About the Blogger
* 36 years old
* married since 1992
* resident of San Francisco Bay Area since 1987
* 3 kids: 1996 girl; 1999 girl; 2005 boy
* homeschooler, attachment parent, breastfeeder, homebirther
Hobby #1: Reading. Of course – why else a blog about women of mystery? I read lots of mysteries, and lots of other books about things that are important to my life or that catch my eye.
Hobby #2: Singing. I am an alto (second alto to be specific) in a community chorus, where we learn and perform a variety of pieces covering many periods and cultures. I also sing in small ensembles with that chorus, auditioning to be part of the concert programs.
Hobby #3: Traveling. I love to travel with my family! We finally got a minivan this fall and it gives us the space to be comfortable on longer trips; in the three months since our purchase we’ve done two trips of more than 3000 miles on the road. And we’re already talking about where the next one will take us!
Alice Schlegel said,
March 14, 2008 at 11:49 pm
I love the mystery novels, set in Venice, by Donna Leon. Commissario Brunetti delves into the seamy side of this lovely city, his solace (and sometimes irritant) being his lively wife, an English instructor at the local university, and his two children. To keep up with my German, I like to read them in German translation, as they are so well written as to keep me going even when I have to resort to a dictionary as I read.
Speaking of novels set in Italy, Christobel Kent’s “A Party in San Niccolo,” set in Florence, really captures the setting very well. It also deals with a dark side of Italian life, the importation of prostitutes from Africa and other places. I saw much evidence of this on the road from Siena to Grosetto (described in the opening scene), where the women–many of them just girls–stand and wait for passing cars to stop. A well written novel, it is really worth a look.