Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen

Another Bookclub book.


First of all ... don't you like the title? I do. It makes you peaceful and a bit hungry at the same time.


I enjoyed this book choice. It's about a women who becomes defined by one painting. Is that all that she is?


Read the book to find out and make sure you don't leave any crumbs in your bed!



Munster's Case: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery by Hakan Nesser

As usual, I picked this one off the shelf at my Goodwill. And, as usual, it was the cover that stabbed me. (Pun intended).


I had never read a book by this author plus I was in the mood for a murder mystery. So, why not?


This was not an Agatha Christie type of story. It was dryer. But it was well written and I assure you that it wasn't the butler in the pantry with the knife. But a knife was used and it was used over and over and over. What a mess!


So "who done it"? You'll have to read it to find out. No, it wasn't that person and no, it wasn't that one either. You'll have to read it through to the end to find out.


Watch your back!



The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Do you want to enter a world that you have never seen before? That you may think that you would never have been able to imagine on your own?


Then enter the magical and mysterious world of the Night Circus.


As you can surmise the circus is only open at night. Not only that, but it will appear and disappear when you least expect it. Out in a field beyond the town. Lit up by a central fire. Telling time by a unique clock.


The performers within the tents are not like any that you will ever see in a circus. Get your special ticket and enter into the minds of those that dreamed it into existence. It's enigmatic.


I picked this one up at my Goodwill. The cover caught my attention as well as the title. I wasn't disappointed but was confused at times. That's all I'm going to say except ...


Abracadabra!



Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

This book was a pick for my neighborhood book club. I am ashamed I had not read it before!


I could not put this story down and recently, when I was going through some of my daughter's high school notebooks, I saw that she had read this book. It was surprising to me that it was one of the books her class had read since I always thought that some of the classics that I was supposed to read were boring. Like what I call, 'The Tale of Two Boring Cities'. I also had read other classics last summer that I had not read, thinking I should, and found them to be just as boring. But I know that this book, if it had been one of the required readings while I was in high school, would have been enjoyed. But of course I was in high school during the time of the beginning of integration. Perhaps this book would not have sat well with our parents. To stir things up. We couldn't have that, right?


But when my children were in the same high school that I went to, it was different. It was filled with children from all backgrounds and nationalities. It had become a Magnet High School and populated with different cultural backgrounds. It was grand to see the friends that my daughters brought home.


So, about this book, get it. Read it. Enjoy.

The Bolter by Frances Osborne

I could not put this book down. I found it on the Goodwill shelf and the spine of the paper cover caught my attention first. It looked old and yellowed with B&W photos as well. I took it off the shelf and looked at the front cover and saw what you are seeing above. Then I really wanted to read it. I immediately took it to the check out counter and bought it for less than two dollars.

Yesterday was a cloudy day that was cool/warm enough to have the screen doors open in my sitting room. I basically decided to take a staycation and curl up on the couch and read and read and read. Finally finished the book this morning and am sorry to have to say good-bye to it.

The book was written by Frances Osborne whose great-grandmother was Idina Sackville. Idina lived her own life in her own way, being married and divorced five times! She loved Africa and ended up building her home there called Clouds. It sounds wonderful. Idina stripped away any boundaries or mores at the time and had so many sexual encounters that there aren't the pages to fill them. She married men who also, but being British nobility, if you kept it discreet, then nobody said anything.

Idina wasn't discreet.

I think you may find this true story as fascinating and as enthralling as I did. Make sure you devote a staycation to its read.





Just Breathe by Susan Wiggs

Just Breathe is a book that would be a good Summer Read. After all it is set near water.

I think the cover is misleading as this is not a story about a very young girl at the beach but rather about a married woman who has tried unsuccessfully to get pregnant. Over and over. About her marriage that falls apart and about how she begins to put it back together again with the help of her family and so forth. If I tell you the whole story then you won't have to read it, right?

So it's got humor but it's not all rose colored glasses. It's real. We all have our ups and downs, don't we? If not then you just haven't lived long enough yet.

As usual I grabbed this off the Goodwill shelf. 

ME: Stories of My Life by Katharine Hepburn

What a delight to read! Ms. Hepburn writes as she speaks and therefore you get to "see" her as she talks you through the stories of her life. Included amongst the pages are photographs which are always a delight. Especially the big two page spread of her and Spencer. You can see the love.

I enjoyed this book immensely and didn't want to put it down. She was truly a new woman in her day and age. She lived her life as she wanted and acknowledges her selfishness except when it came to S.T.

Wouldn't it have been lovely to be her friend? I think so.



(A Goodwill shelf find)