Kitchen Remodel, Week Nineteen: Moving In!

The inside part of the kitchen remodel is almost finished.  Several details to go, like an Italian tile thing to hang behind the range, the pot rack above the island, and little punch list stuff.  But it is finished enough to move in.  Next week we can even start using it.

Of course, the cats wanted to help. Here is Ella Fitzgerald, posing as usual. She didn't like the plastic sandwich bags messing up the arrangement of canisters.  I agree.   

 

I still haven't read a food book in a long time. My plan had been to read either Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain or The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn for the Foodie Reading Challenge.

But my brain is a sieve so I forgot that plan and started reading Smiley's People by John le Carré, the third book in The Karla Trilogy that begins with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (reviewed) and The Honourable Schoolboy (reviewed).

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Book Beginning: Smiley's People by John le Carré.

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS: I am experimenting with getting this post up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. We'll try it this way for a couple of months to see if people like the option of early posting. If you have feelings one way or the other, please comment.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I am trying to follow all Book Beginning participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING

Two seemingly unconnected events heralded the summons of Mr. George Smiley from his dubious retirement.

-- Smiley's People by John le Carré.

This is the third book in The Karla Trilogy that begins with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (reviewed) and The Honourable Schoolboy (reviewed).

Freedom!

Happy Independence Day!

Review: Beast in View

Beast in View won Margaret Millar the Edgar Award for the best mystery of 1956, the third year the award was given. Set in the seedier parts of 1950s Los Angeles, this psychological thriller involves a reclusive young heiress and her dysfunctional family members, all being harassed by threatening telephone calls.

Millar followed the hardboiled examples of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, but did it with a feminine twist.  In particular, she gave her female characters more edge, as shows even in this short snippet: 

June knocked on the door and waited, swaying a little, partly because the martini had been double, and partly because a radio down the hall was playing a waltz and waltzes always made her sway. Back and forth her scrawny little body moved under the cheap plaid coat.

Although the themes are a little stale and most of the characters now look like noir stereotypes – back alley pornographers, daytime drinkers, and closeted gays are just a few examples – the book is more than campy, vintage fun.  There is a lot going on and the plot has some decent twists to it.  Every one of the major characters, and a few of the minor ones, seem at one point or another like they could be the villain. 

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

Beast in View counts as one of my books for the Vintage Mystery Challenge.

Teaser Tuesday: The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman

And this is exactly how a woman agrees to see a man second time after finding him neither interesting, intelligent, nor compelling: He announces that he is a recent widower, vulnerable, like a man without an epidermis. That you are his first plunge into the treacherous waters of the Sea of Dates.

-- The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman. Her books are always fresh and fun -- perfect for summer. This one is about a socially inept surgery resident who finds herself dating a third-tier candy salesman.


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