Definitely going to be a wet and wild April with lingering thunderstorms from March—a crazy pattern with warm temps to 70s plunging 40 degrees in a few hours. Normally, I’d be starting seedlings, thinking garden, planning appropriate veggies and symbiotic flowers.
First goal: Take down that poor tree in front of our kitchen window that only had one viable limb left. The CE surprised me by getting a big jump on it before I was even dressed and by mid-afternoon we had it down, limbs in the garbage bin, area raked and swept. What a job! I’m hoping it will be a good spot for some water plants. I tried lotus flowers last year, but failed to provide sufficient sun. This may be too much sun. We’ll see.
Old tree on the left–tree is gone on the right.Hail one day later, same spot.
March is birthday month for me and I was celebrated with a visit from our daughter, granddaughter, and great-grandkids. The little ones are so much bigger than last we saw them, the youngest still a baby. They got to have a tour of Chicago from our son who works there, a short and sweet visit, but so happy to see them all.
Of course, we also celebrate Reading Ireland Month in March and I participated once again, experiencing a recommendable movie, a wacky newly released series, as well as ebooks and audiobooks. We made our usual corned beef and cabbage (better this year), which also made delicious leftovers—the CE’s fav.
The CE andI read or listened to a total of ten books in March. As always, the major source of our books is the library (audiobooks and ebooks). (We also review books from NetGalley and author and publisher requests.) The links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.
Can I cheat just a bit and nominate a movie instead of a book? What if the movie was based on a book–written by Declan Power? The Siege of Jadotville was compelling and powerful.
Favorite for March – The Siege of Jadotville
My Reading Challenges page…March was just too busy to update. My Goodreads count is still off, but landing page shows 40 of a challenge of 175.
To all my dear readers and fellow bloggers, thank you so much for taking the time to check out my posts and reviews. I’m trying to up my bloghopping and hope to see you soon.
I am reviewing this audiobook for Reading Ireland Month. It is hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. Please use the hashtags #readingirelandmonth26 or #begorrathon if you choose to participate. Today I am presenting a review by the CE.
Book Blurb:
New York Times bestselling author John Connolly brings his “visionary brand of neo-noir” (The Irish Times) to this “riveting and chilling” (San Francisco Examiner) thriller in the Charlie Parker series about buried secrets and haunted lives.
There are some truths so terrible that they should not be spoken aloud. Here is one of those truths: after three hours, the abduction of a child is routinely treated as a homicide.
When a girl goes missing from a small Maine town, her neighbor—a recluse named Randall Haight—begins receiving anonymous letters referencing a different teenage girl, murdered years ago. Unknown to many, Randall has been hiding a secret: at fourteen, he was convicted of killing that girl. Now, his past resurfaces, and he hires private detective Charlie Parker to make the torment stop.
But in a town built on blood and shadowed by old ghosts, where too many of the living are hiding secrets, the past cannot be dismissed so easily. As Parker unravels a twisted, violent history involving a doomed mobster and his enemies, the police, and the FBI, his search returns again and again to Randall Haight. Because Randall is still telling lies…
His Review:
The Burning Soul – UK cover
This book focuses on three lives forever destroyed by a stupid act. The loss of a vibrant young girl’s life was the beginning of the loss. The two young killers destroyed their own lives then as surely as they ended hers. The years spent in juvenile detention certainly did not offset the life ended. However, their sentence does not end there!
The Burning Soul – Goodreads cover
At the age of maturity, they are then subjected to changes of names, identities and sent to different cities to start new lives. The problem is that some know the location of their release. Their imprisonment does not erase the public’s memory of the crime and does not exonerate them. The memory of the public is long and unforgiving.
A slow burn start, there were some passages that dawdled as well, and slowed the progression of the story. It was difficult at times to stay focused on the storyline.
I found myself unable to forgive the crime or the criminals. There is no way to forget the loss of life or the potential loss of what that might have meant. Relocation and changes of identity do not erase a criminal’s past. The book has a very thought-provoking theme and raises more questions in me than answers. 4 stars – CE Williams
Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this ebook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.
The Author: I was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and have, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a “gofer” at Harrods department store in London. I studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, to which I continue to contribute, although not as often as I would like. I still try to interview a few authors every year, mainly writers whose work I like, although I’ve occasionally interviewed people for the paper simply because I thought they might be quirky or interesting. All of those interviews have been posted to my website, http://www.johnconnollybooks.com.
I was working as a journalist when I began work on my first novel. Like a lot of journalists, I think I entered the trade because I loved to write, and it was one of the few ways I thought I could be paid to do what I loved. But there is a difference between being a writer and a journalist, and I was certainly a poorer journalist than I am a writer (and I make no great claims for myself in either field.) I got quite frustrated with journalism, which probably gave me the impetus to start work on the novel. That book, Every Dead Thing, took about five years to write and was eventually published in 1999. It introduced the character of Charlie Parker, a former policeman hunting the killer of his wife and daughter. Dark Hollow, the second Parker novel, followed in 2000. The third Parker novel, The Killing Kind, was published in 2001, with The White Road following in 2002. In 2003, I published my fifth novel – and first stand-alone book – Bad Men. In 2004, Nocturnes, a collection of novellas and short stories, was added to the list, and 2005 marked the publication of the fifth Charlie Parker novel, The Black Angel. In 2006, The Book of Lost Things, my first non-mystery novel, was published.
Charlie Parker has since appeared in five additional novels: The Unquiet, The Reapers (where he plays a secondary role to his associates, Louis and Angel), The Lovers, The Whisperers, and The Burning Soul. The eleventh Charlie Parker novel, The Wrath of Angels, will be available in the UK in August 2012 and in the US in January 2013.
The Gates launched the Samuel Johnson series for younger readers in 2009, followed by Hell’s Bells (UK)/The Infernals (US) in 2011. A third Samuel Johnson novel should be finished in 2013.
I am also the co-editor, with fellow author Declan Burke, of Books to Die For, an anthology of essays from the world’s top crime writers in response to the question, “Which book should all lovers of crime fiction read before they die?” Books to Die For is available in the UK as of August 2012, and will be available in the US in October 2012.
I am based in Dublin but divide my time between my native city and the United States, where each of my novels has been set.
Reading Ireland Month (The #Begorrathon) will return for the twelveth year during March 2026, although this will be my eighth year. It is hosted by Cathy at 746 Books.Cathy is a big supporter of everything Irish. Check out her page and you’ll find all kinds of suggestions for reading, listening, or music on her spotify list. Of course, I always recommend my favorite Irish podcast, Marc Gunn’s Irish and Celtic Music Podcast.
Please use the hashtags #readingirelandmonth26 or #begorrathon26 if you plan to participate.
Yes, we do tend to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in grandiose style in the US with parades, pub specials and green beer, corned beef and cabbage. And as I’ve mentioned before, in “Chicago-land” they turn the Chicago River green. You might think that represents a good-sized population of Irish folks or Irish descendants and you would be right!
I always include the post I wrote years ago following one of our more interesting St Patrick’s Days, titled Beans, Beans…(A St Patrick’s Day Revisited). Check it out if you haven’t seen it before.
I usually try for one ebook a week, an audiobook or two, and again this year looked for movies or series I can glean from our lone streaming service, Netflix. Not that many this year and of the ones listed, only found a few. Perhaps you can find them on your own streamer.
MOVIES
To be viewed in no particular order:
Waking the Titanic – In 1912, fourteen Irish immigrants from Addergoole, County Mayo, embarked on the Titanic’s ill-fated maiden voyage to seek work in America. ‘Muintir Maigh Eo ar an Titanic’ (Documentary)
We do have fun with this every year and it seems to get me out there researching and finding stuff I had no idea was available. Hope you’ll enjoy a book or one of these movies and if you do, I’d love to know.
A slow burn start, there were some passages that dawdled as well, and slowed the progression of the story. It was difficult at times to stay focused on the storyline.
Rosepoint Publishing 