I derive a certain joy in timing the books on my holds list at the library. I can have five books on hold at any given time and I try to ensure that they are a mix of books with shorter and longer wait lists to ensure that the books come available in a reasonable manner – not all at once. This is the perfect intersection of my bibliophilia and love of order. In late December, the plan unraveled and three books came available on the same day. I was up to the challenge.
The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay: An American Family in Iran by Hooman Majd
An Iranian-American takes his American wife and child to spend a year in Iran – this is totally the premise for a Helena-book.
You Belong To Me by Mary Higgins Clark
Mary Higgins Clark has a special place in my heart. My mother has long been an MHC-evangelist, and she passed that on enjoyment on to my sister and me. One summer, my sister brought an MHC book to the beach and my aunt read and loved it. It then became a tradition for my sister to bring a new MHC book with her each summer and let my aunt borrow it. Basically, I associate reading MHC with the women in my family.
The Concubine’s Tattoo by Laura Joh Rowland
As discussed in December, I do love a series. I was very excited about a series set in Empirical Japan as, frankly, I know very little of Japanese history (not that this is a history tome, but you know). Sano Ichiro, the shogun’s detective, is tracking the murderer of a palace concubine. This book was a quick read – with perhaps one too many cheesy sex scenes, but I suppose it did have “concubine” in the title so perhaps I was warned.
The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen
This story shifts back and forth between present day and the Boston of the 1830s. As it dealt with young men in medical school in the 1830s, I did have the arrogance that comes with our common sense health measures that were foreign in earlier times (wash your hands!). It was interesting, though, to read about the state of medical training in earlier times and the pressing issue of not having cadavers for study. Mary Roach’s Stiff gave me another perspective on the many important jobs of dead bodies.
In Case We’re Separated by Alice Mattison
This book is a collection of stories about one extended family from the emigration to the US in the 1920s to the great-grandchildren in present day. The stories aren’t in chronological order, so you learn about each character separately and then see them later with some knowledge of how things must have been since you saw them last.
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Kate Atkinson is one of my favorite authors. I will read anything she ever writes forever and ever, amen. This story, like all her stories, was so well-crafted. It traces the life of Ursula Todd as she lives, dies, and relives certain situations until a many-forked path emerges through the first half of the twentieth century. We see glimpses of the consequences of many choices to see how Ursula’s life would play out had different decisions been made. Anyone who liked the way the stories in All the Light We Cannot See and The Time Traveler’s Wife were told should pick up this book.
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
Yes, my interest in this book was piqued by recent world events. A lot of people felt similarly as the wait list at the library shot up to double-digits. Plus, I lived in Fairfax County, Virginia when this monkey business was going down, so, that’s interesting, I suppose. I loved the way this book told the history and science behind Ebola while still being totally readable (in fact, I couldn’t put it down).
Theresa says
Loved ‘Life After Live’ and ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’. Now it looks like I should get myself a copy of ‘All the Light We Cannot See.’ Awesome!
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