The Listening Eye: A Miss Silver Mystery by Patricia Wentworth

Title: The Listening Eye: A Miss Silver Mystery
Author: Patricia Wentworth
Publication: Warner, paperback, originally published in 1955
Genre: Mystery/Series
Setting: 20th century England

Description: Paulina Paine goes to an art gallery to see a painting done of her by David Moray, who rents her attic as his studio. The painting is called The Listener, reflecting the thoughtful look when she compensates for her loss of hearing by using other senses.

A Burns Night Supper

Robert Burns, the poet born in Scotland in 1759, is probably best known for these verses:

O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.

WWW Wednesday – January 25, 2023

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?

Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie23

Title: Sad Cypress
Author: Agatha Christie
Publication: Berkley, paperback, originally published in 1940
Genre: Mystery/Series
Setting: Great Britain

Description: Elinor Carlisle and Roderick Welman met as children, visiting her Aunt Laura, who was married to his uncle Henry. They are engaged and expect either or both will inherit Laura Welman’s fortune.

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Title: Killers of a Certain Age
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Publication: Penguin, audio, 2022
Narrators: Jane Oppenheimer, Christina Delaine
Genre: Suspense
Setting: Present day

Description: Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have been friends and colleagues since their 20s when they first joined a secret organization called “The Museum” and were trained as assassins.

My December 2022 Reads

This month was noteworthy for finishing a group read of Susan Cooper, joining Liz Dexter's Dean Street December, and reading the new Lacey Flint mystery by Sharon Bolton, which caused me to go back to the beginning of the series, plus listen to her recent standalone, The Split.

The Labyrinth Makers by Anthony Price

Title: The Labyrinth Makers
Author: Anthony Price (1928-2019)
Publication: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, paperback, 2010 (originally published in 1970)
Genre: Mystery
Setting: 20th century Britain

Description: David Audley is a historian for Britain’s Ministry of Defense whose research expertise is the Middle East, when he is woken up by the telephone in the middle of the night, summoned to a 6 am meeting in London, and told to dress for a funeral.

My Life in Books - 2022

I borrowed this meme from AnnaBookbel, but I have done a few similar versions in the past.

Using only books you read in 2022, answer these prompts. Try not to repeat a book title (links in the titles will take you to my reviews where they exist).

In high school, I was: The Woman in the Library (Sulari Gentill)

Trust by Hernan Diaz

Title: Trust
Author: Hernan Diaz
Publication: Riverhead, hardcover, 2022
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: New York and Europe

Description: Benjamin and Helen Rask are a prominent Manhattan couple in the 1920s. He is an eccentric but successful Wall Street investor whose family made its money from tobacco. Helen is from a well-born Albany family and is interested in philanthropy. Neither is very comfortable with people, including each other.

Six Degrees of Separation – from Beach Read to Winter Cottage

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place, add six books, and see where we end up. This month’s starting point is Beach Read by Emily Henry. I haven’t read that but I did recently finish Book Lovers by the same author.  

Favorite Reads of 2022

Here are my favorite books from the past year:

Best Nonfiction Read of the Year: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (2015) (audio read by talented Scott Brick). I was mesmerized listening to the audio of the Lusitania’s last and tragic voyage in 1915. Larson weaves together stories about the passengers and crew, bringing them all to life.

Silver on the Tree: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Title: Silver on the Tree: The Dark is Rising #5
Author: Susan Cooper
Publication: Scholastic, paperback, originally published in 1977
Genre: Juvenile fantasy/series
Setting: Wales

Description: Will Stanton, the main protagonist of The Dark is Rising sequence, is fishing with two of his brothers on Midsummer’s Eve when he realizes “that a part of his life which had been sleeping was broad awake once more.”