This Week in Reading - May 7

It's Sunday Post time!  This is hosted by the awesome Caffeinated Book Reviewer and gives us all a chance to recap our week.

What I Got:

Another week of no new books!  Part of me is thrilled because that hopefully means I'm getting closer to being able to getting some of my overwhelming backlog cleared up.

The other part of me wants to hit the bookstores and go on a giant book buying binge.

It's really only a matter of time.

Currently:

Reading:  I Hate Everyone Except You by Clinton Kelly, Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, and A Reference to Murder by Kym Roberts

Listening:  I finished up The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and am now listening to podcasts while I wait for my next book.  Right now a podcast I'm really enjoying is called The Vanished which is a true crime podcast about missing persons cases.

Watching:  I watched a lot of movies while visiting my grandparents this past week.  We watched Humoresque with Joan Crawford (really good), Bonnie and Clyde with Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatyy (also really good though not quite what I was expecting), Buffalo Bill and the Wild West Show with Paul Newman (weird), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (an old favorite), and Gilda with Rita Hayworth (really good - highly recommend).  Since I've gotten back I haven't watched much. 

Off the Blog:

A few weeks ago I did a review of an audio book I had gotten from eStories which is an audio book service where you can listen on all kinds of devices.  I used the app on my phone and found it really easy to use and was pleased with the quality of the book (Yes, My Accent is Real by Kunal Nayyar - SOOO good).  Well, the other day I got an email from eStories with a pretty good deal - 3 months (aka 3 books) for $11.99 TOTAL.  I'm definitely signing up and here's the link if you're interested in signing up as well.  I'm super excited because there are a few audio books I've really been wanting that my library just doesn't seem to be getting.

I had such a nice visit with my grandparents.  The Tornado stayed home with J and they had a fantastic time so it was just me.  Mostly I just hung out and watched movies with my grandfather and we had a really nice time.  I also went to lunch and did some cooking with my grandmother which was nice.  We're both normally recipe followers and were kind of winging it when it came to dinner preparations which lead to much hysteria and lots of fun.

Yesterday was my birthday and I have declared this weekend the weekend of me.  Other than going out to dinner and a burst of online shopping I haven't done a huge amount but just relax and read which is pretty much the perfect weekend - especially if it's raining and we had a good bit of that.  I'm now officially 37 and my husband are debating if that's mid-30s or late 30s.  I say late he says mid - not that it really matters one way or the other!  On Friday I had to go to the grocery store and I discovered that you shouldn't go to the grocery store when you're hungry and you REALLY shouldn't go when you're hungry and the next day is your birthday because it's pretty easy to convince yourself you deserve treats.  On a related note that Simply Cookie Dough they sell in the refrigerated which is essentially cookie dough that's meant to be eaten raw is pretty amazing!

On the Blog:

What Happened:

Monday:  Reviews from the Children's Section - Virginia Mysteries 1 and 2
Tuesday:  Top Ten Covers That Will Make Me Read/Not Read a Book
Wednesday:  Murderous Mayhem at Honeychurch Hall - Cozy Mystery Review
Thursday:  3 Short Reviews
Friday:  Friday Linkups: I Hate Everyone Except You
Saturday:  The Lake House - Fiction Review

What's Coming Up:

Monday:  The Hidden Thread - Historical Fiction Review + Giveaway

Tuesday:  Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Things on My Reading Wishlist

Wednesday:  Death in the Abstract - Cozy Mystery Review

Thursday:  I Hate Everyone Except You - Nonfiction Memoir Review

Friday:  Linkups with Current Book

Saturday: TBD

Have a great week and happy reading!

The Lake House - Fiction Review

The Lake House by Kate Morton

Rating: Very Good
Source: Library

Description:  Living on her family’s idyllic lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented sixteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure…
One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest child, eleven-month-old Theo, has vanished without a trace. What follows is a tragedy that tears the family apart in ways they never imagined.

Decades later, Alice is living in London, having enjoyed a long successful career as an author. Theo’s case has never been solved, though Alice still harbors a suspicion as to the culprit. Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather’s house in Cornwall. While out walking one day, she stumbles upon the old estate—now crumbling and covered with vines, clearly abandoned long ago. Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together and reveal shocking truths about a past long gone...yet more present than eve

Genre: Fiction 

Why I Picked This Book: There's an abandoned house left fully furnished and a decades old missing persons case.  How could I resist?

My Impression:  I had read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton years ago and really enjoyed it but had hesitated picking up another book by her because I was afraid it would be a bit same old same old.   The book was so distinctive how could she write another book that was just as good that wasn't just a retelling.  Then I read the blurb on The Lake House and I knew I couldn't resist it.

There are some similarities between the two books.  Both involve secrets on top of secrets and both involve a child.  However, there the similarities end.  Little Theo Edevane's case got a lot of attention early on and the family he left behind dearly loved him.  This is also an incredibly dysfunctional family though some dysfunction is more obvious than others.

I loved going on with Sadie's investigation and watch her thought process evolve as she's faces the actions that have caused her to take some personal time away from the police.  I especially enjoyed watching her mind focus as she becomes more and more involved.  It was really fascinating.  She struggles a lot with her personal life as well and while I didn't always like her I did always sympathize with her.  Her relationship with her grandparents is very special and the scenes with Sadie and Bertie felt very authentic.

The mystery of Theo's disappearance is an intriguing one yet it doesn't read like a straight mystery.  We don't get clues and hints the way you do in a mystery and I didn't really know what had happened until Sadie figured it out.

It took some getting used to the flipping back and forth through time.  The chapters were on the short side and just as I was starting to get comfortable in one time period the chapter ended and I was frequently somewhere else.  However, fairly early on into the book this straightened out and it didn't really impact my enjoyment of the book.

This is a very twisty story with everyone having their own secrets.  The ending is lovely though maybe a little pat but by the time I had gotten there I didn't mind a bit.  It's not a fast read but I never felt like it dragged or like there was too much unnecessary information.  My main problem is that it took me so long to finally dive back into a Kate Morton book.  It won't be as long next time!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?:  Yes! I'm looking forward to going through her backlog and anxious to see where the next book takes us.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Definitely!  If you enjoy a complex story full of family secrets this is a fantastic read.

Friday Linkups - I Hate Everyone Except You

It's Friday linkup time!  I'm linking up with the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer, Book Beginnings of Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, and the Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice

This Week's Book Blogger Hop Question:
Do you re-arrange and move books around on the shelves or move books off your bookshelves to another area after a certain amount of time or do you just leave them the way they are?

My Answer:
I'm pretty limited in book storage area right now.  I do have one small bookshelf that's devoted to fiction and one larger bookshelf that has non fiction and middle grade.  I used to have books piled up under my side of the bed but for allergy reasons (a rather vicious dust mite allergy) I had to pack them up in plastic storage boxes and put them in the guest room.  Right now the only time a book gets moved is when I read it.  I don't typically keep a book I've read unless it's a book I want to reread or will reference for something.  I usually use paperbackswap to swap books I've read for new books.  At the end of the year I'll fill in gaps on my fiction shelf with books from my storage boxes but that's about all the moving around.  I have plans of turning one of the guest rooms into a library with lots and lots of shelves and once that happens I doubt I'll move books around all that much.

I've been a Clinton Kelly fan since I found his TLC show What Not to Wear at least a decade ago.  The banter between Kelly and his co-host, Stacy London, was always so funny and their advice was always so fantastic.  I was thrilled when I discovered he was on The Chew, a daytime talk show where they mostly talk about food that features Carla Hall, Daphne Oz, Mario Batali, and Michael Symons. He always comes off as hilarious as smart so when I saw his latest book, I Hate Everyone Except You, at the library I knew it had to come home with me and so far it has lived up to my expectations.  It's hilarious, smart, and with a touch of heart.

The Beginning:
In the spring of 1982, I got it into my head that I needed, more than anything in the whole world, to visit Action Park in New Jersey.  The commercials, which played every seven minutes during reruns of Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, spoke to the deepest desires of my thirteen-year-old soul.

The 56:
Mark must have put Meredith on tray duty because she began to tidy the empty tables around us.  She wouldn't look in our direction, and I couldn't blame her.

So what do you think?  Keep reading?

Short Reviews

A Kiss to Build a Dream On (White Pine #1) by Kim Amos
When Willa Masterson left White Pine, Minnesota 12 years ago that included boyfriend, Burke Olmstead.  But now she's back, pride shattered, fortune gone and looking to restore her family home into a B & B.  The very one that now contractor Burke Olmstead hoped to make his own.  Once again the two are working together but can they keep things strictly business?

This was my first book by Amos and there was a lot I liked.  She did a great job with the small town vibe without overdoing it and I really liked the side characters.  I love a good second chance romance and I never can resist any story that involves home renovation.  However, this one had a number of things that just didn't work for me.  The main issue is that both Willa and Burke seemed so stuck on their high school relationship and it very much had a glory days feel to it.  This is high on the personal preference scale but it's something I never particularly enjoy.  As well, Willa took mean girl to whole new levels and while she does spend some time trying to make up for being a really awful person it mostly seemed like she was doing that because of how things had turned against her versus legitimately feeling bad for how she had behaved.  While I liked Burke better I didn't like his plan to essentially to manipulate Willa on home renovations so that it seemed too expensive and too overwhelming and she would sell to him. Overall, I didn't particularly care for the characters in this book which affected my feeling about the book overall.  I did enjoy Amos' writing style and the world she created so I would give this series another try but I'd be sure to carefully read the blurb.  Rating - Just Okay


At Home by Bill Bryson
This is a fascinating look at the history of the home told in kind of a If You Give a Pig a Pancake fashion.  If you're unfamiliar with that series of children's books it essentially involves a child offering an animal a treat and one thing leads to another and after a craft or two, a game, a day trip, some cleaning they're finally ready to sit down to the treat.  That's kind of how this book felt.  One minute we are talking about the cellar and then suddenly we are in New York building a canal and after a lawsuit or two, a change in the US's economy and one man destined to live out his days in poverty we are back to a cellar in a rectory in English countryside.  All of it is fascinating but the sheer volume of information makes it hard to retain as much as I'd like. The book is entertaining reading and I enjoyed the audio, read by Bryson himself, even more which means it won't be a hardship to revisit the book occasionally and I'm sure I'll pick up even more.  Until then I'll happily be sharing knowledge on the invention of forks, why upholstered furniture took so long to become available, and just what a scullery is. This is actually the 2nd time I've read this book though this time I went the audio route.  I think I have enjoyed the audio version more and picked up more interesting bits and pieces.  Rating - Very Good

So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why it Endures by Maureen Corrigan - Like most people I know, I read Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby in high school.  I remember enjoying it and finding it surprisingly grim.  I reread it in college and went on to read many of Fitzgerald's other works.  When I first started listening to audiobooks it was one of the first ones I chose and fell in love with the story all over again though was even more surprised by it's grimness than I was when I was 16.  So naturally, a book about the book itself seemed like an immediate must read..  Unfortunately, this wasn't the book for me. While I do enjoy taking a look at the life of an author and how it appeared in their work this felt more like a college lecture on symbolism and deep themes which was never something that hooked me.  Corrigan's attention to detail and throughness in combing through Fitzgerald's life and work is impressive but I don't think I really appreciated it.  I felt a bit like my eyes kept bouncing of the page and the information just never quite made it into my brain.  Basically, I was 19 again sitting in my Freshman Comp classes watching the clock.  I was always conscious of Corrigan giving the lecture and didn't come out feeling like I knew Fitzgerald or Gatsby any better.  If you enjoy looking for symbolism and greater meanings than this will be a book you'd enjoy.  Otherwise, just pick up a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald and a copy of The Great Gatsby.  Rating: Not for Me

Murderous Mayhem at Honeychurch Hall - Cozy Mystery Review

Murderous Mayhem at Honeychurch Hall (Honeychurch Hall #4) by Hannah Dennison

Rating: Very Good
Source: Publisher

Description:  When the only copy of Ravished, Iris Stanford's new manuscript, never arrives at her London publisher's office, her daughter Kat investigates the tiny local village post office, where it appears the package never left the building. Iris is on tenterhooks--not only is her novel gone with the wind, but she's deathly afraid that Muriel Jarvis, the postmistress and notorious busybody, will expose her secret identity as the bestselling romance writer Krystalle Storm. Meanwhile, Muriel has her own problems with the sudden death of her husband Fred, which has left her heavily in debt. In the spine-tingling climax, both past and present collide as Kat fights for her life and those she holds most dear, dancing once again with the dark forces lurking behind the grandeur of Honeychurch Hall.
This nail-biting addition to Hannah Dennison's Honey Church Hall mystery series, Murderous Mayhem at Honeychurch Hall is not to be missed.

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  This is a series I've really enjoyed and always look forward to the next book!

My Impression:  I fell in love with this series right from the beginning.  Honeychurch Hall and the surrounding village is a fantastic setting and Kat is an interesting an intelligent protagonist though her choices are not always good ones.  As well the side characters are always entertaining with eccentric Honeychurch family, Kay's secretive mother Iris, Iris' secretive and sometimes criminal step-brother Alfred, and the rest of the village residents.  Unfortunately, the third book - A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall - wasn't my favorite and I was a little nervous going into this mystery because I was afraid it would be a disappointment.
This proved to be a thoroughly entertaining mystery.  I loved the mystery from the English Civil War and all the family history that was discussed.  As well the more modern day mystery was quite complex with all kinds of red herrings and false leads.  The actual modern day murder takes awhile to show up but it is very clear that something is terribly wrong in the village as thing are going missing with an astonishing regularity from the very valuable to the unimportant.  Is it mischievous children or something far more ominous?
This proved to be a fast read and one I thoroughly enjoyed.  My primary compliant is that Kat makes some very odd decisions at times.  Most are related to her personal life and I question her sanity when it comes to her romantic choices.  The dishonesty of Alfred and Iris would normally drive me crazy but it fits so well with their personalities and back stories that it would feel weird if they were up front.  While this is the 4th in the series you could jump in here though reading the first book would probably make the characters make a little more sense.  Both the first boo and this one are delightful so it will be time well spent!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Absolutely!  Several hints were dropped about Kay's future and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Would I Recommend this Book?: Definitely!  If you're a long time fan of the series I think you'll really enjoy this latest entry.  If you're new to Honeychurch Hall you may want to go back and read the first book before this one but I think any mystery lover would enjoy both.

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Covers that Will Make Me Want to Read or Not Read a Book

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is a Cover Theme Freebie.  Since in the last few weeks we've been focusing on topics that will either make us want to read a book or run the opposite direction I thought I'd do the same with covers.  I love a good cover and there are plenty of times I've picked up a book just because of the cover.  At the same time there are plenty of books I've dismissed because I formed an impression of the book off the cover.

Cover Themes I Love:

1.  Books - Is there a book on that cover?  I don't even need to know what it's about because I can pretty much guarantee I'll be reading it.  Luckily, I've found that most books with books on the cover tend to be pretty good reads!

2.  Spooky looking covers - I love a misty ambiguous cover where I'm not quite sure what's going on but it looks seriously spooky.  Sometimes it's an old house just visible to the side.  Sometimes it's a figure walking away from the camera and disappearing into the mist.  Whatever it is I'm usually on board.

3.  Profiles - It's typically a woman but they're always looking off at something.  Either out to the sea, or slightly up just outside of the cover.  They're normally serious and look like they've got a lot on their mind.  I always want to know more!

4.  Someplace I Want to Be - If the cover features a place I'd like to be at the moment I'm definitely going to take a second look.  It could be somewhere exotic and adventurous, it could be the beach, it could be a comfy chair in front of the fire.  Regardless, if the setting looks appealing I'm going to be picking it up. 

5.  Pretty Dresses - I know a lot of people have gotten tired of this particular theme but it still gets me every time.  I love a pretty dress (as long as it's not part of a clinch cover) and I'll end up picking up the book just because of that!

Cover Themes I Don't Love:

1.  Garish Colors - If you need to wear sunglasses to look at a cover I'm probably going to just keep walking.  Especially if there's nothing else of visual interest.  (I did really enjoy Ready Player One but am not a fan of the cover)

2.  Cartoon-y Covers - This seems to be especially common with cozy mysteries and I've gotten pretty good at just ignoring them but when faced with a choice between a book with a more standard picture cover or a cartoon-y cover I'll pick the picture cover every time.

3.  Clinch Covers - I love romance but I can't stand a clinch cover - especially 

if the couple's clothes are falling off.  This is one of the reasons I'm grateful for my Kindle!  I think I got super self conscious about them when I had small kids around because explaining to a 5 year old why the guy on the cover is shirtless and the woman's dress is coming off is just not a good time.

Apparently there aren't many cover themes that I don't like because that's all I can think of!  What cover themes do you love or don't love?  

Reviews from the Children's Section - The Virginia Mysteries Books 1 and 2

One of my favorite genres and one that is the easiest for me to push aside is middle grade fiction.  This year to make sure I get a little more children's and young adult fiction I thought I would designate the first Monday of every month Middle Grade Monday.  While a lot of my picks this year are classics I am trying to branch out a little bit and read new or at least recent releases.  Like this month's series!

Summer of the Woods - Ten year old Derek and his eight year old brother Sam have just moved to Virginia in the middle of the summer. They don't know anyone but the woods behind the house are just begging to be explored.  The exploring leads into an old mystery full of coins and treasure maps which makes for quite an adventure.
This was such a fun read!  And for bonus points I think it would be a fun read for adults and children.  I loved the two brothers.  Derek is very independent and wants to do it all himself why Sam has a better perspective on things.  They don't always get along which I think most kids could relate too.  The mystery was also in the possible range. They're not chasing down bad guys or traveling to far off cities - everything that happens takes place in essentially their own back yard.  As well one of the coins the boys find - a wheat penny - is not particularly hard to find and would add to the enjoyment of the story.  There is some history but it doesn't read like a history lesson and I can easily see it making young readers to start their own coin collection.
As an adult reader I really liked that while the boys took care of most things themselves their parents aren't the enemy.  As well, disregarding common sense and personal safety does have some consequences without it being scary.  The end of the first book definitely has me looking forward to future adventures.

Mystery on Church Hill - A few months have passed since Derek and Sam's last adventure and now life has settled down a bit - that is until Sam goes on a field trip to St. John's Church in Richmond, VA and runs right into another mystery - this one from the Revolutionary War era.   The boys head to Williamsburg where they are joined by Sam's classmate Caitlin to as they try and figure out the newest puzzle.  Once again I really enjoyed the relationship between Derek and Sam which is very much a sibling relationship complete with flaws and the occasional stomach punch.  This book was more from Sam's POV instead of Derek's which was fun.  Sam is a little more serious and a little more cautious than Derek and is more concerned with consequences.  I also really enjoyed the addition of Caitlin who is kind of a Hermione type character- smart and brave and not nearly as much of a know it all as Sam thought she was.  The end stretched believability a bit and there was even a "meddling kids" reference a la Scooby Doo but that added to the fun for me.  Plus, I learned a few things about George Wythe that I didn't know before!  This would be perfect reading before a trip to Colonial Williamsburg and lots of fun even if that trip is a ways away.

The first 2 books of this 5 book series were just so much fun!  It's kind of like National Treasure for kids and without Nicholas Cage.  I loved how hands on and accessible the history element was.  So much that is talked about is easy to either see in person or look up online which would add an extra element of enjoyment.  I think this book would be fantastic for children in 1st to 4th grade or so and is a series I'm looking forward to reading to my 7 year old.  I think he'll enjoy them just as much as I have.