More Tragic Than You Think

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I knew that The Secret History by Donna Tartt became a cult classic, yet, I had not read it. Afterwards, I did something that I never do and referred to around a dozen reviews of the book - anxious to see if anyone had picked up on a few whispered phrases, clues if you will.

No. Not really. No mention of them.

Read the book for yourself. There is a secret drawer enclosed in the already remarkable framework of the plot that makes it even more of a Greco-type tragedy than you knew. It has left me pondering and has made a cult-member out of me.


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Download and Read, SAP. Dominic's Long Shadows is Out Today.

The Mountain's Shadow by Cecilia Dominic
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cecilia Dominic is just getting warmed up! Congratulations to her on a remarkable first effort. Well done!  I don't want to review The Mountain's Shadow, this morning. Cecelia is a friend of mine and writes in a genre that I don't usually read.  There are plenty of great reviews on Amazon. Take a look at them for a few seconds before you download this book. Finally, let me tell you that you must read it and quickly. Dominic's second installment of The Lycanthropy Files, Long Shadows, is out today!

Because I found myself way too sensitive to the author's hopes and dreams, talents and foibles, I had to put The Mountain's Shadow down midway. I needed to look at the work without bias. And I needed to familiarize myself with urban fantasy as well as learn to accept talking werewolves and such in the same way that I had taken to Beowulf and other fables when I was a younger girl - and not so set in my ways.

In the end, I found The Mountain's Shadow to be at what I believe is the very top of the genre. Not your usual urban fantasy, hard to label because of the superior knowledge and ability of the author; better than a good mystery, characters with room to grow and develop, a plot able to rivet this weathered and seasoned reader to her chair in a new way.

I downloaded Long Shadows this morning. This time, I will be able to suspend the disbelief that a dear girl who has grown up in front of me, striving to be an author, working at her writing in between her lucrative medical career and her family life, and using her wine blog as an excuse (tongue in cheek) to try everything the "spirits world" has to offer, is also a superb storyteller, a soon to be household name.


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Review of The Barkeep by William Lashner

The Barkeep by William Lashner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Barkeep is so refreshing that I ought to give it a fourth star - but you know that I save that designation for the more literary work. The outstanding stuff.

I like Lashner's character development strategy. Lately, I've been reading authors who go on and on; too much information about what the protagonists ate, what they thought, how they looked, who their friends were, things they did last year. Yet in the end the characters were not likable, obviously contrived to be the heroes in mystery stories or historic novels or adventures or crime dramas.

Yes, Lashner does name his chapters after famous cocktails and other alcoholic beverages. It isn't all that unappealing. Isn't done in a silly way as in some of the comic enterprises written to incorporate recipes, the letters of the alphabet, or other lists into one's life works. I enjoyed the way he also wove information about the drinks and mixing instructions into the fabric of the chapters. Maybe bar-tending simply appeals to me?

Aside from the Barkeep cocktail theme, the book goes along nicely. I finished it in the wee hours of this morning. You know I don't stay up reading unless the plot holds my interest. Put this on your Beach Book list for summer. Not deep, not frightening, not unrealistic, just enjoyable.



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Saturday; In the Record Books

After such a lackluster morning - saved only by the fact that my down quilt and pillows were bathed in sunlight, fluffy and clean - of hunkering back down, sad and feeling chilled/feverish at once, I recovered nicely by basking in the beautiful spring day and almost floating on the breath of gentle breezes. 

We stayed out all afternoon, Belle chasing anything that moved, baffling Mr. and Mrs. Wren who were searching (in vain) for Ms. Piggy the Hibachi, and aggrivating every creature living on the other side of the fence, and me sunning, bringing what's left of the plants outside, and listening in good humored gratitude to the teenager who was drumming in her upstairs bedroom next door. She has improved. So very much. 

We never saw Squirrel. Obviously, no one told her that there was a lovely, mild, spring day to be had. 

In the evening, I put together a small veal parm. Tender, sauted veggies,a zesty marinara, shaved parm, thinly pounded veal cutlets. I opened a bottle of red. Mondavi Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon - a perfect paring. 

We're settling in for a cozy Saturday night as I write. Belle is already asleep. I'm thinking about a movie. Or maybe I'll read awhile. Anyway, I feel a lot better than I did yesterday at this time.