Dee Reads

Book Festivals/Fairs - What's Not To Love? Prior to this discovery, I must have lived a sheltered literary life!  Other than the Scholastic Book Fair at my elementary school, I had no idea there were book festivals, fairs, or otherwise labeled "reading treats" for much of my adult life.  My first festival was a memorable couple of days spent with a good reading friend, Nancy Taylor. She was my former boss's wife, so you might think it would be awkward to go on, what was basically a social trip with someone that I didn't know all that well, but I've found that books make easy friends.  When you are at a loss for conversation, the obvious starter is, "tell me about what you've been reading".   That simple phrase set us off on several lengthy and interesting hours enjoying our varying reading tastes.       Nancy and I attended the National Book Festival , Washington D. C. together in September of 2012.  My daughter and I had originally plan...

  A Gentleman in Moscow , by AmorTowles If you're counting, it's been about three weeks since I shared a book review with you all. I’ll be honest, this month's book, A Gentleman in Moscow , didn't begin its time on my preferred reads shelf. If had been reading a hardback version, there would probably be a dent in my living room wall where I threw it aside 🤣. Fortunately, I was reading on my Kindle, so no need to patch the sheetrock. I just reopened my Kindle and determinedly gave it one more shot.  Determined I was, because my brother spoke of it often and with such high praise I knew I must be missing something very valuable.  Finishing the book a day before I wrote the original review, and now almost three years later, I’m still not sure I’ve found the gems he did, but it is indeed a book unlike any other I’ve read! Count Rostov, a member of the Russian aristocracy, labeled “unrepentant” by a Bolshevik tribunal, is placed under house arrest in the Metropol Hote...

When I have the good fortune to stumble upon a book that strikes a chord, touches my heart🩷, or through simple good fortune becomes a special favorite, I immediately begin the hunt for more books with the same knack.  If you've been on this quest yourself, you know it can be tough to find reads that have similar voices, settings, plots, etc.  Does this wine pair with that cheese?  Do these shoes go with that dress?  It's a bit more complicated, but celebrities, reviewers, and books sites tend to use a simple phrase.  Something along the lines of, "If you liked Book A, you will love Book B." That absolute doesn't always hold true for me, but I'm going to pair up some "read-a-likes" for your consideration. That isn't to say they will have the same feel for you as they do for me, but I believe I've paired some with commonalities.  I hope you enjoy! Legal thrillers are a favorite of mine and I've read a lot of them by many different authors....

  My life has been interwoven with many wonderful libraries!  I hope your's has too.  To be without such a valuable resource is sad.  When I consider the ways in which libraries have enriched my life, I think of  the librar y of my small hometown, Spencerville, Ohio.  Small town = small library.  Although it was part of a public library system, I don't think it was much larger than a studio apartment, but did it ever open up a bigger world to me. It looks a lot different now, some forty years later, and I haven't visited this new building, but I trust it serves the same home-away-from-home need for current readers that it did for me.  Saturday visits, spending time there researching and writing a term paper on Marilyn Monroe, and reading over and over a true crime book on infamous murders.  I know, today that last one would probably prompt an appointment with a therapist, but I found it utterly fascinating.  Even my backside has a librar...

Let's take some time to talk about a variety of shorter reads; novellas, samplers, or short stories.  As many of these shorts that are out there, there are reasons for reading them.  Some readers I know take on a short as a way of sampling a new author or genre.  Not a bad thought!  There are those of us who select a short story when we need a break, maybe from a big chunk of a book or perhaps from a subject that has been difficult to handle emotionally or absorb intellectually.  Also, a good idea!  Whatever your reason, and I don't believe there's a bad one, let's wade into a little of these three possibilities. Novellas are probably the first thing that jumps to mind when you hear "short read", but what is a novella?  And will a brief piece of writing be able to convey a plot?  A novella is generally described as a piece of narrative fiction, shorter than your "average bear" novel🐻, but longer than most short stories.  How about an idea or...

This being my fourth blog post, I thought a little background on how I plan to choose topics might be of interest. My initial thinking was to write on topics that were "book adjacent" - to share with you some of my perspective, but stay away from more traditional book reviews. Up to this point, that's what I've tried to accomplish.  However,  I've had a slight change of heart.  Afterall, there are so many great books out there, we really need to share.  I think I'll do a book review every few posts.   Introducing the work of Marcie R. Rendon  -  Happily,  I stumbled upon Marcie at the Texas Book Festival (more on the festival in an upcoming post) in November 2022.  Without that happenstance, I might have missed an author that is gifted at writing a piece of fiction, that both entertains and educates. I admire and envy this ability!  What a gift!  Before I delve into my thoughts on her latest, Where They Last Saw Her, let me int...

If you're at all the sort of reader I am, you probably follow book groups and authors on social media.  I keep up with a lot of them on Facebook.  I'm not as savvy as I need to be to use many of the social media platforms, so I concentrate on one.  Maybe one day I'll sharpen my skillset and branch out.   While I was on Facebook one morning perusing my page for new books, I noticed there was a lot of talk about books that are rarely mentioned, but once read seem to be gems of the reading world.  They simply don't get the buzz some other authors do.  Immediately, two or three authors jumped to my mind!  I'm going to share three of them with you here. Kicking it off with Aaron Stander.  I can't remember how I came upon Aaron's work, but have truly loved the eleven mysteries he's written set in Michigan, featuring Sheriff Ray Elkins.  They appeal to me in two ways.  First and foremost, they are well-constructed mysteries with great, som...

I have always wanted to start my very own blog...so here we go! I love reading! All kind of books! I particularly enjoy thrillers, mysteries and police procedurals.  There are times when my love of this genre leads me to contemplate "how do I get away with murder".    I need to know where and how to hide the bodies!  Help me out here. Give me some ideas.😉 On a serious note, I do read very broadly and always have, from the time I borrowed my first Nancy Drew Mystery, at about age seven, to today when I continue to love a good mystery series.  For instance, the Tracy Crosswhite Series by Robert Dugoni is a stand-out for me. You can check out the first in Tracy's series, My Sister's Grave . Once you get a taste for Tracy, a Seattle P.D. detective, you will quickly wolf down her entire ten-book saga.   You'll be left with such a voracious appetite, you might want to jump right into Robert's newest series featuring Seattle lawyer, Keera Duggan, in Her Dead...