Giving A Gentleman in Moscow to my dear friend and book club buddy for Xmas-I hope she loves it as much as I did. I just finished the latest Cork O'Connor mystery suspense novel. This is a series that is always interesting; the protagonist is an investigator of mixed Ojibwe/European ancestry and it's set in northern Minnesota. Lots of great insight and background about both topics and almost always a riveting storyline as well. I started Hillbilly Elegy last night, enjoying it very much so far. Helps that my own family background is Scots-Irish hillbilly although my family doesn't have the, um, colorful style of the author's to say the least! On my bookshelf for holiday enjoyment is the latest Flavia de Luce, the latest Longmire, Ordinary Light, Sweetbitter, and Today Will be Different which is the latest by Maria Semple of Where'd You Go Bernadette fame.

Thank you so much for all the recommendations. I'll be traveling a lot soon and I'm sure I'll read a lot of these. I have Aunt Dimity queued up to read, along with the first Ngaio Marsh book. I'll probably try Miss Read next and/or Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. Many of those mentioned I have read. Rhys Bown mysteries, Amelia Peabody mysteries, Georgette Heyer, Mitford books, etc. But it was helpful to have those recommendations because it was lovely to see there are others who enjoyed those books as well. And I will try the audiobook of the Amelia Peabody mysteries because I often fall asleep to an audiobook, so it's helpful to have a good recommendation. I tried A Man Called Ove and I'm sure I'll finish it, but it is unbearably sad to read it right now so I laid it down. I have a friend who has cancer and also a suspicious spot on her liver and she is the light of her husband's life. I want to escape from pain and loss right now. A murder mystery like Agatha Christie writes should be sad, I guess. It's murder, but somehow that doesn't reach out and snatch my heart out like the pain of Ove losing his wife. Another time in my life I would probably have liked A Gentleman in Moscow and A Man Called Ove. So thank you so much to all of you for taking the time to respond. It will be nice to have this thread to check when I finish the stack of books I have now.

He lived by cashing in his gold coins as needed; their value was sufficient to sustain him through the time he was living at the Metropole. It makes sense since during times of great political upheaval (which was the case during the era of the book) gold becomes the one currency that holds or increases in value. And becoming a waiter was so he would have a purpose in life. I thought one of the author's brilliant themes was that everyone must have a reason to get up in the morning and that reason should not only enhance some part of the life of a community in some way, it should enhance a person's sense of him/herself as a necessary cog in the wheel of life. Beautiful, beautiful book. I read it over a winter break and was so sad when I finished the last page and had to come back to my ordinary life after hanging out with the Count at the Metropole Hotel for so many years :).

I had to scroll backward to see what books I last posted about. Funny, I had a stack of four from the library but ended up not reading any of them! After hearing about it here, I read The 25th Hour by David Benioff. Interesting book, quick (short) read, but definitely not as good as City of Thieves. Following that, I went "on vacation" to Southern California to help my college freshman move out of her dorm and put her things in storage so I had plenty of time to read on the plane. I took with me The Flight Attendant by Chris Bojahlian. I had mixed feelings about it. It was easy to devour, but unfortunately, it seems like his novels have gone downhill over the years. I really had to suspend disbelief and I just couldn't really get beyond the stupid decisions of the main character. Alas, it got me through the plane ride. A friend dropped off Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende just before I left so I got about 1/3 the way through before I returned home. Waiting for me at the library was a book I'd been on the wait list for that came highly rated by a friend, From Sand and Ash. Historical fiction set in Italy during WW2. I didn't realize it was really a schmaltzy romance. Plowed through it but wouldn't recommend it. I'm returning to Daughter of Fortune this evening. I have a stack of books from the library to get through - good thing I'm headed to the beach in 10 days when my kids get out of school. Can't wait to have some great time on the beach to read. Annie, I read We Were the Lucky Ones. I hate to use the word enjoy for a book about such depressing subject matter, but I really liked it.