I finished a book! Of course, that’s because I still had two books to read for Library Journal. I pack and throw out papers, and then, when I can’t take it anymore, I quit for the day. Next Thursday, if everything goes right, I’ll be in my new place, with WiFi installed on Wednesday. So, hopefully, I’ll be around. In the meantime, I’m going dark sometime on Friday, turning in my modem. Even though there will be posts, I won’t have Internet access until mid-week. So, take care of yourselves, and I’ll see you on the other side!
Cara Hunter’s No Way Out is not for everyone. It’s the third in the D.I. Adam Fawley police procedural series. In England, it’s been out for a couple years, and two other books in the series have been released. Here, it will be released on Dec. 12, although you can get British copies, from what I see.
Remember what I said about it’s not for everyone. On Jan. 4, 2018, firefighters are called to a family residence. It’s still the holidays, and everyone is stunned when the firemen find the body of a toddler, and rescue a ten-year-old who might not survive. Where are the parents? Before their investigation, the firefighters are guessing the fire was caused by arson. D.I. Adam Fawley, despite his personal problems, heads up the team that investigates, calling it murder, and searching for the missing parents. It’s not a pretty story, but Hunter’s police procedural is excellent, with twists even up into the last pages.
What about you? How are you this week? I’m sorry I haven’t been around, but once the move is made, I’ll have time for the blog and books, and you. Thanks to Kevin Tipple and Rosemary Kaye in the meantime.
Lesa, no apologies are necessary. We know packing and relocating is one of the hardest things to do (exhausting!) and wish you success and safe travels.
This wasn’t the best reading week for me, although one of the books was very enjoyable.
We learn early in Barbara Davis’s newest book, THE ECHO OF OLD BOOKS, that bookstore owner Ashlyn can feel, as soon as she picks up a book, emotions felt by others who have handled or read it in the past. That is especially true of two novels (or are they memoirs?) that successively come into her possession in the 1980s. The books relate two conflicting sides of the same relationship in the 1940s–a young women from an affluent family who is being forced to marry a man she doesn’t want, and the journalist she meets at her engagement party. What makes them intriguing is that neither book has been published, and there is no author attributed to either. Because of the disturbing emotions Ashlyn feels when she handles them, she is obsessed with learning more about the authors and what ultimately happened to them. In the process, she becomes acquainted with Ethan, a member of one of the authors’ family, and together they continue their investigation. I found the first half of the book too slow, as brief third-person chapters about Ashlyn and Ethan alternated with long first-person passages from one or the other of the books in question (in italics that strained my eyes). What happens after Ashlyn and Ethan finish reading the books and start to make progress in their investigation is much more interesting, and I felt genuine emotion in the closing chapters. I did hope for more about Ashlyn’s psychometric skill, but there was no follow-through about it. This was a book club read, and some of the members liked it a bit more than I did, although I did enjoy it overall.
All of the characters in Jane L. Rosen’s new book, ON FIRE ISLAND, have suffered loss, and book editor Julia is uniquely qualified to observe and comment on them. That’s because she is newly dead at age 37, tragically separated from her beloved author husband, Ben, and she has not yet transitioned to the afterlife. Julia had worked closely with Ben as the editor of his books, and she worries that he will never be able to move on in his life and career after her death. I loved Julia’s narration and her unique perspective on the lives of not only Ben, but her best friend, whose husband had betrayed her and who is fearful about a new relationship with a much younger man. Then there are two teenagers who have been friends all their lives and who are thinking about taking things to the next level. And, finally, an older man who has lost his wife as well, and who thinks it’s OK to keep inhabiting his previous home on Fire Island, although it now belongs to Ben and Julia. It’s not an original premise, but the way Rosen brings it to life is unique and memorable. She also demonstrates a strong sense of place, with Fire Island becoming a character in its own right. This is the author’s fourth book I have read and enjoyed.
In Jillian Cantor’s THE FICTION WRITER, Olivia is a writer whose first book was a success, but her sophomore effort, a retelling of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, didn’t reach the same heights. After her long-term lover leaves her, Olivia agrees to take on what appears to be a lucrative ghostwriting assignment for Ash, a dashing billionaire who, we are told several times, has been chosen People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive–twice! Ash claims du Maurier actually stole the plot of Rebecca from his grandmother, but he is vague about what he wants the book to be and can’t seem to retrieve the promised journals that will substantiate his claim. I found the characters of both Olivia and Ash to be underdeveloped and unmemorable. And although there are some creepy elements and twists, I don’t feel there is any follow-through, resulting in a conclusion that felt forced and unsatisfying. .A secondary relationship is underdeveloped and unconvincing. Some of the information about Daphne du Maurier is interesting, but the overall story didn’t jell for me. Addendum to my review published elsewhere: I think the author would have liked this to be a thriller, but it didn’t go anywhere and nothing really happened. The protagonist has way too many TSTL vibes–she knows something is awry and Ash may be dangerous, but she hangs in there for what seems like no good reason (except, maybe that she is never paid for her services). A disappointment for sure.
I should add that I did enjoy Jillian Cantor’s earlier book, The Lost Letter.
I loved Fire Island too. The characters kept my attention and desire to continue
The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson.
You have nothing to apologize for… move safe.
Hope everything goes well this week. I don’t envy you moving, but I know you’ll be happy once you arrive. I think I’d have to go completely dark for a move, so I fully understand. The fact that you are keeping the blog going at all is a miracle in my eyes.
I am currently about a third of the way through HANGING BY A THREAD, the second Sewing Studio Mystery from Dorothy Howell. It’s okay, but it seems disjointed. One more pass to smooth a few things out and maybe follow through on some things that I feel should have been addressed by now, and it would be much better. But maybe I’ll see the reason for it when I get further into the book.
Again, best of luck this week, and we’ll see you on the other sie.
Good morning from sunny Deeside,
You are amazing, Lesa, to have read ANY books just now! Don’t worry about us, just take care of yourself and try to navigate through your moving week as easily as possible.
I actually finished two books this week, which is quite something for me.
I very much enjoyed A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY by JL Carr, which is set between the wars in a small village in Yorkshire, to which shell-shocked veteran Tom Birkin has come to restore a mediaeval mural in the church.
Another veteran, Charles Moon, who’s had a different but equally traumatising war experience, is already there – his task is to find the lost grave of the brother of the woman who has left funds in her will for both of these projects. If they aren’t carried out, the church will not receive a larger legacy, one that it desperately needs. The vicar, however, is very annoyed about the whole thing and can’t see the point in either project. All he wants is a new stove to heat the church. Tom and Charles become friends.
Carr introduces us to other residents of the village. notably the stationmaster Ellerbeck and his family – particularly his articulate and straight-talking young daughter Kathy – and the vicar’s beautiful and somewhat inscrutable wife Alice Keach.
During this golden summer, Birkin becomes increasingly fascinated by the mural – especially its talented creator – and by Alice Keach. He gets involved in the Ellerbys’ Wesleyan chapel, and even ends up helping with the Sunday School. But this is not simply a cosy country story, more a wonderful exploration of the restorative nature of art, work and friendship, and of the need, eventually, to face one’s demons. I loved it.
Unfortunately my next book was not such a pleasure for me, although I know it’s been very successful indeed,
I love Fleetwood Mac, and especially Stevie Nicks, but DAISY JONES AND THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which the author herself says was inspired by the Fleetwood Mac story, was absolutely awful.
It’s written solely in interview format, ostensibly by an author who wants to tell the true story of the band’s meteoric success and later implosion. The problem I had with it is that not one single member of ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ was remotely interesting or convincing.
Daisy Jones was, for me, nothing like Stevie Nicks. TJR keeps telling us how brilliant, beautiful, talented, etc etc etc Daisy is, but there is very little evidence to back this up (whereas Nicks was/is all of those things, plenty of evidence for that.) Daisy is, however, a spoilt and selfish smackhead who thinks the world revolves around her.
Meanwhile Billy, the leader of the band before Daisy turns up, is a recovering addict with an unbelievably tolerant and patient wife. He too wants everything his own way, and surprise! he crosses swords with Daisy all the time, because OF COURSE they quickly fall in love with one another but won’t admit it.
Nothing really happens; endless descriptions of Daisy taking drugs and drinking, comments from the other band members about how it’s not fair that Billy and Daisy call all the shots, and interviews with Saint Camila (Billy’s wife) in which she attempts to justify being a total doormat.
I felt it read more like Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner’s spoof mockumentary about a ridiculously pretentious and self-absorbed heavy metal band) than anything else. I tried, but I could not care less about whether or not Billy and Daisy would get it on, whether Billy would have another drink, whether Daisy would die of an overdose….all of the characters were cardboard, except perhaps the keyboardist, Karen, presumably based on Christine McVie, who had a lot more spirit and sense. I’d have liked to hear more about her and less about the two tedious leads.
I don’t often give a book one star, but I’m afraid I could not give Daisy Jones and the Six anything better (even though I read that Stevie Nicks thought the TV series, adapted from the book, was excellent. I haven’t seen it – maybe it’s better than the original?)
So my next book is FUNNY WEATHER – ART IN AN EMERGENCY by Olivia Laing, which, according to the blurb, is a collection of essays about art, culture, loneliness and technology, women and alcohol, sex and the body. Laing is an acclaimed writer and critic; I have heard her on the radio and she seems very down to earth and interesting. My daughter Madeleine has read the book and enjoyed it. I need to read it to review it for the art gallery shop; it looks promising.
Last Friday Anna and I went to see CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. Unfortunately our seats (booked by me) turned out to be terrible – I really think they should have been sold as ‘restricted view’ (they weren’t.) We could, however, have coped with this if the people sitting in the next block, directly in our line of vision (we were on the side of the Upper Circle, so had to look sideways at the stage) hadn’t spent the entire show getting up and down to go to the bar – honestly, it was not once or twice, but continuously throughout the performance. Every time they wanted to go out/come back, the whole row had to stand up and move (it’s an old theatre, seats tightly packed), then they would come staggering back carrying four plastic beakers of beer and no doubt spilling them all over the people unfortunate enough to be sitting anywhere near them.
It was especially frustrating because CATQs is not just a singer but a performance artist, and this was a show based on their latest concept album, so they moved around the stage a lot, and we missed most of that. I learned more about the performance from the Scotsman’s review the next morning than I had at the event itself.
I have emailed the Usher Hall to complain about the seats and more importantly to ask them to consider closing the bar when the main act starts. From the response I got when I mentioned this on twitter I think most people agree, and others said that two other major Edinburgh venues, the Playhouse and The Queen’s Hall, do indeed shut the bar as soon as the show starts.
This just would not happen in a classical concert or at the theatre, but even at the many live music gigs we have been at this year, it’s never been anything like as bad as this. Anna, who’s obviously a lot younger than I am (!), said it was the worst behaved audience she had ever seen. The tickets were not cheap, and you do wonder why people buy them if they intend to be out of the hall for half the time and drunk for the rest of it. There were standing tickets downstairs, and they’d have been slightly less disruptive if they’d been down there, but really nobody should behave like this, it’s so disrespectful.
Rant over! It was still an electrifying performance, I just wish we’d seen more of it. I’d certainly go to see CATQs again but I’d be a lot more careful about where I sat.
Next week Anna and I are going to see NOAH REID (Patrick in Schitt’s Creek) in concert at The Queen’s Hall. I imagine (and hope) that this will be a much calmer affair.
In the meantime I am back here in beautiful Aberdeenshire. It’s much cooler now and autumn has definitely arrived. It’s good to have a peaceful sort of week. I’ve finished the first series of GRANITE HARBOUR on TV and now I’m watching HOPE STREET, a sort of cosy police series set in a small seaside town in Northern Ireland. So far I’m enjoying it. I’m not sure if I can face looking for Daisy Jones and the Six on Prime.
I’ve had some nice walks from the house over the past few days, and on one I caught sight of a kingfisher darting across the river – the first time I have seen one in three years of walking down there, such a joy.
It’s NEOS (North East Open Studios) this week, so today I plan to walk to Newton Dee (part of the Camphill/Steiner community on Deeside) where four artists are exhibiting.
I hope everyone has a great week, and Lesa, stay calm! Moves happen by themselves in the end! I’m sure we all look forward to hearing about your new life once the dust has settled.
Rosemary, believe it or not, DAISY JONES got a 6 part miniseries on Prime. It sounded really awful, too. Lisa Marie Preseley’s daughter, Riley Keough, had the lead role.
Tell me that DCI Jessie James is going to get her act together and start doing her job, because right now, I wouldn’t blame Sunny if he did indeed resign (UNFORGOTTEN series 5). I get it, she’s devastated by her husband’s behavior, but she is awful!
Watching THE CHELSEA DETECTIVE once a week, and in that case, the change of Sergeant, from Priya Shamsie to Layla Walsh, is all to the good (IMHO). I like her snarky take on things, and I like not have the postpartum angst.
Jeff, we streamed episodes 3&4 of Unforgotten last night. Still have not warmed up to DCI James either but she had big shoes to fill with Nicola Walker leaving the series. We are enjoying the story.
I also like the sergeant on Chelsea Detective. Last Monday’s episode was terrific.
Jeff, I seem to remember UNFORGOTTEN gets a lot better towards the end of the series, maybe the last episode. Jessie does shape up! Hang on in there!
I think I’ll steer clear of the DAISY JONES TV series. The book was more than enough.
I’ve just worked out that THE CHELSEA DETECTIVE is on Prime, so I’ll have a look for that, thanks.
Rosemary, I completely agree with your review of the newest book by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I thought it was just me! Everyone I know raves about her books, I’ve now started three of them and have not finished one. I find her characters so unlikeable and keep wondering what I’m missing. I applaud her success, maybe she’s just not an author for me.
So glad you agree Susan. I looked at the reviews on Goodreads and was relieved to see that some people thought it was awful, though many more gave it 5 stars. I’ve not read anything else by this author and I doubt I will now.
I cringe at the thought of ever doing the whole move thing again! Good luck and I look forward to your new adventures.
I didn’t get much reading done this week, spending way too much time in the car. An almost eight hour drive south to San Luis Obispo to attend my niece’s wedding at The Madonna Inn. We enjoyed a casual family gathering Saturday evening at a local restaurant with the garden wedding on Sunday afternoon. Sunday morning I was able to explore downtown SLO with my youngest sister & her daughter in from Vancouver, BC.
I did complete TAHOE MOON by Todd Borg, the latest entry (2022) in the long running Owen Mckenna Mystery series, but the first one I’ve come across. The author resides near Lake Tahoe and has set his investigator series in and around the area, so it does read true to location. This story revolves around an orphaned young deaf girl and a series of murders made to look like accidents or suicides. It held my interest although the author included a bit too much background detail about artists/musicians slowing down the pace a bit.
And started THE STOLEN COAST by Dwyer Murphy
I’ll borrow the back cover blurb from Megan Abbott… “reads like coming upon a favorite Robert Mitchum movie late at night and getting swept up in its aura of creeping danger and looming, romantic regret. With rich, complicated characters, a serpentine plot, and atmosphere to burn, this is neo-noir at its elegiac best.”
I have just finished Bloodless by Preston and Child. I enjoyed it very much and am on to the next one, The Cabinet of Dr. Leng. This book picks up the story with Constance travelling back in time to NYC of the mid 1800’s.
Lesa, am thinking of you! Hope the move goes well . Hang in there!
I hope the move goes as smoothly as these things can go. When we’ve moved it has been late in the year (October to December), but we were lucky with the weather. September should be OK. Fingers crossed.
Jackie says to tell you how much more she is enjoying the new Krewe of Hunters spinoff (Blackbird) series by Heather Graham than she did the last trilogy she read. She likes WHISPERS AT DUSK very much, and she said she is glad the same characters are in all three books.
I did enjoy GOLDEN AGE BIBLIOMYSTERIES, edited by Otto Penzler. Think a Martin Edwards anthology, but double the size. I generally prefer shorter short stories to longer ones, but in this case I didn’t mind that a couple were 50 or 60 pages. All stories involve libraries or bookstores, as you might imagine from the title. “Death Walks in Marble Halls” by Lawrence G. Blochman is set in the main 42nd Street branch of the New York Public Library (in 1942). Cornell Woolrich’s unusually title “The Book That Squealed” has a feistly librarian as the detective. I’ve read a lot of Woolrich’s stories, but this was a first for this one. Frank Gruber’s fun Oliver Quade story, “State Fair Murder,” is the only story I’d read before (in his collection BRASS KNUCKLES) that I really remembered. It features his know it all encyclopedia salesman, Oliver Quade.
Jackie read and really liked Cindy Dees’ first in a new series, SECOND SHOT, and I liked a lot of it too. The premise (by a former Air Force pilot and spy) is that 55 year old Helen Warwick is forced to retire from her job as a CIA assassin. She hopes to reconnect with her three adult children, who believe she was a State Department analyst, but things go wrong from the start. While babysitting her middle son’s new puppy, there is a home invasion by Eastern European assassins who try to kill her (and shoot up the son’s house), though of course our heroine turns the tables and kills three of the killer. This sets the tone for a fast moving, mostly fun thriller as Helen has to find out who is after her while trying to keep her family in the dark. There are a couple of negative elements for me. One, there is a serial killer vs. serial killer subplot (with graphic descriptions of some kills) that could easily have been excised from the book, and which is most fast forwarded past. Second, her awful middle son is just hard to take. Yes, you need to suspend disbelief at times, as Helen runs around Washington, armed, crawling through the snow to track down Russians, but it is well worth a try. Just skip the serial killer stuff. I’m looking forward to the next in the series.
Current reading: Tod Goldberg, OTHER RESORT CITIES, a short story collection.
Rozlan Mohd Noor, 21 IMMORTALS, or INSPECTOR MISLAN AND THE YEE SANG MURDERS. This is the first in a series that was highly recommended by a friend. Inspector Mislan is a homicide cop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His wife left him with a 5 year old son. Now he has the murder of crooked businessman Robert Tham, his wife and child, under very strange circumstances at Christmas – sitting all dressed up, frozen in place, at the dinner table. So far (a third of the way through) I am enjoying the unusual setting and the police procedural.
I did pick up several more library books, including the new Longmire by Craig Johnson, the Adrian McKinty Sean Duffy book, and Ann Cleeves’s new Matthew Venn book.
Next Thursday I might be late here, and we have tickets to see The Eagles’ farewell concert with Steely Dan as the opening act on Wednesday, and we’ll be staying in a hotel on Long Island and coming home the next day.
21 IMMORTALS: INSPECTOR MISLAN AND THE YEE SANG MURDERS is really good as is the series. Read, reviewed, and recommended some time ago. In fact, Lesa ran my review here awhile back.
Jeff, we saw The Eagles last year in Detroit. The show was amazing. We are going to see them again in November. Enjoy!
Much good luck to you with the move, Lesa. I know you will love living in Columbus.
I only finished one book this week. After Anne by Logan Steiner. It is historical fiction about Lucy Maud Montgomery. I had no idea how sad her life was considering she wrote one of the enduring optimistic characters in Anne of Green Gables. I did enjoy it because I learned a lot despite all the melancholia and barbiturate use.
Today I will finish up The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren. I need something quick and fun after the Steiner book. This fits the bill. It still won’t surpass The Unhoneymooners as my favorite but it is good as long as I think too much about it. Romance novelist Fizzy is in a slump. Along comes nature documentarian Connor whose company decides it needs to bump up income by doing a dating reality show starring Fizzy. Fizzy over the top and Connor is too good to be true but I am enjoying the ride.
Fall-ish weather has arrived in Cincinnati for now. This is an open door and windows week at my house.
Happy Reading!
One more I forgot to mention. I am also reading Jane Smiley’s THE QUESTIONS THAT MATTER MOST: Reading, Writing, and the Exercise of Freedom.
I like her non fiction books a lot.
We will see you on the other side and can’t wait to share in your next adventure of retirement, which you are going to love!
After picking up but then putting back down a few books that just were not my cup of tea, NetGalley granted a BIG wish and I stayed up waaay late (yay retirement!) reading THE PARIS NOVEL by Ruth Reichl. I am a long time Ruth Reichl groupie.
Description from NetGalley –
Bestselling author Ruth Reichl takes readers on an adventure of food, art, and fashion in 1980s Paris in this dazzling, heartfelt novel
Stella reached for an oyster, tipped her head and tossed it back. It was cool and slippery, the flavor so briny it was like diving into the ocean… Oysters, she thought, where have they been all my life?
When her estranged mother dies, Stella is left with an unusual inheritance: a one-way plane ticket and a note reading Go to Paris. But Stella is hardly cut out for adventure; a childhood trauma has kept her confined to the strict routines of her comfort zone. When her boss encourages her to take time off, Stella resigns herself to honoring her mother’s last wishes.
Alone in a foreign city, Stella falls into old habits, living cautiously and frugally. Then she stumbles across a vintage store where she tries on a fabulous Dior dress. The shopkeeper insists that this dress was meant for Stella and, for the first time in her life, Stella does something impulsive. She buys the dress and together they embark on an adventure.
Her first stop: iconic brasserie Les Deux Magots, where Stella tastes her first oysters, and then meets an octogenarian art collector who decides to take her under his wing. As Jules introduces her to a veritable who’s who of the 1980s Paris literary, art, and culinary worlds, Stella begins to understand what it might mean to live a larger life.
As weeks—and many decadent meals—go by, Stella ends up living as a “tumbleweed” at famed bookstore Shakespeare & Company, uncovers a hundred-year-old mystery in a Manet painting, and discovers a passion for food that may be connected to her past. A feast for the senses, this novel is a testament to living deliciously, taking chances, and finding your true home.
I’m jealous, Kaye. I think I’ve read and loved all of Ruth Reichl’s books, non-fiction and fiction, and I requested this one as soon as I saw it. Fingers crossed!
Fingers crossed, Margie!!
Hope all goes well with the move and there are no glitches. Moving is horrible and exhausting but once it is done you will be able to enjoy living in Columbus.
Bad week of reading, am reading three books and none really compelling so nothing to report on them. Had been dog sitting my goddog who is very demanding.
Safe moving.
Thank you so much Kevin and Rosemary for helping Lesa out. His blog is fabulous and it was thru DorothyL that I found his blog and thru his blog that I found Lesa Holstine.
Thank you. Very much appreciated.
I am probably too late to post again. I am reading By Book or By Crook by Eva Gates. I am really enjoying this tale of a librarian in the lighthouse. She has a cozy nest on the top floor and a Siamese Cat, named Charles for Charles Dickens. Of course, a much hated man was murdered in the lighthouse during a meeting. No progress on the search of the murderer yet.
I also reading an Amazon Vine book, American Castles, by Mary C. Shanklin, a non-fiction history of Mar-a-Largo. Fascinating, this building has a long history of misfortune! It used to belong to Majorie Merriweather Post and E. F. Hutton. I getting immersed in the sad history of the first owners now.
Here’s wishing you a smooth move.
Wishing you and Josh a move free of unforeseen “events” along the way.
Lesa, I hope things go well for you. I shudder at the thought of moving.
This week I read:
Fire Strike, the new Cussler book; The good ship Oregon goes up against an organization with super powered mercenaries. Very pulpish. I felt like the author was trying to do something literary, but wasn’t up to it.
Sunrise in Cadiz by Deborah L. Cannon; An archaeologist and her fiance, the bodyguard for a billionaire, go to Spain, where they encounter fascists and silver doves. For a supposed world traveler, she seems very parochial.
The Mountain King by Andre de la Motte; Nordic crime as a detective loses her case as soon as her former lover hears about it. She is “promoted” to a misfit crimes unit, where all the members are misfits, too. Desperately PC. Reading these, it seems weird that Nordic countries are always rated the happiest. I think someone is having us on.
Royal Robbins: The American Climber by David Smart; Biography of a mountain climbing legend. I don’t even like wall climbing at the gym, but I like reading about it.
Saturday, I got dragged to Indonesian Day. I can’t eat the food, or understand the language. I know some words, but every island (and there are thousands) speak a slightly different dialect. For some reason, they sang “Country Roads.” That must be the most popular song in the world after “Happy Birthday.”
They have a sort of fashion show, where every island shows their native garb. That’s entertaining at least.
I might have had a good time if I’d won something in the raffle.
Lesa, I hope every thing is going as smoothly as possible with the move. You seem to have planned it out well.
We are getting excited about the annual Planned Parenthood book sale which starts tomorrow. I finally have a list of books to look for (not too long), and hope I can show restraint.
Last week I read GENERATION LOSS by Elizabeth Hand. That might be the strangest mystery I have ever read. There are suspected crimes but no real crimes for the first 90% of the book, which was confusing. Some classify it as a mystery thriller, but it is only a thriller toward the end. The main character, Cassandra Neary, is a photographer who was famous for one book she published in the 1970s but has gone downhill since, and has mostly worked in a bookstore since. The real mystery is how does Cass survive all her drinking. A friend offers her the opportunity to interview her idol who now lives on a secluded island in Maine. The setting is fantastic, gritty and dark and cold. And even though I was trying to figure out what was going on through most of the book, I enjoyed it. It is the first of four books and I already have the second one, so I have to read it to follow up on Cass and see where her life goes from here.
I started THE PEOPLE ON PLATFORM 5 by Claire Pooley last night. Another totally different read for me, outside of my usual reading. Contemporary fiction, a feel-good book, and so far it is definitely that. It is about people who share the same route to work on a train every work day but never speak. Until there is an event that brings them together, eventually. The central character is an older woman, 57, working for a magazine as an advice columnist, and a lesbian married to her partner Bea for many years. I like that and that the remaining characters were of various ages.
Glen read 84, CHARING CROSS ROAD and liked it. We hope to get the film adaptation soon to watch.
Now he is reading CITY OF SHARKS by Kelli Stanley, the fourth in a series. Miranda Corbie is the heroine; the setting is San Francisco in 1940.
The U.S. publisher renamed The People on Platform Five as Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting. I thought it delightful.
MM, I did see that it was available here under that title, but I forgot to mention that. I liked the earlier title and cover, so I found a copy of that edition. I am looking forward to reading more of the book.
Anne Perry’s THE FOURTH ENEMY. Love the Daniel and Miriam books. Have Perry’s posthumous Elena Standish thriller, THE TRAITOR AMONG US, to start later in the month.
Good luck with your move, Lesa! I am reading in print The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter. On Kindle, I am still reading an E-arc of Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich and audio is My Magnolia Summer by Victoria Benton Frank. I am enjoying how VBF is mentioning her mom’s books in the story.
I’ve begun FRANCE An Adventure History by Graham Robb. Approx 2000 years of French history. I never took a survey course of French history, so I think it’s about time.
In fiction, I just started Mary Miley’s THE IMPERSONATOR.
Just finished “Charlotte Isles is not a Detective “. Loved the characters although the fact of their availability was a little bit of a stretch, as well as their going around questioning everyone although they had no legitimacy. It was fun and the affection of the main characters was charming.