It’s been a good week; no appointments and the weather has been warmer. Best of all, no snow. My kind of week. But, after finishing The Astral Library, I can’t get into a novel. I just dropped two of them, one after I read a third of it. So, you’ll have to tell me what you’ve done this week, and what you’re reading. And, don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for our last Friday with a guest blogger. Kim Hays wrote about her Favorite Books Read in 2025.
I am reading a nonfiction title, A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction by Elizabeth McCracken. No, I have no intention of writing a novel, but I’m always interested in the process. You might recognize McCracken as the author of The Giant’s House. She’s a former librarian who has taught creative writing for over thirty years.
I like the format of the book. She shares two hundred eighty points, insights into the writing process. Some of those points are only a couple sentences. She sees her book as a course about the craft of writing. It’s very easy to pick the book up, read a little, and put it down again.
Her second point did make me a little smug. She says, “I used to be a librarian; I wanted to appear in a reference book. That hasn’t happened yet, so I’ve been forced to write my own.” I did appear in a reference book. I wrote the chapter about Mysteries in Genreflecting: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests, Seventh Edition. And, there’s a short paragraph about me under “Contributors”. I might not be a published novelist, but my nonfiction is included in this reference book.
McCracken is a literary award winner, finalist, and nominee. So, I don’t really have a step up on her. But, it was funny to read that as her second point, and say “ha”.
What about you? What are you reading this week? What have you done? (Glen, I want to hear about your Lunar New Year celebrations!)
Lesa, I love that you appeared in a reference book! And I believe you have earned the right to feel a little smug for sure.
David finished the last of his 20 sessions of radiation yesterday, so that’s certainly cause for celebration. He’s still suffering some after effects which they say will hang in for two to six weeks. Then an appointment with the oncologist at the end of March.
I have been coughing and coughing and coughing for three weeks now. No other symptoms, just coughing attacks that can last more than half an hour. It’s quite exhausting and I think I’ve pulled a muscle.
(And I am sad because Friday is the last Friday of reader’s favourites. I enjoy finding out which books other people loved the most every year. Lesa, I sent you my list on Dec 29th. Clearly you didn’t get it; shall I resend it or is it too late?)
Two books for me this week:
DEATH AND OTHER OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS by Veronika Dapunt
I’m not sure what to make of this book. I liked the premise but – and I’m in the minority according to other’s reviews – it didn’t work for me.
Death needs a holiday. Being the ‘grim reaper’ for billions of years gets tiresome after a while, so she takes some leave to spend a period of time as a human on earth. She finds a job because she needs to pay rent and be able to afford groceries. No sooner does she arrive than there is a series of Unplanned deaths of people that were not on The List. It’s a bit of a complicated plot because the Unplanned deaths seem to be related to the Italian mafia. And rather than help her, Death’s sister – Life – seems to think she has something to do with it all. And like any relationship between sisters, that of Death and Life is full of sibling rivalry, and jealousy/misunderstandings. Furthermore, Death is being framed for the murders so it seems it’s going to be up to her to clear her name by figuring out who’s committing these unauthorized killings.
I thought the book would be funny and full of dark humour but I didn’t find either. I found the plot somewhat confusing and it wasn’t till the second half of the book that I sort of understood what was going on. I also didn’t really care for or about any of the characters; they were oddly shallow I thought.
There were some original ideas, such as God, Jesus, and the Devil cast as staff of a corporation with titles like the Boss, Human Communications Director, and VP for Pandemonium & Perdition, although it felt weird. And wrong. But there were some deeper themes like life and love, and the book did make me think of being grateful and appreciative of all the miraculous little things in this world that we take for granted. Overall, the book wasn’t what I was expecting and I didn’t really connect with it, but like I said I’m in the minority for feeling this way, so maybe I missed the whole point of the story. It was different, I’ll give it that.
THE FRAMED WOMEN OF ARDEMORE HOUSE by Brandy Schillace
This book was published a couple of years ago. I found it to be an absorbing, well-written mystery with the added bonus of a great cast of characters.
Within the last year Jo has lost her book editor job, gotten divorced, and her mother died. Just after that she’s informed that she’s inherited the family estate in England. With nothing and no one to keep her in the U.S., she heads to England to claim her inheritance and make a new start for herself. But when she gets there, she finds the manor has been abandoned for a century, it’s in utter disrepair, and not habitable. Nor was she aware there are thousands of pounds of back taxes owing. Besides the house and huge overgrown gardens, there is a cottage on the grounds. Jo chooses to live there for now since it’s habitable – even if only just barely.
But before she can even move in, the scary and sullen caretaker is found murdered in Jo’s cottage. Now the police tell her she can’t move in because it’s a crime scene. Even more worrying is that being new to the village she quickly becomes a prime suspect. This would all be a lot for anyone to handle, but for Jo – who is on the autism spectrum – it’s particularly hard.
DCI MacAdams has been assigned to the case. He’s not best pleased either when his boss brings in a retired DCI in to ‘assist’, and they clash from the start.
A painting Jo discovered on her one tour of the manor itself has been stolen and she feels it must be connected to the murder. But when the police don’t agree with her, she decides she will do some digging of her own to clear her name. She gets some support from the local innkeeper’s wife, and from an antiques dealer, and surprisingly DCI MacAdams seems to be thawing a bit.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The mystery was convoluted but the author (autistic herself) never left me confused. The story was just as much about the mystery as it was about the characters, which got me wholly invested and I happily raced through the pages.
Coughing fits aren’t fun. You should get yourself checked out. Pneumonia can hide for a long time.
Glen and Bev. thanks for your concern! I actually went to the doctor yesterday and she checked me out and said it was just a ‘nasty virus’ and she suspected I’d be fine. Eventually. She said she’d had the same thing in early October and it had lasted four months! Hopefully I’ll be over it sooner than that.
Lindy, please get your coughing check out. Like Glen said pneumonia can hide. I went to the doctor for a coughing fit I was having and he said it was just a cold. Went to a different doctor because it wasn’t getting better and I had pneumonia.
Lindy, if you take any medication you might want to see if a cough is on the side effects of any of them. A couple of years ago I developed a cough I couldn’t get rid of and it turned out to be a medication allergy. It went away as soon as the doctor switched me to a different medication.
How interesting Sandy. Thank you. I’m not on anything new but I’ll keep that in mind if I don’t stop coughing. Good idea.
Lindy! You’re right. Either I never received your submission, or it was lost in my email. Oh, yes, please. I’d love to have your list of Favorites. I hate to see the Friday lists end, too, and I often add your suggestions to my TBR lists. Please send it.
I agree with Glen. The caregiver often ignores symptoms, and you should get checked out. Happy to hear David’s radiation is over!
The Framed Women sounds good.
Lindy, glad David is done and hope he feels better soon. My sister has gotten very positive news on her cancer lately, so good there too. As for the coughing, I believe everything was covered. Sandy is right about the medication. Years ago, Jackie had coughing problems that turned out to be caused by blood pressure medication. The doctor’s theory was, well it’s working on the blood pressure… We ended up changing doctors, not just for that but more because she kept us waiting at least an hour after our appointment time every visit, though that was probably the last straw. Jackie is susceptible to bronchitis, which can turn into pneumonia, so she has to watch any upper respiratory infections.
I’m happy for your sister, Jeff. Every bit of good news is a little miracle.
And I’m glad you and Jackie have a better doctor now!
Lindy, so happy to hear the treatments are complete. I hope David recovers from the side effects. Thank you for sharing the good news!
Take care!
Thank you very much Jennifer.
Hi Lindy
I empathise – I have had a horrible virus since two days after my mother’s funeral – my husband got it first and generously shared with me and both of our daughters. I am coughing all the time (or at least it feels like that, doesn’t it?) and it’s driving me nuts. My husband has more or less recovered now, so I am hoping I only have a few more days to go – but one of my neigbours has had it since Christmas Eve, which is a depressing thought. I try to remind myself that so many people have much worse things to worry about, but I’m often not very good at that! I do hope yours goes soon.
I like the sound of The Framed Women and will look out for it, thanks for the recommendation.
That’s too bad Rosemary. Let me know next week how you are; we’ll see which one of us recovers first ha ha.
Chuc Mun Nom Moi!
It’s been raining on and off all week. We may get snow tomorrow. I’m definitely not looking forward to that.
For Valentine’s Day I went to Arrival, an ABBA tribute that is actually from Sweden. They were pretty good, and certainly seemed authentic.
Before the Pandemic, it seemed like a lot of resentment and rancor was growing around the holiday. A lot of that seems to have gone away. A bit of a silver lining, I guess.
This week I read:
Tough Love by Thor Bernard; A Chinese gangster is pursued by Yakuza thugs inside a vast love motel. None of the characters came to life. The story just sort of sat there, which is a heckuva thing for a book like this.
Sanctuary by Julien Rapp; A young Japanese woman on her way to Hawaii disappeared, and Dreadlow and his associates start the hunt, and meander their way through the islands, trying to break the case before Dreadlow gets married. Meanwhile, his fiance makes a road trip. I wound up skipping most of those pages, and a lot of pages about climate change, so I think I read maybe a quarter of the book.
Vixen 03 by Clive Cussler; While canoodling with the woman who will eventually become his wife, Dirk Pitt becomes interested in plane parts found in her father’s cabin. It seems the plane crashed with a terrible cargo, and all records have disappeared. These early books, with the (then) near future sci fi and a Cold War focus, before the formula really took hold are probably the best in the series.
Oh, a good Clive Cussler that wasn’t yet formulaic! Good to hear, Glen!
I like ABBA, so your concert sounds fun.
Congrats on appearing in a non-fiction book! (I’m sure it’s old news, but I didn’t know about it.)
We got the promised rain over the weekend. We’re supposed to get some more tomorrow morning. Hopefully, it doesn’t mess up the drive into work too much. And it’s cooled down. We are barely in the 50’s. For me, this is cold, and I HATE it!
Reading wise, I’m in July of 1897 with MURDER AT CHATEAU SUR MER by Alyssa Maxwell. This is the fifth in her Gilded Newport series, and I’m really enjoying it. We’ve had a murder that has been positioned to take down a US Senator. Unless he really is guilty, of course. I should be finishing this one up today, and I can’t wait to see how things wrap up.
Thank you, Mark. Lots of work, but I enjoyed working on that project.
I know. That’s cold for me, too.
I liked the couple Newport mysteries that I read. I don’t know why I didn’t read more.
Hurrah for you, Lesa, for contributing a chapter to a reference book and being a published author. I’m glad you told us. I’m also glad to hear about McCracken’s book on improving one’s writing skills. I’m always looking for good advice, especially since I’m taking a break from writing mysteries and trying a novel, which is a surprisingly different kind of challenge.
This past week has had very little sun. Lots of sleet and rain here in the city of Bern, and piles of snow in many other parts of Switzerland. The risk of avalanches is very high throughout the mountains. My husband and I have had a quiet week. We had old friends for dinner last Saturday, and I made a good meal for them, which we all enjoyed, along with lots of talking.
Sorry to have little to report about books. I’m in the middle of listening to BUCKEYE, by Patrick Ryan, which is the story of three generations of two families in a small Ohio town before and after WWII. It’s not gripping, but I’d like to know what happens to the people. I’ve just started reading THE LONELINESS OF SONIA AND SUNNY, by Kiran Desai, which, as you all probably know, has gotten great reviews. Good so far, but I’ve got a long way to read.
Like Lesa, I wasn’t able to get into anything else this week, so before going to sleep, I’ve been rereading a comforting series of three books by Elizabeth Goudge, The Eliot Chronicles. The first, THE BIRD IN THE TREE, was published in 1940, and they’re all set in the English countryside near the sea. Interesting people, three generations of them, with a very autocratic but loving grandmother, trying to get everyone else in the family to do what she thinks is best for them; lots of moral dilemmas to resolve; and magnificent descriptions of nature. I’ve just started the second book in the series (the one I’ve reread the most!), PILGRIMS INN, which is my favorite. Elizabeth Goudge is known for lots of adult novels and for two lovely children’s books, THE LITTLE WHITE HORSE (which won a Carnegie Medal in 1946) and LINNETS AND VALERIANS.
Kim, do I need to read the Elizabeth Goudge books in order or can I start with Pilgrams Inn?
I started with Pilgrims Inn because i didn’t know it was the middle book, and it hooked me and made me want to read the other two. So Id say go ahead and see if you like it. I hope you do.
Thank Kim. Downloading it now. I am trying to find books to read before bed that will help quiet my mind. So much anxiety producing news out there.
Susan, that’s why I’ve been re-reading Barbara Pym. I’d also recommend Bill Richardon’s Bachelor Brothers Bed & Breakfast books, and any of Stuart Mclean’s Vinyl Cafe books as great ‘mind quietening’ resources in these very troubling times.
Kim, I love, love, love Elizabeth Goudge, and The Little White Horse is my favorite children’s book of all time! I still have a paperback copy of it and have read it multiple times. I think it’s time to read it again! Thanks for the reminder.
I’m delighted to hear that, Margie. Elizabeth Goudge’s books are “old-fashioned” (although I’m not quite sure what I mean by that), but I find them SO comforting. THE ROSEMARY TREE, THE DEAN’S WATCH, GENTIAN HILL–it sounds like you like these novels as much as I do. Goudge is especially good at portraying the sensitivity of young children, I think.
Thank you, Kim. And, I’m looking forward to sharing your list of Favorites tomorrow.
After the avalanche in Lake Tahoe this week, it sounds frightening. I hate sleet, and everything that goes with it.
I haven’t read Elizabeth Goudge in a number of years. Sometime we should do a discussion about comfort reads. After we finish Favorites.
And after that maybe a list of everyone’s top ten books they’ve read in their life so far? That would take some thinking!
You’re right, Lindy. I’d give everyone plenty of notice of both because I would want to think about it.
Lesa and Lindy – Annie B Jones did this in one of her From the Front Porch podcasts. It was really interesting – she made the point that one’s favourite books of a year are not at all the same as favourite books of one’s life. She chose some books that I’d never want to read, but also some classics like To Kill a Mocking Bird and Little Women. I’ve been thinking about what mine would be ever since.
Oh yes – ‘comfort reads’ is one of my favourite subject – I’m looking forward to it!
Kim, I have several Elizabeth Goudge books (though not the ones you mention) but have never actually read any of them – you’ve inspired me to take one down and give it a go soon, thanks for that.
Count me in with Goudge in my TBR!
Good morning all! Loved reading about your accomplishment, Lesa! Thanks for sharing.
We are on Day 5 of our staycation and enjoying it immensely. Time with friends and family and no cooking. Weather has been great – high 50’s, sunshine, no snow!
I finally got to read Dark Humor by Matt Goldman. I’m a huge Nils Shapiro fan so was very excited to finally get the book. Nils is on a quest to find Sammy Sykes, the man responsible for killing his wife Gabriella two years earlier. Foreign travel, Sherlock Holmes type disguises, and a potential new love interest keeps the plot moving and interesting. How easily duped some of the gangsters are in this book and the fact that even starting this search puts his daughter in danger has me giving it 4 stars instead of 5. I hope that there are more books to come.
You’re welcome, Mary. I don’t think of Genreflecting often, but McCracken reminded me.
I’m happy to hear you’re enjoying your staycation!
I agree. I hate women and children in jeopardy in books.
Mary, I LOVE staycations. So much less taxing than traveling. What are you doing about meals? Eating out or ordering in?
We are eating out! Especially love breakfast out. It’s been low stress – unlike flying!
Got a late start today – woke up at 7:20 instead of my usual 6:00 – so I’m running behind. But I’ll be back. Meanwhile, a teaser. Yes, it is warming up. It might be 81 here today in South Florida, and in New York alternate side parking is in effect for the first time in 24 days, so presumably the snow has melted.
Jackie finished her Keri Arthur book, HORN OF WINTER. She says it was the best (the sixth, I believe) in the Relic Hunters series, with the main character juggling three “men” at one time, all elves or pixies (as she is). She’s now finally reading THE SEVEN RINGS, the third in Nora Roberts’s Lost Brides trilogy. She just started it, but says there is NO WAY you would know what is going on without reading the first two books in the series.
Back with my reading a little later.
Have a good day, everyone.
Jackie is right, Jeff. You have to read the first ones in the Lost Brides trilogy to understand the third.
Yay, warmer temperatures!
Jeff – please could you enlighten an ignorant Brit as to what alternate side parking is?
Parking here in the village is absolutely dreadful. People are *so* lazy, they just slam their cars to a halt outside whichever shop or service they want to use – the road through the village is the main route from Aberdeen city to Deeside and beyond, so huge things like forestry commission lorries have to use it, also buses and emergency service vehicles, but there is so much double parking and complete disregard for parking restrictions that they often have difficulty getting through. There’s also a blind bend as traffic enters the village from the west, but that doesn’t stop people parking right on it.
Thankfully we don’t live on the main thoroughfare – our road is a quiet cul-de-sac used only by residents, tradesmen and people making deliveries. We are lucky.
Rosemary, as practiced in New York City, then: depending on where you live, you have specific hours when you must move your car from one side of the street to another, so they can (fingers crossed) sweep the streets. The problem is, of course, since parking is at a premium in most of the city, what do you do with your car for those hours. In some areas, it as considered acceptable to double park on the other side of the street. The person who is parked by the curb knows his car will be stuck there for that period. Of course, if you have to get out, you honk your horn until the guy comes down to move his car. Pro tip: if you have any consideration for other people, you leave your phone number so he can call you to move.
Where we live now, fortunately, is a little more suburban than that. We have ASP on one side on Thursdays from 8:30 to 10:00 am and the other side on Fridays, same hours. However, if you walk south towards the Verrazzano Bridge, their hours are 9:30 to 11:00, so you could park there and move if you want to. Going north, on the other side of 86th Street (we are on 88th Street) their ASP days are Mondays and Tuesdays, so you can park there if, for example, you arrive home late on Wednesday or Thursday night and don’t want to drive around. But, as a rule, parking is not terribly hard to find where we are, as long as you don’t insist on being close to your building. We are in an apartment building, but most of the blocks are private homes with driveways and garages.
Lastly, we’re retired and home a lot, so I rarely have trouble parking on the right side. But if we are going out before 10:00 on Thursday or Friday, I make sure NOT to park on the street next to our building, in case I get blocked in. The blocks with the private houses, as long as you park by a driveway you can always get out.
I could tell you about parking for potential snowstorms, but I guess this took up enough time and room. Basically, however, snow plows angle towards the right, so you want to park on the left side of a one way street…just in case.
Happy Thursday, everyone!
I’m continuing to pick up books that sound like books I’m going to like, to put them aside because they’re not “just right.”
But ROAD TRIP by Mary Kay Andrews checked all the right boxes.
Description from Net Galley
Pack your bag for a summer read filled with mystery, romance, intrigue, travel, cozy pubs, and hot men with accents.
Maeve and Therese Dunigan are sisters–but the two have been estranged for years. They could not be more opposite: Maeve is the rule-follower and Therese is the rebel. But when their mother’s death brings the family back together, the two find that they have inherited a painting–one that could be worth millions and could save each of them from the wolves at their door. The only issue is whether it’s real or a fake –and the only way they can prove that theirs is the real McCoy is to solve the mystery of how this portrait of an Anglo-Irish aristocrat made its way to their childhood home in Savannah, GA. This means a road trip–to Ireland, to their family roots, and to a mysterious crime that occurred generations ago. With tensions simmering, the two hit the road and find themselves on twisty lanes, in colorful villages, at local pubs, and with handsome men whose gift of the gab is surpassed only by their charm. Can Maeve and Therese actually survive the journey without killing each other? Join Mary Kay Andrews on a road trip that will entertain you for miles.
Kaye, you make me want to run right out and get a copy of Road Trip. I shall check if it’s available anywhere near me. Thanks!
I just checked and it appears I’ll have to wait for The Road Trip, since the publication date isn’t till June.
Kaye, I may have to read Road Trip earlier than I thought, since nothing seems to work. I know that will!
Oooh Kaye, that sounds great! I’ve added it to my list – though I’m surprised to find that our library system does not have a single book by this author.
Love Mary Kay Andrew’s books! Thanks for recommending!
Kaye, I have this one from NetGalley but haven’t gotten to it yet. Looking forward to it. Glad you liked it.
While some of you might not be excited about it, we got snow here in Idaho yesterday. Finally! The local ski area got six inches yesterday. My brother is a ski host there and last Saturday, it was super dangerous up there. So many injuries. They life flighted three people out.
I’m still on my Olympic watching streak. Some nights are better than others. I only read one book all week. Which was Stakeouts and Strollers by Rob Phillips.
Charlie who is an unemployed Pulitzer Prize winning journalist becomes a rookie private investigator. One of his first cases is to spy on the wife of a local businessman. While on a stakeout, he encounters a teenage girl who is looking for her estranged father. He ends up befriend the girl and helps her find her dad. In the process, he stumbles upon a major crime.
The first part of the book was slow, but the action really picked up in the 2nd part.
Oh, I’m with you, Bev! Although once the ice skating is over, I probably am, too. I did watch a lot of the Olympics, though.
Somewhere in my future reading is Stakeouts and Strollers.
Three books for me this week.
I’m Too Old For This by Samantha Downing was dark but I thought it was a hoot. Lottie thought she was living a quiet life leaving her life of murder behind her. Then Plum shows up on her door wanting to do a podcast on her past. She doesn’t take a polite no for an answer so Lottie takes matters into her own hands. Things spiral out of control after that and Lottie discovers it’s not so easy to dispose of bodies and cover her tracks any more.
My next book was Call of the Camino by Suzanne Redfearn. Two women walk the Camino-one in 1997 and another in 2004. One is trying to outrun her family history and the other trying to find herself. Their lives interconnect in an unexpected way. Reading the author’s notes only enhanced how much I loved this.
My last book was The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten. Nils Vik knows it is his last day on earth so he takes one last journey along the fjord. Dead people emerge from each of the ferry stops on his route from his logbook as he waits for his late wife Marta to join him. I enjoyed this too.
We spent yesterday at The Auschwitz exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center. Very sobering and sad. I did like how the last part of it had the stories of the survivors who emigrated to Cincinnati through Union Station where the exhibit is staged.
Happy Reading!
I’ve only been to the Cincinnati Museum Center once, Sharon, but I was impressed. We saw the Pompeii exhibit.
All three of your books sound interesting this week.
We were going to see the Auschwitz exhibit, but postponed our trip due to snow. We are hoping to go next weekend.
Jennifer, We enjoyed it very much. It took us about 2-1/2 hours to go through it all.
Good morning! It’s been a heckuva week, to be sure. Son Zach had mentioned the fact that he might need me for an overnight with the grandkids but didn’t confirm until the day before! It turned out to be 8:00 a.m. Saturday till 4:30 p.m. Sunday, and it involved four games–two basketball, one soccer, one flag football, plus one play date. Lots of details, including the fact that Henry was picked up by a soccer dad for his game during Autumn’s basketball game. Nick helped out with flag football and dinner on Saturday and made it to Henry’s basketball game. Happily, it was a wonderful weekend, and I had a great experience with both Henry and Autumn. Henry and I even got a couple of Rummikub games in, and he plays as well as any adult. It was good preparation for my Rummikub game with the club (I won at my table), which was followed by two card games this week. Last night I took Nick to see The Book of Mormon, and he belly-laughed through the entire thing. I knew he would love it. It was a terrific cast and, although it is VERY irreverent and has lots of off-color and profane moments, it’s one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen, and I was happy to see it for a second time. I hadn’t experienced such a high level of audience appreciation a while. Now I have to find time to work on collecting my tax documents (hate it!) and preparing for my 4-night trip to San Francisco for Left Coast Crime next week. I leave Wednesday, so I will have to save my Thursday post for the following week. With all of this, I did manage to finish two books.
My favorite historical mystery series from Rhys Bowen, the Royal Spyness Mysteries, now numbers 19 books with FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE. Lady Georgiana Rannoch, very low on the royal succession list, is married to the dashing Darcy and the mother of a very young son. She delights in doing everything for her son, with the help of a young maid, but obnoxious sister-in-law Fig insists on finding her an appropriate nanny. With a name like Nanny Hardbottle, she can’t be anything but the wrong person for Georgie, but Fig makes it worse by coming to stay with Georgie and Darcy to ensure things go well. The mystery in this book focuses on four men, all about the same age and all “posh,” who have recently perished–three of them in daredevil accidents, pursuing their passions. All died around the same time, and Georgie is afraid Darcy might be next, so she starts investigating, with the help of two friends–princess Zou Zou and the supportive Belinda– even though Darcy worries about her safety (as usual). The often-disastrous Queenie, former ladies’ maid and current assistant baker in Georgie’s household, also returns as a part of the story, to my delight. I love spending time with Lady Georgie and Darcy, after 18 previous books, and hope this series continues into infinity.
Camille Pagan’s DOG PERSON tells the story of Miguel and Amelia, his partner of 16 years, from the perspective of their elderly dog, Harold. Amelia has passed away in her thirties, and it’s left to Miguel to keep their co-owned bookstore open in the face of looming financial difficulties. His employees are dedicated and loyal, but Miguel has hardly ever felt strong enough to visit the store since Amelia’s death 18 months earlier. He has high hopes that a ticketed personal appearance and book signing by a popular novelist will give the store the boost it needs. and when the author fails to appear, Miguel calls the author’s assistant to reschedule or to ask for reimbursement for the refunds he will have to make. As it turns out, even the author’s family and employees don’t know where he is, and a relationship between Miguel and Fiona, the author’s scheduler and sister, begins to develop for their mutual benefit. I found the first part of the book to be very slow, but I’m happy I kept reading. I enjoyed the characters of Miguel and Fiona,as well as some of the bookstore’s employees, but my favorite character was another Amelia–Fiona’s very precocious 11-year-old daughter. She manages to go a long way in helping both her mother and their new friend, Miguel–not to mention Harold the dog–to improve their lives and does it with flair and finesse. If only the storytelling had a bit more of both of those things. But the story itself is interesting and heart-warming, and the epilogue, in particular, is deeply affecting.
Margie, We’ll miss you next week, but have fun! You will have to share highlights the following week.
Sounds like took much hecticness for me last weekend, but it sounds as if you enjoyed it.
I’ve never seen The Book of Mormon, but had a board member once tell me it was the funniest show he’d seen.
Same for me!
Good morning. We went out for breakfast and ran errands so I’m late today. I had a cold most of last week so really didn’t feel like doing much. We found a butcher shop that makes really good prepared food so we brought in crab cakes and chicken parm for Valentines Day weekend so I didn’t have to cook other than microwaving a couple of vegetables which was nice.
I read the latest release in M.C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth series, Death of a Groom.
An acquaintance of Priscilla’s books her Valentins Day wedding at Tommel Castle. Unfortunately the groom’s body turn up during the reception. Hamish has a long list of suspects and not enough help but fortunately a freak snowstorm has Lochdubh snowed in. I enjoyed this.
I also read two Japanese translations, both of which were a miss for me.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookstore by Takuya Asakura
I hope you’re feeling better, Sandy.
Mmmm. That butcher shop sounds good. Enjoy the food!
It sounds as if quite a few of us are finding books Miss something.
Sandy, I feel that people either do or don’t like these Japanese translations. I have tried a couple and didn’t much take to them, but I was listening to a podcast earlier in which one of the presenters was raving about them. I feel I should try harder with literature in translation; I always find myself creeping back to books written in English.
Sandy and I both like some translations from the Japanese, Rosemary, but, just like ones in English, I don’t enjoy all of them.
Exactly, Lesa.
I’m not real big on this “healing fiction” stuff, but some Japanese mysteries are really great, and their comics have taken over the world.
Lesa, I’ve been mentioned in books by friends, though I am unlikely to ever write a book myself. But it’s cool to see your name in print, like when Bill Crider dedicated one of his Sheriff Rhodes books to me for giving him the original idea.
I know what you mean about being unsatisfied with certain books. I started one (which will remain unnamed here), which just did not grab me. It was actually the second time I tried it, so was not expecting to love it, but just took it out as a filler until something I wanted to read came in, in the hopes it would grab me this time. But no. But I did get a couple of things since then I want to read.
Mostly, still reading short stories, and I’m this close to the end of the 60 stories in the book that I can include it as (nearly) finished, Fredric Brown, The Classic Collection of Fredric Brown. It also contains 11 of his novels, both mystery and science fiction. Stories include both as well, though they definitely lean heavier on the SF side than the mysteries. I also like his sense of humor at times.
Linda Landrigan is the long-time (since 2002!) editor of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, which has been published since 1956. So FIFTY YEARS OF CRIME AND SUSPENSE covers the years up to 2006. More next time if I finish it.
I’ve been reading one story from each book (occasionally two) every day.
I really liked Amy Pease’s first book, set in rural northern Wisconsin, NORTHWOODS. Eli North has pretty much cracked up since his return from Afghanistan. His marriage is over, he lost his job as a Game Warden due to budget cuts, and he is only holding down a job as Deputy because his mother is the Sheriff and the force is tiny, and grossly under-budgeted. They are helped by a young FBI agent up from Chicago, Alyssa Mason. You root as much (or more) for Eli to hold it together as you do for them to solve the case (drugs, etc.). Now a year has passed (nearly) and the crew, including Alyssa, is back, in her sequel, Wildwood. I was very happy to see how far Eli has come, and also noticed this time just how smart Marge, the Sheriff, really is. Again, there is a missing person, plus the dreaded (to Lesa and me, at least) cryptocurrency plot, but things do come together. Good series, but definitely read the first book first.
I was also a big fan (bigger than the Pease, perhaps) of John McMahon’s HEAD CASE, about the FBI’s small PAR Patterns and Recognition) team, headed by Gardner Camden, a brilliant guy who might remind you a little of Tim Sullivan’s George Cross (in some small way). Now the team is back in INSIDE MAN, and so far, so good. More when I finish it next time.
You’re right, Jeff. It is fun to see your name in print. I can’t even imagine how a debut author feels when they hold that first book in their hands.
Oh, I liked both of John McMahon’s books.
Enjoy the weather!
Lesa, I meant to say – huge congratulations on being named in a book! I would love to experience that joy of debut publication – I remember the first time I met the author Penelope Fitzgerald, who was one of my teachers in my pre-Oxbridge year. She was standing in a room in the old Victorian buidling from which Westminster Tutors operated. The sun was shining in, and she was unpacking a box of hardback copies of one of her first books, about her uncles, the famous Knox brothers. She said ‘You must write a book. There is nothing like this feeling.’
I believe her, Rosemary. I don’t think there would be anything like it!
I have been sick with some kind of digestive problem for a week and did not comment here last week. (I think it carried over from the bronchitis; I have had that happen before.) We have had rain off and on for about 4 days; that has been nice.
Glen finished reading METROPOLIS by Philip Kerr, the last book in the Bernie Gunther series. He liked it a lot. He is now reading THE STALIN AFFAIR: THE IMPOSSIBLE ALLIANCE THAT WON THE WAR by Giles Milton. It is about the meetings between Churchill, Roosevelt (and their ambassadors Archie Clark Kerr and Averill Harriman) and Stalin during World War II. He is almost done with the book.
In the last week I read THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark. I really did not enjoy reading it, but I can see why it has a good reputation. I will have to read something else by that author. I also finished DEATH AT GREENWAY by Lori Rader Day recently. Greenway was Agatha Christie’s home in Devon and the story is about a group of evacuees living a Greenway during the war (and a mysterious death in the area). I liked it a lot. I am now reading THE MURDER OF A LADY by Anthony Wynne, from the British Library Crime Classics series. Set in a Scottish castle and published in 1931, it is a locked room mystery, which is not my favorite subgenre.
Tracy – I hope you feel better soon. I know what you mean about Muriel Spark, I never find her easy, although I do love Miss Jean Brodie (the book, not the character.) I have read other books by her and they are all a bit difficult, in my opinion. She is hugely celebrated in Scotland, but sometimes I am not entirely sure why. I think I am probably missing something. I enjoy Edna O’Brien much more.
Rosemary, thanks for suggesting Edna O’Brien. I have wanted to read something by her. So far, I have only gotten some short story books, which is fine but I will have to find a novel I want to try also.
I’d probably start with The Country Girls – which scandalised Ireland at the time.
I’m sorry you haven’t been feeling good, Tracy. I hope it gets better soon!
Thank heavens there’s nothing on Glen’s list that I want to read. I seem to add some of his nonfiction titles often to my TBR lists.
Tracy, I hope you feel better very soon. Sounds like you’re having a miserable time of it right now.
Good evening everyone.
It *finally* stopped raining in Aberdeenshire – after doing so every day from 1st January to the end of the first week of February. The weather has left huge potholes in a lot of roads, but at least now that the water has subsided you have some hope of seeing them before you burst a tyre.
To make sure we didn’t become complacent, or imagine that spring was just over the horizon, nature sent us more snow two days ago! Fortunately it was only a very thin covering, and it melted off in 24 hours. The severe weather has now moved south – Cornwall is being absolutely inundated, and parts of the Midlands have had quite a bit of snow. Needless to say, the further south The Weather is, the more the BBC makes of it – but we are just glad to be having fairly straightforward, sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy, still days.
As I already mentioned in my reply to Lindy, two days after we got home from my mother’s funeral (which went well) I caught the virus that David already had. I can’t say I have been bedridden or anything like that, but my goodness do these things drag on. For 3-4 days I had no voice at all, and I had to cancel many things – most annoyingly THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY at the theatre. My friend Heather, with whom I was going, was also having eye problems, so in the end neither of us went.
I also had tickets to see DEATH ON THE NILE at the theatre this week, but I felt I could not go and take the risk of coughing all the way through – fortunately David, whose cough has abated, was able to use my ticket and go with another of my friends – they really enjoyed it and said both the acting and the set were excellent.
This week we have our crime festival, GRANITE NOIR, in the city. I only had two tickets, and both were to free events, but I’ve cancelled owing to the coughing problem. So frustrating – but not the end of the world.
Being at home more has meant that I have read more, so it’s not all bad!
My first book is THE COST OF LIVING by Deborah Levy. My youngest daughter Madeleine has often recommended Levy, and I do have a couple of her other books, but I picked this one up in the library. It’s a sort of memoir of how her life changed after the end of her marriage – she moves with her younger daughter from a large family house in a leafy part of London to a shabby flat in a run down block in Holloway (not smart). But the book is about so much more than that – she talks about misogyny, friendship, her writing, and the (to me) very interesting topic of why society often disapproves of women who seek to establish their own identity outside marriage and motherhood – the ways in which their children, and sometimes their partners and wider family, are affronted by their attempts to recover the ‘self’ and become their ‘own person.’ (I’m not putting that very well, but I hope you get the gist.)
The book is short and concise, and I found so much in it that spoke to me. I’ll definitely now read more of Levy’s work.
Lesa, I was especially interested that you are reading a book about writing (it sounds excellent, by the way, and I will look for it) as my second book is WRITE IT ALL DOWN by Cathy Rentzenbrick.
Rentzenbrick is an author (THE LAST ACT OF LOVE is probably her most famous book) and creative writing tutor, and here she gives advice on memoir writing. It’s not something I ever really considered doing, but I now think I maybe could. Rentzenbrick sets everything out very clearly, with some prompts and exercises which, to me, sound very do-able and quite fun. Again this is a short book.
(It’s in The Reading Agency’s ‘Quick Reads’ series – I picked it up partly because, like so many of us, I am struggling to concentrate on a full length book at the moment. The QR series is such a good one – it includes all sorts of books and although it’s aimed primarily at reluctant readers, or those who have little familarity with reading for pleasure, I have found it very useful to get myself out of a reading slump. It’s a charity, financed in part by the author JoJo Moyes.)
My last book – and one I am still reading – is LIGHT ETERNAL by Francis Spufford. My lovely friend Diana sent it to me – she had read it with her book group and loved it.
Spufford is a celebrated author, and an English Literature lecturer at Goldsmith’s College in London. The novel was inspired by a plaque that he passed every day on his way to work – it commemorated the victims of a World War 2 bombing of a Woolworths store, in which many people, adults and children, died. In the book he imagines what the lives of five of the (fictitious) children would have been like if they had not died.
This is an area of south London which (although he calls is by a fictitious name) is easily recognisable as an area in which most of my father’s family lived – in those days it was poor and working class, but needless to say it is now heavily gentrified and this is reflected in exorbitant property prices,
The five children all come from poor homes, but their imagined futures are very different – one becomes a very dodgy ‘property developer’, another a backing singer who ends up in LA, a third marries a skinhead and has to live with his increasingly hardline racism and violence, another has mental health problems, and the last one becomes a compositor for The Times in Fleet Street. In those days the printing industry was heavily unionised and militant. It paid well and working class boys would follow their fathers into the jobs – but as we know, IT eventually took over most of the traditional roles in the industry. I am up to the late 1970s, when Alec, along with almost all of his peers, is on strike and manning the picket lines.
I am really not sure about this book. The stories are engaging and in many ways very familar to me. Spufford, however, clearly likes to write in a very ‘writerly’ way, and there is, for me, too much ‘literary’ description, laboured similes and long paragraphs describing the river, or the clouds, or the way printing machines work. I do want to get through the book as it was so kind of Diana to send it to me, and I know that it has received excellent reviews. I sometimes think I have lost the ability to concentrate on wordy descriptions.
I forgot t say that I also finished Barbara Pym’s EXCELLENT WOMEN (probably something like my 10th re-read) and it was, for me, the perfect book at the right time. When I return to books like these I realise that I see the characters differently as I grow older, and I find that interesting. But most of all i just enjoy Pym’s acutely accurate observations of ‘ordinary’ people, and especially Mildred (the main character)’s self-awareness (of some things, definitely not all!) and dry, self-deprecating humour.
On TV we are at last onto the most recent, third, series of BLUE LIGHTS. Jeff, it is worth waiting for! Just as good as the previous two; I’m enjoying it very much.
In the same vein as comfort books I am also watching HERE WE GO, which is just a family comedy, but with well observed characters and gentle humour rather than mockery. The wonderful Katherine Parkinson (most recently Lizzie Vereker in the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s RIVALS) is very good as wife, mother and now mature student, and Alison Steadman is of course terrific as her mother-in-law. James Howick (the scout master in GHOSTS) is also good value as the very uncool Dad. Very easy viewing that leaves you with a good feeling.
Apart from all of this, I have been very busy with art gallery/maritime museum stuff. We are hoping to host the 2027 British Association of Museums conference, and are already starting to investigate possibilities. I am trying only to think about this one step at a time, otherwise the enormity of what I appear to have taken on would give me even more sleepless nights than I have already.
Today the former prince Andrew was arrested on the charge of misconduct in public office – ie passing confidential government trade information to Epstein. The King and Prince William have made statements confirming that they will do everything they can to assist the enquiry. Such an arrest, and such statements, are unprecedented in modern times, but I doubt anyone has any sympathy for this unprincipled, entitled man or his avaricious ex-wife. I hope that the people in the US implicated in those files will also be properly investigated, but from what we see in our news, it somehow seems unlikely.
No wonder we need those comfort books and programmes right now. Thank goodness for books, and friends.
Have a good week all.
Rosemary, I agree with you on BLUE LIGHTS. We have started the new GRACE (series 5) and SHETLAND (series 11), as well as SLOW HORSES series two (we watched series one recently). Good stuff.
I cna remember visiting friends in England in the 1980s, when “Randy Andy” was considered a fun thing to joke about. No, no one here has any sympathy. But I think we’re all waiting for the other shoe to drop on Trump, who was WAY more involved with Epstein than anyone else. But, so far he’s gotten away with everything.
Jeff, I think we’ve seen Shetland series 11. I want to get back into Grace, I don’t know why I’ve not been watching it. Slow Horses is great, but at the moment the only TV we have can’t get Apple TV, so I’ve only been able to watch it when Apple offered short term cheap deals that I could use on an i-Pad. Gary Oldman is such a good actor. I get the impression he really enjoys playing a part so different from his usual roles.
I’m glad no one over there has any more sympathy for Andrew than we do. And of course I completely agree about Trump. Why is he so untouchable? Who is protecting him? Big money I suppose, that wants to keep things working in its favour.
Meanwhile we are dreading the distinct possibility that the odious Reform Party will win a majority in the next election here. The truly awful Suella Braverman, who recently defected to Reform from the Tory party, has said that the first thing she would do in government would be to abolish the Human Rights Act. This legislation protects many minoirty groups. She is the child of immigrants, but she is pandering to the whims of people in deprived areas, who are being told that all their problems stem from immigration, the LGBTQ+ community, and of course, women. It is truly frightening.
Rosemary, I’m sorry you missed some of your shows because of David spreading that lousy virus. Then, he got to go to Death on the Nile! Not fair, but we all know it isn’t or those who support our orange president would be punished by now. Other countries seem to be doing much better than us in taking action. Darn it anyways.
I don’t know if I should wish you good luck or not in your attempt to get the British Museum conference. I chaired the authors’ portion of a Reading Festival for 5 years. We worked all year for that one day. Lots of work, but I always felt happy on that day when it went well.
Oh, I long ago decided I’m not into long descriptions. But, I’m older than you, so I can observe that “rule”. Give a book fifty pages, and then once you’re over fifty subtract your age from 100, and only give a book that much of a chance. I only have to give a book thirty-two pages, and then I can move on. (smile) I usually know sooner than that, though, if the book is going to work for me.