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Saturday, March 4, 2023

A glimpse of spring and three debut books I've read lately...

 


Hello book friends!  Hope you are all well and already enjoying or looking forward to spring.  I share a picture above of the first glimpse of spring in our yard.  Lovely, right?  The wildflowers are not quite out yet, but I'm hoping for a good season this year.  I did have someone say they had seen a few bluebonnets already, but if we don't get more rain I'm afraid this will be a sparse season yet again.  Come on, rain!  

In my reading life, I've recently read three books that were all debut novels.  They are not alike, but I was pleased with all three.  Oh, and I also attended the historical fiction book group here, though I hadn't read the book.  Enjoyed that anyway and getting to see that group again.  My book group attendance has been a bit hit and miss in the last few months.  The book discussed was The Last Train To Key West by Chanel Cleeton.  Have you read that one?  Most seemed to really like it.  The books I read are:

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges - Did you ever have a doll house with little furnishings as a child?  I did and I liked it a lot.  Mine wasn't anything fancy, but I enjoyed moving the parts around and playing with it.  In this book, Myra Malone lives in the mountains of Arizona and she writes a blog with stories about the little mansion that was given to her by her step-grandmother when she was a little girl.  Her grandmother had furnishings for the 'mansion' and also taught Myra how to create new and different types of rooms and settings.  Across the country, Alex Rakes is part of a family of custom furniture sellers and he hears about Myra's blog and stories, checks them out, and is shocked to recognize the 'mansion' setting and some of the furniture.  He writes to Myra and the story goes from there.  There is more than a bit of magic realism in this book and I thought it was fun.

The next book I opened was The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner.  This book is the March selection for the Austin Mystery Book Group that I keep up with.  I must say that Gayle is doing a great job of bringing new book selections to this group.  Set in both the late 18th century and also the present day, The Lost Apothecary tells the story of a woman named Nella who 'helps' women out of predicaments.  Nella's mother was also an apothecary that helped women, but Nella has added to the definition of 'helping' by including poisons in her stock of items.  In this time period, women often had no recourse for life situations with men who abused them or their children.  Nella can 'help'.  The present day story is about Caroline who has come to London for her 10th anniversary, but she's left her husband at home in the US.  Right before the trip, she is shocked to find out something awful about him and she takes their planned trip on her own.  Caroline finds an item that will relate back to Nella and her time and she goes on a quest to solve the 'lost apothecary' mystery.  I did like this book, though I wouldn't necessarily have made some of the choices that Nella did.  She had her reasons.  I'm also not a big fan of the time period - somehow, I like the late 19th century better.  However, I was quite absorbed in the story.  Sarah Penner has a new book coming out next week called The London Seance Society.  I hope to read that one too.

The third debut book I read was another 'cold' one - City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita.  This book was more of a 'normal' mystery than the other two.  Set in Alaska, in Point Mettier, based in part on Whittier, a town that is approached by trains and cars through a 2.5 mile tunnel.  This is the longest highway tunnel in North America and it's one lane!  A little scary to think about.  All the residents of Point Mettier live in a condo/apartment complex of several stories - 'under one roof'.  It had been a military complex in the past, but an earthquake in 1964 caused vast damage and the military left the area.  Our story starts with a teenage girl finding a hand and a foot washed up on the shore and an Anchorage detective named Cara comes to investigate.  Cara has her own issues and hidden reasons for being there, but she works with the Point Mettier Police to identify the body parts.  Lots of people living there have things to hide (that part of the story almost reminded me of the Rockton books that I talked about recently) and there are criminals that enter the story.  On a cheerful note, there is a 'pet' moose named Denny.  Ha!  The author comes out of a screenwriting background and I think that shows a bit, but it didn't take away from the story.  I liked it.

Hope this post wasn't too, too long.  I'd love to know if any of these appeal to you.  And I'll be back soon to talk about what I'm reading.  Have a good weekend!  

27 comments:

  1. My "wildflowers" are all white, and come out of the sky! haha!

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    1. Ha, ha, indeed, Nan! 'whispers' - you can keep those 'wildflowers' - LOL!

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  2. I've just about had it up to here with Google today. Now it doesn't want me to comment on your blog. Grrrr! I've got The Lost Apothecary and City Under One Roof waiting patiently for me to pick them up and read them. City may wait until July or August... LOL

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    1. Cathy, I really don't understand why commenting on various blogs is so difficult from time to time. Anyway, glad your comment made it through. City Under One Roof was a little cold, i.e. the investigator from Anchorage gets stuck in Point Mettier because there is an avalanche that closes the tunnel. I had listened to the podcast with the author (the PP podcast) and decided not to wait until summer. Ha!

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  3. You can have my rain (and hail)! It's pouring right now. Thankfully, our hail tends to be pea-size and not softball-size (like we had when we lived in TX).

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    1. Yes, the hail can be left out too. And, actually, I'd like it if it only rained at night. Mornings are very fresh and clean-smelling afterwards. LOL

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  4. I have Miniscule Mansion and City Under One Roof on my TBR and am glad to see you liked both. We had all our daffodils bloom the day before a big storm. I cut all the ones I could so I could enjoy them for a bit longer!

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    1. Katherine, good idea to cut the daffodils. I noticed some that a neighbor had were beautiful and then just gone after a storm, wind, and colder temps. Hope you try the books!

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  5. We are already seeing bluebonnets here. It won't be long for you.

    The book about the miniature mansion sounds fascinating.

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    1. The mansion book was quite interesting. And lucky you with the bluebonnets. Hope they will be here in greater number soon.

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  6. We have a few signs here that spring is on the way, the first daffs flowering, a few primroses starting to flower, but it's still very chilly and snow is forecast for this coming week. March in the UK can be a bit like that. I like the sound of all three books but City Under One Roof appeals the most. I think that tunnel would worry me a bit though!

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    1. Yes, I can see that March could be a little cooler or a little warmer - one never knows. OK, that tunnel - I would not necessarily be comfortable driving through it. 2.5 miles is quite long. There is an avalanche though and the police investigator gets 'trapped' there for a period of time. Have I given enough clues? LOL

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  7. We've still got snow on the ground at my house, though I do have some daffodils peeking up above the ground. They're not in bloom yet, but they give me hope. And that dollhouse book looks interesting and fun. I want to read that one.

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    1. Hope your sunny yellow daffodils bloom soon, Lark. I'll be interested if you decide to read the Mansion book. Might be something you would like.

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  8. The tree in our front yard is starting to bloom. I am ready for spring. With all the rain we have gotten lately, I imagine it will be a greener spring than the last couple or so years. I am glad you were able to attend your book group. Although I have read a book by Chanel Cleeton, I haven't read The Last Train to Key West. I am glad you enjoyed The Lost Apothecary. I really liked that one when I read it. I haven't read City Under One Rook yet, but it's on my TBR shelf.

    I hope you have a great week. Happy reading, Kay!

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    1. I hope you do have a 'bloomier' spring. It's amazing what a bit more rain can do. I think that the Chanel Cleeton books are 'loosely' connected - like a character from one book shows up in another - not a series though.

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  9. Spring is so beautiful in your part of the world. I always enjoy the photos you share of the wildflowers and bluebonnets. I'm afraid we will go directly to summer here in FL - spring is way too short!

    Both The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone and The Lost Apothecary sound good to me. My daughter and mother have both read all of Chanel Cleeton's books, and I think my sister has, too. I haven't quite gotten to them yet. So many books...

    Hope you have a great week, Kay.

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    1. Spring is my favorite season. Yes, your climate doesn't include much spring. We don't seem to have much fall or we didn't in the Austin area, closer to the Gulf. So many books indeed. You have a good week too, JoAnn!

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  10. Hey Kay! You can have the pollen in Georgia! Everything is coated yellow! How are you doing? I love your post here about these books, that tunnel sounds scary. You might remember I am all about non fiction. I am re- reading a book, "River of Doubt" by Candice Millard. It is well worth checking it out! I promise! Take care and happy reading! xx

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    1. Hi Kay! Nice to hear from you. Yes, I do remember that you are all about non-fic and you could say that I'm all about fiction. We split the library - ha! Thanks for the suggestion of RIVER OF DOUBT. I'll see if my library has it. Happy spring in Georgia!

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  11. The purple flowers look pretty. I think the setting of the third mystery interests me the most. Who doesn't like a plot set in Alaska?! Looks pretty good. Happy March to you.

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    1. And Happy March right back at you! Yes, I do like settings that are 'interesting'. I often find that the setting is like another character.

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  12. The picture of the spring flowers is beautiful. We are supposed to get rain tonight and Friday and Saturday, then off and on for the next week. It has been so long since we have had this much rain, I never trust that it is really going to happen.

    All of those books sound good to me, although the first one with some magical realism might not work for me. I might try it anyway. But the really interesting one for me is City Under One Roof, and my husband wants to read it too.

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    1. Tracy, hope you like City Under One Roof if you try it (and your husband too). Hope you guys get rain too. They keep predicting it here and then we don't get any. Sigh.

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  13. This week I've been seeing lots of bluebonnets! I read that we are supposed to have a good wildflower season so fingers crossed that's the case! And, all of the books you recently read are definitely on my radar. Hope you are doing great and stay cozy this weekend. Can't believe our heater is coming back on when we just had the AC a couple of days ago! haha...

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    1. Wow - it's been a cold weekend for sure. I just got back from walking and it was in the high 30's outside. Think this is our last day at those temps. We have our heater on too. LOL

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  14. I liked the setting in Yamashita's book and the mystery plot was excellent too.

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Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy to hear your thoughts and will respond as soon as I can. Happy Reading!