August Mid-Month Wrap Up

I've actually only finished 2 books so far this month, but I feel like I haven't posted much this week, so I'll go ahead and talk about those two books. Also, if I magically finish 6 books in the next two weeks, it will be less to have to discuss later.

Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address by Stephen Birmingham - This was super interesting to me, even though I've never been to New York City. I think these old fancy buildings are fascinating. So much thought went into designing it. Now, almost 140 years later, the interior has been reorganized so much that it doesn't make a lot of sense, but the apartments are still prime real estate. This book was written in the late 70s so a lot has happened since it was published. John Lennon was shot right in front of the building. I did a little investigating about the current state of the Dakota. Yoko Ono sold her apartment there several years ago, but it still houses Bono and mystery writer Harlan Coben. Prospective residents have to be approved by the co-op board after turning over their tax records and financial statements. I find it entertaining that Maury Pauvich was approved, but Madonna, Cher, Billy Joel, and Carly Simon were rejected.

The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey - Alrighty. There is a lot going on in this book. Perveen Mistry is recently returned to Bombay from Oxford where the went to law school. It's the 1920s, and she is the first female to have passed the bar exam in India. When she was younger, she fell in love with a man and got married. He moved her into his family's home in Calcutta where she was trying to adjust to his parents' traditional religious practices. One of said practices is that she has to spend 8 days every month locked in an airless, stinking room with no access to hygiene products or water. This seriously messed with her mental health. When she went to her husband's office to confront him about the fact that his family asked her parents to pay for a new building for their business she found him and his friends with a prostitute. Then her husband hit her and caused some pretty hideous injuries. She immediately got on a train and went home. Oh! He also gave her gonorrhea. Now she's back and her first case is a group of women whose shared husband recently died and she thinks their estate manager is trying to swindle them out of their money. She is the only person who can explain their rights to them because they re sequestered from all contact with men who are not their husband. When the estate manager is brutally murdered, she gets involved with trying to represent her client and keep from being eliminated herself. The scenes with her husband were really hard to read. They were very frustrating and scary. But once she got away from him, it was much easier to read.

There you have it. Everything I've read so far. I'm working on 3 more books right now, so you'll hear about those later.