Preparing some literary Valentine's Day treats

With February just around the corner, Valentine's Day is not far behind and when it comes to gifts, a good book will certainly last longer than the traditional candy and flowers(although it's nice to get those,too).

For your holiday planning, I have a trio of fresh new novels that will be more than ready to entertain you on that day. First up is The Matchmaker's List by Sonya Lalli, where our leading lady is Raina, a young woman who promised her Nani(grandmother) that if she wasn't married by the time she was thirty, she would let her do a little matchmaking.

On her twenty-ninth birthday,however, Nani surprises her with the first of many eligible men for a first date and gives her a list of others to check out. From that first encounter(where her set-up suitor rejects her,then later calls for a date but is taking calls from another woman) to the next(a guy who is seeing someone his parents don't approve of) and such charmers as a man who takes her to eat "gluten free raw bread" and is dismayed that Raina doesn't have a dehydrator, this list has more minuses than a math class.

As much as she wants to please Nani, Raina is still not over Dev, her former boyfriend but with her best friend Shay getting married right on Raina's thirtieth birthday, the pressure is on and then some. Can Raina make both herself and Nani happy without a compromise that would compromise her heart?

I'm reading this book right now and so far, this is a charmingly engaging debut novel that offers food for thought and a few laughs along the way. This lively read has much to recommend it and the pages turn harmoniously in tune with the themes of modern love and emotional independence:

Next up is Sophie Kinsella's latest, I Owe You One. Fixie Farr is the one member of her family that is always relied upon to make things right and when her widowed mother takes a trip to Spain, Fixie is left in charge of the hardware store that they've run for years.

She gets little to no help from her brother Jake, who wants to turn the place into an overpriced posh shop, or sister Nicole, who thinks it should be a yoga center instead. With the added burden of a former love back in love and the promise of a new romance with investment banker Seb Marlowe, Fixie finds herself in need of some personal maintenance and repair.

Not only does this book sound as delightful as many of Kinsella's stories are, it puts me in mind of Persuasion, my favorite Jane Austen novel with it's put upon heroine needing to find her own way to true happiness. I don't know if that's what Kinsella had in mind here but the comparison sound letter perfect to me:

Speaking of Jane Austen, Soniah Kamal gives us Unmarriageable which, as the subtitle says, is Pride and Prejudice set in Pakistan.

Alys Binat is the Elizabeth Bennet of this story, a schoolteacher satisfied with her life and not looking for a husband. much to the chagrin of her marriage minded mother. Despite the downfall of the family fortunes(due to a swindle) and four other sisters on hand, she feels that her life is all the better for being single.

When an invite to the wedding of a family friend brings her sister Jana into the path of potential romantic partner Fahad "Bungles"Bengla, Alys is happy for her but not enough to put up with the rude manners of Valentine Darsee, Bungles' best friend. This blend of classic story telling with the still well kept traditions of a modern society has garnered plenty of praise from contented readers already and should spark more interest in new takes on P&P indeed:

 These books ought to be a treat to read no matter what time of year it is,yet it is nice when your reading embraces the themes of the season. The love of reading is a lifelong affair, one that you can't help sharing with others and what better occasion than the celebration of romance is there for such literary joy?:

My first Library Haul and Book Buy of 2019

As this was the first weekend of the new year, I decided to celebrate by making my first library visit of 2019.

There were books that needed to be returned(as well as a couple that were renewed) and yes, I have plenty to read at the moment but it never hurts to take a look around to see what's new , or new to me at least, on the shelves.

My destiny was sealed as the first and second mystery novels in a brand new series were available. The Mitford Murders is the fictional debut of author Jessica Fellowes, best known for several behind the scenes books about Downton Abbey.

The story is set in 1920, as young Louisa Cannon seeks a better life away from London,along with a means of escape from her corrupt uncle Stephen, by taking a position as a nanny to the countryside Mitford family. While fleeing from the criminal scheme that her uncle was forcing her upon, Louisa happened to be on the train the same day as the vicious murder of Florence Nightingale Shore took place further down the line.

Eldest daughter Nancy is keenly interested in Florence's death and manages to drag a reluctant Louisa into an investigation, one that comes close to being a real threat to both their lives. As much as she wishes to avoid any connection to her past, Louisa can't be but hope to run into Guy, the friendly railway policeman who helped her out that fateful day. Will he be able to lend his assistance to solving this case before things get truly out of hand?

The follow-up to this is Bright Young Dead, where Nancy and Louisa team up again with Guy in London of 1925 so that they can track down a ring of female criminals known as the Forty Thieves.

Louisa is able to make contact with a former member of the gang, a maid named Dulcie but the price of that acquaintanceship proves to be rather high and deadly for one unfortunate soul.

I've already started reading The Mitford Murders and the writing is lively and crisp, with a good blend of Upstairs,Downstairs characterization combined with the heartfelt drama of a good Downton Abbey episode.

 Fellowes gives the reader a great deal of invested interest in Louisa and Guy as they go forth on their separate but soon to be mutual paths that are enhanced by such real life figures as the Mitford sisters(yes, that Nancy!) and with revived interest in Downton Abbey,thanks to the upcoming film later this year, I suspect that I was blessed by the good book fairy to find this delightful pair indeed:

Apparently, the good book fairy found me worthy of a double tap from her tasseled bookmark(what else would such an enchanted entity use as a magic wand, after all?) as the two books that I had ordered from an after-holiday sale online arrived in the mail that day.

Josie Silver's One Day in December follows the long term romantic pursuit of  Laurie and Jack, two London strangers that happened to catch each other's eye during a bus ride yet fail to connect right away.

Through various means, Laurie hopes to find him but tends to just miss that special moment to meet Jack, with one of her best friends happening to find him first and have her own relationship with him. Over time, it seems that these two are never going to be a couple yet fate may have something to say about that......

This book sounds like a great Nora Ephron movie set in England, which would be nice to curl up with and on top of that, it's a Reese Witherspoon book club pick(I'm really enjoying her taste in books there).  A sweet bookish sundae like this ought to be a tasty read even in the cold weather days to come:

Speaking of England, The Gown by Jennifer Robson is subtitled "a novel of the Royal Wedding", the wedding in this case being of future queen Elizabeth II to  future Prince Phillip.

The narrative of the story is centered on the women who worked hard to make that fabled wedding dress ready, as modern day Heather seeks to find out where her recently deceased grandmother Ann got a set of pearl encrusted embroidered flowers from to leave as her legacy.

Turns out that Ann was one of the many seamstresses at Hartnell House, the top fashion designer in the country who specialized in dresses fit for royalty and the upper class. Ann befriends one of her fellow workers, Miriam,a refugee from the terrors of occupied Paris, and they even become roommates as well.

While able to find love on their own, Ann and Miriam must join forces to prevent industrial spies from learning of the intended design of the regal wedding dress to prevent any knock off versions from spoiling the big day, which is a much needed moral boost for the post-WWII nation still in recovery and knee deep in rations.

Granted, I'm not a major Royal Family watcher but the time period is interesting and perhaps this book can get me to finish watching the second season of The Crown,particularly before the new one without Claire Foy begins. Of course, such a novel will have plenty of it's own merits to enjoy and looking at such a historical occasion from a mostly unseen viewpoint promises to be memorably page turning:

So far, this year has gotten off to a good reading start and my Winter's Respite readathon is going along smoothly as well. One of the best things about this time of year, I hate to say, is being able to focus more on books that I want for me, myself and I.

 As much as I do like buying books for others, it was distracting to see so many wonderful books that I desired for my own pleasure. Perhaps the good book fairy will bless me with patience and literary concern toward those readers in my life that are in need of engaging reads in order to reward me with more opportunities to find great bookish delights for myself in the months to come-we shall see!:

My new year of reading resolutions

Happy New Year, everyone and I hope that 2019 has gotten off to a good start for you.

As for me, a lot of great books were under my Christmas tree and late last night, I finished my first read of the year(Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine) and it also counts as the first book in the Winter's Respite readathon to be completed-bonus points!

While most people do make resolutions for the new year, I'm at the point in my life where I find it best to make ones that I truly have a good chance at keeping,so these are all reading related promises to myself(and one for the blog).

Now, I try not to get too overly organized about this because that can take the fun out of things(not to mention ruin the opportunity for spontaneity reads there). However, there is some method to my literary madness that allows for some wiggle room,especially as far as my library visits are concerned:

SERIES-OUS READING 3: So far, I've been doing these year long catch-ups and /or dives into books from various series for two years now and renewing this blog project for a third term just felt right.

Mind you, this year will get off to a late start, due to my still being in the midst of a Poldark title from this past December(and yes, I do intend to read yet another one in this series but I just can't quit Cornwall and Demelza just yet).

A good portion of the Series-ous Reading will be in the cozy mystery category, including Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen stories. In a weird way, this is not much different than when I was into paranormal romances back in the day.

 Both genres have strong minded ladies solving crimes and proving those pesky yet sexy men folk wrong when it comes to a woman's intuition and intelligence. The main difference is one has deadly demons to battle while the other has devil's food cake to conquer.

In addition to that, I do have a couple more of Rhys Bowen's Her Royal Spyness books(do so adore Georgie's maid Queenie!) to explore and a lovely omnibus edition of the first three mysteries in the Phyrne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood. I loved watching the Miss Fisher adaptations and reading the books should be a blast.

What should also be a blast are Ellie Alexander's Bakeshop Mysteries, with such tasty titles as Caught Bread Handed(I'll be starting the new year with that), A Crime of Passion Fruit and Another Bites the Crust. To sweeten the deal, Alexander has a fun Youtube channel with plenty of updates about her latest works and insights into her writing. A real box of video treats to savor indeed:

DIVING INTO DICKENS: Some time ago, I started to read War & Peace as a way of coping with the chaotic times that we're living in and granted, Tolstoy does not sound like mellow out type of reading, nonetheless, it's done the trick for me.

I'm happy to report that not only have I finished W&P, I'm halfway through Anna Karenina(highly recommend the Maude translation for both) and it will soon be time to pick up another classic read.

For my next selection, I am going back to Charles Dickens, who happened to be a major fan of Leo Tolstoy's work. I have read a good number of his books but there are plenty that I haven't gotten to and intend to remedy that situation right soon.

The Pickwick Papers was the first of Dickens' bestsellers, weaving a set of tales from the notes of the famed Pickwick Club, with such distinguished members as ladies' man Tracy Tupman, the artistically inclined Augustus Snodgrass and of course, Samuel Pickwick with his fateful bumbling valet Sam Weller. These fine gentlemen found themselves in various silly situations, most of which they manage to escape relatively intact but not without some unexpected help from Sam Weller at times.

This big book has been adapted into film and TV miniseries(the most recent being in 1985) over the years and even inspired a series of novels by present day author Van Reid called The Moosepath League. With the headlines getting stranger and more absurd by the minute these days, it's more than time for a good laugh which Mr. Pickwick and his friends can certainly provide.

Not to mention that the Pickwick Papers are a main influence on one of my favorite novels of all time, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. The March sisters had their own version of that illustrious group and now I'll be able to appreciate that section of the story all the more:

THE ELLROY/MURAKAMI CONNECTION: There are some authors whose works you really want to get into but for one reason or another, you just can't quite make that pivotal turn into their respective territory. It may be bad timing or too many other things on your personal plate at the moment but the urge is still there.

Well, I am going to try reading at least one book by two such writers on my list who are an odd pairing to say the least.

 No doubt that many of the devoted fans of Haruki Murakami's novels would give me a through list and suggestions on what to read first but I'm choosing to tackle The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle here. I did attempt to read IQ84 but that may have been too big of a bookish slice to sample as an introduction. If all goes well with WUBC, I will gladly go back to that one indeed.

For the other, it's James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential. I did actually meet Ellroy at a book convention signing(for a different book) and he's a strange duck to be sure. Nevertheless, his writing style is amazing to behold yet has such a zig zag style of energy that it's not easy to settle down with.

However, I have seen the celebrated 19997 film adaptation(which is hard to watch now, due to a certain disgraced actor's presence) and recall enough of the central plot line to be confident in getting a firm grip on this story of old school scandal and corruption. I know there will be differences between the movie and it's source material but I suspect that many of the main points and character development details will be well featured on the page:

This sounds like a good set of goals to head off into 2019 with and I hope that all of you with bookish New Year's resolutions(and non as well) find much success with yours. Anything's better than the one by Ross from Friends with his "new thing to do!" every day which resulted in bad pants choices and other hilarious catastrophes before January was over and done with. Make reasonable resolutions, my friends, and you'll be much better off for it: