Reading list #3 2024

Tis a lovely day for a Guiness.........

or a lovely day for an Irish coffee

1. A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen story about a young woman with 5 year old daughter who is abandoned by her husband in  late 1800’s in England. She starts designing dresses to support herself and daughter eventually opens stores in London, New York, Paris and Chicago. Also a Titanic survivor. Good story and wonderful descriptions of fabrics and color.
2. Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb as delightful the second time I read it as the first.
3. The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich children’s book probably 4th grade reading level just for fun.
4. Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson murder mystery takes place on an island near Stockholm, Sweden. 
5. Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Rose nonfiction to keep my kindle streak going. About the importance of art in our lives for our wellbeing. Lots of studies and physiology of how the brain works and responds to the arts. Interesting.
6. The Women by Kristen Hannah for book club best book I have read in a long time about nurses who served during Vietnam war and their return to America.
7. The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland I read this years ago and very few moments reading it the second time that “oh yeah I remember this” almost like I was reading it for the first time. It’s about a painting probably painted by Vermeer, the Dutch artist. Each chapter is about who owned the painting, how they related to the painting and how they acquired it.
8. Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger book # 15 in the Cork O’Conner series.
9. The Paris Novel  fiction by chef, food writer and editor, Ruth Reichl, delightful story about a young woman going to Paris after the death of her mother. A bit of a fairy tale in that the people she meets in Paris each contribute to her finding herself and understanding her mother. Short happy ending book.
10. The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig for book club I just about quit reading it because I was going to miss the discussion but I said one more chapter and the action / tension picked up so I read to the end. The story takes place in 1909/1910 in Montana about a widowed father of 3 boys attending country school. Country school was the best 4 years of school of my life. 
11. Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier another book about Vermeer and his painting.
12. Sulfur Springs by William Kent Krueger #16 in the Cork O’Connor series, lots of twists and surprises.
13. Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes a mix up of gym bags and a drastic change of circumstances forces two women to literally walk in the others shoes. It’s a story of friendship and overcoming hardships and relationships. Very good
14. For All the World by Jean Grainger story takes place in Ireland at the beginning of WWI. 
15. Murder in the Marigolds by Fiona Grace a very short book murder with a horticultural theme just for fun. 
16. Lilac Ink by Jean Grainger Ireland about a young woman with polio in1938 overcoming obstacles and finding happiness and a letter in a bottle.
17. Last Port of Call: The Queenstown Series book 1 by Jean Grainger the story begins in 1912 in Queenstown, Ireland  reverted back to the original Irish name of Cobh with Ireland's independence from Britan. The story is about a young woman and her daughter who inherit the big house and turn it into a bed and breakfast to support themselves. Cobh is the departure point for many Irish leaving Ireland.  Rereading these books after visiting Cobh a few weeks ago.  
18. The West's Awake  by Jean Grainger book 2 of the Queenstown series. This series made me sympathetic toward those fighting for an independent Ireland.

I took a much longer break from blogging than I intended but then not much has been happening on the creative side.  We took a trip to Ireland with son and nieces and families.  It was a tour group and traveling with family was wonderful. We hope to travel together again in a couple years.  We toured the southern part of Ireland this trip.  My previous trips were all in the North to visit relatives so saw lots of beautiful new scenery. More about that in coming weeks.  I have been rereading the Jean Grainger books and trying to visualize  Cobh /Queenstown 110 years ago the only building that I'm sure is still in exactly the same place is St. Colman's Cathederal.