Sorry no update for another week.

Traveling to Massachusetts.

Review: Gabby

Gabby: The Little Dog That Had to Learn How to Bark
by Barby Keel

Lovely little book that should have been much smaller. Or larger--I would have really enjoyed reading more about the animals in the sanctuary and the people who worked there. That part--and there was a good bit of it--was great and could have been much larger. And the dog Gabby was very interesting, and the author herself also.  

But I have to recommend it with caution--the parts about the author and Gabby were
very repetitive. At times I wondered if she were repeating a previous passage verbatim. Probably not, but it got really old re-reading the same thoughts again and again.

Review: Kept

Kept: An American Househusband in India
by Gregory E Buford

Practically perfect in every way!  Light, funny and nerve-wracking at times, the author's wife get assigned to a diplomatic position in India, and he become homemaker and sitter for their lovely little son. And there they live, for about two years (I think), navigating the potholes. And everything is so different there, but they survive it beautifully, such as
--the house servants they seem to accumulate without every understanding why they need so many
--the wives in the embassy who try but have a hard time accepting a man into their kids' playgroups
--the "Christian" nanny who is prejudiced, self-righteous, and annoying
--the Indian driver who become their right-hand man and lifelong friend
--the building/home/who knows? going up next door, brick by brick
--the Cobra in the laundry room
--and the occasional wild adventure that throws everything off balance.

I loved it all and can't wait to read the next one.

Review: The Janus Stone

The Janus Stone
by Elly Griffiths

Second in the series for me, and well worth continuing. I'd been a little uncertain about whether I wanted to read a second book--the first was a little dark and moody and maybe a tiny bit unsettling. Atmospheric--that's the word!  But all that scary mist on the moor fit in after a while and I got to liking it.

And you have to love the main characters--the forensic archeologist Ruth and the police detective Nelson who kind of fancies her despite being happily married. I'm not sure where that is going, but I suspect the author knows.  Can't wait to find out.

The only negative for me was the insertion of an occasion few paragraphs in the mind of the perp.  Icky, unnecessary, and absolutely annoying.  After the first one, I skipped them. I want to know what's in the head of the perp only when it is revealed to the detectives.  And I certainly don't want to be in his head--for me, it destroys the mood and rips a leaking hole in the building suspense.

Review: Unruly

Unruly: A (Ridiculous) History of England's Kings and Queens
by David Mitchell

Funny!  And silly and awfully informative all the same. He stops at around the time Shakespeare lived and wrote, at about Charles 1.  I wish he hadn't!  I hope he writes a sequel--won't he?  I can't find the answer online.

He romps merrily through the era before kings and queens and then jumps into legend, fact and fiction with an adept hand. Not being an expert on the subject, I don't know how much of what he says has any basis in truth. But I suspect it mostly all does--I mean, what would be the point of writing such a marvelous book if it wasn't true?

The (Ridiculous) is in the title because that's how the book was labeled on Audible.  Don't know why Goodreads doesn't include it.