Books

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

This and that

 Looked out of the window, very early in the morning a couple of weeks ago and there was a hot air balloon floating by the house. We used to see lots of them but this is the first one for years.  I almost left it too late to get a picture but I kind of like this one through the trees.


There's been a little bunny living on our deck for the last couple of weeks.  I think he's hiding out as there have been a few coyotes around.  I did tell him though that if he keeps pooping on the deck I will have to evict him!!


We continue having health issues-mostly me this time. I had a lump on my eyelid so I went to see my doctor.  She cut it out (boy did that hurt for nearly 4 weeks) and sent it for biopsy. I had to wait nearly three weeks to get the results. Fortunately it was a benign polypoid. When I went to see the doctor again I had two more so she decided to send me to the skin cancer clinic. I was surprised to realize it has been 7 years since I was there last. They decided that one was a keloid and froze it with liquid nitrigen. They weren't sure about the other one so decided that as it was small we would wait three months and see if it changes.
I also have the recurring tendonitis in my right wrist. I had to have a cortisone shot in it about two weeks ago.  It's still not great but it is a little better.  I haven't been able to do any knitting for over two years because of this.  I'm still wearing a splint on it at night as that is when it bothers me the most-unfortunately wearing it is starting to irritate the skin. Can't win! 
The next thing was that we both tested positive for covid. It happened right on DH's birthday, so no nice supper out. He had a really bad cough. My cough wasn't as bad but I had the body aches, headache and chills.  At one point DH's temp was 40.1C and mine was 34.1C. Talk about two extremes!! I phoned our health link several times and they were really good and helpful as to what we needed to do. I must say that the attitude towards covid now is pretty laid back and nonchalant. I asked when we should test again and they said don't. When we feel okay and temperature is back to normal we can go back to normal. No point in testing again as a person can test positive for up to 90 days!!! We had a couple of time sensitive appointments coming up so we phoned them and told them the situation and they both said no problem just wear a mask. The health link doctor said that as we have had all the covid vaccinations and this is the first time we have had covid we have good immunity.
We both got the flu shot yesterday and will get the covid shot when it is available next week.

And to end on a smile. Here's Walker at his first gymnastics class-Kelsey was exhausted🥵❤️😂




Saturday, October 12, 2024

Books 34-38

 The Cottage on Nantucket by jessie Newton

After their mother dies, two sisters return to the cottage where they spent their summers growing up. Nantucket Point is exactly the charming, warm, and filled with memories both good and bad.Janey and Tessa are cut from two completely different cloths, but they've managed to stay close over the years. Divorced twice and currently single, Janey Forsythe is on the brink of a huge promotion at work. But, she needs money now to get some much-needed home repairs done so she can sell her house.Tessa Simmons has always been the "good girl," the sister who lives by the rules and has the perfect suburban life. If only perfect didn't equate to boring.When they arrive at the cottage on Nantucket after their mother's death, they begin down a road filled with the ghosts of their past. And when Tessa finds a final letter addressed only to her in a locked desk drawer, the two sisters will start down a path that uncovers secret after secret and exposes them to danger at their Nantucket cottage.Amidst the new truths they find, can Janey and Tessa redefine the bonds of friendship and sisterhood? Or will they lose everything because the rift between them is too wide?

The premise was interesting which kept me going, but lots of angst with each of the sisters got in the way of the story line. Too many things left hanging - like how do they explain to banks/ IRS where all this cash came from. It was also questionable as to why the mother went to such, sometimes ridiculous, lengths to keep all the secrets.

The Girls in the Snow by Stacy Green


In the remote forests of Stillwater, Minnesota, you can scream for days and no one will hear you. So when the bodies of two fifteen-year-old girls are discovered frozen in the snow, Special Agent Nikki Hunt is sure the killer is local: someone knew where to hide them and thought they'd never be found.
Home for the first time in twenty years, Nikki sees that the whole town had been frantically searching for missing best friends Madison and Kaylee, and when she finds out who Madison’s step-father is, she becomes desperate to lead the case. John was once the person she trusted most in the world, who stood by her when she was just sixteen and her parents were murdered. Who supported her when she identified their killer, Mark Todd.
But when Nikki arrives at the Sheriff’s office, she’s confronted by protesters eager to see Mark freed. With new evidence that could clear his name, Mark has appealed his conviction and his brother Rory begs Nikki to take a look at what they’ve found.
Nikki knows she must focus on the killer at large, but Rory makes her wonder if she put her trust in the right people all those years ago. Are Madison and Kaylee’s deaths connected to her parents’ murders? And can she face up to her past before another life is taken?

I enjoyed this book.There were several twists and turns and lots of back and forth of the time frame.  It had you guessing until close to the end and then it was just a case of catching the person.

Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton

Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective--or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing--the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.
Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She's an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything.
The conflicts boil over when a newcomer wants to put the town on the map with a giant music festival, and two teenagers overdose on drugs. When a man disappears the first night of the festival, Elise is drawn back into her detective work and starts digging for answers. Ebbing is a small town, but it's full of secrets and hidden connections that run deeper and darker than Elise could have ever imagined.

Another book with too many unnecessary characters. A local man goes missing.  Elise, who is on sick leave, just has to do some snooping around to find out what happened to him. Because there are so many characters the story is told through many different eyes and it gets quite confusing!!

The Camp by Nancy Bush


There are always stories told around the fire at summer camp—tall tales about gruesome murders and unhinged killers, concocted to scare new arrivals and lend an extra jolt of excitement to those hormone-charged nights. At Camp Luft-Shawk, nicknamed Camp Love Shack, there are stories about a creeping fog that brings death with it. But here, they’re not just campfire tales. Here, the stories are real.
Twenty years ago, a girl’s body was found on a ledge above the lake, arms crossed over her heart. Some said it was part of a suicide pact, connected to the nearby Haven Commune. Brooke, Rona, and Wendy were among the teenagers at camp that summer, looking for fun and sun, sex and adventure. They’ve never breathed a word about what really happened—or about the night their friendship shattered.
Now the camp, renamed Camp Fog Lake, has reopened for a new generation, and many of those who were there on that long-ago night are returning for an alumni weekend. But something is stirring at the lake again. As the fog rolls in, evil comes with it. Those stories were a warning, and they didn’t listen. And the only question is, who will live long enough to regret it?

Can't say I thought very much of this book.  Far too many characters. Some from twenty years ago and others that were newbies. It was so confusing trying to keep everyone straight as to who they were. Several of them were completely unnecessary to the story.  They definitely didn't need the parts about the detective in the story-she added nothing. Then after all the going back and forth in the timelines the ending was thrown together in a few pages and was pretty disappointing.

Itsy Bitsy Spider by Willow Rose


Emma Frost inherits a house on Fanoe Island when her grandmother dies. She decides to move there with her family, much to her teenage-daughter's regret. One morning a wealthy old woman in her street is found murdered and soon Emma finds herself wrapped in a mystery uncovering the island's dark secrets that not only runs deep within the history of the island but also within her own family.
This was a very creepy book and adding spiders didn't help. I had an inkling who the bad guy was but it was pretty shocking what was happening.