After waiting several months for my name to come up on the waiting list at the library for The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary, it finally landed in my inbox. I have a thing for British writers and their quirky style. The Flatshare is a combination of light humour and an underlying serious message. The book alternates chapters written in the first person by the two main characters….
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Coco Chanel slept with the enemy and got away with it
After reading Sleeping With The Enemy, Coco Chanel’s Secret War by Hal Vaughan I’m tempted to never buy another Chanel product again. Not a lipstick, a nail polish, or fragrance. Obviously my boycott would have absolutely no impact on the company’s overall wealth and market penetration, and Chanel herself is dead so my concerns are moot. Besides, I love the brand so that would only penalize…
Cynthia Loyst from CTV’s The Social gives pleasure
When I first heard that Cynthia Loyst from CTV’s The Social was publishing a book about how to bring more pleasure into our lives, I was reluctant to read it. As a regular follower of the TV show, I thought I had a pretty good handle on her philosophy of life and wondered what more could possibly be said. But I was wrong. Having now…
Four cheers for Elizabeth Strout’s Burgess boys
Having now finished my fourth Elizabeth Strout novel, The Burgess Boys, it’s obvious why she’s a New York Times best-selling author and has won so many awards, including a Pulitzer for fiction. The lady can write. She captures small-town life so perfectly and we find ourselves rooting for her characters despite their flaws and dark sides. After all, we’re all flawed and we can relate to the…
Anne Glenconner’s Lady in Waiting gives us a glimpse into life with the royals
When I saw 87-year-old Anne Glenconner promoting her upcoming book on The Graham Norton Show last fall, she was so engaging I knew I couldn’t wait to read it. I always enjoy autobiographies and Glenconner’s outgoing, unfiltered personality promised lots of juicy reading. But, it wasn’t due to be released until the following March (2020) so I immediately put my name on the list for…
Mobile library ladies in Kentucky were a life saver in remote communities
A few pages into reading The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson, I had to Google “blue-skinned people of Kentucky”. The main character of this book, Cussy Carter, is a “blue” and it’s something I was unfamiliar with. The story is set in the midst of The Great Depression in the 1930s. A small group of Appalachian hill people whose skin was tinted…