I’m excited to share the book I’m reading, but I’m writing this in the morning before I’ve had much chance to read. I’m only 120 pages into it. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia features a group of misfits, who, along with other teams, set out to find the answer to a quest set by an eccentric billionaire. It’s a book about Boston, books, art, and finding the past. There are all kinds of references to popular culture from Vincent Pryce, the man who sets the others on this search, to Edgar Allan Poe, to pop music. It’s delightful. I hope the author doesn’t let me down. One of my Facebook friends finished it, and said she loved it on so many levels. And, Margie is going to give us a review, I think.
I hope you’re reading something you’ve enjoyed this week. Would you share?
That does sound interesting. After finally finishing THE SYMPATHIZER by Viet Thanh Nguyen, I am reading his short story collection, THE REFUGEES. (Also still reading THE BEST OF MANHUNT.)
And I'm into the latest Dr. Siri Paiboun book by Colin Cotterill, THE SECOND BIGGEST NOTHING, set in 1980 Laos. Dr. Siri is left a note (tied to his dog's tail) threatening his life and those of his loved ones, and he needs to figure out who in his past is behind it. It's always a treat to visit these old friends.
That sounds interesting. I just put a hold on it at the library.
I finished READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline. In the future players race against an evil corporation in a virtual reality called a Oasis to find the Easter egg that will give the winner billions of dollars and control of the company that owns a Oasis. A lot of the book involved references to 80s pop culture and video games. I liked the ending but found the first two thirds of the book dragged.
HER HOMERUN HOTTIE by Wynter Daniels is a quick paranormal romance.
I read two of the three stories in the anthology CHRISTMAS COCOA MURDER. The first story in the book is from a series .i don’t care for so I skipped it.
THE SKELETON STUFFS A STOCKING by Leigh Perry. Sid the skeleton is totally improbable but I always enjoy this series.
I think I will put that one on reserve at my library.
Not much reading this week due to new carpet installation in my house. I did finish THE NOVEL ART OF MURDER by V. M. Burns. I didn't love Sam's plotline nor the one in the mystery she was writing a whole lot but I do enjoy these characters. This won't be my favorite outing of the series.
Now I am reading OWL'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS by Donna Andrew's.
Happy Reading!
Interesting choices this week, Jeff. Hope to see you next week, at least Friday night.
Oh, Sandy. I'm with you. I love Sid. I'm a few books behind, but I enjoy those mysteries.
I'm sorry about The Novel Art of Murder, Sharon. I hope you enjoy Owl'll be Home for Christmas.
Good morning, all. Yes, I finished Kate Racculia's TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS. Tuesday is a terrific researcher, but she doesn't have a lot of friends. Her best friend in younger days disappeared one night and was never found. When a local billionaire dies in front of a room of people, he leaves behind a challenge–join his Poe-inspired treasure hunt and you may come away with a lot of money. Tuesday joins with a finance employee who longs to be a stage performer, a lonely teenager who lives next door, and an estranged son of a prominent family on the quest. And there is a paranormal element. In case you're wondering, there are parallels to Ready Player One, but this book is not set in a futuristic world and there are no video game involvements. Though a bit dense and difficult to follow at times, I found it a great ride.
I'm so glad I found Hazel Prior's ELLIE AND THE HARP MAKER on the new book shelf at the library. It is a quiet, lovely story about an English woman who discovers a barn full of beautiful harps, all made by Dan, a man who lives a solitary life and struggles with social interactions (although never named, it feels like he is on the autism spectrum). On a whim, he gives one of his harps to Ellie, whose husband, Clive, won't let her keep it. But unbeknownst to Clive, Ellie goes to the barn most days to learn how to play the harp, which feels all-important to her, and eventually takes lessons with Dan's "girlfriend," a professional harpist. Along the way, she is charmed by the way Dan lives his life, while hers seems to have lost meaning. I don't want to say more about the plot–it's better that you learn it as you read. I highly recommend this book, and I'm happy to hear that this debut author is working on her second one.
I believe Lesa has already reviewed A LEGACY OF MURDER by Connie Berry, but here's my take. While visiting her daughter in England, American antiques dealer Kate takes a tour of stately home Finchley Hall. The tour is interrupted when a young boy finds a body in a nearby lake–it's one of the docents at the hall, who had been instrumental in planning an exhibition of family treasures intended to make money for the hall's much-needed repairs. When the home's almost-blind owner prevails upon Kate to finish the work the deceased young woman had started, she finds herself embroiled in intrigue which ultimately includes her daughter, while marveling at the abundance of gorgeous antiques at the hall, a nearby shop, and a mysterious collector's home. A well-written follow-on to the first in the series.
Jojo Moyes' A GIVER OF STARS is the second novel I have read this year about the Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project of the 1930s. Rather than being focused on a rider who was one of the "blue people," this story is about Alice, a British woman who marries and moves to Kentucky, only to find that nothing is as she expected. To give her life some meaning and to escape from her husband and his overbearing father, she volunteers as a rider who braves weather, scorn, and uneven terrain to bring books to needy families. The other protagonist is Margery, leader of the project, who suffers from her family's reputation and has forged an unorthodox life with a man she has vowed never to marry. When townspeople complain that families have been given inappropriate books, when the owner of the nearby mine (none other than Alice's father-in-law) threatens to shut the project down, and when Margery ultimately faces the loss of everything she holds dear, Alice and the other riders have to work together to keep their dream alive. I found it heartbreaking, inspiring, and thrilling.
Correction: It's THE GIVER OF STARS, not A GIVER OF STARS.
I'm almost half way through THE CHOCOLATE SHARK SHENANIGANS by JoAnna Carl. I've loved the Chocoholic series since book one, so I am thrilled to get to revisit the characters.
Margie, Our reading tastes are so similar. I have Ellie and the Harpmaker on a TBR pile at home as well as Jojo Moyes' book. And, I've read A Legacy of Murder. Loving Tuesday Mooney! Thanks for your review.
Mark, I just received The Chocolate Shark Shenanigans. Sometime…
Mark, I’m waiting on Chocolate Shark from the library
I read:
Killing quarry by Max Allan Collins; I find the Bill O'Reilly reference in the title amusing. This is another great entry in the Quarry series, although the first four were the best.
Get Lost! a collection of a competitor of Mad Magazine in the 50s. Not as good as Mad, but I miss the days when we were allowed to be funny.
Men of Violence #5: Sort of a fanzine that reviews a couple of hundred Men's adventure novels.
A Dangerous Man by Robert Crais; This is more a Joe Pike book than an Elvis Cole book. It's good, but not really a mystery.
Oh, Glen. I didn't notice the Bill O'Reilly reference until you said it. Good one. You're right. We went too politically correct and not funny.
I'm reading an ARC of Diane Chamberlain's Big Lies in a Small Town. It's an amazing read.
The Chamberlain sounds really good, and I'll have to let my best friend know. She's a big Diane Chamberlain fan. Thank you, "Charlie Horse".
I am reading Stealth by Stuart Woods and Kopp Sisters on the March by Amy Stewart. On audio it's Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley.
Are you enjoying Kopp Sisters on the March, katstev? I have a friend who loves that series.
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