September's bookish art...

 

Georges D'espagnat -- Woman Reading

"Do not set out to live a well-read life but rather your well-read life. No one can be well-read using someone else's reading list. Unless a book is good for you, you won't connect with it and gain from it. Just as no one can tell you how to lead your life, no one can tell you what to read for your life."

 --Steve Leveen, The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life    

The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars by Anthony Boucher

 

This classic mystery was first published in 1940. And it's very entertaining, especially if you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes. As the Baker Street Irregulars are. This group is dedicated to the great detective and know every story written about him. So when they learn Metropolis Pictures is planning to make a movie of The Adventures of the Speckled Band and have hired Stephen Worth to write the screenplay, the Irregulars are horrified. As a group, they begin a letter campaign threatening the producer F.X. Weinberg unless he fires Worth.

"...this man Worth, hereinafter to be known as that rat, is the author of many stupid and illogical mystery novels...and has many times expressed in public print his contempt for the exploits of Holmes."

Stephen Worth doesn't have a much better opinion of the Baker Street Irregulars:  "These cockeyed pantywaist deductionists. These silly-frilly nancy-pantsy dabblers who think they can write about detectives....they're going to learn something in this picture, and they're not going to like it."  

Wanting to get the Holmesians off his back (and unable to fire Worth because of an ironclad contract), Weinberg and his secretary, Maureen, devise a plan to bring five of the most well-known Baker Street Irregulars to Hollywood to oversee the script. But when Worth is murdered at their welcome reception, they all become suspects. Banding together, the Irregulars try to solve this puzzling murder. But they're stumped when every clue and red herring they find seems to point back to one of Sherlock Holmes's famous cases. It can't be a coincidence. But who's behind it all? 

Irreverent, engaging, humorous and a little zany, I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. Boucher creates quite a cast of characters, even including a police sergeant named Watson. I found all the nods to Holmes and Watson lots of fun; though you don't have to be familiar with anything Sherlock Holmes to appreciate this mystery because the Irregulars are more than happy to explain each and every connection. There's a touch of screwball comedy in this one that I wasn't expecting, but found amusing. And while I didn't have a clue whodunnit, I loved watching the police and the Irregulars try their best to solve the crime. And the ending made me smile.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. 

This week's theme:  BOOKS THAT PROVIDE A MUCH NEEDED ESCAPE.

For me, I turn to more light-hearted, magical reads when I need an escape from real life:  books with humor & heart, quirky friendships, cute dogs, exotic settings, swoony romances, a touch of the supernatural, and of course, a happy ending. But really, any favorite book can be a welcome escape! Here are ten of mine:

Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca

Silverborne by Patricia Briggs

The Confessor by Daniel Silva

The Gargoyle Gets His Girl by Kristen Painter

(Though all of Painter's Nocturne Falls books are favs.)

Something From the Nightside by Simon R. Green

Beauty by Robin McKinley

Altar of Eden by James Rollins

The Match by Sarah Adams 

Space Cadet by Robert A. Heinlein

My Phony Valentine by Courtney Walsh

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

(Or any of Jane Austen's books really.)

The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller

This list of books could be A LOT longer; I have so many books that I turn to when I need an escape from real life. But I think I better stop here. Can't wait to check out your favorite escapes.

Happy Reading!

Tap Code by Col. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris (Ret.)

 

The epic suvival tale of a Vietnam POW and the secret code that changed everything.

Shot down on April 4, 1965, Smitty Harris was the sixth American captured in the air war over North Vietnam. I'm sure you've heard of the infamous Hanoi Hilton. Smitty was there, as well as in seven other prison camps. For eight long years he suffered torture, solitary confinement, hunger, humiliation and abuse. But through it all, he never lost his belief in God, or his own integrity and honor as an American soldier. 

In the midst of his captivity, he remembered an old, long-unused World War II method of communication he'd once learned--the Tap Code. It's based on a 5x5 grid of numbers and letters that allowed him and his fellow POWs to covertly communicate with one another while imprisoned. And that ability not only unified these men, but enabled them to strengthen and support one another and help each other to survive their long ordeal, their "misery made bearable by camaraderie."

Meanwhile, back in the States, Smitty's wife, Louise, never gave up hope that he would come back home. As one of the first MIA wives, she had to learn to be her own advocate, as well as to be strong and optimistic for her three young children as she raised them on her own. Her memories of that time period are equally captivating. 

This is an incredible story of faith, resistance, hope and survival. And one of the best nonfiction books I've read all year. It's so good! Here's just one of my favorite quotes from it: 

"When times were really bad--and especially during those times when I feared I might not survive--I prayed frequently and fervently because I had nowhere else to turn. I knew I needed help. And help came. No, I didn't experience a personal miracle. The torture didn't stop. I wasn't free and back home. But I gained more than I even knew to pray for. After prayer, I knew I was no longer alone. Prayer gave me renewed strength to continue resisting a brutal enemy. And all those miracles I prayed for came true--just not on on my timetable, but on God's. Now I feel that I have everything I could have ever wanted. Through the difficulty of my years of captivity, I found a renewed belief in a Supreme Being--God, my Father--who looked after me then and still does today."

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Happy Reading!

 

Two fun reads...

 

The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter

"Here's the thing about waking up with no memory in the middle of the night, in the middle of the street, in the middle of Paris: at least you're waking up in Paris."

She's not a spy, but she gets caught up with one. And Sawyer's the only thing standing between her and all the bad guys chasing her. There's a lot of action, banter, suspense, and some great laugh-out-loud moments between Zoe and Sawyer in this one. This is such an addictive and fun novel; I couldn't put it down. I loved the combination of spies and romance.   4.5/5 stars. 

Tangled Up In You by Christina Lauren

"For as many books as she'd read in her lifetime, Ren had never found one that taught a woman like her--raised away from society and off the grid for most of her twenty-two years--how to live in the real world. Still, she was so ready for the change, she could practically taste it."

Ren is naive, optimistic, eager and full of sunshine. Fitz is streetwise, charming when he wants to be, but hiding some dark secrets from his past. The two of them together? Magic. From Ren's first weeks at college to their road trip across the country, I ate this book up. It's a charming read with lots of humor. I liked how spending time with Ren made Fitz open up and want to be better. And Ren's journey had some unexpected surprises in it, especially at the end.   4/5 stars.

Randomness...

I recently watched this excellent Anthony Hopkins movie:  One Life.  It's based on a true story about an ordinary man who helped save over 600 refugee children from the Nazis during WWII. 

My library haul for the month: 

The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars by Anthony Boucher

September House by Carissa Orlando

Suicide House by Charlie Donlea

Beauty and the Beach by Gracie Ruth Mitchell

Flirting With Fire by Jane Porter

Tap Code by Carlyle S. Harris

Calamity by Constance Fay

Metropolis by B.A. Shapiro

A few of my glad things from August:

• We got several days of lovely drenching rain last month, which was a refreshing change from the string of 100+ days and no rain that was the month of July.  
  
• A Rufous Hummingbird came to the feeders in my backyard and stayed for awhile on its migration south. They're such fun birds to watch. 
• My neighbors gave me some of their freshly picked blackberries and I made 7 jars of yummy blackberry jam from them. 
• My family gave me a large turtle Squishmallow for my birthday; it's cute, very huggable, a little silly and totally makes me smile. 

"The Secret to Life is Finding 

Joy in Ordinary Things."

--Ruth Reichl

Until Next Summer by Ali Brady

 "...there's something magical about summer camp."

How it begins:  "When I was a kid, I had a button on my backpack that read I LIVE TEN MONTHS FOR TWO. When people noticed it, I'd get one of two reactions: total confusion, or a knowing smile. The ones who smiled would inevitably ask one question. A question that let me know without a doubt, that they were my kind of people:  'So where'd you go to camp?' "

The plot:  For Jessie, Camp Chickawah always felt like home...the one place she truly belonged. It's where she met her best friend, Hillary, though the two aren't in touch any more. So being Chickawah's camp director has been her dream job. Only the camp hasn't been making money. And now the owners want to sell it to developers. And Jessie has only one summer left. To make the most of it, she invites all of  Chickawah's past campers to come back for a memorable and nostalgic adult summer camp experience. Every week will have a different theme. They'll relive all their favorite camp moments. And when Hillary shows up with an idea that could save Camp Chickawah, Jessie is all in. 

"(Because) once a camp person, always a camp person." 

My thoughts:  There is something magical about summer camp. My summer camp experiences were never eight weeks long, but they were always fun. And I always wished I could go to a place like Camp Chickawah with a lake, swimming and canoeing, archery, arts and crafts, hiking, scavenger hunts, color wars, and summer camp friendships and memories that last a lifetime. That's probably why I love reading books with a summer camp setting so much. And this one really captures all that magic. It has both humor and heart. I loved seeing Jessie and Hillary rekindle their friendship. Jessie's romance with a reclusive writer named Luke, and Hillary's summer fling with the camp chef were both sweet and swoony. And all the camp activities were so fun. This book just made me happy. To quote Jessie, "It was Chicka-wonderful!" And one I wouldn't mind owning so I can read it again every summer. 

"...camp people never say goodbye; we say 'see ya next summer.' "

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!