Hi Rachel, yeah you’ll likely get to Yamashita’s new novel sooner than I will, so I’ll look to see what you think about it first. I’m sort of glad it follows the female cop from the first one. The setting was excellent!
Maestro was pretty decent – a complex character story – I think Cooper got flak for the fake nose b/c people didn’t want him stereotyping Jewish noses or something. But it seems he did well looking like the real-life composer.
Cheers! & Happy 2024.

Hi Tracy, good points on these. I guess I struggle too rating books. Most books I read I think are between 3.5 to 4 stars on GR — I like them even quite a bit liking them — but then ones that rise above that I’m sort of blown away by or I’m really taken by them and love them. I realize: it’s probably unfair to rate books on a numeric scale. I’ve never given below a 3 on GR b/c I feel for the author’s toil.
I’m glad you reminded me of Yamashita’s book. I got it after I saw your review. And the setting is great & the character detective. It’s an enjoyable page-turner.
The divorce memoir — whoa that’s a painful split for the author. She explores it thoroughly. And I felt for her.
I think our real winter is starting in the next week or two: cold temps & snow are on the way! I will take some pics. Happy 2024 to you.

I am glad to see you liked City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita. It was different than I expected but a very good debut by this author. How do you come up with your rating? I don’t really like rating books and struggle with it when adding a book to Goodreads.

Your thoughts on the other book you read were interesting. Reading about a divorce after a long marriage could be interesting. I have experienced divorce with some similarities except it was decades ago after a much shorter marriage. It was still painful.

Thanks LF: All is well here. And I hope with you as well. City Under One Roof is a quick page-turner and has quite the visual setting. I thought it had enough propelling it. I’ll likely get her new one in February. Happy 2024 to you too.

Thanks Jinjer. The dogs are our laugh-and-life lines. The young dog is sweet and the other, our old girl is bossy and runs the house & her meals. Lol. Labs?!
Did you see my Movie Season post down below? I’ve been trying to see some of those on that list. Though I just saw the movie Napoleon and it was good too.
Wishing you a Happy New Year. I’ll stop by your site soon to see what’s up. Cheers.

Hi Nicky, thanks for stopping by. You’re right it was great to get away for a change even if I couldn’t ski. I’ve been cooped up at home after the knee surgery so the first road trip was fun. I will check out your site. thanks.

Ha Constance, reading indoors is always a good choice. I am holding off on activities till after I finish my upcoming PT class of six plus weeks.
Your nephew is right — it’s incredibly expensive living in the ski town and in Canada in general. I hope it will snow a lot soon and he will find it a good time in Banff & worthwhile. That’s just about 2.5 hours from us here.
The Bernstein movie is a personal look at his infidelities & marriage … so just to warn those who don’t care for that. He seemed a complex person. There are a couple interesting music scenes. See what you think. & Happy New Year!

I love the pictures of the dogs in the snow and with Santa. I got to meet labs in person once…a former co-worker always had two at a time, and always with movie-related names…and they are just the sweetest, goofiest dogs.

Happy New Year!