Heart of the World, by Linda Barnes.
In this outing, Carlotta Carlyle's Little Sister Paolina has been kidnapped. Carlotta is accustomed to finding missing kids for other people. Being the person whose child is missing
(Carlotta's relationship with Paolina is complicated: mother-daughter, older sister-younger sister?) is a totally new experience. Paolina's mother seems unconcerned, saying she believes Paolina ran off to be with her father, a sometime Colombian drug lord.
Carlotta does find evidence of Paolina being taken to Colombia, and goes there herself.
This book is a little different from the usual Carlotta Carlyle novel, in that most of the story takes place in Colombia, rather than in Boston. We see Carlotta not as a professional investigator, but as a desperate person trying to find a missing loved one.
A gripping story, with some great character development.
Next up: Lisa Scottoline's Dirty Blonde.
30 May 2006
25 May 2006
24 May 2006
Experiment - garden pictures
When I went to plant marigolds last weekend,
I found some already there.
One of the new roses we bought this year --
called Trumpeter.
23 May 2006
Just finished reading....
Jennifer Apocaca's Thrilled to Death: A Samantha Shaw Mystery
This was kind of a fun read. In this book, the fifth in the series, Sam and Gabe are "combining" their businesses. Gabe is moving his P.I. office next door to Sam's matchmaking service "Heart Mates". They've torn down the wall between the two spaces and Sam is working on getting her P.I. license.
Meanwhile, a protege of Sam's magician grandfather comes to town. Barney mentored Shane Masters, who is now a well-known performer whose shtick is revealing the secrets of magicians in his "spoiler" shows. Barney is not happy about Masters' visit, and when someone threatens to kill the visiting magician, he accuses Sam's grandfather.
This is light, enjoyable mystery. The characters are sympathetic, and it's easy to get drawn into the story.
Next up: Heart of the World by Linda Barnes.
This was kind of a fun read. In this book, the fifth in the series, Sam and Gabe are "combining" their businesses. Gabe is moving his P.I. office next door to Sam's matchmaking service "Heart Mates". They've torn down the wall between the two spaces and Sam is working on getting her P.I. license.
Meanwhile, a protege of Sam's magician grandfather comes to town. Barney mentored Shane Masters, who is now a well-known performer whose shtick is revealing the secrets of magicians in his "spoiler" shows. Barney is not happy about Masters' visit, and when someone threatens to kill the visiting magician, he accuses Sam's grandfather.
This is light, enjoyable mystery. The characters are sympathetic, and it's easy to get drawn into the story.
Next up: Heart of the World by Linda Barnes.
22 May 2006
Cultural whiplash?
At least that's what Tod called it.
On Saturday night we went to Disney Hall for our last LA Phil concert of the season.
We preceeded the concert with a meal at LA Prime, a fancy-shmancy steakhouse at the top of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown LA. Thence to Disney Hall, where we heard Salonen conduct Beethoven's Symphony #8, followed by the world premiere of a work by Anders Hillborg called Eleven Gates. I didn't like it much. Too much monotonous wailing by the strings with a little bit of percussion thrown in. It made me dizzy. After the intermission, they did Beethoven's Fifth which is one of my favourites. They may have been recording it for iTunes, but I'm not sure if they actually did, because someone's hearing aid was making a high-pitched whistling noise throughout the first movement.
Last night, we went to see the Edmonton Oilers play the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at the Arrowhead Pond. It was the 2nd game of the Campbell Cup finals. Edmonton had won the first game, 3-1. Before the game we had a sandwich and chips from one of the stalls in the stadium.
I really was torn about which team to cheer for. Edmonton is, after all, my hometown. The Oilers haven't come this far in the playoffs in 14 (?) years. It would be really cool if they won.
On the other hand, Anaheim is 20 minutes from my house. If the Ducks win the series, then we'd have the possibility of going to a Stanley Cup final game, which would also be pretty darned cool.
Just outside the Stadium, I purchased a Ducks' jersey. I was hoping to find some Oilers' swag for sale and buy a cap, but of course there wasn't any available at the Pond. D'uh.
Chatted with a couple of guys who'd come down from Edmonton for the game. They looked a little askance at my Ducks' jersey, but I explained that that I was "incognito" and was planning on cheering for Edmonton.
I did. Cheer for Edmonton, that is. But I also cheered for Anaheim. Edmonton won, 3-1. I think I'll probably cheer for both teams during the rest of the series, too.
Hey, I just might have an opportunity to go to a Stanley Cup game!
On Saturday night we went to Disney Hall for our last LA Phil concert of the season.
We preceeded the concert with a meal at LA Prime, a fancy-shmancy steakhouse at the top of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown LA. Thence to Disney Hall, where we heard Salonen conduct Beethoven's Symphony #8, followed by the world premiere of a work by Anders Hillborg called Eleven Gates. I didn't like it much. Too much monotonous wailing by the strings with a little bit of percussion thrown in. It made me dizzy. After the intermission, they did Beethoven's Fifth which is one of my favourites. They may have been recording it for iTunes, but I'm not sure if they actually did, because someone's hearing aid was making a high-pitched whistling noise throughout the first movement.
Last night, we went to see the Edmonton Oilers play the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at the Arrowhead Pond. It was the 2nd game of the Campbell Cup finals. Edmonton had won the first game, 3-1. Before the game we had a sandwich and chips from one of the stalls in the stadium.
I really was torn about which team to cheer for. Edmonton is, after all, my hometown. The Oilers haven't come this far in the playoffs in 14 (?) years. It would be really cool if they won.
On the other hand, Anaheim is 20 minutes from my house. If the Ducks win the series, then we'd have the possibility of going to a Stanley Cup final game, which would also be pretty darned cool.
Just outside the Stadium, I purchased a Ducks' jersey. I was hoping to find some Oilers' swag for sale and buy a cap, but of course there wasn't any available at the Pond. D'uh.
Chatted with a couple of guys who'd come down from Edmonton for the game. They looked a little askance at my Ducks' jersey, but I explained that that I was "incognito" and was planning on cheering for Edmonton.
I did. Cheer for Edmonton, that is. But I also cheered for Anaheim. Edmonton won, 3-1. I think I'll probably cheer for both teams during the rest of the series, too.
Hey, I just might have an opportunity to go to a Stanley Cup game!
17 May 2006
Just finished reading...
Kate White's If Looks Could Kill
Bailey Weggins is a freelance writer, mostly for a women's magazine called Gloss. Early one Sunday morning, Cat Jones, the magazine's editor, calls, sounding very upset, and asks her to come over. Since Bailey has known Cat for several years and considers her a friend, she agrees.
It turns out that Cat's nanny is not answering her door, although the lights are on and she is supposed to be at home. Cat convinces Bailey to go into the room, and Bailey finds the nanny's dead body. Saying that Bailey is the only person she can trust, Cat asks her to look into the death, stressing that Bailey, as an investigative reporter, has the skills to do so. Bailey reluctantly agrees, but the more she investigates, the more interested she becomes in the case.
Thanks to Diana Killian for turning me on to this book. It's very well-written, and really hard to put down. Plus, the puzzle is almost impossible to figure out until the last chapter.
Bailey Weggins is a freelance writer, mostly for a women's magazine called Gloss. Early one Sunday morning, Cat Jones, the magazine's editor, calls, sounding very upset, and asks her to come over. Since Bailey has known Cat for several years and considers her a friend, she agrees.
It turns out that Cat's nanny is not answering her door, although the lights are on and she is supposed to be at home. Cat convinces Bailey to go into the room, and Bailey finds the nanny's dead body. Saying that Bailey is the only person she can trust, Cat asks her to look into the death, stressing that Bailey, as an investigative reporter, has the skills to do so. Bailey reluctantly agrees, but the more she investigates, the more interested she becomes in the case.
Thanks to Diana Killian for turning me on to this book. It's very well-written, and really hard to put down. Plus, the puzzle is almost impossible to figure out until the last chapter.
12 May 2006
Mother's Day
Katy is leaving tonight to spend the weekend at a Ren Faire, with her mother, and Sean will be joining them on Sunday, so I won't be seeing them.
Thursday nights are usually family dinner nights at our house. Last night was one of them.
Imagine my surprise when Sean showed up with a card and gift for me. Seems he and Katy had conspired with Tod to make sure dinner would be happening so that they could give me a Mother's day present: a card that's sweet but not too
mushy, and a photo album for our Ireland trip.
Since each of us has a digital camera, we'll be taking lots of pictures, and they thought we should have a special album for them.
Katy said that though I'm not their biological mother, I'm certainly a "mother-like" figure.
Three years ago, these kids weren't sure if they wanted to be in the same room as I. Things certainly have changed. Thank goodness!
04 May 2006
Just Finished Reading....
Randall Hicks' The Baby Game.
Our hero is a young attorney/tennis pro named Toby Dillon. Since kindergarten, he has been best friends with Brogan Barlow and Rita MacGilroy, who are now married and Hollywood stars. They have asked Toby, who declined to work in his father's large law firm so that he could abide by his principles, to help them arrange a private adoption. Unfortunately, after the child is born, the baby is kidnapped and the birth mother disappears.
Toby tries to investigate on his own while cooperating with the police at the same time, and finds himself breaking a few little laws in the process. He also finds out a lot of information about his best friends that he's not sure he wants to know.
This is a quick, enjoyable read, and one can certainly imagine a movie coming from it. The sequel, Baby Crimes, is supposed to be due in June 2006, though it doesn't show up on amazon.com yet.
Our hero is a young attorney/tennis pro named Toby Dillon. Since kindergarten, he has been best friends with Brogan Barlow and Rita MacGilroy, who are now married and Hollywood stars. They have asked Toby, who declined to work in his father's large law firm so that he could abide by his principles, to help them arrange a private adoption. Unfortunately, after the child is born, the baby is kidnapped and the birth mother disappears.
Toby tries to investigate on his own while cooperating with the police at the same time, and finds himself breaking a few little laws in the process. He also finds out a lot of information about his best friends that he's not sure he wants to know.
This is a quick, enjoyable read, and one can certainly imagine a movie coming from it. The sequel, Baby Crimes, is supposed to be due in June 2006, though it doesn't show up on amazon.com yet.
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
My husband and I went to the LA Times Book Fest last Saturday morning. What a great time! We like to walk around the grounds and visit the booths, perhaps meet some authors. He's a reader, too, and we stop at many of the booths just to see what's interesting. The travel bookstores, for example, or the progressives ones like Mother Jones' Almanac (which we got a subscription to, btw).
This is also where my husband indulges my passion for mystery novels. We always vist the mystery bookstore booths (Mysterious Galaxy, Book 'em, The Mystery Bookstore), sometimes more than once, to see some of my favourite people in the world: mystery writers. I bought a book from Hailey Linds. Didn't buy a book from Jerrilyn Farmer, Diana Killian, or Nathan Walpow, becuase I've already read all their books. Diana sent me a signed copy of her latest Sonnet of the Sphinx just a few weeks ago. Jerrilyn's next book won't be out till next year, unfortunately.
The artwork was done by children's author/illustrator Marie-Louise Gay, and it's so delightful I had to buy a t-shirt. (Swag is still available through the Book Fest website.)
03 May 2006
Just Finished Reading...
... Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart (sequel to Haunted Ground).
It's one of those books that is so good you want to rush through it, but at the same time read slowly and savor. Nora Gavin, a pathologist, is called to Loughnabrone in County Offaly, to examine a body found in a bog. But other bodies, killed in the same ritual way that the ancient body was, start appearing around the site. The relationship between Nora and archeologist Cormac Maguire, which began in the first book, has developed further. Interesting descriptions of life in the bog areas of Ireland, with lots of historical and archaeological information give a real sense of place. I'm looking forward to another Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire mystery.
Next up: The Baby Game by Randall Hicks.
It's one of those books that is so good you want to rush through it, but at the same time read slowly and savor. Nora Gavin, a pathologist, is called to Loughnabrone in County Offaly, to examine a body found in a bog. But other bodies, killed in the same ritual way that the ancient body was, start appearing around the site. The relationship between Nora and archeologist Cormac Maguire, which began in the first book, has developed further. Interesting descriptions of life in the bog areas of Ireland, with lots of historical and archaeological information give a real sense of place. I'm looking forward to another Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire mystery.
Next up: The Baby Game by Randall Hicks.
Greetings
This is an experiment; don't know how long I'll keep it up. I dont' know how many times I've started a (paper) journal, only to give up after a few weeks because I forget or just don't have time.I'm planning a June vacation to Ireland with my family: my husband, 21-year-old daughter and 23-year-old son. Unfortunately, we can't take our very spoiled feline along. He's an indoor cat; the only time he goes out is to go to the vet. We think he's associated leaving the house with pain (needles, having body parts removed), and so far he hasn't expressed any interest in going outside.
Anyway, back to Ireland. I'm hoping to keep up a journal while I'm there; we're planning on taking our laptops with us. Don't know how many of the BnBs we're staying at will have internet access, but I can always type into a word document and post when I'm able.
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