Books: Southern Sisters Murders

I forgot to say that I finished a book this weekend. It wasn't my Will in the World actually. Every time I go to visit my parents for a weekend or holiday, I read a different book or continue to read a book I had started last time I visited. So I was pleased to finish a very hilarious installment of the Southern Sisters Mystery Series by Anne George. If you have never heard of these books (not too many people have), you should give them a try. They are light, charming, funny mysteries that are a breeze and a pleasure to read. Anne George won an Agatha Christie Award for the series and is a Birmingham native.
The books all have funny, obvious titles such as Murder Runs in the Family, Murder Makes Waves, Murder Boogies with Elvis, and Murder on a Bad Hair Day. They revolve around two Birmingham sisters named Patricia Anne (or, Mouse) and Mary Alice (oft known as Sister) who are in their 60s and stumble upon murders and solve the mystery surrounding them. 
Like I said, they are light reading and really great for taking to the beach or any time you feel like a funny page-turner. Told in Patricia Anne's voice, allow yourself to bask in the sunny blend of manners and polite gossip that is uniquely Southern. And if you are at all familiar with Birmingham or other places in the South such as Fairhope, Destin, Chandler Mountain, Vulcan (with shining butt references), you will feel quite at home with the quirky characters. The quickly turning mystery plots and larger-than-life cast of characters make any of these books worth the read. Here's a convenient list for you of all the books in the series:

1. Murder on a Girls' Night Out
2. Murder on a Bad Hair Day
3. Murder Runs in the Family
4. Murder Makes Waves
5. Murder Gets a Life
6. Murder Shoots the Bull
7. Murder Carries the Torch
8. Murder Boogies with Elvis

Check 'em out and let me know what you think!

Life: Ok. Stuff I like.

• This blog is named after my cat, Cleo, who is perfect and beautiful in every way. Here is a picture:

She is a ten-year old Himalayen mix and my favorite thing ever. She's living at my apartment illegally right now. Technically. 

• And, if you couldn't guess, the blog is also named after my favorite drink and desire to own a coffee shop/bookstore one day. Today is also National Coffee Day, so it is very special that I created the blog today. I shall never forget. I think I make a great, strong cup of coffee and I own a espresso machine of which I recently replaced the frothing pitcher, so I can make lattes and cappuccinos like a beast. While I am an advocate of the independent coffee shop and hate paying for an expensive coffee that I can make at home myself, I do like Starbucks. I like it way too much and feel like a hypocrite all the time : / .  But such is life.

• I am a voracious reader. I love a lot of books, but I definitely have a bent towards Victorian Gothic and anything Jonathan Safran Foer and biography. My favorite book of all time is Jane Eyre. When I told my boyfriend that we should be Jane and Mr Rochester for Halloween this year, he declined and politely explained that he didn't think a lot of people would understand the reference, which is one of the prices I pay living in a small town in Alabama. I also loved Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Foer. I could seriously talk about books forever and I'll try and keep this brief for today. But, reader, you should get your hands on Karen Russell's St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves because it is fantastic and enchanting and grotesque in its own way; it's really lovely--a collection of "fairy tales" for adults. And a couple of them take place in Everglades-ish, Florida where the swamp culture bubbles into the literature. Immerse yourself! Of course, I love Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, who doesn't? I just finished reading the Bronte biography, The Bronte Myth, by Lucasta Miller and it was tremendous. Eye-opening and matter-of-fact, but entertaining as well in the voice of Miller. And now, I'm reading Will in the World which is a speculative biography of William Shakespeare. It's fun so far and interesting, but lacking in a bibliography, so I'm taking it with a grain of salt, obviously. I was very close to becoming an English Literature major with as much emphasis on Shakespeare as possible. And maybe I'll do that too. Eventually.

Other Things I LOVE:

• My boyfriend. Duh. We were best friends for over a year and a half and now we're together and it is wonderful and hilarious. He is a creative writing major and a great musician. I find it especially attractive when he plays the drums. He has wonderful grammar and enjoys fart jokes and lets me be a silly asshole whenever I want.
• Cats. If you like cats as well (to an "unhealthy degree") go here because it is adorable and accurate http://catversushuman.blogspot.com/
• Movies.
• Music. Duh. Will discuss further on new entry
• Decorating/Interior design. People are extremely reactive to light and color and texture and I am not exempt. No matter how broke I am, I can get creative and make a space my own. More on this later.
• House plants. haha.
• Crossword puzzles. Holy crap, I love crossword puzzles, you guys. I like to think it helps my vocabulary.
• Travel: have been to London, Paris, Seoul, Buenos Aires, Chicago, New York, Phoenix, Disney World (but not Harry Potter World because I was 5 and it wasn't built yet), random places in Texas. And I want to go back to all of those places and others besides (especially Harry Potter World)
• I like farm animals too. But not in any weird sexual way. This is me and a goat I found on the way to the beach:

-Becky