The Big White Farmhouse

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#49. BLACK AND BLUE by Anna Quindlen // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “The first time my husband hit me I was nineteen years old.”

I chose this book to satisfy the “Q Author” prompt for my Reading the Alphabet Challenge and whew.  A tough read.  This was about a domestic abuse victim who fled with her son to start a new life, all the while expecting her husband (a NYC cop) to eventually find them.

#50. THE BLACK JERSEY by Jorge Zepeda Patterson // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “Everyone hated him the minute they laid eyes on him, except for me.”

This one was described as Murder on the Orient Express meets the Tour de France, which sounded right up my alley!  And crazy coincidence: I didn’t even realize that the 2023 Tour de France was happening at the same time!  (This article was helpful in understanding how the whole race worked.)  I learned a lot and really enjoyed the mystery, but didn’t love the ending.

#51. THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB by Robert Thorogood // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “Mrs. Judith Potts was seventy-seven years old and entirely happy with her life.”

Have you noticed the “octogenarian detective” trope in books lately?  This was my first experience and I really liked it!  This story is about 77-year-old Judith and the murder she believes she witnessed.  When the police don’t believe her story, she puts herself on the case and is soon joined by two unlikely helpers.  You definitely have to suspend your disbelief in parts, but I still found it enjoyable.  3.5 stars, rounded up.

#52. URGENT MATTERS by Paula Rodriguez // ★★☆☆☆
(amazon // bookshop)

First line: “Dust raised by the impact falls slowly onto the bodies.”

Meh. It’s supposed to be “an electric Argentinian noir about police corruption and the media,” but I found that to be a stretch.  The changing scenes/characters were quick and constant.  I often had no idea what was going on!  There was also a level of Catholic mockery that I didn’t care for either.  (And thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. Urgent Matters was released on July 25, 2023.)

#53. ONE DAY: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF AN ORDINARY 24 HOURS IN AMERICA by Gene Weingarten // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “At 2:05 P.M. on Thursday, December 13, 2012, I sent an email to Tom Shroder, my friend and editor.”

This one was such a cool concept: “On New Year’s Day 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Gene Weingarten asked three strangers to, literally, pluck a day, month, and year from a hat. That day—chosen completely at random—turned out to be Sunday, December 28, 1986, by any conventional measure a most ordinary day. Weingarten spent the next six years proving that there is no such thing.”  Each chapter is a story about something that happened on that one day in history.  Some chapters were more interesting than others, but I loved the idea as a whole.  3.5 stars, rounded up.

#54. GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS by James Hilton // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “When you are getting on in years (but not ill, of course), you get very sleepy at times, and the hours seem to pass like lazy cattle moving across a landscape.”

Written in 1934, this book is a quick read about a beloved schoolteacher as he reminisces about his life.  I liked it.

#55. NORTHWEST ANGLE by William Kent Krueger // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “Later, when it no longer mattered, they learned that the horror that had come from the sky had a name: derecho.”

Number eleven in the Cork O’Connor series.  WKK does it again – I thought this installment was really good!

#56. THE POLITICS OF ENVY by Anne Hendershott // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // better world books)

First line: “One of the seven deadly sins, envy is a painful reminder that people we know are enjoying something that we are not.”

An appropriate follow-up to The Overspent American!  The premise of the book is the argument that “the political class, social media, and advertisers have created a culture of covetousness by relentlessly provoking us to envy others and to be envied. The result is now a deeply indignant and rapacious generation that believes no one is more deserving of advantages and rewards than they.”  I got bogged down in some sections, but others were fascinating.  The section about cancelling/mobbing in academia was particularly interesting and disturbing.  All in all, this ended up being somewhere between 3 and 3.5 stars.  (I also read this for my Reading the Alphabet Challenge.)

#57. Q’S LEGACY: A DELIGHTFUL ACCOUNT OF A LIFELONG LOVE AFFAIR WITH BOOKS by Helene Hanff // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “Q and I first met on a summer morning when I was eighteen, at the main branch of the Philadelphia Public Library where I’d gone in search of a teacher; and I took him home with me despite certain doubts about his fitness for the post.”

Helene Hanff wrote 84, Charing Cross Road and this companion book describes her life before and after that publication.  So charming and funny!  I can’t believe the way she would personally respond to fan mail and phone calls, even going so far as to take up offers to show her around England (with strangers!).  Times sure have changed.  3.5 stars, rounded up.  (I also read this for my Reading the Alphabet Challenge.)

#58. EVERY STOLEN BREATH by Kimberly Gabriel // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “One of these tourists is about to die.”

I don’t normally read YA, but this thriller sounded interesting.  It’s about “The Swarm,” which is a group of teenagers responsible for random attacks on the streets of Chicago.  It appears like they choose their victims at random before beating them to death, but is all as it seems?  A lot of teenage dramatics, but still a page turner.  Solid three stars.

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MY UNREAD SHELF PROJECT

Unread Books as of January 1, 2023: 207
Books Finished in July: 10
Finished Books Donated/Sold in July: 4
Books Added: +18 (two used bookstore trips and next year’s book club picks)
Unread Books Remaining: 199