Saturday, April 18, 2009

Knit Two

Knit Two by Kate Jacobs is the continuing story of the women of The Friday Night Knitting Club. This chapter in the lives of the women takes place five years after Georgia's death and lets the reader know how her daughter and friends are coping.

Dakota, Georgia's daughter, has just started college and is being pushed by her father on a career path she doesn't want to follow. She jumps at the chance, when one of the women, Lucie, gets a job making a music video in Italy, she takes Dakota along as a babysitter. Then Catherine (Georgia's best friend), James (Dakota's father), and Marty and Anita (surrogate parents) come along to work, play, and find a long lost family member.

Not one of my favorites this year, but a good continuation of the story of people of The Friday Night Knitting Club.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

Katherine Howe's first novel The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is definitely one of the best books I have read in a long time. Ms. Howe tells the story of Connie Goodwin, a doctoral candidate in American History, who spends the summer clearing out her grandmother's house in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and ends up discovering Deliverance Dane, a woman condemned as a witch in 1692 Salem.

While looking through the old books in the study, Connie discovers a very old key in a bible. Inside the key is an equally old slip of paper with the name, Deliverance Dane. While looking for information on Deliverance, Connie meets Sam, a very well educated restorer of all things old, while he is restoring a church steeple.

http://www.physickbook.com/

Told through flashbacks, we learn the story of Deliverance Dane, her family, and the Receipt book which is handed down from one generation to the next.

As Connie attempts to get the house ready to sell, she also searches for source material for her Doctorate course of study and is encourage by the adviser to find Deliverance's physick (charms and spells) book.

This book will be on sale in June, so put it on your TBR list and pick up a copy. In my opinion, you won't be disappointed. I hope the binding on the finished copy is half as well done as it is on the ARC. With a flap covering the pages, beautiful artwork, and thick paper, this book will definitely stay in my library.
I Got a First Look at Barnes & Noble.  Get Your Copy Now

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Fox News (and I use the term loosely)

Can anybody tell me why the talking heads at Fox are so obsessed with lowering the pay of the autoworkers? Seriously, the CEO is making 1.5 million dollars a year after taking a 30 percent pay cut and all Chris Wallace wants to know from David Axelrod is if the labor agreement is up for renegotiation.

I used to be in a union and I made pretty good money and benefits. So what? I made nowhere near what the executives made and, quite frankly, I worked just as hard every day as my boss. Many days, I worked harder and accomplished a heck of a lot more.

In my opinion, the $35 an hour plus benefits is not what has brought the auto industry to its collective knees, it's the million and millions of dollars in compensation that has been and is being paid to the executive.

Chris Wallace, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly; get your heads out of your asses, it's time to sing a new song.

So now you know, I watch Fox News Sunday. I watch them every Sunday, along with Meet the Press, Face the Nation, and This Week with George Stephanopolis. I find Fox to be the most interesting of the Sunday morning shows since the election. It amuses me to watch them try to spin.



Yes, JoJo, it is I. I am so happy to see you again and read your blog.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Silver Needle Murder

The Silver Needle Murder is the ninth Tea Shop Mystery by Laura Childs. Set with the backdrop of the Charleston Film Festival, Theo Browning is again embroiled in a murder.

This time it is director, Jordan Cole, and as Theo and Drayton try to prove that Timothy's granddaughter should not be a suspect, the festival continues and the danger intensifies.

While it took 240 pages for Theodosia to figure out the killer, I had it figured out quite early. Really though, that's why a cozy mystery is written, to entertain and pass time.