Owls in the Family (1961) by Farley Mowat #1961Club

🦉 Farley Mowat is one non-fiction writer I have newly 'found' two years ago; Never Cry Wolf was one of my favorite non-fictions I have read for #NonFicNov. So, when I found out, when I was searching something to read for #1961Club, that he also wrote children fictions, how could I resist? And I'm glad I have picked this one (over others on the list), since it proved to be a delightful read; just the one to kick off #1961Club! 🦉 Billy lives in Saskatoon, Canada, near a prairie. He's a boy who loves animals, and he already owns so much pet (dogs, cat, pigeons, rabbits, and gophers - oh, and rats also). But does it mean he could resist adding owls into his menagerie? Of course not! Billy asked his French teacher, who loves animals (besides photography and prairie), to help him catching an owlet from its nest up on one poplar bluff, but that ended in a hilarious flop, which was written perfectly in Mowat's style I remember from Never Cry Wolf. So, Mr. French is out of the picture, but Billy eventually found a way of catching an owlet by himself, whom he calls Wol. 🦉 Wol is a young horned owl. Billy found the nest when he's having a stroll, with his pals Bruce and Maurice, right after a great storm. Two of Wol's siblings had died, and it was when Billy & co. were working on a funeral for the dead siblings, they found Wol - the only survivor. Apparently owls hatched one day after another (not at the same time), and Wol is the biggest, and most probably the strongest of the three - hence he's survived. It's information like this which makes Mowat's books fun to read - he combines knowledge, good narrative skill, and sense of humour into wonderful books. I wouldn't have known that crows and owls are enemy if I didn't read this book, for instance.

🦉 Wol grew up as a pet owl, meaning that he can't fly (no one teaches him to), but mimicking the boys' actions. Although he eventually flew when accidentally fallen off a branch, but he only does it when needed. Wol doesn't haunt, except for skunks. Horned owls seem to hate skunks, they're the only owls family who eat skunks. Hilarious moment it was when Wol brought skunk home for dinner (he used to dine with the family), and the family avoided him after that for days. It ended up with the father bathed him in tomato juice.

🦉 Wol likes to tease Mud, the family's old dog, like hiding his bones or dinner. Occasionally Wol would also playing the tail-squeeze game, which used to enrage Mud - poor old dog! But that's not the only funny scene between Wol and other animals in the book. I don't know which scene is funnier, the one when Wol is mad when he's almost drawn in the river, or when the Prairie chicks were just hatched, and went between Wol's foot thinking he's their mother. Wol then resignedly lower his feathers to warm the chicks. It would surely be a silly yet sweet thing to watch! Later on, another owl named Weeps was added to the menagerie - another owl to accompany Wol. In short, this is a charming book to read - children or adult. Hilarious and refreshing, but also provides some knowledge about animals and nature.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

The 1961 Club

hosted by Simon and Karen

What to Read for the Upcoming #1961Club

The 1961 Club is just around the corner - it runs from 13 to the19th of April 2026!; and I have been preparing for it for a while. As usual, the event would be hosted by Simon and Karen. For one week we will be sharing books we have been reading that were published in 1961. 

As a warming up, here are books published in 1961 which I have read before:

PREVIOUS READS

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

A travelogue of Steinbeck's road trip 'in search of America', along with his old French poodle Charley. "For me, the travels provided a first hand glimpse to America in the 1960s, but what pleased me the most is John Steinbeck's writing - incisive, eloquent, and witty." [excerpt from my review, here's the complete one]

The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone 

Irving Stone has been one of my favorite historical fiction writers. His books are always written vividly, bringing some of the greatest personages the world ever seen to life. I admire his thorough researches, that make you plunge into the time and the person's life so smoothly. My first read of Stone was The Agony and the Ecstasy - read during pre-blogging era, so here's the Goodreads' review if you need to have a look at it. It's a biographical story about Michelangelo's life and his masterpieces.

The Pale Horse by Agatha Chirstie

I have read this ages ago - when I was still in school, I believe. So, no review is available, but here's one from Goodreads. I also can't remember what the mystery is about, but it's one of not-many Ariadne Oliver's mysteries.

Five Go to Demon's Rock by Enid Blyton

I've been saying this over and over, that I have grown up reading Blyton's children adventures. Though it has been a long time since I read them, I still remember that Five Go to Demon's Rock was one of my favorites back then. It's a fun one with a lighthouse and a treasure hunt. Here's the Goodreads' review if you (still) need a clue about it. 


Next, what am I currently reading for #1961Club?

CURRENT READS

I have originally picked eight books as possible reading list. These included Jon Godden's Told in Winter,  Lucy M. Boston's A Stranger at Green Knowe, and My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House by Lilian Rogers Parks. The latter was what I had really wanted to get into the final list. However, I could not find a copy to read, so, I must turn to the other five from the list. At the last moment, I dismissed A House for Mr. Biswas (V.S. Naipul), as it wasn't appealing to me at that time (I'm a moody reader), and though the next book is in my Classics Club list, I didn't think I would have enough time for Where the Red Fern Grows (Wilson Rawls), so I had to dismiss it too.

And it leaves me with these final three, which I have read (and am currently reading):

1. Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat

2. The Body in the Dumb River by George Bellairs

3. The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart

I am pleased with my final choices, and have been enjoying all three very much. They are of different genres, and provide different satisfaction in my reading - just what I need in the present time. Can't wait to share my reviews with you next week!

So, what about you? Will you participate in the #1961Club? What will you be reading? And have you read books on my list?

Minor Disturbances at Grand Life Apartments (2023) by Hema Sukumar

 

🏬 I picked up this book in the first place because it has double appeals to me. First of all, I myself live in an apartment, and any book about apartment dwellers almost always attracts me. Secondly, this debut novel of Hema Sukumar is set in an Asian country, which I'd feel most related, as I am also an Indonesian. As a debut novel, I'm quite surprised to find this book as perfectly balanced in depth and its cultural background. It's not overly done - like many others Asian books might - and it is neither too light nor too heavy to read. It is a pleasant slice-of-life book with plausible story-line and amiable but realistic characters.

🏬 Grand Life Apartments is located in the beautiful coastal city of Chennai, India, and is owned by Mr. Mani, who had changed his ancestor's home to be a modern and comfortable middle-class apartment building. It is never mentioned how many residences it originally has, but the main characters in the story are three of them: Kamala (a widow-dentist), Revathi (a single thirty-ish career woman), and Jason (a young British chef). Each of them currently has their own struggles. Kamala's daughter, Lakshmi, had 'thrown a bomb' when she told her mother that she's a lesbian. Like most Asian mothers (I am terribly lucky that my mother isn't in this category), Kamala has been fretting and chasing Lakshmi to have a boyfriend and married properly, probably since she graduated college. It's a typical problem faced by most Asian girls. 

🏬 Similar to Lakshmi's previous ordeal, Reva has also been 'terrorized' by her mother to marry soon. This including sending possible candidates every now and then, continually asking updates on her dates with the respective candidates, and tons of hints about marriage. Reva, also typical of Asian daughters, is always torn between obeying her mother and making her happy, and pursuing her own choice of living - a suitable career and a partner she really wants to get married with. Jason, on the other hand, is a 'fish-out-of-water', so to speak. He fled from England following a painful break with his girlfriend, and just picking Chennai to be his temporary dwelling. His struggles is in burying the painful past, and adapting into his new surroundings. I loved it that both Kamala and Reva, as well as Mani, are accepting him with warm affection, that he soon finds his bearing, and starts to feeling himself again in no time (while cooking more and more Indian cuisine, which won Kamala's approval).

🏬 In the midst of their personal struggles, though, there looming another problem that will have had bigger impact on all of them. A big construction company has been pestering Mani to sell the apartment building, as they wanted to build more modern ones. Mani refused to do that, and now they are throwing threats. A lawyer (Kamala's best friend) is bringing the case to the court, and now they are just waiting nervously for their future. Would Kamala have to leave this apartment she has been staying for years, and must she find a new one in her age? Would Jason, who has just found his bearing in this apartment, have to be moving again? Amid these restless moments, Kamala, Reva, and Jason are always affectionately supporting each other. Could they save Grand Life Apartments in the end?

🏬 Like I said, this book turned out to be not like typical Asian novels. We are entertained by many Indian cuisines and cultural manners, as well as the most-related (to me personally) atmosphere of hot sunny days, mosquitoes, and the ceiling fan humming. But Sukumar could weave the story around it beautifully, that it never felt overwhelming. It is a gentle, heartwarming story, and Hema Sukumar is definitely my new favorite Asian writer!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Ten Teacups (1937) by Carter Dickson

☕ Although I'm a fan of simple but ingenious murder mysteries - such as what Agatha Christie had often delivered - every now and then I could also enjoy the impossible and intricate ones. The Ten Teacups was one of those. Moreover, it's written by John Dickson Carr - whose pen name of Carter Dickson was too obvious to be hidden from public. And this was my first introduction to Sir Henry Merrivale, the brain of this murder-series, who was accompanied by Chief Inspector Humphrey Master from Scotland Yard, and the young and bright Detective-Sergeant Bob Pollard. Merrivale is an old barrister and head of military intelligent of war office in England. 

☕ The mystery begins with an anonymous letter that Masters received, bearing the message that "There will be ten teacups at number 4, Berwick Terrace, W.8, on Wednesday, July 31st, at 5 p.m. Precisely. The presence of the Metropolitan Police is respectfully requested." Masters' immediate action is to consult Sir Henry Merrivale (or HM, as people usually call him), because the letter reminded Masters of another similar letter the Scotland Yard had received two years previously, which ended on an unsolved locked-room murder mystery. The police had then found ten teacups (empty) laid on the table near the body. This time, though, Masters is more prepared; he instructed his men to watch the house (number 4, Berwick Terrace, which was an empty house on-sale), and Sergeant Pollard to get the key from the agent, and hide himself inside. Despite of these precautions, Vance Keating was dead after having been shot twice, and ten teacups were found near his body, although the police never saw any other person entering the house.

☕ The most interesting part of a locked-room mystery is always the technicality of the murder. How was it performed while there's no one possibly inside the room? But here, the police were also struck by the similarity of it with the previous ten teacups mystery. Were the two connected, or even committed by the same murderer? One thing that they could connect was that both the houses were belonged to the same person. And this man, along with his wife, are the victim's friends. They are the suspects, along with three other friends. What puzzled HM and Masters at the early stages, was why had the murderer not brought the ten teacups with him when he left the place? Were they meant to be a symbol, perhaps? Was there even a ten-teacups-secret society perhaps? What ensued from these, were a combination of theories, interviews, and some actions in the end - the theories (presented by HM) are rather the dominant part compared to the rest.

☕ All in all, this was a solid intricate and impossible locked-room murder mystery. The one which, when you passed one solution, and then the second one, you would forget the previous one. I could remember the murderer, all right. Though I have expected Dickson Carr had given the murderer's more "stage" to elaborate on their motive, rather than reading HM's long-stretch of denouement - a dry explanation that made you a bit sleepy. And my problem with these impossible locked-room mysteries is the technicality. I couldn't possibly know, for instance, whether if you pointed a particular type of gun to a particular angle, it would produce a shot at a certain point, could I? No, it is much simpler to follow the technicality of how human psychology works than these weapons and what not. Nonetheless, this had been a quite entertaining one, though the solution was not what I have expected.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026

hosted by Carol @ Carol's Notebook

Dim Sum of All Fears (2018) by Vivien Chien

 

🥟 Following Vivien Chien's debut series of Death by Dumpling, which was okay. I have bigger expectation for the second book, but unfortunately, this has been a little off for me. Our sleuth, Lana Lee, has plan for her future career, which does not involve waiting tables at the family restaurant of Ho Lee Noodle House, located in the Asian Village business complex. However, just days before her coming interview at a professional office, her parents announced that they would go to Taiwan visiting an ailing old aunt. And, they wanted Lana to be in charge of the restaurant, instead of her sister Anna May, who's studying for her law school - which is more important than Lana's current idle existence. And so, like a dutiful Asian child, she relented.

🥟 Lana has just been befriended another bookworm like herself. A few months ago, a newlywed couple opened a souvenir store next door, and the wife has been a kind and gentle person, with whom Lana liked to book-shopping with. However, a terrible thing happened; one night the couple was brutally murdered inside their shop. So, once again, Lana couldn't stop herself from meddling and snooping into the murder case; intending to find the murderer of such a kind woman who was her friend. Of course, her new boyfriend, Detective Adam Trudeau, scolded her for snooping, but how can she resisted anyway? Not when 

🥟 First of all, there's too many dramas around the sleuthing. And I always hate drama! Well, a few dramas to spice up is still okay, but in this case, a lot of Lana's sleuthing came from these dramas. The dead husband turned out to have not one, but two ex wives (and possibly one ex-lover - I have lost count). And 'miraculously' these ex wives, as well as the wife's sister, suddenly wanted to have heart-to-heart conversations with Lana. That must have been every detective's dream, I guess. I still can't imagine how strangers would want to speak with a friend of the deceased (after a murder, no less). And they even answered some of Lana's questions, which would have seemed suspicious to normal people. But there you are. These ex wives even turned tantrums at times. :( Maybe too many women in a crime story is a bad idea after all!

🥟 What I would have expected from this second book of the series, are, first, more noodle dishes to be mentioned, in particular the dim sum that the writer put in the title. Where is the dim sum?! And secondly, I would love to see more of Adam Trudeau, the detective, in the investigation, rather than only as possible boy friend to the sleuth, and who would later on appear when she was in danger, saved her, while saying: I've-told-you-not-to-snoop-look-what-you've-done' kind of thing. Which what I assumed to have happened, because - a confession - I ditched the book right after the murderer was revealed. I lost interest of the final outcome. So, that's how this series turned up for me. A promising one at first, but unfortunately, a disappointing sequel. Another series I won't continue in the future. If only Vivien Chien had put some dim sums into it, I would probably change my mind, because I love noodles and dim sums, and that had been my reason of picking this series in the first place.

Rating: ⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026

hosted by Carol @ Carol's Notebook

Cooking with Fernet Branca (2004) by James Hamilton-Paterson

 

🍷 Imagine reading a P.D. Wodehouse, but move the setting to Tuscany, then reduce the usual slapstick moments - just a tiny bit, and add a lot of cooking and unusual recipes - there, you'll get Cooking with Fernet Branca. The story revolve around two foreign neighbors in a secluded hilltop cottages in Tuscany. Both the rather snobbish English man Gerald Samper, and the Voynovian (a crime-riddled ex-Soviet Republic country) Marta, had bought their cottages from the same agent, who promised them both that they could live peacefully. A promise, which, with time, proved to be broken. Through a series of misunderstandings and, a Wodehousian miss-timing, the two neighbors found themselves struggled to maintain harmony.

🍷 Gerald "Gerry" Samper is a ghostwriter in need of a secluded place to write about the lives of celebrities - from sportsman to boyband singer. When he's in a foul mood, Samper turns to experimental cooking - creating eccentric dishes - with questionable delectability - with unusual ingredient-pairings. Indeed, one time, when he heard someone said "cats among the pigeons", Samper literally thought of cooking with cat's and pigeon's meat. Ugh! He even "shares" some of his recipes in the book. One particular ingredient that later on becomes his staple is Fernet Branca, a distinctive liquor first introduced by his new neighbor, Marta. Marta is a songwriter, who is currently hired by a famous Italian movie director named Pacini. When the unlikely neighbors first met, both thought the other ridiculous persons who's bragging about his/her profession. And these 'misunderstandings' continually formed hilarious moments throughout the book.

🍷 What makes this book more distinctive, is the structure. The story is told from both Gerald and Marta's point of view. They told it alternately, describing most of the scenes from their perspectives. While Gerald's parts are mostly read like a diary with additional cooking recipes, Marta's contains of diary and letters to her sister. From these, we gather little by little of her social and familial background, which spices up the story a bit. I won't describe the plot in details, for not spoiling it for you, because the comedic quality of this book depends on the plot and timing. In short, it's a delightful and hilarious book, with quirky characters, more quirky dishes, and with the rural Tuscany summer vibes - sprinkled with tiny glimpses of the glamourous world of celebrities, movie making, and helicopters.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

A Single Thread (2019) by Tracy Chevalier

 

🧵 I always love reading historical fictions about cathedral. Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth has started it all; I have read it twice so far, and my favorite part isn't the drama, but the cathedral. It has become a character in itself. One the other hand, Tracy Chevalier is one of my all time favorite historical fiction writers. Her Girl with a Pearl Earring is on another level; she is a tremendous writer, and I love her themes, which is usually around art or craft. A Single Thread even combines two of these - art and craft - as its main theme: embroidery and bell ringing. Both are related to the cathedral, and they have similarity too; both produce something that people might disregard as mere accessories in their worship and prayers. However, both need precision and focus in order to produce something beautiful. And the people who work on it took their efforts seriously, it's not a mere pastimes or hobby, but more of a second career. 

🧵 In the 1930s of Winchester, there are women who dedicated their times and energies to gather every Tuesday and Thursday night to embroider kneelers, bench cushions, alms bags, etc. They formed an embroidery club, and each has her own task to embroider. The end product would then be presented during a mass, and would be placed in the cathedral. Violet Speedwell, a spinster of thirty eight years old, was  the newest member. After losing, first her brother, then her fiancé during WWI, Violet has been living alone with her forever-criticizing mother. And when she's having had enough, she moved out from her home, and worked as typist for insurance company in Winchester. On one of her strolls, she entered the cathedral, and joined the embroidery club.

🧵 The embroidery club wasn't the only one Violet found in the cathedral. She became fascinated by the bell-ringers, especially the one called Arthur Knight - a sixty year old man, whose wife had been suffering from losing their only son in the WW1. The bell-ringers added more charm to this story, besides the main attraction of the embroidery club. Church bell is something you'd never think much of. You just hear it, and know someone - or some people - must have rung them on certain hour. But who would think bell ringing is such an intricate operation that needed focus, discipline, and dedication of a group of people? That the bells weren't just pulled at randomly, but forming some intricate patterns to produce a beautiful and harmonious sound? Both the broderers (that's what women who embroidered were called) and the bell-ringers were wonderful people who dedicated their time and efforts for the glory of God, and I really admired them.

🧵 Besides these themes, the story is also layered with more serious stuffs like freedom (and the lack of), independence, forbidden love, and rebellion (from convention). Like many other women post WW1, Violet could be put into the 'surplus woman' category. Neither she nor her family, or the society, knew what must be done for her future. For example, she couldn't go out alone, or else people (men) would either frown upon her, or worse, turn violent towards her. When she's going out with Arthur (okay, a married man, but surely one could go for lunch with one's friend without harm?), people gossiped. But when Violet befriended Gilda and Dorothy - fellow broderers who loved each other - people scorned at her. The 1930s was surely hell for single women to live in, for sure!

🧵 Like all Tracy Chevalier's I've read before, A Single Thread also started very slow. But that's what I liked from Chevalier. She put efforts in setting the atmosphere, then letting us readers to be immersed into the world she created, and lived with the characters, feeling both their triumphs and struggles. Although I didn't agree with Violet's act of rebellion - I think she put herself in a more vulnerable position than before - I could understand her frustration; her longing of total freedom. In a state of under-pressured, one could make reckless decision. I think that's what Violet had done. Anyway, this has been a lovely read. Though not as cheerful as you might expect, the arts of embroidery and bell-ringing are quite entertaining; not mentioning the atmosphere around the cathedral. I don't think I would listen to church bell quite the same way after this, although nowadays, there's only one bell and one ringer (at least at my local cathedral). But still, I don't think I would take the sound for granted any more.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐