Apparently I need to be in Japan to post regularly, as is evidenced by my sparse posting lately. But since we’re leaving to go back to Japan in a week and a half, there will be copious posts soon. (For anyone who doesn’t know, we’re going back for 2 months, then we will be moving there in July. I know!)
Until then, here are the books I read this month.
Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School)
by Gail Carriger. I LOVE Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, so when I saw that she had a new book out, set in the same world, I was beyond thrilled. And when I found out it was about a tomboyish young lady who gets sent to what her parents think is “finishing school” but is really a school that teaches you to “finish” things (ie. kill people, take care of nasty situations) and that she ends up getting trained to be an assassin and intelligence agent, I was over the moon. And it has a dirigible. Even better, it has a floating school held up by dirigibles. Be still my heart.
Leaping Beauty: And Other Animal Fairy Tales
by Gregory Maguire. I read this book to the girls, but it’s over 200 pages so I count it here. It’s a send up of classic fairy tales, but with animals in the place of all the characters. For example, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs becomes So What and the Seven Giraffes, with So What being a chimp. It’s pretty silly and pretty fun.
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012 
This was perhaps the weakest of the “Best American” books I read this year- there wasn’t a ton that stood out enough that I remember it right now. There were quite a number of pieces about the Occupy Movement, some that were more interesting than others. Junot Diaz’s piece (not about Occupy) was interesting….
The Best American Mystery Stories 2012 )
This one, on the other hand, was completely solid. Almost every story was extremely good. The most effective was Peter S. Beagle’s The Bridge Partner- the story of a quiet woman whose world is shaken when her new bridge partner starts to whisper “I’m going to kill you” to her in the midst of otherwise genial conversations. It is so creepy and so so well done, it haunted me for days afterward.
The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery
by Nancy Springer Oh what a find this series was! The main character is the 14 year old sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, who she feels are embarrassed by her existence as a “late in life baby”. When her mother disappears, her brothers decide that she has run off, and that the best place for Enola is in a boarding school. She of course does not agree, and runs away herself, taking it upon herself to solve the disappearance of her mother while hiding from the world’s best detective. So much fun.
The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern This is the 4th time I’ve read this book, so obviously I’m a fan. It’s beautiful and magical, and you should read it. But that’s all I’m going to say, because the less you know going in, the better.
Child’s Mind: Mindfulness Practices to Help Our Children Be More Focused, Calm, and Relaxed
by Christopher Willard This is a great book about teaching kids how to slow down and breathe, and some age appropriate meditation techniques. I’m excited to try them with the girls.
The Case of the Left-Handed Lady: An Enola Holmes Mystery
by Nancy Springer This is the second in the Enola Holmes series, and it was as fun as the first. Enola sets up shop as a Perditorian (finder of lost things) and still has to elude her brother. The conclusion of this one seemed slightly rushed, but it was still quite enjoyable.
That puts this month’s total at 8, and year to date at 27. I’m currently reading Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation
, which is quite interesting, and then I have any number of books to choose from. I just discovered that I can check out e-books from a local library (a different library than I usually use with a larger selection) so I’ll be taking great advantage of that, and of course, I have my huge list of books to be read already.
What are you reading?
