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.
Have a good day
Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster
