A Great Reckoning by Luise Penny (2016)

I think that inspector Armand Gamache has become the fictional character I would most like to meet and Three Pines the village I would most like to visit, stay at the B&B, eat at the cafe, visit the bookstore, meet cranky Ruth and her duck and all the other characters, and hang in the kindness of the place and Penny's world.

If I had the time, I would go through all the Louise Penny books I have read so far and see how she weaves the major plot line of the corruption of the Surete du Quebec throughout many books. In the ninth book How the Light Gets In, it all comes to a head and Armand gets injured. He spends a couple of books recuperating. One I read a while ago about a local boy finding a gun, but the last one I read - The Long Way Home was when he helps Clara look for her estranged husband Peter. But now he is ready to take on a new project - cleaning up the Academy for the Surete, as it has been producing cruel, uncaring agents in the last years. He starts by firing half the instructors, but keeps on the second in command, Leduc, hoping to gather evidence to put him away and prevent him from harming any more cadets.

We get to see the evolution of four cadets - two in their last year of classes and two first year students, one of them, Amelia, seemingly the least likely candidate to become a Surete officer with her piercings and tattoos, but she is bright and desperate to find her way in life. They are all standing around looking at an old, strange map of Three Pines - and Gamache assigns these four figuring out the map. This seems a random assignment, but becomes the second most important thread in the book and gives the cadets experience in investigation and teamwork.

Again, many plot lines interweave:

• Corruption in the academy
• How do you raise effective, caring and kind officers?
• Who is Amelia and why did Gamache approve her application to the Academy
• Gamache's relationship with childhood friend Michelle (not sure how spelled, but a guy), but who becomes one of Gamache's biggest enemies, but why does he ask him to come back to teach?
• Annie is pregnant and Jean Guy is just so wonderful to watch as doting husband.
• Mystery of the map found in the walls of the Bistro
• Who was Anthony Turcott, the great mapper of Quebec, but why did he keep Three Pines off the map
• The story of the village Roof Trusses
• Reine Marie working on the local archives, including the stuff found in the walls of the Bistro
• What tale does the stained glass window of young WWI soldiers tell?
• Clara is working on a self portrait - how will that turn out?
• How can the people of Three Pines help the four lost cadets from the Academy.
• Ruth - she is always a plot in and of herself.

I had to get used to the new reader, and though it was strange for a while, at some point I didn't even notice anymore.

Among the Mad by Jackquline Windspear (2009)

This must be my third Maisie Dobbs book, and for some reason I don't care if I read them in order. This one is set in 1931 and Maisie has her own investigative business with one assistant. It is at the end of December in 1931. She sees a man blow himself up on a London street. Then the Prime Minister receives a threatening letter promising loss of many lives if the soldiers of the Great War are not taken care of. The letter mentions Maisie, so she is called in to a special branch of Scotland Yard to help. She provides insights that help solve the case and stop the mad man from completing his plans.

The focus in this book is on PTSD or shell shock after the war. Not only are many of the men who served in the military affected, but almost everyone is affected, including Maisie herself. But the theme is woven through many people's stories, including her friend, who is financially sound, has a husband and kids, but still despairs at times. Her assistant's wife is unstable after the loss of one of her children, and through her experience we see some of the horrors of the way some mental patients were treated in those days. We also see the aftereffects of the chemical warfare experiments, where the researchers sometimes tested the substances on themselves and other workers. Again, more details fleshing out that time period and the continued growth of Maisie, as she forges ahead with her life.

Snow White: A Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan (2016)

I've been looking at this one for a few weeks now on our graphic novel shelf. Very interesting take on the Snow White story.  Set in the first half of the 20th Century New York City, Snow White's mother dies, her father is a rich businessman, who is dazzled by an evil actress, who survives the financial crash, but is convinced to send the girl off to boarding school. When the actress finds out not from a mirror but a ticker tape, that Snow White is more beautiful, she sets out to kill her. Nice take on the 7 dwarfs and her prince.  A joy.

The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates (2019)

I have always admired the Gates Foundation, particularly for what they have done in Latvia, and I never have had the animosity towards Microsoft that I have seen in some of my friends. Bill Gates seems like a much more benevolent figure talking about solving world issues, though he also made a huge difference in the world by developing computer programs for us all and that I use every day.

Now I got to know Melinda Gates and fell into deep admiration for her. She shares her journey and growth throughout her life, but mostly in her work at the Gates Foundation. While trying to solve the world's health and poverty problems, they almost always returned to the issue of gender inequality and how improving the lives of women would improve the lives of everyone. This can be seen in fertility control, which makes for healthier children and fewer deaths at childbirth, in education, stopping the practice of child brides, agriculture, and unpaid work of care-giving, maintaining households, growing food and fetching water.

Melinda has visited many of the world's impoverished areas and really listened and slowly understood the issues and looked for sustainable solutions. The hardest seems to be making the cultural changes, especially where strong religious beliefs have made women second class citizens or even property. I was amazed that some men in these cultures were willing to play role reversal and see how hard their women worked and were will to start sharing household duties.

There were many heartbreaking stories, but also many hopeful ones. She not only pointed out the problems gender inequality raises in developing countries, but also our own. The "moment of lift" is when the forces pushing us up are greater than the force pushing us down. This phrase came from her childhood, as her father was an aerospace engineer and she was thrilled by the moment of liftoff at space launches. There are many moments of lift, especially when people lift each other up by sharing stories, giving others a chance to better themselves. Melinda has a thoughtful way of approaching the world, the diversity issues, by encouraging people to come stand besides her.  She is one of the few famous people I would like to meet.

The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk and Christopher Moseley (2015)

I was interested in this as it was written by a fellow Balt - an Estonian and the book was recommended by a friend. I really liked the premise - set in the 12th century, when German crusaders came into northern Europe and brought Christianity and "progress" to the local tribes. (He has them call themselves Estonians, though they did not use that terms and probably felt more of a belonging to a smaller group or tribe.) What a fascinating theme to explore - how the locals felt about it, how they were drawn into the German culture, and in this case, how they went from living in the woods and eating by hunting, to an agricultural way of life, where the main staple food is bread.

But somehow I have imagined it differently, and my understanding of our Baltic ancestors is that they had a deep spiritual connection to all of nature, had names for various natural phenomenon, and held certain places - large trees, rocks, springs as sacred. In this story, our hero can speak Snakish, which allows him to speak to snakes and most other creatures and some of them can speak back to him, especially snakes. But he disavows any sprites or sacred places and cuts down a sacred grove of trees and goes on a huge killing spree.