A Series-ous Reading serving of Blackberry Pie Murder

 

My Series-ous Reading start to the fall season brought me back to Lake Eden for a slice of Blackberry Pie Murder, the next in line for me in the Hannah Swenson series by Joanne Fluke.

This time out, Hannah is doing well at work but trying to plan her mother’s wedding to Doc Knight(who is a real sweetheart, I must say)is becoming a full time job.

The constant changes of plans, from food to flowers to bridesmaids dresses, is making more folks than Hannah frustrated but it’s she who is bearing the bridezilla brunt of it. Some of that tension may have been in play one morning as Hannah takes Lisa, her partner at the Cookie Jar bakery, to work during a thunderstorm storm.

The hectic road conditions and lightning strike that brings down a tree in their path leads to Hannah’s car hitting and killing a stranger. The man was truly a stranger with no one recognizing him at all. One of the few clues to be found on him was traces of blackberry pie on his shirtfront:

Despite this being an obvious accident, Hannah is charged with homicide and arrested by  the sheriff who is also her brother in law Bill(which ticks her sister Andrea off to no end!) since police detective  Mike, one of Hannah’s occasional boyfriends, refuses to do so.

I have to say that Mike generally annoys me most of the time but here, he does right. He not only refuses to arrest Hannah but takes an unpaid suspension as well based on principle. Norman, the other half of this love triangle, is on hand for emotional support and bail to get Hannah released before her arraignment, equaling things as usual.

Hannah being in jail is an interesting change of pace, although her time spent in a cell over the weekend isn’t too daunting. 

Plenty of folks bring care packages over to her and she doesn’t have to share space with anyone. It’s kind of a sitcom style of legal trouble which you know will work out in the end(or the next book in this case) but still a good bit of character development nonetheless:

The mystery here is who is the victim, which  gets into a rather elaborate plot that involves a returned runaway girl and a pimp with a diamond in his tooth(hey, Norman needed to use his dentistry expertise somehow here!), which is a little over the top but still entertaining.

At the very least, this book got me jumping right

into the next Hannah Swenson story, Double Fudge Brownie Murder, that I will be reading on my regular time. Yet, it will tie into the last book for this Culinary Cozy Feast challenge so stay tuned!

Meanwhile, I did see the new Hallmark Channel adaptation in what is now called the Hannah Swenson Mysteries (instead of Murder She Baked) entitled Sweet Revenge over the summer. Loosely based on Cream Puff Murder, it’s not as lively as the earlier movies and while some of the new additions to the series were fun(Hannah’s younger sister Michelle gets her onscreen  debut!) , others were odd to say the least like Norman getting a dog? 

Sorry but I adore the mini subplot of Hannah’s cat Moishe palling around with Norman’s kitty Cuddles  over the course of the books and hate to see that altered. 

Then again, it’s not too practical to have relay racing cats in a made for TV movie, which is in it’s own cinematic universe anyway. Having Hannah Swenson back on the small screen is a welcome  enough treat as it is:

Well, onto the current Series-ous Reading selection and this title is truly irresistible; Mocha, She Wrote by Ellie Alexander.

This latest entry in The Bakeshop Mystery series focuses on Andy, the beloved barista of Torte who is entering a major coffee competition for the first time.

While Andy has the skills to win big, one of the judges already wants to whittle him down to size and when that unpleasant fellow is found dead with one of Andy’s drinks in hand, Juliet is determined to prove his innocence. Can she show that Andy is good to the last drop or will his future be grounded up for good?

I’m not a coffee person but do appreciate the love of the morning brew and so far, this book is best part of waking up for more good reading:

My FrightFall TBR and the ultimate book terror

 

With October almost here, one thing is certain and that is the FrightFall readathon is about to begin! Thanks to Michelle Miller at Seasons of Reading, the pumpkin perfect excuse to read something scary is at hand.

Of course, you don't have to make all of your book choices in the horror/suspense/thriller,etc but it is fun to do so. I decided to be a little smarter with my TBR as my tendency for these challenges is to pick four books and wind up finishing only three of them by the time it's over.

So, why not just pick three books, then? Well, why not-sure, I might read something extra before the end of the month that suits this challenge to a skeleton T(trying to be punny,sorry!) but for now, this sinister trio of page turning terrors should do nicely:

HALLOWEEN PARTY MURDER: This triple dose of seasonal cozy mystery stories has Leslie Meier getting the party started with the title tale that has her sleuthing heroine Lucy Stone on the haunted house scene.

Her new neighbors have set this scare fest up and due to a misunderstanding, Lucy is more than eager to get as many folks as possible to attend the horrifying housewarming event. However, when one of the holiday volunteers becomes an all too real victim, fun time is over for Lucy and all concerned.

Following that fearsome story is Lee Hollis'  entry, Death of a Party Monster, where restaurant chef Hayley Powell is happy to attend a costume party with friends and neighbors are dressed up like movie monsters such as Chucky and Freddy Krueger. 

Yet when the high school music teacher shows up as Pennywise, the local police chief reveals his fear of clowns. It's no laughing matter, especially when that Stephen King costume proves to be the literal death of that teacher and Hayley is the only one on hand to face the music there.

To round things up is Barbara Ross with Scared Off, as her niece Paige has a sleepover with her gal pals that quickly turns into a wild party with beer toting boys. As her aunt Julia Snowden heads over to stop the wild rumpus, the rowdy teens are frightened away by a ghost. Only trouble is, that ghost resembles Mrs. Zelisko, a nearby neighbor who is supposed to check on the girls and hasn't been seen all night!

I was lucky enough to win an early copy of this book(signed by Barbara Ross!) and saved it for this particular occasion. Being familiar with Meier's Lucy Stone books and having visited Ross' Maine Clambake Mysteries over the summer, I feel very thrilled to dive in here. Lee Hollis is new to me but I love the notion of a Halloween party with film fiend costumes so all in all, this set of Halloween flavored treats promises to be a page turning party indeed:

WE SOLD OUR SOULS: This take on musical hell from Grady Hendrix focuses on a heavy metal band known as Durt Wurk whose lead singer Terry Hunt sold out his group(and namely, lead guitar Kris Pulaski) to gain fame and glory for himself alone.

Decades later, Kris is stuck in a dead end job and finds that her former friend did make an actual deal with the devil that truly dooms her and the rest of Durt Wurk, not to mention the massive crowds of fans following Terry and his new band Koffin on their farewell tour.

To save her own soul, along with numerous others, Kris takes up her guitar once again to hit the road and call out Terry before he truly unleashes hell on earth.

Having read several of Hendrix's works in ebook form(including his latest, The Final Girls Support Group, which is beyond awesome!), I'm happy to report that my copy of WSOS is a physical one. While his quick paced writing is fun to enjoy in any format, having a Grady Hendrix novel on my bookshelf is the best sinister season treat for me:

CATHERINE HOUSE:  In this debut novel from Elisabeth Thomas, our leading lady is Ines, who agrees to spend three years of her life at this exclusive academic setting of the title. 

Those who have completed a full course of independent study at this institute have gone on to bigger and better positions in the world, making Ines appear to be fortunate indeed.

However, once she arrives, Ines notices an intense atmosphere that draws many of her fellow students into being part of a series of secret experiments being held in the basement. Experiments that may be more dangerous than curiosity was to the cat....

I've heard a lot about this book and the whole premise has a great modern Gothic vibe to it, plus it's said to be a good example of the genre known as dark academia(such as Donna Tartt's The Secret History). Smart,scary and secretive,all makes for quite the combo to create a good terror tale, if you ask me:

What's more terrifying than any of these books,however, is the ultimate threat to free speech and that monster's name is censorship.

 With so much misinformation swirling about these days and local school board meetings becoming battlegrounds for chaos seekers to spew their illogical wrath upon, protecting the freedom to read is more important than ever.

Banned Books Week started yesterday and ends this upcoming Saturday. Please take a moment to check out the ALA website as well as the official BBW21 site for more information. Knowledge is turning into a rare commodity right now and the way to halt that downward progression is through books, especially those that speak to communities whose concerns are overlooked far too often by the mainstream media:

As for FrightFall, it begins on Friday, October 1 and lasts until All Hallow's Eve(there is a link in the first paragraph of this post to sign up and learn more about it). While trick or treating might be put on hold again this year, due to the sadly ongoing health crisis in our midst, we can still have some holiday fun with a good book and a costume friendly film or two:

My first Library Haul of the fall

While I know that autumn doesn’t officially start until this Wednesday, chances are that I’m not the only one who considers fall to have started by now.

So with that in mind, my latest library haul seems to have a bit of a fall feeling there.  My first instant pluck off the shelf selection was Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian, which mixes divorce court with witchcraft accusations.

Mary Deerfield is determined to leave her abusive husband Thomas, a legal action that is allowed in the Puritan society of Boston in 1662 in which they live. However, that is easier said than done, since Thomas is crafty enough to hide his drunken behavior and personal violence from others.

In addition, Mary finds strange objects buried in her backyard that are trying to make her appear to be a witch, making matters all the worse. Despite coming from a rather well-off family, Mary finds that her options of escaping her husband’s abuse or a witch trial are severely limited at best.

I’ve read Bohjalian’s novels on and off for years, with each book being very different yet sharing the same well honed sense of storytelling and character depth. This particular story is so far quite riveting and might even get me to check out some of the Anne Bradstreet poems that the author has mentioned in interviews inspiring this dark tale of female troubles:

 

Next up is another Kate Carlisle book from her Bibliophile Mystery series, interestingly titled  Little Black Book.

Newly wed bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright finds herself involved in an international intrigue as her husband Derek receives an odd package from Scotland . The main content of the package is a signed first edition of the modern classic Rebecca, which is followed by a visit from Claire, a friend from Brooklyn’s past.

Claire is searching for her Aunt Gwyneth , who went missing and the only clue that she could  uncover is the receipt for that package. Since it turns out that Gwyneth , like Derek, once worked for MI6, this disappearance is not a random occurrence.

With the discovery of a suspicious delivery man dead from a knife to the neck and a necessary trip to Scotland, Brooklyn becomes tangled up in a case perhaps more suspenseful than the Du Maurier novel that set this whole caper off.

I have been reading this series out of order(hope to remedy that soon!) but Carlisle creates such an inviting world that makes even a newcomer feel most welcome here. With any luck, diving into the backstory of Brooklyn Wainwright will be far less treacherous than Rebecca de Winter’s certainly was:

To round things off, I went with A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier. Our leading lady is Violet Speedwell, a woman barely making ends meet in England of 1932.

Due to the deaths of her brother and her fiancé during WWI, Violet is considered a “surplus woman”, destined to a lonely life with little means of support. Her secretarial job in the town of Winchester barely gives her enough to pay her boarding house rent and not much more than that.

Yet, while visiting the well known cathedral that puts Winchester on the proverbial map, Violet runs into the broilers, a group of women who spend their spare time making kneelers for those attending church services.

The time and effort put into making such beautiful and essential items inspires Violet to join their ranks. In doing so, she begins to find more of a purpose to her life than just merely existing.

Chevalier is quite the word weaver, spinning elegantly engaging stories of women dealing with what the world around wants and expects from them. It seems that much like her other work, this book showcases what one woman can do with what is available to find her own way to happiness:

All in all, this library trip was a good way to start my fall reading season. While the news of the day makes every day appear to be bleak and dire, a good book can be a vital part of your emotional survival kit indeed:

My summer seafood special of Series-ous Reading

 

Welcome back for a new round of Series-ous Reading! Due to launching a new late summer blog event(Autumn in August), I thought it would be good to simply do a wrap-up post for the summer in September and this Culinary Cozy Feast of reading was a bookish bounty of page turning plenty indeed!

For July, my selection was Clammed Up by Barbara Ross, the first book in her Maine Clambake Mysteries series. Our leading lady is Julia Snowden, who has returned home to Busman's Harbor, ME in order to help save the family business, which are seasonal clambakes held on a nearby island that's been in her mother's family for generations.

Thanks to her brother in law Sonny, The Snowden Family Clambake Company is deeply in debt, with the bank only giving them one season to turn things around. Julia, with her background in marketing, decides to expand the business via catering, starting with a wedding that gets off to a bad start quickly.

While it's bad enough that Sonny hates the whole catering idea and has fights with Etienne, the long time caretaker of the island, Julia has a nervous bride to deal with and upon the wedding party's arrival to the partly renovated island mansion on the big day, a gruesome sight greets them. The body of the best man has been hung from the front hall stairs, killing the mood rather effectively!

With the island being shut down for the investigation and the number of days allowed for closure by the bank, Julia finds that she has no choice but to find the murderer herself with or without the help of Lt. Binder, the local police detective, in order to save the business and her family. 

As the suspects range from the members of the wedding to some of the local folk, including Julia's school girl crush and possible new boyfriend Chris, this sinister search for the true killer proves to be harder to crack than a stubborn lobster claw.

 

I did enjoy the character development within the story, with fun side characters such as Gus, the cantankerous diner owner who knows more than he lets on at times, and the setting of Busman's Harbor is engagingly described, enough that even a landlubber like me wouldn't mind checking it out!

Julia and her struggles to readjust to her family after living in New York for so long(not to mention her guilt over the death of her father, which I think some of her relatives were a tad too quick to ladle over on her there!) added a good touch of nuance that rounded the overall story line nicely.

This book got me so hooked that I picked up the second entry(Boiled Over) and finished a little after Labor Day and Ross certainly has a way with layering her story with well molded character arcs and local history, not neglecting her main mystery plot in order to do so.

I wound up checking out these books due to winning a copy of the now available on shelves holiday anthology Halloween Party Murder(which Barbara Ross, Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis all contribute stories to) and while I will be saving that book for a certain readathon, I'm glad that I got to know Barbara Ross' literary world a bit better.  I may read some more of this series also  as it's as cleverly comforting as a serving of lobster mac and cheese:

In August, I chose to sample a platter of Killer Crab Cakes, courtesy of Livia J. Washburn's Fresh Baked Mysteries series.

 Retired school teacher Phyllis Newsom is truly a fish out of water as she agrees to run her cousin's B&B for a little time during the summer. Not only is Phyllis getting a bit of vacation fun with her boyfriend Sam, she's also able to take part in a nearby baking competition to boot.

Those plans go awry when one of the guests literally drops dead while fishing, having possibly been poisoned by the title dish. As everyone at the B&B is under suspicion , the dead man's relatives and business enemies show up to throw more chaos into the startling stew of tension simmering on the story telling stove.

Since this book starts not long after The Christmas Cookie Killer(which I read last year), keeping up with the characters was easy for me and the addition of the horrible adult children of the deceased, who turned out to be a rather wealthy man despite his every man appearance, gave off some fun Knives Out vibes to the whole story.

Washburn does have a solid sense of character comradery as Phyllis and friends work together to figure things out and over time, you really hope that certain people in the story are not guilty at all. Once again, I found this series to be as tasty a read as any plate of savory seafood treats can be:

Well, this was a fine summer of reading indeed and my autumn feast of Series-ous Reading takes me right over to Hannah Swensen's Cookie Jar bakery with Blackberry Pie Murder on the menu.

Hannah is stunned when a rainstorm drive to work results in her van hitting a man on the road, possibly causing his death. When this incident does lead to her being arrested and about to be tried, her only chance of acquittal is to find out who this man was in the first place.

So far, so good and Hannah having to deal with the legal system promises to be interesting there. Blackberry pie may be more of a summer item but to me, pie is a full on fall flavor fest along with Hannah Swensen's delicious mysteries:

What I read on my High Summer readathon vacation

 

Welcome back, everyone and I hope you all had a good end of summer time. Granted, those affected by Hurricane Ida(and the leftover wrath from that storm) are not doing so well right now yet such terrible times will eventually pass with much help and support.

Yes, some of that later storm hit my area but I was fortunate enough to receive a minimal amount of trouble from it. Best wishes to those still struggling with the aftermath.

Meanwhile, I did my regular "three out of four" reading for the High Summer readathon hosted by the lovely Michelle Miller at Seasons of Reading and looking forward to the next one on the literary horizon(more on that later). My wrap-up is a tad late but a blog break was necessary , trust me.

Okay, onto to the books:

SUMMER HOURS AT THE ROBBERS LIBRARY:  Sue Halpern's novel brings together Kit, a new resident to the town of Riverton,NH and a librarian who just wants to live out the rest of her life in relative peace, and Sunny, a teenage girl being raised by off the grid type parents.

When Sunny is caught stealing a dictionary from a mall bookstore, her punishment determined by the local "kid court" is to do community service at the library over the summer, making her duties the de facto responsibility of Kit.

While Kit does appreciate Sunny's cheerful demeanor and quick witted intelligence, she is not eager to get too involved in the girl's life. Sunny, on the other hand, is curious about what's in Kit's past that she's trying to hide but even more so, she finds a few things out about her own seemingly carefree parents that raises a lot of questions and concerns there.

Along with Rusty, a new library patron seeking out a possible ancestor that could lead him to a source of financial renewal for him, Sunny and Kit slowly but surely learn to connect. Dealing with their past and present situations can bring about a better future but will they allow that to happen?

This story is thoughtful and engaging, giving the trio of main characters the right moments to take over the narrative, something that is easier said than done. Halpern brings a fully fleshed out development to her main players that doesn't overwhelm the plot yet is not driven by the need to hit those storytelling marks.

Summer Hours at the Robbers Library is a charming read that is not sentimental but readers and library lovers will especially enjoy it's subtly sweet vibes:

BIG SUMMER: Social influencer Daphne Berg seems to have her life on track at the moment but when former frenemy Drue Lathrop Cavanaugh decides to yank her back into her social sphere, things get wilder than either of them ever intended.

The big blowout that ended their friendship years ago lead to Daphne's online career as a plus size advocate with a steadily growing audience and endorsement deals. However, Drue is about to marry her longtime sweetheart at Cape Cod, a guy who ditched his reality show dream girl on national TV. She insists that Daphne is her only real friend and that she needs her as a bridesmaid.

Such a PR bonanza is hard to resist and while she doesn't completely trust Drue, Daphne is willing to give her a chance and perhaps reap a few personal benefits out of this whole thing.

The typical wedding dramatics crop up during the pre-event party and Daphne surprises herself by making a very welcome new romantic acquaintance. However, when the bride is found dead in a hot tub the next morning, everything changes fast. With the guy she was with having disappeared(and not on the guest list) Daphne has to find the killer before she's seen as the star of her own legal reality series!

Having read Jennifer Weiner before, I was not as thrown off by the plot switch-up there as some folks might be as she has written a mystery themed novel earlier in her career(Goodnight  Nobody). While this book wasn't intended to be one, it does have many of the elements of a cozy culinary mystery here.

Unlikely detective -possible suspect? Check! A group of friends ready to pitch to find the killer? Check! Plenty of witnesses eager to give out helpful information? Check! A good amount of mouth watering food descriptions and loving family memories? Double Check!

I don't say this as a bad thing; rather, as a cozy mystery fan, I enjoyed Weiner's version of such a story and think that if she wanted to tackle this genre head on, that would be great to see. While this story is more big city than small town, Big Summer offers the cozy comfort of a solid beach read worthy entertainment:

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW: Larry McMurtry's iconic novel is set in the small dying Texas town of Thalia during the late fifties, where the young people find little to do there with their lives as do their elders.

The main focus of the book centers around Sonny and Duane, two life long friends trying to make the most out of their last year of high school. While Duane is dating Jacy, the most attractive girl in town who is always looking for some drama to stir up, Sonny finds himself having an affair with Mrs. Popper, the neglected wife of the obnoxious sports coach.

At some point, Duane and Sonny do have a fight over Jacy but that isn't the main conflict between them. All three of these about to be adults are really trying to figure out if the paths laid out for them are those they are meant to take or is their ultimate fate actually up to them?

The first McMurtry book that I ever read was Terms of Endearment(yes,due to the movie) and it introduced me to the author's knack for intricate character building that allows each persona to slowly yet surely guide the plot along. TLPS showcases the regrets of the older characters with the confused ambitions of the younger ones, making what many would consider to be humdrum lives instead to be a series of vivid portrayals of thwarted dreams.

I haven't gotten to Texasville(a book that I read way too soon years ago) but I'll give it a go at some point with more understanding of the fictional context there. Also plan to watch the film version as well , which has been widely acclaimed and I hope that it lives up to the novel in more ways than one:

Once again, thank you to Michelle Miller and sorry for such a late round up! I promise to be more prompt for the upcoming FrightFall readathon this October, where we may not have trick or treating but there will be many fabulous costume capers out there to drape ourselves in:

Autumn in August engages in some Persuasion

 

Thank you all for attending yet another discussion of Autumn in August, where our attention now turns to Jane Austen and her final completed work, Persuasion.

While there have been other adaptations of this classic novel(as of this writing, two more are being filmed), I have a particular fondness for the 1995 film as it is the reason that I started reading Jane Austen in the first place.

Back when the movie debuted in US theaters, the critical acclaim for it made me interested in reading the book(and later seeing the film on home video) which then lead to more and more engagement with Austen's literary world. I guess you could say it imprinted Austen on me.

Persuasion is unlike most of Austen's work as it's leading lady Anne Eliot(Amanda Root) is not the usual young girl searching for love heroine. Rather, she's a woman in her late twenties, considered "out of bloom" by the standards of the day who lives with her vain widowed father Sir Walter(Corin Redgrave) and her equally awful older sister Elizabeth(Phoebe Nicholls).

Since Sir Walter and Elizabeth insist upon living above their means-"A barnonet must be seen to live like a baronet!"-the only recourse to save the family from out and out financial disgrace is to move to the city of Bath and rent out their estate to a fresh from the Napoleonic wars well off Navy man, Admiral Croft(John Woodvine) and his wife. 

As it happens , that admiral is related by marriage to a former love interest of Anne's, Captain Frederick Wentworth(Ciaran Hinds).

Wentworth and Anne fell in love several years ago, intending to marry if not for the persuasion of Lady Russell(Susan Fleetwood), a family friend who gives motherly advice to all of the Eliots but to Anne especially. 

With Sir Walter and Elizabeth only tolerating her at best(and treating her like a servant at worse), it's not surprising that Anne at 19 was willing to listen to Lady Russell at the time.

However, upon hearing that Wentworth might be back in her life, Anne has found that the decision she made back then perhaps wasn't the best one for her own happiness:

Anne is sent to stay with her married younger sister Mary Musgrove(Sophie Thompson), who always "fancies herself ill" and is a great complainer when things don't go her way.

With the Musgroves being way nicer people, Anne is happy to be at their homestead of Uppercross for now. Also, she hopes to avoid being in Wentworth's company even though his brother-in-law and sister (Fiona Shaw, who is a real delight along side Woodvine) are completely lovely folks to be around.

Wentworth does eventually make friends with the Musgroves-the daughters of the house are very happy to know him!-and meet up with Anne again. They are awkwardly polite for the most part, unsure of each other's true feelings. 

However, on more than one occasion, it does appear that Wentworth, despite his attentions to one Musgrove girl, still has some regard for Anne there:

Before Anne rejoins her father and sister in Bath, an incident on a trip to the seaside town of Lyme Regis causes both Wentworth and Anne to wonder about their potential future together.

Upon reuniting in Bath, things are still uncertain between them as Anne is now being courted by her formerly estranged cousin Mr. Eliot (Samuel West).

Is Anne meant to marry Mr. Eliot and perhaps save her family estate or is this the time to truly follow her heart?

This film is so well done with director Roger Michell bringing such a natural setting and tone to the story. The characters look and feel like actual people instead of fancy dress up figures. 

The script by Nick Dear also drops a few references to the wider world with the now ending war against Napoleon(and possibly starting up again!) and the changes in social class with the now enriched military veterans.  

As some Austen fans know, the original book had more than one ending planned and Dear was able to nicely incorporate that extra material seemlessly into the screenplay.

Best of all is the chemistry between Root and Hinds, who are subtle yet strong when the plot needs them to be:

That subtle energy comes in handy when Anne finds out how Wentworth really feels, thanks to a letter that is the most romantic declaration ever written in my humble opinion!:

While I do look forward to seeing the newer adaptations of Persuasion, this version will always hold a special place in my literary heart.

Please join us next time for our fall finale feature, You’ve Got Mail.  I know that there’s plenty of mixed emotions about this movie but I think we can find a good common ground that doesn’t involve fighting over caviar garnish:

Autumn in August enters The Age of Innocence

 

Welcome back for our second presentation in the LRG summer series, Autumn in August, where we look at another Edith Wharton adaptation, the 1993 Martin Scorsese helmed film ,The Age of Innocence.

Set during the Gilded Age in New York, our leading man here is Newland Archer(Daniel Day-Lewis), who is about to marry into another well connected family with May Welland(Winona Ryder) and couldn't be happier or so it seems.

When May's cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska(Michelle Pfeiffer) arrives in town, her reputation for scandal threatens  the insular social order of their world. Newland does what he can to smooth the ruffled feathers but finds it hard pressed to blame Ellen for making what turned out to be a bad marriage for her.

When assigned to Ellen's divorce case by his law firm, Newland has to tell her the realities of New York society("Everything is labeled but everyone is not") and while he does succeed in persuading her to hold off on the divorce, Newland fervently wishes that she was free to be with him:

Newland does marry May yet even after a year's separation, finds that his passion for Ellen has not died down. Rather, it has increased and those feelings are shared by her.

With Ellen back in his social circle, he makes many excuses to be alone with her but their intimacy is never truly consummated. Despite the pain they might cause to both themselves and others, Ellen and Newland find it hard to resist taking that next step:

As Newland makes plans with Ellen, he soon discovers that his secret is not as secret as he thinks. Sooner than he expected, Newland realizes that this momentous decision in his life is not his alone to make.

Before I talk about the overall look of the film, I must make the case for May Welland. Repeatedly throughout the film, she is described as a shallow and rather unintelligent person, “ a curtain drawn over an emptiness.”

Granted, she’s doesn’t take an interest in things outside of her personal realm but May is not at all stupid. She knows full well Newland has doubts before and after their marriage and doesn’t hesitate to use what emotional weapons she has in her arsenal to get what she wants.

If anything, she’s more honest than he is when it comes to their relationship. Also, there’s no malice about her actions or intentions. May is just doing what a woman of her status was taught to do and she does it elegantly:

Scorsese spared no expense when it came to making this film as lush looking as possible. From the art on the walls to the table settings at a casual meal, the jewel box tones of this era highlight the hidden codes and hints of such a vicious circle of people.

The story itself is just as lovingly designed, with a wonderful cast that includes Richard E. Grant, Olivia Dukakis and Miriam Margolyes as Mrs. Manson Mingott aka "the dowager empress of New York society"-she is such a joy to watch! A special casting bonus is the narration that pops in at just the right moments, done by the late great Joanne Woodward, the perfect cap off to this feast of a film:

Please join us next time as we venture into Jane Austen country with 1995's Persuasion, the movie that got me reading Austen's work in the first place. I know that there are other versions with very fine qualities about them(which I have enjoyed) but I measure all of those against this one:

Autumn in August visits The House of Mirth

 

Welcome to the premiere of the LRG end of summer salute that is Autumn in August, where films that invoke the feel of those impending cold weather months are showcased for discussion.

Our first feature presentation is the 2000 adaptation of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth which stars Gillian Anderson as Lily Bart, a New York socialite in the late 19th century who is starting to age out of the marriage market.

Lily is lovely and charming enough to land a suitably rich husband yet she doesn't have much of a follow through mode when a target is in her sights. 

The one man that does truly captivate her heart and mind is Lawrence Selden(Eric Stolz), a well to do lawyer who admires Lily yet is not in the marrying for social advancement game-part of that is due to having affairs with married women but we'll get to that soon enough!

Before I get back to the plot, it must be said that the chemistry between Anderson and Stolz in these roles is a low hum of electric tension, which is precisely what such characters need to have on screen. Many of the casting choices in this film are excellent but the key parts were most important for this particular story and very well done indeed:

Part of  Lily's problem is that most of of her friends are superficial at best and self serving at the worst. 

While there are a few who wish her well such as social hanger-on Carry Fisher(Elizabeth McGovern), most of the women in her social circle are either overly judgemental like her Aunt Julia(Eleanor Bron) or false faced such as the quietly scheming cousin Grace Stepney(Jodhi May) who "reluctantly" tells her aunt of Lily's various misdeeds.

Those misdeeds come from Lily misunderstanding what it means when the husband of one of her good friends, Gus Trenor(Dan Ackroyd, who plays pompous entitlement extremely well here) offers to help her "invest" some money in order to pay her ever increasing bills. Turns out she takes him at his literal word and actually believes saying "thank you" is proper enough but as Gus says, "When a fellow pays for dinner, he's usually given a seat at the table." *shudder*

 There's also Simon Rosedale(Anthony LaPaglia), a social climber who is honest enough about his intentions towards Lily but can't stand by her when things get rough. Worst of all of them is Bertha Dorset(Laura Linney) who hates her husband enough to openly cheat on him yet begrudges a former lover like Selden to being with anyone else, especially Lily. She's quite the frenemy from hell and as all of these forces gather about Lily to do her in, Selden is slow to stop her social downward spiral:

The deeply cut irony of all of this is that Lily Bart truly has principles. Yes, she makes many mistakes but when time and again, it is pointed out to her that by enacting a moral compromise or two, her situation can improve, Lily says no.

That does seem naive of her yet it's also honorable. As time goes on, Lily refuses to be on the level of her detractors such as Bertha(who she does have solid evidence of her adultery in the form of letters on) and regardless, she doesn't want to gain her social salvation in such an underhanded manner.

Granted, some of that reluctance is due to Selden's prior involvement with Bertha, however when push comes to shove, Lily would rather swallow the bitter pills that Bertha forces upon her in public than become as nasty as her former friend is:

The House of Mirth is not a happy tale to tell but it is beautifully told nonetheless. Writer/director Terence Davies does create visually appealing outdoor scenes yet it's those inside sections of the story that are the most memorable. If you enjoy elegant dialogue in ornate rooms, this is the movie for you!

What really seals the deal is that at times, the movie feels like a stage play and yes, that is a compliment. Lily's journey is one of those quietly brutal dramas that would make for a gripping Broadway production and it's chief mode of decoration is the emotional intensity that swirls up when least expected.

The strongest connective thread is the relationship between Lily and Selden, which is done to perfection by both actors no matter what setting they happen to be in. If you haven't seen THOM, I fully recommend it as it does the book justice while giving the story a few unique touches of it's own:

I do hope that you all enjoyed this first outing of Autumn in August and please do join us next time for more Edith Wharton entertainment as Martin Scorsese gives his operatic take on The Age of Innocence-popcorn is always welcome!:

 

The High Summer Readathon, a Library Haul and other bookish blog plans

 

Even though the summer seems to be half gone, there's plenty of warm weather time left to enjoy and if you're like me, staying in the shade is certainly the best option.

With that in mind, next month brings us the High Summer readathon from Seasons of Reading(courtesy of Michelle Miller). Beginning August 1 and ending on the 31st, you are encouraged to do as much page turning as possible to soothe your spirits or cool off during the latest heat wave, whichever arrives the soonest!

My TBR for this readathon will be small with Jennifer Weiner's Big Summer and Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern to start with(yes, there's a bit of a theme there!).

The main titles for this particular challenge will be a Larry McMurtry double feature starring The Last Picture Show and it's follow-up, Texasville. The former was a huge breakthrough novel for McMurtry that became an award winning film in 1971.

TLPS chronicles the emotional triangle between best friends Sonny and Duane,along with local beauty Jacy during their last summer together in the small Texas town they call home. Between bouts of fighting, bad romance choices and sudden departures, these three find their own way to set about deciding the path of their future lives.

The sequel Texasville takes place about thirty years later , reuniting the trio and their remaining friends and ex-lovers back in their old home town. The film adaptation,which did have the original cast and director back on board, did not get the warm reception that the first movie did(then again, neither did the book).

Oddly enough, I read Texasville years ago without having read TLPS(my intro to McMurtry was Terms of Endearment) so probably much of the character content and references to past events missed me by a mile.

 Well now is the perfect time to remedy that and with McMurtry no longer with us, the best way to appreciate his legacy is by reading one of his best known works and yes, it's perhaps underrated companion piece:

In addition to the High Summer readathon, another wonderful book related event has occurred for me and that is the grand reopening of my local library branch!

I went there yesterday and it was so good to walk through those doors again. I only hope that recent resurgences in our sadly still ongoing health crisis doesn't force it to close down once more(btw, I and my immediate family are fully vaccinated and I encourage everyone who can to do the same).

Not only was I able to finally return my pre-pandemic loans-I confess that I read just two of the four that I borrowed-but I made my first library haul of 2021 as well. All of them are mysteries and I began one of them already, The Book Supremacy by Kate Carlisle.

This series has a bookbinder, Brooklyn Wainright, as it's detective heroine and in this 13th entry of the Bibliophile Mysteries, she's celebrating her honeymoon with new husband and regular love interest Derek Stone in France. Brooklyn and Derek are having the time of their lives yet when they go home to San Diego, it turns out that something they bought in Paris is more sinister than your standard souvenirs.

Brooklyn's purchase of a first edition of Ian Fleming's The Spy Who Loved Me(a bit of a gag gift as Derek used to work for MI6) was rather a lucky buy that upon appraisal is worth far more than what she paid. While agreeing to let the book be displayed at a spy themed shop run by an old pal of Derek's, a break in and subsequent murder proves to Brooklyn that this Bond book has more secrets than what's between the covers.

While this is my first time with this series, getting into the plot and characters is relatively easy and readily engaging. With any luck, Brooklyn may become a new favorite literary leading lady of mine:

I paired that with another Kate Shackleton novel by Frances Brody entitled A Snapshot of Murder and the beginning of a newer series from Ellie Alexander.

Death on Tap introduces us to Sloan Krause, a top notch craft beer brewer who changes her place of employment due to her husband Mac getting way too friendly with one of the barmaids.

She decides to work at Nitro, a direct competitor to Mac's family business but when Sloan finds the brew master dead in one of Nitro's beer tanks, her life changes yet again. Mac is the prime suspect and despite her disgust, Sloan finds that she has no choice other than finding the true killer to help her family, in-laws and all.

I do like Alexander's Bakeshop Mystery series yet since I'm not into beer, I haven't picked this one up before. Giving Sloan Krause a fair shot should be fun and hopefully as intoxicating as her other mystery treats:

Last but not least, for those of you who check out my Series-ous Reading posts, the next review will have to wait until September. Taking it easy during these increasingly overheated days seems right to me(my fall book preview will be in September as well). The wait will be worth it, folks.

Rest assured that I am still reading those Culinary Cozy Feast books there and plan to serve up a double platter of fishy doings with Barbara Ross' Clammed Up(which I did like quite a bit) with Killer Crab Cakes by Livia J. Washburn not long after Labor Day.

Instead, my big blog focus will be on Autumn in August, my new end of summer film festival that starts next week with The House of Mirth starring Gillian Anderson as the ill fated Lily Bart. Nothing says autumn like Edith Wharton in New York, if you ask me:

There is still time to sign up for the High Summer readathon(follow the link in the second paragraph of this post) and whatever your remaining summer plans are, I hope that a good book accompanies you where ever that may be.

I know that staying close to home is not something many of us want to do these days but there are advantages to doing just that. For one, no fighting about how books you can pack versus other so-called essentials like fresh clothes and toothpaste-the more books, the better, I say!:

The summer reruns of reading

 

We're getting into that part of the summer season where TV reruns start to conquer the entertainment landscape. Yes, there are some original shows out there(both on cable and streaming) but they are becoming few and far between there.

Some replays are fun and if you think about it, rereading a book is similar to rewatching a few of your favorite shows-relaxing, amusing and pretty sure that you're going to have a good time. Also, you might pick up on some finer points about the plot or characters that you have missed the first time around.

I'm in the middle of a couple of rereads at the moment that are really making this midsummer slump work well for me and perhaps one or two of them might make for fresh reads for you too:

WAITING FOR TOM HANKS: A great excuse for rereading is to buy a new copy in a different format and since I first read Kerry Winfrey's ode to romcom movies in an ebook edition, getting it in paperback is more than enough reason to jump back in.

Annie Cassidy loves the romcom genre so much that any potential mate has to fit into the Tom Hanks standard for her-funny, kind, smart and bonus points for owning a houseboat!

She's also writing a screenplay for a romantic comedy so when a film company comes to town, getting a job on set is a great gig for her. However, the movie's leading man is Drew Danforth, a former sitcom actor who needs a big hit after his big screen action film takes a box office nosedive.

While her best friend Chloe thinks that Drew could be Annie's Tom Hanks, she is firmly convinced otherwise, insisting that his goofy antics off screen and mocking banter with her in real life make him a serious non contender. Yet, as she gets to know him, Annie begins to see a better side of Drew that causes her to reassess him on the TH scale. Can he really be her ultimate Hanks or is Annie's romantic comedy focus limiting her options in life and love?

This story is so much fun, with engaging characters, well timed dialogue and good hearted humor, just like your favorite romcom film. I also have the sequel Not Like The Movies on hand(which gives Chloe a movie themed love story of her own!), making for a great double feature of reading here. Plus, I am planning to rewatch You've Got Mail later this summer as part of my Autumn in August challenge and references to that film abound greatly within these pages:

EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS: This is another "ebook to print copy" purchase that I plan on getting to later this season. Truth be told, it's one of those up all night reads that I want to slowly savor the second time around.

Malcolm Bradshaw has a pretty quiet life, working at a mystery themed bookstore with a mostly silent partner. A bit of excitement stirs up one day as a FBI agent comes calling to ask about an old blog post made for the shop's website.

The post listed eight mystery titles that Malcolm felt laid out the best plans for the perfect murder. He did it just for a lark but as it turns out, someone has taken his deadly TBR seriously and has so far knocked off three people using those books as guides.

While the agent hopes that Malcolm can help her stop the killer before he/she gets to the end of that particular reading list, Malcolm is not only surprised but scared to tell her everything he knows. He does know way more than he's willing to say but is not sure that his secret is going to save anyone, including himself.

I've read some of the books on the title list,btw, before and after this book was published and some of them have been made into great movies-Double Indemnity, Deathtrap and Strangers on a Train. That last one, I definitely have in my home video library and should probably rewatch that beforehand, in order to enhance my literary mood:

THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY: At the moment, my current classic reading is focused on Edith Wharton, most of which is rereading. However, since I've only read TCOTC once before, this almost feels like a new book to me.

The center of the story is Undine Spragg, the daughter of new money folks whose fierce determination to never miss out on the best makes her a hard person to live with if you can't bankroll her every whim.

She goes through more than one husband in this quest for more and the point that I'm at in the book has her with official husband number one(Undine has a bit of a secret past in that department!) Ralph, a dreamy eyed poet who finds that his supposed muse of a wife is simply a mortal woman with a pretty face.

Wharton does justice to all of her characters here by not painting Undine as a one note villain, rather just a product of her upbringing and a reflection of the social standards of the day. Ralph and his old school money notions are satirically skewered as well and he won't be the last spouse to be mocked in this book, no doubt about it!

There are plans underway to adapt TCOTC for Apple TV with Sophia Coppola at the director's helm. I think it will do very well with both audiences and critics, considering how modern our leading lady is.

 So far in the book, she already has a press agent and if she were in our present day world, Undine would be a social media darling with her Instagram page blowing up on the regular , rocking the latest in fashion and other trendy goods. She's the true blue material girl for all time indeed:

I guess reruns do serve a purpose other than to fill up the time. They can be comfortable places to mentally crash or spots of new discovery for the viewer that expand upon an already established fan base.

They can also provide plenty of time for rereading a good book or two, which is always a welcome idea. Getting too wrapped up in reruns can also led to trouble but that is another tale for another time and channel:

Starting my sweet summer Series-ous Reading time with a plate of Red Velvet Cupcake Murder

 It's been awhile since I've been in Hannah Swensen country,so to speak, so to begin my summer session of Series-ous Reading, it felt right to pick up Red Velvet Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke.

Set during the month of June, the biggest event in Lake Eden is the opening of a luxury condo development funded by wealthy scion Roger Dalworth, who has Hannah's realtor sister Andrea setting up the reception and showing everyone the major renovations to the place.

Hannah is asked to serve her latest culinary hit, the title cupcakes, and while all assembled seem to be having a great time, a sudden storm followed by a shocking fall from the balcony of the penthouse quickly dampens the mood. Fortunately, the person who fell,Barbara Donnelly, is alive yet sadly, is injured enough to warrant a hospital stay until her memory improves. 

With Barbara insisting that her brother(who doesn't exist as far as anyone knows) threw her off the balcony, Hannah has a new mystery on her hands which takes her away from the Cookie Jar kitchen briefly but not long enough to enjoy the ready sweet success the business is having:

What is unsettling Hannah even more is the news that Doctor Beverly Thorndike(aka Doc Bev), her former rival for dentist and occasional beau Norman, is back in town and the fiance of Roger Dalworth to boot!

Being engaged to one of the richest men in the area isn't enough for her as Doc Bev sets her sights on Norman once again. She's not subtle about her intentions either, from taking him for a spin in the fancy new Maserati that her current love interest brought her to flaunting her presence in town in front of Hannah and friends when arriving in person to pick up an order of those special red velvet cupcakes.

Dealing with Doc Bev is hard for Hannah but she's willing to be the better person in this situation and that notion is put to the test in a deadly way all too soon. While making a delivery run, Hannah notices that a car went into the lake and the unconscious driver is Doc Bev!

 Hannah doesn't hesitate to jump in and rescue her but despite those efforts, Doc Bev is gone for good . To make  matters worse, Hannah's other part time boyfriend, police detective Mike, considers Hannah the prime suspect after an autopsy reveals that Doc Bev was poisoned and her last meal was , you guessed it, those particular cupcakes. Obviously, she's innocent but Mike has this annoying habit of being all by the book when it comes to crime solving(a standard that doesn't appear to apply to his love life there!).

So, Hannah has to prove that she didn't do it as well as figure out what happened to Barbara, not to mention fix a situation left over from the last book(Cinnamon Roll Murder)-not too much on her plates is there,folks? Personally, I'm not sad to see Doc Bev get taken out of the picture. 

She was such a nasty person to begin with and the whole fight over Norman deal was starting to get a little too much "The Boy is Mine"-don't get me wrong, Norman is a great guy worth fighting for but Hannah should have a better reason to appreciate him than another woman on the scene:

Nonetheless, it was good to meet up with Hannah again and while the various mysteries crisscrossed quite a bit, the story and well known characters were still  compelling enough to hang out with. 

Turns out that this is a good time to get reacquainted with the residents of Lake Eden as the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel is planning to air another Murder She Baked adaptation this summer!

Based on the book Cream Puff Murder, this installment is entitled Sweet Revenge where Hannah has to solve a murder at her local gym just before her wedding to Mike starts(I know she doesn't marry Mike in the books but rest assured, some fans will be happy to see them walk down the aisle). It sounds like light hearted summer viewing fun to me: 

In the meanwhile, the next summer serving in my Culinary Cozy Feast is from Barbara Ross with Clammed Up.

The first entry in her Maine Clambake Mysteries introduces us to Julia Snowden, who goes to her seaside home town of Busman's Harbor to help the ailing family business out. Thanks to her brother in law Sonny, the Snowden Family Clambake is deeply in debt with lackluster summer time attendance making it all the more difficult to keep the family financially afloat.

As a way to increase business, Julia expands their culinary services by catering events. Unfortunately, the first big outing is a wedding which comes to a quick end upon discovering the best man hung out to gruesomely dry at the family island venue!

Between that awful incident and a fire set during regular service, Julia finds herself taking up detective duties to not only save her business but perhaps a couple of lives as well. I'm not much of a seafood person yet the descriptions of the clambake are tempting indeed. I do look forward to sampling more of this series both in and out of the summer season there:

Settling up my Sci-Fi Summer reads

 As of last week, the Sci-Fi Summer readathon(sponsored by Michelle Miller of Seasons of Reading) came to an end and as usual, I managed to finish three out of the four books that I set aside for this fun challenge.

First to be read and completed was Mike Chen's We Could Be Heroes, which which has an unlikely duo pairing up to solve more than one mystery about their lives.

Jamie,aka The Mind Robber, uses his mental superpowers to rob banks as nonviolently as possible with his ultimate goal being to escape to a distant island accompanied by his cat named Normal.

Zoe,whose superheroine name is Throwing Star, works as a food delivery person by day and hunts down criminals at night, hoping to somehow find a way to regain her memories. Two years ago, she woke up alone in a fully paid for apartment with only a name tag and a note explaining her extraordinary abilities. Since then, she's tried to figure who and what she is, not to mention meant to do with her life.

Jamie also has a similar memory loss situation and after an encounter in their alter ego personae, they run into each other at a support group for those suffering from memory problems. Instead of attacking each other, they compare notes and decide to team up to find some answers.

To say more would spoil the fun but I do have to say that it's not surprising that author Mike Chen happens to be a fan of DC's Legends of Tomorrow as these two would definitely fit right in to any season of the show.  Don't get me wrong; Chen has plenty of original takes on the genre here with a good amount of comic book inspired creativity.

What his writing does share in common with LOT is the offbeat moments of humor that expand and lighten the mood at times, the growing friendship that compels both of the main characters and pushes them beyond their superhero/villain roles,along with making a world with such powerful beings seem very relatable.

While the overall mystery is engaging, it's the smartly written character development that makes this story soar:

Next up was Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson, a YA novel that is intended to be part one of a duology.

Seventeen year old Andra Watts was nervous enough as it is when her family planned to leave Earth to a settlement on the planet Holymyth, requiring her to enter a pod for a cryogenic sleep that would last a hundred years.

When she does finally awakens, it's a thousand years later and everyone that Andra knows and loves is long gone. Instead, an exiled prince named Zhade informs her that she's seen as the "Third Goddess", who is supposed to save the planet and in particular, the central city of Eerensed.

Hoping to find a way back to Earth, Andra reluctantly agrees to work with Zhade, who has a few scores to settle in Eerensed, and present herself to the current ruler Maret, who is Zhade's half brother and in need of a way to fix the protective dome that keeps the city residents safe from the ravages of the outer desert surroundings.

Andra does her best but things are always not what they seem, especially when it comes to Zhade and his secret plans. Can she save the day or is the universe fully aligned against her?

Since this is a first half of a bigger story(part two, Devil in the Device, is set to be out in August), I have to say that so far, I am intrigued. The characters are engaging and with the new forms of language that Andra and the reader learn to decipher keeps your mind alert as you go along. I look forward to finding out what is in store for Andra and company as it should be a sight to see:

To round things out, my last read for this Sci-Fi Summer was Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie, another part one but in what is called The Bloodright Trilogy.

Ettian is a student pilot at the Umber Academy, having enrolled years after his Archon home world was conquered by the Umber empire, leaving him an orphan with tragic memories of his past.

Nevertheless, he is determined to put that all behind him and become a useful member of this galaxy's dominant society. That plan is upended when his best friend/roommate Gal is revealed to be the heir to the Umber empire, which places a huge target on his back.

Believing that Gal will be a better and more peaceful ruler than his parents, Ettian risks everything to protect him from those looking to take Gal down and/or use him as a political bargaining chip. As the two of them find refuge on a distant planet, new allies are made and different plots to get Gal to a safer place are created and rewritten. One thing that is for certain are the emotional bonds that they share which go beyond friendship yet could make them, Ettian in particular, more vulnerable to their enemies.

This story falls into the YA/New Adult realm but it's a page turning read regardless of the category. Skrutskie gives her characters the right amount of emotional complexity and nuance that gels her world building nicely. She also adds a couple of twists and turns that I didn't see coming until the end that makes me eager to get book two(Oaths of Loyalty, due in September) as soon as possible!

I also hope that since this story is narrated by Ettian and the second installment is probably going to be told from Gal's perspective, that the third installment has Wen, a scrappy street survivor with bloodright issues of her own, at the helm there. She's extremely compelling and smartly kickass, so I'm not the only one who wants her to have her own book, I'm sure:

Thanks again to Michelle at Seasons of Reading for making Sci-Fi Summer possible and I hope that everyone who joined in for the bookish fun had a great reading time. The next readathon on the SOR roster is High Summer in August and I do have a TBR pile under way for that. A couple of titles will take me to Larry McMurtry country, which will be both a renewal and a discovery all in one for me: