TCL’s #DNF Friday #7 – Unlucky Number Seven.

Why I can't write a Book Review for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” by J. K. Rowling. Summary: "It's no longer safe for Harry at Hogwarts, so he and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, are on the run. Professor Dumbledore has given them clues about what they need to do to defeat the … Continue reading TCL’s #DNF Friday #7 – Unlucky Number Seven. →

Living Cluedo!

Book Review for “In the Crypt with a Candlestick” by Daisy Waugh. Summary: "Sir Ecgbert Tode of Tode Hall has survived to a grand old age—much to the despair of his younger wife, Emma. But at age ninety-three he has, at last, shuffled off the mortal coil. Lady Emma Tode, thoroughly fed up with being … Continue reading Living Cluedo! →

Tasty Toppings.

Book Review for “Gentleman's Relish: Stories” by Patrick Gale. Summary: "A son wreaks revenge through the power of cookery, a lonely wife finds short-lived solace in angling lessons from a prisoner, and an obedience lesson with a puppy leads to the discovery of a murder... From the delightfully chilling to the humorous and heart-warming, this … Continue reading Tasty Toppings. →

On Santa Claus Lane.

Book Review for “Lurkers” by Sandi Tan. Summary: “The residents of Santa Claus Lane do their best to stay out of each other’s way, but desire, fury and mischief too often propel these suburban neighbors to collide. Precocious Korean American sisters Mira and Rosemary find their world rocked by a suicide, and they must fight … Continue reading On Santa Claus Lane. →

“… the Next Best Thing”?

Book Review for “The Charmed Wife” by Olga Grushin. Summary: “Cinderella married the man of her dreams--the perfect ending she deserved after diligently following all the fairy-tale rules. Yet now, two children and thirteen and a half years later, things have gone badly wrong and her life is far from perfect. One night, fed up, … Continue reading “… the Next Best Thing”? →

Scottish Shadows.

Book Review for “The Bass Rock” by Evie Wyld. From the blurb: “Surging out of the sea, the Bass Rock has always borne witness to the lives that pass under its shadow on the Scottish mainland. And across the centuries, the fates of three women are inextricably linked to this place and to each other. … Continue reading Scottish Shadows. →

Perching in Perilous Pockets.

Book Review for “Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey” by Kathleen Rooney. Official blurb: From the green countryside of England and the gray canyons of Wall Street come two unlikely heroes: one a pigeon and the other a soldier. Answering the call to serve in the war to end all wars, neither Cher Ami, the messenger … Continue reading Perching in Perilous Pockets. →

And yet… she DID!

Book Review for “Why I Don't Write and Other Stories” by Susan Minot. According to Goodreads, this collection of short stories includes: A writer dryly catalogs the myriad reasons she cannot write; an artist bicycles through protests in lower Manhattan and ruminates on an elusive lover; an old woman on her deathbed calls out for … Continue reading And yet… she DID! →

Restoring Lost Loves.

Book Review for “The Ghost of Madison Avenue” by Nancy Bilyeau. Helen O’Neill, the only daughter of the Connelly family, has been a widow for some time, and now she lives with her older brothers. Thankfully, Helen isn’t a financial drain on her family because she has a profitable gift – she’s a master of … Continue reading Restoring Lost Loves. →

Nine Times Naughty Atwood

Book Review for “Stone Mattress: Nine Wicked Tales” by Margaret Atwood According Harper’s Bazar’s the blurb on the back of this book, “Stone Mattress, a collection of nine, acerbic, mischievous, gulpable short stories, addresses themes that will resonate with anyone familiar with Atwood’s writing. Atwood’s gimlet eye and sharp tongue are turned on the ageing … Continue reading Nine Times Naughty Atwood →