“Elle a novel” by Douglas Glover

 I liked the first few chapters of the book because of the character’s irreverently amusing observations on life around her and her voracious sexual appetite. Quite an interesting personality for a 16th century French noblewoman. Her fiancé played tennis. Who knew that sport existed in those days.

But quite quickly, I came to be bored by the book, and to even detest it. Elle’s life after being abandoned on an island in Canada could have been an interesting tale, especially since it’s based on a true story. Instead, the book reverts to dreamlike musings that are too abstract to be of any actual interest to the reader. Also, there are a lot of references to historical characters in Canada and France, that lose any impact unless you happen to be well versed in history from that era.

The Secret of Secrets” by Dan Brown

 It was nice learning about non-local consciousness theory. But the book was much too long and repetitive, and too often read like a travelogue of Prague or a scientific lecture. The love story between Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon left me cold. And the revelation that the Golem was actually a split personality and possibly the result of non-local consciousness was one twist too many in this very formulaic book. It did have some exciting sections, but it badly needed a merciless editor.

“Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt

 The writing was pedestrian and the plot had too many coincidences. I detested the 30 year old searching for his father. The chip on his shoulder and his repressed anger struck me as unbelievably juvenile and unbelievable, but I know people like that exist.  Tova, the woman mourning her son, was sweet, I suppose.  The octopus was an interesting gimmick. The book was filled with so many mundane scenes that it felt like a movie. Not impressed and amazed that it was a bestseller.

“Mammoth” by John Varley

 This book was enjoyable as light reading. It did contain some interesting philosophical observations about the nature of time. Not all of it made sense.

“Excellent Women” by Barbara Pym

 I quite enjoyed this amusing book of manners about spinsters, clerics and anthropologists in 1950’s England. Mildred is quite the sharp observer of human foibles, and I also enjoyed her descriptions of mundane activities during that era. I think I borrowed it because a critic compared this book to Jane Austen’s writing style, which I like very much. I definitely saw the resemblance.

“Final Curtain” by Ngaio Marsh

This is the first book I’ve read by Ngaio Marsh, and I was surprised to learn she’s a woman. She wrote during the golden age of detective fiction in the 1920’s and 30’s. When I bought this ebook for $1.99, I did not realize it was in the middle book of the Alleyn series. I much prefer to start at the beginning of a series to watch the characters evolve, so likely that was one of the factors making me less enthusiastic about this title.

The book spent many opening chapters on Troy, Alleyn’s wife, and her stay at the Ancred mansion, where she was working on a commissioned portrait. The lengthy absence of a murder and of the detective bored me to the extent that I read a plot summary online. The characters were all quite well drawn, but the book did not grab me. Also, I did not like that it is uncertain whether the murderer will be found guilty, and that there were a number of loose ends about the will. Would the granddaughter, Panty, get anything after all, since the practical jokes were unjustly attributed to her. Would Cedric benefit from his mother’s murderous actions? Etc etc.

“The Hallmarked Man” by Robert Galbraith

 This was absolutely the worst book in the Strike series. Half of it was a total waste of time, as it dealt with the high school level “will she or won’t she” thoughts of Strike and Robin. Robin’s alcoholic boyfriend was a bore, and because the plot was so convoluted, and I skimmed so much, I totally didn’t care about who did what by the end. I did like that Strike finally had a decent conversation with his biological father, Rokeby. And the last 100 pages were decently riveting,  compared with the boring drivel that preceded them.  So now, Robin knows that Strike is in love with her. What comes next?