Monday, April 29

Monthly Bookshelf Review - April 2024

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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx

Although I've been getting a bit more reading done lately, thanks in part to my determination to read during my lunch almost every workday, it's still a slower pace than what I've done in the past. Then again, if I regularly stayed up all hours of the night reading an un-put-down-able book, I'd have to use my lunch break to take a nap, so I guess it all balances in the end! 


April's Books Completed and Reviewed

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai - A father and daughter team run an unusual Kyoto restaurant that specializes in tracking down and recreating the special dishes that clients long to try one more time. (Read my review HERE.)



The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright - Two young women trying to escape their past, but in two different timelines, yet their eerie experiences at Castle Moreau are strangely similar.  (Read my review HERE.)



During April I started reading:


Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette - As this story opens, Avidan and his cousins are witnessing the choosing of ancient Israel's first king.



Silencing the Siren (Ever After Mysteries) by Denise L. Barela - This is a retelling of The Little Mermaid set in 1920s New York City. A wealthy but lonely young man falls in love with a young woman with a disability who performs as a mermaid at a Coney Island curiosity show.



During April I continued reading:

Wimpy Weak and Woke by John L. Cooper - Got back into this book that I started a little bit ago. It does require a bit more concentration, so it's slow going but I love that it makes me think.



Where My Books Took Me in April . . . Here's where I've traveled through the pages during the month, along with One Word to sum up the ones I finished.

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau is set in rural Wisconsin.
One Word: Hiding

The Kamogawa Food Detectives have a restaurant in Kyoto, Japan.
One Word: Memories

Voice of the Ancient takes place in ancient Israel.
Silencing the Siren is set in New York City.


Coming Up in May!

I'm limiting myself to one or two books in this section, because what's "up next" changes often, and I'm reading more slowly. I've got my eye on a possible review book for when I finish Silencing the Siren. That one is a "maybe" but I'm putting here to remind myself.

Sisters of Fortune by Anna Lee Huber




On my blogs recently . . . 

Besides the reviews, here on Just A Second you'll find:



And on A Fresh Cup of Coffee:



This post will be linked at the current BookWorms Monthly link-up hosted by At Home A Lot; and (if I remember) at the weekly reading list meme hosted at Book Date.

bookworms monthly linky

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

©2008-2024 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.


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Friday, April 26

Friday Fun - The Friday 56 and First Lines for April 26, 2024

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 


I'm currently working on this fairytale retelling for a review. The description sounded interesting, but it was the cover that really attracted me. 

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PROLOGUE

Andrew paced back and forth, tugging at his blond hair. She couldn't be dead. Impossible!

~From the beginning of Silencing the Siren (Ever After Mysteries) by Denise L. Barela



Andrew Grayson thought he had everything . . . until he met her.

The indulged son of wealthy parents, Andrew has always gotten whatever he wanted almost before he knew he wanted it - clothes, gadgets . . . even a car! What more could a young man desire?

Enter Annabel Thompson. Freakshow mermaid extraordinaire . . . in a wheelchair!

Of course, her beauty attracts him. How could it not? Add to that a kind heart, and Andrew can't help but fall for her.

Annabel's connection with the freakshow repels his parents and their society friends. They want him to sever all ties with her and his new friends. Oh, and marry the "right" girl with the "right connections." But he won't do it. He'll defy them and marry his little mermaid.

When Annabel turns up missing, declared dead, things don't add up, andrew begins asking some difficult questions, the most important being, "What happened to the little mermaid of the Coney Island freak show?"

Find out in this next book in the Ever After Mysteries, combining beloved fairy tales and mysteries. Silencing the Siren offers a retelling of "the Little Mermaid" that will keep you gripped to the edge of your seat as you watch the story unfold.

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RimSP button

First Line Fridays is hosted at Reading is My SuperPower

*Share the first line or two of the book closest to you, then visit other FLF participants.
*Please keep posts family friendly or clean reads.
*Link back to Reading is My SuperPower within your post or grab a button.

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Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

*It's Book Beginnings on Fridays! Time to gather with our fellow book lovers and share the opening sentence (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Or share from a book that is on your mind right now -- whatever catches your fancy.

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Her sleep that night was fitful, but when she woke, she was firm in her decision.
It was time.

~at 56% in Silencing the Siren (Ever After Mysteries) by Denise L. Barela




The Friday 56 was started and hosted at Freda's Voice. She is taking a break from hosting, but Anne at My Head Full of Books has volunteered to host for now, so I'll be linking up there.

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your e-reader.
*Find a snippet, short and sweet.
*Post it, and share in the Linky.


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©2008-2024 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.


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Sunday, April 21

Recent Reads - The Vanshing at Castle Moreau

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 


The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright - From the opening lines, this story paints a mysterious picture of Castle Moreau and of all the characters associated with it. A nameless young girl in the early 1800s is facing the illness and death of her mother when a ghostly woman with a crooked hand starts appearing in her room. In another timeline, Daisy François, an orphan, comes in 1870 to become a housemaid at Castle Moreau, hoping to escape the abuses she faced in her past life. So there's a mystery surrounding Daisy's past and why she came to the castle, and what she finds when she arrives makes her wonder whether she's made the right decision. She is frightened of the formidable Madame Tremblay and her tales of Gothic horror, and concerned because there are no other servants and her own duties are quite vague. She also hears tales that women have disappeared and the locals believe that the castle and its eerie residents have something to do with it.

In yet another timeline, the current day, Cleo Clemmons is hired by the grandson of his reclusive grandmother to help clean up Castle Moreau, which is full of the grandmother's (who goes by Virgie) hoarded possessions. It suits Cleo to disappear to the mysterious castle, because she is running from something in her past too. Between the daunting task of trying to organize a huge collection of generations while navigating Virgie's changing moods, and managing her own weaknesses and guilt, Cleo wants to run away from the castle too, but she has nowhere to go. Then she is drawn into the century-old mystery of the missing women when someone gives her some clues to one of the last women to disappear and Cleo reluctantly partners with Virgie's celebrity grandson to try to put the rumors to rest. 

The stories of these two young women, and the elderly mistresses of Castle Moreau that they encounter, have many parallels, and although Daisy and Cleo each have their own fears to overcome, they find themselves unable to walk away from the mysteries within the castle walls. Both young women grapple with whether the grandson they deal with can be trusted, and both are oddly compelled to try and discover what happened to the missing women and whether there really was a connection to Castle Moreau.

Suspense and mystery hover throughout the story, as each character struggles to discern what is real and what is imagined or legend, and grapples with their own fears and past hurts. Is there any light and hope within these castle walls, or will Daisy and Cleo become part of the dark legends?

There are hints of the possible solution to the mystery, but it's teased out enough so that it's still a surprise twist, and a really satisfying one. 

From the publisher:

A haunting legend. An ominous curse. A search for a secret buried deep within the castle walls.

In 1870, orphaned Daisy François takes a position as housemaid at a Wisconsin castle to escape the horrors of her past life. There she finds a reclusive and eccentric Gothic authoress who hides tales more harrowing than the ones in her novels. As women disappear from the area and the eerie circumstances seem to parallel a local legend, Daisy is thrust into a web that could ultimately steal her sanity, if not her life.

In the present day, Cleo Clemmons is hired by the grandson of an American aristocratic family to help his grandmother face her hoarding in the dilapidated Castle Moreau. But when Cleo uncovers more than just the woman's stash of collectibles, a century-old mystery and the dust of the old castle's curse threaten to rise again . . . this time to leave no one alive to tell the sordid tale.

Award-winning author Jaime Jo Wright seamlessly weaves a dual-time tale of two women who must do all they can to seek the light amid the darkness shrouding Castle Moreau.

This is a book told in non-chronological order (#10) for The 52 Book Club's 2024 Reading Challenge.
#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2024



©2008-2024 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

 
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Monday, April 15

What I'm Reading - April 15, 2024

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee.

 It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly reading list meme is hosted at Book Date. Join in to see what others are reading and maybe get some ideas of what to read next! Although the Book Date link-up happens weekly, I don't update that often. Usually I do this around the middle of the month, and try to share my monthly bookshelf summary on the last Monday of the month. Here's what I've been working on lately!


I finished reading . . . 

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai - Nagare and his daughter Koishi run an unusual diner in Kyoto that specializes in recreating dishes their clients remember and want to experience again. Each client's search is a short story, and the focus is on the nostalgia and emotional connection to food.  (Read my review HERE.)



I'm currently reading . . .

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright - I'm nearing the end of this dual timeline story, and it's still keeping me guessing! About a hundred years apart, Daisy and Cleo find themselves frightened yet somehow compelled to discover what happened to other young women who are rumored to have disappeared at Castle Moreau.



Wimpy Weak and Woke by John L. Cooper - Working on this a little at a time. I need longer blocks of time to concentrate on it, and I don't have a lot of those right now.



Silencing the Siren (Ever After Mysteries) by Denise L. Barela - I just got started on this retelling of "The Little Mermaid" for a review. 



Up Next . . . On the TBR stack . . . 

The stack grows faster than my ability to read it, especially lately! No guarantees, but these are the top contenders for me to pick up next:

Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette
Sisters of Fortune by Anna Lee Huber






This post will also be linked at What's On Your Bookshelf? #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge hosted by Deb's World. 

 ©2008-2024 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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Saturday, April 13

Recent Reads - The Kamogawa Food Detectives

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 


The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai - I was drawn to this book by the cute cover and a couple of teasers posted on book blogs, and took a chance on it. It could be considered a series of short stories featuring Nagare Kamogawa, a former police detective turned chef, and his daughter Koishi. Together they run a unusual little restaurant - a true "hole in the wall" since it has no sign and doesn't advertise its location. While they serve delicious meals to their regular customers, they also have a unique sideline at the Kamogawa Diner. They are also food detectives, who will hunt down the special ingredients and cooking techniques to recreate the dishes that their clients remember from the past.

Koishi and Nagare rely on any details their clients can remember about the special dish they want to enjoy once more, and Nagare puts his detective skills to work. There is a sense of nostalgia to the memories and searches, and some are bittersweet. A former colleague of Nagare's wants to relive a dish the way his late wife used to make it - and it turns out it's a bit of closure for him as he moves on to a new relationship. An older woman remembers the beef stew she had on the day she was surprised by a proposal, and wonders what her life would have been like if she'd reacted differently. 

A charming collecction of vignettes, with evocative descriptions of the foods and the city of Kyoto. Elements of foodie fiction and cozy mystery are combined into a narrative that is both sweet and savory by turns, and reminds us of how taste and smell can transport us back in time and are connected to our memories.

From the publisher:

The Kamogawa Food Detectives is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese series, for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

What's the one dish you'd do anything to taste just one more time?

Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner serves up deliciously extravagant meals. But that's not the main reason customers stop by . . . 

The father-daughter duo are 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are able to recreate dishes from a person's treasured memories - dishes that may well hold the keys to their forgotten past and future happiness. The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished moments, creating a present full of possibility.

A bestseller in Japan, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a celebration of good company and the power of a delicious meal.


This is a book with a title starting with the letter K (#11) for The 52 Book Club's 2024 Reading Challenge.
#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2024




©2008-2024 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.


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