Landscape in Sunlight by Elizabeth Fair 4/5 stars
Fair's gentle, amusing, perceptive novel follows the residents of Little Mallin for the few months leading up to the church's Festival (known by many as "the Day"). Fair's characters breathe and her locations become visible to the reader. The plot is light and fun, with a great deal of human nature thrown in.
By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham 4/5 stars (my review here)
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro 4/5 stars (my review here)
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran 5/5 stars (my discussion here)
Audio Books Completed:
A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King 3/5 stars
The third in the Russell/Holmes series, a Letter of Mary sees them investigating the death of a female amateur archaeologist. The writing has improved greatly with this novel, and I was completely entertained until the somewhat down-letting denouement. I still plan to continue with the series, because I genuinely like the Russell/Holmes characters and partnership.
Food: A Cultural Culinary History (The Great Courses) by Professor Ken Albala Ph.D. Columbia University 5/5 stars
This is not an actual book, but an 18 hour course of lectures regarding the history of food. It is fascinating and informative, giving historical background in addition to the actual gastronomy history. Dr. Albala presents his information well, and is easy to understand. The course was truly worth listening to, and provided food for thought.
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan 3/5 stars (my review here)
A note on the audio book: don't. Just don't. The reader is terrible, making all male characters speak in a hesitating. one. word. at. a. time. pattern. It was really hard to get past that, and I nearly quit the book on several occasions.
A Certain Justice by P.D. James 5/5 stars
When a criminal lawyer is found murdered in her chambers, Dalgliesh is called to the case. James is a master story teller, and the disconcerting ending makes this one of her best.
The Best Friend by Shalini Boland 3/5 stars
When Louisa's young son starts a new school, she finds a best friend in one of the other mothers, Darcy. The friendship is wonderful to begin with, until Darcy begins to take over Louisa's life. This is a well-written, mostly believable thriller. Boland creates an atmosphere of unease from early on. Despite it's good points, it wasn't enthralling for me, though other readers may find it so.
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