Spring Break...Back Soon-ish!

I'm going to take a break for a while from the blog.  I'll likely be back in mid-May.  We've got a couple of trips scheduled and some other things planned.  Just makes it easier to 'officially' sign off for a bit.  Don't have too much fun without me!!

Waiting on Wednesday - The Lying Game

Waiting on Wednesday was a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Although Jill is no longer hosting this event, I am continuing to post one soon to be released title each Wednesday that I can't wait to read.

I've really enjoyed Ruth Ware's books - all two of them - In a Dark Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10.  In fact, our mystery group will be discussing In a Dark Dark Wood at our April meeting.  And we'll be talking about why we think these types of books, the psychological thrillers, are so popular right now.  I was excited to find out that this author will have a new book coming out soon.  This week, I'm waiting on:

The Lying Game

by Ruth Ware

Publication Date:  July 25th

On a cool June morning, a woman is walking her dog in the idyllic coastal village of Salten along a tidal estuary known as the Reach. Before she can stop him, the dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick, but to her horror, turns out to be a human bone.

The next morning, three women in and around London—Fatima, Thea, and Isabel—receive the text they had always hoped would NEVER come, from the fourth in their formerly inseparable clique, Kate, that says only, “I need you.”

The four girls were best friends at Salten, a second rate boarding school set near the cliffs of the English Channel. Each different in their own way, the four became inseparable and were notorious for playing the Lying Game, telling lies at every turn to both fellow boarders and faculty, with varying states of serious and flippant nature that were disturbing enough to ensure that everyone steered clear of them. The myriad and complicated rules of the game are strict: no lying to each other—ever. Bail on the lie when it becomes clear it is about to be found out. But their little game had consequences, and the girls were all expelled in their final year of school under mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the school’s eccentric art teacher, Ambrose (who also happens to be Kate’s father).

Tuesday - First Chapter - First Paragraph - Home

Each Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea shares the first part of a book that she is reading or thinking about reading.  This week I'm sharing:  Home by Harlan Coben.  I've enjoyed many books by this author, who writes gripping standalone thrillers, as well as the Myron Bolitar series and the Mickey Bolitar series for young adults.  I always loved Myron Bolitar, sports agent and ex-pro basketball player and it's been 5 years since we had a new Myron book.  Home is that book.  Oh, and don't forget Myron's friend and quasi-bodyguard/enforcer/very scary dude - Win.  I have a crush on Win.  I'm considering including this book in our mystery book group's schedule for the second half of 2017. See what you think:

     The boy who has been missing for ten years steps into the light.
     I am not one for hysterics or even feeling much of what might be labeled astonishment.  I have seen much in my forty-plus years.  I have nearly been killed--and I have killed.  I have seen depravity that most would find difficult, if not downright inconceivable, to comprehend--and some would argue that I have administered the same.  I have learned over the years to control my emotions and, more important, my reactions during stressful, volatile situations.  I may strike quickly and violently, but I do nothing without a certain level of deliberation and purpose.  
     These qualities, if you will, have saved me and those who matter to me time and time again.
     Yet I confess that when I first saw the boy--well, he was a teenager now, wasn't he?--I could feel my pulse race.  A thrumming sound echoed in my ears.  Without conscious thought, my hands formed two fists.
     Ten years--and now fifty yards, no more, separated me from the missing boy.


Blurb:

A decade ago, kidnappers grabbed two boys from wealthy families and demanded ransom, then went silent. No trace of the boys ever surfaced. For ten years their families have been left with nothing but painful memories and a quiet desperation for the day that has finally, miraculously arrived: Myron Bolitar and his friend Win believe they have located one of the boys, now a teenager. Where has he been for ten years, and what does he know about the day, more than half a life ago, when he was taken? And most critically: What can he tell Myron and Win about the fate of his missing friend?

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I always enjoy books by Harlan Coben.  He wrote 7 Myron and Win books and then decided to try something different - a standalone.  Since that time, his books have skyrocketed to fame.  I have missed Myron and Win though.  So happy to have another chance to catch up with favorite characters in this 11th book in the series.  It's why I love mystery series, you know - the characters and their lives - and the puzzles.  I think I've made my decision - Home will be on our mystery group schedule for July.  Have your read any books by this author?

kay's week - 3.11.17

Did you know that tonight is the night to 'spring forward' into Daylight Savings Time (well, unless you live in Arizona or Hawaii or some US territories)?  Does it mess up your inner clock?  I think it does for me a bit, but not too horribly.  My husband is always delighted because this means that there is more daylight at the end of his work day and he can stop and hit golf balls or even play a few holes.  So remember, 'spring forward' tonight!


I've been reading...

I had a good reading week - 2 books in print and 1 on audio.  All were enjoyable.

I started with The Widow's House by Carol Goodman and I was pleased with it.  This book was published this week, but I had an advance copy.  I read Goodman's previous book River Road earlier in the year and liked it well enough, but her latest was full of Gothic goodies.  Set in the same area as the previous book, The Widow's House tells of a young couple, Jess and Clare, who move from New York City to be caretakers of Riven House, owned by their former college professor.  The house has a history of being haunted and the family is said to be cursed.  There are cries in the night, spooky apparitions, and the weather plays a big part in the story. The reader isn't sure if Clare, who is telling the tale, is quite right in her mind or if there are indeed supernatural goings-on.  I had a good time with this one and plan to read more of this author's books.

Meanwhile, I was listening to The Woman Who Walked Into the Sea by Mark Douglas-Home.  This is the 2nd in The Sea Detective series and it was narrated by David Monteath.  Set on the Northwest coast of Scotland, this book was lovely.  Cal McGill is an oceanographer and a unique investigator.  He studies sea currents and is able to predict where they might take anything that finds its way into the ocean.  This could be oil spills, other things dumped into the water or even a body.  In this book, Cal meets a young woman named Violet.  She has come to this area to discover what she can about her mother, Megan Bates, who abandoned Violet as an infant and then walked into the sea.  There is more going on in the small village of Poltown and secrets abound.  Someone or several someones have a vested interest in hiding what actually happened to Megan Bates.  I read the first book in this series last year and, though this one doesn't have a storyline that is as personal to Cal's life, I found it very interesting.  I look forward to trying the next in the series, The Malice of Waves, soon.

I was very happy to turn to another book that I've been looking forward to reading - Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger.  This is the latest in Unger's loosely connected series set in an upstate New York town, The Hollows.  And this continues the story of investigator Jones Cooper and renowned psychic Eloise Montgomery, who have helped many people find their 'lost' loved ones.  Ink and Bone introduces us to Finley Montgomery, Eloise's 20-year-old granddaughter, also gifted with the ability to see things that others can't.  A young girl, Abbey Gleason, has been taken from her family and her father and brother shot and left on a hiking trail.  Months pass with no clue as to what has happened.  Other girls have gone missing in the past and Finley finds herself connected to these tragedies in a way that her grandmother is not.  Is it time to pass the torch from Eloise to Finley?  Everyone that lives in this area knows - what The Hollows wants, it gets.  I've loved this series - part mystery, part supernatural, but not always in a way the reader expects.  As long as Lisa Unger keeps writing about The Hollows, I'll keep reading.


A little project...

I decided to start a little project this week that I'd been thinking about.  I've shared that I've kept notebooks with almost all my reading choices detailed since 1993 - 24 years now.  I used to have a spreadsheet that I was able to update, manipulate and sort, but when my computer hard drive died late last year, my spreadsheet was gone.  I thought about recreating it, but decided it was too much work.  However, I have had occasions to wish that I could check where I left off in a series or determine if I had indeed read a book that I was thinking of.  I had not joined Goodreads in the past, as it seemed like just one more 'social' thing to keep up with.  However, this week, I joined and have started marking all those books 'read' and 'date finished'.  It will take me a while, but I can do this at my leisure and it's been very interesting actually seeing the covers of the books I read in 1993, 1994, etc., and not just a column in a spreadsheet.  I've found that I didn't even remember some of the authors, much less the books.  Do you 'do' Goodreads?  I think I'll like being able to sort and check what I've read again.


Personally...

My husband returned from his trip to Arizona last week having sat next to a guy who coughed all the way back to Texas.  And, yes, it was a cold that gentleman shared and we both were 'lucky' enough to get it.  Happily, it hasn't lasted too long.  I was able to attend a 'Friends of the Library' meeting on Monday and take the picture below before I went inside.  I've shown this little sculpture before.  It's a great one.  The kids who come to the library for storytime love it and you can often find moms standing around visiting and kids sitting near and crawling all over it.  I think that the flowers are wisteria and I also believe it's blooming earlier than usual.  Love the purple!  Have a great week - wishing all lots of reading and relaxing!

   

Waiting on Wednesday - Song of the Lion

Waiting on Wednesday was a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Although Jill is no longer hosting this event, I am continuing to post one soon to be released title each Wednesday that I can't wait to read.

I have been very pleased with Anne Hillerman's continuation of her father's acclaimed mystery series.  I loved the books that Tony Hillerman wrote with their spare, Southwestern settings and their wonderful Native American characters.  His daughter does him proud, and I also love the fact that she has put a large part of her focus on Bernadette Manuelito, wife of Jim Chee, and colleague of Joe Leaphorn.  This week I'm waiting on this author's 3rd book in her series:

Song of the Lion

by Anne Hillerman

Publication Date:  April 11th

A deadly bombing takes Navajo Tribal cops Bernadette Manuelito, Jim Chee, and their mentor, the legendary Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, back into the past to find a vengeful killer in this riveting Southwestern mystery from the bestselling author of Spider Woman’s Daughter and Rock with Wings.

When a car bomb kills a young man in the Shiprock High School parking lot, Officer Bernadette Manuelito discovers that the intended victim was a mediator for a multi-million-dollar development planned at the Grand Canyon.

But what seems like an act of ecoterrorism turns out to be something far more nefarious and complex. Piecing together the clues, Bernadette and her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, uncover a scheme to disrupt the negotiations and inflame tensions between the Hopi and Dine tribes.

Retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn has seen just about everything in his long career. As the tribal police’s investigation unfolds, he begins to suspect that the bombing may be linked to a cold case he handled years ago. As he, Bernadette, and Chee carefully pull away the layers behind the crime, they make a disturbing discovery: a meticulous and very patient killer with a long-simmering plan of revenge.

Tuesday - First Chapter - First Paragraph - In Farleigh Field

Each Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea shares the first part of a book that she is reading or thinking about reading.  This week I'm sharing:  In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen.  This is a standalone book by an author that continues to win awards year after year for several of her mystery series - the Royal Spyness series, the Molly Murphy series, and the Evan Evans series.  Bowen, who is part of the group of women authors who blog at Jungle Red Writers, shared that this is a book she's been thinking of writing for many years.  When she first proposed it, she had an agent who told her that no one wanted to read about World War II.  Hmmm....see what you think (by the way, I'm skipping over the prologue and sharing a bit of the first chapter):

Bletchley Park
May 1941

     Lady Pamela Sutton stared at the dreary government-issued posters on the wall of her small cubicle in Hut 3.  Some of them cheerful exhortations to do one's best, to soldier on with a stiff upper lip, and others dire warnings about letting the side down.  Beyond the blackout curtains that covered the windows, dawn would be breaking.  She could hear the chorus of birds in the woods behind the hut, still chirping madly and joyfully as they had done before the war began and would keep doing after it ended--whenever that would be.  It had already gone on too long, and there was no end in sight.  Pamela rubbed her eyes.  It had been a long night, and her eyes were stinging with tiredness.  According to civil-service regulations, women were not supposed to work on the night shift with men, in case their morals were compromised.  She had found this amusing when the shortage of male translators meant that one of the girls had to do night-shift work.  'Frankly, I don't think my honour is in danger from any of the chaps here,' she had said.  'They are more interested in maths problems then girls.'
   

Blurb:

World War II comes to Farleigh Place, the ancestral home of Lord Westerham and his five daughters, when a soldier with a failed parachute falls to his death on the estate. After his uniform and possessions raise suspicions, MI5 operative and family friend Ben Cresswell is covertly tasked with determining if the man is a German spy. The assignment also offers Ben the chance to be near Lord Westerham’s middle daughter, Pamela, whom he furtively loves. But Pamela has her own secret: she has taken a job at Bletchley Park, the British code-breaking facility.

As Ben follows a trail of spies and traitors, which may include another member of Pamela’s family, he discovers that some within the realm have an appalling, history-altering agenda. Can he, with Pamela’s help, stop them before England falls?

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This book and synopsis reminds me of the TV series, Foyle's War.  I've been fascinated by anything and everything I hear about Bletchley Park, and I'm also intrigued by reading about the folks at home in Britain during WWII.  I read recently here on Jungle Reds that the people who were stationed at Bletchley Park had to sign an official secrets document that wasn't lifted until the 1990's.  So, many families had no idea of the work their loved ones performed during that time.  Also, noted here was Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, had a grandmother who was a Bletchley Park girl.  I'm looking forward to reading this book!  

kay's week - 3.4.17

Hello bookish friends!  We are already into March and I'm finding it hard to believe.  Think we'll talk about a bit of weather at the end, so let's get right on into the books.


I've been reading...

I read four books this week, two in audio format and two in print.  I liked all four of them, though I did have some issues with one.

I listened to I See You by Clare Mackintosh on audio.  It was narrated by Rachel Atkins and she did a fine job.  This was a reread for me, as I had ordered a print copy from the UK last summer when it was first published there.  And then when so many were talking about it here recently, I decided I'd like to listen to it.  I've read Clare Mackintosh's first book, I Let You Go, as well.  I See You may not have quite as many twists and turns as I Let You Go, but for me, the idea that someone was watching you as you commuted, as you bought your morning coffee, as you went about your life - very disturbing.  Probably because it could happen to any of us.  I know that the UK has many more CCTV cameras than we do here in the US, but I think we are catching up.  And where there is technology, some nutcase will decide to use it for nefarious ends.  Zoe, the main character, was a little too apologetic to her family and friends for my taste, but she was also a pretty normal person.  I'll definitely be reading whatever this author thinks up next.

Nothing Stays Buried by P. J. Tracy is the 8th book in the Monkeewrench mystery series.  It will be published at the beginning of August, but I couldn't wait that long to read my advance copy.  Set in Minnesota, mostly in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, this series has wonderful characters - the Monkeewrench software gang and the Minneapolis Police Department detectives that we've come to know and love.  The previous book, The Sixth Idea, was a bit different and some, including me, were not quite as fond of it.  However, Nothing Stays Buried finds our beloved Grace, Harley, Roadrunner and Annie, Magozzi and Gino, back into the swing of things.  The MPD is trying to find a serial killer who leaves playing cards on the bodies and Monkeewrench is trying to help a small town sheriff solve the disappearance of a local woman.  Even Charlie the dog is included in the hunt.  Did I say that I love this series?  I think all Monkeewrench lovers will be delighted with this new book.

My next read was another advance copy, The Party by Robyn Harding.  This book will be published in early June.  Kim and Jeff Sanders throw a sweet-sixteen slumber party for their daughter, Hannah.  Kim is one of those mothers, you know the kind, who spends more time reading about and stressing over being the perfect mom and much less time actually trying to accomplish it.  Hannah is a good kid, but she wants to be part of the popular crowd.  We all know that in order for that to happen, compromises in 'good behavior' are often required.  At the party, Kim recites the 'house rules' to the girls, which are, of course, ignored.  A tragic accident happens and this family pretty much comes unglued in every way possible.  This book held my interest and had some twists and turns, but some parts seemed a little predictable.  I liked it, but I didn't love it.  Definitely falls under the 'domestic drama' category.

The last book I read this week was another on audio.  It was Entry Island by Peter May and I did a listen/read combo.  It was narrated by Peter Forbes and he did an excellent job with all the accents.  I have absolutely loved Peter May's trilogy set in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland - if you haven't read it, you really should (starts with The Blackhouse).  Entry Island has two storylines - one with a current setting - a murder investigation in a small group of islands off the coast of Quebec, Canada.  The other story is historical - the mid-1800's as people are forcibly moved by local gentry from the Scottish Isles to Canada.  The two stories are connected loosely at the beginning and then the reader comes to understand that they are interwoven tightly.  Homicide detective Sime Mackenzie is the main protagonist, along with the wife of the murder victim.  The setting is incredibly vivid, both in Canada and Scotland.  This author has a way of writing about the Isle of Lewis that makes the reader want to jump on a plane and go there immediately.  I really, really enjoyed this book.  The setting, the characters, the stories.  Highly recommended.


Mystery Book Group...

Our mystery book group met on Wednesday evening and we had an amazing amount of people.  It probably helped that it was a 'potluck' meeting, but happily there was a lot of food, and we had a great time talking about books.  Our theme for March was 'Books published by the Poisoned Pen Press' and I was so pleased that the group members dove in with vigor.  It had been a bit tricky to discern which books in our library system were actually published by the PPP, but we got a little help from one member, Carol, who shared a way to sort through the catalog.  I had read five books that qualified and really liked four of them and had a bit of an issue with one.  Several members had tried more than one book and they took my advice of 'if it's not working for you, move on to the next book'.  A few of the authors mentioned were Kerry Greenwood (Phryne Fisher series), Donis Casey (Alafair Tucker series), Vicki Delany (Molly Smith series), Steven F. Havill (Posadas County series), and the British Library Crime Classics.  We also talked about Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries - TV adaptation of the Phryne Fisher books.  It's very good and on Acorn and Netflix.  Next month, we'll be reading Ruth Ware's In A Dark Dark Wood.


Personally...

I had a quiet week.  My husband was on a trip to Tucson and so I was in sole possession of the TV remote and the dinner menu.  I spent some time watching the first couple of seasons of Vera, which is based on the mystery series by Ann Cleeves.  I had a little bit of trouble at first with the accents (and I'm a seasoned British TV watcher), but I soon adjusted and liked the episodes I watched.  I saw the episode that was based on the book by Cleeves that I read a few weeks ago, Silent Voices.  A few changes were made, but it was a good adaptation.  I'll be reading more books in the series and also watching more of the TV show.

My husband texted me a picture from the golf course he was playing in Tucson.  He said that they had just been experiencing 'icy rain'.  I laughed and asked what he considered 'icy rain'.  He said 'sleet and ice pellets'.  I told him that he had to go all the way to Arizona to get 'icy rain', as we've had a very mild winter and none of that sort of stuff here.  It was actually quite a bit cooler in Tucson than it was in Central Texas.  That's not such an event, but it was interesting that they were getting more 'wintery weather' and we were not.  I'll leave you with the picture and hope that everyone has a great reading week!

                

Waiting on Wednesday - The Widow's House

Waiting on Wednesday was a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Although Jill is no longer hosting this event, I am continuing to post one soon to be released title each Wednesday that I can't wait to read.

I read one of Carol Goodman's books earlier this year, River Road.  I didn't love it, but liked it well enough.  When I saw that she had a new one coming out before long, I read the blurb and thought it sounded like a book I should definitely sample.  Crumbling estates, haunting figures...yep, that's for me.  This week, I'm waiting on:

The Widow's House

by Carol Goodman

Publication Date: March 7th

When Jess and Clare Martin move from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to their former college town in the Hudson River valley, they are hoping for rejuvenation—of their marriage, their savings, and Jess's writing career.

They take a caretaker's job at Riven House, a crumbling estate and the home of their old college writing professor. While Clare once had dreams of being a writer, those plans fell by the wayside when Jess made a big, splashy literary debut in their twenties. It's been years, now, since his first novel. The advance has long been spent. Clare's hope is that the pastoral beauty and nostalgia of the Hudson Valley will offer some inspiration.

But their new life isn't all quaint town libraries and fragrant apple orchards. There is a haunting pall that hangs over Riven House like a funeral veil. Something is just not right. Soon, Clare begins to hear babies crying at night, see strange figures in fog at the edge of their property. Diving into the history of the area, she realizes that Riven House has a dark and anguished past. And whatever this thing is—this menacing force that destroys the inhabitants of the estate—it seems to be after Clare next…