The last time I visited the Half-Price Bookstore in Clive, I limited my buying to clearance books - two one dollar ones and two two dollar ones. Mary Alice Monroe's "Skyward" was one of the one dollar books. The story setting is a birds-of-prey sanctuary in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Next, I tried another Ruth Rendell book from the library - "One Across Two Down". I liked this one better than "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me" read the first part of the month.
I had quoted E. B. White a couple times recently which made me decide it might be time to read "Charlotte's Web" again. I had forgotten so much of this classic - it was good to revisit it.
Sarah Addison Allen is a new author for me. I read her third book, "The Girl Who Chased the Moon" and enjoyed it enough that I plan to read her first two, "Garden Spells" and "The Sugar Queen" both of which our library has.
Several months ago I read one of Rita Mae Brown's 'Sister Jane' novels about Virginia foxhunting. It was the third of the series. This time I read "Outfoxed", the first in the series.
Eudora Welty's "Delta Wedding" was one of my two dollar purchases. I haven't read Welty for years and thought this first novel of hers looked interesting. Have you ever read a noisy book? That is the only way I can think to describe how I felt the entire time it took me to read this book. There were way too many characters to try to keep track of and how they were related. To say they were a clamorous Southern family is putting it mildly. Welty is a notable and prize winning author. This book does paint a vivid picture of a 1923 plantation wedding - just too rambunctiously for me.
The second two dollar book was "The Big Steal" by Emyl Jenkins. Sterling Glass is an appraiser of antiques hired to assess the value of broken and missing valuables from a Virginia manor house. Between this book, "Outfoxed" and watching a documentary about Jefferson and Monticello, I could not help but think of our trip there two years ago. Beautiful countryside.
My final August read - just finished a half hour ago - makes the first seven pale by comparison. Actually, there is no comparison. Minette Walters' "Fox Evil" is absolutely the best of hers I've read so far. I don't think anyone writes a mystery any better than she does. I have one more of her novels left to read. The only thing that keeps me from starting it immediately is the desire to prolong the pleasure.
Ooh, yay! I'm launching into the RIP Challenge for the next two months (hooray, it's finally September!), and have been focused on Gothic/horror choices. But mysteries fit the challenge, too, so Fox Evil goes into the line-up. I'm excited to read another Walters, she's so terrific.
ReplyDeleteI've got a 4-day weekend coming up, and I think I'm going to devote a nice big chunk of each day to reading (and, hopefully, writing.)