June Reading

30. Murder by Mocha - book 10 in the Coffeehouse Mysteries series

by Cleo Coyle

mystery 2011

finished 6/6/14

As you know, I adore Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse mysteries, and even though this one was not a particular favorite just because the plot didn't interest me that much, I still enjoyed catching up with the characters who inhabit this series. And it holds a special place in my heart because three years ago, I won this book (you may read about that here) and owning it set me on my adventures with Clare Cosi, et al.

Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini who co-write these books, are two of the most generous of authors. They have sent me a few other books since this one.

31. The New House

by Lettice Cooper

fiction 1936

finished 6/16/14

I so liked this book. It is slow, quiet, pensive. People really thinking about their lives. It is about one family - some of whom are moving to a new house. I've not read anything like it before. It is my third favorite Persephone book, after The Fortnight in September, and Greenery Street. The bookmark and endpapers are

taken from 'Rope and Dandelions', a block-printed velvet designed and printed by Margaret Calkins James for her new house, 'Hornbeams' in Hampstead Garden Suburb, in 1936.

There are money problems. There are doubts about the course a life has taken, and the choices made. There is much interior monologue which is so my 'cuppa' when it comes to literature. I am someone who thinks a lot, and I enjoy reading about others who do the same.

32. Kaaterskill Falls

by Allegra Goodman

fiction 1998

fourth reading

finished 6/22/14

Back in the days when I used to rent audiotapes through the mail I listened to this book a few times read perfectly by Suzanne Toren. When I saw it at a local used bookstore, I bought my own copy. It never fades in my appreciation. Each time I read it I feel like this is the way a book should be. It is set in the mid-seventies, which now seems almost like ancient times. I live in a community where the Hasidim from New York City spend some of the summer and so was especially interested in this story of Orthodox summer people and the locals in upstate New York. I love this book beyond words. 

33. The Namesake

by Jhumpa Lahiri

fiction 2003

second reading

library book

Kindle

finished 6/29/14

This is a wonderful book. I also loved the movie. As with The New House and Kaaterskill Falls, this is a quiet book. I enjoyed this second reading fully as much as the first. The language is beautiful, the story compelling, the characters real and interesting.