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Well. It's really feeling like summer here in the Pacific Northwest with blue skies forecasted indefinitely. Which means I'm thinking of lots of summer related things: deep maroon bing cherries eaten right by the tree, watermelon juice dripping from my chin, gallons of iced tea, sunscreen, hats, and....

....books.

I suppose one could say that summer doesn't deserve a category of books (summer reading) since actually my reading season encompasses twelve months. But it feels as though I choose different genres and styles of writing from which to read when sunny and warm weather moves in.

Free image found here. 

So. Whatcha reading these days?

Terese and I are hooked, yes absolutely addicted, to the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series written by Laurie R. King. Here's how King describes this delightful dozen of books:

Mary Russell walked into my life with the first line of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, and took over. At the time, I had little knowledge of the Great War, England in the Twenties, or Sherlock Holmes, but that didn’t seem to matter to her, she just waited (graciously stifling her impatience) for me to catch up. 

Twelve books later, I have learned a great deal about Russell, Holmes, and their world. I have learned even more about myself and my world, since a central raison d’etre of reading history, even fictional history, is that it is a mirror, reflecting unexpected sides of our times and ourselves. Politics, women’s rights, religious expression, governmental oppression–all these and more wander through the Russell stories, so that although they are primarily, as Graham Greene called his books, “entertainments,” they also have the real-life grit and dimension that a crime novel demands.

It's important to understand that per Ms. King, these works of literature are memoirs actually written by Mary Russell and are left mysteriously on King's doorstep.

We like mysteries, Terese and I. Although I would have to say that her taste tends to run to a bit more horror and blood and guts than mine. I thought it interesting that one of King's newest books is a companion to the series that features the wife of Sherlock Holmes.

You can buy this and other Russell series books on Amazon here, but don't forget to sign up for Amazon Smile while you're there and designate the Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation as a recipient of their charitable donation when you make a purchase.

There's many other companies that will make a donation to the SSF with your purchases. You can view a complete list on the Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation site here.