First, congratulations to the winners of this week’s contest. I’m announcing them now because the next giveaway won’t kick off until Friday, Sept. 11. Alicia K. of Stacyville, IA and Margie B. from El Dorado Hills, CA won the copies of The Finders. What Rose Forgot went to Linda G. from Durham, NC.
How are you doing this week? Are you doing okay? I heard yesterday of a staff member’s relative who ended up in the hospital – stress. I know this is tough on all of us. And, even when we seem okay to others, we might be going through a rough time. Take care of yourself.
I’m not reading much of anything at the present time. I saturated myself with mysteries, working on deadline. And, I have more I need to read to moderate a panel. That means, nothing seems to work right now. I hate it when I can’t settle into a book. I’ll try again tonight.
In the meantime, what are you reading? I hope you’ve found something to enjoy.
Take care of yourself!
I hate spammers.
We're good. I've been reading more non fiction lately: CITY OF NETS (almost done) by Otto Friedrich; JUST KIDS FROM THE BRONX by Arlene Alda; and the very entertaining MY LIFE AS A VILLAINESS: Essays by Laura Lippman.
Just finished Jhumpa Lahiri's second book of stories, UNACCUSTOMED EARTH. I've liked her since seeing the movie version (and then reading the book) of her THE NAMESAKE. Most of her stuff is about people like herself, children of Bengali's who came here from India, and the conflicts between parent and child. I much preferred the first section of this one to the second. Also read the short (too short?) Vera story ("Frozen") you mentioned yesterday, by Ann Cleeves.
I read OUTSIDER, the latest Kate Burkholder by Linda Castillo, and I see what you meant about her behavior. I did really enjoy the stuff with the kids in the Amish family, though.
I'm more than halfway through book five in Val McDermid's DCI Karen Pirie series, BROKEN GROUND. A body is found buried in the Highlands, seemingly from World War II, until they discover he is wearing Nike sneakers from 1995, and has two bullet wounds. Pirie's Cold Case unit takes on the case. Once again she has a (new) nasty boss to contend with, who seems jealous of the positive attention her gets. Book six is coming later this year. McDermid is always worth reading, though my favorite of hers (and one of my all-time favorite mysteries) remains PLACE OF EXECUTION.
I hate spammers, too, Jeff. Some days, I moderate comments, but I don't like to do that on Thursdays when we all talk. I still don't understand why spammers or their bosses think it works on blogs. I take them off as soon as I find them, so they've spent time putting it on there, just to have me delete it.
Yes, that was an extremely short story by Ann Cleeves. But, it wasn't a bad introduction to Vera for anyone who hasn't read her.
Yes. I can't say too much about Kate on the blog. It would spoil the book for other readers. The Amish kids were great, though, weren't they?
I need to try Val McDermid's DCI Karen Pirie series. Time! I need time!
This week I finished A HAPPY CATASTROPHE by Maddie Dawson. It is the sequel to MATCHMAKING FOR BEGINNERS. I enjoyed reading about Marnie and Patrick's journey to happily every after.
Next I gave up on THE FRIENDSHIP LIST by Susan Mallery after 100 pages or so. It just wasn't for me.
Now I am reading EIGHTY DAYS TO NOWHERE by k.c.dyer. The building that houses her uncles' book store and her apartment was won in a poker game. Now the new evil landlord wants to tear it down unless the family can come up with money they don't have. So Romy Keene applies for a job at ExLibris Expeditions, a company that re-creates library journeys. Romy must recreate the Phileas Fogg's journey from Around the World in Eighty Days. So far this is a fun read but it seems a little long to me.
Happy Reading!
We’re doing OK although our town recreation department wants to move our Zumba and Yoga classes from Zoom to outdoors for the fall. Outside doesn’t work for me because of my allergies. My Zumba teacher says she’ll keep doing a Zoom class once a week but I’m going to have to see about getting a Yoga dvd from the library. Hopefully enough people will hate doing Yoga outside at night and they’ll go back to Zoom.
This week I read LINEAGE MOST LETHAL by S.C. Perkins. It took me a while to get into it but I wound up enjoying the story.
NEW YORK DEAD by Stuart Woods is the first book in his Stone Barrington series. I read this because my boyfriend said it was good but I felt it dragged. I could have spent the time reading something better.
An ARC of CAKE POPPED OFF by Kim Davis. It’s the second book in her cupcake caterer mystery series. I really like the characters and the story had a twist I wasn’t expecting.
Right now I’m reading a vampire story, BLOOD RIGHTS by Kristen Painter. I’ll finish this one but I probably won’t read the rest of the series. I prefer the author’s humorous paranormal romances.
Thanks for the heads up on FROZEN. I just read THE MOTH CATCHIER in July. Our Kentucky libraries Overdrive doesn’t have THE DARKEST EVENING yet – I’ll keep trying. I love the Vera TV series (I’ve sadly watched all of them) but it had been awhile since I’d read one of the books. So good.
I’m doing pretty good – some days better, or worse, than others. I am reading a lot. There was a period when I just couldn’t concentrate. Recently finished Fredrick Backman”s AND EVERY DAY THE WAY HOME GETS LONGER AND LONGER. I’m looking forward to ANXIOUS PEOPLE. I do love his books.
Off to the Farmers’ Market to pickup my order.
Stay well – and stay away from crowds this weekend.
I can fully appreciate the emotions that many are experiencing. I think most of us are stressed at some level. So many uncertainties about so many things. it's hard to maintain an even balance.
Meanwhile, I've been reading a lot. Too hot to even be outside (temps 100+). Fortunately, right now I have a good cache of books to choose from.
I read The Book Charmer (K. Hawkins) last week. Fell in love with it and kept reading slower so it would last longer! Just finished Hawthorn Woods by Patrick Channing. I enjoyed the characters and the mystery as well. Ditto with One by One (Ruth Ware) and The Heatwave by Kate Riordan. Now immersed in the world of Vera Stanhope in Ann Cleeve's Her Darkest Evening.
Altho I read it a while ago, I also recommend The Authenticity Project (C. Pooley) for something that might lift your spirits and Squeeze Me (C. Hiaasen) to make you laugh.
I know you loved Arizona, Lesa, but my sister said it has been unrelenting this summer – over 110 almost every day, with no monsoon to provide any relief. I know, it's a dry heat, but you need a break once in a while!
I'm still having good days and bad days. Yesterday, for some reason, was a bad day.
So today we're going to grab our cameras, along with Annabelle, and go for a ride.
I have read some books that I have really enjoyed. Very much so.
The Paris Model by Alexandra Joel (this was an okay read, predictable, but full of places we've been, Lesa. Always fun to recognize places while reading a book, methinks).
The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly (ARC) I LOVED this (you might too)
Ladies of the House by Lauren Edmondson (ARC) And I LOVED this one (you might too)
and I love you! To the moon and back.
xxoo
Hello, all. I'm doing OK, keeping busy editing the November issue of Sisters in Crime NorCal newsletter and attending two Toastmasters clubs' Zoom meetings, among other more social Zoom gatherings. Here's what I read this week (told in 2 parts because it's too long:
Sandy, I also read LINEAGE MOST LETHAL by SC Perkins. I thought the second in the Ancestry Detective Mystery series was just as much fun as the first. Genealogist Lucy is working on a big project for a client whose family owns a boutique luxury hotel when an elderly man appears at the hotel door, utters some cryptic words, hands over a Montblanc pen, and collapses, dead. Lucy turns to her grandfather, who collects Montblancs, for some help in the ensuing investigation, and learns more about him and about his military experience than she ever knew. What I really appreciate about these books is the depiction of the extent of a genealogist's job, which is fascinating, and the character of Lucy. I hope there are more to come.
In latest in Rhys Bowen's series about Lady Georgie, THE LAST MRS. SUMMERS, Georgie has recently renounced her (extremely unlikely) succession to the throne of England after marrying her beloved Darcy. When Darcy has to leave for an undercover mission, Georgie is lonely in their new home and accepts her friend Belinda's invitation to check out Belinda's newly inherited house in Cornwall. As the house turns out to be barely habitable, the pair accepts an invitation from Belinda's bland childhood acquaintance Rose to spend a few nights in her mansion, where she lives with her rakish husband Tony and their overbearing housekeeper. It all leads to a murder accusation for Belinda, who had a brief affair with Tony years ago and who is found holding a bloody knife over Tony's body (in Belinda's bed). With Belinda being held by the police, Georgie has to jump in to help the police figure out what really happened and how other deaths may be connected. In this entry which echoes DuMaurier's Rebecca, the author's storytelling capabilities are as strong as ever, but the usual supporting characters are largely absent, so I wouldn't say it is one of the stronger books in the series.
In CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR by Hallie Ephron, Emily abandons her career as a teacher when her stop-action video showing her cleaning out her sock drawer and abandoning the socks that don't "spark joy" goes viral. She and a life coach friend team up in a professional organizing company. It's ironic that Emily's husband is an obsessive hoarder, but at least he stores his finds in the basement. Two of the team's clients, however, are proving to be problematic, ultimately leading to a dead body in a storage facility filled with old books and maps that may be valuable (or stolen). I would classify this book as "thriller light" (no graphic violence) and I found the depiction of Emily's new career interesting. A fun read, even though a part of the ending seemed rather unlikely.
Part 2:
I was a fan of Eve Chase's writing in her two previous novels, and THE DAUGHTERS OF FOXCOTE MANOR is just as good. The story takes place in 1970s England and in current-day London. And yes, the stories are linked, but just how they are linked is unraveled tantalizingly slowly. In 1970, the Harringtons' youngest has died at birth and their home in London has burned down, so they move to Foxcote Manor. Mother Julia is inconsolable and has spent time in a mental institution, and her husband is absent. Teenage daughter Hera finds an abandoned baby in the forest (sounds like another book I read recently) and her (and younger brother Teddy's) mother rallies, with the help of a man who may be the baby's father. In the present day, Sylvie has left her cheating husband and is trying to guide her daughter to a place at Oxford University when something unthinkable happens. There are deaths and life-changing events, all told by a masterful storyteller.
In Jenn McKinlay's PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA, Chelsea is a superstar leading her team in fundraising for cancer research, but her personal life has been stunted since the death of her mother seven years ago. Now her father announces he is engaged to a woman he met two weeks ago. When Chelsea can't even find it in herself to congratulate him, her sister calls her on giving up on her life and her family. So Chelsea takes a personal leave from her job and plans a trip to Ireland, France and Italy to try to find her previous, lighthearted self that was in evidence during a gap-year extended stay in Europe, where she fell in love three times. Of course, things don't turn out exactly as she had planned, not to mention interference from her workplace nemesis, Jason, who is annoying as he is dogged. Very entertaining.
I have to jump in here – I, too, loved Arizona. We lived there for 15 years. In fact, Lesa’s time there & mine overlapped. I lived in Glendale (Arrowhead Ranch) & the Foothills Library was completed not long after we arrived. It was such a relief to not have the long drive to the Main Library but I missed the beautiful grounds – and the peacocks! Two things I liked most about Foothills: 1. the Chihuly in the main room, 2. the drive-up window. I actually volunteered to man the window one afternoon a week. But I don’t remember welcoming the monsoon – it was still hot & now there was humidity, too!
Sharon, I'm on the waiting list for Eighty Days to Nowhere, so keep me posted.
Sandy, Love your comment that you could have spent the time reading something better. I like S.C. Perkins, but I know the books can feel draggy at times.
SallyB, Since The Darkest Evening is released next Tuesday, maybe your OverDrive will have it next week. I just ordered it today for next week. Good luck with that.
I know what you mean – ups and downs. Take care of yourself.
Jane, I'm waiting for One by One and The Darkest Evening. Well, I should say, I'm waiting to read them. I have a copy of The Darkest Evening, and just haven't been able to read this week. So, I didn't even try it. I want to enjoy it when I do read it.
Yes, emotional ups and downs. Take care of yourself!
You're right, Jeff. You do need a break now and then. I still prefer Arizona over Florida, though. The humidity in Florida got too me. I understand that heat has been unbearable, and unbreakable, though.
I know exactly what you mean, Kaye. Some days are better than others. You, Donald and Annabelle enjoy that trip today. A change of scenery. I'm heading to Mom's tomorrow – a change of scenery & a change to family. I couldn't wait any longer. Sending you lots of hugs! I love you back.
Margie, I loved Lucy's grandfather in Lineage Most Lethal. I hope to see more of him. And, you're right. The details about a genealogist's job and research are fascinating. And, of course, I enjoyed Jenn's book with its settings in two of my favorite places – Ireland and Paris.
Sally! My old stomping grounds. I lived very close to Foothills Library, although I worked at Velma Teague. I miss the desert.
It's been a week. I've been working hard at work because it is quarter end (we have a slightly off fiscal year and I'm an accountant). Just when I think I am getting my head above water, along comes an auditor request I had no clue about and I feel like they are throwing water right at my face. And mind you, today was going to be a quick chance to catch my breath before the crazy starts again tomorrow. (We have deadlines that are ignoring the long weekend and I'm hoping I can keep my working to a minimum.)
The bright side is that I'm enjoying DEATH IN THE STACKS, one of Jenn McKinlay's Library Lovers Mysteries. She's got cameos from her other series characters in it, and I'm really enjoying seeing them pop up.
Hope your reading funk is over soon.
My sister is in Scottsdale. We went to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, which is only a few minutes from her house.
When we used to go visit my parents (in Surprise) we usually stayed in Glendale or Peoria.
I have been watching the US Tennis Open. Nice distraction and can usually read at the same time.
Reading Shamed by Linda Castillo, very good. Next up is library loan of Guest Book. Waiting for my Louise Penny book. Should arrive today and the new Vera is on pre order as is the new Comorron Strike by Robert Galbraith.
All this should keep me happy this Labor Day weekend as Southern California is in for a heat wave mid 90’s due in Long Beach.
Good evening everyone – it’s past 11pm here and I’ve just remembered it’s ‘What are you reading?’ day!
Jeff, is there really a place called Surprise?! American names never cease to amaze me!
I’m about to finish my Miss Read book, The School at Thrush Green, which I am absolutely loving. Because I am such a fan of Barbara Pym, people often tell me that such and such an author is just like her, and they NEVER are, but sometimes I think Miss Read comes close, with her dry humour and social comedy.
I found The Gardens of Covington in myTBR stack – it’s ages since I read a Covington book but I do remember enjoying it, so this might be my next read.
Just been watching another episode of Monarch of the Glen, which is always fun.
Today was very sunny with a cool breeze so I walked along the old railway line path to the charity shop at Bieldside, which is part of the Camphill Community. It’s the first time I’ve been into a charity shop since March, and although this is a small one it was so nice to have a browse of all the books. I only bought two – one was a Val McDermid in fact. The shop has had so many donations that you can hardly move in there, and they are asking people to hang on to their stuff for a few more weeks – so many of us seem to have spent lockdown turning out our cupboards.
I believe it is a holiday weekend in the US? In which case, have a lovely time everyone.
Oh, Mark. I wish you'd get a break. First you lose co-workers, then you're overwhelmed, and they ignore "Labor Day". Geez, I'm sorry.
I'm glad you have a Jenn McKinlay book to cheer you up. She tends to do that. Sending hugs and wishes for a little breathing time for you.
Oh, good, DJ. I hope you get your books before the weekend, so you have some great books ahead of you. Enjoy!
Rosemary, I can attest to the fact that there is a Surprise, Arizona. Yes, we do have some unusual names here.
Miss Read. Every time you mention one of those books, it takes me back. Those were so good. I wonder if you can even get them in this country now. I'll have to check.
I think of you walking and enjoying the countryside. Because I'm heading home tomorrow, I'll be able to walk and enjoy Lake Erie. (Northern Ohio, Rosemary)
Sending hugs and thanks for all your beautiful notes and descriptions.
Rosemary, yes. West of Phoenix are several Del Webb (you could Google him) communities: Sun City, Sun City West, Sun City Grand, where my parents lived. When they moved out there, there was really not much else in Surprise, but it has been built up over the last 20+ years, especially once the Arizona Diamondbacks (yes, that is their name) put their spring training facilities there.
And no, I wouldn't want to live there.
I'm doing all right, although the poor air quality has got me down a little. This weekend we get over 100 degree heat. Joy.
I read all e-books again
The Melted Pineapple; Psychic detective investigates his own building. Sort like the plot to Ghost Busters without the comedy.
Gods of Redemption; An older super agent pursues a terrorist. Unexpected ending to what is otherwise a run of the mill book.
Pipe Dreams; A Colorado cowboy goes to China and finds himself in soap opera problems.
The Case of the Unhealthy Health Club; When a guy dies in a sauna, his wife sues, and brings a lawyer into the case. The puzzle is okay, but the detective is a cipher.
Wizard of Trope is RPGlit. I've never read a good RPGlit book. Ever.
World Football Domination: Iceland has the greatest soccer team in the world reveals its sci fi secrets to the world, and China tries to steal them.
I miss having a stack of ARCs! But I'm glad that ILL is back at our library. Even so I'm buying a few books because I don't want to wait. This week my husband and I both read SQUEEZE ME by Carl Hiassen. It's very topical — the first novel to reference the Covid pandemic — and very, very, very funny. Now I'm reading THE GIRLS OF ERIETOWN by Connie Schulz. Well-written. I bought ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE by Louise Penny for my husband and I "bought" the Audible download of it — I love the narration of the series. It's my next listening after I finish listening to MANITOU CANYON by William Kent Krueger.
….Did I say I miss having a stack of ARCs?….
Glen, I need to know what RPGlit means. I have no idea. Thanks, if you read this!
Oh, I know -Role playing something, right?
Nann, I miss ARCs as well. I haven't received near as many this year. I hope they come back soon. Macmillan (Minotaur) has been sending some.
t stands for Role Playing Game Literature.
Thank you, Glen!