via patriciaspaulding.com Mary’s aunt wrote a book! Madeline Island is a beautiful island in Lake Superior. I’ve spent two 4th of Julys and a few New Years Eves there. It’s a really cool place and I’m looking forward to reading her book about it! Click through her to site for an excerpt and more about the book if you’re interested.

I posted about Tana French before, and her book In the Woods. The sequel, The Likeness, takes a major character from In the Woods and makes her the narrator and protagonist of this book. It is an audacious plot for a detective book about mistaken identity and undercover work. But French pulls it off very well. I've read two of her books, and both were quite quite good. I recommend In the Woods, and then quickly picking up The Likeness. Mary's started the next book, which takes a major character from The Likeness and makes him the narrator. It will Read more…

I recently read Julia Child's memoir My Life in France. But it was a fascinating look at post-WWII France. I love a good travelogue, especially one with a lot of food (though I confess I didn't understand any of the French dishes she was preparing). It was also a portrait of a driven and determined woman. As was recently pointed out to me, Julia Child didn't even learn to cook until she was 37. She worked and worked and worked to create her first major work Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I'd never thought how much work went into Read more…