WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Margin of Error by Edna Buchanan. Miami in the 1990s was hot, and not just by National Weather Service standards. For a time, Hollywood came calling and it was a popular location for films and made-for-TV movies. That's how glamorous actor Lance Westfall plausibly can be in the life of hardworking Miami reporter Britt Montero. Her newspaper has assigned her to him as he researches his role for an action movie. He's going to get an eyeful, because Britt works hard and is dogged in getting the story, no matter how ugly or how dangerous the story is. The last big story was awful in every way, and at the beginning of this book, she's still haunted by it.

 

This is a series and I like the recurring characters, but be warned: these books are not remotely "cozy." Edna Buchanan was a Miami crime reporter in real life and she is unsparing in what she shares. But the violence is believably, frighteningly rooted in real life. (That's the complaint I've had with Rosenfelt and the Andy Carpenter books. Most crimes are do not involve in international intrigue. The stories Britt covers and uncovers feel real.)

 

2. What did you recently finish reading? Touched by the Sun by Carly Simon. Carly Simon was galpals with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for the last decade of Jackie's life. This is the story of that relationship, and the ongoing impact it had on Carly's life.

 

The first time I read this book it was for Jackie and yes, she continues to fascinate. This time through I concentrated on Carly. At one point she was dealing with the death of her mother and Jackie's last illness. I wanted to revisit Carly's attitudes and observations because now, at age 83, she is simultaneously battling Parkinson's and skin cancer. 

 

The Carly on these pages is fragile, complicated and indulgent. I liked her, related to her, yet was frequently annoyed by her. Maybe the things that annoyed me are the same things I see in myself. It's an involving memoir. A slim book, I may reread it again in the future, and maybe I'll get something different from it.

3. What will you read next? Zelda Fitzgerald: Her Voice in Paradise by Sally Cline.

 

  

 

August Happiness Challenge – Day 18

 

My 2026 Happiness Icon

Today's Happiness: Two in a row! Frankly, I don't usually care about the Crosstown Classic one way or the other. The Cubs and the Sox play in different leagues and usually there's a tremendous disparity in the quality of their play. Not this year. The first place White Sox are 65-60 and my Cubs are 74-53, but in second place in a stronger division. 
 
My guys have won two in a row, and they have been great games! Extra inning nail biters. Both teams are going to make the playoffs and while I don't see a Crosstown World Series in our future – not even Pope Leo's influence is going to get the Southsiders past the Yankees or the Rays – both teams are playing really good ball. I'm happy for the Sox players. They seem like nice kids (they are the youngest team in the MLB) and it's not their fault their fans are ... well ... Sox fans.

Happy August Happiness Challenge!

 

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.