This was a pretty good month of reading. I finished 9 books. A total of 3,212 pages. Which is an average of 107 pages a day. Not too bad!
Servant and Dove by Shelby Mahurin (513 pages). In the city of Cesarine, the Dames des Sorcieres (witches) live a hidden existence, their very lives at risk from the Chasseurs (holy men who are witch hunters). Young Lou lived her life on the streets, hiding a very big secret. But when her path crosses with Reid, captain of the Chasseurs, everything that each of them thought was true is challenged. And their bond becomes unbreakable when they are thrust into a sham marriage. A marriage that promises to change their city and the futures of everyone there. I finished in 5 days.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (337 pages). Ove is the very definition of a curmudgeon. He is old, he is set in his ways, he is profoundly unfriendly. But when a couple with young children move in next to him, his world, which had grown dark, begins to open up again. Between this new family, a feral cat and other neighbors long ignored, Ove realizes that life is for living. I LOVED this book! I finished in 5 days.
Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik (395 pages). Forugh Farrokhzad was born in Tehran in 1935. She went on to become, in her too short life of only 32 years, one of the most influential feminist poets to ever come from Iran. This novel was about her life. I’d never heard of her (of course, I’m not big on poetry). But wow- what a life! She was married at 16, a mother by 19 and divorced by 21. She also lived a bold life with lovers and adventure in a time when Iranian women were modest and property of their husbands. I finished in 5 days.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (181 pages). So I’d read The Lottery. And I’d seen the Netflix series. But I’d never read this book. The only similarity between the two was character names and the house itself. Otherwise, two totally different stories! In the novel, Dr Montague seeks out several people to stay with him in the allegedly haunted Hill House. The only people who respond are Luke, who is set to inherit the home eventually; Theodora, a lively young woman; and Eleanor, a lonely young woman with a mysterious past. For one week, they experience unexplainable events. But Hill House is beginning to wake up. And it will eventually claim one of them as its own. I finished in 2 days.
Strongheart: The Lost Journals of May Dodd and Molly McGill by Jim Fergus (385 pages). The third in the One Thousand White Women series. I seriously loved this trilogy. The idea of these white women heading off to the West, ready to marry Indians for their freedom from lunatic asylums and prisons. Two of the brides who arrived in different groups, May and Molly, finally meet. And as their worlds intersect and overlap, they realize that the savage beauty of their new lives will forever be threatened by the imperialism of the United States government. I finished in 4 days.
A Betting Woman by Jenni L Walsh (304 pages). This was my Once Upon a Bookclub book. Historical fiction with gifts?! Yes please! Simone Jules arrived in San Francisco from New Orleans in 1849. She quickly reinvented herself as Eleanor Dumont. And Madame Dumont introduced the Wild West to vingt et un (or as it is known today, blackjack). She was the first female gambler, the first female dealer and a fascinating woman (about whom little is known). I finished in 3 days.
Bookish Boyfriends: A Date with Darcy by Tiffany Schmidt (386 pages). Merrilee is 15 years old and about to start a new, co-ed prep school with her two best friends and her younger sister Rory. And Merri is convinced that, while boys are always better in books, perhaps she’ll find her Prince Charming at her new school. While her English class begins with reading Romeo and Juliet, Merri is convinced that she has met Romeo incarnate. Monroe is picture perfect. Until he isn’t. And Merri quickly realizes that maybe she isn’t Juliet, but rather a different (and much more inspiring) heroine. Both of literature and of her own life. Super cute YA chick lit, which is one of my guilty pleasures. You know, as a 40 something year old woman. The boom lover in me really loved Merri! I finished in 4 days.
Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber (333 pages). When her beloved Grandma Zee dies in the small town of Wicklow, Alabama, Anna Kate takes the summer before medical school to go and settle her grandmother’s estate, including closing her Blackbird Cafe. But the town that drove her mother away at the age of 18 is waiting for Anna Kate to finally come home. A town that has secrets about Anna Kate’s family and about her heritage. And most importantly, about the famous blackbird pies that help people. For a girl who’s only ever had wings, she quickly realizes the beauty in finding your roots. I finished in 3 days.
The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian (378 pages). Alexis and Austin have a pretty unusual meet-cute for two people who work in the same hospital (she is an ER doctor, he works for the chief development officer). Austin arrives at the ER with a bullet in his arm and Alexis treats him. Six months later, they are on vacation on a bike tour of Vietnam. Austin goes out alone for a ride and simply vanishes. When he is found as the victim of a hit and run, Alexis is shattered. And goes home feeling like something is off. As lies begin to emerge, she starts questioning what really happened in Vietnam. And the connection that it might have to her hospital and its labs back in America. I finished in 3 days.
This month’s favorite was .....A Man Called Ove. Followed closely by Strongheart.
