Are you reading this week, or are you watching the horror that is Hurricane Milton? I lived in Southwest Florida for eighteen years, and have friends and relatives all over the state. I hope most of you who participate on Thursdays are okay, and I hope your loved ones are okay.
With one eye on The Weather Channel, I’ve also escaped into a juvenile book. It’s The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin. I’ve read Sepetys’ YA novel, Salt to the Sea, though. So, I know the first one hundred pages of this novel may be okay, but it doesn’t mean some of the young people in this book won’t die.
Fourteen-year-old Lizzie Novis was supposed to be on a ship to America to stay with her Gran in Cleveland. But, she knew people were lying to her about her mother’s death in Poland in 1939. So, she ran from the ship to meet up with her older brother, Jakob. But, Jakob can’t and won’t answer Lizzie’s questions about what he’s doing. The young mathematician is working at Bletchley Park as they try to break the Enigma Code. Before she knows it, Lizzie signs the Official Secrets Act. Despite her protests she has a mission of her own, trying to find out the truth about her mother, she’s assigned to work as a messenger at Bletchley.
Lizzie has a problem, though She has many talents, including the ability to make friends. She can’t keep a secret. “I am the candidate most likely to violate the Official Secrets Act. And I will be convicted of treason when I do.”
I’ve been fascinated by Bletchley ever since I watched “The Bletchley Circle” on PBS. And, I should read Kate Quinn’s The Rose Code, and other books. Right now, though, The Bletchley Riddle is just what I need.
What about you? What are you reading this week? I hope you found some books to enjoy this week.
Hurricane Milton! I saw on the news that 7.2 million people had to evacuate from Florida. It’s absolutely unbelievable; where will they all go? And what will they come back to? If there’s even anything left to come back to.
Two books this week, both far too light in view of what’s happening around the world, but maybe that’s a good thing.
THE MAYFAIR DAGGER by Ava January
A light, cozy, historical/mystery/romance.
1894. With her mother, brother, and father no longer alive, Albertine’s horrid cousin Franklin is responsible for her. Not being willing to endure this situation, she and her best friend Joan escape the tiny village and go to London to reinvent themselves.
Albertine becomes Countess Von Dagga and Joan becomes her maid, and they embark on their fledgling business of private detecting, catering to women at the upper end of society – although things aren’t going well. None of the ladies they help seem to want to pay for services rendered so lack of money is a big issue; not to mention that Albertine becomes a suspect in a lord’s murder after one of her cases goes awry – as well as a suspect in her fictional husband’s death. To add to her complicated life, she and Joan have hired Spencer to work for them and be the ‘face’ of their detective business, but he has ulterior motives and secrets of his own. There are many other characters, some helpful but most of them not at all.
This story was a lot of fun; a completely silly madcap romp, laugh-out-loud funny several times, has characters you want to root for, and situations where if something can go wrong it will – to amusing effect. Pure escapism, and I liked it a lot.
ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR by Virginia Heath
When her mother dies, Georgie’s mean and nasty stepfather sends her to Miss Prentice’s School for Young Ladies, where for the next six years she will learn to be a governess. She is kind, fun, and has a wonderful way with children but tends to speak her mind quite forcefully, thereby definitely not excelling at interviews, meaning she has yet to be employed by anyone.
Harry works for the admiralty, is on a fast-track to being given his own ship to command but is over-burdened, over-worked, very set in his ways, and certainly has no time to look after his nephew, two nieces, and a dog when his sister suddenly decides to up sticks for three months. Off he goes in desperate need to find a temporary governess, which of course ends up being Georgie.
They clash from the get go as their points of view are not at all similar, but this being a regency-set rom/com we all know how it will end. Getting there is full of amusing situations and dialogue, and the three children and their dog are delightful. Yes it’s predictable and sometimes things are too modern and don’t fit the time period but it doesn’t matter. The book won’t change the world but it will certainly entertain us.
I’ve been really busy, but I’ve had time to have some fun.
Friday, I went to see One Republic in concert. It’s not my kind of music, but sometimes you have to suck it up and pay your taxes. I thought these guys should be on Dancing with the stars or something. The show was pretty decent, and the lead singer was very personable, but then the show was only 75 minutes with no opener! This has never happened at Thunder Valley. Some folks (the ones who paid oodles of money to sit up front) were very disappointed and upset. There is an understanding a show will be usually two hours there. Ninety minutes is okay sometimes, at a tribute or something but not 75. I think everyone felt a bit ripped off.
Tuesday, I went to Folsom. An organization was having a grand opening because they moved their dance across the hall in the community center. The room was large, and the floor not too bad. They said there’d be food. I was expecting finger food or something, but there was a veritable feast, complete with a roast pig! The music wasn’t too bad. They were Filipinos, so the played more Latin music than I like, but I’m not their target audience.
This week I read:
My Secret Admirer by Carol Ellis; Another teenybopper horror book for the club. Didn’t some of these things used to be actually scary, or is that just nostalgia?
The Beautiful Game by Jonathan Littman; about a girls’ travelling soccer team that fought its way to the top. I think the author was angling for a movie deal here, as it contains almost every cliche known to sports movies. It’s almost exactly like Hoosiers. The thing about systems in team sports is that no system suits everybody, (Ask Larry Bird about his time playing for Bobby Knight). And apparently, girls’ sports is very different than boys’ sports. If ever told a coach I was tired during a game, the next practice, I’d be running laps, as I obviously needed conditioning, but that didn’t happen here. There had to be a conversation.
The Mystery of The Two Toed Pigeon by Marc Brandel; A late era Three Investigators entry. The Boys are at a diner, when out of the blue, a strange man gives them a a box. It contains a pigeon. Then we’re off to the races. There are so many distractions, I’m surprised the book wasn’t 300 pages.
Gideon’s Art by JJ Marric; Marric is an alias of John Creasey. I’ve read books from various series by him. I think the best were The Toff and The Baron, but Gideon seems the most popular. A gang of thieves steal a valuable painting, and Gideon has to solve the case, along with the usual distractions of running the police force, and trying to spend time with his family. Sort of a big city Dan Rhodes.
The Wild by Whitley Streiber; A man changes into a wolf, and his family tries to get him back. It felt like a horror movie Woody Allen might direct. I spent most of the book hoping they’d encounter Streiber’s other werewolf type creatures The Wolfen and get eaten.
I’m tracking the hurricanes some, but life in So Cal goes on. I work for a cruise line, and one of our ships is impacted, but it should be a minor amount, fortunately. Still, it will mean extra work for me. That’s minor in the grand scheme of things, I know. I’m thinking about all those who will be hit hard.
Reading wise, I just finished THE BAFFLED BEATLEMANIAC CAPER by Sally Carpenter. It’s the first in a series featuring Sandy Fairfax, a former teen idol who gets involved in mysteries. In this book, he’s at a Beatles fan convention when a member of the tribute band is killed and the police think Sandy did it.
That means Thursday, I’ll be diving into DEATH CHECKED OUT by Leah Dobrinska. I’ve heard great things about the series, so I’m looking forward to reading it.
I’m following the hurricane news from afar, but I am suffering for Floridians nevertheless. Here in Bern, we have blue skies and temperatures in the 50s, and I feel very lucky.
I’m starting a new series by Val McDermid, now that I’ve finished all the Karen Pirie books until the next one comes out. THE MERMAID’s SINGING is the first book in McDermid’s series featuring criminal psychologist Tony Hill and DI Carol Jordan. It has a serial killer in it, and I try to avoid those, but her writing is terrific and the investigators are smart and likable. I’ll finish this one and see if I want to continue the series. What I’m enjoying even more is listening to UNSHELTERED, the novel Barbara Kingsolver wrote before Demon Copperhead, which I loved. I’m also a huge fan of her early books, The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven, Animal Dreams, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. But I couldn’t even finish The Poisonwood Bible and never understood its popularity. Now I’m back to loving her work–UNSHELTERED is funny and moving, with two storylines about families who live in the same ramshackle house in a New Jersey small town, now and in the 1870s.