As The Page Turns: June Edition

A booknerd’s dream: book reviews!!! Am I right?  🙂

What I read in June:

The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro

Awful. Absolutely bloody awful.

Cavallaro’s first book, A Study in Charlotte was awesome. A unique twist on the teaming of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, now featuring their great-great-great-great grandchildren, Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson, who are 17 year-olds at a prestigious boarding school, solving mysteries and getting into trouble. The first book had me hooked and I was so looking forward to the second book in the series.

But alas… The Last of August was a hot mess from beginning to end, and I probably gave it an extra star more than it deserved on Goodreads. The writing was all over the place in this book, and nothing made sense and the author conveniently leaves important information out at crucial times and then tries to tie it all up with a convoluted bow at the end. At which point the book ends, and you are saying to yourself, “huh?”

Do not pass go. Do not read this book.

Mary Astor’s Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936 by Edward Sorel

This book was in the “New Releases” section and I decided what the heck, I know who Mary Astor is, let’s give it a read. And I am so glad I did. It was so interesting!

For those unfamiliar with her name, Mary Astor was an actress who got her start in silent films in the 1920’s and transitioned to the “talkies” and became a really great actress of the 1930’s and 1940’s. One of her best known films is The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart from 1941.

Well in 1936, the very married Mary Astor had an affair with a playwright names George Kaufman and kept a diary of all their exploits, in, ahem, graphic detail. When she decided to divorce her husband and sue for custody of their daughter, said husband stole Mary’s diary and blackmailed her with it unless she gave up custody. Mary took him to court and the press had a field day about Mary’s diary, some pages her husband leaked to the press.

This book is fascinating in that, not only does the author go into detail about the trial which was a HUGE scandal at that time, but he goes into detail about Mary’s life, from her abusive childhood, to her acting career, and her problems which led her to abuse alcohol.

Mary Astor’s Purple Diary was so engaging, and I guarantee you will find it beyond interesting!  🙂

Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days by Jared Cade

In December of 1926, author Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days from her home in England. True story, folks. When she was finally found, she was at a hotel where she had been almost the entire time, under an assumed name…. the last name of her husband’s mistress!

Dun, dun, dun…

I literally devoured this book because I wanted to know why Agatha disappeared and if she really was behind it as many had claimed or was she suffering from amnesia like she herself claimed? And why didn’t Agatha mention this episode of her life in her autobiography?

This book answers all those questions and then some. Absolutely fascinating and a must-read for those who like a real-life mystery but also want to sleep at night.

And if you want to know what happened to Agatha during those 11 missing days, you’ll have to read the book and find out!  🙂

The Red Door by Charles Todd

Charles Todd is one of my favorite authors and this book does not disappoint. The Red Door is the 12th book in the “Ian Rutledge” series. Rutledge is a police officer with Scotland Yard in 1920. A former WWI soldier who is still haunted by the war, he has to simultaneously solve the murder of a woman who was left by her open front door and solve the disappearance of a man and finding out the connection between the two.

A great read, especially for those of who like mystery novels that are not modern. No CSI or forensics here!

What have you guys read lately?  🙂