The Alpine Vengeance by Mary Daheim
This is the twenty-second book in the Emma Lord/Alpine Advocate series. It certainly feels as though the author is wrapping things up by neatly tying up any unfinished stories from the earlier books.
This book referenced a murder in an earlier book, which quite honestly I did not remember. And unfortunately I found the author and her editors did not do a great job recapping the earlier story enough for readers to understand the interconnectivity of the characters and events.
I enjoy my visits to Alpine, Washington, but sometimes the small-town atmosphere is intimidating to outsiders and without a character chart and/or family tree, it’s impossible to keep the relationships straight. That was a bit frustrating for me as reader, even one who has read all the previous books in the series. A preface or prologue would have been helpful in this volume.
As I said, I do enjoy my visits with Emma and the gang at the Alpine Advocate, but this one was unnecessarily complicated, not only by the lack of back story, but also in the plot itself. The many parts were hard to keep straight and in the end, it was tough to finish it. Truthfully, I only finished it because I wanted to get to the end, not because I cared about the people involved.
The events of the book appear to be building towards the end of the series, though the author has indicated on her website that is not the case. The characters are growing, but they seem to be growing to a point at which there is no where else to go. Either the series will have to end, or the author will have to start killing off favorite characters. It seems to be heading towards an inescapable corner. I like the series, but if the rest of the series is like this book, I would not be sorry to see it end.
One Bear’s Opinion: Three glasses of coke with a bowl of average potato chips
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Monday, July 18, 2016
One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review
Murder at Hatfield House by Amanda Carmack
This was the second book my housemate chose to read for the Save Our Cozies Read-a-Thon. We finished two books in just under 24 hours. It was a fun event and I hope to participate in another one. There was a bonus for me; I won a copy of Guilty as Cinnamon. I am excited to read it, but it’s in the US and I’m in Australia, so that will have to wait a couple of months until my housemate and I can crack that one open. Sometimes it’s hard to be an impatient bear.
My housemate chose to read Murder at Hatfield House because she had read several other mystery series set in Elizabethan England, a couple of which feature either Queen Elizabeth I or her advisors as the amateur investigators. It was very hard to read this one without comparing it to the other series we read. I am not going to lie and say I was not comparing it to my person favorite, Karen Harper’s Elizabeth I Mysteries, I absolutely was comparing this book to that series. The portrayal of Princess Elizabeth was similar in both, but the tone of Murder at Hatfield House was much darker. I noticed it and though that it might actually be too dark in tone to truly be called a cozy. I also found the descriptions of the murders, to be too graphic to be a true cozy, but that may be down to my interpretation of the definition of the genre.
I thought beginning the series before Princess Elizabeth became Queen makes it easy to continue the series, and lays the historical groundwork without having to build it into the books as plot exposition. That was a clever way of weaving a great deal of the real world history that shaped the Elizabethan era into the books without the author appear to be talking down to her readers or having to explain too much of the who, what, and why in later books. It was a complicated time in history, both for the royals and the non-royals alike and anything set during the periods would require at least some explanation and backstory. Beginning the series where it did means the explanation and backstory are seamlessly woven into the overall narrative.
One of the things that I have begun to notice in read so many mystery series is that editors rarely allow extraneous information to be left in the story. That means that all the mentions of things that were not necessary to mention are important. The color of the cloak was mentioned early on in the book, and that meant it was important. If the color was not important, it would not have been mentioned. Unlike in real life, trivial details are only mentioned in books, movies, and television shows if they are important to the story. Knowing that takes a bit of the fun of figuring out the mystery on my own from the book. But even so, watching it unfold and watching the amateur investigator figure out is still quite fun.
Overall, Murder on Hatfield House was an enjoyable book, and a perfect on to read on a cold, grey, windy, rainy weekend. I am looking forward to the rest of the series.
One Bear’s Opinion: Four glasses of mulled wine with a plate of fruitcake slices
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
This was the second book my housemate chose to read for the Save Our Cozies Read-a-Thon. We finished two books in just under 24 hours. It was a fun event and I hope to participate in another one. There was a bonus for me; I won a copy of Guilty as Cinnamon. I am excited to read it, but it’s in the US and I’m in Australia, so that will have to wait a couple of months until my housemate and I can crack that one open. Sometimes it’s hard to be an impatient bear.
My housemate chose to read Murder at Hatfield House because she had read several other mystery series set in Elizabethan England, a couple of which feature either Queen Elizabeth I or her advisors as the amateur investigators. It was very hard to read this one without comparing it to the other series we read. I am not going to lie and say I was not comparing it to my person favorite, Karen Harper’s Elizabeth I Mysteries, I absolutely was comparing this book to that series. The portrayal of Princess Elizabeth was similar in both, but the tone of Murder at Hatfield House was much darker. I noticed it and though that it might actually be too dark in tone to truly be called a cozy. I also found the descriptions of the murders, to be too graphic to be a true cozy, but that may be down to my interpretation of the definition of the genre.
I thought beginning the series before Princess Elizabeth became Queen makes it easy to continue the series, and lays the historical groundwork without having to build it into the books as plot exposition. That was a clever way of weaving a great deal of the real world history that shaped the Elizabethan era into the books without the author appear to be talking down to her readers or having to explain too much of the who, what, and why in later books. It was a complicated time in history, both for the royals and the non-royals alike and anything set during the periods would require at least some explanation and backstory. Beginning the series where it did means the explanation and backstory are seamlessly woven into the overall narrative.
One of the things that I have begun to notice in read so many mystery series is that editors rarely allow extraneous information to be left in the story. That means that all the mentions of things that were not necessary to mention are important. The color of the cloak was mentioned early on in the book, and that meant it was important. If the color was not important, it would not have been mentioned. Unlike in real life, trivial details are only mentioned in books, movies, and television shows if they are important to the story. Knowing that takes a bit of the fun of figuring out the mystery on my own from the book. But even so, watching it unfold and watching the amateur investigator figure out is still quite fun.
Overall, Murder on Hatfield House was an enjoyable book, and a perfect on to read on a cold, grey, windy, rainy weekend. I am looking forward to the rest of the series.
One Bear’s Opinion: Four glasses of mulled wine with a plate of fruitcake slices
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
Saturday, July 16, 2016
One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review
A Sheetcake Named Desire by Jacklyn Brady
My housemate decided to read this book, the first in the Piece of Cake series, as part of a 24-hour Save Our Cozies Read-a-Thon. The series is one that has been discontinued after a merger of two publishing houses. I am still not sure why the publishing house has decided to discontinue series, when there are fans of the series. I believe that more choice is always better than less when it comes to books. My housemate had been considering this series for some time and the Read-a-Thon was the spur it took for her to finally get a copy and start the series.
Both my housemate and I are native New Orleanians, and as that was the setting for this series, we thought it was a good series to try out. I often have to remind my housemate that most things set in New Orleans are not written by natives, and many things are written by people who have only visited the city as a tourist for short periods of time. Quick trip and vacation highlight details are enough for people who were not born and raised in New Orleans, but they fail to pass muster with readers who were. So while my housemate always starts out reading books set in New Orleans with what she considers an open mind, the first mention of something not quite right or New Orleans proper does tend to ruin her enjoyment of the book.
This first installment of the series had most of the details correct, though I do still wonder about some of the geography, notably exactly where the Zydeco Cake shop is located. It’s obviously in a remodeled, big house Uptown, but exactly how far Uptown and where is still a bit confusing to me. If I didn’t know better, based on the description, I would say the bakery is located in what was at one time Bultman’s Funeral Home, but I know that’s not possible. The description of the lot fits that location, but the description of the location puts it more likely on one of the side streets among the residential areas between Prytania and Magazine Streets, on the Uptown side of Washington Avenue. The murky location of the cake shop was not the only local detail that stood out to me. At one point in the book, the author describes one of the characters as living in Lakeview, in an area untouched by Hurricane Katrina. The problem with that statement is, having lived in New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina, and knowing people who lived in various areas of Lakeview, we do not know one neighborhood that was completely untouched in the wake of the storm. There were individual houses that were untouched, and some of them were on the same block, but there were not any areas of Lakeview left completely untouched. We know this not only from personal experience, but also because my housemate worked in a law firm that served as corporate counsel for insurance companies, and was one of the lead firms in the defense liaison group in the litigation resulting from the storm. I’m sorry, author, but your facts are flat out wrong on that point.
It may have been a nitpicky thing to notice, but it was something that a true local would notice and an out-of-towner, either a visitor or a transplant, might not have realized. The factual inaccuracies did not seriously diminish the enjoyment of the book, but they did remind us that what we were reading was fiction, and fiction can be manipulated to the author’s or character’s will, with little regard for things like geography and physics.
The story itself was interesting. The amateur investigator chased down red herrings, all the while ignoring the real killer. It was a fun read, and the characters are engaging enough to read the next book in the series. And my housemate is pretty keen to read the next book in the series, just to see if the fictional geography and descriptions get any more accurate, or maybe just to pretend she’s back in our hometown for a while. Overall Rita and the gang at Zydeco Cakes are fun to hang with, but we’re not sure we can call them close, good friends just yet.
One Bear’s Opinion: Four Large Frozen Mint Plum Street Snowballs, eaten in the car parked in the shade on Burdette Street
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
My housemate decided to read this book, the first in the Piece of Cake series, as part of a 24-hour Save Our Cozies Read-a-Thon. The series is one that has been discontinued after a merger of two publishing houses. I am still not sure why the publishing house has decided to discontinue series, when there are fans of the series. I believe that more choice is always better than less when it comes to books. My housemate had been considering this series for some time and the Read-a-Thon was the spur it took for her to finally get a copy and start the series.
Both my housemate and I are native New Orleanians, and as that was the setting for this series, we thought it was a good series to try out. I often have to remind my housemate that most things set in New Orleans are not written by natives, and many things are written by people who have only visited the city as a tourist for short periods of time. Quick trip and vacation highlight details are enough for people who were not born and raised in New Orleans, but they fail to pass muster with readers who were. So while my housemate always starts out reading books set in New Orleans with what she considers an open mind, the first mention of something not quite right or New Orleans proper does tend to ruin her enjoyment of the book.
This first installment of the series had most of the details correct, though I do still wonder about some of the geography, notably exactly where the Zydeco Cake shop is located. It’s obviously in a remodeled, big house Uptown, but exactly how far Uptown and where is still a bit confusing to me. If I didn’t know better, based on the description, I would say the bakery is located in what was at one time Bultman’s Funeral Home, but I know that’s not possible. The description of the lot fits that location, but the description of the location puts it more likely on one of the side streets among the residential areas between Prytania and Magazine Streets, on the Uptown side of Washington Avenue. The murky location of the cake shop was not the only local detail that stood out to me. At one point in the book, the author describes one of the characters as living in Lakeview, in an area untouched by Hurricane Katrina. The problem with that statement is, having lived in New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina, and knowing people who lived in various areas of Lakeview, we do not know one neighborhood that was completely untouched in the wake of the storm. There were individual houses that were untouched, and some of them were on the same block, but there were not any areas of Lakeview left completely untouched. We know this not only from personal experience, but also because my housemate worked in a law firm that served as corporate counsel for insurance companies, and was one of the lead firms in the defense liaison group in the litigation resulting from the storm. I’m sorry, author, but your facts are flat out wrong on that point.
It may have been a nitpicky thing to notice, but it was something that a true local would notice and an out-of-towner, either a visitor or a transplant, might not have realized. The factual inaccuracies did not seriously diminish the enjoyment of the book, but they did remind us that what we were reading was fiction, and fiction can be manipulated to the author’s or character’s will, with little regard for things like geography and physics.
The story itself was interesting. The amateur investigator chased down red herrings, all the while ignoring the real killer. It was a fun read, and the characters are engaging enough to read the next book in the series. And my housemate is pretty keen to read the next book in the series, just to see if the fictional geography and descriptions get any more accurate, or maybe just to pretend she’s back in our hometown for a while. Overall Rita and the gang at Zydeco Cakes are fun to hang with, but we’re not sure we can call them close, good friends just yet.
One Bear’s Opinion: Four Large Frozen Mint Plum Street Snowballs, eaten in the car parked in the shade on Burdette Street
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review
The Alpine Uproar by Mary Daheim
The Alpine Uproar is the twenty-first adventure with Emma Lord and the gang at The Alpine Advocate. This is the second one that I notices the title didn’t really feel as though it connected with the story. It’s a minor complaint, and I think the author and the publisher got themselves stuck with the alphabetical theme for the titles, but it felt disconnected, as though it was just a word that began with the right letter and sounded as it would work for the title.
Title complaints aside, the book was an interesting mystery. There were a number of sub-plots that were distracting, but obviously not connected to the main mystery. And there were characters that came and went without any real explanation, despite introducing them as friends or enemies. That is a problem with series mysteries. To avoid killing off regular characters, new ones must come into the stories by some means — either to be the victim or the perpetrator. But there are often other new characters in each adventure, connected with the victim or the perpetrator, or just read herring characters. The new characters in this adventure felt as though they could become friends, or enemies, but definitely felt as though they could stay in Alpine longterm. Alas, they disappeared into the night. Maybe they will return in future adventures.
New character woes were equally minor to the book. I enjoyed the mystery, though it was complicated. It kept me guessing the whole way through, and even at the end, I was surprised by the solution.
I always like adventures with Emma and the gang. I’ve read the blurbs for the next books in the series, so I know what’s coming in the series — which is both good and bad, so I’m looking for signs and signals for the overarching story. Reading series books are always like a visit with good friends, and the residents of Alpine are good friends. And just like visits with good friends, it’s difficult to direct the way the visit will unfold. Often you have to go with the flow and let your friends direct the visit. That’s the way visits to Apline go. As a reader, you have to let the residents direct the visits. It’s fun and frustrating in equal parts.
The Alpine Uproar added a bit to the story of some of the residents’ lives, and I’m sure there will be repercussions from the events in this adventure. It will be fun to see how it unfolds in the next adventure.
One Bear’s Opinion: Four big glasses of peach soda during a good long visit with friends
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
The Alpine Uproar is the twenty-first adventure with Emma Lord and the gang at The Alpine Advocate. This is the second one that I notices the title didn’t really feel as though it connected with the story. It’s a minor complaint, and I think the author and the publisher got themselves stuck with the alphabetical theme for the titles, but it felt disconnected, as though it was just a word that began with the right letter and sounded as it would work for the title.
Title complaints aside, the book was an interesting mystery. There were a number of sub-plots that were distracting, but obviously not connected to the main mystery. And there were characters that came and went without any real explanation, despite introducing them as friends or enemies. That is a problem with series mysteries. To avoid killing off regular characters, new ones must come into the stories by some means — either to be the victim or the perpetrator. But there are often other new characters in each adventure, connected with the victim or the perpetrator, or just read herring characters. The new characters in this adventure felt as though they could become friends, or enemies, but definitely felt as though they could stay in Alpine longterm. Alas, they disappeared into the night. Maybe they will return in future adventures.
New character woes were equally minor to the book. I enjoyed the mystery, though it was complicated. It kept me guessing the whole way through, and even at the end, I was surprised by the solution.
I always like adventures with Emma and the gang. I’ve read the blurbs for the next books in the series, so I know what’s coming in the series — which is both good and bad, so I’m looking for signs and signals for the overarching story. Reading series books are always like a visit with good friends, and the residents of Alpine are good friends. And just like visits with good friends, it’s difficult to direct the way the visit will unfold. Often you have to go with the flow and let your friends direct the visit. That’s the way visits to Apline go. As a reader, you have to let the residents direct the visits. It’s fun and frustrating in equal parts.
The Alpine Uproar added a bit to the story of some of the residents’ lives, and I’m sure there will be repercussions from the events in this adventure. It will be fun to see how it unfolds in the next adventure.
One Bear’s Opinion: Four big glasses of peach soda during a good long visit with friends
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
Friday, July 8, 2016
One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review
The Alpine Traitor by Mary Daheim
This is the twentieth book in the Emma Lord/Alpine Advocate series. I am not sure what I think about it, honestly. It was interesting, but the mystery was complicated by too many characters and too many aliases. I had trouble following it most of the time. I also had trouble reading this book because the binding was quite tight and it was hard to hold the book open to be able to read the words near the crack, but that was not a fault of the author.
The plot was convoluted and involved many twists and turns and lots of things that may have been red herrings, or may not. It was not until the last couple of chapters that everything started coming together, and then it seemed to rush to the finish with very little explanation or satisfaction. By the time I figured out what was going on, it was over. It really wasn’t until the solution was revealed that everything was explained. I found it difficult to follow along with the mystery and the investigator, and even harder to put it all together at the end.
That is not to say that I did not enjoy the book. I did. I had a satisfying visit with the population of Alpine and surrounds. But it was difficult to follow and figure out the mystery.
This adventure wraps up some lingering questions from previous adventures in the series that I didn’t even know I had. And they were wrapped up in a satisfying way. If this were the last book of the series — it’s not — it would be a satisfying end.
Adventures in Alpine are always fun, if only because of the small-town characters and small-town politics. It’s such a fun place to visit.
One Bear’s Opinion: Four Glasses of Beer with a burger from the Burger Barn
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
This is the twentieth book in the Emma Lord/Alpine Advocate series. I am not sure what I think about it, honestly. It was interesting, but the mystery was complicated by too many characters and too many aliases. I had trouble following it most of the time. I also had trouble reading this book because the binding was quite tight and it was hard to hold the book open to be able to read the words near the crack, but that was not a fault of the author.
The plot was convoluted and involved many twists and turns and lots of things that may have been red herrings, or may not. It was not until the last couple of chapters that everything started coming together, and then it seemed to rush to the finish with very little explanation or satisfaction. By the time I figured out what was going on, it was over. It really wasn’t until the solution was revealed that everything was explained. I found it difficult to follow along with the mystery and the investigator, and even harder to put it all together at the end.
That is not to say that I did not enjoy the book. I did. I had a satisfying visit with the population of Alpine and surrounds. But it was difficult to follow and figure out the mystery.
This adventure wraps up some lingering questions from previous adventures in the series that I didn’t even know I had. And they were wrapped up in a satisfying way. If this were the last book of the series — it’s not — it would be a satisfying end.
Adventures in Alpine are always fun, if only because of the small-town characters and small-town politics. It’s such a fun place to visit.
One Bear’s Opinion: Four Glasses of Beer with a burger from the Burger Barn
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
by L.M. Montgomery
I am going to review these two books together as they are a continuing story. The story began in Anne of Green Gables, but I find that book can stand alone better than these two can. Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island are the rest of the story of Anne Shirley’s growing up. She starts working as a teacher in Anne of Avonlea and then goes off to university in Anne of the Island. Most people these days do that in the reverse order, but it was a different time and a different place so there are differences as compared to modern lives.
I have read these books before, and this re-read was sparked by events happening in the real world. I needed an escape, and a visit with old friends was just the escape I needed. My visits with Anne and her friends and family through the books were satisfying and exactly what I wanted to do a reset of my own personal world. The innocent time and innocent love story between Anne and Gilbert were a perfect antidote to the poison of the modern world. Plum puffs may not be able to minister to a mind diseased and a world that’s crumbling into pieces, but Anne and her friends can.
Anne of Avonlea is the story of Anne’s time spent teaching at the Avonlea school. It also details some of her still girlish teen-age adventures with her friends. New characters are introduced and changes are made in Anne’s world, but they are welcome characters and natural changes. Anne is growing up and the book reflects that.
Anne of the Island chronicles Anne’s life at Redmond College in Kingsport, Nova Scotia. New characters fill the book, though familiar ones are still there. It’s just like life, new people come into our lives at different points and some stay for just a little while, while others stay for a lifetime. Some of the new friends are quite fleeting, while others are lifelong friends of Anne. At the same time, old friends return with altered relationships, and others leave.
The books can get a bit rambly, and some of the episodes feel as though they were padding or tales that needed to go somewhere, but on the whole the books are fun and delightful to read. L.M. Montgomery never fails to entertain in her books, and there is a wholesome realness that permeates the novels. Anne and her friends are real, and they will definitely become the readers’ friends.
The story arc ends satisfactorily. By the end of Anne of the Island, “God’s in His Heaven; and all’s right with the world.” I will admit though, I cheated a bit and sneakily read the first few chapters of Anne of Windy Poplars to truly finish this part of Anne’s story. I felt a bit bad doing it, but not so bad that I would not do it again.
The Anne series is well worth reading if you have not yet, and it stands up to numerous re-reads if you have already read it through. And when the world is collapsing around you, it’s just the kind of read you need.
One Bear’s Opinion: Five glasses of red currant wine with slices of Averil’s cake (made with Rollings Reliable Baking Powder)
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
Anne of the Island
by L.M. Montgomery
I am going to review these two books together as they are a continuing story. The story began in Anne of Green Gables, but I find that book can stand alone better than these two can. Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island are the rest of the story of Anne Shirley’s growing up. She starts working as a teacher in Anne of Avonlea and then goes off to university in Anne of the Island. Most people these days do that in the reverse order, but it was a different time and a different place so there are differences as compared to modern lives.
I have read these books before, and this re-read was sparked by events happening in the real world. I needed an escape, and a visit with old friends was just the escape I needed. My visits with Anne and her friends and family through the books were satisfying and exactly what I wanted to do a reset of my own personal world. The innocent time and innocent love story between Anne and Gilbert were a perfect antidote to the poison of the modern world. Plum puffs may not be able to minister to a mind diseased and a world that’s crumbling into pieces, but Anne and her friends can.
Anne of Avonlea is the story of Anne’s time spent teaching at the Avonlea school. It also details some of her still girlish teen-age adventures with her friends. New characters are introduced and changes are made in Anne’s world, but they are welcome characters and natural changes. Anne is growing up and the book reflects that.
Anne of the Island chronicles Anne’s life at Redmond College in Kingsport, Nova Scotia. New characters fill the book, though familiar ones are still there. It’s just like life, new people come into our lives at different points and some stay for just a little while, while others stay for a lifetime. Some of the new friends are quite fleeting, while others are lifelong friends of Anne. At the same time, old friends return with altered relationships, and others leave.
The books can get a bit rambly, and some of the episodes feel as though they were padding or tales that needed to go somewhere, but on the whole the books are fun and delightful to read. L.M. Montgomery never fails to entertain in her books, and there is a wholesome realness that permeates the novels. Anne and her friends are real, and they will definitely become the readers’ friends.
The story arc ends satisfactorily. By the end of Anne of the Island, “God’s in His Heaven; and all’s right with the world.” I will admit though, I cheated a bit and sneakily read the first few chapters of Anne of Windy Poplars to truly finish this part of Anne’s story. I felt a bit bad doing it, but not so bad that I would not do it again.
The Anne series is well worth reading if you have not yet, and it stands up to numerous re-reads if you have already read it through. And when the world is collapsing around you, it’s just the kind of read you need.
One Bear’s Opinion: Five glasses of red currant wine with slices of Averil’s cake (made with Rollings Reliable Baking Powder)
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
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