Hi Bookworms. How has your past week been? Coming back from hitting golf balls at the range yesterday, I was looking for the perfect picture of the yellow canola fields and I took a number of shots. In case you’re wondering: the Canola Council says that “canola oil is one of the healthiest cooking oils available, with zero trans fat and the lowest amount of saturated fat of all common cooking oils.” These yellow flowers develop into pods, sort of like pea pods that contain tiny black seeds. Once harvested, canola seeds are crushed to release the oil contained within the seed. It seems like so far the Canadian canola industry has weathered the recent tariff storm with the U.S. and China, though much uncertainty about the market remains. Still it’s one of this areas’ biggest agricultural exports.
Meanwhile we’ve been having a lot of rain this summer, which is sort of good to douse smoke and wildfires and it’s also sort of bewildering since the area in the past is usually so dry. We had more than four inches of rain in June and we might hit another five inches by the end of July. Wow will we be swimming soon? It’s been a bit hard on the activities, but it’s keeping things green. Maybe it’s good for book reading, though I didn’t finish any this week. I’ve got three books going: Sophie Elmhirst’s nonfiction survival tale A Marriage at Sea (print); Emma Knight’s coming-of-age novel The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus (on audio); and a novel for Publishers Weekly (in print), which I can’t divulge, coming in the fall. So I think I’ll be done with these soon and can review them.
It appears since it’s mid-July we are more than halfway through the year and people and sites have been putting out some lists of book favorites so far (see the NYT’s list here). I’ve read some good ones and it’s a bit hard to choose my favorites yet. Recently Roisin O’Donnell’s debut Nesting and Clare Leslie Hall’s novel Broken Country were strong to me as well as the nonfiction A Marriage at Sea could be a contender. Here are three good smaller reads (pictured above), which may be going a bit under the radar. They are little gems. Fifteen Wild Decembers (2023) by British author Karen Powell is the story of the Bronte family from Emily Bronte’s perspective. This fascinating novel peeks into their lives — the sisters who became famous authors — and the tough childhood they endured due to the loss of their mother and two other sisters, yet Charlotte, Emily, and Anne still rose above their meager and trying circumstances to write beloved novels. This is how it unfolded.
Next is A Family Matter by Claire Lynch (June) about a family torn apart by a long-ago custody battle in a small English village. This novel starts out quietly about a father and daughter in later life (2022) but then goes back 40 years earlier (1982) to recount a time things changed in their family. By the end, it packs a bit of a wallop to the heart. I don’t want to say too much, but the story draws you in as it goes along.
Then there’s The Scrapbook (June) by Heather Clark about a Harvard college student in 1996 who gets involved with a German exchange student and their romance hits some bumps as they navigate a long-distance relationship and grandfathers who fought on opposite sides of World War II. The girl finds a scrapbook in her family’s attic of her grandfather’s time during the war that makes her want to find out more, and her boyfriend takes her around to visit some European sites. It’s a bit unsettling and you have to wait till the end to see if they will stay together or what will happen. Will love win out, or will the pains of the past and history be too great? This provided some interesting self-discovery and discussions over the war and guilt and responsibility.
So that’s it for this week. I’m sure you’ve also found some small hidden gems to read this year … and if so, what were they?
One nice thing about getting a lot of rain, I would think, is that the chance of having wildfires goes down. We saw (we are not positive) what we believe were canola fields in France. They were beautiful. I started and gave up on A Marriage at Sea. Maybe your thoughts about it will convince me to try again.
Hi Deb, yeah the rain has helped our area from fires & smoke, though this summer most of the smoke has been coming from places like Manitoba and Saskatchewan, so the smoke is still spreading from there and coming here.
The yellow canola fields here are neat to see … I’m sure France has them.
I’m almost done with A Marriage at Sea. I have found it quite a quick epic survival tale and I hadn’t heard about this couple before. I’m giving it to my husband as he is the boat person … and I will see his reaction. I will review it next week. Cheers. Have a great week.
It’s nice that you’ve been getting lots of rain because that field looks gorgeous; it looks like a screensaver. Great picture! Bookbub has featured those three books as good historical fiction this year, so has The New York Times. Maybe I’ll try them, though they won’t be priority. I, too, have Broken Country as among the best of the year thus far, along with Wild Dark Shore, Atmosphere, King of Ashes, Heartwood, and We Do Not Part. Nesting I still have to get to. Hope this week is better for you, reading-wise.
Hi Carmen, you’ve read some good books this year. A strong list. I’m looking forward to the Booker longlist July 29. I was looking at the NYT’s best books so far list (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/books/review/the-best-books-of-the-year-so-far.html) and I’m thinking maybe of adding a couple for later, like The Director. We’ll see – I’m still caught up in my summer list.
And thanks, I might have to make the canola fields my screensaver for summer. The yellow is so strong in real life that it’s hard not to stare.
Wishing you a great week as well.
Beautiful photo of the canola fields! Looks like a painting for a Willa Cather novel.
Glad you’re getting some rain. We sure could use some here. We haven’t had any this month, and I think less than an inch in June. The Cram Fire in central Oregon is currently the largest in the U.S., burning over 95K acres. We have camped near that area (Crooked River Ranch and Bend, both to the southwest of the fire), and I’m sure the firefighters are battling the awful heat in that area. Poor guys.
I’ve got A Family Matter on my tbr list. We’ll see if I get to it this year. Currently listening to So Far Gone by Jess Walter. It reminds me a bit of Nothing to See Here with the two young kiddos. Also reading The Frozen River, although only in bed at night, so it’s taking me a while to make much progress since I’ve been watching The Handmaid’s Tale before reading.
Enjoy your rainy weather!!
Ha Lesley, I guess canola fields would look good on a Willa Cather novel.
I hadn’t heard about the ongoing Cram Fire, so thx for filling me in. It sounds really bad, ugh. I had assumed you were getting this rain we’ve been getting but sorry you’ve not. We are quite surprised by the rain this summer.
I hope you like the Jess Walter book … it seems a bit of a spoof in ways … and The Frozen River. That book took me a long while to finish. I might read another book (the bio) about Martha Ballard sometime. Quite a figure in history and I didn’t know about her. The Handmaid’s Tale series is quite eerie, eh?
Have a great week.
The three books that your describe sound excellent and I’m adding them to my list of “hope to reads.” We use canola oil in our house and it’s lovely to see that field of yellow flowers that produce the oil. Hooray for rain!
Hi Dorothy, that’s interesting to hear you use canola oil. The fields here are crazy yellow now. The three small gem novels I mentioned are pretty short, quick reads. I thought these excellent under-the-radar reads. Enjoy if you get to them. And I hope your garden is excellent this summer.
I like the picture of the canola fields. And 15 Wild Decembers told from Emily Bronte’s point of view sounds great. I am hoping Libby will make it available. Emily was so brilliant and so mysterious.
Hi Kathy, thanks the canola fields here are ablaze right now in yellow.
I hope Libby gets the Karen Powell book … I was really caught up in the Brontes’ lives. I think you will enjoy it. It’s hard to imagine their creativity and how they came to write the books. Incredible! Enjoy your week.
I think anyone who lives in a fire area appreciates a little rain, especially if it helps the firefighters do their job on current fires.
That canola photo is stunning! I had no idea that’s what it looked like.
Thanks Helen, the canola fields are so yellow here now they are hard to turn away from. Such a bright color.
I hope these rains are helping the firefighters! … though we still seem to be getting smoke from Manitoba and Saskatchewan fire areas. Hmm. Are they not getting the rain we are? Have a great week.
I did not know all that abput canola but glad you shared. The photo os lovely. It would be nice to sit and see a view like that if you lived near the fields.
Just about every one of your books is on my list. I just started the last Vera Stanhope mystery by Ann Cleeves but I think I need to make a list for upcoming reading. I get so lost in the selections from the library and what is living in my Kindle so I tend to go all “Ooo..shiny, I wnat that book now”.
The French themes have been dominating my reading and cooking this month. It;s been fun. Maybe we can plan another buddy read for Fall.
Hi Tina, it’s nice to see all the canola fields here right now, bright yellow. The yellow lasts a while and then it finally goes away.
These three hidden gem novels I read earlier in the year … were all quite quick reads, but each is pretty potent & good. Have you read Cleeves’s Vera books before? I hope you enjoy it. I have various book lists on my computer … but I sort of also need to read books I’ve collected on my Kindle sometime.
I might read more backlist books for fall and could send over a few possible titles for a fall buddy read. Hope all is well there…. send you an email soon. Cheers!
I own Fifteen Wild Decembers and maybe I will pick that uo this week. I like the sound of the others, especially The Family Matter, and I just entered to win the giveaway for that on Goodreads.
I’m thinking of trying a weekly update, as you do, or maybe biweekly. It seems I want to join in and participate on events but it ends up being an awful lot of posting. Will evaluate.
I have read many of Ann Cleeves books, the Shetland and Vera series. Didn;t like the Vera tv show but I did like the books. Mystery was my favorite for ages but now I am leaning more into the classics and nonfiction more. Guess it’s all about balance.
Good to know. I didn’t realize you were once a big mystery buff. I think my favorite has always been literary fiction & contemporary fiction. But I like nonfiction & classics too. I think you might like Fifteen Wild Decembers. I had no idea about the Brontes’ circumstances. I think I will try a Cleeves book sometime this year. Balance is good!
More books for me to read! Yay!
Hello Lux, these are good ones. Cheers!
Great pic of that canola field! I use canola oil all the time, but have never thought about where it comes from. I love the contrast of those golden yellow blossoms against that blue sky. 😀
Thanks Lark. Yeah the yellow & blue of the scene caught my eye when we were driving past. This photo is taken from the car! Cool to hear you use canola. Much of the canola comes from Alberta, yay. Have a great week!
I always want to read the books you review (even the books you blurb). Yesterday I spent an hour or so watch youtubers talking about possible Booker award longlist candidates. Most of the books I’ve even heard of before but one guy mentioned Nesting. I’d heard of Broken Country and am currently in a long line for the library copies. I’d already identifies A Marriage at See as a book I’d like to read, so I am moving it up on my list so I’ll get to it before year’s end. And Fifteen Wild Decembers sounds like a book I not only want to read but one I need to read. // One book that showed up on a lot of the Booktubers list you and I both may want to check out: The Book of Records by Thien. It was on all three of the lists. // Aren’t you just across the border in Langley, BC? I’m a bit south of Seattle. Our weather hasn’t been very rainy so I am wondering if you’ve further west? //
Hi Anne, thanks. Interesting to get your take; we read many of the same books. And I think you’d like Fifteen Wild Decembers. Good to know about The Book of Records — I will add it to my list for fall. I have not read Thien before but have wanted to. I will be keen to see if she makes the Booker longlist.
I am in Alberta so I’m much east of you there. I’m south of Calgary. We’ve been getting a lot of rain this summer. Not sure why or from where but it’s been a bit of a torrent. Hope your summer is nice there.
Now I can picture canola fields when I use canola oil. We used it occasionally instead of olive oil.
Of the books you read, The Scrapbook sounds very interesting. I will look for it when it is less new. Right now I am reading Olive, Again. I may be 75% done. It is very good.
Hi Tracy, glad to hear you use some canola oil. This province is home to much canola! And the yellow fields of it right now are plentiful.
The Scrapbook is a good one, a bit mysterious — how it unfolds. And I enjoyed Olive, Again although some of the chapters are a bit dark of what befalls the characters. Still Olive herself is a winner. I think this novel shows a tad more that Olive has heart compared to the other books. I hope you enjoy it. Cheers.
Ooh, I like the sound of these books.
Hi Lux, I think you already wrote that comment up above. ? Cheers.
Glad to hear the rain is literally clearing the air. We are having our usual dry summer in CO, so I wish we could get a bit of that moisture down here.
I have a friend travelling through Canada this summer and he’s posted a few pictures of the Canola fields. So pretty! I usually use just EVOO but always have Canola on hand for baking.
Eager to hear what you thought of A Marriage at Sea–I have too many books on the go right now, but I still want to read it this summer.
Thanks for the heads up on Fifteen Wild Decembers. Emily Bronte has fascinated me for years. Will definitely be reading this one.
Hi Jane, the canola fields are really bright and in bloom right now! Pretty nice and yellow all around.
A Marriage at Sea was a solid 4 star read … if you like survival tales — it’s a doozy. I had not heard of these people before but now I know! I plan to review it soon. And I think you will like Fifteen Wild Decembers … I had no idea about the Brontes inside life until this novel. Interesting insight. Hope you like it.
Enjoy your weekend. & happy reading.
I’m quite enjoying the rainy days but apparently it’s been causing flooding issues for some parts of Calgary. It doesn’t look like the rain is going to let up in the coming week either! I hope you enjoy the week regardless!
Thanks Haze. It’s nice that we had a few days without rain — so I could mow the jungle of the yard. The plants seem to be loving all the water. I can believe there was flooding in various areas … it felt like a lot all at once. I’m still looking for a bit of sun this week. Hope your reading is going well. Cheers!
That canola field is beautiful! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before. You’ve got some interesting books in progress – I’m especially interested in Fifteen Wild Decembers. A Marriage at Sea and Nesting are on my list, too. It seems like this has been a strong year for publishing. Lucky us!
Thanks JoAnn, there’s a lot of canola fields in bloom right now. Yellow, yellow!
I think you will like all three of the books you list. Nesting is potent and a bit hard to put down. Fifteen Wild Decembers is fascinating. And A Marriage at Sea is a survival story that is pretty unfathomable to contemplate. All are thumbs up! Hope you like them sometime. It has been a good year in books! Happy reading.