Books

Currently reading:

The Lost Art of Gratitude (2009), Alexander McCall Smith: 6th of the Isabel Dalhousie novels, set in Edinburgh.

2009

The Mysterious West, edited by Tony Hillerman (1994): His selection of “20 stories by some of today’s best suspense writers …” I’ve found several writers I’ll be looking for.

An Irish Country Doctor, Patrick Taylor (2004): First in the series, young Dr. Brian Laverty is just out of medical school and starting his first position; An Irish Country Village, (2008): Second in the series, Dr. Brian Laverty is settling into the practice and the town.

Snake Dreams - A Charlie Moon Mystery, James D. Doss: 13th in a series featuring Charlie Moon, rancher and part-time tribal investigator.

The Wedding Officer (2006), Anthony Capella: Set in WWII Italy; some of the food-related passages are absolutely mouth-watering!

It’s 1944, and Captain James Gould arrives in Naples, assigned to discourage marriages between British soldiers and their gorgeous Italian girlfriends …

Irish Tweed (2009), Andrew M. Greeley: 12th in a series of Irish stories featuring Nuala Anne McGrail; set mostly in Chicago, in the present and late 1800’s to early 1900’s.

Home to Holly Springs, Jan Karon (Audio book, 2007): First of the Father Tim books.

While My Pretty One Knits, Anne Canadeo (2009): A Black Sheep Knitting Mystery; A fun read, apart from a couple of things that should have been caught by a good proofreader. One example (page 8):

She pushed back the hood of a voluminous Aryan knit wrap, its workmanship and detail impressive, even at a distance.

Move On: Adventures in the Real World, Linda Ellerbee (1991).

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built, Alexander McCall Smith (2009): 10th in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series.

Dorothea Benton Frank, Return to Sullivan’s Island (2009); Bull Island (2008).

Reaching the Animal Mind, Karen Pryor (2009); Her latest book on clicker training.

… Pryor explains the science behind her system, how it works and why it works, its applications for teaching humans …

Shannon: A Novel (2009); Tipperary: A Novel (2007): Frank Delaney

The Serpent’s Tale, Ariana Franklin (2008): Set in 12th century England – a sort of medieval CSI. Definitely a page-turner!

How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe; Thomas Cahill (1995): First in a series, Hinges of History, looking at “formative moments in Western civilization.” I picked this up because the title caught my eye – I’ll probably read at least some of the following volumes as well.

My Life in France, Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme (2006):

This is a book about some of the things I have loved most in life: my husband, Paul Child; la belle France; and the many pleasures of cooking and eating.

A fun read for any foodie!

An Accomplished Woman, Jude Morgan (2007)

Knitting & fiber books:

Knitted Lace of Estonia, Nancy Bush: Beautiful lace and very interesting background.  Excellent illustrations, both of the lace and the techniques. I think I may have found a pattern for this!

2008

Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin: After failing in his attempt to climb K2, the world’s 2nd tallest mountain, and being rescued and sheltered in a small Pakistani village, Mortenson returned to help build schools. Note: See Deb Robson’s more extensive review and comments from an editor’s viewpoint here.
By Jon Katz: A Dog Year, The New Work of Dogs, The Dogs of Bedlam Farm, Katz on Dogs, A Good Dog, Dog Days.

For the Love of A Dog, Patricia B. McConnell, Ph.D.

By Margaret Frazer: The Widow’s Tale, The Traitor’s Tale, A Play of Knaves, A Play of Lords.

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry; Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School, Kathleen Flinn.

The Friday Night Knitting Club, Kate Jacobs.

Gaits of Heaven: A Dog Lover’s Mystery, Susan Conant.

Puss ‘n Cahoots, Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown.

The Hounds & the Fury, Rita Mae Brown: the Outfoxed series with “Sister” Jane Arnold (mystery). If you’ve only read the Sneaky Pie Brown books, try this series too!

84, Charing Cross Road, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, and Underfoot in Show Business, Helene Hanff (1916-1997): Re-reading a couple of old favorites. A book about books – I liked 84 so much I chased down 3 other books by the same author. 84 is her correspondence with a secondhand book shop on London from 1949-1969; Duchess tells about her trip when she finally got to visit London in 1971.

Dorothea Benton Frank, The Land of Mango Sunsets; Sullivan’s Island: A Lowcountry Tale; the latest ones of several of hers I’ve read.

Rhett Butler’s People; Based on Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, Donald McCaig: Having read GWtW (1936 edition, printing of December 1936; it has my grandparents’ names on the flyleaf, dated Christmas 1936), I’m curious about this one. I just happened to see it at the County Library today (4/4), so here goes! I was a bit skeptical, but I enjoyed it – definitely a page-turner. The author wove it around recognizable bits from the original, filling in background for Rhett and some other familiar characters, adding a few more, and continuing the story past the famous “My dear, I don’t give a damn.” I thought McCaig maintained the “voice” of GWtW very well.

Plum Lovin’, Janet Evanovich: A Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers novel – Not exactly reading, but an audio book edition for intensive-knitting time.

Debbie Macomber: Back on Blossom Street, Twenty Wishes, 204 Rosewood Lane (audio, for trip).

Charlaine Harris: A Bone to Pick, Real Murders, Sweet and Deadly.

When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrugue, Murder & the New Madrid Earthquakes, Jay Feldman: The New Madrid quakes took place between 1811 and 1812: I’ve always been interested in this period.

That Summer Place, Debbie Macomber, Susan Wiggs & Jill Barnett: 3 stories set in an old Victorian house on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Pure escapism, but fun

The Miracle at Speedy Motors, Alexander McCall Smith: 9th in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series.

Irish Gold (1994), Andrew M. Greeley: First in a series of Irish stories featuring Nuala Anne McGrail; set in Ireland and Chicago. I “one more chaptered” myself until 1am with this one; 2. Irish Lace (1996); 3. Irish Whiskey (1998); 4. Irish Mist (1999); 5. Irish Eyes (2000); 6. Irish Love (2001); 7. Irish Stew! (2002); 8. Irish Cream (2005); 9. Irish Crystal (2006); 10. Irish Linen (2007); 11. Irish Tiger (2008).

The Archbishop in Andalusia (2008), Andrew M. Greeley: A Blackie Ryan Novel – another of his series.

Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist; Writings from the Ozarks, University of Missouri Press 2007: Essays from Missouri Ruralist, 1911-1924, edited by Stephen W. Hines. Some of her articles were amazingly timely, considering that they were written over 80 year ago!

The Summerhouse, Return to Summerhouse, Secrets: Jude Deveraux.

The Beach House, Jane Green (2008).

The Alto Wore Tweed, A Liturgical Mystery: Mark Schweizer (2002).

The Bachelor’s Cat: A Love Story, L. F. Hoffman (1997): A neat little (120 pgs) book!

Ireland: A Novel (2005), Frank Delaney: A story of a boy and an itinerant storyteller from a writer with a definite gift for words, which I’m savoring. He also has a Notebook that’s interesting, though infrequently updated.

Once Upon a Town; The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen (2002), Bob Greene: Throughout WWII this small town and its surrounding areas welcomed and fed more than 6 million GIs as the troop trains passed though.

The Lace Reader (2006), Brunonia Barry:

Every gift has a price; every piece of lace has a secret. Towner Whitney … hails from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns of lace …

A bit different

An Irish Country Christmas, Patrick Taylor (2008): The 3rd in a series about 2 doctors in an Irish country practice – I saw it at the library, but I absolutely must track down the first 2. One scene where the cat knocked over a pitcher of milk almost had me falling off my chair laughing.

Knitting books:

Arctic Lace, Donna Druchunas: Just the description of the qiviut in the first paragraph of the introduction makes me long to spin and/or knit some!

Armenian Knitting, Meg Swansen & Joyce Williams: Amazing projects, some of which I’ve seen at Knitting Camp; also fabulous photos!

New Japanese knitting books: Knitting Patterns Book 300, 100 Aran Knitting Patterns, New Style of Heirloom Knitting. As I’m not able to read Japanese, reading isn’t quite accurate – I’m looking at swatches and charts (which I have learned to read!) and seriously lusting after a couple of the designs in the last book.

Invisible Threads in Knitting, Annemor Sundbø.

Knitting Yarns and Spinning Tales; A Knitter’s Stash of Wit and Wisdom: Kari Cornell, Editor. I was particularly struck by this – wow!

From The Mysterious Stitch, by Carrie Mercer: Creating something from nothing more than colorful string and a couple of sticks—it’s downright magical.