Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books I'd Like to Reread

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 Books I'd Like to Reread.  I do love a good reread though I don't do it as much as I used to.  There are some authors that are on my constant reread list - like Agatha Christie, Elizabeth Enright, and Barbara Michaels - and here are 10 other books I'd like to reread at some point.

1. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King - I started reading this series shortly after it originally started which means I read the first few books 20+ years ago and sometimes had a hard time finding them or reading them close together.  I'd really like to start at the beginning of this series and read them close enough together where I can remember what happened in the previous books.

2.  The Blue Bedroom and Other Stories by Rosamunde Pilcher - I love Pilcher's short stories and it has been a number of years since I've read this collection.

3.  A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch - I read this book many years ago and planned to read the next book in the series right after.  That didn't happen and since it's been more than 10 years I figure I should reread this one before starting book 2.

4.  The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey - I remember loving this book and the writing style and I'd love to reread it at some point.

5.  Among the Shadows: Tales From the Darker Side by L.M. Montgomery - I love Montgomery's short stories and this collection of some of her creepier darker stories is so good and it's been so long since I read it.

6.  The House on Blackberry Hill by Donna Alward - This is a contemporary romance involving a haunted house.  I read it and remember really enjoying it years ago and just came across it at a used bookstore so of course I had to pick it up and I need to reread it!

7.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - I was blown away by how much I loved this book when I originally read it.  I'd love to go back and revisit it.

8.  The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley - I really loved this series and enjoyed this book but I remember being so distracted when I was reading this one that I'd like to revisit it.

9.  Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Henry - This was another book I absolutely adored and have been wanting to reread.  I think I have a copy on my shelves somewhere waiting for me.

10. Tightrope by Amanda Quick - Really I'd like to reread all the Burning Cove books. They're such fun light reads and I love the atmosphere of them.

What are some books you'd like to reread?

Reading For Fun - The Siren of Sussex + Murder on Mustique

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.  Here are two that I've read recently.

Goodreads:  The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews

Blurb:  Evelyn Maltravers understands exactly how little she’s worth on the marriage mart. As an incurable bluestocking from a family tumbling swiftly toward ruin, she knows she’ll never make a match in a ballroom. Her only hope is to distinguish herself by making the biggest splash in the one sphere she on horseback. In haute couture. But to truly capture London’s attention she’ll need a habit-maker who’s not afraid to take risks with his designs—and with his heart.
Half-Indian tailor Ahmad Malik has always had a talent for making women beautiful, inching his way toward recognition by designing riding habits for Rotten Row’s infamous Pretty Horsebreakers—but no one compares to Evelyn. Her unbridled spirit enchants him, awakening a depth of feeling he never thought possible.

But pushing boundaries comes at a cost and not everyone is pleased to welcome Evelyn and Ahmad into fashionable society. With obstacles spanning between them, the indomitable pair must decide which hurdles they can jump and what matters making their mark or following their hearts?

My Thoughts: It's been awhile since I picked up a new to me historical romance and this is one I'm very glad I tried.  The clothing is always an element in historicals but this book it is a central focus and I really enjoyed seeing that the way trends develop is not that much different between modern day and the 1800s.  Evie was an interesting female lead.  She's a bit naive but is aware of the limitations her gender creates.  Ahmad is faced with limitations as well not because of his gender but because of who he is.  I enjoyed learning about both of them and their families (though if I was Evie I'd cut the older sister off without a thought).  The romance was believable though one I struggled with at first to see how it could truly end in an HEA.  I enjoyed how the author played the story out and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in general and this series specifically.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

Goodreads:  Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner

Blurb:  A storm. A disappearance. A race against time . . .

Mustique is in a state of breathless calm as tropical storm Cristobal edges towards it across the Atlantic. Most villa owners have escaped the island but a few young socialites remain, unwilling to let summer's partying end. American heiress Amanda Fortini is one such thrill-seeker - until she heads out for a morning swim and doesn't return.

Detective Sergeant Solomon Nile is just 28 years old and the island's only fully trained police officer. He quickly realises he needs to contact Lord and Lady Blake, who bought the island decades ago and have invested time, money and love creating a paradise. Jasper is in St Lucia designing a new village of luxury villas but Lady Veronica (Vee to her friends) catches a plane immediately. Her beloved god-daughter, Lily, is on the island and this disappearance has alarming echoes of what happened to Lily's mother many years ago. Lady Vee would never desert a friend in need, and she can keep a cool head in a crisis.

When Amanda's body is found, a murder investigation begins. Nile knows the killer must be an islander because flights and ferry crossings have stopped due to the storm warning, but the local community isn't co-operating. And then the storm hits, and someone else disappears . . .

My Thoughts:  This was an entertaining and atmospheric read.  Life on Mustique with the rich and famous residents has its challenges and luxuries.  Now that a young woman has gone missing things have shifted from a lazy pace to an ominous claustrophobic one.  I was unaware that the author was a former Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret (and has written a book on it) and that this book is a fictional story set in an essentially real world as Glenconner and her husband do actually own the island of Mustique.  That explains the tone of the book since while it is essentially a mystery involving the rich and famous it doesn't have a gossipy feel but more of a part of the world feel.   Overall, the pacing is a bit slow and there was a feel of detachment even as the main characters are devastated at events that are unfolding.  I enjoyed the read and the atmosphere on the island and while I would probably pick up Glenconner's nonfiction book I don't know that I would search out her fiction again - though I would read it if it fell in my lap.  My Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)

Monthly Reading Recap - June 2025

Monthly Reading Total: 20 - I'm quite happy about this one!  A number of these were carry overs from previous months but I'm pretty pleased with both the quality of my reading enjoyment and the amount of time I've been able to devote to reading.

Type:

Print: 6

Ebook:  7

Audio: 7

Genre:

Mystery - 12

Fiction - 2

Romance - 4

Nonfiction: 2

Favorite Books of the Month:

Favorite Audio: The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick - This was a lovely listen that had me doing some extra cleaning so I could keep listening.

Favorite Read of the Month: It Takes a Psychic by Jayne Castle - This wasn't the most quality read but it was so much fun!

Monthly Armchair Travel:

Domestic Travel: I went to Maryland and Rhode Island for the first time this month.  I also revisited Massachusetts (twice), Maine, and California

International: I went to England A LOT - in total I made ten visits which means half the books I read in June were set there.

How was your reading in June?  Where did your books take you?

Friday Fives - July TBR

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. This is the first Friday in June so I'm picking out five books I hope to read this month.

1.  It Was Her House First by Cherie Priest - This looks creepy and like such a fun summer read.

2.  The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai - I'm really looking forward to this one!

3.  Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos by Donna Andrews - This is the next book in the long running cozy series I'm working on and I'm so looking forward to reading what hijinks Meg gets involved in next!

4.  After Dark by Jayne Castle - I've read the most recent two books in this (SciFi? urban fantasy?) series and really enjoyed them.  I'm looking forward to going back to the very beginning.

5.  The Coloring Crook by Krista Davis - I read and really enjoyed the first book in this series about a coloring book creator/bookstore owner and want to read the second book before it gets pulled from the Audible Plus catalog.

What are you hoping to read in July?

Books from the Backlog - The Apprentice

Today I'm linking up with Carole from Carole's Random Life of Books for Books from the Backlog.  I really enjoy the chance to feature a book that's been hiding in the piles of books for far too long!

Goodreads:  The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen by Jacques Pepin

Blurb: In this captivating memoir, the man whom Julia Child has called "the best chef in America" tells the story of his rise from a frightened apprentice in an exacting Old World kitchen to an Emmy Award winning superstar who taught millions of Americans how to cook and shaped the nation's tastes in the bargain.
We see young Jacques as a homesick six-year-old boy in war-ravaged France, working on a farm in exchange for food, dodging bombs, and bearing witness as German soldiers capture his father, a fighter in the Resistance. Soon Jacques is caught up in the hurly-burly action of his mother's café, where he proves a natural. He endures a literal trial by fire and works his way up the ladder in the feudal system of France's most famous restaurant, finally becoming Charles de Gaulle's personal chef, watching the world being refashioned from the other side of the kitchen door.

When he comes to America, Jacques immediately falls in with a small group of as-yet-unknown food lovers, including Craig Claiborne, James Beard, and Julia Child, whose adventures redefine American food. Through it all, Jacques proves himself to be a master of the American art of reinvention: earning a graduate degree from Columbia University, turning down a job as John F. Kennedy's chef to work at Howard Johnson's, and, after a near-fatal car accident, switching careers once again to become a charismatic leader in the revolution that changed the way Americans approached food. Included as well are approximately forty all-time favorite recipes created during the course of a career spanning nearly half a century, from his mother's utterly simple cheese soufflé to his wife's pork ribs and red beans.

The Apprentice is the poignant and sometimes funny tale of a boy's coming of age. Beyond that, it is the story of America's culinary awakening and the transformation of food from an afterthought to a national preoccupation.

Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf:  Pepin is such a fascinating man and such a talented chef and this book has been sitting on my shelf for way too long.

Murder, She Wrote: A Body in Boston - Cozy Mystery Review

Goodreads: Murder, She Wrote: A Body in Boston by Jessica Fletcher and Terrie Farley Moran

Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)
Source:   Publisher

Description:  Jessica Fletcher has dinner with her old pal Harry McGraw and gets pulled into a puzzling murder case.

Invited to deliver a lecture at the Boston Public Library, Jessica Fletcher excitedly makes plans to see local friends. Naturally that includes dinner at Gilhooley’s with PI Harry McGraw. Harry excitedly talks about his latest client, the CEO of Cure All Pharmaceuticals, who’s received anonymous blackmail demands and wants Harry to identify the culprit. Cookie, Gilhooley’s longtime bartender, also has something he wants to tell he asked Harry to investigate his daughter Aileen’s boyfriend, who Cookie thinks is too slick by half, but now Harry is too wrapped up in this new case. While Jessica wonders how best to approach Aileen, the young woman stumbles into Gilhooley’s covered in blood. She just discovered her boyfriend’s corpse -- and quickly becomes the chief suspect in his murder!

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  I really enjoy this series and was thrilled to see Harry McGraw gets some page time.

My Impression: This may be the most reliably cozy mystery series in existence.  I love the original show though to be honest I'm at best a casual watcher.  I've watched enough to be familiar with the characters, the setting and the premise but I have in no way watched every episode - or probably even half of them.  I am an enormous Angela Lansbury fan and a Jerry Orbach fan who plays PI Harry McGraw in the show (and in my head while reading this book).  

Jessica is heading to Boston to give a talk at a library and Seth is thrilled (well thrilled for Seth) to tag along so he can attend a talk given by an old friend from medical school.  While there Jessica has to catch up with old friend Harry whose current client is connected to the medical industry which Seth quickly gets pulled into.  I did thoroughly enjoy the friendship between Harry and Seth.  Then they're all pulled into the investigation of the murder of the boyfriend of a friend's daughter.  

The investigation is enjoyable and is mostly on Jessica's shoulder.  I liked all the side characters - especially the taxi driver Mahmood.  There is some fairly long descriptive passages about Boston itself which I enjoyed but if you are just wanting the mystery might get a bit slow.  As well, the ending felt a bit rushed.  However, getting there was enjoyable enough that I'm willing to let that go.

If you are wanting a fun cozy mystery with a trip to Boston added in this is a fun and quick read.  

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Absolutely!  I really want to read the whole series at some point.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you like cozy mysteries I really recommend this series.  While it is ridiculously long running you really can jump in anywhere.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books I'd Take With Me If I Was Stranded on a Desert Island

 

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 a Throwback to a Previous Topic and I've picked 10 Books I'd Take With Me If I Was Stranded on a Desert Island

1.  When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica - I always enjoy her books and this one looks good and a perfect way to kill some time!

2.  The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary - This looks magical and would be a good break from creepier books.

3.  The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - I should bring a slower read classic and this is one I've been meaning to read.

4.  The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand - Ghosts and a hotel in Nantucket sound like good topics to read about while sitting in the shade looking out at the ocean.

5.  The Anatomist's Wife (and the rest of the Lady Darby series) by Anna Lee Huber - I've been meaning to get caught up on this fairly long running series for ages and I'd have time on the desert island.  Is bringing a whole series cheating?  Maybe a bit but it's my island time so I get to make the rules!

6.  The High Tide Club by Mary Kay Andrews - This looks like a nice fun beach read.

7.  Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams - This takes place in the Bahamas in the 1940s and since I'm on an island it seems like a good time to read it.

8.  The Guest List by Lucy Foley - This is set on an island but a very different type of island from the previous book and it looks entertaining.  I don't always love Foley's books but I have enjoyed them - even if they are sometimes slower reads.  

9.  Mountains Wild (and the rest of the Maggie D'Arcy books) by Sarah Stewart Taylor - This looks like a solid series of atmospheric mysteries - not quite cozy but not overly dark.  It's a series I've been wanting to read for ages but never seem to quite get to it.  Desert island time seems like a good time.

10. Dim Sum of All Fears (and the rest of the Noodle Shop Mysteries) by Vivien Chien - I loved the first book in this long running series so now I need to read the rest of it!

Once I get all of these finished I'll flag down the boat that brings my daily food delivery to the island and head back home!  What books would you bring to a desert island?