How are you? I hope you’re all doing okay physically. I hope your families are okay. Work can be rough right now, too. Let us know how you’re doing.
What are you reading this week? I’m reading escapism. First, I finished a Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich (reviewing on Saturday, but a book with problems). Now, I’m back to historical romance. They got me through the first couple weeks of COVID. I hope Lorraine Heath’s Beauty Tempts the Beast works for right now. Beauty and the Beast, in whatever format, has always been one of my favorite fairy tales. It works great for historical romance.
How about you? What are you reading? Are you able to read right now? And, again, how are you?
Reading, yes. We're status quo here. Jackie is finishing THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB at my recommendation. She also read Pete Souza's book of photographs and commentary after I read it: SHADE.
Besides the F. Scott Fitzgerald stories, I have started Erle Stanley Gardner's HOW CASH, COLD CLEWS: THE ADVENTURES OF LESTER LEITH, a new collection of pulp stories first published in the early Depression years. They have the same propulsive momentum as all of Gardner's stories. Fun.
Nearly finished with Hilary Mantel's colleciton of pieces from theLondon Review of Books, MANTEL PIECES, which I am enjoying even though I've never heard of any of the books she reviewed. They cover the French Revolution (one each on Robespierre and Danton and Marie Antoinette), Christopher Marlowe, the James Bulger murder, and playwright John Osborne, among others.
I really enjoyed CROWNCHASERS by Rebecca Coffindaffer, though it does leave things with something of a cliffhanger for the sequel, which will be forthcoming.
I hope to finish the latest Karen Pirie Cold Case book by Val McDermid, STILL LIFE. Pirie's hateful boss shoves her onto a merely two year old case, as it might be connected to an older murder she has come across. I like this series.
I have the new Margaret Mizushima on the Cloud to read next.
Morning Lesa!
I hope you've managed to catch up on your sleep – and your sanity (not that that is ever in question…)
I am definitely reading – I have read far more this year than I have for some time, but that's partly because I am no longer working. I find books really do keep me going.
Having finished A Stranger on the Bar, the excellent memoir I was reading about the herring industry workers in the Broch (Fraserburgh, NE coast) by Christian Watt Marshall, I found it difficult to decide what to read next. I started a novel called The Gordonston Ladies' Dog Walking Club, but it just did not engage me at all. I stupidly thought it would be set in Gordonstoun, a small town in northern Scotland, home of a very famous private school (Prince Charles was sent there, he hated it – at the time it was extremely barbaric and took boys only, they say that his father thought he needed 'toughening up'. Now it takes girls too, and when I visited it with one of my daughters for a Scottish Country Dancing competition it seemed very nice.) Anyway, this book was instead located in a smart housing development somewhere in Georgia. I found the author's style hard to read and gave up.
So now I'm reading Flambards, which is really classed as a children's book – it was written in 1967 by KM Peyton, and is has several sequels. The first book begins in the early 20th century, when an orphaned girl is sent to live with her irascible uncle in his crumbling mansion (Flambards). With him are living his two sons, the mother having died. The father and elder son are obsessed with horses and hunting, the younger one loathes both and wants to be involved in the nascent aviation industry. The father has been crippled in a hunting accident, so now lives his life through his sons. He has a violent temper and this is regularly taken out on them both, especially the younger one.
I have a feeling that this was in fact a set book when I was at school, but I'm pretty sure I – stroppy madam that I was about making my own choice of books – refused to read it. Coming to it all these years later I am enjoying it, the writing is smooth and the descriptions vivid. I just hope no horses die before I get to the end….The books were adapted for a very successful TV series some years ago.
I have just been sorting through my shelves here in Edinburgh before we head back up to Deeside tomorrow evening. A twitter friend has decided to collect together her Christmassy books and read those in the run-up to the holiday, so I thought I'd see what I have. I imagined I'd find one of two, but I am already up to at least ten – some are more about winter, snow and ice than Christmas itself, but that counts so far as I am concerned. I'll not get through all of them, but I enjoy a bit of themed reading sometimes.
The only other things I have been doing down here are going to the dentist, browsing one of two charity bookshops, visiting my mother, and going for long walks – I much prefer to do those out in the countryside, but the city is better than nothing! And luckily our house here is very near the dock, and we can walk along to the harbour at Newhaven, where you can see the stunning design of the new Forth Crossing in the distance, and there are often beautiful sunsets too.
I'm also working my way through season 4 of Line of Duty, which is just as good as the earlier ones. Jed Mercurio is so clever at weaving the central plot through every season; you think you are watching a completely new story, and you are, but the thread of police corruption, and the question of who is really behind it, connects every season. I suppose he will only reveal the truth when the BBC stop commissioning new series?!
Flambards! When we first visited friends in Suffolk in 1978, he recommended the Flambards series to Jackie. I remember buying paperbacks of the books and she read them. There was definitely a television version that we watched too. It was made for ITV in 1979 and was shown in the States in 1980. There were 13 episodes, based on the three books.
Well remembered Jeff! I had no idea it had made its way to the US. There used to be a serial of some kind on the BBC every Sunday afternoon – it was usually something that would appeal to children and adults. One that I remember well is Nina Bawden's Carrie's War – it was the first time I had ever heard the name Hepzibah.
I think the Flambards house is supposed to be set in Essex – I suppose that used to be rural, but very little of it is now – though they still have Epping Forest, so that's something. Suffolk is a beautiful area – I remember driving to Saffron Walden to see a client when I was a trainee solicitor in Cambridge, and being so taken with all the little painted houses. Many of these villages were major centres in the days of the wool trade, so still have huge churches and cathedrals even though they are now commuter/holiday home backwaters.
Jeff – I have just seen that Val McDermid has a new short story collection out – 'Christmas is Murder'. It has a beautiful cover – sadly I don't know how to post a picture, but this link might work:
https://www.waterstones.com/book/christmas-is-murder/val-mcdermid/9780751583045
You know what I love most about my blog? I love the fact that people talk about books and TV and life with each other, not just me.
Jeff, I'm happy to hear Jackie is finishing The Thursday Murder Club. I just found it fun. Karen Pirie. Karen Pirie. I'm repeating it so I remember to look it up.
Rosemary, As always, I enjoy your descriptions of life as much as your book comments. Thank you.
Jeff, the new Margaret Mizushima is a good one
Rosemary, our friends lived in a small town called Sweffling (which sis actually in Wikipedia!), near Saxmundham. He would take me book hunting to Norwich as well as Southwold, Lowestoft, Framlingham and Great Yarmouth.
Good morning.
Nothing has really changed here since we’re still sticking close to home so I’ve had plenty of time to read. But it hasn’t made a dent in my TBR pile since a lot of my library holds have been coming in.
This week I finished a middle grade book, THE WILD ROBOT ESCAPES by Peter Brown. It’s the sequel to The Wild Robot which I had listened to with my boyfriend. It’s a cute series about a robot who becomes something different than her makers intended.
An ARC of HOLIDAY HEXES by JL Collins. A cozy mystery set in Santa’s workshop.
OVER THE WOODWARD WALL by Seanan McGuire writing as A Deborah Baker. Two children who have to detour on their way to school find their way blocked by a wall. They climb it, wind up in a different land, and have to find their way back home. This wasn’t a long book and it ends in the middle of the story which I found annoying. I would have preferred a longer book that wrapped everything up.
CHARMING THE SKEPTIC by Wynter Daniels. A paranormal romance featuring a television host who debunks hauntings who winds up in a town where ghosts and magic are a way of life.
An ARC of OF MASQUES AND MURDERS by Maureen Klovers. A cozy mystery set in NY state featuring a sixty something Italian grandmother as the sleuth.
It was a breathless weekend, centered around Halloween and my grandson's 4th birthday, and it was wonderful to have the whole family together. This week I'm "catching up" and trying not to be breathless about the current political situation. I managed to finish 3 books.
In the short, sweet memoir, NOBODY WILL TELL YOU THIS BUT ME, TV writer Bess Kalb talks about her relationship with her outgoing grandmother, who was her close buddy and supporter until her death at age 90 in 2017. Kalb illustrates her story with voicemail transcriptions, emails, and more. She also discusses the lives of her mother and her great-grandmother, who immigrated to the United States from Belarus. It's a charming book about a special relationship
In Natalie Jenner's THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY, several residents of, and visitors to, a small town in rural England where Jane Austen had lived at one time, get together in 1945 to celebrate her life and save her home from a possible takeover from real estate developers or distant relatives. They include a middle-aged spinster whose cruel father's death leaves her in a tenuous financial situation, her father's long-time attorney, the town's widowed physician, a once-vivacious schoolteacher who has lost her entire family, a farmer with a difficult past, an estimator from Sotheby's, and a renowned movie star. And then there's the teenaged house maid who has secretly catalogued all of the thousands of volumes and keepsakes in Jane Austen's former library. It's an interesting and heart-warming story.
In MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY by Winifred Watson, written in 1938 and made into a movie much more recently, Guinevere Pettigrew is a middle-aged woman desperately looking for a new governess position so she can afford to pay her rent. She is mistakenly sent to the home of Delysia LaFosse, where the young, wealthy singer is desperately trying to resist several beaux who are pursuing her. Despite her humble background, Miss Pettigrew is somehow able to sort out the situation, and in the process she is sucked into spending the day with socialites, wearing beautiful clothes, going to a party and a nightclub, and living a life she has never experienced. It's a charming period piece, made up mostly by dialogue and breathless description. I read it for two Zoom clubs–one a book club with the theme "book to movie) and one a movie review club. Haven't watched the movie yet, but I remember enjoying it in the past.
This week I finished A LADY'S GUIDE TO MURDER AND MISCHIEF by Dianne Freeman. This series is easy and fun. Lady Harleigh's sister is getting married and several accidents occur raising suspicions that the groom is the intended victim of malice.
Next I read WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND BRAVE by Hazel Gaynor. I really enjoyed this one. It is told in alternating chapters of Nancy Plummer and her teacher, Elspeth Kent, at Cherfoo, a missionary school in China during WWII. The school is taken over by the Japanese and the entire school is moved to Weihsien for the remaining 4 years of the occupation. The young girls were members of the Girl Guides and the principles of the organization were a driving force to help their survival. After reading this book, I went down the Google rabbit hole and read about Mary Taylor Previte who I think the character of Nancy was based on. She ended up being a member of the NJ State Assembly. I also read about Eric Liddell known as the Flying Scotsman, a gold medal Olympic runner who died at the camp in 1945. Always a sign of good historical fiction when you want to learn more.
Now I am trying to read THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES by Alix E. Harrow. I hope to get a chunk of it read this afternoon to see if I continue on or shelf it for later when I am in a better place.
We have been catching up with Doc Martin on Acorn TV and really enjoyed The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Rebecca on that we streamed on Netflix.
I have been so disillusioned with the election results and the ongoing events since that I am having a hard time focusing on much of anything. Added on to that the record COVID number spikes in Ohio make the chances of my daughter and her family traveling from Chicagoland for Thanksgiving looking rather slim. Right now I feel like I am just walking around in a fog. But this too shall pass. Apologies for oversharing.
This has been month end close at work. It's been challenging, mainly because my brain doesn't want to concentrate on anything. After the last couple of months, I've hit a wall, and I need some down time. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening until after the first of the year.
Reading wise, I'm still devouring books. Which brings us to the book I'm reading right now – FINAL FONDUE by Maya Corrigan. I'm enjoying it, although I'm ready for the plot to kick it up a notch. My guess is it will in a few pages and become hard to put down after that.
Sandy, I'm with you on the books that could be completed without cliffhangers.
Question about Masques and Murders. Does the book treat the grandmother well – not as a doddering old woman at 60?
Well. After reading like a crazy person this year at an average of 2 books a day, I have hit a wall. Can't find a book that satisfies and can't concentrate long enough to get through a full sentence. I've read one book this week And it was only so-so. My wish is for a new day dawning with some drama free normalcy. And a really good book.
Margie, I love how everyone has a book that fits their moods or taste. I read Nobody will Tell You This But Me. I liked parts of it, and felt other parts were slow. I found it just okay. Now, The Jane Austen Society has been on my eventually read list for a while. Thanks to you, it's going to stay on the list, and won't be crossed off.
You are not oversharing, Sharon. I hate that COVID has separated families and keep them apart for special occasions. I don't think there's one of us who hasn't had our lives disrupted. I'm lucky no one in my family has lost their life to it, but it's changed everything about our lives.
And, I've been in a political fog since Tuesday. I get it.
Mark, I think of you and hope you're hanging in. I hate that you might not get any relief until the first of the year. Take care of yourself.
It's a bad time to try to read, Kaye. I understand. Sending love and hugs.
Don't have time right now for my books, but I thought I'd check in.
The time change really got to me. We voted to abolish it, but a small bunch of anonymous, unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in an energy commission so obscure nobody's ever heard of it are thwarting the will of the people. That's just how things work in California. No wonder half of the people I went to school with live in other states.
Lesa,
Rita is definitely not a doddering old grandmother in Masques and Murders. She’s more of a force to be reckoned with.
Glen, Thank you. I would have worried if I hadn't heard from you. I wish the entire country would abolish the time change. That stinks that a bunch of unelected bureaucrats can stop a process when the voters approved it. Just ridiculous.
Ah, then the book might be worth looking for, Sandy. Thank you!
Jeff, I think Lester Leith is one of Gardner's best pulp characters, second only to Ed Jenkins, the Phantom Crook. I keep waiting for C&L to reprint the Speed Dash stories, so I can finally read them.
I read:
Welcome to the Wasteland Commandos; a parody of Hunger Games type books. Probably better than most of the books it parodies.
Pure Drivel by Steve Martin; In the 70's, no one was funnier than Steve Martin, but like many comedians, now he just makes lame Disney type movies. This book is mildly amusing, his 70's books are light years better.
Sea Hunter by Paul Garrison; A charter boat captain and a wild life film maker find an animal that looks like a large dolphin, but is something much more dangerous. Average creature feature.
All Hallow's Eve heist by Anna Celeste Burke; Georgie Shaw and her super cop boyfriend stop a heist at a theme park. A cozy without a puzzle.
Angel Eyes by Loren D. Estlemann; Early book in the Amos Walker series. Back when they thought being a jerk passed for a personality.
Thank you, Glen. I always enjoy your comments.
I read Mirror, Mirror a vook of shortish stories by 5 authors based on fairy tales…I think my favorite was by R.C. Ryan based on Cinderella.
Mirror, Mirror sounds like an interesting collection, Gram.
A winter storm is blowing in. Good chance for our first precipitation since June. Several of the high mountain passes will be closing. So a perfect time to curl up by the fire and read!
About a quarter of the way in to Fredrik Backman's latest, Anxious People. I enjoy his style of writing, constantly refreshing the point of view.
Just finished Winter Counts by David Heska Warbling Weider. The setting is a Lakota Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The author adds a unique personal perspective, unfortunately a hackneyed plot.
Lesa, I'm glad you took an opportunity to visit with your mother. We never know what tomorrow will bring.
Oh, Mo. You sound content, but the winter storm sounds like one of my worst nightmares. I hate winter & cold weather. But, I'm sure you need the precipitation.
You're right. I'm glad I went home one last time this year. We don't know about tomorrow, or even if we'll personally see tomorrow.