An absolutely delightful book-Counting My Chickens and other Home Thoughts by The Duchess of Devonshire. My cozy little used bookstore has a table at the very front where there put out off-beat or interesting-looking titles. I always stop there first and found this fun little book.

Chatsworth is the traditional home of the Dukes of Devonshire and under the Duchess's supervision it has become one of England's most fequently visited great houses with more than 400,000 visitors a year as of 2001 when the book was written. She has a very firm grasp on the rights as well as the responsibilities and burdens of those "privileged to own land". There is a fair amount of bemused frustration on her part about those who have no connection to the land whether it is farmland or fields or forests who think they know best how to care for them without taking any thought as to the science or art of keeping them in a usable and pleasing state. That forestry, including the cutting down of trees, is not vandalism but truly tending the land. As she puts it "In the 1970s, the Environment was invented."

She is also, a very funny writer, able to poke fun at herself and find funny situations in the most mundane of events. And she is acquainted with the likes of Tom Stoppard, Evelyn Waugh, John F Kennedy, and is the niece of Harold Wilson, a former Prime Minister. This was a very quick, easy, fun read and it's astonishing to find out that she had absolutely no formal education and very little informal education other than what she was interested in and picked up on her own.

Slowly, but surely working my way throught Michael Connelly. That sounds like I'm not enjoying them but, actually, I am, very much. As my daughter says, I have a fairly high "gore tolerance". And I guess I do-as long as it's fiction. I have no interest in true crime or slasher or horror. Also, I think I have it figured out that I like the after-the-fact trying to solve the puzzle and the relationships-work and personal. I don't like seeing the actual violence although showing and dealing with the aftermath doesn't bother me-CSI, House, ER (back when it was really a medical show and not a soap opera). I'm not sure what that says about me.

At any rate- Blood Work is pretty darn good. I was under the impression that Connelly only wrote one continuing character but that is obviously not true. This hero is Terell McCaleb, a retired FBI agent specializing in serial killers. He's retired because he has just had a heart transplant. The sister of the women whose heart he has has tracked him down and wants him to find her sister's killer-vehemently against doctor's orders.

Just a very short note today. The book is Playing for Pizza by John Grisham. Yes, that John Grisham, he of the legal thrillers. However, this one reads as if he was on vacation and was writing just for fun, just for himself, about something that just happened to catch his fancy. A very mediocre NFL quarterback finds himself in Italy playing for the Mighty Panthers of Parma. This is the story of his 9-month stay. Unfortunately, it is not very interesting, doesn't go into any depth or description of his experiences, and doesn't even have a definite wrap-up to what he's going to do next. The words used by the reviewers on the bookcover were lighthearted, winsome, delightfully comic, charming, etc. Oh well.

This post will be almost a duplicate of the last one.

Another book about a group of women who come together somewhat randomly and end up best friends. The Professor's Wives' Club by Joanne Rendell. Rendell has a Phd in literature and is married to a professor so I'm assuming that there is some accuracy in her writing about this environment. However, it didn't really feel any different than The Friday Night Knitting Club. And it's interesting that the cover has a quote by Kate Jacobs, author of that book. Maybe that's a telling point. There is a thread that runs through women's friendships that is similar no matter where or why they meet so that "women's" literature all starts to sound alike. Someone who loves this genre may get believe that I am belittling the style. That would not be true. I love murder mysteries but I would be the first to admit that there are more simlarities than dissimilarities between them. Just as someone who loves John Wayne movies can tell them apart and can recite all the nuances while someone else who recognizes John Wayne as a unique talent may still see them as all seeming to be so similar as to be "another John Wayne movie" rather than a particular movie with a title and specific plot.

The second book is Trunk Music by Michael Connelly. I'm still working my way through the set that mom gave me. This one goes back to Harry Bosch. The language is still pretty rough but it would not be possible to write this particular type of murder mystery without some reference to this type of language. And it's not used gratuitously. Connelly does a good job of allowing Bosch to be quite introspective. He frequently analyzes his emotions as well as his actions so that you come away feeling as if you are getting to know him. This book has a happy ending-his honeymoon in Hawaii.

Two books-very different, both fun.

There seems to be a plethora of books about cooking, knitting, women's groups, etc. This first book came from mom. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. It's a first novel by a women who worked for Redbook, Family Life,
and Working Woman. And it reads exactly like a continuing novel out of one of those magazines. That's not an insult-it's just a recognition of the style. It was actually a rather pleasant read. A woman finds herself pregnant and the father takes off. Through a series of misunderstandings, stubborness, and unwillingness to be hurt again she raises the child (who happens to be mixed race although that is almost a non-issue, hallallujah) on her own, building a successful yarn store business and gathering an assortment of other lonely and alone women friends. The man reenters her life (of course) and they rebuild their relationship. The twist at the end is that she has cancer and dies leaving her daughter and the business in the hands of the father, newly found extended family, as well as the friends. If you're looking for a "woman's read" this one was a satisfying as any other.

The other was actually a lot more fun. Opem and Shut by David Rosenfelt. This one was a randon pick by me in a used book store. That's a plug for used book stores everywhere-not the chains like Half Price books which I don't think are much of a deal but the honest to goodness community bookstores. The one in my hometown doesn't even waste money on a telephone, but then again it's a very small home town! This another first novel published in 2002 so I'm hoping there's another one out there by now. It's a lawyer book-Andy Carpenter. The refreshing thing about him is that he's young, witty, and claims an upbringing free of disfunction or undue grief, love for his parents and no left-over psychological issues to deal with. He's generally happy with life. He is coming to terms with a divorce but it doesn't seem to be leaving any nasty scars. A dying request from his father compels Andy to take on an appeal which has no hope of getting his client off of death row. Surprise!