Book Review: Blood Orange by Susan Wittig Albert

Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph every Tuesday. Share the first paragraph(s) of your current read or book interest, with information for readers

Blood Orange by Susan Wittig Albert, published April 5, 2016 by Berklely
In the newest China Bayles Mystery in the New York Times bestselling series, China comes to the aid of a nurse who ends up in the hospital... (publisher)

First chapter, first paragraph

Today's commercial beers are almost exclusively brewed with hops, the female flowers of the hop plant (Humulus Iupulus).The result is a uniform, easily controlled flavor....  

Every chapter in this novel, in fact in all of the China Bayles mysteries if I remember correctly, begins with a brief treatise or description of plants and plants in the garden or used for food or drink. And all of the books include recipes, an added bonus.

First paragraph of the novel itself:

"Excuse me." I put down my teacup. I don't think I heard that right, Ruby. "I thought you said that Ramona has bought a brewery."

"That's exactly what I said," Ruby sank into the chair opposite mine at her kitchen table and ran her fingers through her frizzy red hair.... 

China tries to find the person who forced a hospice nurse, Kelley, off the road in a car accident, critically injuring her. Things slowly come to light that someone wants to keep his/her other crimes a secret, and the mystery plot gets on the way......
What I like most about the series is the setting - the Hill Country in south Texas, which the author describes in such excellent detail, as well as the interesting main characters, and the detailed information on plants in every book. Not to mention delicious and unusual recipes.

Here are the ingredients for my favorite recipe in Blood Orange, one I am bound to try:

Blood Orange Liqueur

4 blood oranges
1 lemon
Fresh ginger, about 2" long, peeled and sliced
2 cups vodka
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

In brief, add the ginger and vodka to the de-pitted oranges and orange and lemon peel in a quart jar. Add the simple water and sugar syrup and store the jar in a cool, dark place for at least a month. (The complete detailed recipe is on pages 308-309 of the book). 

It sounds absolutely delicious to me! 
Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book for their book tour of Blood Orange. 

Sunday Salon: Indoor Reading Weather

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer.
Also visit Mailbox Monday, and It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Date. 

The weather, an endless source of commentary, was very weird yesterday, no other word for it. 

The day started out sunny and relatively warm, then the temps dropped and snow in fat flakes fell, turning into sleet and then heavy rain. The sun came out again, briefly, and then the flaky snow came back. Soon after, little balls of white, like tiny hail stones started to salt the grass, then more heavy rain. It was something to behold, from behind the safety and warmth of a wide window! 

Only two new books last week, one for a tour, a suspense novel which I have just finished!

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh, to be released May 3, 2016 by Berkley. 
Jenna Gray moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past. (publisher)
Imagine my surprise as I read on and found things are not what they seem and people are not who you think ....My review will be posted on May 10.

The Drafter by Kim Harrison, a sci-fi thriller in the Peri Reed Chronicles, paperback to be released April 19, 2016 by Pocket Books.
Detroit 2030. Double-crossed by the person she loved and betrayed by the covert government organization that trained her, Peri Reed is a renegade on the run. She is a drafter, possessed of a rare, invaluable skill for altering time, yet destined to forget both the history she changed and the history she rewrote. 

I am not a sci-fi fan, but this one sounds interesting nevertheless. 

What is new on your reading desk? 

Book Beginning: Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Lilac Girls, a novel by Martha Hall Kelly,  released April 5, 2016 by Ballantine Books
A story told by three women caught up in WWII whose lives collide as the war rages on: 

• New York socialite Caroline Ferriday working at the French consulate until Hitler invades Poland and sets his sights on France; 
• Kasia Kuzmerick, a teenager and courier for the resistance movement in Poland; 
• Herta Oberheuser, a young German doctor trapped in a government medical position. 

Here are their first chapters:
Caroline, September 1939 - Chapter 1

If I'd known I was about to meet the man who'd shatter me like bone china on terra cotta, I would have slept in. 

Kasia, 1939 - Chapter 2

It really was Pietrik Bakoski's idea to go up to the bluff at Deer Meadow to see the refugees. Just want to set straight the record. Matka never did believe me about that. 

Herta, 1939 - Chapter 3

At midnight, father and I walked six blocks from our basement apartment to a nicer part of Dusseldorf, to the white stone townhomes where servants swept the streets and pinched back geraniums in window boxes. It was late September, but the air was warm still, "fuhrer weather" they called it, since it permitted Hitler success in his campaigns. It had certainly worked with Poland.

Page 56:
Caroline

"Since Washington changed immigration quotas in '24, everything's harder now," Roger said.

The book is based on the life of Caroline Ferriday, one of many "forgotten" heroes of the war. Looks like a book I'll enjoy reading. 

The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice.

Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Book Review: Night Night, Sleep Tight by Hallie Ephron

Night Night, Sleep Tight by Hallie Ephron, published December 8, 2015 by William Morrow Paperback. A tale of domestic noir, infused with old Hollywood folklore and glamour, set in a town rife with egotism and backstabbing and where fame and infamy are often interchangeable. Los Angeles 1986. (publisher)

My comments: 
In this mystery novel, compromise, in the most extreme case, allows famous Hollywood and Beverly Hills residents to preserve their reputation, enhance their fame, and hide their sins. That is, until Deidre, injured in an accident some twenty years ago in a car driven recklessly by her well-known screen writer father, decides to unearth some secrets. 

First, there is the mystery of her father's sudden death in his pool, a fire that destroys the papers in his garage office, and some puzzling photos and items that Deidre finds among her father's things before the fire. She gets to the bottom of the mystery, but at a price. A Hollywood price of compromise and cover ups.

I liked Ephron's book, There Was An Old Woman, and gave this one four stars as well. Suspenseful, the plot leads you on to follow to the very end, to it's less than perfect but perfectly acceptable Hollywood-style ending. 

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book sent for my objective review. 

First Chapter: The Last Goodnight by Howard Blum

Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph every Tuesday. Share the first paragraph(s) of your current read or book interest, with information for readers

The Last Goodnight: a World War II Story of Espionage, Adventure & Betrayal by Howard Blum, to be released April 12, 2016 by Harper. The book is described as a "biography of Betty Pack, the dazzling American debutante who became an Allied spy during WWII and was hailed by OSS chief General “Wild Bill" Donovan as “the greatest unsung heroine of the war.” 

First paragraph, first chapter:

Betty Pack had planned her escape from the castle with great care. Too often impulsive - her greatest fault, she would frequently concede - she had deliberately plotted this operation with the long-dormant discipline acquired during her dangerous time decades ago in the field. Yet on the blustery morning of March 1, 1963, Betty, otherwise known in the tiny village in the French Pyrenees that lay just beyond the stone walls of the ancient castle as Mme Brousse, the American-born chatelaine of Castelnou, and who in a previous life had been known to an even smaller circle as the agent code-named Cynthia, was having doubts. 

Based on the opening paragraph, would you read on?

Book Review: The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

A library book that I read after recommendations by several bloggers: The Light Between Oceans was published 2013 by Scribner. It 's about a lighthouse couple in Australia who find a baby girl ship wrecked or boat wrecked on their beach and who decide to keep her as their own. 

Big mistake. But the man, Tom, gives in to his wife's importuning as she manipulates him into keeping the baby. She has lost three children, one just recently stillborn, and he cannot find it easy to deny her this child washed up on their shore with no identifying clues except for an expensive silver rattle. 

Even after Tom suspects who the real mother might be, another grieving woman who has lost both husband and child, he is loath to reveal the truth about the little girl that people think is his own. 

Recommendation: I found this novel very thought-provoking, a look at the dynamics of childlessness and some reasons behind child abductions, a not too infrequent occurrence. Conscience, empathy, honor and loyalty all come into play in this story. Well written and developed, it's a novel I heartily recommend.

Sunday Salon: Island Novels

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer.
Also visit Mailbox Monday, and It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Date. 

Now I can read comfortably in bed! Bought myself an Easter present, in advance - a new bed with motorized base that allows me to raise to sit up mode and raise legs to comfort mode. Can't wait for delivery! Maybe I'll stay in bed all day (the first day, that is).

Here are two new books for April, both set on islands:

A Man of Genius, a gothic novel by Janet Todd, to be released April 12, 2016 by Bitter lemon Press

"A quirky, darkly mischievous novel about love, obsession and the burden of charisma, played out against the backdrop of Venice's watery, decadent glory." Sarah Dunant

‘A mesmerizing story of love and obsession in nineteenth century Venice: dark and utterly compelling." Natasha Solomons

Sounds brooding and fit for Venice!

Braking for Bodies: A Cycle Path Mystery by Duffy Brown, to be released April 5, 2016 by Berkley

Moving from Los Angeles to picturesque Mackinac Island  in Upper Michigan to work in a bike shop, Evie knows it’s the best decision she’s ever made. 

“Sparkling dialogue, an unforgettable island setting, and all the charm a cozy mystery fan would want.”—Ellery Adams, New York Times bestselling author of the Books by the Bay Mysteries


A book I won from Shelf Awareness - The Underdogs!

The Underdogs Children, Dogs, and the Power of Unconditional Love by Melissa Fay Greene, to be released May 17, 2016 by Ecco.
"...a profound and surprising account of dogs on the front lines of rescuing both children and adults from the trenches of grief, emotional, physical, and cognitive disability, and post-traumatic stress disorder." 

What's on your reading chair/bed this week?