Finishing up my FrightFall reading romp

 We are definitely into autumn now, with plenty of leaves on the ground and pumpkin spice scenting the crisp cool air.

Another sign of the season is the FrightFall readathon, which fitfully ended on Halloween. Out of my original TBR, I made one switch and completed two and a half books(am into the latter half with the last one), so a pretty good reading run here.

My first FrightFall read was Deanna Raybourn’s Killers of a Certain Age in which a set of four older female friends on a retirement cruise are not what they seem.

The ladies in question-Billie,Helen, Natalie and Mary Alice-were recruited in their youth by a secret organization dedicated to tracking down former Nazis and other bad guys for elimination. Now in their advancing years, this trip was meant as a peaceful last hurrah.

Instead, the cruise was a ruse to take them all out at once, a fatal mistake for those who set them up as pawns in a power grab. Despite their being caught off guard at first, Billie and her friends manage to turn the tables but the endgame is more complicated than any involved could have imagined.

This is just a grand roller coaster ride of a book as Raybourn weaves a smartly savvy web of engaging intrigue with dashes of humor and heart.

 I really hope this becomes a movie at some point because the level of awesomeness on the page needs to be shared on more than one media platform. A great testimony to how foolish it is to underestimate older women indeed:

While I did intend to stick to lighter mysteries for the rest of this readathon, my snagging of The Kiss Curse from the Book of the Month Club before it quickly sold out was a sign unto me to make a switch in my literary lineup.

This follow up to The Ex-Hex by Erin Sterling gives Vivi’s cousin Gwyn a chance at magical romance via a professional rivalry with Llwellyn aka Wells Penhallow, the brother of her cousin’s new husband Simon.

Wells has moved to the town of Graves Glen to find a fresh start and part of that includes setting up a magic shop right across from the one that Gwyn and her family have run for years. Never liking Wells to begin with(based on a past encounter), Gwyn is eager to fight back, retail style.

However, a strange set of circumstances forces them to team up in more ways than one. Even with a mix of magic and romance around them, can these two discover their true enemy before the last stroke of midnight on Halloween?

Much like Sterling’s earlier book, this story is a fun bit of storytelling magic that completely enchants you all the way. 

The addition of new characters (the trio of young apprentices that Gwyn takes on, plus the adorable talking cat known as Sir Purricval) and enhanced family drama works out great and encourages more stories to come from the good witches of Graves Glen:

At the moment, I’m finishing up The Grim Reader by Kate Carlisle, one of her most recent entries in her Bibliophile mystery series.

Her leading lady Brooklyn Wainwright is happy to visit her family at their wine making hometown of Dharma with new husband Derek Stone by her side for many reasons, especially since her mother Rebecca is leading the committee for Dharma’s first book festival.

For a dedicated bookbinder like Brooklyn, such an event is pure joy but there are unexpected pitfalls that mar the way such as an obnoxious newcomer trying to literally force his way into the festival, the shocking death of a committee member and missing funds discovered just before things are ready to begin.

While she’s determined to help out(not to mention protect her mother from harm), Brooklyn soon learns that the copy of Little Women she was asked to restore may be a pivotal key to unlocking this case. Can her bookbinding skills save the day or bring on more disaster?

I do enjoy this series with it’s bookish energy and welcoming set of characters who make you feel right at home with every page turn. Plus, all of this talk about Little Women is just pointing me towards a reread of that iconic book as soon as I’m done here:

My thanks to Michelle Miller at Seasons of Reading for hosting these wonderful readathons and while I’m not sure if I will take part in the upcoming Christmas Spirit one, I hope everyone has a wonderful bookish time.

Some sad news to report: the author Julie Powell has recently passed away at the far too soon age of 49. Her yearlong challenge to make every recipe in the first volume of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking began as a blog and then became a book which lead to a film adaptation starring Amy Adams and Meryl Streep.

While Julia herself wasn’t thrilled with Julie’s project(they never met in real life), these two had much in common.

 Both women struggled to find what ultimate purpose they had to offer the world and found it through food and writing. Each of them received equal amounts of admiration and criticism for their professional and personal choices yet firmly marched to the beat of their own drummers.

I first read Julie and Julia in reader’s advance copy form(still have that edition) as a bookseller and Powell’s lively energy not only introduced  me to the wonders of Julia Child and food writing in general, she inspired this very blog that I still keep pecking away at today.

I recently reread J&J as part of my “Julia journey “ this year and yes, it does hold up. Powell’s emotional honesty and ability to look back with a laugh or two at times , plus her love of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is the spine of this internet age meets culinary classic story.

She also wrote a memoir,Cleaving, about learning the art of butchering that is in a very different tone from J&J but definitely worth checking out. However, Julie will be forever linked with Julia and that’s a damn good legacy to have, if you ask me.

My deepest condolences to Powell’s friends and family, especially her beloved husband Eric. Truly gone too soon yet destined to be remembered always: