An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear

Synopsis From Back Cover:

With the country in the grip of economic malaise, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment to investigate a potential land purchase.  Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking season, but beneath is pastoral surface she finds evidence of something amiss.  Mysterious fires erupt in the village with alarming regularity, and a series of petty crimes suggest a darker criminal element at work.  A peculiar secrecy shrouds the village, and ultimately Maisie must draw on her finely hones skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases yet.

So before I sat my happy butt down to do this review, I reread the post I did for the previous book in the series, Messenger of Truth.  Much like that review, I really have nothing new to say.  I'm still loving the series, I still love Maisie Dobbs, and I'm still loving the journey she is taking.

I am wishing I had read the entire series in order, instead of reading some of the later books before these middle few.  I think I would have understood Maisie and some of the, well I don't want to say mood swings, but I'm not sure what else to call them, that she experiences later on in the series.  It was nice to see James Compton, and the beginning of the relationship he has with Maisie later on.  Though it's still business at this point in time.  I'm actually hoping against hope that when I catch the books on the other sides of those I've already read, that they are still together.  If not, I'm going to be heart broken.

I know, especially when I started the series, that I would comment on the gentleness of the tone, that it's not a hard hitting mystery series.  I'm starting to think that I was using the wrong term, but again, I'm not sure what else to call it.  Despite the horrors of what happen to the victims in these books, I'm never tense or on edge.  There is something about the author's style, Maisie Dobbs herself, and I think the pastoral settings that so many of these books are set in, that I find myself relaxed the entire time I'm reading them.  Even when I'm reading about the real physical violence done out of ethnic hatred, I'm enjoying the story for what it is.  I'm not stressing out or having any sort of negative reaction to what I'm reading.  Honestly, I'm still not sure I'm explaining myself all the well, so I'm going to stop rambling on this point.

As for the mystery itself, it's heartbreaking in it's simplicity, and shocking in it's cause.  I know, that the crimes in this book, have actually taken place.  But it's always painful to be reminded of how far we can be driven by fear and hatred, how ordinary people can be scared into doing something so violent and so horrible, that they live with the shame and guilt the rest of their lives.  It's a sad testimony to human frailty, I just wish it didn't exist in real life.

Miss Silver Comes to Stay by Patricia Wentworth

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Everyone in the tiny English village of Melling was terribly interested in what would happen now that James Lessiter had returned at last to his ancestral home.  A few nosey parkers whispered that even after twenty years Rietta Cray would still want to marry him.  Nobody guess he might murder him.  At least not until the butler found him dead at this writing desk, his head bashed in with a poker and Rietta's raincoat soaked quite red with his blood.  But did she really do it?  Only Miss Silver knew for sure.

Just when I think I've really delved into the Golden Age of mystery writing, that I've read a wide array of authors, and met the most important characters in the genre; I realize something very important, I'm only getting started.  Patricia Wentworth and her knitting detective, Miss Silver, have popped up on my radar before.  I'm sure that both Yvette of in so many words... and Bev of My Reader's Block have reviewed her books before.  My first experience with Miss Silver, was a parodied version of her that appeared in Marion Mainwaring's Murder in Pastiche.  It wasn't my favorite book, I normally don't like parodies, but it pushed me in the direction of finally getting to meet the real Miss Silver for myself.

Now that I've met her, I'm feeling a little let down.  I'm not sure if it's the author's writing style, the character herself, or maybe just this book.  I'm pretty sure it's not the style, because it's similar in tone to Agatha Christie and Mary Roberts Rinehart, both of whom I adore.  Nor do I think it's the character of Miss Silver.  In many ways she reminds me of Jane Marple and others of her ilk.  And who doesn't love Jane Marple.  So that leaves me with the book itself leaving me a bit cold, but I'm not really sure that's all that fair either.

The mystery was a pretty standard English murder mystery.  The local lord is found dead in his study, bludgeoned to death with a fireplace poker.  The cast of suspects includes a local woman he was engaged to, a young man who's wife he stole away, and a woman accused of stealing from his family.  The murder victim himself was a jerk to the nth degree,and deserved his fate.  What of Miss Silver, I'm really not sure actually, she was barely in the story.  And there lies my problem with the book.  I'm not really sure who Miss Silver is as a character.  Much like Hercule Poirot in The Mystery of the Blue Train, the main character is rarely on the scene.  Miss Silver does solve the case, I just wish I had got to know her better.

I have one more Miss Silver book waiting to be read, so I'm hoping I have another chance to get to know her.  If not, I'm not sure this will be a series I revisit very much.  Part of what I love about this era in mystery writing are the detectives, they are all strange and eccentric, so I want more character.  If I can't get it from Patricia Wentworth, it's time to move on to those I can get satisfaction from.

Challenges:  VM (Jolly Old England)

Do I Have to Turn 37?

So I'm trying to figure out if I want to turn 37, but then I realized I really don't have a choice.

A Flooded Arkansas River

Now I know our flooding isn't as bad as other parts of the Midwest, but we have been having nonstop rains for weeks now and it's been causing some issues in my neighborhood.  We have had street flooding as the rain is pouring down, but all that rain is also filling up the Arkansas River.  I live across the street from the river, but I haven't had the time to get down there until the other day to take pictures.  I have posted a few pics on Facebook, but I thought I would show you guys a few others as well as those I already shared.  By the way, the last two pictures are of the troll that I finally found.

The Mirrored World by Debra Dean (Giveaway Included)

Synopsis From Dust Jacket: 

Born to a Russian family of lower nobility, Xenia, an eccentric dreamer who cares little for social conventions, falls in love with Andrei, a charismatic soldier and singer in the Empress's Imperial choir.  Though husband and wife adore each other, their happiness is overshadowed by the absurd demands of life at the royal court and by Xenia's growing obsession with having a child - a desperate need that is at last fulfilled with the birth of her daughter.  But then a tragic vision comes true, and a shattered Xenia descends into grief, undergoing a profound transformation that alters the course of her life.  Turning away from family and friends, she begins giving all her money and possessions to the poor.  Then, one day, she mysteriously vanishes.

Years later, dressed in the tatters of her husband's military uniform and answering only to his name, Xenia is discovered tending the paupers of St. Petersburg's slums.  Revered as a soothsayer and a blessed healer to the downtrodden, she is feared by the royal court and its new Empress, Catherine, who perceives her deeds as a rebuke to their lavish excesses.

Most of you already know that I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, with few exceptions, I normally can't connect with the approach the author chooses to take with the subject.  So you may be surprised to see that I agreed to review The Mirrored World by Debra Dean.  If I don't like historical fiction, why choose a historical fiction book to review.  My friends, that's a good question.  So let me try to explain it to you.

Since I was a kid, I've been fascinated by the men and women who have been so revered, that they are called saints.  I was intrigued by the happenstances and situations that could place someone in a position to be considered a actual saint, anointed by God to do good works on Earth.  Whether they came from the Roman Catholic tradition or not, saints have always fascinated me.  St. Xenia is from the Russian Orthodox tradition, and while I had never heard of her before this, I was hooked on the synopsis.  I was ready to delve into her life and find out, even if it's only a fictional account, what happened in her life to lead her down the road to sainthood.

So now, I get to explain why this book was no different than almost every other historical fiction book I've read.  I was wanting to learn about St. Xenia, her life and her beliefs.  Instead I got a puff piece told from the viewpoint of a cousin who shared Xenia's life from childhood to old age.  And when I say share, I really mean they were around each other all the time until Xenia went out on her own.  After that we only glimpse Xenia when the two come together again, often times years go between those meetings.  I didn't get to see Xenia at work in the slums, except through the cousin's eyes, and that was just a little glimpse.  I didn't get, from Xenia's viewpoint, why she took this path or what she was personally feeling at the time.  Everything I learned about Xenia is secondhand knowledge.

Now I know The Mirrored World is historical fiction, not a history book.  I get it.  If I really want to learn about St. Xenia, I should read nonfiction books about her life.  I shouldn't rely on a fiction book to sate my curiosity.  But is it wrong to expect more from a fictional account of a real person's life?  Shouldn't the subject of such a book get to tell her own story, instead of it being told from the viewpoint of someone else, someone who isn't around for much of her life?  I get that an author has the prerogative to tell a story from any viewpoint they want, and honestly, the writing was quite good.  It was a well crafted exploration, and I'm glad I read it.  I just wish, like I do so many times when I read historical fiction, that there was more meat on the bones.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews.

The wonderful group at TLC Book Tours have generously offered my readers the chance to win a copy of this book for themselves.  The giveaway will last until 11:59 pm, CST, on 8/19/13.  You must be a resident of the United States to enter, and all you have to do is leave me a comment with your email address.  

TV Guide Picks The Greatest TV Families of All Time

I think of all the lists TV Guide has done lately, this is one that I don't have as many quibbles with.  To be fair, picking a favorite TV family is much like picking your favorite character out of a book.  There are so many to pick from, that it's hard to narrow it down, and it's hard to not leave anyone off.  This was a list they did back in June, and even after all this time, I can't get mad about the families they left off.  Now I can get annoyed by some they chose to include, The Walshes for one, but other than a few of those types of issues, I'm generally okay with the list.  I do want to give TV Guide a shout out for one aspect of the list, not one reality show family made the list.  Thank the lord they don't think the Kardashians are one of the best TV families.  As usual , I will post the families that should have made the list, but didn't.  

General note for all the lists TV Guide has been doing, the first ten are in order, the rest are in alphabetical order.

1.  The Bradys from The Brady Bunch

2.  The Huxtables from The Cosby Show

3.  The Sopranos from The Sopranos

4.  The Bunkers from All in the Family

5.  The Barones from Everybody Loves Raymond

6.  The Conners from Roseanne

7.  The Ewings from Dallas

8.  The Cleavers from Leave it to Beaver

9.  The Addamses from The Addams Family

10.  The Waltons from The Waltons

11.  The Andersons from Father Knows Best

12.  The Arnolds from The Wonder Years

13.  The Bankses from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

14.  The Bellamys from Upstairs, Downstairs

15.  The Bluths from Arrested Development

16.  The Bradfords from Eight is Enough

17.  The Bundys from Married... With Children

18.  The Camdens from 7th Heaven

19.  The Carringtons from Dynasty

20.  The Clampetts from The Beverly Hillbillies

21.  The Cohens from The O.C.

22.  The Corbetts from The Courtship of Eddie's Father

23.  The Crawleys from Downton Abbey

24.  The Cunninghams from Happy Days 

25.  The Davises from Family Affair

26.  The Douglases from My Three Sons

27.  The Evanses from Good Times

28.  The Fishers from Six Feet Under

29.  The Flintstones from The Flintstones

30.  The Formans from That '70s Show

31.  The Gavins from Rescue Me

32.  The Gilmores from Gilmore Girls

33.  The Hecks from The Middle

34.  The Heffernans from The King of Queens

35.  The Ingallses from Little House on the Prairie

36.  The Jeffersons from The Jeffersons

37.  The Keatons from Family Ties

38.  The Lanes from The Patty Duke Show

39.  The Lawrences from Family

40.  The Lopezes from George Lopez

41.  Malcolm's family from Malcolm in the Middle

42.  The Munsters from The Munsters

43.  The Nelsons from The Adventures of Ozzies and Harriet

44.  The Partridges from The Partridge Family

45.  The Petries from The Dick Van Dyke Show

46.  The Pritchetts and the Dumphys from Modern Family

47.  The Ricardos I Love Lucy

48.  The Romanos from One Day at a Time

49.  The Sallingers from Party of Five

50.  The Sanfords from Sandford and Son

51.  The Simpsons from The Simpsons

52.  The Stones from The Donna Reed Show

53.  The Tanners from Full House

54.  The Taylors from The Andy Griffith Show

55.  The Taylors from Friday Night Lights

56.  The Taylors from Home Improvement

57.  The Tates and the Campbells from Soap

58.  The Walshes from Beverly Hills, 90210

59.  The Winslows from Family Matters

60.  The Whites from Breaking Bad

So that's their list, and now that I've actually typed it up, I'm really thinking a lot of these choices are pretty lame.  Most of them I'm sure have their supporters but for a select few, I could care less about them.  Even some of the pictures I used are of families that are just sort of blah for me.  There were a few cases where I would have shown a picture, The Huxtables, but it was right after the one I shared of The Bradys.  It seems like a lot of these families are very similar to each other.  I would liked to have seen a livelier bunch of families, maybe even a wider definition of what makes a family.  I would think that the group of Friends or even Seinfeld would qualify, though I'm not a huge fan of either show.

That being said, I'm not sure the families I would have liked to have been included, would make this list any more diverse, but here they are anyway.

I would have liked to see The Stephenses from Bewitched make the list.  Between a mortal husband, a witch for a wife, two magical kids, and a truly wicked mother-in-law, they are the perfect family.  Other sitcoms families that should have made the list are the Seavers from Growing Pains, the Strattons from Silver Spoons, the Tanners from Alf, and the Papadopolises from Webster.

I would also like to nominate two Western families to the list; the Cartwrights from Bonanza and the Barkleys from The Big Valley.  One other family from a drama, that in my opinion should have been in the top ten, The Summerses from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

My last comment, where are the families form the daytime soap operas.  How about the Buchanans, Kramers, or the Vegas from One Life to Live.  We could also have had the Martins, Kanes, and Chandlers from All My Children.  And don't froget the Quartermaines, Spencers, or the Corinthos clan from General Hospital.

So those are my thoughts, what do you guys make of the list?

Queen of the Air: A True Story of Love & Tragedy at the Circus by Dean Jensen (Giveaway Included)

Part Of The Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

Like today's Beyonce and Madonna, the book's heroine was know to her vast public by just one name: Leitzel.  There may have been some regions on Earth where her name was not a household word, but if so, they were likely on polar ice caps or in the darkest, deepest jungles.  Leitzel and and Alfredo were the biggest stars of the most famous road show ever produced, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Some of you may already know this about me, some of you may not, but the years between 5th and 9th grade, where spent traveling with a carnival.  Even before then, we led a pretty vagabond life.  We moved a lot, and when I mean a lot, I'm underrating the reality of it.  I understand what it means to really not have a physical understanding of the word "home."  Because of that, I've always been fascinated by those who were as, if not more, rootless than I am.  Those whose lives never seem to get the attention they deserve, almost as if that lack of physical connections somehow made them less important.  When those individuals are connected with the carnival or the circus, my interest knows no bounds.

Like most of the situations that fascinate me, I always seem to be a bit too easily to do any sort of research or reading about it though.  I can almost tell you diddly squat about the history of traveling shows in this country.  I can tell you even less about the men and women who knew no other life.  It's only when I'm handed an opportunity to do so, that I ever seem to take it.  Opportunity knocked when the good folks at Crown offered Queen of the Air: A True story of Love & Tragedy at the Circus, for review.  I was hooked by the synopsis in the email they sent me, and I knew it was a story I had to read.

Lillian Leitzel and Alfredo Codona were the Queen and King of the circus world, the first and the last.  Both of them were born into circus families, and Lillian at least, not under the best conditions.  Her mother was only twelve years old when she was born, and the two never really saw each other on any sort of a continuous basis for years and years.  She grew up under her mother's shadow, only to eclipse it at a young age.  Her star became the brightest on planet, burning hotter and by the year.  She was one of the first performers in any venue to become know by her first name, and it was a name known all over the world.  What she could do in the air, on her rings, was second to none.  Stars of Hollywood and Broadway held her in esteem.  Presidents and corporate leaders flocked to her circle.  She was the Queen of the circus and became one of the most famous and revered women in the world.

Alfredo was in love from the moment he saw her.  He became a star in is own right.  He was the first performer to nail the triple somersault on a trapeze.  It was a feat that became a regular feature in his shows.  And while both of their lives would take twists and turns, including other marriages and flirtations, they were destined to be together.  They were the royal couple of the circus, and everyone knew it.

To say their relationship was smooth sailing, is like saying I had a normal childhood.  It was tumultuous, passionate, and about every other adjective you could think of.  Leitzel couldn't stop flirting with other men, and Alfredo couldn't tame his jealousy.  By the end of their relationship, they were in different countries trying to move on with their lives.  

They weren't able to do it though, just as Leitzel had come to good terms with her mother and as she is moving on from Alfredo, the unthinkable happens.  Her tragic death shocked the world, and brought the circus world to its knees.  Alfredo's end is even more shocking and tragic, but it's one I'll let you discover for yourself.  They died the way they lived their lives, in a blaze of glory and burning brighter than anyone else around them. 

How this story hasn't been made into a movie, is beyond me.  I hope some screen writer is feverishly working even know, their story deserves to be told, and they deserve to be remembered by the general public that once adored them.

The wonderful group at Crown Publishers have generously offered my readers the chance to win a hardcover copy of this book for themselves.  The giveaway will last until 11:59 pm, CST, on 8/15/13.  You must be a resident of the United States to enter, and all you have to do is leave me a comment with your email address.