First, before we start talking about books and what we’re reading, I want to congratulate the winners of the last contest of 2022. Both copies of Santa’s Little Yelpers are heading to Illinois. Carrie C. from Orland Park and Diane K. from Darien are the winners. Cheryl F. from Lancaster, OH won A Surprise for Christmas. I’m mailing all the books on Saturday.
I hope everyone had the Thanksgiving you wanted – with family, friends, or a quiet one at your own home. I talked with family and went to my best friend’s. And, my cat, Josh, and I enjoyed a quiet evening.
Lauren Elliott, author of the Beyond the Page Bookstore mysteries, is launching a new series with Steeped in Secrets. It’s the first Crystals and CuriosiTEAS mystery. Shay Meyers isn’t sure why she inherited a New Age crystals and tea shop from a woman she barely knew. She’s returned home to Bray Harbor on the Monterey Peninsula, discovering she owns the shop and a beach cottage. But, she’s only exploring the shop with the realtor when she finds a body. And, the pub owner next door is immediately arrested by the sheriff who hates him.
I haven’t read much of the book, but I think I”m going to like this cozy mystery with a mature amateur sleuth with intuitive gifts. We’ll see.
What about you? Have you had time to read much this week, or have you been too busy? Let us know “What Are You Reading?”
We had a lovely Thanksgiving, and I hope everyone else did too. I am commenting early because we will be going out for a walk in the morning and won’t be home before midday; trying to get one more walk in for the week, especially after eating so much today. My husband will be trying out a new lens on one of his cameras.
We did watch two movies today: TOPKAPI, a heist movie from 1964 with Melina Mercouri, Maximian Schell, Peter Ustinov, Akim Tamiroff, and Robert Morley; and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, a 1981 movie with Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasance, Ernest Borgnine, and Adrienne Barbeau. Friday night we will watch GROSSE POINTE BLANK, a black comedy released in 1997, with John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Joan Cusack, Jeremy Piven and Dan Aykroyd.
And I finished a book in the last week: THE MAID by Nita Prose. It was Margie Bunting’s comments on The Maid here that got me interested in the book, plus Lesa’s review. I don’t often read books in the same year that they are published. I was very glad I read it, I liked Molly the maid, and I liked the way the story was told.
I’m so glad you enjoyed The Maid, Tracy. I liked it enough to re-read it for a book club. I can’t wait to see what the author will come up to with next.
Tracy, As Margie said, I’m glad you enjoyed The Maid.
And, I hope you had a good walk this morning. Time together, movies, good books. That’s what makes for a good holiday.
Working on Desert Star. I am not happy with it. Don’t want to cause spoilers so I will keep my mouth shut.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
I’m sorry, Kevin, that Desert Star isn’t working for you.
Finished it this afternoon and not happy with how it ended. Not going to write a review for this one or the Longmire one. Not sure if it is me and this time of year or the books. I suspect it is a bit of both.
Kevin, I don’t believe it’s you. I emailed you to say why I don’t think it’s you.
Happy ‘Day After Thanksgiving’! We stayed close to home and had a lovely day.
I finished Lisa Jewell’s THE FAMILY REMAINS 2022 earlier this week.
“A woman was killed in that house. This must remain the focus and I will keep making people cry for a long as it takes to find out who did it and why”
A murder took place twenty-some years ago, but the remains were just discovered by a mudlark near the Thames. Multiple characters and plot lines unfold and then converge toward the solution.
I read this as a free-standing novel, but it ties back to a previous book, The Family Upstairs. That one is now on my holds list. Wonderful storyteller.
And I ventured down the rabbit-hole of NPR’s updated “Books We Love”. Mix and match category filters reveal 3,200 recommendations from NPR staff and trusted critics over the last ten years. One thing leads to another and another. Just looking at the cover art is a pleasure.
Oh, dear, MM. Talk about a TBR trap – NPR’s list. I’ll have to take a look at the updated one, although I have seen it before. So many lists are too literary for my taste, but I know you read more literary books than I do.
I’m glad you had a lovely Thanksgiving!
Quiet Thanksgiving here this year so it was relaxing.
I’m just on the last couple chapters of The Ghost and the Stolen Tears by Cleo Coyle. I love this series so much!
I love that series, too, Deb. I know the Coyles have had more success with the Coffeehouse Mysteries, but, despite the NYC setting for those, I prefer this series.
Quiet holidays are often the best.
Happy Thanksgiving, all! For fun I started the Nora Robert series mentioned last week. On the more serious side I also started a biography of Jim Thorpe, A Path Lit by Lightning. It does a nice job of placing his life in cultural and historical context, at least so far. The book is full of grim and detailed reminders of how awfully our country has treated Native Americans. I feel like I picked it up at just the right time so I could acknowledge that history right around the time we tend to gloss it over.
Trisha, I’ve been to Jim Thorpe, PA and was surprised to find out that he had no connection with the town.
Trisha, I hope you enjoy the Nora Roberts series. The Choice is going on my list of favorite books for the year.
Happy Thanksgiving. We had a quiet day at home watching the parade and the dog show.
I read KEEPER OF ENCHANTED ROOMS By Charlie N Holmberg. A down on his luck author inherits a house that’s possessed by a wizard’s spirit and a local organization that specializes in caring for magic houses sends him a housekeeper to help him deal with it. I enjoyed the beginning and end of the book but the middle dragged.
I started WHERE THE GUILTY HIDE by Annette Dashofy. It’s the first book in her new police detective mystery series set at Lake Eerie. This one has the detectives trying to solve a series of home invasions. The book starts off at a crime scene and she fills in the background information as the story goes along which keeps the story moving. So far I’m enjoying it.
I love the dog show, Sandy.
Annette Dashofy’s book does sound interesting. I hope it continues to hold up!
I hope everyone had a day that suited them to a “T” yesterday.
I’m slowly savoring a book that I’m fairly certain will be on my favorites list this year.
A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella is a gorgeously written novel with passages i stop to re-read because they’re filled with beauty..
“Set in a close-knit Pennsylvania suburb in the grip of winter, A Quiet Life follows three people grappling with loss and finding a tender wisdom in their grief.
Chuck Ayers used to look forward to nothing so much as his annual trip to Hilton Head with his wife, Cat—that yearly taste of relaxation they’d become accustomed to in retirement, after a lifetime of working and raising two children. Now, just months after Cat’s death, Chuck finds that he can’t let go of her things—her favorite towel, the sketchbooks in her desk drawer—as he struggles to pack for a trip he can’t imagine taking without her.
Ella Burke delivers morning newspapers and works at a bridal shop to fill her days while she anxiously awaits news—any piece of information—about her missing daughter. Ella adjusts to life in a new apartment and answers every call on her phone, hoping her daughter will reach out one day.
After the sudden death of her father, Kirsten Bonato set aside her veterinary school aspirations, finding comfort in the steady routine of working at an animal shelter. But as time passes, old dreams and new romantic interests begin to surface—and Kirsten finds herself at another crossroads.
In this beautifully crafted and profoundly moving novel, three parallel narratives converge in poignant and unexpected ways, as each character bravely presses onward, trying to recover something they have lost. Emotionally riveting and infused with hope, A Quiet Life celebrates humanity in the midst of uncertainty.”
Happy Birthday Eve, Kaye! I hope you’re continuing to celebrate! Sending hugs!
Good morning, all! I enjoyed Thanksgiving at my daughter-in-law’s sister’s house, a 2-hour drive but well worth it. First time I haven’t cooked a turkey on Thanksgiving for years! However, I did buy a turkey breast before I knew I wouldn’t be home for Thanksgiving, so I will be inviting my immediate family over some time before Christmas for a second holiday dinner (my son will be getting a Honey Baked Ham from his boss for the December holiday). Can’t wait! I did manage to make it through three books this week.
If you enjoyed the first two books in Mia P. Manansala’s Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series, you will be happy with BLACKMAIL AND BIBINGKA, not to mention with the news that there will be at least three more in the series. Conveniently located next door to her beloved Aunt Rosie’s restaurant, Lila Macapagal’s new Brew-ha Cafe is doing well. But when Lila learns her wayward cousin Ronnie is back in town after a 15-year absence, she can’t help worrying that he will once again break the heart of his mother, Tita Rosie. Ronnie and his partners have purchased a winery in the town of Shady Palms, and he says he is back to stay, but when one of his investors dies after drinking some of his wine, Ronnie becomes a person of interest. Regardless of how she feels about perennial loser Ronnie, Lila feels she must help exonerate him for the benefit of the whole family. I enjoy reading about the dynamics of this interesting family and their friends, especially three of Lila’s pushy godmothers nicknamed the Calendar Crew (their names are April, Mae and June). And there are delicious-sounding Filipino recipes to boot. It’s a light, breezy read, and this one is Christmas-adjacent as well.
Since prolific mystery novelist Augusta Hawke’s first adventure as an amateur sleuth, she has decided to take the private investigator certification course and passed with flying colors. In INVITATION TO A KILLER, although she has 19 successful novels to her credit (still working on the 20th, to her editor’s frustration), she can’t help getting involved when a well-known plastic surgeon and philanthropist dies in a suspicious manner at a dinner party. Doc Burke and Augusta are among the dinner guests of Callie, a DC socialite and lobbyist’s wife who wants Augusta to ghost-write her memoir in the hope that it will lead to an overseas ambassadorship. The other attendees, including a one-name stylist, a CIA employee, a prominent literary agent, a nearly-disgraced politician and a couple of wives, have their own agendas, and serving them are the requisite (possibly suspicious) butler and the housekeeper/chef couple. The Augusta Hawke mysteries are not gritty or violent–they are clearly meant to be fun reads, and quite a bit of suspension of disbelief is required. In her self-professed investigator role, with very little contact with law enforcement (in this book), Augusta somehow plows through a quite convoluted plot, a tangle of clues and twists, and many suspects, culminating in an Agatha Christie-type “let’s get all the suspects in the same room and reveal the killer” event. I enjoyed going along for the ride and look forward to future adventures. (Feb)
In Sangu Mandanna’s THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES, Mika Moon found herself an orphan after her mother and grandmother–both witches–died when she was very young. A budding witch herself, Mika was rescued by an older witch, Primrose, who secured a series of nannies to raise Mika in comfort in her absence. But none of the nannies loved her, and many didn’t even remember her, having had their memories erased by Primrose after they witnessed her witchy powers. Primrose feels responsible for the safety of a large group of witches in England and has established rules forbidding them from living together or even meeting outside of a quarterly group encounter so that they don’t reveal their identities and risk persecution and worse. It’s a lonely life for Mika, so at age 31 she decides to strike out on her own, accepting a job at Nowhere House in Norwich training three young orphaned witches–age 10, 8, and 6–who have been taken in by a supportive group of caring adults: an attractive onsite librarian with trust issues resulting from his troubled childhood, two elderly men in a same-sex relationship, and a motherly housekeeper. Together they are committed to helping the children learn to use and control their powers, while keeping them away from those who would separate them, ultimately becoming a found family. I particularly enjoyed the way magic is defined here: appearing like gold dust to accomplished witches, it exists as external energy and WANTS to be used, although it is also mischievous. I loved this charming story, which held my interest throughout and would recommend it, although the use of profane language in this type of story felt jarring and unnecessary.
Like you, Margie, I bought a turkey breast before I was invited to Donna’s for Thanksgiving, so I’ll have it for Christmas. I’m glad you enjoyed your holiday!
I just didn’t care for the character of Augusta Hawke when I read the first book, and I won’t be going back. Profanity does sound odd for the witches book.
I do enjoy Mia Maransala’s books, though.
Had a quiet birthday/Thanksgiving celebration here yesterday. (I did talk to one of my sisters.) Got some reading done and we watched a movie I hadn’t seen in probably 50 years, which Jackie had never seen before – the 1961 PARIS BLUES, with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier, Diahann Carroll, and Louis Armstrong. It was amazing how much I remembered of it. The most memorable scene was when Armstrong brings his group to the cellar where Newman and Poitier play (yes, they are both musicians) and jams with them. But I also enjoyed all the black & white scenes of them walking around Paris.
On to reading. Jackie loved her Jessie Mihalik book and is awaiting the third in the trilogy, due in May I believe. She has three library books and is reading the Jayne Castle (Jayne Ann Krentz) befoe Chloe Neill and J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts), so she is set for now.
I read: THE STORIES OF BREECE D’J PANCAKE. These are set in his native West Virginia.
CITY DARK by Roger A. Canaf. I discussed this last week. Very good for the most part, but…unfortunately, there is one plot twist that was not acceptable when the “Rules” of detective fiction were laid out 100 years ago by Ronald A> Knox and others, and it is still (to my way of thinking) unacceptable now. (SPOILER ALERT – DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU INTEND TO READ THE BOOK) He introduces, late in the book, a previously unmentioned, long lost identical twin, which turns the entire plot upside down. (END SPOILER) Too bad, because most of it was pretty good.
JEWISH NOIR II edited by Kenneth Wishnia and Chantelle Aimee Osman. Pretty good collection.
IDENTICAL STRANGERS: A MEMOIR OF TWINS SEPARATED AND REUNITED by Elyse Schein & Paula Bernstein. Title says it alll, pretty much. Interesting.
WAITING FOR NOTHING by Tom Kromer. This is dark, very dark. It is an autobiographical novel, originally published in 1935, and narrated by a guy who is down & out in the Depression. Each chapter has him trying to get food to eat, a place to sleep, a ride in a boxcar, etc. It’s raw and stark and well written, a short book that I had to take in small doses because it is pretty hard to read and think about.
Current reading: short story collections by Dan Chaon and Marisa Silver. Also a first mystery set in small town Texas, PAY DIRT ROAD by Samantha Jayne Allen. There is a definite Friday Night Lights feel to it, which I’m sure was intentional. More about it next time.
Happy day after your birthday, Jeff! Kaye’s celebrating all week, so no reason why you can’t.
I have to say that trope in City Dark, which I won’t mention in case someone reads this, just drives me nuts. I’m not a fan of that in mysteries at all. Actually, the psychological suspense in the last few years with sisters, family members, etc., just doesn’t appeal to me. It feels too forced.
I liked Pay Dirt Road. I know it’s a debut with a few debut flaws. I’ll be interested in your comments next week.
My Thanksgiving was a mixed bag. Had a wonderful dinner with my family. Later, I went to a supper at a local Mimi’s Cafe for their Thanksgiving deal. That wasn’t great. We got sat in an isolated part of the restaurant, and didn’t get good service. The bread wasn’t fresh, the soup wasn’t hot, and they were out of dark meat, but they didn’t tell us until we got our soup. In retail that’s called bait and switch. First world problems, I know…
This week I read:
Death is Better At the Lake by Ashley Albi; A literary agent has to return to her small town after being betrayed by her now ex-boyfriend, an author she helped to write his bestsellers. He winds up dead, and she is the primary suspect, and her friend is suspect #2. They both decide to clear their names, a nice change from the usual.
Still Waters by Sarah Driscoll; Most readers here adored this, but I’m afraid I’m a heretic on this one. The solution didn’t fit the puzzle. Either Driscoll wrote so far, and couldn’t figure out who did it, (This happened to Lawrence Bloch in the first Burglar book) or she wrote the ending first, and tried to write a mystery to match, and didn’t quite make it.
Killer Motives by Bonnie L. Traymore; A Hudson Bay Mystery. An entitled couple, under suspicion of murder, tries to keep their marriage together.. I rooted against them the whole time.
Like a Fish Out Of Water by Janice Thompson; A Secret of Martha’s Vineyard entry. Someone gave me a whole shelf of Inspirational mysteries. This one is about a Kansan who inherits a lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard. When she finds a sword behind a secret panel, the island erupts into faction surrounding a century old murder. Like a middle aged Nancy Drew.
I’m glad your family gathering at least was good, Glen. Rather Mimi’s was a bust than the family gathering.
Now, you have me interested in Death is Better at the Lake because you actually liked it!
Are you one of those people who used to root for the villain in old cartoons? I hated Dudley Doright, and used to root for Snidley Whiplash. (spelling might be wrong on the names)
Well, I am a Raiders fan!
Oh, good one when I asked about rooting for the villain!
I found your e-mail spam! AOL thought it was spam. Grrr, that is why I missed it last week! Happy Thanksgiving. We had a great dinner and plenty of good leftovers,
I am listening to Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread and enjoying it. And have started Anne Mateer’s Wings of A Dream. I did not like it at first, I thought the main character spoiled. Her mother received a letter from her sister and wanted Rebekah to come to take care of her in Texas because she had the flu. Well, she went by herself at the age of 19. Rebekah thought it would be great, to get away from home and be closer to the man she had a crush on in Dallas,
Her aunt died of the Spanish flu and now she had the care of four children that her aunt took in when the mother died. The husband is away fighting in WWI. the children range in ages 9 years and three months.
Rebekah has to take care of the children with no money and protect them from the horrible flu epidemic. Now I cannot stop reading it!
That’s what I miss when I go elsewhere for Thanksgiving, Carolee – leftovers. But, I’ll have plenty of turkey for sandwiches at Christmas.
The Spanish flu epidemic is a fascinating period for a book. I’m glad you’re enjoying Wings of a Dream.
Loving a previously unread an oldie: HEAT by William Goldman, which I got into the second half of because Thanksgiving football wasn’t a significant attraction this year.
l’ll watch the Eagles’ this forthcoming Sunday night game and hope they don’t embarrass themselves by playing as poorly as in their past two (won of which they won) match-ups, but tell our friend Kevin Tipple to stop prematurely gloating because the season is a long way from over. Both Eagles and Cowboys have plenty of time to blow it. 🙂
I hope Kevin didn’t gloat too much, but I can understand high hopes, Barry. Both my college football and college basketball teams lost over the holidays – Ohio State and Duke. Not a good weekend. My mother always says, though – “It doesn’t affect my life.”
I understand reading because the game is disappointing.