Sunday Salon: Reading Indoors in the Extreme Heat

Hot, hot day predicted, up to 98 degrees today and humid, with a real feel of over 100. Stay indoors, they tell me.

I have some books lined up for indoor reading, while others watch the World Cup.

New books:

Poisoned Pages: Booktown Myste

Buried in Books

Dying Up Loose Ends

Italian Iced: Ethnic Eats Mystery

Read last week:

The Cactus

An independent 45-year-old single woman has her life turned around in The Cactus, with the unexpected death of her mother, a dispute over the will the mother left behind, and the antics of  her irresponsible younger brother Edward and his new friend Rob. This is a sort of romance, so be prepared to be charmed by the gradual change in the main character, prickly Sarah.

Shadow Child

Shadow Child by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto was an engrossing read that held my interest all the way through. The story centers around identical twins, grandchildren of a couple who were incarcerated during WWII in a Japanese camp in California, and children of a mother who lived during the time of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The twins grew up in Hawaii, a land of ocean, flowers, and sunshine, but they are shadowed by the past, influenced in subtle and not so subtle ways by their grandparents and their mother's generation of Japanese who endured WWII. They must survive the past and the present in their own way. A five-star read. 

I am now trying to read 
Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey, even though the ARC has such fine print, I have to sit in the sun to read it easily. Wish me luck. It will soon get very hot outside!

Keep cool everyone!
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.

Once Upon a Spine by Kate Carlisle

Once Upon a Spine: A Bibliophile Mystery by Kate Carlisle

Published June 5, 2018; Berkley/Penguin Random House

Brooklyn  and Derek, owners of the Brothers Bookstore, get ready to host Derek's British parents while trying to solve a murder and vandalism.
This is the 11th in the mystery series though each book can be read on its own.

Book beginning:

Lately, I've resorted to stalking. Not a person, but a book. For weeks now I'd been visiting the book almost daily. It was a little embarrassing to continually beg the bookstore owner to let me hold it, page through it, study it. I just wanted to touch it, stroke it, and once, when he wasn't looking, sniff it. But he didn't seem to mind my book fixation. He's as big a book nerd as I am.

Many readers can empathize with Brooklyn and her extreme love of books. The fact that she is a book binder and an amateur sleuth adds spice to this novel. The British in-laws- to-be add to the plot interest and the solving of the mystery.

Page 56:

The fact that I had walked in and found two unconscious people - one almost certainly dead - was something I should have been used to by now. 

The amateur sleuth gets some help later on from her future mother-in-law, a psychic.
This is definitely a book for readers, bibliophiles, and mystery lovers.

Thanks to the publisher for a paperback review copy of this book. 
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 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.