The Secret War of Julia Child by Diane R. Chambers

 

First Line: Julia turned her face into the hot Santa Ana wind, which had swept in as if it owned the place, whipping the linen curtains, aerating the small room like a cook whisking cream.

 

 

Single, 6 foot 2, and thirty years old, Julia McWilliams began working for America's first espionage agency years before cooking or Paris ever entered her mind. Keenly ambitious, she moved from file clerk to head of General "Wild Bill" Donovan's secret File Registry as part of the Office of Strategic Services.

 

Her job took her to South Asia's remote front lines in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), India, and China where she found purpose, adventure, and love with mapmaker Paul Child.

 

 

 

 

~

 

I have to admit that I paid very little attention to Julia Child while I was growing up. She was just a woman with a funny voice who had a cooking program on television-- and I hated cooking. (I still do.) If not for the fact that I'm a fan of Meryl Streep's movies, I never would've watched Julie & Julia, and I never would've become fascinated by the woman with the funny voice-- and that fascination led me to Diana R. Chambers' The Secret War of Julia Child.

Julia Child had an unconventional mother who wanted more for her daughter. This made Julia keenly ambitious and determined to make her mark in the world. She knew she had to make a difference. I enjoyed the often poetic descriptions of the Asian landscape and how Julia sampled every bit of native cuisine that she could-- a harbinger of things to come-- but the book came up short in other areas.

One thing readers should keep in mind as they read this book is that it's not based on fact. As the author says, "I offer my story as one that exists only in the realm of possibility, a personal interpretation inspired by admiration and respect," and it is this that was the book's downfall. Julia as a spy, as a code breaker, and adept at plugging leaks? Yes, I can see that, but Chambers went on to add too much to Julia's fictional resume, almost making her an addition to the Marvel Universe of superheroes. This woman did make an impact on the world, so I don't think it was really necessary to "gild the lily."

The landscape, the food, the long, involved road to finding love with Paul Child... I enjoyed all these things, but Julia was no superhero.

The Secret War of Julia Child by Diane R. Chambers

eISBN: 9781464219054

Sourcebooks Landmark © 2024

eBook, 400 pages

 

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: C+

Source: Net Galley

The Could It Possibly Be Fall?? Weekly Link Round-Up

 

When I checked the forecast last night, I almost fell out of my chair. Rain? Temperatures below 80°? I have to be hallucinating! But regardless what the forecast says, I won't believe it until I actually experience it.

I've been enjoying playing hooky so much that I think I'll do the very same thing this coming week. One review and maybe a link round-up. I'm reading some very good books and reorganizing things that should've been cleared out long ago. For example-- I have a metal two-drawer file cabinet on one side of my desk, and it dawned on me the other night that I hadn't touched 99% of its contents in y-e-a-r-s. Bring out the trash bags, and now I have a lot less clutter around my desk. 

 

Don't tell anyone, but I'm making up a Halloween basket for my home health nurse. He's a treasure, and we love to laugh, joke around, and tell each other tall tales (with Denis pitching in a lot). I have his favorite candy and a child's snorkel and mask to put in a small Jack o' Lantern bucket. I can "hear" the raised eyebrows already. A child's snorkel and mask? Well... sometimes our tall tales are so good that one of us will look at the other and say, "It's getting pretty deep in here. Where's my snorkel?"

All week, we've had huge equipment from a crew of city tree trimmers in our yard, which makes me mourn the loss of our huge Aleppo pine all over again. When that tree was still alive, there's no way they could've used a good chunk of our property as a parking lot. I'm hoping not to be rudely wakened Monday morning by the beep beep beep beep of that huge truck reversing up our driveway. Wish us luck!

 

 

Have a good weekend, and enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• What are wind phones, and how do they help with grief?
• How the swastika, an ancient symbol of good fortune used around the world, became the Nazi logo.
• Cloves: the spice that enriched empires.
• How decorated initials made early book pages pop.
• Bell-ends, pillocks, numpties, and sh*tgibbons: why the Brits swear better.
• Social media is helping bring Indigenous languages back from the brink.
• The elite college students who can't read books.
• Secrets of a book publicist.
• Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben team up on a suspense novel. More from The Guardian.
  

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• In Arkansas, book banners have been dealt another legal setback.
• "Freedom to Read 'em": Ann Arundel (Maryland) libraries declare themselves a book sanctuary.
• California makes it harder to ban books in public libraries.
• Pasco (Florda) libraries "suppress" more than 100 children's books with LGBTQ+ themes.
• Library employee raises awareness of Banned Books Week after trustees bar celebration in Montana.
• The Cullman (Alabama) library reclassified its entire young adult collection as fiction.
• Mayor-nominated book challenger Debi Scaggs was disapproved for the library board by the city council of Denton, Texas.
• The Gilbert (Arizona) police are probing a Higley teacher after a parent complained of a book assignment.
• In Cobb County (Georgia), there's a battle over who's authorized to remove books from schools.
• Three Florida parents have filed a lawsuit over book ban policies.
• The North Attleboro (Massachusetts) school board supports a new book policy in the wake of a "Woke" uproar.
• The Charleston County (South Carolina) school board makes its first vote in the state book ban policies.
• This Pennsylvania graduate is lending a hand in the fight against book bans in her hometown school district.
• The Conway (Arkansas) School Board grills candidates on anti-trans restroom policies and book removals.
• New billboards in Van Buren (Arkansas) claim voting Republican will help keep "porn" out of the county library.
• A South Carolina library won't buy new books for those under 18.
  

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Drought reveals a sunken village in Greece as a reservoir dries up.
• The news sites went crazy when an enthusiastic amateur found a "remarkable" Pictish ring that had been buried for more than 1,000 years. CNN. Live Science. Smithsonian Magazine.
• A Stone Age burial ground in France used for 800 years is nearly all male-- and ancient DNA reveals that they are largely related.
• Archaeologists unearthed a rare trove of silver coins on a Mediterranean island.
• The Roman siege of Masada may have lasted weeks, not years.
• A 16,000-year-old skeleton, crystals, and stone tools were discovered in Malaysian caves.
• A man discovered a 900-year-old stone carving beneath his house in Germany.
• Four silver Viking Age bracelets were discovered "untouched" on a mountainside in Norway after more than 1,000 years.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• How do cats squeeze through small spaces?
• Raccoons in the laboratory.
• A runaway capybara is evading capture and "living her best life" in England. Cinnamon's freedom lasted four days.
  
• These 34 creatures were recently discovered as a new species.
• In Colonial Williamsburg, thieving rats save history.
• Watch baby falcons take their first flights from a steep mountain ledge.
• Three remarkable spiders: a vegetarian, a vampire, and a predator that uses "pincer, fork, and key."
• The adorable baby hippo Moo Deng is more than a viral sensation. She offers a are glimpse of an endangered species.
• Why seven animals became associated with Halloween.
  

 

►The Wanderer◄

• Workers just started building the world's first 3D-printed hotel in the Texas desert.
• Eight fact about Olduvai Gorge, the "Cradle of Mankind."
• In Ann Arbor, Michigan? Visit the West Side Book Shop.
• The most common last name in every country, mapped.
• See 24 beautiful photos of fall foliage in its most vibrant colors.
• Rome's Trevi Fountain will get a much-needed cleaning-- and a controversial new entry fee.
• See 14 photos of the beauty of Cuba through its striking shoreline and buzzing streets.
• The rise and fall of the "Women's Hotel" in American cities.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Another way Jimmy Carter, aged 100, bested his fellow presidents.
• Was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde inspired by a real murder case?
• Frederick Gowing, king of poachers.
• The Montana rancher who created giant, hybrid sheep (to sell for higher prices to hunting preserves) was sentenced to six months in prison.
• 17 signs that you'd qualify as a witch in 1692.
• Robert Dugoni on a life of writing.
• Eleanor Roosevelt, one of my personal heroes.
• Land, oil, and Indigenous identity: on the disappearance of Tommy Atkins.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Recent must-read Indigenous non-fiction.
• A list of mysteries featuring librarian sleuths.
• BookBub's best historical fiction of Fall 2024.
• 17 bookish mystery novels.
• The best mystery and thriller shows on Peacock.
• Martin Walker on classic crime fiction's epicurean delights.
• Eight thrillers and mysteries around reality TV.
• BookBub's best biographies and memoirs coming this fall.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll probably be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!

The Waiting by Michael Connelly

 

First Line: She liked waiting for the wave more than riding the wave.

 

It's not a good way to start the day: when Renée Ballard goes back to her car after a morning's surfing, she finds it broken into and her badge, gun, and ID stolen. She can't report it without giving her enemies in the department ammunition to end her career as a detective. She works the burglary alone, finally going to Harry Bosch for help.

 

In the meantime, she and the Open/Unsolved Unit of the LAPD have gotten a DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and killer who went quiet twenty years ago. Could this young man be the son of the infamous Pillowcase Rapist? Even Renée doesn't expect the secrets and legal hurdles their investigation kicks up.

 

While all this is going on, Renée takes on a new volunteer to the cold case unit: Bosch's daughter, Maddie, now a patrol officer. But Maddie has an ulterior motive for accessing the city's old records: she's uncovered new evidence in a case that may be the most iconic in the city's history.

 

~

 

It's always a bit like Christmas when there's a new Ballard & Bosch mystery, and The Waiting put a big smile on my face. As Harry Bosch ages, I cherish every scene he's in, and although I know our time with him is undoubtedly limited, I really appreciate how Connelly is passing Harry's torch on to Renée Ballard and Harry's daughter, Maddie. 

Renée is more than happy to add Maddie to her handpicked team. Having another person with a badge will make her own job easier. Now if another team member, Colleen Hatteras, would stop being a bit of a thorn in Renée's side! Renée has done a fantastic job with her team. Since many of the cold cases are so old that the killers the team identifies are already dead or incarcerated, Renée has put a limit to the ones they'll work-- none should go back further than 1975.

The various cases that the team works are woven together beautifully, and Connelly always manages to teach me something about the bad guys. (Beware of some of those apps you love to use...) The case that Maddie came to the cold case team to work is indeed probably the most iconic in Los Angeles' history, and it was interesting to see how Connelly worked that out.

With another engrossing story under my belt, I'm back to waiting for the next time I'll see Renée, Maddie, and Harry. It can't be soon enough for me.

The Waiting by Michael Connelly

eISBN: 9780316563819

Little, Brown and Company © 2024

eBook, 387 pages

 

Police Procedural, #6 Ballard & Bosch

Rating: A+

Source: Net Galley

The I'm Headed for a Staycay Weekly Link Round-Up

 

You won't see much of me next week-- just my review of Michael Connelly's The Waiting and maybe a link round-up. Nothing's wrong; Denis and I are fine. I'm just feeling lazy, and I have a whole lot of good books whining to be read. (I'm in the middle of one right now that's shouting for me to return...)

Here's another goodie from my virtual closet. What do you think?

Virtual hugs to you all. Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Can you match the Victorian slang term to its meaning?
• Can you match the song to the movie that featured it?
• Female cops in film and television: why are women usually the rookies?
• Students are reading fewer books in English class.
• Publishers try skinnier books to save money and emissions.
• Smaller, shorter books aren't the only way to make publishing more climate friendly.
• Reading is political-- these bookish goods are powerful reminders.
• The Starry Night accurately depicts a scientific theory that wasn't described until years after van Gogh's death.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• On appeal, Llano County (Texas) seeks a book ban ruling that would upend public libraries.
• Montgomery County (Maryland) parents ask the Supreme Court to review the use of LGBTQ books in lower grades.
• The Right to Read and fighting book bans with LeVar Burton.
• Educators' stories about preemptive book bans show how schools are censoring themselves.
  

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• These signed Salvador Dalí prints were forgotten in a garage for half a century.
• "Everything we found shattered our expectations": archaeologists discover the first astronomical observatory from ancient Egypt.
• This four-year-old shattered a Bronze Age jar. Now, he'll get to see how experts restored it.
• A possible "mega" fort found in Wales hints at tension between Romans and Celtics.
• A Viking-era vessel found in Scotland a decade ago turns out to be from Asia.
• Missing for four decades, this unusual double portrait of Rubens and van Dyck has finally resurfaced.
• 1,500-year-old gold coins from the Byzantine Empire were discovered in a medieval dwelling in Bulgaria.
• A painting attributed to Rembrandt was found tucked away inside an attic in Maine.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• A study suggests that birds form surprising relationships with other avian species during migration.
• Bonnie and Simba are two incredibly intelligent dogs that have set several Guinness World Records while also helping save the environment.
• How a "puffling patrol" protects Iceland's puffin babies.
• No longer fill of commuters, Atlanta's old subway cars are now filled with fish.
• A rare yellow-eyed penguin wins New Zealand's Bird of the Year contest.
• "Pirate seabirds" could become a pathway for deadly avian flu to spread to Australia.
• Grand Canyon bison have been relocated from the North Rim to a tribe in South Dakota.
• Watch a sneaky chipmunk steal a winter acorn stash from its thrifty neighbor.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• Creepy "biotwang" noises coming from the Mariana Trench have finally been explained after ten years.
• You can climb aboard a massive reproduction of a 17th-century Spanish galleon that's sailing around the world.
• The 20 most fun states in the U.S.
• Arizona is a step closer to its first urban national wildlife refuge.
• The highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will now be called by its Cherokee name.
• How a TV show brought new fans (and furniture) to Emily Dickinson's house.
• Cancún and the making of modern "Gringolandia."
• The Biblioteca Vasconcelos, a jaw-dropping "megalibrary" in Mexico City.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• The Brontë sisters finally get their dots as their names are corrected at Westminster Abbey.
• Five women to know for American Business Women's Day.
• Meryl Streep will star in a series adaptation of The Corrections from Jonathan Franzen and CBS Studios.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 100 of the greatest posters of celebrities urging you to read.
• 8 of the most infamous literary hoaxes.
• 8 books about the importance of community.
• 4 historical mysteries and thrillers that stray off the beaten path.
• BookBub's best mysteries and thrillers of Fall 2024.
• 16 books everyone should read for Hispanic Heritage Month.
• Tessa Arlen's historical mysteries provide an alluring escape into the past.
• 20 old words for ignorant people.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll probably be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!

The Rise by Ian Rankin

 

First Line: Gish arrived at The Rise on her mountain bike, so had no trouble parking.

 

The Rise is the newest residential tower that stands on some of London's most prestigious real estate. Only multi-millionaires need apply for one of the sumptuous apartments in this building that looms over Hyde Park.

 

When the night concierge is found murdered in The Rise's lobby, its elite residents come under police scrutiny-- something they definitely are not accustomed to.

 

Continually obstructed by locked doors, the rules of diplomatic immunity, and an apparent lack of motive, investigating officer Detective Sergeant Gish has her work cut out for her to find the killer.

 

 

 

~

 

 

Ian Rankin's The Rise is a deftly written, swiftly paced story that has a lot to say about the London property market and the types of people who live in exclusive buildings. The cast of suspects is varied and interesting, and I did like DS Gish. 

 

The bottom line? This story was fun to read but altogether too easy to figure out.

The Rise by Ian Rankin

eISBN: 9781662515347

Amazon Original Stories © 2023

eBook, 86 pages

Short Story

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Take Your Book Outside!

 

Found Image

Has it cooled off in your neck of the woods? The weather prognosticators here don't think the Phoenix area be cooling down until November. That's right. November. Yikes. We're still getting temperatures in the 115°F/46°C range as I write this.

I really miss not being able to enjoy my pool. It is the perfect place to immerse myself in a book even when the temperature soars to 120°/49°C.  (Which is exactly what my niece Daisy and I did one summer.) But if I can't get in the pool, at least I can daydream about comfy places to read outside.

Looking at this photo, I can smell jasmine. I do wish the back was covered with greenery, too. I'm a bit like Jane Eyre, who-- as a child-- would tuck herself into a windowseat with a book and pull the curtains closed so no one would see her. About the only thing wrong with this little outdoor reading nook is the lack of a table to put necessaries like a cold drink, binoculars, camera, notebook, pen... But I could happily rock back and forth as I turned the page of my latest read.

What do you think?

Gathering Mist by Margaret Mizushima

 

First Line: Weather could make or break a search and rescue mission, and the wind would play havoc with the scent trail today.

 

Deputy Mattie (Cobb) Wray and her dog Robo are summoned to Washington's Olympic Peninsula for an urgent search and rescue mission to find a celebrity's missing child. Mattie doesn't really want to go-- it's only a week before her wedding-- but she and Robo are needed.

 

The mission is a difficult one: dense forest, rain, and unfriendly locals all combine to hamper progress, and when one of the SAR dogs becomes ill, Mattie's fiancé, Cole Walker, suspects poison and quickly joins the team as veterinary support. 

As the teams search, secrets come to light. The missing child was kidnapped, and the search becomes a full-blown crime scene. The missing child has to be found before it's too late.

~

This latest installment of Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 series is a nail-biter. Putting Mattie, Robo, and Cole in the unfamiliar territory of Washington's Olympic Peninsula certainly ratchets the suspense. The mystery is a strong one, too, so strong that I misidentified the bad guy, which doesn't happen often. 

But as good as the setting and mystery are, it's the characters that I always come back for in this series, and Gathering Mist is no exception. Of course, there are the wedding and family dynamics to deal with because there just has to be at least one person opposed to Mattie and Cole's wedding, but there's always more. 

Mattie and Cole's relationship and the relationships between Mattie and Cole's daughters and their indispensable housekeeper are very important, but I'm always drawn first to Mattie's relationship with Robo. Mizushima does such an excellent job of showing readers what goes into the training of search and rescue dogs and their handlers. Over and over again, this author shows me how indescribably valuable and wonderful these dogs are. But what touches me even more is how the closer Mattie gets to Robo, the harder it is to let him do his job. They get into so many dangerous situations that Mattie is afraid of losing Robo-- and readers certainly can't blame her.

If you enjoy atmospheric, compelling mysteries chockful of wonderful two- and four-legged characters, the Timber Creek K-9 series is one you should read. Due to character development, I would recommend that you begin with the first book, Killing Trail.

Gathering Mist by Margaret Mizushima

eISBN: 9781639108954

Crooked Lane Books © 2024

eBook, 256 pages

 

Police Procedural, #9 Timber Creek K-9

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

On My Radar: Marcie Rendon's Broken Fields!

 

I hadn't read very much of Marcie R. Rendon's first Cash Blackbear mystery (Murder on the Red River) before I knew I'd not only love the book but want to read more by this Native American author. Rendon brings me right into her world, and I appreciate every second of the experience. She's also created a very memorable character in young Cash Blackbear, so I was thrilled when I discovered that there will be a fourth book in this series. 

 

Let me tell you more about it!

Available March 4, 2025!

Synopsis:

"1970s: It’s spring in the Red River Valley and Cash Blackbear is doing field work for a local farmer—until she finds him dead on the kitchen floor of the property’s rented farmhouse. The tenant, a Native field laborer, and his wife are nowhere to be found, but Cash finds their young daughter, Shawnee, cowering under a bed. The girl, a possible witness to the killing, is too terrified to speak.

In the wake of the murder, Cash can’t deny her intuitive abilities: she is suspicious of the farmer’s grieving widow, who offers to take in Shawnee temporarily. While Cash is scouring White Earth Reservation for Shawnee’s missing mother—whom Cash wants to find before the girl is put in the foster system—another body turns up. Concerned by the escalating threat, Cash races against the clock to figure out the truth of what happened in the farmhouse.

Broken Fields is a compelling, atmospheric read woven with details of American Indian life in northern Minnesota, abusive farm labor practices and women’s liberation."

Broken Fields definitely sounds like a winner, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. I highly recommend this series, and I would suggest you begin at the beginning with Murder on the Red River because of the growth of Cash's character.