This Week’s Blog Posts:
The high of the week was Earthly Delights, a Corinna Chapman murder mystery by Australian author Kerry Greenwood. A fully-realized fat protagonist who owns a bread shop gets tangled up with victims of drug addiction, a witch, a wanna-be vampire, a dominatrix, and a former Israeli soldier. And cats. Corinna loves her some cats.
The low was the second Corinna Chapman mystery, Heavenly Pleasures. A chocolate shop is being sabotaged, a polygamist cult leader is in jail, a kitten goes missing, and a new neighbor in the apartment building is reclusive. Repetitive, slow, and too much focus on how handsome and perfect-looking the former Israeli soldier is.
Next Week’s Blog Posts:
Tuesday will bring four mini reviews of audio books I listened to, some to the end, some not. My commute is just long enough that I’ve enjoyed having a story going in the car, and I’m ever more aware of how important the right voice actor is.
Friday’s post will be a full review of the novella World’s End by Joan D. Vinge. The follow-up to The Snow Queen, World’s End was a hard-to-put down science fiction story that dances with fantasy, but it’s all an illusion.
Book I’m Reading Aloud to My Spouse:
Okay, all the dust has settled. The Page household did continue with David Copperfield, with one trick to move us along: we each read two chapters on our own before I started reading aloud to my spouse again. This jumped us ahead a bit and got us out of what felt like a rut. Now, things are moving along smoothly, reading-wise. Story-wise, tragedy strikes poor David again and again. The ol’ sucker punch of life!
Kitty also loves David Copperfield.
Books Added to the TBR Pile:
Thank you to Wendi, Renny, and NPR for their recommendations!
Grab the Lapels 
It’s such a shame when a series starts strong then falls by the wayside 😕
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Glad I could give you a recommendation! (Even though I haven’t even read it. Still!) And oh man, I got so many good recommendations from that NPR list of funny books too, including You’ll Grow Out of It. I’m not a fiction reader anymore but I’m kind of tempted by French Exit…I love the topic and the oddball, absurdist-sounding style, it does sound really funny. I’ll look forward to hearing what you think of it. The cover is also weirdly appealing. I love a cranky-looking cat. Your cat is adorable, by the way!
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Kitty loves books — what can I say! LoL. I have so many pictures of my cat on books it’s just pitiful (of me, not her). I added French Exit because I did not realize that it describes something I do: leaving a party without saying goodbye. I could go into all the reasons I do it, but I’m mostly pleased I now have a fancy name for my actions!
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That was a new one for me too, I’d never heard of a French exit but I love that there’s a fancy name for it!
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What We Talk About When We Talk About Books sounds interesting. Would love to know what you think of it.
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I’m pumped to read it because I know that the way we read has changed thanks to the internet (such as reading in an “F” pattern), but I’ve never read anything about how the internet and social media has changed our relationship to fiction.
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Looking forward to your audio mini reviews. I refrained from reading much this weekend to write a few reviews but still need to fine tune them. So glad things are back on track with Copperfield 😉
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Little Em’ly ran off with that dang Steerforth and Mr. Barkis died! Pitiful two chapters, though the action makes for more enjoyable reading.
Do you listen to many audiobooks? I’ve come to rely on them for my commute. The driving is crazy here, so they make me less stressed in addition to me getting a story.
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I usually have at least one audiobook going! I like having them while commuting or shopping.
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I’ve discovered that an audiobook while grocery shopping makes a HUGE difference. Anyone who is mad is just a face instead of a shouty voice. People in Indiana are AGGRESSIVE.
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This had happened to me several times that I’ve been so engrossed in my audiobook that friends have seen me shopping but I didn’t even see them until I saw someone waving frantically at me – in my peripheral I said wow that person is crazy and then realized I had as crazy because I know them and made them look that way so that makes me crazy too I guess 🤣
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We all go a little mad sometimes…in the grocery store especially!
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I agree about Corinna’s Israeli soldier – and I’m not sure he’s former, there’s some connection with Mossad in later stories. And French Exit – I rarely go to parties but the idea I should tell someone I’m leaving had never occurred to me.
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Ha! When I want to leave a party, it hits me like a bag of bricks. Then, the idea of finding someone, small talking for ages, then saying what a great time I had — all before I can leave — sends me into a panic. I’ll do a French Exit and then send a nice plant the next day as a thank you. Mamma raised me right.
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I really enjoyed French Exit, hope it works for you too.
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Did you review it? I don’t remember! Please send me a link if you did.
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I did a super-mini-review here: https://bigreadinglife.wordpress.com/2019/03/02/what-ive-been-reading-lately/
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Turns out, I did read that post. And I forgot that DeWitt wrote The Sisters Brothers!
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Ohhh I loved French Exit! Also, I just realized how sexual that cover is for heavenly pleasures! Wowza.
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Yes, it’s very….oral.
I can’t believe everyone read French Exit and I didn’t notice! I’m behind the game.
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