It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Sometimes, I share what I’ve been listening to.
Thursday I received a package from Thriftbooks and inside was supposed to be a copy of Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (check), a copy of The Nancy Drew Scrapbook by Karen Plunket-Powel (check), and a Murder She Wrote Mystery (no check). Instead of the Murder She Wrote mystery, I found a very old book with a crumbling dust jacket and more dust than this mild-asthmatic with allergies was comfortable with. I barely looked at the book but I thought the title looked French.
Later that night after sending off an annoyed email to Thriftbooks to tell them they sent me the wrong book, I decided to take a closer look at the book, to at least find out the name.
I had never heard of the book, but it was called Murder A La Stroganoff by Caryl Brahms and SJ Snow. Inside the cover, it had a stamp that said it was from the Newberry Library, had been retired from their shelves, and was part of the Barzel Dance Collection. I searched a little more online and these books are fairly rare because it is a first edition from 1938 and the book is no longer in print. They did issue a paperback copy in 1985, but there are not a ton of the hardcovers published by The Crime Club, Doubleday & Co, New York out there.
Sadly, the book isn’t necessarily worth a ton without the dust jacket, which crumbled in my hands when I opened the package, but I couldn’t find one online being sold for less than $20 so, hey, if I ever do decide to sell it, I could make at least $20 off something I was shipped for free. With the dust jacket it could be worth up to $150. Apparently there aren’t a ton of these first editions out there and it’s a bit of a cult classic among mystery readers.
Thriftbooks did get back to me, by the way, and didn’t get the point that they sent the wrong book. Instead, they said they were sorry the book didn’t show up the way I wanted it to and that they didn’t have any other books with that title (they still think it is the Murder She Wrote book I first ordered) so to just keep the book and do what it with I wanted. They then issued me a refund for the book.
The book is a mystery and crime book with some satire mixed in about the ballet industry and is the second book in a series. I can not find a description of the book line but I think I actually want to read it so I might get a copy of the paperback instead of trying to read this older book which might bother my allergies.
I will be writing a blog post in the future about the book and its authors, though, because I fell down a rabbit hole researching what the book might be worth. I suppose that in the end getting the wrong book wasn’t such a bad thing.
Last week I finished The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie and The Clue in the Diary by Carolyn Keene (A Nancy Drew Mystery).
I’ll have reviews of both of them soon but I did enjoy them both. The Pale Horse was obviously more adult — I mean, not like “adult-adult” but more mature themes. But not like … mature-mature. *wink*
I’ve been enjoying some leisurely reading of P.G. Wodehouse’s The Imitable Jeeves.
The book is so funny and witty. It’s been a very nice escape. The Jeeves books are comedic books about Bertie Wooster, a British gentleman from London, who is always getting into somewhat weird situations where he has to be bailed out or helped by his valet Jeeves.
This book is exactly what I have needed this week.
I think I’m going to have to give up on The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh before I even really get too far in it. I pushed through the first chapter wondering why the author was giving me so much information at once and when she was going to get to an actual story. The first chapter is entirely Isadora standing in a supermarket, thinking about her life with very little interaction with anyone else or action. It looks to me like the whole book is mainly her thinking about things and dumping a lot of info on the reader all in one go. I just can’t get into it, in other words.
I might try again this week, but otherwise I am going to move on to Prince Caspian and then But First Murder by Bee Littlefield.
This week I watched Gaslight (1944) as part of my Summer of Angela movie watching event and really enjoyed it. It isn’t a movie I’d watch over and over because it is pretty dark in some ways, but I did enjoy it. I also watched The Rains Came, a 1939 movie with Myrna Loy and Tyrone Powers and Abbott and Costello in The Jack and The Beanstalk. This morning I watched church with Lisa Harper as the guest pastor and followed it up with a couple episodes of Just A Few Acres Farm.
I’m working on Gladwynn Grant Goes Back to School and wrote a little more this past week. I hope to have more time to write this week since Little Miss is going to VBS and I’ll probably wait at the church for her to save gas.
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.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
The heat this past week was awful. Just awful. We couldn’t get out house to cool down part of the time. But we survived and are experiencing much nicer and cooler temperatures now.
I haven’t been adding a lot of books to my shelf lately, but I thought I’d share this lovely Little Women book I recently bought from an online used bookshop.
It is an illustrated copy from the 1970s and I absolutely love the feel of the book overall, the illustrations inside, and the beautiful outside of the book, under the outside cover.
I know I will be rereading Little Women this year and other years. I might not read it all the way through again, but there are favorite sections I will definitely read over and over after I finally read it for the first time last year.
When I posted about this edition on my Instagram, several people commented that they had the exact same copy. Do any of you have a copy like this too?
I am still reading The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie but will have it done later this week. I’m not sure what I think of this one, but will probably go for a Miss Marple book for my next Agatha read.
I am also reading The Clue in the Diary by Carolyn Keene. It is a Nancy Drew mystery and it is the first book where she meets Ned Nickerson, who readers of Nancy Drew will know is her boyfriend throughout the series.
I am reading The Imitable Mr. Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse off and on.
I just started The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh. It is too soon for me to decide if I will like it or not.
Up next I hope to read Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis.
Little Miss and I are listening to Prince Caspian at night but she can hear it better because the phone is closer to her and I am closer to the air conditioner, which means I really can’t follow the story at all. That’s why I am glad I am going to be reading it soon.
The Husband is reading Glitz by Elmore Leonard.
The Boy is listening to Perturabo by Guy Haley. It’s a Warhammer book.
Little Miss just started the fourth book in The Harry Potter series, Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling.
I rewatched The Manchurian Candidate with The Boy last night. I picked up even more than I did when I watched it. Earlier in the week I watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks and an episode of Ludwig. This week I hope to watch Agatha and Me With David Suchet, more Ludwig, and Gaslight with Angela Lansbury for my Summer of Angela.
I’ve been listening to old Jack Benny radio programs before bed.
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.
Welcome to my June newsletter! That’s right. I’m going to try to do this once a month again and here on my main blog instead of Substack. I’ll have a page set up for you to find past newsletters.
All three Gladwynn books on sale
All three ebooks in the Gladwynn Grant Mystery series are on sale this week on Amazon.
You can read descriptions of each of the books at the links.
Update on book four in the Gladwynn Grant Mystery series
I’m working on book four of the Gladwynn Grant series but I wouldn’t say I am working on it steadly.
Alas, I am working on it here and there, but I have plenty of ideas. I hope to release it in October and will have a cover reveal by the end of July.
The book will be called Gladwynn Grant Goes Back To School. There will be a mystery, of course, since this is a mystery series. I can tell you that it will involve the local superintendent and that another family member of Gladwynn’s might show up for a visit. One we haven’t met yet.
There will be, of course, just a touch of romance like the other books.
I’ll have a description of the book by next month’s newsletter.
Admiring my roses
I always look forward to when the flowers bloom in our yard and this year was no different. The roses were beautiful this year but didn’t seem to last as long. The heatwave we had this week and the fact I failed to water them didn’t help.
Here are a few photos of them while they were blooming.
A Giveaway
I always had fun doing giveaways on my Substack Newsletter so I thought I’d do that with this newsletter. I would like to send one person a paperback copy of Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing.
If you are interested in a copy you can simply tell me what your favorite book genre is in the comments and I will randomly choose a winner by next week.
Find me on social media:
I wanted to close by reminding readers of my newsletters that I am on YouTube now (still figuring it out and only doing shorts for now). You can find my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@goodbooksandtea
I want to thank everyone who supports my writing, whether here on the blog or by borrowing or buying my books, or just reading them at all. It really means a lot to me since writing is a distraction for me from other stresses in life.
Here I am with another recap of an episode from The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries show from 1977.
As I’ve mentioned before, in the first season of this series, the episodes switched back and forth from Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew episodes and in the next season, they started to join together. Eventually, they began to phase out the Nancy episodes and focus more on The Hardy Boys. A new actress also started as Nancy when Pamela Sue Martin became disenchanted with the parts that were being written for her character.
This time around I am writing about a Nancy Drew centered episode called The Mystery of the Fallen Angel.
*Disclaimer: These posts do spoil the entire episode. Also, I do joke around a lot about the cheesiness or plot holes or the “weird” 70s hairstyles, clothes or music, but please know it is all in good fun. I have fun watching these and the mysteries are often very interesting. Please don’t leave me comments enraged that I am making fun of your favorite show. *wink* I make fun of my favorite shows too!
To me, this was one of the better episodes I’ve seen so far. It was fairly well written, simply put together, and Nancy’s character was less whiney or rude than in other episodes.
We start out at a carnival. George and Nancy are playing a carnival game and they are winning. The man running the game isn’t altogether pleased with them winning and reminds them that the event is for charity.
Nancy lets him know she’s going to give the toys they are winning to the children.
Next, we find Ned in with a fortune teller. She looks at his palm and tells him that’s “too masculine.” (Snicker).
“You’re too dominating of a man for the average girl to handle,” she says.
Ned blushes and scoffs. Laughing nervously he says, “Oh…so that’s my problem.”
The fortune teller suggests that his forcefulness is what causes women to run from his advances.
“Oh. That’s because of my forcefulness?” Ned says with wonder.
The fortune teller says, “Yes, trust me.”
Switching scenes, we see a glass of champagne being poured for Carson Drew, Nancy’s dad. He’s telling a man named Robert that this is the best benefit they’ve had so far.
Robert thanks him and says the benefit is one excuse to “keep the old place” now that all the kids have moved out.
The wife laughs and asks how they could possibly downsize anymore.
“We’re already down to 18 rooms a piece,” she says.
Jocular, rich-people-laughter follows.
Outside we see a young man with long dark hair and a sports jersey sneaking around in the dark. He knocks on the back door and a woman lets him in. Both looked panicked and she says, “We’re going to get caught, Henry. If only you could tell people who you are.”
And – oh! Who is this young man? He looks very, very familiar.
Now I shall confess that I took a photo of the actor while I was watching this the first time and asked my husband who it was. I knew he looked very familiar.
The answer I got back was, “A. Martinez. Longmire.”
Yep. A Martinez was in this one. Maybe one of his first shows? Not sure, but he was very good and it was a sign of good acting to come, in my humble opinion.
Anyhow, without giving us much more information we switch to another scene of a group of bikers pulling up and a woman scolding them for not being there to help run the carnival.
“Where have you guys been? I pay you to work for the carnival, not to go joyriding,” she says in a thick New York accent.
She tells them to all get back to work and tells the one girl to go home. The young girl says she’d prefer to stay there, she’s having fun.
When the woman leaves, the man says they’ve got important work to do later. He hugs the young girl, squeezes her face and tells her to lighten up but she says, “I’m just not used to all this.”
“There’s a lot you’re not use to, but you better get used to it,” he says. “Tonight’s your first lesson.”
We don’t know what that means but we are certain to find out at some point.
Later Henry is caught leaving the house by the rich wife who asks if she can help him.
He says he got lost and Robert says, “You’re Henry Salazar, aren’t you?”
Henry doesn’t reply but says he has to be going.
When he leaves, Robert tells Carson he’s the kid who used to work in Foster’s drugstore until old man Foster caught him with his hand in the till.
“That was never proven, as I remember,” Carson says.
“Still,” Robert says. “I don’t like him hanging around here.”
Henry sneaks back to say goodbye to Tina and makes her promise she won’t say anything about who he is or who she is. He says she’ll get into big trouble if she says anything and we aren’t sure if that is a threat or a reminder.
Next, we see the young carnival girl looking worried outside, a window opens in the mansion and the other carnival workers are — gasp! Inside the mansion!
The girl blows a whistle at the moment that Nancy, George, and Ned walk by. Ned is telling a joke, and they are laughing but hear the whistle, which I gather is to alert the carnival workers it’s all clear.
Ned, Nancy, and George shrug the whistle off and keep going and then we see all the carnival workers nonchalantly returning to their places at the carnival…somehow no one noticed they were gone. Hmmm…
Oh well. Back to the mansion where chaos has ensued because the rich lady, Clara, went to put a pin back into her safe and discovered all of her jewels are gone. She let out a scream like she found a dead body and George, Nancy, Ned, and Carson go running.
Clara and John clarify that the jewels weren’t worth a ton but they were insured for over a million dollars. The sheriff comes rushing in not long afterward and greets Nancy and Carson then asks if anyone touched anything.
“Of course not!” Nancy says, clearly offended.
The sheriff is immediately apologetic. “Sorry. I forgot who I was dealing with for a moment.”
He’s been in similar situations with them before, after all since Nancy can’t keep her nose out of police business.
The sheriff wants to know if they saw anyone suspicious walking around or in the house and — Of course! Snap! Robert and Clara immediately think of Henry. He was in the house. He must have taken the jewels!
Carson backs up the couple by saying that Henry did seem suspicious, which he adds he hates to say since he seems like a good young man who Nancy went to school with.
We don’t know how the sheriff finds Henry but after the commercial break (though they are cut out of the YouTube videos I watch) we see Nancy in a jail cell with Henry, telling him she works as a part time investigator for his attorney, Carson Drew.
Carson is going to take on his case and she wants him to tell her why he was in the mansion.
He refuses. He didn’t steal Mrs. Jordan’s jewelry but he won’t tell Nancy why he was in the house.
She wants to know if had anything to do with seeing Tina.
“Tina who?”
“The Jordan’s maid. I thought you two knew each other.”
(Um…how did she make this connection? I’m not sure but I think I missed a scene where Nancy saw them together in the house.)
Henry says he doesn’t know here and never met her and there is no reason to get an innocent person involved in anything.
(If he doesn’t know her then how does he know she’s innocent. Right? Right?!)
“I do not know her. I did not rob the Jordans,” he tells Nancy.
Nancy tries Tina. She won’t say anything either.
The Jordans are pleased that Carson is going to defend Henry. The sheriff doesn’t know why the man would care about defending a man who might have stolen things from him.
“If he’s guilty, the law will take its course without my direction,” Robert Jordan says. “If he’s innocent, I don’t want to be responsible for destroying anyone’s life.”
The sheriff wants to look into Tina now. Nancy, though, says there were tons of people there the night of the carnival, including the carnival workers.
While leaving with Carson, Nancy says she wants to check into the carnival workers and see if they could have been involved in the theft of the jewels.
Carson is one of the most laid-back dads I’ve ever seen (in the books and the show) and sometimes expresses concern for Nancy’s safety but usually only sends her on her way with a small laugh and a “You be careful now,” like she is playing make believe in the backyard.
This time around, though, Carson actually expresses concern!
“That might not be too safe,” he tells Nancy.
“I’m just going to go ask a few questions,” Nancy assures him.
Carson isn’t buying it. “Nancy, people don’t like having their lives pried into.”
Right?! Yet your daughter is doing it all the time, dude, and usually you don’t seem to care too much, just letting her gallivant around, sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. (Remember I am joking around in these posts, not actually slamming the show. Just having a little fun.)
“I’m not going to pry,” Nancy insists. “Just observe.”
“Well, you be careful while you’re observing,” Carson says with a nervous laugh.
Nancy’s idea of observing is dressing up in a bikini top under a buttoned down shirt, and pretending she’s a runaway to try to get a job with the carnival.
Ned and George don’t like this at all and warn her against it. In true Nancy fashion, she ignores them and moves forward, but does thank them when they say they’ll be showing up to the carnival later in the day to check on her.
Nancy struts into that carnival with an attitude. Her hair is all feathered, her cleavage is showing, and the mom in me is like “Oh no. No. I don’t like this one little bit.”
But I can’t do anything about it so I just have to watch Nancy try to make herself fit in by jumping on a motorcyle and taking off when a guy tells her he bets she doesn’t know how to ride it. Then, after the carnival owner hires her, I have to keep watching when these creepy dudes later put her in the cage of a ride and spin her upside down up in the air to try to get her to admit she’s a narc.
I’m telling you these guys are creepy! They are definitely the r-word type and Nancy is truly putting herself at risk. If she was my daughter, I’d be flipping out on her. I don’t care if she is 18 now. I think she’s 18 in the show. I’m not actually sure. She’s still my child and I’d be fuming mad if I saw her doing these things.
So, after these guys try to get her to confess who she is, the young woman we met earlier )who was afraid she was going to blow their mission – whatever it was) says she knows Nancy. Nancy, she claims, is a friend of her sister’s and that she’s there to try to bring her home since she ran away from home.
She’s lying of course. We also learn her name is Anne.
Nancy thanks Anne when they are alone, but the girl tells her to get lost because she is in danger.
“You be gone by tonight or you’re on your own!” she tells Nancy.
This whole episode had me anxious. The creepy guys, Nancy putting herself at risk and being away from friends and family, the young runaway girl.
Boy was I relieved when Ned and George showed up and the three of them joined together to find out if the carnival workers are the real thieves of Mrs. Jordans jewels. They don’t find the jewels, but they do find a van full of stolen televisions and other electronics. These carnival workers might not be jewel thieves, but they are thieves of some kind.
Ned and George also let Nancy know that Henry was let out on bail, but he jumped it. The cops are looking for him. Just lovely!
Nancy tells George and Ned to write down the serial numbers of the electronics before they leave to try to find out if the items are stolen. The three of them then part ways, Nancy back to her ruse and Ned and George to find out if the TVs are stolen.
Nancy runs into Henry while he’s snooping around the carnival. He tells her that her dad told him she was following the carnival to try to find out if the workers were involved and that he also found the van with the TVs. He tells Nancy that Tina was arrested as his accomplice. He has to find out who really stole the jewels so she doesn’t have a crime pinned on her that she didn’t commit. He admits he knows Tina but won’t tell Nancy how.
They part ways and Anne finds Nancy at the game booth she’s working at later and says that Vince, the head bad guy, knows someone was in his van. They found out who the person is and they’re going to find out why they think Vince is guilty of something.
Nancy isn’t sure what that means and then Vince’s creepy henchmen tells her that shes’s taking a ride with them so they can show her how they deal with spies.
Nancy is put on the back of a bike and driven to a rural area where Henry is in the middle of a circle of motorcycles while they taunt him.
Nancy watches this for a while and then she has had enough. She jumps on the bike the other guy (essentially her kidnapper) got off and roars toward the other bikes, somehow knocking them all over (it’s television, people). She gets Henry on the back of her bike ,and they take off toward the carnival, all the bikers soon in pursuit (once they get their bikes back up). This leads to a windy and twisty chase among the carnival booths during which a lot of the bikers crash out.
Eventually the cops show up and stop the highspeed bike chase. Ned and George are with them. Nancy stops her bike and thanks Ned for calling the police. As an aside (yes, I do a lot of these), I noticed that Nancy was a lot nicer to Ned in this episode than previous ones. She even compliments him by saying, “Ned, you are without a doubt the smartest, neatest, most…”
“Most forceful?” Ned asks, harkening back to the fortune teller’s comments at the beginning of the show.
“Most forceful man I know,” Nancy agrees.
Anne, the young woman who tried to help Nancy, says she was forced to help the burglary gang. She’s scared to go with the police, but Nancy says Carson will help her. This poor guy. Nancy is always finding people for him to help, and he rarely gets paid by them, which will actually be commented on at the end of this episode. It does have me wondering how this man has time to make money with all the pro bono work he does.
To wrap things up with the Jordans, Carson and Nancy visit them, and Nancy asks Mrs. Jordan to open the safe in front of them. The Jordans are a bit offended but agree. While working on opening the safe, Mrs. Jordan breaks down and confesses she doesn’t know how to open the safe. She never has. The safe was already open when she came in the room.
Nancy says George and Ned uncovered in their investigations that the Jordans are broke (how did they find this? I have no idea!) and says she believes the couple sold the jewels off and then when they had no more to sell, they pretended the jewels were stolen so they could get the insurance money. The Jordans admit that this is exactly what they did and are ashamed.
Nancy says it was very convenient for the couple that Henry walked into the house that night. She asks if they were willing to let Henry go to jail for their crime of insurance fraud and they said they were sure Carson would find out that Henry didn’t do it and if he didn’t, they were going to confess before Henry’s case went to trial. They even asked Carson to represent him so he would find out that Henry wasn’t guilty, they say. Robert asks Carson to not only forgive them but represent them in their insurance fraud case. He agrees, saying he can’t let their 20-year friendship end over this mistake. (Carson is way too nice.)
Another aside — does George have another job? I mean Ned works for Carson but what does George do? She doesn’t go to school. She doesn’t appear to work anywhere. She runs around with Nancy solving crimes so does Carson pay her too? And if he does, how does he since he keeps taking cases on for free for Nancy? Of course, he does have wealthy clients like the Jordans so maybe that is how.
There is also a final wrap up scene with Henry and Tina. It turns out that Tina is Henry’s sister. She’s in the United States illegally from Mexico and Henry was helping her get her green card and papers so she could stay legally. He didn’t want anyone to know who she was so she wouldn’t be deported.
Carson says he will help her get her papers and make sure she’s not deported. Luckily this is the 70s and not today or Carson might have a pretty hard time keeping Tina from being sent back to Mexico.
As I mentioned above, this was one of the better episodes in my opinion. The story wasn’t too bad, the writing was better than others and Nancy was a lot nicer to Ned all around.
If you want to read other episode recaps you can do a search for Hardy Boys Nancy Drew via the search bar to the right.
Up next, I will be recapping The Hardy Boys episode Wipe Out.
Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.
You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
I shared what I did last week in my Saturday Afternoon Chat yesterday. It was actually my Saturday Evening Chat because I got it up so late.
After I posted that, The Husband took Little Miss and her friend swimming at the local YMCA, which we had never visited before. Now that we know the pool exists we will probably visit it more this summer.
Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I are still holding Drop-In Crafternoons once or twice a month.
We will be holding another one Saturday, July 19 at 1 p.m.
The crafternoons are events where we gather on Zoom and craft at our respective homes and chat while we work on various projects. There is one woman who creates with beads, another who colors, I sometimes draw or color, and Erin does a variety of art, including embroidery. We are calling them drop-in crafternoons because you can drop in and out during the time we are on. No need to stay the whole time if you can’t. Come late if you want or leave early.
If you want to join in, email Erin at crackcrumblife@gmail.com and she will add you to the mailing list.
If you are looking for a link party to participate in, I co-host one with three lovely blogger ladies that goes live on Thursday nights. The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot goes live about 9:30 p.m. each Thursday and if you scroll on my right-hand sidebar you should find the link to the latest one.
I also have added a link to parties I participate in at the top of my page.
What I am reading – I finally finished All Things Wise and Wonderful the week before last and really loved it – especially a story at the end of the book involving Tristan, the date he tossed into the rose bushes, and a missing dog.
I also finished A Midnight Dance by Joanna Davidson Politano. I would give it about a 3.5. I didn’t like how the mystery part wrapped up or how the main character had this huge secret she dropped at the very end but never really resolved. Politano’s writing is very good, though, and I am sure I will read another one by her at some point in the future.
Right now I am reading The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie and switching off with The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Woodhouse.
I plan to start The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh sometime this week.
I hope to start Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis soon as well.
The Husband is reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Little Miss is finishing up the third Harry Potter book after a long break, and she and I are reading Magical Melons by Carol Ryrie Brink together and listening to The Moffats at night.
I didn’t add any new books to my shelves recently, other than a couple I found on Project Gutenberg and will be sending to my Kindle to read.
Last week I watched National Velvet for my Summer of Angela. I also rewatched The Sound of Music for a comfort watch and a few episodes of Travels with Agatha Christie & Sir David Suchet.
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.
Today’s prompt is: Books on My Summer 2025 to-Read List
I have already posted about 15 books I hope to read this summer so I’ve narrowed it down to the top ten I hope to finish by the end of the summer. I’ve also swapped some books out after doing some research on them and deciding they most likely aren’t really my thang, ya’ know.
As always, these are subject to change, and other books may catch my attention and take precedence.
1. The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Woodhouse
I’ve already started this one and I am enjoying it, so I am sure I’ll finish it in the next couple of months at least.
2. The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie
I’ve also started this one, but just a few pages. I need a good mystery right now.
3. The Clue in the Diary by Carolyn Keene
I’ll probably read a couple Nancy Drews this summer. I usually do.
4. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Children’s books are apparently my thing this summer.
5. But First Murder by Bee Littlefield
Because I like Betti and want to see what’s going on with her. Plus…more mystery, which I like.
6. Spill the Jackpot by Erle Stanley Gardner
Cool and Lamb. Yes. I need some more of their wicked bluntness and mystery.
7. The 100-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonassen
I have no idea if I will like this or not, but I am going to give it a try anyhow.
8. The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley By Courtney Walsh
I swapped this one out with Summer of Yes because it has better ratings.
9. Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down by Dave Barry
I need some humor. Like bad. That is all.
10. The Unlikely Yarn of the Dragon Lady by Sharon J. Mondragon
What books are you looking forward to this summer?
Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.
You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.
Today’s prompt is: Bookish Wishes (List the top 10 books you’d love to own and include a link to your wishlist so that people can grant your wishes. Make sure you link your wishlist to your mailing address or include the email address associated with your e-reader in the list description so people know how to get the book to you. After you post, jump around the Linky and grant a wish or two if you’d like. Please don’t feel obligated to send anything to anyone!)
I am sharing part of my wish list, but not linking to one today.
1.Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings
Mary Henley Rubio has spent over two decades researching Montgomery’s life, and has put together a comprehensive and penetrating picture of this Canadian literary icon, all set in rich social context. Extensive interviews with people who knew Montgomery – her son, maids, friends, relatives, all now deceased – are only part of the material gathered in a journey to understand Montgomery that took Rubio to Poland and the highlands of Scotland.
From Montgomery’s apparently idyllic childhood in Prince Edward Island to her passion-filled adolescence and young adulthood, to her legal fights as world-famous author, to her shattering experiences with motherhood and as wife to a deeply troubled man, this fascinating, intimate narrative of her life will engage and delight.
2. Grandma Ruth Doesn’t Go to Funerals by Sharon Mondragon
(I’ve read this, but I want it in paperback! It’s just about my favorite read so far this year.)
In a small town where gossip flows like sweet tea, bedridden Mary Ruth McCready reigns supreme, doling out wisdom and meddling in everyone’s business with a fervor that would make a matchmaker blush. When her best friend, Charlotte Harrington, has her world rocked by a scandalous revelation from her dying husband P. B., Mary Ruth kicks into high gear, commandeering the help of her favorite granddaughter, Sarah Elizabeth, in tracking down the truth. Finding clues in funeral condolence cards and decades-old gossip dredged up at the Blue Moon Beauty Emporium, the two stir up trouble faster than you can say “pecan pie.”
And just when things are starting to look up, in waltzes Camilla “Millie” Holtgrew, a blast from P. B.’s past, with a grown son and an outrageous claim to Charlotte’s inheritance. But as Grandma Ruth always says when things get tough, “God is too big.” With him, nothing is impossible–even bringing long-held secrets to light. Grandma Ruth and Sarah just might have to ruffle a whole mess of feathers to do it.
In a small town where gossip flows like sweet tea, bedridden Mary Ruth McCready reigns supreme, doling out wisdom and meddling in everyone’s business with a fervor that would make a matchmaker blush. When her best friend, Charlotte Harrington, has her world rocked by a scandalous revelation from her dying husband P. B., Mary Ruth kicks into high gear, commandeering the help of her favorite granddaughter, Sarah Elizabeth, in tracking down the truth. Finding clues in funeral condolence cards and decades-old gossip dredged up at the Blue Moon Beauty Emporium, the two stir up trouble faster than you can say “pecan pie.”
And just when things are starting to look up, in waltzes Camilla “Millie” Holtgrew, a blast from P. B.’s past, with a grown son and an outrageous claim to Charlotte’s inheritance. But as Grandma Ruth always says when things get tough, “God is too big.” With him, nothing is impossible–even bringing long-held secrets to light. Grandma Ruth and Sarah just might have to ruffle a whole mess of feathers to do it.
3. Bombs on Aunt Dainty by Judith Kerr
Partly autobiographical, this is the second title in Judith Kerr’s internationally acclaimed trilogy of books following the life of Anna through war-torn Germany, to London during the Blitz and her return to Berlin to discover the past…
4. The Great Good Thing: A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ by Andrew Klavan
No one was more surprised than Andrew Klavan when, at the age of fifty, he found himself about to be baptized. The Great Good Thing tells the soul-searching story of a man born into an age of disbelief who had to abandon everything he thought he knew in order to find his way to the truth.
Best known for his hard-boiled, white-knuckle thrillers and for the movies made from them–among them True Crime and Don’t Say a Word–bestselling author and Edgar Award-winner Klavan was born in a suburban Jewish enclave outside New York City.
He left the faith of his childhood behind to live most of his life as an agnostic until he found himself mulling over the hard questions that so many other believers have asked:
How can I be certain in my faith?
What’s the truth, and how can I know it’s the truth?
How can you think, live, and make choices and judgments day by day if you don’t know for sure?
In The Great Good Thing, Klavan shares that his troubled childhood caused him to live inside the stories in his head and grow up to become an alienated young writer whose disconnection and rage devolved into depression and suicidal breakdown.
In those years, Klavan fought to ignore the insistent call of God, a call glimpsed in a childhood Christmas at the home of a beloved babysitter, in a transcendent moment at his daughter’s birth, and in a snippet of a baseball game broadcast that moved him from the brink of suicide. But more than anything, the call of God existed in stories–the stories Klavan loved to read and the stories he loved to write.
Join Klavan as he discovers the meaning of belief, the importance of asking tough questions, and the power of sharing your story.
5. Baking with Mary Berry: Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and Pastries from the British Queen of Baking
A sweet and savory collection of more than 100 foolproof recipes from the reigning “Queen of Baking” Mary Berry, who has made her way into American homes through ABC’s primetime series, The Great Holiday Baking Show, and the PBS series, The Great British Baking Show.
Baking with Mary Berry draws on Mary’s more than 60 years in the kitchen, with tips and step-by-step instructions for bakers just starting out and full-color photographs of finished dishes throughout. The recipes follow Mary’s prescription for dishes that are no fuss, practical, and foolproof―from breakfast goods to cookies, cakes, pastries, and pies, to special occasion desserts such as cheesecake and soufflés, to British favorites that will inspire.
Whether you’re tempted by Mary’s Heavenly Chocolate Cake and Best-Ever Brownies, intrigued by her Mincemeat and Almond Tart or Magic Lemon Pudding, or inspired by her Rich Fruit Christmas Cake and Ultimate Chocolate Roulade, the straightforward yet special recipes in Baking with Mary Berry will prove, as one reviewer has said of her recipes, “if you can read, you can cook.”
6. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The epic tale of wrongful imprisonment, adventure and revenge, in its definitive translation
Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas’ epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.
7. The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables: The Enchanting Island that Inspired L. M. Montgomery
The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables explores L. M. Montgomery’s deep connection to the landscapes of Prince Edward Island that inspired her to write the beloved Anne of Green Gables series. From the Lake of Shining Waters and the Haunted Wood to Lover’s Lane, you’ll be immersed in the real places immortalized in the novels.
Using Montgomery’s journals, archives, and scrapbooks, Catherine Reid explores the many similarities between Montgomery and her unforgettable heroine, Anne Shirley. The lush package includes Montgomery’s hand-colorized photographs, the illustrations originally used in Anne of Green Gables, and contemporary and historical photography.
8. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity explores the core beliefs of Christianity by providing an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith. A brilliant collection, Mere Christianity remains strikingly fresh for the modern reader and at the same time confirms C. S. Lewis’s reputation as one of the leading writer and thinkers of our age.
The book brings together Lewis’ legendary broadcast talks during World War II. Lewis discusses that everyone is curious about: right and wrong, human nature, morality, marriage, sins, forgiveness, faith, hope, generosity, and kindness.
9. Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing by Elmore Leonard
“These are the rules I’ve picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I’m writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what’s taking place in the story.”—Elmore Leonard
For aspiring writers and lovers of the written word, this concise guide breaks down the writing process with simplicity and clarity. From adjectives and exclamation points to dialect and hoopetedoodle, Elmore Leonard explains what to avoid, what to aspire to, and what to do when it sounds like “writing” (rewrite).
Beautifully designed, filled with free-flowing, elegant illustrations and specially priced, Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing is the perfect writer’s—and reader’s—gift.
10. My Beloved: A Mitford Novel by Jan Karon
(This one isn’t out until October, but, oh my…I’ve been waiting a long time. In the meantime, I am reading through the other 14 books in the series.)
When Father Tim’s wife, Cynthia, asks what he wants for Christmas, he pens the answer in a love letter that bares his most private feelings. Then the letter goes missing and circulates among his astonished neighbors. So much for private.
Can a letter change a life? Ask Helene, the piano teacher who has avoided her feelings for a lifetime. Ask Hope, the village bookseller who desperately needs something that’s impossibly out of reach. Or, if you’d like to know how a brush with death can be the portal to a happy marriage, Cynthia will tell you all about it.
In My Beloved, Harley gets an important letter of his own; a broken heart teaches the Old Mayor, Esther Cunningham, a lesson long in coming; and thanks to Lace and Dooley, readers get what they’ve been waiting for: Sadie.
Poignant, hilarious, and life-affirming, My Beloved sets a generous table for millions of readers who love these characters like family. With Karon’s signature humanity shining through on every page, this is a season of life in Mitford you won’t want to miss.
Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.
You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.
Mildred Wirt (later adding Benson to her names) was the original Carolyn Keene, who wrote 28 of the first 30 Nancy Drew books. Mildred also wrote other books for other companies under her own name, including the Penny Parker Mysteries.
She once called Penny more Nancy Drew than Nancy Drew and after reading the eighth book in the series, The Wishing Well, I have to agree with that statement, especially the Nancy Drew that Harriet Adams created when she rewrote Mildred’s books years later.
I didn’t actually research what the first book in the series was before reading this one, my first Mildred book other than Nancy Drew. I just snatched it up to try and I ended up really enjoying it.
Teenager Penny Parker is rebellious, snappy, smart, bold, yet also cares about people. She might be even a bit more pushy than Nancy and she’s certainly more mouthy. In this book she pulls her friend Louise into her investigations and shenanigans.
According to Wikipedia, “Penny is a high school student turned sleuth who also sporadically works as a reporter for her father’s newspaper, The Riverview Star. . ..On her cases she is sometimes aided by her close friend, brunette Louise Sidell, and occasionally Jerry Livingston or Salt Sommers who are, respectively, a reporter and photographer for her father’s paper.”
In The Wishing Well, Penny is pulled into the mystery of a boulder with “odd” writing on it that appears in a farmer’s field, as well as the mystery of a wishing well on the property of a wealthy woman, Mrs. Marborough, who recently moved back into her family’s old mansion.
Tied into it all are two foster children who are living at a campground with their foster parents and who become the focus of a blackmail plot.
Here is a quick description from Project Gutenberg, where I found the book available to download for free:
“The Wishing Well” by Mildred A. Wirt is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story follows Penny Parker, an enterprising and spirited high school girl, as she embarks on an adventure surrounding the mysterious old Marborough mansion and its wishing well. With her friends, Penny explores themes of friendship, kindness, and intrigue as they uncover secrets of the past and the potential to grant wishes.
The opening of the story introduces Penny and her friends at Riverview High School, where they eagerly anticipate exploring the Marborough place and its famous wishing well. After making a thoughtful wish for the restoration of the property, Penny invites a lonelier classmate, Rhoda, to join their outing.
The group encounters a light-hearted adventure as they discover a possible chicken thief in pursuit. This sets the tone for the unfolding plot where friendships are tested, and unexpected events arise, including deeper mysteries tied to the characters’ lives, particularly Rhoda’s connection to the Breens and the arrival of two strangers from Texas. As Penny’s curiosity propels her into the adventure, readers are drawn into a world of mystery and the promise of fulfilling wishes.”
I find it interesting that like Nancy, Penny does not have a mother but only a father and a live-in housekeeper, Mrs. Weems. I am beginning to wonder if Mildred had some mother issues herself. She sure liked to kill off moms.
The wit and banter between characters in the Penny Parker series is much stronger than in the Nancy Drew books. There are also so many funny sayings or phrases that were probably used by teens at the time these books were written (1939-1947).
“We’re the same as absent right now,” Penny laughed, retreating to the doorway. “Thanks for your splendid cooperation.” (Oof! The sarcasm!)
________
“You’ll be home early?” her father asked.
“I hope so,” Penny answered earnestly. “If for any reason, I fail to appear, don’t search in any of the obvious places.”
___
“In case you slip and fall, just what am I to do?”
“That’s your problem,” Penny chuckled. “Now hand me the flashlight. I’m on way.”
_____
“What do you see, Penny?” Louise called again. “Are there any bricks loose?”
“Not that I can discover,” Penny answered, and her voice echoed weirdly. Intrigued by the sound she tried an experimental yodel. “Why, it’s just like a cave scene on the radio!”
“In case you’ve forgotten, you’re in a well,” Louise said severely. “Furthermore, if you don’t work fast, Mrs. Marborough will come our here!”
“I have to have a little relaxation,” Penny grumbled.
___
Neither Louise nor Rhoda approved of interfering in the argument between Mrs. Marborough and Mr. Franklin, but as usual they could not stand firm against Penny.
_____
As I mentioned above, I downloaded this one from Project Gutenberg. They have quite a few of the 17 book series.
The books from the series are:
Tale of the Witch Doll (1939, 1958)
The Vanishing Houseboat (1939, 1958)
Danger at the Drawbridge (1940, 1958)
Behind the Green Door (1940, 1958)
Clue of the Silken Ladder (1941)
The Secret Pact (1941)
The Clock Strikes Thirteen (1942)
The Wishing Well (1942)
Saboteurs on the River (1943)
Ghost Beyond the Gate (1943)
Hoofbeats on the Turnpike (1944)
Voice from the Cave (1944)
The Guilt of the Brass Thieves (1945)
Signal in the Dark (1946)
Whispering Walls (1946)
Swamp Island (1947)
The Cry at Midnight (1947)
Have you read any of the Penny Parker Mysteries series?
Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.
You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
Happy early birthday to my brother from Transmissions From The Northern Outpost who will be 65 tomorrow. Okay, I’m kidding. He won’t be 65, but his birthday is tomorrow. If you know him, wish him a happy one.
I talked about our week yesterday in my Saturday Afternoon Chat, if you would like to check it out.
I talked mainly about VBS with Little Miss and our final homeschool evaluation for The Boy.
We will be holding another one Saturday, June 21 at 1 p.m.
The crafternoons are events where we gather on Zoom and craft at our respective homes and chat while we work on various projects. There is one woman who creates with beads, another who colors, I sometimes draw or color, and Erin has been embroidering lately. We are calling them drop-in crafternoons because you can drop in and out during the time we are on. No need to stay the whole time if you can’t. Come late if you want or leave early.
If you want to join in, email Erin at crackcrumblife@gmail.com and she will add you to the mailing list.
I gave up on Mansfield Park. At least for now. I just can’t get into it – don’t really care about these people and their visits to each others houses where they sit and talk about each other and don’t do much else. Plus, I know the direction the romance is going, and it makes me queasy. Just – yeah – no. The British and their weird ideas back then about who was okay to marry and who wasn’t … and yet they have the gall to make comments about our rednecks. (This is all said in jest so I hope I don’t offend my British or redneck readers. *wink*).
***SPOILER ALERT***
I sent this to my friend Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs this morning:
I can’t invest myself in a book where she hooks up with her first cousin. (I know where this is going.)
Plus – it’s sooooo boring
These people literally had no lives — they just kept going to each others houses and talked down to each other and connived and that’s like their whole lives.
I think I may just have to admit that I am not a Jane Austen fan, other than the movies. I have, of course, heard that Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are easier to read so I will probably try them later this summer. Like I think I might swap out Mansfield Park for Sense and Sensibility on my 15 Books for Summer challenge.
I am still reading All Things Wise and Wonderful.
I cannot believe how long this James Herriot book is. I feel like I might never finish it! The book is made up of individual stories in each chapter, with the underlying theme being James’s time in the RAF. I am really enjoying the stories, but I feel like I’ve been reading this book forever. I’ve taken a lot of breaks to read other books in between so I have actually been reading it a long time. Maybe I’ll have it done this week, maybe not.
I know one thing — I need to finish it soon because I am literally having dreams about James Herriot now. Of course, he looks like Nicholas Ralph from the new series in my dreams. And no..it was not a romantic dream. Just a weird one. Ha!
I’m also reading A Midnight Dance by Julia Davidson Politano. This is my first by her and I am enjoying it but it is quite a serious book so I will have to read something less serious when I am done with it. The writing is great so don’t take the words “serious book” as any kind of complaint.
I just started The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie to cleanse my pallet from the dullness of Mansfield Park and the drama of A Midnight Dance, but then I got so swept up in A Midnight Dance, I put The Pale Horse aside for now.
Up next to read after I finish A Midnight Dance will be Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh. That will be my happy read, from what I understand about Courtney’s books. It should be a lighter read anyhow.
I added a couple of new books to my TBR over the last couple of weeks, including a Nancy Drew Mystery called The Clue of The Velvet Mask and a Louis L’Amour short story collection With These Hands. A few weeks ago I added a number of Mildred Wirt books from Project Gutenberg. She was the first “Carolyn Keene” and wrote around 28 of the first 30 Nancy Drew books. These are “juvenile” fiction but the plots and dialogue is better than some adult fiction.
I just started Travels with Agatha Christie & Sir David Suchet on Britbox. David traveled to South Africa for the first episode. The show made me love David even more. Oh gosh..he’s such a sweet man. I wanted to reach into the screen and give him a big hug at one point.
This past week I watched a couple Murder She Wrote episodes, a Brokenwood Mysteries episode, a couple episodes of the Father Dowling Mysteries, and Just A Few Acres Farm (Youtube Channel).
I always have fun with Cat’s blog posts. She has so much interesting stuff.
The Building Our Hive blog chose my book to recommend for their summer reading list!!!!! I found this by accident and I was so giddy and almost cried!!
When People Say Thoughtless Things from Stray Thoughts had me thinking about how we sometimes upset people when we mean well, but also how I can give people grace when they say things that upset me.
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.
