If you’re one of our California friends, I hope you’re okay. I think Mark is the one who is the furthest south, while others are in northern California. Thinking of you all with that rain. I’m liking our weather here. 50s, and maybe even 60 on Friday, with sunshine. I’ll take that.
I’ve tried most of Simon R. Green’s series, even if I never get past the first book or two. The Holy Terrors launches a new series, The Holy Terrors mysteries. When newly appointed Bishop Alistair Kincaid is sent to Stonehaven town hall, he knows “Spooky Times!” is a ghost-hunting reality show, but he didn’t pay a great deal of attention to the contract. He’s going to be locked into the hall overnight with an actress, a medium, a professional comic, a celebrity chef, and the show’s host, and they’re supposed to ham it up that they’re ghost-hunting and scared of what they see. Once they’re locked in, though, there are events that can’t be explained.
So far, I’m liking Alistair, but we’ll see how the book goes. I’ve only read a couple chapters. It’s Simon R. Green. I expect the paranormal, the unexplained, monsters, and humor.
What about you? What are you reading this week?
The lights flickered a few times on Sunday, and there was a lot of rain and wind, but thankfully our power stayed on. Folsom, just one town over, had power outages, and in the Bay Area some people had their power out for almost 24 hours! We were lucky. It was still raining through today, but the weather forecast looks like warmer, dry days for the next week or so.
I managed to finish only two books this week–one long book and one even longer book. Fortunately, one of them will probably be on my favorites list for 2024.
I was so intrigued by the title of THE FELLOWSHIP OF PUZZLEMAKERS that, even though I wasn’t familiar with debut novelist and British TV producer Samuel Burr, I took a leap of faith and am profoundly thankful that I did. I discovered an indelible story of found family, unforgettable characters, and the wondrous concept of puzzles as a way to bring people together. Pippa Allsbrook is a brilliant cruciverbalist, or crossword puzzle designer, who works under a male pseudonym since puzzlemaking has been a primarily male-dominated occupation. She proposes to surround herself with the brightest minds in the puzzle business–cryptologists, logicians, trivialists, lexicographers, maz emakers, chess masters, mathematicians, even a jigsaw artist–who would join together to build a thriving commune . . . and she succeeds. At the age of 67, Pippa’s life changes forever when she finds a baby left in a hatbox on the commune’s doorstep, fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a mother. Young Clayton is raised mainly by Pippa and one of the male Fellowship members until she passes away at 89. It is only then that Clayton feels he can search for his biological parents and find out why they had abandoned him, with the help of a series of puzzles from Pippa that he finds after her death. With assistance from some of his lifelong supporters and a brand new friend, this young “old soul” in his twenties sets out to discover where he fits into life in general and what he needs to move forward. The story shifts back and forth between Pippa’s journey and Clayton’s, in alternating chapters and timelines which are easy to follow. There is so much to love about this quiet story that packs a depth of emotion that I wasn’t expecting. All of the characters are distinctly portrayed and have their own interesting stories and resolutions. And the diverse puzzles and related “events” that are described are irresistible, although not necessarily solvable by the reader. I relished every minute of it, and it left me feeling warmly uplifted and thoroughly entertained. To quote one of the Fellowship’s favorite sayings, “To Go Further, Go Together.” (April)
I read Kate Morton’s latest standalone for a book club. HOMECOMING, is set in Australia and told over two timelines, alternating between 1959 and 2018. Why and how a mother and her three children are found lying dead at the beach on Christmas Eve day, with their 6-week-old baby sister missing, is the subject of much local opinion and law enforcement investigation over a number of years, with the facts being revealed slowly throughout the book. It even catches the attention of a journalist who writes a book about it (with himself as a character), and we readers are treated to the entire contents of the book. It’s an interesting way to learn about a notorious mass death (is it murder?), but one which failed to evoke much emotion or involvement from me. The two main characters–the sister of the family’s absent father and her granddaughter in the current timeline–are well drawn, but I found the supporting characters more interesting as the story progressed. It is not a difficult read, but the story would have made a bigger impact on me if it were 150 pages shorter (it weighs in at around 560 pages) and narrated with less description and more emotional heft.
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I’m glad to hear you’re okay, and with power, Margie! I worried about my California friends. I didn’t know who was affected.
I never heard of THE FELLOWSHIP OF PUZZLEMAKERS. What an interesting plot! Sometimes, I think that would be a great idea, a group of people coming together who have much in common. And, then I realize I’m actually a loner who prefers my alone time.
The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers sounds great Margie, I’d never heard of Samuel Burr either but I will look him up now.
A while ago I read Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose by Sandy Balfour, which is a non fiction book about the world of crossword-setters. The author’s parents had been very keen on The Guardian daily crossword (which is fiendish – my mother-in-law used to do it) so he started there, interviewing some of the regular contributors. They all go by pen names, and back then the most popular one was Araucaria (I think) who turned out to be an Anglican priest. It was very interesting to see how these people’s minds’ work, and also to learn about all the rules of crossword-setting. I had no idea before this that newspapers have crossword editors, who reject puzzles if there are too many anagrams, and for various other reasons.
Incidentally, the title of the book is itself a clue, one that I am relieved to say I managed to solve.
Margie, I wondered about The Fellowship of the Puzzlemakers. Thank you for your review. Homecoming was one of my favorite books last year.
I’m currently (finally) reading All the Light We Cannot S ee – I want to read it before I watch it on Netflix.
I never read it either, Melissa. You’re not alone.
On my list of best books ever!
Melissa, I read the book and we just finished the miniseries on Saturday. I think you will love both.
After owning it almost since it came out, I’m finally reading Shelby van Pelt’s REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES, which is about lonely people whom I hope will find each other AND a giant octopus, who is one of the narrators. So far, I think it’s terrific.
So many people loved that book, Kim. I haven’t read it either.
Lesa, you must read it. And yes, it does have a mystery.
Lesa, I had noticed THE HOLY TERRORS and wondered about it. Good to know that it’s working for you so far. I don’t think I’ve read anything else by the author, but I was aware of him and what he wrote. I’m reading MIDNIGHT by Amy McCulloch right now. The Antarctica setting is not one that I usually read in winter, but it has grabbed my interest and I like the author’s previous book, BREATHLESS. We’ll see how it goes as the story continues. Think I’m about 20% in.
I’ve read a number of his books, Kay. I just finished the next Cat in the Stacks mystery, and intend to read The Holy Terrors this afternoon.
Hi from sunny Northern Michigan.
This week I read “A Game of Lies” by Clare Mackintosh. I couldn’t wait for this 2nd book in the DC Morgan series as I loved the DC Ffion Morgan character. A new case, once again crossing jurisdictions, also brings back DC Leo Brady. Ffion, Leo and new character DC Georgina Kent must try to find a mentally unstable contestant who has escaped from a reality tv show. And who can blame him for running when the show’s producer got the seven contestants there under false pretenses. Thinking that they were there to battle in a “Survivor” type competition, instead they are there to try and expose each other’s most guarded secrets. Soon a murder occurs and the contestants are all suspects. Ffion’s usual character flaws are brought to the forefront as she tries to do her job but at the expense of trying to protect a local contestant’s secret from being found out. Will Ffion’s prickly personality cost her her job and a potential relationship with Leo?
Not sure which book I will read next – isn’t it wonderful to have so many choices! Have a great weekend!
A Game of Lies sounds good, Mary. And, I’m with you. I’d “escape” a reality show, too. Not my idea of a fun time. It does sound like a fun book, though.
Still winter, heavy sigh. A rousing 25 degrees this morning. Mostly cloudy skies although not much precipitation made it over the Sierra from California.
Back mid-October I read your review of this debut historical mystery MURDER BY DEGREES. The author, Rita Mukerji, a physician who attended medical school in Philadelphia. The main character, Dr. Lydia Weston, is a professor and anatomist at Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1875. The historical aspects are well integrated into the storyline. I’m glad there wasn’t much plot hidden in the poetry as I skimmed over much of that.
A KILLER IN THE FAMILY (Gytha Lodge) #5 in the DCI Jonah Sheens series set in Southampton. New Year’s Day uncovers a possible serial murder which leads into a detailed police procedural. No lulls in this story with DNA evidence limiting the possible suspects. These police in this series are defined characters that actually care about each other and solving the crime.
BEWARE THE WOMAN by Megan Abbott
Not my typical genre (Gothic suspense), but so well written, the story just grabbed me. Suspense and dread in the northern Michigan landscape where pregnant Jacy is meeting her father-in-law for the first time. Hints of Mrs Danvers/Rebecca.
14th in the Mike Bowditch series, DEAD MAN’S WAKE by Paul Doiron. The game warden’s party is interrupted by a speedboat crash. I’ve only read a few in the series, but enjoy the setting and characters.
Tara French’s new novel The Hunter is out next month
It’s a sequel to her previous novel, THE SEARCHER, set in the Irish countryside. Both feature Cal Hooper, retired Chicago police. It’s as much about solving a crime as it is about the near-impossibility of breaking into an insular society with a history, traditions and memories that go back hundreds of years.
I read this in 2020 and decided to refresh my memory and enjoy a bit of the ol’ country by listening this time. And I’m glad I did because I don’t remember it at all. Hopefully that’s not indicative of all my reading during the covid shutdown.
I like the sound of The Searcher, MM, also A Killer in the Family and Beware the Woman. My library doesn’t appear to have any of these – more additions to the Amazon wishlist!
I know that frustration Rosemary. My MIL is a big fan of a Tim Weaver’s books and I’ve actually ordered from Waterstone for her. She was especially pleased to get a signed copy.
Oh, I’m with you, MM. I usually skim poetry in a book, too. And, I know I criticized one for too much poetry in the novel.
I’m not familiar with the DCI Jonah Sheens series. I like the sound of the series, and I’m going to have to look for it. One my police procedural series to add to my growing list. (sigh) But, thank you!
We finally have sunshine in NJ. This week I read:
MOSTACCIOLI MURDER BY Nicolette Pierce. A fairly standard cozy plot about a woman who’s in a bad relationship and goes back home to help out in her family’s restaurant but I liked the characters.
24 HOURS IN NOWHERE by Dusti Bowling. Set in a poor town in the Arizona desert, group of teens go into a mine looking for gold to buy a dirt bike back from a bully.
A nonfiction book, HUSH Of THE LAND: A Lifetime in the Bob Marshall Wilderness by Smoke Elser. Smoke was an outfitter who ran pack trips in the Montana wilderness. The book was a mixed bag. Some parts, especially the fight to get parts of Montana designated as protected wilderness areas were interesting. But I found that all of the stories of different pack trips blurred together after a while.
Isn’t it great to see sunshine, Sandy? I know winter isn’t over, but the sunshine makes me feel better.
I can imagine that the pack trips in Hush of the Land blurred together after a while.
Back to reading one of my two last books by Maeve Binchy, The Glass Lake. I am on page 321 of 757 so, I will to read some short books after I finish.
Binchy is a whizz at creating characters and dramatic scenes. I am glas that I did not give on her!
Helen McMahon is living in a small town with her husband, Martin, her young daughter, Kit and son who has a stutter. Kit is the star of the book, she loves her mother so much and defends her from her best friend and the town gossips.
Revelations come later as she and Martin discuss her previous love and he wants to marry her despite that he knows that she still yearns for Louis.
Helen, Kit’s mother goes for long walks at night and always stays to herself. Then she disappears, Martin’s boat was found adrift and the town thinks that she took the boat to drown herself.
I loved Kit and her brother and Martin was set in his ways but devoted but later on, the story shifts to England with big surprises.
This is a mother daughter story the most of all.
I’m glad you didn’t give up on Maeve Binchy, Carol. I haven’t read all of her books, but I liked the ones I did read.
Carol, I haven’t read a Maeve Binchy book in so long–thank you for reminding me of her. I loved all of her books and was so sad when I knew there would be no more. Maybe it’s time for rereading.
Harlem Shuffle. And yes, that’s how far behind I am on my TBR pile.
That’s okay, Mary Ann! There’s no deadline, and we appreciate knowing about the books, whenever they’re read!
Boy, Green writes a lot. I haven’t read him in a while now, so really should try one of the ones I missed.
Jackie liked the Kelley Armstrong A Rip in Time and will be reading the second one soon. She is reading Guardian of Darkness, the last (or so she says) in Lara Adrian’s paranormal Guardian of Darkness series, a spinoff of the Midnight Breed series.
I read and enjoyed Stephen Spotswood’s Murder Crossed Her Mind, the fourth in the Pentecost & Parker series, about women PIs in post-WWII New York. A woman with an infallible memory, a hoarder, who rarely leaves her apartment, is missing, presumed dead, and our heroines are on the case. I think Spotswood does a great job with the sights and sounds (and smells) or 1947 New York, and Willowjean (Will) is a terrific narrator. Good series, read it from the start.
Allegra Goodman’s The Family Markowitz is a collection of short stories about, surprise, the Markowitz family, matriarch Rose, a difficult woman now in her 80s, her son Henry, the aesthete now living in Oxford and newly married, and younger son Edward, a professor at Georgetown with a whife, Sarah, and four grown children.
I was looking forward to Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Young Doctor, a big bestseller ion England that was published in 35 countries. I’m mostly enjoying it, but…it’s important to remember than when he wrote these diaries he was in his mid-20s and very young as a doctor. I found him slick and facile at times, but there were enough worthwhile parts that you still might want to try it, though it doesn’t get a rave from me that many other people seem to have given it. There is also a television adaptation.
Up next: Caz Frear, Five Bad Deeds.
Have a good week.
Jeff, I’m glad Jackie liked A Rip Through Time.
If I ever get around to Spotswood’s books, I will start from the beginning. Thank you.
Yes, you’re right. Green does write a lot of books.
Good morning, Lesa — We have kids (grown) living in California but no one has floated away yet. We’ll get the storm in Colorado in the form of heavy, wet snow. Hopefully not too much of it. Very hard to shovel so we mostly shove it from the sidewalk to the street.
I’m reading the second book in Chris Hauty’s political thriller series, Savage Road. He writes in an interesting style with an omniscient narrator who knows past, present, and future. Sometimes he’ll even give the reader a short summary of what happens to a minor character (for the rest of his life) after the current scene. Oddly enough, those asides don’t really pull me out of the excitement of the novel. Sometimes different is good.
Patricia, I’m a fan of the Chris Hauty series too. She’s a great character.
Good to know your kids are safe, Patricia. I contacted a family friend, and she said the same, that she and all her family were safe.
I haven’t read the Chris Hauty series, but I see Jeff’s note that he’s a fan, too.
Tony Dukoupil from CBS this morning recommended My Friend Anne Frank by Hannah Pick Goslar during one the Talk of the Table segments. I picked it up and it was as wonderful as he said he was. Hannah Goslar and her family were neighbors and friends of the Franks when they relocated to Amsterdam. The story covers the occupation of Amsterdam and the harrowing events afterwards. I found it heartbreaking and inspirational. And Hannah remained friends with Otto Frank after the war-he was one of the people who helped her get to Israel. It was excellent.
I got my next book from Jeff’s post last week. The title The Elephant in the Room intrigued me so I picked up Tommy Tomlinson’s memoir next. I also enjoyed this one. Thanks so much Jeff.
Happy Reading!
I can see why My Friend Anne Frank would be heartbreaking, Sharon.
I think it’s great that your next book is from Jeff’s post.
Good afternoon from a sunny but Baltic North East Scotland. Earlier in the week we had a bit of snow, and although most of it is now gone, the temperature has not risen above 37F since. I have just come back from the city centre and I am frozen.
Last week I finished two books:
THE LAVENDER HOUSE by Hilary Boyd is about Nancy, a woman who at 60+ is torn between Frances, her aging, ailing but very difficult mother, Louise, her rather needy and unappreciative daughter, Louise’s two adorable children – who need masses of child-sitting because Louise’s husband runs a restaurant, Louise is its admin person, and things are not going well – and the new man in her life, Jim.
Nancy’s husband left her for a much younger model a few years back, so she moved into a cottage in the grounds of Louise’s much larger house. Going along to a country music night at a pub with her much more adventurous friend Lindy, Nancy meets Jim, a singer and guitarist. He is nothing like her ex, or indeed any of her family. He drinks, smokes and still lives with his estranged wife (though he doesn’t tell Nancy about her.) Nancy and Jim – or so we are meant to believe – fall madly in love, but Nancy then struggles to reconcile the demands of her family with her wish to be with Jim (of whom they all, predictably, disapprove.)
I understand the author’s intentions, ie to shine a light on a problem that so many women face at this stage in their lives (I don’t mean the Jim part!), but Nancy was so unbelievably wet, and the romance between her and Jim so unbelievable altogether, that I had no sympathy with anyone in the book apart from Louise’s husband Ross and their daughters, who are caught in the crossfire between their warring parents. Lindy, Nancy’s friend, was quite fun and out to have a good time, but the central characters were all very unengaging – and as for Nancy, I just wanted to shake her. So I’m afraid it was only 2* from me.
The second book I read was much better. I picked up Jenny Éclair’s LISTENING IN from a display at the library. The author is a well known comedian who these days focuses on the problems of middle age, menopause, etc. The book is a collection of (very) short stories that she wrote for her Radio 4 series, Little Lifetimes. They are all monologues by different women. Some discover that their husbands are cheating on them – and some get revenge in very inventive ways – some are desperate to cling on to their adult children, some are enjoying being older and doing exactly what they want to do. Even the sadder stories in this book are enjoyable because they are so well written. Éclair has illustrated the book with her own pen and ink drawings.
I’ve since discovered that Éclair has written several novels. They seem to get good reviews so I look forward to trying one of them. She certainly deals with the problems and joys of being an older woman with a great deal more panache than Boyd, whose book just plodded along with Nancy worrying and fussing for chapters on end.
A while ago I read Boyd’s first novel THURSDAYS IN THE PARK, which is also about an older woman finding love. At the time I thought it was quite good, but I wonder if I would now.
I’m now reading another Nicola Upson novel FEAR IN THE SUNLIGHT, in which it is 1936 and the author Josephine Tey is visiting Portmeirion with some friends – including Detective Archie Penrose – to celebrate her 40th birthday. She’s also here to meet Alfred Hitchcock, whose wife has asked him to make a film out of Tey’s latest book.
I haven’t got too far yet, but as the book opens with a conversation taking place some years later, between Penrose and an American detective, who is visiting Scotland Yard to ask about murders that happened in Portmeirion during that 1936 holiday, we know that something’s going to happen pretty soon. So far Upson is setting out her cast, and there are plenty of people with grudges and griefs who may be about to take the law into their own hands.
I enjoy the way in which Upson uses real historical people as characters in her books. Tey, Penrose and Marta (Tey’s on/off love interest) are regulars, but each novel seems to feature a past celebrity of some sort. In the last book I read it was Marlene Dietrich, in this one it is Hitchcock and his redoubtable wife Alma Reville.
Upson also chooses interesting settings. Portmeirion is a village on the Welsh coast entirely manufactured between 1925 and 1975 by Sir Clough Williams Ellis, who wanted to create an Italianate folly in the Baroque style. It was used as ‘The Village’ in the 1960s series The Prisoner. I’ve never been there myself but it does look amazing.
This week seems to have been far busier than the last, so my reading time has been more limited. Last night we were at the Barn in Banchory to see a Wim Wenders’ film about the German artist Anselm Keifer. I knew nothing about Keifer beforehand, and I’m not sure how much I know afterwards! It was a typical Wenders’ film, quite odd and confusing at times, but it was also so powerful and gripping.
Keifer has spent his artistic life grappling with his country’s history, in particular Nazism, the Holocaust and its aftermath. He has at times been vilified, as people mistakenly thought he sought to justify or even glorify Nazism, but he explained that the opposite is true, and that what he aims to do is keep the memory of it alive, to honour the dead and to remind people of what can happen, and what should never be allowed to happen again. I’m now keen to read more about Keifer.
Tonight we are going to The Blue Lamp, a pub in town, to see a jazz ensemble led by the fantastic saxophonist Conrad Wiszniewski. Then on Saturday we are off to Glasgow to see Hamish Hawk perform at the iconic Barrowlands, one of the city’s most famous and long lived venues. Hamish Hawk comes from Edinburgh, but he’s had meteoric success of late. He’s a wonderful songwriter and singer (and an amazing dancer), and reminds me of David Byrne (Talking Heads) in his younger days.
Walks have been limited by the weather this past week, so I have mostly just been meeting friends for coffees or lunch, but tomorrow my friend Sue and I will be at Crathes Castle whatever the weather (and it’s forecast to be pouring) as she is a determined dog walker.
Just realised I have to go out in 10 minutes so I need to get ready.
JEFF I just wanted to say that I didn’t manage to get to your Favourite 2023 Reads yesterday, but I have done now. I enjoyed it very much and have commented.
Have a good week all!
Thanks, Rosemary.
Our latest TV discovery is NO OFFENCE, by Paul Abbott. It’s got some black humor to go with the nasty stuff. I think the first series was 2015. We have one more episode of FUNNY WOMAN to go.
Pouring rain is not my type of weather for a walk, especially if you’ve had cold weather, Rosemary. My sister knows not to invite me on her dog walks unless it’s warm. I don’t need sunny, but I do want it to be warm.
I don’t like the sound of Nancy at all in The Lavender House. Jenny Eclair’s books sound much more interesting.
Enjoy your concerts and your walks. Sending hugs!
Lots of rain, but not adverse conditions for me. My garage didn’t even flood (it did during a bad storm last year, but that’s the first time in at least 10 years. It used to flood if we got an inch of rain when I first moved int.) It helps that I work from home, so I didn’t have to be out in the rain at all. Sun is out today and the rain has moved on, so it’s time to dry out.
Reading wise, I’m working on ONCE UPON A MURDER by Samantha Larsen. I’m enjoying it, but it’s not quite as good as the first one. The murder seems to have taken a back seat to other storylines. I’m enjoying them, so I’m glad I’m reading the book, but I do wish the mystery were stronger.
Oh, that’s good news, Mark. I was concerned for you with all the rain.
I feel that way about a book I just finished. I read the series for the continuing characters. This time, I didn’t care at all about the people involved in the crime, including the victim.
We seem to have escaped the rain and snow, but a relative is in Sacramento for work and it will be interesting to hear his report. Lesa, did you see all the rain Phoenix got and all the snow Flagstaff got from the storm?
The Washington Digital Library finally provided a book I’ve been wanting to read, A SHADOW IN MOSCOW by Katherine Reay. It is alternating stories of two female spies in Moscow during the Cold War, with lots of attention to details like the availability of food, the varieties of housing and the inner working of the KGB. Very tense at times with a (spoiler alert) twist at the end. It was excellent and now I really want to read her next book, THE BERLIN LETTER, which comes out in March.
Cindy, I’m not surprised about the snow in Flagstaff. The Poisoned Pen staff kept talking about all the rain in the Phoenix area. That is unusual for them.
I’m glad A Shadow in Moscow didn’t let you down!
There was a lot of rain and high winds. My power stayed on, thank goodness, but I know people who without power until yesterday. Some roads were closed. One guy I know was killed when he was struck by a redwood limb. Tragic.
This week I read:
Wedding Day Dead by Robert W. Stephens; Poe meets his significant other’s ex boyfriend, who ends up dead tout suite. He starts poking around, mostly to keep tabs on his girlfriend.
Target Lancer by Max Allan Collins: Nathan Heller investigates an assassination attempt on JFK in Chicago, and finds it has a lot of links to Dallas. Is being a “conspiracy theorist” these days bad or good? Or does it just depend on what conspiracy theories you choose to believe?
Murder At The Flood by Bruce Beckham; Perfect reading material during a massive rainstorm! Skelgill does some rescue work during a flood. When a kayaker goes missing, he gets the case. I don’t think he ever gets dried out the whole book.
I’m glad you’re safe, Glen, but that is sad about the person who was killed.
Very interesting point about being a conspiracy theorist. Now, you have me thinking about it.
And, you found a book as perfect background for the rain!
Lesa, I submitted this a second time because I put in the incorrect identification the first time and it said it had to “await moderation.” Sorry if you get duplicates.
I am in Santa Barbara / Goleta and we consider ourselves part of Southern California. I think Southern California must go up as far as San Luis Obispo country which is right above Santa Barbara County.
Santa Barbara County did get some flooding although the only flooding I am aware of was in Santa Barbara on the same street as the business my husband used to work at. There were some large trees that fell over. We were not near to any areas of flooding, we just had lots of rain and wind.
I just read Jeff’s favorites for 2023, it was very interesting and inspiring.
I am glad you read Simon R. Green’s books; I have enjoyed some but never finished a series. This one sounds interesting, although any title with the word “terrors” in the title makes me nervous.
I finally finished Deborah Mitford’s memoir, WAIT FOR ME!. I started it in the middle of 2023. I took my time with it because all the chapters were packed with interesting information. I enjoyed it all: her childhood, her life with the often notorious Mitford family, and her life as the Duchess of Devonshire.
Last night I finished DAYS AT THE MORISAKI BOOKSHOP by Satoshi Yagisawa. I was reading it for the Japanese Literary Challenge and the Bookish Books Challenge. It was about books, obviously. A bookstore setting, a young woman who doesn’t read becomes a book reader. But it was less about books than many bookish books I have read. More about relationships and people who have a hard time expressing themselves. I enjoyed it, possibly because I had sympathy with the protagonist. It is only about 140 pages long.
Glen is continuing to read LONDON 1945: LIFE IN THE DEBRIS OF WAR by Maureen Waller. That is a subject I would like to read about too, so I hope he holds onto the book.
We have both been reading short stories. He is continuing on stories by Laura Mauron, SING YOUR SADNESS DEEP; he did not care for most of the stories. I read eight stories from WAVE ME GOODBYE, edited by Anne Boston. Those are stories written by women during World War II, and many are by authors I have never read before.
Hi Tracy,
I’ll just delete the post you sent earlier, so you won’t see two of them. That’s okay. Every few hours I do check in to moderate posts. But, I’ll delete the first one.
I’m glad you and Glen are both okay, and that he’s not working where the flooding was.
The two of you read such interesting sounding books!
Morning everyone…. checking in late–again–and this time it is because we did not have internet Wednesday or Thursday. It came back yesterday evening. Things got weird and complicated, but Scott figured it out, and we are back online.
I read a lot during the outage and have three reviews to write.
Current read is HOME FIRES by Claire Booth. Latest in the Sheriff Hank Worth series and due out in April.
Home Fires! I liked that one, Kevin.
Sorry about the Internet problems. Aren’t you glad you have an expert in the house?
Reading THE ASCENT Kept my interest all throughout. Bit grizzly and maybe even unlikely, but good. Took FUTURE back with just a quick skim. Patterson rarely disappoints. Enjoyed HOLMES< MARPE AND POE. Guessing it is the beginning of a new series.
I have that book on my TBR pile, Carol. I’m glad you enjoyed Holmes, Marple and Poe.