Blogger-Inspired Wishlist Ep. 6: A Mixed-Genre Compilation

Blogger-Inspired Wishlist is a feature where I post recent additions to my wish list, which had been inspired by reviews from my fellow bloggers. It includes some synopsis, as well as some excerpts of the review which have intrigued me, complete with a link to the blogger's original post.

A memoir, two crime fictions, two love stories, one historical fiction, and one reflective novel. That's what I've compiled this time, thanks to reviews/post of these amazing book bloggers:

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

Inspired by Liz @ Adventures in reading, running and working from home 

Synopsis:
Shot through with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one-percenters, Pineapple Street is an addictive, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, lovable—if fallible—characters, it’s about the peculiar unknowability of someone else’s family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love—all wrapped in a deliciously funny, sharply observed debut of family, love, and class.

From Liz's review:
"It’s often very funny, skewering family pretensions, and there’s a hilarious note near the end where a house basically takes its own revenge, but also there’s quite a lot about how difficult it is to be super-rich and not know whether people are going to take advantage of you, explaining why the super-rich only hang out together.

It’s also competently written and plotted and nicely structured; we don’t realise until a long way through the book the import of the person centred in the Prelude, for instance, and there are some plot doublings and echoes that come to light as we progress which are very nicely done. And there is a lot of humour in it."

A Summer Surprise at the Little Blue Boathouse by Christie Barlow

Inspired by Liz @ Adventures in reading, running and working from home 

Synopsis:
When Bea Fernsby discovers her fiancé’s eyes have been wandering, she calls off the wedding and hits the road. The village of Heartcross in the Scottish Highlands is about as far away from home as she can get, and when she stumbles into the ideal summer job at The Little Blue Boathouse and meets gorgeous vacationer Nolan Hemingway, things finally start looking up.

Now, as an old mystery surfaces and Bea and Nolan band together to find out what happened to his late grandfather’s one true love, fate throws Bea some unexpected curveballs…and promising opportunities.

From Liz's review:
"I loved the details of running the boathouse which we find out as Bea learns the ropes, and there’s a super theme about keeping people safe. Not to mention there’s a light aircraft towing a proposal that offers a tantalising glimpse of the next novel to come … Long may Barlow keep producing these delightful novels!"

When in French by Lauren Collins

Inspired by Simon @ Stuck in Books 

Synopsis:
When in French is a laugh-out-loud funny and surprising memoir about the lengths we go to for love, as well as an exploration across culture and history into how we learn languages—and what they say about who we are. Collins grapples with the complexities of the French language, enduring excruciating role-playing games with her classmates at a Swiss language school and accidentally telling her mother-in-law that she’s given birth to a coffee machine. In learning French, Collins must wrestle with the very nature of French identity and society—which, it turns out, is a far cry from life back home in North Carolina. Plumbing the mysterious depths of humanity’s many forms of language, Collins describes with great style and wicked humor the frustrations, embarrassments, surprises, and, finally, joys of learning—and living in—French.

Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham

Inspired by Simon @ Stuck in Books 

Synopsis:
The imperious Great Aunt Caroline Faraday runs her old Cambridge residence like a Victorian fiefdom, unconcerned with the fact that it's 1931. Furniture and meals are heavy and elaborate, both motorcars and morning tea are forbidden on account of vulgarity. The Faraday children--now well into middle age--chafe at the restrictions, but with no money of their own, they respond primarily by quarreling amongst themselves. The illustrious Faraday family endless squabbling is tedious, but the tense tranquility is punctured when Nephew Andrew vanished without trace one Sunday morning after church, only to be found dead in a secluded stream.

Albert Campion must untangle a web of family resentments, little does he expect to be greeted by a band of eccentric relatives all at daggers with each other. He must unravel a chillingly ingenious plot, strewn with red herrings to get to the real secret of the Faradays.

From Simon's review:
"It’s a very satisfying solution, with enough clues along the way that we don’t feel cheated. I loved the set up with the horrendous family. I don’t remember finding Allingham’s writing so enjoyably funny and dramatic before, so this was a goody."

The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag

Inspired by Marian @ Classics Considered

Synopsis:
In the Altai Mountains of northern Mongolia, the nomadic Tuvan people’s ancient way of life is colliding with the pervasive influence of modernity. The first and only member of the Tuvans to use written language to tell stories, Galsan Tschinag chronicles their traditions in this fascinating, bittersweet novel.

From Marian's review:
"As with so many great novels from around the world, it was the universality of the themes that really grabbed me. In fact, much of the book reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series—she, too, was writing autobiographical fiction from a child’s perspective, and both authors lived hard lives compared to our modern-day circumstances.

Loss features in both stories, as well as farming practices and hardships. it carried a sincere gentleness that I did enjoy, and the uniqueness of the setting makes it very worthwhile. There is beauty, joy, and sorrow here, but no romanticism."

The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams

Inspired by Brona @ This Reading Life

Synopsis:
It is 1914, and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, women must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who live on a narrowboat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press. The Bookbinder of Jericho is a story about knowledge--who creates it, who can access it, and what truths get lost in the process.

From Brona's review:
"Through Peggy’s eyes we see the hardwork, effort and pride that went into making these lovely editions. She loves books and words and grabs any chance to read a line, a paragraph or a page. For most of the girls though it is just a job. For Peggy it is a chance to gather knowledge, soak up new ideas and glimpse another world. One where a poor, working class girl can not only get an education but attend the women’s college, Somerville, just across the road from the bindery. The Bookbinder of Jericho has a lot more to offer lovers of well-researched historical fiction than a ‘town and gown’ story. There’s the war of course, and the story of the nurses and female ambulance drivers. The Bookbinder of Jericho is a rich, satisfying story full of memorable characters and fascinating historical details."

Murder on Black Swan Lane Andrea Penrose

Inspired by Hamlette (Rachel) @ The End of the Precipice

Synopsis:
In Regency London, an unconventional scientist and a fearless female artist form an unlikely alliance to expose unspeakable evil . . .

The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London’s most popular satirical cartoonist, A.J. Quill, skewers them both. But then the clergyman is found slain in a church—his face burned by chemicals, his throat slashed ear to ear—and Wrexford finds himself the chief suspect.

From Rachel's review:
"The whole book is thoroughly enjoyable, especially if you enjoy lots of Regency slang and fashion and other period-correct details, plus a dastardly plot to untangle, but without delving into sordidity. Although there are some ugly murders, and some violence toward children, the book does not devolve into grisly, preferring to remain grimy but not gruesome."

Have you own/read these books? Can you guess which book I've instantly bought after this? ;)