1. What are you currently reading? The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. After a run of biographies and mysteries, it was time to sweeten my reading diet with some chick-lit. I've read, and laughed at, all the Shopaholic books, so I know Sophie Kinsella is a solid practitioner of the craft.
This one is a standalone, and the premise is promising. A workaholic lawyer suddenly loses her job and, through a series of misunderstandings, finds herself hired as a housekeeper in a big, beautiful house on the English countryside. She doesn't know how to (as explained on the book cover) work the over, sew on a button, or even get the effing iron board to open. "Will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does, will she want it back?"
I'm only about 50 pages in, but so far, so good.
2. What did you recently finish reading? Death on Deadline (Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe) by Robert Goldsborough. An unscrupulous media titan (obviously based on Fox News' Rupert Murdoch) sets his sights on a venerable, family-owned New York paper. The widowed matriarch has to deal with the fact that her own relatives are willing to sell out the newspaper her late husband founded. She commits suicide ... or did she? Wolfe refuses to believe she'd take her own life and he takes on the case. Even though the police and the family insist there is no case.
I figured out the killer before Wolfe did! Ha! Don't go thinking I'm brilliant. The author painted the villain with a rather heavy, dark brush. The mystery itself was the weakest part of this story, anyway. I enjoyed it -- immensely -- because Goldsborough (who picked up the series after Rex Stout died) got so many of the little details right. As I came upon these familiar moments (Archie cracking wise, even as he drinks milk; Wolfe's ridiculously rigid schedule; Fritz' meals, etc.), I realized the little details have a major impact on my involvement. Every few pages I felt like saying, "Oh, hello, old friends! I've missed you!"
3. What will you read next? Michelle Obama's autobiography. Unless I change my mind.
I haven't heard of the Nero Wolfe series, but Death on Deadline sounds interesting! I'm usually pretty good at figuring out plot twists and things, so I'm used to working out things before the characters, unfortunately. xD Sounds like a really good read, though. And Michelle Obama's autobiography is supposed to be really good! Happy reading.
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