book review

Mid-year Book Round Up or Freak Out or Whatever it is Called

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 8 Comments

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.

Book review/recommendation: Lord Edgware Dies: A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie and some thoughts about Agatha’s possible antisemitism

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 3 Comments

Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie is a wild ride full of Hollywood starlets, mistaken identities, greed, trickery, and hilarious verbal sparring between Arthur Hastings and Poirot.

This is the second Poirot book I’ve read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is the story of the death of Lord Edgware, whose wife – American actress Jane Wilkinson — declares she’d like to kill him – maybe hit him with her car so she can marry another man. The focus on the suspect flies right to her when he is found dead in his library the next day – stabbed in the neck.

There are other suspects in the play too, though – his nephew Ronald Marsh who wants his uncle’s fortune, his daughter who Lord Edgware wasn’t very nice to, an actress named Carlotta Adams who does an amazing impression of Jane Wilkinson, and even Lord Edgware’s secretary.

Jane is the obvious suspect, though, because she asked Poirot if he would go to her husband and ask him for the divorce she’s been asking for so she can remarry.

Originally, she wanted a divorce to marry an actor but now it is a duke. Poirot agrees to meet with Lord Edgware, who informs him that he’s already told Jane she could get a divorce.

The problem with Jane being the suspect is that she was seen at a dinner party the night her husband was killed and there is a witness who says he heard and saw her receive a phone call at exactly the time of the murder.

This spins the case right on its head.

Before the book is done there will be more than one murder, more than one suspect, and a big reveal scene at the end that twists and turns the reader to the answer.

Hastings reveals his affectionate aggravation with Poirot during the book, including how Poirot constantly talks about how he (Poirot) needs to go sit and use his “gray matter.”

“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…”

While I enjoyed this book very much, I was bothered by the many negative or stereotypical references toward Jewish characters in the book. I apparently downloaded a copy to my Kindle where they hadn’t taken these references out since such references were edited out from some versions years ago.

A quick search online revealed a complicated relationship between Agatha and her views on Jews – views that partially came from the attitudes toward Jews of the wealthy class of people she was a part of in Great Britain. Agatha did indeed have some antisemitic views but also wrote about Jews being wealthy in a good way in her books – like that they were bright so that is how they were able to be so wealthy. She used a seriously disturbing number of tropes against them in this particular book, often calling them shrewd and money-hungry – but then seeming to say being shrewd was a good thing.

At one point in Lord Edgware Dies Poirot says, “Misfortune may always be waiting about to rush upon us. But as to your question, Miss Adams, I think, will succeed. She is shrewd and she is something more. You observed without a doubt she is Jewish?”

Hastings says he hadn’t but now that he thinks about it he does “see the faint traces of Semitic ancestry.”

Poirot continues, “It makes for success – that. Though there is still one avenue of danger – since its danger we are talking of.”

“You mean?” Hastings asks.

“Love of money,” Poirot tells him. “Love of money might lead such a one from the prudent and cautious path.”

So while we have a stereotype here, we also have a compliment, making it confusing what Agatha is really trying to say about  Jews. The fact she continues to negatively reference Jews throughout the book (one has the traditional big Jewish nose, one character comments), is awkward but she also seems to assign some positive elements to those characters, as well as showing admiration of those who are Jewish from other characters in the book.

According to information I read online, an autobiography about Agatha details a few stories that point to her apparent antisemitism, including one during World War II when a high-ranking British official involved with the Nazi party commented that all Jews should be killed. This is said to be a moment when Agatha was shocked at the idea of killing anyone based on their ethnicity or faith and she was appalled at the comment. Her portrayal of Jews changed some after that incident. Nothing I read can definitively say that Agatha didn’t like Jews, blacks, or any other race she described in a stereotypical way in her books, plays, and short stories. Some critics, and even her own family members, feel that she was writing about how certain groups were described at that time, not that she herself felt hatred toward any group.

There are, however, repeated negative references to Jewish people in this particular novel and I struggled to be simply entertained by the story because of them. After feeling uncomfortable with the continued references, I did read a very interesting article by a writer named Benjamin Ivry on Forward.com. Forward.com is a site focused on Jewish culture. In summary, Ivery said that some of the language against Jews Agatha used in her writing was wrong and stereotypical but that many Jews still enjoy Agatha’s work, seeing it as a product of a time when many ethnicities were not respected. May of Jews can still see the brilliance in Agatha’s plots, while recognizing her propensity to overgeneralize Jewish stereotypes, he said.

In his article, he wrote: “Christie specialist Gillian Gill was unequivocal:

‘A kind of jingoistic, knee-jerk anti-Semitism colors the presentation of Jewish characters in many of her early novels, and Christie reveals herself to be as unreflective and conventional as the majority of her compatriots… Christie’s anti-Semitism had always been of the stupidly unthinking rather than the deliberately vicious kind. As her circle of acquaintances widened and she grew to understand what Nazism really meant for Jewish people, Christie abandoned her knee-jerk anti-Semitism. What is more, even at her most thoughtless and prejudiced, Christie saw Jews as different, alien, and un-English, rather than as depraved or dangerous – people one does not know rather than people one fears.”

Jane Arnold likewise observed that in Christie’s writings, “No particular Jewish characteristic is completely negative.” This ambiguity may have been due in part to an incident recounted in Christie’s autobiography. In 1933, she accompanied her husband, an archaeologist, to the Middle East for an excavation. There they met Julius Jordan, Germany’s Director of Antiquities in Baghdad. When someone mentioned Jews, Jordan retorted: “Our [German] Jews are perhaps different from yours. They are a danger. They should be exterminated. Nothing else will really do but that.”

Christie’s reaction was to stare at Jordan “unbelievingly” and observe to herself: “There are things in life that make one truly sad when one can make oneself believe them.” The UK National Archives website further explains that Julius Jordan was Nazi Party leader and propaganda director for Iraq. So Christie had encountered the local equivalent of Joseph Goebbels.

While Christie was shocked at the idea of Jews being killed, a Jewish journalist, Chrisopher Hitchens, later said when he attended a dinner with Christie and her husband in the 1960s the conversations about Jews was still “vividly unpleasant.”

Ivry says for many Jews, Agatha remains “a recreational delight.”

Indeed, in an article in the Canadian Jewish News, journalist Michael Taube writes: “Was Christie a racist or an anti-Semite? Her family and friends always denied it. They argued that most of the characters who made intolerant remarks were, in fact, seen in a negative light in her works. That’s true, which means she was more likely a product of her times than a hateful soul.”

As for my personal opinion, I enjoy Agatha Christie’s novels and plan to keep reading them. Since I was never able to speak to the woman herself and will never have the chance I will hold on to hope that the negative references she made toward Jews and other ethnicities were simply what others have said they were – ignorance or a reflection of the character saying them.

Author Interview: Jessica Marie Holt, author of Cynthia

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 4 Comments

The books for the Apron Strings Book Series keep releasing and this month Cynthia by Jessica Marie Holt was released.

The Apron Strings Book series features books about women in each decade from 1920 to 2020. The characters are connected by one recipe/cookery book, but otherwise the books can be read individually and in any order. My book, Cassie, will be released in August and there are 11 books in all.

Today I am interviewing Jessica about her writing and her book, which was released June 15.

Here is a quick description:

At twenty-two, Cynthia Bailey has had enough family drama to last a lifetime. She loves her small eastern North Carolina town, and longs to settle into a simple, quiet life on her own . . . or maybe with Tucker, the boy next door who won’t stop asking her to marry him. Unfortunately, Momma’s wild ways have a tendency of throwing monkey wrenches into Cynthia’s plans. Besides, without Cynthia there to keep constant watch over her, Momma is certain to get herself into real trouble.

Cynthia has one respite from her problems: Granny Tru’s farm. Momma doesn’t like her going there, as she left Granny and farm life behind long ago and expects Cynthia to do the same. But she doesn’t dare say much, because if there’s anyone more strong-willed and determined than Momma, it’s Granny.

Cynthia secretly wishes everyone would just get along. But Momma and Granny are worlds apart, with bitterness, family secrets, and tragedies between them. It all seems hopeless until, tired of Momma’s frozen TV dinners, Cynthia asks Granny True for help learning to cook. When Granny gives her a vintage cookbook she acquired from a used book shop, she finds much more than cooking lessons. She finds faith, hope, and a way back to healing for her family.

See the bottom of this post for a link to the book.

1.       Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m a mom of five, although two of my little birds are grown and have flown the nest. I homeschool my three younger kids. We have two dogs, Jack and Daisy, and two cats, Milo and Whiskey. We also have a hamster named Taco. I grew up in South Florida, but I currently live in central/eastern North Carolina. I absolutely love it here; it has inspired so much of my writing. 

I have been writing almost all my life, but I have only been published since 2018, when I dusted off a short story I’d written 20 years earlier and made being a writer official. 

2.       What is your latest book about? Who are the main characters and when and where does it take place?

My latest book, Cynthia, is part of an amazing multi-author series called Apron Strings. Each book is set in a different decade, and each main character is from a different place and a different walk of life. The stories are tied together by one cookbook from the 1920s. 

My book, Cynthia, takes place in the 1970s. Cynthia is a sweet 22-year-old girl who is caught between two very different generations—Momma’s and Granny Tru’s​. She’s also caught between a rock and a hard place. She wants to move on with her life and find her place in the world, but she’s stuck. She lives at home with Momma, whose wild ways make it difficult for Cynthia to start a new life on her own—or with Tucker, the boy ​next door who won’t stop asking her to marry him.   

3.       What is the overarching message of your latest book?

      Mainly, Cynthia is a story about finding the courage to let go and move forward. In one way or another, each of the three women in the story, Cynthia, Momma, and Granny, are struggling with the past and finding it hard to let go and move on. 

In our doubt and fear, we often tend to try and hold on to people we love—to manage them or rescue them or control the outcomes of their choices. We do this to protect them, and to keep ourselves from getting hurt. But this kind of “help” isn’t really helpful. At some point, we need to learn to let people go and be at peace. After all, God loves them more than we do, and he’s in control.  

4.       Did you learn anything about writing or yourself as you were writing the book?

This was a healing story for me. I found a little bit of courage and clarity when I wrote it. 

5.       Where can readers find out more about you and your projects?

You can find me at any of these places! linktr.ee/jessicamarieholt

You can purchase Cynthia, or read it on Kindle Unlimited here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D3SFNXNK?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_5&storeType=ebooks

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books for the Second Half of 2024

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 26 Comments

|| Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. ||

This week the topic is: Top Ten Tuesday Anticipated books for the second half of 2024.

This one is hard for me because I read a lot of older books and because I am always behind on finding out about new releases, even though I am on Netgalley. I don’t have ten books here, but I have seven, and many of these I either have an ARC of (through Netgalley) or hope to get ARC copies of. I also haven’t read books by most of these authors yet, but the plots sound good or I have heard a lot about them.

1. The Gardener’s Plot by Deborah J. Benoit (November 5)

I was approved for this ARC and it looks very good.

Description:

A woman helps set up a community garden in the Berkshires, only to find a body in one of the plots on opening day.

After life threw Maggie Walker a few curveballs, she’s happy to be back in the small, Berkshires town where she spent so much time as a child. Marlowe holds many memories for her, and now it also offers a fresh start. Maggie has always loved gardening, so it’s only natural to sign on to help Violet Bloom set up a community garden.

When opening day arrives, Violet is nowhere to be found, and the gardeners are restless. Things go from bad to worse when Maggie finds a boot buried in one of the plots… and there’s a body attached to it. Suddenly, the police are looking for a killer and they keep asking questions about Violet. Maggie doesn’t believe her friend could do this, and she’s going to dig up the dirt needed to prove it.

The Gardener’s Plot takes readers to the heart of the Berkshires and introduces amateur sleuth Maggie Walker in Deborah J. Benoit’s Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debut.

2. The Author’s Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams; Lauren Willig; Karen White (November 5)

This just sounded very good to me. I have not been approved for the ARC, but I’ll read it eventually.

Agatha Christie meets Murder, She Wrote in this witty locked room mystery and literary satire by New York Times bestselling team of novelists: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.

There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead—under bizarre circumstances—in the castle tower’s book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in…or, possibly, one of the castle’s guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for literary Americans, finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists. 

The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky erotica writer; Cassie Pringle, a Southern mom of six juggling multiple cozy mystery series; and Emma Endicott, a New England blue blood and author of critically acclaimed historical fiction. The women claim to be best friends writing a book together, but the authors’ stories about how they know Brett Saffron Presley don’t quite line up, and the detective is getting increasingly suspicious. 

Why did the authors really come to Castle Kinloch? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death? 

A crafty locked-room mystery, a pointed satire about the literary world, and a tale of unexpected friendship and romance—this novel has it all, as only three bestselling authors can tell it! 

3. Murder, She Wrote: A Killer Christmas by Jessica Fletcher; Terrie Farley Moran (October 8, 2024)

I have never read one of these but I’ve heard good things about them. I may end up hating it. Ha!

Description:

It’s Christmastime in Cabot Cove, but there’s more homicide than ho-ho-ho in the newest entry in the USA Today bestselling Murder, She Wrote series.

Christmas is not an easy time to sell a house, but in Boston tycoon John Bragdon, Cabot Cove Realtor Eve Simpson has found a buyer for the old Jarvis homestead. Unfortunately, Eve gets a lump of coal in her stocking in the form of Kenny Jarvis, who has been missing for years and presumed dead but has now come back to stop his sister from selling their childhood home.

Eve presses on, organizing a welcome dinner for Bragdon and his wife, Marlene, to meet the leading citizens of the town, including Jessica Fletcher. Dinner is interrupted by an uninvited guest—not Santa but Kenny, who threateningly promises Marlene she will never live in his house.

When Marlene is found dead a few days later, Kenny is the natural suspect. But Jessica isn′t so sure he′s on the naughty list . . .

4. Tracking Tilly by Janice Thompson (August 1)

I just received my approval for this ARC and I am looking forward to it!

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.

5. Queen of Hearts: A Gripping Psychological Thriller with a Twist by Heather Day Gilbert (July 23)

I may regret it because this is not really the genre of books I read, but I was approved this morning for this ARC.

Her readers love her…but one has gotten a little too attached.

Alexandra Dubois, a NYT bestselling author, has made a name for herself by crafting twisted serial killers in her romantic suspense series. When threatening notes from an “invested reader” escalate into violence, Alex has to admit she’s not safe in her own home. Although her autism makes any changes to her routine difficult, she reluctantly accepts her editor’s advice to fly to his sprawling vacation home in West Virginia so she can focus on her looming deadline.

Fighting paranoia that the stalker has discovered her mountain hideaway, Alex still forces herself to write several chapters in her novel. But when a thunderstorm leaves her stranded and she hears a knock at her door, she’s about to discover that life truly is stranger than fiction.

Fans of Alfred Hitchcock, Mary Higgins Clark, and Misery are sure to be hooked by this clean, fast-paced domestic thriller by RWA Daphne Award-winning author Heather Day Gilbert.

6. The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne (Sept. 3)

I’ve always wanted to read some of A.A. Milne’s work beyond Winnie The Pooh. I know I’ve read that it drove him nuts that Winnie The Pooh took off and none of his more serious work.

A classic Golden Age locked-room cozy mystery by the author of Winnie-the-Pooh — hailed as one of the “20 Best Classic Murder Mystery Books of All Time (Town & Country, 2023)

“Has the pacing equivalent of perfect pitch . . . and spiced with funny comments on the clichés of the mystery novel” — Molly Young, The New York Times (2024)

In a quaint English country house, the exuberant Mark Ablett has been entertaining a house party, but the festivities are rudely interrupted by the arrival of Mark’s wayward brother, Robert, home from Austalia. Even worse, not long after his arrival the long-lost brother is found dead, shot through the head, and Mark is nowhere to be found. It is up to amateur detective Tony Gillingham and his pal Bill to investigate.

Between games of billiards and bowls, the taking of tea and other genteel pursuits, Tony and Bill attempt to crack the perplexing case of their host’s disappearance and its connection to the mysterious shooting. Can the pair of sleuths solve the Red House mystery in time for their afternoon game of croquet?

The Red House Mystery marked Milne’s first and final venture into the detective genre, despite the book’s immediate success. Praised by Raymond Chandler and renowned critic Alexander Woolcott, this gem of classic Golden Age crime sparkles with witty dialogue, an intriguing cast of characters, and a brilliant plot.

7. Sticks and Scones: A Bakeshop Mystery by Ellie Alexander (August 20)

I have read one of the others in this series so this one might need to wait for me but I hope to read it eventually anyhow.

Another delicious installment in the Bakeshop Series set in Ashland, OR!

It’s late spring in Juliet’s charming hamlet of Ashland. Spotted deer are nibbling on lush green grasses in Lithia Park, the Japanese maples are blooming, and Torte is baking a bevy of spring delights—lemon curd cupcakes, mini coconut cream pies, grapefruit tartlets, and chocolate dipped almond Tuiles.

Meanwhile, Juliet’s friend Lance, the artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, is taking center stage with his new theater troupe—the Fair Verona Players. Their performance in Uva’s vineyard promises to be a modern, gender-bending twist on “The Taming of the Shrew,” but as the curtain rises, so do the strange occurrences. Stage mishaps and internal bickering threaten to derail the production. But the real show begins when the leading actor, Jimmy Paxton, meets his final curtain call. Now, Jules is not only in the mix, but she’s going to need to craft the perfect recipe for solving this theatrical whodunit.

What books are on your list for the most anticipated books for the second half of the year? Let me know in the comments.

Sunday Bookends: Trying to beat the heat, reading a mix of genres, and old mystery shows

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 9 Comments


It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What’s Been Occurring

As I wrote in my post yesterday, we have been in the middle of the heat wave like a lot of our country. Yesterday we visited my parents and found out Dad had been able to work on the pool and we could go for a swim.

So, Little Miss and I jumped in for a couple of hours, during which time I was reminded how out of shape I am and that my knee I smashed up three weeks ago is not completely healed yet. It is, however, much, much better.

On our way home a storm started to move in and this time, unlike Friday, the storm was an actual storm and dropped some rain on us and dropped the temps down into normal range for summer in Pennsylvania. It looks like we will have nicer temps this week. I never thought I’d be glad to see highs of 81 in the forecast.

High temps make me very sick so I hide inside a lot in the summer. Usually even seeing a high of 80 makes me antsy but the horrible heat showed me that 80 isn’t that bad after all.

What I/we’ve been Reading

Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor

The Sentence Is Death by Anthony Horowitz

The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father by Jim Wight

Return To Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (reading with Little Miss)

I set Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery aside for now but will get back to it.

 Lord Edgware Dies: A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

I listened to the majority of this on Audible and really enjoyed it. I really wanted to know the ending, though, so before bed last night I opened the book on my kindle since I can read faster that the narrator could read. I think I will go back and listen to the ending on Audible simply because I liked the narrator (David Colacci) so much.

The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes by Carolyn Keene

Ever Faithful by Karen Barnett

Dandelion Cottage by Carol Watson Rankin

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery



What We watched/are Watching

I’ve been watching the old 1970s Nancy Drew/Hard Boys show on YouTube, but I think it is also streaming on the Roku Channel.

The Husband made me watch a rerun of Jake And The Fat Man. I’m slightly scarred from it, but also the person who uploaded it to YouTube didn’t finish the episode, so I am traumatized and victimized because I don’t know how the episode ended – though they pretty much had their man already.

I made The Husband watch a movie of Diagnosis Murder that we found on YouTube after I saw a clip of the show earlier this week. I never watched it when it was on the air and I think I know why. The show stars Dick VanDyke and his son Barry and it’s okay but there are some seriously ridiculous elements to it. It is more of a cozy mystery show than anything hard hitting so I guess it is okay to have some ridiculousness.

I’m not sure I will watch more episodes.

I also watched a lot of Just A Few Acres Farm this past week and really enjoyed it. It was so wonderfully relaxing.


What I’m Writing

Gladwynn Grant Shakes The Family Tree – the third book in my cozy mystery series, which will release in autumn. If you’re not signed up for my newsletter, you might want to do so because I will be offering sneak peeks and actual chapters of the book later this summer.

I am also getting ready to release a Christian fiction romance in August – Cassie, which is part of the Apron Strings Book series .. written by 11 different authors. You can pre-order here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1VW9TVK

You can find out where to buy all of my books here: https://lisahoweler.com/my-books-2/

Last week on the blog I shared:

What I’m Listening To

I just finished listening to Around the World in 80 Days on audio, as I mentioned above, and really enjoyed it.

I am also listening to Matthew West because I have been anxious and his music calms me down. In the beginning of June, I drove my son somewhere and said to myself on the way back that I really wanted to listen to Matthew. I said it to myself. I didn’t get the songs ready to play before I pulled out yet.

My mind was just swirling with worries. I had my phone in my hand but hadn’t found the album yet in my music library. Suddenly music started playing and when I looked at my phone it was Matthew West. It was a crazy moment and I think God was like, “you need this, and I can’t wait around for you to do it.”


Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Sunday Bookends: I need to wear bubble wrap and books and stuff…

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 17 Comments

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays (yes I did post this on Saturday night this week), I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.



What’s Been Occurring

Yesterday I shared in my Saturday blog post that I was in the ER on Monday. I am doing fine now and long story short is my heart felt like it was flipping/skipping for more than 12 hours but because I’ve had this feeling off and on for years (and been checked for it), I delayed going. As it has been in the past, I was told my heart was fine. I don’t know why the skipping feeling was happening and kept happening over and over again and the doctor who was there didn’t either but by Thursday it had stopped for the most part and by Friday it was all the way gone.

I am now thinking it was related to a muscle twitch in my chest caused by – well, who knows. A possible autoimmune condition and just the fact I am over weight (just started an exercise plan and a new way of eating so maybe I strained something)? Who knows.

If you want to read more about my weird and stressful week, you can catch up on that post.

Today, though, I will share that after all of that, I was carrying in groceries yesterday, tripped over a curb in our sidewalk, went flying, and injured my knee. Yesterday I spent half the day with it propped up and frozen veggies on it.

This is where I would like to announce that I will be encasing myself in bubble wrap for the foreseeable future but I really don’t know if that is practical or financially wise.

What I/we’ve been Reading

Currently:

The Real James Herriot by Jim Wight

and

Death At A Scottish Christmas

and

The Women of Wyntons by Donna Mumma (I forgot I had started this one! Whoops! It is for a book tour and it’s good so far.)

So I started the Jim Wight biography of his father Alf (James Herriott is his pen name), but decided it was a little bit dry. I still want to read it but I feel like I’ll need a bit to break up the slower pace, which is why I started Death At a Scottish Christmas by Lucy Connolly. It turns out it was just what I needed to have a little bit of a fun read in addition to more of a educational read.

Just Finished:

I finished The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson, a fun romantic comedy last week. It comes out June 25. I am behind on reviews, but  hope to have one up for this soon. It was a silly, sweet book with a few parts that started to drag but then picked right back up again. I would recommend it for romance fans. I don’t read a lot of romance books but when I do I like Sharon’s, ones by Bethany Turner, and others by Becky Wade.



Soon to be read:

A Line To Kill by Anthony Horowitz

An Assassination on the Agenda by T.E. Kinsey

The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliff

LIttle Miss and I are reading Return to Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright.

The Boy is reading a War Hammer book that I forgot the name of (he’s at a friend’s house and I don’t want to bug him and ask).

The Husband is reading With A Mind to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

What We watched/are Watching


I watched the last two episodes of the fourth season of All Creatures Great and Small on Thursday and Friday and had a good cry, which was a nice release after the week I had.

I also watched some episodes of The Dick VanDyke Show this week.

Last night The Husband and I watched The Rockford Files.


What I’m Writing

I am working on book three of the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries. I can’t wait to share it with you! I’m having fun!

What I’m Listening to

I am listening to Around the World in 80 Days on Audible. Yes, I’ve been listening to it a long time but I haven’t had a lot of time to sit and listen to it. I am really enjoying it and I would have given up and just read the book except I am really enjoying the narrator.

Photos from Last Week


Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Fiction Friday. Book Recommendation: Murder in An Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 3 Comments

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:

In the small village of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland, Naomi’s Bistro has always been a warm and welcoming spot to visit with neighbors, enjoy some brown bread and tea, and get the local gossip. Nowadays twenty-two-year-old Siobhán O’Sullivan runs the family bistro named for her mother, along with her five siblings, after the death of their parents in a car crash almost a year ago.

One morning, as they’re opening the bistro, they discover a man seated at a table, dressed in a suit as if for his own funeral, a pair of hot pink barber scissors protruding from his chest.

MY THOUGHTS: This was a fun introduction to what promises to be an even more fun series. So far there are 10 books in the series. This is a very authentic Irish book written with Irish tone, accents, and history. I loved the main character, Siobhan (shuh-vawn) O’Sullivan, and her five siblings. Together they are known as the O’Sullivan Six in their small town.

Siobhan is a headstrong, redhead who has had an extremely rough year. She has to find the killer because a family member is being blamed for the death of the man found at their bistro. Combine her determination with a bit of romance between her and the local garda (police) and you have the perfect combination for a mystery in my mind.

*Heads up to those who like their cozy mysteries squeaky clean: while it has many cozy mystery elements there is some swearing, including the big ones that somehow sound nicer when written/spelled in an Irish accent.

I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of the books in the series.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on But Still Haven’t Read

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 13 Comments

|| Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. ||

Head over to That Artsy Reader Girl for more posts on this topic.

Today’s prompt was: Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on but Still Haven’t Read.

So I have a lot of books I could probably put on this list but today I am going to share three books I grabbed up at used book sales but still haven’t started. I know – I am supposed to share ten but I didn’t have ten! I am so bad at the whole “top ten” theme but hopefully I’ll get better at it.

These books won’t be on the “popular” lists of today because this week I realized I don’t read popular books. I read books not many people have heard of, I think. I’m like a little old book lady stuck in a middle-aged lady’s body.

Anyhow, here are my three books:

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie.

This is the first book in the Grantchester Mysteries, which is the book series that the British TV show is based on. The series follows the vicar turned amateur sleuth, Sidney Chambers.

Originally, I wanted to read these books because I thought they were older mysteries but when I picked up this book I realized it had been written in 2012, making it much more modern than I expected. I also learned (well just today, if I am honest) that the books are a collection of short stories, somewhat like G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown Mysteries.

I still want to read the book(s), however. I will have to compare it with what I have already seen of the show, which isn’t much.

There are six books in this series with the fifth, the prequel having been written in 2019.

  1. Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death (2012)
  2. Sidney Chambers and The Perils of the Night (2013)
  3. Sidney Chambers and The Problem of Evil (2014)
  4. Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins (2015)
  5. Sidney Chambers and The Dangers of Temptation (2016)
  6. Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love (2017)
  7. The Road to Grantchester (2019)

The next book I snatched up at a library sale that I wanted to read was Let The Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor.

This is the sequel to Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, which I read as a kid. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry is a sequel to Song of the Trees and all are part of the Logan family saga.

I want to eventually read this entire series but before I start this particular book, I want to go back and reread Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry since it has been *mumble mumble* years since I first read it.

If you are not familiar with this series, here is a quick description of the first book:

Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family’s struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence in the face of racism and social injustice. And it is also Cassie’s story – Cassie Logan, an independent girl who discovers over the course of an important year why having land of their own is so crucial to the Logan family, even as she learns to draw strength from her own sense of dignity and self-respect.

And this one:

It is a frightening and turbulent time for the Logan family. First, their friend T. J. must go on trial for murder – and confront an all-white jury. Then, Cousin Suzella tries to pass for white, with humiliating consequences. And when Cassie’s neighbor Mrs. Lee Annie stands up for her right to vote, she and her family are driven from their home. Other neighbors are destroyed and shattered by the greed of landowners. But through it all, Cassie and the Logans stand together and stand proud – proving that courage, love, and understanding can defy even the deepest prejudice.


The third book I grabbed and wanted is Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour.

I grabbed this one because my mom and brother used to read Louis L’Amour when I was a kid and a blogger I follow reads him and was talking about his books. I thought this would be something different to try – out of my normal realm of genre reading.

L’Amour writes westerns and the only other books I’ve read that I would consider westerns are The Walt Longmire Mysteries by Craig Johnson.

So have you read any of these books or even heard of them? Let me know in the comments!

Sunday Bookends: Children’s books, ARCs, and working on future books

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 12 Comments


It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What’s Been Occurring

Catch up on my week in yesterday’s post!

Saturday Afternoon Chat: beautiful weather, trampolines, and cottonwood trees

What I/we’ve been Reading

Currently:

The Women of Wyntons by Donna Muma (ARC)

The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene (Another fluff read by “Carolyn Keene” this week.)

The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson (A romantic comedy – much needed, though there is some seriousness thrown in so I’m reading it sort of slowly.)

Just Finished:

Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

I almost abandoned this one because of how odd it was when I first started but then I had to find out what happened with the Slater family – who are so mean to the Boyler family. If you’re not familiar with this one it is about farming families in Florida in the early 20th century. Their accents are, I guess, very authentic. Or mocking. Not sure which, but I think they are meant to be authentic. (I know they are meant to be authentic. I’m teasing a bit here.)

It honestly had a lot of disturbing stuff in it so I don’t think this will be a book I’ll read over and over. The librarian at our local library said this one had sentimental meaning for her like the Little House books but I don’t remember neighbors poisoning the Ingalls’ mule like the neighbors in this book did. Yikes. It did have a good ending, but I would not call this a “cozy read.”

It was, however, an interesting one.

Abandoned: I planned to start a new book by author Maddie Day and then found out that she is a cozy mystery writer who pushes politics in her books. No thanks. I read to escape from all that – not to have it shoved at me in books that are meant to be fun. And, by the way, I don’t want politics even if it is politics I “agree with.”


Soon to be read:


The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of my Father by Jim Wight

The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe

The Boy and I are reading Around the World in 80 Days Together.

Little Miss and I are reading Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes.

The Husband is reading . .. oops. Forgot to ask him and he’s laying down for a nap. I’ll let you know next week.

What We watched/are Watching

It was a mixed bag of things on tap to watch this week. I watched an episode of Dick VanDyke, one of the old Carol Burnett Show, a couple of YouTube videos from Just A Few Acres Farm and I think that’s about it. I read and wrote more this week than watched things.
What I’m Writing

This week on the blog I shared:

I am still working on corrections to Cassie and on writing the third book in the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries.



Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.