The Secret War of Julia Child - Diana R. Chambers

April's Book Club choice left me completely cold. The writing was awful, just amateurish and poorly done. It read like something written by a person who has never read a book in their life. The story itself is heavily fictionalized and full of over the top "action scenes" and silly romance nonsense that I imagine is supposed to build some kind of "will they/won't they" tension but is just tiresome. I suspect everyone else in the Book Club will love it though (I hope I'm wrong). I can't recommend this one. 

The Case of the Missing Maid - Rob Osler

What an utterly charming mystery! I really enjoyed this book, coincidentally a mystery set in the 1890s. This time our plucky detective is Harriet Morrow, a character I definitely want to read more about. The book cover says "Harriet Morrow Investigates" so I am hoping this is the beginning of a series, and if so I will happily read all the books. Highly recommended. 

HOWEVER, I do wish the authors of books set in this time period would learn a little more about phonographs, gramophones, cylinders, 78 rpm records, etc. (The previous Book Box book was guilty of this too, I'm not picking on this author). For one thing, volume control was not a thing in this era. In fact, the origin of the expression "put a sock in it" is dampening the sound on a gramophone by cramming something (possibly a sock) into the horn to make the sound softer. Also, recordings in this era were short, and records were generally 1 song long - there were no such things as "albums" where a recording would play for more than, say, about 3 minutes. SOURCE: I own a gramophone from the early 20th century :) Again, I am not picking on this author at all, I loved the book, it's just some extra detail for accuracy :) 

This Is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This sci-fi book was deceptively short but it has left me thinking. At first I wasn't sure what to make of the premise, but it didn't take me long to get into the story and I was turning pages at quite a clip to see how things turned out. Looking forward to the Book Club discussion on this one. 

Misery Hates Company - Elizabeth Hobbs

This was a charming mystery story. The story is set in 1894, a time period I enjoy learning and reading about, and I think there were a few things that were anachronisms, but it didn't ruin my enjoyment or anything. I liked the main character, who I think embodies the term "plucky." I will say that I thought it took a little bit longer than it needed to to solve the mystery, but on the other hand maybe I was just impatient to see the solution. This book was published in 2025, and the cover states "A Marigold Manners Mystery" so I imagine this will become a series, and I would definitely read the other books in this series. 

Kantika -- Elizabeth Graver

How have I lived this long without ever hearing about the Ladino language? I really enjoyed this well written, semi-biographical family story. The author has a way of letting us in on the characters' motivations without falling back on "telling" as so many books do these days. Recommended. 

A Great Country - Shilpi Somaya Gowda

A good choice for February's Book Club book. I enjoyed this novel despite its frustrating elements - to be clear, they were frustrating because in the year 2025 we are still dealing with childish ignorance and bigotry and etc. It's funny because as an Official Old TM, I identified with the parents and understood their actions and reactions better, although I am not an immigrant, while at the same time I felt for the younger generation as their struggles and challenges (and how they dealt with them) was relatable. 

This Strange Eventful History - Claire Messud

This book would be accurately described as a "sprawling family saga" and I enjoyed it. At times it got a bit wordy and it could have been shorter, but I loved the structure of the book and enjoyed seeing how things played out. 

The Dance Tree - Kiran Millwood Hargrave

I enjoyed this book, a work of historical fiction based on true events - which of course makes me want to research them, as they are fascinating! I really liked the main characters, even when they were frustrating - and disliked the villain(s), of course. Will we ever stop bigotry and hate? I don't know but I know I will keep reading and keep hoping.