Great-Aunt Sophia's Lessons for Bombshells by Lisa Cach

Welcome to The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules:*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence (or a few) that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post to the Friday 56 Linky. It's that simple.

Title: Great-Aunt Sophia's Lessons for Bombshells
Author: Lisa Cach; paperback; June 19, 2012

"It's grossly unfair that at my age, one tires easily but sleeps hardly at all." Sophia was sitting in the large breakfast nook at the end of the kitchen, the bay window behind her providing an elegant backdrop of green garden. A plate of toast and a coffee mug sat on the table." (p. 56)

About the book: 
Grace Cavanaugh, a PhD student, experiences a life-changing summer while taking care of her great aunt, a 1940’s movie star.

Mystery Novels: New Cozy Mysteries out in June

Mass Market paperback mysteries this month:

The Azalea Assault (new series)

Hot Button

Dead Man Waltzing

The Diva Digs Up Dirt

Grace among Thieves

Quilt or Innocence (new series)

Vision Impossible: Psychic Eye Mystery

Grace Among Thieves by Julie Hyzy
The Azalea Assault: A Garden Society Mystery by Alyse Carlson (new series)
Quilt or Innocence: A Southern Quilting Mystery by Elizabeth Craig (new series)
The Diva Digs Up Dirt: A Domestic Diva Mystery by Krista Davis
Dead Man Waltzing: A Ballroom Dance Mystery by Ella Barrick
Vision Impossible: A Psychic Eye Mystery by Victoria Laurie
Hot Button: A Button Box Mystery by Kylie Logan

Don't say there are no cozy novels to read this summer!

An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd: Book Tour/Review

"But I thought he had felt like so many men had, that the only end to their suffering would be death, and home seemed so very far away and unreachable." (ch. 19)

Title:  An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd
Hardcover; published June 5, 2012 by William Morrow

About the book: This is the fourth in the Bess Crawford Mystery series, featuring a WWI nurse from England who plays amateur sleuth. In 1918, Bess travels to France to care for wounded soldiers as well as the many soldiers stricken by the Spanish flu epidemic. At the beginning of the book, Bess is shown the body of Major Carson, an old family friend, lying among the flu victims.

"He is not an influenza victim," Private Wilson said. "Look at him." (ch. 1)

Bess realizes that the major's neck has been broken and that he must have been murdered.  When Private  Wilson is found hanged and his death declared a suicide, Bess knows she has two mysteries to solve. She wants to help the wife of the Major and also clear the name of Private Wilson, who she thinks fell victim to foul play. She also has to discover if the deaths are connected.

My comments: I enjoyed A Bitter Truth, the previous mystery in the series, and thought this novel is as good in plot and characterization. It also gives a good sense of the horrific conditions of the wounded and the war and the work the nurses did to aid the doctors on the WWI battlefront.

The descriptions of the maimed, the dying, and the dead for me was overwhelming, and I had a deep sense of sadness and discomfort reading about it throughout the book. I would have liked some contrast in the novel, some descriptions of nature, for instance, that would periodically lighten up the dreary atmosphere. In other words, the novel wasn't pleasant to read, even though the plotting was flawless.

Charles and Caroline Todd are a mother and son writing team who live on the east coast of the United States. Caroline has a BA in English Literature and History, and a Masters in International Relations. Charles has a BA in Communication Studies with an emphasis on Business Management, and a culinary arts degree that means he can boil more than water. 


For other reviews of An Unmarked Grave, visit the Blog Tour Schedule. The authors can be reached at  http://charlestodd.com/homepage/or on their Facebook page.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the authors/publisher for a complimentary review copy of  An Unmarked Grave.


Submitted to the War through the Generations: WWI Reading Challenge

It's Monday: New Book Releases

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey. Visit her to join in.

Here are some new release books that I hope to begin reading this week and possibly review, thanks to the publisher.

Size 12 and Ready to Rock

And Laughter Fell From the Sky

Keepsake: A Novel

The Girl Below: A Novel

Would you believe that Size 12 and Ready to Rock is a mystery novel? And Laughter Fell from the Sky is about an Indian-American. The Girl Below is written by a British writer who has lived in New Zealand for about two decades.
Keepsake deals with the question of what can happen when someone values things over love.
What's on your calendar to read this week?

Books I finished reading last week:

Title: Brownies and Broomsticks : A Magical Bakery Mystery
Author: Bailey Cates
Published May 1, 2012 by Signet
Source: publisher
Rating: 4/5

and

An Unmarked Grave: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd, which I will review tomorrow, June 19 for a TLC Book Tour. See you then!

Sunday Salon: Books for Dad

Welcome to the Sunday Salon.

Two small bunnies that ate my lily plants and my miniature roses, and nibbled on the basil, are now in the front yard eating the grass. I hope they forget about my backyard and move on where the grass is greener and there are not flowers or herbs to nibble on. Cute as they are, I want my Thai basil to grow! And so does the Dad, who loves to cook Thai!

Happy Father's Day to all loving, deserving dads!

Books for fathers to read? Here are a few May and July releases ...

Title: 15 Seconds by Andrew Gross
Hardcover; release date, July 10, 2012
Genre: thriller

Henry Steadman didn't know what was about to hit him when he pulled up to a red light. A successful Florida plastic surgeon, he is in town to deliver a keynote address at a conference when suddenly his life becomes an unrelenting chase to stay alive. (publisher)

Title: The Fear Artist by Timothy Hallinan
Hardcover; release date, July 17, 2012
Genre: thriller

An accidental collision on a Bangkok sidewalk goes very wrong when the man who ran into Rafferty dies in his arms, but not before saying three words: Helen Eckersley. Cheyenne. Seconds later, the police arrive, denying that the man was shot. That night, Rafferty is interrogated by Thai secret agents who demand to know what the dead man said, but Rafferty can't remember. (publisher)

Title: Starting and Closing: Perseverance, Faith, and One More Year
Author: John Smoltz
Hardcover; published May 8, 2012
Genre: sports memoir


John Smoltz is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and active sportscaster. He is best known for his prolific career of more than two decades with the Atlanta Braves, during which he garnered eight All-Star selections and received the Cy Young Award in 1996. He is currently the chairman of King's Ridge Christian School in Atlanta and is a scratch golfer. (Tiger Woods has said that Smoltz is the best golfer outside of the PGA tour.) He lives in Atlanta with his family. (publisher)


What do you have in mind for Dad today?

Porch Lights, A Novel by Dorothea Benton Frank

Title: Porch Lights: A Novel by Dorothea Benton Frank
Hardcover; William Morrow, released June 12, 2012
Source: publisher

Opening sentences of a book can help the reader get a flavor of the book and decide if it's one that they want to continue reading. Here are the beginning sentences of Porch Lights.

I will tell you the one thing that I have learned about life in my thirty-something years that is an absolute truth: nothing and no one in this entire world matters more to a sane woman than her children. I have one child, my son, Charlie. Charlie is barely ten years old, and he is the reason I get up in the morning. I thank God for him every night before I go to sleep. When I was stationed in Afghanistan, I slept with a T-shirt of his wrapped around my arm. I did. Not my husband's. My son's.  It was the lingering sweet smell of my little boy's skin that got me through the awful nights while rockets were exploding less than a mile away from my post. 

Publisher's book description: When Jimmy McMullen, a fireman with the NYFD, is killed in the line of duty, his wife, Jackie, and ten-year-old son, Charlie, are devastated. Charlie idolized his dad, and now the outgoing, curious boy has become quiet and reserved. Trusting in the healing power of family, Jackie decides to return to her childhood home on Sullivans Island.

Awaiting them is Annie Britt, the family matriarch.  Annie promises to make their visit perfect—even though relations between mother and daughter have never been smooth.  But her estranged husband, Buster, and her best friend Deb are sure to keep Annie in line. She's also got Steven Plofker, the widowed physician next door, to keep her distracted as well.

What do you think?

Guest Post by author Lloyd Lofthouse

Welcome to Lloyd Lofthouse, author of The Concubine Saga, an historical novel about the  the first ten years that Sir Robert Hart, who became Inspector General of China's Customs Service in the late 19th century, spent in China, and the influence that his Chinese concubine had on how well he grew to understand the language, culture, and customs of China. Lofthouse talks about his research for this novel.

"My first trip to China was in December 1999—there would be eight more. My last trip was in 2008.

On that first twelve to fourteen hour flight to Shanghai from Los Angeles, I imagined a country with brainwashed drones walking about dazed in drab olive-green uniforms with army troops on every corner holding automatic weapons ready to arrest and possibly execute anyone suspicious.

However, what I knew of China in 1999 could fit in a thimble with lots of room left over. Today, what I know might fit in several fifty-five gallon drums.  I've learned a lot and I am still learning. 

A few months earlier, my wife (we were still dating then) introduced me to Robert Hart. She was researching the life of the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi (1835 - 1908), who ruled China in her son and then nephew's name for several decades, and she was the last empress in China that held significant political power—no easy feat in a country where women were considered second-class citizens and the property of men. Of course, it helped that she gave birth to one of the last Qing Emperors.

After Tzu Hsi, there were other empresses (title only and no political power) married to Pu-Yi, the last emperor (there is a movie), and he was removed from power in 1911 at age 5 when the Qing Dynasty collapsed.

It wouldn't be until after that first trip to China in 1999 that I would return to the United States and read Robert Hart's journals and letters, which were published by the Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University. The original material written by Robert Hart is housed at the Queen's College in Belfast, Ireland.

Anyway, I digress. When we landed in Shanghai on that first trip to China, I was shocked to discover the image I held in my mind of China was totally wrong—an image cultivated (brainwashed is a more appropriate term) by the Western media and American politicians running for reelection.  It seems that China is a popular country to paint as an enemy of the United States, when that may be farthest from the truth. I never saw any Chinese troops with automatic weapons. In fact, I never saw any troops of the People's Liberation Army.

What I discovered was a country with 1.3 billion people that were not brainwashed drones, and there is a reason Shanghai is called the Paris of Asia—it is a very fashionable, modern city with millions of independent thinking people that live in a different culture.

Since 1999, I've hiked the Great Wall several times, visited the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, the Terra Cotta warriors outside Xian, stood on top of the first emperor's tomb, sailed down the Li River in Southeast China and been to many other locations.

Writing the complete "Concubine Saga" took several years and intense research into the history of 19th century China and an in depth look at Chinese culture. It helps that I am married to one of the world's foremost authors that writes about China. My wife's first book, Red Azalea, was published in 1992. Her fifth novel, "Empress Orchid", was a finalist of the British Book Awards.

Stearling Seagrave, the author of "Dragon Lady" (nonfiction about the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi) said that Robert Hart's concubine Ayaou was his live in dictionary and responsible for his ability to understand the Chinese culture.  If Ayaou was a dictionary of 19th century China, my wife Anchee is a living encyclopedia and an independent woman of another generation.

Ayaou, by contrast, lived during the 19th century when women could be easily bought and sold the same as used merchandise.

Today, women in China are the equal of men and hold up half the sky. Hart's concubine never had that privilege. "The Concubine Saga" is the passionate love story of Robert Hart and Ayaou. Harvard scholars wrote, "Hart's years of liaison with Ayaou gave him his fill of romance, including both its satisfactions and its limitations." (Entering China's Service, page 154, Harvard University Press, © 1986)

Anyone interested in seeing the last trip to China together in 2008, the following link will take you to a menu that leads to some of the photos I took: 2008 China Trip. Enjoy. 

Thanks to Virtual Author Book Tours and the author for this guest post for the blog tour. For other reviews of the book, visit The Concubine Saga Blog Tour