Thursday, March 19, 2015

My TBR and other reading

I'm delving into a new book tonight--The Erotica Book Club for Nice Ladies. Beyond that marvelous title, I can't say much--I'm only forty pages in. But I thought it might be fun to mention a few titles I've recently enjoyed...and some on my TBR (to be read) list.
In light of the fuss about Harper Lee's forthcoming sequel (is that the right term?) for To Kill A Mockingbird, I read The Mockingbird Next Door, Marja Mills' account of the eighteen months she spent living next door to Nelle Harper Lee and her sister, Alice. It's a charming book, well written, with nice and surprising insight into the lady we thought was a reclusive author. Not so in her hometown. There was a bit of celebrity name-dropping about it, but I enjoyed it. I also liked Sheila Connolly's An Early Wake, about Maura Donovan's continuing immersion in an Irish small town and the pub she inherited--this time Irish music provides the thread that bind the murder mystery together. In The Book Stops Here, Brooklyn Wainwright, bookbinder and appraiser, appears on a TV show where people bring old books for her to appraise. When some turn out to be unbelievably valuable, trouble ensues. Kate Carlisle is the author. Poisoned Prose, by Ellery Adams, brings one of my favorite characters back on stage, Olivia Limoges with her dog (whose name I can't remember but who is a great character). This time Olivia invites storytellers to meet with the Bay Writers--only one of them is dramatically murdered. You'll see that my taste runs to mysteries.
But on my TBR: Leslie Budewitz's Assault and Pepper, first in a new series about a spice shop in Seattle. I've enjoyed Budewitz's previous books (Crime Rib, etc.) and look forward to this one. Julie Hyzy is one of my favorite authors and I'm looking forward to the newest in her series about Grace Wheaton. In this one Grace's estranged sister shows up at Marshfield Manor, where Grace is curator, and all manner of trouble follows.
I have a strong love of all things Scottish so Juliette Blackhurst's Keeper of the Castle is on my list. Juliette specializes in renovation of buildings but gets drawn into her boyfriend's project of renovating  a building shipped from Scotland. I think there's a ghost involved. And then there's A Wee Murder in My Shop, in which an American tourist buy a Scottish shawl only to find it comes accompanied by a spirit from the past. Once home in Vermont, she runs into murder--and asked the spirit for help.
One I'd like to read but am not sure about is Not My Father's Son, a memoir about a brutal boyhood under a harsh Scottish father. Then again, we can't think of Scots as always happily playing the bagpipes--a touch of realism should be good.
Happy Reading everyone.

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