December books

As you know, I've been on a cozy mystery kick lately, so I picked up The Glass Is Always Greener by Tamar Myers from the same thrift store I got my Agatha Christie books from (it also cost 50 cents). It's a Den of Antiquity novel, which is a series of cozy mysteries about a mystery-solving antiques dealer in the Southeast. (I refuse to call it the South; that would actually be the bottom third/half of the US. The south of the eastern part of the US should be called the Southeast, to be correct.) That sounded intriguing to me, as I like antique shops and cozy mysteries. Read TGIAG's synopsis here. Anyway, this is the type of book whose calling card is EXTREME ZANINESS. I was choking on it. Everyone is very South(east)ern and insane. I couldn't keep up with all the characters and their weird names and who they were to each other. Barnes & Noble says this was the last book in the series (there were 16?!?!), but I should still not be this lost. With a series this big, a newbie should be able to pick up any book and be able to keep up. The way Abby (the antiques dealer/mystery solver and narrator) described people's physical appearances was weird. Her petiteness (she's 4'7") and that of her mother was remarked upon way too often. The murder wasn't really explained that thoroughly, and even though it's the last? book of the series, it ends on a cliffhanger. I will not be keeping this book and I won't be reading the others in the series. 

Cover notes: The cover has nothing to do with the book at all. I don't think the artist read any of it. Abby's cat (who doesn't even come into the story at all) is shown in front of a broken window of green glass. The green glass in the story is not that of a window. I mean come on.

Trigger warnings: murder, death, corpse found in a freezer near food, stabbing mention, poison mention, homophobia, racist/transphobic character, lots of food talk, touching without consent, characters ignore boundaries

 

 

Next was a Savers find, Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy by Frances Mayes, another Southeasterner. Mayes and her boyfriend Ed purchase and restore an old Tuscan farmhouse, and learn how to live and eat in Italy. The book is based on the journals she kept while doing this. Mayes was the head of Creative Writing at the university where she works, so of course this book was written beautifully. Her voice is soothing yet intelligent and interesting, and I liked seeing everything through her eyes. She's one of those writers who is familiar with all sorts of literary and historical sources/works and casually mentions what they say about what she's talking about at the moment (Virgil is mentioned the most). My mouth watered reading about the food they cooked and ate there in Italy. At least once in my life, I need to eat at a dinner party in Italy, surrounded by friends, conversation, laughter, and delicious food. She also talks about the churches, architecture, history, art, etc. of the places she and Ed visited there. It made me long to go back to Tuscany, and while I only lived there a month, I feel like she really captured its essence and light. The book also includes some recipes! Highly recommended, and guaranteed to inspire both wanderlust and hunger. 4.5/5 stars because I didn't want it to end lol

Trigger warnings: corpses of human and animals described, death, car accident(s), sex mentions, some Ugly Americanism, lots and lots of food and cooking talk 

 

 

The last book I read in December was The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others' Eyes by C.S. Lewis, which is a compilation of things CSL wrote about reading and books. I had wanted it for ages and asked for it for Christmas. It was a fairly quick and enjoyable read, as of course I love CSL and books and reading. It made me want to read his books again. Highly recommended if you're a CSL fan and/or love books about reading. I cannot think of any trigger warnings, although he is scornful of people who only read "the right" and "modern" things (aka nonintellectuals). That does come off as a bit classist. All in all, I really enjoyed this book and am glad I asked for it for Christmas. 4.5/5 stars

I also reread Christmas with Anne, as I do every holiday season.