Book Reviews

 As an aside, I find writing these book reviews hard as I try to strike the right balance of information. I'm not trying to sell the books, so I don't find the need to use a lot of superlatives and tantalizing setups. Also, I don't want to give too much away about the story because I often find that more formal reviews tell me more than I want to know- things that I would want to discover while reading it. Basically, I'm trying to give you enough information to look further into the book if it sounds interesting to you. I enjoy reading others' reviews, so I include some here.

Here are a few more things I've been reading recently.

Candle Island by Lauren Wolk, Children's fiction (middle grades), 2025

This book was recommended by Hannah at Squishy Tulips. I have read other books by Lauren Wolk that I liked, so I added this one to my list.

The story begins when Lucretia and her mother move to a small island off the coast of Maine, seeking solitude after Lucretia's father dies. They also have a secret that they are trying to keep in this remote location. 

Candle Island has a few hundred people in the winter, and that number triples in the summer with city tourists. There is tension between wealthy tourists and islanders, and Lucrietia is a victim of it on both sides, being new and an islander. She finds a friend in an island boy, but his cousin, Murdock, is Lucretia's worst enemy. But, as is often the case, Murdock has serious problems of her own that explain her antagonistic behavior. Three other privileged rich kids cause continual problems (culminating in a very serious one) while they are just "having fun". It seems as if Lucretia and her mother aren't the only ones with secrets, and in the end, everyone gets to be themselves and let their talents shine.

Immediately upon starting the book, I felt moved by the writing. Descriptions of the island, its way of life, animals, and wildlife were rich in detail, and within them a moving story was woven. I recommend this book for both kids and adults.

Vanderbilt, The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe, Adult non-fiction (Dewey 973.5), 2021

Before reading this book, I didn't know much about the Vanderbilts. I had visited the Biltmore in North Carolina and knew Gloria Vanderbilt, Anderson Cooper's mother, had a line of jeans. This book gave me insights into what a powerful and troubled family the Vanderbilts were.

The Vanderbilt fortune was built by Cornelius (Commodore) Vanderbilt in the early 1800s. Commodore was born on Staten Island, NY, and left school at age 11 to run a ferry for his father. By the age of 16, he had started his own business. He was ambitious and hardworking, and eventually branched out into the railroad industry. He had control over most of what was coming in and out of New York City, which made him one of the wealthiest men in American history. He was said to be obsessed with making money and ruthless.

Commodore had 13 children, and only one of his heirs after him added any money to the fortune. That was his son, Billy. After that, there was a long line of heirs lavishly spending, especially during the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, as they tried to establish their status among the society's wealthy. The book features individual stories of some of the more notable heirs, ending with Anderson Cooper, the author. He considers himself a Cooper and his mother as the last of the Vanderbilts. She had a very tumultuous childhood when her father died early, and there were battles over her custody and the trust fund that came with it. It was played out in court during the "trial of the century" when she was 10 years old. 

I found the book interesting as I learned about the rich society 100 years ago. Times were different, as each person tried to outdo the others with their houses and parties. One person actually wore a costume made of cat tails to a costume ball, complete with a stuffed cat on her head. As I said, times were different. 

I also found the book tedious at times, particularly when reading about the details of various houses or parties. They also made me feel sad that most of the money was not used in a charitable way. In some chapters that describe a lavish event, the authors include a serious event happening at the same time to put things into perspective.

The book clearly demonstrates that money does not buy happiness, as the Vanderbilts' live were often fraught with tragedy. Their money was more of a curse than a blessing in the long run. 

The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen, Adult mystery, 2012

You may have noticed that I throw in a Royal Spyness mystery every few books because I find them familiar and comfortable reads.

 The Royal Spyness books follow Georgie, 35th in line to the British Throne, in the 1930s, as she stumbles onto murder after murder. There are castles, rich people, royalty, and many class restrictions that surround the stories. Despite being royalty, Georgie has no money, which causes a set of problems all its own. The stories are in historically accurate settings, and humorous relief is provided by her inept maid, Queenie. 

The Twelve Clues of Christmas is the 6th in the series and takes place in a small village in Devon. Georgie, not wanting to spend Christmas in her brother's cold Scottish castle with his difficult wife and family, takes a job as a hostess for a 12-day Christmas party at another estate. Several locals are found dead, seemingly all of them are accidents, but Georgie is not so sure. Despite being told repeatedly to leave it to the police, Georgie figures out a connection and solves the crimes.

Among the murders are all of the traditions of an old English Christmas. Those are fun to read about, and the back of the book has recipes and explanations for some of them. I found this book a little harder to read than some of the other Royal Spyness books because there were multiple victims and some gruesome parts, but I thought it had a very clever ending. (Can you tell that I'm not a gritty mystery reader?)

Raising Hare by Chole Dalton, Adult non-fiction (Dewey 599.32), 2025

This is another book recommended by Hannah at Squishy Tulips, and I'm glad she did. The book is a New York Times bestseller and is on several Best of the Year lists.

Chole Dalton is a foreign policy specialist and lives a fast-paced life, including frequent travel. During the COVID shutdown, she moved to her country home outside of London, where she found an abandoned newborn hare. Unsure of what to do, she ultimately chose to pick up the hare because she thought it would give it the best chance of survival. Even though hares are almost impossible to raise in captivity, it survived. Dalton walked a fine line between saving the hare and keeping it wild so it could return to its natural habitat in the fields around her.

She learned a lot along the way from extensive research she did on hares, as well as from keen observations of the hare. The first thing she learned (and me, too) was the difference between rabbits and hares. While rabbits are group animals that live in burrows and hide for protection, hares are solitary animals that use stillness and speed to escape their predators. As a result of her time with Hare (she chose not to call it anything but Hare, since she didn't want to think of it as a pet), Dalton became more in touch with nature and found a quieter side of herself.

The book is interesting as we learn about hares and the natural world around them, but it's mostly a treat for its calming, deep prose. 

Until next time...

This and That

 I think it's time for some speed blogging. The timer today is set at 14 minutes.  

We won't be putting up any Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving.

Anne at Cooking and All That Jazz has been doing a countdown 'til Christmas for weeks (months?) now.  Reading her posts about what she has done toward the holidays makes me anxious every time I read them. But it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, I tell myself. However, I have several gifts ordered and am working on ideas for others. We don't have elaborate decorations, so I don't need to start too far ahead of time. The weekend after Thanksgiving, the fall wreath will come down, and the holiday one will go up. The outdoor lights go up then, too, if the weather cooperates. A weekend or two after that, the tree will go up. 

Recently, we had a tree taken down, but before that happened, we had to remove the rock pile we had around it. We have very rocky soil, so when we dig up rocks in our various flower beds, we add them to the pile. We have accumulated quite a few since we started doing this. As we were moving the rocks, I felt like I was working on a prison chain gang. But I like rocks, and I like my pile. Just because.

As we moved the rocks, we sorted them into small, medium, and large sizes. This helps when we go to the pile for a rock for a particular use.

And speaking of maintenance projects, we figured out this week that we have a leak around the bow window in our living room. The window is only a few years old and didn't appear to be compromised, so we surmised the likely culprit was cracked caulking in several places around the outside of the window. After some major bush trimming to be able to get ladders in place, Ward did the tedious job of recaulking. While he did that, I cleared the debris that had been cut. I hope this fixes things because leaks are so hard to figure out sometimes. At least we know it hasn't been going on for long, so there shouldn't be much damage to the wood around the window. Fingers crossed. 

Installing the bow window a few years ago. Ward recaulked the outside of it.

While I enjoy the company of others, I am an introvert, and new social situations are not easy for me. However, when I was asked to join a bowling league, I said, "Sure." Not because I was dying to go bowling, but because I thought it would be good for me to get out of my comfort zone. I have only bowled occasionally throughout my life, with years and years between games. I'm usually happy if fewer than half of my balls end up in the gutter. But this is a fun league, not competitive, so it was a good fit in that way. 

Last week, I went for my first time. Our local bowling alley does duckpin bowling, which uses smaller balls and pins, and you get three balls/frame. On the surface, that sounds easier than 10-pin bowling, but it has a set of challenges of its own. So, what did I think? The people were friendly and not too serious, but I'm not sure I like bowling. However, I'm going again this week. We'll see how I do.

My 14-minute timer is going off, so that's it for today. I'll set it again one more time to find some pictures to insert.

Until next ... 

Turnips and Rutabagas

 Several years ago, Miss Landers and I did a comparison between turnips and rutabagas, and I thought about that when I was harvesting some today. I wondered if I thought the same about them now as I did then. I'd say, "Yep." So, I'm going to rerun the original post I did about the two.

Rutabagas

I've always been curious about rutabagas. Well, actually, I've never been curious about rutabagas and have never given them much thought until recently, when Miss Landers brought some over from her garden for us to try. This was her first time growing them, and she was curious about how they compared with turnips, so she also brought turnips that she had grown.

A bit of research revealed that rutabagas are a natural cross between turnips and wild cabbage. They are a relatively new plant, in that the first time they are mentioned in literature is in the early 1600s. They go by many names, including yellow turnips and swedes, because Sweden is a top producer. (Can you guess they like to grow in colder weather?) The name “rutabaga” is derived from an old Swedish word meaning “root bag.”

Notice the multiple roots and yellow tint of the rutabaga.

How about our turnip vs. rutabaga comparison? This is what we observed. Miss Landers said that as she was pulling them (both root vegetables), the rutabagas seemed to have more roots and root hairs. Both were pungent when raw and smelled like a cross between cabbage and radishes. The rutabaga had a yellow tint to it that intensified when cooked, while the turnip remained white.

We were able to convince Ward and Theodore to participate in a taste test after the vegetables were cooked--which was pretty remarkable considering neither one of them likes turnips. They weren't too sure that they wanted to sample anything called yellow turnips. However, they did sample them right along with Miss Landers and me.

We all agreed that the rutabaga had a definite potato taste. Theodore said that the rutabaga tasted as if it were a cross between potatoes and Brussels sprouts. A fairly apt description. Theodore and I liked the turnips better with their more peppery taste, while Ward and Miss Landers liked the rutabagas better with their milder taste and creamier texture.

In conclusion, will I start adding rutabagas to my grocery list on a regular basis? No. But will I now have something new to talk about when there is a lull in the conversation? Yes. :)

Note: I haven't been buying rutabagas, but I did grow some along with turnips this fall with extra seeds Miss Landers had.

Notice the white color of the cooked turnips and the yellow color of the rutabaga.

 More sources:

• Rutabaga overview--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutabaga
• Rutabaga recipes--http://allrecipes.com/recipes/everyday-cooking/seasonal/winter/rutabaga/top.aspx
• Rutabaga nutrition--http://www.produceoasis.com/Items_folder/Vegetables/Rutabaga.html
• How to grow rutabagas  http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-26.html
• A serious and not so serious blog about rutabagas--http://rutablogger.blogspot.com/2011/04/breakthrough-photosnynthesis-stimulate.html

Timber!

Unfortunately, we recently had to take down a large fir* tree. Birds had been drilling into it to the point that the whole middle of the tree was dead. I wonder if it was the same birds that liked to roost in the top of the tree? I guess we'll never know.

Anyway, the tree guy, Sonny, was amazing. The fir was close to Ward's shop, our new fence, and the neighbor's new garage. A tricky business for a 40' tree, but he didn't even brush a branch on any of those things. Tree felling is a very dangerous and skilled job. While the job was expensive, I think he earned every penny of it. Here are some pictures from the day.

This is the back corner of our lot where 3 lots come together. You can see that Sonny and his helper have to work in close quarters.

After throwing a rope (with a weight) over a tall branch, Sonny suited up with his safety and cutting gear and started climbing.

He cut the branches off one by one as he climbed.

Sonny looped the rope around the branch he was cutting, while his helper on the ground held the rope taut and helped control where the branch fell.

They continued with this until the top of the tree was small enough to be cut with its branches.

Sonny then went back down the trunk, cutting ~3' sections at a time until he reached the base.

The trunk was about 30" across at its base, so they had to cut it into pieces before they could carry it back to their truck.

They chipped what they could and hauled the rest away for a bigger chipper. Later that day, he came back and ground the stump.

I was sad to see the tree go, but with the new sunlight, I'm already thinking about what things we might be able to grow in this spot. However, it's going to take some cleanup of wood chips and roots before it will be ready for planting. But I will be dreaming about it until then. 😀

Until next time...

*Ward and I aren't very good at identifying the different kinds of evergreens. I thought the tree was a spruce, and he thought it was a pine. Its pine cones suggest it was a fir, according to Google. 

Note: Thanks to Ward for taking these pictures. He was very fascinated by the process and also took several videos. However, I couldn't figure out how to embed them. I thought I was following instructions, but had no luck.

Book Reviews

 A few things I've been reading recently.

God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen by Rhys Bowen, Adult mystery, 2021

This is #15 in the Royal Spyness Mystery Series. The Royal Spyness Series stars Georgie, who is 35th in line to the British throne. The Queen has a fondness for Georgie and often asks her to keep an eye on her son, who is dating the "horrible American" Mrs. Wallis. This leads to situations where there is a murder to solve, often in posh locations. While the books are fiction, the settings are historically accurate.

This book takes place at Christmas in 1935, when Georgie and her husband, Darcy, spend their first Christmas together as a married couple with his aunt and a host of other houseguests. Someone has shot at the Prince, and another suspicious death occurs. Count on Georgie to eventually figure out "who dun it". 

These books are fun and easy reads. I find it interesting to read about how royalty and the class system work, which are often important parts of the story. This book references book #6, The Twelve Clues of Christmas, several times. I haven't read that one yet, so that's next up for me with this series. Ward enjoys these books also and has started at the beginning and is reading them in order. I'm not quite so orderly. 😀

In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen, Adult historical fiction, 2017

This is a stand-alone novel by Rhys Bowen, who writes the Royal Spyness books along with several other mystery series. 

Lord Westerman, his wife, and 5 daughters live on the Farleigh Estate in rural England. The war is on, and Hitler has been bombing London. The estate is housing soldiers, and children from the city are being sent to live in the country to keep them safe from bombing.  

Then one day, the youngest daughter finds a dead soldier in the woods. It looks like he jumped out of a plane, and his parachute didn't open. An investigation begins, and numerous theories emerge regarding his mission. Meanwhile, one daughter is stuck in Paris, where she was studying fashion, and another daughter is secretly decoding German messages. Another childhood friend is an ace pilot, and another is a spy. In this world, no one is above suspicion, and you are kept guessing who is working for which side of the war.

The story is complicated with many characters and several locations, enough so that there is a list of characters and locations at the beginning of the book. Despite the complications, it was not hard to follow the narrative. Even though this is a WWII novel, it reads like a mystery. I enjoyed this book and will read other Rhys Bowen standalone novels. This was my second one.

Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda Chapman, Adult mystery, 2025

I picked up this book from the new bookshelf at the library because, you know, it had the word Library in the title.  😀

I was also drawn to the book's premise. Tory is a book conservator and works below and lives above a library that specializes in mystery books. One of the library rooms is set up like Agatha Christie's actual home was, including the books on the shelves. One day, an older woman appears in the room, claiming to be Agatha Christie from the beyond. She was bored in eternity, so they let her come to earth to solve a murder. Tory thinks she is a disturbed woman and is unsure what to do about her.

In the meantime, Tory's cousin, Nic, becomes involved with her manager's death. And thus a purpose for Mrs. Christie's appearance. Various people (an 11-year-old girl, a librarian, a detective, Nic, Tory, and Mrs. Christie) end up meeting every Monday evening to discuss the case. 

Mrs. Christie manages to appear and disappear without anyone seeing her come and go, and they never know when she will show up. However, she does come regularly to the Monday meetings. During the meetings, she is quiet and occasionally interjects with something that makes the others think. Most of her comments are quotes from one of her books. She gently guides the others to solving the crimes.

This was an entertaining read. At first, I was bogged down by the author trying to establish the backstory for everything. However, when Mrs. Christie appeared, the book began to pick up, and soon I was totally into the story. Tory has her own introvert issues, and among other things, she has a crush on the hunky detective, but is too shy to act. Her cousin Nic, an actress, is outgoing and naive. The little girl is clever beyond her years.

The story takes place in New York City with many place names. They didn't mean a lot to me, but they could to someone who knew the city. However, I did find it interesting to learn about the various aspects of conserving old books through Tory's work. 

The best part of the book was the numerous references to Agatha Christie's books. While I've read a few Agatha Christie mysteries, I've barely made a dent in the 66 detective novels she wrote. But I found the references to the books interesting and well done. I also found that there was more discussion about who committed the murders and why than in some other mysteries. The Monday meetings, with the diverse attendees, had them discussing all of the possibilities. I enjoyed that, and it didn't leave me with any confusion about what happened. Sometimes, I finish a book and feel like I have to have it explained to me.

This was Chapman's first book, and it just came out in August. If it sells well, I'm sure there will be more to follow.

Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper, Adult non-fiction (Dewey 818.602), 2021

When I saw the title of this book in the library, I actually laughed out loud because so many mysteries take place in a "quaint English village". The book is a fun and quick read, with only 128 pages of text and illustrations. This would make a good gift book for a reader of cozy mysteries or one who likes to watch the many adaptations of them on PBS. BTW, it's on sale on Amazon right now for $10.

That's it for now.

Until next time...