Let’s talk about what’s going on. I’m on my way to my mother’s today for Christmas vacation. I won’t
be checking in on the blog until late in the evening. And, there won’t be a Friday blog. I’ll see what I can post for Saturday, but don’t expect the blog on a regular basis right now. My mother tells me I haven’t been home for Christmas in thirty years.
Saying that, I’m reading a couple older Christmas books. Fredrik Backman’s The Deal of a Lifetime is a novella about a wealthy man who was never there for his son. I’m only halfway through it, though, so I can’t say too much about it, other than he’s telling his son about his feelings. This one looks like it might be bittersweet. I also have a copy of Donita K. Paul’s Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball. It hooked me with this on the flap – “”Can mysterious matchmaking booksellers bring two lonely hearts together in time for Christmas?” This one was a book I picked up at a booksale. If it’s as good as it looks, I’ll leave it with my mom.
I know I’m going to have to depend on all of you to carry the day today. Before you tell us what you’re reading, did you read Tuesday’s blog? Glen sent his end of the year list of favorite books. I hope you go back and read it.
Don’t worry. I’m not giving up the blog. It’s just time to spend a little time with family, and I’ll be posting now and then while I’m with them.
So, tell us what you’re reading this week. Or, are you as busy as I am right now?
I read that Backman novella last Christmas Lesa. It is bittersweet but a good story.
This week I read THE WHISPERED Word by Ellery Adams. What a fabulous book! Despite the heaviness of the subject matter in this series (abuse) these women are so filled with hope and kindness and understanding. Not too mention all the books. Book 2 of this series has only gotten better.
I also finished KITCHEN YARNS by Ann Hood. I didn't enjoy it as much as her Morningstar book but it was a nice read.
Now I am reading THE COLORING Crook by Krista Davis. I found the first book of this series a fun read and am hoping this one will be as well.
Enjoy your time with your Mom and your blogging break Lesa.
Merry Christmas and Happy Reading!
Have a great Christmas, Lesa. Enjoy your family.
I did finish a book yesterday,Margaret Mizushima's second Timber Creek K-9 mystery, STALKING GROUND. I enjoyed it, but I thought the first one was better. I'm O. Henry's OPTIONS it's interesting to see his take on New York over 100 years ago – as well as Ken Bruen's IN THE GALWAY SILENCE, the latest Jack Taylor book.
Mostly, I am pretty much tied down and can't even do my usual household work – breakfast, dishes, laundry, etc., not to mention drive. Two more weeks until I go back to the doctor and see where we are.
Hope everyone has a pain-free holiday season.
My copy has gone missing but a Christmas favorite is The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth.
Enjoy your visit Lesa. I haven’t had much time to read this week.
Like Sharon, I read THE WHISPERED WORD by Ellery Adams. It’s a good one.
I also read THE DEVIL’S DEAL by Donna Ball. It’s the latest in her Raine Stockton search and rescue series. My Mom enjoyed it but for me it was my least favorite of the series.
Hope you start to feel better soon Jeff.
Lesa, I am sure your family are so thrilled you will be with them for Christmas this year. Enjoy every minute.
I finished:
The Otter of Death (book 5) by Betty Webb
The Secret of Seaside (book 1) by Agatha Ball
Sunshine Cottage (book 7) by Barbara Cool Lee
Murder at the Makeover (book 6) by Sandi Scott
Murder at the Pool Party (book 7) by Sandi Scott
Now reading:
An Aegean April (book 9) by Jeffrey Siger
Pacific Homicide Patricia Smiley
🎄🎁 Merry Christmas everyone ❗️
I finished THE PARIS SEAMSTRESS by Natasha Lester. I really liked it and I don't usually care for historicals with a story in the past and one in the present. This one did a really good job of slowly revealing the clues to who was who.
I can't believe I've only read one book this week (holiday prep and all that), but it was a good one. ONCE UPON A RIVER by Diane Setterfield is a complicated tale, beginning with "The Story Begins," ending with "Happily Ever After," and set in the 1880s at an inn on the Thames where everyone fancies himself a storyteller. When a gravely wounded man bursts in one winter night bearing a little girl who has by all accounts drowned, and when she later comes back to life, several families claim her, but the little girl remains mute and cannot help resolve the mystery. It's a long book, with interesting characters and a writing style that demands that the reader slow down and savor every word, and there are elements of fairy tales and magic realism. Unique and well worth reading.
Lesa, have a wonderful holiday with your family. Our family will be coming to us, complete with our 1-month old (today!) granddaughter and 2-year-old grandson, so it will be lively for sure. I hope everyone else has a terrific holiday as well.
I am determined today to hit the half way point in my current read – Flashback by Shannon Messenger. It’s middle grade fantasy and not my usual mystery. And it’s 850 pages long. As I’m sure you can figure out, it’s taking me a little longer than normal to read this one.
I continue to be into cozy reading. I have finished the following in the past week:
Miranda James – Six Cats a Slaying
Laurie Cass – Pouncing on Murder
Diane Kelly – Paw and Order
Am reading Dorothy St. James Asking for Truffle set in South Carolina and is a fun easy read.
Great list from Glen – so well done will attempt to put together one in the next day or two.
Enjoy your visit home and have a terrific holiday season. A busy one for everyone.
Am reading The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton. I discovered her this year and read all of her other books and liked them. This one is a little slower than I'd like so the verdict is still out. Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Reading!
I'm reading A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay. It's creepy suspense in a very satisfying way.
I read:
Tahoe Death Fall by Todd Borg; a PI novel where the sheriff in Tahoe doesn't think the mob was ever in Tahoe. Apparently, he's never heard of the Cal-Neva.
The Shark Mutiny by Patrick Robinson; China creates a crisis in the Middle East as a feint to invade Taiwan.
Ask Not by Max Allan Collins; JFK is shot and a take off of Dorothy Kilgallen hires Nate Heller as a bodyguard. We know how that goes. I actually agrees with MAC's theory on this one.
I have just finished An Unlikely Journey by Julian Castro. It is mostly about his grandmother, mother, growing up with his twin. It think he would be a great Secretary of Education.
Reading Auschwitz Lullaby by Mario Escobar. The focus on the gypsies who were interned.
Also started Someone Has Led This To Believe by Regina Louise. It is her memoir of what it was like growing up as a foster child (small print but shot) Will starting the Weight of Being by Kara Richardson Whitney. About her experience of being morbidly obese and fat shamed.
Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!
I am finally finishing up The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. I am also reading The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye. On audio I am listening to The Power by Naomi Alderman (such a strange book, not sure why it made a lot of favorite lists). Enjoy your time with family.