Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas week to all who celebrate!

 I wish you all great reading and time to relax ~ and lots of good food and fun too!

Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop

Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop / Mai Mochizuki
trans. from the Japanese by Jordan Taylor 
NY: Ballantine, 2025, c2021.
224 p.

This was an unexpected Christmas read! I read the first book in this series earlier this year, and so when this one came out, I grabbed it. And to my surprise, it is set at Christmas -- and I didn't realize that Christmas was celebrated so widely in Japan. 

Three women, all at a crossroads in life, encounter the magical Full Moon Coffee Shop in Kyoto, right around Christmas. We start with Satomi, a career woman in Tokyo who suspects her boyfriend is going to propose on Christmas Eve -- and she's not sure how she feels about that, since he is based in a smaller town and of course she'd have to follow him, not the other way around. 

The next is Koyuki, who works for Satomi. Her father died on Christmas Day when she was a child, and ever since she has felt guilt and unhappiness at this time of year. The cats of the Full Moon Coffee Shop give her a chance to see the truth of what happened all those years ago. 

And last is Junko, Satomi's sister-in-law, and her daughter Ayu. When Junko has to come home because her estranged father has fallen ill, she faces many decisions. Both Junko and Ayu experience the Full Moon Coffee Shop too, and it changes both of them. 

The magical cats of the Full Moon Coffee Shop are astrological planets who take the form of cats to serve people what they need - there is no ordering at this coffee shop, they simply bring you what they think you need. And they talk about the astrological background to each character and how that affects their lives and fortunes. In this novel, the astrology bits are less prominent than in the first, and I think that improved the story - it flows more, and feels more based in the characters and the stories than just an astrology explainer. The first one was heavier on this angle and it did disrupt the flow a bit. This is one of those unusual times when the second book in a series is even better than the first one. I'd say read them both, though, as you'll understand the astrology elements better if you get all the worldbuilding info in the first book. 

This was charming and a delight - an unusual Christmas set story but one that offers uplift and peaceful resolutions - very Christmassy.  

Brightly Shining

 

Brightly Shining / Ingvild Rishoi
trans. from the Norwegian by Caroline Waight
NY: Grove, 2024, c2021.
192 p.

This is another beautiful Christmas book, physically, with a gorgeous cover. But don't let it fool you; this isn't a book for happy Christmas vibes. It's a melancholy, dark read about two young sisters and their alcoholic father. 

Inspired by The Little Match Girl, you can guess that this won't be a cheery tale. Ronja is 10, and she's telling the tale from her viewpoint. Her older sister Melissa, 16, is her rock, and the person who holds their home together. Their mother is dead and their father is an alcoholic - he is great when he's dry, but that is so infrequent as to be another dream. 

Ronja is friends with her school's caretaker, who gives her a lead for a job for her dad, selling Christmas trees. He takes it and all is well, until he falls into drink again. Then Melissa begs, and takes over his tree-selling position to keep the family going. Ronja doesn't like being far from Melissa so starts hanging out at the tree lot after school. But the owner isn't too keen on that. 

In a happy Christmas tale, their father would quit drinking in a Christmas miracle and all would be glorious. But that doesn't happen here. Melissa and Ronja have to make their own decisions and take their own path. The ending is not entirely conclusive; many reviews online say that it's an open ending. I feel it is pretty dark if you take the inspiration into account, and am not sure what I think about the structure of the book if my interpretation is correct. It's a hard read, heartbreaking with moments of light and joy amidst the overall depressing story. I liked it but found it hard going, especially the ending. 

The Wood at Midwinter

The Wood at Midwinter / Susanna Clarke
London: Bloomsbury, c2024. 
64 p.

This is a short story bound in book form, beautifully illustrated and with a lovely cover, perfect for gift giving - it's a very short read, but with the elements of magic and mysticism that can be found in Clarke's other works. 

Since it is the Winter Solstice today I thought I would share this one now. It's the story of Merowdis Scott, 19 and a bit of a misfit. She isn't obedient enough to be accepted as a nun, she's turned down a marriage proposal, and really feels herself only in the woods. 

The story has an edge of the fantastical, as Merowdis talks to the animals in the forest, and the question of Christmas and a child born at midwinter arise. The atmosphere in the story is evocative, and it feels old somehow. There is a clear drive in Merowdis to exist in the woods, and one day while wandering she encounters a strange figure and her life is changed forever. 

I liked this one; it's a bit uncanny and the writing is lovely. But it is awfully short, and I don't feel like there was enough development of Merowdis for the reader to feel truly engaged with her story. The illustrations are nice, the book itself is very prettily done, but it is very brief. I would have liked to have a bit more context for this story and character, to really understand her and the concepts brought up in the narrative. But I do like Susanna Clarke's writing, and am always eager for more, so it was nice to read at Christmastime. 

There is also an author's afterword in which she talks about the inspiration for the story, and mentions Kate Bush's music as one of them - that was interesting, and added something else to the book. I'm always waiting for more Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell so this brief tale set in their universe gave a small taste that I appreciated. 

Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station

 

Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station
read by Barbara Rosenblat
Ashland, OR: Recorded Books, 1990, c1983.

Mrs. Pollifax takes us to a China that was still difficult to visit in 1983, in this story of her assignment to infiltrate a tourist group and contact a Chinese informer, who will give her a vital piece of information that she will then pass on to the "real" agent on the tour. But thankfully for that agent, Mrs. Pollifax is part of this tour, since things go awry and require her inimitable assistance. 

With a mixed group, including two young women who are of great interest to all the middle aged men on the tour, Mrs. Pollifax must try to figure out who her fellow agent is, find a way to leave the tour long enough to find her contact, and then she can wash her hands of events and just continue with the rest of the tour. But one thing that was stressed to her; if anything at all went wrong, she was to get herself and the tour group out of China as quickly as possible. 

With great perspicacity, she does her part. Her habit of talking to and befriending locals and tourists alike serves her well here. And when things do go very unexpectedly south -- when they aren't the only foreign agents in town -- both her karate lessons and her stubbornness help out immensely. 

There were some iffy elements to this one; Mrs. P and her fellow agent dress up as Chinese peasants to do one part of their job, which includes some offensive references to eyes. And as if anyone would believe Mrs. Pollifax was Chinese. But there are also sympathetic Chinese characters and some understanding of the cost of dissent in a Communist country, including a work camp. And the bumbling tourists and their Western attitudes are contrasted with their guides and the people they meet in their various stops, including Kazakh horsemen of the steppes. I liked this one and learned a fair bit, but there sure was a lot of coincidence in the plot here. Still, another interesting tale from Dorothy Gilman! 

Mrs. Pollifax on Safari

Mrs. Pollifax on Safari / Dorothy Gilman
read by Barbara Rosenblat
Ashland, OR: Blackstone Publishing, 1992, c1976.

 

Continuing my run of the Mrs. Pollifax series, I've made it to book five. In Mrs. Pollifax on Safari, we find Emily heading to Zambia, assigned to join a safari and take photos of all the others in the group. Carstairs just needs photos so they can try to figure out the identity of a political assassin who has eluded all the intelligence agencies. They think he'll be on this safari to meet his next contact - so no theatrics, just photos to share with the CIA when she returns. But of course things quickly get much more complicated and Mrs. Pollifax finds herself in the centre of a few different imbroglios. 

On the safari, she needs to be suspicious of everyone. Who knows who the assassin really is? But she meets Cyrus, a retired judge and fellow American, who is travelling with his adult daughter. Surely he can't be her target -- thankfully so, as they begin to develop an affinity during the days that follow. 

The set-up, a closed group of suspects that Emily has to carefully examine, gives great opportunity for character development and description. I greatly enjoyed that part and also the descriptions of the Zambian countryside. The Mrs. Pollifax stories are like travelogues and that is one of the delights of them for me. 

The characters in this story are all quite intriguing, ranging from quite ordinary to eccentric to boorish to completely delusional. There are some chilling parts of this story, as Mrs. Pollifax finds herself in darker circumstances than expected. And some startling turns in the story too, to keep you on your toes.

Once again I listened to the audio version read by the delightful Barbara Rosenblat. She rarely makes a misstep but in this one, one of the characters, a doctor from a charity hospital elsewhere in Zambia, is originally Canadian. And I don't know why she gave him an accent but it made me laugh out loud when it started. It had the weirdest tinge of both Maritimes and Mike from Canmore. 

But a good read and the enjoyable return of a character from the first volume in this series made it extra fun. I'm really liking this whole series so far. 

Not At Home

Not At Home / Doris Langley Moore
London: Dean Street Press, 2020, c1948.
300 p.

It's Dean Street December, and I'm pleased to be sharing another read from the Furrowed Middlebrow imprint. I love these books and have found many enjoyable ones over the past few years. I first read Moore's All Done By Kindness last year, and found it a fun read. This one has similarities but it's a bit more focused on one woman and one house. 

Elinor MacFarren is a middle-aged spinster, botanical writer, and collector of prints and objets d’art, but she is finding that post WWII she is finding it hard to afford her home and her collections. After some thought, she decides that she will rent part of her home out, to a congenial person. She will move her bedroom to her study, and give up her parlour to the use of a renter. The spare room will be shared by either's guests. She's planning to be very careful about it, and gets a recommendation from a friend who runs an antique shop. Mrs. Antonia Bankes, an American, wants a home since her husband will be coming back from his war duties and she doesn't want them to live in a hotel. After gushing, sincere promises about what a good, quiet and reliable tenant she will be, Elinor accepts. And that's the beginning of her trials. 

Antonia Bankes is a horror. She says whatever she needs to in the moment to avoid conflict or accountability, but never means a word of it. Elinor begins to learn to her chagrin, that her beautiful objets are being misused, damaged and lost, while Antonia encroaches further and further into her home. There are always giddy friends staying with her, using the spare room, and making a mess for the one servant to deal with, until she finally has enough and leaves. 

When Antonia's husband shows up, he's a decent fellow and Elinor warms to him. And when he's there, Antonia seems to settle down a little. But then they drop the bombshell - they have two children they want to bring over from America and establish in the spare room. This leads Elinor to lengths of subterfuge and trickery she never thought she'd be capable of, as she angles to get rid of the Bankes. With her rival in botanical collecting as an unexpected ally, and her flamboyant nephew who is involved in the movies to help out (along with his amusing lady friend, who's all in) she finagles a few things into going her way. And despite the long war on her own turf, she eventually triumphs. 

This was entertaining, in a way, but also a stressful read, as Elinor is invaded in her own home, essentially. Antonia is immensely selfish and self-absorbed and poor Elinor's manners and ideas of social norms restrict her from fighting back until far too much time has passed. It was an interesting range of characters, all who shed light on the post-war realities of London from different angles. From older Brits like Elinor, to Americans, to young things like her nephew's lady friend, there are many perspectives and portrayals. I found that part satisfying. But I certainly would have liked to see Antonia tossed out on her ear much earlier! 

The joy of reading Moore's books lies in her observations of characters and their interactions. She understands people very well and creates some fascinating studies. All while developing a good story. There are some parts in the book which are very much of their time, like casual references to "red Indians" and some animal cruelty, which are slight asides but do colour it. Still, a pretty good read, although I think I liked All Done By Kindness just a little more.