Happy Halloween! I live in an apartment complex, so I don’t expect trick-or-treaters tonight. But, I am running a few errands in the morning, so we’ll see what staff are wearing.
Five days in a row with meals at my sister and brother-in-law’s. Kevin made chili for the Ohio State football game. It was so tense, I don’t know if he’ll make it again, although it was excellent.
Then, Sunday night, Linda and I went to the Midland Theatre in Newark to see Celtic Thunder. I’ve probably seen them over fifteen times. Linda’s husband calls them “One of Lesa’s Irish Boy Bands.” Love it! They sang an a capella version of “Amazing Grace” that is beautiful. From there, they were off to Pittsburgh to sing the National Anthem on Monday Night Football. Naturally, the network didn’t show it, but I’ve seen it online.
I’ve just started Carlene O’Connor’s third County Kerry mystery. Eerie beginning, and I have the feeling it’s going to remain eerie. After two pregnant women in Dingle who have never met each receive a chilling email warning them that they’re in grave danger, the two decide to meet each other to figure out what is going on. But when one of the mothers, Shauna, a deaf woman, arrives at their meeting place at the village Spring Festival, she fears a trap and hurries off to meet the couple who plan to adopt her baby. Meanwhile, Dimpna Wilde has her hands full with lambing season and keeping track of her father, so she’s grateful for the help of a well-meaning ten-year-old boy, Dylan, at the veterinary clinic. But when the lad goes missing after going into a bog on a dare with two other boys to search for a “monster,” she is desperate to help find him. After the adoptive couple are discovered tied up in their home, telling a terrifying story of a deaf pregnant woman being abducted by a man wearing a butterfly mask, Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien and Detective Sergeant Barbara Neely fear a repeat of a disturbing case from twenty years earlier, when a charismatic leader calling himself the Shepherd, lured poor pregnant girls into his enigmatic cult. Though allegations of baby smuggling were never proven, he’d been put away on other charges. But then they learn that the Shepherd has recently been released from prison.
What about you? What have you been doing this week? What are you reading?
David and I live in an apartment building too. For the past couple of weeks or so I’ve put a little pumpkin basket of chocolate bars and licorice in the hall outside our door and it’s been fun to check it in the morning and see that people have been taking some on a regular basis – newspaper carriers, delivery persons, and neighbours. The chocolate bars are way more popular than the licorice. This is our first year here so now I’ll know better what to put out next year.
This past week I’ve read:
THE CLIFFS by J. Courtney Sullivan
A surprisingly riveting book, despite me not really engaging with it till about a third of the way through.
Jane and her sister had a difficult childhood and adolescence growing up with an alcoholic mother in Maine. Jane often took refuge in an abandoned house she discovered in a tranquil area on the cliffs facing the ocean. Twenty years on she’s working in her dream job as an archivist at Harvard, and is married. One day she does something extremely ill-advised and suddenly both her job and marriage are in jeopardy. Up to this point it was just a contemporary fiction novel, complete with family dysfunction and family drama.
Meanwhile, the abandoned house Jane adored has been sold and the new owner asks her to research the history of the house. For me this is when the book came into its own. We discover the stories of the various women who have lived in the house, and how these lives connect to the lives of other women living in the house over the years.
Despite the lack of true plot or flow to the book, and that sometimes it felt like I was reading little history lessons, the stories of the women were enthralling. The book is mostly set in present day but is interspersed with stories from the past. The book deals with friendship; honouring the history of a house; alcoholism and how it can affect everyone in a family for generations; spiritualism; and quite a bit of history about the Shakers and about the indigenous peoples of Maine. Much of it was truly heart rending. I came away with a
new-found appreciation for those who research the personal stories of people because those are what make history come alive, and make for true understanding.
THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO EMBER by Danica Nava
Ember is a Native American woman who, through no fault of her own, was not able to finish her degree in accounting. She needs a better job than the one she currently has working in a bowling alley, but despite sending out many applications for an accounting assistant she never lands an interview. She decides that while her mother was Native American, her father was Caucasian and so she will not tell the whole truth and checks off ‘White’ as her ethnicity on her applications rather than ‘Native American’, and lo and behold she gets called for an interview and is hired. I can’t really blame her for doing this. She’s smart and catches on quickly and does well in her new job. But for some reason she keeps telling lies, even about little things she doesn’t need to lie about, such as being allergic to cats.
This is essentially a workplace romance even thought there’s a no-dating policy where she works. Danuwoa is the IT guy in the office and’s Ember’s love interest in the story. I thought he was ‘too perfect’ while at the same time not fleshed out enough to be an interesting character in his own right. It was also somewhat irritating that Ember made so many questionable and downright bad decisions; it made it hard for me to like her and to root for her, or even to understand what Danuwoa saw in her. Which is all really too bad because I wanted to like the book more than I did.
It was interesting to read in the author’s note and acknowledgments at the end that she herself is a member of the Chickasaw Nation and that her book is apparently the first ever Native American rom-com to be published by a mainstream publisher. Nor did I know that there are ‘574 federally recognized tribes within the United States o America alone, and also many more that cannot be legally recognized’.
Oh, I love licorice, Lindy. I’d have a hard time deciding between chocolate and licorice.
I didn’t know there were that many recognized tribes in the U.S.
Lindy, Jackie likes (black) licorice, but the chocolate bars would be more popular with me too!
Both of these sound good Lindy – I will add them to my ever expanding wish list.
Happy Halloween to you too Lesa. I realized I’ve haven’t lived in a location with Trick-or-Treat for quite some time. And with a 20 degree low last night, a good thing.
I bounced around this reading week as I chip away at my TBR list, all interesting reading. Started with the third Henri Lefort Mystery by Mark Pryor, A BLOOD RED MORNING. 1941 Paris: “truth and information had been two of the earliest casualties of the war”. The police detective investigates a murder that took place outside his apartment building while the German occupiers make everything more difficult.
From the Argentinian author Selva Almada, a translation of the short novel NOT A RIVER. This dreamlike story is set in rural Argentina fishing village where life follows a pattern long established. The story explores masculinity in this setting where outsiders are unwelcome.
A BODY MADE OF GLASS: A Cultural History of Hypochondria. Part cultural history, part memoir, a personal and literary look at this complex knot of perceptions and emotions. “perceived disease of the body that exists only in the mind”
The author, writer and reviewer Caroline Crampton, hosts the informative and entertaining “Shedunit” storytelling podcast that unravels the mysteries behind classic detective stories. (I listen via YouTube)
To wrap up the week, a debut novel by Rachel Stark, PERRIS, CALIFORNIA. Filled with violence, tragedy, tenderness, and the courage of women living in a mostly unseen America. An utterly gripping story of Tessa’s journey from trauma to healing. Well defined, memorable characters.
MM, What a mixed collection of books. I read the first in the Henri Lefort series, but didn’t go further.
I like the sound of “Shedunit”. I may have to look for that. Thanks for mentioning you listen via YouTube.
Happy Halloween! Stay warm.
You can view a summary of each episode on the web page (shedunitshow)
‘Shedunnit’ is excellent Lesa, Caroline Crampton knows her stuff, and she occasionally persuades her husband to lead an episode too. I often think what a great marriage that must be, talking about books that they both like all day!
Oh, that does sound wonderful, Rosemary.
I’m in a condo complex with lots of stairs. If I’m home, I always get a few kids, so we’ll see how many I get tonight. I’ll be dressing up as Mr. Incredible again, especially since they are encouraging us to do that at work. It’s my lazy/go to costume.
Last week, I was on vacation – wound up on a cruise at the last minute. Got to go with a friend, so that was lots of fun. But I returned some audiobooks to the library unlistened to since I did this instead of the road trip I had been planning to take.
I’m currently in the middle of a non-mystery book, Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan. Being a Narnia fan I am, this fictionalized biography of C.S. Lewis caught my eye when it came out three years ago. It’s okay, but the way it is framed is getting in the way of the story for me.
I was a little leery of Once Upon a Wardrobe. Glad I didn’t pick it up. Thanks, Mark.
I’m glad you had time for a cruise. You probably needed a break.
Mark, I wasn’t crazy about Once Upon a Wardrobe either. But I really enjoyed the author’s subsequent books, The Secret Book of Flora Lea and The Story She Left Behind (see below for my review of the latter).
Good morning everyone, from a warm and sunny Aberdeenshire.
Last week we were in Manchester, Buxton and then overnight in Edinburgh. We saw a wonderful concert at New Century Hall in Manchester – Tindersticks, a British band who have been around for decades, and are still on top form. Their frontman is Stuart Staples, who also writes most of their material. He is super cool, has a wonderful voice, and is a very nice person. We were seated right at the front of this small auditorium, and enjoyed every minute of the set. Most of the audience were our age, so it was all very civilised and friendly too.
I see that next year the band is playing in New York (Sony Hall?), Knoxville, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago, and I’d certainly recommend them.
We then went across to Buxton to see our friend Mark. Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak district. It’s surrounded by spectacular countryside, and the town itself has lots of Georgian architecture and beautiful parks. I think Jane Austen visited it, and the author Vera Brittain was born there. The restored opera house now accommodates an auditorium, cafe, craft market and art gallery. Buxton has a famous arts festival every summer.
We had a lovely time with Mark, had a great walk, and I also enjoyed pottering around the town, which has lots of good charity shops, cafes and craft shops. Before we left Buxton, we visited the High Peaks Bookstore, which is a couple of miles south of the town. Great place, with masses of stock and a fabulous cafe. It is extremely popular, so we did have to queue a short while, but it was worth it for the delicious coffee and scones.
Then we returned to Manchester for our second concert, G.O.A.T. Unfortunately this was a bit of a let down for us, as it was all-standing, and we could hardly see the stage. The band’s performance is highly visual, with lots of dancing, wild costumes and their trademark masks, so being able to see is more important than with other performers. We did think about standing at the front, as we were there early enough, but we decided not to as the band’s music is incredibly loud – and I’m glad we made that decision, as I think our eardrums would have suffered.
On our way back to Edinburgh we tried to visit Hebden Bridge, a very arty and alternative little town in Yorkshire (people may remember it from Happy Valley) – but it was so overrun with tourists that we weren’t able to park anywhere. In the end we gave up and tried the nearby town of Todmorden, which was much quieter. We found a great little cafe there, and who should we see sitting at the next table but the actress Tamsin Greig (she’s been in lots of things, including Harry Potter, and one our favourite series, FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER. It seems that Sally Wainwright, who wrote Happy Valley, has written a new series, currently filming in the area, so there are quiet a few famous faces about.
As usual, my reading was pretty scant while we were away. I have, however, just finished THE DIARY OF A YOUNG NATURALIST by Dara MacAnulty. Dara is an autistic teenager living with his family in Northern Ireland. The book is his diary of his 14th year. Much of it is about the nature he sees all around him, but he also talks about his autism, how he feels in stressful situations, how supportive his family is (his father is the only one who is not neurodivergent – his mother, brother and sister are all on the spectrum), and how badly he was bullied at school for being different. He finds solace in nature, particularly birds. The family moves across Ireland to County Down, and he dreads going to a new school, even though his experiences at his old one were largely terrible. However, at the new school he meets a kindred spirit, and eventually makes friends. He even starts an eco group, which, to his suprise, becomes very popular.
Since then he has become a well known activist, and has been supported by the broadcaster Chris Packham, who is also neurodivergent.
I’m also reading HOME STRETCH by Graham Norton. it’s about the long standing effects of a terrible car crash on a small Irish community. There are several main characters, but the most important one is Connor, the driver of the car, who survives but has to move away from the town, leaving his family devastated. Meanwhile his sister marries the doctor’s son, whose car the young people were travelling in. We then move forward eight years and see how people’s lives have changed. I haven’t reached the end yet, but I feel there’s at least one secret lurking.
I’ve also just been sent a review copy of SALVAGE by Mark Baillie. It’s about a travelling community from whom the local council removes a young girl. Decades later her brother tries to find out what happened to her, It’s described as a ‘gripping and heartbreaking missing person mystery, exploring family dynamics, identity and the tragic history of Scotland’s Gypsy Travellers.’ The author has Gypsy Traveller heritage. Sounds good.
This afternoon I am attending a talk in town, ‘THE CRUDEN BAY OF BRAM STOKER.’ I have visited Cruden Bay many times, and of course knew that Stoker was inspired by Slains Castle to write DRACULA, so it should be interesting to find out more.
Next week we are going over to Glasgow for the day to see our youngest, Madeleine, and to go with her to the Jeremy Deller exhibition at the Modern Institute. I really like Deller’s work so I am looking forward to this.
David went to Dundee Contemporary Arts earlier this week to see ENDURANCE, a documentary film about Shackleton’s ship, which was used for the explorer’s first expedition to Antarctica, and a modern day expedition to find it. He said the film was excellent.
Jeff, I am still working my way through KAOS. Nearing the end now, and I’m beginning to see how it all fits together. The acting is very good indeed. I’m glad you persuaded me to persevere!
I will stop now as I need to get into town.
Have a good week all!
Thanks for the review Rosemary. I was able to locate an audio version of THE DIARY OF A YOUNG NATURALIST.
Oh I do hope you enjoy it MM – sometimes a narrator can really make or break an audio version.
Rosemary, I can’t thank you enough for describing the towns you visit, while giving us the background of each one. I appreciate it since I don’t have the background to know about them. Thank you!
And, I agree. I hate concerts where everyone stands. I’m short, and can’t see unless I’m up front. Fortunately, Celtic Thunder was a seated concert.
Have a good week!
Rosemary, glad you are enjoying KAOS and we’re sorry they canceled it rather than doing a second series. We also just saw co-star Janet McTeer in the second series of THE OLD MAN here, with John Lithgow (as her ex-husband) and Jeff Bridges. Not bad, but series one was better.
Still on series three of FAT FRIENDS, series 6 of SPOOKS (MI-5). Also watching the depressing THE LONG SHADOW, about the five year search for the Yorkshire Ripper (1975-80) and the incredible police incompetence. David Morrissey, Toby Jones and Lee Ingleby are among the cops.
I have had a (perhaps irrational) dislike for actress Amanda Burton for years, so quit SILENT WITNESS a long time ago. But we discovered she left after series 7 and was replaced with Emilia Fox (recently of SIGNORA VOLPE), so we decided to give it a try again. Considering that it is on series 17 now, there is a long way to go!
Jeff, I watched The Long Shadow a while ago and thought it was outstanding television, though as you say, hard to watch at times. Toby Jones was excellent, as always, and I remember Catherine Kelly and Daniel Mays also delivering stellar performances. The writing was so good, with the entire focus on the women, and on the utter shambles of a police investigation. So much better than a ‘true crime’ approach just sensationalising Peter Sutcliffe himself. In The Long Shadow he is barely seen and not that important – what is important is the reasons why these women were doing sex work in the first place, the way that society treated them, and the terrible misogyny and sexism in the police force that gave Sutcliffe time to murder more and more women.
And I agree with you about Amanda Burton – there’s something about her that just doesn’t appeal. I also didn’t know that Emilia Fox had taken over the role – I must try it again.
At the moment I am contemplating subscribing to Disney Plus just so that i can see Jilly Cooper’s RIVALS. Our elder daughter is watching it and says it’s a hoot. I do enjoy a Jilly Cooper romp once in a while. This one stars David Tennant and Aidan Turner.
I’ve not heard of The Old Man, I must look it up.
I agree. The way Lee Ingleby’s character dismisses the woman who actually survived the attack because he decided she was a prostitute and therefore not believable, plus she brought it on herself, was appalling.
Jeff, does the season of KAOS end okay? No cliffhanger? Since they cancelled it, if it has a cliffhanger deal, I am not sure I want to fool with it.
Kevin, unfortunately, it was sort of a cliffhanger.
Well, heck. Thanks for the info, Jeff. Much appreciated.
PS I am one of those miserable people who does her best to avoid Halloween….I turn the lights out on our ground floor (we live in a town house so the living room and kitchen are on the middle floor) and people get the message. There are lots of young families around here who love doing it, and put pumpkins and decorations out to encourage people to call. It’s all pretty innocent here, but in the town it can get quite violent – the shops take eggs off their shelves to avoid youths buying them simply to throw at people’s doors and cars.
Oh, my gosh. I never thought, Rosemary, of shops having to remove eggs from the shelves.
It’s true, Lesa. When we were first married and lived closer to downtown, I remember walking into a local neighborhood grocery store (smaller than a supermarket, but fairly large otherwise) and being in line behind a teenager who was covered in shaving cream and buying a carton of eggs. The storekeeper didn’t bat an eye, and just sold him the eggs!
I guess I just led a sheltered life.
My boyfriend picked up a stomach bug earlier in the week and now I have it so I only read one book this week. MY VAMPIRE PLUS-ONE by Jenna Levine. A woman fake dates a man to get her family to leave her alone about being single. Of course he turns out to be a vampire. It was predictable but a light read which is what I needed.
I’m sorry, Sandy. I hope you’re feeling better.
Happy Halloween! I LOVE Halloween but our little house is tucked away in a very rural area and haven’t had a trick or treater in the 30 years we’ve been here.
Because our area is sill a mess from Hurricane Helena, it’s doubtful Halloween will be even be a thing this yeat.
I’ve read some good books, my favorite being Kim Fay’s Kate.& Frida.
Description from NetGalley –
From the author of instant national bestseller Love & Saffron, this bright and comforting novel follows the surprising friendship between two young women in 1990s Seattle and Paris, illuminating the power of books to change our lives.
Sometimes a book can change your life…
Twentysomething Frida Rodriguez arrives in Paris in 1991, relishing the city’s butter-soaked cuisine and seeking her future as a war correspondent. But then she writes to a bookshop in Seattle, and receives more than just the book she requests. A friendship begins that will redefine the person she wants to become.
Seattle bookseller Kate Fair is transformed by Frida’s free spirit, spurred to believe in herself as a writer, to kiss her handsome coworker, and to find beauty even in loss. Through the most tumultuous years of their young lives—personally and globally—Kate and Frida sustain and nourish each other as they learn the necessity of embracing joy, especially through our darkest hours.
This mouthwatering oasis of a novel is a love letter to bookshops and booksellers, to the passion we bring to life in our twenties, and to the last precious years before the internet changed everything.
I know how much you enjoy dressing up for Halloween, Kaye. I’m not at all surprised that there might not be an organized event this year. I can only imagine what the area is going through, and may be for a long time.
Sending hugs. Looking forward to Kate & Frida!
Gray Wolf by Louise Penny
GREY Wolf by Louise Penny
I did not notice autocorrect had changed grey to gray in my first post.
Enjoy it, Caryn!
Read Stanley Tucci’s latest book What I Ate in One Year – a delightful read – I absolutely adore him – love his sense of humor. He’s the kind of person that you would want as a friend. His other book Taste was also very good. If you want to take a break from mystery and murder, read his book.
They were both good books. I agree, Donna.
We live in an apartment complex too, and like you get no trick or treaters. When we first lived here there were some little kids in the building who did come around, but they’ve all grown up and moved away, and the ones who are here now go elsewhere, I guess. I do like it that in the neighborhood, almost all the stores on the Avenue have candy to give out to the kids who come around with their parents after school. It’s a nice, friendly feeling. And on Monday we saw teachers and parents from local schools escorting kids to paint Halloween pictures on the store windows of participating supermarkets, drug stores, etc.
To books, then. Jackie was pretty disappointed with the latest J. D. Robb, PASSIONS IN DEATH. She said it was the weakest mystery she ever remembered, with only two suspects, one an obvious red herring. Too much exposition and back and forth discussion of the same stuff, she said. Only the Eve-Roarke scenes met with her approval. She is now nearly finished with T. J. Newman’s WORST CASE SCENARIO, which I read a couple of weeks ago.
I finished (finally) Philip K. Dick’s collection of stories, <b?The Minority Report, which was OK but not exceptional. Currently reading a much better collection, Martin H. Greenberg’s anthology, Murder Most Confederate: Tales of Crimes Most Uncivil, one of a series of collections he edited ca. 2000. You can’t go wrong with Civil War-set stories written by masters like Doug Allyn, Edward D. Hoch, Brendan DuBois, John Lutz, Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Ed Gorman, to name some. It was well worth the $5.79 I paid for it (with shipping).
While it needs to be said that Richard Osman’s We Solve Murders is no Thursday Murder Club, it is very entertaining in its own right, once you get past the first 50 or so pages of introductory material. Steve Wheeler is a retired, widowed former cop, now working locally as a private investigator (looking for lost dogs, for example) in the New Forest. Besides his dead wife, he is closest to his daughter in law Amy (the son, and her husband, remains an ill-defined. hazy character even when he is in the book). Amy is a bodyguard of sorts, doing private security, and an adrenaline junkie. Her current assignment is to guard Rosie D’Antonio, the “most famous author in the world,” and a real hoot. Then Amy is set up to take the fall for a series of murders and the fun starts. This one moves fast and gets better as it goes along. You can see Steve and Rosie, in particular, interacting with Joyce and the others, should Osman ever choose to go that way. It is clearly the first in a new series, which I will read, but I am first looking forward to the next Thursday Club Murder book.
In the past three months, thanks to near simultaneous recommendations from Lesa and George Easter (of Deadly Pleasures magazine), I have read all six of Cara Hunter’s books about Oxford DI Adam Fawley, as well as her standalone MURDER IN THE FAMILY. If you like police procedurals with the ongoing personal stories of the characters woven into the mysteries, these are highly recommended, and yes, you need to read them in order. But a warning: they can get pretty dark at crimes, with some very nasty crimes.
The sixth and last (so far; the next will be out next May) is Hope To Die, and I raced through the 400 pages in little more than two days. A passing photographer calls 999 to say he heard a shot fired at an isolated house north of Oxford, and when the police show up they discover the body of a young man, his head virtually blown off by a shotgun blast. The elderly couple living there claim his was a burglar who broke in, but there is something off about their story from the start, and as time goes on more and more comes out about who they really are and their relationship to a notorious crime from 15 years earlier. There is a truly scary sociopathic character, and it all comes out in the end (which I did guess). I really like her books and recommend you try CLOSE TO HOME and go from there.
Jeff, I agree with you about the Osman. And, I’m so glad you enjoyed Cara Hunter’s books.
Tell Jackie the next J.D. Robb, Bonded in Death, focuses on Summerset’s past. That one should be interesting! It comes out in February.
Hi everyone! I’m glad to be back – I’ve missed the last two weeks. We were on vacation for one of the weeks in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula enjoying the changing color of the leaves and hiking through woods to see waterfalls. It was great to get away!
I finished “Under a Veiled Moon” by Karen Odden. Highly recommend – I’m so hoping she might still add a 3rd book in this series. I listened to “The Book of Lost Names”by Kristen Harmel. A highly immersive book into what it felt like to be a Jewish person on the run from the Nazi regime during WWII. We also listened to many of Robert Goldsborough’s Nero Wolf Mysteries while traveling. They are all good, but not great, as there is typically much repetitive verbiage. But the story lines are entertaining.
This week I am finishing “Viviana Valentine and the Ticking Clock” by Emily J. Edwards. Viv *aka Dollface* and Tom Fortuna *aka Tommy Boy* are investigating the murder of a gentleman that they saw get stabbed as they were walking home from a party on New Year’s Eve. Additionally, Viv is experiencing some bumps in her relationship with Tommy as she realizes that they haven’t really vetted what married life will look like. I enjoy being placed back into the 1950’s timeframe with Viv. The boardinghouse where she lives is transitioning to apartments. The family that Viv has created with her co-tenants will be coming to an end. Another piece of Americana that I don’t think exists any more.
Happy Halloween!!
Welcome back, Mary. It’s good to have you back, but I’m sure you enjoyed your trip.
I know what you mean about Goldsborough’s Nero Wolfe. He isn’t Rex Stout.
Hi, Lesa! Haven’t had the time to read that I expected recent dental surgery would provide, because life, but I do love coming here to read what everyone else is reading and doing. I always come away loving whatever book you write about and everyone else’s posts too. It always has me adding to my ‘want to read’ list as well. Happy Halloween to all!
Well, Kay. I’m sorry about that, but life does sometimes interfere with reading plans, as you can tell from my blog. I’m glad you’re still showing up on Thursdays to see what everyone is reading and doing. I’m guessing your TBR pile is as big as mine.
Hugs! Take care of yourself.
Thanks, Lesa. I think I have TBR shelves, not a pile. LOL It does not however, mean I’ll quit adding to them, at least not as long as I can afford to. I love my ebooks, but nothing feels as good as a book in my hands. Nothing better than finding a spot with Luna kitty beside me and diving into another world that the writer created and getting lost in the story and characters.
Hugs right back and have a good weekend.
Good morning and Happy Halloween! Usually I go over to my son and daughter-in-law’s house and we walk down to a nearby park for a Halloween parade and food. Then I give out candy while they are trick-or-treating, though I went out with them a couple of years. I leave candy outside for my neighborhood kids. I’m definitely not walking down to the park this year, given that I am still recuperating from my accident, but they may or may not leave candy outside this year, and I am looking forward to testing out their new digital piano (my grandson just started taking lessons). I do play, although I’m pretty rusty and I only have a keyboard now.
I forgot to mention last week that Nick and I finally ventured out to the Harris Center to see the Broadway tour of Come from Away. We had both seen it in the Bay Area, but we love it so much. And sitting in the fourth row makes me feel like part of the action! Hadestown is next in December, but I don’t know much about it and have heard mixed reactions from those who have seen it before.
This week I actually managed to finish 4 books and am loving the fifth so far (Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh).
Patti Callahan Henry’s latest book, THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND, is a worthy successor to her most recent bestseller, The Secret Book of Flora Lea. Clara Harrington and her precocious but fragile 8-year-old daughter, Wynnie, are living in Bluffton, South Carolina with Clara’s father. An artist and successful children’s book illustrator, Clara is nevertheless counting her pennies after her ex-husband drained their bank account with his gambling. She also still mourns the loss of her mother, Bronwyn, who had published a magical book at the age of 12 to great acclaim and later abandoned her husband and child without a trace. When Clara receives a phone call from a stranger named Charlie in England, everything changes. He claims to have found a mysterious satchel in his recently deceased father’s library, containing a glossary of words that Clara’s mother had invented and which could lead to the decoding of the long-awaited, never published sequel to the first book. Instructions in the satchel indicate that Clara must come to England to pick it up herself, and there is also an unopened letter addressed to her. In 1952, Clara and Wynnie somehow find the money to make the long journey to England, only to find Wynnie’s health threatened by the biggest and most deadly fog ever to occur in London. Aided by Charlie, they finally make their way to England’s beautiful Lake District, which leads to . . . everything. Anything further would be spoilers, and you need to discover them for yourself. The book’s summary calls Henry’s writing “lyrical,” and I can’t think of a better word. Place descriptions, musings, dialogue–it’s all beautiful and a delight to read. The characters of Clara, Wynnie, Charlie, Clara’s father, Bronwyn (in flashbacks), and Charlie’s mother are deeply explored and lovingly portrayed. There are many surprises and twists as well. It is a lovely book, with a lot to savor and enjoy. (March)
In THE SERPENT KING, a stunning, award-winning YA debut (2017), Jeff Zentner manages to balance moments of great joyfulness and moments of deepest despair to fashion an unforgettable tale of three high school seniors. All outcasts at school, the three have formed a strong bond as they imagine what their lives will be after graduation. Lydia seems to have it all together but has her own particular style and doesn’t care what others think. She writes a successful fashion blog, has a supportive family, and is determined to get out of rural Tennessee and into NYU next year. Travis isn’t a good student, and he refuses to join the football team like his now-deceased brother did. His passion is a particular fantasy book series and his fellow online enthusiasts, and he plans to stay close to home and continue working for his dad, even though the latter is a mean drunk. And Dill, named after his father and grandfather, both of whom were fundamentalist preachers who featured snake handling as proof of devotion to God, is now suffering the sting of having a father who is in prison for a heinous crime and blames Dill for helping to put him there. He is a talented musician but keeps it to himself and his closest friends, and he dreams of going to college although his mother wanted him to quit school after his junior year and work full-time to support the family. Zentner, who has written several more YA books after this one and an adult book I adored (Colton Gentry’s Third Act) can be counted on for flawed, fascinating characters who are explored in depth, details that make them vividly come to life, realistic emotion that wrings you dry, and a writing style that propels the reader breathlessly from page to page. This book is a paean to the power of friendship that will stick you after you read the last page.
I’m rating Kate Carlisle’s THE KNIFE BEFORE CHRISTMAS five stars for the way it lovingly describes the holiday season in Lighthouse Cove, California, especially at the Victorian mansion resort owned by the wealthy Garrisons. There’s something for everyone to be found there, from their deluxe nightly holiday dinners–a hot ticket– to their real train, adorable new carousel and upscale game booths, kids’ clubhouse and activities (with Santa Claus making an appearance every evening), and lavish decorations, not to mention their sumptuous spa and diverse sporting opportunities. And the townspeople do their part by installing imaginative decorations at their own houses and businesses. I would love to visit Lighthouse Cove at Christmas time, if only it were a real place and weren’t riddled by frequent murders. It’s the 11th in the author’s Fixer Upper Mystery series, narrated by building contractor Shannon Hammer, who had originally helped the Garrisons turn their mansion into a hotel and had lent her expertise to each holiday season update. But all is not jolly with the Garrisons and their three married children. There is some bad feeling with more than one of the extended family members and their social network so it is no surprise that someone is eventually found murdered on the hotel grounds. I was happy to discover that the murder didn’t occur until far into the story, allowing me to vicariously enjoy the holiday events before much of the plot was taken over by the murder investigation and the possible motives of those who were not saddened by the victim’s death. The mystery is interesting, and the murderer (or is there more than one?) is finally apprehended without a surfeit of violence. The author’s two cozy mystery series are must-reads for me, and this is one of my favorites for the immersive holiday theme.
Heather McBreen’s debut romance, WEDDING DASHERS, features two attractive but damaged protagonists who engaged me more as the story advanced. It’s a high-concept plot, as Ada and Jack meet in a London airport after their flight to Ireland is cancelled. It takes them a little longer than it takes the reader to realize that both are heading for the same wedding–Ada as sister of the bride and maid of honor (and carrying her sister’s treasured veil) and Jack as the groom’s best friend and best man. Ada is the first-person narrator as the two must overcome roadblock after roadblock to get to Belfast before the wedding (and hopefully before the bachelor and bachelorette parties), even though they are expected days earlier. You could call it a meet-cute, but each of the pair has issues to be worked out. We know that Ada and her boyfriend of 8 years are “on a break,” and she is currently unemployed, but we don’t find out until later what Jack is dealing with. And although there is clearly a mutual attraction, these issues are too pervasive to allow an unfettered romantic relationship. I enjoyed getting to know Ada and Jack as the plot progressed, and it was the little details about each that won me over. (January)
Margie, I too enjoyed THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND – very much!
Oh, Margie! Come From Away! It might just be my favorite. There’s so much hope in there.
5 stars for the Kate Carlisle! I don’t read that series, but I do read her Bibliophile one.
Happy Halloween!
I agree. We loved Come From Away.
And Margie, we liked Hadestown too. Very entertaining.
Glad you liked Hadestown, Jeff!
We also saw Come From Away here in Aberdeen, and loved it.
Hi Lesa and everyone else! I’m ashamed to say I don’t know about Celtic Thunder–after I finish writing this, I’ll check them out on YouTube! As for my reading, I finished listening to my latest Slough House book, JOE COUNTRY (by Mick Herron), and just started the audiobook of Louise Penny’s latest, THE GREY WOLF. With the election around the corner, I decided to take up romances to keep me calm(er). I started with Beth O’Leary’s THE WAKE-UP CALL. I really enjoyed her debut novel, THE FLATSHARE, but this one is (so far) too silly. The heroine is pretending to “hate” the hero, and it’s making her into an unpleasant character. The lengths that some romance writers go to to keep their “boy-and-girl” characters apart until the end of the book can be so unrealistic. Maybe after this, I’ll skip the next romance I had in mind and read Michael Connelly’s latest Bosch-and-Ballard instead!
There’s no reason you need to have heard of Celtic Thunder, Kim. They’re from Ireland, but they tour in the U.S., Canada and Australia in places with large Irish descendants. They made a name on PBS here, which is where I discovered them after my husband died. They’re my comfort group.
My late wife liked them a lot. Whenever they popped up on our local PBS channel she would watch. I am part Irish. When I had bad gas, I would tell her that it was THE REAL CELTIC THUNDER. lol
Oh, Kevin.
I love the Slough House series by Mick Herron. What an original group of characters!
I am about a third into a book that sounded so good to me when I saw it mentioned on the UK Crime Book Club page on FB that I pre-ordered it. Someone to Blame by J. J. Green is a contemporary poison pen story. I love poison pen mysteries! They are usually confined to classic crime so I was intrigued to see a modern-day setting. About a third of the way in, and the story flows so smoothly I read much later than I meant to last night.
PSA: If you want suggestions for your TBR list, just join the UK Crime Book Club on FB. Your list will double in no time.
Such a pleasure to see everyone’s current reading lists!
Someone to Blame sounds so good, Aubrey. I’m glad we had the chance to talk about it.
We live in a senior apartment building which looks like one big one but it is actually three surrounding a pool that no one swims in. It is a complicated procedure to get in. I never see a child and I really miss that.
I finished First Born Girls, A Memoir by Bernice L. McFarland. I wish her childhood on no human being. Poverty, violence. trying to survive is pretty much the theme.
I won the previously book from GoodReads and will be starting another win from GoodReads. Boutwell: A Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy. The author is a descendent of the cousin of the subject of the book. The only thing that I do not like so far is that it is in miniature print! I may have to read it with a magnifying glass.
Sounds like college, Carol, when I realized you only saw students between 18-22, with occasional adult students and, of course, professors. Certainly no kids!
It’s starting to turn cool, and rained a bit last night. We’re supposed to get on and off again rain until the middle of the weekend.
Sometimes we get a lot of trick or treaters, and sometimes we don’t. I think all of the Trunk or Treat things put out by churches and various other organizations have really put a crimp in the numbers.
I went to three Halloween parties over the weekend. I think adults are more into the holiday than kids these days, especially considering the prices of costumes!
This week I read:
God Made You Special by The Berenstains; For the book club. A special needs cub comes to visit, and we get a sermon on how he is special as God made him. Supposedly for kids, but I don’t see kids actually paying the slightest bit of attention to the moral of the story. I think it’s really for adults, so they can feel good about themselves for being tolerant and understanding.
The Silverback Murders by Brian K Lowe; Neo-pulp about impossible yet brutal murders of big game hunters, and the masked vigilante who tries to stop them. Pretty exciting.
Due or Die by Jenn McKinlay; There’s a big Nor’easter, New England set fiction’s answer to the Florida hurricane, and of course, there’s a murder, and a political campaign. Someone is accused of murdering her husband, so the whole crew goes out in the snow. Made me glad I live here.
Pekoe Most Poison by Laura Childs; There’s some interesting stuff about Rat teas, which are apparently traditional in Charleston. Then we get the same solution we get in every one of these books I’ve read. C’mon Laura, use some creativity.
Ghost Soldier by Clive Cussler and Mike Maden; The Oregon Files have been one of the best of these Cussler series, so I looked forward to this one. After the usual pre-story events we get…several chapters of a boring tour of the boat, which completely killed any momentum. Tour’s over! We get…pages of a boring biography of a new character we don’t care about. Does Maden not understand how thrillers work?
At least you had Halloween parties to make up for the mostly blah books, Glen.
Who picks those book club books? The Berenstain bears one sounds like a dud.
Theoretically, the kids chose this one, although I suspect their parents have quite a bit of influence on some of these choices.
Just curious, Glen. It didn’t sound like one you would have picked. I suspect you have better taste.
We live in an over 55 community so no trick or treat here. It is windy and rainy today here. I am sure that will impact Halloween.
Two books for me this week.
The Little Lost Library by Ellery Adams was my favorite of the two. Despite the members of the Secret Book and Scone Society not being as prevalent, I enjoyed the story very much. Nora befriends elderly Lucille who ends up dead leaving her a note to find the lost library in her old house. It has been reviewed here before I believe.
My second book was Who Loves You Best by Marilyn Simon Rothstein from Kindle Unlimited. This was funny and a little crazy. Jodi Wexler is asked to leave Florida to take care of her granddaughter in the Berkshires. She arrives to find her daughter’s marriage in pieces and two other grandmothers. One who is her son-in-law’s mother and Granny Annie who is 27 and living with her son-in-law’s father. Jodi has to navigate the grandmother drama as well as the tug of her husband wanting to relocate from Florida to Massachusetts. I’ve read all this author’s works and find them all a pleasant diversion.
We just finished watching The Marlow Murder Club on PBS (4 episodes). I didn’t care enough about the book to continue reading the next one but I really enjoyed this. It was a rare case of the TV version was better than the book.
Happy Reading!
Thank you, Sharon. I didn’t care for the first book in The Marlow Murder Club either. I should have known PBS would make it work. I’ll have to see if I can find them.
I completely agree with you Sharon about The Marlow Murder Club. Just like you I didn’t read beyond the first book but am totally enjoying the TV show. We’ve only gotten the first episode over here so far, but it’s excellent.
I had honestly forgotten that tonight was Halloween. I knew it was coming but thought it was Friday. We haven’t had trick-or-treaters at our condo (which is in a large complex) for years even though we have had a good number of kids living near us.
I hate being late here, but this morning we went to a 50th anniversary sale at our independent book store (Chaucer’s) and had a great time looking at books. I bought 5 books and Glen bought 3. One of my books was DEATH AT THE SIGN OF THE ROOK by Kate Atkinson, the 6th Jackson Brodie book (because I finished book 5 this week and loved it). Glen bought a copy of A HAUNTING ON THE HILL by Elizabeth Hand (a novel set in the world of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, authorized by her heirs). It has a gorgeous cover; I hope it is as good as it looks.
I am now reading TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON by Chris Pavone. It is a about a woman who wakes up in Lisbon (while on a brief business trip) and finds that her husband has disappeared. So far I am liking it. It is certainly hard to put down. When I finish this I will have read all of his books.
Glen finished THE WAGER: A TALE OF SHIPWRECK, MUTINY AND MURDER by David Grann and liked it very much. He has now started reading 1940: FDR, WILKIE, LINDBERGH, HITLER—THE ELECTION AMID THE STORM.
Oh, perfect timing, Tracy, finding Death at the Sign of the Rook. That’s another series I should try.
A good booksale is a good reason to drop in late. My sisters like to read the blog later on Thursdays to see what everyone is reading.
I am reading Louise Penny’s latest-The Grey Wolf and it hooked me on page one: Armand’s phone rings and rings and rings and when at last he answers ( to everyone’s relief), he angrily answers. So out of character, do what’s going on. Can’t wait to delve in!
Enjoy The Grey Wolf, Ann. It’s as good as I expected, but not what I expected.
So, THE WAITING by Michael Connelly came in for me in eBook form. Folks here may remember me complaining that the publisher on NetGalley totally ignored my request. Interestingly enough, it now says denied in the system.
Anyway, I am about a third of the way into it. Disappointed. It does not read like a Ballard book at all. It also has her being dangerously stupid with her career.
Maybe there’s a reason the publisher didn’t let out galleys early, Kevin. This one doesn’t sound up to Connelly’s usual writing.