I apologize for not being around much this week. My Mom and sister, Christie, came in to help me pack for my move, and that’s what we did for long hours. No reading. No blog. Nothing else. Well, we did take time for a couple good meals. I really appreciate their help.
I’m currently reading a January release called Radiant Heat by Sarah-Jame Collins. Set in Australia, it features Alison King, a woman who survived a fire by staying in her bathtub wrapped in a wet blanket. When she finally stumbled out of her house, she found a car in her driveway with a dead woman in it. The woman was her age. According to her driver’s license they were born just weeks apart. And, the stranger had Alison’s name and address in her purse.
That’s as far as I’ve gotten with no time. Between packing, shredding, and multiple dentist appointments before I leave, I don’t have much other time.
What about you? Even though I might not drop by much today, would you share with the rest of us what you’re reading?
The best part about moving is at some point it’s done. Almost there!
Thanks to a few cold, rainy days, I got in quite a bit of reading this week.
The 4th book in the Dr Nell Ward series from Embla Books, a digital-first publisher. The publisher’s list their selection theme as “laugh, love, look over your shoulder and lose sleep”. A GENERATION OF VIPERS by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett. The author is a retired ecologist from a small village in South Downs. This story in the British cozy mystery series features a serial killer and the relocation of poisonous adders – the only poisonous species in the UK – for a future development. I love the mix of science and police work to solve crimes.
FACTORY GIRLS by Michelle Gallen set in the summer of 1994. “A funny, fierce, and unforgettable read about a young woman working a summer job in a shirt factory in Northern Ireland, while tensions rise both inside and outside the factory walls”
David Joy’s 2023 book THOSE WE THOUGHT WE KNEW is a brutally honest portrait of generational trauma set in a small North Carolina community. Two horrible crimes split the county apart as the author asks the hard questions in this literary crime thriller. Also, it has a very believable memory recovery scene for a hospitalized victim.
DEAD MOUNTAIN the latest installment in the bestselling series featuring archeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson. The story takes place in the Manzano Mountains of New Mexico, inspired by real life bizarre circumstances. Great storytelling with wonderful characters.
Started MRS. PLANSKY’S REVENGE yesterday. Its been a popular book at the library, I’ve been waiting for my hold since the nice review here in July.
MM, THOSE WE THOUGHT WE KNEW is one of my favorite books of 2023.
Thanks Kaye
I knew I’d learned about the book (and the author) here, but didn’t recall who recommended. My TBR list has gotten a bit out of hand this year. But I do want to read some of his previous books now too.
I know you’re enjoying having Elizabeth and Christie there to help, Lesa. What a sweet, sweet family you have!
Besides reading Payback in Death by J. D. Robb, which i loved, i read a book by an author i was unfamiliar with, Sara Goodman Confino, Don’t Forget to Write. I loved this book. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to stick with it at first to tell the truth, but so glad I did. Great Aunt Ada is a woman I would love having in my life.
Description from NetGalley – But is available now.
In 1960, a young woman discovers a freedom she never knew existed in this exhilarating, funny, and emotional novel by the bestselling author of She’s Up to No Good.
When Marilyn Kleinman is caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation, her parents ship her off to her great-aunt Ada for the summer. If anyone can save their daughter’s reputation, it’s Philadelphia’s strict premier matchmaker. Either that or Marilyn can kiss college goodbye.
To Marilyn’s surprise, Ada’s not the humorless septuagenarian her mother described. Not with that platinum-blonde hair, Hermès scarf, and Cadillac convertible. She’s sharp, straight-talking, takes her job very seriously, and abides by her own rules…mostly. As the summer unfolds, Ada and Marilyn head for the Jersey shore, where Marilyn helps Ada scope out eligible matches—for anyone but Marilyn, that is.
Because if there’s one thing Marilyn’s learned from Ada, it’s that she doesn’t have to settle. With the school year quickly approaching and her father threatening to disinherit her, Marilyn must make her choice for her future: return to the comfortable life she knows or embrace a risky, unknown path on her own.
Lots of gold stars for this one.
‘Don’t Forget to Write’ sounds interesting Kaye. My children had a picture book with that same title, but Confino’s novel sounds a good deal more gripping!
RADIANT HEAT sounds intriguing. Hope you enjoy it when you have more time.
I am once again between books. I just finished MURDER OFF THE BOOKS, the third By the Book Mystery by Tamara Berry. Plenty of fun, although I think I liked the previous book just a little more.
Up next will be HAVE YOURSELF A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS in Vicki Delany’s Year-Round Christmas series. This is the first in several years since Berkley cancelled the series and the first with Crooked Lane as the publisher. I’m really looking forward to diving back in the series.
Best of luck with the move. I’m sure you can’t wait to have it all behind you.
Good morning Lesa and everyone,
How nice to have help with packing Lesa. I have to admit I have never done it myself; I find it stressful enough even having the professional packers in. So you definitely deserve lots of good meals! Anna and I did pack and move for my mother once, and we were so exhausted afterwards we took ourselves out to Zizi’s and felt justified in stuffing ourselves with pizza.
I’ve enjoyed being back in Aberdeenshire this week. Nancy and I had a great walk along the old railway line to Newton Dee, a Steiner community with a good cafe. Then yesterday I visited my friend Sue, who moved out of the city and now has a sort of smallholding with goats, hens and vegetables. When she first got those goats she was going to raise them for meat – need I tell you she’s now given them names and has no intention of ever parting with them? When we were staying at a farmhouse in Northumberland they provided goat’s milk soap, made on a local farm, so I have given their card to Sue to see if she can maybe do that instead!
Last weekend we went to the Gray’s School of Art Graduate Show, which was very good. I especially liked a project by a girl who was born deaf and now has intermittent and unmodulated hearing. She had built models to show us how she hears everyday sounds, and had also recorded an interview with her father about what it was like to have a deaf child. It was quite moving.
I’ve got back into my reading groove at last, so I read THE BOOKSHOP by Penelope Fitzgerald. It’s about a middle aged woman living in a small East Anglia coastal town who decides to open a bookshop in an old, damp and deserted building.
I’m sure we have all read or at least seen so many of those novels where the brokenhearted townie escapes to the country/coast where she has inherited a bookshop/cafe, which she miraculously turns into a profitable business while simultaneously discovering the hunk next door – but The Bookshop is not one of those.
It’s set in 1959, the town is run down and poor, Florence is widowed and has little money, and very few people – certainly no handy hunks – are around to help her. Nevertheless, and despite opposition from the local lady of the manor, who wants to be in charge of everything and says she had earmarked that building for an arts centre (which she’s had years to do something about but never has), Florence presses on, and the shop becomes reasonably solvent (despite all the warnings from Florence’s patronising male bank manager.)
But this is not a romance, and Florence struggles more and more against the machinations of Violet Gamart, just as Hardborough itself struggles against the unrelenting erosion of its cliffs by the incoming tides.
I enjoyed this book much more than I’ve liked Fitzgerald’s other books. All of the characters are really well drawn and interesting, and the story is (mostly) convincing.
I next read THE PUZZLED HEART by Amanda Cross. Unfortunately this was another disappointing one. I loved Cross’s early Kate Fansler detective stories so much, but in this and also HONEST DOUBT, which I think were numbers 12 and 13 in the series, Cross seems to have gone right off. She sadly took her own life 5 years after The Puzzled Heart was published, and you do wonder if she had just lost interest in Kate.
In earlier outings such as NO WORD FROM WINIFRED and THE PLAYERS COME AGAIN Kate was such a feisty, intelligent, witty woman. In The Puzzled Heart she is no longer any of those things. Her husband Reed has been kidnapped (the plot is also totally unbelievable) and she seems to fall to pieces and lose her spirit completely, even though it’s perfectly obvious at the outset that Reed is highly unlikely to come to any harm (he’s been ‘held’ in a student house, not a terrorist cell.)
Cross then introduces a character who is said to be Kate’s best friend of many years, but of whom we have never heard in any of the previous novels. And there are various other women around, of whose separate identities I had a hard time keeping track. The best character was a St Bernard puppy, and even then Cross made out that it was absolutely straightforward to keep an un-housetrained puppy in a smart Manhattan penthouse (‘oh just put down puppy pads’.)
I’ve said enough, I think! Such a disappointment.
So now I am about to start JL Carr’s A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY. I know almost nothing about it except that it’s acclaimed, and it’s about a World War One veteran arriving in a small Yorkshire village to restore a mediaeval mural.
I also visited our little library. It was so good to be back there! I borrowed:
Aingeala Flannery: THE AMUSEMENTS (Set in a small seaside town in County Waterford, this is the story of two young girls who fully intend to leave for the brighter lights but never do. It follows them, their families and their neighbours over three decades, and is described as ‘a luminous and unforgettable story about roads taken and not taken – and a brilliantly observed portrait of a small-town community.’)
Antonia Fraser: COOL REPENTANCE (one of Fraser’s Jemima Shore mysteries. I’ve read a few in the past and they vary a lot in standard, but they’re quite fun to read.)
Karim Miske: ARAB JAZZ (a murder set in a multi-cultural area of Paris. I don’t know anything about it but it looks interesting.)
Lin Anderson (ed): BLOODY SCOTLAND (a collection of short stories by authors who have appeared at this annual festival – including Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Denise Mina, Ann Cleeves and many more. ‘They use the sinister side of the country’s built heritage in stories that are by turns gripping, chilling and redemptive.’
Kate Ellis: THE MERMAID’S SCREAM – I’m pretty sure I borrowed this one before but never got round to reading it.
Miranda James: ARSENIC AND OLD BOOKS
Graham Norton: HOLDING (I wanted to try this after hearing Norton talk on a podcast about how he’d always wanted to write fiction, so when his publisher asked him to write a memoir, he said he’d only do it on condition that they also published his first novel. It seems to have been well received; it’s set in a small Irish village, and the New York Times apparently described it as follows: ‘With its tale of provincial life, gimlet-eyed spinsters, and thwarted love…it feels almost like a Miss Marple mystery written by Colm Tóibín.’
Jarvis Cocker: GOOD POP, BAD POP: AN INVENTORY – I definitely know I borrowed this before and never got it read. So I’m trying again.
Andrea Carter: DEATH AT WHITEWATER CHURCH – I wanted to try this series after Lesa mentioned it last week.
So I’ve got plenty to be going on with!
On TV I finished the second series of HEARTSTOPPER and am now finishing STEELTOWN MURDERS, which I’ve seen before but it’s worth a re-watch.
This afternoon I am actually back down to Edinburgh, but just for two nights. Anna and I have tickets to see CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS at the Usher Hall. We will also visit my mother, and I will take myself to Golden Hare, an independent bookshop from whom I have ordered Jeremy Deller’s ART IS MAGIC, having seen him at the book festival. I don’t often buy art books, but this one is supposed to be very readable, and Deller is keen to make art accessible to all.
David is off to Spain tomorrow to play hockey. I don’t envy him in those temperatures – it’s been quite hot enough here this week.
I hope everyone has a great week – and good luck Lesa, when do you actually leave your apartment?
Rosemary, we watched the movie called The Bookshop with Emily Mortimer and Bill Nighy several years ago. it sounds like the book you described. The movie was very good.
Oh how interesting Sharon, I had no idea that it’d been made into a film – and with Bill Nighy too. I’ll look out for that.
Rosemary, I agree with you about Fitzgerald’s THE BOOKSHOP, which I did enjoy in the end. I also liked her HUMAN VOICES, set at the BBC during the Blitz of 1940.
We finally got the new series of UNFORGOTTEN starting Sunday, and I hope she improves, as taking out her personal problems (cheating husband) on Sunny is just not right. I wouldn’t blame him if he did resign, though I’m sure he won’t). Also got the second series of PROFESSOR T., but as we saw the original Belgian version, I am still not convinced we needed this remake with Ben Miller, though I always enjoy seeing Frances de la Tour.
Thanks Jeff, I’ve not yet read Human Voices but I’ll put it on my list now.
I did feel that UNFORGOTTEN improved (eventually!). I hope you can stick with it so that we can discuss it.
I liked THE BOOKSHOP by Penelope Fitzgerald, but at the end I was very depressed. It was realistic but sad.
I read JL Carr’s A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY about a year ago and my husband Glen just recently read it also. We both enjoyed it a lot. I hope you do.
Thanks Tracy – and I agree, the end of The Bookshop is sad, but it certainly makes a change from the usual bookshop romance!
Sounds like a good opening. I am reading Laura Bradford’s Assaulted Pretzel and enjoying the story much more than the small print. I have a small stash of cozies that I didn’t want to sell before I read them and this is one of them.
Also I am reading The Finding of Miss Fairfield by Grace Hitchcock. A rich young lady has her father announcing her engagement to a man who is much older than her. As the wedding approaches, she gets panicky and runs away and joins the Harvey Girls who serve meals to travelers. It is interesting to learn about all the rules that Harvey Girls must follow. No wonder all the travelers loved them. There is one other Harvey Girl story. I am hoping that she comes from a poor situation and will show different aspects of being employed by the Harvey Girls. I have to confess an aversion to reading about the very rich! But I agree she had good reason to run off.
Hi all and good luck packing, Lesa! It has been an uneven week for me. The highlight was WARRIOR GIRL UNEARTHED by Angeline Bouley, which follows on but isn’t exactly a sequel to FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER. The teenage protagonist is reluctantly taking part in a tribal internship program over the summer and comes to learn about human remains and cultural artifacts being kept at the local university and private collections. Perry is full of righteous outrage and wants to swoop in and act, but her mentors make her learn about the laws and systems in place for repatriation. Meanwhile Native American young women, including one of her friends and a fellow intern, are going missing, and the centuries-long disregard for Native American bodies continues. I am describing the heavy parts here, partially because I spent so many years on the other side of university archaeological collections, but there is also a cracking plot in which the teenagers try to figure out who they are and the best way for them to be a force for change in the world.
I started PINEAPPLE STREET by Jenny Jackson yesterday, but I can tell things are not going to go well for the only character I like. I don’t think I’ll pick it up again.
Two mysteries that were ok were HARLEM AFTER MIDNIGHT by Louise Hare and THE PARIS MYSTERY (Charlie James) by Kirsty Manning. The former never seemed to jell, and the obvious debt the book owes to PASSING was a distraction. The Paris Mystery was lighter. I liked reading about the dresses and drinks but the descriptions of Paris as a seductive woman got a little old for me. It might be I have grown tired of that prewar setting. Next up I am going to finish WHAT AN OWL KNOWS and maybe start a new history of the Aztecs.
Oh, I love Warrior Girl Unearthed as well. I was thrilled with diving back into Angeline Boulley’s writing and style as it just pulls me right in. I did audio again as I love to hear the Anishinaabe language read so beautifully. It adds such a rhythm and connection. Thanks for sharing a great review!
Well, that was a teaser. You have such great family and such a special relationship with all. So, move on, singing and high stepping into the next phase of your life. It will be amazing. You are amazing 🥰
Good morning! I got back from Bouchercon on Sunday, and I am so glad I went. It was my first time at such a large crime fiction convention (1700 of us), and except for a 30-minute travel delay because of fog in San Diego, it went off without a hitch. There were so many panels and events to attend, but I quickly learned to pace myself (and to spend a little time in my room to get warm–you know how those hotel ballrooms can be). I’m so glad that I got to meet my fellow (virtual) book club member, Gloria, for the first time in person, as she lives in San Diego and was attending her first Bouchercon as well. We went to a lot of events together and went to dinner at fun places outside of the hotel a couple of times.
My favorite things about the conference? First, talking to everyone–my fellow Sisters in Crime of Northern CA members whom I hadn’t seen in person since I moved 3 years ago, people I didn’t know at all who were in line or in the Hospitality Suite or at an event, and authors I had never met. Highlights for me were meeting Hank Phillippi Ryan, for whom I’ve been a Super Reader for her last two books, telling Daryl Wood Gerber how much I enjoy her Fairy Garden series, talking about her new book’s cliffhanger ending with Celeste Connally/SC Perkins, chatting with Matt Goldman about his Nils Shapiro series and having him sign a new standalone, and especially grabbing Lou Berney in the hallway and telling him how great his new book, Dark Ride, is and why. And to top it off, Gloria and I got to sit at Naomi Hirahara’s table for the Anthony Awards banquet. Because she was the MC, the table was up front for all of the action. She signed our Clark & Division books and gave us tote bags. She also had us pass note cards around the table so everyone could write a little note to everyone else, whether we knew each other or not!
And oh, yes, bringing home 8 books, 6 of them free. I fit most of them in my luggage, but Gloria offered to send me a particularly heavy trade paperback using book mail.
Now I’m looking forward to next year in Nashville, although I’m a little scared about a longer plane rider and change of time zone.
I wasn’t here to comment on my books read last week, but I only got one read during my trip, so here are the four I read during the past two weeks.
ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A LORD is the first in a new mystery series by Celeste Connally. As the title indicates, the focus is on how even high-born women were often treated like second-class citizens–or worse–in 1815 London. After the tragic death of her fiancé and abandonment by her greatest male friend, Lady Petra avows to everyone who will listen that she has decided to remain unmarried. It is a scandalous statement to most, and some take it to mean she prefers women to men. But Petra is proud and determined, and her money and good looks afford her some freedom to live the life she desires. When one of her friends disappears mysteriously and is then declared dead, Petra starts to discover that a deadly conspiracy is afoot, and that other women, including herself, may be in grave danger. The book takes quite a while to get going, setting the scene and the many characters. The last part of the book is much more interesting–though quite distasteful at times–as Petra gets closer to unmasking the villain(s). I found the plot to be a bit too over-the-top, with the main villain being utterly without redeeming qualities. Men, in general, come off as unsympathetic to say the least, with the exception of Petra’s former male friend and a young guttersnipe who admires her enough to help her out when needed. The women are the stars, especially Petra, who often throws caution to the winds to accomplish her goals. The epilogue contains a cliffhanger, which is jarring, which most likely will lead to the next in the series. Personally, I prefer the author’s three Ancestry Detective books, written under the name of SC Perkins (November)
After thoroughly enjoying Nova Jacobs’ The Last Equation of Isaac Severy in 2018, I was delighted to find that she has a new book coming out in the spring. THE STARS TURNED INSIDE OUT is an account of a group of particle physicists who work on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (The European Council for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland. You don’t have to be a physicist to appreciate the story–my only connection with physics is watching TV’s The Big Bang Theory–as the details are fascinating and are generally not buried under overly technical jargon. It’s more about the characters, many of whom are working on postdoctorate fellowships, eager to participate in the search for new discoveries and committed to winning a perceived race with China and Russia to have the biggest collider (and maybe a Nobel?). The chapters alternate between the time before and after an unspeakable tragedy occurs, taking the life of one of the employees. At first the focus is on coworkers Eve and Arnav ,but later it sometimes shifts to three women who were great friends at the University of Paris and are now the CERN director, the ATLAS group leader, and the private investigator brought in to determine the means and motive of the death. While I found the story interesting, it was difficult for me to engage with most of the characters and to relate to their actions and motivations .There is a brief romance, but it is related in a rather clinical way. Much of the narrative consists of musings by various characters about philosophy, politics, religion, spirituality, and theoretical vs. experimental physics, as well as personal loss, which took me out of the mystery. I did enjoy the ultimate solving of the investigation, with a conclusion I didn’t expect, and the author was able to ratchet up the suspense. I appreciate Nova Jacobs’ ambition and originality, but overall, the book fell flat for me.. (March)
As recommended by Kaye Barley (thank you, Kaye!), ESCAPE TO STARSHINE COVE by Debbie Johnson is comfort food for the soul. It’s a life-affirming, undemanding fairy tale about a doctor who is exhausted mentally and physically from her work during the Covid pandemic and disillusioned after finding her longtime partner in bed with a younger woman. Realizing that what she needs is a complete change of pace and venue, Ella packs up her belongings and hits the the road in a car she appropriates from her ex-lover. She doesn’t really know where she is going until she catches a glimpse of an alluring seaside village near Cornwall that seems like it just might be too good to be true. Quaint, charming, magically beautiful, and populated by a host of quirky but welcoming characters, Starshine Cove beckons Ella and begins to soothe her soul. In the process, she forms a bond with an errant dog and the gorgeous man who owns the town pub. There are deeper issues here, including mental health and loss of loved ones, and they are dealt with seriously, but the delightfully drawn, complex characters and the captivating village itself are what makes this
an enchanting read and a wonderful respite from heavier stories. I loved every minute of it.
I found Karen Hawkins’ THE SECRET RECIPE OF ELLA DOVE to be the weakest of the Dove Pond series so far. This time the story focuses on Ella, one of seven sisters, each of whom has a special skill. Popular baker and influencer Ella’s gift is evoking emotion-laden memories in the person she is cooking for. It’s a fun premise, but Ella is such an unemotional character that I couldn’t relate to her. She had a romance with Gray in high school, another fling with him a few years back–leaving Gray with a broken heart–and the two are still attracted to each other when they meet again. But Ella is interested only in a friends-with-benefits relationship with Gray and can’t bring herself to commit to any man. Meanwhile, Ella’s former mentor, Angela, has returned to Dove Pond to try to forge a new relationship with her estranged daughter, Jules (Gray’s mother). Angela and her family are still angry with Ella because they think she stole their family recipe book years ago. There’s a subplot where Angela lets her daughter believe she is dying because Jules has started treating her much more lovingly. I like the series and will continue to look for future entries at Dove Pond. To be fair, I read this one under unusual circumstances (airline travel and a convention) that may have affected my ability to concentrate, so I’m sure others will like it more than I did.
Lesa, hang in there with the packing! It’s great that you have help. Soon you’ll be in Ohio with your family. Happy retirement!
Margie glad you had such a good time at Bouchercon. We’ve been to 20 of them, from the time it was just a few hundred people, and I remember that feeling of excitement. I too love meeting favorite authors and getting to tell them in person how much I liked their books. They always really appreciate it. Sadly, I think our convention going days are probably over, but you never know.
Margie, sadly, I have felt let down by Dove Pond series. SO happy you enjoyed ESCAPE TO STARSHINE COVE. And loved hearing how much you enjoyed Bouchercon, it’s such a terrific con. I have enjoyed those that I’ve attended, but I’m not sure that I’ll be attending any in the future. Maybe – we’ll see.
Kaye, it’s too bad about Dove Pond, isn’t it? I very much liked the first in the series. The Book Charmer. I think there are seven Dove sisters so maybe the future books will be better, but I think I’ll wait to see the reviews first before I order another one.
Glad you had a great time at Bouchercon!
Thanks, Glen! I’m still on a Bouchercon “high.” I’ve already registered for Nashville (next year) and hope no hurricanes will prevent my attending.
It felt a little like that heat here this week, as we’re getting some of the hottest weather of the summer in September, which is not normal for us. We only had 8 days of 90+ temperatures this year, until this week. Plus, we had to go to the city yesterday as we had matinee tickets for the revival of SWEENEY TODD with Josh Groban. Really enjoyed it too.
Books. Jackie read and really liked SECOND SHOT by Cindy Dees (first in a new series. Her main character is a 55 year old retired CIA assassin, who finds people – many people – are trying to kill her. She just started the new Heather Graham Krewe of Hunters spinoff, WHISPERS AST DUSK, and so far really likes it.
Read a couple of short story collections, as mentioned last week – SELECTED STORIES by the Irish writer Mary Levin, which originally came out in 1959., and GOLDEN AGE BIBLIOMYSERIES, edited by Otto Penzler, which I am enjoying a lot. I’ve previously read at least half of the stories, yet there was only one (“State Fair Murder” by Frank Gruber) that I remembered in any detail.
I did read the first in Lee Goldberg’s new series (there will be at least one more book, next year), MALIBU BURNING. As usual with his books, it was a fast, fun read. The new partners are experienced arson investigator WAlter Sharpe and former US Marshal Andrew Walker (whose pregnant wife insisted he switch to a “safer” job). Walker’s nemesis is con man & master thief Danny Cole, who plans to use the massive Southern California wildfires to get revenge and get rich. I liked this one a lot (there is some of Goldberg’s typical sly humor, as when a “reporter” tells a person his name is Ed Murrow).
I started another book (21 IMMORTALS by Rozlan Mohd Noor, set in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), but might read the Cindy Dees first. Plus I have to pick up four books, including eh Adrian McKinty and Ann Cleeves books, at the library.
Thank you, everyone! I’ll have to come back sometime, and read all the comments. Right now, I’m exhausted – my legs hurt, my hips hurt. I did sleep well last night.
I agree with Mm. In less than two weeks, the move will be over!
Good luck with packing, Lesa. Nice you were able to get some help.
Three books this week.
The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges. It was a magical realism love story about a blogger who writes about the dollhouse she was left by her step grandmother and the man who lives across the country with a connection to it as well. It took me a while to figure out where it was going but I really enjoyed the story. My only problem was Myra met her step grandmother when she was 2 and she died when Myra was 5 but was able to learn all these skills in miniature making from her. I decided I didn’t care but it stretched credibility a little thin.
Next, I read The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt. I expected a book about a librarian to be about books, but it was not. Instead, it was the story of a retired librarian who was a true introvert. Through flashbacks of his short marriage and running away from home at age 11, we learn how that helped him become the man he was today. It ended it with a really nice twist that I loved.
Lastly, I read the second of the Cape Cod Foodie Mysteries by Amy Pershing-An Eggnog to Die For. I liked the characters and the food tips. This one finds the mayor murdered while playing Santa Claus. The best part of this one was the amateur sleuth did not find her life in any danger whatsoever. Looking forward to the next in the series.
Happy Reading!
Sharon – two of these are on my TBR list. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I’m currently reading Colette Clark’s A MURDER IN LONG ISLAND, a 1920’s cozy.
Oh, I love Warrior Girl Unearthed as well. I was thrilled with diving back into Angeline Boulley’s writing and style as it just pulls me right in. I did audio again as I love to hear the Anishinaabe language read so beautifully. It adds such a rhythm and connection. Thanks for sharing a great review!
Didn’t have a lot going this week. Took some bike rides around.
This week I read:
Jaws The Revenge by Hank Searls: A weird novelization of the movie, that hints at voodoo, but you’re never quite sure what is going on between shark attacks.
Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe; I always thought out of the Brat Packers, Rob Lowe was the most overrated. I still think so. It tells about growing up in Malibu, hanging out with the progeny of movie stars, and the inevitable trip to rehab.
Tremor by Craig Dirigo; Clive Cussler’s co-writer pens his own novel about a CIA agent and Tesla’s work. I felt like he didn’t learn as much as he could have from Cussler.
The K Team by Davis Rosenfelt; I seem unable to read a series in order. I read the second one first. This is a spin off of the Andy Carpenter series, but it didn’t spin off very far, as all of the characters from the other series are here, including Andy.
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwall; Vikings are causing the entirety of Albion to collapse, with their raiding and pillaging. An unexpected heir is the only hope. Reminded me of Ukraine.
I actually liked Rob Lowe’s book, even though I don’t know that I’ve seen him much in movies. As for the K-team books, I don’t think they rise to the level of the Andy Carpenter series, which seem to be able to maintain their quality (and especially Andy’s level of snark, which I love).
Lesa, it is wonderful that your mother and your sister came to help with packing and moving. So much better than doing it alone.
I was going to say that not much is going on here, but that is only partially true. I am getting ready for the annual Planned Parenthood book sale which begins next Friday, Sept 15 and lasts 10 days. We have been going every year for decades and I always find tons of books. My husband and son go too, and they buy a reasonable amount of books, but I always overdo it. At this point I am working on cataloging and shelving or boxing some books that have come into the house in the last year, and making a list of books to look for.
RADIANT HEAT sounds like an interesting book. The combination of a wildfire and a mystery could be very good. I recently read a nonfiction graphic novel about the fires in Northern California in 2017. And of course we get a lot of wildfires in Southern California.
I finished one book last week, THE EIGHTH DETECTIVE by Alex Pavesi. The central story is that a man wrote a mathematical theory of the structure of mystery stories thirty years before and published a book with eight short stories to illustrate his theory. Then he moved to a remote island and retired. Thirty years later a company wants to republish the book, with some edits, and has sent Julia Hart, an editor, to go over the stories with him. THE EIGHTH DETECTIVE includes all eights stories with a discussion of each story following it. And pretty soon it is obvious that the real story of the book is not so simple. I always like books with an unusual structure and I enjoyed this one a lot.
I am now reading DEATH IN THE FIFTH POSITION by Edgar Box, and loving it. From 1952-1954, Vidal Gore wrote three mystery novels as Edgar Box. They all featured public relations specialist Peter Sargeant. This one is set in the world of ballet in New York. Previously I read the last in the series, DEATH LIKES IT HOT, set in the Hamptons.
Last week Glen read HEBRIDES by Peter May. HEBRIDES combines photos of the Outer Hebrides with Peter May’s writing on his experiences there while working on a TV show and related to his Lewis trilogy. Currently Glen is reading 1939 by Frederick Taylor. The subtitle describes it as “A People’s History of the Coming of the Second World War”. He is liking that a lot.
Sorry, Gore Vidal, not Vidal Gore.
This week I read Unraveling by Peggy Orenstein, about her travails during the Covid shutdown knitting a sweater. She did the whole process from shearing sheep to cleaning shorn wool to dyeing it to making the wool into yarn. This had elements of self-help and way more detail about the various processes than I needed/wanted to know. Weavers and others more into all of this would find it fascinating, I’m sure, but I admit to skimming several sections. The writing was very engaging throughout.
Next up is a romance by Samantha Chase, In case you didn’t know.
Good evening from NE Dallas where it was 108 today and we are predicted to get dangerously close to rolling blackouts with the Texas power grid again tonight.
My current read is Posthumous Child: Inspector Mislan and the Playground Murder by Rozlan Mohd Noor. When I learned that the Dallas Library System was not getting it, I splurged and bought the eBook version as I am a big fan of the series.
For recreating, starting Anne Perry’s THE FOURTH ENEMY after spending the last six weeks reading all 7 books in John Grisham’s Theodore Boone series (enjoyable young adult suspense novels).