Reader's Corner - February 2013 Update

"Patrick Stewart should play the Major."

I'm starting to get slammed at work with planning summer reading and other programming, so I haven't been able to read as much as I'd like.

I am almost done with Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, Book 2 in The Lunar Chronicles. It's been a lot of fun so far and a review will be forthcoming.

In audiobooks, I took a break from YA books last month. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson has been on my TBR pile for awhile, so I decided to listen to it instead.

What a charming story! It hits every Anglophile button for me. There's wit and social satire and quaint village life and romance. In this case, the romance is between sixty-something Major Pettigrew and his Pakistani neighbor, Mrs. Ali, who runs the village shop. Both are widowed and what starts out as a friendship turns into something more.

Of course there are obstacles, most notably Mrs. Ali's nephew and Major Pettigrew's country club friends. But I don't think it's too spoilery to say that a few set-backs, including a near riot at a dance, a runaway bride, and a shooting, doesn't keep the Major down.

Bonus video: Helen Simonson talks about Major Pettigrew's Last Stand