Some good reading this month

The end of May already....wow. Nothing new here except catching up on some emails and errands. We finished watching the series Firefly and I sure wish they had continued it. Next week is my birthday so we will get a pizza and watch The Martian that evening. Loki has been looking a bit unhappy about the lack of furniture in the house these days but that will all change soon.

On to book chat.  I have been very behind in writing anything or linking up.

I read Rick Steves On the Hippie Trail but never linked up. Review in the link.

I also finished Where the Forest Meets the River.   This picks up five years after the first book with all the same characters and I loved it.  Can't wait for her to publish the last one in this series because I need to know what happens with Greg, Rose, Nate, Richard and ...well, all of the characters in this small town.  There have been some revelations, some closure and lots of hope but she sure left us with a few cliff hangers!

Most recently there was The Distance Between Us by Maggie O'Farrell, a recommendation by Les at Coastal Horizons.   As with any O'Farrell book I've read this one grabbed me straight away.  There isn't a lot of dialogue, especially in the beginning chapters, but the descriptive writing drops you right into the middle of Jake's Hong Kong new year celebration and resulting tragedy.  The other storyline, which will eventually merge, takes us into Stella and Nina's world in London, Wales and Scotland. All three of our main characters have big secrets.

Next up will be a roundup for Elena Ferrante and Rosamunde Pilcher books.

I hope you have gotten some good reading in this May.  Thinking of Shelleyrae at Book'd Out where she is dealing with severe flooding.  Thoughts are with you!

Armchair travel for May has taken me to Maine, Scotland, England, Hong Kong, Italy and Ireland.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday and Deb at Readerbuzz  for Sunday Salon.

 

April Roundup

Note: I can not comment on WP blogs at this time. Even though I visit and try to comment, it won't work. There is a long winded reason for that and I need to wait for my old WP blog to delete.  Apparently it takes a month, long story.  Just a PSA here so you'll know.  Sorry to Vicki, Erin, Shelleyrae 😞 and anyone else I didn't mention with WP.

Reading, planting and eating....

Loaded the back of Rav up with Asiatic lillies, portulacas, Arizona Sun Blankets and a lone tomato plant.  I am always hopeful of growing tomatoes.  The deer are always hopeful I will try.

One of my go-to favorite meals is a black bean enchilada topped with loads of lettuce, tomato, sour cream and green onions.  Easy vegetarian meal.  Maduros were a nice side...kinda Tex-Mex-Cuban fusion :-0

April reading was quite varied in location and genres. I  had a DNF with Tana French's latest book The Hunter.  Surprising as I am a big fan of hers but I think it was the Dublin Murder Squad books which had me hooked. The Cal Hooper series isn't doing it for me.

Nope 🖓

📚📚   Books read  📚📚

The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring

I am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story by Rick Bragg

The Empty House by Rosamunde Pilcher

Absolution by Alice McDermott - buddy read with JoAnn

April book travel took me to Maine, West Virginia, Iraq, Vietnam, Cornwall and Scotland.

 That's it for the April round up.   Looking forward to good reading this month.  Hope life is good for you all :-)

Sharing with:

Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday. and Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.

📚📚📚📚📚📚

The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring and The Empty House by Rosamunde Pilcher

Two books - one very good and one surprisingly bad.

The Road to Dalton

This story had me captivated by the poetic and descriptive writing.  My complaint - I wanted the story to continue! The residents of Dalton Maine each have their own stories with chapters devoted to their secrets, fears and loves. 

Trudy and Richard Haskell are central characters and appear in other stories as "supporting cast".  Richard is the town doctor in this small town.  He is good at his profession and very caring but he never wanted to be a doctor.  His father was a doctor and it was expected he'd fill that void when dad retired.  Richard wanted to build bridges.

His wife Trudy is the town librarian and falls in love with her best friend Bev. 

Rose is a lovely young woman who is abused by Tommy, the father of her two children.  She hides her bruises, makes excuses and hopes for a better life. Tommy is piece of work.

Nate and Bridget's story, well I won't give the spoilers on that but the passages about Bridget's train of thought midway through had me captivated. The writing here is so real.

There are many other characters and I very much enjoyed this slice of life in the little town of Dalton.  Looking forward to more by Shannon Bowring. 5 stars. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Empty House

Coming Home and The Shell Seekers set a very high bar for Rosamunde Pilcher novels.  While I didn't expect any of her other work might reach the epic length or sweeping writing style, this book was a disappointment. Honestly, I made myself finish it then scratched my head thinking, WTF.

Virginia Keile is a 27 year old widow.  She is boring, self absorbed and a poor mother.  Not an intentionally cruel mother to her two young children, rather negligent to their needs. Virginia has lost her husband but her young children also experienced loss as they are now without their father.  So what does she do?  She leaves Scotland and heads to Cornwall to stay with a friend of her mother's while pining over "the man who got away" just prior to her marriage.

No please, don't comfort your children.  Keep your head in the clouds and day dream about a rude man who you wished you had married instead.  The ending seemed rushed and unrealistic, as if a deadline had come up and Pilcher thought - better wrap this up and get it to print!

I am a huge fan of Rosamunde Pilcher so it would be disingenuous of me to say how much I loved this book, just passing it off as her off her game.  Loved the setting but not the story. 2 stars

⭐⭐

Book "travel" took me to Maine, Cornwall and Scotland this time.

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.