Toronto to start her career. But Sophie has a secret: she never completed the course due to one of her clients, a foolish girl who committed suicide over love. She's determined to work past this event: if her demanding mother and doormat father will allow it. Unfortunately, Sophie's no sooner started to network customers than her selfish mother drops the bomb in public about her not finishing the course. So Sophie proposes to an unofficial club of elderly Chinese men at her apartment building that she can find each of them a match, and that she'll do the first one for free. She also inadvertently acquires a very particular younger male client who seems impossible to match.

Based on the Chinese belief that there is a red thread that binds soulmates, this is a magical little book that follows Sophie's efforts and how she becomes friends with each of her elderly clients and struggles against her family. Her mother is truly a gruesome, grasping, selfish woman and her father just rolls over on his back like a submissive dog to make her happy, choosing his wife over his child to keep the peace, and she is the only fly in the ointment in this delightful story, with Sophie discovering there is a red thread for everyone.

Of course I cried.

 The Women's History of the Modern World, Rosalind Miles
I really need to get Miles' first book Who Cooked the Last Supper?, but this was one of my leftovers from Women's History Month.

Where are the women in history? Oh, we hear about some of them: Madame Curie, Harriet Tubman, Grace Hopper, Emmeline Pankhurst, Susan B. Anthony. But so many others have been buried by the "party line" of history that puts men first. Did you know many musical pieces credited to Felix Mendelsohn were actually composed by his sister Fanny? That women were at that wall striving for freedom during the French Revolution, not just men? That Katharine Wright was an integral part of the Wright Brothers' partnership? That women actually crossed over Niagara Falls on high wires? Notable women, intellectual lights hidden by the patriarchy, like Mary Wollstonecraft, the women of the Seneca Falls convention like Lucy Stone, the stalwarts of the women's lib movement. Chapter after chapter chronicles women's achievements that were left behind, or rights that were toppled by ignorant male beliefs.

A lot of people I knew. Many I didn't. Entertaining narrative that occasionally skitters off track, but it works.

  Re-read: The Case of the Missing Auntie, Michael Hutchinson
This second in the "Mighty Muskrats" series revolves around four children, Samuel, Chickadee, Atin, and Otter, cousins in the Cree nation who call themselves "the Mighty Muskrats," and live at the Windy Lake reservation. Chickadee's grandfather admits to her that his younger sister Charlotte was taken away from his family in the late 1950s in what they called "scoops"—native children who were adopted (mostly to act as servants) for white people. Now with the Muskrats heading into the big city to go to an exhibition fair, a disturbed Chickadee thinks their first mission should be to try to track down their missing aunt, but the boys are full of anticipation about visiting cousins, going to the fair, and Otter just wants to see his favorite Native band perform. No sooner are the kids at the much vaunted mall in the crowded, confusing city that they run into Brett, a boy who used to live on the "rez" and who Chickadee secretly had a crush on., and things start to go a little haywire. But Chickadee is still determined, no matter what, to find missing Auntie Charlotte.

This reads like an old-fashioned kids' adventure—the covers even look like a Happy Hollisters book—with modern sensibilities (internet, cell phones, etc.), real-life problems (Native people still coping with terrible laws once enacted by white settlers), a boy who's ended up in "the wrong crowd" after a move to the city, and the problems of a usually-overlooked culture. The kids meet good and bad people of all cultures, cope with bureaucracy, find out some hard truths about their past, but also are confident that they can help overcome it.

Vesper Flights, Helen Macdonald
This is a series of chiefly nature essays, mostly about birds, by the author of H is for Hawk. While a few address Macdonald's fear about the future of natural places—as we all should!—most of them are lyrical, lovely tales of meadows, discovering nature, the habits of birds and other wild creatures. Her beautiful talent with language infuses every piece with wonder. Her essay about the vanished "Tekels Park" is heartrending; "Eclipse" is stunning and captured all the feelings I had in 2017 watching the total eclipse of the sun in North Georgia. "Swan Upping," about the custom of tagging swans for the Crown, is fascinating. She even talks about Wicken Fen, where the Godolphin Arabian is banished in Marguerite Henry's King of the Wind.

For everyone who loves nature and beautiful essays.

Books Completed Since March 1

  Getting Smarter: A Memoir, Barbara Feldon
Agent 99 was my first heroine (well, after Lassie...). At age 9, I fell head-over-heels in love with Maxwell Smart, and "shipped" Max and 99 with all my heart.

Barbara Hall grew up in Pittsburgh, From childhood she wanted to go on the stage, and as soon as she was old enough, she moved to Manhattan to try to make her living at acting. She became a model and in an accident of fate, was about to be interviewed for the big television program of the 1950s, the game show $64,000 Question. It was as she was deciding whether to do this or not, she meets suave, French-accented Lucien Feldon. He tells her he's about to be divorced and that he's a commercial airline pilot. Later she finds out he survived the Occupation of France.

Alas, that wasn't the only untrue thing he ended up telling her during their relationship. In fact, at one point he even convinces her he's a spy.

While this memoir talks about her career, the years on Get Smart (she and Don Adams didn't become close friends until after the series ended, but she enjoyed working with him) and afterwards, most of the narrative has to do with her relationship with the enigmatic and ultimately duplicitous Lucien. He made things sound so real she automatically believed him; only as years passed did she become suspicious and then finally realize he was playing her.

At my age, I read it and wonder how she could have been so naïve, but then I remember: once upon a time, so was I.

This is a book I'll hold close to my heart.

(Don Adams loved history books! And read and wrote poetry! Damn, I wish he'd also written something.)

 The Love Con, Seressia Glass
I picked this up at Books-a-Million because (1) cosplay, (2) mentions of DragonCon, and (3) it takes place in Atlanta. Kenya Davenport is a talented cosplayer and gamer; while she has a degree in engineering, what she really wants to do with her life, to her parents' dismay, is become a professional costume designer. Her close friend Cameron Lassiter, who she's known since he was a neglected boy in grade school, owns a maker shop in which she works.

Now she has the chance of a lifetime, winning a prize in a televised cosplay contest—except her last project has to be done with her romantic partner! Kenya doesn't have one, but she hopes that Cameron will cooperate and pretend to be her boyfriend. He knows her dreams and she's sure he'll be supportive, but can they make a pretend relationship work? She doesn't know that Cam is already in love with her...or that the producers of the series Cosplay or No Way will stoop to everything sordid to create a little conflict!

Boy, did I want to whack the producers of the television series, not to mention the one judge who seems to hate Kenya. She's so blatant about not liking a plus-sized Black girl that I wondered how the producers would permit it to continue. This was a fun read having to do with conventions, cosplaying, and friends to lovers.

  Flâneuse, Lauren Elkin
Cool! I said when I saw this at Barnes & Noble, a woman walks through Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London and explores their history and observes society in each urban area. Instead I'm treated to depressing essays about writers like Jean Rhys, how terrible Tokyo is for women walkers--although her main complaint seems to be she wants to go back to Paris while her boyfriend X is having a grand time (well, either leave the idiot, stupid, or quit complaining), a chapter where she describes an entire film about a woman named Cléo, a history of protests in Paris, and other snooze-worthy topics. Some interesting observations about how Paris neighborhoods are homey, and a too short chapter on Martha Gellhorn (after she goes on and on about George Sand). About halfway through I just sped up my reading because I was bored, except in the Gellhorn chapter.

I have lots of wonderful travel books, many written by women. This one is not a keeper.

  Half Sick of Shadows, Laura Sebastian
You've heard the saying "Behind every great man is a good woman"? This is the story of Elaine of Astolot, a very different woman from the one who inhabits Lord Tennyson's brooding poem, and who dies from viewing the real world. In this Arthurian retelling, Elaine, along with Guinevere of Lyonesse, Lancelot, and Arthur's half-sister Morgana, are basically the support from which Arthur, destined to be the king of England, derives his strength. When the time finally comes, Arthur and his friends journey to Camelot, only to find that Merlin the magician is ready to declare the evil Mordred king. If Arthur wants to be king, he will be required to carry out three tasks, including marching into Lyonesse to ask permission to marry Gwen. And Lyonesse is a treacherous place indeed.

This is a reworking of the Arthurian legend with women on an equal footing with men. Elaine particularly carries a heavy load, as she can see the future, and, in no future she foresees does Arthur not end up betrayed by his sister, despite how hard she tries.

I'm picky about my Arthurian tales ever since I read Mary Stewart's Merlin books. This one kept my attention.

 The Defense is Ready, Leslie Abramson
I don't follow true crime stuff, so I had no idea the author was the attorney for the Menendez brothers. I just watch so much Law & Order I wanted to see some criminal law from the POV of the defense attorney rather than from the district attorney.

So she's defended a lot of people, some absolutely clueless, others badass, some who were just mixed up in the wrong thing. Some she liked, some she was happy to get away from. She also talks about the different personalities of judges and how they often make convictions based on their own prejudices, and also about her opponents: the district attorneys and other prosecutors, some who are doing their best and others who are just lazy.

It was an interesting read. I don't have any opinion if she was right or wrong about the Menendez brothers.

  Bride, Ali Hazelwood
Hazelwood, known for her rom-coms involving STEM couples, branches out in a new direction in this paranormal romance.

Vampyres, werewolves, and humans have an uneasy alliance in Misery Lark's world. Many of the alliances hinge on the keeping of hostages. For years Misery, who's never been her father's favorite person, has been keeping a low profile in human society. Now her father calls upon her to marry the alpha male of of the werewolves, Lowe Moreland, to cement another agreement. She does so reluctantly, but in order to achieve another goal. What she didn't count on was becoming fond of a member of Moreland's family, or...fond of Lowe himself.

Enjoyable dynamics and a twist at the end, and Ana is cute.

  Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
I enjoyed this so much. Kimmerer is a botanist and also a member of the Potawatomi Nation, so her narrative about her interactions with plants, nature, her students, and the earth is infused with both botanical knowledge and indigenous wisdom. Some of the chapters are sobering, such as the one about how chemical plants not only polluted a lake but poisoned the land around it, and how they are trying to revive both, and in various parts of the texts where she described how Native American children were sent to schools which tried to "rip the Indian out of them." Other chapters relate how she tries to bring her technologically-addicted students back to thinking about and relating to the earth.

Scattered within the text are Native wisdom, founding myths of the Potawatomi and other Native nations, and some of the loveliest descriptions of nature that I've ever read. Well worth your time as a nature read or for Native lore.