Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books Set in Places I'd Like to Visit

Today I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl which is all about lists.  Since lists are one of my favorite things this is one of my favorite linkups!  Today's topic is Bookish Places I've Visited. I can't think of very many bookish places I've visited though I do always try and check out any indie bookstore in any place we visit and I'm a frequent visitor to our local bookstores.  Instead, I'm going with 10 Books Set in Places I'd Like to Visit.

1.  Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie (Greenway House, Devon, England) - This was one of Agatha Christie's homes and is at the top of my list for Christie related locations to visit.  

2.  Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - Green Gables is probably my favorite fictional location and I'd love to see Anne's beloved Island

3.  Whose Body in the Library by Eva Gates (Outer Banks, North Carolina) - I've been to OBX once and really enjoyed it (though I'm a Gulf fan when it comes beaches) and I'd love to revisit.

4.  A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie (Coral Reef Hotel, Barbados) - I love this book and I'd love to stay at this resort.  I also want to go to Guadalupe where they film Death in Paradise as well.  

5.  The Murder, She Wrote Series (Kennebunkport, Maine) - I love both the book and the TV version and would love to visit the inspiration for Cabot Cove.

6.  Sugar and Spite by Carol J. Perry (Salem, MA) - This is a fun series and I love that Salem is basically a character in this series.  I'd love to visit.

7.  Death on a Scottish Train by Lucy Connelly (Scotland) - There are so many reasons I'd love to visit Scotland and this series is top of my list.

8.  A Bakeshop Mystery series by Ellie Alexander (Ashland, Oregon) - I was thrilled when I realized that the setting for this mystery series is real.  Even though Torte doesn't exist I'd still love to visit Ashland.

9.  The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Yorkshire Moors, England) - This is one of my all time favorite books and I'd love to visit Yorkshire.  

10.  Murder at the Breakers by Alyssa Maxwell (Newport, Rhode Island) - Granted the book is set in the time of the Vanderbilts when the "cottages" were newly built but I would still love to see them.  

What bookish locations would you like to visit?

Reading What I Love: Bitter Spirits by Jenn Bennett

The last few years I've made a list of 10 books - 5 books off my shelf, 5 books from the library - that I'm really wanting to read.  There's no real rhyme or reason.  I just go through my library list and my shelves and pick the books that are calling to me.  My focus in 2026 is reading books I think I'll love - or at least really enjoy.

Goodreads:  Bitter Spirits by Jenn Bennett 

Blurb:  It’s the roaring twenties, and San Francisco is a hotbed of illegal boozing, raw lust, and black magic. The fog-covered Bay Area can be an intoxicating scene, particularly when you specialize in spirits…
Aida Palmer performs a spirit medium show onstage at Chinatown’s illustrious Gris-Gris speakeasy. However, her ability to summon (and expel) the dead is more than just an act.

Winter Magnusson is a notorious bootlegger who’s more comfortable with guns than ghosts—unfortunately for him, he’s the recent target of a malevolent hex that renders him a magnet for hauntings. After Aida’s supernatural assistance is enlisted to banish the ghosts, her spirit-chilled aura heats up as the charming bootlegger casts a different sort of spell on her.

On the hunt for the curseworker responsible for the hex, Aida and Winter become drunk on passion. And the closer they become, the more they realize they have ghosts of their own to exorcise…

Why I Think I'll Love This One: Ghosts, romantic suspense 1920s setting - what's not to love?

My Thoughts:  This was a fun read.  I loved the time period, the San Francisco setting, and mystery part.  The romantic relationship feels a bit dated with Winter being a bit over the top with the "I'll do what I want" kind of attitude.  I loved the side characters and wish they could have had a bigger role - especially Winter's sister.  Aida is an interesting character as well.  She's had a tough time of it and has had to survive on her own.  Her reactions to what happens around her makes a good deal of sense most of the time.  I did like how it ended for both of the main characters and it makes me curious to track down the other book in the series.  My Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)

The Innocence of Father Brown - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads: The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)
Source: Purchased

Description:  Chesterton portrays Father Brown as a short, stumpy Roman Catholic priest, with shapeless clothes and a large umbrella, and an uncanny insight into human evil. "How in Tartarus," cried Flambeau, "did you ever hear of the spiked bracelet?" -- "Oh, one's little flock, you know!" said Father Brown, arching his eyebrows rather blankly. "When I was a curate in Hartlepool, there were three of them with spiked bracelets."
Not long after he published Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton moved from London to Beaconsfield, and met Father O'Connor. O'Connor had a shrewd insight to the darker side of man's nature and a mild appearance to go with it--and together those came together to become Chesterton's unassuming Father Brown. Chesterton loved the character, and the magazines he wrote for loved the stories. The Innocence of Father Brown was the first collection of them, and it's a great lot of fun.

Genre: Mystery - Classic

Why I Picked This Book: Chesterton was a contemporary of Christie (well maybe not exactly but there was overlap) and I've been wanting to read his Father Brown series.

My Impression: This first collection is a series of short stories all featuring Father Brown in varying degrees.  I found the more Father Brown was present the more I enjoyed the story.  Chesterton writes a good mystery and creates a good story.  Father Brown is a delightful character - incredibly aware of the evil in the world but never breaking from his somewhat bumbling priest character.  

My primary issue with this collection is that Chesterton is very fond of a well-turned phrase.  So fond that at times it feels like the story itself gets a bit lost in the clever writing.  This story collection works well for a slow read.  I am looking forward to watching the TV adaptation as Father Brown is a fantastic character and I will also be (slowly) reading the rest of the series.  While I do enjoy them frequently the story itself gets lost in the prose which did keep me from really loving them.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Yes, but mostly because I already own the remaining volumes in this series.  I'm not sure I'd search the other books out.

Would I Recommend this Book? Maybe?  If you're a big fan of classic style mysteries or like a slow read with a fun twist this is a good collection.  

Friday Fives - Bookish Confessions

I'm in a list making kind of mood so I thought I'd start making random five lists.  Sometimes they'll be bookish other weeks not so much.  Today, inspired by the Well-Read Podcast I'm listing my 5 bookish confessions.

1.  I don't keep books - I do reread but not very often and unless I'm sure I'm going to want to reread the book it immediately goes into the bin I have to take to the used bookstore.  More often than not if I'm not sure I'm going to reread I go on and trade it in because I can always rebuy it later.  Plus, I have a whole roomful of books that I haven't read so I'd rather keep the space for new acquisitions.  There are some authors I collect - Agatha Christie, Dorothy Gilman, Patricia Wentworth and several others.

2.  It never occurs to me to annotate or write down quotes - It always amazes me when people talk about needing a highlighter to read or annotating while reading.  It never enters my mind regardless of what I'm reading.  I typically skip footnotes too unless I need clarity.

3.  I don't mind a broken spine - As long as pages aren't falling out a cracked spine doesn't really bother me and I'm not horrified if I accidentally break the spine.  This may be because I don't keep books.  

4.  If there's a plot point, character, or animal that I'm really stressed about I sometimes skim the last chapter or so to make sure it works out before I continue reading - It just makes the whole reading experience more relaxing if I'm not constantly stressed about something.  

5.  I can't binge a series - It doesn't matter how much I love a series or the characters I can't finish a book and immediately pick up the next book in the series.  The times I've done it I end up being annoyed about SOMETHING - character quirks, writing style, a plot point, something.  Now I put at least a book or two between the next books in the series.

What are some of your bookish confessions?  Do you share any of mine?

Road Trip Thursday - Books Set in Florida

 

Every year I track the states and countries that I visit in my reading.  I'm trying to visit a few more states and countries so I'm looking for places I haven't visited yet this year.  I'm starting with Florida.

1.  Pane and Suffering by Cheryl Hollon - This is a glass shop cozy mystery set in St. Petersburg, Florida which is an absolutely lovely town and one I'd like to revisit.  

2.  The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton - I've enjoyed books by this author and this looks really fun.  I've driven down through the Florida Keys and I remember looking over at that teeny tiny train bridge stretching along next to the highway and it gave me shivers!  I can't imagine being on a train on that tiny track high above the water.

3.  The Love Haters by Katherine Center - I adored one book by her and this looks like a fun end of summer read!  

Do you have any book recommendations set in Florida?  Next month I'm thinking the opposite end of the country and will be visiting Washington State.  Do you have any Washington State recommendations?  

Authors I've Been Meaning to Read - The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox

At the beginning of the year, I made a list of authors that I've been saying I need to read and commit to reading at least one book by each of the authors in 2026.  Here's my thoughts on one of those books/authors.

Goodreads:  The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox

Blurb:  World War I England, a young woman inherits a mysterious library and must untangle its powerful secrets
With the stroke of a pen, twenty-three-year-old Ivy Radcliffe becomes Lady Hayworth, owner of a sprawling estate on the Yorkshire moors. Ivy has never heard of Blackwood Abbey, or of the ancient bloodline from which she’s descended. With nothing to keep her in London since losing her brother in the Great War, she warily makes her way to her new home.

The abbey is foreboding, the servants reserved and suspicious. But there is a treasure waiting behind locked doors: a magnificent library. Despite cryptic warnings from the staff, Ivy feels irresistibly drawn to its dusty shelves, where familiar works mingle with strange, esoteric texts. And she senses something else in the library too, a presence that seems to have a will of its own.

Rumors swirl in the village about the abbey’s previous owners, about ghosts and curses, and an enigmatic manuscript at the center of it all. And as events grow more sinister, it will be up to Ivy to uncover the library’s mysteries in order to reclaim her own story—before it vanishes forever.

My Thoughts:  I really thought I would love this.  It's set in a Gothic-y library and the main character who has been struggling to survive suddenly ends up with a title and an abbey.  Ivy quickly realizes that all is not what it seems.  The household staff is hardly welcoming, and she has to pick a lock to get into her own library.   Then more and more unexplainable things begin to happen.

This is one of those stories that it probably is best not to know much going in.  There's a lot going on behind the scenes but the reader and Ivy are in the dark for so long that it gets a bit frustrating.  I understand why Ivy is in the dark but because I had no idea what was going on for so long it did start to be repetitive.  Ivy has a headache and feels fuzzy, Ivy wants to do something but is told no by the housekeeper, the random "family friend" shows up and Ivy falls for his act when it is clear no one else likes him.  The last quarter of the book did start picking up and the end was interesting, but it took a bit to get there.  I enjoyed Fox's ability to set the scene, and I would like to read more from her, but this one was a bit flat for me.  I don't think I fully got over the slower pacing of the first half.  My Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Book Series I Want to Catch Up On

Today I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl which is all about lists.  Since lists are one of my favorite things this is one of my favorite linkups!  Today's topic is Book Series I Want to Catch Up On.  This could easily be a top 100 as there are so many great series that I really enjoy.

1.  Harmony/Ghost Hunters from Jayne Castle - These books always read like a fever dream but are so much fun.  I've only read a few of them so I'd like to go in and read from the beginning.

2.  Charles Lenox Mysteries by Charles Finch - I've read the first book and really enjoyed it.  I always mean to read more of the series but I haven't yet.

3.  Sebastian St. Cyr by C.S. Harris - I've loved the most recent books in the series and am really looking forward to reading the early books in the series.

4.  Family Skeleton Mystery by Leigh Perry - I read the first book in this slightly odd cozy mystery series and really enjoyed it.  I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of the books.

5.  Vera Stanhope by Ann Cleeves - I loved the first book and am looking forward to reading more of Vera and watching the show.

6.  Amelia Peabody by Elizabeth Peters - This is an interesting and fun series.  Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels was an Egyptologist which makes it even more interesting.

7.  Rockton by Kelley Armstrong - I've read the first two books in the series and enjoyed them both.  I know there's a spinoff of the series that I need to read as well.

8.  Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire - The first one was unexpected and incredibly readable.  I really want to revisit the world.

9.  Lady Darby Mysteries by Anna Lee Huber - I've read a few books in this series and really enjoyed them.  Now and read the beginning and more recent books.

10.  Noodle Shop Mysteries by Vivien Chien - I've read a few books in the series and really enjoyed it.