Play Book Tag discussion

The Queen has decided to relocate the gift animals she has received from the London Zoo to the Tower of London, thus reinstituting, after a fashion, the Tower Menagerie. The Queen also has decided that Beefeater Balthazar Jones should be the Keeper of the Menagerie, under the theory that he must know something about the care of exotic animals since his family has the care and feeding of a 180+ year old tortoise.

And thus starts one of the most charming, funny, delightful stories I have had the pleasure of reading in a long time. It is filled with colorful characters and animals, ghosts and historical tales. The Tower of London itself is a character, to such an extent that I can't wait to visit the Tower again! But there is also much heartache here, as various characters cope with loss, loneliness, and disappointment.

And there is also the parallel story of Balthazar's wife, Hebe Jones, who works at the London Underground Lost Property Office, a holdover from the Victorian Age, with nary a computer in sight. Just as colorful a cast of characters appears there, with equally funny and heartwarming stories of lost items found and returned to their owners.

There are so many delicious moments in this book, but my absolute favorite comes at the very end, the very last sentence, and, best of all, I did not see it coming!

It sounds charming. I almost forgot about this one. I still have it in my London bag along with The Importance of Being Earnest. It sounds like it might have a lot in common with The Keeper of Lost Things, which I really enjoyed.

You pulled me in Theresa-added to my towering TBR-lately I am looking for a light fun read, this seems to fit the bill-thanks!

Hooray! So glad I recommended this and you loved it as much as I did!

I also gave high ratings to The Pigeon Pie Mystery, but take a bit of a break first since it is a different story with different people.

I have her Matchmaker of Perigord around here somewhere. Eventually I will find it. I am excited to read it now although not right away. I want to bask in Balthazar, Hebe, et Al. For a while.

Theresa wrote: "I have her Matchmaker of Perigord around here somewhere. Eventually I will find it. I am excited to read it now although not right away. I want to bask in Balthazar, Hebe, et Al. For a while."

I agree--take your time. I didn't like Matchmaker of Perigord as much as I liked the other two (three stars), but you might like it better than I did. It was partly because it was her debut and I read it third, and partly it just didn't grab me like the other two did.

And I liked The Matchmaker of Périgord just a tad more than this one. But BOTH are good reads. Love Julia Stuart!

Well, I posted my review to a private FB group of bookish friends -- and 3 of them are already scavenging through their local library systems for copies. One has located a copy of The Pigeon Pie Mystery, the only Julia Stuart it has (a very rural area). Another is on the wait list for The Tower, the Zoo, & the Tortoise, there being 2 copies in the entire state she lives in. Another is on NYPL waitlist for the sole copy (after asking me how I found the book because she'd never heard of it or seen it - and since I've had it in my ebook library for some years, I have no idea how I found it)...and I'm looking for my copy of Matchmaker. Hmmm.. maybe I should check it's not in my ebook library???

I feel as if I've given Julia a nice little boost.

Out of curiosity, I went to check on what GR reviews look like for The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise. They seem to be all over the place. when I look at the ones with low stars, the main complaint seems to be that the characters are too quirky.

Seriously? That's a thing?

I remember seeing a review that complained about too many adjectives. I wish I didn't read that because it primed me to notice them too much. After reading the first few pages, I set it aside in favor of a different book. I'll try again some other day.

Theresa wrote: "Out of curiosity, I went to check on what GR reviews look like for The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise. They seem to be all over the place. when I look at the ones with low stars, the main complain..."

I love those characters and they are not extremely quirky, just a bit--it's part of what makes the book good.

NancyJ wrote: "I remember seeing a review that complained about too many adjectives. I wish I didn't read that because it primed me to notice them too much. After reading the first few pages, I set it aside in fa..."

Isn't that sort of like not being able to see the forest for the trees?

Karin wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Out of curiosity, I went to check on what GR reviews look like for The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise. They seem to be all over the place. when I look at the ones with low stars, t..."

Plus there is so much pathos to the story, and to so many funny little descriptions, like how the chaplain's teapot was always described as his 'sorrowful teapot for one' or 'mournful teapot for one' , descriptions both incredibly funny and sad at same time. Such brilliant writing, and so difficult to do achieving just right balance.

Theresa wrote: "Karin wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Out of curiosity, I went to check on what GR reviews look like for The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise. They seem to be all over the place. when I look at the ones wit..."

Yes, I loved this book--5 stars--and think she did a marvelous job. I didn't read any reviews about adjectives. I usually notice when there are too many, and didn't notice that here--they just suited the writing, IMO.

Theresa wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I remember seeing a review that complained about too many adjectives. I wish I didn't read that because it primed me to notice them too much. After reading the first few pages, I set..."

Yes, and it's annoying. Usually I err in the other direction.