Ladies in Waiting by Adriana Trigiani, Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Elinor Lipman, Audrey Bellezza, Karen Dukess, Emily Harding, Nikki Payne, Diana Quincy

Title:  Ladies in Waiting

Author:  Adriana Trigiani, Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Elinor Lipman, Audrey Bellezza, Karen Dukess, Emily Harding, Nikki Payne, Diana Quincy

Narrated by:  Shiromi Arserio, Billie Fulford-Brown, Fiona Hardingham, Angel Pean

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hour and 14 minutes

Source: Audiobook Review copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

What secondary character in fiction would you like to see get a happy ending?

Ladies in Waiting is a short story anthology celebrating Jane Austen and her classic novels. Written by a variety of best-selling authors, it was put together to honor her for her 250th birthday.

My thoughts on this book:

• I read this in June for a selection for the JASNA Northwoods book club.  Sadly, I missed the club due to an illness.

• This was a great collection of stories featuring Austen’s secondary characters finally getting their chance in the sunlight.  

• This is a perfect read for those that loved the Other Miss Bennett and are looking for something new.

• Characters such as Margaret Dashwood from Sense & Sensibility, Lydia Bennet from Pride & Prejudice, Miss Bates from Emma, and Caroline Bingley from Pride and Prejudice get second changes.

• I loved the story of the widowed Lydia finding a chance for love and redemption with a local clergyman.

• I also enjoyed the story of Margaret Dashwood realizing her childhood friend Hugh may be more than a friend.

• Another favorite story was about Miss Hetty Bates and learning about her scandalous past and one true love.

• The worst part was that I wanted more stories, especially secondary characters Jane Austen’s other novels.

• I liked how it focused on lesser-known characters in the stories, but wish it would have included characters from all six Austen books rather than just Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and Emma.

• Why were there two stories on Miss Bates?  I enjoyed the second Miss Bates story much more than the first story.

• The stories were sometimes set in different time period and places.

• Each story started with a quotes from the original novel, a brief description of the character and a preview of the short story from the author.

• I thought the last half of the stories were the best of the bunch!

• This was great on audiobook.  I enjoyed the narrators and music between each stories.

Overall, Ladies in Waiting was an entertaining mix of stories on intriguing Jane Austen characters who deserve their own day in the spotlight.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Christmas: 101 Joyful Holiday Stories by Amy Newmark

 

Title:  Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Christmas: 101 Joyful Holiday Stories

Author:  Amy Newmark

Narrated by:  Kirby Heyborne, Emily Norman

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 29 minutes

Source: Review copy from Simon Audio.  Thank-you!

What types of books do you like to read when you are super busy?  Chicken Soup for the Soul:  The Spirit of Christmas was perfect for a busy time.  The stories are all short, seasonal, and uplifting.

Chicken Soup for the Soul:  The Spirit of Christmas is a collection of 101 true stories that are set anywhere from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, with most being set at Christmas.  My thoughts on this collection:

·       This was great on audiobook.  I listened to this collection to start off my day for the last couple of weeks and it started off my day with a very bright spot.

·       Purchase of this book supports Toys for Tots which is a very worthy organization.

·       I liked that some stories gave me a good laugh while others brought a tear to my eye and really made me think about the true meaning of Christmas.

·       This was a cozy read.

·       There were a lot of stories related to Christian faith throughout, but mixed faith families such as a blended Hanukkah/Christmas celebration were also discussed.

·       I haven’t read a Chicken Soup for the soul book for quite a while and Imthink I need to listen to more of these on audiobook moving forward.

Overall, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Christmas: 101 Joyful Holiday Stories by Amy Newmark was a great cozy read and audiobook that really brought me into the spirit of the season.

Golden Age Christmas Mysteries Edited by Otto Penzler

 

Title:  Golden Age Christmas Mysteries

Author:  Otto Penzler

Narrated by:  Jonathan Sleep

Publisher: Highbridge Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 4 minutes

Source: Review copy from NetGalley.  Thank-you!

What is your favorite holiday decoration?  My favorites are the ceramic decorations my Grandma made me through the years.

Golden Age Christmas Mysteries is a collection of Christmas stories.  My thoughts on these stories:

·       I loved the little biographies about each author before the stories.  I felt like I was learning more about classic mystery authors. 

·       These were all new Christmas stories to me.

·       There were 14 stories with a mix of authors and styles.  Some more famous classic mystery authors such as Mary Roberts Rinehart, and John Dickson Carr, etc. were included.

·       I was surprised watching the new Knives Out movies that the author John Dickson Carr was prominently featured, and I had just read his Christmas story in this collection.

·       I really enjoyed this collection, especially as I got more into the book.  I’ve since downloaded eBooks/audiobooks of a few of the authors.

·       The narrator was great and did excellent voices.  His voice sounded like a Golden Age mystery narrator.

·       My favorite story in the collection was The Reversible Santa Claus by Meredith Nicholson.  It was a delightful and fun story.  The Hopper is a reformed thief who is trying to live an honest life when he feels the call to steal an automobile with a large purse inside.  He soon finds himself in a pickle as he as inadvertently kidnapped a child.  Hilarity ensues as he tries to figure out how to return the child without getting into trouble.  I want to read more of this Indiana author’s works.

Overall, Golden Age Christmas Mysteries Edited by Otto Penzler was a delightful collection of all new to me Christmas mystery stories.  I greatly enjoyed it and recommend it.

The Greatest Gift by Philip van Doren Stern

 

What is a fun or weird gift that you have received in the past?

George Pratt is on a bridge contemplating suicide when a mysterious stranger shows up.  George tells the man his woes and how he wishes he had never been born.  The stranger tells him he has never been born.  George meets with his family members and discovers their lives are worse without him.  Will George come to value his own life?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I reread The Greatest Gift in November for the Back to the Classics Book Club.  We had a good discussion on this story as well as on classic Christmas movies in general.

·       The Greatest Gift is the story that is the basis of the classic Christmas film, It’s a Wonderful Life.  We discussed how in this case, the movie is even better than the original story.  It really took the story and built an unforgettable world.

·       I thought it was funny that in the short story Mary’s fate was to marry a terrible man and have terrible children that mistreat her as does her husband.  In the movie, she is an unmarried librarian.  That doesn’t seem so bad!

·       Philip Van Doren Stern sent his friends and family a Christmas card with a story he had written called “The Greatest Gift.”  The story found its way to a producer at RKO studios, and it eventually became It’s a Wonderful Life.

·       This is a small book.  The first half is the story, and the second half was an afterward by the author’s daughter about how the story came to be and how it became the classic movie.

·       Why are there so many mysterious beings in Christmas stories?  We also read “Markheim” by Robert Louis Stevenson for book blub and a mysterious being also appears in this story.  It’s not explicitly said it’s an angel in either story.

Favorite Quote:

“I understand right enough,” the stranger said slowly. “I just wanted to make sure you did. You had the greatest gift of all conferred upon you—the gift of life, of being a part of this world and taking a part in it. Yet you denied that gift.” As the stranger spoke, the church bell high up on the hill sounded, calling the townspeople to Christmas vespers. Then the downtown church bell started ringing.”

Overall, The Greatest Gift by Philip van Doren Stern is a look into the inspiration behind the Christmas class movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com.

F*cked Up Fairy Tales by Liz Gotauco (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @w.w.norton for the review copy.

What is your favorite fairy tale?  My two favorites are Beauty and the Beast and The Twelve Dancing Princesses.

F*cked Up Fairy Tales Is a collection of some of the “strangest and darkest stories humans had the audacity to invent.”

My thoughts on this collection of stories:

·       Publication Date is October 7, 2025.

·       This was an entertaining book that was perfect for me.  I have loved reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales and “real” fairy tales from around the world since I was young.  I once read the entire fairy tale, myth, and legends section of my middle school library.  Fractured Fairy Tales were my favorite thing to watch as a kid and this collection is the adult version.

·       The introduction details the authors research on fairy tales across the world.  It was fascinating.  There are many similarities between stories, but also some truly odd ball stories.

·       There is also a list of trigger warnings before the stories start that was hilarious.  Real fairy tales are not Disney stories.

·       There were great drawings/illustrations throughout the book.

·       In the stories there were little asides from the contemporary point of view.  They were hilarious, but also sometimes stopped the flow of the story.  The stories are told through contemporary language.

·       The stories were from all over the world

·       There were great references at the end of each story for further reading if you enjoyed the story.  There was also a great overall reference section at the end of the book.

·       F*cked Up Fairy Tales is apparently a TikTok web series.  I need to check this out.

·       The book was split into five different sections:  F*cked Up Family Trees, Swipe Right to Your Happy Ending,  So. . . . You Married an Animal, What’s Your Body Count?, and Crappily Ever After.

·       Many of the stories made me gasp and think “WTH did I just read?” “OMG”  “LOL” I laughed a lot while reading this.

Overall, F*cked Up Fairy Tales by Liz Gotauco is a hilarious book of some of the strangest fairy tales one will ever read.  I appreciated the details and facts.  It’s perfect for any fan of “real” fairy tales.

The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor

 

Did you have any favorite short stories that you read in high school?  I read a few Flannery O’Connor short stories in both high school and college American Literature classes and enjoyed them.  They were well written and had surprise endings that were unlike most other stories.  I picked The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor for the July pick for my Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  We watched the movie Wildcat (2023) in August about the life of Flannery O’Connor.

My thoughts on the short stories and movie:

·       I don’t think the ladies of my book club enjoyed the stories as much as I did, but I enjoyed reading it.  The movie was strange and hilarious in ways.  I learned a lot about Flannery O’Connor and enjoyed seeing some of her short stories on the screen.  We enjoyed watching the movie as a group.  I did not think a Flannery O’Connor story could make me laugh, but it did.  One member said that the stories reminded her of The Twilight Zone and that is a great description.  Another recommended looking up each story online to really understand the religious subtext of the stories, which is a great recommendation.

·       O’Connor seemed to really target mothers and grandmothers in her stories that try to control their offspring or are stuck in their old ways and unable to adapt to a changing world.  I found this to be fascinating.

·       The stories really seemed to focus on the Southern myth and how people were stuck in their own thoughts of past grandeur and are unable to move on to the present (example their ancestor had a plantation and 200 slaves, but they themselves live in poverty).

·       The stories pick on the racist thoughts that were prevalent at the time and bring them to the forefront for the reader to really think about.  People say her works are racist now because of her use of the N word.  The stories instead made me really think about race.

·       The stories tend to focus on that people or things were not what they appeared to be.

·       Hypocrisy was a major theme.

·       Pride, idolatry over family heritage were also themes and people thinking they are better than others.

·       The stories overall really made me think.  Some of the stories stood out more than others.  My favorite is still A Good Man is Hard to Find.

·       I thought it was interesting that it appears that the Boomer generation in my book club did not read her in school.  My children (Gen Z) also did not read her.  I did as a Gen X.  O’Conner did discuss race frankly and use the N word.  As she says in the movie, that is how people talked in the South at that time.  Her stories on race ring true sadly still now, but minus the N word.  Unfortunately, I have heard people I know talking about classifying people based on race and economics as is discussed in the stories.

·       I also listened to the audiobooks, A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories narrated by Marguerite Gavin and Everything that Rises Must Converge narrated by Bronson Pinchot, Karen White, Mark Bramhall, and Lorna Raver.  Both were excellent and well worth listening to.

·       I kept a notebook with notes on each story so I could go on for quite a while, but this is my general review of the book.

Overall, I have thought about The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor long after I have turned the last page.  They are brilliantly written and unique Southern Gothic short stories.

Book Source:  I purchased The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor at a used book store many years ago.  I also purchased two short story collections on audible this summer.

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie

 

Do you like to read short stories?  I have always enjoyed short stories.  Sometimes its just a perfect sized read when you are having a stressful day.

I am participating in the #ReadChristie2025 Challenge.  The challenge this year is exploring Agatha Christie’s works through her characters and their careers.  The theme for February was authors and I read The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie for the first time.  Miss Marple’s nephew, Raymond, is an author and he is present throughout this collection of short stories.

A group gathers at Miss Marple’s house and each member tells the story of a crime to entertain the gathering and for them to solve.  The teller of the story must have the real-world answer to see if they solved the crime correctly.  They are constantly surprised when Miss Marple always has the answer.  “The Tuesday Night Club” sounds like a fun group get together.

My thoughts on this collection:

·       I greatly enjoyed the short story format.  It was great escapism reading last weekend.  I like the ability to pick up the book and read a complete mystery story and move on to something exciting like chores afterwards.

·       This was the start of Miss Marple, and it was fun to read.  I feel that at some point, I need to read her mysteries in order.

·       I love Miss Marple.  She is sharp and can apply her observations of village life to new situations to solve mysteries.

·       The collection was entertaining and gave me a chuckle with a few of the stories – especially with Miss Marple having surprising answers and understanding of human nature.

Favorite quotes:

“’Aunt Jane,’ said Raymond looking at her curiously, ‘how do you do it?  You have lived such a peaceful life, and yet nothing seems to surprise you.”

“’I always find one thing very like another in this world,’ said Miss Marple.”

Overall, The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie was an entertaining short story mystery collection and a great introduction to Miss Marple.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com

Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop edited by Otto Penzler

 

Title: Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop

Editor:  Otto Penzler

Narrated by:  Jennifer Pickens, Graham Rowat

Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 7 hours and 21 minutes

Source: Review Copy from NetGalley.  Thank you!

 

Do you have a favorite bookstore that focuses on a specific genre?  I was interested to learn about the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City that specializes in selling mysteries.  I have never been to a genre specific bookstore.  Each year, the store commissions an original short story for its customers.  It must be set at Christmas, include a crime or suspicion of a crime and must have at least have a partial setting at the Mysterious Bookshop.  This is a collection of twelve of the stories.

My thoughts on this audiobook:

·       I enjoyed this collection.  The main narrator, Graham Rowat, has a newsman type voice that was interesting to listen to.  It gave it an old-time mystery feel.

·       One of my favorite authors, Laura Lippman, had a story in the collection.

·       The 1^st story had a lot of cheating in it, which I didn’t like, but the ending was something else and thought provoking.

·       One story seemed to be if a Tony Soprano type character had come back to New York City out of witness protection to see his son give a talk at the Mysterious Bookshop.  Things do not go as planned.  Never threaten a dangerous man’s family.

·       I loved the story where an expensive bottle of vintage cognac travels through New York City with everyone adding to it and resealing it.

·       An interesting story included a puzzle to solve that included classic Christmas stories by classic mystery authors.  I had read a few and it was fun to solve. 

·       I liked how the last story had a mysterious component involving the completion of the novel Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens.

·       I loved how each story was unique and seemed to be even more enjoyable than the last story.

Overall, Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop was a wonderful, unique collection of Christmas mystery short stories that were a perfect read for the Holiday season.  I highly recommend it. 

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

 

Do you like to curl up to the fire with a cozy mystery, romance, or other type of genre? 

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie is a collection of stories that was recently published in 2020 and contains a variety of stories that were originally published from the 1920s to the 1970s.  The stories have a holiday or winter theme. 

My thoughts on this collection of stories:

·       This was the November Pick for the Back to the Classics Book Club.  We all enjoyed it!  I’m also using it for a pick for #ReadChristie2024.  The challenge this year was exploring Christie’s works through the decades, which you can do with this collection as well!

·       My book club all liked the introduction which contained Christie’s memories of Christmas from her youth.  In the bibliography at the end, it looks like it was taken from her autobiography.

·       I enjoyed all the stories, but especially the first, “Three Blind Mice.”  It was longer like a novella and seemed to have more plot and character buildup.  Apparently, this later became Agatha Christie’s longest running play, The Mousetrap.  I still haven’t seen this play yet!

·       All the stories were different, interesting, and fun.

·       This was the first time I had read any stories involving Mr. Harley Quin.  We all thought he was interesting.  He only appears in Christie’s short stories but was apparently one of Christie’s favorite characters.  Two stories in this collection had Quin as a character.

·       While I was reading “The Plymouth Express,” it seemed very familiar to me.  It was later made into the full-length book, The Blue Train, which I had read earlier this year.

·       Tommy and Tuppence had a cute story in this collection and my fellow book club members enjoyed them as characters.  I highly recommend their full-length novels.

Overall, Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie was a great collection with stories that were unique, interesting, and fun.  It was a good Christmas read for my Back to the Classics Book Club.

Christmas Miracles by Karen Kingsbury

 

Do you believe in miracles?  Although I am an engineer and work in a fact-based science world, I do believe in miracles.

Christmas Miracles is a short collection of true stories of miracles that took place during the Christmas season.  I love this description on the back of the book, “We have all experienced miracles.  An incredible chance encounter that changes everything . .. help that suddenly appears from nowhere . . . kindness handed to us when it is least expected.”  These stories were the type that brought shivers down my spine when miraculous events happen.

The author had the first story, “Have I Told You Lately.”  Her father was dying, and he discovered the song “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” by Rod Stewart.  He called his family members and played the song for them to let him know how he loved them.  After he passed, his family members would hear the song during special moments or birthdays on the radio through the years.  When visiting New York City, Karen ran into Rod Stewart at a park out of the blue.  She told him the story of her father and he said that she didn’t know how much that meant to him right now at that moment.  They later reconnected on a TV show, and both told their stories.

I read this book one evening before bed and found it to be very inspirational. It was the perfect book to put me into the Christmas spirit and to realize how God works through mysterious ways.

Favorite Quote:

“I’ve learned over the years that there are some things we on Earth cannot explain when it comes to medical healings.  I like to call them miracles.”

Book Source:  Review copy from Hachette Book Group / Faithwords. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Peter Rabbit and Other Stories by Beatrix Potter, Narrated by Alison Larkin

 

Title:  Peter Rabbit & Other Stories

Author:  Beatrix Potter

Narrated by:  Alison Larkin

Publisher: Alison Larkin Presents

Length: Approximately 3 hours and 46 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Alison Larkin Presents.  Thank-you!

 

Do you have a favorite Beatrix Potter story?

I used to read and love a treasury of Beatrix Potter stories as a child.  It was given to me by my beloved Great Grandparents.  I was excited to listen to this collection of stories again the week before Easter and I also enjoyed thumbing through my old copy and looking at the beautiful illustrations as well.  My husband and I read the tales of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny with our kids, but I had forgotten a lot of the other stories.

The stories included with this collection included:

he Tale of Peter Rabbi"

"The Tailor of Gloucester"

"The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin"

"The Tale of Benjamin Bunny"

"The Tale of Two Bad Mice"

"The Tale of Mrs Tiggywinkle"

"The Pie and the Patty-Pan"

"The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher"

"The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit"

"The Story of Miss Moppet"

"The Tale of Tom Kitten"

"The Tale of Jeminia Puddle-duck"

"The Roly-Poly Pudding"

"The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies"

"The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse"

"The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes"

"The Tale of Mr Tod"

"The Tale of Pigling Bland"

"Alison Larkin interviews Peter Rabbit"

"The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear

I enjoyed the entertaining interview with Peter Rabbit at the end.  I also loved the “Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies” and “The Tale of Mr. Tod”.  I didn’t remember that Peter Rabbit’s sister Flopsy marries Benjamin Bunny.  Of course, their children get into many scrapes.  The stories were fun and delightful.

It did make me laugh wondering if Peter Rabbit will be banned next after the beginning of the story has Peter’s father’s demise by Mr. McGregor and becoming his supper.  There are other items like that through the story.  I looked it up and Peter Rabbit was banned in England in the 1980s because the characters were too middle classed.  It was also banned in China because the animals were wearing clothes and acting like humans.

Alison Larkin is my favorite audiobook narrator.  She was a delight to listen to narrating this audiobook.

Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  Partners in Crime

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 56 minutes

Source: Checked out with Libby through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

 

Do you have a favorite crime solving or fighting duo?  This was my first Tommy and Tuppence novel, but it won’t be my last.  They were a witty detective duo that I greatly enjoyed.  They reminded me of Nick and Nora from the Thin man movies.

#ReadChristie2023 is focusing on murders and methods in Agatha Christie novels.  The prompt for February was the use of blunt objects and the book pick was Partners in Crime.  In Partners in Crime, Tommy and Tuppence have been asked to take over Blunt's International Detective Agency and they jump at the chance.  The agency has been a cover for spies. They solve the mysteries that come in as they wait for the spymasters to show themselves.  Tommy finds inspiration from the master detectives of history including Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.  I loved his mangled violin playing as he tried to channel Sherlock Holmes.  The book is a series of short story mysteries that the two solve.  They were interesting and hilarious.  I loved the repartee between Tommy and Tuppence.

There are only five Tommy and Tuppence novels and this is the second one.  I was intrigued to learn that Tommy and Tuppence are the only Christie characters that age over time.  They start young with one of her first novels, The Secret Adversary in 1922 and end as an old couple in Postern of Fate in 1973.  This definitely makes me want to read all of these novels.   Partners in Crime came out in 1929 so Tommy and Tuppence are still a young couple.  It was funny to me though that Agatha Christie was already including her creation of Hercule Poirot in the pantheon of great detectives in this book.

My favorite story in this collection was The House of Lurking Death which was a case of poisoning.  The Man in the Mist involved murder with a blunt object as per the prompt for February.  It was a clever case.  I enjoyed all of the stories. 

Hugh Fraser was a good narrator for this audiobook.

The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories: From Hans Christian Andersen to Angela Carter edited by Jessica Harrison

 

What is your favorite holiday short story?  I love holiday short stories.  One of my favorites is “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry.  That story is not included in this collection, but another O. Henry story is “A Chaparral Christmas Gift.” 

This is a collection of classic Christmas stories that is perfect for the lover of classic literature.  If you are looking for Hallmark type Christmas stories, this is not the book for you.  The stories take place at Christmas time, but many are poignant.  Many are translated from another language, like one of my favorites, “The Fir Tree” by Hans Christian Anderson.  Another favorite story was included, “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote.  Many other classic authors are represented at well including, but not limited to:  Langston Hughes, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, and Anton Chekhov.   It was an interesting collection, with many stories I haven’t read before.  I am going to get this as a hard cover for my collection next Christmas.

Review Copy from NetGalley.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.