Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in. We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.
Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered. We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.
🌼
I asked Dorothy Winsor to share some of her recent book reviews with us for discussion on Medium Cool, a few at a time. If this goes well, we’ll do some more in a couple of weeks. Do you have thoughts on that? Please send me an email message. ~WaterGirl
Dorothy A. Winsor: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery & Thriller
In my experience, people are happier if they’re working on a project. I’ve blogged about this before. By project, I mean some set of actions that people undertake freely. It’s what collectors do, for instance, or quilters, or runners training for a marathon.
When Goodreads published their list of finalists for best book of the year in fifteen categories, I saw a potential project. I decided to read one book from each category. I thought such a project would help me discover some new books and read a little more widely, even in categories such as romance or horror which I usually walk right on by.
Link to my blog post about this project.
WaterGirl asked me to share some of the reviews. Maybe you’ll find something you want to read. You’re also welcome to talk about these books or books of your own choice that you think fit the category. I’m still reading, so I’m going to give you only a few at a time.
The first three categories are Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Mystery and Thriller.
Fiction
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Told in first person by a writer who steals a dead writer’s manuscript and publishes it as her own, Yellowface has every bit of horrible behavior you’ve ever seen in writing and publishing. The unreliable narrator is so well done that you start to feel sorry for her, right before she does some other awful thing. It’s like a horror story for writers. I loved it. I’m leading a book club discussion on it in February. We’ll see if the non-writers in the club like it as well.
Historical Fiction
Weyward by Emilia Hart
The story of three women in the Weyward family: Altha in the early 1600s, Violet in the 1940s, and Kate in the contemporary world. All three have a sensitivity to nature that marks them as both healers and witches, categories that slide close together particularly in Altha’s world. Indeed, she’s formally tried for witchcraft. As is common in books with several point of view characters, one gripped me more than the others, that being Kate’s relationship with her abusive husband. Altha was my second favorite, followed by Violet. Eventually, I was drawn in by all of them and found myself eager to learn what happened next with each.
My one quibble with this book is that most of the men are violent and evil. Violet’s brother was an exception, as was Simon, a kind neighbor of Altha. But in general, these women needed to stay away from men if they were to be safe. That seemed to cast a wide generalization about men and the possibility of a relationship that’s close and yet allows women to keep control of their own world.
Mystery and Thriller
The Last Devil to Die
The Last Devil to Die is part of Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series. I love this whole series about old people investigating murders in the retirement community where they live. I think this book is possibly the best since the first one.
Elizabeth, Ron, Joyce, and Ibrahim investigate the murder of an old friend. That’s intriguing. But what I really liked about this book was the further character development that takes place. It’s hard to keep showing new sides of a character in a long-running series, but Osman does a wonderful job here. Joyce looks more bold. Ibrahim reveals a sad part of his past. And Elizabeth suffers a loss.
Additionally, the book is lovely blend of serious and comic.
Yay for old people! Books don’t have to be about the young to speak to a wide audience.
Summary / Discussion
As I look at the three categories I’ve finished, I enjoyed my choices from Fiction and from Mystery & Thriller. I was less satisfied with the Historical Fiction category. I think that when an author chooses a historical era to explore, that choice is often laden with unspoken reasons. The book resonates with a reader if the reasons resonate too.
I move on to the Romance category with some trepidation. I don’t usually read romance. But then, reading more widely is one of the goals of this project. Onward!
You’re welcome to talk about these books or books of your own choice that you think fit the category.
What say you? What kind of review would you give whatever you’re reading?
Medium Cool – Dorothy A. Winsor: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery & ThrillerPost + Comments (73)