Two for Tuesday: Weird!

Two ducks in Los Angeles (my photo)

I read a couple of strange books recently, and I will share my reviews today. Hopefully, they will be of some interest to my fellow fiction fans.

1. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. This book was not what I expected, which is a good thing! I love to be thrown off balance by a novel. Is Natalie insane, did she get shoved back in time, or is she the victim of an elaborate hoax? The main characters have shifting layers and motivations, which all add to the surreal atmosphere. I enjoyed reading the extreme political/ social POVs personified rather than straight up mocked by the author. It made the wacko ideas somewhat more relatable. Somewhat! Ultimately, the ideas were all skewered, which I loved (both sides, hey). This wasn’t a five-star book for me (I wouldn’t read it again), but it was definitely enjoyable. Four stars.

PS: I waited forever for Yesteryear to become available at my local library ~ the reason I was so determined to read it is because there’s a movie coming out starring Anne Hathaway, and I love her. (I didn’t want to buy the book because it was expensive.) It was worth the wait. The following review is via a library book also.

2. Too Old for This by Samantha Downing. This is a thriller, but it has a catch: the first-person murderer slash protagonist is 75-year-old woman. That's pretty much it, with the "old lady" gimmick featuring on every page with issues such as arthritis making it more difficult to scrub up the blood after a killing. The older you get, the harder it is to stuff a dead body into a freezer. Sometimes you forget and take your phone with you when you shouldn't, and then all that danged info is in the cloud somewhere. Who even knows what happens there? It's a fun and fast read, but totally preposterous from beginning to end. I gave it 3 stars plus an additional .25 for the original concept. (If it's been done before, I haven't read it.)

OK then. Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

Two for Tuesday: Floral Reads

Two ducks in Los Angeles (my photo)

I haven’t been reading much lately. Just not in the mood, I guess, plus I began several books that went quickly to the DNF pile. As I’ve mentioned, I’m really tired of the same-old thrillers and romances. I did finish two so far this month though, which I will review here (actually I will C&P from my Goodreads’ reviews). 

1. Wildflower by Drew Barrymore. Very enjoyable read. I read it in small batches to get the maximum effect. Drew has a very entertaining narrative voice and seems natural and unedited (though I assume the book was, at least a little). Her mood alternates between focused and scattered, but she’s always exuberant, which makes even the more ordinary chapters fun. She’s definitely an interesting person with an amazing work ethic. Four stars for this memoir.

2. Where the Sea Lavender Grows by Kitty Johnson. Interesting mystery with romantic and supernatural elements. The characters are well-developed and relatable, especially Elise and Lilias. Though the setting swings back and forth chronologically, the chapters are separate so there’s no confusion. While the story is full of tragedy, it is ultimately an affirmation of life and love. And doggies. Four stars.

I am still a few books ahead of my goal, pace-wise, but I need to get going if I want to hit 125 by December 31. Today I am at 93 for the year.

Two for Tuesday: Mysteries

Two ducks in Los Angeles (my photo)

I read these books in August to discuss with my online book club.

1. Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica. This book was disappointing. Kubica used present tense for the “now” and for the past, and then she mixed in further past in the past sections, for which she used past tense. It wasn’t confusing as much as it was simply annoying and distracting. I have a big issue with jumping timelines in general, unless the story is compelling, which this wasn’t. It could have simply been told straight up chronologically without all the jumping. 

I understand that book club questions focus on the big themes, but I am not inclined to delve into those when the writing itself irritates me. I mean, there are a zillion mystery novels where we find out disturbing facts about a dead character, so that’s not interesting in itself. There’s nothing about this particular dead guy that I found intriguing, nor did I find his widow’s reaction or behavior relatable.

The main characters made the stupidest decisions to the point where they simply weren’t believable after a few chapters. A dentist decides to start betting on basketball games when his business isn’t going well. A mom keeps leaving her kids in the hot car to chase after specks of “evidence.” She takes a 4 year old’s bad dream as “proof” of a crime. She keeps lying to the 4 year old and saying daddy will be home soon when he’s dead. A dental patient deliberately lets an infection fester and almost dies just so she can sue the dentist. What?! On and on. I didn’t like any of the characters except for Clara’s dad and the dog. 

I don’t know why I am even giving this book two stars instead of one. The ending was good.

2. Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth. Three stars. Started out sorta slow, but it became more interesting after a few chapters. There were some twists I saw, and some I didn’t, so that was cool. I like to be surprised, but only if the twist is earned. Characters were interesting and layered, except for a couple bad guys. The ending was a bummer.

I try to use a logical scheme for book ratings, but it’s difficult when I mix in my feelings, such as giving an indie/ friend four or five stars for encouragement (and generally they have very few ratings to begin with). Sally H is a popular author, especially in the book club communities, so I don’t feel the same obligation to help her. For example, she has over 200K ratings for Mad Mabel on Goodreads! I’m also inclined to bump up a star if the author tries something different because so many books are the SOS. I liked that the narrator of MM was a cranky old lady, but when we got into the details of the abuse and bullying she suffered as a child, it became ridiculous. The “saving grace” was the first person narrator, which made me say OK we often exaggerate both the bad and good parts of our past in our own minds, particularly when we obsess over them. We know that memories can change the more they are examined, even if retold only to ourselves.

This is an important point regarding POV. I know most readers don’t think about the mechanics of storytelling overmuch, but there’s a huge difference between a first person narrator telling us what she remembers and an omniscient or even a limited omniscient narrator telling us the facts. When I try to discuss these POV points or other writing mechanics, such as the chosen tense, with my book club peeps, I get crickets or blank stares. I’m not sure how someone can read a sh!t ton of books and not be aware of these things, but I guess that’s a failure on my part to understand other humans. It wouldn’t be the first time!

Summer Reading Bingo 5

Reading challenge bingo card

Welcome to my summer bingo book series, where I post five short reviews at a time. I'm giving myself the whole summer to finish the bingo card, not just the month of June. This is my fifth and last set of reviews; you can find the first set here, the second one here, the third one here, and the fourth one here.

1. Best friends. Best Friends by Josie Morgaine. This book had an interesting premise: what if the one-night-stand (with a fake name) father of the main character’s baby ending up being the unacknowledged half-brother of your best friend?

Unfortunately, the writing had a lot of problems, and one of the most glaring ones was incorrect paragraph breaks for dialog. It was often unclear who was speaking as dialog floated on the page without tags, sometimes from the previously tagged speaker, but other times you couldn’t tell. The characters were mostly one-dimensional with singular motives. No one seemed to care about a career or have friends, hobbies, tastes, or interests outside of whatever monomaniacal goal they were pursuing (for good or bad). The worst thing is that we never found out what was wrong with Connor! I assumed we were headed toward a Munchausen by proxy syndrome dx by either Brian or Sadie, but nope. Just a horribly sick kid who needed intensive medical intervention and then poof he was fine, no explanation.

Since the story had promise, I am giving it two stars instead of one.

2. Island setting. The Island by Sarah Goodwin. This story kept me riveted! It was full of fast-paced action at a music festival where some shady shenanigans were going on. Our heroine Jody was suffering from low self-esteem due to her abusive ex-boyfriend and her hyper-controlling mother. Her character was very sympathetic and relatable. The rest of the characters were a mixed bag of Jody’s friends with nicely layered personalities and stereotypical bad guys. I don’t mind a couple characters from central casting if the main character and at least some others are well developed. The ending and the epilogue were very satisfying. Four stars!

3. Sun on cover. Midnight Sun, Second Act by Samuel Elle Swanson and AI. I enjoyed the descriptions of the majestic scenery and the geological info, which I hope were from the author’s personal travel experience and not AI generated like the characters and dialogue obviously were (he disclosed that the book was written with AI assistance). The “flirting” between Mara and Einer was so bad that after a bit it simply became funny. There was never a moment where their dialogue approached being romantic ~ it was like two machines trying to have a conversation. Beyond that, there was some formula going on where every so often a bizarre metaphor jumped in. “The windows made the horizon look like a bad decision.” LOL. What a weird book. Two stars.

4. Summer in title. The Summer House by Keri Beevis. This started out as an interesting read with layered characters. Lana returned to her hometown to sell her beloved Nana Kitty’s house and became entangled in a mystery from the past surrounding her older sister’s violent death on the property. Lana has to deal with her semi-estranged twin brother, his irritating fiancé, and the presence of her former high school sweetheart, among other characters. We don’t know who the bad guy is until the end, but there are several interesting suspects. I was getting very intrigued by the story until everything went bonkers. The events from the past were over explained and unbelievable. The climax was a crazy sauce of gore. I was disappointed, as I often am, with the twists being unearned and seemingly stuck in merely for shock value. This could have been a lot better. Three stars.

5. Under 200 pages. Final Descent by Audrey J. Cole. This was a super fun, super fast thriller read! I wasn't sure if we were dealing with a crazy, unreliable narrator or a vengeful ex or even something else. Definitely kept my attention throughout. I'm glad it was a novella (90 pages) because if it had been longer, it would have been too unbelievable. I like that things weren't over-explained too. The plane flight was terrifying! It certainly reinforced my hatred of both dating and flying. Four stars.

Thanks for following along with my Summer Bingo book reviews! We are done, woohoo!

The Monkey Bridge (flash fiction)

Two monkeys on a rickety bridge via AI

He brings me here by helicopter and leaves me stranded with extravagant promises and a fully charged phone. I hear nothing from him after the first instructional text, and the phone dies on day five. I ration the food and drinking water, but soon I have no choice but to set off through the jungle on foot. Though I possess a map and a good sense of direction, I have no way to defend myself, especially against the monkeys.

These aren’t cute little zoo monkeys scampering on a trapeze; they are howling, shrieking demons. With fangs. They like to hang out on the bridge I need to cross to get to the next safe house. The other direction leads straight back to the gang we escaped from in the first place, to the north is mountains, and to the west is the sea, so I have to face the monkeys.

As if that isn’t bad enough, the old rope bridge has seen better days—much better days. 

I leave at dawn because the monkeys are usually less active then, but unfortunately two of the creatures are already stationed on the bridge. Although my legs are trembling, I try to approach with confidence, thinking they might respect that. I can’t help but glance down at the rushing river and jagged rocks visible through the irregularly placed slats, and when I look up again the monkeys have moved closer to me.

“Maybe they’re just curious,” I mutter to myself. At least this pair isn’t yelling—they’re eerily quiet and staring at me with gleaming eyes. I decide the staring is worse than their screaming.

I adjust my backpack, take out a granola bar, and break it in half. “Here’s my toll,” I tell the monkeys and toss a piece to each. I grab the rope and step onto the bridge. 

It creaks and sways alarmingly. The monkeys ignore the treat and bare their teeth at me. “It’s cool,” I say, trying not to freak out. Gripping the rope tightly with both hands now, I take another step. 

A scream tears through the trees…

~*~

Written for Fandango’s Story Starter #259.

Summer Reading Bingo 4

Reading challenge bingo card

Welcome to my summer bingo book series, where I post five short reviews at a time. I'm giving myself the whole summer to finish the bingo card, not just the month of June. This is my fourth set of reviews; you can find the first set here, the second one here, and the third one here.

1. Author born in June. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. This will be a short review because I don’t want to spoil any plot points for potential readers and/ or movie-goers. (I plan to see the movie soon via DVD with a group of friends.) This is an amazingly complex and detailed novel about a last-ditch space mission to save life on Earth. Sadly, most of the math, physics, and engineering were over my head, so I skimmed a lot of that. The story did get a little bogged down with this techy stuff in some places, but overall the quality of imagination and research that went into producing this novel has my profound respect. Four stars.

2. Beach on the cover. Beach Wedding by Michael Ledwidge. Fun, fast read with a few twists, but the story was mostly predictable. I didn’t care for the short chapters with weird breaks. The MC didn’t seem too smart for a cop, but I guess they aren’t all geniuses. Three stars.

3. RomCom. No Match Found by Martha Keyes. First, the cover is all wrong: Vivian is the CEO, not a secretary standing in front of her boss’s desk. Second, the trope of a main character running a dating site seems a bit… dated. I mean, we all hate dating sites by now and know they’re full of liars and scammers, right? But this book was published this year. Third, the premise for the couple being thrown together is as flimsy as the heiress in the rain who simply must take shelter with the impoverished duke in the abandoned cabin. Anyway. There were lots of things I loved about No Match Found, which explains my four-star rating. 

I loved both Viv and Grant. They were quirky but not annoyingly so. Despite both of them being attractive physically, it was clear that they had a hard time in romantic relationships because of their emotional baggage. Grant had some issues, which he apparently overcame when he fell for Viv (we can’t know what’s going on in his mind because we never get his POV), but Viv had a lot more. It was harder for her to get past her mental blocks regarding love, and she struggled with self-doubt and self-esteem issues. It wasn’t weird that her life’s work was matchmaking, since she loved data, algorithms, spreadsheets, etc. That all helped to keep her barriers up as well.

I stand by my mantra that romance novels should be written in third person. This one might have been a 5-star for me if we could have had a bit more distance from Viv and some scenes from Grant’s POV. Even so, I liked it a lot, particularly the second half. The ending was great! Regarding the lack of sex scenes, that made it better for me. There was plenty of spice, chemistry, sexy banter, etc., and I didn’t need to see them do the deed. I’m tired of reading the explicit scenes anyway, as they’re so similar book to book.

4. Sports themed. Reckless by Elsie Silver. Meh. This romance was a whole lot of longing looks and lip-licking lust plus a big scoop of contrived silliness to keep the main characters apart, such as the BS with Theo giving his phone to his manager. (He’s a rodeo rider, which is the sports tie-in.) There was no real plot or drama other than Theo having to constantly soothe Winter’s ruffled feelings. I did like the fact that she was a doctor and a few years older than he was, though he often acted more mature. I am not a fan of grumpy x sunshine whether it’s the man or the woman being negative throughout most of the story. Bickering isn’t sexy. Two stars. 

5. Favorite color on cover. Six Days by Dani Atkins. (The cover is turquoise.) At first, I loved this book and truly could not put it down. Since I read so much, I am always looking for something different and interesting, and this story hinted that something big was coming. I was excited by all the clues left scattered around. My imagination went wild with possibilities! And then came the most banal resolution ever. I'm not going to spoil it, but ugh. Seriously. What a total disappointment, both in the twist that wasn't and also in the switch from compelling first person narration by Gemma to someone else. My rating immediately plummeted from a 4-5 down to a 2-3. Three is generous, which is what I gave.

The fifth and final bingo post will be coming soon! I don't have any romance novels planned for my remaining squares, so TG for that. I am heartily sick of them (especially ones written in first person). Regency era romances are an exception, but even those need to have an actual plot, not just a sarcastic duke and a klutzy governess or vice versa. PLOT PLOT PLOT!

Two for Tuesday: Dramas

Two ducks in Los Angeles (my photo)

I enjoyed a couple dramas on HBO recently, so I will share them with you now.

1. Knox Goes Away (2024) stars Michael Keaton, who also directed, Al Pacino (always great), and James Marsden (love him from 27 Dresses, Enchanted, etc.). This film asks the question: what if a hitman got dementia? If Knox hadn't been a hitman, he would have made a tragically romantic hero whose mind is dissolving with disease. But he is, in fact, a murderer, so that complicates things. Knox and his friend Xavier (Pacino) come up with a system to deal with the dementia while at the same time helping Knox's son Miles (Marsden) beat a murder charge himself. Suzy Nakamura plays a police detective who has to deal with coworker sexism while trying to solve the case. The movie held my interest throughout.

2. Juror #2 (2024) stars Nicholas Hoult and is directed by Clint Eastwood. Juror Justin (Hoult) realizes he may have accidentally committed the crime that’s being tried, and he has to decide what to do. We watch him wrestle with his conscience throughout the film. Toni Collette plays the prosecutor, and I have to revise my opinion of her. I’ve avoided her for years because of that absolutely awful movie Hereditary, but I didn’t notice that she was in this movie at first. She was great! All the acting was top-notch, and the story was twisty and unpredictable, in the best of ways. If Juror #2 were a book, I would be tempted to give it 5 stars.

Summer Reading Bingo 3

Reading challenge bingo card 

Welcome to my summer bingo book series, where I post five short reviews at a time. I'm giving myself the whole summer to finish the bingo card, not just the month of June. This is my third set of reviews; you can find the first set here and the second one here.

1. Grumpy/ Sunshine. Two Truths and a Marriage by Nicole Snow. First, I confess that I'm generally not a fan of this romance trope. Perhaps it hits too close to home ~ why would you fall for a grumpy jerk just because he looks good? Ugh, guilty. Anyway. I knew I had to pick one for this challenge, so I chose the one with a bakery involved. The level of suspension of disbelief required to enjoy this novel however was too high for me, even if there were cupcakes happening. Our hero Dex was supposed to be this wildly successful businessman, but he was a big lump who couldn’t communicate properly with anyone, not his family, not the creep he was trying to impress, and certainly not Juniper. I liked Junie, but it made no sense that she was running the bakery by herself at age 24 with no business experience, when her grandmother, the original owner, was still healthy and vibrant. Why wouldn’t Nana have sent Junie off for a degree in business before retiring and handing over the shop? Dex, the cranky real estate mogul, stomps into Junie’s bakery one day and orders a million desserts (that he hates because he’s a fitness freak) for a business meeting. Of course, a fake engagement will ensue, as that makes total sense. Creepy mafia guy that Dex wants to make a deal with loves the desserts, so naturally our suave hero blurts out that he's engaged to the bakery owner. And then… and then… the mafia creep decides that he’s going to use Junie’s sweets to hide codes to cash drop locations. Like wtaf? COME ON! So absurd. Lots of hot sex and sugary puns couldn’t save this disaster from my 2-star rating.

2.  One word title. Sweet by Emmy Laybourne.  Fun, fast-paced story about a bunch of wealthy people on a cruise who go violently insane after a bad man and an evil scientist get them addicted to a sugar substitute weight loss supplement. The worst of human behavior is highlighted when these folks will do anything ~ and I mean anything ~ to get another taste of the sugary drug. We see greed, selfishness, and egotism displayed alongside the maniacal quest for superficial perfection, or what society has decided is physical beauty anyway. Body image and self esteem issues are explored as well. There’s also a love story between the two teenaged main characters, but there are no explicit sex scenes. Lots of blood and gore though! This is a horror novel. I gave it four stars.

3. Age gap trope. The Professor’s Obsession by N. Viktoria. This was a sweet story, with an interracial element as well as the age difference (older male, by 18 years), but there was no real conflict between the main characters. Everything proceeded relatively smoothly ~ whenever Marcus made a slight faux pas, Sage corrected him, and all was well. Emma, Marcus’ daughter, only needed around a minute to process their relationship. The real drama was with their colleagues, but even that resolved itself neatly. There were a bunch of editing errors, such as when Marcus went to Sage’s apartment for the first time ostensibly to make love, but the scene faded to black, and the author must have forgotten she wrote it because later there was a first sex scene AND a first visit to Sage’s apartment. Confusing! Three stars.

4. A book about a father. Between a Heart and a Rock Place by Pat Benatar. Fabulous, uplifting story of a woman who fought fiercely for her love, her family, and to control her own music and image. With Pat's every success, chauvinistic label executives and other jerks tried to get in her way and quash her dreams, but she ultimately prevailed. For most of her journey, Pat was supported by her wonderful and super talented husband Neil (“Spyder”) Giraldo, proving that great men do exist. Except for one blip, they were an unshakable team. The reason I’m putting Pat’s memoir in this category is because it is about a father ~ the moment Pat met Neil she decided he was her soulmate and would become the father of her children. He is heavily featured throughout the book, since they are a team, both professionally and romantically. And they have two beautiful daughters, though their privacy is respected, and Pat does not go into great detail about them. I awarded this book one of my rare 5-star ratings.

As an aside, I finished this book at the beginning of July 2026 and cried at the end when Pat described how the USA came together after 9/11. We don’t have much of that spirit now at our 250th birthday, just division and hate for the “other side,” which is heartbreaking. I don’t have any ideas on how to fix this; it’s just sad.

5. Title begins with J. John Gribble Is Gone by Peter James. This was a quick (73-page), twisty little mystery, "free" with Prime membership and included in the July selections. I read it while my car was getting serviced on a Saturday morning. Even though some of the story is far-fetched, the idea that we can be subject to massive, life-altering inconvenience due to a technology breach is all too believable. The setting is in England, and for whatever reason, it was more fun to imagine all these shenanigans happening in a British accent, sort of like a Monty Python skit. Four stars.

I'll return soon with the penultimate bingo card! I'm happy to have only 10 books left to close it out, as I am getting tired of some of these genres and want to read more nonfiction soon. The Benatar memoir was truly enjoyable. (I already read a book about planet formation, which I will review in an upcoming Two for Tuesday post.)

Summer Reading Bingo 1

Reading challenge bingo card 

I've decided to participate in this bingo (25 books) reading challenge via my online book club. It's for June in our club, but I won't be able to finish it this month, so I've given myself the whole summer. I will be reviewing the books for each bingo square, five at a time. Here's the first set (note that I used the first three in another challenge). 

1. Short story or novella. Incantation by Alice Hoffman. This novella was about a family of Jews in Spain around the time of the Inquisition. Absolutely awful, yet fabulous writing. I'm glad it had fewer than 100 pages because idk if I could have read more about this terrible time. I gave it 5 stars, and I think it's important to be reminded about how evil humans are to one another, since we can become numb to the news. I haven't created labels for young adult or magical realism, but I think historical fiction plus fantasy will do for this novella.

2. Set during summer. Love at the Lake by Julie Milo. I gave this book 3 stars for attempting to tackle the weighty subjects of dyslexia and adoption in an otherwise fluffy novel set at a summer camp, but it didn't do either all that well because so much time was devoted to the fluff. I'm not one of those who hates "pure" romance novels (without any mystery or other element), but I need more of a plot than high school angst over whether or not a boy/girl likes the other boy/girl. Note: the characters were 23 years old, but still acted like teens.

3. Road Trip/Vacation. The Date by T.H. Murdock. Super fun suspense story! This one really kept me on my mental toes. Every character became a murder suspect at one point or another during the escape/ vacation to New Zealand, which is a hallmark of a good mystery. Lots of witty dialogue and unpredictable twists abound too. I can’t say that I was rooting for any particular character, as none were very endearing, but overall the book was a treat!

4. Standalone. The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager. I usually like Sager, but THATL is so slow for about half the book. It’s tedious to read about Casey getting drunk every day and obsessing over the other house. I am not a fan of alcoholism being either a character “trait” or a plot device. What did we ever really learn about Casey as a person without the booze? Not a lot. Then finally when the action starts to pick up, the story veers into ridiculousness. The things Casey accomplishes when drunk are completely unbelievable, and the entire plot goes totally into the weeds at the end. Two stars may be too generous, but that's what it got from me.

5. Flowers on the cover. The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods. This book didn’t seem to know what it wanted to be: romance, ghost story, historical fiction, magical realism? A novel can transcend genres, but this one just seemed confused, and the pieces didn’t mesh well together. That said, I really enjoyed Edith’s character development and the way she blossomed with self confidence and determination to help her new friends. As she came to terms with her grief over her mother’s death, Edith discovered she had a great capacity to love and live again. Also, there were delicious cupcakes involved! Three stars.

Challenge Accepted and Completed

Powell's in Portland, August 2015

In December, the leader of our online book club posted a genre challenge. I sort of forgot about it, and she posted a reminder last week. As I perused the list, I realized that I actually had satisfied each one, except for young adult, a genre I generally hate. I browsed the Kindle Unlimited YA offerings the other day until I found a novella that didn't sound too bad. Now, I'm finished with the books and will post a brief review of each. (I read all these and more this year.)

1. Contemporary Fiction. I read (and watched) Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, which I discussed in some detail last week in this post. I gave the book 3 stars on Goodreads.

2. Historical Fiction. I finished up my lengthy Victoria Holt (aka Philippa Carr) binge with Daughters of England. Though this book was last in the series, it wasn't last chronologically, and I still enjoyed it a lot. Holt expertly weaves history with fiction to create believable plots and characters. The stories are inseparable from the history, as political events drive beliefs and behavior (same as now, even if we are unaware in the moment). I am used to Holt's abrupt endings, though I find that they are discordant with her meticulous storytelling otherwise. Four stars. 

3. Fantasy. The Gunslinger by Stephen King satisfied this genre. I found the novel to be ambitious, as it was clearly a setup for the next in series (good example of why I am not fond of series where each book does not stand alone, as Holt's do), but it only works well if you go on with the series, which I did not. I tried ~ I began The Drawing of the Three ~ but it was so gory and gross that I DNF. I gave Gunslinger 3 stars regardless for King's high quality writing. I don't have to enjoy plot and/or characters to appreciate his wordsmithery.

4. Science Fiction. Another Stephen King novel goes here: 11.22.63. I watched the miniseries first and mostly enjoyed it (discussed at the end of this post), and then at Roy's recommendation I read the book. I absolutely loved it! The descriptions were so lush with detail that I really did feel like I was back in the 1950s and early '60s. The butterfly effect was fully in play too, with several iterations of "what if," and I am always up for that sort of thought experiment. I highly recommend this epic novel (800+ pages, so set aside some time). This book received a 5-star rating from me.

5. Mystery/Thriller. I grabbed The Date by T.H. Murdock last week from the Amazon First Reads pile, and I'm glad I did. I gobbled up the whole novel in one day because it was that compelling. Murdock expertly layered in the suspense, shifting suspicion from one character to another, until the reader was completely hooked. I literally couldn't put it down until I knew whodunit. Another 4-star winner.

6. Romance. Love at the Lake by Julie Milo fit this category as well as one in another challenge. I gave it 3 stars for attempting to tackle the weighty subjects of dyslexia and adoption in an otherwise fluffy novel, but it didn't do either all that well because so much time was devoted to the fluff. I'm not one of those who hates "pure" romance novels (without any mystery or other element), but I need more of a plot than high school angst over whether or not a boy/girl likes the other boy/girl. Note: the characters were 23 years old, but still acted like teens.

7. Nonfiction. At a library sale, I found a "coffee table book" titled Love of Goldens by Todd R. Berger and had to get it for my daughter and son-in-law, who have a golden retriever (Rory). I love goldens too now! I gave this book 5 stars for the wonderful photos and adorable vignettes.

8. Biography/Memoir. I finished Peter Gethers' Norton the cat trilogy with his second book (read out of order), titled A Cat Abroad. While this middle section of Norton's life was enjoyable enough to get a 4-star rating from me, it wasn't as compelling as books one and three. The first book was our introduction to baby Norton and how he impacted the author's life, and the third and last one was exquisitely sad as we had to say goodbye to our sweet kitty friend. Abroad was exactly as titled ~ Peter takes his kitty on all sorts of trips, which were fun adventures, with vivid and descriptive writing, but I couldn't appreciate all the French language jokes, and it was not as emotionally gripping overall.

9. Literary Fiction. I read The Correspondent by Virginia Evans for my online book club, and it fits this genre. This book began in the most tedious way by flinging a boatload of characters at the reader (18 in the first 16 pages!) that were impossible to keep track of until later in the story. I kept going however and eventually became intrigued by the threads tying all these people to the main character. I also liked that the MC was cranky and unlikeable, but she was still interesting to read about. Three stars for this.

10. Young Adult. Incantation by Alice Hoffman is categorized as YA, so I chose it because I liked her writing in the past. What can I say about this book? It was about a family of Jews in Spain around the time of the Inquisition. Absolutely awful, yet fabulous writing. I'm glad it had fewer than 100 pages because idk if I could have read more about this terrible time. I gave it 5 stars, and I think it's important to be reminded about how evil humans are to one another, since we can become numb to the news. I haven't created labels for young adult or magical realism, but I think historical fiction plus fantasy will do for this novella.

11. Horror. In general, I avoid horror novels and movies, except when there is a promise of a solid story along with the gore/scariness. The Fourth Wife by Linda Hamilton delivered. I found this story to be fresh and intriguing, and I was fascinated by the relationships among the sister-wives. It was "gothic" in a way and full of creepy ghosts, despite being set in a 19th century house in Utah, not a crumbling old English mansion. Four stars.

12. Poetry or Short Stories. Odd category mix, as these are two very different genres. I read Poems for the Lost Because I'm Lost Too by Exurb1a, and I found the writing highly relatable even though the author is a young guy in Eastern Europe. His themes of existential angst, isolation, and meaninglessness resonated with how I have felt off and on over all the years of my life. He went off into the weeds a bit with his forays into the supernatural, and I skimmed those sections, but overall... yeah. Liked it! Four stars.

As a side note, I am not being hypocritical with my high ratings of most of these challenge books after complaining repeatedly that people rate books too highly ~ I read many books recently that merited 2 or 3 stars, but I focused on the better ones for these mini-reviews. For example, in the poetry category, I gave 2 stars to another book of verse, but why mention it when I can recommend Poems for the Lost?

Remarkably Bright Creatures (book and movie)

Screenshot of RBC book cover

SPOILERS GALORE! BEWARE!

I’m surprised that I didn’t love this book because in general I enjoy books about animals. It wasn’t really about animals though; it was about people. The sections narrated by Marcellus the octopus were much briefer than the rest of the chapters, which was a bummer. He had a wonderful droll, sarcastic voice, and it would have been great to spend more time in his POV. Instead, we are rapidly introduced to a whole bunch of humans, and I had a hard time keeping track ~ by page 35, we had 18 characters and that number kept growing. It was so tedious to read the backstories of all these folks. Why do I care about Tova's "Knit-Wit" friends when I barely have been introduced to Tova, the main character? And then a random 30 year old grungy musician (Cameron) is flung at us, along with his aunt, her boyfriend, bandmates, etc. Huh? I know Cameron will tie into the MC's storyline later, but there was so much unnecessary detail about the side characters early in the book. Many authors make this mistake. Well, I think it's a mistake. In The Correspondent, another overrated book (imo), the same thing happened.

Moving on. I began to get the feeling from the cryptic clues that Tova's son Erik was murdered due to some drug smuggling type of incident or whatever. I thought that Marcellus was going to help solve the crime in an interesting way. Marcellus did solve a mystery, but it had nothing to do with a crime ~ Erik died in exactly the way the police said he did. That was a letdown after the buildup. What Marcellus did was make it blindingly obvious that Cameron was Tova's grandson. Cameron's mom had bequeathed him his father's high school class ring, which had ERIK'S INITIALS on it the whole time, but Cameron chased down some other elusive friend of his mother's instead. That all was effing ridiculous, and a few times I almost abandoned the book altogether.

Then there were the totally cringe romances happening. One was Cameron's awkward courtship of a local prickly single mom; the other was the gossipy grocer's pursuit of Tova. Gah. The entire Pacific NW town was full of weird, socially inept people, which made me long for more narration from the octopus. I ended up giving the book three stars, which was generous, because I loved Marcellus and cried at the end.

*

I didn't have high hopes for the RBC movie on Netflix after (finally) finishing the book, but the movie was better than the book! Usually it's the other way around for me. The movie smartly streamlined the story to focus on Nova, Cameron, and Marcellus. We didn't have to wade through intros to all the other people in their lives. The romances were much less awkward too. We still didn't get enough narration from Marcellus, but on the other hand, we got a lot less tedious gobble about the ring, Cam's search for the friend who wasn't actually his dad, the smitten grocer, blah blah blah. When Cam's mom died, she left him her gross van full of junk, which included the class ring, and as soon as Cam figured out that his father was in the PNW, he hightailed it up there. In the book, we had to go through this nonsense of his aunt lending him money and giving him a box of crap to sort through, his purchase of the cruddy old van, his relationship with the band members, etc. It was all so BORING! I wasn't at all bored during the movie. The plot actually made more sense in the film version, and we weren't given any misdirection about Erik's death. The ending was super lovely too. I'd give the movie 4 stars.

*

I began a couple of June challenges. One is a reading challenge via my online book club. I know I said I wasn't going to do those anymore because I end up reading crummy books just to fulfill a category, but I am doing it anyway. My plan is to review the books here on my blog, but we'll see if that happens. My original plan for this blog was to post mostly book and movie reviews and avoid meaningless prompts, but I ended up doing some prompts too. What can I say ~ I enjoy them.

The other challenge is Leslie Sansone's get fit in 30 days video. It's not that strenuous, so I think I can do all the things without hurting myself. (I hope.) I did the first 30 minute aerobic session tonight, which seemed fine, vigorous, but not overwhelming. I did just take some ibuprofen though. Three times per week we do that, and three times per week we do some kind of stretching session. I guess we have Sundays off.

Inky is doing great on her plan and clocked in at 9.9 pounds today. Yay! If we could get down to 9.5, that would be even better. The vet should be pleased when we go for our September checkup.

How Often Do You Spill Your Food or Beverage?

Apparently the reason why I never found love post-divorce is because I failed to spill my coffee or tea or Diet Coke on some hapless fellow. I never (as far as I know) dropped food on a man either. But according to contemporary romance novels, clumsiness with comestibles is the key to true love. While you don't see many governesses or companions in the Regency Romances getting scone crumbles on a duke or earl, in contemporaries it's de rigueur. I'm getting to the point where I want to DNF a book as soon as I see it ~ I even listed it as one of my Persnickety Peeves over a year ago. Back then, I called it an awkward meet cute, but I've since realized that it can happen anytime during the get-to-know-you stage. 

The latest one I read was in Life Derailed, for which I had high expectations as an exploration of how we feel about AI in our lives, and in particular would we rather have a customized, sensitive, kind, understanding, funny, and always available to chat AI boyfriend or an annoying human male? Alas, this was just a typical workplace romance with the usual tedious misunderstandings that melted away when the epiphany occurred. Regarding the spilled food, somehow our heroine Remi managed to get salad on poor Jason while he was sitting across the table. Salad! I had to stop reading to try to imagine how you could accidentally flip greens and pieces of tomato across the table onto a guy's shirt. I'm still having a hard time envisioning it.

I finished this book because I really hoped that more in depth discussion of AI with respect to relationships would materialize, but it never happened. I suppose I have to rewatch Her for that or one of the many various movies centered on this theme. I don't want to see robots gone bad; I want to see people preferring AI conversation to human interaction at least for a while. Anyway, I had other issues with Life Derailed, such as a mom character that could have been funny and interesting, but the author made her so over the top ridiculous that it ruined her, plus the author completely forgot about Remi's precious doggie Fitz, and she had Remi run off to an island for a month to write her novel without telling us what she did with poor Fitz. The novel did have some interesting scenes, so I gave it two stars instead of the one I was initially contemplating. 

What else? I read His and Hers, a mystery/ thriller, which was pretty good, but I liked the Netflix series more. One of the reasons is because they had only six episodes, so they had to discard some of the bloated side-plots, and that made the story more streamlined and easier to follow. The show made me realize that one of the things I dislike about first-person narration, which is "I have a big secret I am not divulging to the reader even though we are in my head and I am obviously thinking about it," works perfectly well on the screen because that "nyah nyah" doesn't occur. We didn't even need to see the protags getting blackout drunk all the time so they (and the reader) wouldn't remember/ know what they did because there was very little narration. I'm also getting to the point where I'm tired of excessive alcohol consumption used as a plot device. Be more creative! 

Yesterday I went to the Orange County Zoo with a friend. It was the first time I'd been there. Small zoo, but easy to walk the whole thing (twice) and see a variety of cool beasties, such as owls, eagles, snakes, lizards, big cats, peacocks, parrots, etc. There was a petting area as well, but I didn't want to touch any animals. It's always so weird to see the goats with their rectangular pupils, and they probably think the same thing about my human eyeballs. One of the things I enjoy most about a zoo is how excited the little kids get to see all the creatures.

Hope all my readers are having a good Monday!

A Subtle Difference

It’s hard for me not to obsess over POV when I’m reading because we were taught to obsess over it when we were crafting a scene. One of the very first things I learned was not to have our character die during the story if we were narrating in first person. There are a few exceptions, such as writing as a ghost or zombie or whatever, but generally “and then I died” is bad form. The reader immediately wonders who is telling the story. 

Lately there’s been an epidemic of first person present tense thrillers, often with alternating first person POVs. I can’t even describe how much I hate this, but I try to put my violent rage aside when evaluating the book for a book club discussion, Goodreads review, star rating, etc. I admit that there is a subtle difference in writing “and then I died” vs “everything fades to black.” In the first case, my instant reaction is well then who is telling me this now? In the second case, I could believe I am with the character as it is happening. It’s still not as smooth as third person, so I don’t know why writers persist in doing this. Why not just write in third when you know you’re going to kill your MC?

Another issue I have with first person narration is how much we know when we’re inside the character’s head. If we are supposed to be privy to their thoughts, then they can’t have secrets. You shouldn’t write: “I have been thinking about that Bad Thing I did, but I won’t tell you what it is because I need to focus on the best way to kill Michael right now.” That’s crap writing and throws the reader out of the story. Guess what POV is best for keeping secrets from the reader? Third! “Paula thought about the Bad Thing again, but she forced herself not to dwell on it because she needed to focus on the best way to kill Michael.” Maybe this is too nit-picky, but it really bothers me.

Finally (must have three things in a post about writing), note that my example is in past tense. It’s the best way to tell a story, in my opinion. Past tense lets the reader relax and follow along, as opposed to creating an aura of anxious immediacy where the reader watches the action like a bystander at a car crash. With past tense, the reader relies on the narrator (even an unreliable one) to guide her through the experience rather than standing there trying to figure it out herself. Take this famous opening line from Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 mystery novel Rebecca: 

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”

That sets the tone for the story. Something happened at Manderley, and we are going to find out what it was. It establishes first person narration, which is fine because the narrator doesn’t die! The prose continues in slow, deliberate, vivid description of the property with the MC imagining how the estate decayed but still lives on as a character in its own right. The dream segues into the past, when the MC lived at the house and before that, when she met and married the owner, and we get a disturbing glimpse to pique our interest in discovering exactly what went on. Imagine if Rebecca had been written today:

“I dream I go to Manderley again.”

Meh. It’s a totally different vibe, anxious and hurried, not the slow, haunting buildup to a tragedy.

PS: the 2020 Rebecca starring Lily James is excellent. I have not watched Hitchcock’s adaptation. Naturally, the critics have to crap on the 2020 version, but as usual I disregard them. 

Weekend Recap

Happy last day of November. I had a fun friendsgiving, which included several board games, but my opinion of Thanksgiving food, even if perfectly prepared, remains unchanged: I don’t like it. I especially dislike turkey and do not eat any of it (chicken is fine, I like chicken, but everybody else wants turkey). Stuffing can be tasty, but only the way my mommy made it. Green beans and mashed potatoes are okay, but why bother? Now, I do enjoy a baked sweet potato with butter, but I don’t want them all syruped up in a casserole. Yuck. Then we come to the pie ~ I love pie! Why can’t I just have pie? I brought an apple crumb pie from The Flaky Apple Pie Company, baked it at the host’s house, and it was utterly delicious! Everyone loved it. Next year I’m getting cherry. Every pie they make is wonderful. If it were up to me, I would have an all-pie and only-pie Thanksgiving.

I have been trying to watch season two of A Man on the Inside, but I keep falling asleep. Maybe I shouldn’t put it on at 10pm when I am already in bed. I did watch the entirety of Red Joan, a Netflix WW2 drama about “the bomb,” starring Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson, both playing a British woman Joan Stanley at different ages. The story is loosely based on the life of a KGB spy and depicts Joan as a naive Cambridge physics student who becomes sympathetic toward communism due to her boyfriend’s influence. After graduation, she works in a nuclear research facility and passes information to the Soviets via her boyfriend’s sister. Normally I do not watch anything set in this time period, but I love Judi, and the premise sounded interesting, so I did. It was fabulous! I highly recommend it. 

I watched couple of Christmas romcoms too, which weren’t bad, but they were completely forgettable, so I can’t tell you what they were without going to my watch history… and I CBA. I am planning to see Song Sung Blue at the theater with game friends on Christmas Day and The Housemaid with book club peeps later that weekend. Looking forward to those as well as seeing my family for Chanukah. I did a puzzle on Friday; it was only 500 pieces, so I completed it in a few hours. I think I prefer those as opposed to the 1000 pieces ones, which take several days or a week. I am trying not to spend so much time reading the news and social media, except for my FB book club group, so solo games are a good distraction.

I have a lot of social plans coming up, the idea of which stresses me out a bit, even when I deliberately set it all in motion. To ease my anxiety, I spent too much money on Black Friday sales as well as other stuff I “needed.” Now I’m stressed about that instead. I console myself with the thought that I could have spent even more but didn’t. The nice thing is that most of my stuff will be arriving in separate packages, so I will have several fun mail-opening events, woohoo. 

As far as books, I guess I took a little break ~ the last book I read was on November 26. That was What She Saw by Mary Burton, a solid mystery novel, to which I awarded four stars. Yesterday I began a John Grisham novel, The Brethren, which is mildly intriguing, and I will probably finish it. I have several of his in my TBR pile. I’m trying to understand why I don’t fling this book into my DNF donation bag as opposed to all the romances and thrillers that have been so flung, and I guess it’s simply because he’s a better writer. His characters in this book are not likable, but they hold my attention regardless, and the plot threads make me wanna find out what happens and how they tie together. Is it worth noting that Grisham narrates in third person past tense, which is how books should be written, instead of the first person head hopping present tense atrocities we keep seeing in new fiction? Yes, there are exceptions, and I have enjoyed some FPHHPT novels, but that’s despite the FPHHPT not because of it. 

Tomorrow is weigh-in day for Inky and me!

Officially in My Fusspot Era

This year I have read an absolutely insane amount of books (250+), and I have come to some decisions. First, I am slowing down because I want to retain more of the content. Second, I have been in a genre rut with psycho thrillers and romance, and I want to read more broadly in 2026. I don’t mean more fiction genres, but other types of books entirely, such as poetry, biography, and science. Third, when I do read genre fiction, I plan on being much fussier. 

This all is basically just me clarifying stuff for myself; I expect it to have zero interest to anyone else. I needed a place to vomit my thoughts.

I won’t read a contemporary romance novel if the meet cute involves clumsiness/ spilling of food, beverage or paperwork. Post meet clumsiness may be acceptable depending on the circumstances. In The Hating Game, Lucy was trying to make Josh jealous and tripped/ fell in her sexy dress and high heels, dumping out her purse all over the floor. That was funny and cute, but it was also cringe because I would have sprained my ankle. It’s like the scene in Miss Congeniality when Gracie strides out all gorgeous and blows Eric’s mind… then she falls. These are not technically meet cutes!

I won’t read a CRN or any kind of mystery where the plot could be obliterated by one session with Google. I mean, come on. Any type of fake ID/ mistaken identity motif is not going to work in a modern story unless the character has bought fake creds from a super hacker. Or if they’re a government agent. 

I don’t want to read books with teenaged protagonists. This is handy because it rules out genres that already don’t appeal to me, such as fantasy and young adult. I can’t bear anything about high school drama, nor do I want to see teens saving the world in some dystopian yuck. But what about Victoria Holt? All her heroines are teenagers. Great question! I am tired of her books and don’t plan on reading any more of them, so that works out. Granted, teens were different back when and way more mature, but even so. Also, I am suspicious of that “new adult” genre full of people under 30. They’re annoying and not much different from high schoolers.

I still like romances, though I am on somewhat of a break, but I don’t want to read about second chances. They annoy me. I just finished a holiday romance (The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah by Jean Meltzer) that had not only a second-chance motif but also was full of ghosts (a la A Christmas Carol), and I liked it enough to give it three stars. But I consider it an exception, mainly due to the fabulous job Jean did in describing migraines and related issues, including rationing meds because insurance allows only nine pills per month. In general, however, I don’t care for ghosts or exes hanging around past their expiration dates. 

What else? I don’t like the trope of the grumpy boss (billionaire or not) and his “sunshine” romantic interest. Why does the man always get to be the grump anyway? I am over mafia romances because they’re all the same. I am not a fan of contemporary characters who “hate” each other and end up in a fake-dating situation because there’s never actually a need for it other than to satisfy the terms of a will, but characters who are willing to sell their souls for a chunk of change don’t appeal to me anyway. Maybe hater dater fakery is acceptable in a Regency or other old-timey romance, depending on the details. Back then, people had fewer options. I am not ruling out CRNs though ~ they just need to have better plots than the standard omg I spilled coffee on the cutest guy but it turns out he’s my hot new boss and totally grumpy because his grandma cut him from her will unless he gets married in 30 days and he really needs her farmland to develop an enrichment camp for orphans.

Now we come to murder, blood, and gore. In general, I am not a fan of graphically described injury and death, but I do love mysteries and detective stories, so I will tolerate gore for the sake of the story. If I see from the book jacket that the main point of the novel is to come up with gruesome torture scenes, then that’s a hard pass right there. It’s one thing to describe a death in context of a police procedure, but it’s quite another to witness the writer revel in bloody descriptions. I don’t want to go inside the mind of a maniacal serial killer who gets off on amputations, etc. There are so many gross books out. But I also don’t want to read cozy mysteries, where bodies are bloodless and the murder scene smells like pumpkin spice candles. 

Horror is too disgusting and disturbing for me. I gave it a chance with the Haunted series by Lee Mountford back in October because I liked the first book, but they became a nonstop river of gore. The last few books were basically a skim because of all the rotting corpses and mangled eyeballs. Shudder. I’m reading a murder mystery right now that is all about the various clues and psychological aspects of the characters. (So far, there haven’t been any disturbing passages.) That is what I like in a story, not descriptions of death or how bodies look in the morgue. The same goes for any book about relationships ~ I want to read rich and vivid details about the characters’ mental and emotional worlds, not a boring recitation of sex romps. 

This also means I will be more discerning re the books I am willing to read for my book clubs, especially the online club.

Books That Could Have Been a Text

I read a lot. I mean a lot. For example, it’s now October 7 (very sad anniversary of the attack on Israel, but also Prime Day, yay), and I have already finished four books this month (OK, one was a novella). Some people don’t read four books in a year! I know, because I am friends with them. Smart people, great at games, but reading isn’t their thing. Anyway, for a while now, I have been pretty jaded about plots. It’s been said that there are no new storylines, but only new ways of retelling the same old ones, and I concur. Hence, this post: book types that could have been a text question to AI.

1. Haunted House 

Q: I have inherited an old house from my weird uncle, and it’s full of strange symbols, shadowy figures in the mirrors, and scary thumps and moans during the night. What should I do?

A: Run away right now and don’t go back!

2. Devil’s Spawn

Q: I am six weeks pregnant and have undeniable proof that the father is a demon who will use this child to unleash chaos and terror upon the world. How should I proceed?

A: Get an abortion! (And quit having sex with demons.)

3. Forbidden Room

Q: I am governess to the mad duke’s daughter, and he said that I must never go into the attic, but the upstairs maid told me there’s a trunk in there containing the duchess’s diary which will prove that the duchess ran off with the coachman and wasn’t murdered by the duke. Should I retrieve the diary so the duke will love me?

A: No. Stay the hell out of there and make friends with the new coachman. I hear he is cute (and also not mad).

4. Grumpy x Sunshine

Q: My new billionaire boss is incredibly mean and horrible, though he is very handsome and did I mention a billionaire? Should I put up with his verbal abuse for 300 pages until he sees me in a bikini at the company retreat and falls in love with me?

A: No. He will always be a jerk. Find a new job.

5. Friends to Lovers

Q: I just had an epiphany that I am in love with my childhood best friend, but he hasn’t ever indicated he feels the same except that one time when he was really drunk, which I don’t count. Should I despair over this for 300 pages while we try to make a go of romances with others or take a job I don’t want in a faraway state to get away from this mess?

A: Neither. Just tell him you love him right now.

6. Fake Dating

Q: I hired an actor to pretend to be my boyfriend at my cousin’s wedding so my family would stop bugging me about being single, but we got drunk and slept together. Now I am in love with him, but if I tell him, I won’t be able to figure out if what he says back is real or acting. For how many pages should I agonize over this?

A: Zero. Tell him immediately.

7. Fantasy Quest

Q: So like you know I found a map to the lair of the ancient monster dragon who guards the sparkly thing that will save the universe from destruction. Should I skip my midterms and go get it right away before the witch grabs it for evil purposes?

A: No. Study for your tests, eat your vegetables, and quit peering through game portals.

8. Amateur Detective

Q: I don’t think the police did a thorough investigation into the cookie dough murder, and since I have retired from the library I have time to help. Should I take my poodle Mr. Noodles to the bakery cafe and try to get more information from the shady new waiter?

A: Mind your own business and leave solving crimes to the cops.

9. Family Feud

Q: Should I let the misunderstanding with my sister fester for another 50 years until one of us is dying, or have a difficult conversation with her before the next round of holidays?

A: /eye-roll/

10. True Story

Q: Hey, do you think people would enjoy reading about my transformative journey from—

A: No.

The end.

Passed My Bloggaversary

Or is it blogiversary? Anyway, I restarted this blog on August 12, 2024 with my review of It Ends With Us (the movie). Next week is my 24th anniversary at my workplace. I think I will bring muffins in on Tuesday when most coworkers show up (many work from home on other days). I've started to finally understand that maintaining and nurturing friendships and connections beyond my immediate family is a good thing and not something to be so wary of. I was repeatedly hurt by friends dipping and dates ghosting in the past and became very guarded. It's normal to go through bad experiences, but it's important to persevere (imo). The more I read about aging and brain health, the more I get that connections are crucial. It's not enough to simply do puzzles alone to keep the mind sharp. People need people ~ even introverts like me ~ for their emotional well being.

To be clear, I am talking about friendship not datingship. That ship has sailed.

I binge-watched The Hunting Wives on Netflix this week and enjoyed it a lot, though it got a bit kooky and farfetched by the end. Still, it was something different, plus I always love Malin Anderson (the sister in 27 Dresses), who had a lead role. The best thing about the show (limited series of 8 episodes) is that it seems at first to be tilted toward making the gun-toting, pro-life, wealthy Republican women appear more sympathetic than the awkwardly liberal Boston newcomer, but just wait... Spoiler: it is an epic takedown! Kudos to Mary Cobb, who wrote the novel, and to Rebecca Perry Cutter, who wrote the series. There's loads of nudity, sex (including graphic FF sex), violence, swearing, drinking, drugs, politics, and SMOKING. So, basically a fun time all around. I'm not sure if I want to deal with a second season however (supposedly on the way). One seems like plenty.

I read Kate White's mystery novel A Body to Die For, which is a fun romp through an upstate New York spa in beautiful autumn. It almost made me long for the change of seasons. Almost! Bailey Weggins, a crime journalist, intends to visit her beloved aunt at the spa she runs, but instead becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. She's also juggling a romance back in the city. We have all kinds of interesting characters to get to know, as well as a very handsome detective, and loads of twisty turns. Four stars. I may read some more books in this series, when I make further progress in getting through my enormous TBR pile.

I gave five stars to William Penrose's A Stranger to Earth. I don't read much science fiction, but this one really hooked me. It wasn't so much about aliens and space travel as it was about our human selves and how inhumanely we often treat each other. It was also frequently hilarious. Bill is a longtime FB friend, and he casually mentioned his book a little bit ago, which made me curious enough to go grab it for my Kindle. I'm glad I did!

Going forward, I think I'm only going to review the books I enjoy a lot, unless there is some particular point of interest to discuss in a book I find mediocre or worse. 

Looking forward to a birthday party tomorrow and some family time on Sunday. 

A Couple Good Ones

I highly recommend the HBO/Max documentary on Billy Joel: And So It Goes. Everyone I know who has seen it says it is excellent, and I absolutely loved it. I may rewatch it at some point (though I said that about the Bob Dylan docu A Complete Unknown and have yet to rewatch ~ there are just way too many things I haven't seen). What an interesting person Billy is! And his talent is simply out of this world. I mean, I always liked his music, but I never really appreciated how great it was and how hard he worked until I saw this docu.

For my online book club I read The Broken Girls by Simone St. James. It's kind of half gothic mystery and half contemporary detective story. I wasn't sure I would like it, but it totally hooked me, both with the plight of the sad girls at a Vermont boarding school around 1950 and with the current day (2014) reporter Fiona who is trying to make sense of what happened back then as it may relate to the murder of her sister. Is there a ghost or isn't there? Doo doo doo doo. There's also a complicated love relationship to sort out between Fiona and a younger police officer Jamie. His father, the retired chief of police, also has a role to play in the drama, as does Fiona's father, a famous journalist. Four stars. 

I'm feeling paralyzed with too many choices for my free time. There are a million shows I could watch on TV, but usually when I choose one I dislike it, turn it off after 10 minutes, pick another, rinse repeat. Or I could paint, which I did on Sunday with meh results. Or I could read another book (usually the best choice). I could play a solo board game or a game on my phone. Peruse FB, IG, Bluesky, etc. None of that last bunch is particularly satisfying however. What about writing? I dipped a tentative toe back into the waters the other week on Substack, and it went well. (I wrote a poem about my hair for a friend's publication.) I keep thinking it would be cool to post some of my older poetry and flash fiction to see if it resonates with anyone ~ and I did, a week ago. I can't believe a whole week has passed already.

Funny thing... I was chatting with a friend on FB about those old 100 word stories some of us used to write, and then tonight my friend from the WP community sent me a story of mine she'd found in her email. This one was 99 words, and I really liked it! Sometimes my old stuff surprises me: I think wow I occasionally display a glimmer of writing talent, or omg my stuff is so horrible how embarrassing that anyone ever read this. One extreme or the other...

Anyway, now I have a desire to post 100 word pieces on Substack to see what happens. 

Midafternoon Musings

[I began this post midafternoon, but only wrote one paragraph. I finished it later at night.]

I stopped watching Dept. Q because it was nonstop downersauce. The acting was great, but every aspect of the various storylines was depressing, especially the one where a woman was being tortured for years. In a weird way, the realistic vibe worked against it for me. I would rather discover a show that’s darkly fun and completely unbelievable (like Manifest) as opposed to a series like Q that feels as if it could have happened.

IDK... I get that it's important to learn and grow from art, to expand one's perspective, etc., but I still come back to the fact that real life is depressing enough (my god, have you seen the news? nonstop horror!), and so I would like my entertainment to be, well, entertaining. I want love and romance and music and fun, not death and despair and torture and disasters. Ugh. And, as I noted above, if something is dark, then let it be a fantasy rather than something trying to mirror reality. That's just me.

Honestly, I think I might start watching the Christmas romcoms again in August. Those are guaranteed to be silly and upbeat. The great thing about them is that there are always new ones with new twists, but they all have a happy ending.

I read The Sublet by Greer Hendricks (short mystery) and gave it only two stars. I have nothing much to say about it other than it didn't interest me. I also read The Legend of the Seventh Virgin by Victoria Holt (historical romance novel) and gave it five stars. Yeah, from one extreme to the other. This was probably my favorite (or at least one of) VH's books. It was so involved, with such impressively complex characters and interesting (unexpected) twists. Just wow. I am so impressed by VH the more I reread her, especially compared to other more contemporary authors who don't dive deeply into their characters.

It's now past the date (July 27) when I can "return" Inky and trade her for another kitty without paying a new fee, and I can't even imagine. I already love her so much and consider her a family member. She is so sweet and adorable with the cutest quirks. I'm so happy we found each other! Yes, I still miss Gatsby and always will. He remains in my heart with my mom and others I have loved.

This week I am enjoying Substack more and Bluesky less. We'll see if that continues.

My Grandson Turns Five

Remember that George Carlin routine about how we are "going on" the next number ("I am sixteen going on seventeen?") until we become twenty-one? And we don't use months or half-numbers after that. Hey, I am almost 64.25! It was impossible to find the routine on YouTube, but I did stumble onto a transcription. He was truly hilarious. Anyway, my older grandson had his space-themed birthday party yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. He is now five going on six.

Speaking of five, I gave five stars to The Familiar Dark by Amy Engel. Wow, what an intense read! I highly recommend this taut mystery novel. It's on the shorter side at under 300 pages, but man it packs a punch. TW: it begins with the gruesome death of two children. It's not one of those stories that focuses on gore though; it's more about family bonds and feeling trapped in small town life.

The Conjuror's Wife by Sarah Penner was a gripping little fantasy/ historical fiction short story. I loved the twist at the end and gave the book four stars.

I was disappointed in the latest Freida McFadden thriller I read: Do Not Disturb. The twists were often predictable, and there was very little motivation given for the characters' actions. Also, and maybe this is not fair to the book, but I am really tired of the abused wife who can't leave until it's too late motif, especially when there aren't even children involved. This type of story usually features a protagonist with whom we are supposed to sympathize while she keeps doing stupid things, the dumbest one of course being falling for the "too good to be true" man. Meh. Two stars.

I read The Changeling by Philippa Carr (aka Victoria Holt), which was another romance/ mystery novel in the Daughters of England series. I found it enjoyable but not as good as some of the others, so I gave it three stars. The title basically gives away the main twist of the story. 

Via a friend's recommendation, I have started the Netflix show Dept. Q, and so far I am intrigued. It's a detective mini-series set in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the acting is top-notch.

Hope everyone is having a good start to their week!