bookfinds @ Kittling: Books and a Bit of Rambling

I just can't seem to get back into gear after spending a week down in Bisbee. All I want to do is loll around reading all the marvelous books I've managed to gather together. Who cares about running a dust mop around, doing the laundry. cooking or running errands? I certainly don't. I'm certain that the only "thing" that's keeping me anywhere close to the straight and narrow is my husband. I may be willing to subsist on sun tea and saltines, but I'm not willing to have him do the same or show up at his job looking less than his best.

Blast. Seems I'm a bookaholic with scruples.

I've pulled eleven books out of the mailbox so far this week, and there's still two delivery days to go. Tuesday I decided to take a look at my "reading maps" and do something about filling the gaps in my USA map.

How did I do that? I love to read mysteries, so I went to Stop, You're Killing Me's Location Index to see which books were listed for the states I was missing. When I found something that piqued my interest, I went looking for it at Paperback Swap. I requested eight books from Paperback Swap on Tuesday and wish listed the rest.

So what am I doing adding even more books to my wish list here??

Hello. My name is Cathy, and I am a bookaholic.

Here are the books that caught my eye before my Stop, You're Killing Me/ Paperback Swap binge. Click on the book covers if you'd like more detailed information about any of the titles.


A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer.
"Penicillin operates as the source of romance, murder, and melodrama in Belfer's evocative WWII–era novel. When Life magazine sends strikingly beautiful photographer Claire Shipley to report on a promising new medication made from green mold, Claire, 36, the single mother of a young son, who lost her daughter to blood poisoning eight years before, is moved by the drug's potential to save lives. She also becomes smitten with resident doctor James Stanton, a man with two interests: penicillin and bedding Claire. But as the war casualties pile up, penicillin becomes an issue of national security and the politics of the drug's production threaten to disrupt the pair's romance, especially when James is sent abroad to oversee human trials of the drug. The pharmaceutical companies—including one owned by Claire's father—realize the financial potential in penicillin. Belfer handily exploits Claire's photo shoots to add historical texture to the book, and the well-researched scenes bring war-time New York City to life, capturing the anxiety-ridden period."


Lady Hester: Queen of the East by Lorna Gibb.
"Born into the age of revolution, Lady Hester Stanhope had a radical spirit. Following the death of her uncle the Prime Minister William Pitt in 1806, she chose the excitement of travel and adventure over the life of a spinster in polite London society. And she never looked back. Surviving a terrible shipwreck and the scorn of Lord Byron ('that dangerous thing - a female wit'), Lady Hester adopted male Arabic dress, became the Queen of the Bedouin and was the first European woman ever to enter Palmyra. Recovering from the heartbreak of a passionate love affair, she became a political force in Lebanon. In defiance of despotic war lords she offered sanctuary to an oppressed minority, creating a fortress which became a focus of both gossip and awe. Told with all the verve of its subject's life, based on much new source material and extensive travel in Hester's footsteps, Lady Hester traces this extraordinary life from Downing Street to an isolated monastery in the hills of Lebanon - a stunning evocation of a unique and pioneering figure."


The Rosary Bride: A Cloistered Death by Luisa Buehler.
"During the 1940's the women attending Regina College insisted a beautiful young woman wearing a 'fancy dress' haunted the halls near the chapel. Many claimed to see the apparition often entering, sitting, and softly crooning a mournful melody. Stories of the 'Rosary Bride' continue from generation to generation. Fifty years later, during the renovation of the college library, workers expose a skeleton. Grace Marsden, present at the discovery is drawn into the search for the victim's identity, fearing the remains will lead to skeletons in her own family closet. Against her husband, her best friend, and her own common sense Grace determines to find the truth. Her involvement grows beyond her control when the dead woman reaches out to her. Complications arise when the investigating police inspector dredges up more old secrets and betrayal. Ignoring her husband's theory that the Inspector's motives are less than honorable, Grace continues her quest to solve the decades old homicide. Desperate to know the truth, Grace enlists the help of Sister Andrew, a nun who lived at Rosary during the 40's and has chronicled the college's history. But all too soon the treachery of the past meets the future and once again lives are lost. Can Grace name the 'Rosary Bride' before her killer strikes again?"


Murder Stalks a Mansion: A Newport Mystery by Anne Marie Sutton.
"When her husband dies in a car crash Caroline Kent faces selling the family's Newport, Rhode Island, estate. Instead she makes the decision to turn the house into an inn catering to wealthy visitors to the famous city. The bucolic atmosphere of the Inn at Kenwood Court is quickly threatened when the Hargreaves arrive from Boston to spend the weekend. Uncle Maurice enjoys taunting his family for their shortcomings, their avarice and their dependence on him. Tensions ignite, and murder is the result of this deadly game. Lt. Hank Nightingale of the Newport Police Department takes charge of the case, and Caroline is determined to help the handsome police detective solve the mystery before the killer can strike again."


Pray and Die by Stella Whitelaw.
"Jordan Lacey, a former policewoman in Latching, West Sussex, decides to become a private investigator. But how, exactly, does a young woman with no private-eye experience find cases in a small British town with very little crime? As it turns out, it's easier than Jordan expected it to be, easier and weirder, as her first clients--a woman who suspects her husband of cheating on her and a nice lady looking for her lost turtle--soon take the back seat to Jordan's big discovery: a murdered nun. This is an immensely satisfying novel, charmingly written and deceptively plotted (things are more complicated than we think). Whitelaw, the author of more than 30 novels, pays close attention to detail, and it's a great deal of fun to watch Lacey find a place to hang her private-eye shingle, advertise for clients, and adjust to the realization that her former police contacts won't help her now that she's gone solo. The story itself is clever and well constructed, but it's Lacey herself who makes the novel so special; she is truly a delightful creation."

I have to admit that the last book is the one I'm really looking for. It sounds like something a character-driven reader just has to have.

How about you? Have you read any of these titles? Would you recommend them? Did any of them tickle your taste buds enough to include them on your own wish lists? Which ones? Do tell!

bookfinds @ Kittling: Books

There's nothing like trying to find a minute here and a minute there to write and schedule blog posts ahead of time, but so far everything seems to be working smoothly for me. By the time you see this post, it will be a week old. I do love scheduling posts for future dates, and if you haven't tried it yet, I'd suggest that you give it a try. It's an easy way to free up time when you know you're going to be busy doing something else.

I got two weeks' worth of bookfinds' posts from one Paperback Swap Daily Wish List email, so you can see how dangerous reading those things can be for me!

This week's discovered books seem to be fairly balanced between fiction and non-fiction... a little something for everyone... so I hope at least one of these titles tickles your fancy as much as it did mine!

Click on the book cover if you'd like to see more detailed information.


The Curse of the Romanovs by Staton Rabin. (Young Adult)

"Alexei Romanov, heir to the Russian throne, is in deadly danger. It's 1916, the struggling Russian people are tired of war and are blaming their Romanov rulers for it, and some are secretly plotting to murder the young heir and his family. But nobody outside the palace knows that Alexei suffers from a terrible bleeding disease, hemophilia, which threatens to finish him off even before the family's enemies can. The only person able to help Alexei is the evil and powerful religious mystic Rasputin -- and now Rasputin is trying to kill him too! Desperate, Alexei flees through time to New York City in 2010, using a method taught to him by the mad monk himself. In New York, Alexei meets smart and sassy Varda Rosenberg, and discovers she is a distant cousin. Varda is working on a gene therapy cure for hemophilia, as the disease still runs in the family. When Alexei learns that history shows that his entire family will be assassinated in 1918, he and Varda travel back in time to the Russian Revolution, with Rasputin hot on their heels. Will they be able to rescue Alexei's family before it's too late?"

By Blood Possessed by Elena Santangelo

"Thirty years ago, Magnolia Shelby wrote out her will and bequeathed her beautiful Civil War-era estate, Bell Run, to a complete stranger related to the family that owned the land before the Shelbys. Now 91, Maggie feels it is time to meet her beneficiary and to introduce her to her heritage. Pat Montella, a quiet, unassuming office worker from Pennsylvania, is unaware of her distant connection to the Bell family. She travels to Virginia to meet Maggie and as the two of them explore the grounds and neighborhood, Pat becomes aware of voices and out-of-date details. She experiences blackouts and 'sees' back to early May 1864 when the Confederate army was preparing for a battle on the property. The Bell family is buried there but no one knows the circumstances of their deaths. Interspersed throughout the story are diary entries from that time in which a family member describes the tragedies befalling them. While puzzling over these events and their meaning, Pat becomes the victim of attacks against her and Bell Run. She is afraid to trust the local people she meets and doesn't know who is trying to scare her away from her inheritance."


The House in Good Taste by Elsie De Wolfe

"After ninety years, The House in Good Taste by America's 'first lady of interior decoration,' Elsie De Wolfe, still offers timeless design advice. Compiled from her articles in newspapers and magazines and first published in 1914, The House in Good Taste is a seminal book on interior design with ideas that have lasted a century because they influenced not only the wealthy clients of Park Avenue and Palm Beach, but popular taste as well. De Wolfe advised Americans to shun ostentation and clutter in favor of simplicity, to dismantle the draperies in order to let in the light, and to replace garish colors with beige and ivory. 'I believe in plenty of optimism and white paint,' she declared, 'comfortable chairs with lights beside them, open fires on the hearth and flowers wherever they belong, mirrors and sunshine in all rooms.' The rooms that Americans inhabited in the middle of the twentieth century still today owe much to De Wolfe's tastes"

The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives by Otto Penzler

"A great recurring character in a series you love becomes an old friend. You learn about their strange quirks and their haunted pasts and root for them every time they face danger. But where do some of the most fascinating sleuths in the mystery and thriller world really come from? What was the real-life location that inspired Michael Connelly to make Harry Bosch a Vietnam vet tunnel rat? Why is Jack Reacher a drifter? How did a brief encounter in Botswana inspire Alexander McCall Smith to create Precious Ramotswe? In THE LINEUP, some of the top mystery writers in the world tell about the genesis of their most beloved characters-- or, in some cases, let their creations do the talking."

Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It by Michael J. Trinklein

"Everyone knows the fifty winners but what about the hundreds of other statehood proposals that never worked out? Lost States is a tribute to such great unrealized states as West Florida, South California, Half-Breed Tracts, Rough and Ready, and others. History buffs will be entertained and enlightened by these bizarre-but-true stories: Frontier legend Daniel Boone once proposed a state of Transylvania on the borders of Indiana and Illinois. (His plan was resurrected a few years later with the new name of Kentucky.) Residents of bucolic South Jersey wanted to secede from their 'filthy' north Jersey neighbors and form their own union. The Gold Rush territory of Nataqua could have made a fine state but since no women were willing to live there, they had to settle for being part of California. Accompanying the stories are beautiful full-color original maps detailing how these states' boundaries might have looked, along with images of real-life artifacts and ephemera. Lost States is a quirky reference book for history buffs, geography geeks, and anyone who enjoys lush, fascinating cartography."

The Prairie Traveler: The 1859 Handbook for Westbound Pioneers by Randolph B. Marcy

"Along with a good rifle and a sturdy horse, this guidebook was essential for westward-bound pioneers. Originally published by the War Department, Capt. Marcy's manual offers life-or-death advice on choosing the best routes to California, food supplies, treating snakebites, fording rivers, and encountering Native Americans. 21 original illustrations."

There you have my discoveries of the week. Have you read any of them? Would you recommend them? Did any of these titles tickle your fancy enough to add them to your own wish list? Which ones? Do tell!

bookfinds @ Kittling: Books

Summer's finally finding the Sonoran Desert. Temperatures are predicted to be over 110°F. next week, so it's a good thing that I've planned a little blogging break. Almost as though I knew what was coming, eh?

It is my intention to stay away from the computer for most of next week; therefore, I am busy scheduling posts so everyone will think I'm still glued to the Internet.

This week has marked more progress with the family of Gila Woodpeckers who live in the area and love all things citrus. For the past couple of weeks, the adults have been flying themselves into a stupor to keep the youngsters fed. Then at the beginning of this week, I noticed that the adults weren't flying back to the nest with the orange bits. The youngsters were being enticed away from home. Last night the youngsters were feeding themselves bits of orange, and one of them is most definitely a pig. It's been fun to watch all the proceedings. But I've digressed from books, haven't I?

Since I have been preparing for this break, I haven't exactly been on the lookout for new-to-me books. That doesn't mean that I didn't stumble across any, so let me tell you about the ones I found! Click on the book covers if you want more detailed information about any of the books.


Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad by Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard.
"When quiltmaker Ozella McDaniels told Jacqueline Tobin of the Underground Railroad Quilt Code, it sparked Tobin to place the tale within the history of the Underground Railroad. Hidden in Plain View documents Tobin and Raymond Dobard's journey of discovery, linking Ozella's stories to other forms of hidden communication from history books, codes, and songs. Each quilt, which could be laid out to air without arousing suspicion, gave slaves directions for their escape. Ozella tells Tobin how quilt patterns like the wagon wheel, log cabin, and shoofly signaled slaves how and when to prepare for their journey. Stitching and knots created maps, showing slaves the way to safety. The authors construct history around Ozella's story, finding evidence in cultural artifacts like slave narratives, folk songs, spirituals, documented slave codes, and children's' stories. Tobin and Dobard write that "from the time of slavery until today, secrecy was one way the black community could protect itself. If the white man didn't know what was going on, he couldn't seek reprisals." Hidden in Plain View is a multi-layered and unique piece of scholarship, oral history, and cultural exploration that reveals slaves as deliberate agents in their own quest for freedom even as it shows that history can sometimes be found where you least expect it."


Keeping the House by Ellen Baker
"As a new bride in a new town, Dolly Magnuson is consumed with trying to be the perfect wife, as determined by articles in the reigning womens' magazines, and with trying to obtain the perfect house, the abandoned Mickelson mansion, a crumbling Victorian that has captured her fancy to the point of obsession. As Dolly plies her fellow quilters during Monday afternoon sewing bees about the fate of various Mickelson family members, she hatches a plan to restore the house to its original glory in hopes that her husband will buy it for them, a ploy to save her sanity as much as her marriage. But when one of the Mickelson scions returns and catches Dolly dusting the family heirlooms, Dolly discovers more about the family, and herself, than she ever dreamed possible."


All the Wrong Moves by Merline Lovelace
"Samantha, a smart-mouthed air force lieutenant, tests gadgets for the military at a Texas desert facility. On an early morning hike, Samantha finds two badly decomposed bodies, soon identified as a weapons dealer and a smuggler of illegal aliens. After an arsonist burns her test lab, Samantha ratchets up her involvement in the investigation, with handsome border patrol agent Jeff Mitch Mitchell keeping her heart racing as they search for the killer. Well paced, this chatty first-person narrative develops the character of the not-so-military-type heroine who doesn't deal well with authority figures but does the best she can because she knows her job's important."




Whiskey on the Rocks by Nina Wright
"Still reeling from her husband's death, thirty-three-year-old realtor Whiskey Mattimoe is adjusting to a new life, which includes the embarrassing purse-snatching antics of her mischievous Afghan hound. That's bad for business, but not as bad as having clients die on the premises. When one of her properties turns into a murder scene, Whiskey becomes hopelessly tangled in a devious scheme involving identity fraud and priceless art. Dodging a house fire, break-ins, and attempts on her life, Whiskey manages to keep her sense of humor throughout the chaos with help from a part-time police force, her eight-year-old neighbor, and other eccentric characters in the Lake Michigan resort town of Magnet Springs."

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to getting a copy of the last book so I can read about that purse-snatching Afghan hound.

Have you read any of these titles? Would you recommend any of them? If you haven't read any of them, did any of them tickle your fancy enough to add to your own wish lists? Which ones? Do tell!

bookfinds @ Kittling: Books

I think this is the first year in a long time that the resident Gila woodpeckers haven't tried to drill their own home into the side of ours. It's either because Denis hung large shiny wind spinners in their areas of choice, or because Mr. and Mrs. Greg Peck (as I've named the pair) don't want the citrus smorgasbord to disappear. I can sit in the family room to watch television, read, or needlepoint and look out the window to watch the adults fill their beaks with juicy pieces of orange to take to the nest to feed their young. I wonder how much longer it's going to be before we see the youngsters feeding themselves?

Anyway, I looked through one edition of Paperback Swap's Daily Wish List email and found all sorts of books to add to my own wish list. If you'd like more detailed information about any of the titles, click on the book cover. Let's take a look at the books that were added to my wish list this week:


The Cape Ann by Faith Sullivan
"The Cape Ann is the name on the plans of the house that Lark Ann Ehrhart and her mother plan to build some day. It is the place to which six-year-old Lark escapes in daydreams when her parents begin to argue, the home that her mother dreams of far from the rooms in the train depot where they live and Lark's father works. Ultimately it symbolizes escape from Harvester, Minn., and independence from the husband and father whose gambling repeatedly sabotages their dream. Lark narrates the adult events of Harvester's Catholic culture without always understanding them. Her point of view adds depth to the story, though occasionally it is more adult than a six year old's would be. Characters are fully colored; historical references firmly set the story in the Depression and beyond."


American Road: The Story of an Epic Transcontinental Journey at the Dawn of the Motor Age by Pete Davies
"In 1919, a military convoy of 81 vehicles set out to travel the Lincoln Highway--a line drawn on the map--from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. Essentially a PR ploy to dramatize the need for good roads, the "First Transcontinental Motor Train" delivered. Trucks foundered in mud, crashed through wooden bridges, and got beaten to pieces on byways barely better than trails. Modern motorists will be surprised to learn just how bad things were back then, but the story behind the undertaking is equally interesting. Automobile and tire manufacturers, who stood to gain if newly car-crazy citizens had smooth roads to travel, managed to drive the government their way; the grueling journey captured the American imagination and spurred road building to a fervor."


Brought to Book by Anthea Fraser
"When successful biographer Rona Parish is asked to write the life-story of a bestselling author, recently deceased, she is intrigued - to say the least. After all, Theo Harvey led a very colorful life, and died in mysterious circumstances. But Rona's husband Max is wary and, it soon becomes apparent, with good reason...As Rona begins to delve into Theo Harvey's life and death, and to interview his friends and family - some more willing than others - she realizes that she has taken on a poisoned chalice."




Life List: A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds by Olivia Gentile
"Married, with four children, Phoebe was a frustrated 1950s housewife who began experiencing a depression that felt like she was inside a tomb. Her introduction to bird-watching by another shy, brainy housewife, seeing a warbler through binoculars, was a revelation; it was as if she'd seen a blinding white light. With the help of a local birding club, Phoebe began her life list of birds and gradually began traveling farther afield in search of new sightings. Diagnosed in her late 40s with incurable cancer and less than a year to live, she threw herself into birding, traveling worldwide, ignoring injury and danger to work on her life list for another 18 years, until killed in a bus accident in Madagascar at the age of 68. Gentile's ambivalence, celebrating Snetsinger's having lived so fully and with so much spirit but noting that she had lost the capacity to take into account her family, her health and her safety, adds a reflectiveness that Phoebe herself may have avoided in life."


Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
"Kalish's memoir of her Iowa childhood, set against the backdrop of the Depression, captures a vanished way of traditional living and a specific moment in American history in a story both illuminating and memorable. Kalish lived with her siblings, mother and grandparents-seven in all-both in a town home and, in warmer weather, out on a farm. The lifestyle was frugal in the extreme: "The only things my grandparents spent money on were tea, coffee, sugar, salt, white flour, cloth and kerosene." But in spite of the austere conditions, Kalish's memories are mostly happy ones: keeping the farm and home going, caring for animals, cooking elaborate multi-course meals and washing the large family's laundry once a week, by hand. Here, too, are stories of gossiping in the kitchen, digging a hole to China with the "Big Kids" and making head cheese at butchering time. Kalish skillfully rises above bitterness and sentiment, giving her memoir a clear-eyed narrative voice that puts to fine use a lifetime of careful observation: "Observing the abundance of life around us was just so naturally a part of our days on the farm that it became a habit." Simple, detailed and honest, this is a refreshing and informative read for anyone interested in the struggles of average Americans in the thick of the Great Depression."


Murder at the Universe by Daniel Edward Craig
"New York's Universe Hotel attracts celebrities, social climbers, tourists and controversy, and provides the ambitious Trevor Lambert, director of rooms, a reason to exist. Lambert's dedication to hotel owner Willard Godfrey and his Universal Promise: to provide an escape from the outside world leaves him devastated when he discovers Godfrey's body in the hotel garage the morning after the staff holiday party, apparently the victim of an inebriated hit-and-run driver. Making things astronomically worse, radical anti-booze crusader Brenda Rathberger is at the hotel for a Victims of Impaired Drivers conference, and sleazy TV journalist Honica Winters of Borderline News airs a critical segment about Godfrey's suspicious death. Lambert's wry turn as an accidental house detective puts Craig's erudite whodunit solidly on the map."


Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson
"Tracy Waterhouse leads a quiet, ordered life as a retired police detective-a life that takes a surprising turn when she encounters Kelly Cross, a habitual offender, dragging a young child through town. Both appear miserable and better off without each other-or so decides Tracy, in a snap decision that surprises herself as much as Kelly. Suddenly burdened with a small child, Tracy soon learns her parental inexperience is actually the least of her problems, as much larger ones loom for her and her young charge.

Meanwhile, Jackson Brodie, the beloved detective of novels such as Case Histories, is embarking on a different sort of rescue-that of an abused dog. Dog in tow, Jackson is about to learn, along with Tracy, that no good deed goes unpunished."

After a bit of paring down, that's my wish list for this week. I think I'm most excited about Started Early, Took My Dog and American Road.

What about you? Have you read any of these books? Would you recommend them? Did you put any of these same titles on your own wish lists? Do tell!

bookfinds @ Kittling: Books

Phoenix is playing around with its first 100°F. day, and Denis has been busy making sure the pool is ready for summer. Maybe once I'm ensconced in my summer reading spot my book consumption will rise. I'm not in a reading slump; I just seem to be very easily distracted by almost everything, including Denis's change of shift at work and in a big needlepoint project I have created for myself.

You know how I've said that I've purchased books and then not read them for more than a decade? Well, with this needlepoint project, I'm using yarn that I bought thirty years ago (and never touched). Looking at the price tags on the skeins, I would imagine that I'd be paying a tad more if I were to buy my supplies today!

Anyway, that's got nothing to do with the books I've found and added to my wish list within the past week. Wait a mo while I drag myself back on topic!

Here's what became part of my wish list this week. Do any of these titles tickle your fancy? Click on the book cover if you want more information.


At Home in France by Ann Barry.
"Not every writer who owns a house in France publishes a book about its pleasures and pains. Even among such owners, Barry, a food and travel writer and former editor at the New Yorker and the New York Times, is exceptional, because she does not actually live in her house in Carennac, a village in southwestern France near the Dordogne; she only visits it for two or three weeks a year. When she is there, she reads, jogs, cooks, hosts friends from home and explores the nearby regions. Because her visits are so short, her experiences in her village seem confined to finding a neighbor to keep her keys for her and someone to garage her car while she's away, and food shopping at wonderful country markets. She writes grippingly about her search for the best bread and vividly profiles familiar native types with whom she is acquainted."


Living Among Headstones: Life in a Country Cemetery by Shannon Applegate.
"In 1997, Shannon Applegate was bequeathed a small cemetery in western Oregon. The neglected five acres were not only the burial site for generations of her family but also the designated resting ground for many in the nearby, down-on-its-luck logging town. Living Among Headstones chronicles the author’s experiences as she takes charge of this sacred land and finds herself plotting graves, consoling families, and confronting the funeral industry.Filled with humor, singular events, pathos, and unexpected smiles, the pages offer historical asides and moving personal stories. For example, Shannon explores the language and customs of funerals as she agonizes over how to approach families who have covered graves with plastic flowers and inappropriate ornaments. In doing so, she contemplates the myriad ways cultures past and present approach the dead."


Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature by Kathleen Dean Moore.
"In an effort to make sense of the deaths in quick succession of several loved ones, Kathleen Dean Moore turned to the comfort of the wild, making a series of solitary excursions into ancient forests, wild rivers, remote deserts, and windswept islands to learn what the environment could teach her in her time of pain. This book is the record of her experience. It’s a stunning collection of carefully observed accounts of her life—tracking otters on the beach, cooking breakfast in the desert, canoeing in a snow squall, wading among migrating salmon in the dark—but it is also a profound meditation on the healing power of nature. In the wonder of the rush of water over rocks, in the joy over the sight of a cougar in a cow field, Moore finds the solace that comes from connection to the natural world, and from that astonishingly intimate connection arise hope and courage, healing and gratitude."


The Almond Picker by Simonetta Agnello Hornby.
"A family saga, Sicilian style. The tale opens with the death of the woman Mennulara, whose name in Sicilian dialect means the almond picker. And so she was in her youth, trying to support an impoverished and sickly family. Before her death, Mennu, who had been in service to the matriarch of the Alfallipe family since she was 13, leaves cryptic instructions for the squabbling and disagreeable family. Hornby tells her story by spiraling back through Mennu's hard life. In the process, she emerges as a kind of secular saint, not only caring for her own family and the Alfallipes but also learning to read, overseeing the household accounts, managing investments, studying local archaeology and music, and even having secret ties to the Mafia and to the family."


Hildegarde Withers: Uncollected Riddles by Stuart Palmer.
"Hildegarde Withers, the creation of Stuart Palmer (1905-1968), is the original schoolmarm detective. After she first appeared in The Penguin Pool Murder in 1931, she was so popular that a series of movies starring Edna Mae Oliver and James Gleason followed, and Palmer wrote short stories about Miss Withers for Mystery, a slick-paper magazine sold only in Woolworth's stores between 1933 and 1935. These stories, filled with the sights and sounds of New York during the depression – museums, flea-circuses, burlesque shows, Latin gigolos – are genuine forgotten classics. The introduction is by Stuart Palmer's widow, Jennifer Venola."




Indian Country Noir edited by Sarah Cortez and Liz Martinez.
"Step into Indian Country. Enter the dark welter of troubled history throughout the Americas, where the heritage of violence meets the ferocity of intent. Features brand-new stories by: Mistina Bates, Jean Rae Baxter, Lawrence Block, Joseph Bruchac, David Cole, Reed Farrel Coleman, O'Neil De Noux, A.A. Hedge Coke, Gerard Houarner, Liz Martínez, R. Narvaez, Kimberly Roppolo, Leonard Schonberg, and Melissa Yi."

I have to admit that the cover of this one is what caught my eye. It makes me think of Monument Valley and the writing of Tony Hillerman.


What about you? Have you read any of these titles? Which ones? Which ones look good enough for your own wish lists? Do tell!

bookfinds @ Kittling: Books

Denis and I have been slicing oranges in half and putting them out for the birds. You'd be surprised at how many birds citrus fruit attracts--even if the reference books say nothing about them having a preference for it. Lately I've been reading within sight of the oranges because either the parent birds are busy flying to and fro feeding their nests of young, or parent birds have fledglings that they're bringing to the oranges in an attempt to get the youngsters to feed themselves.

It makes for entertaining viewing, and I have to admit that my reading has slipped a bit. However, I did manage to find the time to go through the latest Booknews from The Poisoned Pen. Of course, I found some books to add to my wish list. Who knows when I'll get them (if ever), but the following books have been added to that all important bookaholic's list. Let's take a look! (Click on the book cover to find more detailed information about the book.)


The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard.
"One stormy night in 1986, someone shoots Hugh-Jay Linder dead, and Laurie, his discontented young wife, disappears. The authorities arrest Billy Crosby, a disgruntled ex-employee of High Rock Ranch with a drunk-driving record, in whose abandoned truck Laurie's bloodied sundress is found. In 2009, Billy's lawyer son, Collin, who's certain of his dad's innocence, secures Billy's release from prison and a new trial. Father and son return to Rose, where 25-year-old Jody Linder, the victims' daughter, works as a teacher. Collin's pursuit of justice will force Jody and other members of her family, including her three uncles and her grandparents, to finally confront what really happened on that long ago fatal night and deal with the consequences."


Bones of Contention by Jeanne Matthews.
"The Top End of Australia is a land teeming with crocodiles, poisonous snakes, and curious Aboriginal myths. It’s a strange place to choose to end one’s life, but that is what Dinah Pelerin’s wealthy American uncle has done. Dying of cancer, he has summoned his entire family – current wife, ex-wife, assorted children and niece – to a remote, comfortless lodge where he intends to rewrite his will and commit suicide with the aid of a rogue Australian physician with whom he shares a mysterious history. Dinah sees this time with her uncle as a last chance to learn the truth about her father, who died during the commission of a felony when she was a child. But when she arrives, she discovers that the truth has more and darker ramifications than she’d bargained on."


Zulu by Caryl Ferey.
"Readers should be prepared for graphic scenes of shocking violence in Férey's hard-hitting procedural, which won France's Grand Prix for Best Crime Novel. Ali Neuman, the chief of the Cape Town police crime unit, investigates the murder of 18-year-old Nicole Wiese, found one morning in the South African city's botanical gardens with her skull crushed in. Since the victim's father was a member of the Springboks rugby team that won the world championship in 1995, the case attracts heavy press coverage. The trail leads Neuman to an extraordinarily brutal narcotics gang with links to a former apartheid official. The good guys don't walk away from their encounters with the bad guys unscathed. This is a welcome addition to the growing ranks of crime books set in South Africa—powerful and unflinching in its portrayal of evil both mindless and calculating."


The Edge of Ruin by Irene Fleming.
"During the very early days of silent movies, a murder during filming threatens the lives of two independent film producers in this thrilling historical mystery.One day in 1909, Emily Weiss’s handsome and successful new husband, Adam, returns to their well-appointed Philadelphia home to tell her he’s sold everything they own, and they are going to New York to become independent movie producers. As he’s already signed a contract that will ruin them if not fulfilled, Emily agrees to go with him to New York and help him set up their movie company. But of course, it’s not that easy—all movie production is controlled by Thomas Edison and his partners in the Patent Trust who hold many of the major patents used in filmmaking. And they employ a team of often brutal detectives whose main job it is to go around and disrupt independent films, breaking cameras and even heads if necessary.With a colorful crew of actors, Adam and Emily head to Fort Lee, New Jersey where they set shooting the films to fulfill their contract. After evading Edison’s detectives a couple of times, one of them arrives on the set in time for a major crowd scene. And, while almost everyone’s back is turned, he is murdered. Now Adam sits in jail, charged with the crime, while Emily has to not only finish films but uncover the truth about the shocking murder."

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne.
"S. C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches."





So... what do you think? Have you read any of these books? If so, would you recommend them? If you haven't read any of them, have you added a title or two to your own wish list? Which one(s)? Do tell!

bookfinds @ Kittling: Books

This week, I've been enjoying the company of a very special house guest, so my attention has not been on this blog. Denis and I took our guest out on a trail yesterday where we had adventures (of course), and you'll undoubtedly hear about them sooner or later, complete with illustrations.

I haven't read much this week, so I certainly haven't had time to look for any books to put on my wish list. It's a good thing that I have two that I forgot to put on last week's, so let me look those up and tell you all about them! Click on the covers for more detailed information.





Amberwell by D.E. Stevenson.

"The five Ayrtons spent a happy, secluded childhood at Amberwell, the family estate. They grew up into a different world, however. War clouds scudded from the continent. Two boys left home to meet tragedy and heartbreak. Another Ayrton was driven to a disastrous marriage. But one stayed home, and this is her story. Only with Nell's help could Amberwell be "home," a place to relive the past and anticipate a golden future. Amberwell is the name of an estate on the west coast of Scotland which has been in the Ayrton family for several generations descending from father to son in an un-broken line. It was a tradition in the family that each new owner would add to the amenities of the place and in this way Amberwell grew larger and more beautiful as the years went by and was endowed with gardens and terraces and orchards. The story is concerned with the five young Ayrtons who grew up at Amberwell and played in the gardens and then ventured forth into the world, but the "hero" of the story is Amberwell itself. To each of the children Amberwell meant something different; it influenced their thoughts and molded their lives."



Death of a Bawdy Belle by M.E. Kemp

"Salem, Massachusetts, 1692: Arabella Edwards, a mysterious beauty, is found hanging from the Salem gallows, yet the courts had nothing to do with her death. It is up to Hetty Henry, a wealthy widow past 25 years of age, to help with the inquiries. The first thing Hetty notices is an expensive lacy shift hidden beneath the plain clothes of the victim. The second thing she notices is what should be there but isn't: a hood to cover her hair, a travel cloak, a chain of household keys...."




I know that the pickings are rather slim this week, but do either of those titles tickle your fancy? Do tell!

See you next Friday with another edition of bookfinds!

bookfinds @ Kittling: Books

We've had a twenty-degree drop in temperature here in Phoenix, and I'm waiting for the promised rain. It looks as though Mother Nature screwed up her timing a bit. I have a friend from the Pacific Northwest coming for a visit next week, and she brought his weather here a week early. Since I think he's wanting to soak up some sun out by the pool, this is a good thing.

In the mean time, I've managed to find some more books to add to my wish list. I know... quelle surprise! Once again they were all from one of the Daily Wish List emails from Paperback Swap. Sometimes I hear of new books here before I hear about them anywhere else.

Let's see what I managed to find this week! Don't forget: you can click on the book cover to get more detailed information.



Aunt Epp's Guide for Life: Miscellaneous Musings of a Victorian Lady edited by Christopher Rush. This morning I read a review of this book, and some of the excerpts are absolutely hilarious. "Born in 1871, Elspeth Marr was married but childless (perhaps by choice) and lived in the Kingdom of Fife, Scotland. Throughout her lifetime, she wrote copious letters and notes to an unnamed "young girl" about the nuts and bolts of life, as well as her views on more worldly matters. Never meant for publication, these notes languished in obscurity until Christopher Rush’s mother discovered them in a small brown suitcase long after his great-great aunt Epp passed away. Sassy and opinionated, Aunt Epp was not afraid to voice her views and give her advice on topics ranging from adultery to wrinkles, God to genitals. In a time when mentioning such things would have been deemed unladylike and improper, Aunt Epp left nothing unsaid. Full of wit and erudition, not to mention homespun herbal remedies and witty verse, now Aunt Epp’s timeless wisdom can be shared and enjoyed by everyone."


Invisible Shield by Scarlett Dean. "What if a murdered cop could come back and solve her own murder? What if she could team up with her own sister, also a cop, to get the job done? And what exactly happens on the other side, anyhow? Lindsay Frost does not volunteer for this assignment, but when she is murdered in her own home, with the death staged to look like a suicide, the cop within her refuses to completely shuffle off the mortal coil, at least not until she gets justice. Fortunately her sister, also in law enforcement and much more open to the paranormal than Lindsay was in life, feels the same way. The two sisters tag-team the investigation in a story that is funny and fast-paced, satisfying and touching, and ultimately tinged with sadness since their work together is always overshadowed by that one big obstacle: one of them is dead."


A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams. "In the small coastal town of Oyster Bay, North Carolina, you'll find plenty of characters, ne'er-do-wells, and even a few celebs trying to duck the paparazzi. But when murder joins this curious community, the Bayside Book Writers are there to get the story....
Olivia Limoges is the subject of constant gossip. Ever since she came back to town-a return as mysterious as her departure-Olivia has kept to herself, her dog, and her unfinished novel. With a little cajoling from the eminently charming writer Camden Ford, she agrees to join the Bayside Book Writers, break her writer's block, and even make a few friends....
But when townspeople start turning up dead with haiku poems left by the bodies, anyone with a flair for language is suddenly suspect. And it's up to Olivia to catch the killer before she meets her own surprise ending."



Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City by Greg Grandin. "Fordlandia is the story of Henry Ford's ill-advised attempt to transform raw Brazilian rainforest into homespun slices of Americana. With sales of his Model-T booming, the automotive tycoon saw an opportunity to expand his reach further by exploiting a downtrodden Brazilian rubber industry. His vision, the laughably-named Amazonian outpost of Fordlandia, would become an enviable symbol of efficiency and mark the Ford Motor Company as a player on the global stage. Or so he thought. With thoughtful and meticulous research, author Greg Grandin explores the astounding oversights (no botanists were consulted to confirm the colony's agricultural viability) and painful arrogance (little thought was paid to how native Brazilians would react to an American way of life) that hamstrung the project from the start. Instead of ushering in a new era of commerce, Fordlandia became a cautionary tale of a dream destroyed by hubris."



The Devil's Rooming House: The True Story of America's Deadliest Female Serial Killer by M. William Phelps. "

A silent, simmering killer terrorized New England in1911. As a terrible heat wave killed more than 2,000 people, another silent killer began her own murderous spree. That year a reporter for the Hartford Courant noticed a sharp rise in the number of obituaries for residents of a rooming house in Windsor, Connecticut, and began to suspect who was responsible: Amy Archer-Gilligan, who’d opened the Archer Home for Elderly People and Chronic Invalids four years earlier. “Sister Amy” would be accused of murdering both of her husbands and up to sixty-six of her patients with cocktails of lemonade and arsenic; her story inspired the Broadway hit Arsenic and Old Lace. The Devil’s Rooming House is the first book about the life, times, and crimes of America’s most prolific female serial killer. In telling this fascinating story, M. William Phelps also paints a vivid portrait of early-twentieth-century New England."

The Darkest Jungle: The True Story of the Darien Expedition and America's Ill-Fated Attempt to Connect the Seas by Todd Balf. "In 1854, Isaac Strain, an ambitious young U.S. Navy lieutenant, launched an expedition hoping to find a definitive route for a canal across the isthmus of Panama. For hundreds of years, the Darien isthmus had defied explorers; its unmapped wilderness contained some of the world's most torturous jungle. Yet Strain was confident he could complete the crossing. He was wrong. He and his men quickly lost their way and stumbled into ruin. Balf vibrantly recounts their journey, a disaster on a par with the Donner party or the sinking of the whale ship Essex. Balf has written a compelling, tragic story, reviving an adventure overshadowed, 60 years later, by the successful completion of the canal. Balf reminds readers that, like the transcontinental railroad farther to the north, the channel was 'built on the bones of dead men.'"

The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth J. Duncan. "Manicurist and owner of the Happy Hands Nail Care shop, Penny Brannigan is a transplanted Canadian who has been living in Llanelen in northern Wales since she came to the country as a backpacker years ago. While still dealing with the recent death of a good friend, Penny is hired to do the nails of the bridal party for the wedding of local Emyr Gruffydd to Londoner Meg Wynne Thompson. Meg Wynne disappears on her wedding day, apparently after having her nails done. Penny becomes involved when she realizes that the woman whose nails she did that day was not Meg Wynne. Penny and a new friend, Victoria, assist Detective Chief Inspector Davies with his investigation, sometimes clumsily, but they ultimately solve the mystery. Well-developed characters and a nicely delineated Wales setting are what make this stylish cozy work."

That was it for this week. Do any of them strike your fancy? Do tell!