BLIND SEARCH is the second entertaining book in Paula Munier's Mercy and Elvis series that features wonderful dogs and fierce Vermont weather and personalities. HOW THE PENGUINS SAVED VERONICA follows the story of an oldish woman who's withdrawn into herself after a difficult life. She becomes obsessed with visiting a penguin colony in Antarctica, and yes, the penguins save her. Sweet and upbeat and it made me sorry not to have a penguin in my life.
RHYS BOWEN: Apart from finishing Louise Penny’s ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE I’ve been sticking to non-fiction from my own shelves. Royal Feud, the book about Queen Elizabeth and Wallis Simpson--very enlightening, A Walk Across Britain--suitably boring that I fall asleep every night to it, Oh, and a couple of books I had to blurb, pleasant reading.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: In the last couple of weeks I've finished Ann Cleeves' THE DARKEST EVENING, which I loved so much. It was one the crime novels I've most enjoyed this past year. I read an early copy of Marcia Talley's new Hannah Ives, DONE GONE, coming in April, which was a great read with Marcia's always engaging characters. I'm in the process of reading HAMNET. I'm not reading very fast, however, partly because the prose is so gorgeous you want to savor it, and partly because, well, it's a novel of the plague, and sometimes it feels a little too close to reality. But my most fun read has been Garth Nix's THE LEFTHANDED BOOKSELLERS OF LONDON. For fans of Ben Aaronovitch and/or those wonderful classic English fantasy novels by authors like Susan Cooper and Alan Garner, this one's for you. I hope this is the beginning of a series because I'll be standing in line for the next one.
RHYS BOWEN: Apart from finishing Louise Penny’s ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE I’ve been sticking to non-fiction from my own shelves. Royal Feud, the book about Queen Elizabeth and Wallis Simpson--very enlightening, A Walk Across Britain--suitably boring that I fall asleep every night to it, Oh, and a couple of books I had to blurb, pleasant reading.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: In the last couple of weeks I've finished Ann Cleeves' THE DARKEST EVENING, which I loved so much. It was one the crime novels I've most enjoyed this past year. I read an early copy of Marcia Talley's new Hannah Ives, DONE GONE, coming in April, which was a great read with Marcia's always engaging characters. I'm in the process of reading HAMNET. I'm not reading very fast, however, partly because the prose is so gorgeous you want to savor it, and partly because, well, it's a novel of the plague, and sometimes it feels a little too close to reality. But my most fun read has been Garth Nix's THE LEFTHANDED BOOKSELLERS OF LONDON. For fans of Ben Aaronovitch and/or those wonderful classic English fantasy novels by authors like Susan Cooper and Alan Garner, this one's for you. I hope this is the beginning of a series because I'll be standing in line for the next one.
LUCY: I was crazy about THE DARKEST EVENING too Debs!
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Reading, reading, my poor brain. I try to read, but for a while, all I could think of was my manuscript (NOW IN!) and I kept getting distracted. And my reading metabolism is getting ruined by all the first chapters I read for First Chapter Fun--I really have to practice and rehearse each one. And I have to say, it’s extremely educational. But! I did read some terrific things for events and for blurbs. For instance: Edwin Hill’s WATCH HER and Julie Carrick Dalton’s WAITING FOR THE NIGHT SONG. Edwin gets better and better (and he started out as topnotch!) and Julie’s, a debut, is a literary enviro coming of age science thriller. Talk about ticking the boxes, right? And she does it beautifully! (And can I just say: CAN YOU BELIEVE EVERYTHING??) And now back to our scheduled programming.
JENN McKINLAY: Best books of the past few weeks in no particular order are… The Magnolia Bakery Handbook by Bobbie Lloyd. It is GORGEOUS with over 250 photographs and 150 recipes. It was love at first sight. I’ve already made her Hummingbird Cake - phenomenal! As for fiction, I devoured The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. This book honestly defies description except to say it is bloody brilliant and I have no idea how he managed to plot such a complex narrative. I am truly in awe - Groundhog Day with a twist meets Agatha Christie’s closed room mystery setting. Serious standing ovation here. And for the lighter side, I absolutely adored Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane. I’ve become a huge fan of her women’s fiction/romantic comedies.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Reading, reading, my poor brain. I try to read, but for a while, all I could think of was my manuscript (NOW IN!) and I kept getting distracted. And my reading metabolism is getting ruined by all the first chapters I read for First Chapter Fun--I really have to practice and rehearse each one. And I have to say, it’s extremely educational. But! I did read some terrific things for events and for blurbs. For instance: Edwin Hill’s WATCH HER and Julie Carrick Dalton’s WAITING FOR THE NIGHT SONG. Edwin gets better and better (and he started out as topnotch!) and Julie’s, a debut, is a literary enviro coming of age science thriller. Talk about ticking the boxes, right? And she does it beautifully! (And can I just say: CAN YOU BELIEVE EVERYTHING??) And now back to our scheduled programming.
JENN McKINLAY: Best books of the past few weeks in no particular order are… The Magnolia Bakery Handbook by Bobbie Lloyd. It is GORGEOUS with over 250 photographs and 150 recipes. It was love at first sight. I’ve already made her Hummingbird Cake - phenomenal! As for fiction, I devoured The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. This book honestly defies description except to say it is bloody brilliant and I have no idea how he managed to plot such a complex narrative. I am truly in awe - Groundhog Day with a twist meets Agatha Christie’s closed room mystery setting. Serious standing ovation here. And for the lighter side, I absolutely adored Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane. I’ve become a huge fan of her women’s fiction/romantic comedies.
HALLIE EPHRON: I'm making a list because I confess I've been addicted to news feeds and jigsaw puzzles. A bad habit. I did read a terrific advance copy of a fantastic book by Linda L. Richards, ENDINGS. It's dark and twisty and I hope we'll have Linda on to talk about it in April when it comes out. Blew me away.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I got a couple of great books for Christmas: THE ADDRESS BOOK: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth and Power, by Dierdre Mask and THE STRANGER DIARIES, by Elly Griffiths. Both have made several best-of 2020 lists, and deservedly so. For research, I'm reading CULTURE WARLORDS: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, by Talia Lavin. If you'd like to know more about this incredibly timely book, Lavin did an in-depth interview with Sam Sanders on NPR.
And, I have to confess, I caught Bridgerton Fever along with the rest of America. I know I read at least some of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novels before ( I knew who Lady Whistledown was, for instance) but it had been a long time and I couldn't find the paperbacks. Amazon has the first three books on Kindle for $19.99 so I've been escaping into the world of Regency romance. Sigh. Now if someone would install a fully-mature wisteria at the front of my house...
LUCY: REDS, how is your reading? Any great books to recommend? (And ps, I'm looking at my greedy stack of books and thinking: This is exactly how I'm managing my anxiety about our world.)
One last thing, in breaking news...you might remember that I'm the president of the Friends of the Key West Library this year. Because we can't do any events in person, we are planning a fabulous virtual speaker series. Next Monday kicks it off with A NIGHT OF MYSTERY, featuring Rhys Bowen, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Julia Spencer-Fleming. Events are free but you have to sign up--please do come! and check out the other five events right here...
