Book Talk Friday 5 29 26

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:04]Hello friends.

[00:00:05]Well, you know, many of you suggested that you really liked my book reviews and you wished that I would do that more. So, I thought maybe I would do it on a weekly basis. Maybe I won't.

[00:00:18]I don't know.

[00:00:19]>> [laughter] >> It depends on how much I really read.

[00:00:22]Um but this week I read three books. So, I thought I would share those with you and you know, I just am very eclectic in my reading. So, one of them is very kind of silly and one of them is um crazy and one of them is really beautiful. So, let's start off with the silly. Just a few seconds on this one.

[00:00:47]It's a Murder, She Wrote book. You know, Jessica Fletcher is my favorite person and somebody gave this to me and I haven't read it cuz I thought, "I don't need to read that. I watch her all the time." But, I did. I read it and I enjoyed it because it's exactly like the TV series. So, if you want a little bit of a read one night, just fun, that's good. The Jessica Fletcher books Murder, She Wrote books are fun.

[00:01:13]The next one I read is The Arcane Arts by S. D. Coverly. Coverly.

[00:01:22]And that is actually a pen name for it's co-authored by two people.

[00:01:29]Um Danish Worts and Dan Frey. I don't know why they don't publish under their own names, but anyways. So, The Arcane Arts by S. D. Coverly.

[00:01:40]>> [clears throat] >> I purchased this book because Diana Gabaldon recommended it. It's just off the press. In other words, it just got published. They're doing their book tour right now.

[00:01:51]And um anything that Diana Gabaldon Diana Gabaldon says, I believe.

[00:01:57]>> [laughter] >> So, >> [clears throat] >> I read through this.

[00:02:04]Uh, you know what? I didn't love it. It is about magic. And it is about a school of magic. Not like a Harry Potter school of magic, but sort of a graduate school of magic and learning the spells and then how a graduate student and her magic professor, Arcane, her Arts of the Arcane professor become involved. So, that relationship drives the book. It's interesting. It sometimes is, um, a little bit like a bodice ripper, so there's a lot of >> [laughter] >> very intimate crazy pants scenes, but it it's interesting and, uh, I I liked it.

[00:02:53]If you like that kind of thing. I didn't find any of the magic, um, stuff very interesting or even believable, but that's just me. So, and the last book that I want to tell you about I loved. One of my readers recommended it. I had already had it on my bed stand ready to read.

[00:03:12]And it is called The Correspondent by Virginia Evans.

[00:03:19]Oh boy, this is really a beautiful book.

[00:03:24]And it is an epistolary novel.

[00:03:27]>> [snorts] >> So, it is driven by letters. The letters that the main character writes throughout her life.

[00:03:36]And much is revealed about her life, her past, her present, um, through the letters. It's such an interesting interesting and clever device and she does it so well. There's always things I mean, you're always surprised by each letter. She has a very funny voice. The character has a very When I say funny, I mean laugh-out-loud.

[00:03:59]You kind of sort of laugh at her cuz she's just she's just funny and cute and but it has very a very deep meaning as well. Um and you know, it's about getting older and how you see your legacy and um how the events of your life play out as you age.

[00:04:25]So, I loved it. I said to my reader when she recommended it, I said, "I don't like to read sad books." And the first few pages I was worried that it was going to be really sad.

[00:04:37]And while uh that's not entirely untrue, it's not about It's It's not about the sorrow. The book is not about the sorrow. It's just about you know, a woman's life and how she has dealt with the um the ups and downs of her life and how she views it as she looks back.

[00:05:01]The thing The reason it's called The Correspondent is she really um she talks to the world. She talks to her her entire social circle through letters. Not emails. She doesn't prefer emails. Um through letters. So, this is sort of her life in letters. It's just It's lovely. So, enjoy.