April Showers

It's really spring, and we're having the rain (and snow) that comes with the rhyme! Thank goodness--my native flower garden is greening up, the onions and peas are in the ground, and I'm transplanting seedlings this week. Got the Roma and Money Maker tomatoes, tomatillos, and violas transplanted into larger pots so that their roots can develop before they go outside. Next, I'll do the various peppers, and then soon the other flowers. I'm running out of room, so I'll be assembling my second grow station to handle the overflow as bigger pots take up more room.

March flew by--the wrist is mostly healed, but now my right shoulder has been hurting from something or other. Hopefully, I will get that sorted soon as the garden is calling, and I must go.

I have a lot of books in progress and have finished a couple.

The Last Queen, by C.W. Gortner - this was a recommendation from Michelle at True Book Addict...Books, Cats, and More. I reread The Winter King with her in January, and she recommended this novel about Juana, Queen of Castile, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand and sister of Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Known as Joanna the Mad, this was a fabulous fictional account of a princess of Spain who is married off to Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Flanders. They have a passionate love marriage until he becomes jealous of her inheriting her mother's kingdom of Castile. Really a wonderful historical novel about someone I knew very little about. I know everyone knows that it wasn't easy being a woman, even or especially a royal woman, in the 16th century, but Juana did her best to be the heir to her mother's crown. Her story makes Elizabeth I's achievements even more astounding.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q. Sutanto - loved this book so much. Set in San Francisco, Vera Wong is a Chinese Tiger Grandma who flexes her detective muscles when she discovers a dead body in her tea shop one morning and decides that he must have been murdered. I loved her spunk and her many flaws, which actually are far outweighed by her many virtues, not least of which is cooking massive meals for those she loves, might love, or might have clues that she needs to uncover. I also loved reading about her tea ingredients and what special brews she could concoct.

This is book one in a very promising series--book two was just released this past Tuesday, April 1--there is a great assortment of secondary characters who promise to have strong legs to help carry the series, including the classic reluctant police detective, a couple of surrogate daughters desperately in need of a Tiger Mom to help them find their full potential, a couple of surrogate sons who also need direction, and a real son who has no idea how ingenious his mom really is.

I hope everyone is able to clock some outdoor time this April--the best way, besides reading, that I know of to stay sane and functioning. Take care, my bookish friends, the world is getting weird, but we are a supportive community that shares common interests.