Travel and Books

We have returned to the coast from our trip to Nebraska and Colorado. It was good seeing the families in Nebraska, but the time has come for us to stop driving such long distances. It was very tiring because we haven't "right good sense" as my grandmother used to say, and we go farther each day with ten hours of driving - not smart! So we have made the decision to only go two days of driving from home from now on. The scattered families will just have to come see us!

I did get a lot of reading done, so have some short reviews of the books.


1) A Trick of the Light - Louise Penny - I think she just gets better and better with her tales of Three Pines village in Quebec, and the murderous goings-on there. Trick tells the story of an art critic's death, and the suspects are all the villagers! I enjoyed this book on my NOOK and was sorry when it ended, but Penny has already written the next book, and has started on another, so I'll have at least two more to read in the future.


2 and 3) The Redbreast and The Devil's Star - Jo Nesbo - I hadn't realized that the Harry Hole books should be read in sequence, and I read Nemesis, the second book, on my NOOK before reading Redbreast. So I knew something of what was going to happen in Redbreast. It was a great beginning to Nesbo's stories, and not spoiled by my reading Nemesis first. The Devil's Star follows Nemesis, and made me anxious to read the next in the series. Now I find that there is one book before Redbreast! These are pretty gritty stories, but I like the pace and most of the main characters.


4) Cloud Chamber - Michael Dorris - I had only read Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Dorris, so wasn't sure if this would be as good, but I did like it. The plot follows a family from Ireland to Kentucky to California and on to Montana. It is told in the voices of the various members of the family - some are good people, but some are greedy and not anyone you'd want to know!


5) Two for Sorrow - Nicola Upson - The second mystery with Josephine Tey as the main character. I was surprised to find out who the murderer was, and the story - concerning baby farmers in the early 20th century who murdered newborns rather than finding adoptive homes for them - is based on actual case histories. These books are set in Britain between the two world wars - as are the Maisie Dobbs books - and I find them very interesting and good reads.


6) Hypothermia - Arnaldur Indridason - Erlandur is off again solving a suicide that everyone wishes he would just leave alone. And he is still worrying about missing persons - especially his brother whose bones have never been found. Very good - and read on NOOK.


7) Our Kind of Traitor - John le Carre - Audio Book - It has been years since I last read a le Carre book, but we bought the audio book in Nebraska for the long drive home, and it was well worth it - to my way of thinking, but not to my husband's. He prefers "Jane Austen endings" and this left him rewriting the last chapter - or adding another chapter - to his liking! I thought it was a typical John le Carre ending and didn't expect anything else. The reader - Robin Sachs (not a relative!) did a good job of portraying all the characters.


8) A Painted House - John Grisham - Audio Book - Another for the long days of driving. Interesting story unlike other books by Grisham, and a good one to listen to. A boy tells  the story of growing up on a cotton farm, and the poor life he and his family had when the crops weren't good. With a Tom Sawyer twist in painting the farm house.


So now it's back to housework with a lot of reading in between chores!