This month, I slogged through a 700 page testimonial to pain, and supplemented that with several children’s chapter books – and one of my favourite Canadian authors.

I’ve included the two mysteries I read at the end of this post.

1. GOOD TO A FAULT by Marina Endicott (Fiction, Literary, Canadian)

In a moment of distraction, spinster Clara Purdy crashes her car into one which contains a homeless family – in fact, the car was their home. When mother Lorraine is taken to hospital, she is diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Feeling somewhat responsible for their current predicament, Clara takes the rest of the family (three children, including a ten-month-old & their paternal grandmother.)

Clara is a good person—good to a fault, it seems. Clara invites the whole family to live with her while Lorraine has medical treatment. The husband/father takes off soon after with no notice, leaving Clara with granny & the kids. There are emotional entanglements and other consequences of Clara’s practical goodness.

From Amazon: “What, exactly, does it mean to be good? When is sacrifice merely selfishness? What do we owe in this life and what do we deserve?”

I find Marina Endicott’s novels to be consistently enjoyable. Thank you to Trish at Desktop Retreat who reminded that this remained unread. Recommended.

4½ stars

2. INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai (Fiction, Children’s Chapter, Vietnamese/American)

A young girl tells the story of her family’s escape from Saigon when it fell, and their experience in a refugee camp in Florida, sponsored by someone in Alabama, where the family eventually end up.

It’s told entirely in free verse. It’s very beautiful and, despite my categorizing it as a children’s book, I recommend it for readers of all ages.

No one would believe me
but at times
I would choose
wartime in Saigon
Over
peacetime in Alabama.

A shout out and thank you to Rebecca of Rebecca Reads who convinced me to try this.

4½ stars

3. THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron (Fiction, Children’s Chapter)

Ten-year-old Lucky Trimble lives in Hard Pan, California, pop. 43, at the edge of the desert. Her mom recently died as the result of going outside after a storm and touching a downed electrical wire. She’s now living with her biological father’s first wife, Birgitte, who has come from France to look after Lucky. And Lucky is afraid Birgitte will return to France, leaving her in an orphanage.

Lucky hangs around the town hall where all the “anonymous” meetings are held (Alcoholics, Gamblers, Overeaters) and she overhears them all talking about finding their ‘higher power’. Lucky thinks if she can find her higher power, Birgitte will stay in Hard Pan with Lucky.

Very sweet.

4 stars

4. ON POPPY’S BEACH by Susan Pynn Taylor illustrated by David Sturge (Fiction, Picture Book, Atlantic Canadian)

Amazon says:
“Come spend a sweet summer’s day exploring and enjoying the curiosities and beauties of a rural Newfoundland beach, as seen through the eyes of a little child. Filled with beautiful illustrations and lyrical verse, here is a warm and happy adventure that is both uniquely Newfoundland – as well as universal in its celebration of nature, nostalgia and joyful childhood innocence.”

Illustrated with lovely, brightly colored pictures.

On Poppy’s beach seashells I find.
My bucket’s filled with every kind.
I keep the ones I like the best
to hide home in my treasure chest.

Delightful.

4 stars

5. NOOKS AND CRANNIES by Jessica Lawson (Fiction, Children’s Chapter)

Rich Countess Camilla DeMoss issues invitations to her country estate to six children (including Tabitha Crum) from various circumstances, some with a Roald Dahl bent. She tells them that they are all adopted and one of them is her long-lost grandchild, heir to her large fortune.

When the children start disappearing, Tabitha becomes determined to solve the mystery.

Get this into the hands of your mystery-loving ten-to-twelve-year-olds.

4 stars

6. A LITTLE LIFE by Hanya Yanagihara (Fiction, Literary)

Ostensibly about a group of four college friends, this is really the story of one: Jude who is loved by everyone but struggles constantly with physical and emotional pain.

I know I’m one of the minority here, but I really didn’t like this book. At 720 pages, it’s about 300 pages too long. I mean, how many times do we have to go up and down emotionally with Jude? How many people can love him more than anyone else they’ve met? How much more money can the four make?

Spoiler alert: The writing is beautiful and for the first hundred pages, I really enjoyed it. But by the time Jude finally committed suicide, I was done.

But, as I said, the writing is beautiful. This excerpt is spoken by Malcom after Jude’s death:

All those answers I had wanted about who and why he was, and now those answers only torment. That he died so alone is more than I can think of; that he died thinking he owed us an apology is worse; that he died still stubbornly believing everything he was taught about himself—after you, after me, after all of us who loved him—makes me think that my life has been a failure after all, that I have failed at the one thing that counted.

Beautifully written, but stultifying long.

3½ stars

* * * * *

MYSTERIES
Vintage short stories and a contemporary thriller comprised my August mystery reading.

1. DIAGNOSIS IMPOSSIBLE: The Problems of Dr. Sam Hawthorne by Edward D. Hoch (Fiction, Mystery, Short Stories)

Anyone familiar with vintage mysteries such as those in Ellery Queen or Alfred Hitchcock Magazines has heard the name Edward D. Hoch – and, in fact, many think he is the finest author in this genre. He has received the Mystery Writers of America’s highest honour, the Grand Master Award, and he has been recognized for Lifetime Achievement by the Private Eye Writers of America and the Bouchercon. According to FantasticFiction.com, Ed Hoch is the only author who specializes in the mystery short story to receive such recognition.

Dr. Sam is a country doctor in what I recall seemed the early part of the twentieth century. There were still horses and carriages, but Dr. Sam did have a nice roadster. Aside from making house calls and doctoring the county, Dr. Sam is an amateur sleuth.

Many of these stories first appeared in one of those fine mystery magazines mentioned above. If you’re a fan of those, you’ll love this. I did.

Thank you to the Puzzle Doctor at In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel for letting me know about this.

4 stars

2. THE KIND WORTH KILLING by Peter Swanson (Fiction, Psychological Suspense)

I don’t read much psychological suspense, but this got so many rave reviews on the book blogosphere that I gave it whirl.

Much as in Strangers on a Train, businessman Ted and the artist Lily meet in an airport lounge and trade tales of their spouses of which both are tired. They enter into discussions, and they . . . . well, you know that’s the thing: although I enjoyed this well enough at the time, even though it was more commercial than what I usually read, I can’t remember anything about it beyond that. Forgettable, then.

A shout out to Greg at New Dork Review of Books and Kathy at Bermuda Onion who were the first to alert me to this book.

I’ll stick with the original rating, to be fair.

3½ stars

How do you handle being the odd man out when a book you don’t like is getting rave reviews from everyone else?

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.