We are back from our (sort of) annual vacation to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware! We've been going for ~10 years, with hiatuses for a wedding in Aruba, a cancer battle, and COVID. (We didn't have COVID [thankfully, ::knocking on wood::], but didn't go last year due to quarantine.)
It was great to be back (although certainly a different experience from years past). The one constant is the boardwalk. It's a great place to do a brisk two mile morning walk when the beach is not yet crowded or take a stroll early evening when the sun is setting. It's also beautiful at night- especially when there is a concert at the bandstand and the moon is shining down on the beach.
There were not nearly as many people as in years past, but it was still crowded (neither of us had been around this many people & although the crowds were mostly outside, we wore masks.) Many restaurants & shops had limited hours due to lack of help and we also found that quality of food/drink was diminished from previous years.
However, we expected this to some degree and enjoyed our time away from home/work. We also got to stop in Washington, DC on our way home and visit with little John and our friend Andrea. Yay!
Time to get back to business, however. I am 17 (eek!) books behind on my reviews. I'll do a handful here and hope I can catch up in short order.
BOOK REVIEWS 2021
Book #39: Motif for Murder by Laura Childs
Summary: As a memorial to the late Uncle Henry, Carmela puts together a sentimental scrapbook of memories and keepsakes. What she doesn't realize is that her altered book holds clues that could identify the fiend behind the kidnapping and killing. And when the murderer finds out that she may be on to him, he's going to try to close the book on Carmela once and for all.
Rating: A-. This is the fourth in Childs' scrapbooking mystery series. I really enjoy the New Orleans setting and the creative ideas shared in Carmela's shop.
Book #40: Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams
Summary: In 1948, Iris Digby vanishes from her London home with her American diplomat husband and their two children. Four years later, Ruth Macallister receives a postcard from the estranged twin sister she hasn’t seen since 1940. Since that one catastrophic summer in Rome, as war was engulfing Europe and Iris was falling desperately in love... Within days, Ruth is on her way to Moscow, posing as the wife of Agent Fox in a precarious plot to extract her sister from behind the Iron Curtain. But the truth behind Iris’s marriage threatens to unravel everything, and as the sisters race to safety, a dogged Soviet KGB officer forces them to make a heartbreaking choice...
Rating: B. I had higher hopes for this book. I've thoroughly enjoyed many of Williams' previous books but this one didn't have the spark that took me in like the other ones.
Book #41: Being Heumann by Judy Heumann
Summary: Paralyzed from polio at eighteen months, Judy Heumann began her struggle for equality early in life. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a "fire hazard" to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher's license, to leading the section 504 sit-in that led to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Judy's actions set a precedent that fundamentally improved rights for disabled people around the globe.
Rating: B-. Another book that I had higher hopes for. I previously worked at a non-profit that educated parents of children with disabilities about their rights, relative laws, advocacy, etc... I met Judy at a conference I attended and knew her influence on the disability rights movement, so was eager to read this memoir. I felt that this was a case where there was a good story to tell but the voice/pen telling the story was not strong, clear or fluid (if that makes any sense.)
Book #42: The Paper Bark Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu
Summary: Su Lin is doing her dream job: assistant at Singapore's brand new detective agency. Until Bald Bernie decides a 'local girl' can't be trusted with private investigations, and replaces her with a new secretary - pretty, privileged, and white. So Su Lin's not the only person finding it hard to mourn Bernie after he's found dead in the filing room. And when her best friend's dad is accused, she gets up to some sleuthing work of her own in a bid to clear his name.
Rating: B. This is the third book in Yu's Su Lin series. I appreciate Ovidia Yu's main character being a person with a disability defying the odds.
Book #43: You're Leaving When? by Annabelle Gurwitch
Summary: In these essays, Gurwitch embraces homesharing, welcoming a housing-insecure young couple and a bunny rabbit into her home. The mother of a college student in recovery who sheds the gender binary, she relearns to parent, one pronoun at a time. She wades into the dating pool in a Miss Havisham-inspired line of lingerie and flunks the magic of tidying up.
Rating: B-. I generally don't like books of essays and admittedly I don't think I knew this was that before I started reading it. However, it seemed to flow more easily than a book of choppy/random essays. I found this book pretty funny, but not hysterical. If your child has just left the nest, you might enjoy it.
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