Kiss Myself Goodbye - Ferdinand Mount

Sub-title: The Many Lives of Aunt Munca

My love of genealogy is really a love for a good story.  Family lends itself to telling stories and genealogy helps reveal those that might have been lost had I not sought them out.  In this story about his aunt, the author uses his considerable writing and research skills to charmingly peel back the curtain on the life of his flamboyant, daring, larger than life aunt.  

Munca was the name she insisted he call her, rather than Aunt something.  After Munca died, a cousin had encouraged him to search for the real story of his aunt's life.  What a life it was! What fascinated me was how he used the same records that we would collect as genealogist to track her path through the world.  He wove her residence, marriage, divorce and other finds into his quest to unravel the truth of the stories she had told him.  Mount was the editor of the Times Literary Supplement so he knows how to engage a reader.  

Another appeal of the book is that the writer is English - through and through.  He writes for those who known England and it was a challenge to immerse myself in the language, locations and lifestyle of the upper class British elite of the time. I chuckled at the term "Paternal Discrepancy" that genealogist term a non-parental event or NPE, which the author claims may account for no less than 3.7% of all births.

 A great read highly recommended, genealogist or not!

Quotes

"How fragile it all is, how brief anyone's hold on property, or money, or life itself."

"What you don't know can sting the heart worse than the worst thing you do know.  And go on stinging, because while knowledge brings some sort of ending, not knowing never ends."

"How seductive it is, this idea that you do not need parents to make you happy, or to make the best of yourself.  On the contrary, to be a heroine, it is better to be free of these nagging, fretting figures in charge of you, and to forge on through life unencumbered.  Far from orphanhood/adoption being any sort of handicap, it's actually a launch-pad."

Published: 2020  Read: October 2021  Genre: Biography

Shadow Play - Cynthia Harrod Eagles

I don't know that I've read one of CHE's mystery novels before, at least not one from the Bill Slider series, the police detective hero in this 20th book of the series.  I enjoy her writing style and know from my long experience with her Morland Dynasty series that she is thorough in her research of time and place.  That said, I'm not a fan of mysteries, so I don't think I'll be seeking the earlier ones in this series. 

This is the mystery of a body found in a junkyard and the police investigation to discover the murderers.  I realized as I read that I was getting a very English version of police work and of different groups in English law enforcement; minorities, women, working class and elites.  Those learnings made the read worthwhile. 

Published: 2018  Read: December 2019  Genre: Mystery

The Book of Air and Shadows - Michael Gruber

"A New York Times bestseller" the cover proclaimed so I picked this up from a used bookstore.
A young man working in a bookstore rescues a set of old books from a fire in the basement and with the store's mysterious female assistant discovers letters hidden in the covers.  The letters are from the time of Shakespeare and reveal previously unknown details of his life and a unknown new play.

The value of these items sets off a murderous pursuit for the play with double crosses and intersecting characters.  There are many literary references casually dropped throughout. 

I'm not a fan of mysteries but if you like them, it has many clever twists and turns and was an enjoyable read.


Published: 2007   Read: June 2019  Genre: Fiction

In the Blood - Steve Robinson

This was a Christmas gift. The author writes mysteries that focus on using genealogical data to solve the case.  His protagonist, Jefferson Tayte is a modern genealogist using those skills to unravel old secrets.  It was entertaining and made accurate and clever use of genealogy sources and methods.  The writing was a little formulaic and it took sometime to capture my attention.  I would read another volume in the series while relaxing on the beach.

Published:  2011  Read: March 2019  Genre: Mystery

The Sound of Glass - Karen White

A young widow, Merritt, inherits her husband's childhood home and when she arrives at it, discovers he had a brother she never knew.  She's joined by her widowed stepmother and half-brother who move in despite her wishes to be alone.  Throughout the book, we're given clues about Merritt's abusive husband and other abusive men in her family's past. 

I thought the story was contrived and found the characters either too good, too distraught or too unbelievable.  It's an okay read but only for entertainment.

Quote:

"...every time we remembered something, we weren't remembering the event itself but the last time we'd remembered it.  It was our way of creating filters between our past and present, creating what we chose to recall and what we'd rather forget."

Published:  2015   Read: December 2018  Genre: Fiction

The Perfect Girlfriend - Karen Hamilton

Juliette is obsessed with her former boyfriend Nate, convinced he will return and if not, determined to convince him. A creepy but compelling read of someone who can't let go and move on. 

Published:  2019  Read: November 2018  Genre: Fiction

There's A (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going To Hell - Laurie Notaro

I love this girl.  She is so darn funny and smart and a great writer.  This was her first fiction novel, according to the cover; she'd done several Idiot Girl books before this one.  It's obviously based on her move to Oregon.  Maye, moves with her husband, Charlie, to a small town in Washington where she can't seem to make a single friend.  She decides to run for Sewer Pipe Queen and enlists a prior stellar winner, Ruby, to be her coach.  All the usual Lori craziness ensues.  Fun read.

Published:  2007  Read: June 2018  Genre: Fiction

Into the Water - Paula Hawkins

I really enjoyed this author's previoius book, "The Girl on the Train".  This one disappoints.  A woman writing stories about the drownings of multiple women in a small town is herself found drowned.  A young girl who is the best friend of her daughter drowned only a short time before.  Are they suicides or murders?

The author tells the story in repeated first-person chapters from each characters point of view, the big picture not revealed until the end, like peeling an onion.  There was no satisfying resolution delivered.  Not recommended.

Published: 2017  Read: July 2017  Genre: Mystery

Memory Man - David Baldacci

I read this to review it for one of my book clubs.  I don't like mysteries and I really don't like pulp fiction.  It's formulaic writing; plug in lots of violence, a disturbed hero and a few fawning females to pursue the bad guys in an implausible crime.

The plot is about an ex-football player who was hit so hard in a play he now has perfect memory of everything, especially the murder of his wife and child.  He had been a police detective so when a high school massacre happens, he gets involved only to find out it is linked to his family's murders.

Only convinced me to continue to skip this genre.

Published:  2015   Read: February 2017  Genre: Pulp fiction

The Music Lesson - Katharine Weber

Part mystery, part self-reflection, this is the tale of an art historian who is numbed to life after the loss of her daughter when she has a visit from a long-lost cousin from Ireland.  He's charming and intoxicating and she has fallen madly in love when he asks her to help his cause by stealing a famous Vermeer painting.  Patricia is agreeable as she too sympathizes with the Irish desire for independence. She's vulnerable and malleable and finds herself deeply involved in the theft.

Some quotes:

"Life seems sometimes like nothing more than a series of losses, from beginning to end.  That's a given.  How you respond to these losses, what you make of what's left, that's the part you have to make up as you go."

"Even if life has to be a seris of losses, I still choose life".

The story is not quite plausible but the downward spiral into dark places is uncomfortably reminiscent of those times we chose the wrong path.

Since its's a mystery there's a nice twist at the end, a satisfying wrap up.

Published: 1999 Read: August 2016  Genre: Fiction/mystery


p.s.  Once again, I found bookmarks and bits of ephemera in a book.  The first bit I noticed in this one was a news clipping with a brief summary of the book, maybe from The New York Times?  There was a handwritten note on the side of the clippng in pencil "Huntings Badger 25" and a second line underneath "1-16-2000".  Nice script, presumably a female's, tucked before the back cover.  About halfway through the book was a torn white piece of paper, ragged on one edge and glue residue on the narrow side, most likely from a discarded envelope.  Someday I need to write a story about the bookmarks found in books.

 

Slade House - David Mitchell

Aquirky story about a house down an alley where once you enter you may never leave.  The author sets the mood well and draws you into the mystery.  Worth the read.

Published: 2015  Read: April 2016  Genre: fiction

ISBN 9 78081299868