Morning Prayer

Sitting in my chair this morning, I looked out the window.  The sky was gray dark with clouds, but the sun was peeking through, touching the treetops with gold. 

Lovejoy in Scotland

Another book in my quest to re-read all the Jonathan Gash Lovejoy series is The Tartan Sell. When a delivery of a priceless antique goes wrong, ending in murder, Lovejoy realizes that he is the next target. Lured by the promise of a hoard of antiques on an estate in northern Scotland, he uses the opportunity to leave his home in East Anglia. Of course, nothing is ever easy with Lovejoy. He escapes in a traveling circus heading north, but what he finds in Scotland is not what he expected at all. How will he make the best of his situation?

Women, scams, and danger follow Lovejoy wherever he goes.

Funeral In Blue

Tragedy has come to a friend of Hester Monk and Callandra Daviot.  Dr. Kristian Beck’s wife has been murdered along with artist’s model Sarah Mackeson.  When Dr. Beck is arrested for the murders, Monk steps in to find out who really killed the women.  Travel with Monk through the streets of Victorian England as well as Vienna, Austria as he searches for Elissa’s murderer. Glimpse the world of compulsive gambling and understand the uprisings in Europe against oppression.

Praying

Praying


It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
- Mary Oliver

The Purpose of a Blog??

I believe that the purpose of this blog should not be just to write book reviews.  However, I hesitate to write anything that could be too personal, or would reveal information that might hurt another, so I am struggling.  Please bear with me while I type and learn. 

A Novel of Intricately Woven Deceit

I just finished reading Bitter Sweets by Roopa Farooki.  The story follows the Pakistani/Bangladeshi family of Parvez and Shona Khan and their lives in England.  Shona learned the art of the lie from her mother at an early age; now as an adult with adult sons she is faced with the web of deceit that seems to have hopelessly entangled their lives.  Her father has two wives, she is having an affair, and one of her sons has a relationship that is dangerously close to revealing all.

I recommend this book.

The Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

Esquire editor A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically and The Guinea Pig Diaries began this series of quirky books about his obsessions with The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World.  His quest? to read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica from beginning to end.  Sometimes informative, sometimes funny, always interesting, he takes us from a-ak to Zywiec with his self-effacing, humorous look at knowledge.  His search leads him to meeting Alex Trebek, an appearance on Crossfire, taking on a debate team, and finally to being a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?  Interwoven in his reading adventures is the more personal quest of achieving parenthood,and other stories of his family and friends.  I highly recommend any of his books.