Hi. We had a nice visit in California and are now back home. There was a trace or so of snow last night and that’s how I know we’re back in the North, ha. But the days have been warm in the 60s, so it’ll be gone soon. It’s nice to be home and there is much to do at our new place. But first I will share a few photos from our trip. We traveled through Palm Springs where it is always great to see the San Jacinto mountains. There’s been talk of the superbloom around parts of the state and mostly I saw that the canyons are quite green and filled with yellow mustard weed flowers, which are invasive, but other places I saw in the news had pretty wildflowers. My Dad’s rose garden is sure going bonkers right now with many in bloom.
Meanwhile, I’m wondering how many of you have joined the online platform Substack? I just joined it and I’m perusing the offerings on there. I am a newbie. Do you follow writers on there, and if so, which ones? Or are you sticking with Instagram and Twitter?
It seems Substack is full of writings from bloggers, journalists, and authors, and I am sort of wondering whether it will take the place of many individual blogs in the future? Or did talking about books on Instagram and books podcasts already do that? It seems there’s still a bit of space left for each platform and doing one’s own thing, yet I wonder if individual blog sites are starting to erode away further. What do you think? Are they still viable?
And now I will leave you with a couple reviews of what I finished lately.
Silver Alert by Lee Smith / Algonquin Books / 224 pages / April 2023
Synopsis: This story has its charms and a generous heart. It stars two unlikely protagonists in Key West: one a man named Herb Atlas, age 83, who is caring for his third wife, Susan, who has Alzheimer’s, and the other, Susan’s manicurist who does wonders for her and goes by the name Renee. Renee’s real name it turns out is Dee Dee Mullins and she’s running from a dark past from where she grew up in the mountains of NC. She hopes she can turn over a new leaf in Key West working for people like the Atlases and a poet guy she meets and falls for there named William.
Meanwhile Herb is running from the future and what lies ahead as his family wants to put Susan and him in a senior care facility, which he doesn’t want. He gets a diagnosis of prostate cancer, which gives him little time to figure out what to do. Along the way, Herb and Dee Dee earn each other’s respect and take a joy ride in his Porsche towards the end, which influences what turn their personal lives take. You’ll want to see what happens to them.
My Thoughts: I liked the two different perspectives of Herb and Dee Dee: one is privileged and older with memories of his past loves, and the other is in her 20s, poor, not formally educated, and trying to restart her life with a new job and love. They might be at times a bit cliched — Herb calling women “honey” frequently and Dee Dee in her naiveté, but I saw quite a bit from their shoes and hearts. They are different, but they also share common ground with their fears and secrets that touch their lives. I found the story went by pretty quickly with wanting to know what would happen to each of them. Kudos to Southern author Lee Smith for her notable fiction these many years. I’d like to read more of her novels.
Thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an advance copy to read and review.
Suspect by Scott Turow / Grand Central Publishing / 448 pages / 2022
I hadn’t read Scott Turow since his 1987 novel Presumed Innocent, which was very good all those years ago, so I tried this one as an audiobook. I thought the lead protagonist Clarice “Pinky” Granum, a private investigator for a law firm, was all right and interesting enough — she’s an outsider-mohawk type with a pierced nose who once failed out of the police academy for substance abuse — but the case she is on turns out to be quite sordid, icky stuff and perhaps more than I bargained for.
Synopsis: The female police chief in town is accused by three cops of soliciting them for sex in exchange for promotions to higher ranks. She hires the law office Pinky works for and the more Pinky delves into the case the more sordid it gets. Whether the chief’s guilty remains unclear as she did seem to sleep around with cops in her county, so that’s a no-no. Then during the court case, one of the chief’s accusers is murdered, which opens another can of worms.
My thoughts: I liked how there were a few possible suspects for a good portion of the novel, and Pinky seems not to be the typical private investigator, yet she has the street smarts to solve the case, so that was good. But the case itself was just pretty icky and I’m not sure I cared too much by the very end. I had to push myself to finish this one, which I was not expecting with the notable author Scott Turow. Apparently this is his twelfth legal thriller in Illinois’s fictitious Kindle County, but I don’t think I’ll be picking up the next one.
That’s all for now. What about you — have you read these authors and if so, what did you think?
Great pics you brought back! Silver Alert sounds endearing (despite the cliches you mentioned), and Pinky seems to me like a Lisbeth Salander look-alike, probably minus all the baggage. You said you were going through a mini reading slump, but two books since you left is pretty good . I read one more ARC since you left, and I’m amid another one to be released in the upcoming month or two; so far so good. I’m getting ready to start the doorstopper that is The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese that will be released on May 2. Hopefully I will have finished the book I’m reading by then.
Thanks Carmen, much to see in Cal. Your observations as usual are very astute about books and such. And I’m a bit behind my Goodreads goal but maybe I can catch up after I finish a PW review for Monday (they always take a long while).
I’m impressed you’re reading the long novel by Verghese. I loved his book The Tennis Partner but haven’t read anything else by him. I’d like to read all of his books — I think he’s terrific — so I wonder if his new novel will be. You must tell me if it’s any good. It seems very long but hopefully it’ll be worth it. I have to pick up the long Kingsolver novel in May for book club. Need to gear up for that. Enjoy your weekend.
Which Kingsolver’s, Demon Copperhead? I’ll be reading Verghese for the first time. I recently bought Cutting for Stone but haven’t read it yet. My rating average on Netgalley dropped significantly so I’m getting rejected left and right but have been lucky with the ones I got approved for; thus far most have been 4*. Still have a few ARCs from this year to read over the upcoming months and hopefully will make room for some purchases too.
Yep it’s the Demon Copperhead novel. I hope too to read Cutting for Stone sometime this year as that has been on my list forever. I’m curious about Verghese’s new one. Hmm, very long though. Good luck with all the ARCs.
I’m glad you had a good time in California. Fun to see snow on San Jacinto. I took the tram up many years ago and the view was stunning.
I’m sticking with Instagram (and a little Facebook), but don’t use Twitter. I subscribe to a couple of newsletters (Heather Cox Richardson and one other), but I don’t remember if they come via Substack or not. Guess I’m not well-versed on that platform! I plan to continue blogging via Blogger, although I have started sharing my reviews on Instagram. Since I use my blog for travel, as well as book reviews, I doubt I’ll ever abandon it. Too much of a resource of where we’ve camped to delete it!
Lee Smith sounds like an author I should know, but I don’t have any of her books reviewed on my blog. Her new novel sounds like something I might enjoy. As far as Scott Turow’s book, I’ll pass.
Hi Lesley, this is good info about the platforms you use. I’m doing a little more book talk on Instagram but am mainly here. I like keeping the reviews — as you said it’s hard to give them up now. Substack has a lot of pay for content writers and I can’t say I’m into that. Too cheap! LoL.
I have a fear of heights so the Palm Springs tram scared me to death as a kid. I haven’t taken it since. So high! LOL. But Robert went on it recently & took pics. Hope all is well at the cove.
I’ve only read a couple Scott Turow novels but I enjoyed them.
I am glad you had a good visit with your parents; it must feel good to be back in your new house!
Hi Helen, yes it’s great to be back home and is a perfect time of year here now. We are trying to get much done and unpack more still.
In many ways, Scott Turow is like a genius – which is what I thought when I read his debut book so long ago. I guess I just didn’t care for this one. But I still think he has good ones left. Happy weekend.
Great pictures, Susan, and I’m glad you got to see your sweet dad. Thanks for the book recommendations, I am looking for some new ones and both look right up my alley. I’ve been delving into some spiritual reading and recently enjoying Kevin O’Brien’s Seeing with the Heart and Imagining Pilgrimage by Kathryn Barush which also has some terrific photos.
On a side note, we turned a corner and seem to be skipping spring and sliding right into summer with hot days and blue skies. It’s wonderful to feel the warmth and light again after a rainy winter!!!
Cheers!
Thanks Sarah for stopping by. It’s great to hear from you and what you’re up to! When we went to the beach house with my Dad just last weekend, I thought of our reunion in August and just being at the house made me laugh. Good times. Perhaps I might be back this August but still verifying that.
I hope you have a great spring & summer. Will you be in Tahoe much? And happy reading to you. The books sound good. Much to read at the moment.
Hi Susan, Thanks for bringing up Substack because it’s a platform I have heard about but haven’t really explored and I think I need too. The name Lee Smith rang a bell and so I checked and years ago I did read her novel Oral History and I have good memories. Books set in Key West always fascinate me too.
Hey thanks Kathy. Good to know about Oral History. Is a review of it on your site? I will check. I haven’t heard of that Lee Smith novel. I still have a book on my shelves of Lee’s called The Last Girls from 2002. It’s supposed to be one of her best — but I still have not picked it up. I must sometime!
I’m still unsure about Substack because most of what’s on there is content you have to pay for — and it’s like: nah. Lol. Hope you are well.
I hope individual blog sites aren’t going away…I’d be sad to lose all my ‘individual’ blogging friends. And Silver Alert sounds like a good read. I’m adding it to my list. 😀
Hi Lark: yeah I agree. I like the connections thru blogging. And all the book advice and fun. It’s nice to hear about people in other parts of the world, so I think I plan to continue on with it. Glad you are too. Cheers. Enjoy your weekend.
I’m checking out Substack, but I’ll keep my blog. Insta doesn’t cut it for me re book reviews.
https://bookdilettante.blogspot.com/
Good to know Harvee. I agree it doesn’t seem like Insta is for full reviews … it’s more like small splashes or mentions of what you’ve read etc. And perhaps Substack is more of paid content. hmm. Cheers.
Hi Susan
Check out Heather Cox Richardson on Substack. She does a daily synopsis of the day’s news often with a historical perspective. She has an interesting backstory. History prof at BU, lives in Maine where she lives with Buddy, a lobster fisherman. She’s quite popular – has many followers.
I’d be interested to know what you think.
Marcia
Hey Marcia, thanks for stopping by! Yes a friend from Calif. told me about Richardson’s daily briefing last year and I followed it for about 6 months (before I even joined Substack). I liked it and thought she was astute about currents events and how the U.S. is really going to hell in a hand basket due to much of the GOP. I liked her history writings too. I’m not exactly too sure why I stopped getting it — maybe I just wanted a break to think for myself, or I felt I knew what I thought about current events of the day etc. But I might sometime re-join her. I’m glad she is giving a lifeline to those who are furious about what’s going on! Cheers.
I’ve seen a couple of bloggers move to substack. Seems like you can read parts of it free, but then there is a paid area. Don’t know anything more about it, but I ‘d rather not pay to keep up with all my blogging friends. I’m on instagram, but haven’t been posting much book content there. Twitter is changing quickly… and not for the better. Guess I’ll stick with blogger, even though it gets frustrating from time to time.
Glad you had a good trip. Your father really has a knack for growing roses… so beautiful!
I’ve been aware of Lee Smith for years, but have never read her. Silver Alert sounds like fun. Don’t think I’ve read Scott Turow since Presumed Innocent… which I loved so long ago!
Hi JoAnn, I agree with your thoughts about all these platforms. I don’t want to pay either. I think I was looking at Substack because Rebecca Makkai says she writes reviews on there. Hmm. But I think I’ll just read the free stuff. I’m basically still old school so will continue the blog, LoL.
We had a good trip south & now trying to reorganize. Hope all is well in Sanibel. Enjoy your May!
Blogger seems to me to just keep going for only a few people who still like the simple online life. I’m boring and just like to post photos of my simple life and cooking. I know blogs are two decades behind the rest of the world. So it goes. Good luck figuring out the next big thing.
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Hi Mae, yeah I’m pretty old-school too so I’m not really going anywhere for the moment, nor do I have more time for various platforms etc. I’ll just see how long I want to go on for. The simple life is good. Enjoy.
I am glad your Cali trip went well.
I am not on Substack, nor do I plan to be. I can barely keep up with what I have but I was looking at Blue Sky as an alternative to Twitter. Elon’s random policy changes rub me the wrong way.
Hi Ti, yes we had a great visit in Calif. thanks! And your info is helpful about these platforms. I have not heard of Blue Sky but I’ve heard of a similar Twitter-kind of platform called The Post. Hmm. I agree there’s just too much to really get involved with. I’m barely on these various things now. But I was curious about author Rebecca Makkai saying she writes reviews on Substack hmm. though I don’t really pay for content on such sites. If Twitter goes to a pay site, I will drop it. Elon is pretty crazy. right?
I haven’t read either of these authors before but the books sound interesting! I enjoyed your photos but haven’t heard of Substack so I need to check that out! Have a great week!
Hi Jodie, nice to find your site. & Glad to have a Canuck here. I don’t know too much about Substack either — some of its content is free & other stuff is for pay. Not sure I have much time for all these platforms. Have a great week.
Sounds like a great trip! I don’t think individual blogs are going anywhere. Or, I hope they’re not. I’m still having fun with mine!
Good AJ. I enjoy your blog too. Fun stuff. I’m old-school so blogging still works for me too. Have a great week. Happy reading.
Susan, several authors I follow use Substack. It frustrates me a bit because everything they post is not free. I already buy their books so…Anyway, I never have really used Instagram (too many pictures vs. too few words) or Twitter (too few words) and I haven’t changed my blog platform in fifteen years. Perhaps I will be the last Blogger standing? Blogging is right up there with reading as my favorite hobby.
Hi Deb, great to hear! Love to hear you’ll be the last blogger standing. I don’t really want to change either. I’m old-school. And I saw that Rebecca Makkai is on Substack but I don’t intend to pay for content there. I pay for newspapers & books at times but not all the rest like podcasts & such. I don’t have the time either, LoL. There is some stuff free on Substack like historian Heather Cox Richardson, which I got emails from for awhile. But I like to pare down all of it. You are busy too! With your grandkids & your nature volunteering & book talks & writing etc. We can’t be on every platform right? … LoL