February 2023 Picks and Pans

This month was surprising. I normally don’t have as many 3-star ratings, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles or the ball bounces. Each of these books was good in its own way, some just weren’t great. Have fun adding to your TBR list!   A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny “Happiness as an act of defiance. A revolutionary act.” ― Louise Penny, A World of Curiosities Louise Penny’s latest installment in the bestselling Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series marks a triumphant return for the beloved detective. In this eighteenth book, Three Pines emerges from a harsh winter, setting the stage for a special celebration. However, the return of siblings […]

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The Whalebone Theatre

“For a fortunate few, war allows us to rise in ways that would otherwise be impossible. We can bring the very best of us to bear.”― Joanna Quinn, The Whalebone Theatre Cristabel Seagrave loses her mother during childbirth, and her father, Jasper, who remarries when she is four, passes away shortly thereafter. This leaves Cristabel in the care of her disinterested stepmother, Rosalind, who later marries Jasper’s aviation-obsessed brother, Willoughby. One stormy night in 1928, a whale washes up on the shores of the English Channel near Devon. By law, the whale belongs to the King, but twelve-year-old orphan Cristabel, along with her half-sister Flossie, cousin Digby, kitchen maid Maudie Kitcat, and […]

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