Some of us have already had our first taste of winter. We had three to four inches of snow last Saturday, and that’s enough for me for the entire season. I am not a winter person. I don’t like being outside in cold weather, and I don’t like to drive in snow or ice. Consider me a bah humbug type of person when it comes to winter itself, not to the winter holidays.
Next Thursday is Thanksgiving already. I have quite a lot to be thankful for again this year. I’m going to repeat last year’s schedule – a thankful post on Thanksgiving Day itself, and we’ll do What Are You Reading? on Friday, Nov. 25. I hope you remember to join us on Friday next week, instead of Thursday.
I’m currently finishing two books for review for Library Journal, but I do know I’ll be reading Nora Roberts’ The Choice this weekend. This is the third book in The Dragon Heart Legacy series, the conclusion of the epic trilogy from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Awakening and The Becoming. If you haven’t read this wonderful fantasy series, you really need to start with The Awakening. I can say that Kaye Wilkinson Barley already read The Choice, and loved it. Release day is Tuesday, and I’ll have my review up then.
What about you? What are you reading this week?
And, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
Hello, all! I’m again posting my reviews Wednesday evening since I’ll be walking with my walking group early tomorrow morning. Lesa, I’m looking forward to your review of The Choice. I tried to get it from NetGalley but was just declined, which didn’t surprise me. I also have it on hold at the library. I read the first book and have the second book to read before I read The Choice. I guess I’ll get to that one soon. Here’s what else I’ve been reading this week, and it hasn’t been all that much due to other priorities.
THE LONDON SEANCE SOCIETY, Sarah Penner’s second book, is a worthy successor to her first blockbuster, The Lost Apothecary. Set in the late Victorian era, when spiritualism and séances were wildly popular in England, it tells in great detail the story of two young women–Vaudaline D’Allaire, a prominent medium, and Lenna Wickes, her protégé and “understudy.” Lenna hopes to use her training and her association with Vaudaline to find out who killed her younger sister Evie, a budding medium herself. Vaudaline has been lured back from Paris to London to preside at a séance to identify the killer of the president of the men-only London Séance Society, some of whose members have been accused of being charlatans in the pursuit of easy money rather than authentic spiritualists. I thoroughly enjoyed this look into the spiritualism dichotomy–are séances an authentic way to contact the dead to bring comfort to their families, or are they simply smoke and mirrors to cheat gullible, grieving customers out of their savings? I particularly enjoyed the juxtaposition of the two women and Mr. Morley, vice president of the Society’s Department of Spiritualism, who narrates alternate chapters. But my favorite part of the book is the highly suspenseful final chapters culminating in the important séance that could turn deadly for both Vaudaline and a suspicious Lenna. (March)
Having enjoyed Diana Biller’s previous novels, especially The Widow of Rose House, I was delighted to receive an ARC of her upcoming book, HOTEL OF SECRETS. Fortunately, the author is an excellent storyteller, as there is quite a bit going on in this historical romance, set in Vienna, Austria in the 1870s. Maria is eager to restore the popularity and financial stability of her family’s hotel by organizing a ball for 500 people when the rival hotel must forfeit just three weeks prior to the scheduled date. At the same time, she has to escape mortal injury several times and wonders who has targeted her and why. Eli is an American Secret Service agent who has arrived in Vienna to investigate a case but had never expected to be called upon to save Maria’s life more than once. And there is much intrigue among Maria’s unusual–to say the least–family. What I particularly liked were the witty repartee–often between Maria and Eli–the lush descriptions, the intimate scenes, and the lively plot. However, I had a difficult time believing the relationship between reserved, self-professed celibate Eli and free-wheeling Maria, who swore she would never marry, Also, I felt that several instances of murder without consequences strained credulity a bit too much. (March)
I’m sad (but resigned) to say that I just stopped reading Fredrik Backman’s third book in the Beartown trilogy, THE WINNERS, after reading almost 300 pages. There’s another 350 pages to go, and I just can’t justify spending more time on it. It’s getting stellar reviews, and I agree the Backman is a terrific writer. At least one of his books is one of my all-time favorites, but this one is just too bleak for me and it’s way too long, in my opinion. So . . . onward and upward!.
Margie, right on! Life is too short to force yourself to keep reading long books if you’re not enjoying them. I’ve done the same thing, abandon a book after hundreds of pages,
I’m on the waiting list at the library for The London Seance Society, Margie, so I’m happy to know you liked it. I’ll definitely post my review of The Choice. I’m caught up with the series, so I’m eager to read the conclusion.
I hope you enjoyed your walking group this morning!
Life IS too short to slog through books that you’re not enjoying! I so agree. Good for you for walking away.
I am still looking forward to Hotel of Secrets, Margie. The Widow of Rose House is still one of my favorite books.
I’m currently a third of the way through BAKE OFFED by Maya Corrigan. This is the latest in her Five-Ingredient Mysteries. It’s set at a fan mystery convention, and I am enjoying it. (Coincidentally, Maya is a guest at Jungle Reds today giving away a copy of the book.)
It sounds like the wind has calmed down. It was really bad this morning when I was trying to run errands after work. Fortunately, most of the day I was in my condo working, reading, or watching TV. Good thing we never lost power.
I saw the weather service warning on a week of very strong Santa Ana winds. A gust measured yesterday at 102 mph! Stay safe
Now, Mark, after your comments and MM’s about the winds, I’ll have to check what they’re saying. I’ve really been looking at Buffalo’s expectations of 2-4 feet of snow this weekend, and not paying attention to the west coast. Stay safe, as MM said!
I usually enjoy those books set at mystery conventions because the authors usually get the environment so right!
Mark, I enjoyed Maya Corrigan’s visit to Jungle Reds and hearing about Bake Offed. I love that it’s set at a book convention and the bakers in the contest are posing as cooks for famous writers. I may have to squeeze that one into my impossible book schedule.
Finally I can join “Thursday at Lesa’s” again from the comfort of home. My internet receiver was sadly out-of-date. With the temperatures starting out in the low teens here today in Northern Nevada, home is a good place to be.
An unusual reading for me week juggling several short story collections:
Christmas Out West a 1990 collection edited by Bill Pronzini and Martin Greenberg, is a blend of frontier and holiday traditions. The collection includes Jack Shafer’s “Stubby Pringle’s Christmas” rated one of the best Christmas stories in the Western genre.
The Mysterious North edited by Dana Stabenow. This collection resulted from the February 2001 Left Coast Crime convention. Subtitled Tales of Suspense from Alaska.
And a current collection of previously published newspaper articles, Outback Nevada: Real Stories from the Silver State. It features intimate portraits of rural and small-town lifestyles. Quite fascinating.
Happy reading & Happy Thanksgiving to all.
I’m glad you have access again from home, MM. Not that you shouldn’t use the library (smile).
All three of those collections sound interesting, but Outback Nevada really does sound fascinating.
I’m a huge fan of the local library system, brought home four books yesterday. And that doesn’t count the ebooks.
Just found out they also provide online access to author interviews.
God morning to all. Yes, my favorite holiday approaches and for the first time in six years, my birthday and Thanksgiving coincide. Totally agree on the winter weather. We went from two weeks averaging more than 10 degrees warmer than normal to start November to a sharp drop to ten degrees below normal, and I’m not happy about that. But at least there is no snow.
Jackie has that Nora Roberts book in her sights too, as she liked the first two books. What she did not like much at all was THE HUNT, billed as the final Peter & Rina Decker book by Faye Kellerman. She hated the “pornographic” elements and didn’t care for the downer end. But otherwise… no, she didn’t lilke it. She is much happier reading Jesse Mihalik’s ECLIPSE THE MOON, the sequence to HUNT THE STARS.
I have my usual five books going: two volumes of short stories (the collected stories of Breece D’J Pancake, published posthumously after his suicide at age 26, and JEWISH NOIR !!), both of which I am at least halfway through; the non-fiction IDENTICAL STRANGERS by Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein, who discovered they were identical twins separated as infants when they were 35 (more than halfway through this too); Roger A. Canaff’s CITY DARK: A Thriller); and Tom Kromer’s WAITING FOR NOTHING.
CITY DARK was one of those free books offered monthly to members by Amazon. The premise was too interesting to pass up. July 13, 1977 was the big New York and northeast blackout, where rioters ran amok. (As an aside, as with several other major disasters, we were not here to suffer from it, being in London for another week. That day we saw a wonderful production of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, starring Donald Sinden and Judi Dench. But I digress.) 10 year old Joe and his older brother Robbie are in the car with their mother, heading for Staten Island to leave her abusive husband. When the lights go out there are on the Henry Hudson Parkway, coming down the West Side of Manhattan. Then – of course – the car runs out of gas. Mom leaves the boys to look for gas…and they never see her again. Forty years later, Joe is an ADA and a blackout drunk. Then his mother turns up, murdered on Coney Island beach.
Tom Kromer’s WAITING FOR NOTHING is short, dark, and gripping. It was originally published in 1935, and is the anecdotal, clearly mostly autobiographical, story of a vagabond hobo trying to keep body and soul together during the Great Depression. He desperately tries to get enough to eat, he sleeps in shelters, he basically gives you a stark and brilliant portrayal of what it was really like for the down and out during those years. It’s tough but compelling reading though I have to space out reading it. (Ive read a third so far, and nearly half of CITY DARK.)
COUNTRY DARK by Chris Offutt was the one book I finished this week. Not as good as his KILLING HILLS, perhaps, but he is always very readable and this is no exception.
Happy Birthday & Happy Thanksgiving, Jeff!
I can see why you didn’t pass up City Dark. It does sound interesting. And, you already read Country Dark, so why not City Dark? (Just kidding!)
I’m glad I never finished The Hunt. The beginning just didn’t excite me.
Happy Birthday, Jeff. How fun to have it on Thanksgiving.
Good morning. I’m not a fan of cold weather either.
I read MOONLIGHT AND MAGIC by Darynda Jones. A paranormal romance where the main character recently found out she’s a witch.
THE CRIME THAT BINDS by Laurie Cass. I usually like the bookmobile cat mysteries but this one dragged for me. I felt there was too much of the characters’ personal lives and not enough solving the mystery.
My favorite read of the week was an ARC of Still Waters by Sara Driscoll. In this latest book in her FBI search and rescue series, Meg and her dog Hawk discover the body of another handler during a weekend training exercise. Since Meg had an argument with the woman the night before she’s the prime suspect. I read most of this in one sitting.
Sandy, I just couldn’t get into the Bookmobile Cat mysteries. I was excited about the first one, but it just wasn’t for me.
Sara Driscoll’s books are more up my alley. Good to know you liked Still Waters!
Sandy, I am thrilled that you enjoyed Still Waters. Part of that writing team of Sara Driscoll is Jen Danna, whom I’ve been friends with since the Albany Bouchercon. In Jen’s other life, she is a research scientist at a major lab in Canada (she was involved with work on the Covid vaccine). I love the F.B.I. K-9 series. The handlers and the dogs are such great characters. I just finished Still Waters recently, and my review will be up by publication date, on Nov. 29th. Jen has a rather new series also, the NYPD Negotiator series, with two books out so far. I can steer you toward some more of he writing if you like. Please leave a review or a few words about how much you enjoyed Still Waters. I know she would appreciate it. Oh, and Jen will be at next year’s Bouchercon in San Diego.
Good Morning Thursday at Lesa’s Peeps!
My book of the weeks is an ARC of Preston & Child’s next in their FBI Special Agent Pendergast series, The Cabinet of Dr. Leng.
“AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
Astoundingly, Constance has found a way back to the place of her origins, New York City in the late 1800s, leaping at the chance, although it means leaving the present forever.
A DESPERATE OPPORTUNITY
Constance sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother. But along the road to redemption, Manhattan’s most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng, lies in wait, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.
UNIMAGINABLE ODDS
Meanwhile, in contemporary New York, Pendergast feverishly searches for a way to reunite with Constance—but will he discover a way back to her before it’s too late?”
Not everyone’s cup of tea, but i love this series, except for a couple of missteps, IMO, along the way.
Lesa, and those of you getting rrady to read aThe Choice, i can’t wait to hear what you think. I think you’re gonna love it.
Good morning, Kaye! I have no doubt I’m going to love The Choice. I loved the other two books in the series, and I’m ready to return to that world.
Someday, I’m going to try the Pendergast series. Our former library director LOVED that series, and I just never have tried it. Your recommendation is a good reason to at least try it.
Hugs, Kaye!
This week I read A Colorful Scheme by Krista Davis. I enjoy this pen and ink series very much. This one revolves around the professor and bookstore owner remarrying his first wife. The ending seemed to come out of nowhere, so I didn’t have a clue at guessing who did it. But the main character, Florrie Fox, did not have her life in mortal peril at the end so to me that was a plus.
Next, I read Before I Do by Sophie Cousens. Definitely a case of the right book at the right time because I pretty much read it in one sitting. I enjoyed the story of Josh and Audrey. The story was told in flashbacks and present time which was easily distinguishable with chapters starting with the time frame. I especially loved the secondary characters of Granny Parker who kept pointing out the bad omens which surely meant the marriage was doomed and Audrey’s childhood nactor (nanny plus part time actor) Hillary.
We’ve had snow as well already. Nothing much sticking and melting fairly close after falling but it has been cold.
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Reading!
Happy Thanksgiving, Sharon!
I’m a big fan of Krista Davis’ Domestic Diva mysteries. Oh, let’s face it. I read them as much for the characters and the setting in Old Town Alexandria as I do for the mysteries.
Cold. It’s just been so cold here. Our weatherman even said it’s like a January cold, not a November one. Better than this weekend’s plans for Buffalo, though!
So glad to hear that you loved Before I Do, Sharon. It’s one of the books I preordered from B&N when they had a 25% discount. I haven’t had time to get to it yet, but I will!
I’m reading LOOK CLOSER by David Ellis–and I love it. It’s twisty, with strong characters, and the suburban Chicago setting is so familiar to me that the story feels all too real. I would like to finish it by Friday. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Like you, David, I love it when I read a book set in a familiar location. I don’t know that I would want a twisty story that feels “all too real”, though. Thank you for the recommendation!
I think I mentioned last week how much I was enjoying A Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison (a steampunk/fantasy book with murders), and then I really likes its sequel, The Grief of Stones. I appreciate the way both books consider how the protagonist understands and lives out his religious calling.
On the other hand I was a little disappointed by Peril in Paris by Rhys Bowen. It felt a little formulaic or rushed to me. I still enjoyed spending time with Georgie, our heroine, though!
I just got two books from the library I am super-excited about–a biography of Jim Thorpe called A Path Lit by Lightning and Grave Reservations, the Cherie Priest book reviewed the other day. It came in quickly!
Oops, I meant Flight Risk. Sorry about that!
Sometimes, Trish, I feel as you do, that I still enjoy spending times with favorite characters although the mysteries start to feel formulaic after a while. I know that’s how I felt about Robert B. Parker’s Spenser books toward the end. Little mystery, but I wanted to meet up with Spenser and Hawk.
I hope you enjoy Flight Risk. Since it’s only the second in the series, it’s still fresh.
Well, I had three paragraphs written out and was about to post here when I had several interruptions. When I came back to finish, my Firefox had closed down and I lost anything that hadn’t yet been posted. So, here is the sweet and short now. Just finished the wonderful Still Waters by Sara Driscoll, and I commented on Sandy’s post that also mentions Still Waters. I’m working on reviews for that book and for The Bullet That Missed. I’m now reading Rhys Bowen’s latest Lady Georgie book, Peril in Paris, and, since it’s set in 1936, it’s a peep into the fashion world of Coco Chanel and the coming Nazi occupation. I have too much reading (nah, can never have too much reading), well, I have lots of reading to get done by the end of the year so that I can get reviews in and choose for my favorite reads of the year. Up next is probably Blackstone Fell (Rachel Savernake #3) by Martin Edwards. I can never say enough about how wonderful Martin is, what a expert he is on Golden Age and the history of crime fiction (His new non-fiction book, The Life of Crime), and how many honors and awards he’s earned.
I finally bought Martin Edwards’ The Life of Crime, Kathy, because I knew I’d never get through the library’s copy in time.
I’m sorry you were interrupted and lost some of your post. I’m glad you were willing to do a quick piece, though. Thank you! Enjoy your reading! And, Happy Thanksgiving!
I was going to comment on how cold it is here, but since you have had snow recently, cold weather in California is not going to be very interesting. But it has been colder here than I remember in most Novembers. Especially at night. Temperature was down to 39 last night and yearly averages for lows in November is low 50s.
I do need to try to read something by Nora Roberts, since I know of so many people who like her books. Maybe The Awakening would be a good one to try.
I finished two books this week, the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series and a Miss Marple mystery by Agatha Christie. THE BULLET THAT MISSED by Richard Osman was very, very good. I liked it just as well as the second book. I love the main characters, and also also all the secondary characters, and I like the way that all (most?) of those people continue in following books. I am already anticipating the next book, and that is unusual for me.
The Agatha Christie book I read was A POCKET FULL OF RYE. It was a Miss Marple mystery that I had not heard much about so I was surprised to like it quite so much as I did. It was a while since I had read one of the Miss Marple books, and I especially noticed the usual behaviors that Miss Marple exhibits: the knitting, the chats with various suspects or witnesses, and the comparisons to people in St. Mary Mead. It has a family full of (mostly) nasty people and I felt sorry for everyone related to them. And the edition I read was one with the lovely new cover with bright colors, flowers and a tea cup.
Thanks for the heads up for the date change for next week’s What Are You Reading? We don’t go out anywhere on Thanksgiving, but we do watch movies all day, and focus on cooking and pumpkin pie. I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving.
Tracy, Even though we had snow, feel free to talk about cold weather in California. I don’t like temperatures in the 30s, so you’re allowed to complain when it’s not normal for you. Complain away!
Oh, good. Two good books, the Osman and A Pocket Full of Rye. Aren’t those covers beautiful?
You’re welcome. You can tell us about your movies next Friday. We’ll all be interested.
Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s was definitely getting colder for a while, but not it’s warmed up. I was hoping for more rain.
Been pretty busy, but I read two post war paperbacks, from the screwball sub-genre
Johnny Havoc by John Jakes features a PI who is five foot one. He inserts himself into a gang war like the guy in Yojimbo, and winds up finding murder, cash, and a love shorter than he is.
Masterpiece in Murder by Richard Powell; I think Powell’s high point was his book Shell Game, but this is a pretty good book about the owner of an art gallery who gets sucked into murder and assorted other adventures when a madcap heiress bullies him into holding an art show for a struggling artist. I felt like the ending was just too pat. I would put this just behind Say It With Bullets when it comes to Powell’s work. It’s like reading a B-movie rip off of a Thin Man movie, only without Asta.
Glen, I’ve heard Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Spare Man called Nick and Nora and Asta in space. I’m on hold at the library -Hugo, Locus, and Nebula-Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense approach to life in space with her talent for creating glittering high-society in this stylish SF mystery, The Spare Man.
Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between the Moon and Mars. She’s traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her spouse. Armed with banter, martinis and her small service dog, Tesla is determined to solve the crime so that the newlyweds can get back to canoodling―and keep the real killer from striking again.
I am currently reading Dewey Decimated by Allison Brook and listening to The Perfect Assassin by James Patterson.
Hi Katherine! I hope you’re enjoying both of them. Happy Thanksgiving!