Bronwyn

Duplicate copy of other version. The kindle edition wasn't part of the other entry, and I wanted my notes housed here.

I was waffling between three and four stars, but I'm glad I read this so I'll go with four. I appreciated the confusion of the older Maud, but young Maud seemed... stunted? or on the spectrum or something? that that part of the story didn't really work for me. You really feel for Maud though; the not knowing, the confusion. You also feel for her family members; it's hard when a family member doesn't remember anything from one minute to the next. I wish there was a bit more resolution, but for the story this is, it makes sense there's not. Overall I'm glad I read this, but I'm not sure I really liked it, if that makes sense.

This was really beautiful but almost haunting. It's almost more a series of vignettes in the life of this family. The narration as a foursome of cousins was really interesting to read but really leant some depth to the storytelling - everyone is connected to everyone in all these different ways. I really enjoyed this. Yet another great NYRB Classics title.

You know when NYRB and Persephone both publish a book it's going to be good. This was fantastic. Hugh was a great character to follow. The set up and resolution were so well done. The setting is so oppressive. I'll have to read more Hughes.

Overall I really enjoyed this! It got a bit bogged down when the detectives were describing everything, over and over. But the reveal was interesting, if a bit convoluted (but part of it is similar to a particular movie, so it has precedent. Of course, can't say what movie without giving bits away). In the end I really enjoyed it, though. I'm really enjoying these honkaku mysteries (this is my second) and will be reading more!

Like a lot of people (based on how long I had this on hold!), I watched the Candy miniseries on Hulu and wanted to know more. The show follows the book pretty well, but you definitely do get more here - sometimes too much more, it felt overly long at times.

I didn't like Candy Montgomery. And I still don't really understand why she did it. I don't buy the case the defense laid out - apparently one of the authors doesn't anymore either.

Overall very interesting though.

I heard the author on You're Wrong About in the second episode on Go Ask Alice and was intrigued (highly recommend the podcast!). The book did not disappoint. I've never read Go Ask Alice or any of it's successors, but the whole blaming LSD thing and the satanic panic stuff is right up my alley - and this definitely delivered!

Some of this was really hard to read (I honestly do think it's why I've been in a funk for a few days) - Sparks was obviously a troubled person, but the havoc she wrought was unbelievable. I understand that the book/s help people, and the author shows some of that too, but mostly I'm just mad at Sparks for what she did, specifically, to the family of Alden Barrett.

I don't love that there are no notes or a bibliography or something. The author tries to explain why at the end of the book, but it's not convincing to me. This could've been a five star book but I have to deduct for that. It's so obviously well researched and he just gets a bit hand wavy about it. sigh

I'd still recommend this though, as it's really well done and an interesting topic.

I heard of this from The Mookse and the Gripes podcast, looked it up, and thought it sounded so interesting. Two old friends, who bonded and fell out over an artist, reunite on ones deathbed. It sounds so simple, and it really is, but it's done so well, so interestingly. It's really about the artist and the painting in a lot of ways. There's bits of history of the artist, as well as of our unnamed narrator and friend. The way it's written is so well done, but really different from what I'm used to. I really loved this. I dragged out finishing because I didn't want to be done. Hopefully the library will get Hager's other book too.

ARC book.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this, but the whodunnit was clever and I didn't figure it out, so four stars.

Eta: there is a particular plot point that's... gross... I'm a bit more forgiving since this is originally from the 40s and from a culture I'm not familiar with, so maybe it's a bit more forgivable...

This is so beautiful and heartfelt. I thought it was more of a mystery for some reason, but it's not at all, though you do learn who the killer is. It's about grief and how it follows and affects us. It's beautiful.

This was beautiful. It's so simple and concise. It's more a series of vignettes in Mari and Jonna's life than a real story, but you really get to know them. There are no wasted words, but there's still so much... love - for people, for art, for Finland. Really beautiful. Now I want to read more Jansson.

When both All About Agatha and Shedunnit rank this Christie so highly, you have to finally read it. It definitely lived up to the praise. It's really tightly done, nothing is wasted. I loved that the crime was so long in the past. Poirot was so good here, doing what he does best. The ending was a bit underwhelming, but that's it.

This was really interesting! If you know me, you know I'm a sucker for anything Christie related and crime related, so - much like A is for Arsenic years ago - this was perfect for me. I really liked all the examples from Christie's books that Valentine used, as well as all the real cases that Christie references in one way or another (Crippen, Thompson-Bywaters - which you know I love -, the brides in the bath, etc.). All of the forensic stuff is just fascinating. Highly recommend!

(Also, learned that Crippen was probably innocent, or at least that the body they thought was his wife, wasn't!)

I heard of Elsie Robinson through an interview with Allison Gilbert on the Lost Ladies of Lit podcast and thought she sounded so interesting. This biography by Gilbert and Julia Scheeres is really well done. Robinson had quite the life and it's a shame she's not better known. I highly recommend this book and the podcast.

This was really beautiful and a really interesting story. Rósa and Jón were really well written. The issues so well presented. I feel like Lea did a really good job with the place and time. You really feel Rósa's isolation.

Part of my family is from near Stykkishólmur, and I've been there, so I loved the setting. I've also spent a lot of time in a turf house (https://www.akureyriguide.is/portfolio/laufas-heritage-site/), which, while more modernly decorated, really gives an idea of Jón's home. I could picture it, the upstairs, and the outbuildings so well.

I highly recommend the audiobook read by Heida (Heiða) Reed (Elizabeth Poldark in the recent Poldark series) and Smari Gunn - Icelandic is hard even if you kind of know it (ask my mom about trying to say eight/átta), so it helps to have Icelanders read to you.

This was a really interesting collection. It reminded me of Electric Dreams or the new Twilight Zone in some ways. As with most short story collections, some were better than others (I loved Time Cube and Do You Remember Candy in particular), but all of them were really interesting and really well done. I'll have to look for more of Fu's work in the future.

I'm not a big fan of novelizations, but when I learned Harold and Maude was based on a play and later novelized after the film (and by the screenwriter!), well, I had to read it. It reads like a novelization, but if you're not familiar with the movie I don't think you could tell, if somehow that all makes sense. It's really beautiful and you get some motivations of Harold and Maude that you just can't get in a movie. Even knowing the ending, I teared up. It's really well done.

Holy cow, this was so good. It took me a minute to get the hang of the format and Miles/Pronto, but once I got settled it just read so quick and well. The characters are all so well drawn; everyone felt real but also felt like they were being written down by Miles (or some third person in him). Edmee and William and Caroline. Ludovic. Miles himself. I loved this.

I recently read The Feast, which was my first Kennedy, and knew I needed to read more and I'm so glad to have read this. I'll definitely have to pick up The Constant Nymph soon.

Read December 12, 2022. Galen wanted to read this at school but they said it was for bigger kids, so we found it through the library instead. It's super cute and he really liked it.

This was really beautiful. The title is appropriate as it's definitely a love story to Scotland - the descriptions really make the book and are so well done. Janet is prickly and hard to like. We never really get close to her. But her story is still interesting and her end abrupt. You really feel for her. Really beautiful.

This was really good! It's hard to rate though and this is a time I wish goodreads did half stars; it's better than four stars but something was lacking for me to give five. Four feels better right now. I think if I'd read this at a slightly different time it could have been five stars though.

I did love this though. The setting and the characters were all so well done. (It did take a while to keep track of everyone though.) I know of the seven deadly sins thing, but didn't really try and figure out who's who (though some are easier to tell than others). Overall really good and I look forward to more Kennedy as the writing is really lovely.

This was such a treat. Why isn't Josephine Tey better known?! It was perfect - started out like one of the mid-century women's books I like and turned into a really well done mystery. The mystery is so late in the book I just didn't see how it would all happen and be resolved so quick! The long set up is so perfect as you really get to know the characters much better than you might in a whodunnit that happens much earlier on. I loved it. I was already interested in other Teys but now I'm really looking forward to them!

Holy cow. Trite to say, I know, but everyone should read this. For a while it was a pretty typical family saga, which I like, but there's an undercurrent of unease. And then it hits. I don't even really know how to talk about this.

Feuchtwanger wrote this in ‘33 and yet it feels like it must have been written later. When people say no one knew what was going on this book shows the lie of that. A few chapters in the last section are a bit of an info dump, but they don't read that way, showing Feuchtwanger's skill. They're hard to read, but they show what people knew. Other parts show how easy it was for people to dismiss what was happening.

Between this and Manja by Anna Gmeyner (published in ‘39) there really can't be any believing that people didn't know what was happening. Like today, it's easy for those not affected to ignore what's going on. But people know. We should all know better. We can't let these things keep happening.

This was cute. It doesn't work as well in a book as in the show though.

Read for the first time in the year:
March 14, 2021