NanaCC's 2013 Reading - Part 2

Part 2 -
Currently Reading: Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates
The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple Mysteries) by Agatha Christie
World's Great Romances by Various

Currently Listening: Revelation by C. J. Sansom, (Narrated by Steven Crossley)

My 2013 Reads:

39- Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson (Kindle)
38- The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
37- Penmarric by Susan Howatch (Kindle)
36- The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker
35- 4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie (Kindle)
34- Regeneration by Pat Barker
33- Dark Places: A Novel by Gillian Flynn (Kindle)
32- No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin *****
31- Marilyn by Gloria Steinem (Kindle)
30- Full House by M. J. Farrell (Molly Keane)
29- Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (Kindle)
28- The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton (Kindle) *****
27- Seeking Palestine: New Palestinian Writing on Exile and Home Edited by Penny Johnson and Raja Shehadeh *****
26- Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett (Kindle)
25- Mapp & Lucia by E. F. Benson
24- Miss Mapp by E. F. Benson
23- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (Kindle)
22- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
21 They Came To Baghdad by Agatha Christie (Kindle)
20- Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama
19- Lucia in London by E. F. Benson
18- Hide & Seek by Ian Rankin
17- At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill *****
16- Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (Kindle) *****
15-Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell (Kindle)
14- Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin
13- Queen Lucia by E.F. Benson
12- Team Of Rivals: The Political Genius Of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Kindle) *****
11- Enemies, A Love Story (Kindle Single) by Josh Schollmeyer
10- The Sirens Sang of Murder by Sarah Caudwell
9- The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe
8- England, England by Julian Barnes
7- In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
6- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Kindle)
5- The Princess Bride by William Goldman (Kindle) *****
4- Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell *****
3- A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle
2- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (Kindle) *****
1- Cashelmara by Susan Howatch (Kindle)

Audio:

16- Firewall by Henning Mankell, (Narrated by Dick Hill)
15- One Step Behind by Henning Mankell, (Narrated by Dick Hill)
14- Sovereign by C. J. Sansom, (Narrated by Steven Crossley)
13- Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, (Narrated by Patrick Tull)
12- Bossypants by Tina Fey, (Narrated by Tina Fey)
11- Coraline by Neil Gaiman, (Narrated by Neil Gaiman)
10- Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, (Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini)
9- The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankell, (Narrated by Dick Hill)
8- A Test of Wills by Charles Todd, (Narrated by Samuel Giles)
7- Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom, (Narrated by Steven Crossley)
6- Dissolution by C. J. Sansom, (Narrated by Steven Crossley)
5- Peril At End House by Agatha Christie, (Narrated by Hugh Fraser)
4- The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan, the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America by Russell Shorto, (Narrated by L.J. Ganser)
3- Sidetracked by Henning Mankell, (Narrated by Dick Hill)
2- The Man Who Smiled by Henning Mankell, (Narrated by Dick Hill)
1- The White Lioness by Henning Mankell, (Narrated by Dick Hill)

My 2012 Reads:

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (2012 Favorite)
In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden by Kathleen Cambor
The Shortest Way to Hades by Sarah Caudwell
Dulcimer Street by Norman Collins
Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
The Giant's House by Elizabeth McCracken
Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
The Bird Artist by Howard Norman
The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
A Lesson in Secrets: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear
The Mapping of Love and Death: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear
Elegy for Eddie: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear

The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey (Kindle)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (Kindle)
Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum (Kindle)
He Who Fears The Wolf by Karin Fossum (Kindle)
Bad Intentions by Karin Fossum (Kindle)
The Water's Edge by Karin Fossum (Kindle)
Black Seconds by Karin Fossum (Kindle)
The Indian Bride by Karin Fossum (Kindle)
When The Devil Holds The Candle by Karin Fossum (Kindle)
Broken Harbor: A Novel (Dublin Murder Squad) by Tana French (Kindle)
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (Kindle)
The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer (Kindle)
Sick puppy : a novel by Carl Hiaasen (Kindle)
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James (Kindle)
Defending Jacob : a novel by William Landay (Kindle)
Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (Kindle)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Kindle)
Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross) by James Patterson (Kindle)
Far to Go by Alison Pick (Kindle)
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (Kindle)
Dreams of Joy by Lisa See (Kindle)
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson (Kindle)
Mrs. Tim of the Regiment: A Novel by D.E Stevenson (Kindle)

Audio:

War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk (2012 Favorite Audio)
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Water Room: A Bryant & May Mystery by Christopher Fowler
Seventy-Seven Clocks: A Bryant & May Mystery by Christopher Fowler
Ten-second Staircase: A Bryant & May Mystery by Christopher Fowler
White Corridor: A Bryant & May Mystery by Christopher Fowler
The Victoria Vanishes: A Bryant & May Mystery by Christopher Fowler
Bryant and May on the Loose by Christopher Fowler
Bryant & May off the Rails by Christopher Fowler
Bryant & May and the Memory of Blood by Christopher Fowler
Bryant and May and the Invisible Code by Christopher Fowler
Falling Off Air by Catherine Sampson

So many distractions this month, all cutting into my reading time. Finally finished:

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

I loved this book. Newland Archer is reintroduced to the Countess Ellen Olenska on the night that his engagement to Ellen's cousin, May Welland, is announced. He is smitten, but this is 1870's upper class New York City, where scandal is more deadly than disease. Everyone is stifled by rules and conventions. Women rarely speak their minds, and only parrot back the ideas of their husbands or of their parents. Even the men are held back by the constraints of the rules of Society. Interestingly, the man is the main character in the story, and he sees that women are held to different standards. Archer is torn between doing his duty, marrying and remaining faithful to May, or following the free spirited Countess Olenska. He wants his wife to want to experience more. In one scene, Archer is feeling so stifled as he and his wife sit by the fire in the library that he opens the window on a freezing cold night and hangs his head out of the window. May asks him to close the window, and asks if he is ill. After some conversation, she says, "I shall never worry if you're happy." His response, "Ah, my dear; I shall never be happy unless I can open the windows!" I felt that summed up his feelings of being bound by those conventions. There are themes of denial, clinging to the past, wanting changes that are just over the horizon, and, of course the forbidden love, never fully realized. Archer has been sent to fetch the Countess at the train station, and he says, "Do you know--I hardly remembered you?" .... "I mean, how shall I explain? I--it's always so. EACH TIME YOU HAPPEN TO ME ALL OVER AGAIN."

Wharton's writing is wonderful and often witty. She was born into a wealthy New York family, and won the Pulitzer Prize for this insider's look at 1870's New York society.

Nice review of The Age of Innocence, Colleen. I was surprised to read that she won the Pulitzer Prize for this book, as I didn't realize that it existed in 1921! She was the first woman to win the prize for fiction, BTW.

Darryl, she was a very interesting person. According to the "Biography" at the end of the book, her family name was Jones - as in "keeping up with the Joneses". She was friends with Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt, Sinclair Lewis, Andre Gide and other intellectuals of her time.. She was married when she was 23, and after 28 years they divorced (unusual for that time). Besides writing, she was a landscape architect and interior designer. After her divorce, she moved to France, where her good deeds during WWI earned her the honor of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Her life sounds fascinating. I may have to find a book about her.

A fine review of The Age of Innocence and a great choice of quotes. I see you've also read The House of Mirth, which I enjoyed equally as well.

I love, love, love Edith Wharton. I agree she's a fascinating woman. I really enjoyed visiting her estate, The Mount, a few years ago.

Steven, I also enjoyed The House of Mirth. I actually listened to that one on audio a few years ago, while I was still working. It was a most pleasant way to spend my time in the car.

Laura, This was only my second encounter with Wharton, but I have "The Works of" on my Kindle, and plan on working my way through them all. Any recommendations for my next Wharton?

Absolutely! The Custom of the Country is my all-time favorite. I also really enjoyed The Reef and Summer.

Thank you Laura. I just checked, and they are all there. :-) I love it when I know I will like what I have planned. They sound perfect for my two weeks in Cape Cod at the beginning of August.

I'm definitely going to look for The Age of Innocence next library trip.

Avidmom, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

>5 NanaCC: Ask and ye shall receive . . . I have a biography of Edith Wharton, written by Hermione Lee, that I picked up when I visited The Mount. I can pass it along to you this weekend.

And I agree with Laura--The Custom of the Country is terrific.

Sounds great, Chris. I plan on reading No Ordinary Time in September, so will borrow that one too after vacation. :) Love your book shelves.

It's odd, her books would hardly make most people's list of great "beach reads", but Edith Wharton does sound perfect for Cape Cod reading somehow. Of course, two weeks on Cape Cod sounds perfect all on its own!

Linda, I must be odd... :-) because I think they are perfect for vacation. And yes, Cape Cod is quite perfect.

We do this vacation every August. All 7 grandchildren will be there for the second week. 6 of them for the full two weeks. I know that sounds crazy, but they all get along so well, and since they range in age from 17 to 4, we have built in helpers.

>13 cabegley:: I have that Hermione Lee bio too, found in a used bookshop. It's quite a doorstop and I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, Narrated by Patrick Tull

I've had this one on my iPod for several years, but it wasn't until I read Bragan's review of the second book in the series, Post Captain that I finally had the urge to listen to it. The narration by Patrick Tull was wonderful.

It is the story of Captain Jack Aubrey and Irish surgeon Stephen Maturin during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The book is rich in historical and nautical detail. The development of the friendship of Aubrey and Maturin is well done. There is a lot of nautical jargon, which I may or may not have absorbed. Details of the food on and off ship; of the clothes worn by the shipmen from Captain to the lowliest of the crew; of their love of music; of the surgeon's role on board ship; and of the battles - all of these things add to the flavor of military life on board a naval vessel during the Napoleonic Wars. I think that O'Brian used this book to introduce many characters who will appear in future books. There are about 20 books in the series. The prose is wonderful. There were many slow parts that at times seemed to drag a bit, and for that reason, I gave the book 3 1/2 stars. I do recommend this series.

Thank you Bragan for your review of Post Captain. I look forward to listening to that one.

Taking a peek at your thread, I was so interested in your review of The Age of Innocence! I also read it relatively recently, and have watched the Daniel Day-Lewis/Michelle Pfeiffer/Winona Ryder DVD many times. Have you seen it? Did you like the way it interpreted the book?

P.S. I'm dying to read Life After Life.....

Amy, thank you for stopping by. I haven't seen any movie adaptations of The Age of Innocence. I probably should rectify that, as I am sure the story would make a lovely movie. May I assume that since you have watched the version you mention more than once that you liked the interpretation? I love movies that take place in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The costumes are usually amazing.

Life After Life is a terrific book, IMO. I would love to know what you think of it once you do read it. It is one that I will read again some day.

Miss Mapp by E. F. Benson

In the third book of the Make Way For Lucia series, the character of Miss Mapp is the centerpiece. Miss Mapp and the other quirky characters of this novel live in the fictional town of Tilling. Lucia does not appear in this book, as the book is intended to introduce the character of Miss Mapp who will bump heads with Lucia in the next volume.

Once again, we have a small town where the lives of everyone are fodder for gossip and one-upmanship. The difference is that in Lucia, the town of Riseholme revolves around their "Queen", Lucia, where Miss Mapp is the equal of the townsfolk of Tilling, and therefore there is more scheming and backstabbing involved to out maneuver the other residents. And Miss Mapp can be vindictive if she doesn't get her way. All of this is done hilariously.

I love the opening line -

"Miss Elizabeth Mapp might have been forty, and she had taken advantage of this opportunity by being just a year or two older."

Miss Mapp's house is situated at the top of a road where she has full view of the residents as they pass by on the street below. She sits behind her curtain with a notebook at her side, making many assumptions about their comings and goings (many of which are incorrect), and these lead to many comical situations. She keeps her eye on her two nearest neighbors, Major Flint and Captain Puffin, as one never knows when they may succumb to her charms. She also keeps an eye on her rival and friend Diva.

""Peace on earth and mercy mild," sang Miss Mapp, holding her head back with her uvula clearly visible. She sat in her usual seat close below the pulpit, and the sun streaming in through a stained-glass window opposite made her face of all colors, like Joseph's coat. Not knowing how it looked from outside, she pictured to herself a sort of celestial radiance coming from within, though Diva, sitting opposite, was reminded of the iridescent hues observable on cold boiled beef. But then, Miss Mapp had registered the fact that Diva's notion of singing alto was to follow the trebles at the uniform distance of a minor third below, so that matters were about square between them."

There are many situations that made me laugh. Miss Mapp is so absurd, that I am looking forward to her meeting Lucia in the next book. Their clashing personalities will make for more fun. I recommend this clever series.

Also, I must note that the edition I read included a short story at the end called The Male Impersonator. In this very short story, Diva definitely outwits Miss Mapp.

Good stuff!

>18 NanaCC:: Despite having rated it the same, it sounds like you might actually have enjoyed Master and Commander slightly more than I did, in which case I'd bet you'll really like Post Captain.

Hi again! Yes, I loved that film version of The Age of Innocence. :-) Much better, in my opinion, than the Gillian Anderson version of The House of Mirth.

>23 bragan: Betty, I think you set my expectations with your review. I looked at it as if the book was intended to introduce characters and set up the relationship between Aubrey and Maturin. The narrator, Patrick Tull, was excellent, and his reading made the slow bits easier to get through. If I had been reading it, I might have glossed over those parts. From your review, I am assuming you liked Post Captain more, so I am looking forward to reading it at some point.

>24 amysisson: Amy, I will definitely look for that film. Daniel Day Lewis is excellent in just about anything in which I've seen him.

Miss Mapp sounds like good fun! I need to get moving on this series, I've read the first and have the next 3 on my shelves.

>26 lauralkeet: Laura, I enjoyed Miss Mapp and couldn't wait to see what happens when she and Lucia meet. So despite promising myself that I was not going to do back to back books in the series, I started Mapp & Lucia last night. It is not disappointing me. Fun, indeed!

Enjoying your reviews of the E F Benson novels.

>25 NanaCC:: That makes sense. I will admit that some of the slower and more nautical terminology-laden sections of Master and Commander made my eyes glaze over a bit and were hard to get through; I can see where experiencing it in audio might help one get past those parts more easily. In any case, yes, I did find Post Captain a much easier read, and much more consistently enjoyable. I hope you'll like it as much as I did.

>28 baswood: Barry, have you read them? I loved the blurb on the cover of the one I am reading now. "If you do become a Luciaphile - and of course, you will - you'll be in the company of Noel Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, W.H. Auden and Cyril Ritchard."

>29 bragan: Betty, I am currently listening to Sovereign by C. J. Sansom. I am loving this series. I have a couple of long car rides coming up when I drive up to Cape Cod. However, I will have grandchildren in the car, so neither Sovereign nor Post Captain will do. Will the Neil Gaiman you recently reviewed, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, be OK for 10 - 14 year olds?

Ooops, I just read the review on Audible, and it says it is definitely not for children.

Mapp & Lucia

Now, That was fun.

When I started reading the Lucia series, I promised myself that I would not read the books one after the other. However, after finishing Miss Mapp on Wednesday, I decided that I had to find out what happened when the two divas meet for the first time. I was not disappointed. Sparks and fireworks.

Benson's series is a commentary on upper middle class society in England during the period of time between WWI and WWII. The people filling the pages of these books do not need to work. Their lives consist of gossip, art, music, tea parties, bridge and golf, and of course, one-upmanship. There is no internet or texting or email, so notes are sent delivering invitations to tea, to dinner, and to bridge games. Cars are a luxury, and big motorcars on tiny streets make for amusing situations. Morning marketing allows ample time for gossip.

In the previous book, we are introduced to Miss Elizabeth Mapp. Miss Mapp considers herself to be the head of Tilling society. She is underhanded and vindictive in her efforts to out maneuver everyone else. In the fourth book, Mapp & Lucia, Emmeline Lucas (Lucia to her friends) moves from the town of Riseholme to the seaside town of Tilling, much to the chagrin of Miss Mapp. She quickly becomes a favorite of the townsfolk, and Miss Mapp is not happy. She resolves to keep Lucia in her place, and constantly plots to outwit the newcomer. Lucia is up to the task however, being a bit devious herself. The result leads to many comical scenes. The supporting characters are just as entertaining. Lucia's best friend Georgie Pillson is one of my favorite characters. Georgie is the only character who truly remains faithful to Lucia through every misunderstanding, while the other characters continually change their support from Miss Mapp to Lucia at the drop of a hat.

All of this is very tongue in cheek, and very silly in a most delightful way. I think a fan of Wodehouse would definitely enjoy this series.

I've pretty much decided to pick up Lucia in London after I finish my current read. It keeps calling my name from the shelves!

Laura, it is light entertainment. I think you will like it.

Colleen I have not read any E F Benson novels, but you are going through them at a rate of knots.

>34 baswood: Barry, I am holding off on the last two for a while. I will be sad when they are done. Silly nonsense. But very funny.

>30 NanaCC:: I don't know that I'd say The Ocean at the End of the Lane is definitely not acceptable for children, but it probably does fall in the "parental guidance is advised" category, as it may be a little scary for some kids and does have some allusions to sex (although those may be likely to go over the head of younger kids, just as they go over the head of the seven-year-old protagonist).

>36 bragan: Betty, I think I would have to read or listen to The Ocean at the End of the Lane before listening with the kids. Based upon your review, I will definitely be reading it myself. It sounds quite good. :)

Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett

"It has seldom fallen to our lot as journalists to record a more remarkable instance of escape from the perils of shipwreck, and subsequent providential deliverance from the privations of a desolate island, after two years' sojourn, than that we have now to furnish. -- Southland News, July 29, 1865"

The Auckland Islands lie south of New Zealand, and remain uninhabited even today, where they remain a nature reserve. Attempts to build settlements and cultivate the land have never worked, mainly due to very harsh year round weather conditions and poor soil. The islands are mountainous, and the rocky coastline has proven disastrous for many ships. The main island, Auckland, is about 26 treacherous miles long. At the northern end, Port Ross is the site of the first attempt at a whaling settlement, Hardwicke, which lasted only two and half years starting in 1849. At the southern end there is a narrow channel called Carnley Harbor. This is where this true adventure story begins.

On January 3, 1864, the Schooner Grafton was shipwrecked on the southern end of the main island of the Auckland Islands. The crew of five included: the captain, Thomas Musgrave, a master mariner and gifted navigator; Francois Raynal, a Frenchman who had spent eleven years prospecting in the goldfields of New South Wales and Victoria; George Harris, a twenty year old Englishman with many years sailing experience; a twenty-eight year old Norwegian, Alexander Maclaren (Alick), with a good sailing record; and a Portuguese cook named Henry Forges. As the ship broke apart, they salvaged as much as they could, including Raynal's gun, and set up camp.

Four months later on May 10, 1864, the ship Invercauld, with its crew of twenty five shipwrecked on the northwestern end of the island. The crew included: the captain, George Dalgarno; Robert Holding, a twenty-three year old, who like Raynal, had spent time on the Australian goldfields; the first mate, Andrew Smith; and the second mate, an American seaman, James Mahoney. Neither group knew about the other.

The story details the differences in the way the two groups dealt with their predicament. And they were very very different.

The Grafton crew worked as a team, selected the captain as their leader, dropped their class differences, and did amazing things with the limited number of resources at their disposal. A cabin, forge, bellows, nails, and soap are only a few of the things that they created with their resourcefulness. The Grafton crew's saga lasted until the end of August 1865. A year and seven months of extreme hardship.

The Invercauld crew was a very different story. The captain and his first officers refused to give up their class roles. The captain's lack of leadership and resourcefulness resulted in death for most of the crew, and several members even resorted to cannibalism. The Invercauld survivors were rescued about a year later at the end of May, 1865.

Who knew that seals and sea lions were so nimble on land:

"the castaways had learned a great deal about their prey, including the best method of tackling them. As Raynal described, the prescription for approaching a mature sea lion was to fix the animal's gaze, "and, without hesitating, advance straight upon him, until you are near enough to deal a blow on his head with your cudgel exactly between the two eyes." It was crucial to hit the target exactly. If the animal did not fall at once..........., the next move was to whirl about, run like hell, "and leave the field open for him to regain the sea." Not only could a hurt and angry sea lion maul a man with his tusks and crush him to death with his weight but he was unnervingly agile on land, being perfectly prepared to pursue a fleeing castaway up a cliff if he was not given the chance to plunge back into the surf instead."

"..........Musgrave was alone when he set out to climb the mountain to the northeast of camp........To his surprise, there were many signs of sea lions...."In going up I found seal tracks nearly to the top of the mountain, which I reckon is about four miles from the water; and about three miles up I saw a seal."

This non-fiction story is a page turner that reads like fiction. If it were not for the fact that the story is true, you would find it implausible. I gave it 4 stars.

Edited to add:
It might be fair to note that while the leadership and comaraderie of the Grafton crew aided in their survival, there were other factors which may have added to their success. They were shipwrecked in January, and while the year round weather conditions of this subarctic island are harsh, it was summer. The Invercauld crew on the other hand, were stranded in May at the approach of winter. The Grafton did not completely break up and afforded much needed materials for the crew. They also had Raynal's gun which would prove helpful in the search for food. The Invercauld was quickly lost, and gave the crew little time for salvage of any kind. Both Raynal of the Grafton, and Holding of the Invercauld had spent time on the goldfields in Australia, and had learned techniques that would help with their survival, but it was the complete lack of leadership of the Invercauld's captain, who refused to take advantage of any suggestions made by Holding, that may have made the biggest difference.

I'm so glad you liked this one! I've been trying to convince others to read it. It's such a fascinating story, and almost too hard to believe. "Page turner" is an apt phrase.

Regarding the Aubrey and Maturin series, there is a lexicon available for those swimming in sea jargon: A Sea of Words: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian. (Nana--we have it on Kindle.)

I do love a good shipwreck. What led you to this book?

Well, my daughter, Chris (cabegley) had just finished it and said I would love it. We do have similar tastes. It was a kindle daily deal a while ago for $1.99. She read the description and at that price, who could resist.

Catching up, and happy to finally have the time to do so. My kids (nine and twelve) really enjoyed Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey as an audiobook recently. It's a fun story that I enjoyed too, which is not always the case!

Thank you, Kay. Audible has this one, so I think I will download it. I am always looking for books that I will enjoy too.

I have a few of Carl Hiaasen's kids books which work well for this age group, and I think that he is a hoot. But, having done several car rides with my grandchildren, I have heard all of them at least once - Scat, Flush, Chomp, and Hoot. It would be nice to have something new.

I'm glad to hear that you seem to be settling in nicely. It sounds like such a wonderful opportunity for your kids to learn some history while traveling around.

Enjoyed your review of Island of the lost. Will you put it on the book page so that we can give it a thumb? I am sure the book would interest many people.

Thank you, Barry. I have added it.

Great review of Island of the Lost, Colleen. It sounds very interesting. I am very consistent with checking the Kindle daily deals, but somehow I missed this one.

>41 NanaCC: Thanks nana. I don't have a Kindle, but I see Book Depository has it, although not for $1.99!

This sounds great! I'm going to order it!

I usually have a hard time reading nonfiction, but this one is pretty tempting. I enjoyed reading about Shackleton, and I think this would have some similar elements.

>46 Linda92007: Linda, I am thinking it was a daily deal because it cost only $1.99, but it could also have been one of the monthly $3.99 or less deals. I sometimes forget to check those. I am glad that Chris pointed me to it. I did enjoy it.

>47 SassyLassy: Sassy, I just looked at Amazon, and the paperback price is crazy. That said, maybe the library would have it.

>48 rebeccanyc: Rebecca, I hope you enjoy it if you do get it.

>49 amysisson: Amy, I know that some non-fiction can be quite dry, but I don't think you would find that with this one. I haven't read Shackleton, I may need to find it.

^50 The thing with Shackleton is that there are a lot of books on him, and I'm sure some are better written than others. I don't recall which one I read. But I bet a question in a Book Talk (or some other) thread would get you some informed opinions!

Congratulations on the hot review!

>51 amysisson: Thank you, Amy. I will investigate.

>52 cabegley: Thank you, Chris....

Island of the Lost sounds really good. Thanks for your great review, which I've also thumbed!

Thank you, Paul. I really do enjoy a good adventure.

Seeking Palestine: New Palestinian Writing on Exile and Home Edited by Penny Johnson and Raja Shehadeh

Lois (avaland), Dan, and Merrikay wrote wonderful reviews of this book, and I feel unable to add anything that isn't a repetition of what they had to say.

This is a collection of essays, memoirs, and poems by fifteen Palestinian writers, essayists and poets reflecting on feelings of home and exile. The book is broken into three parts.

Contributions discuss what it means to be a Palestinian living outside of Palestine (Exile/Home), thoughts on being an exile within their occupied Palestine (Home/Exile), and thoughts on having hope and purpose of resistance (At Home In What World?). Throughout, there is a feeling of needing a place to call home, even if that home is half way around the world.

I'm happy to have read this book. It allowed me to hear a different perspective from any I have been exposed to previously.

It has just been announced that peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians will formally resume on Monday in Washington, D. C. It would be wonderful if discussions could proceed in the manner in which these essays were written - rational thinkers having a discussion without hateful rhetoric.

Recommended for anyone willing to listen with an open mind. It provides much food for thought. I gave it 5 stars.

As we discussed on my thread, this sounds like a perfect companion/follow-up to My Promised Land, which I recently finished (and still haven't managed to review!).

Linda, I added My Promised Land to my wishlist after the discussion on your thread. I am hoping to get to that one before year end.

Two weeks vacation in Cape Cod with seven grandchildren is wonderful, but it has seriously cut into my reading time. I had such great plans for the books I was going to read. The second week is half over and I've finished only one book.

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton

After finishing the wonderful Age of Innocence, I was determined to read another Wharton while on vacation. I am so glad that Laura (laurelkeet) recommended this one. The main character is Undine Spragg, a beautiful, spoiled, greedy young woman who wants what she wants, and she wants it NOW. She uses everyone to attain her goal of entering the upper social echelon of New York and Paris during the late 1800's. She desires wealth and fame, and destroys her parents and a couple of husbands along the way. Although she is a despicable character, she is one you love to hate.

Written in 1913, the story could be about any number of the beautiful, spoiled celebrities one reads about in the glossy magazines today. Edith Wharton was a fabulous writer. There were pages where I lingered to read certain passages over, just to experience the beauty of the language again.

I recommend this one for anyone who loves something beautifully written by a master storyteller. I gave it five stars.

Laura will rarely steer you wrong...

I've not read The Custom of the Country, but it sounds like one I should pick up soon. I find spending time with ONE grandchild does in the reading time -- can't imagine seven.

YES YES YES! I'm so glad it was a 5-star read for you Colleen. Despite Linda's very kind comment, I'm always nervous about recommending an all-time favorite book. Silly, I know ... so now I will confidently say: READ IT, JANE!

I think I liked it more than The Age of Innocence and I loved that one.

Jane, I am having a wonderful time, but by the time I get in bed, despite good intentions, two pages in and I am falling asleep.

There were pages where I lingered to read certain passages over, just to experience the beauty of the language again.

That sounds familiar. I just finished The House of Mirth and loved it but there were certain passages I read over for the reason you stated.. I keep trying to think of a word to describe it .....

Linda, you and Laura have both given me some great suggestions. :)

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

I really enjoyed this clever satirical epistolary novel. Bernadette is the anti-social mother of precocious fifteen year old Bee, and married to genius dad, Elgie, who works for an elite division of Microsoft. Bee has asked for a family trip to Antarctica as her 8th grade graduation reward for straight A's, and as the trip gets closer, Bernadette's agoraphobic tendencies increase. She goes missing, and Bee is determined to find her. Who is Bernadette, and why did she disappear? Bee puts the story together through emails, documents, magazine articles, FBI reports and even doctor's bills.

Semple pokes fun at Seattle, Microsoft's culture, private school parents, cruises and self help groups. Her writing style is sharp and witty. There are many quirky characters, and I could picture them as they started creating havoc. The relationship between Bee and Bernadette is wonderful.

While the cover makes it look like chick-lit, it is much more than that. It made me laugh, and it made me feel happy.

The book was on the Short List for the 2013 Women's Prize (formerly Orange). I gave it 4 stars.

Before I started reading the book, my daughter suggested that I read the attached article about Microsoft which appeared in last year's August issue of Vanity Fair.

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/2012/08/microsoft-lost-mojo-steve-ballmer

>64 avidmom: Avid, I am sorry that I missed your comment. Vacation time was a bit crazy. I love any of the books by Edith Wharton that I've read. I have many more to go. If you enjoyed The House of Mirth, I think you will really enjoy The Age of Innocence and Custom of the Country.

You and I had very similar reactions to Bernadette, Colleen. I liked it much more than I expected to.

I had been avoiding Bernadette because of the cover, but you make it sound more enjoyable than I would have thought. Probably will wait for paperback, though.

Colleen, I had not previously even considered reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette, but you make it sound like so much fun that I might take a look.

>69 rebeccanyc:: it's out in paperback already, Rebecca. Now you have no excuse :)

Ha ha ha, Laura! I'll look for it in my favorite bookstore the next time I'm there. I could use something fun and happy-making!

I'll be interested to see what you think of it, Rebecca. It seems to be a "love it or hate it" book here on LT.

Well, keep in mind Laura that "fun and happy-making" books are not my usual fare!

Nice to find a book that makes you laugh and feel happy.

The Microsoft article is too long to read right now, so I've clipped it into Evernote. I hope that I remember that it is there when I get around to Where'd You Go, Bernadette, the sadly untouchstonable, at this juncture, novel that I hope to read someday.

Robert

Rebecca, Linda, Barry and Robert, as Laura says there have been mixed reviews. I do have a quirky sense of humor, so it hit the right note for me.

At the end of the book, there is a hilarious four page short story called "Dear Mountain Room Parents." It is a series of e-mails from someone at a school to parents of the students regarding a celebration of the Mexican holiday "Day of the Dead". This piece was originally published in The New Yorker.

Where'd you go, Bernadette is showing up a lot around Club Read, and reviews are always interesting.

So, i'm catching up from April...(166 posts, if your counting)...Glad you enjoyed Seeking Palestine. Awesome review of Island of the Lost (although I had a already read it when it was a hot reivew). Really enjoyed your Edith Wharton reviews...she is author I should read. And, way back there somewhere, another nudge for Life After Life, noted.

Hi, Dan. Thank you for stopping by. Your new job must have really thrown you for a loop as far as LT goes. I see that you have been catching up on threads a little at a time. Your review of Seeking Palestine pushed me to read it sooner rather than later. It was well worth reading. As for Edith Wharton, I can't believe I had not read anything by her until the last couple of years. I started with The House of Mirth about a year and a half ago, and just read the ones I have reviewed here. It makes me realize how many big holes I have in the list of authors I should read. Her writing is wonderful. Here is another nudge for Life After Life. Kate Atkinson did a bang up job with that one.

The touchstones are a bit messed up tonight.

Colleen - it seems silly, but finally catching up with your thread is a nice milestone. I think I have now read every major thread in Club Read that I missed during the job search and job change. So, yay! Now to catch up with all those threads I fell behind on while catching up on all those other threads...

Full House by M. J. Farrell (Molly Keane)

Molly Keane grew up in Co. Kldare, Ireland, and belonged to the Anglo-Irish gentry about whom she wrote. Her main interests as a teenager were "hunting and horses and having a good time." She started writing as a means of supplementing her dress allowance, but since girls of her class were not expected to like books, let alone write them, she wrote under the pseudonym M. J. Farrell. Keane published Full House in 1935. My copy was published by Virago in 1986.

The storyline revolves around the Bird family, part of that Anglo-Irish gentry Keane knew so well, and their Irish mansion, Silverue. Lady Olivia Bird is the beautiful, selfish matriarch of the family. She creates beauty in her home and in her garden, her husband is devoted to her, and her children HATE her. The father, Julian, is sweet and kind. The youngest of the children is Markie who is still young enough to have a governess, the lonely Miss Parker. His sister Sheena is in love with Rupert, and his older brother John has just arrived home after having recovered from a nervous breakdown. Arriving on the scene to hold them all together is Eliza Blundel. Eliza has always been in love with Julian, and is the catalyst for most of what happens in the story.

It does sound a bit soap opera-ish, however, think more along the lines of a BBC production on Masterpiece Classic. Kean's writing is lovely and very poetic. At first I thought it was going to be a bit too much, but I am glad I kept reading, because it really was a lovely book. I gave it four stars.

Ok, staying caught for at least one more post. Enjoyed your review. Through Club Read I've become intrigue by Farrell/Keane.

>81 NanaCC:: oh yeah, I loved that one. Have you read Good Behaviour? It's one of her later books (which I prefer), nominated for the Booker Prize, and my favorite Keane.

Dan & Laura, This was the first Keane that I've read. I also borrowed The Rising Tide from Chris, but plan on reading something on my Kindle. (I need to be able to carry it in my purse tomorrow.) I am just having trouble deciding what to read next. Fiction or non-fiction? Funny or serious? Oh, so many books, I never know what to pick.

Colleen - I'm having big trouble trying to decide what to read. Last night I listed 17 books I wanted to read next, as in the single next book I wanted to read (and then purchased one more from amazon - but it was only available in paperback, so I'll have to wait for it). I chose one last night. Had a some time today and chose a different one. Not sure I'll stick it out with either of those.

Dan, :) I guess having too many to choose from is better than having nothing to read. With the 200+ books I have on my Kindle, my books shelves and all of the books I have available on Chris' book shelves, I should never have to buy another book. But I know that is crazy talk.

I can relate. The next book to read is rarely one I actually own...(I think 15 of the 17 i was thinking about are library books)

Your problem is understandable. I have a stack of books beside me that I want to read next (I figure if I pull them off the shelves there is a better chance of reading them). But how to choose one? I keep changing the order of the top one, second from the top... To be fair, I usually have two or three on the go at the same time.

Full House sounds likes an enjoyable read, Colleen. It's not available through our library, but a few others of hers are, so I'll have to take a look. I have the same problem of picking things up at the library and then having to prioritize them over books I already own.

ETA: I was just thinking that your reference to Anglo-Irish brought back memories of J. G. Farrell's Troubles, which I loved but expect was a very different kind of book.

Linda, I think I will check out Troubles. It is a time period in which I have interest, as my mother's family was involved at the time.

Troubles is a wonderful book! I hope you love it as much as I did.

Rebecca, Chris has it on her shelf, so I've asked to borrow it. My go to for many books. :)

>I should never have to buy another book. But I know that is crazy talk.
INDEED!

I concur with Rebecca that Troubles is a wonderful book and well worth reading. On the other hand I feel I should mention that the rest of the bookgroup I belong to didn't think much of it at all. (At times during meetings I feel the definiton of a good book is one they don't like).

>94 Jargoneer: Thank you for stopping by. I'm happy to see another nudge toward a book that sounds right up my alley. My daughter has the book, so I will probably read it within the next couple of months.

Book clubs are funny aren't they. It must be difficult having a discussion when everyone else disagrees with your opinion, although it may be lively. I am still trying to find a good one near me. I have enjoyed my daughter's club on occasion, but it can be a two hour drive to get there, so I haven't officially joined their group.

Marilyn by Gloria Steinem

I had just finished my second year of high school in August of 1962, the year that Marilyn Monroe died. To me she was just a beautiful actress, but to many she was also larger than life, a sex symbol, and someone who would be remembered long after her image had faded from the big screen.

Steinem pulled from several sources to write this book of essays written more than 25 years ago. In it, she tries to uncover who was the real Marilyn Monroe. She uses a lot of detail that had been gathered in interviews that Monroe had with photographer George Barris not long before her death. She also uses Marilyn's own words culled from an autobiography that Monroe was in the process of writing.

Marilyn Monroe started life as Norma Jean. Her mother was institutionalized from the time she was a little girl, and she was moved from one family friend to foster families to an orphanage, and back to friends, until at the age of sixteen her mother's friend arranged for Marilyn to marry a neighbor's son, Jim Dougherty. Jim enlisted in the merchant marines in 1944. During his absence, Norma Jean was discovered, and the rest is history. Monroe never got over her fear of being alone. She craved love and friendship. She wanted to educate herself as she was embarrassed at her lack of education. But when she tried to improve herself, she was often laughed at. She didn't want to be known as a dumb blonde, and disliked that most of the acting parts she was offered depicted her that way. In the movie "Some Like It Hot", she "resisted playing a blonde so out of it that she couldn't tell Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in drag from real women....."I've been dumb, but not that dumb." " She did the movie, however, and it had more success than her previous movies.

When she found friendship, she was loyal and she was protective of those she liked. Steinem relates a story, "When the Mocambo, an important Los Angeles nightclub, was reluctant to hire a black singer named Ella Fitzgerald, Marilyn "personally called the owner," as Ella Fitzgerald remembers gratefully, "and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night. She told him.... that the press would go wild. The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night.... And after that, I never had to play a small jazz club again.""

She had many affairs, and her marriages and divorces with Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller are well known, as are speculations about affairs with the Kennedy brothers. Her reliance on pills to help her sleep, help her wake up, help her stay awake, all led to her untimely suicide, the last of many attempts. Steinem has handled Marilyn's story with delicacy, and through it all portrays the story of this sad woman who loved children, and wanted love and stability more than anything.

I gave it 3.5 stars.

Nice review of Marilyn, Colleen.

Dying young appears not only to have frozen Monroe but deprived her of identity. She now appears to be a blank slate that others can write their ideas on to. There is something odd and a little disturbing that as time passes the iconic image of Monroe is no longer real but Warhol's screen print(s).

Good review of Marilyn Nana. It sounds a fairly sympathetic biography. I wonder how many people watch her old films now and what reactions they have to the icon that appears as a real actress on the screen. (oops I suppose its now politically incorrect so say actress).

>97 kidzdoc: Thank you, Darryl. It was quite interesting.

>98 Jargoneer: Very sad. She wanted to create an identity, but was stuck with an image that others had imposed upon her. As much as she didn't want to be thought of as a sexy dumb blonde, she did use that image when she felt it would help her advance her career. Steinem's portrayal shows a very clingy sad "little girl".

>99 baswood: Barry, Steinem's intent was to portray the real person, and not the fantasy image. Sympathetic is an apt description.

Marilyn sounds like a good read. I've always thought there was so much more to her than her dumb blonde image.

>101 avidmom: Avid, Steinem's writing is not as good as Doris Kearns Goodwin, but she did a respectable job. :) Speaking of Goodwin, I just started No Ordinary Time.

Cool! Can't wait to see what you think of it. Hope you like it as much as I did!

Very interesting review of Marilyn Colleen.

Delurking to say that I too liked the Daniel Day Lewis movie, The Age of Innocence, in part because I thought it was very faithful to the book.

Adding Island of the Lost and Seeking Palestine to the list. Also vowing to seek out more Edith Wharton. I've only read Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence, and it sounds like I'm missing out.

Catching up, Colleen. Molly Keane is calling to me from my shelf of Virago books, but I haven't gotten to her yet. Soon, I hope.

>103 avidmom: Avid, so far, I think it is really good. The book is heavy though. Almost wishing I had it on Kindle. :)

>104 Polaris-: thank you, Paul.

>105 labfs39: Lisa, other than The House of Mirth, which I really enjoyed, I hadn't read any Wharton, until this year. The more I read, the more I am appreciating her writing.

>106 janeajones: Jane, I was pleasantly surprised. I have another that I may read later this month.

Nana, have you read Joyce Carol Oates' take on Marilyn Monroe, Blonde? It's very good. It would be interesting to read after a bio of her.

>108 cabegley: Chris, I haven't read that one. I hide my head in shame, but I think I've read only two books by Joyce Carol Oates. Black Water and We Were The Mulvaneys. I have The Falls sitting on the shelf. Do you have Blonde

I do. I'll put it aside for you. Along with Troubles.

And no shame necessary. So many books; so little time!

NanaCC, since we've previously talked about the movie "The Age of Innocence," can I ask your opinion? A friend of mine hasn't read the book but considers the Daniel Day-Lewis/Michelle Pfeiffer/Winona Ryder movie to be near perfect. I love the movie, and enjoyed reading the book, but I can't remember if the book gives more insight into this issue.

(spoilers ahead for anyone who doesn't know the story)

My friend thinks that May manipulated Newland all along, even when he went down to Florida to see her and she expressed concern that there might be someone else, and that May didn't want her happiness to be at the expense of someone else. I thought she was sincere in that; my friend thinks she was being manipulative even then and had no intention of letting Newland go. My friend referred to the end, when Newland's son says that May had told him his father had given up everything when she asked, and Newland responds "she never asked." I thought that May's real manipulation, was in telling Countess Olenska that she was pregnant when she didn't know that she was, and that she "asked" (without asking) Newland to give up the Countess when she told him she was pregnant and said they couldn't possibly travel to Europe and elsewhere.

Thoughts?

*******Spoilers - for "The Age of Innocence" ********
Amy, I haven't seen the movie, so can't comment on whether the book gives more insight regarding your question.

Everything in the story is tied to the social mores of the time. People are expected to behave according to established moral codes. I think that when Newland went to Florida, May became suspicious that he may still be in love with his mistress when he began pressing to move up the date of their marriage. But, I think she was sincere when she said she felt his love should come before any obligations he had to their families. Once he assured her of his love for her, she went back to her "innocent" state, feeling secure or pretending that she is secure in their relationship. She ignores anything unpleasant. I don't think that May is as innocent as Newland thinks she is. Later, she senses the tension between Newland and the Countess, and probably knows that as much as they would like to be together, they don't want to have a sordid affair. To them, pressing their spouses for divorces, would hurt their families. Newland is so tied up in worrying about what everyone will think if he breaks his engagement, and later his marriage. Again, tied to the social mores of the time. In Wharton's world, there is no "happy ever after." When the dinner party is given before the Countess leaves to go back to Europe, everyone is assuming that Newland and the Countess really are having an affair. The guests are really there to support May. And, just as Newland has decided to throw all of his respectability aside and ask May for a divorce, she informs him that she is pregnant. The reader assumes that this is why the Countess is heading back to Europe, but Wharton leaves the interpretation to the reader. I think May knew her husband well enough to know that would end any thoughts he might have of leaving.

So much for my very confusing interpretation. But I think you and I are thinking along similar lines. I think her responses were initially sincere, but by the point where she told him of her pregnancy, she was fighting to hang on to her man without really asking him to stay.

I am happy to hear from anyone else who wants to pipe in. :)

You've pretty much explained it exactly how I would from the movie -- as I mentioned, I don't recall that level of analytical detail from my reading of the book, but that really is exactly how I remember it from the movie (which I've seen most of at least 4 or 5 times).

While I'm sympathetic to Newland, and because I believe that even today, people might go through with a wedding even if they don't want to, to avoid the embarrassment of canceling one, he was attracted to the Countess so early on that I'm disappointed he didn't have the strength to break it off then and there with May. But he wasn't ready to push the Countesses's divorce either -- if he'd married the Countess after that, they would have lived as outcasts, and he wasn't ready for that yet.

I also remember thinking how incredibly self-centered and selfish Newland was in crying to the Countess that he couldn't possibly be expected to live that shackled life when he'd seen a glimpse of the real thing -- AFTER he'd advised her to to just that, in giving up her plans to divorce her husband.

Sovereign by C. J. Sansom, read by Steven Crossley

This book is the third in the Matthew Shardlake series, a mystery/historical fiction series, with all of the political intrigue of Henry VIII's court.

This story takes place in autumn 1541 at the time of "The Great Progress". Earlier that year a plot against Henry VIII had been foiled, and the "Progress" was undertaken to show Henry's power to the shaky loyalties of the people in the north. Catherine Howard is now queen, and the progress included not only an army of thousands of soldiers, but the queen's household, as well. The story begins with lawyer Shardlake and his assistant, Jack Barak, waiting in York for the Progress to arrive. He has been sent to York by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury to assist with Petitions to the King, and to ensure the safety of a prisoner who will be transported to London for questioning regarding the foiled plot. Of course, it wouldn't be a mystery without a murder, which Shardlake is determined to solve. I enjoy this series because of all of the historical detail that is added to give color to the story. The intrigue surrounding the young Catherine Howard and her dalliances with Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpepper are cleverly woven in, as well as the story of the conspirators who question Henry's legitimate claim to the throne.

I am giving 4 stars, although I think this book may have suffered from being a little too long. Steven Crossley's excellent narration makes up for that, in my opinion.

Your review of Sovereign makes it sound like a very enjoyable series. I just picked up my first of Bernard Cornwell's popular Sharpe in the library sale down the road today - not sure I can be sucked into another HF series just yet!

Paul, I am really enjoying the series, which Laura (laurelkeet) recommended. There are only five books so far, and I really enjoy this time period. I have been listening to the audiobooks, just the right kind of book for my car, and I have enjoyed Steven Crossley's narration. I haven't tried any of Cornwell's Sharpe series. LT shows 21 books. Yikes. If you give it a great review, I might be tempted, but if I start a series, I do like to finish it. I will try to resist. :)

I thought Sovereign was a bit long too. But it didn't stop me from continuing on to Revelation! I still need to read the last one, but I'm in no hurry because I really don't want the series to end.

Laura, I have the last two on my iPod. I almost want to dive into the next one right away, but think I want to spread them out to make them last. :)

I have had Dissolution on my reading shelf for the last couple of years. I hope to get to it soon and your reviews make me think I might get hooked on the series.

I really enjoy that time period, Barry. The good thing is that if you get hooked, there are only five books in the series - at least for the time being. :)

No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Earlier this year, Avidmom pushed me to read Team of Rivals with her wonderful review. It was well worth the push. Early this summer, avidmom did it again with her fabulous review of No Ordinary Time. I was convinced to push this book to the top of my TBR, and I am so glad that I did. Please read Avid's review, because it will convince you just as it did me.

Goodwin won the Pulitzer Prize for her history of Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt, and of the home front during World War II. Her sources were many, and included biographies, diaries, letters and interviews. The Roosevelts were a formidable team, that steered the nation through one of the most devastating times in our history. Franklin seemed to have had a great sense of timing, and Eleanor was his social conscience. Roosevelt took office during the depression, and his New Deal was making strides. This book covers from 1939 through 1945 as war is rearing its ugly head once more.

The Roosevelt's both had flaws. Their marriage wasn't perfect. But, they were a team. There are arguments regarding whether any other president could have taken the country through the war years as successfully as he did. I doubt it. Even his opponents gave him credit for successfully moving the country from depression to prosperity, and for coming up with the idea of Lend Lease, which Churchill and Stalin both said was instrumental in winning the war.

Eleanor comes through as most likely the strongest First Lady that we have seen. She fought for the rights of people. For women in the workforce, for small business, for integration of blacks in the military, and for civil rights in general, Eleanor was a force to be reckoned with. She forged the way for many of the social fights that were to come.

I am not a fan of writing on my iPad, so I will end here saying again, read avidmom's review. Her review and the book are well worth your time.

This was another five star read for me.

Great review Colleen! I added this one to the wishlist after Avid's brilliant review (which I just re-read and thumbed), but I would have been doing the same after reading yours if I wasn't already aware of the book. Looks like a great piece of historical biography.

Thanks Colleen! I'm so glad you loved the book as much as I did. Goodwin is a brilliant author. Ditto what Polaris said - I would have been adding this to the wishlist if I hadn't read it already after reading your enthusiastic review.

>123 Polaris-: Thanks for the thumb, Polaris. :)

Up the TBR pile they go!

Oh, that looks like a good one, Colleen.

Thank you for stopping by Paul, Lisa and Laura. I hope you do get to read the book. Even though the size of the book is intimidating, Goodwin's writing is very readable. I felt the same way about Team of Rivals.

Avid, thank you for such a wonderful recommendation. I always had such a wonderful impression of Eleanor Roosevelt based upon things i read about the work she did after the war, and this book brought out all of the reasons she was so highly regarded. I had no idea of the huge influence she had on her husband's thinking, and of her work on civil rights issues during the war.

Nice review of No Ordinary Time, Colleen. I'll have to make time to read it soon.

It is a chunkster, Darryl, but very enjoyable.

We visited the Roosevelt estate in Hyde Park, NY, this summer, and I had that book in my hand in the gift shop, but the heft intimidated me...now I'm sorry. I've read a lot about both Eleanor and Franklin, and about Eleanor-and-Franklin, over the years, but I'll bet Goodwin can still tell me a few things.

Linda, I loved the way that Goodwin used the diary entries and excerpts from letters to tell the story. Some of the exchanges regarding Churchill and Roosevelt were quite amusing. I also had read quite a bit about the Roosevelts previously, but found so much that I didn't know.

My husband is now reading Roosevelt's Secret War by Joseph Persico (also from the gift shop at Hyde Park), and there is very interesting stuff in there about Churchill...he keeps reading things out to me. Apparently Churchill had a heart attack at the White House shortly after Pearl Harbor, and it was kept hush-hush; his doctor didn't even tell HIM!

Linda, from what I've read, Churchill and Roosevelt both had serious health problems, but it was crucial that they kept everything together in order to push their agendas forward.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn writes a wonderful mystery. Dark Places is the very dark and macabre story of the Day family. In 1985, the divorced mother of four children is slaughtered along with two of her girls. Her son Ben is accused and convicted of the murder mainly based upon the testimony of his seven year old sister Libby, who escaped the attack. Twenty five years later Libby is still struggling with vague memories and conflicting feelings about her brother who is still in prison. There are people who feel the fifteen year old Ben was wrongly accused and that the real killer is walking free somewhere.

Flynn writes the story in flashback to the day of the murder in1985 with each chapter told from the point of view of the mother and brother, and Libby's first person story in present day.

If you like dark and macabre, I think you will like this story. It is much darker than Gone Girl. I gave it 4 stars.

Now you have to read Sharp Objects. It's a much stronger book that Dark Places, but equally unsettling.

Thanks, Kay. I have Sharp Objects on my iPod, and will have to move it up to next in line.

I briefly tried Gone Girl on audio...not a good format for that book, at least not for me.

Enjoyed your comments on No Ordinary Time, certainly a book I'll keep in mind.

Dan, I didn't listen to Gone Girl, so really can't comment on the audio version. I enjoyed reading it though.

As for No Ordinary Time, for me it was a must read.

Regeneration by Pat Barker

This book is the first in Barker's WWI antiwar trilogy, and was a Booker Prize nominee. The story is based mainly on the treatment of real-life poet Siegfried Sassoon by psychiatrist and anthropologist Dr. William Rivers at Craiglockhart War Hospital.

Sassoon wrote a public declaration calling for an end to the war and for a negotiated peace with Germany. After some maneuvering, his friend Robert Graves, convinced the board to admit him to the hospital for treatment of "shell shock", to avoid a court martial. While in the hospital, Sassoon also meets another WWI poet, Wilfred Owen. Rivers purpose at the hospital is to treat the officers and get them back to the front lines. His meetings with Sassoon start to make him rethink his role. Barker weaves the fictional characters in with the real people in a book that tells of the side effects of the trauma these men have faced in a very brutal war. While there are no battle scenes, the visions of screaming men having nightmares and telling of their experiences is unnerving.

I will definitely read the other two books in the series. I gave the book 4 stars.

I enjoyed the Regeneration trilogy, and what's especially valuable about it is that each volume takes a different angle, so you are not just repeating the same reading experience but exploring something new.

I read the Regeneration Trilogy a couple of years ago. Although I didn't like the second and third books as much as the first, as a whole I thought it an excellent look at WWI psychiatry and shell shock. Some of Owen's poetry is online at poets. org, if you are interested.

>141 StevenTX: Thank you Steven. I plan on reading an Agatha Christie today while at jury duty, and then will read The Eye in the Door. I wondered how it would continue.

>142 labfs39: Thank you for the link, Lisa.

I plan on reading an Agatha Christie today while at jury duty

So you think they won't pick you for a jury if you're carrying around a title like A Murder Is Announced ? Smart idea.

>143 NanaCC:, 144 That's funny. I'm going to run it by a couple of the attorneys here today and see whether they would be inclined to pick you or dismiss you based on what you were ostensibly reading. I don't think this has ever come up in jury selection discussions around here.

I had jury duty recently too, Colleen. I read In Red--I wonder what the lawyers would think of that? The touchstone always comes up as Dracula!

That is funny. But, I am already on jury duty. I was selected for Federal Grand Jury last November. I have jury duty every Tuesday for 18 months. Almost a year down, but my service doesn't end until May 2014. They say that every state is different, but in NJ the commitment is for 18 months. I call in on Monday to see what time I need to report. They do let you take days off for vacation and doctor's appointments, as long as they will have 16 people to do business. There are 23 jurors on the panel, so for the most part, I have been able to take off the days I needed. The worst part is that I need to allow two hours to get there during rush hour, and it should only take 40 minutes.

Your jury duty sounds like a real commitment Colleen. I did jury duty at the Old bailey in London thirty years ago, hopefully I will not get called again.

I read and enjoyed Regeneration some time ago, but never got round to reading the rest of the trilogy. which are still sitting on my book shelves.

Barry, My plan is to read the other two books this month. They are short, so I shouldn't have trouble.

As for jury duty, some of it is very interesting, and I am retired and have the time. As far as I can tell, the other people on my panel all have jobs. I'm sure that must be stressful.

Thanks for doing that, Colleen. I know jury duty is the thing we're supposed to make up an excuse to get out of, but it is important. But be careful, according to most of the crime shows I've seen, a jury member stands a good chance of being murdered in inventive ways.

>150 RidgewayGirl:. LOL Kay. The one thing about being on a grand jury, is that we are not trying cases. We are reviewing the evidence that the DA's present to us, to determine if they have enough evidence to indict. In many cases, the person being investigated is unaware of the fact. But to be honest , there have been a few times that I have tried to be very aware of my surroundings as I walk to my car. (I also watch crime shows)

Wow. That is a time commitment. I was scheduled to report Monday and Tuesday (in Washington State), but was excused because so many cases chose to settle right before jury selection. There were probably 150 potential jurors there, but only one case got to the point of choosing jurors on the Monday I was there. The other six settled.

I hadn't heard of the Regeneration trilogy and you've all made me interested. I have served on one criminal and one civil jury and in both spent more time waiting in the jury room than listening in court. I think grand-jury service sounds fascinating.

>153 detailmuse: MJ, It really can be quite interesting. Sometimes we will have presentations of only one case, and there are times there are several. Last week, we were presented with four, and today was only two. And some cases take months and months. We have several where we were never given the final presentation where they ask for the indictment. That most likely means they are putting together more evidence to lock up their case.

And I think you might like Regeneration.

4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie

I love Agatha Christie, and this book was no exception. I had not previously read it, but had seen the PBS TV version. I needed a little breather between reading Regeneration and the next in the trilogy The Eye in the Door. This was the perfect book for that.

Mrs McGillicuddy, has finished her Christmas shopping and is headed by train to stay with her dear friend Miss Jane Marple for a few days before heading off to Ceylon for Christmas. During the journey, the train slows down and at just the same time another train pulls up beside it going in the same direction. Mrs. McGillicuddy is the only witness to a murder that takes place in the other train. She tells the authorities, but no one believes her because no body is found. No one, that is, but Miss Marple. In typical fashion Miss Marple finds a way to find the body, and to solve the crime. This was a quick cozy read. I gave it 3.5 stars.

I read the 4:50 From Paddington a long time ago, but what a great start for a crime story.

Very interesting about being on a federal grand jury, Colleen; as others have said, that is a real commitment, and some of it must be fascinating. I too feel strongly about the importance of jury duty and have been on juries several times; the criminal cases are much more interesting than the civil ones, which are mostly sad, not only for the injuries the plaintiffs have suffered but for the grasping incompetence of their lawyers, at least the ones I've observed.

Back to books: I've never read the Regeneration trilogy as it's never particularly called to me.

>156 baswood: Barry, The premise was quite good. Christie threw in enough red herrings to make it fun, and while I had figured out who the murderer was, the motive was kept secret until the very end. I enjoyed the story, and remember enjoying the PBS version too.

>157 rebeccanyc: Rebecca, The Regeneration trilogy is quite an interesting look at the effects of war from a perspective away from the field of battle.

The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker

This book is the second in Barker's Regeneration trilogy. It won the 1993 Guardian Fiction Prize. The story takes place in 1918, where the war is going badly for Britain, and paranoia is taking hold. The government and the public need to blame someone, and their targets happen to be homosexuals and pacifists. Many are jailed, but everyone has the feeling of being watched, much like the McCarthy era here in the states. Once again, Barker explores the trauma experienced by soldiers returning from the war.

The main character of this book is the fictional Billy Prior. Prior had a minor role in the first book. He has been released from Craiglockhart hospital where he was treated for a nervous breakdown. He is now working at the Department of Munitions investigating some of the pacifists who happened to be friends of his from childhood. Dr. Rivers and Siegfried Sassoon make appearances in this book as well. Prior is still seeing Dr. Rivers for treatment as his conflicting emotions threaten to take permanent hold over him.

I look forward to reading The Ghost Road in the near future. The book was somewhere between a 3.5 and 4 stars for me. I gave it 4 stars.

I didn't find the Billy Prior story quite as gripping as Sassoon's, but I still liked it enough to finish the series.

>160 labfs39: I had mixed feelings, Lisa. That was the reason it wasn't quite a 4 star read, for me. I did find his conflicting emotions more compelling than you did. I felt that the emotions felt very real once he realized he was spinning out of control, and wasn't sure what was happening. I will reserve judgement until I read Ghost Road before I change my rating.

just here to star you. Somehow I lost this thread. Sheesh. Good thing my head is sewn on.

>162 mkboylan: Merrikay, I lost mine a long time ago. :)

>160 labfs39:: I had the same feeling about the Billy Prior story, but continued and enjoyed the series as a whole.

I read the Regeneration trilogy years ago. Years and years. You're making me itch for a reread.

>164 lauralkeet: Laura, I will read The Ghost Road sooner rather than later. I needed to read something completely different and take a little break before reading the third.

>165 RidgewayGirl: Kay, I think I've read that people feel that the Booker Prize win for The Ghost Road was really intended for the entire trilogy. Either way, I think the series is well written, and I look forward to reading the last book.

Enjoying your reviews of the Regeneration trilogy thus far Colleen. I have the first book on the wishlist already, I'm sure I'll pick up a nice used copy one day.

Never had jury service, though I'd be really interested in the process. I'm inclined towards the system of panels of judges more typically seen in continental Europe, so I'd love to have my opinion of trial by jury bolstered from first-hand experience eventually.

Hi, Paul. I do hope that you get to read Regeneration eventually. I think it is really very good.

As for jury service, it can be quite interesting. :)

Two audiobooks by Henning Mankell. I seem to have missed commenting on the first, and just finished the second earlier this week.

I was first exposed to Wallander and Mankell through the PBS mystery series starring Kenneth Branagh, and have been hooked ever since. The stories show the police as human beings, extremely flawed, struggling with everyday problems of their own and drudging through routine police work that involves sordid crimes, exposing some of the darkest sides of human nature.

One Step Behind by Henning Mankell, (Narrated by Dick Hill)

This is the seventh in the Kurt Wallender mystery series. Three young friends meet in the woods in costume on Midsummer's Eve to act out an elaborate role play. Someone is secretly watching them, and has planned their murder. They have been reported missing by one of the parents, but the police are slow to follow up on the missing students. One of Wallender's colleagues is murdered, and it seems that he has been investigating the disappearance on his own. Why? Wallender is starting to doubt himself, and he is starting to develop health problems.

Firewall by Henning Mankell, (Narrated by Dick Hill)

Eighth in the series, there are multiple crimes and murders committed, seemingly without a link. Kurt Wallander needs to sort things out, keeping a police force together that works too many long hours, smokes and drinks way too much, and he does it while struggling with his own personal problems.

I gave both books 3 1/2 stars. The Scandinavian writers seem to have very dark imaginations. I do enjoy them.

Just delurking to wave hello :)
Have been enjoying your reviews of the mysteries.

Hi Avidmom. I do enjoy a good mystery. I have been so busy that I have been doing a lot of lurking too. I had a lot of catch up after my long weekend in Maine. :)

How was Maine? Silly question I guess!

Maine in October ---- beautiful!

Where did you go in Maine? I'm from a little town called Limerick, near Sanford, an hour northwest of Portland.

Lisa, My daughter has a house on Great Diamond Island just off of Portland. I love it when we get to go. They usually go in July for a week, in August for a week, and for Columbus weekend. I try to go in August and October when I can. This year, I was unable to go in August.

Lovely! I haven't been home in the autumn for a long time.

Penmarric by Susan Howatch

Penmarric is a great big family saga spanning three generations from about 1890 to 1945. Penmarric is the Cornish family estate at the heart of the story, and at the center of the greed and struggle for power that consumes the members of the Castallack family. The story is told in five books, each in the first person point of view of five of the family members.The plot is a retelling of the early Plantagenets Henry II (Mark Castallack); his wife, Eleanor of Aquitane (Janna); his illegitimate son Geoffrey of York (Adrian); and two of his sons Richard I (Philip), and King John (Jan-Yves). Each chapter starts with quotations from historical works, which set the outline for the chapter.

This was Howatch's first big novel published in 1971. She wrote two other books retelling parts of the Plantagenet history, Cashelmarra and Wheel of Fortune. If you like big family sagas, historical fiction and a good story, this book might be one for you. I loved the descriptions of the Cornish coast. I gave it 4 stars.

Ahhh...I read that one years ago. I miss getting totally lost in a saga like that; haven't read one in so long. I thought The Mists of Avalon might do it for me, but I ground to a halt with that one about half way through back in August.

I do remember loving The Mists of Avalon years ago. I read Cashelmara in January, and loved that one. The Ireland /England setting pulled me in. That pushed me to read Penmarric. I have Wheel of Fortune on my kindle, but at almost 1,000 pages, I won't be ready for that one for a while.

I read a lot of those family saga novels in my teens (1970s) -- I remember outgrowing the juvenile fiction in my library, and getting a special stamp on my library card that allowed me to check out most books from the general fiction section. My mom was a big fan of these sweeping sagas, and I think I might have read Penmarric, or maybe it was Cashelmara. The author's name is familiar to me, anyway. This was about the same time period as the John Jakes novels, The Bastard et all, which I also read voraciously. I seem to remember they were somewhat titillating reading for a high school student so they made the rounds among my friends.

Laura, I am quite sure I read them all when they came out in the 70's. At the time I was in my 20's with three kids, so diversion reading was absolutely necessary. :) I could not do a steady diet of those books now, but once in a while, they suit the mood. I'm starting The Ghost Road today, so I'm off in a completely different direction.

Catching up here -- I must read the Regeneration trilogy -- I've read so many good reviews of it, but I think I'll leave it to the new year when I'm teaching the second half of English Lit -- good background for that. Don't know the Penmarric family saga -- but when I was in HS, I got caught up with the Jalna books by Mazo de la Roche. I've considered revisiting them, but it will have to wait for retirement.

Jane, the Regeneration trilogy is wonderful. I started the third book, The Ghost Road, this morning and I was pulled in immediately. Penmarric is a fun story, but there is no comparison. It is total fluff - escapist reading for times that the mood hits, but 700 pages means a chunk of time. Being retired, I can actually do that once in a while. :)

My keyboard (or my fingers) keeps missing keys....

Colleen that sounds like some saga at 700 pages.

Barry, fortunately I enjoyed it and was not overwhelmed. :)

The Ghost Road by Pat Barker

This book is the final book in the WWI anti-war Regeneration trilogy, and winner of the Booker Prize in 1995.

Once again, the fictional Billy Prior takes a central role in this book, as he did in The Eye in the Door. Real life psychologist and anthropologist William Rivers also features prominently in the story. Prior and real life poet Wilfred Owen have been "mended" and are headed back to the front in France for the final push. Rivers is feeling the pressure of pronouncing these men "fit" which means sending them back to a war in which he no longer believes. As a younger man and anthropologist, Rivers had been living with a tribe of headhunters in the South Pacific. Now suffering from influenza, in his fevered state, he keeps remembering their rituals surrounding death. Barker transitions between these memories and entries in Prior's diary in an effective way.

The first book was centered at the Craiglockhart War Hospital. the second was centered in London with Prior doing intelligence work, and the third takes place on the battlefield in France and in Rivers' memories of the South Pacific. All three books are brutal in their own way. Barker writes the books from a man's perspective, and makes it all seem as gritty as possible. Prior is bisexual, and Barker uses some very graphic sex scenes in the second and third book to get this point across. I'm not sure it was necessary to make it so blatant.

My favorite book of the trilogy was Regeneration, and I think that the Booker Prize may have been a recognition of the trilogy in its entirety. I gave The Ghost Road 3.5 stars, but would give the trilogy a 4.

I meant to add that the books are all fairly short, so it makes sense to read them fairly close to one another. I think if too much time lapses between the books, some of the minor characters would not be as meaningful.

Wow sounds like things we were reading about in the news with soldiers with PTSD being redeployed to Iraq repeatedly. The more things change............

Think I'd like to check out this trilogy.

Merrikay, I highly recommend it.

Enjoyed reading about your trip through the Regeneration trilogy.

Thank you, Dan. They are each fairly quick reads, or at least I found it hard to put them down.

Excellent reviews of the Regeneration trilogy Colleen.

Thank you, Barry. The massive loss of lives and minds during that war was almost impossible to imagine. "The War to end All Wars". And yet the wars continue.

Great review Colleen. I will definitely start the Regeneration trilogy sooner or later. Yours and Merrikay's comments are really timely for me - the war memoir I'm reading at the moment was making the point in the pages I read only yesterday (and I've seen it happening for myself) - that it is usually the same small pool of combat troops who are returned time and again to the frontline, or pull the most reserves duty, or suffer the worst conditions, or get the least leave/furlough, etc. etc. Same old same old...

Paul, That is very true, and as Merrikay says, we see it on the news all the time. During WWI, the loss of life was huge in number, and if the young men and boys didn't sign up, they were hunted down. By the end of the war, there were so few able bodied men left that they were turning a blind eye and sending boys who lied about their age because they thought they wanted to see the glory of war. And the boys who were too young, had only a few years to wait before they had the chance to do it all over again in WWII. Very sad.

Enjoyed your reviews of the Regeneration Trilogy, which I also really liked. You're probably right about the Booker.
Have you read Timothy Findley's The Wars about one man in World War I? I think you would like it.

Thank you for the recommendation, Sassy. I haven't read The Wars and will add it to my wish list.

Like you, I thought Regeneration the best of the three. I found Billy Prior a less sympathetic character. Something about him didn't ring as true for me as the doctor and the poets. Still a great trilogy though. Two other favorite WWI novels are All Quiet on the Western Front and Storm of Steel. What's interesting is that Storm of Steel is from the German perspective. Have you read those? I too added The Wars to my list. Thanks, Sassy!

Lisa, I have seen the movie All Quiet on the Western Front, but I've never read the book. I know that I should add that one, and Storm of Steel sounds like one I would like as well.

I'm glad you enjoyed the Regeneration trilogy as I did. I can also recommend All Quiet on the Western Front and Storm of Steel, which are both by Germans but the first famously anti-war and the latter (if you can believe such a thing after the experience of trench warfare) very pro-war.

Thank you, Steven. I added both of those books based upon Lisa's suggestion, and I like getting another push towards them. After reading about the horrifying aspects of that war, it seems almost impossible that anyone who had experienced it would be pro-war.

Thank you for clarifying, Steven. What I found interesting when reading All Quiet on the Western Front is that I kept forgetting (as I did here) that it was written by a German, because the sentiment so exactly matched that of Brits and Americans who have written of the war. Junger's book, on the other hand, felt "other" because of it's pro-war stance.

Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson

This was the perfect book to make the time fly by in the hospital as I waited hours for my husband's outpatient surgery yesterday. It is the funny, charming, tongue-in-cheek stuff that I love.

Written in 1934, the story takes place after WWI. Miss Barbara Buncle is a spinster who decides she needs to do something to supplement her income in order to make ends meet. The only thing she can think of is to write a book. However, claiming to have no imagination, she writes about life as she knows it. The people in her little town of Silverstream (Copperfeld in her book) are the subjects, and their names have been changed (as creatively as Silverstream to Copperfield, I might add), but their personas and deeds have not been changed a bit. She sends it to the first publisher she sees in the alphabetical listing. It becomes a hit, and of course, the townsfolk all recognize themselves. They are all determined to find out who is the author "John Smith" who has written such terrible lies. Some people change for the better after reading about themselves, and much of the plot is very predictable, but the antics are really quite enjoyable.

I gave this one 4 stars. I am so glad that Chris found this on the monthly Kindle deals in October, along with the follow up Miss Buncle Married. I'll save that one for another day when I need something to make me laugh.

I think I will look for other books by this Scottish author. Despite the fact that her father didn't believe in educated women, she managed to write over 40 books.

Miss Buncle's Book sounds like fun. I went to put it on my wishlist.... and found it already there. Except I don't remember putting it there! To think there was a time when I remembered every book that I owned or had read.... :-)

"To think there was a time when I remembered every book that I owned or had read.... :-)"

This made me laugh... :)

AND...knew where they all were!

>205 laytonwoman3rd: Linda, you know we all have the same problem... :)

At least now with LT I know that I own a book, even if I can't find it, as happened to me recently.

Rebecca, I haven't logged everything on my shelves in the basement. Someday.... But I always have Chris' shelves, and they are endless.

Miss Buncle's Book does sound like fun. I love tongue-in-cheek humour.

>209 avidmom: Avid, I love the books written in the 20's, 30's, & 40's. There is an innocence about them that adds to the charm.

I bought a Persephone edition of Miss Buncle last summer. I really need to move it up in my imaginary queue.

#203 Me too! Fortunately, I had made a note of the person who recommended it. In my case, Cushla.

Well see that IS the nice thing about using Amazon. It sometimes tells me, when I am trying to make a purchase, "You already bought this book you nutcase!"

LOL!

>211 lauralkeet: Laura, It is a quick read. Perfect for a pick-me-up.

>212 labfs39: Lisa, I try to note who pushed the book to my wishlist. It doesn't always happen, but it sure is nice when the note is there.

>213 mkboylan: Merrikay, isn't technology grand.. :)

Going way, way back, I read No Ordinary Time at the time it was first published. I think that I would now like to reread it since (I think) now that I am so much older I also know more (at least a little bit) about the context, WW II. Luckily, I kept my copy--it was hardback.

Your review of Penmarric also convinced me to "one-click" on it. Don't you just hate that Amazon feature?

>216 arubabookwoman: I am bad when it comes to Kindle books. I have more books than I can possibly read, and yet I check those daily deals every day. I liked Cashelmara too. I think even more than Penmarric. I think it was the Ireland/England connection.

No Ordinary Time in hardback must be a killer. Chris bought me a book pillow when I was reading it, because I kept complaining of the weight of it.

A few days ago Goodwin was on The Daily Show promoting her new book "The Bully Pulpit" .... but I think I'll pass on it for a while. It's another doorstopper!

>218 avidmom: I'm with you Avid. I am reading Blonde right now, and at over 700 pages, even though I am enjoying it, it seems to be going very slowly for me. There have been too many distractions the past few weeks. I think I need a few quick mysteries to break up my slump after I finish this one.

I have gone two whole weeks without looking at all the free kindle books emails I get. I am so impressed with myself. DO NOT tell me what I missed please.

Merrikay, I have tried that. But, you know how it goes. Or my daughter will say, "did you see .... it sounds like your cup of tea." :)