I decided to read J is for Judgment last week when I was flying home from a business trip. It was late, and I wanted something I wouldn’t have to think about much. I used to be a big fan of this series, and I couldn’t remember whether I’d ever read this one before or not. If you’re not familiar with Sue Grafton’s Alphabet Mysteries, they follow a private investigator, Kinsey Millhone. They’re fairly standard in this genre–Kinsey is single, quirky, brave, and resourceful. She had […]
It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary
I’ve honestly never had the slightest interest in World War I, and yet somehow I managed to read two books about it in a row. Maisie Dobbs is a servant who spends her evenings sneaking into her master’s library to read. When she’s discovered, the lady of the house decides that Maisie’s intelligence is worth nurturing, and so she sponsors her education. Everything’s going along swimmingly for Maisie, until World War I starts and she decides to leave university to become a nurse. She goes to […]
These First Few Desperate Hours
It’s 1918, and the mill town of Commonwealth has shut itself off from the world as Spanish flu spreads. Armed men guard the town day and night to keep outsiders who may be contagious away. When two soldiers from a nearby base try to come in, all hell breaks loose. The main character is a teenage boy named Phillip, son of the town founder, and unable to enlist because of a leg injury. Phillip is on guard duty with his friend Graham when the first soldier arrives, […]
The Wide Brown Land
“This is a country that is at once staggeringly empty and yet packed with stuff. Interesting stuff, ancient stuff, stuff not readily explained. Stuff yet to be found.” Every time I read this book it reawakens in me a longing to visit Australia. I want to see literally every place Bill Bryson visits. I can’t get enough information about the animals and plants (whenever I reread it, my Google search history is full of tingle trees, potoroos, cassowaries, and box jellyfish). What is it like to ride […]