Friday, October 18, 2013

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
Alexander McCall Smith
In the second book of The Sunday Philosophy Club series, Alexander McCall Smith takes us on another journey with Isabel Dalhousie.  While running her niece's delicatessen, she meets and man who is haunted by memories not his own since his heart transplant... this she must help him to understand....  All the while she is involved in her own thoughts about love and friendship and other complications.

Another delightful read!!!


Sunday Philosophy Club Series:
  • The Sunday Philosophy Club (2004)
  • Friends, Lovers and Chocolate (2005)
  • The Right Attitude to Rain (2006)
  • The Careful Use of Compliments (2007)
  • The Comfort of Saturdays (2008)
  • The Lost Art of Gratitude (2009)
  • The Charming Quirks of Others (2010)
  • The Forgotten Affairs of Youth (2011)
  • The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds (2012)


The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith

The Sunday Philosophy Club
Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith brings his energetic and delightful writing (No 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series) to an entirely different setting in Scotland with charming Isabel Dalhousie.  Far from Botswana, he creates another great female character to journey with.

Isabel is the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics... a pursuit which brings her to apply her sense of ethical right and wrong to amateur sleuthing!  At a concert, she catches the eye of man tumbling to his death from the balcony and it sure there is something more than a fall....

It is an interesting journey through the genteel homes and lives of Edinburgh.

A delightful read!!  I will look forward to continuing the series!

Sunday Philosophy Club Series:
  • The Sunday Philosophy Club (2004)
  • Friends, Lovers and Chocolate (2005)
  • The Right Attitude to Rain (2006)
  • The Careful Use of Compliments (2007)
  • The Comfort of Saturdays (2008)
  • The Lost Art of Gratitude (2009)
  • The Charming Quirks of Others (2010)
  • The Forgotten Affairs of Youth (2011)
  • The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds (2012)

Steps to the Altar by Earlene Fowler

Steps to the Altar
Earlene Fowler

Earlene Fowler has an easy to read style of writing.  I had never read her before and picked up a copy in remainders - a signed copy, too....  and, I enjoyed her writing.  Of course, this is part of a series and I was completely out of order.... in fact, it is number 9 in the series... the problem with series books!

While the book can stand alone, there are some character quirks that make it a bit confusing without having read the previous eight books!

It is a good read.  It takes place in a central California coastal  town.  Her descriptions of the area and the people are wonderfully accurate.

I wouldn't mind reading this series in order... and from the beginning!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Alice's Drive by Alice Ramsey

Alice's Drive
by Alice Ramsey
Republishing Veil, Duster, and Tire Iron
Annotation and "Chasing Alice" by
Gregory M Franzwa

Alice Ramsey was the first woman to drive across the continental United States in an automobile!
In 1909, with three women passengers, she left Manhattan on June 9 and arrived in San Francisco on August 7.  

In the mid-1960s, Alice Ramsey was our neighbor.  I remember some of her stories.  She had a great influence on me at a young age.  Over the years, I have often thought about Mrs. Ramsey.  I could never afford her book, though I was anxious to read it.  I was thrilled to discover that her book - long out of print and cost prohibitive if found - had been reprinted.

What a charming telling of a long and difficult trip.  Very few of the roads were paved or much more than a cow path.  The weather was uncooperative and the rain gave her many challenges.  She was a driver, navigator, mechanic and story teller.  What a treat this book is!

At the end of the book, Mr. Franzwa traces the route in modern terms... what a great companion to the original.  I wrote to thank Mr Franzwa, only to discover that he had passed away.... Thank you, Mr Franzwa!!!



Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff


Q's Legacy
by Helene Hanff

A magnificent autobiography about the journey to 84 Charing Cross Road - the bookseller, the writing of the book and the experiences that this connection brought Ms. Hanff.

Helene Hanff found a book of lectures by Cambridge don, Air Arthur Quiller-Couch --- Q's legacy was for her to search for the books he refers to in his lectures.  We travel this road with her through good times and bad - through good jobs and bad.  Ms Hanff's incredible character explodes in her own words.  By the end, you are quite sure that you actually know this person.

It is a particularly remarkable read if you have read and loved 84 Charing Cross Road.  And, if you did, you will find the story of Marks and Co touching you in a new way...



84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff


84 Charing Cross Road
by Helene Hanff

What a beautifully written book! This is a very short book and very quick to read... though you might find yourself going backwards to reread the beauty of the language.

This is the true story of a woman and her relationship with a bookseller.  Separated by the Atlantic ocean, the communication depends upon letters from both parties and a mutual trust to honor payment for books sent without question.  A different time in the world.

The correspondence occurs immediately post World War II,  Who knew how much worse things were in England post war than during the war?  You learn about the food shortages and food rationing. Relationships develop through the letters that are wonderful to peek into.

I also recommend the movie...  It is quite faithful to the book and brings the characters to life.

On Folly Beach by Karen White


On Folly Beach by Karen White

I picked up this book for a very odd reason... I had a friend who was dying of cancer and his favorite place was Folly Beach, South Carolina.  I bought the book to share with him.  I only read it while waiting for appointments... feeling that making it last would keep him alive longer... I think it even worked for a time.  I got up to the last few pages and set it aside - refusing to finish it until he died.

Having few, if any, expectations about the book, I was surprised by how coherent the story was and how memorable the characters.  I remembered the story whenever I went back to it.  This is doubly amazing because the books slipped back and forth between the present and the past.

The story winds into the past of a community controlled by the effects of World War II and into the broken heart of a 21st century war-widow.   The historical details about the years of WWII are wonderfully done.  They are then sprinkled with the richness of life in Folly, South Carolina.

To my surprise, this is a wonderful read.  It is a bit of a love story, but mostly historical fiction and intrigue.

Gidget by Frederick Kohner


Gidget by Frederick Kohner

I grew up in the Gidget age - and the coming of age of surfing.  I never knew, until recently, that Gidget was based on a real person - Kathy Kohner Zuckerman - and her experiences learning to surf and hanging out with the surf bums in 1956-1959!

The book is written by her father.  It is a fun book, but the slang is ancient and a bit stilted being written by an immigrant whose first language was not English....

It is fun to see the rise of the surf culture.  For those of us who grew up on the Pacific, it is a culture we know.  

What a culture grew up around Gidget ... movies and television, larger than life characters.