Good morning! It’s beautiful weather in northern Ohio, temperatures in the 60s and 70s with sunshine. As I mentioned on Tuesday, I’m at Mom’s to celebrate her 90th birthday on Sunday. Thanks to my sisters for all the work they put into getting ready for the party. What about you? What are you doing this week? What are you reading?
I’ve just started Tim Sullivan’s new DS George Cross mystery, The Bookseller. It’s the seventh in the series. Detective Sergeant George Cross has a knack for dismissing red herrings: He goes by the cold hard facts, and nothing else. But with a concerning development in his personal life, Cross is hopelessly distracted. He needs to rely on those around him: an entirely foreign concept.
When the body of a bookseller is discovered lying in a pool of blood in his Bristol bookshop, the police have one question: How did the man meet such a violent, murderous end in this peaceful place?
Bookselling may be a quiet profession, but it’s full of ambitious characters who know the value of a rare book and the importance of careful plotting. With their extensive reading, they might know enough to get away with murder. But will book learning be enough to fool the tenacious DS George Cross?
I always enjoy these books, but from the opening chapters, I knew this was going to be a tough time for George.There’s just too much happening for him to easily handle his life.
Are you reading something fun? Let us know what you’re doing this week, please.
Happy Birthday to Lesa’s Mom. I hope you all have a wonderful time!
I finished four books this week including one of the three nonfiction books I’ve been juggling for a while – THE EVOLUTION UNDERGROUND: Burrows, Bunkers, and the Marvelous Subterranean World Beneath our Feet. Full of fascinating facts in story format from ancient underground cities in Turkey to how pocket gophers were responsible for the regeneration on Mount St. Helens after the 1980 eruption. Entertaining & educational.
On to the fiction world – a British Library Crime Classic reprint, MR. POTTERMACK’S OVERSIGHT. The author, Richard Austin Freeman, is credited with creating the “inverted mystery” where the reader knows the crime & criminal from the start. The series employs the forensic investigator Dr. John Thorndyke. The author was noted for “scrupulous attention to detail,” and the 1932 novel was longer than the current standard.
FINLAY DONOVAN CROSSES THE LINE, the sixth in Elle Cosimano’s witty, fast-paced contemporary mystery series. It stretches the crime solving imagination, but it’s a fun buddy comedy. The lovable recurring characters make the series so enjoyable.
And I just finished James Comey’s RED VERDICT, the fourth in the Nora Carleton series. A high-stakes counterintelligence case. It’s evident throughout the book how much Comey loves the lawyering stuff “the jury was spellbound as Caulfield taught them Russian intel”
Tomorrow, all these books will go back to their home at the library after I make a stop at the quarterly Friends of the Library sale. Hoping to find some good reads & renew my membership.
MM, I’m going to tell David about The Evolution Underground and Red Verdict; I think he’ll be very interested in both of them!
Lindy – Evolution Underground is a 2017 book, he mau have already read it. But it was fascinating.
Good morning, MM! Thank you. Family is coming in today. We’re looking forward to the weekend.
I read a number of the Dr. Thorndyke mysteries in my younger years. I remember the short stories. I don’t know if I read any novels.
This weekend is our Friends of the Library sale at Mom’s library. I suggested my nephew hit the sale. He loves books. In fact, all the males in that branch of the family love books, including the two year old.
Wishing your mom the happiest of birthdays Lesa. I hope you all have a fabulous day together.
Nothing much to report from here; it’s been a quiet week. All the forecasts are predicting that it will be one of the hottest summers on record here this year. Combined with that and the utter absence of any sort of snow pack to melt, come Monday Stage 3 water restrictions will begin. That’s the earliest in the year Stage 3 has ever started. In fact, we don’t normally even get to Stage 3. No watering of grass, trees, or flowers unless it’s by hand. No sprinklers or soaker hoses. No window washing or washing one’s car unless it’s at a commercial carwash. No filling of little backyard pools for children. They’re expecting a shortage of drinking water unless drastic steps are taken.
(Jennifer, if you happen to check in at Lesa’s this week, I hope your family is coping and able to find anything, no matter how small, that will help all of you through.)
Books I read this week:
MURDER AT GULLS NEST by Jess Kidd
This is a book that was reviewed here a year or so ago I think, and I’ve just gotten round to reading it; probably because I know the second book in the series is being released soon and thought it was time for me to read the first one so there’d be at least one series I wouldn’t get behind on.
Nora has been a nun for three decades or so. But when Frieda, a former novice who became a friend of hers, leaves the order Nora feels a bit unsettled and less certain of her vocation. She enjoys the weekly letters Frieda sends but becomes concerned when the letters suddenly stop coming. She needs to know what, if anything, has happened to Frieda, so she decides to give up her vows. She leaves the monastery and the only life she’s known in order to find out about Frieda.
Nora heads to Gulls Nest, an old boarding house where Frieda’s letters were posted from. When she gets there not only is she learning to deal with life away from the monastery, but also some decidedly odd people at the boarding house – a truly unfriendly housekeeper, the landlady’s frequent debilitating headaches, tension amongst the other residents, and a young girl apparently left to her own devices who never utters a word.
Then one of the residents is found dead; officially by accident or by suicide but Nora thinks it’s murder. Now she has two mysteries to apply her fledgling amateur sleuthing skills to. And every single person in the house, be they a resident or a staff member has some sort of secret they aren’t keen to divulge – Nora herself included.
I wasn’t sure about the book for almost the entire first half; it seemed to move along slowly and not much happened, but I imagine most of it was laying the groundwork because for me the book redeemed itself in the second half.
Although I had some trouble relating to Nora, I did think her interactions with long-suffering Inspector Rideout were a highlight, and that the mystery was interesting, the descriptions of places and people were memorably written, the seaside setting and the boarding house itself were characters in their own right, and the story had some emotional depth.
Based on the second half of the book I’m looking forward to giving the next in the series a shot when it comes out later in June, called Murder at the Spirit Lounge.
THE GOLDEN BOY by Patricia Finn
I thought this was a fabulous book! It was nothing like I’d imagined it would be, and was all the better for it.
Stafford Hopkins is nearing the age of sixty. He’s had a very successful and lucrative career in the television business, where he had an unerring eye for what people wanted to watch and why; and was in that way instrumental in one hit series after another. His wife Agnes can be a lot to deal with due to her tendency to get anxious about everything, but they seem to still politely get on alright together. They’ve moved from LA to Maui, Hawaii, into a huge home with state-of-the-art everything, glamorous ‘friends’ and all the trappings of rich, successful people and yet neither of them can say they’re perfectly content with their lives. Up to this point I didn’t particularly like either of them but I grew to realize that was because I didn’t know them.
Everything is upended when Stafford receives a letter informing him that he is the guardian of the four grandchildren of his best and only friend from childhood, Bobby Shepherd. Bobby is long dead, Bobby’s son and daughter-in-law have just died in a car accident, and now there are four children with apparently no one in their lives now except Stafford. But he’s having none of it; he’s willing to go back to Canada to the farming town of his youth to meet with the solicitor and set up trust funds for the children so they’ll never want for money, but that’s as far as he’s willing to go. At his and Agnes’s age, how could they possibly take on four children; not to mention they completely mishandled their shot at parenthood with their daughter Callie and they haven’t even spoken with her in many, many years.
So … I thought the story was going to be a fairly light, maybe amusing story about Stafford and Agnes ‘inheriting’ these children, and getting to read all about the ensuing trials and tribulations. But that’s not what happened. In fact, it was more than two thirds of the way through the book before the children even entered it. Instead, we got a story with emotion, spare yet excellent revealing dialogue, and a deeply moving portrait of two families and all the ways that turned the characters into the people they ultimately became. It all went anecdotally back and forth in time and I very quickly gave up on what I’d expected and just happily let the author take me wherever she led – all perfectly paced – and ended up feeling so emotionally attached to the characters that I could have read on and on about their lives and not regretted a single second. A truly affecting book about two characters getting their ‘shot at redemption’. I loved this book.
Lindy, thank you for checking in. Means a lot. On our way to chemo treatment number 2. Luciano’s eyes continue to bother him greatly, but the warm weather means we can be outside, which he loves. We continue to send prayers and good wishes to you and David.
No reading this week, except for the Little Blue Truck series.
Lesa, happy birthday to your mom. I am glad you can all be together to celebrate
Jennifer, I’m glad you dropped in. I’ve been keeping Luciano in my prayers. And, there’s a local church with a box outside that you can drop someone’s name in to add to their prayer list. I asked Mom to drop Luciano’s name in that box. I don’t know if you’re a prayer person, or a keep him in our thoughts person, but we’re doing both.
Lesa, thank you and please thank your mom. Both thoughts and prayers mean a lot to us. When Luciano was able to leave the hospital after treatment today, he was grinning from ear to ear and waving to anyone he saw. Very happy to be going home and currently napping in my arms. Again, thank you
I’m looking forward to the Jess Kidd’s next book also. I think I’ve read them all. My favorite was Himself, set in an Irish village.
Thank you, Lindy, for the good wishes.
Oh, I’m just so sorry about the lack of water and the restrictions. That’s really scary with the idea of a lack of drinking water. And, I know you’re not a fan of hot weather.
I have a copy of The Golden Boy, and haven’t read it yet. Your review made it even more enticing. Thank you!
I hope your mom has a great birthday!
It has been a week. Thanks to our slightly off fiscal year, this is quarter end close at work. And it has not gone smoothly. I’m a little behind where I want to be, but hopefully things will get better as I tackle the extra reporting over the next two days. We will see.
At least our weather has been in the 80’s, which is nice.
Reading wise, I’m working on DEATH TAKES THE STAGE by Colleen Cambridge. This is in her Phyllida Bright series, Phyllida being Agatha Christie’s house keeper. I’m enjoying it, but I haven’t had much time to read. Hopefully, I can fix that over the next couple of days. I know she isn’t a favorite with everyone here, and I agree her books can be hit or miss, but I am enjoying this one.
Thank you, Mark.
Good luck with work for the next couple days.
Love the sound of those 80 degrees. Those are my temperatures.
Hello! We’re still in beautiful Sardinia for three more days, and on this lovely, lazy vacation I’ve read a lot of good books. I hate to write about them with one finger on my phone, so I’ll wait to report on them next week. However, I’ll certainly enjoy reading what the rest of you have read this week and picking up tips!
Kim, It sounds as if you’re really enjoying your trip. That’s great. And, it’s been relaxing enough you’ve been able to read. I’ll look forward to reading about your books next week.
Good morning. Lesa, I hope your mom enjoys her birthday. This week we went to Valley Forge for the first time and then to Gettysburg. We climbed to the top of the Pennsylvania monument which has a fantastic view but you have to go up a narrow spiral staircase that has about 72 steps. We also checked out the Beyond the Battle Museum which is fairly new. It’s the history of the area and the Civil War from the civilian’s perspective. They have an exhibit that actually puts you in a house in the middle of the battle. Definitely worth doing if you’re there.
I haven’t finished anything this week but I’m working on an ARC of A Hearse With No Name by Nicholas George. A retired rock star turned record shop owner finds a hearse parked in front of his store. When the police check it out they find the body of the most disliked woman in town inside. I like the characters in this one.
Sandy! We have great memories of visiting Gettysburg and the campground we stayed at there. But, that Beyond the Battle Museum sounds fascinating. I never really thought about what the civilians were going through during the battle, although I knew there were farmhouses there. I’d love to do that!
Good morning, Lesa and gang! Happy Birthday to your mom, Lesa. What a blessing to have a happy, healthy mom at 90!!
A quick run down of the books that I have read:
“Head Cases (#1)” by John McMahon: Absolutely loved this book, couldn’t put it down. I’ve already checked out the next one in the series. FBI Agent Gardner Camden, of the Patterns and Recognition Group (PAR), is given his first case as Lead Investigator.. Unfortunately, it includes multiple murders, one of which is from a case that he had closed seven years earlier, having identified the man as being dead. He and his group of misfits, which seems to be a requirement to end up in the PAR group must track down a vigilante serial murderer before he comes for one of their own. There were so many twists and turns and suspense in this book, it was crazy. Can’t wait to read the next one.
“Wolf Worm” by T. Kingfisher: Well, this was one of the most gross books I have ever read. I obviously did not know what I had picked up when I checked it out. But once I got about 60% of the way through it, I decided to force myself to finish it. The story itself kept my interest, but the descriptions of bugs and feasting on mammals was truly over the top. I am a cozy mystery reader this was definitely not my genre.
Thankfully Lesa recommended “My Last Duchess” just as I was finishing up this book and it was just the ticket to erase the memories of Wolf Worm from my mind!
Have a great week, all!
Good morning, Mary!
Two books on your list that I really enjoyed – Head Cases and My Last Duchess. I’m glad the second one worked for you after Wolf Worm. That sounds disgusting.
Happy Birthday to Lesa’s mom! 90 is quite a milestone and deserves a big party. My baby brother is turning 60 tomorrow and says he feels so old, LOL!
My summer schedule kicked in this week and having to be at work at 6:00 a.m. is taking me for a loop. Bedtime comes way early, like 7:30 p.m. It’s also a lot of physical work which is exhausting. But I did get one book read.
Jay to the World by Donna Andrews. The 40th book in the Meg Langslow series. It’s Christmas time in Caerphilly and Meg as usual is pulled in many directions. Meg’s mom is building a playhouse for Brynn, her two-year-old granddaughter. When Meg goes to check on the playhouse and her mom, she finds that someone has set a trap to injure/kill her mom. There’s lots of suspects with most of the Hollingsworth clan there for the holidays.
I figured out who the criminal was early in the book, but it was still an interesting read with familiar characters.
I’m working on my book club read for the month. The theme is a wedding with a murder. My choice is Rhys Bown’s book, Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding. I liked her Royal Spyness series and so far, so good.
Thank you, Bev! And, I just asked Mom. She’s never had a birthday party, so this will be a first for her. We’re expecting 70 people, so I’m so glad we decided to do this.
My sister is a big fan of Donna Andrews’ series. In fact, I brought up an ARC of the forthcoming book for her.
I have been struggling with my eyesight after my redo eye surgery,. I can’t see what I am writing. Will try an audio book tonight.
I’ve been wondering how you are Carol. I really hope this surgery will make a big difference for your eyesight!
Oh, Carol. I’m so sorry. I hope the audio works for you. And, I hope your vision gets better.
Carol, I hope this surgery will take care of everything. Please take care of yourself and I hope your vision quickly improves.
I’m typing this even though I don’t know if I will be able to post it. Happy Birthday to your Mom. 90 is a great achievement. We have a Broadway play on Saturday, THE BALUSTERS.
Jackie really enjoyed DARK JOY by Christine Feehan. It’s part of her favorite of her series, the “Dark” Carpathians series. She’s now reading NINE LIVES by Wendy Corsi Staub, the first in her Lily Dale series. Everyone in this town claims to be psychic or have other paranormal activities.
I did finish Ray Bradbury’s collection, KIKLER, COME BACK TO ME: The Crime Stories.
Next I very much struggled with a book many people, including Lesa, liked a lot, which I didn’t, Andrew Welsh-Huggins’s THE DELIVERY. This is the sequel to THE MAILMAN, one of my favorite books of last year, but frankly, it’s a mess. First and foremost, there is WAY too much of the grifters and con men, pimps and prostitutes, drug dealers and traffickers, and way too little of Mercury (Merc) Carter. Had it not been for the previous book, I’d have quit this halfway through. The second half is better because, more Merc. One example of my problem with the book: he has another delivery to make, of an old baseball card, which he puts off over and over until the end of the book. Yet, the delivery is TEN MINUTES AWAY and could have been accomplished at any time in the book. Not recommended by me.
I am very much liking the new David Sedaris collection of essays, THE LAND AND IT’S PIECES. I’ve read all his books. Great fun, for the most part.
Jeff! I was so glad to see you were able to get in today. I still would recommend Welsh-Huggins series, but I agree with you about some of that. And, I still think he could have delivered that baseball card a little sooner.
How are Ray Bradbury’s mystery short stories?
I don’t know why you could get in today, but I was happy to see that!
Continuing my escape trend, i read The English Bookstore in Bologna by Boo Walker.
Perfect for those of us who enjoy character driven novels. And escapes.
Description from NetGalley –
“Against the sunlit backdrop of Italy, five expats discover each other—and rediscover themselves—in a charmingly funny and poignant novel by the author of An Unfinished Story and A Spanish Sunrise.
Tucked away on a cobblestone street in enchanting Bologna, Italy, is the only English bookstore in the city. It’s owned by prickly Sandy Cooke, who keeps love, and even romantic fiction, at a distance. Her employee, timid and hopelessly optimistic Moira, dreams of transforming the struggling shop into a vibrant community hub. Against the odds, one Bolognese summer, it becomes a haven for fellow expats at their own crossroads.
Bianca is a psychotherapist escaping both a breakdown and withering reviews of her new self-help book. On her heels is her father, George, wrestling with retirement—and regrets. He’s had a few, but the light of his life has always been his daughter. Then there’s Harold, a young and awkward barista from Denver recovering from his first belly-flopping high dive into love. Maybe it’s time for reinvention.
At the only English bookstore in Bologna, paths converge for five damaged souls who discover that healing doesn’t require much—just honest connection and an open heart.”
This sounds like something I’d enjoy, so have added it to my list of books to watch for come August, which is the release date here. I’m so glad you mentioned it Kaye!
I agree with Lindy. That one sounds good, Kaye.
Good morning! Lesa, I hope your mother’s birthday celebration is as wonderful as it sounds. Having recently turned 77, my goal is definitely to make it to my 90s and beyond in good shape (here’s hoping) to keep enjoying my family.
This week my daughter-in-law introduced me to Between Neighbors (BN) when I was about to post something on Next Door. BN is a Facebook group for El Dorado Hills residents only (I had to produce part of a utilities bill with my name and address to confirm) where members post things they want to “gift” or things they would like to have. Then fellow members can respond and ask to be considered for the desired item or let another member know they have the item they want. No money exchanged or allowed in this group! I started by posting my curio cabinet that I had to move to make room for my new piano, and the next day some very nice EDH residents picked it up from my garage and took it away. I was then about to post the keyboard I no longer need when I mentioned it at a card game, and a friend said she wanted it. Next day–delivered at another card game and gone from my bedroom. Yesterday I posted an exercise step that has been collecting dust in my bedroom for years (I don’t even notice it anymore). and so far I have five people from which to choose. I’ll provide my address including gate code when the person I choose tells me when they want to pick it up. Th
is is addicting and will be very helpful with my long-postponed project to go room by room to purge what I don’t need and hopefully find some things I thought were lost! There are apparently a lot of these community groups, and my daughter-in-law has used this one so much she is now listed as an “expert” on her posts.
Here are the two books I read this week.
In Susan Mallery’s THE BOOKSTORE DIARIES, sisters Jax and Ryleigh are both disappointed with their love lives. Jax loves the bookstore she owns, but she is blindsided by her husband Harris’s exit from their marriage to woo a younger woman. Schoolteacher Ryleigh is devastated when her boyfriend, Dustin, doesn’t propose when she thought he would but has an unexpected reaction when he finally does propose. Everything the sisters thought they wanted in a romantic partner is called into question, leaving them struggling to decide what really matters. Of course, there are two wonderful men waiting in the wings but, predictably, there are issues standing in the way of a new start. I enjoyed spending time with both characters, although sometimes their waffling was frustrating. Their new potential love interests are both characters to root for. And I loved reading about Jax’s son and daughter, who don’t object when their estranged parents come up with an unorthodox co-parenting scheme that actually works and who behave like real-life children. Another memorable character is Jax’s gray parrot, Ramon, who has been in her family for decades. I don’t know whether Ramon’s conversational comments are realistic, but they certainly are entertaining. I do have an issue with the book’s title, which is misleading. Yes, the bookstore does have a wall of locked customer diaries, which undergo a traumatic situation which is quickly resolved, and there are some secrets contained in the diaries that are revealed. But the diaries are certainly not the centerpiece of the overall plot. In any case, I enjoyed the story and experienced some surprising emotions of my own toward the end. Susan Mallery’s books have become comfort reads for me.
Evann Normandin’s debut novel, THE GOOD PARTS, is not what I expected. I like the premise–Rose takes a memory-erasing pill (suspension of disbelief required) to put the trauma of her life to rest. But she is the love of Landon’s life, and 14 years after they met in college, he flies to Scotland, where she has a new career and a new boyfriend, to try to make her fall in love with him all over again. Sounds like a romantic story and, in many ways, it is. The story is played out in two timelines–before the pill and after–and with an ever-present sense of impending doom as we discover, little by little in flashbacks, what led to Rose’s decision to forget Landon and the life they had built together. Normandin’s writing style is impressive for a debut author, much of the prose quite lyrical. But I found the heart-wrenching aspects of the story too depressing and bleak. In the latter half of the book, I couldn’t wait for that feeling to end. I will say that the characters of Rose and Landon started out in a very upbeat way, as it seemed they were the perfect soulmates. I also enjoyed the friends of each of them, who did their best to be supportive and to steer them away from any future heartbreak. Landon’s seatmate on the flight to Scotland also becomes a supporting character, which I found quirky and appealing. Normandin shows great promise as a novelist, but I admire her debut book more than I enjoyed it. (July)
I am glad you are having such a good experience with the neighbors group! I make good use of the Buy Nothing group for my neighborhood. Sometimes dealing with the arrangements is a pain so I just put a bunch of stuff on the sidewalk, take a picture, and issue a “Curb Alert” so folks can come by and take what they like. I’ll be doing this a lot before my next move!
Isn’t it great to have someone like your daughter-in-law to introduce you to Between Neighbors or things going on that you didn’t know about, Margie?
I totally agree with you about The Bookstore Diaries. Enjoyed the book, but thought the diaries were such a minor part of the book that they shouldn’t be part of the title. I like Mallery’s books, too.
Happy birthday to your mom! Hope you all have a great time! I am currently reading Holy Island (1st DC Ryan mystery) by LJ Ross on my kindle and listening to Road Trip by Mary Kay Andrews.
Katherine, So far, I’m a little disappointed with Road Trip. I’m early on in it, but don’t really care for the two sisters yet.
Lesa, i felt exactly the same way! Stick with it. AND Happy Birthday to Elizabeth!
Thank you, Kaye! I’ll stick with it. And, thank for the good wishes for Mom!
As a fan of Mary Kay Andrew’s and pretty much anything set in Ireland this book fell flat for me. I didn’t care for either of the sisters and sort of slogged through the book. I’m sure others will enjoy it but it wasn’t for me.
Well, darn, Susan. I am looking forward to hearing her talk about it on Tuesday.
I love all of Tim Sullivan’s books. Cross and Ottey are a trip.
Looking forward to your mom’s party.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the party, Carol Jeanne!
Enjoy your Mom’s birthday and time with family. How special she is 90.
I enjoyed both of my books this week.
The Sea Child by Linda Wilgus was about a band of smugglers on the Cornish Coast in the early 1800’s and the young who becomes involved with their schemes. There was a bit of magical realism involved as local legend claims she is the daughter of a sea spirit. I was swept away by this one.
Follow me to Africa by Penny Haw is historical fiction about Mary Leakey. What a fascinating woman she was! Told in dual storylines starting in 1938 about how she met Louis Leakey and became a world renown anthropologist and a second storyline in 1983 about fictional Grace and her father who come to Africa on one of her digs. That storyline involves a cheetah named Lisa which according to the author’s notes at the end was true. This was another outstanding read.
Summer has arrived. We got out early for our walk before the real heat arrives later. Hoping to watch the Guardians beat the Yankees for 3 in a row this afternoon and we are going out to dinner to celebrate our 49-year wedding anniversary tonight. I am still amazed it has been these many years.
Happy Reading!
Happy Anniversary, Sharon! My sister and her husband celebrated 43 years today. I think it’s great that you’re enjoying your time together.
Follow Me to Africa is the kind of book my friend, Donna, would like. I’ll have to mention it to her.
I know you and you family will have a wonderful weekend as you celebrate your mother’s 90th birthday. Glen and I wish her a happy birthday and many more.
Glen is reading HEYDAY: THE 1850S AND THE DAWN OF THE GLOBAL AGE, by Ben Wilson. He is enjoying it. The topics are interesting presented well.
I just finished reading MURDER ON THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD by Stuart M. Kaminsky, the second book in the Toby Peters series. Set in 1940, around the time of Roosevelt’s election, it was a fun read, nice and short.
Today I will be starting MIDDLEMARCH by George Eliot.
Thank you, Tracy and Glen!
What a difference – a Toby Peters mystery and Middlemarch. Don’t you love variety?
Happy Birthday Mom!
Thanks, Kevin. Some of the family came in today, and we all got together for pizza. Mom loved it.
Hi everyone,
I am so glad my comment above posted earlier, I was having trouble with the wifi signal on Amtrak. The husband and I are in NYC for a fun getaway and to see the opera about Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera tomorrow.
Readingwise I abandoned myself to the Unselected Journals of Emma Lion, about a smart but undereducated (and smart alecky) orphan in 1880s London. She is trying to dodge her high-society aunt and her aunt’s demands and live her own life, difficult to do since she is not yet 21 and supposed to have a chaperone. Once I got used to the cast of characters, Emma’s financial and emotional situation, and her mysterious neighborhood I found all 8 books really funny & absorbing and can’t wait for #9. I read them on Kindle unlimited.
Have a great party and all best wishes for you mom, Lesa!
Thank you, Trisha!
New York City! Enjoy your getaway in my favorite city!
I couldn’t get on to the blog at all. Last week, I remember some folks sent you an email, so here we go:
This week it became hot, and nobody’s used to it. I’m an election official, and it was a long, hot day, but the people were mostly friendly.
I read:
Confessions of a Professional Cad by George Sanders; Mostly forgotten now, he was a fairly major star for a long time. While he often played an English upper-class type, he was a Scot from Russia, and had very unconventional life. Maybe not Errol Flynn unconventional, but certainly unusual. All told like he was starring as The Saint.
Bogart by Ann M. Sperber; Another biography of a guy with a terrible middle class upbringing who became a cinema icon.
The Brookly Paramount Theatre by Michael Hitman; The history of the first theater built for the talkies that went through a whole lot of incarnations until now.
Maybe I’ll get to some fiction next week.
Thank you!
Glen