“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?

“Rashomon and other Stories” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

 It took me years to finish this book of short stories, translated from the Japanese. They were very literary for sure, but I did not properly understand many of the Japanese cultural references. This made for heavy, but interesting reading.

“House of Day, House of Night” by Olga Tokarczuk

 It took me awhile to read this book. It’s interesting but not riveting. It is made up of short chapters about the Polish people in a formerly German town. There’s a touch of magic realism, and I do like the way she presents the idea that all things are interconnected. The style reminded me of her more famous book, “Flights.”

“The Hidden Life of Trees” by Peter Wohlleben

It took me several years to finish this book, and I couldn’t quite figure out why it was apparently such a popular international bestseller. On the other hand, it did give me great respect for trees as living/feeling beings. As usual, I don’t remember most of the facts, but I do remember the feeling.

“The Alhambra” by Washington Irving

I read this book by Washington Irving after hearing it mentioned during my tour of the Alhambra and I quite liked it.  I took a photo of the plaque saying he had been there.

I found Irving to be quite modern in his sensibilities and writing, and I very much enjoyed his descriptions of life in the Alhambra. He enhanced my understanding of the culture by including tales of older times, when Muslims were still a presence in Spain. These tales included buried gold, wicked wizards, greedy wives, wicked politicians etc etc.

Irving made the Alhambra come alive in all its historical glory, and so it is not at all surprising that this book was a key factor in bringing about the restoration of that important structure. Just imagine. When Irving lived there, he could just casually stroll about the place, enjoying its fountains, relaxing in the gardens, taking in the views from various towers, and mingling with its various inhabitants, some of whom had been there for generations. Now the place is absolutely teeming with tourists.

“The Impossible Fortune” by Richard Osman

 I’m probably growing tired of the Thursday Murder Club books. Or perhaps, this title was a weak one in the series. Instead of focussing on the relationship strengths of the earlier books, it introduced new characters, including Joanna’s husband, and Tia, a young juvenile delinquent but with brains and a heart of gold, and Suzy and Kendrick who were Ron’s daughter and grandson etc etc. I enjoyed the earlier books partially because of the ever widening circle of interesting characters, but this particular book has gone too far, introducing new characters at the expense of the old.