Starring Grace as Peter Pan

Amazing Grace ~ by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Caroline Binch, 1991, children's picture book, 32 pages, 10/10

Grace loves stories, whether they're from books, movies, or the kind her grandmother tells.  So when she gets a chance to play a part in Peter Pan, she knows exactly who she wants to be.  The watercolor illustrations fully express Grace's high-flying imagination.

Grace wants to be Peter Pan, but her classmates tell her:  "You can't be Peter -- that's a boy's name" and "You can't be Peter Pan ... He isn't black."  But Grace kept her hand up.  Before the class auditions, Grace's Nana told her:  "You can be anything you want, Grace, if you put your mind to it."  Re-read my title.

1. On Monday, I posted another version of Mozart's Bassoon Concerto, my favorite piece of music, HERE.
2. On Tuesday, I asked for your opinion about children's books, HERE.
3. On Wednesday, I wrote about a children's book, HERE.
4. Thursday's post was philosophical, about buying something on sale and about what TL;DR means, HERE.
5. Friday's post was about a memoir of a family moving to Gaza in 1948, HERE.
6. On Saturday, I wrote about two sole survivors, HERE.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

A different look at Dr. Seuss books

The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss ~ by James W. Kemp, 2004, stories, 90 pages

The stories of one of the world's most beloved children's authors are both imaginative and entertaining, but a closer look at Dr. Seuss's stories reveals that many are inspirational as well as instructive.  James Kemp has identified as his favorite theologian not Barth or Pannenberg, but the inimitable Dr. Seuss.  Kemp finds parallels between the actions of cats in hats, Grinches, Snitches, Sneetches, and other Creachas and lessons found in Scripture.  As the author shares his enthusiasm for the creativity and wisdom of Dr. Seuss, the meaning and the relevance of many Bible passages come to life.

A word for the wise (or otherwise)

Would you like to see a catastrophe?  I posted one yesterday, HERE.  Okay, so I was playing with words again.  Aren't I always, though?

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Putting it all together ~ a lighthouse, a dragon, a book, and a coincidence

Fascinating Fact

Boston Light is America's first lighthouse and dates back to 1716.  Sally Snowman became the first female keeper in its history when she was appointed in 2003.  Boston Light was automated in 1998, but was still staffed by resident Coast Guard keeper, Sally Snowman until December 30, 2023.  Yep, she retired yesterday.  With our new technologies, there are now no more staffed lighthouses in America.  Read more HERE.

Chinese New Year

I don't remember how we got onto this subject, but my friend Dora and I were talking about the Chinese New Year yesterday.  So I looked it up and found that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, and green is the designated auspicious color.  I was born in the Year of the Dragon, but I hadn't realized that's the one coming up in January.  Made me smile.  Not only that, but green is my favorite color.  This dragon (found HERE) has green on it.

The Undercover Secretary ~ by Ellie Midwood, 2023, historical fiction (France, Germany, and the Netherlands), 264 pages

Dora has lost everything to the Nazis.  Her dearest friends have disappeared into thin air.  Her parents have been imprisoned in concentration camps and murdered for the crime of simply existing.  She has no idea if her darling husband, the devoted and brave Alfred, is even alive.

Though her world is crashing and burning around her, Dora refuses to give in to Hitler’s tyranny.  The Nazis may have broken her heart, but they will not break her spirit.

Secretly working for the underground network in France, Dora risks her life on the most dangerous mission in the history of the local resistance.  She goes undercover as the secretary of the Head of Gestapo; a soldier with a brutal reputation.  A cold-blooded killer.

She is tasked with leaking the names of the SS to the British press.  Every day, she rubs shoulders with the enemy.  She makes coffee for the people she despises.  She types letters for the monsters who killed her family.  At any second, she could be found out.

Can she survive, turning the tide of the war and saving thousands of lives?  Or will those she loved the most in the world, and millions of other innocent people, have died in vain?

Coincidences ~ I love 'em.  After talking to my friend Dora on the phone (see above), I immediately went downstairs to get in a few more steps (I try to walk at least a mile a day).  Going through our little library, I noticed that novel above on the new book display and picked it up.  It looked interesting, so I checked it out.  Only while writing up this post for the Sunday Salon did I notice that the main character in the novel is named Dora!  I talked to Dora, and then I checked out a book about another Dora.  Yes, I'll send a link to my friend Dora about this coincidence.

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts Sunday Salon.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

A Charlie Brown Christmas ~ by Charles M. Schulz, 2007, children's

Well, I have my tree up, and I've read the book ... all 128 tiny pages of it!

This is what MY tree looks like:  4-inches tall with its one red bulb.

(And did you notice Linus's blanket wrapped around the bottom?)

Food for thought and for the tummy

Risé and I had lunch at Jilly's Cupcake Bar and Café, which is about half a block from where we live.  We both got their Brisket BLT (called a BBLT) and a Snickerdoodle gingerbread cupcake (a better view is on the left).  We had enough for another lunch.  We two book lovers managed NOT to go to the bookstore that's in the same strip mall.

Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change ~ by John Lewis, 2012, nonfiction, xvii + 180 pages

Faith, patience, truth, love, peace, study, and reconciliation:  these are the buckets into which Lewis poured his message about "the inner transformation that must be realized to effect lasting social change."  A civil rights pioneer and Georgia congressman, Lewis (Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of a Movement) sought to inspire nonviolent activism in a time that he regarded as the most violent in history.  For his audience, Lewis targeted Occupy protestors, and members of the movement could draw lessons from the anecdotes that are the heart of the book.  

At its best, the book provides a testament to the power of nonviolence in social movements, with moving personal accounts of the Freedom Rides, such as when Lewis described being physically beaten in South Carolina or sitting out a 40-day sentence in the unrelenting Parchman Farm prison in Mississippi.  At its worst, it resembles an extended campaign speech:  "Some people have told me that I am a rare bird in the blue sky of dreamers ... despite every attempt to keep me down, I have not been shaken."  In between these extremes is the advice of a wise uncle who has earned the right to have his say. 

John Lewis "was a guiding voice for a young Illinois senator who became the first Black president," according to the West Suburban Journal, where I found this photo of Barack Obama awarding him the Medal of Freedom in 2011.  Quote from the book:

"The most important lesson I have learned in the fifty years I have spent working toward the building of a better world is that the true work of social transformation starts within.  It begins inside your own heart and mind, because the battleground of human transformation is really, more than any other thing, the struggle within the human consciousness to believe and accept what is true.  Thus to truly revolutionize our society, we must first revolutionize ourselves.  We must be the change we seek if we are to effectively demand transformation from others."

This quote is from the dust jacket, so I don't know the page number.  Amazon readers have rated this book 4.9 out of 5 stars, so it must be pretty good.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy ~ the little women

Meg's Story: Portraits of Little Women ~ by Susan Beth Pfeffer, 1997, children's, 112 pages

Meg March is the perfect young lady.  Her gracious manners and sweet personality make her very popular at school.  And when she is invited to Mary Howe's fancy picnic, she wants to go badly.  Nothing her tomboy sister, Jo, says against snobby Mary Howe changes Meg's mind.  Meg claims Jo is just jealous that she wasn't invited too.  But on the big day, the March parents are visiting friends, and the housekeeper is called away on an emergency.  Meg knows she should stay home to watch over her younger sisters — even if it means not going to the picnic.  Still, she doesn't want to miss the fun.  And forgetting her manners, Meg does something that turns the picnic into an unforgettable afternoon.

Jo's Story: Portraits of Little Women ~ by Susan Beth Pfeffer, 1997, children's, 112 pages

Tomboy Jo March would rather die than spend time with wealthy, proper Aunt March.  She'd much rather race against the boys at school or star in all the swashbuckling plays she writes.  But when Aunt March offers to adopt one of the March sisters to help ease the family money problems, Jo decides to make the ultimate sacrifice.  She'll tear herself away from her sisters and parents — the family she dearly loves — if it means they'll have a better life.   She's determined to become the perfect lady.  Now Jo has to convince her family that she's sincere about her decision by taking on a role that may be too difficult to act.

Beth's Story: Portraits of Little Women ~ by Susan Beth Pfeffer, 1997, children's, 112 pages

Painfully shy Beth March is excited to be visiting New York City with her parents.  The theater, opera, symphony, museums — Beth loves every minute of her adventure.  She even meets Abraham Lincoln, and has the courage to tell him that women deserve the right to vote.

But once she's back home in Massachusetts, none of Beth's schoolmates believe that she really spoke to Mr.  Lincoln or that she even met him.  They know Beth is shy — too shy to speak to a man running for President of the United States.  Even Beth's younger sister, Amy, thinks she's lying.  Now Beth wishes she'd never been to New York — until she's surprised by an unexpected visitor.

Amy's Story: Portraits of Little Women ~ by Susan Beth Pfeffer, 1997, children's, 112 pages

Beautiful Amy March, the youngest March sister, is a talented artist.  Everyone praises her lifelike portraits.  The one person she can't draw is herself.  So when a photographer's studio opens in town, Amy is thrilled.  Now her pretty blond curls and piercing blue eyes can be captured forever in a photograph.

A photograph costs quite a bit of money — more than she has, and more than her parents can give her.  Amy thinks of a clever way to come up with the money, and soon she has enough.  But she decides to spend her savings on a gift for her father — a gift that will warm his heart when he's far away from home and that ultimately gives Amy an unexpected gift in return.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Books I'm re-reading

All That Matters ~ by Jan Goldstein, 2004, fiction (California, New York, Maine), 198 pages, 9/10

Jennifer Stempler has nothing left to lose.  The love of her life left her, her mother died in a senseless car accident, and her Hollywood producer father started a brand-new family — with no room in it for her.  So, 23-year-old Jennifer decides to pursue (permanent) oblivion — in the form of Xanax and tequila — on the beach near her home in Venice, California.  But Jennifer's depression is no match for her nana's determination.

Gabby Zuckerman refuses to let her granddaughter self-destruct.  With her trademark feistiness, this force of nature whisks Jennifer back to her home in New York City, intending to prove to Jennifer that her life cannot possibly be over yet.  In fact, it has just begun.  Through jaunts in Central Park and road trips to Maine, Gabby tries to teach Jennifer how to trust and hope again.  But when Gabby reveals a secret — one that challenges Jennifer with a haunting and heartbreaking truth — Jennifer must find whether she has it in her to provide the final gift only she can give.

I have been culling my shelves before moving into a new apartment in February.  I've read this one before, but I've decided to read it again.  Then I'll donate it to our little Crown Center library, shown in this photo.

Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner ~ edited by Ellen E. Garrigues, 1895 and 1910, poetry, 46 pages

This is a slim little volume, with brown covers imprinted with slightly darker brown words.  That's why I photographed the title page instead of the cover.  It belonged to the aunt I was named for.  Bonnie Reynolds was my mother's only sister.  It was her textbook in high school, back in 1921.  This one is probably a collector's item, even though she marked in it as she studied.  It's another one I'm about to re-read.

Tao Te Ching: A Book About the Way and the Power of the Way ~ by Lao Tzu, a new English version by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1997, religions, 126 pages

When I taught religions of the world at Chattanooga State, I took my collection of Tao Te Ching translations and asked students to find #11 and read it aloud to the class.  That's my favorite chapter, so the students got to hear several versions of it.  My own personal favorite translations were Stephen Mitchell's and Ursula K. Le Guin's.  Here's her version of number eleven, which I now have on my Kindle.

The uses of not

Thirty spokes

meet in the hub.

Where the wheel isn't

is where it's useful.

Hollowed out,

clay makes a pot.

Where the pot's not

is where it's useful.

Cut doors and windows

to make a room.

Where the room isn't,

there's room for you.

So the profit in what is

is in the use of what isn't.

Ursula K. Le Guin:  "One of the things I love about Lao Tzu is he is so funny.  He's explaining a profound and difficult truth here, one of those counter-intuitive truths that, when the mind can accept them, suddenly double the size of the universe.  He goes about it with this deadpan simplicity, talking about pots" (p. 14).

 

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Sunday Salon ~ books and life

Owls and Other Fantasies ~ by Mary Oliver, 2003, poems and essays, 92 pages

A perfect introduction to Mary Oliver’s poetry, this stunning collection features 26 nature poems and prose writings about the birds that played such an important role in the Pulitzer Prize winner’s life.  

 

Within these pages you will find hawks, hummingbirds, and herons; kingfishers, catbirds, and crows; swans, swallows and, of course, the snowy owl, among a dozen others — including ten poems that have never before been collected.  She adds two beautifully crafted essays, “Owls,” selected for the Best American Essays series, and “Bird,” a new essay that will surely take its place among the classics of the genre.

In the words of the poet Stanley Kunitz, “Mary Oliver's poetry is fine and deep; it reads like a blessing.  Her special gift is to connect us with our sources in the natural world, its beauties and terrors and mysteries and consolations.”

For anyone who values poetry and essays and for anyone who cares about birds, Owls and Other Fantasies will be a treasured gift.  For those who love both, it will be essential reading.

This also counts as a Nonfiction November selection.  Oh, and I can also claim it as library loot.

I'm still reading The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1966), and my friend Fay's copy arrived by mail earlier than expected.  She and I plan to discuss it one of these days soon.

When I took the Crown Center bus on the grocery store trip this week, I chanced upon a new (to me) chewy granola bar:  fudge-dipped coconut.

This photo shows a 2-ounce size, but what I bought were 1-ounce bars.  I ate one shortly after I got home, and it was delicious.  😄  I used to call Donna a choco-holic, so I'm pretty sure she would have loved one of these.

Here's a 2019 photo of a blooming tree near the old gazebo at the Crown Center where I live.  I found it while searching for something else on my blog.  This whole area and the greenhouse you can see beyond the gazebo are no longer there, since that's where our new building is currently being constructed.

In the background is the Crown Center building that will remain when people from my building are moved into the new one being built where you see the grass and the gazebo and the pink tree again.  It looks like I took these photos on the same day, but they were taken two years apart.  This one is from 2017.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been reading and doing during the week.  

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

November 13th is World Kindness Day

Readin' and writin' and 'rithmetic

I'm reading about writing.  Yeah, I'm slowly working my way through So You Want to Write: How to Master the Craft of Writing Fiction and Memoir (2nd edition) by Marge Piercy and Ira Wood (2010), which is very appropriate for Nonfiction November.  By the way, even though I am reading some nonfiction, I am not doing the "assignments."  I'd rather read.

"Writing something down is a way of keeping it."  I borrowed this line from a very old post on Colleen's Loose Leaf Notes blog (see #44).  I also found a list online of the benefits of writing things down:

1. Writing things down helps you record everything that has your attention.
2. Writing things down helps clear your mind.
3. Writing things down helps clarify your goals, priorities, and intentions.
4. Writing things down helps keep you motivated.
5. Writing things down helps you recognize and process your emotions.
6. Writing things down encourages daily progress.
7. Writing things down enables a higher level of thinking, and therefore, more focused action.
8. Writing things down develops your sense of gratitude.

"Over to you" is the way that person ended her list.  My thinking is closest to Colleen's, I believe.  I blog so I can keep track of the things on my mind:  the books, the words, the ideas.

The main thing I say about myself (on the sidebar, under my photo) is that "I read to explore ideas."  Writing it down continues my exploration of what's happening.

(Did you find the "arithmetic" in this post?  Sorry, it's only that list of eight numbers above.)

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts Sunday Salon, a

place to link up and to share what we've been doing

and what we've been reading during the week.

========================================

Deb shared in the comments that she had signed up at the Mayo Clinic's site for a month-long program to increase kindness in the world.  Here's the link:

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/wellness/kindness

Sunday Salon ~ more books

The Indigo Girl ~ by Natasha Boyd, 2017, historical fiction (South Carolina), 329 pages

The year is 1739.  Eliza Lucas is sixteen years old when her father leaves her in charge of their family's three plantations in rural South Carolina and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry in pursuit of his military ambitions.  Tensions with the British, and with the Spanish in Florida, just a short way down the coast, are rising, and slaves are starting to become restless.  Her mother wants nothing more than for their South Carolina endeavor to fail so they can go back to England.  Soon her family is in danger of losing everything.

Upon hearing how much the French pay for indigo dye, Eliza believes it's the key to their salvation.  But everyone tells her it's impossible, and no one will share the secret to making it.  Thwarted at nearly every turn, even by her own family, Eliza finds that her only allies are an aging horticulturalist, an older and married gentleman lawyer, and a slave with whom she strikes a dangerous deal:  teach her the intricate thousand-year-old secret process of making indigo dye and in return — against the laws of the day — she will teach the slaves to read.

Based on historical documents, including Eliza's letters, this is a historical fiction account of how a teenage girl produced indigo dye, which became one of the largest exports out of South Carolina, an export that laid the foundation for the incredible wealth of several Southern families who still live on today.  Although largely overlooked by historians, the accomplishments of Eliza Lucas influenced the course of US history.  When she passed away in 1793, President George Washington served as a pallbearer at her funeral.

Lost Laysen ~ by Margaret Mitchell, 1996, novella (South Pacific), 128 pages

Courtenay Ross is a feisty, independent-minded woman with two young men courting her.  This novella was written in 1916, but was not published until 1996.  Mitchell, who is best known as the author of Gone with the Wind, wrote Lost Laysen when she was 15.

The Value of Honesty: The Story of Confucius ~ by Spencer Johnson, illustrated by Steve Pileggi, 1979, children's picture book, 64 pages, 10/10

The life and teachings of the Chinese philosopher are presented as a paradigm of integrity and dedication for young readers following his successes and failures.  An online reviewer wrote:  "It is easy enough to read while still getting the message across, teaching both good life lessons and establishing a broader context for learning by incorporating history and a far away place and making it relevant."

In the back of the book are historical facts about Confucius, who lived from 551 B.C. to 478 B.C.  His name was K'ung, and K'ung fu-tze means "the philosopher K'ung."  Confucius is the way it was translated into Latin and later into English.  My favorite sentences end the book:

"Although he was not religious, his ideas about morality became a religion — called Confucianism — which has been the only state religion of China.  And this man, who never claimed to be more than an imperfect human, has been regarded almost as a god.  Certainly he would be proud to know that his teachings have been so widely respected; but probably he would not at all like the idea of himself as a god" (p. 63).

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Library Loot and Sunday Salon

One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories ~ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jhumpa Lahiri, and 21 other authors, 2009, short stories, 192 pages

This book is made up of twenty-three stories, each from a different author from across the globe.  All belong to one world, united in their diversity and ethnicity. And together they have one aim: to involve and move the reader.  The range of authors takes in such literary greats as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jhumpa Lahiri.  The members of the collective are:

1. Elaine Chiew (Malaysia)
2. Molara Wood (Nigeria)
3. Jhumpa Lahiri (United States)
4. Martin A Ramos (Puerto Rico)
5. Lauri Kubutsile (Botswana)
6. Chika Unigwe (Nigeria)
7. Ravi Mangla (United States)
8. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
9. Skye Brannon (United States)
10. Jude Dibia (Nigeria)
11. Shabnam Nadiya (Bangladesh)
12. Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe)
13. Ivan Gabirel Reborek (Australia)
14. Vanessa Gebbie (Britain)
15. Emmanual Dipita Kwa (Cameroon)
16. Henrietta Rose-Innes (South Africa)
17. Lucinda Nelson Dhavan (India)
18. Adetokunbo Abiola (Nigeria)
19. Wadzanai Mhute (Zimbabwe)
20. Konstantinos Tzikas (Greece)
21. Ken Kamoche (Kenya)
22. Sequoia Nagamatsu (United States)
23. Ovo Adagha (Nigeria)

The concept of One World is often a multi-colored tapestry into which sundry, if not contending patterns can be woven.  For those of us who worked on this project, ‘One World’ goes beyond the everyday notion of the globe as a physical geographic entity.  Rather, we understand it as a universal idea, one that transcends national boundaries to comment on the most prevailing aspects of the human condition. This attempt to redefine the borders of the world we live in through the short story recognizes the many conflicting issues of race, language, economy, gender and ethnicity, which separate and limit us.  We readily acknowledge, however, that regardless of our differences or the disparities in our stories, we are united by our humanity.  We invite the reader on a personal journey across continents, countries, cultures and landscapes, to reflect on these beautiful, at times chaotic, renditions on the human experience.  We hope the reach of this path will transcend the borders of each story, and perhaps function as an agent of change.

I look forward to reading Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Third and Final Continent," since I really enjoyed her novel The Namesake — which was the very first book I wrote about when I started blogging on January 30, 2007.  Click HERE or on the title to read that post.  Want some irony?  Lahiri may have been the FIRST author on this blog, but she's the LAST author in this book of short stories.  Saving the best for last, maybe?  The picture (photo credit to The Economic Times) shows Obama presenting her the National Humanities medal in 2014.  I found this book in the Crown Center's library.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

A chatfest and a mystery series

Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View ~ by Ramin Setoodeh, 2019, nonfiction, 336 pages

When Barbara Walters launched The View, network executives told her that hosting it would tarnish her reputation.  Instead, within ten years, she had revolutionized morning TV and made household names of her co-hosts:  Joy Behar, Star Jones, Meredith Vieira, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.  But the daily chatfest* didn’t just comment on the news; it became the news.

Based on unprecedented access, including interviews with nearly every host, journalist Ramin Setoodeh takes you backstage where the stars really spoke their minds.  Here's the full story of how Star, then Rosie, then Whoopi tried to take over the show, while Barbara struggled to maintain control of it all, a modern-day Lear with her media-savvy daughters.  Read about how so many co-hosts had a tough time fitting in, suffered humiliations at the table, then pushed themselves away, feeling betrayed ― with one nearly quitting during a commercial.  The director, meanwhile, was being driven insane, especially by Rosie.

Setoodeh uncovers the truth about Star’s weight loss and wedding madness, Rosie’s feud with Trump, Whoopi’s toxic relationship with Rosie, Barbara’s difficulty stepping away.  Plus, all the unseen hugs, snubs, and tears.  This book shows why The View can be mimicked and mocked, but it can never be matched.

This is one of Donna's hardback books that her sister let me have.  It has eight pages of color photos in the middle, like this one of Michelle Obama fist bumping Elizabeth when she was a guest co-host on June 18, 2008.  I'm about to read it, so I don't know details yet.  However, it seems telling to me that these are the three sections between prologue and epilogue:

• Prologue:  Out, Damned Cohost
• Part One:  Barbara's View
• Part Two:  Rosie's View
• Part Three:  Whoopi's View
• Epilogue:  Trump's View

Word of the Day*

Chatfest is short for "chatting festival," where two or more people engage in constant conversation for a long period of time.

The Jennifer Marsh Mysteries

Dying to Remember #4 ~ by Jennifer Fitzwater, 2000, mystery, 272 pages

Twelve years ago Jimmy Mitchell disappeared the night of Jennifer Marsh’s prom, and now her good friend Leigh Ann is desperate for Jennifer to accompany her to their high school reunion.  Nothing could make her go back to confront Sheena Cassidy, the backbiting, mean-spirited, boyfriend-stealing junior squad cheerleader who made her life a living hell — nothing except a note from Sheena’s now husband Danny Buckner, Jennifer’s first love and prom date, who is pleading for her help with something that happened on that horrendous prom night. But when she gets to the reunion, Danny barely has a chance to speak with Jennifer before he’s drawn away by one of his in-crowd. Less than an hour later Danny’s dead in the parking lot, an apparent suicide. And Gavin Lawless, budding singer/song writer and the love of Leigh Ann’s life, has returned to dredge up exactly what happened to Jimmy Mitchell that dreadful night twelve years ago that left Gavin with repressed memories and war hero Ben Underwood under a cloud of suspicion in Jimmy’s disappearance.

Dying to Be Murdered #5 ~ by Jennifer Fitzwater, 2011, mystery, 199 pages

Mary Ashton is convinced someone is going to murder her, and that there’s nothing she can do to stop it. But what she can do is hire unpublished mystery writer Jennifer Marsh to record her final days, so her killer won’t get away with it. Mary may seem a little loony, but she’s one of Macon’s leading socialites, or at least she was until the competency hearing. AND she’s offering Jennifer $1,000 a week to stay in her home, the historic Ashton mansion, reputed to be haunted by a Civil War heroine. The money’s too good to turn down, especially for a starving writer, so Jennifer agrees. And what’s the harm? Why would anyone want Mary Ashton dead? But the first night at the mansion, Jennifer’s awakened by blood curdling screams coming from Mary’s room, which is directly beneath her own. Trapped in her room, Jennifer is helpless. When she finally escapes, she finds a blood-soaked bed straight out of a horror movie but no sign of Mary’s body. Old family secrets and grudges, mysterious deaths, and ghostly lights that move about the mansion lead to a mystery fraught with danger and intrigue.

Dying to Get Her Man #6 ~ by Jennifer Fitzwater, 2012, mystery (Georgia), 332 pages

On the coldest day in Macon, Georgia’s recent history, Suzanne Gray dressed herself in white, tied a blue ribbon in her hair, gathered a bouquet of white roses, typed a suicide note, lay herself down on her lover’s grave, and froze to death.  Or did she?  Suzanne's niece doesn't think so.

Neither does mystery writer Jennifer Marsh.  Not only was the note not signed, but, well, honestly the whole thing sounds fishy to Jennifer and she can't let it go.  Sam Culpepper, the reporter on the case and Jennifer's boyfriend, not only appears to be hiding some of the details from Jennifer, but seems more interested in taking their relationship to the next level than discussing work.  So why, then, does an engagement announcement for Sam and his ex-girlfriend appear in the paper the next day?

Did Suzanne commit suicide or was she murdered?  Did Suzanne’s lover really die from a slip on the stairs?  Does Sam have another relationship that Jennifer knew nothing about?  What will it take to solve these mysteries?  When the bullets start to fly, Jennifer knows that she’d better figure out what's happening, or she'll be paying with more than her heart ... she'll be paying with her life.

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts the Sunday Salon.