rhian_of_oz Reads in 2021 - July to December

I'm Rhian and this is my third year in Club Read. My reading goal for this year (like the previous two years) is to make a dent in my TBR pile. As at 31 December 2020 the TBR count was 129.

Currently reading:
Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Synners by Pat Cadigan
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
Cold Coast by Robyn Mundy

Next up:

Potential TBR from CR:
The Far Country by Nevil Shute (jjmcgaffey)
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss (Nickelini)
Memorial by Bryan Washington (Simone2)
Based On A True Story by Delphine de Vigan (wandering_star)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (sallypursell)
The Harpy by Megan Hunter (RidgewayGirl)
The Push by Ashley Audrain (dianeham)
The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Markon)
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice (Nickelini)
Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell (shadrach_anki)
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn (AlisonY)
The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams (lisapeet)
Testosterone Rex by Cordelia Fine (LolaWalser)
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (shadrach_anki)
Here is the Beehive by Sarah Crossan (Nickelini)
A Fairy Tale by Jonas T Bengtsson (Nickelini)
Girl A by Abigail Dean (RidgewayGirl)
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (BLBera)
One More Croissant For The Road by Felicity Cloake (Nickelini)
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is A Witch by Rivka Galchen (RidgewayGirl)
The Wanderers by Meg Howrey (bragan)
Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson (wandering_star)
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint (cindydavid4)
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger (BLBera)
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson (shadrach_anki)
The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine (shadrach_anki)
Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers (SandDune)
Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers (Nickelini)
An Unnatural Life by Erin K Wagner (stretch)
Intimacies by Katie Kitamura (RidgewayGirl)
A Separation by Katie Kitamura (RidgewayGirl)
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (RidgewayGirl)
56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard (wandering_star)
Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor (AlisonY)
The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch (AlisonY)
Breath by James Nestor (AlisonY)
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym (karspeak)
Bewilderment by Richard Powers (Yells)
Indians on Vacation by Thomas King (Yells)
Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah (dchaikin)
The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister (RidgewayGirl)

Potential TBR from Bookclub:
The Algebraist by Iain M Banks (The Player of Games)
Age of Myth by Michael J Sulivan (The Player of Games)
Their Finest Hour And A Half by Lissa Evans (Kallocain)
The World Inside by Robert Silverberg (Kallocain)
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar (The Unbroken)
Master of Djinn by P Djeli Clark (The Unbroken)

Quarter 3

July

1. The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez


2. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn


3. The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley


4. Meet Me In Another Life by Catriona Silvey


5. The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley


6. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn


7. The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor


8. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje


9. Redhead By The Side Of The Road by Anne Tyler


10. Replay by Ken Grimwood


11. The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear


12. An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris

August

1. The Fall of Koli by M R Carey


2. Akin by Emma Donoghue


3. In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan


4. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman


5. A Longer Fall by Charlaine Harris


6. There Before The Chaos by K B Wagers


7. Island of the Mad by Laurie R King


8. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller


9. The Institute by Stephen King

September

1. The Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris


2. The Player of Games by Iain M Banks


3. This Fallen Prey by Kelley Armstrong


4. Watcher In The Woods by Kelley Armstrong


5. Alone In The Wild by Kelley Armstrong


6. A Stranger In Town by Kelley Armstrong


7. Down Among The Dead by K B Wagers


8. Another Time, Another Place by Jodi Taylor


9. Recursion by Blake Crouch


10. The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden by Kate Saunders


11. The Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice


12. Riviera Gold by Laurie R King

QTD
Books owned pre-2021: 7 (21.21%)
Books purchased in 2021: 11 (33.33%)
Books gifted in 2021: 0 (0.00%)
Borrowed books: 15 (45.46%)

YTD
Books owned pre-2021: 29 (38.16%)
Books purchased in 2021: 27 (35.52%)
Books gifted in 2021: 0 (0.00%)
Borrowed books: 20 (26.32%)

TBR: 150

Quarter 4

October

1. Girl A by Abigail Dean


2. Forgotten in Death by J D Robb


3. A Deception at Thornecrest by Ashley Weaver


4. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley


5. Out Past The Stars by K B Wagers


6. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano


7. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N K Jemisin


8. November Road by Lou Berney


9. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells


10. Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam


11. By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar


12. Word for Today by Roly Sussex


13. Serpentine by Jonathan Kellerman

November

1. Kallocain by Karin Boye


2. False Value by Ben Aaronovitch


3. The Other Half of Augusta Hope by Joanna Glen


4. The Survivors by Jane Harper


5. Peace Talks by Jim Butcher


6. The Friendship List by Susan Mallery


7. The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose


8. Everyday Madness by Susan Midalia

December

1. The Unbroken by C L Clark


2. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan


3. CSI Told You Lies by Meshel Laurie


4. Across the Void by S K Vaughn


5. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak


6. The Mirror and The Light by Hilary Mantel


7. The Weekend by Charlotte Wood


8. The Memory Box by Margaret Forster

QTD
Books owned pre-2021: 7 (24.14%)
Books purchased in 2021: 13 (44.83%)
Books gifted in 2021: 0 (0.00%)
Borrowed books: 9 (31.03%)

YTD
Books owned pre-2021: 36 (34.29%)
Books purchased in 2021: 40 (38.09%)
Books gifted in 2021: 0 (0.00%)
Borrowed books: 29 (27.62%)

TBR: 149

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

Genius Fumiko Nakajima is headhunted by the Umbai Company to design a series of space stations for humanity (or at least those that can afford it) to live in as Earth becomes increasingly uninhabitable.

Centuries in the future, space is defined as being within the regions of Umbai and its allies, or in the fringe. Nia Imani is the captain of a transport ship whose crew effectively lives "outside of time" while they're on transport runs.

Ahro is a young boy who appears seemingly out of nowhere on the planet Umbai-V. Nia collects him on her last transport run and takes him to Pelican Station, a nexus of Allied Space. Their arrival catches the attention of Fumiko who makes Nia an offer she can't refuse.

It's quite difficult to describe this book. Even though it takes place in space across a long span of time 'space opera' doesn't quite fit. One could describe it as a love story but that doesn't properly capture the depth of the worldbuilding.

I liked this a lot, but I didn't love it and I'm not sure why not. I'm a little ambivalent about the ending, and I'm not convinced about the point of the book, but the worldbuilding is excellent, the characters are interesting, and I wanted to know what happened to them.

I read this for bookclub so I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone else thought. If you like Becky Chambers (who I *love*) then I think you'll like this, though it doesn't quite have the same impact her work has. I would certainly check out any future offerings from Mr Jimenez.

Hi Rhian. The Vanished Birds does sound interesting. I did like the Chambers book I read.

>5 BLBera: I'll report back on what the bookclub's general consensus was.

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Raynor Winn and her husband Moth lose their home and livelihood, not long after finding out that Moth has a neurodegenerative disease that will eventually kill him. While hiding from the bailiffs under the stairs they decide to walk the South West Coast Path which is a 630 mile trail across the south west of England. As you do.

After starting this I had to put it aside for a bit. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that being poor and homeless is my worst nightmare. Add in two people heading off on a massive hike woefully underprepared, and the whole thing was making me anxious and unhappy.

I must admit that the decision to walk still befuddles me. I think it's because, in my mind, being a grown up means dealing with your problems not running away from them. But then I have never been in so desperate a situation (well not as an adult).

This isn't an easy book to read, not in the way it is written, but because it is exactly the way you would think it would be being middle-aged, underprepared and poor on a challenging hike - hard. But amongst the despair and the pain there are moments of beauty, joy and kindness.

Don't read this if you're expecting a "transformed by the beauty of nature" narrative - this is not that book. It's part travelogue, part memoir, part social commentary, and often confronting. I'm glad I read it and intend to read her next book The Wild Silence - though maybe not immediately.

I have The Salt Path on my shelves. I should try to get to it soon. Great comments.

>7 rhian_of_oz: This sounds interesting, Rhian. I’m not in a mood to read something like this now, but will put it in my wishlist for future.

Nice review of The Salt Path, Rhian. As Colleen said I'll add it to my wishlist, as my parents' failing health makes it too depressing to read at the moment (even though they are at no risk of becoming poor or homeless).

>7 rhian_of_oz: I just read it, and agreed—it was a strange decision, but people do odd things when up against the wall so I was willing to go along for the ride. And yeah, I was SO glad it wasn't a "transformed by the beauty of nature" narrative, as you said, and liked the fact that any transformation was a physical hardening up, which made sense—and, in retrospect, kind of justified that odd idea of walking their troubles out. I have a galley of her follow-up book, and definitely plan on checking that one out.

>11 lisapeet: I was musing about the fact that the decision they made about their future wasn't made while they were walking. But on further consideration I think the walk was the 'circuit breaker' they needed (well certainly Raynor needed) to take a metaphorical deep breath before making any longer term decisions.

Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey

"Joyful, devastating, and profound, Meet Me in Another Life is a story of love and connection in every possible form that will captivate fans of Stuart Turton, Claire North, and Audrey Niffenegger."

This is the blurb that attracted my interest for this book. The description isn't inaccurate but what I will say is that if you're a fan of The Time Traveller's Wife then it's worth noting that this book isn't a romance. And if you didn't like TTTW don't let that put you off from reading this one.

Thora and Santi meet in Cologne as university students. And then as student and teacher. They continue to meet in different relationship configurations life after life, remembering nothing. Until they meet Peregrine and gradually realise that they keep living their intertwined lives over and over.

I liked this a lot. The first two parts are quite tight - enough vignettes to give the reader an idea of what's going on without over-egging the pudding. The third part drags a little, though I absolutely think the resolution is worth it. The ending feels a little manipulative - I didn't hate it but I did give it a little side-eye.

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books from Ms Silvey.

The War That Saved My Life and The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

We first meet 10 year old Ada in the summer of 1939. She lives in a one-room flat with her mother and younger brother Jamie in the East End of London, which she never leaves due to an untreated club foot and her mother's shame. Ada spends the summer learning to walk in preparation for Jamie starting school, but before that happens they are evacuated to Kent where they are given into the care of Susan.

These books are *so* good. Ada is a brilliant character, exactly as you would expect an abused and neglected child would be - angry and anxious and slow to trust - but also brave and wily. Susan is also a well-thought out character who has her own issues that she is dealing with.

These stories cover the whole gamut of situations and emotions. We see Ada and Jamie blossom under Susan's love and care, but there is no flinching away from the realities of war.

I reckon these will be in my top 10 books for the year (especially if I count the Cromwell trilogy as one :-D) and I am very thankful to Beth (BLBera) for bringing them to my attention.

>14 rhian_of_oz: I am so happy you loved them, Rhian. And thank you for bringing The War I Finally Won to my attention. I had no idea there was a sequel. I gobbled it up yesterday. I didn't like it as much as the first one, but I was happy to spend more time with Ada.

My granddaughter and daughter are now reading the first one; my daughter said it was hard at first because the mom is so mean, but they are getting into the story. And my daughter, being an educator, is milking it for all kinds of life lessons about persistence. :)

>15 BLBera: Yes well Ada is definitely persistent!

>10 kidzdoc: I enjoyed The Salt Path, and certainly didn't find it a depressing read, Darryl, if that's what's putting you off. As Rhian said, they needed the walk as a pause to separate themselves from their situation for a while and decompress. Winn doesn't over-dwell on the troubles they're temporarily walking away from once they get going on the walk. It's much more a 'take each day as it comes' approach, and as Lisa commented a gradual physical hardening up along the way.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

Two and a half years after VE Day, Osla is trying to decide what to wear to the wedding of the century when she receives an enciphered letter from an estranged friend asking for help. The third in their trio also received a plea and Osla needs to convince her to get involved. We then lookback to 1939 when we find out how Osla, Mab and Beth meet, and about their work at Bletchley Park.

The story alternates between 'then' and 'now' as we discover which friend needs help and why, the story of their lives during the war, how they were torn apart, and how help is provided.

I liked this a lot, so much that I read it in one sitting. Osla, Mab and Beth are all appealing characters and I have long been fascinated by Bletchley Park. The form of the assistance rendered is a *little* far fetched but I chose to ignore my own scepticism :-).

I've enjoyed all of Ms Quinn's WW2 novels and I'm hoping she writes more.

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

In the immediate aftermath of WW2 14-year-old Nathaniel (our narrator) and his sister Rachel are told that their parents are moving to Singapore for a year and leaving them behind. The intention is that they will be in the care of their lodger, nicknamed The Moth, until they head off to boarding school. Instead they are introduced to a cast of interesting, seemingly shady, characters, and are left to do pretty much whatever they want. Until their mother's past catches up with them.

Years later, after the death of his mother, Nathaniel uses his job reviewing Foreign Office archives to try and piece together the mystery of his mother.

Hmmm, how do I feel about this book? Ambivalent. I liked the first part which is, I suppose, the adventures of Nathaniel. The second part I didn't like as much, and the major reason are the chapters where Nathaniel becomes (essentially) an omniscient narrator to tell the story of his mother's war. It was so jarring and so annoying it has coloured my opinion of the whole book.

On the basis of this I'm disinclined to search out more of Mr Ondaatje's work, though he can clearly write! Question for those that have read more of his work - is Warlight representative of his style? And which of his other books would you recommend I try before giving up on him?

I've only read Coming Through Slaughter and found it incredibly dull so I've not rushed back to his writing again.

I liked Warlight but I've found his work doesn't always appeal to me, so I think you can probably move on, Rhian. Too many books...

I ordered The War I Finally Won. I didn't like it as much as the first one, but I did enjoy spending time with Ada again. My granddaughter stayed over last night. She and her mom are reading The War that Saved My Life right now. She asked me if Ada gets a new mom. I told her she had to wait and finish it. I'll give her the sequel for her birthday, which is soon.

>19 rhian_of_oz: I haven't read Warlight yet, but of his works I've read (5 I think), Anil's Ghost is probably my favourite. I am planning to get to Warlight.

>19 rhian_of_oz: I liked Warlight overall but agree that the second part felt disjointed and low-energy after the intrigue of the first. I kind of see what he was getting at, but it didn't completely work for me. I haven't read any of his other work, though a couple of reading friends liked The Cat's Table.

>21 BLBera: I love that your granddaughter is invested in Ada's story!

>20 AlisonY:, >21 BLBera:, >22 SassyLassy:, >23 lisapeet:

Thanks for your comments. I've read the online previews for your suggestions plus a couple of others and I think I will give them a miss. As Beth says - too many other books clamouring for my attention.

The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear

This is the 16th instalment of the Maisie Dobbs series and after reading the previous book I said I was going to abandon this series because I was no longer interested in the future of the characters. But I saw this in the library and thought I would give Maisie and co another shot.

Set in 1941 our story starts with a young boy Freddie, working as a runner of messages for the government, witnessing a murder. The police dismiss Freddie's report when there is no body so he approaches Maisie for help.

Maisie is balancing her investigation agency with intelligence work for the government, while trying to raise her adopted daughter and nurture her relationship with Mark Scott. The murder investigation collides with her government work and she is told to let it go in the interests of diplomacy. She doesn't.

I liked the murder investigation components of this but the personal elements somehow don't ring true for me and I'm not sure why. Maisie must be about 40, has lived during two world wars, been widowed, is university-educated, and yet somehow still comes across as emotionally immature.

This time I am sure this is where Maisie and I part company.

>26 rhian_of_oz: I’ll probably keep reading them, but I felt the same way. I don’t really like Maisie character any more. I was also kind of bored with this mystery.

An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris

This is the first in the Gunnie Rose series which is set in an alternate history America in the 1930s.

Lizbeth 'Gunnie' Rose is 19 and is a gunslinger in Texacoma where the most common work is escorting people to New America. She is hired by Eli and Pauline, two wizards from the Holy Russian Empire (the Russian royal family were granted sanctuary in California rather than being assassinated) to escort them to find another wizard, with both Lizbeth and her clients keeping secrets from each other.

This was fun and easy to read (one sitting). It's mostly action driven, some of which gets a little repetitive, though there is a plot behind the action. The main attraction for me though is Lizbeth - I like her a lot.

I will definitely be reading the next in the series.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Nina is living her life the way she wants to - until she isn't. The father she never knew names her in his will so she suddenly has family to deal with. At the same time she meets Tom, the cute trivia buff with a secret.

This is cute - but pretty much every character is a stereotype. A very light rom com for when the world is too heavy. Warning - the ending is super cheesy even for a rom com.

I don't regret reading this but I won't be rushing out to read anything more by this author. The best thing was reading the one-star review on Goodreads by someone called Kristina.

A Longer Fall by Charlaine Harris

This is the second in the Gunnie Rose series.

At the start of this instalment Lizbeth is on a train to Dixie, guarding a mysterious crate as part of a new crew. When the train is derailed and the crate stolen, Lizbeth and Eli (who turned up at the crash site not-coincidentally) work together to find out what's going on.

Another action packed read, not as repetitive as the last one, and the plot was slightly more complex.

I am looking forward to reading the next book and have just discovered number four is due out in February.

By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar

This is a fun and funny take on the Arthurian legends. It is quite "earthy" - less gallantry and chivalry, more sex and fighting. Two of my favourite things are Lancelot has a kung fu practitioner and Guinevere leading a band of highwaywomen.

I liked it a lot. Now if you'll excuse me, it looks like this is the first in a quartet so I need to go and hunt down the rest of them.

Across the Void by S K Vaughn

This started off as a promising locked-room mystery in space, morphed into a little like The Martian, and finally devolved into melodrama/soap opera. Disappointing.

The Weekend by Charlotte Wood

Just before Christmas lifelong friends Jude, Wendy and Adele travel to the beach house of their late friend Sylvie to clear it out for sale. After decades of friendship each knows the others' peccadillos which they both judge and affectionately tolerate.

By the end of the weekend each woman will have to face the reality of her situation.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I read it because I absolutely loved The Natural Way of Things but this book is definitely not as confronting or as pointed. It's more introspective than action-driven, but the insights don't appear to be that deep.

A number of reviews refer to the characters as unlikeable, and while I agree that I didn't necessarily like them, I certainly felt compassion and affection for each of them at different times.

Reviews have also said this is depressing and I can see why they would think so. It would be interesting to look at the demographics of reviews because I suspect opinion might correlate with age. While I'm not as old as the characters (who are in their seventies) I'm certainly old enough to recognise/accept that life is not only not all rainbows and unicorns, it's also not all drama and excitement.

Would I recommend this? I don't know - it's definitely not for everyone. But how often do we see 'real' portrayals of older women in fiction? It is in this way that the book reminds me a little of Olive Kitteridge.

The Memory Box by Margaret Forster

Catherine's (our narrator) mother died when she was 6 months old and she has spent her whole life almost denying her mother's existence or importance. But when her father and stepmother die within months of each other she finds a memory box that her mother made for her and embarks on a search to discover the objects' meanings.

This was a pretty meh read for me. Catherine is not a particularly likeable character (she's a self-centred brat) and what kept me reading was wanting to know about the items and what they would reveal about her mother. But I don't think the payoff was worth the price of admission.

This wasn't terrible but I wouldn't recommend it and I'm not inclined to hunt out other books by this author.