Tuesday, December 27, 2016

My 2016 Reading


I spent a good part of the year in this area of the world without having to leave Windy Poplars Farm. This has to be one of the most wonderful things about reading. It is very doubtful that I will ever get to visit these countries, but I feel I know something about them from books.

I discovered the wonderful Inspector Singh mysteries by Shamini Flint. Singh's home is Singapore but he travels around solving crimes, mainly because his bosses want him out of their hair. He investigates in Mumbai, Cambodia, Bali, Kuala Lumpur, China, and London. He's happy when he gets to stay home. We hear often how his trademark white sneakers don't get dirty on Singapore's clean streets. Here is a list of the seven books written so far, in order of publication.

I read the third and fourth books in the Vish Puri series, The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken, and The Case of the Love Commandos by Tarquin Hall, and so loved them.The author brings the sights and food and humanity of Delhi alive to the reader. I found an article on pollution there which was written by the author’s wife, journalist Anu Anand. You may read it here. She also wrote a blog piece about moving the family back to England because of this problem. It is here.There hasn’t been a new Vish Puri for three years, and I hope the series will continue.

I also read the second in Vaseem Khan's delightful Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series called The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown. Mumbai is the city featured in this series, and the author makes me feel as if I am there. A third book is on the way soon.

I read a new mystery called Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness - book 1 in the Ethical Chiang Mai Detective Agency series by David Casarett, and really liked it.

I read The Merry Misogynist - book 6 in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series by Colin Cotterill, a book I had put off because I didn’t like the title and what it meant. It was very good, but I can read these books only with spaces of time in between. I so like Dr. Paiboun and his wife, and the stories are excellent, but they are a bit … I don’t even know the adjective. Not dark, not heavy, but for me they are a bit intense. 

I was happy, happy that the prolific Alexander McCall Smith published number 17 (!!) in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, set in Botswana called Precious and Grace. I hope he never stops. These books are food for my soul. I love them beyond words.

I went to Maine, and caught up on the Gray Whale Inn series by Karen McInerney, reading books 4, 5, and 6; Berried to the Hilt, Brush with Death, and Death Runs Adrift. The 7th comes out next month. I adore the characters, the settings, and the stories in this series.

I was thrilled to see that two of my longtime favorite writers' books were available on kindle: D. E. Stevenson and Elizabeth Cadell. I read three by each author and remembered why I love their work so much. Interesting, kindly people, terrific settings, and just plain good stories. They never disappoint and I feel a contented happiness when I’m within their books. 

I spent the early part of the year finishing up my reading of Jane Langton’s series with former cop, now professor Homer Kelly and his wife Mary, also a professor. The reader learns a great deal about various locales, writers, and art. 

I did some reading in the Bobby Owens series by E.R. Punshon whose books are quiet, interesting Golden Age mysteries. I read the first Miss Seeton book by Heron Carvic, and two books in the Alan Grant series by Josephine Tey. I plan to continue with all three of these series. 

I also read some excellent nonfiction this year. The best, the most wonderful was Kick: The True Story of JFK's sister and the Heir to Chatsworth by Paula Byrne. I can't say enough good things about it. Such sadness in that family. Another good book was Elle & Coach by Stefany Shaheen (with Mark Dagostino). This is a story about a young girl with diabetes who is helped enormously by a yellow Labrador retriever. I was amazed by Coach. I very much enjoyed Deep in the Green by Anne Raver, a collection of gardening/life essays. There were a few other nonfiction books as well, but these were my favorites.

My reading year was full of sweet, old-fashioned fiction, wonderful mysteries, and some terrific non-fiction. My hope for next year is to read more print books, and try to write about my reading here, even if just little monthly book notes.

33 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for telling me how much you loved the nonfiction book, "Kick". That is one my list of "MUST READS" now!
    Also, I know how much you like British TV shows, I have the entire episode of one of the "Who Do YOu Think You ARe" from England on my blog just now. I think you would like it as much as I do.
    Take care and happy last week of December! x

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    1. Kick is beyond wonderful! I just this minute watched the Christmas special of Call the Midwife on BBC via Tunnelbear. It was perfect. If you don't have Tbear, it is SO worth the bit of money.

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  2. This was great, Nan. I love a vivid setting in the books I read and feel like I've learned about so many places from reading mysteries. Like you, I'll probably never get to many of those places, but I feel like I've been there. Very nice overview of your 2016 reading. Loved it.

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    1. Thanks so much! It was fun writing, and fun reading!

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  3. That's a lovely collection of reading material Nan. I would enjoy all of those. Thank you for going to the trouble of telling us about your 'travels' around the book world. Happy New Year to you!

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    1. Thank you for your nice words. And the same to you.

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  4. I'm glad you got to do some armchair traveling this year, Nan! It looks like a good mystery gives you great comfort. I think my comfort reads remain in the fantasy genre, though I don't read as much fantasy as I used to. I just settle in so well to those worlds and can escape.

    Best wishes for an excellent 2017 of reading, too!

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    1. I read only what I love. Reading is one of the very few things in life that the reader has control over! I love your description of why you like fantasy. It is wonderful that there is so much literature to choose from.

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  5. Yay - it's my favourite header picture again! Thank you, Nan :-)

    Monthly notes about your reading would be very interesting. You always manage to capture the essence of what you've been reading in just a few sentences without revealing too much, just enough to make one curious to read it, too.

    My reading has much increased this year, mostly due to the frequent train trips to and from O.K.'s. While in 2015 I read 38 books, I am now at 47 (although there are only 46 reviews on my blog right now) and will soon finish 48.

    You are so right - reading is the means to "visit" so many places and "meet" so many people we'd otherwise have no chance to ever know much about.

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    1. I thought of you when I put it up! Thanks for what you said. It can be hard not saying too much, but yet saying enough to make someone interested. That's a great way to use your time on the train!

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  6. Nan, the name D.E. Stevenson jumped right out at me. I have always loved her books. I wonder if you've ever read anything by Elizabeth Goudge? Her books were published mostly in the 1930s and 1940s. They are the novels that I return to again and again. Happy New Year!

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    1. I have read EG! Just one since I have been writing the blog, but check this out (scroll down a bit)! I mention and link to you! http://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2014/11/july-reading.html

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    2. I had forgotten that we had already "talked" about Elizabeth Goudge. Well, I'm glad you have her on your list. Scent of Water is one of my very favorites, I also love the books about the Eliots, starting with A Bird in the Tree. Lovely!

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    3. I will get A Bird in the Tree! And do you know how much I love it when people come back and read my comment back to their comment! I wonder if you get NH Magazine.

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  7. I do plan to read the Vish Puri series but haven't started those yet. I bought the first book in the Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series on your recommendation but haven't read it yet either. Must get to those.

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    1. I'll be interested to hear what you think. I find both series so, so good.

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  8. I loved reading about the books you read in 2016, Nan. What a lovely varied list. I like reading about India so I must try one or two of the ones you recommend. It's such a lovely way to travel... most recently I've been in Norway with a chap who walked in the mountains there. Now I'm in the Lake District here in the UK with a crime novel by Martin Edwards. Oh and I do so want to read Kick! Happy New Year to you.

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    1. Thanks, Cath. Kick is a great book. I have another on the shelf by Byrne (Mad World about Evelyn Waugh), and I look forward to it because I so enjoyed her way of writing Kick. And the same to you!

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    2. Well I think there's an Evelyn Waugh connection with Kick as the Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, wrote about his visits to Chatsworth in one of her books. (I *think* it was him anyway and that he was a relation somehow.) So he may even have met Kick...

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    3. I picked 'Kick' up at the library today, Nan. Brand new in, I'm the first to take it out.

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    4. Yay! You may find you have to own it! I expect to look back at mine often.

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    5. I may indeed have to own it, Nan. I'm speeding through it at a rate of knots. Can't put it down. What a family!

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    6. Thanks so much for coming back to tell me!! You couldn't make it up.

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  9. Oh, D.E. Stevenson and Elizabeth Cadell! The latter was a chance discovery for me last year or so, and I adore her. Thanks to Amazon (as you say) putting these hard to find or too expensive to buy volumes on the Kindle, I'm currently reading "Iris in the Winter," and adore it like all of her books. The eccentric characters and clever dialogue. If I want to be cheered, those two authors are certainly to be relied on. Also, Siri Paiboun and his wife and friends are some of my favorite characters. It's one of the few series where I put a book on hold in the library as soon as the new volume comes out. Thanks for the wonderful post!

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    1. It really is one of the best things about ebooks. I haven't read Iris in the Winter. I'll check into it. The SP is a very good series. And thank you for your kind words.

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  10. Oh Nan -- this is so wonderful.... Based on the words you use to describe how you feel about Alexander McC-S, I know I'll love anything you recommend. (I would say the same thing about his writing that you do, if I were as good a writer as you are). I really need some good new mystery series to read (and some series authors to love) and so I thank you deeply for these suggestions. Happy New Year to all at the Hill Farm (and down the road and nearby).

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    1. Always such nice words! Thank you, Sallie. I think you'd like most all of these series. Thanks for the wishes and the same to you.

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  11. Lovely reviews. I've read many of these books and the ones I have not read I now plan to.
    Do you know http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/ a most useful website for finding mysteries. I especially use the "by location" and "by historical period". Happpy 2017 reading to you, Nan!

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    1. Thank you. I have visited that site but not for a while. Thanks for the reminder. I'm heading there right now! And happy reading to you as well.

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  12. Happy New Year! I loved reading about your reading year and I will look for the Inspector Singh series. It IS wonderful that D. E. Stevenson is available on the e-reader now. And the covers of Elizabeth Cadell's books are very appealing. She's a new writer to me.

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    1. The Inspector Singh series is really wonderful!! Yes, to DES. And I think you may like EC.

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  13. You know I am a reading fanatic, Nan - so of course I loved this post. I've already reserved a few of your recommendations at my local library. I too love D.E. Stevenson's books and have read almost all of them. But I've never read any Elizabeth Cadell and my library actually had two available. Nice. Also reserved two of the Gray Whale Inn books - never heard of them, but I usually like this sort of thing. I too have been reading the Bobby Owen books and Miss Seeton - available on Kindle for CHEEP, CHEEP! :) I'm not a big fan of Kindle (it gives me a headache if I read on it too long) but hey, you can't beat the prices on vintage not available anywhere else.

    Also wanted to wish you and your family a most excellent New Year, Nan.

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    1. It's true about the kindle prices, and particularly the availability. I'm thrilled to read these old books. I can't believe you are reading the Bobby Owen books. And Miss Seeton. It makes me happy, happy that they are being read. Thank you, and I wish you the same!

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