Mid-Month Book Report: August

 As we fly through August, I'm happy to say I've had good reading material to accompany me. Here's what I've read so far.

Worlds Apart by Julia Franck translated by Imogen Taylor (borrowed from the library)

I read about this book somewhere and had the impression that it's a memoir. It's autofiction. I must say that while I thought it was a good book, I didn't love it as much as I thought I would, possibly because it's not what I was expecting. It was a good read in spite of that. The novel is based on the author's life, describing her childhood and the beginning of her young adulthood with her eccentric, probably mentally ill, mother. Franck was born in what was East Berlin, but moved to West Berlin with her mother and her many siblings. There were many different fathers of these children but only the father of her oldest sister was involved in any way. They lived in a ramshackle farmhouse and there was very little money. Her mother was an actress in the theater, but didn't seem to have much work. She behaved in bizarre ways and the kids found it difficult to have friends because when other parents found out about the filthy conditions in the house, they wouldn't let their kids go there to play. The author decided she wanted out and was able to go to boarding school, leaving her twin behind. Her life changed, of course, but these changes did not come easily. The book is well-written, but does switch perspective. The text is written in the first person, but with third person episodes scattered throughout. These changes come suddenly, so there is a lot of 'I did' and 'I said' and then things switch to 'the girl did' and 'the girl said.' It wasn't clear to me why these shifts occurred, but maybe I just wasn't reading closely enough. The ending was quite abrupt and felt like it wasn't an ending at all, but perhaps that makes sense given the autofictional nature of the book. I found it unsatisfying. As you can tell, I was ambivalent about this book. I found much of it gripping. Overall I thought it was a good read. But I didn't love it and there were aspects of it I found vaguely annoying.

Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life by Sharon Blackie (borrowed from the library)

I requested this book from the library because of the title. I was reading an article about the author in which this book was mentioned and I immediately went to the library website to see if they had it. Hagitude is a concept that greatly appeals to me 😏 Hag with attitude--I'm there. This isn't the kind of thing I usually read, involving folklore and myth, but I loved this book. Blackie is coming at this from a primarily western perspective because, as she rightly points out, it would be impossible to include every culture and, as a psychologist and mythologist, these are the cultures she's most familiar with and immersed in. She has lived in Scotland, near where we used to live in Co Donegal in Ireland, and now in Wales. She draws heavily on myths and folklore from these areas, although other parts of Britain, Germany, Italy, France, and Russia are also included. She looks at these cultural stories about older women and reinterprets them, focusing on overlooked aspects of these stories and what they say about older women. She also draws on her own experience of aging and menopause as well as that of others to show how, in spite of how women are portrayed as hags, witches, dried up old prunes, etc, there is a freedom that comes with age. Many women throw off the cultural shackles that have been keeping them prisoner to the needs, expectations, and demands of others and settle more into who they actually are and what they want. I was fascinated by the stories in this book, both the personal stories and the folklore, which I don't really have much background in. I was interested in the fact that many cultures had a concept not of a male god in the sky as creator, but of an old woman who is known as the Great Mother or Great Grandmother, depending on the culture. She cites Cailleach for the area of Ireland in which we live. This book made me want to learn more about Irish myths and folktales in general and of Cailleach in particular. In addition to the text, the book also contains beautiful artwork by Natalie Eslick of older women, inspired by the various myths. This one was my favorite. It's at the beginning of the book where we learn that herons are associated with older women in the old stories.

Wise Women: Myths and Stories for Midlife and Beyond by Sharon Blackie (borrowed from the library)

When I was searching for Hagitude, I spotted this title in the library's list of Sharon Blackie's books so I requested it too. It was the perfect sequel to Hagitude, because it covered some of the same ground, but in a more in-depth way. This is a collection of myths and folktales with some commentary by the author. I loved this one too and I'm quite glad I read these books back to back. I learned a lot and hope to learn more. 

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan (personal copy)

I have a friend who stops to take a photo of the books in any wee free library he happens to pass, whether it's the one up the hill behind us, at a bus station, or wherever. He sends these photos to me to see if there are any books I want. If there are, he brings them to me. I've gotten some unexpected gems this way. A couple of weeks ago, he sent me a photo and I chose this book. It's always interesting because it's almost always the case that I know nothing about these books and am just going by the title and the font design on the spine. So it was with this book. I saw the title and the font and thought, 'Oh that looks like a nice fluffy book which would be a good read on a day when I'm tired or not feeling great--a good story to fall into.' That day came sooner than I thought. The other day I was tired and feeling a bit of August meh and I decided it'd be a perfect day to pick up that book. It did not disappoint. It was not fluffy, but it was a good story. The book opens in Kent, 1940. There's a notice pinned to the church door saying that, because the men are off fighting the war, the choir will disband after the funeral of the Winthrop boy, who was killed in the fighting. Soon Prim, a professor of music, arrives in the village and starts a women's choir, which has a profound impact on the lives of the women in the village. It's a pretty obvious metaphor, but it helps them find their voices and grow in confidence. It helps them know each other better and care for each other more. This is an epistolary novel, told through letters and diary entries. We see the diary entries of Kitty Winthrop, 13, the youngest child of the well-off, abusive tyrant Brigadier and his long-suffering meek wife. Her brother, the heir, is the guy killed in the war. Other than the fact that there are no other sons to inherit, his loss doesn't seem to be a great heartache for anyone. Kitty's sister, Venetia, writes letters to her good friend, now in London, the vicar's daughter. Mrs. Twilling, a widow, keeps a diary as well. Her son is about to leave for the war. These are the three main characters in the book, but we also get letters from a local midwife and a few diary entries from Silvie, a 10-year-old girl who was gotten out of Czechoslovakia in advance of the Nazis and is staying with the Winthrops. There is humor in this book, as you'd expect from a book about small village life. This book has all the requisite quirky characters and those who are resistant to change (even during wartime!). As you can tell, the perspectives shift around and the story is told from many different points of view. I enjoyed this book enough to read it in one day--and at 450 pages, it's not a particularly short book. It was a fast read and I got into the story. That said, it was quite predictable. There were two surprises in the book, but other than that, everything I assumed would happen, happened. I also thought that although I was supposed to be reading diary entries and letters, it didn't seem like that's what they were. The language was unrealistic for that. I don't think anyone would write in their diary that way. It was much the same with the letters, although they were slightly more believable. I suppose that's nit-picking. It was a good read in spite of all that and I will soon bring it back to the wee free library so someone else can enjoy it too.

Finally, I read one book so far this month that will be published soon.

Daughters of Stone and Tide: Loss and Resilience in a Fisherman's Family by Maria 'Mia' Millefoglie, to be published on September 8, 2026 by University of Massachusetts Press

ISBN 9781625349569

Maria Millefoglie grew up in a Sicilian-American family in Gloucester, Massachusetts. In this powerful memoir, she explores her place in her immediate and extended families, the role of place in her life, and her struggles to walk the line between familial and community expectations and her own needs--and how all of these things shaped her and impacted the choices she made. Beyond the memoir, she digs into her family history, the history of the immigrant community in Gloucester, and the fishing industry that they were a part of. Of course, societal change was occurring and this had profound consequences for small boat fishermen and their families. The author has been a part of the effort to preserve this history. In the present day, when immigrants are all too often attacked and scapegoated, this book beautifully illustrates the immigrant experience in a particular time and place, showing how people do not make the decision to leave everything they know lightly. This path is full of difficulties and for some people, the cost was too high. Families were torn apart. Mental health issues resulted. Generational change is addressed here as well. The author was coming of age at a time when societal expectations about women's lives and choices were expanding, but in this particular family, these changes were not welcomed or even seen as acceptable. Torn between these possibilities, the author struggled to meet her needs while maintaining her relationship with her mother. Although the author is a bit older than me, I could relate to much of what she describes. The book contains photographs and is beautifully written. It never gets bogged down as she weaves together the various strands of her story. Whether you're interested in a specific topic like the history of fishing, women's history, the experiences of immigrants, family dynamics, of just want to become immersed in the story of one woman in one family in a particular place, this is a book I can highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital review copy.

And now onto the second half of August and some more good books!

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Playing Yarn Chicken

 I'm back to making socks. I took a little break while Finn was with us because it's awkward working with double points while there's a dog on my lap. He's gone home now, but comes over to visit when he feels like it. And when I go over to his house, he gives me such an enthusiastic greeting which makes me smile every time.  There's nothing quite like experiencing the greeting of a dog that's happy to see you. 😍He'll be back with us in about 5 weeks, but I'll be done with socks for a while by then. The current pair in progress requires a game of yarn chicken.

The larger ball of royal blue yarn isn't sock yarn, but it's a superwash wool of the same thickness. I had a large cone of this at one time and still have a decent amount left. It comes in handy to stretch the sock yarn because I can use it for the cuffs, switching to sock yarn when I start the heel flap and using that for the rest of the foot. The sock yarn has nylon for better wear which is important for the parts that will be inside shoes and be walked on. The skein on the left is meant to be enough for one sock, from cuff to toe. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get two socks out of it by using the royal blue for the cuff and the variegated sock yarn scrap (the small ball in the photo) for the toes. We'll see how it goes. I've just picked up the gusset stitches and will be starting the decreases shortly. If I don't have enough of the denim-ish blue sock yarn to complete the second sock up to the toe, I will find some scraps of other sock yarn and finish with that. Bill isn't bothered by scrappy socks and they'll be inside his boots anyway. 

The bracket was put on the shower a little over a week ago and it works well--no more wobbling. My friend began speaking to Plumber Guy about this job near the end of April so by the time it was completely done, it was over 3 months later. She still can't believe it's actually finished. She apparently sent numerous 'friendly reminders' to him while she was away.

We've continued to avoid the extreme heat that other places in Europe are getting. Today it's cool and rainy. 

Grass pollen levels are decreasing now--grateful for that. I'm starting to come out of my summer fog a bit. Still quite tired, but that's normal for the time of year. I'm quite enjoying the earlier onset of darkness. I usually drag myself through the days and perk up at night--also normal for me. 

My friend brought me back 6 balls of alpaca/silk yarn which she found at Boston Goodwill. It's so, so soft. I'm thinking about what to make with it and am leaning towards a cowl because it seems like a yarn that would be so cozy against the neck and face. That'll be something to work on after I'm done with the socks. 👣😃

I hope August is treating you well!

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July Reading: Second Half of the Month

 July has ended and August has begun, which means it's time for me to post my thoughts about the books I read in the second half of July. My post about my reading during the first half of July can be found here.

I read a good variety of books in the last couple weeks, which I'm pleased about. I also discovered a new-to-me author I love and I hope to find more of her books. On to the books!

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old  translated from Dutch by Hester Velmans (borrowed from a friend)

This isn't a book I would have picked up. I'm always slightly suspicious about covers like this since I slogged my way through he 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window. I hated that book but read it because it was a book group read. I was new to Ireland and to the group and I later learned that people DNFed books all the time. If I'd only known! There have been more books like that in the years since, always with a similar font for the title and cutesy names. I pass them by and I would not have been drawn to this one. But a friend came over and handed it to me. It was a gift to him for his recent birthday. He read the first few pages, thought it was very funny, but wasn't sure that could be sustained through the entire book and he wanted to know what I thought of it. I read the first few pages and laughed out loud, reading passages to Bill. Since the book is written in the form of a diary, it's an easy one to pick up, read a few entries, and put down. I figured that's how I'd read it. I didn't expect to like it, so short bursts of reading seemed wise. That's how I started. Then I started reading an entire month of entries at a sitting, then two months. Before I knew it, the year was over and I was done with the book. I was surprised to find that I quite enjoyed it. As you can tell from the title, it's about an 83-year-old guy. He lives in a care home in the Netherlands. He makes friends and with them forms a group, the Old But Not Dead group. They organize outings for themselves, which leads to resentment on the part of those outside the group. They also get up to mischief within the care home on a regular basis. My friend thought maybe diary entries about the hijinks of elderly people in a care home would get kind of boring after a while, but there is more to the book than that and the humor held up through the book. In addition to being funny, there are also poignant moments as people look back on their lives. Readers do get glimpses of Hendrik's past and that of a few others in the course of the book, although none of these are dwelt on. Hendrik's observations of the behavior of his fellow residents are presented with a dry with which I quite enjoyed. I was reading various passages to Bill throughout the book. When I gave the book back to my friend, I told him what I thought of it and he was surprised, saying he feels more inclined to read it now. 

Biological War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen

I posted my review of this book here.

I read a few books that will be published soon. I thank NetGalley, the publishers, and the authors or their estates for digital review copies.

Hiroshima, 8:15:The Lost Memoir by Kiyoshi Tanimoto

ISBN 9781529992731

to be published on August 6, 2026 by Ebury Publishing/Penguin Random House

This powerful book is an account of the author's experience of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath. He was one of 6 people featured in John Hersey's book, Hiroshima and as a result of that, Kiyoshi Tanimoto was inspired to write his own manuscript in English, based on diaries he kept at the time these events unfolded. The manuscript was sent to Hersey who thought highly of it, by all accounts. It remained with Hersey's papers in the rare book collection at Yale until his grandson found it and knew it was important.

Tanimoto is an important voice and has a fairly unique perspective. He was a Methodist minister, having converted as a young man upon the death of his mother. His father disowned him. He studied in Japan and then went to the US where, after ordination, served a congregation in Los Angeles before going back to Japan. His experiences in the US and ability to communicate in English, allowed him to interact with both sides in the months and years after the bombing. His observations are important, but they are necessarily limited. This would be true of everyone, of course, but readers should be aware that Tanimoto was interested in converting people to Christianity and some of his ideas about how and why the bombs were dropped and how the military on both sides behaved are colored by this. That doesn't make them wrong necessarily, but some of the statements he makes seemed a bit jarring to me. Others seemed like they illustrated his awareness of the reality of the situation. The power of this book doesn't come from his desire to convert people, however. It comes from his account of what he experienced and observed in the immediate aftermath of the detonation and in the longer term. The US military was keen to downplay the civilian casualties, which one official going so far as to say that radiation sickness provided an easy and pleasant way to die. Of course now we know what really happened but when this book was written, just a couple of years later, it was not widely known. The book contains an excellent foreword by Koko Tanimoto Kondo, his daughter, and an afterword by David Corn, which sums up basic biographical details already presented in the main text, but also provides new information. This is an important book. It's well worth a read.

Illusions (Faber Editions) by Ruth Rehmann; Megan Nolan with Rob Madole (Translator)

ISBN 9780571396580

to be published on August 27, 2026 by Faber and Faber, Ltd

In this quietly devastating book, first published in German in 1959, we follow four employees at a German corporation. They're all at different stages of life and have different backgrounds. They're not particularly friendly with one another, don't really know one another, often misunderstand each other, and are, in some cases, envious of the others. They all work in one small area, which can sometimes create tension. The window cleaner observes them from outside and takes an interest in a couple of them. Frau Schramm has devoted her life to the corporation and it's pretty much what she lives for, but she's aging and although she pushes the reality from her awareness, her working life won't continue on forever. What then? Fraulein Viol is also no longer young, but trying desperately to hide every sign of aging. She's still looking for love, which has been elusive. Therese, the young trainee, makes Fraulein Viol uncomfortable because she's young, attractive, and seemingly with her whole life ahead of her. But Therese is searching too--for what, she has no idea. She is reckless and looking for both excitement and a place/group to belong. Paul, the lone male of the group, is a failed academic who has been hired to translate documents into French. He's not very good at this in a business context and he resents having to do this work, being more comfortable in what he sees as the higher realm of literature. His job performance makes his position precarious. One Saturday at midday, their weekends begin and they leave the building to spend a day and a half without the demands of work. This time they have to fill, with no work distractions, quickly becomes difficult for all of them, each in their own way. The book takes place over this day and a half as we alternate between their stories and their lives change.

This is an excellent book. It is set at a particular time and place, but in some ways, it is timeless. The quiet desperation with which these people face the weekend is so beautifully communicated--I could feel it with each of these characters. The inability to relax and enjoy the time they have, the overthinking, the attempts to manipulate, all illustrate the pain and lack of self awareness these characters are living with. The window cleaner, observing from the other side of the glass, is often not even noticed by these people, but he seems to understand more about them than they do themselves. There would be some sort of dissonance in that time and place, I suppose, so soon after Germany's defeat in the war and the attempts to either bury or come to grips with what the country was in the not-so-distant past. It's not stated what specific year the book is set in, and the war is mentioned in passing a few times, but since it was published in 1959, it would have had an impact on the author and, by extension, the characters. However, I've known people with the same sorts of issues and I wasn't even born when the book was written, so I would say the book goes beyond a particular time and place and describes very human struggles. I had never read anything by this author before, but after having read this, I'd love to read more. Her writing is gorgeous. This is a book I highly recommend. It was a 5-star read for me.

Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel (The New Miss Marple Novel) by Lucy Foley

ISBN 9780008694821

to be published on September 8, 2026 by HarperCollins UK, Harper Fiction

The Swiss Alps, 1950, and the Grand Alpine Hotel is welcoming visitors. Among others, there are Miss Jane Marple, Dolly Bantry, and Mrs. Bantry's paid companion, Diana. Miss Marple's presence is fortuitous because one morning, a guest is found dead in the gondola. With the heavy snow falling and access to the hotel blocked, the police can't get there for a while, so an informal investigation ensues.

The story unfolds from different perspectives. Each chapter is told from the point of view of either The Help (Diana), The Wife, The Friend, or The Star. This is very effective because we are inside the heads of multiple characters. The mystery is well plotted and paced. The characters are an interesting mix of people. I enjoyed the setting. I will say that I had to keep reminding myself that it was supposed to be 1950 because it really didn't feel that way as I was reading. For example, in one scene, one of the characters is called 'Ms' which just felt off in terms of the time and the character using the term. It was out of place.

I'll be honest--I wanted to read this because it features Miss Marple. I love Miss Marple. At the same time, I knew that it wasn't going to read like a Christie novel and Miss Marple would probably seem different, in the same way all of the screen adaptations seem different, depending on who is playing Miss Marple. I decided to set any expectations aside and just read the book, judging it on its own merits as a mystery novel. And I wasn't disappointed. It was a fun read and I was immersed in the story from the start. I kept turning pages because I wanted to see what was going to happen. The twists and turns kept the story moving and the ending was satisfying. The writing was excellent and even though this isn't Christie's Miss Marple, it was fun to see which aspects of her this author chose to feature in her characterization. If there are more Miss Marple mysteries in future, I will definitely read them.

And that wraps up July! I hope you all had an excellent reading month and that August provides us with many excellent books 😀📘📚

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