January 22, 2023 BORN THIS WAY

 

Celebrated another birthday last week. Made it another 365 days. Thankful. But it seems to me that birthdays should be celebrated by the mother too. After all--if the mother didn't give birth then there wouldn't be any reason to celebrate right? Whenever we celebrate a birthday--I tell my kids the story of their birth. The whole drama--well most of it. They get all embarrassed but it's fun to reflect back on those days so that they can appreciate their own quirky arrival on this planet. After all-- every birth is different--and it's nice to know the circumstances surrounding your own birth. So--I'm really into Simone St. James these days. She writes mysteries,  thrillers and even ghost stories. I really enjoyed her novel from 2020 The Sun Down Motel. This thriller begins in 1982. Viv Delaney leaves her hometown enroute to New York City. On the way, she stops in Fell, New York, to work as a night clerk at the Sun Down Motel to earn extra money. One day she disappears and is never seen again. 35 years later, her niece, Carly Kirk, decides to take a trip to Fell to visit the motel and find out what happened to her aunt. Strangely, the motel hasn't changed at all since 1982. In order to learn more about the motel, Carly take a job as the night clerk and finds herself wrapped up in the mystery her aunt found herself in years earlier. The story switches back and forth between Viv and Carly with several plots, twists, turns, and ghosts, but is easy to follow. Find out what happened to Viv in 1982 and if Carly becomes the latest victim when you read this 336 unsettling, page turner for yourself. BOO. 

January 6, 2023 THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

I recommend many books but sometimes find it difficult to recommend my FAVORITE BOOKS because they're just a little off the beaten path.  And truth be told--some people don't appreciate that.  So to be clear-- when I'm recommending a book I LOVE--this is what you are apt to get. A book filled with quirky characters-- And a writer whose prose is so brilliant that the characters seem real. An author who has the ability to take the  mundane, tragic or even depressing elements of life and mix in just enough humor--to make me smile or even laugh out loud at times. Finally, there's nothing better than a book that has many sub plots and vignettes  that seem unrelated BUT somehow come together at the end of the story. These types of  books don't come around very often but I found one last year that I didn't get around to reviewing called Behind The Scenes At The Museum by Kate Atkinson. Originally written in 1995, the 25th anniversary edition came out last year and that's when I spied it. This family saga tells the story of six generations of women from York, England. It begins with Ruby Lennox as the narrator--at the time of her conception in 1951. Ruby is an excellent observer of her misfit family that includes her parents, Bunty and George, and sisters who all live above their pet shop. Interspersed with Ruby's narrative are chapters told from the point of view of various family members including her great grandmother, grandmother, mother and sisters. They each share vignettes of their own sometimes pathetic lives and the events in history that shaped them.  While the story seems to jump around and the sub plots unrelated-- it all comes around in the end making this a very gratifying novel. This is a 322 page book I highly recommend. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Enjoy. 

January 2, 2023 THE BEST OF TIMES

I know I'm a day late BUT I'd still like to share with you my stats and favorite books from 2022. I read 60 books but sadly only reviewed 23. I'll try to be better this year. My favorite books IN ORDER:

1) The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne

2) Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

  3) Still Life by Sarah Winman

4) Case Histories and the whole series which includes 6 books by Kate Atkinson

5) The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

6) The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

7) Oh William! and Lucy by the Sea. --part of a series of books by Elizabeth Strout

8) The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

9) The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

10) The Sundown Motel or any mystery by Simone St. James

If you haven't read any of these great books---get to it. They will get you through the long winter. Happy reading. Have a safe, happy and healthy New Year. 

December 21, 2022 EDGE OF SEVENTEEN

 

Seventeen years. That's how long my book club has been together. Funny thing is though-- we still DON'T have an official name. We've tried a few out BUT THEY DIDN'T STICK. So we are just THE BOOKCLUB.  It seems like yesterday when we had our first meeting. I still remember the book and the place. WOW. Time sure flies when you're having fun. Over the last seventeen years, we've read at least 170 books. That's a lot of books. But it's not just books we've shared. We've shared so much more. Good times and bad--AND we've stuck together and supported each other through it all. We might not always see eye to eye on things BUT that's okay. I count myself lucky to be in the company of such exceptional women. Thanks for everything and remember--WHAT HAPPENS IN BOOK CLUB--STAYS IN BOOK CLUB. Ha. Onto the book review. If you enjoyed Hamnet then you will love  Maggie O'Farrell's new book The Marriage Portrait. This is historical fiction at it best. O'Farrell takes some basic historical facts and weaves an unforgettable story about Renaissance Italy. It is 1550, and Lucrezia De'  Medici finds herself promised to the Duke of Ferrara after her sister dies suddenly on the eve on the wedding. This is a marriage to secure an alliance between Florence and Ferrara and Lucrezia is the pawn. At the tender age of 16, Lucrezia becomes the Duchess of Ferrara and is cast into a court of betrayal and cruelty at the hands of her new husband, Alfonso D' Este. The novel is about the aristocracy, power and their dire need to produce an heir at any cost. Find out what happens to Lucrezia, Alfonso and the other exciting characters in this gripping tale that is hard to put down or forget. It's about 350 pages or a 4 mile run that you will thoroughly enjoy. 

December 1, 2022 CRAZY FOR YOU

 I get a little crazy when it comes to books. Example: I read Kate Atkinson's books Life After Life and Transcription a few years ago. I liked them BUT I didn't love them. I knew she was a good writer SO I didn't give up. I was in South Carolina last summer SWEATING MY ASS OFF and decided to cool off in this great little book store. It was there that I came upon the 25th anniversary edition  of Kate Atkinson's first novel Behind the Scenes at the Museum. And I was hooked. I was all in. Crazy. I'm currently in the middle of a DEEP DIVE. It's Kate Atkinson OR BUST.  Who knew she wrote a detective series that became a TV series in 2011? Me--as I'm currently living in Edinburgh helping Jackson Brodie solve his latest mystery. Did I say CRAZY.  Seriously though--Reading takes me to places I've never been and introduced me to so many memorable characters along the way. It's simply amazing. Atkinson's detective series is currently five books so I'll review the first, Case Histories.  Jackson Brodie is a former policeman working as a private investigator in Edinburgh. He's recently divorced and is the protective father of a daughter named Marlee. As the story unfolds, Brodie gets more then he bargained for as he gets wrapped up in several mysteries that revolve around the Land family. Three year old Olivia's disappearance thirty years earlier, the murder of the husband by the wife years later and the most recent murder of a woman in a law office. Brodie, himself, is a case history, as the reader learns about his past and the demons that haunt his dreams and drive him in his chosen profession. The story is filled with interesting characters, insights, biting humor and twists at every turn.  Winter is coming and this is the perfect series to get you through those cold nights. This novel is about 336 pages that you will thoroughly enjoy. Oh yeah--it's important to read this series in order as many characters return in each novel. 

November 27, 2022 BACK WHERE I BELONG

 I got tired. My brain hurt. Too many OTHER things to do. So I took a break--from the blog. During the last 6 months I've read 25 books, learned how to play pickleball and focused on hot yoga. I finally feel ready to recommit to THE BLOG. It may be a little different and I might not write as often BUT --I'm back. I have read so many great books lately that I'm not even sure which to review first so I'll start with the book I just finished--Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.  Elizabeth Zott, the main character of this quirky novel, is a chemist in an all-male research institute in California in 1960. Because she is a woman, Elizabeth's colleagues treat her poorly-- until she meets Calvin Evans. Evans is a Nobel-prize nominated scientist who is instantly drawn to Elizabeth. Fast forward a few years and Elizabeth is a single, unemployed mother just scraping by. One day, a chance meeting with a producer changes her life. She finds herself the star of a cooking show called Supper at Six. And that's just the beginning of what happens in this inspiring story.  This book features an interesting cast of characters and is laugh out loud funny at times. I especially loved her dog Six-thirty.  This page turner is heartwarming, smart AND QUIRKY. I had a hard time putting down. It's about 400 quick pages that you will never forget. Enjoy.  

May 30, 2022 CAT SCRATCH FEVER

 

HAD COVID. AND IT WASN'T PRETTY. The whole shabang. Headache-fever-body aches-nauseous. SICK IN BED. Even worse though--I lost my sense of SMELL AND TASTE. It's coming back now but it was the strangest thing. Imagine NOT having coffee for 3-4 days because you are too nauseous. That was me. One morning when I was feeling better I decided to try coffee--AND I COULDN'T TASTE IT.  I thought there was something wrong with the coffee--BUT NO--there was something wrong with me.  Then I went outside to try to smell my favorite flowers--LILACS--AND I COULDN'T SMELL A THING. I literally buried my face in the flowers. NO LUCK. What a bummer. Guess I'll have to wait til next year. Then my husband got COVID. He barely had a head cold. Go figure. It's strange how differently COVID affects people. There is NO rhyme or reason--booster or NO Booster. Seems like everyone I know is getting COVID. Take care--partner. If there is one book you read in your life then it should be The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne. This is the life story of Cyril Avery told in first person.  He was born in Ireland in 1945 to an unwed 16 year old mother who was banished from her hometown. Cyril is then  adopted by a strange, wealthy couple, Maude and Charles Avery, and grows up in a loveless home.  Life is difficult for Cyril because he comes to  realize that he is a homosexual living in ultra conservative Catholic Ireland His story spans seven decades where he lives in Dublin, Amsterdam, New York and then back to Dublin. The characters in the story are beautifully written and wonderfully quirky. The dialogue is perfect. Not a wasted word. This lovely novel is as much about Irish history as it is Cyril's quest to discover his true self and where he belongs. I literally laughed out loud SO many times when I read this book but it is equally  heartbreaking and real. I honestly can't say enough about it.  Even though it is almost 600 pages or a 6 mile run--I guarantee  that you will NOT want it to end. This book has made it to my top 10 books of all time--that's how much I loved it. Let me know what you think.