December Column



Where did November go? Soon we will be saying where did 2014 go. Things have been very busy here at Read Again Books. If you pass by my shop you will see an addition to my store sign. I have added a big sign that says simply WEAVING. I have been able to move a floor loom and another table top loom into my space now. I had my first weaving workshop on the 10^th. I will be doing all day workshops and half days with very flexible scheduling. I still have many books on sale for 50 cents so come stock up for the cold days ahead. I will continue to take books on trade in but limited to just clean books that do not duplicate what I have due to cutting down on my books space.

My reading has suffered the last couple months. Seems if I sit down to read I end up with some handwork to do instead of reading, so I only have a couple to offer up this month.

I have had several customers recommend Amanda Quick to me. I didn't realize until I did a little research on the author that her real name is Jane Ann Krentz. Krentz uses the name Quick for her Victorian novels. So this is a first time read for this author.

The River Knows

By
Amanda Quick

Louisa didn't mean to kill the man who broke into her room. Especially since he was a member of England's nobility and that class protected him from the likes of her. She is a woman alone at a time when many women alone were cast out to fend for themselves or jump off a bridge. But Louisa was different. She had grit and determination as she fled her humble apartment over a little bookstore that she inherited from her father, she is forced to fake her death and take on a new identity. She talked a newspaper into letting her write articles and she becomes a sort of underground sleuth, seeking out ways to expose the exploits of the high society. She finds employment in the home of a society lady who is a rebel also but wealthy. This allows her to mingle with the rich and go unnoticed. Louisa meets up with a man who is investigating the death of his fiancé. The plot thickens as they join forces to uncover who is behind several murders. Of course they develop a romantic relationship. I enjoyed this different type novel and the quick dialogue and humor.

The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

This book seems similar to a TV series I have been watching lately called Forever, about a Dr. who has been around for several hundred years. He is a medical examiner and helps solve crimes. Seems he dies in each segment but pops up in the river with no cloths to be helped back to his home by his “son” who is an old man now. Great show. But now about this book. It is a love story that spans time. The main character is Henry (same as that TV Dr.). He was born with a condition that makes him jump backward and forward in time. He also ends up with no cloths. I guess when you move thru time your cloths can't go with you. As a grown man he has gone back in time and meets his future wife who is only 6. Over the years he manages to pop back into her life and she falls in love with him. They do not meet in “real” time till she is 20 and he is 28. But since at 28 he has not gone back yet to that time when she was 6 he doesn't recognize her. Confused yet? The book keeps you all straight as its told in segments and each one starts out telling you who is “speaking” and their age. It is a beautiful love story with an unusual ending. I saw it advertised recently to be on a movie channel but haven't seen it yet.

I would like to wish everyone a safe and VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!