Queen/Bee

Image by
 Deborah Wetschensky

With a renewed interest in the Queen, I have started reading Elizabeth the Queen, The Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith. It was a gift and I intended to read it in September when I was reading about Great Britain and celebrating the Diamond Jubilee.

This queenly biography weighs in at 537 pages not including the acknowledgements, notes, and index. I am more interested in The Queen's approach to her duties, her self-discipline, and her sense of style than I am in any gossip about her children and grandchildren and their spouses. Maybe I will just skip those chapters.

It is dangerous to read too much about someone I admire as I don't want to know anything that will disappoint me. I enjoy my little dream world.

Another book I just picked up at the library is Shoofly Pie by Tim Downs. I can't remember now where I read about his mystery series featuring the Bug Man, forensic entomologist Dr. Nicolas Polchak. This first in the series takes place in rural North Carolina and looks like it will be a fun, if gooshy, read. The opening sequence was quite thrilling and featured smashing automobiles, a semi truck carrying hives, and some very angry bees.