Feeling Jumpy: Book Blogger Hop Feb 4-7

It's Friday and that means it's time for the Book Blogger Hop sponsored by Crazy-For-Books. It's a time to talk about books and blogging and to venture out on the internet and visit other blogs. Hop on the link to participate.

I haven't been out on the Hop for a while, but I'm feeling a bit jumpy this weekend and thought it was time to join in again. This week's Hop question is: What are you reading now and why are you reading it?

At the moment I am reading All Booked Up by Terrie Curran. I am reading it for a variety of Reading Challenges that I've signed up for (A-Z Mystery Author, A-Z Reading Challenge, 100+ Reading Challenge, Outdo Yourself, etc). I am also reading it because it's a mystery and not just any mystery--but an academic mystery (I love those!)--which has been on my TBR shelf for way too long.

Death in the Garden: Review

Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside is unlike any mystery novel I've read. It's a mystery. It's a historical novel. It's a lesson in research (both of the time period and by characters within the novel). It's a fine character study. It is a lesson in betrayals and secrets and what men and women will do to hide them. It's an example of how little people who think they are close really know about one another. And, above all, it's brilliantly written--employing flashbacks, diary entries, letters and straight up narration to tell an absolutely captivating story. The Denver Post is quoted on the front cover: "A wondrously textured, multilayered detective novel in the grand tradition, with a strikingly unusual plot." I would have to agree.

The novel shifts between the 1920s and the 1990s. In 1925 the beautiful Diana Pollexfen, former bohemian photographer and now more conventional wife to an MP, is celebrating her 30th birthday. She invites some of her oldest and closest friends to a party at their country estate, but the celebrations end with the tragic death of her husband, George. He has been poisoned by a cocktail that contains more photographic chemicals than alcohol.

The book opens with this line: Today at half-past two in the afternoon I was acquitted of the murder of my husband. Not since Rebecca has an opening sentence grabbed my attention and stayed in my imagination. Opening with this statement from Diana's diary, the first section of the book gives the background of the birthday party guests and describes the events leading up to George's death. The rest of the book takes us sixty years into the future. Diana's great-niece Helena is also turning 30 and finds herself spending her birthday at her great-aunt's house--making arrangements for Diana's funeral. In the course of going through her great-aunts papers and diaries she finds the diary with that first line. Helena decides that she needs to know if her great-aunt really was innocent or just had a good defense lawyer before she is willing to take possession of the home and her inheritance from her aunt.

The rest of the book finds Helena and her cousins looking for living witnesses, reading through the diaries, discovering letters and even a short story--all in the effort to try and solve the mystery that was left open with Diana's acquittal. Ironside neatly dovetails events in Helena's life with the 60-year-old mystery and uses the modern events to help Helena discover the truth. She also learns that the truth may have a terrible cost.

I was absolutely hooked on this book from the first line. The mystery has an interesting twist--one that has been employed before, but it is so well done that I didn't mind. Near-perfect in period detail, characterization, use of clues and wrap-up. It is definitely a book that I will want to read again--if only for the beautiful writing. Four and a half stars.

Kindle Giveaway!!!!

A Life Bound By Books: It's a KINDLE Giveaway!!!!!!!!:

"Yes, you are reading the title of this post correctly! Four bloggers have come together to do a group giveaway!!" Use the link above to go to the site and find out all the details!

Library Loot: February 2-8

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire (The Captive Reader) and Marg (The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader) that encourages bloggers to share the books they've checked out of the library. If you'd like to participate, just write up your post, feel free to steal button, and link up using the Mr. Linky on Marg's site this week. And, of course, check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Here's my haul so far this week:


Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald: An American Woman's Life by Linda Wagner-Martin

Linda Wagner-Martin has created a new kind of biography of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald: Zelda's story from her perspective, instead of her famous husband's. This is the first biography to tell her entire life story, describing what it meant to be born in 1900, and then to be a "New Woman" in Montgomery, Alabama. Featuring for the first time information from the newly available archives at Princeton, Wagner-Martin vividly illustrates Zelda's psychiatric landscape. Detailed discussions of the roots of alcoholism and infidelity are juxtaposed with the first comprehensive critiques of Zelda's diverse artistic accomplishments as a dancer, short story writer, essayist and novelist. This is an evocative portrayal of a talented woman's professional and emotional conflicts, a story with as much relevance today as it had half a century ago. - (Eloquence)



Zubin Mehta: The Score of My Life by Zubin Mehta Captures the life of this celebrated musician, including a review of his childhood days in Bombay, his early education in music in Europe, his great success with orchestras around the world, and his receipt of the United Nations Lifetime Achievement Peace and Tolerance Award. - (Baker & Taylor)



The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman Originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine, Lippman's Tess Monaghan novella turns the intrepid Baltimore PI's at-risk late-pregnancy bed rest into a compellingly edgy riff on Hitchcock's Rear Window. Lovingly tucked up on her winterized sun porch, Tess marshals her forces--doting artist boyfriend Crow, best friend Whitney Talbot, middle-aged assistant gumshoe Mrs. Blossom, and researcher Dorie Starnes--to probe the disappearance of a chic blonde green-raincoated dog walker she'd been watching from her comfy prison. Tess also takes in the missing woman's abandoned green-slickered Italian greyhound from hell, a miniature canine terrorist whose anti-housebreaking vendetta offers comic relief from Tess's threatened pre-eclampsia, her obsessive unraveling of a complex scam, and her last-trimester spats with Crow about their future. Though postpartum Tess turns alternately weepy and shrill, that condition won't last, and this entertaining romp leaves plenty of hints of detective-mother exploits to come. (Publisher's Weekly)

Friday 56

The Friday 56 is a bookish meme sponsored by Freda's Voice. It's really easy to participate.

*Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to page 56.

*Find any sentence that grabs you.

*Post it.

*Link it up at Freda's site.

Here's mine from Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside:

"I always like to be even," George was saying. "I won't allow anyone to take advantage of me and I think they respect that. That way we all know where we are."

Book Beginnings on Friday

Book Beginnings on Friday is a bookish meme sponsored by Katy at A Few More Pages. Here's what you do: share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments section . Include the title and author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you are so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and if you liked or did not like that sentence. Link-up each week at Katy's place.


Here's mine from Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside:

Today at half-past two in the afternoon I was acquitted of the murder of my husband.


Now, there's an attention-grabber for you. I don't think I've been so taken with a first line since the beginning of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

January Reading Wrap-Up

What Red Read posted a January wrap-up post with these statistics. I was intrigued (and love tracking things like this) and decided that I just had to do it too--adding a couple of stats. Here's what my reading for the month of January looks like:

Total Books Read: 20
Total Pages: 4120
Percentage by Female Authors: 55%
Percentage by US Authors: 50% (not bad when you consider I'm a Brit Lit girl)
Percentage Fiction: 80%
Percentage written 2000+: 10%
Percentage of Rereads: 5%
Percentage Read for Challenges: 100%

Number of Challenges fulfilled so far: Zero (hoping to change that this weekend!)

48-Hour Read-A-Thon

Unputdownables is hosting her second 48 Hour Read-A-Thon over the weekend of February 4 - 6. Since nobody in my house really cares about the Superbowl, this gives me a big event of my own for Superbowl Weekend. If you're not into football, please join me and we can encourage each other to read, read, read!

Rules and Regulations

1. Choose a few books from your To Be Read pile that you will attempt to finish this weekend (Friday evening through Sunday night).
2. Post your TBR Read-a-Thon books on your blog so your readers can see what you are attempting for the weekend.
3. Challenge your readers to read along with you! (It’s OK if they don’t, but might be fun if they want to choose at least one book to participate with).
4. Join the discussion all weekend long at #bookblogchat on Twitter.
5. Post updates on your blog about what you are reading and what you have finished (full reviews can come later, but this will let your readers know what you are reading so they can either read along or look forward to your reviews!)
6. Visit other blogs that are doing the read-a-long. Post comments and follow your fellow bloggers.

My Reading Line-up (Click on titles for reviews):

Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside (2/4/11)
All Booked Up by Terrie Curran (2/5/11)
The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green

If I finish all those (and if I do that will finish off one of my numerous reading challenges), then I'll move on to:

Small World by David Lodge
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald: An American Woman's Life by Linda Wagner-Martin OR
Zubin Mehta: the Score of My Live by Zubin Mehta (I am in need of a new "Z" book to replace the Zorro which I could not finish. These two auto/biographies looked like interesting candidates. I may wind up reading both.)

Why Shoot a Butler?

Why Shoot a Butler? (1933) is Georgette Heyer's second mystery novel. It is every bit as fun as her first one, and shows, I think, that Heyer is gaining confidence in the genre. This one rings a little truer than the first. There are still plenty of coincidences, but they are happy ones. One of Heyer's great gifts are her characters and the humorous way she uses character.

As the title would indicate, the initial and most pressing mystery is why would anyone want to shoot a butler? For that is what has happened. Frank Amberley, barrister, is on his way to visit relatives and, having been given vague instructions about a "short-cut" by his cousin, finds himself on a lonely stretch of road with a stopped car and a mysterious young woman. The woman is peering into the car and Amberley soon discovers part of the reason why she is white-faced. The man behind the wheel is dead. Amberley takes in the situation and soon decides that the young woman has not committed the crime (but why is she so scared?) and reports the man, the car and the shooting (but not the woman) to the authorities asap.

It is soon revealed that the man behind the wheel was the butler to The Fountains, a local stately home. The police are puzzled...why would anyone want to kill a butler? And why was he out there on that bit of road in the first place? Heyer soon provides us with all sorts of mysterious goings-on--from shifty-eyed valets to missing documents to poachers and possible blackmail. Amberley is certain that Miss Shirley Brown (the damsel in distress at the beginning) knows more than she's saying and that if she'd only trust him he'd soon get to the bottom of it. Unfortunately it takes two more deaths and a final attempted murder before he and the police can bring the crime home to the villain.

This is a lovely period mystery. I love Frank Amberley's aunt, Lady Matthews, who seems awfully vague and fluffy, but like so many of her sort sees and knows more than anyone thinks. And then when she reveals a penetrating bit of knowledge everyone is so surprised. They should know better. Her conversation reminds me of Lord Peter Wimsey's mother, who is also rather circuitous in her speech, but recognizes so much that others miss. Here's a bit of an exchange between Sir Humphrey (Frank's uncle) and Lady Matthews about the death of the butler:

SH: You must not allow this to worry you, Marion.
LM: No, my dear, why should I? Very disagreeable for poor Frank though. I hope we haven't got a gang of criminals near us. Terrible if one's own chauffeur turned out to be the leader of a sinister organization.
SH: Ludlow? My love, we have had Ludlow in our employment for over ten years! What in the world makes you suppose that he can have anything to do with this shocking affair?
LM: I'm sure he hasn't. I find that nothing of that nature every really happens to one. But in this book--she dived her hand among the sofa-cushions and produced a novel in a lurid jacket--it was the chauffeur. So unnerving.
SH: [reading the cover] The Stalking Death. My dear, surely this doesn't entertain you?
LM: Not very much. The nice man turned out to be a villain after all. I think that's so unfair when one has become quite fond of him.

Not an incredibly mystifying crime (I recognized the culprit early on), but a lot of fun and great for those who like the vintage mystery. Four stars for terrific writing and characters and just a general fondness for Georgette Heyer's work.

REMINDER: India Black Give Away

India Black: A Madam of Espionage Mystery by Carol K Carr

Now that I have read this fabulous book and reviewed it (HERE), Carol K Carr and I want to give one of you lucky book bloggers the opportunity to win it. For full details go the Original Giveaway Post. Sign-ups end THIS Saturday, February 5th.

WWW: Wednesdays

WWW: Wednesdays is hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three questions....

*What are you currently reading?

*What did you just recently finish reading?

*What do you think you'll read next?

Current:
Why Shoot a Bulter? by Georgette Heyer. I love that this is a play on the old "The butler did it." And after all, why would anyone want to shoot a butler? I'm going to find out.


Finished Since Last Wednesday (click titles for reviews):
Zorro: A Novel by Isabel Allende (well not really finished, but here's my thoughts on why)
The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys
Use Trouble: Poems by Michael S Harper
Flying Finish by Dick Francis
A Flaw in the Blood by Stephanie Barron
A Graveyard to Let by Carter Dickson
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope

Up Next:
Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon (impatiently waiting for this one to be available from the library)
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald: An American Woman's Life by Linda Wagner-Martin OR
Zubin Mehta: the Score of My Live by Zubin Mehta (I am in need of a new "Z" book to replace the Zorro which I could not finish. These two auto/biographies looked like interesting candidates. I may wind up reading both.)

OR any of the other 90-some books I've got lined up for my 20-some challenges....

Read My Review: Adventure/Travel

Read My Review, Hosted by A Trillian Books is a chance for book bloggers to share new and old reviews--all related to a theme.

What to do:

*Find one of your reviews that fits this week's theme (you can be as creative as you like when choosing what fits). It can be new or old, good or bad.

*Create a post on your blog explaining your book choice and leaving a link to your review there.

*Leave your link with Mr. Linky at the bottom of her post.

*Visit some of the other reviews and leave a "quality" comment (at least a couple of sentences).

*Grab the button and let people know about Read My Review.

This weeks theme is Adventure/Travel. So, any book where the character(s) go on a journey/quest ... something like that. My choice this week is Dead Man's Chest by Kerry Greenwood. Just a nice little, quiet little trip to the seashore. Well...since it involves Miss Phryne Fisher, not quite. What is supposed to be a relaxing family holiday turns into mystery and mayhem in the latest of the Phryne Fisher novels.

The Eustace Diamonds: Review

The Eustace Diamonds (1873) is the third novel in Anthony Trollope's Palliser series. However, this is the first Trollope novel I've read--picked out initially for the jewel in the title to fulfill part of the What's in a Name Challenge. I didn't find that stepping into the series in mid-stream hurt my understanding of the book at all. There weren't any references to people or incidents that weren't made clear in the work itself.

According to the blurb on the back of the book, this novel "bears all the hallmarks of [Trollope's] later works, blending dark cynicism with humor and a keen perception of human nature. Following the death of her husband, Sir Florian, beautiful Lizzie Eustace mysteriously comes into possession of a hugely expensive diamond necklace. She maintains it was a gift from her husband, but the Eustace lawyers insist she give it up, and while her cousin Frank takes her side, her new lover, Lord Fawn, declares that he will only marry her if the necklace is surrendered. As gossip and scandal intensify, Lizzie's truthfulness is thrown into doubt, and, in her desire to keep the jewels, she is driven to increasingly desperate acts."

This was an interesting read. I find Trollope to be somewhere between Jane Austen and Charles Dickens for me--with Jane being the higher end of literature. Trollope's characters are well-drawn, realistic and believable. In fact he did such a good job of representing Lizzie Eustace a s a grasping, lying, cheating, social-climbing wench, that I can assure you I would have no desire to be introduced to her when out in society. I was a bit disappointed in the ending. Although I do think Lizzie is getting a bit of karma thrown her way, I would have appreciated a better resolution with respect to the diamonds. But I guess we can't have everything we want.

One other quibble...as with many novels from this time period, The Eustace Diamonds was originally printed in installments--which meant the reading public had to wait a long time to find out what happened next. I appreciate Penguin Classics desire to present the work in precisely the form that readers in the Victorian era would have received it....except that doesn't exactly work. I've got it all in one volume...so rather than having to wait weeks or longer to read the next bit, I was able to plow on through. This meant that the "reminder" passages which were intended to help the Victorian reader remember what had taken place previously really began to irritate me. Whole passages that had just appeared two or three pages ago would suddenly reappear. Minor quibble. Over all an interesting character study of how far one woman will go to hang on to what she has convinced herself is rightfully hers. Three and a half stars.

Teaser Tuesdays

MizB of Should Be Reading hosts Teaser Tuesdays. Anyone can play along. Just do the following:

*Grab your current read.

*Open to a random page.

*Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.

*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! You don't want to spoil the book for others.

*Share the title and author too, so other TT particpants can add it to their TBR lists if they like your teaser!

Here's mine from The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope (pp 68-9)

The reader, who has read so far, will perhaps think that Frank Greystock was in love with Lucy as Lucy was in love with him. But such was not exactly the case. To be in love, as an absolute, well-marked, acknowledged fact, is the condition of a woman more frequently and more readily than of a man.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Debuts

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This week we're being asked to list our Top Ten Favorite Debut Novels (Ever!).

1. Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers. My mystery loving life would not be complete without Lord Peter Wimsey and Bunter.

2. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And I definitely could not do without Sherlock Holmes.

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. First. Last. And only. But one of the all-time best no matter how you look at it.

4. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Another stand-alone that I absolutely love.

5. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Some of the best of British wit.

6. Changing Places by David Lodge. More terrific British wit.

7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. He had some earlier collections, but this was his first novel. And such a good one!

8. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Silverberg...all my SF crushes from my teen years.

9. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie. The beginning of Hercule Poirot!

10. A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh. Another beginning to a wonderful mystery series.