Enjoy A Week in Winter

A Week in Winter

By Maeve Binchy

This is a week in winter that is years in the making.  A group of strangers converge on the opening of a charming, rebuilt, historic Bed and Breakfast on the west coast of Ireland for a week’s vacation.  Each guest carries their own baggage in hand and in heart.  They blend together, coming from all over and from all ages, for a moment in time.  They share a joyful opportunity to pause, and to reflect on their life trajectories, each pondering whether they are on the path they really desire.  Change is in the air.

The author artfully weaves the individual stories for each of the characters, and then tells how those stories intersect during this magical week.  The book begins with the tale of Chicky Starr, and what takes her away from Ireland to New York.  Then you’ll learn what drives Chicky to restore an old, decaying mansion back in her home town in Ireland.  The ripples of Chicky’s decision lead to the restoration of other peoples’ lives, especially friends and staff at her B and B.  That is when we are treated to the stories of each of the other characters.  This wintry tale about people taking the time to care, and to seek joy, is blanketed by the vivid personality of rugged Ireland with its customs, traditions, and music.

Maeve Binchy was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker.  A Week in Winter was her final novel, published posthumously in 2012.  Her love for small town Ireland came naturally from her own life experience.  Her childhood home was 10 miles from Dublin, where she grew up with sisters and brothers and parents who loved their children.  She described her parents as people who “thought all their geese were swans. It was a gift greater than beauty or riches, the feeling that you were as fine as anyone else.”  After extensive travelling, she married a writer and moved into a house in a little town in Ireland called Dalkey, just a few hundred yards from her childhood home.  She wrote many heartwarming books and short stories, and said about her life’s work, “I'd like people to think I was a good friend and a reasonable story-teller and to know that thanks to all the great people, family and friends that I met, I was very, very happy when I was here.”

Thereby hangs a tale. . . .

 

Agent ZigZag

Agent ZigZag

A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love and Betrayal

By Ben MacIntyre

Do you like spy thrillers?  Well, this one is the real thing.  This is the true accounting of the self-serving, but also heroic adventures of Eddie Chapman as a double agent during World War II.  He was a British citizen, with an interesting personal history.  Despite his checkered past, he volunteered for the British spy service.  With his criminal record, his offer was not taken up by MI5 at that time.  Then he turned traitor, volunteering to spy for the Nazi’s to save himself.  But then he turned again and ended up as a double agent for the British.  Chapman would say that it was always his intent to work for the British and that may be, or he may have seized an opportunity that came his way as he did so often in his life.  His story, and reading about his adventures is enthralling.

You’ll learn a lot about the people and the workings of the Nazi secret service.  Chapman was one of the first initiates in the Nazi’s ambitions to turn allies’ citizens into their own spies.  You’ll read about Chapman’s training, and about secrets he discovered for the British during his private training by the Nazi’s in France.  When Chapman was deemed ready and fully tested regarding his loyalties, he was dangerously parachuted back to Britain on a mission for the Nazi’s.

Then you get to read about Chapman immediately turning himself over to service as a double agent for MI5, Britain’s secret service, who gave him the code name ZigZag.  You’ll get to meet the people he worked with there, including the man that Ian Fleming modeled “Q” after in the James Bond books.  The book details how Chapman and his MI5 handlers dangerously but successfully fooled the Nazi’s. 

Chapman is a charming and likable personality, with a very checkered and criminal personal life before becoming a double agent spy.  He loves deeply and often, and you’ll read all about the fascinating and brave women who are attracted to him, and one who spies with him.

Ben MacIntyre is a British author, historian, and columnist for The Times newspaper.  He has fully researched this topic, including exhaustive numbers of confidential files finally released by the British government in 2002, and also videotaped recollections by Chapman himself before he died in 1997, and interviews with the surrounding characters in Chapman’s life from several countries.

This book is a most enjoyable way to understand the inside story of a very important time in history.  The author treats the facts objectively, but at the same time tells the story in an engaging way that exposes the humanity behind the treachery, the heroics, and the ambitions.

Thereby hangs a tale . . .

In Pursuit of the Bard's Undiscovered Play

The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber

What if your day at work has turned into your worst nightmare, and out of the ashes of that terrible day you discover you’ve found a clue to the location of an unknown play by Shakespeare?  Is this your silver lining?  What would a Shakespeare scholar do to find an entire play in the Bard's hand? Whom would a criminal mastermind kill to steal it?  Can the unwitting hero find the manuscript first?  And will he capture the heart of the mysterious girl bookbinder in the process?

The Book of Air and Shadows is a thriller about chasing down the clues to fame, and fortune, and an unknown Shakespeare play.  You’ll delve into the science of studying 16^th century printing, ink, and history.  You’ll also learn about the publishing industry.  It all starts when mysterious letters are found embedded in the covers of a rare book set.  This is not a fast paced read.  Instead it is a methodical tracking and testing to validate and de-cipher clues.  Whether the clues are proven or fraud, the criminal mob has heard of the find, believes it, and is hot on the heels of the others.  And of course, the Intellectual Property Lawyer is right in the middle of the chase and looking to gain his piece of this action.  It builds into a wild story of double-crossings, de-coded ciphers, forgeries, kidnappings and murder.

What starts as a thrilling puzzle to solve, slowly turns into such a dangerous riddle no one including family, friends, and lovers are trustworthy.  While you are learning about the present day treasure hunters, in parallel the author tells the story of characters in 17^th century England.  These characters, including Shakespeare, are driven by mystery and danger to take specific actions with Shakespeare’s final handwritten play.  The author tells a vivid story of William Shakespeare’s life.

Michael Gruber now lives and writes in Seattle.  He has a PhD from Columbia University, and during his career he was a policy advisor for the Jimmy Carter White House, and also a bureaucrat for the EPA.  In an interview about this book, Michael Gruber said, “So why Shakespeare? Because I feel he's the essence of mystery. Because in the modern history of the world there's no literary figure of remotely comparable magnitude for whom we have less biographical information: the greatest single figure writing in our language, and he's smoke. Because he flourished in a world without copyright laws his mystery continues.”  According to the author, he was inspired to write this novel, “during a conference with an intellectual property lawyer on a particular afternoon in November of 2003.  When I say born, I mean nearly the whole plot popped into my head.”

And thereby hangs a tale . . . .



 

The Wild Nearby

Do you love wilderness, literature, and photography? Then you’ll enjoy the latest book from Braided River, The North Cascades: Finding Beauty and Renewal in the Wild Nearby. The 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act provides us with a reason to look back and ahead.

Join us for the book's launch party at the Mountaineers Program Center on October 10 to celebrate what’s been preserved in the North Cascades and to hear Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Dietrich’s take on where stewardship needs to go next.

Event Details

WHAT: Book launch of The North Cascades: Finding Beauty and Renewal in the Wild NearbyWHEN: Friday, October 10, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

WHERE: Seattle Mountaineers Program Center, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA‎ 98115

WHO: Hosted by The Mountaineers and supported by NPCA

TICKETS: You can purchase your tickets here.

OTHER INFO: Free parking is available at The Mountaineers Program Center. Or, take bus 75 which drops you off directly in front of the Program Center. Additional launch parties will be held later in North Cascades National Park, Everett, Twisp, and Bellingham.

Camping at Colonial Creek? Backpacking in the Sawtooths? Out for a stroll in Stehekin? Share your photos with the hashtag #wildnearby and they’ll be displayed at the book launch party.

We hope you will join us,Sincerely,



David G. Graves
Northwest Program Manager

P.S.: Check out the Northwest Regional Office's most recent field report here (PDF, 371 KB).

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
On her Majesty's Supernatural Secret Service

This is a novel about adventures on her Majesty’s supernatural secret service, and the author telling the tale has an imagination with no limits.  Anything and everything goes as these agents come up against unpredictable, supernatural foes and forces all requiring action in order to protect the blissfully ignorant public.  Fortunately these agents are armed not just with their wits and common weaponry; they have their own diverse supernatural abilities.

“Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be mine. . .”  At the beginning of the book, this mysterious letter is read by a young woman who inhabits the body of an agent who was working for good.  Myfanwy Thomas is her Welsh name (pronounced like Tiffany).  The new Myfanwy comes conscious in the agent’s body for the first time in a London park, surrounded by dead bodies that are all wearing latex gloves.  What’s a girl to do?  She follows the limited guidance contained in the ominous letter.  This is the beginning of a fast paced action novel.  Circumstances force the new Myfanwy to learn how to take on and succeed in her responsibilities as a Rook, which is a high-level operative in the secret British government agency that protects the world.

There is a lot to learn from a series of well hidden letters and other clues from the former Myfanwy, which were intentionally left hidden for her successor.  The new Myfanwy has no memory at all of what has happened before the moment in the London park.  The letters are a help to her, and to the reader throughout the book, as you both try to understand this new world and how to survive.  You both learn so much too about the former Myfanwy as the letters go on, and how the new Myfanwy is different too.  Reading the letter clues at the same time as the heroine, you’ll feel directly a part of the action. 

But time is of the essence when dangers are all around, including covert dangers within the agency itself.  Myfanwy must stop her unknown enemy before being destroyed herself.  She can’t just spend her time reading letters, she has to think and act for herself.  She also has to learn how to control and use her own interesting, supernatural powers.  There’s a lot to take on while handling her day to day job activities.  This book is suspenseful, mysterious, funny, and action packed.

The author has a master’s degree in medieval history and in his other life he works for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau writing press releases for government investigations of plane crashes and runaway boats.  In this debut work he has created a complex, unique, logical, imaginative and entertaining paranormal fantasy where you have license to let your own imagination run wild.

Thereby hangs a tale . . . .

Storms of Denali - Hanging On Every Word

The Storms of Denali, by Nicholas O’Connell

Reading this book, I found myself continually re-checking whether it’s a novel, or a factual account. These characters are so touching they ascend from the page and bivouac in my heart and soul as real people. The harrowing description of their expedition is so believable, it‘s gripping.

John Walker narrates the story and expedition. He’s a family man who is dissatisfied with what he views is a sedate life as an outdoor equipment store manager, husband and father. He contrasts this to his previously active, mountain-climbing, single life. He’s nursing the wound of turning back before making the summit at Denali last time. Wyn Mitchell is John’s long-time friend, former climbing partner, and a world-class climber who boasts a risky climbing style. Wyn is the expedition leader. He’s driven to make his own personal big splash with this Denali climb in order to attract backers for his desire to attempt Everest next.

John’s wife sets conditions on his undertaking this long and potentially fatal trip. One condition is that John and his partner share the climb with two others, and that one of them has medical skills. That brings into the story Al McKenzie, a Boeing engineer who hopes this climb will help him forge an individual victory that will carry him past his divorce and beyond his corporate work life. Lane Frederickson also signs on. He is a fireman, medic and novice climber who desperately wants to establish himself as a serious climber. The author gives full and vivid treatment to each of these characters – their strengths, weaknesses and how their combination is a volatile mix that precipitates a disaster.

The prominent character towering from the page is the deadly Denali, the great one. Not enough to climb Denali, Wyn wants to make his splash with a new route to the top. Denali will have the final say about that. This is an authentic tale of man’s struggle in nature, and man’s struggle with human nature. The author, Nicholas O’Connell, is a mountain climber. One of the mountains he’s climbed is Denali. His experiences and talented writing bring such realism to this story.

You don’t have to be a mountain climber to appreciate this daring fight for survival on the highest and coldest mountain in North America. I’m a casual hiker, and I was enthralled with every page of this adventure. The pristine descriptions transported me to this foreign destination. The magnificent setting is both alluring and frightening. I recommend that you begin your own expedition into “The Storms of Denali” and experience it for yourself.

Thereby hangs a tale . . . .

One Lump or Two With Your Murder?

This author serves up a savory blend of herbal teas, pastries, and murder.  This novel is just one in a series of “cozy” mysteries that revolve around Theodosia Browning who owns Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston, South Carolina.  I’m such a fan of the series, I’ve read them all.  I’ve read some of them more than once.  Chamomile Mourning is early in the series, and one of my favorites.

Laura Childs gives delightful Charleston the feeling of a small town, and the characters surrounding Theodosia are so intriguing.  This book begins at a catered tea party at the Heritage Society’s annual Poetry event.  But murder becomes a dramatic verse of its own.  The victim is one of the Heritage Society’s own, prominent members.  When clues lead the local police to accuse one of Theodosia’s friends, she is motivated to prove them wrong.  But maybe Theodosia is wrong?

The clues will lead the reader toward several potential murderers and motives.  You’ll enjoy the chase, and during more relaxed moments you’ll also enjoy the detailed descriptions of Charleston.  The author really engages you in the challenges and appeal of running a small business too.  Several of Theodosia’s friends are small business people in the city, and she is so proud of her tea shop.  You’ll get an enjoyable glimpse into the varieties, history and social niceties of teas.  Haley and Drayton, who both work at the tea shop, are each artists at work.  Haley is the baker and Drayton is the tea mixologist.  They help Theodosia in many ways.  And there is an extra treat in the book!  You’re treated to recipes that are supposedly from Haley for pastries and from Drayton for teas.  Do yourself a favor and try these.  The ones I’ve tried have been delicious.

Laura Childs was a writer/producer at several national ad agencies, before forming her own company, Mission Critical Marketing.  She wrote four screenplays, got one read by Paramount, but never actually sold one.  She then thought to try writing mysteries. How fortunate for fans like me!  She really enjoyed the writing, and was so happy when she sold her first couple of books.   A prolific writer, she now has two other entertaining series in addition to the tea shop mysteries.  They are the Scrapbook Mysteries and Cackleberry Club Mysteries, and she’s not done yet.

 

Put your feet up with a cup of tea, or a glass of ice tea now that its summer, and enjoy an entertaining flight of murderous fancy, mull over your clues, and then chase down your suspect.