A Fall Of Marigolds by Susan Meissner

Loved this book. A book that switches back and forth in time. September 1911 and September 2011. Ellis Island, The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, and the collapse fo the World Trade Center towers. A book that has all the elements that make for well spent reading time.

The End of Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher

2022

I am steadily making my way through my stack of aging and crumbly paperback books. A couple of decades ago I really loved this author but I just don't connect with her stories the way I once did which makes me sad.

Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews

2022

Another romance that I struggled reading but only because I am a woman who lives and loves a solo life--mistress of my own domain--for the most part anyway. It just distresses me to see women protrayed as "needing a man" to complete them and then always falling for the ''bad boy". All that aside I did enjoy reading this book...it was an interesting look into the South.

Cicada Spring by Christian Galacar

The only book not set in England. I had trouble locating a book with Spring in the title. It involved sexual abuse, minors, and people taking justice into their own hands. It was an okay read if a little thin and far fetched.

A Fine Summer's Day by Charles Todd

The English theme continues. This book is part of a very popular detective series that follows the casework of Ian Rutledge. I hate reading out of order and this book was deep into the series. I decided to read it anyway as luck would have it the book was out of sequence itself. The other novels follow Ian after he came back shell-shocked and haunted from the first World War, this one however, imagines his life as an inspector before the war. I really liked it and have gone back and started the series at the beginning.

 

Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym

A very English writer, not as concerned with cleanliness, this book was about the lives of four co-workers nearing retirement, it was a little dark, but I liked it. I would like to read more of her books.

A Week In Winter by Maeve Binchy

 I picked up this book because I love Maeve Binchy and hadn’t read any of her books in about 20 years. I have a thing for English writers--I have a thing for all things English. But here's the weird thing-- while Im reading a book like this I fall in love with the idea of scrubbed pine tables and carbolic acid cleaners, gardening in the rain, puttering around in old cars and old clothes the older the better. Cleaning and scrubbing and order. A hard core work ethic.

Wintering by Katherine May

2022

A book I wanted to like way more than I actually did, because I myself identify totally with the concept of wintering and in these past few years I think a lot of others feel the same. If I am judging this correctly...this book was written while the author was have a dark moment of the soul and I think it shows in the choppiness of the writing. She starts down many pathways and then diverts away never quite giving resolution or a finish to any of the storylines she starts...

Hi! I'm Debbie. Here at Categorically Well-Read I give an extra layer to the reading life. Learn more about me, check out my current category of books, submit your own suggestion, or check out my latest post.