I missed last week’s post, mostly because the books I’m reading are so long that I didn’t have any progress to report! But I managed to reach completion in a couple of ways this week.

Read

I’ll get back to my two long books about the Scientific Revolution in England soon. But I needed some self-care in the week before and the week after losing an hour which included reading fun books. Here’s what I finished last week. I anticipate a few more in the coming week.

Sherlock, a modern re-telling of the Sherlock Holmes stories

Gunpowder Plot by Carola Dunn. This was the first Daisy Dalrymple mystery I’ve read. It was fun, but not so enticing that I intend to go back and read the whole long series. Gunpowder Plot was 15 of, so far, 21 Daisy Dalrymple books. I’ll pick up another when the theme suits me as much as this one did — a 1920s celebration of Guy Fawkes Day which commemorates the foiled 1605 plot to blow up the House of Lords. That has two echoes for me right now — I’m learning about 1600s England through my other reading and the first Sherlock episode of Season 3 was set on Guy Fawkes Day.

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale. Pure fun. I got a kick out of the movie Austenland (after reading the book a few years ago), so I was primed for this book. Both examine the odd artifice of adult play-acting around stories of love and mystery. (Cool! I just realized that “Midnight” in the title means I can count this as a reference to time for the What’s in a Name Challenge).

 Walls of Wind by J. A. McLachan. I read this in installments, as the three parts were published separately over the last couple of months — I kept thinking about Dickens’ novels published serially in newspapers. I learned that I don’t have a brain for keeping details of a story straight when I’ve read other things in between! Fortunately for you, Walls of Wind is now available as a whole on Amazon. I really liked the world-building as I wrote in my review of Part 1. It’s a world that was so fun to sink into for a time.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I think I’ll write a review of this classic later in the week.

Speaking of reviews, I wrote one last week that is important for everyone who, like me, struggles with healthy eating in our current environment of ubiquitous marketing and manufactured food: Your Food is Fooling You by David A. Kessler.

Reading

Beautiful writing from the first page

Thursday is the meeting for our Diversity Book Club. We chose a special title for March, Women’s History Month — Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Good thing it’s a short book because I’m just getting started. I loved the writing on page 1 — that’s always a good sign.

On my phone, I’ve started Cress by Marissa Meyer. I loved the first two parts of The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder and Scarlet), so I’m excited for this one. They are all set in a larger dystopian story, but, individually, they are futuristic re-tellings of fairy tales. Cress is Rapunzel’s story.

Will Read

I need to focus (heh) on Their Eyes Were Watching God, but when I’m finished with it, I think I’ll go with The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. I started it once from the library but at a busy time and didn’t complete it before I had to give it back because there was a waiting list. I bought a paperback copy recently, so that won’t be a problem this time — I can read it undisturbed!

It’s Monday! What Are Your Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila of Book Journey. Be sure to check out her post today to see her selections and the list of links to all the other participating bloggers.