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  • The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland

    The other night I pulled this book from my shelves and re-read it. This was even better with the second read. See my full review HERE

    Jessica Fox was living in Hollywood, an ambitious 26-year-old film-maker with a high-stress job at NASA. Working late one night, craving another life, she was seized by a moment of inspiration and tapped “second hand bookshop Scotland” into Google. She clicked the first link she saw.

    A month later, she arrived 2,000 miles across the Atlantic in Wigtown, on the west coast of Scotland, and knocked on the door of the bookshop she would be living in for the next month .

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  • So Far Gone, by Jess Walter

    I very much enjoyed Mr. Walter’s Beautiful Ruins, (link HERE) so I was pleased to get his newest novel on my library holds. So Far Gone is a very different type of book, but it shares his wonderful writing.

    Rhys Kinnick is a laid-off journalist and divorced father who retreated to live in an inherited cinder block cabin on a vast isolated property. Alone, like his beloved Thoreau, he attempted to process and make sense of the messy state of the world — accompanied by only some cheeky raccoons and stacks of great books. All this, after abandoning his daughter and her two children during a Thanksgiving fist fight with her husband — (get this character) a religious extremist, conspiracy kook, who argued that the NFL was yet an arm of the capitalistic wealthy who are controlling the world.

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  • Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

    A friend recommended this novel, which I put on hold at the library. Then, when I learned that Remarkably Bright Creatures was being adapted into a film on Netflix, my impatience grew. Accidentally, I dropped into my local book store (you know where this is going) and sighed when I picked it up. True confession, I have a weakness for books with sprayed edges. Purchased in a blink of the eye, cancelled my library hold, and started it that evening.

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  • I Hate to Cook Book by Peg Bracken

    I was sorting through my cookbooks, trying to whittle them down to a more reasonable collection, when I came across my mother’s old copy of I Hate to Cook Book. It’s been around as long as I can remember, first on my mother’s cookbook shelf and now mine. I sat down that evening to browse through it and found it delightfully snarky and fun.

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  • The Names by Florence Knapp

    I have to say this is a debut novel that actually deserves all the hype. I just finished reading The Names and found it unputadownable (and yes, I am going to stick with that word, thank you very much).

    The story opens with Cora who’s torn about which name to give her newborn son on his birth certificate. When she gets to the registry office, the story splits into three parts, following what their lives could’ve looked like had she named her son one of three names: Gordon (after her abusive husband), Bear (yes, like the animal), or Julian (classy, artistic).

    Each name leads to an entirely different life, not just for the newborn, but also for Cora, her daughter Maia, and a constellation of relationships which change and morph with every choice.

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  • Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams

    I read this beautiful novel when it first came out in 2015 (a gift from my sister) and somehow never kept any notes about it. I remember inhaling it in two or three evenings and putting it on my shelf as a definite keeper book. I also recall it was beautiful, romantic, and full of mystical symbolism – ahh the Irish.

    Then, the other night I watched the fairly recent film adaptation starring Pierce Brosnan, Helen Bonham Carter, and Gabriel Byrne (great cast right?)

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  • The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin

    I’ve been under the weather. A nasty, congestive cold with endless coughing which racks the lungs. So I needed a read that was light, yet entertaining — in order to get through what has turned into a couple of weeks. But, stop, enough complaining – and let me tell you about The Booklover’s Library.

    In Nottingham England, widow Emma Taylor desperately needs a job to support herself and her young daughter, Olivia. Legal restrictions prohibit married women, or even widows with children from most employment opportunities. Emma eventually persuades the manageress at Boots’ Booklover’s library to take a chance on her.

    But first, let me do a Book Barmy digression here, okay?

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  • Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

    Crooked Heart is unlike any novel I’ve read about WWII – it is both compelling, and at times, wickedly humorous. It doesn’t so much focus on the Blitz or the war itself, but on the people who have to get by in the mess and ruins. And what people these are! Unscrupulous, cheating the system, and finagling their way through the tough times.

    But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself…

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  • Book Barmy 2.0

    I had long played with the idea of a book blog, but knew nothing about how to go about it — but I did know it was going to be called ~~ Book Barmy.

    Then lo and behold, my beloved aunt was visiting and she offered to design this little blog for me. That was years ago, and while I still love the look and feel of this site, the technical aspects needed updating.

    My head spun when I learned it needed an updated PHP (what the heck it that?) — also it should be optimized for phone and tablet viewing, not just for computer.

    With my fingers crossed I contacted a classmate back East who has a wonderful web design company, and while she is trying to retire, she agreed to take on the Book Barmy update project. Thanks Ruth and Aimee!

    And so, here it is!

    Updated, improved ~~ but most importantly, a new and beautiful Book Barmy look. Check it out on whatever device you want.

    In other news, a friend was traveling in Wales and trying to figure out the signage – and place names.

    She told me they used the tested Book Barmy method to communicate to each other while using the trains and road signs. That made me so happy… You can see our method HERE.

  • The Black Wolf by Louise Penny

    This is the twentieth in Ms. Penny’s beloved Gamache series, and it doesn’t miss a beat.

    Picking up where The Grey Wolf left off, The Black Wolf is both chilling and prophetic installment in which Inspector Gamache realizes the domestic terror plot he risked everything to stop was only the beginning.

    (Note: The Black Wolf is a continuation of The Grey Wolf, so it’s important they be read in order.)

    Gamache, has retreated to the quiet refuge of Three Pines while he recovers from the injuries he sustained during the pursuit of the the Grey Wolf.

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