The weekend was busy, and this coming weekend will be as well. I needed the down time in the middle. Saturday, I had the library’s book tasting, and then went to Linda’s. Linda and Kevin’s oldest son was in town with his daughter, so Mom and Christie came down to see them. I lost multiple games of Hungry, Hungry Hippo to a four-year-old. But, I also had the chance to read to her. Sunday was dinner at their place, and a very long game of UNO. Today, I’m on the road to Mom’s, so I probably won’t be around until afternoon. We’re all going to be there at one time or another so we can finalize plans for Mom’s 90th birthday party. On Sunday, before we return home, we have the baptism and follow-up lunch for Christie’s youngest grandson. So, lots of family time this week, which is wonderful. What about you? What have you been doing?
I just started Jennifer N. Brown’s historical mystery, The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton. Since I just started it, here’s the summary. A dual-timeline murder mystery set in an English country manor, when an ambitious professor discovers the long-lost manuscript of a Reformation-era prophetess
Historian Alison Sage has made a groundbreaking archival discovery―she found a manuscript containing the prophecies of a 16th century nun, Elizabeth Barton. Barton’s prophecy condemning Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn led to her execution and the destruction of all copies of her prophecies―or so the world believed.
With Alison’s discovery, she is catapulted to academic superstardom and scores an invitation to the exclusive Codex Consortium, a week of research among a select handful of fellow historians at a crumbling manor in England, located next to the ruins of the priory where Elizabeth herself once lived.
What begins as a promising conference turns into a nightmare as the eerie house becomes the site of a murder. Suddenly, everyone is a suspect, and it seems that answers lie at the root of a local legend about centuries-old hidden treasure. Alison’s research makes her best-suited to solve the mystery―but when old feelings resurface for a former colleague, and the stakes of the search skyrocket, everyone’s motives become murky.
I’ll catch up with you later today. In the meantime, what did you do this week. Most important, what are you reading?
I like that all the family will have a hand in planning your Mom’s 90(!) birthday party Lesa, and I can tell she’s a much loved lady.
I don’t have much to report from this week. David and I had fun on our little getaway to Victoria earlier in the week and between then and today it’s been fairly quiet. We went out to our favourite breakfast place this morning (we’ve been going there a time or two every month since they opened eight years ago) and the owners happened to come in today to do some ordering of supplies and such, but took the time to sit with us and have their breakfast together with us. We’ve become friends over the years. They left before we did and when it came time to pay we were told the cost of our breakfast had already been taken care of. Such a nice surprise!
Books this week:
A WIDOW’S CHARM by Caitlyn Paxson
A fun historical-ish romance with a smidge of a fantasy element.
Hilde’s (Lady Croft) husband Thorgoode has recently died which leaves not just her own security at stake (she was a maid before marrying him), but that of the wellbeing of all the tenants of Eldmere. All of them and Eldmere itself will now be at the mercy of Thorgoode’s brother, known as The Western Harrier. He is a nasty individual and intent on keeping alive the long war between Eldmere and Relance, thereby putting the lives of all the young men at risk as he orders them to war.
Lord Elmwood, a lord but also a soldier, has been banished from Eldmere because of something that happened during the unending war. He suffers from what must be PTSD as it would be known today, and seems to care for nothing and no one. He is on the run and hides out at the Merewyth estate, the only piece of land not controlled by the Harrier.
Back to Hilde who has decided that the only way to save Croftholde and its citizens is to blackmail Lord Elmwood into resurrecting her dead husband, although he unequivocally refuses to do so as he has vowed to never again use this ability; or ‘charm’.
Both Hilde and Elmwood are flawed and broken to some degree, yet likeable even though they use people to get what they want/need, but deep down are both kind and good at heart.
The side characters are well-depicted –Winthrop, Elmwood’s best friend. Han, Hilde’s prickly sister. And Lady Isobel, who we don’t want to like but who we can’t exactly dislike either.
This was not quite as cozy as the pretty blue cover suggests, due to some deeper issues, and a couple of ‘spicy’ scenes, but was an entertaining story from start to finish (well maybe from around page 30 to the finish), full of banter, misunderstandings, drama, and heart. And a delightful dog named Rollo. I enjoyed the book!
THE CHAMBERMAID’S KEY by Genevieve Graham
I always learn a little bit of Canadian history when I read one of Genevieve Graham’s novels – and she’s so good at bringing it to life because we experience it right along with the characters.
Told in dual timelines, 1929 and 2024, this one is set in Toronto at the newly-built luxurious Dominion Hotel.
In 1929 Rosie Ryan is 17 years old and lives in ‘The Ward’, an overcrowded and poor area of Toronto filled with a melting pot of nationalities of all the immigrants who’ve settled there. Ever since she first saw the beginnings of the hotel’s construction, Rosie was determined to get herself a job there as a chambermaid and build a better life for herself. What a fine thing it would be to work in such a magnificent building. She will allow herself no distractions and do the best job humanly possible to prove herself to Mrs. Evans, the head maid. Despite her best intentions distraction arrives anyway in the form of Damien, a charismatic handsome young waiter. The pair of them get caught up in a dangerous situation involving a murder and a high-level gangster staying at the hotel, the repercussions of which carry right on through to the present day.
In 2024 Bridget Kelly is a City Building Inspector who is overseeing some renovations recently undertaken at the Dominion Hotel to restore it to its original elegance and glory. As she undertakes her inspections she becomes across a number of things that cause her concern, but the more she tries to find out what’s going on the more strongly she’s warned off. She gets some unexpected help from Matthew, an archivist at the City of Toronto Archives.
Through the dual timelines we learn how the events of 1929 and 2024 are connected. Although I didn’t like this book quite as much as the author’s The Secret Keeper, this entertaining novel has history, secrets, a mystery, suspense, and emotional heft, and you can’t help getting attached to the characters and their lives.
Good morning, Lindy. You’re right. Mom, my sisters, and Christie’s daughter, are all involved in the planning. So, if someone doesn’t like it, they didn’t speak up! Seriously, it should be a fun weekend, and a special day.
I’m glad you and David enjoyed your trip to Victoria. And, there’s nothing like a free meal with friends!
Both of your books sound interesting this week. Sending hugs to both you and David.
Hi Lindy – I am listening to A Widow’s Charm right now – so far it is entertaining! I love that your breakfast was ‘on the house’! How nice.
I hope you like A Widow’s Charm right to the end Mary.
I have never listened to an audio book before. I imagine it’s a totally different reading experience!
Lindy, thanks for introducing me to another Canadian author. I will definitely have to look for a book by Genevieve Graham. I may have to check the book sale later in the year, because I am not buying books right now.
Maybe I have already seen one of your comments at Lesa’s blog where you talked about this author or THE SECRET KEEPER, because I was about to add her to my book sale list and that book was already there. Still, glad I was reminded again.
I hope you do read The Secret Keeper one day Tracy. One of my favourites for sure.
This week, we’ve had weather around 90 degrees, high winds, and thunderstorms.
Went to the Sacramento Book Festival. I used to go to the Antiquarian Book Fair at the same site, and it was pretty easy. This was a madhouse. Despite the huge parking lot, I had to park on the street about half a mile away, dodging cars the whole way in. The place was crammed. There was the book festival AND a Psychic Convention at the same spot, and it was tough telling who was who. It was a crush, and you could hardly get anywhere. Still, I was able to attend a panel, see some authors I knew, and get a couple of books to put on the stack. It seemed like there were way too many “Dark Gothic Fantasy” authors for what the market could support, but maybe there’s more Goths around than I thought.
This week I read:
Cold Zero by Brad Thor and Ward Larsen; When the CIA smuggles an AI expert out of China, the CCP is able to crash the plane in the Arctic. From there, we get a survival novel AND a submarine novel as the passenger try to survive, and the Chinese, the Russians, and the US try to find the plane. At least they kept the character development subplots so common in the disaster genre to a minimum. Might be the first in a series.
The Cliffs of Palos Verdes by David Bueche; A PI is hired to learn whether an obvious suicide is a murder. Of course it is, and of course, there’s a cult, but at least there’s a science fictional plot device to keep things interesting.
The Hard Line by Mark Greaney; This is really a placeholder novel, but at least it’s got a lot of action. The CCP is executing a plan to kill off a tier of the American government. The Gray Man doesn’t have much of a plan but to kill off the assassins. Meanwhile, a couple of the assassins are more interested in killing The Gray Man than anything else.
Without Fail by Lee Child; It’s the old saw about a sniper being recruited by a government agent to pretend to kill the Vice President. It hits a bit different after recent events, especially when you read about all the people supporting assassination.
Between A Rock And A Hard Place by Aron Ralston; The guy who went out in the wilderness and got his arm caught by a boulder and had to cut if off tells his story. Very unpleasant in parts.
It’s way too early for 90 degrees, Glen. I’m sure you agree. We’ve had the high winds and thunderstorms, too.
I don’t think I would appreciate Between A Rock and A Hard Place. It sounds as if it would be unpleasant.
Who in the world (I know they do) would support assassination?
It’s been an unusual week. My remote co-workers are in the office, so I haven’t been eating lunch like usual, and my reading is behind where it would normally be. But it’s been good to have them there. Fun if a little stressful as I try to cram everything in.
All this to say I’m not quite half way through STAKEOUTS AND STROLLERS by Rob Phillips. I’m really enjoying the book; I just need more reading time. The story follows a new dad and new PI as he gets pulled into a case involving a missing man.
Everyone leaves Thursday at noon, so I’m sure I’ll get more time to read soon.
I haven’t gotten far enough into Stakeouts and Strollers to like it yet. So far, the dad seems like a dud, but I need to give it more time.
Hope you get more reading time starting today, Mark!
I’m with you on the dad of Stakeouts and Strollers, Lesa. I really struggled to get through the book. If it had been a NetGalley read I would have DNF it.
Mine is from NetGalley, Bev. I may have to DNF.
It’s been a quiet week here, the weather has been in the 50s instead of the 90s we had last week.
I read Bank Shot by Donald Westlake. When a bank moves into a mobile home while its building is being worked on, a group of thieves hatch a plan to steal the bank.
Upside Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski. A girl is sent to live with her aunt so she can attend a class for students with wonky magic.
An ARC of Christmas At Kellworth by Donna K Weaver. A time travel romance.
I never read much Donald Westlake, Sandy, but Bank Shot sounds clever. Let me know if Christmas At Kellworth is good.
BANK SHOT was the second in Westlake’s Dortmunder series (after THE HOT ROCK), about the hapless thief and his associates. Fun series. I believe this was the first Westlake book I ever read. Back in the ’70s I was a member of The Mystery Guild – short of like the Book of The Month Club, but for mysteries – and distinctly remember getting and reading this one. It was made into a movie – a VERY loose adaptation – with George C. Scott starring.
I remember the Mystery Guild, Jeff.
Lesa, I liked Christmas at Kellworth but there’s a whole series which comes before it that I hadn’t read. There was enough backstory that I was never lost but there’s a whole were a lot of references to things that happened in the previous books.
Well, then, we’ll see, Sandy. Thank you!
Bank Shot is one of my favorites. The movie, starring George C Scott, is not good.
“Seize the Net!”
It sounds like you’re having a busy but really nice week, Lesa!
I’m in the middle of revising a manuscript for my agent, so I’m reading a lot of my own writing at the moment. However, I just finished The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths. It’s part of the Ruth Galloway series, which centers on a forensic anthropologist who helps the police with cold cases. It’s set in England, and this particular book focuses on the remains of a girl found in an ancient stone circle. This was my first Elly Griffiths book, but I’m an anglophile and love anything to do with archeology. As you might guess, I ended up really liking it and am happy to have found a new author and series!
You’re having a busy week, Kate, not necessarily fun.
I’m one of those people who just can’t get into Elly Griffith’s books, although I have a friend who is one of her biggest fans. It’s fun, though, when you discover a new author and series.
Sounds busy. Happy 90th to your Mom. I think my father wanted to make it to 90, but he fell a few months short. His older sister lived to be 98.
Busy week here too. I had my second dental visit to fix a filling. And I have to get the car inspected tomorrow. We got our tax refunds in little more than a week, which is miraculous. The weather has been up and down, mostly cold and windy with occasional light rain, though today is the gem of the week: around 70, before the cold makes another appearance to end the month.
Books, then. Jackie loved her Carley Fortune book, EVERY SUMMER AFTER, and was only upset she’d read the books in the wrong order, as this was the first one. She was even more excited to see there will be a multi-part Prime Video series (EVERY YEAR AFTER) this year. She had me put her other books on hold at the library. Her current reading is Jayne Ann Krentz’s THE SHOP ON HIDDEN LANE, a non series book she likes a lot.
I will be back with my reading after breakfast.
Have a good day, everyone.
Thank you, Jeff. If everything goes right for her, Mom will turn 90 on June 7. Her mother lived to be 92, and her remaining sister is 93. She has one younger brother, who is somewhere in his 80s.
I saw that Carley Fortune has a series coming out on Prime. I hope Jackie enjoys it!
Continuing, then… Jackie says the Krentz book also has a “paranormal library in a vault” in the main character’s missing aunt’s basement. For readers of Krentz’s other books it is “Jones-like without the Jones family.” And there’s a dog.
The late James Sallis not only wrote some excellent mysteries – the Lew Griffin series set in New Orleans, DRIVE and the sequel – but also poetry, science fiction, and many essays. I read one book that combines two of his earlier collections, Difficult Lives Hitching Rides: Essays On Noir. DIFFUCLT LIVES contains three long essays/analyses of Jim Thompson, David Goodis and Chester Himes. I’ve read most of Thompson’s books, and was particularly taken with THE KILLER INSIDE ME, POP. 1280 and A HELL OF A WOMAN. I haven’t read much Homes or any of Goodis. The second book, HITCHING RIDES, is shorter essays, some on the same authors, but also covers Derek Raymond, James Lee Burke, Patricia Highsmith, and Jean-Patrick Manchette, whose books I read after hearing Lee Child talk about him at a long-ago Bouchercon. One I knew nothing about was Frenchman Boris Vian (1920-59(, who sounds fascinating.
One of my favorite book of essays was the collection of Joseph Mitchell pieces from The New Yorker, UP IN THE OLD HOTEL. Certainly one of the most memorable pieces was “Professor Sea Gull” about the Greenwich Village eccentric bohemian Joseph Gould, who for years claimed to be writing the longest book in the world, an oral history of everything. After Gould’s death, when the book could not be found, Mitchell wrote a second piece casting doubt on whether it existed at all. Then Jill Lepore decided to investigate and wrote Joe Gould’s Teeth, a sort of recapitulation of the story and Gould’s rather unpleasant life. I was drawn to this also by the discussion of Lepore’s new book of essays, THE DEADLINE, which I was able to get at the library. I hope to be reading it over the next three weeks.
I know I’ve mentioned Jack Ritchie’s vampire detective Cardula (an obvious anagram), and I finished his Crippen & Landru collection, Cardula And the Locked Rooms. Unlike many vampires you read about, Cardula is short of money and has to create a job for himself as a PI (working nights only, of course) to make enough money to pay the rent. The first half of the book consists of these stories, which range from OK to pretty good. The second half, however, is where Ritchie shines, with the locked room (non-series) stories. Good one.
I did get a couple of other library books yesterday, plus I have a collection of Swedish stories on hand, plus James Sallis’s last, posthumously published novel, so I’m not sure what I’ll be reading next, other than that short stories will definitely be part of the mix. As of the end of March, I’d read 180 short stories, as compared with 154 at the same point last year.
I was wondering where I heard of Joe Gould, Jeff. Then, when you mentioned Joe Gould’s Teeth, I realized you had mentioned it last week.
Well once again what you are reading sounds so interesting! Ugh, I have 4 books out right now, so if you like it, it will have to go on my ever growing TBR list!
Unfortunately, this week I put my first ever book in the DNF category on my Goodreads account. I was so looking forward to the 2nd installment in Rob Osler’s “Harriet Marrow Investigates” series. The book title is “The Case of the Murdered Muckraker” and indeed a muckraker was murdered early in the book. But by 60% of the way through it, solving the mystery had received very little attention. Not able to come out of the closet in the late 1800’s (the timeframe of these books), has Prescott Agency’s first female PI Harriet lamenting that she can’t wear men’s clothing in public, but then proceeds to do just that, but then her boss insists that she wear women’s clothing for this special project, and the lamenting continues again (and again, and again). Also there is much fretting about starting a relationship with her romantic interest from the first book, Barb. I just go too frustrated with rereading ground that was already plowed in Book 1 and finally had to give up.
I’m sorry, Mary. I’ve already had 5 DNFs this year, as well as the four books that have supposedly been on my reading pile for a few months, and I keep picking up other books instead. Oh, well. Too many books out there to fret about ones that don’t fit my mood.
I have had 3 on Goodreads that were DNF!
What does DNF mean?
Did Not Finish
Earlier in the week, we were in the 80s and the last two days it’s been nothing but wind and rain. I went to Salt Lake City last week to see the tulip festival. It was so cold that the tulips were drooping. They started to perk up after it warmed up. I used to get excited about going to Salt Lake for the shopping but now we have almost all the same stores and what we don’t have, I can order online. It was a quick trip down on Friday and back on Saturday. But it did cut into my reading time.
I have two books going right now and will hopefully finish them up this week. The first one is Donna Andrews new book coming out, “Probable Caws”. I’m not enthralled with it. The humor is lacking and it’s kind of preachy. The second one is “The Primrose Murder Society” by Stacy Hackney. I’ve been enjoying it.
That’s sad about the tulips, Bev, but I’m glad they perked up. It is kind of sad that there are no unique stores anymore.
I liked The Primrose Murder Society.
Good morning, all! Last week I suddenly decided to give myself a big birthday present this year (April 28) so I bought myself a piano! I took piano lessons from age 6 to 12, then much later moved the piano my parents had bought to my first house as a married woman, where it remained until I gave it away decades later to some coworkers who had a daughter who was taking lessons but didn’t have a piano. Since then I have made do with a digital keyboard. Then, about a year and a half ago, my grandson started taking piano lessons, and his parents bought him a very nice digital console piano. That spurred Zach, who had also taken lessons as a young child (before going on to play the trumpet and then the guitar), to start playing again, as he remembered quite a bit of it. He encourages me to play it when I’m at their house, and I asked for and received some new sheet music at Christmas. But I soon realized that my 61-key Yamaha keyboard with a rickety stand and unweighted keys was actually discouraging me from playing. So, on a dime and after some research, I made an appointment at the store where Zach and Melany bought their piano and went there the next day. After speaking to a lovely man for more than an hour, I ended up purchasing a Yamaha Clavinova at the next level below the one Henry and Zach have, and I’m so excited that it will be delivered tomorrow! I’ll have to get up to speed on all of the wonderful features of this piano, but it will be a great experience I’ve been longing for (and didn’t know it) for quite a while. I’ve already emptied the curio cabinet and moved it to the garage to give it away, in order to make room for the piano in the living room area (my keyboard has been moldering in my bedroom)..
This week I somehow found time to finish three books, while working to finalize the quarterly newsletter I edit.
Virginia Kantra’s charming ANNE OFA DIFFERENT ISLAND is, as you might have guessed, inspired by Anne of Green Gables. Anne Gallagher, now age 25, who loved the classic Anne novels and tried to follow in her footsteps, is introducing the books to a young teenager who is helping out at Anne’s mother’s fudge shop on Mackinac Island (Michigan). Anne has recently returned to the island after teaching high school English at a private school in Chicago. She loves teaching, but her employment at the school is threatened by a complaint from a parent about a book she has shared with her students, and the principal has suspended her for the rest of the semester. Anne is also thrown by her sudden realization that her medical resident boyfriend of two years isn’t her soulmate at all and never will be, and she is still reeling from the death of her beloved father. She hopes that a summer back at her home town will help her figure out what she really wants to be and allow her some time to work on the writing she has always intended to do. Anne had expected to have adventures with her best friend, but although they are still fast friends, Daanis’s life has gone in a different direction. She settled down with her high school boyfriend on the island and is pregnant with her second daughter. Then there’s Joe, who worked with Anne’s father and now owns the business they built together. He is a few years older than Anne and used to call her “the pest,” but now that they are both adults, he seems very different. Anne’s father used to treasure her, letting her make her own mistakes and find her way forward, contrary to her mother, who never seemed as accepting, while Joe comes to appreciate and stand by her. A sweet romance ensues, although there are some of the communications issues that are prevalent in a romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining story and the author’s voice, which alternates between the two protagonists.
In the second book in Elizabeth Penney’s Ravensea Castle series, DUNGEONS AND DANGER, herbalist Nora has converted the family’s centuries-old castle in Yorkshire into a bed and breakfast. As Halloween approaches, several producers from Britain Has Ghosts have become temporary residents, vying with each other to make contact with the castle’s ghosts. And Nora’s brother Will, who brews honey wine (mead), is also putting the final touches on plans for the town’s Viking festival, which is expected to draw a large group of tourists. At the same time, Nora’s father has agreed to meet with a historian who is convinced that a female Viking has buried some treasure on the premises of the castle and its surrounding land, and to allow the historian to search for it, sharing any spoils with the castle’s owners. Could the aforementioned female Viking be one of the ghostly residents of the castle? But there is some bad blood between the historian and the show’s producers, who were previously his student and who accuse him of stealing their research findings. Put it all together, and you have a story full of historical hijinks, a bit of romance (Nora and the local Detective Inspector), and some treasure seekers who let their enthusiasm and greed attract them into dangerous situations, culminating in a murder. I enjoyed the characters and the plot but perhaps not as much as I relished the first book in the series, as the pace seemed a bit slower. (May)
I was attracted to Cammie McGovern’s book THE LAST LETTERS OF SALLY AND WALTER by the Scrabble theme. At the retirement home where he lives, Walter has launched a Scrabble club,, which has run out of steam since members looking for light entertainment felt Walter was “too intense.” But when Sally, a new resident, isn’t daunted by the fact that Walter is the only other attendee at her first Scrabble club meeting, an unexpected relationship is kindled. Walter is delighted to find that Sally has a burgeoning talent for the game, and after coaching her almost daily, he suggests she enter one of the tournaments in which he has played. Both Sally and Walter are dealing with medical issues, and both feel they have failed their adult children in various ways. But as they get to know each other through a series of tournaments and larger Scrabble club meetings, they begin to see that they may have a second chance to right the wrongs of the past and make their lives more active and gratifying. Their relationship is a delightful one as it grows and develops. And their children are also developing, with their help, into more fulfilled adults with a brighter future than they had envisioned. I flew through this book in record time and was fascinated by the Scrabble details because I play online Outspell games against AI opponents daily. I thought I was a pretty good player, but when I read about what it takes to play in tournaments, I had no desire to take on all of the word list memorizations and to learn all the strategies to be a successful player in that environment. But I enjoy a book with quirky characters facing challenges and achieving heartwarming results. Yes, the ending is highly satisfying, despite the (misleading) title! I will look for more books from this exceptional author. Lesa, thank you for the recommendation. I am addicted to Outspell so I thoroughly enjoyed all of the (intimidating) Scrabble details more than you did.
Margie, Jackie is a big Virginia Kantra fan, so I will tell her about the new book.
Margie – thank you for sharing the review of Ann of a Different Island. Mackinaw is about 1.5 hrs away from where we live and it is a treasure. I just checked our library’s catalog and our branch has it! Yay! On my TBR list!
Margie! I think it’s fabulous that you bought yourself a piano! Good for you! I hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
I’m glad you enjoyed The Last Letters of Sally and Walter.I loved the characters!
Happy early birthday, Margie! I hope you will have a nice day.
I’m excited for you to have this new piano Margie! Have fun getting to learn all about it, and playing it.
Happy Thursday at Lesa’s!
I read a book i was lukewarm about, which I won’t mention here, and a book I liked quite a lot.
Murder Unabridged
by P. J. Nelson
Pub Date: Dec 01 2026
Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur for the opportunity to read Murder Unabridged by P.J. Nelson, the third in the Old Juniper Bookshop series and the best of the bunch! Maddie and the cast of recurring characters are getting a bit more fleshed out with each new book and are a delight. Quickly becoming one of my auto-read series by a terrific writer.
Great, Kaye! I wasn’t sure about the new P.J. Nelson book, but now that you say it’s the best, I’ll have to pick it up.
Thank you.
Hello, Lesa and fellow readers! We’re having beautiful spring weather–a cloudless blue sky, hot sun, cool breeze, and highs around 65. Tonight my husband and I are going to see a modern dance performance, which is always an adventure that we enjoy, even if we don’t like all the choreography.
Lesa, have fun planning your mother’s 90th birthday! I’m very happy for you that you have that opportunity.
Last week, I was still finishing Rose Tremain’s RESTORATION, set in the 1660s in England after Charles II returned to the throne as the third Stuart king. I continued to enjoy the book through to its very satisfying end. Read it for a delightful hero, despite his openly confessed faults; a fascinating picture of 17th-century English life (including the Great Fire of London in 1666); and some touching moral lessons slid into the story unobtrusively. I found out it was also made into a movie in 1995, which I’ll try to get my hands on!
I also finished EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAERIES, which I didn’t enjoy quite enough to recommend, although it was certainly entertaining. As I said last week, the heroine was fun. Since then, I’ve read the new Jane Harper, LAST ONE OUT, which is excellent, even though it is tragic, since it’s about a family’s missing young-adult son (gone for five years) and a town slowly being destroyed by a mining operation. Lesa, I remember you liked it, too, despite its sadness. I still consider my favorite of Harper’s books to be THE SURVIVORS (which I cried over!), but this one comes a close second.
I’m about two-thirds of the way through LEO by South African writer Deon Meyer. I’m sorry to say I’d never heard of Meyer, but this is his ninth police procedural with cops Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido. It’s fast-paced, gripping, and violent (although so far I can deal with that), but there’s also humor and warmth in the dialogue between the partners Griessel and Cupido. I’m listening to it, brilliantly read by someone with an Afrikaans accent, which makes it great fun. So far, I have NO idea why the book is called “Leo” — I wonder if I’ll ever find out (or perhaps I’ve missed something major without noticing it!!)
Kim, I’ve read a couple of Deon Meyer’s earlier books. George Easter always recommends his books highly in Deadly Pleasures. Good writer.
Your weather sounds just about like ours today, Kim. Glorious, isn’t it?
Yes, I really liked Last One Out.
I finished The Jump by Natalie Keller Reinert and loved it, especially when she stood up against the trainer.
Also read an AI nightmare book, B is for Barbecue: A Flavorful Safari Through the Alphabet by Henrique Meyer. Lots of errors that indicate AI, breakfast is spelled “breaskfast. The people on the pages did not have the right number of fingers on their hands, and there were a lot of pages that would frighten children, like a liltte girl petting a lamb and the opposite page, eating lamb. I did not recommend if tof children. I saw a video on YouTube that now children’s books are being flooded by AI!
Now reading Bella Vista by Adam Strong, Great cover, but it is about a boy in New York with an artist mother who gets hooked on cocaine. His pot-smokeking father goes to an all-day seminar, and he cuts his hair, changes his clothes, and becomes a perfectionist. Minimal love from the mother, dad who has no clue about being a father. The dad takes the body to Florida and hands him over to a limo driver of prostitutes and drunks and drives the boy around picking up the people. That is the closest the boy gets to someone who cares. Very tough book to read!
Oh, I have a story about lamb, Carol. When my late husband was little, he complimented his great aunt about the excellent roast beef. Her reply? That’s not roast beef, Master James. That’s Mary’s Little Lamb. He burst into tears.
We used to raise sheep. Nothing better than good lamb, but nothing worse than bad mutton.
Horrible! I have a friend who had a duck for a pet when he was very young. One day, the duck was served for dinner, and my friend also cried and had to leave the table. He loved that duck so much!
I hope you are having fun planning your mother’s birthday party and being with your family. You have had a busy, busy week.
Glen is reading TAKING LONDON by Martin Dugard. It is about the Battle of Britain; it is not a long book, around 350 pages and he is about halfway through it. He likes the way it is written, and he is planning to read two other books by him in the same series, TAKING BERLIN and TAKING PARIS.
Last week I was reading two books, both of them mysteries. I finished THE ROMEO FLAG by Carolyn Hougan, an espionage novel, a couple of days ago. It was very good, and the ending was suspenseful and satisfy. Unfortunately I am still reading THE IVY TREE by Mary Stewart; I am liking it a lot, but I am reading an e-book edition and I haven’t had time to get to it in the daytime.
Last night I finished a graphic novel by Mimi Pond, OVER EASY. Glen has also read that and we both liked it a lot. It is about a young woman working in a diner in Oakland, CA, after having to leave art school. It is based on events in the author’s life. I liked the art and the story. It is 272 pages long.
It’s been great being with everyone today, Tracy. We enjoy our time together.
Over Easy sounds interesting.
This week I read Mailman by Stephen Starring Grant. It’s been reviewed several times here. I enjoyed it and have a new appreciation of the mail service despite occasional frustrations.
My second book was The Reservation by Rebecca Kauffman. It was about a higher end restaurant that was hosting John Grisham and his entourage. The day of the dinner 22 steaks go missing. Each chapter is told from a different employee of the restaurant. I thought it was just okay.
Enjoy your time with your family, Lesa. Ninety years is quite the milestone.
Happy Reading!
The Reservation sounds odd, Sharon.
Thank you! 90 years, and in great health, is a true milestone to be celebrated.