Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer

I was a fan of Heyer’s romances and this is the second mystery from her. After Detection Unlimited, I wanted to try again. However, I was bored and underwhelmed again. I do not really know precisely why I do not like Heyer’s mystery writing when I could speed through her romance novels. The dialogue in these mysteries are clunkier. Heyer really is a bit too extra with her character development through dialogue. I just kept thinking that I wanted to read an Agatha Christie novel.

Read April 19-23, 2021.

Elephants can Remember by Agatha Christie

I had a couple unread Christie novels on my bookshelf. I got them from the wonderful Free Little Libraries in my neighbourhood.

After the Heyer novel and a period of mourning, I needed something reliable. Even with the dark themes in this novel, I really enjoyed it. It took my mind off my recent stress. I always know what I am getting from Christie. This is a Poirot cold cast. I called the twist halfway through the novel, but I still wanted to see how it would unfold. I have always found spoilers do not bother me especially in mysteries. It was a nice, easy read.

Read May 22, 2021.

It’s been awhile since I posted on this blog. I’ve been reading lots of books and even broke my reading goal of 38 goals in the month of May. I started drafting this book’s review some weeks ago. I decided to go back to it and some other book reviews after a significant event in my life.

I’ve been reading Bryon’s books for over twenty years. I really enjoy him as a writer. His memoirs are better than a lot of these nonfiction catch-all topic books generally. I still learn a couple things.

After a year of this pandemic, this book would be a hypochondriac’s nightmare (or dream perhaps). There are so many things to make one sick. I find that most of this book was averaging 3 stars. It was long and mildly interesting, but it meanders in a way too. It took me awhile to read. It was nice and well written in Bryson’s style, but it didn’t knock me over for the most part.

As I approached the end of the book and the topic of aging and death, the book’s topic started crossing into my life. I had a significant conversation about death with a close friend of mine who was very ill at the time. After that, I read the end of this book. The book’s reflection of of illness and death made more thoughtful about mortality. It reminded me that death how it is the most common thing about our lives .

A couple days after I finished this book, one of my parents passed away suddenly. It was a significant loss which I still grieve and mourn. In a strange way, this book may have helped me a little to prepare for it. It was the last thing I read before my loved one passed away.

I liked the end of the book and I elevated the book to 4 stars.

Read March 6 – May 6, 2021. Read mostly in late April and May.

This was a really cute and enjoyable book. Not saccharine cute and it has wholesome message to it. It was light even though it touches on some harder subjects like mental health and suicide. It was a bit slow to start off because the main character is depressed at the beginning but it came along nicely. I knew the ending early one but the ride was fun. In fact, the novel stayed with me the next day because it offers so many different stories.

The format of the novel involves the protagonist trying various different lives which made it interesting. It felt like a series of connected short stories and possibilities. The book was easy to read. It has a lot of dialogue. I read it one sitting.

This book is popular for a reason and I can see the appeal. Book lovers probably like especially female ones. The format and the main character Nora made it easy for the reader to inhabit and relate too. She is at times athletic, intellectual, and artistic. She doesn’t seem to be described as drop dead gorgeous or plain. She’s a great reader insert based on her interests and even her own struggles. Her love interests are even relatable in context to how they affect her. They do not actually have much character development, but the point was more about how Nora felt about them. For example, her selfish ex boyfriend/fiance is very typical of a lot of ex’s. Her ideal love interests are idealistic but not out of this world romantic heroes.
One of the love interests is a thinking woman’s real world dream partner: a dorky surgeon who is a great dad and adores his wife.

The Britishness of this book was nice. It feels like it’s been awhile since I read a modern English novel especially one that was not overly literary. I like the author’s style so I’ll try more from him. It was quirky. A good novel.

Read March 8, 2021.

I originally started this book over a year ago when I read about the Morning Pages (MP) from a blog. I I was getting back into stationery, pens, and notebooks. I am surprised I hadn’t really encounteed this earlier. Then again, I have been keeping a journal on and off since since I was 8. I have become even more consistent with my journal over the last couple of years ago after neglecting it recently.

I really took to the morning pages technique. I have been writing in my MP notebooks every day for over a year now. At first, it was a difficult to write 3 pages everyday, but I persevered. Now I write about 1-2 A4 pages a day. I find it really does help me organize my day. There are thoughts which I can exhume out of my brain. I do not know if it’s made me significantly more creative. I can’t pinpoint all the benefits but I like it a lot. When we can travel again, I’ll probably have to let it lapse. However, this past year, I’ve had time to really develop the routine of the Morning Pages which I think I will continue for many more years.

Back to the actual book, I had to put it on pause during the first lockdown as my library was closed for a couple of months. It’s also an in demand book from the library. I was finally able to read it recently.

This memoir by George Orwell was quite a grim yet interesting read. It’s Eric Blair’s (aka Orwell) experiences as a casual kitchen labourer in Paris and as a tramp in London. There were a few disturbing moments and quite a number of depressing ones.

It was not easy to read but strangely fascinating owing to it being well written. Blair has a way of painting the characters he meets. The Paris section reads like a dark comedy. I understand there is some debate about how factual the book is. It does read like fiction in many ways. However, it also has elements of being stranger than fiction. I could believe it and it’s almost frightening how dirty and rough life could be for the down and out in the past. There was some good social history and commentary. In some respects, I think I like this book more than reading 1984. It has been almost 20 years since I read 1984, but I do remember it being similarly grimy and dreary. However, this memoir has more interesting characters as it were.

I know that Blair played around with the sequence events and that he truly was not a homeless person and didn’t need to be a tramp in the London section. I found the Paris section more realistic in terms of how he described his work and his constant undernourishment. His musings on poverty and work throughout the book was thought provoking as well. It echoes some of my own views about work and being efficient and profitable.

I would not read this book again but it was a a fascinating and well written book. I would have said the same even if it was a completely fictional book.

Read Feb 7-9, 2021.

It’s been awhile since I read a literary novel like this one. The author is a poet and this is his first novel.

This is a very well written first novel. The prose is so sparse yet so powerful. The storyline and the characters are heavy though. As a first generation immigrant and someone who had not the most peaceful relationship with my mother growing up, some of the scenes between the narrator and his mother hit me hard. It was a difficult read for me at times. I do admire the style and it makes me wish I could write and express feelings and moments so well.

I do have to read something lighter again to lift myself up. I thought it was a very good novel.

Read Feb 2-3, 2021.

I have mixed feelings about this book and sometimes about Harari too. On the one hand, Harari does offer some interesting and thought provoking ideas about history, the current world order, and philosophy. On the other hand, I also find his style of writing a bit meandering.

The first part of the book has a lot of what if scenarios for the 21st century. This bored me early on and I put the book on hold for weeks. There are definitely moments where I agreed with Harari including views on religion, fake news, and how ignorant human beings are.

I find more issue with his style of presentation. This book was done in response to questions he is asked and it feels like a haphazard mix of random topics. I do not think there is an actual premise of the book. It feels more like a patchwork of ideas and discussions the author has.

I learned a couple of things and appreciated his philosophy on some things. I would give this about 2.5-3 stars. It was very boring in parts but I also found myself agreeing with some of it or seeing things in a different way. It also made me think that more people should read these kind of books but they are not likely to for the same reason I struggled with it. His short chapter and recommendations on how to not be brainwashed was interesting and I’d have more about that.

The author notes how complex the world is and now this book review is more complex than usual. Overall, I am glad I finished it and don’t regret it. I would be wary about recommending it to anyone though.

Read Dec 15, 2020 to Jan 24, 2021.