October saw the return of visits from Canadian Reader!! It's been since December 2019 so you can just imagine how many books we had to share! A stack of the Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy mysteries by Diana Xarissa is now on my shelf. :-) I jumped back into the series with Letters and Lawsuits. Fenella, who inherited her Aunt Mona's estate (huge) has been informed that there is a daughter fathered by Mona's significant other. Mona (the ghost) tells Fenella this is not possible ... but is it? Lots of details from the past surface this time ... but a word of warning ... it was a one day read.

I seem to have caught up with the wonderful mysteries by Karen Baugh Menuhin with The Birdcage Murders. I hope there are more in the works! Lennox and Swift have been called in to help with a strange murder ... at a dinner at an exclusive club, one where women are only allowed at certain times, in certain rooms, and with a club member. This is one of those times. There is a (tragic) connection with the man who dies and each of them, a series of strange invitations, and diamonds from a birdcage (some fake). The method of death was one I've not read of before, and I've read a lot of mysteries!

Reading Hermit With Dog

 

My favorite color is, and has always been, blue, so when I came across the book Blue: the Science and Secrets of Nature's Rarest Color, by Kai Kupferschmidt I just had to read it! Over all a good read, although it got a bit 'sciency' for me (chemical analysis and so forth), but there were chapters on animals, and plants, and language, too. I found that chapter to be the most interesting as it seems words for blue came late to several languages ... it was hard to describe.

What was the first big, really big event you remember watching on TV? For those of us my age it was usually the the assassination of JFK but for Constant Reader (younger by many years) it was that hockey game at the Olympics, in Lake Placid, NY, in 1980. That of course, led to a book! Constant Reader is my go to person for things of a sports nature so when there is a book recommendation I always give it a try! In this case it was The Making of a Miracle: the Untold Story of the Captain of the 1980 Gold Medal-Winning US Olympic Hockey Team, by Mike Eruzione (with Neal E. Boudette). Part auto-biography, part memoir, it's a nicely written story of the road to the Olympics, the 'miracle' game, and what happened after.

Reading Hermit With Dog

 

"When in doubt, wash!" I'm not sure how an email from Constant Reader made me think of that phrase from a book I'd read a long time ago, but it did, which resulted in a search for said book, which was actually located and re-read! Jennie (also published as The Abandoned) by Paul Gallico is about a young boy, a neglected (but not abused) young boy who is hit by a lorry when running across a street. When he comes to, he discovers he is a cat! Now, he knows nothing about being a cat but fortunately he is found and rescued by the street wise cat, Jennie who will become his tutor. That advice, given above, is the most important thing he can learn, and the chapter on just how a cat can wash all of his/her body was hysterical! The author knew cats (at one time he had 27) and carefully observed their behavior, resulting in explanations of proper manners, how to manage encounters with dogs, fights and so on. Such a fun read!

Four people are working at one of the desks in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library (look it up, it's beautiful). A scream shatters the silence and bonds them together as they decide to figure out just what happened. (Was one of them the murderer??) The Woman in the Library, by Sulari Gentill was hard to put down, with lots of ... interesting twists and turns.

Reading Hermit With Dog

 

An email from Seattle Reader included a recommendation ... a strong recommendation for Miss Percy's Pocket Guide to the Care & Feeding of British Dragons, by Quenby Olson. Mildred Percy, the unmarried sister, is living with her properly married sister and family. A trunk arrives for her one day (fortunately when she's home alone, otherwise that sister may have just, um, appropriated it for herself) telling Mildred she has an inheritance from a great uncle. There doesn't seem to be much ... old papers and journals ... and an odd rock ... which is actually an egg, from which hatches a dragon! Raising this dragon is, shall we say, a learning experience!  A delightful read and extremely hard to put down!

Reading Hermit With Dog

 

Rose is in her eighties, so a little forgetfulness now and then might be expected, but lately things are getting worse. And then there's the body in her freezer. Evidence points to her, but her friends in the Toot Hansell Women's Institute (not to mention the dragons) do not believe it for one minute ... and (no surprise) do their own investigating. Coming Up Roses, by Kim M. Watt, is another fun read in her Beaufort Scales mystery series.

Reading Hermit With Dog

 

The small library, in a lighthouse, along North Carolina's Outer Banks is in the running to receive a collection (with funding to maintain) of rare historic documents pertaining to the area. The donor, Jay Ruddle, is working in the rare book room while a pre-Halloween party is going on. Later he is found dead. There are the usual suspects, of course, his grand-daughter, and the current curator ... but then his former daughter-in-law (and a new hubby) show up. Grievances from the past surface. Detective Watson certainly has his work cut out for him ... which means (of course) that the librarians will just have to help out, yes? Looks like I jumped in to the middle of the Lighthouse Library Mystery series, by Eva Gates with The Spook in the Stacks, but I was able to follow the characters and their relationships with each other just fine, the author did a nice job there.

A recent visit from the grands left Tall Reader with this tween read: The Last Human, by Lee Bacon. As robots got smarter they reasoned that humans were destroying the earth ... so they were eliminated. Or so it was thought. It's a world with no war, no pollution ... every one has a job, and a purpose. Things are running smoothly until a 12 year old girl appears on the scene. That changes everything! A fun story about friendship (a new concept for robots) and perspective ... is everything the (robot) president said true? This won't take long to read!

Reading Hermit With Dog

 

With just one exception, every president has had a dog. (Not all of them adapted to White House living). Learn about those, and a bit about each administration, in All-American Dogs: a History of Presidential Pets from Every Era, by Andrew Hager. As the subtitle indicates, you'll read about the others, too. (Cats, birds, rabbits, and more)!

Reading Hermit With Dog

 

The Last Stop, by Sonia Parin, is part of her Dear Abby Cozy Mystery series. This time Abby's mom has come for a visit ... virtually ... (imagine a back seat driver, one not used to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road, on your phone, turned so she can see out the car). Abby would love for her to come for a real visit, but mom is convinced the little town in Australia is not safe. Abby is trying to prove otherwise, so it doesn't help that there is a murder! Tourists usually pass through the small town of Eden, but this time their bus broke down so they are stuck. It's a group where they all know each other, which leads to conflict. Abby's mom makes friends with some of them as well as the townsfolk, might she be able to help catch the murderer? This is a fun series.

Reading Hermit With Dog

 

It's been a while since I read one of The Chronicles of St. Mary's books, by Jodi Taylor, so it was nice to get back there with A Second Chance. There's a lot of action here, and a new and interesting twist to the Trojan horse! Personally I think I prefer reading about history, rather than being at an actual event ... it's exhausting! The historians might be 'somewhere' just to observe, but that does not mean you cannot be shot or trampled. If you've ever wondered about those odd cheese rolling events your questions will be answered! Excitement builds when Max is kidnapped and returned to a time she's visited before ... the Cretaceous Period! Hard to put down!

Reading Hermit With Dog