A Little Light Reading

July was a particularly busy month for us — plenty of Vital Signs activities, lawn work, climbing a Colorado 14er, you get the idea. Therefore, my reading was reduced a bit. After all, I had finished a very heavy journey with Alexandre Dumas that included all 5 of the d’Artagnan novels plus The Count of Monte Cristo. And I had taken a short break from C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia after five books, waiting until August to finish the last two in time for our second Narnia party.

I lightened up then in these last few weeks with the following.

* The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne.  That’s right, the author of the Winnie the Pooh books wrote other stuff, including this pleasant-enough page turner. I had long heard of it but had never read it. I'm pleased I did. 3 stars.

* The Black Arrow by Robert Lewis Stevenson.  Not Stevenson’s best but still a very nice adventure story that I re-read every few years. 4 stars.

* The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart. This thriller from earlier days was a bit overworked. 3 stars.

* Damsel in Distress by P.G. Wodehouse. I had read a few Jeeves stories many moons ago but this was my first Wodehouse novel. I liked it very much. 4 stars.

* Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier. A classic example of psychological suspense, the novel is compelling and exquisitely crafted...even though the characters are anything but strong or principled, let alone heroic. This was maybe my third time round with this book and I liked it as much as ever. 5 stars.