WHAT ARE WE READING & REVIEWING IN OCTOBER 2021?

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WHAT ARE WE READING & REVIEWING IN OCTOBER 2021?

1Carol420
sep 21, 2021, 10:06 am



What are your reading plans for October. Tells us about it.

2Carol420
Bewerkt: okt 30, 2021, 10:46 am



Carol's October Reads
📌 - ★

📌Absolution - Henry Hack - 5★ Early Reviewers) - from Sept
📌Alien's Captive - Tina Moss 3.5★ - (Early Reviewers)
Double Take - Elizabeth Breck - (Early Reviewers)
📌Plain Bad Heroines - Emily Danforth - 3★ (Pick A Winner, Make A Friend)
📌The Deck of Omens - Christine Lynn Herman - 3★
📌The Remaking - Clay Chapman - 4★
📌The Return - Rachel Harrison - 5★
📌Craven Manor - Darcy Coates - 5★
📌House of Furies - Madeleine Roux - 4.5★
📌The Carrow Haunt - Darcy Coates - 5★
📌Shelter - Catherine Jinks - 2★
📌Survivor Song - Paul Tremblay -2★
📌Cassidy's Corner - Henry Hack - 4★
📌Out of Character - Annabeth Albert -3★
📌The Charm Offensive - Alison Cochrun -3.5★
📌Defining Moments - Ben Burgess - 4.5★
📌The Witch's Familiar - T.J. Nichol - 3★
📌The Haunting of Leigh Harker- Darcy Coates- 4★
📌Under The Whispering Door - T.J. Klune - 5★
📌All The Dead Voices - Declan Hughes - 4★
📌The Remaking of Corbin Wale - Roan Parrish - 5★
📌A House At The Bottom of a Lake - Josh Malerman - 3★
📌In The Dark - Loreth Anne White -4.5★
📌The Vanishing - Bentley Little -3★
📌Bread and Books - Hollis Shiloh - 3.5★
📌The Dead Girls Club - Damien Angelica Walters -5★
📌Goodnight Moo - Mollie Cox Bryan - 3★
📌Before There Were Three - L.A. Witt 5+★
📌Perron Manor - Lee Mountford - 5★
📌The Devil's Highway - Luis Albert Urrea - 4★
📌Pretty, Pretty Boys - Gregory Ashe - 3★
📌Dark Rivers - Morgan Brice 5★
📌An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed - Helene Tursten - 3★
📌Red-Headed Stepchild - Jaye Wells - 2★
📌Witchy Whiskers - Danielle Garrett 4★
📌Spells, Salt & Steel – Season One - Gail Z. Martin & Larry Martin - 3★

3BookConcierge
okt 2, 2021, 8:44 am


Practical Magic – Alice Hoffman
Book on CD narrated by Christina Moore
3***

The Owens women have always been known for their beauty and have always had magical powers. But when sisters Gillian and Sally are orphaned, they are taken in by their older aunts and endure years of taunting and teasing in their Massachusetts town. They turn their backs on magic and set out on their own. Years later, Gillian is twice divorced and living in Tucson with a very bad man. Older sister Sally is widowed with two young daughters of her own, settled in upstate New York. Then one rainy night, Gillian appears on Sally’s doorstep … with a dead man in her car. And things get weirder and weirder from that point forward.

I remember the movie starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock – vaguely. I remember I thought little of it and quickly forgot it. I resisted reading anything by Hoffman as a result. But a particular challenge drew me to this work at this time, and I have to say that I’m glad I read it.

Hoffman is a great storyteller and she does a marvelous job weaving this “fairy tale for adults.” Her characters and much more complex that I was expecting. Like all fairy tales there is a lesson here. Hoffman deals with sibling rivalry, with forgiveness, with the pull of family and the desire for independence.

Christina Moore does a splendid job reading the audiobook. I loved being read to by her!

4BookConcierge
okt 2, 2021, 8:46 am


Lost Children Archive – Valeria Luiselli
Digital audiobook performed by the author, Kivlighan de Montebello, William DeMeritt, and Maia Enrigue Luiselli.
5*****

A cross-country journey from New York to Arizona gives one family – mother, father, 10-year-old boy, five-year-old girl – an opportunity to explore the history of this nation from two perspectives: How the immigrant Europeans, in the name of expanded opportunities, wrested the land from the native population, and how their descendants are trying to keep a new wave of immigrants from seeking their own opportunities.

As they travel, they sing along with the songs on the radio, play games, stop at various tourist attractions. They encounter people of all walks of life, and differences the parents sometimes struggle to explain to the children. And they begin to hear more and more news coverage of a growing crisis along our nation’s southern border – the many children who are desperately trying to enter the country.

I loved the way this unfolded. Luiselli changes narrators hallway through the book, first giving us the mother’s perspective, and then the son’s. Both parents work to document things, but one is a documentarian and the other a documentarist. I’m still not sure I fully understand the difference, but clearly this difference is important to both the man and the woman. What’s important to the reader is the way they are documenting what is happening, in their family, in nature, in the nation, in the world. And this forces the reader to think about how we remember things. The same photograph of a landmark, or a family gathering, will elicit different memories from those who viewed that same event together. And a child’s interpretation will be far different from an adult’s.

As distressing as the images and stories of the lost children trying to enter this country are, the specifics of this family’s journey had me on the edge of my seat. I could not help but think of the Stephen Sondheim song “Children Will Listen” from Into the Woods.

Luiselli’s writing is evocative of time and place. I could clearly picture the changing landscape as the family travels across the United States.

I am so looking forward to my F2F book club discussion of this book!

The audiobook is performed by a team including the author, Kivlighan de Montebello, William DeMeritt, and Maia Enrigue Luiselli. This was a very effective way of reading this book. However, the text has numerous photographs, drawings, maps, which are difficult to convey in audio format. Though I applaud the team for how they managed this, I’m glad I had a text version handy so I could see what they were describing.

5Carol420
Bewerkt: okt 2, 2021, 12:19 pm


Craven Manor - Darcy Coates
5★
Daniel is desperate for a fresh start. So when a mysterious figure slides a note under his door offering the position of groundskeeper at an ancient estate, he leaps at the chance, even though it seems too good to be true. Alarm bells start ringing when he arrives at Craven Manor. The abandoned mansion is straight out of those old gothic mysteries: the front door hangs open, and leaves and cobwebs coat the marble foyer. It's clear no one has lived here in a long time... but he has nowhere else to go. Against his better judgment, he moves into the groundskeeper's cottage tucked away behind the old family crypt. But when a candle flickers to life in the abandoned tower window, Daniel realizes he isn't alone after all. Something awful happened here long ago, and it's a paranormal mystery Daniel is afraid to solve. Because Craven Manor is hiding a terrible secret... One that threatens to bury him with it

Why does it take these characters so long to realize that there is something really, really wrong here? I guess it would be a very short book if they got it as quickly as we...the readers...do. The overall tone of this book is creepy and off-setting as it’s certainly not lacking in the gross and gory element. The main character, Daniel... is a delightfully compassionate and very ethical young man with a surprisingly open mind in the face of extremely bizarre circumstances...in other words “ghost fodder”. I have read almost everything that Darcy Coates has written and loved them all but this one just my hold the top place of “The Best One Yet”. Craven Manor sinks its claws into you from the eerie cover, to the well-drawn, easy to like characters. Daniel's fate remains uncertain throughout the story and this, if anything, is what will keep you reading and rooting for this young man.

6Carol420
okt 2, 2021, 2:29 pm


The Deck of Omens - Christine Lynn Herman - (New York)
The Devouring Grey series Book #2
3★
Though the Beast is seemingly subdued for now, a new threat lurks in Four Paths: a corruption seeping from the Gray into the forest. And with the other Founders preoccupied by their tangled alliances and fraying relationships, only May Hawthorne seems to realize the danger. But saving the town she loves means seeking aid from the person her family despises most -- her father, Ezra Bishop. May's father isn't the only newcomer in town -- Isaac Sullivan's older brother has also returned, seeking forgiveness for the role he played in Isaac's troubled past. But Isaac isn't ready to let go of his family's history, especially when that history might hold the key that he and Violet Saunders need to destroy the Gray and the monster within it. Harper Carlisle isn't ready to forgive, either. Two devastating betrayals have left her isolated from her family and uncertain who to trust. As the corruption becomes impossible to ignore, Harper must learn to control her newfound powers in order to protect Four Paths. But the only people who can help her do that are the ones who have hurt her the most. With the veil between the Gray and the town growing ever thinner, the Founder descendants must put their grievances with one another aside to stop the corruption and kill the Beast once and for all. But the monster they truly need to slay may never been the Beast .

Of course, I didn’t read the first book first...what else is new under the sun? So, I didn’t really get exactly what the Beast was but I had it figured out by the middle of the book. The Beast is a mysterious sentient creature which was trapped by the four founders of the town over a century ago and therefore becomes the problem of every generation that comes after. The Beast will stop at nothing to break its constraints. The main characters of the story must work together to keep the town and the rest of the world, safe from what creeps through the woods when no one is watching. The question comes up asking is the Beast really that evil? Could there be deeper...darker secrets going back to the founders' days that may unravel everything that has been taught and passed down? Of course, the Beast could be playing games with the founding families as a way to pay them back for years of being a prisoner in the Gray. The ending of this book ties up the storyline in a way that is both curious and questionable...and I really believe I should have started with book 1 but I'm not sure I liked this one enough to make the effort.

7JulieLill
okt 2, 2021, 2:33 pm

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
Kate Moore
5/5 stars
Radium was an element first discovered by the Curies and was thought to be a wonder drug used in many preparations. Unfortunately, this wonder drug turned into a horrible predicament for the girls who worked in factories applying the radium paint to watch dials in various factories including one in Illinois and in Newark and Orange, New Jersey. The dial painters were instructed to lick the paint brushes before applying the radium which resulted in poisoning the girls who eventually died from it but not before they suffered through their bones dissolving and their inability to work and take care of their families. Eventually the families and workers rose up to fight the companies that caused their deaths and disfigurements. This is definitely a page turner but also a sympathetic look at the workers and the greed of industry that denied for years to help the women who were afflicted.

8Carol420
okt 3, 2021, 9:21 am


Goodnight, Moo - Mollie Cox Bryan (Virginia)
A Buttermilk Creek Mystery
3 ★
Welcome to Shenandoah Springs, Virginia, the bucolic small town where Brynn MacAlister keeps cows, churns cheeses—and is sharper than the ripest cheddar when it comes to solving mysteries . . .With a foster cow in her corral and a new calf on the way, Brynn MacAlister has a lot on her plate. Especially since her micro-dairy farm is hosting the first annual cheesemakers contest at this year’s summer fair. A relative newcomer, Brynn’s hoping the contest becomes a tradition, bonding her even more strongly to the community. But when a mysterious tractor accident looks suspiciously like murder, Brynn suspects someone is up to no-gouda . . . Some folks say the lead suspect was just defending his underage daughter from a suitor more mature than a vintage provolone, but Brynn isn’t buying it. Especially when another dead body turns up and Brynn’s top cheesemaker falls under suspicion. It’s enough to make a girl bluer than her best Stilton. But not enough to stop Brynn from getting to the bottom of things. What she discovers is the small-town harbors some pretty unsavory characters. And the closer Brynn gets to the killer, the deeper she gets into danger.

The lengths I will go to for a challenge never ceases to amaze me. I needed a book with cattle on the cover...preferably a cow with horns. I went searching and this was so cute I took it for the cow alone...to heck with what the story was like. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Cute cow...and even though it isn’t my usual type of mystery...not a bad story at all. The book is packed with action and suspects. The characters continue to develop as the story goes on and they are well-rounded. The setting is in a valley that sounds absolutely lovely. The plot moved at a good pace and kept me engaged as I read. What more could you ask for? I kept waiting for that cute cow to have a bigger role but I guess they were all busy making milk for Bryann’s cheese. Fun story with more mystery than I thought it would have.

9Hope_H
okt 3, 2021, 1:05 pm

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
306 p. ★ ★ ★ ★

Owen Michaels' company is in big trouble with the SEC. He disappears, leaving behind Hannah - his wife of eighteen months and his sixteen-year-old daughter Bailey, who barely tolerates Hannah in her life. Owen sends one message to Hannah: "Protect her." Hannah knows that "her" is Bailey. Bailey's mother died when Bailey was young and the girl sees Hannah as an interloper. As both the FBI and the US Marshalls descend on the family's Sausalito home, Hannah begins to realize that Owen was not who he said he was. She and Bailey take off to try to figure out who he really was and how they can proceed.

An excellent story. Hannah did a very good job of piecing together Owen's story. I thought the conclusion was a bit unrealistic, so it is a four star read instead of a five star read. I'll be looking for more of Dave's work.

10Carol420
okt 3, 2021, 2:16 pm


The Dead Girls Club - Damien Angelica Walters (Maryland)
5★
"Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face"... In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it. That belief got Becca killed. It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night--that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died. The night Heather killed her. Now, someone else knows what she did...and they're determined to make Heather pay.

Creepy, creepy and more creepy. When you were 12 years old did you and your friends huddle under a blanket at a sleepover and tell scary ghost stories... serial killer stories, and "dead girl" stories.? Did you and your friends listen breathlessly believing you heard footsteps from something that wasn't there yet and you hoped would never arrive...but on the other hand, couldn't wait to see? I did....there was 8 of us...and we couldn't get enough. So I could so see myself and my friends maybe forming a club like Heather and her friends and scaring the s**t out of each other. Of course we did that without the club title. Unfortunately for these girls "something" did answer their summons. "Something" took Becca and now no one believes Heather or her friends. Becca and Heather were solid friends with very different backgrounds. Heather came from a stable home...while Becca was being abuse in a broken home. I empathized with both girls. Becca was troubled and Heather had a genuine desire to save her friend. Now we meet "Adult Heather" who is a child psychologist. She has a successful career, a stable marriage, a well-ordered life but carries a disturbing childhood secret. Everything in her life runs smoothly until some very odd events occur that threatens her carefully-constructed façade. Somebody mails Dr. Heather Cole one tarnished half of a heart-shaped "best friends" necklace...she panics since the last time she saw this particular bit of jewelry, she was 12 years old and it was hanging around the neck of her dead BFF, Becca Thomas. What's true? Is there something Heather isn't remembering about that night in 1991? Readers will miss sleeping time, perhaps dinner time, who needs to eat anyway when you just have to find out how this ends? You may be very surprised.

11LibraryCin
okt 3, 2021, 4:35 pm

>7 JulieLill: I think I gave this 5 stars, as well. It definitely made my favourites list the year I read it.

12LibraryCin
okt 3, 2021, 4:35 pm

The Sisters Sweet / Elizabeth Weiss
3.5 stars

Harriet and Josie are twins, and when their family falls on hard times, their parents (having both worked in show business in the past) strap them together to make them appear to be conjoined twins and set about getting vaudeville work for them. They grow up doing this kind of entertainment and manage for years before 15-year old Josie simply gets tired of it, and – on stage – breaks out of the harness and runs off! They are ruined.

Josie is the one who always wanted to be a star, anyway… and she becomes one (this is not a spoiler as we know in the first chapter, before we go back in time, that she became famous). Harriet didn’t crave the limelight like Josie did, but it was all she knew. She and her parents go to her mom’s sister and husband for help.

This is told from Harriet’s point of view. I liked it, but I didn’t really find any of the characters particularly likable, including Harriet. The book did a good job of show business and the time period, I think. I definitely did not like the ending – it initially appeared to be going (kind of) where I wanted it to, then suddenly changed course. It is very possible others would like the ending more than I did, however.

13BookConcierge
okt 3, 2021, 10:09 pm


Rainbow Valley – L M Montgomery
Digital audiobook read by Pam Ward.
3***

Book seven in the classic series about Anne Shirley and her family. Anne’s six children have discovered their own “magical” place where they can play and indulge their imaginations. When a new family moves into an old mansion nearby, they welcome the Meredith kids into their hideaway. And the children are intent on several projects.

These books are just delightful reads. A nice gentle escape from today’s harsher realities. Yes, there are missteps and some tragic occurrences – life is like that. But on the whole, they are full of charming characters, believably innocent fun, and a few humorous miscalculations. The children learn that actions and words have consequences. Anne has grown into a wonderful mother, caring and supportive, guiding her brood towards adulthood.

14Carol420
Bewerkt: okt 4, 2021, 10:15 am


The Remaking - Clay Chapman - (Virginia)
4★
n the 1930s, Ella Louise and her daughter Jessica are dragged from their home at the outskirts of Pilot’s Creek, Virginia, in the middle of the night. Ella Louise is accused of using her apothecary for witchcraft, and both are burned at the stake. Ella Louise’s burial site is never found, but the little girl has the most famous grave in the South: a steel-reinforced coffin surrounded by a fence of interconnected white crosses. Some wonder: If the mother was the witch, why is Jessica’s grave so tightly sealed? This question fuels a legend as their story is told around a campfire in the 1950s by a man forever marked by his boyhood encounters with Jessica. Decades later, a boy at that campfire will cast Amber Pendleton as Jessica in a ’70s horror movie inspired by the Witch Girl of Pilot’s Creek. Amber’s experiences on the set and its meta-remake in the ’90s will ripple through pop culture, ruining her life and career after she becomes the target of a witch hunt herself. Amber’s best chance to break the cycle of horror comes when a true-crime investigator tracks her down to interview her for his popular podcast. But will this final act of storytelling redeem her—or will it bring the story full circle, ready to be told once again... and again... and again...

I really liked this book. It was horror but yet not horror. Creepy would best describe it but I don’t believe that is a genre. If sitting around a camp fire telling ghost stories is something you like...or have ever liked to do... then this book is diffidently written just for you. Some of the facts in the story are true...and yes...I asked “Mr. Google.” I learned that it is based on an unsettling horror story and does contain true events that took place in 1931 in Pilot’s Creek, Virginia. The townspeople accuse Ella Louise Ford and her daughter, Jessica, of witchcraft and burn them at the stake. This begins an urban legend that echoes through the decades. I love a good ghost story. I am the “Ghost Story Junkie”.

15Carol420
okt 4, 2021, 4:00 pm


Before There Were Three - L A Witt - (India/Washington/Pennsylvania)
Sequel to Out of Focus
5+★
Delhi, 1999 – On assignment in India, photographer Ryan Morgan has one focus—his job. Then hot bachelor Dante James quite literally stumbles over him, and suddenly Ryan’s not concentrating on anything except him. From the start, the chemistry between them sizzles. From Delhi to Seattle to Pittsburgh, the chance encounter blooms into something much deeper. But as the two young photographers learn who they are as men and as a couple, Ryan worries Dante will learn who he is. Because if his ex-wife and ex-boyfriend couldn’t live with him, what makes him think Dante can? Or that he’ll want to?

It’s been quite some time since I felt like this about these two books...Out of Focus And this sequel, Before There Were Three. Both stories of Angel, Dante and Jordan left its mark in my mind and heart. It’s one of those times that one of those 70 or so book series would be more than welcome. Alas... it’s probably not going to happen so rereads are diffidently in the schedule. As I stated in the review for Out of Focus the men are incredible characters but the reader...Nick J. Russo puts the cherry on the top with the beautiful voices he gives the characters. These guys just mesh together with their obvious love of one another and their sometimes-teasing, snarky remarks. It was wonderful to read how their relationship started and grew, and how some traits of their personalities were present from day one and became the groundwork and the bond that cemented their lives together. Both these books will take a top, front, and center, place on my list of books that I’ll read over and over again. Loved getting a little extra added to a fantastic story and a set of characters that I absolutely had to love. I really did not want this book to end.

16Carol420
okt 5, 2021, 11:26 am


The Return -Rachel Harrison
5★
Julie is missing, and no one believes she will ever return-except Elise. Elise knows Julie better than anyone. She feels it in her bones that her best friend is out there and that one day Julie will come back. She's right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she's been or what happened to her. Along with Molly and Mae, their two close friends from college, the women decide to reunite at a remote inn. But the second Elise sees Julie, she knows something is wrong-she's emaciated, with sallow skin and odd appetites. And as the weekend unfurls, it becomes impossible to deny that the Julie who vanished two years ago is not the same Julie who came back. But then who-or what-is she?

The story revolves around four good close friends.... Elise, Julie, Mae, and Molly. Each are now in their respective careers and locations, but still connected to each other. When the only married woman, Julie, disappears suddenly...her loss is of course immediately felt by the others...but it seems that the only one who refuses to believe that she's dead is her "best friend"...Elise, and Julie's husband, Tristan. Two years go by and “She’s BAACK” … minus her memory. ” Two years to the day she went missing, Tristan found her sitting on the porch swing . . . " just sitting there like it was any other day.” Through all the guesswork and no matter how much the friends want to welcome her back...you can’t get away from the fact that Julie is . . . "off" . . . in so many ways that will now continue to gnaw to the bone at the other characters...and to the reader. Goose bumps a plenty to go around and then some. "We're all getting used to each other again . . . Not to mention we had a funeral for Julie, and now she's here” . . .While it becomes more and more apparent that something is seriously "wrong", (to put it mildly), ...with Julie, other events start to happen that intensify the feeling of apprehension and dread for whatever the inevitable outcome will bring to light. All the while the atmosphere is changing... bringing with it more sinister undercurrents. The emotions and bonds between the friends are becoming clear to the reader. This...the psychological aspect... is what captivated my attention the most. It was like being given a private window into the thoughts and feelings of others. I can't express enough how well this was accomplished... and how it drew me so much closer to these characters. I haven't even touched on the ending and the differences in Julie...this is intentional, as I feel that to allude to anything more would potentially spoil the experience for other readers. This is a novel you simply need to experience for yourself. Oh... be sure that the lights are all on and the doors are locked.

17LibraryCin
okt 5, 2021, 10:33 pm

The Husband / Dean Koontz
3.5 stars

Mitch is a gardener… makes less than $40,000/year. What a shock when he gets a phone call from his wife (and her kidnapper) that she is being kidnapped and they expect Mitch to come up with $2 million! And to prove they aren’t kidding around, they shoot the pedestrian walking his dog across the street from where Mitch is on the phone…

This started off really tense. It slowed down in the middle, though there were definitely some surprises thrown in there. Although the end ramped up again somewhat with a race against time, it didn’t pull me back in like I was pulled in at the start, but I’m not sure why that was. I did listen to the audio, and for the most part it kept my attention.

18Carol420
okt 6, 2021, 7:38 am


Plain Bad Heroines - Emily Danforth -(Illinois)
3★
Our story begins in 1902, at the Brookhants School for Girls. Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous best-selling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it the Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, the setting of their wildest happiness and, ultimately, of their macabre deaths. This is where their bodies are later discovered with a copy of Mary’s book splayed beside them, the victims of a swarm of stinging, angry yellow jackets. Less than five years later, the Brookhants School for Girls closes its doors forever - but not before three more people mysteriously die on the property, each in a most troubling way. More than a century later, the now-abandoned and crumbling Brookhants is back in the news when wunderkind writer Merritt Emmons publishes a breakout book celebrating the queer, feminist history surrounding the “haunted and cursed” Gilded Age institution. Her best-selling book inspires a controversial horror film adaptation starring celebrity actor and lesbian it girl Harper Harper playing the ill-fated heroine Flo, oppo­site B-list actress and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. But as Brookhants opens its gates once again, and our three modern her­oines arrive on set to begin filming, past and present become grimly entangled - or perhaps just grimly exploited - and soon it’s impossible to tell where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins.

The story idea and delivery were good but the book its self was just too wordy. The same good story could have been told and been just as good in about 100 less pages. The tale went back and forth from 1900 to modern day with alternate viewpoints by different characters present during that time period. I also don’t understand why it’s deemed a “horror” novel. Maybe it is if you’re 12 years old but it loses the creep factor for adults. I believe the author was trying to connect the strange occurrences taking place during the filming of the movie being made at the school and what happened on the site in the early 1900 events. Something was lost in the time spans. The book seems to have two themes; one about the proposed supernatural events and the other about being gay. It would have been better if one theme or the other was the main event.

19Carol420
Bewerkt: okt 6, 2021, 4:06 pm


Perron Manor - Lee Mountford
Haunted series Book #1
5★
Sisters Sarah and Chloe inherit a house they could never have previously dreamed of owning. It seems too good to be true. Shortly after they move in, however, the siblings start to notice strange things: horrible smells, sudden drops in temperature, as well as unexplainable sounds and feelings of being watched. All of that is compounded when they find a study upstairs, filled with occult items and a strange book written in Latin. Their experiences grow more frequent and more terrifying, building towards a heart-stopping climax where the sisters come face to face with the evil behind Perron Manor. Will they survive and save their very souls?

OMG! Was this written just for me, the "Ghost Story Junkie:? Quiet possibly....and I hope this author is planning a 50 or so book series here. It certainly clicked all the reasons that I love ghost stories. It begins with "Britain's most Haunted House"...Perron Manor...in the present time. The history of this mansion goes way back to its very construction. There were periods of dormancy followed by absolutely horrific events. The last tragedy recorded there was when Chloe was only six years old, and was staying there as her parents helped her Uncle and his partner, Marcus. Chloe and Sarah weren't worried after all "....the past can't hurt you"...right? The fact that her family was the ONLY survivor has completely slipped her mind. So Chloe and her sister Sarah move in along with Chloe's husband and small child. ". . . Back to Devil's House . . . " Now the fun truly begins. The parts that dealt with the house itself and its sordid, bloody history were in a word, "captivating"... to say the least. "This house is special. It is, I believe, alive.". If only they knew...but they are by this time beyond any reasonable resemblance of clear thought or reasonable actions. The best thing they could have done was throw a match in a big puddle of gasoline and RUN. I'm not going to say much more about the outcome but let's just say the reader might want to start checking windows and doors and make sure you have plenty of light. I don't scare easily but part of this were almost heart stopping.

There really is and was a Perron family and a mansion in, I believe, Manchester England. The house has some disturbing events that have occurred in it and was the setting for the movie The Conjuring …that is actually rooted in a horrifying true experience of Ed and Lorraine Warren. Not saying that any of the book or the movie are based on actual occurrences...but who knows? As the bard, William Shakespeare said "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

20JulieLill
okt 6, 2021, 3:21 pm

The Chosen
Chaim Potok
5/5 stars
Set near the end of World War Two, two Jewish boys come together after a baseball game where one of them is injured by the other. They eventually become friends but their families’ don’t share the same beliefs. As they grow, each finds a different path to follow. Very well written and hard to put down.

21Hope_H
okt 6, 2021, 10:57 pm

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
355 p. ★ ★ ★ ★

In a not-so-quiet English retirement community, four people gather in the Jigsaw Room each week to discuss unsolved crimes. They call themselves the Thursday Murder Club. There's Ron, a former union organizer; Ibrahim, a former psychiatrist; Joyce, a former nurse (and the newest member of the group) who would like to find a nice older gentleman with whom she could have fun; and Elizabeth, a shrewd woman with a lot of secrets. (Maybe CIA or the British equivalent?) When a local developer is found dead, the Thursday Murder Club finds themselves with a real mystery on which to work.

I really liked this one and have already asked the local library to get the sequel! A lot of fun, and I want to read more about these four!

22Carol420
okt 7, 2021, 10:06 am


Absolution - Henry Hack- (New York)
5★
A teenager, Joey "Noonz" Mastronunzio, is forced to participate in a home invasion in Queens leaving a young couple dead and their infant son an orphan. Although he did not pull the trigger, he is determined to atone for his actions that night by joining the Marines Corps and then joining the seminary after his military service. The baby, Michael Simon, grows up to become an NYPD homicide lieutenant determined to locate and arrest the "guy who got away" from the scene of the murders. When Lieutenant Simon finally discovers the identity of the second perpetrator, he is shocked to learn he has known him most of his life. What follows is an unlikely alliance between Simon and the Bishop of Brooklyn as they uncover the rampant pedophilia in the Church. Battling threats, intrigue, deception, and murder, the duo comes up against the highest echelons of power in the NYPD and the Church as both institutions desperately seek to keep their records of depravity and coverups from ever being released to the public.

The author served twenty-two years in the Nassau County, NY Police Department. He commanded the Scientific Investigation Bureau and was qualified as an expert witness in several forensic evidence areas. He also commanded the Eighth Patrol Precinct. His credentials speak volumes for his unquestionable ability to produce a reality-based crime novel. My husband, who also served 27 years with law enforcement in Florida and Michigan also read the book and said it was the one of the best he had ever encountered. My husband doesn’t do much reading but he was enthralled with this one and read in in one sitting, which says volumes for the novel. Behind the fictional characters is a too true scenario that is going to slightly disturb some readers and give others varying degrees of discomfort...but in the end it’s all so...unfortunately...plausible. I loved the book and it kept my attention from the beginning to end. I did mostly feel that Joey really had only committed the “sin of omission” but I’m sure that other readers will assign him a greater degree of error. One thing for certain is that I’m certainly going to be watching for more of this author.

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

23BookConcierge
okt 7, 2021, 11:19 am


The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie
Audiobook narrated by the author. Illustrations by Ellen Forney.
5*****

This young adult novel tells the story of Junior Spirit, a Spokane Indian living on the reservation with his parents and older sister. Junior was born with hydrocephalus and has some lingering effects of brain damage, but he’s a good student, a talented artist and a pretty good basketball player. A mishap at school leads his teacher to tell Junior that he needs to get off the reservation and find his future elsewhere, and thus begins his journey.

I loved this book. I could not help but think of all the kids out there like Junior – kids with limited abilities in one aspect, but extraordinary abilities in other aspects. Kids who just need someone to believe in them, and for an adult to step in to stop the bullying and give them a chance to grow and excel.

Things do not go smoothly for Junior just because he decides – and is supported by his parents in this decision – to attend the white high school off the reservation. He loses his best friend as a result. He’s bullied and ostracized at his new school. He is under tremendous social pressure due to his poverty and his efforts to hide that poverty from his classmates. His family remains dysfunctional, with parents who drink to excess, and multiple deaths among those he loves. But he never gives up. He is determined to succeed and to make the most of the opportunity he has.

The audiobook is narrated by Alexie and I cannot imagine anyone else doing a better job. Outstanding!

NOTE: The text version I got was the 10th anniversary edition and had supplemental information, including an interview with the author, an early draft of the first chapter, a draft of a possible sequel focusing on Rowdy, an interview with the illustrator, and a heart-breaking eulogy to Alexie’s childhood friend (and the model for Rowdy). Greatly enjoyed this additional info (which was not included on the audio) and it made me appreciate the book even more.

Additionally, I am fully aware of the allegations made against the author. While I abhor the behavior, I am judging the book on its own merit.

24BookConcierge
okt 7, 2021, 11:20 am


America For Beginners – Leah Franqui
4****

Pival Sengupta, a recently widowed Kolcatta native, books a trip to America for her first solo venture outside her home city. But she’s not really interested in seeing all the sights across America so much as she wants to find some connection to her estranged son, Rahi, who had been living in California. Did he visit any of these places? What would he have thought? She’s accompanied by a tour guide, Satya, and a paid companion, Rebecca.

This went in directions I wasn’t expecting. I had read little about the book in advance, and thought it would a lighthearted, somewhat humorous look at America through the eyes of a total newcomer. But there were many deeper issues here.

Pival must deal with her grief – over both her husband and her son. She is also consumed by anger, confusion and regret over a life she’s never had, having given up any control to others before now. She’s puzzled by the freedom Rebecca shows – how comfortable and assertive she is, how she dresses, her consumption of alcohol – and also a little envious.

Rebecca is struggling with her own life choices. She has a contentious relationship with her mother, is not having success as an actress in New York, but cannot seem to seek a career away from that city. This “break” gives her time to think over her life and her choices.

Satya is in the country illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa. He hasn’t left the small circle of immigrants he’s found in New York before now, and has been furiously studying, trying to always have an answer, even if he must make it up. He’s puzzled by a tourist (Pavil) who doesn’t want to shop at ever stop, and feels stressed by any possible change in plans. And he has regrets and guilt over how he’s treated his best friend.

And Rahi … in flashbacks the reader gets to know him and his lover Jake. And learn something of the conflicts he had to face in acknowledging his sexuality and being estranged from his family as a result.

There WERE humorous scenes, and I enjoyed seeing some of these sights through the eyes of Pavil and Satya. But there were several scenes that were emotionally charged, especially once the trio makes it to Los Angeles. At times I was in tears. I don’t want to give anything away, but the ending is hopeful. All the characters have to find ways to deal with the past and to move forward with courage.

This is Franqui’s debut novel. I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

25Carol420
okt 8, 2021, 7:43 am


Bread and Books - Hollis Shiloh
Baking Bears series Book #3
3.5★
To Matthew, Jake is a mild-mannered mystery. He bought a failing bookstore, but he doesn't know how to run a bookstore at all. And by the number of books he's giving away, the man has to be an optimistic idiot. A business can't survive by giving things away! Still, neighboring bakery owner (and secret bear shifter) Matthew can't help being drawn to him and finding excuses to talk to him. The man calls to him in a way no one else does: with his pheromones, his sweet smiles, and his cinnamon-colored eyes. He makes Matthew want things desperately... The two men grow closer, and friendship turns to something more. They might even have a chance at forever, if they can bear to share their secrets with one another.

I’ve read other Hollis Shiloh books and found that this one is very different. He does like the “shifter” theme for his characters but the “heat factor” between the guys is much milder than in the other books. Actually, it was a great idea...bookstore owner that gave most his books away and a baker that wanted a bit more from the bookshop owner than just free books and friendship...but it came across a bit too “wordy” ...especially with the history information of the bear shifters. Overall, it was a warm, sweet story. I loved the ways that Matthew's bear incorporated its characteristics into his human side. Anyone that doesn’t mind same sex romances and likes cozies will like this little series.

26Carol420
okt 8, 2021, 4:06 pm


All The Dead Voices - Declan Hughes
Ed Loy series Book #4
4★

PI Ed Loy wants to escape his past—but it won't be easy. Soon after moving to a Dublin apartment from his childhood home on the city's outskirts, he's approached by Anne Fogarty, whose father was murdered fifteen years ago. Anne thinks the police nabbed the wrong person, and the three most likely culprits are two ex-IRA men and George Halligan—Loy's underworld nemesis. Jack Cullen, one of the other suspects, may somehow be connected with the death of a rising soccer star—another case Loy is asked to take on. And as his two investigations collide, Loy finds himself in grave danger in a city divided—where the wounded Celtic Tiger walks hand in hand with the ghosts of a violent past.

In my recent searches for future reading material...I ran across a copy of of this book that just happens to be a part of a series that I haven't read in a long time but always enjoyed...So I thought I would see what Ed Loy is up to after the first 3 books. Ed is a man with a strong moral compass who has friends on both sides of the law. Although he may not agree with the actions or the mindset of the criminal syndicates that were spawned from The Troubles...he has a deep understanding of the reasons for and against the IRA. As a first generation American of Irish background I understood more after reading the first couple of books why my grandparents took my mother and her older sister and fled Ireland for America in 1926. In this part of the series, Ed...as a private detective finds himself working two separate cases that turn out to be linked by strands of violence resulting from the days of, and just after, The Troubles. Declan Hughes combines historical facts and fictional storylines to result in novels that are deeply enjoyable as well as very informative.

27BookConcierge
okt 9, 2021, 8:14 am


The Brutal Telling – Louise Penny
Digital audiobook read by Ralph Cosham.
3.5***

Book # 5 in Louise Penny’s popular mystery detective series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache begins when a stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store. The detective finds a multi-layered mystery, starting with who the victim is, and taking him across Canada to British Columbia, the Queen Charlotte Islands and the totems carved by first nation peoples.

I love this series. I like the way Gamache ferrets out clues and pieces together the puzzle. I love the various inhabitants of the fictitious Three Pines, including Ruth and her duck. I particularly enjoyed the references to literature and art in this episode, especially the paintings of Emily Carr.

As frequently happens in real life, not every question is answered and the stranger’s identity and purpose in Three Pines remains something of a mystery, but the murder IS solved, giving this reader another satisfying read.

Ralph Cosham does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. I particularly like the voice he has given to Gamache.

28Carol420
okt 9, 2021, 9:26 am


House of Furies - Madeleine Roux - (California)
4.5★
House of Furies invites readers to a world where the line between monsters and men is ghostly thin. After escaping a harsh school where punishment was the lesson of the day, 17-year-old Louisa Ditton is thrilled to find employment as a maid at a boarding house. But soon after her arrival at Coldthistle House, Louisa begins to realize that the house’s mysterious owner, Mr. Morningside, is providing much more than lodging for his guests. Far from a place of rest, the house is a place of judgment, and Mr. Morningside and his unusual staff are meant to execute their own justice on those who are past being saved. Louisa begins to fear for a young man named Lee who is not like the other guests. He is charismatic and kind, and Louisa knows that it may be up to her to save him from an untimely judgment. But in this house of distortions and lies, how can Louisa be sure who to trust?

Madeleine Roux is one of my favorite writers …but of a different genre ...so I was very anxious...as well as surprised to read something different from her. Louisa’s troubles begin from the time she accepts a gold coin from an old woman and follows her promise of employment at Coldthistle House. The House is full of characters with. “Interesting abilities” that makes...or at least should make... the reader question the thin line here that stretches between what is right and what is wrong. The ending was a little disappointing and it cost it a half star... but I believe it’s because the reader becomes so engrossed in the characters...especially funny, cunning Louisa that you just imagine a different ending. If you like gothic stories...you’ll love this one.

29Carol420
okt 9, 2021, 1:31 pm


The Carrow Haunt - Darcy Coates
5★
Remy is a tour guide for the notoriously haunted Carrow House. The old place is a haunt for the superstitious, but Remy hasn't seen any proof of the paranormal yet. So when she's asked to host guests for a week-long stay in order to research Carrow's phenomena, she hopes to finally experience some of the sightings that made the house famous. At first, it's everything they hoped for. Then a storm moves in, cutting off their contact with the outside world, and things quickly take a sinister turn. Doors open on their own. Séances go disastrously wrong. Their spirit medium wanders through the house at night, seemingly in a trance. But it isn't until one of the guests dies under strange circumstances that Remy is forced to consider the possibility that the ghost of the house's original owner―a twisted serial killer―still walks the halls. And by then it's too late to escape.

I have always...from a very early age...been a fan of ghost stories. So, Darcy Coates stories are perfect. She always manages to include things of my worst nightmare as a child...unseen things grabbing me and catching me off guard. There are plenty of things here to give me delicious nightmares for a month or two. "Welcome, dear ones, to the dreaded Carrow House." Remy Allier...the tour guide...gives guided tours through the area's "most haunted houses" once a week, when the weather permits. Located in an island-like area, with only one bridge spanning Carrow's land to the "mainland", the isolation of the location is as absolute as it can get. Remy knows all aspects of Carrow's long and sullied history. Built by John and Marie Carrow as a sanitarium initially, a tragic fire led to it being renovated into a Grand Hotel. Their biggest mistake was in the hiring of a certain gardener, by the name of Edgar Porter. . . “In small towns like the ones nearest Carrow House, there was a pervasive subconscious assumption that the rich and influential couldn't be criminals . . . " Yeah...Right! The estate had always carried an unmistakable taint...a “wrongness”. Deaths and disappearances continued on...unabated... until it was eventually left abandoned. A spoiled rich teenager, April Mahon, had the former hotel purchased for herself. She took great pains in having the original furnishings restored to how it was in its murderous heyday. ". . . There's a recurring theme of tragedy befalling anyone who lives in the building . . . aside for brief research-related stays, no human has attempted to live in it since." This makes the house itself an unforgettable, unforgiving character...as much “alive” as any of the actual breathing human beings. The story will capture your undivided attention from the very beginning...while tightening it's hold over and making you very aware of who or what is really in charge here.

30Carol420
okt 10, 2021, 10:09 am


Out of Character - Annabeth Albert - (California)
3★
Jasper Quigley is tired of being everyone's favorite sidekick. He wants to become the hero of his own life, but that's not going to happen if he agrees to help out Milo Lionetti, his former best friend turned king of the jocks. High school was miserable enough, thanks, and Jasper has no interest in dredging up painful memories of his old secret crush. But Milo's got nowhere else to go. His life is spiraling out of control, and he's looking to turn things back around. Step one? Replace the rare Odyssey cards he lost in an idiotic bet. Step two? Tell his ex-best-friend exactly how he feels - how he's always felt. Jasper may be reluctant to reopen old wounds, but he never could resist Milo. There's a catch though: If Milo wants his help, he's going to have to pitch in to make the upcoming children's hospital charity ball the best ever. But as the two-don cosplay for the kids and hunt for rare cards, nostalgia for their lost friendship may turn into something even more lasting.

This is a continuation of the story and characters in the first book, Conventionally Yours. At what is probably his lowest point.... Milo is in trouble, so in spite of his misgivings about what he is about to do... he reaches out to Jasper, the boy he used to know and considered his best friend. I enjoyed the first book in the series and while I also liked this one, I thought it felt very similar to the first book. I have read almost everything that Annabeth Albert has written and always loved them all...always feeling the characters were friends come to visit. This one just didn’t do it for me the way her others have. Still a soft venture into the gay world and those that are a little uneasy about some of the other more “in your face” ventures will probably be very comfortable meeting Jasper and Milo.

31LibraryCin
okt 10, 2021, 10:09 pm

The Terror / Dan Simmons
3.25 stars

In 1845, two ships sail from England looking for the Northwest Passage. The Terror and the Erebus later become stuck in ice for three years, as the men manning the ships died not only from starvation, cold, and scurvy, but there is something stalking them. Something… they don’t know what it is but it’s white, and much bigger than the white bears they have seen. It seems to appear out of nowhere to kill, maim, or maul.

This is a mix of survival, historical fiction, and (some) horror. The horror (the “thing” out there), I found was minimal. The focus was on the survival aspect. The book is very long, and I had a hard time getting interested until the last 1/3 of the book – that last 1/3 is what brought my rating up ¼ star. And it would have been nice for the book to be much shorter. The book is told from multiple points of view at different points in time, occasionally jumping back and forth in time. By that last bit of the book where I was more interested, it was chronological.

There were a lot of men on the two ships and, although, I was able to keep what each of them did straight (at least those whose viewpoint we followed), I wasn’t able to keep straight who “belonged’ on which ship. The end was a bit vague in a couple of cases, I thought. Descriptions of the ships and workings of the ships were less interesting to me. A bit horrifying, but more interesting was the description of what happens as someone develops scurvy. Anyone looking for horror, though, this didn’t fit the bill for me at all, unfortunately. It was not scary, in my opinion.

There was a brief author’s note at the end that really just provided citations for his research. It hinted at the fact that this – the “Franklin Expedition” really happened, but I still wasn’t sure, although “Franklin Expedition” did sound familiar to me. Other reviews tell me it did, and I’ve just read a bit on wikipedia about it. That is, the two ships set out to look for the Northwest Passage and disappeared. I guess this partly explains the vagueness of the ending.

32Carol420
okt 11, 2021, 8:13 am


Shelter - Catherine Jinks - (Australia)
2★
Meg lives alone. Her little house in the bush outside town is the perfect place to hide. This seclusion is one of the reasons she offers to shelter Nerine, a young woman escaping a abusive ex-partner. The other is that Meg knows what it’s like to live with the looming threat of a violence at the hands of someone you love… Nerine is jumpy and her two little girls are frightened. This tells Meg all she needs to know about where they’ve come from, and she’s not all that surprised when Nerine asks her to get hold of a gun. But she knows it’s unnecessary. They’re safe now. Or so Meg thinks… Then she starts to wonder about some little things. A disturbed flyscreen. A tune playing on her windchimes. Has Nerine’s ex tracked them down? Has Meg’s husband turned up to torment her some more? By the time she finds out, it’ll be too late to do anything but run for her life.

The only word I can think of to describe it is ‘brutal”. Meg relationship with her parents caused her to leave and go as far from them as possible. Her abusive ex-husband still manages to harass her occasionally...but for the most part she’s content. Different definition of “content” than I have, but I guess it’s better than what she had. Seems to be enough that she offers a friend, Nerine, and her two daughters' refuge in her home for a month. Here's where the whole story made the reader want to hide in a closet. Nerine’s husband was worse than Meg’s if that was even possible, and Nerine is terrified of EVERYTHING making her children literally basket cases. The story by this point made me want to nail the door to my closet shut from the inside. Just way too much...too much violence...too much fear...too much paranoia. I had to give it up. I can’t imagine life like this ...not even in a book.

33BookConcierge
okt 11, 2021, 9:56 am


A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea and Tomorrow– Laura Taylor Namey
3***

From the book jacket: For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panaderia, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then The Trifecta happened, and everything – including Lila herself – fell apart. Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But, … what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila … until she meets Orion Maxwell.

My reactions Okay, I totally picked this up because I needed a pink cover for a challenge. I noticed, too, that this was a pick for “Reese’s YA Book Club” and thought it might have some meat on the bones.

Some of this stretched credulity a bit far for me, but on the whole I enjoyed it. I liked that things were not all wrapped up nice and tidy in a pretty bow, albeit there is still a happy (or at least hopeful) ending. Lila is a complex character, with shifting emotions (typical teenager, and typical of the grief process). Orion has his own problems, with a mother suffering from early onset dementia, a little sis who is acting out, and more responsibilities than an 18-year-old should have to shoulder.

I liked that Namey showed how Lila’s attempt to forget her problems by focusing on food was a strategy that would take her only so far, and that she needed to face the issues that led to her breakdown before she could move forward. I really liked Orion. He’s a steady young man, with natural charm, but not at all pushy. All in all, this is a pretty good example of the YA romance genre.

And I loved all the references to food. I think I gained 10 pounds just reading about all the Cubano bread, and specialty pastries Lila concocted.

34JulieLill
okt 11, 2021, 11:11 am

Dancing In The Street: A History of Collective Joy
Barbara Ehrenreich
3/5 stars
Ehrenreich explores the rich tradition of collective religious and nonreligious festivities through the years including bans on them and the way people reacted to the festivities. Were they sinful or just an out pouring of collective emotion that needed to be released? Interesting book but at times, for me, there was just too much information to process in certain sections.

35Carol420
okt 11, 2021, 2:25 pm


Cassidy’s Corner - Henry Hack - (New York)
4★
When veteran beat police officer Harry Cassidy violates his oath of office by standing by and allowing a despised bartender, Richie Winston, to suffer a cruel beating and stabbing, he must withstand an intensive internal investigation while battling his inner demons over his betrayal of the shield. When Richie, who has been in a coma, dies a few days later, a murder investigation is commenced led by veteran homicide detective Charles "Pop" Hunter, a friend and former fellow police academy classmate of Harry's. Complicating Harry's situation is a developing love affair with his chief inquisitor from Internal Affairs, Sergeant Susan Goldman, who fights her own turmoil between her career ambitions and her love for Harry. As the psychological pressure builds on him with both Pop hunter and Susan Goldman inching ever closer to the truth, Harry becomes involved in a gun battle with the perpetrators who killed Richie Winston suffering gunshot wounds. Having recently admitted the truth to Susan after making love, she now agonizes over her next course of action. Will she betray the man she loves for the sake of her career, or will she destroy the tape recording she secretly of Harry's admission?

Good and evil abides all in the main character who made a choice and is now tormented to make things right, even at the cost of his own career. Cassidy’s close friends are there to help him but his enemies are bent on his destruction. The author fully develops the moral dilemma that Harry Cassidy faces when he neglects to fulfill his responsibility. The reader is also torn between the decisions Harry needs to face. Lots of twists, turns and surprises in this book and Mr. Hack’s 22 years of personal experiences in the law enforcement field in Nassau County gives added belief to the situations...thus making for a really good read.

36Carol420
okt 12, 2021, 8:16 am


The Devil's Highway: A True Story - Luis Alberto Urrea (Arizona Mexico)
4★
In May 2001, a group of men attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the deadliest region of the continent, the "Devil's Highway." Three years later, Luis Alberto Urrea wrote about what happened to them. The result was a national bestseller, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a "book of the year" in multiple newspapers, and a work proclaimed as a modern American classic.

I needed a book that was set in Mexico for...yes...those of you that know me know that some books that are not my usual fare are for more than likely for....another challenge. I just don't seem to be able to resist them:) I was prepared to read it...I liked the title (not really a "good" reason to read a book I know) but as I got into it I found myself really drawn in. My grandparents and my mother were immigrants from Ireland, so I grew up hearing the reasons that drove immigrants to flee their native countries, and I saw firsthand the heartache that it causes. I saw my grandmother cry for her Ireland until the day that she died at 98 years of age. Mr. Urrea graphically described what people will do out of desperation to help their families, as well as how governments around the world have time after time failed these individuals. The book is sad, it's graphic and it's sometimes painful to read...but it should be "required reading". The book does include what some would call "tall tales" that can't be substantiated...but then most of history can't be accurately substantiated...but the fact remains that occurrences that take place in this book are a part of our history...for better or for worse.

37BookConcierge
okt 12, 2021, 8:54 am


Pride – Ibi Zoboi
Book on CD performed by Elizabeth Acevedo
4****

This YA romance is set in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn and features a Dominican/Haitian family. The Benitez sisters are F I N E and everyone in the neighborhood knows it. Then a new family moves in. The Darcys are wealthy and have totally renovated the dilapidated property across the street from the Benitez's apartment building into their own bougie mansion. Their two sons - Darius and Ainsley - are not only rich, but handsome and immediately attract the attention of all the girls in the hood.

It's a pretty good retelling of Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice. No, these girls are not going to immediately wed the Darcy boys, but they do have the all-important sparks of interest. I could easily identify some of the situations and characters from the original.

I really liked Zuri (Elizabeth). She’s feisty, intelligent, true to herself, loyal to her family, and not about to take shade off Darius’s nose-in-the-air grandmother (think Lady Catherine de Bourgh). Ainsley (Bingley) and Janae (Jane) will start off like gangbusters, only to break off contact. The Charlotte/Mrs Collins relationship is here (though there is no hasty marriage), as is the Wickham/Lydia debacle (again no hasty marriage). One of my favorite scenes has no clear relationship to the original, and that is when Zuri performs one of her original poems.

All told, a totally satisfying retelling of a beloved classic.

Elizabeth Acevedo is quickly becoming a favorite narrator for me. She does a great job of the audio.

38Carol420
okt 13, 2021, 8:41 am


Defining Moments - Ben Burgess Jr.- (Washington D.C.)
Black and White series Book #1
4.5★
When the prestigious law firm of Wayne, Rothstein, and Lincoln catches two major cases--a rape case against a white NBA star who allegedly raped a black stripper, and a murder case against a black rapper who allegedly killed a gay couple and two policemen...Bill O'Neil and Ben Turner are tasked with handling these racially charged litigations.

The story shows that all things, no matter how cut and dry they might be or might seem, are not as black and white as we might assume. It tackles the truths, that people face every day, through the stories of two young attorneys. Fighting for a partnership in their law firm, the two are put on cases that seem impossible to win. Meet Ben. Ben is a man who has found his skin to be too black to find equality in his prominently white firm and too white for the black community. He is in charge of defending an infamous black rapper who is excused of killing a white gay couple and two police officers. He struggles with his own morals and prejudices while investigating this case, along with his own scars from his past. On top of all that, the evidence is overwhelming, clearly showing a racial hate crime. Yet even with his own prejudices and the pile of evidence he still can't rid this nagging feeling that his client may be innocent. Now we meet Bill...a white man who grew up poverty stricken, and faced his own prejudices because of the color of his skin. But in this firm of bigots his skin color gives him the upper hand. He is in charge of defending a white NBA star who has been charged with the rape of a black stripper. He knows in order to win this case he has to paint this woman as a gold digger looking to make a quick buck, using sex as a tool. But the evidence doesn't show that. This goes against everything in his moral code. He would be lying and stereotyping a woman because of her skin and job. He could never do this and face his girlfriend, who is a black police officer, and ask her to ever respect him again. This would be something Bill could never live with. The story can be scaled down to two facts. 1. When we let ourselves weigh all that we know or assume about any event, we may find that there are situations that can either make or break us...and 2....that there are really more things that unite us than divide us.

39BookConcierge
okt 13, 2021, 2:14 pm


Out Of Africa – Isak Dinesen / Karen Blixen
5*****

I had a farm in Africa. One of the best opening lines.

What glorious writing. I first read this in 1998 and re-read it for my book club in 2013. I revisited it again in 2017 and now, here I am again. If you're expecting the movie, you'll be greatly disappointed - Denys Finch-Hatton is barely mentioned. No, the great love of her life was Africa itself.

While I still love Dineson’s writing and love the way she puts me right into early 20th century Africa, I am more attuned to social justice these days, and have to cringe a bit at some of the references to the indigenous tribes. The colonialists had such a superior attitude. But this a product of the era and of the social status of the writer, and we must give her her due. She worked long and hard to try to succeed in this doomed effort to grow coffee at too high an altitude, and with a husband who basically abandoned her as soon as she arrived.

Here are a couple of passages:
Night on the farm: It rained a little, but there was a moon; from time to time she put out her dim white face high up in the sky, behind layers and layers of thin clouds, and was then dimly mirrored in the white-flowering coffee-field.

The view from a plane: You have tremendous views as you get up above the African highlands, surprising combinations and changes of light and colouring, the rainbow on the green sunlit land, the gigantic upright clouds and big wild black storms, all swing round you in a race and a dance. … You may at other times fly low enough to see the animals on the plains and to feel towards them as God did when he had just created them, and before he commissioned Adam to give them names.

The view from the perfect spot: “To the South, far away, below the changing clouds lay the broken, dark blue foothills of Kilimanjaro. As we turned to the North the light increased, pale rays for a moment slanted in the sky and a streak of shining silver drew up the shoulder of Mount Kenya. Suddenly, much closer, to the East below us, was a little red spot in the grey and green, the only red there was, the tiled roof of my house on its cleared place in the forest. We did not have to go any further, we were in the right place.”

For this, my fourth re-read of this work, I choose to listen to the audible audio, performed by the marvelously talented Julie Harris. Unfortunately, this is an abridged version of Dinesen’s memoir. While I really enjoyed Harris’s performance, it’s worth the time to read the entire book.

40Carol420
Bewerkt: okt 13, 2021, 3:01 pm

>39 BookConcierge: Isn't it wonderful to revisit an "old friend" again and again and get as much, or even more, enjoyment from it. Only a true bibliophile would do or understand that. Here's to your read #5.

41LibraryCin
okt 13, 2021, 10:31 pm

Leaving Lucy Pear / Anna Solomon
3 stars

In 1917, Bea leaves her newborn baby under a pear tree where she knows a family will find the baby. She assumes they will take her in and raise her, and they do. Ten years later, Lucy’s “adopted” mother Emma starts working for Bea, as a nurse to Bea’s uncle.

This was pretty slow. And vague at times as to what exactly was going on. I don’t think I particularly liked any of the characters – oh, I suppose I kind of liked Uncle Ira. I really didn’t care much about the characters, either, maybe because I didn’t like them very much? Initially, I thought I was enjoying the book, but I’m leaning more toward it being ok.

42Carol420
okt 14, 2021, 7:33 am


Survivor Song - Paul Tremblay - (Massachusetts)
2★
In a matter of weeks, Massachusetts has been overrun by an insidious rabies-like virus that is spread by saliva. But unlike rabies, the disease has a terrifyingly short incubation period of an hour or less. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb. Hospitals are inundated with the sick and dying, and hysteria has taken hold. To try to limit its spread, the commonwealth is under quarantine and curfew. But society is breaking down and the government's emergency protocols are faltering. Dr. Ramola "Rams" Sherman, a soft-spoken pediatrician in her mid-thirties, receives a frantic phone call from Natalie, a friend who is eight months pregnant. Natalie's husband has been killed—viciously attacked by an infected neighbor—and in a failed attempt to save him, Natalie, too, was bitten. Natalie's only chance of survival is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible to receive a rabies vaccine. The clock is ticking for her and for her unborn child. Natalie’s fight for life becomes a desperate odyssey as she and Rams make their way through a hostile landscape filled with dangers beyond their worst nightmares—terrifying, strange, and sometimes deadly challenges that push them to the brink

I’m 99.9% sure that there are some readers out there that will devour this book. I hate to call it a “bad book”...but I have read so much better by this author. I actually checked to see that it was written by the same Paul Tremblay that I had read before. I just couldn’t feel any connection towards the characters or even for the story itself. People running around biting people was just a bit too much on the ridiculous side. Not that there probably aren’t some out there that would take great delight in participating in that activity, and there are some that I might also like to get in a nip or two:). October doesn't seem to be my month. This is the third book that I just couldn’t make any connection with. Good luck to whomever wishes to tackle this.

43Carol420
okt 15, 2021, 8:25 am


The Charm Offensive - Alison Cochrun
3.5★
Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show "Ever After". As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star. Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off. As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.

I enjoyed seeing both the main characters figure out who they were and their journey to find happiness and health...and possibly love. It just took both of them time. Alison Cochran...a new author for me... created a world that is very current and relevant and gives us characters that you can't help but love. It’s a book that is entertaining, while also making you feel good and letting you feel like you are part of this messed up family. It tackles big topics …mental illness, identity and acceptance. There is a diverse cast of characters with so much diverse representation. If I had to come up with one word to describe the book I’d have to say “sweet". It was a little slow in places and could have used a little more “heat”. Not graphic sex...just a little more depth. It was also a lot like the book, The Love Study by Kris Ripper which I thoroughly enjoyed.

44JulieLill
okt 15, 2021, 11:49 am

Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood
Danny Trejo
5/5 stars
This is the amazing autobiography of Danny Trejo, actor who starred in numerous films and became quite successful. However, his life growing up was not easy. Involved with drugs and gangs, he ended up in jail but he was able to turn his life around. I read this in a few days because I could not put this down. Highly recommended.

45Carol420
okt 16, 2021, 9:41 am


The Witches Familiar - T.J. Nichols - (Colorado)
Familiar Mates series Book #1
3★
He can hold lightning in his hand, but will love slip through his fingers? Jude Sullivan has one more chance to prove he isn't a danger to the paranormal community. If he fails, he'll be stripped of his magic, a painful process to make a witch human. As a test, the Coven sends him to Mercy South, Colorado, to stop a creature that's been mutilating cows and scaring the locals. Jude hates cows and small towns. The Coven should've sent a nature witch. Rob Mackenzie is the local mechanic and bear shifter. If the locals knew his secret, they'd run him out of town. He wants someone to really know him and not be afraid. With several chewed-up cows and some other weird happenings, he's wondering if he's no longer the strangest creature in Mercy .After meeting Mack, Jude thinks he's found the cause of the trouble. But the trouble is only just getting started when Mack realizes he's Jude's fated mate. As the cow-mutilating creature starts hunting in town, Mack and Jude will have to stop fighting their attraction and each other, to stop the creature from killing again.

I wasn't sure I wanted to read anything about “cow mutilating” or any other animal mutilating.... but what the heck? It’s Halloween season and maybe the cows were lucky enough to escape. The cows weren't the only ones with problems...our two main characters were destined to be together as mates...but someone in the “Destiny Office” must have been on vacation.... because they hated each other. One of them was in danger of losing his magical powers because...ready for this??? He uses his electrical abilities...his magical power... to rig a jackpot win in Vegas. That brings him to the Coven's chopping block???? Who’s going to take care of the cow slaughtering, cow chewing monster??? Coven 1, Cows 0. While the monster was devouring cows it should have put the editor and proofreader on the menu also. Oh wait...maybe it did and that was why the book was filled with miss-constructed sentences and misspelled words. I hate to see authors work hard on a book and have the people that should be looking out for their interest let them down like this. I gave the book 3 stars for the authors hard work and it wasn’t a totally bad idea. Oh yeah...the cows are safe now.

46Carol420
Bewerkt: okt 16, 2021, 3:01 pm


Badlands - Morgan Brice
Badlands series Book #1

Medium and clairvoyant Simon Kincaide owns a Myrtle Beach boardwalk shop where he runs ghost tours, holds séances, and offers private psychic readings, making a fresh start after his abilities cost him his lover and his job. Jaded cop Vic D’Amato saw something supernatural during a shootout and reporting it nearly cost him his badge. He’s still skeptical about the paranormal. But when the search for a serial killer hits a dead end, Vic battles his skepticism to ask Simon for help. As the body count rises, Simon’s involvement makes him a target, and a suspect. But Simon can’t say no, even if it costs him his life and heart. Badlands is a thrill-packed urban fantasy MM paranormal romance with plenty of supernatural suspense, hurt/comfort, found family, ghosts, magic, a second chance at true love, spooky chills and sexy thrills!

Since this is my 350th book of this year and will complete the challenge on Goodreads, I thought I would end it with a reread of a favorite...a favorite series...a favorite author...and a sexy, hot favorite couple....Simon Kincaid and Vic D'Amata. I've have to confess that this is the third reread of this series and I have reread several of her other series as well. I am well assured that this won't be the last time for this one either. I can't seem to leave the guys for very long. Simon and Vic are perfect. Perfect in their chosen professions...perfect in their love for one another and perfect and comfortable in their own skins. Vic, the cop, and Simon the professor that was fired from the university in Columbia, South Carolina where he taught a class on folklore and mythology. A students rich, influential father made accusations to the board that he was teaching devil worship. Leaving the city behind he found himself in Myrle Beach running a shop that sells books, protection charms, gives physic readings, and leads ghost tours. He has many interesting friends that only add to the stories. In this opener...a serial killer with supernatural abilities is killing people with various levels of physic talents. Vic reluctantly brings Simon...who he had only just met... in as a consultant. This brings Vic and Simon together both on the job and then into one another's lives. I have read three of Morgan Brice's series...several times... and all of them are 5 star quality. She brings characters from all her other series into each of her books, so we get to always see our "old friends". I wish the books were longer, but there is that thing known as the "reread" that I have honed to an expert level.

47BookConcierge
okt 17, 2021, 7:40 am


The Body At the Tower – Y S Lee
3***

Book Two in the YA historical mystery series about “The Agency” – an organization of female detectives in Victorian London – and featuring orphan and former thief, Mary Quinn.

There have been significant delays in the construction of the clock tower at Parliament, and after a worker falls to his death from the 300-foot tower, rumors swirl that it is haunted by a ghost. Mary goes undercover as “Mark” to work as a helper on the site, and to try to find out what is really going on.

I enjoyed this quite a bit. It was somewhat repetitious in places, but Mary is a wonderful heroine – bright, resourceful, compassionate, observant and mentally strong. I like that Lee has made Mary half-Chinese, and that her ethnicity poses additional problems (and opportunities) for her in mid-19th-century England. I haven’t read the first in the series yet, so was a bit behind the curve when it came to the relationships between characters, but I didn’t feel lost. I’ll go back and read book # 1, A Spy in the House, and might continue the series from there.

48Carol420
okt 17, 2021, 9:48 am


Under The Whispering Door - T.J. Klune
5★

Welcome to Charon's Crossing. The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through. When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead. And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead. But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days. Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.

It’s a story about grief, a tale filled with love but also tinged with sadness. Even though the story is a somewhat tragic one...it’s still uplifting...and yes, it hurts at times...but it’s the very definition of the word “bittersweet”. We meet Wallace Price, a Scrooge-like character who starts out as a lawyer with no empathy and little concern for others. It’s not his life that will concern us... it’s his journey after his death that is the heart of the story. The plot in this story moves very slow...maybe too slow for some readers, but hang in there. You won’t be sorry. You’ll journey to the tea shop where these souls and we the readers, will gather to meet the owner, or the cosmic entity who enforces the rules of the afterlife. In short, it’s a story about grief...life, love and the human connection that will always live on as long as there remains someone that loved you and remembers you.

49Carol420
okt 17, 2021, 1:33 pm


Séance On A Summer's Night - Josh Lanyon - (California)
5★
Theater critic Artemus Bancroft isn’t sure what to expect when his aunt summons him home to California with vague but urgent pleas about being unable to cope with “the situation. ”The situation turns out to be the apparent haunting of Green Lanterns Inn—along with alarming rumors that long-suffering Auntie Halcyone may have murdered her philandering husband. In fact, the rumors seem to have been started by the late Mr. Hyde himself—from beyond the grave.

Take a haunted mansion, complete with 25 bedrooms and a ballroom that is collecting dust. Add a revenge-seeking ghost. Sprinkle in a suspicious death and an evil secret. Garnish with a mysterious gardener... a sweet, elegant aunt and a crazy as a bat step-aunt. Toss in a couple of disgruntled servants...mix well with a huge dollop of a remarkably accurate psychic... and you have the makings of another excellent story by one of my favorite m/m romance writers, Josh Lanyon. Its a thoroughly enjoyable read, with a great crew of characters...but then I have never found one of Josh Lanyon's stories that wasn't...and I think I have read almost everything she has ever out on paper between two covers. The mysteries in her books are never so complex that you don't get it...but they do have the ability to make you want to read them again and again.

50Carol420
okt 18, 2021, 9:25 am


The Vanishing - Bentley Little - (California)
3★

In Beverly Hills, a wealthy CEO goes on a bloody rampage and videotapes the slaughter. He leaves behind a chilling cryptic message: “This is where it begins.” Miles away, an alarmed mother receives an unsettling letter from her estranged husband, stained with bloody fingerprints. And all across California, children are becoming affected by a monstrous change - and their parents by a mounting fear.

It's really two stories...each of which takes place in California. One is in the nineteenth century and the other is in the present. Both had the possibility to be compelling stories that were interwoven and intertwined...but a 100 years apart. As the connection between the two become clearer...the two stories should have melded into one. Unfortunately the combining attempt made the book a bit of a mess. I've always liked this authors scary books but this one didn't quiet make it. Overall...it wasn't Bentley Little's best by any means yet it was an interesting story...hence the 3 stars.

51Carol420
okt 18, 2021, 1:49 pm


Indigo Slam - Robert Crais - (Washington)
Elvis Cole & Joe Pike series Book #7

Three years ago, a Seattle family ran for their lives in a hail of bullets. Hired by three kids to find their missing father, Elvis now must pick up the cold pieces of a drama that began that night. What he finds is a sordid tale of high crimes and illicit drugs. As clues to a man's secret life emerge from the shadows, Elvis knows he's not just up against ruthless mobsters and some very angry Feds. He's facing a storm of desperation and conspiracy -- bearing down on three children whose only crime was their survival.

I've read everything in this series and really liked them all...so when needing a book for a challenge I revisited them. Elvis and Joe are perfect investing partners and perfectly good friends. What should be a simple missing person case spirals out of control bringing in the Russian mafia with the Feds close on their heels. Staying alive is a struggle...saving three kids looks beyond even Cole's and the world's toughest guy, Joe Pike's abilities. Robert Crais's skill as a story teller plus two wonderful characters combine to make this a good, if not great. Elvis Cole entry. This one was written 25 years ago and it hasn't lost anything over the years.

52LibraryCin
okt 18, 2021, 9:36 pm

Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything / Lydia Kang, Nate Pedersen
4 stars

The subtitle pretty much tells what this book is about. What to know all the health benefits of mercury, radium, arsenic and strychnine? That’s just the start! Of course, there is also a look at bloodletting and leeches, and much much more.

This is told with humour and plenty of fun illustrations from the past. Very interesting stuff. Some of what they look at here were things doctors actually did, but some other things were what the “quacks” were selling. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much I’ll remember. It looks at so many different things in short bursts of information, but was definitely interesting as I read it. The authors are a doctor and a journalist.

53Carol420
okt 19, 2021, 8:58 am


A House at the Bottom of a Lake - Josh Malerman
3★
At seventeen years old, James and Amelia can feel the rest of their lives beginning. They have got this summer and this summer alone to experience the extraordinary. But they didn’t expect to find it in a house at the bottom of a lake. The house is cold and dark, but it’s also their own. Caution be damned, until being carefree becomes dangerous. For the teens must decide: swim deeper into the house...all the while falling deeper in love? Whatever they do, they will never be able to turn their backs on what they discovered together. And what they learned: Just because a house is empty, doesn’t mean nobody’s home.

While on a canoe date James and Amelia couldn’t believe their eyes when they see the house...at the bottom of the lake. They know that there's no way a house could survive being under water for any length of time and especially not remain intact. But there it is...bigger than life and ready to be explored. I’ve read other books by this author and one of his many talents is that he can make you believe that the unbelievable is not only possible, but completely probable. Although there are some things that I didn’t quite understand...I found the story spellbinding. The ending was a problem. There just seemed that there were so many ways the author could have ramped up the tension and cemented the story and the young lovers together. The hole in the ending was the main reason that I didn’t understand it …and why the book only received 3 stars. A better ending, or a better explained ending...would have diffidently earned it 5 stars. I bet this is one book that many many readers are going to offer their opinions on...so maybe that was Josh Malerman’s intentions all along.

54Carol420
okt 19, 2021, 2:15 pm


Pretty Pretty Boys- Gregory Ashe - (Missouri)
Hazard and Somerset series Book #1
3★
After Emery Hazard loses his job as a detective in Saint Louis, he heads back to his hometown--and to the local police force there. Home, though, brings no happy memories, and the ghosts of old pain are very much alive in Wahredua. Hazard’s new partner, John-Henry Somerset, had been one of the worst tormentors, and Hazard still wonders what Somerset’s role was in the death of Jeff Langham, Hazard’s first boyfriend.When a severely burned body is discovered, Hazard finds himself drawn deeper into the case than he expects. Determining the identity of the dead man proves impossible, and solving the murder grows more and more unlikely. But as the city’s only gay police officer, Hazard is placed at the center of a growing battle between powerful political forces. To his surprise, Hazard finds an unlikely ally in his partner, the former bully. And as they spend more time together, something starts to happen between them, something that Hazard can’t--and doesn’t want--to explain. The discovery of a second mutilated corpse, though, reveals clues that the two murders are linked, and as Hazard gets closer to answers, he uncovers a conspiracy of murder and betrayal that goes deeper--and closer to home--than he could ever expect.

I have some good feelings and a few other kinds about this one. The writing was good and the idea behind the story was intriguing and should have come together...but somehow it lack something. The two guys were attracted to one another but their history with one another was just plain nasty...and not in a sexy or any kind of good way. Neither of them had an emotional thought in their heads and they didn't know at all how to handle the stress their relationship was producing. On the good side the crime part is very good. An unidentified skeleton at a burned-out trailer is the first victim, and there are few clues to go on. It's a good police procedural also and the dual points of view give us interesting insights, with each man having very different methods of figuring things out. Gregory Ashe expertly doles out the clues bit by bit and there are plenty of interesting twists. The killer is fairly easy to figure out in just a few pages and before the detectives do.

55BookConcierge
okt 19, 2021, 9:49 pm


My Invented Country– Isabel Allende
Audiobook narrated by Blair Brown
3.5***

In this memoir, Allende looks at her own family history as well as the history of her native country, Chile. She explores the social conventions, politics, natural terrain, geographical difficulties and advantages of this unique land. It’s a story full of mythology – from national legends, to her own family’s stories. Here are the roots of her ability to seamlessly weave elements of magical realism into her novels. Her own family history is rife with examples: a grandmother who could move furniture with her thoughts, ghosts and hauntings, and larger-than-life ancestors.

Blair Brown does a fine job of narrating this memoir. I’ve listened to her narrate a couple of Allende’s books and this is a good partnership.

56Carol420
Bewerkt: okt 20, 2021, 8:02 am


The Remaking of Corbin Wale - Roan Parrish - (Michigan)
5★
Last month, Alex Barrow’s whole life imploded...partner, home, job, all gone in forty-eight hours. But sometimes when everything falls apart, better things appear almost like magic. Now, he’s back in his Michigan hometown, finally opening the bakery he’s always dreamed of. But the pleasure of opening day is nothing compared to the lonely and beautiful man who bewitches Alex before he even orders.Corbin Wale is a weirdo. At least, that’s what he’s heard his whole life. He knows he’s often in a fantasy world, but the things he feels are very real. And so is the reason why he can never, ever be with Alex Barrow. Even if Alex is everything he’s always fantasized about. Even if maybe, just maybe, Corbin is Alex’s fantasy too. When Corbin begins working at the bakery, he and Alex can’t deny their connection any longer. As the holiday season works its magic, Alex yearns for the man who seems out of reach. But to be with Alex, Corbin will have to challenge every truth he’s ever known. If his holiday risk pays off, two men from different worlds will get the love they’ve always longed for.

It’s an interesting story with a very unique main character. Corbin is in his head nearly all the time. What started out as a survival/defense mechanism gradually became his way of life. The reader will soon learn that Corbin’s life so far has been one giant disaster, so it's no wonder he lives inside himself. No one has ever taken the time, or the interest, to pull Corbin out of his self-made prison. As far as Corbin is concerned, he is either all or nothing. Then along comes Alex. You have got to like this guy. He cares, and sees, a side of Corbin that no one, including Corbin himself...has ever seen. This story is unlike most of Roan Parrish’s books. It’s a very cerebral m/m romance. It’s not a light, or fast read. Not dark by any means... just complex with a very slow burn. Corbin is like a wounded baby animal. I wasn’t sure at first what Alex saw in him other than the need to protect him. They didn’t feel like equals in age or mental acuteness. Corbin isn’t dumb by any means...but he’s definitely stunted emotionally in many ways...so I found myself holding my breath hoping that Alex was sincere in his attraction and wasn’t going to hurt him any more than he already was. I loved this story. Better Than People is another of this author’s books with an emotional challenged main character that she portrays beautifully, just as she has Corbin. As you may have figured out...I am a huge fan of Roan Parrish...so I wasn’t too surprised that it was a 5-star read like her other books.

57Carol420
okt 20, 2021, 3:28 pm


Dark Rivers - Morgan Brice (reread)
Witchbane series Book #3
5★
Seth Tanner and Evan Malone are learning to navigate their new partnership—as lovers and as monster hunters—while hot on the trail of a coven of dark warlocks. Seth has never been in love like this before, consumed by white-hot passion and willing to risk his life to protect Evan. His quest to avenge his brother’s murder used to be an obsession, one he was willing to die for. Now, Seth worries that his reckless pursuit of vengeance might get Evan—or both of them—killed. But he can’t walk away—the witches’ century-long killing spree has to stop. Seth prays that both he and Evan make it alive and together to the finish line, when the fight is done. Evan’s normal world turned upside-down the night a dangerous stranger rescued him from being sacrificed in a bloody ritual. Now he knows that magic and monsters are real, legends and lore are true, and fighting for his life has become an everyday event. He’s learned to hold his own. But when a vengeful ex-lover stalks him while they’re on a case, Evan has to confront his past and confess an ugly truth. His love for Seth had been strong enough to get them this far, but he fears that the stalker or the warlock could tear them apart forever. If the skills they possess aren’t enough to protect them and their bond can’t keep them together, the ancient evil will remain unchallenged, and more people will die.

I can't believe I didn't review this book the first time I read it. This is reread #3 or it could be #4...who knows:) I love everything about this series...actually I love ALL Morgan Brice's series. The monster hunting and of course the romance are a big plus. Both the lead men are strong but they are also vulnerable in their own ways. Every book we meet some new characters and get further into the "Hunter" community as Seth and Evan make some new friends. Another great thing about these books is that the characters from the other series are frequent visitors...so we never loose contact with them...but they don't over-shadow the new book. I look forward to many more by this author. If you have not read one one of her other series... "Badlands"...consider going there after you finish the 5th book of this series. Of course I'll be anxiously awaiting Book #6. (NOTE: LibraryThing and Amazon show this as being book #2 but it is actually #3 if you are reading the series in order. Burn- Witchbane series is a novella but it is #2 in the series.)

58Carol420
okt 21, 2021, 8:07 am


In The Dark - Loreth Anne White - (Canada – British Columbia)
4.5★
A secluded mountain lodge. The perfect getaway. So remote no one will ever find you. The promise of a luxury vacation at a secluded wilderness spa has brought together eight lucky guests. But nothing is what they were led to believe. As a fierce storm barrels down and all contact with the outside is cut off, the guests fear that it’s not a getaway. It’s a trap. Each one has a secret. Each one has something to hide. And now, as darkness closes in, they all have something to fear―including one another. Alerted to the vanished party of strangers, homicide cop Mason Deniaud and search and rescue expert Callie Sutton must brave the brutal elements of the mountains to find them. But even Mason and Callie have no idea how precious time is. Because the clock is ticking, and one by one, the guests of Forest Shadow Lodge are being hunted. For them, surviving becomes part of a diabolical game

Eight lucky guests have been promised a vacation at a fabulous spa located in the wilderness. After they arrive it soon becomes obvious that they were lured there under false pretenses. And now they must worry about their lives because it looks like somebody wants to pick them off, one by one. The story alternates between the past in which the murders are taking place as well as the present when we find out someone is alive and homicide cop Mason Deniaud and search and rescue expert Callie Sutton are trying to figure out what happened. The author gives interesting backstories to both Mason and Callie making them the most developed characters in the book. It’s bit tricky at first to keep track of all the guests as the story bounces around from each of the characters but because the list keeps getting shorter as more them die it does become easier t keep the characters straight. I read a lot of mysteries and I have to say that I was very impressed with this one. This is not a romance/suspense thriller. This is thriller all the way and should appeal to all fans of the genre.

59Carol420
Bewerkt: okt 22, 2021, 8:10 am


The Saturday Night Ghost Club - Craig Davidson - (Cnada)
4★
Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls - a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place - Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turns twelve, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so Calvin decides to initiate them all into the "Saturday Night Ghost Club." But as the summer goes on, what begins as a seemingly light-hearted project may ultimately uncover more than any of its members had imagined. With the alternating warmth and sadness of the best coming-of-age stories

I picked this book up for my Halloween ghost stories fix. The cover and title made it seem like a cute little story kids and their "Ghost Club", to get in the Halloween spirit. However, it turns out the story really isn't about the kids and their "Saturday Night Ghost Club", but about the tellers' quirky uncle, and his struggle with mental illness. I really did enjoy the story, and would certainly recommend it. It's certainly worth your time to pursue...but if you're looking for a story about the kids and their "Ghost Club", the title and description are a little misleading.

60Carol420
okt 22, 2021, 1:39 pm


The Haunting of Leigh Harker - Darcey Coates - (Canada)
4★
Sometimes the dead do come back Leigh Harker's quiet suburban home was her sanctuary for more than a decade, until things abruptly changed. Curtains open by themselves. Radios turn off and on. And a dark figure loom in the shadows of her bedroom door at night, watching her, waiting for her to finally let down her guard enough to fall asleep. Pushed to her limits but unwilling to abandon her home, Leigh struggles to find answers. But each step forces her towards something more terrifying than she ever imagined. A poisonous shadow seeps from the locked door beneath the stairs. The handle rattles through the night and fingernails scratch at the wood. Her home harbors dangerous secrets, and now that Leigh is trapped within its walls, she fears she may never escape. Do you think you're safe? You're wrong.

The story is absolutely beautiful even if it is in a tragic way. A classic take on a gothic horror novel that moves at a fast pace. Darcey Coates is an expert at this type of story and has created an atmosphere that draws you in from the moment you start reading. You can feel Leigh’s emotions...her terror...her anger...and most of all, her sadness. She struggles to make sense of what is happening to her and her struggles will haunt you long after the covers are closed. I have read everything this author has ever written and if you are a “ghost story junkie” like me...you will love every single one of them.

61LibraryCin
okt 22, 2021, 11:24 pm

Lilac Girls / Martha Hall Kelly
3.75 stars

This follows three women during the time of WWII. Kasia was a young girl/woman in Poland who ended up in Ravensbruck, a concentration camp for women where experiments were done on some of those women. Herta was a woman doctor who initially had trouble finding work, but took a job at Ravensbruck, initially not realizing what she was getting into. Caroline was a wealthy woman in the US involved somehow with orphaned children in France, and later with helping women who had survived Ravensbruck.

It took a while for me to get “into” the book. I was listening to the audio, so that may have contributed, but I did like both Kasia’s and Herta’s stories. All the stories skipped forward in time fairly quickly, and I would have liked for it not to skip so much time so fast, as I felt like things got missed.

I could have done without Caroline’s story altogether, and definitely without Paul (her married-to-someone-else French lover). He was creepy (though this may, in part, have been due to the woman’s voice narrating a man’s voice with a French accent – I’ve thought this before with a woman narrating a man’s voice with a French accent). In any case, I did not like Paul at all and found he and Caroline extremely boring. All her pining (and later his) just made me roll my eyes. Ugh! The only time Caroline’s POV was interesting to me was later in the book when she was more involved with Kasia’s story.

I also had never heard the term “rabbits” before when referring to women who had been experimented on. I looked it up part-way into the book (if it was addressed in the book, I missed it), and there is a reason that it referred only to these particular women and experiments. It is also addressed in the author’s note at the end.

Author’s note at the end: Herta and Caroline were real people (though Paul was made up). Kasia and her sister were also fictional but based on real sisters who had been imprisoned at Ravensbruck and who had been experimented on.

62BookConcierge
okt 22, 2021, 11:52 pm


The Best Of Adam Sharp – Graeme Simsion
1*

From the book jacket: Adam Sharp is content. He gets on well with his partner, Claire, he does the occasional consulting job in IT to keep busy, and while he doesn’t play the piano much anymore, he is the music expert at the local pub’s trivia night. Life may not be rock ‘n’ roll, but neither is it easy listening. And yet, something has always felt off-key. And that’s his nostalgia for what might have been, his blazing affair more than twenty years ago with Angelina Brown, a smart and sexy, strong-willed actress who taught him for the first time, as he played piano and she sand, what it meant to find – and then lose – love. How different might his life be if he hadn’t let her walk away?

My reactions
Meh.

Is this the best of Adam Sharp? Probably. But it’s definitely NOT the best of Graeme Simsion. I really enjoyed Simsion’s The Rosie Project, but this did absolutely nothing for me. Neither Adam nor Angelina seemed at all mature enough for a real love relationship. They were both self-centered and closed off from genuine connection with another person. There was no great love here that I could see. I saw two people fall in “lust,” act on it and then walk away, only to reconsider decades later. They seemed motivated by boredom (and perhaps revenge). The whole situation when they re-connect twenty years later was just strange and creepy and distasteful.

I did enjoy all the music references, though I still wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

63LibraryCin
okt 22, 2021, 11:56 pm

The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg / Helen Rappaport
3.25 stars

This book really does focus on the last two weeks of the lives of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife and children (4 daughters and 1 son) as they were imprisoned and later murdered. It does back up in time, though, to detail how they got where they were.

There was a lot more politics in the book than I’d expected, so that was not as interesting to me as the parts that did focus on the family itself. I will say, though, that this seemed really well researched, with a lot of primary sources being used, most notably (I think) writings by the last head guard of the Romanovs in Ekaterinburg (Yakov Yurovsky), who was also one of the main murderers. This book may have included the most detailed description of the murders themselves, likely due to the writings of Yurovsky.

64Carol420
okt 23, 2021, 12:27 pm


An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed - Helene Tursten - (Sweden)
Elderly Lady series Book #2
3★
Don’t let her age fool you. Maud may be nearly ninety, but if you cross her, this elderly lady is more sinister than sweet. Just when things have finally cooled down for 88-year-old Maud after the disturbing discovery of a dead body in her apartment in Gothenburg, a couple of detectives return to her doorstep. Though Maud dodges their questions with the skill of an Olympic gymnast a fifth of her age, she wonders if suspicion has fallen on her, little old lady that she is. The truth is, ever since Maud was a girl, death has seemed to follow her. In these six interlocking stories, memories of unfortunate incidents from Maud’s past keep bubbling to the surface. Meanwhile, certain Problems in the present require immediate attention. Luckily, Maud is no stranger to taking matters into her own hands . . . even if it means she has to get a little blood on them in the process.

The first book in this series is entitled An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good and it really should be read first to get to know this lady. Both books feature an 88 year old Gothenburg woman, who has a mysterious past. People close to her keep dying and local police officer Irene Huss has centered her interest on this elderly lady. This spirited senior citizen solves problems in her own way - permanently. In the first book she took on the Swedish police but in this one the South African police get to find out that they have a lot to learn and have lost before they even get started. Maud lives alone and has a penchant for using her age as a barrier to doing anything she doesn't want to do, like...talking to the detectives about a dead man found in her apartment who had been there for several days before being noticed. (Is that even possible?) When questioned by them, she immediately acts confused...saying that she has forgotten where her hearing aids were (they were fake anyway). She wonders if the detectives suspect she had something to do with the man's death. Heaven help them if the do. Death has always seemed to follow Maud, as the stories in this novella will show. There are 6 interlocking stories, featuring Maud's memories of her past, as well as something from the here and now that needs to be dealt with. The book is getting a reluctant 3 star rating, but the first book should have really been an only child.

65JulieLill
okt 23, 2021, 12:40 pm

Goldwyn
A. Scott Berg
4.5/5 stars
A. Scott Berg does wonderful job on this comprehensive biography of producer Samuel Goldwyn originally known as Schmuel Gelbfiz who flees from Poland in 1895, walking as he makes his way to America doing odd jobs. He eventually gets hooked up with Jesse Lansky and Cecil B DeMille to make his first motion picture and becomes one of the most powerful men in film.
This was so interesting- he also covered a lot of the history of Hollywood and film.

66LibraryCin
okt 24, 2021, 3:17 pm

When Men Become Gods / Stephen Singular
4 stars

This is a history of of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) – that is, the polygamous Mormons. It does give an entire history, but focuses on more recent events since Warren Jeffs took over as Prophet. Many women have left the FLDS in the past couple of decades due to all kinds of abuse; as well, many boys have been kicked out. The book was published in 2008, so it ends after Jeffs’ trial for accessory to rape (? something along those lines), with the main witness being Elissa Wall (who wrote “Stolen Innocence” about her life as part of the FLDS). She was the first person to bring charges against Jeffs.

I have read a lot about the FLDS already, so I’ve heard a lot of this. This one, though, gave me more insight into the behind-the-scenes investigating of Jeffs and investigating the issues with abuse (and money) within the community. As usual, when I end one of these books, I need to look up what is happening with Jeffs at the moment – he is still in jail, but he still has followers.

67Carol420
okt 25, 2021, 9:53 am


Dead To Me - Annie Anderson - (New York)
Grave Talker series Book #1
4★
Seeing dead people and solving their murders is Darby Adler's bread and butter. What's not on the menu? A nosy Fed poking around her crime scenes who seems to know a hell of a lot more than he's saying--especially about the ghosts surrounding Darby and the murderer who's desperate for her attention

Picked up the book by mistake... but it's a mistake I was more than happy to have made. The story grabbed my attention right from the start with Darby’s sense of humor and wit. I was immediately invested and the more I read, the more drawn in I became. Darby’s supernatural abilities and the circumstances surrounding the murder were intriguing. The deeper the reader goes, the more they uncover. When you add in the fascinating Bishop LaRue you have a concrete story that you just know you are going to want more of. Annie Anderson creates an exciting read with a great mix of humor and mystery. Her characters are complex and bold and I know that we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. I can’t wait to find the next one and learn more about these characters. This was a fantastic first installment in a great new series with a great deal of promise.

68Carol420
okt 25, 2021, 5:31 pm


Deadly Curiosities - Gail Z. Martin - (South Carolina)
Deadly Curiosities series Book #1
2.5★
Welcome to Trifles & Folly, a store with a dark secret. Proprietor Cassidy Kincaide continues a family tradition begun in 1670... acquiring and neutralizing dangerous supernatural items. It’s the perfect job for Cassidy, whose psychic gift lets her touch an object and know its history. Together with her business partner Sorren, a 600-year-old vampire and former jewel thief, Cassidy makes it her business to get infernal objects off the market. When a trip to a haunted hotel unearths a statue steeped in malevolent power, and a string of murders draws a trail to the abandoned old Navy yard, Cassidy and Sorren discover a diabolical plot to unleash a supernatural onslaught on their city. It’s time for Kincaide and her team to get rid of these “Deadly Curiosities” before the bodies start piling up

I am a huge fan of several of this writer's other series...Witchbane. Badlands...and Treasure Trail which I have reread numerous times and she writes under the name of Morgan Brice. In the last Witchbane book Cassidy Kincaide and her team helped the characters from Witchbane with a hunt that they were on. Seems that she is the cousin of one of the hunters in Witchbane and she has also given advice to the characters of Badlands and Treasure Trail. It’s what I love about this author’s works...she never lets our favorite people disappear. For some reason I hadn’t read any of this series until I spent time in her shop with the two guys from Witchbane. I decided then that I had to know more about Cassidy and Teag and Sorren. I liked the characters when they were in the series above, but to my surprise I couldn’t get into this series. In all fairness I may try it again when I can get the book instead of the audio book. The reader either has a terrible southern accent, or is trying to too hard to come across as “southern”. I’m not prejudice...I’m from the south... but this didn’t do anything to help the story at all. Actually it was a big turn off.

69Carol420
okt 26, 2021, 11:34 am


Red-Headed Stepchild - Jaye Wells (California)
Sabina Kane series Book #1
2★
In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina doesn't really fit in. And being an assassin - the only profession fit for an outcast - doesn't help matters. But she's never brought her work home. Until now. Her latest mission is uncomfortably complex, and threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races. As Sabina scrambles to figure out which side she's on, she uncovers a tangled political web, some nasty facts about her family and some unexpected new talents. Any of these things could be worryingly life-changing, but together, they could be fatal.

Some characters needed a bit of work. I wasn't really convinced by Adam Lazarus, the mage, who seemed put in there to add some sort of romantic element and Clovis wasn't really much of a villain. The addition of Vinca, the fun-loving nymph, confused me a little at first. Her interactions with Sabina were too cozy and did not fit into the world of the novel created beforehand. I think I should give up on these magic creature books.. especially by authors that I'm not at all familiar with. The author throws way to much nonsense into the plot...forbidden love...tragic deaths...orphaned child...supernatural warfare...and the potential for a love interest in her stalker... and if you can believe it, a demon side kick the guise of a hairless cat that tries repeatedly to kill her...and a reformed porn fairy. It was exhausting trying to keep up with this bumbling bunch.

70JulieLill
okt 26, 2021, 12:29 pm

Nothing to See Here
Kevin Wilson
4/5 stars
Madison hasn’t heard from her college roommate Lillian in a long time. But one day she gets a call from Lillian to ask her to be a nanny to her new stepchildren. However, there is a catch, her stepchildren tend to break out in fire and her new husband is in politics and doesn’t want the public to know about them. Having nothing going on in her life, Madison heads out to re-connect with Lillian and assume care of the two children. This was an oddly delightful story of a young woman caring for the first time for herself and others through her new wards.

71BookConcierge
okt 26, 2021, 4:45 pm


Say You’re One of Them – Uwem Akpan
Digital audiobook (abridged) performed by Robin Miles & Dion Graham
4****

This is a collection of short stories, dealing with various social issues facing African people throughout numerous countries on the continent. One story may deal with the Rwandan genocide (My Parents’ Bedroom), while another explores the competing goals of a family at Christmas (An Ex-Mas Feast), and yet another shows how a desperate uncle raising children orphaned by AIDS is coerced into an agreement he cannot keep (Fattening for Gabon). Two stories deal with the differences between Muslims and Christians (Luxurious Hearses focuses on a Muslim youth living with his mother in Nigeria’s north who is hoping to reunite with his Christian father in the south, while two six-year-old Best Friends in Ethiopia try to understand why their parents now tell them they must not play with one another (What Language Is That?).

All are beautifully written even when heart-wrenchingly difficult to read. Uwem focuses an unblinking eye on serious issues and while the reader is fortunate to not have to face such dilemmas, the reactions of the characters are totally understandable and relatable. The local English dialect used in some of the stories was sometimes difficult to get used to, but really gave a sense of place to the narrative.

The audiobook is abridged, with narrators reading only three of the stories. Still, Robin Miles and Dion Graham do a wonderful job of performing the text. And it is sometimes easier to understand the local dialect by hearing it than reading it on the page.

72LibraryCin
okt 27, 2021, 10:53 pm

The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption / Jim Gorant
5 stars

This is (primarily) a look at the rescue and rehabilitation of Michael Vick’s fighting dogs.

It starts off heartbreaking as we get the background of the dogs as they were kept in Vick’s yard. And there is some discussion of the trial, etc, but moreso it follows the investigation into what happened and all the behind-the-scenes stuff as they gathered evidence against Vick and the other men who bred and fought these dogs.

But the bulk of the story follows (some of) the dogs after they are rescued. These dogs, unlike other fighting dogs before them, were not immediately euthanized, There were rescues that came to help with foster homes and sanctuaries to see if they could be rehabilitated and the vast majority of them were. Many found forever homes and some (as of the publishing of the book in 2010) were living in sanctuaries where volunteers continued to work with them. It was hard to read about one of the shelters that took some of them in right away – it’s a rough shelter with not much in the way of amenities.

There are sad parts thrown in as if it’s from one dog’s point of view, as well. Some of the work with the scared dogs reminded me of my volunteering with shy/scared cats, to be honest. The end of the book did a “where are they now?” for both the dogs and the people involved. Of course, “now” was around the time of publication over a decade ago. I realized that none of the dogs are probably living now.

73Carol420
okt 28, 2021, 10:51 am


Witchy Whiskers - Danielle Garrett
Nine Lives Magic Mystery series Book #1
4.5★
Have you ever wished your cat could talk to you? If so, allow my story to be your cautionary tale. My life was going just fine by most standards. I ran a successful business in a tight-knit magical community, and lived just blocks from a beautiful lake and series of hiking trails. Then Selene showed up. According to some magical code I inherit my aunt’s ancient familiar; a grumpy ten-pound cat with a broken filter. She fancies herself something of a saber-toothed tiger, and claims to have wrestled the thread of her ninth life from the hands of the Fates themselves — although, I’m pretty sure that last part isn’t true. Almost positive. I’m still looking into the magical fine print, but in the meantime I’m stuck as the guardian to a cat with the personality of Sophia from the Golden Girls. Oh, and by another cruel twist of fate, my ex-husband just moved back into town. I thought I couldn’t take any more, but when a murder rocks my small community, I wind up entangled in the investigation thanks to a handsome stranger. If only life came equipped with a rewind button.

I won this book from a reading challenge from my library. Free book? You bet I'll take it! I loved the idea of the talking cat before I even opened the book. After all I was owned by various cats in my lifetime...the last ownership lasted 19 years...I am absolutely positive that my Margie could not only talk but she was choosey in the human's that she did this with...throughout her long, luxurious life...I was the only one that she deemed worthy of communicating with. Back to Selena...she really is more rude than snarky, but as I read on I could understand why. Cora...the human...runs a magical candle shop in a town that's mostly magic but has human tourists. She's temporarily taking care of her aunt's familiar, Selene, a cat with a major attitude problem. Who could blame her for that. The aunt took off without any notice whatsoever and we find out that Selene is a grumpy old lady cat that is on her last life. Cora and Selena are barely putting up with each other...Selena wonders "why she didn't just learn to use a can-opener ???... then a murder happens and the weapon just happens to have come from Cora's shop. Just for fun lets throw in an ex-husband who doesn't understand the "ex" part yet...and a potential new boyfriend who just might be the murderer. The mystery and characters are so very well drawn. I'm looking forward to the next book.

74BookConcierge
okt 28, 2021, 6:30 pm


Holmes On the Range – Steve Hockensmith
Digital audio narrated by William Dufris
3.5***

From the book jacket: It’s 1893, a tough year in Montana, and any job is a good job. When Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer sign on as ranch hands at the secretive Bar VR cattle spread, they’re not expecting much more than hard work, bad pay, and a comfortable campfire around which they can enjoy their favorite pastime: scouring Harper’s Weekly for stories about the famous Sherlock Holmes.

My reactions
Well, this was a hoot and a half! I loved the brothers Big Red (Otto) and Old Red (Gustav) and how they worked together. Big Red narrates, as he is the more educated of the two, being able to read and write. But Old Red is the real fan of Holmes and his methods of observation and deduction, and it is he who finally solves the murder.

Hockensmith liberally sprinkles the text with colloquialism and colorful cowboy metaphors, and includes a host of memorable supporting characters (loved the Swedish cook!). The mystery plot was sufficiently complicated to keep me guessing right up to the reveal.

I’ll keep reading this series.

William Dufris does a marvelous job of performing the audiobook. He has a gift for voices / dialects and I particularly enjoyed his interpretation of the Swede,

75Carol420
Bewerkt: okt 29, 2021, 8:28 am


Alien Captive - Tina Moss
Earth Brides & Alien Warrior series Book #1
3.5★
All I’ve wanted since my abduction from Earth’s first long-range space flight is freedom from my alien captives. But when I’m sold off to a Rhonar warrior, I learn I'm not the only one enslaved on this hellish planet, and survival comes at a cost. The dominant alpha alien they call Xelan may be my new master, but his fair dealings—and devilishly sexy charms—give me hope for the future. If I can strike an agreement with the battle-scarred warrior, perhaps together we can change the destiny of those bound in chains. And if I can’t—well, I haven’t backed down from a fight yet. However, as enemies line up to destroy the alien warriors and subjugate the galaxy, I discover that the universe has a sense of humor. Fated mates are real. And Xelan declares me his. How can I attain my freedom if I’m tied to another being? Even if his possessive growls and single-minded attention ignite my desires in ways I’ve only dreamed, I cannot be his. But how long can I fight the pull of a mating bond before I lose my head—and my heart—to the heat burning between us? Only the stars know.

I have to admit that I probably wasn’t the right reviewer for this book. It’s not a genre that I would have paid money for but I thought I would give it a try because the character of Xelan sounded...well no other word for it folks...he was ...HOT. Ana wanting her freedom from him showed just how much space radiation her little brain had absorbed. I know that romances of any genre are not usually “Jane Austen” material...(thank God...I hate Jane Austen} … or “high-class” literature. What they can be, and usually are...is a heck of lot fun and almost always entertaining on some level. All this said...I sat back to enjoy the story... and Xelan:) Now we come to Ana, our main character gal. I simply didn’t like her. I can’t imagine any one taking her to the closest city on Planet Earth let alone the next outer galaxy. Seems the main reason she elects to go to space is because...by her own words... “brave and wants new experiences.” Hijinks quickly ensue and she ends up crossing paths with our HOT main dude...Xelan. He's kind of a baddie in a good way. Or maybe I was just totally “smitten". He enjoys freeing slaves so yeah, we like Xelan...a LOT. Unfortunately, I just didn't care much for the writing. I know this is book #1 and I am tempted to try book #2 whenever it comes out...especially if Xelan is in it. The jarring flashbacks and info dumps were okay...but what really got me was the alien language. You know we couldn’t have aliens' named Jim, Jack or George but you could tell Ms. Moss had a really great time coming up with the most alien of alien names she could think of. It is absolutely NOT a bad book by any means. Dyed in the wool space adventure lovers will really, really like it. People that will read novels with any promise of romance in it at all will be a little critical depending on the sexual orientation and the species of the characters that they want to read about being romantic with each other or any other object of their affection...but those that have no problem putting their imaginations into overdrive???...they’ll be camped out on the sidewalk at the bookstore/library for the next installment.

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

76LibraryCin
okt 29, 2021, 10:28 pm

No One Goes Alone / Erik Larson
2 stars

In 1905, a group of people come together to head out to an isolated house on an island where a family disappeared (I think). The people seem to be investigating paranormal activity. Part-way through, I was confused when it sounded like the group of people was shipwrecked, but I think the boat was taken or it disappeared or something, but the original intent for heading out to the island was still the paranormal activity (I think).

This was “published” as an audio book only, as Larson felt that ghost stories are meant to be told aloud. Great idea! Also great title, and (usually) great author. I was more interested in the author’s note at the end (at least it held my attention more) than the story itself.

This one, though, for me, did not hold my interest. It felt like a “classic” – slow, not much happened (I don’t think; what did happen, I missed much of). Probably the male British narrator did not help for me (for whatever reason, just that type of narration/voice will tune me out.) Like some others, it reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House, with a bit of And Then There Were None thrown in (but both of those are better – or maybe it’s because I didn’t listen to the audios of those?).

77Carol420
okt 30, 2021, 8:06 am

>76 LibraryCin: I really liked your review even if the book didn't work for you. It sounds like an interesting idea and I love ghost stories... so I think Erik and I may have a date:)

78Carol420
Bewerkt: okt 30, 2021, 10:41 am


Spells, Salt & Steel – Season One - Gail Z. Martin & Larry Martin - (Pennsylvania)
3★
“When all else fails, the ass end of a carp makes a damn fine weapon.” Your new favorite monster hunter has arrived! Bubba the Monster Hunter has some competition in this horror comedy collection from best-selling author duo Gail Z. & Larry N. Martin! By day, Marck Wojcik can be found elbow-deep in engine grease, making cars and trucks safe for the highway. By night, he can be found traipsing through the wilds of Pennsylvania, making the world safe for humans. He’s more than just a mechanic, he’s a New Templar Knight. He travels the backroads and byways fighting weresquonks, ningen, selkies, ghosts, and…gnomes? Is that gnome…naked? (sigh). Season One collects the first four novellas in the Spells, Salt, & Steel series – Spells, Salt, & Steel, Open Season, Deep Trouble, Close Encounters

Mark Wojcik...who I first met in the “Witchbane” and “Badlands" series... is a mechanic by day and monster/ghost/paranormal mystery solver by calling. He doesn’t get paid to get rid of ghosts or monsters but it’s a huge part of his life. The 4 stories are broken into pieces by monster or event but are connected overall. There are recurring characters...so if you didn’t turn the page and go into another story you could think that Mark is just chasing another monster. The story of the Sentient painting was a little creepy. Everyone has seen those paintings where the eyes seem to follow you around the room. a little difference her is that the painted characters actually turn to face out to look at you. There is some humor throughout... some situational...some in the monsters themselves. The repetitive butchering of his last name sometimes gets a little old, but is explained by the fact this is 4 books combined like a TV series into a single season. I don’t think it really matters which book or season you start with as background for Mark and what he does and has done, is well explained in each story. At the end there is a cliffhanger on the last monster hunt. Overall, it can be called intriguing and entertaining. Not quite on the true horror level... but fans of Gail Z. Martin, will add these stories to their ‘to read” list. If you, like me, are mostly a fan of her writing as Morgan Brice will find that these stories are quite a bit different than her series written under that name. Even though Mark makes some appearances in those books, the atmosphere and the characters are very different.

79LibraryCin
okt 30, 2021, 11:11 pm

>77 Carol420: I do hope you like it!

80LibraryCin
okt 31, 2021, 12:06 am

Shine / Lauren Myracle
4 stars

When 16-year old Cat’s (former) best friend Patrick is beaten up and left for dead by someone – likely because he’s gay – Cat doesn’t trust that the small town police are trying very hard to find the culprit(s), so she does some digging of her own. Although, everyone knows everyone, for the past three years, Cat has pretty much shunned everyone (including Patrick), except her brother, who was also friends with Patrick, so it’s not that easy to get info out of people. While she learns some new, surprising things about the people she thought she knew, she is trying to come to grips with something that happened to her at the time she began to ignore everyone when she was 13.

I really liked this. As interesting as it was even from the start, it kept building to the end. I also liked the character from out of town who was introduced. There are some nice (mostly repeated, I think) dark illustrations between chapters, and I liked the way the scene was “set” at the start of the book, via what looks like a newspaper clipping, reporting the attack on Patrick.

81LibraryCin
okt 31, 2021, 5:21 pm

Hench / Natalie Zina Walschots
2.5 stars

Anna works for a temp agency that finds people to work for villains. She doesn’t particularly like “field work”; she prefers to work at a desk, instead. When she decides to branch out and do some field work, instead, she ends up injured and on crutches for months. During this time, she does research and some calculations to figure out that heroes actually do more collateral damage (she figured out the math!) than it’s worth. So, she decides, when she can work again, she will find a way to bring down those heroes.

Ok, I’m not much for superhero stories, anyway. I had hoped to like this one more, but I think it just wasn’t my “thing”. There were parts that were interesting, but mostly I just wasn’t all that interested. I also didn’t quite agree with her hypothesis – yes, there is some collateral damage to innocents, but much of it is to the “bad guys”, anyway. The guys who are intentionally trying to do bad things to innocents! The author’s note at the end was interesting, though.

82threadnsong
okt 31, 2021, 5:24 pm

The Tragedy of the Templars by Michael Haag
4 1/2 ****

Founded on Christmas Day 1119 in Jerusalem, the Knights Templar was a religious order of fighting knights dedicated to defending the Holy Land and Christian pilgrims in the decades after the First Crusade. Legendary for their bravery and dedication, the Templars became one of the wealthiest and most powerful bodies of the medieval world--and the chief defenders against the growing Muslim military campaign to reimpose foreign rule on a Christian society.

For the scope of its work and its reach into history, this is a deeply informative book on what forces created the Knights Templar. It does not begin in 1119; rather, it begins with the spread of Christianity, in Year 1 C.E., throughout the Middle East. It incorporates the scope of invasions that took place from outlying regions, especially the Seljuk Turks, as well as the creations of the different divisions in the burgeoning Islamic faith.

At so many sections of this book I thought, "Wow, I didn't know that." I certainly had not put together the pieces of how intact Outremer was as a region, how long that had gone back throughout history. The Crusades were an attempt to right what Christianized Europe saw as historic wrongs (and the invaders into the region slashed and burned and killed, no question about it), and even the Crusades themselves are presented with full backstory.

Then we get into the Templars and their training, controversies, and intrigues. They were a disciplined body who faced strong methods from within to rush into danger and not surrender unless a call was given. Haag also gives insight into their building, the difference between the Templars and the Knights Hospitaller, and the loss of so many records on the island of Cyprus. I highly recommend this book for the curious and interested in this region, period, and topic.

83Carol420
okt 31, 2021, 5:40 pm


Jack & Jill- Kealan Patrick Burke
4.5★
When they were kids, Gillian and John used to visit the local cemetery every Sunday after church. It was a curious place for children to frequent, but they had their reasons. The main attraction was the lofty hill that separated the cemetery from the elementary school, and the act of tumbling down it like Jack and Jill was a ritualistic escape from the abuse they were suffering at their father's hands. It was an escape that lasted only until John's tragic death. Now, Gillian is all grown up. Married with two children, she has managed over the years to force the trauma of her nightmarish childhood into the darkest recesses of her mind. But lately there are dreams, and in them Gillian sees impossibly vivid reenactments of the horrors she endured as a child. Nightly, she sees John die all over again, only not in the way she remembers. And something else is in those dreams, stalking her, a terrible figure with wire-hanger hands and a plastic bag wrapped around its rotten face. A monster whose reach starts to extend beyond the boundaries of sleep into the waking world, threatening everything Gillian holds dear. A monster she once called Daddy.

It's only 104 pages. But WHAT horror is crammed into that small amount of pages. To say this story got to me would be an understatement. Kealan Burke has easily easily earned himself a place on my list of favorite authors. This story is horrifying and chilling in so many ways. The story is told from the perspective of Gillian, our "Jill" .."jack" was her little brother John who died. Even as an adult and mother Gillian sufferers from PTSD and has nightmares that see more real to than the everyday reality. The monster that haunted her childhood is a constant terror, and with her mind set on blaming the "monster", Gillian sets out to try and fix things. Things escalate quickly, and we see the damage mental illness and childhood trauma can cause. The only fault I have with this novella is that the ending seemed too sudden...but it doesn't negatively affect the overall plot at all.

84JulieLill
nov 1, 2021, 12:08 pm

Silhouette In Diamonds: The Life Of Mrs. Potter Palmer
Ishbel Ross
4/5 stars
This is the fascinating story of Bertha Honore, who in 1871 married millionaire Potter Palmer of the famed Chicago Marshall Field’s and Palmer House. She was very involved in philanthropy and when the Chicago fire destroyed the city, she helped her husband recoup his finances and also helped to restore Chicago. When her husband died, she continued to help others. The book also explores the time period in which she lived and the famous people she met and worked with. I never heard of her but what an intriguing biography and history of that time period.

85LibraryCin
nov 1, 2021, 10:42 pm

Secrets in the Cellar / John Glatt
4 stars

In 1984 in Austria, Josef Fritzl (who had already been raping his middle daughter, Elisabeth, since she was 11-years old), imprisoned her (now 18) in a dungeon under his house that no one knew existed. He had spent six years building it. He kept her there for 24 years, and fathered seven children with her (he already had seven with his wife – Elisabeth being the middle/4th one).

This book does look at all the abuses toward his daughter that just went on and on. Not only that, but previous to all this, he had a history of sexual crimes, only one of which he was convicted and went to jail for. His wife knew nothing about what had happened to Elisabeth – he told everyone she had run away (which would have been no surprise, as she had run away a couple of times previous) to join a religious cult. He took three of the children upstairs to raise them with his wife as adopted/foster children, so he could get the money for them. So, three of the children were raised in the “real world” upstairs, while three others in the dungeon, never seeing sunlight, and rife with all kinds of health issues (the 7th child only lived a few days before dying when Josef refused to get him medical help).

What a monster! Omg, don’t read this if you are at all queasy. I don’t know if I remember this case. She got out with her kids in 2008, only a couple of years after Natasha Kampusch (and I do remember that one). Maybe I don’t remember as much because the entire family ended up changing their names/identities so they could try to get some peace and try to heal. Elisabeth and her children got out of the dungeon in 2008 and the book was published in 2009. The book still managed to get in much of the aftermath, though I did look up more (the trial and to see how Elisabeth and her kids were doing after the end of the book). There is some repetition in the book, but it was well-researched.

86JulieLill
nov 2, 2021, 12:44 pm

Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens
4/5 stars
Set in the late 60’s, Kya Clark, also known as the Marsh Girl, lived a solitary life in Barkley Cove in North Carolina working on her art. Harassed by Chase, one of the boys from town, she is thought to have killed him when he has gone missing. Did she do it or is she a victim of the town folks who don’t like her. Intriguing story and hard to put down!

87BookConcierge
nov 2, 2021, 3:51 pm


At Bertram’s Hotel – Agatha Christie
Digital audiobook performed by Stephanie Cole.
3***

Miss Marple takes a holiday in London at the well-known Bertram’s Hotel. She always stays at this property; she enjoys the traditional décor, the attentive staff, the high tea, and people watching as the many guests flow in and out of the property. But unknown connections between various guests become apparent after an elderly, and rather forgetful, cleric goes to the airport on the wrong day.

Christie excels at creating complicated plots with many suspects and red herrings to keep the reader guessing. She has plenty of surprises in store with this one as well. I had, unfortunately for me, seen the PBS Masterpiece mystery series episode, so knew where it was heading, but I still found it fascinating to watch how Christie wove the elements together.

Stephanie Cole did a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and has the skill as a voice artist to differentiate the many characters. I do like the way she interprets Miss Marple.

88threadnsong
nov 7, 2021, 8:43 pm

Grave Measures by R.R. Virdi
3 1/2 ***

What do shadows darting across the walls, cryptic writing, black fog, and a little girl who can see ghosts have in common? Paranormal investigator and soul without a body, Vincent Graves, has only forty-four hours to find out. To make matters worse, his years of body-hopping and monster-hunting are catching up with him. He's losing his mind. An old contact has shut him out. To top it all off, something's skulking through an asylum, killing patients. Three guesses who might be next, and the first two don't count.

This is a novel concept for a detective/mystery theme, and Virdi's creativity using the idea of a ghost who shares the body of a deceased person to find out "whodunit" gets it 4 stars. Where it loses half a star is the over-emphasis on hard-bitten, gritty detective tropes. A bit of help with the editor's pen may have made all the difference.

The detective wakes up in an insane asylum where the inmates have been dying unexpectedly. Vincent has to assess his new body, and he also finds that his boss, Church, has put him on this case for no reason he can understand. Which is fine - the noir detective always has that bit of grit.

Vince finds his former FBI partner from the previous book, Camilla Ortiz, an inmate in this asylum, too, and they are quickly partnering up to solve this case. And there are plenty of asides for the "geek" community in Vince's descriptions of his whereabouts that kept me highly amused and grinning.

The chaotic diety Lyshae makes an appearance here; my knowledge of Japanese mythos is sadly lacking to know if she is a real member of the ancient Japanese pantheon or simply an invented one. Either way, the idea of a chaotic neutral goddess is spot on, and the realizations that Vince has to make to ask for her help in solving this mystery are very well done.