#ShortStorySunday – Writing the Rites.

Book Review for “Life: A Love Story” by Elizabeth Berg. Summary: "As ninety-two-year-old Florence "Flo" Greene nears the end of her life, she writes a letter to Ruthie, the woman who grew up next door to her, describing the items Flo is leaving Ruthie in her will. But as it goes on, telling surprising stories … Continue reading #ShortStorySunday – Writing the Rites. →

TCL’s #CCSpin 43 #BookReview – Scout-ing for Justice.

Book Review for “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Summary: "'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’ A lawyer’s advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee’s classic novel – a black man charged with the … Continue reading TCL’s #CCSpin 43 #BookReview – Scout-ing for Justice. →

Women Widening Worlds With Words.

Book Review for “The Temple of the Muses” by Jane Davis. Summary: "London, 1780. As the city smoulders in the aftermath of the Gordon Riots, booksellers James and Dorcas Lackington resolve to fight despair not with charity, but with books. Convinced that reading is the surest path out of poverty, they launch a daring experiment … Continue reading Women Widening Worlds With Words. →

Arms, Legs, Toes, and AARDVARK?

Book Review for “Turn Right at the Rainbow: A Diary of Househunting, Happenstance & Home” by Roz Morris. Summary: "You don’t find home. Home finds you. Roz has lived in her London house for thirty years. She arrived there bewildered and reckless, moving in with a man she'd known for one week, and the house … Continue reading Arms, Legs, Toes, and AARDVARK? →

The Art of Rebellion and/or Conforming.

Book Review for “The Dream Life of Sukhanov” by Olga Grushin. Summary: "At fifty-six, Anatoly Sukhanov has everything a man could want. Nearly twenty-five years ago, he traded his precarious existence as a brilliant underground artist for the perks and comforts of a high-ranking Soviet apparatchik. Once he created art; now he censors it. His … Continue reading The Art of Rebellion and/or Conforming. →

The Mother of All Controversies.

Book Review for “MUV: The Story of the Mitford Girls' Mother” by Rachel Trethewey. Summary: "Everyone knows about the six flamboyant Mitford girls but in fact there were seven remarkable women in the famous family—the seventh was "Muv," Lady Sydney Redesdale, the mother of the notorious sisters. Too often portrayed as different from them and … Continue reading The Mother of All Controversies. →

Sirens on the High Seas.

Book Review for “The Determined” by Rachel Rueckert. Summary: "1721, Spanish Town, Jamaica. Captured, convicted, and pregnant, twenty-three-year-old Anne Bonny faces the gallows. When writer Captain Charles Johnson enters the garrison, she strikes a deal: she’ll tell this opportunistic fool her story if he sends a doctor to her friend, Mary Read, who’s battling prison … Continue reading Sirens on the High Seas. →

The Classics Club Spin #CCSpin #43 pick for TCL!

Hello, Classics Club Spinners... I'm here to tell you that Our lucky winning number for the 43rd Classics Club Spin is... TWO! According to my announcement post, this means I will be reading... "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. According to Goodreads... "'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but … Continue reading The Classics Club Spin #CCSpin #43 pick for TCL! →

The Last Battle Mystery!

Book Review for “Towards Zero” by Agatha Christie. Summary: "What is the connection among a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a house party gathers at Gull’s Point, the seaside home of an … Continue reading The Last Battle Mystery! →

A New Recipe for Death.

Book Review for “To Kill a Cook” by M.W Akers. Summary: "Nobody in Manhattan eats better than Bernice Black. It’s 1972, and she is the city’s busiest restaurant critic, juggling her fiance and his two young sons with demands of fine dining. Bernice talks fast, walks faster, has a razor-sharp wit and no patience for … Continue reading A New Recipe for Death. →