Are you ready to talk about what you’re reading this week? It’s Thursday, so it’s time to share what books you’ve read this week, or what books have bookmarks in them right now.
I’ve just started the seventh Ellie Stone mystery by James W. Ziskin, Turn to Stone. I’ve only read a couple chapters. Ellie’s in Florence, Italy in 1963, invited to represent her father at a symposium where he’s to receive an award posthumously. But even before the symposium, the body of the man who organized it is fished out of the Arno. She still goes for a weekend with others from the gathering, but a rubella outbreak leaves them quarantined. It appears to be a charming weekend otherwise, but Ellie wonders if one of the others is a killer.
That’s just a brief summary from the back of the book since I don’t know enough to write more. Now, you’ll either have to read the book, if you’re interested, or wait for my review.
What have you had time to read this week? We’d love to know!
Good morning. I started the week with a nonfiction book, MY PENGUIN YEAR LIFE AMONG THE EMPERORS by Lindsay McCrae. It’s about his experience of spending 11 months in Antarctica filming emperor penguins. It was interesting getting a glimpse behind the scenes of a nature documentary.
My fiction reads were: VANILLA VENDETTA by Rosie A Point. A spy’s ex husband turns out to be a double agent so she has to hide out in a small town B&B that’s run by her grandmother, a retired spy. It was a fun read with quirky characters.
MATCHMAKING CAN BE MURDER by Amanda Flower. This is a spin-off of her Amish Candy Shop mysteries. Even though she brings in a lot of the same characters this one is told from an Amish point of view and the feel of the book seemed somber to me. I prefer the lighter more humorous feel of the candy shop books.
THE GHOSTS OF MYSTIC SPRINGS by Mona Marple was a so so mystery about a medium in a small town who lives with her sister’s ghost.
I finished HOCH'S LADIES, the latest collection of Edward D. Hoch's short stories, featuring three of his lesser known (female) characters. It's not Dr. Sam Hawthorne, but Hoch is always worth reading. Now I've gone back to (and should finish tomorrow) a collection of early, very pulpish novellas by science fiction master Robert Silverberg, HUNT THE SPACE-WITCH!
I finished what might be my last Jack Reacher book by Lee Child, if it is true he is turning the series over to his brother, BLUE MOON. You should not look at it as a serious story, just let the tale of Reacher helping out an elderly couple and, almost incidentally, starting a war that (SPOILER ALERT OF SORTS) wipes out two rival gangs running a city, one Ukrainian and the other Albanian. It was a fast read and way better than the previous one.
And speaking of Reacher, Nick Petrie's third book about the somewhat Reacher-like Peter Ash, LIGHT IT UP, is an exciting and fast-moving story set in the world of legal marijuana dealers in Colorado. Ash, the veteran with PTSD who finds it hard to stay inside, is helping out a friend by acting as armed security for people collecting the money for drugs. The group is ambushed in a very professional and ruthless way, and not everyone survives. Ash is determined to find who killed his friends, and get payback. I am turning the pages furiously on this one.
This week I finished YOU ME AND THE Sea by Meg Donahue. She is a good storyteller but I didn't like the ending. The author said it was her WUTHERING HEIGHTS book-who would Cathy have chosen had she lived. It was a was a book about resilience. Two children raised by a distant father/guardian and abused by a drunken sadistic brother in California. I had a hard time putting it down. I understood the choice Merrow made but I was unhappy with it.
Now I am reading THE VINEYARDS OF CHAMPAGNE by Juliet Blackwell. I have read all of her novels but none of her mystery books. This one might be my favorite.
Happy Reading!
Sandy, Sounds as if the nonfiction title was your favorite this week. I'm sorry about the Amanda Flower. I know what it's like when one of your author disappoints with a new series.
Jeff, I love it that you said you're turning the pages furiously with the Nick Petrie book. My kind of read. One I want to find out what happens. At the same time, I'm going to hate to see it end.
Sharon, I think you're right. The Vineyards of Champagne is my favorite of her books as well.I think she used her own grief to good effect in this story. That's all I'm going to say as to not spoil any of the book for you.
I just finished reading The Words I Never Wrote by Jane Thynne and I still find myself thinking about it. It's a fabulous story about two English sisters divided by WWII. One, a journalist, living in Paris and then London, while the other is in Berlin with her industrialist husband. The story begins in 2019, when an unfinished novel is discovered in a typewriter that once belonged to the journalist. The book is wonderfully descriptive and really reveals what it was like to live in Europe and Nazi Germany during the war. I highly recommend this book!
Now I'm reading The Other People by C.J. Tudor. What a contrast! Tudor's book is creepy and suspenseful, and also well-written, with some unexpected twists.
Sandy, I think I liked MATCHMAKING CAN BE MURDER a bit more than you did, but I agree that I enjoy Amanda Flower's Amish Candy Shop mysteries more. The protagonist is Millie, a 60ish Amish widow who returns to her home town after caring for her sick sister for 10 years. Her niece Edith, a young widow with three children, informs her she has changed her mind about marrying her fiance, and Millie approves. When he is found dead shortly thereafter, Millie enters the fray to prove Edith innocent. Along the way, Millie somewhat reluctantly acquires a "sidekick," an Englischer (non-Amish) friend who, along with a couple of frisky goats, adds a bit of welcome fun. I'm hoping the next in this series features matchmaking a bit more–it wasn't really the focus of this book.
I read Ann Napolitano's DEAR EDWARD for the Barnes & Noble Book Club. It's an extraordinary novel about Eddie, the 12-year-old lone survivor of a plane crash that took the lives of his parents and brother, along with 190+ fellow passengers. After a period of hospital recuperation, Eddie (now called Edward) goes to live with his mother's sister and her husband, who have been unsuccessful at conceiving a child of their own. They make a good home for him, but he suffers from depression and can't seem to put the tragedy behind him. He can't sleep in what was to be the baby's nursery, so he sleeps on the floor of the bedroom in his next-door neighbor's house. Shay, who is Edward's age, has issues of her own, and the two bond quickly. Edward is bright but doesn't care about homework and can't tolerate gym class, so the principal allows him to do weight-lifting and help out with the plants he tends at school. More than halfway through the book, Edward discovers some letters from the victims' surviving loved ones, which his uncle has been keeping from him, and that's when the tide begins to turn for Edward. The story is told in alternating chapters, between the ill-fated flight and the post-crash years, and several of the victims and their personal situations and plans are highlighted. All of the main characters are beautifully drawn, and the second half of the book brought me to tears, although not sad ones, multiple times. I loved the author's unique voice and expression.
You could call Carol Goodman's THE WIDOW'S HOUSE from 2017 a psychological suspense/quasi-paranormal story, but I call it disappointing. I loved the author's The Night Visitors last year, but I didn't find any likable characters in this one, so I didn't care about the outcome (although the end of the book is undeniably creepy and exciting).
I'm just starting MICROPHONES AND MURDER, the first in the new Podcasting Sisters Mysteries from Erin Huss. I'm one chapter in so far, so it's too soon to have an opinion on it.
I wondered about The Words I Never Wrote. Thanks, Jane, for your comments about it. I imagine Tudor's book is quite a change!
Margie! Thank you. I'd only read journal reviews of Dear Edward, and those are often opposite viewpoints. I trust yours much more.
I understand, Mark, but I always appreciate it when you and others mention books. It might be a title one of us is interested in reading. Thanks!
Thanks for your trust, Lesa. You never know–reading is so personal–but I think you would enjoy Dear Edward. It takes a while to get to the uplifting part, but I thought it was well worth the wait.
Not a lot of reading this week:
After The Flood by Sarah Perry; A gothic/Lovecraft type deal about a guy who goes to a house for no real reason and interacts with some odd people, or are they people?
The Adventures of Frankenstein Vol. 2 by Donald Glut; The Frankenstein Monster is back, and meeting up with mummies, werewolves and Mister Hyde. A collection of novelettes, I'm about half done.
Monster Problems; A kid gets a magical pen, draws a monster, and then has to stop it.
Glen, I just read a note about After the Flood this morning. What did you think?
I'm reading Oona Out of Order and American Dirt. I'm enjoying both books.
Oh, I just sent a copy of Oona Out of Order to a friend, Charlie. Good to know you're enjoying it!
I just started Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke. The writing is lovely, the story pulling me in on page one.
In print, The Tenant by Katrine Engberg and The Other People by CJ Tudor. On audio, The Path Made Clear by Oprah Winfrey.