Recent Reading

While my reading taste is pretty eclectic, I read mostly a lot of mysteries and I read a lot of mysteries in series. And I like to read them in order. A valuable resource is the site Fantastic Fiction. There I can key in the name of an author and see a list of titles in chronological order.

Another perk is that the main character of that series is listed - like Kinsey Millhone or V.I. Warshawski. Author J.A. Jance has several character series going on simultaneously, and Fantastic Fiction separates them out for me.

I've recently discovered the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley. Flavia is an 11-year-old girl who lives with her father and two older sisters. The story takes place in the English countryside shortly after World War II, but the writing style is sort of Gothic and Flavia is a delight. She's nerdy and interested in chemistry, especially poisons. While she's not the sort of character with which I can identify (like Kinsey or V.I.), she's bright and quirky and fun. I just requested the second title in the series (The Weed that String's the Hangman's Bag) and it's on my bed table waiting its turn to be read.

Last night, I started an old Marcia Muller mystery, There's Something in a Sunday. I've been reading this series with investigator Sharon McCone for many years and decided to start at the beginning and read through it.

And I just finished Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert. China Bayles is another protagonist that I've been following over the years and have decided to read (in some cases re-read) the books in order.

For a break from mysteries, I read Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving. This was a long book, but thoroughly absorbing. However, it took me several pages to really become involved with the characters and the situation. I remember reading The World According to Garp many years ago and being immediately mesmerized. I think I made a mistake by reading the flyleaf which warned of violence; I then began the story with some trepidation. I was almost relieved when the killing happened fairly early in the narrative. It wasn't very bad in terms of violence and I could relax and enjoy the rest of the book.

I don't know much about John Irving, but I noticed a lot of parallels between his life and that of the main character, the writer Danny Angel. Danny taught at Windham College in Putney Vermont. So did Irving. A friend of mine was a student there and he was her English professor. Danny's fourth novel becomes a best seller and makes him famous. Checking the list of titles written by Irving, Garp was his fourth, a best seller and made him famous. And as the book ends, Danny is writing a new novel that sounds very much like Last Night in Twisted River.

Another pleasure of the book was the description of Brattleboro, a town that I love. Someone once described it as "a college town in search of a college". That's so true. It has all of the flavor that a college town has: boutiques, craft galleries, book stores - but there is no college. Windham closed many years ago. In its place is Landmark College for people with various learning disabilities. Plus Landmark is in Putney, the next town north. Marlboro College is a good 10 miles to the west and Keene State is east in New Hampshire. Still, I love Brattleboro and it has a great public library with an amazing art collection.

Brattleboro is a place I try to visit at least once a year. I think I'm due for a trip there soon.