Kris: I love discovering a new author by happenstance.

Betty: Where exactly is happenstance? I would like to go by it. Kidding. Who did you find?

K: Balli Kaur Jaswal, a novelist who was born in Singapore and has lived all over the world.

B: How did you hear about her?

K: The Star Tribune’s Summer Book Guide featured her third book, “Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows.”

B: I’m guessing the title caught your attention.

K: Sure did. But the plot and characters kept me reading. “Erotic Stories” features Nikki, the daughter of Indian immigrants living in London and a law school dropout who takes a job teaching writing at a Punjabi-based community center. Her students are Sikh widows, and rather than learning to write, most of them want to tell rather mature stories. The stories are just part of the book, though; it’s more about how Nikki learns to embrace traditional culture while becoming a modern woman. There also is an intriguing subplot involving the death of a young woman in the community, and the entire class pulls together to bring the killer to justice.

B: It sounds a little like the film “Calendar Girls.”

K: That’s what I thought, and then I read the same thing in a review. I also read that it’s a good book for those who enjoyed the film “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” which is based on the book written by Deborah Moggach.

B: I feel like a pinball this week.

K: How’s that?

B: I’m ricocheting between books, but like you I found a new author by happenstance and really loved him.

K: Do tell.

B: If you are a cartoon fan (specifically Scooby-Doo), you’ll recognize the phrase often uttered by the foiled villain: “And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids.” And that’s what sets up “Meddling Kids” by Edgar Cantero, a fun-filled, high-speed read. Andy, Nate, Peter, Kerri and her dog solved crimes as kids. Ten years later, all grown up, they still are haunted by nightmares of their last case and reunite to get to the bottom of what really happened. The writing is colorful and vivid, making it easy to imagine this book as a cartoon unfolding in your mind. You know what the dog and several inanimate items are thinking and feeling, as well, which I found charming and fun. “… her neatly ordered compass and magnifying lens and pocket dictionaries waited eagerly to assist in the case.” Or “Kerri and Nate and Tim looked away, two in modesty, one in genuine indifference.” (Tim is the dog.) “Tim was already at the gate, waiting for a butler to open it …” And when having to pick a tunnel to explore, they look at their choices: the ones with signs and lights or the pitch black one, and finally Andy says: “There … The unpopular tunnel.” This light-hearted personification added to the cartoon aspect and often made me smile even while the characters were running from the Lovecraftian monsters that were really out to get them.

K: While you were dealing with cartoons and monsters, as I mentioned in the last article, I was on a long road trip recently.

B: You were alone, which means you were listening to audiobooks.

K: Basically one audiobook because it was 21 hours long.

B: 21 hours?!

K: And worth listening to every second. “Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire” by Julia Baird was a fantastic book that focused on her relationships with everyone from her Prime Ministers to her husband and children to the men in her life after her husband’s death.

B: PBS debuted the show “Victoria” this year, which is one of their highest rated dramas in years.

K: It seems to be the year of Victoria. There certainly is a lot of source material for books and TV series. Victoria took the throne in 1837 at the age of 18 and ruled for more than 63 years, sometimes with a gentle touch and other times with a firm hand. She was an independent woman and a remarkable leader.

B: Speaking of remarkable women, let’s talk Louise Penny. I’m back in Three Pines immersed in “Glass Houses.” An ominous, masked figure stands in vigil in the village square neither speaking nor moving, which sets the tone for this book. That sinister figure, a murder, and perhaps Gamache’s biggest case all intertwine with everything weighing in the balance. Apropos to the mystery, Gamache quotes Gandhi, saying, “There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.” This fits in well with the story but is also worth mulling today. I am on the last hundred pages, and honestly, sometimes I am dreading what might happen. At the top of her game, Louise Penny never disappoints.

K: Well, whether a new author or a favorite, familiar one, it seems like we’ve discovered some good books.

B: We should go to happenstance more often.