Book Chat Issue #75
Good brown bread and a cozy mystery
Hello reading friends!
If you love reading but sometimes find it hard to find just the right book, then you’ve come to the right place. Book Chat comes out every two weeks and contains great reading recommendations and simple recipes.
What I’ve been reading
I was starting to feel like I was the only person in the world who hadn’t read any of the Thursday Murder Club books, but I’m sure that’s not true. Just this morning my daughter said she was listening to the audio version of The Last Devil to Die, but I haven’t had a chance to compare notes with her yet. I picked my copy at the library just before Christmas, thinking it would be a perfect holiday read, but I only got around to reading it at the end of January.
The series (written by Richard Osman), is based around a group of people who live in a retirement village and who go around solving murders, much to the annoyance of the local police. Even though the books don’t need to be read in order, I was worried I might find it difficult starting with book four, and to be perfectly honest, I was a bit confused about who everyone was for the first few chapters. Once I figured this out it was all plain sailing and I enjoyed the story.
The book is mostly a lighthearted cozy mystery, but it does tackle some hard issues with delicacy and care. I was surprised at this, and impressed that Osman presented a range of perspectives. He was very even-handed, which was probably a good commercial decision as well.
Some reviewers have described the book as heart-breaking, and I think I would have found it equally so, had I started with book one and gotten to know all the characters really well. As it was, I felt like the characters were distant relatives and not my favourite aunt and uncle, so while I felt sad for them, I didn’t need any tissues. If you are planning to read this series, I would start at the beginning as I think this would give you a better reading experience and you’d really love all the characters by book four.
Have you read any of The Murder Club books? Are you a fan?
What I’ve been cooking
The weather has been very hot and humid here (not good for baking), but one day it was blessedly cool and rainy, so I randomly decided to make a loaf of bread. We are lucky enough to have a bread machine, so I was delighted when I found this recipe for Nova Scotia brown bread. I didn’t have any molasses in my pantry, so I used treacle and it turned out wonderfully.
Molasses Brown Bread - bread maker recipe from Halifax Bloggers
1½ cups water
2 tablespoons butter (I used low-cholesterol spread)
2 tsp salt
½ cup molasses (I used treacle)
1 cup rolled oats
3 cups plain (all purpose) flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
3 tsp instant yeast (one packet)
Instructions
Add the ingredients to the bread machine in the order they are listed, except for the yeast. Do not mix together.
Make a well in the flour and add the yeast. It should be separate from the water.
Set machine to 2 pound loaf and darkness to medium. It will take about 3½ hours to mix, prove, and cook.
Remove from bread maker when done. Leave in pan 5 mins before removing from tin. Leave to cool slightly before slicing. Serve with butter.
Don’t have a bread machine? Here’s are some instructions to make it by hand. The recipes are very similar, but this one has more molasses. Not sure why!
Looking for more book recommendations?
If the answer is no, you’re probably in the wrong place, so I’ll just assume that like me, you never tire of finding out what other people are reading and recommending.
I subscribe to lots of bookish newsletters and quite honestly, they’re all fabulous, but if I listed them all here you would be so overwhelmed you might never recover, so here are just a couple of my favourites to start you off:
Elizabeth recommends excellent books across a wide range of genres, including non-fiction. Anna is a Welsh-born journalist who lives in London. She recommends both buzzy new books and older gems you might have missed.
Book Club
New around here? You’ll be excited to learn we have an International Online Book Club. It’s free to join, no registration necessary, and you can come to meetings when it suits you. If you’re interested, let me know (just hit reply) and I’ll send you an invitation to the next meeting. I’m not quite sure of the date yet, but it will probably be some time in April.
Some of the books we have read so far include:
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Storied Life of A J Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Look out for the title of the next book in Issue #76!!
Well friends, that’s all for this issue.
Keep well and happy reading,
Marg xx
Marg, I have only read the first novel of the series and need to check out the next one from the library.
It must be bread season of some sort because I just made Lemon Tea bread from my neighbor's lemon tree. Yum! Thx again for your great updates!
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I do enjoy murder mysteries, but I’ve never heard of The Thursday Murder Club. Now I’m intrigued and will take your advice and start with book one.
I’ve just finished listening to Ariel Lawhon’s A Frozen River, which includes a murder but is a historical novel rather than a mystery. I liked it a lot!
The bread you made sounds and looks scrumptious!