Well, it’s Thursday. I’m back to work, and it’s time for What Are You Reading? I don’t expect as many of you today, the day after Christmas. Many of you may be still visiting with family, or enjoying the holiday. I had a peaceful holiday, spending Christmas Eve with friends, and Christmas Day at home with my cats and books, including the one I’m reading right now.
I’m taking a break, not reading a mystery at the moment. Instead I’m reading Sarah MacLean’s historical romance, Brazen and the Beast. Lady Henrietta Sedley has reached the age of twenty-nine, unmarried, and hoping to snatch the family shipping business from her brother, who is hopeless. But, she finds all of her plans for “The year of Hattie”, upended when she finds an unconscious man in her carriage. It seems her brother has taken on one of the most powerful men in London. He’ll be lucky if he lives to regret it.
I don’t often have the chance to read a good historical romance, but it takes me back to the years when I discovered Georgette Heyer. And, Sarah MacLean’s characters are wonderful. Just what I wanted to for Christmas.
What are you reading this Christmas week? Have you had any time to yourself? If so, I hope you take the time to tell us about your book or books.
Happy Reading!
Glad you found the right book for the season. Not sure what I want to read next. I have started three books – probably going to continue with Mark Greaney's BALLISTIC, the third Gray Man book about former CIA assassin Court Gentry, who only took assignments for (as they say) someone who needed killing. Now he is on a "kill on sight" order that has him constantly looking over his shoulder. But he is the best, so you know he will survive. Good if you want violent action. I found half a dozen of these in our basement laundry room.
Also found in the laundry room was Laura Lippman's second about Baltimore reporter turned PI Tess Monaghan, CHARM CITY. A business tycoon who wants to bring pro basketball back to town is found asphyxiated in his garage.
I have been, as you know, borrowing library books on the Kindle via OverDrive. But some are not available by that method, yet are downloadable on the Cloud Library. This has enabled Jackie to read several books on her phone. I just downloaded it to my phone, and the first book I took out (as a test, more or less), was S. K. (sisters Sherylyn and Karen) Dunstall's first in a science fiction series, STARS UNCHARTED. We'll see. I am trying to line up things I can read on the Kindle (like the hundreds of books on there already weren't enough, right?) while we're in Florida, and now the Cloud Library gives me a second option for library books.
What else am I reading? Two short story collections: P. D. James's last Christmas collection, SLEEP NO MORE, and O. Henry's THE TRIMMED LAMP and Other Stories. Also Emily Nussbaum, I LIKE TO WATCH: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution. And a terrific 400 page coffee table book, John Curran's THE HOODED GUNMAN: An Illustrated History of Collins Crime Club. It costs $50 (though I got mine for $36 with shipping) and is worth it for the illustrations of all 2,012 books published by Collins from 1930 to the '90s.
This week I finally went back and finished Jamie Freveletti's latest Emma Caldridge book, BLOOD RUN, by far the least interesting in the series to me. The chemist is on the run with refugees in West Africa and it took 70% of the book until everyone got together and it gelled for me. Her first two or three were much better.
Also finished Tim Parks, WHERE I'M READING FROM about books, not exciting but fairly interesting.
I actually found plenty of time to read this wee. I finished
TRACKING GAME by Margaret Mizushima. This is the latest book in her Maddie and Robo K-9 series and it was just as good as the earlier books in the series. Multiple murders and a hunt through the mountains on horseback.
SHOT THROUGH THE HEARTH by Kate Carlisle. Murder at a green conference. An enjoyable cozy mystery.
BREWED AWAKENING is the latest book in Cleo Coyle’s coffee shop mystery series. I have to say that I’m getting tired of this series. The character’s lives never really seem to move forward.
I’m currently reading WHERE THE FOREST MEETS THE STARS by Glenda Vanderah. I wasn’t sure about this one but it’s keeping my interest
I liked BREWED AWAKENING by Cleo Coyle, although it is a bit of a departure. It starts with coffe eshop proprietor Clare waking up on a park bench with amnesia after being abducted for several days. She can't remember the last 10 years of her daughter's life or her own recent engagement to detective Mike, and she doesn't recognize the technological advances that have taken place during that period. Worse, a high-profile psychologist wants to experiment on her at an isolated medical facility. Spirited away by her friends and family, including an ex-husband who still pines for her, she participates in the investigation into the kidnapping of an acquaintance, taken at the same time, while trying to recover her memory.
In Stephanie Butland's THE CURIOUS HEART OF AILSA RAE,Ailsa finally receives a new heart (which she names Apple) at age 28, to replace the defective one she was born with. As she grows stronger and her meds are balanced, she now has to face living without the threat of constant illness that has been her life for many years. She still mourns the death of her first (and then ex-) boyfriend who passed away a year earlier, waiting for a new liver that never came. Ailsa has her popular blog, her mother, her aunt, and some friends, but she also starts experimenting with new experiences–finding her biological father (whom she has never met), taking tango lessons, living alone, deciding on a career, and appearing on a radio talk show where she meets Sebastian, a young actor who had a cornea transplant as a result of an eye infection. Ailsa's evolution is engrossing, fascinating, and uplifting. And it made me want to take tango lessons!
The third Atlas Catesby mystery by DM Quincy, MURDER AT THE OPERA, is set in 1815 in London. After an opera performance, the long-time, live-in mistress of a nobleman is shot and killed outside the opera house by someone who has high-tailed it away from the scene before being discovered. The nobleman happens to be the man whom Atlas blames for the death of his beloved sister some 20 years before, so Atlas would be thrilled if he were the murderer. But the case is difficult to solve, both for the police and for the amateur sleuth. At the same time. Atlas would like to move ever-closer to the alluring Lady Lilliana, whom he saved from her heinous husband in the first book. I love this entertaining series, especially the sometimes surprising characters and the fascinating look at London society during the Regency period.
TO NIGHT OWL FROM DOGFISH by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer is a delightful YA novel, told almost entirely in emails, about two 12-year-olds on opposite coasts who find out their fathers are having a love affair. At first they dislike each other, even after they are sent to the same camp for the whole summer while their fathers are traveling in China on motorcycles. They are complete opposites–one is afraid of many things and one is a daredevil, for example. Eventually, of course, they become friends and look forward to being sisters . . . until everything goes awry. I generally enjoy epistolary novels, and this was done very well. The girls are fleshed-out characters, and what happens is not as predictable as you would think. It's also interesting that a writer of children's books and a writer of adult books have joined forces successfully on this novel.
A couple of days before Christmas, I noticed Dayrl Wood Gerber's WREATH BETWEEN THE LINES (terrible title) on my Kindle from 2018 in the Cookbook Nook mystery series and decided it would be easy and timely holiday reading. It was–a couple of murders, some Christmas decorations and events, an a cappella competition, a bit about valuable stamps (shades of "Charade"–l need to watch that movie again), a pregnancy and a proposal. What more could you want from a holiday book?
My grandchildren are up and we're looking forward to continuing our holiday fun!
This is another very difficult holiday season. I am trying to deal with it by reading and watching a lot of tv. I read and enjoyed a lot the new one from Bryan Gruley, PURGATORY BAY, which will be out next month. I will have my review up on the blog in a few days.
Current read is THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE by Howard Owen in his Will Black Mystery Series.
KRT
Sandy, I really enjoyed WHERE THE FOREST MEETS THE STARS.
Margie, I have the new D.M. Quincy ready for pick up at my library. I am looking forward to reading it.
This week I finished LAETITIA RODD AND THE WANDERING SCHOLAR by Kate Saunders. I liked it very much and spent a couple days afterwards still thinking about it. It ends with Mrs. Rodd looking back at what happened to several characters many years later. I hope that isn't a sign that the series will not continue.
Now I am reading THE GLITTERING HOUR by Iona Gray. It is also good.
Have a Happy New Year!
You have one heck of a laundry room, Jeff. CHARM CITY. Read it years ago, but I do remember the plot. Good luck with the Cloud & your downloads. Yes, I'm sure I have plenty of books on my devices, too, & I seldom read them. Give me paper! (grin)
Sandy, And, in fact, it's a backward step this time in A BREWED AWAKENING, isn't it? I haven't started that Kate Carlisle series, yet, but I'm sure I'd like it. I like her writing.
Oh, Margie! MURDER AT THE OPERA! I love that series, too, and hope it continues. I talked to D.M. Quincy at Bouchercon, and she wasn't sure the publisher will pick it up, which is why she insisted the characters have a chance. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Enjoy the time with your grandchildren!
I'm sorry, Kevin. I know it's a difficult time for you. I have the new Bryan Gruley, and need to get to it sooner or later. Looking forward to your review. And, sending hugs. I'm sorry.
Sharon, I need to sample that Mrs. Rodd series. You're not the only one who likes it.
Like Sandy, I'm reading TRACKING GAME by Margaret Mizushima, and greatly enjoying this latest in a good series.
In the car, I'm listening to The Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard. It is an unexpectedly fascinating account of the assasination of President James A Garfield.
Jeff, I really enjoy the Gray Man series. One of the top five current action series, IMHO.
Thanks, PlumGaga. Another plug for a book I may need to pick up, that & Paula Munier's.
I read:
Grey Matters by Clea Simon; Cozy set in Harvard Yard. Makes me think maybe Harvard isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Iceberg by Clive Cussler; from back when Cussler was an author, and not a brand.
Death to the Spider Woman by Tommy Hancock; Origin tale of a heroine of the Pulp Domain. Pretty weird.
Lost Civilizations: 10 Societies That Vanished Without a Trace by Michael Rank; Interesting but not scholarly work that is described by the title.
Fast Track by Lee Goldberg; Novelization of the script of a Fast and Furious rip off.
Spy in a Box by Ralph Dennis; 70s type spy story about an agent framed for squealing. Amazing how similarly the CIA and the mafia react.
I forgot the best of the lot!
The Madness of Frankenstein by Derrick Ferguson; An imaginary Hammer film put into prose. Almost a perfect pastiche.
Excellent, Glen! I'm glad The Madness of Frankenstein was almost perfect. Ah, yes. Those authors who become brands. Sad, isn't it? Oh, I have the feeling Harvard really isn't all it's cracked up to be.
I know last week I said I’d still be reading LEGACY by Shannon Messenger this week, but I actually finished it this morning. It’s was great, and I can’t wait for the next.
So now I will be starting SCRIPT FOR SCANDAL, the third Edith Head and Lillian Frost mystery from Renee Patrick.
That's terrific, Mark. And, I've heard good things about Renee Patrick's series.
I love to hear everyone's comments. Sharon, thank you for mentioning the second in the Laetitia Rodd series. I read the Secrets of Wishtide about 3 years ago and really enjoyed it. I didn't realize there was a sequel. I just put it on hold at the library.
Also, because of favorable comments from Sharon and Sandy about Where the Forest Meets the Stars, I put that one on hold as well.
Not that I need more books . . . but I couldn't resist–thank you!
I'm reading Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas. It's heavy on narrative and backstory, which is very appropriate for this particular story. I'm enjoying the different writing style.
Oh, Patricia. Big fan of Sandra Dallas, and that was quite an emotional story.
I reading a children's book, Meet Charlie by J. E. Solinski and a wonderful memoir about Judith Heumann, Being Heumann an Unrepentant Memoir of A Disability Rights activist. She had polio at the age of two and is now a parplegic. Her mother fought for to get into school like my mother fought for my autistic brother to go to school! Her mother was like my mother who was at the signing of a bill for disability school rights by the governor of Indiana (a very long time ago). She was a part of the ceremony and she really earned it. This is a very inspiring book and I am really enjoying it.
I just started The Night Fire by Michael Connelly and Circe by Madeline Miller and The First Lady by James Petterson – i am rooting big time for the title character.
Carol, It sounds as if you had an inspiring mother.
Gram, Now I have to look up The First Lady to find out why you're rooting for her.
Yes, I did, Lesa!
Me, too, Carol. It's wonderful, isn't it?