LadyoftheLodge reads in 2022

Hi there!

My name is Cheryl. Although I am retired from full time work in public education, I teach online college classes in Leadership Theory, as well as the Sciences, for several universities. I also write curriculum and book reviews.

I live in a small town, have two lovable cats, and play the clarinet in a community band (sadly, we are on hold until we can get our rehearsal and performance spaces back). My husband and I love to travel and have been frequently spotted on cruise ships, although not lately! We also enjoy theater and music venues. Both of us are voracious readers, although our reading tastes differ immensely.

My library occupies one room of my house. There are books in every room of my home as well. I read cozy mysteries, classic mysteries, assorted fiction and "brain candy", historical mysteries, children's books, and occasionally biography or memoirs. I enjoy reading print materials as well as e-books. (I like being able to carry all those e-books with me whenever I go anywhere. My Kindle or tablet is usually in my bag when I leave the house.)

Challenge Hosting Commitments for 2022:

June: RandomKIT--DONE
October: MysteryKIT--Mysteries featuring food--DONE
October: Reading Through Time--Musically Speaking--DONE
December: ShakespeareCAT: The Winter's Tale

MysteryKIT

January--series--Mistletoe and Murder by Robin Stevens
February--cold case crimes--Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
March--small towns, big secrets--A Season of Secrets by Elizabeth Adams
April--noir/hardboiled--The Scarlet Imperial by Dorothy B. Hughes
May--detectives in translation--Maigret in Vichy by Georges Simenon
June--historical fiction mysteries--Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen
July--Golden Age--Calamity Town by Ellery Queen
August--technothrillers--Divergent by Veronica Roth
September--animal mystery--Round Up the Usual Peacocks by Donna Andrews
October--mysteries featuring food--Six Feet Deep Dish by Mindy Quigley
November--Gothic--Christmas at Cranberry Cross by Kate Forster
December--Holiday Mysteries--A Mackenzie Yuletide by Jennifer Ashley

RandomKIT

January--Home Sweet Home--Homespun Suspicions by Olivia Newport
February--CATS!--Cat's Cradle by Julia Golding
March--Hobby Love--The Sugarcreek Surprise by Wanda Brunstetter
April--Rain in all its forms--Death of a Laird by M.C. Beaton
May--Flowers--Muffins and Mourning Tea by H.Y. Hanna
June--Cookin' the Books--The Saturday Night Supper Club by Carla Laureano
July--Dog Days--Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates and Grandkids Gone Wild by Hope Callaghan
August--Canada!--The Walker on the Cape by Mike Martin
September--Harvest--Starting Over by Jack Sheffield
October--Name in title--My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley
November--City--A Christmas in Bath by Cheryl Bolen
December--Christmas Sweets--On the Way to Christmas by Sheila Roberts

AlphaKIT

Jan: R and H--Mistletoe and Murder by Robin Stevens and Homespun Suspicions by Olivia Newport
Feb: A and B--The Little Amish Matchmaker by Linda Byler
Mar: P and S--Pumpkin Pie Mystery by Naomi Miller and A Season of Secrets by Elizabeth Adams
Apr: L and J--The Murder of Twelve by Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land
May: O and D--Two Down, Bun to Go The Oxford Tearoom Mysteries by H.Y. Hanna
Jun: Q and C--Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen and Plain Christmas by Sarah Price
Jul: E and T--Calamity Town by Ellery Queen (Cat trick!)
Aug: M and F--Mint Chocolate Murder by Meri Allen and Full of Beans by Jennifer Holm
Sep: K and I--In Too Steep by Kate Kingsbury
Oct: V and N--My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley
Nov: G and U--Gone for Gouda by Korina Moss and Missing Under the Mistletoe by Kate Collins
Dec: Y and W--A Mackenzie Yuletide by Jennifer Ashley and On the Way to Christmas by Sheila Robers.

And X and Z yearlong.

BingoDog

1. An Award Winning book--Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
2. Published in a year ending in 2--The Scent of Cherry Blossoms
3. A modern retelling of an older story--Amish Christmas Carol
4. A book you'd love to see as a movie (maybe starring your favourite actor)--The Christmas Dress
5. A book that features a dog--A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale
6. The title contains the letter Z--Zin!Zin!Zin! A Violin
7. Published the year you joined LT--2010--Running Around (and such)
8. A book by a favourite author--The Little Christmas Matchmaker by Linda Byler
9. A long book (long for you)--Cat's Cradle by Julia Golding
10. A book you received as a gift--Mary's Christmas Goodbye
11. The title contains a month--Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
12. A weather word in the title--A Season of Gifts
13. Read a CAT--Homespun Suspicions
14. Contains travel or a journey--Mistletoe and Murder
15. A book about sisters or brothers--Becky Meets Her Match by Linda Byler
16. A book club read (real or online)--Dying for Chocolate
17. A book with flowers on the cover--Bake, Borrow, and Steal by Ellie Alexander
18. A book in translation--Maigret's Childhood Friend by Georges Simenon
19. A work of non-fiction--Charles Dickens by Catherine Peters
20. A book where a character shares a name of a friend--Autumn Light by Dan Walsh
21. A book set in a capital city--The Christmas Bookshop
22. A children's or YA book--The Carpenter's Gift
23. A book set in a country other than the one you live--A Child's Christmas in Wales
24. A book by an LGBTQ+ author--Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton
25. A book with silver or gold on the cover--Coming Out by Danielle Steel

COMPLETE on February 28, 2022!

Nancy Drew et al

I did not do well with this personal challenge in 2021, so I want to give it a go in 2022.

February
Nancy's Mysterious Letter by Carolyn Keene

"The Jar of Fate"

1. Love Overboard by Janet Evanovich

Sensational Series

I have several book series on my shelves, but I have not completed them. I want to try to read more of the series that I own instead of acquiring new ones.

Amish Legacy Novels by Amy Clipston
1. Building a Future
2. Foundation of Love

Amish Sweet Shop Mysteries
1. Pumpkin Pie Mystery by Naomi Miller

Bakeshop Mysteries
1. Bake, Borrow, and Steal by Ellie Alexander
2. Donut Disturb by Ellie Alexander

Cruise Ship Mysteries by Hope Callaghan
1. Starboard Secrets
2. Portside Peril

Diamond of Drury Lane/Cat Royal
1. Cat's Cradle by Julia Golding (this completes the series of six novels)

Enola Holmes
1. Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade by Nancy Springer

Garden Girls Mysteries
1. Grandkids Gone Wild by Hope Callaghan

Inspector Maigret series
1. Maigret's Childhood Friend by Georges Simenon
2. Maigret in Vichy by Georges Simenon

Lizzie Searches for Love by Linda Byler
1. Running Around (and such)

Meg Langslow mysteries by Donna Andrews
1. Round Up the Usual Peacocks

Miracles of Marble Cove
1. Autumn Light by Dan Walsh

Miss Seeton mysteries
1. Miss Seeton at the Helm by Hampton Charles

Nancy Drew
1. Nancy's Mysterious Letter by Carolyn Keene

Oxford Tearoom Mysteries by H.Y. Hanna
1. Tea With Milk and Murder
2. Two Down, Bun to Go
3. Till Death Do Us Tart
4. Muffins and Mourning Tea

Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries
1. Homespun Suspicions by Olivia Newport
2. A Season of Secrets by Elizabeth Adams

Surprised by Love by Rachel Good
1. An Amish Marriage of Convenience

Wells and Wong series
1. Mistletoe and Murder by Robin Stevens
2. The Case of the Missing Treasure by Robin Stevens

Who Was series
1. Who Was Jane Austen? by Sarah Fabiny

"I Murdered My Library"

When I weeded my library in 2021, I pruned too heavily. Book remorse rapidly set in. I acquired some of the books I decided I wanted back on my shelves, and plan to read them for this challenge.

1. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
2. Missing May by Cynthia Rylant

Reserving this space for CATS if any.

ShakespeareCAT
January--King Lear themes--The Christmas Dress by Courtney Cole
February--Much Ado--romantic comedy--Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen
March--Retelling--Romeo's Ex by Lisa Fiedler
April--Hamlet--The Murder of Twelve by Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land
May--Kings/Medieval--Henry VIII A Life from Beginning to End by Hourly History
June--Ancient History--Daughter of Rome by Tessa Afshar; DK Find Out! Ancient Rome and if I Were a Kid in Ancient Rome
July--Justice--The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray
August--Lesser Known Works--Portside Perils by Hope Callaghan (about murder and twins)
September--Sonnets and Poetry--Poetry for Kids: Shakespeare
October--Macbeth--Dewey Decimated by Allison Brook
November--the Bard--Who Was William Shakespeare? by Celeste Mannis
December--The Winter's Tale--Her Winter Prince by Felicity Collins

Good to see you all set up and ready for 2022. I've placed my star so I will be following along with you.

I love your topic "I Murdered My Library"--glad you are able to rebuild and now reread!

>11 DeltaQueen50: Thanks! Good to see you here.

>12 NinieB: Thanks. It was traumatic to eliminate books from my library and more so to look for certain books and not find them. Even so, we brought many boxes of books to the new book room and no shelf space is left. It’s good to reacquaint myself with new copies of old friends. Some of them turned out to be nicer than my other copies.

I am intrigued by your "Jar of Fate" category and what will go in there. Happy reading in 2022!

Looking good for 2022.
I feel sorry for the books that were murdered and happy that some are being re-acquired.
I admire anyone who can do a jar of fate - I am too much a mood reader to manage that. Being told (even by myself) I need to read a book usually results in the feeling that I don't want to!

LOL the murdered my library. Good luck with reading and everything else this coming year.

I'm following along! I've got two ideas for themes, and I must choose!

>15 MissWatson: I had tried that theme in 2021, and did not manage it well. I have two jars of fate ready to go, so I am giving it a try in 2022.

How nice you're all set up - I'm still working on mine a little. It still needs some decisions. Looking forward to your jar of fate.

I'm loving the Jar of Fate love here! :D

>20 dudes22: I have been thinking about my categories for awhile, so I was somewhat ready. I hope I am not spreading myself too thin.

>21 Jackie_K: Thanks for the original suggestion! I plan to get it going this time. I still have my jars ready, but need to sort out the contents. I like the graphic I found too, so carried it over from 2021.

Sorry you are having "book remorse" after your weeding. I hope enjoy the newly acquired versions even more.

>24 VivienneR: Thanks, I think the book remorse gave me a chance to consider what I really wanted on my shelves. When I look at the books I kept, I am sometimes puzzled about why I kept them. Oh well, blame it on . . .whatever. . . .

Good luck with your 2022 challenge!

Have a fun reading year in 2022.

I like your categories, especially the "jar of fate" (I'm sure you'll end up with an eclectic mix!) and the murdered library. Wishing you a great year of reading for 2022!

>26 Tess_W: >27 hailelib: >28 mstrust: Thanks for your good wishes! Keeping my fingers crossed and only good thoughts for 2022.

Hi I will follow along with interest as I contemplate setting up my own thread some year. Looks like a great reading year for you!

>30 beebeereads: Thanks! I hope I can stick with my challenges.

Following along here. Just noticed that a couple of you are tracking the CATs and KITs you are hosting in your threads. Good idea!

>32 LibraryCin: That is because my memory seems to flee at times.

>33 LadyoftheLodge: LOL! I have mine written down on a piece of paper (though I'm sure that will get recycled soon). I put it in my calendar for the month before as a reminder to work on it, but I keep the piece of paper a while and keep rechecking to make sure it's all in my calendar!

The Little Free Library in our community is now up and ready to go! I found the hunter green and contrasting green colors of paint and painted it over the weekend. The maintenance supervisor set it up and I added some Christmas ribbon and garlands. Open for business!

Hubby took me book shopping for Christmas presents. I got to pick out whatever I wanted! Came away with eight selections.

>36 LadyoftheLodge: Excellent book haul! I like those sorts of presents, where you can pick what you want :) Have a great reading year!

>35 LadyoftheLodge: Congratulations!

>36 LadyoftheLodge: What a great Christmas present! Are they wrapped and under the Christmas tree now?

>38 thornton37814: Ha! Fat chance! They are all still in the shopping bags. They will most likely end up in those little gift shopping bags instead of individually wrapped. He also bought me the complete set of Nancy Drew books #1 through #56 in the glossy cover edition.

>39 LadyoftheLodge: Wow! Santa was good to you!

I am looking forward to hearing all about your Nancy Drew reading next year, and BTW, your hubby really knows how to do "presents"!

Nice presents from Hubby! So tell us what you picked.

>42 mstrust: Here is the bookstore haul:

Amish Front Porch Stories by Wanda Brunstetter et al
The Bodies in the Library by Marty Wingate (new author for me)
Homefront Heroines by Johnnie Alexander et al
Murder is a Must by Marty Wingate
One More for Christmas by Sarah Morgan
Pine Creek Courtship by Amity Hope
The Promise of Palm Grove by Shelley Shepard Gray
The Windsor Diaries 1940-45 by Alathea Fitzalan Howard

>43 LadyoftheLodge: Looks like a nice haul of mostly gentle reads.

>44 thornton37814: Yes, it is a nice group of books and I am sure they will be fun to read.

>43 LadyoftheLodge: Am going in search of The Windsor Diaries. Looks like some nice reading! May your Christmas be blessed.

>46 Tess_W: Thank you! We are looking forward to a quiet time at home.

I so love Young Girl Reading. Many years ago I saw it at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. and bought a print of it there. It hung on my wall through a series of dwelling places, primarily apartments in those days. I still have it although right now she's reading in a closet!

Hope you have great reading in the new year!

Looking forward to following your reading in 2022.

>48 LadyoftheLodge: May your new year be blessed, Cheryl.

>50 mstrust: Thanks for the "card." This must be from an antique post card or greeting card.

>52 Tess_W: Thank you. I hope we see some better times in 2022.

>51 Crazymamie: Welcome to my thread! Happy New Year! Looking forward to seeing you here.

>49 clue: I saw it there as well, many years ago. Seems like another lifetime in a way. Hope your 2022 is a good one.

I am currently reading three books, one of which is a carryover from 2021. Will update soon!

I finished Dying for Chocolate for my in person book group. Goldy always annoys me, with sticking her nose in where it does not belong, and then getting into dangerous situations. However, I still read the novels, don't I? In this early installment in the series, Goldy and her son Arch move into a mansion where she will serve as live-in chef and still do her catering, just for the summer until her house is ready. Secret affairs and attractions abound, along with a retired explosives expert who is still enamoured of explosives! There was a lot that required me to suspend my disbelief in this one. I will be interested to see how our reading group perceives the novel.

The Christmas Bookshop introduces readers to Carmen and her sister Sofia, around whom the story revolves. Carmen moves to Edinburgh when her job as a shopkeeper ends. She lives with her sister Sofia, who seemingly lives a perfect life in a lovely home with precocious kids and a helpful and beautiful nanny. When Carmen starts work at a bookshop, she finds her niche in life as she assists in remaking the ancient store into a successful and attractive business, especially with the Christmas season approaching. Carmen's love life also becomes complicated as she deals with two potential boyfriends, and surprisingly comes to love her sister's kids! She experiences a lot of growing up and shows responsibility and maturity by the end of the book.

This story contains a lot of different and complicated threads, some of which seem extraneous to the central plot. Things get wrapped up in the end. Sofia's kids are adorable, as is Mr. McCredie and his book vendor Ramsay and his kids. Carmen and her lawyer sister seem somewhat air-headed and confused a lot of the time. The story also contains some despicable characters, but then everyone loves a good villain, right?

The book contains swear words (unnecessary) and religious remarks that can offend some readers (I was offended). (There is enough here to offend most people's sensibilities in some way. Did someone mention witches and spells?) Readers who enjoy a fun,complex romantic comedy will probably like this read anyway.

>58 LadyoftheLodge: Goldy always annoys me, with sticking her nose in where it does not belong, and then getting into dangerous situations. However, I still read the novels, don't I?

I really don't remember where I last left off, but I'll occasionally pick one up to read. Annoying, yes! But I'm like you--I still read them. I just don't go out and grab the next one as soon as it comes out.

>59 LadyoftheLodge: Your last paragraph makes me think twice about reading this one in the future. I sometimes pick up Colgan's books, and I sometimes don't.

>60 thornton37814: It was such a disappointment, like she (Colgan) just went off the rails in some ways, or could not make up her mind where to go with the story. The idea of the book was a good one, but there was too much romantic angst. I wish she had stuck with the original idea for the book and left out all the other stuff.

I finished Homespun Suspicions by Olivia Newport, part of the Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries. It was a clean read with no swearing or sexual intimacy or descriptive violence. This is one of the few books (and series!) in which the main character shares my name. In this late installment in the series, Cheryl is now married to Levi, her Amish boyfriend, and they have "met in the middle" and adopted a modified lifestyle that tends toward Menonnite. They have a cute little girl, Rebecca, who steals the show throughout the book. Cheryl is the property manager for her aunt's cottage, and is tasked with "making an effort" to befriend the tenant her aunt has chosen. The new tenant turns out to be quite prickly and difficult. Cheryl discovers that she is hiding something, and that "something" leads to acts of vandalism by an unknown person. I liked that the story hung together and was believable, and the characters were for the most part likeable. Although this is a Christian novel, the faith aspects are downplayed and the book is not preachy.

So, coldest night of the season and our power goes out at 2:30 a.m.!! After calling in the outage to the power company, I got back under the covers. Power was out until 8:11 a.m. and by then it was 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the house. We turned on the gas fireplace and let things warm up before venturing out from the blankets. Yikes, not a good start to 2022.

>63 LadyoftheLodge: I'm so afraid of that happening! I think we got close to 0F last night (Chicago), so we had the taps running overnight. We still have power, though, knock on wood.

>63 LadyoftheLodge:
>64 kac522:

Light been blinking/dimming for last 2 days. It's in single digits here at night. Keeping fingers crossed! (Ohio)

>63 LadyoftheLodge: Brrrr! Glad you were able to warm up with the gas fireplace.

The power outage apparently occurred because of a transformer malfunction, leading to 3600 customers without power. Even the businesses were out of power.

Just finished Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. This book combines the story of Minli, a young girl who tries to help her family improve their living situation, with folktales from China. The illustrations are also beautiful. This was a quick and engrossing read. I think I first read this book in library school (children's services course).

>67 LadyoftheLodge: I check the news in a number of locations, and one of those is in the area I grew up. I read about a location in that area in which the entire town lost power yesterday. I used to have a lot of friends from that town because of church camp. Most of them moved away as adults.

>69 thornton37814: I guess we do not realize how much we rely on the power until it is out!

Just finished Coming Out by Danielle Steel, which was a LT Secret Santa gift. The "coming out" starts out as a debutante ball that divides the Walker family. Olympia wants her twin daughters Veronica and Virginia to accept the invitation to the ball, which is a family tradition. Activist Veronica does not want to attend, stating it will be an occasion that excludes some people, while Virginia is all about attending the party and dressing in a lovely gown. Olympia's wealthy ex-husband is adamant the girls will attend and make a proper entrance into adulthood and society, or he will not pay for their college educations. Her (current) husband Harry does not agree with the idea, and refuses to attend. However, the "coming out" turns out to be a kind of epiphany in many ways for the characters in the story. It was a quick read, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Today we had our reading group meeting. The title for January was Dying for Chocolate and it was my turn to lead the discussion. There were only about 10 people in attendance, down from the usual 17 readers. The discussion was lively and went well. Next month we are reading The Kitchen House.

Just finished a quick and easy read by Linda Byler The Little Amish Matchmaker. This is the story of a young boy who tries to matchmake his older brother with his teacher. The book reveals a lot about Amish customs and school and home life. The characters are realistic and believable.

Strangers on a Skein
In this latest installment about the Black Sheep knitters group, Phoebe decides to try her hand at her own business venture. Having successfully served as assistant manager at Maggie's knitting shop, Phoebe applies her managerial and creative skills to opening her own shop in the local artisan market. Her plans are scuttled when strange things start to happen: her market stall is trashed, and her online presence is marred with critical, negative reviews. Maggie and her knitting friends group together to get to the bottom of these deeds and help Phoebe.

This is a cute, cozy read, and will probably appeal to readers who like to knit. The characters can be annoying at times with their over the top comments though. Everything is explained in the end, and the stage is set for the next book in the series. Of course, any cover featuring cute dogs wearing knitted attire is a sure draw for knitting and dog lovers.

Another quick read for the BingoDOG challenge: Amish Christmas Carol which is loosely based on A Christmas Carol with the Amish culture as a basis.

Finished Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton, for the LGBTQ author square on BingoDog card. I think I read this book years ago, although I did not remember it when I was reading it this time. I think the author is a gifted poet, although suffered from depression and a sensitive, artistic nature. I still want to read the journals of when she moves to her house by the sea, which I think I have on Kindle.

We had a weird and tiring day yesterday. One of my cats was hiding and moping for days, and I was not sure he was eating or drinking any water. When I called our regular veterinary clinic, they could not get him in to be assessed (this is a change, since I could also get my pets squeezed in somewhere, but they are now under new owners....) so we took him to a pet ER hospital about 30 minutes away. After lots of $$$ and waiting for 4 hours and diagnostic tests, the doctor could not find anything wrong with him, other than an upset stomach!! Discharge info says to treat him like a king with lots of rest and special foods. That was a trying experience, not to mention the cat's howls of outrage at being cooped up in his carrier to travel on a cold day and then subjected to indignities at the pet hospital. Today I feel like I was dragged through a knothole backwards, while the kitty enjoys sleeping and pampering and is no longer hiding or moping.

>77 LadyoftheLodge: Well, at least you know it was nothing serious. I took a cat to an emergency vet one evening. I don't remember what the problem was, but it was even less serious than the upset stomach.

Sorry, but also glad, that the cat is okay. It hurts to shell out for what amounted to nothing! We rushed one of our dogs to the vet once because we found that she'd torn apart an earring and thought she may have swallowed some of the metal. Nope, she was clean as a whistle.

For me, it's also about that piece of mind. Better to have kitty checked out to find it's nothing, or at least nothing serious, than to find something awful. Glad kitty is ok!

My nephew recently had an episode with one of his dogs and he took her to the emergency vet service on a Sunday. They diagnosed her with something I've never heard of and he had to go to a pharmacy for the drugs she needed. Two days later she's no better and he took her to his regular vet and discovered she had been misdiagnosed. His Dr. said it was easy to do in this case but her breed was one that had a lookalike possibility that wasn't common to most breeds. The medicine he prescribed was just a few dollars and she was fine the next day. Altogether he was out over $500!

Just have to chalk it up to the cost of loving a pet!

>78 thornton37814: >79 mstrust: >80 LibraryCin: >81 clue: Thanks for all your kind words. The peace of mind to know he is okay was worth all the trouble. We love our furbabies! PS--Mr. Ernest Hemingway (our cat) is so far doing well, back to eating a bit and doing his "sink drinking" gig, sleeping on our bed, enjoying lots of petting and fussing.

I finished Autumn Light by Dan Walsh, which is part of a series called Miracles of Marble Cove. It was a light, enjoyable read, and helped me with my personal challenge to read the series books I own.

Getaway with Murder features a newly-opened mountain lodge as a backdrop for murder. When Misty hosts a yoga retreat at her mountain lodge, she never expects to host a venue for murder. Suspects abound, with plausible reasons for many of them to commit murder. There are plenty of rabbit trails and red herrings to satisfy readers of cozy mysteries.

I would have liked to see less detail and repetition in the story, so I skimmed parts of it to get to the ending. The characters are interesting and diverse, and the stage is set for future novels in this series. I liked that the love interest did not detract from the mystery aspects of the story, and there is room for development of that relationship in future stories as well. Law enforcement was treated with respect, not made to look like bumbling idiots as in some mystery novels.

Readers who enjoy clean and cozy mysteries set in unique locations will find this an intriguing addition to the genre.

I finished Cat's Cradle by Julia Golding. I am sorry to see this series about Cat Royal come to an end. She is quite the feisty and bold teenager and I have enjoyed following her adventures through the six historical novels in the series.

I retrieved my two "Jars of Fate" from their file drawer, where they slumbered in comfortable bliss. I had to sort them out since I read some of the titles written on the slips and no longer own others. They are now ready to participate in my personal challenges for this year. They needed a little love! ;+)

>86 LadyoftheLodge: Hurray, Jars of Fate!

>86 LadyoftheLodge: Love Jars of Fate!

On this snowy day, I opened a box of books I had ordered and just picked up from the front desk (since it did not fit in our tiny mail box at the mail house in our community). The receptionists know me by name now, since I get so many boxes. They must think I am nuts! They call me the "book lady!"

The box was like a treasure trove! Several nonfiction selections about Amish people, some Amish fiction books, a cookbook, a garden book, a mystery novel that was a BB from MysteryKIT, a mystery novel in a series that I have read. All are now entered in my LT catalog. Way to spend a snowy day! Just add the coffee, wine, cheese and crackers and I am good to go!

>89 LadyoftheLodge: Sounds like a good way to spend a snow day! I'd open the garden book immediately--we got some 6+ more inches today, too--so I think pictures of things blooming and greenery would be an excellent distraction.

>90 kac522: They were a great reminder of spring. The pictures are in full color and the book describes a year in the garden of an Amish woman, month by month. There are also recipes. That is a book a person could fall into and spend hours just looking at the photos.

I finished Five Little Pigs. Now I am reading The Kitchen House for our community book group, and also a Nancy Drew mystery that jumped up and grabbed me.

>89 LadyoftheLodge: I can think of nothing better to do on a snow day. >:-)

Sorry to hear about the cat troubles. Hope he's feeling more himself and is not still insisting on the pampering...

>89 LadyoftheLodge: Good plan for the snow day.

>92 LadyoftheLodge: I'm trying to wait on Five Little Pigs so I'll officially finish it in February. I grabbed a historical mystery set in India to tide me over.

Once Upon a Wardrobe was not at all what I expected. This novel combined aspects of fantasy, historical fiction, romance, and spirituality. The story turns upon Megs and her younger brother George. Megs attends Oxford as a maths major, and George suffers from a weakened health condition, with a predicted short life span.George is enamored of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and implores Megs to ask the author where the story came from. Megs sets out to accomplish this task for her brother before his time on earth runs out.

The result of this quest for Megs is an enlightened view of fantasy and myth and their role in belief systems. During her interviews with C.S. Lewis, Megs gains wisdom and insight into the spiritual realm, an area not based on logic. In the process, she develops writing talents that previously lay hidden. She also meets a young man who guides her quest and finally becomes an important person in her life.

The point of view in this book alternates between Megs, George, and C.S.Lewis. The story incorporates aspects of the life of Lewis, while providing an analysis of possible meanings of the Aslan character and other features of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." The spiritual aspect of the story is gently conveyed through the plot and characters, as they are lead to new and eye-opening discoveries and growth.This book contains moments of joy and of sadness, as it winds to its inevitable conclusion. The romantic aspects of the story,,while somewhat sentimental, remain secondary to the key themes. The final chapter is a stunner.

While this is not an easy read, it is a very thoughtful one. I would encourage readers to continue on with the story if they are thinking about laying it aside. It is well worth the effort. One does not need to be familiar with the works of Lewis to appreciate this novel. However, those who are not familiar may be prompted to pick up the Narnia books and discover the mystical connections for themselves.

>93 Helenliz: >94 thornton37814: Thanks for your comments! The kitty is out and about more and at least eating some soft foods but still being picky. I discovered some bisque-like squeezable treats that he loves, at least for now. I read up on elderly kitties and found they might be picky eaters like this, so I guess I should not be surprised. In kitty years, three of my cats are equivalent to 76 years old.

I tried to wait on Five Little Pigs but kept reading! I am currently reading a Nancy Drew book for fun, which contains sort of a cold case crime of mistaken identity.

We are watching the weather forecast closely since snowy weather seems to be in the offing for Thursday of this week. If that is the case, at least the streets and walkways will be cleared off by buildings and grounds crew here. We plan to stay home!

I finished Nancy's Mysterious Letter which is book 8 in the Nancy Drew series. In this story, Nancy has two mysteries to solve: one is the theft of a leather mail pouch, and the other is locating a woman whose name is also Nancy Drew but has inherited a sum of money. Nancy also attends a college football game with her beau and enjoys its attendant entertainments. I read this book for my own personal challenge.

We got a huge snow dump two days ago so that gave me a chance to make some reading headway in Bake, Borrow, and Steal. I also worked on writing the courses for which I am under contract. I am almost done with the last of them--six in all. Today it is bitterly cold so we are staying indoors again, more of the same reading and writing.

Bake, Borrow, and Steal
For those who enjoy culinary mysteries, this latest one is a fun and cozy read. Jules and her staff at Torte assist with a new museum exhibit featuring a lost Shakespeare manuscript. While their focus is supposed to be food, as usual, Jules and her staff get involved in helping law enforcement solve several mysteries. The characters are described well (and some of them are real "characters") and the reader can easily picture the town in November, with its preparations for fall holidays and its scenic views. The story contains many descriptions of food preparations and culinary venues. While there are no cliffhangers, the stage is set for the next novel in the series. Although this is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone.

>99 LadyoftheLodge: I just discovered that author last year. I started with her brewery series, but I've read an in-between book that features both her bake shop and brewery series--so I have both in my series lists. I'll eventually get to that one, but it may take a few years to get around to it.

>100 thornton37814: I liked the setting and the characters, but there were some plot holes that I could not stop trying to analyze. Maybe my mind just wandered when I was reading and I missed something.

I started to read Lockdown on London Lane for NetGalley, and ended up skimming it to the end. This book used diary format to describe a week of lockdown in an apartment building and how different individuals handled it or not. The premise is probably an interesting and valid one, but I got annoyed with the book overall. The characters seemed really shallow and quite gushy about their feelings for each other. Lots of profanity for no reason. Maybe a younger adult would find this book to be cute and funny, but it would not stand the test of time with its many references to current culture.

Just finished a boatload of books recently.
The Wizard's Butler by Nathan Lowell which was a BB from another reader. I loved this book and look forward to the next one in the series (I hope). A few readers panned it on Amazon but I don't get their comments at all. I stayed up late to finish it.

Zin! Zin! Zin! A violin by Lloyd Moss--for the AlphaKIT letter Z.

Running Around (and such) by Linda Byler--cute coming-of-age story in a series of three.

Amish Women: Lives and Stories by Louise Stoltzfus--my first e-checkout with my new library card! Loving it!

I finally got my new library card and used it to check out e-books on Hoopla--yippee! It's a different library world, my dearies, since I graduated from Library School.

>103 LadyoftheLodge: I went to check out a book from one of my libraries and discovered the card expired. I never received a renewal notice. They usually send it by email. This is the larger city card where I pay $40/year to access their collections and e-resources. Needless to say, the check is in the mail. (They don't do electronic payments.)

This short and comfortable read features correspondence between two women as its format. Although their letters to each other begin with sharing recipes and cooking tips, they quickly become much more. Immy and Joan soon become good friends and begin discussing details of their personal lives. They gather courage and strength from each other, although they only meet in person one time over the few years of their correspondence.

Love and Saffron is a clean story of friendship, set in the 1960's. I enjoyed the details of life in that time period, and also found it interesting to compare the moral standards of the time to current ones. I recommend this novel to those readers who enjoy a diary/correspondence format, with glimpses into the political and social aspects of the 1960's.

>104 thornton37814: Our local library is not large, but seems to have good digital resources. I have yet to visit the library in person, though I will get the chance when one of my holds is available. We live in a college town, so I am sure the students use the local library as well as the college one. I was also impressed with the library apps and the variety of items to check out.

>105 LadyoftheLodge: I love epistolary books! Off to secure a copy!

>107 Tess_W: I hope you like it. I will be interested to know your thoughts, especially about the ending.

Finished Maizy Chen's Last Chance which has a fine core story about a girl who reconnects with her Chinese family heritage and her grandparents. I respect the author's viewpoint and the backstory, but it seemed as if the book was trying too hard to connect all the socially acceptable politically correct themes--prejudice, discrimination, refugees/immigrants, LGBTQ, pregnancy out of wedlock is okay, pursue your dreams no matter what, and more.

Also read a book about coral reefs for NetGalley, which had lovely color illustrations but did not transfer well to the tablet format. Again, this book tried too hard by including college-level vocabulary words in a book aimed at kids. The book would have conveyed interesting info about coral reefs without the vocabulary words interspersed.

An Amish Bride continues the story begun in Book One of this Joyful River series. Sadie is the focus of this story, as she struggles to decide about her future. When her boyfriend Mark shows his dark side, Sadie fears she has made a mistake. Sadie seeks guidance and support from her friends the Lapp family, and rediscovers her feelings for elder son Sam. When Sadie tries to break things off with Mark, things go further awry for Sadie. She ends up bearing the responsibility of a relationship that has gone wrong, and the result of lies and cover-ups, though she did nothing wrong.

This book also features Megan, Serena, and Grace, the Englisher cousins who have come to live with the Lapps. They also seek guidance for their futures, as they find they no longer fit in with their friends in Philly.

The characters in this novel are realistic and endure struggles that are common to the human condition. The story demonstrates that the Amish communities must grapple with the same ills found in non-Amish society. I was both annoyed and astonished at the stance taken by the community leaders regarding violence against women and the result of their male dominance. The novel comes to a rather abrupt ending. I would have liked to see more development of the action in the final chapter.

Readers who enjoyed the first book in this series will reacquaint themselves with old friends. The book can also be read as a standalone.

Foundation of Love by Amy Clipston
"Foundation of Love" highlights the lives of two characters seeking love and friendship, but stymied by interfering friends and family. Duane lost his wife to cancer, and now is left to raise three young adult sons, while tending to his roofing business and farm. Crystal lives with her brother and cares for his growing family, yet yearns for a love and family of her own. When Duane and Crystal begin to care for each other and plan a life together, family and community members continue to try to match them with others and find reasons to keep them apart.

This book impressed me with its attention to a theme seldom seen in novels about Amish people: love later in life. Duane and Crystal are no starry-eyed youngsters; instead, they are mature adults who seek a fulfilled life together. The story is realistic and shows how friends and family can disrupt relationships for reasons of their own. In this case, Duane is pushed to take a widow for his wife in order to help the community, while his sons believe he should not remarry out of respect for his deceased wife.. Crystal's brother and sister-in-law selfishly expect Crystal to continue caring for their large family as a maid of all work, without consideration for her future happiness. It was frustrating to see them continually thwarted and kept apart, and.I quietly cheered when Duane and Crystal finally stood up for themselves. Themes of child bearing, male dominance, and grief also appear in this novel.

This is a clean novel, without adult intimacy scenes, graphic violence, or strong language. Readers who enjoy novels about Amish people, with a bit of a twist to the usual themes, will find this to be a thoughtful and intriguing choice.

(A personal aside here: I got really annoyed with Duane's constant focus on grieving for his deceased wife, 18 months after her death. I felt as if this stood in the way of his moving on with life. I know people grieve differently, and I have personal experience with the loss of a spouse. I also have personal experience with family getting in the way of remarriage; the story was realistic. I also got tired of hearing about sister-in-law Leona and her huge pregnancy with twins and how she kept rubbing her belly. Enough! Crystal was treated like Cinderella; I do not know how she kept up with all the work, especially since she was not getting paid to do all that. She basically ran a household of six kids all by herself. And then the bishop "ordering" Duane to marry the widow Tricia! I liked this novel but it was frustrating in some ways. As my bookmark says, "Sometimes I'd like to smack the characters with their own book.")

I finished An Amish Kitchen which contains three short stories about different Amish women. Although the stories are loosely connected by some of the same characters, the three women are quite different. The third story was unique for me in that it dealt with an aging parent who struggles with Parkinson's disease. The story pointed out the differences in Amish communities and acceptance of new ideas and modernization within the guidelines of the Ordnung (rules). There were some hilarious moments in this quite serious story, particularly when the pet lizard of one of the teen boys escapes from its cage and grandma finds it on her bed. She thinks she is seeing things, so curls up on the bed to take a nap with the lizard! This is also a story about families, secrets, and acceptance of others, even though differences of opinion exist. This was a satisfying read overall.

Just finished a light romance Philip's Christmas Secret by Hannah Miller. Definitely not high literature, just a fun read on a cold night. Also read Pumpkin Pie Mystery which was a fun mystery novella, but I felt as if I walked into the middle of a story that was already going along. This is number 4 in a series, but definitely not a good standalone. No list of characters or any kind of introduction was included, just dropped the reader into the action. It took me half the book to figure out who the people were. I think this is the kind of book that really needs to be collected into one volume with the others, so they can be read in order. There was also a cliff-hanger ending, forcing the reader to buy the next book to find out what happens. This seems to me like a rip-off and a way to manipulate the reader. I liked the story though.

I managed to snag two lots of Maigret paperbacks on ebay. Anxiously awaiting their arrival.

I just finished Missing May by Cynthia Rylant to completely cover my BingoDOG card!

>115 LadyoftheLodge: Congrats! I didn't finish my BINGO card last year and decided not to participate in BINGO this year. I might have done so if I'd found a good way to create my own card with my own categories.

>114 LadyoftheLodge: Nice work! They are so difficult to find otherwise.

>116 thornton37814: I'd like to create my own Bingo card too! An idea to explore for next year maybe?

>116 thornton37814:
>117 VivienneR:

I haven't done a Bingo card for two years because at this state in my life, I'm not going to read a square that I have absolutely no interest in. But, like you, I would like to make one of my own!

>116 thornton37814: I like the idea of creating my own bingo card too. (I can usually find something to fit all the squares, but it has been difficult sometimes.)

Congratulations on completing your Bingo Card!

>120 DeltaQueen50: Thanks! Sometimes I start a second one, but not sure I want to do that this time. Some of the squares are very specific.

>114 LadyoftheLodge:, >117 VivienneR:

You can usually find Maigret on ABE. When I buy used books on the internet I usually buy "very good" condition and they aren't as common of course as "good" condition.

>122 clue: I also look for "very good" or "like new" when I purchase used ones.

>123 thornton37814: That is a good plan to have. I have found that the condition is usually accurate, although I have been skunked a few times.

For any interested readers: Today (Friday March 4 only) Powell's is contributing 20% of their sales receipts to aid for Ukraine. Check out their website if interested.

I finished A Season of Secrets by Elizabeth Adams for AlphaKIT and also for MysteryKIT for March. Also finished The Library by Bella Osborne for NetGalley.

I picked up my hold at the public library which is Tales from the Cafe, a BB from another LT reader. That was my first visit to the library here, and it was interesting to see the patron holds as a self-service shelf. There were also two racks of free books inside the lobby and a large Little Free Library outside on the porch of the library. I found a couple of good mystery novels in the freebies!

>126 LadyoftheLodge: My library has had a self-service holds shelf for some years now. And since the pandemic there's a self-service check-out station. So no need to wait for a librarian.

>126 LadyoftheLodge: My library has had self-service hold shelf for years and check out for at least the last 5. Nice that you found a few freebies!

>127 kac522: >128 Tess_W: I guess I must be behind the times! This is the first time I have been inside the public library here, and any public library since the pandemic started. The other library for which I had a card still had holds behind the desk.

Getting old is a bummer! I got my eyes checked because my distance vision was fuzzy (words and numbers, not people or objects). Found out I have cataracts, but changing my glasses prescription should help; apparently they are not ready for surgery yet. Who knew???

I finished reading The Library for NetGalley, which was a somewhat disappointing read. i wish the book tried to cover less ground and stuck to the idea of saving the local library. I thought the teen boy character was judgmental about adult issues and a big whiner. The senior citizen Maggie was a strong character, made that way through a lot of hardship and personal tragedy, but her kind heart and care for others showed her ability to overcome and triumph. I would have liked a lighter read, as it seemed there were really two parallel stories and they detracted from each other.

>117 VivienneR: My collection of Maigret paperbacks arrived this week. They are in very good to excellent condition with just two duplicates in the pile. I am looking forward to getting started reading them.

>130 LadyoftheLodge: In December I had my cataracts removed. My vision is so much clearer. I did not realize how badly it had deteriorated because it happens slowly over time. On the other side I now see through a lens clearly, rather than darkly! It was a painless 20 minute laser procedure with virtually no pain and eye drops for 2 weeks--that's it! I've told people that before surgery it was like looking through those brown tinted sunglasses. I even passed the vision test for my new driver's license without glasses following surgery.

>132 Tess_W: Glad to hear!

>132 Tess_W: Thanks for this helpful information. I am awaiting my new eyeglass prescription now, so hopefully that will help until my cataracts are developed enough to have the laser procedure.

I finished my "jar of fate" selection, Love Overboard by Janet Evanovich, which was a silly sort of romance but an easy read. Apparently she wrote a series of romances before Stephanie Plum novels, and these have been reprinted. I think I recall her Loveswept books from when I read a lot of romance novels all summer long.

The Sugarcreek Surprise tells the story of Lisa, a teacher who fears to love due to past losses and pain at losing her family in an accident. She slowly takes steps to lower her guard when she is adopted by Maggie, a stray dog. When Lisa meets and forms a friendship with newcomer Paul, she begins to trust him and spend time with him. Some bumps in their relationship cause Lisa to pull back while they both reconsider what the future might hold for them.

This is a clean and sweet novel, lacking in explicit intimacy scenes, violence, or strong language. Readers who enjoy a lot of detail in their novels, and like to read about Amish people, will find this a sweet read by a well-known author. Personally, I found there to be a lot of extraneous detail (maybe filler) and events unrelated to the main story line. I also wondered where the title fit in with the story, as it was never really explained, maybe implicit in the romance angle of the story.This novel continues the Sugarcreek/Walnut Creek series. Although some characters are found in both volume one and volume two, the novel can be read as a standalone.

I read Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story by Lisa Fiedler. This novel was aimed at young adults. I liked the basic premise of the story, and it moved along well until the ending. Then things became rather bizarre and unbelievable. The author skillfully used the Elizabethan style of Shakespeare, with some humorous tongue-in-cheek additions. Too bad the ending degenerated into grotesque and gory weirdness. I also found the alternating viewpoints among many characters to be confusing. There were some plot points that lacked accuracy as well, since Rosaline was admired by Romeo but was not his "ex," and comments about "Renaissance thinking." Also, would Benvolio really have waited four years for Rosaline to return from the university, since she was in Padua studying medicine? As I said, readers should just skip the weird ending.

>132 Tess_W: Good to read that the cataract surgery went well. No glasses at all, that must be a nice benefit!

>137 LadyoftheLodge: I'm a sucker for a retelling, but maybe not that one...

>138 Helenliz: I'd give it a miss if I were you.

I just got my new eye glasses, and things seem much clearer and sharper. This may also be due to the frames being a different shape and allow for a larger lens and more room for progressive bifocals. I hope this takes care of the problem for awhile.

The Fashion Orphans is a tale of friendship, fashion, and family. Upon the death of their mother Bette, sisters Lulu and Gabrielle are tasked with sorting out her estate. When they find a huge closet packed with Chanel designer clothes and accessories, the sisters are puzzled about what to do with them and why their mother owned them. The ensuing journey leads them to new lives and new friends. In the process, Lulu and Gabrielle learn more than they ever imagined about their mother.

Although the story is told from alternating points of view, this gambit does not detract from the action and movement of the plotline. Readers will find themselves cheering for the sisters, as well as weeping for their losses. The characters are realistic, as are their dilemmas, failures, and victories, as they are changed over time by the magic of fashion, style, and genuine love. This charming read is a clean women's fiction novel, with no overt sexual scenes or violence, although a few swear words occur. The tension and action build to a satisfying conclusion for all concerned. Highly recommended.

>140 LadyoftheLodge: Definitely taking a bullet for this one. It sounds like its right up my alley when I am ready for a palette cleanser. Thank you!

>140 LadyoftheLodge: A BB for me!

>141 beebeereads: >142 Tess_W: I rarely assign 5 stars, but this one got them all. Definitely a cleansing touch and uplifting story. I will be interested to find out if you enjoyed the book as much as I did.

Her Amish Springtime Miracle reveals the power of hope and trust, in this Christian novel where Amish and Englisch cultures collide. When Hannah discovered an abandoned baby in her barn, she felt as if her life was finally fulfilled. Unable to have children of her own, and reeling from a broken courtship, Hannah embraces the child as her own miracle. She never counted on the appearance of Mike, the child's uncle, who desires to claim the child and adopt her. Faced with the loss of her miracle baby, Hannah faces heartbreak, while Mike discovers clues to his secret past. As he reconnects with lost family and realizes his feelings for Hannah and baby Grace, Mike must confront what he really wants his life to become.

This is a heart-tugging novel, with a plot that swiftly moves along to its conclusion. Hard decisions must be made by the strong characters, yet they never lose faith in the God who sustains them. Themes in this novel include fostering and adopting children, past lies and their present consequences, family ties, and the differences between Amish and non-Amish cultures. Readers of the previous book in the Hope's Haven series will recognize familiar characters and locales in cameo appearances, although this novel can be read as a stand-alone. Those who seek a clean read, without strong language or overt violence or intimacy, will find this an intriguing yet satisfying read. The Christian message is overt, yet an integral part of the story without being preachy or overbearing. Readers will sympathize with the predicaments of the characters and their difficult choices, and should prepare to shed a few tears whilst reading this novel. Highly recommended

The Maid provides readers with both a mystery and a character study. Molly takes great pride in her work as a housekeeper at a luxury hotel. Although Molly has some personality quirks, she is a hard worker and always looks for ways to improve. However, Molly unknowingly becomes embroiled in illegal operations that are based at the hotel, as criminals take advantage of her kindness. With the help of some surprising friends, Molly works through her challenges to a satisfying and yet surprising ending!

Readers who enjoy an intriguing mystery will find this novel to be of interest, and will want to cheer for Molly throughout the story. However, the novel presents a thoughtful look into the life of someone who sees things just a little differently from most people. After reading Molly's story, readers will also perhaps take a second look at the people who interact with them in service roles.

(This book reminded me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, in terms of the character of Molly.)

>145 LadyoftheLodge: putting that one on my WL!

I just finished Almost Amish which was a disappointing read and not what I expected at all. This book was about a family and how they made "responsible" changes in their lives to benefit the environment. The theme of Amish wisdom and information about the Amish culture were interesting but seemed like a vehicle to show how great this family is and how we all should be doing what they are doing (probably could do it with the kind of money they seemed to have). I can read other books about the Amish that are more to my liking. The whole thing came off as superior, preachy, and probably unrealistic for most people. (And there are bible verses to support what she writes about too. Proof-texting?) I scanned most of the book after the first few chapters. It just was not what I expected. Glad I did not buy it, as it was a library check out. Go back, book! This is one that I wanted to smack the characters with their own book.

I also read Amish by Accident which apparently is the second book in a trilogy. It is about two women who look alike but are not related--a case of mistaken identity all around, forming the theme of this story. There were some questions I had about why the family and boyfriend of one woman did not search harder to find out if she really was killed in a plane crash--wouldn't the airline have notified the families of the victims? Also, I wondered how a simple conversation could turn a person dead set against having children into one who is now a total convert to parenthood. Also, when the two women finally meet, why would a husband who loved his wife suddenly assume that she is a gold-digger using a stolen identity, without even stopping to figure things out? I still liked the story though, even with some unbelievable bits. Now I need to find the other two in the series. It was an easy read too.

Just finished Christmas in Paradise by J.E.B. Spredemann, which is part of the Amish by Accident trilogy. It was a short read, mostly a novella. It was a clean read with an overt Christian message, featuring characters from the previous two novellas. In this one, Mattie and Richard are struggling with their marriage, seeming to have grown apart. Mattie returns to her Amish/Mennonite family, having lived in the Englisch world for six years, to find comfort and counsel about her marriage. Richard meets with Carson (a friend from the previous book) to try to figure out what to do. Both Mattie and Richard need to communicate with each other often, and not make assumptions about each other. A lot of pain between these two could have been avoided if they were just talking to each other. The story was somewhat simplistic, and had some plot holes. (If as Mattie did, I walked into my husband's office and he was praying with a woman, I think I could tell that's what they were doing, even if they were holding hands. Anyway, my sweetie would have some 'splainin' to do right away! Then Richard walks into a restaurant and sees Mattie talking and laughing with her male cousin, and Richard punches the guy in the face, assuming Mattie is cheating on him! Did I mention her cousin was Amish? So he won't fight back??) Mostly I wanted to just crack these people a little bit with their own book, or with a deck of Dutch Blitz cards--but you notice I finished it anyway. Now I need to go back to the beginning and read the first book in the trilogy.

I just finished the "prequel" to Amish by Accident which is titled Englisch on Purpose. This was a novel a person could cheerfully miss. The story describes Mattie Riehl's flight from her Mennonite life to become a New Yorker. The main theme of the book is the overt Christian message. The story itself seemed thin and contrived, and has a nothing ending--it just stops. This prequel is not necessary to understanding the next two books in the series.

Just finished The Murder of Twelve in the Murder, She Wrote series. This one seemed more like a horror film at the end, but still included some interesting plot twists that I did not see coming. I can see the authors were channeling Dame Agatha--as in And Then There Were None.

A Fatal Booking continues the series of mysteries that occur at a Bed and Breakfast with a book/reading theme. In this selection. Charlotte works with reading group that is focused on fairy tales, with accompanying themed events. When one of the group members is poisoned, Charlotte teams up with her neighbor Ellen to try to figure out what happened. As most mystery readers can guess, more than one group member is not what they seem and secrets abound.

Readers who enjoy detailed cozy mysteries with a bookish theme will also enjoy this latest in the series. The book can be read as a stand-alone, since all the characters are introduced and the setting is described at the beginning of the book.

I read The Adventures of Rembrandt the Tuxedo Cat for NetGalley, which was a cute and delightful read, a picture book for kids.

I started but did not continue with Lessons in Chemistry which featured a violent rape scene right at the start of the book. I just don't read that kind of material, so it was a DNF. Lots of other reviewers liked it though and gave it five stars.

I also read Death of a Laird by M.C. Beaton, which was part of the Hamish Macbeth mystery series, which I love. This one was a short story in the tradition of the "house party" murder scene during a huge storm. This one was enjoyable.

I finished The Scarlet Imperial by Dorothy B. Hughes, which I read for the MysteryKIT challenge. This is not my usual kind of mystery novel, since I don't read noir/hardboiled, but I enjoyed it once I got used to the writing style. It sure kept me reading, and I never saw the twist at the end coming! Our library has a bunch of Dorothy B. Hughes on hoopla and Libby, so I will probably read some more of them.

Now I should settle down to something a bit less intense than locked room mysteries and international jewel thievery.

I went outdoors today and turned over the soil in my little garden beds. This is our first spring at our new place, so it will be fun to plant some flowers and bushes. The buildings and grounds people dug out the old bushes and added top soil in the fall, so we are ready to plant. I will probably have sore muscles tomorrow though.

>131 LadyoftheLodge: Congratulations on your Maigret collection! That will bring many hours of fun.

>132 Tess_W: Glad to hear your cataract surgery was so easy. It's always nice to know just what a procedure entails from someone who has experienced it.

>145 LadyoftheLodge: The Maid is a BB for me! I've heard good things about it.

>154 VivienneR: Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy reading The Maid as much as I did. The main character is certainly different and quite a likeable lady.

>152 LadyoftheLodge: I need to read the second in the series before trying that one.

The Bookseller's Promise leads readers on a journey through hope and heartbreak, as well as lost and found loves. English and Amish worlds collide in this novel about a mysterious book and those who seek to own it. The subplots of romance between both Amish and English couples add interest to this novel by a well-known and loved author of Amish fiction.

When book broker Yvonne cannot convince Amish bookseller Jake to sell her a rare book, no matter how much money she offers, Yvonne determines to visit him in person to plead her case. While she is gone on her book buying trip, her fiance Trevor embarks on a business trip. Both look forward to their upcoming wedding. Yvonne's arrival at Jake's bookstore results in some tense and also hilarious moments, as Jake and Yvonne try to come to some agreement about the rare book Yvonne seeks to purchase.

Eva works in the bookstore with Jake, but desires to become more than his employee. When Jake refuses to see her as the lovely young woman who wants to win his heart, Eva determines to move on to date another Amish man.

Yvonne and Eva become fast friends and share secrets and romantic plans for their futures. When tragedy strikes, Yvonne must confront her own beliefs, with some help from Jake's mysterious book.

This book is set in Montgomery, Indiana. The establishments mentioned exist, adding authenticity to the events in this novel. As an Indiana resident, I was excited to read about places familiar to me. I appreciate the author's attention to detail. I hope this is just the first in a new series, as the stage has been set for the further adventures of characters who appeared in this book.

Themes include struggles with faith, loss of loved ones, joys and trials of relationships, and the differences between the Amish and non-Amish cultures. The characters are well-developed and realistic. The Christian message in this sweet and clean novel is overt. Readers who enjoy books about Amish people and culture will also enjoy the twists and turns of this story.

>157 LadyoftheLodge: Putting that one on my WL!

>158 Tess_W: I hope you get a chance to read it. I think it is being published this month and is supposed to be the first in a series about the Amish bookshop. There were foreshadowings of a relationship for Yvonne and also for John Yoder, Eva's potential boyfriend--he seemed like a nice guy. The elderly Amish sisters who appeared in the novel were a hoot and I hope they also make another appearance. I would like to visit the Gasthof hotel, restaurant, and shop complex described in the story, since it is within easy driving distance for me.

I just finished three books, and it seems that I am on a streak of reading good ones.
Winter and Rough Weather by D. E. Stevenson is the third in a trilogy set in Scotland. I was reminded of how much I enjoy this author's writing. I have been reading her works for 40 years and still like reading about the lives of ordinary people and families, often dealing with hardships but getting through them.

Under the Maui Sky was a free book on Kindle, and did its job of hooking me into this series about a family pineapple business set on the island of Maui. Having been there, it was fun to read about Lahaina and other places I visited. The pineapple plantation sounds like somewhere I would like to go. My only complaint is the few typos that should have been caught by the editors. The story continues in four more books in the series. In this first book, the patriarch Lincoln Briscoe has died in an auto accident on the Road to Hana (if you have been there, you know the treachery of this road). While his widow Ava and his four adult children mourn his death, secrets of his life emerge that change their visions of him.

The White Stone: The Art of Letting Go features a series of essays in which the author describes her life changes of moving from a well-loved cottage to a retirement community in Oxford. Other essays address death, loss of relationships, monastic tradition, and the psalms. This completes my Lenten reading observance for this year.

I have been on a reading streak lately. I read Bel Canto by Ann Patchett for my community book group. It was quite an interesting read overall and I finished in one evening. The discussion was also a good one. I did not think I would like this book, but it turned out to be more thoughtful than I anticipated.

I also read Dinner with a Perfect Stranger which is a parable about a man who has dinner with Jesus. This was a quick read and provided food for thought.

I read Tea with Milk and Murder by H.Y. Hanna, which is part of the Oxford Tearoom mystery series. I have read most of them but not in order! The author has also written mysteries set in a tropical setting, so I need to get to those since they reside on my Kindle app.

>161 LadyoftheLodge: I've been more on a stitching streak than reading streak lately. I probably should mix in audiobooks with the FlossTubes I'be been watching while stitching, but I haven't done that.

>162 LadyoftheLodge: I have the first in that series on my Kindle. It's unread though.

We had a kitty emergency vet visit on Saturday (not part of what I planned for the day). My Ernie kitty has been acting strangely since January. Saturday morning his eyes were all crusty and red, so off we went for medical help. Luckily our regular vet was there and could see our kitty asap. Kitty got a shot of antibiotics and came home with pain killers and eye drops. Apparently this condition is common in cats, due to a latent herpes type virus that flares up without warning. Ernie also has tooth issues that will need to be addressed, another common problem in some cats--hence the pain killer. Administering the meds at home is not fun--lots of screaming and thrashing, and that is just from my husband whose job is to hold onto the kitty whilst I administer the eye drops. I have been trying the "cat wrap" trick and that seems to help control the kitty boy.

>164 LadyoftheLodge: poor kitty. Hope he and you survive the medication fights.

>161 LadyoftheLodge: I listened to that a number of years ago and thought i was really well done. Could have been predictable but was most certainly not.

>164 LadyoftheLodge: Those emergency vet visits are never fun, but how great that you were able to see your own vet. There is actually a main vet at ours, but I do think other vets take turns filling in on her days off. She's pretty good with cats, but most people don't like her as well as their own vet.

>164 LadyoftheLodge: sorry to hear about kittys trials. I hope he heals well and quickly with help from the meds.

>164 LadyoftheLodge: sorry about kitty! LOL to the hubby thrashing/screaming!

>165 Helenliz: >166 thornton37814: >167 LibraryCin: >168 Tess_W: Thanks for your kind words for us and for our kitty. I hope things settle down soon. Kitty has to go back on Friday for a consultation with one of the vets who does dental surgery. Looks like he will get to spend some time there Friday while she fits him into her schedule. He ate a bit more yesterday and some this morning too, so that is good. He lost a lot of weight during the last year.

Poor kitty! I hope he's improving.

Sympathies and well wishes from my kitties to your kitty.

>170 mstrust: >171 lowelibrary: Thanks! I will be glad when all this kitty medicine is over.

In The Amish Farmer's Proposal romance and relationship plans are thrown to the wind and upended when Abe Stolzfus takes a tumble off a roof. Although Lavinia Fisher is more than willing to help Abe recover and spend time with him, Abe's attitude about his farm and their relationship gets in their way. Abe worries about his aging parents, the ongoing problems that plague his farm, and his ability to become strong enough to manage the farm again. With the help of wise elders, Abe and Lavinia start to plan their new path.

Themes in this novel include dealing with disabilities, aging, relationships, financial problems, and work-life balance. This is a sweet and clean novel, without graphic violence, intimacy, or strong language. The Christian message is clear. Readers who enjoy novels about Amish people and family relationships will find this a welcome addition to their reading selections.

Sorry to hear of your Kitty's problems. My sympathy to your husband as I remember trying to hold our cat down to administer some medicine - practically impossible. Those little creatures can sure put up a fight!

>174 DeltaQueen50: Thanks! Kitty will have some dental surgery in May. Cats are very flexible and fast, so they sure do try to wiggle away!

I am currently reading Till Death Do Us Tart in the Oxford Tearoom Mysteries. I am also reading Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey for our local reading group. I made myself read the Foreward, Preface, and Intro, but I am anxious to get to the actual diary sections.

>176 LadyoftheLodge: I have the first in that series on my Kindle. Maybe it can be some summer vacation reading.

>176 LadyoftheLodge: I stand in awe of the women in Westward Journey! Hope you enjoy!

Hope kitty is better after the surgery.

I saw this and thought of you:

>179 Helenliz: Oh yeah! I can identify with all. Thanks for the giggle!

>177 thornton37814: They are an easy read and good for vacation reading.

We saw Yo Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott in concert at IU Auditorium last night. The music was fabulous, the theater was packed. I have seen Yo Yo Ma two other times at this venue, and they have all been well worth the ticket money. We parked in the parking garage and caught the very nice and comfy shuttle coach to the auditorium, since there is very little campus parking. Although it was a very late night, we had a great time. It is good to be back to live performances again.

>179 Helenliz:. I feel the pain. What is not shown is the pill being casually left behind by the cat after you have finally succeeded in administering it.

>183 lowelibrary: LOL! You mean "succeeding". ;-)

>182 LadyoftheLodge: Love Yo Yo Ma. Have seen him once! Glad kitty is on the mend.

>183 lowelibrary: Right! I have had that same experience despite trying different tricks to administer. Lately I placed the pain liquid medicine right on the edge of the wet food that he seems to like. Kitty has been greeting me in the morning with loud murmurs and comments about "Where is my food?" I guess the appetite stimulant is working.

>176 LadyoftheLodge: I've noticed you've mentioned this series in your reading and it looks like fun. I've acquired a couple from the beginning of the series and look forward to them.

>179 Helenliz: The Labours of Hercules!

I used to add a dab of medicine on top of my cat's soft food. She managed to eat every bit of food leaving the little spot of medicine in the middle of the bowl, untouched. I don't know how she got the food from underneath it.

>187 VivienneR: I have been putting his pain medicine (which is just a tiny drop, .1 ml) on her food dish, right on the edge of the food. So far so good.

I just finished Henry VIII A Life from Beginning to End which is part of the Hourly History series of short biographies, meant to be read in an hour, as on your lunch hour, etc. I have read others in this series and they are generally okay as an overview, leading the reader to obtain other sources for more in depth coverage of the topic.

However, this one was problematic as there were huge discrepancies with the dates. Example: Katherine Howard was beheaded in February 1542, but was thought to be pregnant in April of the same year? And the heads of Culpepper and Dereham were displayed in December 1542, but Catherine saw their heads when she was on the way to the Tower? The writer seemed stuck on 1542. I dug into online sources for correct chronology. This book needed some careful editing.

I don't know why more pet medicine doesn't come in liquid form, it's so much easier than hiding a pill in their food, or worse, trying to get them to swallow it, only to have it come back up.
And I wish that my dog's medicine would be made in one single dosage. Nearly every time she gets pills from the vet I'm required to cut them in half because a dose is "one and a half pills". Getting a single pill down her is hard enough. She's suspicious that I'm a poisoner.

>190 mstrust: I think my cat sees me as some kind of evil mommy since I am the person who administers his medicine. He also gets an appetite stimulant that is an ointment to be rubbed into his ear? Not sure how that works.

He sometimes comes out of his fave spot under the chair, but has been hollering a warning when he does. I was glad he used the new small litter box today (in his own kitty cabana). For awhile he was leaving surprises in other spots.

>190 mstrust: When I lived in Cincinnati, my vet taught me a trick to get a pill down a cat's throat. It has served me well over the years, although my cats mainly stay healthy so I don't get to practice it often.

>192 thornton37814: Oh, please share! He yowled all the way to the vet hospital this morning although not due to the medication. He does not like being in the carrier.

>191 LadyoftheLodge: >192 thornton37814: When she first started on her daily pills, I tried the "shove it down and rub the throat" method, which didn't work with her. Then I put the pill in a glob of peanut butter, her favorite. That worked for a while, but then she decided she didn't like peanut butter anymore. Someone on LT told me about using canned cheese, and I wish I could remember who because I owe them thanks. She's been eating her pill happily since I started that.

>191 LadyoftheLodge: Wow, that could be a whole new dieting sensation, cut off your ears and lose weight!

Dogs are completely different than cats! Our pug dog did not like to take medication either. Simple in a pug dog: put the pill in her mouth, hold her jaws shut (pugs can't breath well from their smashed noses) and they will swallow to breath--pill down! It might sound awful, but this is how the vet told us to give it to her. The entire holding the mouth shut-struggling to breath only took 4-5 seconds.

>194 mstrust: I have one more day of pill giving. The vet sent home an anti-inflammatory pill in addition to the liquid pain killer. Poor kitty had eight teeth removed and apparently has quite an infected gum area, even into the bone. He was given a shot of antibiotics there at the pet hospital and also the first of the three-pill dosage. Last night kitty willingly ate the pill with his soft food, so keeping my fingers crossed for a repeat. The pill is apparently flavored too. Only soft foods for the next two weeks and he goes back for a check up in about 15 days. He has been quite the little trooper through all this ordeal for us both.

I read Meowy Christmas Mayhem which is a novella in which the sleuth/PI can communicate with and understand animals and their speech.

Finished two for NetGalley: Winnie Zheng Unleashes a Legend and Kids Cook Dinner. Touchstones not showing up for any of these.

Today we went to a local public library book sale. My hubby found a bagful of the western novels he has been devouring lately. I found a few cookbooks, a Georgette Heyer, a Cat Who mystery, a stack of Amish novels and a bunch of mysteries. Nice haul! It was outdoors in the library parking lot, and it being a cool but cloudy day, we enjoyed the outdoors whilst selecting our books.

>197 LadyoftheLodge: Oh, poor kitty! What a little trooper, indeed!

>197 LadyoftheLodge: Poor kitty!

I suppose it's too late for "tips" for pill-giving to cats. Well, this isn't really about the pills themselves, but I wanted to mention to syringe some water into kitty's mouth after a pill. Helps it go down a bit easier. Or, if you have a liquid med, I give mine to my boy after the pill(s). I also have powders I dissolve to give to kitty in water, anyway, but it does help get the pill(s) down and I make sure it goes in last.

>193 LadyoftheLodge: You hold the cat with your left hand. With the right, you hold open the mouth, using the index finger to hold down the tongue and the middle finger to pop the pill into the mouth. The thumb and other fingers hold the mouth open. It's hard to describe (and easier to show), but it works!

>203 thornton37814: Tricky! I tried it - without the kitty - and I really don't think I have enough fingers! I can foresee a shredded arm, hand, face and the pill on the floor.

>203 thornton37814: Thanks for the tip! I can visualize it but not sure I can do it. I think I used this technique with a large dog though. My departed spouse was an expert at administering pills, from cats to horses.

Kitty is just on the pain meds right now, a tiny drop of liquid that I place on a tiny drop of squeezable treat, two times a day. He is fortunately eating well now, but still hanging out under the recliner. He must be using the litter box though when we are not around, since I am not finding messes anywhere.

>200 NinieB: >201 Tess_W: >202 LibraryCin: Thanks for all the kind thoughts for this little kitty boy. He says to tell you thanks (BTW, his name is Ernie Hemingway. His brother cat is Charlie Dickens.)

I finished The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo. I loved this kids' book and whipped through it quickly. This was a sort of fantasy novel with a medieval sort of twist, featuring a runaway girl, a captured queen, a protective goat, a monk who prophecies, an agile young man, a good king, and of course an evil counselor and his clueless king. I highly recommend this read, easy to check out on Libby.

Today we went out to buy plants for the garden--best to wait until after Derby Day/Mother's Day here in the Midwest to avoid freezes. I bought two containers of pansies, four geraniums for my little porch pots, a large planter of assorted pink, white, and purple flowers, and a smaller large container (does that make sense?) of starry night petunias (purple with white dots). I also trimmed the long grass on the side of our house (which the mowing maintenance guy is supposed to get but does not) and transplanted all my little herb plants from their jiffy pots to larger pots. I love my flowers and I am so happy to get the garden going here. This is our first spring here at this house, so I am loving starting from scratch.

>206 LadyoftheLodge: Love the names!

I had a Dickens when I was a kid, too. :-) Obviously, Mom and Dad chose the name. Mom's not a big reader and Dad reads some, so must have been Dad's idea? Or maybe kitty wasn't named after Charles after all?

I did not finish Poseidon's Academy and instead chose to skip from halfway through the book to the last chapter. This is the first in a series of books that are similar to Rick Riordan's novels for middle grades and YA. I had enough of the gory fights with attacking monsters and the use of teen powers to vanquish evil. The series has potential but more suited to kids than adults.

I then moved on to God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen by Rhys Bowen.

I picked up more pain killer medicine for Sir Kitty Ernie Hemingway today at the veterinarian hospital. When I entered, I told the technician that I was the servant of Ernie and had been sent to pick up his prescription. They got a big laugh out of that. Apparently Ernie has a fan club there, as someone yelled,"Ernie!" from the back room.

>211 LadyoftheLodge: I saw a cute kitchen towel yesterday. There was cell phone with a reclining cat nearby looking at it. Script below said, "If could text you...I wouldn't."

I wish Ernie Hemingway a speedy recovery and to both cats, good health.

I tried to demonstrate Lori's pill application at >203 thornton37814: to my husband but couldn't figure out where the pill was located so that it could be flicked in with the middle finger.

>206 LadyoftheLodge: what excellent names for your cats!
Hope that Ernie is on his way to a swift recovery. I love the idea that he has a fan club!

>213 VivienneR: On the tip of the finger. They had me practice several times in the office (without a pill except when he got his first pill).

>212 clue: I am sure that applies for my kitties. They are too busy snoozing and eating most of the time.

Thanks for all of the good wishes for Ernie. He goes back for his post-op check up on May 23. Hopefully his gums are healing as they are supposed to do.

Just finished Plain Christmas which seemed somewhat slow at times and also unrealistic. Just started A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons

>217 LadyoftheLodge: Looking forward to what you think about the one you started. It's on my radar.

I finished A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari, which included information about poisonous plants. The academic setting appealed to me, and featured details about university faculty, departmental rivalries, and dress and manners of the early 1900's.

Just finished The Saturday Night Supper Club which was a disappointment. I got the the ending and what the heck?? The Christian message seemed tacked on for most of the characters, only one seemed genuine. I checked out the other two in the series before I finished this one but they might get returned before the due date, not sure I want to take the time for them.

I am currently reading Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen featuring Her Royal Spyness Georgie Rannoch. Recovering from a daylong trip to Cubs v Reds game in Cincinnati.

For the cat lovers in the crowd--Sir Ernie Hemmingway has become more feisty and outgoing so must be feeling better after dental surgery. He had his first post-op check up and got a good report so far. Now I administer oral antibiotics twice daily (liquid in his food) and back to the eye drops again (which are a real pain to administer). He goes back to the vet in a week. Hopefully we will be done with all this soon.

>222 LadyoftheLodge: Well, that's good progress! I hope things go well at the vet next week and you are able to stop with the meds!

Harvey and the Collection of Impossible Things
This story, told from a cat's point of view, made me alternately weep and laugh. Harvey lives in the city with all its dangers and constant fights for food and safety. Harvey finds his safe place on the roof atop an apartment building, which happens to be the home of the "bakery lady" aka Danielle who has been feeding him. Harvey has his own list of "impossible things" to do, one of which is becoming a brave city cat. Throughout his many adventures, Harvey avoids living indoors, until circumstances lead him to his "adoption" and learning to live as an indoor cat. This wee feline fellow is certainly a brave and helpful one, as he navigates his new life, learns to love and trust, and achieves his list of "impossible things."

While this was no doubt intended to be a book for children, as a cat lover I loved this book! The black and white line drawings perfectly capture Harvey and his world. This is a book meant to be loved and shared and read over and over. Older kids who are accomplished readers will enjoy reading this book themselves, while younger ones and their parents or caregivers can enjoy this book together. The story also helps kids learn about how to properly care for animals and appreciate them as fellow creatures. Bravo, Harvey!

Cat update--Toeney is my Abyssinian mix kitty and he is large and in charge. He did very well with his yearly check up, as did my eldercat Judah ben Hur. Now we are down to Charlie Dickens who will hopefully get his check up next Saturday--he can be a tough customer but maybe has mellowed out in the past year. Ernie Hemmingway is Charlie's brother and will go back on Monday for his post-op check up and annual vaccines.

I am currently finishing Daughter of Rome which I was fortunate to renew through Libby. Still not done with Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen--just took a break from Georgie for a bit.

I am reading Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe and also Queen of Hearts. I read Bridge to Terabithia for our community reading group. I read it years ago, but for some reason I thought it was a better book than it turned out to be.

Finished Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen, not one of her best though. Also skimmed Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe which got to be enough half way through. Now reading The Murder of Mr. Wickham.

For the kitty lovers in our group: Mr. Charles Dickens did well at his vet visit for annual wellness and shots, after an initial hissy when the technician surprised him by picking him up out of the carrier. He is the first of the four kitties to ride in our new car!

>229 LadyoftheLodge: Good boy, Charles!

>230 rabbitprincess: He was a very good boy, and our vet loves the name. Our literary cats have quite a fan club at the animal hospital.

I love the literary names for your cats. I always thought I would like to have three female cats and call them after three of my favorite authors: Agatha (Christie), Josephine (Tey) and Dorothy (Sayers). Unfortunately no cats allowed where I live. :(

>232 DeltaQueen50: Since we live in an independent living cottage, we are allowed to have indoor animals, although we pay a monthly fee for each of them. But they are worth it!

The Murder of Mr. Wickham finds the characters from several of Jane Austen's classic novels together for a summer house party. When the despicable Mr. Wickham shows up, the gloom of rain is immeasurably increased by his presence. Most of the characters have reason to see him dead, but only one (or maybe more?) have executed the deed. It is up to the reader to discover the truth, along with the help of two young adult members of the party. Marital discord, secrets, and deception add to the mix. The story is written in the style of Jane Austen's novels, with the usual attention to customs, rules, and styles of the time. While clues to the identity of the killer abound, readers will still be kept guessing until the end.

The point of view in this book changes frequently, which can be confusing to some readers. Those who are unfamiliar with the novels of Jane Austen might also find difficulty keeping track of the characters, since some of them are similar. A preface alerts readers to the time periods involved in this novel. This is a clean novel (as Jane would have it!) and lacks graphic violence and adult situations. Hopefully there will be more novels in this series.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

>234 LadyoftheLodge: Glad you enjoyed this one too! I agree, people unfamiliar with Austen's novels probably wouldn't get as much out of it. I am hoping there will be a sequel at some point!

>235 christina_reads: I read a few other reviews here on LT and was surprised at some of the negative comments. Suspending one's disbelief is part of reading mysteries sometimes, and not being too picky about the time frames or sequences. One reviewer stated that the author "ticked all the boxes" with remarks about anti-slavery sentiments, an autistic character, a sexually harassed woman who had to defend herself, a homosexual character, domineering men, and incompetent law enforcement. That stuff notwithstanding, I liked the "Holmes and Watson" characteristics of the sleuthing duo, and the set-ups for future installments.

Glad to hear that Ernie is on the mend and that the kitty vet visits all went well.

>237 Helenliz: Thank you! I hope his mouth is healing up well too. He has another visit coming up next week.

I seem to be on a Jane Austen binge lately since finishing The Murder of Mr. Wickham. I read a picture book about Jane Austen in the "Little People, Big Dreams" series, and also dug out my mini book of Jane Austen works "all in one sitting." I have a children's bio of her on my table too--Who Was Jane Austen? which is part of a series of nonfiction history and biog for kids.

>239 LadyoftheLodge: I worked a crossword puzzle the other day. The clue was "Literary Jane." I immediately thought "Austen" but when I looked there were only 4 letters. It was "Eyre" instead.

>240 thornton37814: I just finished Jeeves and the Leap of Faith by Ben Schott and crossword puzzles played a featured role in the story.

This story was written in homage to Wodehouse, and I think the author did a good job of emulating the master, but not replacing him. I appreciated the end notes that explained some of the turns of phrase used by Bertie and company. They were almost as interesting as the story!

>241 LadyoftheLodge: There was a cozy series way back when that featured crosswords (and maybe a few other puzzles). I think the author was Parnell Hall.

>242 thornton37814: I think I have a couple of those, or had them--The Puzzle Lady series.

I just finished Calamity Town by Ellery Queen, which was a BB from another LT reader. I did not know the author was actually two authors working together. I liked the story and the final unwinding of the mystery at the end. (I was on track with detecting the murderer, motive, and opportunity, but not all the details.)

Finished At the Captain's Table by Gervase Phinn, which was mainly character studies of the people on a cruise ship. Based on my experience, the descriptions of the ship and activities were accurate, and the people were like caricatures of cruise ship passengers. Not much of a plot but fun to read all the same.

Just started Bloomsbury Girls which is about a bookstore in post-war London.

Bloomsbury Girls describes the lives and struggles of three women who work at a London bookstore right after World War II. While each of them deals with her own personal doubts and crises, they come together during a time when women were not empowered to make decisions, in a male-dominated world.

This is a character-driven novel that follows up on The Jane Austen Society story and includes some of the characters from that novel. The bookstore setting drew me in immediately, and gave me a flavor of the details of working in a bookstore. The character sketches of the women and the ways in which their lives intersected carried the story forward. Readers who enjoy detailed descriptions and strong female protagonists will find this to their liking.

>246 LadyoftheLodge: a BB for me!

>245 LadyoftheLodge: If I finish and like the Gervase Phinn in my stash, I might try this one!

>246 LadyoftheLodge: A historical setting British bookstore is tempting. Not sure I'll get to it any time soon as I haven't read the first book.

>248 thornton37814: You can read Bloomsbury Girls without having read the first one, they are really stand alones.

>249 LadyoftheLodge: That's good to know.

For the kitty lovers: Ernie Hemingway is not doing so well, sadly. Apparently there are further complications beyond his dental issues. He is in good spirits, still eating well and roaming around, although we are not sure how long he will be with us. We just want him to be happy and comfortable. I guess you could say we are offering "kitty hospice care."

>251 LadyoftheLodge: poor Ernie. I hope he remains comfortable and happy in himself.

>251 LadyoftheLodge: Hugs!

>251 LadyoftheLodge: Oh no, poor Ernie. So sorry.

>251 LadyoftheLodge: Oh no. I'm sorry to hear this. Enjoy the rest of your time with him - at least as much as you are able.

>251 LadyoftheLodge: Best wishes to Ernie. Lots of love from me and my kitties.

Thanks for all your kind wishes. Ernie is a lovable little guy and has been a real trooper through all his trials this year. He looks a little rough around the edges now, but so far is still eating and interacting with us and his brother cats. We could have taken a route of aggressive testing and treatment, but I cannot put this little fellow through all that, especially since the outcome would probably be the same in the short term. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

His Amish Sweetheart introduces readers to another of the Petersheim brothers. This time we meet Andrew, who is too ambitious and handsome for his own good. He seems to be disregarding Hannah, the lovely woman who has been his good friend for life, and instead focuses on Priscilla, another potential wife whose personality is not nearly as attractive as it appears. In order to send things in a positive direction, Austin's younger brothers and their cousins get involved, with hilarious results. The kids definitely steal the show in this delightful Amish romance novel. Some unique turns of phrase also add interest and provide insights into the characters and their thoughts.

Readers who desire a clean read, without violence, strong language, or overt intimacy will appreciate this latest offering about the Petersheim brothers. The Christian message is subtle.Those who appreciate and seek out novels about Amish people will find this to be a welcome addition to their reading list. Although part of a series, this book can be read as a standalone.

I'm not quite ready for another Amish fiction at the moment, but I'll be reading my ARC from Christian author Melody Carlson about a Christmas quilt after I finish the books in progress. It arrived yesterday.

>259 thornton37814: I have read some other Melody Carlson books, and I think I requested the one abut the quilt, but do not have it yet.

>251 LadyoftheLodge: I'm sorry Ernie isn't well but glad that he has a good place to be.

I am also very sorry to read that Ernie isn't doing well.

>260 LadyoftheLodge: Mine was a LT ER ARC.

>261 clue: >262 DeltaQueen50: Thank you for your kind words. I am thankful to have him as a part of our family.

>263 thornton37814: I have had little to no luck with ER requests in the last year. I received them and reviewed them consistently for years, and then suddenly I stopped receiving any of my requests.

>265 LadyoftheLodge: Honestly, you are not missing too much with ER lately. The quality just continues to deteriorate overall. I requested nothing this month.

Kitty Lovers: My elder cat Judah ben Hur went to be with his brothers and friends at the Rainbow Bridge today. I am still crying. The last words he heard were "We love you, good boy." He was hugged and petted until his calm and beautiful ending, 16+ years of a good life. (Judah developed heart and kidney complications over the last week, and the prognosis was not good. It was a tough weekend for us all, and we kissed him good-bye today.)

>267 LadyoftheLodge: so sorry for the loss of your kitty.

>267 LadyoftheLodge: Oh no. What a tough time with your kitties right now. I'm so so sorry. Virtual HUGS to you. :'(

>267 LadyoftheLodge: sorry for your loss.

>267 LadyoftheLodge: So sorry for your loss.

Oh no, how sad for you all. He had a good life.

So sorry to hear about Judah ben Hur. Thinking of you!

I'm so sorry for your loss. Best wishes to you and your family.

Sorry to hear of your loss, Cheryl.

Thanks to all my LT friends for your kind words and thoughts. Judah's passing was not expected, but I am surrounded by friends and my sisters who send me hugs and good thoughts. Judah is free from discomfort now. He has asked me to donate blankets, kitty beds, and towels to our veterinary clinic during their drive for needed items to comfort animals there.

>266 thornton37814: I agree, the quality of ER books has really gone down.

>267 LadyoftheLodge: Oh no! I'm so sorry for your loss.

>276 LadyoftheLodge: He has asked me to donate blankets, kitty beds, and towels to our veterinary clinic during their drive for needed items to comfort animals there.

That's a wonderful idea. (LT doesn't allow me to type a heart, but I tried!)

>266 thornton37814:
>277 mysterymax:

I would agree about the quality, but then from the books I've read in general, the quality of writing has declined, especially in the 21st century! I guess I'm a reader who prefers to stay in the 17-19th centuries for the really good reads!

>280 Tess_W: This year a great percentage of my reads have been 'older' books.

>279 LibraryCin: Thanks! i thought it would be a fitting remembrance for my little fellow. He was a sweet kitty and wise old gentleman.

>280 Tess_W: I agree about the quality of writing. I am also bothered by the absence of some writing conventions; my pet peeve is incomplete sentences and sort of "stream of consciousness" writing with run on sentences. I think some of this is due to the social media writing styles.

I have seen a great decline in both effort and writing quality amongst my college students. I started teaching college classes in 1997 and the amount of writing required has been greatly reduced. For grad education courses, they had to do at least one review of literature in every course. That has all gone by the wayside. Most of the assignments are short papers or exercises now.

>283 LadyoftheLodge: I agree. Students fail to learn basic grammatical writing principles in high school--or so it seems. I think many more red pens need to be dug out--even if it hurts Johnny's self-esteem when he discovers how poorly he writes.

>284 thornton37814: I'm not sure that's a new thing. I'm now in my 50s and my grasp of grammar has always been somewhat dodgy. It wasn't taught, it was more important to let us express ourselves than to be strict about rules of grammar. ho hum.

The universities for which I teach have specific and strict scoring rubrics for assignments. I am required to use them when I assess student work. If the students are not using correct mechanics, format, and standard English conventions, the grade will reflect that.

>285 Helenliz: That sounds sort of like the Whole Language movement when phonics and grammar was not taught. An entire generation of kids came out of school with a gap in their education. That movement has thankfully gone by the wayside. No reflection on you, just a different method of instruction that put kids at a disadvantage for "sounding out" words and seeing how words and sentences fit together. The "Discovery Method" in science was like that too, and was in vogue when I first started teaching middle school.

I finished Full of Beans which is by Jennifer Holm and is actually a precursor to Turtle in Paradise and is set in Key West. Lots of humor and also history in this one too. I also read Mint Chocolate Murder for NetGalley. I got sort of bogged down in the middle of it and found there were too many threads for me to keep track of, although some other readers seemed to like that aspect.

Mint Chocolate Murder contains elements of both gothic and cozy mysteries. The gothic part includes rumors of weeping ghosts, secret passages, locked rooms, and disappearing wives. The cozy part revolves around the owner of an ice cream shop and her sleuthing to try to solve a mysterious death in a locked room. The ice cream treats sounded delightful, although there was no mention of the mint chocolate (found in the title). I had a hard time keeping up with the many different threads of mysteries, although some readers might like this kind of novel.

>289 LadyoftheLodge: Sounds like an interesting premise although it didn't quite deliver.

Fatal Flowers is a cozy mystery that features an amateur sleuth with an interesting career of running a flower-themed cafe. As she plans for a fast-approaching wedding for which she will provide flowers, Sierra encounters a murder scene involving the wedding planner. The novel describes how Sierra and company work to assist in solving the murder.

The setting and theme is unique, as is the tangled threads leading up to the murder. Readers who enjoy learning more about flowers and their uses, as well as a lot of description and more than a touch of romance, might enjoy this novel. It was a bit to slow moving for me.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Sadly, I had to say good-bye to kitty Mr. Ernie Hemingway on Monday, July 18. The poor little guy was struggling and clearly in distress with eating and breathing, although he fought valiantly for the last seven months. He is at peace in eternal rest. Losing two cats in less than a week has been very difficult, especially since my birthday is July 21. We are now a two-cat family.

>292 LadyoftheLodge: I'm sorry for your loss, Cheryl. You have had a rough month. I hope it gives some comfort that Ernie is at peace now.

>292 LadyoftheLodge: I'm so sorry! I know you'll miss both cats. Hoping those other two can help heal your heart!

>292 LadyoftheLodge: Oh no! I'm so sorry.

Oh no, not another Kitty. We are so sorry for the loss of Mr. Ernie Hemingway.

>293 NinieB:, >294 thornton37814:, >295 rabbitprincess:, >296 lowelibrary: Thanks to each of you for your kind words. Losing a pet is like losing a family member. Charlie Dickens and Toeney are being very attentive and loving, giving us extra attention. I think they are also getting better acquainted with each other and consoling each other too.

Oh no! :'( I'm so so sorry.
I can't even imagine losing two so close together.
*hugs to you.

So sorry that you had to say goodbye to another loved kitty.

So sorry for your loss.

>298 LibraryCin: >299 DeltaQueen50: >300 MissWatson: Thanks for thinking of me. This has been a tough month.

>297 LadyoftheLodge: I dread losing one of mine eventually. I love all three so it will be traumatic regardless of which one it is. It would be very hard to lose more than one of them within a month though. My heart continues to ache for you.

>302 thornton37814: Thank you. We are still trying to cope with losing them.

Today we went to a library book sale. We had been there about 20 minutes when large dark clouds rolled in and the wind picked up. Volunteers at the sale started moving along the check out line and helping people pay and people were starting to move for cover. I quickly found my husband, we paid for the books we had selected, and headed for our car to wait it out.

Amazingly, the entire storm system blew over in about 5 minutes with no rain. We offloaded the books into our car and resumed shopping. What an adventure!

My husband managed to find a box full of western novels and a few adventure/thriller novels. I found about 20 Amish and historical fiction novels, plus a large number of mysteries. We ended up with very few duplicates, which will go to the Little Free Library in our community. A good time was had by all!

I think our next big book sale will be the charity sale in October that lasts for a week. Last year we spent three separate days at that one.

>304 LadyoftheLodge: Sounds like a great book sale. I used to love to go to the book sale the Cincinnati library friends' group hosted on Fountain Square. It lasted an entire week. I'd go early in the week and then on "bag day." I think they probably still hold that book sale, but they have a warehouse from which they sell books year-round. I went the last time I was there and purchased a couple of things, but not nearly as much as I purchased at the sales on the Square. Of course, the selection was sparser, but I'd expected to find more. knowing I can borrow them from the library. If I know I'm going to a used bookstore (or sale like this), I take along a list of books I want to read that aren't available at the library and check for them in used sections.

So sorry to hear of the loss of your cat. But I hope you did some birthday celebrating in spite of it, and that this next year will be full of only good things!

>306 christina_reads: Thank you. We had a nice day on my birthday and my sisters came to visit for a few days. We still have two kitties to love and they are very thoughtful and attentive.

>305 thornton37814: I need to take along my book lists to be sure not to get duplicates. For the sale in the fall, we went on the first day, then a couple days later, and then on bag day. They put out different stock and replenish each day, so we always find something new to explore.

>308 LadyoftheLodge: They put out new stock in Cincinnati too, but parking was so expensive downtown that I usually only went twice. I probably went a little more when I was in seminary because a group of us would hop on the bus and go down. Once I wasn't in a group, it wasn't really safe to ride the bus. There was safety in numbers!

I am reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. I just finished Bill at Rainbow Bridge which I am hoping will help me get through the loss of two of my faithful felines just a week apart in July.

I stayed up late to finish The Messy Lives of Book People. I liked the story and the premise of transforming one's life and using one's talents. My problem with this book is that it went on too long. There were several points at which the author could have ended the story on an upbeat note, but then it went on and on.

I am still reading Divergent and just started The Nantucket Beachfront Inn.

The Messy Lives of Book People
Olivia works as cleaner for several clients, among them famed author Essie Starling, and her long time favorite writer. When Essie passes away, she leaves instructions for Olivia to finish her final novel. This novel details the transformation of Olivia from cleaner to writer, fulfilling her life's dream. She uncovers secrets about the author and about her own family that lead her in surprising and sometimes uncomfortable directions. In the process, Olivia must closely scrutinize what she really finds meaningful in her life.

This story could be a book-lover's dream, as readers can easily place themselves in the novel. Most readers can identify with the place books hold in their hearts and the influence books and writers exert on their lives, just as Olivia portrays in the story. There are many different ways the story could have ended and many different points in the novel when that ending could have occurred. Personally, I felt as if it went on too long. Readers will have to decide for themselves about their satisfaction with the ending chosen by the author. This is a clean read, without strong language, violence, or graphic intimacy.

I just finished The Case of the Missing Treasure by Robin Stevens, which was a fun book in the series about Daisy and Hazel, teenage sleuths. I enjoy that series quite a bit and look forward to catching up with the ones I missed in the series. I also read parts of an Indiana History book with my onsite book club. This was a thick tome and I found it interesting to reacquaint myself with the history of my state. I took two semesters of Indiana History in my undergraduate work, and the book we read was an updated version of a book written by an I.U. professor. My professor for the undergrad course was a consultant and reviewer for this book. I did not read all of it, just dipped in and out of the book and found bits that were interesting to me. The discussion was also a good one. Hoosiers: A New History of Indiana by James Madison.

Just finished Miss Seeton at the Helm which had me completely fooled, I never guessed the perp or motives. That must be the mark of a good mystery.

Still trying to finish the ever more violent Divergent and also a hilarious send up about a bus trip Lil's Bus Trip.

I DNF The Nantucket Beachfront Inn as I just could not get interested in or care about the characters, especially after reading the reviews of others.

Started to weed out some books from my personal library to donate to our community library. I know there are some folks who like the large print books and I have some to donate.

I purchased two rolling shelf units--one for the garage to organize garden tools and a small slim one for a little space in the guest bath, which worked out quite well. I had no trouble assembling it, but now I will have to figure out how to assemble the garage cart.

Just catching up on your thread, Cheryl. I'm so sorry to hear of your loss of two kitties in such a short time. They are such a big presence in our lives and their loss is heartbreaking.

>315 VivienneR: Hi there! Good to know you are here. Thanks for the kind words. We are trying to adjust to being four of us instead of six.

We got the garage cart assembled with little to no problems. The instructions were all pictures, and taking our time and following the steps made it doable. The cart seems sturdy and organizes my garden tools well, although I had to put it in the space sideways since it was too wide to go into the space as I originally intended. Now maybe the rakes and other tools won't be falling all over the place. There is also a little basket on the bottom for flower pots and small items, and some hooks and racks attached to the sides. My weedwhacker still won't go in it though. ;+/

I finished Lil's Bus Trip which was a delightful and hilarious choice. I am now reading Every Shade of Happy touchstone not working. I was skeptical about this one but I am glad I kept on with it. The story features a teenage girl (Anna)who moves with her mom back home with elderly widowed Grandad (Algernon). Both Anna and Algernon hide their loneliness and dismay at their changed circumstances, but eventually start to discover what they have in common. The PoV switches from Anna to Algernon, which makes sense here but could have been confusing. Like it so far.

Okay, just one more discouraging thing lately--my husband and I both have covid. Hunkering down in isolation until the end of next week. . . . .cocooning on the couch in my soft blanket with kitties and books.

>319 LadyoftheLodge: You've had more than your share of challenges lately, that's for sure. I'm glad you have the comforts above and pray that it will be mild.

>319 LadyoftheLodge: Oh dear, I hope it's only a mild dose and that you're both feeling better soon.

>319 LadyoftheLodge: Oh no! Hope you both are feeling better soon!!

>319 LadyoftheLodge: Oh no! Hope it's not too bad, and you both feel better soon.

>319 LadyoftheLodge: Oh no, I do hope it passes quickly and without problems!

Every Shade of Happy focuses on the relationship between an elderly grandad and his teenage granddaughter. Algernon is perfectly happy in his well-ordered life, living in the same house as he did with his deceased wife Evie. When his estranged daughter Helene and granddaughter Anna come to live with him, a rocky period of adjustment takes place. As Anna and Algernon work through misunderstandings and differences, they find many things they hold in common. Anna learns a lot about the secret recesses of her grandad's life, and Algernon finds happiness and some little adventures with the colorful and artistic Anna. Readers should be prepared for tears as well as laughter in this book that bridges the gap between generations. The alternating point of view takes a couple of chapters to get into, but it is worth persisting. Be sure to read the author notes at the end for information on how this tender story originated.

>320 clue: >321 Helenliz: >322 rabbitprincess: >323 LibraryCin: >324 MissWatson: Thanks for your kind words. So far it has been like a really bad cold. My husband called the VA hospital for advice on what we should be doing to take care of ourselves. We hope to be over it soon. For sure we have had our share of challenges lately! We were disappointed to have to miss church this weekend, and hope to be back at it next weekend. Today is Day Five for my husband and Day Four for me.

Sorry to hear about the Covid. Hopefully you and your hubby are able to recover soon - meanwhile enjoy the books and kitties!

>327 DeltaQueen50: Thanks. I appreciate hearing from you. The kitties would like us to return to sleeping in our own bed instead of their chair and couch.

Day 7--Most of the covid symptoms are subsiding, body temp is normal now. I am still tired though. Both of us are struggling with cabin fever, although we went out for a short drive around town and sat outside for awhile. I have two online courses starting this week, so I have to wear my teaching hat despite the illness.

I am nearly finished with Heading Over the Hill which has been humorous but also sad in spots. It is important to realize our blessings and how much we love our family and friends, as we never know how long they might be here with us.

>329 LadyoftheLodge: Being stuck in your home when you have only mild symptoms is really trying, I'm finding so myself.

>330 MissWatson: I am sorry to hear you are also struggling through illness. Tomorrow we can cautiously venture out amongst people again, according to our doctor's advice.

I finished Heading Over the Hill which was in many ways uplifting and humorous, but also had some sadness, just like real life. I started Building a Future by Amy Clipston which is an Amish novel in a series. It started out a bit slowly, but now seems to be picking up a bit. I guess the author had to set up the story and touch on Amish traditions and culture to help out readers who are new to the subject.

>331 LadyoftheLodge: Thanks! I'm allowed among people again, too, today.

>329 LadyoftheLodge: That is so true. Yesterday a friend came to visit me; we are the last in our group of friends. He lost his wife a year after I lost my husband. Give your loved ones a hug and still remember to say thank you to God (or whoever you choose) for what you have.
Hoping you feel better soon. The covid will take a lot of energy from you but you will soon be up and at 'em again.

>334 mnleona: Thanks for your kind wishes. We are looking forward to better days all around.

Building a Future
In this second book in the Amish Legacy series, two couples seek the right directions to take in planning their futures. Although they have been dating for over a year, Michelle starts to doubt whether Korey will ever be ready to move their relationship to the next level. Korey seems more interested in a long friendship, while he devotes most of his time and energy to his friends. Korey's older brother Tyler tries to hide his growing attraction to Michelle, as he seethes with frustration over his brother's casual attitude towards Michelle. Although Tyler is dating Charity,he cannot foresee a future with her. Kind relatives and friends provide advice and a listening ear, but the young adults must rely on God to show them their future paths.

Although this is a highly predictable novel, there are enough twists and turns to keep readers interested. The author includes details of Amish life and culture for the benefit of readers who are new to the genre of Amish fiction novels. The final outcomes of the novel provide a thoughtful set up for the next book in the series, although the stories can be read as standalones.

Update: We are both feeling much better although still tired. We got to go out to the hair dresser yesterday but wore our masks. Also went out to early dinner to a neighborhood restaurant and were the only diners, so no worries there. We plan to attend church this weekend and hopefully get back to normal soon. At least we are getting caught up on reading and on sleeping too.

Thankfully, I was able to use past video announcements for my online course I am teaching, so I did not have to record, although I made new audio recordings as I am not able to archive those. This is a small Earth Science class with just 10 students, and I generally lose about 10% by the third week. I also have one independent study student, and I got all the announcements posted for that class, although I do not usually create videos for independent study, since the student gets all my attention.

>336 LadyoftheLodge: I need to read one of my Amish novels soon. I just have a lot of stuff in process and have been focusing on mysteries lately.

An Amish Marriage of Convenience continues the "Surprised by Love" series. In this book, Stephen and Nettie both suffer guilt and sadness from the loss of their spouses. Although they seem too busy for dating, each of them struggles to bring up their children and to devote time to work. Both of them have misconceptions about each other too. When they are tasked with working on a special community center project, matchmaking enters the picture. With a little help from God and a very special lady, Stephen and Nettie come to grips with their past and with their growing attraction to each other. Not all the characters are likeable, and some of the indecisiveness might seem to drag the novel on unnecessarily. Themes include bullying, guilt, grief, and poverty. The Christian message is overt.

Although part of a series, this novel can be read as a standalone. Readers of the series will find some familiar settings and characters, as well as a hint of the next story in the series.

>338 thornton37814: I just finished two in a row, so I am getting back to mysteries now!

My husband and I tested negative today for the coronavirus. We are slowly trying to get back to normal.

Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade
This latest installment in the Enola Holmes series features the young sleuth teaming up with her brother Sherlock to locate a Lady Cecily, missing debutante. The young lady in question has been locked up by her father and kept a prisoner in preparation for an arranged marriage. Enola helps her escape, but then the Lady disappears! Did I mention the Lady Cecily exhibits traits of a split personality, detected by her use of her left hand (independent woman) or her right hand (shrinking miss)? A new character, Lady Vienna, appears in this book, and hopefully will appear in future Enola Holmes adventures.

While this story seems designed for a television movie, it contains quite a bit of action and intrigue. Readers may find themselves scratching their heads at some of the over-the-top vocabulary. However, it is still worth the read.

Round Up the Usual Peacocks presents readers with another installment in the Donna Andrews novels featuring amateur sleuth Meg Langslow. Meg and friends investigate three cold cases following an attempt on the life of a podcaster. In addition to following up on these three crimes, Meg and family are in the throes of planning a family wedding. Four-legged creatures and a variety of birds play a hilarious role in the story and in the wedding ceremony.

While this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. The story contains no overt violence, swear words, or intimacy, but does feature quirky characters and some hilarious situations, as well as a lot of good Norwegian food descriptions and plot twists and turns. It is also notable that Meg works with law enforcement in order to help solve the crime. Readers of past novels in this series will enjoy reuniting with old friends and family.

>342 LadyoftheLodge: Goodness, I haven't read, or even thought about Meg Langslow in ages.

>343 mysterymax: New entries in the series seem to arrive each year like clockwork! I usually just read the Christmas ones, but have been reading some others to review for NetGalley.

I just finished Starting Over by Jack Sheffield which is a school teacher story set in a small village in England in the 1950's. I am currently reading Dewey Decimated as well as Accused Nurse and On the Bright Side by Hendrik Groen.

Starting Over by Jack Sheffield describes life in a small village in England during the 1950's. Although the main character is Lily Briggs, a new teacher at the Ragley village school, the story also follows the adventures of students and other inhabitants of the Ragley. At times the story reminded me of Miss Read books, but sometimes it seemed like a series of anecdotes instead of a cohesive story arc. If one removes the rest of the characters and centers on Lily Briggs, the story would be a lot shorter. However, the antics of the other members of Ragley village add a lot of color to the story. The mores and values of the 1950's also play a role in Lily's life, and provide quite a contrast to the mores and values of today. I was surprised to find that my copy includes an inscription by the author!

Hubby and I took the plunge and booked a cruise for 2023. This was prompted by emails from the cruise line reminding us that our cruise credits (earned when two cruises were cancelled due to the cruiselines stopping operations due to the pandemic) would expire at the end of this year, although the cruise could be booked by end of 2023.

We opted for a Canada and New England cruise and hope some friends will want to sail with us. Both of us are looking forward to getting to travel again after two years of being at a standstill.

Both of us are getting over the covid finally and feeling better. We found out some of our friends and neighbors had it about the same time we did, although we were not together with them at the time. Guess it must be making the rounds in our area again.

I am starting to see fall decorations appearing around here, and mums at the grocery stores and garden centers. At least the temperatures are dropping, and the days have been cloudy and rainy.

>346 LadyoftheLodge: I'm curious what cruise line and which ports?

I did a Canada/New England cruise in 2009, I think it was. My favourite ports were Quebec City and PEI.

>346 LadyoftheLodge: It's good to hear that you are both starting to feel better! I think I am one of the few remaining Covid 'virgins'. I have a history of bad colds turning into pneumonia that can resist all sorts of drugs and can last three months, so I acted like a complete paranoid person. Fortunately, or unfortunately, my closest friends also have either age-related or health-related issues that made them take extra care, so we all were more or less totally isolated for two years. Easy to do in rural Vermont. It wasn't too bad. Video Messaging, email, and phone calls kept us relatively sane. Rich was stuck in Canada with the border closed, so the cat and I practiced learning each other's language, lol. It really wasn't all that different from my regular life!

Your cruise sounds like fun. I'd volunteer to be your luggage carrier, if all was normal.

>347 LibraryCin: HollandAmerica is our fave cruise line, so we booked with them. 7-Day Historic Coasts--Ports of call include Boston, Portland Maine, Halifax, St. John, Sydney, Bar Harbor. We have done two Canada/New England cruises, and your fave ports are the same as mine. This trip will be shorter but lots of perks.

>348 mysterymax: We were so careful for two years, just as you said, and then could not believe we got it now, even after taking all the vaccines and boosters! I think the covid was making its way around and about our community, because some of our neighbors got it too. We waited for two years to get back to travel again, so are keeping our fingers crossed for safe journey and no illness.

I read a small book by Gael J. Ross on healing after pet loss. The book contained a lot of information about grief that I recalled from my counseling group when my husband died in 2015. It was a good reminder though.

In 1977 I started to keep a journal of all the books I read--just a listing of the titles and authors with the years and seasons when I read them. The book is now full! I started a new one yesterday, and included some introductory notes about the previous journal. It was interesting to go back and see the genres of books I was reading and even how my handwriting changed over time, how many books I read each year, etc. If the new journal continues as long as the first one, I will be well over 100 years old!

How great that you have a journal for all of those years. Just yesterday I was cleaning out some old files and found a book journal I kept from 1981 to 2007 when I joined LT. That was the year I joined but I don't think I started my catalog here until 2009. I think I have everything on flash drives since then but I need to check. I've been mulling over starting a new journal in January. It is interesting to compare our reading choices over decades. Even though I used the word "choices" what we read depends on what's being published too. For instance, there are no other years I've read as much wartime historical novels as I have in recent years. Frankly, although I've enjoyed them, I'm ready to move to other story lines.

>348 mysterymax: I think I am one of the few remaining Covid 'virgins'. I have a history of bad colds turning into pneumonia that can resist all sorts of drugs and can last three months, so I acted like a complete paranoid person.

Although my colds don't usually turn into pneumonia, they do last 2-3 months for me, as well. I continue to act like a paranoid person! LOL! *knock on wood, I also have not gotten covid at this point *knock on wood

>349 LadyoftheLodge: I've heard HAL is nice. Celebrity is my favourite, but I found Royal Caribbean to be very similar (RCCL owns Celebrity, so that wasn't a surprise.)

The only other line I've tried is NCL, but since I often travel alone, I prefer traditional dining, and NCL is still the only line that doesn't offer it (unless something has changed; I haven't been able to afford to cruise since 2013).

Bon voyage on this one! Hopefully there are a few new ports for you this time, then? Portland, St. John, Bar Harbor are all ones I've NOT been to, but would love to if I ever do another! (particularly one of the ones in Maine; my Canada/New England cruise only stopped in Boston after leaving NYC, so the majority of my ports were in Canada; would like to see a couple more US ports if I do it again.)

>354 LibraryCin: We had two NCL cruises and would not choose that line again. We heard good things about Celebrity and Royal Caribbean though.

Thanks for your good wishes! There are a couple of new ports for us on this trip, and since this is a short cruise, it promises to be a busy one, with only one sea day after four days of being in port each day (we will probably be ready for a break). We like to do the "hop on hop off" bus trips, since they give a good overview of the port, but did not select any excursions yet.

>352 clue: That is an interesting thought about what is being published. Another part of the puzzle is what I was doing at the time. When I taught middle school full time, I read Harlequin romances and regencies all summer, sometimes a book a day, since my brain was fried by summer. I also went through a period of reading sci-fi and fantasy novels, but I seemed to get away from that. I think I was hanging out with friends who read them too, so we had interesting discussions.

>353 LibraryCin: We had a community meeting today and apparently the covid is racing through the independent living residents here (in the cottages, not the apartments). Several of our neighbors have had it, and I heard today there was a club house meeting with five people and they all ended up with it.

>355 LadyoftheLodge: Oh, that will be busy! I think the first couple of cruises I did, I wondered why people liked sea days, but I learned to appreciate them more and more! :-)

>358 LibraryCin: When we went to the South Pacific, there were a lot of sea days going there and returning. That was more than I wanted--I was ready to set foot on land again!

I just learned that Queen Elizabeth died this afternoon. I feel as if it is a personal loss! She has been Queen for my entire life. I hope King Charles can take up the reins where she left off.

>359 LadyoftheLodge: I just learned that Queen Elizabeth died this afternoon. I feel as if it is a personal loss! She has been Queen for my entire life. I hope King Charles can take up the reins where she left off.

I was surprised how hard this hit me when I heard on the radio (while at work) this morning.

>359 LadyoftheLodge: >360 LibraryCin: I was glued to SkyNews (the only British news outlet I can get that's live) the entire afternoon once I heard that the family was gathering. I remember watching her coronation on tv. My grandparents had a set and I watched the entire event captured by such a young, beautiful woman becoming a queen. Married to a Canadian, I feel she's been my Queen. She was a very classy lady.

It's great to read that you and hubby are feeling good and making travel plans.

I too felt quite adrift when I heard that Queen Elizabeth had passed. She has been the Queen for most of my life and, I believe, such an iconic figure is going to be missed.

I own quite a few books and magazines about Queen Elizabeth. I am sure an onslaught of new and updated ones will be coming out soon. On my Kindle reader alone, I counted twelve. There will no doubt be new ones about King Charles III too. I remember watching his investiture ceremony on TV. I had a huge crush on him when I was a teen and thought he was quite handsome, and only five years older than me.

I was saddened by the Queen's death too.

>364 thornton37814: I am not sure why it seems so personal to me. I have been following the BBC news about the journey of her remains through Scotland and the upcoming events leading to her funeral.

>365 LadyoftheLodge: I think we all loved Queen Elizabeth II. She'd been Queen my entire life. I guess I can say it's personal because of my British ancestry.

I just finished reading On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen. This book painted both a humorous and a sad side to aging and life in a care home. I shared bits of it with my husband and we both got a good laugh out of some sections, as they thoughts of the elderly gentleman are so accurate and so hilarious. Since we live in a retirement community (not in a care home though), we can appreciate the scenarios first hand. I like the attitudes of the "Old But Not Dead" group in the book and plan to emulate their attitudes as we age.

>366 thornton37814: I just acquired two "special issue" magazines about Queen Elizabeth II. The full color photos chronicle her life well. I am sure new ones will be published and will include photos from her funeral. I am just a sucker for publications about her. I also brought home my publications about Princess Diana that I collected over the years--all the way from her first days as Princess up to her death and memorial issues beyond that.

>367 LadyoftheLodge: I've ordered a couple of cross-stitch patterns which were designed for the Platinum Jubilee. I've been downloading some of the free charts I've run across--but not all of them. If I don't like the design enough to consider stitching, it doesn't need to take up space on my computer.

I hope your cruise is fantastic! I've never been on one but I'd pick Canada and New England too. Looking forward to the pics!

Dewey Decimated continues the adventures of Carrie the librarian, as she and her staff contend with construction workers and planning for a new addition to the library utilizing an old building next door. . During the construction, a body turns up in the building. While law enforcement investigates, Carrie engages with Evelyn, her local library spirit, and the spirit of "Charlie" the deceased individual. They try to find out more about who "Charlie" might have been in life. Carrie also deals with a nosy news reporter and members of the town council as they decide the fate of a community nature preserve.

Although I do not usually read books featuring supernatural characters, the spirits in this novel were friendly and lovable, not at all scary or fierce. The characters are described in detail and the plot features enough red herrings to keep most mystery readers interested. This is a clean novel, without any swear words, overt violence, or descriptive intimacy. Although part of a series, the book worked as a stand alone novel.

>369 mstrust: Thanks! We are hoping to convince our neighbors to go along. It would be fun to have some travel companions.

Six Feet Deep Dish
This book is the first in a new series, and I hope it is not the last. Delilah and her crew are ready to open a new pizza restaurant in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin. Things seem to be going well for the opening, until her wealthy fiancee and financial backer walks out on her and the restaurant. The action goes from bad to worse when a murder occurs outside the restaurant, preventing the place from staying open. Working with local law enforcement, Dee is determined to get to the bottom of the events swirling around her restaurant and to protect the well-being of her friends and family, including her huge cat Butterball.

The setting provided an atmospheric ambience for the action. Food descriptions and recipes provide a tasty backdrop as Dee and crew struggle to open the pizza restaurant and avoid the murder publicity vibe. The characters include a variety of different individuals, including an ex-con, rich air-head fiance, elderly auntie, strongly opinionated females, and a shifty employee. The cat adds a final fun touch to the story. There were enough red herrings to keep me involved and trying to guess the perpetrator. It took me awhile to get into the book and past the early snarky remarks, but I plan to read the next in the series.

Dislikes: Stereotypes of old people, including the men who delivered the restaurant sign. Social commentary paragraph in the last chapter that played no part in the novel at all. The author seemed to be hitting all the buttons for diversity: lesbian woman, ex-con, man of color, Black person, old people, diverse last names, plus-sized women, gorgeous thin woman, sulky teen, wealthy eccentric people. Efforts were made to be sure the reader "got" all the descriptions of these characters.

My f2f book group read Lab Girl. The others in the group loved it. I did not. I wanted to like this book since I have a science background and I understand the issues facing women as scientists and educators. Some of it just seemed weird to me. I got bogged down in all the tiny details and did not finish, but I was not the only one in our group who did not like it (thankfully). Sending it off to the Little Free Library.

>373 LadyoftheLodge: I don't remember if I rated it good (3.5) or ok (3 stars), but it wasn't as great as so many others thought to me, either.

>374 LibraryCin: Thanks for the comment. I felt really strange at our book group when the other members were loving the book. I had to participate in the discussion in which little slips of paper were passed around with a word that we had to relate to the book. Mine was "collegiality" and I was able to make a few remarks based on what I read.

>375 LadyoftheLodge: I'm a tough rater, anyway, so I've gotten used to not liking my book club books as much as everyone else! LOL! (At least the past year or so it seems that way...)

But yeah, so many people loved "Lab Girl", but it wasn't all that exciting to me.

Oh, that's a fun (though could be tricky, I suppose) exercise!

A Treacherous Tale
In this second installment in the Cambridge Bookshop series, Molly and friends enter a real-life fairy tale to catch several villains! Molly loves working alongside her Mum and Auntie Violet to run the Cambridge bookshop that has been in her family for many years. When Molly and her Mum visit an author who will soon do a reading at the shop, they find more than they bargained for! The dead body they discover in the garden of Strawberry Cottage turns out to be that of a local antiques dealer, and is eerily reminiscent of a similar accidental death decades earlier. An archaeology student (and daughter of the author) goes missing, leading Molly and friends to investigate some shady events that strangely resemble the storyline of a children's book.

I liked the idea of a "story within a story" that parallels the mystery in the main plot. It was fun to reconnect with Molly and her family and friends after reading the first book in the series, although this book can be read as a standalone. The plot moves along quickly and leads the reader down many twisting and turning lanes before the mystery is solved. The Cambridge setting and the Strawberry Cottage descriptions add charm to the story as well. Readers who enjoy a unique and clean mystery novel, without overt violence, strong language, or intimacy will find this an intriguing choice.

I finished The Book Haters' Book Club in which I found little to like. The characters spent too much time arguing and yelling and disliking each other. I also skimmed Skirts: Fashioning Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Cambell, which would have been better with pictures or photos.

We spent last afternoon booking our flights and other stuff for our 2023 cruise. Our neighbor decided to go along, so we helped her navigate the websites to sign on and to select her stateroom and so on. We will be flying together and also staying at the same hotel the night before embarkation. It will be fun to have a friend along on our cruise, as we usually go alone. Now we are getting excited, although it is a long way off.

Oh, I miss cruise planning... and cruising! LOL!

>380 LibraryCin: It was a lot of fun, and I hope the cruise will be fun too. I just hope there is not too much storm damage to our Canadian ports of call, or that it will be cleaned up by then.

I did not finish Back to the Garden by Laurie King. I just could not get interested, although I read the ending. I do not really like the alternating time frames, which seem popular in novels now. I like her Mary Russell Holmes novels, and maybe I thought this was one of them. I am also finishing My Name is Victoria by skimming the rest of the novel, as I can see where this is leading. I cannot seem to stick with many books lately, just reading parts or skimming them. Is that called "Reader's Block?"

I purchased a book about Queen Elizabeth II that was not worth the price. It turned out to resemble a college paper, was extremely short, and included superscript annotation numbers but no end notes or bibliography, and no author! What a bummer. I thought it would be credible because the press is listed as English Royal Press (but it was printed in Tennessee!) and I thought it would be sanctioned by the Royal Family or something. It is probably a term paper someone grabbed off an internet site.

>381 LadyoftheLodge: I just hope there is not too much storm damage to our Canadian ports of call, or that it will be cleaned up by then.

Good point. I think PEI was hit hard. And Halifax. Earlier today I heard this was day 5 of no power there. Port aux Basques in Newfoundland is the other place that's made the news here. One woman died there, having been swept out to sea. :'(

>382 LibraryCin: Halifax is one of our ports of call. I have been praying for people everywhere who were affected by the storms.

Twelve: A Retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses by Joan Marie Verba
When Alden arrives in a small village seeking peace after his career as a soldier he fits into the society well and blends in with the people there. Many visitors have come to the village with the idea of solving the mystery of the princesses who live in the castle, and seeking their hands in marriage. Although he does not seek to solve the mystery, Alden is drawn in through mysterious and magical gifts that enable him to help people and use special skills and find love and acceptance. When outside evil threatens the town, Alden might be able to use his skills to help, and to solve the mystery of the princesses too.

I found this story to be compelling from the outset. Once I started to read, I did not want to close the book. Readers do not need to be familiar with the original story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses to enjoy this intriguing rendition of the story. The characters and events are magical yet gentle, and the ending will no doubt satisfy the most discerning reader of fantasy and fairy tale.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Early Reviewers on Library Thing. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

We went to the final local library book sale of this year on Saturday. This was a $5 a bag sale and there was a great selection of books. We did not even get through all the tables we wanted to check out, and came home with three bags full! My stash included some mysteries, Amish romance novels, inspirational fiction, and my husband came away with thrillers and adventure novels. Another even bigger sale is coming up in two weeks and will benefit charity. This one will be held at a fairgrounds about an hour from where we live, and goes on for a week. The last day there is a $5 a bag day, and we usually go to the sale on two or three of the days, including the last one. There are different books out on the tables daily because there are too many to put out at once. Like we need more books!

Christmas at the Amish Market
When Wesley's father experiences a heart attack and goes to stay with family in another state, Wesley is left to manage the family market on his own during the busy Christmas season. The task proves to be overwhelming, so his girlfriend Liesl suggests that her aunt Jenny step in to help at the market. Jenny proves to be a welcome helper in more ways than business, and soon Wesley and Jenny cannot deny their growing attraction to each other. But what about Liesl, whom Wesley has been courting for a long time?

Meanwhile, Liesl has been helping her friend Roland and his little girl, as they try to navigate through the death of Roland's wife. Soon Liesl becomes an indispensable part of their household. But how will Liesl tell Wesley, when everyone expects a forthcoming proposal of marriage?

While the plot may seem predictable for some readers, there are enough twists and turns to maintain interest. The characters are realistically portrayed and experience the same troubles and frustrations most people find in life. I only wish the story had gone on to tell the reader more about the two couples after Christmas and in the future.

This novel is a clean and sweet read about Amish people at Christmas time, with no violence, strong language, or descriptive intimacy. Readers who enjoy a satisfying Christmas story set in an Amish community will treasure this addition to their Christmas reading list. The author is a skilled and experienced writer of Amish fiction, and has again produced a delightful story for her many fans.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

>386 LadyoftheLodge: I'll be in the mood for some cozy Amish reads around Christmas. I may need to look for older ones. I've pretty much quit requesting from NetGalley. I'm just too busy to keep up--and I can get most of what I want via Overdrive/Libby.

>383 LadyoftheLodge: Oh, I hope things are better when you arrive. I think there are still people without power 10 or 11 days after. :-(

>388 LibraryCin: I think there are people here in the states that also are still without power and struggling to clean up.

Yesterday we took a bus trip with a group from our community to a dinner theater matinee program in a small town about 90 minutes away. The food was great and the show (featuring all Gershwin music and history of his life) was fast paced although a bit longish. The drive through small towns in autumn was picturesque and the driver took us past some historic homes on the way to the theater. Tomorrow is our first visit to the symphony for this season, so we are looking forward to that too.

>390 LadyoftheLodge: That sounds like a lovely outing. I used to live in eastern Canada and I miss the gorgeous fall color that we got there. It's much more subdued here in the west.

>389 LadyoftheLodge: On watching the news again since, it was all of Nova Scotia that was mentioned, not just Halifax, so it's possible it's the smaller rural areas that are still without power? They said PEI, too.

>392 LibraryCin: I heard that PEI was affected too. That must have been quite some storm!

An Amish Christmas Star
This story collection features three different Christmas stories by known authors of Amish fiction. Each story describes events in the lives of Amish couples and relates them to the Christmas season and Christmas stars.

In "Buggies, Trains, and Automobiles," a couple is thrown together unexpectedly as each of them try to arrive by Christmas to spend time with family. Their journey contains unexpected difficulties, but good people appear to help them along the way.

"Star of Wonder" introduces readers to a very unusual Amish couple, who try to find their places within Amish society and discover their own relationship in the bargain. This story also contains elements similar to "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens! The story re-introduces characters from other stories set in Promise Lodge, for those familiar with the series.

"Starlight Everlasting" addresses the difficulties encountered when an Amish married couple must live apart due to limited employment opportunities. A friendly matchmaker assists the couple to seek new directions for their lives.

Although different from each other, the stories are tied together by thematic elements of Christmas, differences in culture, good people willing to help, and the true meaning of the season. Readers of Amish fiction novels will find these to be intriguing additions to the repertoire of works by experienced writers of Amish fiction. These are clean and sweet novellas, with no strong language, violence, or descriptive intimacy. The stories are designed to be read as standalones, although readers may find some familiar characters and settings.

I soldiered on with The Circus in Winter for our community book group. I found it to be creepy, but that’s probably just me with my aversion to clowns. I thought the stories were sad and were about a lot of unhappy people. Since I live in Indiana, I was very familiar with Peru as the circus town and I knew people whose kids participated in the community circus acts.

I dislike reading about animals suffering so those parts were difficult and I skipped them. I did some outside research about the aerial acts and especially the Spanish Web. There were some interesting you tube videos showing that act. Therefore the book had some interesting stuff. Book group is tomorrow so we will see what others thought.

Snowed in for Christmas by Sarah Morgan
Are you ready for a Christmas trip to Scotland? Then this book might be for you. In order to save the marketing company for which she works, Lucy travels to Scotland right before Christmas for a photo shoot and also to drop off a proposal in the hopes of landing a large account for the company. As a Storm Scrooge sails into Scotland, along with family dramas and mix-ups, Lucy winds up staying with the Miller family for Christmas. Lucy gets more than she bargained for as she becomes involved in the family dramas of the Millers and seeks her own resolution, romance, and a Happy Christmas.

Once I started this book, I could not stop reading. I felt as if I was part of the Christmas family events and right there in Scotland, snowed in with Lucy and her new family. The characters were well-developed and spirited, and the setting evokes the feeling of Christmas holidays in Scotland. The ending wraps things up nicely, but in the process leads the readers through twists, turns, and tears. There are a few adult intimate scenes that are well integrated with the plot and characters.

Our community book group had an interesting discussion of The Circus in Winter today. I do not think most of the members of the group really enjoyed the book, but the discussion went well. Sometimes I think I talk too much, but I usually wait to see if someone else starts the ball rolling before I jump in. I don't like to let the discussion leader just hang out there to dry as she waits for someone to get the discussion started. That is what was happening today, since the leader was throwing out the questions herself, rather than using the little discussion question slips of paper that we often use. It is good to have a variation in the discussion methods from time to time. Next up is The Time Traveler's Wife.

We went to a huge book sale at the Monroe County fairgrounds yesterday and came home with several bags of books. My husband and I agreed to meet in an hour by the cash stand. By the time he found me, he had paid twice and taken his loads out to the car! I found quite a few Christmas books and some mysteries, including hardcover copies to replace some of my soft cover books. Also vintage Carolyn Keene for my sister, and some Christian fiction. We will probably go back again on Tuesday for the bag it sale as that is the last day of the sale. I did not get a chance to look at fiction and literature section and I know he wants to look for James Michener books. The sale benefits the local food bank.

A Five and Dime Christmas
This book features a collection of stories set at Christmas time. The stories are tied together by the occupations of the main characters: each woman works at the Woolworth Five and Dime store in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The stories describe the struggles each woman encounters in trying to meet the needs and expectations of family while also trying to attain her own goals and independence. The stories focus on the true meaning of Christmas, on helping and giving to others.

These are clean stories without violence, strong language, or explicit sexual scenes. The Christian message is clear and overt. This story collection definitely gets readers in the spirit of Christmas while providing a reminder of the true Christmas meaning and message of the birth of Jesus. Readers who enjoy family friendly stories with a Christian theme will find these a welcome addition to the literature of the Season.

Gone for Gouda features a cheese shop owner who inadvertently becomes entangled in helping to solve a murder. When Willa agrees to host Phoebe, a foodie influencer, at her shop for a cooking demonstration, she never dreams the whole event will end tragically.

Phoebe seems to have acquired a list of enemies as well as admirers. Her vegan cookbooks gain a popular following, but when Phoebe is revealed as a fraud, the cooking show is cancelled, her books end up in the trash, and she hides in her rented home as followers demand their money back. Willa and friends must keep the shop running as well as preparing for the local festival and recouping their losses from the cancellation. When her friends become suspects in Phoebe's demise, Willa works with law enforcement to try to nab the killer, while hoping one of her friends will not turn out to be the perpetrator--but they all seem to have motives!

While this book is part of a series, it can easily be read as a standalone novel. The action moves along quickly and the characters are realistic and interestingly portrayed. The novel contains no violence, explicit sex, or strong language. Readers will also learn a little bit about cheeses when devouring this clean novel! The sneaky ending leaves readers with a taste for reading the next book in the series.

This past Tuesday, we returned to the huge book sale for the "bag it" day at $5 per bag, no matter the size of the bag. It was a cold day with a smattering of snow on the ground and rooftops in the morning, but still a nice drive over to the fairgrounds. We stayed for about 2 and a half hours and came home with six bags of books. My hubby found some big fat biography books and some thriller/espionage type books. I found biographies, mysteries, and some Christian fiction books. Not like we needed more books, and these are currently living in some boxes in the reading room at our home, but the money all goes to the Food Bank, so our purchases will help feed some people this winter.

We generally try to go to this annual sale twice during the sale days, since there is always new stock being put out, and different books on each of the days. We go by the shopping rule: "if you see it and want it, get it." Deciding to wait until a different day usually means the item will be gone or moved to a different table. The sale has been going on for years and it is very organized, all run by volunteers. The sorters spend all year sorting and boxing the books for the sale, which lasts a week. We will have some good reading for a long time, and we calculated the cost to be about 20 cents per book.

Here is my kitty Toeney as he chooses his next reading selection from the pile we brought from the book sale. Note the title of the book! Romeow and Juliet. The book below it is The Catnappers. (This was not a staged photo!) My cats are both "reading cats" and love to play with, lie upon, and snuggle with books. They read with me every night before going to sleep.

I just finished Book Lovers which took way too long to get going. It would make a good series for television or as a movie.

I read Logged On by Barbara Ross in one sitting. It was a fun mystery set at Christmas in Maine. The sleuth (Julia) is part of the family clambake business, which is closed for the winter. She and her boyfriend are working at a restaurant, which is gearing up for lots of business due to the Illuminations, a lighted botanical garden display that brings in lots of visitors. Julia also is determined to make a Buche de Noel cake, and engages her elderly and cranky neighbor Odile to show her how to do it. This is where the story gets going and starts Julia to investigate mysterious goings on at Odile's home. Although part of a series, this book can be read as a standalone, and is alternately hilarious and touching. The ending is a great wrap up, even though I guessed the mystery before the reveal.

I just finished Nogged Off by Barbara Ross, which had a twist at the end that I did not see coming until the very end when things started wrapping up. The main themes are mistaken identities or hidden identities and manipulation of people. This is part of the Maine Clambake series of mysteries.

>402 LadyoftheLodge: I also have a "reading cat", we read a story every night and when I am unsure what to read next I set out books on the bed and he chooses for me.

>406 lowelibrary: My cats would enjoy that! I will try it.

>406 lowelibrary:, >402 LadyoftheLodge: The two cats in The Cat Who series like to settle down in the eveing with the person they own too!

Christmas Eve at Cranberry Cross

This book connects readers with literary assistant Eve Pilkins as she works at the gothic-inspired mansion of Edward Priest, famous author, to assist him in finishing his latest book. Eve feels as if she is in a gothic novel herself, including huge echoing rooms, strange sounds at night, a mysterious housekeeper, and a sad little girl, not to mention the handsome, brooding author. There is plenty of drama to keep readers immersed in this novel about Eve's adventures coaxing Edward Priest to finish his next novel, as well as her developing relationships with his children and the author himself. The story includes familiar tropes of evil bosses (think Devil Wears Prada), mad woman in the attic (Los Angeles), lover's disputes, and tragedy that underscores the romantic elements.

I hope this novel was proofread before publishing, since there were a lot of mistakes that needed to be corrected. Also, the title does not fit the story. Although it occurred in December, Christmas Eve did not take place at Cranberry Cross, although it is a cute play on words for the main character Eve. I did enjoy the gothic elements and the book is a sort of mash-up of romance and gothic novel, as the main character admits. Maybe that should be played up more in the marketing for this book. Overall this was a good story, despite some plot holes (Why were there no fire alarms in the mansion? Why was all the firestarter stuff left out, rather than locking it away in the shed? Why was Amber allowed out of jail/institution when she obviously was dangerous, especially after assaulting law enforcement?) I would have appreciated a glossary of words associated with electric guitars, as not all of us know what those terms mean or are familiar with the rock stars mentioned. The kids in the novel are adorable though, as are Eve's family members. .

I seem to be stuck on some Regency novels lately, which is a good change off for me. I used to devour Regencies, but then got into reading some other genres. I read a couple recently (by an author new to me who also shares my first name):

Christmas in Bath by Cheryl Bolen
Countess by Christmas by Cheryl Bolen

The Story of Love (The Amish Bookstore Novels) by Beth Wiseman
This novel continues the story begun in the Amish bookstore series, book one. Some of the same characters appear, but the book can be read as a standalone; enough background information is provided. Although it is not a Christmas novel, the story takes place at Christmas time in a small town in Indiana.

In this story, Yvonne leaves her home in Texas and moves to Montgomery, Indiana to take over managing a bookstore for her Amish friends Eva and Jake, who are expecting a baby and also working the family farm. Yvonne reconnects with Abraham, whom she met on a previous visit to Montgomery. Abraham has left the Amish community and now serves his community as a police officer. Unfortunately for Yvonne, Abraham also has a girlfriend, Brianna. As their feelings for each other become clear, and Yvonne settles into the community, Abraham must make a decision about his relationship with Brianna. Both Yvonne and Abraham must also make decisions about their futures.

This is a clean, sweet read, lacking in overt intimacy, descriptive violence, or strong language. The Christian message is clear and overt. Readers of Amish fiction will most likely enjoy this next installment in the Amish bookstore series, although the action seems to slow down and become repetitive at times. At the end of the book, the author provides a set up for the next novel. The author also educates readers about life in Amish communities and culture, and includes a glossary of Deutsch terms.

I just finished The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman. In this follow up to The Thursday Murder Club, the senior sleuths join with law enforcement to track down stolen diamonds, solve a murder, and avenge a mugging. I like the way the story includes chapters from the diary of Joyce, one of the senior sleuths. I was also amazed at the "sting" ending--I did not see that one coming! What a twist! Highly recommend this one. I only read a sample of The Thursday Murder Club and Santa Hubby will bring me the book for Christmas.

Christmas Changes Everything by Elisa Morgan
This book focuses on the true meaning of the Christmas season: the birth of Jesus. Each chapter takes a look at one of the main biblical individuals involved in the Christmas story, and how that person was changed by his or her participation in the event. The chapters open with scripture verses, then guide the reader through focusing questions to analyze and describe the events portrayed in the verses. The author includes personal anecdotes and experiences, and ends each chapter with a reflection question for the reader.

For those readers desiring to more closely attune to the reason for Christmas, this book could be just the ticket. Both Christian readers and those seeking to find a deeper meaning to life will find plenty of opportunities for introspection and quiet meditation. This is a book to be taken slowly and read one chapter at a time, so as to leave space to ponder and reflect on the events described in each chapter.

A First-Footer for Lady Jane by Jennifer Ashley
This is part of a series of "bon-bons" or short novels designed to be read in one sitting. While celebrating Hogmanay with her family, Lady Jane meets Captain Spencer Ingram, who is a friend of her intended fiance. He has come to spend the holiday with Lady Jane and her family. Seeing the indifference exhibited by John Barnett, Jane's intended, Spencer spends time with Jane and sparks fly between them. He helps Jane to see the difference between a life of duty and indifference and a life of joy.

(I especially liked Jane's Grandfather MacDonald, whom I would have enjoyed meeting.) This was a sweet and light Regency holiday novel.

I just finished a Captain Lacey mystery Murder in the Eternal City which had quite an unexpected twist at the end. I have not read one of these books in years, although I have them on my Kindle, and it was enjoyable to get back to them.

Lately I have been caught up in Regency novels, also a delight to get back to them after a long absence. I signed up for SantaThing again with my wishes for Regencies by Cheryl Bolen and Jennifer Ashley/Ashley Gardner. Last year SantaThing did not go well as the LT staff overrode my selections for my Santee people because they thought their choices were a better fit for the persons. I was not sure I would participate again this year, but decided to try one more time.

I am currently reading On the Way to Christmas which contains three stories. The first one was about a former mean girl who is trying to redeem her ways (sort of like Scrooge?) and I still did not like her at the end of the story. The second story is about a ride on a train called The Christmas Express, which is so far humorous. The third story is by Amy Clipston, an established author whose books I have read, so that one should be reliably a good read.

I put my garden to bed yesterday since it was still a sunny day. My poor flowers lasted a long time but the colder weather and recent snow ended things for most of them. The front flower beds look neat and clean now, and hopefully the many bulbs I planted will come up in the spring time ( I guess that is an act of hope). The knockout roses in the side garden still have some flowers on them although the leaves are drying out. I picked off the lavender flowers that were still blooming and brought them into our sunroom to dry out--they smelled wonderful. Good-bye to my flowers until spring time!

I just finished A Mackenzie Yuletide which featured characters from the Mackenzie clan novels. I had to make a list of the characters and their kids and siblings because there were so many I was getting confused. I did not read the other books in the series, thus lacked the background on how each couple met and married and so on.

The story combined several mysteries with preparations for Christmas, although the focus was more on the mysteries and family than on the holidays. I have another Mackenzie Christmas title on my Kindle, so at least I know who the characters are now. I liked the story, but was disappointed that the author placed an explicit sex scene on the last page of the book. The rest of the novel included romantic innuendoes, but nothing descriptive. I wish the story had just ended before all that unnecessary description--on the last page??!!!

>416 LadyoftheLodge: We're hovering around 70F everyday, which is such a relief from the over 100s. Suddenly it became Fall, and I sowed a bed with tomatoes, onions and beans the other day. Fingers crossed, this is my first year of attempted winter gardening.

The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber
When a pastor and a tavern owner switch jobs for a week right before Christmas, both of them learn about the problems and rewards of their "new" jobs. Pastor Pete discovers ways to reach people who are not regular church goers. Hank's ways of speaking the truth to others changes their lives and his in unexpected ways. The story is framed within story-telling session between Nana and her grandkids, with the points in time alternating between past and present. Savvy readers may guess some clues as to the narrative, but surprises still abound in the ending. This winsome Christian novel would be a great one to share as a family read aloud, although it works well as a novel for independent readers and adults. This is a sweet and clean novel, with a clear Christian message about acceptance and forgiveness.

>418 mstrust: It will be interesting to see how your winter gardening turns out.

How Snowball Stole Christmas
If you are looking for a sweet romantic comedy that includes a white furball kitty, you have found your novel! Several romances begin in this book, including elderly Aunt Tilly and her courtly gentleman. Throw in the spirit of Christmas and get ready to relax with this delightful novel.

The story is set in the town of Braunfels, with its cute shops and Christmas market going on. When Lara moves into the condo nextdoor to Peter, the sparks fly in more ways than one! Peter manages his parents' bookstore, and planned to relocate the shops associated with the Weber Haus inn. However, Lara managed to outbid him for the spot, and plans to open her toyshop there. The rivalry turns into attraction, when Lara ends up with more on her plate than she bargained for and Peter steps in to help.

I especially liked the alternating sections in which Snowball the matchmaking cat puts in her two-cents worth of comment. She is working hard to bring Peter and Lara together. I had to admire the cat and Lara for their persistence. The characters are realistic, and the plot moves along well, with lots of fun and Christmas cheer. I read this as a standalone, although other books featuring Snowball precede this story.

A Christmas Deliverance takes readers to London at the holidays, where Dr. Crowe and his assistant Scuff/Will treat working class people in their clinic. When Dr. Crowe saves the life of a wealthy young woman involved in a carriage accident, he did not intend to fall in love with her. As he follows up on her injuries, Dr. Crowe discovers information about her father's suspected involvement in a suspicious warehouse fire. Crowe becomes obsessed with finding out the truth of the incident, in an effort to save the young woman from a cruel fiance.

Readers of Anne Perry's annual Christmas offering will not be disappointed in this latest installment, which features characters from some other novels in the series. The differences between wealthy and working class people reminded me of the themes found in Dickens novels. Although it is set at Christmas time, the novel primarily revolves around the crime investigation. Readers should be aware of some details of medical treatment that form a part of the story. The plot moves along rapidly and will probably keep readers enthralled and turning pages.

>421 LadyoftheLodge: This sounds like a cute read. Taking a BB.

>423 lowelibrary: I hope you like it as much as I did. Here is another one that is way more silly but a cute comedy read, short and sweet.

Resting Scrooge Face fits the category of romantic comedy with a holiday theme. When Nola returns to her small hometown, she does not plan to re-encounter her ex-boyfriend. After a public argument with him at a local coffeehouse, Nola is more than determined to avoid him and get her life back together. When Arden the postman delivers a message to Nola from a secretly Scrooge-like pen pal, Nola finds a kindred spirit and the fun commences.

Readers will find plenty of humorous moments in this pleasantly predictable Christmas short story. The letters from "Resting Scrooge Face" to "Ho Ho No" set the pace for a sweet conclusion for the secret pals. If you are looking for a seriously classical story--well, this is not it! This story will put even the most staunch curmudgeons in the holiday spirit and ready for mistletoe and holly.

Dashing Through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews
The latest offering in this ongoing series features a nasty villainous character who certainly gets what he had coming to him! Meg's clan of relatives gathers for the Christmas holidays, along with an assortment of Canadian tech experts who are working with Mutant Wizards to put together a website for a DNA analysis and genealogy company, Problems arise when the DNA company seems to be involved in some shady dealings involving clients. When the company's acting CEO Ian Meredith meets an unfortunate end, the project remains on hold. However, it seems that Ian had quite a few enemies, and they all seem to be showing up at Meg's house looking for Ian!

Readers of mysteries will enjoy the puzzle presented by the many possible suspects and motives. While this is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. Those familiar with the series will find some familiar characters and usual zany line up of Meg's family and relatives. Although the story takes a bit of time for the set up and introducing the characters, the action picks up and races to the ending with a twist. The inclusion of birds and animals forms a key component of the books in this series, and the author does a good job of "aging" the characters as the series progresses.

>425 LadyoftheLodge: I might need to check that one out.

>426 thornton37814: This one seemed more complicated than some of the others in the series, but it is still fun to read about Meg's family members, as they are all so unique and quirky.

We were invited to our next door neighbors house on Thursday for wine and cheese happy hour. I was not sure what to expect, since we did not seem to have a lot in common when we talked at other community functions. The conversation turned out to be interesting and we talked a lot about books. We probably won't be besties or anything, but it was a fun evening and we stayed there a lot longer than anticipated. We also got a tour of their house, which we looked at before deciding on the home we are in now. It looks a lot cozier than when it was set up as a model home.

Love Always, Christmas offers readers the most recent installment from a popular writer of Christmas-themed novels. This is a clean and sweet, contemporary romance novel that sets the tone for a loving Christmas season. In this story, social media maven Libby finds new ways to celebrate Christmas as she visits Holly Peak, where the town prepares for the annual Christmas town competition. Escorted by her new friend Adam and his lovable dog Rudolph, Libby experiences a small town Christmas and also meets a new friend who turns out to be much more than she thought. As Libby and Adam get to know each other, they find more than a casual relationship might be at hand. But first Libby needs to get her social media business off the ground and save her family home from being sold. Libby also comes to grips with family secrets and long-buried disputes. Having read other Christmas-themed books by this author, I do not think this is one of her best. To me, it seemed like it was a TV movie/NetFlix in book form.

I stayed up late last night to finish The Bullet That Missed in the Thursday Murder Club series. What a ride! I never saw the ending twists coming! That tells me it is a good read. Now I have to wait for #4 in the series.

Now I am just reading sample books that I downloaded before deciding if I want to purchase.

Today my hubby and I went to a local large bookstore to purchase our Christmas gifts for each other. The rules are: pick out whatever you want. We ended up with a lot more than I thought we would, especially my hubby. He found quite a few that he wanted. I fear the book sellers were flustered at all the books we selected--maybe they were fearful that we would bring them all back and they would have to re-shelve them. Two of them worked on our sale, and then they went back and counted to be sure all of them were rung up, and it seemed one was missing, so they started all over again and got in each other's way. Ooops, no mistake, the bagger miscounted!! I bet they were glad to see us go, although they made quite a nice sale, even with our member discount.

>431 LadyoftheLodge: Nothing better than a book shop browsing session. I hope you enjoyed that as much as you will enjoy the books themselves.

>432 Helenliz: It was fun, but somewhat confusing with a lot of noise, music, loud conversations (sensory overload). I prefer a quiet browse, but it was still enjoyable to be there with my sweetie. I was surprised at how many people were there on a Tuesday late morning.

Her Winter Prince by Felicity Collins tells the story of a "second chance at love." Anton and Cathryn experienced a love of a lifetime when they were in school, promising to stay together. That love ended abruptly when Anton phoned Cat to break off the relationship. Fast forward five years, as Cat flies to spend Christmas with her family in London and becomes snowbound in the small country of Monteval. Imagine her surprise to collide with Anton in the airport, and her astonishing discovery that he is the Crown Prince of Monteval! Determined to renew their friendship, Cat and Anton navigate the twists and turns of fate, and almost lose each other again in the plan.

This is a sweet romantic novel, with a little bit of spice, and a story sure to tug at the heartstrings of readers. Those interested in a fairy tale romance will enjoy the ups and downs of Cat and Anton in love, amidst the constraints of royal obligation.

I just finished Adore Me by Autumn Macarthur which is part of a series, although I read it as a stand alone. I liked the idea of late in life romances, and the Christian message was clearly stated. Too bad the book was ruined by the unrealistic ending, sort of like the romantic conflict was just thrown in because it fits the trope!

I am currently reading The Orient Express 3-in-1 Anthology of Victorian detective stories, and also Dead and Gondola which is a bookshop mystery.

Today we had our "cottager's Christmas luncheon" for those of us in our retirement community who live in independent houses. I volunteered to be an at-large member of the Cottager Council for next year, which is tasked with planning these kinds of social get togethers. I hope I do not regret that move, since I helped with set up and clean up and found out there are too many "cooks" to spoil the soup, with too many opinions on how things should be done. The other at-large members are friends from our book club, as is the new president of the council and the sec-treasurer also. The food was very nice as always, and it was well-attended.

Book Club had a good discussion of Blue Jeans and Coffee Beans hosted by a fun person, very laid back, especially since most of us did not like the book or even finish it! She did a great job of getting people to talk about the book. I hope next year's selections will be better, and at least I got in on the discussion for choosing the books.

I had to get caught up on grading today for the online course I am teaching, which will go on a two week break starting December 20. Looking forward to that, although I will also need to do some grading during the break.

Dead and Gondola
The Christie sisters manage the family bookstore in a tiny Colorado town. A stranger stops by their bookstore during a book group meeting, and later he is found dead a the mountain transport gondola. Unfortunately, the sisters happen to be in the gondola behind his when his body is discovered. The sisters become involved in working with local law enforcement to sift through clues and help solve the mysterious death. Suspects abound, and suspicions shift as the investigation progresses. Aided by family members, Agatha the bookshop cat, and friends and clients, the sisters use their knowledge of books and mysteries to assume the role of Miss Marple and find the killer.

I read a lot of mysteries, and this one really threw me a curveball! I never guesses the perpetrator, which to me is a mark of a well-written mystery novel. The sisters and their friends are delightfully portrayed, and the wintry mountain setting adds an air of mystery to the story. I hope this is just the first in a series featuring the Christie sisters and their bookstore, which I would love to visit! The idea of the gondola transport up and down the mountain also added a delicious air of creepiness. Readers who enjoy cozy mysteries with cute animals and quirky characters will love this addition to their reading lists.

>437 LadyoftheLodge: I've not heard of that series, and I see that is the first installment. I looked for it in my 2 libraries' Overdrive/Libby collections. Neither owns it, and unfortunately I was unable to recommend it because an "error has occurred" message kept popping up--even after refreshing the page.

>437 LadyoftheLodge: Oh that sounds like fun...I'm on a kick of light reading right now. I might try this for the Series Cat in January, although I've promised myself to choose from my Kindle TBR...hmmmm.

>438 thornton37814: That is a bummer! I acquired an ARC from the publisher, but I also saw it at the bookstore a few weeks ago. I hope you can manage to find it, as I really enjoyed it.

Hooves and Heartbeats
This book was about a second-chance romance after failed relationships. I found the storyline unrealistic. The characters were selfish and immature in my opinion. Apparently it is a continuation of a previous novel but the characters have different names? I would classify this as contemporary, and the characters had modern values of just jumping into relationships and out of them without thinking things through or talking to each other as adults. Sanctity of marriage is not there either. This was not my kind of book, did not finish as it was not worth wasting my time on it. I am glad it was an ARC so I did not waste my money either.

I read An Amish Christmas Caper which was a quick and rather disappointing read. The main character is Mary, a silly and selfish young woman, stuck on thinking about a man who is not interested in her. Lots of the usual tropes found in romance novels. There were also some rather inaccurate ideas about the Amish, which surprised me since the author is a prolific writer of Amish fiction novels. (Example: Mary the main character is working at an Englisch department store and has to dress like Mrs. Claus. A member of her community stops by and somehow acquires a photo of Mary and passes it around at a party at which all the Amish attendees laugh and mock her. Problem: Amish people do not take or appear in photos in which their faces are seen. Mary's mom is widowed and they are surviving on Mary's salary at the department store. Why is the Amish community not helping them out? That is the way they usually do things.) It was just an okay read, maybe 2.5 stars.

I re-read A Child's Christmas in Wales which is as enjoyable as usual (although when I taught middle school and the kids read it they hated it).

Currently finishing Secrets of the Nile by Tasha Alexander, which is moving rather slowly and using the trendy technique of alternating two historical viewpoints and time periods.

>442 LadyoftheLodge: I think I'll give that one a pass. I can find others that will hopefully be better.

>437 LadyoftheLodge: Love that title. It's a BB for me.

>443 thornton37814: Agreed, there are a lot of others that you would no doubt enjoy more.

>444 VivienneR: I hope you can find it and enjoy it. I am anxious for the next one in the series.

I finished Secrets of the Nile which seemed sort of slow moving and included two mysteries and alternated between time periods. All was tied up nicely at the end and the connection between ancient times and 1904 became clear. I did guess how the character died but not why or the circumstances surrounding his death.

I also read a kid's version of Around the World in 80 Days and A Murder of Christmas Past which was just okay and ended very rapidly.

We met my sisters and niece at a family restaurant that is an equally distant drive for all of us. We enjoyed talking and eating lunch and then placed our gifts for each other in our respective cars to open at home. There was a lot of traffic around Indianapolis since it was rush hour, complicated by construction and a crash. All in all it was a fun day and we were glad to get together. I had not seen one sister and her daughter in two years, although we text each other. It was good to get caught up. We decided to try to make the same lunch arrangements more often since it worked well for all of us and no one had to make hotel arrangements, as it is just a 90 minute drive for us all.

I read Peppermint Barked by Leslie Budewicz, which was set in the Seattle Market. The descriptions of the market and its shops were fascinating and the author provided end notes that helped explain the market history and the author's liberties with locations and names of shops. The sleuths name is Pepper and she owns the spice shop (ha ha). When a young woman is killed in a vacant shop, Pepper gets involved with helping law enforcement catch the perpetrator. There were enough food descriptions to satisfy many foodie readers. There were also a lot of minor characters and I could not keep track of them. Another annoying feature was Pepper's tendency to use spice-related epithets in place of swear words (parsley poop? Please!). Overall I still enjoyed the book, 3.5 stars.

I am trying to finish Frosted Windowpanes which is a Pride and Prejudice novella adapted to contemporary settings and characters. That will be my last finish for 2022.

>448 LadyoftheLodge: Sounds like a great plan!

>449 LadyoftheLodge: I tried a series that author wrote set in Montana, but it didn't work for me.