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Taco and Bella

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More Books Read in 2024

  • Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci
    Waller has just begun a new business venture: one that could lead to millions of deaths all over the globe. On his trail is Shaw, the mysterious operative who has tracked Waller to Provence and must prevent him from closing his latest deal. But someone else is pursuing Waller: Reggie Campion, an agent for a secret vigilante group headquartered in a musty old English estate—and she has an agenda of her own. ***
  • Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
    It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man is in his his busiest season.. One morning, while delivering coal to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery that forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the Catholic church. This novella is based on the true story of the infamous Magdalene Laundries, run by the Catholic Church in Ireland. ****
  • As the Sycamore Grows by Jennie Miller Helderman
    Ginger has for years been held a virtual prisoner by her husband Mike in a cabin in the woods. No electricity, no phone, no access to the outside world or to her friends and family. In this true story, Helderman tells how Ginger finally found the strength to overcome her fears and escape her prison. ****
  • None of This Is True by Lisa Jewel
    Josie and Alix, "birthday twins" meet one night at a restaurant as they are both celebrating their 45th birthday. A few days later, they chance to meet again. They get to know each other, and decide to make a podcast together based Josie's life. The bing bang boom! Alix finds herself and her family in a mess of danger. Good book. ****
  • Morsels by Abe Moss by Abe Moss
    As Connie prepared to accompany her boyfriend to meet his parents at the ritzy summer home, she's nervous. Evan has told her how cold, snobbish, and disapproving they are. But the couple she meets his warm and welcoming. What's going on here, Evan wonders. It's almost like these are really his parents. This is a scary book. ***
  • My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon
    Allison was raised by an alcoholic abusive mother. Now that the mother is dying she wants to spend her last days living with Allison. Like a good daughter, Allison agrees. The consequences will make Allison doubt her decision. ****
  • Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica
    Jake Hayes is missing. At first, his wife, Nina, thinks he is blowing off steam at a friend’s house after their heated fight the night before. But then a day goes by. Two days. Five. And Jake is still nowhere to be found. A twisty thriller that kept me turning pages into the night. ****
  • When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd.Banwo
    In the old house on a hill, where the city meets the rainforest, Yejide’s mother is dying. She is leaving behind a legacy that now passes to Yejide: one St Bernard woman in every generation has the power to shepherd the city’s souls into the afterlife. But after years of suffering her mother’s neglect and bitterness, Yejide is looking for a way out. ***
  • The Doll's House by Lisa Unger
    Jules's first mistake was getting involved with a man she didn't know much about so soon after her husband's death. Would it be her last mistake too. Sold as a short story but more like a novella. ***
  • As the Sycamore Tree Grows by Jennie Miller Helderman
    Imagine sleeping with the enemy in the hills of Tennessee when the enemy totes a Bible and packs a .38. Mike shoved and slapped but his primary tools were isolation and economic abuse, until he discovered the power of the Lord. As the Sycamore Grows is a nonfiction narrative about ending the legacy of abuse. ****
  • First Born by Will Dean
    Molly and Katie Raven ar identical twins. They have spent their lives in close company with each other. But now an ocean separates them. And when Katie is murdered in New York, Molly leaves London to try to help police find out what happened to her. You won't see the ending coming. At least I didn't. ****
  • Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
    Published in. 1932 and set in the "near future," this book is touted to be a "comic novel" (I never got a chuckle) and a "satire" of the type of popular fiction of the time (I guess you had to be there). It's not terrible. There's even a bit of mystery and intrigue (most of which is never solved). It involves a young English woman who has recently lost her parents (or was it her husband?) and finds herself without a place to live. She claims she has many talents but not the ability to support herself. So she polls her relatives (many if not most of whom she has never met) to see who will invite her to live with them. She gets a bite and goes to live with a weird family on Cold Creek Farm. I just didn't get it. **
  • The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
    Beukes has come up with a very ingenious plot: a seriel killer who time travels. And that's all I'm going to tell. you, except is is now a streaming t.v. series starring Elizabeth Moss on Apple TV. ****
  • A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
    We return to Shirley Jackson's Hilll House for this intriguing and scary story. A group of theatre people return to the haunted mansion for a two-week workshop to rehearse the writer's new screen play. But their work is interrupted by the "whatever walks there." Not quite up to the quality of Jackson's work, but pretty darn good. ****
  • Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
    One July night, 10-year-old Ethan and his best friend Billy decide to camp out in Ethan's back yard. The next morning when Ethan wakes up, Billy is gone and is never seen again. Thirty years later, Ethan returns to the old neighborhood, determine to find out what happened to his friend. ****
  • Book of Mirrors by E.O. Chirovici
    After I watched SLEEPING DOGS on Amazon Prime, I immediately wanted to read the book from which it was taken. The movie is good, but the book is even better. It's a murder mystery that'll have you guessing whether you're watching the movie or reading the book. ****
  • The Boy, the Mole, the Horse, and the Fox by Charlies Mackesy
    From British illustrator, artist, and author Charlie Mackesy comes a journey for all ages that explores life’s universal lessons, featuring 100 color and black-and-white drawings. A delightful little book that will remind you a lot of THE LITTLE PRINCE and WINNIE THE POOH.****
  • The Dead House by Billy O'Callaghan
    A deliciously spooky ghost story that takes place at an ancient and remote cottage on the eastern coast of Ireland. The writing is reminiscent of Daphne Du Marier. I loved this book. ****
  • The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon
    Aidan Thomas is a hard-working family man and a somewhat beloved figure in the small upstate New York town where he lives. He’s the kind of man who always lends a hand and has a good word for everyone. But Aidan has a dark secret he’s been keeping from everyone in town and those closest to him. He’s a kidnapper and serial killer. Aidan has murdered eight women and there’s a ninth he has earmarked for death: Rachel, imprisoned in a backyard shed, fearing for her life. ****
  • Night Road by Kristin Hannah
    Jude Faraday is very invested in her children's lives. Some might even call her a helicopter mom. But senior year of high school is a dangerous season of drinking, driving, parties, and kids who want to let loose. On a hot summer's night, one bad decision tears the Faraday family apart, including Lexi, an orphan who has become so close to the Faraday family that she feels like one of them. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forgive. ****
  • Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
    Twelve-year-old Crow has lived her entire life on a tiny, isolated piece of the starkly beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. Abandoned and set adrift in a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow’s only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar. ****
  • Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
    When reporter Ellen Gleeson gets a "Have You Seen This Child?" flyer in the mail, she almost throws it away. But something about it makes her look again, and her heart stops—the child in the photo is identical to her adopted son, Will. Thus opens a story that will at times break your heart and at time lift it up. *****
  • The Iceman by by Anthony Bruno
    A mob contract killer known as “The Iceman” for hiding a body in an ice-cream truck freezer, Richard Kuklinski boasted a personal body count of more than a hundred victims. This book is the inspiration for the Netflix movie "The Iceman," starring Michael Shannon as Kuklinski. Good book and good movie. ****
  • Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
    Jessica, Nora, and Alicia grew up in a foster home with Miss Fairchild as their wicked foster mom. Fairchild has a story of her own to tell, and she does, mixed in with he main plot. Although their girls' childhoods were challenging and sometimes downright horrible, they came to think of each other as sisters. Now that they are adults with lives and careers, a body has been found buried under the house they grew up in, and police want to talk to the sisters about what they might know. This is a good book, really good, but the amount of errors, at least in the Kindle edition, errors that should have been fixed by a copy editor, ticked me off. But I'm giving it four stars anyway. ****
  • The Mobius Door by Andrew Najbert
    If Stephen King's book are too scary far you, make sure you don't go near this book. Remember THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE? it's sort of like that--except it's a door, not a wardrobe, and it's terrifying. I, however, loved it. ****
  • The Queen of Sugar Hill by Reshonda Tate
    A fiction/based-on-fact book chronically the life of Hattie McDaniels who played Manny in "Gone With the Wind." ****

Books Read in '2024

  • Billy O'Gallaghan: Dead House
    Written somewhat in the style of Daphne du Maurier, but with an added touch of the supernatural, this book entranced me from the first page. The setting, an isolated cottage on the foggy coast of County Cork Ireland, sets up a spooky atmosphere in which a young artist comes in contact with an ancient evil. (****)
  • Karin Slaughter: Pretty Girls
    More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia's teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two have been estranged since then. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak. Old woulds are ripped open when Claire's husband is killed. Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it. (****)
  • Michael Connelly: The Poet
    A cunning and savage serial killer is at large. His targets: homicide cops, each haunted by a murder case he couldn't crack. The killer's calling card: a quotation from the works of Edgar Allan Poe. His latest victim is reporter Jack McEvoy's brother. McEvoy inserts himself into the investigation and risks his career and even his life to bring the killer to justice. (****)
  • Dennis Lehane: Gone, Baby, Gone
    The tough Boston neighborhood of Dorchester is no place for the innocent or the weak. Its streets are littered with broken families, hearts, and dreams. Now, one of its youngest is missing. Private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro risk everything, including their relationship and their sanity to find a little girl lost. (****)
  • Stephen King: You Like It Darker
    A dozen stories by one of the most prolific and talented writers of our time. It even contains a sequel to CUJO entitled "Rattlesnakes." (****)
  • Patricia Highsmith: The Talented Mr. Ripley
    The excellent book on which the 1999 movie starring Matt Damon and the and the more recent Netflix series is based. The book is excellent, as are both he film and series. (*****)
  • Kristin Hannah: Night Road
    Maybe her best book. Jude Farraday finds that even a helicopter mom can't always protect her children. A tear-jerker for sure. Keep the tissues handy. (*****)
  • Clemence Michallon: The Quiet Tenant
    Aidan Thomas is a hard-working family man and a somewhat beloved figure in the small upstate New York town where he lives. He’s the kind of man who always lends a hand and has a good word for everyone. But Aidan has a dark secret he’s been keeping from everyone in town and those closest to him. He’s a kidnapper and serial killer. Aidan has murdered eight women and there’s a ninth he has earmarked for death: Rachel, imprisoned in a backyard shed, fearing for her life. (***)
  • Shanessa Glum: A River of Crows
    In 1988, Sloan Hadfield's brother Ridge went fishing with their father and never came home. Their father was arrested and charged with murder. Ridge's body was never recovered, and Sloan's mother slowly descended into madness, insisting her son was still alive as a crow. Good books (****)
  • Stacy Willingham: All the Dangerous Things
    One year ago, Isabelle Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally. (****)
  • Ariel Lawton: The Frozen River
    1789 Maine. Midwife Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body of a man who has been entombed in the frozen Kennebec River and determine cause of death. This is not only an intriguing murder mystery, but also a snapshot of lives that women were subjected to in young America. For instance, a woman couldn't testify at trial without the permission of her husband or father. I loved this book, but it disturbed me. (****)
  • Hannah Tinti: The Good Thief
    Twelve year-old Ren is missing his left hand. How it was lost is a mystery that Ren has been trying to solve for his entire life, as well as who his parents are, and why he was abandoned as an infant at Saint Anthony’s Orphanage for boys. (***)
  • Mary Kubica: The Good Girl
    One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn’t show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. Talk about your surprise ending. At least it was to me. In fact, I wasn't sure how it ended until I read the last few pages a second time. Actually the every last sentence of the book makes it clear. This is the first book I've read byt his author, but it won't be the last. (****)
  • Simone St. James: Murder Road
    A young newlywed couple on their way to their honeymoon get involved in a decades-old murder mystery after they take a wrong turn onto a dark and spooky road. (***)
  • Dennis Lehane: Since We Fell
    After a very public mental breakdown, Rachel Childs, once a tenacious, globe-trotting journalist, now lives as a virtual shut-in. In all other respects, however, she enjoys an ideal life with an ideal husband. Until a chance encounter on a rainy afternoon causes that ideal life to fray. As does Rachel’s marriage. As does Rachel herself. Sucked into a conspiracy thick with deception, violence, and possibly madness, Rachel must find the strength within herself to conquer unimaginable fears and mind-altering truths. (***)
  • Dennis Lehane: The Drop
    Lehane returns to the streets of Boston for this love story wrapped in a crime story wrapped in a journey of faith. (***)
  • Coben, Harlan: I Will Find You

    Coben, Harlan: I Will Find You
    David Burroughs was once a devoted father to his three-year-old son Matthew, until one night when David woke suddenly to discover Matthew had been murdered. Five years later, David having been wrongly accused and convicted of the murder, is serving time in prison. He has lost interesting in everything, including the will to live. Until, that is, his ex-wife's sister shows him a photograph. (****)

  • McFadden, Freida: The Housemaid

    McFadden, Freida: The Housemaid
    Young, jobless, broke Millie is living in her car when she snags a job as a live-in housekeeper for a well-to-do family. Millie thinks she has hit the jackpot until she arrives at her first day and finds nothing is what she had thought. Her employer Nina is a vindictive gaslighter and the 8-year-old daughter is a small copy of her mom. The only normal person in the household seems to be the husband Andy. If only Millie had followed her instincts and left that house immediately. But she didn't. Twisty as an amusement park roller coaster. (****)

  • Wallace, Daniel: Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician

    Wallace, Daniel: Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician
    Henry Walker, once the "greatest magician in the world," has been reduced to a minstrel show–like novelty act in a traveling circus. Henry's story, told by a succession of narrators—including members of the circus and a private detective—begins during the Depression, when Henry's family fell on hard times. While down and out, Henry meets and apprentices with the devilish magician Mr. Sebastian. Henry learns the secrets of magic, but his ambition and ability are crimped when his beloved sister, Hannah, disappears. The truths of Henry's and Mr. Sebastian's identities and the fate of Hannah are gradually revealed, and what appears to be a Faustian tale of a pact with the devil turns out to be something more tragic. (****)

  • McFadden, Freida: The Ex

    McFadden, Freida: The Ex
    Joel is sweet, handsome, romantic, and best of all, he’s crazy about Cassie. She thinks she’s found the guy she’ll spend the rest of her life with. Have children with. Grow old with. And then the twists begin. This book has so many twists and turns, you might get dizzy reading it. One of the best thrillers yet. (****)

  • Sager, Riley: The Last Time I Lied: A Novel

    Sager, Riley: The Last Time I Lied: A Novel
    Four girls share a cabin at the exclusive Nightingale summer camp. During the night three of them disappear without a trace. Fifteen years later, Emma, the sole survivor of the four friends, returns to Camp Nightingale to teach art of the young campers. But her real purpose is finding what happened to her three friends on that long ago summer night. (***)

  • Swarthout, Glendon: The Homesman: A Novel

    Swarthout, Glendon: The Homesman: A Novel
    A devastating story of early pioneers in 1850s American West. It celebrates the ones we hear nothing of: the brave women whose hearts and minds were broken by a life of bitter hardship. A “homesman” must be found to escort a handful of them back East to a sanitarium. When none of the county’s men steps up, the job falls to Mary Bee Cuddy—ex-teacher, spinster, indomitable and resourceful. (*****)

  • Macmillan, Gilly: What She Knew: A Novel

    Macmillan, Gilly: What She Knew: A Novel
    Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes. I was completely surprised when the perpetrator was revealed. (****)

  • Stainton, Jack: You're Family Now

    Stainton, Jack: You're Family Now
    Matt Walker has spent his entire life chasing the next job and the next relationship. Life was slowly drifting him by. Until one evening, in a hotel bar, he meets the quiet and unassuming Julia who clues him in to the perfect job opportunity. Not only did the subsequent interview provide him with his dream job, it's also where he meets the love of his life. All he has to do is love her family. (****)

Books Read in 2023

« Time to Buck Up | Main | QUESTION? »

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Blossoms, Bear, and Books

Pink1

All summer, my lantana has just sort of piddled along with a puny little blossom popping up every now and then. I guess it just didn't like the horribly hot weather. But now that the temps are down about ten degrees, it is really putting on a show.

Pink2 

This morning I finished the center bear block for the baby quilt I'm working on. (See below.)

Bear Block

The remainder of the top will be scrappy 5" squares. I'm using blue prints and yellow prints for the squares. I hope to have it finished and to the quilter's by the end of next week. The baby that it is intended for was born a couple of months ago. I don't want him to outgrow it before I get it to him.

This afternoon was the monthly meeting of my book club. Today we discussed The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

It's the true story of Rose Mary and Rex Walls, who should be the poster people for dysfunctional parents, and their four children. The lackadaisical way that the Walls go about "caring for" their children will make you angry and sick. But the strength and almost stoic attititudes with which these kids come through their nightmarish childhoods to become productive adults will amaze you. I liked this book. It put me in mind of other, even better, books like Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt and The Dollmaker by Harriett Arnow, although neither of these books can boast awful parents to the degree that the Walls were awful.

The video at the link below features Jeannette Walls telling a little about her childhood.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m233QKFTE79AHO

Watching this video, I'm struck by the fact that Walls sounds as if she's describing the life of any ordinary child growing up with ordinary, although a little eccentric, parents. Believe me, this book and the lives of these children were anything but ordinary.

I'm linking to Beverly's Pink Saturday. All you Pinkaholics, be sure to visit some of the blogs listed on Beverly's blog.

I'm very tired and achey tonight. I'm sure it's the fibro. The last couple of times I took the doggies out, it was really a push to make it. For the rest of the evening, they'll have to make do with their small fenced back yard. Sorry, guys. That's the way it crumbles sometimes--cookiewise. Happy Weekend, everyone.

Posted at 06:00 AM |

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