Tag: canada

Looking for You by Alexander McCall Smith (Literary Fiction)

I’m loving this new McCall Smith series about the Perfect Passion Company — an old fashioned matchmaking service based in Edinburgh. This is book number two. On the surface, it is a story about a variety of characters and how the matchmaker — Katie — works to find the perfect match for them. But as with all McCall Smith books, it’s teeming with hidden depth as it explores life, love, and the pursuit of happiness (liberty isn’t really an issue here).

The writing is lovely — McCall Smith never condescends and he can make the most exquisite sentence out of utter mundanity. I couldn’t exactly explain why, but he is the only male writer whose female characters I absolutely love. He explores individuals, relationships, and various social and cultural milieus with a process that seems to incorporate detailed observation, in-depth reflection, multi-faceted synthesis with an output of clear and tender explanatory prose. He has written over 40 books and still manages to include “musings” that either teach me more or brings me fresh insight. What appear to most to be light and accessible novels, are for me books of rich meaning.

In this episode, the relationships barriers explored include missed opportunities, poor timing, external expectations, and reevaluation of one’s own criteria. So many different forms of love, so many different people trying to understand their own relationship to happiness. As always, we are treated to many interesting asides on poetry, music, art, and other intellectually spicy aspects of life.

Some Quotes:

“She cherished this too, the place in which she lived and worked, and the land beyond its bounds, because love spilled over from one person, one object, to embrace so much else. Love spread.”

“This is an achingly, beautiful city, he thought, and I fall more in love with it every single day. I still love, Melbourne, of course, but the heart is large enough, has enough chambers, to allow for more than one love. Not everybody knew that, he said to himself, but he did.”

“What a strange, frustrating, mysterious thing was love. In a world in which there would never be enough of everything, in which not all desires could be met, love was rationed, just as happiness was. Some were perfectly happy with the share they were allocated; others felt they got too little And then there were some who failed to grasp a fundamental truth about the way love worked, which was that you got back roughly the amount you put in. That was so basic that you would think that everybody would understand it, But they did not, for some reason, and had to learn the lesson — if they ever learned it — the hard way.”

Thank you to Vintage and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on February 11th, 2025.

A World of Curiosities by Louis Penny (Literary Mystery)

Number 18 in the extremely (and understandably) popular Inspector Gamache from Louise Penny. An absolute page turner; I read it in just a couple of sittings (was preparing to host a party — had to take some breaks to cook and clean!).

In addition to the actual who-done-it or who-is-about-to-do-it plot line, I found it full of scenarios that triggered thought about when to trust your instincts and how even well-trained professionals can be subject to bias and manipulation. Also — despite Gamache’s overwhelming kindness and ability to see potential in people who have been tossed aside by the rest of humanity — the book appears to admit to some people being beyond redemption, broken to the point of no return, even hinting at some genetic predisposition to “badness.”

As always, the book is full of interesting arcana — literary references, historical notes, and art commentary, including a full description of an enormous (and unfortunately fictional as I would love to see it) painting called “A World of Curiosities.”

I can definitely pick a few holes of the “why wouldn’t he have thought of that” variety, but why bother? Completely gripping.

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache series — the 14th)

Writing: 4.5/5 Plot: 4/5 Characters: 4.5/5 Overall reading pleasure: 5/5

I’m (very, very) happy to say that this latest Inspector Gamache mystery is back to the high standards of the first 12. I thought the last book — Glass Houses — was incredibly disappointing.

This installment merges two stories: Gamache, Myrna, and a Dr. Seussian builder named Benedict are named as liquidators (think executors) of Bertha Baumgartner’s estate — a woman none of them knows. The will is odd, to say the least, and the almost immediate murder of one of the beneficiaries adds some definite tension! At the same time, a temporarily suspended Gamache is desperately trying to track down the last bit of carfentanil that he had to let slip in order to bust the drug ring in the last book. Carfentanil is 100 times more potent than Fentanyl, itself 100 times more potent than Heroin.

This is not your typical mystery series — it’s character driven but they aren’t just any characters. They are the idealized versions of the people you wish would populate your life. None of them are average or really have any annoying faults at all (though some do pretend). They are smart, capable, witty, loving, interesting, and always do and say the exact right things at the right time. In these books, kindness, friendship, love, and hope manage to take on the grit and grime of crime on a massive scale and actually win. Sure, it’s just a fairy tale … but such a nice one!

While I have a few issues with the plot, this is simply a book that is impossible to put down. The writing is succinct with great dialog and beautifully distilled principles, descriptions, and action. Character driven with lots of intriguing psychological and philosophical driving forces.

As an aside, Ruth, the longstanding and crotchety old poet, has been getting the credit for the acronym FINE (“F***ed Up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional”) — I just realized that the true credit goes to an Aerosmith song from 1989!

A few quotes I liked:
About a man with dementia: “For the last year or so of his life, he no longer recognized family and friends. He was kindly to all, but he beamed at some. They were the ones he loved. He knew them instinctively and kept them safe, not in his wounded head but in his heart”

“Things sometimes fell apart unexpectedly. It was not necessarily a reflection of how much they were valued.”

“Four statements lead to wisdom: I don’t know. I need help. I was wrong. I’m sorry.” (Gamache’s favorite — repeated in most of the books)

Poetry line: “Who hurt you once so far beyond repair / that you would greet each overture with curling lip.”