Book Review: Spook Street by Mick Herron (Slough House #4)

Spook Street by Mick Herron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

River Cartwright, Jackson Lamb and the rest of the Slow Horses are back in this fourth installment of Mick Herron's Slough House series, including two new faces in the group.  River's grandfather is a retired MI-5 operative, but River has been concerned about his grip on reality recently and has started visiting him more often.  In another story line, there has been a bombing in a London shopping center which killed more than 40 people.

The action is fast-paced and there are multiple locations around London, Kent and even into France.   Chapter sections switch back and forth between all of the players, keeping the reader in suspense.  Bits of humor are interspersed throughout, usually involving Jackson Lamb's personal hygiene and political incorrectness.  Personally, I have been loving the Apple TV+ streaming version of the novels, and look forward to more books in the series and more seasons of the show.  

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Book Review: How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An unlikely trio of individuals meet under unlikely circumstances and discover things about themselves and the others. 

Harriet is a retired school teacher who volunteers at the local women's prison by running a book club for the women inmates.  Violet is a young woman serving time in the prison because of bad decisions resulting in the death of a woman in a traffic accident.  Frank is the widower of the woman killed in the accident who also carries a secret with him.  

As you probably know, I'll read any fiction books about books, reading, libraries, and book clubs.  This book shows the power of books and reading, and how it can draw people together from vastly different backgrounds and bring them to a common place to discuss books.  Each chapter is written from a different point of view by each of the three characters.  It deals with loss, loneliness, second chances, starting over, emotional growth, friendship, the importance of books and reading, and forgiveness.  That's a lot to cover in just about 300 pages, but Monica Wood does an incredible job of packing this novel full of emotion along with humor.  Highly recommended!

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Book Review: The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Eris is a tidal island located in the Irish Sea off the west coast of Scotland.  It can only be reached via the causeway twice each day when the tide is out.  There is only one house on this tiny island, once inhabited by the artist Vanessa Chapman.  The story is told by three people -- Vanessa (through her diary entries and newspaper/magazine articles about her art), Grace (her companion and caregiver), and Becker (the art expert who is curating Vanessa's works after her death). 

There are mysterious disappearances, unsolved mysteries, unreliable narrators, red herrings, and other events which leave the reader guessing until the very last page.  The non-linear time frame, along with the multiple points of view only contribute to this heart-thumping, page-turning thriller.  I found myself holding my breath as I read this book, unable to put it down.

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Book Review: The Color of Air by Gail Tsukyama

The Color of Air by Gail Tsukiyama
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The setting is the small coastal town of Hilu on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1935.  The Mauna Loa volcano has just started erupting again, slowing spreading lava towards the town 40 miles away.  The book focuses on the very close-knit Japanese American community in Hilu and in the neighboring sugar plantation -- shop keepers, fishermen, and cutters or workers on the sugar plantation.  They treat each other like family because they are one very large supportive family group. 

The story is told from multiple points of view:  Koji is a former cutter and now runs the sugar train on the plantation, Daniel is the young doctor who has just returned from medical school and residency in Chicago, and Mariko is Daniel's single mother who worked very hard to send him to medical school.  The story takes place over a six-week period from November 1935 through January 1936, but also includes flashbacks by various individuals to the early 1900s.  

This is the second book that I've read by Gail Tsukiyama.  I fell in love with her writing in Samurai's Garden, and it happened again when reading this book.  Once again I became immersed in her story, experiencing the place and time of the book, learning about the sugar plantation, the food and customs of the Japanese Americans living in Hawaii, and feeling the heat and humidity of Hilu.  Highly recommended!

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Book Review: The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Emma experiences a family trauma right after high school graduation which forever alters her career plans.  Ten years later, she is a work-from-home romantic comedy screenwriter and has the chance of a lifetime to go to LA and work with her idol.  Charlie is an incredibly talented and famous screenwriter of blockbusters, but doesn't know she's coming, doesn't want to work with a partner, and doesn't think his screenplay needs re-writing.  In spite of everything, they start writing together.  They experience roadblocks and left turns along the way, until romance finally blossoms and love wins out.

This was a quick and fun read, and came just in time for Valentine's Day.  I had to wait for MONTHS to get it on Kindle from my library, but it was worth the wait.  This is the second book I've read by Katherine Center, and really enjoy her writing.  Sure, there's romance, comedy, the 'will-they-or-won't-they?' moments, some bumps along the way, and the moment they finally realize they are destined to be together.  But she also provides depth of character and moments of drama as well.  I'm looking forward to reading more of her books, and hopefully also seeing this book make it to streaming service near me.

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Book Review: The King Arthur Baking School: Lessons and Recipes for Every Baker by King Arthur Baking Company

The King Arthur Baking School: Lessons and Recipes for Every Baker by King Arthur Baking Company
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wanted some basic background information on bread making techniques.  This is a beautifully comprehensive book written by the folks who make King Arthur products and teach classes at the King Arthur Baking School. 

The basic bread recipe is the first one in the book, and covers quite a few pages.  I knew I was in trouble when there was more than one page devoted to the various mathematical formulas you need in order to calculate the temperature of the water that you add to your bread mixture!  This book was not for me -- much too complex and over-the-top for this person who just wants to make an occasional loaf of bread.  Back to the library it goes.   I'll look for something much more simplistic and leave this book to the home cook chef wannabees.   

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Book Review: Martha: The Cookbook—100 Favorite Recipes, with Lessons and Stories from My Kitchen by Martha Stewart

Martha: The Cookbook—100 Favorite Recipes, with Lessons and Stories from My Kitchen by Martha Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is Martha Stewart's 100th (!!) cookbook - quite an accomplishment!  In addition to her 100 favorite recipes, it contains various memories plus historical photos, all wrapped up in a gorgeous coffee table book.  There are full color photos of each of the recipes, plus step-by-step instructions.  Some of the recipes are quite complex and intricate (puff pastry from scratch!), while some are quite straight-forward, using just a few quality ingredients.  I learned the secret to creating the beautiful ice shards on the top of a martini - using crushed ice instead of ice cubes in the shaker!  Of course she calls her recipe Martha-tinis. 

This book is an excellent overview of her career through her recipes.  Highly recommended.

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Book Review: I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel

I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a huge fan of Anne Bogel -- her blog, her podcast, and her book club.  I bought this book when it was first published and read it quickly at the time.  Now that I'm retired, a member in four book clubs, and spend an inordinate amount of time each day reading, I wanted to re-visit the book and savor it again.  It was even better the second time around! 

She has such insight about all aspects of reading, and she reads an incredible amount of books each year.  This enables her to give "what should I read next" recommendations to her podcast guests, make such spot-on suggestions in her annual winter, spring, summer, and fall reading guides, and also to select such wonderful books each month for her book club.  She writes about her reading life when she was growing up, as a recently married young woman living right next door to her public library (envious!!), and her life now being fully immersed in everything bookish.  I would highly recommend anyone who loves reading and is NOT familiar with her work to read this book, but also to go to her website and explore -- you won't be disappointed!  https://modernmrsdarcy.com/

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Book Review: Sandwich by Catherine Newman

Sandwich by Catherine Newman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A very honest look at life through the lens of a peri-menopausal mid-50s wife/mother/daughter.  She is spending the week in a cottage rental on Cape Cod with her husband, her two adult children (plus one significant other) and her parents.  Welcome to the sandwich generation.  We discover family secrets, backstories, opinions, loves, hates, and more. 

Her internal monologues often actually get spoken out loud.  She is very opinionated, and the book deals very frankly with sexuality and menopause.  I laughed...I cried...often on the same page of the book.  It was a very poignant read and brought back a lot of memories from my life.  It's also a very quick read (226 pages) and I polished it off in two days.  It could have easily been read in just one day, but life intruded on reading.

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