DECEMBER 2024 READING LIST
With a couple of crazy weeks at the end of the school trimester and upcoming travels, I found reading the antidote to my constant overwhelmed state. I ventured deeper into the works of Georgette Heyer, which I am still unsure whether I like. I continued with another of the Gaslight mystery books. I finished a book I started in June and returned to a historical fiction read.
Here are the books I read in December:
MURDER IN MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS BY VICTORIA THOMPSON
I listened to this book through Libby. This is book nineteen in the Gaslight Mystery series.
After opening up a private detective agency to put his police training to good use, Frank finally receives a case that does not involve infidelity. The murder of a young woman who recently graduated from a women’s college is a puzzle that will cause Sarah to get involved in assisting her husband in the world of academia.
It's another good mystery, although the ending was predictable, like another recent book in the series. The clues made it easier to discover who the killer must be. Even with the predictability in this installment, Thompson still does well in exploring New York society and gives the reader a good dose of history.
I did appreciate that Thompson worked in the strange concept of why the killer decided on murder. Most authors would have played it off as believable, but I appreciated her recognizing the intellect of the reader. Without giving too much away, she points out that the conflict between the killer and the victim would cause little reason for anybody to kill someone. And yet, like in the real world, people harm other people for petty or nonsensical reasons.
3.5/5 Stars
THE CONVENIENT MARRIAGE BY GEORGETTE HEYER
Looking through Heyer's long list of works, I found a few of her earlier writings. I decided on The Convenient Marriage because of its premise: Horatia Winwood convinces a wealthy young man to marry her instead of her older sister because her sister wants to marry another man. She seems less attractive than her sister and has a stutter. It was an amusing idea, and I wondered how the intrigues would play out.
Although I enjoyed the light reading of a Heyer book, the story was less entertaining than I had hoped for. Instead of Horatia becoming a strong-minded, magnetic person, she seemed to keep making problems for herself without the insight to change. Her husband, the Earl of Rule, seems to enjoy her exploits, and why? Because it wasn’t boring? I was a little too far-fetched for my believability. I appreciated the patient and heroic way Rule would come to Horatia’s rescue, but it also seemed a little too predictable and, after a while, a little overdone.
I was glad the book came to a reasonably happy conclusion, but I still felt there should have been more strain between the couple—or, if not tension, some well-developed B-plots that could add complexity to the story.
2.75/5 Stars
THE WRITING LIFE BY ANNIE DILLARD
What an incredible book of short essays! The Writing Life was given to me by my mother, who is herself a writer. I brought this along on my trip to Madrid, hoping to be infused with a better understanding of why I want to be a writer and how to find my own voice. I was moved by Dillard’s writing and her forthright way of speaking about being a writer.
I really connected with the line about her argument for throwing away bad writing:
“You can waste a year worrying about it, or you can get over it now. (Are you a woman or a mouse?)”
Another section that both bolstered my strength and simultaneously discouraged me was her explanation of how long it actually takes to write a book—two to ten years. I was amazed, but then she goes on to explain how there are exceptions, but there is no call to take human extremes as norms.”
Finally, she encourages the aspiring writer to write as if he or she were dying. What would I put on a page if I only had three months to live? Similarly, what would I want to put on paper if the only people who would read it were terminally ill? Her words were a great motivator, and she has a dry wit that I greatly enjoyed.
The only area of the short book where I felt disconnected was her stories of living in the Pacific Northwest. It felt disjointed with the rest of the book, although there is one section where she asks someone about his project, and his description is dead on for what it feels like to write over time. That in itself was a great part of reading, but the last chapter, although interesting, did not seem connected. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book and will reread it soon to pep myself when my writing is slow.
4.5/Stars
THE CORINTHIAN BY GEORGETTE HEYER
After The Convenient Marriage, I decided to try another Heyer novel. Drawn to the name, I decided to try The Corinthian. It is the story of a young woman, Penelope Creed, who cuts her hair, pretends to be a boy, and runs away to avoid marrying her loathsome cousin. As she makes her escape out of an upper window, she is discovered by a drunk Sir Richard Wyndham, also begrudging his own betrothal. Richard cannot let Penelope travel alone, so he designates himself as his protector.
This story was far better than the previous Heyer book I read. It is more complex, and the main characters are more likable. I enjoyed reading as Penelope comes up with the pair's ideas for travel and plans, while I also enjoyed Richard’s predicaments with family, thieves, and even murder. More like an Austen novel, The Corinthians played out more than one story, adding complexity to the book. Still, it was short of the Austen paragon but was enjoyable to read.
I did listen to this book, which is a different experience. The narrator did a wonderful job of voicing the different characters and adding emphasis and tone to the tension. I especially liked the voice of Penelope/Penn. Something about the witty, sharp naivety in her voice made the character more believable.
3.75/5 Stars
AVALON BY ANYA SETON
Although I appreciated the lightness of Heyer’s regency novels and the youthfulness of L’Engle and Burnett, I craved a new historical fiction read. I greatly enjoyed Katherine by Anya Seton and decided to seek out some of her other books. After some searching, I decided to try Avalon. A tale of a French prince named Rumin searching for Avalon and meeting a lonely girl, Merewyn, a supposed descendant of King Arthur. Their journey would take them to the English court and the far reaches of Iceland and Greenland.
The story mainly follows Rumin and Merewyn, and there are many problems and love affairs. The story contrasts the lives of powerful royalty, poor peasants, Viking warriors, and noble knights. The history of the England court, the squabbles in Iceland, and the daring exploration of Greenland was gripping. I learned a great deal about Viking life, primarily through the eyes of the women. Well written and with excellent character development, I could not put the book down—a wonderful fix to my need for historical fiction.
There was one point where I thought the story felt a bit disjointed. The story seemed to trail off with Merewyn in Iceland and then follows her to the desolation of Greenland. It did all finally come together, but it took several pages for me to see the connection. In the end, I liked the focus on Merewyn more than Rumin. She had a more riveting story to tell, and I am glad Seton focused on her more toward the end of the book.
4.25/5 Stars
THE BULLY PULPIT: THEODORE ROOSEVELT, WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF JOURNALISM BY DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN
After attempting to read a William Howard Taft biography, I found it too short and focused only on his presidency. I greatly enjoyed Team of Rivals, Goodwin’s highly acclaimed book about Lincoln and his formidable cabinet, so The Bully Pulpit seemed a natural choice to fill in the gaps. It's not a typical presidential biography, but it's a much better read than my first choice and by the reviews of Henry Pringle’s biography from 1939. Beyond the history of Roosevelt and Taft, Goodwin delves into the history of the press and the rise of ‘muckraking’ journalism.
The book was long but quite enjoyable. While following an accurate timeline, the back-and-forth between the two men and McClure Magazine was easy to follow and gave a clear understanding of what was happening at the time. I found the ideas pouring out of Roosevelt's administration eerily relevant today. Ideas of a New Nationalism, the rise of demagoguery, politicians holding branches of the government hostage, and the overreach of large corporations appear resurrected in the 21st century, over a hundred later. Some parts of this knowledge helped me understand how the US came to the position and society it is today while also causing frustration. It was discomforting to know that some political policies we are hearing about in 2025 are referencing ideas from over a century ago!
I was incredibly inspired by McClure and the team of writers he manages to bring together. The perfect combination of inspiring minds while also giving the flexibility of a supervisor to rest and research was remarkable. I imagined the likes of Ray Standard Baker, Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, William Allen White, and Howard Phillips as a five-person wrecking crew with an established understanding of business and industry. They opened the public's eyes to great industrial titans and many businesses to such a scale that measures, investigations, and laws were introduced and still affect businesses today. It would be like having a segment like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver pulling wool out of the eyes of the public about Tesla, Google, Exxon, Pharmaceutical companies, and Wall Street. It’s not exactly like that, but it's close. Instead of one person once a week, each issue was a timely written, well-researched, in-depth expose delivered in a series so the public could better digest the information.
I grew to better understand the origin of Roosevelt and Taft's friendship and the broken relationship that culminated in the 1912 presidential election, in which both men ran against each other. The rise of each man and how they filled the office of the president was a well-balanced and enjoyable read. I had already read Edmund Morris’ trio of books about Roosevelt and had a good grasp of his personality, policies, and beliefs. With Taft, my knowledge grew considerably; however, what was missing was a history of his time as Chief Supreme Court Justice—his most sought-after position.
The Bully Pulpit is the second Goodwin book I have read, and her writing style is quite brilliant. Well-researched and artfully woven together, Goodwin masterfully brings people’s stories to life. She is one of the best biographers of my time, and I look forward to reading another of her exceptional books.
5/5 Stars