A great valentine's read

Valentine approaches. It is a time of gift giving, to express our love with personal presents. Books are ALWAYS appropriate, especially this one. I have read all of Jio's previous novels, recommended them to many people, and included one as a book club pick as I have never been disappointed. Her books are charming, gentle, thought provoking reads. They often provide you with an intense sense of time and place with fascinating i depth characterization and wonderfully descriptive layered stories. They are all great escapism reads too, to continue my 2017 theme. I opened this book with high expectations and great anticipation.

Title Always by Sarah Jio
Publisher Random House (Ballantine Books)  February 2017 288 pp
Genre women's literature, fiction, romance, chick lit, contemporary romance
4.5 stars
Author
Sarah Jio is an international bestselling, award winning author of 8 books. She also is a contributing journalist to u droid publications including the New York Times, O, Glamour, and many others. She has also appeared as a commentator on NPRs Morning Edition.  She lives in Seattle and knows the city well. I know little about the music scene in Seattle, but her research is generally impeccable, and she writes hauntingly beautiful prose.
I was originally giving this 4 stars, but having read her recent columns for my background research, I was ready to give her five full stars for her continued faith in love. My cynicism is showing. She has my admiration. I have no doubt she is raising the future Prince Charmings in her three sons.
Story line
I was immediately transported to Seattle, present and past (1996) as the story alternates between these two time frames. Kailey, a newspaper journalist with a promising career is newly engaged to a seemingly perfect businessman, Ryan, who adores her. However, she will always remember her first, true love, Cade. Then she unexpectedly meets him and has to uncover his story. This provides an interesting social awareness backstory of homelessness. There is a powerful mix of heartbreak and hope. It's an emotional tangle with two good men and impossible choices. There is good pacing, with an element of suspense and good character development. Yes, you can predict the ending, and it's a little too perfect, but sometimes suspending reality feels lovely. Love is rarely simple, and it's always worth fighting for. The greater good  humanitarianism, has never been more important.  It was a fast read (my kindle said two hours). I'm expecting Tom Hanks in the title role.
Spoiler: With each new political appointee I wanted her to marry the rich guy and buy the right people, not move to France.
Read on
Especially her debut The Violets of March and The Last  Camellia
Lisa Kleypas, Debbie Macomber, Georgette Heyer, Sophie Kinsella
Quotes
To old love and new, but, most of all, to the kind that lasts, always.
It’s true. I’ve long since stopped feeling the ache in my heart that I lived with for so long. I may not have had closure, but I have tasted wisdom.
I know that all I want, for the rest of my life, is this. All I want is this love. I want it every day. I want it morning and night. I want to breathe it in. I want to drown in it. And it strikes me how wonderful and tragic it is that in a sea of people just one can reach you so deeply.

Received as an ARC ebook from Netgalley.
Valentine approaches. It is a time of gift giving, to express our love with personal presents. Books are ALWAYS appropriate, especially this one. I have read all of Jio's previous novels, recommended them to many people, and included one as a book club pick as I have never been disappointed. Her books are charming, gentle, thought provoking reads. They often provide you with an intense sense of time and place with fascinating i depth characterization and wonderfully descriptive layered stories. They are all great escapism reads too, to continue my 2017 theme. I opened this book with high expectations and great anticipation.

Title Always by Sarah Jio
Publisher Random House (Ballantine Books)  February 2017 288 pp
Genre women's literature, fiction, romance, chick lit, contemporary romance
4.5 stars
Author
Sarah Jio is an international bestselling, award winning author of 8 books. She also is a contributing journalist to u droid publications including the New York Times, O, Glamour, and many others. She has also appeared as a commentator on NPRs Morning Edition.  She lives in Seattle and knows the city well. I know little about the music scene in Seattle, but her research is generally impeccable, and she writes hauntingly beautiful prose.
I was originally giving this 4 stars, but having read her recent columns for my background research, I was ready to give her five full stars for her continued faith in love. My cynicism is showing,  it she has my admiration. I have no doubt she is raising the future Prince Charmings in her three sons.
Story line
I was immediately transported to Seattle, present and past (1996) as the story alternates between these two time frames. Kailey, a newspaper journalist with a promising career is newly engaged to a seemingly perfect businessman, Ryan, who adores her. However, she will always remember her first, true love, Cade. Then she unexpectedly meets him and has to uncover his story. This provides an interesting social awareness backstory of homelessness. There is a powerful mix of heartbreak and hope. It's an emotional tangle with two good men and impossible choices. There is good pacing, with an element of suspense and good character development. Yes, you can predict the ending, and it's a little too perfect, but sometimes suspending reality feels lovely. Love is rarely simple, and it's always worth fighting for. The greater good  humanitarianism, has never been more important.  It was a fast read (my kindle said two hours). I'm expecting Tom Hanks in the title role.
Spoiler: With each new political appointee I wanted her to marry the rich guy and buy the right people, not move to France.
Read on
Especially her debut The Violets of March and The Last  Camellia
Lisa Kleypas, Debbie Macomber, Georgette Heyer, Sophie Kinsella
Quotes
To old love and new, but, most of all, to the kind that lasts, always.
It’s true. I’ve long since stopped feeling the ache in my heart that I lived with for so long. I may not have had closure, but I have tasted wisdom.
I know that all I want, for the rest of my life, is this. All I want is this love. I want it every day. I want it morning and night. I want to breathe it in. I want to drown in it. And it strikes me how wonderful and tragic it is that in a sea of people just one can reach you so deeply.

Received as an ARC ebook from Netgalley, as well as purchased hardcover.
Published in Friends of the Rochester Public Library Wordpress blog, celtreads.blogspot, Amazon, Goodreads and Facebook.

Valentine approaches. It is a time of gift giving, to express our love with personal presents. Books are ALWAYS appropriate, especially this one. I have read all of Jio's previous novels, recommended them to many people, and included one as a book club pick as I have never been disappointed. Her books are charming, gentle, thought provoking reads. They often provide you with an intense sense of time and place with fascinating i depth characterization and wonderfully descriptive layered stories. They are all great escapism reads too, to continue my 2017 theme. I opened this book with high expectations and great anticipation.

Title Always by Sarah Jio
Publisher Random House (Ballantine Books)  February 2017 288 pp
Genre women's literature, fiction, romance, chick lit, contemporary romance
4.5 stars
Author
Sarah Jio is an international bestselling, award winning author of 8 books. She also is a contributing journalist to u droid publications including the New York Times, O, Glamour, and many others. She has also appeared as a commentator on NPRs Morning Edition.  She lives in Seattle and knows the city well. I know little about the music scene in Seattle, but her research is generally impeccable, and she writes hauntingly beautiful prose.
I was originally giving this 4 stars, but having read her recent columns for my background research, I was ready to give her five full stars for her continued faith in love. My cynicism is showing,  it she has my admiration. I have no doubt she is raising the future Prince Charmings in her three sons.
Story line
I was immediately transported to Seattle, present and past (1996) as the story alternates between these two time frames. Kailey, a newspaper journalist with a promising career is newly engaged to a seemingly perfect businessman, Ryan, who adores her. However, she will always remember her first, true love, Cade. Then she unexpectedly meets him and has to uncover his story. This provides an interesting social awareness backstory of homelessness. There is a powerful mix of heartbreak and hope. It's an emotional tangle with two good men and impossible choices. There is good pacing, with an element of suspense and good character development. Yes, you can predict the ending, and it's a little too perfect, but sometimes suspending reality feels lovely. Love is rarely simple, and it's always worth fighting for. The greater good  humanitarianism, has never been more important.  It was a fast read (my kindle said two hours). I'm expecting Tom Hanks in the title role.
Spoiler: With each new political appointee I wanted her to marry the rich guy and buy the right people, not move to France.
Read on
Especially her debut The Violets of March and The Last  Camellia
Lisa Kleypas, Debbie Macomber, Georgette Heyer, Sophie Kinsella
Quotes
To old love and new, but, most of all, to the kind that lasts, always.
It’s true. I’ve long since stopped feeling the ache in my heart that I lived with for so long. I may not have had closure, but I have tasted wisdom.
I know that all I want, for the rest of my life, is this. All I want is this love. I want it every day. I want it morning and night. I want to breathe it in. I want to drown in it. And it strikes me how wonderful and tragic it is that in a sea of people just one can reach you so deeply.

Received as an ARC ebook from Netgalley, as well as purchased hardcover.
Published in Friends of the Rochester Public Library Wordpress blog, celtreads.blogspot, Amazon, Goodreads and Facebook.

Austenesque

Title: The Ill-Kept Oath by CC Aune
Publisher: Wise Ink Creative Publishers (Sept 2016) 416pp
Genre: mystery, paranormal, YA, historical fantasy, Victorian,  fiction,
3.5 stars
Author:
From Amazon's author page: " Aune’s ramblings have led her through 49 states—nine of which she has called home—plus a fair number of countries. She has been a journalist and a contributor for the companion book to PBS’s 2000 series In Search of Our Ancestors. Currently, she directs the blog One Year of Letters, which explores the internal landscape of writers. The Ill-Kept Oath is her debut novel. This is the first of a planned series, with the second Talisman Keepers installment in rewrite."
Story line:
I received an advance copy but after a few chapters found it didn't meet my expectations. It was less paranormal/ fantasy and more scattered romance. I put it aside for more compelling reads, until rainy, snowy weather held me housebound. Then, grasping the central characters, and melodramatic teen writing, it was a quick read. The two heroines Josephine and Prudence, write to each other from their respective abodes, Stanistead House, a country estate, and London during the Marriage Mart Season. Both are interested in obtaining husbands, both have received an inheritance of Talismans, and both find themselves involved in intrigue. Prudence Fairweather and her brother Edward were taken in by Lord Middlemere, who has a daughter of similar age Josephine Weston. All three were raised in ignorance of their blood legacy, as per the Oath. Prudence,18, has limited options because she is poor, but she is pursued by Underwood (dull but wealthy) while she is interested in the unreliable William MacNeal. There is of course an evil socialite. Lady Josephine, 16, is interested in Robert Quimby, a young military man who is socially beneath her. Meanwhile, there are trolls rampaging in the countryside and magic escaping in candlelit ballrooms.
There is some interesting historical detail (the costume and waltzes) with dark magic being slowly revealed. Good character development bodes well for the continuation of this series.  I would have preferred to read the series together as I felt much was unexplained in volume one, lose ends abound, and we still don't know what kind of magic to expect. The story feels incomplete. Also, who is the target audience?
Quotes:
Normally, Prudence would never challenge authority, but her guardian, having conjured this evocative subject, might as well have touched a spark to gunpowder. Curiosity gave way to burgeoning wonder.
“They possessed a rare set of talents called the Inheritance.”
She’d spent six weeks in London undergoing this transformation. Gone was the country girl who climbed trees and rode bareback; gone forever her girlhood spent in the idyllic hills of the west. Until now, she had directed no thought toward her future. Love might have found her in Wiltshire...
“Shall we rely on social calls to open the right doors? My heart may not be so sanguine with the purposes of a Season, but I have accepted it as a necessary rite of my passage. I’ve been in London already one quarter of a year but not one event have I attended."
She was doomed to be perceived as an immature child, and the keepsakes seemed to make matters worse. Edward’s point about her reputation had been perfectly valid, however cruelly stated, but the dangers were worse than he could possibly imagine.
Middlemere squeezed the bridge of his nose. Two decades ago, he had postulated that Talismans could, even without ritual, awaken a Keeper’s instincts.
With a crescendo of chords, Middlemere ended the concerto. Everyone applauded, whether they’d been listening or not.
“No one expected the Talismans to exert a force of their own. We called ourselves Talisman Keepers, but our power relied on more than mere objects. Most Keepers formed partnerships that made them still stronger. In the early days, they offered their services in exchange for titles and land and became much coveted by the nobility.
They would descend on our Family and examine everyone for the Trait, identifying you and perhaps Edward before drawing Mr. MacNeal into the net. What would happen to Us then is uncertain, but the Exorcist’s description still burns in my head: a magical Voiding of one’s Memory with the potential to produce unexpected Results.
“Not at all. Think of the quarrels he and I shall have. I’m far too opinionated to be a good marchioness.”
She advanced to the sideboard and poured them all a strong drink, which Prudence and MacNeal accepted with a good deal more alacrity than was strictly necessary.
Do you have any idea what the average man thinks about?” Prudence shuddered and turned bright red.
“I have learned enough to make me proud of my heritage, but if the price of happiness is never to learn another thing about the Inheritance, then gladly will I pay."
Read on
If you like Gail Carriger, Alan Bradley, Seth Graham Smith Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Received as an ARC ebook from Netgalley.

A Forgotten Wife

Title: The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
Publisher: Sourcebook Landmarks (Oct 2016), 304 pp
Genre: fiction, historical fiction
3 stars
Author:
From her bio "Once a New York City lawyer, Marie Benedict had long dreamed about a fantastical job unraveling the larger mysteries of the past as an archaeologist or historian -- before she tried her hand at writing. While drafting her first book, she realized that she could excavate the possible truths lurking in history through fiction, and has done so in THE OTHER EINSTEIN, the story of Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein's first wife and a physicist herself. Writing as Heather Terrell, Marie also authored The Chrysalis, The Map Thief, and Brigid of Kildare. She is a graduate of Boston College and the Boston University School of Law, and lives in Pittsburgh with her family."
Story line:
This is a novel about Albert Einstein's first wife, Mileva (Mitzi) Maric (1875-1948). She was born into a wealthy Serbian family and was extraordinarily talented in physics and mathematics; she attended all boys schools and programs where women were restricted, excluded) encouraged by her father. Einstein, a socially awkward geek promised her equality and seduced her. After their first child dies, he marries her (1903). His 'miracle' year was 1905 when he produced several papers he had been developing. Let's just categorically state no man/woman works in isolation and several of his theories depend on brilliant mathematics (her forte). Two children later he starts an affair with his first cousin Elsa (marrying her (1914) as soon as the divorce was finalized, 5 years after separation). Yes Einstein appears to be something of a scoundrel, born up in several other accounts, but I was more astonished at the transformation of the brilliant mind with the potentially astounding career into a meek housewife. Moral of the story? Don't get pregnant until you are well into your career. I have taught classes on women in science, and she has been an example (her test papers are brilliant). There is not a lot of science here, indeed, it almost is a romance novel. I enjoyed her friends and her initial outlook. The rigors of social and intellectual society were detailed and contrasted, with most women frustratingly dependent on beauty standards and husband potential. And while it was interesting and thought provoking, I thought there was too much artistic license. It is a slow paced ambitious story with reasonable characterization; It serves to remind women what is still at stake in today's society. It left me depressed.

Quotes:
Turn the knob and push the door open, I told myself. You can do this. Crossing this threshold is nothing new. You have passed over the supposedly insurmountable divide between male and female in countless classrooms.
“Be bold,” Papa would whisper in our native, little-used Serbian tongue. “You are a mudra glava. A wise one. In your heart beats the blood of bandits, our brigand Slavic ancestors who used any means to get their due. Go get your due, Mitza. Go get your due.”
Was he truly so self-focused that he believed I withdrew my affections first? That my self-protection and the recent strengthening of my resolve happened before he cheated on me and bled me dry of my scientific ambitions?
Since he’d unilaterally removed my name from those papers, thereby putting the actual award out of my reach, the least I deserved was the money.
As I took on the roles of his lover, the mother of his children, his wife, and his secret scientific partner, I allowed him to trim away all the parts that didn’t fit his mold.
I have reclaimed my intellect and my scientific passion by tutoring promising young female scientists.
Read on:
Nonfiction: Albert Einstein/Mileva Marić: The Love Letters, edited by Jürgen Renn and Robert Schulmann; Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance by Dennis Overbye; In Albert’s Shadow: The Life and Letters of Mileva Marić, Einstein’s First Wife, by Milan Popovic; Einstein: His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson; and Einstein’s Wife: Work and Marriage in the Lives of Five Great Twentieth Century Women, by Andrea Gabor.
Memoir: Jane Hawkins Traveling to Infinity
Fiction: Paula McLain The Paris Wife,  Lynn Cullen Mrs Poe

Received as an ARC ebook from Netgalley.

2059 and counting...

The Mime Order Samantha Shannon
Publisher:  Bloomsbury (January 27, 2015)
528 pp
3.5 stars (3 for the first half, 4 for the latter half)
Genre: YA series, science fiction, dark fantasy, paranormal, urban fantasy, romance; now also known as New Adult (half YA//adult, graphic, violent)
Sequel to The Bone Season
Author:
Samantha Shannon is a British novelist, recently graduated from Oxford University (read English language and literature at St Anne's). Her first novel, The Bone Season, (2013/14) was well received, published as one of expected seven series. She is an interesting young writer with a vivid imagination and the ability to translate this into riveting reading. If you don't like cliff hangers, wait until the series is more advanced. Each book picks up right where the other left off. Read the charts, maps and glossary first to familiarize yourself with her terminology. They must be read in order.
Novel:
London in 2059 is governed by Scion, a security force that uses Oxford as a prison (Sheol 1). The heroine, 19 year old Paige Mahoney(#40) is an intelligent, impetuous,  clairvoyant (dreamwalker) who works in Seven Dials within the criminal underbelly, as people with unnatural gifts are targeted (and have been since 1859, hence 20 Bone Seasons). It's a fairly simplistic plot, although the characters are complex and complicated by her world building/foundation.
Her keeper there, the Warden (Arcturus) provided mysterious, initial tension, and indeed I was waiting for him to appear in the second novel where they have escaped the prison and are hunted. The action promptly picks up with his arrival (halfway through!). He balances Paige, having age and experience to her youth and instability.  While he challenges her, she provides the hope he has lost. Romantic tension will be resolved eventually, but is an important story element.
Paige remains a fighter, and is strong and resourceful, a strong female lead, with a lot to learn. She returned to her old Mime boss (Jaxon Hall), who is slowly revealed to be quite a vile human, yet he is protecting Paige. While using her of course. The first half of the book reflects youth with indecision and inaction, although that can also be prudent while fact collecting. Steeped in politics, personal agendas, dickinsonian / penny dreadful details I became frustrated with where the story was going.  Then it galloped right along, with twists and turns to yet another cliff. I am not sure I would reread this when the next installment appears. I do want to know what happens to the characters, but 5 more years? I was lucky to have recently read The Bone Season in the library, and delighted to be chosen to review this book. I loved her command of language, her creative world building (rotmonger, thaumaturge, Gutterlings), her nods to the old order (EA Poe, title, plus Raven - member of Guard Extraordinary, from the ravens of the Tower of London). I am still very impatiently waiting for Patrick Rothfuss to provide us with his trilogy. If you haven't read that, drop everything else.

Read on:
If you like Christopher Paolini, Trudi Canavan's Black Magicians trilogy, Richelle Mead's Gameboards of the Gods, and the Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo
NPR quoted a UK source which stated her as the next JK Rowling, but I don't think there is much similarity. I liked it better than the Hunger Games.

Quotes:
Opening: "It's rare that a story begins at the beginning. In the grand scheme of things, I really turned up at the beginning of they end of this one."
"Hope is the lifeblood of revolution, without it we are nothing but ash, waiting for the wind to take us."
Rephaite- pl. Rephraim. A biologically immortal, humanoid inhabitant of the Netherworld. ...known to feed on the aura of clairvoyant humans.

Read as an ARC from Netgalley - thank you!

Marry in Haste....

The dog days of August have arrived, with humid, lazy hours. Perhaps summer reads should be books that delight you. Heaven knows we have plenty of books to read for work, research, education and even for peer pressure (while I read Harry potter to join the discussion, not even a paragraph of 50 shades would get me). Recently, I have been admonished to read more romance by various authors, including Susanna Kearsley, Eloisa James and Christina Skye.  
Mary Jo Putney (as recommended by Cathy Maxwell) The Lost Lords series:  Loving a Lost Lord (2009, Adam Lawford, Duke of Ashton), Never Less than a Lady (2010, Major Alexander Randall), Nowhere near Respectable (2011, Damian Mackenzie), No Longer a Gentleman (2012, Grey Sommers), Sometimes a Rogue (2013, Rob Carmichael, Mariah, twin to Sarah, Duchess of Ashton). Not Quite A Wife (to be published August 26, 2014, Lord James Kirkland)
Putney is an award winning, best selling author (30+) primarily known for her traditional regency romances, but she has also written YA fantasy romance and romantic fantasy as MJ Putney. She has degrees in English literature and Industrial Design and ran her own freelance graphic design company until the success of her books meant she could write full time. Her heroes are not typical of many regency novels, having more psychological depth and unusual subject matter (alcoholism, death, domestic abuse). Her plots are well researched and her descriptive writing style suits the period.
The Lost Lords concerns a group of boys taken in by Lady Agnes Westerfield (a Duke's daughter) when she formed a school for wayward children of the aristocracy, giving her life purpose as well as saving theirs. Her unconventional ways (never told to the parents) were to learn what the child hated and promising he'd never have to do that, and what the child most wanted and giving him that. In exchange they would learn the game of society and study hard. Needless to say they all did well.   The new novel in the series Not Quite a Wife,  takes place in 1812, and concerns one of the enigmatic young nobles who has featured in some of the previous stories, James, Lord Kirkland. He is a shipping magnate and also spymaster, who fell in love with the young sister of one of his close schoolmates (Daniel Herbert). Their whirlwind affair/marriage ended when she witnesses him killing a man. She, however, is thrown out by her family, and moves in with her brother who defies them by becoming a doctor. The two have set up a practice in Bristol. You need to suspend belief for a bit as to how black and white Laurel views things (and young), and how he just lets her go. A chance encounter brings them back together, older, wiser and perhaps ready to cope with life (which seems full of adventure and derring do). There are lovely descriptive passages of how important music is to both of them (Laurel is a gifted pianist).
 Every series often has a favourite character that attracts me to continuing the story. I have always liked Lady Agnes and enjoy all encounters with her. She is magnificently eccentric and remains steadfast friends with her early charges. That they have some of her characteristics is a credit to them. Her pithy comments and observations are often the highlight for me. I am also looking forward to visiting with another old friend Nora  Bonesteel  from the Sharyn McCrumb series as I have another book to review.
If you like Anne Perry's or Cathy Maxwell's historical regency novels, you will like the Lost Lords series. These novels are often compared to other period romances including Stephanie Laurens (The Bastion Club) and Mary Balogh (Survivors Club). These are not of the Georgette Heyer style as they have a strong component of passion and sensuality.  Next (7th) installment Not  a Saint (2015) which will be the story of Laurel's brother Daniel Herbert, who was sent to Westerfield Academy because he was too much of a paragon, unlike the others!
Read as NetGalley ARC ebook
3.5 stars (too predictable)

Book of the Moment - Letter from Skye

June 2013
The Bookmore Cottage

Dear Gentle Reader,

Summer is almost upon us and I am not sure what happened to spring. I somehow didn’t have enough time to read with all the gardening, travelling and packing, to say nothing of shoveling unexpected May snow. But planes are perfect places to read, so I have always loved summer travel. Cars invite audiobooks across miles. And of course, the chaise lounge on the back deck can take you so many places. Last week I ended up in Scotland, alternating between present day, WWI and WWII.

Letters from Skye is the charming debut novel by Jessica Brockmole. Dear Reader, you will love this beautiful portrayal of old fashioned love in the time of war, the nuances of letter writing, the captivating period detail, and the two cultures (American and Scottish) which will stay with you long after you have turned the last page.

Through these letters, I met a new friend that I think you will also adore, the lovely Scottish poet Elspeth Dunn from the island of Skye. Her letters sparkle with her love of countryside, youth, family, her fears and dreams and her compass. I felt the same sea breezes, gazed at the stormy seas, despaired for days and years, questioned my own journey and just so enjoyed her erudite company. The letters of her daughter Margarite, her American friend and lover David Graham, along with various family memebers reveal secrets, friendships, bravery and trials, but as with the very nature of letters leave some experiences to the reader’s imagination. There was a satisfying resolution which celebrated joy, something worth remembering in turbulent times. “I have never stopped loving you.”

I have always been a letter writer, an anomaly/anachronism more so with the passing to the electronic age. The graceful correspondence makes for easy reading and is punctuated with lovely humour, wit and passion. I loved the development of the realistic characters (I have a number of Scottish friends I recognised instantly) over the years but also through the eyes of other family members. I enjoyed being reminded of my Grandmother’s time, and also reminding me of how grateful I am to live in this time. And of course, I want to go back home to Scotland now.

Most Sincerely,

A British Bluestocking

PS  Be sure to Read on to:
Yes it has been compared with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows), but it reminds me more of Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs, Julia Stuart’s The Tower, The Zoo, The Tortoise, or her Pigeon Pie Mystery and Mr Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons or Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simon (see previous reviews!).

Quotes:
“Like any whose blood runs tartan, I adore W.S…. his poetry really does a fine job of capturing Scotland in all of her changeable moods.”

“ All a person really needs to get them through the vagaries of life are the Bible and W.S. (both of them).”

“I like a good western too and reading things like Zane Grey when I want to take a break from ‘literature’.”

“Our world has already vanished," he said. "I can’t get it back, but I’ll sure as hell try to keep the rest from going to pieces.”

“The night was so pregnant, so poignant, one of those Scottish nights that make you understand why some still believe in spirits and wee folk.”

“Did you know that your eyes are the exact brown-green of the Scottish hills in wintertime?”

Read as an ARC
4 stars for a delightful summer read
Published July 9th 2013