I have been anxiously awaiting Julie Jones’ newest book, The Pastry School. In part because I’m now in love with her pie crust recipe, in part because the custard in her custard tart is actually really good and I had never made custard from scratch before, but also because she makes her pies look amazing! It officially came out in the United States earlier this week, and as soon as I logged into Bookshop, I discovered that it was on backorder. I checked again today – I officially have a copy coming my way! Not […]
Book of the Month: April Pick
They’re here, they’re here – TWO DAYS EARLY! (By the time this post publishes, it will be April 3rd and therefore no longer early. But since I’m ahead of the game here, I’m still two days early.) Five Book of the Month picks to choose from as usual, and yet I was so torn I almost picked THREE! Caught between the 1920s, World War II, and romance, I ended up going with The Paris Hours by Alex George. A bit of romance, a bit of Paris, a bit of 1920s Paris society, I couldn’t resist. […]
Book Review: The Huntress
For the Armchair Detective Society this month, we chose The Huntress by Kate Quinn. We had loved The Alice Network so much that given the choice between The Huntress and branching out into some Dorothy Sayer books, we chose The Huntress. I would like to say that we all loved this one, but we ran into a hiccup. This month’s meeting had to be postponed due to COVID-19. So, in liu of my own review peppered with thoughts from the rest of the group, I present my lone review, while lifting a glass in solidarity […]
Book Review: Things in Jars
Things in Jars by Jess Kidd was intriguing. It was not quite what I was expecting, and the ghost element didn’t really seem to have too much tie in to the plot. But otherwise, I liked the book overall. The combination of pseudo-science, the history of the resurrectionists, and the mystical was a quality that worked really well together in this book. The mermaid aspect was not quite what one would expect. Definitely edged more toward the creepy end of the fairy tale spectrum – but then, this book is no fairy tale.
Book of the Month: March Picks
Happy Super Tuesday! If you’re in a Super Tuesday state – go vote! This blog post will still be here when you get back. Or you can read it while in line at the polls. Now on to the rest of the post. Our two top selling books in the gift shop where I work (at least, until the new Little Women movie was released this past December) are Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey and Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City. The most commented on book in our gift shop? […]
Using Fiction to Understand the Past
There is something about reading a book that has familiar landmarks. Not even necessarily places that you’ve actually been to (though being able to actually visualize where you are in the book is fun), but places that you’re actively interested in, time periods you’ve spent scads of time researching. I’m currently reading The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry, and while I love my ability to mentally follow Towner down Derby Street, up Hawthorne past the hotel and up to the Common, well… It reminded me of yet another book where it wasn’t quite the same, […]
Book Review: The Collector’s Apprentice
I’ll admit, this is one of those books where I can’t tell if it started dragging because I was getting slogged down in all the technical art study and theory, or if it started dragging because I had half a dozen other books I wanted to pick up. (That half a dozen other books always seems more tempting when the book you’re reading has a deadline…) Disregarding those moments where I really felt like I was slogging (and I admit, I started skimming through those sections just to keep pace), the book was pretty good. […]
BOTM: January 2020
How do we start the year off on the right foot? With new books of course! For the month of January I have two books from Book of the Month! Because I’m a Book of the Month BFF, I get one of the finalists for Book of the Year in my January box – so I went with A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum. While I’m intrigued by the Book of the Year winner – Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I also have to admit that it also doesn’t […]
An Overabundance of Alices
Is it just me or is the name “Alice” in just about everything I’ve been reading recently? I was looking over this website and happened to notice that the name Alice wanted to leap from every other page. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, After Alice, The Alice Network, Alice in The Glittering Hour. And that’s just the book references. We can go further back than just recently as well: Alice shows up as a name in quite a few things – including Twilight. I mean, I like the name Alice. I do. Some of my favorite […]
Book Review: The Glittering Hour
This one was a bit heart-wrenching. The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey is the kind of book you pick up thinking that it is going to be sweet – and it is on a number of levels. Most of the story is told through the perspective of Alice, daughter of one of the “Bright Young Things” that everyone talked about in the 1920s. And certainly, it starts off sweetly enough. Alice’s mother has put together a treasure hunt for her. A treasure hunt to explain how Alice came to be. And then you find yourself […]