May's Mutterings

Month: June 2015

  • book review: Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

    Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the first in a mystery series that takes place after World War I in Britain. I really loved this book. Maisie Dobbs is an intrepid young woman who, through intelligence and hard work and determination, moves from the lower class into the…

  • book review: Covenant with Hell by Priscilla Royal

    Covenant with Hell by Priscilla Royal My rating: 4 of 5 stars If you’ve read my reviews of Priscilla Royal’s previous 9 books, you know that I love this series. This 10th addition to the series is no exception. The book takes place at Our Lady of Walsingham shrine, and there is a lot of…

  • book review: Sup with the Devil by Barbara Hamilton

    Sup with the Devil by Barbara Hamilton My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is book #3 in a historical mystery series with Abigail Adams as the protagonist. I have enjoyed this series immensely so far, and this book is no exception. A student at Harvard College has been murdered, and his slave is accused…

  • A B’Not Mitzvah in St. Thomas

    A close friend of our son’s held her bat mitzvah in St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands) at the site of a historic Jewish synagogue first built in the late 1700s. Her younger sister was having her bat mitzvah at the same time (the plural of bat mitzvah being b’not mitzvah, which is pretty much the…

  • book review: Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

    Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book is a very thoughtful look at how we are dealing with the elderly as they age and grow more infirm. The first half of the book deals with alternative (and better) options to nursing homes…