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A Highland Christmas by M.C. Beaton My rating: 5 of 5 stars It's Christmastime in the Highlands, but you wouldn't be able to tell in Lochdubh, the village where Hamish Macbeth is constable. The local Calvinists don't truck with Santa, trees and lights. A disgruntled Macbeth is called out to the croft of Mrs. Gallagher, a waspish old woman who lives alone and has had her cat stolen. Along with that mystery, Hamish must investigate the theft of the large Christmas tree and lights from the unfriendly village of Cnothan. This is a short little book of 129 pages, just right for a special Christmas edition to delight cozy mystery and M.C. Beaton fans. Having just read the most recent Hamish Macbeth book, this was a sweet return to the "old" Hamish that I have grown to love over the years. Annie View all my reviews

If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have read almost all of Jen Lancaster's books. She's close to my age, so her cultural references resonate with me. She's also a socially-liberal Conservative, which also resonates with me. I prefer her memoirs to her novels, but after a series of historical non-fiction, I was ready for a light reading break. This book delivers. Although I am not a famous writer of Amish Zombie Teen Romances, I am am married to a man who has a few similarities to "Mac", and have fallen down the rabbit pit of home repair on several occasions. Some of the material is very familiar, since it's based on the stories in "Jeneration X", her book about moving out of their house in the city out to the suburbs. It's a bit outlandish, but we're not reading Jen Lancaster's material for stark realism, people. There were parts that had me laughing out loud, and sighing in recognition. All in all, and enjoya...

The Mistresses of Cliveden: Three Centuries of Scandal, Power and Intrigue in an English Stately Home by Natalie Livingstone My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Mistresses of Clivenden starts out with the story of a real mistress, Anna Maria, the Countess of Shrewsbury, who was beloved of the Duke of Buckingham. He built the house with the purpose of them living together and enjoying the pleasures of the flesh. Due to the public censure of their scandalous and even murderous (he killed her husband in a duel) relationship, they were not able to actually be together and live happily at the estate. Another famous mistress was Elizabeth, Countess of Orkney, who was the paramour of William of Orange, despite her famous squint. She and her husband, the Earl, upgraded the house and hosted royalty. The next owner was just the mistress of Clivenden, as she loved her husband - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, the wife of the Prince of Wales. Together, they turned Clivenden into an alternate court, away from t...

Death of a Ghost by M.C. Beaton My rating: 3 of 5 stars Oh Hamish, how I loved ye. I'm pretty sure I've read almost all of the Hamish Macbeth books (this is #32), including the little stories. I think I might have missed one before this one, somehow, because I didn't remember quite how Hamish got the poodle, although I do remember how he lost Sonsie. I've enjoyed them all, for the most part, being a lover of cozy mysteries. This one was not so great. It seemed like new characters, who could have been more interesting if fleshed out a little more, were popping up every chapter, along with the good old friends you expect from the books of the past. There really wasn't a Death of a Ghost, rather a fake ghost was being used to cover up scurrilous activities in the old castle now inhabited by former police bigwig Handy Ebrington, who also has a shady past. Hamish and his new co-hort, Charlie, inspect the scene, lose a body, and are off to solve the mystery. T...

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen by Leanda de Lisle My rating: 4 of 5 stars Lots has been written about Lady Jane Grey. This book delves deeper into the whole family's story, including the tragic tales of Jane's sisters Katherine and Mary. Unlike other versions of her story, Jane is no poor, fragile child thrust into a role she didn't want by grasping relatives. Leanda deLisle submits Jane's own words to reveal a young woman who was so committed to her Protestant faith, that she was willing to go to her death rather than repudiate her beliefs. After their sister's execution, both Katherine and Mary got themselves into trouble by marrying without their queens' permission. This lead to them both being separated from their dearly loved husbands for the most part of their marriages, and directly to Mary's husband's death from the after affects of being imprisoned and tortured. Katherine was able to bear two children, despite being in the Tower, in a differe...

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke My rating: 5 of 5 stars I can't say enough - I saw the mini-series, was delighted, and then read the book. Now I am enchanted. If you've read any of the reviews, you know the basic story - magic is almost gone from England, until the reclusive and odd Mr. Norrell decides to bring it back in spectacular fashion, publicly. He does, then comes forth the reluctant magician, Jonathan Strange, a fop, a dilettante, who just happens to be so much more naturally talented than Mr. Norrell. Add the incredible cast of magical and not characters, and you've got an immense allegory of the Prodigal Son that is very hard to put down. I found myself sitting at work, wishing I was reading my book. Who hasn't watched bitterly from the sides as a newcomer seems to charm everyone and not miss a pitch? The introverted Mr. Norrell really just wants to be with his books, at his house - “I have a scholar's love of silence and solitu...

Tails of Wonder and Imagination by Ellen Datlow My rating: 4 of 5 stars Tails of Wonder and Imagination is an anthology of short stories by various writers. I picked it up because one of the stories is by Susanna Clarke, who wrote Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Also included are Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, George RR Martin, Joyce Carol Oates and many others, of course. I thought, due to the name, that the stories would be of the more fantastical nature, but some of them are just scary, or disturbing. The Gaiman story, called "The Price", was haunting, it has stuck with me. Some were interesting, and some were just gruesome. I love cats, and the stories in which cats were tortured and killed were upsetting. One of the stories, "Returns", simply broke my heart. Among the sadness and horror, there are some delightful, even funny stories, like the one about Schrödinger’s Cat. All in all, if you're a cat lover, you might not like to read this book because it wi...

Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe by John Julius Norwich My rating: 5 of 5 stars Delicious. When you read non-fiction history, you often go in knowing that you're going to have to slog through the slow bits, and you accept this, because that's just the way it is. Well. Not with THIS book. Four Princes has been written by the incomparable John Julius Norwich, himself a man about whom a book should be written! He's not concerned with political correctness. He's not trying to throw your 21st century morals onto 16th century people. He understands how important religion could be to a man, or a woman, that it would profoundly affect why they did things, and he doesn't apologize for it. He doesn't blink at the horrid-ness of life during the Reformation. He tells wonderful anecdotes about the various persons involved in the lives of the Four Princes, and brings in that human factor ...

The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Sound of Gravel is a harrowing read. It's the biography of Ruth Wariner, who was her mother's 4th child and her father's 39th. Ruth was the daughter of the "prophet" Joel LeBaron, a leader of Colonia LeBaron, a fundamentalist Mormon community in Mexico. Ruth's mother Kathy married Joel when she was 18 and he was 42, as his fifth wife. Ruth never knew her father, as he was brutally murdered by his own brother Ervil, a rival for power over the community, when she was but 3 months old. After Joel's death, Kathy was left with four children, living in Colonia LeBaron in poverty. She then married a man called Lane, as his "second, second" wife (the first second wife had left him), and began to have children just about every year for the next several years. Ruth's life was so hard. Kathy and "her kids" lived in a shack in the desert, with no running water or electric...

This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection by Carol Burnett My rating: 5 of 5 stars I thoroughly enjoyed Carol Burnett's memoir, "This Time Together". I loved Carol Burnett's show when I was a kid, I always thought she was a wonderful person, and her book is also wonderful. It's based on questions asked by audience members in her live show, and is a collection of stories, basically from the time she left her home to be an actor on Broadway, up to the present. I laughed right out loud at some of the recollections of events from the early days of the show, and found myself blinking back tears as I read about the deaths of people she loved. This is no "tell-all" scandalous gossip rag of a book, it's the genuine and heart-felt remembrances of a TV legend. You won't see scathing commentaries on stars' foibles here - rather a collection of sweet, funny stories about all the greats - Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence (her story is rea...

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck: How to Stop Spending Time You Don't Have with People You Don't Like Doing Things You Don't Want to Do by Sarah Knight My rating: 4 of 5 stars This little book is a hoot! In the midst of the funny, there are some very good lessons to be learned. Sarah Knight starts off the book with a mission statement: "The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck" is for all of us who work too much, play too little, and never have enough time to devote to the people and things that truly make us happy." The author is a Harvard-educated former editor, who quit her corporate job to go freelance - to stop taking a 45 minute commute two times a day, sleep in, and have more time with her husband and for the things she wanted to do. She acknowledges that everyone can't just quit their jobs, but gives examples of ways to stop wasting time at work with useless meetings and memos, and how to stop attending coworker functions...

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith My rating: 5 of 5 stars I Capture the Castle was written by Dodie Smith in the forties, but it's set in the 1930's, after the Great War and during the Depression. It's narrated by a 17 year old girl named Cassandra, who lives with her father James Mortmain, step-mother Topaz, older sister Rose, younger brother Tom and sort of adopted servant Stephen. They all live together in a crumbling castle, for which James has taken a 40-year lease. James had once written a book that was fabulously famous, and made them a lot of money. Since that book, though, he has written nothing, and the children's mother has died, taking her small income with her. James has remarried a model called Topaz, who he ignores, along with everyone else, as he sits in the gatehouse hour after hour, reading books brought by the local school teacher, Miss Marcy. Tom is in school, Cassandra and Rose are done with school, and Stephen works at the hard chores. They...

Then and Always by Dani Atkins My rating: 3 of 5 stars Then and Always is the story of a young woman who wakes up after a terrible incident with a different life than she left. Rachel has two histories - they feature the same cast of characters, but the outcomes couldn't be more different. What is true? What is fantasy? What caused the "amnesia", if that's what it really is... Without going into spoilers, I can say the set-up is great, and the finale is great. It's such a cool idea, and the author does a pretty good job of it, but in the hands of a really good writer, this book could have been excellent. It seems like a low-rent version of "What Alice Forgot", a wonderful, engaging, keeps-you-guessing book by Liane Moriarty with a somewhat similar theme. If you want a quick read, with a bit of a mystery and a dab of a love story, this book will do ya. Annie View all my reviews

Courtesan by Diane Haeger My rating: 3 of 5 stars To be clear, this is a work of fiction, a romance novel based on a real person, rather than an historical novel. Big Difference. Don't read this one for the history. Diane de Poitiers existed, and she was the mistress of the King of France. Some of the events from her life are represented in the book, and some are fabricated. Diane Haeger has done her research, and the book rings true-ish for the most part. It's the story of the widow Diane, who is called to the court of Francis I, presumably to become a conquest of the king's. She faces the king's advances, the hatred of the official "Favourite", Anne D'Heilly, and the contempt of the king's closest advisors. She is also pursued by a charming but duplicitous courtier. It reads like a 16th century "Mean Girls". Pauvre Diane! After many trials, Diane falls into an affair with the much younger (20 years) son of the king, Henri, w...

The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World by David Jaher My rating: 4 of 5 stars I won The Witch of Lime Street in a books giveaway quite some time ago. I put it on the stack and didn't remember it until I recently added some large gorgeous bookshelves to the house and started shelving my books properly. I'm so glad I did! This book is a non-fiction, but reads like a novel. The author, David Jaher, has conjured up a great story, with magic, celebrities, sex, spirits, violent death and hubris. It all takes place in the 1920s, after the Great War, when Spiritualism gained strength as a movement. The war, and even more so the Spanish Flu, had killed so many people, that many bereaved loved ones wanted to try to contact their dearly departed one more time. Mediums were popping up the world over, and famous people like respected author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were promoting Spiritualism to willing audiences. At the same time, others, such as H...

My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall My rating: 5 of 5 stars Penny Marshall has always wanted to just play. She came from this dysfunctional family in New York, got married and had a child at a young age, then became an actress, met everyone in show business and even beat cancer. And then she wrote a book about it. My Mother Was Nuts is such an easy book to read. It feels like Penny is just sitting there next to you, with a cigarette in her hand, telling you her life story. I could almost imagine her voice as I read. Sometimes I would be laughing out loud, then somber, realizing that she has lost both her brother and best friend just this last year, and I feel so bad for her. She comes across as such a real human being, so enmeshed in movies, talking about all these incredibly famous people, but it never seems like name-dropping, it's just Penny talking about her friends. A League of Their Own is one of my favorite movies, so I was very happy to read a chapter or so about i...

I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a short little book (137 pages) with stories about getting older, the past, purses and threading, among many other things. I read it in one morning, in between doing laundry and eating breakfast, before going to the gym. Nora Ephron is a very famous writer for movies. You've very likely seen her stuff. She doesn't spend a lot of time on that, though. She talks about various things in her life, including her pretty amazing life in New York from her time as a young woman to the time the book was written, in her 60's. She's funny in an understated way, but I burst out laughing a few times. I read parts aloud to my husband. She's a smart lady. I have little in common with Ms. Ephron. She's been married 3 times, she's a famous movie person, she's a Democrat, she's a wealthy New Yorker and she knows a lot of celebrities. I am not any of that - b...

I See You Made an Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories from the Edge of 50 by Annabelle Gurwitch My rating: 2 of 5 stars Goodreads needs to add a new shelf for books like this one - "Stopped Reading". I really thought I would like this it. I'm the target audience, just shy of 50, dealing with all that entails. The cover was really cute, the title made me laugh out loud, and really, if we can't laugh over these indignities that come with aging, we're just going to be sad. I read the first 4 or 5 chapters and just sort of gave up. It's amusing, but not laugh-out-loud funny, and that's ok, if there is any substance behind the amusement. But this book doesn't have it. As others have said, it's possible that I just am too far removed from Annabelle's lifestyle to relate too much to her. She tries to work in "jokes" about Conservatives, and sometimes they work, but most of the time they don't, and sometimes the...

River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the story of the drowning of little Clara and the tragic event's impact on her family and the Black community in Georgetown, Washington, DC early in the 20th Century. The book has a dream-like quality, captured by the author's writing style of small glimpses into the past as the present unfolds. Johnnie Mae is the main character, the older sister of Clara. Johnnie Mae is present when Clara drowns, escaping into her release of swimming. She is unable to save her little "Rat" and carries this burden throughout the story. The descriptions of the many denizens of Georgetown are so well-written, you can almost imagine them, especially the herb woman who lives behind Johnnie Mae's aunt's house and who helps the family on a few occasions, both with her herbal medicines and her wisdom. One of the main focuses of the book is Johnnie Mae's overwhelming desire to swim in the white people's ...

Property: A Novel by Valerie Martin My rating: 4 of 5 stars Property is narrated by Manon, a wealthy plantation owner's wife. She is living with her husband, for whom she bears nothing but hatred and contempt, and the slaves on the place, including her husband's mistress, Sarah. Sarah was brought to the plantation and Manon's life as a gift from Manon's aunt, on the occasion of her marriage, because her uncle was much too interested in this beautiful light-skinned woman. Sarah has borne two children to Manon's husband, one a wild (view spoiler) [deaf (hide spoiler) ] child called Walter, who inspires disgust in Manon. Manon isn't a nice woman, yet one sympathizes with her because she is as much a slave in her marriage as the people who work on the plantation. She has no say at all in the way the place is run, and can only watch helplessly as her husband drains the coffers, mistreats the slaves and sleeps with Sarah. Manon takes a perverse pleasure in keep...