Tuesday, March 01, 2022

Top Ten Tuesday: Wonderful Books I've Never Reviewed on My Blog

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and I couldn't resist this week's topic: Books I've Enjoyed But Have Never Mentioned On My Blog. I did tweak it a bit to say that I've never reviewed these books because I have a sneaking suspicion that I have mentioned one or two of them in passing in the almost fourteen years that I've had this blog.

In compiling my list, I decided to try to find the exact cover of the edition I read, and I almost succeeded. The only one I couldn't find was my Edith Wharton choice, but there were so many gorgeous covers-- many by one of my favorite artists-- that choosing one was a pleasure.

Just what's on this list of wonderful books I've never reviewed? Let's take a look!


This is book three of four in one of my all-time favorite historical mystery series. I can't say it any better than The Guardian: "A third irrepressible outing for the ebullient Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her awesomely bosomed maid, Alpiew, a pair of Restoration detectives dubbed Cagney and Lacey in corsets, although I'd add a strong dash of Laurel and Hardy to the mix. ...Plots within plots, culinary eccentricities, the Bastille's most mysterious prisoner and the discovery of Lord Whippingham's favourite depravity, involving women with strong teeth, pepper the uproarious progress of our two unconventional heroines. Fun never came so lusty."


Most people, if they know Edith Wharton at all, know her for The House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, or Ethan Frome. Wharton is one of my favorite authors, and Hudson River Bracketed and The Custom of the Country are my favorites of her books. From Amazon: "Considered by many to be her greatest novel, Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country tells the story of Undine Spragg, a vain and spoiled young woman determined to climb the social ladder of high society. Undine’s unquenchable lust for wealth takes her from New York to Europe as she manipulates the men who have what she desires. Wharton’s great talents are on full display in this scathing social commentary on the modern upper class, and Undine Spragg is one of the greatest literary anti-heroines of all time."


I love the world Fforde created, a world in which books rule, and I'm proud to say that I have a dear friend who thinks of me as Thursday Next. From Amazon: "Fans of Douglas Adams and P. G. Wodehouse will love visiting Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, when time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously: it’s a bibliophile’s dream. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde's ingenious fantasy—enhanced by a Web site that re-creates the world of the novel—unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix."


I love Anna Pigeon, and this fourth mystery holds a special place in my heart. Anna is in the Lassen Volcanic National Park helping fight a wildfire. I read this shortly after the time in which over 1,000,000 acres of Arizona-- including a large chunk of the largest Ponderosa pine forest in the world-- were turned to ash. The scene involving Anna in her "shake 'n' bake" moved me to tears because the firefighter credited with saving the town of Show Low was caught in another wildfire... and died in his. 


The first in one of my all-time favorite humorous cozy mystery series-- and it's not often that you have a series set in small-town South Dakota featuring a widowed, middle-aged, overweight, and cranky waitress. This one is a gem, filled with marvelous characters, laugh-till-you-cry humor.


A Sci-Fi thriller about cloning before Dolly was ever cloned. When someone found out that I had this book, he offered me a boatload (well, a rowboat-load) of money for it. It's still sitting in my bookcase.


Another favorite mindblower of mine that handled a subject I'd never read about before in such a way that was anything but graphic yet so powerful that it made me sick. I can still remember how stunned I was when I read it.


This is a verse novel-- yes, a book-length poem-- about the 1698 murder trial in Rome of an impoverished nobleman accused of murdering his wife and her parents. Never thought a poem could be riveting? Think again!


Sarah Agnes Prine is one of my all-time favorite characters, and this book is a joy to read. I've lost track of how many times I've recommended it. From Amazon: "A moving, exciting, and heartfelt American saga inspired by the author's own family memoirs, these words belong to Sarah Prine, a woman of spirit and fire who forges a full and remarkable existence in a harsh, unfamiliar frontier. Scrupulously recording her steps down the path Providence has set her upon - from child to determined young adult to loving mother - she shares the turbulent events, both joyous and tragic, that molded her, and recalls the enduring love with cavalry officer Captain Jack Elliot that gave her strength and purpose."


I found this book during what I call my "Out of Africa" phase when the movie inspired me to read about the British in Africa at the turn of the last century. Beautifully written, and oh, what a life! From Amazon: "If the first responsibility of a memoirist is to lead a life worth writing about, Markham succeeded beyond all measure. Born Beryl Clutterbuck in the middle of England, she and her father moved to Kenya when she was a girl, and she grew up with a zebra for a pet; horses for friends; baboons, lions, and gazelles for neighbors. She made money by scouting elephants from a tiny plane. And she would spend most of the rest of her life in East Africa as an adventurer, a racehorse trainer, and an aviatrix―she became the first person to fly nonstop from Europe to America, the first woman to fly solo east to west across the Atlantic. Hers was indisputably a life full of adventure and beauty."

I hope that I've either reminded you of some of your own favorites or inspired you to read some from my own list. If you want to take part in this fun meme, head over to That Artsy Reader Girl to take a look at the list of subjects and how it all works.

30 comments:

  1. I've only read the Nevada Barr book out of your list. But after reading the entire Anna Pigeon series, I still could read more of them. Miss this series.

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    1. I do, too, but I understand why she decided to stop writing them.

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    2. Yes, but I still wish the series continued. I may have to reread a few of them.

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  2. I am adding a few books from your list to my wish to read list! I love how you included the blurb about each one too. Yes to the Nevada Barr,the Kathleen Taylor, and the Val McDermid one. I read one McDermid and it wasn't this one, so now I am very curious to see about that plot. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. You're welcome-- and thanks for stopping by!

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  3. I love this list, Cathy! Among many other things, it reminds me of a few books I'd like to read, myself. And I love the variety in it, too - crime fiction, literary fiction, non-fiction - I love it! And that's a clever choice for a TTT topic, too.

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    1. Yes, the topic really appealed to me, too. And I like compiling lists like these because it shows that I do enjoy other book genres than crime fiction. In fact, there was a time I didn't really read mysteries. (Can you believe it?)

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    2. What? A time you didn't read mysteries? I am gobsmacked!
      Or my glasses are off-kilter.

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    3. Color yourself gobsmacked. The main genres before Crime Fiction were historical fiction, history, and biographies.

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    4. I read Nancy Drew at 11 and 12. Did you read that series?
      Then, at 15, I started reading Sherlock Holmes, then Nero Wolfe and Perry Mason, due to my father's reading them. Then I read other fiction for years and came back to mysteries years ago when I discovered crime fiction readers' blogs.

      But I do read other fiction, especially by Black women writers and memoirs and an occasional biography. So in the last few years, I read Michelle Obama's and Megan Rapinoe's autobiographies, both excellent. And I read a book by the brilliant Imani Perry about the equally brilliant Lorraine Hansberry, author of A Raisin in the Sun, who died way too young.

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    5. I read Nancy Drew when I was eight or nine, but I preferred the Hardy Boys. Then I quickly started into biographies and historical fiction. Then I added history. I didn't get back to mysteries until about the mid-90s, and I think Michael Connelly was responsible for that.

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  4. Such an interesting list, Cathy! I have not read any of the books listed here. Although several are familiar to me.

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    1. Well, I'm glad that a few are familiar at least!

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  5. Wow, I haven't heard of any of these, but they sound really good!

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    1. I hope you might give one or two a try. Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. I need to read some of these. Thank you for sharing.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

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  7. I've read three of those and enjoyed them all, probably the Barr book most of all. But I always enjoy her books.

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    1. So do I, and I never missed one of her events when she was touring.

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  8. I own a copy of West With the Night; Beryl Markham really led a fascinating life didn't she? And I love Edith Wharton, too! She's a favorite of mine. I also really enjoyed reading The Eyre Affair. I own a copy of that one, too. :D

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    1. Wharton and I share a birthday. Some days I even feel like we share the same birth year. :o)

      Something tells me that we'd enjoy wandering through each other's bookshelves. :-)

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  9. A Place of Execution had a similar effect for me - it's excellent, and so many details remain vivid. I've recommended it countless times. I loved The Eyre Affair also.

    I'm not familiar with Fidelia Morgan's series, but want to check it out after this review. And I may see if I can find a copy of The Ring and the Book; I always intend to read more poetry, and that's one way to do it.

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    1. Yep, poetry and crime fiction all rolled into one. That's a difficult (and unusual) combination to beat!

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  10. A stand-alone mystery by Nevada Barr features an older woman who defies everyone and solves a murder. It is a delightfyl book.
    It's What Rose Forgot.

    I don't know if she's going to write more books, but I like to look at photos of her house in New Orleans as it's very artistic. Her spouse renovated many rooms and she used her artistic skills to paint many things around the house. It is lovely.

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    1. I never missed an event at The Poisoned Pen in which Barr appeared, and I've read all her books. For What Rose Forgot, she told us that she did everything that Rose does in the book just to prove that a woman of that age could, indeed, do them. It caused some interesting reactions from her neighbors.

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  11. Didn't anyone applaud at the PP?

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    1. I don't remember applause, but I do remember noises of appreciation.

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