"Fairy Tales From Far and Wide"

I was looking for a specific children's book - a story I'd heard from a speaker that I liked.  However, when I searched for it at the library, I got "Fairy Tales From Far and Wide" by Fiona Waters and Lisa Berkshire.  It is a collection of fairy tales from Germany, Sweden, France, Japan, Ireland, West Indies, and Native America.  These are fairy tales with learning taking place at the end and I found it charming.  I plan to purchase one as a birthday gift for my great-niece's next birthday!  pazt

"False Witness"

"False Witness" is Andrew Grant's third novel in the Cooper Devereaux detective series.  Since it was published in 2018 and it feels like it is left where another book could be in the offing, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the series will continue.

In "False Witness" young women are ending up dead on their 21st birthdays wrapped up like presents and left in public places.  What is the link between the victims and how will Devereaux and the rest of the police force find that link and the murderer?

In the meantime, Devereaux and his girlfriend are living apart while she comes to terms with information that came up in the last book about Devereaux's background.  While she is struggling with whether to continue or end the relationship, he is looking into new information about his parentage and what that might mean for his relationship with his daughter's mother.  This was another good read that kept me riveted.  pazt

"Forever Interrupted"

"Forever, Interrupted" is Taylor Jenkins Reid's first novel and I found it amazing.  It reads like a true story and had me laughing and crying through its ups and downs. 

Elsie Porter meets and falls in love with her true love in a matter of months but, after 10 days of marriage, he is killed in an accident before he has a chance to tell his family about their marriage. The story is told by weaving a chapter about their courtship with present day struggles of dealing with her husband's death with the support of her close friend, Ana, and having to meet a mother-in-law who didn't even know she existed.

As Elsie weathers the storms that have come her way, she and her mother-in-law, Susan, forge a relationship out of the love they both had for the same man.  Through that they both find healing and Elsie evens finds ways through that healing to start to build a new life - something she hadn't thought possible.  pazt

"Victoria & Abdul" - the movie

I wanted to see "Victoria & Abdul" in the movie theater but couldn't find anyone to go with me and I lost track of time and missed it.  I've been waiting to get it from my local library and it is very popular so it was a bit of a wait!

It's the story of Queen Victoria in her later years and a young Indian man, Abdul, who comes to England to present her with a coin in a ceremony.  He was chosen to do the honors because he was tall.  She asks that he stay on and they develop a friendship.

It paints a picture of how lonely it can be to be the Queen and the need to have someone around she can talk honestly to so Abdul is elevated to the role of "teacher."  They develop a friendship that creates a great loss for him when she dies.  It is a beautiful story but also doesn't deny the intrigue that goes on within the palace.  There are those who want Abdul gone!  pazt

"A Man Lay Dead"

"A Man Lay Dead" is Ngaio Marsh's first book in the Roderick Alleyn novel series.  Some of her books have been made into two hour shows in Britain and my spouse and I have watched most of them.  Earlier this year he set out to read her Alleyn novels in order and I decided to do the same.  The TV adaptations of her books do not display the depth of her stories nor do them justice in a condensed form because she has such a beautiful way of describing people, places, and events that does not come through in a film.  In addition, I love her sense of humor!

In this.tale Sir Hubert Handesley is hosting one of his infamous weekend parties at his country estate but this time he has something new up his sleeve.  He has decided it will be a murder mystery weekend and one of his guests will be informed by one of the staff that they are the murderer and they are to choose their victim.  When the lights go out and the gong sounds, the rest of the party are to set about solving the murder.  There is only one hitch - a real murder.

Nigel Bathgate has been invited for the first time to one of these weekends by his cousin, Charles Rankin, and becomes a prime suspect when it is his cousin who is murdered and he stands to inherit his cousin's fortune.  However, he's not the only one who stands to benefit from his cousin's death plus Charles was a bit of a ladies man so that and a Russian mob tie widens the field of suspects.

Inspector Alleyn arrives from Scotland Yard to take charge of the investigation and he has his work cut out for him.  This is a great mystery that will keep you guessing to the very end!  pazt

"The Mountain Between Us"

"The Mountain Between Us" starring academy award winner, Kate Winslet, and golden globe winner, Idris Elba, is based on the novel by Charles Martin.  I haven't read the book but I had heard favorable reports about the movie so I checked it out for my hubby and I to watch this evening.

It's the story of a Philadelphia neurosurgeon and a New York journalist who find each other stranded in the Boise airport after all commercial flights are cancelled due to a storm.  He needs to be home to perform brain surgery on a child the next morning and she needs to get home for her wedding so they charter a small plane together.  When the plane crashes in the mountains and the pilot dies, they are stranded on the mountain with the pilot's dog.  Since the pilot didn't file a flight plan, no one knows where they are and neither one called anyone at home to tell them they'd chartered a plane.

This is a story of survival and learning to depend and support one another and the journey they travel changes both their lives forever.  I found it well worth viewing!  pazt

"False Friend"

Andrew Grant's second novel, "False Friend," in the Detective Cooper Devereaux mystery thriller series kept me reading into the early morning hours a couple of nights until I finished it.  It was good but not quite the same caliber as the first one in the series, ""False Positive."  This novel left me with more questions at the end than answers which was a disappointment -- but maybe that was the author's ploy -- to get me to seek out the next one in the series as soon as possible?  If so, it worked! pazt