Reading List January - March 2021

 

Earl Derr Biggers, House without a Key. Chicago: Academy Chicago, 2008.

This is the first Charlie Chan novel, and it is marvelous. Hawaii blooms in vivid detail, the plot is intricate and entertaining, and Mr Chan is not the racial caricature of the movies, nor one who speaks in Confucian riddles. His voice is distinctive, though: "Endeavoring to make English language my slave", he explains, "I pursue poetry." As should we all.

 

Sophie Kinsella, I Owe You One. NY: Dial, 2019.

Fixie is the youngest of three heirs to the Farr retail kitchen supply shop, and the only one who really works there. When Mom goes on holiday, everything and can, does go wrong. But Fixie, in spite of her romantic distractions, manages to fix it all in the end.

 

Eugenine Schwarzwald (trans A.H. Allen), Homecoming of the Lost Book. Chicago: Black Cat, 1939.

Deja vu: A limited-edition (500 copies) holiday card with uncut pages from Black Cat Press -- eighty years before BlacKat Publishing began sending out little books to celebrate the season. This one contains an essay on the pain of unreturned books, which you ought plan to read elsewhere: this book was a gift, and I won't be lending it.

 

Kate Clayborn, Love Lettering. NY: Kensington, 2020.

This was a reading group title from the Omaha public library - an online group, for safety - and I can see why: a popular author, cute hook (the love for typefaces and hand-lettered signage is contagious), and likable characters trying to overcome something outside their control. But that describes so many books, I’m not sure how this one stood out.

 

Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow. NY: Bantam, 1973.

It’s been over a month and I still don’t want to pick it up again, so I won’t. In Finnegan’s Wake, Joyce presented a reductio ad absurdum argument, not a challenge to make better word salad.

 

Laura Taylor Namey, Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow. NY: Simon & Schuster, 2020.

This might be marketed as a young adult title - and is perfectly PG-13 appropriate for all audiences unafraid of cooties. It’s also a solid coming of age story and straight-forward romance, a nice mash-up of Cuban and English culture, and easy to read fun.

 

Jenny Colgan, Talking to Addison. London: Warner, 2001.

The inevitable autobiographical first novel, she admits, when republishing as My Very ‘90s Romance.

 

Souali Dev, Bollywood Affair. NY: Kensington, 2014.

One child bride and two brothers who thought the “marriage” long annulled, with action alternating between India and Ypsilanti. There’s even a water tower reference.

 

Sonali Dev, Bollywood Bride. NY: Kensington, 2015.

The male lead of Dev’s first book (see above) makes a brief cameo in her second - he is a director, and this Bollywood bride is a star with a  secret she’s desperate to keep.

 

Tessa Bailey, Tools of Engagement. NY: HarperCollins, 2020.

Bethany wants to step out on her own from the family business, but she needs help. It comes from an unexpected source, and with complications.

 

Angie Thomas, On the Come Up. NY: HarperCollins, 2019.

Sixteen year old Bri is a local rap star, just like her father was - before he was shot, when she was five. What will she do to fulfill his legacy?

 

Cixin Liu (trans. Ken Liu), Death’s End. NY: TOR, 2016.

Turning the complete collapse of the universe - or, at least, a hope for that end - into the most beautiful ending imaginable really takes something special (the sense of horror necessary for the end of everything to be the best outcome... Conrad would be proud), and this final volume proves that The Three Body Problem should stand alongside Foundation and The Hitchhiker’s Guide as essential beyond the bounds of genre.

 

Ellery Adams, Secret, Book, and Scone Society. NY: Kensington, 2017.

In the North Carolina tourist town Miracle springs, where people look for new beginnings, four lonely women with secrets come together to solve a murder.

 

Rebekah Weatherspoon, If the Boot Fits. NY: Kensington, 2020.

Sam, the youngest of three brothers in the Cowboys of California series, is a young, award-winning Black actor cast as Prince Charming in this Cinderella story.