The Glass Ocean by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White

Hello everyone. I hope you're having a great day.

As you likely know, I repeat myself incessantly.  Naturally, you probably already know this, but despite having grown up with an inground pool, I am afraid of dark water.  I didn't like the pool when the sun wasn't shining in it.  Hey, it is a rational fear.  Who knows where the bottom is? Yes, the pool is clean and the water clear but maybe there is a clear monster at the bottom. Maybe someone has moved the bottom and instead of being nine feet down it is ninety.  The ocean is even worse. Now despite all your snickering, I will fight you to the end that the ocean fear is well founded.  Have you seen those fishing shows where they pull tunas out of the water that are eight feet long and six-hundred pounds? Those things are swimming around your legs.  Oh no, my friends, it is not all lost cute little clown fish and his forgetful pal that speaks English with the voice of Ellen Degeneris.  You'll never convince me those huge tunas don't dream of freaking someone out by swimming next to their legs.  Also, I'm certain they also speak English and sound exactly like Tony Soprano.

Despite my fully founded fear of dark water, I have a thing for all kinds of ships. I was lucky enough to date someone who worked in the engine room on an aircraft carrier. He had some wild stories.  I was able to go on a merchant ship, also amazing.  I've toured an aircraft carrier from WWII, a submarine, a battleship, and an LST (landing ship tank).  Most of all I adore the old-time ocean liners.  Not cruise ships, ocean liners.  You know the kind that are black on the bottom with a thick white band at the top.  I've been fortunate to see the SS United States several times and have many things from the ship while in operation.  The SS United States holds the record for fastest transatlantic crossing.  It could go faster than modern cruise ships can go, and even faster in reverse than the Titanic could go moving forward.  Sadly, the SS United States has been sold to a town in Florida.  They are having the red, white and blue smokestacks removed, doors cut off and are sinking it.  I guess it will attract tourist to dive it. Since they only make the taxes from any additional hotel room rentals, restaurant or sales tax from any new tourists, I am not sure how they plan to recoup their money.  Anyway, it is sad, end of an era.

I recently read The Glass Ocean by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White. I actually read this book out loud to my husband as we did household tasks. This is the story surrounding a mystery on the RMS Lusitania.  In 2013 we follow Sarah, a writer looking for a book idea.  She is researching her great-grandfather, who died on the Lusitania. Sarah goes to England to try to get to view the records of a Member of Parliament, John Langford. His family's archives might hold answers to what happened aboard the ship before it was hit by a German torpedo and sunk. We also follow people on board the ship in 1915.  Caroline and her husband, Gilbert, are traveling with a valuable piece of unpublished music.  Locked in their suite's safe, it is highly prized and sought after.  In addition to her husband, Caroline's long time single male friend, Robert is on board.  The sexual tension between them is palpable.  In addition, there are two con artists.  Tess and her sister, Ginny, are pulling one last job while on the ship then headed for a new crime-free life in England. As I'm sure you can imagine, all is not what it seems.  The characters aren't as simple as they appear, each holding secrets. 

As the reader, we are privy to history, knowing the torpedo is coming.  This adds to the tension as the story races to its unchangeable end. Beautifully written, this trio works together with such an ease that the pages flip without being feeling jolted from author to author.  The pace and writing is uniform in feeling. Each character is well developed leaving us to wonder who will make it through the U-boat attack. This is my third book written by this trio and I hope there are lots more to come.  While I read each author independently, seeing their sections come together so consistently makes me not only cheer for the characters but the authors. A wonderful book, you won't regret reading.

By the way, I have a postcard sent from the RMS Lusitania.  I don't think I'll ever look at it the same way.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Hello.  I hope you're having a great day.

The holidays often make me think of the people I've lost, like my grandparents.  I was blessed to have fantastic, loving grandparents on both my maternal and paternal side.  My maternal grandfather was a very pious man, he also was extremely outgoing. He was modest but he was also a politician.  He was mayor and actually secured the land that later became the town's only mall. My grandparents traveled around the world going everywhere but Russia, where they wanted to go but never got the chance.  Every year they went to Hawaii for my birthday...without me...and called me from the pool, while I was in cold New York.  Being the way he was, my granddad knew the name of half the population of Hawaii, and they knew him.  My poor demure grandmother went along with it all.  She surprised me when I got married by giving me the advice to "train him (meaning my husband) right from the beginning".  That makes me think she ran the show more than she let on. Sadly, hubby has proven untrainable.

One time my grandparents moved to the boonies near my hometown.  They were near a swampy area, by a State Park.  When there, they became avid bird watchers. They had a tiny little book, which my sisters and I always fought over, that identified all kinds of birds.  It was so prized, it not only survived decades but was given to my niece when she was little.  For a while, my whole family knew the names of many birds, now sadly they are just known as the mean blue one, or the gray one with the yellow tail.

I recently read Starling House by Alix E. Harrow.  This is the story of Opal, a down on her luck, hard life kind of girl.  She lives in the town of Eden where everyone seems cursed.  She keeps having dreams of Starling House, a local mansion.  Starling House was the home of Elizabeth Starling, who, in the 1800s, wrote a book called The Underland and then disappeared.  Drawn to the house, because of her dreams, Opal meets the rude and brash current owner, Authur.  Opal tries to find the reason for her odd dreams of the elusive house, and why in the dreams the mansion feels like home.  As she does secrets become unraveled, some not only dangerous but life-threatening.

This book was lots of fun.  It was a fast pleasant read.  It is an odd bird (get it...bird...Starling), as it's kind of a gothic horror without being scary, it has a bit of romance, lots of mystery and suspense and a fair amount of thriller thrown in for good measure.  One thing about the way this is written, I usually hate, but is done so effectively here, that I loved it.  I dislike when things are said over and over, I feel like the author is trying to increase book length and is wasting my time.  In this case, it is on purpose and very useful.  We hear the story of Starling House from several points of view, from people with experience with the building, land and family.  The closer we get to the end, the closer we get to the truth.  So entertaining.  I literally could not put this down, reading until my vision was blurring.

I've been on a roll lately.  The last several books I've read have been so creative and fantastic.  Christmas has come early! 

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a nice day.

Does your family play games?  My family plays lots of games.  When we were growing up, there was one game that reigned supreme, especially with my father...Tripoley.  This is a card game with a board that has combinations of cards written on it.  You start by playing poker, then go into a version of rummy.  With certain combinations you get to claim the amount that is anted to in each spot on the board.  Now, gambling is frowned upon, so I'll say we always played this with poker chips.  Okay, I'll put this out there, what is the point of saving your pennies in an old coffee can if it is not to crush the dreams of your family, one cent at a time! Perhaps I "forgot" to ante once or twice, making it much more profitable.  Don't look at me like that, you never heard the saying "mama needs a new pair of shoes?"  Well, April has a raging book addiction to pay for, with pennies if necessary!

I recently read The Family Game by Catherine Steadman.  This is the story of a young newly engaged couple, Harriett and Edward.  Edward is from a wealthy family, like Vanderbilt wealthy.  In addition, he has made a fortune himself.  Though Edward has been kind of estranged from his family, he now feels it's time for him and his bride-to-be to participate in family gatherings. The only issue is that his family is weird, toxic, abrasive, and not to be trusted.  Then there are the games.  When the family gathers, they play games, not a rousing game of Scrabble (I always get z and q repeatedly), or a marathon game of Monopoly that requires snacks and eventually coffee.  Nope.  This family plays "run for your life" kinds of games.  Is Edward worth it?  What would you go through for the person you love?  How wacky of in-laws would you put up with?  These questions and more are asked as secrets are exposed and hidden.

This was a quick and fun read.  Nothing too taxing, with pleasant writing.  Pretty thrilling as far as thrillers go, this book has that feeling that you're waiting for someone to jump out around every corner.  It was a tiny bit annoying that some characters were in the story only briefly and could have played a bigger role.  Nonetheless, very enjoyable.

I'm going to count my pennies, lots of books are calling my name.