Dear Miss Lake by AJ Pearce: a WWII story

In the fourth – and equally delightful as its predecessors – book about Emmy Lake, it is 1944, the war seems endless, and even the upbeat staff of Women’s Friend magazine are exhausted by the need for nonstop positive messaging:

Nightshade by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly can’t write fast enough for me now that I have caught up with nearly every one of the 39 books he has written. So, of course, I was pleased to hear he was launching a new series that features Detective Stilwell (either the author deliberately did not give him a first name or I missed it), who exposed the sloppy work of a fellow detective. His reward – no support from Internal Affairs; lots of animosity from Rex Ahearn, said detective; and exile to a remote but beautiful part of Los Angeles County, Catalina Island. 

WWW Wednesday - August 13

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Spell the Month in Books - August

Spell the Month in Books is hosted by Reviews From the Stacks and occurs on or near the second Saturday of each month:

Apples Every Day by Grace Richardson (1965). This is a quirky boarding school story about Sheila, spending her first term at a progressive school in Canada where you only go to class if you are in the mood.

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie2025

Christie taps into the near-universal fear people have of the dentist in a mystery where the anxious patients were so busy quaking they became unreliable witnesses when poor Mr. Morley is murdered, practically in front of their eyes!

The Active-Enzyme Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch by E.W. Hildick – 13/20 Books of Summer

Alison McNair and her sister are on vacation in Upstate New York with their parents and older brother when they succumb to measles, so they are bored and miserable in their recovery, giving Allison (12) even more opportunity than usual to lord it over Jeannie (7). She tries telling stories, then turning Jeannie’s doll into a vampire, which ends in disaster:

The Black Honeymoon by Constance and Gwenyth Little - 12/20 Books of Summer

Miriel Mason has been supporting the war effort as a nurse and has been assigned to a difficult yet affluent patient, Richard Lang. Distracted by his attractive nephew, Ian, a lieutenant on furlough, Miriel has just married Ian on the strength of five days’ acquaintance. In the taxi after the civil ceremony, he explains he has no money so they need to spend their honeymoon at Richard’s house – but not to worry, it will be private because Richard is in the hospital and his elderly sister Violet never leaves the house. 

Six Degrees of Separation― from The Safekeep to The Woman in the Library

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. This month’s starting point is The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, which is described as a twisted tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch countryside.