A Little Reading

Victorian Challenge 2012

2012-02-01T00:17:00.007-05:00

I really thought I was done with challenge sign-ups for 2012 (no, I mean really). But apparently I was wrong about that. Just can't resist one more.

The Victorian Challenge, hosted by Laura's Reviews, runs throughout 2012. The object of the challenge is to read (or watch or listen to) 2 to 6 (or more) Victorian items. Anything written during this time period qualifies for the challenge -- also books set during the Victorian age, or books about a Victorian author, history, manners, architecture, Queen Victoria etc. You can find more information and sign up for the challenge here.

I've already got Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre on my list for this year. And I'm thinking that this might be the year I finally read The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. Also, it's just about time for a re-read of Lewis Carroll's Alice books, too. So I've got several books in mind. Whatever I end up reading, watching, etc., I'll be tracking my progress on my challenge blog, here.

Teaser Tuesdays: A Fall of Moondust

2012-01-31T10:05:00.000-05:00

This week my teaser lines come from a vintage sci-fi novel, Arthur C. Clarke's A Fall of Moondust. In the book, the Dust-cruiser Selene has malfunctioned and been buried deep beneath the the Moon's Sea of Thirst, trapping the crew and passengers under many feet of deadly dust. This snippet is from page 118:

It was then that Pat knew, without any further argument, that he was genuinely in love with Susan. For his first reaction was not fear for his own safety, but anger and grief that, after having endured so much, she would have to die within sight of rescue.

I don't usually expect romance from Clarke's books, but this one definitely has a romantic angle to it. And since this teaser comes from about midway through the story, I'm still hoping for a happy ending.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-30T01:01:00.006-05:00

Well, once again, I only finished one book last week -- Liberty by Garrison Keillor. Hope to get a review up a little later today, but for now I'll just say it wasn't exactly what I was expecting.

This week, I'm reading some science fiction (inspired by Carl V's 2012 Science Fiction Experience): I've started A Fall of Moondust, by Arthur C. Clarke, and I'm thinking of reading another vintage sci-fi novel, Clifford D. Simak's Time and Again. I'm pretty sure I read that last one many, many years ago, but don't really remember much about it.

Also still plugging away at A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book and Kate Morton's The House At Riverton. So far, I'm enjoying both of those, but if I'm going to finish either of them I'm probably going to have to decide on one and stick with it to the end -- something I have trouble doing with these chunksters.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. If you want to let the world know what books you're going to be reading this week, head on over to her blog and leave your link. It's also a great way to discover new books and new blogs.

Reading Journal: 27 January 2012

2012-01-27T11:00:00.000-05:00

Well, after abandoning the last book I started, I've returned to one I began reading back around the first of January. The Children's Book, by A.S. Byatt, has been on my TBR pile for a couple of years now (it came out in 2009). And as it's quite a chunkster (almost 700 pages in hard cover) I'm likely to be reading it most of the year! I do have a problem sticking with big books -- I tend to stop and start, so it usually takes me much longer than it should to get through them. And for some reason, I generally have trouble finishing anything by A.S. Byatt, short or long.

So far, though, I'm enjoying this one quite a lot. However, it's a very dense book -- the first section has an enormous amount of information that I'm sure will be important later in the story, and (as usual with Byatt) there's a cast of thousands to get to know. Very Dickensian -- and fun, but the list of personae can get a little confusing. I've even resorted to diagramming the family relationships, so I know who belongs where:

But that appeals to the genealogist in me -- and the list-maker, too.

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Oh, and here's a little bit of "On This Day in Literary History" sort of thing. Today, January 27th is Lewis Carroll's birthday (1832).

The Alice books are some of my all-time favorites, and probably the first "long" books (well, they seemed long at the time) that I read on my own. I still re-read them from time to time.

Booking Through Thursday: Writing or Riveting?

2012-01-26T10:07:00.002-05:00

This week, BTT asks: " What’s more important: Good writing? Or a good story? (Of course, a book should have BOTH, but…) "

Well, at first I was tempted to say that if I can only choose one of those, give me good story every time. But then I got to thinking and realized it's very unlikely that just a good story is going to hold my attention very long, if that story isn't well-written. So I really don't think I could choose one over the other. I want both.

Too much to ask?

Reading Journal: First Abandoned Book of 2012

2012-01-25T04:15:00.004-05:00

A Man of Parts. David Lodge.
Viking, 2011; 436 pages

Publisher's description:

H. G. Wells, author of The Time Machine and War of the Worlds, was one of the twentieth century's most prophetic and creative writers, a man who moved in the most important literary, intellectual, and political circles of his time. In his new novel, David Lodge has taken the compelling true story of Wells's life and transformed it into a witty and deeply moving narrative about a fascinating yet flawed man.

As the second war he has lived through moves into its final phase, the ailing Herbert George Wells looks back on a life crowded with incident, books and women....Once he was probably the most famous writer in the world, "the man who invented tomorrow"; now he feels like yesterday's man, deserted or disparaged by readers and depressed by the collapse of his utopian dreams for mankind.

I've read a couple of other books by David Lodge, and enjoyed them. This, however, is a very different kind of book. Not bad -- just didn't "grab" me. I'm always a little wary of fiction based on historical figures -- seems that it either takes too many liberties with the subject matter or it's too much like straightforward biography. And I'm afraid this one belongs in that latter category. H.G. Wells is a fascinating figure all right, but I was hoping for more story. After the first fifty pages or so, I felt as though I'd been reading an extended Wikipedia article on Wells -- too much info and not enough action. So this one goes in the DNF batch.

Teaser Tuesdays: Liberty

2012-01-24T00:17:00.001-05:00

This week my teaser lines come from Garrison Keillor's novel, Liberty -- one of his Lake Wobegon tales. This snippet comes from page 184:

Irene didn't intend to kill Clint, just bring him to his senses. It was time he learned: You can't have everything. Take your choice. Make a life with me or get a bellyful of hot lead.

That sounds a little more violent than the usual Garrison Keillor offering, but I'm pretty sure Irene isn't going to do any real harm to ol' Clint. Well, almost pretty sure anyway.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-23T10:46:00.004-05:00

Well, I slowed down a bit last week. After a pretty fast take-off earlier in January, last week I only managed to finish one book -- The Shakespeare Thefts, by Eric Rasmussen. I did read a portion of another (A Man of Parts, by David Lodge), but after the 50-page test, decided it's not for me. So -- one book finished and one book abandoned.

This week, I've got several books going (as usual). But the ones I'm concentrating on are Liberty by Garrison Keillor (one of his Lake Wobegon novels), and another nonfiction Early Reviewer book from Library Thing, Republic of Words: The Atlantic Monthly and Its Writers 1857-1925, by Susan Goodman. I'm about halfway through the Garrison Keillor book and enjoying it, though with reservations. Haven't actually started the Goodman book, so I can't say anything about it yet -- looks fairly scholarly, with over fifty pages of notes and index.

And I'm also still reading two chunksters -- Kate Morton's The House At Riverton, and A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book -- although I've put them on hold until I finish up the other two. So I've got plenty to keep me bookishly busy this week.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. If you want to let the world know what books you're going to be reading this week, head on over to her blog and leave your link. It's also a great way to discover new books and new blogs.

The Shakespeare Thefts: In Search of the First Folios

2012-01-22T13:53:00.009-05:00

Written by Eric Rasmussen
Palgrave Macmillan, 2011; 222 pages

The book known as the First Folio, the first edition of the collected works of William Shakespeare, was put together by his fellow actors after Shakespeare's death. From the moment the original 750-copy print run left the press, it's been one of the most coveted books ever published -- treasured by kings, billionaires, and bibliophiles the world over.

The Shakespeare Thefts is the account of a renowned Shakespeare scholar's attempt to track down every existing copy of the book (232 are known), and to identify other copies that have been lost or stolen. Rasmussen and his team of literary detectives traveled the globe and spent more than a decade in their effort to "make the First Folio the most documented book of all time." A daunting task, to be sure; and one that certainly appeals to the lit-geek in me. Along the way, they encountered thieves, eccentric book collectors, reclusive librarians, as well as academics and historians, aristocrats and theater people -- all in some way mixed up in the story of one of the world's most sought-after books.

The Shakespeare Thefts was interesting enough, and a fast read; I enjoyed it, even though I was never exactly swept away by the narrative. An awful lot of detail to take in, for such a relatively short book -- occasionally I felt like I was slipping into info overload syndrome. Probably not a book for everyone, but if you're interested in Shakespeare scholarship or theater history or rare book collecting, this should be right up your street.

Note: I received my copy of this book free of charge from the publisher, through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program. No other compensation was provided, and no one attempted to influence my opinion of the book.

The Night Strangers

2012-01-21T16:30:00.004-05:00

Written by Chris Bohjalian
Crown Publishers, 2011; 380 pages

After a horrific plane crash in which most of the passengers as well as his co-pilot are killed, airline pilot Chip Linton is devastated and in need of both physical and emotional healing. He's been cleared of any wrong-doing or neglect, but he's haunted by survivor's guilt and the possibility that if he'd acted differently or faster, more lives might have been saved. Worried about her husband and anxious to help the family return to some degree of normality, wife Emily Linton decides the best plan would be to move the family to a new town where they can get away from the disturbing memories, and get a fresh start. So the run-down but lovely Victorian house in a quiet town in northern New Hampshire seems the perfect choice.

Chip and Emily decide to buy the place and make a new home for themselves and their twin daughters Hallie and Garnet. They're so enchanted with their new surroundings that they're really not too alarmed when the real estate agent who helped them find the house dies suddenly on the day they're scheduled to close. And once they move in, life seems to be smoothing out again -- until Chip notices the mysterious door in the basement. Why didn't they notice it when they were looking at the house the first time around? What's behind the door, and why does it seem to lead nowhere? And why is it tightly sealed with thirty-nine 6-inch-long carriage bolts? Is it just a coincidence that thirty-nine is the exact number of people killed in the plane crash? Does the sealed door have anything to do with the tragic death of a member of the family who lived in the house before the Lintons arrived?

While Chip becomes obsessed with finding the answers to these questions and deals with all the other questions haunting him (some, quite literally), Emily is starting to wonder about the women she's met in the village. Calling themselves "herbalists," they seem completely caught up in their horticultural pursuits. Emily is sure the ladies are simply harmless hobbyists. But why do they seem so fascinated by the Lintons' twin daughters?

Lots of questions to be answered. Including the one I kept asking: "why don't they just pack up and move back to the city? "

I'd heard so much about this one: it sounded right down my street -- a haunted basement, spooky twins, shamans, witches, a town with a secret from the past. Now how could I resist something like that? Obviously I couldn't -- and when I found the book at the library, I had to bring it home. And managed to read the whole thing in one day; pretty unusual for me, especially since Bohjalian's novel is almost 400 pages long.

So I have to admit, it's definitely a page-turner. But the story itself left me a little cold (and not from terror). Maybe I've just read too many of these creepy tales, but this one seemed a little too derivative -- many other books kept coming to mind including Rosemary's Baby, Burnt Offerings and The Amityville Horror, as well as bits of Stephen King. And I had a lot of trouble believing that two intelligent people could be as gullible and unaware as Chip and Emily seem to be -- even if they are suffering from trauma and depression. Can't say much more or I'd give too much away -- it was all just a bit too predictable for my taste.

But, as I said, I did enjoy the writing. Overall, the book is pleasingly atmospheric, and at times genuinely spooky. So I don't think I'll let this one turn me off Chris Bohjalian. Several of his other works sound very interesting, too.

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Booking Through Thursday: Skipping

2012-01-19T09:54:00.004-05:00

This week, BTT asks: "Do you skip ahead in a book? Do you feel badly about it when you do?"

Have to admit, I might occasionally skip around in a book. Sometimes I'll skip back and forth, and read different parts, out of order. Sometimes I "skim" sections, without reading every single word. And sometimes I simply leave portions completely unread. Not often -- but it's been known to happen.

Does this cause me shame or embarrassment? Nope. I suppose I might feel a bit uncomfortable if it's an ARC or a book I've promised to review. Then I do try to read every word. And that's one of the reasons I've cut way back on requesting or accepting advance copies.

I agree with Somerset Maugham, in the article mentioned. For me, reading is a diversion (unless the work being read is an instruction book or the like). These days, I read purely for pleasure -- so if I decide to skip a few lines or paragraphs or pages, I don't feel guilty about it at all.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Night Strangers

2012-01-17T00:01:00.005-05:00

This week my teaser lines come from Chris Bohjalian's The Night Strangers: Chip and Emily Linton and their twin daughters have just moved into their new home -- a huge old Victorian house in a remote area of New England.

If they noticed a door with thirty-nine carriage bolts partially hidden by a moldering pile of coal, the image never registered in either of their minds....
It was only on their third afternoon there, when Chip Linton descended the basement steps with their first ever load of laundry in their new home, that he would sense something from the corner of his eye and turn toward it, realizing as the hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle that behind all that coal in the corner was a door. (p.18)

Things are just about to get very weird.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-16T00:46:00.007-05:00

I've had a pretty good reading month, so far -- four books read, and two reviewed:

Spiderweb. Penelope Lively
The Players Come Again. Amanda Cross
The Inn at Lake Devine. Elinor Lipman
The Night Strangers. Chris Bohjalian

Will try to get reviews of the other two up later today.

This week, I've got a couple of books going: The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (which I'm thoroughly enjoying), and A Man of Parts by David Lodge (which I'm also liking a lot). Also getting ready to start The Shakespeare Thefts by Eric Rasmussen -- which is what I really should be reading, since it's an Early Reviewer book from Library Thing and I'm very late getting to it.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. If you want to let the world know what books you're going to be reading this week, head on over to her blog and leave your link. It's also a great way to discover new books and new blogs.

The Players Come Again

2012-01-15T23:30:00.001-05:00

Written by Amanda Cross
Random House, 1990; 229 pages

At the beginning of The Players Come Again, Kate Fansler -- professor of English literature and amateur sleuth -- has just published a study of Henry James and Thomas Hardy, and is looking around for her next project. So she's very interested when an editor from a New York publishing company comes to her with a suggestion for a biography of Gabrielle Foxx, reclusive wife of the great modernist writer Emmanuel Foxx.

Gabrielle has always been an enigma to academics, who've wondered about her influence on her husband's writing, especially his controversial masterpiece novel, Ariadne. And there are questions about Gabrielle's own secret work -- work that no one has ever seen. Was Gabrielle just a muse and a handmaiden to her husband's enormous talents, or was she much more? As Kate digs deeper and deeper into the background of the Foxx family, she begins to realize the complicated motivations behind their fierce secrecy and desire to preserve the reputations of both Gabrielle and Emmanuel, and to protect their private lives from public scrutiny.

And from there, things just keep getting more and more complicated.

I've read one other book in this series, many years ago, and remember being a bit disappointed by it. But I wanted to give the author (Amanda Cross was the pseudonym of feminist literary critic Carolyn Heilbrun) another chance. I love the academic settings, and Kate herself is a very intriguing character. But, sad to say, this book was even less satisfying than the first. I read it right through, fairly quickly (for me), waiting for the promised mystery to develop. However, except for a possible long-ago murder mentioned in the book's last pages, this was a pretty standard tale of literary research. Not exactly boring, just disappointing if you're looking for real suspense.

Books in Translation Reading Challenge 2012

2012-01-14T18:11:00.001-05:00

Well, I seriously thought I was finished with challenge sign-ups for this new year. But it seems I was wrong about that. Gotta squeeze in just one more.

The Books in Translation Reading Challenge is hosted by The Introverted Reader, and runs through December 31, 2012. As the sign-up page says, the challenge is pretty self-explanatory: The object is to read books that have been translated from their original language -- into whatever language you're comfortable reading. One of my main reading goals this year is to read more literature from countries other than the U.S. and England, so this challenge is perfect for me.

There's no limit on genres or formats, and crossovers with other challenges are allowed. You don't even need a blog to participate -- you can link up via Good Reads or Library Thing, or (I assume) any other social media site where you can post your comments. And in order to participate you really only need to read one book -- how easy is that?

To choose your level of participation and sign up, just go to the challenge announcement page here, and leave your link. I'm signing up at the second level ("Conversationalist"), so I'll be trying for 4-6 books. Haven't decided exactly what those books will be yet (although I've already started Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks), but during the year I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog (here).

Spiderweb

2012-01-14T16:50:00.004-05:00

Written by Penelope Lively
Perennial, 2000; 218 pages
First published 1998

Lively's beautifully written novel tells the story of Stella Brentwood, a 65-year-old newly retired anthropologist who's recently moved to a small cottage in Somerset, England to begin her post-employment life. In new unfamiliar surroundings, Stella falls back on tried and true habits of observation and study. She immerses herself in village life, just as she's done in many parts of the world over a lifetime of field work, all the while maintaining a professional distance from it all -- still the anthropologist who can't allow herself to become too entangled in the lives of the people she's studying. But these new "subjects" are also neighbors and friends, and Stella finds that in retirement she has new opportunities for human connection, and even love. Can she make the emotional commitment these new relationships require?

And at the same time, there are those in the village who aren't so friendly or happy to have this stranger in their midst. Woven in with Stella's story is that of the horrifically dysfunctional Hiscox family -- mother, father and their two young teenaged sons. The boys' home life is hellish, and at school they're social outcasts. They see Stella as a crazy old lady, and mistake her attempts at friendship as ominous meddling. Will they pose a threat to Stella and her new existence?

I always enjoy Penelope Lively's books, and this is one of her best. The writing is stunning, as always -- elegant, intelligent, and yet very accessible. The subject matter is thought-provoking and deeply serious, but not heavy or lacking in humor. And the characters are believable and vivid: Lively can delineate an entire character with just a word or two.

I enjoyed the fact that the story is told (not completely, but mostly) from Stella's point of view, without a lot of changing perspectives -- and largely in the present, although a lot of Stella's memories are always on display. Lively does tell us a lot about Stella's past -- we learn about her field work in several different locations, and her long friendship with her University mate, Nadine, and Nadine's husband Richard; we get glimpses of her life with her parents, and we see her through a couple of serious love affairs. Actually, there's quite a lot of story packed into these two hundred pages! All of which is fascinating -- and necessary, of course, to explain the present-day Stella and how she got to this point.

I loved that the book's protagonist is a "mature" woman who's not either dying of a dread disease, struggling with senility, or fighting with her children. Although she's reached retirement age, Stella is active, in good health physically and mentally, has no children and doesn't spend half the novel moaning about that lack. Even though her interpretation of events has been shaped and in some ways distorted by her life-long habit of dispassionate observation, I found Stella a very appealing and sympathetic character.

This is one I can definitely see myself reading again and recommending.

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Booking Through Thursday: Interview, Part 2

2012-01-12T10:06:00.005-05:00

I missed last week's question about interviewing -- which is just as well, since I have no idea of who I'd want to interview. Possibly one of my dead ancestors, but I'd have a hell of time figuring out which one.

So, forward to today's topic. This week, Deb at BTT has her own little interview in mind: "But enough about interviewing other people. It’s time I interviewed YOU."

And here are the questions with my answers following:

1. What’s your favorite time of day to read?

My favorite time of day to read is actually night. I love (and do) read at any time of day, but for some reason I read faster and more comfortably at night -- especially after midnight, in the wee hours. Assuming I'm rested and not sleepy, I can very happily read all night long. And I think I retain more of what I read late at night, too.

2. Do you read during breakfast? (Assuming you eat breakfast.)

I do eat breakfast (it's your most important meal -- I'm saying that for my cousin MLB who has been known to skimp on calories by skimping on breakfast -- tsk! tsk!). And I usually do read while I eat it, and sometimes write, too.

3. What’s your favorite breakfast food? (Noting that breakfast foods can be eaten any time of day.)

I suppose my favorite breakfast food would have to be something sweet and gooey and really bad for you, like cinnamon buns or cheese danish or chocolate croissants, or nice fluffy pancakes with real maple syrup. Or anything with bacon and grits. Or those full English breakfasts you get across the pond. Of course, I never actually eat that breakfast because I know all about cholesterol and blood pressure and bypass surgery.

4. How many hours a day would you say you read?

That varies drastically. Some days, I don't read at all. Some days, I've got a book in my hands almost every minute. Just depends on my mood and what else is going on.

5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago?

Ah, there's a sad story there. And it's actually what got me hooked on blogging (not that I'm sad about that). All during the 1990s and early in the present century, I had become almost a non-reader -- after being a voracious book consumer all my life. Things, mostly my job, just got in the way and I never seemed to have the time or energy to sit down and read a book, just for pleasure. Aside from work-related material, brief newspaper or magazine articles were the most I could manage back then. But then a few years ago, I found out about book blogging and turned myself back into a reader. Which is really why I keep this blog going -- it's keeping me reading. So the answer is -- I read much more today than I did ten years ago.

6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader?

(Excuse the hysterical laughter.) No, I don't consider myself anything like a speed reader. Although I can read fast when I need to, my natural inclination is to read at a very leisurely pace. Too leisurely, really.

7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

I don't want a superpower. But a phaser and a teleporter would be quite appreciated.

8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go?

Just about.

9. What KIND of book?

Whatever I'm currently reading, if it's small enough to fit in my handbag (I don't have a Kindle or Nook yet). Otherwise, I'll grab something that does fit.

10. How old were you when you got your first library card?

You know, I actually don't remember exactly how old I was. Ten, maybe? Not terribly young because we didn't have a public library really near us. I do remember being completely amazed at the idea of all those books to browse and read for free.

11. What’s the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest copyright?)

I love old books, but there really aren't any ancient books in our collection. We have a (mid) 19th Century edition of Pepys' diary with some very nice prints, and an 1893 edition of Alice in Wonderland with a lovely gilded cover, and a few first editions of some early 20th Century novels. I have no idea what book would have the oldest copyright. And as for "oldest in the collection" -- I guess that would be one of the books I've saved from childhood, probably either The Real Mother Goose or The Bumper Book. I don't remember how old I was when I got those, but they both have my pre-school scribbles and artwork in them.

12. Do you read in bed?

Sometimes.

13. Do you write in your books?

Yes, although it depends on the book.

14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be?

Read what makes you happy, but don't be afraid to try something completely unlike anything you've tried before. Maybe that'll make you happy, too.

15. What question have I NOT asked at BTT that you’d love me to ask? (Actually, leave the answer to this one in the comments on this post, huh? So I can find them when I need inspiration!)

Can't promise anything here. I'm really bad at coming up with these questions.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2012

2012-01-06T18:15:00.007-05:00

One more. Don't know how I missed this one. I enjoyed the 2011 Historical Fiction Challenge so much, I really can't pass up the 2012 edition. The challenge is hosted by Historical Tapestry, and runs throughout 2012. You can see all the guidelines on the challenge announcement page here. I'm signing up at the "Daring and Curious" level, so I'll be reading at least five books. Don't know what I'll be reading yet, but during the year I'll be tracking my progress on my challenge blog here.

Teaser Tuesdays: Spiderweb

2012-01-03T00:23:00.001-05:00

This week my teaser lines come from Spiderweb, by Penelope Lively. The novel tells the story of Stella Brentwood, a 65-year-old newly retired anthropologist who has recently moved to a small English village to begin her new post-employment life. This excerpt is from p.15 of the paperback edition:

She had plans. There were articles that she intended to write, for the journals of her trade. She would keep her hand in professionally. But she would branch out, also. Read with luxurious eclecticism,...learn about things of which she knew nothing.
And I will get a dog, she thought suddenly.

I'm only about halfway through this one, but I'm enjoying it a lot. Stella, however, doesn't really strike me as a dog person, so I'm wondering how that's going to turn out.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-02T11:41:00.002-05:00

Almost forgot about this being Monday. With all the holiday frazzle and this being my hubby's birthday, I'm a little off-kilter today. Well, a lot off-kilter. What is kilter, anyway?

But I digress. As usual.

I'm starting off the new week and the new year with Penelope Lively's Spiderweb. I figured I should begin the year with something short by an author I've read and enjoyed in the past, and this one fits those requirements perfectly.

And it's also a good fit for several of the new reading challenges I've signed up for -- probably too many again, but a lot fewer than last year, I'm happy to say. I do love challenges, but I tend to get carried away when the new ones start appearing every year. Like the kid in the proverbial candy story. [Note: that should be store. But if there were a candy story, I'd like to be in that, too. But I digress.] This year I'm trying very, very hard to exercise some control.

Last week, I finished off 2011 with Philip Eade's Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II, which I enjoyed very much. Not a lot to say about it, though -- it is what it says it is, Philip's early years. If you find the British royal family as entertaining as I do, you'll probably like it; if not, not.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. If you want to let the world know what books you're going to be reading this week, head on over to her blog and leave your link. It's also a great way to discover new books and new blogs.

Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2012

2012-01-01T12:21:00.002-05:00

Hosted by: Bev @ My Reader's Block
Dates: 1 January - 31 December, 2012

See all the guidelines on the announcement/sign-up page here, but basically the challenge is to read books "owned by you prior to January 1, 2012. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads." I really need this challenge -- my mountain of unread books is so high I can't see over it anymore.

I'm playing it safe, though, and signing up at Level One ("Pike's Peak" - 12 books). But I'm hoping I might be able to climb just a bit higher than that as the year goes on. Whatever happens, I'll be tracking my progress on my challenge blog here.

Books Read in 2012

2012-01-01T00:01:00.019-05:00

Cumulative Reading List for 2012.

I'm setting a reading goal of 50 books for 2012. That was my goal for 2011 too, but I failed dismally. Only made it to 42, and several of those were children's books. Hoping to do much better in 2012. This will be my page for keeping track of the books as I read them.

JANUARY 2012
1. Spiderweb. Penelope Lively (1998; 218 pages; fiction)
2. The Players Come Again. Amanda Cross (1990; 229 pages; fiction)
3. The Inn at Lake Devine. Elinor Lipman (1998; 255 pages; fiction)
4. The Night Strangers. Chris Bohjalian (2011; 375 pages; fiction)
5. The Shakespeare Thefts: In Search of the First Folios. Eric Rasmussen (2011; 212 pages; nonfiction)
6. Liberty. Garrison Keillor (2008; 267 pages; fiction)
7. A Fall of Moondust. Arthur C. Clarke (1961; 206 pages; fiction)

FEBRUARY 2012
8. The House at Riverton. Kate Morton (reading now)
9. The Children's Book. A.S. Byatt (reading now)

Finishing the Series Reading Challenge 2012

2011-12-31T17:02:00.003-05:00

Hosted by: Yvonne (Socrates' Book Reviews)
Dates: 1 January - 31 December, 2012

See the guidelines on the announcement/sign-up page here. There are three levels to choose from; I'm signing up at the first level (complete one series), and I'll be trying to finish up the Mrs. Malory mystery series by Hazel Holt -- I need to read three more books:

Mrs. Malory and the Lilies That Fester
Mrs. Malory and No Cure for Death
Mrs. Malory and a Death in the Family

There are a couple of other series I'd like to finish this year, too -- but I don't want to promise more than I can deliver. As the year goes along, I'll be tracking my progress on my challenge blog here.

Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenge 2012

2011-12-31T15:13:00.002-05:00

Hosted by: Book Chick City
Dates: 1 January - 31 December, 2012

Mysteries and suspense are my favorite genres, so this is one I can't pass up. See the announcement/sign-up page for all the guidelines, but basically the idea is pretty simple: read twelve or twenty-four books from any of a long list of sub-genres. I'm signing up for twelve, although if 2012 is anything like 2011, I'll end up reading more than that. During the year, I'll be tracking my progress on my challenge blog here.

Off the Shelf Challenge 2012

2011-12-31T14:13:00.004-05:00

Hosted by: Bookish Ardour
Dates: 1 January - 31 December, 2012

See the announcement/sign-up page here, for guidelines. I'll be signing up at level two again this year ("Trying" -- 15 books), but hope to read a few more than that.

I have a ridiculously huge number of books on my TBR shelves/lists, so there's a lot to choose from (some of them are listed on my GoodReads "To-Read" shelf). Haven't made up my mind about which ones I'll read this year, but these are a few I'm considering:

Afternoon Men. Anthony Powell
Buddenbrooks. Thomas Mann
Death of a Hollow Man. Caroline Graham
The Inn at Lake Devine. Elinor Lipman
Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte
Los Alamos. Joseph Kanon
The Moonstone. Wilkie Collins
The Sign of the Book. John Dunning

During the year, I'll be tracking my progress on my challenge blog here.

1st in a Series Challenge 2012

2011-12-31T12:50:00.000-05:00

Hosted by: Katy (A Few More Pages)
Dates: 1 January through 31 December, 2012

For guidelines and to sign up, see the challenge blog here.

Again this year, I'm signing up at the "Series Novice" level, so I'll be reading at least three books. Haven't decided what they'll be yet, but I have a list of books I'm considering:

The Big Sleep. Raymond Chandler (first Philip Marlowe novel)
Fer-de-Lance. Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe)
Last Bus to Woodstock. Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse series)
A Man Lay Dead. Ngaio Marsh (Albert Campion series)
Relic. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Pendergast series)
The Warden. Anthony Trollope (Chronicles of Barsetshire)

And I'll be tracking my progress on my challenge blog here.

New Author Challenge 2012

2011-12-31T10:08:00.001-05:00

Hosted by: Jackie at Literary Escapism
Dates: 1 January to 31 December, 2012

I've participated in the New Author Challenge for two years now, and it's always one of my favorite reading challenges. Love finding new writers, and this really encourages the hunt.

See all the guidelines on the announcement/sign-up page here. Once again, I'm committing to 15 new authors, but hope to do a little better than that. Also will really try very hard to do a better job of posting reviews this time around (no, really -- I promise). And I'll be tracking my progress through the year on my challenge blog here.

What's in a Name 5

2011-12-30T18:32:00.008-05:00

Hosted by: Beth Fish Reads
Dates: 1 January to 31 December, 2012

I had so much fun with this one in 2011, I can't possibly resist the 2012 edition. The idea is to read one book in each of the following categories:

A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title
A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title
A book with a creepy crawly in the title
A book with a type of house in the title
A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title
A book with something you'd find on a calendar in the title

See the announcement/sign-up page here.

At the moment, I'm considering these titles for the challenge, but the list will almost certainly change during the year:

Tyrannosaur Canyon. Douglas Preston
The Moonstone. Wilkie Collins
Spiderweb. Penelope Lively
Iron House. John Hart
The Glass Key. Dashiell Hammett
The Man Who Was Thursday. G.K. Chesterton

I'll be keeping track of my progress on my challenge blog here.

The Wrap-Ups Go On and On

2011-12-30T16:45:00.003-05:00

So 2011 is almost outta here -- today is New Year's Eve Eve already. Time to wrap up the rest of my challenges for the year. Many of the books I read for these challenges overlap, so instead of retyping the same info for each one, I'm just going to list the challenges and provide links to my challenge blog where I've been keeping track of my progress during the year. But I'd like to say thank you to all the challenge hosts -- I enjoyed every one of these, and will most likely be signing up for the 2012 versions, if they exist.

Awesome Author Challenge 2011

Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2011
Host: Alyce of At Home With Books
See my list of books read here.

Fall Into Reading 2011

Dates: 23 September through 21 December 2011
Hosted by: Katrina at Callapidder Days
See my list of books read here.

Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge 2011

Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2011
Hosted by: Book Chick City
See my list of books read here.

Off the Shelf Reading Challenge 2011

Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2011
Hosted by: Bookish Ardour
See my list of books read here.

TBR Lite Challenge 2011

Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2011
Host: MizB
See my list of books read here.

Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge

Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2011
Hosted by: Bev Hankins @ My Reader's Block
See my list of books read here.

What's In a Name 4 Reading Challenge

Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2011
Hosted by: Beth Fish Reads
See my list of books read here.

Book Awards V Challenge

Dates: 1 February - 1 December 2011
Host: 3M (Michelle) @ 1 More Chapter
See my list of books read here.

2011 Pub Challenge

Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2011
Host: 3M (Michelle) @ 1 More Chapter
See my list of books read here.

R.I.P./VI Challenge

Dates: September 1 through October 31, 2011
Hosted by: Carl V. at Stainless Steel Droppings
See my list of books read and movies/TV shows watched here.

2011 Themed Reading Challenge

Dates: 15 February - 15 August 2011
Host: Teddy Rose @ So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
See my list of books read here.

Booking Through Thursday: Best of 2011

2011-12-29T12:00:00.007-05:00

This week BTT asks: "What were your favorite books of 2011?" Predictable question, of course, and coming at just the right time because I was getting ready to do a post about my favorites and my reading year in general.

And, in general, my reading year sucked. Not exactly the books I read, although there were a number of clunkers amongst them. But I went through several slumps, didn't read nearly as many books as I'd hoped, and really had a hard time finding books to temp me out of said slumps. And although I did manage to complete the reading for most of the challenges I signed up for in 2011, I posted very few reviews -- so I sort of feel like I was only half successful.

I won't get into excuses or reasons -- I'll just say that real life intruded way too much in 2011. So I'm very happy to get the year behind me and make a fresh start with my reading for 2012.

And 2011 wasn't a total loss when it comes to bookish pursuits. I did find a few really fine reads; in fact, several have entered my list of all-time favorites. Here are my faves (in no particular order):

The Sense of an Ending. Julian Barnes
2011 Man Booker Prize Winner. Wonderful book. One I'd definitely like to read again -- it gives the reader such a lot to think about for such a short work. The seemingly simple story is layered with amazing complexity. Beautifully written, it reminds me a little of Anthony Powell's novels. I've tried other books by Julian Barnes in the past, and never been able to finish any of them; but this has made me want to go back and give those abandoned works another look.

The Seance. John Harwood
I love a good ghost story, and this one is excellent. I was a little reluctant to try it because Harwood's first novel (The Ghost Writer) got such mixed reviews. Glad I didn't let that stop me.

The Killings at Badger's Drift. Caroline Graham
First book in Graham's Chief Inspector Barnaby mystery series. I've read a couple of the later novels in the series, and always meant to go back and read this first one. This year the 1st in a Series Challenge finally nudged me into doing it, and I'm very grateful. I've loved all the Barnabys I've read, and this was no exception.

Third Girl, Hallowe'en Party, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead. Agatha Christie
I set myself a little personal challenge this year to read or re-read all the Hercule Poirot novels that feature Poirot's friend, mystery writer Ariadne Oliver. Mrs. Oliver is my favorite Christie character and I've always wished Dame Agatha had seen fit to let her have her own series. Loved all of these -- especially "Mrs. McGinty."

Born in Africa: The Quest for the Origins of Human Life. Martin Meredith
This was an unexpected pleasure -- picked it up at the library, on a whim, and I'm glad I did. Very enjoyable overview of the history of the study of human evolution. Meredith does a fine job of presenting the search for the origins of human life, as well as the stories of the modern-day men and women doing the searching. Just the right mix of science and gossip. Not written for the professional in the field (good, because I'm not one), but still scholarly enough to hold my attention; and exciting enough to keep me turning pages into the wee hours.

And a Few More Wrap-Ups

2011-12-28T18:30:00.001-05:00

Hosted by Joanne at Booklover Book Reviews
Dates: 1 January - 31 December, 2011
Objective: Read and review books written by Australian Authors

I signed up at the "Tourist" level, and read three books:

Picnic at Hanging Rock. Joan Lindsay
The Seance. John Harwood
My Brilliant Career. Miles Franklin

Loved this challenge -- thanks so much to Joanne for hosting. The three books I read were some of my favorites from this year's reading, and a couple of them (Picnic at Hanging Rock and My Brilliant Career) had been on my TBR list for decades.

Hosted by Yvonne of Socrates' Book Reviews
Dates: 1 January - 31 December, 2011

I signed up at the "Snoop" level, and read six books:

Whisker of Evil. Rita Mae Brown
Malice in Miniature. Jeanne M. Dams
Mrs. Malory and the Fatal Legacy. Hazel Holt
Mrs. Malory and a Time to Die. Hazel Holt
Quiet As a Nun. Antonia Fraser
The Killings at Badger's Drift. Caroline Graham

Many thanks to Yvonne too, for hosting this one. I love mysteries, and while I didn't exactly cruise through the cozies for this, I still enjoyed all the books I read. Still trying to catch up on reviews (what else is new?), but I've included links to those that exist.

Hosted by Historical Tapestry
Dates: 1 January - 31 December, 2011

I signed up at level four ("Daring & Curious"), and committed to five books. Actually read seven:

The Anatomy of Ghosts. Andrew Taylor
The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead. Paul Elwork
Mr. Chartwell. Rebecca Hunt
Picnic at Hanging Rock. Joan Lindsay
The Winter Ghosts. Kate Mosse
The Seance. John Harwood
Alice I Have Been. Melanie Benjamin

I had some misgivings about signing up for this one -- didn't think of myself as a fan of historical fiction; but as it turned out, I had a lot of fun with it. Thanks so much to Historical Tapestry for hosting.

More Challenge Wrap-Ups

2011-12-26T16:26:00.016-05:00

Well, I was sort of dilly-dallying around, hoping I might do a little more catching up on review-writing. But now that there's only a week to go in 2011, I think it's just as well to admit defeat in that area, and get on with challenge wrap-ups. That way, I can devote my whole attention to all those new challenges on the horizon for 2012! And to save time, I'm not going to do individual wrap-up posts this year -- so here goes:

The 2011 2nds Challenge was hosted by Katy at A few More Pages. I signed up at the "Just a Spoonful" level, and read three books:

A Shilling for Candles. Josephine Tey
Shut Your Eyes Tight. John Verdon
Malice in Miniature. Jeanne M. Dams

Didn't manage to get reviews written for any of these, but I enjoyed them all and will be reading more books by these authors in the future. I want to thank Katy for hosting this one, and I'm thinking seriously about signing up for the 2012 2nds Challenge, too.

The 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge was hosted by Jackie at Literary Escapism. I committed to reading 15 new-to-me authors, and I actually did a little better than that. Here's my list of authors/books, with links to reviews (if any):

Andrew Taylor: The Anatomy of Ghosts
Peter Robinson: Bad Boy
Joyce Dennys: Henrietta Sees It Through
Paul Elwork: The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead
Elizabeth Stuckey-French: The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady
Mary Cunningham: Cynthia's Attic: The Missing Locket
Jennifer Egan: A Visit from the Goon Squad
Jim Stinson: Tassy Morgan's Bluff
Rebecca Hunt: Mr. Chartwell
Joan Lindsay: Picnic at Hanging Rock
William Boyd: Nat Tate
Michael Robertson: The Brothers of Baker Street
James Patterson: Along Came a Spider
Conor Fitzgerald: The Fatal Touch
Kate Mosse: The Winter Ghosts
Miles Franklin: My Brilliant Career
John Harwood: The Seance
Paul Scott: Staying On
Melanie Benjamin: Alice I Have Been
Philip Eade: Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II

This was one of my favorite challenges, and I'm really grateful to Jackie for hosting. I definitely intend to sign up for the 2012 edition, and promise to try to do a better job of keeping up with reviews.

The Sunday Salon: Still Here

2011-12-25T17:00:00.002-05:00

Hard to believe we've come to the final Sunday of 2011. Also hard to believe this is just my second (I think) Salon post of the year. It's always hard for me to settle down and do any writing on Sundays, just as it's a little hard to get much reading done. Sundays are usually pretty busy around here, with errands to run and catching up on things we should have done during the week. And then, for most of the fall there's all that football to watch!

Today's been a little different, though. Haven't even turned the TV on. And after the orgy of Christmas movies in the last week or so, that's been a real relief. The hubby and I have been listening to Christmas music and working on a jigsaw puzzle (love puzzles, but I'm really pretty hopeless at putting them together). And I've even done a little reading.

Today I've been trying to finish up a biography of Britain's Prince Philip, by Philip Eade -- Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II. Catchy title, huh? It's an Early Reviewer book from Library Thing, and not really the sort of book I ordinarily request, but the prince has always interested me. I'm enjoying it and finding out a lot about his family life before he married Elizabeth. I knew about his family's connections to the National Socialist Party in Germany before and during WWII (his sisters all married German princes), but I didn't really know what a scattered and insecure life the young prince led. So far, the book is very informative and a really entertaining read. It also makes one more nonfiction book for the year -- I've read more nonfiction than usual this year, for some reason.

Later on, I'm hoping to get a start on wrapping up all the reading challenges I signed up for in 2011. Way too many, of course, but I did manage to complete the reading for most of them. Now I can start thinking about the challenges of 2012, and trying to keep myself from joining each and every one I hear about. I've promised myself to try to stop being such a challenge junkie next year, but old habits are hard to break.

Christmas Eve Already!

2011-12-24T16:39:00.002-05:00

Teaser Tuesdays: Alice I Have Been

2011-12-20T01:30:00.002-05:00

This week my teaser lines come from Alice I Have Been, Melanie Benjamin's novel based on the relationship between Lewis Carroll and his child-muse, Alice Liddell. This snippet comes from the beginning of Chapter 3 (p.49), in one of the (imaginary, I'm assuming) letters from Carroll to Alice:

The Perfect Day knocked on my window this morning....I don't know about you, but I am rather tired of being myself. Aren't you? Would you like to be someone else, just for today?

Would you?

I'm about halfway through this one, and will have more to say about it in a day or two. It's giving me a lot to think about.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Challenge Wrap-Up: 1st in a Series 2011

2011-12-15T17:11:00.009-05:00

Time to start wrapping up some reading challenges for the year. For the 1st in a Series Challenge, hosted by Katy at A Few More Pages, I signed up at the "Series Novice" level, and read three books:

Along Came a Spider (first in the Alex Cross mystery series), by James Patterson
The Killings at Badger's Drift (first in the Chief Inspector Barnaby mystery series), by Caroline Graham
Quiet as a Nun (first in the Jemima Shore mystery series), by Antonia Fraser

Enjoyed all three of these. I've read later books in the series by Fraser and Graham, but the first Alex Cross novel was a new experience. Hope to read more books in all three series.

Thanks so much to Katy for hosting this one. Haven't signed up yet for the 2012 Challenge, but I'm definitely thinking about it.

Reading Report: Quiet as a Nun

2011-12-15T16:30:00.001-05:00

Written by Antonia Fraser
Viking Press, 1977; 176 pages

At the beginning of Antonia Fraser's Quiet as a Nun, Sister Miriam, a nun in the Convent of the Blessed Eleanor, is found dead (an apparent suicide) in the Tower of Ivory, an ancient structure adjoining the convent grounds. Sister Miriam was an old school chum of television reporter Jemima Shore -- many years ago, they both attended the convent's private school for girls. In those days, Sister Miriam was Rosabelle Powerstock, heiress to "the Powers fortune," one of the largest fortunes in Britain.

Jemima is contacted by the Reverend Mother Ancilla, head of the convent and school, and invited back to look into Miriam's death and a number of other strange occurrences. During her investigation, Jemima discovers that Miriam, whose family owned the convent's lands, might have written a second will leaving everything to another charity. If that will exists and is found, it could force both the convent and the school to shut down.

Understandably, not everyone welcomes Jemima's poking around in convent affairs. And things turn really spooky when the girls at the convent school tell Jemima that the Black Nun was seen in the convent just before Miriam's death. Supposedly, the ghostly (and faceless) spectre is only seen when a death is about to take place in convent grounds. And now it's been sighted again. Can Jemima discover the truth about Sister Miriam's death before someone else (possibly Jemima herself) is killed?

Well, obviously Jemima can -- this was the first novel in a series that went on to include seven more books. But it's a good, mysterious read, even though we know she's going to figure everything out in the end. I've read several of the later Jemima Shore mysteries, and decided it was time to see how they all started. I always enjoy them, even though they're really not the most thrilling tales -- basically cozies, they proceed at a nice sedate pace. But Fraser's writing is always elegant. And Jemima is an interesting character -- intelligent, sophisticated, and serious about her work as a journalist. And unmarried and childless -- very unlike her creator, who was married and the mother of six!

Definitely had fun with this one. And I'll be reading more Jemima Shore in the future.

Booking Through Thursday: Character or Plot?

2011-12-15T09:46:00.005-05:00

This week, Deb at BTT asks: "What’s more important to you? Real, three-dimensional, fleshed-out fascinating characters? Or an amazing, page-turning plot?...(Yes, I know, they are both important. But if you had to pick one as being more important than the other?)"

Well, if I absolutely had to pick one of those offerings over the other (yes, they are both very important), I'd definitely have to pick plot over character. Through the years, I've found that my favorite fiction is usually extremely plot-driven -- which is probably why I read so many mysteries. I love it if a book has fascinating characters, too; but my main requirement is an interesting story.

Reading Report: Along Came a Spider

2011-12-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

Written by James Patterson
Grand Central Publishing, 2001; 502 pages
First published 1993

Along Came a Spider is the first book in James Patterson's long-running series about Washington DC police detective Alex Cross. It's a deliciously frightening and complicated tale in which a serial kidnapper/killer snatches the daughter of a famous Hollywood actress and the young son of the secretary of the Treasury.

Gary Soneji (no spoiler -- we learn pretty early on who's doing the snatching) believes he can commit the crime of the century, and is inspired by the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby back in 1932. Alex Cross isn't happy about being diverted from the case he's working on, involving the murder of two African-American women and an infant; but the DC police department knows they need to put their best cop on the high-profile kidnapping case. And that means Cross is getting reassigned.

As I said, it's a complicated plot, involving lots of twists and turns. Along the way, Cross gets involved with beautiful Secret Service agent, Jezzie Flanagan -- against his grandmother's advice and his better judgment -- and puts his own life, along with that of his partner John Sampson, in jeopardy before the mayhem comes to an end.

I loved the way Cross was presented -- a good man, and a good cop, but not a paragon; he's compassionate and intelligent, but definitely has his flaws. This was my introduction to James Patterson's writing -- somehow, I managed to avoid reading any of his books over the years. But I'd enjoyed the movies with Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, so I decided to take a look at the novels. Read this one last August at the beach, and it was a perfect beach read; but it would be a fun read no matter where or when. This one really does deserve the "thriller" label.

Reading Report: Mr. Chartwell

2011-12-14T14:35:00.001-05:00

Written by Rebecca Hunt
Random House, 2011; 256 pages
First published 2010

Publisher's Description:
July 1964. London. Esther Hammerhans, a young librarian in the House of Commons, goes to answer the door to her new lodger. Through the windowpane she sees a vast silhouette. Meanwhile, in Chartwell, Kent, on the eve of his retirement from Parliament, Sir Winston Churchill has just woken up. There's someone in the room with him, someone he's known for a long time, but it's not a friend. A dark, mute presence is watching him with rapt concentration. Both the humble librarian and the eminent statesman have just been visited by Black Pat. For the man who saved Western civilization, this "black dog" is all too familiar. For Esther, he's a weirdly charming, deeply unnerving stranger just come to rent a room. Or is he here to stay?

My Thoughts:

Rebecca Hunt's Mr. Chartwell is certainly an odd and interesting book -- I enjoyed reading it and loved the awful character of Black Pat (Mr. Chartwell). I was a little skeptical at first -- a book about a gigantic talking dog, supposedly real or completely imaginary, isn't really something I'd usually choose to read. But Black Pat is definitely not just any talking dog. He can be disarmingly human and charmingly mutt-like at the same time. And then he can be disgustingly human and repulsively mutt-like, too. And also very, very sinister. But always intriguing.

The character stems, of course, from Churchill's "black dog" of depression, a ghost that haunted him all his life. I've wrestled with the dark beast of depression myself, and understand how debilitating it can be, but also how strangely attractive. I thought Hunt portrayed the problem very adroitly.

The one thing that bothered me all the way through, however, was the lack of period detail to ground the story in the time period of the book. Just a few extra touches of 1960s worldview would have been nice. But that's just nitpicking on my part. Overall, I thought this was a wonderful tale, and Rebecca Hunt is an exciting new writer. I'll be looking for more of her work in the future.

Reading Report: My Brilliant Career

2011-12-13T23:00:00.001-05:00

Written by Miles Franklin
First published 1901; 319 pages

"Miles Franklin" was the pen name of Australian novelist Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin. She wrote many books, but My Brilliant Career is the most famous, and was written while she was still a teenager, for (she claimed) the amusement of her friends.

The novel is narrated by Sybylla Melvyn, also a teenager, and is her story of growing up in rural Australia in the 1890s. After her family is reduced to poverty because of her father's drinking, Sybylla is allowed to escape the drudgery and boredom when she's sent for an extended visit with her grandmother. Life is much more comfortable on her grandmother's property, and Sybylla is well-treated by her aunt and uncle and all their friends and neighbors. She also meets wealthy young landowner, Harry Beecham, who falls in love with her and proposes marriage in spite of the abominable way she treats him. Sybylla is convinced that she's too ugly and too much of a tomboy to be the object of any man's affection. She gets Beecham to agree to a sort of trial period -- they'll be engaged but won't announce the engagement until she's twenty-one. But soon after that, Sybylla's fortunes take some dramatic (and disturbing) turns -- and that's all I'll say about the rest of the plot.

My Brilliant Career is an interesting book, and I enjoyed it. Mostly. There's really not much plot to get involved in. It reads very much like a memoir -- which is basically what it is, I suppose. Although she can be sympathetic and intriguing, Sybylla also displays a lot of very exasperating behavior -- sometimes you just want to grab her and give her a good shaking. And the writing is definitely that of a very young writer -- exuberant and full of life, but annoying and overwrought at times. Still, a fun read, and another volume crossed off the long-time "must read" list.

Reading Report: The Seance

2011-12-13T22:35:00.003-05:00

Written by John Harwood
Houghton Mifflin, 2008; 350 pages

In Part One of John Harwood's brilliantly creepy second novel The Seance, we meet Constance Langton who grew up in a house marked by the death of her young sister, her father's indifference and eventual estrangement, and her mother's perpetual mourning for her lost child. In an attempt to help her mother overcome her grief, Constance becomes involved in the world of Spiritualism. But after persuading her mother to attend a seance, hoping it might provide some comfort, Constance is devastated by the tragic results.

Soon afterward, she learns that (through rather complicated family connections) she's inherited Wraxford Hall, a decaying mansion in the English countryside, with a very dark reputation -- several members of the family who owned the house have disappeared mysteriously. Constance learns the sinister history of the house through diaries and journals (some dependable, some not); and, with the help of the family's solicitor John Montague, must deal with the consequences of this eerie bequest.

The Seance is a wonderful take on the classic Victorian gothic tale. Spiritualism, Mesmerism, ghosts, clues in diaries, unexplained disappearances, lost loves and penniless spinsters, mistaken identity, orphans -- all the bells and whistles. The story is told from different points of view, by several characters, both male and female; and the language and tone are always spot-on, in every instance. There are also a couple of love stories involved, as well as bit of a surprise ending. Great stuff!

I was a little wary of The Seance because Harwood's first book, The Ghost Writer, got such mixed reviews. But I'm so glad I took a chance on the book -- it's turned out to be one of my favorite reads of the year.

Reading Report: Picnic at Hanging Rock

2011-12-13T22:10:00.000-05:00

Written by Joan Lindsay
First published 1967; 212 pages

Joan Lindsay's classic suspense novel is set in Victoria, Australia: On Valentine's Day in 1900, several girls from the upper class boarding school Appleyard College picnic with a few of their teachers at a nearby geological formation known as Hanging Rock. Four of the girls and one of the governesses climb the Rock; one girl returns immediately, in a state of terror and unable to remember what happened to her or her companions. After a search, another girl is found, also with no memory of her time on Hanging Rock. The other two girls and their French governess are never seen again; they've vanished without a trace, and the mystery of what happened to them eventually affects everyone connected with the school.

This is another one of those books I've had on my TBR list for decades now -- ever since I saw the 1975 film based on the novel -- and I'm grateful to the Aussie Authors Reading Challenge for finally nudging me into taking it off the shelf. Quite a few reviewers have called Lindsay's book a perfect novel. I wouldn't go that far, but it's certainly a gripping read. Lindsay explores themes of female sexuality, social class differences, and man (or woman) versus nature, at the same time presenting us with a really fascinating mystery.

When the book first appeared, there was some controversy as to how much of it was based on an actual incident, and how much was invented by Lindsay. But the story of the disappearance of the schoolgirls is entirely fictional, although the Hanging Rock formation does exist.

So what did happen to the missing girls and their teacher? Were they kidnapped by an unseen stranger? Possibly abducted by aliens? Were they killed by falling into a hidden crevice in the Rock? Did they slip into a parallel universe? Originally, Lindsay included a final chapter in which the mystery was solved, but removed it before publication. Later, it was published after her death as "The Secret of Hanging Rock." When I finished the novel, I was tempted to track down a copy of that "missing Chapter 18" as it's called; but after giving it a little thought, I've decided I really prefer leaving the mystery unsolved.

Teaser Tuesdays: Staying On

2011-12-13T09:45:00.008-05:00

This week my teaser lines come from Staying On, Paul Scott's 1977 Man Booker Prize winning novel about a British couple in India after Independence.

My eyes never seem to have quite made up their minds about being grey, blue, green or violet. In those days the faint green tinge could be picked up by a green accessory. Later, by wearing deep red. Then the green faded from my eyes forever. But this is woman's talk. It couldn't interest you. (p.140)

I know that's a lot more than a couple of lines. Sorry, but it was hard to decide what to cut. And poor Lucy (the speaker of the lines) does tend to ramble on and on and on. Sounds familiar, hmmmm?

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Booking Through Thursday

2011-12-08T10:21:00.011-05:00

This week, BTT asks: "All things being equal, which would you prefer–a mystery? Or a love story?"

And I don't even have to think about it -- I'd choose the mystery every time. I guess that's why I don't read many romance novels. I love mysteries, suspense stories, thrillers, and those are the genres I read most often. I certainly don't mind if there's a love story involved along the way, but I don't go looking for books with a love story element as the central theme.

Having said that, I guess I should admit that the book I'm currently reading is a romance -- Richard Matheson's Bid Time Return -- which was the basis for one of the most romantic movies ever filmed, Somewhere in Time.

But it also features a mysterious plot with a sci-fi angle, so it's not your run-of-the-mill love story. And I'm loving it so far.

Same Place, New Name

2011-12-06T23:59:00.001-05:00

OK, this is probably crazy, and slightly pointless. And boring, no doubt. And I'm not sure what brought this on right at this particular time. Maybe because I like to shake things up every now and then. Maybe because today was a rainy, dark day and I had too much time to play indoors. Don't really know.

But ever since I started this blog, I've been a little dissatisfied with its name. When I started blogging several years ago, I didn't even know what a blog was, had no idea what to write, and not a single clue about naming it. So, when my hubby was walking me through the set-up process and came to that shattering question, "What do you want to call your blog?" I thought and thought, and finally came up with the dazzling reply, "I dunno. Joy's Blog I guess." So, astutely leaving out the "I guess" part of that answer, he typed in "Joy's Blog," and the blog was irrevocably named.

Well, that was almost six years ago, and during those years my blog and I have been through a lot together. In fact, over the years that original blog has gone through starts and stops, changed directions a couple of times, and given birth to several other blogs. But Joy's Blog has always been the entity I consider my main blog, and it very early morphed into a book blog.

And since it's remained a mostly bookish blog, I've always wished I'd given it a more bookish name. So to close out my fifth year of blogging, Joy's Blog is becoming A Little Reading. For now, anyway -- while I try it out. See how it fits and how I feel about it. If it doesn't feel right, I suppose we could see the rapid return of Joy's Blog.

For right now, just the blog name will change. Otherwise, everything will be the same. The URL will be the same, and all links will remain unchanged. (No switching over to a custom domain just yet.) At least, that's the plan.

I think.

For now.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Sense of an Ending

2011-12-06T09:35:00.004-05:00

This week, my teaser lines come from The Sense of an Ending, this year's Booker Prize winner by Julian Barnes. It's a beautifully written book and I'm really enjoying it. This excerpt comes from pp. 24-25 -- and as usual, it's more than a couple of lines (sorry). Oh, and when the narrator says "back then," he's talking about the 1960s:

I'd better explain what the concept of "going out" with someone meant back then, because time has changed it....Back in "my day"...this is what used to happen: you met a girl, you were attracted to her, you tried to ingratiate yourself, you would invite her to a couple of social events -- for instance, the pub -- then ask her out on her own, then again, and after a good-night kiss of variable heat, you were somehow, officially, "going out" with her. Only when you were semi-publicly committed did you discover what her sexual policy might be. And sometimes this meant her body would be as tightly guarded as a fisheries exclusion zone.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

That Challenging Time of Year

2011-12-05T17:10:00.004-05:00

And no, I'm not referring to the Holiday Season, although that's pretty challenging, too. What I'm talking about is all the new reading challenges being announced and planned for next year. As you might know, I'm a sucker for reading challenges (I even have another blog devoted just to keeping track of my reading challenges). And even though this year hasn't been the greatest year for me when it comes to bookish pursuits, the bit of reading I have gotten done has been mostly because of the challenges I signed up for. And if the challenges keep me reading, I think they're definitely worthwhile, even if I don't manage to finish all the books I planned to read, or write all the reviews. (Ah, yes, the reviews -- sigh!)

I signed up for about two dozen challenges in 2011. Way too many, but I have such a hard time passing up anything that sounds interesting. Admittedly, I generally signed up at the most basic level, so the number of books I committed to wasn't all that horrendous. And I've managed to complete all but two or three -- the reading that is (reviews are another matter altogether, but we'll talk about that later). So I think I've had a pretty good challenge year.

Even so, in 2012 I'm hoping to keep things a little more under control. That means not joining in on every challenge that comes down the pike just so I can display all those cute buttons on my blog. Exhibiting a little more discriminating behavior. Not being such a challenge junkie. Looking before I leap.

That's the plan, anyway.

So I promised myself I wouldn't join any NEW challenges before I got all the wrap-up posts written for the OLD challenges. Trying to give myself a chance to look around a little and really do some thorough planning.

And of course I've already broken that promise. Yes, I've already signed up for my first reading challenge of 2012. It's the 12 in 12 Category Challenge over at LibraryThing, and it was just too enticing to ignore. The challenge is to read books in twelve categories during the year. You make up your own categories, and decide how many books you want to read in each one. One book in each category is fine. You can even have more than (or less than) twelve categories for your version of the challenge. It's a very free-form challenge -- not many rules and none of them are written in stone. So I can change things around and shape it entirely to my liking. See why I couldn't pass it up?

As with other challenges, I'll be tracking my progress on my own challenge blog, and I've also started my 12-in-12 thread at LibraryThing. So far, I haven't actually committed to any set number of books, but I think I've got my categories nailed down. Here's what I'm planning:

Ancestral Voices (books by English or Welsh writers)
Anything But Fiction (just what it says – any kind of nonfiction)
Books About Books (books that have books, writers, the book trade, or libraries as a central theme; can be fiction or non-)
Cozy Up to Mystery (mysteries, cozy and otherwise)
A Deadly Vintage (mysteries published before 1960)
Funny Business (humor)
Oh, the Horror! (ghosts, ghouls, and gothica)
Recent and New (books published in 2011 and 2012)
Second Helpings (books that are second in a series, or by authors I’ve read only once)
Turn Back the Clock (historical fiction, and older books I meant to read but didn't)
Who Says Crime Doesn’t Pay? (books that have won or been nominated for one of the major mystery writing awards – Edgars, CWA Dagger, Macavity, etc.)
A World Elsewhere (literature from countries other than the US or England)

Obviously, many books will fit in more than one category, but I'm going to try to avoid overlapping. And I've arranged things so that my categories mostly reflect the genres and types and subjects I read most of the time. Sticking to what I know -- yes, you're right: that's not very challenging. Well, I don't do so well with real challenges. That's why I like this one!

So, that's it for now. More challenges to come....

Booking Through Thursday: Mood Reading

2011-12-01T09:15:00.003-05:00

This week, BTT asks:

Do you find that your mood affects the things you read? Like, if you’re in a bad mood, do you tend to indulge in reading that will support it or do you try to read things that will cheer you up? Do you pick different types of books on dreary, rainy days than you do on bright sunny ones?

For that matter, does your mood color what you’re reading, so that a funny book isn’t so funny or a serious one not so deep?

Mood reader? Well, I tend to read the same types and genres most of the time, whatever the weather or time of year. But when I'm really upset about something -- mad, sad, or worried -- I probably won't be reading much at all. Just dithering. Biting my nails, pacing the floor. Binging on chocolate chip cookies. Generally engaging in all sorts of very unattractive OCD behavior. Not reading.

So even though mood doesn't really affect what I read, it definitely affects how much I read.

Teaser Tuesdays: My Brilliant Career

2011-11-29T08:53:00.002-05:00

This week my teaser lines come from the classic coming of age novel My Brilliant Career by Australian author Miles Franklin. Published in 1901, the book is the story of a young girl living in rural Australia in the 1890s, and was written by Franklin when she was just a teenager, for (she claimed) the amusement of her friends. In this snippet, the book's narrator Sybylla Melvyn is lamenting her fate as a young, ambitious, and impoverished female of the day:

Girls! girls! Those of you who have hearts, and therefore a wish for happiness, homes, and husbands by and by, never develop a reputation of being clever. It will put you out of the matrimonial running as effectually as though it had been circulated that you had leprosy.

I'm reading this on my iPad, so I'm not sure of page numbers, but the quote comes from Chapter Seven.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T07:11:00.002-05:00

Teaser Tuesdays: The Children's Book

2011-11-22T11:24:00.010-05:00

This week, my teaser lines come from The Children's Book, by A.S. Byatt. I've had this one for quite a while now and finally decided to jump in. It's a chunkster (nearly 700 pages), so I'm sure I'll be reading it for a long, loooong time. And since I've just now opened the book for the first time, I really don't know anything about this snippet, except that it appears on page 89:

Tom looked into his book. The story had advanced a page or two. A group of seekers were descending a dark tunnel -- they were the shadowless hero, a gold lizard the size of a terrier with garnet eyes, and a transparent, jellylike formless being who poured along the ground and constantly changed shape.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Seance

2011-11-15T14:45:00.008-05:00

This week my teaser lines come from The Seance by John Harwood:

...I was sitting up in bed reading when my grandmother came into the room and sat down in the chair beside me, looking exactly as she had when I was a little girl: the same elaborate black silk dress and tightly pinned white hair, the same familiar scent of lavender and violet water. The chair creaked as she settled herself in it, smiled at me and took up her work, just as if she had only been gone five minutes, rather than resting in Kensal Green Cemetery for the past fifteen years. (p.104)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2011-11-14T10:22:00.025-05:00

It's been a few weeks since I posted a Monday Reading List, so it's probably going to look like I've been doing more reading than I actually have. My reading goal for the year was to read more books than I read last year (49), and it really looks like I'm not going to get there. But I have been doing a little better than I did earlier in the year, so I might at least end the year on a positive note after all.

Recently Finished:
Hallowe'en Party, Third Girl, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, all by Agatha Christie. I've been on a sort of Christie binge the last couple of months. Hope to get some reviews posted this week.
Reviews Posted (with links to reviews):
The Fatal Touch. Conor Fitzgerald
The Man in Lower Ten. Mary Roberts Rinehart
The Killings at Badger's Drift. Caroline Graham
Reading Now:
Bid Time Return (aka: Somewhere in Time). Richard Matheson
The Seance. John Harwood
Wicked Autumn. G.M. Malliet
Next Up:
A couple of Library Thing Early Reviewer books,

and something from my long-time TBR list:

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. If you want to let the world know what books you're going to be reading this week, head on over to her blog and leave your link. It's also a great way to discover new books and new blogs.

11-11-11

2011-11-11T09:58:00.005-05:00

November 11
Armistice Day
Remembrance Day
Veterans Day

Image of vintage postcard: Vintage Holiday Crafts.

Booking Through Thursday: E-volution

2011-11-10T02:28:00.010-05:00

This week's BTT topic is all about e-reading: "E-readers like the Kindle and iPad are sweeping the nation … do you have one? Do you like it? Do you find it changes your reading/buying habits? If you don’t have one, do you plan to?"

I do have an iPad and I do like it. It's not great for blogging, but for Internet surfing and checking email and just playing, it's great. And lately I've been doing more and more e-reading with it, too. I downloaded the Kindle app for free from Amazon, and I've also downloaded several dozen books now -- many of them also free.

It's interesting that these questions came up just now, since yesterday I was reading an article about the results of a German study that found older people read faster and process their reading more efficiently when reading on a tablet -- faster than when reading printed books, or even with a Kindle or other electronic devices. And although the "older people" in the study were even older than moi (but I'm getting there), I'm finding that I do seem to read faster on the iPad than when I'm reading printed books.

I still prefer printed books -- and that was true of the people in the study, too -- but I can definitely see more e-reading in my future.

Teaser Tuesdays: Wicked Autumn

2011-11-08T03:03:00.011-05:00

This week my teaser lines come from Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet. From page 192:

A cat jumped onto the back of Miss Pitchford's overstuffed chair, then peered over her mistress's shoulder to appraise the visitor with that look of distant yet apoplectic contempt only cats manage to achieve. Max found himself engaged in a brief staring contest, which of course he could never win, the cat's baleful glitter never faltering, its hard heart never softening.

Reading Report: The Man in Lower Ten

2011-11-07T18:20:00.002-05:00

Written by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Originally published 1906

The Man in Lower Ten was the first mystery novel written by Mary Roberts Rinehart, and is known as the first detective novel to appear on national bestseller lists (I haven't checked that out, but it sounds likely).

In the story, Lawrence Blakeley, a young attorney working in Washington DC, sets off by train to deliver valuable documents in a criminal case. Because of a slightly mysterious mishap, he ends up sleeping in the wrong berth, and having his clothes and luggage (with the documents inside), as well as his identity, stolen. Even more disturbing, a dead man is found in lower ten, the berth that should have been Blakeley's, and suspicion falls on the young lawyer. But before anyone can explain the situation, the train he's riding in is involved in a deadly accident and Blakeley ends up making his way back home in the company of another of the survivors -- an attractive young woman (Alison West) who turns out to be the fiancee of his friend and partner in the Washington law firm. And Blakeley also just happens to come into possession of some objects that seem to incriminate the young woman in the murder on the train.

Hmmmm. Complicated enough for ya? Well, it gets even more so, with policemen and amateur detectives working on the case. And people spying on Blakeley from the house next door. And Blakeley trying to keep his partner from finding out about Alison's possible involvement in the affair. And, of course, Blakeley falling in love with Alison and trying to keep that from his partner, too.

But the complicated plot and sinister elements are balanced by Rinehart's satiric humor and Blakeley's light-hearted narration. And everything is sorted out and explained in the last couple of chapters, just as it should be.

As a teen, I read quite a bit of MRR's work but haven't read anything by her in many years. Reading this has made me remember what a good story-teller she was. In spite of a lot of dated elements, the story has such a contemporary feel that I kept forgetting it was written over a hundred years ago. Definitely a fun read.

********************

Some favorite quotes:

Have you ever seen a fly, who, in these hygienic days, finding no cobwebs to entangle him, is caught in a sheet of fly paper, finds himself more and more mired, and is finally quiet with the sticky stillness of despair?...Well, I was the fly. (Chapter VII)
"Love is like the measles," he orated. "The older you get it, the worse the attack." (Chapter XVI)

Reading Report: The Killings at Badger's Drift

2011-11-07T18:00:00.007-05:00

Written by Caroline Graham
Felony & Mayhem Press, 2005; 252 pages
First published 1987

Money had been behind many a killing. Money and sex. Interlocked. An eternal ampersand. And a motive for murder since murder began. (pp.153-154)

When elderly spinster Emily Simpson went orchid-hunting in the woods near her home in the tranquil English village of Badger's Drift, she never expected to stumble upon a sight that would result in her abrupt demise. At first no one believes Emily's death is anything but an unfortunate accident – a woman getting on in years and living alone suffers a fall and is unable to call for help in time. But Emily's old friend and neighbor (and fellow orchid hunter) Miss Lucy Bellringer is suspicious, and calls on Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby to investigate. At first unconvinced that anything "untoward" has happened, Barnaby nevertheless promises Miss Bellringer to look into her friend's death. And as he noses around, aided by his young partner Sergeant Gavin Troy, Barnaby begins to realize there's something sinister at work in Badger's Drift, involving old rivalries and scandals and secrets. And then there's a second death – this one much more horrific than the first, and most definitely murder – and Barnaby and Troy must race to find the killer before more violence disrupts the once-peaceful little village.

I've had this book on my "Must Read" list for a couple of decades now. Don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to it, since I'd read a couple of the later novels in Graham's Barnaby series and loved both of them (love Midsomer Murders, too – the TV series based on the books). I was pleased to see that this one was just as entertaining and intriguing as all the later books – all the regulars in place, the plot just as interesting, the killings just as bizarre and unpredictable. It's whetted my appetite for even more Barnaby, and fortunately I've got several more to choose from.

********************

Some favorite quotes:

Barnaby spotted Wellington, a solid cat the colour of iron filings, with four white socks, on top of a grand piano. The name seemed apt. He had a face like an old boot, squashed in, tuckered and rumpled. He watched them restacking the books. He looked secretive and ironical. A cat who was biding his time. (p.17)
[Barnaby] thought how impossible it was for a gardener to attempt to conceal his personality. Telling one's dreams could hardly be more revelatory. Unsophisticated harmony for Miss Simpson; tangled exuberance for Miss Bellringer;...He looked at the showy shrubs, the billiard-table-baize lawn, the pond with a concrete cherub peeing mechanically on a plastic lily. Here was ostentatious vulgarity, literally in full bloom. (p.164)
Barnaby...never underestimated the tremendous satisfaction that knowing all a neighbour's business gave some people. A passionate interest in everyone else's affairs seemed to him a very human characteristic hardly reprehensible enough to be called a failing, let alone a sin. If he himself wasn't endlessly concerned with other people's behaviour, he wouldn't be doing the job he was. (p.166)

Reading Report: The Fatal Touch

2011-11-07T17:30:00.002-05:00

Written by Conor Fitzgerald
Bloomsbury, 2011; 378 pages

Publisher's Description:
A man lies dead in a Roman piazza. Is he simply the unfortunate victim of a local mugger with a penchant for preying on tourists? Or is there something more sinister to the story? With the help of his associate Caterina, Blume is called to the case. But they're not alone: a colonel from the Carabinieri -- military police -- is trying to control the investigation. Blume, unwilling to give way to a rival investigator, goes hard after his target.

If the killing was an accident, why is the colonel so deeply interested? Perhaps the reason is that this particular victim had an unusual occupation: He forged classical paintings for a living, and he did it better than anyone else on the market. His death reawakens issues from Italy's violent past, calls into question the reputations of certain people in the present, and promises great wealth in the future for whoever resolves its mystery. Relying on old friends and intuitions, Blume hurls himself into the investigation, at great risk to his job, his neck, and anyone who trusts him.

My Thoughts:

It's not at all unusual for me to put a book aside, read something else for a while, and then return to the book that was shelved. But when it happens over and over with the same book, then I know something's wrong. That was my problem with Conor Fitzgerald's The Fatal Touch, and the reason it took me so long to finish it. Maybe I just wasn't as good a match with the book as I thought I'd be. Or maybe it was the fact that once again, against all better judgment, I jumped into a series without reading the book that started it all (Fitzgerald's The Dogs of Rome).

It's a puzzle because I found the main character, Commissioner Alec Blume (a transplanted American and veteran police officer who enjoys art and literature), very appealing. I also enjoyed the story of the art forger, Englishman Henry Treacy, mostly told through quotes from his personal notebooks.

But I thought the plot in general was fuzzy and disjointed, and the central mystery not all that mysterious or compelling. However, the art world setting and the fact that it all took place in Rome (one of my dream cities) kept me coming back. It certainly wasn't the worst mystery I've read, but I had hoped for much more.

Note: My copy of this book was provided free of charge by the publisher, through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. No other compensation was offered or provided, and no one attempted to influence my opinion of the book.

Booking Through Thursday: Harder

2011-11-03T09:08:00.002-04:00

This week, BTT asks a question that made me stop and think a bit: "All other thing being equal, would you rather read a book that’s hard/challenging/rewarding or light/enjoyable/easy?"

This one is a little hard to answer (and I'm not sure exactly what we mean by "all other things being equal" -- what things?), because I think I like both those choices. At different times and for different purposes, but I wouldn't rule either of them out. Of course one person's hard/challenging/rewarding might be the next person's piece of fluff. And, speaking realistically, if a book is really so hard to read that it takes a lot of work to get through, I'm very unlikely to stick with it. Which is why Tolstoy, Proust, and David Foster Wallace aren't on my must-read list at the moment.

My preferred reading, of course, would be something that's challenging and enjoyable. Is that too much to ask?

Teaser Tuesdays: Hallowe'en Party

2011-11-01T10:15:00.003-04:00

This week my teaser lines come from the book I finished (appropriately enough) last night -- Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party. It's another in her series of Hercule Poirot novels featuring Poirot's old friend, mystery writer Ariadne Oliver. In this excerpt, Mrs. Oliver is helping with the preparations for a children's Halloween party and overhears one of the older girls (Joyce) boasting about having witnessed a murder:

"...I didn't know it was a murder when I saw it. It wasn't really till a long time afterwards, I mean, that I began to know that it was a murder. Something that somebody said only about a month or two ago suddenly made me think: Of course, that was a murder I saw."

Not sure about page numbers here because I read this one on my iPad, but the quote comes toward the end of Chapter One (Location 148 of 3926).

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Teaser Tuesdays: Third Girl

2011-10-25T10:48:00.004-04:00

This week my teaser lines come from the book I just finished, Third Girl by Agatha Christie -- one of the later books in the Hercule Poirot series. In this snippet, someone has just stumbled upon a dead body, always a hazard of any Christie novel. The quote comes from page 213, late in the story, but not really a spoiler:

What she was looking at had a nightmarish quality. On the floor lay a handsome young man, his arms flung wide, his chestnut hair falling on his shoulders. He wore a crimson velvet coat, and his white shirt was dappled with blood.... She was aware with a start that there was a second figure with her in the room.

Teaser Tuesdays: Mr. Murder

2011-10-18T10:43:00.003-04:00

This week my teaser lines come from Mr. Murder by Dean Koontz. This snippet comes from page 227, and I haven't actually read this far in the novel, so I'm not really sure exactly what's going on here. But I should probably include a little warning that it's not for the faint of heart.

He drifts toward healing sleep, confident of waking with full health and vigor in several hours.... A few feet from him, in the trunk of the car, lies the dead man who once owned the Buick -- cold, stiff, and without any appealing prospects of his own.... How good it is to be special, to be needed, to have a destiny.

As a matter of fact, the book itself is definitely not for the squeamish. Which just might mean ME.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2011-10-17T04:30:00.005-04:00

Much better week, last week -- where reading is concerned, anyway. Now if the weather would just keep improving, the fall would be shaping up quite nicely.

Finished last week
I actually managed to finish four books last week:
Mrs. Malory and A Time to Die, by Hazel Holt; The Killings at Badger's Drift, by Caroline Graham; and The Man in Lower Ten, and Episode of the Wandering Knife, both by Mary Roberts Rinehart.

This past week, I also realized that I've completed quite a few of the reading challenges I signed up for this year. So now I need to get lots of reviews written and start working on my wrap-up posts.
Reading this week
I'm still plugging away at my last Early Reviewer book from Library Thing -- Literary Brooklyn by Evan Hughes. It's taking me an amazingly long time to get through it, which is probably not a good sign. I've also started Third Girl by Agatha Christie, and Mr. Murder by Dean Koontz, and I've got a really strong suspicion that the Hughes book may have to wait until those two are finished.
Up next
Still have plenty of unread ARCs to choose from (shame on me!), and I've yet to read anything for the Battle of the Prizes Challenge (British version), so I'm keeping that in mind.

Booking Through Thursday: The Sequel

2011-10-13T09:24:00.002-04:00

This week, BTT asks: "If you could get a sequel for any book, what would it be?"

Tough question. Right away, I thought: Don't like sequels -- books or movies. But then I thought about all those series books I read, and they do sort of qualify as sequels. So I guess I don't dislike them so much after all.

Can't think of any book I'd like to see sequel-ized, though. If it's a book I loved, with interesting characters and a thrilling plot, I wouldn't want to chance spoiling it with a follow-up that doesn't measure up. And if it's a book I had to struggle through, why would I ask for more?

Teaser Tuesdays: The Man in Lower Ten

2011-10-11T08:45:00.002-04:00

This week my teaser lines come from The Man in Lower Ten, a vintage mystery (published in 1906) by Mary Roberts Rinehart. I just finished the book last night, and don't know why it's taken me so many weeks to get through it because I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I read this one on my iPad, so I'm not sure about page numbers, but this snippet is from Chapter VII. And it has the protagonist ruminating about his precarious situation as the chief suspect in a murder that occurred on the train he was traveling in -- just before the train was involved in a deadly crash.

Have you ever seen a fly, who, in these hygienic days, finding no cobwebs to entangle him, is caught in a sheet of fly paper, finds himself more and more mired, and is finally quiet with the sticky stillness of despair?...Well, I was the fly.

Well, I've never been a murder suspect, but that description of the fly is pretty much the way I felt at the dentist's office last week.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2011-10-10T10:02:00.002-04:00

Well, even though October is already ten days old, this is my first Monday reading list for the month. My reading life has been a little scattered lately -- actually, it's been a wreck. But I won't get into that right now. I have every intention of getting back on track this week, so here goes.

Recently finished:
Quiet as a Nun, by Antonia Fraser. First book in her Jemima Shore mystery series. I've read a couple of the later books but never managed to read this first novel until now. I enjoyed this one, although (like most of the Jemima tales), it was a little slow-moving.

That's it, I'm afraid; haven't finished anything else. But I have abandoned a few books, including Graham Swift's Last Orders -- just couldn't get into it for some reason, although it seemed well-written and a lot of people have recommended it. But life is just too short, you know?
Reading this week:
Still reading Literary Brooklyn by Evan Hughes -- must finish that up and get a review posted over at Library Thing.

Also hoping to finish up two that I've been reading for weeks now -- The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart,

and Hazel Holt's Mrs. Malory and A Time to Die. Both of those are short and light -- should be able to get through them pretty quickly if I can just stay awake long enough!
Next up:
Haven't the foggiest. Probably another mystery, though. I don't seem to be able to stick with anything but whodunits these days. But I've got a must-read list that stretches from here to Alpha Centauri and back, so there's always something there to tempt me.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Cabinet of Curiosities

2011-10-04T07:56:00.001-04:00

I haven't really been doing much reading (or blogging) this week -- had some dental work last week and I've been in a sort of Vicodin haze for several days now. But I'm hoping that's all behind me, at least enough for me to get a little reading done. This teaser is from a book I haven't started yet, but one I'm thinking of reading for the RIP/VI Challenge -- Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. In this snippet, Nora Kelly has just asked a stranger to leave her office in the New York Museum of Natural History:

But the man didn't leave....She turned. He had extended his hand. Nestled within it was a small, brown skull. (p.17)

Teaser Tuesdays: Last Orders

2011-09-27T10:10:00.001-04:00

This week my teaser lines come from Last Orders by Graham Swift (1996). I'm reading it for the Battle of the Prizes (British Version) Reading Challenge; it's the only book to win both the Booker and the James Tait Black prizes, the two awards the challenge is built around. I've just started the book, so I really don't know much about what's going on in this snippet from page 71:

A good motor is a comfort and companion and an asset to a man, as well as getting him from A to B. I can't speak for women. Mandy drives like it's nothing special, like a car is a handbag. But a good motor deserves respect....

Well, I know he wouldn't understand, but some of us (women) tend to think a good handbag can be a comfort and an asset, too. And some of those handbags cost almost as much as a motor car these days! Like this one I'm drooling over.

Now if I just had an extra twelve thousand bucks lying around somewhere!

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Fall Into Reading 2011

2011-09-23T14:00:00.002-04:00

It really doesn't seem much like fall around here yet -- just a very WET late summer. But the calendar doesn't lie, so the leaves should be coloring up and starting to drift to the pavement any day now. I'm definitely looking forward to some nice crisp autumn weather, and I'm also ready to get a little more serious about my reading. So Fall Into Reading 2011 is coming at just the right time.

This low-key, no pressure reading challenge is hosted by Katrina at Callapidder Days, and runs from today through December 21. It's one of my favorite reading events of the year because it doesn't require a set number of books, or any particular type of book. The guidelines are available on the challenge announcement/sign-up page (here), but basically all you need to do is make a list of the books you think you'd like to read this fall. Or a list of reading goals. Post it on your blog. Then go sign up, and start reading!

Of course, you might want to check out some of the other participants' lists, too -- that's one of my favorite parts of the challenge. Here's what I'm thinking about for my fall reading schedule:

Books I need to finish (reading now):
Last Orders. Graham Swift
Literary Brooklyn. Evan Hughes
The Man in Lower Ten. Mary Roberts Rinehart
Mrs. Malory and A Time to Die. Hazel Holt

ARCs from this year that I really should read before next year:
Altar of Bones. Philip Carter
Dreams of Joy. Lisa See
Iron House. John Hart
The Land of Painted Caves. Jean M. Auel
The Map of Time. Felix J. Palma
Prophecy. S.J. Parris
The Survivor. Sean Slater

The challenge should also help me with another reading goal -- finishing up all my other reading challenges for this year. Right now, these are the challenges and the number of books I need to read to complete each one:

1st in a Series == 2 books
Aussie Authors == 2 books
Battle of the Prizes (British) == 3 books
Book Awards V == 4 books
Historical Fiction == 1 book
Off the Shelf == 4 books
Vintage Mystery == 3 books
Young Readers == 7 books

Not as bad as it looks, since several of the books will overlap in several different challenges.

Of course, I might end up reading none of the above, but that's OK -- list changing is allowed (I love that). But whatever develops, I'll be updating my progress on my challenge blog, here. So now all I need to do is get reading! (And note to self: also get reviewing! )

Teaser Tuesdays: Let's All Kill Constance

2011-09-20T09:40:00.002-04:00

This week my teaser lines come from a book I discovered while browsing the shelves at my local public library last week. Let's All Kill Constance is a mystery novel by Ray Bradbury, one of my favorite writers, but one I usually associate more with sci-fi and fantasy than whodunits. I haven't actually started this one yet, so I'll just give you some lines from the opening section of the book:

It was a dark and stormy night....it was a stormy night with dark rain pouring in drenches on Venice, California, the sky shattered by lightning at midnight....The only thing that moved in all that flood ten miles south and ten miles north was Death. And someone running fast ahead of Death.

Bradbury is such a wonderful writer, and I didn't know he wrote mysteries, so I'm really curious about this one. And, as the book's dust jacket says, only Ray Bradbury would be audacious enough to begin a book with that dark and stormy night routine.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2011-09-19T08:30:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since I posted a Monday reading list -- my reading life has been so unsettled for the last few months, I never really know what I'm likely to be reading from one day to the next. Or even if I'll be reading. But I'm hoping things will be slowing down a bit, now that summer's over and my time is getting a little more organized. So here's how things are shaping up:

Recently finished:
~ The Fatal Touch, by Conor Fitzgerald
~ Malice in Miniature, by Jeanne M. Dams
~ The Winter Ghosts, by Kate Mosse

Haven't posted any reviews for quite a while either, but I hope to get a few up this week.
Reading now:
~ Quiet as a Nun, by Antonia Fraser
~ Mrs. Malory and A Time to Die, by Hazel Holt
~ Literary Brooklyn, by Evan Hughes
Next up:
Not sure about this one. Possibly one of a couple of books I started a few months back and then put aside -- Iron House by John Hart, or Prophecy by S.J. Parris.

Theme Thursday: Feelings

2011-09-15T18:45:00.006-04:00

Theme Thursday is a weekly event hosted by Reading Between the Pages. Each Thursday, a theme is posted for that week. Participants select a conversation, snippet, or sentence from whatever book they're reading and post it for everyone to read. It's a great way to discover new books and authors, so here goes.

This week's theme is FEELINGS, and my snippet is from the book I just started reading, Antonia Fraser's Quiet as a Nun; these are the opening lines of the book:

Sometimes when I feel low, I study the Evening Standard as though for an examination. It was in that way I found the small item on the Home News page: NUN FOUND DEAD.

Born This Day...

2011-09-15T10:31:00.010-04:00

The Grand Dame of Mystery

Agatha Christie
Born 15 September 1890

Booking Through Thursday: Replay

2011-09-15T10:00:00.004-04:00

This week, BTT asks: Have you ever finished a book and loved it so much you went right back and started re-reading it again? (And obviously, if so, we want titles!)

And the answer is yes, I have but it's been a really long time since a book had such an effect on me. It used to happen all the time when I was a child -- I'd discover a new favorite and read it over and over and over. Of course, back then I had world enough and time to do that sort of thing. Haven't done any immediate re-reads recently -- too many other interesting books out there calling my name.

However, if I had an unlimited budget of reading time, there are some books I've read in the last few years that I might have considered reading more than once. These are a few I can think of:

The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton
The Club Dumas, by Arturo Perez-Reverte
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
The Hills at Home, by Nancy Clark
Lying Awake, by Mark Salzman
The Return of the Twelves, by Pauline Clarke
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz-Zafon

There is one book I read and loved many years ago, that I just might be re-reading very soon. I've got Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House on my list of possible reads for the RIP/VI Reading Challenge, so maybe I'll find out if it's just as good and scary as it was the first time around.

Booking Through Thursday: Queue

2011-09-08T10:39:00.008-04:00

This week, BTT asks: What are you reading now? Would you recommend it? And what’s next? And my answers:

READING NOW

Mrs. Malory and A Time to Die, by Hazel Holt
Literary Brooklyn, by Evan Hughes
The Winter Ghosts, by Kate Mosse

I really don't like to recommend books before I've finished them. However, I'd definitely recommend the Mrs. Malory book to anyone who likes cozy English-village mysteries.

NEXT UP

The Man in Lower Ten, by Mary Roberts Rinehart
An Emergency in Slow Motion: The Inner Life of Diane Arbus, by William Todd Schultz

The MR Rinehart is a classic, of course, but I'm just now getting around to it -- started it last month and had to put it aside for other things. The Diane Arbus bio is an Early Reviewer book from LibraryThing, and I don't actually have my copy yet. Besides these two, I'll probably be reading something for the RIP/VI Reading Challenge very soon -- of course, The Winter Ghosts would probably qualify there (and maybe the Diane Arbus book, too?).

Teaser Tuesdays: A Time to Die

2011-09-06T07:57:00.000-04:00

This week I'm once again using one of Hazel Holt's Mrs. Malory mysteries for my teaser lines. This time it's Mrs. Malory and A Time To Die, from 2008, the 18th book in the series. Animals figure very prominently in all the books: Sheila Malory has a cat and a dog, and most of her friends and family have pets, too -- and the critters usually make it into the action somehow. In this snippet, Sheila is away from home, getting ready to pet-sit her cousin Hilda's much-loved and pampered kitty (Tolly) while Hilda is off on a trip:

Tolly greeted me amiably enough. Possibly he remembered me..., but he probably just recognized a born slave and was prepared to accept me as such....When I stroked his head he nipped my hand, not out of malice, you understand, but merely to indicate my place in the hierarchy. (p.122)

Our cats Pug and Rosie (who, sadly, are no longer with us) probably would have just turned their backs and ignored the intruder. Until it was time for the serving of dinner, of course.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge VI

2011-09-05T17:25:00.002-04:00

Wow, I actually missed the start of this one, this time around! I usually spend the last week in August obsessively checking Carl V's Stainless Steel Droppings blog, just hoping for some mention of the beginning of his annual R.I.P. Challenge. But this year, real life just keeps getting in the way of the fun stuff – so I'm a little late signing up.

The R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge (R.I.P. for short) is one of my favorite reading challenges. It runs from September 1st to October 31st, and it's perfect for this time of year. Also, it includes some of my favorite genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Horror, Supernatural. You can read about it in detail and sign up on the challenge announcement page (here). There are several different levels of participation, and even a new wrinkle this year with the Peril of the Group Read feature.

I'm going to be signing up for Peril the First, so I'll be reading at least four books. I'm also going to sign up for Peril on the Screen again this year – I had a great time with that one last year.

Now, about books. I'll be giving a lot of thought to what I might read for this one, so my list of possibilities will probably be getting longer and longer, and going through many changes. But right now, these are a few of the books I'm considering:

The Dead Zone. Stephen King (I read King's The Dark Half last year, and it was a great reminder of just how fine a writer King really is. And scary, too!)
Grave Sight. Charlaine Harris (The first book in the Harper Connelly mystery series. Everyone else has read something by Harris, and I'm beginning to feel left out.)
The Haunting of Hill House. Shirley Jackson (This would be a re-read for me, so I'm not sure about it; but it's been many years, and I loved it the first time around.)
The Hunger. Whitley Strieber (I'm not usually a vampire fan, but I could make an exception for this one. Loved the movie.)
Mr. Murder. Dean Koontz (Never read anything by Koontz, but several trusted recommenders have recommended this one.)
The Prince of Mist. Carlos Ruiz Zafón (A spooky novel for young adults, by the author of Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game.)
Widdershins. Oliver Onions (First published in 1911, and one of the classic ghost story collections; includes the novella that is probably Onions' best-known work, The Beckoning Fair One.)

Or, I might ignore all those and just stick with Preston and Child – there are still quite a few of their Pendergast novels I haven't gotten to yet. And Diogenes P. is a really delicious villain – perfect for a little autumnal reading spree. Anyway, during the challenge I'll be updating my reading progress on my challenge blog here.

Now, I'm off to sign myself up for the challenge, and then do some blog-hopping to see what everyone else is thinking about reading.

Booking Through Thursday: Stormy Weather

2011-09-01T08:52:00.001-04:00

This week, BTT asks: "What’s your book with weather events? Hurricanes? Tornadoes? Blizzards? Real? Fiction? Doesn’t matter...weather comes up a lot in books, so there’s got to be a favorite somewhere, huh?"

I suppose that's true -- most authors do make use of weather at some point: as a plot device, or sometimes just to set a mood. But I'm not sure I have a favorite "weather book."

Of all the books I've read, I can really only think of two in which weather plays a major role -- Wuthering Heights and The Grapes of Wrath. Of course, there's also Dr. Seuss's Bartholomew and the Oobleck -- but I'm not sure I've ever actually read that one, or just read about it (brain getting a little mushy these days).

So I guess I'd have to say that, unless it's a major element in the story, I pretty much ignore literary weather systems. Wish I could do that in real life, too.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Fatal Legacy

2011-08-30T09:26:00.002-04:00

This week my teaser lines come from one of Hazel Holt's cozy mysteries, Mrs. Malory and the Fatal Legacy. I love Sheila Malory (as I may have mentioned before), and this book has been one of my favorites in the series -- it was published in the US back in 2000, and I don't really know how I missed it. In this bit, Mrs. Malory has just been to visit the son of a friend who's been murdered (the friend was murdered, not the son), and discovered that the young man is seemingly being held prisoner in the home of his lover:

...I turned and looked back at the house. Now it seemed to me that the windows had a blank look, the slats of the Venetian blinds like the bars of a prison, the whole house indefinably threatening, sinister almost....The whole episode had been thoroughly upsetting and what I wanted more than anything else was a good strong cup of tea. (p.106)

Yes, a nice cup of tea can put a positive spin on even the most vexing situations. That is so Sheila Malory.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Flash Reviews

2011-08-24T15:13:00.003-04:00

The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead
Paul Elwork
Amy Einhorn Books / Putnam's Sons
2011; 320 pages

Publisher's description:
Emily Stewart is the girl who claims to stand between the living and the dead. She and her brother, Michael, are thirteen-year-old twins-privileged, precocious, wandering aimlessly around their family's estate during the quiet summer of 1925. One day, Emily discovers an odd physical tic -- she can secretly crack a joint in her ankle so the sound appears to burst through the stillness of midair....In their garden tea house, Emily and Michael gather the neighborhood children to fool them with these "spirit knockings." But soon this game of contacting the dead creeps into a world of adults still reeling from World War I. When the twins find themselves dabbling in the uncertain territory of human grief and family secrets their game spins wildly out of control.

My Thoughts:
B+.
I really didn't know what to expect from Paul Elwork's The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead. I was hoping for something more than just another predictable ghost story -- and my hopes were rewarded. The book is definitely creepy, but in remarkably unpredictable ways. I enjoyed it much more than I expected I would at the outset. My one reservation, and the reason I couldn't give it a full "A" rating, is that I was a little disappointed by the ending -- everything wraps up a little too fast and too neatly. Still, a well-written, very enjoyable read.

Tassy Morgan's Bluff
Jim Stinson
Plume / Penguin
2011; 240 pages

Publisher's Description:
San Andreas, California, might seem a quaint destination, but its residents are sure the town harbors great potential: located on a breathtaking stretch of the Pacific coast, boasting a near-perfect beach, and banked on all sides by towering stately redwoods, it's poised to be a tourist hot spot. Tassy Morgan and Lincoln Ellis each moved to San Andreas for the quiet and to escape -- Tassy fled a marriage that had taken disastrous turns and Linc left behind a Hollywood law practice and is a new widower. When Tassy's dilapidated beach shack becomes the target of the nosy city council zoning board, she and Linc -- who, against his better judgment, has volunteered his legal services to the council -- end up at the center of not just the town controversy, but a surprising romance as well.....The antics and rubbernecking the regulars of the San Andreas Seaside Cafe perform to wheedle in on the courtship blossoming between Linc and Tassy are as endearing as they are outrageous. This charming and hopeful story is infused with a humor that will welcome readers of all ages to a town they'll want to visit again and again.

My Thoughts:
A solid B.
This was another very enjoyable read. It has lots of humor and romance, and some very likable and quirky characters, although I thought the least appealing was Tassy Morgan herself. She keeps saying that people don't like her, and I could pretty much see why -- just a little too prickly for my tastes; it was hard to warm to her. But it's a cute story and a fast easy read, even though the plot is rather convoluted for such a short book. Still, a perfect novel to read while basking at the shore or lazing in a hammock. Stinson is a fine craftsman -- I'll definitely look for more of his work.

Art and Madness: A Memoir of Lust Without Reason
Anne Roiphe
Nan A. Talese / Doubleday
2011; 225 pages

Publisher's Description:
Art and Madness recounts the lost years of Anne Roiphe’s twenties, when the soon-to-be-critically-acclaimed author put her dreams of becoming a writer on hold to devote herself to the magnetic but coercive male artists of the period..... During an era that idolized its male writers, she became, sometimes with her young child in tow, one of the girls draped across the sofa at parties with George Plimpton, Terry Southern, Doc Humes, Norman Mailer, Peter Matthiessen, and William Styron. In the Hamptons she socialized with Larry Rivers, Jack Gelber and other painters and sculptors. “Moderation for most of us is a most unnatural condition....I preferred to burn out like a brilliant firecracker.” But while she was playing the muse reality beckoned, forcing her to confront the notion that any sacrifice was worth making for art..... Art and Madness recounts the fascinating evolution of a time when art and alcohol and rebellion caused collateral damage and sometimes produced extraordinary work.

My Thoughts:
B+ for the writing; D- for all that poor decision making.
I was not very familiar with Anne Roiphe when I started this book -- I knew her works primarily from reviews; never had read any myself. The main reason for my interest in the book was its setting in the art and literary world of the late '50s/early '60s, a period I've always found attractive -- and it does certainly give the reader an interesting perspective on that life and time. I enjoyed that. Roiphe seems very open and sometimes appallingly honest in her description of the life she lived back then -- and it's not always a very attractive portrait. But it made for a fascinating read, and a wonderful introduction to a very intriguing writer.

So That's An Earthquake???!!!

2011-08-24T09:40:00.005-04:00

I've actually experienced one other earthquake, many years ago, in Mexico City. But it was very mild and lasted probably about two seconds. The one we had here in Virginia yesterday was much more like THE BIG ONE!

We had just finished lunch, and I was tidying up at the time; and at first I didn't really notice anything because after living in a high-rise all these years I've gotten used to a certain amount of vibration in the building from time to time. But then as the shaking got really violent, I thought I was having some kind of attack or seizure -- the power didn't blink, and nothing was falling off the walls right at first, so it took me a second or two to realize that it wasn't just me. And by that time, Michael was up saying "Is this an earthquake?" Don't really know how long it lasted -- seemed like at least a couple of minutes. And then it took me about half an hour to stop vibrating, myself, after the quake was over! Also, I was very nervous that it might start again, so I quickly gathered up all the stuff I thought we might need if we had to evacuate, and stuffed it in my purse and my big Vera Bradley bag – cell phone, glasses, iPad, Filofax, all our pills, a change of undies, and my old Teddy bear. Oh, and my makeup bag, too.

I was very worried that the building might have been damaged -- that would be just our luck to have this place declared uninhabitable now that we're so close to putting it on the market. But they issued a notice later in the afternoon, on the condo website -- no structural damage. We didn't have any sort of real damage here in the apartment, either. A few things fell off the bookcases in the study -- but no books were affected. A clock was the only thing that got broken. And Michael went right to work on that and fixed it while I was still bracing for aftershocks (there were some, but fortunately we didn't feel any).

But at least we're OK, and there doesn't seem to have been many injuries (or I haven't heard of any, so far). The only other positive note I’ve found in the whole thing is that they say now it’s really unlikely we’ll ever experience another earthquake of that magnitude in this area, in our lifetime. But I’m of two minds about that -- in a way, it sounds reassuring; in a way, it sounds like famous last words.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Winter Ghosts

2011-08-23T10:02:00.000-04:00

This week my teaser lines come from The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse. I haven't really started this one yet, so I'm not sure exactly what's going on in this snippet. All I know is that the protagonist is wandering alone in a dark, wooded area, imagining all sorts of scary stuff.

In the deepest thickets of the wood, the light had all but disappeared. The mist was slinking through the trees, slipping in and out of the trunks and hollows like an animal hunting its prey. There was an absolute and impenetrable stillness....Then I heard the snap of a twig underfoot. (p.63)

And that's exactly why I try to stay away from dark, wooded areas.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Teaser Tuesdays: Malice in Miniature

2011-08-16T10:15:00.002-04:00

This week my teaser lines come from Malice in Miniature, one of the Dorothy Martin mysteries by Jeanne M. Dams. In this snippet, Dorothy is visiting Brocklesby Hall, a country house whose owner collects and restores very detailed (and very valuable) dollhouses. At this point, no murders have been committed, but I have a feeling a little homicide is about to show up any minute now.

Voices...could be heard faintly, coming from various directions as I stood in the great hall. They echoed oddly off the hard surfaces and became a sort of clanging buzz, from everywhere and nowhere, resounding in my head. I wondered if the house had the usual quota of ghosts....if there were ever a house designed to inspire macabre legends, it was this one. (p.68)

So far, no ghosts. Maybe in the next chapter.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Booking Through Thursday: National Book Week

2011-08-11T04:05:00.004-04:00

This week's BTT topic is National Book Week. And the prompt is: "Grab the closest book to you. Go to page 56. Copy the 5th sentence as your status. (We’ve done something similar to this before, but it’s always fun, so … why not?)"

Why not, indeed. Actually, I've recently posted one of these page-56 thingies on Facebook, which is I suppose where this probably got started (hence the reference to "your status").

The Facebook rules said not to mention the book's title, but since there's no rule about that here, I can say that this 56/5 quote is from the book I've been reading tonight: Martin Meredith's Born in Africa: The Quest for the Origins of Human Life:

In 1951, the Leakeys took Charles Boise to Olduvai.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Or maybe that should be pre-history?

Teaser Tuesdays: Along Came a Spider

2011-08-09T10:10:00.001-04:00

I'm a little late getting my teaser lines up this week. In my mind, I'm still on vacation, I guess.

This week I'm using one of the books I read at the beach last week, James Patterson's Along Came a Spider, the first in his series of thrillers centered around Washington DC police detective (and psychologist) Alex Cross. In this snippet, Cross is describing his arrival at the crime scene that starts off all the rest of the book's mayhem:

It was pitch-black in the house. Eerie. The wind was sucked through the open door, and I could hear something rattling inside....The smells of Lysol and burnt grease melded into something strange to the nose, though not entirely unpleasant. There were a lot worse smells in homicide cases. (p.16, paperback edition)

Lovely thought, isn't it? And this is just the beginning of the story -- things will be getting very unpleasant for Cross, very quickly.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Beach Week!

2011-07-31T18:26:00.000-04:00

Communication may be sporadic or nonexistent for a short interval, but Joy's Blog will be up and running again after a few days' R&R.
See ya in August!

Friday's List: These Are the Greats?

2011-07-29T00:01:00.002-04:00

I've seen this list on several blogs and websites. It was put together by the (London) Times staff a couple of years ago, and it's supposed to represent the fifty best postwar British writers. I'm not really sure how they arrived at their conclusions, but I think I agree with most of their picks; although I'd order the list a little differently (Barbara Pym, Anthony Powell, and Muriel Spark would be right at the top, and my list would definitely include P.D. James). Those authors whose works I've sampled are the ones in red.

1. Philip Larkin
2. George Orwell
3. William Golding
4. Ted Hughes
5. Doris Lessing
6. J. R. R. Tolkien
7. V. S. Naipaul
8. Muriel Spark
9. Kingsley Amis
10. Angela Carter
11. C. S. Lewis
12. Iris Murdoch
13. Salman Rushdie
14. Ian Fleming
15. Jan Morris
16. Roald Dahl
17. Anthony Burgess
18. Mervyn Peake
19. Martin Amis
20. Anthony Powell
21. Alan Sillitoe
22. John Le Carré
23. Penelope Fitzgerald
24. Philippa Pearce
25. Barbara Pym
26. Beryl Bainbridge
27. J. G. Ballard
28. Alan Garner
29. Alasdair Gray
30. John Fowles
31. Derek Walcott
32. Kazuo Ishiguro
33. Anita Brookner
34. A. S. Byatt
35. Ian McEwan
36. Geoffrey Hill
37. Hanif Kureishi
38. Iain Banks
39. George Mackay Brown
40. A. J. P. Taylor
41. Isaiah Berlin
42. J. K. Rowling
43. Philip Pullman
44. Julian Barnes
45. Colin Thubron
46. Bruce Chatwin
47. Alice Oswald
48. Benjamin Zephaniah
49. Rosemary Sutcliff
50. Michael Moorcock

Remarkably, there's only one name I'm completely unfamiliar with. Benjamin Zephaniah? OK, I'll have to go google that one.

So, what d'ya think? Anybody you'd leave off the list? Anybody you're shocked not to see included?

Teaser Tuesdays: Whose Body?

2011-07-26T08:50:00.004-04:00

This week my teaser lines come from Whose Body?, the first novel in the series of Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers. In this snippet, Wimsey has just been informed by his mother (the Duchess) about a very interesting murder case involving the architect who was working on the local church. Not sure what page it's from, since I'm looking at it on my iPad; but it's around the middle of the first chapter. The dialogue is between Lord Peter and his manservant Bunter:

"Her Grace tells me that a respectable Battersea architect has discovered a dead man in his bath."

"Indeed, my lord? That's very gratifying."

"Very, Bunter. Your choice of words is unerring."

I love the little bits of banter between these two. I read this Wimsey many years ago, but I think it might just be time for a re-read.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Friday's List: This Time It's Personal

2011-07-22T10:17:00.003-04:00

Since we're already past mid-year now, I've been doing a little stock-taking: trying to figure out how I'm doing with all the reading challenges I've ~~foolishly~~ enthusiastically signed up for this year. Also trying to decide what to take with me to the beach in August. So this week's list is a little bit of how-I'm-doing-so-far business. The links will lead you to my reading lists for each challenge.

1st in a Series Challenge:
Books read = 0 / Total Books to read = 3
2nds Challenge:
2 of 3
Alex Cross Challenge:
0 of as many as I want
Aussie Authors:
1 of 3
Awesome Author:
4 of 3-6 (technically, completed)
Battle of the Prizes - British Version:
0 of 3
Book Awards V:
1 of 5
Cruisin' Thru the Cozies:
0 of 1-6 (reading no. 1 now)
Historical Fiction:
3 of 5
Mystery & Suspense:
4 of 12 (reading no. 5 now)
New Authors:
11 of 15 (reading no. 12 now)
Off the Shelf:
6 of 15
Once Upon a Time V:
1 of 1 (completed)
Pub Challenge 2011:
7 of 11 (reading no. 8 now)
TBR Lite:
4 of 6 (reading no. 5 now)
Themed Reading:
0 of 5 (reading no. 1 now)
Vintage Mystery:
1 of 4-6 (reading no. 2 now)
What's in a Name 4:
2 of 6 (reading nos. 3 and 4 now)
P.G. Wodehouse:
0 of as many as I want
Young Readers:
5 of 12

I'm actually doing a little better than I realized, considering the first half of this year has been really slow for me, where reading is concerned. Hoping to do a little better in this second half.

With just a few exceptions, all the challenges run through December, so I've still got time to catch up with most of them. However, the Themed Reading Challenge ends August 15, which means I should definitely keep that one in mind when I'm packing away those beach reads next week. But my chosen theme is mystery novels that feature amateur sleuths, written by female authors -- and for me that's a perfect choice for vacation reading.

Booking Through Thursday: Repeats

2011-07-21T10:01:00.006-04:00

This week, BTT asks: "What’s the first book that you ever read more than once? (I’m assuming there’s at least one.) What book have you read the most times? And–how many?"

You know, I can't honestly remember the absolute first book I read more than once. But I'm pretty sure it was probably a Little Golden Book. Maybe The Poky Little Puppy or Scuffy the Tugboat. Or Little Red Riding Hood -- that one was always one of my favorites.

Or The Real Mother Goose -- not an LGB but a book I really loved (still do and still have my childhood copy). Or The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings -- I just re-read that one again, not long ago.

Of course, the sticky point here is "reading," since I most likely had those books read to me, at least at first. When I was a tot in Texas, kindergarten (or pre-school as we call it now) was not a universal, expected thing for everyone -- some kids went and some didn't. None of the schools near us offered any kind of pre-school program, so I didn't go to school until I was six years old. By then, I could read a little, but not enough to do a lot of reading on my own. So even though I had a large library from the time I was old enough to look at pictures, the reading part would have come later.

So, I'm thinking that the first book I actually read on my own more than once was almost certainly Alice in Wonderland. Probably the Little Golden Book of the Disney version, and then the Lewis Carroll classic.

And that's probably the one book I've read the most times, too (although I have no idea how many). There are several others I've read multiple times -- Huck Finn, Wuthering Heights, Virginia Woolf's Orlando, Barbara Pym's Quartet in Autumn. But Alice's dream journey is the one story I always love to lose myself in, no matter how old I get.