A good week here. Dinner, as usual, at my brother-in-law’s. He’s an excellent cook, and there are always leftovers to take home! My sister was at her son’s in Massachusetts, babysitting for her granddaughter, but Kevin still had five of us for dinner. Then, yesterday, she came over so we could watch “The Pirates of Penzance”. We’re heading to New York City on Friday, so we wanted to see the original before we see “Pirates: A Pirates of Penzance Musical”. It stars David Hyde Pierce and Ramin Karimloo, and the setting has been changed to New Orleans. I adore Ramin Karimloo, and he is the Pirate King. While we’re in New York, we’re also going to see “Gypsy” with Audra McDonald and “Good Night and Good Luck” with George Clooney. Should be a fun weekend, and we’ll be back Sunday in time for dinner. Or, we will if everything goes well on the return flight.
I’m currently reading Creeping Venom, a mystery published in 1946 by Sheila Pim Aubrey Hamilton sent it to me, thinking I’d enjoy this humorous mystery called “An Irish Village Mystery”. I’ve only read thirty pages so far, but she’s right. The goat is the book in comic relief. When the wealthiest woman in the village dies after eating poisoned escargot, the police suspect her heir because the strict Protestant woman threatened to cut her cousin out of the will if he married a local Catholic woman. So far, I’m enjoying this humorous mystery with interesting characters.
What about you? What are you doing this week? What are you reading?
We had some rain over the weekend. Getting a bit late for that sort of thing, but we’ll take it.
This week I read:
Cat Got Your Killer by Sofie Ryan; The best of these books tend to have a sort of dream like beginning, and this is no different. The end is dream like too, although I personally might have used a different ending. Still, I’d put it in the top third of this series.
Couplehood by Paul Reiser. This book was all over the place in the 1990’s. Some of the humor is dated now, but still pretty funny in parts. Whatever happened to that guy?
The Midnight Caller by Scott Blade; Spec ops guy Jack Widow is seeing New York City for his birthday, when a lady calls his room begging for help. Widow finds himself in almost too much trouble to handle. I kept wondering why he didn’t just call the police.
We watched him in The Problem with People filmed in 2023. Amazon Prime maybe? Not that great of a movie but we enjoyed the Irish scenery.
Yes, you need the rain you can get, Glen. Hope it helps during fire season.
I’ve learned to like the Sofie Ryan books, but as you said once, I tend to forget which are her Sofie Ryan books and which her Sofie Kelly into I get into one.
Lesa, your plans for your weekend in New York City sound wonderful! I can’t wait to hear how you like the shows.
Here in Canada this week we survived the election for new prime minister. Certainly with less drama than other countries lately. The only weird thing I personally witnessed was the smirk given me by the woman in line behind me when her ‘processing’ person was quicker than mine and she ended up ahead of me at the voting booth. I thought it was immature behaviour considering she was an adult. Oh well. I guess she enjoyed the ‘win’.
Two books this week:
THE SIRENS by Emilia Hart
Historical fantasy, the story follows four main characters and is told from three different timelines:
– in 1800 we follow twin sisters Mary and Eliza; imprisoned for killing a man even though it was in self-defence, they are on board a convict ship sailing from Ireland to New South Wales in Australia.
– in 1999 there is Jess, a high school student with artistic talent who struggles with feeling different because of an ‘allergy to water’ and how it affects the appearance of her skin, and whose art teacher nevertheless makes her feel special
– in 2019 Lucy is horrified to have woken in the night after a dream, with her hands around the throat of a former lover; she runs away to her older sister’s home for help
Despite the various periods in time, the troubles these four women are experiencing all seem to be connected to the small town of Comber Bay in Australia – the site of a shipwreck, as well as where eight men have disappeared from over the past few decades.
The story is about recurring dreams, sleepwalking, mermaids, the strength of women healing from personal traumas, and of sisterhood throughout generations. In the acknowledgments the author says ‘fundamentally, this novel is about the ability of water -and sisterhood – to heal and transform.’.
The writing is wonderful and is why I wanted to keep reading, but the characters themselves felt a little flat. So much happens to them and yet only one or two stood out enough for me to feel a connection. But still, the story itself was compelling despite that and I found myself reading quickly to find out what ultimately happened to these women, and I was thoroughly immersed in the various timeline stories.
I absolutely loved the author’s first book, Weyward. It was a favourite of mine. While I did enjoy The Sirens, for me it wasn’t quite as good as Weyward.
ONE DEATH AT A TIME by Abbi Waxman
I’ve read almost all the author’s previous novels, and especially loved ‘The Bookish Life of Nina Hill’. Despite a couple of quibbles, ‘One Death at a Time’ is my second favourite book by this author. It’s the first mystery she’s written and I enjoyed it. The first chapter had me laughing out loud, and set the tone for the rest of the story.
They don’t know each other yet, but we are introduced to the two main characters as they attend what turns into a hilariously dramatic AA meeting. Julia is older, a famous former movie actress and now a lawyer. She obtained her law degree in prison while serving a 15-year sentence for a murder she’s always maintained she did not commit. Mason is a 20-something, three years sober woman who is still trying to put her life back together. She volunteers to be Julia’s sobriety sponsor. Together they make a delightfully unusual and fun duo as they, along with some amusing side characters, work to clear Julia’s name since she’s just been accused of another murder and the police aren’t working very hard to find any other suspects.
My quibbles are that there are a few too many characters and I found myself trying to remember who was who again, and it sometimes seemed they were taking up space in the story but not doing anything to help it along.
But there were lots of fast and entertainingly madcap scenes, and fun wisecracking dialogue. At the same time there was a bit of seriousness with the issue of addiction being part of the story. And a bit of found-family as well, which was nice and a bit unusual in a mystery I think. Anyway, it was quite a fun book to read, and did an excellent job of distracting me from the real world for a while. I liked it.
Of course, I’ll let everyone know about my weekend, Lindy. Some of the fun is sharing it.
I’m afraid I don’t care for multiple timelines much, and your second book has too many characters.
But, I’m glad that’s all the drama you had surrounding the election. Kind of a strange lady.
Sounds like a great weekend. Hope you enjoy it.
I’m about a third of the way into Bait and Swiss by Korina Moss, the sixth in her Cheese Shop series. I’m really enjoying it so far. Definitely intrigued.
Thanks, Mark! Looking forward to it. You should have told us the highlights of Malice Domestic!
So happy that you have a book with humor! We really need that in these times. I have been furiously entering to win books on GoodReads and Library Thing, they are my escape right now. Books have been popping up everywhere! YAY!
I got two from Vine, Now reading The Glory in Your Story by Monique Rodriguez. I was a little afraid to take it because of the title but author’s smile prompted me to pick it1 She tells of growing up in Chicago’s southside, her mother trying to hold the family together by working as secretary at a hospital and her drug addicted father. Her mother knew that nurses made more money than she did so she encouraged the author to become a nurse and she did. She married and had two daughters and then a son, Milan who was on life support for a while until she and her husband realized that he would never be able to survive. Grief came in with heavy footsteps. She cannot face going a back to nursing and she has expressed what she learned from the experience and it is very well written on how to deal with it and make it through. Turning away from being a nurse, she embarks on a second career with the full support of all her famiiy.
Also from Vine, Heartland, by Nicholas Alla about Tulsa, Oklahoma moved from being a gas and oil economy to a center for tech and research and development and venture capture city.
Then on Monday, three books that I won from GoodReads came on the same day! I have won more, but I have learned that ones that you want the most don’t always come, even with a staff member asking twice! Then LibraryThing announced that I won two books this month. I feel book rich!
I am still struggling with pain and having trouble walking, got to message my rheumatologist about what happened with the infusion. I can’t get out and do much because of so much pain but the joy of reading is definitely here!!
Oh, Carol. I’m so sorry for the pain and your inability to get out much. I can empathize. I have days when I only sleep./
Thank heavens for books as an escape! I’m glad you’re winning some recently.
So sorry you have so many struggles Carol. That’s awful. The days must seem long if they’re spent in pain.
I’m so sorry about the pain, Carol. You’re brave!
Good morning Lesa and everybody,
I hope you have a wonderful time in New York Lesa and that all of your shows are good. I did enjoy the film version of Goodnight and Good Luck, and I bet George Clooney looks much the same as he did back then!
We’ve had some excellent weather – yesterday was really too hot for me (around 70F) but I know some of you would have found it only ‘warm.’
Yesterday I *finally* finished THE TIGER IN THE SMOKE by Margery Allingham. It seems absolutely ridiculous to admit that it took me a week to read a simple mystery, but oh my goodness what a slog it was. I had whole days when I just didn’t pick that book up at all – I really should’ve abandoned it, but for some reason I pressed on.
No more Golden Age mysteries for me. If I ever mention starting another one (apart, maybe, from Christie or Sayers, and then only some of theirs) please will someone tell me to stop?!
So now I am reading COMFORT EATING by Grace Dent. Dent is one of the Guardian’s food critics, and also the creator and host of the Comfort Eating podcast, which I love. In each episode she invites a celebrity (always an interesting one) to her own house and asks them to bring a plate of when nobody is looking. She has rules, which she sets out in this companion book – no ‘artisan’ anything, nothing that needs long cooking, nothing healthy….she wants people to be honest, and not pretending that, when alone in the house and in front of the TV, they make themselves a healthy quinoa salad.
Some of the things her guests bring in sound, to me, inedible, but whatever floats your boat. My favourites are the ones whose snacks include a lot of toast and butter, because that is exactly what I would have. Of course, after discussing the snack, Dent goes on to ask each guest about their food-related memories, taking them through their lives – what did they eat as a child? What do they eat if they are away from home? (She admits to buying small tins of Peppa Pig spaghetti hoops and eating them in her hotel room with the teaspoon provided for the coffee.)
Grace is very down to earth and funny. She comes from a solidly Northern working class family, and although her childhood was very different from mine, I recognise so much that she says about the foods of the time. The London middle class chatterati may have been reading Elizabeth David, and bringing anchovies and exotic cheeses back from their holidays in France, but Grace and her brother, like most of the rest of us, spent holidays eating cheese on toast in a caravan on the Cumbrian coast while outside the rain lashed relentlessly down.
And although she’s now paid to eat in Michelin starred restaurants, Grace’s reviews cut through any pretentiousness like a knife, and she says she still enjoys the bread basket (and especially the butter) more than the meal that follows it.
I’m flying through this book, which is a relief as, bogged down in that Allingham novel, I had started to think my reading mojo had deserted me.
I’ve also listened to two good books on BBC Sounds this week. The first was EM Forster’s MAURICE, of which I think I saw the film many years ago, and the second was a new book, MAYBE I’M AMAZED by Guardian music journalist John Harris. Harris and his wife have an autistic and largely non verbal son; in the book he talks about James’ diagnosis at the age of 3, their struggles to get the help he needed, and the important part that music has played, and continues to play in his life (James is now, I think, about 18) and the difference that certain music teachers have made. While the book exposes the many failings of our hard pressed mental health services, it is also a heartwarming story about a family, its challenges, and its ultimate triumphs.
I’ve had some lovely walks over the past few days – there is so much colour everywhere now, from daffodils to apple, cherry and almond blossom, whin (gorse), cowslips, bluebells, flowering currants, Pieris and euonymus. I’ve been working away in our own garden, and when I took my early morning tour today (which takes all of 5 minutes…) I was so pleased to see the peony about to burst into bloom, the pansies flowering, and buds appearing on several shrubs.
This afternoon I am going to a talk by a local author on ‘How to get published.’ I don’t actually have anything TO publish, but I’m still interested. Then tomorrow evening we are at the Tivoli Theatre in Aberdeen to see The Signatures, a Northern Soul tribute act that looks like fun. I don’t know if anyone has seen the film NORTHERN SOUL? It’s an excellent (fictional) picture of the emergence of Northern Soul in Manchester and other English cities and towns in the 1970s and 80s, and thr drug culture which unfortunately grew alongside it.
On television I finished the Australian series THE NEWSREADER, which I enjoyed. I’ve now been sucked into PARAMEDICS ON SCENE, which is a series following ambulance crews in various parts of Scotland. Each week focuses on three towns or cities plus the central control room at South Queensferry (outside Edinburgh). I am always so impressed by the calmness, professionalism and kindness of the ambulance crews, but it’s also interesting to see what goes on in the control room, and how the people who answer 999 calls cope with distraught callers, extremely difficult situations, and the problems arising from the lack of enough ambulances and crews to meet the ever-increasing demand.
There are numerous programmes in this series, and it’s quite addictive.
in between I continue to re-watch SCHITT’S CREEK, which always cheers me up before I go to bed.
I hope you all have a great week – I think our fine weather is set to end in thunderstorms later today, but it was good while it lasted.
You’re right, Rosemary. 70 sounds wonderful. Just my temperatures, really 70-80.
George Clooney dyed his hair black again for this part since he plays Edward Murrow. I loved the movie Good Night and Good Luck.
The landscape sounds beautiful in your corner of Scotland right now.
Comfort Eating sounds delightful, Oh, yes, I know just what you mean about comfort food in caravan on a rainy day. And, when I went home a couple weeks ago, Mom and I had childhood comfort food. So good!
You make Comfort Eating sound like such a great book and so it has now been added to my list of books I want to read. Thank you Rosemary!
Thanks Lindy, I hope you enjoy it.
And of course I should’ve typed ‘a plate of the food they eat when nobody is looking’ – somehow some words disappeared. And I always think I’ve proofread my copy – 🙄.
It’s been a quiet week here with weather in the upper seventies so we’ve been eating lunch and dinner on the porch.
I finally had a week where I liked all of the books I read.
The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island by Linda Greenlaw. A woman returns to the small Maine island where she grew up to try her hand at lobstering.
An ARC of Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt. It’s a prequel to his Andy Carpenter series and features Andy’s first big case as a defense attorney. I had trouble putting it down.
The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl by Bart Yates. The premise of this book is that it’s the memoir of a 96 year old former journalist. He tells his life story through a series of 12 short stories, each one a day in his life and, each day is set 8 years apart. Some of the days featured are memorable days in history and some aren’t. And none of the days are cheerful and upbeat. I really didn’t expect to like this book but somehow I did. Ultimately it was a story about a family who loved each other and accepted each other for who they were, warts and all.
Don’t you love it, Sandy, when you have a book you can’t put down? It’s so rare and so wonderful.
Isn’t it great when the weather is wonderful, and you can eat outside?
It should be a great trip, though as I mentioned, you might have to dodge the raindrops. We’re seeing GYPSY too, next Saturday. If you have any free time, you might want to check out the annual Macy’s Flower Show at the 34th Street store. It’s always beautiful and has a ton of flowers and plants.
OK, to books. The first is Jackie’s, who is almost finished with it, but I am reading it too (about 30% so far): Deanna Raybourn’s Killers Of a Certain Age. Forty years ago, Billie, Helen, Mary Alice and Natalie were recruited as, yes, assassins, working for The Museum, a mysterious organization started after WWII by British and American agents of the OSS, etc. They are on a retirement cruise when someone in their organization tries to kill them. But these women are not that easy to get rid of, and they have to discover who in their organization ordered their deaths, and why. I’ve had this on my list since it came out last year, but something else always pushed ahead of it and I kept returning it to the library. Now, however, I am racing through it and enjoying it (so far). There is a sequel out now, which I understand is not quite as good as the first one, but we’ll see. It seems to me there has been a spate of these mysteries about older women, ever since The Thursday Murder Club, mostly retired spies, in books by Cindy Dees and Tess Gerritsen to name two, but this is somewhat different in that they were not spies, but assassins. It’s definitely worth reading.
Stella Sands has written six bestselling (so they claim) true crime books, with titles like THE DATING GAME KILLER, MURDER AT YALE, and THE GOOD SON. Now she has turned her talents to fiction with the excellent Wordhunter (2024), which I really liked. Maggie Moore is a fascinating character. She’s lived all her 21 years in rural, redneck South Central Florida. She is tattooed and pierced and foul-mouthed, but she is also a brilliant savant, with a near perfect memory., Her specialty, as the title suggests, is linguistics. She loves words and books and spends much of her time diagramming sentences (which is somewhat hard to read in the Kindle edition). But she has a poor self image, probably because her late mother told her repeatedly that she was worthless and would never amount to anything. When she was 14, her closest friend (and the friend’s mother) disappeared overnight, and she’s been trying to find her ever since, not knowing if she is dead or alive.
That brings us to this story. She is sometimes able to use her linguistic abilities to analyze writing, so she is able to help the local Sheriff solve a stalking case but figuring out which of the suspects wrote a series of threatening texts. Then he calls on her again when a local Mayor’s teenage daughter is kidnapped. Can the note left behind and other threats lead to the killer. And what about her missing friend? There is a lot more, including her bonding with a hulking Detective, but I may have told you too much already. She definitely left it open for a sequel, which I hope will be forthcoming soon.
The other book I read this week was The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal, the latest in her Lady Astronaut of Mars series. In this version of our universe, a meteor struck in Chesapeake Bay in 1952, wiping out Washington, D.C. and the government (did I hear cheers there?). The center of government moves to Kansas and, when scientists discover that intensified global warming with threaten life on Earth, a plan to colonize off-planet starts up. “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” was the original novelette, and a major award winner. (It is available to read free on tor.com.) The books that have followed, including the Hugo and Nebula and Locus Award winning THE CALCULATING STARS, are all prequels to the original story. In this one, the second expedition to Mars, to set up the colony and expand it, includes the original Lady Astronaut, Elma York. You really do need to read these in order, however. Very good series.
Also reading short stories, of course, the Ethel Lina White collection and MUCH ADO ABOUT MURDER, stories inspired by Shakespeare.
Jeff, Wordhunter sounds really interesting. Just checked it out on Kindle.
Thank you, Jeff, for the heads-up about the weather and the Macy’s flower show. Sounds gorgeous if we have time Saturday morning.
You’re right. I didn’t care for the second book from Raybourn as much as the first. We’ll see what you think.
I hope we all enjoy Gypsy!
Jeff, I quite like your review of Wordhunter, so on my list it goes. Thanks!
I hope you like it. I read a review that piqued my interest, and fortunately it was available from the library.
Happy Thursday at Lesa’s, everyone!
Safe and fun travels, Lesa – tell Ramin i said Hey!
what did i read?! BEST book!
A new Miford novel. Jan Karon says that after the death of her daughter she felt no reason to live, or to write. But a few years have passed and Ms. Karon found her way back to Mitford and gives us My Beloved.
Description –
“When Father Tim’s wife, Cynthia, asks what he wants for Christmas, he pens the answer in a love letter that bares his most private feelings. Then the letter goes missing and circulates among his astonished neighbors. So much for private.
Can a letter change a life? Ask Helene, the piano teacher who has avoided her feelings for a lifetime. Ask Hope, the village bookseller who desperately needs something that’s impossibly out of reach. Or, if you’d like to know how a brush with death can be the portal to a happy marriage, Cynthia will tell you all about it.
In My Beloved, Harley gets an important letter of his own; a broken heart teaches the Old Mayor, Esther Cunningham, a lesson long in coming; and thanks to Lace and Dooley, readers get what they’ve been waiting for: Sadie.
Poignant, hilarious, and life-affirming, My Beloved sets a generous table for millions of readers who love these characters like family. With Karon’s signature humanity shining through on every page, this is a season of life in Mitford you won’t want to miss.”
i loved this book so much.
Oh, Kaye, I was approved for My Beloved as well, and I am really looking forward to reading it, as I’ve read all of the series books and there hasn’t been a new one for a long time. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
That would be funny, Kaye, if I told Ramin you said hey.
Oh, I love the sound of My Beloved. Thank you for recommending it. It’s been so long since her last book. And, this one sounds thoughtful and beautiful.
Margie and Lesa – you are not going to be disappointed. i can’t wait to hear what you think.
Lesa, so glad you’re going to see “Good Night and Good Luck” with George Clooney.
It’s probably one the very best performances I’ve ever had the fortune to enjoy!
The entire cast is absolutely fantastic.
I look forward to your reaction.
Cheers, Helen
Thank you, Helen. It’s funny. When I got the tickets, I got Gypsy and Pirates first. Now, I’m most excited to see Good Night and Good Luck. Your comments just add to that feeling!
I started OBEY ALL LAWS: A Probation Case Files Mystery, thanks to Kevin’s review in January. But too many things compete with reading time when the weather turns nice. I have a couple more days on the library loan, so I need to get back to that soon. But I did finish several other books. I’ll share a couple of highlights here.
Australian author Kerry Greenwood, best known for her Phryne (rhymes with briny) Fisher mystery novels, died at the age of 70 earlier this year. In her honor, I read a collection of her short stories, THE LADY WITH THE GUN ASKS THE QUESTIONS.
“The Honorable Phryne Fisher – she of the Lulu bob, Cupid’s bow lips, diamante garters and pearl-handled pistol – is the 1920s’ most elegant and irrepressible sleuth. Miss Phryne Fisher is up to her stunning green eyes in intriguing crime in each of these entertaining, fun, and compulsively readable stories. With the ever-loyal Dot, the ingenious Mr Butler and all of Phryne’s friends and household, the action is as fast as Phryne’s wit and logic.” In the forward, the author mentioned that she used these short versions to test out new characters. Entertaining read.
Aboard the steamship Oceanic in 1885, 15-year-old Keridec Rees is carrying her father’s ashes home when her friend and companion, Anne Bonney, disappears. The historical mystery MY BONNEY LIES UNDER by Susan Cummins Miller features an intelligent and analytical young heroine with a most unusual upbringing. With the help of her two guardians and the ship’s captain, she is determined to reach San Francisco alive.
I hope all works out with your trip to New York Lesa. Looks like you have a busy weekend planned.
Hi MM, Oh, we always jam as much in when we go to NYC as we can. I”m looking forward to the shows.
My Bonney Lies Under sounds excellent!
Good morning all from my rainy, chilly corner of the world. Will it ever warm up and allow the leaves to pop out on the trees? Ah well, more time indoors to read! Enjoy your weekend in NY, Lesa. Sounds divine!
This week I read an older book, “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” by Kim Michele Richardson. A friend recommended it and it was a quick, easy read. About a pack horse Librarian in Appalachia in 1936 and the struggles that she faced with the townspeople due to her inherited Blue coloring, and the joys of having a rewarding job delivering books to remote patrons.
I received two books from the library this week that I had on hold, so more reading ahead.
We will be attending a shower this weekend for our 2nd grandchild, who will be born later this month. And then I will be visiting family and doing some shopping in a larger city. Happy May!
Hi Mary, I’m sorry your weather is lousy, but, as you said, more reading time!
I remember when “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek”came out. So popular at the library, and one of my best friend’s favorite books that year.
Happy Reading!
Two only okay books for me.
The Inheritance by Aimie K. Runyan. Adopted at birth Veronica takes a DNA test and goes to Ireland, France, Italy and Denmark to find her roots. Along the way she has visions of her female ancestors.
Next was A Girl’s Guide to Winning the War by Annie Lyons. Peggy Sparks works in the Ministry publishing pamphlets during WWII.
My husband is currently driving us through Washing DC on our way to Baltimore to see the historic ships, Fort McHenry and the National Aquarium. Yesterday we spent his birthday at the fabulous National Museum of the US Army. We are founding members and we finally got a chance to go.
Enjoy New York, Lesa.
Happy Reading!
Sounds as if you’re having a wonderful trip, Sharon. Enjoy every minute!
I’m sorry The Inheritance didn’t live up to the summary.
Good morning! Lesa, I am envious, as always, of your upcoming Broadway trip. Please let us know more about it afterwards.
My birthday weekend was wonderful, as expected. The restaurant I mentioned (Q1227) was absolutely amazing and the food was sublime. Glad I didn’t see the bill! Our belated Easter celebration at my DIL’s sister’s house was a lot of fun. The Easter egg hunt was probably the best one I’ve ever seen. The kids were even able to win money, tickets for special prizes, and more. A highlight for me was that another of Melany’s sisters, Ruth, brought her foster puppy, Piglet, whom I’ve been watching and reading about on Facebook. A chihuahua mama gave birth at Ruth’s house, and Piglet was part of the litter. She has absolutely no hair, no teeth, and two back legs that look like their knees are backwards, and she’s very tiny. But how adorable! She doesn’t seem to be bothered about any of that and fearlessly runs around and plays with much bigger dogs (and cats). She is now a regular patient at UC Davis, which is a wonderful veterinary school. Recently it was thought that she had male body parts along with the female in her abdomen, but now they think they are lymph nodes (neither of those belong in her abdomen). She is a delight, and she definitely deserves her Piglet name.
I have to tell you all about the coolest birthday present I received–thanks to Melany’s research and imagination. It’s a book titled JEOPARDY FOR GRAMMAR NERDS, which you won’t find anywhere except in my house, because it has a lovely photo of me on the cover (from my Paris trip in 2016), and it purports to be be written by yours truly, Margie Bunting. On the back are blurbs which say such things as “Margie Bunting delivers her delightful commentary with unparalleled wit and insight.” Melany had to answer a dozen or so questions about me, and AI did the rest (Bookbyanyone.com). Oh, and the subtitle is: a hilarious journey through trivia, syntax, and unwanted corrections with your know-it-all host, Margie Bunting. I haven’t had the chance to read all of it yet, but it is mainly 241 pages about grammar and punctuation, with things sprinkled in such as my obsession with Jeopardy. the names of my sons, the fact that I worked in Human Resources, and much more. I LOVE IT!!
This week I abandoned one book after 100 pages (I just couldn’t accept the premise), so I only finished two books.
If you are looking for a summer/beach read, MANSION BEACH by Meg Mitchell Moore may be just the thing for you. It focuses on three women who are living on Block Island, Rhode Island one summer. Juliana, a former foster child, is an entrepreneur who has risen above a difficult childhood to become CEO of her own fashion app company, and she doesn’t want anything to prevent her taking it public. Nicola feels like she’s the oldest intern ever at age 29, but she loves her job working for a nature conservancy and has shocked her parents by discarding her expensive law degree. Taylor works night and day to please her demanding, wealthy real estate developer father and is desperate to hang on to her much less ambitious husband. But there are conflicting relationships in play and secrets that can ruin everything. The story has its moments, but it is not my favorite of Moore’s books. I would have liked a bit more nuance, and I was put off by sentences and even an entire chapter where the author speaks directly to the reader (e.g., “can you imagine . . .” and “you need to know this about [this character).” But the plot kept me reading with occasional excerpts from a podcast in which local residents comment on a death which does not happen until close to the end of the book. That’s when we learn who died, how, and why. The story does have its moments, but for the most part, I found it difficult to relate to one or more of the three protagonists. (May)
Laurie R. King once again displays her extraordinary storytelling skills and masterful prose in KNAVE OF DIAMONDS, book #19 of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Homes historical mystery series. Devotees of the series know that Mary (called Russell in most of the books) is the much younger wife of renowned detective Sherlock Holmes and has become a skilled and trusted participant in her husband’s investigations and adventures, along with some of her own. This story features a character that Russell had thought dead for more than a decade, her Uncle Jake Russell. Jake has often been in trouble as a thief and con man, and he implores his niece to assist him in finding and restoring the Irish Crown Jewels to their rightful owner (despite the fact that he is considered one of the suspects in their theft). Russell knows this could negatively affect her relationship with Sherlock, but Jake was her childhood hero and the younger brother of her deceased father, who had perished along with Mary’s mother and brother in a fiery crash years ago. As always, the descriptions are fascinating and the story is immersive. One of my regrets, however, is that there is a great deal of exposition about Jake and his background, which slows the story down in the early chapters. I also felt the plot was so twisty and had so many characters as to make it difficult to follow (for me, anyway). But King’s books are always worth reading, and her impressive research and imagination combine to produce ambitious, beautifully written mystery novels. (June)
Happy Belated Birthday! It sounds like a fabulous weekend. Thanks for sharing in your joy!
Sending belated birthday wishes, Margie.
i am a Laurie King fan and am looking forward to reading KNAVE OF DIAMONDS.
Happy belated Birthday Margie. I absolutely love your birthday book present! How inventive and personal, and just downright wonderful. What a treasure.
So glad you had a good birthday, Margie.I’ve read all of Laurie King’s Mary Russell books, and I’ll certainly read this one, but I’m glad to have your warning not to expect it to be one of the best.
Margie, It sounds as if you enjoyed every bit of your birthday and Easter. That’s great! And, I love your Jeopardy book.It sounds as if it’s perfect for you, and has humor only you or someone close to you would understand.
Yes! Of course, I’ll let you know about my Broadway trip!
Hi everyone! One highlight of my week was going to see the kiddo row for his college. Besides that I’ve been mostly working on end-of-term papers and projects. For fun I finally finished Trouble in Queenstown, which made me a little nostalgic for New Jersey despite the negative things the books shows. I also read Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, a YA science fiction book about a country kind of like China where boys are pilots fighting an alien invader. Their success in battle depends on drawing out the life force from girls, and our heroine wants to change that system. It was a fast and absorbing read.
It’s playoff season for hockey, and Spiral by Bal Khabra was a fun romance about a star rookie and a fake girlfriend situation with a ballerina who is barely getting by but dreams of stardom. It had a little more depth than you’d expect and was my favorite of my week’s reading (presuming that we are not counting Diaconal Studies: Lived Theology for the Church in North America.)
Have a great week!
Hi Trisha,
No, I doubt most of us would find Diaconal Studies: Lived Theology for the Church in North America to be very interesting.
Now, the rowing on the other hand. That could have been fun.
Happy reading in the next week!
Hello, everyone. Lesa, I hoped you have a great time in New Yotk, a city I love and know because my uncle lives there. Peter and I are in our second week in Romania and are deep in Transylvania, driving through gorgeous scenery and seeing castle after castle. Such fun!
In the car, we’re listening to Tess Gerritsen’s THE SPY COAST. we’ll finish it, but I’m sad to say that I’m not enjoying it much, because I find Maggie, the heroine, both unlikeable and unrealistic. Too bad.
Luckily, I read a.book I really liked, a mystery called THE TAINTED CUP by Robert Jackson Bennett set in an alternate fantasy world (but with “normal” peoplenot fairies!) I thought it was excellent and bought the sequel. One of YOU recommended it to me when I asked for fantasy suggestions a few weeks ago, and I’m so sorry I can’t remember who to thank!
Hi Kim,
Isn’t it wonderful to see and enjoy another country? It sounds as if Romania is beautiful.
I’m sorry The Spy Coast wasn’t for you. I know I suggested it, but I liked Maggie and her friends. Oh, well. Not every book is for every reader.
I hope you continue to enjoy your trip!