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!