Funerals are Fatal by Agatha Christie -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Funerals are Fatal would have been a good book to read last week for Halloween. I'm a bit late. Not it's time for Nonfiction November. Maybe next week I'll have a nonfiction book to share. I've been reading a lot of nonfiction this year to make room on my overflowing nonfiction TBR shelves, so November will be nothing different. But I have a couple of books set aside for Nonfiction November, including Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Are you reading nonfiction this month?

I'm trying to catch up on vintage mysteries these last two months of the year. I've made progress on the Vintage Mystery Challenge but have a ways to go to finish before the end of the year. Funerals are Fatal is one for the challenge. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Old Lanscombe moved totteringly from room to room, pulling up the blinds.

-- From Funerals are Fatal by Agatha Christie.

The Vintage Mystery Challenge has a "Scattegories" theme again this year and this 1953 mystery counts as my entry in the "Mystery By Any Other Name" category. Funerals are Fatal is more often found under it's other title, After the Funeral. But I love the campy cover on my old pulp paperback edition.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week -- or just a book that caught your fancy. If you share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

THE FRIDAY 56

TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

From Funerals are Fatal:

“Mr. Timothy Abernathie is her only surviving brother and her next of kin, but he is a recluse and an invalid, and is quite unable to leave home. He has empowered me to act for him and to make all such arrangements as may be necessary.”

Life in a Cold Climate: Nancy Mitford; The Biography by Laura Thompson -- BOOK REVIEW -- and Mitford Book List

BOOK REVIEW & BOOK LIST

Life in a Cold Climate: Nancy Mitford; The Biography by Laura Thompson (2019, Pegasus Books)


In Life in a Cold Climate, biographer Laura Thompson returns to the world of the Mitfords she wrote about so brilliantly in The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters. This time, her focus is on Nancy Mitford, oldest of the six Mitford sisters, author of the novels Love in a Cold Climate and The Pursuit of Love, as well as other novels, biographies, and works of journalism.

The Mitford sisters, and Nancy in particular, have fascinated onlookers since they first Nancy and Pamela first came on the scene in the 1920s and the sisters as a group captured the public’s imagination in the 1930s. Thompson draws from Nancy’s writing, including correspondence with friends like Evelyn Waugh; conversations with her two (then) surviving sisters, Diana and Deborah, acquaintances, and colleagues; and historic resources to paint a fully realized portrait of one of the most intriguing women of the 20th Century.

Thompson’s writing style befits the story of Nancy Mitford. She has a light, often irreverent touch, and brings charm and wit to her subject. Reading Life in a Cold Climate is like drinks with a friend while she gives you the backstory on a mutual acquaintance you always wanted to know more about.

LIST OF MITFORD BOOKS

I am nursing a case of Mitford Mania and have started a collection of Mitford books. Here is the list of those I’ve collected so far. These are book by and about the Mitford sisters. If you have suggestions for books to add, please pass them on to me!

All in One Basket by Deborah Mitford, Dutchess of Devonshire

In Tearing Haste: Letters Between Deborah Mitford and Patrick Leigh Fermor

Wait for Me! by Deborah Mitford, Dutchess of Devonshire

Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford

Poison Penmanship: The Gentle Art of Muckraking by Jessica Mitford

The Blessing by Nancy Mitford

Highland Fling by Nancy Mitford

Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford

Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

A Talent to Annoy: Essays, Articles and Reviews, 1929-68 by Nancy Mitford

Nancy Mitford: A Memoir by Harold Acton

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell

The Mitfords: Letters Between the Sisters, edited by Charlotte Mosley

Life in a Cold Climate by Laura Thompson

The Six: Lives of the Mitford Sisters by Laura Thompson

Happy Halloween!

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Have a fun and safe Halloween! It is a beautiful day here in Portland. My neighborhood is geared up and ready to celebrate. It looks like most houses have some kind of decorations up, more than usual. I think last year was so grim, people want to make up for it. We expect we will have a lot of trick-or-treaters!

BUtterfield 8 by John O'Hara -- Book Beginnings

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Boo! It is almost Halloween! Are you ready for the trick-or-treaters? Are you reading anything particular for this Halloween week?

It's time for Book beginnings on Fridays! Whether you have a Halloween book or not, please share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading -- or just a book you want to highlight. 

My book has nothing to do with Halloween and is not a scary book. It isn't even a mystery. BUtterfield 8 is just one of those books that has been sitting on my TBR shelf for decades and I finally decided to read it. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

On this Sunday morning in May, this girl who later was to be the cause of a sensation in New York, awoke much too early for her night before. 

-- BUtterfield 8 by John O'Hara. Yes, it is spelled with a capital B and U because BUtterfield 8 is an old fashioned telephone number. 

BUtterfield 8 was a bestseller when it was published in 1935. I can see why! It is till racy close to 90 years later. It's all sex and day drinking so far. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

THE FRIDAY 56

Another fun Friday event is The Friday 56. Share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your book, or 56% of the way through your e-book or audiobook, on this weekly event hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

From BUtterfield 8:

It was useless to try to think of the names of speakeasies. His personal experience with speakeasies was slight, as he never drank; but he knew from going to them with Gloria that a place would be known familiarly as Jack’s or Giuseppe’s – and then when the proprietor gave you a card to the place (which you threw away the moment you were safe outside), it would be called Club Aristocrat or something of the sort.

Gloria is the girl who caused a sensation and who woke up to early after her late night. She is a firecracker!

The Dead Bell by Reid Winslow - BOOK REVIEW

BOOK REVIEW

The Dead Bell by Reid Winslow (2021, Quid Mirum Press)

The Dead Bell drew me completely in from the get go. It has all the makings of an excellent murder mystery. Tom Edison is a cop in Lake County, Illinois, north of Chicago, called in to solve the murder of a society matron found dead in her back yard in the ritzy lakefront community of Lake Forest. Tom has the necessary accoutrements for hard boiled detective: an ex-wife, an estranged son, his own unresolved trauma, an alcoholic wild man for a sidekick, and an eye for the wrong woman.

With those ingredients, it’s just up to the author to bring them together correctly, and Reid Winslow does a masterful job. The Dead Bell is the best sort of mystery book, the kind that makes you forget you are reading a book and simply takes you along for the ride. Which is not to say that the book is all fast action and dialog. There is a lot of literary heft to it – backstory, descriptions, character development, an introspective protagonist, digression, side stories, and a complicated plot. But Reid Winslow’s writing flows so naturally you absorb all this without stumbling at transitions or having the writing itself get in the way of first-rate storytelling.

All in all, I am so impressed! The Dead Bell is so polished and the plot keeps the reader guessing all the way through. I’ve read plenty of mysteries published by big-name authors and publishers that aren’t nearly as good as this – not even close! Congratulations to Winslow on his accomplished debut and here’s to more books in the Tom Edison series.

NOTES

Less in the nature of "full disclosure" and more because I am excited about it, I'll mention that I've known Reid Winslow for a long time because we are both lawyers in Portland and worked together, briefly, many years ago. Many lawyers have a fantasy to write mystery novels, so I am excited for and proud of my friend for making it happen! 

I read an advanced copy of The Dead Bell and part of my review is blurbed on the back cover. If you order a copy (and I think you should -- it's a terrific read) you will also get a little souvenir of your being a Rose City Reader reader. 😃

 

Flavours of Greece by Rosemary Barron -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

It's raining and raining all week here in Portland! This sunny cookbook of Greek recipes is exactly what I need to lift the grey clouds.

What is your week looking like?

Please join us here on Book Beginnings on Fridays to share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading. Or share a book you want to highlight. Leave the link to your Book Beginnings post in the linky box below. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

It is impossible for me to think of Greece without thinking of the colours, sites, aromas, and, above all, the flavours of Greek cooking.

-- from the Foreword to Flavours of Greece by Rosemary Barron (2021, Grub Street).

Those who know Greece, even if only from a brief acquaintance, are aware that there is a vigorous culinary tradition in the country, with a distinct identity and character.

-- from the Introduction.

For modern Greeks olives and bread are the basic necessities of life, as they have been for centuries. The olive groves of modern Greece -- still, mysterious, and peaceful places -- date back to around 450 BC when olive oil was first recognized as a valuable export commodity and the land was given over to olive cultivation.

-- from part one, The Greek Kitchen, chapter one, Ingredients.

Rosemary Barron started a cooking school in Greece in the 1980s and has been championing Greek food ever since. This redo of her best selling cookbook, The Flavours of Greece, is a must-have for any lover of Greek food who wants to cook at home. 

The book is as lush and gorgeous as the dishes it promises. Barron starts with an inventory of a Greek pantry, including instructions on how to make such staples as yogurt and preserved lemons. She then moves through recipes from mezzes (appetizers) to desserts and miscellany. The recipes are as simple as a mezze of aromatic figs made by layering dried figs with bay leaves and cracked black pepper tightly in a jar for several days (intriguing!) to the more complicated, like Duckling Thessalia-Style, which involves roasting a duckling with lemons and pine nuts and things. None of the recipes are difficult and all look delicious! 

With over 250 national and regional recipes, dozens of color photos, fresh green and orange accent colors, and easy-to-follow instructions, Flavours of Greece will be your go-to Greek cookbook. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

THE FRIDAY 56

Another fun Friday event is The Friday 56. Share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your book, or 56% of the way through your e-book or audiobook, on this weekly event hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

From The Flavours of Greece:

These little pastries, filled with a creamy nutmeg-spiced spinach mixture, are perfect picnic food. You can make them with either pastry dough or with filo and they freeze beautifully (freeze before cooking). 

The recipe for spanakopita seems like a classic Greek recipe, and one a home cook can handle.  

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

I'm continuing my celebration of Victober with another Victorian novel, The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. 

What are you reading this week? Please share the first sentence (or so) here on Book Beginnings on Fridays. Add the link to your post in the linky box below. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

A wide plain, where the broadening Floss hurries on between its green banks to the sea, and the loving tide, rushing to meet it, checks its passage with an impetuous embrace.

-- The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. This one has been on my TBR shelf for a long time. Published in 1860, it is the story of Maggie Tulliver, her family struggles, romantic loves, and adoration of her brother. It is Eliot's most autobiographical novel. 

I finished The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins last week and loved it. The Moonstone was on my Classics Club list, so I'm making progress. The Mill on the Floss is definitely a classic, but not onw on my personal list of 50 classics to read in five years, which is what the Classics Club is all about. Are you a Classics Club participant? Join in if it sounds like fun!

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your post below and use the #bookbeginnings hashtag if you share on social media!

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

 

THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

From The Mill on the Floss:

Tom was to arrive early in the afternoon, and there was another fluttering heart besides Maggie’s when it was late enough for the sound of the gig-wheels to be expected; for if Mrs. Tulliver had a strong feeling, it was fondness for her boy. At last the sound came—that quick light bowling of the gig-wheels—and in spite of the wind, which was blowing the clouds about, and was not likely to respect Mrs. Tulliver’s curls and cap-strings, she came outside the door, and even held her hand on Maggie’s offending head, forgetting all the griefs of the morning.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Happy Victober! 

One of my favorite things about Instagram is Victober, the annual bookstagrammer tradition of reading Victorian literature in the month of October. I look forward to it all year. There is something so cozy about reading Victorian novels in the fall.

Do you participate in Victober? What books are you reading this year? I'm reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot, and maybe one other one if I get the time. 

I plan to share some of the opening sentences here on Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading (or just want to highlight). Add the link to your Book Beginning post in the linky box below.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

I address these lines—written in India—to my relatives in England.

My object is to explain the motive which has induced me to refuse the right hand of friendship to my cousin, John Herncastle.

-- The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.

The Moonstone was published in 1868 and is considered the first (probably) detective story. It is the mystery of the theft of a yellow diamond the size of a plover egg. How big is a plover egg? I don't know. I don't even know how big a full grown plover is. But it's fun to say plover a lot.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add your link below. Please use the #booksbeginnigns hashtag if you post on social media.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

THE FRIDAY 56

TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

From The Moonstone:

The Diamond takes us back to Mr. Franklin, who was the innocent means of bringing that unlucky jewel into the house.

Our nice boy didn’t forget us after he went abroad.

The Moonstone is an excellent book. It's a rollicking adventure with lots of funny bits and a pretty good mystery. I'm close to the end and still don't know who took the diamond. 

The Moonstone is one of the 50 books on my Classics Club list. 

September Wrap Up -- My September Books

SEPTEMBER WRAP UP

I finally launched my own Zazzle store. Crazy, right? It’s not like my law practice gives me a lot of down time! But I need a creative outlet. I have a couple of product lines so far, but my favorite is a collection of gifts and stationery with images of old books from my own library. The mug in the picture above is an example. If you want to see more, find me on the Zazzle website at RoseCityEphemera. I’m excited about it!

When I wasn't playing with Zazzle, I managed to read ten books last month. They are listed below in the order I read them, not in the order they are stacked up in the picture.

MY SEPTEMBER BOOKS

The Choir by Joanna Trollope, cozy and wonderful. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity―and Why This Harms Everybody by Helen Pluckrose, which is not in the picture because I read the audiobook. This is an excellent book and a highlight of the month for me. Pluckrose is one of the three scholars, along with James A. Lindsay and Peter Boghossian, who submitted bogus "grievance studies" papers to peer reviewed journals and got many of them accepted and even published. It's worth looking up because the papers they got published are hilarious. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Uncommon Clay by Margaret Maron was a pretty decent mystery set in North Carolina. I read it with my ears so it isn't in the picture. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

An Alphabet for Gourmets by M. F. K. Fisher. This is a wonderful book of idiosyncratic food writing. It wandered off before I took the picture. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross, another highlight of the month. This one was lurking on my TBR shelf for a long time and I'm glad I finally read it. It is historical fiction at its best. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler. I'm an Anne Tyler completist, but I found this one disappointingly pointless. 🌹🌹🌹

Mystery and Manners by Flannery O’Connor, occasional nonfiction. This was admittedly a little repetitive, but still excellent. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

A Changed Man by Francine Prose, slightly subversive, a little edgy, and I loved it. It's the second of her books I've read and she's becoming a favorite. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Split Images by Elmore Leonard, which was typical Leonard but still good. 🌹🌹🌹1/2

Slightly Foxed, Vol. 70, the recent summer edition, which I count so I can keep track of which ones I read. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

MY FAVORITE COVER OF THE MONTH

Between Two Kings: A Sequel to The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

My apologies for not getting this week's Book Beginnings post up last evening. My computer was in computer hospital. Ugh! Fortunately, it was an easy repair -- it just needed a (way) bigger hard drive. Let's just say my phone had twice as much brain power as my two-year old lap top. What was I thinking?

So I am here now and ready to share opening sentences (or so) of the books we are reading this week -- or just the books we feel like highlighting. What book captured your fancy this first week October?

MY BOOK BEGINNING

From Between Two Kings:

Toward the middle of May in the year 1660, at nine o’clock in the morning, when the already hot sun was drying the dew on the ramparts of the Château de Bois, a little cavalcade, composed of three men and two junior pages, was returning into the city across the Loire bridge.

Dumas published Twenty Years After, his sequel to The Three Musketeers, in 1845. Between Two Kings, shown here, is the first volume of Twenty Years After.

This is the latest edition of a new translation of the Musketeer Cycle by Lawrence Ellsworth, out now from Pegasus Books. Ellsworth’s is the first translation from the French to English in over 100 years. If you thought the Musketeers were fun before, wait until you see how they swashbuckle now! 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginning post in the linky box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

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 Between Two Kings:

As he was passing out of the gate, leading his horse by the bridle, a soft voice called from the gloom of a shaded path, “Monsieur Raoul!”

The young man turned in surprise and saw a brown-haired young woman who was pressing a finger to her lips and holding out her other hand.

Darrow's Nightmare: The Forgotten Story of America's Most Famous Trial Lawyer (Los Angeles 1911-1913) by Nelson Johnson- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

It's time again to share the opening sentences (or so) of the books we are reading this week. What are you reading?

I have a lawyer book to share this week since I've had a very lawyerly week. I've been sitting through three days of (Zoom) court hearings in the Boy Scouts of America's bankruptcy case. I even got to argue one day! Although I've been suing the Boy Scouts for sex abuse since 2007, and even won a $20 million verdict against them, this bankruptcy case is the biggest legal battle I've ever been a part of. It's such a complicated mess!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

From Darrow's Nightmare:

Upon return to Chicago in January 1908, Clarence's priority was his law practice double dash namely, earning an income.

-- Darrow's Nightmare: The Forgotten Story of America's Most Famous Trial Lawyer (Los Angeles 1911-1913) by Nelson Johnson (Rosetta Books). This one came out a few months ago. Nelson Johnson wrote Boardwalk Empire that was adapted into such a terrific TV show.

Clarence Darrow was America's most famous criminal trial attorney in the first half of the Twentieth Century. Darrow's Nightmare is the nonfiction account of how Darrow was almost a convicted of crimes himself. Darrow went to Los Angeles in 1911 to defend two union agitators on trial for mass murder. While there, he the District Attorney indicted and tried Darrow for bribing a juror. A conviction would have ended his career as a lawyer almost before it got off the ground.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please leave a link to your Book Beginnings post in the linky box below. Please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag if you share on social media.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

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 Darrow's Nightmare:

He viewed the courtroom as a battlefield; his profession was a means to pursue economic justice for the working class. Though Darrow was cynical about much of the law, he acted practically when it came to making a living.

I think most lawyers, at least litigators, view the courtroom as a battlefield. And lawyers with a plaintiffs' civil practice, like me, view the law as a means of pursuing economic justice for our clients. Civil lawsuits only offer economic justice. We can only sue for money to compensate for their injuries and their loss. The law isn't a time machine -- we can't get back our clients' former lives for them. The trick is to not grow cynical. 

I Have Not Loved You With My Whole Heart by Cris Harris - BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Do you read memoirs? 

I love a good memoir. I'm not all that keen on memoirs by famous people. I prefer memoirs by regular people with interesting stories to tell about their own experiences. How about you?

My book beginning this week is from a new memoir. What are you reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Add the link to your blog or social media post in the linky box below. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

"And now, boys," he says, "let's get the boat. Track it down and bring it home." He smiles, eyes watery and bright, feverish under the little velvet fez he has taken to wearing in this last year.

-- I Have Not Loved You With My Whole Heart by Cris Harris (OSU Press). I don't usually give more than the very first sentence, but when I saw that bit about the fez, I couldn't resist including it. 

Cris Harris grew up in a difficult household with an alcoholic father, learning to live with the uncertainty, chaos, and neglect of living with addiction. What he didn't expect was that his father, an Episcopalian priest, would come out as gay during the height of the AIDS crisis and die of HIV in 1995. This gripping memoir will hit home for anyone who has grappled with complicated relationships to faith, had family members come out late in life, or lost loved ones to AIDS.

 YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post below. If you share on SM, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag so we can find each other. 

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

From I Have Not Loved You With All My Heart:

Among the working-class, east-side parishioners, he was more at ease than back at Ascension Chapel. It was an Episcopal church, so there would still be mimosas on Easter morning after the vigil, but when they held a night of English and Irish song and dance, they also served Old English 800 in big bottles. 

Oh my. The evangelical churches I grew up in never served OE8 40s! 

Welcome to Kamini and Shoal Water -- Two New Books -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

The light is starting to change and the first hints of fall are in the air. I love this time of year, with that back-to-school feeling. 

What books captured your attention this week? Please share the first sentence (or so) here on Book Beginnings on Fridays. Leave the link to your blog or social media post in the Linky box below. 

To celebrate the impending change of seasons, I am highlighting two new novels, both coming out in October. Both are also set in northern parts of Canada, so they make a good pairing.

MY BOOK BEGINNINGS

From Welcome to Kamini: 

Two figures pushed off from the dock in a canoe after sunset.

-- Welcome to Kamini by Don Engebretson. I like that first sentence, how about you? It sets a scene and I immediately want to know more.

Engebretson is a seasoned magazine and short story writer. Welcome to Kamini is his debut novel. The protagonist heads to the Canadian woods of northern Ontario to get over his failed marriage and professional tailspin. There he meets three powerful women and an Ojibwe fishing guide and who change his plans, and his life.

This one comes out October 1 from Guernica Editions and is available for pre-order now.

From Shoal Water:

The dark forbidding clouds closed in, the wind, its high-pitched universe.

-- Shoal Water by Kip Robinson Greenthal. This beginning is more atmospheric, and I like it too!

This beautiful debut novel is the story of Kate and her husband who move from New York City to a fishing village in Nova Scotia and open a book store. While getting to know their new community, Kate must confront ghosts of the past -- metaphorical and literal. Perfect for October!

Greenthal won the 2020 Landmark Prize for fiction for Shoal Water. The prize is publication by Homebound Publications. Shoal Water comes out on October 12, and you can pre-order now.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add your link below. If you share on SM, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

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 Welcome to Kamini:

Closing her eyes, she twirled her finger twice in the air and placed it on the map. . . . Only when removing her finger did she find it had landed smack dab on a tiny dot labeled Kamini.

From Shoal Water:

Andy walked down the road toward the dory shop built alongside the Greenport wharf. Everywhere was fog and the smell of fish.

I can't wait for cool, rainy weather to get here when I plan to curl up with both of these books. 

August Wrap Up -- My August Books

AUGUST WRAP UP

What was your reading like last month? The dog days found me reading more fiction and lighter nonfiction, just enjoying the summer vibe. How about you? 

Here are the ten books I read in August, in the order I read them, not the order they are lined up in the picture. I don't usually review the books I read, so don't analyze their literary merit. My rating reflects only my personal preference for the book.

MY AUGUST BOOKS

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo is a shaggy dog of a family saga and I loved it. I've been mixing up long and short books this year and appreciating both. This one has been on my TBR shelf forever and I am happy to finally get to it. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby proves that he can make anything worth reading, even 250 pages about 1968-1992 soccer games. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Passenger to Frankfurt is one of Agatha Christie’s stand alone spy novels. It is unlike any of her other book I've read and I liked it a lot. I thought the story echoed some of the today's political strife. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Wry Martinis by Christopher Buckley is a collection of his earlier essays, pulled together after the success of Thank You For Smoking. A mixed bag, but enjoyable. 🌹🌹🌹1/2

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse is a solid historical fiction adventure story with a modern day braided narrative and a Holy Grail theme. It wasn't my favorite, but it was entertaining and I'm happy to clear it off my TBR shelf. 🌹🌹🌹1/2

Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X by Deborah Davis. This biography of Virginie Gautreau, the woman in Sargent's famous portrait, was my favorite book last month. I read it for book club and then loaned it to another club member, which is why it isn't in the picture. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty isn't in the picture because I read it with my ears. I love all her books and read them all as audiobooks because I like the Australian accent. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman I read for my other book club and passed on to my sister. I liked it a lot. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Woman Who Went to Bed For a Year by Sue Townsend. I wanted to like this more than I did. Bits made me laugh, but I found it more depressing than funny. 🌹🌹🌹

The Darlings by Christina Alger is a Wall Street story inspired by Bernie Madoff. It’s stylish, intricate, and well done, although you have to skate over a few patches of thin credulity in the middle. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

MY FAVORITE COVER OF THE MONTH

You Are Enough! Reclaiming Your Career and Your Life with Purpose, Passion, and Unapologetic Authenticity by Charlene Wheeless - BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Look at those Naked Ladies! We were in Mendocino last week and the town was awash with these beautiful belladonna amaryllis. They bloom in Mendocino in August, after their spring leaves have died away. They were spectacular.

Here's some bookish trivia for you. Did you know that Mendocino is where they filmed Murder, She Wrote? That’s right, Mendocino is the stand in for Cabot Cove, murder capital of America. Which makes it the most deadly spot on the planet outside Midsomer County, England.

It was fun to get away for our first vacation since corona started. But I'm happy to be back home in time for Book Beginnings on Fridays. It's time to share the first sentence (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Please share the link to your Book Beginnings post in the linky box below. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

I have great respect and admiration for Dr. Angelou (may she rest in peace). But nearly my whole life, and like many women and minorities, I have always had to prove myself or prove something to someone, sometimes for reasons I didn't even understand, let alone accept.

 -- from the author's Introduction, You Are Enough! Reclaiming Your Career and Your Life with Purpose, Passion, and Unapologetic Authenticity by Charlene Wheeless (2021, Mascot Books). 

Those opening lines make sense only when given a little context. The Introduction is headed with a quote by Maya Angelou: "You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody." That quote sets up the opening sentences and the title of the book.

In her new book, Charlene Wheeless uses memoir and inspirational essays to share the wisdom she's gained from her years as a Black woman executive and cancer survivor.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

 

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 You Are Enough:

Most champions want to advocate for someone they believe is going to put in the work to be successful. Champions look for people with credibility, confidence, and consistency because champions do not just speak up; they open doors.

I love inspirational, self-help books, especially those with a career focus. I probably like them because I've always had an entrepreneurial approach to my law practice and I started my own firm several years ago. These books give me a boost. Do you read business or career self-help books?

Rizzio, New Historical Fiction Novella by Denise Mina -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

What are your thoughts on novellas? 

I say yes! Unlike short stories, I like novellas. I am not drawn to short stories. When I go to pick a book off my TBR shelf, I almost always pick a novel over a short story collection. I read short stories to finish a list -- like if I am trying to read all the books by a favorite author or if the book won a prize. 

But novellas are fun. They offer the story arc of a novel but the quick satisfaction of a short story. What do you think?

So I was excited to see that one of my favorite mystery authors just wrote a historical mystery novella. Rizzio by Denise Mina comes out September 7 from Pegasus Books. And I am extra excited to get an early copy to share on Book Beginnings on Fridays. 

Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are enjoying this week. Add the link to your Book Beginnings blog or social media post in the linky box below.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

From Rizzio:

Lord Ruthven wanted him killed during this tennis match but Darnley said no.

-- from Chapter One, "David Rizzio Plays Tennis with His Assassins."

David Rizzio was the private secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots. Mina's new book tells the exciting and gruesome tale of his bloody assassination in 1566, a story of sex, secrets, power, and palace intrigue.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add your link below. Please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings if you share on social media.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

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 Rizzio:

Darnley is giving too much detail, a sure sign of a false story, and all to subordinate. This makes Preston wonder if he's being fobbed off, but what can he do? Darnley is married to the Queen.

Rizzio is a fast and exciting read -- a sure winner for any historical fiction fan.

Deep Hanging Out: Wanderings and Wonderment in Native California by Malcolm Margolin - BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

It's late summer and I settled the big trial I was preparing for, so I am all about hanging out. That's not exactly what this book is about, but we will all have to read it to learn more. 

For now, let's all share the opening sentences of the books we are reading this week, or the books that captured our attention. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

From Deep Hanging Out:

Several years ago, I was invited by members of the Kashaya Pomo tribe of Sonoma County to be a guest at their annual acorn harvest celebration.

-- from the Introduction to Deep Hanging Out: Wanderings and Wonderment in Native California by Malcolm Margolin (2021, Heyday Books). Malcolm Margolin has long been a fixture in California's Native American community. Although he is not Native American, Margolin has been “deep hanging out” – immersing himself in an informal, social way – in California’s Indian country since the 1970s.

Margolin cofounded  and published a quarterly magazine called News from Native California in 1987. This new book from Heyday Books is a collection of 30 articles and other pieces, mostly collected from the magazine.

Margolin Margolin lives in Berkeley, California where he is the executive director of the California Institute for Community, Art, and Nature. His prior books include The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the Fan Francisco-Monterey Bay Area and The Way We Lived: California Indian Stories, Songs, and Reminiscences.  

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings blog or social media post in the Linky box below. If you share on SM, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

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 Deep Hanging Out:

It was as if the idea of getting their chins tattooed was perfectly ordinary, an idea that found a place in their minds, settled in for a while, and finally made itself quite comfortable. With disarming matter-of-factness, they insisted that they were simply doing something that they had long thought about and that now seemed right.

OK. I want to read more about the chin tattoos. 

And now I want to settle in for some deep hanging out of my own. What are your weekend plans?

No Modernism Without Lesbians by Diana Souhami -- BOOK REVIEW

 

BOOK REVIEW

No Modernism Without Lesbians by Diana Souhami (2021, Head of Zeus)

Dianna Souhami's new history of 1920s Paris, No Modernism Without Lesbians, focusses on four women -- Sylvia Beach, Bryher, Natalie Barney, and Gertrude Stein -- who were at the center of the modernist movement. Beach started the Shakespeare and Company bookstore and published James Joyce's Ulysses. Bryher was a novelist, magazine editor, and heiress who used her fortune to help struggling writers. Barney was a writer and influential salon hostess. Stein was a patron of the arts and avant-garde author.

Sometimes group biographies are organized chronologically, or around big themes, discussing each person as relevant to the timeline or issue. Souhami’s book is more straightforward. It offers separate biographies of the four women, from birth to death. This makes sense. Although they all lived in Paris at the same time, were powerful forces in the modernist movement, and crossed paths, they were not a cohort. Now that they are combined between the covers, some of the highlights of the book are the cameos each woman plays in the others’ chapters.

Whether Souhami proves that her brash title is literally true misses the point of her book. Modernism was in the air, changing art and literature, and was happening if lesbians flocked to Paris in droves or not. But there is no denying that Beach, Bryher, Barney, and Stein all played big roles by sponsoring artists and writers and fostering the modernist community in Paris.

No Modernism Without Lesbians is a fascinating, lively history of Paris in the first half of the 20th Century. Recommended for readers interested in women’s history and books about Paris, art, or literature.

NOTES

Other reviews:

"[A] vivid cultural history ... This often gossipy, always smart romp trains a well-deserved spotlight on lesser-appreciated literary and artistic lives." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"A book about love, identity, acceptance and the freedom to write, paint, compose and wear corduroy breeches with gaiters. To swear, kiss, publish and be damned." THE TIMES