Category: This bookish life

Today, while searching for a new book to read, I found out that cozy mysteries are in danger.  Due to mergers and other business factors, some publishers are culling their cozy mystery collections.

What, pray-tell, is a cozy mystery?  Wikipedia states that “Cozy mysteries, also referred to simply as “cozies”, are a subgenera of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detections takes place in a small, socially intimate community.”

If you are a cozy mystery lover, please be sure to contact the publishers of your favorite series to express how much you love them.  Ask them to continue their support of these great stories and the writers who make them happen.

You can find out more about this issue at Save Our Cozies.

Thanks for reading.

It has been a long time since a book both make me laugh and broke my heart.  “Britt-Marie Was Here” did just that.  If you loved Fredrik Blackman’s “A Man Called Ove” or “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry”, you will love this book.

Britt-Marie is a 60-something woman who walked away from her husband, Kent, and their loveless marriage of 40 years.  She has taken a job as the caretaker of the soon to be closed recreation center in the down and out town of Borg. Britt-Marie can’t stand disorder.

Seeing a utensil drawer that is not organized correctly sends her into a tizzy. She feels that only crazy people sleep past 6 am and that dinner should be at the same time every day.

The town of Borg, hit by the economic downturn, has a few die-hard citizens who have not given up on the town.  The one thing holding them together is the one thing Britt-Marie hates, soccer.

 Notable characters in the town are, Somebody – the wheelchair bound proprietor of the only pizzeria left.  Sami, a young man trying to raise is younger brother, Omar, and sister, Vega, after the death of their mother.  Sven, the local policeman with a heart of gold. Her landlady, Bank, is mostly blind with a wicked sense of humor.

The children of Borg play soccer on an improvised field with cups as goal posts.  Ever since their coach died, they have not had a legal “team” and therefore cold not play in any competitions.  Somehow, Britt-Marie becomes their coach, much to her chagrin.  Her hatred of soccer comes from the fact that her husband, Kent, ignored her completely during soccer season.  With the help of Bank, who used to play soccer, the children of Borg enter a soccer cup.

Even though Britt-Marie’s husband Kent shows up she is torn between going home to her loveless marriage or staying in Borg. Has she finally found a place where she can make a difference? By agreeing to be the coach, she keeps the children of Borg from getting into trouble. When a friend of Sami’s puts on a mask and tries to rob the pizzeria, Britt-Marie and Sven try to keep Sami and Omar from getting revenge.

I don’t want to going any more details and ruin the book for you.  The author, Fredrik Blackman, has a way of writing characters who seem unlikable but turn out to be completely different.  I would suggest reading all three books.

Check your local library or independent bookstore for “A Man Called Ove” and “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry” .  “Britt-Marie Was Here” is currently scheduled to be published on May 3, 2016.

Thanks for reading.

I was given an advanced reader copy of Britt-Marie Was Here from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I loved every word of the Harry Potter books written by J.K. Rowling.  When I learned that Robert Galbraith was a pseudonym she was using to write a new series of books, I was very excited.   I thought “YAY!!!  If they are as fantastic as the Harry Potter books, I’ll read every one!”  Then I learned that they were NOT fantasy or kids books.  I was so annoyed that I refused to read any of them. That is, until I decided to read a book each month by an author that I have avoided – and I chose The Cuckoo’s Calling by Galbraith as my March selection.

In my last blog post I made a list of authors that I have avoided or just never got around to reading.  I decided that I was going to read a book by one of these authors each month and then report my thoughts on the books.

For January, I chose James Patterson.  I might have read ONE James Patterson several years ago but for the most part I have avoided him like the plague.  How does one man produce so many books?  Are they good?  That’s what I was about to find out.  I chose to read the first book of one of his newer series, Private.  The main character, a former CIA agent turned Private Investigator, named Jack Morgan. His brother and father are shady characters, his friends are a mess.  A decent detective type story but character development was lacking. I would rather read Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz.

For February, I had to read a Danielle Steele book.  I admit I might have read one of her books 30+ years ago but it’s sappy, unbelievable romance did not impress me.  I don’t do romance novels – you know the bodice ripper type with the bare chested, long haired, muscle bound hero and the damsel in distress on the cover. I believe these books contribute greatly to the divorce rate due to the incredibly, impossible “romance” in them.  I took a lot of time to determine which of Ms. Steele’s books I would read.  I wanted something that told a good story that wasn’t full rich people in their mansions or on their yachts.  I wanted a “realistic” tale. I chose Granny Dan, which tells the story of Danina, a woman who, at the age of 7, was sent to ballet school in Russia in 1902 and became a very famous prima ballerina.  Her dancing wins the admiration and patronage of the Czar and Czarina.  It was a great story and I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

So…I’ve made it through my first two “avoided” authors.  Next month…Robert Galbraith.

Thanks for reading.

I like to think that I am adventurous reader. I don’t read best-sellers just because they are best-sellers. More often than not, if a book is the new “hot” read, I will avoid it like the plague. This means that there are quite a few “prolific” authors that I have not read.  For example, until last week, I had not read ANY James Patterson books.  Yes, the man who releases 2 to 3 books a month, has been, up until last week, snubbed by me.  I have decided that one of my goals this year is to each month, read at least one book written by an author I have avoided.  So, I will be reading:

January – James Patterson
February – Danielle Steele
March – Robert Galbraith
April – Diana Gabaldon
May – Louis L’Amour
June – Nora Roberts
July – Nicholas Sparks
August – Sandra Brown
September – Bernard Cornwell
October – J.A. Jance
November – Nevada Barr
December – Heather Graham

Each month I will post what book I’ve read by the author, my thoughts, and decide if I will read more books by the author.

Thanks for reading.

I received an advanced reader copy of The Japanese Lover from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Japanese Lover tells the decades long love story of Alma, a young Jewish girl who escaped Nazi Germany, and Ichi, the son of her aunt and uncle’s Japanese gardener.  Told through flashbacks and letters between Alma and Ichi as well as through fact finding done by her grandson, Seth, and Irina, her care worker, I was drawn into the story right from page one.

This is the first Isabel Allende novel that I have read and I really enjoyed it, up to a point.  Allende’s writing is warm and inviting. The main characters were well developed and relatable. I really wanted to love this book, but the ending just left me disappointed.  I liked the author’s writing style enough that I will try another of her books to see if it is just this story that left me flat.

The expected release date for The Japanese Lover is November 3, 2015.

Thanks for reading.

There are several books that are coming out in the near future that I am really excited about.  One of them I actually have had the pleasure of reading because I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley.  Here is a short list of books I am dying to get my hands on.

When reviewers said that this was the next Gone Girl I was almost reluctant to read The Girl on the Train. In a previous review, I commented that I didn’t love Gone Girl because the characters in the book were such horrible people. I was afraid that this book would be the same but I was pleasantly surprised.

Rachel is struggling to bounce back from her divorce and not doing a very good job. She is drinking heavily, which had caused her to lose her job. While pretending to go to work each morning, Rachel fantasizes about the lives of “Jess” and “Jason”, a couple who live down the road from where she used to live with her ex-husband.Tom. He still lives there with his new wife and their daughter.

Very quickly, the lives of Rachel, Tom, his wife Anna, and the neighbors down the road, who are really named Megan and Scott, become mysteriously intertwined. When the dust settles, the surprise ending with leave you shocked. The ending had me so rattled that I actually had to step away and think about the book before writing my review. Very good writing, well written characters, and a surprise ending kept me interested and entertained.

Run to your local library or bookstore and check out this book

Thanks for reading.