June 2016 Book Report

Adrift on St. John (2012) by Rebecca M. Hale

I read all of Ms. Hale’s ‘Cats & Curios’ books and decided to try one of her other books. This is the first of her series ‘Mystery in the Islands.’ I was sucked into the story right away and enjoyed it quite a bit. BUT…I got to the end of the book and just kind of scratched my head and wondered “What happened??” There were so many loose ends and things that just plain didn’t make sense. I will definitely read it again some time and see what I missed. Penelope gets the chance at a new life with little responsibility as head of a large vacation resort on St. John in the Virgin Islands. Then a new worker dies under mysterious circumstances…or was it a curse?

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Mum’s the Word (2014) by Emily Thomas

Blue Hills Library series. Anne seems to have a cursed Egyptian pot that Aunt Edie had in the attic. When she puts it on display in the library, all sort of trouble begins to happen. Meanwhile, Ben has a new friend at school who doesn’t believe in God and causes Ben to have doubts about his own faith.

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Lamb (2002) by Christopher Moore

My brother is a huge fan of Christopher Moore, and this was one of his favorites. So much so that he mailed it to me to read. Bizarre “account” of the life of Christ between the ages of 12 and when He started His ministry, according to his best friend, Biff. You have to be in a certain frame of mind for this book. One thing I will say: Moore certainly did his research.

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Top-Secret Twenty-One (2014) by Janet Evanovich

The usual hi-jinks of Stephanie Plum and the gang. A Russian named Vlatko uses deadly polonium to take out a highly placed official. Steph’s Grandma Mazer gets to check something off her bucket list that involves Ranger.

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The Case of Sonia Wayward (1960) by Michael Innes

Delightful read about stuffy Colonel Petticate and his challenge when his very famous novelist wife, Sonia Wayward, dies while they are out in their yacht. He decides that it would look too suspicious if he sailed into harbor with a dead body. So he gets drunk and decides to dump her overboard and then pretend that she is still alive. He says she’s gone off on a jaunt around Europe. Meanwhile, the Colonel must complete the unfinished novel she was working on when she died. Very funny book.

Mayday! Mayday! Part 5

May 29 – End of the Middle Ages Day. Life was pretty rough back then. Catch a cold and you die. Cut your finger and you die. Give birth and you die. And that’s if you were rich! If you were poor, you might just as well lay down and die right away. I’m sure the folks that were left at the end of the Middle Ages were happy to party about it…

May 30 – My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It Day. Good little metaphor about life, eh? Whaddya gonna do…fix the hole and carry on. Another one springs up. Fix that one too. Just don’t kick it!

May 31 – National Macaroon Day. Not to be confused with National Macaron Day. That’s an entirely different dessert. Macarons are prettier, with all the pastel colors, but macaroons are hearty little buggers. Love coconut. Not that I would turn down a macaron if one were to be offered…

Hope you enjoyed all the little remembrances for May. I had fun doing this. Now we’ll be heading into June. Getting hotter. Crank up the A/C, get a glass of iced tea or iced coffee and relax with a book. I love summer!

Mayday! Mayday! Part 4

May 22 – Buy A Musical Instrument Day. Marv plays the trumpet and recorder. I play the piano. My brother plays piano, guitar and sings. Music was always important while I was growing up. It seems to have gone by the wayside now in schools. I find that very sad.

May 23 – Penny Day. If you have enough of them, you can buy just about anything. It takes a LOT of them, though.

May 24 – Escargot Day. Never in a million years. Nope. Not gonna. Can’t make me. I’d rather kiss a Wookiee.

May 25 – Tap Dance Day. Amazing talent. Remember sticking thumb tacks on the bottoms of your shoes so you’d tap when you walked? Good ol’ days…

May 26 – Grey Day. Another one I couldn’t find anything on. And I refuse to talk about the obvious. So here is a nice pic of a grey day. I think there is beauty to be found in such a day. Calm. Still. Just wrap up snuggly.

May 27 – Body Painting Arts Festival. The first thing that came to mind was the gal in Goldfinger and the green alien girl in Star Trek. This pic shows a bit more elaborate design.

May 28 – National Hamburger Day. This is a pic of a Western Bacon Cheeseburger at Righteous Burger here in Oroville. Best in the world!!! Yes, it’s pricey, but OMG is it worth it!! This is where we go when we want something really special for dinner!