We’ve had a decent week here, but, once again, we’re looking at lots of rain on Friday. Our weatherman says we’ve been hit with rain every Friday lately. That’s okay. The weekend is supposed to be nice.
If you read my blog yesterday, you know a little about The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore. I started it on my lunch hour yesterday, and I like the voice. It’s about a librarian who enjoys her daily banter with an elderly curmudgeon until he doesn’t show up one day. He doesn’t show up a second day. When she tracks him down, she discovers he’s sick. She starts a book club despite everything he’s ever said about book clubs, but it’s obvious it’s going to benefit them and other misfits in town. I’m looking forward to reading more of this one.
What about you? What are you reading this week? I know a number of people who seem to be struggling to find the right book right now. Maybe I should ask, what are you trying to read this week?
It’s hard for me to believe that not only am I not the last to comment, I’m the first today. Probably won’t happen a lot, and it’s taken me so long to write my comments, someone else has probably posted. Lesa, I think you put it a good way in saying what are we trying to read. It’s not really the books’ faults for me. I have had a lot else on my mind, but most of that is much better. I’m hoping my reading reflects that I’m able to focus on it now. I’m embarrassed to say how long it took to finish The Case of the Absent Heirs, but it was like I was reading twenty pages a day, and I really like the book because it’s in the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries that I have enjoyed from the beginning. Now I need to finish catching up with them by reading The Case of the Haunted Cottage.
I will be starting Edith Maxwell’s A Questionable Death and Other Quaker Midwife Stories tomorrow, as I have an ARC for it and it comes out next Tuesday. I want to review it by then. I’m really itching to get to Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAlllister, a book involving time travel, but with a twist. I have to comment on the font size in the McAllister book. It’s perfect! I had to check to see if I’d ordered a large-print edition, but it’s not. The letter size is going to make my eyes happy.
And, I’m going to say something about TV watching again. At least I have been able to focus on that. I finally watched the British show Happy Valley, and I can’t believe I waited so long. Sarah Lancashire and James Norton are brilliant. Both play very different characters from what I’d seen them play before, and, wow, their range is amazing. Seeing James Norton as a bad guy after only seeing him in Grantchester, it was a shock. I’m now awaiting Season Three that starts May 22nd. Season Two aired in 2016, so it’s been a long wait for those who watched it then.
Kathy, isnât Happy Valley terrific? Dark story but so well acted. Have you seen Sarah Lancashire in Last Tango in Halifax? A superb group of actors and a good story line.
And not only that – she does a fantastic job as Julia Child in HBO Max’s JULIA, with David Hyde Pierce as her husband Paul. Wonderful show.
Jeff, thanks for this information, I’ll find that and watch it for sure.
Susan, I have seen Last Tango in Halifax and loved it, too. It’s where I first came across the amazing Sarah Lancashire and Nicola Walker. The writer Sally Wainwright says she’d like to do more and have a season six, but she seems to take lots of time to get back to a show. She is also the writer of Happy Valley and Unforgiven, and it seems she gets busy with new projects all the time and there are long delays for shows I enjoy. I love how the British shows have so many of the same actors appearing in different shows and as different kind of characters. When I started watching Happy Valley, I thought to myself that I had seen Catherine’s (Sarah) sister Clare somewhere before, and then it dawned on me that she was the prickly lady’s maid in Downton Abbey. Siobhan Finneran really showed her talent in those different roles.
Oops, that should have been “Unforgotten,” not “Unforgiven,” with Nicola Walker.
You WERE first, Kathy! Good for you.
I have Edith Maxwell’s book, too, so thanks for the reminder that it comes out next week. I like her characters, and I’ll have to get to it.
I know what you mean about a lot going on. I think that’s why I just collapse at night when I get home.
Lesa, I have been wanting to get over to Evansville on a Friday for a time now, but like you say, there are prediction of storms every Friday.
Hello, all. I had a memorable event last Sunday night. It was the first time I’ve been to indoor live entertainment since the pandemic hit, and how I had missed it! I went to the nearby (10 minutes away) Harris Center to see Girl Named Tom, a trio of two brothers and a sister who won The Voice a couple of seasons back. They were absolutely wonderful, with several standing ovations, and their harmonies are second to none. Even the opening act, singer-songwriter Marielle Kraft, was wonderful, and I somehow reserved the best seat possible. My reading week was mixed, but one of the books was extraordinary.
Just when I think the Sparks & Bainbridge series by Allison Montclair can’t get any better, I have a new favorite! THE LADY FROM BURMA is fifth in the series about two unforgettable women who came together in London after WWII to form The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. They couldn’t be more different, but each was deeply affected by the war. Iris Sparks learned a lot of skills serving in an intelligence unit and still has some useful military contacts. She is currently dating a low-level gangster and is fiercely loyal to her more refined but equally brilliant partner, Gwen Bainbridge. Gwen lost her husband in the war, reacting so strongly that she was institutionalized and lost custody of her young son, who was cared for by her in-laws in her absence. For two years she has been trying to have the stigma of “lunatic” removed from her name so that she can regain custody and take her rightful place as a major shareholder in her husband’s family business, although she is at least able to live with her son under the watchful eye of his grandparents. In addition to finding suitable matches for their clients, the pair has often become involved in dangerous police investigations–one involving the Crown–and sometimes even solved the case. There are so many different things going on in this book, much to my pleasure. Two separate women have enrolled in their service looking for prospective husbands, but the co-proprietors have reason to feel they have not been totally truthful. More importantly, a terminally ill woman married to a famed entomologist has come to them asking for a match for her spouse after her death. When she later turns up dead of a supposed suicide, the plot thickens. At the same time, Gwen is hopeful that her petition to the court will be successful, but there are still huge roadblocks to overcome. The delightfully eccentric Iris and Gwen are the stars of the story and continue to develop as the series progresses, but the supporting characters–including several men who have romantic intentions toward one or the other–are equally intriguing and distinctly drawn. Also worthy of note is the sparkling dialogue, alternating between cleverly witty and deeply emotional, and a story that credibly ties up all of the subplots, although leaving the reader pining for more the pair’s next adventures. Although this book can be read as a standalone, do yourself a favor and read the other four as well. Allison Montclair, who was a debut author when the first book was released, has only enhanced her skill and writing style with each book. Highly recommended. (July)
Having really enjoyed Rebecca Makkai’s The Borrower, I was looking forward to her newest release, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU.. And although it is an admirable achievement, it disappointed me because I felt it was overlong and I was unable to engage with the protagonist. Bodie Kane attended a New Hampshire boarding school during her high school years. In the 20+ years since, the murder of her roommate has tormented her because she doesn’t think the right person was convicted. When she returns to teach a brief podcasting class, it all comes rushing back and she can’t help involving herself in her student’s project about that very case. As the book’s narrator, Bodie relates what she remembers about the night of the murder and events leading up to it, her current conversations with former classmates and teachers, and her drawn-out, rambling musings about others who could have been the murderer. And her personal life was given short shrift, including her two children back home. I almost stopped reading after 200 pages or so, but I’m glad I stuck with it until the end, which is more interesting. Makkai is an excellent writer, but this book just wasn’t for me.
I was in the mood for a light romcom with a touch of magical realism, and Holly James’ THE DEJA GLITCH fulfilled my craving. It’s a time loop story, reminiscent of the Groundhog Day movie. But unlike the movie, it’s told not from the perspective of the man in the time loop but that of the object of his affection, who is unaware of his predicament until they literally collide outside a coffee shop. Jack says he’s been stuck in the same day for months and feels that the only way he can escape is to win the love of Gemma–in one day. Gemma doesn’t have any memory of the time Jack claims she has spent with him and is initially resistant, but along the way she begins to feel that there’s definitely something between them worth pursuing. The plot requires the reader’s willing suspension of disbelief, of course, and it’s a mistake to try to figure out how the time loop works. It’s intended to be a light-hearted, high-concept story that ends in romance, along with subplots about Gemma’s estrangement from her father, her deep relationship with her younger brother, career and romantic relationship issues for both Gemma and Jack, and finding one’s way out of a rut to discover what is really important in life. My favorite characters are Lila, Gemma’s flamboyant influencer friend, Gemma’s supportive brother, and and an aging rock star. It’s a charming book, like the author’s previous book, Nothing But the Truth. (August)
Margie, one of the series I’m determined to start and catch up with is the Sparks and Bainbridge series. The author will be at Bouchercon this year, and I want to have read them before I meet him. Your enthusiasm over the books is reassuring that I have a real treat in store.
Thanks Margie! I will look for the Sparks and Bainbridge. It’s one of my favorite series.
Margie, That first night back with live entertainment is just magical, isn’t it? Donna & I saw community theater first after the pandemic, but the first time back in NYC & Broadway? I felt as if I was a live again after a two-year nap. I sort of understand how Rip Van Winkle felt.
Like Kathy, I haven’t read the Sparks and Bainbridge series yet. I’m not sure I’ll get to it, but I love to hear that it only gets better!
Even I felt like that Lesa, and I wasn’t previously particularly bothered about live events! Now I’ve been to three all-standing and very loud music gigs since Christmas, and I’ve enjoyed them all so much. Also seated concerts and a ballet. I don’t know what’s got into me, but like you I feel totally reawakened.
I think that’s funny, Rosemary, that you say you don’t know what’s got into me. I think we’re taking advantage of feeling alive again. Enjoy every one of those events!
Sparks and Bainbridge. This series is one that has been flying below my radar, I guess, but I’m about to change that. Thank you, Margie!
Allison Montclair is a pen name of Alan Gordon who wrote the Fool’s Guild series. I very much enjoyed that series and I have loved the Sparks and Bainbridge series even more.
I enjoyed the Alan Gordon books. Will have to check out this series.
Chris, I had no idea! I wondered why I couldn’t find a bio of Allison Montclair on Amazon. Mystery solved! I was not aware of Alan Gordon but will have to look him up. I see there is a video interview of him with Barbara from the Poisoned Pen.
I’m finding myself between books again at the moment. That seems to happen a lot of Wednesday night/Thursdays.
I just finished ON SPINE OF DEATH by Tamara Berry. It’s the second By the Books Mystery. The series is wacky and out there and so completely fun. I laughed quite a few times as I read. The plot involves Tess, the main character, working on reinvention her grandfather’s old store and finding two skeletons in the basement. Who might they be?
Next up for me is THE TRUTH WE HIDE by Liz Milliron, the newest in her Homefront Mysteries set in World War II. I’ve enjoyed the series so far, so I’m expecting good things from this one as well.
I usually don’t do wacky, Mark. But, I really enjoy this series by Tamara Berry. I’ve already read the next in the series, and it’s just as wacky. They’re just fun.
I’ve got the third By the Books Mystery pre-ordered. The fact that it is coming so soon prompted me to read book 2. Glad to know the fun continues in book three.
Good morning. We seem to be having rain every Saturday lately which is the one day my brother can come and stay with my mom so my boyfriend and I can go somewhere. But we found that a local theater group was putting on One Flew Over the Cuckooâs Nest so we saw that. The acoustics werenât as good as the theater we usually go to but it was entertaining.
This week I read BLOODMORE, BODYMORE by Ian Kilpatrick, a very strange urban fantasy set In Baltimore. I didnât really care about the main character, Joey, a 20 something mechanic. She just wasnât very likable.
An ARC of PAPER CUTS by Ellery Adams, the latest book in her Secret Book & Scone Society series. This is one of my favorite series and this one didnât disappoint.
THE OTHER FAMILY DOCTOR by Karen Fine, DVM. Although I didnât dislike the book, a lot of the second half focuses on animals with terminal illnesses and euthanasia so itâs not the easiest read, especially having had to make that decision several times.
Thank you, Sandy, about your comment about The Other Family Doctor. In other words, maybe I’ll just read the first half.
I hope you find something to do this Saturday in the rain!
Jackie wants me to say that she was kind of disappointed in Nora Roberts’ THE CHOICE, other than “crying” at the baby dragon scene. She liked it but didn’t love it. She is enjoying Christine Feehan’s RECOVERY ROAD a lot more, I think, the latest in one of the prolific author’s many series.
We got home on Sunday and are slowly getting back into our routine. Weather is a little cool but not bad (mostly sunny, but rain coming Saturday), with a warm up next week. I did read and enjoy MOSTLY MURDER, a collection by Fredric Brown, who wrote a lot of mysteries and a lot of science fiction (especially short stories). Next: the new Art Taylor collection.
I read LYING BESIDE YOU, the third (and last?) Michael Robotham book about psychologist Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac, now 21 and sort of in college while she tried to sort out her life. This one involves murder and possibly kidnapping and the drugging of young women. On a personal note, Cyrus’s schizophrenic brother Elias, who murder their parents and younger twin sisters 20 years earlier, is getting closer to possible release from the mental institution where he is housed, and will he really be living with Cyrus and Evie if he gets out? Robotham does manage to tie all this (and more) together for an exciting conclusion..
Now I’ve started Stephen Spotswood’s third about Lillian Pentecost and Willowjean “Will” Parker, PIs in 1947 New York, SECRETS TYPED IN BLOOD. And I have to pick up that obituary writer’s book at the library today.
Jeff, I’m reading Lying Beside You right now and really enjoying it. I love Michael Robotham’s books.
Jeff, Tell Jackie she’s right about The Choice, and I cried over the baby dragon scene as well. It was heartbreaking.
Glad you’re home safe. Now, on to plans for summer concerts and visits with friends and family, right? Along with trips to the library, of course.
Definitely. We are going to Maine for the first time ever with my cousins in July, and we have tickets for FUNNY GIRL and SWEENEY TODD on Broadway, as well as concert tickets for Steve Earle in May and The Mavericks in July…so far.
Oh I’d love to see The Mavericks!
Rosemary, they’re great! We’ve seen them three times already. Keep an eye out because they do tour a lot. You never know.
Oh, Sweeney Todd! It’s been getting really good reviews from what I’ve seen. And, tickets to Funny Girl before it closes. I want to hear what you think about both of them, Jeff.
Thanks, I didnât realize I was behind on the Sparks & Bainbridge series. I will need to get caught up before the latest release.
I hope they’re weren’t any spoilers in the comments about the Sparks & Bainbridge series, Christie.
I don’t think I had any spoilers in my review, not even anything spoiling the earlier ones in the series. I hope everyone enjoys Sparks & Bainbridge!
I read Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano this week and just loved it. The four Pavadano sisters dynamic reminded me of my mother and her 6 sisters who were raised they were stronger together. William’s storyline was very sad but moving and I enjoyed reading about the role basketball played in his life.
Now I am reading Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson. This is very different written by an Australian author. Ernest and his family are at a ski resort when a man is found dead. Not only is the story quirky but the writing is as well. It starts off with a list of rules on how to write murder mysteries written in the 1920s. Their are half chapters where the reader is given a recap of characters and foreshadowing with upcoming chapters about when things will occur. I am halfway through and finding it lots of fun.
So excited for The Baseball today and the sunshine.
Happy Reading!
Hi Sharon! Enjoy baseball and the sunshine.
I have a copy of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, and I want to read it. But, Donna is listening to Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes, and she’s raving about it. I may have to read that one soon.
It does seem more difficult to click with a book currently, I’ve been blaming it on reading ebooks. But I have a stack of library books just waiting, so maybe it’s the hope of spring. We’re betting it will jump directly to summer when it finally quits snowing
THE HOUSE OF EVE by Sadeqa Johnson (2023)
Historical novel set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC. The story explores how much one is willing to sacrifice to succeed. The novel has received popular acclaim, but I don’t think it reached its potential.
LUCY BY THE SEA (2022, Elizabeth Strout) follows the heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton and Oh William! through the early days of the pandemic. It captures the fear and struggles of isolation, as well as the hope and peace of those long, quiet days.
“It is a gift in this life that we do not know what awaits us.”
ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS (2023, Stacy Willingham) Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever one year ago: her son, Mason, was taken while asleep. The case quickly went cold. Isabelle cannot rest – literally – until Mason is returned. Sleep deprivation and guilt drive the story.
While there is a bit of that good storytelling Patricia Cornwell is known for, I’m disappointed with LIVID (#26 in the series). It veers too far into sci-fi/dystopian horror for my simple taste. Once again it follows forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta, pitting her against a powerful evil force . I will admit, though, that the part of capturing a dust bunny was good.
MM, Now, you have me intrigued by that last line “the part of capturing a dust bunny was good.” Ha!
I don’t think I ever reached the hope and peace of long, quiet days during the pandemic. I think I had the panic, and then we worked from home, and then went back to work. I never could concentrate on books at all.
I just put Murder Your Employer on hold at the library. Tell Donna I said thank you!
I will, Margie! I don’t know if it makes a difference, though, that she’s listening to it. Simon Vance and Neil Patrick Harris are the narrators, and she says it’s hysterical.
Sharon, I am still trying to get to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. Lesa, I think I’m going to listen to a sample of the audio version. With Neil Patrick Harris narrating, I think I’d like it. And, I looked up Simon Vance, and he’s received the Audie Award sixteen times.
Oh dear, I wanted to read the book you are reading but the print is too small, no audio book for it but I added it to my list to add and maybe find a way to read it later.
I still have two shelves of cozies to read through before I move! I chose Crime and Catnip by T.C. LoTempio, one of my favorite authors. Almost finished and I adore this Nick and Nora series. Nora Charles was crime reporter and then inherited her parent’s Hot Breads which she is trying to make financially successful. There is a lot of back story of how she got Nick, the extremely intelligent tuxedo cat but don’t want to go into that. There is extensive interaction between Nick and Nora. He manages to help her figure out the mysteries, and gives her clues in many ways. His strong eyesight and sense of smell really help the mystery unravel. I read two other previous books in this series and I adore all of them.
Also reading Anne Mateer’s A Home For My Heart. I have read a couple more of her books before and I enjoyed them despite the fact that she tends to be too preachy for me. I wish that I could extract from her books! Anywhere, it is another historial fiction set in 1910 in an orphanage in Raystown (not sure what state.
The main character, Sadie, grew up in the orphanage is now the matron’s assistant and from the age of 10, she knew became friends with and soon to be engaged with Blaine who also grew up in the orphange. He is trying his best to buy a farm so that they can marry and raise a family.
Well here’s the problem, the matron is leaving her position so that she can marry. There is a firm rule that the matron not be married. The matron recommends Sadie, the main character for it and the board agrees. Sadie takes the role of the matron, she has no time to discuss it with Blaine. Blaine has to get buy a farm up for sale quickly or he will lose his chance for a long time to get any farm. With not enough money to purchase it, he gets a mortgage. He wanted to surprise Sadie! What a mess! How will the author resolve it.
I like T.C. LoTempio, too, Carolee.
I’m sorry the print doesn’t work for you with The Lonely Hearts Book Club. Maybe they’ll do an audio eventually.
Good morning! I just started reading Standing Dead by Margaret Mizushima. And then my Kindle Fire froze this morning when I tried to turn it on. I hauled my old Nook out and went to the Kindle app, but I hadn’t used that device in so long I had to jump through hoops to finally access the book. So no reading time this morning. I’ll have to catch up this evening. đ
How frustrating, Patricia. We are so dependent on our devices, and when they don’t work, it’s frustrating. Thanks for catching up with us, though! I’m sorry.
Good morning! It has been a good reading week for me largely due to having successfully avoided any cleaning or cooking! On the mystery front, I am continuing to work my way thru Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’ Bill Slider series. I just finished Game Over, which may be my favorite in the series so far. It was good to see some of Slider’s long time adversaries finally get the justice they deserved. The character development continues to be good, as is the humor. I also finished William Shaw’s Grave’s End. This is book 3 in the Alexandra Cupidi series. I enjoyed this one as well. Good story line involving land development and politics.
I also read Harry Connolly’s The Iron Gate. This is a very well done continuation of his urban fantasy series, Twenty Palaces, The first book in the series is Child of Fire
On the non fiction front, I loved Into the Forest by Rebecca Frankel. This is about a Polish Jewish family who survived WW2 by living in handmade huts and underground dugouts. The family was fortunate to have help from several Polish families living in the woods. I can’t imagine having the courage and skills to attempt to survive this way. A terrific book.
Just picked up The Diary Keepers by Nina Siegal, another nonfiction book set in WW2 and will continue on with the Bill Slider series. Have a good week everyone!
Thank you, Jennifer! I love your attitude – a good reading week because you avoided cleaning & cooking! Good for you. That Bill Slider series is just terrific. Like you, I enjoy the characters and the humor.
It does sound as if you had a good reading week, though. Enjoy your week!
I also had a week of no cooking or cleaning, Jennifer – isn’t it just brilliant to have your time to yourself?
It is wonderful!! I plan to see how long I can keep this going!
It’s been raining a lot still, but according to the governor, we’re still not out of the drought. Of course, this is from a guy who only gave up his emergency powers for the pandemic a couple of weeks ago, so who knows what the reality is.
I went to the semiannual antiquarian book sale around here. I had a strange experience. Unbenownst to me, for the first time, there is a gun show in the same building. Of course, I get in the wrong line. Surprisingly, they were selling a lot of knives at the gun show. I did eventually get to the right sale.
This week I read:
Classic Monsters Unmade by John LeMay; an overview of old time monster movies that never got made. Some of them are interesting, but it’s probably for the best most of these were rejected.
That pretty much took me the whole week, as it’s a long book.
Well, that would feel strange to me, too, Glen. Not quite the same kind of sale.
I have the feeling that book could have been quite funny at times.
Should I hope it keeps raining there?
We’re supposed to get rain next week. and maybe until the middle of April off and on.
Good evening from sunny Scotland!
I think this is going to be our only sunny day for a while, but I’m enjoying it, it’s so spring like and warm. I have the window open and the birds are singing away in the garden. At this time of the evening the wood pigeons start to coo in the tall trees on the other side of the burn. I’ve heard woodpeckers several times this week too.
I was in Edinburgh until Monday, when I came back up the road on the bus. Last Friday David, Anna and I went to an excellent jazz concert at the St Bride’s Centre (an old church); the first part was a Scottish trio called AKU!, consisting of three recent graduates from the Glasgow conservatoire, a drummer, a sax player and trombonist). They were outstanding. It was very experimental – Anna, who unlike me studied music, said they were really pushing the traditional structures of jazz to their limits. Apparently it’s called Doom Jazz…
The second half was a quartet from Luxembourg called Teleport (I had thought they were from Denmark – wrong!) They were slightly more mainstream, with an exceptional drummer and a very good sax player. I enjoyed both bands.
On Saturday David and Anna went to see Tori Amos in concert. I didn’t think it’d be my kind of thing, but they seem to have enjoyed it.
Since I’ve been back I’ve had a lovely quiet week, with lots of walks, both solitary and with various friends. Even when it’s raining spring is definitely in the air.
On television I’ve started watching the Daisy May Cooper serial AM I BEING UNREASONABLE? (which is apparently a frequent question on the loathsome Mumsnet website…) I loved THIS COUNTRY, in which Daisy and her brother Charlie played cousins living in a picture perfect Cotswold village – but they both live in council houses, have dysfunctional families and no money or job prospects. They grew up in a very similar village, and in very similar circumstances, and Daisy wanted to highlight rural poverty and the lack of opportunities for young people in what have largely become retirement ghettoes for rich people.
This new(ish) series is about a young mother (Cooper) living a fairly affluent life in a similar village, but not fitting in with the other Mums at school (she’s especially good on the politics of the playground, and the very recognisable types to be found there). It has some very funny moments but on the whole is much darker. Cooper’s character, Nic, has a dark secret. When a new Mum, Jen, comes along, they seem to be soulmates – but Jen is clearly up to something.
The absolute star of the show is Nic’s young son, played by Ollie Rush, a child actor who has already won awards. Rush suffers from dwarfism, but this is not mentioned in the show – he’s just a fantastic character, one who is wise beyond his years (though not especially well behaved…) and spends most of his time telling his mother to behave and get her life sorted. They actually get on very well, and he is a hoot.
This show is much darker and deeper than This Country, and the language is colourful to say the least. I see that it’s going to be shown on HULU in the US next month. I think it’s great, but be warned – not only about the language, but also some fairly no-holds-barred sex scenes. I think everyone would enjoy Ollie Rush though!
I’m also watching the new series of UNFORGOTTEN, and getting used to the new detective, played by Sinead Keenan, Nicola Walker’s replacement. Her character seems to be a very troubled woman! Sanjeev Bhaskar is wonderful still, his grief is really poignant.
I finished reading THE LAST LIBRARY by Freya Sampson. I enjoyed it a lot – yes, the ending was predictable (and sadly unlikely to be replicated in any of our about-to-close branch libraries) but the characters were well drawn and nuanced, and there was enough plot to keep me turning the pages.
I’m now about to start PAUL TAKES THE FORM OF A MORTAL GIRL by Andrea Lawlor – recommended to me by my youngest, Madeleine, who is quite alternative, so we shall see.. I need a lighter book to read with it, so I am looking through my library borrowings and the numerous novels on my TBR shelves. Today I have also borrowed;
DIRT ROAD by James Kelman
AN OLD PUB NEAR THE ANGEL (also James Kelman, but this is a collection of short stories)
THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME by Janice Galloway – a memoir about this Scottish writer’s very far from idyllic Ayrshire childhood in the 1950s and 60s.
I’m also sorting out a book or books to read for my friend Simon’s six monthly ‘book club’ – this time the year is 1940, so you are asked to read a book – any, can be fiction or non fiction – published in that year. So far I have found Monica Dickens’ MARIANA (which I read years ago but can hardly remember) and Raymond Postgate’s VERDICT OF TWELVE. Any suggestions welcome!
I had a chat with our library ladies this morning, and asked them where all the books from the six closing libraries will go. They had no idea – they thought some of the children’s books would be offered to schools, but after that they might just be sold. This is all so terrible. They agreed completely that libraries are so much more than books – they are social centres, places that children who have no computers, or quiet places, at home can come to do their school work, and that people who aren’t ‘connected’ at home can come to make online applications, look at job vacancies, do research – so many things. The council bought all these computers to enable this to happen, and now they will just be wasted.
And then there are the parents who bring their babies and toddlers to Rhyme Time and Bookbug – not only good for the children, but also for parents who may well feel socially isolated. And all the other groups that meet in libraries.
I know you all know this, I’m just so CROSS!
I’ve just been out to feed the birds, and now I think I must go down to the river and calm down!
I hope everyone has a good week; I am back down to Edinburgh on Wednesday, as we are going to see Big Thief in concert at the Usher Hall, then I will attend some of the Easter services at Old St Paul’s church. After that I am hoping for a few weeks at home on Deeside.
Rosemary
Rosemary, I’m retiring at the end of August, and planning to move close to my sister who lives in Columbus, Ohio. It’s about twice the size of Edinburgh in population, so it offers a lot of opportunities for book events, live theater, museums, etc. I’m looking forward to that. There really isn’t much here where I live, and, over the years, I’ve traveled a lot to attend events. It’s one more reason I enjoy reading your posts, as you take the time to attend programs and events that interest you. Good for you!
Oh, and I could easily get as riled as you when it comes to the libraries closing. We’re almost as bad here where communities are voting not to fund their libraries, or banning books in the public and school libraries. It’s time for me to retire.
Enjoy your weather & your walks!
Lesa, Edinburgh is great for events of all sorts, so I’m sure you’ll appreciate Columbus. In Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire you need to look a little harder, but there is still plenty going on if one makes the effort.
Yes I’ve seen all that stuff about banning books in the US – and as for banning Michelangelo’s David – what warped minds these people must have, or at least that’s the way it seems to me. Guns yes, arts no. I hope Columbus is a bit more liberal?
Rosemary, books published in 1940:
Agatha Christie, SAD CYPRESS and ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE (both Poirots)
Ernest Hemingway, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
Carson McCullers, THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER
Graham Greene, THE POWER AND THE GLORY
Another gorgeous day in the NC mountains. Life is good.
I read three books that I liked lots. Deborah Crombie never disappoints. A Killing of Innocents was worth the wait.
Halfway to You by Jennifer Gold was a book I loved, although it did slide a little into soap opera territory, but then redeemed itself.
It’s not going to surprise anyone who knows me that I adored a little novella called
A Paris Odyssey by Axel Forrester, Paris being an obsession of mine. It may not be the most well written, but the story was fun and poignant. The last scene in Paris which takes place in The Louvre is hysterical and worth reading all on its own. WHAT a group the protag has collected!!
A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie
Description from Amazon –
On a rainy November evening, trainee doctor Sasha Johnson hurries through the evening crowd in London’s historic Russell Square. Out of the darkness, someone jostles her as they brush past. A moment later, Sasha stumbles, then collapses. When Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his sergeant, Doug Cullen, are called to the scene, they discover that she’s been stabbed.Â
Kincaid immediately calls in his detective wife, Gemma James, who has recently been assigned to a task force on knife crimes which are on the rise. Along with her partner, detective sergeant Melody Talbot, Gemma aids the investigation. But Sasha Johnson doesnât fit the profile of the task forceâs typical knife crime victim. Single, successful, career-driven, she has no history of abusive relationships or any connection to gangs. Sasha had her secrets, though, and some of them lead the detectives uncomfortably close to home.
As the team unravels the victim’s tangled connections, another murder raises the stakes. Kincaid, Gemma, and their colleagues must put even friendships on the line to find the killer stalking the dark streets of Bloomsbury.
Halfway to You by Jennifer Gold
Description from Amazon –
An ambitious podcaster and her reclusive interviewee embark on a life-altering journey to uncover long-lost truths in this immersive story about love, travel, and family secrets.
Forty years ago, aspiring writer Ann Fawkes left the United States for a Mediterranean adventure that opened her heart to travel and love. After a chance encounter propelled her into the publishing world, she released her first novel, an instant bestsellerâand the last book she ever wrote.
Now, Ann lives a reclusive life in the San Juan Islands, hiding from the public and its probing questions. But when podcaster Maggie Whitaker convinces Ann to sit for an interview, Ann agrees on one condition: Maggie must keep her story off the record.
Determined to change Annâs mind before she loses her job, Maggie agrees. But as she learns about Annâs lifeâparticularly the love affair that inspired her novel and the decisions she made in its wakeâMaggie realizes Annâs story intersects with her own in shocking, life-changing ways.
A sweeping, heart-wrenching novel that spans decades and continents, Halfway to You explores the distances we create between ourselves and the ones we love most and what it takes to finally bridge them.
A Paris Odyssey by Axel Forrester
Description from NetGalley –
American Grant Decker is in Paris on a photography assignment.
When he arrives at Gare du Nord train station, he discovers just how unprepared he is to navigate this new world where the language is both vaguely familiar and baffling. ââVous ne parlez pas français?â My brain turned around three times and then went to sleep!â
Determined to get his bearings, Grant explores the length and breadth of the city on the metro. But it is when he makes new friends among some street performers that he discovers a different Paris. These off-beat characters help him sharpen his eye and open his heart to the many love stories that weave through âthe city of light.âÂ
Join Grant as he discovers the Paris of the Romans, the Celts, and Medieval Paris, while descending into the catacombs and visiting holy places. This is another odyssey of growth and discovery. Funny, poignant, and magical, A Paris Odyssey is a compelling story of adventure, friendship, and love.Â
A Paris Odyssey, the third book in the Odyssey series by Axel Forrester, has earned the Gold Award of Achievement from the International Review of Books.Â
No, it doesn’t surprise me at all that you enjoyed A Paris Odyssey, Kaye. I appreciate your passion for Paris, and admire the way you find so much material to indulge that passion. Good for you!
And, I enjoyed your post yesterday about your day out in Boone. Didn’t even need that AK-47!
Lesa, you might enjoy this band of misfits in A Paris Odyssey. And glad you caught my little aside yesterday about the gun. Stupid stupid guns.
I agree, Kaye, about the guns. I’ll have to check for A Paris Odyssey.
Two books to recommend, about as different as they could be.
Betty Webb’s Lost in Paris proves once again what a versatile writer she is and how broad-ranging her interests are. Betty started her mystery career with a rather dark series inspired by real crimes she covered as a journalist. One of those novels caused such a stir in Arizona that it prompted a change in state law. From there, Betty turned to a series set in a zoo, which allowed her to use her love of animals and experience as a dedicated zoo volunteer. Now she’s visiting early 1920s Paris, when the post-war city was filled with refugees, American ex-pats, writers and artists of every variety.
Young Zoe Barlow, driven from her Alabama home by the proverbial evil stepmother, is making a life for herself as a painter and has settled into a found-family of people who make her happy and help her forget the pain in her past. She isn’t fond of the volatile journalist Ernest Hemingway, who aspires to be a great novelist, but his wife Hadley is Zoe’s dear friend. When a valise stuffed with Ernest’s unpublished manuscripts is stolen from Hadley, Zoe doesn’t hesitate to jump in and try to help her friend. The search for the thief leads her to Russian immigrants, some partially burned manuscripts, murder victims, and nonstop intrigue. Zoe loses friends and suspects other friends of being killers before the truth comes out. Along the way, we get sharp sketches of figures who are now legends.
Anyone who loves Paris will enjoy seeing it through Zoe Barlow’s eyes, and Betty Webb’s evocative prose is always a pleasure. Coming April 4 from Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks.
And now for something completely different. My friend Anne Belov, whose gorgeous paintings make me think of Vermeer, has a sideline in… panda satire. The satire is sharp, often political, always wildly funny, and presents American society and the world in general through the perspective of cartoon animals — primarily loquacious pandas, with a few other species joining in. Older kids will get it, but these stories are for adults, The tenth book in her Panda Chronicles is Litter Box Chaos: The Mittens Years, Mittens is a wild-eyed maniac of a cat who looks as if he’s smeared himself with orange makeup. Somehow, beyond the range of possibility, Mittens has ascended to the presidency. The rest is history, and it is hilarious. I have to thank dear Anne for being the only person on the face of the earth who could make me laugh about events of the past few years, If your spirit needs a lift, pour yourself a nice cold glass of unleaded water and settle down with this book. I promise you will laugh. You will laugh a lot. Available now through Amazon.
Oh, Sandra. Panda satire! I just ordered the first one, Your Brain on Pandas. This should be good. Thank you for sharing!
And, you’re right. Betty Webb is versatile. I loved some of the Lena Jones books. Desert Wind is the one that still sticks with me, and I mentioned it in a recent book review I wrote.
Anne is on Facebook with the monicker Bob T. Panda. She regularly posts her cartoons there. She’s a lovely person with a devious mind, just my sort of friend. You don’t have to read any of the previous collections, which go back for quite a few years, to enjoy the latest. You just have to have been here and witnessed the turmoil, which we all did.
Thank you, Sandra!
We did not get much rain in Santa Barbara from the latest storm but any is welcome. It did rain pretty hard last night but we woke up to a sunny day. And now, we are getting a bit more rain that we did not expect.
THE LONELY HEARTS BOOK CLUB sounds good, I may give it a try.
This week I finished reading MURDER IN A NUNNERY by Eric Shepherd (from 1940). I read it for the same 1940 “book club” that Rosemary talks about today. It is set in a girls school run by nuns. My initial thought was that the story was too light-hearted and sort of flippant about the religious school setting, but it wasn’t that way at all. An obnoxious rich old woman is living at the convent in the last years of her life. She is mean to her companion and her ward, a young woman, and unpopular with the students and the nuns. When she is murdered in the chapel, the nuns are dismayed but not surprised. I liked the book a lot in the end and it was very brief, around 160 pages. There is a sequel that Shepherd published 14 years later, MORE MURDER IN A NUNNERY.
I am now reading a fantasy book, ASSASSIN’S APPRENTICE by Robin Hobb, 435 pages long, the first of a trilogy. Liking it better than any fantasy book I can remember so I will probably continue reading the trilogy but the other two books are even longer.
Oh, I remember reading Assassin’s Apprentice way back when. Robin Hobb is such a good writer. Enjoy!
I’m glad Murder in a Nunnery turned out to be better than you thought, Tracy.
Reading an enjoying Eulogy in Black and White by Caleb Pirtle III. It’s part of the Magnolia Bluff series that has books written by several authors. One thing I like about the writing is the style, using short sentences almost like a list. The central character, Huston Graham, reminds me a bit of Jack Reacher. A stranger who has no car and wanders from place to place. Although it’s not made clear whether Huston just buys new clothes when the ones he’s wearing get dirty. đ The mystery of who is killing people every year on May 23 is a good one.
Oh, I never heard of Eulogy in Black and White, Mcm. It’s great to discover a new book and author. Enjoy!