Here’s my reading list from last month. 32 books with a total of 13,444 pages. Wowzer! Even allowing for the fact that two of them were cookbooks, that’s an awful lot of reading, even for me. (Can you tell we had more than one dreary, rainy, stay-at-home weekend this month?)

1. BENEATH THE VAULTED HILLS by Sean Russell (488 p.) I love this man’s writing, too. (How often do I start off or end a review with that statement? This book is a fantasy which takes place in a world much like ours in the 18th century–with one exception. There has been magic in this world for centuries, but now, there is only one, dying mage left, the last of his kind, who is determined to see the “Arts” end with him. Erasmus Flattery is an accomplished young man who had spent a brief period of his childhood in Eldrich’s household (though never actually met the mage), and now is caught up in a puzzle about a riddle that may lie in caverns far underground . . . This “Duology” preceeds his the author’s other Farrland series , and I love both of them. He’s written two other series, but the ones that take place here in this world, are my favorites. Lest you think I’m exaggerating his skill as a wordsmith, here’s a quote from Amazon: “Sean Russell writes for people who prefer books to movies. No snappy
dialogue or nonstop action sequences, just a mesmerizing tale,
multifaceted characters, and lyrical descriptive prose.”

2. COMPASS OF THE SOUL by Sean Russell (407 p.) The sequel and the conclusion to the Last Mage duology. Erasmus and his friends have escaped the cave, but Eldrich is determined to find them, determined to keep them from somehow sustaining the magic that he and all the mages before him are determined to eradicate . . . and yet, time is growing short . . .

3. OWL AND MOON CAFE by Jo-Ann Mapson (352 p.) I’ve been a fan of Jo-Ann Mapson since her very first book, Hank and Chloe. She’s best known, though, for her most recent series “Bad Girl Creek” which, frankly, I found depressing–all the characters started off with bad, serious troubles, but they just seemed to get worse instead of better as the series went on. Well, not so in this one. Yes, there are serious troubles–of the four generations of the Moon family, one has just lost her job, one has just been diagnosed with Leukemia, one is having serious social troubles in school, and one is getting just plain old. But by the end of the book, there’s a sense of hope and accomplishment–they’ve struggled, and they’ve come up with something new, and life should be good from here . . . just the kind of ending I like! And, as always (even with the books I haven’t liked), Mapson is a good, strong writer. Enjoyable.

4. HISTORY OF LOVE by Nicole Krauss (255 p.) I read this unique little book last year and ended up sitting with a big, ol’ smile on my face for the last 50 pages, and this time wasn’t any different. I really just love the way she writes this book. There are two main narrators–Leo Gursky, an old Polish Jew war survivor, struggling with day to day life on his own, with only his friend Bruno and newspaper clippings about his famous-author son, who doesn’t know that he’s his father. The second narrator is Alma, named for the character in the book “A History of Love” which her father gave her mother. One day, they get a letter asking her to translate the book from Spanish to English, which she does, but Alma gets completely caught up–was the woman in the book a real person? What happened to her? And page by page of beautiful prose, the two of them tell this story of loves lost and found, of loneliness and misunderstanding, of heartache, of loss, of renewal. Honestly. Big, ol’ smile on my face.

5. JANE FAIRFAX by Joan Aiken (252 p.) One of the better Jane Austen “knock-offs,” this one tells the story of Jane Fairfax–the character from Emma that everyone (but Emma) admires and who returns to Highbury secretly engaged to Frank Churchill. It’s an enjoyable fancy about what her side of the story is, how she grew up, how she met Frank, how she felt about Emma . . . a nice, decent, enjoyable “sequel.” (Which, really, you can’t say about all of the “new” “Jane Austen” books!)

6. HOW TO BAKE by Nick Malgieri (480 p.) A nice, thorough book about baking, although I have to say that the one recipe I’ve tried so far (the banana cake) was rather disappointing . . .

7. LOCAL CUSTOM by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (296 p.) Since I seem to revisit these two authors about once a month . . . a Liaden story preceeding the “main” series by a generation, telling the story of how the parents of Shan yos’Galen met . . . so, while it’s technically science fiction, it’s got just as much romance and just as much drawing-room-manners about it as, say, space travel. It was the first book of theirs I read, in fact, and a good introduction to this very unique universe. (You know, really, I owe Anne McCaffrey thanks for introducing me to two of my favorite authors–other than her. She wrote a rave introduction to this book, which is part of the reason I picked it up. And there was a blurb from her on the cover of Sharon Shinn’s “Archangel,” which has become one of my very favorite books. It never hurts to find books that favorite authors of yours like to read for themselves!)

8. OVER HERE by David M. Kennedy (390 p.) A 25-year old book about live in the US during WWI, the social upheaval, the economic ramifications, and so on. Thorough, informative, a bit dry and textbook-y, but still, I can see why they’ve reprinted it.

9. SCOUT’S PROGRESS by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (304 p.) The “partner” of “Local Custom” mentioned above–this one telling the story of how Val Con’s parents met. Aellana is a brilliant mathematician, but abused by her older brother, when she wins a ship in a card game and decides to become a pilot . . . great space opera.

10. THE ART OF FAIR ISLE KNITTING by Ann Feitelson (179 p.) A VERY thorough book on the art of Fair Isle–the history of the craft, the traditional patterns, how to blend colors for different effects, how to design a sweater . . . Unlike most knitting books, this is dense in rich, informative text, not just one pattern after the next. Beautiful color photos, too.

11. THE SECRETS OF BAKING by Sherry Yard (416 p.) Another baking book, this one filled with great explanations about different methods. I haven’t yet tried any of these recipes, but the author’s breezy, friendly voice is a delight and the recipes (and photos) sure look good. Yum.

11. LONGITUDES AND ATTITUDES by Thomas L. Friedman (395 p.) A series of NYT columns written both before and after 9/11/01, which were fascinating . . . except that some of them refer to “current” events which I no longer remember. (What, exactly, was Israel doing in November 2002?) The essays were interesting, but I really enjoyed the “diary” section at the end of the book, which delineated his movements for the course of the book. That part was really interesting.

12. THE FOURTH BEAR by Jasper Fforde (377 p.) Second in his “Nursery Crime” series, with Detective Jack Spratt, this murder mystery examines the disappearance of a reporter (known as “Goldilocks” to her friends) after having visited three bears in the woods . . . yes, it’s supposed to be silly. I have to admit to preferring the Thursday Next series to this one, but still . . . his writing is certainly unique, and never boring!

13. MRS HUDSON AND THE SPIRIT’S CURSE by Martin Davies (310 p.) The first of the “Mrs. Hudson” mysteries, explaining how she became housekeeper for Sherlock Holmes, and took the young orphan Flotsam under her wing . . . it’s a fun idea, that Mrs. Hudson was actually more astute than the famous detective she worked for, and Davies does a fine job with it.

14. BY THE SWORD by Mercedes Lackey (492 p.) A stand-alone fantasy story in Lackey’s world of Valdemar. This tells the story of Kerowyn, a young girl who becomes a mercenary. One of the author’s better books, I think. Fun, lots of stuff going on, well written . . . it’s one of my favorites of hers.

15. PATRIOT GAMES by Tom Clancy (540 p.) The first Clancy book I ever read, where tourist/historian Jack Ryan stops a terrorist attack in the center of London, thus drawing the attention of the Irish terrorists to his family, and beginning his career in the CIA.

16. DEBT OF HONOR by Tom Clancy (990 p.) A few “Jack Ryan” books later . . . Japan (or at least its business men) has just declared an unspoken war on the U.S. and Jack is the President’s chief advisor for National Security . . . and at the very end, gets a sudden promotion, leaving this the only Tom Clancy book I’m aware of that has a cliff-hanger ending . . .

17. EXECUTIVE ORDERS by Tom Clancy (874 p.) Which is taken up in this book, with the Capital building, the President, the Supreme Court, and most of Congress dead and Jack suddenly President . . . and of course, his presidency does not start smoothly, for Islamic terrorists decide he must be weak and that it would be a good idea to attack . . .

18. THE DETONATORS by Chad Millman (286 p.) True story, telling of the terrorist attack on lower Manhattan in 1916, when German saboteurs blew up Black Tom island, used as an ammunition dump. And it blew up big. Amazing that ninety years later, I’d never even heard of this . . . fascinating. Of course, unlike the 9/11 attack, this one was at least comprehensible. The Germans were at war, we were selling ammunition to their enemies, and they blew up the depot in the middle of the night when it the island was mostly empty. There were only a handful of (official) deaths, and even though the damage was staggering . . . it’s the kind of attack I can understand. Really, though. I had no idea this had ever happened!

19. 78 REASONS WHY YOUR BOOK MAY NEVER BE PUBLISHED… by Pat Walsh (192 p.) Mine might still fall into the 78 reasons despite my best efforts, but this is still an informative, useful book filled with tips about what not to do and what TO do when trying to get a manuscript accepted. Pretty entertaining, too, really….

20. DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST by Juliett Marillier (544 p.) A really excellent fantasy book, beautifully written, inspired by celtic legends of six brothers turned into swans, saved by their sister, who spun and wove thorns into shirts to break the spell. Really, wonderful book.

21. SON OF THE SHADOWS by Juliet Marillier (580 p.) The second of the trilogy, focusing on Sorcha’s daughter, Liadan, who’s trying to help her sister . . .

22. CHILD OF THE PROPHECY by Juliet Marillier (555 p.) The third of the trilogy–very good, but a little disturbing. Faine is coerced by her evil grandmother (she who placed the swan spell in the first book) to try to bring down the Sevenwaters family–despite her basic decency and unwillingness to harm them. Watching her being forced to do things she abhorred bothered me, but still–excellent.

23. BUSMAN’S HONEYMOON by Dorothy Sayers (403 p.) Mystery writer Harriet Vane finally marries amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey, but their married life is off to a rough start, when they find a dead body in the basement of their honeymoon cottage.

24. GRUB-AND-STAKERS MOVE A MOUNTAIN by Alisa Craig (183 p) The first of a light, fluffy, “cozy” mystery series. (And one which, ironically, took me four days to read, even though it’s one of the shortest of the month. Go figure.) Anyway, it’s a Canadian mystery, written under the nom de plume of Charlotte MacLeod, and features Dittany Henbit, a young woman who stumbles into a nefarious plot to take over the town’s mountain and turn it into a (gasp) housing development. So she and her friends simultaneously start a campaign for town council, start cutting paths up the mountain to make it obvious that it’s wanted in its natural state, and throw a 50th wedding anniversary party for one of the in-laws–all of which events end up centered at Dittany’s house. It’s silly and cute and entertaining.

25. UNCLE MAME by Eric Myers (304 p.) The biography of Edward (Pat) Tanner, the man who wrote “Auntie Mame.” Yes, that book was published by “Patrick Dennis,” but that was a nom de plume, too. Pat Tanner was an interesting man, “camp” before camp ever became popular. A best-selling author under more than one pen-name, married with children, but also gay, and who ended up as a butler, which I just find unspeakably entertaining for some reason. The book isn’t the best written book I’ve ever read (though much better than one of the participant’s unpublished “memoirs” quoted in the book), but it wasn’t exactly a chore, either

26. SON OF AVONAR by Carol Berg (476 p.) The first of  four-book “Bridge of D’Arnath” fantasy series. It starts with Seri, an exiled noblewoman finding a deranged man near her cottage . . . a man who turns out to be a sorceror in a country that visciously outlaws all sorcery, as she knows all too well, having had her husband burned at the stake 10 years ago. She can’t let that happen to D’Nathiel, and so, she comes out of hiding…. excellent fantasy. Well-developed, believeable world, great characters.

27. GUARDIANS OF THE KEEP by Carol Berg (583 p.) Second book. Seri’s nephew is kidnapped into an adjacent world (where D’Nathiel, now restored to his memory, is prince), and she is determined to rescue him . . . especially once she realizes that he is her son, who she believed was killed at birth.

28. THE SOUL-WEAVER by Carol Berg (469 p.) Third. Gerrick, Seri’s son, tries to find a place for himself in “the Bounds,” since he is not accepted in his own world anymore, being considered corrupted by the upbringing he got in book 2.

29. DAUGHTER OF THE ANCIENTS by Carol Berg (531 p.) The last book of the series, which begins with a young woman stumbling out of the forest, claiming to be the daughter of D’Arnath, the hero-king dead these 1000 years . . . This entire series is excellent, but I have to say, the first book is still my favorite. Well worth the read, though, if you like fantasy at all.

30. GRUB AND STAKERS QUILT A BEE by Alisa Craig (179 p.) The second book in this little series. Dittany (now married) become a trustee for a new town museum, when the curator is found dead, leaving a bossy widow who assumes she’ll be in charge now…

31. GRUB AND STAKERS PINCH A POKE by Alisa Craig (197 p.) Dittany’s friends put on a play, telling the story of Dan McGrew, but it seems that someone is trying to kill the lead actor….

32. GRUB AND STAKERS SPIN A YARN by Alisa Craig (215 p.) Dittany is now pregant with twins, causing all her friends and loved ones to swarm to the yarn shop in order to make her baby gifts. Meanwhile, someone is trying to steal the secret recipe of the local mincemeat factory…

• Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading • Permalink:Books Read in August 2006 //