Books Completed in March 2026

 Rules for Ruin, Mimi Matthews
Euphemia Flite is in debt. Rescued from a terrible life by Artemisa Corvus, proprietor of an eccentric girls' school that teaches young ladies how to overthrow the patriarchy, she's told that if she helps Miss Corvus defeat an odious man named Lord Compton, she will be free of obligations and can look forward to a life of her own.

Unfortunately, if she ruins Compton, she'll twist the plans of Gabriel Royce, a betting shop owner in a notorious poor neighborhood, who's actually using Compton to fund reforms in the area.

"Effie" is introduced to London society at a brilliant ball, where she meets Gabriel—and of course, the sparks fly. It's also a grand adventure with secrets, and a connection to Charles Dickens. Matthews writes grand books if romance mixed with history is what you like.

  Re-read: The Swiss Family Robinson, Johann Wyss

A friend was giving away some books, and I found a handsomely illustrated copy of one of my childhood favorites in the edition of which I first read it, which begins: "For many days we had been tempest-tossed. Six times had the darkness closed over a wild and terrible scene, and the light of dawn as often brought but renewed distress, for the raging storm increased in fury until on the seventh day all hope was lost." (How can you not fall in love with vocabulary like that? This is the stuff I grew up with, and Albert Payson Terhune, whose narratives and words always made me swoon.)

I discovered there are several translations on Project Gutenberg, including the "French" version, which includes the native attack that was used in the Disney film. I also found out that Jules Verne did two sequels to the book, The Later Adventures of the Swiss Family Robinson and The Castaways of the Flag. (Please note that this means Verne wrote fanfiction!)

Wyss made up the story to please his own four sons (like the Fritz, Ernest, Jack, and Franz in the story), and the variety of animals they run into is almost comical, knowing about geography and habitats as I do: lions side by side with tigers, agoutis rubbing noses with kangaroos, onagers sharing the spotlight with elephants, as if all of the continents banged up against "New Switzerland" and disgorged their native species before floating away again. (Talk about continental drift!) Add in the "how to" survival manual stuff, and it's a really odd book, but I do still love it.

(And everyone knows, right, that the Swiss family's surname isn't "Robinson"?—Wyss does not mention their last name at all, nor the father's first name; the mother is Elizabeth. It's The Swiss Family "Robinson" because it's a "Robinsonade," a tale of survival on a deserted island, like Robinson Crusoe, based on the real-life sailor Alexander Selkirk.)

 Rebel With a Clause, Ellen Jovin
Ellen Jovin has been teaching grammar and writing for years, but when she decided to set a table outside her Manhattan apartment with a "Grammar Table" sign on it, she discovered just how many people wanted to discuss spelling and grammar with her, basically, "What's right and what's wrong?" So she took the "Grammar Table" on the road to every single state in the lower 48 and had her husband film the interviews.

From the Oxford comma—"a national obsession"—to telling the difference between "affect" and "effect," from whether adverbs are overused—or not—to the joys (or not) of spelling bees, everyone wanted to talk English language conundrums. This is a compilation of the best, and sometimes the funniest, grammar conversations—and you learn something in the bargain.

 The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan
Everyone knew Amy Tan could write. But who knew she could draw so beautifully?

This is a gorgeously illustrated book about Tan's observations of the habits, quirks, and life of the birds at her feeder from 2017–2022. Bird lovers will adore. I sure did.

 Death Scene, Carol Perry
The fourteenth in the "Witch City" mysteries.

So happy Perry has continued this series! (I didn't want to read her other about Florida. Yeeech.) This time WICH-TV producer Lee Barrett Mondello, along with the rest of Salem, is invested in a new film about magic and witches being filmed at various historical sites, starring famous screen stars Darla Diamond and Lamont Faraday. Also working on the set is Doug Walker, Lee's crush from an old television show about a boy and his pet bear, someone she's dying to meet.

Then someone poisons Darla Diamond (who, according to other cast members, was pure poison herself) with something injected into her special chocolates—but the producer insists that the production go on with a body double and special effects.

There are lots of red herrings, but I guessed the killer early on. Still, it was great to see Lee, Pete, Aunt Ibbie, and the other regulars again, especially the orange tabby cat O'Ryan.

 Paris in Love, Eloisa James
I loved this story of romance writer Eloisa James, who was diagnosed with cancer just like her mother (things turned out fine for her). She convinces her Italian husband to sell everything, and they and their two children, Anna (the drama queen) and Luca (the teen cynic), move to Paris. While the children navigate going to school in a foreign language, the whole family comes to love their life in Paris. The chapters take the form of short essays on a particular aspect of French life, followed by Eloisa's diary entries. It's all very charming. I love Anna's little battles at school with the local "queen bee" student, and the stories about Alessandro's mother and how she has custody of the family dog.

Books Completed in October 2025

 In These Hallowed Halls, edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane
A dozen stories of dark academia, from the thievery of research papers and the seduction of graduate students, to the one really chilling, uncomfortable-ending tale called "The Department of Ontography," in which a student's curiosity about the mysterious department leads to a horrifying future. (The story of the new teacher at the isolated girls' school was pretty creepy, too!) This was a perfect book to read before Hallowe'en!

  Written in Bone, Sue Black
Who knew a book about the human skeletal system could be so absorbing?

Black, a forensic anthropologist, has another hit after All That Remains, in which she surveys the human skeleton top to bottom, and how evidence from each of the parts of the skeleton has solved crimes ranging from the heartbreaking death of an abused pre-schooler to the murders of adults. Along the way, you learn fascinating facts about our bones and skeletal structure, all told in Black's lively narrative style. Great for crime buffs and science nerds.

  Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things, Breanne Randall
Thalia, Eurydice, and Calliope Petridi are three sisters, all witches, who live in the charming town of Gold Springs, California. They own a combination bookstore/bakeshop (this sounds familiar...), but are struggling emotionally since their mother disappeared, leaving them in charge of the Dark Oak, a tree in which evil magic has been trapped. The Petridis are members of a group of magic users called Lightcrafters, who use the loss of happy memories to fuel their power; their rivals are the Shadowcrafters, who draw their power from the earth. And the latter—especially their leader Lucien Deniz--wish to draw power from the Dark Oak.

Then Calliope realizes, from a grimoire which communicates with her, that she must release the power from the Dark Oak to keep disaster from happening. Her ally? Deniz, who is abruptly and inexplicably emotionally tied to her.

This has a lot of positives to it, especially the sisters' support of each other, but the plot about the hidden secret of the Dark Oak and the feud between the Lightcrafters and Shadowcrafters seems drawn out. The text has some beautiful imagery, and Calliope's solution at the end is heartbreaking, yet optimistic.

  The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie: A Biographical Companion of the Works of Agatha Christie, Charles Osborne
A history of Agatha Christie's works (not just her mysteries, but her Mary Westmacott books and other writings) against the story of her life, a combined biography and detailed bibliography (down to how many times she reused plot points in different stories!). Presents a nice overview of her life and work.

  If I Stopped Haunting You, Colby Wilkens
This book sounded so promising. Two young writers, Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm, accompany two other writer friends to a haunted Scottish castle. There, they encounter what they believe is an actual ghost. It was billed as a romance/haunted house mystery. I was additionally charmed when I discovered the two protagonists were Native American.

Alas, the execution was...disappointing. Turns out Penelope and Neil are feuding because Penelope wrote an honest book about Native people that no one bought, and Neil sold out his Native lead to his publisher's suggestions, but the book has made him a sensation. After an angry encounter with Neil at a conference, Penelope imagines herself persona non grata in the publishing field. Naturally, once they're together at the haunted castle, they start being attracted to each other—pages and pages of sexual yearning. And that's the way the book goes, Neil and Penelope resisting attraction while investigating the ghostly happenings, with their two friends being continually annoying.

And the kicker at the end is that the ghost story turns out to be a totally ho-hum historical romance cliché. This one goes into the trade-in bin.

  Built on Chocolate: The Story of the Hershey Chocolate Company, James D. McMahon Jr.
Oversize hardback full of color historical photographs chronicling the history of Milton Hershey and the chocolate empire he founded. Hershey was a fascinating man who emulated Cadbury and Rowntree, the two British chocolate magnates, in building affordable, clean housing for his workers, and trying different types of products over the history of the company.

I remember taking the trolley tour of Hershey back in 2009. This book covers all the territory of the tour—and more.

  Mate, Ali Hazelwood
The sequel and companion book to Hazelwood's fantasy romance Bride, about the future of Misery Lark Moreland's childhood companion, Serena Paris, who, the world has learned, is a werewolf/human hybrid. Unfortunately, this means the humans want to exploit her, and the werewolves want to destroy her. Luckily, she's under the protection of Misery's mate/husband's brother Koen—unfortunately, he seems to hate her guts, even though, to protect her, he's claimed her as his mate, which means whoever threatens her risks the wrath of the werewolves.

There are many more twists to the story, including a cult and a promise to the pack. If you're in the mood for a suspenseful romantasy, this will fill the bill.

  Jolene, Mercedes Lackey
Anna May Jones, growing up in a smoky mining town, has always been sickly. Her parents, coal miner Lew Jones and his wife, abruptly send Anna May to live with her mother's sister, a "witchy woman" in a secluded area two-days wagon journey from her home. Her health immediately improves, because Anna May is an Earth Master and the pollution of her hometown made her ill. Anna May spends a happy summer learning to make herbal concoctions, and becoming attracted to a talented young stonecutter, Josh. She also discovers that she, like Aunt Jinny, can see and maneuver "the Glory," elemental Earth power.

This is mostly the story of Anna May's emergence as an elemental Magician and her slow control of "the Glory," her growing attraction to Josh, the discovery of a hidden Cherokee settlement, and the appearance of another "witchy woman," the beautiful—and super-powerful—Jolene. Very late, the book introduces a villain who lusts after Anna May's power, and the climax finds Anna May confronting Jolene for the soul of Josh. Kept my attention, but like the Annie Oakley book, much is world-building before the quick climax.

  What the Owl Knows, Jennifer Ackerman
Another brilliant book about birds from Ackerman. She writes in an engaging style about how humans view owls, and about the owl lifestyle itself, from courtship and parenthood to migration (yes, owls do migrate!). They are fascinating birds, not as "stupid" as has been indicated in many avian texts, yet not as "magical" as the Harry Potter books have made them out to be. The chapters about owls' extraordinary hearing are fascinating: how they can pinpoint prey from the tiniest move of a muscle of a small animal.

Books Completed Since September 1

  Winter's Gifts, Ben Aaronovitch
A re-read in real book form: FBI Special Agent Kimberley Reynolds, who was introduced in Aaronovitch's "Rivers of London" in Whispers Under Ground, is the focus of this short novella with a seasonal theme (after The October Man and What Abigail Did That Summer). A retired FBI agent calls in an alarm about a mysterious event in Eloise, Wisconsin, that no one understands until Reynolds finds out about it. She travels to Eloise to find that portions of the town have been destroyed by an "ice tornado," the FBI agent is missing, and some ominous creatures are wandering the shore of the nearby lake.

This starts out slowly, with Reynolds narrating her involvement due to her knowledge of esoteric activity that she learned from Peter Grant during his involvement in the previous case and talking about her past. However, the pace picks up very quickly as odd "monsters" creep out of a blizzard and wreak havoc in the town. The end is a tense chase straight out of a horror film as a long-buried curse has been unearthed involving Native American spirits.

I enjoyed this although it was a different narrative from the British-set books. Some British-isms do creep in, but I don't find them all that distracting. Reynolds herself is an interesting character because she was brought up as a strict Christian, but is now dealing with otherworldly events with no relation to the beliefs her mother tried to instill in her. I also liked the slow-attraction romance that is very peripherally part of the story (the ending is particularly sweet).

  Magical Meet Cute, Jean Meltzer
Faye Kaplan is an imperfect potter. Due to an abusive childhood, she has an injured hand, so her creations always turn out a little wonky, and she hates them for being imperfect. She lives in Woodstock, NY, with a rescue dog who's definitely not toilet trained, and feels her life is finally going the right way—until anti-Semitic flyers are scattered across town. Faye, who has embraced a future as a "Jewitch," in a drunken panic creates a protective golem which she buries in the backyard.

Next day, on the way to an emergency meeting at the local synagogue, she strikes and knocks over a man with her bike. Upon waking up, "Greg" can't remember anything about himself, so in a fit of remorse Faye welcomes him into her home to nurse him while he recovers. Did I mention Greg was a hot redhead, and looked a lot like the clay golem she created? Did I mention he was very sweet, but Faye was afraid he was going to end up like every golem in literature?

A whimsical story about magic surrounds a serious plot about growing anti-Semitism in the suburbs, as Faye fights the loathing of her imperfections and the growing kindness of Greg with the help of her elderly, hoot-and-a-half neighbor Nelly. A sweet, not spicy, romance about a serious subject from an unusual angle.

  Sensational: The Hidden History of America's "Girl Stunt Reporters," Kim Todd
In 1885, an "anxious father" wrote to a Pittsburgh newspaper asking what to do with his five daughters. They had graces but no marriage prospects, and everyone knew that all girls were "fit for" were having babies and marrying. A young woman who wanted to do neither wrote an impassioned response that women had brains and could do many things—if men would permit it. Invited to the newspaper office, spunky Elizabeth Cochrane was offered a job. Later she moved to New York City and became famous as "Nellie Bly," the woman who infiltrated a Gotham madhouse and told the truth about how the women were treated there—and that some people there weren't even insane; they were just there because they wouldn't do what their husbands or fathers told them.

Thus began the era of the "girl stunt reporters." After Bly's exploits, all the big newspapers wanted one; sales improved! They infiltrated sweatshops, visited abortionists, and generally went places a male reporter would have been seen as suspicious. They brought to light all sorts of social injustices and did bring about change. However, the rise of newspapers taking sides in political issues and promoting wars and colonialism brought the crusading women down: they were accused of contributing to "yellow journalism."

Fascinating study of Cochrane, Ida Tarbell, Helen Cusack, Elizabeth Bisland, and the other women who tired of reporting social events and clothing styles and instead went undercover in hidden places.

  Lunar Love, Lauren Kung Jessen
Olivia Huang Christenson is taking over her grandmother's matchmaking business now that her Aunt Lydia is retiring from Lunar Love, their family business based on the twelve signs of the Chinese Zodiac. Olivia believes in doing things the old-fashioned way, with strict adherence to the signs, and is dismayed when Bennett O'Brien, biracial like herself, sets up a "fun new dating app" ZodiaCupid that uses the same idea—sort of. Bennett, however, believes in only a loose approach to the Zodiac idea. It's even more awkward when Liv realizes Bennett is the cute guy she flirted with at her favorite bakery!

Slow moving but sweet romance about differing opinions (and emotions; Liv is reluctant to veer from tradition after her own match didn't work out and she lost a friend over another), plus enjoying the cultural traditions of the mixed Chinese families portrayed in the story. I never did figure out what Cookie Day was, but, no matter.

  Mrs. Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names, Stephen Moss
Long ago, a boy named Stephen Moss was fascinated by the name of a small bird, "Mrs. Moreau's warbler." Who was this Mrs. Moreau, and why did she get a bird named after her?

You'll find out this and the origins of other bird names, from the old, traditional ones which come from now-disused languages or onomatopoeia—did you know the oldest surviving bird name in English is probably "goose"?—to later words that relied on descriptions, to the development of scientific names.

Note that this is a British book and mostly British bird names, but some American English bird names are included. Along the way you meet the amateur and then professional ornithologists who gave us the names. Great fun if you are both interested in birds and love etymology.

  When Dogs Meet People, Gladys Taber
When they say "they don't make 'em like that anymore," it certainly applies to this book. It's a collection of Taber's short stories that would have been at home in any women's or general American magazine of the time, all concerning people and their dogs. Some are wartime/postwar stories, including the initially grim story of a soldier trapped in his wrecked tank and the tale of a shell-shocked man who's about to give up on life. Some are fit for teen magazines, like the opening story about a dog training club that admits a new member or the funny "Just a Little Havoc" about a young man who babysits his girlfriend's Irish setter.

All warm and cozy like a fleece blanket and hot chocolate on a winter's day.

Books Completed Since April 1

  Did I Ever Tell You This?, Sam Neill
Imagine you're in a pub, and suddenly actor Sam Neill strolls in and decides you're a genial companion for the evening. He sits down and begins telling you stories. Some are about his past, some are about his films, others are about people he encountered or his vineyards or things he likes and doesn't like, and others are about the dreadful news he received just after filming Jurassic World Dominion, where he found out he had a malignant cancer.

Reading this memoir is like sitting at the pub with Neill, having him tell you stories. You can hear his voice in the words, cheeky or sorrowful, opinionated or reflective. Granted, I'm not up on a lot of New Zealand or Australian slang and celebrities, so I had to do a bit of research on a few people, but those were minor problems. I've loved Neill since Hunt for Red October and this memoir is just Sam wrapped up all in a nice package and delivered with a pretty bow.

Comes with two photo inserts as well as photographs within the text. Sam Neill fans, this is a gift for you.

 The Hating Game, Sally Thorne
Lucy Hutton is the daughter of strawberry farmers; she came to the Big City to fulfill her dream of working at a publishing house, and found her dream job working at Gamin Publishing. And it was perfect until Gamin, a failing concern, merged with Baxley Books, and she had to work every day with Joshua Templeman, Mr. Perfect humorless Josh, who wears his shirts in strict rotation and makes other employees afraid. Together, he and Lucy play what she calls "the Hating Game," trying to outdo one another in being spiteful to one another. And when their respective bosses tell them there will be a competition between them for the role of chief operating officer, the Hating Game only escalates.

If only Lucy wasn't becoming interested in Josh, and vice versa.

Yes, it's a rom-com and yeah, I did enjoy this one. (It was made into a film, which I'll probably avoid; apparently it doesn't live up to the book.) Nothing really memorably special about it, except for the interesting revelation about Josh's room; some nice steamy scenes, including one in an elevator. Oh, and that wonderful dinner in the end when Lucy makes a speech to remember to Josh's clueless father, who should be slapped (and hard). But worth reading for a kick-back-and-relax reading day.

 The Bluebird Effect, Julie Zickefoose
I had been drawn to this book for years, even before I read Zickefoose's Saving Jemima, about her experience raising a blue jay. Zickefoose is a wonderful watercolor artist of nature and birds, and just her illustrations were worth the price of the book.

My husband bought this off my Amazon list and after I finished it, I went up to him, hugged him and thanked him. What a lovely experience! It's basically Zickefoose's stories from being a bird rehabilitator, and not just bluebirds: swallows, starlings, chickadees, wrens, hummingbirds, ospreys, titmice, swifts, grosbeaks, tanagers, phoebes, plovers, and more fill this wonderful volume along with pencil sketches, pen and paint, and watercolor pieces (a couple of fall and winter pics are breathtaking). She even talks about her beloved macaw, Charlie, who turned out at the end to be female.

If you love birds, this is a must have.

  It's That Time Again 3: Even More New Stories of Old-Time Radio, edited by Jim Harmon
This is my third of this set of four books with short stories based on old-time radio series, and I think it's my favorite so far. The stories are all crossovers, too, as illustrated by the cover illustration which shows Jack Armstrong teamed up with Tom Mix. (I really enjoyed this story, too; my complaint was that it was billed as a "novelette" and it was too damn short!)

Other goodies: the spooky Whistler/Traveler tale, Sherlock Holmes coming up against A.J. Raffles, a swell story where Sky King gets mixed up with Captain Midnight and his team, an interesting team-up (if it's the word) between Paladin and Marshal Dillon, the mystery "Death in the Corner Office" wherein Casey, Crime Photographer meets the Man in Black from Suspense, and a funny story where Gildersleeve just wants a quiet place to read his newspaper. Most of the other stories are good, too, even though I still don't "get" Lum & Abner (although they mesh pretty well with Mary Noble!).

  Revolutionary Roads, Bob Thompson
Thompson is not a historian. But when I looked through this book I decided it was just what I was looking for.

Schoolday history rarely goes into any depth about any historic event simply because there are only 180 hours a school year to address 400+ years (at least, only if you don't address the Native people here before the "discovery" by Columbus) of American history. What you learn are top names, dates, and quick descriptions, and you don't learn anything about the "average" American in history.

Thompson thus visits Revolutionary War sites, from the well-known—the inevitable "midnight ride of Paul Revere" and Bunker Hill—to the decisive battle no one remembers—Cowpens in South Carolina. He follows the career of Benedict Arnold to try to explain why this expert colonial leader turned traitor, we learn the truth (as my husband and I did) about Valley Forge (it wasn't the cold; it was mud and disease—and, oh, yeah, there were families there), you discover the real type of boat Washington crossed the Delaware River in (note it wasn't the kind in the famous painting), what was the Marquis de Lafayette's real contributions (also a nice write-up on Baron von Steuben), and actual narrative about Black and other minority fighters (including women). We meet the well-known like Arnold, Henry Knox, the British biggies like Burgoyne and Howe, Lafayette, and Francis Marion (cue "The Swamp Fox" theme on Walt Disney's TV show!) and the lesser known, like John Stark, Daniel Morgan, Henry Laurens, and Nathanael Green (well, unless you're a Rhode Islander). All in all, an entertaining, enlightening book that encourages you to go out and research history on your own.

  Marmee, Sarah Miller
As Caroline was Little House on the Prairie (the book, not the television series) told from Caroline Ingalls' point of view, Marmee is the diary of Margaret March taking place during the narrative of Little Women. I was skeptical about this book initially because I'd read Geraldine Brooks' March, which was supposed to be a history of a young Bronson Alcott, and I never felt it jibed with Little Women. But this reads like it really is Marmee's diary, and, of course, all the things Alcott might not have wanted to mention in a children's book (for instance that Hannah stayed with the Marches because she was an unmarried pregnant woman when she came to them, or Marmee helping the Hummels and bonding with Mrs. Hummel) which seem plausible. As in most of these books based on Little Women, Miller works real-life Alcott events (the Alcotts taking in a runaway slave* which goes on to explain an event Alcott glosses over in Little Women, Mr. March being named "Amos" instead of "Robert" as he is in the book, etc.) into the story, but they're not intrusive and work seamlessly into the story. I can really imagine "Marmee" writing this journal and feel her personality as shown in this book matches the woman we saw in Little Women.

Recommended for fans of Alcott/Little Women!

* Interestingly enough, the Japanese anime version Tales of Little Women from 1987 also uses this plotline.

  Life on the Mississippi, Rinker Buck
If you're like me, your biggest connection with traffic on the Mississippi comes from Huckleberry Finn, the riverboats that pop up in literature and media, and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, in which we learn about Mike Fink and the flatboat trade. (For me, also a book called A' Going to the Westward by Lois Lenski.) But before 18-wheelers, before the railroad, the main commerce lines in the United States were canals that led to the rivers, and the rivers which led the young U.S. to the big one: the Mississippi. Indeed, commercial boats still make up the majority of Mississippi river traffic. So Rinker Buck, who in 2011 rode The Oregon Trail in a covered wagon, now chronicles his months on a custom-built flatboat which he launches on the Monongahela, travels to the Ohio, and eventually merges with the Mississippi for the ride down to New Orleans. On the way, we learn the fascinating history of America's first westward movement and the role of the flatboat/keelboat (there were different kinds) in establishing commerce. (The flatboat/keelboat also goes further back than this first westward movement; the boats were used on New England rivers.)

This book is part travelogue, part history—and Buck doesn't stint on the cruel history of the Indian Removal Act or the spread of slavery to the horrible plantations of the western south—part adventure and part self-discovery, like traveling with incompatible co-pilots (the worst being a re-inactor more concerned with "how things look" than the journey) and broken ribs.

Plus, for me, there was joy in finding out what happened to his mother Pat, who I read about long ago in his dad's humorous memoir But Daddy! about raising ten kids.

I enjoyed this book so much—in fact, this was a grand month for reading. Everything was wonderful.

  CSI: Binding Ties, Max Allan Collins
This is the first of the CSI books I haven't really, really enjoyed. I liked it, but the plot was simpler than usual, so it wasn't quite as an "aha" moment when everything came together. Usually the plot involves part of the team working on one mystery and the other group work on a different case, and they end up being related; this is just a straight mystery involving the whole team: ten years earlier, Jim Brass' first case in Las Vegas came a cropper and a serial killer called CASt got away. Now crimes matching the CASt killings begin to surface. Brass and the CSI team headed by Gil Grissom enlist the reporters who covered the case and Brass' old partner on the case to finally catch the perp--but they soon realize the new CASt is a copycat.

That's it. Oh, it's convoluted enough, but I twigged on one of the bad guys as soon as he was introduced. The perp was a bit of a surprise, or, rather the reason the perp became the perp, and how the last murder was committed. So, good, but not as complicated as previous books.

Favorite "Dozen" Books of 2019

Once again, there's the difficulty of having to narrow these down to a dozen; I usually end up with the traditional baker's dozen [thirteen] instead. If this was a "best books," maybe the Griffo wouldn't be on here, because there's a bit in the story that's on the edge of credulity. But, being a "favorite," it needs to stay, because I was just so delighted with the protagonist being a retirement-age Italian granny. So I guess my "dozen" will have to be fifteen entries and sixteen books this year.

 The Bowery Boys Adventures in Old New York, Greg Young and Tom Meyers (taken from a podcast about historical areas of NYC, both still extant and now demolished)

 Cool Hand Lou: My Fifty Years in Hollywood and on Broadway, Lou Antonio (an autobiography of the actor and director)

 A Forgotten Place, Charles Todd (the latest Bess Crawford mystery, written in a Gothic style)

 Dear Mrs. Bird, A.J. Pearce (a young British girl survives the Blitz while working on a stodgy women's magazine)

 Dorothy L. Sayers: Her Life and Soul, Barbara Reynolds (biography of the Lord Peter Wimsey author)

 Underland, Robert MacFarlane (MacFarlane's tour-de-force about places underground from caves to crevasses to the catacombs of Paris)

 Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay, Julie Zickefoose (Zickefoose's story of the rescue and raising of a blue jay)

 The Rise of the Rocket Girls, Nathalia Holt (great story of the women who would work with the first rocket programs)

 A Death of No Importance/Death of a New American, Mariah Fredericks (the first two books in Fredericks' new series taking place in the 1920s, with a heroine who is not a 21st century woman in 20th century clothes)

 How Star Wars Conquered the Universe, Chris Taylor (the film series from George Lucas' original idea to hark back to the old movie serials to the present, with chapters on SW fandom)

 Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight, Jonathan Fetter-Vorm (the American space program that put man on the moon, told in a graphic novel—perfect!)

 Murder on Memory Lake, J.D. Griffo (starting new series with an unconventional heroine: a 60-ish Italian grandmother—when she exclaimed "Ah, Madon!" I knew I was home)

 A Gentleman's Murder, Christopher Huang (British murder mystery with an unconventional narrator, a biracial man, post First World War)

 The Body on the Train, Frances Brody (the latest in Brody's Kate Shackleton mystery series, and, if not the best, probably in the top three—great story!)

 On the Map, Simon Garfield (another great book from Garfield, this time on the history of maps and mapmaking)

What's next? Oh, as Betty Roberts would say with delight, so many things! I have three ARCs to read first, one the latest Maggie Hope mystery story, and then I have Nathalia Holt's new book about the women at Walt Disney's animation department, The Secret Commonwealth as well as Philip Pullman's book about writing, and I still haven't gotten to Tony Horwitz's final book...

Books Completed Since June 1

 Written in Stone, Christopher Stevens
English words have been traced back to early Indo-European tongues, but Stevens claims an even earlier pedigree: that some of our most basic words go back to the Stone Age utterances of our prehistoric ancestors. Stevens follows each individual word, basic vocabulary having to do with everyday life, from basic breathing to speaking to existence, words for birth and death, food and drink, light and dark, yes and no, growth and harvesting, and the more modern words that grew out of those simple roots.

Linguistics fans will enjoy; I certainly did.

 Murder in the Afternoon, Frances Brody
In this third in the Kate Shackleton mystery series, the novel opens with two children taking food to their father, a stoneworker at a quarry. But their errand turns into horror when they discover their father dead and the sundial he was working on ruined. However, when they go to get help and return with an adult, there is no sign of the murder—in fact no sign of their father at all. Their mother travels to the home of Kate Shackleton, asking her to find him, and reveals an incredible secret: she's Kate's sister. At first Kate takes on the case as an obligation, but then she becomes involved with her niece and the mystery itself.

These are great period pieces (post World War I), with Kate still suffering repercussions of losing her husband in combat and still hoping he may be found alive in some hospital. The additional baggage of the mystery involving her biological family is also telling in Kate's investigation as she discovers a little more of "who she is." Brody does a fine job preserving the customs, language, and atmosphere of the times without resorting to the casual prejudices of the era. The mystery is also reasonably complicated.

 Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leewenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing, Laura J. Snyder
This is an intriguing, if a bit tiring, book about artist Vermeer, scientist van Leewenhoek, and how they both used glass lenses to achieve breakthroughs in their chosen fields, van Leewenhoek to, of course, discover the "little animals" living in drops of water (bacteria) using the new microscopes, and Vermeer's use of the camera obscura and other pinhole techniques to emphasize depth of field in his paintings and develop new techniques of portraying perspectives. It's also a portrait of Dutch society in the 1600s: their science, exploration, finance, etc.

The detail may fascinate or bore you (I leaned toward the former, but even for me the prose was occasionally dense). My main problem, if any, was Snyder's continued assertion that, even though there was no record of it, Vermeer and van Leewenhoek just had to know each other: they lived in the same area, shared some neighbors and relatives, etc. A few times to make this assertion was okay, but it kept popping up interminably.

Best for those who are interested in the history of painting and/or scientific exploration, or perhaps Dutch history.

 Treasure of the Golden Cheetah, Suzanne Arruda
Jade del Cameron reluctantly joins a safari to Mount Kilimanjaro in the company of her friendly enemy Harry Hascombe, who's escorting a movie crew to the area. The flamboyant director is shooting a film about King Solomon's mines, and some of his crew still think there's treasure to be found. Harry has asked Jade to act as escort for the actresses of the company, and she gets an unwanted education in envy, cattiness, and rivalry from both the female and male members of the cast and crew. It also looks as if someone wants to sabotage the production. But from the beginning, even Jade's ward Jelani and her pet cheetah Biscuit know there's something going on, and they stow away with the party. And sure enough, death is in the offing.

The Jade del Cameron books always mix mystery, period charm, and travelogue, and this one is no exception. There's a nice sense of tension through the entire plot, red herrings, and of course the intrepid Jade herself. Her fiance Sam is becoming less of a cardboard character as well, although he is often ineffective. If you like period mysteries set in exotic places, these are worth your investigation.

 Cranston Revisited, Sandra M. Moyer and Thomas A. Worthington
A second vintage visit to my home town via old photographs and the folks at Arcadia Publishing and "Images of America." Long ago the places I remember full of shopping centers and favorite stores were farmlands dotted with cows and produce (at one time Rhode Island was a dairy capital!), there was a coal mine at the back end of what's now Garden City shopping center, and clothing mills dotted what wasn't pastures. Lots of pictures of the Sprague Mansion and even the trotting park that became the state fairgrounds and finally the housing plat where my playmates and my Mom's best friend lived. A must for any Cranstonian who loves history.

 Walk the Lines: The London Underground Overground, Mark Mason
What's one of the most memorable things about the city of London? Its transport system, about which many things have been written. But what's above those underground lines?

That's what Mark Mason sets out to discover as he walks each of the London Underground lines...overhead, from the shortest to the longest, outbound and back again, some done in the warmth and others done in the cold. One turns into a pub crawl. One is done with a friend. And along the way Mason notes historical markers, changing architecture, famous personages, and more quips than you can shake a stick at. He even explains the difference between "the tube" and "the underground," and indeed there is a difference.

I think by the end I was a bit tired of his whimsy, but take it slowly and you'll discover some inside history.

 Death of a Dog Whisperer, Laurien Berenson
Melanie Travis' peppery Aunt Peg, the one who dragged Melanie into the competitive dog ring by gifting her with the standard poodle Faith, has a new protege: Nick Walden, a young man who's called a "dog whisperer," who is having tremendous success with behavior training of both dogs and their owners. Even a wary Melanie, having heard too many gimmicks in her years in the dog ring and who knows Aunt Peg met Nick through her ex-husband Bob, who has led both of them astray before, likes the affable Nick. So why was he murdered?

I twigged on the solution to this one a little before the reveal, but it didn't keep me from enjoying the reappearance of semi-regulars like Terry and Crawford, or Bob being a big part of the plot, and even the fact that Melanie's mysterious previous neighbor figures into the plot. It's a shame something happened to Nick because he was actually a nice guy, as opposed to some of the murder victims previous in this series. And Melanie doesn't do anything goofy at the end of the story to precipitate the climax. The only problem was the nearly book-long difficulty between Sam and Melanie, but Sam's been such a perfect boyfriend/husband for so long it's actually a relief to know those two argue once in a while.

As always, I enjoy this series, despite any flaws in the individual books.

 Once Upon a Flock, Lauren Scheuer
Adorable little book about a couple and their child who raise a trio of chickens and learn that these supposedly "stupid" birds have personality and charm of their own. The flock is guarded by a cute little terrier, and Scheuer's adorable little drawings of chickens, dogs, and kids, plus photographs of the real thing, pepper the text. Animal lovers will...well, love!

 Heirs of the Body, Carola Dunn
This very latest of the Daisy Dalrymple-Fletcher novels has Daisy assisting with a mystery involving her own family. When Daisy's brother, who was to inherit the family estate, died in the Great War, and Daisy, being female, could not inherit, her cousin Edgar and his wife were the legal inheritors of the estate. Now, since Edgar and his spouse have no children, a legal heir must be found for when Lord Dalrymple passes on. Advertising produces several heirs, and Edgar asks Daisy to help him investigate the claims. As in all families, some of the claimants are nice, and some are not, and since this is a murder mystery cozy, of course one of them turns up dead.

This is an entertaining mystery in which we see more of Daisy's family—I simply love cousin Edgar, who cares more for his butterfly collection than his title (but who can get serious when he needs to)—including her sister and her snobbish mother. Once again Alec Fletcher's superiors are appalled that Daisy is involved in another murder, and there is fun with a village fete, where Belinda (Daisy's stepdaughter) and Derek (Daisy's nephew) prove they are both "bricks" in the best British slang tradition.

 Martha's Vineyard: Isle of Dreams, Susan Branch
When we left our heroine at the end of The Fairy Tale Girl, she was on an airplane fleeing the end of a broken relationship, back to somewhere she had loved, Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. She intends only to stay a few months to soothe her broken heart, and then she sees—and impulsively buys—Holly Oak Cottage, a tiny home in need of love. And gradually Susan falls even more in love with the Vineyard, and her home, and a new pair of cats...and with enough encouragement, submits her unique combination of watercolors, quotations, and recipes to a publisher for what will be the first of several beautiful cookbooks.

If I was enchanted with FTG, I absolutely adored this one, since I grew up in New England and the whole milieu of seasons, seashore, books, and artwork was very close to my soul, and the combination of watercolor art, quotations, vintage photographs, postcards, and Susan's handwritten text was like a warm, loving blanket of New England happiness. Even when snakes intrude into the Garden of Eden (yes, Cliff, her ex, showed up again, like a bad penny), it's a happy ride as you rejoice with her remodeling of Holly Oak, nature walks, and the whole heady book-publishing experience.

Of course, if you aren't a Branch fan, your mileage may vary. But anyone into home, domesticity, nature, and happiness of self will probably love this book.

 Melody Ellison: Never Stop Singing, Denise Lewis Patrick
The second book in the Melody Ellison series does not disappoint. In this outing, Melody has been able to "see in" her first new year, that of 1964. When the pastor of her church challenges his congregation to "make a difference," Melody and her cousin and her friends get together to rehabilitate a derelict playground and make it a good park for the neighborhood. It's a lot of work for the children, and they are almost stymied in their goals, but with the help from public opinion and some of the adults in their lives, they continue and persevere.

Once again, a great read. The book does not shy away from prejudices faced by the Ellisons, their families, and their neighbors, but they always hold up their heads and overcome hard times. Melody's brother Dwayne faces rocky times on his way up in Motown, and her sister Yvonne fights for civil rights in Mississippi, where the times are particularly dangerous for people of color. The family is a haven of love and support for all of them. Even when a final obstacle comes in their path, they keep faith and overcome it.

Melody Ellison and her family and friends are inspiration for us all.

 The Mysterious World of Sherlock Holmes, Bruce Wexler
This is a neat coffee table book that labels itself "the official book of the Sherlock Holmes Museum." It is like many of the other Sherlock Holmes summaries in that it talks about Conan Doyle and the origins of the stories, but also discusses police work at the time of the canon, women in the story, traveling in Victorian times, and the era's "forensics." Final chapters talk about Holmes and the media (Jeremy Brett was the newest Holmes when this was written), and there are oodles of photos from the Sherlock Holmes Museum and vintage Holmes illustrations, the latter which are the big draw in this book.

 Elise The Actress, Norma Jean Lutz
This is another "Sisters in Time," vaguely Christian-themed book like the "Dear America" series. Elise Brannon is growing up during the Civil War, with a best friend whose mother is struggling after her husband's death at Bull Run and her brother joining the Union army. Since she loves to act, she and her friends put together a show to earn money for a local hospital and entertain the wounded soldiers, and they all hope for a successful end to the war. But then Elise alienates her friend Verly by befriending a man whose son fought for the Confederacy.

This is a much better girl-in-the-Civil-War book than When This Cruel War Is Over, although the Brannons don't experience as much hardship as in that book, as it represents a more typical Union family. Elise is a likeable girl, and the Christian theme is very general, of forgiveness and generosity rather than evangelizing. This book also tries to show that both Union and Confederate sides suffered during the war and that labeling someone because of something a family member did is unfair.

The biggest thing I want to know about this book is why in the dickens is the family's "Irish maid and nurse" Berdeen speaking in a Scottish accent? Why is she calling Elise a "lassie" when a real Irish person would be calling her a "colleen"?