Several people remarked that I have not been on Facebook recently. Actually, I haven’t been on any social media, nor watching television. I’ve been reading! These days I have difficulty, sadly, finding a book to make me eagerly grab it up and forget the world. I wonder if it has to do with I’m out of step with the popular culture. Before I hit on the first of this series, I had started and put down a couple of highly touted women’s fiction novels, which did nothing to ignite delight in me. When I do not have a good book to read, I am grumpy and rather lost.

The Vish Puri mystery novels by Tarquin Hall are set in modern-day India, a place of contrasts. Hall is able to get me there. The books are captivating mysteries, but, for me anyway, they are wonderful character-driven novels. Vish Puri is, by his own estimation, the best detective in all of India. He is, by my estimation, a kind, wise and darling man of a certain age, who loves his wife and family, good food and heritage. He is, like many of us, a traditionalist, but an accepting one. Then there is his wife, who tries to keep him healthy, and his mother–Mummy–who solves crimes of her own.  Of course I relate to Mummy!

The first book of the series, THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERVANT, drew me in immediately. There are a lot of characters, the people surrounding Vish Puri, and terms that make me have to re-read on occasion. A glossary is provided in the back of the book. But once I’m reading, I’m moving fast and having a bang-up time. I found the second book of the series, THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING, a bit slower to captivate my attention. The story starts with Vish Puri in action, but there is also a lot of ‘setting the scene’ with both Vish Puri and the world of Delhi. I continued reading, however, and suddenly I am happily immersed and don’t want to put it down. My thanks to Tarquin Hall for writing and blessing my life all the way over in the U.S. South.

A friend asked me a question the past week that I have never been asked before: What devotional books do you read? That question brought me to non-fiction books you might have missed. If one person asks, perhaps others might want to know, too.

I generally have four or five favored devotional books that I choose from each day. I recommended to my friend one that I have read often for about six years: JESUS CALLING, by Sarah Young. Young’s meditations with scripture soothe, remind, teach, encourage, and boost my faith. I recommend the large print vinyl cover version; my cousin gave me this as a gift, and it is well-worn. Plenty of space to write your own notes in, too, if you dare to mark a book.

Another friend has been suggesting for some time to recommend a book that I recommended to her years ago: THE LANGUAGE OF LETTING GO, by Melody Beattie. I was given the book as a gift some 20 years ago, and I still read it on occasion. It is billed as a book for co-dependence, but don’t let that throw you. This is a book that encourages relationships, with wisdom on how to love and to be loved, and to get along with those strange and difficult people in the world. It was a NYT bestseller back in the 1990s. There is also an app of the book for the phone.

Now, I’m back to editing on a book in progress and to reading more of Vish Puri and Mummy.

Blessings,
CurtissAnn