Wrap-Up of the 2022 What's in a Name Challenge

This year's installment of the long-running What's in a Name Challenge required participants to find books with the following in the title:

• A compound word
•  Speed
• A Person and their description
• A mythical being
• A season
• A color

I finished the challenge early in the year and read the six books by March.

The Spyglass File by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

Why Mermaids Sing by C. S. Harris

Fast Girls by Elise Hooper

Purple Lotus by Veena Rao

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu

The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks

Favorite Book:  Peach Blossom Spring

2nd Favorite Book:  The Good Wife of Bath

Least Favorite Book: None but if I have to pick, Purple Lotus

The Good Wife of Bath

The Good Wife of Bath is a modern retelling of a story in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. I have never read The Canterbury Tales before so the plotline for the modern story was new to me. Taking place in the latter half of the fourteenth century, Eleanor Cornfed's life with her 5 husbands is portrayed. At the age of 12 she is caught in bed with a priest and married off a week later to a sheep farmer fifty years her senior. Fulk Bigod is well known in the community, well known for outliving 4 previous wives and for being dirty. The community loves nothing more than to tell stories about him. Eleanor is despondent but reflects on her father's past advice to make something out of nothing. With a head for business and a surprisingly kind husband, Eleanor manages to turn her first marriage into a success. She begins to rise through society to a woman of fortune who becomes a trusted friend of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer. More marriages follow. Some of them were happy while others were not. In between each marriage, Eleanor goes on a religious pilgrimage. Through her travels she determines what mistakes she made in her marriages but always returns home to repeat those mistakes. All along, though, she pines for control over her life. 

This book was a breeze to read. I loved it and read half of its 560 pages in one sitting. I finished it in the next sitting. Eleanor is an amazing character who didn't give up on marriage until the fifth one ended. Her flaws only bring suspense to the story. I kept wondering whether Eleanor would do as she knew in her heart to do rather than succumb to her fickle nature. She should never have married again. When Fulk died, she was a well off business woman and didn't need another man. However, she thought that she needed them because society told her so. It only goes to show how few choices women had in those times. It was funny that when she arrived at her new home with Fulk, all she could see and smell was shit. It was everywhere. The house and fields were filled with it. I was surprised that she decided fairly quickly that she needed to gain her step-daughter's acceptance and began cleaning that house.  Eleanor did not have to clean anything in Noke Manor where she grew up. Her family had staff so these decisions were pretty grown up for a twelve year old.

The novel is a fun romp through Eleanor's life. Romp is the correct word here as Eleanor could never get enough sex. In fact, it was her downfall. The Good Wife of Bath is must reading for historical fiction fans. 5 out of 5 stars.

Why Mermaids Sing

I loved this historical mystery set in 1811 London. It is the third book in the Sebastian St. Cyr series but the first one that I have read. In this installment of the series, murder stalks London's elite families as the sons of prominent families are found dead in public places. Their bodies have been mutilated with strange objects stuffed in their mouths.  Sebastian handles the investigation to find the killer alongside his sidekick, magistrate Henry Lovejoy.

Sebastian is a likable character. He is the only surviving son of the Earl of Hendon and will inherit the title some day.  His father is horrified that he is performing common work for the police force. He currently has the title of the Viscount Devlin. Sebastian served in the army as an intelligence specialist and the skills and contacts he obtained from his military service came in handy in this investigation. This background is a fabulous basis for a sleuth.  His girlfriend, Kat Boleyn, is a prostitute but he wants to marry her.  I am not sure how he came to fall in love with Kat. That information must be in the prior books in the series.  It didn't seem likely to me that he would fall for someone like Kat.

The writing was tight. There were alot of twists and turns in the plot and the author had me guessing what the outcome might be.  The whodunnit was surprising and I did not see it coming. I am excited to continue reading this series.  Author C. S. Harris is a new author for me and it's always awesome to find a new author that I love.

5 out of 5 stars.

Black Ice

Black Ice is the 21st Scot Harvath spy thriller from Brad Thor. I have read every book in the series and loved them all. However, Black Ice was a slow read with little suspense. In this installment of the series we have Harvath enjoying a summer off from work with his girlfriend Solvi. She is also a spy but for her own country, Norway. Near the end of his vacation, Harvath is told he must return to Washington ASAP or resign. He agrees to go back to Washington but as he leaves his favorite Oslo cafe, Harvath sees a man he killed enter a cab in front of the cafe. Harvath had confirmed the death of the Chinese  spy before informing his bosses and knew he was dead. Now he wonders whether he killed a double or if he had just seen a double. 

For the first time for a Brad Thor novel, I was frequently able to put the book down. Normally I would read his books in one sitting. It took me several days to get through it. When I read about Scot's girlfriend Solvi, it was apparent that the author was a man. Scot is always the catch, not the other way around. Scot's job is always more important than the women's job. The women are submissive to the man. I am not sure why this irked me now. Maybe the pattern is more apparent after 21 novels. I also wonder if men are his target audience.

I must also wonder whether I was not in the mood for a spy story or whether something was off in the writing. All I know is that I wasn't as interested in this installment of the series as I have been with prior novels. Perhaps Thor should switch up his formula for the series to breathe new life into his plots and characters. 

I am sorry to have to rate Black Ice 3 out of 5 stars. Thor usually gets a 5 star rating from me.

Fast Girls

Fast Girls tells the story of the 1936 US women's olympic athletics team, a timely historical fiction novel given we have just watched the Beijing Olympics last month. The story actually begins with the 1928 women's athletics team and continues on to the 1932 team before getting to the main storyline. The athletes featured in the book are from real life. Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens and Babe Dickrickson are the best known. I was surprised that several of these women were from the Chicago south suburbs. I grew up there and loved seeing news articles from a local high school. What surprised me was that the school was integrated. 

Half of the book covers the 1928 and 1932 Olympics. The last half deals with the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany. Louise Stokes was black and not welcome in the Third Reich but none of the others really were either. Because these Americans were expected to win gold, their German hosts did their best to tire them with activities. Their rooms were also rather cold. Helen had a meeting with Hitler that terrified her. She wrote in her diary that he groped her in front of a group of people and wanted to see her privately. Her coach led her to safety. I was astonished that the host country's leaders would behave in this manner. However, haven't we all recently read how the Chinese government publicly excoriated American athletes of Chinese descent? The athletes were told that they should have competed for China. Nathan Chen was told by government leaders to leave China after his gold medal skate. He refused.

The novel covers many races that these ladies participated in over an eight year time span. While there is alot of political drama, Fast Girls is basically a sports story. 

5 out of 5 stars.

Purple Lotus

I indulged my love of India fiction with Purple Lotus.  This beautiful book is the debut novel of Veena Rao, who was a finalist in the 2021 Georgia Author of the Year Award.  In addition, she was a finalist in several other book of the year awards for this novel.  Purple Lotus tells the tale of a woman's journey from a pariah in India to a free-spirited woman in the American South. 

The publisher's summary:

Tara moves to the American South three years after her arranged marriage to tech executive Sanjay.  Ignored and lonely, Tara finds herself regressing back to childhood memories that have scarred her for life.   When she was eight, her parents had left her behind with her aging grandparents and a schizophrenic uncle  in Mangalore, while taking her baby brother with them to make a new life for the family in Dubai.

Tara's memories of abandonment and isolation mirror her present life of loneliness and escalating abuse at the hands of her husband.  She accepts the help of kind-hearted American strangers to fight Sanjay, only to be pressured by her patriarchal family to make peace with her circumstances.  Then, in a moment of truth, she discovers the importance of self-worth - a revelation that gives her the courage to break free, gently rebuild her life, and even risk being shunned by her community when she marries her childhood love, Cyrus Saldanha.

Life with Cyrus is beautiful, until old fears come knocking.  Ultimately, Tara must face these fears to save her relationship with Cyrus - and to confront the victim shaming society she was raised within. 

This story ends with a bang.  Tara's newspaper article in the Morning Herald about her journey ends the novel. Her aunt makes an observation about her that gives us the title of the book. Aunty says that Tara has always been a shrinking violet. Tara responds that she is not a shrinking violet but rather a purple lotus. It was lovely ending to a lovely story.  Perhaps, you could say that Tara finally grew up.

It's impossible not to have empathy for this character. Tara has to endure emotional abuse from her parents and then from her husband. After several years of marriage, that abuse becomes physical. Thanks to strangers in her Atlanta, Georgia neighborhood, she finds the courage to face Sanjay and demand a divorce. Sanjay, of course, complains about this demand to her parents. Tara then receives more emotional abuse from her parents who tell her it is her job to make the marriage work. She must sacrifice her needs to her husband and eventually it will all work out. However, her American friends from the local church encourage her to leave Sanjay. Tara breaks free from her marriage but still has to consider her self-worth in order to be free.

Purple Lotus shows us that you may not come of age until you are much older than the 18 year old norm. Tara was 36 when she realized her worth.  Not every person starts out in life with all the necessary tools for a healthy existence. Some of us take longer.  The point here is that you can grow if you have the courage.

5 out of 5 stars.

The Spyglass File

The Spyglass File is book 5 in Nathan Dylan Goodwin's Morton Farrier Genealogical Mystery Series. I have read several books in the series and, to date, all have been awesome. This book counts as a selection for the 2022 What's In A Name Reading Challenge in the compound word category as well as The Cloak and Dagger and Finishing the Series Challenges.

When the story begins, Morton Farrier is no longer at the top of his game.  His career as a forensic genealogist is faltering and he does not want to accept any new cases. Morton prefers to spend time working toward locating his biological father.  However, when an intriguing case appears, Morton is compelled to help a woman find the relatives that she lost during the Battle of Britain in WWII. He soon discovers that the answer can only be found in a secret document called the Spyglass File. 

As always, I enjoyed reading about the methods Morton uses in his geneological research. Every step he takes forces him to look in different places for information. This is how we get the twists and turns of the story. The mystery element is provided by Morton going from up to down and vice versa in his research. 

The Battle of Britain has been well researched by the author. It was fascinating to read about this particular battle. I don't believe I have ever read any WWII historical fiction novels that focused on just one battle. All the others cover the entire period of the war. It was a treat to learn all of the details about it. What made it even more interesting was that one of the characters in the book worked for a spy agency. 

The Spyglass File is an extraordinary tale. I highly recommend it and am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

2022 What's In A Name Reading Challenge

The 15th annual What’s in a Name challenge is on! In years past, this challenge was hosted by Charlie at The Worm Hole.  Andrea at the Carolina Book Nook took over in 2019 and she is hosting again next year!

Rules:

1)    The challenge runs from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. You can sign up any time, but only count books that you read between those dates.
2)    Read a book in any format (hard copy, ebook, audio) with a title that fits into each category.
3)    Don’t use the same book for more than one category.
4)    Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed, it’s encouraged!
5)    You can choose your books as you go or make a list ahead of time.
6)    Sign up with a link to your WIAN challenge page/post, not your main blog URL. 

The categories below are links to each category sign up link.  Add your book review for each category so we can see what you’ve read and discover ideas as needed.  In 2022, choose 6 books that have titles that contain a:

(Click on the links for more examples and info)

• Compound word

• Speed 

• Person and their description

• Mythical being

• Season 

• Color

I have some ideas on what I want to read but note I am prone to change my mind daily.  Here are the books that I probably will be reading for the challenge:

The Spyglass File by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

Fast Girls by Elise Hooper

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

Why Mermaids Sing by C. S. Harris

Hawaii One Summer by Maxine Hong Kingston

Purple Lotus by Veena Rao