How is everyone? Sounds as if COVID is going around again. My best friend in Indiana has it, and three of my relatives who were at the family reunion on Sunday tested positive in the last couple days. That means they didn’t get it there, but it does mean they were probably already positive when we were all together. Keeping my fingers crossed.
So, that probably makes my book for this week sound a little macabre. But, I have to say, it’s one of the best nonfiction books I’ve read this year, and it’s hard to put it down to finish my books for the Library Journal deadline.
I’m reading The New York Times book, Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World by Amisha Padnani and the Obituaries Desk. You read that right. My sister, Mom, and I all appreciate a good obituary.
I’m going to quote the blurb for the book because I’ll be reviewing it myself in a couple days. And, I don’t want to repeat what I’ll write in my review. But, if you’re looking for an unusual nonfiction book, you might want to give this one a try. I remember when The New York Times started the new series, “Overlooked”.
An unforgettable collection of diverse, remarkable lives inspired by “Overlooked,” the groundbreaking New York Times series that publishes the obituaries of extraordinary people whose deaths went unreported in the newspaper—filled with nearly 200 full-color photos and new, never-before-published content
Since 1851, The New York Times has published thousands of obituaries—for heads of state, celebrities, scientists, and athletes. There’s even one for the person who invented the sock puppet. But, until recently, only a fraction of the Times’s obits chronicled the lives of women or people of color. The vast majority tell of the lives of men—mostly white men.
Started in 2018 as a series in the Obituary section, “Overlooked” has sought to rectify this, revisiting the Times’s 170-year history to celebrate people who were left out. It seeks to correct past mistakes, establish a new precedent for equitable coverage of lives lost, and refocus society’s lens on who is considered worthy of remembrance.
Now, in the first book connected to the trailblazing series, Overlooked shares 66 extraordinary stories of women, BIPOC and LGBTQIA figures, and people with disabilities who have broken rules and overcome obstacles. Some achieved a measure of fame in their lifetime but were surprisingly omitted from the paper, including Ida B. Wells, Sylvia Plath, Alan Turing, and Major Taylor. Others were lesser-known, but noteworthy nonetheless, such as Katherine McHale Slaughterback, a farmer who found fame as “Rattlesnake Kate”; Ángela Ruiz Robles, the inventor of an early e-reader; Terri Rogers, a transgender ventriloquist and magician; and Stella Young, a disabled comedian who rejected “inspiration porn.” These overlooked figures might have lived in different times, and had different experiences, but they were all ambitious and creative, and used their imaginations to invent, innovate, and change the world.
Featuring stunning photographs, exclusive content about the process of writing obituaries, and contributions by writers such as Veronica Chambers, Jon Pareles, Amanda Hess, and more, this visually arresting book compels us to revisit who and what we value as a society—and reminds us that some of our most important stories are hidden among the lives of those who have been overlooked.
Wheat about you? How are you feeling? What are you reading this week?
Feeling fine so far and crossing my fingers that we will all be healthy for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I finished my shopping, so now I need to get busy on wrapping everything.
Here’s what I’ve been reading this week:
In THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE by Richard Osman, the Thursday Murder Club gang is on a new case involving drug smuggling and art forgery, and it’s wonderful to spend more time with these savvy, delightful seniors. An elderly antiques dealer friend who helped them solve a previous case has been murdered, and they know they can help their law enforcement buddies investigate because they are comfortable ignoring the law when it works for them. Even when an agent of the National Crime Agency insists on taking over the case, they persist in flouting personal danger to get the information they need from some shady characters. An entertaining subplot finds Ibrahim tackling a romance fraud situation that has led a new Coopers Chase Retirement Village tenant to send money to help his new online love travel from Lithuania to meet him in person. The other important story of this book involves former spy Elizabeth and her husband. Stephen’s lucid days are becoming more infrequent as his dementia takes hold, and Elizabeth struggles with the best ways to support him. The subject is handled very sensitively and with a depth of emotion that will resonate with many readers. I love Joyce’s character development in this book, along with her and Ibrahim’s musings about their past loves and Joyce’s quest to find a new one. Characters we have already met–detectives Donna and Chris, imprisoned cocaine dealer Connie, and strongman Bogdan–are a welcome part of the action. There is plenty of humor throughout the book to counteract the more difficult parts, so it is overall a satisfying entry in this very popular series.
The Guncle rides again, and I couldn’t be happier! In THE GUNCLE ABROAD by Steven Rowley, it’s been five years since Gay Uncle Patrick (“GUP”) took care of his niece and nephew (his “niblings”) for a summer in Palm Springs when his brother Greg’s wife died. Now Grant, age 11, and especially Maisie, age 14, are having a difficult time coming to terms with the impending wedding of their father in Italy to a titled Italian woman. Livia can never take the place of their mother, of course, but does the marriage mean they are being disloyal to her memory, and to the family life that meant so much to them? Patrick is back working as an actor again, after a decade mourning his first love, Joe, and not long after breaking up with his latest (much younger) boyfriend, Emory. Soon he will be making his Broadway debut in a revival of Grease, but first he volunteers to take the niblings with him on a 3-week tour of Europe as Livia and Greg finalize their luxury-wedding plans. Patrick regales the children with his self-imposed rules and his love languages, hoping that Maisie will agree to give Livia, and her marriage to Greg, a chance, but she stands firm. I loved this book even more than the first. Patrick’s clever–often side-splitting–banter with almost everyone he encounters is one of the highlights of the book. But his character is genuine and his emotions run deep. He’s not as self-confident as his career would indicate, but he has an unmatched rapport with his niblings and an honest understanding of their feelings. Besides Patrick and the children, my favorite characters are Patrick’s divorced, ready-for-fun sister and his intimidating potential sister-in-law Palmina. both of whom are hilariously drawn and developed. This is a fast read–a charming, entertaining, life-affirming story about the power of love. It will be published in May, so put it on your TBR list now! (May)
TANGLED UP IN YOU by Christina Lauren, the fourth romance in the Meant To Be series, is a modern retelling of the Tangled/Rapunzel story. It’s a delightful fairy tale featuring an almost too-charming-to-be-true heroine. Ren is accomplished at almost everything, having read all of the books in the town library, schooled herself in every possible subject, and turned herself into a capable auto mechanic, linguist, farm animal expert, and more. But because her rigid parents have kept her close to their homestead, not allowing her any liberties, she is definitely NOT schooled in the real world. When she finally gets their grudging approval to go to college, having won a full scholarship, Ren starts to realize what she had been missing and sets out to experience everything she can, with the caveat that she must return home every weekend and complete her full weekly complement of chores. Early on, she strikes up a relationship with Fitz, a campus ladies’ man who has secrets from his past and an action plan for the future that he won’t share and that he can’t risk anyone derailing. How they come together on a road trip for their mutual benefit is the crux of this very entertaining story. I feel the character of Ren is unnecessarily over-the-top, but it’s a fairy tale after all. Her romance with Fitz is slow going, as they learn to trust each other. And the ending sequence is unexpectedly suspenseful. It’s my first read in the series, and I’m curious about the rest. (June)
What a nice week of reading, Margie. I hope you all stay healthy so you can enjoy the holidays together.
I’m working on Dearly Deleted, the second Book Blogger Mystery from Sarah E. Burr. I enjoyed the first one, but I’m enjoying this one even more. It’s set during Christmas, which is also fun. A dead body is found in the ally behind the local bookstore right after a best selling author was there for a signing. I’m about a third of the way in and very curious to see where it goes next.
Thank you, Mark. I’m going to have to look for this series. It sounds as if I’d like this one.
Good morning Lesa and everyone,
I do hope you stay well Lesa. There are bugs of all sorts circulating around here. I am doing my best to avoid, but there’s only so much you can do, isn’t there? I’ll be using a mask on the bus to Edinburgh today, that’s for sure. Fortunately they are rarely busy on weekdays.
I’m starting this on Wednesday evening. It’s been the first semi-dry day we’ve had for what feels like weeks. My friend Ann and I went for a long walk at Aberdeen beach; huge waves were crashing onto the breakwaters. The sun broke through and made a spectacular backdrop to the wild sea.
We then walked on into Old Aberdeen and across the Brig O’Balgownie. It’s an amazingly tranquil little spot, little old cottages and pretty gardens, though now a bit hemmed in by new housing. Old Aberdeen is the location of King’s College, the original university buildings. They are still in daily use, though some departments have moved to newer sites.
Last weekend Anna and Charlie Parker came to stay. The weather meant we couldn’t go out too much, but we had a good time. We had our coffee at Red Robin Records on Saturday and at Barra Berries Farm on Sunday. She and I did attempt a walk up the beach on Sunday afternoon, but the wind and the hail were ferocious – so we retreated to the charity shop in the retail park, and came away with twelve books between us (total cost £6).
I was especially delighted to find an almost new copy of Stanley Tucci’s TASTE, which Tucci himself read so well on BBC Sounds. I also bought two Cathy Bramley romances, two Mark Billingham thrillers (THEIR LITTLE SECRET and SCAREDY CAT), and a beautiful copy of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, which I bought simply because I liked the cover so much.
I finished reading Somerset Maugham’s CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY. It’s set in Paris just before the Second World War. Charley’s father has paid for him to have a week in the City of Light as a reward for his first year of work in the family firm. Father clearly thinks it’s time Charley ‘saw life’ – ie he should drink a lot and meet some Ladies of the Night. Charley also plans to visit his childhood friend Simon, now a journalist living in the city.
When Charley arrives, he quickly finds that Simon has changed. He has adopted very extreme politics, which he spouts at length to his very easy going and comfortably middle class friend. He is basically advocating dictatorship, as he thinks the masses can’t be trusted to think for themselves – but he dresses this up as a way to free the proletariat from the yoke of oppression that they don’t even notice they are under. Charley tries to reason with Simon, but to no avail.
Simon takes Charley to a nightclub where the dancers all perform topless. This soon leads him to become involved with a Russian woman who says she is only doing this work to atone for her French husband’s sins (he has been convicted of murder and transported to the colonies.) Lydia moves into Charley’s hotel room and tells him her long and tragic story – but they do not become lovers.
After various incidents, Charley returns to England feeling that his life will never be the same – the pleasant life he leads with his parents and sister will now always be seen in the light of the terrible things he has heard and seen in the Parisian underworld, and the terrifying ideas that Simon has tried to impress on him.
This is obviously quite a serious book. It’s well written, though the sentences, paragraphs and chapters are all way, way longer than most modern authors could get away with.
My favourite part was when Charley reminiscences to himself about his visits to the Louvre with his rather pretentious mother and jovial father – their comments on the art they want their children to see are (unintentionally) very funny indeed. Nevertheless, the family is a very happy one.
So as you see, Christmas Holiday was far from ‘Christmassy’!
Now I am reading THE CANAL BOAT CAFÉ CHRISTMAS by Cressida McLaughlin, I read the first book in this series some time ago – McLaughlin specialises in cosy romances; as well as the Canal Boat series she writes ones about a tea shop bus and a guesthouse. She’s good at what she does, and while I can only read this sort of thing once in a while, I felt I needed something easy after all the angst of Christmas Holiday – plus I wanted a lightweight (in both senses) book to take with me on the bus.
In this outing, Summer – who has inherited (OF COURSE!) the canal boat café from her late mother – is now deeply involved with Mason, a wildlife photographer who owns the boat next door. She plans to propose to him at Christmas – but is he still unable to face commitment after the death of his first wife, Lisa? Well readers, what do you think?
Summer has just been invited to take her boat café from the Fens of East Anglia to Little Venice in London, where some of her old canal boat friends have secured a mooring for a week just before Christmas and plan to sell all their wares. She wants Mason (who apparently has little else to do, despite having a state-of-the-art boat with every luxury imaginable) to accompany her – but he seems reluctant. Why?
For those who don’t know London, I need to tell you that Little Venice, which is on the canal near London Zoo, was a pretty exclusive mooring even when I was a child. People pay huge sums to live on boats there. The chances of a bunch of drop out ‘artisans’ getting a spot at any time, let alone Christmas, is substantially lower than zero. But hey ho, this is romantic fiction – it has to work somehow!
And of course both Summer and Mason have cute little dogs (hers is called Latte…..), and every cake she and her friend Harry (female) make for the café is described in detail. They never seem to have a baking disaster, ever.
So why am I reading this nonsense, you may well ask?
Well, McLaughlin writes quite well, her supporting characters are interesting (more interesting than Summer, that’s for sure), and I do like the descriptions of the canal – they remind me of holidays we have spent on narrowboats, though I wouldn’t want to do that now.
As I said, every once in a while…
The book I actually intended to start was CRIMES OF WINTER, the third of Phillippe Georget’s Inspector Sebag novels set in Perpignan (where Georget lives.) I enjoyed the first two, SUMMERTIME: ALL THE CATS ARE BORED, and AUTUMN: ALL THE CATS RETURN. However, this book is much larger and heavier than the Canal Boat one, so it will have to wait till I come back from Edinburgh.
Next Wednesday we are off to London to see CABARET. The DJ and music presenter Jo Whiley interviewed the stars, Jake Shears and Rebecca Lucy Taylor, on her radio show recently, and also got them both to sing some of the songs from the show. It sounds great, I’m looking forward to it.
So I doubt I’ll have time to write next Thursday – but I’ll tell you all about it afterwards!
I have no idea when you’ll read this, Rosemary. You’re probably on a bus to Edinburgh, but I always enjoy your adventures. That’s what someone calls the stories of where I’ve been and what I’ve done – my adventures. I’m glad you had a little Charlie time, but that rain and hail sounds awful.
And, I’m not sure about either of your “Christmasy” books.
Enjoy Cabaret! I saw it on Broadway when Alan Cumming was the MC. He was wonderful!
Rosemary and Lesa – we saw the original production of CABARET when we were dating, back in 1968, and then again with Alan Cumming .
Rosemary, we’re watching SHETLAND, but since they only show one new episode a week (and because we watch so many other shows), it is hard to remember who all the minor characters are and what happened last week. We are watching MUM when we remember to put it on. Some of the secondary characters are pretty annoying, especially her brother’s awful girlfriend.
Good morning. We’re having lunch with my boyfriend’s family this Saturday and I’m hoping that no one is sick. Two work in schools, one is just back from college, and several are coming from out of state.
I read an odd mix of books this week. MOTEL OF MYSTERIES by David Macaulay. Written in 1979, it’s a children’s book that plays of the King Tut mania of the time. Set about 2000 years into a future where the United States is uninhabited, an amateur true archeologist falls down a shaft and stumbles on a motel room door. The rest of the book is them trying to interpret what everything in the room was. It was cute but very one note after a while.
STARTING OVER by Kay Bratt. The eighth book in her Harts Ridge series is loosely based on a true crime. When the wife of a sheriff’s deputy doesn’t return from a trip to Walmart, deputy Taylor Gray and the entire department go into overdrive searching for her. The mystery is well done but the real heart of this series is the ongoing saga of the Gray family which runs from book to book. This one was a bit of a tearjerker.
A ARC of TIME TRAVEL FOR FUN AND PROPHET by Terry Wiley. A plumber on his way home from a job suddenly finds himself in a succession of other times and places. It isn’t until he jumps to Shakespeare’s time that he meets another traveler who explains things to him. The book started out a bit slowly but picked up once the villain was introduced to the story. The closest book I’ve read to this style wise is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Good morning, Sandy. I hope everyone stays healthy!
I think you had the same reaction to Motel of Mysteries that I did. I read it years ago when someone recommended it, and, like you, I tired of it.
Time Travel for Fun and Prophet sounds interesting, though.
People don’t seem particularly worried about Covid here, but maybe that will change as more visitors arrive for the holidays sharing whatever is breeding in their locale. We enjoyed breakfast with two of my nephews Sunday. One lives locally, the other was here for his company Christmas party at the NV Museum of Art. Only five of us total, but nice to catch up. The restaurant is a converted house. We typically opt for outdoor seating, but definitely not this time of year.
Started off the week with the third in SJ Bennett’s series “Her Majesty the Queen Investigates” is MURDER MOST ROYAL. I didn’t find it as appealing as the first two, more an homage to the Queen than much of a mystery.
In the nonfiction category Timothy Egan’s A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND – The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them.
“For here was a man liberated from shame, a man who not only boasted of being able to get away with any violation of human decency, but had just proved it for all to see” – sounds eerily current rather than 100 years ago.
MOTHER DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT is an entertaining debut by Nina Simon. The headstrong Rubicon women become involved in a homicide investigation. Uncovering a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. A setting I hadn’t encountered previously, featuring the Elkhorn Slough in the Monterey Bay.
And I finally finished SIMON THE FIDDLER by Paulette Jiles (2020) A sensory experience of post-Civil War life in Texas. It follows the days of a tough, talented musician who lost his property and future to the war but is determined to succeed. With lyrical writing full of brawls, music, humor and sadness. Great read! (I tried to read this book in the early days of Covid, but it just didn’t work. I’m glad I saved it to give it a second chance.)
My current audio for walking is THE TESTAMENT OF MARY by Colm Toibin. Listening to Meryl Streep narrating is wonderful. I’ve found that listening at a slightly faster speed is just right.
Oh, people here don’t seem worried about COVID either, MM. My sister even commented on that a week ago when we were out and about. Probably because so many people have had it already, and now they’ve moved on.
I really need to read Mother Daughter Murder Night sometime. So many people have enjoyed it.
Good morning from cold, foggy, damp Northern Colorado! I just started reading Code Name Edelweiss by Stephanie Landsem. It’s WWII era novel about the people fighting antisemitism in the U.S. as Hitler came to power. I haven’t read enough of the book yet to critique or review.
The book I finished recently is Not Quite Dead Geniuses at Large on an Angry Planet by R. Gary Raham. This novel is set in the far future and involves climate disasters, AI managed human intelligence, and some very cool aliens. This is the third in a series or trilogy by Raham that I’ve read. I continue to be fascinated by Raham’s unusual creatures, imaginative plots, and the clear placement of our tiny planet and our brief time here in its long history. Fun stuff that makes you think.
Patricia, I love fun stuff that makes you think. And, because we all think of ourselves as important, it’s hard to wrap my head around what a brief time we actually have.
Hi everyone, I am so glad I can join in today! After Lesa’s review I’ve been reading the Mystery Bookshop series by V M Burns. I like the historical mysteries embedded in the books better than the main/contemporary ones. The contemporary characters, especially the senior sleuths, seem the same from book to book.
In other news I finally finished the award-winning biography of Samuel Adams. It was amazing to see how he excelled at one thing (sparking the revolt against England) in one time of life and was pretty middling the rest. I wish he had been a better politician when he was trying to have the abolition of slavery added to the Bill of Rights!
I have a lot of great books teed up for the Christmas break, including the Christmas with the Lords book Lesa reviewed the other day, and the new Rhys Bowen Lady Georgie book. Thanks, all, for the great recommendations!
Right there with you, Trisha. I like the historical mysteries more than the contemporary ones in V.M. Burns’ series, too.
Good! It’s so nice to have books ready to go for the break. Enjoy!
I love this book.
Did you ever read a book that just hits all the right buttons for you? Well, Lee Goldberg’s CALICO was one of those books for me. I’ve read a number of his books before and liked all of them – the Monk series, the books he wrote with Janet Evanovich, the Eve Ronin books, etc. But this one is special. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, but if you read anything about it you will get some sense. It’s a mystery featuring a smart but damaged cop who lost her job in L.A. due to her personal behavior, now working as a deputy in Barstow in the middle of the desert on the way to Las Vegas. Then it is a western in the 1880s. For a time, it stays in that era, with only a few brief returns to the present, as Beth McDade tries to make sense of it all. And he manages to tie it all up at the end, not always easy in a book like this, to a very satisfying degree. Without saying any more, I will just add that it was definitely one of my favorite reads of the year.
I read a third of Val McDermid’s PAST LYING, but put it aside to read the Goldberg as the latter was an ebook that couldn’t be renewed, and I will get back to it next. The Edinburgh setting in the early days of the pandemic is a good one, and I like the Karen Pirie series in general.
The only other book I finished this week was SURELY YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS: THE MAKING OF AIRPLANE! by Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker, who wrote and directed the movie. It’s a fun book and I had to watch the movie again after finishing it. And don’t call me Shirley!
I’m also read Lucia Berlin’s collection of stories, A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN: Selected Stories.
Now I will go back and read the other comments.
I’m glad you enjoyed Calico, Jeff. It’s going to be high on my favorites of the year for 2023. This book surprised me from beginning to end, which is why I feel it’s so special.
I listened to it but just could not accept the premise.
I am definitely in the minority about it, but then, I don’t read a lot of westerns.
Oh, yes. I have read books that just hit the right buttons. And, then it’s so hard to move on to the next book because the next one never seems satisfying.
Enjoy your week of reading, Jeff!
Good morning from sunny Cincinnati!
I finished Christmas with the Lords this week. Lesa reviewed it the other day. It was a fun enjoyable Christmas read.
It’s been a busy week without much reading time. I should finish The Bookseller’s Secret by Michelle Gable. It is a dual storyline historical fiction. The first is during WWII when Nancy Mitford was working at Heywood Hills bookshop. The present-day storyline is about Katie, an author is unable to start her next book. She did her college thesis on Nancy Mitford and hears about a missing autobiography Mitford allegedly wrote. She ends up in London at the Heywood Hills bookshop reading Nancy’s letters and trying to unlock the mystery of the autobiography. It is good, a little slow, but I am curious to see how it ends.
We spent last Sunday at The Drama Workshop in Cheviot watching the community theater of Winter Wonderettes. The theater is very interesting as it is an old bowling alley. The production was just delightful and us in the mood for Christmas!
Happy Readingl!
Sharon! I love live theater, so your Winter Wonderettes sounds delightful. I’m glad it was so much fun.
I’m going to say this because I read two in a row – I am so tired of books with dual timelines. Just tired of them.
Lesa, re your opening comment, this morning I read a long NYT article by a woman who got Covid in March of 2020 (mild dose), got it twice more (both mild) despite vaccines and boosters, and has had Long Covid symptoms – 21 of them! – for close to four years now. So be careful out there! We’re up to date with vaccines – also flu and RSV, as well as Shingles and pneumonia.
I also love a good obituary, and I have put OVERLOOKED on hold. (The library has 13 copies available.) Sounds very good. I have been reading them in the NYT when they publish them.
We’re doing OK here. It’s been up and down with the weather, colder than normal, then warmer but with rain. As long as we avoid the s- word for three more weeks until we leave for Florida, anything else is OK.
Jackie didn’t love DARK MEMORY as much as usual with Christine Feehan. She did love HOME AT NIGHT by Paula Munier. She is reading the (free) cozy THE MURDEROUS MACARON by Ana Drew, but is going to put it aside for the Lee Goldberg.
Like you, Jeff, I’m up-to-date with vaccines, including all the ones you mentioned. Now, it’s just a matter of keeping my fingers crossed.
You’re going to enjoy Overlooked. I promise. Especially since you’ve already been reading some of them.
Thanks for suggesting CHRISTMAS WITH THE LORDS . I couldn’t put it down! I checked to see what else she’s written and was amazed to find it is her first book. I hope she writes fast!
The other book I enjoyed and recommend for anyone who likes historical books with a dual contemporary story is WHEN WE WERE ENEMIES by Emily Bleeker. Lesa, you might like it because it is set in a small town in Indiana. Full disclosure, the author is my cousin’s daughter but I have never met her.
Oh, good, Cindy! I’m glad you liked Christmas with the Lords. I know a number of us have read it based on recommendations from Kaye and Margie.
I performed at a small Christmas show at Eskaton Village. They said the had a stage, but it was basically eight tables shoved together. I spent the whole time worried I’d either fall off the stage or someone would step into the gaps between the tables and fall.
Then I went to a Christmas open house, where a lady has so completely stuffed her house full of Christmas decoration, you can barely even go in, but she’s a nice lady, and it’s a lot of work for her to do that, and then put everything in storage in January.
Then a Christmas Party in Oakland. They had a show, where this couple did a Hustle dance with so many lifts, I think I I need back surgery just watching it.
This week I read:
Danger Zone by Shirley Palmer; A guy’s wife disappears…and it becomes an 80’s TV movie. Of course she’s in WitSec.
Witches and Wyverns by S. Ramsey; It’s the usual Young Adult fantasy with a love triangle and Wyverns.
Bitter Blood by Scott Siegel; A western that’s not quite cynical and bloody enough to be a Piccadilly western, but is certainly influenced by them. A gunfighter is riding shotgun, and crosses paths with a bereaved father, a bounty hunter, hit men from Philadelphia, and an old ex-sheriff. Some of them survive.
Bewitching Boots by Joyce and Jim LaVerne; At a Ren Fair theme park, an old fashioned cobbler claiming to have elf magic shows up, and meets the obnoxious “princess” of the park. We all know what happens to obnoxious folks in cozies, so our sleuth with a nebulous job investigates, irritating everyone.
The Dragons of Deltora: Dragon’s Nest by Emily Rodda; A Boy King’s land is dying. He goes on a quest to wake up dragons and save the land. Luckily, he has a magic belt. There is one chilling sequence that might give kids nightmares.
Wild Night by Patrick Lee; A PG action movie for kids. A kid visits an amusement park. A hacker takes over a ride, intending to ransom the riders for the release of her son from prison. Foiled, a few months later, the hacker arranges the kid and her friends to go to a high tech zoo located in a skyscraper. Really exciting stuff. I think Lee might have a future in kids’ lit.
Well, you’ve had a busy week, Glen. I attended the family party on Sunday, and a Mix-and-Mingle in our development tonight with appetizers & a white elephant exchange. That was enough for me.
I read Emily Rodda’s Deltora Quest series as an adult, and I was totally addicted. I couldn’t put it down, which drove my husband nuts. Thought it was terrific.
OVERLOOKED by Amisha Padnani sounds very interesting. I will have to see what Glen thinks about it.
I have not heard that there have been problems with COVID here. We don’t get in many situations where we are exposed to a lot of people, though. I do see more people masking at grocery stores and medical centers. Speaking of that, I have a medical test this afternoon so will keep this sort of brief.
I finished MISSIONARY STEW by Ross Thomas in the last week and loved it. I have to read more by him. He published about 20 books between 1966 and 1994 and I like to read books from that period. My next book was THE PARIS DIVERSION by Chris Pavone. This one was an espionage thriller and the second book featuring Kate Moore and her husband Dexter. The book starts out with a terror attack on Paris. I have read his three previous books and will read his most recent one next year.
Glen finished THE BORDER by Erika Fatland. The author traveled through the countries that border on Russia without going into Russia itself, learning about the relationships with Russia and the culture of the people in these nations. I hope to read that book in 2024.
Glen and I are both reading books related to the winter solstice. He has started reading SUNLESS SOLSTICE: STRANGE CHRISTMAS TALES FOR THE LONGEST NIGHTS. I will be reading WINTER SOLSTICE by Rosamunde Pilcher. I have never read one of her books.
Tracy, You’ll have to tell us what you think of Winter Solstice. I know a number of us really liked Rosemary Pilcher’s books.
Hi Lesa, I am listening to Drowning by TJ Newman. In print, I have started reading A pocketful of happiness by Richard E. Grant. It is a memoir written as a diary of his love story with his wife of almost 40 years who passed away from cancer.
Evening, all…. we await rain here in the North Texas area where we are back in the drought again and down almost ten inches for the year. Supposed to rain tomorrow though we already have a little drizzle at times at Casa Tipple and Home Eatery Library in NE Dallas.
Stomach flu has struck my son and his family where they live up in Sherman. The grans sons are doing better, but now it seems to have hit Mom and Dad.
As I am immune compromised and a cardiac patient (among several other problems), I never could stop masking and act like everything was over. My brother and his step daughter are very sick at their place just outside of Cleveland. 103 fever, aches, chills, sore throats, coughing, so it could be the flu, but both tell me by text message that it fees like something else and not the flu.
The last two days Scott and I had dental stuff so I am very worn out from that. We were masked as were the hygienists and docs, but the waiting room was full of folks both days. About half of them were coughing and insisted it was only allergy. One hopes. They do have high tech air purifiers in the office so that made me feel a little better.
Reading wise, I have not made much progress on BLOOD RELATIONS. This is the Police Procedural Aubrey recently reviewed on my blog. I picked it up on NetGalley after her review.
Speaking of NetGalley, in the last two days I have managed to pick up, Home Fires by Claire Booth, Perilous Waters by Terry Shames, and The Life and Death of Rose Doucette by Harry Hunsicker. This is on top of A Lonesome Place For Dying by Nolan Chase.
So, I am stocked up a bit more on my TBR and plan to concentrate on books and football and grind through Christmas. Sandi loved absolutely everything about Christmas and I find the whole deal very hard with her gone.
Very much hope you and your family stay well, Lesa.
I still believe we need Lysol grenades. Like smoke bombs, one could toss these suckers into a store where one saw a bunch of people hanging out coughing. The cannister would spin and vent sanitizing Lysol. This would let one wander through the store just gassing the coughers and shop safely. 🙂
This afternoon it was confirmed, by testing at a clinic of some type, that my brother and his step daughter both have Covid. Both remain very sick and are now going to be on anti virals of some type.
JFK’S LAST HUNDRED DAYS – it’s about what it sounds like and more. It looks at the last 100 days of JFK’s presidency leading up to November 22, 1963 but it also provides a lot of his history and policy, including his family life and things like the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis. I picked it up when my fiancée and I visited the JFK library a few weeks ago. It’s compulsively readable.
LEG. A very unusual story about a young man growing into maturity while dealing with a severe limp. He wasn’t told he had MS. It also delves not his homosexuality.
It wasn’t what I expected, was often funny and I was compelled to finish it.