Kathy.....lol, by that assessment I am guessing you'd LOVE my family !

Yoyobon - If you write a book about your family, I'll be the first to buy it!

I just finished The Age of Light by Whitney Schrarer. It's a fictionalized account of Lee Miller (Vogue model turned photographer--a surrealist and then photojournalist who photographed the opening of the concentration camps after WW2) and Man Ray. It was fascinating in part because Lee Miller is fascinating. A lot about her time in Paris in the 20s, with Andre Breton and Kiki Montparnasse and Jean Cocteau, etc., playing minor roles. Very little about the war years. Now I'm reading Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and The Last Trial of Harper Lee. This is about the true crime novel that Harper Lee spent years trying to write after assisting Truman Capote with In Cold Blood. It's really great, a bit like Devil in the White City in its structure. Highly recommend.

Bon, that's funny - my DH and I were just discussing the phrase "sticky wicket" yesterday!

I'm reading The Forgotten by Faye Kellerman.

Donna

Maybe Vee can enlighten us as to the phrase and game :0)

yoyo, the game of cricket would be far too complicated for me to try and explain and I'm no expert. Kath, Colleen or Annpan in Australia might be better. It is taken very seriously there especially when they beat the English team!

A 'sticky wicket' usually means a difficult/delicate situation. I suppose from the fact that when the 'wicket' (ie the piece of ground between the stumps) becomes wet/muddy it is difficult to bowl or bat accurately.

BTW the cricket World Cup is taking place in England and Wales at the moment. In the recent game between India and Pakistan over 700,000 ticket were applied for and world-wide over a billion people watched it on TV . . . don't know how they counted them all.

Thanks Vee.......okay, this is how far off I was with my guesses: I assumed the wicket was a mallet !

And I thought the wicket was the loop a croquet ball goes through! LOL I can see where you would find the wicket sticky if it's muddy.

Donna, that was my second guess !

See below for a video explaining the rules of cricket. A short test will follow.

How to Play Cricket

Vee, no good asking me anything about sports. Unlike the rest of my family, I am not interested in any of them. So it is ironic that I have been a sports writer in a way, editing a motoring magazine although I can't drive and reporting on horse races.

My husband got me into both of these jobs and I offloaded the technical side of the magazine to others and just did the easy part of correcting the writing and spelling.

Vee........this is like homework ! Will this grade count ?

Oh! yes yoyo. The highest marks will be awarded a prize of two tickets to watch the three days of a Test Match. These take place in various parts of the world during the 'Summer Months'. You may choose to visit S Africa, Australia, NZ, W Indies, England, India, Pakistan etc. You will be tagged, so escape from the ground will be impossible. Matches usually begin at about 11am and go onto until dusk with breaks for meals (yes really) You must pray that 'bad light stops play' so you can make your get away.

Can I swap those tickets for seats at the Yankee/Red Sox game in London ? ;0)

Sorry yoyo, no chance!

I remember back 'in the day' mid-50's my parents bought a TV set for my grandfather to watch. Whenever a cricket test match was on or tennis from Wimbledon all our favourite children's TV programmes were off air (only one channel). Dad and Gramp would sit in the dark for hours at a time . . . to us a game of cricket was slower than watching paint dry.

Later Dad took to watching afternoon horse racing. He said he always noted the horses in the paddock, the build up to the event and the betting but always fell asleep and missed the actual races.

A book that had been gathering dust is Eric Newby's A Small Place in Italy. I had lent it to an Italian friend and had forgotten to ask her what she thought of it.

Newby, was a travel writer and during WWII had been captured in the Italy Apennines. When the Italians capitulated he escaped and hid in the mountains for several months, only to be betrayed and re-taken by the Germans.

Many years later, he and his wife who he had met during these dangerous years went back to Italy hoping to buy a 'holiday home'. This books describes finding a run-down property in Northern Tuscany, the help of 'locals' in doing it up, joining in the grape and olive harvest and hunting for fungi.

The trouble with this 'story' was that Newby ran out of steam. He didn't seem to have enough for the last few chapters which became little more than long paragraphs about odd characters, some history of the area, a long day's walk following one he had made in 1943 and a picturesque train journey.

The Italian friend could have done without the many words and phrases, first in Italian then repeated in English.

I found the total lack of maps, photos or plans of the house made it difficult to follow what he was describing. I had to look in an atlas to see roughly where his property was! A pity as it could have been so much better.

Truly, Vee. It sure sounds like it could have been great. I wonder if I'd like it anyway.

I'm reading The Guernsey Literary and PPS - as slowly as I can. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this the other two times I read it. It's been quite a while. Also reading the new C.J. Box - The Wolf Pack. Quite good. Love that Joe Pickett! I guess I'm just not cut out to read more than one book at a time. I just can't change my mood that quickly, and I don't want to. So faced with one book I'm in the mood for (Guernsey) and one Library book with a due date, I'll finish The Wolf Pack and then move on to Guernsey.

Vee....I've read so many Italian memoir/adventure/buy that house books and several were very good. One of my many favorites is Seasons In Basilicata by David Yeadon.

I also really enjoyed the books by Marlena di Blasi telling her story of life, love and food in Italy. The first in the series is A Thousand Days In Venice .

Slightly OT but after writing about A Small Place in Italy above, my inbox became cluttered with 'Italian related stuff'. Do others have eg's of this happening to them?

OT....no......but I installed Adblocker ( free) on my computer. It is amazing. To date it has blocked 83,000 ads !

Hooray for Adblocker! When I got my new laptop, it was one of the immediate installations I downloaded!

I've just finished a NF work by Roger Housdan: "Saved by Beauty." It's a travelogue and memoir about Iran, preceded with history of ancient Persia and its religions. I found it well-written and interesting, with a bizarre twist at the end. Emphasis is placed on the various cultures within parts of Iran, such as the Kurds, as well as the architecture and gardens. The author is fond of the poetry of Rumi and Omar Khayim and interspersed some of these poems within the book. Iran is so much more than what we observe today, in terms of more than fundamentalist radical Islam. Housdan found that many of its ordinary people remember the glories of their past and long to return to that more balanced way of life.

I'm definitely in summer reading mode. I just finished Lucy Parker's The Austen Playbook, a contemporary romance set amidst the London West End theater set. She's written three prior books (Act Like It, Pretty Face, Making Up), all with the same setting. Her main characters are actors and theater people, the stories usually include a theater or film production of some sort, and it's obvious she knows her subject matter. She's a very entertaining and solid writer and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I've just started another book by one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Hunter. Hooked is the second book in her 7th and Main series. She's more known as Urban Fantasy writer, but these are contemporary romances.

Vee, I used to watch quite a lot of cricket, but not so much now. I also used to score for my son's team, and it is a complicated job that requires a lot of concentration.

I also have to say that the winner of your competition will actually get to spend 5 days at a test match, unless it is rained out (usually in England) or one team is much better than another and bowls them out twice quickly.

Thanks Kath. I find myself listening to various cricket commentaries while doing the ironing! I think I must lose consciousness after the first three days . . . I tried ironing while watching the tennis from Wimbledon but found I kept on burning myself.

Save The Plums For Me - Ruth Reikl

Can anyone suggest a murder/mystery series like Three Pines Gamache novels that would be as engaging and enjoyable ? I'm asking for a friend since I'm mid-series of the wonderful Louise Penny novels.

I have always enjoyed the Simon Serailler series of mysteries by Susan Hill. In fact, I think they are better written than those of L. Penny.

That's saying a lot, Woodnymph. I'll have to give Susan Hill a try.

I'd second the Susan Hill 'mysteries'. They are better read in the correct order.

I like Deborah Crombie's series, also best read in order. The first is pretty old. She doesn't write a new one as frequently as some authors do.

I also like James R. Benn's Billy Boyle series, James Lee Burke, Ann Cleeves' Shetland books, Jeanne M. Dams, Martin Edwards' Lake District series, Charles Finch,

Sorry--I hit submit by mistake.

, , , Elly Griffiths, Martha Grimes' Jury books, C. S. Harris, Veronica Heley, Anthony Horowitz, Julia Keller, Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott books, Cynthia Riggs, Sarah Shaber's Louise books, Jeri Westerson, Jacqueline Winspear, Charles Todd, Victoria Thompson, Daniel Silva, Peter Robinson, Ian Rankin .

As you see, mysteries are my favorite. Many of these are not like Louise Penny's writing, but they are not horror or gruesome, either. I have lots more authors on my list with new ones always being added. My husband used to claim to worry because I know so many ways to kill people.

I started The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks the other day. So far it has failed to impress me. It's starting out with the bitter ex-wife more or less stalking the ex-husband and his new love (soon to be wife). If that's the whole story then I'm not interested. But I'll give it a bit longer and see if it improves.

Donna

It rained all afternoon, and I read all afternoon to finish The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton. It is a page turner mystery where a policewoman goes to a funeral back in the town where as a young officer she was instrumental in the arrest of a man convicted and who served a life sentence for terrible crimes that still need answers.

I'm reading "A Turn in the South" by V.S. Naipaul. The author is of Indian ancestry, raised in Trinidad, educated in England. In this work he travels through the American South, exploring Atlanta, Alabama, Mississippi, Nashville,Charleston, and North Carolina. It's a bit dated, having been written in the late 70's. Still, I consider it a worthwhile read. as it is always interesting to hear the opinions of my country as seen through the eyes of a non-American.

I finished reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I really loved this book. It was such a nice surprise. It's about a young woman who lives alone and barely any outside contact with the world until she and a coworker together assist an elderly man they find unconscious on the street outside their office. This event leads to a series of experiences in which Eleanor is forced to interact more with the world. The book is full of humor and heart. However, in spite of that, I think those who do not like reading about dysfunctional families might want to avoid this book. For others, I definitely recommend it.

Kathy.... :0))....I enjoyed it too. Although Eleanor is a very disturbed woman she is totally endearing . I loaned it to a friend who is a psychologist and she didn't care for it....too much like work for her .

Have you read Where'd You Go Bernadette?

Yoyobon - Yes, I've read Where'd You Go Bernadette. Same type of humor. I liked that one very much too. And you know, one of my favorite TV shows was (still is) Monk. Same idea.

Kathy, I will have to read Eleanor Oliphant. I just finished Bernadette last week and loved it, and I was a big fan of the show Monk.

Donna

Donna - Eleanor might make a good airplane/cruise ship book. Just sayin' ...

Haha, Kathy! I'll have to see if I can get it. Though I already have a virtual stack of ebooks and audio books for the trip.

Donna

It looks like I need to catch up here. I finished CJ Box's newest Joe Pickett novel called Wolf Pack. I liked it very much. Then I remembered I have a book club in a few weeks so I read that before I let it get away from me. It was Love Anthony by Lisa Genova. I had read this when it was first published but couldn't really remember much about it. Certainly was powerful and well done. Next up was If I Forget You by Christopher Thomas Greene. He's one of our local authors and I recently viewed an archived video of him speaking at our Library for our Authors at the Aldrich program. He read a couple of lengthy excerpts from this book, which was his new release at the time. (2016) This was a wonderful book - I really like his writing. I know I have at least one more of his hiding in one of the bookcases that I'll have to find. Then I read Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan. A very short book and a fast read and I loved it all out of proportion. It seemed so genuine to me. I have other Stewart O'Nan books lurking around here somewhere. I have nothing picked out for the next book yet. The best news? The weather is finally good, so porch time!

My DD and S-in-L took a 'break' to NYC earlier in the year and brought me back a copy of 97 Orchard 'an edible history of 5 immigrant families in one New York Tenement' by Jane Ziegelman.

The sort of book you can pop into and out of now and again.

I'm only about halfway through but finding out much about the Jewish community in the Lower East Side and how their eating patterns were formed by a mixture of where they had come from in Europe and the American traditions they met once they had crossed the Atlantic.

Of course what Ms Ziegelman knows about the actual inhabitants of this neighbourhood has been gleaned from census returns, rate books etc. These people didn't leave memoirs, write notes or recipes and as soon as the husbands got a better paying job they upped sticks and moved to a more prosperous area. So the families were always at the 'bottom of the honest heap'

It appears that many of the Jewish community were eager to 'conform' to US working practices, some of them changed their Sabbath to a Sunday and started cooking shell fish and pig/pork, in its many forms.

Much info on German/Polish/ Lithuanian bread making, but only a little about the Irish influence, possibly because it was not much different from what was being eaten in England and therefore by the earlier 'settlers' to the City.

The only negative thing about the book is the very pale ink used and the close small print. It makes reading for long rather a chore!

I forgot to mention that I also received my first issue of Bookmarks magazine. Now I feel all worldly and sophisticated. Tra-la!

skibby......." for everyone who hasn't read everything " Love it !

I just ordered a copy of Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald which was just released this month. It has super reviews. I'm eager to read it !

Yoyobon and Skibby - I'm curious about the "for everyone who hasn't read everything" quote. I can't find it. Am I missing something?

Well, that's clever. (I've never seen an issue.)

I'm halfway through The Devil's Feast by M. J. Carter. Set in 1800s London, random clientele of a topnotch men's club are being poisoned just before a banquet for the Prince of Egypt being prepared at the request of Lord Palmerston. It makes you hungry reading the menus, but most of the vegetables seem to be turnips and peas. Haven't seen a thing about kale so far.

Buddha's Brain alternating with the Ruth Reichl book.