She’s at it again! That Queen of Suspense – Mary Higgins Clark – has penned a new one. These books are always my guilty pleasure read. Perfect for summer or a time when you have a big long chunk of time to read and can plow right through a whole one!

In this latest, her thirtieth it seems, Alexandra “Zan” Moreland, an attractive and intelligent (of course!) interior designer, is dealing with the grief of having had her child kidnapped from Central Park two years earlier. Suspicious purchases suddenly are being made on her accounts and Zan is seen around town (New York) though she claims to have not bought these things or gone to these places. Everyone asks – is she crazy? Zan even begins to doubt her own sanity. Of course, it’s all a big intricate plot, devised to drive her to suicide or her own murder (whichever comes first). And it all typically ends with a great big happy ending!

I have to say, as a MHC fan, the word “far-fetched” immediately pops to mind. It does seem that some of her earlier works were more credible. It was interesting to me that Zan was a typical MHC heroine in that she was pretty and smart, but atypical as others often described her as pathetic, selfish, and whining. Some people hated this woman. Mary usually also has some sort of romance going on, but in this novel it was pretty much on the back burner, then suddenly boom – in the epilogue Zan was in a serious relationship with one of the other characters.

Is this the best Mary Higgins Clark? Not in my opinion. But if you enjoy her, you’ll read it, as I did!! I got mine on my Kindle as I knew the library wait would be weeks!!!

I was looking over my blog and realized that I had forgotten to post about this latest installment of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Society!! I had ordered this to download to our Kindle when it released. I just love, love, love this series. The characters are unique and unforgettable and the feeling of these books is so charming and cozy. Additionally, I love the touch of mystery each one has. All I can say is: HBO please bring back the mini series for another season!!!

In this installment – number 12 I believe – Grace is preparing for her wedding and Precious is solving the mystery of some slaughtered cows. The little white van also mysteriously appears, toodling around the town. You could jump in with this novel, or have read them all. I do enjoy seeing the characters resurface – such as Violet – over time.

All in all, an enjoyable read!!

A lot these days!
I got a copy of the charming “Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English” by Natasha Solomons from my friend Dawn. I’m halfway through.
On the Kindle I am reading Mary Higgins Clark new one: “I’ll Walk Alone”. I started it yesterday and am halfway done!
I also got “The Peach Keeper: A Novel” by Sarah Addision Allen and Katherine Hall Page’s latest: “The Body in the Gazebo” for my Kindle.
I am waiting for a TON of things to come in at the library:
Patricia Falvey’s “The Linen Queen: A Novel” for the Kindle. She does great historical fiction of Ireland.
Maeve Binchy’s “Minding Frankie”
Rhys Bowen’s latest Molly Murphy mystery: “Bless the Bride”
“The Paris Wife: A Novel” by Paula McIain
“The Weird Sisters” by Eleanor Brown
and
“A Discovery of Witches” by Deborah Harkness
I’m first on the wait list for “Caleb’s Crossing” when it arrives.
That should keep me reading for a while!!!
What’s on YOUR nightstand?

I’ll need to make this quick as we’re about to leave on vacation, but this past week I read the new Elm Creek Quilters novel: “The Union Quilters” which is set in the Civil War. Chiaverini brings back familiar characters from “The Lost Quilter” and continues their tale, focusing on the women’s battle on the home front to keep morale high and farms going while the men are away fighting. I felt Chiaverini did a good job with the battle scenes and with depicting the deplorable medical conditions of the time. I like her style of writing and find her story lines compelling. That said, I personally could have stood with less of the “love triangle” between Gerda, Charlotte, and Jonathan, but I know some people love that aspect of this story. While the book felt a bit lengthy, it had a satisfying ending.

If you like Chiaverini’s other novels, and especially if you like Civil War era books, then I think you would enjoy it!

I got mine from the library.

Do you love the Molly Murphy mysteries by Rhys Bowen? She has a new one – out last month – “Bless the Bride” – but today I discovered that she has a FREE one for your Kindle coming out in May: “The Amersham Rubies”!

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the 2011 Newbery winner, “Moon over Manifest”. It took some finagling at the library, but I got it eventually. I had heard great things about this book, and since it was historical fiction, I was excited to read it.

“Moon over Manifest” tells the story of 12-year-old Abilene Tucker as she spends the summer in Manifest, Kansas, her father’s hometown, during the Depression. Abilene, who has no mother, seeks to connect to her father by discovering who he was as a boy. She stays with his old friend “Shady”, and quickly makes friends with two girls her age, Lettie and Ruthanne, along with the town medium, Miss Sadie. Soon after arriving, Abilene finds a box of keepsakes and letters, hidden under the floorboards in her room. At the same time, she and her new friends are warned off from looking for a spy called “the Rattler” that they’ve read about in the letters. With a little mystery, this charming historical fiction story keeps you reading as you move back and forth between 1917 and 1936 to discover the meaning of the items in the box, Abilene’s father’s past, and the town itself.

I really did love reading this book from first-time author Claire Vanderpool. There were a few things I wondered about: such as why Abilene’s father sent her to Manifest in the way he did. I also thought Ms. Vanderpool covered a LOT of territory in this novel: immigration, the Depression, the drought, WWI, the KKK, prohibition, and more! There were lots of teachable moments, but I couldn’t decide what age I thought would be best to read this novel. It is lengthy, too – over 350 pages.

I look forward to reading more from Ms. Vanderpool. Congrats to her on her outstanding debut!!

I picked After the Train up at the library last week while I was hanging out with my son. It is a short read, less than 200 pages, aimed to upper elementary/middle schoolers. The story takes place after WWII in 1950’s Germany. Tensions are still high and the country is working to recuperate after the devastation of the war. Young Peter and his family live what seems to be a normal life, until one day he discovers a secret about his past that changes how he sees his family, his world, and himself.

I just loved this book. It was an easy, quick read for me, and it had a lot of “teachable moments” in it, I thought. I seem to be finding more and more books lately about the years after WWII, which is a time period I really hadn’t seen a lot on for children.

I look forward to reading more by Gloria Whelan!

You might remember that I chatted with London author Trilby Kent after the publication of her first book “Medina Hill”. Trilby now has TWO new books out – one for adults and another for children. I had the chance to ask Trilby a few questions about her work.

 (Just a note — DISCLAIMER — yes, I know Trilby. Yes, I’ve known her since she was a little girl. Yes, some would say this would make me biased towards her work. However, I truly believe that even if you haven’t known Trilby since she was a youngster, you, too, would find her brilliant, talented, and quite charming).

On a recent trip to the library with my seven-year-old I noticed “Breathe: A Ghost Story” displayed. I’m a big believer in letting my children read whatever library books they want from the children’s section. However, that said, I’m also a big believer that some things are more developmentally appropriate at certain ages than others. I took “Breathe” so that I could read it first. (I also buy library books for my children’s elementary school library though a birthday book program we run, so I always like to be on the lookout for what would be a good selection for us).

“Breathe” tells the story of 12-year-old Jack (who has asthma) and his mother as they purchase an old farmhouse in the English countryside, as they seek to put their lives back together after Jack’s father’s untimely death from a heart attack. Jack is known to be sensitive to spirits and supernatural inclinations, which he picks up through touch of objects. Jack’s presence is noted by four children ghosts who live in the house and a – let’s call it what it is – evil presence of a mother who once lived there along with her young daughter who died of consumption.  Jack communicates with these spirits. The Ghost Mother, as she is called, is keeping the children ghosts captive as she sucks their souls away (through a grossly depicted process of latching onto their mouths and faces), forcing them in time to enter the “Dark Passage” – a type of Arctic hell. Eventually the ghost Mother takes over Jack’s mother’s body (via possession) in order to get closer to him.

Long story short, I was not thrilled with this book. I felt it was disturbing and, particularly for children, the Ghost Mother’s actions were horrifying. As a child, I would have been terrified by this book. As a middle schooler, I might have enjoyed the horror aspect – I loved Stephen King when I was about 14. As an adult I will have my children wait until they are older (than 7) to read this selection from the library!

I seem to be alone in my thoughts if you read the Amazon reviews on this book. As always, all views and opinions in my blog are entirely my own, and your own may differ. I’d love to hear if others have read this book! I’d also love to read something else by McNish as he is a good writer.

I just loved Kate Mosse’s “Labyrinth” and also “Sepulchre”, so I was thrilled to find “The Winter Ghosts” on the new release shelf at the library.  “The Winter Ghosts” centers on Freddie, a young man still suffering from the loss of his beloved brother in WWI. He is driving in the French countryside and crashes his car during a storm. The villagers assist him and he stays with them for a few days, attending the old-fashioned St. Stephen’s festival and then falling ill with a high fever. While at the festival he meets a young girl, Fabrissa, whom he instantly falls in love with. She shares the tragic story of the history of the area, where a whole town of villagers hid in caves in the hillside to escape religious persecution, but were found and walled in, leading to their deaths. That’s about all I can say without giving it all away!

After LOVING her first two books, I was so excited to read this one. In a word, I was really disappointed. The beginning of the book (which is very short – under 300 pages) moved so slowly. I almost put it down and didn’t pick it up again. But then I just sat down and read the whole rest of it. I could see what was happening well before the main character did – he wandered around in a bit of a fog and didn’t ever use his deductive reasoning or analytical skills to assess the weird goings on that he was part of. To be honest, I would have adored this novel when I was in middle school. It was creepy in a way, and a love story, and not too long. In fact, some internet digging has shown me that Ms. Mosse has previously published a very similar short story entitled “The Cave” that appears to be geared towards young people.

All in all, a disappointment for me as my expectations were different. I found Ms. Mosse’s earlier books well-plotted and thrilling, even though they were long.

Have you read this book? If so, let me know your thoughts!