I'm not ready!

Monday.

I finished THE HEIST by Daniel Silva. 4 stars.

Currently listening to/reading DEATH IN THE FLOATING CITY by Tasha Alexander. 7th of 18 in series featuring Lady Emily Ashton, a young widow in Victorian London

Years ago, Emily's childhood nemesis, Emma Callum, scandalized polite society when she eloped to Venice with an Italian count. But now her father-in-law lies murdered, and her husband has vanished. There's no one Emma can turn to for help but Emily, who leaves at once with her husband, the dashing Colin Hargreaves, for Venice. There, her investigations take her from opulent palazzi to slums, libraries, and bordellos. Emily soon realizes that to solve the present-day crime, she must first unravel a centuries old puzzle. But the past does not give up its secrets easily, especially when these revelations might threaten the interests of some very powerful people.

Published 2012; 309 pages

I'm very excited for a new release tomorrow (technically tonight at 10pm). 

I'm stalling out on last week's new release, MURDER AT KING'S CROSSING by Andrea Penrose. She does a thing that irritates me. Characters walking into a room, comes in talking responding to the ongoing conversation as if they were listening outside. Every character, every time. 

No sprints tonight. Crocheting. I'm on yarn cake number nine of twelve.

Have a good day

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster

TGIF, baby

Friday

I'm about 26% into THE HEIST by Daniel Silva. The reader of the audiobook is interesting. He's not doing voices for each character -- he's mostly just basically reading it. 

But I also received library notification of two holds. One's an audiobook of a book I already have but have never gotten to.

And with the crocheting I have to do, I'm wanting to do more audiobook then eyeball reading so this is a strong possibility because I need to multitask. 

The other book sounded interesting enough to put on hold.

So we'll see if they jump the queue. 

Sprints tomorrow afternoon. Crochet. Read. 

Have a good weekend

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster 

Attitude

Thursday. Service manager out sick. 

Yeah, I think this will be my final Spy vs Spy September for this year. I had been looking at a nonfiction one but this was available both in ebook and audiobook from a library so... 

Currently reading THE HEIST by Daniel Silva. 14th of 24 in series featuring Gabriel Allon, an art restorer and Israeli secret agent. 

Gabriel Allon – art restorer and legendary spy – is in Venice when he receives an urgent call from the Italian police. The art dealer Justin Isherwood has stumbled upon a chilling murder scene, and is being held as a suspect. The dead man is a fallen spy with a secret – a trafficker in stolen artwork, sold to a mysterious collector. To save his friend, Gabriel must track down the world’s most iconic missing painting: Caravaggio’s Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence. Gabriel’s mission takes him on exhilarating hunt from Marseilles and Corsica, to Paris and Geneva, and, finally, to a private bank in Austria, where a dangerous man stands guard over the ill-gotten wealth of one of the world’s most brutal dictators…

Published 2014; 611 pages. I've always loved the art restoration aspect the Vatican most especially in this series. 

Sprints tonight. Crocheting. 

Have a good day

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster

Cranky. I haz it.

Wednesday

I've had a vexing last twenty-four hours. I need a vacation from people. 

I finished FRIENDS, LOVERS, CHOCOLATE by Alexander McCall Smith. 4 stars. This is an interesting series. The crime and solving is VERY light. Much philosophizing on things like whether one should get involved, is there a moral obligation to do so, etc. When I've read these two books (so far), I'm absolutely in the mood for that. Does the MC sometimes irritate me because I disagree with her? Yes. But sometimes I want to walk in her shoes. And the words come together so that they tickle my brain in a very "ah yes!" kind of way.  Enough so that I've purchased the entire series in physical copy. I'm intrigued.

There's a few days left in Spy vs Spy September. I should read one more book. This is an option. I haven't read this series in quite awhile because of political comments in it. But this next in series for me is available via library. I really liked the series up until then.

No sprints tonight. Steve has the gun range. Lots of crocheting. 

Have a good day

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster

Stop at once!

Tuesday

Starting new release, MURDER AT KING'S CROSSING by Andrea Penrose. 8th of 8 in series featuring Wrexford and Sloane in industrial Regency England. 

Celebration is in the air at Wrexford and Charlotte’s country estate as they host the nuptials of their friends, Christopher Sheffield and Lady Cordelia Mansfield. But on the afternoon of the wedding, the festivities are interrupted when the local authorities arrive with news that a murdered man has been discovered at the bridge over King’s Crossing, his only identification an invitation to the wedding. Lady Cordelia is horrified when the victim is identified as Jasper Milton, her childhood friend and a brilliant engineer who is rumored to have discovered a revolutionary technological innovation in bridge design. That he had the invitation meant for her cousin Oliver, who never showed up for the wedding, stirs a number of unsettling questions. Both men were involved in the Revolutions-Per-Minute Society, a scientific group dedicated to making radical improvements in the speed and cost of transportation throughout Britain. Is someone plotting to steal Milton’s designs? And why has her cousin disappeared? Wrexford and Charlotte were looking forward to spending a peaceful interlude in the country, but when Lady Cordelia resolves to solve the mystery, they offer their help, along with that of the Weasels and their unconventional inner circle of friends. The investigation turns tangled and soon all of them are caught up in a treacherous web of greed, ambition, and dangerous secrets. And when the trail takes a shocking turn, Wrexford and Charlotte must decide what risks they are willing to take with their family to bring the villains to justice . . .

Published 2024; 372 pages. 

Sprints tonight. Crocheting and reading. 

Have a good day

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster 

It's Monday again

Monday. 

Steve's home with a man-cold. 

It was a pretty good weekend. Lots of crocheting. Steve was, as mentioned, sick. I had good sprints. I got shorn by my haircutter. I picked up some pretty yarn at HobbyLobby. 

I finished reading THE SPY COAST by Tess Gerritsen. 4.5 stars. Looking forward to second book next Spring. Finished DEADLY ILLUSION by Carla Simpson. 3 stars. I struggled with getting through it. I really like the series but I'm wondering if I have a thing about magic shows/circuses. 

I started FRIENDS, LOVERS, CHOCOLATE by Alexander McCall Smith. 2nd of 15 in series featuring Isabel Dalhousie, a Scottish-American editor of the esteemed Review of Applied Ethics and a woman of independent means in Edinburgh.

The irrepressibly curious Isabel Dalhousie gets caught up in a highly unusual affair of the heart. When Isabel is asked to cover for vacationing Cat at her delicatessen, Isabel meets a man with a most interesting problem. He recently had a heart transplant and is suddenly haunted by memories of events that never happened to him.The situation piques her insatiable curiosity: Could the memories be connected with the donor’s demise? Naturally, Isabel’s friend Jamie thinks it is none of Isabel’s business. Meanwhile, Grace, Isabel’s housekeeper, has become infatuated with a man at her spiritualist meeting, and Cat brings home an Italian lothario. That makes for some particularly tricky problems–both practical and philosophical–for Isabel to unravel in this enormously engaging and highly unusual mystery.

Published 2005; 261 pages. The author loves words and philosophizing about life. I enjoy it.

I have a new release tomorrow -- technically 10pm tonight -- that I will be starting when I receive it. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. 

No sprints tonight. I'll be started yarn cake number 8 this evening. I've got three weeks. 

Have a good day

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster

Ready for the weekend

TGIF

Day Two events of the Crochet Blanket Summit. I'm very glad, again, that I upgraded so I have more time to access these events/seminars. So much good information. 

I nearly finished yarn cake number six last night. For sure tonight, I'll be adding yarn cake number seven. 

I had an interesting idea while sprinting yesterday evening. There was a question during one of the crochet summit's seminars - asked by a chatter -- that wasn't addressed during the meeting. You know I'm a problem solver/idea person. Long story short, I've also been wondering the best way to deal with a blanket as it gets longer. It's a bulky lapful, it's warm in summer. I saw a clip many moons ago of a young man knitting or crocheting on a subway. He was managing his project like in a backpack and going back and forth with it rolled up. 

And I've been meaning to do something like it. But combining this with that of last night.... What if I "invented" a project bag-type of thing and sold it? 

It would have to be big enough to hold a blanket, accessible but also closeable, not heavy, perhaps have some pockets. I've got a couple laundry bags and a fitted sheet coming to the house later today from Target to experiment with this weekend. 

Sprints tomorrow afternoon. Hair trim in the morning. No other plans. Reading and crocheting.

Have a good weekend

Much love, 

PK the Bookeemonster