It Is Gruesome, Morbid and Macabre - But a Real Good Read

Do you have the right stuff to read about something gruesome? Have you read true crime and murder mysteries? Have friends claimed you are a bit morbid in your tastes? Then I have the book for you - Necropolis: London and It's Dead by Catharine Arnold.

There is one certainty for most of us - death. And Arnold takes us on a tour of the death rituals and burial grounds of one of the world's most populous cities - London. She takes us from the pagans to modern day, with many side trips along the way.

Some interesting facts:

1) The Romans feared their dead and buried their deceased outside of the town limits. They are the first ones to wear black for mourning "as black garments were thought to confer invisibility upon the bereaved, protecting them from vengeful spirits."

2) "The custom of burying within the church derived from the concept of martyrdom. Christians revered those who had died for their faith, turning their tombs into shrines. The faithful clamoured to be buried alongside the martyrs, as close as possible to the venerable remains..."

3) During the Restoration when there was plague - they ran out of burial grounds, so open pits had to be made - a couple near the Houses of Parliament.

4) During Victorian times, the funeral procession and extravaganza was at its peak. There were even whole warehouses "devoted to the sale of mourning costumes and all the paraphernalia necessary for the funeral."

So do you think you will have the stomach for this? Try it. You might get weird looks from people on the train, but it is an excellent read. Not for the faint of heart.

One Drop

Anatole Broyard - a New York Times book critic- was dying of cancer. He told his children his secret. He was black. He had been "passing" for white for decades. How do you handle this kind of family secret? Does it destroy you? Do you put the information away in the recesses of you mind - never to bring it out again? Or do you explore your family's background and your father's decision? In the book, One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life - A Story of Race and Family Secrets, Bliss Broyard, Anatole's daughter, starts looking at her father's Creole origins in New Orleans.

This is a book about discovery. Bliss discovers more about her father and herself in the process of her search for answers. She delves deeply into the history of Creoles in New Orleans and how their story and lives changed throughout the centuries. And she reveals how New Orleans and its culture was a very unique place in America before the Civil War.

Although it may be a bit slow in places, the story of the Creoles of New Orleans is fascinating. And this book makes you think about the question of race and what would you do if faced with the same situation : to pass or not? A good read.

Color of Water

James McBride's book, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother is at first most, a tribute to his mother's tenacity to educate her children. It is a recognition of his mother's struggles to keep her life and her struggles from impeding her children's futures.

His mother was raised an Orthodox Jew in the South. Her childhood was fairly horrendous and her father although a Rabbi, was an abuser. The very fact that she escaped this environment, moved to New York and created a new life for herself among the Black Baptist community is pretty remarkable. She married and between being widowed and then remarried, had twelve children. The title comes from when her son asks her what color is God. She replies that God is the color of water - always changing...

McBride is proud to be her son, and it is reflected in his book. This book is written well and proves that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. It is a selective memoir. The reader really only gets to hear about what he and what his mother reveals. And I think the author's struggles to bring this much of his mother's past out of her, reflects on his determination to tell her story.

I have discussed this book in conversation with others who have read it and have gotten mixed responses. Some have not liked the "character" of the mother. They say she should of not of had so many children when she was poor, and she that she abandoned her own mother and sister. But I think that anyone who looks at the time period this woman was in, and the limited choices that were available to her, they will realize that above all, this woman was a survivor. And sometimes to survive one must do "horrible" things in order to move on. These choices may be reprehensible in hindsight, but how do we know we might not have done the same? The human instinct to survive is not always a "pretty" one. A fascinating look inside an interesting life.

Get Out or Die - a Roman Britannia mystery

Did you ever wonder what life was like during Roman Times in Great Britain? Have you ever taken a look at the Roman ruins in Bath or London, and have seen just how permanent they are constructed? Those buildings were build to last. The Romans were there to stay.

Take a look at Jane Finnis' book Get Out or Die. It features a traveler's inn on the Roman roads to the city that would become York. Aurelia and her Roman family own the inn and stables, which is hard enough to keep going with the transportation costs of hauling wine from Gaul, but now someone is trying to kill Roman travelers. Not good when your livelihood depends on a frequent supply of guests. And each traveler that has been murdered, has the words "Get out or Die" on them.

Just who is trying to start a uprising of the natives? Most of the nearby town is pro-Roman or is it? Who can they trust? Which locals are friends and which are enemies? Aurelia is not some ninny - she's a centurion's daughter and she is not leaving her land with out a fight.

Finnis has a great sense of the early Britannia, but since there are only bits and pieces known about that time period - she fills in the holes skillfully. Aurelia and her hotel family are great characters, and it is an exciting story, as the danger keeps getting closer and closer to them. A great read.

Cheating Destiny: Living with Diabetes

Cheating Destiny: Living with Diabetes, America's Biggest Epidemic by James S. Hirsch is a serious sounding title for a serious book. Hirsch's study runs the gamut from a history of the "cures" to control diabetes, to the breakthroughs that still have to come. He chronicles the various folks who have made a difference with the treatment of the disease. And in between, he writes about his own life dealing with Type 1 himself and in his children.

Hirsch is very matter of fact about this disease, and it, quite frankly, really needs that approach. I found his chapter on the development of the Juvenile Diabetes Association and the infighting between the various diabetes organizations, extremely interesting and frightening at the same time. His chapter about how the most of the medical community went from a search for a cure to a search for how to "control" the disease in the "easiest" manner possible - i.e. medication, is personally an eye opener. He is a former writer for the Wall Street Journal and he makes this difficult and murky topic, clear. A must read for anyone suffering from the disease.

The Cranky Inn Owner and Other Hotel Tales

I'm reading a batch of mysteries that have a hotel, motel and inn theme.

Room with a Clue by Kate Kingsbury

This is a part of her Pennyfoot Hotel series. The characters are good, but the mysteries are a bit tame. I'm hoping this series, set in 1908, gets better as the stories go on. Very light.

Murder on a Mystery Tour by Marian Babson

Take a bunch of classic mystery enthusiasts from America, take them to the English countryside - have them at a secluded hotel with some eccentric authors, a storm and some murder. What more could you ask for? She does a nice homage to the classic authors and their wacky fans. A nice bit fun.

Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth by Tamar Myers

Magdalena Yoder, is the not so cheerful owner and manager of a Mennonite Inn in Hernia, Pennsylvania. She will not hesitate to offer her guests the full "authentic experience" package - the one that requires them to clean up their own room and wash their own dishes! She inherited the house from her parents and is making the best of it - even if her sister is just plan wild - (divorced a gentile) and in spite of the fights with her Amish cousins who help out on the farm. But she has a great sense of humor and loves to read. And when she gets guests who insist on getting themselves killed, well - someone has to take charge. The first book was a stitch and I am looking forward to more. Lots of fun.

Hemlock Falls Mystery series

Claudia Bishop has a fun series with the Hemlock Falls mysteries. She has two sisters Meg and Sarah"Quill" Quilliam running an inn in New York state. Meg is the chef and older sister Quill is the manager. They are transplants from New York City and are not considered "locals" by the fellow townsfolk. Their relationship with the town (Quill's boyfriend is the sheriff) and with co-workers and guests seem to dominate the books. The mysteries are solved by both sisters with Quill doing most of the leg work.

The books are fun - character packed, they move fast and the mysteries are not sticky sweet cozies. (Some gruesome deaths in the second book!) I am hoping that they are a little less character packed as the series moves along, because you really need the character list at the beginning of the books to keep everyone straight.

I read the first two in the series A Taste for Murder and A Dash of Death. Both were good reads and I am looking forward to the characters' growth in the series.

Cactus Flower

Alice Duncan's Cactus Flower is a great example of a "fish out of water" western. Eulalie Gibb has come from the big city stages to this small western town to try and make a home for her and her sister. She already has a job at the Opera House as a singer - and only a singer. But her costumes are enough to set the gentlemen of the town on fire. Nick Taggart has a run in with her, and decides she's too prickly and a bit mean. But he finds himself helping her out anyway. She finds the blacksmith a bit of giant but thinks he might make a good bodyguard. She learns to like the dust ridden town and he learns that toughness can hide a lot. But what is she and her sister running from anyway?

Give it a try. Duncan writes great characters with great humor. A fun read.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver (with Stephen L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver) is a book about family: her family, the farming and agricultural family, and the family of men. (And it is written with her family - her daughter provides the recipes and nutrition segments, her husband, the food industry issues.) Can one family of four sustain themselves on locally grown food for a year? That is the question that Kingsolver and her family attempt to solve. It helps that they live on a farm in southwest Virginia, but they "survive" by growing and raising their own food, going to local farmer's markets and seeing where items are grown in their local stores. Her segment on turkey reproduction is very funny and scary. Funny - from her descriptions - scary, when you realize that certain breeds no longer reproduce naturally at all - it is bred out of the birds.


Do they make - sure. Is it easy? Not so much, but the tone in which Kingsolver writes just guides you through the seasons. She does not have the stridency of a convert, for she writes about their dilemmas and "must have" items (coffee for the adults, mac and cheese for the kids and their friends) with candidness. But she gives the reader hope that the food environment is changing-back to food grown in healthy ways for both the farmer and pickers and the eaters. And she provides resources and recipes to help the average folk contribute along their path. As someone who grew up with a large vegetable garden and canning, I really liked how she handled the whole topic of raising your own food. I was very impressed by her writing - I think I need to try one of her other writings. A great thoughtful read.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a book authored by Barbara Ehrenreich. Ehrenreich when railing against polices in the current presidential administration, tells her editor that some one should do a book on the jobs of working class people. He tells her she should write it. And thus began the idea for the book. She puts her regular life on hold and takes various jobs to see if she can live the American Dream for a month on those wages. To vary the experiment she goes to different states - Florida, Maine and Minnesota. She uses her maiden name and does not list that she has a degree on her job application. She has other limitations and personal restrictions, but ends up with these jobs: waitress, an nursing home aide, a cleaning lady, and a retail worker in a Walmart.

Within this book, she points out some interesting things about this working world - the rise of testing - both drug and psychological in the hiring process. How workers are so busy with the struggle of living that they really don't have time or money for anything else. And that most are unaware of the rights they have as workers. She writes of her co-workers with compassion, and a bit of guilt, for she realizes that if it were not for her college education, as a middle aged woman this would probably be her working world.

The hardest part of this book is realizing that for most of us - we are only a few paychecks away from living this kind of daily struggle. Very thought provoking, and makes one appreciate what one has, and it will make you leave a bigger tip at the next restaurant you go to. You may not appreciate her politics, but you will realize that for some, the American dream is far off. A very good book.

All the President's Men - with Friends Like These...

I have been a bit busy lately and have fallen behind in my posting, but not in my reading. And I had to read this title for a current events genre study. Yeah, it is not a "current event" but the ramifications of this political era still resonate throughout our political life.

All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward could be called one of the first political "instant" books. These books are written during or right after a political event. They started the in-depth investigation into the break-ins at the Watergate building, and proceed to bring the rest of the media and in some circles, the country, with them. It really is a great study of investigative journalism that still has meaning today. The question, for me is - would they have been able to publish this information in the Washington Post today? Would they have been forced to put this in a blog? What would be different if they had today's technology? Half the book is devoted to finding out who are the players and how they are connected - would this have been faster or not? Consider the current administrations' block on information flow - how hard would it be now?

As they take you through the story, one of the most interesting things to me is the loss of political innocence. The people who finally cooperate with Bernstein and Woodward - really love their country and the presidential office and they can not believe the lies and liars that are surrounding Nixon. You can tell these people got involved in public service because they believed that they were helping their country. And that they were let down, and in some cases, betrayed by a paranoid president.

Whether you are a Nixon fan or not, (some of us did not have well formed political views at that time, and wished all those talking men behind the curtained tables would stop blocking our summer television programs!), this is a great study of how power corrupts and how the American public gained their cynicism for their political leaders. It is greatly detailed book - I admit I needed a timeline cheat sheet to keep everything straight - but it reads like a thriller as the authors try to uncover the truth. A great read.

Sugar Cookie Murder

Looking for something fast and fun in a mystery? Try Joanne Fluke's Sugar Cookie Murder. It really is a novella, with a lot of recipes. When you're community is planning a local cookbook, and you are having a food tasting in the community center, and it happens to be during a Minnesota blizzard and then there is a murder - well - Hannah has a lot on her hands, and we have this fun story. Hannah enlists her family and friends into solving the case before the police do and they have good food along the way.

Don't read this if you are hungry - it will make it worse. And the recipes look good too. Enjoy.

Agnes and the Hitman

What do you when people with guns break into your kitchen? If you're a cook like Agnes, hitting them over the head with a frying pan seems kinda natural. Agnes is having a really bad week. She is trying to finish her cooking column for the newspaper, get her fiance to move into their new house, organize her god daughter's wedding at her house, and trying to avoid these home invaders. Just what do they want anyway? When she tells her buddy Joey - he sends his nephew Shane. But what does this guy really do for a living? Does this have anything to do with the fact this house used to belong to mob guy?

Welcome to Agnes and the Hitman, a wonderful adventure and romance written by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. They take you on a whirlwind trek, that involves dogs, missing millions, a wedding that might not happen, covert operations, betrayals, a neurotic grandmother of the bride, settling old scores and flamingos. And through it all, Agnes is trying to hold it together. And you think your life was stressful. Come join the fun, and trust them to take you along on one hell a good story.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to me! I now have over 100 posts on my blog. Yeah, it took awhile, but I have kept up with the books and the blog. Well here's to another hundred! ;-)
Monique

A Year Without "Made in China"

A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni is the story of how a simple concept that started as a New Year's resolution grew into a family journey and book. The author, an avid label reader, was struck by the amount of items under the Christmas tree that were made in China. As a journalist, she had read some of the upcoming articles of China's economic machine, but it had never struck so close to home. She decided with her husband (who she starts out calling "the weakest link"), to try a family resolution of not purchasing anything new that was "made in China."

Their decision brings up all sorts of issues. What if they get a gift that is Chinese made? Are there items the Chinese have a monopoly on? (Apparently seasonal decorations, cheap sunglasses and reasonably priced children's shoes and toys.) Would they be able to replace their coffee maker at all? What about the components that are made in China? Does that count? Bongiorni finds that it is a struggle and can be - depending on the item you're searching for - take a lot of time and energy.

She does a great job of telling of the little struggles that her family has. What to do about birthday gifts for small children? (Some Legos) And what about her kids? Are they suffering with the loss of these goods? (No) She finds out that it probably is easier to do this now when her kids are small, and to her surprise, that her husband offers her some good support, and that they are saving some money from not buying or replacing their doodads and junk.

This is a fun and easily accessible book about one's consumer dollar. Bongiorni makes it an entertaining family story and allows the armchair reader to wonder "what if..." A great fast read.

Whiskey Sour

J.A. Konrath's book Whiskey Sour, features a Chicago policewoman named Jack Daniels. Lt. Daniels (she got stuck with her name when she married and didn't change it after the divorce) works very hard for her violent crimes unit, and has an appalling lack of a social life. This police procedural features the case of a serial killer who mutilates his victims. But in the midst of the case, Daniels is an appealing character - a bit of a cynic, but someone you want to root for especially after the killer finds her fascinating as well.

I really enjoyed the book in spite of the fact that this is something I would not normally pick up at first glance. I am reading it for a book discussion. It is a bit too gory (for me) in places - but perhaps I just have a vivid visual imagination when I read. But there is something always interesting in taking a chance on a new author or new genre that is a bit more than your used to. If you don't like it - the result can be agonizing- to have wasted your reading time and energy on something you really dislike. Or it can be a pleasant surprise and a new discovery. Try something new, you might like it. Or in my case, I found a new mystery series to watch for. Don't know if I will read every page of the gruesome details, but I really like this character and want to see her go places.

Jane's World - Everything You Wanted to Know About Jane Austen's Books But Were Too Busy to Ask

Are you a Janite? Do Jane Austen's novels rock your world? Can't get enough of Mr. Darcy and Anne Elliot? I have the book for you. Deirdre Le Faye's book Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels is a great study of Austen's works. And she goes in depth and manages to be entertaining in the process.

Even if you only have one favorite Austen novel, you can go into this book and see the detail about the time period of the book, where it might have been set - what were the styles of houses, clothes and people during that time. It gives the average reader an peak into Jane's influences while writing and what references her readers of her time would have caught and appreciated. And Le Faye does this all in an engaging but serious style.

This may not be for everyone - she does go into enormous detail, book by book, but it is a must for the Austen fan. A great compact book to add to your literary reference shelf. I'm going to have to get this keeper.

Janet Evanovich's Hot Stuff

Janet Evanovich is a busy woman. Not only is she writing her mystery series, she is co-authoring several other books as well. Hot Stuff is a book she co-wrote with Leanne Banks. And as usual there are some great characters.

So what you do when your roommate, Marty, is a cross-dressing lounge singer with a lot of out of town shows? Well, you water his plants and you wonder why scary people keep coming around asking when he will be back. But then he has a 120 pound dog delivered to the building as a guard dog. Who has time to take care of this Beast? Cate, the bartender/college student is getting a little bit weirded out. Especially when the cute guy at the bar who was trying to pick her up, keeps asking questions about Marty. The cute guy happens to be an ex-cop. He's on a job for his private investigation firm, but he still realizes that Cate is a keeper - even if she isn't aware of it yet. She's too busy for a relationship and trying to get rid of the last guy her family set her up with.

This one is light and fluffy but has a lot of funny scenes and quirky characters that just make you laugh. And the dog is a piece of work himself. A fun fast read.

The Texan's Reward

Having grown up watching western movies on TV, sometimes I get a taste for a little western romance. Some authors dabble in it, but Jodi Thomas is a master. But you do have to like Texas, since Thomas sets almost all of her books there. But you know Texas is a very big state full of stories so that should not be too hard.

The Texan's Reward is the final book in a series, but like most books from Thomas, if you pick it up without knowing that, it's okay - it will just make you go back and read more. The story starts out with Texas ranger Jacob Dalton coming back to the ranch of his "friend". His friend happens to be an orphan girl, he befriended long ago, who has grown up to be quite a lady (she wasn't when she started). Nell needs a husband - she is bound to a wheelchair and while she can get along in the house she needs a partner for the ranch work. Dalton is mad she's advertising for a husband, and thinks since he has had to bail her out of trouble so many times in the past, he's up for the current job. However ranger duties, other suitors and other trouble soon intervene.

Thomas has a great way with characters - even the secondary ones, and makes the reader feel like they are old friends. So go a "little Western" why don't ya? A fun read.

Eat, Pray, Love - a traveling memoir of learning

Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia is a book about self discovery. After a divorce and a bitter follow-up relationship, Gilbert decides that she needs to travel and get away from her current life and decides to spend several months in Italy, India and Bali. The "Eat" chapter focuses on Italy and her learning to open herself to new friends. "Pray" takes place in India where she travels to an quiet Ashram where she studies with a local guru. (And to my surprise, my favorite section.) And "Love" takes place in Bali where she starts a relationship with someone new.

When I started this book - I did not necessarily like Gilbert. And you need to like her or empathize with her, to care about her journey. I read the first section and then stopped. I picked the book up again several months later and gave it another try. This time, I was much more receptive to her and her tale of self discovery. So give the book a chance if you have a hard time getting into it. It really is true that there is "the right book at the right time" for you to read. So if you are in an introspective mood, or coming out of a bad relationship - this may be the right book for you.

Here's something from my favorite section - which was "Pray". There is a lot of food for thought in these chapters...

When talking to a fellow yogi about the man she thought was her soul mate - he replies -

"He probably was. Your problem is you don't understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Too painful. Soul mates come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. In this case, you can't let go. His purpose was to shake you up, drive you out of that marriage that you needed to leave, tear apart your ego, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so that you had to transform your life....That was his job."

So, something to think about and ponder. Try the book - maybe you will like it too. At the very least, the "Eat" section will make you crave good Italian food!

All Jacked Up

All Jacked Up by Penny McCall is a little like a thrill ride. The book hooks you in and takes you up and down places. Our story starts in the Library of Congress map room. Aubrey, a librarian who works there - faces a patron who appears to have a gun and wants her to go off with him. Jack doesn't mention he's a Fed, but there really is not time - considering people are starting to shoot at her.

Jack and Aubrey manage to escape - with her asking questions all they way, and thus begins the series of their adventures. Aubrey is not your usual librarian, she has a photographic memory, which allows her to recall all sorts of useful stuff in a hurry - like how to shoot painkillers into a guy whose seems to be kidnapping you. Jack learns she isn't what she seems, and needs to convince her that someone has a contract out on her. She's not so sure he is what he says he is - but then again, he's not shooting at her and seems to want to help. Now if she can only remember what she knows about that has people wanting her dead.

McCall takes you through the chaos to a satisfactory conclusion. They are fun characters, so have a good time on the roller coaster ride. A good read.

Austenland

Austenland: a Novel by Shannon Hale is a great book for anyone who has daydreamed for their own Mr. Darcy. In fact that seems to be the problem for the lead character Jane. Colin Firth's BBC version of Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy has ruined her relationships. Every guy she meets just doesn't measure up. When she admits this to her elderly aunt, she receives a strange bequest. Her aunt leaves her an all expenses paid holiday to Pembrook Park in England for an exclusive three week regency vacation. Jane feels like an addict who just got a hit. Should she go? Will this cure her fascination with a literary character?

Guest at Pembrook Park have to dress, dance, walk and talk in the regency style. Jane receives a briefing before she actually makes it to the grand estate that will be her home for the next three weeks. And the others who are there? Is this their vacation too? Is this real? Perhaps it is a bad TV reality show and no one told Jane? And what about these men who are here? After swearing off of guys, the ones here look pretty yummy... But the restrictions of the time period are still restrictions here - will Jane ever find some one real or it will it be just pretty conversation and polite enquiries about the weather? Will she leave the Mr. Darcy dream behind?

Hale has a great character in Jane - the reader wants to cheer her successes and moans at her past romantic failures. The author draws us in to this surreal world and we understand Jane's confusion over what is real and what - and who, is pretend. This is the ultimate fun and frothy novel and it is a great read. Enjoy!

Tim Gunn and Style

Are you a fan of Project Runway? Is Tim Gunn your guru of fashion sensibility? If so, take a look at the book Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style by Tim Gunn and with Kate Moloney.

Is this the book that will change you into a fashion diva? And help you rid your closet of the things you never wear? Maybe, Maybe not. But it is an amusing extension of Gunn's personality and personal thoughts on fashion. He is a verbose guy and his pithy commentary makes this witty book fun. And you if absorb just a little bit (Isn't that the way self-help books are? You get a little something out of all of them?) you can be a better dressed person! Fans of Gunn may enjoy this more, but a fun read.

The Searching Hearts

Dorothy Garlock is one of those rare romance writers who tells it like it is. Her female characters swear, sweat, and go to the bathroom. Yeah, in romances that is the exeception. In her book, The Searching Hearts, her gals do all three.

Garlock is known for her western romances and in this one she combines the desire to find a place to belong, with the struggle of a wagon train. This wagon train is special - it is made up mostly of women. Future brides to be precise. (Just before you pooh- pooh the idea that this never could have happened - there is a historical basis for this. Except the gals left in a boat to go around South America to get to California!)

And this is their story of the struggle to get to the "promised land" and a better future for themselves. Strong women characters, and excellent secondary characters. A great read.

Word Freak - Obsession or Passion?

Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players by Stefan Fatsis.

Stefan Fatsis is a Scrabble player. He also happens to be a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. In this book, he is studying and participating in the world of competitive Scrabble. The reader follows his journey from being a good living room player competing in a New York park, to his rise into intermediate status for the 2000 National Championship.

Fatsis take the time to explain the origins of Scrabble and the rise in competitions. The differences between how the Americans play it, vs. the rest of the world. And he lets us get to know the characters and eccentrics who play the game. Are these people obsessed? Or have they truly found their passion in a whole that may not appreciate their unique skills?

He gets involved in the minutiae of the game. Is it better to play for points or word knowledge? How much does strategy play a part? Can the tiles just be against you that day? How many wins will raise his point rating for the next competition?

If you are a Scrabble player you will love this glimpse into this world. I am not a scrabble player, but besides getting a little bored with some of Fatsis' fine details on the game, I still enjoyed this look into a subculture of America. A good read.

Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, takes a 14 year old girl, Lily, who has grown up without a mother and any parental affection, and sets her loose during the days of the 1964 Civil Rights Act in South Carolina. She gets into trouble when she tries to help her black caretaker who is beat up when she tries to register to vote. They escape her father's farm with what little possesions Lily has left from her mother and head toward the one town she thinks her mother may have been to.

In this town, they are taken in by three black sisters who are beekeepers, producing a line of honey with a Black Madonna on the label. Lily soon finds out that everyone has secrets, including her mother, and while racial tensions stir around them she finds a place of refuge.

There are great characters in this book. August is the older woman mentor that every woman needs in her life. Monk writes of friendship, motherhood, and a community of women with reverance and respect. She makes this a wonderfully written book, something worth reading - not just as the latest hot read for book discussion groups. And you also learn a bit about bees!
A great read.

One of my favorite passage between August and Lily:

"But lifting a person's heart - now that matters. The whole problem with people is ---"
"They don't know what matters and what doesn't," I said filling in her sentence and feeling proud of myself for doing so.
"I was gonna say, The problem is they know what matters, but they don't choose it. You know how hard that is Lily? .... The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters."

United States of Arugula: How We Became A Gourmet Nation

The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation by David Kamp is the entertaining study of how the American palate has grown since the start of the last century. He uses James Beard, Julia Child, and Craig Claiborne as his starting points. The book revolves around what happened before they were on the scene and then what happened during their "foodie" reign and then aftermath of their influence on how America eats.

It is fascinating to see how much Kamp manages to fit in his book. Everything from the East Coast restaurant scene, to the latest cookbook craze to the trickle down effect of gourmet food for the masses. He touches on the rise of French restaurant cooking in the U.S., to the Alice Waters/California effect, then to other international cuisines, and then the "Chef as a rock star" - thanks to the rise in food media coverage including the Food Network.

Even if you are not a true "foodie" (- would love it but can afford it!) this will take you on a study of the rise of your favorite cuisines and the wackiness of food trends. Kamp writes very well and this history of what and why we eat, is a whirlwind read from start to finish. Excellent!

I'm Just Wild About Harry

I've been a bit obsessed with Harry Potter recently and have been having marathon reading sessions! What can one say about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? J.K. Rowling has definitely put her final (?) stamp on the Harry Potter saga.

First - you must have read the other six books to appreciate the winding up of sub plots and themes that are in this one. There are so many things that run through these books. Much more than just a "simple" children's story. I will not provide spoilers (I think), but sweeping generalizations of the story.

The concept of explaining death and loss - how people cope with it, face it, fear it and rebound from it. Growing up and "coming of age" is deliberate through the books. Learning that your heroes and parents aren't perfect and may have made mistakes in the past. How your choices do effect your future. The concept of family - whether the one that you are born into, or the one that you have created for yourself. The books touch on how one can change, for good or bad. How one can escape from the patterns of life that you have created for yourself. How first impressions are not always correct, and people have multiple reasons for not telling the truth. Learning that the world is not just in black or white - there are many shades of gray. Oh and yes, there is the wonderful magical world that Rowling has created.

So read away and get caught up in her characters, their troubles and triumphs and the wizard war that will decide their futures. Does she answer all our questions? Most stuff. Will she write more, who knows? But let us be damn grateful that she wrote these. Excellent read.

Good Little Wives

In the book, Good Little Wives by Abby Drake - it started with a facelift...

Want to know how the other half lives? Do you love the trials and tribulations of desperate housewives? Or want to know all about the ladies who lunch?

Welcome to the world of New Falls where a husband's murder shakes up the whole town. Was it his ex - whose calls are not returned by her former "friends"? Was it something or someone else? As the trophy wives begin to investigate, they learn that everyone has been keeping secrets in this NYC bedroom community. Are they really friends to each other at all?

Witty dialogue and a fast pace keep the mysteries moving along. It takes a while to warm up to the characters, some have more appalling secrets than others, but overall a fun quick read. Something fun to look at the next time you're at the spa or on vacation. A fine debut.

I read an advanced copy- it comes out in Sept.

The Virgin River Series

Robyn Carr has written three great books in her Virgin River series. They are Virgin River, Shelter Mountain, and Whispering Rock. Can you read one with out the other? Yes, however they are very interconnected, and I think you will grow to like these characters and town so much that you will want to read them all.

Carr sets her story in a small town in Northern California's mountain regions. It is a place of refuge for her characters but this town is not perfectville. She starts in the first book Virgin River with the story of Melinda and Jack. Melinda is a midwife-nurse practitioner who is looking to start over. She is drawn there by an ad placed by one of the town supporters. She finds that the ad is a bit deceiving. The current doctor is unaware that she is coming, and the rent-free cabin that was promised is a mess. But she finds she is drawn to the patients that need her expertise. And she is drawn to Jack, an ex Marine who runs the local watering hole and food establishment. Jack falls hard but soon realizes that Mel has secrets of her own.

(I should interject that these books go into great detail about "birthing babies" both good stories and unfortunately bad. If this is something that you can not handle - you might want to pass on this series. Having had an obstetrics nurse for a mother - I did not have a problem with it. All these scenes are handled with with great care, but may not be for you.)

Shelter Mountain is the story of Preacher and Paige. He is the somewhat scary looking, but shy, ex Marine who is Jack's business partner and chef. She arrives in Virgin River with her son in tow, trying to escape her abusive husband. Their story of learning to trust each other is great.

Whispering Rock features the story of Mike and Brie who is Jack's little sister. Mike is Jack's Marine buddy who was shot up in his job as a LA cop. He's been recovering from his injuries in Virgin River while Brie has a traumatic life event to recover from as well.

These stories have wonderful characters who are trying to get over some of the lumps in life that have been delt to them. But Carr makes these characters very real. They are not perfect, they make mistakes, have setbacks and continue on and their stories continue throughout the series. She puts some of them in very trying positions. Sometimes the reader is a bit taken aback - maybe you don't want to go down that road - but go. She writes so well that you feel she will take care of you and the characters on the journey. And she writes with humor and grace.

I have not felt this gushy over a contemporary romance series in a while. I was bit surprised myself that I like these as well as I did. They aren't what I would usually pick for myself. So try 'em - maybe you will love them too. A great read.

Revisiting Little Women

Have you ever read a book and wanted to know about a character that the author did not give a great detail about? Geraldine Brooks' Pulitzer prize winning book March takes the story of the father from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and brings his background and his Civil War experiences to light.

I think it helps if you have read the earlier book, because Brooks manages to match her book with Alcott's time lines. We find out about Mr. March's battles, his placement at a plantation where there are freed slaves working for their wages, and his job of teaching them to read. We also find out in flashback how he first traveled in the south and how he made his early money before he moved to Concord and met and married Marmee. We find out the reason why the family finances have gone down hill and the girls are sent out to work.

But we also see his lack of prejudice and conviction of principles, in a time and place when that was very rare. He struggles with these demons and struggles to make a difference to his students.

The second half of the book is told from Marmee's perspective, when March is injured and in a hospital in Washington D.C. Who is this man she has been married to? Why hasn't he mentioned the real conditions in his letters? And what surprises are in his past? Will they survive this latest crisis of faith and love?

Alcott based her characters on her own family and Brooks uses Bronson Alcott as her basis for March. She manages to make her characters come alive, and her prose is sparse but engaging. I think you can enjoy this book with out having read the original, but she has done such a great job of melding the stories you might want to try reading Alcott's original.

A very good read.

Summer Reading Can Be Frothy

Taking a break from more serious minded stuff while I wait for the new Harry Potter!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanna Fluke
The first mystery in the Minnesota based Hannah Swensen series. Fun town folks and a lead character I can relate to. Kind of a cosy - but with so many bodies around town - maybe not!
Worth a look.

I Love You to Death by Amy Garvey
3 romance short stories that happen to have a bit of mystery thrown in. My favorite was the blind date that ended up dead. Fun appealing characters - not too developed, but a quick frothy read.

Mysteries on Martha's Vineyard

Victoria Trumbull is the main character in Cythnia Riggs' mystery series. She is ninety-two and solving crime on Martha's Vineyard. And she makes these mysteries great fun. She knows everyone on the island and it is very funny when she takes bullies, who are trying to threaten her, down a peg by asking after their grandmothers. Her helpfulness to the sheriff in town - who is an outsider - earns her a deputyship! She is not perfect - she has aches and pains, disdains anyone who puts old people down, and can be mule headed. But how could you not love a person so full of life, her love of place - the island and it's people - and with the curiousity and the energy of a person half her age?

Deadly Nightshade,

The Cranefly Orchid Murders,

The Cemetary Yew

I have read the first three and am looking for more. Try 'em you'll like 'em.

The Serpents Trail

The Serpents Trail is part of a newer series by Sue Henry. Henry took her character Maxie McNabb and her dog Stretch and gave them their own books. Maxie is a twice widowed retiree who with her Winnebago travels from her home in Alaska, to parts known and unknown.

This story starts with Maxie traveling to Grand Junction Colorado to visit her close friend from college, Sarah. Sarah is dying and Maxie knows that this will be a sad journey. When Maxie arrives Sarah's house has been broken into and she is in the hospital. Sarah gives her a message and then dies. Maxie discovers that she has been appointed as the executor of her estate.

What seems simple, becomes complex when Maxie discovers that Sarah may have had another child she knew nothing about. Who inherits? Who keeps rummaging through the house? (Although this bit bothered me - after the first time I would have had the locks redone!) Who is the stranger who says she is Sarah's daughter? Why is Sarah's old boyfriend from college hanging around? And where would Sarah - a puzzle lover - hide the information about her last will?

A puzzler of a mystery - with a good bit of introspection on Maxie's part. How well do you really know your friends? And their secrets? A fun read - would try another one.

1776 - a Microhistory

Did you want a taste of what the War of Independence was like? A sampling as it were? Try David McCullough's most recent title 1776. He focuses on one year at the beginning of the war and leaves you yearning for more.

McCullough is a great writer for finding great source materials, and the letters from George Washington, Nathan Greene and Henry Knox and others do not disappoint. He lets you know these great men and their mistakes, and it allows you to realize that they weren't the demi-gods that some portray them. It is somehow reassuring that in the midst of the struggle - Washington is sending letters to his estate manager about remodeling his house. It sounded as if George would have loved Home & Garden television!

If you grow up in the United States you think you already know the ending of this story and in some ways maybe you do, but McCullough shows you what a narrow victory it sometimes was. Reading of the struggle of the soldiers on the ground reminds you of the dedication they had, to be committing treason against the crown. It sounded a lot easier in your high school text book.

McCullough writes with eloquence and if he's done his job - makes you wonder more about the people and the rest of the war. Excellent read.

The Man from Stone Creek

Linda Lael Miller's The Man from Stone Creek is a western based romance. At first it seems as if it is a "typical" western romance - the strange guy rides into town to help out with the bad guys, meets a gal and gets the bad guys and the gal. Well - some of that does happen, but what Miller does so well is give her characters life.

Sam O' Ballivan seems a bit too brawny to be the new schoolmaster. But in him, Miller creates a wonderful character that you would like to meet. He has a bad habit of picking up and caring for strays - dogs, horses, and people. And he is a Ranger who is looking for bad guys - but he needs to see the lay of the land to know who and where the bad guys are. Meanwhile he is teaching, and getting a little too interested in Maddie the local postmistress and store clerk. Maddie has had her share of ups and downs in life with her younger brother and she is just trying to keep a roof over their head.

As these two interact and get to know each other and their pasts, the reader comes to appreciate both characters. Miller has a great way of giving characters great backgrounds and she succeeds again in this book.

Although it seemed that the whole world was coming apart in the book's climax - it's just one thing after another - you forgive Miller because you want these two to be together - what ever it takes. A fun read.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

A History of the World in 6 Glasses is a great book by Tom Standage. Who realized that beverages were so important? Beer, wine, distilled spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola are what Standage focuses on and he brings us the history of the drink’s prime era.

Some fun facts:

Beer was drunk by everyone because it was not as poisonous as the water was. And it used to be drunk with straws so that the drinkers would not drink the floating grains.

Greeks and Romans drank wine that was mixed with water.

Coffee houses were promoted as the new intellectual hangout of their era - in the 1700s!

The East India Company practically started a war in China so that they could get more tea imports.

Coca-Cola started as a medicine and was created by a patent medicine chemist.

With this book, beverages join the group of goods that the historical and modern world has bartered for and fought for. The irony is, he says, the next struggle will be for access for the most basic drink of all - water. Something to look forward to. Hmmm.

An entertaining and informative read. You don't have to be a history junkie to enjoy this.

Book of True Desires

The Book of True Desires by Betina Krahn is a fun adventure from the first page. Cordelia O' Keefe is an adventuress/traveler/author who has come to her wayward tycoon grandfather for a loan for her next expedition. The crafty coot - has conditions for his funding. She must embark first on a trek to find the Gift of the Jaguar from a rubbing of Mayan stones, and she must take his butler who will hold on the purse strings. The butler in question is Hartford Goodnight who has a mysterious past of his own. Together with her aunt and a Mayan expert, they embark on a trip to Cuba (just before the Spanish American war) and Mexico. Once in Mexico, they end up hunting through the jungle for what the natives call the "hills with doors".

This trip is loaded with adventure, and Krahn takes you on a great journey, with flora and fauna abounding, evil bad guys chasing them for the "gift" and an occasional jaguar or two. Along the way Cordelia learns that Goodnight is more than he seems, and he learns that she does really know a thing or two about adventuring. A roll coaster ride done very well. Come for the adventure, stay for the romance! Lots of fun.

Trixie and Evangeline: Aging Film Stars Who Sleuth

Want a mysteries series that is fast - under 200 pages per book - humorous, and starring some fun aging film stars? Check out the Marian Babson series featuring Trixie Dolan and Evangeline Sinclair - two grand dames of the American cinema.

Reel Murder
Encore Murder
Shadows in their Blood
Even Yuppies Die
Break a Leg, Darlings
The Cat Who Wasn’t a Dog

They start out by traveling to London for a special retrospective of Evangeline's films. Trixie has come along for the ride. They end up running into old rivals and flames from film days, and are shown ' the respect they deserve' , by eager young fans. Their housing leaves a bit much to be desired - a house that has been split into flats - and it becomes less desirable when they discover a body in the building. Thus they take it upon themselves to solve the crime - they did it in the movies didn't they?

The mysteries are not great puzzlers, but with these characters you really don't care. Trixie is the slightly maternal one, who was the hoofer with the heart of gold in all of her films. Evangeline is the diva who will battle her perceived rivals and tell it like it is, but only the way she thinks it is. Their dialogue is fun and it is a stitch when other people take them for just naive old ladies - when they could tell folks a thing or two about surviving in the cutthroat world of Hollywood. And they make sure there's always a brandy or two waiting.

Babson moves the stories along and is very good about the continuity in the stories considering that they are written several years apart - I'm finding that this is becoming a bit rare now days! ( The book where they make a cheesy vampire movie - they are the vampire aunts - is a hoot!)

Lots of fun - I hope she writes some more.

Italian Art Mysteries

Jonathan Argyll, an English art dealer, and Flavia di Stefano, of the Art Theft Squad, in Rome, Italy, are featured in: The Raphael Affair (1991) and The Titian Committee (1992) by Iain Pears. This is a fun series that can only go places.

The author brings us in depth into the world of art and Italy. Jonathan becomes enamored of Flavia who is a modern woman stuck in the non-modern Italian Police. The realities and/or cliches of Italian life are featured as they travel from place to place (in these - Rome and Venice) to solve their crime and bring the art or situation back to where it belongs. Pears creates characters that you want to revisit again. I particularly like Flavia's superior officer who has the love of good Italian foot ware. I am looking forward to reading more in the series. This would be great reading before a trip to Italy!

Nerds Like It Hot

Nerds Like it Hot by Vicki Lewis Thompson is another fun book in her nerd series. (My favorite about this is you really do not need to read them in any order really.) This time a makeup artist Gillian hears and sees a murder on the set of her latest movie job. She knows the murderer is rumored to have shady mob ties and goes for help from her friend Cleo, an aging actress who once was buddies with Marilyn Monroe. Cleo decided that Gillian needs to have a makeover for a disguise and gets her to go on a singles nerd cruise so that she can escape to Mexico. Cleo enlists the help of P.I. friends Lex and his partner Dante to be bodyguards.

Lex is attracted to Gillian – but she just thinks it is the new Marilyn makeover. He keeps trying to protect her from odd incidents on the ship and make sure she stays alive.

Thompson once again builds a fun cast of characters who provide Gillian with her “family”. The murderer is kinda creepy, but we know that the nerds will prevail. Definitely fun and frothy.

The River Knows

Everytime I hear the title The River Knows by Amanda Quick, I am reminded of the Gordon Lightfoot song about Lake Superior - with the line "never gives up her dead". In this case however, body of water is the river Thames, and it does give up it's dead - but they are listed as suicides. Not very acceptable in Victorian times. The book starts out with the death of three respectable women and it becomes clearer that their cases are indeed related.

Louisa Bryce and Anthony Stalbridge run into each other at a high society party. Sounds lovely? Did I mention the fact that they are both snooping into their host Elwin Hastings's bedroom? In order to escape the bodyguard - they feign a lover's kiss. Stalbridge wants to know why he keeps running into Louisa while he's investigating, what is she up to? She believes that Hastings has connections to a brothel and she is trying to dig up the truth to expose him - she is a secret newspaper correspondent. It turns out Stalbridge thinks that Hastings has a connection to his fiance' s death. The authorities said it was a suicide - but Anthony does not believe it.

They join as partners in this investigation. Anthony has a bad reputation since his fiance died - and he is noted to be from an eccentric family. Louisa is supposed to a be a quiet dull widow - but Anthony learns that there is much more to her than meets the eye. As they discover more clues and questions, they learn more about each other, and their hidden pasts and their attraction grows.

Come join the adventure - with a stalwart "modern" heroine and a hero worth cheering for.
Another one of Quick's finest. A very fun read.

Audio Books and Mysteries

I went on a road trip and needed something to entertain me. So I got an audio book. Usually I read faster than an audio book, but driving through Indiana is fairly dull. So I grabbed a CD mystery, one in series my mystery buff friend had suggested to me in the past.

Cherry Cheesecake Murder
by Joanne Fluke

Hannah Swensen is the owner of the Cookie Jar shop. In this small town, she has two beaus, a cat with personality and a mother who hovers. And then on the side she solves murders. Yes, this is a cozy mystery with recipes. (And when you are listening to the recipes - believe me - you get hungry!) Yes, this book will not change the world, and I figured out who the murderer was before the end. But she writes with such humor and fun with this cast of town characters who seem like people you know. The personalities will keep you moving along in this series. Now I just have to find the first book, and start from there. Enjoy the fun!

I Feel Bad About My Neck...

Gee thanks, Nora - now we can all be self conscious about our necks. Never realized it was an issue until reading her book.

I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron, provides one with a bit of humor for your day. The short essays are fun to read in a pinch or that last bit of reading before going to bed. Ephron has a great sense of humor and she reminds me of a snarkier Erma Bombeck. A fast, fun read.

Then We Came to the End

Do you think the movie Office Space is in your top ten list? Does the TV series the Office make you laugh - however uncomfortable it gets? I have the book for you. Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris, has enough in it to make you laugh, take a closer look at your co-workers, and think a little about why we are really working anyway?

Ferris sets his tale in the 1990s - before 9/11, in an ad agency in Chicago. He has a wide range of character types - the cut up, the diligent one, the popular one with all the gossip, and if you have ever worked in a pressured environment filled with cubicles - you may have experienced some of the wackiness of this kind of office life. (Sometimes I think those days were a variation of an adult version of high school continued! Yeah, a bit scary!)

With a mixture of humor - the office pranks: the mysterious smell that turned out to be sushi taped to the back of a certain someone's bookcase, the radio stations that are changed each morning, and the various techniques used in looking busy for the boss, and with a mixture of pathos: the office mate whose young daughter is found murdered, the office member who dies and the threat of the boss having cancer, Ferris manages to make us care about this group. It comes to play when the corporate layoffs and cuts start happening and it starts spliting up the creative teams.

Some thoughts this book might leave you with - Who are those people you are working with? Is their office face different from who they are in their home lives? And what kind of work life do you want to have - since you spend so much time there anyway?

A very good read.

The Hot Zone

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

Who knew that a tale of the Ebola virus could be such a thriller? Preston takes us on a journey of the discovery of the Marburg and Ebola virus strains, and then shares the story of how it came to the United States and how scientists battled with it. He manages to engage you in the characters and include you in their terrifying story. A bit gorey in parts, but in the age of SARs and the threat of world wide flu strains, this is a book worth reading.

Where Stuff Comes From

Where Stuff Comes From: How Toasters, Toilets, Cars, Computers, and Many Other Things Come to Be As They Are by Harvey Molotch

This book looks like it is going to be about how things work, but really it is about how things are designed. If you are interested in industrial design, this is the book for you. A bit dry in parts, but if you are fascinated with how designers change "everyday" objects - take a look at this.

Molotch offers some interesting points when he suggests that designers can effect social responsibility - when it comes to the things they design and thus can lighten the ecological load.

I Take This Man

Valerie Frankel's book, I Take This Man, skillfully mixes comedy and tragedy in the lives of her characters. You may start the book thinking it is about the bride Penny - but it really develops into the relationship between Penny and her mother Esther. And how they need to deal the past history and "baggage" of their lives before they can move on to future happiness. And if the bride gets dumped at the altar and the mother knocks out the groom, and kidnaps him, and holds him hostage until he writes all the thank you notes for the soon to be returned gifts, well these things can happen in the best of families.

She is able to blend the wackiness of life with the revelation that it is who you have in your life what matters most. Watching Penny and Bram's relationship change to a deeper one, and seeing Esther take a chance on having man in her life again, the groom's widowed dad - none the less, makes the reader stay up late, and want to see how this is all going to end. Frankel manages to create great characters that we can relate to and cheer for when they finally find their way.
A great read!

Flower Confidential

Be careful the next time you buy that cheap floral bouquet. Do you know where your flowers have been? And what they have been dipped in? You might want to read Amy Stewart's book about the floral industry - Flower Confidential. This is a well written book that takes the reader through the international market of cut flowers.

Some fun facts:
- Europeans buy more flowers per capita than folks in the United States - especially Germany and Switzerland.

-The United States' consumers may pay less for flowers than other countries - but there is a reason those flowers are cheap: they are not top quality and do not last as long.

- Most U.S. grocery stores have their floral areas in the worst possible place - near the produce area where the riping fruit and veggies produce ethylene. Ethylene - "which will cause downward bending of flower foliage, failure of buds to open, or open flowers to close or fall off. Florist greens will yellow, and leaves and berries will bend downward or fall off in the presence of ethylene. Damaged or diseased plant material also give off ethylene. " (from the USDA website) (Costco supposedly does a better job with their floral area than most!)

- Some foreign growers use pesticides that are banned in the United States. But try telling which flowers are which...

Stewart takes you to rose growers in Ecuador, the Miami airport's inspection area for cut flowers - where most of them are dipped in fungicide - remember that next time you take a sniff from cut flowers (most of which do not smell anyway), and the frenzied Dutch Flower auction which sets prices for most of Europe's flowers. She also writes about the growing movement for organic certification (most of Europe is already there) for flowers in the U.S.

This book is definitely worth a look if you are a flower lover. It will make you want to buy a bouquet - or run outside and cut your own. But be careful where and what you are buying.

Defiant Gardens

Defiant Gardens : Making Gardens in Wartime by Kenneth I. Helphand, is a good book to read in the spring when the desire to garden and dig about in the dirt is very strong after a long winter. He studies very specific periods of history where gardening not only helped with physical survival, but helped people mentally survive.

He looks into the gardens that were created and documented in wartime. He starts with the trenches during World War I, proceeds to the horrors of the Jewish ghettos in WWII, and informs us about the gardens of prisoner of war camps in Europe as well as the civilian war camps in Asia. He ends with a chapter about the Japanese-American camps in the U.S. And in a final chapter mentions more recent wars in Serbia, Africa and in Iraq.

He explains the conditions of the war, the situations that these people found themselves in or were forced into. He goes into the documentation of the gardens - photographs and writings to show how these gardens sustained the people around them. And in some cases, he can tell us whether these gardeners survived their war.

This ended up being one of my favorite passages:

"In an extreme situation beyond an individual's control, such as is common during war, the manifestation of the human ability to wield power over something is a potent reminder of our ability to withstand emotional despair and the forces of chaos. Gardens domesticate and humanize dehumanized situations. They offer a way to reject suffering, an inherent affirmation and sign of human perseverance. In contrast to war, gardens assert the dignity of life, human and nonhuman, and celebrate it."

A very powerful book about a little known area of history. For serious gardeners and students of history.

Reading While Sick - Getting Through the Books

Reading while your are home being sick, is a great way to get through your book pile - if your cold medication will let you stay up for a few hours.

Bachelor on the Prowl by Kasey Michaels

When the financial side of the fashion house has to run the big fashion show, Holly Hollis is in a panic cause she is missing male model for her finale. She grabs a guy back stage - who she assumes is the model - surprise ! Colin Rafferty is a bit surprised when he visits his cousin's fashion designer wife's show backstage and some female orders him to drop his pants and get into a tux. And the romance of errors starts there. A fun short contemporary romance.

Bookmarked to Die by Jo Dereske

Miss Helma Zukas is turning 42. She is not having a good time. Her boss, the library director, wants her to attend group counseling sessions. She has a younger perky co-worker who is flirting with her longtime admirer Police Chief Wayne (who has not noticed her birthday). Her cat, Boy Cat Zukas is missing. Her idea to start a local author's collection, has brought every writer (bad and good) in her district - and 2 of them end up murdered after the first start up meeting. After her free spirited best friend arrives in town, they hunt for her cat, mess up counseling sessions galore, and start looking for the murderers. Lost of fun and she portrays library land very well! A series.


Too Darn Hot by Sandra Scoppettone - Faye Quick and her usual band of helpers - her scrappy secretary, her buddy at the precinct, and the losers at the tobacco shop; solve another mystery in the midst of World War II era New York City. But this time she's trying to find a beauty's missing army beau. When she goes to his hotel room - all she finds is a body who may or may not be the missing guy. Lots of atmosphere and a great character to watch.

Wine, Women and...

Alpana Pours: About Being a Woman, Loving Wine, and Having Great Relationships by Alpana Singh

Alpana is the sommelier who also hosts the Chicago version of Check Please! on PBS. She has written a very accessible book on wine. She is serious about her topic but lightheartedly will suggest great wine for junk food. She writes a lot about women's relationship to wine, and offers great suggestions on learning more about what to try and what wine goes with what. She makes choosing wine seem very easy and fun to do. A great read and a great resource. Let's go wine shopping! Wine and cheese party anyone?

Manhunting

Manhunting is a book that Jennifer Cruise put out quite awhile ago - but it has been rereleased in hardcover. It is a fun read with Crusie's breezy fun style.

Kate Svenson is a workaholic who wants to get married. She's had offers, and she has broken off three engagements. Her job is depressing her - her talent is working on and assessing business plans for existing businesses. She started at the Small Business Administration, but is now working with Fortune 500 companies in her father's company. Kate and her best friend decide that she needs a plan to find a guy because Kate is good with plans. She takes a vacation to a golf resort in Kentucky. There will be rich guys, golf and potential husbands.

She gets asked out there - but something keeps happening to her dates. The one who cheated on their golf game had a heart attack. Another one steps off a cliff, when they were hiking. And the guy she is hanging out with the most is Jack - the head of the grounds at the resort. Talk about opposites attract, or maybe not. It turns out he is hiding from the rat race too.

He thinks she's dangerous to guys, but when she starts to help out the local gal who runs the only bar in town, he takes another look.

Full of fun dialogue and great characters. A gem!

The Great Escape

The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World, by Kati Marton, is a study of how by the nature of their exclusionary policies, Hungary and Germany lost the chance to utilize the talents of nine Hungarian - Jews (most were secular), who were photographic artists, writers and scientists.

The text focuses on the following:
Robert Capa & Andre Kertesz - photographers
Arthur Koestler - writer of Darkness at Noon

These 4 scientists all worked on the nuclear bomb at Los Almos:
Edward Teller - physicist and theorist of the "star wars" defense theory
John von Neumann - mathematician and "grandfather" of the computer
Leo Szilard - physicist and founder of Federation of Atomic Scientists
Eugene Wigner- winner of the Nobel prize for physics

Alexandar Korda - Film Director, Producer of The Third Man
Michael Curtiz - Film Director - most known for Casablanca

Marton gives the reader an excellent background of Hungarian society when these nine were growing up. She has us follow their stories, as they must leave their homeland for other European cities and evenually leave Europe for the United States. It is amazing who these men knew and what they accomplished. And she manages to explain and clarify some of the scientific technology for the average reader.

This is a great book and a good glimpse into these men and their times. The author is Hungarian herself which adds a special knowledge to the story of their lives. A surprisingly quick, well written read.

Aurora Teagarden mysteries

A Bone to Pick -

Three Bedrooms, One Corpse

Harris, Charlaine.

Into Thin Air

Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air, about the Mt. Everest disaster of 1996, is a great adventure to read. He was on the trek to make it to the summit and report on it for Outside magazine and he did make it to the top. And more importantly, he made it down. Some of his companions were not so lucky. He does a good job of giving the reader a sense of what is was like during that expedition. He keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens to everyone.

Some have criticized his book as not being the whole story - but I think he covers a lot of ground with his writing. What is the impact on the mountain and the region by the surge of trekkers? Is safety forgotten in the quest to get to the summit? Are inexperienced climbers being lead to their doom? What happens when the guides are incapacitated? Is this a classic story of man vs. nature? And for some of us, we wonder why would they want to go to such a death zone anyway.

Krakauer keeps you asking this questions throughout the book. The information alone about what happens to a human body with lack of oxygen is enough to scare most away from the concept of climbing Everest. But he keeps you on the edge of one's seat til the end.

Recommended for a hot summer's day - it will definitely cool you off.

White Lies

White Lies by Jayne Ann Krentz is the next book in her Arcane Society series. She started the series with a historical under her Amanda Quick byline- see earlier posting for Second Sight. This one is a great addition to the series and leaves you wondering where she is going to go next.

She has some great characters - Clare Lancaster is a parasensitive (let's just say right here - that if you can not get into this concept - don't bother with the series.) who has a unique talent. She is a human lie detector. She can tell the level of your lie and has realized for the sake of her sanity, that basically everyone lies. She's gotten involved with trying to help her half-sister, but the problem is that the last time she was in town she discovered her half-sister's husband dead. And now when she is town again, it looks like someone is trying to get rid of her. And then she finds another body...and she is managing to keep her sense of humor! Meanwhile she is getting noticed by her father's business associate, Jake Salter. She realizes he is another parasensitive and that he is hiding behind some lies. But at the same time, she is attracted to him. And he seems very interested in her...

So who is telling the truth? And who is lying? Everybody lies right? And how evil are their lies? Who is killing members of the Arcane Society? And just what Arcane Society conspiracy is going on? I'm not saying anymore! You gotta read it. A great start to a (hopefully) long series! Enjoy!

Eater's Digest

Eater's Digest: 400 delectable readings about food and drink by Lorraine Bodger, is a great treasury of food facts, fun and tidbits. It is a fun fact book that is meant to be referred back to and it is hard to read straight through. Want to know the best cookbooks of a decade - come on down. Want to read excerpts from other foodie classics? Take a peak in here. Want the definition of Soul food. It is in here. Full of info guaranteed to amuse at your next dinner party.

A perfect gift or read for the fact loving foodie.

The Manor House Mysteries - Part Two

This mystery series by Kate Kingsbury is great fun, and she is pretty good about knowing her stuff from the World War II homefront. Lady Elizabeth is still trying to save the village, and gets help from her staff and from a certain Major in the American Forces. See the prior review.

These are the ones I have completed so far:

For Whom the Bell Tolls - murder in the bellfry and illegal goods.
Dig Deep for Murder - body in the victory garden.
Paint by Murder - spies in the village
Berried Alive - someone is poisoning red- headed service men.

The sad part is that there are only two more left. The author really did not have a chance to tie things up before they cancelled her book contract. Bummer. It is always disappointing when characters you like end up with unresolved endings...

Polar Dream

Do you think it is cold in your neck of the woods? Try reading Polar Dream: The Heroic Saga of the First Solo Journey by a Woman and Her Dog to the Pole by Helen Thayer. Thayer who is 50 when she makes the trek to the North Magnetic Pole, is a native New Zealander who has plenty of mountaineering experience. She decides to ski to the North Pole. As she prepares for her journey by learning from the local Inuit, they suggest that the Polar bears might get her and that she needs a native dog. She meets her new companion the day before she sets out - a black Inuit dog, who doesn't have a name, but knows how to chase Polar bears. She names him Charlie and their adventure begins. Lots of cold and wind, and Polar bears. And a story of a human and an animal learning to trust and care for each other. You might want to read it on one of the hottest summer days. A great story.

Some fun romances

Some short reviews

Seducing Sir Oliver
- Nicole Byrd
This historical gets complicated. Her family finds that they are related to a Vicount. He's their half brother. The Vicount decided to take one of his sisters to London. Juliana ends up staying with Lady Sealey because of illness in the Vicounts' home. Lady Sealey's godson Sir Oliver is already staying there. He is a budding zoologist. She helps him with his animals and they discover a plot to blackmail Lady Sealey and start looking to unravel it.

Great characters - very relatable. Fun plot. Worth a look.

Confessions of a "Wicked" Woman
Carr, Susanna
If you have escaped from a small town, the last thing you want to do sometimes is go back to another one. She tries to find her business partner who has gone home to her little hometown. The weather decides not to cooperate and washes out the bridge and her with it. She looks very L.A. and gets her self arrested on decency charges. Then she meets the town's trouble maker turned sheriff. And due to the bridge she is trapped.

Fun characters make a fun read.


Christmas Kisses for a Dollar
- Laurie Paige

This contemporary title was reissued this year. A great quick read for the holidays. She is the small town florist involved in everything. He comes back to town to run his family's floral business. And the sparks fly. Read as they work their way through the problems - both outside and internal.

Quick read and fun.

Her Scandalous Marriage

Leslie La Foy has a great book on her hands. Her Scandalous Marriage is a very fun book about how the pressures of society can really play havoc on perfectly wonderful people.

Drayton MacKenzie has just become a Duke. He never expected to inherit the title. He was a military man. However he has a duty to perform left to him by the old Duke's will. He has to find the old Duke's by blows - who happen to be all girls and turn them into ladies. Sounds simple? The girls are very different. Caroline is really not a girl- but a young woman who resents being told what to do - she is not so sure she wants to be a Lady. She has a decent dress business. The other are much younger. Simone lived in a whore house and is very savvy to the ways of the world, and is not hesitant to say it (much to the other's dismay and the reader's great amusement). The youngest barely talks and becomes the protected one of this newly formed family.

And so this group lands on the old Duke's estate. They find it in tatters and work to make the place livable once again - Caroline's sewing skills become very handy. And Drayton finds he really can't get Caroline out of his mind. He keeps trying to remember he needs to aspire to marry money. And everyone tries to find their place in this new society that fate has flung them into.

A great book about finding out who you are and being perfectly comfortable with yourself. Oh yes - and romance too. If she does a sequel about Simone - a really funny character - that will be worth the wait. A great read.

Ghost Hunter

Jayne Castle - better known to her fans as Jayne Ann Krentz- wrote the book Ghost Hunter. Ghost Hunter is a paranormal and futuristic romance. I do not read many of those, but the world that Castle creates is an interesting one. Harmony is the planet that was colonized by people from Earth, but the passage way there has been sealed for over 400 years, so the colonists have had time to evolve into their own community. (A great way to have similar "earth" things with a mixture of the totally different and bizarre.) One of the power sources of the planet is amber. The humans here have had time to evolve their paranormal skills, to the surroundings of the planet. The planet's alien past and mysteries are still being discovered.

Enter Elly St. Clair - she is engaged to a paranormal who really is not spending a lot of time with her. (Seems to be some of the same problems on Earth!) He seems to be a workaholic and she thinks he is marrying her for the importance of her family position. She breaks it off and moves on her own to the big city. When Cooper shows up out of the blue - it works out well - he can help find her missing friend with his abilities. And that is where the mysteries begin... who is smuggling drugs through the catacombs? Who else is going to be found dead on Elly's block, and why is Cooper really there? Guild business or to see her?

This book is a great balance of the familiar and the fanciful. As usual, she has great characters who you want to root for. And anyone who makes dust bunnies come alive as a very unusual pet - they have 2 sets of eyes - one set only comes out when upset - and they can bite - is okay in my book. A very fun read.

Digging for the Truth

Digging for the Truth by Josh Bernstein is the book to accompany the cable television show of the same name. Do you like history, archeology, mystery and a bit of anthropology thrown in? Are you curious about the legends of the past and what are the realities (if any) behind them? This is the behind the scenes book for you.

The topics of DFT shows run from the background behind the Da Vinci code theory, to location of the Ark of the Covenant to the mysterious Queen of Sheba or missing cities of the Amazon or Mississippi Valley. There is a little something for every history buff. And the series makes the effort to bring in experts in the field and the latest theories on the topic.

Bernstein writes about his background and how he got the hosting position and the adventures it has taken him on. And considering it is one of the most popular shows on the History channel helps a lot too.
Having seen many of the shows and knowing his hosting style, this is a great book for fans of the series. And he's not bad to look at either!