This is post 397 of my 13ish year old blog. There were times when I was gung ho and wrote almost 100 posts in a year and then there were years when I was in the single digits. I wish I had more discipline and wrote more frequently but I've come to accept that's just not the way it is for me. So, take the posts when you get them!
My employer gives two days off at the 4th of July holiday, so that makes for a lovely four day weekend! I plan to kick it off with a pedicure tomorrow, some errands, and perhaps taking a peek at a bedroom set that I've had my eyes on. The weather here in New England has been oppressive the past few days and we're in for a cooler weekend, which I'm ok with!
While the blog has my attention, I'll try to catch up on some book reviews, since I am SO far behind!
BOOK REVIEWS 2021
Book #25: Uncanny Valley by Anna Weiner
Summary: The book focuses on Wiener's transition from the publishing industry to a series of jobs at technology companies, and her gradual disillusionment with the technology industry. After switching between several companies, she finally settles on the open-source coding company GitHub as a customer service representative. Despite the demeaning nature of her work and the stressful nature of investigating potentially inflammatory or illegal posts on the site, she decides to remain due to the company's various perks, such as being able to work from home. Throughout the book, Wiener ruminates about the moral implications of data collection and manipulation amongst technology firms.
Rating: B. This was recommended to me by my friend Andrea and I'm glad I read it. I've been somewhat down on memoirs lately, but this was interesting. As someone who is a "non-tech" person working at a tech company, I could relate to some of the things that Wiener went through. It was a nice diversion from the books I usually read.
Summary: Secret agent Augustus Whittlesby has spent a decade undercover in France, posing as an insufferably bad poet. The French surveillance officers can’t bear to read his work closely enough to recognize the information drowned in a sea of verbiage. New York-born Emma Morris Delagardie is a thorn in Augustus’s side. An old school friend of Napoleon’s stepdaughter, she came to France with her uncle, eloped with a Frenchman, and has been rattling around the salons of Paris ever since. Now widowed, she entertains herself by holding a weekly salon, and loudly critiquing Augustus’s poetry. As Napoleon pursues his plans for the invasion of England, Whittlesby hears of a top-secret device to be demonstrated at a house party. The catch? The only way in is with Emma, who has been asked to write a masque for the weekend’s entertainment. In this complicated masque within a masque, nothing goes quite as scripted—especially Augustus’s unexpected feelings for Emma.
Rating: C+. This is the ninth book in Willig's Secret Carnation historical fiction/mystery series. I generally enjoy the books but I found Whittlesby to be annoying.
Summary: Spring, 1935 finds the little Alabama town of Darling excited about their new local radio station, WDAR. But there are problems brewing at the newspaper, where a trio of new hires causes headaches for editor Charlie Dickens. That’s not the worst of it, though, as the Dahlias discover when the newest resident at Bessie Bloodworth’s Magnolia Manor is found dead. She had overindulged in a large and very rich chocolate cake—but was something else baked into that cake? If so, one of the Dahlias is likely to find herself at the top of Sheriff Buddy Norris’ suspect list. That would give Darling something to gossip about!
Rating: B. This is (coincidentally) the ninth book in the Darling Dahlias series. I love this era and the small town feel of Darling. The characters are whimsical and Wittig Albert is a great storyteller!
Book #28: Big Girl Small Town by Michelle Gallen
Summary: Majella is happiest out of the spotlight, away from her neighbors’ stares and the gossips of the small town in Northern Ireland where she grew up just after the Troubles. She lives a quiet life caring for her alcoholic mother, working in the local chip shop, watching the regular customers come and go. She wears the same clothes each day (overalls, too small), has the same dinner each night (fish and chips, microwaved at home after her shift ends), and binge-watches old DVDs of the same show (Dallas, best show on TV) from the comfort of her bed. But underneath Majella’s seemingly ordinary life are the facts that she doesn’t know where her father is and that every person in her town has been changed by the lingering divide between Protestants and Catholics. When Majella’s predictable existence is upended by the death of her granny, she comes to realize there may be more to life than the gossips of Aghybogey, the pub, and the chip shop. In fact, there just may be a whole big world outside her small town.
Rating: D+. This is the first book in a long time that I seriously considered stopping reading. I got a few chapters in and I found it slow & dull. I forced myself to continue with a glimmering hope that it would get better (it didn't). I'm sad, because the story had possibilities but I really didn't like the way it was told/written.
Book #29: The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict
Summary: In December 1926, Agatha Christie goes missing. Investigators find her empty car on the edge of a deep, gloomy pond, the only clues some tire tracks nearby and a fur coat left in the car—strange for a frigid night. Her World War I veteran husband and her daughter have no knowledge of her whereabouts, and England unleashes an unprecedented manhunt to find the up-and-coming mystery author. Eleven days later, she reappears, just as mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming amnesia and providing no explanations for her time away. The puzzle of those missing eleven days has persisted. With her trademark historical fiction exploration into the shadows of the past, acclaimed author Marie Benedict brings us into the world of Agatha Christie, imagining why such a brilliant woman would find herself at the center of such murky historical mysteries. What is real, and what is mystery? What role did her unfaithful husband play, and what was he not telling investigators?
Rating: D. Two duds in a row! The sad part about this one is that I LOVED it up until the very end. I even recommended it to my cousin and then had to retract that recommendation. Talk about the most underwhelming ending...I can't think of a word other than "lame!"
I watched THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF AGATHA CHRISTIE movie. It wasn't bad.
ReplyDeleteShows sometimes the movie is better then the book!