I read the third book in the series early last month and since I enjoyed it, I figured I’d go back and read the first two.
Lowcountry Boil was pretty good. Not as good as book three but not bad. I’m still looking forward to the second book in the series.
OK so I’m biased, I’ll just say that right up front. I’m a big fan of the Des Jardins family and this book was written by Julie Des Jardins. Also, I love Lillian Gilbreth. Not the Cheaper By the Dozen version — the real one. Yep, I’m biased. Whatever.
I loved Lillian Gilbreth: Redefining Domesticity and am just annoyed that it took me so long to read it.
The darn thing has been sitting on my desk for years!
She was a pretty amazing woman and her husband was pretty OK, himself. For a dude. 😉 Also, reading it made me spend a little time reminiscing about the Charleston News & Courier… I’d really forgotten that Frank Jr was the guy who wrote the “Doing the Charleston” column for all of my childhood.
And, I spent a good amount of time watching motion study videos and cursing the flow chart (which actually made sense at some point in life, just not now, lol.)
I can’t imagine what “work” would look like today if we hadn’t had the Gilbreth’s — Lillian in particular.
Lillian Gilbreth: Redefining Domesticity Read More »
I’m a Margaret Dilloway fan, which you know if you spend any time at all with me (in real life or in the virtual world) so you’re not surprised to know that Sisters of Heart and Snow was the book I most looked forward to reading during #readathon.
It did not let me down. Not one little bit.
I don’t always love books that weave the past into the present but Margaret Dilloway did it beautifully with this book. I enjoyed the story of Rachel and Drew just as much as I enjoyed the one of Tomoe and Yamabuki.
Sisters of Heart and Snow Read More »
Poop. I enjoyed Mrs Lincoln’s Dressmaker so I thought I’d probably enjoy Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule — and I did. Sort of. Mostly. Until the end.
It was more a story about the Grants, which I enjoyed, and less about Julia Grant and her relationship with her slave — particularly once Jule ran. And I waited and waited and waited for the two women to come back together and it never freaking happened. SO annoying.
Maybe it never happened. They really did never speak to each other again. But since there’s apparently so little written about it, and this was definitely a work of fiction, you’d think…
Whatevs. I’m trying to let it go. Moving on. Grrrr.
Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule Read More »
TW got Lowcountry Boneyard from Erica at Wild Iris when we were in Gainesville in February. It’s an advance review copy so I’m guessing she had just gotten it at the bookstore conference thing she’d been at right before we came to visit.
It’s the third book in a mystery series set in Charleston (and also in Greenville, oddly enough.) I often find myself picking apart books based in Charleston because they get things wrong and it bugs me. I thought that was going to happen with this one because the protagonist lives on a fake island and that should have bugged me. Turns out, it was a smart move. I can’t pick apart fake islands, heh. And, she got the important things right about Charleston and then made up some other stuff and it all worked for me.
Even the ghost part.
I liked it enough that I reserved the first book in the series and am looking forward to reading it during #readathon in a couple of weeks.
Lowcountry Boneyard Read More »
I should have looked more closely at Men Explain Things To Me since I assumed it was a bunch of essays about, you know, men explaining things to women. It wasn’t. A whole bunch of feminist essays loosely tied to men explaining things (as feminist essays often are) and while the essays were mostly fine, they weren’t really what I was hoping to read at that moment.
Men Explain Things To Me Read More »
I impulsed selected Alice + Freda Forever because I liked the font on the cover. I was also interested in reading more about this case. I’ve heard about it in passing but knew very little about it, really.
It was interesting. A little dry considering the subject matter. There was a lot of crazy going on back in the late 1800s and it wasn’t all just the Alice kind of crazy. Just sayin’.
Alice + Freda Forever Read More »
One of our favorite series to listen to on audio is The #1 Ladies Detective Agency Series. We absolutely love them and The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Cafe was excellent.
I particularly enjoyed that Charlie plays a prominent role in this story and I think maybe he grows up just a wee bit more in the process. I think Mma Makutsi might have grown up a little bit, too…
The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Cafe Read More »
I would very much like to know how I found Hell on Wheels, since it’s like the 9th book in the series, it seems somewhat unlikely that I reserved it based on a series recommendation. Maybe I just picked it up from the new arrivals shelf? I don’t know but I loved it.
I really like Odelia Grey. I like the body positive female sleuth. I like her paraplegic husband. I like pretty much everything about it and will have to go back and read the whole series.
Thank goodness for audiobooks! Without them, my books read this month count would be horrid. Oh wait, it will still be horrid but at least the audiobooks helped. Also, they were great books.
Sarah Addison Allen’s First Frost was terrific. It took me awhile to remember who all of the Waverlys were and how they were connected and what their magics were but I very much enjoyed it. Great book for a road trip.
Next, Anita Diamond’s Boston Girl (read by Linda Lavin!) was excellent and an even better book for a road trip. I wish it had been a little longer, with a few more stories about Addy as wife/mother but I’m not really complaining.
Two Awesome Audiobooks Read More »