Wow, it feels like forever since I posted a review. We bought a house last month and everything else has been on hold while we moved and settled in. In that time, I discovered Agatha Raisin and found that she was perfect for stressful times of life. The Agatha Raisin series is about a middle-aged woman, Agatha, who retires from her high-powered job in London for a quiet life in the Cotswolds. Unfortunately, chaos and murder seems to follow her and she finds herself mixed […]
The end of the beginning
When this book first came out, a friend of mine texted me and told me I had to read it. I dutifully added to my TBR list, but privately I thought I’d never get around to it. I couldn’t imagine ever being in a mood where I’d want to read the memoir of a man who died of cancer in his 30s. I work in direct service, and it’s a convenient excuse to get out of a lot of “sad” things. I see real life […]
Culture Shock
First Fieldwork was an assigned reading when I took Intro to Anthropology in college. That was a good 15 years ago, and since then I’ve reread this book probably five times. It’s short, it’s interesting, and it’s hilarious. Barbara Gallatin Anderson recounts a fieldwork assignment in the tiny fishing village of Taarnby, Denmark. She and her husband are there to study the changes that urbanization is making to the culture of the small town. To this non-anthropologist, that sounds dull as dishwater, and I’m guessing […]
We need to talk about Peter
Half Cannonball, and a third of the way through the Inspector Gamache books! Like all the other Inspector Gamache books, this one is great. If you’re not familiar, these books take place in Quebec (mostly in a small town called Three Pines, but this one takes place at a remote hotel not too far away), and star Inspector Armand Gamache, a homicide detective and one of the best people in literature. By “best” I don’t mean best written (although he is pretty well written), but […]