6:100 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simpson

 Major Ernest Pettigrew grew-up in Edgecomb St. Mary's, had a military career, and then returned after he retired. He lives in the house he grew up in, having inherited it from his parents, married and raised his son there. He is that Englishman, concerned with doing everything properly as it has always been done, keeping up appearances, and concerned with honor and duty. With his wife dead and his son living in London, he putters around his house taking care of the upkeep and reading, golfing with friends, and going on the occasional hunt. Then his brother dies and his regular world is turned upside down when he starts up an unlikely friendship with the owner of a local shop, Mrs. Ali, who lost her husband several years ago as well. Through a common interest in books and the shared experience of both being widows, the friendship starts growing into something more. However, he being of the old-blood in the village and she being a foreigner no matter how long she has lived there makes this a relationship that no one deems appropriate. Everything says this relationship can't work but will they listen?

Read for book club and really enjoyed it although the Major gets pompous enough and stodgy enough that times I really wanted to reach in and shake him. Yes, it's understandable and totally realistic (I've known enough people like him in many ways) but still....LOL  It was a lovely story, moved well, good characters, and a satisfying ending. 

Page count: 379p/1,402p ytd/348,783p lifetime

39:100 Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Sally and Gillian Owens were orphaned at a young age and were sent to live with the aunts in a large house with few rules but teachings about plants and ancient lore.  The aunts were rumored to be witches and one night, a woman came to the backdoor and the girls, instead of going to their room as they were instructed, watched and learned that the rumors about their aunts were true.  Then they saw how the woman's deepest desire came true and the misery that came from it and they both determined that they would not get caught up in the mess.  Gillian ran away with a boy and went from boy to boy and from man to man, never able to settle down.  Sally found love, had two beautiful daughters, and then lost her love to the death beetle's curse. She broke down and moved away to live as normal a life as possible, far away from the aunts and everything they stood for.

And then Gillian came back and she was in trouble.  She had been living with a man who was evil in ways she was both attracted to and repelled by and now things had gone too far and he was dead and she was scared so she came to Sally to fix it.  But some things aren't so easily fixed and some times the dead don't rest so easily and that's when you need to call your aunts.

I really enjoyed the movie so when I found the book on Freecycle a few years ago, I grabbed it.  It's not quite what I was expecting as the feel is much darker than the movie and there were a lot of differences but it was enjoyable as it's own thing.


Page count: 244p/10,137p ytd/321,022 lifetime

77:120 Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger

Lady Preshea Villentia is a highly trained spy and assassin and also a widow 4 times over which has earned her the nickname "The Mourning Star".  She is now set up to live her life as she pleases, being no longer under any obligation to anyone but when Lord Akledama invites her to a secret meeting, she realizes she is bored and the task of keeping a Duke safe while under the guise of working for him to break up the relationship between his daughter and an unsuitable suitor seems like just the thing.  She wasn't counting on a Scottish soldier to truly enliven things for her.

Set in the world of Ms. Carriger's Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School series, Preshea is a character from the Finishing School who always said that she was more interested in murdering her husbands than cohabiting nicely with them.  It seems that what she really needed was someone who knew her worth and was content with any affection she choose to show him.  The courtship was sweet and the book a fun, fluffy read.


Page count: 150p/20,817p ytd/269,967p lifetime