It has been a fairly good month for books and reading. Nothing as outstanding as Presumed Guilty that I reviewed last month (February Books). Still a couple were worth my reading time, but one was wall banged. I haven’t read as much since Daylight Saving Time has stolen an hour from me in the mornings, but I am slowly getting through the books I’ve borrowed from the library. It has taken weeks to read just 4 books, and I am still working on the fifth one. As usual, I have linked to Amazon so you can read more about the story synopsis if you wish. Here are this month’s offerings –

Memories of the Lost by Barbara O’Neal – I’ve read a few of this author’s books and liked them, so when this one showed up on the new releases shelf at the library, I nabbed it. The story involves an artist who is grieving the loss of her mother, and makes a shocking discovery in her papers. She sees a painting in a gallery that triggers something, is it a memory or something else? It was interesting enough to finish in just a couple of days, but some of the characters are not as well developed as in O’Neal’s other novels. Three Stars.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout – Wallbanged on page 124. I don’t get how this book is a Pulitzer Prize winner. Perhaps it is in the structure of the novel as a series of essentially short stories about people that know Olive Kitteridge. Her gruff demeanor was somewhat entertaining in the beginning, but the story just rambles on and on first about one person, then the next, with no connections between them. It seemed disjointed and haphazard. I completely lost interest when the emergency room at the local hospital is taken over by gunmen looking for drugs. The next chapter starts with yet another character’s backstory, and I thought to myself, that’s enough, I was just too bored to continue. There are too many good books to waste any more of my precious reading time on this one. Some people must have liked it, but it was not my cup of tea.

The Story Collector by Evie Woods – A dual timeline book where a woman getting a divorce decides to fly to Ireland rather than get on the plane for Christmas with her parents. A hundred years earlier, a farm girl named Anna helps an American visitor find stories of fairies for his history book of folklore. When modern day Sarah finds Anna’s diary with an enchanting story but an abrupt ending, she sets out to find out what happened. Easy reading, with just a touch of magic.

The Bookbinder by Pip Williams – A stand-alone story in the same book bindery as her previous novel, the Dictionary of Lost Words, with some crossover characters. The story centers around two twins, Peggy and Maude, who both work at the bindery, one with aspirations and a hunger for learning, and one with mental challenges. The time period of World War I means much hardship for the twins, but opportunity comes when one is recruited to help in the hospital where foreign soldiers are being treated for horrific wounds. Peg meets a privileged woman who encourages her to look above her lot in life, but her love for a Belgian soldier is a complication. With its slow moving storyline, this novel is character driven, and the story didn’t knock me over as much as the first one. At well over 400 pages, it could have been edited to 100 pages shorter without losing any of the story. I got a little bored 2/3 of the way through. Three stars.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles – written and illustrated by Amy Tan – Excerpts from the author’s diaries covering a five year period, all on the subject of the birds she sees in her backyard. This is a perfect snack read book, to be picked up and put down over weeks and months. It is really not the kind of book you’ll want to sit and read from cover to cover, but it is the perfect bedside book for a page or two before going to sleep. She tells of the bird behaviors she witnesses, the tragedy of some, the triumph of others, mating and nesting. She speaks of sighting someone new, then not being able to get a camera quick enough, something I have experienced many times. Her expertly drawn illustrations are lovely, sometimes with funny notes, and sometimes more sober observations. For the bird watcher, this is a keeper. I got my copy to read from the library, but I will have to buy one to keep and savor for time to come.

What are you reading?