Honoring My Father

Thanks, Dad!

I collect cookbooks. Now, I’m not known for my cooking, though I do bake some wonderful cheesecakes that do very well at my church’s dessert auctions. The youth of our church decided to produce a cookbook as a fundraiser. We were all asked to provide recipes. As I’m not a person who makes up recipes, I was a bit stumped until I remembered my father’s cookbook. I’m not talking a published cookbook, but a collection of recipes in Dad’s own handwriting. Soups, stews, potpies, vegetable side dishes—to say they took me back in time is an understatement. Read More >>

Introduction to a New (to Me!) Author

Winner of Norway’s Riverton Prize

I was introduced to a new writer in May—K.O. Dahl, referred to as the Norwegian Henning Mankell on the back cover of his latest book, The Man in the Window.

Discovering that this was not the first in a series, I had to order The Fourth Man, winner of Norway’s Riverton Prize for Best Crime Novel, and start at the beginning. I was so taken with this first book that I decided to review it, a wonderful pager-turner that was difficult to put down. Read More >>

Kurt Wallander Series on PBS

Catch the reruns!

In May, PBS showed adaptations of three books from Henning Mankell’s series featuring Kurt Wallander: Sidetracked, Firewall, and One Step Behind.

I’ve been a Mankell/Wallander fan for a long time. As always, I was concerned that the shows would stay as true as possible to the books and to the character of Wallander. Fortunately, I was pleased with both. Read More >>

A Favorite Character Reappears

Jane Whitefield is back!

Author Thomas Perry won the Edgar Award for The Butcher’s Boy, and Metzer’s Dog was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, but my favorite books of his are those he wrote as a series featuring his character Jane Whitefield: Vanishing Act, The Face Changers, Shadow Woman, and Dance for the Dead. Read More >>

A Bone to Pick

Lesson learned . . .

I enjoy listening to books on CD or audiotape while driving, especially on long trips. Recently, I bought the audio presentation of a book I’d actually read. This may not make sense to some of you, but if I have enjoyed a book, I have no problems with it. However, there were times during the trip that I thought I’d goofed up and missed a CD. Read More >>