Sunday Salon: What I'm Reading and Watching

 What I'm Reading

Happy Mother's Day! 

There are lots of concerned mothers in this book that I'm now reading

The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia by Juliet Grames ( July 23, 2024), Knopf, NetGalley

Book description:  Set in Calabria, 1960. One unidentified skeleton. Three missing men. A village full of secrets. The best-selling author of The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna brings us a sparkling—by turns funny and moving—novel about a young American woman turned amateur detective in a small village in Southern Italy.

Enjoying: The historical info on the region of Calabria in Southern Italy, fluid writing by the author, an intriguing story of a lost/missing boy from years past,  atmospheric descriptions of a small and isolated Italian village, its inhabitants, and their lives. 

I hope to finish The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia by Juliet Grames before going on to the myriad of saved ebooks on my list. 

What I reviewed

The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani

Publication July 2, 2024; Soho Crime

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tokyo, 1979. An intriguing mobster/yakuza novel about Shindo, a brawny woman kidnapped and forced to be the bodyguard of the mob boss's daughter. Shindo nevertheless grows to become friends with her ward, Shoko, who is tougher than she appears. The world of violence and revenge they endure from then on is portrayed well in spite of all the gore.

The story jumps without warning at the end to decades in the future. It's a surprise but, nevertheless, gratifying to see the women surviving the hyper masculine world they lived in.

What I watched/am watching

For May, which celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I am continuing watching Asian dramas on TV. These include the ever popular Kdramas, Jdramas, Cdramas, and even a Vietnamese drama I just discovered. The Last Wife. a period piece set in the Nguyen dynasty in Vietnam, is about a reluctant third wife whose life is changed when she meets her childhood lover again by chance. 

I've also just finished Special Ops: Lioness a TV series starring  Nicole Kidman, about CIA agents who send a tough young woman undercover to befriend the daughter of their Middle Eastern target. I did enjoy this action thriller series though it's shorter than others.

What are you reading/watching this week? 

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

Lunar New Year, and Mon Coeur a Demenage: Sunday Salon

 French author, Michel Bussi

Mon cœur a déménagé est à la fois un récit initiatique, un roman d'amour et d'amitié, une vaste enquête s'étirant sur plus d'une décennie, et bien entendu une intrigue à twist, nul ne sachant, jusqu'à la dernière page, qui connaît la vérité, et qui la manipule.

Genre: mystery, thriller

Setting: Rouen, France

Published January 11, 2024; Presses de la Cite

Michel Bussi est un auteur et politologue français, professeur de géographie à l'université de Rouen. Il est spécialiste de géographie électorale.

What language(s) do you read in? There is a translate button at the right hand top column of the blog, for English and other languages.

Happy Lunar New Year of the Green Dragon

Description: Lunar New Year, an illustrated book, captures the magic of the celebration by exploring how Ling and her family enjoy the biggest Chinese festival of the year.

The new year festival lasts for 15 days full of preparation, celebration, and symbolism. Join Ling, her sister Mei and granny Po Po as they clean the house from top to bottom, pick fresh flowers from the garden, visit friends and family, and carry red lanterns through their neighborhood. Ling invites the reader into her home and family, allowing the reader to experience this special celebration first-hand through an authentic narrative non-fiction story.

A fun 16-page  'factivity' section  follows the story and delves into more detail about how the festival is celebrated in China and beyond. Enriching activities are also included, such as guess the riddle, make your own red envelope, and a recipe to make delicious Lunar New Year 'pot sticker' dumplings. 

The Lunar New Year is celebrated in many different Asian and Southeast Asian countries and beyond. It begins February 10.

Do you celebrate the Lunar New Year?

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

Sunday Salon: In the Mail

 New books:

What's Coming to Me by Francesca Padilla, August 2, 2022, Soho Teen

Genre: contemporary YA with some romance 

Seventeen-year-old Minerva Gutiérrez plans revenge on her predatory boss by trying to find the spoils taken by armed robbers of the ice cream stand where she works.

Kalmann: An Icelandic Mystery by Joachim B. Schmidt, May 19, 2022, Bitter Lemon Press

Kalmann Odinsson is the self-appointed Sheriff of his town. Day by day, he treks the wide plains which surround the almost deserted village, hunts Arctic foxes and lays bait in the sea....  One winter, after he discovers a pool of blood in the snow, the swiftly unfolding events threaten to overwhelm him.

What are you reading this week? 

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

Book Beginning: The Perfect Family by Teresa Driscoll

Her Perfect Family by Teresa Driscoll, November 1, 2021, Thomas & Mercer

Genre: psychological thriller

Book beginning:

PROLOGUE

Pink

The daughter looks at her outfit. And suddenly, at the eleventh hour, she realizes the colour is all wrong. 

 

Page 56:

"Don't you test his clothing or something? For residue. I've seen that on the television -'

Book description: The perfect family? Or the perfect lie?

Would you read on?

The Friday 56. Find any sentence that grabs you on page 56 of your book. Post it, and add your URL to Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader.

Book Club Pick: The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica, February 18, 2020, Park Row

Genre: psychological thriller

This novel is for next month's library book club, which rarely schedules thrillers. Someone at the library must have really liked this book! 

My goodreads comments: 

The mystery had me guessing till near the end, when I saw the only solution to the questions the story presented. So the ending was not a total surprise, but to have so many bad guys in the picture was different. 

This interesting psychological thriller had many serious themes: PTSD, child abuse, family dysfunction, mental illness, and of course, murderous individuals. 

For a book tour:

 A Mother's Tale and Other Stories by Khanh Ha. I've finished the first two of many stories:  tales of war and the aftermath of war. 

Other reading: 

I have numerious ebooks on my reader, but these days I prefer to read paper books from the library. 

I'm also not getting used to the cooler weather. I'm not ready for flannel pjs as yet! 

What are you reading this week?

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

Sunday Salon: Suspense in Colorado and in Morocco

 

The Guide by Peter Heller, August 24, 2021, Knopf

Genre: thriller set in Colorado

Source: library book 

My comments: 

A thriller set in modern days, in an isolated area of Colorado, where the very wealthy go for R & R and for fly fishing. Our main character, Jack, is the assigned guide for a famous young singer, Alison, whose only interest is in enjoying the lodge and its amenities for fishing during her week-long stay. 

The two get into deep waters, however, when they suspect there is something more sinister going on at the lodge than harmless outdoor recreation, and they risk their lives trying to find out the problem, and to fix it.  

Nature lovers will enjoy the author's prose and descriptions of the surroundings, the canyon, river, forests, and fly fishing itself. They will also get pulled into the story that becomes more complex and compelling, as time goes on, than a leisurely time on the river. 

Next on my reading list:

Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews, Matrch 2, 2021, Little, Brown & Co.   Genre: suspense   Source: library book 

I almost didn't borrow this book because I thought the title was unimaginative and the cover too subtle. But then I glanced at the book blurb and thought the novel was just up my alley. A case of an assistant assuming an author's identity during a trip to Morocco. Just enough suspense to get my attention. 

What are you reading this week?

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

Sunday Salon: The Last Flight by Julie Clark

 Last thriller read: 

The Last Flight by Julie Clark, June 23, 2020, Sourcebooks Landmark

Genre: thriller, mystery

Source; library book

Two women at the airport, running away from unbearable lives, find each other in line and decide to swap plane tickets, purses, suitcases and coats, thus discarding their own identities, hoping to disappear on reaching their new destinations. Will their plan work?

I read this book nonstop and seemed to finish it in a day! It was that suspenseful and riveting. The plot and characters were unique and their dilemmas grabbed me as a reader. A little twist at the end too didn't hurt the interest of the novel. 

And now for an historical novel: 

 China: The Novel by Edward Rutherford, May 11, 2021, Doubleday

Genre: historical novel

Source: library book

The cover grabbed my attention, together with the single word title. It promised a history of modern China in novel form, easier, in my opinion, to read and grasp the complex history. The book description helped: 

The story begins in 1839, at the dawn of the First Opium War, and follows Chinese history through Mao's Cultural Revolution and up to the present day. Rutherfurd chronicles the rising and falling fortunes of members of Chinese, British, and American families, as they negotiate the tides of history.....a deeply researched portrait of Chinese history and society, its ancient traditions and great upheavals, and China's emergence as a rising global power.

I plan to start this soon, at the same time finishing a new literary novel, My Year Abroad by Chang-rae Lee. 

What are you reading this week?

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

To Tell You the Truth by Gilly Macmillan: Book Beginning and Review

 

To Tell You the Truth by Gilly Macmillan, September 22, 2020, William Morrow

Genre: mystery, psychological thriller

Setting: Bristol, England

I liked the unusual plot, the persuasive characterization, and the realistic conclusion to the mystery. Lucy Harper is a successful mystery writer whose husband Dan, a failed writer, takes the time to manage her accounts, her home, and her success. But Lucy is haunted by the disappearance years ago of her three-year-old brother, when she was only nine. She blames herself even now, and confides the story only to Dan. 

She is also haunted by the "real" and continued presence of Eliza, the police detective heroine of her mystery books, a character that was her childhood imaginary friend who she makes into the very popular heroine of her novels. 

Dan becomes a mystery himself when he makes decisions for them without consulting Lucy. A new house near the area where she grew up, an area which Dan knows carries upsetting memories for Lucy. In unraveling Dan's actions, his motives, and his own disappearance, Lucy finds out more about what is going that impacts her life. 

I thought this deserved a five star rating, as I literally "couldn't put it down." 

Book beginning:

I typed "The End," clicked the save button, and clicked it again just to make sure. I felt a huge relief that I had finished my novel, and on top of that a heady mixture of  elation and exhaustion. But there were also terrible nerves, much worse than usual, because typing those words meant the consequences of a secret decision that I'd made months ago would have to be faced now. 

 Page 56:  

They've rejected the book, I told Dan, and the concerned expression fell from his face and shattered on the floor like a piece of dropped porcelain. 

Would you read on?

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.

First Chapter: A Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert

 First Chapter/First paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Yvonne@ Socrates Book Reviews. Post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book you are reading or plan to read soon.

Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert, February 2020, Berkley

Genre: thriller

Setting: Thousand Islands region, upstate New York

A storm-struck island. A blood-soaked bed. A missing man. Senior Investigator Shana Merchant believes it all adds up to a killer in their midst—and that murder is a family affair.

First paragraph, chapter one

"Murder," I repeated, the word clumsy on my tongue. The last time I spoke it, I was in another world.

Tim rocked his office chair, testing the bounce on springs sticky with dust, and raised his empty coffee mug. "Murder on an island," he said. "If it didn't make me a heartless creep, I'd call this your lucky day, Shane. 

Would you read on?

I will not be reading this thriller till mid-April, as I have other books: nonfiction, literary fiction, and contemporary fiction I'll be reading  till then! 

Sunday Salon: International Fiction, Thrillers

 A few books have begun to arrive this year! I was pleased to receive two new books for feature/review.

The Foreign Girls by Sergio Olguin, translated from the Spanish, ARC copy

Setting: Argentina

Genre: thriller, crime fiction

Expected publication: March 23rd, 2021 by Bitter Lemon Press (first published April 1st 2014)

 A young journalist from Buenos Aires, Veronica Rosenthal, takes a vacation in the north of Argentina, traveling to smaller towns through more scenic areas. She meets two tourists, girls from Scandinavia and the other from Italy. Veronica befriends them, they stay for a few days at Veronica's cousin's house in the hills and they decide to travel together in the area. But the foreign girls, innocent of the locals and the region, become targets in a game in which they come out for the worst. 

The journalist is determined to stay in northern Argentina to find the truth about what happened to the girls, even if it might involve people she and her family know. 

Veronica is a complex character, but a determined one who isn't afraid of danger or taking risks to achieve her goals. The relationship between herself, the locals, and the foreign girls take the novel to a level that explain the lengths she will go to resolve the issue of her newfound friends. 

The plot, the setting, and character development made this an intriguing mystery novel. 

My rating: 4/5 stars

Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang, review copy

Setting: Silicon Valley, New York

Genre: contemporary fiction, Asian American fiction, multicultural

Published March 31, 2020 by HarperCollins

When the narrator's longtime boyfriend, J, decides to move to upstate New York for grad school, she leaves her job as staff writer at a publication in Silicon Valley to follow him.

But in the process, she finds herself facing misgivings about her role in an interracial relationship. Captivated by the stories of her ancestors and other Asian Americans in history, she must confront a question at the core of her identity: What does it mean to exist in a society that does not notice or understand you? (publisher)

Two other books recently finished:

Three O'Clock in the Morning by Gianrico Carofiglio, ARC copy

Setting: Marseilles

Genre: family drama, coming-of-age novel, international fiction

Publication March 16, 2021 by HarperVia 

A coming-of-age, literary novel about a young Italian teen, an epilectic, who discovers more about himself and his estranged father while both are on a trip to a clinic in Marseilles. They explore the city together and get to know each other while waiting for his treatment at the clinic. Heartfelt story told in the teen's words. Very moving at times. Excellent writing.

My rating: 5/5

The Quiet Girl by S.F. Kosa, personal copy

Setting: Provincetown, Boston

Genre: mystery, psychological thriller

Publication: August 11, 2020, Sourcebooks

Alex is happily married to his new wife, Mina, a romance writer. At least until they have an argument and she disappears, leaving her engagement and wedding rings on her desk. 

Alex reaches out to Mina's parents and to her best friend, but they have no clue as to what happened to her.  Only when he is given a copy of Mina's newest manuscript, as yet unpublished, does he begin to put the pieces together and try to find his wife. The manuscript is not a romance but a novel based on her horrific life story. 

Secrets, family dynamics, psychological disorders, amnesia, are all important themes in this thriller. There are surprises and suspense at the ending, as the writer skillfully leads the reader toward the final revelations.

My rating: 4/5 stars

Reading for Book Club:

The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer

Setting: 1776, Washington

Genre: historical fiction based on true events

In 1776, an elite group of soldiers were handpicked to serve as George Washington’s bodyguards. Washington trusted them; relied on them. But unbeknownst to Washington, some of them were part of a treasonous plan.

 

What are you reading this week? 

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

Sunday Salon: Renewed Reading

That Strawberry Moon hanging behind the trees outside my window has me in thrall. It has for the past two early mornings, too. It was most beautiful and golden Friday morning way before dawn.

My brief period of distaste for books lasted a day or two, and happy to say, I'm back in the reading mode. I've finished

The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen 

Publication: August 4, 2020, Berkley

Genre: historical mystery

Georgie, of Her Royal Spyness fame, travels to Cornwall with her friend Belinda, who has inherited a cottage there from her late grandmother. 

They meet Rose, an old childhood acquaintance of  Belinda's, who invites them to stay at her mansion, where Rose lives in lonely splendor, waiting for her husband Tony to return from his business travels. 

The author says this book is loosely based on DuMaurier's Rebecca, but the plot is different enough to make it interesting. There is a spooky and threatening housekeeper who runs things efficiently, as in Rebecca, and Rose seems out of her comfort zone in the stately mansion, as did the heroine of DuMaurier's novel. However, there is enough difference to make the mystery novel suspenseful enough to keep your interest. There is a murder, for one. 

I give this a five for entertainment and originality in spinning the plot of Rebecca into a new weave!

Our House by Louise Candlish

Publication: August 7, 2020, Berkley

Genre: thriller, domestic suspense 

A warning about fraud in real estate deals; sales made and transferred online can be intercepted and stolen. The story was entertaining and informative, as well as suspenseful. A woman returns home after a short trip and finds strangers moving into her house saying they are the new owners. Then she has to figure out how the mistake was made and what her husband Tony has really been up to. The ending is a surprise. Four stars.

The Last Savannah by Mike Bond

Published November 19, 2013, Mandevilla Press

Genre: thriller, travel adventure

Bond uses his international settings to point out political and environmental problems that affect the people and their world. This book deals with wildlife poaching in Africa. Going after poachers from Somalia, who enter into Kenya to gather valuable elephant tusks, Bond goes on a tortuous journey to save a female archaeologist kidnapped by the poachers for ransom. The novel is both an adventure, a thriller, and a romance. I gave this read five stars for plotting, suspense, atmosphere. I've dropped a couple of books along the way, as too uninteresting or improbable. But I'm currently enjoying a few others, such as the one below. All This I Will Give You September 1, 2018 Domestic drama set in Spain Translated novel Novelist Manuel Ortigosa learns that his husband, Álvaro, has been killed in a car crash and finds out that Alvaro has been hiding his past all these years.

What are you reading this week?

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

Book Review: The Last Thing She Remembers by J.S. Monroe

The Last Thing She Remembers by J.S. Monroe

Genre: thriller, suspense, British mystery

May 28, 2019, Park Row

Just finished reading this morning....

A thriller with memory....Lots of info re how our memories work and the circumstances under which it does not work. A woman shows up in an English town after traveling from Berlin and losing her memory as soon as she arrives at Heathrow Airport.  A couple take her in and set out to find out the story behind this unusual woman. When one mystery is solved about who the mystery woman is not,  another plot continues to solve the riddle of who she really is and why she showed up at this specific house in the town of Wiltshire, England. The action moves to Berlin and India, with themes of memory, amnesia, Alzheimer's, and missing persons. Excellent reading and plotting. I gave this an enthusiastic five stars.  It's Monday: What Are You Reading is hosted by Book Date.

A thriller with memory....Lots of info re how our memories work and the circumstances under which it does not work. A woman shows up in an English town after traveling from Berlin and losing her memory as soon as she arrives at Heathrow Airport.  A couple take her in and set out to find out the story behind this unusual woman.

When one mystery is solved about who the mystery woman is not,  another plot continues to solve the riddle of who she really is and why she showed up at this specific house in the town of Wiltshire, England. The action moves to Berlin and India, with themes of memory, amnesia, Alzheimer's, and missing persons. Excellent reading and plotting.

I gave this an enthusiastic five stars. 

It's Monday: What Are You Reading is hosted by Book Date.

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.

Book Beginning: The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter

The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter, August 20, 2019, William Morrow

The Last Widow

Description: A mysterious kidnapping

On a hot summer night, a scientist from the Centers for Disease Control is grabbed by unknown assailants in a shopping center parking lot. Vanished into thin air, the authorities are desperate to save the doctor. 

A devastating explosion

A diabolical enemy

Book beginning:PROLOGUE 

Michelle Spivey jogged through the back of the store, frantically scanning each aisle for her daughter, panicked thoughts circling her brain: How did I lose sight of her I am a horrible mother my baby was didnapped by a pedophiole or a human trafficker should I flag store security or call the police or --
Ashley.
Michelle stopped so abruptly that her shoe snicked against the floor....

Page 56: 

Maggie said, "I'll briefly run down the SWAT Bible on transport from the APD perspective. We're all following the Active Shooter Doctrine. No negotiation. Just pop and drop....

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