Set sail for murder

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

a good read

I finished the novel , In the Bleak Midwinter, and I found it to be an excellent introduction to a new series, probably one I will visit again. The story was believable, the characters were likable, and the drama and suspense held my interest without making me afraid to sleep. I don't gravitate to suspense, but it was just enough for me to be interested in the story; and it takes place near Christmas, so it is timely. I am glad Sue Hofer presented this for the Mystery Book Group and I found another author to like.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

reading

I am one of those people who read more than one book at a time, I don't know when I started it, but it just happens, I don't have my book with me, I pick up another, and pretty soon I have a book started in each room of the house and I drive my husband crazy with all my books all over. I like to read anything; magazine essays, short stories, or a chapter in a book I read two years ago. If I really like the way it is written, I'll read it over, maybe just in parts. Sometimes I'm in a mood, nostalgic is my main mood. To a gentler time, an older time in history, maybe it safe for me to go there because it is past and can't scare me with its terrors. I can sympathize with the characters, and think about what it was like, but it not my world. I don't want to read about people who commit mass murders in 2009 and their ilk, I don't want to frighten myself anymore than I already do by watching the news. I have an old book on my shelf that I am ashamed to say probably read four or five times, and still it draws me in and I like to visit the setting, the time, the winter snowy night, the blizzard feeling of closed roads and winds swirling at the windows and whistling through the grooves of the bricks or stone walls of the house. This book is "Murder at Hazelmoor" by Agatha Christie and is also known as "The Sittaford Mystery" and the date is 1931. Right smack in the middle of that wonderful time between the wars known as "the Golden age of Mystery novels" taken to be the period between 1913 and the start of World War II. Funny, I thought that it started after World War I, I stand corrected. Any way, Hazelmoor is a home I think, where murder has taken place, and it is perfect for a winter night, and I like to picture myself back in the sixties, on a chair close up to the blazing fire, in my home as a child. I loved those fires, back before we knew all the heat was going up the chimney, as the living room heated, and the back bedrooms got more chilly. My link in the title of this post is to the website Resources for School Libraries. You'll find a whole list of mystery authors.

In the Bleak Midwinter

The Mystery book discussion group at Tipp City Library will meet on January 11 at 7 pm. For January the book will be "In the Bleak Midwinter" by Julie Spencer-Fleming. This is her debut novel and it won more mystery awards than any debut mystery. Click onto the link in title of this blog to read more. The title along makes it an appropriate winter title, let's just hope we don't get snowed out on discussion night. Join the group for refreshments and informal conversation with others patrons who enjoy talking about good mysteries. Books can be picked up at the front desk of the library.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Julie and Romeo


Jeanne Ray is an author you don't want to miss if you like romantic comedies, especially for older couples. This is a twist on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The two main characters know that their families have always hated each other, but they don't know why. And they don't know why they should continue the family tradtion, but their families have other plans. It's cute, children trying to twart their parent's love plans.
The author, Jeanne Ray, is a nurse in Nashville, Tennessee, and mother of award winning Ann Patchett. This is her first novel, written after she has turned sixty herself, and doesn't feel over the hill. So she writes "a story about two vital, attractive individuals over sixty who fell in love."

Saturday, December 12, 2009

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society


Annie Barrows helped to finish her aunt's novel after her aunt, Mary Ann Shaffer grew ill. Read more about the biographies of both authors on the link in the title of this blog.
Also mentioned in the biography of Mary Ann Shaffer is a book about the German occupation of Guernsey, Jersey under the Jack-Boot. That would be an interesting book to find and read. That's how I like my reading to evolve sometimes, fiction, nonfiction by subject.
Another English book I am reading right now is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Hailed as one of the best mystery novels written, it is about an investigation into the murder of the princes in the tower. I think there was a lot of research completed by Miss Tey for this novel, but I especially like the dialog. The author was also a playwright. Recommended for English history lovers.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Winter Storm

We are feeling the winter winds turning down our collars tonight, what a good excuse to just pull those covers up and turn off the TV and the bad news and read a good book. Okay I know, I always want to read, but I am trying to encourage you to read, too and to find a really delicious book to sink your teeth into. If you haven't read Mary Ann Shaffer's book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, you are in for a treat. Mary Ann had this idea for a book for a long time, as a librarian she had seen her share of books come across her desk, but she wanted to share to experience of the World War II fellow English men and women who had the unfortunate luck to be invaded by the Nazi army and hold up on their island for the duration of the war, Guernsey Island that is, and probably more of the Channel Islands. Hitler thought he was going to invade the rest of England but he never got the chance. Those poor islanders, they had no news of the war for over four maybe five years. And no word of their children that they had sent over to the mainland of England for their safe keeping. This is the setting of the story and how they managed to survive the war. Who ever heard of potato peel pie anyways? Guess it was pretty good if you were really hungry. This is a book of books, and a whole cast of interesting characters that are going to really steal you hearts. I have read it twice already, once quickly, and then savoring the story on the audio version. Try it either way. Sometimes I like to cook while I listen to a good book, I remember the year I baked all my Christmas cookies listening to Rosamunde Pilcher's Book, Winter Solstice. The snow blew all around my house and the characters in the story were snowed in their tiny town and they planned their own little celebration. A true cosy book that was perfect for the season. Rosamunde Pilcher has always been able to keep my attention and my warm feeling for her characters. The author has a wonderful ability to make you feel you are right there in the little English or Scottish town getting ready to sit down with friends and have a regular "cuppa" and let your worries drift away with the snow flurries. Enjoy your own little read this cold December night.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Links to reviews of The Plague of Doves

New York Times review
by Michiko Kakutani


Washington Post review by Ron Charles

USA Today review by Carol Memmott

The Plague of Doves by Louise Edrich


The next book discussion will be on November 23 at 7 pm at the Tipp City Library. This is an informal discussion open to anyone interested in sharing his impressions of the book. No formal discussion questions from the publisher are available, but I will list links to the reviews here. You may pick up a copy of the book at the front desk.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The People of the Book

The main voice of this book is an Australian art restoration professional. She is called to examine the Sarajevo Haggadah, taken from the library and hidden during the bombing. The year is 1996, she is Hanna Heath, fatherless daughter to a famous neurosuregon who has never understood her work. The story slowly unfolds, going back into the 14th century, as Geraldine Brooks imagines the beginnings of the book and its progress through the centuries to Sarajevo. Some of its history is known and some is only supposed, but Ms. Brooks has created a compelling story from the little know truth about the actual Sarajevo Haggadah. The author makes much of the saving of the book, once during the Nazi occuaption of Vienna by a Muslim, and once again it is a Muslim who saves it during the Bosnian war. This book is full of rich language, beautiful imagery, and historical settings. A book for artists, booklovers, and historians; and anyone who loves a good story. I am sorry I waited so long to read it.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks


The People of the Book is the choice for the September book discussion. The story has its basis on fact, about a book that was hidden from destruction during the bombing of Sarejevo in 1995, surprizingly saved by a Muslim librarian. This a Jewish Haggaghad, that originated in the 1500's. Not any ordinary Haggaghad, the book of prayers said during the Passover in the Jewish home, this was an illuminated codex, precious to the library in Bosnia. This book had also been protected and hidden during the pillage of Bosnia during World War II, also saved by a Muslim. Geraldine Brooks has written a literary masterpiece, blending history and fiction, jumping through the centuries with her tale. Be prepared to be captivated by her storytelling abilities.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Booklover's Book Discussion Group



Our last summer book of 2009 is planned for discussion on Monday, August 24 at 7 pm. Reading young adult fiction is a nice change during the Summer Reading Program here at the library and this summer we read, The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King in June, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brain Selznick in July; and now we will look at Sherman Alexie's first young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. This is truly a boy's book, about a young native American who decides to transfer to a school off the reservation. I hope that the adults give this book a chance, we have copies of the book available at the front desk and it's not too late pick up a copy and join us on August 24th. Click onto the title of this post and see Alexie Shermans' website.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Julie and Julia

The book by Julie Powell, Julie and Julia, 365 days, 524 recipes and a tiny apartment kitchen, how one girl risked her marriage, her job and her sanity to master the art of living has stayed with me for over a year, and now the movie has come out, with Meryl Streep as Julia Child. At first I was, this can't be, Julia Child has a tiny role in the book, and then I learned that Nora Ephron has melded two books into one movie; with Julia Child's last book, My Life in France to bounce scenes back and forth; Paris, 1954 to New York City, 2002. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I am looking forward to it. I am reading Julia Child's book now, and it is truly charming. How lucky she was to find her true calling, teaching cooking, and Julie Powell found her true calling also, from the above link learn about her new book that is coming out, about her turn learning butchering. I am sure it will be great, she has a unique way of expressing herself. The funny part in My Life in France is when Julia Child refers to Julie Powell and she can't get past the F** word, and she doesn't think Julie is in love with food as much as herself, maybe Julie just likes the humor in things more, although sometimes from the old TV versions of Julia she had a pretty good sense of humor herself.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Sharon McCone Mysteries

I like to start a mystery series at the beginning to get the whole picture of the character. Edwin of the Iron Shoes is the first of the Sharon McCone mysteries by Marcia Muller. Sharon is a private investigator, working in San Francisco for All Souls Cooperative, a legal services organization. Coming from a security background, she helps with the research and investigation for the lawyers, a laid back group of liberals helping the poor in San Francisco. I don't consider this a hard-boiled detective mystery. There is a little light hearted comedy there, with the easy going boss, Hank, who understands Sharon's desire to find the killer of the antiques dealer, whom Sharon had been trying to help earlier in the year. Prior to the murder there had been arson and break-ins. Trying to piece it all together keeps Sharon up late, eventually spending time with the police officer on the investigation, a Lieutenant Gregory Marcus, Homicide. This is a prickly relationship, and it carries over into the next book. A good start to a superb series, a fast read, just enough danger and suspense to keep the pages turning.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Janet Evanovich's lastest in the Stephanie Plum series is a good, fast read. Finger Lickin' Fifteen" has Stephanie at odds with Morelli and spending time at Ranger's business. Grandma Mazer has a chance to use her gun this time. Poor Lulu has her share of troubles and of course she and Stephanie get to "practice" bringing in the bail-bond jumpers. Another wacky mystery sure to please. Tuesday night at 7 pm, the Tipp City Library is hosting a Janet Evanovich Trivial Contest. Call the library at 667-3826 to sign up for the fun. The winner will be able to checkout the Finger Lickin' Fifteen novel on Tuesday night no matter how far down you are on the list of holds. We have an extra copy for just that purpose, and this extra copy makes everyone's hold come in all that much quicker. If you can't wait, buy your copy and donate it to the library as soon as you read it. That's what I like to do.

Follow up on Laurie R. King

Our discussion on "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" was one of our best. I am so glad we read this book. Not only because it is the beginning of a great series, but the fact that Laurie R. King is an excellent author and she writes another series and she also has stand alone novels. "Since 1945, the Mystery Writers of America have annually awarded ceramic statuettes of Edgar Allan Poe, known as "Edgars," for outstanding contributions to mystery, crime, and suspense writing." (Novelist Award Winners) Laurie R. King won an Edgar for her first in the Kate Martinelli mystery series, "A Grave Talent". I have "Folly", a stand alone, checked out and on my next book to read list, after I finish the lastest Bill Slider Mystery, "Dear Departed". If you have a chance check out Laurie R. King's style of writing. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King


Sherlock Holmes is now retired and living in the county as a beekeeper. He meets a young girl of fifteen and immediately recognizes an intellectual match. Their friendship grows as she continues her schooling, but as a case presents itself to him, she convinces him to take her along. Caught up in the drama, they develop a partnership suitable to both.
Check out the Virtual Book Club on Laurie R. King's website that was held online in 2007 by clicking onto the title of this post. The discussion is closed but can be viewed.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot


This is timeless. Anyone who missed this book back in 1972 needs to pick up a copy today and travel back in time to 1937. Travel along with Jim in his new job as veterinary surgeon in Yorkshire, England. You will be rewarded.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Izzy and lenore


Izzy and Lenore
was an interesting book about Jon Katz's famous Bedlam Farm in upper state New York and some of the animals that inhabit the farm with him. The dogs Izzy and Lenore are new dogs to his farm and these are their stories on the contributions that they made to his life and the lives that he touches. Jon Katz does special work as a hospice volunteer and he takes his special dog, Izzy, who becomes a certified hospice volunteer as well.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Finished another Bill Slider

I am reading all the Bill Slider mysteries by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles in order. Just finished
Killing Time
I have decided that these are not cosy mysteries as I first thought. There has to be a female protagonist, and she cannot have a job in the police force, an amateur. Well, this is a typical police procedural. Bill Slider is the CID, Criminal Investigation Division. Because this is taking place in London, present day, I am unsure of many of the acronyms in the police department. Maybe that is why I like to read about different places, it stretches my imagination. Travel by osmosis, try to capture the flavor of the place by the books about the different locations. I had a friend once who like to read a novel about a place before her travels just to acquaint herself with the location before the trip, or during the trip. Not sure if I'll ever get to London, but I definitely want to see the country side, visit the place of my ancestors in Wales, or Liverpool. This has been the first mystery series besides the Janet Evanovich with Stephanie Plum that I am reading quickly from the beginning. I like the writing, from Novelist I am quoting this review statement:
Booklist Review: The British police procedural remains one of the richest subgenres in crime fiction, and Harrod-Eagles' Bill Slider series, through five installments, has quietly worked its way close to the top of the heap.
Check Novelist for more from the title of post.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Those Who Save Us


The book for discussion in May is about a mother's desperate attempt to save her own daughter from the Nazis during World War II in Berlin. Travel between today as the mother is losing touch with reality and the war years when the mother is trying to survive as a single mother. Try to understand her story and the story the daughter understands. Written by a young woman who has spent four years interviewing Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation. This is her first work of fiction.

Jodi Picoult

My Sister's Keeper is coming out in June at the movie theater. Look at the video of Jodi Picoult's intervies on NPR's Relgion and Ethics by clicking onto the title of this post.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Going Solo by Roald Dahl


This is a good book to read after you read "The Irregulars". It starts in 1938 when Roald Dahl begins his move to Africa to work for the Shell Oil Company as a 22 year old. It isn't long before he is caught up in the war and trains as a pilot in the Middle East. Good British Empire history included in the background.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Spies on American Soil


The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington
by Jennet Conant.
I finished this last weekend, first reading about one fourth and then picking up the audio version. It was very interesting. I think that the conclusion was that Britain and America were close because Churchill and Roosevelt trusted one another. Unfortunately, the Americans closed the door to the British after the war. I know they were facing food shortages after the war. I never really understood why the Americans didn't help. It will only want me to read more. A couple of years ago I read a very shocking book on American foreign policy, Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins, published 2004. It made me question all my long held beliefs about the good in the American government. I was at the bookstore last week and was surprised to see the book is now out in paperback and was located on a table for high school reading. So, someone is listening. Pick up the Irregulars if you like world war II spy stores, only this time it is in Washington and it is a true story.
Associate of Ian Fleming and William Stevenson, it an interesting book.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

My Sister's Keeper


We are reading this Jodi Picoult book for our Book Lover's Discussion group, April 27 at 7 pm. This author's books are always jumping off the shelves here at the Tipp City Library. She writes about serious topics that are considered "ripped from the headlines". Difficult subjects that are hard to face for certain people who want their books to have a happy ending. Don't expect that from Jodi Picoult. Expect to be challanged in your thinking, what would you do in a certain dilemma, what would be the moral thing to do, what is the acceptable way of thinking? Her line of thinking stretches the readers mind around a different way of viewing the subject. After we read this book about a daughter and her parents and how they think, we are going to read, Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum. Two different points of view are presented in Blum's book, the daughter who never understood her own mother, and the mother who could never tell her own daughter what she had to endure to survive. We never will know how or what we would do in different circumstances.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Cozy British Mystery, Orchestrated Death

I have started the Bill Slider mysteries by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. What makes up the cozy British mystery? Police procedural was mentioned. This fits that well. Bill Slider is a middle age detective with homicide department. He faces some ugly crime scenes, but he meets his future lover as he starts to make inquiries. As a married man who has never cheated, he is not totally comfortable, but this new woman in his life has created something that has been lacking in his difficult marriage. Future books keep up with his romance. From the Kirkus review in 1991, I like the description of Slider: "a reserved, mild-mannered hero", they also mention "understatement." I have seen the wry humor also noted in other reviews when referring to cozy mysteries. This one is a little grisly, with also some suspense. More than one person has recommended this to me and I am glad I tried it out.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Book Discussion for March 23, 2009


Mildred Armstrong Kalish lived through the Great Depression in Iowa. She has written a warm, humorous book about her experiences. After a successful career as an English professor, we have been blessed by her decision to share her childhood memories with us. Since we passed out the books to our discussion group on February 26th, the buzz has been picked up around the Tipp City area that this is a book worth recommending. I am glad that I learned about this book, and happily I was able to get enough books in for our group. Not only are people reading this in the book group, but the book is disappearing off the reserve shelf so I know many others unknown to me are reading this book. Try to make it to the discussion on Monday night, March 23 at 7 pm, we always encourage new people to join us. Check our catalog
to reserve a copy or ask at the front desk for a copy.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Information too good to miss

Jill Bolte Taylor has written a book that few people could attempt. At 35 she survived a massive stroke to her left hemisphere with an uncanny ability to remember what happened and the ability to record it for others. She was a Neuroanatomist, brain researcher, who had the opportunity to reach the brain as her stoke was happening. Amazed as she was as it happened, she was unable to fully understand the stoke at first; then as her abilities dwindled away she was an extrememly lucky person as she tried to call for help; we are only more blessed because she did succeed and survived, and she chose to share her insights with us. Pick up a copy of this book and learn more about your own amazing brain.

Check our catalog

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Read-a-Likes for Loving Frank

Loving Frank is a work of historial fiction, stressing the biographical fiction of the lives of Frank Llyod Wright and Mamah Cheney. Other novels of this type are now on display at the Tipp City Public Library:
Moon Rising by Ann Victoria Roberts- a novel of a love affair between Bram Stocker and a local photograph model
Sylvia and Ted by Emma Tennant- a novel about the courtship, marriage and separation of the poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.
The Photograph by Penelope Lively-explores a woman's beauty and its collision with her own happiness, sister's rivalry and lovers' cooling, a marriage in supreme crisis and the cost of professional "success"as life unfolds. (taken from the book jacket)
Pictures from an Expedition by Diane Smith-literary historical fiction set in 1876.
Wild Nights! Stories About the Last Days of Poe, Dickinson, Twain, James and Hemingway by Joyce Carol Oates-biographical fiction worked in the author's imagination.
Gatsby's Girl by Caroline Preston- imagines the life of F. Scott Fitzgerld's muse from his early attachment to Ginevra King whom he named Daisy in his great work of fiction.
Dewey Defeats Truman by Thomas Mallon-American fiction placed in the hometown of Dewey, Owosso, Michigan, with a love triangle that takes place on election night, 1948.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Fictional account of Frank Lloyd Wright


Nancy Horan recreates the love affair between a married client with the architect that scandalized his reputation. Mamah Borthwick Cheney is drawn into an attraction with Frank lloyd Wright as he works together with her to build her the house of her choice. Nancy Horan blends fact and fiction for an unforgettable love story.

Advance praise for Loving Frank:

“Loving Frank is one of those novels that takes over your life. It’s mesmerizing and fascinating–filled with complex characters, deep passions, tactile descriptions of astonishing architecture, and the colorful immediacy of daily life a hundred years ago–all gathered into a story that unfolds with riveting urgency.”
–Lauren Belfer, author of City of Light

Book discussion date is set for the fourth Monday of February, the 23rd at 7 pm. Copies of the book can be picked up at the front desk.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Introducing "Loving Frank"

Check out the website for "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan. There is a video of the Frank Lloyd Wright homes mentioned in the novel. Take a walking tour with Nancy Horan as she introduces you to the inspiration for her novel.
Check our catalog to reserve a copy.
check our catalog