Colorways by Vicki Welsh

I didn’t get as much reading time in May because of my vacation week. I wanted to focus my time on family and not do my usual book escape. But it was till a pretty good book month. Even the “bad” books were good but my two favorites were The Whalebone Theater and Where The Lost Wander.

DNF
Nash Falls by David Baldacci – disliked the main character and the first chapter scene

What were your favorite books of May?

Usually I shy away from celebrity book club recommendations but, fortunately, I didn’t notice the recommendation on this one until I had finished it. I’m glad, I might have missed it.

This is family saga and WWII story all in one beautifully written book. Cristabel Seagrave never knew her mother and her father never got over the mother’s death. He did remarry with the object of producing a male heir. He produced only another daughter, Flossie, before his own death. Flossie’s mother eventually marries her husband’s brother and, thus, a beloved heir is born, Digby. It’s an amazingly dysfunctional home and the 3 children rely on each other for support, friendship and adventure. They raise each other and find a love for theater. When a whale washes ashore, Cristabel has plans for the large rib bones and enlists the help of everyone to bring her plan to fruition.

The first part of the book is about their childhood and family life at Chilcombe manor. The second part brings on WWII. Flossie finds her strength and purpose managing things at home and joining the Women’s Land Army. Cristable and Digby find themselves dispatched to different parts of France doing dangerous work with the resistance. It ends with the siblings finding their purposes after the war.

It’s a long one but really enjoyable. I was very invested in these characters and the book was engrossing enough that I dreamed about it a couple of nights.

This book is very close to being a Hallmark movie script. It starts off very interesting and sort of shocking. Honor and Tom are in Paris for Christmas with their daughter, Chloe. There’s a lot of tension between Honor and Tom over Honor’s obsession with having another baby through surrogacy using donor eggs. They have an argument and tragedy happens before they can make up.

From there it quickly turns all Hallmark. The surrogacy is successful and their son, Henry is born. The donor is supposed to be anonymous but a clerical error exposes her. Anyone can easily guess how the book goes from here. I read the whole thing but I didn’t love it. I knew exactly what was going to happen.

I’m trying to read a few classics this year and this is one of my choices. This book won the Nobel Prize for Literature and a bunch of other awards. It’s really very well written and is an interesting story but it’s not necessarily one that you can’t put down.

Stevens is the butler at Darlington Hall and has been in service there for 30 years. At the opening of the book he’s about to set off on a car ride to visit someone who used to work at Darlington Hall years earlier.

The trip becomes a time to reflect on his life assess whether he has served the families of Darlington Hall well. His service period overlaps the second World War so Darlington Hall had a lot of powerful people visiting over the years.

It was a good book and I really felt like I was listening to a genuine English butler. That said, I doubt if it’s one that will stick with me.

Our drive to the beach is about 3 and a half hours. Mom and I were in one car and we like to listen to a book while we ride. Or, I like to listen to a book and she goes along. I wanted a short book and found this Audible Original to try.

Osmond Box is a reclusive Broadway writer and director and is very successful. His opening night shows are always sold out and highly anticipated. The Guilty is his 7th and no one knows anything about it, not even the actors involved. On opening night the lucky first attendees arrive to have their phones taken and the doors locked after them. Everyone else awaits the reviews.

Two hours later the doors open. Some of the audience is applauding and some are horrified. What was real and what was acting?

It was a clever story and was basically a play in audio format. There are lots of diversions to keep you guessing right up to the end.

For the ride home I selected this book. I love podcasts and true crime entertainment. This book is both of those things and was about 3 hours, perfect for the ride home.

Paige Barrett has recently lost her job as a journalist in New York City and is living in her sister’s guesthouse and waitressing at her brother-in-laws restaurant. She’s trying to get a new start and her sister encourages her to start a podcast. She has the perfect subject idea.

Jessica Cady was a beloved teacher when both girls were in high school. She died in an auto “accident” 20 years ago and the mystery surrounding her death was never solved. Jessica’s sister encourages her to start a postcast to look at the case.

It’s a novella so everything moves very quickly and it was easy to follow. The mystery was interesting and the ending a little bit of a surprise.

This is the second book that I’ve read by Amy Harmon. The Songbook of Benny Lament was the first and I loved both of them. Harmon draws you in to her characters and the atmosphere.

This book is historical fiction about the wagon trains of the Overland Trail. The year is 1853 Naomi May is 20 and already a widow. She had her family set off for a new life in the West. John Lowry (based on one of Harmon’s husband’s ancestors) is half-Pawnee and has left Missouri with mules to breed and trade out West. He has been raised by his white father and step-mother but doesn’t know which world he belongs in.

The book follows the difficult life of traveling on the wagon trail as John and Naomi are drawn to each other. John’s connections to the Indian tribes help along the way to gain safe passage. But just when they feel the end is in sight tragedy strikes . John and Naomi have to try to find each other and to come back from grief.

It’s a story about the Overland Trail but also a love story. You really get attached to Naomi and John. I look forward to my next Amy Harmon book.