May Books

Hi everyone. 

Happy First weekend in June to you. Today I am sharing last month's reading with you. It wasn't quite as prolific a book reading month as April was, but I did enjoy my May selections. I think I should have left the big book (explained below) in the pile though since yard work and art space arranging didn't motivate me to do a lot of actual reading later in the month, so the 600 page volume seemed to never end, not because of the book, because of me not getting around to reading it as much as I'd have liked.

My first book for May was this book about geology by Donald R. Prothero. Back in March I read  this author's book about dinosaurs (The Story of Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries), and I very much enjoyed not only the information, but how the author  set up the book in an interesting, readable way. I wanted to read more of his works. This time I went with a subject that I only knew a little bit about.

This was another very good book, although maybe not quite up my alley as much as the dinosaur book. Prothero started most chapters with a story that often included some  history about an event. The event had something to do with a particular rock formation or geologic process. That made a very accessible introduction. Then the author explained the geology behind the story. At times I didn't quite follow along with all the mineralogy, mainly because that part didn't interest me so I didn't try very hard to follow it, but it was only in a couple of chapters and really didn't take away from the overall book.   Most of the time there were enough small bits of information that you didn't have to be a geologist to get the point. By the time the book was over, I had a more expanded picture of geology. Even the chapters I didn't find as interesting were still interesting, just not as interesting.

 I took my first and only geology college class for recertification after I had started teaching back in the 1980's, and I remember being surprised at how much I enjoyed the class.  I may be the only geek of my blog reading friends who  would spend time reading a book like this one, BUT, if you have any interest in Earth's make up and geologic history, then I do recommend this book.

My first listen for May was Leave Only Footprints by Conor Knighton. When Conor's fiance breaks off their engagement, he decides to go on a roadtrip for a change of scenery and to try to mend his broken heart. The roadtrip turns into a visit to every US national park.

My husband and I are big National Park fans so this book was right up my alley. The National Park Service has many "units" they manage from National Historic Parks, National Battlefields, National Seashores, and National Monuments, as well as a few others. The crown jewels of the National Park Service are the National Parks. There are 63 US National Parks and approximately 417 National Park Service "units". This number changes as new parks are added.  This book is about those Crown Jewels. Although the author didn't visit the newest National Parks, he did visit all the others that were in the system when he finished writing the book, which was published in 2020.

I like how the author organized this book. He didn't outline his trip, but instead lumped a few parks together based on something they share in each chapter. I also like how he didn't give you a travel guide run down of each park, but instead talked about  some things that make the park experience unique, including in many, a brief history. Knighton works in the television news industry, so  each chapter was like a segment you might see on a news show.

 The author has inspired me to plan a few more trips and makes me excited for my husband's and my national parks trip in September (which hopefully covid or outrageous gas prices won't interfere with).

Next it was time to continue with a mystery series I started last month. Salvation of a Saint is book 2 in the physicist, police helper, Detective Galileo  series by Japanese author Keigo Higashino.  

In this book a woman leaves to go visit her parents for a weekend, and while she is away, her husband is poisoned and dies. The poison is in his coffee. The police find 2 coffee cups in the sink, and the fingerprints on the second cup are those of a woman who is the wife's teaching associate and friend. But of course, nothing is exactly straightforward or simple. 

This book also  introduced a female detective in training, Kaoru Utsumi. I enjoyed her being a part of  the team and adding some female perspective.  Salvation of a Saint was another good mystery, with lots of twists and surprises. I found how the murder was pulled off a little hard to believe, but not that unbelievable. And it was definitely made for a unique story with some nice twists.

My next listen was a book I discovered when it came up as one of those computer generated recommendations during an Audible 2-books-for-1  credit sale.  It sounded really interesting, so I  took a chance on this historical fiction novel.

Eliza Acton was a  poet in the early 1800's. She wanted to publish a book of poetry, but the publisher thought because she was a woman, she should publish a cookbook. After her family ran into some financial problems, Acton decided to learn to cook and write that cookbook which was  published under the title Modern Cookery for Private Families. It was an actual book published in 1845, and then highly plagiarized in Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management in 1861. 

This novel is the story of how that cookbook came to be written, told through the eyes of both Eliza Acton and her servant, helper and friend Ann Kirby. Although these women were actual people, this story fictionalizes their lives because not much is known about the actual details. Eliza becomes the cook in her mother's boarding house, and even though she never cooked before this time, she found food  as equally exciting as poetry. The author describes the ingredients so deliciously that it becomes poetry.  Ann becomes more than a servant to Eliza, and even though her life was hard before joining the household, she always dreamed of being a cook. Together these 2 women make a great team.

This book was definitely worth the gamble.  I never knew about this long lasting cookbook. (It is still available today). This story is not only well written, but reminds the reader that not every woman in this time period wanted the traditional life of marriage and children.  Funny,  a friend also read this book and mentioned to me that she thought this book was my kind of story. I guess  this book had my name written all over it, and that must be why  I enjoyed this story very much.

I have a few bigger books on my nightstand in a to-be-read pile.  I hadn't felt like reading a longer novel for awhile.  Since I was in a reading mood when I started this book, it was time to make that pile a little bit shorter. For my next book I went with this novel by Connie Willis published in 2001. I discovered the author a couple of summers ago when I read Doomsday Book, a time travel story. This book, Passage, is not part of this time travel series.

In this book, Dr. Joanne Lander is studying the near death experience, when people die for a few minutes and then are revived. Dr. Richard Wright is also studying this experience, and he has come up with a way to simulate this experience in the lab. He and Joanne combine their skills, and that is when things begin to get interesting.

At 594 pages, this book took me quite awhile to read.  I thought it took a little too long to get into the "action" of the novel, but then again, I like Willis' writing style, and I didn't mind reading those pages. They do set the scene for what will come. 

Once I got to the second half of the book, life became busy so my reading time ended being less than I would have liked it to be.

 I really enjoyed the parts of the story about the near death experiences. Their tie into history was really fascinating. And those NDE experiences  also  made you think. I  actually wish I hadn't started the novel when I did. I think a more consistent reading would do the story more justice.  There is nothing worse (well there is so excuse my hyperbole)  than dragging out a book so it only gets read in fits and starts, and that's what happened with me being busy and this novel.

Saying all of this, I am still glad I read this book.  Passage is a very good story.

I do recommend this book, especially if you have some unbroken reading time.  I didn't like it quite as much as Doomsday Book or To Say Nothing of the Dog, but  I wanted to know what happened. This book was  classic Connie Willis and definitely filled with the unexpected, I didn't-see-that-coming moments. I think this will be one of those books that I will still be thinking about long after it goes back on the shelf.

My next and final listen took me back to the 1170's.  The Serpent's Tale, is book 2 in the Mistress of the Art of Death series.  I also learned that this book can be found under another title, The Death Maze. You may remember I listened to book one last month. Book 1 introduced Adelia Aguilar, a Sicilian woman who is a doctor of forensics and who is sent to England by the King of Sicily to help solve some murders. After solving the crimes, King Henry II of England does not let Adelia return south to her home.

In this mystery, King Henry II orders an investigation into the possible role of his queen (Eleanor of Anquitaine) in the death of his mistress, the Lady Rosalind/Rosamund.  Adelia Aguilar doesn't want to investigate it, but what can she do when the king orders it?

I really enjoyed the setting, the  characters and how Franklin portrayed Eleanor of Antiquaine. It was not only a good mystery, but a fascinating historical read. And the story had some interesting twists which really stuck with me right through the whole story and even now.  As with the first book in this series, I had read this book probably 13 or 14 years ago, and I really enjoyed listening to it as much this time around.  If you like history, the middle ages and mysteries, you'd probably enjoy this series.

That's my reading list for May. Hopefully June will give me more time for things like art and reading. But I do love reading recommendations, so don't be shy to share them.

Thanks for visiting. And have a great weekend.