Thursday! My favorite day of the week. Let’s talk about what we’re reading or what we read in the last week.
I’m reading Hill Women by Cassie Chambers. It’s a beautifully written book about the women of Appalachia, told with love and pride by the granddaughter, daughter, and niece of some of those strong women who have learned to survive in one of the poorest counties in rural Kentucky. And, the author? She’s the daughter of the first one in her family to go to college. She herself grew up in eastern Kentucky, graduated from Yale College, the Yale School of Public Health, the London School of Economics and Harvard Law School, where she was president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, a student-run law firm that represents low-income clients. Then she received a Skadden Fellowship to return to Kentucky and do legal work with domestic violence survivors in rural communities. As I said, what makes it good is the love and pride she has for the women in her family, and the women of this region.
What are you reading this week? It’s time to talk about those books!
Yale and Harvard and the LSE are very impressive.
Jackie is reading the first Sarah MacLean book. She just finished the latest J. R. Ward book about the Black Dagger Brotherhood, one of her favorite series.
I read the very interesting Growing Up at Grossinger's by Tania Grossinger. She was obviously very bright, as she started college at 15. (An aside, I didn't know that Brandeis University just opened in 1948.) On the one hand, she felt like the poor relation at the feast, but on the other she was clearly part of the hotel's "family" of people who lived and worked there. Her friendship with people like Jackie Robinson and Eddie Fisher (and her insight into the latter's misgivings from the beginning about marriage to Debbie Reynolds), among others, make for an interesting read.
The Great Merlini: The Complete Stories of the Magician Detective by Clayton Rawson, is a fun read, especially if you like locked room mysteries and other "impossible" crimes, like a man who disappears from a phone booth (remember them?) under constant observation, whose dead body turns up miles away.
I know you were not a fan of Charlaine Harris's Gunnie Rose book, An Easy Death, but I did enjoy it despite the excessive number of killings. The magic is there but generally no match for a fast gun, which Lizbeth, the "gunnie" and heroine, certainly has. I will be reading the next in the series as soon as it is available.
Not sure what I will read next, possibly the newest Andrea Camilleri or Jeffrey Siger book. And I have another Martin Edwards British Library anthology ready to start next.
Your book sounds interesting Lesa.
This week I finished IN A SUNBURNED COUNTRY by Bill Bryson. I really enjoyed it. My husband and I spent much time looking up the places he mentioned in the book. We also found the video with the video with the hologram about the Japanese POW breakout in WWII in Cowra. Something neither one of us knew anything about.
Now I am reading THE BOOK OF Candlelight by Ellery Adams. This my favorite of her mystery series.
Happy Reading and if you live in my part of the country-Stay Warm!
I probably didn't give the Charlaine Harris book enough of a chance, Jeff. It just reminded me to much of the other series, which I'd already read. But, Growing Up at Grossinger's sounds fascinating. And, I'll be eager to hear what Jackie thinks next week. My sister and I both admit some of the books are better than others, and I skimmed two of the books so didn't count them or review them.
I really like that Ellery Adams series, too, Sharon. I'm just behind in reading it. I always feel behind.
I finished BURIED TO THE BRIM by Jenn McKinlay. It’s the latest in her hat shop mystery series. The dog show in the book felt very timely since the Westminster dog show was just on TV this past weekend.
A VAMPYR’S DAUGHTER by Jeff Schanz. It’s a vampire romance with an unusual take on vampires. And definitely more violence than most of this genre.
A FIELD GUID TO MURDER by Lynn Cahoon. I enjoy these while I’m reading them but I never find them very memorable.
MURDER GLAZED DONUTS by Rosie A Point. She’s moved her food truck mysteries to a new town but the stories are starting to feel repetitive.
WINTER TAKES ALL by ML Erdahl. A cozy mystery set around a snowshoe trip in the back country above Seattle. I’d read the sequel if the author writes one
I’m currently reading LOST HILLS by Lee Goldberg. It’s been a while since I’ve read a police procedural and I’m enjoying it.
I looked for the Westminster Dog Show, Sandy, and couldn't find it. I don't think my cable company carried it. Darn! Despite being a cat owner, I love dog shows. I thought Jenn's book was fun.
Big fan of police procedurals. You'll have to give us your final opinion of Lost Hills next week.
Sandy, that Lee Goldberg is on my list. I loved his Monk books and the series he wrote with Janet Evanovich was fun.
I have Hill Women on hold at the library. I'm working my way through ARCs from ALA Midwinter. Nearly finished with After Me Comes the Flood by Sally Berry. Well-written but somewhat surreal.
Talk about a high-concept "meet cute"! In FIELD NOTES ON LOVE by Jennifer E. Smith, two 18-year-olds who are strangers come together on a train ride from New York to California in this absorbing YA story. Get this–Hugo is a biracial British sextuplet (!) whose girlfriend has just broken up with him, giving him both tickets to the aforementioned train trip. The only catch–they are in her name and nontransferable, so Hugo has to find another traveling companion named Margaret Campbell. After eliminating an 84-year-old who has to bow out for bunion surgery, he lands on Mae (a nickname) Campbell, the American only child of two fathers. Hugo loves his family but wants to find his own identity before entering university, and Mae is an aspiring filmmaker who has been accepted to USC but not to its film department. Both have told their family some untruths regarding the trip. What happens is satisfying, and the two protagonists are well drawn and come across as genuine rather than stereotypical or over the top.
Sharon and Lesa, I agree that Ellery Adams is one of the most consistently reliable authors of superior cozies–I always enjoy the entries in her two current series. THE BOOK OF CANDLELIGHT, the third in her Secret, Book, and Scone Society series, gives us more insight into Miracle Books owner Nora and the other three members of the Society, friends sharing troubling secrets from their past while supporting each other and working to make their business enterprises successful. When a Cherokee pottery artist is found drowned right after Nora has purchased a bowl from him, it's a difficult case for the police to handle. Even Danny's pregnant wife doesn't know who would want him dead. A recurring image of a red bird is an important clue, and three of the Society members suffer attacks of vandalism and hatred. Loved it.
I thought WHEN WE WERE VIKINGS by Andrew David MacDonald would be a story of siblings struggling to overcome problems, with an uplifting ending. But I was disappointed. Zelda is 21 years old, developmentally disabled due to fetal alcohol syndrome, but high-functioning. Her older brother is bright but undisciplined and prone to falling into shady ways of supporting the two of them, which sometimes end in violence. Their parents are out of the picture. Zelda is obsessed with Vikings and her personal quest to become one, her lower-functioning boyfriend, and her brother's ex, who is nicknamed AK47. I don't mind the weirdness, but it just didn't deliver for me.
Update: Jackie just discovered she got the wrong book, the Bareknuckle Bastards book rather than the one she wanted, so I had to go back and reserve the other one.
I’m working on DEATH WITH A DARK RED ROSE, the new Writer’s Apprentice Mystery from Julia Buckley. I’m enjoying it. This series is a bit different but a lot of fun.
The Cassie Chambers book sounds like a book I need to read.
I too enjoyed the new Ellery Adams book; a great deal.
What else I've been reading:
ide Trip by Kerry Lonsdale (ARC) (Man oh Man, I loved this book!)
The Last of the Moon Girls by Barbara Davis (ARC) (Loved this one too – full of magic).
Golden in Death by J. D. Robb (J.D. Robb's In Death series could be used as a master class in writing character development, truly).
Blood and Brume by Maki Morris (Excellent debut by a friend).
A Private Cathedral by James Lee Burke (ARC) (Wow. just. wow. The man is a poet. JLB is one of the few, the very, very few, who can go to the edge and push, and then push again, and successfully take us beyond the limits of believability. In less talented hands this storyline would most likely end as nothing more than a ridiculous attempt. In Mr. Burke's, it's a poetic masterpiece. From Fantastic Fiction: "A Private Cathedral, James Lee Burke's fortieth book, is his most powerful tale, one that will captivate readers – mixing crime, romance, mythology, horror, and science fiction to produce a thrilling story about the all-consuming, all-conquering power of love.")
xxoo
I am also still reading LOST HILLS. Got derailed from my reading the ast few days.
I think you'll both find Hill Women interesting, Nann & Kaye.
Margie, Actually, I appreciate it when you reject a book and tell us why. Now, I can take When We Were Vikings off my pile at home, and bring it in for the cart at the library – we have a cart in our staff lounge where I often leave ARCs.
Oh, well, Jeff. I'm sure Jackie has plenty to read.
It's been a long time since I've read one of James Lee Burke's books, Kaye. But, there are always rave reviews, and beautiful comments like yours.
And, I wonder if I could binge read all 50 books in J.D. Robb's series.
I know some people really don't like to binge on a series. For me, it's the best. But then, I also love big books. The binge feels like I'm reading one great ol' big book and sinking completely into the story, the atmosphere and the characters. And, as I said about J.D. Robb, it allows me to really see and appreciate character development. Not many, IMO, done as well as the character Eve in the In Death series. Now that's not to say I didn't read some other books along the way.
I just started Golden in Death and love this series. It does not seem like 50 books already! It's like watching your family grow…
Lesa, I hope I'm not turning you off of books you would have enjoyed. I know everyone has different sensibilities. But I also know you have more books than you could possibly read, so maybe this is one way to help you out! I know you have done the same for me.
I don't often binge, Kaye, and it's hard to find time. But, it's worth it.
You're so right, Margie. And, that one was teetering on the pile. I wasn't sure if it was me or not. You're a big help! If I had loved the thought of this book, I wouldn't have given up so easily.
I read:
An Obvious Fact by Craig Johnson; A Longmire novel set during a biker weekend, where the principles are way too self congratulatory.
The Crossing by Christopher Keane; A high stakes poker game aboard a Liberty ship leads to mass murder.
The Hatchet Men; A history about the Chinese gangs in 19 century San Francisco Chinatown.
The Five Finger by Gayle Rivers; War novel about an assassination team during the Vietnam War.
The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough; Everything is breaking down on a postapocalypse earth.
Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane; A fantasy romance with almost no verisimilitude.
Glen, You read one of the greatest variety of books I've ever seen. Quite an eclectic choice of books.
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