Adrienne from Some of a Kind is the lovely host of this party. Pop on over to her house to see what everyone has been reading this past month.
For 2012, Adrienne has thrown down the challenge to read a book each month that is part of a sequel or series. Any one you choose, no limitations there. For January I choose to read An Absence So Great by Jane Kirkpatrick. This is the sequel to A Flickering Light which I reviewed back in December.
An Absence So Great by Jane KirkpatrickMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another wonderful book by one of my favorite authors! An Absence So Great carries on where A Flickering Light left off in the life of Jane's grandmother, Jessie Gaebele. Jessie is now eighteen and living and working in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has gone away from her family and hometown of Winona, Minnesota as a punishment to herself for the longing of a married, much older man; her boss and mentor Fred J. Bauer. In Milwaukee, Jessie is working for Suzanne Johnson, a woman who has lost her husband so is now running his photography studio. She is living with the Harms family who are actually relatives of Mr. Bauer and in the course of time it comes out that Mr. Bauer is paying them for Jessie's room and board. She does not at all want this support, so begins to take photographs at the local dances in order to tuck away enough money to pay Mr. Bauer back and be once again out of his debt. When word gets to Jessie that one of the studio's in Winona is up for sale, she goes back home only for a short visit to approach the bank manager for a loan to secure the studio. Turned down on the basis that she is a woman, Jessie instead goes to work for this same studio to prove her abilities to the owner. She does so and the banker has a change of heart and gives her the loan. But all is well only for awhile and circumstances have Jessie once again leaving her family and hometown for the wide open prairies of North Dakota. Will painful memories ever leave Jessie behind? Will she come to terms with the pullings of her own heart?
Another historical novel beautifully written. Jessie Gaebele will grab your heart.
View all my reviews
I got a couple of very fun books for Christmas, including The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer. Read on...
The Unfinished Clue by Georgette HeyerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I haven't read a murder/mystery in a long time but I got this for Christmas and dug right in. I completely enjoyed it! Set in the English countryside mansion of Sir Arthur Billington-Smith, guests have assembled for a week-end get together and they are a strange combination of guests! Sir Arthur himself is a tyrant with a penchance for yelling at his young wife, Fay. He has invited Basil and Camilla Halliday as he is expecting a fun weekend flirtation with the pretty, and money-grubbing, Camilla. Fay has invited Stephen Guest, a man who is in love with her and patiently waiting for her to decide to divorce her over-bearing husband. Sir Arthur's son Geoffrey, from his first marriage, is coming for the weekend and bringing his fiance', the beautiful cabaret dancer La Lola de Silva. His father is horrified by the match. Geoffrey is a writer whose father has never had any love for anyway and this engagement intensifies that feeling. Fay has invited her sister, Dinah Fawcett, to join them as a buffer between her and her husband. Sir Arthur's nephew, Captain Francis Billington-Smith shows up unannounced, needing to ask a favor of his wealthy uncle. Also invited to dinner is the town Vicar and his wife along with Mrs. Twining, a neighbor widow whom Sir Arthur has known for many many years.
The dynamics of this group is crazy and it is a thunderous weekend indeed with Sir Arthur in a rage most of the time. By Monday luncheon, the tyrant is dead - stabbed in his own study. In comes Inspector Harding of Scotland Yard to try and sort out the mess. I thought I had it figured out from the get-go, but that twist at the end got me and I was wrong!
What a fun book and a light read that I really needed! Very Murder She Wrote-ish.
View all my reviews
There you have my contribution to this month's reading frenzy. Right now I'm spending my reading time in a bakery in Colorado Springs. Where is your reading taking you this month?
2 comments:
An Absence So great was a very good book.
I do like a good murder mystery now and then.
I'm reading "The Winter Sea" right now.
Ack! It's taken me too long to get over here. Two very different books - it's nice to mix it up sometimes! I'll have to check them out. Glad you could join in this mth!
Post a Comment