Books
I was going to try to make these posts every week but I unfortunately that didn't work out last week. We all ended up with the stomach flu. Can you even believe it? Thankfully it was of short duration, and we are all better now. I am really hoping that is the last of the wintertime sickness because I am pretty sure we have caught everything that is going around. lol
In between getting over one thing and catching another, my husband and I managed to go to dinner and a concert at a local theater. The food was sooooooo good. I ate way too much but couldn't help myself it was all so good. The band mainly played Johnny and June Cash's music and old country favorites. it was definitely right up my husband's alley he loves a lot of the more vintage country songs. I like them as well but not to the level he does. You could tell the band (who had gotten together less than a year ago) was still working the kink's out. (Plus my husband thinks that one of the members wasn't entirely sober) Other than that, it was a good time.
Over the last week or so I read: 2 nonfiction books, 1 cozy mystery, and 1 historical fiction.
The River of Doubt by Candice Millard
After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.
Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. ~Goodreads
This was an interesting book. I love a good historical nonfiction book, that does a deep dive into a singular part of history. And that's what the author does in River of Doubt. We get an overview of Roosevelt's background and why he wanted to go on this journey but for the most part it is about a group of men who are determined to explore a previously unknown section of the Amazon River. Because several kept diaries we get a lot of first-person accounts of what happened on that rough and deadly journey. I love getting to read first-person accounts and people's diaries/journals of what they experienced and felt during historic events. Millard does such a good job of keeping readers interested till the end and I loved that the book was just long enough to tell the story without falling into the trap of being over-stuffed with filler.
After Alice Fell by Kim Taylor Blakemore
New Hampshire, 1865. Marion Abbott is summoned to Brawders House asylum to collect the body of her sister, Alice. She’d been found dead after falling four stories from a steep-pitched roof. Officially: an accident. Confidentially: suicide. But Marion believes a third option: murder.
Returning to her family home to stay with her brother and his second wife, the recently widowed Marion is expected to quiet her feelings of guilt and grief-to let go of the dead and embrace the living. But that’s not easy in this house full of haunting memories. ~Goodreads
I think I went into this book thinking it was going to be more of a mystery novel than it actually turned out to be. I would say that it is 80% historical fiction with only 20% being what I would classify as mystery. The book really picks up in the back half of the novel but the book as a whole drags. Probably because this story is full of descriptions, of what people wore, their expressions, and their rooms, the landscape is described over and over again. I like a good description, but the author spends so much time on it that the plot slows to a snail's pace. Other than that, I think the book's theme of guilt is well explored as how we can feel guilty for the things we do and for what we choose not to do.
The History of Science Fiction by Xavier Dollo
This book was a fascinating read. I really enjoyed the unique way it was written and illustrated. I thought it was an interesting way to explore such a rich subject as the history of science fiction. The graphic novel form really helps with the barrage of names that you get thrown at you as the author painstakingly covers all major and minor authors in European/American sci-fi. Reading it this way you also sadly realize how few minority and woman authors were published/acknowledged over the years. Overall, a good overview.
How to Murder a Millionaire by Zara Keane
Another enjoyable cozy mystery in the Movie Club series. I love these. I find them very intriguing and easy to read. Maggie is a fun character to follow around as she tries to solve a mystery. There is a light breezy tone to these books that I enjoy. I also love the community of Whisper Island; they are fun and quirky without being over the top. In this book, Maggie who is a newly licensed P.I., is tasked with finding a missing sheep and instead manages to stumble across a dead body. I thought this mystery was a good one. All in all, a fun book and I will probably continue on with the series.
Reading Challenges 2024:
Mount TBR: After Alice Fell, How to Murder a Millionaire, The History of Sci-fi
Cloak & Dagger: How to Murder a Millionaire
Let's Tour the United States: The River of Doubt, After Alice Fell, How to Murder a Millionaire
How has your guys week been going? Any plans for the weekend?
In between getting over one thing and catching another, my husband and I managed to go to dinner and a concert at a local theater. The food was sooooooo good. I ate way too much but couldn't help myself it was all so good. The band mainly played Johnny and June Cash's music and old country favorites. it was definitely right up my husband's alley he loves a lot of the more vintage country songs. I like them as well but not to the level he does. You could tell the band (who had gotten together less than a year ago) was still working the kink's out. (Plus my husband thinks that one of the members wasn't entirely sober) Other than that, it was a good time.
Over the last week or so I read: 2 nonfiction books, 1 cozy mystery, and 1 historical fiction.
The River of Doubt by Candice Millard
After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.
Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. ~Goodreads
This was an interesting book. I love a good historical nonfiction book, that does a deep dive into a singular part of history. And that's what the author does in River of Doubt. We get an overview of Roosevelt's background and why he wanted to go on this journey but for the most part it is about a group of men who are determined to explore a previously unknown section of the Amazon River. Because several kept diaries we get a lot of first-person accounts of what happened on that rough and deadly journey. I love getting to read first-person accounts and people's diaries/journals of what they experienced and felt during historic events. Millard does such a good job of keeping readers interested till the end and I loved that the book was just long enough to tell the story without falling into the trap of being over-stuffed with filler.
After Alice Fell by Kim Taylor Blakemore
New Hampshire, 1865. Marion Abbott is summoned to Brawders House asylum to collect the body of her sister, Alice. She’d been found dead after falling four stories from a steep-pitched roof. Officially: an accident. Confidentially: suicide. But Marion believes a third option: murder.
Returning to her family home to stay with her brother and his second wife, the recently widowed Marion is expected to quiet her feelings of guilt and grief-to let go of the dead and embrace the living. But that’s not easy in this house full of haunting memories. ~Goodreads
I think I went into this book thinking it was going to be more of a mystery novel than it actually turned out to be. I would say that it is 80% historical fiction with only 20% being what I would classify as mystery. The book really picks up in the back half of the novel but the book as a whole drags. Probably because this story is full of descriptions, of what people wore, their expressions, and their rooms, the landscape is described over and over again. I like a good description, but the author spends so much time on it that the plot slows to a snail's pace. Other than that, I think the book's theme of guilt is well explored as how we can feel guilty for the things we do and for what we choose not to do.
The History of Science Fiction by Xavier Dollo
This book was a fascinating read. I really enjoyed the unique way it was written and illustrated. I thought it was an interesting way to explore such a rich subject as the history of science fiction. The graphic novel form really helps with the barrage of names that you get thrown at you as the author painstakingly covers all major and minor authors in European/American sci-fi. Reading it this way you also sadly realize how few minority and woman authors were published/acknowledged over the years. Overall, a good overview.
How to Murder a Millionaire by Zara Keane
Another enjoyable cozy mystery in the Movie Club series. I love these. I find them very intriguing and easy to read. Maggie is a fun character to follow around as she tries to solve a mystery. There is a light breezy tone to these books that I enjoy. I also love the community of Whisper Island; they are fun and quirky without being over the top. In this book, Maggie who is a newly licensed P.I., is tasked with finding a missing sheep and instead manages to stumble across a dead body. I thought this mystery was a good one. All in all, a fun book and I will probably continue on with the series.
Reading Challenges 2024:
Mount TBR: After Alice Fell, How to Murder a Millionaire, The History of Sci-fi
Cloak & Dagger: How to Murder a Millionaire
Let's Tour the United States: The River of Doubt, After Alice Fell, How to Murder a Millionaire
How has your guys week been going? Any plans for the weekend?