Friday 5ive- February 28, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention during the week. I can't believe we are at the end of February, the second month of the year. Where has the time gone?


1) It was a beautiful, sunny day on Sunday so my husband and I took a walk through Central Park. At the entrance to the park, we saw this man walking his dogs. He must have a very large apartment on Fifth Ave.

2) Lent began this week and this window display at Scully & Scully is all ready for Easter.

3)  Susan Elia MacNeal's newest Maggie Hope mystery published, The King's Justice, and she had a discussion of the book at The Community Bookstore in Park Slope. A friend and I made the trek to Brooklyn to hear all about this terrific novel in the series (my review here). If you like the Maisie Dobbs or Bess Crawford series, or the Netflix series The Crown, this is for you. I love to hear about the research that goes into historical novels.

Me and author Susan Elia MacNeal

4)  My new TV obsession is the comedy Schitt's Creek. Created by Dan Levy, it tells the story of an obscenely wealthy family, the Roses, who lose their fortune. When the government confiscates everything they own, the only thing they have left is a small town called Schitt's Creek. The four Roses- businessman father Johnny (played by Eugene Levy, Dan's dad), former soap opera actress Moira (Catherine O'Hara), and their adult children David (Dan Levy) and daughter Alexis (Annie Murphy)- reluctantly move to the town and take up residence in the local motel. The small town characters are wonderfully cast as well (Chris Elliot is the town mayor) and the writing and performances are brilliant. I remember Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara from Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV, and it's great to see them back together. If you aren't watching Schitt's Creek, catch up now on Netflix or Pop TV.

Schitt's Creek

5) I read one book and am in the middle of two others this week. Bruce Daisley's East Sleep Work Repeat - 30 Hacks for Bringing Joy to Your Job has some great tips for both employers and employees on getting more out of your job and being happier and less stressed at work. A full review will follow next week.

East Sleep Work Repeat

I'm in the middle of Saint X, a debut novel by Alexis Schaitkin. It tells the story of a young American college woman who is murdered while on vacation with her family in the Caribbean. Years later her younger sister runs into one of the men accused but not charged with the murder and begins to follow him everyday. It's based on the Natalee Holloway case, and so far (about 1/3 of the way through) it's really very good. I can't wait to get to the end.

Saint X

I also just started Alka Joshi's novel, The Henna Artist. Set in India just after their independence from Great Britain, we learn about Lakshmi, henna artist to many wealthy Indian women. Lakshmi wants to become a matchmaker so she can realize her dream of owning her own home and bringing her parents there to live. It's a very atmospheric book, you feel like you have been dropped into India, with all the sights and sounds. You can almost taste the delicious foods described. My review will publish in the next few weeks.

The Henna Artist