What Are We Reading And Reviewing in July 2020?

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What Are We Reading And Reviewing in July 2020?

1Carol420
Jun. 22, 2020, 10:35 am



Tell us what you are planning to read in July.

2Carol420
Bearbeitet: Jul. 30, 2020, 7:07 am



Carol's Slightly Damp Reading List for July

What Carol Is Reading in July
📌Northern Light - Deb Davies - 4.5★ (Early Reviewer)
📌The Concrete Blonde - Michael Connelly- 5★ (Group Read)
📌Just Before I Died - S.K. Tremayne - 5★ (Pick A Winner...Make A Friend)
📌Holy Orders - Benjamin Black - 3★
📌Fragile Things: Short Fiction & Wonders - Neil Gaiman - 4★
📌Give A Boy A Gun - Todd Strasser - 4★
📌Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Nig - 5★
📌Grief Is The Thing With Feathers - Max Porter- 0★
📌A Shilling For Candles - Josephine Tey - 4.5★
📌Supernatural: Night Terror - John Passarella - 3★
📌The Children- Ida Jessen 3★
📌The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey - 5★
📌A Great Deliverance - Elizabeth George - ★
📌Every Missing Piece - Melanie Conklin - 5★
📌Zero At The Bone - Mary Willis Walker - 5★
📌Dangerous Illusions - Irene Hannon - 3★
📌Crow- A. Zavarelli - 3★
📌Dangerous Illusions - Irene Hannon - 3★
📌Ghosts and Legends of Michigan's West Coast - Amberrose Hammond - 5★
📌Bedlam - L.J. Ross - 5★
📌Murder Takes The High Road - Josh Lanyon - 5★
📌Girl Last Seen - Nina Laurin - 3★
📌A Crime of Passion - Scott Pratt - 5★
📌Boys of Alabama - Genevieve Hudson - 3★
📌Ghost Town - Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson - 3.5★
📌The Boy From The Woods - Harlan Coben - 4.5★
📌The Good House - Tananarive Due - 4★
📌Over Sea,Under Stone - Susan Cooper - 4★
📌Two Little Girls In Blue - Mary Higgins Clark - 3.5★
📌The Turn of The Key - Ruth Ware - 5★
📌Home Before Dark - Riley Sager -4.5★

3Carol420
Bearbeitet: Jul. 1, 2020, 9:17 am


Grief Is The Thing With Feathers - Max Porter
0 stars

Here he is, husband and father, scruffy romantic, a shambolic scholar--a man adrift in the wake of his wife's sudden, accidental death. And there are his two sons who like him struggle in their London apartment to face the unbearable sadness that has engulfed them. The father imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness, while the boys wander, savage and unsupervised. In this moment of violent despair they are visited by Crow--antagonist, trickster, goad, protector, therapist, and babysitter. This self-described "sentimental bird," at once wild and tender, who "finds humans dull except in grief," threatens to stay with the wounded family until they no longer need him. As weeks turn to months and the pain of loss lessens with the balm of memories, Crow's efforts are rewarded and the little unit of three begins to recover: Dad resumes his book about the poet Ted Hughes; the boys get on with it, grow up.

First off, let me extend my sincerest apologies to the author of this little book. It was his first book and I can only imagine how difficult writing, editing, publishing and then holding you breath that your first ‘baby” can stand not only the hoped for praise but also the expected criticism of the reader. That said…I don’t intend to criticize. On the contrary…I want to just UNDERSTAND. I have read since I was 3 years old and read and reread until the pages fell out…“The Fuzzy Wuzzy Puppy” . I understood it. I have read thousands of books in the years since that little treasure. Some I liked immensely…some I disliked with varying degrees of dislike…some I was just indifferent to…but the one thing they all had in common was that I understood what the author was trying to say. What they hoped the reader would take away from the book when the cover closed. Try as I might…and I actually read the 114 pages of this twice…so I did try. I just don’t understand it. I would like to…as it really bothers me that a college graduate with a degree in conservation biology and early childhood education can not for the life of me understand what this book is trying to tell me. I read the reviews and now I really feel like a total idiot… since according to Amazon 58% of my fellow readers seemed to have no problem with it. Heaven knows what the other 42% are doing. Go figure! If any of those 58% fellow readers…or the author himself, would care to enlighten me…I would be forever in your debt.

4Carol420
Jul. 1, 2020, 9:02 am


Murder Takes The High Road - Josh Lanyan
5★

Librarian Carter Matheson is determined to enjoy himself on a Scottish bus tour for fans of mystery author Dame Vanessa Rayburn. Sure, his ex, Trevor, will also be on the trip with his new boyfriend, leaving Carter to share a room with a stranger, but he can’t pass up a chance to meet his favorite author. Carter’s roommate turns out to be John Knight, a figure as mysterious as any character from Vanessa’s books. His strange affect and nighttime wanderings make Carter suspicious. When a fellow traveler’s death sparks rumors of foul play, Carter is left wondering if there’s anyone on the tour he can trust. Drawn into the intrigue, Carter searches for answers, trying to fend off his growing attraction toward John. As unexplained tragedies continue, the whole tour must face the fact that there may be a murderer in their midst—but who?

This book is all mystery from start to finish. The clues are all there…the suspects are all gathered together in the wilds of Scotland on a mystery writers book tour…all waiting to meet the author that they almost worship… Vanessa Rayburn. Not all of the assembled guests are who or what they seem to be and they don’t all want to meet Vanessa to discuss her books. This was very, very well done. It reminded me of the only Agatha Christie book that I like, And Then There Was None. I’m going to look for more Josh Lanyan books and I hope we meet John and Carter again in future books.

5Carol420
Jul. 1, 2020, 1:46 pm


Boys of Alabama - Genevieve Hudson
3★

Max and his family have relocated from Germany to Alabama and Max is feeling like a fish out of water but is determined to somehow fit in with his overly religious school. Football seems to be the thing that will do it but not because he has any talent for it…but because he can run fast enough to keep from being killed on the field. Max has another gift…he touches dead animals or withered plants and they return to life. Max thinks of it as a curse. It works on animals, bugs…everything he’s ever dared to touch… but the question remains…will it work on dead people? That is a major part of the story’s suspense….and you just wait for it happen. Of course there are pitfalls to this “gift”…migraines… cravings for gobs of sugar as well as fear and guilt. Max is tempted to give it a try on people as he is troubled by his love for his dead classmate, Nils. He is also drawn to Pan, a witchy boy who wears dresses and believes in auras and incantations. Pan is the only person who knows about Max’s power…and he desperately wants Max to try it out…and eventually will demand it of Max as an onerous test of loyalty. I guess good descriptive words for this book would be brutal, potent, sad and passionate. The story is a little too heavy on the religious theme... but then the setting is the deep south and a boys school run by one of the local churches

6BookConcierge
Jul. 1, 2020, 1:53 pm


The Day the World Came To Town – Jim DeFede
4****

Subtitle: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland

When terrorists crashed US commercial jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the administration moved quickly to shut down all US air space. Plane had to land – immediately – at the nearest airport. But planes coming from Europe had basically just one option … Gander, Newfoundland. In a matter of hours, the town of 10,000 was host to another 6,596 passengers and crew members.

This is the story of how the residents of Gander, and surrounding towns, worked to accommodate strangers in an unprecedented emergency. DeFede reports the events in a straight-forward and engaging manner. He gives some insight into the way the residents of the town thought, the culture of basic decency and compassion in which their generosity of spirit could flourish, and the leadership provided by elected officials and business leaders. I liked how he related the confusion, anxiety, surprise, relief and joy experiences by the passengers and crew members. Some of these people formed lasting friendships.

It’s an uplifting story, especially now in these unsettled times. Reminding me that there is kindness in this world, that there are people who rise to the occasion and behave selflessly to help others in distress, without thought to remuneration or reward. It restores my faith in humankind.

7Hope_H
Jul. 2, 2020, 6:46 am

Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf
304 pages - ★ ★ ★ ★

On a sweltering day in Cedar City, Iowa, social worker Ellen Moore and her family wake up late. Husband Adam says he will take the two older children with him and Ellen should drop baby Avery off at the daycare. Rushing to get to work on time, Ellen gets a phone call from one the endangered children in her caseload. She goes to the child's house . . . forgetting Avery in the back seat. We also meet 10-year-old Jenny Briard, who had boarded a bus ahead of her struggling father so they can start over again in Cedar City, Iowa. Her father is detained by some thugs he owes money to and then by the police, and the bus pulls out without him. Once in Cedar City, Jenny finds refuge with kindhearted waitress Maudene. Jenny wants to avoid social workers and foster care, but winds up on the devastated Ellen's radar.

Gudenkauf tackles a few difficult topics in this one - children left in hot cars and child abuse - without being too heavy-handed. She's researched her topics well, and we see how easily mistakes affecting children happen. I don't find Ellen especially likable, but I didn't dislike her, either - just a little sanctimonious. Maudene was the one who really stole my heart, as did Jenny, Connie, and Jade. The end of Ellen's story wrapped up a little too neatly, which kept it from being a five star read.

I like Gudenkauf's works, BUT - I really wish she would just call her cities by their correct names. Cedar City is the "second largest city in Iowa," which is really Cedar Rapids, although her descriptions of Cedar City and the hospital sound a little more like Iowa City. I spent a good percentage of the book trying to figure out what city she's really referring to. This probably won't bother most of her readers - more likely only bothers Eastern Iowa residents and more specifically only me!

8Carol420
Jul. 2, 2020, 8:06 am


Girl Last Seen Nina Laurin
3★

Two missing girls…thirteen years apart. Olivia Shaw has been missing since last Tuesday. She was last seen outside the entrance of her elementary school in Hunts Point wearing a white spring jacket, blue jeans, and pink boots. I force myself to look at the face in the photo, into her slightly smudged features, and I can't bring myself to move. Olivia Shaw could be my mirror image, rewound to thirteen years ago. If you have any knowledge of Olivia Shaw's whereabouts or any relevant information, please contact... I've spent a long time peering into the faces of girls on missing posters, wondering which one replaced me in that basement. But they were never quite the right age, the right look…the right circumstances… until Olivia Shaw, missing for one week tomorrow. Whoever stole me was never found. But since I was taken, there hasn't been another girl.

Maybe I’m becoming cynical in my old age…but this book didn’t live up to what the description promised. I was slightly disappointed to find that it was it was so predictable as well as disjointed. The main character was constantly idiotic…actually she was her own worst enemy. Her life consisted of drugs and self pity that left no room for the reader to feel any compassion for her at all. The author put the clues together well enough without being completely obvious about them…but the clues didn’t follow much of a pattern and some kept being repeated over and over as if this is what the author wanted the reader to focus on. It was an interesting topic…just too bad that it didn’t come together a bit better. I liked the story behind the novel so it’s worthy of 3 stars.

9JulieLill
Jul. 3, 2020, 10:46 am

>6 BookConcierge: I read this awhile ago and loved it. What a uplifting true story! We could use a little of their spirit here now!

10Carol420
Jul. 3, 2020, 6:15 pm


Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman
4- ★

Two teenage boys crash a party and meet the girls of their dreams—and nightmares . . . A mysterious circus terrifies an audience for one extraordinary performance before disappearing into the night . . .In a Hugo Award–winning story, a great detective must solve a most unsettling royal murder in a strangely altered Victorian England . . .These marvelous creations and more showcase the unparalleled invention and storytelling brilliance—and the terrifyingly dark and entertaining wit—of the incomparable Neil Gaiman.

I don't think I have read anything by this author that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. If you've never read Neil Gaiman and you want to meet this talented story teller...then these short stories are a perfect way to go. You'll find these little jewels dark and magnificently creepy...but easy and quick reads. There are a few pieces that are on the weak side...but that's okay, as there is plenty to pick and choose from here.

11Carol420
Jul. 4, 2020, 2:38 pm


Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng
5★

“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970's small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.

The mysterious circumstances of 16-year-old Lydia Lee’s tragic death have her loved ones wondering just how exactly she spent her free time. The story contains very thoughtful events...circumstances...and observations about a dysfunctional, but very believable family whose problems can apply to any family anywhere. It's is also about relationships and the social effects on an Asian father and his half-Asian children who are visually different...but wanting to blend in and be accepted in the society they live in and especially by their neighbors. The wife and mother...an American...struggles to stand out as being different, and to impose that goal on her daughter which may have lead to this tragedy. Was Lydia murdered? Did she die in an accident or by suicide? How can they find the answers and learn to live with the loss of their eldest daughter?

12LibraryCin
Jul. 4, 2020, 4:27 pm

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed / Jared Diamond
3.5 stars

Diamond looks at different societies -- some historical, some current -- to see what they’ve done in order to survive/succeed. Some have disappeared. This includes current-day Montana, the Vikings (in Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, some of the smaller islands nearer Europe...), Easter Island and other Polynesian Islands, the Mayans in Mexico, Haiti/Dominican Republic, Australia, China, Japan, New Guinea, Rwanda... He looks at some of them in more detail than others.

And I found some stories more interesting than others: Montana, Vikings, Easter Island, Rwanda, Haiti/Dominican Republic. He had a few chapters at the end that looked at business – the economy “vs” the environment. I was surprised to hear about how one of the big oil companies is set up in New Guinea – to the benefit of the environment around the area!
Too bad more oil companies didn’t do similar (or too bad it wasn’t required that they all do better, as it apparently can be done).

I do have a hard time rating a lot of nonfiction 4 stars and higher. I think those that I rate that high read more like fiction, this one was good, but it didn’t read like fiction.

13LibraryCin
Jul. 4, 2020, 11:13 pm

Alaska Bound / Margaret Frank
3 stars

Patience and Forrest meet at the airport, heading to Alaska. Patience is going to help with a count of whales as an environmental assessment for a proposed oil rig. Forrest is heading back home where he is a police officer. When they cross paths again in Alaska, things become dangerous.

Was a bit put off at the start with all the “romance” going on. Too much. The rest of the plot might have been better, except there were a lot of characters and I somehow “missed” the introductions of some and when they came up later, I wasn’t sure who they were. Figured some of that out, but it moved very quickly (the book was short), so it got a bit confusing, as well. Just about everyone had secrets and might have been double crossing others or at least lying/hiding things. Might have been better if there had been more time to flesh out the characters and the happenings a bit more? In any case, I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, either. Overall, I’m rating it ok.

14Carol420
Bearbeitet: Jul. 5, 2020, 9:49 am


Dangerous Illusions - Irene Hannon
Code of Honor series Book #1
3★

Trish Bailey is on overload trying to deal with a demanding job, an ailing mother, and a healing heart. When a series of unsettling memory lapses leads to a tragic death--and puts Trish under police scrutiny--her world is once again thrown into turmoil. Detective Colin Flynn isn't certain what to think of the facts he uncovers during his investigation. Did Trish simply make a terrible mistake or is there more to the case than meets the eye? As he searches for answers, disturbing information begins to emerge--and if the forces at work are as evil as he suspects, the situation isn't just dangerous . . . it's deadly.

I know there are readers out there that absolutely went nuts over this story and will certainly keep Ms. Hannon in groceries by buying this book as well as the other 2 in this series…but I probably won’t be one of them. Quiet frankly the story line confused me and I had to go back often to see if I had missed something or if it just wasn’t there. I will say that the characters are fleshed out very well…Trish and Colin are likable even if their romance practically took place before the book was even opened. I’m sure that fans of “light weight mysteries" and not so "light weight romances” will love the book. It was, however, interesting enough to deserve the 3 star rating.

15JulieLill
Jul. 5, 2020, 4:23 pm

The Girls
Emma Cline
4/5 stars
Set in the late 60’s in California, we find Evie, whose parents are divorcing, lonely and without friends. Seeing a group of girls in the park, she meets Suzanne who invites her back to the ranch to hang out with the others that live there. She soon meets Russell, the enigmatic leader of the group and she finds herself being drawn in. Loosely based on Charles Manson’s cult, this story really draws you in right away. Well done!

16LibraryCin
Jul. 5, 2020, 5:08 pm

Fables, Vol. 22. Farewell / Bill Willingham
4 stars

There is a war coming between Rose Red and Snow White. And a final wrap up for many of the characters.

Storylines with war are not as interesting to me, and I was happy with how this ended. I enjoyed the wrap ups for many of the characters, particularly for Snow and Bigby’s cubs/kids. There was one text section in the middle, then more wrap-up text at the end by the author, which I quite enjoyed. As always, illustrations are quite nice and I’ve always loved the extra touch of the borders. The cover actually folds out and includes many (all?) characters in the series. One of the extras at the end of the book is the “key” that shows you who is who on the cover. There is also an additional 4 page fold-out close to the end of the book.

17Carol420
Jul. 6, 2020, 7:14 am


Bedlam - L.J. Ross
Alexander Gregory series Book #3
5★

In a world gone mad, who can you trust? Fresh from a high-profile case in the Paris fashion world, elite forensic psychologist and criminal profiler Dr Alexander Gregory receives a call from the New York State Homicide Squad. The wife of a notorious criminal has been admitted to a private psychiatric hospital and can no longer testify in his upcoming trial. Without her, their case will collapse but, amidst reports that the staff are as unpredictable as their patients, who can the police trust? In desperation, they turn to an outsider and now Gregory must find the courage to step inside the fortified walls of Buchanan Hospital to uncover the truth. The question is, will he ever be the same again? Murder and mystery are peppered with dark humor in this fast-paced thriller set amidst the spectacular Catskill Forest.

Dr. Alexander Gregory is a quiet, almost timid character...but that doesn't in anyway diminish him. If anything it makes him more interesting. If readers are familiar with the DCI Ryan series also by this author...you will remember meeting Dr. Gregory as a minor character in that series. This one brings him out to the forefront with dark and twisting plots that are beautifully written. I hope this series goes on for many more books.

18Carol420
Jul. 6, 2020, 3:23 pm


Every Missing Piece - Melanie Conklin
5★

Maddy Gaines sees danger everywhere she looks: at the bus stop, around the roller rink, in the woods, and (especially) by the ocean. When Maddy meets a mysterious boy setting booby traps in the North Carolina woods, she suspects is Billy Holcomb--the boy who went missing in the fall. As Maddy tries to uncover the truth about Billy Holcomb, ghosts from her own past surface, her best friend starts to slip away, and Maddy's world tilts once again. Can she put the pieces of her life back together, even if some of them are lost forever?

It’s a heartfelt story about a family struggling through the big and small adjustments in their lives and Maddy’s effort to understand the changes in her life…especially the recent introduction of a step father. Maddy… a sixth grader…just wants her old life back…but as her best friend tells her “You just have to get used to it.” When she finally learns what really happened to the missing boy… Billy and his mother…she learns to accept some hard truths about the emotional effects that domestic violence can have on everyone. It’s a book designed for 5th through 7th grade students…but it is well worth adults taking some time out to visit with Maddy.

19LibraryCin
Jul. 6, 2020, 11:01 pm

The Hate U Give / Angie Thomas
4 stars

Starr is a black girl who lives in a black neighbourhood, but goes to a white school. When she is in a car after a party with one of her black friends, they are pulled over by a cop, and Khalil ends up being shot by the police officer. Starr talks to the police about what happened – Khalil didn’t deserve to die – but decides to not let on to others she knows that she was the one with him when they were pulled over. She continues to lead a double life until things start coming out.

This was really good. I listened to the audio and the narrator was very good. This really does show the unfairness (to put it mildly) of racial profiling and the overreactions of police towards a black teenager. I have to admit there was one part where Starr got really upset about something racist her white friend said – I didn’t even know it was a racist thing (fried chicken?). There were humourous parts in the story to lighten things up a bit, which I thought were done really well. I am happy (for the most part, except one thing) with how the book ended.

20Carol420
Bearbeitet: Jul. 7, 2020, 8:20 am

>19 LibraryCin: I asked the library to put this on hold for me and also asked Netflix for the movie. Interesting about the fried chicken reference. I just learned last night that it became popular... in the southern states especially... in the 1830's and it originated from the Scottish and East African immigrants. The Scotts cooked their's in fat while the West Africans used palm oil. Interesting...and very good stuff. I grew up in the south and we ate lots of fried chicken.

21Carol420
Bearbeitet: Jul. 7, 2020, 10:08 am


Zero At The Bone - Mary Willis Walker
5★

Katherine Driscoll is just three weeks away from disaster: foreclosure on her home and business, even the sale of her beloved dog. She has no hope of raising the $91,000 she so desperately needs--until the father she hasn't seen for thirty years writes to her, offering her enough money to solve her problems...if she will do one thing in return. But Katherine may never learn what that is. When she arrives in Austin, she is hours too late: her father has died in a bizarre accident. As she sifts through the cryptic notes he left behind, she finds herself caught up in terrible family secrets--and a deadly illicit trade. The more she learns, the more determined she becomes to prove her father's death was no accident. In doing so, Katherine will make a bitter enemy--one desperate enough to kill...and perhaps, kill again.

The heroine in this one is unusual as she is smart, funny and much older than generally portrayed in this type of book. As we meet Katherine her world is coming down around her ears. About the time when she is at her wits ends, she gets more bad news...her father, who she hasn't seen or heard from in years, has died. She next discovers something that will set her off on a journey destined to change her life. I really liked the writing style of this author and the fact that she takes a job in the Austin Zoo...a fellow "Zoo Enthusiast":) The story has everything that came together to make it a 5 star rating. Lots of action... a great story line with enough mystery & suspense...a little romance thrown in... and a more than satisfying ending.

22Carol420
Jul. 7, 2020, 3:59 pm


Ghost Town - Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson
3.5★

WELCOME TO EXETER, THE “MOST HAUNTED TOWN IN AMERICA,” thanks to a deadly flood that unleashed an army of ghosts decades ago. And when ghost trackers Amber, Drew, and Trevor attend a conference during Exeter’s spookiest week of the year, the ghouls grow restless. First, an innocent bookstore worker is mysteriously killed, setting off a string of strange deaths that point to a shadowy spirit known as the Dark Lady. With a paranormal revolution ensuing, the team must stop the twisted bloodbath.

I am the "Ghost Story Junkie" and you can't imagine how excited I was to see that the library had ordered the second book by two main hosts of TV's Ghost Hunter programs. The beginning of the book was fantastic. An entire town that has an unusual amount of haunting and spectral visitors...so many that they host an annual event called "Dead Days". Of course there are authors of paranormal materials as well as ghost documentary teams and people that just hope to meet one...ghost to person. About midway into the book it began to become too much with the introduction of something called "the Dark Lady" that took the entire story in the realm of the really...really...really unbelievable with monsters and people turning into monsters and mind control...nothing was left out. It would have been great if they had stuck with the beginning concept of trying to document...understand...and prove the existence or the non existence of life beyond the vale.

23BookConcierge
Jul. 8, 2020, 9:28 am


Virgil Wander – Leif Enger
Audiobook performed by MacLeod Andrews.
4****

The title character, Virgil Wander, is a small-town cinema owner (and town clerk), who survives an accident on a snowy night when his car breaks through a barrier and “flies” off a bridge into frigid Lake Superior. When he awakes in the hospital, he’s told he has some “minor brain injury” and his memory is somewhat affected. Slowly he begins to piece together his personal history, as well as that of the town in which he lives – a former mining town, now struggling along after one hard-luck event after another. He’s helped – or hindered – in his recovery by a cast of interesting people: among them the town beauty Nadine, an old Norwegian who constructs and flies elaborate kites, a young boy after a legendary giant sturgeon, a depressed handyman who never seems to have the tools he needs, and a prodigal son returned to town with big-city connections and plans to revive the town’s economy.

I love character-driven novels and this one perfectly fits the bill. I love Enger’s way with words, the way he paints the landscape and draws his characters who so perfectly fit the scenario he gives us. Enger’s town is small, but the people in it are larger than life. There is a spirituality, or mysticism about Enger’s story-telling that captures my attention as well. In his recovery, Virgil spends a lot of time thinking and reflecting – on life, on the town, on love, on death, on friendship. He feels he is a changed man and refers to his pre-accident self as “the previous tenant.” Virgil seems to be more open now – to possibilities, to enjoying life, to finding love.

There are moments of humor and tenderness, and some evil and tragedy as well. All the elements of any life – the life of a person or of a town. However, the overall feeling is one of hope and resilience and of looking forward to the future, whatever it may bring.

MacLeod Andrews does a marvelous job performing the audio edition. He uses a Minnesota accent that sounds spot on to this Wisconsin resident.

24Carol420
Jul. 8, 2020, 12:53 pm



Just Before I Died - S.K.Tremayne
5★

I survived the accident. Now the real nightmare begins. .How long can they keep you in the dark? It was just a patch of ice. But it was nearly enough to kill Kath Redway, spinning her car into Burrator Reservoir in the beautiful Dartmoor National Park.She is shocked but delighted to escape with a few bruises and amnesia. But her family is not so pleased. Her handsome husband is cold, even angry. Her gifted daughter talks ever more strangely, about a 'man on the moor'. Then, as chilling fragments of memory return, Kath realizes her 'accident' was nothing of the kind. And now her life collapses into a new world of darkness, menace, and terror.

This one is just as good as her previous novels, The Ice Twins and Fire Child. There are large amounts of suspense and plenty of strange dark and brooding twists. It’s deliciously creepy...so that makes it just my “cuppa tea”. Make sure you have plenty of time before you get to the last few chapters because you will not be able to put it down.

25LibraryCin
Jul. 8, 2020, 11:48 pm

Storm Warning: The Story of a Killer Tornado / Nancy Mathis
4 stars

On May 3, 1999, Oklahoma saw multiple tornadoes, including one of the biggest to hit a city. All the years leading up to it, though, had meteorologists, most notably Ted Fujita (Mr. Tornado), studying tornadoes. This helped with warnings (although for a long time in history until the 1950s (after another deadly tornado in 1947), weather forecasters were not even allowed to say the word “tornado”!) that could help people take cover. The book not only looks at the tornado in 1999 (and the one in 1947), but also looks at the history of weather forecasting – with a focus on tornadoes – and at the life of Ted Fujita (who created the Fujita scale).

It got a bit bogged down in the history at the start of the book (but, I was also having trouble finding larger chunks of time to read, which can help me focus), but it got better as the book went on. Of course, when we hit the 1999 tornado, no question – this was the best part of the book. I still found the rest quite interesting, though

26Carol420
Jul. 9, 2020, 8:31 am


A Crime of Passion - Scott Pratt
Joe Dillard series Book #7
5★

A beautiful, young, rising star in the country music world is found dead in a Nashville hotel room. The owner of her record company is charged with murder. In the seventh installment of Scott Pratt's best-selling Joe Dillard series, Dillard is hired to travel to Tennessee's capital city to defend Paul Milius, a record company baron accused of strangling Kasey Cartwright, his label's young star. Dillard navigates Nashville's unfamiliar legal system and the world of country music in search of the truth, but he soon finds himself confronted with a web of lies so masterfully woven that he fears he may never find any answers. As the trial begins and the tension mounts, Dillard fears that not only will his client be wrongfully convicted, but that Dillard himself may not survive.

Scott Pratt and his Joe Dillard series has been a favorite of mine since forever it seems. The thing that makes this series absolutely outstanding is that it's a fiction series with a non-fiction feeling. If you enjoy suspense...legal intrigue...and just well written books with believable and likable characters...then you should give Joe Dillard a try. The books are a series but they are written so that they can easily be read as standalone.

27Carol420
Jul. 9, 2020, 3:09 pm


The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey
5★

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart -- he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone -- but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

It's not at all what I usually read...and I never expected to be totally taken over by this beautiful story about a hostile and brutal land and two families that shared a determination to tame it. The year was 1920 when Jack and Mabel...who had just lost their newborn baby...left the civilization of Pennsylvania to farm in Alaska. Winters were long and hard. One night they started to build a snowman that turned into a little girl..."a Snow Child". The next morning it was gone and Faina entered their lives. She was magical...she was wild...they became convinced that she was more and she was less...but they couldn't sort out just exactly what she was. The story unfolds covering a ten year span. It's captivating in it's simplicity. A beautifully told tale of hardship and magic.

28Carol420
Jul. 10, 2020, 8:28 am


Ghosts and Legends of Michigan's West Coast - Amberrose Hammond
5★

A collection of chilling tales from the most haunted places in Western Michigan. Western Michigan is home to some of the state's most picturesque places - and also some of its most chilling tales. Ghost story researcher and enthusiast Amberrose Hammond exposes the mysterious and spirit-ridden world of many beloved Michigan destinations as she skillfully weaves narratives of a world unseen by most. From the lingering spirit forever working in the Grand Theater and the band of melon-headed children prowling the Saugatuck State Park to the lights of the Lake Forest Cemetery staircase waiting to reveal one's place in the afterlife, these tales are sure to give pause to anyone daring enough to experience these hauntingly beautiful spots...after dark.

Greetings from the "ghost story junkie". This small book appealed to all my ghost story hunger like good Kentucky bourbon would appeal to an alcoholic. They were also appealing because most of the places represented here are within a couple of hours of my home. In their senior year of high school my son and two of his his friends made a trip to Klakaska to see the "shoe tree"....a story inspire perhaps by the "Walled Lake Child Killer"...a memorial to all the youngsters that he was suppose to have killed. No one even knows if he really existed or was he just a local legend that grew over the years. They were disappointed as it was just a tree full of shoes but the story worked up a good case of goose-bumps so it wasn't exactly a wasted trip:) I have seen the "Grand Theater" in Grand Haven which was an investigation effort by TV's "Ghost Hunters" Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. Many people have reported hearing footsteps that have no visible source...and no one wishes to go to the basement alone...day or night. With 4 of the 5 Great Lakes making their homes in Michigan there are numerous "haunted" lighthouses and mysterious ghostly freighters sailing to their doom over and over. It doesn't matter if you are a believer or a non-believer. If you enjoy being just slightly scared or if you go for the "whole nine yards" these recounts will do just fine for you. Oh...be sure to leave the light on.

29JulieLill
Jul. 10, 2020, 11:24 am

>27 Carol420: I read that a number of years ago but enjoyed it!

30LibraryCin
Jul. 10, 2020, 6:51 pm

>27 Carol420: >29 JulieLill: I also really liked that one!

31JulieLill
Jul. 10, 2020, 7:22 pm

Allegedly
Tiffany D. Jackson
3.5/5 stars
Mary B. Addison has been sentenced to a group home for allegedly killing a 3 month old baby when she was 9 years old. Her “mother” Dawn Marie Cooper took in Mary as a young child and visits often but her relationship with Dawn is not good. Mary is smart and is ready to move on. She is allowed to work and is assigned to a nursing home where she meets Ted. Unfortunately, she gets pregnant and her dream to work and go to college is hampered by the pregnancy. In the meantime, she has gotten a lawyer to help her in overturning her conviction. Will Mary ever move on with her life and get away from those awful “allegations”? This story is very compelling with a lot of twists and turns.

32BookConcierge
Jul. 10, 2020, 8:32 pm


A Rule Against Murder – Louise Penny
Digital audiobook narrated by Ralph Cosham.
3.5***

Book four in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series, set in and around Three Pines, Quebec. Gamache and his wife are celebrating their wedding anniversary at a luxurious inn, in beautiful natural surroundings, not far from Three Pines. The Finney family is also at the inn – for a family reunion. As the heat and humidity rise, so do emotions, and a terrible summer storm leaves behind a dead body.

I love Gamache and the deliberate way he goes about investigating cases. He has his work cut out for him in this one. The method of murder seems impossible. The Finney family may be rich and cultured, but they have their secrets and not everyone is cooperative. I thought the reveal was well done, and I had not guessed the murderer beforehand.

Gamache’s own personal life is always a key subplot, and there is some discord to address here as well.

Ralph Cosham does a find job of narrating the audiobook. His resonant voice is wonderful for Gamache, and he does a respectable job of the women and young child, Bean, as well.

33Carol420
Bearbeitet: Jul. 11, 2020, 5:19 pm


Crow - A. Zaveralli
Boston Underworld Book #1
3★

Mack: He’s a killer. A mobster. The last man on earth I’d ever want to be with. I won’t lose my head just because he’s hot, Irish, and has a wicked accent to boot. He’s one of the only leads in my best friend’s disappearance, and I don’t trust him. So I’ve got a few rules in mind when it comes to dealing with Lachlan Crow. 1.Keep a clear head and don’t get distracted. 2.Do what’s necessary and never forget why you’re there. 3.Never, and I mean never, fall for him. Fourth and final rule? Throw out the book altogether. Because the rules don’t apply when it comes to the Irish mafia. It was only supposed to be temporary, but now Lachlan thinks he owns me. He says he’s not letting me go. And I believe him.

Lachlan: I don’t know who she is. I don’t know why she’s here. But if it’s my attention she wants, she has it. The Russians want her dead, and now it’s up to me to look out for her. This girl is trouble. A distraction I can’t afford. So why have I already decided she’s mine? I’ve claimed her and there’s no going back now.


This is the first book by this author that I've read and I'm not sure that this series is going to be something that I will want to continue. It's not a bad book or an uninteresting book by any means...it's just not my kind of book. The Romance...which I don''t care a lot about anyway...was predictable and felt overboard. I think that anyone that likes this type of story...and I know there are thousands out there... will find that there is a lot of potential there...but it is really rough around the edges. Only book #1 perhaps it will improve.

34Hope_H
Jul. 11, 2020, 7:10 pm

Daring and the Duke: Bareknuckle Bastards Book III by Sarah MacLean
384 p. - ★ ★ ★

The third book in the Bareknuckle Bastards series tells the story of Grace and Ewan. When they were young teens, Grace and step-brothers Whit and Devon ran away from the Duke of Marwick's estate after Ewan appeared to attack them in his bid to be the next duke. Grace had always loved Ewan and this attack felt like a betrayal. Twenty years later, Ewan tried to find Grace and comes up with a plot to redeem himself and win Grace again.

Hmm - I usually like MacLean, but this one . . . not so much. If her editor had trimmed all of the waffling, the book would only be 200 pages long instead of almost 400. Ewan had a lot to explain, but rather than do that, he almost destroys Grace's business and her followers in Covent Garden. For people who claim to value honesty, they need to show it. I know MacLean says she did her research, but I think she took a lot of liberties with it.

35Carol420
Jul. 12, 2020, 11:45 am


The Boy From The Woods - Harlan Coben
4.5★

Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn't know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing. No one seems to take Naomi Pine's disappearance seriously, not even her father -- with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde -- with whom she shares a tragic connection -- to use his unique skills to help find Naomi. Wilde can't ignore an outcast in trouble, but in order to find Naomi he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions . . . secrets that Wilde must uncover before it's too late.

It had the first appearance that it was going to be a story within a story...but even though it was a good story...there never was much more said or explained how the boy found in the woods came to be in the woods in the first place. That part was unbelievable....that a young boy could have survived the way Wilde did on his own and no one ever saw him or found him. Now the real story of how Wilde helped everyone that he came in contact with in the storyline. That made sense and what really what the book was about in the first place. Readers will see some similarities in the plot to real life events taking place now. I don't know if the author did this on purpose or if it just occurred of it's own accord. Whatever the reason...I had absolutely no objection to it. Another good read for Harlan Coben fans.

36LibraryCin
Jul. 12, 2020, 3:16 pm

Outlaw / Angus Donald
4.25 stars

A minor character in the Robin Hood tale, Alan Dale, tells this story. When only 13 “summers” old, he manages to escape his sentence of a hand being chopped off (as a thief), and ends up with Robin Hood and his men in the forest. He is given training in fighting and music, and is with them on many of their adventures, including saving Marie-Anne from having to marry the sheriff.

This was surprisingly violent and quite unlike any other Robin Hood story I’ve read or seen. Granted, I’ve not read very many, but still. Robin Hood. himself, is portrayed quite differently from what I expected. I really liked this one, though. Interesting that I often am not all that interested in war/fighting scenes, but the big one in this book really had me engaged. I don’t know if it was something with the story itself that I was more interested, or if it’s the way the author writes, or something else, but this was really really good for me.

It is a series and I will continue. Hopefully I’ll like the next one, though. It does concern me that it seems to be about the Crusades – again, we have that war/fighting bit that often I end up skimming and being bored by, so hopefully it holds up as this one did.

37threadnsong
Jul. 12, 2020, 8:33 pm

Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser

Millions of readers of "Little House on the Prairie" believe they know Laura Ingalls--the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true saga of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser--the editor of the Library of America edition of the Little House series--masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder's biography.

This is an absolutely extraordinary book that sheds light on this famous woman whose girlhood so many people know. It answers the questions of what happened to her after those first four years of marriage and how did she get to be "there" in the first place?

I heard about this book through a BookTV broadcast, and I was especially struck by how Fraser addressed what I had found as questionable when I read the first two in this series last year. In fact, Fraser does not start with Laura: she starts with the four Dakota tribes and their nuances (one was hunting, one was the visionary tribe), and their betrayal by white settlers. There were instances where the lands promised by the government to the Dakota were empty since the tribes were on their annual hunt. And just like Pa, the settlers moved in and took over. The war that broke out, the 1862 US-Dakota War, resulted in more US casualties than other, more famous battles in the West and led to a general feeling of mutual hatred.

A wealth of details leads up to the tales we know, going back to Ma and Pa's ancestors, where they settled and when, drawn from letters, pamphlets, land sales, and eventually Census records. Fraser turns the same research on to Laura's life and does not hold back on shining the truth about the Ingalls family's poverty.

Finally, the adult Laura and her daughter, Rose, are presented as complex human beings fraught with conflict and gifts. Rose was an experienced writer in the field of yellow journalism (extending to biographies of Jack London and Herbert Hoover), and it was she who urged her mother to write. Laura wrote her memories though often the historical aspect is changed or eliminated by both women.

38Carol420
Jul. 13, 2020, 7:18 am


Holy Orders - Benjamin Black
Quirke series Book #6
3★

The latest Quirke case opens in Dublin at a moment when newspapers are censored, social conventions are strictly defined, and appalling crimes are hushed up. Why? Because in 1950s Ireland, the Catholic Church controls the lives of nearly everyone. But when Quirke's daughter, Phoebe, loses her close friend Jimmy Minor to murder, Quirke can no longer play by the church's rules. Along with Inspector Hackett, his sometime partner, Quirke learns just how far the church and its supporters will go to protect their own interests.

The story had a great beginning...a murder to solve and characters that we had come to trust and like playing their usual roles...but then it all changed. About halfway through the book Quirke's daughter wanders into the story...and not necessarily bringing anything to greatly impact what was already becoming an interesting plot line...although I do have to admit that the murder of her friend was an addition. However along with Quirke's fragile and strained relationship with the major church in Ireland...we now see Quirk's relationships with his family and his deeply flawed personality examined in glowing detail. What it boiled down to was that we were presented with 250 pages of high trauma and then the mystery gets solved in the last 30 pages. If I hadn't read the first 5 books in this series it would never have received the 3 star rating. I know how much better this author can be.

39Carol420
Jul. 13, 2020, 2:44 pm

#1 - set in Denmark


The Children - Ida Jessen
3★

Recently divorced, Solvej rents an isolated farmhouse in Hvium, where her daughter lives with her father. Solvej will be able to see her little girl again - to start over. But, she is completely alone and unable to visit her daughter as often as she'd like. A neighbor, Soren, welcomes Solvej with practical gifts and help around the place. She soon meets others, but, just as Solvej begins to feel happy and settled, darkness descends, and she discovers the people around the village of Hvium are not as they seem. In a place that hides secrets and lies, Solvej must ask herself: when is it right to step in and when is right not to?

Lots of secrets in this little village and I think something must have been lost in the translation. The people were a strange bunch to begin with and I don't know why Solvej thought that her finding the diary and revealing more of their secrets was going to make much difference. It has promise of being a good story...unfortunately the copy that I had was rather muddled...But as I said...I believe it was the translation. I'll give it 3 stars for hope.

40BookConcierge
Bearbeitet: Jul. 18, 2020, 3:38 pm


Finders Keepers – Stephen King
Digital audiobook performed by Will Patton
3***

Book two in the Bill Hodges trilogy, featuring the former detective, now a PI, and his team of misfits and amateurs.

This time the murder is an old, cold case – John Rothstein, a reclusive J.D. Salinger-type author, who was murdered in his home – and King begins with the event in 1978 that resulted in his death. Then we fast-forward to 2009 and join a young boy whose family is struggling with the aftermath of the mass killing that took place in Mr Mercedes (book one of this series). When Pete Saubers stumbles upon the chest containing Rothstein’s notebooks, along with a significant amount of cash, he decides to use the money to help his family. He doesn’t know that Rothstein’s killer has been in prison, dreaming of his stash. Morris Bellamy didn’t go to prison for Rothstein’s murder, however, and when he’s released on parole, he’s livid to discover his treasure missing. It’s bad enough that the money is gone, but the loss of those notebooks has Bellamy blind with rage … and intent on finding out who took the notebooks.

King is a master crafter of the suspense genre. He keeps the reader turning pages while offering complex characters and motivations. I love Holly – a woman with some significant issues, but who has found a “home” employed as Hodges’ assistant. Hodges is not without his own demons and difficulties, but seems to be recovering from his alcohol-fueled depression, and thriving in this new endeavor. The supporting cast is equally strong, including the young people.

I’ve read reviews that criticized King for using elements of Misery - chiefly a crazed fan of a writer. But despite that very basic tie, I found this book quite different.

Also .. while it doesn't impact the content of the book ... can I just say that I hate the cover art of this series. I don't need all that dripping blood to get the idea this is a mystery/ suspense / thriller / murder plot.

Will Patton is a great narrator and does a fine job with the many characters in this book. I really like the way he voices Holly and Hodges. He even does a passable job of voicing the young girls.

41Carol420
Jul. 14, 2020, 7:52 am


The Good House - Tananarive Due
4★

Every summer, Angela Toussaint, visits her deceased grandmother's house with her estranged husband and teenage son Corey. The old house, which is located in a rural town in Washington… is known as the “Good House” by locals, because Angela's grandmother Marie, a secret practitioner of voodoo, grew powerful medicinal herbs that helped area residents with a variety of ailments. Angela's summer getaway quickly turns into a nightmare when her son commits suicide in the cellar. Angela spends some time in a mental hospital…but when she gets out she goes back to the house to figure out why Corey killed himself. What she uncovers is a family curse that goes back generations that will not only put her own life in jeopardy, but everyone close to her as well.

I found it to be a really good, creepy story that could have done without so much explanation…but overall I have to say that I really enjoyed the book…and I loved the house. The story has a family tragedy…a culture that may be reflected as different to some readers… relationships, both good and bad…a missing dog…an old flame…voodoo… and last but not least, a great supernatural element. There’s a lot thrown into the mix with a lot to take in. With almost 500 pages the story becomes a bit of a drag and a little difficult to keep everything straight. As I said before it would have benefited the entire story and plot line if it could have been a little shorter.

42Carol420
Jul. 15, 2020, 9:26 am


A Great Deliverance - Elizabeth George
Inspector Lynley series Book #1
5★
To this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale's lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a crying babe in Keldale Abbey, where they'd hidden to escape the ravages of Cromwell's raiders. Now into Keldale's pastoral web of old houses and older secrets comes Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton. Along with the redoubtable Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley has been sent to solve a savage murder that has stunned the peaceful countryside. For fat, unlovely Roberta Teys has been found in her best dress, an axe in her lap, seated in the old stone barn beside her father's headless corpse. Her first and last words were "I did it. And I'm not sorry." Yet as Lynley and Havers wind their way through Keldale's dark labyrinth of secret scandals and appalling crimes, they uncover a shattering series of revelations that will reverberate through this tranquil English valley—and in their own lives as well.

I read this book as well as the entire series over a period of 30 years and loved each and every one of them. I was really great to revisit with my ‘old friends”. The supposed killer…Roberta Teys, a silent, obese adolescent…gives Lizzie Borden a run for her money here even though she did the job in less than 40 whacks. She says she did it and “I’m not sorry”. So end of mystery right? No way! We are only getting started. I have always loved the character of Inspector Lynley while finding Barbara Havers…his partner, to be a embittered and unhappy woman. To make matters worse she hates Inspector Lynley who was born of nobility and doesn’t need to work but chooses to. How anyone in charge thought putting these two together would be a good idea heaven only knows. There are so many more of these novels all featuring this unlikely duo. The twists and turns of the plot are interesting and engaging and on top of that it is a really good read. I would definitely recommend this series if you are a fan of good detective fiction. I’m going to read every single one of these novels again and when I’m done I’ll watch the series on DVD….the best of both worlds.

43JulieLill
Jul. 15, 2020, 12:23 pm

>42 Carol420: I too love this series. The TV series is good too. I am looking forward to book #21.

44JulieLill
Jul. 15, 2020, 7:06 pm

A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Madeleine L'Engle
3/5 stars
“When fifteen-year -old Charles Wallace Murry shouts out in desperation an ancient rune meant to ward off the dark, a radiant creature appears. It is Gaudior, Unicorn and time traveler. Charles Wallace and Gaudior must travel into the past on the winds of time to try and find a Might-Have-Been--a moment in the past when the entire course of events leading to the present can be changed, and the future of Earth-this small, swiftly tilting planet - saved.” Synopsis from the back of the book.
This is the third book in the series. This is not my favorite of the three so far. There was quite a lot of characters in it and a plot that was at times hard to keep track of but I will finish reading the last two books in the series. I would like to know what happens to the family and Charles Wallace.

45Carol420
Jul. 16, 2020, 7:10 am


Give A Boy a Gun - Todd Strasser
4★

For as long as they can remember, Brendan and Gary have been mercilessly teased and harassed by the jocks who rule Middletown High. But not anymore. Stealing a small arsenal of guns from a neighbor, they take their classmates hostage at a school dance. In the panic of this desperate situation, it soon becomes clear that only one thing matters to Brendan and Gary: revenge.

A word of warning…the book is disturbing on so many different levels. The reader has a hard time thinking of it as fiction since the scene has been repeated so many times in so many different cities and schools with the same tragic and heartbreaking results. To tell the story of two alienated and disaffected teenagers who become obsessed with guns and bombs and ultimately vow to exact revenge on all the students…faculty members…and administrators at their school…the author employees many voices to reflect the incomplete narrative that inevitably emerges from tragedies such as these. Parts of the narrative go into “preachy” homilies about bullying and tolerance vs. intolerance, but it’s hard to object when there are no easy solutions available. An unexpected and ironic development at the end of the violence highlights the complexity of the issue, and no one escapes a part of the blame. The author rightly acknowledges that we are all culpable to some extant…as we sometimes come across as a culture that values violence over empathy.

46Carol420
Bearbeitet: Jul. 16, 2020, 4:43 pm


A Shilling For Candles - Josephine Tey
Inspector Grant series Book #2
4.5★

A woman's body is found on the English seacoast, and twisted in her hair is an article screaming murder. For Inspector Alan Grant, the case becomes a nightmare, as too many clues and too many motives arise.

From the time that a young woman's body is pulled from the surf of a lonely beach in Kent, lives are affected. When it becomes known that the woman was the famous stage and screen actress Christine Clay, the ripple effect nearly drowns the world. I like a mystery that has a wide range of suspects making it harder to solve and this one sure has them aplenty. There’s the likable young playboy who's been staying at her cottage. He seems the "right sort" but his story isn’t very believable. Then we have the songwriter who's reputed to have been her lover lurking in the shadows. Who knows what his motives might have been. The will mentions her next-of-kin, a brother to whom she has left only "a shilling for candles." …hence the name of the novel. I wondered what that title meant. This doesn’t sound like a very happy family at all. Of course there’s her husband. Husbands’ are always a good bet for the wife's murder. He’s an aristocrat who dabbles in foreign politics and who has an iron-clad alibi...or maybe he doesn’t. Inspector Grant of Scotland Yard must sort through it all this and try to figure out if Christine Clay's sudden and violent death was really "written in the stars" I had a lot of fun with this one.

47Carol420
Jul. 17, 2020, 1:36 pm


Supernatural: Night Terror - John Passeralla
3★

Alerted to strange happenings in Clayton Falls, Colorado, Bobby sends the boys to check it out. A speeding car with no driver, a homeless man pursued by a massive Gila monster, a little boy chased by uprooted trees — it all sounds like the stuff of nightmares. The boys fight to survive a series of terrifying night times, realizing that sometimes the nightmares don’t go away…even when you’re awake.

If you’ve watched the TV series, Supernatural you’ll recognize the Winchester brothers Sam and Dean even though there isn’t much of them throughout the story and that brought the rating down for me. This is the author of many of the “Buffy” novels also so I thought how much “off” the TV show can it be? The characters were well written and very much like the TV show but as I said they were almost absent in body, I love Supernatural, the TV show and own all the DVD’s but if you are a fan that prefers horror over gore you might want to venture into this one with a spoon-full of caution.

48LibraryCin
Jul. 17, 2020, 11:49 pm

The Great Halifax Explosion / John U. Bacon
4 stars

On Dec. 5, 1917, two ships collided in the Halifax Harbour. One of them was loaded down with explosives, meant to head to Europe for the war effort. Instead, with the collision, a good chunk of Halifax and neighbouring Richmond were wiped out in an instant, along with a couple thousand (likely a low estimate) people, and more thousands injured.

This was very well researched. It does include some discussion of the war, and a soldier from Nova Scotia who ended up helping out after the disaster, as he was back home after being severely injured. Also includes a detailed account of the ships and crew involved in the collision, as well as tidbits of time of some of the civilians on shore who were affected (lost family members, lost homes, injuries...).

49BookConcierge
Jul. 18, 2020, 3:52 pm


Get Shorty– Elmore Leonard
3***

Adapted from the book jacket: A novel that proves the successful crook has all the job skills required to make it in Hollywood. The book follows Chili Palmer, a Miami loan shark with a talent for making a slow pay come across by saying just three words. Chili’s pursuit of a mark who’s behind in his payments takes him first to Las Vegas, and then to Hollywood and horror-film producer Harry Zimm.

My reactions
This was just plain fun. I’d never seen the movie (starring John Travolta as Chili, and Gene Hackman as Harry), so had no real idea what to expect, other than a wild ride. And Leonard definitely delivers on the “wild ride” promise.

There are more subplots that you can shake a stick at, and more than a few obstacles / distractions for Chili to handle. There’s also a slow-burning romantic interest in Harry’s ex, Karen Flores, known for her excellent screaming in some of Harry’s horror spectaculars, and a woman with brains and a cool head in a crisis.

Odd coincidence … I was getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth, when I heard the TV that my husband had on in the bedroom. “Harry Zimm” Well, of course it was the movie … I only caught the last 30 minutes or so of it, but I can see why it was such a hit.

50LibraryCin
Jul. 19, 2020, 12:22 am

A Bone to Pick / Charlaine Harris.
3.5 stars

Aurora Teagarden is a librarian and used to attend meetings of the Real Murders club in her town. They disbanded, but she knew (somewhat) the elderly Jane from the club. When Jane dies, Aurora is surprised to learn that Jane has left everything to her (except her cat and a bit of money). Aurora suddenly owns a small house, and has plenty of money. But, she finds an odd item in Jane’s house and isn’t quite sure what to do with or about it...

I quite enjoyed this! I really liked the guy Aurora started dating and I loved that she now has her own house. It’s a short/quick read.

51JulieLill
Jul. 19, 2020, 2:04 pm

Dark Remedy: The Impact of Thaliodomide and It's Revival as a Vital Medicine
Trent D. Stephens
4/5 stars
This was such an interesting and sad book about the history of Thalomide. The authors trace the drug from its beginning: from the doctor who developed it and who had a questionable history, stories of the families whose children had suffered from phocomelia (malformations of the arms and legs) and to its revival of use in cases of leprosy, multiple myeloma and HIV. I found it to be thoughtful and well written.

52threadnsong
Bearbeitet: Jul. 19, 2020, 6:00 pm

The Image of the King: Charles I and Charles II by Richard Ollard
3***

Charles I and Charles II were father and son, yet their personalities could nto have been more different. The character of Charles I is crucial to our understanding of the English Civil War. Charles II is one of the figures with which the nation most enjoys identifying itself. Richard Ollard examines the two most famous Stuart kings as they are revealed in the recollections of those who knew and served them, and as they are represented in the works of art that they commissioned. He has written a double biography which is also a brilliant account of a great transition in English history.

I will start this review by saying it is an extraordinarily researched book. I am also not the intended audience: it is written for a reader or scholar well-versed in the time period of Charles I, Cromwell, and the Restoration. On the other hand, it gives a good foundation for a casual reader, even if the references to the Battle of Edgehill, for example, are brief. It provides the necessary moments in time and persons involved to pique interest.

Ollard's basis for this book is drawn on the different portraits of father and son, provided in different sections, and what those forms and figures say about the men. Charles I's assumption that he need not learn statehood, until the death of the Prince of Wales, is examined from portraiture as well as from history. Then there is the flamboyance of Charles II upon his return, after many wanderings, from the court of Louis XIV. I find that mesh of research materials intriguing: how does the King present himself as a painting subject, given what we know from his historical record?

While I usually give high marks to a well-researched and innovative historical work, the circular language in here, the multiple "he's" in a sentence when there are multiple subjects, and the meandering sentences made it a difficult read. Hence only 3 stars.

53Carol420
Jul. 20, 2020, 11:16 am


Over Sea,Under Stone - Susan Cooper
The Dark Rising series Book #1
4★

On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that -- the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. And in searching for it themselves, the Drews put their very lives in peril.

I read it for a challenge and also to revisit a story that my grandson loved and read over and over. The book reminds me of a cross between The Chronicles of Narnia with a group of children being the main ones that solve the mystery. It also made me think a little of me a little of The Goonies with them finding a map and following the clues while being pursued by all the bad guys. The idea of the book...children's quest for a grail, and an Arthurian legend was just the right combination. Those two things and the simple twist of Merry's real name was something that would certainly intrigue a child.

54Jenson_AKA_DL
Jul. 20, 2020, 3:55 pm

>47 Carol420: I love the Supernatural television show and am greatly looking forward the the series finale. It is a bummer that this tie-in didn't have more of the Winchesters. I haven't read any Supernatural novelizations but wouldn't really want one without the Dean and Sam.

>53 Carol420: Loved, loved, loved this book in elementary school, along with the rest of the Dark is Rising series. Such fantastic books! On a side note, my boyfriend is currently at a theater showing of The Goonies. The local theater is mainly relying on re-showings of older movies currently and he didn't get to see this in the theater when it originally came out.

55Carol420
Jul. 20, 2020, 4:02 pm

>47 Carol420: Sam and Dean had such a small part in the story, but they did get their pictures on the cover:)

I have "The Goonies" on DVD. My grandson sat in his little chair and watched it when he was only 3 or 4 years old. He'd watch it over and over. I was really glad that he loved the Dark is Rising series so much.

56Carol420
Bearbeitet: Jul. 21, 2020, 9:56 am


Two Little Girls In Blue - Mary Higgins Clark
3.5★

When Margaret and Steve Frawley come home to Connecticut from a black-tie dinner in New York, their three-year-old twins, Kathy and Kelly, are gone. The police found the babysitter unconscious, and a ransom note from the Pied Piper demands eight million dollars. Steve's global investment firm puts up the money, but when they go to retrieve the twins, only Kelly is in the car. The dead driver's suicide note says he inadvertently killed Kathy. At the memorial, Kelly tugs Margaret's arm and says: Mommy, Kathy is very scared of that lady. She wants to come home right now. At first, only Margaret believes that the twins are communicating and that Kathy is still alive. But as Kelly's warnings become increasingly specific and alarming, FBI agents set out on a desperate search.

The story was good... but some of the characters needed to be a bit more believable...especially the kidnappers. They were a rag-tag group of morons who decide to kidnap twins in an effort to gain ransom and they were bumbling idiots. The "twin talk" the girls shared was fairly interesting. I know there has been some long-term studies done on this and the results are pretty amazing. It was in whole, a good mystery...but not great nor was it the best or the worse that I have read by this author. My suggestion would be that this would more than adequately fill the gap if you just need a slow and easy break from hard core mystery & suspense.

57BookConcierge
Jul. 21, 2020, 5:21 pm


French Pressed – Cleo Coyle
Digital audiobook performed by Rebecca Gabel.
3***

From the book jacket: Clare’s daughter, Joy, is immersing herself in an internship at Solange, one of New York’s hottest French restaurants – and she’s getting pretty intimate with the older, married Chef Tommy Keitel as well. Resolved to keep an closer eye on Joy, Clarre makes a deal to provide exclusive coffee blends for Tommy, a man she wouldn’t mind seeing roasted and pressed. Then the competitive kitchen turns cutthroat, and Joy’s a suspect. To clear her daughter of the crime, Clare knows she must catch the real killer.

My reactions
This is book six in the Coffeehouse Mystery series, and I’m really enjoying them. I do think that Clare’s insistence on investigating on her own is a bit over-the-top, but it wouldn’t be a cozy mystery without an intrusive amateur sleuth. I do enjoy the information on coffees (even though I stick with grocery-store blends myself), and this book really delves into foodie culture which had me salivating in places.

I also like that the romance with detective Mike Quinn is heating up, despite Madame’s (Clare’s mother-in-law and co-owner of the shop) efforts to get Clare back with her son Matteo.

Not a fan of the cliff-hanger ending, but that’s a pet peeve of mine. Still, I found it deliciously entertaining – a perfect “escape” during these unsettled times.

Rebecca Gabel does a fine job performing the audiobook. I really love the voice she uses for Madame.

58LibraryCin
Jul. 23, 2020, 12:21 am

The New Jim Crow / Michelle Alexander
3 stars

This book takes a look at mass incarceration in the US and, in particular, the effect on black men.

Well, sorry, but I imagine mine is not a popular opinion. I’m not convinced. Although she tried to link it to black men, most of what she talked about holds true for all criminals with a record. She ties some things to people of colour, but not everything (unless I missed it, which is possible, given that I listened to the audio). I actually agreed with some of the laws, and such, though many of the laws and sentences are ridiculous, no question. I certainly don’t agree with any type of racial profiling, however.

I listened to the audio which may have made a difference. It’s hard enough to read a bunch of stats and such, but maybe harder still to listen to it. By the end, though, I was really tired of the phrases “mass incarceration” and “black caste system”. I was likely also tuning out more the longer the book went, so I very well may have missed a number of arguments.

59LibraryCin
Bearbeitet: Jul. 23, 2020, 12:38 am

Deep Freeze / Lisa Jackson
4.5 stars

Jenna was an actress until an accident on her last movie. She quit and left for a small town in Oregon, after divorcing her husband and taking her two teenage daughters with her. Unfortunately, there seems to be a serial killer in the area, and Jenna seems to be the target of smaller crimes.

Probably not the most exciting summary, but I was really hooked on this one! I could call it a mystery, a thriller, suspenseful, and horror. I added in horror after reading one night before bed and having to convince myself to get up and do the nightly routine, including heading to the basement to clean the cat litter! Didn’t want to head down there... Although she wrapped up this book, at the end she started up what will be the second book in the series. I had already decided if it was a series, I’d be continuing; she didn’t need the cliffhanger to convince me.

60BookConcierge
Bearbeitet: Jul. 24, 2020, 10:05 am


Rise & Shine Benedict Stone – Phaedra Patrick
Digital audiobook performed by James Langton.
3.5***

Benedict Stone is a middle-aged man with problems. His jewelry shop in the village of Noon Sun is barely operational, his wife has left him, he hardly cleans his house, and in his rather depressed state he’s resorted to baked goods which have added on pounds. He’s stuck. And then a teen-aged niece he’s never met – the daughter of his estranged brother who lives in America – arrives unannounced at his door on a rainy night. Gemma says she’s on a visit and that she’s lost her phone and passport, so they can’t call her Dad, but “it’s Okay, he knows I’m here.”

Thus, begins this delightful novel of one man’s awakening. Benedict is a good man, but consumed by his desire to have children, and by guilt for a long-past dispute that resulted in the break with his brother. Gemma, who wants details of her family lore, pushes him to recall and reconcile. She’s also the catalyst for Benedict’s change – improving his diet, insisting he exercise, suggesting new options for the shop, and providing some “romantic” advice on how to win back his wife.

There are some wonderfully endearing hilarious scenes that result from Gemma’s romantic advice. But there’s quite a bit of serious drama as well. It seems that Benedict isn’t the only Stone family member who is good at running away from problems rather than facing them. And sprinkled throughout is a bit of the mythology and meaning of gemstones.

Patrick has crafted a sort of modern-day fairy tale, with a cast of eccentric characters (and the village is practically a character in itself), and a happy ending. It was a charming, heart-warming read.

The audio book is performed by James Langton, who did a marvelous job. I really like the way he interpreted Benedict and Gemma.

61Carol420
Bearbeitet: Jul. 24, 2020, 12:33 pm


Northern Light - Deb Davies
4.5★

After the death of her husband, Claire is finding it hard to adjust to being a widow in northern Michigan. She and her cat quickly find themselves surrounded by visitors, including her best friend, Laurel. The empty house soon feels more like home until a raven mysteriously appears inside, resulting in a disastrous mess, and a new friend for houseguest Charles, an eccentric ornithologist. Although the company initially offers the support and distraction Claire needs, random attacks soon escalate and no one is safe. When the unlikely group comes face-to-face with someone intent on murder, will their newfound friendship be strong enough to protect them?

I really loved this book. I live in Michigan and just an hour or so from all of the places that the author inserted into the story…so it became a very special offering to me. The writing was so easy and flowed very well to tell the story of a recently widowed woman and the friends and family that soon arrived to fill her house…but something else seemed to have arrived also. They represented different times in Claire’s life so even though she knew them…they didn’t all know one another. That added a bit of suspense and mystery to the happenings taking place. It wasn’t a ghost story but it had that feel. Strange things started to happen almost from the time the people arrived starting with the raven and escalated to attacks that targeted random people. It’s difficult to say much about the storyline without giving a lot away but I will say that I read the entire book in a day and I will be watching for more by this author. I got the idea that she may be making this into a series…and that would be great.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. The views expressed by this reviewer are entirely my own.

62BookConcierge
Jul. 24, 2020, 4:56 pm


To the Bright Edge Of the World – Eowyn Ivey
Audiobook narrated by John Glouchevitch, Christine Lakin, & Kiff VandenHeuve.
4.5****

The novel has two stories of exploration and adventure. In 1885, Col Allen Forrester leads an expedition to explore the Wolverine River in Alaska, a trek that has been deemed impossible. His wife, Sophie, remains at Vancouver Barracks, Washington, where she explores the wonders of nature, birds in particular, through her growing expertise in photography.

This is a marvelous adventure story, and an engaging look at personal growth. Both these lead characters experience heartache and difficulties and yet both persevere in reaching their goals despite obstacles, naysayers, and setbacks.

I loved the use of diary entries and letters to tell this bifurcated story. Allen is a strong leader, compassionate but demanding, taking care of his men as best as circumstances and supplies allow, giving clear orders, delegating authority, taking his share of the burden, championing the cause, and always, holding dear to his heart his beloved wife.

Sophie is equally marvelous and tenacious as she pursues an unusual outlet for her intelligence, creativity and curiosity. If the doctor will not lend her a book to further her understanding and knowledge, she’ll steal borrow it! Rather than ask politely, or even forcefully, for help in creating a dark room, she sets out to do it herself.

The book is full of Native Alaskan people’s culture, traditions, and stories. There are several very strong Native characters. I love magical realism and Ivey seamlessly weaves these elements into her story. I particularly like the woman, Nat’aaggi, and her trusty dog, Boyo. She’s cautious, self-reliant, determined, loyal to the group and yet fiercely independent. I loved the scene where Forrester stood up against native tradition and insisted that she ride along his men as a member of his party rather than walk behind as other native women were doing. Her growing relationship with the men was beautifully played out, as each learned to trust and rely upon the other, and their mutual respect blossomed.

The audiobook is wonderfully narrated by three talented voice artists: John Glouchevitch, Christine Lakin and Kiff VandenHeuve. Ms Lakin obviously narrates all of Sophies letters and diary entries. I’m not certain which man narrates which of the other sections, but all do a marvelous job.

I was happy that I also had a text version of the book handy, for it contains maps, drawings and photographs that supplement Ivey’s wonderful prose.

63JulieLill
Jul. 25, 2020, 2:46 pm

Many Waters
Madeleine L'Engle
4/5 stars
In this fourth book of the series, the focus is on Dennys and Sandy, the twin brothers of the Murry family. While no one is home they go into their mom’s lab when something happens to them and they are transported back in time. They end up still on Earth but in the time period when Noah and his family are given the instructions to build an ark and only certain people will be saved. Will Dennys and Sandy survive? This was a really interesting book but there are some very adult situations in this book so I find it interesting that it is considered a J (juvenile) book! I would consider it more of a YA book.

64LibraryCin
Jul. 26, 2020, 6:51 pm

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things / Randy Frost, Gail Steketee
4 stars

The authors are psychologists who were the first to really study hoarding behaviour. This tells of some of the psychology of hoarding and presents many case studies of people they worked with. Hoarding is usually associated with OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), but the authors feel that it should be its own category.

People who hoard show different symptoms of different mental health disorders, including OCD, perfectionism, anxiety, and more I’m forgetting. People have different reasons they present for not wanting to get rid of their things, including not wanting to be wasteful, growing attached to their belongings, and more. Their families are affected. The case studies in this book include children of hoarders and how they are affected, as well as children who are, themselves, hoarders. One chapter also looks at animal hoarding.

I can see myself, just a tiny bit in some of the traits the authors present in their case studies, but I don’t go anywhere near the extremes of people who really are hoarders. I found this so interesting.

65LibraryCin
Jul. 26, 2020, 7:09 pm

Jane / Aline Brosh McKenna, Ramon K. Perez
4 stars

This is a graphic novel, modern-day retelling of Jane Eyre. Jane is an orphan who manages to leave the unloving home where she grows up to move to New York City to become an artist. While at school, she finds a job as a nanny to a girl whose mother has died and her father is never around.

This was really good. In addition to being a very well-told story, the illustrations are really well done and easy to follow.

66JulieLill
Jul. 27, 2020, 11:12 am

>65 LibraryCin: This sounds interesting!

67AnnaMorgan01
Jul. 27, 2020, 11:19 am

Dieser Benutzer wurde wegen Spammens entfernt.

68LibraryCin
Jul. 27, 2020, 11:58 am

>66 JulieLill: I thought so!

69Carol420
Jul. 27, 2020, 12:12 pm

>68 LibraryCin: First time I ever saw what happened to the post #67. Good to see someone is on their toes.

70Carol420
Jul. 29, 2020, 10:30 am


The Turn of The Key - Ruth Ware
5★

When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nanny post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family. What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder. Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the home’s cameras, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman. It was everything. She’s not guilty—at least not of murder—but somebody is

The story was set up and then the reader was driven forward with suspicions, clues, misdirection’s, twists, and red herrings. I have been a fan of this author ever since I read The Death of Mrs. Westaway a few years ago. Ruth Ware can tell a ghost story…or any story for that matter in a way that gives you goose-bumps and keeps you looking over your shoulder. In this one we are presented with a plethora of unexplained and terrifying events. Everything from a crumbling ancestral mansion that’s been turned into a “smart house” complete with an assortment of blinking surveillance cameras…talking refrigerators…embedded phones and speaker systems…and misfiring lights and locks. It’s a toss-up as to whether the alleged ghosts or the rogue gadgets are ultimately responsible for shattering the heroine’s fragile nerves. The characters were all “strange”… from the other household help to the children. she was caring for. The house itself… in spite of the modern gadgets… is filled with superstitions and haunted house stories by the locals. The entire book has enough of everything that a good ghost story/murder mystery would ever want.

71BookConcierge
Jul. 29, 2020, 11:30 am


The Bookish Life Of Nina Hill – Abbi Waxman
Digital audiobook performed by Emily Rankin.
3***

From the book jacket The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. But her steady life is upended when the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews. … And as if that was not enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her.

My reactions
I was predisposed to like this book because it focused on a bookworm.

I realize Nina suffers from an anxiety disorder and how the sudden influx of all these “strangers” who are supposedly her family would adversely impact a person with such a disorder. And, she does ultimately gather her courage and takes steps towards a less-lonely life.

However, while I liked Nina and the other characters, I somehow didn’t really connect to the book. Perhaps I’m just too far past that young-adult / new-adult phase in my life to really immerse myself in the angst of dating, or the romantic missteps we’ve all made in a new relationship. Also, I found the subplot of the inheritance something of a mis-connect. Perhaps if Waxman had just focused on Nina’s anxiety and the new relationship with Tom I would have liked it a bit more.

In any case, I still enjoyed it, as I enjoy mind candy (and candy of the edible kind as well), but it just doesn’t stay with me for long, or really satisfy my hunger.

Emily Rankin did a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She has clear diction and a good pace.

72JulieLill
Jul. 29, 2020, 3:11 pm

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds' Most Dangerous Man
Mary L. Trump
4.5/5 stars
Mary Trump, niece of Donald Trump and daughter of Fred Trump Jr., writes about life in the Trump family beginning with the patriarch of the Trumps, Fred Trump. Fred Sr. was a cruel, miserly man obsessed with profits and his children were his last priority and seen only as valuable as employees and for what they could do for him. When their mother became ill, they were on their own and were ill prepared for life. Not a long book but filled with crucial details of the Trump family history and a look at the family that shaped Donald Trump.

73LibraryCin
Jul. 29, 2020, 3:46 pm

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man / Fannie Flagg
3.5 stars

Daisy Fay is an 11-year old growing up in Mississippi in the 1950s. Her parents don’t always seem to get along. Her dad drinks, and doesn’t seem to have much luck with the businesses he sets up. It’s told in diary/journal form when Daisy Fay is 11, 15 and 17/18 years old.

It was good, but nothing special. There was some humour. Still not exactly sure who the “Miracle Man” is.

74LibraryCin
Jul. 30, 2020, 2:47 am

Iron Kissed / Patricia Briggs
3 stars

Mercy is a shapeshifter (coyote) who was raised by werewolves. She is brought into a fae community to help sniff out a murderer. Somehow someone Mercy knows who is not the murderer (or was this a retaliation murder?) is arrested, so Mercy is trying to help find who is the (one of the?) real murderer(s?). In addition, Mercy is torn between two men, one the alpha werewolf.

Listened to the audio, and I had a hard time focusing (that may be obvious from my summary!). Enjoyed what I paid attention to, but I’ll try to remember not to listen to another audio in this series, for as long as I continue the series. I’ll at least try the next one (not audio) and see if I want to continue after that at all.

75Carol420
Bearbeitet: Jul. 30, 2020, 8:01 am


Home Before Dark - Riley Sager
4.5★

Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls? What was it like? Living in that house. Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

A ghost story collides with a family mystery. Maggie Holt was 5 years old when her mother and father took her and fled the house known as Baneberry Hall that they thought would be their dream home on the edge of a Vermont forest. Her parents always told her "never return...it's not safe...for you". Her father wrote a best seller about their experience in the house that they only occupied for 20 days...Maggie didn't believe a word of it which I thought was a bit dramatic on her part since she had almost no memory of anything that happened in the house. Of course she didn't listen and after calling her parents...especially her father... a liar Maggie returns to try to get the house in shape to put it on the market...but the house and what occupies it... has other plans for Maggie. Events begin to unfold that defy logic and begin to call into question all that Maggie believed...or didn’t believe... about her family’s ordeal years prior. Ghosts aren’t real…are they? Find out for yourself but leave your lights on...make sure your closets are as empty as you think they are...and get ready for a chilling journey into Maggie Holt's forgotten world.

Note: In spite of the reference to the Amityville Horror...this book is listed as a work of fiction.

76Jenson_AKA_DL
Jul. 30, 2020, 10:35 am

>63 JulieLill:, I have had Many Waters in my bookcase for years, but have yet to read it. I read A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, but never got around to reading this one. I really should get to it!

77LibraryCin
Jul. 30, 2020, 5:06 pm

Red Bones / Ann Cleeves
3 stars

When this small Shetland Island sees two deaths in a very short time, one apparently accidental, and one a suicide, the police begin to wonder. Mima, an older lady who owns the land an archaeological dig is happening on, is accidentally shot and killed. And not long after, one of the people working on the dig appears to have committed suicide.

There are a lot of characters and I had a hard time keeping some of them straight, especially as to how they related to each other. I did think the book picked up in the second half when the second body was found. Or, really, when it appeared the person was missing. For the first half of the book, I thought it was time to give up on the series, but with the second half, I think I’ll do one more. Just not on audio. This one wasn’t, but I’ve read one of the others on audio, and that is definitely not the way to go for me for this series.

78BookConcierge
Jul. 31, 2020, 11:49 am


Ayesha At Last– Uzma Jalaluddin
Digital audiobook performed by Rosni Shukla
3.5***

Ayesha Shamsi dreams of being a poet but works as a teacher to pay her debts to her uncle. Her family is loud and boisterous, and Ayehsa is constantly being reminded that her younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to collecting her target hundredth marriage proposal, while she seems destined to never marry. Ayesha is lonely, but doesn’t want an arranged marriage. And then she meets Khalid Mirza, who is smart and handsome, and, also very conservative and judgmental.

I had great fun identifying Elizabeth, Darcy, Lydia, Wickham and Mr Collins in this modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice, featuring a Muslim couple in Toronto, Canada. Their missteps, misunderstandings, wrong conclusions, and ultimate relationship flow seamlessly from who they are and how they perceive the world. Both Ayesha and Khalid must make an effort to meet in the middle and communicate openly with one another.

I also enjoyed learning a bit more about Muslim culture and traditions. Jalaluddin shows us characters who are faithful and yet living in the modern world, and she doesn’t shy away from exploring work-place (and societal) bias.

Rosni Shukla does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and has the skill as a voice artist to sufficiently differentiate the many characters.

79JulieLill
Aug. 1, 2020, 12:17 pm

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
By Stuart Turton
4/5 stars
This is the most interesting, suspenseful and intricate supernatural murder mystery, I have ever read. Evelyn Hardcastle is murdered at a party in the country. No one knows who has done it but there are certain guests at the party who need to find the murderer and they only have so much time to find him/her or else they will suffer the consequences. There are so many twists and turns that you may need to take notes especially if you want to keep track of the characters and the plot.

80LibraryCin
Aug. 1, 2020, 4:05 pm

Little Disasters / Sarah Vaughan
4 stars

Liz is a pediatrician and is called in to help with an emergency of a baby who was brought in with a skull fracture. The mother’s story is fishy. Unfortunately, Liz is friends with the mother. Even so, others are alerted and there is an investigation.

This is told from multiple points of view, including Jess’s, the mother of the baby. We don’t get a full account of what’s happened until later in the book, with a couple of twists along the way. I’m not a mom, but you can see how stressful parenting can be in some instances. I thought this was really good. It kept me reading and wanting to know what happened to that poor little girl.

81JulieLill
Aug. 2, 2020, 12:50 pm

Housebroken: Admissions of an Untidy Life
Laurie Notaro
Laurie Notaro is an unconventional wife, mother and writer. She writes about her everyday experiences from trying on Spanx, snooping in her husband’s journal and her love of Twinkies to name a few, with no shame and makes you laugh and smile a lot. I would read more of her books!

82threadnsong
Bearbeitet: Aug. 2, 2020, 8:39 pm

A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
5*****

In 1665 the Great Plague swept through London, claiming nearly 100,000 lives. In "A Journal," written nearly sixty years later, Defoe vividly chronicled the progress of the epidemic. We follow his fictional narrator through a city transformed: the streets and alleyways deserted; the houses of death with crosses daubed on their doors; the dead-carts on their way to the pits. And he recounts the horrifying stories of the citizens he encounters, as fear, isolation and hysteria take hold. "A Journal" is both a fascinating historical document and a supreme work of imaginative reconstruction.

Reading this in 2020 is like knowing that we've been here before. I got to know this book via the appendices before even starting the volume which gave me a good grounding on what to expect. Because seriously, I never would have wanted to read this book until now. And I cannot recommend it enough.

There are charlatans called out for peddling false cures. There are sick people stuck in their homes to prevent the rest of the City from getting the Plague. There are people who don't know they're sick who go about their business until they literally fall down dead. There are people who don't want to abide by the new law to stay in their homes, so they leave to go about their business, or go into the countryside. Whether they infect others is determined by where they were in the City when the Plague hit. There are people who turn to religion with a depth that they had not had before. And there are dead carts.

It is a series of observations, not a full narrative of events. Although there are two or three "stories" in here (a trio of brothers, a waterman who struggles to feed his family locked in their home), the vast majority of the pages are full of anecdotes, observations, and lists of the numbers of dead. What is fascinating is how the Plague started by one merchant from the Low Countries who arrives, not knowing he is infected, and the Plague moves from West to East. Were I not living now, I would never have known the importance of such a detail.

And after typing the bit from the back of the book, the statement "fear, isolation and hysteria" is, I think, why I'm so drawn to this book. Knowing that other people in another time dealt with the same emotions is almost comforting. We're all so socially isolated now, and yet thanks to accounts like this, I'm finding I'm not that alone after all.

83threadnsong
Bearbeitet: Aug. 2, 2020, 9:13 pm

Blade of Fortriu by Juliet Marillier
5***** (re-read)

Original review below, edited a bit for space. Also, I started this book in March, then life got complicated. So I picked it back up and devoured it in about a fortnight.

Five years have passed since young king Bridei ascended the throne of Fortriu, and he is determined to finally drive the Gaelic invaders from his lands. One of Bridei's plans involves the beautiful and well-loved princess of the light Isles. Ana has dwelt as a hostage at the court of Fortriu for most of her young life and understands her duty. She will marry Alpin, a chieftain she has never seen, in the hopes of gaining a strategic ally for Fortriu.

Wow. I didn't think it could happen. A part of a trilogy that brings other, minor characters into the fore and fleshes them out.

Still building his kingdom and dealing with the problems of the Gaels in the West of his country is new king Bridei with his wife Tuala at his side and a young son. The battle scenes are well-written and what I would imagine war on horseback with weapons to be: all the blood, pain, and sudden turns of chance.

Then you have the primary plot of Faolan, the spy and trusted companion of Bridei, who is to escort the young Ana to her betrothed, Alpin, in distant Briar Wood. Both characters are mentioned as minor details in a larger tapestry in Well of Shades; here they have the central stage of events in the story. Such a deviation from the normal method of storytelling helps the history of Fortriu move forward while still keeping the reader's interest.

Again, there are plot twists that keep you alert and guessing and interested in every character's outcome. Even the bad ones: are they going to get their just desserts? And what is going to happen to one group of individuals or to another?

84threadnsong
Aug. 2, 2020, 9:20 pm

The Well of Shades by Juliet Marillier
5***** (also a re-read)

Original review below, edited a bit. And I started this book the day after I finished "Blade" above. I mean, devoured. It held up to a re-read.

King Bridei's dream of uniting his kingdom is almost within his grasp, but there are forces working to destroy him. He sends Faolan, his most trusted advisor (who is by trade also a master assassin and spy), on a mission to ferret out the truth of who is friend and who is foe. The enigmatic Faolan must return to his homeland, the green isle Erin, a place that holds only pain and sorrow for him. There he finds the lovely young woman Eile, whose beauty shines forth despite her tragic circumstances.

Oh, wow. Oh really, really wow. Finally, Faolan's thoughts begin to turn back towards the light, and the history of his life becomes the forefront of this book. Oh, and remember Drustan's guard from Blade of Fortriu? Well, now we learn more, much more about him.

This is a dark book, as the principle female character, Eile, is a victim of childhood rape by her stepfather and has a three-year-old daughter. Her dealing with the world is right on, and while her healing may be a little fast for reality, it does fit in with the pace of the story.

And then you have more character development with Tuala (yes, really), and the druid Broichan. Interestingly for our times, there are two young women in positions of power who have received harsh punishment as children. As a result, they both grow into chaotic monsters who see others as playthings for their whims, and no real consequences to their actions up till these events.