Supper Club

This cute comic by Jackie Morrow is entertaining and enjoyable. The characters in Supper Club are high school seniors who want to spend the most amount of time together as possible before they graduate. The girls cannot agree on whether to get involved with sports or a school club so they invent the supper club for themselves only. At each meeting they are supposed to bring one dish to share with everyone else.  Nora has taken the lead for the group but they alternate meeting at each other's homes.

The publisher's summary: 

Nora, Lili, and Iris are seniors at Seaside High. Their differing schedules and mounting extracurriculars inspire the girls to form a secret club where they can hang without sacrificing their future aspirations. Enter Supper Club, the delicious solution to their problems. When life starts to crumble like a cookie under the girls' feet, they rely on comfort food to hold it together. Can Supper Club endure life's most challenging recipes without burning to a crisp? 

The characters in this story are believable. They accurately portray how high school seniors behave and the dialogue between them is spot on. Each of them has the usual parental issues to deal with. Some do a better job than others. What the adult reader gets is a trip down memory lane. My own school experiences matched what Nora, Iris and Lili experienced. The comic strip panels were colored with primary colors and I love how the author showed their hair flying in the air when they were frazzled.

I received a free copy of the book by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I am happy to say Supper Club is a fantastic read. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Mistress of Bhatia House

This book is the 4th Perveen Mistry 1920s India mystery. I have read every one of them and can honestly say that all of them were fantastic. Our main character, Perveen Mistry, is a lawyer but cannot represent clients in court because women are not allowed to do so. She uses her education by drawing up wills and contracts and works at her father’s law firm. She is allowed to mix with British aristocrats who are stationed in India but may not enter their clubs because of her dark skin. Perveen has been able to build a life for herself despite the restrictions she must abide by.

The publisher's summary:

India, 1922: Perveen Mistry is the only female lawyer in Bombay, a city where child mortality is high, birth control is unavailable and very few women have ever seen a doctor.

Perveen is attending a lavish fundraiser for a new women’s hospital specializing in maternal health issues when she witnesses an accident. The grandson of an influential Gujarati businessman catches fire—but a servant, his young ayah, Sunanda, rushes to save him, selflessly putting herself in harm’s way. Later, Perveen learns that Sunanda, who’s still ailing from her burns, has been arrested on trumped-up charges made by a man who doesn’t seem to exist.  

Perveen cannot stand by while Sunanda languishes in jail with no hope of justice. She takes Sunanda as a client, even inviting her to live at the Mistry home in Bombay’s Dadar Parsi colony. But the joint family household is already full of tension. Perveen’s father worries about their law firm taking so much personal responsibility for a client, and her brother and sister-in-law are struggling to cope with their new baby. Perveen herself is going through personal turmoil as she navigates a taboo relationship with a handsome former civil service officer. 

When the hospital’s chief donor dies suddenly, Miriam Penkar, a Jewish-Indian obstetrician, and Sunanda become suspects. Perveen’s original case spirals into a complex investigation taking her into the Gujarati strongholds of Kalbadevi and Ghatkopar, and up the coast to Juhu Beach, where a decadent nawab lives with his Australian trophy wife. Then a second fire erupts, and Perveen realizes how much is at stake. Has someone powerful framed Sunanda to cover up another crime? Will Perveen be able to prove Sunanda’s innocence without endangering her own family?

The mystery to be solved was not apparent in the first few chapters. It wasn't revealed until a third into the story. While this would normally upset me, the setting descriptions and character dialogue were interesting enough to keep me glued to the pages. Two thirds into the story I became bored. Conflict between Perveen and other characters, seemingly unrelated to the plot, was prominent and it wasn't as interesting as the beginning pages. Sunanda’s innocence or guilt was not fleshed out well as the author concentrated on using her in a cover-up of another crime.  As for the mistress herself, her role was not discussed much. Given that the title of the book was about the mistress, I expected more.

I am disappointed with The Mistress of Bhatia House. Let's hope the next installment of the series will be better. Two out of 5 stars.

Life Update

I had plans to read and review at least 8 books this month and it's been several weeks since I posted a review. It is hard for me to concentrate on reading since I quit my job of 32 years last month. I have 4 more weeks to go before I exit the door and retire so I don't know when I will get back to reading. This decision has been a difficult one and I am still emotional about it. I definitely made the right decision but this is a hard thing to deal with. 

Movements and Moments

Movements and Moments is a collection of 7 short comics about influential indigenous women in developing areas of our world. Each story is about 30 pages long. My favorite one is the first story in the book Let the River Flow Free. It's about the women of the Cordillera tribe in the Phillipines who fought the government to stop plans for a dam that would flood their native lands. We also read about 1930s Bolivia when a self-described Anarchist Cholas form a libertarian trade union. In the Northern Highlands of Vietnam, the songs of one girl’s youth lead her to a life of activism. Equally striking accounts from, Chile, Ecuador, India, Nepal, and Peru weave a tapestry of trauma and triumph, shedding light on not-too-distant histories otherwise overlooked.

What these stories have in common is a commitment to resistance in a world that puts profit before respectand western notions of progress before their own. Movements and Moments is an introductory glimpse into how indigenous people tell these stories in their own words. These seven stories were selected from an open call across forty-two countries to spotlight feminist movements and advocacies in the Global South.

Book Cover of the Month: September

I love this book cover for Nancy Bilyeau's latest novel The Orchid Hour. The vivid colors are attractive and the orchid leaves are expertly placed. The book was published by Lume Books, a division of Joffe Books. Both are indie publishers based in Britain. I was unable to determine who designed this cover but whoever they are, they deserve accolades. It's a gorgeous book cover. Don't you agree? 

Book of the Month: September

Banyan Moon is my favorite read for this month. It is a 3 generation family saga about 3 Vietnamese women. It spans several decades from 1960s Vietnam to the present day in Florida and Michigan. The story alternates between grandmother Minh in Vietnam, her daughter Huong in Florida and granddaughter Ann in Michigan. I am always a sucker for family sagas and this one captured my heart. It always amazes me how people assimilate into new cultures. For every one of these sagas that I have read the second and third generation always makes the same decisions. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to feel that you are an American. Check the book out. It is fantastic.

Stacking the Shelves #28

The Printer's Row Lit Fest was held last weekend in Chicago. It has been an annual festival for over 50 years and is held in the Printer's Row neighborhood of the south Loop. Three of the books I purchased are being featured below. I spoke with all of the authors. Each of them told me not only what their books were about but also why they were interested in the subject matter that they wrote about. The Fest also hosts events with authors but I did not attend any this year.

Unbound Feet by Kim Orendor is an account of the author's years living in China. Kim describes herself as being a wallflower when she was a child. As an adult she taught at an international university in Henan Province. Here, Kim took time to re-examine all aspects of her life: relationships, faith, and expectations. This journey wasn't always smooth and sometimes she felt as if she was moving backward. Kim was astonished when she found herself dancing in the halftime show of the Chinese University Basketball Association championship. The game was broadcast live to millions of people and her shy self  began to blossom. Kim returned to the U. S. in 2011. She hasn't danced much since returning stateside but every now and then this former wallflower busts a move.

Mailboat: The End of the Pier by Danielle Hannah is the first book in a suspense series. There are 5 books in the series to date. The setting is Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, a day trip away from Chicago. This first book opens with the finding of a dead man tied to the pilings on the pier. He had been missing for 17 years.  The main character is Bailey. She delivers letters by boat in the resort town. Bailey has learned over the years that an occasional splash into the lake as she jumps onto the pier is just part of her job. However, discovering a dead body is far from her routine. Bailey becomes fearful when the police investigation spills over into her abusive foster home, threatening to take her away from Lake Geneva entirely. 

Mother Daughter Murder Night was written by Nina Simon. The main character is Lana Rubicon, a high powered real estate professional in Los Angeles. While recovering from surgery Lana visits her daughter Beth and her grand-daughter Jack, who live 300 miles north. When Jack finds a dead body while kayaking, she quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation. Lana decides to find the true murderer so she can protect her family and prove she still has power. With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. These three women, though, must learn how to depend upon each other to find the killer.

What books have you added to your own bookshelf this week?

The Orchid Hour

I love Nancy Bilyeau's books. Her Genevieve Planche trilogy and Joanna Stafford trilogy were both fantastic so I had high expectations for The Orchid Hour. It is a charming portrait of the Little Italy neighborhood in New York City in the 1920s.

The publisher's summary:  

New York City, 1923. Zia De Luca’s life is about to be shattered. Having lost her husband to The Great War, she lives with her son and in-laws in Little Italy and works at the public library. But when a quiet poetry lover is murdered outside the library, the police investigation focuses on Zia. After a second tragedy strikes even closer to home, Zia learns that both crimes are connected to a new speakeasy in Greenwich Village called The Orchid Hour. 

When the police investigation stalls, Zia decides to find her own answers. A cousin with whom she has a special bond serves as a guide to the shadow realm of the Orchid Hour, a world filled with enticements Zia has shunned up to now. She must contend with a group of players determined to find wealth and power in New York on their own terms. In this heady atmosphere, Zia begins to wonder if she too could rewrite her life’s rules. As she’s pulled in deeper and deeper, will Zia be able to bring the killers to justice before they learn her secret?

While I enjoyed the story, it was not as engaging as Bilyeau's earlier books. Normally I would devour her books in one sitting. The Orchid Hour took me several days. However, it is still a solid story. The book is different because it is a murder mystery that takes place in the 1920s. Bilyeau's earlier books were more in the historical fiction genre. 

I did not connect with Zia as I have with other characters the author has created. She is not the typical amateur sleuth because she does not leave her job or home to determine the identity of the killer. Zia stays inside her home, which is one story on top of the cheese shop her in-laws own. She does not challenge social norms and lets the men in her family make all her major life decisions. How can this type of woman be a sleuth?

The setting is really the story here. It is definitely strong enough to carry the novel but I was disappointed that the novel was not written in the genre Bilyeau is known for. Perhaps if I had advance knowledge concerning the genre I would have read the book with different eyes.

3 out of 5 stars.

Stacking the Shelves #27

I just got a copy of Jon Meacham's latest book And There Was Light. The book is about our 16th president Abraham Lincoln, a man who governed America during a period of polarization and political upheaval similar to today's environment. He was both hated and hailed just as the last 4 U.S. presidents have been. The book sounds like it will be instructive on how to handle the struggles we are currently experiencing.

And There Was Light has won several awards. It is the winner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, longlisted for the Biographers International Plutarch Award and One of the Best Books of the Year from The Christian Science Monitor and Kirkus Reviews. Lincoln is idolized in the book but it is advertised as giving a human portrait of an imperfect man. His moral antislavery commitment, essential to the story of justice in America, began as he grew up in an antislavery Baptist community. This biography covers Lincoln’s entire life, from birth to death.

I love chunky books and this is certainly one of them. The publisher says it's 720 pages while my ebook version is 1260 pages. I am sure it will be a lovely read.

DNA Never Lies

DNA Never Lies is the first book in a new series featuring Karen Copperfield as a genetic genealogist. Karen helps people make sense of the dark family secrets that are revealed by DNA tests as they ask: ‘what happens when nothing you believed is true?’ It was published in 2022.

The publisher's summary:  

As an ambitious young woman in the years following the Second World War, Barbara made some hard choices, decisions changing everything that came after. She had to fight for what she wanted; then the stakes got so much higher.

A continent away, and decades later, Barbara’s daughter hires genealogist Karen Copperfield to make sense of the family’s DNA tests. Nothing about the results ties in with what Barbara’s children believed, and the shock is tearing the family apart. Barbara seems to prefer death to revealing the truth, and Karen soon discovers there is more than one secret she intends to take to her grave.

But when threats start to come from both sides of the Atlantic, it soon becomes clear that Barbara is not the only person who wants the past to stay that way.

I was hooked on this story from the first page. It is told in an alternating format from California in the 1950s and England in 2018. The story begins with ninety-year-old Barbara Pendleton and her three adult children receiving DNA testing kits for Christmas. It was meant to be fun and if the family learned something new about their national origin it would be worth it. No one was expecting any controversial information to be revealed except for Barbara. Consequently, she threw her test kit in the garbage.

As the story continues we read about Barbara’s past as well as a girl named Jean Woods, an artist wannabe. Jean grew up in Lake View, California in a traditional post-war nuclear family. Church attendance was a must and alcohol forbidden. After high school graduation, Jean enrolls in a local college for art classes. She still lives at home, though, and continues to be sheltered by her parents. The lives of these two ladies are told as well as that of Barbara’s daughter Lynne.

I have read several geneology mystery series in the past but they are about historical research genealogists. This series delves into genetic geneology. I don't know how this type of geneology is done but am intrigued. Can I presume it's similar to murder mysteries where genetic information is used to solve crimes? Maybe. Nevertheless I am excited to learn more about it through this series.

DNA Never Lies is a page turner. I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.