Later at the Bar by Rebecca Barry

Later, at the bar by Rebecca Barry

This title is a compilation of essays. The word “barfly” comes to mind, as does
“A place where everybody knows your name”. These are stories about a bar in a small town. Lucy’s Tavern is the setting. Each chapter introduces us to a character and when we finish, we find ourselves either wanting to meet these people, or comparing them to “characters” we’ve already met.
A light look at what almost every town in America has a least one of. The bar- a meeting place.

Looking forward to more from Ms. Barry.

Ladybookbug!

Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler

Having recently read Invitation to Provence, The House in Amalfi and Sailing to Capri, my assumption was that this entry's venue was Venice, Italy. Well, I was half right!

Actually, the major part of this book takes place in Paris and Shanghai. It is the story of a mysterious antique necklace, an oppressed Chinese woman, a couple of wealthy dowagers, a late-blooming antique dealer, a guilt-ridden author and a charlatan and a partnership betrayed. Put it all together and you have a light mystery novel with a happy ending.

Elizabeth Adler's books tend to be light-hearted affairs and this is no different, except their is a bit of skulduggery and murder here. All in all, if you'd like to venture into a mystery that is not a thriller, check this out.

Ladybookbug!

Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson

Sweet Revenge comes along with our favorite characters, Goldy, Tom, Julian, Arch, Marla and the return of Sandee from a previous book. Actually nothing much changes from book to book except new recipes, new victims, new crime venues and so you say, why do you keep reading this series?

Well, I like the way Goldy operates. She is presented as an ordinary person, dealing with the intricacies of raising a son, operating her own catering business, maintaining friendships, being the wife of a member of the community's police force and solving the occasional murder. I also love the recipes.

In fact, I love the recipes so much that I've actually made several of them. One of my favorites was from an earlier book. It was a pear/brie pizza made with caramelized onion on a store-bought crust. It went over REALLY well at a party I attended.

If you like reading cookbooks and suspense novels, try this one. You may even want to go back and read the previous 12 books.

Ladybookbug!

Still Summer

Still Summer by Jacquelyn Mitchard is an interesting fictional foray into the world of pirates and hijacking small vessels in the Carribean. You may remember this author's first work entitled The Deep End of the Ocean which this reader thinks is her best work.

Still Summer is about three childhood friends who are about to board a small sailing ship for the trip of a lifetime. Of course, that's on the surface. What it's really about is the tenuous relationship between the friends and how much stress the bonds of friendship can stand.

Worth a read!

ladybookbug!

Starburst by Robin Pilcher

I've been looking forward to another book by this author for some time. His last entry A Risk Worth Taking was published in 2004. Mr. Pilcher has two other books to his credit as well An Ocean Apart c1999 and Starting Over c2002. I REALLY liked A Risk Worth Taking and the other two books were good light reading as well.

The new book opens up by devoting each chapter to a character or characters as a prelude to the Edinburgh Festival which, by the way, is a real event. I had a bit of difficulty with this because I found myself making a list of each character and what they were "bringing" to the festival. Actually, by the time the festival is introduced, the characters were set in my mind and I enjoyed observing how their lives changed.

This is good light fare for avid readers of the Pilchers.

Ladybookbug!

Department of Lost & Found

The Department of Lost & Found
By Allison Winn Scotch

This book was a surprise to me. I thought it might be about working in a department store but no. Actually it is all about a life lost and found again.

Natalie Miller is diagnosed with breast cancer. The ensuing story captures her ups and downs during that journey. It is both funny and serious and reads like an autobiography.

She faces her diagnosis head-on and deals with the rounds of chemo and eventual surgery. Along the way she looses some friends and gains some. She also entertains some new perspectives on life.

This is this author’s first novel and I hope it is not her last.

Ladybookbug!

Without a Map

Without A Map by Meredith Hall

This is her first book, a memoir. Ms. Hall graduated from college at the age of 44 and went on to write, publishing numerous essays and garnering several prestigious awards.

Her life in this book starts when she gets pregnant at the age of 16 in 1965 and this resulted in the abandonment of herself from her family and of her son, given up for adoption. This book was interesting to me because I knew of a girl who was swept away after she got herself into the same predicament and I often wondered what became of her.

The story is a testimony of the author’s resilience and her pitfalls. Not an earth-shattering book but definitely worth a read, especially if you’re a child of the ‘60s.

Ladybookbug!

Burning Bright

This is a new entry by the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier. What this author does seems a bit daunting to me. After extensive research on a particular historical period, she creates a fictional account based on that period.

In Burning Bright, we are introduced to the streets and society of London, England during the lifetime of William Blake, circa 1790’s.

The paths of Maisie, (the child of a furniture maker)Maggie, (a streetwise “‘tough cookie) and ,Mr. Blake (an independent thinker) cross and the story begins. Chevalier takes us through the ins and outs of living in the Georgian era.

It is enjoyable to read a novel about a historical era and learn a few things along the way.

Ladybookbug!