A perfect month of reading. I really loved all the books, and they were very different from each other. You may notice the year in the 1920s in red. I began doing that last year as I began my reading from the 1920s. I just do it to draw my attention to the fact.
May - 6
24.The Plumley Inheritance - book 1 in the Ludovic Travers series
by Christopher Bush
mystery 1926
Kindle
finished 5/4/21
We live in a wonderful time for readers because we have access to so many old books. It is just thrilling to me to read something published when my mother was 13. Another Dean Street Press reissue.
25. High Wire in Nuala - book 9 in the Inspector De Silva series
by Harriet Steel
mystery 2020
Kindle
finished 5/7/21
I don't read very much historical fiction, but I will read these books as long as she keeps writing them. I love the Sri Lanka setting, called Ceylon at the time the books take place.
26. Dandelion Cottage
by Carroll Watson Rankin
children's fiction 1904
Kindle
finished 5/9/21
This was one of those Amazon recommendations - I think because I read The Railway Children. Another book about children, and I loved it. Four girls are "given" this rundown house for the summer. Fully drawn characters with an interesting story.
27. Sweet Bean Paste
by Durian Sukegawa
translated from the Japanese by Alison Watts
fiction 2017
Kindle
finished 5/12/21
I saw the movie version of this on Netflix DVD called just Sweet Bean and loved it. When I read Convenience Store Woman in April, Amazon recommended this book. I hadn't even known it was a book. It is rare when both a book and movie are perfect but these certainly are to me.
28. Before the Coffee Gets Cold - book 1 in Before the Coffee Gets Cold series
by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
translated from the Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselo
fiction 2015
Kindle
finished 5/17/21
A fascinating concept. An underground restaurant with just a few tables, but it has a reputation that people can go back in time. There were a few separate stories, and I was so caught up in them. Wonderful idea and book.
29. The Consequences of Fear - book 16 in the Maisie Dobbs series
by Jacqueline Winspear
mystery 2021
Kindle
library book
finished 5/23/21
Ah, Maisie is back. Always a joy to follow her in life. This was a particularly excellent installment.
YOu've reminded me I haven't added my recent books read to my 2021 book list on my blog. I'll have to look for that latest Maisie Dobbs book.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good one!
DeleteThanks for the list. Sweet Bean Paste is one I'd like to read and probably a few of the others. I enjoyed Convenience Store Woman - an interesting viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteHere's one for you - Miss Benson's Beetle - I'm almost finished - it's a page turner for sure.
Mary
I really thought SBP to be so very good. I'll look into the Beetle book!
DeleteSounds like you had one of those rare reading-months where you enjoy every single book you read. I love when that happens, even though it hardly ever does to me. Speaking of reading older books, I was born in 1948 and I am always on the lookout for books published from the mid-forties to the mid-fifties because it gives me a sense of what life may have been like when I finally came along to join the fun.
ReplyDeleteIt happens to me quite a lot because I drop any book I'm not really liking! I agree about getting an idea of the time period from books. And that's the year I was born!
DeleteSweet Bean Paste was such a lovely book, but I still haven't seen the movie. Before the Coffee Gets Cold is on my wish list... and I am woefully behind with Maisie Dobbs. You had an excellent reading month, Nan!
ReplyDeleteWasn't it just wonderful! The Coffee book is as well. Very unique idea, I thought.
DeleteI didn't read Dandelion Cottage or its sequels as a child but the Betsy-Tacy group read the first one together during the pandemic and I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI love that you are in that group. I'm a big fan of those books. I had never heard of DC until amazon suggested it. I did read that the sequels were not as good.
DeleteI like the sound of Dandelion Cottage! Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI bet you'll like it!
DeleteI, too, like the sound of Dandelion Cottage. Having just looked it up at Amazon's Kindle shop, I find there is also a sequel.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about it being rare that both book and movie are great. In my opinion, the Harry Potter movies are like that. It shows that J.K. Rowling was involved from the start.
I read that people didn't like the sequel as well.
DeleteThat's great about the HP books and movies.
Have you read Jacqueline Winspear's memoir, "This Time Next Year We'll Be laughing'--its interesting to see how she has used the wartime experiences of her family in creating situations for Maisie.
ReplyDeleteI have not. Thank you so much for the suggestion!
DeleteI haven't heard of Dandelion Cottage but that sounds so up my street. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNan - What a great list of books. I had not known of Jacqueline Winspear's memoir. Thank you.
ReplyDelete