Now that May’s books are all read, I’ve come to realize something: They are all mysteries.

Some are classic detective novels, but others are the result of journalists digging in to uncover mysteries about stolen children and how sausage used to be made.

Book 1: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Did you read The Jungle by muckraker Upton Sinclair back in high school? It’s haunted my brain ever since, so I downloaded a free copy to take a second look, 50 years (gulp!) later. I’d remembered the situation with the boy’s ears (won’t spoil this with details in case you plan to read it). It’s still harrowing.

Although this is a work of fiction, Sinclair researched his story by spending seven weeks in Chicago. It was the early 1900s, and he was trying to understand stockyards, slaughterhouses, their workers, and the struggle to survive.

The protagonist, Jurgis Rudkus, is a Lithuanian (then part of the Russian empire) immigrant, in search of the American dream. What starts out as a hopeful and joyous story slowly drains away to a fly-covered carcass. It’s heartbreaking.

The success of Sinclair’s chef d’oeuvre took a different turn than the one he’d intended. A Socialist, he wished to ignite labor reform. Instead, the book jumpstarted food-safety legislation as readers gagged over the slaughterhouse conditions. Sinclair famously commented: “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”

Book 2: Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

This was a needed bit of light reading, after the horror of The Jungle.

Turns out I much prefer Monsieur Poirot to take on one case at a time, as the character development (plus the head-scratching time to try to figure out who the culprit may be) is far richer. That said, this collection of short mysteries might well be a great way to be introduced to the quirky detective.

Book 3: Before and After by Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate

The subtitle of this book is: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society.

Up until reading this book, I was ignorant of the horrifying story of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society and its evil child-trafficking leader, Georgia Tann. This is another book that will haunt me.

The authors worked together to plan a reunion, of sorts, of the families associated with the now-grown (or deceased) orphans and carefully collected details of each story for this book. Heartbreaking on so many levels, but fascinating as the mysteries unfurled.

Book 4: The Diary of a Nobody by George & Weedon Grossmith

This book is great fun. Maybe it’s because our diarist, the nightmare-prone Charles Pooter, is quite the punster.

Originally published as a comic serial in Punch magazine in 1888-89, The Diary of a Nobody takes satirical cracks at the lower middle-class family’s attempt to be modern and sophisticated.

A part of the Folio Society library we inherited from Dad and Mom, The Diary of a Nobody gives me another reason to hope they were able to read most (or all) of the 550 volumes they collected over the years.

Book 5: The Nun by Denis Diderot

This one was a surprise. I was expecting The Nun’s Story, but got something more along the lines of An Unquenchable Thirst.

A novel released in 1796, The Nun follows the story of a teen who is forced to join a convent by a mother who wishes to hide a sin. The girl, Suzanne, simply doesn’t want to take vows and live in a religious community. Characters within the convent, though, make her life incredibly difficult and even dangerous.

This unsettling story, surprisingly, was written as a prank. Following the news that a nun had unsuccessfully petitioned the court to relieve her of her vows (back then, the government had this power), the author wrote Suzanne’s narrative and sent it to a friend who might have had the clout to step in and help her, had she existed. (The friend eventually forgave Diderot.)

Book 6: Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

Multiple mysteries in this detective novel, which involves a missing person and a dead body in a bathtub, wearing only a pair of gold pince-nez glasses.

Lord Peter Wimsey is Dorothy Sayers’ version of Hercule Poirot (or Jessica Fletcher if you prefer television mysteries). He figures it out, but not until we’ve met quite a variety of interesting characters.

Book 7: The Unlucky Family by Mrs. Henry de la Pasture

This book is categorized as classic children’s literature. I’m not sure I’d want to give any child ideas for this sort of mischief!

The Victorian-era Chubb family faces the question of why they’re so unlucky. This gently satirical story unravels the answer as we learn the family includes 11 children and two ridiculous parents.

Book 8: The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Write by Steve Turner

Since I turned 64 this month, it seemed appropriate to page through The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Write.

The book examines each Beatles song, in the order they were written (each song gets its own short chapter). There are notes about when and where each tune was written, and by whom. Additionally, there are stories about outside influences on the songwriters: whether nudged on by other artists’ work, scars of loss from Paul and John’s childhoods, each Beatles’ love life, or world events.

Oh. And lots of fab photos.

One of my Beatles-loving sons gave this to me several years ago (I think we’ve got it narrowed down to John – thank you, lad) and I’m glad to have it among other reference books here in my study.

As a PSA: please note that many of the older books mentioned above are available free online.

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