The Creaky Old Barn

Finished July 8

The Creaky Old Barn by B.E. Baker

This is the second in the Irish Escape series that I recently started and wanted to follow the characters into their adventure. 

Natalie is just arriving in Ireland with her five children, with her plan to run the estate as a hotel coming together. She's been getting the website in order, and arranging things remotely with the previous owner and the housekeeper that she's kept on. Her new vehicle is ready and waiting and her kids, four daughters and a five-year-old son are interested in what their future entails. She moves into the largest home outside the estate house itself.

Samantha is ready to throw herself into the horse side of their business getting to know the horses they now own. When she hears that Vanessa is having second thoughts she makes a pitstop in Colorado and sees what is happening there. Her experience as a nurse practitioner, and her support as a good friend both prove helpful to Vanessa in rededicating her to the new adventure. She even gets Vanessa's oldest and troubled son on board. 

Samantha moves into the small cottage near the barn, but finds it is in worse shape than she expected, without even a working bathroom. She begins an intense renovation with a focus on getting the bathroom up and working, before her belonging arrive. She also looks for help from the previous owner's stable manager. 

Vanessa and her three kids move into the other house on the property and start to get settled, but Vanessa finds that her focus on her son's recovery and mental health may interfere with her own chance at a new relationship.

I liked the slow start that romance has here, with all three women unattached. Vanessa, as a widow, is the one most ready to move forward and that makes sense. But we see that elements of the past have followed all of the women here, and may affect how they can settle into their new homes. 

There is hope here, but also setbacks, and some miscommunication thrown in as well. Enjoyable and entertaining enough to interest me in continuing the series. 

Bugged

Finished July 5

Bugged: The Insects Who Rule the World and the People Obsessed with Them by David MacNeal, with illustrations by Michael Kennedy

This informational books looks at bugs through many lenses, with each chapter looking more closely at one particular type of bug. After an interesting encounter with an entomologist studying dung beetles mentioned in his introduction, the author continues to tell engaging stories about his journalistic research into this subject and his willingness to explore unusual activities to do so. 

His first chapter is about collectors of bugs, looking at entomologist taxidermy. Here, as in all the following chapters, he talks about the history of this subfield of entomology, the pioneers in the field, what we know from anthropological history, and what we are learning now. This chapter has a closer look at beetles, and public education.

The second chapter looks at burrowing insects, with a concentrated look at ants. 

The third chapter looks at reproduction both in the wild and in laboratories. Here there is a closer look at spiders.

The fourth chapter looks at insects that fly, and here he looks at fleas, mosquitoes, and other carriers of disease, as well as disease in the forest industry.  He travels to Brazil as part of his research. 

The fifth chapter looks at entomological pests and he accompanies a pest control operator on the job. Here there is a closer look at bedbugs and cockroaches. He also looks at insecticide use in agriculture. 

The sixth chapter looks at beneficial aspects of insects and the role they play in the economy. He covers the use of beneficial insects in pest control, how insects process both natural and manmade waste and even visits a body farm research facility in Texas. Another interesting aspect here is the use of entomology in criminal cases. 

The seventh chapter looks at medicinal uses of bugs from folk medicine to more recent clinical applications. He even tries to outfit his own pet cockroach with a robotic implant. One interesting potential use of the combination of technology and insects is in search and rescue situations. He also talks about how studying insect anatomy can help in medical applications. 

The eighth chapter looks at businesses that make money from bugs from silkworms to natural dyes to ecotourism. He looks at the pet insect business in Japan and issues around smuggling insects across borders.

His ninth chapter looks at insects as food and we see Chirps, chips made from crickets, ground bugs becoming protein powder, and . He looks at the difficulty of overcoming mindset around eating bugs, and goes on a Food Bug Crawl in Tokyo which includes fried caterpillars, ant-ohol drinks, black wasp larvae boiled with couscous, kebabed combos, and even spiders and centipedes. Back home, he even hosts a dinner including bugs as food for a group of friends. 

His final chapter looks at honeybees and the problems of colony collapse and other disease outbreaks. He goes to a Scottish monastery to see their bee operation and to Greece to try their unique honeys. 

I found this book both educational and entertaining. As this book is from 2017, I'm sure that there are more recent discoveries and advances in knowledge that have happened since. 

The Shattered Tree

Finished July 5

The Shattered Tree by Charles Todd

This is the eighth book in the Bess Crawford series. Bess is a nursing sister stationed near the front in World War I. As the book opens it is October 1918 and a badly injured man in a tattered French uniform is found in the woods near the front lines. He is brought into Bess's unit, and treated there. When another soldier suddenly attacks him, Bess noted that the French soldier spoke in German as he was attacked. She mentioned this to Matron, but is about to go on leave. 

When Bess returns a couple weeks later, the man has been sent to a hospital further from the lines and she finds out his name, Philippe Moreau. But then Bess herself is injured by a sniper and finds herself at a convalescent hospital in Paris where she is the only female patient. She is still bothered by the discrepancies she noticed about Moreau and tries to learn more about him as she recovers her strength. Even with the help of an American officer that her well-connected father has keeping an eye on her, and the information she gathers from a French nun working as a nurse, she has difficulty learning more about this man, but has seen him in Paris. As she perseveres her investigation, she puts herself and others in danger, but remains led by her intuition that something isn't right about the situation. 

This had an interesting plot and I like this series and main character. Bess is from an upper class family, but isn't afraid of hard work. She is careful who she trusts with what she knows and is very observant.

The Crumbly Old Castle

Finished July 3

The Crumbly Old Castle by B.E. Baker

This women's fiction novel follows three women as they travel and consider their lives. The women met as children at riding school and horses are still in all their lives. Since they became adults they've taken a vacation together every year, often within the United States, but this year they have a Irish vacation planned. While they all grew up in Florida, only one of them still lives there. Vanessa married Jason, a guy she met when looking for a job when she was in college, got an accounting degree and supported Jason as he agreed to buy his brother out of the construction equipment business they would inherit from their father. When Jason died a few years ago and then Covid hit, she struggled to keep afloat, accepting help from his brother Jeremy who still works for the business. She has three children. 

Samantha married, but didn't have children. She still lives in Florida where she works as a nurse practitioner, trains horses, restores and resells properties with her husband, and is generally happy with her life. 

Natalie lives in Texas with her husband and five children. She is very involved in her children's lives, is highly organized, and works part-time managing social media for several small businesses. So it is a surprise to her when she arrives at the airport to find that she is a day early for her flight. She is embarrassed at this lapse from her usually planning, but decides to return home. She finds her husband in bed with another woman, although her presence wasn't noticed by them, and she leaves immediately. In shock, she stays at a hotel near the airport and goes on a rage-induced clothing shopping spree. 

Samantha's husband makes an unreasonable ultimatum just before she leaves and she finds herself questioning her life as it is. 

For Vanessa, the last few years have been rough, with her husband's unexpected death, keeping the company afloat, and her oldest son's injury derailing his sports goals and sending him to drug abuse. He's been in rehab three times, and she gets a call just as she's leaving that he's been caught again at school. Her husband's brother Jeremy was going to be watching the kids and the business while she's gone, and although she's worried, he assures her that he will deal with her son's drug abuse situation as well. 

Once in Ireland, it doesn't take long before they confess their situations to each other, and determine to make the most of their trip. From visiting historic sites, to engaging in new experiences from hawking to attending hurling games, and of course horseback riding, they find the support they need from each other and from new friends they make along the way. 

When Natalie and Vanessa find even more betrayal in their lives, the consider their futures and what they really want for themselves and their children. 

I really enjoyed the Irish experiences they had, and the friends they made as they travelled. I also found these characters interesting. My only criticism is that they end of the book seemed rushed, with lots of details either skimmed over or not even mentioned. I couldn't help but wonder if the book was originally intended to stop earlier in the story and the author was convinced to take the story forward within this first book in the series. I do plan to read the second book to see what happens next. 

There are hints at future romances for these women, but with their lives undergoing other unexpected disruptions, that's not a priority.

Some Like It Scot

Finished June 29

Some Like It Scot by Pepper Basham

This romantic comedy was a real page-turner for me. Katie Campbell is an award-winning travel writer. Besides writing for the travel magazine World on a Page, she also has a blog and podcast Where in the World is Miss Adventure. She gained the moniker Miss Adventure from the many mishaps she's had on her travel adventures. Dave, her boss at the magazine wants her to travel a bit less and begin editing and mentoring other writers. Katie is also close to her brother Brett and his wife Jess and their kids and talks to them frequently. She has a home base, the farm in North Carolina that she inherited from her grandparents. She also has a secret writing project that she hasn't told anyone but Brett and Jess about. 

Katie has just arrived on the Scottish island of Mull for a three-week assignment on a media introduction to a new specialty resort, where participants are immersed into Edwardian life through activities and dress, in an ancient Scottish estate. This is longer than her typical assignment, but since her grandfather came from Scotland she is interested to see the country. Soon after her arrival at Craighill, she has a mishap spill while trying to avoid a loose bird in the house. 

Graeme MacKerrow is a woodworker and carver whose family has just bought their ancestral home back after more than a century of not owning it. He is working on the restoration, but the family have leased it to the Lennoxes to fund their restoration. It is the Lennoxes who are running the immersive holiday that Katie is experiencing and writing about.

On a solitary excursion into the nearby village, Katie finds herself welcomed into Mirren's Books and the older women who make up the Stories and Stitches Book Club there. As she learns more about the area, thanks to the locals, she also finds herself enjoying many aspects of the Edwardian Experience. 

Graeme has sworn off women after a recent breakup, and the grieving he's done after the recent loss of his sister. He is focused on the estate's renovation, his family, and his carving business. When he finds himself repeatedly being drawn into Katie's activities, he finds himself partly resentful and partly fascinated. 

I enjoyed this romance, getting to know the two characters as we see both points of view. I also liked the depth of character in them. The inclusion of Scots dialect and Scottish/Gaelic terminology was well done and felt natural. A great read. 

Her Big City Neighbor

Finished June 27

Her Big City Neighbor by Jackie Lau

This is the first book in the Cider Bar Sisters series, a series set in Toronto around a group of female friends. Amy Sharpe has inherited a house in Toronto from her great aunt. She takes the opportunity to leave her small Ontario town and go back to university for her masters degree in engineering. Her family has depended on her for a lot of things and they have trouble adjusting to her not being near them. 

In Toronto, she decides to take on a roommate to share her house, and finds one that shares the same name as her favourite fictional character. The roommate introduces her to her friends group and Amy fits in well with the diverse group. 

Amy really explores the city, visiting different areas of it and, since Amy is a foodie, she also explores the wide variety of food and drink available in the city. This is prominent in the novel, with mentions of restaurants, cafés, and bars along with descriptions of the food experiences. 

Amy also notices her next-door neighbour, Victor Lau, only a few years older than her and with a habit of sitting in his yard, and mowing his lawn shirtless. She makes friendly advances and the chemistry between them moves things along. Victor is quiet and keeps to himself, partly because he is still grieving the loss of a sibling. He is close to his sisters and mom who all still live in his hometown of Edmonton. 

There is a theme her of strong female characters, from Amy's grandmother and great aunt to her own generation. Amy works hard to ensure she doesn't fall into traps from the past where she was taken for granted in her relationships. 

A very enjoyable read, and my copy has a teaser from the next book in the series.  

Clifford

Finished June 26

Clifford: A Memoir, a Fiction, a Fantasy, a Thought Experiment by Harold R. Johnson

This is an intriguing book, and the subtitle gives you an idea of the scope of the book. Johnson talks about his older brother Clifford, a man who had a major impact on Johnson's entire life. Early in life, Clifford helped him overcome a speech impediment, so important as formal assistance wasn't an option for them in their small northern Saskatchewan community. We get a great sense of what it was like growing up there and how their lives changed when they were forced to move away into a larger community. 

Their father was from Sweden and their mother was Cree, and their father assimilated into the local Cree community. Clifford died in a vehicle accident, and it was a loss to the family and the community and we get a real sense of this here. Clifford cared about people and showed it through his actions. There is humour and there is sadness, but overall we are shown an extraordinary human being. 

The book is framed as Johnson camping near the abandoned house that he and his family lived in when he was young. It encompasses memories, the nature around him, the feelings he has about the loss of his brother, the what-ifs, and the way they move forward.

From the examples of scientific discussions we get a great sense of how Clifford's mind worked, so open to new ideas and being able to connect disparate ideas across subjects. His ideas changed over time as he learned new things. 

Johnson is a true storyteller and this book is a great example.