It’s been a good week, but I already told you we made good progress on Mom’s birthday party. We also attended a family baptism, and the lunch afterwards before we headed home. Since then, I’ve been reading, running errands, and working. What about you? What have you been doing? What are you reading?
Like Mark, I often seem to be just starting a new book when I write this for Thursday. However, I did spend part of yesterday working on the blog. Friday’s Treasures in My Closet for June is ready to go. And, I’m giving you a week. Next Friday, we’re going to talk about Favorite Library Memories. Maybe it’s a memory of your childhood library. Maybe it’s going to a library as an adult or child. I have a few memories to share, but I’m a librarian so that’s natural. I hope you have one or a couple to share.
As I said, I’m just starting a book. I finished a good one, and now I’m trying out several of them for Saturdays review. I’m about to start Fergus Craig’s I’m Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home. Here’s the summary. After a decades-long stint in prison, former serial killer Carol is looking to kick back and relax in her new retirement home…until a fellow resident drops dead and Carol has to prove she actually didn’t do it this time….
Carol is delighted to be leaving her tiny prison cell behind to take her place in a luxury retirement home. She’s hoping her past as a serial killer won’t come to light so she can make a few friends and find some murder-free hobbies. But it’s not long before a fellow resident—who happens to be a former police commissioner—drops dead, and Carol’s true identity is leaked—making catching up over daily activities of bingo and baking rather awkward.
Just her luck, Carol soon realizes that the victim wasn’t the only former law enforcement officer at Sheldon Oaks—it’s filled to the brim with former cops, barristers, and government representatives, her newfound friends included. And everyone thinks Carol’s guilt is a no-brainer, but she is ready to prove them dead wrong…without killing anyone, for once.
We’ll see how this one goes. Tell us what you’re reading, please.
What have I been doing this week? Being worried, mostly. Briefly, David’s numbers have gone up again. Before radiation we were told there was an 85% chance it would be curative, and now here we are with numbers significantly higher than before radiation. No idea where that leaves us now. I don’t want to dwell on it in this space so I’m going to go straight to books I’ve read this week. Thank goodness for books; reading has been such an important part of my life, right from when I was a young child.
MANIC PIXIE DREAM EARL by Jenny Holiday (#2 in the Earls Trip series)
The premise of the book sounds like such fun. From the book blurb – ‘When not writing, poet Edward Astley, Viscount Featherfinch, spends his time fending off young ladies of the ton – and some of its young men – and avoiding his cruel father. As heir to the earldom, Edward knows he must marry someday. Alas, he is already hopelessly in love with someone. Hopeless because not only is Miss Julianna Evans not a member of the aristocracy, she is employed. She is a magazine editor – and the only one ever to publish his poems. Also, in all their years of increasingly personal correspondence, they’ve never met.
Also, she thinks he’s a woman. Named Euphemia.’
Julianna often suggests they meet but the suggestion is always turned down, and she wonders why. When she learns details about a trip that Euphemia is planning, on impulse she spends her savings to go to the same place and surprise Euphemia. ‘He is very, very surprised. As is she.’
The trip the Viscount is going on is of course the two-week annual Earls Trip that he takes with Earl Harcourt and Earl Marsden. The three of them are the very best of friends; it doesn’t matter what comes up, they support each other wholeheartedly. We learned about these trips in the first book called Earls Trip; a book I absolutely loved. But I have to say I did not enjoy this second book nearly as much. It was not as interesting, there wasn’t enough of the delightful banter between the Earls, I didn’t particularly connect with Julianna’s character, and the events that took place weren’t as believable. But I’ll still read book 3 when it comes out in October, and hope it’s more like the first one.
THE BROKEN AFTERNOON by Simon Mason
Second book in the DI Ryan Wilkins police procedural series. I read the first one earlier this year (A Killing in November).
From the book cover:
‘When a four-year-old girl goes missing in plain sight outside her nursery in Oxford, DI Ray Wilkins is called to the scene. His former partner, Ryan Wilkins, one of the youngest ever Detective Inspectors in the Thames Valley force, dishonourably discharged three months ago, watches him deliver a press conference, confirming a lead.
But while Ray’s investigation stalls, Ryan brings his unique talents to unauthorized and quite illegal inquiries, forcing him into a confrontation with the very officials who have thrown him out of the force.’
As with the first book, I was immediately engrossed. Top-notch writing, nail-biting suspense, red herrings, twists and turns, and I did not figure out who the perpetrator was. Above all though, it’s the characterization that is the best thing about the book. As with the first book, I was surprised at the level of emotion and insight into the lives of the characters of this police procedural. The only thing I found difficult was reading about the disappearance of four-year-old Poppy and the effect it had on her mother; I could feel every emotion and picture every scene, and it was distressing. The author gets right in there and makes it all so believable. Genius, if upsetting this time around.
My only consolation is that since the author has now written about this topic, the same plotline isn’t likely to appear again; it’s over and done with now (I hope) so I should be able to just ‘enjoy’ further installments of the series and not be so gutted while reading. Still, if a book can make you feel something I suppose the author has written a successful story.
I know exactly what you mean, Lindy, when you say it’s a successful story when an author makes you feel something. I think I have a copy of A Killing in November somewhere, probably because of your earlier review.
Sending hugs to you and David. I’m sure he at leasts appears to be less worried than you are. Take care of yourselves. You know we’re all thinking of you.
You and David continue to be in my thoughts, Lindy.
Thank you Jennifer; it’s much appreciated.
Lindy, you are in my thoughts. I appreciate you sharing David’s status.
Thank you Tracy; you’re very kind.
Keeping you and David in my thoughts. ❤
Thank you Kaye; it helps.
So very sorry, Lindy. For my Dad, it meant surgery. That was decades ago and I know that science has advanced and there are other options.
Thanks for caring Kevin. Especially since you and Scott have so many of your own troubles.
David did have surgery three years ago; everything prostate-related was taken out. That and the fact that the recent rounds of radiation did nothing and numbers are still climbing means there’s cancer somewhere else in his body. Twelve week wait now for another PET scan to find out where.
So sorry to hear about David’s numbers. So disappointed for both of you.
Thank you Mary; I need to get myself together a bit better so that I’m not making more problems.
But, I’m not starting a new book as I type this. 😉 (And yes, I know I often say I am. But the irony.)
I’m about a third of the way into Murder on the Marlow Belle, the fourth book in the Marlow Murder Club series from Robert Thorogood. The president of the local drama society was killed on a boat with a limited number of people on board. So far, I’m enjoying it. I find these characters fun, which helps.
Yes, the irony, Mark. I’m glad you’re enjoying the latest in Thorogood’s series.
Good morning from a beautifully sunny Deeside.
I’ve finally made it back here after two weeks of the dreaded moving. We’re now living (in chaos) in our new house at last. Last Thursday our old one went onto the Aberdeen Solicitors Property Centre site – and on Friday afternoon, when I was half way to Edinburgh, I sold it! I was utterly gobsmacked, as we say here – this sort of thing *never* happens to us.
Of course there’s no certainty until conclusion of missives (same as exchanging contracts in English conveyancing) – until then anything can happen – but fingers crossed.
I have to go out now but I’ll try to come back later today – just wanted to mark my place.
Looking forward to reading everyone’s posts.
Congratulations, Rosemary! I hope everything goes smoothly for the sale of your old house.
We’ll catch you later!
Congratulations on the fast sale, Rosemary, and enjoy the new house.
Yay to being in your new house! I hope you love it already.
Good morning. I seem to have spent the week doing everything but reading. Mostly family genealogy. The historian that a cousin hired to write a book about his branch of the family tree sent me what he’d written based on the interview I did with my mom. There were a few errors and some additional questions so I did a second interview with my mom. It was fun hearing some stories she’d never told me about her childhood.
That got me interested in going back to my family tree on Ancestry and checking for new records which I haven’t done for a few years. Poring through old records is a giant time suck.
I did finish one book this week, an ARC of a middle grade book, MONSTER DOWN DEEP by Amy Fellner Dominy. I enjoyed it more than I expected.
From Goodreads
Somewhere off the coast of San Diego, the yacht of billionaire Clifton Royce III has capsized. While most of the vessel’s belongings have been reclaimed, one piece remains a 74-carat diamond necklace, worth over $50 million dollars. And for the person who finds this gem, there is a $1 million reward up for grabs.
No one is more determined to find the necklace than 11-year-old Cassie Stein. Her dad’s beloved aquarium is on the brink of financial ruin, and that money could be the answer to all their problems. Armed with her trusty metal detector, Sylvia, Cassie begins her search.
But while hunting for the treasure, she discovers something that may be even more valuable than the diamond. A fish, unlike any she has ever seen before. One that seems to understand her every word perfectly. His name is Blue, and he desperately needs Cassie’s help.
As news of her once-in-a-lifetime discovery spreads, however, Cassie is torn between two impossible protect Blue and help him find his way home… or embrace the fame and fortune that could change her life forever.
You are so right, Sandy, that genealogy is a time suck! Even when we don’t mean to do it, my family seems to get sucked into it when we’re together. I’ve done most of it, but my youngest sister spent some time on it earlier this week. I always enjoy the stories behind the names on paper.
That sounds like a good middle grade story.
Good morning everyone- today is a crazy busy day so this will be very short. I have a program at the Library that I’m in charge of on Dementia/Alzheimer’s. I had the presenter come in in the Fall and she is a wealth of information. I also have my cooktop finally getting repaired. They’ll be here any minute and I’m hoping to whip up a batch of cookies before I head out this afternoon for my program.
I just literally finished “The Keeper” by Tana French and it was beyond fabulous. I’ll try to get a book review next week. It was close to 500 pages long so it took me a while to get through, but it was worth every last page. Have a great week.
Have a good day,Mary. I hope you have a good turnout for the program.
I really enjoyed that Fergus Craig book more than I expected to. Think Thursday Murder Club for the setting, and a little different perspective.
We’ve had a busy week of relatively minor errands, culminating with our semi-annual dental cleaning(s) today. The weather has still been mostly colder than normal, but next week looks warmer. And all the trees are green and the tulips and other flowers are out, so Spring really is here, even though it doesn’t always feel like it.
Books, then. Jackie liked that Jayne Ann Krentz book quite a bit and she said the author will be revisiting the setting again, apparently. She is now reading the third (and last) in Abby Jimenez’s Friend Zone series, LIFE’S TOO SHORT, another book she likes. And the new J. D. Robb just came in, so that’s next.
I had a Did Not Finish this week. Someone (I think the NYT) recommended Malin Persson Giolito’s STILL LIFE, a collection of 10 stories by the Swedish author featuring a different crime (“Anders: Criminal Code 3:7”) in each story. The third, the one that finally confirmed that I should return the book, was about a teenage girl whose supposed best friend makes out with her boyfriend in front of her, after which she takes a golf club and destroys the friend’s father’s new Porsche.
Life’s too short to read downer books you don’t like, right?
Before that, however, I did read two late books by the late James Sallis, an author I very much like. Try the Lew Griffin PI series set in New Orleans, or DRIVE, or SARAH JANE. Hitching Rides was his second book of essays and reviews about noirish writers like Chester Himes and Jim Thompson. I like that he covered a favorite French author, Jean-Patrick Manchette, who I discovered after hearing Lee Child talk about him at a Bouchercon.
Next was Sallis’s last novel, posthumously published, World’s End: A Mosaic Novel, probably only for completist fans of his. He took five stories he’d published elsewhere and combined them into a series of pieces set in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic world. Some of it is good but it’s also kind of a downer, to be honest, especially with where this country is now.
Current reading: I’m a big fan of Tom Perrotta, since ELECTION and THE LEFTOVERS. He has a new book just out, and one of the reviews mentioned his first book was a collection of short stories I’d never read. So I am currently reading, and very much enjoying (particularly after the Sallis), BAD HAIRCUT: Stories From the Seventies. In 1974, young Buddy (the author’s alter ego) is 13, growing up in suburban New Jersey. Good stuff.
Lesa recommended My Grandfather, The Master Detective by Masateru Konishi, a couple of weeks ago. Despite the mystery elements, this is not the kind of book I usually read, but I gave it a try and I’m glad I did. 27 year old Kaede is a schoolteacher, following in the footsteps of her beloved grandfather, a retired school principal. But Grandpa now has Lewy body dementia (BLD), which causes him to see hallucinations, things that aren’t there. I know something about this, as I have a cousin with the disease, which causes her to see men in uniforms sitting in her living room. The book is actually pretty accurate about this, as the hallucinations don’t act or talk, just are there. (One thing that isn’t mentioned: there is a drug that can block the hallucinations in at least some of the cases, and it has worked for my cousin.) Average life expectancy is only four or five years,
Grandpa was a member of the Waseda Mystery Club for years, and is a big fan of John Dickson Carr and Ellery Queen and other writers of “impossible” crime novels. He can extrapolate from the facts like your classic “armchair detective,” so Kaede tries to keep him mentally sharp by bringing him problems for his analysis, sometimes provided by her friends Shiki and Iwade. One is an apparent locked room murder in a restaurant. Another is the “impossible” disappearance of a teacher from the bottom of a swimming pool. Finally, it gets more personal, when Iwade sees a stabbing while out for a run, only to find himself accused of the killing. Very interesting book, and different from what most of us are reading, I’m guessing.
At least the two books I talked about weren’t downers, Jeff. I’m glad you liked My Grandfather, The Master Detective. Even though I’m no longer working in a library, I still like to try something new now and then.
I love the green of spring, but I’d take it a little warmer. The next week looks like it’s going to be rain almost every day here.
I watched the Edgars online last night. I enjoyed Lee Child’s acceptance speech for the Grand Master Award. Well deserved. He’s helped so many authors and given so much to the mystery field. Robert Crais won for Best Novel.
Good morning, everyone! I had a fun birthday dinner with my family last Friday night, and we came back to my house to exchange presents (Zach’s birthday is 5 days before mine). I also took delivery of my new digital console piano that day and have been enjoying it ever since. It looks great in my main living area where a curio cabinet used to stand (I’ve got to get busy posting the cabinet and my old keyboard on Next Door and trying to give them away). I have already bought new headphones and cable so I can play silently when Nick is asleep, plus a cable to connect my iPad to the wonderful app that came with the piano. Nick researched some felt piano bench “socks,” which he installed so I don’t scratch the floor. And I just ordered a light for over the piano, which is identical to the one Zach has for his piano so I will get him to install it for me. I am way out of practice, but I look forward to getting back into it. Oh, and Nick and I discovered we still each had a $50 gift card we received at Christmas for a group of restaurants, so we used it on my birthday so I didn’t have to cook dinner that day–and the food was fantastic. Here’s what I’ve been reading this week:
Whoops! I just noticed that I haven’t reviewed those two books yet, so I’ll have to save them for next week. They are Road Trip by Mary Kay Andrews and Whiskey Business by Adrian Andover. I’ve started reading Nantucket Second Chances. Wow, this is a first for me, but I stands to reason because I’ve been busy with birthdays, piano, and more this week. Sorry about that! I’ll do better next time.
Sometimes life just gets in the way, doesn’t it Margie? I’m glad you had such a good birthday.
Hi Leesa,
Busy week at the library where I work. Finally got some much needed rain this week. I just started the Mother-Daughter Book Club by James & Susan Patterson. In print, It’s Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (very thought provoking) and on netgalley, Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth.
At least I’ve heard of all your books, Katherine. I have a copy of Yesteryear. I’m just not sure it’s for me.
Eek! i forget it was Thursday! Actually, not knowing what day it is is all part and parcel of being retired. i secretly love it.
I have gotten my reading mojo back and have read several books recently.
Here’s two favorites – they could not be any more different.
Kin by Tayari Jones
Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother’s death, Vernice leaves Honeysuckle at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and discovers a world of affluence, manners, aspiration, and inequality. Annie, abandoned by her mother as a child and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, culminating in a battle for her life.
A novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South, Kin is an exuberant, emotionally rich, unforgettable work from one of the brightest and most irresistible voices in contemporary fiction.
and
Curses, Critters, and Other Complications
A Lancaster Witch Chronicle: Book 1
by Kat Farrow
Description
Magic Runs in the Family. So Do Secrets.
Set in the small town of Lancaster, Curses, Critters, and Other Complications opens a multigenerational witch saga with warmth, humor, and genuine emotional depth. The story unfolds through interconnected chapters, each told from a different character’s perspective, building a richly layered portrait of a community where magic persists quietly beneath ordinary domestic life.
When Sara and her husband Nathan drop their daughters Krista (nearly nine) and Sammy (six) at grandmother Ellen’s house for a long weekend, Sara is guarding a secret she has kept for nine years of marriage: witches run in her family. Ellen is a practicing witch with a telepathic cat familiar named Murgawth, and Sara has forbidden any mention of magic around Nathan.
Ellen quickly discovers that the girls’ pet guinea pig, Ralph, is not a guinea pig at all. Murgawth identifies the creature as a shapeshifter under a powerful multi-layered curse. Ellen and her best friend Margie, also a witch, perform a “switcheroo,” replacing the animal with a bespelled pygmy rabbit so the girls notice nothing. The freed creature is an imp, a small foul-mouthed shapeshifter bound by ancient service bands. Following a lead from Edward Milton, a non-witch from a prominent local witch family, Ellen and Margie are invited to tea by Esmerelda Gimpler, an elderly hag living in the north woods. Esmerelda explains that she cursed the imp into guinea pig form decades ago after it began shapeshifting into a miniature version of her despised ex-husband, then abandoned it at a pet shop. Impressed that Ellen broke her curse, she reclaims the imp. This encounter marks the beginning of a broader reconnection between isolated practitioners.
Great for readers who want the multigenerational witch family warmth of Practical Magic and the cozy small-town community charm of Jan Karon’s The Mitford Series.
I’m looking forward to Curses and Critters. Thank you for sending me the information, Kaye.
I love a week without any appointments when I can just get lost in the days. I agree. Retirement is wonderful!
I like the sound of both the books you talked about this week! I can find Kin here but I can’t find anything about the one by Kat Farrow. Do you happen to know what the release date is?
I read three books this week.
I was enjoying This Story Might Change Your Life by Tiffany Crum about podcasters until it took a dark turn with spousal abuse. Then there was a murder and the resolution of it where everyone decided to cover up the culprit was disappointing. I did like the parts about the podcasts where Benny and Joy talk about “against all odds” scenarios discussing humorous solutions before giving expert advice.
I should have read the synopsis of my second book, Bees in June by Elizabeth Bass Parman, because it also involved spousal abuse. This one took place with the moon landing as a backdrop in Tennessee. Rennie married the high school baseball star who had dreams of going professional. When they return home after that fizzles out, things go south quickly. There was a magical realism element to it concerning bees, but it wasn’t enough to save it for me. It was billed as similar to Sarah Addison Allen, but it didn’t compare to me.
My last book was purely a piece of fluff. The Smallest of Joys: How to Create Your Own Magic, Let Your Best Be Enough & Find Contentment Exactly as You Are contained essays by Diane Shiffer who has a popular Instagram account about living the old ways. Nothing new learned just some reaffirmation about taking time to slow down and notice more, look for the joy in small things and be grateful. I read a couple chapters every night before bed.
I am so sorry about your husband’s news, Lindy. Praying for you both.
Happy Reading!
Well, two out of three of your boos sound like downers, Sharon. You need some happier reading!
Thanks Sharon. I think I need to see if I can find a copy of The Smallest of Joys! It sounds perfect .
It has been a very stressful week. There have been repeated blasts of severe weather of the form of ping pong sized hail and twisters. Been lucky, so far, as things were coming, the sky was booming, and then things turned and we missed the worst of it.
My adult son who lives with me, Scott, got taken off the schedule by the boss/owner. Allegedly, there is not enough work. But everybody else IS working but him. So, two plus weeks with him home means no paychecks. On top of the fact that we both had to pay taxes and the fees to the CPA to do them. The precarious money situation is way worse than it was and isn’t like we are partying or whatever.
It is nice having him home. Don’t get me wrong. It does mean way more TV watching. We blew through the second season of CROSS and enjoyed it overall and have watched some other stuff.
So, I have not been reading much. Current read is MIST AND MALICE. Second in the series that began with FOG AND FURY. Way too early in it to say much of anything.
Oh, Kevin. All of your problems just break my heart. You just can’t get a break. I’m sorry. And, I’m sure Scott is frustrated.
He is very upset. And the job search, which he has not done in several months, is way worse now. AI crap and other issues.
The rain stopped, and my allergies took that as permission to run rampant.
This week, I read biographies.
Gowannus Crossing: A Brookly Boyhood by Vincent Coppola; Growing up in a mafia infested neighborhood, every single person he knows dies young from violence, drugs, or AIDS.
Fred Astaire by Michael Freeland; A coffee table book about the hoofer, actor, and singer. What a talent.
James Cagney by Richard Schickel; He wanted to be a hoofer, but wound up an actor, instead.
John Waye: The Life and Legend by Scott Eyman; A very long biography, goes into most of his life and his movies, except for Brannigan.
I’d find it hard to concentrate, Glen, while dealing with allergies. Or, are books an escape? Sometimes, I just need a good biography for a change.
Lesa,
Luckily, two of them were coffee table books with lots of pictures.
Note: one N in Gowanus. What is amazing is, the Canal is still as disgusting as it always was, but the Gowanus neighborhood has become trendy and you see all sorts of young people pushing babies in strollers along the toxic waterway, not to mention “hip” foreign tourists.
What is wrong with this picture? Everything!
I had read a Cagney bio years ago – it was super interesting. His happy place was his farm. If you get a chance see him in The Strawberry Blonde with Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth, Alan Hale, Jack Carson, and George Tobias. It’s the best!
Not a lot going on here, I am having problems with my digestion again, a similar thing happened in February and messed me up for over two weeks. It has slowed down our work on the planting area in the front of our condominium. Basically we are done up front except for potting some plants. The delay is a pain because I have to keep an eye on the plants to keep them watered and healthy until we get them potted. Next is the back patio area which is larger but not very big. Lots of weeds to deal with. We did get a plant stand for that area. Glen has bought a new camera, the first one in a while. I hope we will be going on some walks soon where he can try it out.
Glen and I both had a slow reading week but with good results. Glen finished a novella, ADVENT by Gunnar Gunnarsson. I have been reading TATIANA by Martin Cruz Smith all week (and it is not very long, less than 300 pages.
Glen’s book, ADVENT, is an uplifting classic, published in 1936, about a man who walks up into the mountains of Iceland in the days before Christmas to rescue sheep who have not been not been brought down to lowland farms for the winter. He has been doing this for 27 years. He has his dog and his ram with him. Glen enjoyed the book, and gave it five stars. Gunnar Gunnarsson is an Icelandic author who wrote mainly in Danish.
Martin Cruz Smith’s TATIANA has been on my bookshelf next to the bed for years, I purchased it in 2014. It is the 8th book in the Arkady Renko series, and I read the previous 7 books between 2005 and 2021. I don’t know exactly what moved me to read it now, except that I recently read that the author had died in 2025. I also don’t know why it is taking me so long to finish it, although I haven’t felt well most of the week. I like the setting in Russia, and I like the main character, who is a police detective. It took me about half the way into the book to get invested in it, which, as I remember it, was true of earlier books in the series. Another similar series that I read is Stuart Kaminsky’s Porfiry Rostnikov series, also about a policeman in Moscow.
I hope everyone has had a good reading week.
I’m sorry, Tracy, that your digestion is messing with your daily plans.
You and Glen read interesting books. None of them appeal to me this week, but that’s part of the fun of Thursday – hearing about books I’d never read, but find interesting.
I sue hope you feel better soon Tracy. How miserable it must be to go through that again. Or at all.