I dare you not to at least move in your seat.
This one got me to stand up 🙂
Old Tune Tuesday – Stevie Wonder
Octavia Butler – Get to Know Her
I heard this piece on npr this morning and had never heard of Octavia but I am now definitely interested in reading some of her stuff. (click the image to read or listen to the piece on her.) She’s an inspiration to all writers!
The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
I saw the author name on this audio book at my local library and enjoyed the one mystery I had read of hers and my daughter really likes her Maisie Dobbs series, (Maisie Dobbs – the first in her Maisie Dobbs series) so I thought this was worth a go.
Stats: Published in 2014, print is 319 pages, audio is 8 discs – 9.75 hours read by Nicola Barber
Blurb: (Goodreads) By July 1914, the ties between Kezia Marchant and Thea Brissenden, friends since girlhood, have become strained—by Thea’s passionate embrace of women’s suffrage and by the imminent marriage of Kezia to Thea’s brother, Tom, who runs the family farm. When Kezia and Tom wed just a month before war is declared between Britain and Germany, Thea’s gift to Kezia is a book on household management—a veiled criticism of the bride’s prosaic life to come. Yet when Tom enlists to fight for his country and Thea is drawn reluctantly onto the battlefield herself, the farm becomes Kezia’s responsibility. Each must find a way to endure the ensuing cataclysm and turmoil.
As Tom marches to the front lines and Kezia battles to keep her ordered life from unraveling, they hide their despair in letters and cards filled with stories woven to bring comfort. Even Tom’s fellow soldiers in the trenches enter and find solace in the dream world of Kezia’s mouth-watering, albeit imaginary, meals. But will well-intended lies and self-deception be of use when they come face-to-face with the enemy?
What I liked: It was well written and does a good job portraying the life of those in England and somewhat at the French front in WWI. Winspear does a good job with the bad guy in the book – the sergeant who has singled out Tom as his whipping boy. Nicola Barbar does a wonderful job with the narration.
What I didn’t like: Winspear didn’t really get me to care about most of the characters or their lives, except maybe Tom – the farmer and the main protagonist’s wife. Kezia is a wonder in that she takes to farm life like a duck out of water despite not having set foot in a kitchen before this. I think this is possible, but it’s just too tiddy – she really hardly has any hiccups with this new roll, even when she does it without her husband, hitching up the horse and everything! Â (Not likely!) And Winspear uses a nice device of connecting with her husband in France through the recipes she makes (or pretends to) but it is way over used. I found myself fastforwarding through the 3rd and 4th and 5th time she uses this device. I won’t give away what happens at the end, but the sergeant does something that seems extreme even for the nasty man he is. It is supposed to be shocking bu just isn’t believable. She also lets you in on the life of their neighbor, who ends up being Tom’s superior, but she ends is participation in the book in a odd way, I think.
Rating: 2.5/5 If you want to read Winspear, stick to the Maisie Dobbs books.
Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland by Ace Atkins
I needed a short book for a car trip and picked this one.
Stats: Audio book is 6 CDs, narrated by the actor Joe Mantegna, print is 306 page, published in 2013
Blurb:Â Henry Cimoli and Spenser have been friends for years, yet the old boxing trainer has never asked the private eye for a favor. Until now. A heavy-handed developer is trying to buy up Henry’s condo on Revere Beach and sends thugs to move the process along. Soon Spenser and his apprentice, Zebulon Sixkill, find a trail leading to a mysterious and beautiful woman, a megalomaniacal Las Vegas kingpin, and plans to turn to a chunk of land north of Boston into a sprawling casino. Bitter rivals emerge, alliances turn, and the uglier pieces of the Boston political machine look to put an end to Spenser’s investigation.
Aspiration, greed, and twisted dreams all focus on the old Wonderland dog track where the famous amusement park once fronted the ocean. For Spenser and Z, this simple favor to Henry will become the fight of their lives.
What I liked: I liked listening to Joe Mantegna. His voice was perfect for the New York area characters. The story fit the area as well. I have never read any Robert Parker so I can’t say how close Atkins is to Parker’s style, but I did enjoy the humor of Spenser’s character – note: Ace Atkins is apparently trying to write in Parker’s style, though I don’t know if he is using Parker’s outlines or why it’s titled Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland since Parker is dead and Atkins wrote this story. The story itself is entertaining enough though not one in which I couldn’t wait to get back in the car to listen to. The subplot of Spenser and his sidekick “Z” is semi-interesting and adds a bit more depth  and humor to the story, so that was helpful.
What I didn’t like: The real story takes a while to take form. It starts out with Spenser helping a friend with an issue related to his condo being bought from underneath him. Not anything that makes you particularly interested. Atkins throws in some tough guys beating up on each other, but still, it doesn’t peek my interest. When this finally uncovers the real things that are happening – the political involvement, the gambling interest, the dead guy in the trunk – it starts to get a bit more interesting, but the story kind of just plods along. It’s not bad, but it’s not amazing either.
Rating: 3/5
Photo Phriday – Cats in Things
Love this image. No wonder mice are afraid!
My cat would never sit still for this kind of picture.
Old Tune Tuesday – Twist and Shout
We haven’t listened to the Beatles in a while, and I love this video.
