The Silkworm

"Someone bloody famous," said the hoarse voice on the end of the line, "better've died, Strike."

The large unshaven man tramping through the darkness of predawn, with his telephone clamped to his ear, grinned.

"It's in that ballpark."

"It's six o'clock in the (expletive) morning!"

"It's half past, but if you want what I've got, you'll need to come and get it," said Cormoran Strike. "I'm not far away from your place. There's a —"

"How'd you know where I live?" demanded the voice.

"You told me," said Strike, stifling a yawn. "You're selling your flat."

"Oh," said the other, mollified. "Good memory."

"There's a twenty-four-hour caff—"

"(Expletive) that. Come into the office later—"

"Culpepper, I've got another client this morning, he pays better than you do and I've been up all night. You need this now if you're going to use it."

A groan. Strike could hear the rustling of sheets.

"It had better be (expletive)-hot."

"Smithfield Café on Long Lane," said Strike and rang off.
― Robert Galbraith, The Silkworm

I haven't read Harry Potter, but I certainly enjoy J. K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith. The Cuckoo's Calling is the first in this series, a book that completely absorbed me. The reviews about this second book in the series are even more glowing. Books to enjoy!

 

“Hard to remember these days that there was a time you had to wait for the ink and paper reviews to see your work excoriated. With the invention of the internet, any subliterate cretin can be Michiko Kakutani.”
― Robert Galbraith, The Silkworm

 



The Vacationers

The Vacationers by Emma Straub
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"She’d read all of Jane Austen that year—Austen was good, but when you told people you liked Pride and Prejudice, they expected you to be all sunshine and wedding veils, and Sylvia preferred the rainy moors. The Brontës weren’t afraid to let someone die of consumption, which Sylvia respected."

Despite the topics of adultery, unsettled young adult children, and relationship woes, this book is charming, witty, and engaging. I chuckled. I laughed out loud and think the story is clever and delightful.

Family and friends load up their baggage, in various forms, and fly off to Majorca for a two-week vacation. It's all about people sorting things out in their lives. From the teen heading off to college to the gay couple who are madly, deeply in love--the characters are fully drawn and supply a wealth of angst as well as amusement.

This quick read will bring a smile to your face. The title tells you---perfect summer read! Enjoy!

View all my reviews



This Town by Mark Leibovich

 "Prologue

June 2008

Tim Russert is dead. But the room was alive.

You can't work it too hard at a memorial service, obviously. It's the kind of thing people notice. But the big-ticket Washington departure rite can be such a great networking opportunity. You can almost feel the ardor behind the solemn faces: lucky stampedes of power mourners, about two thousand of them, wearing out the red-carpeted aisles of the Kennedy Center."

::: It's an ugly truth, isn't it? :::

Would you read this book? 

 

 

 

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http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/

                                   

http://www.rosecityreader.com/

Book Musing Secrets!

 

Happy Monday-Funday!! Are you reading a good book this week? I am beginning Fin & Lady by Cathleen Schine. Not sure about this one yet because I'm only a few pages into it. At this point, it seems that Lady is a zany young adult who is stepping in to take custody of her much younger half-brother when he is left an orphan.

 

Still reading The Intercept by Dick Wolf, though I must admit I have been neglecting Keeping Mum by Alyse Carlson. The Intercept is not my usual fare, but I'm staying with this thriller to the end. It does seem quite wordy to this reader.

 

===========================================

Today's musing is a set of book-related questions:

Top 3 bookish pet peeves?

1. Unnecessary interruptions while I'm reading.
2. Having to wait for a book that I really-really want to read.
3. Coming to the end of a good book that has drawn me into its world.

Perfect reading spot?
Anywhere. Any time. My choice reading spot is on the swing on our back deck, birds chirping,
and a gentle breeze rustling the leaves  on the trees. Like now as I write this.

3 Bookish confessions?

1. I do not re-read books, even ones that have spoken to me deeply.
2. I write favorite passages from books, but seldom go back to my journal to read them. Maybe the act of writing the words that touch me is enough.
3. I keep a physical map on which I plot the settings of each book I read, though I do not select books by the setting. Thus far in 2014, my book settings cluster in England and on the NE coast of the USA. 

When was the last time you cried during a book?
Years and years ago. I don't remember, really.

How many books are on your bedside table?
None. I don't keep books there.

What is your favorite snack to eat while reading?
A Diet Coke and chips. (Please don't judge me!!)

Name 3 books you’d recommend to everyone.

1. The Gamache series by Louise Penny
2. The Sugar Queen by Sara Addison Allen
3. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

Write how much books mean to you in 3 words
Lost without books.

What is your biggest reading secret?
I prefer books to people much of the time!

Who I’m tagging:
YOU!

Be Careful What You Wish For ~ Jeffrey Archer

Do you read books by Jeffrey Archer? I get absolutely lost in his writing--so lush, so rich, so enveloping. I am now reading Be Careful What You Wish For, the 4th book in the Clifton Chronicles series with so many twists and turns that I have to pause and take a deep breath every now and then! Will the Barrington Company go forward with building and launching the new ship, The Buckingham? Who will have controlling shares in the Barrington Shipping Company? Does Jessica learn the identity of her biological parents? Read on. Read on!



"Sebastian tightened his grip on the steering wheel of the little MG. The lorry behind him touched the bumper and jolted the car forward, sending its number plate flying high into the air. Sebastian tried to advance a couple more feet, but couldn't go any faster without running into the lorry in front of him and being squeezed between the two of them like a concertina." 



 What will you be reading this weekend?

The Intercept by Dick Wolf

"Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name."

"Bassam Shah had driven through a day and two nights from Denver, stopping only for gas, eating fried pies, drinking Red Bull, and urinating into a plastic milk jug between gas station fill-ups."

First sentence. First paragraph. An evocative and rather disgusting opening for this thriller also launches a new author and the Jeremy Fisk series about New York City's joint task force on terrorism. I haven't read a thriller in a while and am tip-toeing through this one, ready to slam the book shut on any sickening violence. So far, so good.



Rules:*Grab a book, any book.*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
 *Find any sentence,  that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple



"Geeseman gestured to two men who looked like they had been sent by a movie studio casting department to play computer hackers. Rosofsky was the plump one, Pearl the emaciated pale one, each wearing jeans, T-shirts, and shy smiles. No eye contact."

What is your current read? 



Book Formats -- A Fave?

 

 

The books we think we ought to read are poky, dull, and dry;
The books that we would like to read we are ashamed to buy;
The books that people talk about we never can recall;
And the books that people give us, oh, they're the worst of all.
 

                                                                                                                --by Carolyn Wells

 

 

"All other things being equal, what is your favorite format for reading? Hardcover? Paperback? New book? Old book? Leather-bound first edition? E-book?" http://btt2.wordpress.com/

Hardback books, especially thick ones, are my all-time favorite reading format. I like turning the pages, seeing them stack one upon the other from right to left as I travel through the words and commas and periods.

E-readers are so convenient for accessing books and for portability. I do like reading on my Nook.

I find that my most common way to read in recent years is via my iPod so that I can knit, crochet, cook, work in the yard whilst absorbed in the world of my current read. I download books from two libraries and get absolutely lost in the stories.

What? What's that you say? I can't hear you because of my ear buds.

Sorry, I'm in Tuscany at the moment.

Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR list

"Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers."

 

 

~ Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR list ~

1. Be Careful What You Wish For by Jeffrey Archer
2. I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You by Courtney Maum
3. This Town by Mark Leibovich
4. The Vacationers by Emma Straub
5. The Storied Life of A. J. Fickry by Gabrielle Devin
6. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
7. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
8. China Dolls by Lisa See
9. The Girls Of August by Anne Rivers Siddons
10. The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel

 

Being a slow reader, I know I won't get through all of these books by September. It will be interesting to compare this list with the books I do read!!

 

* * I'd love to read your list! * *

Flight Behavior ---

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Sadly,this was not a book for me. The atmosphere was heavy, the characters were heavy, and the setting was less than attractive. There were brilliant descriptions of butterflies and mud and despair which wore thin for this reader.

There was a ray of hope in the story which, alas, was not quite enough for me.

View all my reviews

Books To Read

"To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?"

CURRENTLY READING

• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (It's taking forever to read this book. I'm simply not engaged with the characters.)
• Keeping Mum by Alyse Carlson (I set this one down mid-read and have yet to pick it up again!)

RECENTLY FINISHED

• Latte Trouble (Coffee House Mystery #3) by Cleo Coyle  3/5
• Framed in Lace (Needlecraft Mystery #2) by Monica Ferris  4/5

TO READ NEXT

• Every Day In Tuscany: Seasons in an Italian Life by Frances Mayes
• A Stitch in Time (A Needlecraft Mystery, #3) by Monica Ferris

What's happening in your reading life?

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2014

"Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers."

 

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This Year

1. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
2. Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes
3. The Prodigal Daughter by Jeffrey Archer
4. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
5. The Winter Garden Mystery by Carola Dunn
6. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
7. A Matter of Honor by Jeffrey Archer

 

 

What are your top reads thus far in 2014?

 

Flight Behavior

When I heard Barbara Kingsolver discuss her book Flight Behavior, I was immediately drawn to her ideas surrounding this book. The whole notion of shifting patterns and behaviors in nature is a fascinating premise for a novel.

Have you read Flight Behavior? What are your thoughts about it?

 "...It was about thirty of them up here the Friday after Thanksgiving. I want to tell you! That's not normal, for the day after Thanksgiving. 'No, it isn't,' Valia agreed. 'People should be at the mall.' "

"A certain feeling comes from throwing your good life away, and it is one part rapture. Or so it seemed for now, to a woman with flame-colored hair who marched uphill to meet her demise. Innocence was no part of this. She knew her own recklessness and marveled, really, at how one hard little flint of thrill could outweigh the pillowy, suffocating aftermath of a long disgrace."

 These are the opening sentences of a very long first paragraph.

What are you reading?

Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes

Hello there! I hope you are there!! I have been ill and away from my blog for a month or so. I think I'm ready to get back in the swing of things. I want to get back in the swing of things! I've been away too long!

So, to begin here is my "Sunday Post" a review of my week's reads and books to begin soon. Although I just might include a few reads from while I've been away. :)

 

May Book Review

 

Naughty in Nice (Book #5, Her Royal Spyness series) by Rhys Bowen

I love Rhys Bowen. I love her leading lady in this series, Lady Georgiana Rannoch 35th in line for the British throne. Set in the 1930's, this humorous book finds our illustrious heroine in France on a mission for the Queen. She bumps into Coco Channel, the Duke of Windsor, and Wallis Simpson in a story that begs the antiquated descriptor such as "a mad-cap romp". Suspend reality and get ready to read this award winning author with smiles, giggles, and laughs. It's a good story.

 

 

Under The Wide Starry Sky by Nancy Horan

Finely crafted historical fiction about Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife, Fanny. Riveting read!

 

 

My First Ladies by Nancy Clarke

A White House florist recounts her interactions with Presidents and their wives from Carter to Obama. The book is the author's walk down memory lane after her retirement. This is a gentle read without surprises.

 

 

Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes

Can I just say that this is my bell-ringer book of the month? Ding-ding-ding!!! A very wealthy, dying man convinces an old acquaintance to determine if he has an heir to his fortune. The task is to talk to women who may have conceived a child by him during his salad days in the "swingin' 60's". Whaaaat? I know! And, the author is Julian Fellowes! Magnificent story, well told.

 

Currently Reading

 

Keeping Mum (A Garden Society Mystery #3) by Alyse Carlson

I'm just a few pages into this one, so we'll see how the story develops as Camilla provides the flowers for a fundraiser for a Senate candidate sponsored by the Roanoke Garden Society.

Burning Questions : Will the candidate survive the fund raiser? If not him, who will the victim be?

I must read on!!

 

 

Coming Right Up

 

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

Caine's Pestilence by John Bascom

 

 

And in Other News

 

I came across a reference to NewBooks magazine and looked it up online. It's a British book magazine for readers and book clubs. I decided it had good articles and reviews and added it to my news feed. You can too! Right here.

 

Quips & Quotes

 

“This phenomenon, where the losers of a revolution try to demonstrate their support for, and approval of, the changes that have destroyed them, always fascinates me.”
― Julian Fellowes, Past Imperfect

 

“it was the juice of a lemon in his father’s wounds.”
― Nancy Horan, Under the Wide and Starry Sky

 

Thanks for coming by. I can't wait to read your comments and visit your blogs!!

Johnny Carson by Bushkin

Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a book about Henry Bushkin by Henry Bushkin because he worked for Johnny Carson. It seems he wanted to explain his side of every controversial situation that involved him and Carson. Hence, the book, which tells in lurid detail the tale of Johnny: depressive, alchoholic, adulterous, debauched, and self-indulgent. Johnny also could be philanthropic, generous, and thoughtful. How can he possibly hope that Carson would have liked this book given the author's extended writing about Johnny's inability to endure criticism?

The sad life of Johnny Carson is held up to the light by a former employee who seems to be seeking revenge. Also, he loved Johnny.


View all my reviews


Up next: Naughty in Nice (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries) by Rhys Bowen

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Bloomsbury Women

 



Bloomsbury Women: Distinct Figures in Life and Art  by Jan Marsh has been on my radar for several years. Finally after much procrastination, I ordered a used copy from BN which arrived today. Alas, my copy does not have this luscious dust jacket but does boast a darkish red cloth cover which I find most acceptable. The drawing, photos, and text are not a disappointment in this fascinating non-fiction work.

 

Here are the opening sentences:

 

" 'Bloomsbury was conceived in 1904, when Vanessa and Virginia Stephen and their brothers Thoby and Adrian moved from fashionable Kensington to the quieter London district of Bloomsbury, close to the British Museum. It was born, so to speak, the following year, when the house at 46 Gordon Square became the melting place for their young artistic and intellectual friends, who gathered on regular weekday evenings to talk and to listen." 

 

 And from page 56:

" 'One day someone said you might get a job to paint furniture and do decorative work at the Omega Workshops,' she recalled. 'Feeling brave I went to Fitzroy Square and asked to see Mr. Fry. He was a charming man with grey hair and said I should come round the next day and start work. I went round and was shown what to do. Batiks. I was paid by the hour...and felt like a millionaire.' "

 

:: What are you reading? ::

Through the Grinder

Through the Grinder by Cleo Coyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Excellent cozy mystery. Strong story and characterization. Although I'm not a coffee drinker, the Coffee House Mystery series by Cleo Coyle has grabbed my interest. Written by a husband and wife, THROUGH THE GRINDER is a page turner. If you enjoy cozies, you'll probably want to read this series. I do.

View all my reviews

Sisterland

 

Chapter 1
September 2009
St. Louis, Missouri

" 'The shaking started around three in the morning, and it happened that I was already awake because I'd nursed Owen at two and then, instead of going back to sleep, I'd lain there brooding about the fight I'd had at lunch with my sister, Vi. I'd driven with Owen and Rosie in the backseat to pick up Vi, and the four of us had gone to Hacienda. We'd finished eating and I was collecting Rosie's stray food from the tabletop--once I had imagined I wouldn't be the kind of mother who ordered chicken tenders for her child off the menu at a Mexican restaurant--when Vi said, 'So I have a date tomorrow.' "


I have just begun reading Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld and am interested thus far. The protagonist is a woman whose twin sister's personality is the diametrically opposite of the main character. My guess: Therein lies the story.

 

" 'I was being baited, but I tried to match Vi's casual tone as I said, 

"Did you meet online?' "

Does this book interest you?

Summer in Tuscany

 It's all about the setting for me. I love Tuscany and can feel the warm glow of the Tuscan atmosphere as I read this book. The writing is comfortable;the story is sweetly predictable. This is definitely is a comfort read that I am enjoying immensely.

 "Let me tell you right from the start, you wouldn't want to know me. Especially on a Saturday night. Why? Because that's when it's toughest here in the emergency room, and the only reason you would ever get to meet me is if you were wheeled in here on a guerney. Then it would be my face looking down at you in the glow of a white light saying, What's your name?...Where does it hurt?...Who did it?"

"A rabbit had darted out in front of her wheels and she had squealed to a halt, backed up, gotten out, inspected the dead creature, picked it up by its tail, and flung it into the back seat.

The next day her so-called majordomo came by....bearing a ceramic terrine and a little note saying, 'I do hope you'll enjoy this rabbit pate'. It's fresh.'"

Does this book interest you?

Miss Buncle

 

 

The following selections are from Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson. This clever book within a book is very different from my typical reading fare. The multi-level stories and word play are so delightful that I find myself smiling as I read. Set in a small village in the British country-side, the story is a latter day "Seinfeld" tale of a place where "nothing" happens...in the 1930s.

 

 

"One fine summer's morning the sun peeped over the hills and looked down upon the valley of Silverstream. It was so early that there was really very little for him to see except the cows belonging to Twelve=Trees Farm in the meadows by the river. They were going slowly up to the farm to be milked.their shadows were quite black, weird, and ungainly, like pictures of prehistoric monsters moving over the lush grass. The farm stirred and a slow spiral of smoke rose from the kitchen chimney."

"Mrs. Featherstone Hogg was less like a busy bee than anybody Barbara could think of. She was tall and willowy and tired, so tired that you could not help feeling it was good of her to trouble to speak to you at all."

What do you think? What are you reading?

Mrs. Q ~ A Teaser

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn

" 'Is this all there is?' The Queen thought to herself. She'd begun her adventure in such high spirits and now she sat next to a sign directing visitors to the gift shop on her decommissioned yacht where once had stood an ebonized side table."

 

What would happen if the Queen of England, in a whimsical mood, left the castle without fan fare and wandered about London by herself...in a hoodie jacket? Whimsy indeed!