My Current Interest

               It was the head of the circulation desk at the library who kept me from reading the second book of this series first.   Well, what is sort of a series.   I say this because there are two books about the same family, surrounding similar events.   The main characters of each book changes, though, and the books are definitely able to stand on their own.   Written this way, I would have a hard time calling this a series.   Still, I am glad I read Next Year in Havana first.                 Life is not easy for people living in 1958 Cuba.   Revolution is on the horizon, and the people are split over which side to support.   Even families are divided, as is the case with the wealthy Perez family.   The patriarch, Emilio, an owner of sugar plantations, supports President Batista.   His son, Alejandro, supports the revolutionaries.   Not the ones led by Fidel Castro, but that doesn’t matter to Alejandro’s father.   The fact of him supporting revolutionaries at all is enoug

Image provided by Acorn TV.             The title My Life is Murder could be taken in several different ways.   I certainly thought it would be a show more on the dark side of things.   When you say your life is murder, that is not exactly a hard leap to take.                 Yet, when I watched this show, I found it wasn’t dark at all!   Yes, there are murders to solve.   While they are being investigated, though, what you have is a light, fun show.                 Alexa Crowe (Lucy Lawless) is retired from the police force.   At least she’s supposed to be.   The problem is her friend, Detective Inspector Kieran Hussey (Bernard Curry), keeps bringing her cold cases to look into.   Having been a detective while on the police force, Alexa knows how to investigate a case.   She could turn Kieran away every time he shows up, but her natural curiosity drives her to help.                      While Alexa does all the street investigations, she relies on a young technical exper

              I’m 100% serious about this.   The character Olivia Puckett can go away.   Far, far away, and never be seen again.   She is that obnoxious.                 The funny thing is, Olivia is less obnoxious in this book than she is in the last one.   Since I want to get rid of the character when she’s behaving better, you know how bad she really is. Cupcake /Artwork by Kate Dorsey                 Cupcake bakery owners Melanie “Mel” Cooper and Angie DeLaura have entered a chefs competition at the Scottsdale Food Festival.   They are determined to beat their rival baker, Olivia Puckett, and get publicity for their bakery, Fairy Tale Cupcakes.   This competition will also give Mel the opportunity to show her old culinary professor, Vic Mazzotta, what she can do.                 Vic is one of the judges of the competition, and he expects not only excellence but perfection from Mel.   Unfortunately, he does not get to see Mel accomplish either of those things because h

Book /Artwork by Kate Dorsey                            I love learning and have always enjoyed seeing how things are made.   So, it shouldn’t come as any surprise I read informational books from time to time.   Below are three books I have found especially interesting. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Stephen King                 On Writing is my absolutely favorite book about writing.   It is a mix of things: autobiography, writing tools, thoughts on writing, and advice.   This is a good book for both those who are interested in writing and for those who like Stephen King.                 For the autobiography part, I found it fascinating how important Mr. King’s wife, Tabby, is to his writing career.   Even while her writing career struggled (she writes as Tabitha King), she supported her husband’s.   Now, she is one of the first people, if not the first, to read his work.   Her opinion matters strongly and most importantly to Mr. King.   As it should.   Not onl

I don’t know how many times I tried to watch Miss Marple on TV.   It airs every once in a while on PBS , and every time I either fall asleep or have something else going on.   That’s why when I found the series on DVD at the library , I decided it was time I sat down and watched it.    Knitting /Artwork by Kate Dorsey This series consists of twelve different Miss Marple mysteries.   Miss Marple (Joan Hickson) is a quiet, elderly woman who lives in the quaint village of St. Mary Mead.   To look at this small woman, who is usually found knitting, many would find it easy to dismiss her.   That would be a mistake.   Miss Marple has an extremely sharp mind, and she hears everything.   It is how she solves so many mysteries, much to the chagrin of the police force. Actually, it is really only one person on the police force who has a big problem with Miss Marple.   That person is Inspector Slack (David Horovitch).   All the time, no matter where Slack is, Miss Marple shows up