Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt

Shakespeare Project 2020

When I embarked on the Shakespeare Project last year I attempted to include all the Shakespeare in my library which entails the Hogarth adaptations (read all but 2) and 2 non-fiction books about the Bard; one of which is this renowned work by Stephen Greenblatt.

While I had started it, I unfortunately didn't finish it during the Project year of 2020. But I did return to it.

There is a lot of questions surrounding the biography of William Shakespeare, including his actual date of birth and his cause of death and much of his life in between including the authorship of many of his plays.

Through extensive research of past and present scholars, Greenblatt strips away some of the romanticism of Shakespeare and shows a more accurate picture of the flawed genius.

Aside from the life of arguably the most famous man, I was astounded and dismayed at England's history including religious persecutions, expulsion of Jewish citizens and plague outbreaks. The latter especially as we are currently enduring a global pandemic.

Quote: "But people had grasped, through bitter experience, that the isolation of plague victims slowed the spread of the disease - ... - and they grasped too that there was a relation between the progress of epidemics and large crowds. Authorities did not cancel church services, but when plague deaths began to rise, they looked askance at any other public assemblies, and when such deaths reached a certain number (above 30 a week in London), they shut the theaters down."

Black-Eyed Susans - Julia Heaberlin                                                                                         (New Author)

#2021monoplychallenge - Marvin Gardens - Yellow Cover

The 1st half seemed to move rather slowly but it did pick up for the 2nd half. 

It is told in 2 timelines. One timeline is the main character, Tessie, at the age of 16 where she talks to her therapist about the trauma she suffered.  She was kidnapped and thrown into a shallow grave with 2 dead girls. There were black-eyed susans growing around the grave.

The other timeline is present day and the man who was accused of the crime is soon to be put to death.  But some evidence has come to light that he may be innocent and Tessa has been finding black-eyed susans being planted around her place.  

Enjoyed the book but I am not sure if I liked the ending.  

Goodreads summary

As a sixteen-year-old, Tessa Cartwright was found in a Texas field, barely alive amid a scattering of bones, with only fragments of memory as to how she got there. Ever since, the press has pursued her as the lone surviving “Black-Eyed Susan,” the nickname given to the murder victims because of the yellow carpet of wildflowers that flourished above their shared grave. Tessa’s testimony about those tragic hours put a man on death row.
 
Now, almost two decades later, Tessa is an artist and single mother. In the desolate cold of February, she is shocked to discover a freshly planted patch of black-eyed susans—a summertime bloom—just outside her bedroom window. Terrified at the implications—that she sent the wrong man to prison and the real killer remains at large—Tessa turns to the lawyers working to exonerate the man awaiting execution. But the flowers alone are not proof enough, and the forensic investigation of the still-unidentified bones is progressing too slowly. An innocent life hangs in the balance. The legal team appeals to Tessa to undergo hypnosis to retrieve lost memories—and to share the drawings she produced as part of an experimental therapy shortly after her rescue.
 
What they don’t know is that Tessa and the scared, fragile girl she was have built a  fortress of secrets. As the clock ticks toward the execution, Tessa fears for her sanity, but even more for the safety of her teenaged daughter. Is a serial killer still roaming free, taunting Tessa with a trail of clues? She has no choice but to confront old ghosts and lingering nightmares to finally discover what really happened that night.

 

    Woman 99 - Greer Macallister
                   (HF)

#2021monopolychallenge - Chance (A favorite author)

I chose this book for this challenge because I really enjoyed Ms. Macallister's first book "A Magician's Lie".  I think if I had read "Woman 99"  first, I may not have chosen Ms. Macallister as a favorite author.   "Woman 99"  dragged at times and seem to have some repetitiveness.   Still it was a good story but not a favorite. 

 Interesting storyline about  women in insane asylums at a time when women were admitted into the asylums because of many reasons other than mental illnesses.   

Goodreads:  A vivid historical thriller about a young woman whose quest to free her sister from an infamous insane asylum risks her sanity, her safety and her life

Charlotte Smith's future is planned to the last detail, and so was her sister's - until Phoebe became a disruption. When their parents commit Phoebe to a notorious asylum, Charlotte knows there's more to the story than madness. Shedding her identity to become an anonymous inmate, "Woman Ninety-Nine," Charlotte uncovers dangerous secrets. Insanity isn't the only reason her fellow inmates were put away - and those in power will do anything to keep the truth, or Charlotte, from getting out.

 With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Monopoly Book Challenge - North Carolina Avenue - a book in which food plays an important role.

Newest Book on TBR

Okay, so it's not the newest book on my TBR but is newish enough to fit.

This was an easy read, short chapters and characters to adore; mouth watering descriptions of Puerto Rican and Spanish dishes, a little romance and commentary on stereotypes.

And discovering Seville, Spain.

Summary from Goodreads: With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain—and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life—and all the rules everyone expects her to play by—once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free

Quotes: "I wanted to give Babygirl a nice name. The kind of name that doesn't tell you too much before you meet her, the way mine does....as soon as they see my name on a resume or college application they think they know exactly what kind of girl they getting."

"The world is a turntable that never stops spinning, as humans we merely choose the tracks we want to sit out and the ones that inspire us to dance."

"You can't make too much space for a father like mine in your life. Because he'll elbow his way in and stretch the corners wide, and when he leaves all you have is the oversized empty - the gap in your heart where a parent should be."

 The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase

Monopoly Book Challenge - Marvin Gardens - a book with a garden or plants on the cover
Once Upon a Book Club - August 2020
New Author

This was an easy read with an alternating timeline and mystery that kept the reader's interest. Some, but not all of the mystery was predictable but still entertaining, with characters one becomes invested in.

One thing that stuck out to me was how much the author loves the color green! Besides the obvious forest descriptions, there were: gold & pea green engagement ring, eyes like wet green glass, greenish clay mask, jelly-green water, Stiletto heels green as a Granny Smith, a green nut in a shell, and a vintage pea-green Porsche.

Summary from Goodreads: Outside a remote manor house in an idyllic wood, a baby girl is found. The Harrington family takes her in and disbelief quickly turns to joy. They're grieving a terrible tragedy of their own and the beautiful baby fills them with hope, lighting up the house's dark, dusty corners. Desperate not to lose her to the authorities, they keep her secret, suspended in a blissful summer world where normal rules of behaviour - and the law - don't seem to apply. But within days a body will lie dead in the grounds. And their dreams of a perfect family will shatter like glass. Years later, the truth will need to be put back together again, piece by piece . . .

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghost. - Kate Racculia                                                                         (Newest on TBR)

This book has lots of quirky characters. Starting with Tuesday Mooney ( who in my opinion does not really talk to ghosts, one yes, plural ghosts, no) So for me the title was a little misleading.

Then we have the concept of a scavenger hunt, again a little misleading. Still, there is a bit of a mystery surrounding the quirky people we meet. Seemed to be more of a mystery around the man who set up the scavenger hunt.

I was somewhat disappointed in what I thought would be a fun read. It dragged a bit,  I lost interest in it but I did finish it. Maybe my expectations were too high. I can ruin a good book by expecting more out of it because of the write-ups.  

 Goodreads summary:  A dying billionaire sends one woman and a cast of dreamers and rivals on a citywide treasure hunt in this irresistible novel by the author of Bellweather Rhapsody.

Tuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston’s most eccentric billionaire, dies—leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe—Tuesday’s adventure finally begins.

Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew: a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir. The hunt tests their mettle, and with other teams from around the city also vying for the promised prize—a share of Pryce’s immense wealth—they must move quickly. Pryce’s clues can't be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts (some more vivid than others) and discover their most guarded desires and dreams

Sweet Little Lies – Caz Frear                                                                                           (Debut)

Meet Cat , a 26 year old detective with the London police.

18 years ago, a teenage girl, MaryAnne, disappeared and Cat was sure her father had something to do with MaryAnne’s disappearance. Now 8 years later, a young woman is found dead near her father’s bar.  Cat’s suspicions are brought back to the surface because the dead woman seems to have a possible link to the missing MaryAnne.

Was her father involved 8 years ago?? And is he involved now?? What is he hiding??  Cat is not sure she wants to find out.

The book kept my interest and the story line is different.  A good read.

Goodreads summary: In this gripping debut procedural, a young London policewoman must probe dark secrets buried deep in her own family's past to solve a murder and a long-ago disappearance.

Your father is a liar. But is he a killer?
Even liars tell the truth... sometimes.

Twenty-six-year-old Cat Kinsella overcame a troubled childhood to become a Detective Constable with the Metropolitan Police Force, but she's never been able to banish these ghosts. When she's called to the scene of a murder in Islington, not far from the pub her estranged father still runs, she discovers that Alice Lapaine, a young housewife who didn't get out much, has been found strangled.

Cat and her team immediately suspect Alice's husband, until she receives a mysterious phone call that links the victim to Maryanne Doyle, a teenage girl who went missing in Ireland eighteen years earlier. The call raises uneasy memories for Cat--her family met Maryanne while on holiday, right before she vanished. Though she was only a child, Cat knew that her charming but dissolute father wasn't telling the truth when he denied knowing anything about Maryanne or her disappearance. Did her father do something to the teenage girl all those years ago? Could he have harmed Alice now? And how can you trust a liar even if he might be telling the truth? 

 

 The Unquiet by John Connolly

Monopoly Book Challenge - Community Chest #2 - Your favorite genre
Series

After going more than a little paranormal in the last couple books in the series, Connolly came back to a more traditional murder mystery/suspense-thriller (don't worry there's still some supernatural stuff going on).

One of the things I like best about Connolly's writing is his descriptive writing: "...a large woman with a pile of big black hair balanced precariously on her head like dirty ice cream on a cone....she looked old, but age had not dimmed her affection for cosmetics or hair dye, even if it deprived her of some of the skills required to apply both without making the final effect look less like an act of vanity than an act of vandalism."

"She wet her lips, as though her system was trying to silence her by drying out her mouth."

As in prior novels, Connolly does detailed historical research. I learned some interesting Maine facts such as it being the homeplace of candlepin bowling

And the dark history of Maine's largest prison and its Special Management Unit which doles out questionable punishments.

Summary from Goodreads: Daniel Clay, a once-respected psychiatrist, has gone missing. His daughter insists that he killed himself after allegations surfaced that he had betrayed his patients to foul and evil men -- but when a killer obsessed with uncovering the truth behind his own daughter's disappearance comes seeking revenge, long-forgotten secrets begin to emerge. Hired by Dr. Clay's daughter to protect her from the predator on the loose, tortured and ingenious private detective Charlie Parker finds himself trapped between those who want the truth to be revealed and those who will go to any length to keep it hidden.

Quotes: "The law doesn't require truth, only the appearance of it. Most cases simply rest on a version of it that's acceptable to both sides. You want to know what the only truth is? Everybody lies."

Fleet Street Murders – Charles Finch

           (Guilty Pleasure)

#2012monopolychallenge – St. Charles Place – a character who is a member of royalty

Third in the Charles Lenox series.

Not really royalty but Charles Lenox comes from an aristocratic family. Both his father and older brother have seats in Parliament. So he is encouraged to run for a seat representing a small town north of London .

As it would happen, 2 men are murdered just at the time Charles has to leave London to do some campaigning for 2 weeks. The murders seems unrelated and Charles is constantly thinking about them and trying to gather information about them while away.

A little boring with the run for a seat in Parliament, even though it has it’s own little mystery surrounding it. But his problem solving of the double murder was intriguing as always.

Goodreads summary:

The third book in the Charles Lenox series finds the gentleman detective trying to balance a heated race for Parliament with the investigation of the mysterious simultaneous deaths of two veteran reporters. It’s Christmas, 1866, and amateur sleuth Charles Lenox, recently engaged to his best friend, Lady Jane Grey, is happily celebrating the holiday in his Mayfair townhouse. Across London, however, two journalists have just met with violent deaths--one shot, one throttled. Lenox soon involves himself in the strange case, which proves only more complicated as he digs deeper. However, he must leave it behind to go north to Stirrington, where he is fulfilling a lifelong dream: running for a Parliamentary seat. Once there, he gets a further shock when Lady Jane sends him a letter whose contents might threaten their nuptials. In London, the police apprehend two unlikely and unrelated murder suspects. From the start, Lenox has his doubts; the crimes, he is sure, are tied, but how? Racing back and forth between London and Stirrington, Lenox must negotiate the complexities of crime and politics, not to mention his imperiled engagement. As the case mounts, Lenox learns that the person behind the murders might be closer to him--and his beloved--than he knows

 

Shiver – Allie Reynolds 

         (Debut)

A psychological thriller set in the French Alps. Alternating chapters from present day to 10 years ago.

In present day, we have 5 people meeting up for a reunion of sorts. Strange things happen like all of their phones go missing, their laptops are gone. Are they there to find out what happened 10 years ago? Is someone else there with them or is it one of them. Who do you trust??

10 years ago, these 5 people meet for the first time at a snowboarding competition. What starts out as a friendly rivalry turns ugly. Things happen but not ever explained.

I enjoyed the mystery part of this book but the relationships seem immature at times. Overall, I would recommend this as a good thriller.

Goodreads summary:

In this propulsive locked-room thriller debut, a reunion weekend in the French Alps turns deadly when five friends discover that someone has deliberately stranded them at their remote mountaintop resort during a snowstorm.

When Milla accepts an off-season invitation to Le Rocher, a cozy ski resort in the French Alps, she's expecting an intimate weekend of catching up with four old friends. It might have been a decade since she saw them last, but she's never forgotten the bond they forged on this very mountain during a winter spent fiercely training for an elite snowboarding competition.

Yet no sooner do Milla and the others arrive for the reunion than they realize something is horribly wrong. The resort is deserted. The cable cars that delivered them to the mountaintop have stopped working. Their cell phones--missing. And inside the hotel, detailed instructions await them: an icebreaker game, designed to draw out their secrets. A game meant to remind them of Saskia, the enigmatic sixth member of their group, who vanished the morning of the competition years before and has long been presumed dead.

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea – T.J.Klune                                                                                (Newest on TBR)

What a lovely book. Linus is a caseworker for a company that provides homes for magical children. He is sent to an orphanage on an island to make sure that is run properly and that the children are taken care of.

He meets some very interesting characters. Oh, and what wonderful characters they turned out to be. I wanted to go there and meet them myself.

A story about hope, accepting others and learning to believe in yourself.

Goodreads summary:

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

.

A Burning Soul - John Connolly                                                                               (Series)

This is the 10^th in the series

This is a typical John Connolly with lots of characters who don’t seem to connect but as always, they are all brought together at the end.

Another good mystery thriller where a young teen-age girl goes missing, lots of twists and turns following the people who may or may not be involved in taking her. There were not as many spirit entities as Mr. Connolly sometimes has and the ending, well, I did not see it coming.

Goodreads summary:

There are some truths so terrible that they should not be spoken aloud. Here is one of those truths: after three hours, the abduction of a child is routinely treated as a homicide.

When a girl disappears from a small Maine town, her neighbor—a recluse named Randall Haight—starts receiving anonymous letters that contain tormenting references to a different teenage girl, murdered long ago. For many years, Randall has kept a secret: when he was fourteen, he was convicted of killing that girl. Now, his former life has returned to haunt him, and he hires private detective Charlie Parker to make it go away. But in a town built on blood and shadowed by old ghosts, where too many of the living are hiding secrets, the past cannot be dismissed so easily. As Parker unravels a twisted, violent history involving a doomed mobster and his enemies, the police, and the FBI, his search returns again and again to Randall Haight. Because Randall is still telling lies…