Last post for March...

I’m thinking that this is now going to be a monthly blog rather than a weekly one, as I’m spending so much time reading for the Silver Birch committee and so little time reading for my own pleasure.  And this will be a quick post because it’s late and I’ve had a long day. 

Two weeks ago I read The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie for my friends book club meeting, where we were each supposed to read something by the Queen of Crime.  I chose this book because it was a stand-alone, neither a Hercules Poirot novel nor a Miss Marple one.  It told the story of a young woman in England in the 1920s who, after her sole parent passes away, finds herself longing for adventure amid the offers of marriage to respectable older men and secretarial posts from which she beat a hasty retreat.  When she decides to go off on an adventure to Africa following an unusual encounter on the subway platform involving a man in a brown suit and a subsequent murder at a nearby house for let, she finds herself in the centre of a mystery with many possible suspects and potential dangers, an environment in which she thrives.  Although it was definitely outdated and the plucky heroine was a bit too “Nancy Drew” for me, it was still an enjoyable and quick read.  Too bad I was not feeling well and had to miss the meeting - I’m curious what the others thought of their books and the author. 

And in between reading juvenile and young adult books, I also reread Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg following a discussion I had with a friend.  We were talking about Greenland and he commented that he’d never seen the movie, nor had he read the book, and so we decided to read it at the same time and have a “two-person book club”.  He started yesterday and I finished this morning, and I can’t wait to discuss it with him.  I’ve both read the book and seen the movie before, many years ago, so I sort of remembered the story, but I’m curious to hear how it was for a first-timer.  If anyone doesn’t know this story, it focuses on the main character, thirty-seven-year-old Smilla, a native Greenlander who was moved to Denmark and sent to boarding school when she was a young girl after the death of her mother.  At the start of the book, Smilla’s six-year-old neighbour, Isaiah, has fallen from the roof of their building and has died.  This was deemed an accident, but after going up to the roof and examining the footprints in the snow, Smilla determines that he was not playing and that it was not, in fact, an accident.  Estranged from her father and having no one to confide in, she seeks answers on her own, putting herself at considerable risk but also drawing on her deep traditional knowledge from her years in Greenland about snow, ice, the sea currents, and weather in general.  She eventually begins to form a relationship with another tenant in the building, the mechanic, who appears to be another solitary type, but she does most of the investigating on her own.  She becomes more deeply entrenched in a labyrinthine plan involving many shady characters, and nothing is as it seems, until she begins to wonder who she can trust and if she’ll be able to get out alive.  I loved this book and movie, which I read and saw back in the 1990s, and it did not disappoint upon rereading.  I remember thinking, “How does she know what all this means and how can she come up with such amazing ways to foil the plans of the villains?”, and I had this very same thought this time around.  This novel reminded me of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larssen (I’ve seen both film versions, but have never read the book), in that they both describe complex mysteries and have kick-ass heroines.  I would recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in Denmark-Greenland history, Danish noir mysteries, or complex psychological and environmental thrillers.  I actually went back into my previous posts to see if I’d already written about this book, which I hadn’t, but what I found was a mention of this book in reference to another book, White Heat, by Canadian author M J McGrath, the first in the “Edie Kiglatuk” series.  I also read The Boy in the Snow, and have just discovered that there’s a third book in this series that I haven’t read, The Bone Seeker, which I just put on hold at the library. 

That’s all for tonight.  Take advantage of the longer daylight hours, which makes for more reading time in the evenings! 

Bye for now… Julie

First post for March...

I’ve been busy reading possible Silver Birch nominees this month but just finished an adult novel last week that I want to tell you about.  I’d actually almost forgotten that I put Some Bright Nowhere by Ann Packer on hold at the library, but I’m glad I did as it was a very interesting, quick read.  I was actually despairing to my husband that all the books I had requested from the library recently seemed to deal with death and grief, so when I picked this one up, I thought, “Oh no, not another one!”.  But I stuck with it and found it to be unputdownable..  This is a novel of Claire and Eliot, married for nearly 40 years, as they face the final months of Claire’s life as she finally succumbs to cancer, a struggle she’s been fighting for the past eight years with Eliot always by her side.  Now, with the end no longer an abstract but a reality, Claire asks Eliot to leave and allow her to spend these final months with her best friends Holly and Michelle.  Of course Eliot is outraged, and we may agree initially, but as the novel unfolds, we learn more about their lives and relationships and see why Claire would make such a seemingly unfathomable request.  This novel was the dissection of a marriage at its worst period, and while it was compulsively readable, I didn’t end up really liking either character, although they were certainly portrayed fully and three-dimensionally.  What was most interesting was that, while Claire was the one facing imminent death, the main character was Eliot, which certainly seems to tell you something about his character.  His responses to Claire’s actions and requests seem entirely reasonable, but that didn’t make him any more likable to me.  Packer did an amazing job of exploring grief and loss, and the in-between state of “not-loss” when a loved one is dying but not yet dead.  It was an excellent book that I would recommend if you are looking for a book with major themes of loss and grief. 

That’s all for today.  Take care and keep reading!

Bye for now... Julie

Post on a crisp, sunny Sunday...

It’s sunny and clear, with blue skies and not much wind, making the very cold temperatures bearable.  I read a couple of books over the past two weeks that I can tell you about, along with a few Silver Birch books, which must remain secret on pain of death! 

The first was very good, The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey.  Set in England in 1979 in an alternate world where no one won WWII, three brothers are the last remaining children in an unusual orphanage that is part of the Sycamore Scheme, a project begun in 1945 that the government is winding down.  These boys know almost nothing of the outside world, and yet they are happy where they are, supervised by their three “mothers”, only wishing to one day go to the Big House in Margate once they are well enough.  One of their mothers reveals that they will eventually leave the boys’ home and hopefully get adopted by families in a town or city, and that they will have Socialization Days with girls from a sister orphanage.  One of the girls reveals that all is not what it seems and that the things they are being told are not really true.  Layer by layer, the true history of the orphanage and the nature of the Scheme are revealed, and the future of these boys is called into question.  I don’t want to give anything else away, but it was a very good dystopian novel that kept me reading late into the evening.  I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys dystopian fiction, particularly pertaining to children. 

And I read Emma Donoghue’s historical novel, The Paris Express, for my book club meeting yesterday.  This novel has been well-reviewed and nominated for at least one major literary award, which was the reason one of the book club members recommended having it on the list.  This novel explores a little-known train wreck in Montparnasse in 1895, and the lives and interactions of the various characters, some real and some fictional, who are on board.  At the meeting, we all agreed that there were too many characters to keep track of and not enough plot, but that once they started interacting (too far into the book for our liking), it got interesting.  We also all felt that the notes at the end of the book were probably the most interesting part, and we felt that we learned a lot about life at that time as well as how a train functioned.  Most of us would not recommend it, and were surprised that it garnered so much acclaim, but it was very well researched and was an interesting premise.  Too bad it had so much backstory for everyone and not enough plot. 

Anyway, that’s all for today.  Stay warm and deep reading!

Bye for now... Julie

Quick post on a Snowy Monday...

It’s been declared a Snow Day for the Region today, and although it’s already 2pm, since I’m enjoying a hot cup of chai and a Date Bar (my traditional "posting" treat), I feel that I have to write a quick post before getting back to my book, which I was hoping (optimistically!) to finish today. 

I read an interesting book last week that reminded me so much of my move to Toronto when I was young, all the friends I made and the experiences I had.  The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill tells the story of Darby, a young trans man living in New York.  At the start of the book, he's just lost his job creating maps for a start-up, his rent is about to skyrocket, and he’ll be turning thirty in a couple of weeks.  While out celebrating a birthday with a group of his queer friends, he makes the decision to move back home to Oak Falls, Illinois, to put some distance between himself and his NY life and maybe gain some perspective.  But when he returns, he finds that Oak Falls has changed almost as much as he has since he left a dozen years before.  His mom is selling the house and moving into a brand new condo, so he uses this as an excuse for being back any time he runs into someone he knows.  The person he least/most wants to run into is his former best friend Michael, a friend who supposedly ghosted him after Darby (the girl) came back from a semester at boarding school in their senior year.  Maybe if they reconnect, he can finally figure out what happened and will be able to move on and ahead, and possibly also figure out where he belongs.  The only thing that hasn’t changed at all is the bookstore Darby used to work at when he was a teen, The In-Between Bookstore… at least it hasn’t changed for Darby.  In fact, as soon as he walks into the bookstore, he’s transported back to 2009, and is confronted by his teen self working behind the counter.  What is he supposed to do with this?  Is there a reason for him to be travelling back in time (impossible, according to his research)?  Should he be finding something out? Imparting wisdom to his younger self to help make the trans road easier?  Or is it all random and pointless?  In between bookstore visits, Darby gets swept along by his mother and by adult Michael into helping with the move, planning a party and participating in social and sports events, none of which he’s excited about.  Where does he belong?  Is Oak Falls the place he should settle, or should he try to get back to his friends and life in New  York?  In order to find out the answers to these and many other questions, you’ll have to read this whimsical, moving, delightful novel.

That's all for today. Stay warm and keep reading!

Bye for now... Julie

Two books to start 2026...

Riley is sitting on me right now so I’m typing with one hand and can only see half the keyboard, which is very very challenging!!  I’ve read two books since New Year’s Day. 

The first is Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh… well, I’m nearly finished, but I had to stop because I had to read a book club book and wanted to make sure to give myself enough time to finish it.  I’ve learned a lot, not so much about actually saving the planet, like protesting and writing letters or using more eco-friendly detergent and eating less avocado, but about having the right mindset to make a difference.  This includes right-thinking and right-decision-making, living in ways that respect the earth and all the creatures on it (being vegan!), and being a “buddha in action” to help others change their mindsets and their habits to embrace a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle, leading to a healthier future for the planet (and for us!).  It was quite a lot to take in and I welcomed the break, but will get back to it soon. 

And I read a rather long, complex mystery for my book club meeting tomorrow night, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.  This book focuses on a current mystery and an unsolved one from more than a decade before, and explores the possibility that these are not isolated incidents  Set mainly at Camp Emerson, a children’s survival camp in the woods of New York, readers are introduced to a large cast of characters who appear in both storylines, as we read about not one but two tragedies that seem to have befallen the Van Laar family.  It’s the summer of 1975, and thirteen-year-old camper Barbara Van Laar has gone missing.  This would be an emergency no matter who the camper was, but Barbara is the daughter of the camp’s owner, Peter Van Laar.  Barbara’s brother, Bear, also went missing fourteen years earlier and was never found.  Are these two disappearances connected, or is it simply bad luck for Peter and Alice Van Laar to have lost both of their children at or near the camp?  This book had backstories for all the many characters, and the various storylines were detailed and overlapping, and while at first it was challenging to read and understand, once I got far enough into it, I was able to keep everything straight (mostly!).  It was a great read, very interesting and informative, and the author did a good job of portraying the 1970s convincingly.  As I read, I was reminded of Garth Stein’s excellent “environmental supernatural mystery”, Sudden Light.  I’m looking forward to discussing it tomorrow and finding out what the others thought.

That's all for today. Stay warm and keep reading!

Bye for now... Julie

Post on New Year's Day...

Well, there’s really no excuse.  I don’t know what happened, except to say that “December happened”, the only excuse I can come up with.  I guess I haven’t been posting this past month because I’ve been reading so much!  I have five books to tell you about (very briefly!), then I’ll have my usual “Best of” lists to start off the first post of the new year. 

The first book I’ll tell you about is A Family Matter by Claire Lynch.  This debut novel tells the story of a lesbian mother’s fight for custody of her daughter in Britain in the 1980s, and is set in dual timelines, one in 1982 and the other in 2022, focusing on family secrets, prejudices, grief, love and loss.  It was an excellent novel that explores the ways in which the past affect and shape the present and future, and how what we know can come unraveled when family secrets are brought to light. 

The next book is Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong, book #3 in the “Haven’s Rock” series.  Casey and Eric are still ironing out the bugs of running a town and trying to do better than Rockton, and their efforts are complicated by Casey’s complicated pregnancy.   She’s already had two scares and has been prescribed more rest, less chasing criminals, a prescription she’s (mostly) adhering to.  When one of the women from the town leaves The Roc after a night of drinking and socializing, only to find herself woozier and more dizzy than her few drinks warrant, she gets nervous but is attacked and dragged in the woods before she can do anything about it.  Fortunately she’s rescued by another resident and no harm comes to her, but as they try to figure out what happened and who slipped the drugs into her drink so that they can reprimand the perpetrator, another woman goes missing during a snow storm and is found naked in the snow days later.  Who can Casey and Eric trust, and who will conduct the investigation and keep the townspeople safe in case they have to leave town due to yet another pregnancy scare or early labour?  Armstrong’s books are always a pleasure to read, and this was no exception.  They are dependable, consistent and complex, and while at first this one seemed more focused on “baby” than “crime”, the plot got very twisty very quickly and it was really a race against time and the elements to see if peace and safety could be restored to Haven’s Rock… but the very ending, which I can’t tell you about, was the icing on the cake! 

I also read a new mystery by Michael Robotham, The White Crow, featuring Detective Constable Philomena McCarthy.  Phil is the daughter of a renowned London crime boss, but no convictions ever stuck.  She’s hoping that she can keep the two sides of her identity separate and secret, at least from her colleagues, but when she discovers a child wandering the streets one night while on patrol, she unwittingly becomes entwined in a complicated case involving her father and uncles, as well as at least one ruthless killer.  Can she help solve the case despite her family connections, and is it even safe for her to do so?  This book was as good as I’ve come to expect from Robotham, not his best, in my opinion, but still very, very good.  I suspect that this will be another new series, along with the “Joseph McLoughlin” and “Cyrus Haven” series, all excellent series. 

I read Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice, a post-apocalyptic thriller set in a northern Anishnaabe community, for my January book club meeting that will happen on Saturday.  When the satellite service, then cell service, then electricity all go out in this small community, at first no one worries too much, as these things are always going out, just not usually all at the same time.  But when two college boys from the South return to their community, they bring tales of the same issues happening in the cities and the chaos and deaths that ensue.  The community members mostly know how to hunt and can take care of themselves and each other, but when a mysterious white man arrives asking for help, they don’t know if they can, or should, trust him.  You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens, but let me tell you that it’s not uplifting and left me with more questions than answers.  I guess there’s a sequel, Moon of the Turning Leaves, that may provide answers, but I’m not ready to read another depressing book yet… maybe in the spring. 

And last but certainly not least, I read This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel, which was awesome!  This novel explores the challenges of raising a transgender child, but it was so much more than that.  It explores marriage and family, growing up and staying together, and so very much more.  It reminded me so much of Catherine Newman’s book Sandwich (probably my favourite book of the year), but was like a prequel.  I loved it!  

OK, now it’s time to sum up the year in reading.  I read 58 books and listened to 18 audiobooks last year.  Here are my “Best of 2025” lists:

Best Adult Fiction

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch
Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip WIlliams
Audition by Katie Kitamura

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
Endling by Maria Reva
Denison Avenue by Christina Wong
A Great Country by Shiilpa Gowda
Code Name Hélène by Auriel Lawhon
Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger
Storm Child and The While Crow by Michael Robotham
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell
Last Flight by Julie Clarke
Sandwich and Wreck by Catherine Newman
The Believers by Zoë Heller
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
The Death of Us by Abigail Dean
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong
Women Talking by Miriam Toews

WOW, that’s 24 books, which means nearly half of the books I read last year were winners !  And many of the others were great books but they were for the Silver Birch award and I’m not listing them here.  I do have a few others on a separate list, combining Non-Fiction and YA:

Red Pockets by Alice May (NF)
The Secret Life of a Cemetery:  the wild nature and enchanting lore of Père LaChaise by Benoît Gallot (NF)

No Mud, No Lotus:  the art of transforming suffering by Thich Nhat Hanh (NF)
Someone is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong (YA)

And the Best Audiobooks of 2025 are:

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
The Women by Kristen Hannah
How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley
The Lie Maker by Linwood Barclay
The Better Sister by Alifair Burke
Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson
Stay with Me by Ayòbámi Adébáyò

Phew!  That’s a lot for a single post!  But now I’m all caught up and will try to post more regularly in the new year.  Happy 2026!  May your year be filled with an abundance of books books! 

Bye for now…

Julie