Bookish Nostalgia - May 2018

Welcome to Bookish Nostalgia for May 2018.  I've kept records of books I read for over 25 years and I enjoy looking back through my reading journals to see what I was reading 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago.  Let's see what I remember about what I was reading in those years:

May 1998 - The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett - I honestly don't remember a whole lot about this book, but do remember liking it.  It was written long before the author was involved in her Nashville bookstore and a few years before she wrote Bel Canto, which is the only other novel of Patchett's that I've read.  I do recall that this book was about the widow of a magician who had been his assistant for many years.  And she finds that there was a lot about him that she didn't know. 

May 2003 - Practically Seventeen by Rosamond du Jardin - This was the first book in the Tobey and Midge Heydon series that I read as a young teen.  I loved this series, which had 6 books and was originally written in the early 1950's, I believe.  I found that a small press, Image Cascade, had reprinted all this author's works along with several other authors from the same era.  Stories about teens and malt shops and dances and boyfriends - loved them.  They were available again in print and also as e-books.  And I enjoyed rereading the whole series.

 
May 2008 - On Beulah Height by Reginald Hill - This book is the 18th in the award-winning series featuring Superintendent Andy Dalziel and Sergeant Peter Pascoe.  It was one of the first books we read in our Mystery Book Group, which began in 2008.  We paired it with In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson.  Both books featured crimes that came to light when lakes or reservoirs were drained.  It still remains the only book I've read by Hill, but perhaps one day I'll change that.  It was an excellent mystery.

May 2013 - How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny - This is the 9th book in probably my favorite mystery series ever, ever, ever.  And it is a pivotal book.  Whatever you do, if you've not read Louise Penny's books - don't start with this one.  Begin at the beginning.  The title comes from a poem/song written by Leonard Cohen, 'Anthem'.  The verse goes:

Ring the bells that still can ring,

Forget your perfect offering,

There's a crack in everything,

That's how the light gets in.

The book is awesome.  The series is awesome.  The story and writing are awesome.  I love this author and I love her characters, flaws and all. 

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And so we end this month's Bookish Nostalgia.  Have you read any of these books or authors?  Hope you'll join me again next month to see what June books I remember from my journals.