Monday Mash-Up

 June 26, 2023 ~ Books &...

 

THOUGHTS
Not a single one! It has been a relatively quiet week. I've saved it all for a couple of book rants further down the page.

 

100 DAYS OF SUMMER

Book with a proper name in the title.
Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley (performed by the author)
Pts: 10    RT: 91  Avg: 6.5

Book by an author born between 1900 and 1940.
Knockdown by Dick Francis (1920-2010)
Pts: 7    RT: 98    Avg.: 6.12

Book set in, or written by an author born in, Australia or Oceania.
Mr. Jelly's Business by Arthur W. Upfield
Pt:  8    RT: 106    Avg:  6.23

Magical realism.
The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino
Pt:  2    RT: 108    Avg: 6

Book title includes all of the letters in P-A-T-I-O or D-E-C-K.
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
Pt: 4    RT: 112    Avg: 5.8

Book written by an author born in the months of June, July or August.
Interpeter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (born July 11, 1967)
Pts: 12    RT: 124    Avg: 6.2

THE BOOKS

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Kahiri

I finally got around to checking out the work of British-born Bengali-American Jhumpa Lahiri.  Loved it. Each story is a little slice of everyday life, the problems we all face. There will definitely be more JL on my reading list.
Four stars

Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley (read by the author)

I was not impressed by her research, her writing or her reading of the script. Most of the time I thought I was watching one of those TV exposé shows, the kind that makes a big deal out of a lot of nothing.  As narrator, she came across as disingenuous, that she was going for the hype, the big reveal that turned out to be nothing and whatever titillation she could find. I didn't like her tone and I didn't like her first person interruptions into the story; it all made me trust her research even less. 
Barely 3 stars

Knockdown by Dick Francis

I've been buying Dick Francis novels on Audible since the mid-aughts and I am now one recording shy of all the novels he published through the year 2000 (and not including one novel that I read when it was published and do not wish to revisit ever).  It was great to read a Dick Francis that I hadn't read at least 10 times in the last decade. DF remains my number one favorite  writer of crime fiction.
Four stars.

Mr. Jelly's Business by Arthur W. Upfield

So much going on here. Set in Australia in the 1930s, featuring a bi-racial main character and rife with all the baggage that these days requires a trigger warning. Many thanks to the publisher for not bowdlerizing this edition.  Besides the fact that the mystery is very well done, the last scene in the story is absolutely macabre.
Not quite 4 stars.

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino

The guy is known for his mystery stories not for novels of magical realism and yet here we are.  Multiple threads of interconnected stories that neatly braid themselves into a whole. Sorry, no spoilers, no hints, nothing given away. Put this one on your list for a cozy Halloween Bingo read.

The Little Paris Bookstore by Nina George

I can't believe that I actually stuck with this one to the very end. I was not impressed. Slow start. Slow narrator. Slow book. Too much introspection. Nothing new. No surprises. Maudlin.  I'm the first to admit that sometimes a book is not about getting there but about what you see along way, but this time, even the scenery was not that enticing.
3 stars at best.