Maine Memo: Maui, Mystery & Memoir

BEAUTIFUL MAUI Like many people, the Chief Penguin and I have fond memories of visiting Maui over the years and being treated to insider tours with good friends.  It is wrenching to see the wildfire destruction of so much of historic Lahaina and its residential neighborhoods.  On those earlier trips, we enjoyed meandering Front Street, checking …

Tidy Tidbits: Biography, Mystery, & Memoir

INTIMATE PORTRAIT The Chancellor by Kati Marton Members of my local book group enjoyed reading Marton’s portrayal of Angela Merkel.  It’s an accessible biography of an intensely private woman in a prominent public position.  It isn’t a comprehensive biography and does not provide detailed analysis of some of Merkel’s questionable decisions and actions.  And the author is perhaps too …

Murder & Mayhem on Page & Screen

For a change of pace this week, I’m profiling three works, a mystery novel by the clever and creative Anthony Horowitz, and two TV crime series in which the Chief Penguin and I have been immersed. One set in coastal Denmark and the other in the remote Shetland Islands DEATH BY WINE BOTTLE The Sentence …

Relaxing in Maine: Reading & Viewing

READING I have several recent novels set in Maine in my book stack and will be reading and commenting on them in the next few blogs.  Below is the first one I’ve just finished which, after a slow start for me, I enjoyed quite a lot. I received a link to a blog post recommending 12 …