Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Conner 334 pages

This is a quick and easy read, perfect for a hot summer's day.  One of the reviews said " If Janet Evanovich and Maeve Binchey wrote a book together... This would be the result."  This statement may be a bit of an exaggeration, but none the less, Siobhan O'Sullivan has her hands full.  Not only is she the guardian for her 5 brothers and sisters since their parents were tragically killed, but she runs the family bistro and is famous for her brown bread.  Then her brother, James is accused of murder!  She decides to find the real murderer while juggling all her other duties and trying to decide between the local Garda and the movie star handsome American.  Sound familiar?  1st in a new series and I will read have no problem reading the next one.  BTW...blogged while drinking a bicyclist @ Free State  Brewery in Lawrence.  Aw gawd, isn't retirement grand!?!

'Tis: a memoir by Frank McCourt 367 pages

This sequel to Angela's Ashes is a memoir from the time Frank McCourt came to New York until after his parents' deaths.  Frank had a rough time after he came to America.  His eyes had infection, his teeth were terrible, he was completely broke, and he was full of aspirations that had trouble being realized.  He has such a conversational and funny (albeit dry) way of telling his stories, I really enjoyed this book.  It was made all the more pleasurable because I listened to it read by the author.  He has a wonderful way of telling a story so you feel like you were there.  This was the first thing I ever read by Frank McCourt and I'm really glad I gave it a try.

"The Kitchen House" by Kathleen Grissom 368 pages

"The Kitchen House" is Kathleen Grissom's debut novel.  I just love debut novels!  Think Kathryn
Stockett and "The Help", Jamie Ford and"The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet",  Harper Lee and "To Kill a Mockingbird"...well that one may be a subject for another blog, but anyway, these are some great novels!

I do not think "The Kitchen House" will create quite the excitement as "The Help", but none the less it is an interesting look at a dark period in our nation's history.  Lavinia is a 7-year- old Irish lass who is coming to America with her family.  Both her parents die on the voyage across the sea.  Lavinia is then indentured to the owner of the ship.  She is assigned to assist Belle, a slave, in the kitchen house of the plantation and the illigitimate daughter of the master. Not surprisingly, Lavinia bonds with the slaves and comes to think of them as her family.  This poses quite a problem when she becomes of age, is no longer indentured and becomes a prominent player in plantation life.  I do not want to give away too much of the story, but you can understand her predicament...she grew up as a slave, being treated as a slave, although she was white, then, because she is white, she is seperated from her adopted family and becomes a part of southern society.  A really good read with discussion questions included in the back of the book.  A great one to recommend for book clubs.  I read this the first part of September and still can't get the story out of my head.