So Dawn Goes Down to Day: January 2025 Inklings

My friend Heidi at Along the Brandywine has gotten her wonderful monthly link-up series going again!  She's letting the January edition linger into the first week or so of February, so I am not too late to join.  Whew!  I used to participate in this a few years ago, sometimes on this blog and sometimes on my movie blog, and it was always fun.

Since this is my first time participating in a long time, I'll repost the rules here so you understand how it works.

Rules: 

1. At any time during the month, on your own blog post a scene from a book or film that matches the prompt, including a link back here in your post. 

2. Make sure to come back and leave a link to your entry in the box on this post. That's it!

The first prompt for 2025 is A scene at sunrise.  I'm choosing a quiet, but powerful moment from one of my absolute favorite books, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.  Two teenage boys from the poor side of Tulsa, Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade, are hiding out in the countryside because they think they're wanted for murder, and they wake up one morning to something that amazes them.

One morning I woke up earlier than usual.  Johnny and I slept huddled together for warmth -- Dally had been right when he said it would get cold where we were going.  Being careful not to wake Johnny up, I went to sit on the steps and smoke a cigarette.  The dawn was coming then.  All the lower valley was covered with mist, and sometimes little pieces of it broke off and floated away in small clouds.  The sky was lighter in the east, and the horizon was a thin golden line.  The clouds changed from gray to pink, and the mist was touched with gold.  There was a silent moment when everything held its breath, and then the sun rose.  It was beautiful.

"Golly" -- Johnny's voice beside me made me jump -- "that sure was pretty."

"Yeah."  I sighed, wishing I had some paint to do a picture with while the sight was still fresh in my mind.

"The mist was what was pretty," Johnny said.  "All gold and silver."

"Uhmmmm," I said, trying to blow a smoke ring.

"Too bad it couldn't stay like that all the time."

"Nothing gold can stay."  I was remembering a poem I'd read once.

(Chapter 5)

And then Ponyboy recites the Robert Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay."  When I read this book the first time at age 14, I promptly memorized that poem so I could recite it at the drop of a hat, just like Ponyboy.  It's such a quiet scene, but filled with amazing imagery.  All the hope and promise of the future are wrapped up in that sunrise, and here stand these two tough kids who are sure their futures will be anything but hopeful and promising, but they glory in that sunrise anyway.

The 1983 film version of The Outsiders is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations ever, so I'll leave you with this shot of that scene in the movie.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2024

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Best Books I Read in 2024."  It's been a while since I joined up with this weekly event, but I'm hoping to get back to participating a lot more in 2025.

I read a lot fewer books this year than I did in the past couple of years, for a variety of reasons.  I have two kids in high school now.  My middle-schooler participated in two different ballet productions.  I published four books.  My dad died, and my mom now lives with us part of the time.  But I still managed to read 68 books!  

So, here are my two annual lists: my top ten new reads and my top ten re-reads, with a bit of info about each one, and what I personally rated them, movie-style.  I've linked all the titles to my reviews (for re-reads, those reviews may have been written after a previous reading, not this year).

New Reads

1. Up from Dust by Heather Kaufman -- Christian fiction, Biblical fiction, historical fiction, clean romance (PG-10)

2. Break the Beast by Allison Tebo -- young adult, Beowulf retelling, historical-esque fantasy, adventure, platonic friendship, heroic characters, found family (PG-13)

3. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling -- middle-grade fiction, diverse reads, disability rep -- limb difference, humorous (PG)

4. The Sackett Brand by Louis L'Amour -- western, historical fiction, heroism, strong family ties, heroic characters (PG-16)

5. The Story Girl by L. M. Montgomery -- cozy vibes, family fiction, slice-of-life, childhood friendship (G)

6. Kill the Dawn by Emily Hayse -- young adult, Hamlet retelling, historical-esque fantasy, Old Norse vibes, heroic characters (PG-13)

7. Snowhawk by Deborah Koren -- high fantasy, platonic friendship, save-the-kingdom quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-16)

8. Summon the Light by Tor Thibeaux -- young adult, Shakespeare's The Tempest retelling, fantasy, heroic characters, found family (PG)

9. The Midnight Show by Sarah Pennington -- young adult, "Twelve Dancing Princesses" retelling, historical-esque fantasy, Jazz Age/1920s vibes, mystery, detectives, entertainers (PG-10)

10. The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim -- epistolary, humorous, classic (PG-10)

Re-reads

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien -- classic, high fantasy, save-the-world quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-13)

2. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton -- young adult, hoodlums, coming-of-age, heroic characters, found family (PG)

3. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin -- middle-grade fiction, mystery, humorous (PG)

4. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen -- classic, parody of Gothic fiction, humorous, clean romance (PG)

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen -- classic, humorous, clean romance, coming-of-age (PG)

6. Balefire by Deborah Koren -- high fantasy, platonic friendship, save-the-kingdom quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-16)

7. Up from Dust by Heather Kaufman -- Christian fiction, Biblical fiction, historical fiction, clean romance (PG-10)

8. King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry -- middle-grade fiction, historical fiction, horses, diverse reads, speech impediment rep, based on a true story, found family (PG)

9. A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White -- Christian fiction, historical fiction, eve of WWI, spies, intrigue, mystery, book lovers, diverse reads, speech impediment rep (PG)

10. Streams to the River, River to the Sea by Scott O'Dell -- young adult, historical fiction, diverse reads, American Indian culture, based on a true story, adventure (PG-10)

If you're wondering why Up from Dust is on both lists, it's because I read it for the first time this year, and then read it again a few months later.  It's just that good!

(From my Instagram)

"The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin (again)

I have a rule for myself: I have to wait five years between rereads of The Westing Game.  I've had that rule since I first read it 30ish years ago, and I have stuck to it!  This rule is born of me reading it twice in quick succession and realizing that much of my enjoyment of the book comes from the quirky surprises it contains.  When I remember what is coming, it's less fun for me.

This time, I read it aloud to my family.  My son had read it several times, my oldest daughter had read it five years ago and didn't remember it, and my husband and my youngest daughter had not read it at all.  We had the jolliest time experiencing this book together!  We now have several new family in-jokes because of it.

The basic plot is this: when paper products mogul Sam Westing is murdered, he leaves his money to whoever can win the Westing Game he has set up.  Players of the game all live in a new apartment building, though they didn't realize their living there was all a part of Westing's pre-death plan to get them to play.  As friendships form, alliances collapse, and families learn important things about each other, the tension mounts to see who will decipher all the mysterious clues and win the Westing Game -- and millions of dollars.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some discussion of corpses and murder, bombs, broken limbs, and an accident that results in disfigurement.  No cussing.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2023

Our first Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl for 2024 is all about looking back over our reading from the past year and picking our top reads.  As usual, I am doing two lists, one of my top ten favorite new reads, and one of my top ten favorite re-reads.  I've linked each title to my review here on my blog, and provided a little info about each book as well, including its publication year.

My Ten Favorite New Reads:

1. Code Name Edelweiss (PG-16) by Stephanie Landsem, 2023 -- Christian historical fiction spy story set in Hollywood during the build-up to WWII

2. A Deed of Dreadful Note (PG) by Patricia Meredith, 2023 -- Christian historical fiction murder mystery based on the life of mystery novelist Anna Katherine Green

3. High Lonesome (PG-16) by Louis L'Amour, 1962 -- western adventure about strangers banding together against terrible foes

4. Murder on Black Swan Lane (PG-13) by Andrea Penrose, 2017 -- historical fiction murder mystery set in Regency England

5. A Right to Die (PG-13) by Rex Stout, 1964 -- a Nero Wolfe murder mystery involving the Civil Rights Movement

6. Beauty (G) by Robin McKinley, 1978 -- gentle and wholesome fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast

7. The Lilies of the Field (G) by William E. Barrett, 1962 -- sweet story of finding common ground despite outward differences

8. And Then There Were None (PG-16) by Agatha Christie, 1939 -- classic murder mystery about people trapped on an island

9. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (PG) by Bette Bao Lord, 1984 -- middle grade book about a Chinese immigrant family in the 1950s

10. The Vanderbeekers on the Road (G) by Karina Yan Glaser, 2022 -- middle grade book about a family road trip

My Ten Favorite Re-reads:

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles (PG) by A. Conan Doyle, 1902 -- classic Sherlock Holmes mystery

2. The Blue Castle (PG) by L. M. Montgomery, 1926 -- classic about a woman stepping out into life from the shadows

3. Shane (PG) by Jack Schaefer, 1949 -- western about a loner who adopts a family

4. The Black Stallion (PG) by Walter Farley, 1941 -- middle grade classic about a boy and wild horse who rescue each other

5. Playback (R) by Raymond Chandler, 1958 -- hardboiled detective mystery starring Philip Marlowe

6. The Enchanted April (G) by Elizabeth von Arnim, 1922 -- classic about four women who discover their true selves in Italy

7. Borden Chantry (PG) by Louis L'Amour, 1977 -- western murder mystery

8. Jane of Austin (PG-13) by Hillary Manton Lodge, 2017 -- Christian fiction retelling of Sense and Sensibility set in modern-day Texas

9. By the Great Horn Spoon! (PG) by Sid Fleischman, 1963 -- middle grade classic tall tale about the Gold Rush

10. Big Red (PG-10) by Jim Kjelgaard, 1945 -- middle grade classic about a boy and the dog he loves

You can see all my lists of favorite reads since 2014 on this page.

Check back later this week for a more fulsome look at my 2023 reading, including how I did with various challenges and so on!

"By the Great Horn Spoon!" by Sid Fleischman

Way back when I was ten or so, By the Great Horn Spoon! was the first Sid Fleischman book I ever encountered.  My mom read it aloud to my brother and I, and we laughed and laughed and laughed over it.  (My brother and I also picked up using "Blast!" like an expletive, like a ship's captain does in this book, which our mom eventually got very tired of.  I still say it when something goes wrong, thirty-some years later.  Very handy word, really.)

A few years ago, I read this aloud to my own kids.  We also laughed a lot over it.  I reread it again this week because I'm using it in a literature class for 3rd-5th grades that I'm teaching at our homeschool-coop.  And I laughed again.  What a rollicking good adventure this is!

Twelve-year-old Jack and his family's butler, Praiseworthy, stow away on a ship headed for the California gold fields.  The Gold Rush of 1849 is on, and our heroes are anxious to make their fortunes in gold, not because they want to be rich, but so they can save Jack's Aunt Arabella from losing her home.  Aunt Arabella has raised Jack and his sisters, who are orphans, and Jack can't bear the thought of her losing the house that has sheltered them all for so long.  Praiseworthy would do anything to help Aunt Arabella too, so the plucky heroes are off to make a fortune for her.  

Along the way, they encounter an array of peculiar and hilarious characters, from an irascible and competitive ship's captain to a gold miner who mixes his coffee beans with ground up acorns.  It's a tall tale in the grand tradition of American storytelling, and I love it very much.  It not only made me laugh aloud while reading it over again this week, it even made me get tears in my eyes when I hit the very last three lines.  Wonderful stuff.

Particularly Good Bits:

The stagecoach climbed as if it were part mountain goat.  It lurched, it halted, it bucked, it leaped, and it clung (p. 110).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG.  There's no bad language, but there's a bit of violence involving a boxing match, a scene where a man is nearly lynched, a stagecoach robbery, and several times when the main characters are in great peril.  Nothing actually bad really happens to them, ever, but very young readers might worry a lot about them at times.

"The Enchanted April" by Elizabeth von Arnim (again)

This is the third time I have read this book.  I simply adore it.  I'm beginning to think that no actual holiday in Italy could compare to the pure delight of reading about these remarkable ladies spending April there!

Four British ladies who do not know each other pool their resources and rent a villa in Italy for the whole month of April.  Lotty wants to escape her weary life for a bit and breathe some new and different air.  Rose wants to get away from the fact that she is sure her husband no longer loves her.  Mrs. Fisher wants to sit alone in the sunshine and think.  Lady Caroline wants to figure out what to do with her life.

They are all trying to escape their ordinary lives and get some rest in a new environment.  But they discover that they carry their lives with them.  In fact, although all four ladies had grown tired of being who they were, when they reach their Italian villa, they gradually become more their true selves than ever before.  And it's that peeling back of artificiality and exposure of the real, honest people inside themselves that transforms each of them, not the beauty of an Italian spring or the sunshine or the (comparative) solitude.

And, once the ladies have been able to reveal their true selves to themselves and to each other, they can meet other people with poise, balance, confidence, and charm.  Lotty's and Rose's husbands arrive and discover their wives are as dear and sweet and whole as they had been years ago when they were wooing.  A third male arrival benefits from both Mrs. Fisher's and Lady Caroline's transformations as well, though he doesn't know this because he had not met them before.

All in all, this book makes me smile, laugh, and rejoice.  I'm sure I'll continue to read it every couple of Aprils for the foreseeable future.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  It's wholesome and sweet and uplifting.

"The Black Stallion" by Walter Farley

For several decades, this was my favorite novel.  Although I have now admitted that there are a few other books I now love more than it, this remains in my top ten of absolute favorite books.  I read it aloud to my kids this winter and, although none of them loved it, they did enjoy it.

Alec Ramsay is on his way home to the USA from spending the summer with his uncle overseas when a storm strikes the ship he's on.  Only he and an untamed black Arabian stallion survive the shipwreck.  They both wash up on a deserted island, where they survive on seaweed and fish and form an unbreakable bond.  Eventually, they get rescued, and Alec takes The Black back home to the NYC suburbs.  He boards The Black at a stable near his house.  The stable is owned by a former jockey who recognizes The Black's racing potential.  He trains both Alec and the stallion, and they enter a race against the two fastest horses in the country.

As an adult, I can see a few flaws in this book.  Alec happens to have learned about edible seaweed the year before in school, so he knows he and The Black can eat what he finds.  Their neighbor happens to be a former jockey.  Alec's mom happens to take a trip to Chicago around the same time as the race, and happens to get tickets and be in the stands.  

You know what, though?  None of that ruins the book for me.  It's still a rousingly good yarn of overcoming steep odds, trusting your friends, and using your skills and talents to the utmost.  I still love it.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for a few scary parts when the ship sinks and when there's a big fire.

This is my second book read for #MiddleGradeMarch in 2023.

"Shane" by Jack Schaefer (yet again)

Some fictional characters take up residence inside your heart in a quiet, calm, yet confident way, and you can't imagine life without them there anymore.  Shane is one of those, for me.  But not only Shane -- Joe and Marian and Bobby Starrett too.  The whole family of four are so, so dear to me.

This book never ceases to fascinate me.  How Shane rides onto the Starrett family farm one day, just asking for water for himself and his horse, ready to move on through again once he's refreshed.  Accepting a simple offer of hospitality, then another, then another, then taking on a job he never would have dreamed of doing before, and never would have done if it hadn't been Joe Starrett who offered it to him.  The sophisticated gunman becomes a farmer.  The aloof loner joins a family in the most integral way possible without actually becoming physically intimate with any of the family members.  He simply... becomes one of them.  Belongs to them, as the narrator remembers thinking at the time.  He adopts them, they adopt him, and he's theirs as much as they're his.

At the end, it's Shane who has to sever those ties, cut himself loose from his family so he can become the lone gunman again.  Not because he no longer loves his family, but because he loves them so much, he can't possibly do anything else.  Because greater love hath no man than this: that he would lay down his life for his friend.  And Shane loves the Starretts, as surely as they love him.  Just as surely as I love all four of them.

(From my Instagram)

On the surface, it's just another story of small farmers versus a big rancher.  The big ranges slowly gave way to small ranches and farms all across the West in real life, and that metamorphosis was often painful and brutal and violent.  Shane elevates this time-worn tale by giving us heroic men and women who are straight and true and upright and clean... but not perfect.  

Over the past seven years, this story has climbed higher and higher on my favorite books list -- going from somewhere down near fifty up to rest inside my top ten even as its characters nestle a little deeper into my heart with every reread.  It's a jewel-perfect book, pacing and characters and plot and description all polished and shining and brilliant.  The 1953 movie version starring Alan Ladd as Shane is equally wonderful, and it has climbed higher and higher on my favorite movies list over the years too.

I read the Critical Edition this time, but didn't read all the essays at the end.  Yet.  I read the introductory matter, and I'm saving the other material to enjoy now and again, adding one or two to each of my future rereads of the book so I can make them last a long time.

Particularly Good Bits:

Something in father, something not of words or of actions but of the essential substance of the human spirit, had reached out and spoken to him and he had replied to it and had unlocked a part of himself to us (p. 113-114).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some old-fashioned cussing and western violence.

Top Ten Tuesday: Time for Some Thrilling Heroics

This week, That Artsy Reader Girl is giving us a freebie for Top Ten Tuesday!  I've decided to share my top ten favorite swashbucklers with you.

To me, a book or movie is a swashbuckler if it has adventure, sword fights (or brawls), daring escapes or rescues, and a certain amount of swagger.  I adore stories like that!  Here are my ten favorite, complete with a few story elements you'll find in them.  All titles are linked to my reviews.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas -- prison escape, long-lost love, revenge, murder, disguises, tall ships, young love, damsels in distress, bandits...

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson -- stolen inheritance, kidnapping, shipwreck, escape, mismatched buddies, disguises, treason, assassination, fencing, bagpipes...

The Princess Bride by William Goldman -- fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle -- archery, banditry, outlawry, brawling, courtly romance, captures, rescues...

The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley -- fencing, disguises, rescues, chases, more fencing...

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson -- pirates, treasure, tall ships, maroonings, sieges, rescues...

The Black Swan by Rafael Sabatini -- pirates, damsels in distress, kidnappings, rescues, tall ships, sea battles, fencing, brawling, treachery...

The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope -- mistaken identity, disguises, fencing, kidnapping, doomed romance, rescues...

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy -- disguises, rescues, chases, fencing, romance, mistaken identities, damsels in distress...

Sackett's Land by Louis L'Amour -- exploration, chases, escapes, fencing, brawling, tall ships, sea battles, fortune seekers, romance...

And there you have it!  Are you a fan of swashbucklers too?  Got any to recommend?

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2022

I had a wonderful reading year in 2022!  To celebrate it, I've rounded up my "Favorite Books of 2022" to share with you for Top Ten Tuesday today, since that's the prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl this week.

As usual, I'm actually sharing two lists here -- my top ten favorite new reads and my top ten favorite rereads.  Since about a quarter of my reading is rereading, and I tend to revisit my favorites a lot, if I didn't separate the lists, I'd mostly be sharing rereads and that doesn't seem fair to new reads, so... two lists it is!

My Ten Favorite New Reads:

1. Borden Chantry (PG) by Louis L'Amour -- western, mystery, lawman, amateur detective, straight-forward storytelling

2. A Little Beside You (PG-13) by Jenni Sauer -- low-sci sci-fi, fairy tale retelling, gentle bruiser for a hero, cozy vibes, lots of knitting and baking

3. In the Glorious Fields (PG) by Emily Hayse -- magical western, King Arthur retelling, truly heroic heroes and heroines, gorgeous scenery, trilogy (book 3)

4. The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden (G) by Karina Yan Glaser -- family, friendship, city life, gardening, multigenerational friendship, multiracial family, homelessness, found family

5. Isabella's Daughter (PG-13) by Charity Bishop -- history-based fiction, indomitable heroine, castle life, royalty, intrigue

6. Emmazel (G) by Kendra E. Ardnek -- fantasy, fairy tale retelling, Jane Austen retelling, cozy vibes, gardening, female friendship, talking cat

7. Song of the Valley (PG) by Britt Howard -- modern west setting, romantic, enemies-to-lovers, falling for your brother's best friend, horses, helping others

8. Cranford (G) by Elizabeth Gaskell -- shabby genteel cottagecore, female friendship, multigenerational friendship, cozy vibes, slice-of-life

9. Swallowdale (G) by Arthur Ransome -- adventurous kids, sailboats, exploring, camping, friendship

10. Laertes (PG-16) by Carly Stevens -- dark academia, Roaring Twenties, Europe, Shakespeare retelling, male friendship, supportive siblings

My Ten Favorite Rereads:

1. The Blue Castle (PG) by L. M. Montgomery -- transformation, new life, beautiful nature, cozy cottage, island life, happily ever after

2. The Eyre Affair (PG-16) by Jasper Fforde -- book-based fantasy, literature love, alternate universe, Jane Eyre, quirky humor

3. The Long Goodbye (PG-16) by Raymond Chandler -- hard-boiled mystery, male friendship, brooding atmosphere, dark vibes, private detective

4. Kidnapped (PG) by Robert Louis Stevenson -- Scottish Highlands, escape scenes, male friendship, mismatched buddies, political intrigue, reclaimed inheritance, adventure galore

5. Bloodlines (R) by Jan Burke -- triple timeline, hard-boiled mystery, intergenerational friendship, mentors, amateur detective, Irish-American characers

6. The Beautiful Ones (PG) by Emily Hayse -- magical western, King Arthur retelling, truly heroic heroes and heroines, gorgeous scenery, trilogy (book 2)

7. Lost in a Good Book (PG-16) by Jasper Fforde -- book-based fantasy, literature love, alternate universe, Miss Havisham, quirky humor

8. These War-Torn Hands (PG) by Emily Hayse -- magical western, King Arthur retelling, truly heroic heroes and heroines, gorgeous scenery, trilogy (book 1)

9. Loving Isaac (PG-13) by Heather Kaufman -- parenting, autism rep, hesitant romance, turtles, abusive past relationships, sisterhood, Midwestern vibes, strong Christian faith

10. Ophelia (PG-16) by Lisa Klein -- medieval, historical fiction, Shakespeare retelling, first love, young adult, coming of age, secret marriage

Okay!  I hope that gives you some idea of what each of these twenty books are about -- maybe even got you interested in reading them.  Have you read any of them?  What were your favorite books this year?  Do tell!

Top Ten Tuesday: Old and Loving It

I missed the August 16 Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl, so I'm doing it for this week's freebie.  It was "Books I love that were written over ten years ago."  Ahem.  That's actually ALL of my top ten favorite books of all time!  So, here they are, with their publication dates in case you are curious:

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte -- published in 1847

2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas -- published in 1844

3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien -- published in 1955

4. The Hound of the Baskervilles by A. Conan Doyle -- published in 1902

5. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton -- published in 1967

6. The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery -- published in 1926

7. Persuasion by Jane Austen -- published in 1817

8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows -- published in 2008

9. Shane by Jack Schaefer -- published in 1949

10. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley -- published in 1941

I think it's rather cool that my top ten favorite books basically span 200 years, from 1817 to 2008!

Top Ten Tuesday: Getting Cozy

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Cozy Reads."  I love cozy books, so it wasn't hard to come up with ten favorites... it was hard narrowing the list down to ten!  But here they are, with a few cozy attributes for each and the titles linked to my full reviews.

1. The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery -- cottage, winter, fireside reading, cats, book lovers, nature lovers, small town, slow-burn romance

2. Persuasion by Jane Austen -- seaside, friendship, family ties, homebody, bookish discussions, second-chance romance

3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows -- bookworms, letter-writing, island life, community, found family, gentle romance

4. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery -- farmhouse, found family, nature lovers, friendship, girlhood, small town, flowers

5. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim -- Italian villa, flowers and nature, self-discovery, friendship, sunshine, fresh air, vacation

6. Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery -- cottage, baking, cooking, reading, writing, family reunion, fathers and daughters, friendship, small town

7. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen -- seaside, book lovers, dancing, drawing, carriage rides, young love, old houses

8. Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright -- abandoned houses, sunshine, cousins, friendship, secrets, small town

9. The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay -- bookshop, small town, friendship, family ties, books everywhere

10. A Little Beside You by Jenni Sauer -- waffles, baking, friendship, found family, sisters, knitting, gentle romance

How about you?  What are your favorite cozy reads?

"Bloodlines" by Jan Burke (again)

Did it take me two weeks to read this book?  Yes, it did.  But not because I wasn't enjoying it or couldn't get into it.  I spent two weeks on Bloodlines because I was savoring it.  I didn't want to rush through it, I wanted to soak in it.  And I did, and it was wonderful.

This is the first Irene Kelly book I ever read, back in 2012, and the one that made me want to read the whole series.  Now, ten years later, I'm finally able to fulfill that desire.  I had started reading the rest of the series, beginning with the first book, after I first read Bloodlines (which is book 9), but the library rudely ditched the series before I'd gotten past book 3.  So, I've slowly been collecting up the series whenever I would find copies at used book stores and thrift stores, etc.  I got the last couple on AbeBooks at the end of last year and set off on my quest to read the whole series in 2022, which I'm calling My Year with Irene Kelly.

A big part of why I love this book is that it starts in 1958, picks up in 1978, then concludes in 2000.  Murders and crimes from the past keep spawning trouble over the decades, and the plotting here is breathtaking.  

But the real reason that I loved it even more this second time through than I did the first time... was that I know who these characters are, now.  And getting to see Irene Kelly's mentor O'Connor active and on the page, both as a kid and an adult... it's so amazing.  You see, O'Connor dies at the very beginning of the first Irene Kelly book.  Like, in the first chapter, IIRC.  And Irene is always referring to him, missing him, thinking about him, and so on.  Which makes the first two-thirds of this book extra, extra good this time.  

None of this rambling tells you what the book is about, though, does it?  Well, it involves kidnapping, murder, long-buried secrets, family, friendship, mentorship, and grave robbing.  It sprawls.  It weaves.  It surprises.  I love it.  I keep trying to sum up the mystery without spoiling it, but I can't seem to manage it, sorry.

I have two books left in the series to read.  And I'm a little worried they won't live up to Bloodlines because I love it so, so much.  But, then again, they might be just as wonderful!  Won't know until I try them.

Particularly Good Bits:

Missing, he thought, meant exactly that -- gone like a piece of you, carved right out of you, missing from you (p. 145).

There is a distance between "should forgive" and "have forgiven" that is sometimes hard to cross (p. 462).

I stared out the window of the Lucky Dragon, watching a steady stream of downtown workers, panhandlers, shoppers, and others walk by.  Each one a little bundle of troubles on legs, determined to make it through the day (p. 569).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: R for violence, language, and off-page sex.

"The Long Goodbye" by Raymond Chandler

I think this is my other favorite Raymond Chandler novel, besides The Lady in the Lake.  I really love the interactions between Philip Marlowe and Terry Lennox.  Stories that revolve around a friendship often end up being favorites for me.  Two guys who might be considered losers by the world, who understand each other but don't pity each other -- no wonder they wound up friends.

Of course, then Terry had to go get himself into an awful lot of trouble and wind up dead.  And Marlowe had to just keep worrying at the edges of the mystery surrounding that trouble, which gets him into plenty of difficulties while he figures things out.  Oh, Marlowe, how I love you.

I last read this book just about ten years ago.  That was the perfect amount of time to help me forget the details, though I did remember there would be a doozy of a plot twist toward the end.  Which I looked forward to with great enthusiasm :-)

Because I'm exactly this sort of weird fangirl, I bought myself a Desert Rose coffee mug, circa the 1940s, while reading this book.  Why?  Because Marlowe mentions using a coffee mug and saucer in this pattern during the book.  I looked online to see if it was a real china patter, and after a bit of amateur sleuthing of my own, I learned this was the style of the coffee mugs in that pattern that were made before the book was written.  And I found one on eBay and bought it:

You may wonder why a hardboiled detective like Philip Marlowe would have a pretty, even somewhat whimsical, china pattern like that... in The Long Goodbye, he's renting a furnished house that belongs to an older woman who has temporarily moved away.  I assume the china is hers.  But he uses it.  So... I bought one.

Particularly Good Bits:

Very methodical guy, Marlowe.  Nothing  must interfere with his coffee technique.  Not even a gun in the hand of a desperate character (p. 28).

He was a guy who talked with commas, like a heavy novel (p. 82).

"I'm a licensed private investigator and have been for quite a while.  I'm a lone wolf, unmarried, getting middle-aged, and not rich.  I've been in jail more than once and I don't do divorce business.  I like liquor and women and chess and a few other things.  The cops don't like me too well, but I know a couple I get along with.  I'm a native son, born in Santa Rosa, both parents dead, no brothers or sisters, and when I get knocked off in a dark alley sometime, if it happens, as it could to anyone in my business, and to plenty of people in any business or no business at all these days, nobody will feel the bottom has dropped out of his or her life" (p. 92).

It was the kind of morning that seems to go on forever.  I was flat and tired and dull and the passing minutes seemed to fall into a void, with a soft whirring sound, like spent rockets (p. 221).

I was as hollow and empty as the spaces between the stars (p. 273).

I went out to the kitchen to make coffee--yards of coffee.  Rich, strong, bitter, boiling hot, ruthless, depraved.  The life-blood of tired men (p. 319) (My personal favorite Raymond Chandler line of all time.)

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG-16.  There are plenty of allusions to and discussions of sex, and Marlowe spends the night with a woman, but it's all remarkably tasteful and oblique, not described on-page.  There's also some bad language here and there, plus a LOT of alcohol consumption, several deaths described in not-too-gory detail, and a suicide.  Chandler isn't for kids, but he doesn't write dirty books, either.

This is my first book read and reviewed for my fourth Classics Club list!!!

"The Light of Western Stars" by Zane Grey (again)

Yup, this is now officially a favorite western novel for me.

Now, the funny thing is, the first time I read this book, I got really mad at the ending because I seem to have missed one very key sentence toward the end.  (SPOILERS in the rest of this paragraph only.)  And I still think that a showdown between Gene Stewart and Don Carlos is called for, and I'm mad that we didn't get one.  BUT.  Grey does tell us that Don Carlos got captured and thrown in jail.  He's not left on the loose, waiting to ambush Stewart and Madeline on their way home.  (End of SPOILERS.)

I learned recently that Grey wrote a sequel to this, called Majesty's Rancho.  When I was at the Zane Grey Museum in Zanesville, Ohio, last week, I picked up gorgeous vintage 1940s editions of both books, and promptly started rereading this.  I've watched the 1940 movie version several times since the first time I read the book, so I wanted to get the book back in my head before reading the sequel.  Which I hope/plan to read this summer still, after I finish up a few other things I am currently reading.  I'm really excited to see where Stewart and Madeline's lives take them!  Fingers crossed that it's a happy book and not full of them getting angry at each other over misunderstandings all the time, or something lame like that.

In this book, Madeline "Majesty" Hammond comes west to visit her brother and runs afoul of drunken cowboy Gene Stewart before she's even left the train station.  What ensues?  Only a secret and unconsummated marriage, a lot of dramatic scenery, really crazy car driving, a Mexican revolution, and a rugged camping trip just to add some spice.

Parts of this book kind of demand the readers leave modern sensibilities behind, but that's not something I personally have difficulty doing because I read a LOT of old books, and I know enough about history to understand when things are a product of the era they were written in, and when they're something I'm just not going to be okay with no matter what.  If you can't do that without it ruining your enjoyment of this book, you probably aren't going to like it.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for western violence and a little bad language here and there.

"Jane Eyre" (Manga Classics) by Charlotte Bronte (original story), Crystal S. Chan (story adaptation), and SunNeko Lee (art)

These Manga Classics were so perfect for me in the first days of recovering from my broken arm!  They held my attention that was sometimes really drifty thanks to pain meds, and I could read them in little chunks as my awakeness permitted.

Since Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is my favorite novel, I was prepared to be picky about this adaptation.  But I was also prepared to be charmed.  Happily, I was mostly charmed!  They really captured the essence of the characters so well -- Jane is valiant but yearning, Rochester is mercurial but kind, and St. John Rivers is cheerless and misguided.  

Best of all, they did not glide over the twin turning points that Bronte hinges her story on -- that Rochester repents of his former ways and attitudes and asks God to help him do better, and that Jane stops relying on her own strength and intelligence and asks God to guide her.  It's those two moments that combine to make the happy ending possible, but filmmakers almost never get that right, which means that this manga is superior to most filmed versions of Jane Eyre, imho.

(Mine from my Instagram)

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for mild depictions of a madwoman, mentions that Mr. Rochester had mistresses and lovers before he met Jane, and speculation that Adele may be his daughter.  My youngest is 10, and I'm letting her read this, but I don't know if I would give it to younger kids.

This has been my 30th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022