May 2026 Reads

Reading No Small Thing, A Novel of the American Revolution by Harold Coyle.

Finished reading Sniffing out murder by Kallie E. Benjamin and back to continue reading London by Edward Rutherfurd

I nearly put down There Was an Old Woman by Hallie Ephron ...bad guys trying to convince elderly homeowners to sell up property cheap, hiding their purses and paperwork, setting dry teakettles on the stove, moving parked cars to different spaces... frankly, it was hitting a little too close to home!

But I decided to persevere. It's a decently written story and I refuse to let the whippersnappers win.

Last month there was some discussion here of London by Edward Rutherfurd. I was sure I had it on my bookshelf somewhere and I thought I'd (re-)read it, but I couldn't find it anywhere and when I checked my LT catalogue it seems I don't have a copy. But I did find The Thames by Jonathan Schneer, and I'm currently enjoying that.

sounds interesting

I will be reading something a bit different this weekend, Welcome to Weirdsville by Lee Widener

Starting to read a mystery that takes place in Devon England The Long Call by Ann Cleeves

Flipping back and forth:
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley -- Fun, but fluffy. I think the author is taking some liberties as to what a belowstairs cook could get away with in the 1880's, but if she didn't, there wouldn't be a plot!

>7 GrammyTammyM:

Must look out for that. I loved her Vera series set in the north east of England.

>9 John5918: This is the first book of a new series and so far I love it.

I'm reading Alastair MacLean's The Lonely Sea, a collection of short stories which is an unusual mix of fiction and non-fiction tales. Published in 1985, it contains accounts of naval actions during World War II (including the sinking of the Bismark) which he wrote as early as 1960. Although not as full as many more recent accounts, these were wrtten when he and his audience were much closer to the events, a mere 15 years after the end of the war, and yet his readers were probably less well-informed in those days when mass communication was still in its infancy. Classic Maclean, I would say.

>4 John5918: I do have it in a book cabinet but have not yet read it. It does stare at me from behind the glass.

Dear Missing Friend by Susan McGuirk.

Catherine McGuirk is an immigrant from Ireland to America as well as some of her family in the mid-1800s.
The book is different because letters are written throughout the book as a method of communication. I personally enjoyed the book and the letters. Letters are written by friends as well as family.
The main character, Catherine, really lived and was the second great aunt of the author, Susan McGuirk. The book is fiction but based on real people. The author has done extensive research about the time era and the history of the time. There is whaling, the gold rush, immigrants, the Civil War, Herman Melville and his books, Walt Whitman and so much more. Anyone who is interested in genealogy will enjoy this book. I do family research and genealogy is at the top of my lists of things I do.
Be sure to read the Notes at the back of the book; there is one for each chapter.
Susan McGuirk also has the McGuirk Family Tree of 1850 on page 231.
I received a complimentary copy from LibraryThing and the author. I gave Dear Missing Friend a 5 star rating and will probably do a re-read.

Reading The Battle of the Queens by Jean Plaidy.