I often find that St. James‘ books take me awhile to get into, but once I do, I enjoy them very much. I‘ve been reading this one, about a woman who comes to a town to pack up her dead, ghost hunting uncle‘s things and finds much more, for about a month and still had half of it left. I finished it today. I also finished The Authority Gap (a pick) and listened to The Harlequin Tea Set on my #audiowalk .

These short stories are very different from other Christie stories. They have a different atmosphere and mood, and many aren‘t detective stories at all. It‘s a very gray day here, but the clouds held off for the Arts & Crafts Festival, so that was nice. It was a chilly but nice day to stroll Fairhope and look at people‘s creations. #audiowalk

81% of people quoted in news stories about abortion are men. 81% !!

Lolly Willowes is much shorter than The Corner That Held Them, but I liked it. It‘s a story of a woman who never gets married because first she takes care of her father, and when he dies she moves into her brother‘s house and helps take care of his kids. In her late 40s, she gets tired of this and moves alone to the country where things take an interesting turn. I got my walk in before the deluge. 😊 #audiowalk

I really liked The Corner That Held Them, so I thought I‘d try another Warner book. This has been a quiet story so far as well. It warmed up quite a bit - into the 60s. #audiowalk

1:/ Both can add depth to a story. I don‘t mind them at all.
2:/ a bookmark with every book. I like those books that have ribbons attached to them for that purpose.
3:/ my recliner in my home office, but I also like to read in my rocking chair on my porch.

#WondrousWednesday

This is a low pick, mostly because Souder spends far too long on some topics. I do not need to know the entire history of the US nuclear weapons program to understand how it influenced Carson — a short chapter would‘ve been enough. Those parts get boring because they are unnecessarily long. I mostly enjoyed learning more about her and about the resistance to Silent Spring. #audiowalk

My power is out again because they‘re replacing the pole outside my house, so I‘m sitting here by my window reading Simone St. James. Picture is not from outside my house; it‘s from the internet.

This has been my nighttime listen, and I finished it today. It‘s the first in the series, all with mystery writers‘ names in the titles. The mystery was fine, but what will probably keep me reading is the characters. They are different and interesting. A Farther Shore remains my #audiowalk book, but I‘m getting impatient with it.

1:/ The tagged book, The Authority Gap, The Last Coyote, The Christie Curse, and Demon Copperhead.
2:/ Simone St. James, Barbara Kingsolver, Patti Callahan Henry, Jane Austen, and many more.
3:/ Let Me Be Frank — Tracy Dawson
#weekendreads

The history museum has a “Dressing Downton Abbey” exhibit. That silver dress was my favorite. I also went to the downtown cathedral, which is beautiful, and then on my usual walk. I still have 6 hours left of On a Farther Shore, so I won‘t be finishing that anytime soon. #audiowalk

I‘m up to the section on Silent Spring now. Still enjoying it. My evening walk today was actually in the rain, but I don‘t think you can tell that from the pics. #audiowalk

I loved that this mobile simulation lab has a picture of the Mobile Bay light house on it. I don‘t know what is being simulated in the lab, but since it‘s parked by the School of Marine & Environmental Sciences, I figure that it has something to do with those topics. It was kind of fitting to walk by that school today because I was listening to the part about Rachel Carson‘s book on the ocean. #audiowalk

I saw this posted about when a group was reading it and thought it looked interesting, so it‘s my new #audiowalk book. I like it and have learned a lot, so far. It makes me want to go back and read Silent Spring and her book about the ocean.

I enjoyed the first entry in this series. Lana and her friends and family are fun, if careless, and the mystery was interesting. The park across the street has what‘s left of what was once, 100s of years ago, a huge long leaf pine forest. Yesterday and the day before, they did a prescribed burn, hence all the black ground. #diversecozy #audiowalk

I‘m listening to this for #diversecozy — it had been my nighttime book, but I listened to it on my walk today. I like it so far as I really like the main character, Lana. This is my first time reading this series, and I‘ll continue with it. #audiowalk

This book seems to polarize readers on Goodreads; they either loved it or hated it. I liked it quite a bit. The plot is a bit improbable, but I could suspend disbelief. I loved the references to the Dark Tower series, and I like Gwendy. I also finished Death in Disguise on my #audiowalk. I liked it as well, just not as much as the first two. There‘s too much focus on the day-to-day lives of the commune members, making the book too long.

I finally got to leave the house and go for a walk. It was a very windy day out there; that‘s probably why the tree fell. That wind kept it from being hot though. I still have 5 more hours left in this book, and I can‘t figure out what exactly could take up 5 hours. #audiowalk

A tree came down on an electrical line, one of our trees caught on fire (it‘s out now), our power is out, and the fire department has told us to stay inside the house. Since I can‘t work, I‘m reading Gwendy‘s Final Task in bed because I have a lot of natural light coming in that window. #weirdFriday

I liked I Miss You When I Blink better, but I still liked this one. I was a little thrown off by all her fears surrounding her son‘s epilepsy, since it‘s just a “it‘s a thing I have” issue with me. Philpott doesn‘t describe his seizures as being particularly bad or frequent, so her fears seem over the top to me. But maybe not — maybe my parents were just really good at hiding their fears from me.

Midsomer Murders probably made a conscious decision to make Sergeant Troy more likeable in the show. I think this served them well; he‘s got a lot of unpleasant traits in the books. It‘s jarring since I had watched the show before I read the books, and Troy is one of my favorite characters. #audiowalk

1: It‘s a tie between Kate Beacon‘ Ducks and Clothes-Pegs.
2: Only making sure all the paperwork gets filled out for my retirement on June 1.
#Two4Tuesday

This is the third book in the Inspector Barnaby/Midsomer Murders series. I‘m in a mood for Barnaby and crew right now, so I picked up this audiobook as my new walking book. Since we went to the beach, we listened to The Last Coyote as well. #audiowalk

My husband is in a real Bosch mood, so we‘ve started the next one in the series. It was a beautiful day today, so we went across the bay. I should be finished with Unnatural History soon since I‘ve only got a couple of hours left. My azaleas are really blooming right now. #audiowalk

The Concrete Blonde is quite a twisty book. Every time both Harry and I thought we knew who the culprit was, we were wrong. It was pretty windy outside today, but there was no rain. I have no idea why that AC⚡️DC shirt was in the woods. It looks like a flag. #audiowalk

This book was entirely predictable, but the main character, Annabel,and her family are so likable that it doesn‘t matter. It‘s a nice, comfortable story, and I really enjoyed it.

My husband and I still have a couple of hours left in The Concrete Blonde, and it will be awhile before I finish Unnatural History. Both are good books so far. Last year, it was freezing on Fat Tuesday; this year, I would have been hot if not for the wonderful breeze. #audiowalk

Happy Mardi Gras, y‘all! My son and his family are at the parades, but we haven‘t been in years. The parking is awful unless you get there really early or don‘t care if you have to walk a mile or so. My husband can‘t do that.

I will almost always get the latest Alex Delaware book as soon as I can, and I always get audio because I like John Rubinstein‘s narration. It‘s my new walking book. My granddaughter and I went to Bellingrath Gardens today and had a great time. #audiowalk

While I still enjoyed it, this third entry in the Finlay Donovan series is my least favorite. Things get a little darker here than in the others. I did love the opening though — I had a child like that, so it made me laugh. #audiowalk

Ducks is a thoughtful, sometimes harrowing and sometimes amusing graphic novel memoir. I was particularly entertained by this panel where Kate won‘t close her purse with feminine hygiene products in it because she likes how they make men uncomfortable and then gets called an anarchist.

Pigeon Tony‘s Last Stand isn‘t in the Litsy database, but, since the characters appear in The Vendetta Defense, I tagged it. This is longer than most short stories but shorter than a novella. A group of 80 something year-old men are concerned when their 5th grade neighbor boy is approached by drug dealers wanting him to be a messenger. They decide to do something about it. The ending was a bit rushed. #Audiowalk book was still Finlay Donovan.

I thought I‘d read Ducks this evening. I didn‘t know Kate Beaton was from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. My mom was from there, and she said the same thing Beaton says — that to make a living you have to leave. I love Cape Breton, so this makes me sad.

It‘s taking me awhile to read this. I‘m going slow. I‘d checked it out from my library‘s collection in CloudLibrary. I went to read it today and found it had been returned. So I thought, “Well, I‘ll renew it.” No such luck; it‘s not available in that format at all from my library anymore! So I got it from Kindle, where, right now it‘s only $1.99.

Sometimes I‘m in the mood for something more thoughtful and contemplative, like On Looking; other times, I just want something fun. Today I wanted fun, so I downloaded the new Finlay Donovan book and listened to it on my walk. There‘s a lot blooming out there right now. #audiowalk

I can‘t remember where I saw this book mentioned, but it intrigued me. It‘s about how our perceptions of our reality, including the everyday, are determined by our very specific interests. We can be in the same environment, but we will all notice very different things. She walked around her block with 11 experts in various fields to see how what they paid attention to would differ. It‘s my new walking book. #audiowalk

Somebody posted about this book, and it sounded interesting. It‘s on Hoopla, so it‘s this evening‘s reading.

While I generally liked this book and learned a lot about King, there are some choices she made in the writing of this memoir that made no sense. Tapestry is truly an iconic album — although that word is overused now — it‘s true in this case. Why did she spend so little time talking about it, it‘s development, and it‘s influence and so much time discussing a road dispute with her Idaho neighbors? #audiowalk

After many, many rainy days, the sun was out today, so we took advantage of that and went to the beach. The Concrete Blonde was our road trip book; Gwendy‘s Final Task was my beach read; and A Natural Woman continued to be my walking book. It‘s pretty long — I still have 4 hours left. #audiowalk

I was not aware that Carole King never really wanted to be a performer; James Taylor got her into it. This book is a little long, but I‘m still liking it. I got my walks in even though it looked like it was going to rain any second. #audiowalk

#Two4Tuesday
1: I am a mood reader, so I have no method for choosing my next book. I listened to The Body Lies because I had just finished my last walking book and needed a new one. Someone posted about it, it sounded intriguing, so it became my next walking book. I‘m listening to Carole King‘s memoir now because I heard one of her songs that I especially loved.
2: Any day but I especially love rainy days for reading.

I had no idea that when Carole King was 17, she got married, and by 18, she had a baby. That‘s so young! She doesn‘t quite tell her story in a completely chronological manner, but brings in past and future events if they relate to the story she‘s telling. #audiowalk

We went to the beach today, so we listened to The Concrete Blonde on the trip. I continued to listen to A Natural Woman on my walk, which I‘m enjoying. King narrates and her voice is soothing. It was a gorgeous day today, but I‘m sure the rain will return. 😊. #audiowalk

I actually started out my walk listening to Bomb Shelter, where, since I have epilepsy, I was especially interested in the story the author was telling about her son‘s first seizure. Then my book quit playing — I think because I‘d forgotten to download the book and was thus listening over my cellphone signal and got to a place where it wasn‘t good. So I switched to A Natural Woman (love Carole King). #audiowalk

There was a lot I liked about this book and a lot I didn‘t. I had assumed A.L. Herbert was a Black woman because the mc is, but it‘s a pseudonym for Patrick Sanchez. There was too much restaurant detail in the book, and Halia‘s cousin, Wavonne, is a bit of a caricature, with her loud voice and lazy behavior. But the story is interesting enough. I might read a second one. #diversecozy #audiowalk

I started this for #diversecozy and so far I‘m not sure if I‘ll like it. The first several chapters are all about the mc‘s restaurant and her recipes, but I‘m here for the murder, not the behind-the-scenes-at-the-restaurant stuff. I‘m happy to give it a chance though because I like the characters. I managed to get my walks in before the now daily rain. #audiowalk

1: It‘s between The Corner That Held Them and Wild.
2: I wanted to read TCTHT because it‘s about nun life and my aunt was a nun. I read it for #NunLitQuarterly. I wanted to read Wild because it was about the author walking the Pacific Crest Trail.
#Two4Tuesday

I really liked The Body Lies. Is it a fun book? No, but this story of a woman who was assaulted once, moved from London, and takes a job teaching writing in the country is beautifully told. Once there, our unnamed protagonist meets a student who becomes fascinated with her. Is the writing he‘s turning in to her actually about her? Is he dangerous? My new #audiowalk book is Bomb Shelter.

I‘m lucky I got in this short walk today; we had quite a bit of rain. I have a couple of hours left in The Body Lies and am reading The Road to Little Dribbling as my evening book. #audiowalk

This is the second book in the Bosch series. I like Harry better in the later books. In those, his moral code is more fleshed out. In these earlier ones, he‘s pretty much a lone wolf cop who thinks he‘s the only one in the department with a sense of justice. I still like him and the stories — this one took a twist near the end that I hadn‘t remembered. Up next as our road trip book is the 3rd one, The Concrete Blonde.