Book Review/Tour: Going Through the Notions by Cate Price

Title: Going Through the Notions: A Deadly Notions Mystery by Cate Price
Publication: September 3, 2013; Berkley
Genre: cozy mystery, new series
Source: review copy from publisher

Book description:
Retired schoolteacher Daisy Buchanan has found her calling in the quaint village of Millbury, Pennsylvania. While her husband renovates their old house, Daisy presides over Sometimes a Great Notion, her quirky shop that sells sewing bits and bobs, antiques, and jewelry. At a local auction her friend and mentor, auctioneer Angus Backstead, is arrested, accused of killing his drinking buddy who had stolen a set of expensive fountain pens. Daisy’s sure the sprightly old-timer couldn’t have done it and sets out to find the truth. (publisher)

My comments: Readers get involved with Kate's friends and her customers in the notions shop, a setting apart from the mystery plot, which involves her looking out for her friend Angus, whom she is determined to prove innocent of a murder. Lovers of notions and antiques will like the characters and the quaintness of the small shop. The murder plot is only half of the novel. I was often a bit impatient to get away from the notions, auctions, and yard sales, and back to the mystery, but found overall the novel was a good effort and good beginning for this new series.

About Cate Price
Cate Price was born in England and came to the U.S. when she was sixteen. She enjoys walking her two rescue dogs, and enjoys gardening, yard sales, and cooking with friends. Her previous (unpublished) books have finaled in numerous contests, including the Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America.

Writing the first book in the Deadly Notions mystery series proved an expensive project, because while researching auction houses, she became addicted to bidding on box lots. She is at work on the next book in the series, A DOLLHOUSE TO DIE FOR. Cate loves to connect with readers at her website, http://cateprice.com/ on Facebook at www.facebook.com/catepriceauthor or Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/cateprice

Visit the book tour schedule for more reviews, hosted by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

Nonfiction Books: Old Man River; Good Prose

I requested this new book from the publisher as my husband and I have both had a love for this river through the books, the songs and music, and the movies made about it. The river runs north and south right through the country, and am looking forward to reading Paul Schneider's book about the length and breadth of its history.

Old Man River: The Mississippi River in North American History, "an account of how the Mississippi shaped America," was published September 3 by Henry Holt and Co.,  my birthday, by the way, and I say that's auspicious for my enjoying it! It is divided into seven books, each book detailing the river's history from prehistoric times to the present.

The other nonfiction I'm currently reading is Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction by Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd, two writers known for their nonfiction and portraits of American life. The hardcover edition was published by Random House in January this year and the paperback edition just came out August 7.  I started reading it in the bookstore and had to buy it.

I have never read a how-to book on writing straight through before, but I'm enjoying this one and am reading it like a novel, from cover to cover. The writers' observations, comments, and tips can apply to fiction as well as nonfiction. I liked the section on writing memoirs quite a bit.  It made me determined to dust off my notes and keep going on that family history project I started.

I hope to write more about these two books after I've finished them.

What nonfiction books have you been reading?

Book Review: Mystery Girl by David Gordon

Publisher synopsis: Sam Kornberg is a failed novelist living in L.A. with a collapsing marriage. Desperate for work, he becomes the assistant to a portly, housebound detective named Solar Lonsky. His assignment to track a mysterious woman is the trigger for a story involving sexy doppelgangers, insane asylums, south-of-the-border shootouts, mistaken identities, video-store-geekery, and the death of the novel.

My comments: The mystery story surrounds an "art" film by an experimental filmmaker whose trilogy of films appeals to "cinephiles, Satanists, metal heads, stoners, and several deviants of all stripes." Since as a reader I don't really fit into any of these categories, the novel went over my head or below my head, unfortunately.

One of the themes of the novel is the "death of the novel," and the novel as an art form. Unfortunately, the attempts didn't work for me, and I saw it as a mishmash of story, author's thoughts, and the main character's philosophizing that didn't fit together well.

 I saw this book as an experimental novel with lots of stream of consciousness, and detailed description of dress, scenery, background, and people as in a script for a film. As for the story, it got drowned in distractions, such as the subplot of the life of a novelist and the "noir film as art" sections. Perhaps a bit too avant garde for me?

Title: Mystery Girl by David Gordon
Published July 16; New Harvest
Genre: mystery, experimental novel

David Gordon holds an MA in English and Comparative Literature and an MFA in Writing, both from Columbia University, and has worked in film, fashion, publishing, and pornography. His first novel, The Serialist, won the VCU/Cabell First Novel Award and was a finalist for an Edgar Award. His work has also appeared in The Paris Review, Purple, and Fence among other publications. Visit David at his website.

For more reviews and possibly very different views of the book, visit the book tour schedule hosted by TLC Book Tours.

Sunday Salon: Just Reading, No Labor on Labor Day

Welcome to the Sunday Salon!This post lists new books and links up to It's Monday; What Are You Reading? at Book Journey;  to Mailbox Monday hosted by Yolanda of Notorious Spinks Talks Books and to Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews.

Here is what arrived the past couple of weeks, some books I had been looking forward to and others a nice surprise.

Books finished:
Mystery Girl by David Gordon, review to be posted Tuesday for a book tour.
Alex by Pierre Lemaitre, a thriller in the vein of the Stieg Larsson books, but quite different in plot, and VERY creepy, as many French thrillers are.
Going Through the Notions by Cate Price, a cozy mystery in a new series, for a book tour this week.

Now reading:
Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes by Betsy Woodman, a novel set in northern India about a Scottish woman who lives there with her parrot and helper. The first in a series, the second of which, Love Potion Number 10, I also plan to read.

Reviews to be done:
The Sound and the Furry by Spencer Quinn, the sixth in the Chet and Bernie detective series, starring a humorous and unusual duo, Chet the dog and his human partner Bernie.

Enjoy the Labor Day events and long weekend! Put up your feet and relax. No labor on Labor Day, remember?  Are you traveling, and if so, what are you reading?

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Love Potion Number 10 by Betsy Woodman

Friday 56 Rules: *Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.
Also Book Beginnings by Rose City Reader

Title: Love Potion Number 10: A Jana Bibi Adventure by Betsy Woodman
Published May 14, 2013; Henry Holt Paperbacks
Genre: adventure set in the Indian Himalayas

"Dear," said Ritu, brightly.
Rambir felt a twinge of apprehension. When Ritu said "dear" like that, it meant she was going to bring up a topic that he wouldn't be comfortable with. (p. 56)

Book beginning:

Jana woke abruptly. Downstairs, in the fortune-telling salon, Mr. Ganguly was screeching something like "Water! Cold! Help!" She had not heard hi put those words together before. She sat up in bed, still groggy, now hearing footsteps on the staircase and, next, a frantic knocking on the bedroom door."Jana mem!" came Mary's voice. "Come now! Come quickly!"

Publisher description: "In the newest Jana Bibi adventure, Jana, Mr. Ganguly, and the gang are back as their small town in India is rocked by an espionage scandal and a homemade remedy that has love on everyone’s mind. The Jolly Grant House still welcomes all its visitors with the sign Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes hanging proudly outside its front door. Jana’s fortune-telling has brought a lot of attention to the small town of Hamara Nagar, and all eyes are on the Scottish-born card-reader Jana and her feisty, loose-beaked parrot, Mr. Ganguly. Some people, though, are not to be trusted, and Mr. Ganguly finds himself the target of a potential kidnapping that puts Jana and her household on edge.

Meanwhile, love is in the air and, thanks to Abenath’s Apothecary, it’s also in a bottle. Abenath has created an intoxicating brew that he calls Love Potion Number 10, which seems to have Jana in a tizzy. While she explores her newest hobby, dream interpretation, her head is swimming with questions: Is a new love possible at age fifty-nine? If so, would she ever marry again? All around her she sees different kinds of love and connection—family, arranged marriages, chemical attractions, even intercontinental romance between people who have only met through letters—so when an old flame arrives and rekindles long-gone feelings, Jana begins to think that that Love Potion Number 10 just might be the magic elixir its inventor thinks it is."

I'm getting ready to read this relatively light adventure after finishing some heavy thrillers! Don't you just love the cover?

(Review copy from the publisher).

Book Review: The English Girl by Daniel Silva

I finished The English Girl a few days ago, enjoyed the thriller, and can still remember it vividly. That counts for a rating of at least 4.5/5 in my book!

The English Girl to me is split into two parts. The first section is a hunt for the missing girl who is mixed up in a secret political scandal at the highest level in the British Government. The second part comes after the plot diverges dramatically, still involving the English girl, but following a different path.

I enjoyed the plot, the settings - Israel, Greece, France, England, and Russia - and the main character, Gabriel Allon, an Israeli spy who is tagged for a high position in his government once he has solved this mystery, resolved this conflict involving Britain and Russia.

An entertaining read. I'd like to read more of Silva's novels.

Goodreads description:
When a beautiful young British woman vanishes on the island of Corsica, a prime minister's career is threatened with destruction. Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, is thrust into a game of shadows where nothing is what it seems...and where the only thing more dangerous than his enemies might be the truth. Silva's work chronicles the adventures of art-restorer and master spy Gabriel Allon.

Title: The English Girl: A Novel by Daniel Silva
Published July 16, 2013: Harper
Genre: thriller
Source: review copy from publisher

New Book Release: Accused by Lisa Scottoline: Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted weekly by Jill at Breaking the Spine. What new releases are you eagerly waiting for. Link your post to Breaking the Spine.

Title: Accused: a Rosato and Associates Novel by Lisa Scottoline
To be published October 29, 2013; St. Martin's Press
Genre: legal thriller

Publisher description: "For her crime fiction, Scottoline created the all-female law firm of Rosato & Associates, thrilling readers with her twisty, fast-paced plots and her cast of strong and relatable female characters. Now Bennie Rosato, Mary DiNunzio, Judy Carrier, and Anne Murphy are back with all cylinders firing in Accused.

Mary Dinuzio  is about to take on a case brought to the firm by a thirteen-year-old genius with a penchant for beekeeping. Allegra Gardner’s sister Fiona was murdered six years ago, and it seemed like an open-and-shut case: the accused, Lonnie Stall, was seen fleeing the scene; his blood was on Fiona and her blood was on him; most damningly, Lonnie Stall pleaded guilty. But Allegra believes Lonnie is innocent and has been wrongly imprisoned. The Gardner family is one of the most powerful in the country and Allegra’s parents don’t believe in reopening the case, so taking it on is risky. But the Rosato & Associates firm can never resist an underdog. Was justice really served all those years ago? It will take a team of unstoppable female lawyers, plus one thirteen-year-old genius, to find out. "

I have not read any of Scottoline's books and am eagerly awaiting the release of this one. What new book are you waiting for?

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