Reading Report: Early July

Posted on 07/03/2021 by chick
  • I finished reading Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. Maisie Dobbs is a private investigator who has just gone into business for herself in London in the late 1920s, a time at which World War I is nearly ten years past but not even close to forgotten. Maisie has a personal code of ethics that takes into consideration the well-being of the people she investigates. Though she is desperate for work, that code of ethics nearly prevents her from taking a case in which a husband suspects his wife of infidelity. Assured that the wife will be treated kindly no matter the results of the investigation, she decides to take the case. That case leads her to another that strikes at the heart of who Maisie Dobbs is. As I mentioned previously, I liked Maisie’s style, but I was disappointed by the novel’s structure, which introduced a mystery but then abandoned it in favor of an origin story. Having finished the novel, I’m still not 100% sold on the structure, but I can see how it was fitting. After all, the book is called Maisie Dobbs, so why shouldn’t it be about Maisie Dobbs? Something in her past left a mark on her, and the events of the mystery help her come to terms with it. So, if you don’t have your heart set on a riveting mystery (because it’s not), but you do enjoy Maisie’s character enough to read about her past, then it ends up being a successful story. I gave it an A- grade, and I will probably continue with the series.
  • Next, I started reading The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey. Set in 1920’s Bombay, the main character is Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s first woman solicitor. The novel throws us deep into the sea of India’s mixed cultures, with references to multiple languages, religions, customs, and laws. This could have been interesting, but it’s ultimately what sunk the novel for me. The author went out of her way to introduce things that would be unfamiliar to us and then described them in great, noticeable detail. This is what others readers seemed to like about the story (many of the positive reviews rave about the “cultural details”). To me, it was glaring, like a constant spotlight. I’d rather enjoy the scenery under normal lighting and occasionally lean in closer to see the details. This is something you learn as a tourist–if you focus on every interesting detail, you miss the whole. It’s possible that the book would have grown on me if I had continued reading, but I don’t have the time or the patience to give it right now. I am not the book’s ideal reader, and that’s OK. I will return it to the library unread.
  • Moving along, I am now reading The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. So far, the story is about a travel writer who is given free tickets for a luxury cruise so that she can write a magazine article about it. Some reviewers mention that they found the main character to be unlikable. I haven’t read enough of the book to have formed an opinion about her yet. Since I seem to have a higher tolerance for unlikable characters than some readers do, I’m not worried, but I am prepared to abandon ship if the going gets too rough.
  • We are at just about the midpoint of the year, and my reading total stands at 21. This puts me on target to read about the same number of books that I read last year (41). I’m slightly disappointed with my progress. I had hoped that the two weekly screen-free nights would raise the number somewhat.
This entry was posted in Reading. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.