My March books

This is an overview of the books I have finished in a month (not necessarily started in the same month) and those I have read to Gundel (marked with 😸).
I will be adding a short explanation why I chose a book or how I found it and possibly if it's a re-read candidate, but I'm usually not going to add real reviews or ratings (Gundel also refuses to give ratings). Should you want a little more information on a book you're interested in, though, just let me know.
This month I had a very hard time concentrating on books, luckily my hands were up for more crafting to help keeping me out of my own head.


"Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines, Hollywood's First Openly Gay Star" by William J. Mann, first published in 1998

This is a biography of William Haines who was a movie star first, but a successful interior designer - or decorator how he preferred to be called - for much longer after having to leave the movie business for which one reason was his refusal to play the game. He was unapologetically gay and lived openly with his partner Jimmie Shields until his death.

I had watched a documentary about William Haines long before I even started watching silent movies and found his story really interesting.
It's not interesting enough for 400 pages, though, simply because most of his friends couldn't be interviewed for this book anymore, so a lot of information is lost, and of course you could never really trust information spread by the film studios.
So there's really a lot more "could", "might", "it is said" than I'd expect of a biography.
What bothered me even more, though, was the author listing a lot of Hollywood stars who were gay or lesbian repeatedly in a way that sometimes reminded me more of a tabloid. I would have preferred to read more details about Haines's career as a designer and less about other people's love life  given that this is supposed to be a Haines biography.
Still an interesting read.

"Lilien auf dem Felde" = "Lilies of the Field" by William E. Barrett, first published in 1962

Homer Smith, just out of the US Army, heads out to see the West. He sleeps in his station wagon and only takes up short jobs here and there if he needs money.
One day he comes to a rundown farm where five nuns live who came from an order in East Germany. Although he had only planned to make a little money by helping out, he's drawn into the Mother Superior's plan to build a chapel.

A re-read of this novella for a blog post.

"The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" by Kim Michele Richardson, first published in 2019

Eastern Kentucky in the 1930s.
Cussy Mary Carter, also called Bluet, is a book woman, hired as a packhorse librarian who delivers books to remote areas of the Appalachian Mountains as part of the Works Progress Administration program.
She's also a "Blue" meaning she has a blue skin tone due to a rare genetic disorder which evokes hate and fear in others.

I had read both about the Fugate Blues and the packhorse librarian program before, so when I saw this book mentioned in a blog, I decided to read it (and am happy to report that the mule is fine).

"The Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow" by William Arden (the books were published attributed to Alfred Hitchcock), first published in 1969 😸
(The Three Investigators 12)

This new case begins with Bob and Peter hearing a cry for help, seeing a strange shadow with a crazy laugh, and finding a gold amulet with a strange message.
Will the boys solve the mystery of the legendary Chumash Hoard?

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 twelfth in the series.

"The Thirty-Nine Steps" by John Buchan, first published in 1915

Richard Hannay has just come to London from Rhodesia and he's bored until an American tells him about an assassination plot before being killed himself. Hannay has to escape both the police and the force behind the plot. Will he be able to prevent the assassination?

When I mentioned my Hitchcock binge the other day, a friend drew my attention to the books some of the movies are based on.
In this case, I have to say I enjoyed the movie much more.

"The Home" by Penelope Mortimer, first published in 1971

Left by her husband Graham who's gone to live with a 22 year old after a long marriage, Eleanor is trying to make her new house a home for herself and her children even though her eldest son and her three daughters are grown up and looking for a life of their own and her 15 year old son is mostly away at school.
She finds, however, that she's devastated by the separation and struggles with beginning a new life.

Liz from Adventures in Reading, Running, and Working from Home has introduced me to the "British Library Women Writers" series (I found she had reviewed this book here after I had read it). I had a look which of the novels I could find rather easily, this was one of them.

"A Cast of Killers" by Sidney Kirkpatrick, first published in 1986

In 1922, film director William Desmond Taylor was found in his bungalow shot dead. The murder caused scandals and ended careers, it was never solved.
In the 60s, film director King Vidor tried to solve the case in order to turn it into a movie which he didn't do in the end. Kirkpatrick used Vidor's collected documents and notes to tell the story.

There's a newsletter called "Taylorology" for this case and issue 65 points out all the errors or omissions of the 1986 edition and encourages people to read the corrected 20th Anniversary edition instead.
As I stumbled upon this book by accident, I only knew about that after reading it, but I'm usually sceptical about publications that solve a cold case after decades, anyway, so although this is officially non-fiction, I didn't read it as such (I may read at least one other book on the case eventually), but still (or rather because of it?) enjoyed it.

"The Rainfall Market" by You Yeong-Kwang, first published in 2024

Serin has lost her father early, she and her mother are poor, and Serin is convinced her life is utterly useless.
Then she gets a golden ticket for the mysterious Rainfall Market where she will be able to exchange her life for another one, aided by the cat Issha.

This was another new entry on OverDrive.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets Studio Ghibli vibes from this even if it's a Korean book. While reading, I practically saw the Dokkaebi in the Ghibli style before my inner eye.
A cute, light and quick read.

"The Devil's Mill" by Walt Unsworth, first published in 1968 😸

England, the middle of the 18th century.
After a carriage accident, a 14 year old boy makes it to a farm in the Peak District. He has lost his memory and the farmer couple names him Jeremy after their late son. As they have failed to make the adoption official, however, Jeremy gets indentured and sent to a cotton mill as an apprentice.
During a riot, the mill burns down and the owner blames Jeremy who escapes thanks to the help of new friends. His adventures are not over yet, though.

When I looked for a different book on The Internet Archive, I found one of Unsworth's three middle grade novels about the Industrial Revolution, "Grimsdyke". I liked it, looked for the others and found this one as well (not the third one, though, "Whistling Clough").
Like "Grimsdyke" it didn't disappoint.

"The Case of the Heavenly Twin" by Christopher Bush, first published in 1962

Private detective Ludovic Travers is called upon in a fraud case in which several forged traveller's checks have been used.
Then an old friend of his dies and Travers is hired to find one of his grandsons. During the search he stumbles upon more forged checks. Are the cases connected?

I had never heard of Christopher Bush before - as far as I remember - when Liz from Adventures in Reading, Running, and Working from Home reviewed one of his books for a 1952 challenge. Now there are a few of his books on my reading list.

"The List of Suspicious Things" by Jennie Godfrey, first published in 2024

It's the 70s in Yorkshire and people are scared of the Yorkshire Ripper.
12 year old Miv decides that she and her best friend Sharon have to try to find him with the help of the "list of suspicious things" she puts down in her notebook as they learn more and more about their neighborhood and life.

A new entry at OverDrive.
I liked the book as such, maybe because the friendship reminded me of my friendships of my own - and no, I never went looking for a serial killer - but I think I would have liked it better with not quite so many triggers crammed in. Sometimes I have the feeling authors can't stop themselves and pile up things, I've noticed that in books, but also movies and TV shows. There is such a thing as "too much".

My December books

Another year gone by, I can hardly believe it.
What better to end the year with, though, than a list of books. Here are those I read in December.
It's an overview of what I have finished in a month (not necessarily started in the same month) and what I have read to the cats (marked with 😸)
Have you wondered, by the way, why some of the pictures in my book posts look so professional and some not? Of course, I could always find pictures on the web, but doing it like this is a way for me to remember which books I read in electronic form, either from the library - professional looks - or on The Internet Archive - screenshots of the covers digitized from physical copies - or which books I read in printed form - those pictures are taken by me just holding them up. As I usually seem to finish books at night, you get the "reading lamp colors and weird angle look".
I will be adding a short explanation why I chose a book and possibly if it's a re-read candidate, but I'm usually not going to add real reviews or ratings (the cats also refuse to give ratings 😉). Should you want a personal rating for a book you are interested in, though, or a little more information, just let me know.


1. "Peter Cushing : An Autobiography" by Peter Cushing, first published in 1986 😸

"Begin at the beginning," the King said gravely, "and go on 'til you come to the end: then stop." What better advice than Lewis Carrol[l]'s when attempting to write a life story? However, since my life how I knew and loved it ended with the passing of my belovèd wife Helen, I intend to take this narrative no farther than that fateful Thursday in 1971, January 14th."

I have to admit that to me Peter Cushing has mostly been Van Helsing and Sherlock Holmes, I hadn't even seen him as Baron Frankenstein. This book covers his rather short Hollywood career - he chose to go back to England - and about his theatrical and TV and film career back home.
He also speaks about his childhood and youth and the times before becoming an actor and thoses when he "was resting" meaning when he was without an engagement.
In fact, he had to earn his living for a while by designing head scarves.
A big part of this book is dedicated to the love story of him and his wife Helen, though, which will not surprise you after the quote above.

2. "The Last Library" by Freya Sampson, first published in 2021

June is a library assistant who lives only for her books and for the small village library where her mother worked until her death.
Only when the council discusses closing down six village libraries including hers, she finds her voice thanks to the support from her patrons for whom the library is just as important as for her.

I read Sampson's second book last month, this is her debut novel. As a librarian, I was interested in this (in a very nostalgic way) although I don't work in a public library myself.

3. "Black as He's Painted" by Ngaio Marsh, first published in 1973
(Roderick Alleyn 28)

When Ng'ombwana's (a newly independent African republic) president Opala - who happened to attend the same public school as Alleyn and was a good friend of his - is about to come to London for a state visit, the Special Branch is in uproar because "The Boomer" (Opala's nickname at school) refuses all their security measures.
At a reception at the Embassy, there's an assassination attempt, but instead of the president the Ambassador is killed. 
Hampered by the fact that the murder has been committed on "foreign soil", Alleyn and his Special Branch colleague try to solve the case.

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham.
Although the book was easy enough to read, it was also tough because some of the speech hasn't aged very well, but part of that is actually needed for the plot.
There's one character I really liked and a cat for which I had to do a quick check of the ending (not the solution, though) after a few pages, but she's not only fine, she also plays an important role.

4. "The Art Thief" by Michael Finkel, first published in 2023

Within six years, Stéphane Breitwieser stole artwork from museums and fairs in different countries while his girlfriend Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus stood watch - even in crowded museums during the day.
Unlike most art thieves, however, Breitwieser didn't sell the sculptures, paintings, weapons, etc. He stole them for "his" collection displayed in the attic bedroom in his mother's house where they lived. The value of the stolen pieces from over 200 heists is estimated at around $1.5 to 2 billion.
When he got caught, his mother threw part of the collection into a canal and burnt the other part.

Another random find on OverDrive. I like watching art documentaries and have also seen several on art forgery and theft, but surprisingly - I watch most of them on our French-German TV channel - I hadn't heard about Breitwieser yet.

5. "Antarctica" by Claire Keegan, first published in 1999

The debut collection of stories by the Irish author, each one of them gripping you in a different way.

I found it as a new entry on OverDrive.

6. "Old Christmas : from the Sketch Book of Washington Irving" by Washington Irving, first published in 1875

These five sketches around old English Christmas traditions are from Irving's "Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." from 1820.
They describe the holidays as spent on a rural estate where traditions even older than from the 19th century are still observed.

When I did some research for my blog post about ghost stories at Christmas, I came upon this book and it made a quick seasonal read. The style is very flowery, but I quite enjoyed it in connection with the illustrations.

7. "The Secret Christmas Library" by Jenny Colgan, first published in 2025
(Happy Ever After series 6)

Mirren has already found a rare book once before. Admiring it at the British Museum, she meets a Scottish laird looking for a precious book in the crumbling castle left to him by his grandfather and gets hired by him to help in his search.

I found this one as a new entry on OverDrive and hoped for another quick fun seasonal read.
Instead, it was really close to becoming a DNF. Although I finished it rather quickly, I was annoyed with it all the time - the characters, the style (how often can you use the word "vast"?), the editing, and that it wasn't very Christmassy. I guess I hoped it would become better and then I was too far in to DNF.

8. "The Library Book" by different authors, first published in 2012

The book is a collection of 23 stories by writers about libraries or including libraries, depending on their being fiction or nonfiction.

This was a recommendation on OverDrive.
I was torn. There were some excellent essays, there were some quotes that really could have come straight from my heart (mostly due to nostalgia), but there were also some that were simply boring or repetitive (for example the everlasting "print or electronic" discussion, ok, so I prefer a printed book, but these days I read e-books as well because it makes access easier for me, isn't it important people read at all?).
Some have aged well, some not so much if you watch the development in the last few years (I'm talking book bans for example).
Of course I'm aware that most stories refer to public libraries in the UK and the danger of a lot of them being shut down at that point (I don't know how the numbers mentioned have changed since then).

9. "Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon" by Matthew Norman, first published in 2025

Grace - who has two children - and Henry have both lost their spouses.
Almost a year later, with the holidays approaching, their mothers try to bring them together. They are not ready yet, though, and become "grief partners" instead, bonding over a holiday movie marathon ... and some mice.

I found this one as a new entry on OverDrive and really enjoyed it.

10. "The Brits in Hollywood: Tales from the Hollywood Raj" by Sheridan Morley, first published in 2006
(updated edition, originally published as "Tales from the Hollywood Raj" in 1983)

Many British actors and actresses - mostly men, though -  went to Hollywood (even before it was called that) to make films there. Most of them had a theatrical background. Some stayed, such as Ronald Colman or Cary Grant, some went back home, some chose to go back and forth.
A nickname for them in the Golden Age of Hollywood was "The Hollywood Raj" (hinting at the "British Raj", the time of the British Crown's rule in India).

I heard about Dean Street Press from Liz from Adventures in Reading, Running, and Working from Home. When checking out their website, I found a few titles that looked interesting to me, among them film-related books by Sheridan Morley (this was not a Dean Street Press edition, though).
The book listed a lot of names of peoples and films not all of which I knew, but it was still an interesting read.

11. "Der Hyazinthen-Mörder" = "Singing in the Shrouds" by Ngaio Marsh, first published in 1958
(Roderick Alleyn 20)

A serial killer strangles women and leaves them behind with their necklaces torn and flowers strewn over their bodies.
His third victim is found near a cruise ship. Suspecting "The Flower Killer" on board because of a torn boarding card in the victim's hand, Alleyn joyns the cruise to investigate undercover.

This is still part of my vintage crime project for which I keep getting books by Marsh and Allingham (just four of the Marshs missing now!)

12. "From the Alps to the Dales: 100 Years of Bettys" by Annie Gray, first published in 2019 😸

Founded by a Swiss baker and confectioner in 1919, Bettys is a Yorkshire based family company famous not for only for their Yorkshire tea rooms, but also their products among which tea and coffee lie in the responsibility of their sister company Taylors of Harrogate.
The book tells their history from 1919 to 2019.

I have read all of Annie Gray's books that I own so far to the cats, but haven't convinced them yet to become food historians themselves as they are more interested in what's on their plates now.

13. "The Case of the Silken Petticoat" by Christopher Bush, first published in 1953
(Ludovic Travers 43)

Private detective Ludovic Travers is witness when a young woman storms into Café Rond and kicks well-known critic Clement Foorde in the shin over a review he wrote on Robert Ashman's book "The Silken Petticoat".
Some time later, Ashman is found drowned in a river and he's not the only body in this mystery which Travers has to solve.

I had never heard of Christopher Bush before - as far as I remember - when Liz from Adventures in Reading, Running, and Working from Home reviewed one of his books for a 1952 challenge. I found a few of his books on The Internet Archive and started randomly with this one.

14. "A Child's Christmas in Wales" by Dylan Thomas, first published in 1954 (as a book, it was a recording first) 😸

The Welsh poet's story is a beautifully told nostalgic memory of the Christmas of a young boy, the family gathering, playing in the snow, going carolling.

I hadn't known the story yet, it was mentioned in an article but it certainly evoked memories of past Christmases of my own. Reading it might become a Christmas ritual.

15. "The Women on Platform Two" by Laura Anthony, first published in 2025

Saoirse doesn't want to have children, her fiancé Miles does. After a negative pregnancy test and an ensuing discussion, Saoirse leaves to do some thinking and ends up on a train where she meets an old lady, Maura, who tells her the story of her best friend Bernie and herself in the Republic of Ireland of the 70s when contraception was still forbidden.
(TW: Domestic violence/suicide)

I think I found this one as a new entry on OverDrive.
While knowing about all contraceptives being forbidden in Ireland around that time, I hadn't heard about "The Contraceptive Train" before when 47 women's rights activities took a train to Belfast to buy contraceptives there which were illegal to bring back into the Republic.

16. "The Carlyles at Home" by Thea Holme, first published in 1965

"Home" was 5 Cheyne Row in Chelsea, London where the Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher Thomas Carlyle lived from 1834 to his death in 1881.
With him lived his wife Jane until her death in 1866. She was an avid writer of letters which allow us a look into the Carlyles' life from her point of view.

I found the book through a review by Liz from Adventures in Reading, Running, and Working from Home (whose ears are probably ringing by now).
While it was very interesting to read, for example how difficult it can be to find reliable servants (there's a lot of that), I went to hug my appliances and my cats afterwards. We three are lucky in many regards to live now instead of back then (because we are a spoiled lot).

17. "The Three Investigators in The Mystery of the Moaning Cave" by William Arden (the books were published attributed to Alfred Hitchcock), first published in 1968 😸
(The Three Investigators 10)

What makes a cave moan and why has it started again after 50 years? Is the legend about "The Old One" true and what about the rebel El Diablo, can he still be alive?
This time Jupiter, Pete, and Bob are on a case trying to help out the Daltons who own the ranch next to Devil Mountain.

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 tenth in the series.