The May weather was good and I traveled part of the month, both of which cut back on my reading time. These are the books I finished in May:
Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde
This was a re-read. It's always hard to categorize Jasper Fforde's books. He is best known for his Thursday Next series in which people can actually jump into books and meet the characters (as long as they are backstage). Personally, I liked his Nursery Crime Series which features characters known from their appearance in nursery rhymes. (As an aside, I'm particularly bad at remembering nursery rhymes so I drove people crazy when I was reading the first book in the series. I would look up and say, for example, "Jack Spratt" and the people in the room would all look at me and start reciting the rhyme. Admit it, you're doing it in your head right now. I would then say, oh yes that's it, and go back to reading.) This particular book was published in 2009 and was intended to be the first of a three part trilogy. It, in fact, ends on a bit of a cliff hanger. Of all of his books this was my favorite, possibly because it was the most original and didn't rely on any knowledge of literature or nursery rhymes. This is a future dystopian novel but the dystopian event occurred so long ago that people just refer to it as the "Something That Happened" and no one can remember what it was. But it left a society that is ruled by a Colortocracy. Let me quote the flyleaf: "From the underground feedpipes that keep the municipal park green, to the healing hues viewed to cure illness, to a social hierarchy based upon one's limited color perception, society is dominated by color. In this world, you are what you can see." Most people can perceive only one color. The main character, Eddie Russett, has good Red perception and he wants to move up in society. He plays by the many, many rules of the society. For various reasons he and his father have relocated to a backwater village where he encounters, among others, a Grey girl named Jane who breaks all the rules and who opens his eyes to the fact that all is not what it seems. I enjoyed this book as much this time as the last time. However, the promised other two books in the trilogy never materialized ... until now. I re-read this in anticipation of the next book FINALLY being issued this month. FINALLY. Because as much as I like this first book, it spends most of its time on world-building and only in the last 20% of the book do we finally get to what will clearly be the crux of the story. This is a book for people who like complicated world building and clever writing. The plot evolves slowly so anyone plot oriented may find it a bit slow going. The character building is also slow building, but it is there. I ordered the new book as soon I found out about it. See below.
Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde
Per the end of the first book (see above) this was supposed to be called Shades of Grey 2: Painting by Numbers. But I guess in the fifteen (15!) years it took for him to write the sequel, he changed his mind. As a sequel this is very good - I don't think it would make as much sense if you hadn't read the first book. I can't really discuss the plot of the book without giving too much away, just know that Eddie and Jane continue to fight the color bureaucracy. While this book doesn't answer ALL the questions it answers a number of questions and at least doesn't end on a complete cliff hanger which is good to know in case it takes him another fifteen years to write the final book. I really enjoy this series and recommend it if you like complicated world building and clever writing.
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
A lot of people on line were recommending this thriller. In my youth I read a whole lot of Robert Ludlum so I'm generally not particularly surprised by twists in thrillers and that was true for this one. I figured out that the mysterious boss of the main character had to be one of two possible characters within the first third of the novel. The author didn't give enough facts until the end to let the reader figure out which one but I still wasn't surprised when it turned out to be one of those two. I thought this was a relatively slow read for a thriller. There were a lot of sections that went back into the main character's past to show past "adventures" she had that were supposed to tie into the ending and some of them did. But it really slowed the pace of the book for me. I also thought the secondary characters were somewhat undeveloped. This is a book meant for people who like page turners (even though I thought it was too slow), not people who want deep characters. There was no particular sense of place and the writing was fine but not anything special.
The Last Word by Elly Griffiths
This is a "standalone" novel in the Harbinder Kaur series that for some reason Elly Griffiths does not call a series. In fact, Harbinder is hardly in this novel, it is mostly populated by the amateur sleuths that helped Harbinder on another case. I generally like Elly Griffith's mysteries and I really like this group of characters: Natalka (her Ukranian heritage is a little more front and center this time with the war), Benedict the former monk and Edwin the 80-something year old retiree who loves mysteries. Here the mysteries involve deaths that all seem to be connected to a writing retreat. Griffiths has a bit of fun with people who want to write murder mysteries. On the whole, recommended.
The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz
Another in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series where Anthony Horowitz is a character in his own book. This one actually preceded the last one I read, but somehow I had missed it. This one involved a play that Horowitz (really) wrote and that (apparently really) didn't get great reviews. The murder is of the critic who panned it, which must have been a joy for him to write. I always enjoy these novels. The mysteries are fine, it's the style and tone of the writing that make me enjoy these novels.
She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions and Potential of Heredity by Carl Zimmer.
I've had this book since Christmas 2019, fully intending to read it in 2020. But then 2020 happened and, well ... you know. Zimmer is a columnist for the New York Times who writes about science. This book is about heredity - both scientifically and culturally. I am so glad I finally picked it up and read it. Zimmer writes about complicated subjects (like genetics and CRISPR) in a completely accessible way. In fact, since it is a few years old I found myself wanting an update to talk about discoveries in the last few years. I learned so much reading this. Be aware that it is long and dense, I read it 20-25 pages at a time over the course of a month. I found it was necessary to stop often and think about what I had read. I may, in fact, read it (or selected chapters) again in a few months.
Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay
Another of the British Library Crime Classics I inherited from my mom. This one takes place at a fictional women's college at Oxford (apparently based on St. Hilda's which the author attended). It had a little bit of a Nancy Drew feel with four undergraduates led by Sally investigating the crime. The Detective Inspector is remarkably patient with them. It is fairly light reading and doesn't hold a candle to, for instance, Dorothy Sayer's Gaudy Night which is also set at a women's college at Oxford.
