Opening Sentence of the Day: Meet me in Venice

Ana Yuan, a plain young woman in a summery blue dress and sandals, never felt even a hint of danger when she boarded the double-decker train from Shanghai to Suzhou on the borders of the Tailhu Lake.

-- Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler.

I recently read Alder's Invitation to Provence and enjoyed it for the pure entertainment of it. This one caught my eye because I had just put together my list of Venice books.

It is light and fluffy, but that is just what I need right now.

Opening Sentence of the Day: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood.

-- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. This is a crazy weird book. Very funny in a creepy way.

This is on Erica Jong's list of Top 100 20th Century Novels by Women.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Locations

It is a truism that the world grows smaller, and a truism especially obvious to anyone like me, who earns a living by perpetual wandering and writing.

-- Locations by Jan Morris.

Her book on Venice, The World of Venice: Revised Edition, is my favorite armchair travel book of all times.  Oxford was also quite good.

This, instead of Morris's usual exhaustive analysis of one city, is a collection of pieces about 13 separate places.  Her unrivaled eye for detail and willingness to render judgment make each essay a treat.

Teaser Tuesday: The Master Butcher's Singing Club

After a few days of shock and strangeness, days in which people in Argus could talk of nothing else and strained after each detail, explanations stalled.  Just as Roy predicted, Clarisse had disappeared.

-- The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich. How's that for a tease!

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

MariReads is hosting in May. Please visit her wonderful blog, where even the banner picture will inspire you to read a good book.

I hit a couple of library sale shelves when I was out and about last week, snagging an Anthony Powell I've been searching for, filling in some of my books lists, and finding some new mysteries to try:

Afternoon Men by Anthony Powell. His Dance to the Music of Time is my favorite "book" if you can call a 12-volume series one book. I've been looking for this non-Dance book for quite a while.




Death of an Expert Witness by P. D. James (the 6th Adam Dalgliesh mystery; mine has a different cover than the one below).



Death in Holy Orders by P. D. James (the 11th Adam Dalgliesh mystery).



Hangman's Holiday (1933) by Dorothy L. Sayers (published in 1933; short stories, 4 with Lord Peter Wimsey).



Rough Country by John Sandford (a new one for me; I know nothing about it or the author).



Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason (another new one for me; part of a series set in Reykjavik, Iceland).