Let’s talk about weather for a minute. We’ve been much better off since this past weekend. In fact, today was beautiful, in the 70s. But, Saturday night, I spent 45 minutes sitting in the closet since we were under a tornado warning until 11:30 PM. My brother-in-law had to take two dogs to the basement, including carrying one big one who already hates the basement. We were all lucky because nothing hit here.
You already know I was up at Mom’s and went to a family reunion. One of my aunts is part of an enormous family who owns cottages at the lake. So, once a year while their family is there, she invites the family to come, enjoy the company, and eat good food in a lakeside cottage. Linda and I drove up to Mom’s, and then we met everyone there the next day. I’m back, with no plans to go anyplace until mid-September.
I’m reading an Agatha Christie mystery I never heard of until last week. I was watching a Poisoned Pen Bookstore video that featured Kemper Donovan. Donovan has been doing the podcast “All About Agatha” for ten years. He said he and his late podcast partner had ranked all of Christie’s mysteries. They ranked And Then There Were None as number two for writing, plot, story. Their #1 pick was Five Little Pigs. Since I never even heard of it, I picked that up.
Five Little Pigs is a Hercule Poirot mystery. I’ll admit Poirot was never one of my favorite sleuths, but this book is addicting. It’s a cold case. I’m no Christie expert, but I don’t remember Poirot taking on a cold case. This one is sixteen years old. A woman was convicted of killing her husband. She died a year later, but sent her daughter a letter that she was given as an adult, saying she was innocent. Now, the daughter wants Poirot to find the truth. I have one hundred pages to go in this excellent story.
What about you? Tell us about your week, please. What did you do? How was your weather? Most important, what are you reading?
I read a lot of Agatha Christie’s books when I was a teenager and can’t remember if I read that one or not. Maybe I should pick it up if the Agatha Christie podcaster rates it so highly. I’m actually reading an older book this week too. I picked up Lilian Jackson Braun’s book The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts at a used bookstore over the weekend. I’ve heard plenty about Braun’s books but never read one and decided it was time to remedy that. So far it’s very charming, and I’m finding it nice to read a slightly older mystery that was written back when people still had longer attention spans. There’s still a murder in the first chapter, but something about the pace of the book and the characters’ conversations feels a bit more leisurely than more current books do.
I discovered Lilian Jackson Braun a couple of years ago. I’m working my way through the books in order of publication (though I certainly don’t have all of them, they’re hard to find over here.)
I enjoy them very mush, and agree with everything you say about attention spans.
Hi Rosemary and Lesa, I’m sure I’ll end up reading more of Lilian Jackson Braun’s books based on this one. I’ll have to look for some of the earlier ones and work my way through. I’m in the Toledo area, Rosemary, and my library has some of the books on Hoopla (if you don’t mind ebooks). Of course, they may be the books you’re already read.
Kate, The earlier books in the series were my favorites, although I read all of them. In the earlier books, Qwill was still working as a reporter and living in the city.
I finished Five Little Pigs last night, and I can see why Kemper Donovan ranked it so high. Excellent cold case mystery.
I loved the CAT WHO series! Except the last one. It should never have been published, IMO. it was a major disservice to the author because it read as though it may have been her first draft of a bok she was unable to complete.
I’ve read some of the books in this series via audio over the years. At this point, I’ve no clue which ones I have and haven’t read. It was based on what my library had available. The early ones are better, but when I ventured into the later ones, the mysteries felt like an after thought, which really annoyed me.
Exactly, Mark. It felt as if the relationships were more important, and I couldn’t stand the woman Qwill dated.
Kate, I have the first of Lillian Jackson Braun’s Cat books (The Cat Who Could Read Backwards) on my shelves at home. I should read it soon instead of just having it sit there!
It sounds like that’s a good one from what everyone is saying, Lindy! I’m glad so many others have enjoyed this series too! I’m late getting into it, but now I know to look for the earlier books.
I’m glad you found a Christie to enjoy. My weather memories of living in the Midwest include those nerve-wracking tornado warnings. I don’t miss those at all!
Now I’m happy to be back home! After six days of evacuation, I was able to return home Saturday afternoon. The Bug Fire reached almost 100,000 acres. Nine homes were destroyed, with one fatality. About 3000 people were evacuated at the peak. The little valley where I live was the last to repopulate but didn’t have much damage. Burn scars are visible for miles.
Thanks to the Libby app, it was a comfort to have my reads with me. Not that I read much, being too easily distracted by the next update.
I did finish two holiday themed short stories…
GONE BEFORE CHRISTMAS from the Charles Lenox Mystery series. Set in 1877, Scotland Yard calls on the protagonist to investigate the baffling disappearance of an elite military officer from a London train station just before Christmas.
A translated short story, BRIGHTLY SHINING by
Ingvild Rishøi. Described as beautifully told with humor and tenderness, a Norwegian Christmas tale of sisterhood, financial hardship, and far-off dreams.
And the latest by Irish/Australian author Dervla McTiernan. 2026 brings THREE REASONS FOR REVENGE; a novel of suspense about three seemingly unconnected people, caught in a lethal web of deceit and unhealed wounds. It wasn’t my favorite from this author, but I’ll definitely pick up her next release.
So glad you’re back home MM, and that you had your home to come back to! All these fires all around the world are very worrisome. I don’t know how the land and the forests can ever recover, and if they can’t what does that mean for the future of all of us?
Thanks Lindy I would love to live in a forested area and have planted quite a few trees on the property. This entire area is mostly sagebrush & juniper. Both are volatile, so fire spreads very fast, but not as much fuel as your forests in Canada.
Six days of evacuation! MM, that’s worse than sitting in a closet for 45 minutes. And, you didn’t know if home would be there or not when you got home! I’m glad your neighborhood was okay, and happy you’re home safe.
As a retired librarian, I’m also happy that Libby helped you get through, although I can see why you couldn’t concentrate. Too much to worry about.
I’m happy you’re safe and back home.
Yes – the anxiety! I had to keep reminding myself – you’re safe, you have your essentials and a nice place to stay. My neighbor who was actually in Illinois the whole time would send me a daily photo from his camera – still there 😊.
MM, I am glad you are back home after having to evacuate for so long. The only time we had to evacuate was way back in 1990, when the Painted Cave fire burned quickly through housing areas in unincorporated areas near Santa Barbara. And we only had to find a place to stay for one night. We have been close to fires in the years may times since then, but not personally threatened. I know you are very glad to be home.
Thanks Tracy – it’s actually the third time I’ve evacuated, but definitely the longest. I’m only two miles from the nearest highway, but access is limited and many neighbors have animals to transport.
The weather here last weekend was beautiful. It was in the 80s and just enjoyable to be out in. We had a thunderstorm on Friday and it blew out all the smoke. Now we’re heading back to the 100s.
I’ve been busy getting a friend’s birthday present done. I’ve been cross stitching it since July and it’s coming along. Her birthday is August 28th so I’m hoping to have it done by then. This week, I got one book read – “The Jewel of Sugar Hill” by Fiona Davis. I won an advance copy of The Munich Affair by James Patterson and David Ellis on Boorreporter. I dove into it last night and am finding it to be quite interesting.
Fiona Davis’ books always make me want to take another trip to New York City to discover all the historical things she showcases in her books. In “The Jewel of Sugar Hill”, two women are in love with the Morris-Jumel Mansion. Eliza Jumel whose first husband built the house for her in the 1800s. For her, the mansion stands as a symbol to where she came from.
In 2010, Abby Dorrance whose father was enthralled with the mansion and died at the house, shortly after Abby is released from prison. Abby finds herself trying to clear her name for the supposed embezzlement she went to prison for and solving her father’s murder.
In the meantime, Eliza continues to haunt the mansion to protect it from being demolished for an apartment complex. That Abby’s brother is the instigator of.
Another great addition to Fiona’s historical New York City mysteries. My copy was courtesy of NetGalley.
Bev, I’m glad to hear you liked the new Fiona Davis book, as I have it from NetGalley. Looking forward to it as I work through my NG shelf.
Thank you, Bev, for mentioning The Jewel of Sugar Hill. My sister, Linda, and my best friend are both fans of Fiona Davis’ books, so I hope they see your post.
What a thoughtful gift, something you’re cross stitching for your friend. Good luck in trying to finish.
Big Fiona Davis fan here and I enjoyed The Jewel of Sugar Hill
We had really nice weather last weekend. I saw something on Facebook about a church barn sale in a town a half hour from us so we went to check it out. We came home with several things including a wood rocker glider for $10 that just needed a bolt tightened. Apparently the sale runs monthly from May to November so we’ll be going back.
I haven’t read more than a few chapters this week. I don’t know why but I just can’t seem to get in the mood to read and I really need to get a jump on the September ARCs I have.
A church barn sale sounds funny, Sandy. It sounds as if you got a really good deal, though. I don’t blame you for going back.
I have those days, and often several in a row when I just can’t read. Good luck getting through it.
Good morning! Last Sunday I visited a bookstore that was new to me–Old Haunts Bookshop in Granite Bay, CA, about a 25-minute drive. I was so glad I did because I finally got to meet Ellen Byron, who was launching one of her new books (two were just published). And she was in conversation with the always-entertaining Catriona McPherson, who also just published a new book. It’s a small store, but there was room for about 25 of us, and it was lovely. I introduced myself to Ellen, as she recently joined my chapter of Sisters in Crime and we had had some nice email conversations about putting info on her launch and her new books in the newsletter I edit. She lives in southern California, and we were trying to figure out why we were already Facebook friends.
Lesa, the only experience I have had with tornados was decades ago, when my parents and I were driving to California from Pennsylvania, going to our new home in San Jose. We were in Iowa and taking shelter in the basement of the hotel after the tornado warning sounded. While everyone around us seemed to feel like it was no big deal, we weren’t sure our packed car would be there when we emerged! In California we have earthquakes, but I think tornados are a lot more scary. I’m glad your recent one wasn’t too much of a problem for you.
Here’s what I read this week:
In the tenth book in Gigi Pandian’s Accidental Alchemist Mystery series, THE ALCHEMIST OF ALL HALLOWS EVE, Zoe Faust is engaged to former detective Max. The pair are seeking a new home together, and Zoe knows she has found the perfect place to meet their requirements and desires. But Max doesn’t want to live in what he considers to be a murder house, where a young woman was rumored to have been killed 40 years earlier. So Zoe does some investigating to attempt to refute the house’s reputation, with input from a self-professed medium, the real estate agent, and even the man who is thought to be the murderer, among others. All agree that no one was murdered in the house and hidden behind the walls, but Max isn’t easily convinced. So Dorian, a small gargoyle brought to life through magic who is a regular character in this unique series, gets involved. He wants his friends to have their perfect home, and he fancies himself a fearless, expert investigator, although he can never leave his current home in daylight without a disguise. When one of the supporting characters meets a grisly end, and after a a disturbing séance reveals further clues, the plot thickens even further. Even Zoe starts to wonder whether she really wants to purchase the house as their forever home, especially since, as an alchemist herself, she never ages and feels she has to move when friends and neighbors start getting suspicious. I really enjoy the relationship between Zoe and Max, although it isn’t at the forefront of this particular book, and little Dorian can always be counted on to take dangerous chances and to display his own analytical skills. This book is a worthy successor to the books that precede it, and another in this series is planned for release in 2027. I am also a fan of Gigi Pandian’s Secret Staircase Mysteries and Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mysteries . My thanks to Gigi for giving me a copy of the ARC. (September)
I’ve told myself it’s OK to start reading Christmas-themed books in August, and I picked the perfect one to read first–WINTER MAGIC AT HOLLYBRAE CASTLE. I was not familiar with the prolific Jaimie Admans’ books, but now I will definitely be looking for more. Lula, a window dresser at a prestigious London store, is summarily fired when the store window display she designed suddenly goes awry, disgusting outraged parents, scaring children, and potentially ruining Christmas for those who view the carnage (you have to read it for the details!). Bad news for Lula, who can hardly afford renting a room in her married-with-child sister’s house, even with a job. She is determined to find a new gig right away and comes upon an ad from a man who needs help to lavishly decorate his “small” castle in a remote area of Scotland. Due to a glitch in reservations for his employer’s annual offsite Christmas celebration, Oliver has offered his castle as a place for a multiple-day celebration of the holiday, including his bosses, a troublesome colleague, and their families. There’s just one problem: Oliver told his family-oriented bosses he is married and has two children, barely managing to find excuses why they have never met his wife. So Lula will be called upon to be his fake wife as well as his decorator, and his housekeeper’s two grandchildren, aged 10 and 8, will be substituting for his non-existent children. What’s at stake is a promotion he is seeking, which would earn him enough money to deal with the upkeep of a castle that may be crumbling. Lula is desperate, and charmed by the idea of decorating a castle, so she agrees to all of the terms and leaves for Scotland for the four-week assignment. Despite the wild premise, this is one the most charming books I have read this year. From the start, it is clear that Lula and Ollie are meant to be together, which helps them to be convincing fake spouses and perhaps more. Oliver hasn’t been himself for 15 years since the death by car accident of his parents and has become a workaholic, shunning such frivolous occasions as Christmas, while Lula has been frustrated by a restrictive job that hasn’t allowed her to exercise her creativity. Both need help, and they find it in each other.The planning and decorating activities alone are beautifully (and sometimes humorously) described. The children are all in, and they hilariously rehearse the fake spouses in what they need to know about each other and how they met. The housekeeper is constantly whipping up delicious-sounding delicacies. And Ollie and Lula are finding it ever-easier to be spouses. But it will all come down to the promotion, also being sought by the troublesome colleague, and whether that is a worthy goal, given other factors involved This charming book is so delightful that I didn’t want it to end. Happily, the two protagonists didn’t have to deal with the miscommunications that are common in this type of book, and there is a very satisfying epilogue. (September)
Ellen O’Clover’s second book for adults, IF NOT YOU, relies on the rivals-to-lovers trope familiar to many romcom readers. Mattie and Campbell became acquainted during their internship days, as each worked hard to win one open copywriting position at a prestigious advertising firm. Five years later, Mattie still considers Campbell the enemy, as he often bests her when their agencies are vying for the same contract. Campbell has even won an important prize in Cannes for which Mattie was also nominated. Now they are on a four-week business trip together, each working with their team to design and promote a new campaign for a luxury resort account. When Campbell won’t stop taunting Mattie, she returns the favor with insults about his ridiculous clothing and apparently wealthy background. This type of banter is fun at first, but I felt that it went on way too long, for more than half of the book. As a result, neither Mattie nor Campbell came off as a likable character to me. Then we start to learn more about the protagonists’ lives and motivations, and their relationship suddenly evolves into something else, but I found it unconvincing. Would Campbell really reveal his true self so abruptly? And will Mattie be able to believe and accept such a sudden change? But there are facets of the story that I found very interesting. I loved Mattie’s longtime best friend and roommate, who is preparing for her wedding. I enjoyed the wonderfully detailed descriptions of the lavish resorts and what it felt like to be spending time there. And the latter chapters of the book are definitely more satisfying, if still somewhat short of believable. (September)
Good morning, Margie! You sold me on Winter Magic. That one sounds fun. I hope I get it from NetGalley because my library system doesn’t have it on order yet.
I’ve never met Ellen Byron, although I’ve read a number of her books. I think I’ve sampled all of her series. I hope she writes for your newsletter.
Margie,
I’ll hve to give that bookstore a try!
WINTER MAGIC AT HOLLYBRAE CASTLE sounds great! I am going to order it for our library Collection!
Yikes. One great thing about New York is, no tornadoes. We’ve had big storms, even minor hits from hurricanes, but no tornado. It’s still warm and we’re above the usual monthly rain totals for August.
Jackie wants to thank you for recommending Jenn McKinlay’s THE SUMMER SHARE. She loved the story, said it made her laugh and cry. She is going to look for her other standalones, then maybe try a series book. She is now reading Rebecca Yarros’s FOURTH WING, the first in her Empyrean trilogy. She has compared it to Harry Potter (the school) and The Hunger Games (competition, killing people).
I read THE BROTHERS MCKAY by Craig Johnson, the latest Longmire book, which was not his best but still worth reading. He obviously patterned the book after THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV (which I’ve never read), so you might enjoy it more if you have read it.
Margaret Mizushima recommended Kathleen Donnelly’s Colorado K-9 series featuring Maya Thompson. I got the first in the series for Jackie, CHASING JUSTICE, which she read before the McKinlay (and I read too). Maya has a lot in common with Eli North in Amy Pease’s series (reviewed here by Kevin a couple of days ago) – came back from Marine service in Afghanistan with PTSD, self-medicating with alcohol, parent (or here a grandfather) in local law enforcement. Also, she, like Paula Munier’s Mercy Carr, has a talented K-9 tracking dog (hers is a Malinois named Juniper).
The weakness is the obvious plotting, with the drug-dealing family and collection of morons. There are five books in the series.
Current reading is Archer Sullivan’s THE WITCH’S ORCHARD, which Lesa recommended. Also reading short story collections by Robert Boswell and Ruth Ozeki, plus a non-fiction book I’ll discuss next week.
Jackie is going for her Iovera shot (you could look it up, but it supposedly will block the pain for three months before and after her knee replacement) next week. We’ll series how that goes. The surgery is a month away.
One last bit of excitement: my laptop suddenly died last week and I had to get a new one. It turned out better than the other (HP over Lenovo) and was $100 cheaper.
Tell Jackie I said she’s welcome! I’m glad she enjoyed Jenn’s book. Tell her, too, that I just picked up Fourth Wing from the library, too, but she’ll get through it before I even start, I’m sure. And, I hope the shot helps with her knee replacement. Keep us posted. I’m wishing her good luck!
You have to get a new laptop. I can’t even imagine being without mine for any length of time.
They shouldn’t have taken liberties with Murder in Retrospect. It was too good to change.
Lesa, FIVE LITTLE PIGS was published in 1942 and is indeed considered one of her best. The original U.S. title was MURDER IN RETROSPECT, under which I read it over 50 years ago. I don’t remember any of the details other than the 2003 David Suchet version, which I believe took many liberties with the original.
Good morning from a rainy Aberdeenshire.
I have been so glad to see the rain this week, especially after seeing images of a wildfire in Stourbridge, a town in the Midlands of England, where many homes were destroyed, it is believed after someone deliberately set a fire in the woodlands surrounding the houses.
Our house backs onto the tree-lined Deeside Way, and the whole area is full of vegetation. I have come across the debris from small fires that some people have seen fit to light beside some of the seats on the path itself – it would only take one of those to be left smouldering and the whole place could go up in flames. So let it rain, I don’t mind getting wet.
I have had a great week since last Thursday. On Friday I had lunch with Jess, a curator friend, Melanie, a colleague on the art gallery committee, and Josie, the young lady I have mentioned who has recently moved up here from Glasgow. I was so pleased to discover that Jess and Josie shared very similar research interests (focusing on seas and rivers as living beings and not just things there for our convenience). Jess was able to give Josie several contacts in the city, and we all had a very nice time.
On Saturday I went, for the first time, to the annual Culter Flower Show. Many local towns and villages hold these events, but as I have so often been in Edinburgh in August, I have usually missed them. They are very traditional, and very well supported – there are lots of ‘classes’ in which people can compete, and at the show the entries are all on display, with the judges’ cards for First, Second and Third Prizes. So there are huge courgettes, perfect onions, dishes of berries, prize begonias in pots, artistic flower arrangements and beautiful roses. There are baking categories – everything from cheese scones to salmon pates and ‘three peppermint creams on a plate.’ Then there are handicrafts – knitted toys, collages, baby clothes, crochet, patchwork – and a children’s section with such things as a model garden.
The judges will also have spent the previous week visiting the garden entries to select the best ones in the area – they post photos of these so that we can all see them, and my there are some amazing gardeners around here!
The hall was packed, mostly with people who have lived in the village all their lives – they are the real stalwarts of the show, and I do wonder if it will continue after their generation passes on. Almost all of them once worked (or their families did) in the huge paper mill that dominated the village from 1751 to 1980 (it’s now been demolished and replaced by housing), or are farmers. I think it’s wonderful that they still support these events, and I so enjoyed seeing the results of all their hard work.
There was a also a very busy tea room – you paid £5 for unlimited tea, coffee and home baking. I shared a table with three ladies who had grown up in Culter and never left, and it was lovely to hear their stories and chat with them. Going to things like this really makes you feel a little bit more of a part of the community.
On Monday I had coffee with a young friend who is a sculptor. She wants to do a PhD but is finding it so hard to get funding. She currently focuses on her own work and supports herself by working in a wine bar in the evenings, but the costs involved in a PhD are so huge (though I do appreciate that they are much lower here than in the US) that she really needs funding before she can commit to one. She is now starting to apply to programmes in mainland Europe (she has Dutch/American citizenship) – it will be such a shame, both for Aberdeen’s artistic community and for we who value their friendship, if she and her husband end up moving away, but I can totally understand her reasons.
Our library is live-streaming some sessions from this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival, so yesterday we saw Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, in conversation with Heather Parry. I had thought this one might not be my cup of tea – it was David who was keen to see it – but in fact it was fascinating. Wales was an excellent interviewee, both thoughtful and entertaining. Parry pointed out that just a few years ago people felt embarrassed to cite Wikipedia as a source of their information, but now it stands as a shining light of neutrality and calm reliability in this age of toxic social media, political manipulation and barefaced lies.
I also met up for coffee with Lucy Beth, whom I’ve probably mentioned before. Lucy is a young poet, writer and spoken word performer who lives in rural Aberdeenshire. She performs primarily in Doric, the dialect of North East Scotland (the author Nan Shepherd wrote her books in Doric, including the iconic THE LIVING MOUNTAIN.) I first encountered Lucy at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, when she was performing one of the traditional ‘bothy ballads’ at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on the Royal Mile. She had taken this particular ballad and rewritten it from the POV of a young girl mentioned in the original. She was performing to a room of almost exclusively non-Doric speakers, many of whom weren’t even Scottish, yet her gestures, expressions and diction were so good that everyone understood her (you could tell because they laughed at the jokes.) She is an amazing young woman from a very local, very supportive, family, who is forging her own path in what is a highly competitive area of work by focusing on a very important, and until now largely ignored, part of local culture.
We had such a great chat, talking about everything from our very different backgrounds, to the state of the local arts scene, the many things that are starting to happen, the problems of funding, the fantastic initiatives that people are making happen, and so many other subjects. I was shocked when I looked at my watch and realized we had been in Neil Selbie’s coffee shop for almost 3 hours.
(During which three hours the lady who deals with the kilt hire part of the business came through and presented me with David’s kilt, which he had apparently taken in for pressing when we returned from his nephew’s wedding in London in early June – he had clearly forgotten all about it, so I needed to bring it home. The rain was sheeting down, I had walked to the shop, and I didn’t have a bag…luckily they were happy to hang on to it until I went back later in the afternoon.)
BOOKS!
I am close to finishing RESULT OF THE FINALS by Molly Clavering, which I think I mentioned last week. The Furrowed Middlebrow Facebook page had been hosting a discussion about Clavering’s novels, which she wrote in the 1950s. Most of these have been republished by Dean Street Press. I had never even heard of Clavering before this, but it seems she has a big following, both in the UK and the US.
Result of the Finals was the only Clavering novel in the Aberdeen Libraries catalogue, so I requested it from the store. I mentioned it on the Facebook page and many people were desperate to know where they could get a copy – none of them had heard of this one. I looked at Amazon, which acknowledged the existence of the book but said ‘currently unavailable’. Goodreads (which is of course owned by Amazon) had much the same entry. Fantastic Fiction didn’t even list it. It seems that it’s been overlooked in the republishing sequence, so at the moment the only copies must be originals.
I was in our little library today so I told the assistant – she was thrilled to think that they have a rare book in their collection. She also really loved the fact that the old borrowing page is still stuck into the front of the book – the first date stamp on it is 1 October 1963 (ie long before she was born…) She said she likes to think of all the people who have borrowed and read that book over the years. This is something we have lost now that all borrowing is digital. I don’t think computerisation is a bad thing – those little index cards that the catalogue used to consist of were forever being lost or misfiled – but I do remember, as a child, so wanting to have a go on that date stamp.
I almost forgot to say what the novel is about! It’s the story of several farming families who all live in or around a valley in the Scottish Borders in the 1930s. They have mostly lived there for generations, so their families are often intertwined, and there are relationships, past, present and hoped for in the future, between various members of the various households. The book covers a single day, on which the annual tennis championships take place. These attract players from across the country. The flirtatious, difficult wife of one of the farmers is a keen tennis player and is determined to win the mixed doubles. She is having a dalliance with her much younger tennis partner, Gordon, who was previously in love with the much nicer and much more suitable daughter of a neighbouring farm. Meanwhile other little dramas are being played out in other families in the area.
It’s all very light, but immensely readable, and what I am particularly noticing is how well Clavering writes. I am usually very easily bored by descriptions of landscapes, but she somehow makes them come alive. And although the dialogue is clearly rooted in its time, it still sounds entirely natural. Clavering reveals her characters’ inner thoughts and motivations with subtlety; her writing is such a contrast to that of some of the contemporary authors I’ve read of late. I’ll probably have to buy the novels that have been republished, or somehow persuade our library to order them, as I don’t think one Clavering is going to be enough.
This week I also read edition 22 of the SLIGHTLY FOXED quarterly review. It was a mixed bag, and not, I felt, the best I had read, but I did enjoy some of the essays, especially Anne Sebba’s contribution ‘Written in the Stars’, about the author Shirley Hazzard.
On television I have started watching THE HOUR. I don’t know why I didn’t watch this excellent series when it first came out a few years ago, I know it had enthusiastic reviews at the time – and they were well deserved. The Hour is set at the BBC World Service at the time of the Suez crisis; some journalists are trying to set up a new news programme, but are being hampered at every turn by the government, with its archaic rules about what can and cannot be used, its secrecy, and its deep suspicion (which still exists) about the BBC (every right wing government accuses the BBC of having a left wing bias, every left wing government says the opposite…)
Then a professor is murdered in an underground station. The government is keen to label this a straightforward robbery, but one of the journalists, Freddie (played by the brilliant Ben Wishaw), has a friend who is the daughter of a member of the House of Lords – she tells him it was no robbery, but instead something much more sinister. Freddie – still furious because a woman (another friend) has been put in charge of the new programme when he feels it should have been him – is determined to investigate. The deeper he digs, the more he uncovers; nothing is what it seems, and it becomes increasingly unclear whom, if anyone, he can trust.
The cast of The Hour is full of famous names – Dominic West, Juliet Stevenson, Vanessa Kirby (Princess Anne in The Crown), Anton Lesser, Romola Garai, Anna Chancellor, Andrew Scott and many more. I am really enjoying it so far.
I’m writing this late on Wednesday as I will be in town all day tomorrow. It’s already past 9pm, so I will stop now. Have a good week all.
Rosemary, Rosemary. I have no idea how you have time to read or watch TV series with all the outings you have. And, so many of your outings are related to the arts! I’m sure there are plenty of artists here, but you seem so connected to your community! I think you’re an extrovert, though, which I’m definitely not. You enjoy getting out, having tea with strangers. I’m never even eager to go to lunch with classmates when I go home, and you seem quite happy to venture out and meet with strangers. Good for you! I enjoy reading about your activities, probably because they’re so outside of my experience.
And, I’m sorry you had to find a cafe to post this morning since I had problems scheduling the blog this morning.
Lesa, I was in the Breadmaker cafe (a social enterprise and training centre for people with special needs) eating a delicious scone, so no need to apologise!
My family would laugh if they heard you call me ‘extrovert’!
When I was younger I was extremely introverted and really rather scared of people. I’m not quite sure when that changed (and I’m still not at all confident about interviewing people) but getting involved in the arts has certainly given me a little more confidence.
I’m still quite inhospitable! I prefer meeting people outwith my home (partly because I don’t like tidying up, and I also don’t like not knowing how long people are going to stay.) I have friends who entertain almost every weekend – that’s my idea of a nightmare. I honestly can’t remember when I last hosted anyone except my own children, and I’m fine with that.
We’re all different, there’s no right or wrong way.
Rosemary – I had to share your find with a friend who’s a big Molly Clavering fan. thanks
Rosemary, I think I would have enjoyed the Culter Flower Show, especially as it had so many different things to look at, not just flowers. I’m glad you talked about it!
How frightening to have to cower in a closet because of a tornado warning! So stressful. I’m so glad nothing hit where you are. I liked your lakeside cottage story much better.
Still hotter than usual here, with temperatures in the mid 80s. Can’t wait for summer to be over so I can stop moving the fan around with me wherever I go in the house. I have to move it into the kitchen when I do dishes; which is a distressingly hot job in the summer since we do not have a dishwasher, but quite delightful in the winter.
It was a busier week than usual – pelvic ultrasound, dentist appointment, but also fun things like our daughter taking us out for a fancy tea. And going out for breakfast with our new upstairs neighbour. And the highlight of a family gathering at our daughter’s home with three generations of both our side of the family and her husband’s side. It’s always a good time when we’re all together, with lots of laughter, good food, some people playing games in the backyard, others playing crokinole in the living room, and others (well maybe just me) looking at the bookshelves to see what new books our daughter had added to her collection.
Books I read this week:
TOMORROW IS FOR THE BRAVE by Kelly Bowen
Of the 61 books I’ve read so far this year, this one is my absolute favourite. Engaging, absorbing, and often incredibly tense, it’s a novel set during WW II, inspired by ‘the true story of the only woman to serve in the French Foreign Legion’.
Violet St. Croix, the daughter of very wealthy parents, leads a charmed life in France – full of parties, dresses, and really anything her heart desires. Engaged to to Tino, the marriage will benefit both families, he seems kind and attentive, and her future is secure. And yet Violet thinks she could be doing something more meaningful with her life, and when she dares to make her tentative wishes known she gets an earful from her father, and cracks start to show in her relationship with Tino.
As war becomes a reality she decides – utterly against the wishes and expectations of her family and Tino – to join the war effort. It takes bravery for Violet to stand up for herself in the face of fierce opposition from her family, her fiancé, and society. But what she encounters during her years working as a driver during the war is nothing like anything she could ever have imagined, and it tests her like nothing ever before.
Before reading this book, I was woefully ignorant of North Africa’s part in the war, and I am grateful to have learned a bit of this history, in a way that made it come alive for me. The book is 360 pages long, there is not one word too many, and I would happily have read another 360 pages if they’d been there. Just a fabulously written story.
BEING OLD and learning to love it! By Prue Leith
The first I knew of Prue Leith was two years ago when I came across the TV series The Great British Baking Show, which I’d never seen before, and have now watched two seasons of. (although she’s done much more in her life than be a judge on cooking shows) I quite enjoyed watching her so when I saw this book, it called to me.
It’s not a memoir as such, more a gathering of things she has to say about various subjects such as gardening, fame, retirement, and friendship – woven through with anecdotes and ramblings, all while in some way relating each subject to ageing. Prue Leith is 86 years old, and I had no idea that she has also written several novels as well as a number of cookbooks.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, whether reading about a serious topic or a more light-hearted one. My favourite chapter was ‘On Senility’ which should have been sad/sobering but was instead very funny, even though it somehow felt wrong to be laughing, especially as the anecdotes were about Prue’s mother. They were not meant to make fun of the poor woman, but to show that even something as serious as dementia can have a funny side sometimes.
The book is very chatty and moves seamlessly from one subject or anecdote to another and entertains as it makes you think about life and how you handle it. And it was fun to learn a bit about Prue Leith and her children, grandchildren, home, and working life. I’m very glad to have read it.
We like Prue on Great British Baking Show. She certainly wears colorful clothes!
Lindy, I had to look up crokinole when you said some were inside playing that. It did say it was a Canadian game. I had never heard of it. It did say it was a dexterity game, so I would have been with. you staring at the books.
I didn’t know there were any women at all in the French Foreign Legion! That novel sounds interesting.
Tomorrow is for the Brave sounds good, Lindy. Thank you for the recommendation.
My library system has TOMORROW IS FOR THE BRAVE electronically, so I was able to download the audio book. Now just to find the listening time. thanks for the recommendation.
104 today. 105 on Friday. Not liking it!
Finished Wallace Terry by Ray E. Boomhower, a biography of a Black Hoosier Journalist who wrote about the Black Military and their experiences in the VietNam War and so much more, also learned more Indiana History, Our paths could have crossed and I could met him, sorry I didn’t.
Halfway through The Man Who Read Books, written by Rachid Benzine and translated by Sam Taylor, True story of a Gaza bookseller who read constantly as to told a French photographer. I highly rccommend it.
Will be starting the Invisible List by Ravi Gupta, A road map for tackling what matters the most.
Those temperatures are a little much, Carol. I agree.
Your books sound interesting this week, especially The Man Who Read Books. You said Gaza, so it makes me wonder how the bookseller is doing now.
I have a feeling web not working properly as no one commented? I was reading a book and it turned out to be a mystery around a pedophile – half way through I decided to quit it- not easy for me to quit but just didn’t want to read any more of it.
so weird – now all the other comments came up!
Yikes, I would be too scared to read that book.
That’s weird, Donna. I know I made a mistake and the blog itself didn’t come up on time, but when it did the comments should have been there. Just weird.
I saw Columbus got most of the Ohio’s rain last night. This seems to be the strangest August weather wise ever.
I read two books this week.
You’ll Love it Here by Natalie Sue was enjoyable. Mona life implodes when she is put on leave from her marketing firm because she spoke inappropriately to a client. Then the older building she lives in has a fire alarm and the landlady gets hurt tumbling down the stairs so Mona volunteers to become the substitute super. In the meantime, she is approached by the landlady’s niece to prep the building for sale. Predictably, Mona becomes attached to the oddball tenants and the diner owner across the street. I liked this one a lot.
My second book was The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh. Emma is married with a three-year-old daughter but everything she has told her husband about herself was a lie. The secrets start to unravel, and lives are turned upset down. This was very good but had some difficult themes about postpartum depression. I ended up not being able to put it down once I reached the halfway point.
Have a good week and Happy Reading!
You’re right, Sharon. This has been a strange August. I don’t remember August having as much rain as we’ve had. And, thunder! All of our rain seems to be accompanied by lots of thunder.
You’ll Love It Here sounds like a good one!
THE SECRETS WE HIDE by Karin Slaughter is.the second in a new series was hat I am head over heels about. You do not need to read the first, WE ARE ALL GUILTY HERE, but do it anyway.
Description from Amazon
The next thrilling mystery in the new North Falls series from Karin Slaughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Good Daughter and the Will Trent Series.
Welcome to North Falls. A small town with big secrets…
1601 Iris Drive looks like any other house on the quiet, residential street. But rumors are rampant about the Vickery family, and what goes on behind closed doors.
When gunshots ring out, Sheriff Emmy Clifton and her sister, ex-federal agent Jude Archer, discover a devastating crime scene. Allison Vickery has been murdered in her own kitchen, and her teenage daughter is bleeding upstairs, left for dead.
Everyone thinks they know what happened. But secrets are buried everywhere in this small town.
And it’s up to Emmy Clifton to uncover the truth…
Listening to you, Kaye, because the second one sounds good. I put We Are All Guilty Here on hold a the library. Thank you!
The weather is warm, but not unbearable. I’ll take that as a win.
This week I read:
Meow Means Murder by Jinty James; Turns out I won #5 of this series, from goodreads, but somehow, I already had books one and two in my kindle. This one has the old saw about the corrupt and obnoxious food critic, who quickly gets kakked. Our sleuths get involved and so does the incompetent supercop. Not bad, but the investigation really doesn’t boil down to much.
Menace from the Deep by Michael P Stradlin; A kid moves to Florida from the mountains of Colorado. He finds friends, and so does his father, if you know what I mean. Anyway, some mad scientist has created super alligators and is siccing them on people. Not bad for what it is. For the book club
4th and Goal by Jedediah Collins; A marginal NFL player journals the 2014 season. It does show what it takes to play in the NFL, but I sensed a real lack of gratitude that bugged me.
Fever Code by James Dashner; The origin of The Maze. A prequel to the Maze Runners series. This reminded me of old comics I read as a kid, where they gave the origin of the Superman Sigil, or the Batcave, and I just wanted to see someone punch out Brainiac or The Penguin. For the book club
Paws and Punishment by Jinty James; Maybe reading these a little too close together. In this one, an obnoxious lady is killed right outside the new beauty shop. Our sleuths sort of half assed investigate, but just like in the first two books, the murderer just sort of appears and confesses, and tries to kill the sleuths with a hair dryer. I was nonplussed. How does this untrained middle aged lady think she’s going to bludgeon two young, fairly fit women to death with a hair dryer without leaving any sort of trace?
Mr. Klutz is Nutz by Dan Gutman; The Principal of the Weird school is acting weirder than usual. The kids try to figure out why. For the other book club.
Glen, I enjoy seeing what you’re reading for the book clubs, and love to see you reading with the kids in your family.
I’m reading The Midnight Library for Saturday’s book club at my library.
I agree. For you, warm but not unbearable is a win.
Just about to start book 7 in Vanessa Gordon’s Greek set (Naxos) mystery series, which I found out about via the Greek Book Corner on Facebook. Thoroughly enjoyed the first 6 books; lovely portrayal of the daily rhythms of Greek island life and lots of history and archaeological themes.
Interesting, Beth! I never heard of Vanessa Gordon’s series. Isn’t it amazing what you can find on Facebook, something for every niche interest? I had no idea there was a Greek Book Corner, but, until you need it or want it, I guess you wouldn’t know.
Hello, Lesa and all fellow readers. Peter and I got back from our 10-day trip to northern Spain and, on the way home, to Arles, a city in southern France that we find welcoming and interesting. Now I’m very behind on writing about my reading — and I read a lot on vacation — so I’ll keep things short but hopefully still useful.
During our many hours of driving, Peter and I listened to two sci-fi books (he prefers them to mysteries, and I usually like his choices). We heard the latest Scalzi in the “Old Man’s War” series, and THE MEMORY COLLECTORS, by Dete Meserve. Scalzi’s THE SHATTERING PEACE was the seventh in a series that Peter and I enjoyed very much during the first three or four books. This seventh worked better for Peter than for me; I found it cluttered, for lack of a better word–too much going on too fast with not-quite-satisfactory resolutions and connections. Plus Scalzi should avoid writing what reads as romantic banter between couples; it came across as stilted, silly, and unrealistic. I’m still a Scalzi fan overall, however.
The Memory Collectors is about people traveling back in time to past tragedies they hope to figure out a way to avoid. Good ideas and some clever resolutions, but a book very much in need of editing to remove LOTS of repetitions and clichés. When you are listening in a car with nothing else to do, you hear so many mistakes. Even my husband kept groaning.
On the way home, we started a new Dervla McTiernan book set in Ireland with her detective Cormac Reilly. THE UNQUIET GRAVE is excellent so far. Cormac is a strong, appealing main character, and there are a number of other interesting people, some likable and some evil, and several simultaneous plot streams that look like they’ll come together in an interesting way. It starts with a body found in a bog that is not ancient but the corpse of a school principal missing for several years.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve discovered a mystery series that combines the Regency atmosphere I love with crime-solving. The amateur detective is the youngest brother of a duke who has had a very bad time fighting Napoleon under Wellington. Solving puzzling problems, like missing wives or an apparent theft from a house party, is a kind of therapy for him as he deals with what we’d now call his PTSD (as well as several physical limitations). The series, the Lord Julian mysteries, is by Grace Burrowes, and I’ve now read five of them. They are cozy in that there is humor and no blood, but they deal with serious personal and social problems.
Speaking of humor, I also read a romance by Emily Henry that made me laugh, called PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION. Enjoyable, but not as much fun as some of her others. I also read a mystery full of conversation and authorial asides that made me laugh out loud: A MAN WITH ONE OF THOSE FACES, by Caimh McDonnell, set in Ireland. However, the humor didn’t make up for the fact that it turned out to be about a terrifyingly violent psychopath. So, not for me.
Finally, I read THE BEDLAM STACKS, my fourth book by Natasha Pulley. All her books are odd and address complicated moral questions; so far, they all feature some form of magic, often in combination with religion or presented as future technology. This one involves a mid-nineteenth-century man in his early 30s who goes on an expedition high in the Peruvian Andes to steal cuttings from trees used to produce quinine, so the English can grow the trees themselves and treat malaria in India and other parts of their empire. He encounters a Catholic priest who is willing to help him; the man is also holy in the former Incan religion. I didn’t like this book of hers anywhere near as much as I enjoyed the one about human immigrants to Mars (THE MARS HOUSE) or about a Greek soldier getting to know the God Dionysus as a friend (THE HYMN TO DIONYSUS). However, I still found it thought-provoking and worth reading.
As I write, it’s finally raining here steadily. It has been weeks since we had rain for more than half an hour. We are so grateful.
Kim, A vacation in which you read? I just don’t understand! On the other hand, when I do go away, it’s never for a relaxing vacation.
I have to ask my sister, Linda, if she’s read those books by Grace Burrowes. I know I’ve seen books by that author laying around in her house.
I’d have to go back and check, but I’ve never found one of Emily Henry’s books that I liked as much as Beach Read.
Yay for rain when you need it! It sounds wonderful then, doesn’t it?
My sister, Christie, said she’s read all the Lord Julian books, although she actually prefers the Lady Violet ones by Burrowes.
Someone else recommended the Lady Violet mysteries to me when I mentioned what I was reading. I’ll definitely try them! Thanks to your sister for letting me know.
I know it sounds strange, Lesa, but at home, I work on my writing, cook meals, and spend more time socializing. So vacation is the only time that I read novels steadily. Peter loves to read, too, so we take breaks every couple of hours during our travels to read for an hour, and we read all evening after dinner, too, until bedtime. So I always read more when I’m traveling.
Actually, that makes sense, Kim. And, I like your routine of taking a break to read. Sounds as if Peter is your perfect travel companion. I don’t read on vacation but at home because I’m lazy at home, and don’t have anyone else to cook for.
But, your comments make sense.
Serendipity moment Kim when mentioned Scalzi in the “Old Man’s War” series. The author Dana Stabenow had a recent blog post (This writing life) that included a quote from a postscript Scalzi wrote prior to selling the original Old Man’s War Lessons regarding Heinlein’s theory of characters.
I’m going to investigate Grace Burrowes books – they sound great!
I’m going to look for the first in the Lord Julian series Kim. The series sounds like one I’d like a lot.
We had tornadoes back in Alabama where I lived for my first 22 years. The only one I remember hitting in Birmingham hit the state fairgrounds which was only a couple of miles from my home. When I visited my family back in 2014 or thereabouts there was tornado warning, and we would have gone down to the basement area if necessary, but I don’t know how we would have gotten my mother down there. And my return flight home was threatened by the tornadoes. They still have them of course, but at least I know my sister has her basement to escape to.
We are getting more hot weather. It keeps us inside a lot, and we have to do any gardening early in the day. Most places are much hotter than Santa Barbara but it is still too hot for us here, and we have no air conditioning. We did go out this morning and do a small amount of weeding and cleaning up.
If I had a list of favorite books by Christie (and I don’t), FIVE LITTLE PIGS would be on it. I have read all but one of the Hercule Poirot books, almost all of the Miss Marple books, but I still have a lot of the standalone books to read.
Glen is reading THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER by Tom Clancy. He has read about 2/3 of the book and is still enjoying it. We both want to rewatch the film soon.
My reading has been much slower lately. Don’t know why, but I am still enjoying the books I am reading. But I have only read two books so far in August, which is very low number for me.
I am now reading THE CYCLIST by Tim Sullivan. About halfway through, and I am enjoying this one just as much as the first book in the series, THE DENTIST. Lesa has reviewed this book here, as has Kevin Tipple. The main character is DS George Cross, who has Asperger’s Syndrome. This adds dimensions to the story that most police procedurals don’t have.
You’re right, Tracy. There are dimensions to the DS George Cross books that are missing in so many police procedurals. They seem more grounded in reality even if George’s success solving cases in a little unrealistic. But, I like them.
Sometimes, it’s just not the right time to read. Perhaps it’s the weather since you can’t get out and do what you’d like to in the garden. Or, who knows? Perhaps it’s just not the right mood.
I’m happy to hear you liked Five Little Pigs, too!
I love Grace Burrowes Lord Julian mysteries. Sort of binging on them now. I have not tried any of her many other books.
Sometimes, Diane, a binge is just called for.
Well I’m late to the blog once again! Non-stop company since last week Thursday – lots of fun but exhausting. Perfect weather this week. I can smell Fall coming!
This week I listened to the audiobook All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. My review is a bit rambling but here it is anyway!
If you like epic stories aka the Odyssey then this book is for you. It begins when Patch, who is a one eyed 13 year old, rescues a girl from being abducted. Instead he is kidnapped and thrown into a dark basement where a young girl is also being held. She tells him stories of places that she has been in order to pass the time. Patch’s best friend, Saint, manages to find Patch when the local police had given up. The abductor and the girl get away. The rest of the story focuses on 20 years of Patch roaming the USA looking for his friend. Saint continues to be his rescuer. Patch has many encounters with people – both in and out of prison. The abductor kills many girls along the way. Patch paints their pictures trying to bring their plight to the public’s attention. Saint becomes a cop and finds many of their remains. The abductor is eventually brought to justice. Overly long in length.
I’ve wondered about that, Mary, when we all show up at Mom’s house for a few days. Is she ready to see us leave when it’s all over, even though she’s enjoyed having us there? I’m sure it’s exhausting for her.
I’m not sure All the Colors of the Dark is for me, but I like the sound of Saint.
Glad you made it through the storm okay and had another great trip. It’s right around 100 here again and should stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Today, I’ve started PROBABLE CAWS, the newest from Donna Andrews. It’s been a bit slow to get going, but based on her usual pattern, I’m sure the body will be dropping soon and things will pick up.
I’m also working on the audio of THE DARK HOURS by Michael Connelly. It starts on New Years 2021, and the book is darker than I would normally read. It’s a story that teams Ballard with Bosch, but so far Bosch has had a very supporting role with only a couple of scenes. I’m curious to see if that is all his role is here. So far, I’m enjoying it, although I think I solved one of the two storylines in the first few chapters. We’ll see if I’m right.
Unlike Glen, I know you’ll be satisfied with that 100 degrees, Mark.
It’s always fun to challenge ourselves, and see if we guess right with the storylines, isn’t it? And, we so often do, after reading so many mysteries.