I can't believe it's already November. Halloween is now behind us which is sad but also I'm sort of exhausted from all of the Halloween stuff. (Halloween party! Trick or treating in town! Trick or treating at houses! Parades!) But I still love a spooky season, even if my reading didn't really reflect that (whoops).
We were also pretty productive this month. Take a look at this before and after of my office.
And that picture from last month which books just stacked in front of a bookshelf? Well, now they're all on their own shelf! Next up will be some serious reorganizing of books because the current method is "put on a shelf as was unpacked from a box" which has its charms but isn't the most effective method to finding things.
Total Books Read
5
The Cartographers by Peng Shephard
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
How To Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
The Cartographers by Peng Shephard
Family secrets. Magical realism. Maps.
Nell has been estranged from her father for years, ever since a blow-up at work over some seemingly worthless maps. Both trained as cartographers, Nell's father works at the NY Public Library while Nell works at a place making maps look old for rich people to hang in their homes. But one day her father is found dead at his desk and Nell finds one of those worthless maps, a gas station map, hidden in his desk and now she's trying to figure out what really happened to her father.
The premise is interesting, I love the multiple POVs as you hear from people in Nell's father's life and I'm all for some magical realism. Except, there were a lot of pieces that didn't work for me. A lot of plot holes that never felt sufficiently explained. A lot of choices from people that again, I'm fine with characters making dumb choices but I need to understand WHY they did the thing they did, which at times here seemed to be "for the plot". And also, for a book filled with people obsessed with maps, I walked away from this going "...OK guys but, they're just maps" and thinking about that bit in Arrested Development when Buster studied cartography.
It's very much an "I liked it, but..." situation here
Rating: 3.5 stars
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
Jolene would rather not connect with her colleagues at her office job. No need to make friends, discuss personal lives, anything like that. But after getting in some trouble for an email, Jolene has to go through some sensitivity training and have restrictions placed on her computer. Except there's been a mistake and now she has access to everyone's inbox and chats. Seeing what her colleagues think of her can be painful but she also learns that layoffs are coming and maybe she can use this to her advantage. The story is funny with a lot of cringe humor moments that did make me stop listening for a bit to get a break. Jolene is awkward with an overbearing family and a Tragic Past that the book dances around for an annoyingly long amount of time before the reveal. Funny moments of office life and a cute rom-com storyline.
Rating: 3.5 stars
How To Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley
I've been on my library waitlist for this for a while (and had to push it off a few times because timing never quite works out with library holds, does it?) A feel-good story (in a way) about a group senior citizens joining together with a daycare next door to save their community center. Ensemble cast that come together to support one another, make friends, etc. etc. It's all very much the same theme as the other Pooley books I've written and while some of the characters are fun to watch, they don't have quite the same oomph as say Iona from Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting.
I loved loved loved Iona Iverson, was sort of meh on The Authenticity Project and I feel like this falls somewhere in the middle. I appreciate the geriatric cast and the themes of aging and feeling invisible, but I needed more out of the characters.
Rating: 3.5
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
I was looking in the library app for books available now to borrow and found something that looked like it was up my alley: The Last Word by Elly Griffiths. Which you'll notice, not the title listed above. And that's because, after listening to about 30 minutes or so (and going back to relisten a few times) I realized that book is the 4th in a series. Whoops. I returned it and figured I'd try from the beginning. And thus, The Stranger Diaries. This is a murder-mystery where the murderer seems to be using a short story called "The Stranger" as inspiration for killing people known to English teacher Clare. We get multiple POVs from Clare, Clare's daughter Georgia, the main detective on the case (and who the series is apparently named for) Harbinder Kaur and then interspersed with excerpts from this short story. Overall, it was fine. It had some fun turns and surprises, though overall I was annoyed with 2/3rds of the narrators and significantly question some of Clare's parenting choices. But given the narrator I did like, DS Kaur, is the subject of others in the series I may check out more
Rating: 3.25 stars
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
Osman thoroughly won be over with The Thursday Murder Club series. And sure, did I wish I was reading another one of those when I first picked this up? Sure. But I still bought a hardcover copy of this book (at full price! gotta support local bookstores) because I believed this would be just as good. I am so happy he did not disappoint.
Another murder mystery story, this time featuring private security bodyguard Amy Wheeler who travels around the world, finding herself in dangerous situations. This time things seem lower-key, as she is hired to guard world-famous author Rosie D'Antonio from a Russian hitman, which Rosie seems to take in stride because afterall, if she isn't causing chaos, what's the point? But it seems someone is trying to kill Amy and it seems to be related to a series of influencer murders, the latest of which happened not far from where Amy is stationed in South Carolina. Amy brings in her father-in-law Steve, a retired detective who would much rather stay home and stick to his routine of TV and pub trivia, to help figure out who wants her dead and who is killing these influencers.
Everything I enjoyed from TMC is here: the humor, the characters (love Rosie and Steve especially) and the mystery. I will definitely be reading more from this series (though hopefully after the next TMC book).
Rating: 5 stars
Total pages read
1,834
Fiction
100%
Female authors
80%
BIPOC authors
20%
US authors
20%
Bookclub/readalong
20%
Format
audiobook: 80%
hardback: 20%
Where'd I get the book
Indie bookstore: 20%
library: 80%
Decade published
2010s: 20%
2020s: 80%
Resolution books
100%
We Solve Murders, How To Age Disgracefully and The Stranger Diaries are all by UK authors
I Hope This Email Finds You Well is by a Canadian author
The Cartographers is by an Asian-American author
