7 Days to Christmas!

 

8 Days to Christmas!

 

Murder at the Castle by M. B. Shaw -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Well, after botching last week's post, I have my act together this week! This time of year can scramble my brain. Between holiday prep and festivities, end-of-year office admin tasks, and regular work to get done, I end up feeling like one of Santa's elves trapped in Legally Blond. 

I need to finish my book club book before we meet for a our final 2021 get together next week. Then I plan to coast into Christmas week with this wonderful looking new holiday mystery, Murder at the Castle. 

How is your month going?

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Iris Grey scanned the faces of the crowd milling around Aberdeen railway station, hunting for her driver.

-- Murder at the Castle by M. B. Shaw, new from Pegasus Books. 

This is the second book in M. B. Shaw's mystery series featuring portrait painter and amateur sleuth Iris Grey. The first book, Murder at the Mill, found Iris solving a murder that happened at a charming cottage during a Christmas Eve party. 

Murder at the Castle takes Iris north to a Scottish castle during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Baron Jock MacKinnon has commissioned Iris to paint the portrait of his fiancé, but plans go awry when a dead body turns up on the castle grounds.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please share the opening sentence (or so) from the book you are reading this week -- or just a book you want to highlight. If you share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings. Leave the link to your Book Beginnings post in the linky box below.

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THE FRIDAY 56

Freda at Freda's Voice hosts another teaser event on Fridays. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book they are reading -- or from 56% of the way through the audiobook or ebook. Please visit Freda's Voice for details and to leave a link to your post.

MY FRIDAY 56

From Murder at the Castle:

"Don't you find that strange?" Iris probed, slowing her own pace, taking in the soft sensation of dropped pine needles like an eiderdown under her feet, and the rich, resinous smell of the trees. The combination of the dark, towering trunks and the cold tendrils of mist snaking around them gave the whole place a distinctly Tolkien-like, fantasy feel.

I can't wait to tuck in! But I'm such a completist that I want to start with the first book in the series so just ordered Murder at the Mill to read first. It will get here next week, right after book club. Perfect timing to enjoy it over Christmas Eve and this one during the week between Christmas and New Year -- just like the plots of both books! Hopefully without any foul play!

 

9 Days to Christmas!

 

Monthly Wrap Up -- My November Books

 

MONTHLY WRAP UP

I got so caught up in Christmas prep that I forgot to post my monthly wrap up of the books I read in November. Doesn’t it feel like the last weeks of the year race by?  Between end-of-year work stuff and holiday festivities, I don’t know where my head is half the time.

MY NOVEMBER BOOKS

I read 13 books in November, including four for Nonfiction November. I love these theme reads that seem more popular with the the boom of bookstagram.

In the order I read them, not the order they are in the picture:

The Incredulity of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton. I’m working my way through all the stories. This one isn't in the picture at all because I read it with my ears. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Funerals are Fatal by Agatha Christie, the first of three Christie books I read in November just because I was in the mood. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

French Lessons by Ellen Sussman, one from my French Connections list and a fun trip to Paris! 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Vol. 71 of Slightly Foxed from Foxed Quarterly, the Autumn 2021 edition. I count it as a “book” so I can keep track of which ones I read. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Rizzio, the new historical fiction novella by Denise Mina from Pegasus Books was an excellent way to spend a stormy afternoon. Great read! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie 🌹🌹🌹🌹

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday, which won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize. I wanted to like it more than I did, but the stream of consciousness, multiple narrators, and multiple narrative voices (including the always confusing second person) made it a difficult book to engage with. 🌹🌹🌹

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Past Tense by Lee Child. I have one more to go before I finish all the Jack Reacher books written by Lee Child (without his brother as co-author). Fine with me. I was an ardent fan, but I’m off them.🌹🌹🌹🌹

Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I finally read this classic about living in the woods and can check it off my list! 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The French Chef in America: Julia Child's Second Act by Alex Prud'homme. If you want more of My Life in France, this is the book for you. I loved it.  🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

March Violets by Philip Kerr. This is the first book in his Bernie Gunther series and I’ll definitely stick with it. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Plum Sauce: A P.G. Wodehouse Companion by Richard Usborne is a deep dive into Wodehouse’s 97 books. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Also in the picture are the white camellias that bloom in my yard from November through Christmas.