Welcome back, everyone! I missed all of you. I missed catching up with your lives and your reading. I hope everyone finds the blog, and finds it easy to use.
Even though it’s Wednesday, we’re going to do “What Are You Reading?” If you don’t get around to it until tomorrow, that’s okay. I’m sure we’re all grateful for books this Thanksgiving. I hope you all have a safe Thanksgiving.
Before we start talking books, though, feel free to let us know how you’re all doing. We have time to catch up.
I’m reading Ree Drummond’s new book. She’s “The Pioneer Woman”. I’ve been watching her TV show for years, although I don’t think I’ve ever used one of her recipes. I really watch it for the descriptions of ranch life and her family. That means Frontier Follies: Adventures in Marriage & Motherhood in the Middle of Nowhere is just what I was expecting. It’s fun and funny anecdotes about her life in Oklahoma.
What about you? What are you reading this week? Or, what did we miss last week when we didn’t talk books?
It’s good to be back!
Good morning. It was a slow reading week for me so I only made it through two books. There were also a couple of library books that I started but couldn’t get into.
MAGICAL MIDLIFE DATING by K.F. Breene. A woman is given magic powers that turn her into a gargoyle. She has to learn to use them before she becomes a tool for someone else.
An ARC of COURTING CAN BE KILLER by Amanda Flower. This is the second in her Amish matchmaker series. I like how she brings in characters from her sweet shop series.
I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving
Good morning, Sandy! I have to say Magical Midlife Dating sounds odd. Yes, Amanda does a good job with her series, and incorporating characters. I like some of her books as well. Happy Thanksgiving!
Lesa, I love the look of your new site! I ended up subscribing via email because Feedly isn’t very timely in posting your content. I am so happy you are back. I enjoy your reviews and talking about books once a week.
I read more than usual last week because everything came in at once at my library and books were due. Even though our returned books are quarantined for 96 hours and fines aren’t assessed, I still don’t like overdue books 🙂 We are back to no hold pickups as of last Saturday thanks to the rising numbers in Ohio.
The first book I read was A DEATH LONG OVERDUE by Eva Gates. I nearly gave up on this one. Way to much Louise Jane at the very beginning to my liking. And then I kept scratching my head at how clueless Lucy was about her relationship with Connor but I ended up enjoying how the mystery was solved.
Next I read THE COOKBOOK CLUB by Beth Harbison. This was a disappointment. From the title and jacket blurb you would expect this to be about a group of women who met through a cookbook club and became friends. Technically that was true, The three main characters did meet through the cookbook club but then their characters never actually interacted with each other until page 200 or so again. The chapters alternated between the three women and none of the stories seemed fleshed out enough plus there was a lot of brand name dropping over kitchenware.
THE GIFT OF THE MAGPIE by Donna Andrews was the last of my 3 books due I really like the Christmas Meg Lagslow books. This one not so much. I didn’t like the hoarding storyline and I wanted all the suspects to be guilty because they were so unlikeable. The community gathering together in a heartwarming Christmas-y way to thwart the killer was missing as well as the trademark humor from this one to me.
Luckily Lyssa Kay Adams saved the day with UNDERCOVER BROMANCE. Not as good as her first book but so much better than book 2. I raced through the story of Noah and Alexis going from friends to lovers. Despite the serious themes of organ donation with a touch of Daddy issues, I loved this.
Now I am reading THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley. It is different. A murder occurs at a wedding on a remote Irish island but the reader has no idea who the victim is. My daughter described it as a twist on Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. So far I am enjoying it but I have reached the point of let’s move this along.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. My table will be a little smaller and my house definitely a lot quieter as my family made the difficult decision to stay in our own homes this year per CDC recommendations. But I have much to be grateful for and hopefully by Easter we will be celebrating together again.
Happy Reading!
Sharon, I’m glad the new blog offers alternate ways to get here. I hope the email one works for you! I have posts scheduled for every day until Dec. 1 right now, only because Dec. 1 is Treasures in My Closet. So, you should be getting those emails.
Our libraries went back to curbside on Monday. That means people can still place holds and pick them up. They just can’t come in the library and browse. (sniff – I feel bad for addicts like me. At least I can still come in the library.)
I agree with you. I thought Lucy was clueless in A Death Long Overdue, and it drove me nuts. I appreciate your comments about The Cookbook Club, though. I’ll bring that one back to the library, unread. I don’t have time for books that don’t get to the point for 200 pages.
Happy Thanksgiving! I’m home alone this year, but that’s okay. I’ve done that before. I get all the leftovers! And, I get to watch the dog show, watch my Celtic Thunder live. I have no problems with holidays by myself. Like you, I have much to be grateful for, and I know and appreciate it. Take care of yourself, and stay safe, Sharon.
I just started reading The Orphan Collector, not realizing in advance that it’s set during the 1918 flu pandemic. I’ll continue thought because the characters grabbed me already. Found the new site easily (and happily). I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We’re good here in Northern Colorado, although in a red zone as of yesterday. Thank providence for curbside pickup at the grocery stores.
Oh, good, Patricia! I’m glad you were able to get here easily. I’m also happy that the characters in The Orphan Collector grabbed you. I read for character first, so I understand. I’m afraid the entire country might be in red zones after Thanksgiving. Take care of yourself. Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. At least we do have something to be extra thankful for in this otherwise awful year.
I read: I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf, a fun book of cartoons and other drawings by Grant Snider, whose work is familiar to those who read the NY Times Book Review on Sundays.
The Relentless Moon was the third in Mary Robinette Kowal’s “Lady Astronaut” series, though the original Lady Astronaut (Elma York) only makes a cameo appearance at the end of a long book. The narrator and focus this time is her fellow original “Lady Astronaut” Nicole Wargin, wife of the Governor of Kansas and a woman with issues of her own. Fans of the earlier books in the series will want to read this but it is long (538 pages) and, to me at least, not nearly as interesting or good as the original. In fact, I highly recommend you go to Tor.com and read the original novella (“The Last Astronaut of Mars”) for free.
A friend recommended Daniel Woodrell’s powerful story “Uncle” so I read his collection, The Outlaw Album. Few of the other stories reached that level, but it was an evocative picture of Ozark life.
Hot Cash, Cold Clews is a new collection of Lester Leith stories by Erle Stanley Gardner, originally published in pulp magazines in the Depression, before the creation of Perry Mason. Leith is a rich playboy, who is a Robin Hood type, taking money from others and giving it to the poor, taking a commission along the way. All this is under the eyes of the police, who are out to get him. I read these chronologically as published, and I must admit the first two or three stories annoyed me without providing much entertainment. But it picked up after that and I did enjoy the rest of the book quite a bit.
I am also reading the F. Scott Fitzgerald stories (on the final stretch, the Pat Hobby stories), as well as Joan Didion’s Political Fictions, essays she wrote for the New York Review of Books about the Reagan, Bush and Clinton eras. (It was published in 2001. I found it in the basement laundry room.)
Many other library books waiting to be read, Fortunately, with the current situation, there are no due dates so we can keep the books longer than we usually can.
Jeff, I have one for you to watch for! Of course, I’ll be reviewing it which will remind you. Linda Castillo has a collection of Kate Burkholder stories coming out in February, A Simple Murder. I hope you and Jackie enjoy a quiet, safe holiday. Happy Thanksgiving to both of you!
Oh, I love Grant Snider! I’ll have to look for this. Thanks, Jeff.
Hello, everyone! I know my posts are usually (too?) long and this one will be longer, since it’s been two weeks since we last talked about what we’re reading. But here goes . . .
I’ve read all of Fannie Flagg’s novels and really enjoy her folksy writing style and heartwarming stories. THE WONDER BOY OF WHISTLE STOP is a sequel to Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, 33 years after publication. It’s the story of Buddy, son of Ruth and her “best friend,” Idgie, who together ran the cafe that was the town’s gathering place. Buddy lost an arm in a childhood accident but went on to become a happily married veterinarian. Now a widower in his mid-80s living in a retirement community, he pines for Whistle Stop, Alabama, but the town died when its importance as a train stop disappeared. Many other Whistle Stop characters are also featured, and it is wonderful to read their stories. Flagg is a master storyteller who infuses her books with humor, wisdom, and down-home flavor.
In IN A HOLIDAZE by Christina Lauren, Maelyn loves gathering each Christmas week with her parents and their friends’ families at a house in wintry Park City, Utah. But this year is different. Twice she finds herself reliving part of the week after sudden accidents occur, while remembering everything that’s already happened (Groundhog Day, anyone?). It’s not bad enough that the house’s owners are thinking of selling it, ending the beloved annual tradition, but Mae is also having problems with two brothers she has known since childhood–one who fancies her and the other that she has fancied for years. She is also disillusioned about her current job and trying to decide what she wants to be when she grows up (she’s 26). I enjoyed it much more than Lauren’s most recent book, and it’s a quick read.
Anthony Horowitz does it again with MOONFLOWER MURDERS, a clever follow-on to Magpie Murders that features former editor/publisher Susan Ryeland. Although her star author, Alan Conway, has passed away, the third book in his private detective Atticus Pund series figures prominently in this story–in fact, the complete Pund book is inserted into the middle of the 550+ pages for all to read. A married couple who own a hotel in Sussex contact Susan at her home in Crete to beg her to get involved in the disappearance of their daughter, Cecily. Eight years ago a hotel guest was murdered on the day of Cecily’s wedding, and a hotel employee was convicted of the crime. Cecily was convinced he wasn’t the killer, and she recently told others she had found an important clue in the book Conway had written following the event. Her parents believe her disappearance is related to that discovery. I defy readers to solve the mystery based on their reading of the book-within-a-book, but it’s a lot of fun nevertheless. I saw the author interviewed at Bouchercon this year, and he has so much energy, ingenuity, and sheer delight in writing his books. It definitely translates to an engrossing, satisfying read.
I enjoyed the first few Shopaholic books, then tired of the protagonist’s annoying traits. I enjoyed some of Sophie Kinsella’s standalones, most notably My Not So Perfect Life. I had high hopes for LOVE YOUR LIFE and it kept me reading until the end, but I almost gave up on both protagonists for being annoying and clueless. Ava and Matt have an idyllic week together after they “meet cute” at a writers’ retreat in Italy (he joined after his martial arts retreat was canceled). They continue their relationship back in London, but both have a difficult time accepting each other’s quirks and the direction their lives have taken. I wanted to slap both of them so many times! I have to admit the ending was satisfying and worth finishing the book. And Kinsella writes annoying characters masterfully. But I’m not really in the mood for annoying these days.
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND is the fourth (there are 9) and latest entry in the excellent Jonathan Stride series by Brian Freeman. When Duluth police lieutenant Stride’s dying friend tells him not to worry–that he buried the dead body of an investigative reporter 7 years ago in his back yard–he realizes that his friend thinks he killed the journalist, and he hasn’t been exactly up front with what happened back then, even to his partner and his wife. When Stride has the body dug up, it reopens a case that began with a rape 30 years ago and involves his ex-wife, an up-and-coming politician, and others in Duluth. At the same time, Stride’s adopted 18-year-old daughter is being stalked and needs police protection while Stride is on administrative leave. A fast-moving, engrossing story.
Who can resist a year-round Christmas town like Rudolph, NY, and especially at Christmastime? In Vicki Delany’s DYING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND, Merry is busy with her Christmas décor and gift shop and her budding romance with Alan. But when her friend (not!) Luanne’s fiance ends up dead after Luanne has been having second thoughts about the wedding–she’s been pining for her ex-boyfriend Chris, Merry’s brother–Merry is worried that Chris will be arrested as the number-one suspect. Of course that means Merry involves herself in the investigation. I found it a pleasant, quick read, although I thought the unveiling of the killer was abrupt and ill-prepared.
SHE COME BY IT NATURALLY is a short but in-depth analysis by Sarah Smarsh of how Dolly Parton is “a voice for poor, working-class, and undervalued women.” It covers her life with her impoverished family, her move to Nashville and her early career, her years with Porter Wagoner, and her venture out on her own as a solo act. Also covered are Dollywood, 9 to 5, and her quiet but very impressive philanthropic activities. Smarsh also relates Dolly’s experience to her own early life in rural Kansas and the life of her grandmother. Definitely worth savoring!
Margie, It’s good to be back, and have you back with your list of books read. Donna is a big fan of Fannie Flagg’s books. She’s also a fan of the new blog format because she said now she can reply directly to you since you both read similar books.
I tired of In a Holidaze, probably too early. I tired of the format, which is funny because I saw “Groundhog Day” twice on Broadway.
You have a great list, a lot of books I had heard of or seen, but hadn’t read. Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving, my friend. Hugs!
Welcome to your new home!
I’m stressed to the max. Fiscal year end starts today. (We have a 11/30 fiscal year end), so the next week and a half will be stressful. I should probably work over the next few days. Debating at the moment if I am going to or not.
I’m working on CHRISTMAS CUPCAKE MURDER by Joanne Fluke which is okay for a book to skim through quickly. Instead of a murder, we have a person who doesn’t remember who they are, which is fine (I enjoy breaks from murder) except for the title.
Thank you for the welcome, Mark!
Oh, Mark. I hope you get some sort of break after Nov. 30. Probably not. You’re probably starting up new accounts, etc. for the new fiscal year. Take care of yourself.
You’re right. That title doesn’t go with the book if it’s only a person with no memory of his identity. (I say his because I have read the blurb.)
Again, take care.
Hey, Lesa! I’m still not back to normal with my reading, but I have a few to share. I seem to be fitting more cozies in, as they fill the need for comfort these days.
I just finished #8, Fair Game, in the Zoe Chambers mystery series by Annette Dashofy. This series has been so good for me during the pandemic. I say it has kept me from going crazy, and that’s not too far off the mark. I have two more to go in the series to catch up. Annette has just received two publishing offers to continue the series since parting with the original publisher, and so we can expect Zoe Chambers to continue. Great news!
While I’m in the kitchen cooking, I’m listening to Jenn McKinlay’s first Hat Shop Mystery, Cloche and Dagger. Set in London, I’m enjoying taking a trip without leaving my home and looking forward to when we all can actually travel again. I’ve been meaning to read something by Jenn for ages, so I’m glad I finally am. I have her stand-alone, Paris is Always a Good Idea, which I hope to read in the near future. I also have several of her Library Lover’s mysteries set in my TBR stack.
I am currently reading Ruth Ware’s One by One, and I am loving it. Ruth Ware is kind of hit and miss for me, mostly hit, so I’m glad I decided to read this latest one.
Up next is probably an early read of Sara Driscoll’s (Jen Danna and Ann Vanderlaan) next F.B.I. K-9 mystery, Leave No Trace, which is due out Dec. 29th. This is the 5th in the series, and it is one of my favorite series. Jen and Ann combine their talents to produce fantastic stories, showing the bond and trust between the F.B.I. handlers and their dogs.
Kathy, I’ve at least sampled most of Jenn’s series. I love the Hat Shop Mysteries with that London setting. REALLY loved Paris is Always a Good Idea! Jenn brings a freshness to each series and all her books. I like her humor and her characters. I’m glad Annette’s Zoe Chambers has kept you from going mad. Actually, if I didn’t like live music and travel so much, pandemic living sort of suits me. I don’t mind tucking in with the cats. I miss the concerts and travel, though.
Hope to catch you on Zoom tomorrow afternoon, if we’re on at the same time! Sending hugs!
I’m doing okay. Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving.
I read:
Steamed Open by Barbara Ross; A jerk gets murdered with a clam rake in a Maine resort town. Everyone involved has secrets, and most of them are pretty lame.
Murder with Cinnamon Scones by Karen Rose Smith; Out in Amish country, somebody kills an art gallery owner. I’ve never understood the interest in the Amish.
Christmas Sweets; Traditional holiday sampler with Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meyer. Fluke’s story was written in 2006, and is better than most of her more current stuff, despite being fluff. Levine’s story is by far the best.
According to Harold; a banker/bootlegger is shot in 1932, and spends the next 70 years trying to find out who killed him.
I have questions! Is Harold dead, and he’s a ghost trying to find out who killed him? Or, did the murder fail & he tried to find out who attempted to kill him? You left us hanging there, Glen. Just me and the cats for Thanksgiving. I give thanks they didn’t bring the mouse to bed that one of them killed overnight. I found it at 4:30 this morning and threw it out. So, there’s what I’m thankful for!
Yes, Harold is shot in the head with a shotgun. He refuses to go toward the light, until he finds out who killed him.
Thank you, Glen.
I stumbled into a new to me series by Lise McClendon. The Bennett Sisters books are delightful. Not too soft, not too hard – just right. And a lot of the stories take place in France. I am totally smitten.
I love that description, Kaye – “Not too soft, not too hard – just right.” I need to find that first book on my Kindle.
Book #1 is free right now on Kindle (you don’t have to be in Kindle Unlimited) so I snagged it. Thanks for the recommendation!
I just finished “Confessions on the 7:45” by Lisa Unger and I really, really liked it. Fast read and keeps you hooked right from the beginning. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Donna, I love books that hook you immediately. Thank you, and Happy Thanksgiving!
I am reading The Jacob Street Mystery by R. Austin Freeman published in 1942 for my Friday’s Forgotten Book column this week. It’s a Dr. Thorndyke mystery but I’m halfway through and so far Dr. Thorndyke has not made an appearance. His assistant has popped up several times but not Dr. Thorndyke. Interesting leisurely structure, two murders apparently unrelated several months apart, the story is mostly about a painter who is peripherally connected to both. I hope to finish it tonight.
I have started Ain’t Nobody Nobody by Heather Harper Ellett and am on the fence about continuing. It is highly regarded by Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly but it hasn’t caught my attention yet.
Aubrey, I just went to look at Ain’t Nobody Nobody because I wasn’t sure what it was about. When it said, “Cross between Faulkner…”, it lost me. That’s kind of odd about the Dr. Thorndyke mystery as well, that he hasn’t appeared yet.
Also compared to Carl Hiassen which I can see already but have to be in the right frame of mind to read. It may go back to the library.
It sounds odd to me. It appears that I bought 3 copies for the libraries – one too many. Too have checked out a lot. The third has not.
Hi Lesa
I really love the new site, the layout is wonderful, so clean and crisp.
I have just finished Stella Gibbons’ Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm. I read her very well known Cold Comfort Farm novel many years ago, and I have to admit I never really understood why it was meant to be so funny. I only picked up the Christmas at CCF book because it incorporated both Christmas and a place name for the themed reading I have been doing this year – and also because I already had a copy on my shelves – but I then discovered it is in fact a collection of Gibbons’ short stories, all of which had appeared at some point in the past in publications like The Lady magazine.
The title story was just as mystifying to me as the original, but some of the other were much better, I enjoyed them. Many were about disappointed women – either unhappy wives, or deserted lovers – but the period detail, all the parties and Bright Young Things, was very interesting.
Now I have started a Dana Stabenow Kate Shugak book. I’ve read some in the past and I always enjoy reading about life in the National Park, never mind the murders. In this one – A Cold Blooded Business – Kate agrees to go undercover at an oil excavation base on Prudhoe Bay, which is the far north even by her standards. She is to investigate how narcotics are getting onto the site, especially as someone has now died from an overdose (or did he?)
I’ve also just finished listening to an audiobook – Proof by Dick Francis. Francis wrote lots and lots of novels, most being set in the horse racing world. I have never read any, as I didn’t want to find myself reading about injured or dead animals. A twitter friend recommended this one, however, and assured me it was ‘safe’! It is actually about contraband – stolen whisky and wine – although horses are involved too. I liked it – not least because Nigel Havers played the lead (this was recorded in 1987, but I bet he sounds exactly the same now.) I think I read that the old Queen Mother was a fan of Francis’s books – she was very involved in the racing world and owned several horses.
Our govenrment has announced a 5-day easing of the virus restrictions for Christmas. I and most people I know think this is utter madness. I think from what our First Minister has said she also thinks it’s nuts, but it is a plan worked out by all four administrations together – I suppose they feel they have to let up a bit to try to stop people just ignoring all precautions and having the world and his wife round . Unfortunately I think that people who were going to break the rules anyway will just break these ones now, and Christmas will turn into one big coronafest. I suppose in the end everyone takes the chances that they think are acceptable – I myself am extremely ‘risk averse’ at the best of times.
Thank you, Rosemary. I’m glad everyone seems to be happy with the new site. I think it’s going to be easy for everyone to use, too.
I agree with you. That Christmas idea sounds like madness, but the U.S. is already throwing caution to the wind over Thanksgiving, so we can’t talk. Well, actually I’m staying home and avoiding people over the holiday, but there are all kinds of people packing in with others. We’re going to see an explosion of cases, I fear.
I read some Dick Francis, but I read one that went extremely bad for the horses, and I quit. My sister read a lot more of them than I did. I always understood the Queen Mother was a big fan as well.
Thank you, again.
Yay! Welcome to your new platform! I’m reading “Nora,” about Nora Barnacle (James Joyce’s partner) by Nuala O’Connor. Not finished but kind of mixed on it so far (it’s a January book that I’m reading for review) I’m spoiled in that right before this I read “The Other Bennet Sister” by Janet Hadlow and Maggie O’Farrell’s WONDERFUL “Hamnet,” so keep that in mind!
Interesting selections, Clea. But, I can see why that latest one might not be up to the others.
And, thank you!
HI Lesa! I am a fairly new reader to your blog. I always enjoy your positive posts and love your new site!
I recently finished Murder, She Wrote: Brandy and Bullets by Donald Bain. I always enjoy this series. This episode finds Jessica at home in Cabot Cove where a new retreat for creative people has opened. Within the first week a guest has committed suicide and soon another guest attempts suicide. Since this seems unlikely, Jessica begins asking questions.
Currently, I am reading Under the Cajun Moon by Mindy Starns Clark. The story involves dual timelines and takes place in New Orleans. The main character wakes up in a hotel room not remembering how she got there and has no idea where she is. Soon the police arrive because someone complained about noise from her room and find a dead body there. She is arrested and is trying to remember what happened the night before. The dual storyline takes place in place in France in the year 1719 and involves a goldsmith. I am enjoying it!
Have a great weekend!
Welcome, Gretchen, to Lesa’s Book Critiques. And, thank you so much for your kind comments about the blog and the positive posts. I hope you join us regularly on Thursdays. I’m always curious as to what people are reading.
The Murder, She Wrote books are comfortable ones, aren’t they? I know I always feel as if I knew Jessica Fletcher, from the TV shows if nothing else. They’re comfort reads.
Books with dual storylines sometimes work, and sometimes don’t. I’m happy to hear Under the Cajun Moon works!
Happy Thanksgiving, Gretchen! I hope you have a great weekend as well.
Nice to have you back…
I’m about halfway through The Deadly Hours, an anthology of linked stories by Susanna Kearsley, C. S. Harris, Anna Lee Huber and Christine Trent. So far the linking conceit of the cursed pocket watch is deftly handled.
Thank you, and welcome back, Cyrantta! I have that book. After your comment that the conceit works well, I really need to get a chance to read it. Thank you!
I just received this email with four days worth of reviews. I hope you will be going back to one a day.
Gram, I really am only doing one review a day. I hope they start to come through properbly for you.
Yay! I got your e-mail. I was worried that I had lost you. Very happy to have re-connected. I am wading through Every Bone A Prayer by Ashley Blooms and Almost finished with Fictional Woman, audio book that was a best seller in Australian woman who was a high fashion who quit. I thought the book would be more like a memoir but instead she talks like Malcom Gladwell on issues that are important to her! I wrote your blog on my calendar for next week and I am hoping that I will not forget!!!
Yay! It sounds as if the email pushed out all at once, Carol. Others mentioned getting the email. I hope you don’t forget either. We’ll be back talking about books on our regular Thursday.
Fictional Woman sounds a little disappointing. I would have been more interested in her memoir.
Glad you found the blog!