Well, this has been a crazy week. Lots of rain. We were lucky we didn’t get the tornadoes or even the warnings that hit elsewhere in the Midwest. We did have lots of thunder and lightning.
But, in between, there was also a lot of food at my sister and brother-in-law’s. Easter dinner and a couple birthday dinners. Lots of dessert, too!
And, yesterday, I had the chance to catch up with some of the librarians I used to work with in Evansville. They’re in town for the Public Library Association conference, and I went downtown to sit and talk with several of them for a couple hours. It was nice to catch up.
Speaking of catching up, if you’re a fan of the Vera Stanhope books by Ann Cleeves, you have a few months to catch up before reading her latest one. The Dark Wives is released at the end of August, and, of course, I’ll remind you July 1 for the August Treasures in My Closet.
The latest case for Vera’s team involves a missing fourteen-year-old who disappeared the same night a man was murdered, a man who worked at the residential home where she lived. I can tell you that much. I can’t say much about Vera’s team because that’s a major spoiler if you haven’t read the previous book in the series, The Rising Tide.
In other words, you might want to read The Rising Tide before August if you’re a fan of the series.
What about you? Did you have a busy week, or a quiet one? I hope the nasty weather missed you. And, here’s our important question. What are you reading lately?
Hello all readers! I’m still in Japan writing on my phone so I won’t put down much. I’m reading the second book in Val Mc Dermid’s Karen Pirie series. It’s called A Darker Domain and is very exciting and well-plotted with excellent characters. Next will be Tara French’s The Hunter, I think. Lesa, thanks for filling me in on the latest Vera book!
Hi, Kim! Someday, I need to read the Karen Pirie books. I know Jeff Meyerson likes them.
Enjoy your trip. I’m so glad you’re checking in with us this week! Stay safe.
Yes, I am a big fan of the Karen Pirie series, though the last – pandemic – one was not as good. And I found the television series disappointing, as the actress cast was NOT anything like the character of the books – too young, too blond, too lightweight.
It’s been month end close, so it’s been a crazy week at work. We actually had rain this last weekend here in So Cal. No rain on Easter Sunday, but my church canceled plans for an outdoor service just in case. It was looking pretty iffy there until Sunday morning. We’ve been in the 70’s the last two days, but we’re about to dive back to the 50’s. Weather is all over the place.
Reading wise, I’m about a third of the way into UNDER THE PAPER MOON by Shaina Steinberg. The book is set in LA in 1948 with flashbacks to the time the two main characters spent working in the OSS in World War II. It’s definitely different from my normal choices, but I’m really enjoying it.
I know, Mark! Isn’t this weather weird? We didn’t get it, but our initial prediction for early this morning was snow! On April 4? I’m ready for spring.
I just couldn’t get into the characters in Under the Paper Moon. I finished it, and will have a review, but it just didn’t work for me.
Good morning all – I’m actually writing this on Wednesday evening, as I’ll be out in town tomorrow.
For the Easter weekend we had fabulous weather, and had great walks at Dunecht and also at a nature reserve in the city which for some reason I had never visited before. It was really lovely, just a small valley between a housing development and Hazlehead Park, but well laid out with good paths accessible to everyone. We saw birds of prey circling above the trees.
Since Easter, however, it’s been quite another story – rain, rain and more rain. The burn is high, and I am trying not to look at it too often – but we seem to have been granted an unexpected hiatus in the downpours, and the longer it stays dry, the sooner the water level will start to drop. Today I only walked on the old railway line path high above the river, as the Dee itself was very full and fast flowing, and often overtops the path. I’m also avoiding one of my other standard walks at the moment, as yesterday I was followed by a hovering red kite – they must be nesting now, and they are quite scary, so I think I will just keep out of their way.
Sunday saw the end of both DEWITHON (Reading Wales month) and READING IRELAND MONTH, though I only just finished the reviews of the books I had read this morning. My last one was NORA WEBSTER by Colm Toibin, which is a wonderful novel, so well written and so quietly insightful. Toibin has said that, on first reading Hemingway at the age of 17, he discovered;
‘the idea of character in fiction as something oddly mysterious, worthy of sympathy and admiration, but also elusive. And more than anything, the sheer pleasure of the sentences and their rhythms, and the amount of emotion living in what was not said, what was between the words and the sentences.’
And you can certainly see that in this book. So much is unsaid, so much is there.
So now I have started reading for our #1937Club week, which is in fact in mid-April, but unlike Simon and Kaggsy, who host it, I can’t read numerous books in just seven days, so I need to get a head start. I have begun with THEY FOUND HIM DEAD by Georgette Heyer. I have never read any of Heyer’s Regency romances, although girls at my school were obsessed with them. I only recently discovered that Heyer also wrote murder mysteries, so as this one was written in the right year I thought I’d give it a go.
I must say the first few pages were confusing – Heyer introduces so many characters in such a short space of time, they are nearly all related to one another and at first I had no idea who was who or what was going on. I actually drew a diagram to clarify all the connections, and even that wasn’t straightforward, as Heyer seems to call so many people cousins – not just the children of one’s parents’ siblings, but also similar relations in the previous or next generation – which we would now call ‘second cousins’ I think.
Anyway I hope I have it sorted now. The language is so dated – the way posh people talked to one another in the 1930s now sounds quite bizarre – but I am getting into the plot so I will press on.
At the weekend we watched Kenneth Branagh’s 2021 film BELFAST. It’s fiction, but based on his own childhood, growing up in a working class area of the city at the beginning of the so-called Troubles. His family is Protestant, but they live peacefully alongside Catholics – until everything kicks off, riots begin, thugs start protection rackets and attempt to intimidate Catholic families and force them to leave the area, and no one is safe. The residents set up a barrier made of old doors, prams, and whatever they can find, to block the end of their street.
Even as someone who grew up at the same time, though in London, and saw all of this on the news every night, the film is shocking. Petrol bombs, hostage taking, intimidation, fights – all in a residential area of a British city. Yet the film also has moments of great humour, and the family dynamics between young Buddy, his parents, his brother and especially his grandparents (played so beautifully by Ciaran Hinds and an almost unrecognisable Judi Dench) are particularly touching. It’s quite a short film and I am so glad we watched it. It’s currently on Netflix, here in the UK at least.
I’ve started watching the second series of KEEPING FAITH – but Jeff, I think you said it wasn’t very good, and I wasn’t gripped by the first episode. I’ll watch the second and then decide if it’s worth continuing.
On Sunday I will be off to Edinburgh again, this time to cat sit for Anna. I’m planning to meet up with a couple of friends down there, but apart from that I’m hoping it will be a good opportunity to get on with more reading and writing. Before that, on Saturday, my friend Heather and I are going to LOST IN MUSIC, ONE NIGHT AT THE DISCO. a tribute concert to acts like Sister Sledge, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Earth Wind & Fire and several more. I think it will be fun.
Our son and his wife have now arrived in Auckland for their month’s holiday in New Zealand. They want to see the locations from The Lord of the Rings, and probably also do lots of outdoorsy things. My friend Nancy’s daughter is spending the month in Japan. These young people like to travel – I suppose I did back then! Now I’m quite happy staying in Scotland.
Time for dinner so I will stop for now. Have a good week everyone.
Hi Rosemary, whenever you get the chance to read this. Stay safe and dry. I’m glad you didn’t walk by the Dee. Waters are rising here, too. So much rain!
I thin everyone is going to Japan lately. My nephew went for the Sapporo Ice Festival in February. Kim Hays is in Japan, as is author Edith Maxwell. Every time I see a post about travel, it seems someone is heading for Japan. Funny. I never had an interest in going there, and even after seeing my nephew’s photos, it still doesn’t interest me.
Give Charlie a hug for me!
I read Georgette Heyer’s romances, but never read her mysteries. I was at the right age for the romances.
Rosemary, I see that you and I both chose THEY FOUND HIM DEAD by Georgette Heyer for the 1937 Club. I hope you end up liking it. I had read two of her other mystery novels, so I knew what to expect, and I was very happy with it. There are a lot of characters, but I found many of them very entertaining. I am sure your review of it will be better than mine, and I look forward to seeing it when you post it.
TracyK at Bitter Tea and Mystery
Oh I’m quite sure it won’t be Tracy! I so often start to write a review thinking ‘I just have NOTHING to say about this book’ – then I get the first line done and continue to witter on with gay abandon. I often check sites like The Guardian for their reviews of a book I’m reading, and I am truly humbled by their insights.
The Guardian review of NORA WEBSTER was, I think, by Tessa Hadley, and she had seen so much more in it than I had.
How funny that we both chose the same book for the 1937 club. I have a few others on my list for if I get time – two British Library Crime Classics (BATS IN THE BELFRY and THE CHELTENHAM SQUARE MURDER)- but I don’t always get on too well with the BLCC choices. Listening to SHEDUNNIT has, however, given me insights about the background and context of some of these novels, which should make them more interesting.
I also have two children’s books on my list; MARY PLAIN ON HOLIDAY (I think I worked my way through every one of this series as a child, courtesy of the Bromley Children’s Library) and THE FAMILY FROM ONE END STREET – which I have reread so often, and have almost certainly written about for some challenge or other, so I should probably avoid that one really.
Will you read any more books for this month’s club?
Rosemary, That is very interesting that you mentioned the possibility of reading BATS IN THE BELFRY and THE CHELTENHAM SQUARE MURDER. I have both of those books but did not realize that they were published in 1937, because they originally my husband’s books, and I have not yet entered them in my cataloging system. BATS IN THE BELFRY is by E.C.R. Lorac and I did like the one book I have read by that author. So if I had known about that one, I might have given it preference over the Heyer book. THE CHELTENHAM SQUARE MURDER is by John Bude and I haven’t read any of his books yet.
I don’t have plans to read another book for the 1937 Club. I would not have time to review it in that time frame. One year I read and reviewed four books for one of the clubs, and another time I did two, but mostly I stick to one book, especially recently.
I’m always ridiculously over ambitious Tracy. I do enjoy ferreting out the relevant books, but I set myself up to fail every time, as I simply cannot read at the speed Simon & Kaggsy do. I think they must have much more focus than I do – and Kaggsy is still working full time (I think.)
Just when I think it might be spring, a weather alert appears – “A strong cold front is moving through the Sierra and western NV through Thursday, bringing gusty winds, much colder temperatures, and chances for snow showers.” I can already hear the wind blowing. Oh well, plenty of books awaiting.
I just finished a new historical fiction from Christina Henriquez, THE GREAT DIVIDE which personalizes the story of the construction of the Panama Canal. Using fictional representatives of people who lived and labored there, it gives this grand engineering feat a human focus. A place where from 1907 to 1913 steam shovels had names, but people were replaceable. These interwoven stories made history more accessible to me than numbers of dollars and cubic yards.
Oh, I agree, MM. History comes alive for me, too, through novels, not through facts and figures.
Stay safe. Your weather sounds lousy. I’m ready for spring!
Good morning. We’ve had heavy rain and road closures herein NJ the past couple of days. Fortunately we’re higher up. I didn’t manage to finish anything this week. I’m still dealing with trying to figure out a permanent care solution for my mom. Trying to find an affordable solution is tough. She wants to go home but I just don’t see it happening.
I’m about a third of the way through C.J. Box’s latest Joe Pickett book, THREE-INCH TEETH, about a grizzly that’s attacking and killing humans.
Oh, Sandy. I’m sending hugs. I haven’t faced what you’re going through with your Mom, but I know it isn’t easy. Don’t forget to give yourself some down time. I do know it can be hard to take care of someone.
Sandy, I am sending empathy. My mother is still managing in sheltered housing, but so many of my friends are in your position, and it is so hard. One of my closest friends is also having to deal with the same thing for her much older sister – who doesn’t even live in the UK, so that’s really complicated. My friend is the only surviving family member, and feels so responsible and so anxious about it all.
In the UK the only real option for funding, unless you are very wealthy, is the sale of the family home. I find films like QUARTET so annoying, when they imply that any retired person can simply move into a super luxury care home and have a wonderful time. Here, at least, there is such a shortage of carers that homes are frequently understaffed too. It’s such a complex and challenging problem, and one that every government we have had in the past few years has promised to address, then completely ignored.
I do wish you the very best of luck in finding the best solution for your mother.
We’ve had a pretty nice spring so far here in Williamsburg which is nice for all the tourists and school groups who visit. Plenty of rain but this morning the sun is out and the birds are singing.
I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy of The Dark Wives. I am such a fan of everything Ann Cleves writes and I really enjoyed it. We are flying to Dallas today to visit family and watch the eclipse so I am finally getting around to starting the Samuel Craddock mystery series by Terry Shames which is set in small town Texas. Only a few chapters into A Killing At Cotton Hill and am enjoying it. I see she has written 10 books in the series.
Oh, Williamsburg in the spring must be beautiful, Susan. I’ve been there in the summer a couple times.
I hope you enjoy Terry Shames’ Samuel Craddock books. I just like Samuel Craddock as a character.
My daughter and her family visited for a few days. We drove to Louisville and toured Churchill Downs and the Louisville bat factory.
We got the same rain you had on Tuesday. Now it is cold with on and off rain in Cincinnati.
I finished A Grave Robbery by Deanna Rayborn. I did not love it as much as you did Lesa. I think I am tired of Veronica but this was one of the better entries in the series.
Next I read the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. A real page turner about an old time Hollywood star from the 50’s.
My highlight of the week was Murder in Masquerade by Mary Winters. I hope there are more adventures with Simon and Amelia. This was just as charming as the first book.
I have never read any of the Vera Stanhope books but I love the series on Britbox.
Happy Reading!
Sharon, I’ve only seen a couple episodes of Vera, but with Brenda Blethyn in at role, that’s exactly how I picture her when I read the books.
I hope my sister liked Murder in Masquerade as much as you did. She really liked the first book, too.
I can understand. I might be almost there with Veronica as well, but I’m hanging in there.
At least our weather might be a little better next week – a little warmer, anyways!
Good morning! As a member of the Harris Center (performing arts), I was among those invited to the dress rehearsal of Cabaret (for free), presented by Folsom Lake Community College. Those of us who chose to go sat in the balcony (a first for me). Before the show, four of the actresses each sang a modern song, which was fun. The show itself started 15 minutes late. Cabaret isn’t my favorite musical, but I do like the music. At 9:15 (90 minutes later) the intermission was announced. After a few minutes, someone told us that they didn’t expect it to go this late (they said it would end at 9:00, which can never happen with a musical), and the ushers working the balcony wanted to go home. We had the choice of sitting downstairs, which was largely empty, or going home. I chose to latter. Interesting experience.
For my reading week, I finished my usual 3 books:
I found Allison Winn Scotch’s new romcom, TAKE TWO, BIRDIE MAXWELL, to be an entertaining read. Birdie, now a world-famous movie star, and Elliot, a Pulitzer-nominated international journalist, were childhood buddies. Elliott’s twin sister, Mona, was Birdie’s best friend, and the three of them spent many pleasant hours together. But, unbeknownst to each other or Mona, Elliott and Birdie always shared a mutual attraction. After their careers both took off, they went their separate ways, getting together just once for a weekend hookup that ends unsatisfactorily for both. When Birdie has a screaming match on set with the director of her movie, she finds herself suddenly out of a job, out of a career, and out of her former fans’ graces, to say the least. Fleeing to her former home in humble Barton, California, she unexpectedly reunites with Elliot, who is having career struggles of his own. When he hears that Birdie has discovered an unsigned love letter from an ex who wants her back, he and Birdie devise a plan to visit each of her exes in turn to find out who wrote the letter, with Elliot writing about their adventures . Their goal: to restore the public’s support and love for Birdie and to reinvigorate Elliot’s career. Of course, it’s not as easy as they hope, with further embarrassment and mishaps on both sides. It’s clear that the reader is meant to cheer for Birdie and Elliot to end up together, but I had a difficult time engaging with either character. I would have liked more background on both to clarify why they should–or could–succeed as a couple. I will say, however, that the ending is quite spectacular and satisfying. I also liked several of the supporting characters, such as Mona, Birdie’s sister Andie, and most of her exes (with one major exception). It’s not one of my favorite romcoms, but I enjoyed reading it.
THE NEXT MRS. PARRISH by Liv Constantine is a sequel to The Last Mrs. Parrish, which I read in 2017 and very much enjoyed. Both books are psychological thrillers, and while it helps to read them in order, it isn’t mandatory. There is enough callback in the new book to allow new readers (or those, like me, who can’t remember the particulars of the plot after 7 years, to jump right in. I’m thinking, however, that my tastes have changed quite a bit over the last 7 years. I’ve never been a huge thriller fan, but I now look for more nuance in the characters and more sophistication in the plot, and this one didn’t meet my expectations. Amber, whose husband, Jackson, is just out of prison for tax evasion, and Jackson himself, have absolutely no redeeming qualities. There’s nothing they won’t do to get the things they feel they rightfully deserve, regardless of whom they have to demolish in the process. On one hand, I have to admire the authors (two sisters) for creating characters that are easy to hate and capable of totally stressing out the reader, but on the other, it just seemed too easy. Jackson’s ex-wife, Daphne, just wants to keep Jackson out of her life, after he maneuvered her into being institutionalized for fraudulent reasons and terrorized one of their daughters about her lack of reading skills. Why, then, did she naively get involved once again when her older daughter wanted a relationship with her father? There is one person I could root for, and that is Daisy Ann, who was not in the previous book. She is single-minded in her quest to prove that Amber killed her father, and she is not above using devious ways to achieve her goal. I enjoyed Daphne’s two daughters as well. It all seemed too familiar, too predictable, and at times too repetitive, so I won’t be looking for the next sequel, if one is planned. However, I will definitely consider a different kind of book from these talented authors. (June)
David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter mysteries are the most satisfying legal thrillers I’ve ever read, bar none (no pun intended). I’ve said that since the series began in 2008, and I still feel that way about book #29, DOG DAY AFTERNOON. Not only does Rosenfelt always come up with cases that seem impossible to win, but he does it with irresistible style and humor. And the fact that he is able to do it without being an attorney himself and manages to maintain the quality of each series entry is even more impressive. As series fans know, Andy is independently wealthy and doesn’t have to take any cases at all–in fact, he’d rather not. But when someone close to him asks him to take on a client, he can’t say no. This time it’s Marcus, Andy’s investigator and superhuman bodyguard. Marcus is a man of (very) few words, but he knows that Nick, a young man he is mentoring, couldn’t possibly have shot and killed six employees at the legal firm where he works as a handyman and delivery driver. But a recognizable tattoo, some colorful shoes, and the killer’s knowledge of a witness’s nickname make Nick the prime suspect, especially since he disappeared for several days following the mass shootings. I always look forward to spending time with Andy, the snarky but brilliant narrator, and his team. Among my favorites are the incomparable Marcus himself, plus a skilled hacker who would rather be a gun-carrying investigator and some his small team of sharp senior citizen hackers, and Andy’s devoted and savvy wife, a cop-turned-investigator. Then there are Andy’s three dogs, each with its own personality, and the golden retriever rescue organization that Andy started with a friend. Finally, the courtroom scenes are seemingly authentic and exquisitely suspenseful, added to the team’s painstaking, step-by-step method of discovering the truth and ultimately saving the client from a life in prison. I envy you if you have not read these books–you have 29 waiting for you, and at least one coming later in the year. Enjoy! ( July)
Margie I need to check out the Andy Carpenter series. Sounds like fun. And 29 books!
Margie, I agree with you. Cabaret isn’t my favorite musical, but I saw it with Alan Cumming and he was wonderful. I think I would have left when you did, though. But, it sounds like a fun experience!
I’ve always been on the fence with the Andy Carpenter mysteries. I’ve never read them, but I also don’t care about legal novels at all, so I’m not sure. Someday, I should just bite the bullet and try the first one. I love the book jackets! Have you heard David Rosenfelt talk about them? I know he used to live in California. I think it’s interesting his publisher sends him the photo for the book jacket, and then he writes about that dog.
Oh Lesa, you should’ve seen the London production we saw last year, with Jake Shears and Rebecca Lucy Taylor! It was one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen. Jake was so, so good as the EmCee, I loved every minute of it. Even David, who doesn’t like musicals, enjoyed it a lot. It was so exciting to feel like really were in the KitKat Club – the London Playhouse Theatre was done up to feel exactly like that, you entered via a seedy fire escape, were given a drink as you arrived, and were treated just as though you were in a nightclub, with actors performing in the foyer beforehand, and mingling with the audience (downstairs) before the show.
Madeleine and her friend saw it last month with new actors in the two lead roles, and still l enjoyed it a lot. It’s such a good production.
Margie, I haven’t read any books in David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter mystery series, but I have a copy of OPEN AND SHUT, the first book in the series. I have had it for quite a while, and based on your praise for the series, I should give it a try. Like Lesa, I haven’t read many legal mysteries, but it is never too late to get started.
Margie – I was excited when I saw that our library system had two David Rosenfelt books, but I see now they are both non fiction books about life with his dogs – would you recommend these?
And with the Andy Carpenter series, do you need to read them in order?
I’ve read around 20 of the Andy Carpenter books, and a couple from the spin off. They’re page turners, but there’s no way I could read two in a row.
We had heavy rain. It sounded like popcorn on the roof so there must have been a lot of hail at the beginning!
Now, I have started God Save Texas by Lawrence Wright. Understand how Texas works now, Quick money, greed, forget about the environment. Want to read all the rest of his books.
I don’t understand Texas at all, but your summary of Wright’s book sounds perfect, Carol.
I hope you’re doing okay.
We had a Thanksgiving meal for Easter – turkey, dressing, and all the fixings. We finished the last of it yesterday, so back to cooking again. It was nice while it lasted!
I finished reading “Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice” by Elle Cosimano. Finlay and Vero are at it again. This time they are off to Atlantic City to find Javi, who was kidnapped in Book 3. Under the guise of a girl’s weekend, they try to take off without any additional baggage, but soon Finlay’s mother has invited herself along, as has Steven, the ex-husband, who won’t let Finlay take the children across state lines without accompanying them. With the whole gang in Atlantic City, soon joined by Finlay’s police boyfriend Nick, her cop sister with her significant other, and Charlie, the crooked cop from Book 3, mayhem ensues as everyone is looking for mob bad guys, missing cars, and a thumb drive that holds the key to a fortune. And, of course, there are dead bodies that must be disposed of! Lots of fun – a mixture of “Weekend at Bernie’s” and “Lucy and Ethel”. I devoured the book in two days.
I also read “In True Faith: A Woman’s Life in the CIA, Unmasked” by Jonna Mendez, based on Lesa’s recommendation. Since she already reviewed it, I will just add a few comments here. First of all, I think that this is a must read for any woman in today’s workforce to appreciate how misogynistic workplaces were in the past. Not that there still aren’t cases like this today, but opportunities are certainly more plentiful now than before. I also was so impressed with Jonna’s will to persevere through anything that was thrown at her, including 2 1/2 days of training where she was treated like a hostage and stowed away into increasingly smaller spaces trying to break her (she admitted to being claustrophobic prior to the training). As an aside, I wish that the photos that were included at the start of each chapter had instead been inserted in a glossy centerfold section. They were so small and too grainy to really be appreciated. Thanks for the recommendation, Lesa!
Your welcome about the CIA book, Mary. Totally agree with you about the pictures. That’s probably the problem since the book wasn’t published by one of the big publishers. But, it was a fascinating book, wasn’t it?
I love Thanksgiving food! Sounds good to me.
Hi all! It has been 40 and pouring rain here as well, which is my least favorite weather. I also finished the latest Veronica Speedwell book by Deanna Raybourne this week, which was fine and fun. The best book I finished this week was Margaret Renkl’s LATE MIGRATIONS: A NATURAL HISTORY OF LOVE AND LOSS, which is a series of essays reflecting on the circle of life as seen in the birds and other animals in her backyard and from her position as mother and daughter. It was beautiful and poignant. I have her pandemic book queued up next.
Oh, a pandemic book. I’m always interested, Trisha, to see how authors handle those.
I know. Just damp and cold enough with the rain that it always feels as if you can’t get warm. Blah. I hope spring will finally be here next week.
Margie I am right there with you on the Rosenfelt books!! I really enjoy them on Audible. The reader for Andy is so good. His spin off series,
The K. Team, has all the same characters and is also good.
Margie I am right there with you on the Rosenfelt books!! I really enjoy them on Audible. The reader for Andy is so good. His spin off series,
The K. Team, has all the same characters and is also good.
We had a good bit of rain last weekend and it was very welcome. Other than that we haven’t been doing much, although there is a lot of spring cleaning indoors and weeding outdoors in my future.
I am far behind on the Vera Stanhope series. The last one I read was HIDDEN DEPTHS, #3 in the series, and that was in 2018. I have enjoyed the books I have read and I think I have a copy of #4, SILENT VOICES. I will try to get to it sometime this year.
I read two books in the last week. The first was THE GLASS HOTEL by Emily St. John Mandel. I enjoyed Mandel’s book; it was the second one I have read. Last night I finished THEY FOUND HIM DEAD by Georgette Heyer. This is third one of her mystery novels that I have read, and it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it even more than I expected.
Glen is now reading LOST HOUSES OF BRITAIN by Anna Sproule. It is more about the families and only tangentially about the houses. And it must be very obscure because it has no ratings or reviews on Goodreads. He is liking it.
A little snow at our house overnight and for the next couple of days. I’m on a poetry kick with a few collections on my night stand. And watching the streaming of A Man in Moscow which I give very high marks.
And, Kaye? I know you don’t care if it takes winter a little while to let go as you’re tucked in with the ones you love and poetry. Hugs, my sister.
It’s raining again. A little late, but I remember when it rained on the Fourth of July.
Easter was sunny. It pretty nice with a lot of great food. I now have two book clubs.
The pre-teens read Night of the Vanishing Lights by Lee Roddy; A teen mystery book set in Hawaii. It’s no Three Investigators, but it isn’t too bad for this kind of thing.
The younger ones read Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots by Debbie Dadey; A couple thought it was scary. When I was a kid we sought out scares, and monsters and such. Today’s kids seem way too coddled.
Also The Story of Jonah by Alice Joyce Davidson; We got into a big debate over whether the fish was a whale or not.
For myself, I read:
Cthulu 2000: Stories by Jim Turner (ed); It’s a bunch of Lovecraftian stories. The first one, about The Jersey Devil is the best. A little Lovecraft goes a long way with me.
The Wealth Seeker by Maxwell Grant; One of The Shadow paperbacks. Gangsters keep trying to rob a philanthropist. Pretty small stakes for The Shadow, I thought.
Glen, I love it that you’re doing book clubs with the young ones in your family. I’m sure it’s fun!
And, you’re right, a little Lovecraft goes a long way.
OK, I’m here! Jackie had to go to the eye doctor this morning, I got a late start (7:15 instead of my usual 6, a real lie-in for me), then I dropped her off and picked her up, then we went for brunch (which was crowded with Easter Week kids out of school), then more shopping and then home to catch up, We got home from Florida on Saturday afternoon and unpacked by Sunday, and have been catching up since, including getting a NYS Inspection for the new car, plus another doctor’s appointment for Jackie. And tomorrow we have to go to the city so the eye doctor can do what he characterized as a “five minute” repair on one of her cataracts (cloudy vision). Then we’ll be done for a while. And yes, the weather! After some rain late Tuesday, yesterday was a horror – low 40s, torrential rains, heavy duty winds (up to 50-60 mph gusts in the area), thunder & lightning, etc. And it was COLD when we went out this morning, especially after three months in Florida.
But we’re back and I’m here. I did read 27 books in the three months away, not as much as hoped but not bad. Seven of them were non fiction, and 11 of the 20 fiction books were short story collections ,a total of 147 stories read.
Jackie is reading the latest J R. Ward book (Mine) and has two more library books on her Kindle, by Kelley Armstrong and Jayne Ann Krentz. I have the Steven F. Havill book waiting for pickup and three more In Treansit.
Yes, I did manage some reading this week. First was Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, set in small town Illinois where her Lucy Barton came from, and Barton is in one of the stories, are are other members of her family and people who knew her,
Death Comes Last: The Rest of the 1950s by Gil Brewer is a collection of his pulpish noir stories. Easy reading. I’ve read three of his collections.
Raul and Rita in ‘It’s a Wonderful Wife’ by Richie Narvaez was the free Christmas chapbook/story sent to subscribers by Crippen & Landru. It was OK, no more.
Currently reading the new C& L collection, this one originally published in France in 1937, The Secret of the Pointed Tower by Pierre Very (1900-60), a shoort, interesting collection of stories translated by mystery writer Tom Mead. They are very odd little tales, told with a sense of humor.
I read a good review somewhere of Northwoods by Amy Pease, a nurse practitioner who is supposedly a national expert on HIV. This is a first novel set in a northern Wisconsin resort town with a very small police presence. Eli North is not the same since he returned from Afghanistan with PTSD. It destroyed his marriage and he is close to suicidal at times. He lost his job as a game warden, the only thing keeping him going, not through any fault of his own but due to budget cuts, and the only job he can hold down is a Sheriff’s deputy, and that because the Sheriff is his mother. Now he discovered the dead body of a teenager in a small boat on the lake, and it looks like the drug epidemic is the major culprit here. At least it isn’t human trafficking. We’ll have to see where it goes, but I’m enjoying it so far. In between, I also started the next Cynthia Harrod-Eagles Bill Slider book, Blood Never Dies, which starts with the discovery of a dead body in a bathtub with his throat cut – and apparently not by his own hand.
Now to read all of your comments. Have a good week.
Jeff I read Anything Is Possible earlier this year and just marveled that Strout had visions for the characters that were just background in her original novels. I thoroughly enjoyed although many of the stories were sad.
I’m sure this weather is a shock after Florida. It’s not fun, at all. I’m hoping next week is a little warmer, Jeff, and with less “weather”.
I’m sure you’re glad you’re back in your NY routine. Tell Jackie I said hi.
I am late to check in…..
Print is DARK IN DEATH by JD Robb in large print via the library.
eBook is DARK STORN RISING by Linda Castillo where Kate Burkholder and Tomasetti just got married, are on their honeymoon, and are getting pulled into a mess. This is the new short story release in advance of the new book this summer.
The weather has been clear, sunny, and warm and would be great for the eclipse. I have said for many months now that we will never see it here in Dallas as I have lived here all my life, it is in April which is one of the worst cloud times, and we always miss celestial stuff because of weather issues. I figured thick cloud cover, a tornado watch, and severe storms firing to our west.
Not that I was going to rent the place out anyway here in NE Dallas, but I had folks trying to offer me 1K a night to rent the house. Hotel rates are damn near that across the area according to the media, and the occupancy rate is better than when the Final Four was here or the Superbowl. Grocery stores are being hammered like we have a winter weather event coming.
Current forecast is for storms tomorrow night around midnight. Some clearing on Sunday with clouds moving in Sunday evening and gradually thickening on Monday. The kids that read the weather promise we will have high clouds for sure. There is disagreement if the low clouds off the Gulf will get here before or after the eclipse.
There is pretty much universal agreement that that things will go downhill after the event is over with showers followed by the threat of severe weather Monday THRU Wednesday night. Supposed to be in waves. Some of the models are now predicting 3-5 inches of rain and that means power issues, travel issues, and flooding in all the usual places.
And that is going to happen after the Human sacrifices that, according to some on my NextDoor feed, will happen Monday afternoon as many will get possessed by demons. (Not kidding.)
After having days of warning from the authorities that there will be some impacts on the grid (no sun means no solar energy production and for some reason this short period is way worse than nights are as far as impacts on the grid), traffic issues, population surge, and all the other fear mongering being done, Scott and I made the decision to treat it like a winter weather event. Stock up on supplies, hit the library and clear the shelf, gas the car, and get back home and hide more so than normal from the world. And that was before they started scare stories about the potential multi day severe weather outbreak. I could live happily ever after if I never hear another word about large hail –which is now defined this year as anything bigger than two inches across— and tornadoes.
Hopefully, we get to see it and then afterwards all we get is a lot of rain here at our place in NE Dallas. We are on high ground, we have books and food, and we await whatever happens.
I get it, Kevin. Not as bad as you do, but I was already planning to hide out. I just need to get gas tomorrow after I take my sister to pick up her car at the garage.
In the meantime, I like your book choices for this week!
You and Scott stay in, and stay safe.
Hi Lesa,
Our library was closed Friday and Saturday, I took Thursday off also for a 4-day weekend. Didn’t get nearly enough actual reading time though. Quiet Easter Sunday after church. We did get quite a bit of rain in NC Tuesday but not as bad as some. My current reads are You’d look better as a ghost (audio) by Joanna Wallace. Print is She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica and kindle is an e-arc of Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz.
Katherine, Yes, my friend, Kaye, had snow in the mountains of North Carolina. I know she likes it, though.
I like the title of your audio, You’d Look Better as a Ghost. That title does jump out.
Have a good week!