1) The Historian by Elizabeth Kostov. I loved The Swan Thieves by this author, but for some reason, kept putting off reading The Historian. I think because it was about Dracula, which didn't interest me. However, for whatever reason, I decided to read it, and I ended up really liking it!
It's the story of a young girl who found an unusual book in her father's library. The book was all blank pages except for the middle, where there was a woodcut of a dragon. As she learns more about the book and her father's adventures, her father disappeared and she was left with both trying to find her father and trying to figure out all of the mysteries involved with the book. It is very much a historical thriller.
And the book is not really about Dracula, per se. It is more about the daughter's quest, and learning the history what her father (and others) had been studying and searching for over the years.
Fascinating book.
2) The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis. This was a good read.
The story started with a 1929 obituary for 14 year old Quincy Kratt. Quincy was the son of the owner of the Kratt Mercantile Company in Bound, South Carolina. It was believed that a worker at the store, Charlie, had shot and killed Quincy. The Kratt family was considered an important family in town, and consisted of the parents, their two daughters, Judith and Rosemarie, and their son Quincy. Sixty years later, Judith was still living in the Kratt family home, with a housekeeper, Olva, when she received a postcard for her sister Rosemarie stating that she was coming to the home. Rosemarie had left home at age 13, right after Quincy was killed.
With Rosemarie returning home, Judith decided that it was time to inventory the old house and all of the belongings in the house. Her inventory taking led to the story playing out in the book.
This is rather like an old Southern story, full of secrets and love. I quite liked it!
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