Beating the January Blahs

Getting through January always requires a stack of good books. Here are some winners that have been doing the trick for me.

The Wedding People

The Wedding People, by Alison Espach, was as good as all the hype around it. I saw it on so many blogs last year and was super excited when my turn in the library queue finally came. I went into the book not even knowing the premise, and I was a bit shocked when I found out what Phoebe's intentions were. For those of you living under a rock (as I was!), here's the GoodReads blurb:

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

 In very short order, I found myself rooting for Phoebe as she found herself first clinging to life and then embracing it. I loved how we learned about all the various wedding people through their conversations with Phoebe. In a way, she reminded me of Austen's Anne Eliot in Persuasion--the person everyonr feels comfortable in confiding in. And, I ended up liking all of the wedding people--including the poor Bridezilla and the horrible ex-husband--just proving my maxim that everybody has a story worth hearing. That said, I loved where Phoebe ended up and I hope that Espach follows up the success of this novel with a sequel. 

The Bookseller of Inverness

As part of my Reading Scotland project in anticipation of a planned trip there in September, I devoured The Bookseller of Inverness, by S.G. Maclean. I gave it a solid 5 stars on GoodReads for being a whopping good historical novel, thoroughly researched and chockful of interesting, believable characters, hair-raising adventures, and detailed descriptions of many places I plan to visit this fall. Again, here is the GoodReads blurb:

After Culloden, Iain MacGillivray was left for dead on Drumossie Moor [1745]. Wounded, his face brutally slashed, he survived only by pretending to be dead as the Redcoats patrolled the corpses of his Jacobite comrades.

Six years later, with the clan chiefs routed and the Highlands subsumed into the British state, Iain lives a quiet life, working as a bookseller in Inverness. One day, after helping several of his regular customers, he notices a stranger lurking in the upper gallery of his shop, poring over his collection. But the man refuses to say what he's searching for and only leaves when Iain closes for the night. The next morning Iain opens up shop and finds the stranger dead, his throat cut, and the murder weapon laid out in front of him - a sword with a white cockade on its hilt, the emblem of the Jacobites.

With no sign of the killer, Iain wonders whether the stranger discovered what he was looking for - and whether he paid for it with his life. He soon finds himself embroiled in a web of deceit and a series of old scores to be settled in the ashes of war.

 The notes at the end by the author provided me with a list of excellent books on the Jacobites. I know I don't have time to read them all, but such wonderful choices to have.

The author has dozens of books listed on GR, some appeal more than others, but the Alexander Seaton series, set in Scotland in the 1620s, looks promising. Has anyone read anything by this author that they can recommend?

Nightshade 

Nightshade (Catalina#1), by Michael Connelly, is the first in a new series, this time featuring a sheriff stationed on the island of Santa Catalina, off the coast of California and opposite LA. This is vintage Connelly--good characters, good mystery, good love-to-hate villains, good action, good side threads...but this time, fantastic setting. I spent half my time reading this book looking for places to stay on Catalina. I would seriously love to go there for a vacation. I think Connelly must have a connection to the island because I remember Mickey Haller (the Lincoln Lawyer) going there with one of his girlfriends after he and his wife divorced. 

Oh...you probably want to know what this one is about. Here's the GR blurb:

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell has been “exiled” to a low-key post policing rustic Catalina Island, after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts that come with his new territory, Detective Stilwell gets a report of a body found weighed down at the bottom of the harbor—a Jane Doe identifiable at first only by a streak of purple dye in her hair. At the same time, a report of poaching on a protected reserve turns into a case fraught with violence and danger as Stilwell digs into the shady past of an island bigwig.

Crossing all lines of protocol and jurisdiction, Stilwell doggedly works both cases. Though hampered by an old beef with an ex-colleague determined to thwart him at every turn, he is convinced he is the only one who can bring justice to the woman known as “Nightshade.” Soon, his investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city.

Surviving the Winter

This winter has been mostly mild and dry and windy in Colorado, with just a bit of snow and a few frigid days. We need more or we'll be facing drought conditions this coming summer. 

Go Broncos! I just started watching football two seasons ago, but cheering on the Denver Broncos in the face of all the nay-sayers has been fun. I even bought myself a game-day tee-shirt! Those of you who have visited the Denver airport might recognize, Blucifer, the giant, blue, demon horse that most of us love and that epitomizes the Broncos for me!

Finally watching season five of Only Murders in the Building--we pulled our Hulu subscription after the Jimmy Kimmel kerfuffle but decided Disney had suffered enough and reinstated Hulu to watch Mabel, Charles, and Oliver solve the latest murder in the building. I am absolutely loving Selena Gomez's wardrobe this season. 

Listening to Austen's Mansfield Park in preparation for our region's February discussion of the novel. BTW, I found a free audio version on Audiobooks, courtesy of LibriVox. The reader, Karen Savage, is doing a fine job, although I don't care for her Mary Crawford voice. I plan to scan an annotated version before the meeting in order to find some interesting tidbits to share.

Went to the Denver Art Museum Pissarro exhibit and decided I want to live in most of the places he painted. Here are a couple of favorites:

Best wishes for a successful survival of January. Tell me how you beat the mid-winter blahs.

Rise to Rebellion - Jeff Shaara

After watching the Ken Burns's multipart series on the American Revolution, I knew I had to read Jeff Shaaara's two-part series on the same topic.

Rise to Rebellion is a novel starting in 1770 with the lead-up to the Boston Massacre and ending with the Declaration of Independence and Washington's move to protect New York from the British invasion in July 1776. As with all the Shaara novels I've read so far--both Killer Angels by Jeff's father, Michael, and the other Civil War novels by Jeff, the author tells the story through the eyes of a handful of people. In this case, we follow primarily George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Sam Adams, and British commander Thomas Gage, with a sprinkling of other players.

The novel was inspiring and extremely well done. While I know that Shaara had to invent much of the dialogue, the big show pieces were all drawn from the players' letters and other written works, and so it felt as authentic as a piece of fiction could feel. Plus, all the characters felt completely consistent with what I already knew about them. 

One of the most interesting aspects were the maps that Shaara included, particularly of Boston Harbor. This image isn't from the book, but it shows what I mean. The city of Boston is practically an island, with just a thin neck connecting it to the mainland in the south. I asked a JASNA friend from Boston for help in understanding how modern Boston came to be, with so much water filled in, and he recommended Gaining ground : a history of landmaking in Boston by Nancy Seasholes. A copy is currently enroute to my local library!

What I learned from all the Civil War reading I've done over the years, and what any decent historian already knows, is that geography plays a huge role in any event. Until reading this novel and studying the maps, I really didn't have a good sense of how vulnerable Boston was, how isolated, and how the British navy terrorized it.

It was great to dive into the details, sometimes day by day, often month by month of the six years leading up to July 4, 1776. Some things I knew from school, past reading, the Ken Burns special, the John Adams near obsession I have, but so much was new to me.

One of the most moving sections was when Dr Joseph Warren, one of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty, took up a musket and fought as a soldier, although he had the rank of general at this point, during the Battle of Bunker Hill, on Breed's Hill. He was a man ready to die for his convictions, not merely someone who talked big but left the work to others. A true hero of the revolution, who inspired those around him with both his words and finally his actions. The image on the cover of the book is a painting of the death of Warren on Breed's Hill.

I also absolutely loved the section detailing Franklin's time in London as agent of several colonies. I really need to read a bio of Franklin. I read one decades ago, but that was...decades ago!

I am hoping to visit Boston vicinity this year--last year's trip was cancelled due to my husband's back issues--but the Isabella Stewart Gardiner art museum is still beckoning, and now I was to revisit Concord (here's a link to my travelogue from 2012), as well as re-walk the Freedom Trail.

I stumbled upon this article a few days ago: The five best TV shows about the American revolution – recommended by a historian. How apt!

• I watched most of Washington's Spies but now feel the need to watch it again...and finish it this time.
• How did the special on Franklin, starring Michael Douglas, escape my notice?
• I wonder if I can still find the 1997 Liberty online? If not, there is always the library. I'll bet mine has this as a DVD.

Anything else I should add to my reading/watching list?

My Year in Books -- Happy Hogmanay

 Here are my GoodReads stats for 2025:

As you can tell by the average rating of 4.1, I loved a lot of books in 2025. 

Let's just say, I love my reading life. Taking good care of my eyes is a priority. Macular degeneration is not going to defeat me!

77 books and 26k pages feels so good! I read a variety of favorite authors and discovered some new ones. I enjoyed a bunch of mysteries, historical fiction, and nonfiction, including some terrific memoirs.

I have a hard time picking favorites, but here's a few that I will definitely reread:

• The Briar Club, by Kate Quinn
• Emma, by Jane Austen
• The Heirloom Gardener, by John Forti
• Fifteen Wild Decembers, by Karen Powell
• The Last Bookshop in London, by Madeline Martin
• John Adams, by David McCullough
• The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara

My very best wishes to all of you for a happy and healthy 2026. May your days be merry and bright, and may all of your reading choices yield 5-star books.

Happy Hogmanay - 2026 is my year of Scottish reading, so I baked shortbread yesterday and shared some with my neighbors

No Longer AWOL - Life Throws a Curveball

 I'm back. It's been almost a month since my last post, but I have more than just holiday mayhem to blame for my absence. 

Alright, I admit that I didn't post in the first two weeks because I hadn't finished anything worth writing about, or basically anything at all. 

And then, my husband had surgery on Monday, December 15, Mother Nature blew into Colorado causing massive power outages, my husband had emergency surgery on Friday, December 19, due to complications (aka a blood clot), Christmas wasn't slowing down for anyone, and here we are...but I do have a couple of books finished to report on and things are looking up.

The Literal Backstory (not for the squeamish, potentially too much info)

It all began... back in November 2024 when Jeff was playing pickleball with daughter Emily and hurt his hip. After many doctor visits, x-rays, and MRIs, the diagnosis was that he had a couple of things going on.

Arthritis in his hip that means hip replacement is probably in his future. But the biggie was that a couple of discs in the lower back had disintegrated (due to age) so much that they were causing a bulge on his spinal column. He had multiple injections of steroids to try to avoid surgery, but they didn’t help much or for long. When we went to Baltimore and Gettysburg, walking was painful, but standing was worse. Despite that, we did have a great trip.

His neurosurgeon and he agreed that surgery was the best option for the long term. He was originally scheduled for surgery on January 6, but there was a cancellation and since the pain was worsening daily, he took the cancellation. On Monday, December 15 he had a 5-hour surgery to clean out the corroded disks and replace them with a combo substance that is held together with pins and rods while the new stuff fuses together to create bone (a six-week process before he can start PT). The surgery went well and Jeff came home on Wednesday, December 17. However, by end of day on Thursday, he was experiencing sharp pain in his right thigh, and he had stopped being able to pee. We called the doctor at 6 am on Friday, right when Xcel turned off the power to our house, and they said to go to the ER at the hospital in Louisville (CO not KY) where Jeff had the surgery. Emily came over and drove us down because we couldn’t open the garage door because the power was out.

An MRI revealed that Jeff had a hematoma (aka blood clot) above the surgical site and it was pressing on the spinal column, inhibiting the valve that opens and closes, enabling him to pee, and causing the pain. The doc and team went in a second time. An MRI after the second surgery showed that they got most of the problem but not all, so they put in two drains and put him on a blood clotting med post-surgery. 

The drains worked well, and they were removed on Sunday, and he came home in the afternoon. So far, he is doing well, although he has to have a catheter until Jan 2 (that was the earliest appt we could get), while his bladder heals from being stretched. He will be seeing a hematologist in late Jan to check whether he has any blood-clotting issues that might surface in the event of future surgeries.

The big concern now is that there is not permanent nerve damage, but his spirits are good and he hasn’t experienced the kind of pain that he did last week. So, fingers crossed that all will be well.

The moral of the story...go for a walk instead of playing pickleball!

What I've Been Reading

Reading is truly the best medicine. Audiobooks kept me company on the solo trips to the hospital, and regular books provided a welcome respite from worry and fatigue. I was able to read in a cold, dark house while the wind raged due to my around-the-neck reading light.

The Autobiography of Santa Claus, by Jeff Guinn - a solid 3-star holiday book. The premise if very cute, and this reads like a young YA novel, providing a good survey of the past 2000 years of European/North American Christian history. The story starts in Turkey with St Nicholas as a big-hearted orphan boy who falls in love with giving gifts (using the money left to him when his parents died) to those less fortunate. The magic is that Nicholas is blessed with seemingly eternal life and the ability to move around very quickly--he acquires a wife and helpers, some of whom are quite notorious (e.g., Attila the Hun, King Arthur, Leonardo da Vinci, Ben Franklin). We learn how his reality adjusted to the myths about him--e.g., why he acquired reindeer and how they learned to fly. There is a running and tiresome joke about his girth and love of food. 

I don't mean to sound negative--I enjoyed reading this book. It was easy and earnest and feel good, all of which I needed and appreciated. However, I probably would not read anything more in this series--it is first in a series dubbed The Christmas Chronicles.

Selected Tales from Beatrix Potter - this was a gift from Michelle, by GoodReads buddy and host of True Book Talk, last Xmas, and I loved every story and especially Potter's charming and iconic illustrations. In addition to rereading about poor Peter Rabbit, I also read about Timmy Tiptoes, the Pie and the Patty-Pan, and Johnny Town-Mouse. This lovely book now has a place of honor on my shelf with the china Potter figurines my mother gave me when I was pregnant with my first baby.

The Last Bookshop in London, by Madeline Martin - loved this book so much that I almost gave it 5 stars. I do wish GoodReads allowed half stars! Here's the GoodReads blurb:

Inspired by the true World War II history of the few bookshops to survive the Blitz, The Last Bookshop in London is a timeless story of wartime loss, love and the enduring power of literature.

August 1939: London prepares for war as Hitler’s forces sweep across Europe. Grace Bennett has always dreamed of moving to the city, but the bunkers and blackout curtains that she finds on her arrival were not what she expected. And she certainly never imagined she’d wind up working at Primrose Hill, a dusty old bookshop nestled in the heart of London.

Through blackouts and air raids as the Blitz intensifies, Grace discovers the power of storytelling to unite her community in ways she never dreamed—a force that triumphs over even the darkest nights of the war.

Grace is a wonderful heroine who discusses the magic of reading and does her bit in the war by ensuring that others can find solace, comfort, and courage in books. 

My brother Mark recently sent me an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about How reading can help older adults boost brain health and moods. It was an interesting article, but one of the main takeaways for me is that reading is actually a social activity. Even if you aren't in a book club or engage with something like GoodReads, you are still making connections with the author, the characters and their stories, and the countless other people who have read and loved the book.

I also really enjoyed reading about the Blitz in London. Interesting side note, Grace and her love interest (an RAF pilot) get to know each other over the years through their letters. They actually only occasionally meet up when he has leave. This exactly mirrors my own parents' courtship--they met and dated once or twice and then wrote to each other for over a year. My dad gave my mom books to read and my mom recommended music for my dad to listen to. 

Madeline Martin has a slew of similar books that all look equally good, so new favorite author?

What I've Been Watching

Thanks to everyone who posted about The Diplomat. Before Jeff's surgery we had made it through season 1 and had just started season 2. So good. 

Also, we started Nobody Wants This at about the same time and got about as far. Through season 1 and a few episodes in season 2. It stars Kristen Bell, who I thought was great as Veronica Mars, and the rabbi looked and sounded so familiar I had to IMBD him and discovered he was Dave Rygalski (Lane's first boyfriend) in Gilmore Girls (aka Adam Brody). The writing is absolutely excellent and the cast delivers!

I've also been watching Netflix Xmas rom-coms with daughters and Jeff when he finally came home--they're easy, uncomplicated, and just fun. My favorite was Jingle Bell Heist, but I also liked A Merry Little Ex-Mas with Alicia Silverstone, My Secret Santa, Christmas at the Chalet, and Christmas on the Alpaca Farm. This is the absolute first year I have indulged, but I needed indulgence to get me through the past two weeks.

November Wrapup - Art Thievery, Post-WWII Shenanigans, News from Three Pines, Holiday Schmaltz

We finally had our first snow last night and now it is cold. Didn't get above 20 degrees F today, but that didn't stop us from picking out the perfect Christmas tree. Holiday decorating is in full swing, and my first puzzle of the season is underway. I'm having my first hot chocolate of the season and looking forward to turkey sandwiches with leftover fixin's for dinner tonight.

John Forti, the Heirloom Gardener, shared this poem on Facebook this morning, and I fell in love with it.

November Comes and November Goes 

by Elizabeth Coatsworth

     Here's what I read in November:

The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel - everybody seems to be reading this right now, which is how I found out about it, and it is a compelling story. However, I came to loathe Stéphane Breitwieser, his girlfriend and accomplice, and his idiot of a mother who destroyed much of the art her son stole in order to save her skin.

What an arrogant twit of a human to steal art from not only museums, but castles, churches, and galleries all because the piece "moved" him. What about the rest of us who also are moved by art, who plan trips around visits to museums that house the works we want to see in person? 

I was also so frustrated by the incredibly light sentences all three of these poor excuses for human beings received. And my annoyance with all involved in this book didn't end with the culprits or the lack of justice, but Michael Finkel, the author, also fell in my estimation when in the notes at the end he confessed that he was present when Stéphane stole a book out of the museum they visited together. Why Finkel didn't say, "go put it back" I will never know. He almost seemed to think it was funny. I didn't.

If I ever find out that Stéphane was compensated in any way for his participation in the creation of the book, I think my head will explode. All that said, it was an interesting book.

The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair - my JASNA friend, Pam, recommended this book, and I loved it. First in a series (Sparks and Bainbridge #1), the setting (post-WWII London) was terrific and the characters were so fun. Iris Sparks is a former trained spy who cannot talk about what she did in the war and Gwen Bainbridge is a war widow whose son is heir to a title. They meet at a wedding and decide to open a marriage brokerage (I guess before the advent of online dating there really were marriage brokers). One of their clients is murdered and another of their clients is charged with the crime--Sparks and Gwen don't think the police got the right man and so resolve to solve the case. I'm eager to read the next in the series, and it will be interesting to see if they remain in the marriage business or morph into detectives. One of the things that I really liked about this book is that both main characters grew and developed and learned stuff about themselves--they were real, multi-faceted people with baggage and a lot of heart.

The Grey Wolf, by Louise Penny - #19 in the fabulous Armand Gamache series, once again the stakes are sky high as Armand and his team race against time to find out who is behind the plot to poison Montreal's drinking water and how they can be stopped. We armchair travel to monasteries in Canada and France, and we spend quality time (never enough) in Three Pines. Be forewarned, however, this book ends with a cliffhanger, and the story is picked up in Penny's latest, The Black Wolf.

The Christmas Shoppe, by Melody Carlson - this was a yawner, at best a 3-star book but in actually more like 2.5. Mysterious woman comes to town, everybody is against her because she has a witchy vibe, she opens a thrift store, everyone who goes there finds an object that heals whatever wound has been festering inside. She disappears at the end. I wanted a great holiday read, but this was just same-old, same-old. 

Now I am reading The Autobiography of Santa Claus, which is turning out to be much better!

Nonfiction November

I figured I should do at least one post for Nonfiction November before November becomes December.

So, I am combining some of the prompts into one sort of comprehensive post.

Here's what I read or in the midst of reading:

History

1.  John Adams, by David McCullough - a reread about my favorite founding father
• Paired with The Ninth Daughter, by Barbara Hamilton - Abigail Adams solves a murder mystery in 1773
2. A Field Guide to Gettysburg: Experiencing the Battlefield through Its History, Places, and People, by Tom Vossler - really helped me get a handle on what I wanted to focus on during our October visit
3. The Battle of Gettysburg, by Bruce Catton - excellent review of this decisive battle
• Paired with Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, reread in Jan 2025
4. Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War, by Tony Horwitz - a reread, prepping for my stop at Harpers Ferry in October
5. The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace, by H.W. Brands - excellent bio of a complex man
6. Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England, by Thomas Penn - a reread but so interesting

Gardening/Nature

1. The Heirloom Gardener: Traditional Plants and Skills for the Modern World, by John Forti - so much wisdom and knowledge packed in this beautiful book
2. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, by Robin Wall Kimmerer - Robin inspires me to be more grateful and more generous--there is enough for all of us!

Memoirs

1. Be Ready When the Luck Happens, by Ina Garten - I'm ready!
2. The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir, by Kelly Bishop - Emily is my favorite Gilmore Girl
3. What I Ate in One Year, by Stanley Tucci - always inspires me to eat more pasta
4. The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, by Jane Goodall - very calming
5. Making It So, by Patrick Stewart - inspired me to watch a few seasons of Star Trek: Next Generation
6. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, by Helene Hanff - so fun to visit London with Helene

Still Reading

1. The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel - what a selfish pair of twits!
2. The Caledonian Canal, by A.D. Cameron - planning a trip to Scotland in 2026 with a focus on hiking at least part of the way from Fort William to Inverness
3. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, by Bettany Hughes - I got stuck on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus but plan to finish it up by year's end. 

Picking Favorites 

• All the reading I did around the American Civil War was so interesting and helped make my October visit to Gettysburg as good as it turned out to be. This part of American history has been a strong interest since I was in high school.
• Both of the gardening/nature books were incredible and while not-exactly life-changing were definitely life-affirming. 

Looking Ahead to 2026

Scotland - we are planning a trip to Scotland and so I will be reading both fiction and nonfiction about this region of the world.

American Revolution - with the new Ken Burns documentary and my recent reread of John Adams, I will likely be reading up on this time period, again both fiction and nonfiction.

American Civil War - not done with this topic by a long shot 

Art and Music - I have a slew of books on art, and since resuming piano lessons in 2024, I am interested in reading up on composers, music theory, etc.

Memoirs - I like memoirs of people I have admired over the years and rely on fellow bloggers' post almost exclusively in this area. So, thanks in advance!

Season of Mysteries, Witchery, and Magic

What a mild Fall we are having in Colorado. No snow yet, not even on Halloween. I've been slowly putting the garden to bed. Geraniums and begonias are now inside, but the pots of herbs are still on the deck and thriving.  

My Christmas cacti are doing their usual pre-Thanksgiving show, which I love, and I'm gearing up to start working on the Civil War quilt again, and toying with the idea of bringing out the puzzle table. The Winter lights are up on the outside of the house, but pumpkins and leaves are still the main decor inside. 

I do love the changing seasons. No, I didn't get to see the Northern Lights display last week. Did any of you?

Here's what I've been reading this season:

Run for the Hills, by Kevin Wilson - I finally got my turn for the audio from the library and was not disappointed. It didn't blow me away like Now is Not the Time to Panic, (the other Wilson book I've read and which I gave 5 stars), but it was still fresh and quirky and interesting and moving. Mid-way through, I started seeing it as a Wizard of Oz story, and lo, the narrator ended up spelling that out near the end--and here I thought I was being clever in making the connection. Anyway, I liked all of the weird characters, never understood the psychological misfires of the dad, but loved how the siblings ended up learning to become a family despite him.

Mysteries

Dance of Cranes, by Steve Burrows - #7 in the fabulous birder-murder series. Our UK police detective, Dominic Jejeune is back in his native Canada, implementing a plan to save his girlfriend from a heinous felon who is back on the loose and out for vengeance against those who incarcerated him. As always, I enjoyed the characters, setting, birding, and convoluted mystery immensely. At 392 pages, these are not short books, but such a pleasure to read. So much more than simple whodunits.

The Rising Tide, by Ann Cleeves - #10 in the Vera Stanhope series, and what a treat. Most of the action takes place on and around Lindisfarne, aka Holy Island, off the eastern edge of England, and the plot deals with old friends who reunite every five years to celebrate their decades-old friendship. Great plot, great setting, such fun to read.

Lindisfarne is in the top 10 places I hope to visit in the not-too-distant future, and I love reading about places I've been or plan to visit.

Mrs. Malory: Death of a Dean, by Hazel Holt - I am quickly becoming addicted to this series, and this is #7. I am not reading them in order, which is fine, but as I find them in used bookstores and my library. This time the story has definite Trollope overtones as the Dean of a cathedral is murdered, and Sheila Malory, as a friend of the family, is bent on finding the killer who just may be one of said family! Also, I good bit of it takes place in Stratford, so again, the setting was just marvelous, and again, is a place I've visited.

Bosch Books - I listened to two Harry Bosch detective novels, The Burning Room and The Crossing, #17 and #18 in the series -- both were excellent and read by Titus Welliver, the actor who plays Bosch in the TV series. Very meta but also very good, just cementing him in my brain as Harry.

Witchy Magic

Practical Magic, by Alice Hoffman - After reading and enjoying The Rules of Magic last year, I finally got around to reading Practical Magic. Halfway through I wasn't sure I was liking it, but I did end up enjoying it quite a bit. I know I should watch the movie, and I have read about how the book and movie differ, so fully prepared. And I have almost a year to watch the movie before the sequel, Practical Magic 2, comes out next September.

TV Stuff

We are rewatching the John Adams mini-series with Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. Last episode is tonight, and then we move on to the new Ken Burns documentary on the American Revolution, which started on PBS last night.

We are also rewatching Never Have I Ever, which is a delightful three-season show with great dialogue and wonderful characters. It's a Mindy Kaling thing, and is funny, touching, and a good palate cleanser before going to bed.

Just finished the current season of The Great British Bakeoff last week and hoping they will have some holiday specials again this year. Every time I watch it, I am inspired to try some of the signature bakes, but then I have a cup of tea and wait for the urge to pass! Hope I am not spoiling this for anyone, but Jasmine is totally amazing!

Still watching the current season of The Amazing Race and making the Romanian mici that were featured in last week's episode for dinner tonight. I think risotto will go well with them.

--------------------------------------

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, whether you celebrate or not! Thanksgiving is just such a perfect holiday. Giving thanks to the universe for the air we breathe just works.

Travelogue: Gettysburg National Military Park

Our trip to Gettysburg in mid-October was everything I had hoped it would be. 

We stayed at the Gettysburg Hotel, right smack dab in the middle of the town diamond (aka the town square) where Samuel Gettys established a tavern at the crossroads of roads from Baltimore and Philadelphia-Pittsburgh in 1760. His son James bought a bunch of land and subdivided it into lots and established the town that bears his name.

Fun Fact: the Gettysburg Hotel is catty-corner to the David Wills house, where Lincoln spent the night before he delivered the Gettysburg Address during the dedication of the national cemetery on November 19, 1863.

We arrived late on Monday afternoon, driving up from Harpers Ferry, and walked to dinner in the rain. Then, for the next three and half days, the sun shone, the breeze was light, and the air was fresh and clean.

One of the most fundamental things to know about Gettysburg before you visit is that there are monuments everywhere. The preserved battlefield is huge, and the Park Service and the Gettysburg Foundation (which runs the Visitor Center, including the museum) have worked hard to restore it in terms of vegetation and buildings to how it was on June 30, 1863, so you really can see how the topograghy informed the army commanders as they deployed their troops and armaments. 

But, there are monuments everywhere. Actually, most of the monuments are located where the regiments they commemorate saw fiercest action or accomplished something significant or were destroyed. Touring Gettysburg, you never forget that this is truly hallowed ground.

Speaking of touring Gettysburg, I read that the best way to get the most out of a visit, especially for a first visit, is to hire one of the licensed battlefield guides. I booked two two-hour tours--10 am to 12 noon--on consecutive days, with day 1 covering the battle on July 1 and half of July 2, and day 2 covering the rest of July 2 and July 3. As luck would have it, I booked with Phillip Musket, the guide featured in this YouTube video about what it takes to become a guide. He was absolutely fabulous, and he enabled us to make the most of our time in Gettysburg. 

We didn't have time to do everything I wanted to in just three and half days, but one of the most memorable experiences I had was walking the mile from Seminary Ridge to Cemetery Ridge, just as the Army of Northern Virginia did on the afternoon of July 3. I was the only person out in the field, which was a bit rough and boggy, but it was a very special time for me to really think about courage and conviction, patriotism, family, and home.

One final note, the museum is huge and fantastic. We spent time there Monday afternoon and Friday morning, but felt rushed and didn't really see everything they had on display. The movie they offer was excellent, but what blew me away was the Cyclorama. It is a 360-degree painting, done on curved panels, depicting "Pickett's Charge" from the afternoon of July 3. It was painted in 1880 by a French artist and was completely restored in 2008. I loved it so much that for my recent birthday my husband gave me a book with photos of all the panels so that I can study it to my heart's content.

Page from the Cyclorama picture book

Here's a smattering of images from our trip:

Outside the Visitors Center

Statues of John Buford and John Reynolds, saving the Union Army on July 1

John Burns, local defending his town

Confederate cannon on the mile-walk east

New York Cavalry Memorial

Union headquarters on the east side of Cemetery Ridge

Union cannon facing west

John and Abigail Adams - First Family and Patriotic Sleuth

While I was rereading the excellent bio of John Adams by David McCullough, I was overcome with the urge to reread, in tandem, the first book in Barbara Hamilton's wonderful trilogy in which wife Abigail solves heinous mysteries. I finished The Ninth Wife on the same day that I finished the John Adams bio--what a treat.

Ten Things I Love About John Adams

No question, John Adams is my favorite Founding Father. Rereading this bio, simply cemented his place in my esteem and affection.

Here are the top 11 things that I love about Adams. I simply couldn't stop at 10.

1. He was passionate about what he believed in, and he believed in the right of self-government.
2. He was loving and warm, even hot-tempered, but with the capacity to forgive and forget and acknowledge when he was wrong.
3. He was very smart and articulate and logical but also compassionate and considerate.
4. He was self-aware--he acknowledged his pride and ambition and wrestled with whether these were faults or attributes.
5. He admired, respected, and honored his father as the best of men. He knew a great many "great" men--kings, lords, politicians, statesmen, philosophers, generals, etc., but his father was the best of them all in his eyes.
6. He took every job he was given seriously and did his best and never shirked his duty, despite hardships to his physical health, his family, and his finances.
7. He loved Abigail and respected her and listened to her. She was his partner, and he was her "dearest friend."
8. Despite the lies told about him when he was in office, he never stooped to spreading slander about his political opponents.
9. He never owned any slaves and championed abolition.
10. He valued his friends and was the first to extend an olive branch when the friendship fell on hard times.
11. He had a great sense of humor, loved life, and found joy in all things great and small.

My favorite part of the book was about John's and Abigail's time in Europe--Paris before the French Revolution, the Hague, and London after the American Revolution. Crossing the Atlantic was perilous, but John made the trip many times, the first in the winter. How's that for courage!

I've had First Family, by Joseph J. Ellis on my TBR shelf for way too long, so maybe I will dive into that next. And, I would also love to read more about John Quincy Adams, John and Abigail's eldest son, and Charles Francis Adams, one of their many grandsons.

The Ninth Daughter

As a companion read to the JA bio, I decided to reread The Ninth Daughter, by Barbara Hamilton. October is a perfect month for mysteries, and this is a cracking good one and I like companion novels to dress up my nonfiction reading.

The Ninth Daughter takes place in 1773 in Boston--a young woman that the Adams have befriended is missing and a socialite is found murdered in her home. In the course of searching for her friend, Abigail solves the whodunit, showing pluck, intelligence, determination, and courage as she deals with religious fanatics (remember, the Salem witch hysteria was only 80 years earlier), misogynists, Redcoats (some of them downright decent), Patriots (including good friend Paul Revere and John's cousin Sam, leader of the Sons of Liberty), gossips, skinflints, and nosy neighbors. 

With the Boston Tea Party looming in the background, I loved reading about life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Abigail and John have four young children and just one servant to help with the massive work it takes to keep the family fed, clothed, clean, safe, and educated. The details of everyday life really brought the story to life for me. Yes, I love a good mystery, but the atmosphere, the cold and damp of the late fall in Boston, made this one especially good.

I have a lot on my reading plate at the moment, but I am considering rereading the second book in the series, A Marked Man...maybe while I read First Family.

Oh, and rewatching the excellent miniseries with Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney is a no brainer!

Travelogue: Harpers Ferry

 "...one of the most stupendous scenes in nature" Thomas Jefferson

Last week, after the JASNA AGM in Baltimore celebrating Jane Austen's 250th birthday with 950 of my closest friends, my husband and I drove up to Gettysburg, stopping at Harpers Ferry along the way. I kid you not, this was one of the best trips of my life--seeing scenes and countryside that I've read about since I was a teen. Except for a bit of rain on our first night, the weather was lovely--crisp in the morning, clear skies, and mostly sunny all day.

This post is devoted to Harpers Ferry--we only were there for a few hours, but I loved every minute of it.

The Appalachian Trail runs through Harpers Ferry

Harpers Ferry is an old town, first settled in the early 18th century, and the US armory was established there in 1799. It became a factory town for munitions and had a much larger population through most of the 19th century than it does now. John Brown famously attacked the armory in November 1859 in an attempt to instigate a slave uprising that would start the war to end slavery. While the uprising never materialized, John Brown's raid is generally considered the spark that ignited the Civil War. 

I had wanted to visit the Kennedy farmhouse where Brown and his family and recruits prepared for the raid, but it is currently closed to visitors. I recently reread Tony Horwitz's fabulous book, Midnight Rising, about John Brown and his mission to end slavery in the US, so visiting this area was very special.

It is at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, and there really was a ferry that was essential to commerce of the region until the railroads arrived in the 1830s, making it an important RR hub. Harpers Ferry changed hands many times throughout the four years of the Civil War and suffered so much destruction that it never fully recovered.

It is in a beautiful location and is absolutely worth visiting for the history and the scenery.

Memorial to John Brown

Engine House where John Brown and gang holed up until arrested

Harpers Ferry 

I had been worried about how things would work given the current government shutdown. I am happy to report that the Harpers Ferry Visitor Center was open and the buses that shuttle visitors to the town (virtually no parking in the town itself) were running. I asked the Park Ranger about his status, and he said that the governor of West Virginia authorized funding to keep the park open and the rangers paid, at least for a few weeks.

We were there on the Monday holiday of October 13, and I was happy to see lots of families there, learning about the history of the area and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

And yes, I did get to actually walk a portion of the Appalachian Trail as it runs through the town. We saw some hikers with packs, and I definitely felt the urge to join them!

Stay tuned for my post on Gettysburg. Too many pictures to sort through before I post on that part of the trip.