After I actually managed to keep track of the books I read in July, I decided I'll try to keep this going, so here's my August post.
Again - to me it's interesting to see how many books I have finished in a month (not necessarily started
in the same month) and how many I read to the cats which of course
takes longer, those are marked with 😸
I
might add a little hint here and there why I chose a book, but I'm not
going to rate the books because I don't like ratings without an
explanation, and I admit I don't have the patience for that right now.
The cats also refuse to give ratings 😉
1. "Verschwundene Fracht" = "Cargo of Eagles" by Margery Allingham (completed by her husband Philip Youngman Carter after her death), first published in 1968
(Albert Campion 19)
A village full of smugglers and secrets and finally murder.
Campion and his associates have to solve a case which seems to be connected to the robbery from a yacht years before.
This is part of my vintage crime project for which I got a whole pile of books by Marsh and Allingham.
2. "Der Tod des Narren" = "Death of a Fool" (also as "Off With His Head") by Ngaio Marsh, first published in 1956
(Roderick Alleyn 19)
During the "Dance of the Five Sons", an old folkloristic ritual containing elements of Morris dancing, sword dance, and Mummers play, "The Fool", father to the five sons, is killed.
Alleyn investigates in the small village whose residents don't give up their secrets easily.
This is part of my vintage crime project for which I got a whole pile of books by Marsh and Allingham.
3. "Mord im Atelier" = "Artists in Crime" by Ngaio Marsh, first published in 1938
(Roderick Alleyn 6)
A class of young artists has to witness in shock when their model dies before their eyes, killed by a knife hidden in the drapery on the pedestal she's posing on.
The fact that Alleyn has just fallen in love with the artist holding the class doesn't make the investigation easier for him.
This is part of my vintage crime project for which I got a whole pile of books by Marsh and Allingham.
4. "The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real" by Margery Williams, first published in 1922
A little boy gets a velveteen rabbit for Christmas. At first he doesn't
play with it, but one day the nanny gives him the rabbit to sleep with
and from then on the rabbit becomes his favorite toy. Will the rabbit
become real as the wise Skin Horse has told him?
I've heard of
that book so many times, but never read it myself before because it's
not a children's classic here in Germany. It was time to invest a few minutes
and change that.
5. "The Last Bookshop in London" by Madeline Martin, first published in 2021
Grace
has to leave the countryside and comes to London just as the city
starts preparing for the war with Germany. She get's a job as a shop
assistant in a bookshop which will change her life.
A friend recommended Martin's latest book and I thought I'd start with her older ones while being on the waitlist for the new one.
To speak with Stevenson's words "... learn that it is about Buccaneers, that it begins in the Admiral Benbow public house on the Devon coast, that it's all about a map and a treasure and a mutiny and a derelict ship ... It's quite silly and horrid fun ..."
"Treasure Island" has always been part of my life as one of the "Christmas four-parters" on TV (I still watch it regularly, it's my favorite), but, shame on me, I had never read it.
Now der Dekan is keen on becoming a buccaneer, I should have known that would happen!
7. "Das Todesspiel" = "A Man Lay Dead" by Ngaio Marsh, first published in 1934
(Roderick Alleyn 1)
A young journalist is invited to a weekend party in a country house. It's announced they will play the popular Murder Game, but soon the game becomes gruesome reality.
This is part of my vintage crime project for which I got a whole pile of books by Marsh and Allingham.
8. "The
Three Investigators in The Secret of Skeleton Island" by Robert
Arthur, Jr. (the books were published attributed to Alfred Hitchcock),
first published in 1966 😸
(The Three Investigators 6)
Someone is sabotaging the crew filming on Skeleton Island. Pete's father, who is part of the crew, brings in The Three Investigators. Is there a ghost or pirate treasure or what could be the reason for the sabotage?
I read this series a long time ago and am going through it again bit by bit after writing a blog post about it. This book is the sixth in the series.
9. "The Enchanted Greenhouse" by Sarah Beth Durst, first published in 2025
(Spellshop 2)
Librarian Terlu has been turned into a statue to punish her for magically creating a sentient plant.
Years later, she finds herself alive again on an island with a huge enchanted greenhouse whose magic seems to fail and the lonely gardener caring for it hoping she will be able to help him save it.
I read the first book as well and caught the second one just when it got added at the library.
10. "Mary Poppins in the Kitchen" by P. L. Travers, first published in 1975
Ellen,
the maid, is sick, Mrs. Brill, the cook, has to go help her sister
whose children are sick, and Mr. and Mrs. Banks are to go on a trip for a
week! Who will cook dinner? Well, Mary Poppins of course, with the help
of the children and some of her friends and relatives.
Weirdly, I hadn't read this short Mary Poppins book yet.
11. "Skinner's Baby" by Henry Irving Dodge, first published in 1917 😸
The second book in the light-hearted Skinner series (which also inspired a silent movie which is believed to be lost, though) is about the first years of Baby Skinner, the son of Skinner and Honey, and about how the way you train your child can turn out to be surprisingly good for your business.
I read the first book after watching one of the silent movie versions of it and added the others to my list for light reading.
The "training" of the child is quite progressive in some regards given the age of the book.
My librarian's heart liked that this was digitized from the publisher's archive copy - "except by permission of the librarian", aah, the power! 😄
12. "The Woman in the Hall" by Gladys Bronwyn Stern, first published in 1939
"Visiting" has a different meaning in this book set in the 1920s in England. In Lorna's world, visiting means to take one or both of her little daughters with her to rich and famous people in town to swindle money out of them with invented stories that pull at one's heartstrings - a dangerous game for her, but also for the girls as they grow up.
This was a recommendation by Liz from "Adventures in reading, running and working from home" (here's her review) and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
I saw there's also a movie based on it with Jean Simmons as one of the sisters. Do I want to watch it? I don't know yet.
13. "My Man Jeeves" by Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, first published in 1919
This
is a collection of comic short stories half of which feature Jeeves and
Bertie Wooster and the other half Reggie Pepper, a Bertie prototype.
Bertie
Wooster is an English gentleman, one of the idle rich, and Jeeves is
his valet whose intelligence saves Bertie and his friends from one or
the other pickle.
Lisa from Boondock Ramblings
started reading "Jeeves and Wooster" stories, and since my last
Wodehouse read had been ages ago, I picked this collection for starters.
14. "Told After Supper" by Jerome K. Jerome, first published in 1891
With the help of "some" Christmas punch, a group of men tell each other ghost stories. After supper.
This is one title I got from my DNF "Ghostland". A short but very fun read with great illustrations, this could definitely become a ritual read for Christmas Eve from now on.
15. "The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew" by Robert Bolt, first published in 1962
A Duke sends one of his knights to the Bolligrew Islands to stand up to the evil baron and a dragon living there.
I read the children's play for an upcoming blog post on the German children's novel based on the play.
16. "Witches Abroad" by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1991 😸(Discworld 12 - Witches 3)
Why do three witches leave their home in Lancre to fly to Genua and prevent a girl from marrying the prince?
A little hint - stories can be dangerous and so can be mirrors.
It was about time der Dekan started learning something about Discworld, after all he's named after one of its wizards.
This is one of my regular re-reads, but the first time in English.
17. "Mylord mordet nicht" = "Swing, Brother, Swing" by Ngaio Marsh, first published in 1949
(Roderick Alleyn 15)
A big band accordionist gets killed on stage. Alleyn has to find out how, by whom, and why.
This is part of my vintage crime project for which I got a whole pile of books by Marsh and Allingham.
I said I wouldn't rate the books, but to be honest, this is one I could well have done without.
18. "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah, first published in 2016
Trevor
Noah, now famous as a comedian and former host of the "Daily Show", was
born in South Africa, son of a Xhosa woman and a Swiss man which was a
crime under apartheid. The book tells the story of his growing up under
these conditions.
The book was the recommendation of a friend of mine.
19. "The Black Dudley Murder" (US title, in the UK as "The Crime at Black Dudley") by Margery Allingham, first published in 1929
(Albert Campion 1)
During
a house party at the remote Black Dudley, the host is killed. Did the obvious crooks, who are among the guests, do it, who exactly are they and
what are they looking for?
This is part of my vintage crime project for which I got a whole pile of books by Marsh and Allingham.
20. "The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches" by Sangu Mandanna, first published in 2022
Witches are not supposed to be together in one spot for long in order to prevent exposure.
So when Mika Moon gets the offer to teach three children witches magic, she's not quite sure what's going to happen.
Mandanna's
new book had just been added on Overdrive Baden-Württemberg, while
being on the waitlist, I thought I'd check out this one for a quick
read.
21. "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood, first published in 1907
In this supernatural tale, the narrator and his friend, the Swede, are on a canoe trip down the Danube when they are forced by the weather to make a stop on a little island full of willows.
Soon, they begin to feel mysterious entities around them.
The novella was one of the titles I took from this month's DNF.
22. "The Windsor Knot" by S. J. Bennett, first published in 2020
(Her Majesty the Queen Investigates 1)
When a musician is murdered at Windsor Castle, the Queen herself investigates - not openly of course - with the help of her assistant Rozie.
I think I stumbled upon this via a recommendation in Overdrive and thought I'd give cozy crime another shot to end the month.
DNF:
"Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country" by Edward Parnell, first published in 2019
From the description: "In
Ghostland, Parnell goes in search of the 'sequestered places' of the
British Isles, our lonely moors, our moss-covered cemeteries, our stark
shores and our folkloric woodlands. He explores how these landscapes
conjured and shaped a kaleidoscopic spectrum of literature and cinema
..."
I gave up on page 258 of 405, in the middle of a chapter.
The
book is about the journey of the author not only visiting places connected
to literature and movies and telling stories of authors, books, and
movies - which was what got me interested - but also
places connected to his own memories. He's intertwining that with his passion for
nature, especially birdwatching, and the tragedies in his life.
While each story in itself was still interesting - else I wouldn't even have come that far -, the mix of them eventually wore me down, and when I found it started to annoy me, I had to stop.
