May is Reading for The Mom Month

The Mom’s birthday was always within days after Mother’s Day (in the US).  There was a time when I would get her a nice Mother’s Day present, a nice birthday present and then a goofy little present for every day in between. 

I think last year, I was still in shock in May.  She’d only passed away 2 months before and it was still unbelievable to me that she was gone.  I’d found the surrogate grave in the local cemetery (Lessons in Grief, Part 2), so I had that comfort of being able to have a special place to visit.  This year, I’ve been avoiding Mother’s Day reminders because they were making me verklempt when I’d see cards in Target or the inevitable Mother’s Day sales on TV.  I get a double whammy, too, because her birthday is always so close.

The Mom had seen me grieve my grandparents and feared that I would have a hard time with her passing.  As much as I say about grief, that we have to go through what we have to go through, I try not to wallow in my grief for her.  She’d be mad as hell if I did!  I believe she’s still with me and watching over me, so that helps.

Trying to put a positive spin on this difficult month (made worse by the passing of one of our beloved cats), I decided to dedicate May to reading things that she loved.  It makes perfect sense because she passed down her love of reading to me, so what could be more fitting?  And she was the one who told me about these two series:

I’m reading Abandoned in Death, the 54^th Eve Dallas mystery by J.D. Robb, with #55, Desperation in Death, on deck.  She told me about these in the late ‘90’s and sent me a huge box of them about 15 years ago, when she was downsizing.  Eve Dallas is a detective with the New York Police and Security Department in the late 2050’s when the series begins.  Her backstory is brutal but makes her a very good cop.  A loner, she gradually surrounds herself with people who matter to her, a feat that still surprises her.  And all while solving high profile crimes.  You’ll love the characters she’s let into her life, especially Roarke, her Irish billionaire man, and her pink cowboy boot-clad partner, Peabody.  Her best friend, Mavis, has a little girl named Bella.  Every time she fractures Eve’s last name and says “Dass”, I always think of The Mom because she thought that was the cutest thing ever.

I just read A Beautiful Place to Die, the first Martha’s Vineyard mystery, by Philip R. Craig, and already I’m hooked on ex-cop J.W. Jackson and nurse/love interest Zee Madieras.  The Mom really loved these but when I told her the library didn’t have them and this first one, in paperback, was over $10, she was incredulous and told me that was too expensive and absolutely not to buy it, LOL.  In April, I bought a couple of forensics books by PD Lyle from Abebooks and checked their stock of A Beautiful Place to Die, just for the hell of it.  Yup, still expensive but I got it anyway.  Just like she figured, I loved it!  Craig passed away in 2007, after 19 MV books.  Some of them are hard to find and, yup, more expensive than current books-scarcity will do that.  BUT!  I found a seller on Ebay that had them for reasonable prices ($4-$6 each), so I got the next 11 books, plus the last 3 books, since those, in particular, were wicked expensive.  I’ll keep an eye out for the remaining 4 at thrift stores and get them by the time I reach book 12. 

When I finish Abandoned, I’ll start on the Martha’s Vineyard books.  They’re fast reads and I’ll most definitely still be reading them into June.  And every time I pick one up, I’ll be thinking of The Mom and wishing she was still here to talk about these characters and stories that were so dear to her heart.

PS-The Mom might have tsk-tsked my bookmark, but she would have loved it, too!

Current Reads and Watches

What I’m reading now (paper): See Above

What I’m reading now (Kindle): Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne

What I’m binge watching: Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields and The Rookie, both on Hulu  Sister Boniface on Britbox