I often make lists of books I plan or hope to read in a particular season or month but rarely stick to that list and this summer was no exception. Back in May, I made a list of 15 books that I planned to read by September. Today I’ll share what books I said I wanted to read and what books I actually read this summer.
I have gotten comments from blog readers who say they don’t make lists of what books they want to read. They simply read whatever they want to, whenever they want to. I actually do that as well. The man reason I make the lists are so I won’t forget about a book I heard about and wanted to read but couldn’t read yet because I was reading another one.
Plus, I find making lists very relaxing. I know at least one friend who feels the same way about lists.
Anyhow, on to my list of what I “planned” to read this summer:
Lord Edgeware Dies by Agatha Christie
Little Men by Louisa Mae Alcott
Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour
Ever Faithful by Karen Barnett
The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes by Carolyn Keene
Dandelion Cottage by Carol Watson Rankin
The Cross Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini
The Bobbsey Twins on Blueberry Island
An Assassination on the Agenda by T.E. Kinsey
The Real James Herriot by James Wight
A Sentence to Death by Anthony Horowitz
Summer by the Tides by Denise Hunter
Return to Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright
The Secret of Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Here are the books I actually read or started or am still reading and not all of them were on my list:
Tracking Tilly by Janice Thompson
Renee by Sandra Ardoin
The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene
The Case of the Whistling Bagpipes by Carolyn Keene (on list)
Live and Let Chai by Bree Baker
The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson
The Women of Wynton’s by Donna Mumma
The Sentence of Death by Anthony Horowitz (on list)
Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie (on list)
A Death At A Scottish Christmas by Lucy O’Connelly
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Clueless at the Coffee Station by Bee Littlefield
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
Return to Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright (on list)
The Key Collector’s Promise by Donna Stone
Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour (on list and in the middle of)
The Cross Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini (listening to on Audible)
Which books were my favorites?
The Blue Castle was my favorite overall, followed by Clueless at the Coffee Station, The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes, Return to Gone Away, and The Sentence of Death.
Have I written a list for autumn? Of course, I have!
As I said, lists are fun and help remind me what books I wanted to read. They are not, however, written in stone so I often change them based on my mood.
I’ll be back another day with my autumn list of “planned” reads.
What books did you read this summer? Any that stand out specifically?
This week’s theme is: Relationship Freebie (Pick a relationship type and choose characters who fit that relationship as it relates to you. So, characters you’d like to date, be friends with, be enemies with, etc. Bookish families you’d like to be a part of, characters you’d want as your siblings, pets you’d like to take for yourself, etc.)
From this prompt, I decided to make a list of ten characters who I would love to be friends with in real life – if they were real. Well, you know what I mean.
Cynthia Kavanagh from The Mitford Series by Jan Karon
Cynthia is the wife of Father Timothy Kavanagh, an Episcopal priest in Mitford, N.C. He meets Cynthia either in the end of the first book or the beginning of the second, A Light in the Window. Their love story is so sweet and pure. It’s a beautiful example of what love late in life can and should be. Father Tim has never been in a relationship and Cynthia was in a cold, loveless marriage before. Their relationship starts slow and awkardly.
Cynthia is an illustrator who also writes childrens books about her cat, Violet, a fluffy, white monster who Father Tim and his dog Barnabas aren’t so sure about. I would love to be friends with Cynthia. We’d sit in her little yellow house and sip tea and talk books and cats and how neither of us are really very good cooks or bakers but like to try anyhow.
2. Elizabeth “Bess” Marvin in the Nancy Drew books.
I absolutely love Bess from the Nancy Drew books. I love how she is described as pleasantly plump and isn’t shy about eating whatever she wants and flirting with boys – not even caring that back when these books were written fat girls were supposed to be not who boys would be interested in and were shamed into eating lettuce and a tomato for dinner.
I could absolutely see myself hanging out with Bess. She’d be more outgoing and crazy and I’d be quiet and laughing at her crazy antics. We’d talk about what foods we like and how no matter what we do we can’t get ourselves super skinny but there are times we still feel healthy and happy.
3. Valancy Stirling in The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery
I would absolutely hang out with Valancy from The Blue Castle. If I met her before she received the bad news about her health, I would have been trying to pull her out of her dumps and encourage her to ignore her family’s rude comments about her.
After she received the bad news I would have joined her for tea at her Blue Castle and I would have walked with her in the forest, picking flowers, listening to the wind rustling the leaves and to her read excerpts from John Foster’s books.
4. Jo March from Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott
Jo and I would absolutely hang out in real life and talk about the books we are writing and the characters we’ve created and our fear of people reading what we have written. We would talk about how we feel like the stories and characters belong to ourselves and how we are sometimes afraid if others meet our characters they won’t like them and it will take something away from us.
We will totally talk about how we both snap sometimes and say mean things and have to wrestle the mean sides of ourselves the same way Marmee said she had to wrestle her feelings.
And we will absolutely dish about how publishers in her day were completely sexist and that if she were alive now she could write and publish whatever she wants.
5. Aunt Minnehaha Cheever from Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
Aunt Minnehaha visited Gone Away Lake, really called Tarrigo Lake, with her family, including her brother Pindar, when she was a child. The site was a summer getaway for the wealthy but when a dam was created upstream it caused the lake to dry up and all the wealthy vacationers to leave, many of them leaving their homes behind. When Aunt Minnehaha hits hard times and can’t afford her home in the city she moves back to Tarrigo to live. Eventually, children named Julian and Portia discover the homes and become friends with Minnehaha and her brother, who has also moved there.
Minnehaha has had some sadness in her life but she is absolutely full of optimism and likes to look at tough situations in a new and exciting way. If she and I were friends we would look through all the old dresses she has and all the old china and she’d make me some of her amazing tea and then she’d tell me that what I am facing now is nothing compared to what they had to face when they were young, living among some very rich and arrogant neighbors.
6. Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
I’m sure Anne would be on the list of many readers. An imaginative orphan girl who comes to live with an older brother and sister on a farm on Prince Edward Island, Canada would absolutely be a very interesting person to be friends with.
She and I would go walk along the shores of the Lake of Shimmering Waters and pick apples from the apple trees. We would also walk through the falling leaves during autumn to Diana’s house to visit her and have pastries and tea together.
We would absolutely talk about books and, well, I hate to say it but I’d probably tell Anne she is way too focused on what is and isn’t romantic and what romance should look like. If it was older Anne we would talk about raising children and how she keeps the romance alive between her and Gilbert.
7. Angie Braddock from the Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries by Isabella Alan
I’ve only read one book in the Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries but I really liked Angie. She’s bold and not afraid to find out how someone has been killed so she can clear the name of another person. She’s also dating a handsome sheriff (at least in the one book I read) and has a great relationship with her father who is trying to figure out his place in the world now that he is retired.
She sells sowing materials at her shop and I don’t think I’d be able to talk to her too much about fabric but I bet we’d like other similar things and I would love for her to introduce me to her Amish friends.
8. Miss Jane Marple from the Agatha Christie series
I would love to be friends with Jane Marple and ask her questions about various “goings on” in the village she – er- we live in. We’d of course – like with everyone else – sip tea – probably real English tea and have a few coo—biscuits while she tells me about her latest case.
Since I’m her friend, I’d also follow her around while she solves various cases. And maybe get some credit with her. *wink*
9. Sam Gangee from The Fellowship of The Ring
Sam and I are kindred spirits. We both like second breakfasts and are a bit nervous but also pretty loyal to our friends. Since we are friends we would enjoy meals together and we would be friends after the adventure to get rid of the ring so I’d ask why he did everything for Frodo and ask if he’d like to get more credit.
10. Flo and Lady Hardcastle from The Lady Hardcastle Mysteries by T.E. Kinsey
I know…I popped in two into this one but they come as a pair, I’d say. I would love to be friends with Flo and Lady Hardcastle from The Lady Hardcastle Mysteries. Flo is Lady Hardcastle’s maid but really she is her best friend. Both of them have been spies and investigators and solved mysteries during the early 1900s. Flo has no fear when it comes to tracking down criminals and solving mysteries. She fights the bad guys, cleans up, and then heads home with Lady Hardcastle and serves her tea.
Lady Hardcastle, like Flo, has no fear and is like a dog with a bone when it comes to solving a case. I love how both women break barriers, ignoring all “rules” of society in England in the early 1900s.
I could see us enjoying tea (I know! I like tea! What can I say?) and talking about cases we’ve solved together and laughing about how we’ve shown the men in our small town that women can do more than cook and clean and keep house.
How about you? What literary characters would you love to be friends with?
Title: Tracking Tilly: Book 1 In The Little Red Truck Mysteries
Author: Janice Thompson
Description:
Who Stole Tilly from the Auction Block? Breathe in the nostalgia of everything old red truck in book one of a new cozy mystery series. The Hadley family ranch is struggling, so RaeLyn, her parents, and brothers decide to turn the old barn into an antique store. The only thing missing to go with the marketing of the store is Grandpa’s old red truck, Tilly, that was sold several years ago. Now coming back up on the auction block, Tilly would need a lot of work, but RaeLyn is sure it will be worth it—if only she can beat out other bidders and find out who stole Tilly after the auction ends. Hadley finds herself in the role of amateur sleuth, and the outcome could make or break the new family venture.
My impressions: When I first started this book it felt like it might be morphing from a cozy mystery to a romance – like it wasn’t sure of its identity but once I accepted this was more of a romance-mystery, I just settled in for the ride and discovered it was a well-balanced mix.
The characters in this book were very likable, other than the occasional bad apple who wasn’t supposed to be liked. My favorite character was Bessie Mae, main character RaeLyn’s great aunt. She was hilarious and sweet and I absolutely loved what a huge John Wayne fan she was since I am as well.
I loved how the author tied in Bessie Mae’s love of John Wayne by having her offer up quotes in stressful or crossroad moments in the book. Like:
“And you know what Duke would say…”
“A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”
Or,
“This is quite the conundrum,” Bessie Mae chimed in. “But you know what the Duke would’ve said.”
“What’s that?” Mom asked.
“Life s just a bowl of cherries, and you happen to be in the pits.”
I also loved how RaeLyn took Bessie Mae along on some of her sleuthing.
I was glad that the romance between RaeLyn and …well, someone (I’ll keep that a secret until you read it) is very natural and sweet and doesn’t overshadow the mystery. It’s in the background and moves forward in a couple of chapters but not to the point of making this book a true romance book. I like a mix of romance and mystery but when the romance takes over a book, I find myself rolling my eyes and wondering where the mystery is already.
This one did take a bit to get to the mystery but once it did it was the main focus and the vehicle for the readers to meet all of RaeLyn’s friends and family including her mom, dad, three brothers, best friend and her mom’s best friend.
The subtitle says this is the first in the Little Red Truck Mysteries so I am already looking forward to more installments in this series.
Today for Fiction Friday I am interviewing Sandra Ardoin who has a new book out. Renee is the seventh book in the Apron Strings Book Series, a multi-author series of which I am also a part.
Each book can be read as a standalone with the only connecting factor being an old-fashioned cookery (recipe) book called Mrs. Canfield’s Cookery Book. Each book takes place in a decade from 1920 to 2020.
Sandra’s book takes place in the 1980s.
First, a little about the book:
Renee Burnette, a widow living in the North Carolina mountains, has longed for two things she never had growing up—a permanent home and a lasting friendship like the one she has with Val from her cooking club. In the summer of 1986, the local apple growers sponsor a bake-off with a monetary prize that would bring Renee closer to her housing goal. But after Renee and Val each enter, their relationship goes from best friends to bitter rivals.
When Renee learns of the opportunity for a promotion at work, she’s determined to prove her qualifications to her handsome, single boss. The closer they draw to one another, though, the more Renee fears that an office romance will jeopardize her job and her housing dream.
As the bake-off competition intensifies, Renee’s office relationships are strained, her sweet son becomes unruly, and the rift with Val widens. Can a decades-old cookbook help Renee restore the bonds every woman needs?
Now, an interview with Sandra:
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
For me, writing is a business, but it’s also a ministry, so the faith aspect is important. I write Christian romance and began with historicals set in the late 19th century. For the past couple of years, though, I’ve written contemporary romances. Honestly, I’m eager to get back to the past and alternate with a mix of time periods.
My writing career began in 1986 (the same year in which Renee takes place) with greeting cards and posters, then I moved on to children’s short stories for Sunday School take-home papers. I’m a big believer in God’s timing, and His timing, when it came to writing novels, was not until 2009. That’s been my focus since, with my first (a novella) traditionally published in 2014 and the follow-up novel in 2016—the Barnes Brothers series. In 2019, I went independent and have published ten additional novels and novellas.
In my real life, I’m a wife, mom, and occasional granddog-sitter living in North Carolina.
2. What is your latest book about? Who are the main characters and when and where does it take place?
My latest book is Renee, Book Seven in the Apron Strings series. In this series of books that takes place in different decades, I was blessed to be given the 1980s, a decade I know well. I set the book in western North Carolina near Asheville and gave the story a young widow (Renee) with a six-year-old boy. She had a somewhat vagabond childhood and yearns for a sense of belonging and lifelong friendships.
Renee believes a house, rather than the small apartment she and her son now occupy, will offer that permanency she’s lacked in life. Hoping the prize money will complete the funds she needs to buy a house, she enters a baking contest, only to discover she’s competing against her best friend.
3. What is the overarching message of your latest book?
Renee is a story about relationships . . . with a little romance thrown in. Her go-to verses are Ecclesiastes 4:9-10. I chose those scriptures, because they are so because they are so apropos to Renee’s spiritual growth.
4. Did you learn anything about writing or yourself as you were writing the book?
I’m accustomed to writing romance from two points of view—the hero and heroine. This book is only in Renee’s point of view and light on the romance. When it came to her interactions with Greg, I so wanted to write his POV, too, which made the romance a little more challenging for me.
5. Where can readers find out more about you and your projects?
Readers can visit my website and find my complete book list at http://www.sandraardoin.com/books. I’m also on BookBub, Facebook, X , and Goodreads.
The best way to keep up with what’s new, discover what’s upcoming, and learn of sales and specials is to subscribe to my newsletter. I send it out once a month or when something special is happening, like a sale or new release.
Check out Renee or any of the books in the Apron Strings series on Amazon and read them through Kindle Unlimited.
This week’s theme is: Ten Favorite Books from Ten Series (We all have a favorite book in our favorite series, right?) (submitted by A Hot Cup of Pleasure)
I thought this one was going to be harder than it was because I haven’t finished a lot of series and didn’t really think I’d read books from a lot of series. It turns out I have read quite a few books from series, even though I haven’t yet finished some of them.
Once I had my list, I also realized I had three children’s book series listed, but I think that’s okay since some of them I’ve read recently with my daughter.
Anyhow, without further ado – ten favorite books from ten series:
This one was a little hard for me because I like so many of the books in this series, especially the first book. I also loved book ten Home to Holly Springs, even though it was one of the darker in the series. I love A Light In the Window, though, because it is the start of the love story between Father Tim and his wife Cynthia.
Another favorite is A Common Life, which is the story of their wedding. I also love the Christmas one and …. I could go on and on with this series.
I just read this book in the series this year and I loved it for a variety of reasons. One, it took Qwill and the cats away from their normal setting and two it just showed a totally different side of Qwill. It was also just really well written.
It took me more than a year to get ahold of this final installment of this cozy mystery magical trilogy but I was glad when I finally found it on Hoopla. It was worth the wait and tied the series up nicely.
4. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia)
It’s sort of cliché to choose the first in the series, I suppose (though this one wasn’t actually published first) but it is my favorite of what I have re-read of the series so far. I read the series as a kid but I don’t remember all of the books so I am re-reading them with my daughter. So far this is my favorite of them but I may update that later.
I’m choosing the first in the series again, but this is my favorite from the series, which I first read in high school. This is a Christian Historical Fiction book that takes place during the rule of Rome. It’s very hard to put down.
Oops. It’s another first in the series. But it was my favorite! Ha! I loved this realistic inspirational romance that wasn’t cliché and dealt with real issues about faith, love, and personal flaws. It also had some humorous moments with and observations from the main character.
7. The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson (A Walt Longmire Mystery)
The Longmire mysteries can be dark at times and so I don’t read them often, instead choosing to space them out and take breaks with fluffier reads in between. I’m still in the beginning of this series so I’m sure there will be other favorites as well. I chose this one but there is actually a book of Christmas-themed short stories about Walt that I loved even more. It wasn’t really a book from the series, though, so I chose this one.
I love Johnson’s writing and how he weaves humor into serious moments. Walt’s relationship with his Native American friend Henry Standing Bear will go down as one of the strongest and coolest in literary history in my mind.
8. On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (The Little House on the Prairie series)
It was hard for me to choose a favorite from this series because I like a few of them about the same. I chose this one because it’s when we meet Nellie Olson, who wasn’t as big of a part of Laura’s real life as the TV show made her out to be. I love the part where Laura tricks Nellie into going into the creek and Nellie ends up getting leeches stuck to her legs and starts screaming.
The other book I almost chose was These Happy Golden Years because Almonzo and Laura start to court more in earnest. But I also love The Farmer Boy…okay..better move on from this one or I’ll add them all.
9. Paddington Abroad by Michael Bond (The Paddington Bear series)
I had to choose a book from this series because the series has been so much a part of my and Little Miss’s life. We have read this series a couple of times and Little Miss loves when I read the books to her and do all of the accents of the characters.
There have been a few times she has fallen asleep and I’ve kept reading because I’ve gotten so caught up in these cute stories about Paddington bear. I like this book because Paddington and the Browns travel to France and they have so many different and exciting adventures.
10. EDIT: Previously this was listed as Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery (from the Anne of Green Gables series) but it was actually Anne of the Island that I enjoyed more. I switched them in my head. Sigh. Sorry about that to people who already commented.
Most people would choose Anne of Green Gables as their favorite from this series and I absolutely love that book but I also love Anne of the Island because I love that Anne and Gilbert really start their romance in this one. Anne is growing up and learning about who she is and what she truly wants in life and it’s just a fun adventure.
What are some of your favorite books from a series?
I cannot even begin to explain how much I loved The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery.
This was the first book I had read by her that was not in the Anne of Green Gables series and I was blown away by it.
The voice in this book was eons away from what I’d read in Anne of Green Gables and that’s not meant to disparage Anne. I absolutely loved Anne of Green Gables and a couple of the other books in the series (a couple I did not like at all ) but The Blue Castle was even more bold and romantic and poetic.
It read more like a book that would have been written at a time later than 1926. Way beyond its years, this book captivated me with its boldness and enchanted me with its heartwarming essence.
I love the main character, even if I wouldn’t have made some of the choices she made – though, maybe I would have if I had been in the circumstances she had been.
Valancy is 29 years old but is treated like a child by her mother, cousins, aunts, and uncles. They refer to her as overweight, boring, half-witted, and expect her to do what they say. They act like she’s always sick or going to get sick. She never does anything exciting and wants to be in love but never has or had anyone love her.
To get herself through her mundane days, she imagines a “blue castle” where everything is bright and beautiful and handsome suitors come to court her. She dreams of a day where someone will love her and take her away from the dark sadness of her life. She reads books about nature and how to connect with it by a man named John Foster, escaping from her world through his beautiful words.
She’s been having pains in her chest, though, and she doesn’t like doctors but she finally decides to go to one. When she does, her entire life changes. Her life begins right before she is told it will end.
She begins to change how she acts and acts completely differently from how she has acted all of her life. Her change in her future shakes her awake and she begins to go after what she wants instead of waiting for it to happen.
There are so many great quotes in this book. I was underlining like a madwoman. I don’t usually mark up a book but I felt like I had to for this one.
Here are a few that I either underlined or marked in my Kindle version:
“If you can sit in silence with a person for half an hour and yet be entirely comfortable, you and that person can be friends. If you cannot, friends you’ll never be and you need not waste time in trying.”
It was three o’clock in the morning – the wisest and most accursed hour of the clock. But sometimes it sets us free.
“Just to love! She did not ask to be loved. It was rapture enough just to sit there beside him in silence, alone in the summer night in the white splendor of moonshine, with the wind blowing down on them out of the pine woods.”
“But though she was not afraid of death she was not indifferent to it. She found that she _resented_ it; it was not fair that she should have to die when she had never lived. Rebellion flamed up in her soul as the dark hours passed by—not because she had no future but because she had no past.”
“I’ve been trying to please other people all my life and failed,” she said. “After this I shall please myself. I shall never pretend anything again. I’ve breathed an atmosphere of fibs and pretences and evasions all my life. What a luxury it will be to tell the truth! I may not be able to do much that I want to do but I won’t do another thing that I don’t want to do. Mother can pout for weeks—I shan’t worry over it. ‘Despair is a free man—hope is a slave.’”
One of my favorite quotes was: “Fear is the original sin. Almost all of the evil in the world has its origin in the fact that some one is afraid of something. It is a cold slimy serpent coiling about you. It is horrible to live with fear, and it is of all things degrading.”
I have other favorite quotes but they would be spoilers and I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone who hasn’t read it yet.
If I was going to express anything negative about this book it would probably be that the beginning of Valancy’s story, where she is stuck in depression and lack of love from her family, goes on for a bit too long for me. It’s a slog to get through it and I almost thought of putting the book down. I probably wouldn’t have made it through if it hadn’t been for the way Montgomery wove some humor and sarcasm into those chapters.
Some readers have criticized how Valancy acts toward her family after she’s been told she will die soon and, yes, she is harsh to them, but I think we as the reader really need to put ourselves in her shoes. She was treated horribly for 29 years and now that she believes she doesn’t have much longer to live, she’s letting loose. I am pretty sure I’d do the same thing for at least a little while and then I’d tone it down some.
This is a book that could have been filled with heartache and bitterness but instead it is a book full of hope and a type of awakening to how precious life is. To me, the message is that we need to grab ahold of every moment and experience we can because we never know when we will lost the opportunity to do so.
Have you read The Blue Castle? What did you think of it? Are there any other L.M. Montgomery books you enjoyed?
Sun, sand, and tea are just three of Everly Swan’s favorite things. Her batty, beekeeping great-aunts and small, coastal hometown of Charm, North Carolina, round out the top five. So returning to Charm for a fresh start on her wilting life is an easy decision for Everly, and opening a new seaside cafe and iced-tea shop puts the proverbial icing on her legendary lemon cakes.
Everything is just peachy until a body turns up on the boardwalk outside her home and a jar of her proprietary tea is found at the victim’s side.
Now, Detective Grady Hays, Charm’s newest and most mysterious lawman, has named Everly as his number-one suspect, and Everly’s new start is about to go up in smoke unless she can dish up the real killer.
I’d heard so much about this book from other cozy mystery readers of Booktubers so I was excited when it finally became available through Libby, the library ebook app.
I started it and really enjoyed it in the beginning. I even found out I could listen to it for free via Audible for the times I couldn’t sit and read. I then discovered that Bree Baker was the pen name for another author I’d recently read – Julie Anne Lindsey – so I was sure the book would be as good as everyone said. Lindsey’s book was Apple Cider Slaying, which I really enjoyed.
The writing is great, don’t get me wrong, but after a few chapters I began to realize that I was reading the beach version of Apple Cider Slaying.
Sure, the characters were somewhat different – an extra elderly relative was thrown into this one with two aunts instead of just one grandma – but otherwise the plots were somewhat similar.
There was a person in town who didn’t like the main character, Everly, having her business in her home and before the end of chapter one he was dead.
Everly was considered a possible suspect so she had to clear her name. In Apple Cider Slaying, the main character had to clear her grandmother’s name.
Once again we had a former U.S. Marshal who moved to a small town to start over as the local police chief and the main character found out more about him by looking him up online.
This time we tossed a kid and dead wife into the mix, but the police chief does become a love interest.
Now, all this being said, I’m not saying the book was bad. There were aspects I liked about it, including the back story of the Swan family.
Overall, the book was interesting and engaging even if it was predictable and not as good as I had hoped. Still, cozy mysteries aren’t known to be creatively unique or full of depth all the time. They often simply give readers what they want – a mystery to solve by an amateur sleuth who must clear either her name or that of a friend or family member and some quirky and fun characters. Cozy mysteries are to cozy mystery readers like romances are to romance readers – comfortingly predictable and maybe even slightly cheesy.
Live and Let Chai had all of that so I enjoyed it, yes, but I don’t know if I will rush out to read the next in the series – especially because I didn’t really like the main character that much. She was a bit rude and pushy at times.
I will, however, most likely read the next in the series at some point because I am curious to see if the other books will be as predictable or if Lindsey – er – Baker will break the mold a bit.
Today’s prompt is: Ten Things I Loved About [Insert Book Title Here] (Pick any book and tell us ten things you loved about it!) (submitted by Cathy @ WhatCathyReadNext)
For this prompt, I chose to write about Little Women, which I read for the first time at the end of last year into this year. I stretched out the reading of this book – savoring it – because I loved it so much. I can’t believe it took me so long to read it. I fell in love with every character and I feel like this is a book I may not read over and over but will read excerpts of each year – probably in the winter like I did this time.
Anyhow, without further ado. . .
Top Ten Things I Loved about Little Women.
1. I love how realistically Louisa Mae Alcott wrote about the roles and lives of women in that time period, but she also didn’t entirely adhere to this historical fact because she also wrote of the girls as rebellious to those strict “standards” for women. The young March women were bold and strong-willed and didn’t let what society said they had to be stop them from being what they wanted to be.
2. I love Marmee. Just everything about her. I loved how she was maternal and brave and cared for others. I loved how she was strong but didn’t mind showing the girls she was scared when her husband was in the military hospital. I loved that she didn’t mind telling Jo that she too had struggled with her tongue and being snappy and hurting people’s feelings, yet didn’t try to tell Jo that Jo needed to change. Alcott’s decision to write about her admittance of her own struggles with temper and her reasons for those struggles was so ahead of its time. Talking about feelings and motivations for why a person acted the way they did wasn’t really something touched on by many books of this time, as far as I’ve seen.
3. I love how the book is not a traditional romance or really a romance at all – yet it is at the same time. Readers may think the story is marching (no pun intended) to a certain conclusion with two certain people ending up together but Alcott turns it all on its head and leaves us pondering what we think about who does end up with our beloved Teddy.
4. Finding a category to place this book in can be very hard at times. There are elements of romance, but then also just sweet stories, and then women’s fiction with Jo’s story and thoughts about what it means to become a young woman and a writer and what love means to her. I love that the book can’t be easily categorized. It makes it even more endearing.
5. I love the faith of the characters and how even though they have faith, they also aren’t afraid to question it and admit when God seems so far away.
“Yes, it is. She doesn’t know us, she doesn’t even talk about the flocks of green doves, as she calls the vine leaves on the wall. She doesn’t look like my Beth, and there’s nobody to help us bear it. Mother and Father both gone, and God seems so far away I can’t find Him.”
As the tears streamed fast down poor Jo’s cheeks, she stretched out her hand in a helpless sort of way, as if groping in the dark, and Laurie took it in his, whispering as well as he could with a lump in his throat, “I’m here. Hold on to me, Jo, dear!”
She could not speak, but she did “hold on,” and the warm grasp of the friendly human hand comforted her sore heart, and seemed to lead her nearer to the Divine arm which alone could uphold her in her trouble.
6. I love how each chapter of the book is like its own story which means I could read a chapter or two a night of the book and stretch out the enjoyment of stepping into that world night after night.
7. I love how Beth was both childlike and deep at the same time. So many of the things she said – much like Jo and Marmee – were amazingly profound and thought-provoking in such a simple, sweet way.
“You must take my place, Jo, and be everything to Father and Mother when I’m gone. They will turn to you, don’t fail them, and if it’s hard to work alone, remember that I don’t forget you, and that you’ll be happier in doing that than writing splendid books or seeing all the world, for love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy.”
8. I love the subtly of the life lessons in this book. Those life lessons come in some of the profound statements that the characters, like Beth, says, but especially through the actions of the characters. How Marmee takes food to others and cares for them when they are at their lowest. How all the girls grasp onto life and hold on tight so they can enjoy as much of it as possible. How Mr. March helps his neighbors. How Beth cares for the young children who are sick, resulting in her own sickness and later her death.
9. I love how we are able to follow the young women from childhood to adulthood. I loved being able to see them grow and progress and stretch along the way.
10. I love Mr. Laurence and his love for Beth, but all the girls and how that love opens up parts of him that he had shut off long ago.
Is there a book that you could list ten things you love about it? If so, which book is it?
I saw this prompt for a Mid-Year Book Round-Up (Freak Out) on Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs’ blog a few weeks ago but also saw another version online where the blogger listed more than one book for certain questions so I decided to combine the two.
Best Book (s) You’ve Read In 2024
Little Women by Lousia Mae Alcott and Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
I know. I know. I went for the classics, but I had never read either of them and ended up loving them both. I started Little Women in December but finished it in 2024, so I am counting it for 2024. I listened to Around the World in 80 Days and maybe it was the narrator that made it so interesting for me, but I really did enjoy it.
Best Sequel You’ve Read In 2024
The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes
My daughter and I loved this middle-grade book and, I think, it was the only sequel I read all year so far. It was such a cute book, following the adventures of – well, the middle Moffat, Jane. Her adventures with the Oldest Inhabitant (a 99-year-old Civil War vet) was the cutest part of the book to me. It was also cool that we read the chapter about the Eclipse at the same time the eclipse was happening.
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year?
There are a lot of these (and you can read more of mine here) but for now, I will go with Tracking Tilly by Janice Thompson and I haven’t read it because it actually doesn’t release until August 1.
This one is a mystery that seems pretty cozy so I am looking forward to it.
Here is the description:
Who Stole Tilly from the Auction Block? Breathe in the nostalgia of everything old red truck in book one of a new cozy mystery series. The Hadley family ranch is struggling, so RaeLyn, her parents, and brothers decide to turn the old barn into an antique store. The only thing missing to go with the marketing of the store is Grandpa’s old red truck, Tilly, that was sold several years ago. Now coming back up on the auction block, Tilly would need a lot of work, but RaeLyn is sure it will be worth it—if only she can beat out other bidders and find out who stole Tilly after the auction ends. Hadley finds herself in the role of amateur sleuth, and the outcome could make or break the new family venture.
Biggest disappointment.
I have two for this one:
Hell is Empty: A Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson
I’ve enjoyed almost all of the Walt Longmire series I’ve read so far but this one was ridiculous and predictable and I was terribly disappointed in it. My husband has suggested I read more books in the series because the rest of them were very good, so I will.
Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo Wright
This was my first time trying this author and not only was the book repetitive (the woman grew up in a house of death by a cemetery full of death and death was all around her. Yes, got it. Stop repeating it every chapter) but it was extremely, extremely disturbing to me and I didn’t feel it should have been listed under Christian Fiction.
Biggest surprise.
I picked up How To Plan Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin on Netgalley and wasn’t sure what I would think of it but ended up really enjoying it and getting swept up in the twists and turns of this mystery.
Favorite new author. (Debut or new to you)
Isabella Alan would probably be a new favorite for me. Her real name is Amanda Flowers but she writes as Isabella Alan as well and I really enjoyed her book Murder Plainly Read and plan to read more books by her later this year.
Newest fictional crush.
Theo Goodnight in Sharon Peterson’s The Fast Lane. He’s so swoony and sweet and funny and (a small spoiler here!) writes romances that I actually wouldn’t read but we’ll just go back to him being sweet and funny and dreamy.
Here is a little snippet of the book with Theo in it:
Bracing a hand on the table, he leaned close. “I’m beginning to think you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
My breath caught at the low, gravelly sound of his voice.
He shifted closer, his mouth stopping an inch from my ear. His warm breath on my skin sent a zing of awareness through me. “And I’m definitely not your brother.”
Swoon.
This is a clean romance by the way, so there is a bit of steam, small level of spice but no open door scenes or even medium spice.
Newest favorite character.
I know he isn’t new to others, but he’s new to me: Hercule Poirot. I’ve watched him on TV in the shows, but never realized how savage he was – even more so in the books than the show. The way he slams Hastings, putting him in his place, is just so funny.
From Lord Edgware Dies:
“I have noticed that when we work on a case together, you are always urging me on to physical action, Hastings. You wish me to measure footprints, to analyse cigarette ash, to prostrate myself on my stomach for the examination of detail. You never realize that by lying back in an armchair with the eyes closed one can come nearer to the solution of any problem. One sees then with the eyes of the mind.”
“I don’t,” I said. “When I lie back in an armchair with my eyes closed one thing happens to me and one thing only!”
“I have noticed it!” said Poirot. “It is strange. At such moments the brain should be working feverishly, not sinking into sluggish repose. The mental activity, it is so interesting, so stimulating! The employment of the little grey cells is a mental pleasure. They and they only can be trusted to lead one through fog to the truth…”
Book that made you cry.
Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen. ‘
So much of this book was just so sweet and touching. It’s the story of a family who travels to the mother’s grandmother’s former home in the Pennsylvania countryside to try to help the father overcome PTSD. While there they meet a lovely couple, help the couple make maple syrup, meet a man who they thought was weird, but was actually sweet and just grow together as a family. Maybe it is because I am from Pennsylvania that it gave me sentimental feelings, I don’t know, but it really had me teary-eyed.
Book(s) that made you happy.
I’m picking two for this one:
The Cat Who Talked To Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun.
This book didn’t make me happy because a side character in the series I’ve been reading since high school was tragically murdered, but because I saw so much more of the main character, Jim Qwilleran’s, personality in this book. There were funny moments and touching moments and it was just such a departure from the other books in the series. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Murder In An Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor
This one was just a fun ride and I really enjoyed learning about Irish culture while also being taken on a journey through an interesting mystery. Plus, I fell in love with the characters.
What books do you want to read by the end of the year?
Here are a list of books I want to read by the end of the year:
The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery (already reading it)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (because I’ve never read it
Live and Let Chai by Bree Baker (I’ve heard a lot about this one and have it on my Kindle and Audible right now so I am looking forward to it)
The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kipp by Sara Brunsvold (I started this one but it got a bit heavy for me so I would like to finish it)
An Old Fashioned Girl by Louise Mae Alcott
The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Are any of these books on your mid-year round-up? Any of them you want to read? Let me know.
