Keep Reading November and December 2020

I apologize for not writing something for November. We were in Florida for December and part of January. However, I had lots of time for reading so I have some great titles to pass on.

The Echo Maker by Richard Powers is the book written before the Over Story. Rather than learning all about trees this book contains well researched information about migrating birds, especially Sand Hill Cranes. Powers does not stop here. You will get an in depth and easy to understand description on how the human brain works. You might think these subjects could not be brought together and woven into a good mystery. However magically it really happens. This author likes to write extremely long books but once again you will be glad he did. I am looking forward to his next book.

Speaking of authors that hardly ever let you down: John Grisham takes you back to his first book and the small town we all fell in love with. Our hero’s law practice is struggling and so is his family. He takes on a case as a public attorney and finds himself in a world of danger. Some people were not happy with the ending of this book, but I thought it was just fine. I hope he brings us back to that small town once again.

All The Devils Are Here is the latest in the Three Pines Mystery series by Louise Penny. I really love these books. I saved this one for a vacation read. You will travel along with the Gamache family while they visit both their adult children who now live in Paris. Of course they get pulled into a mystery on their very first day. It was fun to read about Paris and learn more about the children.

Fredrik Bakman is one of my favorite authors. His books are just light enough to lift you up when you are in a bad place. We need those books right now. Anxious People takes place in Sweden but it could take place anywhere. Several people are viewing an apartment when someone comes in and hold them hostage. Remember this is Backman, and nothing gets very scary.

I think I read so many books by my favorite author because I had been setting them aside for months. Somewhere in past entries I must have said how much I enjoy George Orwell. This includes books he wrote and books about him or his house. I hope to visit the remote island off Scotland where he wrote 1984. Most of us were forced to read Animal Farm in high school. This was unfair because, in my opinion he has written so many other books that I like better. It is fun to have a conversation about 1984 with young people who see this as the distant past. It really was futuristic when I read it. So much of his writing was leading up to this book. If you have not read it lately, give it a try. However the book I just read is one that I had not known about. Keep the Aspidistra Flying is about a young man in the years leading up to the second world war. He wants to be a poet and not attached to anything material. This does not quite work out. Regretfully he gets pulled into the real world.

Since I was in Florida, I had to read a Florida book. Carl Hiaasen is another author I like but I had not read something by him in a long time.

I am copying this description from somewhere else

A prominent Palm Beach dowager is found dead in a concrete grave. Kiki Pew was an ardent fan of the Winter White House resident, and a founding member of the POTUSSIES. The President declares that Kiki was the victim of rampaging immigrant hordes. Meanwhile, there is an influx of huge, hungry pythons.

It is hard to laugh about politics right now, but this book might be just what the doctor ordered.