Sigh....I'm thinking...and taking a break...

Yes, another break.  So, I got my  blood test results back and they were not all that I had hoped.  I've improved in some areas and not in others.  I've worked hard, but I think my focus is going to have to be on some other things for a bit.  More doctor appointments and more tests.  Honestly, I'm not feeling all that well and I need to get to the bottom of why.  And also get some help in improving things.  I have lost over 20 pounds.  I am eating much better.  I am walking regularly.  I am about to start some strength training again soon.  But I need to quit spending so much time staring at my computer and sitting at my desk.

Here's my plan - I've got my September Bookish Nostalgia post for Tuesday of next week.  At that time, I'm going to take the rest of September off.  And think.  And make some decisions about my blog and the time I spend here and reading other blogs.  I suspect that you will see fewer posts and I also suspect that I'm going to need to cut back on reading and commenting on other blogs.

My reading has been off anyway in the last few weeks.  Can't seem to settle very well to a book.  When that happens to me, it's usually time for me to change it up.  Read something totally different or even not read much at all (I know - horrors!).

So, what do you think?  Will you stick around if I go off on another tangent for a bit?  If not, I understand.  Have a great September!  It's my favorite month.  I'll see you in October.  And I'll leave you with one of my most-loved songs from my youth.

Reading Habits Survey: this is how we do it...or rather how I do it!

I've noticed several blogs that I read on a regular basis sharing this little 'reading habits survey'.  I didn't note down all of them, but I did see Kim's on Sophisticated Dorkiness and Florinda's on The 3R's Blog.  Enjoyed both and thought I would join in.  So, here we go:

1.  Do you have a certain place at home for reading?
Yes, I have an office/library that is my very own.  It has my desk and computer and my bookshelves.  It also have my reading chair and lamp and little table for coffee or other beverage of choice.  I also read in bed before going to sleep.  I read at the breakfast table while eating.  I read standing up in the kitchen or sometimes in the family room while hubby is watching a TV show.  I read on the back porch occasionally, but not as much as I thought I would.  Summer is hot out there.  Winter is cold and breezy.  And then there are the bugs.  Our porch is not screened, sadly.

2.  Do you use a bookmark or a random piece of paper? 
I always use bookmarks if I'm reading a regular book.  I have a lot of them - bookmarks - well, I have a lot of books too, but I have a bedside drawer that has lots and lots of bookmarks.  These days, I read from my Kindle mostly.  I have more books there than in paper.

3.  Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter or a certain amount of pages?
It depends.  I guess I prefer to stop at the end of a chapter, but sometimes, especially when reading in bed, I stop...right...there.  And sometimes, most notably when I'm reading a book that I'm not particularly excited about but must read for some reason, I read a certain number of pages.  Actually, these days there are very few 'must read' books in my life.  That whole '50-page-rule'.

4.  Do you eat or drink while reading?
I do, yes.  However, I've discovered that a lot of mindless eating was while I was reading.  In trying to lose weight and not eat without noticing, I've begun a campaign to only drink while reading.  I get caught up in the story and my hand will be putting things in my mouth and I don't even remember.  I drink coffee in the mornings and other things in the afternoons.  Trying to limit snacking to a few nuts or fresh fruit.

5.  Do you watch TV or listen to music while reading?
No.  I can listen to TV or music, but it wouldn't be my preference.  I'm home alone during the daytime and my house is quiet.  However, my husband is one of those people who almost automatically turns on the TV.  So, if he's home, it's a good bet that there is some noise.  I do have my reading room though and often retreat there if he's watching TV and I'm not.

6.  Do you read one book at a time or several at once?
I usually have one book that I'm reading in either print or e-book form and one book that I'm listening to.  I've never been one who could read 4 or 5 at a time.

7.  Do you prefer to read at home or anywhere?
I can read anywhere - truly.  However, I mostly read at home because that's pretty much the extent of my hobbies - reading.  If I'm waiting somewhere outside our house, I'm always reading.  Now that audiobooks are a big part of my life, I can be 'reading' at any time, no matter what my hands are doing.

8.  Do you read out loud or silently?
I don't read out loud to myself.  I do listen to audiobooks and I used to read a lot to our daughter.  Even when she was old enough to read her own books.  She always loved to have me read to her.  OK, does anyone read out loud just to themselves?

9.  Do you read ahead or skip pages?
I don't skip pages or skim books.  I either read them in their entirety or I don't.  Again, '50-page-rule'.  That being said, I do occasionally peek at the end.  I know, I know - sacrilege - or so my husband thinks.  Sometimes I just can't wait and sometimes I want to check and see if I guessed the killer or the twist.  I'm trying to not do this though.  But I could.  And I have.  LOL

10.  Do you break the spine or keep it like new?
I'm a little picky about that.  Well, more than a little picky.  In my mind, the book should look like you haven't read it when you finish reading it.  Understand?  It's the former library worker in me and the incredibly picky person in me.  I even try to get unbroken spines when I buy used books.

11.  Do you write in your books?
Hardly ever.  In college, I used to highlight, but I rarely read anything that would need me to write in the book.  I have occasionally put my name in a book.  And did you know they have these cool little post-its, tiny ones, that you can mark books?  Just saying...

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Well, that seems to be it.  If you'd like to take the survey and share with people, feel free.  I think it's been fun hearing about 'how we read'.

Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton

"To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."
          ~~William Blake, "Auguries of Innocence"~~

This verse is just before the prologue of Rosamund Lupton's second book, Afterwards.  A beautiful little verse and it suits this book.  There are deep themes in Afterwards, which is a melding of a thriller and a story of deep family love.  I listened to this book on audio and enjoyed it very much.  It was narrated by Finty Williams, and she did a marvelous job.  I'll be looking for more books narrated by her.

Afterwards is a scary story.  It begins with a mother, Grace, who comes to her children's school on a sports day to pick up her 8-year-old son, Adam.  Soon after she arrives and as she is looking for her boy, it becomes apparent that the school is on fire.  Almost no one is in the building because of the special sports event, but Grace sees Adam and then doesn't see her 17-year-old daughter, Jenny, a teaching assistant at the school.  She rushes into the burning building to save her child.  Both Jenny and Grace are critically injured, along with another teen teaching assistant, Rowena, daughter of Grace's good friend Maisie.

The fire turns out to have been arson.  And here's where the book is a little different.  It's told from the viewpoint of Grace, who is in a coma.  Both Grace and Jenny are sort of spirits or ghosts in a way.  Their conscious minds are able to see and hear and move about the hospital, while their unconscious bodies remain in hospital beds.  They talk to each other, but they are not able to communicate with anyone else.  In this way, mother and daughter are witnesses to what happens at the hospital as Mike, Grace's husband, and Sarah, his sister, talk to doctors, sit beside them, and as the police investigation proceeds.

Sarah is also Detective Sergeant McBride and a police officer.  When her boss settles on a convenient explanation for the arson and identifies the person he believes set the fire, she resists his conclusions.  At great risk to her career, but out of love for both Grace, Jenny, and also Adam and Mike, Sarah pursues other angles.  Meanwhile, someone doesn't want Jenny to wake up.  Someone tries to kill her even within the walls of the ICU.  Jenny herself can't remember what happened exactly before the fire.  She's not sure why she was still in the building.  And so she and Grace listen and talk to each other and get to know each other as they never have before.  They begin to piece together what happened, just as Sarah is doing the same.

I know that some may feel that this storyline is quite unbelievable, but I liked it.  I was sympathetic to Grace, who loved her children so fiercely, and who thought she knew all about her teenage daughter, but of course she didn't.  It was hard for Grace to see that her little girl had grown up and was ready to move on to adulthood.  The mystery aspect was well done.  Lots of red herrings and individuals who might have been the arsonist.  The ending was different too.  Some were disappointed with it.  I was not.  For me, I knew what would happen, so unconventional though it was, I was satisfied.

I liked Grace as a mother who would basically do anything for her children.  But, I really liked Sarah, the aunt and sister-in-law of the women, who was a dedicated police officer.  She and Grace had never been close.  In fact, Grace was always a little jealous and a little intimidated by Sarah.  Mike and Sarah's parents had died young and she had been both mother and father to her younger brother.  Sarah was consumed by a protective love for all the family and Grace comes to see that and appreciate her sister-in-law so very much.  As I said, themes of deep family love here.  A very good read for me.

I've read Rosamund Lupton's debut novel, Sister, and like it a lot.  She has a new book coming out in February, The Quality Of Silence.  It is set in Alaska and you can be sure that I'll be picking it up when it is available.

Waiting on Wednesday - Dead To The Last Drop

This is a weekly event that highlights a book we can't wait to be published.  It is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

I love Cleo Coyle's coffeehouse mystery series.  Love it.  The new books usually appear in the winter and what's better than a great cup of coffee or a latte to sip while reading about murder and mayhem in the Village Blend?  This is the 15th book in the series and it's set outside of New York.  We are instead going to Washington D.C. and the Rose Garden - yes, that Rose Garden.  My pick for this week is:

Dead To The Last Drop

by Cleo Coyle

Publication Date:  December 1st

After the White House asks coffeehouse manager and master roaster Clare Cosi to consult on the coffee service for a Rose Garden Wedding, she discovers a historic pot was used as a CIA "dead drop" decades before. Now long-simmering secrets boil over, scalding Clare and the people around her...

Clare's visit to the nation's capital is off to a graceful start. Her octogenarian employer is bunking with her in a charming Georgetown mansion, and she's invited to work with a respected curator on the Smithsonian's culinary salute to coffee in America.

Unfortunately, Clare's new Village Blend DC is struggling to earn a profit--until its second floor jazz club attracts a high-profile fan, the college-age daughter of the U.S. President. Clare's stock rises as the First Lady befriends her, but she soon learns a stark lesson: Washington can be murder.

First a stylish State Department employee suspiciously collapses in her coffeehouse. Then the President's daughter goes missing. Is she a runaway bride or is something more sinister in play? After another deadly twist, Clare is on the run with her NYPD detective boyfriend. Branded an enemy of the state, she must piece together clues and uncover the truth before her life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness come to a bitter end.

Tuesday - First Chapter - First Paragraph - Long Upon The Land

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 the first few paragraphs of Long Upon The Land by Margaret Maron.  This is the 20th book in this author's Judge Deborah Knott mystery series.  It is a great favorite of mine, and I am very much looking forward to catching up with Deborah, her husband Dwight, and the extended Knott family.  See what you think:

1943

     She first notices him because he always sits at a table off to the side of the USO club and he usually sits alone.  For some reason, he reminds her of her father, the only person in Dobbs that she misses.  Not her mother, not the friends she had gone to school with, and certainly not the boys who joined up as soon as they turned eighteen and who think she is counting the days till they return.
     KEEP UP THEIR MORALE! the posters urge; and to do her part, she writes weekly letters that give them news from home yet promise nothing, no matter what they might think.  If they survive the war--and one has already died in the Battle of Corregidor--they will come back and become doctors, lawyers, or bankers like their fathers before them.  They will be good men, pillars of the community, and they will live in big houses and buy their wives fur coats or take them to Europe every three or four years once things settle down over there, but she never plans to become one of those wives herself.  Turn into her mother?  Devote her life to maintaining a perfect home, to keeping up appearances?
     No--NO--NO!  She drops out of Saint Mary's after one semester.  "It's a debutante school!"
     "So?" says her mother.  Ever since Sue and Zell were toddlers, Mrs. Stephenson has dreamed of seeing her daughters make their debut together and she will never forgive the Germans for a war that has cancelled all debutante balls for the duration.
     "You keep saying what you don't want," her bewildered father says.  "What is it you do want, honey?"
     "I don't know," Sue cries.  "I don't know!  I just want to live a real life," which is the closest she can come to articulating this nameless yearning to be needed, to make a difference.

Blurb:

On a quiet August morning, Judge Deborah Knott's father Kezzie makes a shocking discovery on a remote corner of his farm: the body of a man bludgeoned to death. Investigating this crime, Deborah's husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, soon uncovers a long-simmering hostility between Kezzie and the slain man over a land dispute. The local newspaper implies that Deborah's family may have had something to do with the murder-and that Dwight is dragging his feet on the case.

Meanwhile, Deborah is given a cigarette lighter that once belonged to her mother. The cryptic inscription inside rekindles Deborah's curiosity about her parents' past, and how they met. For years she has wondered how the daughter of a wealthy attorney could have married a widowed, semi-illiterate bootlegger, and this time she's determined to find the answer.

But why are Deborah's brothers so reluctant to talk about the dead man? Is the murder linked to Kezzie's illegal whiskey business? And could his courtship of Deborah's mother have something to do with the bad blood between the two families? Despite Deborah's promise not to interfere in Dwight's work, she cannot stop herself from doing everything she can to help clear her brothers and her father from suspicion . . .

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Have you read any of the books in this series?  I've been reading it for over 20 years.  And loving it.  The first book is The Bootlegger's Daughter.

The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood

The Killer Next Door - hmm...what to say about this book.  Well, it was written by Alex Marwood.  It was definitely creepy and disturbing and has some awful characters.  It also had some genuinely nice characters, who looked out for others and took care of people and tried their best to do the right thing.  The problem was - what was the right thing?

I listened to The Killer Next Door as an audiobook and it worked well enough in that form.  It was narrated by Imogen Church and she did a great job with all the voices and accents.  I'll be looking for more books narrated by her.  Alex Marwood, the author, first wrote The Wicked Girls, which I read last year.  I liked that book and so decided to try this one.  I'm glad I did, but this book isn't for the faint of heart.  Not at all.

First of all, let me say that this book is set in London during a summer heatwave.  It was definitely not on my list of 'read cold books in summer'.  The heat was palpable, truly.  This is a story about a group of people who live in an old house in London that has been divided up into small apartments.  The area used to be a good one, but time has moved on and the horrible landlord has done very little to update, maintain or improve living conditions in the house.  He just shows up to collect the rent, act smarmy, and secretly check the cameras that he has hidden throughout.

The occupants include Collette, who is on the run from her old employer.  She saw something she shouldn't have.  There is Cher, a young woman, who is a runaway and who will have to do almost anything to get money.  In the attic is Thomas, a man who wants to be friends with the others - maybe.  There is an Iranian gentleman, who has run from his homeland and is seeking asylum in a country that he hopes will be better than the one he left.  There is a quiet gentleman, who plays his music loud and talks to no one.  And then there is Vesta, a retired elderly woman, who has lived in this house all of her life.  She'd like to move away to the seashore, but her rent level is controlled and this is home for her.  Besides, she likes to watch out for her neighbors.  

There is something that the neighbors don't know.  One of them is a killer - a person who is completely delusional and who has murdered over and over again.  That hot summer, an accident occurs and all the neighbors have to get to know each other better than they ever thought possible.  And the killer is looking for another victim.

I was caught up in this book fairly quickly.  It was obvious that secrets were everywhere.  All the characters had a backstory and we were clued in as the story progressed.  Let me be clear - this book has some graphic violence and some truly horrible scenes.  The killer mentioned has a particular way of dealing with the victims.  I was still interested, but will warn you that if you are listening to the story, it might be even more vivid.  I needed to know what was going to happen and that kept me going forward.  

This book was nominated for several mystery awards this year.  I think I can see why.  The story is absorbing, if pretty icky.  And will I read the next book by Alex Marwood?  Yes I will.  I give this book a 1-1/2 thumbs up - mostly for the graphic violence and description of same.  Also, I think I'll read the next book in print, just in case.  Ha!  

Join me at Sacred Grounds...

I wanted to do one more post about our trip to Ruidoso.  And this one I am linking to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.  If you are ever in Ruidoso, you must stop by this great little coffee/sandwich shop, Sacred Grounds.  They have a new location since we visited last and a much bigger setup.  It's really beautiful.  Here's the front:

Here is a picture of the inside.  There are lots of things for sale, in addition to tasty treats.  Bags of coffee and tea, cups and gifts of all kinds.  The coffee is great.  I'm sure the tea is too, but I haven't tried it yet.

And then there are the decks outside.  This shop backs up to a creek, which was merrily burbling along when we were there.  This area has had much more rain this year than in years past.  There are covered decks and then you can go down and there are more decks and then down again with more and more.  It's just lovely.  Here's a shot looking down at the creek:

We had a great lunch there one day.  I had a half turkey sandwich with some great veggies on some kind of crusty whole-grain bread.  The soup is tomato basil - delish!  A couple of slices of apple and the cookie was an oatmeal-cranberry.  Very yummy!

Later in the week, we went back for gelato.  Here's my tiramisu gelato.  It was great, but I will admit that I was tempted to get another cookie or a scone or a cinnamon roll.

In fact, before we left, we went back again one evening and got more gelato - mine was Key Lime Pie flavor - and I also got a new coffee mug and some pecan flavored coffee.  I haven't tried the coffee yet, but the mug is just about perfect.

So, if you wish to visit Ruidoso, winter (there's skiing near) or summer, stop by Sacred Grounds for a little of this and a little of that.  You won't be sorry.  I promise.

A Visit to Books Etcetera in Ruidoso, New Mexico

Today I want to tell you about a great independent bookstore that operates in the main shopping district of Ruidoso, New Mexico.  I've written about this bookstore before on my other blog (the one I deleted), but I wanted to highlight it again.  It's called Books Etcetera and it's a little gem.  Here's the front:

Becky is the owner and Carla was manning the desk the two times that I visited on this trip.  I had a very nice conversation with Carla about bookstores, blogs, and New Mexico mystery writers.  She gave me a couple of great suggestions for new authors to try, which I'll share below.

This shop carries a great selection of books for all ages.  It also has some needlework and knitting supplies, kids toys, and other gift items.  A little of this and a little of that.  They do have some discounted books to check out as well.  Here's the interior:

And I can't forget the picture I took of Sabrina, the cat that belongs to Books Etcetera.  She was quite comfortable lounging on her own 'private' book cart.  Isn't she a sweetie?

Carla pointed me to two mystery series that I want to check out.  So, naturally, I bought the first book in each series.  First we have End Of The Road by Amy M. Bennett, a local author.  In fact, Amy Bennett has worked at a shop nearby, Noisy Water Winery.  It's not right next door, but very close.  And I managed to get a signed copy!

The second book was The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras.  The author is J. Michael Orenduff.  There are several books in the Pot Thief series.  Both of the books have been winners of the Dark Oak Mystery Contest.  Mr. Orenduff, who at one time was president of New Mexico State University, has won a Lefty Award for best humorous mystery.

I'm looking forward to trying both these books and I'm always happy to support independent bookstores.  If you ever find yourself in Ruidoso, New Mexico, stop by Books Etcetera and visit with Becky, Carla, and Sabrina.  You'll be glad you did!

The Naked Eye by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen + Giveaway

When I was first asked if I'd like to read The Naked Eye by Iris Johansen and her son, Roy Johansen, I jumped at the chance.  I had not read the previous two books in this particular series, but I had read several books in Iris' Eve Duncan series and liked them very much.  Being the 'read series in order' person that I am, I went ahead and read the first two books, Close Your Eyes and Sight Unseen.  My experience with all three of these books was mostly positive, but I do have some issues.  And I'm struggling a little bit with what to say here about those issues.  Let's just talk, OK?

The main character in these books is Dr. Kendra Michaels.  She is a music therapist by profession and she also assists the FBI and police with crime investigations.  Kendra was born blind and spent the first years of her life in the dark.  She had a special operation using stem cells when she was 20 that basically caused her corneas to grow properly.  Partially due to her initial blindness, her other senses are extraordinary.  When she sees a crime scene, she picks up on all kinds of details that even the best forensic scientists may miss.  Did you ever see the TV show The Mentalist?  Not exactly the same thing, but with the same sort of result.

Kendra has a complicated relationship with almost everyone she's ever known.  She does have some close friends and her mother is very much present, but she is not really what you'd call a 'people' person.  She's a great investigator.  She's an abrasive, belligerent, prickly, control-obsessed individual.  I found it very, very hard to like her.  Her emotions are hidden well, but they definitely exist.  She has extremely high expectations for herself and places herself in danger often.  She does have people that she loves fiercely, but she wants to control their actions too, often for their own safety.

The Naked Eye brings back a serial killer that Kendra had helped put in jail much earlier in her career.  In the second book, this man was supposed to have been executed by lethal injection.  Kendra was positive that the convicted killer had somehow finagled a way to not only escape his punishment, but escape jail, period.  The story also includes characters from the Eve Duncan series and they play a big part.  As Kendra has been trying to convince her contacts at the FBI and her sometimes investigative partner, Adam Lynch, that Eric Colby is at large again, a journalist that wrote a scathing article about Kendra is murdered.  Evidence is left that implicates Kendra, who is sure this is the work of Colby.  And the search is on.

I enjoyed the thrill of the chase that the authors wrote in The Naked Eye.  I liked seeing Eve Duncan and really liked the characters of Beth and Sam.  The tension was intense and I wanted Kendra and company to succeed in finding Eric Colby and make him pay for all his crimes.  I also wanted Kendra is ease up a little on herself and others.  I will say that she seemed a slight bit more mellow in this book.  Maybe she's learning.

So, will I read the next book in the series, providing there is one?  Maybe.  I don't think I'd rush to read it, but yes, probably.  I need to see if Kendra can learn and grow and change.  I also would like to see what happens with Adam Lynch, who I like very much.  I do think that I need to go back and see where I left off in the Eve Duncan series.

Thanks to Lisa at TLC Book Tours and the publisher for providing me with copies of all three books.  I think I'm the last stop on this tour, but here's the link to the other participants.

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I am able to offer a giveaway of the first book in the series, courtesy of the publisher.  This is for Close Your Eyes, and it is limited to US/Canada only.  If you'd like to win a copy, please make sure that I can find your email address somehow, either through your comment or through the link to your name.  I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner on Thursday, the 27th, at 8:00 AM.

 

Waiting on Wednesday - The Secret Life Of Anna Blanc

This is a weekly event that highlights a book we can't wait to be published.  It is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

The book I'm featuring today is a debut novel by an author who grew up in California, got educated in California (PhD in Health Services), conducted research in her field for 12 years, travelled to such diverse places as Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea, and now lives in Denver, Colorado, with her family and pets.  I'm looking forward to learning more about Jennifer Kincheloe and her historical mystery protagonist, Anna Blanc.  And, by the way, I love the cover.  My choice for this week:

The Secret Life Of Anna Blanc

by Jennifer Kincheloe

Publication Date:  November 3rd

It's 1907 Los Angeles.  Mischievous socialite Anna Blanc is the kind of young woman who devours purloined crime novels—but must disguise them behind covers of more domestically-appropriate reading.  She could match wits with Sherlock Holmes, but in her world women are not allowed to hunt criminals.

Determined to break free of the era's rigid social roles, Anna buys off the chaperone assigned by her domineering father and, using an alias, takes a job as a police matron with the Los Angeles Police Department.  There she discovers a string of brothel murders, which the cops are unwilling to investigate.  Seizing her one chance to solve a crime, she takes on the investigation herself. 

If the police find out, she'll get fired; if her father finds out, he'll disown her; and if her fiancé finds out, he'll cancel the wedding and stop pouring money into her father's collapsing bank.  Midway into her investigation, the police chief's son, Joe Singer, learns her true identity.  And shortly thereafter she learns about blackmail.

Anna must choose—either hunt the villain and risk losing her father, fiancé, and wealth, or abandon her dream and leave the killer on the loose.