The Killing at Kaldaire House is the first in a new series by Kate Parker: the Milliner Mysteries. Emily Gates makes amazing hats. Her business is growing, and her hats are in demand. Even more so when she designs a veil that proves useful when women are riding in that new fangled invention: the automobile. While sneaking in to steal a painting one night (you'll have to read the book to find out why) she finds the owner of the unconscious and bleeding on the floor. By calling for help she sets the story in motion. He dies, who did it and why? There are family issues (she wants nothing to do with hers) and exiting races (all the way up to speeds of twelve miles an hour)! I'm ready for the next book, but it's not out yet .... darn!

Gone Gull, by Donna Andrews, is another in her Meg Langslow Mystery series. Set in a newly opened craft center (think classes for potters, painters, weavers, etc), things are not going as planned. It starts with vandalism but soon (of course) a body is found. Lots of interesting (and some annoying) characters here. Fun bits on birds, too, as usual for this series. :-)

Murder in the Mystery Suite is the first in the new series by Ellery Adams, A Book Retreat Mystery. Looking for a way to create interest in Storyton Hall, manager Jane Stewart decides on a 'mystery' get away, complete with costume dinners, scavenger hunts and so forth. When the guest that won a rare, first edition book is found dead in his suite, the mystery goes from fictional to real life. (Well, you know what I mean.);-) Love all the names of the characters, be sure to pay attention to them! An unusual family secret is revealed as well. Not a bad start.

Reading Hermit With Dog

The Google for June 10 was a cute animated story of the garden gnome. Which got me looking for books about said gnome ...

Here's a mostly wordless (there are just four) book about what a garden gnome gets up to at night: Good Night, Garden Gnome, by Jamichael Henterly (he's local!!). While a silent (and still) participant in the activities of a little girl by day, by night he has his own agenda. Under a starry sky he weeds and waters, protects squirrels and feeds bunnies. When he finds a lost item, however, he embarks on a rather perilous quest to return it. Lush pictures, sweet story.

All gnomes have beards. All but Al, that is. He tries various false beards, but they look, well, false. What is a gnome to do? Find out in Go Big or Go Gnome, by Kirsten Mayer and illustrated by Laura K. Horton.

Reading Hermit With Dog

While Murder at the Polo Club is another of the nice mysteries by Dianne Harman, it's not part of the Northwest Cozies, it's from her High Desert Cozy Mystery series. I picked it up because I once played polo! There wasn't much polo here (to be fair, the season hasn't started yet), but as with Harman's other books, a nice mystery, lots of possible murderers, and a bit on appraising antiques.

I read the first Veronica Speedwell mystery, by Deanna Raybourn, back in 2016. A Perilous Undertaking comes next and what a read it was! A man has been falsely accused of murder, and will hang soon. He has an alibi, why won't he speak up? It's up to Stoker and Speedwell to find the answer. A wild romp involving artists, unconventional women, and a, er, .... grotto of pleasure! If I'd started earlier, this would have been a one day read. I will not wait as long to read the third book.

I did not wait as long for the next in the Herringford & Watts Mystery. The White Feather Murders, by Rachel McMillan, is just as compelling as the books that came earlier. World War I is brewing and 'foreigners' are looked at with suspicion. Bodies are being found, and with each one a white feather (a sign of cowardice). There's a baby now, too, which leads to conflicts between work and motherhood. This is a great series and I'm sorry some of the books are only available as ereaders as I'm just not interested as yet, but for those of you who are, don't miss them!

Reading Hermit With Dog

The Prodigal Tongue: the Love-Hate Relationship Between American and British English, by Lynne Murphy is a book I am pretty sure my Mom would have loved. The author is a linguist and can talk about the history of words, sentence structure and so forth. Sometimes that made the book feel a bit like a text book ... however ... the author has a good sense of humor and made some wonderful observations on variations on the English language ... and that made the book fun to read. My biggest chuckle came when I learned that bumbershoot is not a British term!

I am part of a monthly Game Day and recently we played Clue. The traditional version! Two of us have played an updated game and did not like it and were happy to find the older style was still available. This made me curious about games and I went in search of a book. What I found was It's All a Game: the History of Board Games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan, by Tristan Donovan. What a find! We might all know that chess is an old game, but it changed depending on where it was played, who was ruling (take a guess at how the Queen got so much power), and has been banned several times, as recently as 2014. The first version of what became Monopoly was invented by a woman. 'Murder' was the original name for Cluedo ... better known as Clue in the U.S. One game was considered much too risque to sell well ... until Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor demonstrated Twister one night. Oh, and those new versions of Clue ... they were not well received and are no longer sold! ;-)

As much as I love reading while I eat, I am also very (very) picky about food around books, games, records, dvds, and so forth. I want easy to eat, 'tidy' snacks that I can eat with one hand ... so ... when I found a book that mentioned "mess-free" eating, I just had to investigate. That book was Gourmet Game Night: bite sized, mess-free eating for board-games parties, bridge clubs, poker nights, book groups, and more, by Cynthia Nims. Alas, these are beyond my capability as a (non) cook! Some of the recipes seem really complicated, but, that being said, I have several friends who are excellent in the kitchen and they would like this book, so you might, too! :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog

Morning All,

TODAY is the day before the first day of summer ... time is nebulous any more and I kept thinking yesterday was Wednesday. It wasn't! TODAY is Wednesday, and TODAY is the day before the summer solstice!

There's no excuse here, I have a clock that tells me the day of the week as well as the time ...  ;-)

Reading Hermit With Dog

Summer officially starts tomorrow. Here are two picture books to get you started! A Lullaby of Summer Things, by Natalie Ziarnik & Madeline Valentine. It's dusk and everyone is headed home after a day on the beach. Follow along on their evening routine. Lovely pictures and verse, Kiwi loved this book!

Summer Supper, by Rubin Pfeffer and pictures by Mike Austin is a symphony celebrating S (okay, so one word starts with C, but it sounds like S, right?). ;-) That's right, every word in this book starts with the letter S ... and follows the journey of food from farm to frig. Spectacular!

Reading Hermit With Dog

The sixth Northwest Cozy Mystery by Dianne Harman is Murder at the Gallery. DeeDee is troubled by a painting she saw in a recent trip to France, and one friend just bought from a local gallery. Could it be a forgery? And if so, who knows, and why was it made?

Fair warning here: The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown, the second of the Baby Ganesh Agency mysteries, by Vaseem Khan, was a one day read. I had not planned on that, I had a few other things I was going to do, but I found this book impossible to put down! The British Crown Jewels are making a rare stop in Mumbai. Part of the display includes the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which many feel belongs in India. Security is high and yet there is a successful break in and theft. A man has been arrested, he claims he is innocent, but no one believes him. Except for retired Inspector Chopra. How will he (and his elephant) figure things out? I am loving this series!

The pensioners found in The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules (post of March 30, 2018) are back! They are in Las Vegas, doing what they do best, figuring out ways to make money in less than honest ways, and counting on the fact that no one will ever suspect them. The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again, by Catharina Ingleman-Sundberg is another amusing romp with these retirees from Sweden. They've now bought a large house with an amazing view ... and interesting neighbors ... a motorcycle gang! Again, the translator is Rod Bradbury. It will keep you laughing. :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog

If you like books about bookstores (I do!) then you should enjoy Browse: the World in Bookshops, edited by Henry Hitchings. Fifteen writers tell about an experience in a bookstore, whether it was a first visit, or a place they frequented. Some wrote of the books they found. My favorite was braving a nasty snowstorm to get the the bookstore. Sometimes you just have to get there, regardless!

I've read other books in Lorna Barrett's Booktown Mystery series and have always been intrigued with the idea of a small town with stores dedicated to books! There are many stores, each with a different theme (mysteries, cookbooks, romance) ... sounds like a wonderful vacation destination to me! It's been a while now since I have read one, but Book Clubbed felt a bit darker than the earlier books. Family secrets are revealed, as are unpleasant business practices. Still, it was a good read with interesting characters.

And speaking of small towns with book stores .... here's a book about just that! Book Towns: Forty-Five Paradises of the Printed Word, by Alex Johnson. Seems there are towns all over the world dedicated to selling the printed world. There's one just for books for kids ... with areas for various ages. In one small town there are more bookstores than bars! Canadian Reader is familiar with the one in Sydney, B.C. Lisbon has the oldest bookstore in the world, it opened in 1732. A most enjoyable read.

Reading Hermit With Dog

Drawn from Nature, by Helen Ahpornsiri is an absolutely exquisite book! A book I found so amazing I'm doing a one book post. Start at the back and read how the pictures are made. Go ahead and read the book as usual, but be sure to go through it at least once just looking at the illustrations. A wonderful book about nature, it would go well with books about the seasons, too.

Reading Hermit With Dog

I love the social history books that take one subject and follow it through history. Dog Days of History: the Incredible Story of Our Best Friends, by Sarah Albee might be for younger readers, but I enjoyed it ... and ... it sent me looking for other books! Learn about the human/dog relationship from ancient times, through the middle ages, to present day. There are hunting dogs, war dogs, service dogs and therapy dogs. There are dogs from the movies, advertisements and TV, too. I also liked that the author included some of the not so good things, too.

Although Working Like a Dog: the Story of Working Dogs Through History, by Gena K. Gorrell was also written for younger readers, it is a good read for an adult, too. I especially liked the chapter on service dogs ... there are so many variations on this from guiding the blind to sniffing out bombs or cancer cells ... simply amazing. As with the Albee book, there's the good and the bad here, too. We did not always treat dogs well, so be warned, so often it is hard to read about this.

Just how many different things can dogs sniff out? Find out in Sniffer Dogs: How Dogs (and Their Noses) Save the World, by Nancy F. Castaldo. Again, this is a book for younger readers but there's a lot of information here. Dogs have been trained to find people, bombs, drugs, various fruits (or other foods), and cadavers. They also can sniff out cancer cells, and old bones (which differ from cadavers). And, of course, truffles! Better than pigs, it seems, because a truffle pig will eat the truffles and the dog won't!

And now, something about favorite dogs of mine: sled dogs! Check back to my post of March 4, 2017 for the book Jon Van Zyle's Iditarod Memories: 40th Anniversary Edition of Official Race Art. It is an absolutely wonderful book! Recently Kiwi surprised me with a copy of the book ... and what a lovely gift! So, what this means, you see, is that I now have my very own copy to put on the shelf since I knew as soon as I read it last year it needed to go to someone else. I spent a happy evening rereading and looking at the pictures. :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog

The summer solstice is coming soon, will you be taking some time off?

I understand the marketing plan behind the items placed near the checkout line at grocery stores, etc. .... but you know, it works! A Time Special Edition caught my eye the other day: America's National Parks: Celebrating Our Land and Heritage. It's a nice history of what the NPS does: manages parks, landmarks, and memorials. A great read as we head into summer!

And, while you are in the 'park' sort of mood, perhaps planning that summer vacation, (or just feeling a bit nostalgic) spend some time with American Icons with photographs by Steve Gottlieb. From roads to sports, food, buildings and more this is an excellent collection of things that should bring a smile to your face.

Reading Hermit With Dog

This book should go on my "you read what?" list as it deals with sports! Still, I liked the connection with the PNW and for that reason I read it. And, as a picture book, it didn't take long. And, it was fun! It's 1955, the Seattle Rainiers and the Los Angeles Rangers are playing the game that will determine the winner of the Pacific Coast League pennant. A Ticket to the Pennant: a Tale of Baseball in Seattle, by Mark Holtzen and illustrated by John Skewes is about a little boy, Huey, who has lost his ticket to the big game. Does he find it in time?

Summer Color, by Diana Murray and illustrated by Zoe Persico takes an unexpected twist when children discover that wonderful colors may be found even in the rain! Cute verse, great pictures. A perfect summer read for the often overcast, but always beautiful pacific northwest.

Reading Hermit With Dog

I shared The Daring Book for Girls, by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz (with illustrations by Alexis Seabrook) with Kiwi recently, and we agreed we would have loved to have had it when we were young! It's full of games, history, and 'how to' chapters on many subjects: softball, paper airplanes, first aid, songs, the list goes on and on. There are short biographies of strong women from the past, too. It's hard for me to accurately describe this book, so find a copy and take a look.

How I missed this book when it first came out (2003), I'm not sure, but I'm glad I found it now: The Mercury 13: the True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight, by Martha Ackmann. The launch of Sputnik surprised the U.S. and there was a scramble to catch up and surpass the Russians. Therefor men, military men, men who could fly were recruited as astronauts. The same company that designed and gave them the tests believed women could also qualify. The military and NASA were not interested. So, the women who applied or were recruited by this company were trained independently, and without funds from the government. Many did as well, or better, than the men. None flew in space, but they were the forerunners to those who did. An excellent read.

Reading Hermit With Dog

One of my favorite lines from a movie is "I'll have what she's having." from When Harry Met Sally, so, when I found a book with that very name, it required a second look! It ended up in coming home with me that day and what a read it is/was! I'll Have What She's Having: How Nora Ephron's Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy, by Erin Carlson is part biography, part history of how Ephron's most popular films were made. Wonderful insights on the actors and crew who brought the movies to life as well as insights as to what happens on set.

Minding the Manor: the Memoir of a 1930's English Kitchen Maid, by Mollie Moran caught my eye when it said that the author, born in 1916, was still cooking (and hosting Scrabble games)! Well, at the time of publication (2013), she was! Her book was written when she was 97! She started work at age 14 (15+ hours a day, six days a week). She rose through the ranks from scullery maid to cook. The work is hard, and the hours long, but it was the expectation of how one behaved that was the hardest ... she was a fun loving, energetic teenager after all! While she would leave service when she married, she always remembered this time fondly and this is a great read about a time and life style foreign to, well, just about anybody today. :-)

Reading Hermit With Dog