Monday was the first time I’ve had Presidents’ Day off in ten years. I spent much of it at my friend Donna’s house. In January, we did a movie day, the first we had done since Covid in 2020. That was a western day. We watched a 1951 movie that I love, Westward the Women. Donna’s husband, Terry, made us lunch, homemade tomato basil soup. Then we watched Quigley Down Under, a 1990 movie set in Australia with Tom Selleck and Alan Rickman. This past Monday, we watched fairy tales. We started with the 2017 Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson. Lunch was Terry’s wonderful shepherd’s pie. Terry grinds his own lamb for that. Just fabulous, and so are the leftovers. Then, in the afternoon, we watched a movie Donna and I remember fondly from our childhoods. In 1965, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella was broadcast. Lesley Ann Warren was Cinderella. Stuart Damon was so handsome as the prince! Some of you might remember him from General Hospital, but he was such a kind prince. It also starred Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, and Celeste Holm. I own the dvd, and I bought a copy for Donna as well. Now, she can share it with her mother. We think we might do a Shakespeare day the next time. I want to see Much Ado About Nothing again with Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh. And, I’m sure Terry, who was an English teacher, will have a pick for a second film.
Enough about Monday’s film festival. It’s Thursday at Lesa’s, time to talk about What Are You Reading? I’m reading Do I Know You? by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. It’s a contemporary romance with the “marriage in trouble” trope. Graham and Eliza are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. They still love each other, but they’re not sure they know each other anymore. They certainly can’t communicate. But, Graham’s mother gives them a gift of a resort vacation. When they arrive, after a six hour silent car drive, Eliza impulsively takes the second room that was mistakenly reserved. Then, a guest introduces them to each other, and they decide to pretend they’re just meeting, and have all the conversations a new couple would have. Maybe it’s time to learn about each other all over again.
The concept for a novel sounds a little trite, doesn’t it? But, the authors Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka are married, and they take the subject seriously. There’s humor, but the characters really do want to make their marriage to work. I’m halfway through Do I Know You? and it works. It’s an enjoyable novel.
What about you? What are you reading this week?
Lesa, I bought Do I Know You when B&N had a preorder discount, but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. I enjoyed the authors’ The Rough Draft so I thought I’d try this one. But the books I finished this week are two rom-coms, a memoir, and a love letter to a long-running TV series. Three of those are ARCs.
If you are as big a fan of The Big Bang Theory as I am, you should be absolutely thrilled by THE BIG BANG THEORY: THE DEFINITE, INSIDE STORY OF THE EPIC HIT SERIES, an “oral history” of the popular 12-season sitcom. Journalist Radloff conducted 100+ hours of interviews with the showrunners, producers, writers, directors, cast members (regular and recurring), guest stars, and crew, and edited them into what feels like a warm, personal conversation. Some of the contributors even learned things they had never known during the run of the show! From the casting to the still-unaired first pilot to the most iconic moments and the most hilarious plot twists, we are treated to an insider’s view, accompanied by dozens of personal photographs. I really appreciated the way the book was laid out, with brief paragraphs by the author interspersed with the participants’ narrated insights into anything and everything TBBT: those revolving atoms between the scenes with “hidden messages;” the Chinese food lovingly prepared for those conversations on the couch; behind-the-scenes glimpses of Bob Newhart, Stephen Hawking, and James Earl Jones; costumes and how they changed (or not) over time, the on- and off-stage romantic relationship of Penny/Kaley and Leonard/Johnny; Howard in outer space; Amy’s tiara; Sheldon’s Nimoy autograph; musical numbers; flashmobs; and the creation of Young Sheldon–just to name a few. And who can forget the juxtaposition of Leonard, Howard and Raj enjoying a showing of the new Star Wars film while Sheldon and Amy hesitatingly embark on their first intimate encounter? I loved every page (500+), shed a few tears, and highly recommend it to loyal viewers.
My favorite part of THE LAST WORD, Katy Birchall’s third rom-com, is the way she refreshingly portrays her protagonist, Harper, as a skillful celebrity journalist who is effective at getting her subjects to open up because she is empathetic and truly wants her articles to be positive and flattering. Unfortunately, she often displays immaturity in how she responds to stress and challenges to her personal relationships. Harper can’t help snapping back at her dismissive, disrespectful boss and her unsupportive parents, becoming impatient with her current boyfriend, Ryan, and constantly complaining to her friends. To be fair, her parents and boss are insufferable, and Ryan hasn’t learned from his mistake when he and Harper were interns together–he makes the same one now that he was recently hired as features editor by Harper’s boss. Neither Harper nor Ryan communicates well in fraught situations, and there is no humor to counteract the angst. We know they were meant to be together, although I couldn’t quite bring myself to care. I highly recommend Birchall’s previous books, The Secret Bridesmaid and The Wedding Season, but I didn’t feel this one was up to those books’ high standards. (May)
Karen Fine’s journey to becoming a veterinarian began with her deep love of animals as a child and culminated in a hard-won degree and the decision to follow her (physician) grandfather’s example of a house-call practice. in THE OTHER FAMILY DOCTOR: A VETERINARIAN EXPLORES WHAT ANIMALS CAN TEACH US ABOUT LOVE, LIFE, and MORTALITY, it appears that she has clearly gained an advantage over other vets in diagnosing and treating her clients (mostly cats and dogs, along with the odd potbellied pig and ferret) by seeing them and their owners in their home environments. Her memoir is full of anecdotes about these patients and about what she calls the “transcendent love between an animal and a person.” I enjoyed reading about her international trips, including a visit to the Kruger National Park big game reserve with her South African relatives, her struggles to overcome her cat allergies, her quest to lead a calmer life through yoga, and her determination to explore new ways of diagnosing and treatment animals using acupuncture. We are also treated to personal stories about three of Dr Fine’s own pets and her marriage to Mike, who wasn’t an animal person before meeting her and her fur babies. There is perhaps more time devoted to Dr. Fine’s experiences with euthanizing animals than I expected, which can be difficult to read but, her emphasis is always on giving our pets the happiest lives and the best deaths. Dr. Fine writes beautifully–I finished this book in a day. (March)
I’d say the trope in Sarah Adams’ new rom-com, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT, is “unlikely lovers.” Annie and Will shouldn’t be at all compatible. She’s a sweet, attractive, virginal flower shop owner who has had no luck with dating but desperately wants to find her soulmate and settle down. He’s a drop-dead-gorgeous, tattooed bodyguard for the superstar pop singer who is about to marry Annie’s brother Noah, and he is definitely NOT looking for a serious relationship. So when both agree that Will will help Annie practice to be better at dating potential prospects, we know they are destined to fall in love. The fun is in seeing how they get there, against all odds. I felt at first that both protagonists were a little over the top with their stories and personalities, but as the plot progressed, I was enjoying myself too much to worry about it. I also appreciated the (perhaps more realistic) supporting characters–Annie’s sisters and brother, Amelia the pop star, and Will’s brother–and I was surprised to learn (after I finished the book) that Noah’s and Amelia’s romance was the subject of the author’s previous book, When in Rome. Both are set in the hamlet of Rome, Kentucky. Adams promises more books in that setting, hopefully elaborating on the other characters’ stories, and I look forward to getting to know them better. (May)
Margie, Now, I’m going to have to look for The Big Bang Theory. I have a copy of The Other Family Doctor. You know what I got just the other day? The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. It comes out in June. She’s the author of The Dead Romantics. I don’t know when I’ll get to it, but I’m excited to read it.
Lesa, I also preordered The Seven-Year Slip at B&N and am really looking forward to it!
Sounds as if it has possibilities, doesn’t it, Margie?
My current job is the only job I’ve had as an adult where I get President’s Day off. It still feels a bit weird, but I like it. I did my taxes in the morning, then took advantage of a beautiful day in the low 70s to go for a hike. I made sure I did that, too, since I was looking at the weather forecast. It’s potentially going to snow tonight, and it’s going to be cold for the next few days, with a prediction of 4+ inches of rain on Friday. Yes, I still live in So Cal.
I had a good friend in town for the past three nights (not staying with me, but hanging out together every night), and my uncle and aunt were in town tonight. It’s thrown me off my reading schedule a little, but I still did get RECORD STORE RECKONING by JC Kenney finished. It was a bit uneven, but I enjoyed it overall.
In keeping with the theme, my next book will be VINYL RESTING PLACE by Olivia Blacke. I’ve only read the first chapter so far, but it is a promising start.
Mark, I’m glad you included that sentence that you still live in southern California. Weird weather you’re having.
So, you’re doing a theme right now. Enjoy Vinyl Resting Place!
Good morning Lesa and everyone, from a sunny but freezing northern Scotland. The birds are singing, the air is fresh – but the temperature is a bit of a shock after the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had the past week or so.
Lesa, your film days sound great. One film I would recommend if you haven’t seen it (I’m sure you will have though) is SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE – which is not, of course, a Shakespearean play, but very funny, clever, and ultimately moving. It’s a favourite of mine.
DO I KNOW YOU? sounds interesting. Personally I’ve never been able to understand the idea of going on ‘date nights’ with your partner, but it seems to work for some!
I finally finished Peter Robinson’s Inspector Bank’s novel IN A DRY SEASON but I don’t think I’d recommend it. The plot centered around the accidental discovery of a skeleton buried under a village that had been flooded in the 1950s to create a reservoir. This meant the book switched between the present day and the years of the second world war. It could have been interesting, but I felt there were far too many information dumps – so many authors do this, ‘Look at all the stuff I know about (eg) the war years’ thing, and the novel ends up reading like a text book. There were far too many cultural references – a few would have worked much better. And the eventual unravelling of the plot was far too last minute, and dragged in a character who’d hardly been mentioned before that. There was also supposed to be a smouldering relationship between Banks and a female police office that for me just didn’t take off.
Oh dear, quite a lot of negativity from me there!
But now I have started two books that seem a lot more promising.
The first is ONE BODY by Catherine Simpson. This was sent to me by the publisher for review, and I have to admit I’ve been putting it off for ages because it’s about the author’s diagnosis with breast cancer, and I just thought it would be too depressing. In fact it is excellent – well written (Simpson was already an established author), interesting, and light on statistics. She broadens the story out to cover her childhood on a Lancashire farm, the attitude of her mother’s and grandmother’s generations to illness, and the way in which women are generally conditioned to be ashamed of their bodies, especially if those bodies ‘let them down’ by becoming ill.
She talks about how she simply did not believe that cancer could happen to her, the way in which medical staff never use that word, the reactions of friends (those who don’t have cancer are cautious, but some of those who do seem, she says, to feel they have carte blanche to dish out anything that comes into their heads), and the way in which she told her two adult daughters about her diagnosis. Simpson now lives in Edinburgh so many of the places she mentions are familiar to me. I am ripping through the book, it’s so readable.
The second is one that’s been recommended on here many times – Linda Castillo’s PRAY FOR SILENCE. I know it’s the second book in the series, but it’s what my library had, and so far I am coping. The thing I am noticing most about this one is that, as well as having a gripping plot, it’s well written – it seems strange to find that unusual, but so many murder/crime/detective novels I’ve read recently have been in such sore need of an editor.
I like the way in which Castillo tells us things about the Amish community without the above-mentioned boring information dumps – less is definitely more. And I like the fact that the punctuation, spelling, etc are impeccable. Either Castillo checks her own work thoroughly or else she has a good editor (probably both) – I am fed up with books that somehow got published full of mistakes, repetitions, non-sequiturs and goodness knows what else.
When I mentioned to a publisher (whom I know and respect) that a certain author’s latest book was almost unreadable because of the endless blocks of information (ostensibly spoken by characters who simply would not have talked like that), she said she knew, but her editor had just run out of steam to argue any more points with the author, so had let it go. I personally don’t think they should have done that.
Apart from reading, I’ve been catching up on the friends, and the walks, I missed while I was in Edinburgh for so long. It’s been so lovely to see people, and to walk by the river and on various estates. Tomorrow my friend Sue and I will walk at Crathes Castle, a few miles from here. Despite the current cold snap spring is definitely coming; crocuses and snowdrops are pushing through, the days are longer, there is hope in the air.
Last Friday we went to see Hamish Hawk perform at a pub in town. He is an Edinburgh singer who has been around for a while but whose career has suddenly taken off. He was brilliant, so full of energy and such an entertainer. He had a band, and the whole thing was incredibly loud in a kind of indy way.
We’d never been into Drummonds before (a friend remembers it from her student days and says it was quite grungy even then) – it’s quite a seedy place! A dance floor (sticky…), a stage at one end, a bar, and a few wooden benches attached to one wall. We sat on one of the benches, but of course when more people arrived (it was packed) and were standing, we couldn’t see a thing, so we – and everyone else who could – stood on the benches. Dancing on two feet of wooden ledge was something I hadn’t done for very many years, if ever, but it was exhilarating and the whole evening was fun.
Of course by Saturday I was exhausted! We did a walk across the fields to Drumoak, and that was quite enough exercise for me. The red kites are back, and when they hover overhead I do feel a bit nervous – they have knocked people over before now. I do of course appreciate that they are protecting their nests – and at this time of year they’re not nearly so aggressive as they will be later on – but I wish I could somehow convince them that I’m not a predator! If they come down low (this one didn’t) the size of their talons is quite something.
Last night I went to a talk my friend Jon gave about his 15 years of involvement in the street art and music scene of Aberdeen. He is very committed to public art, and to demystifying art so that everyone can feel comfortable with it. He is an amateur graffiti artist and told us about the more active members of that subgenre, with lots of slides of work that has been done in public spaces in the city – in underpasses, on old walls, etc. I found it fascinating. He knows many ‘alternative’ artists working in the city, and is determined to stop the constant moaning of Aberdonians that ‘nothing ever happens here’. He helped to start the NUART project, which is now very well established and brings international street artists to the city every year to create huge public art works on the side of buildings. He’s also involved in the skateboarding community, about which I knew almost nothing.
Last Sunday I sat down to watch the finale of the current season of CALL THE MIDWIFE – only to find it had been postponed in favour of the Baftas. I was not pleased. I then discovered that there is a new series of VERA, so I watched the first one on catch-up, but I have to say I wasn’t that taken with it. Do you have the new series Jeff? (I think it’s number 12.)
So today I am off into town again, to attend a free lunchtime concert at the art gallery, given by Big Noise Torry, which is an orchestra formed by the SISTEMA project, founded in Stirling and now with several orchestras across Scotland. Its aim is to bring musical participation to communities ravaged by unemployment, drugs, housing and other problems. I’ve seen the Torry orchestra before and enjoyed it.
I’d better get a move on!
I hope everyone has a good week.
Rosemary, hi. Glad you’re home (and here). Yes, we have series 12 of VERA and have watched all 4 episodes that have been released so far (I know I read there will be 6 in total), including one with Vera’s obnoxious snooty cousins.
I agree with your review of the Peter Robinson book. I like his writing and have read the series from the beginning, but often feel that way – they are too long, the whole “info dump” thin, plus a few of them (too many) deal with trafficking, a topic I (and Lesa) have had enough of.
We haven’t had the new series of Call the Midwife yet, though I think I read it will be on here next month. We did have Trixie’s wedding and the Christmas episode was the last one.
Rosemary, It’s so good to know that you’re home again, and enjoying your walks, your books, your friends, and the art scene there. I missed all of that while you were gone.
I loved your comments about Linda Castillo’s book. I hope you don’t mind, but I shared it with her. I don’t know that I’ll hear back, but I wanted to let her know what you thought.
Have a wonderful day!
Sorry for the delay Lesa – and of course, thank you for thinking to share my comments with Linda Castillo! I’m ploughing through the book – it’s the first one in a long time that I really can’t stop reading (and I’m so pleased to know there are lots more in the series.)
Good morning. I only finished two books this week. I had a few days of not knowing what I wanted to start.
Lady Crymsyn by P.N. Elrod. Set in post-prohibition Chicago, the main character, who happens to be a vampire, is renovating a bombed out speakeasy when a skeleton is discovered behind a false wall in the cellar. He sets out to discover who she was and who killed her.
Winterkill by C.J. Box. It’s the third book in the Joe Pickett, Wyoming game warden series. I like this series but it does get rather violent.
I have those days, Sandy. Sometimes, I just wander through the house looking at all the TBR piles, and end up going back to my IPad and working on a jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes nothing appeals to me. I’m glad you found a couple books to read!
Hi everyone, I had some good reading this week. Over the weekend I read “The Drowning Sea,” the 4th Maggie D’Arcy mystery. It didn’t grab me quite as much as the other ones but I finished it because I care for the characters. I also read “No Place for Fear” by Catriona McPherson, which I was happy to find on sale for the kindle, and mostly liked it. The dialect was a little overwhelming. I had enjoyed “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” so much I read “The Storied Life of AJ Fikry.” I thought the characters’ interior lives were much less rich, detailed, and true in this one. I sound like such a downer this week! In other excitement I finally finished listening to “To the Island of Tides: A Journey to Lindisfarne” by Alastair Moffett. It was a nice mix of history, geography, and memoir and good preparation for a trip I plan to take along St Cuthbert’s Way at some point. Sometimes I just enjoyed listening to the author read his work and didn’t pay a huge amount of attention to the details, so I’ll need to read the book again sometime.
I agree with you, Trisha, about “The Drowning Sea”. Too many characters, too many plot lines. But, I’ve already read “A Stolen Child”, the next in the series, and it’s much better. It’s a June release.
Good morning, all. South Florida has been warmer than normal, but then so has New York this winter. I believe at home there has been less than an inch of snow all winter, which is just the way I like it, though there have been frigid periods. Not down here. We’re in a week of low to mid-80s, mostly sunny, not too humid with a nice breeze. No complaints here.
Jackie is reading and very much enjoying Darynda Jones’s third Sunshine Vicram book, A HARD DAY FOR A HANGOVER, which starts immediately after the end of book two. You should definitely read these in order. I’ve only read chapter one so far.
Of course I am busy with short stories, as usual. Claire Keegan’s ANTARCTICA was her first book, published in 2000. It is s good, accomplished work, worth reading, though I was much more impressed with her recent FOSTER. Also still reading Edith Pearlman’s collection BINOCULAR VISION. And I finished Agatha Christie’s MIDWINTER MURDER, a collection of series stories with Poirot, Miss Marple, Harley Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite, Mr. Parker Pyne, and even Tommy & Tuppence (in a very silly story). I enjoyed revisiting these stories that I first read 40 to 50 years ago.
Of course I have too many books, but most of my time is spent on Will Schwalbe’s THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB. In 2007, his mother (a rather remarkable woman) was discovered to have stage four pancreatic cancer. Schwalbe often accompanied her to her chemo treatments and one of the things they discussed was books. (Schwalbe worked in the publishing industry, and they had always talked about books.) this led to the unofficial “book club” where they read the same books, often at the same time, and discussed them. `I’ve read some of the books, others have interested me, and others…ugh, not for me. She was a tough, brave woman.
I wouldn’t complain about that weather, either, Jeff. It sounds wonderful.
I just like Schwalbe’s writing. I read The End of Your Life Book Club when it first came out, and it was so good. I agree with you about the books. Every one isn’t for all of us.
I read Elodie’s Second Chance Library by Rebecca Raisin. Elodie is a librarian but works as the face of her family’s extremely successful media business. Her heart lies with books and libraries. When she finds out the library she visited as a child needs rescuing she dyes her hair, changes her name, and applies for the librarian position. She comes up with a clever way to save the library but in the end I found everything too contrived to like it very much.
Next I finished Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb. Two estranged sisters are sent by their dying grandmother from New York to Europe to deliver 3 letters and hopefully find friendship with each other again. They travel on the Queen Mary, the Orient Express, and arrive home via the Hindenburg. I enjoyed the descriptions of Paris, Venice, and Vienna in 1937. It was a good read.
You day sounds fun, Lesa. The Lesley Ann Warren/Stuart Damon version of Cinderella will always be the favorite of my daughters and me.
Another day of sunshine and record breaking heat in Cincinnati. Tomorrow we are back to our regularly scheduled February weather.
Happy Reading!
Sharon, We had 75 yesterday! Broke a record from 1922 of 72. I’d take that, but, like you, we’re back to February weather tomorrow. Enjoy it while we can!
Oh, yes. That’s a favorite Cinderella.
Three Words for Goodbye sounds interesting.
Shortly after last Thursday’s post I started a book where friendship was a theme. Unfortunately the author decided to beat one over the head with it, making an otherwise interesting story an “enough of this”. Instead I fell into a rabbit-hole, an aside in the story, on the Lipan people (a SW group of Apache and the first to use horses).
On to the books I did finish (all 2023 issue)
THE BLACKHOUSE by Carole Johnstone
A suspense novel set on a remote island village in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. The location is the star of the story with legendary storms, a tightly knit community, a summer archeology dig and a sprinkling of Norse legends.
A story of mix-ups and making the most of second chances, Jojo Moyes latest SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES. With her signature humor and great storytelling it’s a story about how just one little thing can suddenly change everything. Well defined female characters and friends.
Elle Cosimano’s FINLAY DONOVAN JUMPS THE GUN, another funny installment in the series. Author and single mom Finlay Donovan has been in messes before, but that never stops her. Imagine Lucy & Ethel with the Russian Mob. This book features the regular cast of characters along with a newly formed citizen’s police academy. Okay as a free-standing book, but better if you know the cast.
More weeks of winter here although the worst parts have gone north and south, good for working on the stack of books.
MM, I don’t like being beaten over the head.
I wondered about Jojo Moyes’ latest. Thank you. I think the title turned me off as soon as I saw shoes. I just get tired of books that concentrate on fashion. It probably doesn’t at all because it undoubtedly refers to “walking a mile”, but the minute I saw shoes, I wasn’t interested.
Oh, definitely shoes, a custom made pair of Christian Louboutin to be specific. But more symbol than fashion.
Good morning! Looking forward to a record-breaking temperature of 80 degrees here in metropolitan Washington DC. Last night I finished the first book in the Donald Strachey private investigator series Death Trick. Written by Richard Lipez under the name Richard Stevenson, it was published in 1981 and the seventeenth and last in the series will be published soon. Lipez died last year. He wrote reviews of crime fiction for the Washington Post for years and that’s how I learned about this series. Strachey is openly living as a gay man in this pre-AIDS installment. The casual brutality of society at large toward these men was hard to read but I know it was not overstated. Unexpected humor here and there in what started out as a missing person case but turned into a murder investigation. Really well done.
Is it too early for DC humidity, Aubrey? If you don’t have the humidity, that sounds like beautiful weather.
The name Richard Stevenson doesn’t sound at all familiar, but for some reason the name of his detective, Donald Strachey sounds familiar. Will Schwalbe writes of the early 80s, gay men, the fear, and AIDS in his book. I’m sure it wasn’t overstated in your book.
My current read is THE DARKEST GAME by Joseph Schneider. This is the third in the academic turned LAPD Detective Tully Jarsdel. A police procedural that I am enjoying for the most part, though I have hit a secondary storyline where cancer is taking Jarsdel’s family member. The patient is clearly dying and having lived that hell, I am having a hard time with that.
For those that might be interested, on my blog today, I have my spoiler free review of MALIBU BURNING by Lee Goldberg. This is the first book in his new series about arson investigators. It drops in June, but that to a NetGalley ARC, I have read it and can tell you about it today. https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2023/02/review-malibu-burning-by-lee-goldberg.html
Blowing here and in the upper 40s as a front came through the last hour. Supposed to setting up for some rain starting tomorrow and going on through out the weekend. Might finish off with strong to severe storms Sunday night as another front and upper level low roll through DFW. As long as I keep power, we are good.
KRT in Big D.
I’m going to have to go read your review of Malibu Burning, Kevin, as soon as I’m through here. I read it last weekend, and submitted my review for Library Journal, and wrote one for my blog. I’ll be interested to see what you thought.
We have 65 and cloudy right now, but it’s going down to the 40s tomorrow before up into the 50s again.
My brother lives just south of Cleveland and has told me constantly how weird the weather is there this year. Weird here as well. I think THE FLASH screwed up the timeline again.
Oh, that’s what screwed up the world’s weather!
Reading the Weight of Air by Kimberly Duffy, a historical fiction about the circus when it was still traveling. It involves a famous woman trapeze artist, her husband, a strong man and their baby. The baby took after her father and was a giant, tall and muscular. Mabel, the baby was too big, for a while she worked on the trapeze but her mother left the family under a deep mystery that slowly unfolds. Later it is revealed that her mother did not die when she went to New York to take care of her mother, When the strong man died, Mabel lost her confidence and the circus manager thought she was a liability. It is a page turner but the story is getting very intense and I hope that the tension eases off soon.
The story invaded my dreams last night. I dreamed about a girl that played with who lived across the street. I remembered her mother who was very tall and large. Not heavy but big. Her mother had a booming voice. A very welcoming personality, smiled and introduced me to my first Oreo cookie. Loved Gershwin music.
Mabel in the book, towers over crowds and feel left out of society. When she left the circus in New York, she happened on a liittle girl playing hookey from school who had rescued a little dirty gray kitten with part of her ear torn off living in an alley. Immediately accepted by the little girl. I love the part about her friendship with the little girl and the girl’s mother. I want the story to return to her friends at this point. Her mother has living under a different name. And they are begininng to recognize one another after all these years. The mother-daugther relationship is loaded with troubles.
Don’t you find it interesting, Carolee, when books invade your dreams? Sometimes, it’s disturbing, though.
I hope you get a break from the tension, soon.
Happy Thursday at Lesa’s, everyone.
Two of the books I read this past week were stand-outs.
Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding
Jane Austen would be proud. This was fun (and sexy).
Description from NetGalley
“In this witty and romantic debut novel, Jane Austen’s Emma meets the misadventures of Manhattan’s modern dating scene as two lifelong friends discover that, in the search for love, you sometimes don’t have to look any further than your own backyard.
Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.
Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.
As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.”
and I loved
The Paris Mystery by Kirsty Manning
First book in a new series.
Description from NetGalley
“Intrepid reporter Charlotte “Charlie” James arrives in Paris in 1938 eager to make a fresh start, but little does she know the trouble that awaits her…
Charlie James is chasing her first big scoop as correspondent for British-based newspaper The Times, and she needs to prove to her boss that she can do this job as well, if not better, than her male counterparts. The best way to forge the necessary contacts quickly is to make well-connected British expats, Lord and Lady Ashworth, her business. Lady Eleanor knows everyone in Parisian high society, and at her sumptuously extravagant annual party, a Circus Ball, Charlie will meet them all.
On the summer solstice eve, the Circus Ball is in full swing, with the Parisian elites entranced by burlesque dancers, tightrope walkers, a jazz band . . . and a horrific murder. A wealthy but unscrupulous investor is dead, and the list of suspects is a veritable who’s who of le haut monde. As Charlie tries to determine who the murderer is, she finds herself drawn into the magical parties, couture houses, and bohemian wine bars of the City of Lights. Soon secrets start to unravel, including some Charlie has a personal stake in keeping hidden.”
Lady Eleanor is loosely based on Elsie de Wolfe. She was interesting enough to send me down a rabbit hole to learn more.
Elsie de Wolfe’s Paris: Frivolity Before the Storm by Charlie Scheips reveals her to have been as mercurial and fascinating in real life as her fictional self.
Kaye, I hope I get approved for The Paris Mystery. Because you said you went down a rabbit hole about Elsie de Wolfe, I spent time reading up on her the other night. You’re right. Fascinating woman! And, fingers crossed for the book.
I agree with Lesa that this one sounds good. I will join her in requesting on NetGalley (fingers crossed).
Can’t wait to hear what you both think!
I don’t read as much as I would like because of ongoing health problems and the demands of daily therapy that I hope will eventually help me walk independently again. But I did finish The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton, which I heard about first on this blog. It will be published on March 7.
My thoughts:
This poignant novel is a warning that we didn’t take Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring seriously enough. This is not a post-apocalyptic tale set in a distant future dominated by war as nations fight for territory and scarce resources. Dalton’s story takes place in the uncomfortably near future, when the world is drastically changed yet still recognizable, and it is told through the lives of ordinary people who struggle to survive day to day. Ninety-five percent of Earth’s insects have been killed off by humans’ unwise use of deadly pesticides. Honeybees, along with other primary pollinators, have been declared extinct. The loss of insects, combined with climate change, led to the Great Collapse of ecosystems worldwide, and the consequences are staggering.
Sasha Severn is 22 when she returns to the farm where she once lived with her mother, now dead, and her entomologist father, the reviled Last Beekeeper, who is serving a prison sentence for supposedly destroying the world’s last bee colony and hiding vital research. Sasha believes she knows where her father’s research records are, and she is determined to find them and learn the truth about events that occurred when she was 11 years old and resulted in her father’s imprisonment.
She arrives at her childhood home to find that, like other abandoned farms, the property has been claimed by a small group of squatters. They are surprisingly cordial and likable and agree to let her stay for a week while she decides where to seek shelter next. She keeps her true identity secret out of fear that they will hate her for what her father did. She spent years in a state facility for children, facing that hatred every day from everyone around her. Now she wants the peace of anonymity. She even starts to hope that these four squatters can become the family she desperately needs.
Then the unimaginable happens: Sasha sees a live, flying bee on the property. She can’t deny the reality of the golden creature sitting on her arm. She tells no one because people who report bee sightings tend to disappear and never be heard from again. The government wants to silence all talk of bees and their possible return.
Sasha earns the right to stay on the farm by miraculously “finding” root vegetables (which don’t need pollination) in the remains of her mother’s toxin-free garden. Along with her housemates, she gets a job at a nearby “glass farm,” a collection of massive government-run greenhouses where vegetables and fruits grow in nontoxic water and are hand pollinated by an army of low-paid employees wielding brushes. Only the rich can afford to buy this produce. Everybody else gets a meager supply of substandard food from ration stations.
Sasha works, shares her resources with her found family, and begins to fall in love with a young man who works for the government. But after her bee sighting, she knows she has to turn her attention to retrieving her father’s research. What she finds shakes her faith in her father, reveals heartbreaking betrayals and startling secrets about people she trusted, and sets in motion a series of events that could change the entire world — or lead to more repression and destruction.
The Last Beekeeper is an unforgettable story of human foolishness countered by resilience and hope, love and forgiveness. People need to hear this message before it’s too late to reverse the slide toward the Great Collapse.
Sandra, Although we’re “friends” on Facebook, I didn’t know you were having so many health issues. I’m sorry. And, it shows how superficial those so-called friendships can be. It sounds trite to say good luck with your daily therapy. I hope things work out for you.
I mentioned The Last Beekeeper on one of my Treasures in My Closet posts. My friend, Donna, is going to appreciate it. I’m even happier that I gave her my copy after reading your description of the book.
Thank you for your good wishes, Lesa. I do have close friends on FB, whom I know in person, many of them local in the DC area, and I love this medium for daily contact with them and with the good friends I’ve made whom I’ve never met. They are an army of support that has kept me afloat during what has been a dark time. I’m doing very well, considering that a year and a half ago I was virtually paralyzed from the waist down. (I have CIDP, a rare “cousin” disorder to MS.) I can walk now with a walker or rollator, and I’m getting stronger every day. I have the determination to do it, although my stamina sometimes falters. I want to get back to walking with a cane. I will not be defeated. I’m feeling so much better that I’ve been thinking of getting back to work on the novel I have 75% done. Thanks again. I appreciate it.
You’re welcome, Sandra.
Snowing here in eastern Washington, more than was predicted! I just finished Deborah Crombie’s latest, A KILLING OF INNOCENTS, and I’m not sure what I think about it. The family details were good as usual in her books, but some threads from previous books are left hanging. There are a lot of characters to keep straight, almost like she wanted to include almost everyone from previous books plus the new ones. It did make me want to go back and reread several, especially the one when they adopt Charlotte. The end was not satisfying, I felt like there weren’t enough clues to the killer (it could be I was reading too fast and missed some). Looking forward to hearing what others think of it…
Cindy, Kathy Boone Reel tends to write here around 10 PM, so you probably don’t catch her posts. She recently reviewed A Killing of Innocents on her blog, The Reading Room. You might find her review interesting. Here’s the link. https://www.readingroom-readmore.com/
We finally have a bit of sun but it’s still very cold, to cold to go for a long walk. I shoveled a path in the yard for the dog as my morning exercise, but left the real shoveling of sidewalks to my husband.
I’ve started reading At First Light, the first book in a new series by Barbara Nickless. The characters are very interesting, especially Evan Wilding who’s a forensic semiotician, expert at reading the signs left by a serial killer. Excellent writing, too. Barbara’s previous books were part of a series featuring a railroad cop and her K-9 sidekick. Next up will be George Cramer’s Robbers and Cops which I’ll be reading for our Colorado Sisters-in-Crime book club.
Patricia, both series by Barbara Nickless sound interesting.
Stay inside so you can read & stay warm!
It’s pretty cold here, and we got a light dusting of snow. My father used to tell me it snowed every winter here for a while in the 1940’s.
This week I read:
It Dies With You by Scott Blackburn; A suspended MMA fighter learns his father was running guns out of his junkyard. Kind of like a woker Lansdale.
Old Habits by Ryan Fowler; An ex-cop turned Episcopalian priest and his wife take on a case after one of their parishioners is almost murder, and his daughter goes missing. Definitely not an Inspirational novel, with a surprising amount of sex talk.
Desperate Remedy by Mary Kitteredge; When a victim of a drive by shooting comes by the hospital, violence comes to the facility, and only rich girl turned nurse can solve the crimes. Updated nurse fiction. I was glad to see the genre didn’t completely die off in 1968.
Oahu: The Gathering Place by Julien Rapp; An NYC cop goes to pieces after his wife is murdered. Ordered to go on vacation, he flies to Oahu, where he meets a guru, and falls into investigating murders of homeless. people. Bit of a busman’s holiday, I guess.
Beyond the Sea by Janice Thompson; Back to Martha’s Vineyard, A friend asks Priscilla to store a classic car, a surprise gift to her soon to be husband. Of course, the next time that garage door opens, the car is missing. Priscilla investigates. More Inspirational than some in the series, as the slimy used car salesman/politician from an earlier novel converts, and has questions about how what is going on fits in with The Word.
Secret Empires by Peter Schweitzer; a take down of a lot of corruption in Washington. No wonder politicians try to stay there forever.
What an interesting collection of books, Glen! I appreciate your eclectic taste. You shouldn’t get tired of one subject, unless it’s Martha’s Vineyard novels.
I have finished two books since last week. Neither one of them have a lot of text, but both were very good and fun to read.
I finally read REVENGE OF THE LIBRARIANS, Cartoons by Tom Gauld. We have had a copy since before the end of 2022, but I started it twice and did not get very far. I decided I had to just read it all the way through in one sitting, so that is what I did. I reread your review, and I agree with you, a cartoon book is hard to review. It has some great cartoons in it, related to books, reading, TBR piles, cats. Lots of fun. This is not the first time I have seen Gauld’s cartoons, but before I mainly just saw them here and there on the internet.
The other book I finished was a manga, A MAN AND HIS CAT (VOL. 2). The series of books is the story of a widowed man living alone who gets a cat for the first time. The pet store employee helps him get supplies, litter box, toys, food, etc. but he has to learn to live with the cat, who is starved for love. Both of the volumes I have read so far have a very simple story and don’t go much into the man’s backstory, but I will be getting more of them. There are at least 8 of them.
I am currently reading THE SISTERS: THE SAGA OF THE MITFORD FAMILY (have read about half of it in about 3 weeks). I just started MRS. PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT by Elizabeth Taylor two days ago. It is under 200 pages and set in a hotel and I am expecting to like it if it isn’t too sad.
Also FENDER BENDERS by Bill Fitzhugh, a mystery novel about a young country music singer with a hit song in Nashville. I am liking it but I am heavily invested in it having a happy ending, so we will see. It is darkly humorous and you never know what kind of ending that means. I am failing to see the humor though.
It is pretty cold for here in Santa Barbara / Goleta and we are expecting to see lots of rain in the next few days. I hope we are not disappointed. Your movie day with your friend sounds wonderful, as does her husband’s cooking.
When I worked for the Santa Barbara City College before I retired, we always got two days for Presidents’ Day, the Friday before and the Monday after the weekend. It was a great break, like a real mini-vacation to relax and recover.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful reading week wherever you are.
And, as many days as we get at Christmas and New Year’s, it always seems as if we need a break by February. January and February just seem so long, Tracy!
Interesting what you said about the humor in Bill Fitzhugh’s mystery. I’m always a little leery when reviews say it’s humorous because I often fail to appreciate the humor.
I loved Fitzhugh’s first book, PEST CONTROL, with “bug man” Bob Dillon (whose name got him beat up as a kid). Bob is an exterminator, but his ad makes the wrong person think he is offering to “exterminate” more than bugs. It was a lot of fun.
Jeff, thanks for your thoughts on PEST CONTROL. I like Fitzhugh’s writing, so I will be checking around for a copy of that one.
Movie day sounds wonderful. I would go to he theater one a week if I had a driver. The book sound good too. I am still fuzzy headed from my surgery and just can’t get/started.
Movie day is wonderful, Carol Jeanne. It had been three years since we had one! I don’t go to the theater to see movies very often, but I do enjoy it.
I can see why you’re fuzzy headed after your surgery. I’m surprised you stopped by here. Sending you lots of healing hugs!
It is indeed warm and sunny in south Florida. Too bad that didn’t stave off the cold my youngest cat and then my oldest cat caught and so politely gave to me by their constant sneezing in an attempt to clear their sinuses. Ugh. So I got out an audiobook – HOLIDAY GRIND by Cleo Coyle. It’s #8 in the series and has the usual characters. It suits me just right since I’m familiar with them and the back story. Santa gets killed so it fits the weather around the country right now. Here’s hoping everyone stays safe.
Safe and healthy! I was so sorry to hear your cats caught colds, and then spread them to you. A comfort book is just what you needed, Sandie. Rest!
Sounds like a great day Lesa! I love shepherd’s pie. I’m just starting Death in the Margins by Victoria Gilbert. I have Do I Know You on my goodreads tbr.