Book Log 2021 #40: The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

A teenaged girl in 1950s Tehran finds refuge from the growing political turmoil in a stationery shop, falling in love with smells and sights of its pens, inks, and papers. The shopkeeper, sensing a kindrid spirit, introduces her to a boy with similar interests. The two fall in love and plan to get married.

But on the night they are supposed to meet in a town square, a coup is launched against the government. The girl manages to get to the square, but the boy never shows. What happened to him remains a mystery - until a chance encounter sixty years later gives her a chance to ask him where he went, and if he didn't show becuase of her, or something else?

The political unrest and coup are based on the actual 1953 coup (engineered by the US and UK) that toppled the elected government of Mohammed Mosaddegh due to concerns over communist leanings (fueled by his nationalization of the Iranian oil industry). For their trouble, the West got the increasingly repressive Shah of Iran and the 1979 Islamic revolution. So well done, CIA and MI6!

I don't remember much of anything about the actual story here, but it was probably fine. I did finish this book very quickly, so it was either so engrossing I couldn't put it down or it was easy enough to zip through. Maybe a bit of both?

 Book Log 2021 #39: An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P. D. James

Cordelia Grey is a young private investigator who find herself in charge of her own agency when her former boss kills himself and leaves the practice to her. While she's not sure if she can keep the place afloat, she decides to keep it open in memory of her mentor. Which turns out to be a good idea, as she soon gets her first client, the assistant to a prominent scientist whose son has recently killed himself. The assitant wants Grey to figure out why he would have done this.

And, as you might expect, as Grey investigates the death she becomes convinced that it was actually murder. And while someone is trying to scare her off the case, she's determined to find the killer.

Grey's inexperience and ambivalence in her profession made this a more enjoyable read for me than any of the Dalgliesh books, where I feel like he generally comes up with the solution out of nowhere. The progress of the investigation here was realistic for an investigator like Grey. I would definately suggest reading this book before any of the Dalgliesh ones (he does appear in this book, but you don't really need to know who he is).

 Book Log 2021 #37: The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry

A reading challenge I was doing had a Western as one of its requirements, and I thought I would read Lonesome Dove. But then I saw how long it was, and opted for this much shorter McMurtry work.  In hindsight, I should have sucked it up and gone with my original plan.

Like Lonesome Dove it's set in a rapidly taming American West, but in this case it follows Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp from Texas to Denver to Tombstone. It's not a typical Western in that it's more about the journey than the fight that waits at the end. I just didn't care that much about the journey as presented. I also didn't find it to be a humorous as some did (Joyce Carol Oates blurbed it as "comically subversive," which I didn't get at all). 

Maybe I just don't read enough Westerns to get this one.

 Book Log 2021 #37: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

This novel styled as a screenplay follows a man who, both in his real life and in his working life, plays what he calls Generic Asian Man, a background character who never gets to the the center of the story. But when he does get his turn in the spotlight, he learns things about himself and his family that change his perspective.

This is not a great synopsis, but I don't think this book lends itself to simple summarization. Between the inventive structure and fuzzy line between what's happening in real life and what's happening on screen, it really needs to be read rather than recapped. And I really recommend reading it.

 Book Log 2021 #36: For the Love of Europe by Rick Steves

Rick Steves has spent a lifetime traveling to Europe and sharing his tips and suggestions for visiting that continent. From his early Europe Through the Back Door travel guide he developed a multifaceted buiness that publishes a wide range of guidebooks, runs tours, and airs travel shows on PBS. 

This book collects 100 of his favorite stories and memories from his time in Europe. Unfortunately, if you watch his TV shows or listen to his radio show -I do both, and have for years - a lot of what's in this book is going to be familiar.  The writing is fine, and the format makes it easy to pick up and put down, it's just that you'll probably get more out of it the less familiar you are with the other corners of the Rick Steves media empire.

 Book Log 2021 #35: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

A young woman working as a lady's maid meets an older widower in Monte Carlo, and after a whirlwind courtship they get married. They return to his estate, Manderly, where the woman quickly learns that her husband's dead wife still exerts a strong pull over the estate and its housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.

The narrator tries to put her own stamp on Manderly and assert herself as the new mistress of the house, but finds herself increasingly isolated by others' memories of Rebecca and Mrs. Danvers' manipulative nature. When things seem to be coming to a head between the narrator and Mrs. Danvers, a discovery is made that changes everything.

This novel quickly became a gothic classic and one of the most popular books of the 20th century. Its been adapted several times for film, TV, and other media. For what it's worth, I liked the book but wouldn't think of it as my favorite or most memorable book. 

 Book Log 2021 #34: The Heretic's Apprentice by Ellis Peters

A local man once accused of holding heretical views dies during a pilgrimage, and is returned to Shrewsbury by his attendant, who was tasked with finding his master a burial site on the abbey grounds. That task grows more difficult when the attendant is also accused of heresy by a fellow servant, who fears losing his place in the household. When it becomes clear that's not an issue, the servant goes to recant his charges - but winds up dead.

Once again, it's up to Cadfael to help find the killer and prove the attendant's innocence. He is of less help against the heresy charges, which are pursued by a visiting canon. 

I liked that there was a heresy subplot to augment the usual murder mystery, it's not a topic that's come up much (or at all) in the series. It gives an extra insight into religious life and practice at the time, one that we don't often consider in the current day. Seriously, when was the last time you heard of someone charged with heresy?

 Book Log 2021 #33: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

The title of this memoir by the comedian and host of The Daily Show is literal, in that Noah was the product of a relationship between a white man and Black woman, which was illegal in South Africa at the time. From that beginning, Noah recounts the challenges of growing up in that environment, largely without a father, and with the feeling of not fitting in anywhere due to being mixed race.

But with those challenges is a large amount of humor, recounting stories of high school, dating woes, his extended family, and how he discovered that he had the talent to move beyond his circumstances. 

I really enjoyed this book, as your average comedian's memoir is often too busy trying to be funny to tell you anything about the person. I felt like the book gave me a much better idea of who Noah is as a person and a comedian, and got to laught a bit along the way. It's a quick and entertaining read.