Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker

 

First Line: I know little of my birth, for my mother died long before she could tell me-- before I ever heard her voice or gazed at her face-- and my father banished the woman who helped deliver me, blaming her for my mother's death.

Sarah Shoemaker's Mr. Rochester is a retelling of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, and I fell in love with it. The book is told from the point of view of Edward Fairfax Rochester himself, and readers learn about his life from the time he was a motherless boy roaming the lonely corridors of Thornfield Hall to his eventual marriage to Jane Eyre. 

Although Charlotte is not my favorite of the Brontë sisters (Anne is), I've always loved her Jane Eyre. I've watched the BBC mini-series starring Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton so much that I have vast swathes of the dialogue memorized. I've always wanted to learn more about Rochester, and Shoemaker does a marvelous job of filling in the blanks that both blend in with the original book and make for an engrossing story.

Here, Rochester is a boy/man starved for love, starved for someone to call him by his name, and I couldn't help but fall in love with him. His schooling, his fruitless attempts to earn his father's love, the family business, his marriage to Bertha Mason... as he weathers each storm, I became totally invested in his soul-withering journey toward Jane. The icing on the cake was learning just how much he was willing to give up to have a life with her. I kept wanting to hug the poor man!

I found so much to appreciate in Mr. Rochester. How he came to have his dog, Pilot, and his horse, Mesrour. I even learned the origin of one of my husband's favorite expressions, "cloth ears." 

Oh... by the way, if you're thinking of reading this book to learn more about Jane, I wouldn't recommend it. Jane shows up two-thirds of the way through the book. She had her own book, her own time in the spotlight. This is Edward Fairfax Rochester's time to shine, and he does. Brilliantly. 

Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker

eISBN: 9781455569823

Grand Central Publishing © 2017

eBook, 465 pages

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

A Stitching Up a Storm Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Not much to say this week. My nieces in the UK are suffering through a heat wave. Although the temperatures are nowhere near what they are here in Phoenix, I feel for them because, not only are they not used to such heat,  neither are they prepared for it. I doubt Phoenix would be the metropolis it is without the invention of air conditioning, but countries with little experience of heat haven't had any reason to adapt for it. 

Yes, I've been stitching up a storm on those needlepoint tissue box covers. My home health nurse kept looking covetously at one of the completed ones, so I'll be making her one, too. I send progress report photos to the person I'm making them for, and he's shown them to some of his friends. From the sound of it, I could have myself a booming cottage industry if I wanted. However, I don't want to. I tried that before, and I grew sick to death of making the same thing over and over. Using different color combinations wasn't enough to encourage me to keep on stitching for profit.

Here's a photo of three of the requested five that I've completed.

Looking at them, you wouldn't believe I used the exact same pattern on all three, would you?

Virtual hugs to you all. Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Can social media influencers save public schools?
• Are public libraries becoming children's libraries?
• The New Yorker has a new books newsletter called What We're Reading.
• An experimental brain implant allows people with paralysis to type their thoughts with their minds.
• Utah banned another book from all public schools, bringing the list to 28. Here's what it's about.
• HBO's Harry Potter trailer reveals the new cast and a surprise Christmas premiere date.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Archaeologists have discovered evidence that a wooden prototype for Stonehenge may have aligned with the solstice 500 years before the stone circle.
• An ancient Egyptian stone monument depicting a Roman emperor as a pharaoh was discovered in Luxor.
• A 6-year-old boy spotted something sticking out of the ground in a field. It turned out to be a Viking sword.
• The Mask of Mictlantecuhtli: a 500-year-old mask of the Aztec god of the underworld, who tore apart the dead as they entered his realm.
• Archaeologists discovered a second cannonball from the Battle of the Alamo, and it was likely fired by Texans.
• Are these the earliest known dice in the world? Native Americans may have used them to play games of chance more than 12,000 years ago.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• These butterflies can live 25 times longer than their relatives. They might provide insights into healthy aging in humans.
• Female dolphins seem to remember which males were aggressive during mating season-- and may try to avoid them.
• A border collie named Milo goes to great lengths to complete his human's fetch challenges.
• Male bowerbirds in Australian cities are turning human trash into treasure to impress potential mates. (I've loved bowerbirds ever since watching one of Sir David Attenborough's documentaries.)
• Ants can get distracted by cookies, chips, and other junk food. Here's why that could be a problem for the environment.
• See the first-ever photographs of Cozumel's elusive dwarf fox, one of the rarest canids in the world.

►The Wanderer◄

• Major Oak, the 1,200-year-old tree with ties to the Robin Hood legend, is presumed dead after failing to produce leaves.
• Hidden tunnels dating back to Henry VIII's reign were discovered at this English boarding school, where the king once lived.
• Welcome to Pieve Santo Stefano, Italy's "City of Diaries."
• The ghost roads of Ireland's Great Famine.
• To see the magnificence and majesty of Machu Picchu without the hike, check out these amazing images.
• Literary travel ideas for every kind of book lover. 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Rollerena, New York's fairy godmother.
• By signing his name to massive jars, enslaved artist David Drake defied literacy bans in the South. Now, his masterpiece is on view with a famed Paul Revere bowl.
• Sequoyah, the man who created a written language for the Cherokee, did it so efficiently and elegantly, his peers thought it was magic.
• Andrea Wulf considers the rare humanity of 18th-century naturalist George Forster.
• 13 surprising facts about famous naturalist (and one of my heroes), Sir David Attenborough.
• "I will not comply": librarian Luanne James fights the censorship demands of the Rutherford County library system's board.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 7 historical figures accused of witchcraft.
• 6 common misconceptions about the Beatles.
• 7 Australian crime dramas to binge watch tonight.
• 6 suspense novels about art, museums, and forgers.
• The 5 greatest fictional recurring characters, according to Alison Gaylin.
• The must-read biographies and memoirs of Summer 2026.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!

A Twist in the River by Stig Abell

 

First Line: There has always been the river.

People disappear all the time, but when a young nurse goes missing on the riverbank, leaving her phone and shoes behind, social media goes into a frenzy. Amateur sleuths flock to the area, each with their own theory.

Then another woman is found in the river, and the signs point to murder. Former detective Jake Jackson came to this rural area looking for peace. Now he's looking for a killer.

~

I have enjoyed Stig Abell's Jake Jackson mysteries from the first (Death Under a Little Sky)-- in particular for their gorgeous descriptions of the landscape and wildlife. A Twist in the River has those same descriptions, so evocative that I feel myself right in the middle of the English countryside.

Jake Jackson's path to this fourth mystery has been a fascinating one. Living off the grid. Making new friends in a rather insular community. His life and the lives of the other characters continue to grow, and the journey is a delight. As Jake searches for a killer, readers learn more about the lives and histories of the locals. Many of them moved to the area for the same reason as Jake: peace and privacy. 

While Jake's investigation progresses, readers can accompany him to his favorite secondhand bookshop to browse the shelves, and they can also try to avoid the hordes of social media influencers and podcasters trying to find content to boost their clicks and likes. It's not easy for Jake to avoid "Detective Dani," who has her own YouTube channel. She's zeroed in on him as the best source for the latest information, and she's so devious and manipulative that she causes friction between Jake and the woman he loves. 

The books in this series are naturally slow to unfold, but this time the pace of A Twist in the River really seemed to drag-- to the point where it bothered me and kept making me want to skim here and there. (I didn't.) But... the landscape is still beautiful. I still want to tuck myself away in the library in Jake's house. And the mystery is still a puzzler. I hope you decide to give this series a try, and if you do, please begin with the first one due to the character development. This is a series that should be savored.

A Twist in the River by Stig Abell

eISBN: 9780063472426

HarperCollins © 2026

eBook, 352 pages

Literary Mystery, #4 Jake Jackson

Rating: B

Source: Net Galley

Last One Out by Jane Harper

 

First Line: He had been here, that was clear from the marks in the dust.

Just a handful of residents remain in Carralon Ridge, once a thriving rural village in New South Wales. For the past ten years, its houses and buildings have been bought up and left to rot by a mining company operating at its borders.

Five years ago, Ro lost her son. Sam vanished while visiting Carralon Ridge during a break from college. Sam loved the town and had been working on an oral history to preserve its legacy before it vanished altogether.

Now, Ro has returned to be with her husband and daughter on the anniversary of Sam's disappearance. Soon, she suspects that something important was overlooked in his case. Nothing can stop Carralon Ridge from dying, but someone wants to make sure that its secrets die with it.

~

Several years ago, my husband and I spent many days searching out and visiting old ghost towns from one end of Arizona to the other. It was lots of fun, a great way to explore the state, and very educational as well. Reading Jane Harper's Last One Out reminded me of those times. 

I felt the dust of Carralon Ridge seep into every pore and crevice of my body. It blurred my vision, and the blazing sun made me want to reach for my sunglasses.  In other words, Harper's setting is superb. Here in Arizona, entire towns have been swallowed whole by mining companies in search of gold and copper, so it was easy for me to visualize this Australian town slowly being put to death.

However, Harper doesn't just give readers an incredibly evocative setting; she populates it with multi-faceted characters. After her son's disappearance, Ro's family fell apart, and when she returns to join her husband, Griff, and daughter, Della, for a remembrance ceremony for Sam, she can't resist revisiting the last places her son was known to visit. As she moves from place to place and talks with the town's remaining inhabitants, readers get to know her-- and them-- and become just as invested in learning the truth of her son's disappearance. 

Harper has proven to be a master of creating settings, characters, and plots that get under my skin. Last One Out is a must-read for those who like to be swept away in the pages of an absorbing story.

Last One Out by Jane Harper

eISBN: 9781250291400

Flatiron Books © 2026

eBook, 336 pages

Standalone Thriller

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

An Internal Debate Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Just what am I debating, you ask? Well... it's been about two years since the last time I attended an author event at The Poisoned Pen, and I miss it. The reason why I stopped going was because of Paratransit. Denis and I wound up being stranded on a cold, dark street corner for 2½ hours until the Paratransit bus finally showed up to take us home. Now that I'm "flying solo," I've been even more cautious about taking Paratransit to The Poisoned Pen. But...

There are two upcoming events, one in July and one in August, that I really want to attend. In July, David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Winter Counts) will be there with his new book, Wisdom Corner. In August, British author Tim Sullivan will be here for his book, The Tailor. You've all been reading how crazy I am about his George Cross mysteries. How could I not want to attend this event?

Should I continue to err on the side of caution, or should I gird my loins, cross my fingers, and go?

Virtual hugs to you all. Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The Massachusetts House passed a bill to protect free expression and guard the state against book bans.
• What actually happens to the $20-$30 you spend on a book.
• A bookstore boom in a time of literacy decline.
• Thanks to BookTok, authors are the new "rock stars," and Hollywood is taking notice.
• Paperback vs. Hardcover: which is better for readers (and for writers)?
• After a victory in Rhode Island, Connecticut libraries are calling on more states to address predatory eBook pricing.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A lavish Roman villa discovered outside Rome's walls may have been frequented by Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius.
• Roman bath clog: The world's oldest shower shoes were found at a fort along Hadrian's Wall.
• Archaeologists unearth a marble Aphrodite, a pharaoh's cartouche, and a Roman basilica, all in one ancient Egyptian city.
• This rare, intricate brooch represents the Roman Empire's long, disjointed attempt to conquer Scotland.
• The first shipwrecks linked to real pirates of the Caribbean have been found in the Bahamas.
• An "exceptional" drilled tooth reveals Neanderthals practiced dentistry in Siberia 60,000 years ago.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• The world's rarest great ape was decimated by four days of extreme rain, with 7% of its population lost to a cyclone.
• Scientists have discovered a 5 million-year-old  whale graveyard stretching for hundreds of miles in the Indian Ocean.
• Scientists discovered a tiny blue species of octopus by the Galápagos Islands.
• A released squirrel comes back every day to play with the dog who helped raise him.
• Rare red-necked ostriches have been introduced in Saudi Arabia to replace birds that went extinct more than eighty years ago.
• This wild cat is considered "possibly extinct" in Thailand. Researchers just caught it on camera for the first time in thirty years.

►The Wanderer◄

• Mail between heaven and earth: Japan's post office for letters to the dead.
• Seven of the best things to do in Paris.
• The Great Salt Lake is in crisis.
• Coiba Island Penal Colony. An infamous former prison is now a biodiverse national park.
• These 15 photos invite you to take a peek at the people, places, and cultural legacy of picturesque Portugal.
• The events that took place in this Selma, Alabama, home were key to the civil rights movement, and you can now visit it.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Jerry Lawson, an unsung Black developer, unlocked the code to turning a video game console into a virtual living room arcade.
• When Clarence Birdseye tasted the trout that had been frozen by Inuit fishermen, it changed the way we buy food.
• A moment of divine inspiration helped Melvil Dewey bring obsessive order to the infinitely disorganized stacks in the library.
• One of the quietest leaders in the civil rights movement, Ella Baker led by encouraging everyone to get involved.
• Born in 1810, Margaret Fuller was labeled a child prodigy. She later used her intellect to ask important questions about women's roles in America.
• During the Revolution, American women fought for freedom, spied on the British, cared for the sick, and fell in love. A new exhibition reveals their rich wartime stories.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 20 biographies for deep-dive reading.
• Best mystery and thriller movies of the 1950s.
• Gordon Jack's 5 steps to writing senior sleuths who solve cyber crime.
• 12 books set at charming bed-and-breakfasts.
• 7 thrillers and mysteries where the celebration turns deadly.
• These cozy mysteries will delight you.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!

A Murder in Springtime by Martin Walker

 

First Line: The young boy's thin arms started to tremble under the strain.

For the first time, Bruno Courrèges must be recused from investigating a murder case when a woman is found dead on his friend Pamela's patio. The victim was new to the area and had taken a job at the local nursing home. There was no time for her to have made enemies or any real friends.

The police assign their rising star rookie, Fabien Panton, to the case, and Bruno is happy for him to take the lead. There are too many distractions for him at the moment: his spluttering relationship with Laura Segret, a film crew that's descended on the Dordogne, and a group of opinionated small business owners in St. Denis.

Unfortunately, Bruno never seems able to catch a break. When Fabien learns that the victim is connected to his own past, Bruno must step in to help solve the crime.

~

I distinctly remember complaining in my last review of a Bruno Chief of Police mystery that the books had been focusing on the investigations and had very little to do with the food and camaraderie that are two of the reasons why I enjoy this series so much. Well, A Murder in Springtime fixes that. 

Although the mystery concerning the woman who was killed is an interesting one, for the most part, it remains in the background so the focus can shift to the preparation of delicious food and sharing it with friends. This made me happy because, since the very first book, the characters have become part of my literary family.

Another focal point that I liked was Bruno's attempt to revitalize his small village of St. Denis. Neighboring towns have stolen away many shoppers and tourists, and St. Denis' markets, shops, and business owners are suffering. Bruno comes up with some very good ideas, but human nature tells us that not everyone is going to be on Bruno's side. 

Speaking of characters, I hope this is the first of many appearances for Fabien Panton, the man sent to St. Denis to investigate the murder. He's quite the personality and fits in well with the others.

Here I am, all caught up again and waiting for Bruno's next case. If you want to be transported to southwestern France, pick up these books. They are so filled with Gallic charm that I read them with a French accent.

A Murder in Springtime by Martin Walker

eISBN: 9798217207978

Alfred A. Knopf © 2026

eBook, 288 pages

Police Procedural, #19 Bruno, Chief of Police

Rating: B

Source: Net Galley

A Good-bye Godzilla Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Last week, I received a card from a friend that described the days of my electrical panel installation as "Godzilla Days." Rather fitting, I thought, and it reminded me of the summer when I took a short break from college and went back to central Illinois. My best friend, Carol, planned an entire day for us, ending with a sleepover at her house. (Her husband was on National Guard duty.) The afternoon was spent at the movie theatre in Decatur where we watched a movie that had just been released. Has anyone heard of "Jaws"? 😉  Then, popcorn and Pepsi at the ready, we watched the Late Late Show: "Godzilla versus the Smog Monster." Simple pleasures are the best, aren't they? And am I ever glad that, as far as Casa Kittling is concerned, Godzilla has left the building!

I've been asked to make some tissue box covers by another friend, and I've given him four color combinations from which he's to choose three. It will be interesting to see if my guesses match his choices. I'll show them to you now--

Virtual hugs to you all! Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Hugh Jackman is to star in Ridley Scott's Treasure Island. (Big Hugh Jackman and Robert Louis Stevenson fan here.)
• How National Geographic conquered American culture.
• In an encouraging move, lawmakers are beginning to tweak school and library policies to allow for nuance.
• The right is using AI content scanners to try to supercharge book banning.
• How PayPal and other platforms help silence alternative media.
• An electronic eye implant restored vision on patients with age-related macular degeneration.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A shipwreck "almost beyond belief" stunned archaeologists in Norway with its cargo of intact porcelain dishes and luxury goods.
• See the spectacular gold-and-gemstone ring a Roman likely buried for safekeeping 1,700 years ago.
• Italian teenagers discover an 1,800-year-old Roman luxury house underneath their high school gym.
• A fisherman and his son noticed strange pieces of wood on a beach. They turned out to be fragments of a Polynesian canoe.
• "Extremely rare" English coins meant to ward off Vikings were fond in Denmark-- because the Vikings wore them as jewelry.
• Archaeologists unearth more than 40,000 pieces of pottery that ancient Egyptians used like scrap paper.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• A multi-million-dollar wildlife bridge in northern California got its first travelers before it opened.
• The blue-fronted lorikeet had been seen only once over the past century. Birders just rediscovered it in an unexplored Indonesian forest.
• See the rare, endangered Przewalski's horse born at the Bronx Zoo.
• In the world's best place to see wild jaguars, residents are using the big cat's appeal to reach conservation goals.
• The "rising star" of a prominent Yellowstone wolf pack was illegally killed, sparking a poaching investigation.
• Human trash is "kick-starting" the domestication of city-dwelling raccoons.

►The Wanderer◄

• Photographing the afterlives and second acts of America's movie palaces.
• Secrets from centuries of Paris history are emerging from archaeological digs after the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire.
• Crime and the City: Cleveland, Ohio.
• How to explore the Australian Outback by train.
• Behold Belgium's beauty in these 15 scenic photographs.
• 5 American towns that give you a taste of Scandinavia.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• When patent protections couldn't keep pace with ingenuity in the colonies, Sybilla Righton Masters took her case to Britain.
• Clive Cussler and the art of the thriller.
• Before The Kiss, Gustav Klimt got his first big art assignment at this Austrian theater.
• 6 celebrities with surprising connections to true crime cases.
• Spirited revolutionary Pasquale Paoli led the fight for independence in Corsica-- and also inspired America's colonial rabble-rousers.
• The real story behind Abigail Adams' "Remember the ladies" letter.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 8 mysteries set in Hawaii.
• Yoga cozy mysteries to bend your wit and soothe your mind.
• Barack Obama's favorite books of 2025.
• 6 mysteries and thrillers recommended by presidents.
• 24 books about book clubs.
• Must-read non-fiction books.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!

The Terrific Trio at the Phoenix Zoo

Just when you were starting to think that there would be no more Suzanne and Daisy photos shared, here I am with our visit to the Phoenix Zoo. Come along with us, no towels needed!

Petting the rays is a lot of fun, although this time, they seemed to love drenching my nieces. That's what I meant about your not needing towels!

These two were having a blast, too.

Nap time for the jaguar.

And the cougar, too.

Prickly pear blossom

Burrowing owls always seem very opinionated.

Three snowy egrets

Wonder if he's related to the AFLAC duck?

Keeping watch over the missus while she sleeps.

Meerkat (Daisy's photo)

The eye of the lion. Now why does that remind me of a song about a tiger?

Daisy feeding the giraffe.

Suzanne feeding the giraffe.

Daisy on camelback.

Suzanne on camelback.

North America's fastest land animal. A pronghorn antelope taking a snooze. (Daisy's photo)

Suzanne at the petting zoo. (Daisy's photo)

Hmmm... there seems to be a ham in this gang of four. He's definitely ready for his closeup!

Thanks for coming along with us on this virtual visit. I hope you enjoyed it!