Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum – Ozathon24

Title: Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
Author: L. Frank Baum
Publication: Books of Wonder/HarperCollins, hardcover, originally published in 1908
Genre: Juvenile fantasy/series

Description: In this fourth installment, Dorothy has returned from Australia where she was visiting with her Uncle Henry (including a detour described in Ozma of Oz), and has been staying with friends in San Francisco prior to rejoining her uncle.

WWW Wednesday – March 27

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?

Currently Reading

I am reading Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford (2024), a fun story about a woman about to celebrate her 60th wedding anniversary who decides to try out for a British Baking Show.

Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones

Title: Enchanted Glass
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Publication: Greenwillow Books, hardcover, 2010
Genre: Juvenile fantasy
Setting: Present day England

Description: Aidan Cain, an orphan who just lost his grandmother, ran away from foster care when unnerved by the mysterious creatures that have started pursuing him. In desperation, he took the train to a village outside London to find a sorcerer his grandmother had corresponded with for years, only to learn old Jocelyn Brandon is dead.

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

Title: The Phoenix Crown
Authors: Kate Quinn and Janie Chang
Narrators: Saskia Maarleveld and Katherine Chin
Publication: HarperCollins, Audiobook, 2024
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: San Francisco, 1906; Paris, 1911

Description: Four unusual women meet in San Francisco, just days before the infamous earthquake of 1906 and resulting fire that lasted three days, destroying nearly thirty thousand buildings and killing at least 600.

Spell the Month in Books - March

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

The Midwife by Jennifer Worth (2002). In 2013, I watched a season of Call the Midwife and was drawn to the memoir that inspired the series.

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie2024

Title: The Mystery of the Blue Train 
Author: Agatha Christie
Publication: Dodd, Mead & Co., hardcover, originally published in 1928
Genre: Mystery
Setting: France and England

Description: An American millionaire, Rufus Van Aldin, has purchased priceless rubies for his only child, Ruthie, which distracts her temporarily from annoyance with her philandering husband. She is heading to France to rendezvous with her first love (dismissed as a fortune hunter by her father years earlier) and takes the famous Blue Train, which brings affluent travelers to the Riviera.

Daughter of Lir by Diana Norman - Reading Ireland Month 2024

Title: Daughter of Lir
Author: Diana Norman
Publication: Headline Books, paperback, 1988
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: 12th century Ireland

Description: Taken from Ireland and abandoned at a French convent in the Loire Valley at 6, Finola is renamed Sister Boniface and brought up by the nuns, then at 18 is chosen to be Abbess of Kildare in Ireland. Her focus on her new Abbey and not the warring factions around it is disastrous and she makes a serious enemy, Dermot of Leinster.

My February 2024 Reading

February was a great month of reading for me with two five-star books, First Lie Wins, which was extremely suspenseful and entertaining, and The Women, which was harrowing (set in the Vietnam era) yet impossible to put down. I also really enjoyed The Cheat Sheet, a contemporary romance with a friends to lovers theme. There were quite a few books that made a very good impression on me, as you will see below:

Sing for Your Supper by Lenora Mattingly Weber - treading the boards in 19th century Colorado

Title: Sing for Your Supper
Author: Lenora Mattingly Weber
Illustrator: Ninon MacKnight
Publication: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, hardcover, 1941
Genre: Juvenile Historical

Description: The Dramatic Company of the Rockies is a traveling theatrical company that has been successful with a small, all-family cast.

The Birthday Girl by Sarah Ward - Reading Wales 2024

Title: The Birthday Girl
Author: Sarah Ward
Publication: Canelo Crime, paperback, 2023
Genre: Mystery
Setting: Wales

Description: Still recovering from an injury and a bad divorce, Malory Dawson retired from her job in London as a police detective and has taken on a temporary job as night manager of a boutique hotel on Eldey, an isolated island in Wales.

Six Degrees of Separation – from Tom Lake to Some Writer!

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 Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, which I reviewed in September and liked so much it made my Best of 2023 list.