July is for reading, walking first thing in the morning, watering in the evening, making salad and sandwiches for dinner, complaining about the heat...and watching the World Cup.
We are now solidly Team Norway and have been practicing rowing with the team after every win! We loved the Tartan Army, and I have indulged in watching reels of international football (aka soccer) fans experiencing American food staples. I personally have never been to a Waffle House, but it seems to be a real winner with our visitors!
When not watching soccer or baseball (the Yankees are slumping but the Rockies are better than last year...not the worst team in both leagues), I've been reading:
In this first book, Andy's father, a renowned judge, just before he died asked Andy to take on the appeal of a death row inmate that he had passed sentence on years ago. Andy knows that the appeal and resulting new trial will not exonerate the inmate of the murder he was convicted for--it is an open and shut case...or is it? Of course, it turns out not to be and therein lies the basic story, with lots of other juicy tangents such as why did Andy's father accepted a huge check 20+ years ago and that he never used. Why does everyone in a photo from 20 years ago that Andy finds in his father's things deny they were in the photo? Why does Andy's estranged wife Nicole show up out of the blue and insist they try to reconcile?
The book was light on tension, laugh out loud funny at times, with interesting courtroom stuff, and no truly scary (i.e., protagonist is about to die) scenes. I will definitely be reading more in this series.
The Night Fire, by Michael Connelly - This was a perfect Michael Connelly mystery as it was a Venn diagram of his best characters. Renee Ballard is the LAPD detective working the night shift. She loops in Harry Bosch, retired from LAPD but still itching to work, and he loops in Mickey Haller, his half-brother and defense lawyer. I just love this universe and how the various characters interact, with each contributing key elements to the overall story.
As with Open and Shut, the main story thread of The Night Fire involves a 20-year-old murder, this one unsolved. I love how Renee and Harry focus on the cold cases--which seems to be a story theme these days. That's where the Thursday Murder Club finds their cases to work on as well. We have lots of interesting angles with loads of LA details--someone needs to make a list of all the places Renee, Harry, and Mickey have lunch and/or dinner. Reading these books always makes me hungry for diner food!
Garden Notes
I picked my first tomato and first zucchini, and the onions are doing great. It's been so hot, I'm not sure if we will have many peas but still hopeful. The native garden is being overrun with non-native aggressive weeds, so I've had to do some clearing out so the native flowers have room to thrive.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
Mama Finch built another nest in the wreath on the front porch, laid three more eggs, and is convinced her family will be safe this time. We moved the chairs so that the predator that got them last time has to come up with a different plan of attack.
TV Notes
Our daughter is visiting from CA this week (in order to go to Twelfth Night with us tonight at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival) and insisted we watch The Sheep Detectives last night with her on Prime.
What a fun movie. Hugh Jackman as Gary the shepherd was wonderful, as was Emma Thompson as the lawyer. The actors who voiced the sheep were marvelous, with my favorite being Brett Goldstein (of Ted Lasso and Shrinking) who was both Ronnie and Reggie, the head-butting rams ("Are we lambs or rams?").
A thoroughly enjoyable movie, especially for those of us who love mysteries as the movie really plays into the all the mystery novel tropes.
Hope you are all enjoying July and finding wonderful books that take you on fantastic journeys.
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