Seems Canadian author/illustrator Ian Wallace really does have a cupboard full of interesting things from his travels across Canada. Find out what some of them are in The Curiosity Cabinet. Be sure to read the notes at the end, I'd missed several of the things he included in his drawings.

Red Again, by Barbara Lehman, is a wordless book. I'm not quite sure I 'got' all of the story it tells, but was intrigued enough to include it so that others can give it a try! (Seems it's a follow up to The Red Book, which I've not seen, but maybe that's the best place to start)? :-)

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Greetings all! I had some connection issues this morning so I am doing my Tuesday morning post on this Monday afternoon while everything seems to be up and running. Computers! ;-)

I Shot the Buddha, by Colin Cotterill, is the 11th in the Dr. Siri Paiboun mysteries. If you are not familiar with it, I suggest you give it a try! Start with The Coroner's Lunch. This time, Siri and his wife are on the trail of a missing monk. Visiting and resident spirits play a part in their investigation (and giving a new definition to possession being nine-tenths of the law). Keep an eye on the dog! Oh, and instead of being an armchair traveler, how about being a sedentary nomad?

It looks as if I've not included any of the earlier Patrick Taylor books, which comes as a surprise, because I've read them all! An Irish Country Practice is the newest, but start with An Irish Country Doctor. Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly is the GP in the small town of Ballybucklebo. Over the years his practice has grown and partners have joined his practice. In this most recent one they take on a newly graduated doctor. This book feels a bit darker and sadder than early books, there are issues with abuse, addiction, and so forth, but it's still a great read. I love the feeling of community in this rural area of Ireland, and there are some lovely touches of humor.

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This read started with a show Canadian Reader was watching ... an amazing show, she said, and one that was not airing in the U.S. (at least not then). However, I was able to find the book that inspired the series: Anzac Girls: the Extraordinary Story of our World War I Nurses, by Peter Rees. Powerful, intense, and well written this is a detailed and descriptive look at the brave women from Australia and New Zealand that served in WWI. Conditions are terrible, and go from bad to worse. It's a wonder anything could be done at all given the constant shortage of staff and supplies. Fair warning here, it is grim and sometimes almost overwhelming.

From this, Canadian Reader took me on to Coventry, by Helen Humphreys. It is November 14, 1940, a night of the "Bomber's Moon", a full moon that illuminates every building despite the town being in total black out conditions. Since it is an industrial town, it is targeted by the Germans. This is the story of the bombing raid that destroyed the town.

After these two very intense (but very good) reads I was in the mood for something lighter so was pleased to come across another of the periodicals from Centennial Presents. This time it was The Wonder of Disney: 80 Years of Animation. Walt Disney was not the best student, why, even in art class he didn't always follow instructions and put faces on the bouquet of flowers the class was drawing. Movies, and especially animation, intrigued him and it was while he was working at a commercial art studio when he met Ubbe "Ub" Iwerks. Together they would change the industry. From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (surely it would flop, who wanted to sit through 80 minutes of a cartoon?) to Frozen 2, this is a brief history of the Disney films. Nice pictures, too! ;-)

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Here's a wonderful version of one of my most favorite songs from one of my most favorite movies! Singing in the Rain, based on the song by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown with pictures by Tim Hopgood. Follow the happy dancers from the city to the rain forest in the joyful illustrations. (This is supposed to be a spring rain, but I decided not to wait until then to post this). ;-)

Here's another charming book from Kenard Pak. Watch the season change as you read Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter. Wonderful illustrations, I've already read it twice and will do so again soon. The summer to autumn book may be found in the October 6, 2016 post.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Books of a Feather is another in the Bibliophile Mystery series by Kate Carlisle. This is a fun series and I've enjoyed learning about restoring old books. We see more of Brooklyn's hippie parents this time, who bring a chaos all their own! Be aware of all the connections with birds this time .... :-)

This is another early Christmas read, but I thought I'd put it with another mystery that featured birds. How the Finch Stole Christmas, by Donna Andrews is the next of the Meg Langslow series. These are always a fun and easy read, which make them perfect for when things get hectic and you just want a bit of a sit with a cup of tea and a book. There is the often drunk, always cranky 'over the hill' star of the Christmas play, an over abundance of illegal birds confiscated in a raid (and needing a place to stay), a possible puppy mill ... what could go wrong?

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The Paris Spy, by Susan Elia Macneal is the seventh in the Maggie Hope Mystery series. This has been an excellent series, although I found this one a little sad. Maggie is undercover, in Paris, with two other agents. Their cover is blown and the results are not good. Who is the mole? On a mission of her own, Maggie is searching for her half-sister, who has vanished after being rescued from a concentration camp. Back in England we meet up with the man who will be responsible for misleading the Nazi forces (as in Magic Men). (See post of August 1, 2015 for books on this fascinating subject). I'm thinking we'll see more of him in the next book. The description of Paris, and how quiet it was, brought to mind the old song "The Last Time I Saw Paris" (by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II), a lovely and sad, nostalgic look at the city before the Nazi occupation.

An unexpected connection came in Smoke and Mirrors, by Elly Griffiths (and with fairy tales, too, actually). And, it's my first Christmas read for this year, as well! This is the next book in The Magic Men series, the first being The Zig Zag Girl (April 25, 2017 post). It should be a happy time, Christmas is coming, but instead the police are looking for two missing children, found dead in a setting with fairy tale overtones. Is it a clue, or a misdirection? (See the post of November 9, 2017, for a fun twist on fairy tales).

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As much as I enjoyed Night Shift, by Jerrie Hartland, I couldn't help wonder if perhaps it is a big dated? (Copyright is 2007). Are all these jobs still done at night? I could be wrong! I love how one job connected to the next, and the next.

Here's a sweet little book about two special times of day: dawn and dusk. Good Day, Good Night, by Margaret Wise Brown and pictures by Loren Long. Really, just a nice story, good to read out loud, or for a beginning reader to read on their own.

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What was 'in' when you were young? Your parents? Your kids? I thoroughly enjoyed The Mindset Lists of American History: From Typewriters to Text Messages, What Ten Generations of Americans Think is Normal, by Tom McBride & Ron Nief was a great romp through history. From what was new to what each generation took as normal, this was a great look at how things change (and how fast). Could you hitch a horse to a wagon? Would your grandchildren recognize a rotary phone? My mother was right, history is fun!

For some reason the subtitle of the Mindset book got me not only thinking about typewriters, but looking for books as well! First to come my way was Typewriter: a Celebration of the Ultimate Writing Machine, by Paul Robert and Peter Weil. The typewriter is much older than I thought, and there were lots of odd designs in the beginning! It took Remington (known for guns and sewing machines) (some early models even used the foot pedal the carriage return) to make it functional. In all the earliest models you typed 'blind' in that you could not see your work. The first use of the @ symbol was in 1536 (it represented a unit of wine). The first 'chat' could have happened as early as 1895 .... as long as you were connected to the other machine via wires, and no more than 10 miles apart that is. You could actually exchange type back and forth! (Remember, this was the era of Morse Code messages). There are wonderful pictures in this book, but I would have appreciated seeing how the paper fit into some of the earlier, odder models.

Typewriter: the History - the Machines - the Writers by Tony Allan (consultant Richard Polt) was a delightful read! I loved the pictures of the advertising and the trivia ... ! The qwerty row once included a period (after the e). The first significant literary work to be submitted to the publisher in typewritten form was Life on the Mississippi. A typewriter was taken to (and used) at the top of Mt. Everest (1922). Some mysteries (real and fictional) used the typewriter to solve the crime. And if you miss the sound of a manual typewriter? There's an app for that!

Did your parents or grandparents ever tell a "when I was a child ..." story? It was usually something along the lines of "I had to walk five miles to school, and it was uphill. Both ways!!" Mine would be that I typed all my papers (and a few for others) for college on a manual typewriter. With no white out (there was a funny little paper you used, retyped the error on that, then made your correction). And we were not allowed to use the easy erase paper (it smeared extremely easily).

Manual typewriters are making a comeback for one simple reason. They cannot be hacked.

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Seems November is 'real jewelry month' ... so I offer these suggestions in celebration! (And more than one person has pointed out that these could also go on my "You Read WHAT?" post of January 3, 2015)!

The Best of Costume Jewelry (revised 4th edition with updated prices) by Nancy N. Schiffer. I rather like the description in the front of "affordable opulence" as the pieces seen here are nice, rather than, well, tacky, like some costume jewelry I've seen. Not that I've done a lot of looking, of course, but still, this jewelry would look nice with your best outfits. The pictures were wonderful ... you got a nice, close up look. :-)

Now, the jewelry seen in those old movies was the real thing and you can learn about that in Hollywood Jewels: Movies-Jewelry-Stars, by Penny Proddow, Debra Healy, Marion Fasel (and photography by David Behl). From silent films to musicals, famous directors and stars, black and white to color this is a history of the 'bling' seen there. Easy to read, great pictures!

Today is Veteran's Day. I have done posts on this subject in the past but I could find no new books this year (maybe I just didn't allow myself enough time). I thank you for your service.

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Such a clever book! Mirror Mirror: a Book of Reversible Verse, by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Josee Masse, is a spin on fairy tales. There are two view points for many of the old familiar tales, each using the exact same words/lines but reversing them each time! This book is a lot of fun, spend some time with it! I shared this with Kiwi, who wondered if the youngsters today would be familiar with the old fairy tales ... would they? (Animated versions count). If not, then this probably wouldn't mean much to them. It might just be a picture book for us older types! Such a treat!

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Chasing Dirt: the American Pursuit of Cleanliness, by Suellen Hoy is a dense and detailed book. (Take a look at the Notes section, wow)! Early on the U.S. was just plain dirty ... seems some visitors even commented on it. Imagine, as cities grew, having to haul ALL your water up several flights of stairs. Or every business (including slaughter houses) tossing refuse onto the street (unpaved, muddy, etc). There was no plumbing, no sewers. No wonder yellow fever or cholera ran amok. Bathing was considered unhealthy. Things needed to change. Committees (usually women) were created (all volunteers) to come up with answers. One woman, Caroline Bartlett Crane was especially aggressive here ... she visited and established standards for everything from the slaughterhouses to the family home. Soon there were street cleaners (dressed all in white) that swept up and hauled away the garbage, etc. on the street, children would be taught basic hygiene in school, factory workers were taught at work, immigrants when they arrived ... it took some time, and was met with some reluctance, but the U.S. became one of the cleanest countries. The scope is huge here, the author discusses everything from city streets and alleys, factories and slaughterhouses, homes and tenements .... it's quite the read. And, thankfully, no test at the end! ;-)

On Island: Life Among the Coast Dwellers, by Pat Carney, is a collection of short stories about the people that live on a small island off the west coast of Canada. Most are true, the author said, and since no names are used, none had to be changed! I love the sense of community in this quirky little town, and one story, Storm, I liked so much I read it twice. One I didn't like much at all, but mostly this was a nice read.

After many years of living in England, Bill Bryson returned to his home in Iowa. He then took a drive, a long drive, one that covered 38 of the lower 48 states, and that became the book The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America. As usual with his writing, it was funny, sarcastic, irreverent, and affectionate, but this time I thought it bordered on the cruel every now and then. I loved his description that to get a view in Iowa all you needed to do was stand on two phone books. (Published in 1989, we were still using them). He visited the town of Bryson just because of the name! His comment on how he forgot just how vast this country is was brought into focus when he said that Illinois was twice as big as Austria. I got out my map!

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While the book Servants (October 10, 2017 post) was a history of servants in general and what they did, They Also Serve is a personal memoir of just one person, author Bob Sharpe. Mr. Sharpe started with helping in the family garden, but soon moved to a 'big house' where he worked 16 hour days, 7 days a week (he got Christmas off) for 8 years. (He started when he was 8). He worked his way up through the ranks from hall boy, to valet, and finally, butler. A nice, respectful read.

If you like food and movies then here's a fun book ... and there are trivia quizzes, too! Lights! Camera! Cuisine!: Cooking Fabulous Food From the Films You Love, by Holly Erickson. Included with a synopsis for the film there is a recipe or two, a nice idea of a menu for a complete meal, and, sometimes, a way to substitute for a difficult recipe, or a hard to find item. The recipes look easy to follow (but do remember, I don't cook!). A couple of things bugged me though: the list of movies in the answer key in the back ... all the movies that start with 'The' were under T (or A if they started with that). And, one glaring error in the trivia quizzes ... so were there others? Still, a fun read.

From Canadian Reader came a recommendation for Cynthia Riggs and her Martha's Vineyard Mystery series. The first title was not available locally so I started with the second: The Cranefly Orchid Murders. Phoebe lives on a prime piece of land. She is old, and estranged from her family so decides to sell rather than let any of them inherit it. Many groups want it, from a developer who plans on a gated community with million dollar homes, to a group of doctors who plan on an exclusive golf course, to the conservation group who would leave it as is. Naturally this sparks all kinds of reactions! I had an "aha" moment and thought I'd figured it out, but I was wrong! A nice cozy. :-)

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What to do on a wet, cold day? Ride the subway! Follow along with a father and his two kids as they spend the day on various routes of this underground form of transportation. I found the illustrations in Subway, by Christoph Niemann a bit unusual at first, but I got so I rather liked them.

This is just such a 'dog' book! Ball, word and pictures by Mary Sullivan. Note singular use of word ... it's just that! Told from the viewpoint of the dog, it's how he spends his day waiting for his human to come home from school, and what he wants to do when she does. The title is a rather unsubtle hint! :-)

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