Christmas at Glitter Peak Lodge by Kjersti Herland Johnsen

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Carol Early Cooney

Hello Fellow Readers,

I am not quite ready to think about Christmas much less read about it but in this world, it is time for Christmas books to start arriving. Seems incredible, I know. I bet the Christmas decorations are out along with the Halloween decorations in stores also.

Today’s review is of the book Christmas at Glitter Peak Lodge. It has the subtitle, A Heartwarming Holiday Cozy Mystery Set in Snowy Norway. The book is set up like an Advent Calendar. Twenty-four chapters mark the 24 days leading up to Christmas. As the book opens, we find ourselves viewing an avalanche from the eyes of Ingrid Berg. Ingrid was a world-class climber. She had been a climber since she was young but one day in the Himalayas, her world of climbing came to an end. She survived the avalanche, but the memories drove her from climbing back to her family’s hotel, Glitter Peak Lodge. She is back and learning all about her role as manager from her grandmother who has been running the Lodge for years. It is time for her grandmother to retire and Ingrid knows she must step up. The Lodge has financial problems and it seems that something goes wrong practically every day. And then Ingrid’s, ex-love and fellow climber shows up at Ingrid’s door. Ingrid does not want to see him as she blames him for being caught in the avalanche and the death of their friend in the avalanche. Another of Ingrid’s friend arrives with the Influencer who is secretly pregnant. Thow in Ingrid starting to fall in love with an old flame and there is a lot going on.

And then a mysterious American woman and her husband arrive at the Inn. Ingrid’s grandmother is not as welcoming as Ingrid would expect and she doesn’t know why. There is a mystery to untangle that seems to concern the mystery woman, Ingrid’s grandmother, and the town bully.

The book was originally written in Norwegian and translated into English. I think that there is a different style of writing that is sparser than we are used to and more direct. I know they are Swedish translations, but I am thinking of A Man Called Ove and The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared and the Elderly Lady Books. (An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good or An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed) This book has the flavor of those books but is slightly more Americanized.

There is a lot going on in this book. Everything does get tied up in the end but there is a lot to keep track of. (Is that a good guy? A bad guy? Who are all the bad guys?) I think the book is a fine cozy mystery. It might be a little harder to get into the story but then it progresses.

Thanks for reading.

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Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

Posted on September 30, 2024 by Carol Early Cooney

Dear Fellow Reader,

It seems that is it the season for new books! Elizabeth Strout, Jodi Picoult, Matt Haig, Laine Moriarty and Richard Osman all have new books out. Louise Penny and Patricia Cornwell are not far behind.

Today, I am talking about Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout. This new book takes place in Cosby, Maine, where all of her characters seem to reside. Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, and Bob Burgess are all there along with their friends and partners. I will confess that I have not been an avid Elizabeth Strout reader. Not because I don’t like her books, but I just didn’t make the effort to catch up once I read Lucy by the Sea. I enjoyed Lucy by the Sea and knew that there were other books, but I can (like many others) be caught up by the new and shiny books and I don’t always go back into an author’s older books. (My review can be found at https://cecooney.com/2022/10/28/lucy-by-the-sea-by-elizabeth-strout/)

Tell Me Everything is considered a mystery. To me, that was not the main story in the book but I will agree that there is a mystery that was solved in the book. I did not notice this until I read that it was a mystery. The book, while we encounter other characters, starts out and roughly centers on Bob Burgess. Bob is a mostly retired lawyer who is married to the local Unitarian minister. As started in Lucy by the Sea, Bob and Lucy often meet and walk together. They discuss their lives and the lives around them and Bob uses this time with Lucy to sneak a cigarette. During the book, we meet Bob’s brother and his family, who live in New York City. Bob is caught up in a murder mystery and becomes the lawyer for the accused murderer. Bob’s mind is in turmoil. He does not think that his client is guilty, he isn’t sure about his relationship with his wife, and he thinks he might be in love with Lucy. In the meantime, he introduces Lucy to Olive Kitteridge and they start a rocky friendship.

This book is much more character-driven than plot-driven. There is so much going on with these characters that it would be easy to miss the mystery part. I feel the same way about Where the Crawdads Sing. Yes, it was a mystery but it was so character-driven that you were too wrapped up in what would happen to the characters to think that much about the mystery. To make my point, if you look at the review on Amazon, it never says that the book is a mystery. The review doesn’t refer to the murder at all.

I enjoyed the book. I, for some reason, wasn’t particularly looking forward to reading it and then once I started I had a hard time putting it down. There is something about the tempo of the book and the characters that draws you in. I see now that it is an Oprah’s Book Club book. I think you should read it. Let me know if you think it is a mystery.

Thanks for reading!

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

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By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Carol Early Cooney

Dear Fellow Reader,

It is only mid to late August, but I can tell that fall is coming. Partly because it gets so much cooler at night. It is like the sun just can’t keep the warmth up all day and night anymore. That it is tired and just needs a break. I notice the mornings are quieter also. In the spring, the early mornings are alive with birds vying for notice. As we move into fall, they are much quieter. The garden gives off signals that different plants are starting to call it quits. Always sad to see but I must admit that I do like that little bite in the air. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of warm days left. I always think that it gets hot just as the kids go back to school. The little girls are dying to wear all those new back-to-school clothes, but it is just too hot for them.

By Any Other Name is the new novel by Jodi Picoult. I confess that, even though highly recommended, I have not read many books by Jodi Picoult. A quick lookup tells me that she had 28 books and novellas. I know that I have read at least one other. So, I want to say this is her first foray into historical fiction, but I am probably incorrect. This story is the story of two women separated in time. Emilia Bassano was born in 1569 and Melina Green was born around 1995.  

As the book opens, we meet Melina Green. She is a playwright who is a senior at Bard College and is urged by her professor to enter a Bard College-sponsored playwriting competition. The prize was a guaranteed slot at the Samuel French Off Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. Her professor repeats that while her writing is clear and compelling, it is emotionally sterile. He wants her to show more of herself in her work. She didn’t feel that anyone really wanted to know her. She writes a new play and enters it. Her play makes it to the final round of the competition. The final round has a surprise judge, the theater critic from the New York Times, Jasper Tolle. Her play does not win the competition, and she is humiliated by the criticism that was given to her by Jasper Tolle.

While she was writing the play, she received a letter from her father. Her father had gotten interested in genealogy and he was writing to tell her that she was related to the first published female poet in England, Emilia Bassano.

In the book, the story of Emilia Bassano starts in the year 1581, when she is 12 years old and an orphan. She learned that the countess, who had taken care of her, would be leaving. Emilia’s parents are dead but she still has cousins and other relatives who live in London. Emilia’s family were court musicians. Emilia had a full education with the countess, reading, writing, languages, and dancing. (She knew more about music than the countess.) Emilia would go weekly to London to visit her family, where they lived in the Italian community. Her family was Jewish, and this was the night that they celebrated with Shabbat dinner. Judaism was forbidden so they celebrated in secret.

Melina Green becomes fascinated by her relative and does more research about her. As the story progresses, Melina writes a play based on the life of Emilia. Through the play, she proposes a theory that Emilia wrote some the plays credited to Shakespeare. When the play is complete, Melina’s best friend, Andre drunkenly submits it to a competition under the name Mel Green.

The story progresses at a good pace. Both characters meet obstacles and conquer them; love, loss, success and failures are part of both lives.

It took me a little bit to get into the book but then I really enjoyed it. I think I was chafing against reading yet another book that has characters that take you back and forth in time. There is a lot of meat in this book. Lots of different things happen to the characters. The hardships do not seem contrived which makes it easier to read and enjoy the story. The book was interesting.

This is a definite “read it”. I think you will be happy that you did.

Here is a link to a TikTok of Jodi Picoult talking about Shakespeare and Emilia Bassano. https://www.tiktok.com/@jodipicoult/video/7374792241115598126.

Thanks for reading!

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Shock and Paw by Cate Conte

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Carol Early Cooney

Dear Fellow Readers,

Have you ever read a book and thought that the ending was a bit abrupt?  Like the author was only allowed so many words and when they came close to being used up the plot suddenly moved a the speed of light to the end?  That always really bothers me. 

Today’s book is Shock and Paw by Cate Conte.  This book is a cozy mystery with cat fur.  It is the eighth in the series by Cate Conte.  One would assume from that that the previous books have done well.  The first good thing that I can say about this book is that you would never know it was part of a series.  It could have been the first in the series.  I have no idea what the other books were about.  This book stands alone.  The next good thing I will say is that the characters are well-drawn.  There are lots of characters and I didn’t have any trouble keeping them separate. 

And then starts my complaint about the book.  We didn’t get to a murder until over halfway through the book.  Which means, as you can guess, that the murder was solved fairly rapidly. Also, there is a lot of information about cats in the book.  While it didn’t ruin it, I know nothing about “fancy cats”.  Part of the story of the book was about a catnapping ring and some of the types of cats were beyond me. 

This is probably a great book if you love and know cats. 

It is not my thing. While appreciated the book, I have read books that appeal more to me.  As I said, there were good, descriptive characters and lots of back stories to keep them separate from each other.  There was just a lot of cat information.  I would say that if you want a lot of character development and you like cats, this is the book for you. 

Thanks for reading.

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Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp by Michelle Moran

Posted on July 12, 2024 by Carol Early Cooney

Hello Fellow Reader,

How could I not read this book?  We have all been brought up with the von Trapp family, right?  Or does that just show my age?  Isn’t The Sound of Music a rite of passage? 

In Maria, the prologue is a letter from Maria to Oscar Hammerstein imploring him to make changes to The Sound of Music so that it accurately reflects their lives.  Maria von Trapp requests a meeting so that she can clear up misconceptions and she has suggestions for the script. She understands that the music for the play is not yet complete, and she feels that making the changes is imperative. 

We then meet Fran. Fran is part of the group that revolves around Oscar Hammerstein. She works in his office along with her boyfriend, Jack.  When she arrived at the office on Monday, Mr. Hammerstein asked her to meet with Maria and see what she had to say because he didn’t have time.  He is busy with the musical and trying to finish the last songs. 

Fran meets Maria and instead of brushing her off, she meets with her several times to find out about her life.  Maria explains just some of the basic differences between her true story and the story in the play.  The oldest of the von Trapp children was really a boy; they did escape but not by climbing over the Alps. Also, Maria and Captain von Trapp had three children together.   

Fran can do nothing to help Maria change the plot but she listens to her and writes all the information up for Mr. Hammerstein.  Fran learns the good and bad sides of Maria and her regrets.  At the same time, Fran has great news in her professional life. The great news brings about changes that she didn’t anticipate but seem to work out well.

The book is enjoyable.  I’m sure that if Sound of Music is really a generational thing those who have lived with it as part of their life will enjoy the book.  (Is it still on TV every Easter?) It is not a heavy read at all.  A great light beach read or summer mornings and evenings on the deck. 

Thanks for reading!

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