Happy Groundhog Day!!

I heard that Wiarton Willie immediately saw his shadow this morning as he emerged from his cozy den, indicating six more weeks of winter for us in Canada.  Hmmm… to me, that means six more weeks of potential “good reading days”, since it’s so much harder for me to stay inside and read on a pleasantly warm, sunny day than on a cold, messy one.  So, for me, this is good news!

Well, I’ve had a busy morning of cooking and baking, and I’m so happy to now be sitting down with my (well-earned!) hot cup of tea, a slice of Date Bread, and my book thoughts for the past week.  I have a book and an audiobook to tell you about today.

I finished listening to Unleashed by David Rosenfelt last week, the most recent book in the “Andy Carpenter” series, narrated by Grover Gardner.  I listened to so many of these books that I have come to associate his voice with the character.  I wonder if Gardener has narrated any other books… I must check that out.  The main character in this series, Andy Carpenter, is an irreverent Paterson, New Jersey lawyer who has become independently wealthy due to some shady business conducted by his deceased police investigator father some years earlier.  He has a golden lab named Tara, whom he loves almost as much as he loves his girlfriend Laurie, an ex-detective.  With his sudden wealth, he opens a dog shelter, the Tara Foundation, where he cares for dogs that are going to be put down by other shelters in the city until they are adopted.  Andy generally takes on difficult cases where cover-ups by prominent members of the community are occurring, and Unleashed is no exception.  In this book, Andy is reluctant to take on any more cases, so when his friend Sam Willis asks him to investigate what at first appeared to be a plane crash causing the death of Sam’s friend, Barry Price, but which turns out to be murder by poison, he declines.  When circumstances involving Laurie and an injured dog lead him to take on the case, he attempts to defend Price’s wife and Sam’s former sweetheart, Denise.  As he uncovers information that leads him to believe Price was involved in high-stakes money-laundering, he searches for other witnesses to help in his case.  These witnesses are all scared, and as the murders pile up, Andy realizes that there is more to the case than just money-laundering, and the lives of everyone involved are at risk.  I thought at first that this story was a bit lame, that it didn’t have the usual depth of character involvement and plot that his other books usually have, and I wondered if that was because Andy’s relationship with Laurie was firmly cemented and there was no more sexual tension, which played a significant role in many of his earlier books.  About halfway through, the case seemed to be solved, and I was feeling pretty disappointed.  I wondered how the author was going to fill the next half of the book.  Then Andy’s case went to trial, and suddenly that customary depth of plot and character involvement began in earnest.  The plot became complex, the characters became more interesting and involved, and my faith in Rosenfelt was restored.  This reader enjoyed a completely satisfying conclusion to the story, and can look forward to listening to further “Andy Carpenter” books.  Hurray!

When I closed last week, I was wondering what I could read that would be engaging enough to be a quick read to fill in the time until I would start my next Book Club selection, and I considered rereading a Peter Robinson mystery.  Well, I discovered in my collection a book I had not read before, The Boy in the Snow by M. J. McGrath, the second in the “Edie Kiglatuk” mystery series.  I read the first in the series, White Heat, which I really enjoyed, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this book, which I had entirely forgotten about.  It seemed appropriate read this mystery, set in Alaska, during a week when we were experiencing exceptionally cold weather, and finishing the book on a day when snow fell continually for the entire day and into the night.  The story begins with Edie’s ex-husband, Sammy, losing control of his dogsledding team while participating in an important race along the Iditarod trail.  Half-Inuit Edie is in Anchorage to support Sammy’s progress in the race, but she feels out of place “down South”, away from her Northern home on Ellesmere Island.  She is snowmobiling along a trail in the woods when she encounters a white bear, which, when she determines that it is a Spirit Bear, she follows deeper into the woods on foot.  Lost and unsure of which way to go to return to her snow machine, she is thrilled when a couple, a pair of Old Believers, approach her on their own snowmobile.  She gets directions back to her machine, but on the way, she finds the frozen body of an infant, a baby boy in a Spirit House.  As she helps the Alaskan Police Department with their investigation into this death, she becomes more and more dissatisfied with the direction the investigation takes and the conclusions the investigators reach.  Balancing her obligation to support Sammy with her need to find the truth about the boy’s death, Edie faces one obstacle after another in a challenging search which uncovers complex schemes involving human trafficking and baby-selling.  With the help of her friend, police chief Derek Palliser, and a host of other, often eclectic, characters, Edie uncovers a grisly, morally corrupt plot that endangers the lives of many, a plot in which the guilty parties may just escape punishment.  I flew through this book.  Often I would have to put it down reluctantly because of the kink in my neck from reading so long.  It was helpful that I had read White Heat, but not absolutely necessary in order to enjoy this mystery.  There are many reasons to read this book:  complex plot, interesting characters, and a plethora of information about Inuit people and their culture, including the Inuktatut language, which is included in the back of the book.  The cultural information is perhaps at least as interesting as the details of the mystery, and while I found parts of this book to be a bit “over-the-top”, I would still recommend it as a quick, interesting read for anyone who enjoys a fast-paced mystery.  After reading White Heat, I remember commenting that Edie reminded me of Smilla in Peter Hoeg’s novel, Smilla’s Sense of Snow (blog post on Dec. 30, 2012), and this comparison certainly applies to this novel as well.  Both women are strong and smart, and definitely under-appreciated and underestimated by all those around them, especially the men.  I hope British writer McGrath has plans to continue this series for many years (and many books!) to come.

I will start I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith today, and will hopefully have time to finish it before my meeting on Saturday.  It is a fairly long book, but an easy read, and a book I’ve read before (see blog posts in February and March, 2013). 

Bye for now…
Julie

PS I just checked Grover Gardner as narrator for audiobooks available through my library, and he has an extensive audiography list.  I have listened to many of the books he has narrated, including some of the "Inspector Montalbano" series by Andrea Camilleri, Defending Jacob by William Landay and Shades of Blue by Bill Moody.  I'm impressed!

First post in my new chair...

We just bought a new recliner yesterday, which I’m sitting in right now, and it is so comfortable, I may never get up again!!  I feel like I’ve been swallowed up by a cloud, which is good, since I will spend more time reading if I am totally comfortable (unless, of course, I fall asleep!)

I finished reading The Dinosaur Feather by S.J. Gazan last night, and it proved to be just as engaging as it was at the start.  This Danish mystery novel tells the story of Anna Bella Nor, a PhD student and single mother who is scheduled to defend her thesis in just two weeks at the University of Copenhagen.  Her thesis adviser, Dr. Lars Helland, is well-respected and highly accomplished in his field, yet he is not very well-liked.  One day, another student, a friend of Anna’s, Johannes, shows up at the university for a meeting with Helland, and finds him dead in his office with a copy of Anna’s thesis in his hands.  Initial autopsy reports deem this a death by natural causes, a heart attack, but upon further examination, the medical examiner uncovers a bizarre twist to this death, which the police now consider murder.  The cast of strange, eccentric characters expands to include Troels, a young man who was a friend of Anna’s and who has become a successful model in the US, Soren, the police inspector heading up the Helland murder investigation, a man who has his own complex and hidden past, and Dr. Clive Freeman, a well-respected but controversial professor at the University of British Columbia who insists that birds did not evolve from dinosaurs, despite convincing evidence and long-held beliefs to the contrary.  When another murder occurs within this small circle of acquaintances, Soren and his team must determine if they are connected, and if they are looking for one murderer or two.  This well-researched, complex murder mystery will have you on the edge of your seat to the very last page, as you are drawn deeper into the cut-throat world of academic funding and research.  The backstories of most characters are complex and interesting, and while it may seem at first to be challenging to keep everyone’s stories straight, the author does a good job of recalling important details for the reader to help keep them in mind.  Sissel-Jo Gazan has a degree in Biology from the University of Copenhagen, which accounts for the complexity and detail presented in the novel.  This is her first book, which was published in 2008 in Denmark and won the Denmark Radio Literature Prize 2008 for Best Novel of the Year.  I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a complex mystery that also includes interesting character explorations.

And I am nearly finished listening to Unleashed by David Rosenfelt, the most recent book in the “Andy Carpenter” series.  I will write about that next week.

I must decide what to read next, a real challenge, as I have no library books at home waiting for me to read, and of my other books for review, I am not really interested in any of the titles right now.  I guess I will have to search my personal book shelves to find something that will grab my attention.  I think it is too early to start reading I Capture the Castle, which is my next book club selection – we are meeting in two weeks, and since I’ve read this title before, I doubt it will take me that long to finish it.  Hmmm… what can I read quickly that I will also enjoy?  Maybe I should pull out a Peter Robinson mystery – they always hold my attention and make me want to read for hours at a time.

Bye for now…
Julie  

More tea and book talk...

I was going to “call in sick” today, as I have been sick for the past 5 days, but I’m a bit better today so I will try to write a short post.  Since I have not been feeling well, I have also not been reading much, which is unfortunate, as I hate wasting good reading time, and January weather seems to present plenty of days that I like to call “a perfect day for reading”.  Oh well, I’ve got the whole year to make up for this lost reading time.

I finished listening to an audiobook last week that was very good, Witch Hunt by Ian Rankin (writing as Jack Harvey).  I have not read or listened to many Ian Rankin mysteries, although I should enjoy them, as the novels in his most popular series, “Inspector Rebus”, are contemporary detective novels set in Edinburgh (maybe I will have to add them to my list of books to read, in order, when I have some free time – hahaha!  Free time… that’s an interesting concept!)  Anyway, I may have read one of the Inspector Rebus novels, and have watched the BBC adaptations of some of the books, and I have read one of his more recent books, I think it is called The Impossible Dead, a new series featuring Malcolm Fox, who heads up the Complaints Department, the least-loved department in the police force because they investigate other police.  I didn’t really know what to expect from this audiobook, but it grabbed me right away and held my attention to the very last sentence.  It tells the story of a woman nicknamed Witch who is a hired assassin, a woman who can change her appearance convincingly in a public toilet in under five minutes and seems to be able to gain access to just about anywhere she needs to be to carry out her assignments.  She is surprisingly agile and sharp, and can anticipate any problem she is likely to encounter, all useful skills for an assassin.  When a wealthy banker who has been an informer for the SIS is found dead in his Scottish home, and Witch’s signature is all over the murder, the SIS, MI-5, and the DST (the French equivalent to Britain’s MI-5) become involved, including three people who are determined to catch Witch before she completes her final mission, one she was not hired to perform, but a job she has personally vowed to complete.  The story takes readers from England to Scotland, from France to Germany, in this fast-paced European thriller that kept me on the edge of my bus-seat from beginning to end.  I was just reading on Rankin’s website that the Jack Harvey novels did not do very well, which I find surprising – I thought this novel was every bit as good as some of the other bestselling thrillers, even better than many.  Maybe the narration helped with my enjoyment level, as the narrator was very good at capturing the personalities of the various characters.  There was murder, chase scenes, a love story or two, young agents, retired agents, England, Scotland, France and Germany… what more could a reader ask for?  For this reader, the answer is “nothing”.  I will definitely check to see if the second Jack Harvey novel, Bleeding Hearts, is available to download.
   

And I am still plugging away at The Dinosaur Feather by S. J. Gazan.  It is really good, very detailed, and quite engaging.  I’m not quite half-way through, so I hope to be done by next week and can write a full review of it at that time.
  

OK, I have to end now and have another cup of soup, which will hopefully advance me further along the road to recovery.

Bye for now…
Julie 

Sunday morning tea and book talk...

This has been a real book-club-focused week for me.  My “friends” book club met on Thursday night, my volunteer book club met on Friday morning, and I spoke with the staff at the Senior Day Program at the community centre where I volunteer to set up a book club date for the next book club meeting with their group.  So many book clubs, so little time…

My book club on Thursday night discussed The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison, and WOW, was it ever a great discussion!  I enjoyed this book so much both times I read it that I was anxious to talk to someone else about it, which is the best part about a book club.  This meeting certainly did not disappoint, as this novel about the breakdown of a 20-year marriage gave us so much material to explore (if you would like a full summary of the plot, please see last week's post). We discussed many different aspects of the book, such as the suitability of Jodi and Todd as a couple, with all their personal quirks and idiosyncrasies, Jodi’s response to her childhood experiences, and whether they were realistic or not, and Todd’s responses to the situations that had become his reality.  We looked particularly at Jodi, her childhood experiences, her situation as an adult, a wife and a psychotherapist, and her reactions to the changes that she was potentially facing due to Todd’s situation.  There were points that I never thought of that we discussed, and which now make certain aspects of the novel more realistic or believable (I don’t want to give anything about the plot away here, so I’m being intentionally vague).  This novel is on the list for my volunteer book group to discuss in September, and I’m curious what their response might be, as compared to my other group.  I don’t doubt that it will be a very interesting discussion indeed.

My volunteer group met on Friday morning to discuss Annabel by Kathleen winter, which was a recommendation from at least two of the book club members.  I was reluctant to read it, as I was sure I would not like it, due to the strangeness of the storyline.  This novel is set in a small town in Labrador and begins with the birth of a child to Jacinta and Treadway in 1968.  Jacinta is from St John, and she never intended to stay in the small town for more than a couple of years.  Treadway is a trapper and hunter, and feels more at home out in the wilderness than in the home.  As a couple, they make compromises for one another, and as parents, they are forced to make a life-altering decision when their child is born with both male and female reproductive parts.  When the baby is very young, they must decide whether to raise their child as a boy or a girl, a decision that will have lasting effects on the child, the parents, their friend Thomasina, and the whole community, to a certain degree.  I’m usually reluctant to read books that features a main character with an unusual condition or deformity, although I loved A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.  But this book was actually better than I expected, once I got past the first few chapters.  Some of the parts were somewhat unrealistic, but on the whole, it was an interesting read, and mostly well-written.  My ladies in the book club loved it.  They thought all the characters seemed very real, even the minor characters.  They felt that the struggles Treadway and Jacinta faced as parents of this child were realistic, and that they responded in ways that were believable.  They liked most of the main characters, although Thomasina seemed to be the character people had the most struggle with in terms of liking her or agreeing with her decisions and actions.  We discusses the roles of men and women, and how these roles were evolving in society, becoming less defined.  We thought the setting, both date in history and location, were significant, that if this child had been born in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver in the 1990's, this story would have been very different.  It was ultimately an uplifting book, but be warned that there are some emotionally difficult scenes.

And I read a lovely children’s novel the other day, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, about a young girl named India Opal whose father is the new preacher at a church in Naomi, Florida, where they have recently moved.  She has no friends and no mother, and her father is so caught up in his role as preacher for the community that, while he loves his daughter, he is often distant from her.  Opal adopts a stray dog whom she meets in the produce department of the Winn-Dixie grocery store, and her life turns around, all, she admits, because of Winn-Dixie.  It was a lovely, sad, uplifting novel about dealing with loss, making friends, and adapting to new surroundings.  This book was recommended to me by my niece, Sylvie, who told me over Christmas that it was her favourite book.  I think it might become one of my favourites, too.

I’m having a struggle deciding what to read next, as I have some “for review” books piled up in front of me, but none of these titles are grabbing my attention.  I have no committee books lined up to read right now, and so am at a bit of a loss… Maybe I will try to finish The Dinosaur Feather by S.J. Gazan, a book I started reading some time ago for review but then stopped.  It is a Danish crime novel, a “classic Scandinavian noir” (from the back cover) that features a PhD student who is working on a thesis about the origins of birds.  Just two weeks away from defending her thesis, her academic advisor is found dead in his office.  I haven’t got much further than that, but I recall that it was pretty good, so I think it will suit my reading mood right now (since it’s so dreary, snowy and overcast, I feel like I’m in Denmark!!)

That’s all for today. 

Bye for now…
Julie

First post of 2014...

With a steaming cup of chai tea and a slice of freshly baked Banana Bread on the table in front of me, it’s difficult to think about books when all I want to think about on this chilly, snowy morning is warm comfort foods and beverages.

As one often does with the start of the New Year, I recently took stock of my reading situation.  Last week I gave you a list of my top 10 favourite books and audiobooks of 2013.  When I was deciding on the audiobook selections, I was finding it harder to choose than with the books.  Yesterday I figured out how many books I read and listened to last year, which of course explains why this was more difficult.  I read 55 books and listened to 23 audiobooks.  If I can remember next year, I will limit my favourite audiobooks to 5, since I have less to choose from.  But I am surprised at the number of audiobooks I finished, as I always thought I got through about one book per month.  Of course it depends on the length of the book and how much time I devote to listening, but that is nearly twice the selections I thought I could get through.  That’s great!  (or maybe it’s sad… if you can believe it, I have a list of every book I’ve read since 1992 in chronological reading order, which is either amazing or pathetic, I’m not sure which!  Who needs to know what they read more than 20 years ago?)

Anyway, I reread The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison last week, as my “friends” book group is discussing it on Thursday evening.  It has been about 6 months since I first read and review this novel for the local paper, and it was just as good the second time around, maybe even better, since I knew what was going to happen at the end and so the significance of everything that was said and done by the main characters was clear to me as it was happening, rather than recalling things and figuring it out at the end.  There were also parts I had forgotten about that almost took me by surprise as I reread them, which was a treat.  In case you are unfamiliar with this title, this novel tells the story of the breakdown of a 20-year marriage between Jodi and Todd, told in alternating Her and Him chapters.  Jodi is a psychologist whose world is controlled and managed.  Todd is a real estate developer and a perpetual cheat.  When things spiral out of control and threaten to dismantle their affluent Chicago lifestyle, the situation will make one person a killer and the other a victim.  This dissection of the history of the main characters’ childhoods, how they became who they are, and how their marriage has lasted for 20 years based on significant compromise on both sides makes for a fascinating read.  While the novel offers both sides of the story and develops both characters equally well, in my opinion it is really Jodi’s story, although I believe it could be read and appreciated by both male and female readers.  Although these parts have been criticized by other reviewers, I particularly enjoyed the sections which offer a peek into Jodi’s psychotherapy sessions when she was a graduate student.  And what is left unsaid throughout the novel is at least as important as what is said.  It is absolutely the best book I’ve read in a long time, and my favourite book of 2013.  I’ve recommended it to so many people, I’ve lost count, and so far, the feedback has been very positive.

On New Year’s Eve, my husband and I went to see the film adaptation of The Book Thief, a teen novel by Markus Zusak, about a young girl, Liesl, who is taken to a small town in Germany to live with a family shortly before the start of WWII, and her experiences over the next few years.  The novel is narrated by Death, who has taken Liesl’s younger brother while they were on the train with their mother going to the small town.  The mother is a Communist, so the children are being relocated to save them, but only one child survives the journey.  When Liesl arrives, it is discovered that she is unable to read, but with the patience of her new father and her own persistence, she becomes a voracious reader.  She befriends Rudy, the boy who lives down the street, but she must keep secret from him the arrival of Max, the young Jewish man her new family takes in and hides.  We read about the effects of war on the townspeople and the town itself,  but it is also a coming-of-age story for Liesl and Rudy during a difficult period in history.  The most significant thing about the book, as I recall (we discussed it for my book group about 18 months ago, so I don’t remember it very well), was that it was told from the point of view of Death.  This, in my opinion, did not translate well onto the screen, and I think it may have been a stronger film if that part was left out, but of course I understand why it was included.  My husband, who has not read the book, thought it was a moving and interesting film.  I thought it was just OK, not brilliant, but worth seeing. 

And I’m skimming my way through Annabell by Kathleen Winter for my next book club meeting on Friday morning.  I’ll write more about that after the meeting. 

That’s all for today!  Happy 2014!

Bye for now…
Julie

Last post for 2013...

WOW, it’s hard to believe another year is coming to an end so soon.  It’s late afternoon, not my usual blogging time, so I’m a bit out of sorts, which also comes with the holidays messing up the week.  I have a book and an audiobook to tell you about, then I will list my top 10 favourites for this year.

I decided not to write this morning because I wanted to finish reading Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson before writing.  I know I was hoping to finish it last Sunday, but with the power going out and the holidays happening, I didn’t get much reading done and so I’m behind.  It’s just as well, as I don’t think this one was her best book.  It tells the story of Tracy Waterhouse, a retired police investigator who makes an impulsive purchase one day that will change her life forever.  She crosses paths with Jackson Brodie, a not-quite-private detective who is looking for the birth mother of a woman in New Zealand which sends him across the UK and Wales in his search.  These two storylines have roots in the past, secrets that are decades old, but these pasts directly connect to current situations.  While this novel features the usual eccentric, flawed but all-too-human characters, situations that are both horrible and heart-wrenching, and the complex interweaving of past and present that I have come to expect from Atkinson’s books, this one seemed to lack a clear narrative that does not rely heavily on the reader’s knowledge of her previous books and their characters and events.  It also leaves too many unanswered questions, while offering too much information about other situations.  While I was anxious to get to the end, I was rather disappointed once I arrived.  I definitely preferred her others over this one. 

And I finished listening to an audiobook a few days ago, Think of a Number by John Verdon.  This thriller is the first in the “David Gurney” series by this author, an author about which I know absolutely nothing.  It tells the story of Dave Gurney, a retired police detective who is contacted by a former university classmate who has been receiving threatening letters and calls from someone he believes is from his past.  These calls and letters become more disturbing once Gurney gets involved, and when murders begin piling up, Gurney uses his expertise at solving complex puzzles and seeing the big picture to avoid more deaths.  It was an OK listening experience, as it was fast-paced and not-too-difficult to follow, but it was definitely not the kind of book I would read.  I’ve downloaded the next 2 books in the series, narrated by someone else, but won’t listen to them right now.

As for my top 10 books, here is a list, in no particular order:

Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lam
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
The Dinner by Herman Koch
The Silent Wife by ASA Harrison
Stranglehold by Robert Rotenberg
Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World by Janet Cameron
Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
Children of the Revolution by Peter Robinson
Watching You by Michael Robotham
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell (oops, that’s 11… oh well, it’s my blog so I can include as many titles as I want!)

Top 10 audio books:

Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith (I really liked this trilogy!)
Trinity Six by Charles Cumming
First Degree by David Rosenfelt
Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt
The Serialist by David Gordon
The Vault by Ruth Rendell
Call for the Dead by John Le Carre
The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey

That’s all for today.  Happy New Year everyone!  I hope that 2014 is filled with great books for all!

Bye for now…
Julie

Book talk on an icy, powerless Sunday morning

The power has been going off and on since about 6:30 this morning, for stretches anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours, due to the ice storm we had last night.  As I was deciding when to get out of bed, I was thinking of all the things I would not be able to do with no power.  I couldn’t make tea, or cook, or make Date Bread, and the only kind of oatmeal I could make for breakfast would be the instant kind with hot tap water (too disgusting to contemplate!).  I knew I also could not access the internet, but since I write a draft of my post in a word document first, I could work on my post.  Hurray!  And, without power, I could still read, if that is what I chose to do.  So this has served to remind me of the wonder and simplicity of the printed book – no electricity or batteries required, I don’t have to charge it before I use it, and it can offer me endless hours of cheap entertainment.  At least, during one of the brief periods when the power was on, I made tea, so it is steeping even as I write, and I will enjoy a cup or two soon (I was not looking forward to anything I could concoct using a tea bag and hot tap water!)

I am a third of the way through Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson, and I’m really enjoying it.  I hope to finish it by Christmas Day, at which time I plan to move on to my next book club selection, Annabel by Kathleen Winter.  The Atkinson book features Jackson Brodie once again, as a not-quite private investigator, but more of a soft-touch when it comes to women in need.  This time, he is travelling around England and Wales (I think he is avoiding Scotland due to some past negative experiences there) visiting old church ruins and abbeys, when he saves a dog from an abusive owner and takes on a case involving the search for the birth parents of a woman now living in New Zealand, a woman who is a friend of a friend of an acquaintance of Brodie’s former girlfriend, Julia.  In a parallel story, Tracy Waterhouse, a retired police detective who is now head of security at a shopping centre, makes an impulsive purchase that changes her life.  Somehow, Brodie’s case and Tracy’s situation are connected, through those six degrees of separation that apparently link us all to one another.  The story is jumping around quite a bit, and I’m not sure I would be enjoying it or even understanding it at all if I wasn’t familiar with the first three books featuring Brodie, as the same characters pop up, and situations from previous books are mentioned liberally throughout this novel.  What I find amazing about Atkinson’s books is that they cross genres seamlessly.  They can appeal to mystery lovers because they present complex mysteries that involve not only the present case, but unsolved mysteries from decades before that somehow shed light on the current event.  They would also appeal to those who enjoy general fiction titles that explore the human condition.  Her books feature characters that are both complex and sad, yet they ultimately confirm life’s purpose and lift the reader’s spirit.  I have not read her other general fiction titles, including Behind the Scenes at the Museum and her current bestseller, Life After Life, but I would highly recommend the books in the Jackson Brodie series.  If you haven’t read any of them yet, I recommend you start with the first one, Case Histories, in order to get full value out of the later ones.  Be prepared for some quirky characters and some life-affirming events.

I would write more, but because there is no power, there is no heat on in the house, so I’m going back to snuggle under the covers with my book and my cup of tea until things get back to normal.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas! 

Bye for now…
Julie

PS It's now 12 hours later, and the power just came back on.  I didn't get any reading done this afternoon, unfortunately, but I'm so very thankful for electricity and heat!!  Happy Holidays, Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro!!