Book Review--Suzanne Adair's Latest Earns 5 Huzzahs!

A kidnapping forces his past into his present. Will it also impact his future?

Lt. Michael Stoddard of Yorkshire now serves His Majesty in the Army and is stationed in the Carolinas while Tarleton and Cornwallis try to curtail the rebels and maintain the Colonies for George III. Stoddard is a man of integrity who finds that all things in war are not black and white and wearing a red coat does not ensure its owner is morally upright. He also discovers that some rebels have a higher moral compass than the King's men.

We first meet Stoddard in Paper Woman, another excellent tale by Suzanne Adair. He has since become the star of his own series--Regulated for Murder and A Hostage to Heritage. While each of Suzanne's books can be read as stand-alones, they also build on one another in a seamless fashion and reading them in order increases the enjoyment of an overall underlying story arc.

Regulated for Murder gives us a ten-year old cold case tied to a present-day murder. A Hostage to Heritage gives us a kidnapping--but not just a normal kidnapping. Hostage also gives us a series of jolts regarding Lt. Michael Stoddard. Those jolts give him hard choices regarding his own soul. I try not to post anything that can be considered a spoiler, so I'll just say that Hostage kept me up late two nights in a row because I just couldn't stop reading ;-)

If you have read the St. James' series by Suzanne, you will enjoy how characters make cameos throughout the Stoddard books. Her female characters are believable and appropriate for the times--they are not 21st century women wearing homespun. And although the setting is the Revolutionary War, blood and gore and battle scenes are not the means for ratcheting the tension in either story. And believe me, the tension is there. Even the descriptive passages don't take away from the plot movement. Some folks may think the cast of characters is somewhat large and hard to follow but each character definitely plays an important role in either Stoddard's past, present or future.

So we have murder, war, espionage, kidnapping, tax evasion, and bootlegging all competing with military and civilian politics. The wondrous part of it all is that even though all those things are present in America today, both Regulated and Hostage are true to the 1780s in manner of speech, mode of dress, and behavior of the characters. Even the male/female tensions are believable (no bodice-ripper extraneous romance here).

The history is fascinating but woven in so carefully that I didn't realize I was learning about the southern theater of the American Revolution. You smell the cabbages and manure, you hear the thud of a trussed up body slam against a wooden wall, and you race along with your heart in your throat as men who should be comrades decide whether or not to kill each other.

Lastly, the amateur historian in me absolutely loves the bibliography/list of sources we get with each of the books. I can turn from fiction right to my library or online book sources to read more about Yorkshire, Hillsborough, Wilmington, Tarleton, Cornwallis, et al.

Whether male or female, if you enjoy multilayer plots set in well-researched history, you can't go wrong reading anything by Suzanne Adair.

2013 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

I'm a couple of months late signing up for the challenge over at Historical Tapestry,  but hey, better late than never LOL.  After all, we all know I love historical fiction and this challenge isn't limited by sub-genre, so I can flit between romance, mystery, young adult or straight historical fiction.

There is also no restriction on reading format that I can see, so I have the option of Audible, e-reads (I've collected a lot of historical fiction on my Kindle, NOOK and I-Pod Touch), or the piles of paperback/hardcover historical fiction scattered throughout my home.  I just need to stop collecting and start reading ;-)

I still have a couple of weeks left before Camp NaNoWriMo begins April 1, so I hope to get a few books read before I hunker down to write some more, and I want to be more diligent in posting reviews, so don't be surprised if book reviews start popping up from time to time ;-)

If you enjoy reading history, come on over and join us!

Let's Reboot - Happy 2013!

Life was a bit challenging during the latter half of 2012, and no blogging took place (as you can see from the date of my prior post).  June thru December took me on quite a roller coaster of good and bad and in-between, but since the Mayans were wrong and the Creator let me wake up today to a new year, I can reboot life just like we reboot our computers.

2013 will bring different topics to this blog.  I won NaNoWriMo 2012 and will be in edit mode for my book.  I still enjoy crafting and this year marks Stampin Up!'s 25th Anniversary, so I'll share some projects (if I remember to take pictures--I made some cute things for Halloween and Christmas for my office mates and didn't remember I wanted photos until after they were boxed up for mailing).

And you will see posts on healthy eating.  I lost my younger brother to a heart attack in 2012 and my physical showed high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, so I intend to use this blog to help hold me accountable. 

Finally, I didn't get the pleasure reading done that I had planned--but hope springs eternal LOL.  I will read more this year, and not only about the Civil War and health/nutrition, but also politics and fantasy and mysteries and...you get the picture.  Actually, I'm loving Audible--Tim Curry did a wonderful narration of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and since I need to be walking/exercising more and sitting less, Audible will make the exercise much more fun.

And in honor of the new year, here's my first project--a totally digital piece because one goal for the year is to learn MDS2, the digital design software from Stampin' Up!

World Book Day

Today is World Book Day, a celebration of reading that is a part of UNESCO (soon be followed by World Book Night on April 23, 2012).  Hooray for reading!  Whether physical books or e-reads, reading is the most frugal way I continue my education, plus the cheapest entertainment I know (I subscribe to both the Kindle Daily Deal and the NOOK Daily Find since I have both a Kindle and the NOOK Tablet, so I find new reading for very little cost).  Paperback Swap is still a favorite place to find great books, and I cannot say enough about my wonderful local library.

I have a TBR mountain of physical books, plus loads on I-Books, Kindle, NOOK, and let's not forget Audible, LOL.  My 2012 Reading list is already way too full, but I am enjoying the challenge of working thru mystery, fantasy, history, politics, self-help, current events--you name it.  Outside of sports, childcare, horror and a few other genres, I read a bit of everything, and encourage others to do so as well. 

Do you enjoy reading?  What genres?  Have you succumbed yet to e-reading?  Do your children enjoy reading?  I cannot imagine a life without the written word...

One O'clock Jump by Lise McClendon - finished 1/17/2012. EB, HM. 3 stars

I really wanted to like this book.  I love the time frame (WWII), I love Kansas City, I love historical mystery, I love swing music, I love (most) cozy mysteries...but this book just cannot rate over 3 stars with me.

So, the question is--what did I not like?  Why only 3 stars (and that's generous)?  Maybe too many secondary characters that really contribute nothing to the plot but take up space.  Now, this is the first of a series, so who knows--could they take a bigger role in later books?  Perhaps, but why not introduce them at that time instead of having them walk in and out of scenes for no apparent reason?

I understand red herrings, and I think I "get" the reason to have characters interact enough to get a sense of the good guys versus the bad guys, but some scenes seemed unnecessary for the book--I don't want to post spoilers, but some of Dorie's "dates" felt like filler to me--like when we would write a lot of description (in big, loopy handwriting) in school to pad our word count or page count.

Don't get me wrong--this is not a bad book.  The main characters are somewhat interesting, although they each seem to suffer from a neurosis of one kind or another.  It seems all have something troubling in their past or something they wish to hide.  I was caught up enough in the mystery that I wanted to finish it to see "whodunit".  I may read the second Dorie Lennox, Sweet and Lowdown,  to see if the series improves, but I don't have the overwhelming desire to jump straight from one to the other like I do with other series.  And I'm quite glad it was a Kindle read because I certainly would not want it on my keeper shelf.

I did actually learn a lot from reading this book.  I learned my novel-in-progress has too many extraneous characters who take up space but don't help advance the plot...and that inserting either factual history or back story needs to be done very carefully to prevent the "big, loopy handwriting" syndrome.

Silver Lies by Ann Parker - finished 1/7/2012. EB, HM. 4.5 stars

#1 in series--SilverRush Mysteries

 

It's 1879 and Colorado, especially Leadville, is booming with miners and the necessary commerce surrounding a silver rush.  Inez Stannert and her partner Abe Jackson are still running the Silver Queen saloon despite her husband having deserted both his marriage and the business.

As the town's businessmen try to civilize the region enough to bring in the railroad (and also consolidate their own power), the seedier side of human nature flourishes where it is least expected. Ann Parker writes very well developed characters.  Their pasts are parceled out only as necessary and the female characters (especially Inez) may be strong-willed and independent, but don't come across as 21st century women in petticoats.  I look forward to revisiting Leadville's residents because their actions are indeed true to the time frame.

Likewise, the portrayal of Leadville and the silver rush was well researched and Ms. Parker manages to educate without taking the reader out of the story.  I appreciate the sources she lists at the end so that I can read more about Leadville.

New Year and New Reading Goals

Since my reading the past few years has not met the massive challenges I have joined for 100+ books, I've decided to not publicly humiliate myself by setting my 2012 reading goals that high again. 

I read a lot--especially while researching the Civil War for my novel-in-progress.  I also read a lot on the art/craft of writing.  Much of this reading is piecemeal--magazine articles or certain chapters from various texts.  As an example--I currently have seven partially read Civil War books and five writing guides all in various levels of completion and I work back/forth and between them as I need the particular chunk of information.  So, these are not yet added to my "Books I've Read" pile on Paperback Swap because they aren't yet finished...yeah, I know, I'm an obsessive-compulsive nerdy geek LOL (and let's not talk about the software manuals I am currently wading thru since upgrading to Office 2010 and Windows 7).

So, I'm doing something new with my TBR mountain and reading list/book reviews this year.  Let's see how this works (and I'd love feedback either now or later on as the year progresses).  I'm adding a new page to my blog for my 2012 Reading.  As I start a book, I'll add it to the list.  As I finish it, I'll add a review (or at least a star rating).  If I post a review on Goodreads, Paperback Swap, Amazon, or anywhere else--and if that review is not a copy/paste of what I post here--then I'll add a link to the review.

Although I think the definitions I use are pretty standard among readers/writers, here's a quick glossary of my (personal favorite) acronyms:

• DNF - Did Not Finish: this seldom happens for me and I always give a book 100+ pages before giving up on it, but if I rate something DNF, I'd rather have surgery without anesthetic than finish this book--YMMV so I will always give specific reasons why I could not read to the end
• YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary: most people's opinions and tastes are quite different from mine, so please remember that I am only expressing my opinion and I'd love civilized discourse if you have a different experience with an author/title/genre
• CTT - Crime Thru Time: not only is this a great website devoted to historical mystery as a genre, but there is a very active Yahoo Group associated with the site.  Members are both readers and writers and my membership there is one reason I have a TBR mountain rather than a TBR pile LOL.  If you love historical mystery, come join us!
• TBR - To Be Read: these are books I currently own, either as an e-book (and I'm trying hard to purchase more of these, especially for pleasure reading) or as a physical tome.  My master lists of these are on Paperback Swap and my Kindle account and I try to keep the lists current to keep from buying duplicates unawares (some books I have in both formats for a reason, and some I also have on Audible so I can listen while doing other things).
• HM - Historical Mystery; HF - Historical Fiction: I read a lot of both, but since some readers enjoy one but not the other, I will always try to note which genre a title fits into best (IMHO)
• IMHO - In My Humble Opinion: an alternate for YMMV

Since this post has become a novella in itself, I'll post my system for assigning stars soon.  And once I learn how, I'll try to link this post to my 2012 Reading page as a reference (guess I'm pulling out the "Google Blogger for Dummies" guide again LOL).

Readers and Book Lovers Unite!

Just saw this on my January Goodreads newsletter:  World Book Night 2012

On April 23, 2012, readers in the US can hand out free books to encourage others to read!  Thanks to the generosity of publishers, authors, bookstores, libraries and others, thirty different titles of various genres and reading levels will be provided to volunteers free of charge to distribute.

I know my metropolitan area has homeless shelters, orphanages, nursing homes, bus and train stations, and many other places where people may get lots of attention during holidays but not so much at any other time of year.  Stopping by after work for a few minutes on a Monday night to hand out a few books to people who might need the escapism that reading offers seems like a slam dunk way to pay it forward for those of us who love the written word.

Some of the titles are:

• young adult fiction (The Hunger Games--soon to be a major motion picture)
• non-fiction (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks)
• memoir (Just Kids--winner of the 2011 National Book Award)
• mystery (Q is for Quarry)
• science fiction (Ender's Game--won both the Hugo and Nebula)

I'm grateful I was encouraged to read--it has enriched my life for over fifty years.  Who taught you your love of books?  I challenge you to join in World Book Night 2012 to honor that person or persons in your life who helped you become the reader you are...

Billy Boyle WWII Mysteries

One of the first books I downloaded after I bought my Kindle last year was "Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery" by James R. Benn.  Granted, at the time, I was looking for free or very low-cost Kindle titles having just dropped a chunk of cash on the Kindle itself.  This looked interesting and was free at the time.  Now that I've read it, I'm hooked on the whole series (and they are definitely worth paying for).  Great action, just a hint of romance (not too much for male readers), strong characters, and lots of information on WWII incidents that are not at all well known.

Billy is an Irish police office in Boston when America enters WWII.  His mother is a distant relative of Mamie Eisenhower and believes that the family connection would be enough to keep Billy safe from harm if he could only join "Uncle Ike's" staff.  Then General Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed Commander of the US forces in Europe.  Oops.  And since Billy just made Detective, "Uncle Ike" decides to use him for certain investigations best left way out of the limelight.  Oops again.  Even though Billy isn't the desk-job type, he hadn't planned on any of this.

I recently read the next three books in the series:  "First Wave", "Blood Alone" and "Evil for Evil".  Each could be read as a stand-alone although the character development from one volume to the next certainly enhances the series.  We travel WWII Europe from England to Norway to Algeria to Sicily to Ireland.  Each incident is based on actual wartime events. 

I don't write spoilers, but I do give praise when it is deserved, and this series deserves great praise.  I'll be reading "Rag and Bone" between now and September because "A Mortal Terror" launches then.  Somebody needs to make a movie/mini-series/TV series from these tales!

Alan Bradley--the Flavia de Luce Series

Mystery Fanfare's current contest is to win a copy of Alan Bradley's third Flavia book, "A Red Herring Without Mustard".  Flavia de Luce is an eleven year old girl in 1950 London, and Mr. Bradley won the Macavity Award for the best first novel at the 2010 Boucheron with "Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie."

I'm a big fan of Mr. Bradley as he was 70 when "Sweetness" was published which makes me hopeful for publication, since I'm only 55 LOL!  One of my best friends read "Sweetness" last year and has passed it to me saying that it is a "must-read", so I'm moving it up the TBR mountain (she also claims it is a quick read--we'll see...my reading time is so limited with this snow.  You would think snow would mean snuggling in front of a roaring fire with a good book, right?  Not if you work from home---grrrr--but I digress LOL)

Now, I need you to vote--do books set in 1950 count as historicals?  After all, that was over fifty years ago...heck it was even before I was born ;-) 

What do you think?  Historical or not?  Whichever you believe, pop over to Mystery Fanfare and enter the contest...

Rest In Peace, Ariana Franklin -- "Mistress of the Art of Death"

I've had this series on my TBR mountain for a while now and just haven't gotten around to reading them...sadly, there will be no more written.  Ariana Franklin was the pen name of Diana Norman, a British journalist who won awards for her historical mystery series.  While researching for this post, I found several historicals written under her own name as well--they look so good I will be adding them to my list of books to read "someday". Diana died, aged 77, this week.

Great Giveaway at Passages to the Past--"The Tudor Secret"

I love the Tudor period and this looks to be the start of a really wonderful series:  "The Tudor Secret" is book one of the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles by C. W. Gortner.

Go over to Passages to the Past and sign up for the giveaway but I warn you, you may stay there for quite a while because there are some wonderful books reviewed on this blog (I added quite a few to my TBR mountain from there LOL).

Unmasking the Black Tulip--Willig Does it Again!

It's all Lauren Willig's fault I stayed up until 3 AM this morning--her second hysterical historical about a spy network operating from England into France (and another from Bonaparte's France into England) had laugh-out-loud moments as well as present-day moans of self-recognition. 

Again,we read a book within a book.  Just as in "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation", we  travel back and forth 200 years--from England in 1803 (the spy networks) to England in 2003 (the researcher and her foibles).  As both settings build on those from "Carnation", I highly suggest this to be a series best read in order.

I was delighted to return to her finely-drawn characters and even more delighted that so many red herrings were in place.  The fact that a bit of license was taken with history does not detract in this series as nothing is so blatant as to be jarring, and enough historical accuracy is present that I now want to undertake a study of that period of French history (one of the periods I have had little interest in until now).  I also like the way that bodice-ripping romance shares the stage with mystery and intrigue--it's almost like getting two books for the price of one LOL.

I hate spoilers and refuse to write them, so I will say no more of the plot.  I will say that since I have book three, "The Deception of the Emerald Ring", currently on my shelf, I am having a very hard time going about my normal Sunday chores--grocery shopping, laundry, housecleaning, card crafting--because I so desperately want to begin the next adventure (this one is set in Ireland).  But general living does not get easier with postponement and with a probable 50+ hour work week ahead, I have chores to do...

More 2011 Reading Challenges--See My Left Sidebar

Peeking Between the Pages has set some fantabulous reading challenges for 2011 and I've featured them on my left sidebar, even though I may not participate in all of them.  "If I'm not participating, then why am I featuring?" you may be asking.  Well, two of the challenges--"Harry Potter" and "Outlander" are on my top ten all-time absolute favorite book series ever list and contain books I re-read (in order) on at least a bi-annual basis. 

I already plan to re-read "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" before the final movie premieres this year (July 15), but may not be able to fit the other six into my schedule.  Some of my friends tease that I spend way too much time in the world of Jamie and Claire Fraser--"Outlander" novels are truly sagas and aren't particularly short, so I may revisit the latest, "An Echo in the Bone" since I now own the U.K. paperback version (autographed, no less!), but I may not re-read all of them--I'd really like to read some other historicals this year and I also need time to write my own books ;-)

My TBR mountain has included the books in the other three challenges for a while, however, so don't be surprised to see reviews here this year for the Earth's Children novels by Jean Auel, the Wilderness series by Sara Donati, and the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.  I read the first two Auel's many years ago, loved them, but got sidetracked and never finished the series.  I also read the first Donati while in New Orleans but that series got interrupted by a rude hurricane called Katrina.  And although I own most of the Sookie series, and I love "True Blood" (the HBO adaptation), I've never taken the time to read them because I would obsessively read one right after the other; I keep putting other books ahead of these (like my current read-a-thon of the Lauren Willig series).

Reading books I already own is frugal entertainment.  Crossing books off my TBR mountain is an accomplishment.  Let's see how well I combine the two and see how many of these three challenges I can complete in 2011.

Who wants to join me?

I'm on a Search for the Pink Carnation--Wanna Join Me?

Here's to the Lauren Willig Reading Challenge for 2011!  Serendipity is running rampant in my life in 2011.  As part of my reading for the Historical Fiction Challenge, I was already reading the first volume in this series, "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" and I was loving every minute of it!  Now I find a reading challenge dedicated to the series?  What a wonderful coincidence!  So, of course I have joined and have committed to the entire series in 2011 (eight books in all).  Come over and join us, won't you?  And, now, I'm off to read some more...

Bits and Bobs while I attempt NaNoWriMo 2010

Little nifty pieces of information have come to my attention lately through all sorts of odd mailings and e-mail links. I would normally try to make each a separate post, but with NaNo 2010 having taken over my November and much general living haven gotten in the way all month as well, I've decided to settle for a simple list format. Check out these links for some uber-cool stuff!

• Operation Paperback -- send books to the troops!
• GreenDisk -- recycle your technotrash!
• Office of Letters and Light -- the blog representing the genius(es) behind NaNoWriMo
• Sherlock Holmes -- 21st Century style

Plots that Simply Plod Along

"Don't Trust the Rain" did not start out to be a historical mystery--it began as historical fiction with a time-travel twist.  My characters are now in New Orleans in 1862 and they have survived the time warp that sent them there. They are scattered and need to be reunited.

On the surface, it sounds like I have made lots of progress--and I did with one group of characters.  The second group are being stubborn.  They simply want to plod along aimlessly and aimlessness is boring!  (And if you think it is boring to read, try writing it LOL).

So, I need to prod these folks into some action and add some excitement and period color into their journey.  That is sending me back into the realms of research.  I love researching history, and as an old geezer who learned to use printed encyclopedias and card catalogs, I'm loving the ability to research on the Internet in my pajamas at home ;-)

Speaking of research, I cannot write enough praise for Kathy Lynn Emerson's How To Write Killer Historical Mysteries.  She writes some of my favorite mystery series, and this book is an outstanding guide for all historical fiction writers (just skip the genre-specific parts).

So, when counting my 250 daily words for the next week or so, they may easily be hand-written words noting clothing and building structure and timelines and foodstuffs and communication and transportation--well, you get the drift.  Lots of notes with lots of diagrams linking those notes into some semblance of colourful plot.

Do I need to add a murder to excite my characters?  Or perhaps a theft?  I have no problem writing violent acts if necessary and some planned scenes exist in outline form between Confederates and Unionists (it is early in the Civil War after all), but I am not a reader who enjoys violence for the sake of violence or sexual assaults simply to advance the action in the book.  If I don't like to read it, I certainly refuse to write it.  Other means must be found to make my reader want to turn the page ;-)

Writing is fun.  Researching is even more fun.  Forcing characters into action can be work...

Resolutions for Writers 2010

Oh my Heavens! Friends of mine read J.A. Konrath's Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels mystery series so I know they must be good (they are currently buried in my TBR mountain or out on loan to other friends), but I found this blog thru yet another blog I follow and is this ever the kick in the pants I need to print and post over my writing desk!

All aspiring writers need to follow this blog, no matter the genre. This is straightforward, no-nonsense advice from someone who is where I want to be and who doesn't sugarcoat the pathway.

Wow! I think I'm gonna go write!

2009 Reading Challenges Update

Sure haven't had as much time to read this year as I thought I would. My recent devouring of "An Echo In The Bone" by Diana Gabaldon should receive a post of its very own (out of a 5-star rating, it gets a 9 LOL!) but in the interest of time, I'll confine this post to its titled topic--an update of where I am with my challenges with less than three months left in the year.

For the 100-book challenge, I have read 89. I've spent many reading hours this year with young adult series (I have felt the need for light, amusing reading with a moral tone). Angie Sage's Septimus Heap series has become a new favorite series and I loved "The Chronicles of Narnia" earlier this year--how had I missed those as a child?

Daisy Dalrymple amused me five times so far this year with her spunky way of solving a cozy mystery.  One of her volumes solved the "book with summer/winter in the title" part of my "On The Porch Swing" Reading Challenge.

Many of my other 2009 reads thus far have been non-fiction:  various writing guides, New Orleans history and geography books, and extensive Civil War research.  All the writers I admire do the research necessary to have their settings and characters make sense.  If I ever want to be published, I need to follow that example.

I have writing guides from two of my favorite authors (Terry Brooks and Janet Evanovich) and a memoir from Rita Mae Brown (another of my favorites).  I'm wanting to count these as my other three memoirs for the "In Their Shoes" Challenge--I know the writing guides may be stretching the point a bit, but they do include biographical info along with explaining how they craft their books.  Sounds autobiographical to me LOL!

So, I guess it is time to stop posting and start reading maybe???

Mystery Lover's Kitchen

Okay, ya'll already know I love food (one look at me and I could never deny that fact LOL). Most of you know I am also a coffee addict, and anyone who has read my blog knows I love to read...so, what could be better than a blog that combines all three??? Cleo Coyle writes the Village Blend mystery series and they have a permanent spot on my keeper shelf. (She also writes another of my favorite series under her nom de plume Alice Kimberly; this set stars a ghostly PI who resides in a bookstore).

Not only is Cleo giving away a free excerpt of her soon-to-be-released Holiday Blend; signing up for her newsletter enters you into a weekly drawing for free coffee.

Then, a link sent me off to Mystery Lover's Kitchen...all the writers share their recipes and their links to their websites and other blogs they love. Go check it out, but beware, you'll want to eat and drink while reading LOL!