Finished two books recently:

NINTH DAUGHTER: AN ABIGAIL ADAMS MYSTERY by Barbara Hamilton (2009), and ST. SIMONS MEMOIR by Eugenia Price (1978).

Ninth Daughter is the first in a projected series in which Abigail Adams (yes, that Abigail Adams) turns her hand to solving mysteries. In this story, set in Boston in 1773 on the eve of the Boston Tea Party, Abigail literally stumbles over a hideously slashed female body in the kitchen of a friend, Rebecca Malvern, who has disappeared. When the body turns out to be that of a spy, and Abigail's husband, John, is implicated, she uses her prowess and Yankee ingenuity to ferret out the real murderer. In the process, she finds an unlikely ally in British Lieutenant Coldstone, who is assigned to the case. Suspects abound, including members of the Sons of Liberty, neighbors, and British sympathizers, and the author does a credible job of keeping the reader wondering. Plenty of period detail, but the pacing might have been a bit faster. Interesting premise, though, be curious to see what happens next with the series.

St. Simons Memoir is the story of how Eugenia Price discovered St. Simons Island, Georgia, by accident in 1960, moved there, and came to love it as her own. Determined to become a novelist after a career as a nonfiction author, she found St. Simons while on a trip, discovered what became the germ of her first novel, and ended up moving permanently to the island. The book is full of her discoveries there: her acceptance by the people there, the friends she made, and the stories she found, the information she gathered about the people who became the characters in her novels, the historic sites she came to know, all of which became a part of her St. Simons Trilogy of novels. A very interesting memoir of a writer living and working in the place she writes about. It's a very heartfelt tribute to the inspiration Price received from all those who became like a family to her and aided her in so many ways during her career writing historical fiction. The St. Simons novels, particularly New Moon Rising, have been favorites of mine since high school, so I was interested in reading about Price's discovery of this island and her many experiences there.

Watched a good little film the other night called "Forever Strong".

I'm not really a huge fan of sports themed films, but this one had been recommended by a friend as a good inspirational movie for family viewing, and they loaned me their copy. Definitely watchable. The main story concerns a basically selfish,teenage boy who considers himself a superstar player on his coach father's high school rugby team and is heading down a path to nowhere, esp. with alcohol, has a car accident while drinking which nearly kills his girlfriend, and is sentenced to a juvenile detention home until he's 18. As part of his rehab, he's given the chance to play for a rival rugby team, Highland, and in doing so, he becomes part of a real team, learning their values, etc., and manages to turn his life around. Yes, it sounds sappy and silly and overly dramatic, but it's better than that. The characters are well drawn, some mystery exists between the two coaches of the rival teams (the boy's dad and the Highland coach), the feelings of being torn between right and wrong, a parent's anguish at being separated from your child, death, redemption, etc. Never quite realized how violent a game rugby is, and how fanatical fans are about the game. No huge names in this movie--Gary Cole, Neal McDonough, Sean Faris; I guess Sean Astin could be considered a big name actor since his "Lord of the Rings" fame, but his role in this, while pivotal, does not give him large amounts of screen time. I found this a worthwhile flick.

Finished last night:

BLINDSPOT by Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore, 2008.
Written by two historians, this novel is set in Boston in 1764, a time when the British are beginning to irritate the Colonials with various taxes to pay for their wars with the French. An undercurrent of rebellion exists, much talk of liberty and equality. The two main characters are Fanny Easton, a young woman of quality who has fled the home of her abusive father, and a recently arrived portrait painter, Stewart Jameson, who has fled London and is one step ahead of his creditors. Fanny has disguised herself as a boy and gets herself hired by Jameson as an apprentice under the name of Francis Weston; meanwhile, Stewart is trying to drum up business to pay off his creditors and needs Francis to help. Stewart, older, attractive, and attracted to both sexes, finds himself becoming attracted to his serving boy (and fighting it); they both become involved in the case of a prominent man being poisoned; Fanny is concerned about her young half sister (a slave); plus she is having her own feelings for her master; then the arrival of Stewart's old friend and lover Dr. Ignatius Alexander, a well educated, cultured free black, adds extra spice to the plot. Great detail and feel for the period, but at times the story drags from too much information. Could have used some more editing, I think; a good story overall, but at times it was slow going.

Finished last night:

DEXTER BY DESIGN by Jeff Lindsay, 2009.
This is the fourth of Lindsay's thrillers about Dexter Morgan, the blood spatter analyst who is also a serial killer who hunts down & kills other serial killers. This story involves Dexter in a case of already-dead bodies being mutilated and displayed around Miami in alarming ways; Dexter's cop sister Deborah is stabbed during the investigation; Dexter murders the guy he believes is responsible for the stabbing but is mistaken. Dexter and his family are targeted by the dead man's lover; meanwhile, his sister Deborah has time to mull over certain information about Dexter; and Dexter realizes how close he is to having his true identity revealed by several sources. An interesting plot, snappy dialogue, and good interaction between Dexter and his sister and his wife Rita; however the ending is a little too neat for me. A good read, though, and I still think Dexter is a funny, likable guy.

Finally watched the flick "Jane Austen Book Club" this past weekend. I've never read the book and I had kind of avoided the movie, but it was recommended by a work colleague whose wife is a confirmed Janeite as worth watching, so I checked it out and brought it home. A decent storyline, interesting characters, good players. Intrigued me that 5 women and 1 man would form a book club to discuss only the 6 books that Jane Austen wrote, and that each book related to their personal lives in some way. All of them had personal issues, and reading and discussing Austen's novels as a group became a form of therapy for them. Kathy Baker was entertaining as the mothering figure, and Amy Brenneman and Maria Bello were good as best friends; but Hugh Dancy was definitely a winsome soul--he's invited to join by Bello as a distraction for Brenneman, but he's really interested in Bello. He's never read Austen but is willing to, and his insights and comments are thoughtful, which surprises the women. His attempts to connect with Bello are very heartfelt and sincere, and indeed are helped along by Austen's works (and his sister, Nancy Travis). The characters that Emily Blunt and Maggie Grace played were less interesting to me, but still watchable. Cool that the group wins others over as Austen fans, too. A good way to spend some time, and you don't have to have read Jane Austen to appreciate the story.

Finished on 9/8/09:

EVIL AT HEART by Chelsea Cain, 2009.

I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, it just flew. This suspense/thriller/chiller has detective Archie Sheridan in the hospital, serial killer Gretchen Lowell on the loose, and dead bodies and body parts everywhere, not Gretchen's handiwork, but possibly a copycat or worse, a Gretchen Lowell cult. All the regulars are here, including Archie's colleague/friend Henry Sobol, and Susan Ward the reporter/journalist. There's plenty of gore, blood, and bizarre situations to give you the creeps, and the finale that involves Archie, Gretchen, and Susan is plenty exciting, plus the stage is set for the next book. A quick, fast paced read, but not quite as satisfying a read as the previous books.

I just finished reading:

DEVIL'S BROOD by Sharon Kay Penman, 2008.
A dense, but wonderfully researched and written entry in a series of novels based on the lives of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. I had read the two previous books, When Christ and His Saints Slept and Time and Chance, and this book was years in the making. It was worth the wait, IMHO. Penman has a knack with bring the era to life, with description (be it beseiging a castle, fighting a battle, or the foods at a banquet), characterization (even of minor personalities), witty dialogue that can make you chuckle, etc. The whole time I was reading scenes between Henry and Eleanor I kept being reminded of the wonderful film, LION IN WINTER, and how great Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn were in those roles. Anyway, I would highly recommend this to any who are interested in these larger than life people and the time period (late 1100's) in general. This novel ends in 1189, and Penman claims she will continue the story with Richard, John, Constance and others from this novel.