Our temperatures have been up and down this week, mornings sometimes below freezing and upper sixties by the afternoons. We’re heading into a colder weekend, though. As much as I hate winter and cold weather, I’d at least like to know what coat to put on in the morning. Complain, complain.
I’m not going to complain about books, though. While I’ve been reading some very good mysteries that you’ll hear about later, I’m just starting Mitch Albom’s The Stranger in the Lifeboat. Since I only read two chapters, it’s really easier to provide the summary than to guess what the book is about.
“What would happen if we called on God for help and God actually appeared? In Mitch Albom’s profound new novel of hope and faith, a group of shipwrecked passengers pull a strange man from the sea. He claims to be “the Lord.” And he says he can only save them if they all believe in him.
Adrift in a raft after a deadly ship explosion, nine people struggle for survival at sea. Three days pass. Short on water, food and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves. They pull him in.
“Thank the Lord we found you,” a passenger says.
“I am the Lord,” the man whispers.
So begins Mitch Albom’s most beguiling and inspiring novel yet.”
So, what about you? How was your week? What are you reading, and what did you read this week? We’d all love to know!
I hate to be a smart alec, but if I remember my Sunday School correctly, seeing God kills you instantly.
The weather here is going up and down, too, but we’re in California, so it’s not bad. We’re getting more rain than anyone was expecting, but we’re still in a drought. We’re starting to see fog, which disappeared for a couple of years.
This week I read:
Flight Plan: A Mailman’s Aeronautical Adventure and Special Delivery by Doug Hughes; The biography of the mailman who flew a gyrocopter to deliver parcel of letters concerning the Citizens’ United Decision to Obama. Naturally, he was arrested and labelled a felon, I felt sorry for the guy. Just a couple of years later, people wold be trying to burn federal buildings with people outside, and getting off scot-free.
The Preacher’s First Murder by KP Gresham; A Florida undercover cop becomes a Lutheran minister and is sent to a small Texas Town. Talk about going from the frying pan into the fire. A woman with Alzheimer’s is apparently shot by a drunken Yankee wannabe deer hunter. Is it an accident or a murder? Well, that answer is in the title. Actually thinks that the year 1980 was part of the Dark Ages, rather than the tail end of the Disco Era.
The Last Protector by Simon Gervais; I liked Gervais’s last two series, so I was looking forward to this new one. The backstory about a secret service agent in love with the VP Elect’s daughter he is protecting. Assassins try to kill her to blackmail her father, responsible for a war crime, as well as murdering the agent’s father to cover up the crime almost made me give up.
The Mysteries of Game Theory and Other Oddities by Joseph Raffetto; Short stories and a not very accurate history of David Bowie.
Last Call by Randall McNair; A book of poetry about hanging out in dive bars by a guy that probably doesn’t like Country and Western music.
The Sword of God by Mark Dawson; John Milton is Walking the Earth, like Jack Reacher, when he hits Michigan. The Sheriff accosts him, and just about the time you’re thinking you’re going to get a First Blood rip-off, he’s fighting an anti-government militia. Good thing for him the militia is so inept.
Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler; The book where Dirk Pitt’s kids first appear. A cruise ship with a revolutionary new engine catches fire and sinks on its first trip. Good thing Dirk is there to rescue all the passengers. Then a submarine cruise ship suffers the same fate. It all comes down to the usual oil billionaire, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Glen – I always enjoy your pithy, to the point reviews. I am absolutely going, right now, to find Last Call by Randall McNair. “A book of poetry about hanging out in dive bars by a guy that probably doesn’t like Country and Western music.” I have hung my elbows on more than one long wooden bar is some damn fine dive bars in the past while listening to REAL country music. Thank you! (and yes, I’ll be looking for Flight Plan too – also feeling sorry for the guy who did burn anything, hit anyone, or deface any Federal buildings).
Kaye! I love your remarks as much as I enjoy Glen’s. I hope you’re able to find Last Call. I was absolutely horrified at our local TV news people this week. They did 3 days of “How country are you?” because of the CMAs. I missed the first morning, and it seems they got that right. The other 2 days, they were given 5 lines from country songs, and had to say which line was made up. Ahem. I got them right. They missed them. Of course, I liked old country before the two younger ones were alive.
Lesa! YES! Here’s to Country when it really was Country!!!!!!! These wippersnappers (sp???) do not sing COUNTRY! Grrrrrrr.
I agree. Believe it or not, New York has a lot of country fans. We saw a FREE concert by Dolly Parton outside City Hall around 1980. She was great. We’ve seen Willie Nelson several times, and once we saw the Highwaymen – Willie, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings – perform in Central Park. We’ve also seen Alabama and Lonestar and The Judds and The Dixie Chicks.
All I know of country I learned from Ken Burns. I have never listened to a country radio station, though a few songs probably slipped through over the years.
When I was in high school, everybody pretended to hate country music, but somehow, everybody know all the words to Friends in Low Places.
My niece and I argue over whether Taylor Swift is country music or not.
Yes, Kaye! I’ve been a country music fan since I was 13. Definitely, “country when country wasn’t cool.” I’ve seen so many country acts over the year, and loved them. But, I quit listening in recent years. I don’t think Taylor Swift is really country, Glen. I think there are a lot of country acts nowadays that can’t stand up to Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, all the ones Jeff mentoned.
It was a very busy reading week for me so my recap is even longer than usual–sorry for that! Here is what I finished:
LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by debut author Bonnie Garmus will go on my list of “best of the year” reads for its stunningly original plot, extraordinary characters, wry dialogue, and compelling writing style–add it to your list for April 2022! The centerpiece, Elizabeth Zott, describes herself as someone who has “never fit in.” A brilliant chemist, she is treated poorly at Hastings Research Institute because she is a woman. But she is one of the few who isn’t intimidated by wunderkind Calvin Evans who, in his twenties, has his own lab, has already graced scientific magazine covers, and has been nominated for a Nobel Prize. They meet when she boldly steals beakers from his lab, and Calvin–who has never had much luck with dating–falls hard. Both Elizabeth and Calvin have had challenging childhoods, with dysfunctional families affected by premature deaths and incarceration. They understand and support each other, accompanied by an adopted stray dog they name Six-Thirty. The dog is remarkable, dedicated to protecting Elizabeth and the pair’s uber-precocious daughter, Madeline (Mad), and learning to understand hundreds of words they have taught him. Just one of the book’s “elements of impossibility.” Set in the 1950s and 1960s, the book tackles what Elizabeth calls “a patriarchal society founded on the idea that women were less.” When they wanted more than their traditional role, they were often rebuffed, ridiculed, and disrespected. But the book uses droll humor to address sexual inequality and discrimination. When Elizabeth leaves the lab, she suddenly finds herself the host of “Supper at Six,” an afternoon TV cooking show. To the dismay of management, she treats cooking as chemistry, never talking down to her homemaker audience and encouraging them to go for their dreams. Elizabeth, Calvin, Mad, and Six-Thirty are characters you will root for and remember. The plot moves in unexpected directions and will keep you enthralled. I hope Bonnie Garmus is working on her next novel. (Apr)
SOMETHING IN THE WATER BY Catherine Steadman would have been a DNF for me if I hadn’t been reading it for a book club. If I am to enjoy a thriller, there has to be a likeable character. Not so in this case. Both of the protagonists willfully and unnecessarily do stupid things that ruin their lives and the lives of others. We enjoyed tearing it apart at the book club meeting.
DEATH AT HOLLY LODGE by Louise R. Innes, the third book in the Daisy Thorne Mysteries, takes place at Christmas time in a small village in Surrey, England. Beauty salon proprietor Daisy is present when a dead body dressed as Father Christmas falls out of a chimney in a historic home being renovated by her friend. The body turns out to be a man who disappeared two years ago and was thought to have abandoned his wife and left the country with his girlfriend. But, of course, it’s more complicated than that. Since Daisy now has a criminal justice certificate, she sometimes acts as a “consultant” to her not-quite-boyfriend, a police detective, and there are times when she goes a bit too far conducting her own investigation. But it’s a very quick read with no graphic violence, populated with Daisy’s salon employees, friends, and other townspeople, not to mention some suspicious characters who may or not be involved in the murder. I don’t think this is the best in the series, but it provided a couple of pleasant reading hours.
I enjoyed Jean Meltzer’s THE MATZAH BALL, an interesting contemporary romance whose protagonist is a rabbi’s daughter who has written a string of successful Christmas romances under a pseudonym. Suffering from a chronic illness since her college days, Rachel has a room in her apartment devoted to Christmas memorabilia, which is her happy place, but only her best friend knows about it, and about her secret career. Years after attending Jewish summer camp at age 12, Rachel meets the boy–now the CEO of a multi-million-dollar event planning company–who betrayed her that summer. Jacob is planning a sold-out Hanukkah party to end all Hanukkah parties (featuring a 10-foot menorah!), and she needs a ticket so she can gain inspiration to take her career in a different direction. The details about Orthodox Jewish culture are fascinating, and Rachel’s medical situation and Jacob’s dysfunctional family issues take the story to a level above the usual romance.
Next I read an ARC of WITH LOVE FROM LONDON by Sarah Jio. Dealing with a painful divorce and notified that her long-estranged mother has died of cancer, Valentina leaves behind her librarian job in Seattle and travels to London to claim her mother’s legacy–an apartment house and a quaint book shop. She has never understood why her mother, Eloise, abandoned her abruptly when she was twelve and didn’t respond to any of her letters over the years. As she gets to know Eloise’s friends and tries to save the financially-strapped shop, she also begins to solve the mystery of her mother’s life. In alternate chapters, we follow Eloise through her early life as a wife and mother in Seattle and her later life in London. Seeing the story from two perspectives and in two timelines was particularly effective, helping me understand how both Valentina and Eloisa coped with trauma and disappointment in their lives and ultimately overcame them. The protagonists, as well as the secondary characters, are lovingly portrayed, and the story is heartfelt and uplifting, although I was hoping for a bit more in-depth detail about the book shop. (Feb)
I haven’t missed a single one of the 15 books in Rhys Bowen’s Royal Spyness Mysteries because I love spending time with the characters. In GOD REST YE, ROYAL GENTLEMEN, it’s 1935, and Lady Georgiana is looking forward to spending her first Christmas as Mrs. Darcy O’Mara in the lovely house loaned to the couple by one her mother’s former husbands. However, her plans of throwing a house party for a few treasured friends and family are thwarted when Darcy’s recently widowed aunt invites them to join the party at her own stately home, hinting that Georgie’s relative and her own neighbor, Queen Mary, would like to see her during the holidays. Georgie has done some spying for the Queen in former adventures so she suspects she will be asked to provide her with information on two of the guests–the Prince of Wales and the hated Wallis Simpson. Georgie’s much-married mother, her beloved grandfather, her accident-prone maid/cook, Queenie, her brother and his wife–the nasty Fig–and others all make welcome appearances in the story, which involves, as usual, more than one murder. I breezed through it in a day, much as I would have liked prolonging the satisfaction I get from reading this series.
ALWAYS IN DECEMBER by Emily Stone is an OK contemporary romance, but I hated the way it ended. I can’t say anything more without giving spoilers.
Margie – Adding Lessons in Chemistry and With Love From London to my list! Thank you!
Margie, adding With Love From London and Lessons in Chemistry to my list – Thank You!
Well, darn, Margie. Taking Always in December off my holds list at the library. I’m not interested in an unhappy ending.
It caught me by surprise, Lesa, and not in a good way. I felt robbed!
Margie, I am beginning to wonder if I am the only person left alive in the UK who hasn’t inherited a bookshop! I do enjoy novels about bookshops and libraries, but I think it’s about time there was a new take on this! Also I know this is fiction (and I haven’t read With Love From London) but there are almost NO viable small bookshops left in this country. It is Waterstones, Blackwells or nothing these days – most people buy online and/or in charity shops. There are a (very) few solvent small bookshops in very affluent areas (The Edinburgh Bookshop in Morningside [a wealthy suburb] is one – but I’m afraid it’s one I find very irritating as it’s just so smug….)
And how come these women also always inherit handy flats/houses/seaside cottages just when they need one? Jealous? Moi?
I do like the sound of The Matzah Ball though! Thanks for your detailed and interesting reviews.
Good morning. We’ve had a week of nice days although it’s supposed to rain tomorrow and then turn cooler with highs only in the low 50s.
I read:
BEST IN SNOW by David Rosenfelt it’s his latest Christmas story featuring lawyer Andy Carpenter defending a wrongly accused murderer. This wasn’t the best in the series as I felt that the actual investigation into clearing his client was lacking.
THE CHRISTMAS PIG by JK Rowling. On Christmas Eve, a boy travels to the land of the lost to save his favorite toy. It was a cute story but not something that I’d read more than once. The writing is missing something compared to the Harry Potter books.
Just a so-so reading week for you, Sandy. I hope next week’s reading list is better!
It’s four in the morning here in PST and I’m sitting here shivering in reaction to yesterday’s Covid booster. Sweatshirt, socks, down throw. I’ve given up on sleep, but at least I know I’m not really sick.
One interesting tidbit I missed in June when Variety announced the Television rights to Patricia Cornwell’s 24 crime thrillers in her Kay Scarpetta literary franchise had been secured. Jamie Lee Curtis will co-produce and star in the series. I was a big fan of the early books.
Started off my reading week with The House of Ashes, written by Stuart Neville. The book was mentioned here in September Treasures. Be forewarned, he’s been called “King of Belfast noir”.
The writing is elegant although the actual subject matter of domestic violence makes it difficult to read. The story is set in rural Northern Ireland, a house named The Ashes for the ash trees on the property. Not the warm, friendly Ireland that makes the location popular in books, but, perhaps, the Ireland so many left. The dual narrative tells two stories, that of present day Sara and Mary’s story from sixty years ago.
ARC of Erin Bartels The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water. Release date of Jan 2022. Revell Books
The publisher’s summary is an anonymous letter from “A Very Disappointed Reader” undermining an author’s attempt to write a second book. This had me wondering if that happens in real life. Do letters get read, taken seriously? Do readers even write letters?
But, according to the author, the book is actually about people believing your story, your truth. She wrote this story in response to being sexually molested as a pre-teen and believing for years it needed to be kept secret.
I needed something light-hearted after the previous two and fortunately The Bookshop of Second Chances (Jackie Fraser) was waiting on Libby. The characters are, indeed, the best part.
A book that made many an official 2020 list for best books of the year, Memorial by Bryan Washington. A funny and thought provoking story about family in all its strange forms, the limits of love and on becoming who you’re supposed to be.
And finally my first Jeffrey Archer book, his breakthrough novel,1976’s Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less. Unfortunately, while it might have been a unique plot 45 years ago, it seemed entirely predictable now as greed is celebrated and the Harvey Metcalfe types flourish.
A thank you to any in the group who served in the military as we commemorate Veterans Day today. All the libraries are closed here so maybe Lesa has a day off from one of jobs.
I do hop eyou feel better soon. My friend had her booster today, so I will hear how she got on with it. They are only using the Pfizer vaccine for boosters here, and I have read that many people have 24 hours of feeling ill after it – but it’s supposed to be considerably more effective than the Astra Zeneca one most of us were given the first time round, so that’s encouraging at least.
The House of Ashes sounds interesting. Many parts of Northern Ireland (and some parts of the south, to be fair) are nothing like the tourist version of the ‘Emerald Isle’. There is a lot of poverty in some areas, and just as much organised, and petty, crime as anywhere else. And in the north there is of course still an immemse amount of religious bigotry.
I had Pfizer, Rosemary, when I had both my shot and my booster. I didn’t have any effects, other than a sore arm. But, the vaccine hits everyone differently.
Same for Barbara and me, Pfizer, vacs & booster, no I’ll effects.
No, I’m afraid not, MM. I’m at work. It’s not one of the holidays we observe. Darn. I’m sorry about Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less. Shows you how many years ago I must have read it. Well, I actually think it was closer to 40 for me because I was married I am glad you liked The Bookshop of Second Chances, though!
You do know Patricia Cornwell has a new book coming out at the end of the month, don’t you? Autopsy. She’s relaunching the series probably to go with the television show.
Lesa – thanks for the tip on the new Kay Scarpetta book. I placed a hold mostly because I’ve never read a series that was relaunched by same author.
Good morning, all. What Sandy said about the weather. We were able to eat outside the last couple of days (and several days last week), but the colder weather is coming – 48 is the predicted high early next week.
Books. Jackie finished her Linda Lael Miller and is reading a book I read a while ago and recommended, STEEL FEAR.
As usual I have a bunch of books going, but I really shouldn’t talk about them until I am at least near finishing them. I did read two books of short stories, Patricia Highsmith’s ANIMAL-LOVER’S GUIDE TO BEASTLY MURDER, which I must admit grew on me as I went along; and Marly Swick’s THE SUMMER BEFORE THE SUMMER OF LOVE. (Of course, we geezers know the so-called Summer of Love was…class? anyone? Bueller?…right, 1967.) Currently reading another Highsmith (I got an anthology with five her her short story collections from the library), the Otto Penzler-edited BIG BOOK OF GHOST STORIES (which I will probably have to “return” before finishing it as it is an ebook and you cant renew them), and THE NIGHT PEOPLE and Other Stories, a collection of non-series stories by the late, great mystery short story writer Edward D. Hoch.
I know I mentioned Gregg Hurwitz’s ORPHAN X last time (first in a series of seven so far), a book I really enjoyed and pretty much raced through. It was also the kind of book I had to put down occasionally when things got too tense, which is a pretty high bar to reach. I’ll probably be reading the next one fairly soon.
Currently 100 pages (out of 350) Richard Osman’s THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE, the fun sequel to the THURSDAY MURDER CLUB, which brings back the foursome of Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron, as well as several other characters from that book. As with the first one, this is great fun. I think I get the biggest kick out of Joyce and her narrated “diary” chapters.
What else? Because there are never enough books, when I was doing the laundry yesterday I spotted a smallish paperback in the basement laundry room library and scooped it up. It’s an Uncorrected Proof of a book I couldn’t resist, UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NOTES OF A CHRONIC RE-READER by Vivian Gornick (published last year). I also have the second Paul Doiron book about Mainne Game Warden Mike Bowditch, TRESPASSER, from the library. I bought a second collection of Ed Hoch’s non series stories which is on the way. Stuart Palmer’s HILDEGARDE WITHERS: FINAL RIDDLES? arrived yesterday from Crippen & Landru. And, perhaps most exciting to me, the third Dervla McTiernan book about Irish cop Cormac Reilly, THE GOOD TURN, is not only finally published here, but is available on Kindle at the incredibly low bargain price of 99 cents! The first two were great and all are highly recommended (especially at this price).
Have a good week.
Thank you, Jeff! I grabbed The Good Turn, although I haven’t read Dervla McTiernan’s books yet. I own the two earlier ones, signed even, but I just haven’t got around to them. I know I’ll like them when I do.
I’m glad you’re enjoying The Man Who Died Twice.
Loved your comment about “The Summer of Love”. Not quite old enough. I guessed 1968, and should have known better. That’s when everything started to go wrong.
1967 and 1968 and for many we drifted along in a positive way into the Seventies.
Good morning! We are having the same weather as you, Lesa in the Cincinnati area. The past two afternoons have been glorious but the bottom is supposed to drop today and the weather people are using the “S” word but only a flurry or two.
I finished reading KILLER RESEARCH by Jenn McKinlay. Ms. Cole is being framed for the murder of someone from her past. I enjoyed learning some of her backstory. I was able to figure out who the murderer was as soon as the character was introduced but it didn’t matter. I also appreciated that Lindsay’s life wasn’t in mortal peril when the killer was revealed.
Last night I stayed up late to finish THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN PARIS by Diana Biller. This focused on ballet dancer Amelie and Benedict Moore, younger brother of Sam from THE WIDOW OF ROSE HOUSE. Amelie sees ghosts and she needs to figure out how to help them return to the other side. A good story-not quite as good as the first book for me but I loved it
Happy Reading!
I know, Sharon! They’re using that four letter word that begins with “S” here, too – as you said, just flakes on Sunday. but, I hate that word. Everyone on my staff at work knows that’s an expletive in my vocabulary.
I have to get to Jenn’s book sometime next week. It sounds so good, and I really like that series.
Good morning!
Our weather has been really nice, but it has been raining all night. We really need the rain, so that is good. But over the weekend highs are only expected to be in the 30’s.
This week I read:
A Christmas in the Alps by Melody Carlson – Simone Winthrop’s grandmother was like a mother to her. Grandma Betty raised her, after Simone’s mother left. Now, Grandma Betty is gone and Simone is left sorting through her things. Her best friend, Andrea, is helping her with the process. When Andrea uncovers an unopened letter addressed to Simone from her Great-grandmother, Simone is curious. After reading the letter she is even more curious and a bit stunned. The letter was written a couple of years ago and somehow got lost in the shuffle. Great-grandmamma Winthrop wrote to tell Simone she left a treasure in France and would like Simone to have it. At first Simone is doubtful. Would something valuable still be around after all these years? Andrea convinces her that she will never know unless she attempts to locate it. There are many obstacles in her way, but Simone is determined to find the treasure. I enjoyed this one. I loved the setting in the French Alps and a look into a clockmaking business.
Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling – A friend of mine invited me to attend a theatre performance that is a spoof of the Harry Potter series. I had never read it, so decided to give it a try. I really enjoyed it! I actually wouldn’t mind reading more in the series. My intention was just to read the first book to have some background, but I may continue with the series.
Hope you all have a safe and blessed week!
Oh my, I hope you’ll continue with the Harry Potter series, Gretchen.
Liking Harry Potter has become almost unacceptable here Kaye. I struggle with this, as although I do have a few quibbles about JKR’s style, I enjoyed reading all of the books to my youngest (who’s now taken a very anti-JKR position), and all of my children enjoyed them, but now we are apparently all supposed to boycott them owing to JKR’s stance on certain aspects of transgender rights. I don’t know much about that so I don’t feel qualified to comment, but I think it’s a shame when we are told not to enjoy books for these sort of reasons. I don’t know. What does everyone else think?
I’m sorry about her political stance, Rosemary, but it’s not going to spoil my enjoyment of the books. She did too much to get kids to read when those books came out, including reluctant readers. And, the stories were imaginative and wonderful.
If I quit reading authors because I didn’t care for them or their political opinions, I’d be cutting out some authors whose books I enjoy. I agree with you.
Hear, Hear, Lesa!
I agree Rosemary, it’s a shame. I don’t know anything about her political stance either, but I enjoyed the story.
BAH! The works matter, not the author’s opinions on politics or whatever. Keep ‘em separate!
I’m with Kaye. I read and loved the entire Harry Potter series, so I hope you continue to enjoy it, Gretchen.
I’m glad to hear others liked this series as adults. I can definitely see why kids love them. My youngest son – who is 22 – is reading the series for the first time. It is fun to be able to talk about them with him. I think my older son read them at some point as well.
Hi Lesa — So far, our fall has been lovely. I’m taking advantage with lots of walks because I know winter will eventually show up with its snow and ice. Right now, I’m reading The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. The story moves back and forth in time and setting from Paris in 1939 and Froid, Montana in 1983 with two main characters: a Frenchwoman named Odile who’s in both settings and a young girl in Montana. I’m only a few chapters in, but am enjoying the story very much.
Oh, The Paris Library does sound good, Patricia. Enjoy the weather while you can!
Oh, Patricia, I loved The Paris Library. You will too, Lesa.
Happy Veterans Day. I’ve been reading mostly short stories, from three books, a collection and two anthologies. The collection is Death Threats and Other Stories by Georges Simenon. I’ve read the first story, which was very good. The first of the two anthologies is a recent British Library Crime Classics volume, Guilty Creatures, A Menagerie of Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards. I read the first five stories, one each by Conan Doyle, Arthur Morrison, Headon Hill, F. Tennyson Jesse and G. K. Chesterton. All good, all but one a reread.
The second anthology was The Best SF of the Year edited by Neil Clarke. This over 800 page book has science fiction published in 2015. I liked the first story, the second not as much, and after six more gave it up. I guess maybe twenty-first century SF isn’t so much to my taste as what I read and loved in past decades. Okay.
From the library came Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinley, the first of her Library Lover’s Mystery series. It’s a cozy, and it has most of the tropes associated therewith. I finished it, though there were a few of little things that made me pause, phrases such as “…the whitewalls squealed”. Sorry, tires squeal, sidewalls don’t. Also, I notice in many cozies hair, clothing and jewelry of female characters are lovingly described, while the men just wore pants, or jeans and shirts. I’m guessing it’s aimed at the expected reader. I liked the twist near the end that switched the primary suspect.
Next, more short such stuff is aimed at the assumed audience, and women readers of harder-boiled fiction would have similar thoughts. Overall, I liked the characters and setting. Not sure if I’ll go on to the next, mostly because of my book backlog. Next, more short stories and for a novel, a choice between Margery Allingham and Charles Dickens. Hmm…
I did a cut and paste and goofed up that 2hole last part.
Update: the Allingham was a fail as the Vicar, who featured prominently, was named Trump, and it bothered me every time I saw the name on the page. The Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, is surprising me, I’d forgotten how awkward and sometimes Florida’s his writing can be.
Rick, I can understand how you would have problems with the name Trump being used over and over in a book.
I haven’t read much by Dickens, I am looking forward to hearing how you like A Tale of Two Cities.
I agree with Tracy. That name would have made me quit, too.
And, you’re right about many cozies. As someone who doesn’t care about clothes and style, I get a little tired sometimes of the name brands pushed in some of the cozies. I just don’t care.
I read A Tale of Two Cities when I was too young to appreciate everything, or to be critical, but I’d just seen the movie, and loved it. So, I enjoyed the book because I was expecting to enjoy the book, even though there were times it was tedious.
And of course good old auto-messup changed “florid” to Florida…
Hi Rick
I was interested to see your mention of F Tennyson Jesse, as this is a writer I had never heard of before – until this morning, when her name came up out of the blue in my Barbara Pym biography. I do enjoy these moments of serendipity. And I’ve just discovered that this writer’s first name was Fryniwyd – never heard of that one before either! And there’s more – she was bornin Chislehurst, birthplace of my own grandmother and only a mile or two from my own childhood home. Apparently she was a great-niece of Lord Tennyson.
By the way, I did visit your blog, but I couldn’t understand how I could subscribe. Is there a way of doing that? (I am not technically minded so it may very ll be my ignorance here.)
Wow, that cool. While there isn’t a subscribe, you can “follow” and then your notified when I post, which is usually a couple time @ we3k.
I’ve read several books recently, most of which were “okay, not great.” But I did read two books that will stay with me.
Flight Risk by Joy Castro – “Poor woman finds great wealth but can she come home again?” is a story told many times by many writers. Joy Castro’s writing speaks loudly about issues we’re facing today moving back and forth from sophisticated old money to gritty Appalachian poverty.
“Flight Risk is a compelling, gritty portrait of class in America. Joy Castro traffics the rural-urban divide with complexity and compassion. The protagonist, Isabel Morales, an outsider turned artist, guides the reader through poverty, wealth, and the beating heart of our political divide as she reclaims her roots in coal-country West Virginia while reconciling the privileged life she’s built in Chicago. This is outlaw fiction at its best.” —Melissa Scholes Young, author of The Hive
Songs by Honeybird by Peter McDade is not a novel for everyone. I ate it up. Mr. McDade knows his subjects well and writes about them with precision and passion. I’ll be picking this up to re-read.
“I really loved Peter McDade’s Songs by Honeybird, a novel that simultaneously manages to be deeply funny, entirely serious, and quirky as hell. Told from the alternating perspectives of newly uncoupled Ben and Nina, we join their journey into the post-break up world, cheering them on as they dig deeper into their own pasts — as well as the past of the American South — aided by a cadre of good friends and mentors, loving but impossible families, a reincarnated talking dog, and the buried secrets that Ben’s research into an integrated Southern band from the 1960s reveals. This is a book about old loves ending and new loves beginning, about the power of presence and attention — not to mention the power of good food and good music — and about the possibilities of the New South, as its varied inhabitants come to realize that to shine light on the traumas of the past allows for the creation of a more liberated future for us all.” — Susan Rebecca White, author of We Are All Good People Here
And now I’m reading another novel that is “not for everyone.” A History of Saints by Julyan Davis –
A Novel of Identity and the Dangers of Indecision (or Haste) During an Economic Downturn, Including Dog Handling, Courtly Love, Gardening and Cooking, Sexual Fluidity, Belly Dancing, Poetry, Loss, and Addiction
Well, Kaye, it sounds as if you’re in a “heavy reading” stage. I understand why the first two reached you, though, with the emphasis on the South. And, with all those topics, I get the third, too.
Enjoy your books. Hugs, my friend!
We’re talking weather? It’s supposed to be in the mid to upper 80’s through the weekend. It’s lovely! Hoping to take advantage of it on Saturday since I know it won’t last.
I’m currently reading PEARLS GONE WILD by Diane Vallere. This is the sixth in her Samantha Kidd mysteries. I’m enjoying it so far.
Jealous here, Mark! 80s are my temperatures. I love them Enjoy your weather and your book!
We are warming up to the 60s today. When I looked through my bookshelves, I found three books with women protagonists in Arizona and Texas during the time period of 1879 to 1890. I finished and reviewed the first one, Truth Be Told by Carol Cox. It is mystery, with humor and great characters.
I started another historical fiction book, To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer, and loving it too. Not a mystery, but a romance between the town librarian and a wrongfully convicted man. They both have big secrets.
.
The third one is Sixty Acres and A Bride by Regina Jennings. I have no idea if i will like it or not.
Oh, I remember seeing To Win Her Heart, Carolee. I didn’t read it, but I noticed it because of the town librarian.
Even 60s sound good right now!
Hi everyone – and Lesa, just to say, the comments box on here looks very odd to me and will only let me see one line of my text at a time, so apologies in advance for typos, etc. It’s probably just me having messed up some setting.
We had a beautiful day here yesterday – I was out earlier than usual, walking around the fields under blue skies. Today was a little cloudier, so I decided to walk to Cults along the old railway line path. I think it’s about 5 miles away. When I got there I could not, of course, leave without a little browse in Cult’s two charity shops. I felt I was very restrained in my buying – I found the DVD (still in its sealed wrapper) of the film about Freddie Mercury that I’d just been discussing with my daughter, and these books:
ALL PASSION SPENT by Vita Sackville West
THE DUNGEON HOUSE by Martin Edwards
THE FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB by Kate Jacobs
MURDER ON THE ILE ST LOUIS by Carla Black
The whole lot only cost me £4.50 so I was happy.
I recently came across a blog by a lady who is 75 and writes about her fashion finds in charity shops. She is not prepared to give up dressing up, and has found some amazing outfits. I like her because she is very ‘normal’ – she’s not super glam, she doesn’t pretend getting older is without challenges, and she doesn’t have much money, but she gets a kick out of putting these outfits together. I haven’t yet had the chance to read all of her blog, but I see she also writes about health and wellbeing, films, the ethics of fashion, etc. It”s called Frugal Fashion Shopper.
I get so fed up with these very glossy ‘influencers’, who must spend so much time perfecting the presentation of their apparently perfect lives, that it is really refreshing to see someone who is prepared to talk about the realities of growing older, but at the same time is optimistic and enjoying life. And as almost all her clothes come from charity shops (she does have the advantage of living in Brighton, which I’m sure is awash with very stylish ones, but even so. Plus she is 5’8″, which I am sure does help – so many clothes just do not work on short people like me) she is definitely not interested in ‘product placement’ – it’s just a case of what she finds and what it looks like. Good for her. She apparently has another blog where she discusses politics. Some time ago I saw the film IRIS, about a similar lady in New York – though her clothes were true haute couture.)
Back to the books.
I finally finished JANE EYRE on BBC Sounds, and I must say I didn’t feel it improved. I asked a twitter friend who is a big Bronte fan what it is she likes about Jane Eyre, and she replied ‘Jane of course!’ Well I myself just could not take to Jane, she was such a misery and so self-righteous. But we all like different things and that’s OK!
I finished LOCK NO.1 by Georges Simenon – one of my library books. I have read maybe three or four Maigrets over the years and every time I start another one I remember what I found difficult about the last one. I think it is the rather unusual style of writing – it reminds me a little of Colin Dexter’s Morse books. I loved the TV series of Morse, but found Dexter’s writing quite strange, and so it is with Simenon. And I know he was writing in the 1920s and 30s, but reading him now I felt there was far too much emphasis on women’s bodies, usually the lascivious observation of them by various male characters, including Maigret. I read that, in later life, Simenon said he had slept with over 10,000 women. Whether or not it were true, I don’t think many men would mention that in public these days!
I also found the plot quite confusing. What I did enjoy, and admire, was Simenon’s skill at evoking a location and a time. This book is set mainly among the community – barge dwellers, boatmen, canalside bartenders and dance hall owners around the canal basin near Paris. The descriptions of the boats, the cement works, the men drinking in the bars, were all so sharp – the scenes really came alive.
This week my husband is at a workshop in a chateau outside Paris (I know…it’s a tough job) so I have lots of time for reading, and I am trying to make the most of it. I am reading three books at once, and try to get through at least a couple of chapters of each one at least twice a day.
I am enjoying THE CITADEL by AJ Cronin, which is the novel credited with contributing to the birth of the NHS. It’s about a young Scottish doctor who takes up a post in a poor run down mining community in the Welsh valleys. There are three doctors’ practices in the town. They are paid by the mines, who collect regular ontributions from all the miners’ wages. A doctor can only get patients by being on the mine’s ‘list’. Two of the doctors are hopeless – ignorant, lazy and sometimes downright negligent. The one Andrew Manson goes to work for has been a good doctor, but has suffered a stroke and will never work again. He is cared for by his terrifying, devoted sister Blodwen.
Andrew is horrified by the conditions he finds in the valleys. Appalling santitation means there are regular typhoid outbreaks, men suffer all kinds of industrial illnesses and accidents, women die in childbirth…. Although the book is fiction it is based on AJ Cronin’s own experiences as a doctor in the area.
My edition has a foreword by Adam Kay, author of THIS IS GOING TO HURT, a much more recent bestseller about his experiences as a junior doctor in a London hospital. He says:
‘If you want to start a revolution, tell a story. Fiction can transport and inspire people in a way that cold facts, grave manifestos and speeches at lecterns simply cannot.’
Kay ends with a serious warning to all of us in the UK – if the present Westminster government has its way, the NHS will be sold off to the highest bidder, and we will once again be back to those days when;
‘Your attitude to recovery rather depended on how swollen your coffers were – either you could afford to get better, or you couldn’t.’
Powerful stuff.
I am also still reading Stuart McLean’s VINYL CAFE UNPLUGGED. All of the stories are good, but so far my favourite is one about Dave in his record shop. It’s to do with a very rare jazz record that he buys for much less than it’s worth from an unsuspecting student, but then – because Dave is a decent man – spends weeks worrying about and not playing. But it’s the asides that I love the most;
‘Dave shares a trait with many people who run second-hand stores, which is not widely seen in retail. It is a characteristic that sometimes surfaces in librarians. Dave resents his customers. It’s not that he doesn’t like them. He likes the people who come into his store. What irks him is when the people insist on buying stuff, insist on leaving his store with records that Dave views as part of his private collection – his. If people came into his store looking for conversation rather than records, Dave would be a lot happier.’
Any truth in that Lesa?! My husband says I could never work in a book shop or library, because I’d be just the same (though at least in a library people are supposed to bring the books back…)
And I am still working my way through Paula Flynn’s biograohy of Barbara Pym. It’s very easy to read and interesting, but it still has over 600 pages! I’m well into the 400s now though – on the downward stretch.
Iain Maitland, author of MR TODD’S RECKONING (one of the scariest books I’ve read in recent years) and THE SCRIBBLER (almost as scary) has asked me to read his latest, THE GIRL DOWNSTAIRS. Has anyone read it? Unfortunately he has changed publishers and the new ones don’t seem to be as keen as Saraband were to send out paper review copies, so I am going to have to read it on my kindle (which I hardly ever use.)
Meanwhile Scotland Street Press have sent me THE QUEEN’S LENDER by Jean Findlay for review. It’s about George Heriot, Edinburgh goldsmith, jeweller and philanthropist (one of Edinburgh’s best known endowed schools is George Heriot’s) at the court of King James VI of Scotland and I of England. it looks interesting and is thankfully ‘only’ 198 pages long.
On TV we are engrossed in the new SHETLAND series (I still don’t have the faintest idea who the killer is, but there is a lot of strong stuff about PTSD in soldiers who served in Iraq).
finally had time to watch the end of Ann Cleeves’ other series THE LONG CALL, which was not bad, though not as good as Shetland. Anita Dobson, an actress who played the landlady of the pub in Eastenders (a well known British TV soap) for years (and is coincidentally also married to Brian May, lead guitarist in Queen!) takes a very different role in this one – she really was amazing, I would not have realised it was her if someone hadn’t said so on twitter. She plays the wife of the leader of a religious sect, by whom she has been coercively controlled for decades. (Martin Shaw plays her husband – another very different role for him, also well done.)
We are ploughing through the BAKE OFF – this week it was ‘free from’ creations, which looked very difficult. Next week will be the quarter final.
I also noticed while flipping through the Radio Times that there is a new version of Dalgliesh (PD James’s detective.) I’m glad to see it’s on catch up as I would like to see it – for me it is hard to imagine anyone but Roy Marsden in the role (although Martin Shaw himself played Dalgliesh iin one series, and was, as I recall, also good.)
And I forgot to say that on Sounds they are also repeating another one of the Charles Paris mysteries with Bill Nighy in the title role. This one is A RECONSTRUCTED CORPSE – in which Paris gets a job as the double of a murdered property developer in one of those Crimewatch type programmes that show re-enactments of the victim’s last days. As ever, it’s the banter with his wife Frances that’s the most fun, and in this one we also have his dreadful son-in-law Miles who, having been sacked from his job as a banker, has written a book about the wonders of hands-on fatherhood. The scene when Charles finds out that Miles has especially requested him to read the book in the Radio 4 serial slot is priceless.
The cafe in Glasgow in which my youngest daughter, Madeleine, is working is very close to the central COP26 venue. Last week the security men for the Columbian president came in and asked for a ‘very special’ salad for the president, which Madeleine was told to prepare. The BBC mentioned this in an online feature! She wasn’t actually named, but she said she was quite happy about that, as if there was any chance of the president getting food poisoning she didn’t want to be the one he blamed. Anyway I’m glad to say he didn’t.
I hope everyone has a great week. I think it was around 48F today here, which feels unseasonably warm for Scotland in November – but then last year the snow and ice (of which there was a lot) didn’t arrive till after Christmas, so we should enjoy the warmer days while we can.
Rosemary
Unfortunately, Rosemary, the U.S. is already there where Adam Kay suggests the NHS is heading. If you don’t have money, you don’t get health care. It’s just sad. I did like his comment about telling a story, though.
That’s funny about librarians. Well, yes, and no. I got out of working directly with the public because I was tired of it. However, we don’t really resent them taking the books because we do expect to see them again. I do remember, though, when I was a page (a shelver) that I wished people WOULDN’T come in right after I straightened the shelves because they messed them up.
Oh, I would have been nervous if I was Madeleine. I’m glad everything went well.
I liked some of Mitch Albom’s books, but I didn’t like the last novel he wrote, and I quit reading it. So, we’ll see about this one. I do have to admit, even the ones I like are a little saccarine.
Rosemary, don’t know if you’ve read the earlier books in Martin Edwards’ Lake District series, but THE DUNGEON HOUSE was the seventh – and last, I thought, until I just checked Wikipedia and see there is (or will be?) a new one this year, THE CROOKED SHORE. Yay! I really like that series, but I’m afraid I would have to advise you to start with book one, as the characters’ relationship evolves from book to book. Very good series with excellent Lake District descriptions and a historical “cold case” mystery at the center of each book.
The new SHETLAND started here this week (or Acorn). We will add it to our Saturday night Brit Night. We watched the first part of THE LONG CALL last week, along with the first Dalgliesh (SHROUD FOR A NIGHTINGALE) and episode one of series two of MANHUNT with Martin Clunes. The new Dalgliesh was Bertie Carvel, who won awards as the awful Headmistress Miss Trunchbul in MATILDA: The Musical. He does a fine job, I thought. The Clunes series is very low key (certainly way more so than LINE OF DUTY, for one), with the star as a Chief Inspector brought in to find a killer in the first series and a serial rapist in this one, both supposedly based on true crimes. Yes, Anita Dobson was nothing like Ange from EASTENDERS in THE LONG CALL, though she played a somewhat similar role in CALL THE MIDWIFE a couple of seasons back.
We are still watching the original UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS (up to the final series) too, and have started (again) ONE FOOT INT HE GRAVE. At times my wife has claimed that I am Victor Meldrew.
😉
Haha Jeff – I must try that one on my husband next time he’s being grumpy 🙂 I like One Foot in the Grave.
I don’t know how I missed the new Dalgliesh till now, but I’m glad it’s good and I will definitely watch it. I did originally know about the Martin Clunes series but of course I’d forgotten to watch it, so thanks again, I’ll look for that on catch-up.
What part did Anita Dobson play in Call the Midwife? Ive seen all of that so I must’ve missed her.
Last night I watched an excellent programme about Silvia Plath. I knew almost nothing about her prior to this. It was very interesting – they talked mainly to her school and college friends, and to her daughter Freida. I was particularly interested in the fact that at least one of her college friends said that they understood her anguish and in many ways shared it. Such was the lot of many intelligent women in the 1950s.
PS – Lesa, I read Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie – I think they must have been given out during my very short time as a member of a library book group. I have to say I didn’t like them at all – but I know they’re very popular. I’ll be interested to hear what you think of A Stranger in the Lifeboat.
Happy Veterans Day. I am still reading novellas for Novellas in November.
MONTALBANO’S FIRST CASE by Andrea Camilleri (crime fiction, Italian). This is a prequel to the Inspector Montalbano series. Montalbano gets his first assignment in Vigata, after spending his time in an apprenticeship as a deputy inspector in Mascalippa. I have only read the first two books in the series, but this one seemed to have a much slower pace than the full-length novels. Or maybe I am just mis-remembering. But that was a good thing, I enjoyed it a lot. I usually don’t like prequels to mystery series but this one was very good. The novella was the first story in a book of short stories, and I will be reading more of the stories in November.
TRAIN DREAMS by Denis Johnson. General fiction, a story about the life of a laborer in the American northwest from the early 1900s through the 1960s. Beautifully written, the book describes fragments of his life. Most of the time, he is living alone, a solitary life, and is struggling to support himself. The descriptions of small town and rural living were interesting. He looks back to two events in his life where he regrets his behavior. Some very strange things happen later in his life, but I don’t want to go into detail because of the short length of the book.
Most recently I finished THE CONCRETE JUNGLE by Charles Stross, written between the 1st and 2nd book in the Laundry Files series. It was the shortest one I have read so far, 57 pages. It won the Hugo for Best Novella in 2005. The series is cross genre, blending spy fiction with fantasy and horror, although it gets categorized mostly as science fiction. So a real mish mash of genres. This is my son’s book, but I like cross genre books, so I will read at least one more book in the series.
All of your novellas sound interesting, Tracy. You know what I like about novellas? If I don’t like it, I can still finish it, and it won’t take a lot of time. That’s what I liked about being on the quarter system when I was in college. If I didn’t like a class, it was over quickly.
I agree totally, Lesa. The one I am reading right now I am not that sure about, but there are only 50 pages left, so I will find out how it ends soon.
Good choices, Tracy. I liked Denis Johnson’s collection JESUS’ SON very much. And of course I’ve read all the Montalbanos other than the last one. I think you’re right about the shorter work being little different, perhaps slower, at least as far as I remember.
I was just reading about JESUS’ SON, Jeff. I think I would like that so I will have to find a copy.
I wish I had read more of the Montalbano series. I did get quite a few of them at the book sale this year so I can read pretty far in the series just from my own shelves.
MONTALBANO’S FIRST CASE definitely felt different from the others that I have read but I liked it a lot.
Does TRAIN DREAMS have anything to do with trains, as in railroads?
Tracy – I’ve not read any Charlie Stross books, but I did attend a launch and talk he did at Blackballs in Edinburgh a few years ago. (I wrote it up for The Edinburgh Reporter at the time.) I knew absolutely nothing about his work, but I enjoyed the event as he was very entertaining. Still not sure his writing would be my cup of tea, but I know he’s very popular.
In those days Blackwells used to do lots of author events and they were all free, so I went to many and heard some great authors talk about their work. I don’t know if these things are still happening, but even before the pandemic I noticed that more and more places (not Blackwells, at that point anyway) were charging for tickets, which I feel a bit ambivalent about – I get that the publicist usually provides refreshments (they were very minimal at Blackwells but I was fine with that – I can’t write while balancing a glass and a biscuit!), but the evening is primarily an advertising ploy to sell books.
Anyway, Stross seemed like a good guy – and he has cats, so he almost certainly is!
Afternoon…. we had baseball sized hail, winds to 75, and at least one confirmed tornado in the area last night with the cold front. We are well into our second severe weather season here in Texas. Spring gets all the attention, but fall can be just as bad.
I am still reading the new Longmire book. There has been a lot going on so I have been slowed in my reading. Won’t bore you with the stressors, but do want to tell you about a couple of things.
First, if you are on Facebook, go hunt me down as I shared a video of my reading at NOIR AT THE BAR: DALLAS last Sunday night. Johnny Wesner filmed it and I can not figure out how to add it to my blog as it uses some extension that is not supported by Microsoft. I read three flash stories and briefly explained the background to them. It runs a little more than three minutes and allows you to safely experience TIPPLE AFTER DARK.
Yesterday, I was interviewed by Frank Zafiro for his podcast. That will run in early December and I will plug more then.
Back to my lurking.
KRT
Kevin, baseball sized hail and a tornado, that is terrible! We used to have tornadoes go through Birmingham now and then, and it seems to have gotten worse over the years since I left. I don’t miss that at all.
Your weather sounds awful, Kevin! I hope you remain safe this season.
I’m so pleased, though, about your Noir at the Bar. I’m going to have to watch it. Thank you for sharing it!
I knew winter had arrived when the water coming from the cold spicket was actually cold! Most of the time it’s luke warm or even hot. Our winters arrive one or two days at a time, so it’s hard to tell when the seasons really change. We’re expecting a high of 70 this weekend, and in Florida, that’s winter! But it warms up quickly in a couple of days back to 80 for a high. I’m finally listening to an audiobook that’s got me quite absorbed. Lesa already reviewed it – The Break Up Book Club. I picked it up based on her review, and I’m very much enjoying this tale of four women and the changes in their lives when relationships go wrong. Their commonality is a book club at Between the Covers Bookstore that I wish I could go to! Still plenty of time to go in the book so I’m enjoying it.
That’s great, Sandie! I’m so glad you’re enjoying The Break Up Book Club. I liked those women.
Hi Lesa, I am enjoying the cooler temps. I read No Words by Meg Cabot and finished The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osmen (loved this group of characters). Currently listening to Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger.