Wednesday, November 29, 2017

November's Books

It's been so long since I posted on this blog that I barely remember how to do it!  Life hasn't let up.  In fact, it's gotten more chaotic.  This should be a happy time, but it's very stressful.  I abhor disorder.

We bought a house in an old neighborhood just outside of the small city I was born in.  It has many different styles of architecture and huge old trees.  It's picturesque and quiet and good friends live close by.  Family, too, is closer in some cases.

But before we move in, we want a few changes made.  We want to paint, clean, etc.  We haven't put our Philadelphia house on the market yet, so we've been gradually moving smaller things from Philly to Lancaster.  That will help with the final move and should declutter the house to make it ready to sell.  But it's all taking so long!

The workmen are just getting ready to start on the 'new' house (built in 1954) renovations and the old house (which is really old, having been built in about 1840) won't go on the market until after the first of the year.  My baby grand piano is being moved tomorrow.  The rest of the big furniture will stay in Philly until the house has been sold.  Everyone wants 'staging' these days.

I've had little time to read.  If I do have time, I spend it packing or feeling guilty that I'm not packing!  I hope that things get back to normal one day soon.  This is the list of books I finished in November.

The Dry  -  Jane Harper  This is a murder mystery that takes place in Australia during a drought.  Did the drought make the murderer do it?  The ending moves as quickly as wildfire.

Caroline Writers at Home  -  Meg Reid (Ed.)  Belle's post on her blog made me want to read this book.  It's essays by writers from or living in the Carolinas.  Most are about place, about home.  I enjoyed it and delved into it on and off for several weeks.

The Bookshelf on the Corner  -  Jenny Colgan  Another of Belle's recommendations.  This was a quick, light read.  A romance and an adventure story.  I saw the ending coming, but that didn't take away from the pleasure.

The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras & The Pot Thief Who Studied Ptolemy  -  Michael Orenduff  Dare I say it?  Two more that Belle liked!  I really don't read everything she reads, but she reads many books that appeal to me.  The Pot Thief digs up old pots in Arizona and sells them in his shop.  He doesn't consider it stealing.  Sometimes he liberates pots from museums, where he doesn't think they belong.  I like the characters in the books.  I have trouble seeing the connection between what he's studying and how that affects his ability to solve mysteries.  I have one more to read in the Kindle 3-pack of Pot Thief books I bought.

At this point, I think I have to give Belle more credit for all the links I've provided to her blog.  She writes descriptive and short posts, just the way I like them.

The Woman in Cabin 10  -  Ruth Ware  Many people wrote about this book.  I seldom read new books, so I waited for a year or so before I cracked this one open.  Laura (Lo) Blacklock, a travel writer who drinks too much, is invited on the virgin voyage of a posh small cruise ship.  She borrows mascara (yuck!) from the women next door, in cabin 10.  During the night, she's awakened and hears a thud and a big splash.  She sees blood on the glass divider between her terrace and that of cabin 10.  She's sure that a crime has been committed, but the cabin is empty and no one admits to seeing the woman she met.

Y is for Yesterday  -  Sue Grafton  This is a new book that I couldn't wait for, so I got in line at the library and, eventually, it showed up.  I've read all the Kinsey Millhone mysteries and I can't think of one that truly disappointed.  I like Kinsey, her lifestyle, her neighbors, and her friends.  This mystery spans 10 years.  A young girl is murdered by one of her friends, manipulated by another of their friends.  The boy who shot her has just been released from prison and someone is trying to blackmail him with a film he and his friends made of them sexually abusing another of their friends.  With friends like these kids ....  Kinsey is hired to find the blackmailer.  Then the kid who shot the girl disappears.  That can't be good.  Meanwhile, Ned Lowe, the serial killer who tried to kill Kinsey in a previous book, returns to collect the mementos from his killings and to finish off Kinsey.  I won't spoil anything for you, but I will tell you that Ed, her neighbor Henry's cat, is rescued before anything too awful happens to him.  I was feeling very apprehensive for a while, but don't worry.

Maybe once life settles down, I'll get back to books that require a bit of concentration or that allow me to escape completely into their stories.  Fingers crossed that all goes well over the next couple of months.

10 comments:

  1. I'm sure your reading will be helping to keep you sane at this chaotic time. It'll all be worth it in the end!

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    1. With that theory in mind, I just started reading Anne of Avonlea on my Kindle. It's easiest under the circumstances to read on my Kindle.

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  2. Your move sounds wonderful, but I can understand that all the packing, and associated stuff, is hard to deal with. But it is good that you have both houses at the same time for a while.

    Since I live in Santa Barbara and the city Kinsey lives in is based on Santa Barbara, I should read more of her books. I read the first 5 years ago, then stopped. Sometime recently I read G is for Gumshoe, and I have the next few.

    Thanks for the pointers to Belle, Book, and Candle. I read a few posts there and enjoyed them.

    And I want to read The Dry. I don't usually read books until they have been around a while either, so not in a big hurry.

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    1. I didn't know that Sue Grafton's books were based on Santa Barbara. It sounds like a cool town.
      One of the other annoyances with having the two houses is that we don't have internet at the new house yet, so access to 'my' stuff, the book blogs I read, including mine, is limited. Sorry for the delay in answering your comment! We're back in Philly after a long weekend of painting the living room and seeing old friends. My piano moved safely and looks great in the living room. Now if only I could make myself practice more!

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  3. Joan, I’ve been having such issues commenting on blogger blogs lately! I hope your more settled by now. The new house sounds wonderful. What did you think of The Woman in Cabin Ten? I was torn between liking it and not...

    Back to the commenting, I thought it was an issue with Safari so I finally downloaded Mozilla on my iPad and still couldn’t comment. If the option to comment as name and url is available I can comment but it won’t let me sign into google. After researching I found if the blogger blog has comments set on embedded it is an issue. If set on full page or pop out it works. I had to go to my old blogger blog, sign in and come to you through a link the sidebar to be able to comment! You would think as big as blogger is they would resolve these issues.

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    1. Sorry about your commenting problems. I have the same problem if I try to comment on the Classic Mysteries blog. You're much more computer savvy than I am, though. Or maybe I'm just lazy and can't be bothered to do the research!
      Nothing is any more settled now. The chaos continues with electricians, plumbers, and carpenters doing updating on the new house. We only have two dining room chairs and a set of twin beds in the new house, so it's not very comfortable there. We've taken much of the clutter out of the old house, so I can't find anything! I will be so happy when we can finally move to the new house, probably in a few months. I hope we can last that long!

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  4. So when will you actually be moving in and living in your new house? You'll get to have a garden in spring right? I hope you get to have a garden!

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    1. I certainly hope we'll be in our new house in time to have a garden this spring / summer! Our house goes on the market 1/7/18. We have to leave most of our furniture in the house until we get a firm and acceptable offer or pay for staging, which can be expensive. Then we can move to our new house. Renovations on one of the bathrooms are plodding along there and we'd like that and some other things to be done before we move in. Living in two houses is a pain! I hate packing clothes to go to one house and bringing them back to another. We're spending three or so days a week at the new house and the rest at the old house. I hate it, but I keep reminding myself that I currently have two houses and some people have none. I'm twice blessed (or cursed!).

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    2. That is a pain moving back and forth but hopefully your house sells quickly and all the renovations come together in a perfect way. Just think how great it will be when you are all moved in to the new place! I am super excited about your garden!

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    3. Yes, we try to keep the end game in sight. It's difficult when there are all the day to day problems and stresses. I hope this will be our last move! I can't wait to start posting about my new gardens!

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