The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

by CarolNo Comments
I've been doing The Science of Well-Being class on Coursera, and one of the books the professor, Laurie Santos, mentioned was The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubormirsky, so being the person that I am, I picked it up. According to Lyubomirsky, 50% of your happiness level is genetic, you can't change it. By nature, you have a set happiness point that may be higher or lower or right on track with the average. 10% of your happiness is based on life circumstances, like being married or divorced, rich or poor, healthy or ill. That leaves 40% that we can directly effect. She gives research to back up these numbers. The remainder of the book is about ways to improve that 40% of our happiness we have control over, activities we can do to become happier. There are several "quizzes" in the book to help you find your current happiness level, and find which happiness strategies will play to your strengths....
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A Grave Mistake by Ngaio Marsh

A Grave Mistake by Ngaio Marsh

by CarolNo Comments
I'm running out of Ngaio Marsh books. :( A Grave Mistake is one of the last of Marsh's books. It was written in the late 70s but set earlier than that I think and still has the Golden Age feel that most of her stories do. We have a small English village, a beautifully maintained Georgian house owned by Sybil Foster, a rather snobbish, but attractive middle-aged widow who has recently hired a talented gardener. She has a daughter who is engaged, much to Sybil's annoyance, to the son of a Greek millionaire instead of a man with a title. Sybil goes to a nearby hotel/spa for rest and maybe to secure the attentions of the doctor on staff. Of course, she ends up dead. At first, it's considered suicide, but evidence soon points to murder, which is why Alleyn is called in. Alleyn has Fox with him on this case, and I do enjoy the pair of them. They get...
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Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh

Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh

by CarolNo Comments
This is the second boat mystery I've read recently. This one is a river cruise that Alleyn's wife, Troy, has booked on a whim. David and I have talked before about doing a cruise on the Mississippi before and I started looking at options the other day, thinking that planning a vacation is always a good way to pass the time, especially when we're all stuck inside. Looks like we could do a 5 day round trip in from New Orleans for between $2000-$3000 per person. I requested a brochure. We could plan one around Amber's school schedule I think. But, of course, the river cruise in Clutch of Constables includes a murder. All along, Troy has felt that something odd is going on. Granted, the folks on the ship are an unusual lot, as any random group of people in murder mysteries is, but even at that, she keeps getting strange feelings. I like Troy. She's a well-known painter, smart,...
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The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker

The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker

by Carol1 Comment
I picked up The Dark Vineyard not long after finishing the first in the Bruno, Chief of Police series. The town of Saint-Denis and the people are just so wonderful, and I'm glad this second in the series was just as good as the first. This time around, Bruno is investigating an arson at a GMO-research facility, a fire that destroyed crops and burned a shed to the ground. At the same time, an American is in town thinking about developing a large wine tourism center in the district. While it would bring jobs, Bruno is worried that it would also change his town. But the Mayor seems to be behind the scheme. Then the two bodies are found, and it becomes (maybe) a case of murder. And who wants to invest in a town where arsons and murders occur? The mystery itself was well-done. We follow Bruno as he talks to people and finds the clues that eventually lead to the...
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The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

by Carol10 Comments
Generally, I don't read emotionally heavy books, and I don't know if I would have picked up The Radium Girls if I had known that it would have me in tears on almost every page. That being said, it was an excellent book, one I would definitely recommend. At the beginning of the 20th century, dozens of healthy, young, working-class women (some as young as 14) were employed in a newly-born business: painting watch, clock, and other instrument dials with a luminescent paint containing radium, both for consumers and the military. At the time, this fluorescent wonder was believed so beneficial for the body, that medications, aesthetic treatments, and even toiletry items had started to employ it. Everyone who came in contact with this miracle of science was amazed by its property to make everything it touched glow, even the skin, teeth and clothes of the girls who worked with it. Painting with radium was a highly desired job, as it offered...
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Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham

Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham

by CarolNo Comments
I do have a fondness for mysteries involving art. In Death of a Ghost, a young artist is killed at the showing of a painting, not his painting, one of his mentor's, Lafcadio. Lafcadio, before he died, left instructions to have one of his paintings that he had boxed up shown each year beginning several years after his death, and his wishes have been faithfully carried out by his widow- quite a strong woman by the way, the kind of woman who takes everything life throws at her, straightens her shoulders, and carries on. Campion, luckily, was at the party/showing, so even though he didn't actually witness the murder, as a friend of the family he takes an interest in the mystery. There is a lot of art talk in this one, which I find fascinating. I even took a picture of at least one page and sent it to Amber, since the description of the area where the paint was...
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