“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen.
The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons
If you wish to believe that quote, and I do, my Mother lived at least a thousand lives or more before she died on April 5th. She was 98. I never remember her without a book. She loved to read at the table while eating. This was taboo when she was growing up and she told me she was reprimanded many times for bringing a book with her to the dinner table. Probably why she did it as an adult. Back then it was Louisa Mae Alcott and Daphne Du Maurier, Phyliss Whitney and Victoria Holt. Mysteries were her first love so I am guessing Agatha Christie was on her list. She liked the detective and spy thrillers too: Mickey Spillane, Ian Fleming, Ruth Rendell, John D. MacDonald, Robert B. Parker. I don’t remember her ever reading to me as a little kid, but I guess her example was enough. I do know she urged me to read, Liittle Women, and at the time i though it too big. Or maybe it was just being stubborn because, “your Mom told you it was good’. When I finally did get around to reading it, I loved it. I know Mom also took us to our local branch library and we never were restricted on how many books we could check out.
While going through Mom’s notebooks and papers the other day I found a binder with a typed alphabetical list of books she had read. It was labeled as List #1 and there were 345 titles. There was a rating system too, the more stars, the better the book. Lee Child, Charles Todd and Sue Grafton’s books had a lot of stars. I hope I eventually find List #2 or even #3 because the latest read date on list #1 was 2008.
And so, I am a reader. I became a librarian and ended up recommending books to people, like my Mom did with me. And I didn’t have to worry about recommending “big books” because kids were devouring Harry Potter, some of which exceeded 800 pages. Remember, Little Women, it was 388 pages. What was I scared of?
So, thanks Mom. I have two books going at once right now and I belong to three book groups. It is a great vice to have. And now more books:
1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022) 560p. Demon Copperhead is the protagonist of this book which is patterned after David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Kingsolver moves the story from London to Appalachia where she addresses the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, opiate addiction and poverty much like Dickens’ attack on the societal problems of his time.
2. Death in the Dark Woods (Monster Mystery #2) by Annelise Ryan (2023) 336p.In this second installment of Annelise Ryan’s Monster Hunter series, Morgan Carter and her dog Newt are on the hunt for Bigfoot in the forests of northern Wisconsin. But is the elusive cryptid really to blame for the recent murders in the area? In the first of the series, she was looking for a monster in Lake Michigan.
3. The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota (2015) 468p. The plot follows several Indian men who all move illegally to London in order to earn enough money for their poor families back home. The author takes us into their lives and what their immigrant situations are really like. Only hoping to provide for their families these people live day to day in a constant state of fear.
4. Inmate 1577 (Karen Vail #4) by Alan Jacobson (2011) 453p. When an elderly woman is found raped and brutally murdered in San Francisco, Vail heads west to team up with SFPD Inspector Lance Burden and her former task force colleague, Detective Roxxann Dixon.
As Vail, Burden, and Dixon follow the killer’s trail in and around San Francisco, the offender continues his rampage, leaving behind clues that ultimately lead them to the most unlikely of places: Alcatraz.
5. Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel (2020) 388p. This story features Eva Traube, a twenty three year old Jewish woman, living in France during WWII. In 1942, Eva and her parents are on a list to be rounded up. Eva’s father is taken but she and her mother are able to escape Paris due to Eva’s artistic talent at falsifying paperwork that will allow them to escape to Switzerland. Before reaching the border the women settle in a small town in the Free Zone. It is here that members of the resistance recruit Eva to use her new found forging talents to save thousands of children and adults who would otherwise have been killed by Hitler’s regime.
6. Shattered (Michael Bennett #14) by James Patterson (2022) 384p. When FBI Agent Emily Parker, a good friend of Detective Michael Bennett of the NYPD, went missing, Michael had just returned from his honeymoon. Remaining on leave, he immediately goes to Washington DC where she was based. Not authorized by the NYPD, but with an FBI contact, Bobby Patel, feeding him information, Michael is determined to find Emily, confident she is still alive.
7. The Wager: Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann (2023) 354p.This historical non-fiction book is an amazing account of the British naval ship HMS Wager. In 1741, as part of Commodore George Anson’s squadron, they set out to intercept Spanish galleons carrying treasure from South America. With treacherous tides and storms through the passage between Cape Horn and Antarctica, the Wager runs aground on a desolated island. With little resources, the crew faces starvation and freezing temperatures along with mutiny and betrayal.
8.The Kommandant’s Girl (Kommandant’s Girl #1) by Pam Jenoff (2007) 395p. The story revolves around nineteen-year-old Emma in war-torn Poland, whose husband flees underground to help the resistance fighters. She takes on a new identity as Anna, and hides her Jewish heritage. Wanting to do whatever it takes to help her husbands’ cause, she takes a job as the Kommandant’s personal assistant where she has access to secret information that will help the resistance.
9. On Animals by Susan Orlean (2021) 256p. In this collection of stories, largely pulled from articles she has written for The New Yorker, Orlean examines animal/human relationships. They range from the household pets we dote on, the animals we raise to end up as meat on our plates, the creatures who could eat us for dinner, to the various tamed and untamed animals we share our planet with, all who are central to human life.
10. Fool’s Crow by James Welch (1986) 391p. In the Two Medicine territory of Montana, the Pikuni Indians are forced to choose between fighting a futile war or accepting a humiliating surrender as the encroaching numbers of whites threaten their primitive existence.
11. The Hunter (Cal Hooper #2) by Tana French (2024) 480p. Two years have passed since retired Police Detective Cal Hooper moved from Chicago to the small village in West Ireland, where he has taken a local teenager, Trey Reddy, under his wing. But when Trey’s absentee father returns home with a cunning scheme, the peaceful life that Cal and Trey have built comes crashing down. Read The Searcher before The Hunter to better understand Cal and Trey’s backgrounds.
12. The Seven Husband’s of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017) 389p. Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, magazine reporter Monique Grant, listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn tells a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. And a surprising connection to Monique.
Thanks Mom!
Another Stir of the Spoon 