The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C. M. Waggoner

March 10, 2021

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C. M. Waggoner

Delly Wells, petty con artist and fire witch, is broke and seriously behind on her rent. In need of a permanent gig (or at least a way to make some quick cash), she sees a "help wanted" sign for female guards with magical abilities to escort a rich young lady to her wedding. Winn, one of the other guards, a "tall plum pudding" of a woman catches Delly's interest right away, but insists on doing things right rather than just having a quick fling.

At first, it looks like easy money and romance, but the job takes a deadly turn. Delly must work with her traveling companions to keep their charge from deadly and un-deadly harm.

This is a fun read. In addition to the obvious plot, there is a sub-plot involving the drug trade (which Delly has a vested interest in, since her mother struggles with drug addiction). The ending was a little fast and anti-climactic, hinting at future cases and more books.

Fire witch

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

August 2, 2022

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

A man returns to the island off the coast of Washington state where he grew up, to bury his mother's ashes and sell her cottage, then plans to return to his life in Portland as soon as he has completed those two tasks. But he was a suspect in a death many years earlier, so the townsfolk call a town meeting to "decide what to do about him." But of course the unexplained death isn't the real reason they want to get rid of him.

This book started losing me about 10% in. I've read this plotline many times before: the small town where the residents hate outsiders and will kill if necessary to maintain the status quo. How (un)original. Yawn.

Even the spells/witchcraft in the book are boring. One of the characters owns a teashop, one owns an herbal apothecary, one is the local granny/wisewoman. Again, no originality here. 

Normally this author writes young adult fiction, and this is her first book being marketed for adults. Maybe she should go back to YA. 

I wish the wisewoman in the book had been this interesting

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

March 4, 2021

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Retired book editor Susan Ryeland is living on a Greek island with her boyfriend, helping him run a boutique hotel. She is not getting much job satisfaction out of her duties and is exhausted. When a wealthy couple comes to stay at the hotel, they tell her about a murder that occurred at the hotel where their daughter's wedding was held. The circumstances of the murder are eerily similar to the plot of a book by Alan Conway, the author of the Atticus Pund series and the subject of a previous mystery that Susan solved (in The Magpie Murders). They implore her to come back to England and investigate the crime.

It's a novel within a novel, a literary thriller. This is the second book in the Susan Ryeland series, and I loved the first book. Although the plot isn't as good as the first book, I was glad to read another Atticus Pund mystery - I hope there will be more.

The Survivors by Jane Harper

March 4, 2021

The Survivors by Jane Harper

Twelve years ago, a local girl drown during a horrific storm, as did two young men who were trying to rescue one of their brothers. Kieran Elliott, the guy they were sent to rescue, has always blamed himself for all three deaths since he was in one of the cliff caves with a girl (another girl, not the one who drowned). Now he has returned to his hometown to help his parents pack up their house in preparation for a move to the city. Shortly after Kieran arrives with his wife and daughter, a young art student is found dead on the beach. Kieran is immediately suspected.

Slow moving, character driven, and all of the characters were unlikeable. The Survivors in the title was a statue of three people looking out to sea, and I never really understood what it had to do with the story, other than it was located near the mouth of the caves. All of Harper's books are set in Australia - I believe this is the first one not set in the outback.

I have enjoyed all of Jane Harper's previous books, but this one was a miss for me. If you haven't read her before, read either The Dry or The Lost Man.

The eastern tip of Australia is the place to go to surf.

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

July 31, 2022

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

March 2020 - Lucy Barton is living her normal life in New York, meeting friends for dinner, visiting her daughters in Brooklyn, working on her next book tour. Out of the blue, her ex-husband William telephones her and tells her to pack a bag, they are going to stay in Maine for while to escape the COVID pandemic. Lucy hasn't been keeping up with the news and isn't aware of the seriousness of the pandemic, but she agrees to go with him anyway, thinking that it will just be for a week or two.

They end up being stuck together for almost a year as the world goes to hell, until they are able to get the COVID vaccine. At first Lucy hates Maine, she and William manage to reconnect as a couple, even as their daughters' lives and marriage crash and burn, and then as their daughters rebuild their lives and become less dependent on Lucy. Gradually Lucy meets people in Maine and after a year, she is able to return to a new version of her life.

Lucy really irritated me at first - she complains about everything, hates everything. Partially I'm just envious. William arranges everything for them and takes care of Lucy - every trip I've ever taken either alone or with family, I am always responsible for everything. Lucy packs the wrong clothes to take for late winter in Maine, and William orders a coat, jeans, sweaters and sneakers from L. L. Bean. Later, because she's freezing in the winter, he gets two down comforters for her.

Coast of Maine

But as the book went on, I really enjoyed it. This is the fourth book with these characters, and I love the fact that they are senior citizens who have interesting lives, a lot better than their daughters and sons-in-law. I have read most of Elizabeth Strout's books and she is a fabulous writer. Highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC.

                                       

            New York City in the middle of the pandemic

This is a picture of my sweet little Asia who died in her sleep one night during April 2020. I also lost a close friend who died from COVID before anyone really knew what it was.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

March 1, 2021

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

William Shakespeare had a child named Hamnet who died from the Black Death at the age of 12. Shakespeare also had two other children, Susanna and Hamnet's twin sister Judith. Not much is known about Hamnet other than when he died, but Maggie O'Farrell took what is known about Hamnet, the Shakespeare family, and daily life in the 15th century, and wove it into a story. Shakespeare was inspired to write the play Hamlet by Hamnet's death.

Interestingly enough, Shakespeare is never mentioned by name - this is obviously his family's story, not his. He is referred to as the children's father, Agnes' husband, the Latin tutor, or John and Mary's son. The story is told through Agnes' eyes (Shakespeare's wife is usually referred to as Anne Hathaway, but her given name was Agnes). Agnes herself had an interest in nature and healing, and she met Will when he was the Latin tutor to her brothers at her family's farm, and follows her life through marriage, the move to Stratford, and the birth of her children.

The story is innovative, and the language is lyrical. You don't need to be a Shakespeare scholar or know much about Hamlet to enjoy this title.

Sarah Bernhardt in the title role of Hamlet

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

February 27, 2021

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

In 1934, in the middle years of drought brought on by soil erosion, with the Great Depression in its fifth year, Elsa Martinelli makes the difficult decision to leave the family farm in Oklahoma and travel to California. Elsa's husband disappeared a few years earlier and Elsa believes he went to California following dreams of easy money. Their son is suffering from dust tuberculosis and the cleaner air in California is supposed to help. 

But California proves not to be the promised land - unable to find cheap housing, reduced to picking crops for low wages, the family is forced to live in a tent city. They experience grinding poverty, prejudice, and a number of other tragedies.

We all enjoy a good tearjerker now and again, but this was just too bleak. Nothing went right for the family and when Elsa finally does stand up for herself, it ends in tragedy. Her daughter Lorada has no absolutely redeeming qualities, and the sick son is a non-entity. The best characters in the book are Elsa's in-laws, Rosa and Tony Martinelli. They take Elsa in when she becomes pregnant with their son's child and her own parents throw her out (Elsa's parents also have no redeeming qualities). They are the first real family and love that Elsa has ever know.

I kept reading, hoping that something good happens or that there will be a happy ending, but it's all just so sad.

I am hit or miss with Kristin Hannah's books. Normally I'm not much into women's fiction, but I loved The Nightingale (which was more like historical women's fiction) and I moderated the book discussion at the library. The Great Alone was more like The Four Winds, bleak and depressing.

That's a dust storm blowing across the Great Plains behind the farm, not a mountain range

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.