What Are We Reading And Reviewing in November 2020?

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What Are We Reading And Reviewing in November 2020?

1Carol420
Ott 22, 2020, 11:27 am



What are your reading plans for November?

2Carol420
Modificato: Nov 29, 2020, 11:51 am


📌 - ★
Carol Celebrates National Reading Month

Kate’s Lake – David Odle – - ★ (Early readers haven’t got as of 10/22)
📌Dead Already - Mike Krentz - 3★ (Early Reviewers)
📌Woodson Falls: 16 Lakeview Terrace - Andrea O'Connor - 3.5★ (Early Reviewers)
📌Heart of A Killer - David Rosenfelt - 5★ (Pick A Winner make a Friend)
📌Less - Andrew Sean Greer - 4★
📌The Shallows - Matt Goleman- 4★ (Touchstone is wrong)
📌Hidden Creed – Alex Kava - 5★
📌The Invisible Girl - Lisa Jewell - 5★
📌The Invisible Life of Addie Larue - 3★
📌The Sleeper Lies - Andrea Mara - 5★
📌Elsewhere - Dean Koontz - 5★
📌Rage – Richard Bachman - 3★
📌She’s My Dad - Lolanthe Woulff - 5★
📌Blood On The Line - Edward Marston - 5★
📌The Devil And The Dark Water - Stuart Turton - 4★
📌A Christmas Railway Mystery- Edward Marston - 4.5★
📌Nothing Can Hurt You - Nicola Maye Goldberg - 3★
📌The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks - 4.5★
📌Culloden - John Prebble - 4.5★
📌Sinister Summer - Colleen Gleason - 4.5★
📌Bridge To Terabithia - Katherine Paterson - 5★
📌Conventionally Yours - Annabeth Albert -2.5★
📌All Tied Down - Mary Calmes 5★
📌Fit To Be Tied - Mary Calmes - 5★
📌Tied Up In Knots - Mary Calmes -5★
📌At Attention - Annabeth Albert - 4.5★
📌Maps - Nash Summers - 5★
📌Task Force - John Simpson - 3★
📌Feel The Fire - Annabeth Albert - 5★
📌Chief's Mess - L.A. Witt - 5★
📌A Question of Proof - Nicholas Blake - 4★
📌The Book of Polly - Kathy Hempinstall - 5★

3Carol420
Modificato: Ott 29, 2020, 11:30 am

Questo messaggio è stato cancellato dall'autore.

4Carol420
Modificato: Nov 2, 2020, 8:16 am


Bridge To Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
5★
Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.

It’s a charming coming of age…some things are just destined to be type of story. “The girl”…Leslie Burke… has moved into the farmhouse next door and into Jess’s life and will change it forever. Not only does she not look or act like any girl Jess knows, but she also turns out to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. Beaten by a GIRL…his life is over…or maybe not. After getting over the shock and humiliation Jess begins to think Leslie might be okay…actually more like a soul-mate. You can’t help but think of the land of Narnia while reading. The author is good enough at what she does to know that this will be read by kids, but judged by the adult reader. As a result we have narrative that a 10 year old can understand and those of us older readers feel at home with….and not talked down to at all. We see the world… and Leslie, through Jesse's eyes, but the story is never childish. . It doesn't pull its punches, but it takes care to show us beauty, too. The book should diffidently come with a warning label that says…”WARNING…DO NOT READ WITHOUT KLEENEX”,

5Carol420
Nov 4, 2020, 10:59 am


Less - Andrew Sean Greer
4★

Who says you can't run away from your problems? You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can't say yes--it would be too awkward--and you can't say no--it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of invitations to half-baked literary events around the world.
QUESTION : How do you arrange to skip town?
ANSWER : You accept them all.
What would possibly go wrong? Arthur Less will almost fall in love in Paris, almost fall to his death in Berlin, barely escape to a Moroccan ski chalet from a Saharan sandstorm, accidentally book himself as the (only) writer-in-residence at a Christian Retreat Center in Southern India, and encounter, on a desert island in the Arabian Sea, the last person on Earth he wants to face. Somewhere in there: he will turn fifty. Through it all, there is his first love. And there is his last. Because, despite all these mishaps, missteps, misunderstandings and mistakes, Less is, above all, a love story.


You will probably love or at least like just a little bit...the character of Arthur Less…he’s just that kind of person. I thought that Arthur would accept the fact that he would be better off being rid of this “boyfriend” at last and get on with his life and all for the better…but Arthur saw the whole approaching marriage as the result of some failed character flaw on his part. The book description asks “What could go wrong?” The answer was “plenty”…and almost everything. This is a book that you will never be in the middle of the road about. You will really like it or really hate it. I found it delightful but I have to say that it is NOT a book, or a subject, that will appeal to everyone.

6Carol420
Modificato: Nov 5, 2020, 8:00 am


The Invisible Life of Adie LaRue - V.E. Schwab
3★
A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget. France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever…and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

If Addie LaRue had only listened to the warning from the cover of the book….“NEVER PRAY TO THE GODS THAT ANSWER AFTER DARK”. Do you want to live forever? If your answer is “yes”…what would you be willing to give in exchange? You’re making this deal with a character that is never identified as such, but will give the reader the impression that he is none other than….the devil himself…and he’s going to drive a really hard bargain. Addie finds this out when her wish is granted but she has given up her entire life. Oh, she’s alive and she’s going to get her wish… but in no one is going to remember her…even when they have just met her. Addie spends the next 300 years of her life in a bookshop…but of course no one remembers seeing her…meeting her or that she was ever there…until there was Henry. It’s a story with a interesting premise although one that has been played out in many different books... but differently enough in this one to make it a little different. The book is slow and repetitive in places and because of the characters situation…she has really no opportunity to advance. It’s like she is stuck in time...if that makes any sense. No matter how you rate the book, you will find yourself remembering this story for better or worse long after you have closed the covers.

7Carol420
Modificato: Nov 5, 2020, 8:42 am


Woodson Falls: 16 Lakeview Terrace - Andrea O’Connor
Gaby Quinn Mystery series Book #1
3.5★
Welcome to Woodson Falls
Gaby Quinn is hiding from her past, recovering from the senseless death of her husband, and living in a small New England town. She has her law practice, her dog Kat, and a small circle of friends. What more could she need? But when an unusual probate case crosses her desk, she finds herself looking for a lost body, an abandoned truck, and answers to a mountain of questions, not least of which is, “Who was Pieter Jorgenson?” Soon enough, she discovers even small towns hold big secrets.


I liked the fast-pace of the story as well as the short chapters. The characters, especially Gaby and Jorgenson, are very three dimensional. I believe Gaby is going to be an interesting character to follow and get to know better This is the first book I have read by Andrea O’Connor but I will be more than happy to pursue more of this author’s work. I understand that she has previously published several non-fiction books but this is her first venture into the realm of fiction. The only thing I can find about the book that I didn’t care for was that the author found it necessary to give detailed descriptions of every step Gaby made when gathering material for probate court or when talking to potential witnesses. Some background is fine but this in-depth info is boring and doesn't really add anything to the story. This however was really a very small annoyance in what was a really excellent and enjoyable read. I liked this book well enough to be watching for the next book in the series. Fans of legal thrillers will really like this new author.

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

8Carol420
Nov 6, 2020, 10:07 am


Hidden Creed - Alex Kava
Ryder Creed K-9 series Book #6
5★
During a training exercise, Ryder Creed’s scent dog, Grace, is drawn off course and discovers a shallow grave. The body was never meant to be found, hidden deep in an isolated part of Florida’s Blackwater River State Forest. The remote area has no easy access in or out. The killer obviously hoped his secret would be scattered and swallowed up by the forces of nature. When Creed’s dogs continue to find more remains, investigators quickly realize they’re dealing with someone who knows the forest intimately and has been using it to hide his handiwork for years. Soon they’ll also discover just how far he’s willing to go to stop them and keep his secrets hidden forever.

You have to love the dogs that star in this series…especially Creed’s little Gracie, a Jack Russell Terrier that will steal your heart. Along with a top notch mystery the reader will learn some fascinating information about scent dogs and how they are trained and these amazing dogs work with rescue people as well as police departments all over the country often going into places that their human handlers couldn’t go. You can’t ever go wrong with an Alex Kava book but you diffidently can’t go wrong with any book in this series. I have yet to find one that is not entertaining…has wonderful characters…a believable plot…and portrays law enforcement officers as they deserve to be portrayed. Oh...and did I mention the really cute dogs?

9Carol420
Nov 7, 2020, 10:12 am


The Invisible Girl - Lisa Jewell
5★
Owen Pick’s life is falling apart. In his thirties and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct—accusations he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel forums, where he meets a charismatic and mysterious figure. Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom, Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family has a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen. He’s a bit creepy and their teenaged daughter swears he followed her home from the train station one night. Meanwhile, young Saffyre Maddox spent three years as a patient of Roan Fours. Feeling abandoned when their therapy ends, she searches for other ways to maintain her connection with him, following him in the shadows and learning more than she wanted to know about Roan and his family. Then, on Valentine’s night, Saffyre disappears…and the last person to see her alive is Owen Pick.

Somehow Lisa Jewell manages to always write a nearly perfect book…this one was not an exception. The characters are so vivid and their personalities…while flawed, are so believable. You don’t know if you should pity Owen Pick or crucify him. He is a sad, lonely, and creepy individual... but the question remains… is he a sexual predator and did he have anything to do with Saffyre’s disappearance? The reader will have a great ride while trying to work out the puzzle that these question raise. Everything is seldom clearly black or white as you will find out. Thriller fans will love it.

10Carol420
Modificato: Nov 8, 2020, 9:57 am


The Sleeper Lies - Andrea Mara
5★
It’s March 2018, and the country is covered in snow. Roads are impassable, shops are running out of food, and official advice is to stay indoors. Marianne lives on her own and works from home, so this isn’t a problem. Until she wakes one morning in her house in the middle of nowhere and finds footprints trailing all across her garden. Half-asleep, she is at first curious. Then she realizes the footprints stop at her bedroom window, and curiosity gives way to unease. Who was looking in at her, while she was asleep?

Living alone can be peaceful but also dangerous as this woman discovers when she awakens one snowy morning and sees deep footprints leading up to her bedroom window. By the depth of the prints she knows the watcher had stood there for a long time…just watching her sleep. This person didn’t just happen upon her cabin as it is literally in the middle of nowhere. The author, Andrea Mara didn’t just pull this account out her head and put it down on paper…it is based on a true event that happened at her Dad’s snow covered garden… and that no one could explain. Meet the main character, Marianne who is a True Crime fan as well as member of various online forums for “armchair detectives”…. people who try to investigate crimes and missing persons cases via the internet. Her two worlds’ are on a collision course that no one can stop. It’s a story within a story that takes the reader on a journey from a small community set in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland to a small town in Denmark. The atmosphere is unnerving and there is a permanent chill in the air throughout that has nothing to do with the snowstorm.

11Carol420
Nov 10, 2020, 7:40 am


The Shallows - Matt Goldman
PI Nils Shapiro series Book #3
4★
A prominent lawyer is found dead, tied to his own dock by a fishing stringer through his jaw, and everyone wants Minnesota private detective Nils Shapiro to protect them from suspicion: The unfaithful widow who hires him to find out what happened, by whom and why. Her artist boyfriend, who thinks he may be a suspect. The lawyer’s firm, who wants to make sure the company reputation, stays squeaky clean. There is also an election coming in November, and a very (very!) right wing Congressional candidate may be involved

There are a lot of people in this story which usually is a turn off for me…but in this case it is fairly easy to keep track of them. The story consists of murders… bomb scares…and kidnapping…however it's all in a day's work for Minneapolis PI Nils Shapiro. While he juggles multiple clients he also has to deal with his personal life like his ongoing relationship… or lack of…with his ex-wife. That situation becomes much more complicated throughout the story. The Shallows along with Nils Shapiro is a somewhat complicated read at times. While I like the way Goleman portrays Shapiro as an intelligent PI who doesn't fall for stupid tricks and actually knows and carries out a few of his own…I became a little annoyed with some of his antics and a couple people he works with. I did find most of his comments and his view of the world...entertaining and sometimes comical. Readers that like Robert Parker’s Spencer series will more than likely like this series.

(Note: The Touchstone for this book is wrong. It reads as "The Shadows" instead of "The Shallows")

12Carol420
Nov 11, 2020, 9:53 am


The Devil And The Dark Water - Stuart Turton
4★
A devilish sea saga that never runs out of cutthroat conspiracies. After an outbreak of ghastly events aboard the Saardam, a merchant vessel returning from the East Indies to Amsterdam in 1634, fear spreads that an evil spirit is responsible.

A leaper tried to warn them just before he became a 'crispy critter"... but no one except the prisoner listened or believed the warning. When utter chaos breaks out and human decency is long forgotten… the message is remembered, but it is far too late. It is an utterly horrific story but inside of it are all these other stories that contribute to making the novel not only worthwhile reading but gives it a feeling of intrigue, mystery and supernaturally chilling. The characters can only be described as charming. The plot outstanding…the story picks up toward the end…and readers should be warned there are some real moments of real horror that will appeal to lovers of this genre.

13Carol420
Nov 11, 2020, 5:25 pm


Life According To Maps series book #1
5★

If Maps ruled the world, his best pal Benji would be court jester, and every day would celebrate a new experiment. No, scratch that. If Maps ruled the world, his best pal would still be living next door, and there wouldn’t be any gap-toothed new guy staring at him as if he’s bonkers. Pity Maps doesn’t rule the world . . .

It's a fun, quirky, sweet YA book! We get an entirely new perspective on the geek and jock pairing. My only complaint is that it was way, way too short....Only 86 pages. But WHAT pages they were!! If warm fuzzy feeling are your "cuppa tea", then this is it. I hated to leave Maps and Lane's little world. I bought the book for my neighbors great - grandson but couldn't resist reading it after hearing him giggling and enjoying it so much. There are not enough stars in the universe for a book that gets this kid to READ!

14Carol420
Modificato: Nov 12, 2020, 8:04 am


Elsewhere - Dean Koontz
5★
Since his wife, Michelle, left seven years ago, Jeffy Coltrane has worked to maintain a normal life for himself and his eleven-year-old daughter, Amity, in Suavidad Beach. It’s a quiet life, until a local eccentric known as Spooky Ed shows up on their doorstep. Ed entrusts Jeffy with hiding a strange and dangerous object—something he calls “the key to everything”—and tells Jeffy that he must never use the device. But after a visit from a group of ominous men, Jeffy and Amity find themselves accidentally activating the key and discovering an extraordinary truth. The device allows them to jump between parallel planes at once familiar and bizarre, wondrous and terrifying. And Jeffy and Amity can’t help but wonder, could Michelle be just a click away? Jeffy and Amity aren’t the only ones interested in the device. A man with a dark purpose is in pursuit, determined to use its grand potential for profound evil. Unless Amity and Jeffy can outwit him, the place they call home may never be safe again.

Spooky Ed …a man that is eccentric to put it mildly… gives Jeffy a package to hold for him and tells him not to open it. The main theme of the story becomes obvious that it resolves around the age old concept of good vs. evil and so we all know where this is going to go from here. Of course Jeffy can’t resist the urge to open it…and then we can just sit back…turn the pages… and let the fun begin. Large portions of the story are told from the point of the view of 11 years old, Amity. Amity is rather adorable and sometimes seems way older than 11. She weighed her actions each time but always did what most 11 year olds would be expected to do. For example… she wanted a puppy but thought she should “practice” first so what does she get to practice on... a mouse. Everyone that has ever owned a puppy knows that these are two creatures are about as far separated as a cockroach and a race horse. The book can best be described as a fantasy story mixed with doses of the horror that Dean’s fans expect to see in his writings. The good guys and bad guys all played their roles out as they should and it was a pleasure to read….as usual.

15Carol420
Nov 12, 2020, 8:57 am


Dead Already - Mike Krentz
3★
Battling a malicious wrongful death malpractice suit, past-haunted emergency physician Zack Winston and case-hardened defense attorney Bridget Larsen uncover a conspiracy that trades in prescription drugs and murder-for-hire. A series of obscure deaths in the ER impugn Zack’s competence and set him up for failure. He conjures an imaginary relationship with Noelle, his young naval aviator wife whose life he could not save nine years ago. An unseen enemy now threatens his hard-earned redemption. As Zack and Bridget peel back layers of truth, past relationships and current alliances destabilize. Inspired by memories of Noelle, Zack must deal with his blighted past and overcome a mentor’s treachery to find the truth. Bridget’s life and his hang in the balance..

The book is a really good read for anyone that is a fan of medical thrillers from authors such as Robin Cook…I’m just not particularly a big fan. However, I did like the legal aspects of this one and that gave the book a 3 star rating. It’s a very well written story with lots of intrigue and drama. I believe that I might try this author again at another time when medical drama plays a lesser real-life role in our everyday lives

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

16Carol420
Nov 13, 2020, 8:20 am


Rage- - Richard Bachman
3★
At 9:05 a.m. in Room 16 of Placerville High School Mrs. Underwood realised that she had to go back to the basics in Algebra. The exam results had not been good. At 9:50 the change-of-class bell rang. But in Room 16 Algebra was already long over. For Mrs. Underwood, over for ever. She lay dead on the floor, shot through the head, her eyes still wide open, her blood already dark and congealed as a fly settled hungrily on her bare neck. Mr. Vance was dead as well. The bullet had caught him full in the throat as he came through the door. The kids were still there, not hurt but not going anywhere. The boy with the gun, sitting so casually on the edge of the teacher's desk, had decided that. He watched and waited as outside the police circled and conferred. School had been evacuated. Except for Room 16 where the kids still had a lot to learn. The end of the first lesson. …time for a second, a third. A whole timetable of terror stretching ahead of them.

This book was published in 1983. No one ever thought that this could or would actually happen. After all…it was just fiction. It was a story written by one of America’s greatest, scariest horror writer of all time…Stephen King, under the pen name of Richard Bachman…a man that has made literature history writing about horrific, nightmare making events…places… and people. Fiction is fun and by definition unreal, not true, often impossible…until it’s NOT! Stephen King requested the book be pulled from publication due to real-life school shootings that may or could have been partially inspired by it. Some called it censorship but I couldn’t help but feel it was the most respectable act he or any author could have done, that he had the book pulled for something he believes in. Perhaps if he could have foreseen these future events that would cover the nations headlines a few short years later and if the world hadn’t been such a much different place at that time…he would not have made the gun wielding, teacher killer, hostage taker character of Charlie so sympathetic, amiable and heroic figure to the students.

17Raspberrymocha
Nov 14, 2020, 9:47 am

A Geek Girl's Guide to Arsenic by Julie Anne Lindsey
#2 Geek Girl Mysteries
c. 2018
3 1/2 *

Mia Conners is the IT at the gated community od Horseshoe Falls, Ohio. She recently moved into a penthouse apartment in Horseshoe Falls, due security concerns, after a Friend had been murdered last summer. Mia is also very wealthy as she owns half of her Grandmother's beauty products company. Generally, they sell the products online and at a booth in the local Renaissance Faire, where Mia dresses as Guinevere to promote the products. While at the faire, a man is poisoned and falls dead at Mia's booth. Jake Archer, now a U.S. Marshall, comes to the crime scene. Mia hadn't seen Jake in three months. The deceased man just happened to be in witness protection under Jake's overview. The death is doing harm to Mia's company, so she sets out to find out what is going on, against Jake's wishes. To make matter's worse, Mia's twin sister is trying to be a matchmaker. It was a fast moving story full of fun, family, and intrigue. Much of it took place at the Ren Faire.

18Carol420
Modificato: Nov 14, 2020, 12:39 pm


Heart of A Killer - David Rosenfelt
5★
Jamie Wagner is a young lawyer who is happy to be flying under the radar at a large firm. It's not that he isn't smart. He is. It's just that hard work, not to mention the whole legal thing, isn't exactly his passion. But then he's put on a case that turns his whole world upside down.
Sheryl Harrison is serving a thirty-year murder sentence for killing her husband, who she claims was abusive. The case is settled--there shouldn't be anything for Jamie to do--except now Sheryl's fourteen-year-old daughter, Karen, is sick. She has a congenital heart defect and will die without a transplant. Sheryl is a matching donor--and is willing to die to save her daughter. But suicide, no matter the motive, is illegal. Now Jamie is in way over his head. With Sheryl on suicide watch, Jamie's only shot at saving Karen is to reopen the murder case, prove Sheryl's innocence, and get her freed so that she can pursue her own plan. And time is running out.


When the story begins the lawyer… Jamie Wagner is seriously thinking that maybe he should have listened to his father and chosen a different career…he’s clearly has had enough with his present law firm. To make matters worse he’s been assigned a pro-bono case that no one in their right mind would want. He is supposed to try to help a woman serving a life sentence for murdering her husband…to die. Why ever you ask? So she can give her heart to her dying daughter. Now meet John Novack …the detective who answered the call to the Harrison home the day of the murder. He has always had major doubts about her guilt so when asked he agrees to help but not to help her die but to get her out of prison. Time is getting short for the daughter and no one wants to help the woman die. Now we add another dilemma…someone is moving huge sums of money to people that don’t exist and taking down aircraft and other disasters if large sums are not transferred to given accounts. I think you can see what is quickly developing here. David Rosenfelt is a genius at presenting unique plots and edge of your seat situations… but he has really out done himself with this one. This is a genuinely unique and well told story.

19gaylebutz
Nov 14, 2020, 5:44 pm

The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter
4 ★
The Emperor of Ocean Park is set in two privileged worlds: the upper crust African American society of the eastern seaboard—old families who summer on Martha’s Vineyard—and the inner circle of an Ivy League law school. The Emperor of the title, Judge Oliver Garland, has just died, suddenly. A brilliant legal mind, conservative and famously controversial, Judge Garland made more enemies than friends. Could Oliver Garland have been murdered? He has left a strange message for his son Talcott, a professor of law at a great university, entrusting him with “the arrangements”—a mysterious puzzle that only Tal can unlock, and only by unearthing the ambiguities of his father’s past.

This was a long, wordy and rambling story that I wasn’t sure I would like when it started. But it drew me in with interesting characters and information that was slowly revealed throughout. The characters were flawed and not always likeable. The story touches on politics, societal attitudes, racism and religion but not too much. Overall, it kept me wondering what was going on and made me want to find out so I enjoyed it.

20Carol420
Nov 15, 2020, 9:15 am


She’s My Dad - Iolanthe Woulff

For decades, ultra-liberal Windfield College has been a thorn in the side of Northern Virginia's hidebound elite. When a teaching position unexpectedly becomes available, the school hires a former male graduate - now a transsexual woman named Nickie Farrell - as an assistant professor of English. Hoping to find peace, Nickie keeps her secret under wraps until ambitious lesbian student reporter Cinda Vanderhart outs her. And Cinda has noticed something else: both Nickie and a young townie waiter named Collie Skinner have a genetic quirk which causes their eyes to be different colors. Convinced that the similarity is no coincidence, Cinda begins an investigation to discover the connection between them. Lives and secrets hang in the balance until everything comes to a thunderous head at Windfiled’s Spring Picnic on April Fool’s Day

It’s a beautifully written story of love, honesty, life decisions that can never be taken back, and pride in who you are and what you are, no matter who says you can’t be or shouldn’t be. It’s also… unfortunately…a story of hate, and the destructiveness of intolerance and betrayal. The author shares so much of her real life experiences with her fictional character of Nickie Farrell. There are parts of the story that will make you laugh and smile… parts that will make you want to scream… parts that will make you cry …and parts that you will smile at the courage shown by this professor who dared to say “I am who I am and proud of it”. Not a book that everyone will enjoy, or agree with… but it brings a message that will stay with you forever. One of the most unforgettable books I have ever read.

21Carol420
Nov 15, 2020, 3:30 pm


Tied Up In Knots - Mary Calmes
Marshall series Book #3
5★

Miro Jones is living the life; he's got his exciting, fulfilling job as a US deputy marshal, his gorgeous Greystone in suburban Chicago, his beloved adopted family, and most importantly, the man who captured his heart, Ian Doyle. Problem is, Ian isn't just his partner at work - Ian's a soldier through and through. That commitment takes him away from Miro, unexpectedly and often, and it's casting a shadow over what could be everything Miro could ever dream of. Work isn't the same without Ian. Home isn't the same, either, and Miro's having to face his fears alone...how to keep it together at the office, how to survive looming threats from the past, and worst of all, how to keep living without Ian's rock-solid presence at his side. His life is tied up in knots, but what if unknotting them requires something more permanent? What would that mean for him and Ian? Miro's stuck between two bad choices, and sometimes the only way to get out of the knot is to hold tight to your lifeline and pull.

One review I read described this book...actually the entire series...as being filled with "happy moments...with sappy moments...and moments that you just wanted to cry with and for Miro". That reviewer got the truth of that 110% right. You just have to want everything to be perfect for these two guys as you fall in love with them and their giant dog. I read this book slowly because I simply didn't want it to end. There is only one more book in this series which I am hording on my desktop as I type this. Please, please, please Ms. Calmes...your other books and characters are good but please give us more Ian and Miro.

22Carol420
Nov 16, 2020, 12:49 pm


Blood On The Line – Edward Marston
Railroad Detective series Book #8
5★
1857. On the LNWR train to London, a criminal is being escorted to his appointment with the hangman. But the wily Jeremy Oxley, conman, thief and murderer, has one last ace up his sleeve – a beautiful and ruthless accomplice willing to do anything to save her lover, including cold-blooded murder. When the Railway Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck learns that Oxley, his arch nemesis, has escaped, black memories of their shared past leave him no choice but to do his duty, whatever the cost. With the faithful Victor Leeming at his side, Colbeck must use all of his skills to track his elusive enemy. But could he have finally met his match?

Edward Marston just can’t write a book that is anything but interesting…entertaining...factual of the era… and isn’t just impossible to put down. The only thing I found rather off putting about this book... and that I have seen developing throughout from the first... is that one of the characters is becoming hard to tolerate. Sergeant Leeming needs to grow up… see a shrink…read the help wanted ads…or something. His constant complaining about being away from his family is belittling and redundant. Okay…he misses them…I get it…but did he miss this part of the job description? On the plus side the information about the railroad system in that slower era was fascinating and the chase for Jeremy Oxley was brilliant. Looking forward to the next adventure with Inspector Robert Colbeck.

23gaylebutz
Nov 16, 2020, 5:37 pm

Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline
3.5 ★
When a woman and her husband, desperate for a baby, find themselves unable to conceive, they decide to use a donor. Three months pass and she is happily pregnant. But a shocking revelation occurs when she discovers that a man arrested for a series of brutal murders is her donor-- the biological father of the child she is carrying. Delving deeper to uncover the truth, the heroine must face her worst fears, and confront a terrifying truth.

This story focused mostly on whether the sperm donor was guilty or innocent. As information was revealed, I enjoyed switching back and forth between thinking he was definitely guilty and then maybe he wasn’t. Christine was not always likeable and some things she did were a bit implausible. The story moved at a good pace and had a couple surprises at the end. I thought it was entertaining.

24Carol420
Nov 17, 2020, 11:29 am


Sinister Summer - Colleen Gleason
4.5
Welcome to Wicks Hollow: a cozy town near Lake Michigan filled with quaint houses, eccentric residents, and more than its share of ghosts, murders, and romance.
Diana Iverson needs a break--from her stressful job, from her philandering boyfriend, and from the rest of her fast-paced life. When she inherits her eccentric Aunt Jean's home on Wicks Lake, Diana takes a much-needed vacation in the cozy little town. But when the lake house becomes the scene of multiple break-ins and other unsettling events, Diana begins to suspect Aunt Jean’s death was not as innocent as it seems. And then there’s Ethan Murphy, the sexy college professor who lives next door… He appears to know a lot more about Aunt Jean than he should, and Diana doesn’t trust him. But most of all, there's Aunt Jean herself…who seems determined to communicate with Diana—from beyond the grave. A ghost story romance set in a small town, featuring a cozy mystery about a ghost that just won’t rest until justice is served.


This was just a lot of fun. It had mystery, ghosts and quirky characters. It was just what the ‘Ghost Story Junkie” ordered. The paranormal elements were tame enough as not to freak out those that are hesitant about venturing into a book labeled as “ghost story”. I loved the little town on Lake Michigan…to bad it was fictional. The heroine…Diana, was almost a little too hung up on the “it can’t be true…everything should be either black or white” camp…but she didn’t take away from the story and did begin to lighten up. I believe this book is either part of a series or the author is thinking of making it a series. Whichever…I hope there is more of Wick Hollow coming up.

25Carol420
Nov 19, 2020, 7:27 am


Culloden – John Preble
5★
The book begins in the rain at five o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, 16 April 1746, when the Royal Army marched out of Nairn to fight the clans on Culloden Moor. It is not a partisan book, its feeling is for the 'Common Men' on both sides - John Grant charging with Clan Chatten and seeing the white gaiters of the British infantry suddenly as the east wind lifted the cannon smoke, and Private Andrew Taylor in a red coat waiting for Clan Chatten to reach him, likening them to 'a troop of hungry wolves'. Culloden reminds us, too, that many of the men who harried the glens as ruthlessly as the Nazis in Occupied Europe were in fact Scots themselves. It recalls the fact that many men in Prince Charles' army had been forced to join him. It shows that a British foot-soldier's wish for a sup of brandy on a cold morning before battle is as much a reality as a Prince's pretensions to a throne.

This book was really personal to me. My grandfather came to America in 1926 from the Glencoe region of Scotland. He was so very proud of obtaining his United States citizenship but his heart and soul wandered those beautiful hills and glens of his beloved Scotland until the day he died. This book is well researched but you have to have connections to actually say you enjoyed reading it. There is nothing enjoyable about what happened here on the cold, rainy, foggy April day when the British and the Scots fought the battle known as Culloden on Culloden Moor. Culloden Moor is a tract of moorland in the county of Inverness, Scotland, forming a part of the northeast of Drummossie Moor and lying about 6 miles (10 km) east of Inverness. A great deal of it is bogs and that was one factors that made it the “wrong” choice for a battle…as if there is a ”right” one. Mr. Prebble discusses the battle and its consequences for the Highlands in terms of the “ordinary “men of both sides. There is little ordinary or equal about the men that fought this disaster…but I found out after 16 years of living around my grandfather that nothing is as hard headed or as determined to protect his own and his country as a Scotsman. Only about a third of the book is devoted to the actual battle, although a clear account is given of the slaughter in which nearly half the 5,000 Scottish clansmen gathered on Drummossie Moor were killed. Trying to define “fault” is about as useless as trying to say who was right and who was wrong in any long ago dispute…everyone has an opinion. I…of course was for the Scots…this was my grandfather after all, and as he pointed out often... “my people’. He was always forgetting that the other half of “my people” were Irish. I know that no matter the outcome or who was right and who was wrong…I will never forget standing in the rain as a 7 year old child beside my grandfather at the Visitor’s Center honoring the Scottish dead that fought in this battle and seeing this strong, but never silent man that I loved more than anything on this Earth…weep for his long lost clansman.

26Carol420
Nov 20, 2020, 7:59 am


The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
4.5★

The Wasp Factory is the bizarre, imaginative, disturbing, and darkly comic look into the mind of a child psychopath. Meet Frank Cauldhame. Just sixteen, and unconventional to say the least: Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim. That's my score to date…Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again.

"I had been making the rounds of the Sacrifice Poles the day we heard my brother had escaped. I already knew something was going to happen; the Factory told me."
Those two lines begin one of the creepiest Scottish characters and novels that I have read in some time. Frank Cauldhame, is a weird and scary 16 year old who lives on a tiny island connected to mainland Scotland by a bridge. He maintains grisly "Sacrifice Poles" to serve as his early warning system and deterrent against anyone who might invade his territory. I can’t imagine anyone ever wanting to do that but you can bet he’s ready for them if they do. Those that choose to push their luck soon find that any luck they may have had has all run out. If Iain Banks was going for shock value he achieved it with flying colors creating characters carrying out some really sick and violent acts... the ultimate dysfunctional family is putting it mildly....the understatement of the century! This book is NOT for the faint of heart or stomach. This is Iain Banks' début novel but it shows the same undisputed talent for telling a long tall tale as he has in all his later novels.

27Carol420
Nov 20, 2020, 5:27 pm


A Christmas Railway Mystery - Edward Marston
4.5★
December 1860. Headed for the morning shift at the Swindon Locomotive Works is an army of men pouring out of terraced houses built by the GWR, a miniature town and planned community that aims to provide for its employees from cradle to grave. Unfortunately, boilersmith Frank Rodman is headed for the grave sooner than he'd expected, or he will be once his missing head is found. Colbeck, the Railway Detective, finds his investigation into Rodman's murder mired in contradictions. Was the victim a short-tempered brawler or a committed Christian and chorister? On the trail of Rodman's enemy as the season starts to bite, Colbeck finds little festive cheer in the twists and turns of this peculiar case.

I have followed The Railway Defectives from the start of the series and was not let down and nor have I by this one. As usual the plot twists and turns causing distress and leading to a series of red herrings until the correct culprit is unveiled. Veteran readers of Edward Marston’s books or this series in particular, may not find this little offering as exciting as some of the other Inspector Colbeck mysteries. I believe the book was intended to be a fill in for the holiday season. I can only now wait for the next episode in Detective Colbeck’s life.

28Raspberrymocha
Nov 21, 2020, 1:43 pm

Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flower
c. 2016
#1 A Magical Bookshelf Mystery
3 1/2 *

Violet Waverly is an English Literature Phd. candidate at the University of Chicago. She got a call from her "dying" grandmother, so she drove all the way to her hometown of Cascade Falls, NY, a place she had run away from 12 years ago. She hadn't been home since. Her grandmother runs the magical Charming Books store out of an old Victorian mansion. It's a unique store with a live birch tree growing in the middle of the store, and a chatty raven named Faulkner. The books seemingly have a mind of their own. However, when Vi reached the store, her very healthy grandma introduced her to her mail friend and horse carriage driver Benedict. A book plopped itself in Benedict's hands. A poem about death by Emily Dickenson. Grandma convinced Vi to stay overnight, as she tried to convince Violet to stay in town and take over the Caretaker job at the bookstore. The next morning Benedict was found sitting in his horse-drawn carriage in grandma's driveway. He was dead, strangled wiih one of grandma's scarves. Vi devieds to stay in town long enough to figure out the real murderer, so thst grandma doesn't get arrested. Wills, vindictive daughters, Underground Railway tunnels, the city natural spring, an old boyfriend, bad memories, and a little cat named Emerson, keep Vi on her toes as she struggles to keep her grandma safe.

This was a fun read with engaging small town characters. There was just enough back story to help me to understand what made Violet click as a character. I will definitely read more of this series.

29Carol420
Nov 22, 2020, 10:42 am


Nothing Can Hurt You - Nicola Maye Goldberg
3★
On a cold day in 1997, student Sara Morgan was killed in the woods surrounding her liberal arts college in upstate New York. Her boyfriend, Blake Campbell, confessed, his plea of temporary insanity raising more questions than it answered. In the wake of his acquittal, the case comes to haunt a strange and surprising network of community members, from the young woman who discovers Sara's body to the junior reporter who senses its connection to convicted local serial killer John Logan. Others are looking for retribution or explanation: Sara's half sister, stifled by her family's bereft silence about Blake, poses as a babysitter and seeks out her own form of justice, while the teenager Sara used to babysit starts writing to Logan in prison. A propulsive, taut tale of voyeurism and obsession

It’s a story of murder…its impact… and the aftermath…told in a series of vignettes. How does a tragedy… particularly a senseless and violent one, affect those on the periphery of it and how it changes every aspect of their very lives?. The writing was good but the vignettes would have been better if they had made the characters connect in some way other than they had all been murdered. It was like reading 5 different books with the same scenario and no real ending because there was no pulling it together. Even though I found the book a bit disappointing it was still very worthy the 3 stars.

30gaylebutz
Nov 22, 2020, 5:02 pm

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan
4 ★

An introvert spends a year trying to live like an extrovert. With the help of various extrovert mentors, Jessica Pan sets up a series of personal challenges (talk to strangers, perform stand-up comedy, host a dinner party, travel alone, make friends on the road, and much, much worse) to explore whether living like an extrovert can teach her lessons that might improve the quality of her life. This book explores what happens when one introvert fights her natural tendencies, takes the plunge, and tries (and sometimes fails) to be a little bit braver.

Author Pan was not only an introvert but also suffered from social anxiety which was limiting what she could do in her life. She wisely got the help of various professionals to advise and coach her through various social challenges. Her experiences were candid, amusing, touching and insightful. The occasional use of the F word took away a bit from the positive tone. Otherwise, I could relate and I enjoyed it.

31Carol420
Nov 24, 2020, 4:25 pm


Feel the Fire – Annabeth Albert
Hotshot series Book #3
5★
When their career paths bring two high school sweethearts together again, the forest isn’t the only thing ablaze…Fire behavior specialist Luis Riviera goes where his job takes him. But when he’s assigned to an arson investigation in Central Oregon—the place he left his broken heart twenty years ago—he’s afraid of being burned all over again. Tucker Ryland had planned to join his first love, Luis, in LA after high school graduation, but life got in the way. Now a fire management expert and a divorced father of teen twins, Tucker’s thrown for a loop when he finds himself working side by side with his Luis, now all grown up and more intriguing than ever. Though consumed by a grueling fire season and family responsibilities, the two men discover their bond has never truly broken. Tentative kisses turn to passionate nights. But smoking sheets aside, old hurts and new truths stand in the way of this time being the start of forever.

What I liked most about Luis and Tucker was the initial interactions to every situation, both personal and professional. They actually sat down and worked out their past and their future in a mature adult way even though they were only kids when they started out with one another. They each accept the blame they had in their teenage breakup. Stories where the people are willing to communicate about their problems are always easy reads. The angst is fairly low in the story and is centered more on how they could possibly make a relationship work when Luis returns home to California. Surprising how things ended up and I really liked how the compromises were made and the children were put first and foremost.

32Raspberrymocha
Nov 25, 2020, 10:44 pm

Final Sentence by Daryl Wood Gerber
#1 Cookbook Nook Mystery
c. 2013

Jenna Hart, a recent young widow and ad agency executive decides to move back home to run a culinary bookstore with her Aunt. All was going well as they prepared for the grand opening. Jenna's college friend and TV cooking celebrity was to sign books at the opening. Unfortunately, the friend was murdered and the local police chief pegged Jenna for the murder.

I wasted time reading this. The characters were not believable and some were downright mean. Jenna came off as a flittering empty headed paranoid dope, with not one ounce of common sense. I found it hard to enjoy any of the other characters. This is the first of the series, and the last I will read.

33Carol420
Nov 28, 2020, 11:08 am


A Question of Proof - Nicholas Blake
Nigel Strangeway series Book #1
4★

None of the classical portents showed to warn him of the disastrous events soon to pile themselves upon his head. Michael Evans is unlucky in love – he just doesn’t know it yet. An affair with Hero, the headmaster’s beautiful wife, culminates in a rendezvous in the haystacks at school Sports Day. But when a young student is found strangled in that very haystack later that night, all evidence points to Michael. Unwilling to explain how the evidence got there, Michael calls upon his old friend (and aspiring investigator) Nigel Strangeways, to help prove his innocence. Nigel is sure he’s found the murderer but is lacking any real proof. Will he be able to clear Michael’s name before it’s too late?

I was a bit surprised to learn that this is a reprint of the book that was first released in 1935. Some things just don't lose their appeal and this was certainly one of them. I don't know where the author came up with the name of the victim...maybe it's a common name in England but we meet 13 year old Algernon Wyvern-Wemyss (pronounced “Wiv-urn Weems”.) After wrapping your tongue around that name a few times, you just tend to skip over it every time it appears and get on to a well written very entertaining mystery of a disappearance and eventual murder. The book was written in a much different era than it would be today. There are a plethora of suspects. The murders are a bit implausible...and it seems the victims are being plucked out of the bunch of obnoxious 13 year old boys at random. The case does get resolved but is presented in a very much prolonged explanation at the end. If you remember that life was viewed differently in the era in which it was written...you should enjoy the story.

34Carol420
Nov 29, 2020, 11:39 am


The Book of Polly - Kathy Hepinstall
5★

With a kick like the best hot sauce, this is the laugh-out-loud story of a girl determined to keep up with her aging, crazy-as-a-fox mother. Willow Havens is 10 years old and obsessed with the fear that her mother will die. Her mother, Polly, is a cantankerous, take-no-prisoners Southern woman who lives to chase varmints, drink margaritas, and antagonize the neighbors - and she sticks out like a sore thumb among the young, modern mothers of their small conventional Texas town. She was in her late 50s when Willow was born, so Willow knows she's here by accident, a late-life afterthought. Willow's father died before she was born, her much older brother and sister are long grown and gone and failing elsewhere. It's just her and bigger-than-life Polly. Willow is desperately hungry for clues to the family life that preceded her, and especially Polly's life pre-Willow. Why did she leave her hometown of Bethel, Louisiana, 50 years ago and vow never to return? Who is Garland Jones, her long-ago suitor who possibly killed a man? And will Polly be able to outrun the Bear, the illness that finally puts her on a collision course with her past?

Be prepared to leave your heart with Willow Haven and her mother Polly...who was 58 years old when she became a widow and then learned that she was going to be a mother. You can imagine the difficulties that both of them had since Willow should...by all the laws of nature...been Polly's granddaughter and not her daughter. The book will make you laugh and it will make you cry but overall it will just make you feel good. It's a daughter and mother story with all the joys and fears that come with motherhood as well as daughterhood. I don't recommend very many books as we all have our different ideas of what makes a "must read" story...but If you don't have time to read another book this coming year...I would recommend you give this one a try.

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