The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson

Title: The Star That Also Stays
Author: Anna Rose Johnson
Publication: Holiday House, hardcover, 2022
Genre: Juvenile historical fiction
Setting: 1914 Michigan

Description: Norvia Nelson is proud of her heritage, Chippewa on her mother’s side and Swedish on her father’s. If only her parents cared enough about their five children to stop arguing!

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh – Reading Wales 2023

Title: The Last Party
Author: Clare Mackintosh
Publication: Sourcebooks, hardcover, 2022
Genre: Suspense
Setting: Wales

Description: Rhys Lloyd is a local boy who made good as an opera singer and returned home to develop a resort community on Llyn Drych, Mirror Lake, which is bordered by Wales on one side and England on the other. The Welsh locals from the village of Cwm Coed are wary of The Shore and its ostentatious inhabitants, so a party to which all are invited seems like a good idea until the next day when Rhys is found floating in the lake.

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy #ReadingIreland2023

Title: Trespasses
Author: Louise Kennedy
Publication: Riverhead, hardcover, 2022
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: Northern Ireland, 1975

Description: Cushla is a primary school teacher at St. Dallan’s near Belfast, who serves in her family’s pub when her brother Eamonn needs help with the uneasy mixture of Catholics and Protestant customers.

WWW Wednesday – March 22, 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?

Currently Reading

Sometimes a perfectly good book will be sitting there, patiently waiting to be chosen, and it’s the reminder from the library that it is due and cannot be renewed that finally moves it to the top of the TBR pile.

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy #ReadingIreland2023

Title: Heart and Soul
Author: Maeve Binchy
Narrator: Sile Bermingham
Publication: Random House, Audio, 2008
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Ireland

Description: Dr. Clara Casey had been hoping for a different job but instead finds herself managing a new Heart Clinic attached to St. Brigid’s Hospital in Dublin. She has plenty of stress at home dealing with two high-maintenance daughters and the husband she kicked out for cheating years ago, so puts all her energy into the clinic.

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

Title: The Moving Finger
Author: Agatha Christie
Publication: William Morrow, paperback, originally published in 1943
Genre: Mystery/series
Setting: 20th century England

Description: Jerry Burton’s recovery, after crashing his plane, is slow, so when his doctor recommends recuperating in the country, Jerry and his younger sister Joanna, rent a house for six months in the small village of Little Furze, Lymstock.

Blitzcat by Robert Westall - historical fiction about an intrepid cat during WWII

Title: Blitzcat
Author: Robert Westall
Publication: Scholastic, hardcover, 1989
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Setting: WWII Britain

Description: A black cat, named after Lord Gort, pines for her owner when he joins the RAF, and resents the new baby Geoff’s wife, Florrie Wensley, fusses over instead of her. Sensing strongly that Geoff is somewhere, she sets off to find him.

Out of the Rain by Elizabeth Cadell

Title: Out of the Rain
Author: Elizabeth Cadell
Publication: William Morrow, hardcover, 1987
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Late 20th-century Britain

Description: Edward Netherford is a quiet London lawyer who inherited some difficult clients from his father and is forced to go to Yorkshire in an attempt to retrieve some paintings they inherited.

Dean Street Press

Very sorry to learn of the unexpected death of Rupert Heath, a British literary agent who founded Dean Street Press, bringing many gems back into print.  Several years ago, he added the Furrowed Middlebrow imprint, which I have also greatly enjoyed.   I had hoped to meet Rupert for a drink when I was in London last June but the timing did not work.  Here is a link to the obituary written by his sister in the Bookseller.  Scott at Furrowed Middlebrow has also written about Rupert.

I know Rupert greatly enjoyed Dean Street December, hosted by Liz at Adventures in Reading, Running, and Working from Home, and I am glad she made time to organize that at such a busy time of year.

I enjoyed my correspondence with Rupert and his comments on my reviews.  This is a loss to all readers. My sympathy to his family and coworkers.

Spell the Month in Books – March

Spell the Month in Books is the brainchild of Reviews From the Stacks and occurs on the second Saturday of each month. This month I chose from books I read in 2022:

Haunted Ground by Erin Hart #ReadingIreland2023

Title: Haunted Ground
Author: Erin Hart
Publication: Scribner, hardcover, 2003
Genre: Mystery
Setting: Present-day Ireland

Description: When farmers cutting turf in a peat bog uncover a well-preserved woman’s body, the pathologist refers it to Cormac Maguire, an archeologist at University College Dublin and Dr. Nora Gavin in the anatomy department at Trinity College Medical School.

My February 2023 Reads

It is rare to read two books in the same month that you know will make your "Favorites list" at the end of the year but I thought these two historical novels were exceptional; I recommend both.

Historical Fiction

Six Degrees of Separation – from Passages to House of Sand and Fog

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 Passages by Gail Sheehy, which was a huge self-help book in its day.

However, even when I worked in publishing and had to sell such books, I didn’t have much patience with them. The only one I ever found convincing was:

The Winter Guest by W.C. Ryan #ReadingIreland2023

Title: The Winter Guest
Author: W.C. Ryan
Publication: Arcade Publishing, hardcover, 2022
Genre: Historical Mystery
Setting: Ireland, 1921

Description: After an ordinary evening of cards and conversation, Maud Prendeville, Lord Kilcolgan’s daughter, and two companions are killed in an IRA ambush, yards from her home in the Irish countryside.

WWW Wednesday – March 1, 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?