The beginning of the week was dark and grim, which, of course, called for dark and grim reading: psychological thrillers with murky covers. I started with Megan Miranda’s All the Missing Girls
, a murder mystery written backwards (which shouldn’t work, but somehow does), moved on to Megan Abbott’s You Will Know Me
, in which a murder unsettles an already highly strung community of high school gymnasts and their ambitious parents, and finished up with Val McDermid’s Trick of the Dark
, in which a disgraced psychiatrist/expert witness discovers the answer to a series of murders.
After that much death and desolation, it was time for something completely different, so I toddled off to the used bookstore in the basement of my favorite library and came up with Jenny Colgan’s Little Beach Street Bakery
, which is just an absolute joy: with the failure of her business and her relationship, a thirty-something with a passion for baking moves to a tiny town in Cornwall, makes some unexpected friends, and brings joy to the town along with fresh bread. Absolutely recommended for anyone who enjoys Trisha Ashley
or Doc Martin
. Warning: it will make you crave fresh bread.
What have you been reading this week?
Just starting to read Susan Wiggs’ Family Tree. I am sure it will.be really good.
A Crowning Mercy by Bernard Cornwall & Susannah Kells. Love, war & mystery. A great combination.
It was lovely to see you at the Book Cellar this week, I’m glad you are enjoying Little Beach Street Bakery. I just finished Ellie Alexander’s upcoming cozy mystery Crime of Passionfruit. I loved it so much I picked up three more of the series.
“After Such Kindness” by Gaynor Arnold. It’s a novelization of Lewis Caroll’s relationship with Alice Liddell.
I’ve had no time to read so just sneaking bits of Sense and Sensibility when I can. Should finish this weekend and then onto Pride and Prejudice!
Backward books are fun, back in high school I read Chronicle of a Death Foretold by GG Marquez (a requirement in South American schools) which was great!
I’m getting ready to give The Book Thief another try tonight… I started it a while back but didn’t get into it, but after so many recommendations on this website last week (when you asked us all our favorite WWII book) I’ll try again… After all last year I gave Cutting For Stone a second try, when a friend insisted, because it didn’t grab a hold of me in the first few pages, and it ended up being one of my favorites that year 🙂
You’ll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein, a comedy writer whose self-effacing humor was just the levity I needed.
I started reading “Les Miserables” for the first time, but I needed a break so I also picked up Agatha Christie’s “The Man in the Brown Suit.”