It's Monday! Reading Japan and Vietnam

Ghost of the Bamboo Road by Susan Spann

November 12, 2019, copy from Seventh Street Books

 Master ninja Hiro Hattori and Jesuit priest Father Mateo of Portugal solve crimes and mysteries on their journeys in 16th century Japan.  In Ghost of the Bamboo Road, seventh in the series, the two must deal with what appears to be a vengeful ghost that terrorizes a mountain village.

The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian

Uncorrected proof, borrowed ebook, March 17, 2020, Doubleday

Genre: thriller, suspense

 (A)n American man vanishes on a rural road in Vietnam, and his girlfriend, an emergency room doctor, follows a path that leads her home to the very hospital where they met. (publisher)

What are you reading this week?
It's Monday: What Are You Reading is hosted by Book Date.

Sunday Salon: Memoirs and Cozies

First in a new mystery series:

Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders by

Tessa Arlen, November 5, 2019, Berkley.

Genre: WWII historical mystery series, with Air Raid Warden and sleuth Poppy Redfern.

Location: Remote English village, 1942

Four cozy mysteries:

Mumbo Gumbo Murder: A New Orleans Scrapbooking Mystery

by Laura Childs, October 1, 2019, Berkley Books

Carmela and Ava solve a murder during Jazz Fest in New Orleans

The Chocolate Shark Shenanigans by JoAnna Carl,

November 5, 2019, Berkley Books. 

House flipping turns deadly in this Chocoholic Mystery.

City of Scoundrels by Victoria Thompson

November 5, 2019, Berkley

Historical mystery set during the Great War.

A psychological thriller:

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan, September 10, 2019, William Morrow

A seven-year-old grows up wondering why her nanny left without a trace, and why. 

Current library books:

The Ungrateful Refugee

This Is How I Save My Life by Amy B. Scher, April 10, 2018, Gallery Books

Genre: memoir of a woman who travels from California to India in search of a life saving medical procedure to cure her Lyme disease.

What have you been reading this month?

Memes: 

The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Mailbox Monday and the Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: Poems and Two Cozies

New books on the shelves:

Almost Home: Poems by Madison Kuhn

October 1, 2019; Gallery Books

Illustrations and poems of "home"

A Killer Carol by Laura Bradford, September 24, 2019; Berkley

Gift shop owner Claire tries to solve the murder of an elderly Amish couple in Pennsylvania.

 A Night's Tail by Sofie Kelly, September 3, 2019; Berkley

Librarian Kathleen and her two cats try to catch the killer of a visiting businessman in town.

Currently reading:

I was reading too many books to finish even one last week. Going from book to book, print to ebook and back, means that a book doesn't get read all the way through. Not a good habit, I am finding out.

I finished The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion for our book club early next month, but that's about it. 

How about you? Do you find yourself doing this too?

Memes: 

The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and the Sunday Salon,  Mailbox Monday.

Thriller: The Heart Keeper by Alex Dahl

Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader

The Heart Keeper

The Heart Keeper by Alex Dahl, July 16, 2019, Berkley

Genre: thriller

Themes: heart transplant, obsession, mothers and daughters

Book beginning:

ALISON 

I wake all the time; that is, if I sleep at all. The alarm clock projects the time onto the wall on Sindre's side of the bed and I lie staring at the pulsating dots separating the numbers. It's just after two o'clock in the morning and Sindre isn't here. He was here when I fell asleep. At least I think he was. I pull my hand out from underneath the warm duvet and stroke the cool, empty space where my husband should be. 

A few nights ago, the same thing happened....

Page 56:

ISELIN

I get up because I can't fall asleep in case the school rings, which I think they probably will - Kaia isn't used to being away from me, or to be around other children. 

I can't wait to read this new book. What do you think? 

Sunday Salon: Cupcakes, Rural Texas, Gaslight Mystery, Court Dancer

Cozy Reading

I'm back to cozy reading, after a long hiatus, and after finding a delightful mystery involving cupcakes and death!

Dying for Devil's Food

Dying for Devil's Food by Jenn McKinlay is the 11th in the series with cupcake maker  Melanie Cooper and her friend and business partner Angie. Both get involved in solving murders and this book is no exception. The problem is that the dead person in this novel is found with one of Melanie's cupcakes in her hand!

As for rural Texas, 

The Gillespie County Fair

In The Gillespie County Fair by Marc Hess, two intermarried pioneer families in a small Texas town lock horns over the sale of a homestead and just about destroy themselves. 

In historical mysteries, 

Murder on Trinity Place

Murder on Trinity Place by Victoria Thompson is the 22nd in the Gaslight mystery series, set in Victorian-era New York. Frank and Sarah Malloy solve another murder in this historical novel.



New from the library,

The Court Dancer

The Court Dancer by Kyung-Sook Shin is mesmerizing in the detail, description of an era,  and the characterization of the protagonist, a court dancer who would become famous in the Joseon Court of old Korea, 1891.  I am enjoying this one very much.

Finished reading

Newcomer

Newcomer by Keigo Higashino, published November 2018 by Minotaur Books, is a detailed police procedural set outside Tokyo. 

Detective Kaga gets involved in the lives of the people he is investigating while linking clues in a case just as someone would braid a rope out of single threads. We get to know several shop owners in a traditional shopping district, their lives and their crafts and goods, all during Kaga's investigation into a recent death. Any of the threads he picks up along the way could lead to the murderer of a divorced woman living in the area, and a few do. The ending is not predictable, nor is the unique personality and methods of the detective. I gave this library book five stars. 

What books are you reading this week?
Memes: The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  Stacking the Shelves, and It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

Thriller: No Right Way by Michael Niemann :Sunday Salon

No Right Way

No Right Way (A Valentin Vermeulen Thriller #4) by Michael Niemann, May 14, 2019, paperback
In a Turkish camp, Valentin Vermeulen  investigates why aid for Middle Eastern refugees is being intercepted. 
Source: thanks to Wiley Saichek of Saichek Publicity for a copy for possible review

I am reading several books at once, according to my reading mood - historical fiction, mystery, thriller, plus an historical novel for book club.

For historical fiction, there are 
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See (Korea) and
The Song of the Jade Lily by Kirsty Manning (Shanghai)

and a mystery novel
The Perfect Fraud by Ellen LaCorte

Memes: The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  Stacking the Shelves, and It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

Sunday Salon: Historical, YA, Thriller, Contemporary Fiction

New book arrivals:

The Song of the Jade Lily

The Song of the Jade Lily by Kirsty Manning, May 14, 2019, William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: historical and contemporary fiction
Setting: Vienna, Shanghai, Australia

I'm enjoying reading this novel about a Jewish family escaping from Nazi occupied Austria, traveling to Shanghai, China as refugees. We follow young Romy and her parents in Shanghai, moving back and forth in time to when Romy has her own family and grandchildren in Australia after leaving China at the end of WWII. And we see Romy's granddaughter Alexandra, trying to find her way in the present, 2016, through her family's wartime history. 

The Great Pretenders

The Great Pretenders by Laura Kalpakian, Publication April 16, 2019, Berkley Books
Setting: Hollywood in the 1950s
Roxanne forges a career unique for women in the 1950s, becoming an agent for hungry young screenwriters. When she sells a script by a blacklisted writer under the name of a willing front man, more exiled writers seek her help. 

Cygnet

Cygnet by Season Butler, June 25, 2018, Harper
Genre: coming-of-age tale
A 17-year-old young woman comes of age in a community of the elderly rejecting the promise of youth.

Setting: an isolated island off New Hampshire populated by a community of the elderly

All of Us With Wings

All of Us With Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil, Soho Press

YA fantasy debut about love, found family, and healing is an ode to post-punk San Francisco through the eyes of a Mexican-American girl

The Snakes

The Snakes by Sadie Jones, June 25, 2019, Harper
Genre: contemporary fiction
Bea and Dan, recently married,  visit Bea’s dropout brother Alex at the hotel he runs in Burgundy, France. Disturbingly, they find him all alone and the ramshackle hotel deserted, apart from the nest of snakes in the attic.

The Perfect Fraud

The Perfect Fraud by Ellen LaCorte, June 18, 2019, Harper
Genre: contemporary fiction
Claire works in the family business and calls herself a psychic, but she doesn’t really have “the gift” and hasn’t for a long time. She’s a fraud. When she meets Rena and Rena's disturbed daughter, events collide.

Which of the above books would you read first? Why?

Memes: The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  Stacking the Shelves, and It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

In the Mailbox: Contemporary Fiction

Contemporary novels and a thriller:

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne,
Published January 29th 2019 by William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: contemporary fiction, romance

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal
Expected publication: April 30th 2019 by William Morrow
Genre: family drama, travel

The DNA of You and Me by Andrea Rothman
Expected publication: March 12th 2019 by William Morrow
Genre: contemporary fiction 

What's in your mailbox this week?

Visit Mailbox Monday to see what books others have on their reading list.

It's Monday: What Are You Reading?

Books I'm reading, on the e-reader, borrowed from the library, or from my shelves:

Little Darlings

The Light of the Fireflies

The Night Tiger

What books will you be reading this week?
Memes:  
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date.
Mailbox Monday. 

The Birdwatcher by William Shaw, and Other Books

New books on the shelves.
Memes:  
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date.
Mailbox Monday. 

Forever and a Day

Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz, November 6, 2018, Harper
JAMES BOND: The story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera.

Kill for Me

Kill for Me by Tom Wood, November 6, 2018, Berkley Books
A patron of Guatemala's largest cartel is ready and willing to pay Victor to eliminate the competition--her sister. 

Finished reading a library book:

The Birdwatcher

Review of The Birdwatcher by William Shaw, June 2017, Mulholland Books

Justice and delayed justice are the themes of this unusual crime novel set near Kent, England. A policeman on the force is asked to help with a murder investigation as he knew the victim, a fellow bird watcher. The policeman digs deeper than the murder task force wants to go, to find the true killer, and runs the risk of their discovering his own past crime.  Interesting twists in the  plot. 

What books will you be reading this week?

It's Monday: What Are You Reading?

Vancouver Noir

A Risky Undertaking

Come With Me

Tony's Wife

New books on the shelves.
What books will you be reading this week?
Memes:  
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date.
Mailbox Monday. 

Sunday Salon: Canadian Authors Wanted

I've joined the 12th Annual Canadian Book Challenge by The Indextrious Reader.  thanks to a suggestion from Suko at Suko's Notebook.

background images from Large Roadside Attractions of Canada

Two reviews I've already entered for September: It All Falls Down and The Lost Ones, are thrillers by Vancouver author, Sheena Kamil.

The Lost Ones

It All Falls Down

I'll be looking for other Canadian authors so I can fulfill the 13-book requirement! Though I'm assured there is no penalty if I don't reach the goal!

A new American book arrived for review, thanks to Wiley Sachek.

Bum Deal

Bum Deal by Paul Levine, Jake Lassiter #12, published June 12, 2018 by Thomas and Mercer
Genre: legal thriller, featuring "Second-string linebacker turned disillusioned defense attorney Jake Lassiter ." 

My husband has co-opted this one for the time being and seems to be enjoying it!

A Japanese book I recently finished was

Convenience Store Woman

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated, published June 12, 2018, Grove Press
The novel covers aspects of contemporary culture in Japan, what society dictates that young women should aspire to and how they should live. 

Keiko breaks the mold, finds a niche as a convenience store worker, but after 18 years, her family and friends and even her co-workers think she should move on, find a husband, start a family, etc. But Keiko is only comfortable in her convenience store world. 

Revealing and enigmatic for Western readers, no doubt, but it's easy to side with Keiko, who chooses her niche, returns to what suits her.  This book was a lucky library find.

What books will you be reading this week?
Memes:  
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date.
Mailbox Monday. Also, Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews

Sunday Salon: Mystery in New Orleans and on the High Seas

I have a copy of a favorite cozy writer's new book, Glitter Bomb in the New Orleans Scrapbooking Mystery series.  It's been a while since I read the series, so this book looks very attractive.


Glitter Bomb by Laura Childs, October 2, 2018, thanks to Berkley Books
Genre: cozy mystery series
Setting: New Orleans
An exploding Mardi Gras float is used as a murder weapon.

Another arrival is from Seventh Street Books with a much more serious book cover.


The Devil's Wind by Steve Goble, A Spider John's Mystery, September 11, 2018. 
The mystery is historical, featuring a pirate as sleuth, solving a murder on the high seas.. 

What books will you be reading this week?
Memes:  
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,
It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date.
Mailbox Monday. Also, Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews