Life in General...
Last weekend was our Labor Day Holiday here in the US. We had my husband's family over for a cookout on Monday and also celebrated a couple of family birthdays. It was a fun time for all, especially because my hubby decided he would not only cook the burgers, but make these tasty little salted caramel brownie trifle things. He found the recipe somewhere and they were very good. Maybe not so great for birthday candles, but we managed.
On Friday, I began a new volunteering opportunity at one of our local libraries. It was a little tiresome to get my schedule and their orientation schedule sorted, but I finally began actually 'working'. It's not a complicated deal at all - shelving books and other materials. Well, I've done that before. In fact, that was my first actual paid job at the Austin Public Library, being what they called a 'page'. It had a been a while since I had shelved almost 3 hours straight. Part of it was in the children's section and shelves are low. Lots of up and down and up and down. I decided I should have worn my fitness tracking device to see how many 'steps' and 'calories' I expended. Next time.
Life in Reading...
Mystery book group met on Wednesday evening and it was one of our 'food' meetings. Always fun. We had 4 new people and after we convinced them that they could indeed stay and eat, even if they hadn't brought anything, all went well. Our theme was 'Cozies in the Kitchen' and we read cozy mysteries that had a food theme. There was the option of bringing a food item that you found in your reading. It went pretty well and some did prepare recipes they found in their cozy reading. I was not so inspired and my contribution was guacamole and tortilla chips. Guess it was OK as very little was left. Ha!
I'm not a big cozy reader anymore, but I did reread 3 books that I had enjoyed in the past. Jenn McKinlay's first Cupcake Bakery Mystery, Sprinkle With Murder, is a fun one. This series is set in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is a humorous one. Great cupcake recipes and a few bodies. Jenn also writes several other mystery series.
Karen MacInerney (local author to us in Austin) writes The Gray Whale Inn Mysteries, which begins with Murder On The Rocks. Protagonist Natalie Barnes leaves Central Texas and takes a chance on a Maine bed and breakfast called The Gray Whale Inn. Lots of B&B food offerings and a nice mystery as well. I like this series.
Lastly, I reread Julie Hyzy's first White House Chef mystery, State Of The Onion. Olivia Paras is an assistant chef at the White House and this series is filled with all kinds of inside info about the kitchens, guests, and staff doings in the White House. It a little 'tougher' because of including Secret Service and threats of all kinds. Sadly, this series is at an end, but several of our group have read it and give a thumbs up.
We had some interesting comments made about food cozies in general and specifically. Some of our group enjoy cozies and some are not big fans. Along with some tasty treats and new members, we had a lot to talk about.
Life in Three Pines...
I recently finished reading Louise Penny's 12th mystery in her Armand Gamache/Three Pines series, A Great Reckoning. I had looked forward to this one and took my time reading it. I love the way this author tells a story, her language, her symbolism, her aims. She uses poetry very deftly and inserts it in such a way that the story flows around it smoothly. This book brought us to Three Pines, but also to other new locations. All the usual gang was included and a few more characters that I hope we see again. In each book, more and more layers are revealed and I marvel that Louise can surprise, delight, and horrify me all in one book. If you have never read a book by this highly gifted author, start with Still Life. It's a series that begs to be read in order.
Life in coming days...
I'm participating in the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI during September and October. My post about it is here. Fall is the perfect time to sample mysterious, horrifying, Gothic, suspenseful, ghostly tales. If this sounds like fun to you, join in. You can sign up on Carl's blog (link in my post). I'm going to try to read at least some of the books I showed. Got lots of encouragement to pick up Daisy In Chains and The Woman In Cabin 10. We'll see what piques my interest next.
Until next time....Happy Reading!!
Love the sound of your mystery book group. I don't read many cosies any more either, prefer something with a bit more bite.
ReplyDeleteI must get back to Louise Penny, not sure why I haven't read any of hers in a long while. This summer I got back to several series I haven't kept up with in a long time so I must include her in that soon.
Loved your update, Kay.
Thanks, Cath! I've not completely lost my taste for cozies, but almost. It may come back at some point though. I am becoming a little weary of psychological thrillers right now.
DeleteI just heard raves about Woman in Cabin 10 from a co-worker - hope you have a great time with all the spooky books!
ReplyDeleteSo, yes, I picked up The Woman In Cabin 10 this morning. Read a bit of it with breakfast. So far, so good.
DeleteSo, do we get a recipe for those salted caramel brownie trifle things? :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new library job. Those squats when shelving on the low shelves are really something, aren't they? :) My poor knees aren't what they used to be and it's getting to be quite a challenge to do some shelving at work. I hope none of my customers hear my groaning as I pull myself back up to a standing position. ;)
Your book club meeting sounds like fun, but I'm not much for cozies and doubt I'll ever really get interested in any. I prefer thrillers and detective series better.
I plan to pick up where I left off (#2) in the Louise Penny books once we've retired and I can read without too many interruptions. I'm glad this new release was a winner for so many fans.
Looking forward to your thoughts on The Woman in Cabin 10... I'm not going to officially join the challenge, but maybe I'll look for something a bit creepy to read in the coming weeks. I know I have a Wilkie Collins book somewhere on my shelves that I bought years ago for the R.I.P. challenge. Maybe I'll give it a try.
Have a great week! Hope it's cooling down a little bit!
Not sure about the recipe. He found it on his phone. Basically, it was layers of brownie, whipped cream, salted caramel sauce and toffee bar sprinkles. Maybe a little too sweet for how we are eating now, but everyone seemed to like it.
DeleteWould love to hear what you think about the whole Penny series. Maybe next year.
I love Louise Penny and Three Pines and all the familiar characters and especially Ruth and her duck! Ruth Ware's In the Dark, Dark Wood was very suspenseful, and I look forward to Woman in Cabin 10.
ReplyDeleteI love Ruth's duck and Ruth herself. This last one was a really good one.
DeleteYour volunteer work sounds interesting and fun. You mentioned three fun cozy reads and one of my all time favorite series by author Louise Penny. I'm always amazed how the author can take you down one path and you end up in a place you weren't expecting.
ReplyDeleteThoughts in Progress
and MC Book Tours
Yes, now the wait begins again for a new Penny book. Sigh. LOL
DeleteYour volunteering sounds just about perfect. If I ever am allowed to quit my job, that is exactly what I would like to do.
ReplyDeleteAh...Louise Penny. I love her Three Pines series but never seem to find the time to read them. One of these days...
Have a great week!
Yes, one of these days you'll have time to read them. Hope you get to.
DeleteYour new volunteering job sounds like fun, despite the low shelves in the children's room! The salted caramel brownies sound pretty tempting, too.
ReplyDeleteMy cozy mystery reading came to a standstill after the last Country Club Murder book by Julie Mulhern. The couple I tried after that seemed a little too silly. Think I might have more luck with Still Life. I do have the first books for a couple of series on my kindle - Baltimore Blues and Death at la Fenice - but that won't stop me if I see a deal for Still Life. Do you have a favorite among those three series?
Have a good week, Kay!
Well, I haven't read the Lippman series or Donna Leon's series, so Penny's Still Life would be my choice. LOL
DeleteI love the sound of your book group - books and food mm... I'm not hugely into cozy mysteries either although sometimes they are nice for a change. Glad to hear you found some that suited you. Please do keep checking in, I like to hear what you've been up to :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot of fun, Cleo. You'd enjoy it. We're all mystery buffs, though we range across the spectrum with our preferences. And, yes, I'm planning on doing these little updates along.
DeleteI have a hard time finding cozy mystery series I actually like, but I do enjoy the Gray Whale Inn books. I hadn't heard of the cupcake series, so maybe I'll give it a go.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the RIP Challenge. It's always a fun one. I'm going to read THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 next (I'm in the middle of RED BONES by Ann Cleeves at the moment). As I've mentioned, I was really excited for DAISY IN CHAINS and was a tad disappointed in it. It's still a compelling read, just not as twisty as some of Bolton's others. I'll be interested to see what you think about it.
Susan, we'll see how I do with Daisy In Chains. I've started The Woman In Cabin 10 and so far, so good.
DeleteYour family get together sounded really nice, Kay. We live so far from family that get togethers are very rare. How fun that you are volunteering at the library! I remember my days of shelving books too. I did a lot of that when I was at the university working at the Circulation Desk. I used to love getting lost in the shelves, shelving books. I was so quiet and peaceful. I imagine the up and down of those low shelves in the children's section though wouldn't be so fun now that I'm older. It's a good workout for you though, I imagine. Hopefully you have strong knees!
ReplyDeleteYour book club meeting would have been so fun to attend. I wish I could have. I plan to devote much of next month to cozies. It's been awhile since I last read one. As I was preparing my top ten list for tomorrow, I realized I didn't have any cozies on the list.
I hope you have a wonderful week, Kay.
You'd enjoy our book club, Wendy. I wish I could invite all of you guys who read this blog and who are avid mystery readers. What fun we would have and you guys would love all the group members. Like Gayle who commented next. :-)
DeleteWe have the best book group and the best "leader"! That would be Kay. :) We find other occasions to bring food. Not just cozies. I need to get back to Three Pines myself. And my "retirement job" will be in a library too or book store if a library wont have me. lol
ReplyDeleteVolunteering for the library is fun, Gayle. You should do that!
DeleteCongrats on starting the new volunteering opportunity. Working at a library is one thing I want to do someday. I wish I had done it before baby but oh well, I will do it when things settle down, maybe not for another decade lol.
ReplyDeleteI like this new format! I know what you mean about still figuring out blogging and Litsy spoiling it. Litsy is just so much fun. I keep going back and forth between the blog phase and Litsy phase, and need to somehow balance them.
I'm hoping to be able to 'balance' both, as you say. I'm enjoying Litsy thoroughly, but it's also good to have a bit more 'room to talk'. LOL
DeleteThat's a great way to do a book group meeting - books & food! And, you can't go wrong with chips and guac :)
ReplyDeleteHope you have a lot of fun volunteering at the library. I imagine your TBR list is only going to get longer being there to see all the new books that arrive.
Likely. That was always the way when I worked there for pay (what little they do pay). Happily, the volunteering is only once or so a week so maybe it won't be too bad.
DeleteI loved Still Life but haven't continued with the series yet. I really need to get on that! Have fun with your new page job. What fun :)
ReplyDeleteI think I can handle it once or twice a week. Glad I don't have to do every day. LOL
DeleteYour new volunteering position sounds like a great way to get in a workout while you're giving back!
ReplyDeleteYep. And I don't think I thought about that really, but there it is. LOL
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