![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
What I've been reading: Books No. 43-44
Nov. 16th, 2021 04:48 pmBook No. 43 was "Glass Houses" (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #13) by Louise Penny. I always enjoy the Inspector Gamache stories. This one's structure is different than previous books since it starts at the end with the trial and flashes back to what started it all. I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5 because I felt like some sections were told in detail while other bits were sort of summarized in a rush, and a few threads didn't get tied up. But you know an author really has you invested in a character when you know that what he's doing is "out of character" and makes you flinch a bit. I listened to this as an audiobook and there was an interview at the end between Penny and the audiobook reader, and you find out this is the book she was working on when her husband died, as well as some tidbits about story pieces she took from real life and how she made them her own. Enjoyable, and I am looking forward to the next in the series.
Book No. 44 was "The Little Stranger" by Sarah Waters. I enjoyed Sarah Waters' take on the haunted house story. Dr. Faraday is a doctor who has clawed his way up from working class roots when he begins administering care to the residents of Hundreds Hall, a mansion where Dr. Faraday's mother had once been a maid. Strange things begin to happen at the home as it seems like a malevolent force is intent on driving the occupants out, or up a wall, but Dr. Faraday is convinced there's a non-supernatural cause for it all.
This was a good read, if somewhat of a slow burn. I got frustrated with Faraday that he was so obtuse about certain things, especially related to courtship, but maybe that was Waters' intent. She says in an interview that one of the themes is the oblivious sense of entitlement many men feel. It's also about class, and changing times, as so many giant mansions are crumbling in the Post WWI era, and the great families with them. I enjoyed this, even if I felt it was a bit slow in spots and left some threads not neatly tied up at the end. I enjoyed reading "Tipping the Velvet" a number of years ago, and I'd definitely read more by Waters.
( The other books I've read so far this year: )
Book No. 44 was "The Little Stranger" by Sarah Waters. I enjoyed Sarah Waters' take on the haunted house story. Dr. Faraday is a doctor who has clawed his way up from working class roots when he begins administering care to the residents of Hundreds Hall, a mansion where Dr. Faraday's mother had once been a maid. Strange things begin to happen at the home as it seems like a malevolent force is intent on driving the occupants out, or up a wall, but Dr. Faraday is convinced there's a non-supernatural cause for it all.
This was a good read, if somewhat of a slow burn. I got frustrated with Faraday that he was so obtuse about certain things, especially related to courtship, but maybe that was Waters' intent. She says in an interview that one of the themes is the oblivious sense of entitlement many men feel. It's also about class, and changing times, as so many giant mansions are crumbling in the Post WWI era, and the great families with them. I enjoyed this, even if I felt it was a bit slow in spots and left some threads not neatly tied up at the end. I enjoyed reading "Tipping the Velvet" a number of years ago, and I'd definitely read more by Waters.
( The other books I've read so far this year: )
