Book Review - Speaking From the Bones by Alan Bradley

 Speaking From the Bones by Alan Bradley is another Flavia De Luce tale. She's eleven years old, but a genius kid who truly knows her chemistry and poisons. The English hamlet  of Bishop's Lacey is about to open the patron saint's tomb, but alas we find the last organist's body in the area. Who killed him? Why and how? Flavia knows how to do detective work and she's small enough to sneak  into tiny spaces. 

Meanwhile, her father is failing, the house is falling apart, her sisters are conspiring against her, and some strangers in town may have answers? Or they deserve further questioning.  Bradley serves up a delicious read  full of twists and turns. His heroine is young but worthy of her brain power. Don't count her out on this one. The pages turn and answers come in this delightful read. 

Meanwhile some more fun pics from the Neon Museum and our  August adventures in Vegas. 

Enjoy the bonus part of this post. 

Truly a cool place  to visit.  No gambling or alcohol involved.  Seriously - we got in some more steps!

Wacky Wednesday - Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

 The Sea of Tranquility  by Emily St. John Mandel is anything but calm. 

I reviewed her book The Glass Hotel and there are some carry over characters in this new book.  The author amazes me with her very forward thinking, her twists and turns, and her writing style. 

Edwin St. Andrew is banished from his English home and sent to Canada in 1912. 

Two hundred years later, a famous writer, Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour all over Earth. She's from one of the moon colonies. 

Gaspery Roberts is a hotel detective turned time  traveler with the Institute. 

All three have something in common - the sound of a violin echoing in an airship  terminal.  

cover blurb  This is a book of art, time, love, and plague -  a virtuoso performance of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment. 

I was intrigued and  also confused at times. At the end, I nodded and had to go hmmm?  !!

Monday Moments - a visit to Venice via Art

 Venetian gondolas by Arthur Carter is one of the paintings featured in an Amon Carter Museum exhibit that closed a week ago.  Glassmaking in Murano, lacemaking in Burano, and the beauty of Venice itself - all were featured topics for American artists abroad in the late 1800s.  It's a fascinating look into a time of grandeur and artistry. 

John Singer Sargent had several good prolific years in Venice. Along with James McNeill Whistler, they were the hits of the salons. 

Finally Friday - Pajama Day?

 I was thinking that this week after the two week celebration of the Queen's life, that everyone involved must have exhaled and said, "It's pajama day."  

I'm sure King Charles, et al were tired of all the pomp and circumstance and fancy shoes, hats, and ribbons.  

They are human - King Charles,  his Camilla, Prince William and Kate, etc. 

Surely a day behind doors where you sleep late, declare any meal at any time - bacon!, ice cream, comfort foods and a binge of something ridiculous on Netflix. 

Now, I also know that, alas, true duty in the name of the Crown is mandatory.  And these poor souls have to dress up once again, force a smile  or two, sign some papers, and keep calm and carry on. 

But the thought of pajama day must linger...freedom from public scrutiny and tabloids.  Rainbows and unicorns...and bacon

Cheers to all. I hope this made you think of your own fabulous mundane life and to be grateful. I often  do say I am glad  to be boring.  So, enjoy your weekend.  Still hot in TX and I shall plunge in the pool, then get  out and read.  It's a good life, despite  the wackiness of the world.  Have a good one!

Wacky Wednesday Whatever

Let's just take a wacky pause with some memes.   Oh yeah - the ladies rock!

Friends!

I've been known to ignore some vacuuming in lieu of a good read

Yes,  I worry about America

 Can't go wrong with a Maya quote.  And just hear her voice, that distinctive voice, deliver these words with deliberation. 

Amen

Monday Musical - Ain't Too Proud to Beg

Treated myself to a musical last Sunday and it was a good one.   Ain't Too Proud to Beg tells the story of The Temptations. Lots of drama with  a ton  of dancing and that amazing Motown sound. 

The show was developed from the last surviving Temptation - Otis Williams' memoir. How he left the South, hit the streets of Detroit, formed a group, combined later with another  group, and put together the unique sound of The Temptations is all played out in quite a saga. Add the power of Berry Gordy and his Motown machine, plus the song writing talent of Smokey Robinson, and you had hit after hit. 

Ain't Too Proud to Beg, Ball of Confusion, Just My Imagination, Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, Cloud Nine, I Wish It  Would Rain, and so so many more...

The singer/actors in this production were stupendous. The original Temptations - Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams, Paul Williams, and David Ruffin - were buddies, brothers in soul, but ultimately fame, drugs, alcohol, wore some members down and the group splintered. 

This musical gives us the happy with the sad in the searing lyrics and soulful  renditions of songs. I came away applauding, humming, and tapping my feet. Excellent  Broadway touring production. 
 

Friday - Don't Put Baby in the Corner

First - not in the corner was Shania  Twain (age 57) in her Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood.  I was very excited to get tickets. Her current documentary on Netflix was really interesting. 

We had nosebleed seats but the woman can sing! Ten outfit changes,  six  excellent backup dancers, a  talented band, and Shania  herself - she belted out her tunes, she  talked, laughed, and  really gave a  sincere performance. The video effects and  staging were top notch.  Man, I Feel Like a  Woman - finale song - and She IS All  that. 

 Out of the Corner by Jennifer Grey is quite  the memoir. A bit eye-opening and jaw dropping at times. 

She begins with the NOSE. She always liked her quirky, different look BUT in Hollywood, it can be a tough sell. Jennifer Grey grew up in the world of Broadway and Hollywood. Her father's Joel Grey (Cabaret) and her mother was Jo Wilder. Jennifer finally succumbed to cosmetic surgery and it changed her looks completely, and her life. 

Read about her Dirty Dancing drama. Enjoy Ferris Bueller adventures. She was young and she was rather wild in the 1970s club scene. She was engaged to Matthew Broderick,  and  then to Johnny Depp. Her tales of loves and losses made me do a double-take. 

cover blurb - Distinctive, moving,  and powerful, told with generosity and pluck, Out of the Corner is a heartfelt and provocative account of an ongoing personal evolution, a coming  of age story for women of every age.  Jennifer Grey - oh my!!!