PK the Bookeemonster: Back from a four-day weekend

Monday, November 28, 2022

Back from a four-day weekend

Monday

It was a good weekend. I didn't work at all on my Found Objects like I meant to but I did read some good books and worked on some bullet journal.

I read a novella, HIS SPANISH BRIDE by Tracy Grant. Technically 1st of 26 in series featuring Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch, a diplomat and his wife, beginning at the Congress of Vienna in 1814.

Suzanne de Saint-Vallier has been left alone and penniless in the tumult of the Peninsular War. Determined to protect her, British Intelligence Agent Malcolm Rannoch, who isn't at all sure he's suited for marriage, takes one of the greatest risks in his danger-fraught career. He proposes. When Malcolm proposes to Suzanne, the tumult of the Peninsular War recedes - if only temporarily. For their union may have shattering consequences for the more fragile partnership between Britain and Spain. But meanwhile, let the celebrations begin . . .

Published 2012; 102 pages. I hadn't read this yet. I'm very far behind in the series so I thought I'd start at the beginning to refresh my memory. And it was a short read to add to my 2022 reading goal.

I read ALIAS EMMA by Ava Glass. 1st in series. Spy thriller.

In this breakneck, race-against-the-clock thriller, a British spy has twelve hours to deliver her asset across London after Russia hacks the city’s security cameras. Can she make it without being spotted . . . or killed?
A newly minted secret agent, Emma's barely graduated from basic training when she gets the call for her first major assignment. Eager to serve her country and prove her worth, she dives in headfirst. Emma must covertly travel across one of the world’s most watched cities to bring the reluctant son of Russian dissidents into protective custody, so long as the assassins from the Motherland don’t find him first. With London’s famous Ring of Steel hacked by the Russian government, the two must cross the city without being seen by the hundreds of thousands of CCTV cameras that document every inch of the city’s streets, alleys, and gutters. Buses, subways, cars, and trains are out of the question. Traveling on foot, and operating without phones or bank cards that could reveal their location or identity, they have twelve hours to make it to safety. This will take all of Emma’s skills of disguise and subterfuge. But when Emma’s handler goes dark, there’s no one left to trust. And just one wrong move will get them both killed.

Published 2022; 273 pages. I LOVED this book. I read it in one afternoon.

And then I had a book hangover.

But I rallied and read SOME OF IT WAS REAL by Nan Fischer. Stand alone.

A psychic on the verge of stardom who isn’t sure she believes in herself and a cynical journalist with one last chance at redemption are brought together by secrets from the past that also threaten to tear them apart. Psychic-medium Sylvie Young starts every show with her origin story, telling the audience how she discovered her abilities. But she leaves out a lot—the plane crash that killed her parents, an estranged adoptive family who tend orchards in rainy Oregon, panic attacks, and the fact that her agent insists she research some clients to ensure success. After a catastrophic reporting error, Thomas Holmes’s next story at the L.A. Times may be his last, but he’s got a great personal pitch. “Grief vampires” like Sylvie who prey upon the loved ones of the deceased have bankrupted his mother. He’s dead set on using his last-chance article to expose Sylvie as a conniving fraud and resurrect his career. When Sylvie and Thomas collide, a game of cat and mouse ensues, but the secrets they’re keeping from each other are nothing compared to the mysteries and lies they unearth about Sylvie’s past. Searching for the truth might destroy them both—but it’s the only way to find out what’s real.

Published 2022; 350 pages. I also read this one in one day. It wasn't as good as the previous book but it was hitting the spot.

Currently reading LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus. Stand alone.

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results. But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

Published 2022; 394 pages. This wasn't in my TBR but I like the time period and setting. The story is quirky after reading the sample so I started it.

Because I didn't do much beading, I didn't finish the audiobook I was listening to as I had anticipated. Maybe this afternoon I'll get some more into it while working on invoices. And I did also go back to one I had started as an audiobook but switched to Kindle when I needed a break from the other one.

CAPE GRACE by Nathan Lowell. 2nd of trilogy Shaman's Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper SFF series.

When Otto Krugg's daughter, Sarah, follows in his footsteps,, he's faced with the task of changing a century long rule that will force her to make decisions no one should have to make - only sons of shamans can be shamans.When Jimmy Pirano gets tasked with enforcing that rule - no matter what - he goes down the rabbit hole to try to find out who established the rule. And why they can't let it go.

Published 2020; 361 pages.

Steve was sick all weekend and my bead group was canceled so we had a very quiet weekend. Dinner went well - Steve said the turkey was moist.

The cold is trying to get me but I'm staying mostly ahead of it.

Steve's better than he was Thursday and Friday but still sick. He's got a committee meeting tonight that I hope he skips. He needs rest to recover from today and to make it through the week.