Elizabeth II; Lady Clementine; Where the Crawdads Sing

 

First up, an interesting biography of the last Queen Elizabeth II. I thought Hardman did a nice job of hitting the high (and low) points in her very long life and reign, and while most of it was already known to me, he had some interesting revelations about Prince Harry and his marriage. 

Elizabeth took the throne at the young age of 25 when her father, King George VI, died from complications from cancer. King George was never meant to be king, and Elizabeth was never meant to be queen. King Edward VIII, George's older brother, abdicated his throne to marry the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson. George (or Bertie, as he was known) wept when he heard he would have to take the throne he never wanted, but he did an amazing job holding the country together during WWII. 

Elizabeth was brought up to "get on with it", as it were, and she did, for over 70 years, becoming Britain's longest reigning monarch. 

I am currently reading a giant brick of a biography on Winston Churchill, so this was a nice companion piece, as it were. 

Winston Churchill married Clementine (pronounced "Clem-in-teen" in England, not "Clem-in-tine" like we do in the U.S.), a really smart move on his part. Clementine was instrumental in his career, giving him sound advice, taking care of him, ensuring that he remained safe when he wanted to do dangerous things. They went through the Great War together, through Winston's fall from grace to his triumphant return to public life and resident of 10 Downing Street as the Prime Minister. I'm not sure how much of Benedict's book is fiction (I guess I'll find out if I ever finish the bio of her husband) but it sounds like Clementine did a lot to improve conditions in war torn London during WWII. It was an inspiring tale of the woman behind the powerful man. 

I put off reading "Where the Crawdads Sing" for a few years now, because 9 times out of 10 when a book is that popular, I've been disappointed by the hype and it doesn't live up to it. 

This book was the exception. To everyone over the last few years who recommended it and I dismissed it with a bit of a sneer (I admit it, I was being a book snob), I deeply apologize. It was everything promised and then some. 

Kaya is just six years old when her mom leaves their rundown shack in the marshes of North Carolina and doesn't look back. Her older siblings scatter, fleeing from their abusive and alcoholic father, including her brother Jody, who was the next closest to her in age. Kaya quickly has to become the woman of the house, learning how to cook and clean and buy groceries in town from the money Pa leaves her. 

There is a brief interlude of hope where Pa takes her out fishing on his boat and into town for lunch one day, but that hope is dashed when Pa returns to drinking and finally abandons Kaya for good, just like everyone else has. 

Kaya has to learn to fend for herself in the swamplands, digging up oysters and mussels and selling smoked fish to Jumpin', a kind Black man who runs a small shop and sells gas. Jumpin' and his wife, Mabel, realize Kaya is on her own and do what they can to help her out with donations from their church of clothes and supplies. Kaya attends school for exactly one day, then leaves, determined never to go back after being subjected to the ridicule of the other children, who call her "Marsh Girl". She becomes something of an urban legend, half-human half-wolf, the missing link, a feral, dangerous child. When in reality she was just a very lonely, sad little girl trying to survive. Her loneliness oozed through every heartbreaking word. 

One of Jody's friends, Tate, tentatively befriends her, careful not to scare her away, by leaving her offerings of feathers and other things he finds in the marsh. Kaya reciprocates and eventually feels comfortable enough to talk to Tate. He teaches her to read and promises her he'll come back when he leaves for college. 

He doesn't, though, and once again Kaya is burned by another human and vows not to let anyone get that close to her again. 

I don't want to say too much more and give anything else away for the five or six people on the planet who haven't read it yet, but suffice it to say it was incredible and made me laugh and cry, sometimes at once. So moving and so powerful. What a story. 

Heads in Beds

 

I wanted to read this when it first came out but it was really popular and had long waiting lists, so I waited and forgot all about it until recently. 

Jacob Tomsky (not his real name) worked in hospitality, first in New Orleans and then in New York. He dishes all the dirt on how to get upgrades and comps (money, basically. Slip the front desk person a twenty and ask what they can do for you). He talked about how the bellmen (bell people?) compete since a lot of people decline help getting to their room. I've never stayed anywhere fancy enough to offer a bell person, the hotels I visit just offer a luggage cart that you can use and bring back, so there's that. I guess if I ever get financially flush enough to stay somewhere fancy, I'll make sure to tip the bell person!

I have cousins who work in hospitality, and some of their stories are wild, so this was fun to read and hear about similar experiences. 

The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives

This one was really fun!

Beverly, Eloise, and Margot are an unlikely group of friends. But they have one thing in common: their husbands are serial killers. The women have bonded over their misfortune. The year is 1966, and most people don't believe that they really didn't know what their husbands were up to until they were caught. But looking back, they realized there were signs. And now another killer is on the loose. 

The police of course don't believe three housewives, so they decide to investigate on their own and prevent any more young women from being brutally murdered. 

There were a lot of red herrings that I didn't fall for AND I figured out who the killer was well before the ladies in the book did, so I felt pretty proud of myself. 
 

This Son of York

I enjoyed this fictionalized account of good King Richard III. Smith did a lovely job of bringing Richard and his world to life.

Richard is the fourth and youngest son of Richard, Duke of York. The War of the Roses (or the Cousins' War) started when Richard, who had a much better claim to the throne than King Henry VI, was named Henry's heir, despite Henry having a son of his own. Henry was a very weak and ineffectual king who suffered periods of confusion. England needed a strong ruler, and Richard really was the better choice. Naturally war ensued between the Yorks and the Lancasters. The Duke was killed, along with his second son, Edmund, but his oldest son, Edward, claimed the throne and became king. There was some back and forth, but Edward ruled until his untimely death, and that's when things got really sticky. 

George, Duke of Clarence, the third son, had been put to death for treason and his son was barred from the line of succession. Edward had two sons: Edward and Richard, and he named his youngest brother, Richard, protector of the realm. When Richard gets to London, he's met with a bishop who has a shocking tale: Edward was precontracted in marriage before he married Elizabeth Woodville, therefore his two sons are bastards and cannot inherit the throne. The only one left to be king? Richard himself. 

I truly believe Richard did not want the throne. Contemporary reports at the time (at least the ones that the Tudors didn't destroy in their attempt to rewrite history) talked about his agony over it. He did, reluctantly, agree that he was the right person and was crowned king. 

He was a good king. He was beset by tragedy (his son and wife both died while he was king). He was always being challenged and stabbed in the back by people he trusted. And then he met his terrible, unjust fate at Bosworth Field and England's last warrior king was brutally slain by the forces working with the usurper, Henry Tudor. 

Was Richard perfect? No, of course not. Was he as evil as history remembers? Absolutely not. I'm so grateful for the hard work the Ricardian Society has done over the years to right the wrongs of the last 500 years and restore his reputation.  
 

The Museum of Unusual Occurrence

Ever since her father's death, Aly has run his museum full of spiritual oddities. Her mother moved to Tampa and left Aly with her younger sister, Merope (or Merry, as she's called). 

Aly finds a dead women in the museum who's arranged in a strange way. The tableau earns the nickname of the "Snow White Murder" because the victim was poisoned (she was found holding a vial), had long black hair, and her fingertips were all poked and bleeding. 

The tragedy does bring out the macabre sight seekers, and while Aly is glad for the business she's also worried about Merry and how the tragedy is affecting the high school senior. She feels obligated to help the police solve the crime and get justice for Rose. 

The solution to the murder wasn't entirely satisfying (and not something readers would have been able to figure out--all the clues were red herrings) but I liked the characters and the story was engaging.  
 

One Summer: America, 1927; Red Sheet

Bill Bryson is always great. His nonfiction is so engaging and funny. I really enjoyed "One Summer: America, 1927". 

Quite a lot happened in 1927 in a short period of time. Charles Lindbergh made the first successful solo airplane journey from New York to Paris alone in a plane that no one thought would make it. "Lucky Lindy" became an overnight mega-celebrity. Like the Beatles were thirty some years later. 

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig both had record breaking seasons with the Yankees. Ruth became the first batter to hit 60 homeruns in a season, a record that stood for decades. 

Ford stopped making the Model T and didn't have the Model A ready to go yet, so production shut down for months while they worked on that. Ford fell behind the other car manufacturers. This era also ushered in the idea of new models every year, which car manufacturers still do to this day. 

Talking motion pictures took off with "The Jazz Singer". Calvin Coolidge announced he wasn't running for reelection, paving the way for Herbert Hoover. Work began on Mount Rushmore (which was named after one of its major financial backers). Jack Dempsey was on top of the boxing world, which was becoming a popular sport. More people attended the Jack Willard vs. Jack Dempsey match than attended any Yankees' game. Capone was making money hand over first due to Prohibition. The Stock Market was riding high but a group of four international bankers who met in secret that summer made a fatal decision on interest rates that led to the Great Depression. 

All in all there was a lot going on, a lot that changed America forever, and Bryson did a great job summing it all up. 

And the latest from the incomparable James Ellroy. I adore this man. He is such a talented author and this book was fantastic. 

Freddy Otash is still on special assignment, working with the LAPD, mostly the notorious Hat Squad (four detectives from Robbery and Homicide who are rather poorly regarded now that we know the illegal tactics they used to get confessions out of people). Freddy and the Hats are working with Deputy Chief Daryl Gates, who is in charge while Chief Bill Parker is taking "the cure" in the basement of a local Chinese food restaurant. 

Freddy finds himself tangled up with some pretty violent Communists. He also falls in love with a lounge act singer, Judy. It was loads of fun and I wish I could replicate his slang. He's so good at it. 

The only complaint I had is the cover. What the heck is this? So weird.   

 

I See You've Called In Dead

 

This book was surprising. I was expecting a black comedy and instead it was really quite moving and very deep. 

Bud is an obituary writer living in New York. His life kind of sucks. He's been divorced for a few years and he doesn't really have any friends other than his landlord, Tim. One night Bud gets home from a disastrous blind date (the woman brought her ex-boyfriend along to explain they were getting back together. Yikes. I thought the blind dates I've been on were bad). Bud goes home and starts drinking and gets an email from his ex-wife letting him know her mother passed away. The email sends him into a bit of a tailspin, imagining what his own obituary will look like one day. 

So he writes it. He makes up a lot of fun, exciting things he did. And then he accidentally publishes it through his newspaper, sending it out to all the major publications throughout the country, who run it the next day. 

His boss isn't very happy. Apparently they can't fire someone who's technically, if not factually, dead, so they put him on suspension until they can get it straightened out. 

So Bud starts going to random strangers' wakes and funerals. Tim tries to help him realize how much he has to live for. One of his colleagues, Tuan, is even being friendly. Bud meets a woman, Clara, at a wake and she's spontaneous and whimsical and breathes fresh air into Bud's life.

Things are looking up when an unexpected, tragic death occurs. The book ended on a hopeful note, which was unexpected but welcomed. I enjoyed it, Kenney is a very good writer.