I hope we all had a better week weather-wise than last week. It doesn’t sound as if the weather has been as crazy. Ours is a little chilly for us, in the low thirties in the morning, but we’re supposed to warm up next week. It has been good weather to cuddle with the cats while reading, though.
I’m reading a comfort read, the thirty-fifth Krewe of Hunters novel by Heather Graham. Everyone knows I love this series, even though the books are a little formulaic after thirty-five of them. This one is set in New Orleans, where a young woman who twice saved families from house fires, thanks to warnings from the ghost of her Granny K, meets up with the man investigating the latest fire in the Garden District. Of course, there’s suspense, murder, romance, New Orleans, and ghosts.
What about you? What are you reading this week? We’re all waiting to read your posts!
Hello, everyone. I got my Moderna booster yesterday–yes! And it’s been a good reading week.
I’m always wary of an author’s next book after the previous one has blown me away, but I needn’t have worried. TJ Klune’s UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR is very different from The House in the Cerulean Sea, and impressive in a quite unexpected way. As portrayed in the first chapter, Wallace is a lawyer who is devoid of compassion and human kindness and who lives only to satisfy himself. When he finds himself attending his own funeral after succumbing to a heart attack, he is surprised by the indifference of his business partners and the vicious “eulogy” given by his ex-wife. A “reaper,” a young woman named Mei, forcibly leads him to a tea shop housed in a crooked 4-story house that looks like it could tip over (see the book cover) and introduces him to Hugo, a 30-year-old man whose job it is to help newly deceased individuals to “cross over” to the next phase of their existence when they’re ready. At first hostile and unbelieving, Wallace spends weeks adjusting to his non-corporeal status and the people he meets at the tea house (many of whom can’t see or hear him) and coming to terms with the life he has lived. What he ultimately decides to do before moving on and how it affects those around him (Mei, Hugo, Hugo’s also-dead grandfather and dog, as well as others in need–both dead and living) is the crux of the story. I found it profoundly moving and tear-inducing. It also made me want to be a better person.
If you like the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from a Hallmark Christmas movie, you will probably get the same feeling from THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING GUEST, the first book in a new series by the prolific Susan Mallery. Two sisters with romantic relationship issues, their mother who wants the big wedding she and their father never had, a rock star, two ex-boyfriends, two special dogs, an elementary school class, a pregnancy, and a Christmas-loving small town named Wishing Tree–they’re all there. And while it’s predictable, it’s also a pleasant and undemanding way to spend some time. I enjoyed it.
I finally read Jackie Fraser’s THE BOOKSHOP OF SECOND CHANCES, and it far exceeded my expectations, based on Lesa’s and Kaye’s reviews. Something about middle-aged (in their forties) Thea and Edward grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. Thea takes a break from her daily life after finding out her husband of 14 years has betrayed her with one of her friends. Traveling from England to Scotland to take possession of a house left to her by a relative, she decides to stay a while, taking a temporary job in a bookshop owned by curmudgeonly Edward. He is an extremely cranky (but attractive) man who has bedded many women to spite his younger brother but has never found love. They form an uneasy bond, even though Edward has sworn never to employ a woman. Much of the fun of this book for me is in the dialogue between Thea, who is more upbeat than expected given her circumstances, and Edward, who manages to be appealing despite his bad temper and off-putting attitude. I loved it so much! Bonus: One of the characters mentions a book titled Like a Pendulum Do. Though I’ve never heard of the book (it does exist), I immediately recognized the title as a lyric in Roger Miller ‘s song, “England Swings” and found I was able to sing correctly all of the lyrics of the chorus. Ah, the 1960s!
I am so impressed by the amount and depth of research Ann Parker has done to make her Silver Rush Mysteries authentic, as well as exciting, which is evident in her latest, THE SECRET IN THE WALL. Early books in the 8-book series were set in the silver boomtown of Leadville, Colorado, where protagonist Inez Stannert was co-owner of a saloon. A few books back, she and her 12-year-old ward, Antonia, daughter of a deceased fortune teller, moved to San Francisco, where she now owns a music shop, makes loans to deserving female entrepreneurs, and enjoys a bit of backroom poker. Antonia has proven to be a challenge to raise, engaging her younger friend in adventures that imagine pirates and coded messages. At the same time, Inez has joined with the owner of a boarding house to buy the adjacent property, and they are shocked to find a skeleton and a bag of gold coins–not to mention a glass eye–when breaking through the wall. Street-smart, self-sufficient Inez is a wonderful character who refuses to take no for an answer and doesn’t fear to tread where women rarely dared to go in the late 1880s. Antonia is also a revelation–bright and headstrong, needing a firm hand when it comes to following her passions, especially when they lead to trouble. Secondary characters include locksmiths, veterans of the Civil War (both sides), detectives, lawyers, would-be suitors, and more. The local color adds to the thrill–including the SF Mint, the luxurious Palace Hotel, and Alcatraz prison, where a crafty criminal who demands chocolate may be able to provide some valuable information in the investigation. If you like your historical mysteries tightly plotted and well researched, with a thrilling ending, this book is for you. (Feb)
Thanks Margie for the heartfelt review of the Silver Rush series. I’ll have to give it a try.
Ah ha! Gotcha, Margie. I’m glad you enjoyed The Bookshop of Second Chances as much as Kaye & I did.
I haven’t read one of Ann Parker’s books in a while, in fact, since Inez left Leadville. It sounds as if I need to get back to them.
Lesa, I think I started the series when Inez moved to San Francisco, so I need to go back and read the ones in Colorado. By the way, Ann Parker is a lovely person who has contributed to our SinC newsletter. Have you met her?
Oh, I loved reading your post this morning. I love when someone can express their feelings about a book so strongly that it makes me want to read it right away. I’ll be diving into Under the Whispering Door very soon after reading your review. SO happy you enjoyed The Bookshop of Second Chances!
What a wonderful set of reviews to start Thursday at Lesa’s! I’ll be looking for Under the Whispering Door, for cert.
Wait, the library says it’s “a story of queer love”. Huh?
I haven’t read it, Rick, but that’s what I understand.
Earlier this week, I finished TROPICAL DEPRESSION, the third Sabrina Salter Mystery from C. Michele Dorsey. I loved it! So great to see the characters again.
Now, I’m working on MURDER AT MORRINGTON HALL by Clara McKenna, the first in a historical series set in 1905 England. It’s a bit slow moving so far, but I’m enjoying it.
C. Michele Dorsey is an author I’m not familiar with, Mark. In fact, since I just finished the forthcoming Serge Storms novel by Tim Dorsey, and with that title, Tropical Depression, I had to check to see if they were related.
I really like some historical series, but a number of them are slow to get going. I agree.
Good morning. For Halloween I read VAMPIRE JUNCTION by SP Somtow. A very strange book featuring a 2000 year old vampire who was turned at the age of 12. In this incarnation he’s a pop star who hires an analyst. Vampirism from a Jungian viewpoint, the story jumps around between his present and past as well as sections that jump to the thoughts of the other characters and you never quite know what’s real and what’s not.
UNFIXABLE by Donna Ball is a spin-off from her Raine Stockton series featuring former NC sheriff Buck Lawson. Looking to make a new start, Buck accepts a position as chief of police in Mercy, GA. When he arrives he finds that his predecessor was murdered, the wrong man was arrested, some of his officers are corrupt and, the mayor basically runs the town. I enjoyed this one and am looking forward to the next in the series.
Donna Ball writes such an interesting mix of books. Thanks for the review of Unfixable, Sandy. I’ll have to look for her mysteries.
Had a wonderful fall day yesterday, sunny, no wind, about 70 degrees. Just perfect!
I read a few books this week:
Rock, Paper, Scissors a new book by Alice Feeney
I’ve read other books by this author in the genre of psychological suspense. This one uses prosopagnosia (face blindness) as the hook. Mr & Mrs Wright win a weekend on the Scottish Coast in February. Adam and Amelia, and Robin. Nice shiftof in the final third of the book.
Liane Moriarty’s latest, Apples Never Fall, started off slow as all the characters were introduced, but then the pace picked up. A couple, their four adult children and a stranger that appears one night. The mystery resolves into the privilege of being able to return home.
The final portion of the story touched softly on the pandemic, social isolation, hearing birds singing instead of traffic.
I know Peter Lovesey is a good writer and storyteller via his short stories, but I’ve never read one of his novels. To see what I’ve been missing, I picked up his 2009 Skeleton Hill, the 10th case in his Peter Diamond Investigation series. Set in Bath, it starts off with a battle reenactment, which leads to a buried skeleton, then on to a murder in an historic cemetery. Fascinating bits, one clue depends on the difference between Russian and Ukrainian Cyrillic alphabet, another on horse DNA. A charming, fact based detective story, a nice balance of humor and suspense.
From a brief non-pertinent mention of “hutments”, I now know what a Nissen hut is and why it differs from the more familiar Quonset hut. The pleasures of reading!
Rounded out the week with the electronic version of the 1942 Agatha Christie short story The Case of the Perfect Maid. Miss Marple uncovers a pair of thieves, defending a “local girl” accused of the crime. I own a couple collections of Agatha Christie stories that occupy the “just in case I run out of something to read” section and I was just trying to imagine those circumstances. Hopefully not, but after the past couple years of shutdowns and power outages, anything is possible.
MM, Peter Lovesey is a terrific writer. I really liked his earlier serries – the first about Victorian-era Sgt. Cribb (starting with WOBBLE TO DEATH), and the amusing books about the dull-witted Prince of Wales (BERTIE AND THE TINMAN was the first), but some of his best work has been in non-series standalones, including THE FALSE INSPECTOR DEW, KEYSTONE and ROUGH CIDER.
Jeff, I really liked the Sgt. Cribb mysteries as well. I haven’t read Lovesey’s other ones, although he’s delightful to listen to when he and Barbara Peters from The Poisoned Pen discuss books.
MM, You made me laugh with your comment about trying to imagine the circumstances of running out of something to read. Right there with you.
MM – I also have a section for “just in case I run out of something to read”, which has now turned into “just in case the libraries and bookstores are closed and I have run out of something to read”. I never thought that would be a thing, but we now know it is a possibility.
True, but with me that “just in case I run out of something to read” ship has long since sailed. Besides the shelves of books here, I have 628 “unread books” on my Kindle. And that is really a lot more as it includes the Complete Works of Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, Edith Wharton, Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc. as well as 100 Books You Must Read Before You Die.
So yeah, not going to run out of reading material in my lifetime.
Yep, same here. The shelves alone would easily take me past my remaining years, and yes, that Kindle thing.
Good morning, one and all. Chilly here too, but not too bad. As usual, I am reading several things at once, so was able to complete a number of books since last week. In order then:
Patricia Highsmith, ELEVEN (aka THE SNAIL-WATCHER). Early short story collection. Creepy. I mentioned the two snail-related stories last time, and this is even weirder: her next collection (which I am currently reading), THE ANIMAL-LOVER’S BOOK OF BEASTLY MURDER, consists entirely of stories written from the perspective of animals! This starts with a camel with a miserable master, goes on to a truffle-hunting pig, a dog who lives in Manhattan, etc.
I really enjoyed THE BOYS by Ron (the majority of the book) and Clint Howard:. The subtitle is A Memoir of Hollywood and Family and that is an accurate description. If you have any interest in television from the late 1950s on, you could do a lot worse than this insider’s look at what it was really like. Good one.
Mark Rubinstein is a psychiatrist who edited THE STORYTELLERS, which is described as Straight Talk From the World’s Most Acclaimed Suspense & Thriller Authors. Almost everyone (and all the big names are here) talks about how no matter how successful they are, writing the books never gets easier. A few outline their books, but most don’t. This was an inexpensive Kindle purchase and well worth the money I paid. Heather Graham is one of the authors, Lesa, by the way, as are Michael Connelly, Lee Child, the late Sue Grafton, and many more. I liked it a lot. My kind of book.
Oops I’ve been summoned to make breakfast. Back shortly.
I think, Jeff, that I’ll pass on Patricia Highsmith. I do have The Boys at home, and I need to get to it. People are waiting for it at the library.
I also need to check to see if I bought The Storytellers after you mentioned it last week. I don’t always remember what I have on Kindle. Thank you!
The new Longmire by Craig Johnson.
My son has an appointment with the neurologist this morning. Fingers crossed that we get clearance to do the next brain wave scan and get that much closer to the start of process to take him off the anti seizure med.
Good luck, Kevin. I hope they can move ahead for Scott.
I’m back. Good luck, Kevin. I finished the Longmire yesterday.
Where was I? Oh, Jackie is reading the second in a Linda Lael Miller trilogy, COUNTRY PROUD (set in Montana). She has read a lot of her books, especially the trilogies.
After THE STORYTELLERS, I finished Alice McDermott’s WHAT ABOUT THE BABY?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction. It’s the kind of essay book I like but I wasn’t knocked out by it. I’ve never read one of her novels. I probably won’t.
I did enjoy HUNT IN THE DARK, a Crippen & Landru Lost Classics book by Q> Patrick, which has two short stories, two novelets and two novellas from the 1930s and 1940s. Two feature their series characters, Dr. Hugh Westlake (whose books were published under the Jonathan Stagge pseudonym) and Peter & Iris Duluth, a WWII-era espionage tale that starts in Coney Island. I liked the title story, a post-war story that reminded me of THE BLACK DAHLIA and the works of Cornell Woolrich, with a returning veteran beating up the man who “stole” his wife, then returning later to find the man dead – and assuming that his ex-wife was the killer.
Last was the book Kevin mentioned, Craig Johnson’s DAUGHTER OF THE MORNING STAR, the latest Longmire. This one features mostly Walt and his good friend Henry Standing Bear (though Vic does show up later) in Montana. Jaya Long’s sister disappeared a year earlier and now Jaya, the star of her high school basketball team, is getting threatening notes sent to her. Her aunt is the Tribal Police Chief and she asks Walt to help out. There is a lot of what some call “woo woo” elements – possibly supernatural elements – which have occasionally turned up in Longmire’s books before, so if that bothers you, be warned. It was a nice fast read and I raced right through it.
a few weeks ago I read a review of the new Gregg Hurwitz Orphan X thriller, and it sounded intriguing to me with its allusions to Jack Reacher and Jason Bourne, so I got the first (ORPHAN X, naturally) from the library, and it is zipping right along. EVan Smoak (not his real name) was plucked from the mean streets of East Baltimore and trained to be an off-the-books black box assassin. He managed to disappear and lives hidden (in plain sight), now devoting his life to helping those who are really desperate. I believe there will be flashbacks to his past and training. So far, so good, and I like it that there are six more books in the series to read
Other than THE STORYTELLERS and the Q. Patrick, these are all library books.
Jeff, I introduced my brother-in-law to the Orphan X series when the first one came out, and he now reads every new one.
I bought the Longmire book, which means I won’t get to it as soon as I would a library book. When my books are waiting, I’m not in a big hurry. Nice to know it was good, though. And I love Henry Standing Bear.
I too love Henry Standing Bear, and the little bit of woo-woo in this series is one of the aspects I like best.
In my vocabulary, “woo-woo” is something completely different – not in a good way – from “supernatural element”, so not a term I’d EVER use that way!
That’s funny, Rick. “Woo-woo” really has come to mean supernatural elements in fiction.
Good morning from sunny but cold NJ. I had to pull out the winter coat this morning. Ugh! I guess the shift to cold weather has me thinking about Christmas (yes, I have started my Christmas shopping). I like to read Christmas themed books during this time of year to get me in the mood. I started with a Richard Paul Evans book that somone gave me a few years ago that I never got to read, Noel Street. It is set in 1975 so references to that time period made it interesting. It is a book about love, forgiveness and coming to terms with one’s demons. There is a religious undertone. A very nice book for this time of year.
On audio, I am visiting Ireland during the holidays with A Murder at an Irish Christmas by Carlene O’Connor. It is part of the Irish Village Mystery series but can easily be read as a stand alone. I love listening to the Irish brogues of the characters.on audio. There is just the right amount of mystery and Christmas festivities. The book being set in Ireland is just icing on the cake.
Wishing you all a wonderful week filled with great reading!
Kathleen, I broke out the winter coat yesterday, so I’m right with you.
Oh, I love that. I don’t listen to audio because I’m in the car for such a short time, but I love the thought of listening to the Irish brogues in A Murder at an Irish Christmas.
Enjoy your week, and your reading!
Good Luck with your son, hope that he can get off the medicine.
I start Elin Hilderbrand’ s audio book, A Beautiful Day, It was very disappointing on disc one. It felt gossipy. I checked the review, one friend loved it, another “devoured”, Maybe it will get better!
It is cold here, only 46 F! Have two appointments, need to dress for winter!’
Also reading The Tiger Mom’ Tale by Lyn Liao Butler. Good writing. Makes me hungry for sesame balls and stinky tofu. The main character is a trainer, and it is more interesting because I am taking endless PT classes. Lucky, she has a fast metabolism and can eat as many brownies as she wants! Mine is snail like.
Carolee! We had below 30 this morning, so 46 sounds like a heat wave!
I hope you enjoy A Beautiful Day, but give up on it if you have to. There are too many good books out there to listen to a disappointing book.
46? That’s not very cold, we’re hitting the mid-30s here in Portland, which is cold. 46 sounds balmy.
I’m back to Lisa Unger, this time one of the suspense novels set in The Hollows. I do like stories that use characters with psychic abilities, so this series is right up my alley. The one I’m reading now is Ink and Bone.
I think I’d like Lisa Unger’s Hollows books, Patricia. I just haven’t gotten around to them.
I”m a big Lisa Unger fan. Honest ly, I wish she would write more about The Hollows, those are, IMO, where she shines.
Sending good thoughts Kevin.
It is cold this morning with frost on the roofs and grasses in my little corner of Ohio.
I finished THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE by Richard Osman and loved it even more the first book. I hope there will be another one.
Next I picked up THE EX HEX by Erin Sterling. Not my usual fare about witches but it was all over Bookstagram so I thought I would give it a try. It started out fairly entertaining. Witches Vivi and Rhys had a hot steamy summer when she was 19 but then he broke her heart and went home to Wales. Vivi and her cousin in a drunken stupor curse Rhys for the heartbreak. Fast forward 10 years later when Rhys is sent back to Georgia (where his family’s magic began) to realign the ley lines. That’s when it is discovered the curse is real and it is up to Vivi and Rhys to figure out a way to reverse it. This got less entertaining the more I got into and by the time I was 40 pages from the end, I actually considering abandoning it altogether. My positive comment is it is a short quick read.
I am more than halfway through KILLER RESEARCH by Jenn McKinlay. Ms. Cole is running for mayor of Briar Creek and a dead body is found in the trunk of her car. I am finding this one of the better books in the series.
We watched The Courier with Benedict Cumberbatch on Amazon Prime about a Cold War Spy that was very good and we just finished watching the first season of Manhunt with Martin Clunes on AcornTV. We also enjoyed that.
Happy Reading (and watching)!
Sharon, I was wondering about The Ex Hex. Something told me I wouldn’t be happy with it. I love your “positive comment”.
Good to know Killer Research is one of the better books! I just checked it out on Tuesday.
Poor Rick. He’s going to feel bad about the Richard Osman book since you said it was even better than the first one. I just think this series isn’t for him.
I may yet try it again, but that will have to wait, probably at least until January.
Our weather has been similar to yours, Lesa. Quite cool in the morning (upper 20’s this morning!) and highs in the 40’s. We are supposed to warm up this weekend as well. The leaves are still falling and falling. It won’t be long until they are all down.
This week I read:
Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day – set during WWII at the country estate of Agatha Christie. I really enjoyed it! Lori Rader-Day has a knack for writing characters with pasts. I find myself thinking about them long after finishing the book.
Slashing Through the Snow by Jacqueline Frost – the third in the Christmas Tree Farm series. This is a great series full of wonderful characters, lots of holiday cheer and solid mysteries. This time the victim is a reporter who writes reviews of businesses in the hospitality field. She seems to have used her position to be as nasty as possible, causing plenty of anger and several ruined businesses. There are plenty who have motive, but discovering who had enough anger to do the deed was tricky.
Enjoy your week!
I love your comment about Lori Rader-Day’s Death at Greenway, Gretchen. I have to find my way to that book on my TBR pile.
Thanks so much Lesa for letting me know about the Stanley Tucci book Taste. Got it from the Library and am totally enjoying it. Being of Italian heritage and also growing up in the same county that he did – Westchester – I can totally relate to many of the things he mentions. I wish you could watch the series he did in Italy about Italian foods – it was just delightful. In fact, it was one of the best things I watched in 2020. Love the comments others have made about having some “just in case” books as when COVID hit I ran to B & N and immediately bought a load of books and then when news got even worse went back again to buy more before they closed! Running out was my worst nightmare!
You’re welcome, Donna! I can see why you enjoyed Taste so much since you have such a similar background.
I agree with you! Running out of books would have been my worst nightmare, too!
Hello everyone! Hope it has been a good week. Kevin, sending good thoughts to you and your son.
Last week, I decided that I needed to pare down my list of books that I want to read and focus on reading my piles of books already on hand. I retired from a bookstore a few years ago and took full advantage of a wonderful employee discount to stock up. I actually well overstocked….anyway, there have been so many good suggestions today that my pared down list is increasing in size a good bit.
I did a fair amount of reading last week in an attempt to pare down the above mentioned stacks. I enjoyed both The Scorpion’s Tale by Preston and Child and Daughter of the Morning Star by Craig Johnson. It was nice to have Henry Standing Bear around for more of the book.
On the historical mystery front, I read The Queen’s Accomplice by Susan Elia MacNeal. This is part of the Maggie Hope series, set in WW2. It was a decent, fast paced read with many cliff hangers, which will keep me reading the rest of the series. I enjoyed Riverwoman’s Dragon by Candace Robb. This is part of the Owen Archer series, set in York during 1375. The plague is returning, leading to much suspicion and distrust amongst the townspeople and the church toward healers, including Magda Digby. I enjoy the setting and characters of this series and am glad the author is continuing it. I also read and enjoyed Jennifer Ashley’s The Custom House Murders, the latest book in the Captain Lacey series. Thought this was one of the stronger entries in the series.
The second book in the DI Nick Dixon series, Head in the Sand was a decent read. Wish there was more character development however. Not sure if I will continue the series. This may fall into the pared down category.
I am currently reading a very interesting history book called They Were Her Property by Stephanie Jones-Rogers. The author demonstrates the extent to which women were involved directly in slave ownership, management of, and the buying and selling of slaves. It does a good job dispelling the myth that women were subservient to their husbands and innocent of responsibility during this period.
And love Peter Lovesey’s Peter Diamond series! Will have to give his other series and stand alone titles a try. So much for the pared down list!!
That pared down list isn’t working well, is it Jennifer? It wouldn’t work for me. You’re the second one to mention Daughter of the Morning Star today. I need to get to my copy.
And, the Owen Archer series! That’s another one I think I would enjoy. Time. We just all need more time.
I can’t quite believe it’s November already. The “holidays”, whichever one chooses to observe, are nearly upon us, and thoughts turn to shopping, decorating, family. Here it’s just the two of us, so we keep things pretty simple. We have “a guy” come to put up lights on the eves (my ladder days are past!); he’ll come just before Thanksgiving.
Any who happened to glance in at my blog will have noticed I had a birthday and got some books. Before I could dig into those, though, I needed to finish The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. So I did, and here are some thoughts: first, this is really an historical novel, not, as I always thought, a mystery. Argue with that if you will, it’s only a label anyway, for a very good book. Second, this is a book to be read straight through, with as few breaks away from it as possible. Don’t try to read other things at the same time, don’t take a few days off from it, don’t decide to slip in a short story or a few days at the shore or wherever. Read the book, nothing else. I speak from experience, as I read a few pages here and there, now and then, as a lot was going on, and I got confused countless times, had to backtrack, and still probably missed things. Thirdly, the situation in England 460 years ago sometimes made me think of current politics (which I loathe) to the diminishment of my enjoyment of Tey’s book. Lastly, I enjoyed The Daughter of Time a lot. Also, I’m half tempted to dig out some quality historical fiction on the War of the Roses, if such exists.
I then read a huge graphic comics anthology, Wednesday Comics, and Kurt Busek’s six part Arrowsmith. Now I’ve begun a collection of Maigret short stories.
Richard, Maybe you’ll want to try The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman about The War of the Roses. The background of the book itself is interesting. “As a student, Penman researched and wrote The Sunne in Splendour, which chronicled the life of Richard III. When the 400-page manuscript was stolen from her car, Penman found herself unable to write for the next five years.[1] She eventually rewrote the book and by the time the 936-page book was published in 1982 she had spent 12 years writing it, while practicing law at the same time.” I liked the few books by Penman that I read.
Thanks, Lesa. I read that a couple decades ago, I think. Thoughts on my other comments on the Tey?
Rick, I’m afraid it’s been so many years since I read The Daughter of Time that I can’t comment much about the political comparison. I do agree that it’s really historical fiction more than a mystery. And, I agree. You should read it straight through. The connections and politics of The War of the Roses are complicated. I agree with you. Don’t put it down if you don’t want to get lost. And, it is an enjoyable book.
I think Penman was the absolute best writer of historical fiction. She was a talented writer and a very thorough researcher.
I agree, Jennifer. Her writing made me read 700-900 pages.
Hello, Thursday people!
Last week I was unlucky in my attempts to post here. Harumph.
And yes, I even used the method of cutting and pasting I had suggested and successfully executed in the past. It didn’t work. Possibly because I was using my Kindle Fire rather than my laptop ? Possibly because I was cutting and pasting from my email ? Who knows. Let’s call it pre-Halloween woo-woo.I
The two books I would have mentioned to you last week were THE UNBREAKABLES by Lisa Barr and THE INHERITANCE OF ORQUIDEA DIVINA by Zoraida Cordova. I no longer have my notes but I do remember that they were my stand-out reads. THE INHERITANCE OF ORQUIDEA DIVINA is magic realism to the extreme and it won’t be for everyone. You have to really suspend your belief really really high. I loved it.
This week my stand-outs were CAN’T LOOK AWAY by Carola Lovering and WHERE THE FOREST MEETS THE TREES by Glendy Vanderah. The book I just finished, THE DRESSMAKER’S SECRET by Lorna Cook was not a stand-out , but it was an interesting take on whether Coco Chanel was or was not a Nazi agent, or only(???!!) a collaborator.
Thank goodness electronic books won’t be held hostage in cargo ships waiting for a place to dock.
Happy reading, guys!
Thursday people! It has a nice ring to it, Kaye. I’m sorry you weren’t here last Thursday. Thank you, though, for telling us about the books from last week and this week.
Love you my friend! Happy reading! It’s good to have you back!
We’ve slowly been drying out between showers around here. We’re still in a drought, but aren’t saving any water, because that would make sense.
This week I read:
Death Comes In Threes by Kimberly O’Malley; A bookstore owner finds a dead body. The usual super cop shows up, but we never find out who killed the guy (or the two other corpses they find) or why the trio was after her, or why someone else seems to be protecting her. Very frustrating.
A Gentle Tyranny by Jess Corban; Women remake the world into a matriarchy. Years later, a young woman discovers Machiavelli holds sway even here. (She doesn’t know who Machiavelli is.)
White Lines by Tom Fowler; Vigilante novel taking on the Cartels in Maryland. I don’t remember The Mafia ever becoming as tiresome as the cartels have in a fairly short time.
Time Station London by Davis Evans; A time cop tries to prevent the Nazis from taking over the world by getting Churchill appointed to the Admiralty a second time. It’s supposed to be Men’s Adventure, I think, but is more of a romance novel.
Neck & Neck by C James Brown; An AOC insurgent is challenging the establishment democrat. Things start getting nasty with blackmail and murder. Earl Town, PI tries to figure things out, but he has family problems.
I agree with you, Glen. The Mafia in novels wasn’t near as tedious as the cartels.
I have to say that Death Comes in Threes sounds like a mess.
This week I started reading novellas for the Novellas in November reading event. I have more novellas here than I can read in a month so I am having a hard time deciding. I am trying to mix up other genres with my usual mystery reading this month.
I started with CARTE BLANCHE by Carlo Lucarelli, translated from Italian, the first in a trilogy. Set right at the end of World War II, in the final days of the Fascist regime in Italy. The protagonist is a policeman in the regular police, who only recently transferred from another police group that worked under Mussolini. He just wants to solve crimes without having political interference, but that seems impossible in Italy during the war.
The next book I read was THE SENSE OF AN ENDING by Julian Barnes. I had not read anything by that author and did not know much about the book. The story is told by a man in his later years, retired and looking back on two of his relationships with women, one when he was a student at university, and the other his wife, who divorced him after twelve years. Very interesting, thought-provoking reading.
I have moved on to a short nonfiction book, CONSTRUCTIVE LIVING by David K. Reynolds. It describes the author’s approach to two Japanese psychotherapies, Morita therapy and Naikan therapy. I had read this before and found it interesting.
The driveway construction is still going on, although they are getting close to the end, I hope. Started on Sept 20th, and was supposed to take no longer than 4 weeks. We are now at 7 1/2 weeks and still cannot drive in and out. At this point we can finally walk on the driveway and cart groceries and trash back and forth, rather than taking other circuitous routes.
And my husband will be ordering new glasses tomorrow and hopefully have much better vision for both reading and distance in a week or so.
Good news, Tracy, about Glen’s glasses and the driveway. Good luck with the novella reading. I’m mixing genres too, but w/ short stories this month.
Oh, Tracy. I hope you have the most beautiful driveway in the world when that project finally gets finished. There are road projects that don’t take as long.
Rick’s right. That’s good news about Glen’s glasses.
Enjoy the novellas!