The Murder at the Vicarage

by Agatha Christie

Libby audiobook 7 hours

Read by Joan Hickson

Published: 1930, this version 2012

Genre: murder mystery 

I had never heard / read this book before and was excited that it was a Miss Marple story. It really should have been called a Vicar Leonard Clement story . . . I just checked on Wikipedia and this is the book where Miss Jane Marple is first introduced. That is too bad, because she is not the prime player in this St. Mary Mead story. Ah well.

Lots of characters and lots of clues. I guessed the wrong murderer, of course. I hated how dismissive the constable and others were of women and their mental faculties. Ugh!

Vicar Clement and his wife Griselda (old / young)

Colonel Protheroe and his wife Anne (old / young)

Lettice (his daughter - sounds like "lettuce")

Lawrence Redding (artist and gadabout)

Stone (archeologist? thief? imposter?)

Miss Cram (husband hunter?)

Mary, the vicar's servant - hilarious comic relief! Can't cook, serve, or communicate well.

Archer (poacher, Mary's sweetheart)

Mrs. Archer (his mom)

 

There were so many more characters and themes - punctuality, notes, gossip, . . . it was interesting but I will NOT re-read this title.

M.O.M. Mother of Madness

by Emilia Clarke, Marguerite Bennett, Leila Leiz, Leila Del Duca, Isobel Richardson, et. al.

Hennepin County Library hardcover unpaged

Published: 2021

Genre: graphic novel, superhero

I heard a great interview on NPR with Emilia Clarke. She's such an interesting actress and what I heard in the interview intrigued me. Besides, I enjoy reading graphic novels. I was on the waiting list for five or six months for this book. I read it last evening. Hmmm.

The essential message (especially as highlighted in her author's note at the start) is to empower women and girls no matter who they are. Main character Maya lost her parents and was transformed by exposure to chemicals in their lab while cleaning. Her powers are "governed by her emotions and the hormones that cause them." She becomes extremely fast and strong when angry, invisible when scared, etc.

It was enjoyable but also disappointing. There were plenty of F-bombs and other language (appropriate for the intended audience, but not my cup of tea). There was a throw-away line about if God exists, he's awful. That just makes me so sad. God's love, mercy, and grace are what we all need!

The storyline deals with sex traffickers, misogyny, and other social ills. Maya is a single mom to adorable Billy, who becomes the bad guy's pawn. I won't read volume 2. I just didn't enjoy it much.

Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty

by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe

Hennepin County Library hardcover 290 pages

Published: 2021

Genre: non-fiction, history

I don't remember when I first heard about this book, but I was on the holds list at the library for a long time! It took me longer to read it than it should have . . . it was alternately fascinating and boring. I loved the photographs. It was interesting to me to read up on the Astors and Rockefellers, too, for frames of reference. I'm going to make a few notes here and then return it for the next reader!

 

Preface: "Poor Vanderbilt! How I pity you; and this is honest. You are an old man, and ought to have some rest, and yet you have to struggle, and deny yourself, and rob yourself of restful sleep and peace of mind, because you need money so badly. I always feel for a man who is so poverty ridden as you. Don't misunderstand me, Vanderbilt. I know you own seventy millions; but then you know and I know, that it isn't what a man has, that constitutes wealth. No - it is to be satisfied with what one has; that is wealth." - Mark Twain, March 1869

Wow. That quotation from Mark Twain really struck me. I wonder what Cornelius Vanderbilt thought when he saw that. "Poverty ridden" is certainly not how he saw himself!

I looked back at the partial family tree as I was reading. It made me curious about how many people were omitted. I wish birth and death dates had been included.

Page xiv - "The Vanderbilt dynasty disappeared long ago, and my parents had made sure I understood early on that there was no 'Vanderbilt money' or trust fund I'd be inheriting when I became an adult. They wanted me to be my own person, and I am grateful to them for that. I don't think I would have been as driven as I have been if I had grown up believing there was a pot of gold somewhere waiting for me."

I like Anderson Cooper. I can't imagine his childhood, losing his dad and then his brother. For all the advantages he's had in life, he's had his share of challenges as well. I have a mixture of sadness and scorn for kids who grow up insanely wealthy without having any responsibilities or compassion.

Page 107 - "It was rumored that the Vanderbilt ball cost a quarter of a million dollars, about $6.4 million in today's money. . . . For comparison, one of the maids who left Alva's ball to await her mistress in a carriage parked on Fifty-Third Street . . . would have been paid around $350, in a year."

This was in 1883. Alva Vanderbilt (married to "the Commodore's" grandson Willie) was a social climber trying to outdo Caroline Astor. Vanity and arrogance!

Page 200 - "And they nearly lost a man, Ben Bruntwith, who got swept off the deck by the boom on another jibe. . . . before the rest of the crew dragged him, wet and coughing, back on board. And a good thing, too. The racing rules of sailing were very clear that a yacht must end the race with the same number of crew on board as at the start."

This made me laugh a bit (America's Cup race with Harold Vanderbilt at the helm, 1934) but also realize that people who want to win at any cost don't care too much about who they hurt en route.

Page 209 - "Everyone in this story wants something. So, we might as well begin back with Reggie, a man who could at one time buy almost anything and who discovered in the winter of 1922 that what he really and truly wanted was his daughter's seventeen-year-old friend Gloria Morgan."

Reading this made me want to vomit. Cooper is writing about his grandpa and grandma (and great aunt) here . . . Two pages later, he writes that Gloria (grandma) was seventeen and Reggie was 42. Gross!

There were many other passages that elicited a reaction from me, but overall I did not enjoy this book as much as I anticipated. Each chapter of the book focused on a different chapter of the Vanderbilt "dynasty." Conspicuous consumption. Wealth squandered. Too bad the family didn't do more good with their opportunities. (I'm thinking about Carnegie Libraries.)

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons

 

by Kate Khavari

Libby audiobook 8 hours

read by Jodie Harris

Genre: historical fiction, mystery

"London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh is the first woman to hold the position at University College of London. When she attends a dinner party for the school, she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon. What she doesn't expect is for Mrs. Henry, one of the professor's wives, to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin."

Liked:

• author's note at the end, setting the historical stage
• Saffron's roommate and friend, Elizabeth (especially at the end of the story!)
• the xolotl (shuh-low-tul) plant idea and its effects on people (author's invention)
• Saffron's determination to succeed on her merits, not her father's reputation / memory and NOT on sleeping her way to the top
• all the botany and plant references
  
• the blooming romance between Saffron and Alexander

Disliked:

• the fact that Saffron went to an appointment with the odious Dr. Berking alone . . . 
• she constantly was jumping to conclusions, creating murder scenarios
• no follow-through on Eris or other initially important characters
  

 

I don't know if this author has written other books since this debut, but she's not a "must read" for me.

The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets (Enola Holmes #3)

Enola Holmes Mystery #3

By Nancy Springer

Libby audiobook 4 hours

read by Katherine Kellgren

Genre: YA historical fiction mystery

Watson has gone missing. Enola goes to visit his wife Mary in disguise. While calling on her, Enola notices an unusual bouquet with unusual plants. Following her instincts and intellect, she recovers the missing doctor.

I liked some aspects of this book quite a bit (Enola's cleverness and the meaning of different flowers), but I got irritated by other aspects (the cipher code . . . again). I also liked the Sherlock / Mycroft "switch" at the end. The back story of the two sisters, the rats, the vat of asparagus . . . interesting!

I'm listening to lots of audiobooks while I process at Mackin, so I may get #5 in the near future . . . 

<Above published 6.22.22. Below added 3.27.24.>

I re-listened to this one because I have more appreciation for Springer's storytelling with experiencing the Enola Holmes books in order! It's interesting that Enola is only 14 in the books (to target middle school readers), but the movie version with Millie Bobby Brown has her at 16 or 17. The crazy younger sister whose face was eaten by rats as a baby can't really be a villain . . . yet she is. It's a bit shocking to learn how easy it was to commit someone to a "lunatic asylum" back in the 1890s!

The Valley of Fear

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Libby audiobook 6 hours

read by David Timson

Published: 1914 (this version in 2007)

Genre: mystery, detective, historical

Interesting. I've now (finally) read all four Sherlock Holmes novels. This was his fourth and final novel (most Holmes stories were written as short stories). The blurb says, "Holmes and his faithful Dr. Watson are summoned to a country house by a coded message. They arrive too late to save a life and then pursue the trail which leads to the unmasking of the murderer."

I didn't really enjoy it that much. It reminded me a lot of "A Study in Scarlet" - both have a storyline taking place in America. It reminded me of "The Sign of the Four" in the whole secret society aspect. . . 

It seemed weird that Holmes was referred to as "an amateur." I had to look again at the chronology of the books.

A Study in Scarlet - Holmes and Watson first meet and work together; the dead man and "RACHE" on the wall; the Mormons and what happened in the American West . . . 

The Sign of the Four - the treasure, Watson meets his wife Mary, India, 

The Hound of the Baskervilles - the one I'm most familiar with . . .

The Valley of Fear - home with moat, man with face blown off, "The Masons" in America, Pinkertons . . . 

I loved the Scottish guy McDonald! (Detective . . . but not the local yokel)

Body Master McGinty was a piece of work! Fighting against capitalist evil is one thing, but terrorizing and murdering people is another. This got me thinking about unions, doing what is right, greed, etc. In getting ready to blog this book, I looked it up on Wikipedia and learned about the "Molly Maguires" - part of Doyle's inspiration for this story. Very interesting!

The Molly Maguires were an Irish 19th-century secret society active in Ireland, Liverpool and parts of the Eastern United States, best known for their activism among Irish-American and Irish immigrant coal miners in Pennsylvania. After a series of often violent conflicts, twenty suspected members of the Molly Maguires were convicted of murder and other crimes and were executed by hanging in 1877 and 1878. This history remains part of local Pennsylvania lore and the actual facts much debated among historians.

Hidden

by Mary Perrine

Perham public library (via MNLink) paperback 337 pages

Published: 2020

Genre: fiction

 

The coolest thing about this book is that I know the author! Mary and I worked together in ISD 112. She's an amazing person.

 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I got this. Initially I thought it was for middle school readers (the blurb sounded like the protagonist was ten years old, which is young for this group of readers) . . . because we both taught at that level for many years. I quickly realized that the book is geared more toward adults.

It is primarily about domestic and sexual abuse, living in the past vs. the present, and keeping secrets. Honestly, I didn't enjoy it very much. *** There are spoilers below, so stop if you don't want them!***

Page 49 - after a scene where adult Claire cries herself to sleep rather than confide in her husband, I stuck a post-it note on which I wrote "Get therapy!" Anyone who has had a traumatic childhood *needs* therapy. My childhood wasn't traumatic and I found therapy for a few months in my young adulthood to be extremely helpful!

Page 56 - when child Claire puts a tiara upon her head - "Instantly, her shoulders rose and her back straightened. She lifted her chin and glanced into the distance as if looking at her royal subjects." Yes! My sisters and I are firm believers that every woman should have a tiara! It's a great feeling to put it on.

Page 123-124 - When Roy violates young Claire. Cringe. So awful. Perrine writes clearly without being graphic, but as a reader to know that this poor girl is being terrified and violated is so horrible.

 

Page 153 - When adult Claire got the phone call about her mother in the hospital and she called Karen, I thought - Wait! She's been in a funk for weeks, not buying groceries, showering, etc. and her BEST friend and next door neighbor is just waiting around for a phone call? That doesn't make any sense! Why hasn't Karen been in her face, asking what's wrong? 

 

Page 174 - When adult Claire decides she's going to go after Will for revenge . . . instead of going to police or doing any other rational thing . . . with only vague notions . . . but I did like the line, "He had chosen the wrong person to tangle with - no one got between a mama bear and her cubs - no one." 

 

Page 182 - Hmmm. She's planning revenge. Violent, active revenge. She has planned for it. . . . Then she goes to her mom's old room in the nursing home to pack up her stuff? What? I get that what she finds helps develop the plot, but it was just too weird. If I decide to go off on a murderous rage, responsibilities aren't going to stop me.

 

Page 202 - Okay, this almost made me sick. In her mom's letter to her, Claire reads, "The night Roy molested you - I was there. I saw him touch you, hold you down, . . . " I get that an abused woman can feel trapped, but wouldn't any normal woman defend her child? This wasn't her abusive husband hurting her daughter, it was her husband's friend. Yuk.

 

Page 265 - "Invisible! Jade had become invisible and she had let it happen. Hell, she had made it happen." No. No, she hadn't made her daughter become invisible. Jade's experience was *not* like that of Claire as a child. 

Page 270 - She found Jade's diary. I thought, "No! Don't violate her privacy!" But it turned out all right. 

I definitely liked how the story wrapped up. It was well-written throughout, but it was a book I made myself read instead of really wanting to pick it up and read it.

A Hundred Crickets Singing

by Cathy Gohlke

Jean G's copy hardcover 404 plus note to readers

Published: 2022

Genre: Christian historical fiction

Set in both the Civil War era and WWII, this book had a LOT of characters! Sometimes I had to stop and think, "Now, who is ______?" At book club, Amanda said she did the same thing!

Civil War era / Minnie - "'No battle is lost until it's over,' Mother constantly reminded me. 'Our business is to do what we need to do, what God has equipped us for, what He expects of us.' ' To stand for those oppressed, to clothe the naked and feed the hungry, to take in the foreigner . . . ' I quoted themes from Scripture I'd learned at Mother's knee, ones Father read each morning from the Bible as our reason for being, our cause for wealth and stature within the community - to give home and succor to those in need." (pg. 8)

I loved Minnie and her mom. It was interesting to think about whether or not Southerners like this really existed in the 1860s . . . 

"But freedom - the very hope of it - was everything, and those who ran vowed they'd run or die trying. Some did both." (pg. 9)

Sometimes I think we're too cavalier with our talking about slavery ("enslavement" is how it's referred to now) and too distant from the actual horrors of what that meant. Freedom is powerful indeed, and so is hope. Dying for your freedom . . . that's too abstract for me in my daily (easy) life.

"The idea that Jean Valjean had been sentenced to twenty years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving child incensed her." (pg. 34)

I love that Gohlke uses the themes of Les Miserables throughout this book! In this passage, Joe is thinking of Celia and her compassion. In Minnie's era, the realization that Tom read a sanitized version highlights the gulf between them in beliefs.

Page 62 - This is where I had the "aha!" moment that these were the same characters from a previous Gohlke book we had read! (Night Bird Calling) Reading the names and about the barn burning . . . I'm a little slow.

I love in Joe's letter to Celia when he says, "Through all this I've started praying, something I haven't done much since my parents were killed in that fire when I was a kid. I can't say I have answers, or that I'm even sure God hears me. None of this makes sense, but I don't blame God for it like I used to. I blame the ugliness and hatred of people. How God can stand to look at us, I don't know, but I need Him. I sure need somebody." (pg. 211)

Joe was one of my favorite characters in this story. I loved how he often hoped for / expected the best of others . . . like the people of No Creek. Kind of naive, but sweet.

Page 225 - Minnie. "The moment I saw Grayson burning those freedom papers and land deeds, I realized that the strong, the politically powerful rule this world, even if it means they flaunt the law."

This is sad but true. Then and now.

Page 321 - Joe is praying  and his conversation with God is raw and honest. "What do I have? Where will You lead me if I give You the reins of my life?"

I think we all have those moments . . . I want to trust You, God, but I'm afraid to give up control.

Page 327 - Minnie's diary. "This is not what I'd hoped, what we worked so hard to achieve for our friends, but if I have learned anything these many years, it is that I cannot control another soul, least of all my younger brother. I can work and wait and hope, but I must surrender Grayson and all my dear ones to the Lord. Only He can change a human heart. Even then, I know that heart must be willing. May God forgive me where I have failed, and my He give His angels charge over our friends, and over Ellie and me now."

Minnie's faith and strength, despite her "weakness" as a woman in a male society, is powerful.

Page 371 - "She also needed to formulate some serious crow to eat in her coming apology to Ruby Lynne. On long reflection she didn't know what had possessed her to say those things to Ruby Lynne, to even think them. No matter if they were true, they weren't kind or necessary. Celia knew it was the type of meanness she'd expect from somebody who'd never known grace, but Celia had received grace - again and again in life."

I liked that Celia had this realization and prioritized doing the right thing by Ruby Lynne (as opposed to a ploy to regain Joe's respect). I like Celia, even if she can be a bit of a pain.

Page 397 - "Marshall struggled to his feet, refusing Joe's help. He stood, unsteadily at first, taking his time, getting a grip on his cane before he met Rhoan's hand and shook it. Both men nodded."

This was a very big deal . . . and a huge change of heart for Rhoan.

Worst characters: Grayson Belvidere and Ivy's parents. 

Nice ending to the story!