Staircase Wit
Books and Other Impressions
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge
It is quite trendy to write mysteries around famous, real-life characters and I tend to stay far away from these undertakings, as I usually find them unconvincing, anachronistic, or both. However, my friends at Publishers Weekly raved about this new series which features Midwesterner Tabitha Knight, who is making a protracted visit to her grandfather in Paris after WWII and meets aspiring chef Julia Child at the local market.
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
In this historical novel, two determined teen siblings play a role in winning the war for the Allies. Everyone tells fourteen-year-old Lizzie Novis that her mother was killed in a bombing but she refuses to believe it. Now that Britain is at war with Germany, her American grandmother wants Lizzie to come to Cleveland for the duration but Lizzie escapes from the ship and heads back to London to find her older brother, Jakob.
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie2024
I enjoy the Christies that feature Ariadne Oliver, the occasionally ditzy mystery author who dislikes the fictional detective she has made so popular, Sven Hjerson.
She usually avoids public appearances but in this book she has agreed to attend a literary lunch where she is accosted by a stranger who asks about Mrs. Oliver’s goddaughter, Celia Ravenscroft, and says:
"I want you to tell me, because I’m sure you must know or perhaps have a very good idea how it all came about. Did her mother kill her father or was it the father who killed the mother?"
Friday, December 13, 2024
Spell the Month in Books – December 2024
Can you spell the month in books? All from books I read this year:
Fontevraud Abbey, France |
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum - #Ozathon24
If you remember when Dorothy first met the Tin Woodman in The Wizard of Oz, he revealed he was once an ordinary wood-chopper in love with a Munchkin girl. After his axe was enchanted by a witch, he lost every limb, one by one, and a tin-smith replaced everything with tin. Once his heart was gone, he no longer loved the girl, so continued as a tin man until he got caught in a rainstorm and rusted, ultimately to be rescued by Dorothy.
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Six Degrees of Separation – from Sandwich to Moby Dick
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 Sandwich by Catherine Newman (2024). Because it is set on Cape Cod, the book was a local bestseller and I would have bought it for my sister had it been available in July.
Friday, December 6, 2024
The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith by Patricia Wentworth #DeanStreetDecember24
Jane Smith is alone in the world and down to her last two shillings and eleven pence when a strange young man mistakes her for her cousin Renata. Jane and Renata have never met but they are the daughters of identical twins – and are virtually identical themselves, at least in looks.
Monday, December 2, 2024
My November 2024 Reading
My favorites this month were The Law of Innocence about Harry Bosch’s half-brother, Mickey Haller, accused of murder and forced to defend himself from prison, and Mrs. Hart’s Marriage Bureau, a historical novel set between the wars in Britain. I also enjoyed another book about Orphan X and two books by Joan Aiken for Witch Week 2024 – Night Fall is just as memorable as the first time I read it.
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