bookchickdi: September 2022

Monday, September 26, 2022

The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor by Patricia Crisafulli

Reprinted from auburnpub.com:

Sometimes you read books that just speak to you at the right time in your life. This month’s Book Report has two such books.

The first is a cozy mystery by Patricia Crisafulli titled The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor. (A cozy mystery is a mystery that’s no blood or gore or anything too scary.) Gabriela is a 40 year-old divorced mom of ten year-old son Ben who moves back to her hometown of Ohnita Harbor from New York City after her divorce.

In New York City, Gabriela worked in Authentications at the New York Public Library. Back home in Ohnita Harbor, she works in the town library, which is the oldest library in the country still in its original building, called “the Fortress”.

Like most community libraries, it is struggling financially. Gabriela is organizing a rummage sale to raise funds and, with a group of volunteers, is wading through the mountain of donations. When they open up one box of donations, they discover an intriguing ivory cross that looks like like could be an antique worth a great deal of money.

Word gets out about the cross and many people are interested. The library maintenance man Mike seems overly curious, as does a local antique dealer who offers his assistance, and the head of the library board of directors becomes increasingly insistent that the cross be sold immediately before a true assessment can be made.

When a local banker and good friend of Gabriela’s is found dead in the harbor after seeing the cross, it is assumed she accidentally drowned. Soon after, a body is found dead on the library lawn. Is the cross cursed or is someone after the cross?

Gabriela uses her contacts to find out more about the cross, and discovers it may have belonged to St. Catherine of Siena, a medieval saint whose head is actually on display as a relic in the Duomo de Siena in Italy. If this cross belonged to St. Catherine, it could be worth enough to save the library.

There were many things that spoke to me about The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor. The setting is a stand-in for Oswego, the author’s hometown and where I attended college. I volunteer at The Book Cellar, a used bookstore located in a New York Public Library branch, and we get donations of books all day every day, so I totally related to Gabriela’s job.

I have visited the Duomo de Siena, and saw for myself the head of St. Catherine. Gabriela’s friend has a basset hound, and I used to have a beloved basset myself.

The characters in the book are interesting. Gabriela is described as “a truth teller”, perhaps a nice way of stating she says what she thinks whether people want to hear it or not. Her young son Ben is portrayed realistically; he can be sweet and kind, and then cranky and self-centered as many children his age are.

Gabriela’s mother Agnese is from Tuscany, and Gabriela is glad to be able to be back home to care for her mother after she was widowed and now has a health scare. Agnese’s Italian comes in handy when they need to speak to people in Siena.

The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor is a fascinating mystery, and the local setting will appeal to many who live in the area. I highly recommend it and am glad to see that there will be a second book in the series, The Secret of Still Waters Chasm, set in the Adirondacks.

The other book that spoke to me was the fourth in Laurie Gelman’s Class Mom series, Smells Like Tween Spirit. This time Jen Dixon’s tween son is on the wrestling team, which means Jen must become a wrestling mom and deal with a particularly unpleasant mom from a rival team.

Her adult daughters decide to quit their jobs and team up to start a health food cafe (without killing each other), she’s going through a dry spell with her husband, and she has to deal with her Dad’s dementia and her Mom’s inability to face that, all this while teaching her favorite spin classes.

This one is truly funny and a little bittersweet. If you’ve ever been a sports mom (I was) you’ll relate, and you’ll laugh out loud at Jen’s antics as she tries to keep the wheels of her life spinning. Another highly recommended from me.

The Secrets of Ohnita Harbor by Patricia Crisafulli- A

Published by Woodhall Press

Trade paperback, $19.95, 369 pages

Smells Like Tween Spirit by Laurie Gelman- A

Published by Holt Paperbacks

Trade paperback, $17.99, 256 pages

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Patricia Crisafulli's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

TLC tour schedule:

Saturday, September 17th: The Cozy Book Blog – author guest post

Monday, September 19th: From the TBR Pile – author guest post

Saturday, September 24th: @abduliacoffeebookaddict23

Monday, September 26th: Bookchickdi

Wednesday, September 28th: @kristens.reading.nook

Thursday, September 29th: @paws.read.repeat

Friday, September 30th: @fashionablyfifty

Monday, October 3rd: Laura’s Reviews and @laurasreviews_1

Monday, October 3rd: @kenzathome

Tuesday, October 4th: From the TBR Pile

Thursday, October 6th: What is That Book About – author guest post

Thursday, October 6th: Kahakai Kitchen

Sunday, October 9th: Subakka.bookstuff and @subakka.bookstuff

Wednesday, October 12th: @thebookishalix

Wednesday, October 12th: @always_reading1

Friday, October 14th: @books.ashley.reads

Monday, October 17th: @welovebigbooksandwecannotlie

Monday, October 17th: She Just Loves Books and @shejustlovesbooks

Wednesday, October 19th: @booksandcoffeemx

Friday, September 23, 2022

Friday 5ive- September 23, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

It's hard to believe that summer is over and fall has begun. I know my youngest sister is so happy about that.

1) Fall is here, so it's time to change my seasonal/holiday book display from summer to fall.

2) I went with my cousin to a taping of the Rachael Ray Show last Friday. Rachael's set is one of the loveliest ones I've seen, it's very much in keeping with her Adirondack home style. The crowd is much smaller than it was pre-pandemic and I felt sympathy for Tom Kelly, the substitute warm-up comedian. He really had to work hard to keep the audience energy up with fewer people in the audience. Following the taping, we went to Eataly for a birthday lunch for my cousin. I had my favorite pasta dish, Quadrati , a spinach and ricotta filled ravioli in a butter-lemon sauce topped with pistachios. It was tasty and I liked their two course lunch for $22.

Photo courtesy of my cousin Mary Beth

Tasty Quadrati ravioli

3) It's Banned Books Week, and this takes on more urgent meaning this year as more people are pushing to ban books they don't like in school and public libraries. Most bookstores (including the Book Cellar where I volunteer) and libraries have dedicated displays of Banned Books. You might be surprised at some of the titles- many of them are considered classic literature. I bought two new t-shirts to wear to work, the #FReadom one benefits a project to highlight the positive work being done by school librarians.

Book Cellar Banned Books

4) I was happy to see that season six of The Good Fight began on Paramount+. The cast this season is phenomenal, led by Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald. Andre Braugher joins as a new partner, and Alan Cumming returns as attorney Eli Gold, father to Sarah Steele's Marissa. I especially enjoyed seeing Mary Testa as an opposing attorney in episode two, she performed at the ArchCare gala last October and she is wonderful.

5) The book I read this week is appropriate for Hispanic Heritage Month. Bárbara Mujica's historical novel Miss del Río is a fictionalized account of the life of Mexican actress Dolores del Río. Del Río escaped with her family from Durango in Mexico, fleeing the revolution led by Pancho Villa. Delores met a director and became an successful actress, but her personal life was less successful. She had a series of marriages that didn't work out, she didn't always choose wisely. Delores' story is told by her childhood friend who becomes her hairdresser, and their lives couldn't be more different. I love reading fictional accounts of real people, and Dolores befriends Frida Kahlo and Marlene Dietrich, and becomes romantically involved with Orson Welles. A good historical fiction always has me wanting more, and I immediately began to search out more information on Dolores del Rio. If you liked Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, (as I did) you'll want to read Miss del Río. My full review posts October 4th.

Have a safe, healthy week. Happy Fall!

Saturday, September 17, 2022

The Book Haters' Book Club by Gretchen Anthony

The Book Haters' Book Club by Gretchen Anthony

Published by Park Row Books ISBN 9780778333067

Trade paperback, $17.99, 352 pages

You might think it odd that someone who loves books as much as I do would read something titled The Book Haters' Book Club, but I could not resist finding out what Gretchen Anthony's book was all about.

Elliot and Irma are best friends and co-owners of Over the Rainbow bookstore in Minneapolis. As the novel opens, Elliott has recently passed away and Irma has summoned her two daughters- Bree, who works in the bookstore, and Lacey, who left home as a teenager and owns a tire repair store with her husband Tuck in Oakland- and Elliot's life partner Thom to a lawyer's office.

To everyone's surprise, Irma has decided to sell the store to a developer who has designs on putting high-rise condos in the store's place. Bree cannot believe that this is the first she is hearing about this; she had planned on taking over the store when Irma retired.

Thom seems very angry at Irma for reasons other than selling the store. He has always been jealous of the close relationship Irma and Elliot had. Irma recently lost her longtime boyfriend Nestor to cancer and now her best friend and business partner has died. Bree and Laney want Irma not to make any rash decisions while she is grieving, but Irma is firm- she is selling and will give Thom Elliot's share of the sale, which appears to be a paltry sum, not close to what the store is worth.

Laney and Bree are confused by Irma's behavior. While the women were close when they were younger, they have grown apart. Laney rarely comes home, she is busy running her and her husband's business. The sisters band together with Thom to try and stop the sale.

As someone who works in a bookstore, I especially enjoyed and related to that aspect of the story. I also loved the humor in the story. Bree's attempts to woo the owner of the neighboring distillery made me laugh. She cannot hold her liquor.

The sisterly relationship is realistic as well. Lacey has a sarcastic sense of humor, and the way she needles her mother is delightful. Irma's exasperation at her daughters' attempts to save the store was something every mother can understand.

What makes the reader keep turning the pages is to find out exactly why Irma is adamant about selling the store so quickly. Everyone here has secrets that come to play (including the deceased Elliot) and they have to figure what they want out of life.

The Book Haters' Book Club is a newsletter that Elliot sent to customers, and we get to read some of the clever ones, which include several book suggestions. I squealed when I spied two of my favorite books by Helen Ellis - American Housewife and Southern Lady Code- in a newsletter.

If you are a true book lover, as I am, you must put The Book Haters' Book Club on your list. It's a treasure.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Fall 2022 Women's Fiction Blog Tour.

Friday, September 16, 2022

Friday 5ive- September 16, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

The weather has been glorious this week in our corner of the world, hope it has been in yours too.

1) Last Friday the New York Yankees honored retired all-star Derek Jeter for his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. We attended the game with a few family members, and although the Yankees lost to Tampa Bay, it was great to see Derek and his family- mom, dad, sister, nephew, wife, and three young daughters- there. During Derek's speech, his oldest daughter broke free from Mom and erased the batter's box chalk lines with her shoe. It was funny and adorable. Members of his Yankee family reunited as well- Jorge Posada, C.C. Sabathia, Mario Rivera among others and it was fun to see them all together again. We even got a replica of his Hall of Fame plaque that night for attending the game.

2) On Saturday we had a celebratory birthday dinner for two brother-in-laws and an anniversary at

Harry Cipriani's in the Sherry Netherland Hotel. The restaurant is a replica of Harry's Bar in Venice, and the food was delicious. It was Fashion Week so there were lots of very fashionable and tall people there.

From Harry Cipriani's website

3) Speaking of Fashion Week, While running errands on Monday afternoon, I stumbled upon a Fashion Week garden party called LoveShackFancy at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. People were lined up outside the gate taking photos of the beautiful people at the party. You never know what you'll find walking around NYC. (I guess my invitation got lost in the mail.)

4) Showtime's City on a Hill returned a few weeks ago. Kevin Bacon plays Jackie Rohr, a disgraced former FBI agent in 1990's Boston now working security for a wealthy retired former head of the FBI in Boston, played skeevily (is that a word?) by Corbin Bernsen. Bernsen is up to no good and Kevin Bacon must decide if he can look the other way to keep his lucrative job or bring this horrible man to justice. Bacon is fantastic in this role and although there are other storylines in this drama, it's Bacon that keeps us watching.

5) I read a few good books this week. My September Book of the Month selection was Deanna Raybourn's Killers of a Certain Age, about four 60-something women who are retired assassins. They have spent the last forty years killing drug kingpins, dictators, arms dealers and sex traffickers as part of an organization that began by hunting down Nazis who escaped justice. While on a retirement cruise they discover that they themselves have been targeted for assassination by their own organization. This is a fast-paced thriller filled with humor and fascinating characters. The women decide they have to kill the people who want them eliminated and go on a road trip. It just screams out to be a movie and there are many terrific 60-something actresses who would be perfect for these roles. Thanks to my friend Allison who has raving about Deanna Raybourn's historical mysteries for a long time and that convinced me to give this one a try. I will always trust Allison's opinion. This one is a blast!

I also read Gretchen Anthony's The Book Haters' Club, about Irma, a woman who summons her daughters- Bree, who works in her mom's bookstore in Minneapolis, and Lacey, who owns a tire repair store in Oakland with husband- to a lawyer's office to tell them that she is selling the bookstore she has owned for 30 years (along with her recently deceased business partner and best friend) to a developer who wants to build high-rise condos. Her daughters are shocked and they, along with the deceased partner's life partner try to stop the sale. It's filled with heart and humor and everyone has secrets that come out. Why is

Irma so adamant to sell quickly? Book lovers will adore it. My full review publishes Saturday.

Have a safe, healthy week.

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Camino de Santiago by Beebe Bahrami

Camino de Santiago by Beebe Bahrami

Published by Avalon Travel ISBN 9781640496088

Trade paperback, $26.99, 565 pages

One of the most rewarding trips a person can take is to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Beebe Bahrami, a self described "writer, anthropologist and pilgrim" first made the journey in 1995 and fell in love with the experience.

Her latest travel book is Camino de Santiago- Sacred Sites, Historic Villages, Local Food & Wine, and gives the reader an in-depth experience of traveling the historic trail without leaving their armchair. Anyone who is inspired to make all or part of the trek themselves will find a book filled with comprehensive information to make the journey more accessible, educational, and enjoyable.

The Camino de Santiago is a sacred pilgrimage for Catholics, beginning in the town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the Pyrenean border in France and continuing for 485 miles across Spain to the tomb of Saint James the Greater in Santiago de Compostela.

Bahrami has organized this invaluable guide book with a great deal of thought for anyone who cares to walk part or all of the way. She begins with the 18 Top Experiences that include incredible views, delicious food that is not be missed, amazing archeological and religious sites, and even a new tradition of filling your scallop shell with red wine at Bodegas Irache Wine Fountain.

She breaks down the trip into smaller pieces, giving the reader the key things to know and see in each part of the journey. Whether you are looking for something spiritual (churches), first-class food and wines, or just want to meditate in quiet solitude, Bahrami gives you the information you need to do just that.

You'll find recommended overnight stops, restaurant recommendations, and festivals and markets listed for each of the sections along the way. There are chapters on Essentials to Bring, a Packing Checklist, a 20- Day Driving Itinerary, and Health and Safety information.

Bahrami also gives advice for people traveling alone, women, seniors, and LGBTQ+ travelers, as well as disability access information. History buffs will want to turn immediately to the fascinating History section. There's even a handy Spanish phrase dictionary included, as well as a pull-out map, and a section on updated Coronavirus information.

Camino de Santiago- Sacred Sites, Historic Villages, Local Food & Wine is an indispensible accessory to not only help plan your trip, but to bring with you as you travel so as to not miss a thing on your historic journey.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Beebe Bahrami's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

Review tour schedule:

Wednesday, September 7th: @angelsmomreads

Thursday, September 8th: @jenniaahava

Friday, September 9th: @nurse_bookie

Monday, September 12th: Eliot’s Eats

Monday, September 12th: @wovenfromwords

Tuesday, September 13th: Bookchickdi

Wednesday, September 14th: @kelly_hunsaker_reads

Thursday, September 15th: @booksloveandunderstanding

Friday, September 16th: @aneedleinmybookstack

Friday, September 16th: @welovebigbooksandwecannotlie

Monday, September 19th: @everything.is.words

Wednesday, September 21st: @babygotbooks4life

Thursday, September 22nd: @reading_with_nicole

Friday, September 23rd: @groundedinreads

Saturday, September 10, 2022

Friday 5ive- September 9, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. Ive been off for the last few weeks, my family took a trip to Scotland and Ireland, and I will be posting about that separately. (It was an amazing trip!)

1) I visited the new location of Bookstore1 in Sarasota, Florida last week. It's a wonderful bookstore, and the most inpressive part of the store is their Staff Recommends display. It is the largest Staff Recommends display I've ever seen. They have a huge two-sided unit filled with books and as you wander the store, you'll find more recommendations throughout mixed in with their regular displays. They must be a very literate staff! I chatted a bit with Roxanne, and picked up a Staff Recommended novel- Carter Bays' The Mutual Friend. If you ever visit Sarasota, you must stop by.

2) Everyone in NYC loves to watch the US Open, and I confess that I have not been bitten by that bug- until this year. Watching Serena Williams win her match against the number two ranked player was thrilling, one of the most exciting sporting events I have ever seen. Now I am pulling for Frances Tiafoe to win on the Men's side, he has an incredible story.

3) Like everyone else I was saddened to hear of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. She had a remarkable reign spanning 70 years and her devotion to duty and her country will long be remembered. When we were at Edinburgh Castle a few weeks ago, we saw not only the Crown Jewels, but also the Stone of Destiny. The stone will be placed under the throne at Westminster Abbey at King Charles III's coronation as is tradition. And we saw it in person! (But we couldn't take photos.)

4) We're watching Five Days at Memorial on Apple TV+, based on the book by Sheri Fink. (We both thought the book was so powerful.) The true story takes place in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, when Baptist Memorial Hospital was left to fend for themselves after New Orleans flooded. They lost power, ran out of food and water, and had no plan or way to evacuate their hundreds of patients, staff and community members who sought safety from the hurricane. When the New Orleans Police Department finally shows up after five days, they are there to enforce an evacuation order, and doctors and nurses are forced to leave patients behind who cannot be evacuated. How some of these patients died is the question to be answered. It's riveting television with amazing performances led by Vera Farmiga and Cherry Jones.

5) I've read alot recently, including some terrific historical novels based on real people and events from two books I loved in 2021. Lauren Willig's Two Wars and a Wedding follows a character from last year's Band of Sisters (one of my favorite books from 2021). Smith College graduate Betsy Hayes studies archeology at the American School in Greece in 1896 and desperately wants to go on a dig, but women are not allowed. When a war breaks out between Greece and Turkey, Betsy ends up as a nurse and proves herself to be an outstanding nurse. Having seen the horrors and dangers of war up close, Betsy travels to Cuba in 1898 to stop her best friend Ava from joining Clara Barton's Red Cross nurses, but ends up again in the throes of war as a nurse. Once again, Lauren Willig's brilliant writing and detailed research into historical events I knew little about had me enthralled. Betsy is an unforgettable character, and watching her grow from a single-minded young student into a strong, brave and caring woman was a wonderful journey . I'll be buying this book when it publishes in March of 2023.

Susan Elia MacNeal's Maggie Hope WWII mysteries is one of the few series I will always read, and her latest book, Mother Daughter Traitor Spy, is a standalone novel. The last Maggie Hope novel, The Hollywood Spy, had Maggie in WWII Los Angeles, where Maggie tangled with Nazis. Mother Daughter Traitor Spy tells the story of Veronica and her mother Violet during WWII. When Veronica makes a bad personal choice, she loses her job in New York and she and her widowed mother move to Los Angeles. Veronica unintentionally finds herself as secretary for someone who is heavily involved in the Nazi movement in the United States. Meanwhile, Violet's lovely embroidery catches the eye of a Nazi leader's wife, and soon she is designing and sewing clothes for many of the women's friends. Horrified by the things they are hearing, Veronica and her mother go to law enforcement and end up working as spies for the US military. I found myself wanting to know more about this time period in Los Angeles after reading The Hollywood Spy, and was so happy to see that Susan Elia MacNeal was continuing this fascinating story in Mother Daughter Traitor Spy, based on two real women. As I read this terrific story, I could not help but see the connections between what was happening politically in the 1940s and what is happening in our country in the last few years, and that adds to the importance of this book. This one publishes on September 20th, and if you like historical fiction, this is one you must read.

Have a good, safe, healthy week.

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

The Girl From Guernica by Karen Robards

The Girl From Guernica by Karen Robards

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778309963

Hardcover, $27.99, 464 pages

Karen Robards’ riveting new historical novel, The Girl From Guernica, takes the reader inside the horror of the Spanish civil war in April 1937 when the residents of the small town of Guernica in Spain are terrorized by an air raid that drops bombs on the city setting it ablaze. Residents who try to flee are shot dead in the streets.

Sixteen year old Sibi wakes up trapped under the rubble of a building and is rescued by Griff, an American military attaché . Sibi tells Griff that the planes were German planes, a fact she knows because her German father helped design them. When Sibi tells a reporter the same thing, that the planes were German not Spanish as thought, that leads to trouble for Sibi.

Sibi’s father comes to Spain to take her and her sisters back to their home in Berlin where he continues his work on rockets. When the Nazi leaders read the reporter’s account of German planes bombing Guernica, suspicion falls on Sibi as the person who spoke to the reporter.

In order to save her family, Sibi lies and becomes a tool of propaganda for the Nazis. She is forced to speak to reporters and make filmed statements stating that it was Spanish planes who reigned terror on their own countrymen.

When Griff reconnects with Sibi, she offers to spy on her father and his colleagues for the Allies. Griff reluctantly agrees, knowing that Sibi will be putting her life in danger, but as Sibi says, her life is already in danger.

The Girl From Guernica is a riveting, thrilling novel. Robards doesn’t let up on the tension from the horror of the bombing of Guernica to Sibi’s meetings with Nazi leaders to her attempts to get information to Griff to the suspenseful conclusion, and my heart was in my throat the entire time.

As someone who knew little about Guernica outside of the famous Pablo Picasso painting of the same name, I found the premise of the story fascinating. Sibi and her family are characters that work their way into your heart as you root for them to survive “by whatever means necessary.” Fans of WWII historical fiction like The Nightingale and All The World You Cannot See will want to put The Girl From Guernica on their TBR list.

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on their Fall 2022 Historical Fiction Blog Tour.

Thursday, September 1, 2022

A Lot Like Forever by Jennifer Snow

A Lot Like Forever by Jennifer Snow

Published by Entangled ISBN 9781649372130

Mass market paperback, $9.99, 307 pages

Novels set in small towns hold great appeal to me as I grew up in a small city. Jennifer Snow's A Lot Like Forever is the third book in her Blue Moon Bay series, and after reading it, I want to go back and read the first two books, A Lot Like Love and A Lot Like Christmas.

Whitney is the hardworking head of tourism marketing for Blue Moon Bay. She has helped many small business owners, including Trent, who owns two bars in the town. Trent and Whitney have been together for seven years and are engaged to be married.

Trent is eager to make wedding plans, but Whitney keeps putting him off. Her mother has Alzheimer's and lives in an adult facility. She is not doing well. Whitney's job is an all-consuming one, and when the mayor's son is appointed as her assistant, she fears that he will take her job.

There's something else that is bothering Whitney, something she is hiding from Trent and her best friends. Trent doesn't understand why Whitney has been so distracted. He loves her, is kind and considerate to her mother, and his family adores Whitney.

Every time Trent brings up the fact that she works too hard, it pushes Whitney's buttons. All he wants is for them to get married and start a family, but every time he brings the future up, Whitney changes the subject. As a couple they seem to moving further apart.

Whitney is an independent, proud, strong woman, but as Trent says, sometimes those qualities work against her. He loves her and wants her to be able to lean on him.

Trent is kind to everyone, including Angel, the divorced mom of two teenage sons, who works in his bar. He takes her two sons under his wing, putting them on his football team and finding them work with his friend's construction company. Whitney fears he may turn to Angel for comfort.

I think many women may relate to Whitney's work situation. She needs her job and it consumes her, sometimes to the point that she neglects Trent and her friends. I also think people may relate to Whitney's reluctance to be honest with Trent. As someone who worked in marketing, I found Whitney's job interesting.

Jennifer Snow also does a wonderful job with Whitney's mom's Alzheimer's. The many families who have to deal with this horrible disease will appreciate the compassion with which the author writes about dealing with a loved one who has it.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Jennifer Snow's tour. The rest of her tour stops are here: