It’s Thursday, but before we talk books, we need to talk weather. Is everyone okay? Between unexpected snowstorms, tornadoes and thunderstorms, I just want to make sure you’re all safe. Take care of yourselves!
I have to admit I’m reading a book I might not finish, The No-Show by Beth O’Leary. I’m not impressed so far with the story of three women who are stood up by the same man on Valentine’s Day. I just finished a mystery for review, and it was excellent. And, I’m about to start a new one. I’m more impressed with these mysteries than with the characters in The No-Show. So, unless someone else has already read it, you might not see a review here.
That’s what I’m reading at the moment. I hope you have something better to discuss. Tell us, please. What are you reading this week?
We’ve had lots of clouds, a bit of snow and rain, and incredibly strong winds. Not too bad as long as one can stay inside.
I read a couple great books this week:
#10 in the Cork O’Connor series VERMILLION DRIFT(2010) and it’s my favorite (so far). A complex mystery spanning fifty years with William Kent Krueger’s beautiful writing plus fascinating information about iron mining in Minnesota. A satisfying amount of connection to the series with the focus on Cork and his parents with a couple truly evil bad guys rounding out the plot.
The other, Jess Kidd’s HIMSELF from 2017. I happened upon it at the library, just a random book that caught my eye. A delightful blend of magical realism and literary fiction with a mix of mystery and dark comedy. A story of secrets held as tightly as the beliefs in this small Irish town, and how they haunt the residents like ghosts. Lesa, if you haven’t read this, it’s a wonderful bit of the old country.
Today I hope to visit one of our county library branches that just reopened after a four month renovation. Should be almost like new.
Thank you, MM! No, I haven’t read Himself. I’m home today, not feeling well, so I wrote it down to see if the library has it when I get back to work tomorrow. Thank you! Don’t you love those random books that sneak up on you?
Hope you’re feeling better soon!
Thank you, MM. Just internal upsets, should be okay tomorrow.
Aww! I hope you feel better SOON!
Note: when telling of their weather, people need to say where they are, for context.
Thank you, Rick.
I agree. We need to know where they are, at least the state.
So far we haven’t had any weather related problems. I haven’t finished reading anything this week since I had to have the rescue squad take my mom to the hospital on Friday morning. They managed to get her heart rhythm back to normal and now she’s waiting to be moved to another hospital to get a heart valve replaced. I’m hoping there aren’t any complications since she’s 94.
I’m partway through an ARC of SIMMERING WITH RESENTMENT by Daryl Wood Gerber which I’m enjoying when I manage to get to it.
Sandy, I do hope your mother recovers well and soon. My mother is also 94 and it’s a constant worry, I know. Thinking of you.
Sandy, I am so sorry to hear this. Hope it all goes well.
Oh, Sandy. I hope everything goes well for your mother. Thank you for stopping in for a quick break from your busy life and your worries. Sending hugs to both of you.
Sandy, I will be thinking of both you and your mother, and hoping things turn out well.
Sending good thoughts your way, Sandy.
Safe here. Nothing too crazy. It dipped to the 60’s early in the week, but we are back to the 70’s now.
I’m working on PANTY RAID by Diane Vallere. She’s taken her main character to Vegas, and all kinds of deadly fun is ensuing. It’s a shorter book, so I’m hoping to finish it up today.
Out of curiosity, Mark, are you fond of those books when the main character goes elsewhere? I understand it’s hard to kill off everyone in a small town, but I’m not crazy about it when an amateur sleuth leaves everything we’ve grown accustomed to.
Yes and no. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t. In this case, since I’m behind in the series, I don’t mind that much. But if it had been a year between books and I only got to see a couple of the characters I loved, I might be more frustrated. In this case, I loved the book.
Good morning all,
Lesa, is that the Beth O’Leary who wriote The Flat Share? I didn’t like that either, but i was definitely in a minority there.
The only ‘weather’ we have had is rain, cloud and more rain (optimistically labelled ‘drizzle’ by the BBC Weather app.) The burn at the end of the garden was quite high and fast last night, which was a little bit worrying, but this morning the level is already dropping, and we have dry weather coming (or so we’re told…) for the next week or so.
My walking companion Nancy returned from her visit to Cornwall (and very kindly brought me some wildflower seeds from the Eden Project) – so on Monday, the first chance we had, we met up for a walk and more importantly, a chat. It was a dampish day but we managed to avoid getting soaked. It was just a walk near to where Nancy lives, so nothing spectacular, but we did see lots of new born lambs, and it was just lovely to catch up. Friends are so important.
Every single day – it feels like every hour – another scandal emerges from Downing Street, so I have been glad this week to immerse myself in reading, and mostly writing. I managed to put together a review of the book I mentioned last week, the one set in the Highlands and full of shoot outs and grenade throwing. What I sometimes find when I start to think about a review is that there is more sense to a book than I at first thought. This still wasn’t really my cup of tea, but I could see themes emerging – something I often miss when I am first reading something. So I hope I was able to write a fair review.
I had some really nice feedback from the author of the Elizabethan Spy book – the review of which took me forever – so it was all worthwhile! Big history/biography books like that obviously don’t get as many reviews as the latest novel, so I suppose the authors are more generous with their thanks, but it is always good to have positive feedback, on both sides.
I also finished Allie Cleghorn’s MARJORIE’S JOURNEY, the true story of Marjorie Anderson Marnoch, who trained as a Montessori educator in Aberdeen in the 1930s, set up a home for the children of parents working overseas in the armed forces or Colonial Service, and when war broke out and she could not find a suitable house away from the potentially dangerous south coast (where her original home was) agreed, at the request of one of the parents, to take ten children under 7 years old to South Africa by boat from Glasgow.
The author is a second cousin of Marjorie, and although her little book lacks polish and is a bit repetitive in places, I enjoyed it so much. It was lovely to hear about the ‘family’s’ life in Robertson (Cape Province, I think) and about what happened to the children after the war, and in later life. Robertson was an Afrikaans-speaking town, and Marjorie believed in sending the children to the local school, so they were plunged into classes in a foreign language – but like most young children they picked it up very quickly and were soon fluent. As white children they led an idyllic life, with picnics, excursions, lessons outdoors in the sunshine, and with lots of pets. However, the author also makes some interesting points about the apartheid system in force at that time. On her research visits to South Africa she felt that in some ways little had changed.
Next week is my friend Simon Thomas’s #1954 club event (he and another blogger choose a year every 6 months). As usual I have a whole stack of books from that year, and also as usual I will not get through most of them, especially as Anna is coming to stay on Monday. However, I am going to go back to ALICE B TOKLAS’S cookbook and write something about that (having read almost all of it a while ago) and I am currently reading JILL ENJOYS HER PONIES – one of numerous pony books that were hugely popular in my childhood. I devoured them, even though I’d never have had a pony, or even riding lessons, in a million years. The Jill books are by Ruby Ferguson, but there were plenty of others – the Pullein-Thomson sisters churned out masses of them. I’m re-reading this one now because it was published in 1954.
As a child I both worshipped and envied Jill. As she constantly told us how hard up she and (widowed) ‘Mummy’ were, I couldn’t really see why my very hard up mother and I couldn’t also have a couple of ponies in our non-existent orchard. Reading the book now after all these years it is of course obvious that the kind of poverty Jill describes is the usual, very upper middle class, ‘poverty’ eg:
‘I didn’t know how I was going to afford Black Boy and Rapide’s food that winter’ (Jill, aged 13, unlikely to have to afford anything much)
‘Our housekeeper was making so much noise with the vacuum cleaner’
‘Mummy was off to the Chatton Show for the day’ (Mummy makes money by writing whimsical children’s stories, of which Jill is very dismissive. The writing only seems to occupy Mummy when she’s got nothing better to do – go out for lunch, have a lie down, visit copiously.)
And of course, at the start of her riding career, Jill handily encounters the War Wounded but Noble son of one of her mother’s friends, who used to be a champion equestrian, is now confined to a wheelchair after immense bravery in the Battle of Britain, and is more than happy to teach Jill to ride and even provide her with various bits of ‘tack’
There’s a lot of snobbery, but it’s not nearly as bad as Enid Blyton because Ferguson does bring Jill up short every so often, and make her see that she is not always right and that she should not look down on people who are poor/can’t ride (cardinal sin!)/etc.
I had amy weekly visit to the library yesterday and this is what I found:
THE LITTLE HISTORY OF ABERDEENSHIRE (I am hoping this will help to fill in some of the gaping lacunae in my local knowledge)
PRAY FOR SILENCE by Linda Castillo
INVISIBLE CITY by Julia Dahl
THE GIFT OF A RADIO by Justin Webb
THE MISSION HOUSE by Carys Davies
A DEADLY HABIT by Simon Brett
I finally sat down and made a Word document list of all the books on my Amazon wish list, which is really just where I keep my notes of books recommended here and elsewhere. There is almost no phone or internet signal in our library so I can’t look at it on my phone when I am there. Also Amazon once wiped the entire list in some kind of update, and I don’t want to lose all these suggestions! It will also be useful when in charity shops 🙂
On TV I came across THE GREEN PARK, a programme on Prime about a Kosher hotel resort that had operated in Bournemouth (a south coast resort, very smart in those days and probably still is) from the 1940s to the 1980s. I had heard of the huge resorts in America, but I had no idea England had these hotels too – it seems they existed all along that part of the so-called ‘English Riviera’ (haha.) The Green Park was owned and run by Ruby Marriott, his wife Sarah Richman, her formidable Yiddish speaking mother, Bubbe;
‘the grand matriarch was Bubbe Richman, quite a stocky woman, a heavy smoker, a living remain of the old Jewish world who would curse out loud in Yiddish and cheat in cards; she wasn’t going anywhere, nor had any intentions to change.’
and Ruby’s sisters, two of whom were still alive when the programme was made, and were clearly very proud of what had been their life’s work.
It was a very upmarket hotel with a huge Kosher kitchen famous all ensuite rooms. The programme interviewed some of the people who had stayed there – they included Michael Grade, Sir Isaac Wolfson, Sir Jack Cohen (founder of the Tesco supermarket empire), Cyril Stein and many others. Many young people met their future partners at The Green Park, and some were interviewed about that. The programme had also tracked down some staff members – receptionists, waiters, cooks, the cantor from the synagogue – they all said how much they had loved working there, and what good memories they had.
It was such an unusual programme, I enjoyed it very much.
On the radio I have started listening to LOVE FOR LYDIA by HE Bates. I have the book somewhere, and I’m sure I must have seen a TV adaptation many years ago – I have memories of seeing Mel Martin as Lydia. But after three episodes now Lydia is driving me mad. She is wilful, spoilt and entitled (she is about to inherit a vast fortune), and doesn’t care whose life she ruins in her determination to please herself. I can’t remember what happens in the end, so maybe she gets her comeuppance. The novella was apparently semi-autobiographical. HE Bates did not come from the usual Eton-Oxbridge background of most writers of that day, so the narrator, Richardson, is probably echoing Bates’s own thoughts when this infuriating, infatuating woman tells him to stop worrying about work and money and ‘just do what you like, I intend to’. As Richardson points out, not many people have that option.
Today I must take myself into town to go to our building society, and do a few other chores. I don’t doubt that charity shops will feature…
Have a great week all – not sure I will manage to get in here next Thursday, but I’ll try.
Rosemary
Hi, Rosemary! Yes, that’s the same Beth O’Leary, and I think there are too many other books on my list for me to bother finishing this one. Just something about it. I should have known because I wasn’t keen on the premise to begin with.
I cannot imagine doing anything with ten children under the age of seven, let alone taking them all to South Africa and being responsible for them. Marjorie Marnoch must have been an unbelievable woman.
I love your friend’s idea of reading books all from one year. The concept of those pony books, and this one with Jill and her “poverty” makes me laugh.
The Green Park sounds fascinating.
I hope you have a great day and discover some interesting finds in your charity shops today. Hugs!
Rosemary, just I love coming to Lesa’s on Thursday, sitting in that chair in the corner, and listening to you tell about your week! Thank you so, so much.
I totally agree, Rick. I love to listen to Rosemary tell us about her week.
Good morning, Lesa and all. No weather issues here today – quite the contrary. After some heavy rain last week, we are in the middleo f three beautiful warm days, 72 on Tuesday, 69 yesterday, and a chance at 80 today! The cool weather will return Easter Sunday, but Spring is definitely here.
At last, I feel like I’ve been able to relax enough to read something more than short stories. (I have read over 200 stories so far this year.) I finished the last Jeffrey Siger book, A Deadly Twist, which took Andreas and Yianni plus Lila and Maggie and Tassos (and Yianni’s girlfriend) to Naxos, largest of the Cyclades, to solve a murder and possible kidnapping, plus the usual Greek corruption. You really feel like you are getting a perfect travelogue of the Greek islands in these books, and I already have the new one on reserve at the library.
I’ve read all of Linda Castillo’s Amish series about (former Amish girl) Police Chief Kate Burkholder (and the new one is on reserve), but now read her collected Burkholder stories (most of which I’ve read individually, over the years), A Simple Murder. Fans of the series will definitely want to read this one. All are longer stories (the Kindle estimates about 30 minutes reading time on each). One of them takes place completely when Katie is a 16 year old girl and still part of her Amish community, but the rest are modern. Good stuff.
More and more pandemic fiction (books written during and/or set in the last couple of years) seems to be coming out, and I’ve read a couple of them. THe first, and most directly Covid-related, is Roddy Doyle’s Life Without Children, set mostly in Doyle’s own Dublin. Most of the protagonists are, like Doyle, 60ish men whose children are grown an out of the house, who are dealing with the lockdown and the changes it is bringing to their lives, and marriages. It’s a short, fast read and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I’m already a big fan of his COMMITMENTS trilogy (and the movies).
John Scalzi has talked and written about how he was unable to write during 2020. Once that passed, he through away the book he had been struggling with and started a new one, The Kaiju Preservation Society, now at hand. “Kaiju” are giant monsters like Godzilla, and in this book, they are real. (SPOILER ALERT) Jamie Gray loses his job (working for an amusing take on GrubHub or Uber Eats) and ends up working the for KPS, which takes him to an alternate Earth where kaiju are real. (END SPOILER) There is plenty of snark and Scalzi’s usual humor – two of the mating kaiju are called Edward and Bella – and a fast-moving, fun story I liked a lot.
The question is, what to read next. I have three books coming to the library, including Steven F. Havill’s latest Posada County book (I’ve read them all), so if that arrives soon, it will go to the top of the list. Also have a collection of space horror stories and a collection of William Brittain’s short stories about high school science teacher – and sleuth – Mr. Strang, both of which I will read along with any other books.
Have a good week, and Happy Easter and Passover for those who celebrate them.
I wish we’d just settle into spring, but I guess rain and high winds are to be expected here in southwest Indiana. Warmer yesterday, but unsettled weather all day with predictions of possible tornadoes and hail. Fortunately, we didn’t get either, but did have lots of rain.
I’m so glad you liked The Kaiju Preservation Society. I loved the snark and Jamie’s circle of friends. And, laughed that the kaiju were named Edward and Bella. I have Havill’s latest book, but I’m a little hesitant after comments from a friend, plus the change in location. I”ll be curious to see what you think, Jeff.
PS – Jackie read the third of Jayne Ann Krentz’s Fogg Lake trilogy, which she seemed to enjoy a lot, and is now reading another Christine Feehan book. The woman seems to write half a dozen books a year, and she reads most of them.
After a day of rain and then a night of thunder, lightning, and torrents of rain, the sun is shining, and it is a beautiful spring day in my part of Cincinnati. Weather never ceases to amaze me.
I am sorry to hear about The No-Show. I really did not like Beth O’Leary’s last book, The Road Trip. I was hoping for a little redemption with this one. I have it on reserve at the library, so I’ll see what I think when it comes in.
I read three books this week. I liked The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth but thought it lacked the suspense factor of her previous books. There were no surprises at all for me to include the hot water bottle. I’d read about the backstory on one of her social media feeds. After I’d finished, I sat and thought about all the trigger warnings and decided it actually was a sad book with all the female characters having so many issues.
Next, I read By Any Other Name by Lauren Kate. A predictable romcom about a junior editor who takes on the publishing house’s biggest client. Said client never goes to book signings or meets editors. No surprise as to why but I liked it anyway. There was a sweet minor storyline about an elderly couple who meets for a picnic in Central Park.
Lastly, I finished Back in the Burbs by Tracy Wolff and Avery Flynn. Very much like a Christina Lauren book, it was lots of fun. My daughter and I both ended up by coincidence reading it at the same time. We both said totally crackers but who cares? Mallory found her lawyer husband cheating and is living with her parents. Her eccentric Aunt Maggie dies and leaves her a house in the suburbs of New Jersey. Of course, it has many HOA violations, and the hunky HOA board member lives across the street. Hilarity, lust and love ensue. I thought it was great.
We are in the midst of watching Season 2 of Traces on Britbox this week. What terrific television!
Happy Reading!
Sharon, Back in the Burbs is the one that caught my eye in your list. I liked your summary of hilarity, lust and love. Isn’t it fun when two of you read the same book so you can talk about it? My youngest sister and I do that sometimes. I’ll be interested to see what you think of the O’Leary. You’ll have to let us know.
“ her lawyer husband is living with her parents.” Huh?
Sorry. Her lawyer husband kicked her out of their condo because he said it belonged to the law firm. Having no where to go she moved back in with her parents until she inherited her aunt’s house.
Ah. Thanks.
I loved the second book in the four book series by Amanda Flower and now starting A Plain Disappearance. Will try to get as much as I can read done before the eye surgery on Monday/ After that will have blurry vision in my right eye and don’t want to strain my left eye.
We had a stormy night last but it could have been a lot worst, now the storm is headed east to make tornadoes.My body is having a storm instead. I went to my dermatology for what I thought was an infection. No, now have 7 autoimmune disease. And it will join my rare collection. I hope that I did not roll my eyes when he told me but I think I probably did.
Oh, Carolee. Good luck with your eye surgery on Monday. And, good luck with all the other problems in your “rare collection”. I hope you can escape into the Amanda Flower book for a little while.
Good morning! Sorry to hear about The No-Show, Lesa, especially because it is coming in the mail to me today! It’s one of the pre-order books I bought at a discount from Barnes and Noble a couple of months ago. I do like Beth O’Leary, so I’ll definitely post a review when I read it. As for weather, we had a couple of days of 80s in Northern California a week or so ago, but the last few days we’ve had lows in the 30s at night! Currently we are having some rain, which we always need here, and highs are in the low 50s. April is certainly an unpredictable month for weather. Here’s what I’ve been reading.
I was fascinated by FLY GIRL, Ann Hood’s memoir about her experiences as a TWA flight attendant beginning in 1978. It took me back to the “golden years” of air travel when people dressed up to take a plane ride and stewardesses (later called hostesses) were all attractive young women who could be fired if they gained a few pounds or forgot to wear lipstick. The author describes the long, arduous interview process, the intensive training, and the sneers of friends who felt she was throwing away her college education. But as someone who truly enjoyed the job, she also provided insights into the joys of being a flight attendant, not the least of which was a perk which allowed her to fly on a whim to exciting international destinations when she had some time off. Yes, difficult customers, back-breaking work, and inherent dangers were a part of the job, but she found the benefits infinitely rewarding. I was happy to go along with the ride! (May)
In acclaimed author Amor Towles’ newest book, THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY, all of the skills for which he is rightfully praised are on display. His character depth and development are what sold it for me. In 1954, Nebraskan brothers Emmett (18) and Billy (8) are poised to go on a road trip together after Emmett is released from a youth work farm and their father has recently passed away, leaving financial ruin in his wake. Billy is preternaturally intelligent, fueled by his obsession with his ever-present book of real-life adventures, and wants nothing more than to find their long-absent mother in California. Emmett, on the other hand, is mature and careful, less fanciful than his brother, and has a detailed plan for their survival which includes moving to Texas. And the trip becomes even more convoluted, with interruptions, losses, vehicle issues, direction changes, and much more, not to mention the influences of several other characters who play important roles in the success or failure of the brothers’ plans. It is a long book–almost 600 pages–which is expected of Towles, and it’s not a fast-moving book, covering just ten days. But part of the delight is in unexpected musings, fascinating descriptions, and surprising turns of events. I found it time well spent with these unique characters.
A KILLING IN COSTUMES by Zac Bissonnette is the promising debut novel in the Hollywood Treasures Mystery series. Two aspects of the book especially appealed to me. The first is that the protagonists are a formerly married couple who played a married couple in a soap opera until they both discovered they were gay and their careers took a dive. Surprise–they are still best friends and business partners who are devoted to each other and live together, even as they search for romance separately. The second is the description of the fabulous movie memorabilia they sell in their Palm Springs store, Hurray for Hollywood. Jay and Cindy make a great team. He’s accomplished at making personal connections, while she (a former financial advisor) is better at the business end of things. But their business is in danger of collapse unless they convince a 90-year-old former actress, Yana Tosh, to allow them to sell her vast collection of movie costumes. When the representative of a prominent auction house that is also seeking Yana’s collection turns up dead, Jay and Cindy might be the prime suspects. It’s a fun story with a cast of characters that keep things lively, including a police detective who seems to have eyes for Jay, even as he pursues the murder investigation. I enjoyed the twist toward the end of the story. With a little more fleshing out of the major characters and a bit more nuance to the storytelling, this could be an addictive series. (August)
Margie, I love Armor Towles and also thought THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY was an excellent read. He’s one of the few authors on my auto-buy list.
Margie, The minute I saw Amor Towles’ name, I thought of Kaye Barley because I know how much she loves his books. I wasn’t at all surprised to see her response. I will be interested to see what you think of The No-Show. Maybe I’m giving up too quickly.
I had a copy of Fly Girl and passed it on to a friend who wanted it. I am going to get it at the library, though, because I like Ann Hood. And, I remember those days of flying. I once bought a whole new outfit when I flew home from D.C. I loved that outfit. Gorgeous blue belted jacket, cream-colored dress, black boots,. I couldn’t even tell you what outfits I wear now to fly, other than when I had my “fly” shoes, and a man from TSA commented how cute they were.
Hi Lesa! Our weather in Northern Colorado has been mostly wind and dryness, which is a danger for wildfires. We seem to have avoided the big storms. Currently, I’m reading From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur C. Brooks. I’m long past the beginning of my second half of life, but the theories Brookes examines could be useful anytime. I’m also ready to start another book from Net Galley: Magpie by Elizabeth Day.
Patricia, Yes, I sometimes find those books about philosophy and life are interesting even if they don’t exactly fit my stage in life. I wish you some rain so you can avoid wildfires!
What i read, and enjoyed, via NetGalley:
“Therese Anne Fowler’s It All Comes Down to This is a warm, keenly perceptive novel of sisterhood, heartbreak, home, and what it takes to remake a life at its halfway point, for fans of Ann Patchett and Emma Straub.
Meet the Geller sisters: Beck, Claire, and Sophie, a trio of strong-minded women whose pragmatic, widowed mother, Marti, will be dying soon and taking her secrets with her. Marti has ensured that her modest estate is easy for her family to deal with once she’s gone––including a provision that the family’s summer cottage on Mount Desert Island, Maine, must be sold, the proceeds split equally between the three girls.
Beck, the eldest, is a freelance journalist whose marriage looks more like a sibling bond than a passionate partnership. In fact, her husband Paul is hiding a troubling truth about his love life. For Beck, the Maine cottage has been essential to her secret wish to write a novel––and to remake the terms of her relationship.
Despite her accomplishments as a pediatric cardiologist, Claire, the middle daughter, has always felt like the Geller misfit. Recently divorced, Claire’s secret unrequited love for the wrong man is slowly destroying her, and she’s finding that her expertise on matters of the heart unfortunately doesn’t extend to her own.
Youngest daughter Sophie appears to live an Instagram-ready life, filled with glamorous work and travel, celebrities, fashion, art, and sex. In reality, her existence is a cash-strapped house of cards that may crash at any moment.
Enter C.J. Reynolds, an enigmatic southerner ex-con with his own hidden past, who complicates the situation. All is not what it seems, and everything is about to change.”
Oh, I ordered that book yesterday for the library, Kaye. I’m glad you enjoyed it! Sending hugs!
Good morning.
I have been reading The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn. I have been slow in reading this and I am not sure why. I am enjoying it but it is not my favorite of hers (The Rose Code is). The writing and research are excellent. Ms. Quinn can write one heck of a story.
I listened to Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto. I very much enjoyed it, especially on audio. There were many over the top and laugh out loud moments.
I am now listening to South of the Buttonwood Tree by Heather Webber. I am enjoying this as well. When I am in the mood for a nice, sweet story, I turn to this author.
Lesa, I had The No-Show on hold. Once I read your comments, I removed my hold. Too many other books to read, I don’t want to waste my time.
To all who celebrate, Happy Easter and Passover.
Well, I’m sorry about that, Kathleen. You might have liked the book more than I was. But, it sounds as if you had better books to read, or at least ones that were enjoyable.
I had the same issue with The Diamond Eye. I just bogged down in it.
Good Morning all!
We have had extremely wet, cold and dreary weather for what feels like days on end. There has been severe weather near us, but it has not reached us thankfully.
This week I read:
Edgewater Road by Shelley Shepard Gray – This is the start of a new series. John Lincoln Bennett lived next door to Ginny Smiley his whole life. He often heard about her only granddaughter, Jennifer, although he had never met her. When Ginny died, she left her house to Jennifer. Ginny always looked out for Lincoln and because of that he felt a responsibility to make sure Jennifer had whatever she needed.
Jennifer Smiley has fond memories of her grandmother and feels honored that she left the house to her. She looks forward to making the house her own and starting a new life. She soon discovers that included with the house is group of men who live next door and seem to feel obligated to look out for her. She is intrigued to learn that they work for her neighbor, Lincoln Bennett.
Lincoln finds himself immediately attracted to Jennifer. But they are from different worlds. Jennifer is sweet and innocent and always immaculately dressed. Lincoln has been to prison and now helps ex-cons get on their feet. Will Jennifer be able to overlook his past and get to know this man who has a heart for others?
Shelley Shepard Gray is an author I have enjoyed reading. In the past she has written Amish fiction, romantic suspense and historical fiction. Edgewater Road was hard to classify. Before reading it I thought it would fit under the romantic suspense genre. But after reading it, I think I would classify it more as romance with some suspense. As it turns out, the book was a little rough around the edges. I did end up enjoying it once I got past some of the inconsistencies.
Happy Easter and Passover to all who celebrate!
Gretchen, Thank you for that book summary. I”m always curious about books I order for the library, but don’t read. Shelley Shepard Gray is extremely popular in the library, so I appreciate your comments.
Hey Lesa, I’m doing ok. We in NC don’t seem to be getting near as horrible weather as the midwest. I am currently reading “Girl in Ice” by Erica Ferencik and Renewed for Murder by Victoria Gilbert (love her Blue ridge series)
Katherine, Like you, I like Victoria Gilbert’s Blue Ridge series. I always seem to be just a little behind in reading the books, though. We have had tumultuous weather this spring.
I hope you feel better soon, Lesa! Here in Portland, OR we have had a lot of weather. On Monday we had high winds and rain. It snowed Tuesday, the latest in the year on record, then yesterday we had rain followed by significant hail storms. It’s in the high 30s now, and we may get to 42 today. More rain, sleet, possible snow on the way. Brrr!
I read GOLDEN AGE DETECTIVE STORIES edited by Otto Penzler, part of his fine American Mystery Classics series, and reviewed it on my blog yesterday. [www.tipthewink.net]. Other than that, not a lot. I don’t have anything on hold at the library, but my TBR shelf is static, and not much appeals. Maybe I’ll read some Holmes.
Thank you, Rick! You did exactly what you suggested – mentioned that you were talking about the weather in Portland, OR. I mentioned your weather to someone the other day when you said it was the latest Portland has had snow. But, I didn’t realize how bad your weather actually was!
I have those times, too, when no book appeals to me. I wander around the house looking for something to jump out and beg to be read.
I’ve been listening to A Serpent’s Tooth by Craig Johnson. It’s one of his more amusing ones. I love it when he leans into the humor. I’m also listening to The Case of the Left-Handed Lady by Nancy Springer. I liked the first one in this series better, but it’s still an enjoyable book.
I agree with you, Barb. I like Craig’s humorous books, too. I’ll have to look up Nancy Springer’s series just to see what it’s about.
We’re getting some much needed rain here in NrCal.
This week I read:
Salt of The King by Henry D. Terrerll; Apparently part of a series set in the fictional Texas town of Door. It’s 1972, and a washed up rock singer comes to town to record a comeback song in the small but legendary local studio. The police ar elooking for a girl who’s been missing for two years, and a guy is looking into ley lines. Pretty strange. Ley lines don’t interest me much, but some people are really into them.
Madman in the Woods by Jaimie Gehring; As a little girl, the author lived next to The Unabomber, and thought him quite harmless as a little girl. Seeing things through adult eyes, everything looks a little different.
Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans by Brian Kilmeade; Cue Johnny Horton! It seemed weird reading this history, that could have been written in 1964 in today’s woke climate.
40 Frenchis Flirts by Paris Connelly; A middle aged Australian comedienne living in France writes about the times she was hit on. So much for the French art of seduction.
Eating to Extinction by Dan Saladino; The author travels the world sampling foods that are disappearing. The beverage Perry, sort of like cider made from pears was the most interesting to me, but I’d like to try most of these foods.
Barred Justice by John Oliver Green; A biograohy where a lawyer details how he accidentally framed himself for drug smuggling and wound up going to prison.
An interesting collection of books this week, Glen. 40 Frenchis Flirts just sounds odd, but it sounds as if there could be something in all of the other books, even the Andrew Jackson one. I laughed when you said cue Johnny Horton. I could just hear him in my mind when you said that.
The weather here in Santa Barbara / Goleta is coolish, highs in the low 70s or high 60s (after a short hot spell, in the low 80s) but windy and we feel very allergic. Mostly sunny. I am envious of the rain others are getting. But it is too late for that now. Our rainy season did not happen, and we have miniscule amounts of rain in the late spring and summer.
Like Rosemary, I will also be doing posts for Simon and Kaggsy’s 1954 Club. Two books, GO, LOVELY ROSE by Jean Potts, which I talked about last Thursday, and DEATH LIKES IT HOT by Gore Vidal written as Edgar Box, which I read in March. For the last club I read and reviewed 4 books but no way I can do that this time. I am reading a bit less and blogging much more slowly. Oh well.
The two books I read since last Thursday are: BEAST IN VIEW by Margaret Millar and THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig.
BEAST IN VIEW by Margaret Millar was my pick from the Classic Club Spin. I have already read four books by Millar and enjoyed them all, to different degrees. I had avoided this one so far because I thought it would be tense and scary. It did not live up to my expectations, but it wasn’t that tense and scary either. Helen Clarvoe is a rich young woman who inherited all of her father’s money but lives in a low quality hotel. Her mother and brother live in the family home, but don’t have enough money to maintain it. She gets a threatening call from a woman from her past that she does not remember, and calls in her father’s old investment counselor to help. It does get very weird and kept me guessing throughout, although I had guessed at the solution early on. The action takes place over a short time, a few days. The book was published in 1955, and won the Edgar for Best Novel in 1956.
I had been excited about reading something by Matt Haig. Between myself and my husband we own five books of his books, and I decided to start with THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY. I did not like it quite as much as I expected, but that is the problem with having expectations. I still enjoyed it a lot. With all the publicity it has gotten since being published, I imagine most commenters here already know the premise of the book, so I won’t go into details.
I know what you mean by expectations, Tracy. I’ve been burned a few times when I had high expectations for a book.
I love it that several of you are doing books for the 1954 Club. I’ll have to check it out if I can do that without actually reading books. Thank you for talking about the books here as well.
I’m really sorry you didn’t get the rain that would have helped.