Thursday! Thursday! You know, I’m really enjoying being back to work. But, darn. There are some really fun online things, including author events, going on at 5 PM EDT (which is 4 PM here). And, I don’t get home now in time to watch them. But, oh well.
What are you reading today or what have you read this week? We’re lucky. Most of us have found our way back to some sort of reading. I stumbled over a set of poetry books by Amanda Lovelace. I don’t often read poetry. But, I like the concept of her books. And, the first in the trilogy caught my attention. I always said “Beauty and the Beast” was my favorite Disney movie because Belle saved herself. The first book in Amanda Lovelace’s series is called, the princess saves herself in this one. If I like this one, the others are the witch doesn’t burn in this one, and then the mermaid’s voice returns in this one. Lovelace’s new book is break your glass slippers (you are your own fairy tale). So, I’m reading poetry right now.
How about you? What are you reading? (And, are you okay?)
Yes, OK, and yes, reading. It must be weird getting back to work.
I rad Flight or Fright, subtitled "17 Turbulent Tales," edited by Stephen King and Bev Vincent. These involve planes and often terrifying tales that might give you second thought about flying. There are two new stories, by King and his son Joe Hill, the latter being particularly scary. I liked it so much, however, that I downloaded a collection of his short stories from the library.
C. L. Polk's Witchmark is, I now know, the first of a trilogy, and won the World Fantasy Award. (The second is out now, the third is coming next February.) Sir Christopher ran away from his powerful family (picture World War I in this world) to use his healing powers to serve as a doctor (as Miles Singer) on the front lines. Now his family wants to bind him (literally) to his sister to help her rule, but he is determined to separate himself, which may not be possible. I have the second book on hold.
I'm reading on Overdrive now and have to sit here at my PC to do so. I have started Hid From Our Eyes by Julia Spencer-Fleming. I am also reading The Bride Quartet by Nora Roberts.
It is weird being back, Jeff, but now that I'm on my fourth day, it doesn't seem so odd. And, it's good to see people, even if I'm seeing them behind our masks and at a distance. So far, everyone is really good about staying away from each other. We'll see how it goes as we get comfortable with being back.
Scary just isn't for me. I read Stephen King's early books, but Misery did me in. I couldn't read that one, and haven't read one of his since.
I'm sorry, Gram. It's not easy sitting at the PC to read. I loved Nora Roberts' Bride Quartet!
In Ruth Hogan's QUEENIE MALONE'S PARADISE HOTEL, chapters alternate between Tillie (written in 3rd person) and Tilda, her adult self (first person). Tillie was devastated when her adored father left home inexplicably. Her mother was distant, but after they moved to the seaside and started living with Queenie, a former performer, Tilly's life improved. That's why she couldn't understand why her mother suddenly sent her away to boarding school. In the Tilda chapters, she moves into her deceased mother's old home and tries to unravel the mysteries of her childhood, while making new friends and starting a new life. Ultimately, she finds some diaries that help explain her mother's motivation. My favorite part of this book is young Tilly's voice–she often misunderstands what she hears and interprets it for herself–quite comically. I enjoyed the book but, unlike many reviewers, found it less satisfying than Hogan's previous books. It took too long to come together for me, the twist near the end was a real surprise but seemed unnecessary, and I didn't find it as heartwarming as her other books.
After reading Abby Jimenez's The Happy Ever After Playlist, I had to read the book that preceded it, THE FRIEND ZONE, where Kristen and Josh, friends of the second book's protagonist, are the featured players. Kristen is smart, beautiful, and talented, but her mother has always made her feel unappreciated. She has been dating her boyfriend for 2 years, but as he is abroad in the military, they rarely get to spend in-person time together. Then she meets Josh, a friend of her best friend's fiance, and despite all efforts, finds herself falling for him, and vice-versa. But Kristen knows she could never make Josh happy because he wants a houseful of kids and she's about to have a medically-needed hysterectomy. I often wanted to yell at her–just tell him why you can't be with him already and let the chips fall where they may!. But I did enjoy the story, and I wish everyone had a Josh in their lives.
In Janelle Brown's PRETTY THINGS, Nina follows her mother into the con artist way of life when her mother needs expensive cancer treatments that she can't pay for herself. Hooking up with Lachlan, another grifter, Nina assumes an alias and moves with Lachlan to the caretaker's cottage on a huge estate in Lake Tahoe where she had sampled marijuana and sex as a teenager with her boyfriend, the owners' son. Their objective is to steal money from a household safe, along with some of the priceless treasures in the house. It's there that she meets Vanessa, her former boyfriend's sister, whose life couldn't be more different from her own. Vanessa is a social media fashion influencer, traveling the world in fabulous outfits offered to her free of charge by her sponsors. Now, however, she yearns for a different life. How Nina, Lachlan, and Vanessa interact in various and surprising ways forms the major plot, which turns into somewhat of a suspense thriller. Interesting.
THE SECRETS OF LOVE STORY BRIDGE is Patrick's third book, and I have found them all charming. Lesa recently reviewed this one, which features Mitchell, whose partner, Anita, tragically left him a widower with a 9-year-old daughter. Mitchell gave up a job as an architect for one cutting off the locks with romantic messages that are weighing down bridges like the ones he used to design. When he sees a woman fall off the bridge and doesn't think twice about jumping in the water to save her, he reluctantly becomes a local hero, receiving bags of letters from people eager to write about their own love stories, both happy and sad. He also helps a new friend, Liza, look for the woman he saved, who has been missing for a year. It's a quiet story, satisfying and inspiring.
I'm reading Close Call by Laura DiSilverio. So far, it's moving at a nice fast pace, has all kinds of good character conflict, and the protagonist is interesting and likable, in spite of mistakes in her past. Just what I need to get me off the computer and relaxing in my favorite reading chair.
Husband, dog, cat, and I are doing fine. We're older, so we're staying home as much as possible and wearing a mask when going out.
I gave up on THE INVISIBLE Library by Genevieve Cogman. I was just reading words and not enjoying it.
Next I read ALL THE GOOD Parts by Loretta Nyhan. Lots going on with this one that was primarily about a single 39 year old woman debating a baby. I really enjoyed it.
Now I am reading A MURDEROUS RELATION by Deanna Rayburn. A tad disappointed I won't get what was promised in the previous book between Stoker and Veronica but these are great fun to read.
I’m reading PUMPKIN SPICE PERIL by Jenn McKinlay. It’s the newest book in her cupcake bakery series and I’m enjoying it.
Hi Lesa
Apologies for not checking in on Monday! I have been trying to sort my mother's computer issues from a distance and it has taken so much time. I discovered that although her local computer shop is closed just now, the owner is still going in to attend to repairs 2 days each week. He is operating a very safe system – you drop off the equipment in his storm porch, he looks at it (and hopefully repairs it) and delivers it back to your doorstep. None of the residents of my mother's sheltered housing is allowed to go out, but the manager has kindly offered to do the drop off herself – it is just 2 minutes drive away.
In the meantime i finished 'The Unreliable Death of Lady Grant' by Sue Lawrence. It is based on the true story of Rachel, who married Lord Grant of Preston House (outside Edinburgh) in the early 1700s. The marriage became unhappy, but not before Rachel had discovered a potentially explosive secret of her husband's. To protect himself, and others with whom he is involved (it is all about the political and religious conflicts of the day) he tells everyone she has died, and even holds her funeral – but he really has had her abducted – she is first taken to the remote Monach Islands (off North Uist in the Hebrides), where life is extremely basic, especially for a woman used to Edinburgh finery, then, when her daughter (now married to the Earl of Kintore) eventually finds her, she is taken again, this time to St Kilda – St Kilda is an archipelago in the Atlantic where life was only just sustainable, the natives living on seabirds and their eggs, and living in hovels with their animals. (In 1930 they asked to be evacuated as they felt they would not survive another winter, and were taken to Glasgow, where few of them lasted long. The islands now belong to the Scottish National trust and are a nature reserve, no-one lives there – so imagine what it was like there in the 1700s) It is a very well written book, I was completely drawn into Rachel's story – and the author makes you think about the position of women at that time, and the lengths that men would go to silence them and to protect their reputations.
This morning I read 'Joan Smokes' by Angela Meyer – it was the winner of the first MsLexia Prize for Novellas. It is only 68 very short pages, but the writing is exceptional. 'Joan' arrives in Las Vegas- we don't know who she is or why she is there, but gradually little snippets of her past emerge. I'm still thinking about it.
Here is the second bit:
So now I am reading 'Ghost Trees' by Bob Gilbert. The subtitle is 'Nature and People in a London Parish' – the parish being Poplar, where Gilbert moved with his family when his wife was ordained as an Anglican priest and assigned to the church there. If anyone watches Call the Midwife, that programme is set in Poplar, which is a borough of the East End of London). Gilbert writes beautifully about the nature and wildlife of the inner city, about which he is passionate, but of more interest to me are the amazing stories he has dug up about local history. Poplar goes back a long way – it has been a centre for eel catching, fruit orchards, the docks, and various industries. It used to be home to Bryant and May's match factory. And in the First World War, when the army feared it would run out of the acetone needed to make ammunition (the acetone usually being imported) a local gin factory was turned into a centre for distilling starch from conkers! A Manchester University research chemist discovered that this was possible, and local schools and youth groups were sent out to collect as many conkers as they could. The scientist was Jewish, and when, after the war the Prime Minister, Lloyd George, asked what honour should be bestowed on him, he replied that he did not want any honour, he wanted to see 'the repatriation of the Jews to the sacred land that they had made famous'. Lloyd George passed this on to his Foreign Secretary, Lord Balfour, and it was the (now infamous) Balfour Declaration of 1917 that eventually led to the setting up of the modern state of Israel in 1948. The first president of the new state was Chaim Wizemann – the very research chemist who had discovered how to get starch from chestnuts. Isn't it amazing what you can learn from a book about trees?!
Our lockdown continues. Many people are saying that the library will be top of their list for a visit when it is allowed. All of our library return dates have been put on hold (we do not have drop offs) so at least there won't be colossal fines! But I don't know when they will re-open – we want to be safe even more than we want more books, of course. The English government has eased some of its restrictions, but in such a vague way that now no-one down there knows what is or is not allowed, and many people in London, who have been told to return to work, are now having to use the tube, which would be terrifying (it's bad enough in normal circumstances as it is so overcrowded). All the government has said is 'Stay Alert' – whatever that means – and if you have to use public transport 'try not to sit facing someone' – which in London is an absolute joke. I am so glad I live in Scotland; neither the Scottish, Welsh nor the Northern Irish governments have changed their advice, they all feel it is too early, and our First Minister's message is clear and simple.
I can see that it must be good to be with your colleagues though Lesa – and to open all those lovely new book boxes!
Take care, Rosemary
I should be finishing up the newest MURDER, SHE WROTE novel today, THE MURDER OF TWELVE. I'm hooked and have to know what is going on.
How am I doing? My company just announced layoffs and pay cuts. So I'm waiting to find out which one I am. It's going to be a long day.
I'm going to start with Mark, because it will be a long day for you. I'm sorry. I hope it's whichever one works out best for you, but it's hard to know ahead of time. Take care of yourself.
As I have said before, Margie, it's always good to read your reviews and know what books can come off my TBR pile. Queenie Malone. Thank you!I wondered about The Happy Ever After Playlist. Actually, I'm on hold at the library. Who knows how long that will be? Even though we're back in the building, it doesn't mean we have our holds either.
Thank you, Patricia. I wear my mask as well, and try not to go out, except to work. I usually like Laura DiSilverio's books.
Sharon, Now, how do you know you won't get what's promised? You haven't finished the book yet. (I love Deanna Raybourn's books & those 2 characters.)
Oh, good, Sandy. I'm glad you liked Jenn's new book!
Rosemary, I think Scotland's First Minister, and whoever is in charge of Wales and Northern Ireland, are the smart ones. I just can't imagine being told to go back to work while having to use the subway. At least I'm in my own car.
You're right. I think I would have been just mad most of the time while reading about Lady Grant, knowing that it was based on fact. What a sad, tragic life for a woman. And, your nonfiction book sounds fascinating as well, considering where it led.
I can always count on you for titles I don't know about, some of the background involved, and interesting stories. Thank you. Stay safe!
So true, Lesa. Every time I see the pictures of moronic young (mostly) people crammed together on the London Underground, mostly without masks, it makes me cringe. People need to use common sense.
Everything is opening here. I stay out of town, though.
I read:
Reaper: Drone Strike by Nicholas Irving; A sniper series, notable because the protagonist is an African American.
Ballistic by JT Sawyer; Mitch Kearns mops up Leverage. Interesting doomsday device in this one.
100 Menacing Little Murder Stories; An anthology without any terrible stories.
Beyond This Horizon by Robert Heinlein; Revolt in Paradise because everyone is bored.
Sherlock Holmes in Japan; Mediocre Sherlockiana.
Antiques Firesale by Barbara Allan; The Borne Girls solve another mystery. This one is a bit different than the others, or I'm reading it at a different time. I felt like the supercop and the other public officials were hiding their incompetence and cupidity behind their authority and professional jargon. I never felt that way before. Maybe I'm watching too much news.
Red Spectre; The guys who wrote another favorite series of mine, The Nick Foley series, wrote this. I think the Nick Foley series is going to be a hard sell for a while.
Hi Hi – being a fan of poetry and always looking for new poets I subscribe to a few "get a poem a day" sites. I have seen a couple of poems from Amanda Lovelace and will look for more. It makes me happy that you've found some poetry you enjoy!
And I'm happy you're settling in at work so nicely.
What I've read since last week –
The Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury (very disappointing)
The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffmann(a re-read. Still love it)
The Beautiful American by Jeanne Mackin (LOVED this!)
Enchantment, The Life of Audrey Hepburn by Donald Spoto (I'm a fan of Audrey Hepburn, but really didn't learn anything new in Mr. Spoto's book)
Today I'm putting aside my reading. I'm going through old mystery con convention pictures and sending them to Maddee to include in my webpage. What treasures I'm finding!
xxoo
I think there's a lot of common sense missing out there right now, Jeff. Sad.
Glen, For a minute you had me excited when I saw the word "Leverage". There used to be a TV series called "Leverage" with Timothy Hutton, Christopher Kane, and others. Loved that series. I actually own the entire dvd set. It was about a team of con men. But, we were talking about a different "Leverage".
Saying that, I like the sound of 100 Menacing Little Murder Stories. Sounds like something Jeff would like, too.
Kaye, I was disappointed in The Girl Who Reads on the Metro, too. Did I send you that after I couldn't get into it? I'm sorry, if I did. It had so much potential!
I finished Amanda Lovelace's first book in the trilogy. I really liked it, and I'm reviewing it tomorrow.
Oh, that's great! I can't wait to see what you and Maddee do with the web page.
Sending hugs, Kaye!
Read the Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian. Excellent, timely story. Kept me reading and I liked the main character, an ED physician. Chris Bohjalian is an excellent writer. Great ending!
Also read Kate White’s Have You Seen Me ? I have read her before and I feel this was her best yet. Good story. Easy read but compelling.
The primary issue with the tube is that most people do not want to travel on it, they have little choice because they have been told by the English government to return to work, while at the same time the train operators have been told to scale back the number of trains to stop people using it unnecessarily. Very few people in London work near to their homes, and driving in is virtually impossible owing to lack of parking space, the congestion charge, etc. I am so, so glad that i do not have to use public transport, but my elder daughter, who is currently in Edinburgh, will have little option but to use it if the school she works at in London re-opens.
We have also been told repeatedly in the UK that the use of masks is questionable as a protection, though I do wonder if this is simply because the government knows supply is far outstripped by demand.
I do feel there are some people in all generations who are not complying with the regulations. My own children are 22, 25 and 27 and they are being extremely careful, as are all their friends. Meanwhile an older man in my mother's sheltered housing has put all of them at risk by deciding that he should be allowed to go shopping (no mask) – the staff only found out because they had an unannounced fire drill while he was out – he is now in isolation in his room.
As you say Lesa, the FMs of the devolved legislatures are so much more sensible. I know that many people in England are saying they wish they lived in Scotland or Wales.
I still have my job, but it's with a pay cut. Of the six people in my department, including my boss, four of them lost their jobs, including my boss. I'm shocked since I've only been an official employee for 50 weeks and the others have been there years. And, considering everything that has to be done, it's going to be a ton of work.
Hi, I am doing good. I am a library assistant in a public library. We closed to the public but always kept working in the building. We have softly reopened to the public by appointment only for using computers, reading newspapers or getting library cards. We are still doing curbside pickups since there is no browsing in the stacks allowed yet.
I am currently reading Close Up by Amanda Quick in print and listening to The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay on audio.
Stay Safe Lesa.
LOVE SPELL CASTER (DR. GBOJIE) THAT HELPED ME RESTORE MY RELATIONSHIP
I was absolutely desperate to get my husband back. Life without my husband was a real mess for me and my children. i wanted a dramatic change and I thought love spell could be the solution. After discussing the resolution with Him, he gave me hope that he will restore my marriage. I felt confident that he will actually make my husband to return home and he did! It’s fantastic what this great spell caster has done for me, his help is priceless! I don’t know what I would have done without his help, He does his job so well he is organized and highly functional, i believe he is the best service to use i can count on when it comes to restoring relationship, I was floored that his worked was perfect, if you need help, ️ ️ ️ ️ ️ ️ ️ ️ gbojiespiritualtemple@gmail.com or whatsapp : +2349066410185 check out his website :http://gbojiespiritualtemple.website2.me