This was a busy week of reading for Library Journal, so I didn’t get out much. Dinner and games at my sister’s last night. Saturday, I’m going to the launch party for Connie Berry’s new Kate Hamilton mystery, A Collection of Lies.
Then, next week, my sister, Linda, and I are driving to Toronto to see Ramin Karimloo (my Broadway idol) in concert, doing Broadway songs with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Before we talk about books, I want you to put your thinking caps on. At the beginning of July, I do a post listing my favorite books of the first half of the year. I’ll do it again this year, but thought you might want to join in. I know the first Thursday is July 4. If you’re interested, you can participate on the 4th or the 11th. You might want to think about your favorite 3 to 5 books you’ve read so far this year. My list always changes by the end of the year, when I find others I like. But, it’s fun to look back. I’ll remind you again next week!
In the meantime, I’m reading a galley from NetGalley of J.D. Robb’s 59th In Death novel, Passions in Death. I really started out to read something else last night, but started this one, and I’m a third of the way through it. For me, it’s hard to beat J.D. Robb’s Eve Dallas books as page turners. The book comes out on Sept. 3.
“On a hot August night, Lt. Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, speed through the streets of Manhattan to the Down and Dirty club, where a joyful, boisterous pre-wedding girls’ night out has turned into a murder scene. One of the brides lies in a pool of blood, garroted in a private room where she was preparing a surprise for her fiancée—two scrimped and saved-for tickets to Hawaii.”
Love this series.
What about you? What have you been doing this week besides avoiding the heat? What are you reading?
The Burning by Linda Castillo.
Love Linda Castillo’s Kate Burkholder series!
I am SO jealous!!!!!!
I’m sorry, Kaye. I got one of those “invitations” to read. But, you’ve already read the next in the Nora Roberts series!
I wish I could share. That’s what happens when you only get a galley, and not a print ARC. I can’t share!
o, it’s okay, Lesa. .
Teasing! Enjoy!!! ❤❤
Not a whole lot to report from here – went to have my eyes ‘measured’ in preparation for cataract surgery a month or so from now (am trying to be brave about it). Visited friends of ours for dinner and an evening of canasta. Also visited my brother who lives an hour’s drive away from me; had breakfast out that way at Sunflower Cafe – delicious food; they provide the catering for all the in-flight meals for The Canucks, Vancouver’s hockey team. My brother had many stories to tell about his recent time in New Orleans as he was invited to play guitar at the New Orleans Jazz Festival in two different bands of good friends of his who live there. He had a marvellous time; both bands were zydeco music. He has his own band here, also zydeco.
I read two books this week.
SUMMER ROMANCE by Annabel Monaghan (the author’s previous books were Nora Goes Off Script which I liked very much, and Same Time Next Summer). While I did enjoy reading Summer Romance, I liked it the least of the three.
Ali, a mom of three children, has a lot to deal with. She’s still trying to come to terms with her grief after her beloved mother died two years ago. Her marriage is on the verge of being over. She’s a professional organizer, yet her own life is a bit of a mess and in all the busyness and headache she has lost sight of who she is as her own person. Ali meets Ethan and feels an instant connection to this nice man. She gives herself permission to have some fun and determines to have a summer fling with him while he’s in town and go back to her ordinary live after summer is over.
I generally like the author’s romances because relatable real-life types of problems are always part of the story, making for a more substantial and ‘unfluffy’ contemporary romance novel, which in turn makes the romantic aspect a more meaningful part of the novels. This book disappointed me somewhat though because the two main characters felt underdeveloped. Or maybe the dialogue didn’t always ring true. Whatever the reasons, I didn’t find Ali and Ethan as engaging as I wanted to. Some of the secondary characters were more convincingly portrayed.
HOW TO AGE DISGRACEFULLY by Clare Pooley (author of The Authenticity Project and of Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting) was hugely enjoyable and was my favourite of the three, which is saying something because I loved them all.
Daphne is a woman with a secret past; she has no friends, is feeling lonely, and on her seventieth birthday resolves to remedy this situation and so finds herself checking out the local community centre’s Senior Citizens Social Club. The club is run by Lydia, a woman in her fifties who is looking for something to do now that her children are grown, and ends up being totally out of her depth with a feisty group of six seniors who are nothing like she had in mind. The community centre itself is rundown and the city council seems to be eagerly looking forward to tearing it down and having it redeveloped into housing, despite it being well-used by various community groups who depend on it.
I defy anyone to read the prologue (I read it twice just so I could enjoy it again, and laughed just as much the second time) and not end up wanting to read the rest of the book, if only to find out how on earth this is all going to tie together. This ever so funny, yet in many ways profound book, is filled to the brim with eccentric, sometimes flawed, lovable characters that you end up caring deeply for. How they deal with what life’s thrown at them and how they come to look after themselves, each other, and their community makes for a wonderfully entertaining story and is the book I’ve enjoyed the most so far this year.
Lindy, we definitely agree on the new Clare Pooley book (my review below)–absolutely wonderful, as are her two previous books. It’s one that I preordered from B&N when they had their 25% discount sale on preorders, since I can’t get the publisher to approve me on NetGalley, but it was well worth it. I couldn’t wait to read it, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Lindy and Margie I agree about Clare Pooley’s newest book. I have loved all 3 of her books and that rarely happens for me. She writes such great characters. I highly recommend them.
How exciting for your brother Lindy! My husband was once asked (at the last minute) to take the photos at a session at the Islay Jazz Festival, and he was so thrilled by this that he still talks about it.
How to Age Disgracefully sounds great, I have added it to my TBR and was surprised to find that Aberdeen City Library Service actually has it on order. Thank you for telling us about it.
First, do NOT worry about the cataract surgery. Jackie had both of her eyes done last year, and there was no problem. It went quickly, recovery time was nil, and she said the difference on the first eye was startling. She can read without glasses now (as long as she makes the print on the Kindle big enough!).
Second, very cool about your brother! We were at Jazzfest 7 straight years (2006-2012), and we love zydeco. I can see why he was so excited.
I agree Jeff, several people I know have had cataract surgery, including my mother, and all say it was very straightforward and they are so glad they got it done. I think the procedures have improved a lot over the years.
I have had cataract surgery for both eyes, it went great!
Thanks for the encouragement! I appreciate it.
You talked me into it, Lindy. I put a hold on How to Age Disgracefully at the library. I’ll just keep my library account open while I read the blog postings today.
That’s so great that your brother played at the New Orleans Jazz Festival! I love it when people get to share their passion with others.
Haha Lesa. I have access to my library and 2 e book sites. I have learned to keep all 3 tabs open on Thursdays at Lesa’s. Of course then the holds start flooding in.
Thanks for the heads up about a new book by Clare Pooley! It’s now on my TBR list!
Lindy, as noted below in my comment, I had my first cataract surgery Tuesday morning. My recovery has been better and faster than I anticipated, but there have been some bumps where I had a hard time focusing on anything. Even though my vision in the eye operated on was blurry all day Tuesday, I was able to read with reading glasses Tuesday night (I was amazed); Wednesday I experienced a good bit of tiredness and lack of focus in my vision, but by evening I could read a book with reading glasses and do some things on the computer (with no glasses at all). I am still tired today but my eyes are better than I expected overall.
I am glad to hear that you liked HOW TO AGE DISGRACEFULLY by Clare Pooley; I enjoyed Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting but wasn’t sure whether to try this new one. Now I will.
Thank you Tracy for telling me about your cataract surgery. Very good of you! It gives me a bit of an idea of what I can reasonably expect. I don’t know why I’m such a wimp about it; probably because when my mother had it done (many years ago) her vision got much worse and they didn’t even attempt the second eye. Anyway, thanks very much again for sharing your experience.
Hello, Lesa and fellow contributors! Today my son got an angiogram as a routine part of being on the kidney transplant list and unexpectedly learned that he needs a double bypass to stay on the list. We had no idea. Gotta go with the flow, I guess. I hate to see him go through more medical stuff, but he has been able to roll with the punches. It was a long day at the hospital, though.
I shared one book with Lindy this week, and the third book was read entirely at the hospital today.
No one writes heartwarming books about unrelated people coming together to succeed against all odds than British author Clare Pooley. Her latest, HOW TO AGE DISGRACEFULLY, caught my attention from the first chapter, when a bus full of members of the Senior Citizens’ Social Club, along with the club’s coordinator, one teenager, a baby, a toddler, and an old dog is stopped by the police. Several of the nervous passengers start to confess their (illegal) sins, but the person the police constable is really looking for has already escaped from the bus without a trace. We soon discover that the community building that houses the club, in addition to a daycare center and other groups, is scheduled to be sold, leaving them with nowhere to meet. The seniors are a motley crew of eccentrics. Art is a failed actor who has been stealing small things for years and hasn’t seen his daughter for decades. Anna has (suspiciously?) survived five husbands to date, and Ruby is a militant yarn bomber. Daphne, the most recent member to join the club, is a wealthy, intimidating woman with a secret past who scorns most people and hasn’t ventured out of her house in a long time. Lydia, the middle-aged woman hired to lead the Social Club, has been belittled and cuckolded by her husband and can’t help thinking it’s all her fault, and 18-year-old Ziggy depends on the center’s daycare to allow him to attend school. They all start thinking of ways to save their meeting place, which has become important to their lives, and to relieve Lydia of her horrible spouse and Ziggy of the trouble he can’t seem to avoid. Every one of the characters is unique and memorable, most of them undergoing development throughout the story, and the ultimate bond between them is inspiring. The seniors, especially, are treated sensitively and with respect as valuable individuals. Along the way, there are crazy creative ideas, unexpected close relationships, and a lot of humor. This will go on my favorites list for 2024. Pooley’s The Authenticity Project and Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting are also delightful. ”
I was unfamiliar with author Kristen Bailey, but I was happy to discover that she has quite a deft hand with contemporary romance. The two protagonists, Zoe and Jack, are well drawn and relatable. They meet at a friend’s summer wedding and find they enjoy talking together and getting to know each other casually. Zoe, age 43, is a popular math teacher with two teenagers at home. Jack, at 29, is still deciding what he wants to be when he grows up–a trained botanist, he has spent years helping his brother raise his two small boys after the untimely death of their mother, while taking unchallenging jobs. After the summer is over, the two meet again at Zoe’s high school, where Jack is hired as a substitute teacher. They click again, but in the interim, Zoe is having trouble coming to terms with her husband’s betrayal, and they are headed for divorce. It’s clear that Zoe and Jack are great together, but is their age difference insurmountable, and do they want the same things? I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the couple–both alone and together–and their supportive friends. All of their children are realistic and pleasantly spoiled. Both Zoe and Jack–and especially Jack–stand out as memorable characters. I will definitely be looking for more by Kristen Bailey. (July)
Housemaid Willa Noble is the perfect foil to narrate Amanda Flower’s engrossing Emily Dickinson Mysteries. In the second, I HEARD A FLY BUZZ WHEN I DIED, Willa is again called upon by Emily to accompany her on her forays into investigating a murder. As imagined by the author, Emily is the black sheep of the Dickinson family, speaking her own mind way more than most wealthy young ladies of the era, mid mid-1850s.. This time, there is another real-life character–renowned author Ralph Waldo Emerson–in the mix. Emerson is hosted by Emily’s brother and his new bride when he delivers lectures in Amherst, Massachusetts, and it is at one of the family’s dinners that Emerson’s secretary Luther suddenly takes ill and ultimately succumbs to a type of poison. Luther turns out to be an unsavory character so there is no dearth of suspects in his death. Another author, Louisa May Alcott, also plays a small part in the story. I found this series entry slightly less satisfying than the first, probably since the novelty of the premise had worn off for me, but there is still a lot to admire in a low-key story that highlights the personalities of both Emily and Willa, the customs of the time, and skillful writing. The third in the series is due next February.
Margie, I am so sorry to hear about your son’s latest health challenges. My son seems to encounter similar things – having now got a (very succesful) stoma to deal with his ulcerative colitis, he has now been diagnosed with auto immune hepatitis. This can, thankfully, be controlled with medication, but this is, of course, not without its side effects. One thing just seems to lead to another, doesn’t it? I do wish your son, and you, the very best in dealing with this latest issue.
Hoping for best for your son, hope he eventually gets the kidney transplant!
Margie, I agree with you about the second book in Amanda Flower’s series. I don’t know that I’m going to read the third.
I’m sorry to hear about your son. He’s had a rough couple years, and it doesn’t sound as if he’s going to get a break. I’m glad he’s able to keep his spirits up. I’m sure it isn’t easy for him.
Margie, and Rosemary too, I’m sorry to read about the health issues of both your sons. It’s the hardest thing in the world to have to watch your children go through difficult things and not be able to fix anything for them.
Margie, thinking of you and sending you and your son goof thoughts. ❤
I’ll try to list a couple of books, Lesa!
This week, I went to another concert, a Bee Gee tribute at the Hard Rock Casino. It was a great time. I remember when it was embarrassing to be a Bee Gee fan. Didn’t get backstage this time, though.
This week I read:
A Clean Kill by Steven Konkoly; I’ve read some of Konk’s books before, but this one featured two red flags for me: a Cartel, AND a serial killer. I should have obeyed them.
The Mummy’s Curse by Penny Warner; The Code Buster’s Club goes to a museum, and encounters a mummy, hieroglyphics, and codes. Penny Warner is a good writer, but she doesn’t seem to write anymore. A pity.
The End of the Road by Andrew Welsh-Huggins; I won this book from this blog. It’s a rural noir, and it seems weird that it’s set in Ohio, until one remembers Cleveland’s and Toledo’s histories.
These Violent Delights by Choe Gong; Romeo and Juliet in 1920’s Shanghai with monsters. Overwrought, and a little TOO inspired by Shakespeare.
The Edge of Death by John Benedict; A scientist/doctor discovers a way to resurrect dead people. This sort of thing never ends well. Universal could have made a great movie based on this in about two weeks. Too bad we’ve got nothing like that now.
Glen, now I am intrigued – what are Cleveland and Toledo’s histories? The only thing I know about Toledo is the Burt Bacharach/Elivis Costello song with the lines,
‘But do people living in Toledo
Know that their name hasn’t traveled very well?’
and I’ve never had any idea what that really means.
Rosemary,
Cleveland has a history of gangsterism to rival Chicago’s. Not even Eliot Ness made much of a dent in the problem.
Toledo was possibly worse. Back in the day, all of the police novels and movies would refer to the mob importing killers from Toledo, because that was something that happened when they needed someone removed from our plane of existence.
I remember that too, Glen, about the Bee Gees. I liked their music, and one night accidentally watched a PBS show about them. It was excellent.
I’ll just tell you I went to a book fair in Wooster, Ohio, and the way my GPS sent me, I can just see a rural noir set in Ohio. I know Wooster has some nice areas, but that part I was in? Not nice at all. So, Welsh-Huggins’ book would work there.
I used to love those old weird movies on TV on Saturdays.
Lesa,
I personally have never been to Ohio, but I do have a friend from Wooster, who describes it as a regular paradise, sort of Mayberry North.
In my mind, Ohio is the domain of Funky Winkerbean, Ed Crankshaft, and Homer Price. I’m sure the reality is somewhat different.
Well, maybe some of Wooster is that way, Glen, but not the part I saw. Rundown and spooky.
However, despite the mob connections in Cleveland, Toledo, and Youngstown, so much of Ohio is beautiful. My mother lives in a nice little town of 6,500 or so right on Lake Erie. It’s part of what is called Vacationland – beaches, fishing, boating, and Lake Erie perch – best fish I’ve ever tasted. When my sister and I drove home (2 1/2 hours north of us), we sometimes drive through Amish country, and there are Amish farms elsewhere in northern and eastern Ohio. But, there are beautiful farms all over Ohio. I didn’t know how much I missed Ohio until just a couple years ago. I can appreciate it now.
Last weekend I was in southern Illinois in a friend’s wedding. Trying to remember if I posted last week at all or not. Thursday was my travel there day, and I went to see The Arch when I landed in St. Louis. Today, I’m trying to decide if I am coming down with a cold or not. I think the bride and groom were getting sick, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I have a cold. But it might be allergies. We’ll see in the morning. And I had plans for the weekend, too. Oh well.
What am I reading? I’m currently two thirds of the way through Murder in Rose Hill, the latest Gaslight Mystery from Victoria Thompson. I’m enjoying it. It’s not one of the best in the series, but it’s still very enjoyable.
You posted early last week, Mark, before you left for the wedding. I hope you’re not getting sick!
Maybe Murder in Rose Hill isn’t the best in the series, but sometimes I find it comforting just returning to old friends.
I’m still working my way through Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie books, which are excellent police procedurals about cold cases; Ann Cleeves’s Vera Stanhope series, which has been successfully televised; and Mick Herron’s Slough House books, which are thrilling spy novels full of black humor. But I took a break from mysteries to read Emily Henry’s FUNNY STORY, which I highly recommend. Has anyone read HAPPY PLACE and if so, how does it compare to BOOK LOVERS and BEACH READ?
Glad you’re enjoying the Karen Pirie series as much as I have, Kim. Good books.
I can’t answer that question about Happy Place, Kim. While I loved Funny Story and Beach Read, I couldn’t get into either of Henry’s other books.
Kim, I don’t remember the details, but I looked back at my ratings, and I rated it lower than Beach Read and Book Lovers. I still enjoyed it, though.
Kim I enjoyed Funny Story and really liked Beach Read. Just could not get in to Happy Place but I know others who have liked it.
Just watched Karen Pirie on BritBox and have now added the series to my TBR pile.
Good morning all, from a very sunny Aberdeenshire. Your planned outings sound like a lot of fun, Lesa. Is Toronto a long way from you?
And before I forget, do the favourite books of 2024 so far need to have been published this year (in which case I will have precisely none…)?
As we were at the Eden Festival last weekend, I am now on my third load of laundry, and glad this weather means I can dry it all out on the line rather than draping it around the house.
Unfortunately the weather in the Borders last weekend was absolutely dire. Almost non stop heavy rain, and on the rare occasions that it did stop out came the notorious Scottish midges.
This festival was a lot less well organised than Latitude, the one we went to last year. Eden is much smaller but I still think they could’ve done more to mitigate against the vast amount of mud on the site (the bad weather had been forecast well in advance.) As it was. the main paths quickly became serious mud baths – it was a foot deep in some places and very very slippery. I spent my entire time clinging on to David like a limpet, I was so scared of falling over (I didn’t). I really don’t know how they expected people with mobility issues or the many families there with very young children, pushchairs, etc to cope. They advertise this festival as very accessible and family friendly, but they didn’t make much, if any, effort to maintain that fiction. The nights were also very cold – we had a glamping tent, which was waterproof, and came with good mattresses and bedding, but even with duvets and our own extra blankets we couldn’t sleep for the cold.
Having said all of that, the music was very good. We braved the torrential rain to see THE ZOMBIES, who were amazing – they have been performing for SIXTY years, and you would never have believed from the lead singer, Colin Blunstone’s voice that he is 78, he sounded perfect and I enjoyed singing along to She’s Not There and Hold Your Head Up. They said they spend a lot of time in the USA, though they are all originally from the London area.
We also saw three different modern trad bands, each of them excellent. This seems to be a fast growing genre, with young people playing everything from the bagpipes to the flageolet and everything in between. Some do oriiginal stuff, some covers of pop songs. The music is fast, energetic and very danceable. And I did 🙂 The bands were PROJECT SMOK, GLEADHRAICH (who describe their music as a Celtic Rock), and HEISK. Gleadhraich will apparently play at the Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville, Ontario in July – I’d certainly recommend them.
Another act I really enjoyed was DUB PISTOLS, a ska band from London. They are not a tribute band per se, but they were so good you could almost have been watching the late lamented Specials.
So that was our wet weekend.
While I was away I read Mike Gayle’s ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE. I absolutely loved this book, It’s the (fictional) story of Hubert, who came to London from Jamaica as part of the Windrush generation in the 1950s. He starts UK life in Brixton, where he encounters all of the appalling racism and prejudice rampant at that time. At work he meets Joyce, a white girl, and they eventually marry. Her own family disowns her, and as a couple they suffer even more abuse and disgust, but they carry on, have two children and move to Bromley, the London suburb where I come from.
The book moves between earlier times and today, gradually revealing more of Hubert’s life story, and showing us why he is now a virtual hermit, living alone with his cat. Meanwhile, in the present day, sinlge mother Ashleigh moves in next door. She knows no-one and is determined to make friends with the reluctant Hubert. After a series of false starts, they bond and begin a campaign to combat loneliness in Bromley. Soon they are joined by an assortment of other lonely people, and they all work hard to promote their cause. But something in Hubert’s past is catching up with him, and when it does his world is turned upside down. Can the group help him to get through it?
Gayle is an excellent writer, All the Lonely People is an easy, sometimes funny, and very thought provoking read and I intend to look for more of this author’s work.
Now I am reading Luke Barr’s PROVENCE, 1970. It’s about the real life coming together of several eminent American food writers in the hills above the French Riviera during the winter of 1970. Barr is the great nephew of MLK Fisher, so he particularly focuses on her, but he also writes about James Beard, Richard Olney and Julia (& Paul) Child.
Despite being predictably irritated by Fisher’s arrogance and entitlement (I much preferred the sound of poor James Beard, sitting it out at a strict weight loss clinic while the others all consumed endless fabulous meals – and drank copious amounts of champagne and vintage wines – on the terraces of their beautiful villas overlooking the Mediterranean), I must say I am enjoying this book. The descriptions of the food, the scenery and the French way of life are wonderful, and the often tetchy interactions between these huge egos are entertaining. Fisher doesn’t seem to have been able to deal with anyone who didn’t accept her authority on all things, and their near neigbour, London socialite Sybille Bedford, (who was living on a grand estate with her partner Eda Lord) drove Fisher mad – she utterly fails to see that she is probably just as annoying as Bedford is, both of them having the self assurance and arrogance that so often comes with inherited wealth.
Having previoulsy read the ALICE B TOKLAS COOKBOOK, I find myself liking Alice, and even the somewhat imperious Gertrude Stein, better than some of the characters in Barr’s book – Toklas and Stein lived, in many ways, a very similar life, but they also did a lot of good work in the war, nurtured and promoted younger artists and writers, and seemed to have more purpose to their lives than Fisher (who reminds me a lot of the English cook and food writer, Elizabeth David, whose biography I have also read), who more or less dumps her children on her sister Norah, and justifies it on the grounds that artistic people must be wholly self-centered. Hmm.
But I’ve read some of Fisher’s own books and I have to admit they are good.
In 1970, Barr says, things were changing everywhere, and this included food writing. All of these writers had learned about food in France, and French cuisine was seen as the height to which Americans could only aspire, largely in vain. But now people were starting to realise that America itself had huge resources and a cultural heritage as wonderful as it was diverse. James Beard was one of the first writers to see this, and to write about it. It’s ironic, says Barr, that Fisher was at the time having a house built in the Sonoma Valley, now a centre of organic farming, artisan makers, award winning wineries and all things gourmet, but she still headed to France for her culinary fix.
I’m reading this book partly for PARIS IN JULY, a reading challenge that I’ve never tried before. I have a whole stack of possible candidates for the reading month ahead.
This weekend I am attending a choral recital in the old Bon Accord Pool, where I once used to swim. This iconic building was closed some years ago as the pool is slightly too short to meet Olympic standards – even though it had/has some of the best diving boards in the city. Now a group of volunteers is trying to restore it and reopen it as an arts venue, so this recital will take place in the (drained!) pool itself.
On Sunday I have an art gallery committee meeting, on Monday I am meeting up with two separate friends, and then on Wednesday we are starting our long trek down to Sussex for David’s nephew’s wedding. I doubt I’ll manage to contribute to our Thursday chat next week, but I will certainly try to read everyone else’s posts.
Have a good week everyone,
Rosemary
Rosemary, last week you mentioned FAT FRIENDS and I found it on Britbox here, but for some inexplicable reason, they only have series 2 and 3, not 1! We did watch the first episode anyway, and there was kind of a recap of what had happened int he first series. It was fun to see Alison Steadman, Ruth Jones and James Corden seven years before GAVIN & STACY.
We finished SCOTT & BAILEY, but the abbreviated (3 episodes) fifth and final series was not great, especially without Amelia Bullmore.
We’ve started series two of BLUE LIGHTS.
Oh that is annoying about Fat Friends Jeff! That sometimes seems to happen here too, only being able to find the subsequent series of a drama.
I’m on the second series of Fat Friends now, but the first series does set up a lot of what comes later. I hope you enjoy it anyway.
I can’t find Scott and Bailey on any free to view channel here. I find that Amazon Prime is now seeming to charge (again) for almost everything on its video channel – I do wonder why we keep our subscription going really.
The second series of Blue Lights is just as good as the first in my opinion – enjoy!
Good morning, Rosemary.
Ugh! Mud and rain and cold. I’m glad the music was good at the festival, but the environment sounds awful. Enjoy the current sunshine!
Toronto is about 7 hours drive from here. My sister and I will enjoy our road trip together, singing along to our music, although neither of us can actually sing. We don’t care when we’re in the car together. It’s just fun.
No, you don’t have to have books that are from 2024! Just the 3-5 that you enjoyed the most in the first half of this year. And, don’t make it a job. I just thought it was something a little different for Thursdays. And, it can be a list or just short summaries, nothing too long.
If we don’t “talk” next week, safe travels to Sussex!
Lesa, we drove to Toronto from Brooklyn for the 2017 Bouchercon. We stopped overnight in Syracuse on the way there and back, and squeezed in two visits to our favorite, Niagara Falls.
Jeff, the only place I’ve been in Canada is Niagara Falls. I’m looking forward to the trip!
Good morning, all. Today is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. I like having more daylight, as it is pretty bad in December when the sun sets so early. We’re supposed to be having a heat wave, but it isn’t quite at that level (three straight days of 90+). My sister in Arizona says it is already brutal there.
Books, then. Jackie is reading the third in her Linnea Sinclair “space opera” series, HOPE’S FOLLY, which she likes. I know she’ll be jealous about the J. D. Robb, as she reads each new book as soon as it is available.
First up this week was Stephen King’s collection You Like It Darker. I’ve read ALL of his collections of stories, short and long. This one ranges from ten pages to 150. You wouldn’t exactly (or at least, I wouldn’t exactly) describe many of these as “horror” stories, though some are and definitely have elements. What King is, still, is a very good storyteller, who keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next. My least favorite book of his (of the ones I’ve read) was CUJO – I also hated the movie – and there is a sort-of sequel here, “Rattlesnakes,” though set 40 years later, on the West Coast of Florida. It was very creepy and possibly my least favorite here. I’d previously read “The Turbulence Expert” in an anthology King co-edited called Flight or Fright, and it was a good one, though if you are afraid of flying you might want to skip the whole book. Good book.
As usual, of late, I find myself alternating three short story collections:
Carson McCullers, Collected Stories. So far, there is nothing as memorable here as THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER or THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING, though it is interesting seeing her take on New York in the 1930s.
Martin Edwards, ed. The Measure of Malice: Scientific Detection Stories. I try and keep up with the British Library anthologies of older stories edited by Edwards, but a friend reviewed this one lately and it didn’t seem familiar. Sure enough, I missed it completely. It was probably because it came out in 2020 during the pandemic, when we all had other things on our minds. Anyway, it is the mix as usual – Doyle, Sayers, Crispin, Freeman, H, C, Bailey, John Rhode, etc. – but with a “scientific” bent in the solutions, at least as things were considered when they were written. one particularly – egregiously so – bad story, however, is C. E. Bechhofer Roberts’s “The English Filter.” It was bad enough in the 19th Century when people seemed to believe that the last thing a murder victim saw was imprinted on his retinas, and if you could only get a picture of it, you’d have the murderer. But for the author to still be putting that forward as a viable solution to the crime in 1926, when this was published, is almost unbelievable. Plus, the solution as to how the murder was committed is almost as far fetched, But forget that, the rest are certainly worth reading. And, as always, Edwards puts each story and author in context. My library did not have this for whatever reason, but I was happy to buy an ex-library copy (for $3.42!).
This is Philip K. Dick’s We Can Remember It For You Wholesale and Other Classic Stories. This has 27 of his very early stories, starting in 1952, including the stories that inspired such movies as TOTAL RECALL (the title story) and THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (“The Adjustment Team”), both of which I’d previously read. I’m sure I’ll enjoy these as much as the last collection I read.
Also finished this week was a first mystery that Lesa recommended, A Lonesome Place for Dying by Nolan Chase, one that I liked a lot and hope there will be a sequel to. Ethan Brand came home wounded (a partial foot amputation) from Afghanistan 15 years earlier, and was offered a job as a cop in his home town of Blaine, Washington, across from the Canadian border. Now the Chief has retired and recommended Ethan to succeed him (provoking some resentment). Unfortunately, on his first day on the job as Chief, the murdered body of a young woman is found on the railroad tracks. The Mayor is hostile because Ethan fires his loser nephew from the force. Things move along nicely, however, with nice short (about 6 pages each) chapters, a series of interesting characters, the possibility of smuggling as a motive, and a couple of good surprises. Definitely worth a try.
I’ve got three more library books on hand. (I’m probably going to have to return the Theodore Roosevelt book and get it out again.) Two are mysteries, one isn’t.
In the other I got them – and probably the order I’ll read them – then:
Tom Baragwanath, Paper Cage. A first novel set in Masterton, New Zealand, an hour north of the capital of Wellington on the North Island. Lorraine Henry works at the local police station, but the sexist (possibly racist) boss has relegated her to records clerk in the basement. But Maori children are disappearing, and the detective sent from Wellington is impressed with Lorraine’s insights and insist she be in on the investigation. Then her own great nephew goes missing. I’ve only started this one, but it has been highly recommended by people I trust, and it is beautifully written. Check it out.
Second is Coim Toibin’s Long Island, sequel to his excellent 2009 book, Brooklyn (which also made a very good movie). 20 years after the actions of that book, in 1976, Eilis Lacey is living with her husband and teenage children and in-laws in Lindenhurst, Long Island, when she is visited one day by a man who tells her that his wife is pregnant by Eilis’s husband TOny, and when the baby is born, he will deposit it on Eilis’s doorstep. How can you resist that opening?
Third is the new Longmire book, Craig Johnson’s First Frost, with Walt and Henry enlisting for Vietnam in 1964.
It’s exciting to have good books to look forward to reading. Have a good week.
I’m with you, Jeff. I like the longer days. I’m not a fan of the early darkness in winter.
So glad to hear you enjoyed A Lonesome Place for Dying. You can see why I checked around because that just didn’t seem like a first novel to me. Too well written for that.
I didn’t mean to make anyone jealous! In fact, I had another book I was going to start, but J.D. Robb sidetracked me. That really is the one I’m currently reading!
I agree. It is exciting to have good books to anticipate. Happy reading!
Good morning. Last weekend we saw a local college group putting on a production of A Comedy of Errors. They do a free outdoor Shakespeare play every summer. Usually it’s under a tent but a storm the night before damaged the tent so it was out in the sun. Fortunately it’s a short play so the heat was manageable.
My boyfriend can’t use headphones right now so I listened to part of A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffery Archer with him. It’s about a working class man who’s falsely imprisoned for murder because the police and courts believe the false testimony of people of a higher station. I liked the reader.
And I read Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan. It’s the manager’s prospective of working the last shift at a Red Lobster in CT that’s being shut down. I’ve never worked at a restaurant but I’ve closed down several retail stores that went out of business so I could relate to the story.
As long as the bugs aren’t bad, Sandy, I enjoy those outdoor plays. And, Shakespeare seems to work well that way. But, I also saw Camelot on a night there was a full moon. Perfect!
That’s actually sad that you worked the closing of several retail stores. I imagine Last Night at the Lobster was melancholy.
Sandy, I’ve read several Stewart O’Nan books, but LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER is probably my favorite.
This must be the week for How to Age Disgracefully. I finished it Tuesday. I loved it! I especially enjoyed Lydia’s book references and the sly nod to Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting.
My other book this week was also very good. West with the Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. I loved this story of giraffes being transported on little more than a tricked out pick up truck traveling from New York to San Diego. It may be one of my favorite books this year.
Stay cool if you are under the heat dome like us!
Happy Reading!
That heat dome provides extra reading time, Sharon! I’ve always heard good things about West with the Giraffes. Don’t you love a wonderful book that might be on your favorite list?
Hi all and thank you for all of the great suggestions in this thread! I’ve been a bit unsettled this week, mostly because I am living in a sea of boxes that need to be unpacked, and haven’t been able to clear my mind (or a space) so I could focus on reading. I did enjoy “Mud Season,” the novella by Sarah Stewart Taylor that Lesa reviewed recently. Hopefully I’ll have more to report next week.
Packing and unpacking is never easy, Trisha. I get it. It is unsettling. At least you have some books to add to a TBR list. Good luck!
Hoping for best for your son, hope he eventually gets the kidney transplant!
Starting two books, an audio one that I bought last year used, We Must Be Brave by Frances Lardet about a little girl found on a bus, her mother had killed by the bombing in England, and To Darkness and to Death by Julia Spencer Fleming, good so far but before the author learned to write smaller chapters. Enjoying a pause between testing and doctor appointments!
Sending you encouraging hugs, too, Carol, with your health issues. I hope you find some books that can take you away for a little while.
I’m looking forward to reading J.D. Robb and Linda Castillo books (one of the few authors that are my auto-buy).
I just finished French Quarter Fright Night by Ellen Byron (coming out in September).
Oh, I have French Quarter Fright Night on my TBR pile, Dru Ann. Love the books by Linda Castillo and J.D. Robb.
Happy Thursday everyone!
Lots of terrific reading suggestions this week, yay! Once again I can count on Margie to add to my list.
I just finished Echo by Tracy Clark. I am finallybeginning to like and relate to Harri.
Description from NetGalley
From the award-winning author of Hide and Fall comes a taut tale of renegade justice and long-awaited resolution, bringing the thrilling Detective Harriet Foster series to a heart-stopping conclusion.
Hardwicke House, home to Belverton College’s exclusive Minotaur Society, is no stranger to tragedy. And when a body turns up in the field next to the mansion, the scene looks chillingly familiar.
Chicago PD sends hard-nosed Detective Harriet “Harri” Foster to investigate. The victim is Brice Collier, a wealthy Belverton student, whose billionaire father, Sebastian, owns Hardwicke and ranks as a major school benefactor. Sebastian also has ties to the mansion’s notorious past, when thirty years ago, hazing led to a student’s death in the very same field.
Could the deaths be connected? With no suspects or leads, Harri and her partner, Detective Vera Li, will have to dig deep to find answers. No charges were ever filed in the first case, and this time, Harri’s determined the killer must pay. But still grieving her former partner’s death, Harri must also contend with a shadowy figure called the voice—and their dangerous game of cat and mouse could threaten everything.
I have Echo on my TBR pile, Kaye, but I’m one book behind in the series. I want to read the previous one before I read Echo.
Happy Thursday, and welcome home!
I am SO jealous that you will get to meet Connie Berry – just LOVE her books. And it sounds like a fabulous trip to Toronto – enjoy!
This week I listened to “Over My Dead Body” by Maz Evans. It was a cute story, combining a bit of fantasy, along with hope for the human race through individual redemption. Dr. Miriam Price is a doctor that has been murdered. She is a bit of a prickly pear, rising through the ranks through the school of hard knocks. She takes whatever she wants along the way, without thought of consequence. Unfortunately, after dying, she ends up in “limbo” and is destined to stay there for 50 years because her cause of death has been recorded as “Death by Misadventure” – basically meaning that she killed herself with an overdose. If she can prove that she was murdered, there is hope for her to move on to the next stage in the afterlife. Heading back to Earth, as a ghost, she enlists the help of her neighbor, Winnie, who can actually see Miriam because she is about to die. Winnie and Miriam were not friends, but through their joint focus on finding Miriam’s murderer, they see that they have more in common than not. Miriam’s journey helps her to grow in self awareness, and through a series of funny adventures with Winnie, she manages to set things right with those she has hurt. Uplifting, joyful, a great read!
Oh, I never heard of Over My Dead Body, Mary. Sounds terrific since you said it was uplifting and joyful.
It’s nice to be here in Columbus, Mary, and get to see authors whose books I love. Thank you! We’ll have a fun trip.
My eyes are still a bit weird after my cataract surgery on Tuesday. With just one eye done, the two eyes are working together pretty well, but I am sure it will be better when both are done. I have actually read a lot of books since last week, surprising since I have had a lot of anxiety over getting ready for the surgery and the first day after surgery my vision was very blurry.
Before surgery I read REDHEAD BY THE ROAD by Anne Tyler. I read one other book by Tyler years ago. I liked REDHEAD a lot, the length was perfect at under 200 pages, and I want to read more of her books.
Then I read FAMILY BUSINESS by S.J. Rozan. The Lydia Chin / Bill Smith series is one of my favorite series and this was a very good one. I would like to read her latest book in the series soon but it isn’t on my summer reading so …
And after my surgery on Tuesday morning, that evening was able to use reading glasses and start reading IN THE MIDST OF DEATH by Lawrence Block. I finished it last night and it was good. It was the third book in the series and I expect them to get better and better from this point on.
I started reading THE CIPHER GARDEN by Martin Edwards last night.
Glen is continuing to read AT HOME: A SHORT HISTORY OF PRIVATE LIFE by Bill Bryson and is still finding very interesting facts to tell me about. Today he told about ha-has in British landscaping.
I can understand your anxiety, Tracy, but so many people say how easy and wonderful it was after their cataract surgery. And, now you know what to expect, you might not be so anxious about the second one. I bet your vision will be great afterwards.
So, you can read books you might not have read in the past. The S.J. Rozan series is one I’ve been told I would like. I just haven’t found the time yet. I’d probably like The Cipher Garden, too.
You are right, Lesa, most of the anxiety is gone. Surgery is always a risk, and my husband did experience serious problems that we had not anticipated, so I had some reasons for anxiety. And I was very insecure about how my reading would be affected. Now I do know what to expect and I have every reason to be optimistic about the end result of the second surgery, so I am much more relaxed.
Love the DEATH series. Never miss them. Like that the sex scenes are passionate but not really descriptive.
Just finished HUSBANDS. It was a simply fun book. Far fetched but in a silly fun way.
I agree with everything you said about the In Death series, Carol Jeanne. Glad you’re still able to read!
Carol, you convinced me to buy a copy of HUSBANDS. It sounds like the perfect novel for me.