If you haven't watched the Amazon Prime series Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, you must. PERIOD. End of story.
My favorite quote from the first episode is when Mrs. Maisel (Miriam/Midge) is addressing her wedding reception (predominantly Jewish) and she shouts out, "There's shrimp in the eggrolls!" I seriously laugh every time I think of this. And it's not even the funniest line.
We're re-watching the series and we just started season two. The first episode of season two has probably some of the best one-liners. OK- you have your marching orders- watch it. Laughing is good.
Let's see if I can wrap up the reviews for the rest of the books I read in 2020.
Book #57- The Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews
Summary: This is the 28th book and the seventh Christmas mystery in the Meg Langslow series. Meg’s running Caerphilly’s Helping Hands for the Holidays project, in which neighbors help each other with things they can’t do and can’t afford to have done. Her hopes for a relatively peaceful (if busy) Christmas vanish when someone murders Harvey the Hoarder, whose house the Helping Hands were decluttering. Was there any truth to the rumor that he had something valuable hidden beneath all his junk? Was one of his friends, neighbors, or relatives greedy enough to murder him for the rumored treasure? And what about the magpie that has been bringing her family bits of tinsel and costume jewelry—does the bird’s latest gift hold a clue to solving the crime?
Rating: B+. This installment of Meg Langslow & her crazy family/circus was good and it had a holiday "feel good" message. I do wonder when Andrews will run out of topics for this series, but she's already got another one in the works...
Book #58- Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
Summary: Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence - both from outside the family and also, devastatingly, from within. When her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, Betty has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio. Despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.
Rating: A-. This was a really good book but not easy to read. (If you've seen Hillbilly Elegy or read that book, it's very similar.) While I was reading it, I was saying things similar to after I watched Hillbilly Elegy- this is real life but it's so far from my life and how I grew up. It exposed how sheltered my life was, in some respects. Again, it's a hard read and not by any means, "light," but it's excellent.
Book #59- The Good, the Bad & the Guacamole by Rebecca Adler
Summary: This is second in the Josie Callahan/Tex-Mex mystery series. Tourists are pouring into the town of Broken Boot for the annual Homestead Days Music Festival. Opening the celebration at Two Boots dance hall is smooth-talking country singer Jeff Clark, the ex-boyfriend of Josie’s best friend, Patti Perez. When the charming Clark woos Patti onstage in an attempt to rekindle some sparks with his old flame, Josie fears her friend will end up as just one more notch on the singer’s guitar strap. To impress her editor at the Broken Boot Bugle, Josie and her Chihuahua, Lenny, pursue the singer to Patti’s house, hoping for an interview. Instead, they discover Clark facedown in a bowl of guacamole with a bloodied guitar at his side. With Patti suddenly a murder suspect, Josie must use her reporter skills to find out who had a chip on their shoulder—before the killer double dips....
Rating: C+. Meh. I always try to give mystery series two books before I make a decision on whether to continue reading or not. Decision made- done with this mediocre series.
Book #60- The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
Summary: In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city centre, where expectant mothers who have come down with an unfamiliar Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders: Doctor Kathleen Lynn, on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney. In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other's lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world.
Rating: C+. This was easily an A+ until the last 20ish pages and then it took an odd turn. The story was extremely well written up until that point and maybe it's just me that thought the ending out of place.
Book #61- Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams
Summary: In 1947, photographer and war correspondent Janey Everett arrives at a remote surfing village on the Hawaiian island of Kauai to research a planned biography of forgotten aviation pioneer Sam Mallory, who joined the loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War and never returned. Obsessed with Sam’s fate, Janey has tracked down Irene Lindquist, the owner of a local island-hopping airline, whom she believes might actually be the legendary Irene Foster, Mallory’s onetime student and flying partner. Foster’s disappearance during a round-the-world flight in 1937 remains one of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries.
Rating: A-. The above summary is only a small piece of this story. Williams' historical fiction is always rich and this installment did not disappoint. It provided twists and turns (a few I anticipated, a few I did not). Time period and backdrop are well described by Williams- making you feel like you are there.
Book #62- How to Raise an Elephant by Alexander McCall Smith
Summary: This is the 21st installment in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series. Mma Ramotswe must balance family obligations with the growing needs of one of Charlie's pet projects in this latest installment in the cherished No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
Rating: B+. This one was "cute" (the elephant portion) and as well written as the preceding ones in the series.
Book #63- The Confession Club by Elizabeth Berg
Summary: When a group of friends in Mason, Missouri, decide to start a monthly supper club, they get more than they bargained for. The plan for congenial evenings—talking, laughing, and sharing recipes, homemade food, and wine—abruptly changes course one night when one of the women reveals something startlingly intimate. The supper club then becomes Confession Club, and the women gather weekly to share not only dinners but embarrassing misdeeds, deep insecurities, and long-held regrets. They invite Iris Winters and Maddy Harris to join, and their timing couldn't be better. Iris is conflicted about her feelings for a charming but troubled man, and Maddy has come back home from New York to escape a problem too big to handle alone. The club offers exactly the kind of support they need to help them make some difficult decisions.
Rating: A. I really loved this book. It's part of a "sort of" series (if that makes any sense.) There are a few preceding books that take place in Mason with some of the characters carrying on throughout the books. Berg does a great job of sharing the homey/small town feeling of Mason and its residents.
Book #64- The Glass Ocean by Lauren Willig, Beatriz Williams, and Karen White
Summary: A captivating historical mystery, infused with romance, that links the lives of three women across a century—two deep in the past, one in the present—to the doomed passenger liner, RMS Lusitania.
Rating: A. This was another great book. These three authors separately write fantastic books, but joined together, they create masterpieces. I loved the time period and the backdrop of the Lusitania, which in my mind is always overshadowed by the Titanic.
That wraps up my reading for 2020!
Happy New Year! Looking forward to new book recommendations!
ReplyDeleteI put Betty, How to raise and elephant and Her last flight on my reading wish list.
I did read- The Confession Club- if you haven't read the whole series I would highly recommend it. The first one is such a beautiful story.
I also LOVED the The Pull Of The Stars- WOW! What a book.
The Glass Ocean- No so much. I had to go back into Goodreads to see how I rated it.
Happy Reading!!