Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

Hello everyone.

Have you ever checked out your genealogy? I started looking at my family and hubby's years ago. We had a 486 computer with a dialup modem. I could literally brew a pot of coffee and make a cup while waiting for a single census page to load. Thankfully, we've come a long way. If you haven't coughed up a couple of dollars and joined a company that holds all those family records, stop being a cheapskate and do it for at least one month. You will be surprised what you find. While I am definitely a Yankee, hubby has firm roots in the south. His family is one of the North Carolina's first settlers and founders.  We had a bit of problem with one set of great grandparents, finally finding them and a long line of predecessors in a tiny town called Edenton.

Edenton has been named prettiest small town in America. It is one of those places where shop keepers can leave merchandise on the sidewalk outside their shops overnight. Nothing disappears and people wanting to buy something just leave the money. Yes, places like that do actually still exist. They have a noise ordinance to keep the peace, a highly active downtown, and have voted Walmart out. Many of the houses date to the 1700's and range from modest to enormous. Amazingly, most are perfectly kept despite their age and the amount of work that goes into an old house. Indeed, Edenton is a beautiful town.

I recently read the newest offering from Diane Chamberlain, Big Lies in a Small Town. This entire story takes place in Edenton, North Carolina, where we follow two artists at two different periods of time. In 1940, Anna, from New Jersey, wins a contest through the WPA to paint a mural for the Post Office in Edenton. We also follow Morgan, a former art student and convict, suddenly let out of jail thanks to the will of a recently deceased famous artist. He had a way of taking people he doesn't know under his wing and improving their lives. This mysterious benefactor has left a wish in his will that Morgan restore the 1940 mural painted by Anna. There is so much to discover in this story, I don't want to spoil it for you.

The characters in this book are imperfect, yet enthralling. Art plays a huge role as does the town, yet neither is overwhelming. So much care has been done to research the artistic endeavors and the real town of Edenton. Anyone going to this southern sanctuary would easily recognize it from this story. The pacing is perfection, just fast enough to spur you through pages but slow enough to let you savor the story. This is a good one, happy and sad, light and dark, and highly memorable....a Diane Chamberlain trademark.

If you vacation on the Outer Banks this summer and have had too much sun, take a little trip to Edenton. You'll find this town as charming as this book.

Monkey Temple by Peter Gelfan

Hello everyone.

Fall seems to be rushing towards us. It's my favorite season. My birthday is in the fall. Sadly, I don't enjoy my birthday. For years it seems like something terrible has happened on my special day, there has been physical issues, hurricanes, and to top it off a few years ago we had to put our dog down on that day. None of those occurrences are happy memories. My mom died when she was very young, this fall I turn the same age as she was when she passed away. I'm freaking out. Really freaking out, to the point of having nightmares. I have been forced to consider my own mortality.

It's not just the whole death issue on my mind lately, but it is aging in general. For you in your twenties, enjoy it. As you get older, you remain the same, well hopefully wiser and more emotionally mature, but you still feel like you. The problem is that your body starts to betray you. Suddenly when you sit for a while you are stiff when you get up. Why? Then one day there is knee pain, the pulled back just from sneezing, or that odd ache in your shoulder. It is like living in an alien that will not do what your brain instructs it to do. Very odd.

I recently read Monkey Temple by Peter Gelfan. This is the story of two older men, dear friends, who are on a quest to find a house. As the buddies head south from NYC they discover they are on more than one journey, learning more about each other and themselves along the way. The men end up in a house in a slightly inland area of coastal NC, where they are joined by people from their past and present. Not only did the story ring true with me as these people are confronting their own aging, but like the story I moved from NY (upstate) to coastal NC. In fact, the setting of this wonderful story is very close to me, making it extra special.

In a way this book made me sad, not because of the story but depressed that I will never write like this author.  Everything from school that I forgot, long ago, about sentence structure, Peter Gelfan remembered and improved on. Some people say if you actually notice the writing then it or the plot is no good. I completely disagree, this writing stood out because it is excellent. The story is wonderful and this book reads like a classic. I am jealous of this author's talent.

I read lots during the year, to avoid being crushed by books I give many of them to my family. Monkey Temple is not leaving. I have two all time favorite books, Tom Sawyer and Dandelion Wine, Monkey Temple is going on the shelf right next to them.

**While engrossed in this book, I read several small passages to my husband. Although it has now been approximately a week since I finished this story, he is still asking me about the main characters Jules and Rals,  he remembers them by name. Now THAT is high praise for a book!

TH1RT3EN (Thriteen) by Steve Cavanagh

Hello everyone.

Are you one of those people that watches all the latest shows deemed cool? Do you binge watch Netflix, Prime or Hulu? Obviously, my husband missed the cool train. He is a huge Perry Mason fan. So many tv channels are now showing retro shows. If Dick Van Dyke, Twilight Zone or Perry Mason is on, good luck on getting his attention. You could send a marching band through our living room and he wouldn't notice. Funny that he likes Perry Mason so much but prefers to read books about spies instead of mysteries. Just for the record, Columbo is way better than Perry Mason...I mean there is the raincoat and the basset hound named "dog", nothing can compete with that!  If you haven't seen any of these tv shows from the past you are really missing out.

I just finished the new book Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh, actually spelled TH1RT3EN on the cover. This is an interesting story of a serial killer. We know who the killer is from the beginning, Joshua Kane. A young starlet and her bodyguard are murdered.  Mr. Kane, the real killer, appears in a courtroom not as the person on trial but as a member of the jury! Diabolical huh? The murdered woman's husband, also a major movie star, is the man on trial, fighting for his freedom and the truth. For the defense is attorney Eddie Flynn, the lawyer in charge of making sense of the rock-solid case against his innocent client.

This book moves quickly from high point to high point. There is absolutely no bric-a-brac here. No time is wasted on thinking in the shower or ordering a pizza. If the author writes it, you better pay attention because it is critical to the story and often either action packed or quite shocking. This book is a mystery in that the reader is wondering if the serial killer will be discovered and still a thriller with its breakneck pacing. In addition, there is a large amount of courtroom drama here, if that is not your favorite rest assured it is completely engaging and never EVER dry. This is by far the best legal thriller I've ever read. Filled with flawed characters that the author seems to spend little time developing yet the reader ends up knowing them well. Filled with action, yet lots of behind-the-scenes investigation. Thirteen or TH1RT3EN, is unputdownable from the first sentence to the last.

Wait until I tell hubby, this book puts Perry Mason to shame.

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

Hello everyone.

When you were a kid did you ever go to a slumber party?  Okay, I realize sleep overs are more of a girl thing, but you men might need to learn about them for your daughters. At these gatherings girls often play games, spooky ones. Stiff as a Board Light as a Feather comes to mind. Someone lies on the floor, the others encircle that person putting two fingers under the edge of reclining person's body. Then a quiet incantation is repeated, "Stiff as a board light as a feather."  As the verse is chanted, the outside circle of participants lifts the center person who is now magically rigid and light, allowing them to levitate off the floor. Did you do this? I'm a chicken, if I was there when it actually worked I'd scream bloody murder and run away.

One time, I was at a slumber party where we were daring each other to go into a dark bathroom and look into the mirror. There was a mantra we were to say three times and you were supposed to either see a woman standing behind you or scratch your own eyes out. Of the two, I'd prefer the standing woman and less of the extreme itchy eye treatment. We all ended up being too creeped out to take the dare and settled on eating the edge of a dog biscuit. Ah, ain't life grand.

I recently read Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson. This book will be available on July 30th. This thriller follows a woman, Amy, who has an unusual visitor at the book club she is hosting at her home. It is a new neighbor, Roux.  Roux is not the type of woman the book club is used to, she is much more outgoing, brash even. After inviting herself in, she insists that they don't discuss the book but instead play her version of the game Never Have I Ever. Roux is getting the women to divulge the worst things they've ever done. Secrets are exposed, lives are changed forever. Amy, however, likes her life just the way it is and the only thing she wants changed is Roux out of it.

One of my fellow bloggers wanted to know what I thought of this when I was halfway done. I was unsure how to answer, finally settling on "A bit slow for a thriller, but interesting."  I stick by that answer, but now see the author had a point. She spends a large portion of the beginning of the book discussing Amy's past. Obviously, this slows down the action in the present time, but it is necessary. So when you read this, if you are thinking perhaps this story isn't for you please stick with it. The details of the past come together masterfully and aid in the tension that is building to a shocking end, something I would never have imagined. A very enjoyable read.

I wonder if there are any thrillers about games that are more my speed, like go fish.

The First Mistake by Sandie Jones

Hello everyone.

You know, the internet is a weird thing. Okay, maybe not for you youngsters ('youngsters', I sound like my grandparents) let me rephrase...the internet is a weird thing if you didn't grow up with it. Don't get me wrong, when hubby and I are having that once a week discussion about someone he sees on tv and thinks it is an actor that it obviously isn't, the internet backs me up, proving him wrong. You'd think he'd listen to his darling wife, but alas NO! Besides being an instant source of discussion winning gotcha moments, the internet is also a meeting place. Now that I'm hearing tacky fake porno jazz in my head I'll clarify not THAT kind of meeting place. Let's face it, I just used the word "youngster",  online hookup time for me has long passed. I am talking about connecting with people from your past.

This week I spoke with a life-long friend, someone I lived next door to from the time I was 3 until moving out after college. It has been delightful, I can't believe how old her kids are and how beautiful! I last saw her children when they were babies and they are now adults. It's like that when you reconnect with people from school, isn't it? You haven't seen each other for years, the personality is the same, but how could they have been married and divorced or even have grandchildren. We were just in chemistry last Thursday, how on earth did this happen. That's the thing with the passage of time, you feel the same inside. It seems like you should still be hurrying so you don't miss the school bus , but the reality is that you have a mortgage, kids that are counting down the days until their next Disney World vacation, and a lawn that magically grows out of control overnight. Thankfully, when you realize that this bizarre passage of time has been happening, you discover the same has been going on with your friends. You are not alone, your friends are pulling their back when putting on their bra too! Pass the ice pack please!

I recently read The First Mistake by Sandie Jones. Last year I read her book, The Other Woman and loved it. When I received an advanced copy of the new story I was thrilled. The First Mistake is about ordinary life.  A woman, Alice, has lost her first husband and has remarried, Nathan. She has a best friend, Beth, they have been through everything together. When Alice starts noticing some odd things going on with Nathan she, like any of us would, turns to her friend for support. This book asks the question what do you do when you start to doubt your friend, your rock. Is everything real or are you making a big deal out of nothing? Do you crumble or fight back? I think what makes these types of thrillers so creepy is that they are, for the most part, normal situations. It seems to hit harder when it is actually something that could happen. A thriller set on some purple planet with an evil green monkey is a lot less likely to seep into your dreams as it doesn't really exist.  Sandie Jones has produced another solid, well written, rapidly paced thriller, with a plot even more involved and twisty than The Other Woman.

This book would be a great one to read on vacation, certainly interesting enough to hold your attention but not too taxing. Perhaps you should read it with a friend. Don't blame me if you look at each other suspiciously afterward.

Supermarket by Bobby Hall

Hello everyone.

Ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls, I'm about to do something I absolutely hate. I am about to date myself. I know, the world is skewed toward the young. However, sometimes, yes sometimes us old farts must stand up for what we believe in. This is my moment. So to you, dear book world I say the following: Genesis was a great band, Styx was a great band, Van Halen was a great band, Aerosmith was a great band. Invisible Touch, Renegade, Hot for Teacher, and Walk This Way, are songs like nobody makes anymore. Not that I don't like much of today's music, but much of it I just don't know.

These bands I'm talking about didn't use auto-tune, or mouth the words while someone else actually sang. These were bands in the golden age of modern music.  I like older music too. Who cannot appreciate a great Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra or Perry Como song?  Heck, my mom's favorite song was Splish Splash, ever heard that? Then there is classical, too much good stuff to mention except my favorite, Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber. I swear if you close your eyes during that song you can see your whole life replay in bits and pieces. Go on Google it, I'll wait......see it is amazing!

While looking at the NY Times Best Seller list one day I saw this odd book suddenly at number one on the paperback list. I hadn't heard any buzz about it, nobody I knew was reviewing or even reading it. It has a simple red front with no cover art. I quickly read the "jacket" and discovered it is about a mystery that takes place in a supermarket. Have you caught my blog name...The Fictional Housewife...yeah, grocery items and converting them into some kind of masterpiece is my life. This book seemed right up my alley, I ordered immediately. When it arrived I was surprised to see that it was written by some young rap star,  Bobby Hall, aka Logic. Really? Okay. A book is a book, I'd give it a go.

First let me say, overall I liked it. The writing was not the best, it felt a bit like a high school kid wrote it...not a talented writer with a wonderful editor. I noticed this lack of polished word play but it was not terribly distracting. The story is told in two parts. The beginning is about the main character, Flynn, and his experiences working in a grocery store. He has had a tremendous stroke of luck and has gotten a publisher to buy his first book on spec, they've paid him an advance now he must produce the manuscript. His novel is to be set in the grocery story where he works. Then in part two, still following Flynn we find that something major has happened and time has passed. I don't want to tell you more, it will ruin your experience. I found the ending pretty unbelievable, but then again, most books I read you have to push your disbelief aside and just enjoy. This is one of those books that is good, interesting, a quick read. Not genius, not my favorite of the year or even the month but definitely interesting and something I am glad to have read.

If you have time to give The Supermarket a go, I think you'll enjoy it. Oh, and if you do, I have one thing to say to you, "coffee, coffee, coffee." (You'll get it if you read the book.)

Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with recipes)

Hello everyone.

If you look at the last review, I said I had a book I was supposed to be reading but stopped briefly. I have now completed that book. Since we are still on vacation, I'll be brief. The book is Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with recipes) by Lorna Landvik. To be totally honest, it was sent to me for review. It is not one I would buy. I crave thrillers, as you all know. I can't help it; I have an addiction! However, sometimes I get sent a book or someone strongly recommends just a regular good old story, that I have to read. Ninety-nine percent of the time I love them, in fact, my top five favorite books of all time are NOT thrillers. If people didn't insist I read a certain book or send it to me, I would be missing out. It is definitely a fault. Something I have to fix and quickly, as I would hate to have missed this story.

Chronicles of a Radical Hag is a wonderful book. It is about an older woman, Hazel, who has had a stroke. She writes a column for the local newspaper so while she is in the hospital (unconscious), the paper begins to rerun some of her old features. They basically tell her personal story and touch on things that are important at that time too, like the Challenger Space Shuttle exploding or about Princess Diana. Told moving between past and present, Hazel's life and those around her, the reader soon becomes enamored with many residents of the town. This heartwarming story illustrates, often with humor, how none of us is perfect but how we all are redeemable. If you like good stories this is for you, I cannot be any plainer. Get ready to laugh, cry and to think about this book for days after it is over.

The First Lady

Hello everyone.

I hope you are having a good day. Not so good here. Well, kind of is, kind of isn't. Hubby is on vacation this week. He has several things he wants to do around the house and was ready for a break from work. First thing on the agenda was to get our taxes done. Ouch! Like I keep hearing on the news, we usually get a refund and this year ended up owing, big time. This is unacceptable. I need my refund for book money. How dare the government want to spend it on things like defense and crummy old roads and bridges. Ok, I'll stop.

One of hubby's "honey-do" list projects is to build a little library. We have an old house, it was actually built with a room considered a library. Unfortunately, it has no bookshelves and lots of windows, a fireplace, and pocket doors, so there is little room for shelving. Besides the ole' spouse uses it as his office. Needless to say, when he is working on a huge problem for work, I do not want to be anywhere close by. Anyway, we have a sitting room attached to our bedroom and it has an unused walk-in closet. I've asked my oh so talented (yes, I'm buttering him up) man, to line those walls with heavy duty, hand built shelves that I can pile high with books. While there really won't be room to read in there, it will be nice to organize my unread books which seem to be everywhere these days.

One book I won't need any shelving for because I've finished it is The First Lady, by James Patterson and Brendan Dubois. I've read books by James Patterson which I very much enjoyed. I have not read anything by Brendan Dubois, so was curious especially when it came up on the NY Times Bestseller Paperback list. When it arrived in the mail, I was in the middle of something else. Something I needed to read right away. Sadly or happily, depending how you look at it, I just "had" to read the first few pages of The First Lady. I should have been patient and waited. Yep, I read the whole thing. I am really a slow reader, I swear I don't know how it happened. I whipped through this book in less than two days, and I didn't really have any marathon reading sessions. The book has 338 pages, it is not like it is a novella. I guess I magically got through this story so fast because it was so good and rapidly paced. The plot was strong and always in the forefront, not wavering. While it is obviously about the President and First Lady of the United States, if you are sick and tired of politics don't worry. The story is about people, supporting characters and settings of a political nature, it really isn't about any governmental issues. It is a great ride of a thriller that races (somehow way faster than I can read) through the twists and turns to the perfect ending. Highly enjoyable.

Too bad voting for politicians is not as fun or thrilling as reading this book! If it was, everyone would vote.

The Girl He Used To Know by Tracey Garvis Graves

Hello everyone.

I have a word for you...ready?  SEX!  Yes, sex. Okay, goodnight and have a safe drive home! No? Okay, then I'll go on. Sex is everywhere. It is getting checked out at the grocery store, in more ways than one, or being noticed while walking your dog. Sex is in movies, nature, tv, in books. I am assuming we are all adults here, if under 18 turn this off and go read a book. Back to being adults, being a few years out of my twenties, okay more than a few. No, not that many...okay maybe...let's get off my age. Let me just say, by now what I haven't done, I have ruled out or put in that side category of "maybe just once if I'm in a weird mood and have had a hell of a lot of wine." No matter where you are in your sex life journey, we all know what that attraction feels like. As with many things promoted for money, sex has been turned into a sales vehicle. Whether we like it or not sex sells. I remember being in a marketing class in college and being shocked when we were shown an ad for a certain kind of scotch. It was in a glass over ice. The teacher asked us to look very closely at the ice and sure enough the shape of the haze within the ice was that of a woman's body. Sex does sell, more than booze too, it sells books. No? Don't think so? Ask the author of Fifty Shades of Grey. It was a fan fiction version of Twilight but became SO popular, partly because of the sex. Result, book deal and well paid author.

Sex in a book is especially important in a romance novel. Perhaps not the sex act itself but definitely sexual tension. We root for the characters to get together, to fall in love, to have emotional as well as sexual chemistry. But frankly, if there is no physical spark it could end up like loving your brother not someone you have great passion with. This week I read The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves. First, let me say, I was very fortunate to receive an advanced copy from the publisher (thank you most excellent St. Martin's Press). I know several other reviewers who also received copies. They ALL LOVED it. Adored. Best thing since sliced bread. When looking at the author on Amazon you will see she is highly rated, a NY Times best seller.  You know it's coming don't you?

For me, this book missed the mark. This is the story of a couple that falls in love in college,  separates then reconnects years later. The story is painfully slow, they don't go anywhere or do anything. That is fine, it drives me crazy when I read a bunch of books where all the activity and settings are over the top, but when you stay in one place the reader is relying on the author to really develop the characters and for some wonderful dialog. The conversations between characters in this story seemed somewhat forced. Not playful, fun, or enjoyable. Not that all discussions have to be light but they didn't seem particularly meaningful either. In this story the girl is on the autism spectrum, the third book with that theme that I've read in six months. Makes me wonder if that is the next trend like vampires were a few years ago (betting female French spies during WWII follow as next major book topic). I can't really explain it other than to say what others found charming, I found flat and uninteresting. The writing was slow and bland. There was a big event at the end but frankly by then it seemed awkward and out of place. I know the work that goes into a book. I really do. It hurts me to say something bad about any book, please remember I am one of the very few people that don't like this. I just thought this whole story, minus the ending, could have been told in 10 pages.

Now that I've depressed us all, time to go to the grocery story to get "checked out", one way or another.

Transcription by Kate Atkinson

Hello everyone.

If my spelling is off today, it is not really my spelling...well it could be, but I'm sticky. Why you ask? I did something housewifey today. I made flakey pastries with a chocolate cream filling, golden brown topped with a light dusting of confectioners' sugar. They are tasty and pretty but seems like a lot of work for something that will be gone so quickly. Although if I think what I'd pay for something like it in a store or coffee shop, hmmm, I guess the stickiness is worth it. It was a nice surprise for hubby too, who is working from home this afternoon. Speaking of hubby, this is the second and last of his reviews for the moment. He read and loved Transcription by Kate Atkinson. When I read him the plot, he was all in and dove into the book the second it arrived, not putting it down until it was over.

His thoughts:

Although the title suggests a somewhat mundane activity, typewriter keys drumming an erratic song as voices resonate from earphones, the assignment only begins that way. Set against a backdrop of the early days of England ’s entrenchment in World War II, the MI5 job suddenly casts a large shadow. The eavesdropping heroine of our tale is neither saddled with an escape-worthy past nor endowed with extreme talents. This everywoman quality makes it a comfortable fit for the reader to hear both her catty thoughts about a coworker one moment and tensely follow a flashback as duty tested her bravery and patriotic dedication to her newfound craft. Immersive and spanning a decade in the environs of London, the story will leave the reader pondering the character’s post-novel life, proof of a good tale. Mid-century and espionage fans will want to listen along with Miss Armstrong.      

Well there you have it, hubby read two books about spies and loved them both. I'll make a reader of him yet....picture Scarlet O'Hara in the scene with the orange sky where she says "As God is my witness I'll never be hungry again." If you have any suggestions about what to tempt him with now, let me know. Next time you are back to boring old me y'all.

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

Hello everyone,

Have you noticed a change in the air lately? No, I haven't stopped cooking fish. We love fish and it is good for you, not to mention we live near the ocean. Nope, it's not the spring flowers starting to bloom. At our house the skies have parted and the book Gods have shined upon us once again. Oh yeah, you guessed it...hubby has started reading! All those years of me telling him endlessly about the books I've read and nah...he'd rather not read. I start burdening you, dear internet, with the books I MUST discuss and don't tell hubby...BINGO now he wants to read. Sure, he read a couple of thrillers last year just so he could see if he could spot the twists I missed. I am not talking about that. I am talking about bona fide, "Hey, that book sounds interesting, think I'll buy it and read it" kind of reading! Yes, I realize my purchases are increasing because he is now buying books, but this does give me the chance to  grab one for him, then tell him that while I was there I cleared just a "few" things off my wish list and chuck some books in the cart for myself. Tricky huh? I'm telling you, if you try you can justify anything to yourself (or sneak past hubby without leaving purchases in the trunk of the car).

So, I know you're curious as to what has drawn my non-reader into the world of ink and wonder. Well, for one think he loves how books smell, the older the better. I thought it was a wacko thing (although I like old book smell especially when combined with coffee) but I asked around and lots of people like the smell. It was actually spy novels. Now I love action books that often have some spy or a little military edge to them, like Green Zone Jack or my endless supply of James Rollins. I adore those kinds. No, he likes more hardcore spy stories, especially those that have to do with WWII and women. He says that women in France did a lot of spying at that time. Who knew? Course, if I read more spy stuff I guess I would. Anyway, I asked him to write just a paragraph about two of his recent reads. He is a much better writer than I am so please, do not get used to it. Here is the first one, it is The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff.

Risky shortcuts often take their toll, and postwar Manhattan is no exception. The romantic notion of American women returning to suburban homes from factory jobs has yet to be realized as citizens and an influx of immigrants maneuver for new lives in the melting pot. Widowed and set adrift in an unplanned existence, Grace inexplicably finds herself obsessed with solving a mystery. The reader is not left without the back stories, and is given an intimate look at the wartime lives of two women intertwined in the conflict across the Atlantic . The suspense builds, and the tale of survival and betrayal shines light on a less familiar but no less admirable group of women. Is Grace’s trust in the handsome friend helping her justified? This story of the British women’s effort in the French resistance keeps the reader intrigued to the last chapter.

Yep, hubby really liked it. He was "intrigued" which means he often asked to turn off the TV to read! If that isn't the sign of hubby enamored with a book I don't know what is.

Almost Home by Valerie Fraser Luesse

Hello everyone.

I hope you had a nice weekend and have sprung forward successfully. You might be feeling a bit sorry for yourself because you're tired after losing that hour. Time changes can sometimes make you feel "off" for a few days. The fact is, however, that few of us should be feeling sorry for ourselves. Seriously, just look around the world. So many people in pain for so many reasons. Heck, look to our own past. Let's take the 1940's for example. Money is scarce, certain foods and supplies are rationed, not to mention the people dying in WWII. Now THOSE were some trying times. Several years ago we bought and restored an old Victorian home. In the 1940's it had been divided into apartments. It had started as a single family house with a ballroom, butler's bells, elaborate stairs, servants, the works. Sadly during the war families needed money and were often forced to either move in together or rent out parts of their home to make ends meet. That is what had happened to our old Victorian. As a side note, one day inside a false wall we found a staircase wall of raised paneling, many small panels still with picture hooks in place.  We found so many things behind walls and under floorboards, huge paintings, needlework, tin types, love letters, booze bottles, button-up shoes, a corset and more. I felt like we were on our own HGTV show. It was amazing! We even found a drawing from a National Gallery Artist, who used to live in our house and teach art classes there. We were younger and much more limber not to mention brave to take on such a large project. I will never forget it. The whole experience was "haunting" in so many ways. (You'll just have to wonder about that until some later date.)

This hardship is exactly what happened in the book Almost Home by Valerie Fraser Luesse. A couple, Si and Dolly, live in a small town in Alabama during WWII and are trying to raise money to pay the property taxes on their home. They've dug a lake to charge for swimming, built a roller-skating rink, and are renting out rooms in their house. This story is about the people living under the same roof and their challenges of making it through that time period. It is sweet, funny, comforting and so touching. While it is not a page turner like a thriller it will still draw you in like a warm hug.  The novel has a strong central plot with several twists along the way. The author does a wonderful job getting the reader to connect with each character and hope for their happiness. In short, Almost Home is lovely and really shouldn't be missed. If you liked Fanny Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, you'll love this. Definitely one of my favorites for the year and it's only March!

By the way, our Victorian was later used as the set for a famous haunted house tv show! If I went back to that house now, the ghosts would probably ask to borrow my copy of Almost Home, it is that good!

Accidentally Engaged by Mary Carter

Hello everyone.

 Are you as frantic as I am with Christmas right around the corner? Why is it when you are a kid in school and looking at that clock on the wall it moves so slowly. Then as an adult, when you beg the clock to stop speeding it absolutely refuses. It is unfair. Maybe there is some weird time shift with age....hummm a wacked (meaning terrible) book idea there. Anyway, I am behind in cleaning for company and definitely behind in goodie baking. Oh the humanity.  I'll hang my head in shame...especially if there is a book in my lap.

 Naturally, I am way behind in the list of books I wanted to finish by the end of the year too. I have wanted to read the author Peter May for so long and received three of his books last year for Christmas, have I cracked one beyond the first paragraph...no. I read the first in the Cainsville series by Kelley Armstrong and loved it. I have the other four books in the series and haven't read any of them. I have the latest in the Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz and haven't had time to read it. Arrrgghhhh! All these wonderful books staring at me and I have to clean and bake! The injustice of it all!

So, deep breath. In case you are as stressed as I am, let me suggest a quick hit book. Something a bit on the fluffy side, something with a sense of humor. I recently read Accidentally Engaged by Mary Carter. This book opens with the main character being a serial wife, having been married 3 times. Clair is currently working as a tarot card reader. When a bridal party arrives, different members with different agendas, all hell breaks loose. In the pandemonium, the engagement ring gets left behind. Clair decides she needs to return it. Doing so, well, let's just say the book is off and running.

This story is a fast, pleasant read. It is light-hearted and quirky. It is romantic and sassy. Most of all, it is funny, really funny. Something that is oh so needed at this time of year. This absorbing book will melt away your stress and help you find your smile.

Accidentally Engaged would make a great holiday gift for a girlfriend or sister with a sense of humor. One thing is for sure, you'll never baste a turkey again without a chuckle. What in on the joke? Read the book, you'll laugh all the way to your roasting pan!

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Hello everyone. Hope you are well. Also, hope you have a hot cup of coffee as I have a bit to say today.

I had the world's best parents. Yes, I know it is a bit like saying my kid is the best, when everyone thinks their own child is the most amazing thing on the planet. Honestly, I had great parents. Despite having four kids they were always a couple. Of course, they constantly had their parental hats on, but it was common to walk past the kitchen and see them leaning against the kitchen sink, kissing...in their 50s. We had a finished basement with fireplace and if the mood struck, they'd be slow dancing while the stereo played and fire crackled, often while it snowed outside. How romantic is that? It is with this never-ending love and adoration for my parents that I must tell you about what my father often gave my mother for a gift. Blue eyeshadow. Now, he gave her gifts all the time, brought flowers, etc. But for regular gift giving occasions, Dad couldn't quite figure it out. Sometimes he got it right, but often you'd find him at the drug store buying blue eyeshadow. Now after many years, my mother, having accumulated every shade from Glacier Blue to Night Sky, began to buy her own gifts. She could do anything creative with thread or yarn from sewing our clothes to knitting hats for the homeless and every kind of needlework. Mom would order herself some needlework kits for her birthday and Christmas and call it a day.

Now, I know you are saying this is a book blog and despite the housewife angle this is a bit more off track than normal. But alas, I give you this story as a gift and a warning. The holidays are fast approaching, and you husbands out there may be looking for a gift for your wife, or your secret girlfriend. Often as a gift of last resort, men these days have progressed past the drug store blue eyeshadow to the spa gift certificate. If your wife is a reader, I warn you to avoid this gift at all costs, especially if your wife is a fan of Liane Moriarty.

The new Liane Moriarty book, Nine Perfect Strangers, has so many of the magical traits readers have come to expect in her books. They are so normal, in character and setting. Wives, husbands, neighbors, PTA meetings, neighborhood parks, cookouts...normal everyday things. People that could be any one of us at any time. That is what makes her books so spellbinding, that it could be me...you.... your wife or husband. In Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane takes her characters to a spa. You know I don't restate plots, read the jacket, but it is not your everyday run-of-the-mill spa. Things are a bit rigid and get more so. If you think spas are all relaxation and facials, guess again.  This book gives us the back story of the characters, as always, and brings them together masterfully. However, it has a bit of a thriller edge. I think this makes the pacing of this book faster than her usual stories. The tension is unfurled slowly but steadily, building to a place you won't see coming. As I've said in the past, I have read all Liane Moriarty's books and enjoyed them all, but I think she constantly is improving. This is my favorite and I think her best.

Now back to you husbands, remember, shop early for something your wife actually wants, perhaps a book like Nine Perfect Strangers. For those of you that are naughty with a girlfriend on the side, may I recommend a 10 day stay at a spa.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Hello, hope you are well....blah, blah, blah, niceties over, time to move on! Forget chicken cooking, housework, etc. We must talk! I purchased a book called Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Do you know who Joe Hill is? Huh? Do you? Go on, guess, I'll wait. NO don't google! Unfair! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls...Joe Hill is Stephen King's son. You've heard of legacy acceptance into ivy league schools, multi-generational presidents, now we have father and son writers. No, no, not just any writers, horror writers!  Would he write like his dad? Was his dad actually writing for him and slapping sonny's name on it, kinda like a nice inheritance? Would the writing be juvenile? Would it be big words sending me repeatedly to the dictionary like he had something to prove? You know I have a love/hate relationship with Stephen King. Okay, mostly love, I highly doubt you can have had the longevity he has as an author without a whole lotta love. But, his wordiness and tangents totally get on my every last nerve. What about the offspring?!?! Sit down, yes, I know you have far more interesting things to investigate in your life, congratulations Nancy Drew. I had to know if the son was like the father. Had to!

Do you want me to tell you? Draw it out longer? Build the suspense? I'll spill. Joe Hill is amazing! Yes, amazing! No tangents at all (picture me looking up to the heavens mouthing "thank you"). No wordiness. What is left? I'll tell you, a super strong plot. A great ghost story where you see the ghost several times but it is the tension...ah the tension of what is about to happen that spurs you faster and faster through the book. The plot unfolds in such a way that takes some kind of unlikable characters and slowly evokes your compassion and eventually you're rooting for them. The story twists and turns, when you think it might slow down it doesn't and the whole time it is scary. At some points, I couldn't read this book at night. Honestly. Then, I couldn't help but read it anytime I could fit in a page or two. It was so good. It reminds me of everything I love about Stephen King and eliminates the things I don't like. Reading this took me back to reading The Shining, and that is a huge compliment as it started my interest in pleasure reading.

Yep, Joe Hill has talent, bred or learned I don't care, long as it keeps coming. Long live the King and Crown Prince. I'll start practicing my curtsy.

Hello everyone. My name is April and I'm a housewife. I like to cook, hate to clean and love to read. As you can probably guess, reading becomes a crutch to some major procrastination! I read digital books and hard copies; I don't listen to audio books. Not sure why, except I want characters to have my voice, and the author's of course. Most of the books I read I really like but I'm fairly cautious about what I buy. I lean heavily on reviews from friends, social media and from vendors sites. I think if a story really interested me, I'd pretty much read anything. However, my current my favorite genre is thrillers, but I swing wildly from that path especially when I trust the author to deliver something wonderful. I'm constantly pestering my family with "book chat" so thought I'd pester you instead. You're most likely further away, don't know any of my deep, dark secrets, and wouldn't dare pull a prank on me. This is a really safe bet since this is my first post and there is nobody here to read it. Alas, I sentence you, dear universe, to sit through my book ramblings!  Sorry, but you'll wipe us out someday with an asteroid, so I figure we're even.