Friday Reads 7/26/2024

Oh wait, What? It's July 26? What happened to July? Oh right. I lost 2 weeks of it to Covid. Damn. Well, I'm at least glad we are halfway through summer. August is usually the worst, but since I cant move to Vermont for the summer, the only way to get to Autumn is to get through August. Sigh. I will stay inside and read.

I say that, but honestly, this week has been really nice. Temps in the low 90s. Can't really complain when we're getting this mild weather. I'm still staying inside to read.

What am I reading you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City by Kate Winkler Dawson - I don't remember why I put this on my TBR, but it's a strange mix of meteorological history and true crime. Over 3 days in December 1952, London was trapped in a yellow smog situation brought on by weather patterns and the excessive use of poor quality "coal" the government was pushing for heat. Most people still used coal burning fireplaces, but there was a coal shortage after WWII. The smog as so thick you couldn't hold your arm out and see your hand. Thousands of people died. Also, there was a guy. He had killed women before, but his activities in that area ramped up around this time. He even killed his wife of over 30 years. I'm not sure yet how these two things are linked other than that they occurred at the same time. I'm about halfway through. It's going pretty quickly.

I have a list of books I need to read for my various challenges. Which one will I choose? Well, fully half the books on my list are mysteries, so it would make sense to choose one of those so I don't end up at the end of the year reading all mysteries.

The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey - This one is at the top of the randomly assorted list. This is a historical mystery based on a real woman in 1920s India. She was the first female lawyer. In this story, she is the only one who can interview the widows of a wealthy man who have moved into a place where women are sort of sequestered away from men. They've given away their husbands' money and the lawyers think they were coerced. But since they live where they do, only a woman can interview them. I've been avoiding this one because it's in hardcover and those are a pain, but I will put on my big girl pants. It's not the only hardcover on the list, so I should get used to it.

That's all I've got for this week. August starts next week. WHAT? You'll be seeing my end-of-month posts very soon.