Sunday Reading: Time Is a Killer by Michel Bussi

Books:
I read this in French a year ago but saw this English translation at the book store and couldn't resist getting it. I am trying to find all the little details and nuances I may have missed reading in the original language. And I am enjoying the characters and the story all over again!

It's a thriller set in a corner of Corsica, and features a 15-year-old French girl, Clothilde, and her journal that tells of her youthful experiences and observations on the island in 1989.  The book moves forward twenty-seven years, when the adult Clothilde revisits the island with her daughter and husband, recalling the tragic car crash all those years ago that spared her life but took the lives of  her parents and brother in what seemed then like a freak accident on a mountainous, winding road. Clothilde is determined to find out the truth of the past by looking closely at the present.

Time Is a Killer by Michel Bussi, translated from the French,
Published April 10, 2018, Europa Editions
Here is the French edition cover, printed in 2016.

The temps est assassin

I finished and reviewed only one book last week:
Death of an Honest Man by M.C. Beaton, the 33nd in her Hamish Macbeth mystery series set in Scotland. I can recommend this quirky Scots copper in the little highland village of Lochdubh, who solves mysteries but goes without the praise and the promotions that would take him away from his beloved home!

Gardening: We had a productive gardening day yesterday, mowing, weeding, trimming, planting, watering, and generally tidying up after all the spring and early summer rains made a mini jungle out of everything. Maybe more raking today if the rains don't come.

Exercises: Stretching in the mornings and during the day is the new prescription for me, for flexibility and building up strength in my legs and hips. I am working on being able to walk more than three miles at a time without collapsing.

Coffee and tea: I am enjoying an Indian oolong spiced tea and finishing off the Tanzanian coffee we found that we just loved.

Have a great Sunday!

What books are you reading this week?

The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

Death of an Honest Man by M.C. Beaton: Review

Title: Death of an Honest Man by M.C. Beaton, February 20, 2018

Genre: Hamish Macbeth Mystery #33
Source: library book

I liked this new book with policeman Hamish Macbeth in his element - his northern Scottish village, Lochdubh, solving the murder mystery of a body found in the bog. Hamish is still avoiding a  promotion that would take him out of the village, and he still skirts commitment to either of the two problematic women he could have married. His relationship with the villagers, his sidekick policemen (they change so often),  and his little mini-farm of hens, sheep, dog and cat add to Hamish's interesting personality. In this book though, Hamish becomes a bit more cunning and manipulative in hiding how he goes about solving the crimes, though he manages to keep the status quo in his beloved village and his job as the village bobby. I'm not sure if I like this change in Hamish but it does make things go smoother for everyone. I'm looking forward to the next book and the relationship with his newest police sidekick. Book beginning: The day had started out well for constable Hamish Macbeth. It was high summer with golden light bathing the little village of Lochdubh, situated in Sutherland in the northwest of Scotland. The air was pure and fresh and scented with pine from the forest on the other side of the sea loch. A yacht sailed in and the putt putt putt of the donkey engine was the only sound to break the silence of the early morning.  Page 56: "We've won out on far-fetched ideas before this," said Hamish. "Finish your drink and we'll chew some peppermints and see if we can see her." Memes: 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

Sunday Salon: Travel and Romance, Mystery

A book won from Atria books, for review, thanks to Bianca Salvant
Mr. Flood's Last Resort by Jess Kidd
Published May 1, 2018
Genre: literary fiction, contemporary fiction
The tale of a lonely caregiver and a cranky hoarder with a house full of secrets.

Other books on my shelf:

The Dying of the Light by Robert Goolrick
Publication: July 3, 2018, Harper
Genre: gothic
...a glamorous Southern debutante who marries for money and ultimately suffers for love—a southern gothic. 


After the Monsoon by Robert Karjel, (Ernst Grip #2)
Publication: July 3, 2018, Harper
Genre: thriller
A Swedish army lieutenant drops dead on a shooting range in the desert. Was it an unfortunate accident—or something more nefarious? Ernst Grip, an agent of the Swedish security police, is sent to the Horn of Africa to find out.

Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey
Publication:July 24, 2018, Harper
Genre: thriller
The story begins with a lost daughter who has been found but who remembers nothing about the days she went missing. Working backwards, a couple tries to find answers.

Finished reading:


The Backpacking Housewife by Janice Horton,
Publication: July 6, 2018, HarperImpulse
Genre: women's fiction, travel

This romance novel reads like a travelogue, with a backpacking runaway wife, who travels from the north of Thailand to the south islands and into Malaysia. Lori has run off with her passport and credit card to the farthest country from England she can find on the spur of the moment. Her discovery of her husband's year long affair with her best friend sends her heading to Southeast Asia, to a new adventure and to put distance between herself and her husband. She lands in Bangkok, heads to Chiang Mai, and from there goes south along the coast, from one beautiful beach and lovely island to another, hopping south till she reaches Malaysia. Needless to say, she finds friendships, adventure, independence, and a new romance - a whole new life. The perfect fairy tale getaway romance. I enjoyed it. Book borrowed from NetGalley   The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan Published February 4, 2018; Sourcebook Landmark Genre: romance, travel Two romances are connected to this artisanal chocolate shop in Paris -stories involving the original owner and chocolatier, Thierry, and later his son. Two young English women travel to France at different times and find romance there, one unlucky, and the other about to be unlucky. Or is she? A nice romantic novel in a lovely setting - Paris and a chocolate shop! Book borrowed from NetGalley or Edelweiss.   Now reading: T'en souviens-tu, mon Anaïs? Et autres nouvelles by Michel Bussi Published January 4, 2018; Presses de la Cite Genre: romance, contemporary French novel Hooray! My French is improving, after reading so many of Bussi's books in the original French. Thanks to the dictionary provided in the Kindle ereader, I can look up unknown words and phrases tout de suite! And either this book is written in simpler French, or my reading ability has noticeably improved!

What books are you reading this week?

The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

Review: Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist

Two Steps Forward

Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist, May 1, 2018, William Morrow
Genre:travel, contemporary novel
Setting: The Chemin, also known as the Camino de Santiago, is a centuries-old pilgrim route that ends in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. 

I loved this book, told from the point of view of a woman in her 40s or 50s and a man of the same age, walking from Cluny in France to Santiago in Spain on an old pilgrimage route. Though it's a novel, the book reads as if written by people who have travelled the Camino many times and know of what they speak! And in fact the authors are seasoned walkers of the pilgrim's route in Spain.

In the novel, the fictitious Martin and Zoe meet on the trail, traveling by foot from France and into northern Spain on the famous route. Martin pulls a cart he designed to hold his gear and hopes to sell the design to anyone who would buy it and manufacture it for public use. Zoe, using a backpack, is on the trail to try to escape memories of the very recent death of her husband, Keith. 

They have many setbacks along the Camino, meet interesting people from different countries, sometimes walking together and other times separately, and have varied experiences staying in hostels, hotels, pensions, and bed and breakfasts along the way. The narrators describe the terrain and each little town they enter, in detail. 

This is not only a travel story, about the experiences of walking over 2,000 kilometers, but also a love story of sorts. The book made me want to get into shape and travel along the Camino myself, and I've put the trail on my bucket list!

Objective rating: 5/5. Thanks to William Morrow for the review copy. 

Finished reading:

Sunburn

The flawed main character in Sunburn didn't get my sympathy even though she endured a lot in order to get to her final goals. Interesting plot and character; the book was entertaining even though not memorable. I gave it four stars.

New books include

Once Upon a Spine

A Panicked Premonition

Bought the Farm

A Just Clause

What books are you reading this week?

The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

Sunday Salon: Powell's Books in Chicago

On a trip to Chicago in April, we stopped at a favorite used books store in Hyde Park on the south side, Powell's Books. I came away with three books I'd not have bought anywhere else....such was the atmosphere of the place that it made me want to read them.


Fluke by Joseph Mazur, March 15, 2017,  paperback by Oneworld
A look at coincidences, their probability and frequency. The book tries to analyze how coincidences work, that they are not so unusual after all. So you meet your next door neighbor while you are both at the Louvre in Paris during the month of May. Surprise! Amazing! Or is it?


The Invisible History of the Human Race by Christine Kenneally, October 9, 2014, Viking
How the history of the human race shapes us as individuals

The third book I'd have bought anywhere -


Man's Fate by Andre Malraux, September 3, 2009, Penguin Classics
Shanghai, 1927, and revolution is in the air. As the city becomes caught up in violence and bloodshed, four people's lives are altered inexorably....

What books are you reading this week?

The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

Book Beginning: The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet

The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet, August 14, 2018, Picador USA

Genre: comedy, literary fiction
Source: library
Book beginning:

Life is not a novel. At least you would like to believe so. Roland Barthes walks up Rue de Bievre. The greatest literary critic of the twentieth century has every reason to feel anxious and upset. His mother, with whom he had a highly Proustian relationship, is dead. And his course on "The Preparation of the Novel"  at the College de France is such a conspicuous failure it can no longer be ignored; all year he has talked to his students about Japanese haikus, photography, the signifier and the signified, Pascalian diversions, cafe waiters, dressing gowns, and lecture-hall seating - about everything but the novel. And this has been going on for three years. He knows, of course, that the course is simply a delaying tactic designed to push back the moment when he must start a truly literary work....

Page 56:

Standing behind his massive desk, Giscard points to one representing a beautiful, severe-looking woman, arms outspread, dressed in a fine white dress....

Publisher: 

Paris, 1980. The literary critic Roland Barthes dies—struck by a laundry van. The world of letters mourns a tragic accident. But what if it wasn’t an accident at all? What if Barthes was . . . murdered? The hapless police detective Jacques Bayard, whose new case will plunge him into the depths of literary theory, soon finds himself in search of a lost manuscript by the linguist Roman Jakobson on the mysterious “seventh function of language.”

What new books are you reading this weekend? 
Memes: 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

It 's Monday: New Books and New Reviews

New books on my shelf:

Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist, May 1, 2018, William Morrow
Genre: romance, contemporary novel
Setting: The Chemin, also known as the Camino de Santiago, is a centuries-old pilgrim route that ends in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. 


Bloody Orbit: Gattis File #1 by K.R. Richardson, May 2018
Genre: science fiction police procedural pairs an idealistic rookie with an officer who uses cybernetic implants to process forensics

This is not normally a genre I read, but since it's the first in a new series, I'm willing to give it a try.

Currently reading:

Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen, May 1, 2007, Berkley
Genre: thriller
Rating: 5/5

After the death of their father, young Sally takes care of her sister Troo while their mother is hospitalized long term for liver failure. There is a murderer on the loose who has targeted young girls in the area and Sally finds herself  alone in having to protect herself and her sister. Family secrets, a predator on the loose in a small community in Milwaukee, these are some of the themes of the book with two highly individualized young girls who must handle it all.

Books read last week:

Love the setting and descriptions of the people and the unusual Glenan islands off the Brittany shore. A complex mystery plot too, with a persistent and astute French detective.

I listened to the audio and loved the intonations in the voice of the narrator, who read the French novel in English.

Murder on Brittany Shores by Jean-Luc Bannalec, 
Published July 2016 by Minotaur
Genre: mystery 
Setting: Brittany, France




Killing Trail: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima,
Published December 8, 2015
Genre: K-9 mystery
Setting: Colorado

The first novel in the series, introducing Mattie Cobb and her K-9 police dog Robo. An entertaining, informative mystery. Loved the setting and details on police dog training.

Moo by Sharon Creech, August 30, 2016, HarperCollins

Cute story of city kids who move to Maine and learn, reluctantly at first, about farm animals and farm life from an Italian woman and her cow, Zora. What books are you reading this week? The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.What books are you reading this week?