Winter Reading and Watching Notes

Apart from holiday-themed books, I do have a number of other books recently read that desire their place in the sun, low in the sky though it is!

The Briar Club, by Kate Quinn - absolutely fabulous. It was such a good 5-star read that I am listening to it again with my husband. I love the setting--a boarding house in the early 1950s in Washington, DC. I love the cast of characters, from smooth-as-silk, mysterious Grace March who transforms a motley set of female boarders into friends and family (the kind that gets under your skin but you fight to protect!), to Bea (a former player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League) who finds new ways to live the dream, to Pete and Lena (the crotchety landlady's two children), to the rest of the women and their boyfriends, husbands, and lovers. It was a great look at life in the 1950s--the Red Scare and McCarthy, Pillsbury Bakeoffs, working women trying to keep afloat and safe in a man's world, racism, and food--each character provides a recipe for a dish that seems so 1950s. I hope she writes a sequel. I would love to stay in touch with all of these characters!

Ancestors: A History of Britain in Seven Burials, by Alice Roberts - I listened to the author read the first in a three-volume set of books that explore the archeological record in Britain and how recent technological advances are changing theories about when and how and by whom the area was populated. Roberts has a long list of credentials, has participated on many digs, and has access to leading archeologists and anthropologists--in addition, she is witty, articulate, and easy to listen to and understand. First rate all the way.

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, by Helen Simonson - another fabulous book. This one is set in a resort hotel in coastal town in southern England just after WWII. Once again, women are struggling to support themselves after the war in which they were asked to do men's work and then asked to give up their jobs after the war ended. A good mix of upstairs/downstairs characters trying to figure out what's what in a rapidly changing world. 

A Good Life, by Virginie Grimaldi - a recommendation from Joann of Gulfside Musing, and a terrific story about two sisters who are spending a week in their beloved grandmother's house after she passed away. We learn their backstory as they reminisce and deal with the issues that have plagued their relatiionship over the years. Translated from French. Very good.

Jane and the Final Mystery, by Stephanie Barron - the final book in Barron's 15-book Jane Austen mystery series. It takes place mostly in Winchester in the months before Austen's death in August 1817, and it was lovely to see our heroine helping solve a murder mystery that involved one of her oldest and dearest friends. Jane was clearly declining rapidly at this point, and I appreciated how Barron was able to capture the spark and wit of Austen despite her physical limitations, fatigue, and knowledge that she didn't have long to live. This was a great close to a fabulous mystery series. I will miss the further adventures of Jane Austen, sleuth, but I am a devout rereader and I have all fifteen books at my disposal.

The It Girl, by Ruth Ware - I ended up really liking this mystery--endings can be tricky, but this one was particularly good in that it kept me guessing and the tension was great--but I was so frustrated with how dim the Oxford University protagonist was. I'm not sure if this is a weakness on the part of the author, but I found her self-doubt, naivete, and gullibility unbelievable. The titular "It Girl," April was so well-drawn that it was easy to see how most of her peers would want to murder her. This is the second book by this author I have read--I really liked her The Woman in Cabin 10--and I plan to read more. She does write good thrillers.

Nostalgic TV

There are so many TV options these days--countless streaming services, all offering new stuff...for a price. However, my husband and I decided to skip the latest trends and revisit old favorites. 

We just started season 4 of MASH--Col Blake and Trapper John are gone, BJ has replaced Trapper, and Col Potter has replaced Henry Blake. Margaret Hoolihan and Frank Burns are still steamy, and Hawkeye, Radar, Klinger, and Father Mulcahey are all in good form. I haven't watched MASH all the way through for over 20 years, maybe more, but since we have all the DVDs, why not? It is really some of the best TV ever. It was airing live when I was in Junior High, and my husband and I watched the final episode together shortly after we met and started dating.

And, last night we finished season 2 of Northern Exposure. Again. we have all the DVDs, and it's been at least a decade since we watched the whole thing. I love this show so much--back in 2001, we drove to Seattle for the JASNA AGM in October and happened to see a sign for Roslyn, WA. So we, of course, took the exit and walked around the town, taking pictures, buying t-shirts in the store that was the Joel's office, and having a beer at the Brick. We also stopped in 2010, which I included in a travelogue post.

I know there is a lot of great new TV out there, but just like rereading, rewatching can be immensely satisfying.

I'm curious--do any of you rewatch favorite TV shows too? 

December Potpourri

Lots to catch up on--I haven't done a potpourri or roundup since RIP!

Anyway, apart from the Classics, here's what I've been reading:

Taste, by Stanley Tucci - I loved his CNN tour of Italy so much I watched it twice and then couldn't wait for Christmas to get his book. I listened to this foodie memoir, read by the author, and then asked for the book for Christmas for the recipes and to reread it. We're contemporaries, he is a few years younger than me, so it was so much fun to remember life in the 60s and 70s and 80s. A thoroughly enjoyable book.

Ribbons of Scarlet: A Novel of the French Revolution's Women, by Kate Quinn, et al - each chapter is authored by a different writer and features the story of a different woman, although the varioius women do show up in each other's stories. There is the wife of a philosopher, a sister of the King of France, a fruit seller who becomes a revolutionary, an artistocratic lady and they are all interesting and each story well written and compelling. It proves the notion that everyone has a story that deserves to be told, and I really enjoyed reading about the Revolution from the female perspective.

A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Game Helped Win World War II, by Simon Parkin - this was a great follow-on to my reading about WWII code-breaking, and was an absolutely fascinating non-fiction. The Birds and Wolves were the German submarines that hunted down Allied ships using the strategy and techniques of a wolf pack (collaborative) and the fleets of submarines were given names of birds. The Wrens and their naval leader devised a game board on which they mapped the movements of the German subs and figured out the wolf-pack strategy and developed techniques for combating it. Riveting stuff! The pictures alone are fascinating. Now I am interested in the Battle of the Atlantic, and to that end have a copy of The Cruel Sea, by Nicholas Monsarrat, published in 1951, that I plan to read in 2022.

Farewell Mr Puffin: A small boat voyage to Iceland, by Paul Heiney - this was a gift from my brother Colin, who knows of my interest in birds, especially puffins, and sailing. Now I am eager to visit Iceland. It was a wonderful adventure, travel non-fiction book, filled with details of doing a passage (from just north of London), up the eastern coast of Britain and on northwest to Iceland. I particularly liked hearing about the various ports he laid up in, his various crews along the way, and the pubs and food eaten therein. Sadly, he only saw one puffin in an area abundant in puffins, but that was just bad luck. Really enjoyed this book and whetted my appetite for travel.

Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas (#12 in Jane Austen Mysteries), by Stephanie Barron - I wanted to do a bit of Christmas reading this year and so dived into this wonderful novel after finishing #13 in the series, Jane and the Waterloo Map. It was great fun, despite the killjoys of Jane's brother James and his Mary Musgrove-esque wife, Mary. I particularly enjoyed Jane and Cassandra's gift of a doll with all the trimmings that they gave (over a period of days) to their niece, Caroline, one of James's daughters.

The Best Worst Christmas, by Kate Forster - this was an Audible freebie for members and I was looking for a light, bright Christmasy story that wasn't too treacly, and this was perfect. Loved all the characters, from the world-weary heroine back in England after living in Sydney for years, and her high-school boyfriend, now a doctor, and their parents. Very fun and festive.

The Stolen Lady, by Laura Morelli - this was a birthday gift from my daughter Sarah, who knows I love Morelli's books. As with The Night Portrait, by the same author, this combines the Italian Renaissance with WWII. This time, Anne, a typist working at the Louve, assists the curators in hiding the Mona Lisa and other art treasures from the musuem from the invading Nazis. The other half of the story chronicles the painting of the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo née Gheradini from the perspective of Leonardo da Vinci and Bellina, Lisa's lifelong maid. I absolutely loved visiting Milan and Florence in the early 1500s, as well as tracking the hiding places of the Louve artwork across France in the 1940s. I cannot wait to get back to both countries!

Winter Solstice, by Rosamunde Pilcher - according to GoodReads I read this book about 7 years ago, and I definitely had a copy in my stacks, but I honestly remember nothing about it except the tragedy that provided the catalyst for the bulk of the novel. I absolutely loved (re)reading it. Loved all the characters, the setting, north of Inverness in the winter, and the message of hope and rejuvenation in the bleak midwinter. An excellent Christmas story. I loved it so much I just started rereading The Shell Seekers, which I remember much better though I read it over 30 years ago when it first came out.

That's my roundup. Thankfully I am off work again this week, which means lots of reading and puzzle time. Happy Holidays to my blogging friends around the world. May your 2022 be filled with good health and good books.

RIP Roundup

I had a particularly good RIP this year, one might say I had a RIP roaring time! I completed six and a half mystery books in Sept/Oct and had a marvelous time doing so.

Started Early, Took My Dog, by Kate Atkinson - #4 in her Jackson Brodie series, I loved this, of course, as the setting (north of England and Scotland), the characters, and the writing are all superb. Very interesting with an unresolved ending. I am hoping Tracy Waterhouse surfaces in this next book.

A Tiding of Magpies, by Steve Burrows - #5 in his Birder Murder mysteries. These are always interesting with good characters and good settings.

The Guest List, by Lucy Foley - absolutely terrific. All the hype wasn't far off the mark, and I really enjoyed this page-turner. Definitely channeling Lord of the Flies in this variation on the classic locked room mystery with all the suspects and victim being on an island off of Ireland. Now, I am eager to read Foley's next book, The Hunting Party.

The Long Call, by Ann Cleeves - #1 in Cleeves latest series. Really enjoyed it--Matthew Venn shows great promise as the starring detective with plenty of family baggage for the long haul. Love the small town setting and the bird references.

Thornyhold, by Mary Stewart - I'm a Mary Stewart fan and Lark of Lark Writes recommended it as terrific, and it was! A wonderful good witch story with romance and magic wrapped in a comfortable package. 

Jane and the Waterloo Map, by Stephanie Barron - my JASNA bookclub has invited the author to our November meeting and so I wanted to read one of her more recent books in the Jane Austen mystery series. This was enormously fun with a spunky Jane and I enjoyed her visits to Carleton House (this is during the time when she was reviewing proofs of Emma) and the mystery itself and the characters it involved were all interesting. I love maps and watercolors, so this was just all around perfect.

Final book, half way finished, is Witch Elm, by Tana French. This might actually be the best read of the season--so good. I really cannot predict how it is going to work out.

Happy Halloween!