Friday, June 30, 2017

June Wrap-Up

Books Read:
Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu 3/5 stars (my review here)

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas 4/5 stars
This is a reread (my original review is here), but I found I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first time.

The Making of Jane Austen by Devoney Looser 5/5 stars (my review here)

Northbridge Rectory by Angela Thirkell
This 1941 novel focuses on the Rector's wife, Mrs. Villars, and the village relationships that surround her.  In her usual charming way, Thirkell dishes out humor, sometimes biting, as she writes about the local consequences of war, an atypical relationship triangle, and a lieutenant's chivalric infatuation with Mrs. Villars.  Sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, at others, poignant, Northbridge Rectory is filled with characters that the reader will be concerned about and root for till the end.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 3/5 stars (my review here)

Lie to Me by J.T. Ellison 3/5 stars (my review here)

Audio Books Completed:
Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas 3/5 stars  (my review here)

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale 4/5 stars (my review here)

Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon by Mark Hodder 4/5 stars (my review here)

Towards Zero by Agatha Christie 5/5 stars
In this excellent novel, Christie creates a complicated and tangled mystery with a satisfying and surprising ending.

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester 4/5 stars (my review here)

Murder on the Flying Scotsman by Carola Dunn 4/5 stars
The Daisy Dalrymple series features appealing characters with an engaging on-going story.  In this volume, a death occurs during Daisy's trip, and she has reason to suspect murder. Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher's young daughter Belinda becomes involved, and Alec himself is called in to solve the crime.  While easy to solve, this was an enjoyable mystery, and the continuation of the slow-building romance was a pleasure as well.

The Secret of Abdu el Yezdi by Mark Hodder  5/5 stars (my review here)

The Accusers by Lindsey Davis  3/5 stars
In this not-particularly-memorable mystery, Falco is hired to prove that a suicide was actually a murder.  As usual, the historical details are fascinating, and the wit makes the book; for some reason, though, this one wasn't as charming or engaging as previous volumes of the series.