November 2016

Book five of the weight of secrets. This final piece of Shimazaki's pentalogy brings us back to Tsubaki, the name from volume one—full circle. Tsubaki's grandmother is dying. It's time for last confessions, those final truths people hold until the very end.

Weight of secrets, episode four. Shimazaki gives us Mr. Takahashi's story—Yukio's adoptive father. He came from old money, ancient family lines. His marriage wasn't about love. It was family business, arranged long before he had any say.

Finally got my hands on part three. Still waiting for the paperback editions. After Tsubaki and Hamaguri dragged us through Nagasaki's atomic hell, this one shifts the narrative again. Different voice, same devastating history underneath.

Anne and Gyl loved each other once. Then didn't. But they never really lost touch. Now she hasn't heard from him in months, so she takes a train across Russia to find him. Landscapes blur past the window as memories surface.

Thanks to Delphine, I got to read more Stephanie Plum adventures. Book two finds Stephanie settling into her bounty hunter gig. This time she's tracking Kenny Mancuso, accused of shooting a gas station attendant. It gets messy fast.

Second teapot club meeting, theme was cooking. I picked Blixen's Babette's Feast because Gabriel Axel's film version stuck with me. Couldn't forget those images. The book delivers its own kind of magic—quieter but just as potent.

Some books leave zero impression. Bland, forgettable, gone from memory the moment you close them. This short novel is exactly that. A young woman gets tired of her life and leaves everything behind. That's about it.

A famous chess player travels on a ship from New York to Buenos Aires. Passengers want to challenge him. Two nested stories reveal the champion Czentovic's history and that of his mysterious opponent. Psychology meets chess in tight spaces.

Margaret's about to get married. Her mother is busy planning everything. Problem: Margaret doesn't want to marry anymore. She realizes she feels nothing for her fiancé—no respect, no affection, nothing. Life with him looks like a slow death.

Bloggers' book club read. Akhila does something radical: she makes herself happy. Takes a train to the sea. First time ever putting herself first. She's forty-five, unmarried, childless. In the ladies' compartment, stories unfold.