What Are We Reading And Reviewing in May 2020?

Tell us your reading Plan for May.

📌 - ★
Carol Has A Reading Buddy for the Month of May
📌Armed & Dangerous - Abigail Roux - 5★
📌Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban - 3★
📌Crash & Burn - Abigail Roux - 5★
📌Blown Away Sharon Sala - 4.5★ - (Pick a Winner Make A Friend)
📌Divine Justice - David Baldacci - 5★ - (Group Read)
📌A Dark & Twisted Tide - Sharon Bolton - 4★ (Group Read)
📌The Encampment - Stephen Davenport - 3.5 ★ (Early Reviewers)
📌Rules for Being a Girl - Candace Bushnell - 5★
📌Dire - Jeff Carson - 4★
📌Silence on Cold River - Casey Dunn - 3★
📌Devoted - Dean Koontz - 5★
📌Eight Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson - 5★
📌Such a Perfect Wife - Kate White - 4★
📌The Killing Hour - Lisa Gardner - 5★
📌Masked Prey - John Sandford - 5★
📌All The Lovely Bad Ones - Mary Downing Hahn -4.5★
📌Beginnings and Ends - Suzanne Brockmann - 3★ (Novella)
📌Blood Trail - C.J. Box - 3★
📌Aunt Bessie Assumes - Diana Xarissa - 3.5★
📌Uninvited - James Gabriel Berman - 3★
📌Lost Voices - Sarah Porter - 4★
📌Xoe - Sara Roethle - 3★
📌The Neighbor - Dean Koontz - 3.5★ (Short story)
📌Burntown - Jennifer McMahon - 3★
📌Touch & Geaux - Abigail Roux - 4★
📌1922 - Stephen King - 4★
📌The Returned - Seth Patrick - 3.5★
📌Perfect Nightmare - John Saul - 3★
📌Fire: Losing Christina - Caroline Cooney - 3.5★
📌The Fate of Mercy Alban - Wendy Webb - 4★

Armed & Dangerous
Cut & Run series Book #5
5 ★

After his unpredictable partner bails, Special Agent Zane Garrett takes his frustration out on everything in his path until he is ordered to Chicago to back up an undercover operative. When he gets there, though, he finds himself face to face with his wayward partner, Special Agent Ty Grady. They have to deal with the uncertainty lingering between them while they work to retrieve their intended mark, a retired hit man and CIA wet-works operative named Julian Cross. Ty, once a Marine and now an FBI hotshot, has a penchant for being unpredictable, a trait Zane can vouch for. Zane is a man who once lived for his job but has come to realize his heartbreaking past doesn’t have to overshadow his future. They're partners, friends, lovers, and the go-to team for unusual cases. With Cross and his innocuous boyfriend, Cameron Jacobs, in tow, Ty and Zane must navigate the obstacles of a cross-country trek, including TSA pat-downs, blizzards, their uncooperative prisoners, CIA kill teams, a desperate lack of sleep and caffeine, and each other. Ty and Zane are determined to get Julian Cross to DC in one piece, but it’s starting to look like it may be easier said than done.

The bad thing about having to read this series out of order is that the next book takes up right where the last one left off. Since I’ve read out of order for ages this really doesn’t both me much but it will drive some readers right over the cliff. With that warning having been issued…the two agents are back and their handlers have assigned them a task that may get them all killed and worse yet the man that Ty Grady has known since he was born…may have signed the orders that will carry that out. We meet a couple of new characters in this one that will carry over into future books and both are very likable plus they own two huge orange Maine Coon cats ..."Smith & Wesson”. Cat ownership makes them seem a bit more humane and one of them less likely to be a killer. As I’ve said before, the series is not for everyone. This episode is a journey which pits the FBI against the CIA...Now why don’t I find that hard to believe is a big dose of reality???

Eight Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson
5★

It's the story of a bookseller who finds himself at the center of an FBI investigation because a very clever killer has started using his list of fiction’s most ingenious murders. Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne's Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox's Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain's Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald's The Drowner, and Donna Tartt's A Secret History. But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. The killer is out there, watching his every move.

Who says they don't write them like the used to? If they are saying that then they haven't read this gem of a literary offering. Malcolm Kershaw writes a blog post just after he is hired at Old Devils Bookstore. Now that he owns the store with mostly silent partner Brian Murray, a semi-famous mystery writer, and that post has come back to haunt him. It's a list he has kept of the most perfect murders that he has come across..but they have all occurred in books. An FBI agent though thinks it's beyond odd that 3 murders that he's investigating could have come right from the pages of 3 of those books and right off the Kershaw's list. This was one book that I wished could have gone on forever.

The Gift of Rain – Tan Twan Eng
5*****

Historical fiction about the Pacific theater during World War II. Fifteen-year-old Patrick Hutton is the youngest child of a long-established British family with major industrial holdings in Malaya. His mother, however, was his father’s second wife, and Chinese; and he is shunned by both the Chinese community (for his British background and lifestyle), and by British society (for his Asian heritage). Lonely and adrift, he finds a friend in the Japanese diplomat who rents one of his family’s properties. Endo teaches Patrick the skills of akaido, and Patrick happily shares his love of his island home with this visitor. What he doesn’t realize until it is too late is that Endo is actually a Japanese spy, and that Patrick has unwittingly become complicit in helping the Japanese take over Penang and Malaya.

This is a marvelous book on so many levels. First, the way in which these characters are drawn. They are complex and nuanced, and Eng manages to have the reader empathize with all sides of the story. Secondly, I applaud Eng for choosing a WW2 story that has had little exploration in fiction. I’ve read only two other books that touched on what happened in Malaya – The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Flanagan, and Shute’s A Town Like Alice - and both mostly mentioned the camps. This book really explained how the Japanese were able to take over the peninsula with little or no resistance from the British.

Then there is the atmospheric nature of the book. I’ve been to Penang, and to Kuala Lumpur (the latter twice), but even if I had not experienced these locations Eng’s descriptions would easily have transported me there. I could feel the humidity, smell the cooking, relish in the feel of a sea breeze, hear the soft patter of a shower, the steady drumming of a monsoon, or the cacophony of a marketplace. And Eng’s prose is at times poetic, making me want to slow down and relish his use of language. And there were scenes where I was on the edge of my seat.

This is Eng’s debut novel. I definitely will read more by him.

The Widow
Fiona Barton
4/5 stars
Glen and Jean are a childless couple living a solitary life but Glen has a terrible secret and Jean knows about it but stays silent. However, when a child goes missing, everything in their lives blows up. This is an interesting tale of secrets and the consequences it has on this couple. This has gotten mixed reviews but I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this tale.

This is the first ebook I have read. I liked it but my biggest fear was falling asleep and dropping my iPad.

>6 JulieLill: Yep had an iPad on the nose more than once 🤣 I really enjoyed this and her other books too.

>6 JulieLill: >7 Andrew-theQM: ipads are fairly durable...noses?? not so much:)

>6 JulieLill: >8 Carol420: No noses were damaged in this endeavour. 🤣

>9 Andrew-theQM: Good news there.

Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban
Cut & Run series Book #1
3★

A series of murders in New York City has stymied the police and FBI alike, and they suspect the culprit is a single killer sending an indecipherable message. But when the two federal agents assigned to the investigation are taken out, the FBI takes a more personal interest in the case. Special Agent Ty Grady is pulled out of undercover work after his case blows up in his face. He's cocky, abrasive, and indisputably the best at what he does. But when he's paired with Special Agent Zane Garrett, it's hate at first sight. Garrett is the perfect image of an agent: serious, sober, and focused, which makes their partnership a classic cliche: total opposites, good cop-bad cop, the odd couple. They both know immediately that their partnership will pose more of an obstacle than the lack of evidence left by the murderer. Practically before their special assignment starts, the murderer strikes again this time at them. Now on the run, trying to track down a man who has focused on killing his pursuers, Grady and Garrett will have to figure out how to work together before they become two more notches in the murderer's knife.

My good friend owns this series and since he obviously has other friends that like the series...he has had to go searching for the copies that he's loaned out and haven't been returned so that I can get my "Zane & Ty fix". As a result I have read books 4, 5 & 6 before #1. I'm so glad that I read out of order because they were all 5 star books...this one got a 3 because my two guys were SOOO out of character...or at least the character they displayed in the other books... after they came to terms with the fact that they don't really hate one another. I have come to the conclusion that this series runs on these two characters...not the story line. The cases are usually unusual and it's fun to see how they solve them...but Ty and Zane are the cement that holds this series together. On to book #9 that my friend has rounded up for me.

Crash & Burn - Abigail Roux
Crash & Burn series Book #9 (the last of the series)
5★

It's been five years since Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett first worked together to solve the Tri-State murders, and time has been both harsh and kind. Engaged now, they face the challenge of planning a deeply uncertain future together. Zane is at the pinnacle of his career with one last mystery to solve, while Ty is at sea in a world where he's no longer the tip of a spear. There's just one more hurdle in the way of their happy ever after: a traitor from their inner circle who threatens to burn their world to the ground. Squeezed between the Vega cartel, an unknown mole, and too many alphabet agencies to count, Ty and Zane must gather all their strength and resources to beat the longest odds they've ever faced. To make it out alive, they'll need help from every friend they've got. Even the friends who might betray their trust.

This book is the end of this series after 8 years of writing between the two authors... and it's been quiet a ride. I'm going to miss Ty and Zane...but I guess nothing goes on forever. I'm really at a loss as to exactly what I could say without spoiling the expectation of other readers. So I'll just say to Ty and Zane how much I have enjoyed meeting the two of you and I'm glad that you both have obtained a great deal of happiness and the sorrows may have broken your hearts but never your spirits. The good thing for me is that I can visit you again whenever I want as my good friend Conner... who introduced me to you to begin with... has given me the entire series...all 9 books... to keep for my very own!!! So, Ty and Zane...we will be meeting again..and of course there are two books that I have now but not yet read, # 5 & 8 of the series...so I'll see you later guys.

Blown Away - Sharon Sala
Storm Front Series Book #1
4.5★

Writer Cari North thought she knew all there was to know about plot twists--until she stumbled across her ex-fiance, Lance Morgan, digging a shallow grave in the Louisiana woods. After one horrifying moment of shared recognition, Cari knew her life hinged upon whether she could outrun Lance and the hurricane-spawned tornado that was barreling down on their heels. Just when she thinks she's lost Lance and heads for home, the storm throws in yet another twist that will change her fate--forever.

This is an exhilarating... romantic...and suspenseful thriller with a beleaguered heroine and a somehat misguided hero type who vows to keep her safe. The odd thing about his "devotion" is that he has no really direct reason to risk his life to do this. The story is loaded with action throughout and Sharon Sala fans will find plenty to enjoy with this thriller. I wish that Lance the hero had proved to be more the trustworthy type and less of the buffoon. He just didn't come across as what he turned out to actually be. Good read and worth 4.5 star rating.

>12 Carol420: All 9 books?? For your very own?? You scored a price, Carol!

>14 threadnsong: He's a very, very good friend. He said if I had them he knew I would read them over and over and he would know where they were and not have to run all over collecting them from people that never returned them. It was a win, win situation for both of us. I never expected to like the series that much.

Dire - Jeff Carson
David Wolf series Book #8
4★

When a man careens off the road into the frigid waters of the Chautauqua River, Chief Detective David Wolf risks his own life to bring the man to shore. News of Wolf’s bravery travels fast through the burgeoning ski town of Rocky Points, Colorado, and before long he’s pulled into the political grinder, where candidates are eager to exploit Wolf’s character for their own gain. Injured as well in the process, it seems his heroic deed was some cruel twist of fate, that is, until he meets Lauren Coulter, a new girl in town and a nurse at the local hospital. Lauren is smart, beautiful, and just Wolf’s type. The connection between them is there. But just as they get started, so does the killing. And as bodies start emerging, so do the secrets from Lauren’s troubled past. Has fate steered Wolf to the wrong woman? Or is someone more devious behind the wheel? Lives will depend on how fast Wolf can come up with the answer, and this time, living with failure will prove to be something much worse than death.

99.9% of the books I read are mystery/suspense/thrillers. After all of these books you would think the stories would start to be the same or begin all run together...or would be hard to find one that's just different enough to keep me guessing. Jeff Carson was able to do this in spades with this story. There were some twists in the story...most of which I guessed and they kept the book fast paced. A really good series for fans of fast paced adventures.

Touch & Geaux Abigail Roux
Cut & Run series Book #6
4★

After having their faces plastered across the news during a high-profile case, FBI Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have become more useful to the Bureau posing for photo ops than working undercover. Just as Zane is beginning to consider retirement a viable option, Ty receives a distress call from a friend, leading them to a city rife with echoes from the past. New Orleans wears its history on its streets, and it’s the one place Ty’s face could get him killed. Surrounded by trouble as soon as they land, Ty and Zane are swiftly confronted with a past from which Ty can’t hide — one with a surprising connection to Zane’s. As threats close in from all directions, both men must come to terms with the lives they’ve led and the lies they’ve told. They soon discover that not all their secrets are out yet, and nothing lasts forever.

This one seemed shorter that than the others and while the action was intense...I didn't just like the horrible argument that went on between Zane and Ty. I'm glad that I read out of order and I know that all will be well in the end.

Pecan Pies And Homicides – Ellery Adams
Digital audiobook narrated by C.S.E. Cooney
1*

Book three in the “Charmed Pie Shoppe” series gets more ridiculous.

I guess I need some pie, because I’m no longer charmed by the eccentric characters and the lead character, Ella Mae, drives me crazy.

I haven’t read book # 2 yet (for some reason there is an insane number of holds on that Overdrive audio through my library). So, I was quite surprised to learn that Ella Mae’s mother has been “merged” with (turned into?) a tree. The whole work of THIS episode is releasing her mother from that spell.

Yes, there’s a murder. Yes, she gets some magical help from other “others.” The romance is heating up (literally and figuratively). I pushed to finish only because it fit a challenge. Oh, well. It was a fast read at least.

C.S.E.Cooney does a fine job narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and her diction is clear enough that I could listen at double speed.

Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley / Alison Weir
3.5 stars

Mary, Queen of Scots was suspected of murdering her second husband, Lord Darnley. Darnley died in an explosion, but it was definitely murder. Many people at the time thought she’d done it, as well as many historians since. Weir looks at many sources to try to sort out whether or not Mary was, indeed, involved. This does pretty much amount to a biography, with a strong focus on events as relating to Darnley.

This is a long book! With lots of detail. That being said, I went back and forth between being really interested and falling back a bit with some of the detail. Now, Weir really was looking at a lot of information to try to sort out who was involved. Boy, talk about “fake news” of the time! And sham trials with a political bent (i.e. predetermined outcome)... Overall, I’m rating it good, but it does take a while to read.

1922 - Stephen King
4★

Wilfred James owns eighty acres of farmland in Nebraska that have been in his family for generations. His wife, Arlette, owns an adjoining one hundred acres. She wants to sell her land but if she does, Wilfred will be forced to sell as well. James will do anything to hold onto his farm, and he'll get his son to go along. Betrayal, murder, madness, rats, 1922 is a breathtaking exploration into the dark side of human nature.

I ask you, who knows and writes about the dark side of human nature better than Stephen King? This particular story was originally published in an anthology collection entitled Full Dark no Stars in 2010... and this 128 page novella embellishes on one of the stories in that book. It's a really good story and the characters are...as our British friends say..."spot on". The story itself and the plot are fascinating because of the very strong and powerful subject at the core of it. Many of Stephen King's novels are character driven by the father figure coming across as deficient and devious. 1922 is no exception although I believe this "father figure" may have had a few bolts loose to begin with. Stephen King enthusiasts will more than likely like it.

Rules For Being A Girl - Candace Bushnell
5★

A girl fights to expose sexism at her school after a run-in with a predatory teacher. It starts before you can even remember: You learn the rules for being a girl. . . . Marin has always been good at navigating these unspoken guidelines. A star student and editor of the school paper, she dreams of getting into Brown University. Marin’s future seems bright―and her young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. Beckett, is always quick to admire her writing and talk books with her. But when “Bex” takes things too far and comes on to Marin, she’s shocked and horrified. Had she somehow led him on? Was it her fault? When Marin works up the courage to tell the administration what happened, no one believes her. She’s forced to face Bex in class every day. Except now, he has an ax to grind.

It's been described as "a light read for a heavy topic"...but I believe it contains an ongoing topic and is a necessary read for every parent with a daughter, and every teacher that is currently involved with girls of any age from kindergarten to high school. It's happening more and more...and it's being pushed into a dark corner that some that we have entrusted with our children, hope will never raise it's ugly head into the light. It starts with an often times innocent awareness of a cute/handsome older member of the opposite sex or just someone that pays them a little extra attention... and it escalates before the younger person becomes aware of just what is happening. After all they are NOT ADULTS and overall inexperienced. They are excited and made to feel the extra attention is "normal" or that they are 'special". They haven't lived long enough to sort the difference between trusted friend and sexual predator. This is the story of Marin and Chloe who think Bex... their teacher... is cute, but are a little obsessed with his sex life. Bex offers Marin a ride home from school and then it begins...he kisses her without her consent, Marin wonders what she did to give him the wrong signals. Be aware that she never questions that it could be his fault and not hers. When neither her best friend Chloe...nor the school board believes her...Marin starts fighting back against the unwritten rules for girls. The book shines a light on the pressures of being a girl and the double standards that readers will immediately recognize and appreciate and hopefully learn from. This book could easily be discussed...and probably should be discussed by all grades 7-12...but because of the language and subject matter, younger students would more than likely not be able to handle it...but I assure you every parent and every teacher and school administrator will be enlightened by it. An inventive teacher could certainly find a way to broach the subject.

Scorsese
by Roger Ebert
3/5 stars
This was an unusual book. It is not a linear biography of Scorsese, in fact it is not a true biography at all but a look at his life amid his film work. There are 6 discussions/chapters in this non-fiction work - 1) Beginning, 2) Achieving, 3) Establishing, 4) Reflecting,(which is an interview with Ebert) 5) Venturing and 6) Masterpieces. I think the book is interesting and I learned a lot about Scorsese’s filmmaking but the problem I have with the book was that there was a lot of repetition in the book and a rehashing of the movie plots that have been gone over in previous chapters. However, if you are a big film fan or Scorsese fan, I will think you will like this book.

Burntown - Jennifer McMahon
3★

On the surface, Ashford, Vermont, seems like a quaint New England college town, but to those who live among the shadowy remains of its abandoned mills and factories and beneath its towering steel bridges, it's known as Burntown. Eva Sandeski, who goes by the name Necco on the street, has been a part of Burntown's underworld for years, ever since the night her father, Miles, drowned in a flood that left her and her mother, Lily, homeless. Now, on the run from a man called Snake Eyes, Necco must rely on other Burntown outsiders to survive. As the lives of these misfits intersect, and as the killer from the Sandeski family's past draws ever closer

In the beginning the story promises shades of the supernatural…and the promise of intrigue and innovation. The characters are captivating. We meet a girl that is a good student but has dark secrets and fears about her emerging sexuality…a lonely, grossly overweight woman with a head full of fantasies…a homeless young woman with secret “powers” and a mysterious past…all are designed to pull you into the world of Burntown. Somewhere toward the middle it begins to fall apart. I found myself questioning major parts of the plot and it lacked the supernatural elements that it displayed in the beginning. I love this author’s work but while this is a worthwhile read it just didn’t have that can’t wait to see what happens next” element for me. It’s not a terrible book but not on the same page as The Winter People and The Night Sister.

The Last Romantics – Tara Conklin
Digital Audio performed by Cassandra Campbell.
4****

A family epic following the four Skinner siblings over several decades. It begins with a tragedy – the death of their father, and their mother’s subsequent depression. Renee, Caroline, Joe and Fiona are basically left to their own devices over a summer, protecting each other and their mother from intrusion as much as they are able. The result of what they always refer to as “the Pause” is that they are fiercely loyal to one another. Two decades later that connection will be tested by another tragedy.

I love character-driven novels, getting to know and understand the psychology of the characters as they cause and/or react to events in their lives. In this case the siblings’ early experience makes them guarded and as the point of view shifts from character to character and from one time frame to another, that guardedness makes it easy to understand how outsiders (i.e. those outside the family) would be unaware of the need and/or unwilling to assist.

That these four people are damaged by their childhood is without question. The ways they find to cope, or not, is what fascinated me in the novel. I recognized how the roles taken on by siblings in childhood often continue into adulthood; that’s certainly true in m own family, and we didn’t suffer the trauma of losing a parent during our formative years.

I was sorry that COVID19 interrupted our book club’s scheduled meeting on this work. I would certainly have enjoyed that discussion.

Cassandra Campbell is a talented voice artist and does a marvelous job performing the audio. However, the complexity of the novel’s structure, with changing points of views and timeframes, made it a bit more challenging in this format. If I re-read it, I’ll do so in text format.

Alone / Richard E. Byrd
4 stars

In 1934, the author headed to Antarctica to spend a few months on his own inland (while people he was working with were a ways away, and they were in radio contact on specific days/times), while taking weather readings at various times throughout the days. They had built him an underground shelter to live in. In June, as it got colder outside, things started to get dicey for the author. This book includes his memories, as well as some excerpts from his diary while there.

It took a little bit to get going, as I wasn’t as interested in the technology in how they built his shelter and such, but once it was built and the rest of the crew left Byrd alone, it got much more interesting. The cold, oh, the cold! Described very well. (Of course, it’s relative when anywhere from 0 to -30F was “warm”! The coldest day was -83F) He was there over winter, so between April and October (this book covers April through August when he was on his own). It read in kind of a conversational tone, which I liked.

Aunt Bessie Assumes - Diana Xarissa
Isle of Mann Mystery Book #1
3.5

Aunt Bessie assumes that she'll have the beach all to herself on a cold, wet, and windy March morning just after sunrise, then she stumbles (almost literally) over a dead body.Elizabeth (Bessie) Cubbon, aged somewhere between free bus pass (60) and telegram from the Queen (100), has lived her entire adult life in a small cottage on Laxey beach. For most of those years, she's been in the habit of taking a brisk morning walk along the beach. Dead men have never been part of the scenery before.Aunt Bessie assumes that the dead man died of natural causes, then the police find the knife in his chest.Try as she might, Bessie just can't find anything to like about the young widow that she provides tea and sympathy to in the immediate aftermath of finding the body. There isn't much to like about the rest of the victim's family either.Aunt Bessie assumes that the police will have the case wrapped up in no time at all, then she finds a second body. Can Bessie and her friends find the killer before she ends up as the next victim?

Aunt Bessie is more like a friend than a fictional character. It's fun to get to know her and her friends and to learn something about the Isle of Man which I knew nothing much about previously. I do have to admit that I wasn't expecting much from the book at first, since cozy mysteries are not really my “cuppa tea”… but I found that I really enjoyed it and almost wished I could share a “cuppa tea” with Aunt Bessie. It was a change from the dark, gory, and disturbing mystery books, or the ghostly paranormal books that feed this ghost story junkie’s “habit” that I usually read ….and it met a challenge category…so win, win.

The Neighbor = Dean Koontz
3.5★

The year is 1967. Malcolm Pomerantz is twelve, geeky and socially awkward, while his seriously bright sister, Amalia, is spirited and beautiful. Each is the other’s best friend, united by a boundless interest in the world beyond their dysfunctional parents’ unhappy home. But even the troubled Pomerantz household will seem to be a haven compared to the house next door, after an enigmatic and very secretive new neighbor takes up residence in the darkest hours of the night.

I don't usually read shot stories but this one caught my attention for three reasons. 1. It was a ghost story...2. It was written by one of my all time favorite authors, Dean Koontz...and 3. It was one I knew I had never read, or even heard of. So...off to an afternoon with "Uncle Dean". It didn't make an afternoon ...it barely made it to an hour but it was a fascinating well told little ghost story. It had hidden elements that were slowly brought out that made it all the more interesting. It didn't try to gloss over the happenings that caused the haunting with disbelieves and denials. It just told the story and left it to the reader to believe it or not. As for Malcolm and his sister Amalia...no one had to convince them that the horror that dwelled yet next door was anything other than what it was. Excelled story...but way too short. I guess that's what makes it a "short story???:)

Whiter Than Snow / Sandra Dallas
4 stars

In 1920, an avalanche hit the mining town of Swandyke, Colorado, just as school let out. There were kids on the street, just heading home, as the snow came tumbling down... The book starts by letting us know this, then backs up to find out about the lives of some of the parents (and one grandparent) of those children. Then, the book leads up to the avalanche itself.

There was no historical/author’s note, so I had to look this up to see if it really happened. It appears that Swandyke was a real town; now it’s a ghost town with some items and buildings, but I couldn’t find any mention of an avalanche that buried children there. However, this is a really good story. It was easy to get the characters mixed up a bit, as there were so many, and with one chapter on each family’s history, it took a minute when they were mentioned again to remember who was who. Even still, I enjoyed all of those families’ stories, though one stood out a bit more than the others for me (the black man working at the mine who had a young daughter).

Such A Perfect Wife - Kate White
Bailey Weggins series Book #8
4★

On a sunny morning in late September, Shannon Blaine sets off for a jog along the rural roads near her home in Lake George, New York. It’s her usual a.m. routine, her “me time” after dropping the kids off at school…except on this day she never returns. Is her husband lying when he says he has no clue where she is? Could Shannon have split on her own, overwhelmed by the pressures of her life? Or is she the victim of a sexual predator who had been prowling the area and snatched her before she knew what was happening. True crime writer Bailey Weggins, on assignment for the website Crime Beat, heads north from New York City to report on the mysterious disappearance. An anonymous tip soon leads Bailey to a grisly, bone-chilling discovery. Every town has its secrets, Bailey reminds herself, and nothing is ever as perfect as it seems. She keeps digging for answers until—when it’s almost too late—she unearths the terrifying truth.

The plot of this book is one of the best laid out that I have seen in a long time. Once news is out that Shannon has just vanished into thin air...Bailey Weggin... a Crime Beat reporter comes to town to write about her disappearance. Bailey digs for clues and discovers that Shannon may be too good to be true...or she could just be "such a perfect wife". It appears that she has led an ideal life. She had a handsome and successful husband...two adorable children... a condo in Florida...and enough idle time for a daily jog. Soon some red flags begin to sprout up in this perfect garden. She had recently started attending church at the local Catholic church after years of lapse...her best friend said that she seemed kind of "off” when they spoke early on the day of her disappearance...and various amounts were unaccounted for being missing in the joint back account. Soon a gruesome discovery was made...and it was not alone. There's not a lot of real depth to the story...but it's fun. Bailey is like a grown-up Nancy Drew...for grown-ups.

Notorious RBG – Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik
Digital audiobook read by Andi Arndt
5*****

Subtitle: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Oh, my stars, but this is one HELL of a woman! Go Ruth! I've admired her for some years, but I really enjoyed learning more about her.

I thought the authors did a great job of making this a very approachable biography. It was not heavy, but included every pertinent detail. I loved that they brought out RBG's humor and empathy, as well as her defiance and strong sense of justice. There are other more comprehensive (I presume) and/or traditional biographies of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. But I doubt there is one that is more enjoyable to read. I want to read her autobiographical My Own Words now.

I did read the original version of the biography, but there is a version that has been adapted for the young-adult audience. I think that’s marvelous. The more young people who are introduced to this champion of equality and justice, the better.

There is no Truth without Ruth!

I listened to the audio and thought Andi Arndt did a marvelous job of reading this book. However, the text (which I also had a copy of), is easier to grasp in places, just because of the format used. For example, notations in the margins of a published paper are easier to comprehend as such when seen on the page than when a narrator, however skilled, is reading them to you. And, of course, listening to the audio you miss all the photos and illustrations in the printed book.

All The Lovely Bad Ones Mary Downing Hahn
4.5 ★

Travis and his sister Corey can’t resist a good trick...so when they learn that their grandmother’s Vermont inn has a history of ghost sightings, they decide to do a little “haunting” of their own. Scaring the guests proves to be a great deal of fun...but before long the inn is filled with tourists and ghost hunters and the supernatural is closer than they think...and the ghost they pretend to be aren’t the only ghosts at Fox Hill Inn. What they believed were games has awakened something dangerous...something evil......something that should have stayed asleep. Restless...not at all friendly spirits soon invade every part of the inn. A dark and terrifying presence stalks the halls and the old oak grove on the inn’s grounds. To lay the ghosts to rest, Travis and Corey must first discover the dark history of Fox Hill and the horrors visited on its inhabitants years earlier. I was annoyed more than entertained by the antics of Corey and Travis but in spite of that the ghosts were good and the story was well worth the time spent reading it.

To the Lighthouse
Virginia Woolf
3.5/5 stars
This is a semiautobiographical book of the author and her family set in three time periods. Woolf relates the feelings, events and emotions of her childhood when they stayed at their summer home near the lighthouse. The second section relates the events of WWI and what happened to the family during that time period and the last section is ten years later and recalls the memories of returning to their summer home and their trip to the lighthouse. I have never read Woolf but enjoyed this book and her writing.

Alaska / James A. Michener
3.5 stars

This fictional chunkster pretty much tells the entire history of Alaska from before humans, through to about 1990.

It was good, but LONG. It took me 2 months to listen to the 57 hour audio. Because it was so long and covered so many time periods, events, families/people/characters, some sections were more interesting to me than others. (Although it’s so long ago now, it’s hard to remember), I think I liked the section at the start before humans. I also particularly enjoyed the gold rush and the characters that appeared then and continued later on.

Upstairs At the White House – J B West & Mary Lynn Kotz
Book on CD performed by Eric Martin
4****

Subtitle: My Life With the First Ladies

J B West began his career at the White House while still in the Navy reserve, serving first in the Franklin Roosevelt administration. In time, he was promoted to the position of Chief Usher, basically the head of household for the residence. This memoir details his years of service from 1943 to a year into the Nixon administration.

I really enjoyed this look at the private lives of the first families. Due to his position, West’s primary contact within each administration was with the First Lady. Her wishes as to how the private rooms would be used, preferred decorating colors and schemes, and private family routines governed how West and his crew handled things. Whether it was converting a closet to a nurse’s bedroom (and back to a closet), or “borrowing” space from a couple of adjacent rooms to create a private kitchen space, he and his staff handled every request with aplomb and professionalism.

Readers hoping for some juicy private gossip will NOT find it here. Discretion was paramount for the position, and West maintains that characteristic in his memoir. Still, it is a touchingly personal account. Twice he had to deal with a transition that was NOT due to an election (following the deaths of FDR and JFK), and the contrasts in how these were necessarily handled vs the typical handing over of power following an election is evident.

All told, I was interested and engaged throughout.

Eric Martin does a fine job of performing the audiobook. The pace was good and his diction was clear. He made little effort to imitate the voices of the first ladies, and I applaud him for that.

Xoe – Sara Roethle
Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series Book #1
3★

Xoe Meyers had a normal life. So she was stuck going to high school, and she only had a few friends to call her own. She liked her normal life. Things were about to change though, because there's a new guy in her small town, and he is anything but normal. Before Xoe can say, "Werewolf," her best friend's life is in peril, and Xoe's world is turned upside-down. Then, of course, there's Jason. Xoe doesn't trust him as far as she can throw him, and given that he's a vampire, she'd have to be able to catch him first.

"Twilight" fans will eat it up…we older folk… probably not so much, even if you are a closet fan of vampires & werewolves and your best friend is a shape shifter. It wasn’t a bad read...rather interesting in places.. and didn’t take huge chinks out of my reading schedule, but it was extremely predictable. If you are older than 12 you will probably be able to tell how the whole thing is going to end by page 50 or so. But hey…I needed a book with a word starting with an “X” in the title and this one whispered to me and said “choose me… you know there’s not that many of us”.

Divine Justice – David Baldacci
The Camel Club Series Book #4
5★

Known by his alias, "Oliver Stone," John Carr is the most wanted man in America. With two pulls of the trigger, the men who destroyed Stone's life and kept him in the shadows were finally silenced. But his freedom comes at a steep price: The assassinations he carried out prompt the highest levels of the U.S. government to unleash a massive manhunt. Yet behind the scenes, master spy Macklin Hayes is playing a very personal game of cat and mouse. He, more than anyone else, wants John Carr dead. With their friend and unofficial leader in hiding, the members of the Camel Club risk everything to save him.

Oliver Stone takes on the small, isolated mountain town of Divine, Virginia…which turns out to be not quiet so "divine". It’s not where he had set out to go but you read the series, you know our Oliver...he couldn’t help stepping into an unfair fight that started when a young man…Danny Riker… accused three tough guys of cheating at cards. Stone settled the argument by bashing some heads and in the process, angering the conductor...so he puts Stone...Danny... and the limping and battered hoodlums, off at the next stop. Danny, being grateful, takes Stone back to his little home town of Divine…which turns out to be deep into more than just the mountains. I believe this is the best of the series. The characters are so believable…the plot is incredibly convincing and some bad guys from the last three books get their "just rewards. The ending is almost a tear jerker as Oliver does something that is so in character for him...but so unexpected.

English Creek – Ivan Doig
4****

This is a coming-of-age story set in Depression-era Montana. It’s the first published book, though in chronological order it is book two, in Doig’s Two Medicine Trilogy, which chronicles the McCaskill family over several generations. Jick McCaskill tells the story of his youth, focusing on the summer of 1939, when he was fourteen, and his family faced some challenges: “where all four of our lives made their bend.”

Doig really puts the reader into the era and landscape of this novel. The sky is vast, the landscape majestic, the weather sometimes brutal, and the dangers – both natural and manmade – palpable.

Jick is a keen observer, if sometimes perplexed. I love his descriptions of various events – accompanying his father as he “counts” the sheep, helping a wounded camp tender, tasting his first alcohol, enjoying the Fourth of July town picnic and rodeo. And I love how he’s so “consumed” by food. This boy is ALWAYS hungry! He’s also curious and continues to question those around him trying to ferret out the information he needs to piece together the puzzle that is his family’s history. He’s young enough that he still feels “responsible” for many things that happen, and consequently naïve enough to think he can affect the outcome with a well-chosen word.

There were times when Doig’s work made me think on my own father, and how he taught us love of the land and nature. That made the book all the more enjoyable for me.

The Price of Everything / Eduardo Porter
3 stars

The subtitle is: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do. This is nonfiction and consists of chapters such as “The Price of...” Things, Life, Happiness, Women, Work, Free, Culture, Faith, and Future.

Have to admit that it was interesting as I read it (most of it), but unfortunately, it’s already fading. I won’t remember it. The conclusion (most fresh in my mind) does refer to the 2008 financial crisis quite a bit, and hopes that people will have learned a few things. I do wonder what the author would write now, after things have shut down due to COVID, and are just now starting to reopen for the economy.

Escape from Syria / Samya Kullab
4 stars

This is fictional, but the author was a reporter who spent time in Lebanon as Syrian refugees came pouring across the border. To write this story, she compiled common happenings of many of the refugees and made it into this graphic novel, told from the point of view of a teenage girl as her family fled Aleppo City amidst the war in Syria. Her family spent time in Lebanon until they were able to get out to come to Canada (this is known from the start of the story).

The illustrations were very well done, I thought. There were even a couple of iconic images represented (one, much more well-known than the other, though the other, maybe known more in Canada as some of the Syrian refugees arrived; the more well known image is the little boy who drowned as he and his family tried to escape). I quite “enjoyed” the story, as well. I read a memoir not long ago of a boy who got out and also came to Canada, and this graphic novel was interesting from a girl’s perspective (the families had no money – or very little – so many young daughters became child brides, though this was only a very small section in the book). At the end, the author takes many of the quotes and images throughout the story and explains more about them.

The Killing Hour - Lisa Gardner
FBI Profiler series Book #4
5★

Each time he struck, he took two victims. Day after day, he waited for the first body to be discovered--a body containing all the clues the investigators needed to find the second victim, who waited...prey to a slow but certain death. The clock ticked--salvation was possible. The police were never in time. Years have passed; but for this killer, time has stood still. As a heat wave of epic proportions descends, the game begins again. Two girls have disappeared...and the clock is ticking. Rookie FBI agent Kimberly Quincy knows the killer’s deadline can be met. But she’ll have to break some rules to beat an exactingly vicious criminal at a game he’s had time to perfect. For the Killing Hour has arrived....

We meet Pierce Quincy whose specialty is profiling...and Rainie Connor, who are partners in a private investigating firm that the police have called in to help. The police are beginning to believe that there may be an inside implication. Not only that but this killer leaves clues on the body that points to the next victim. It's an interesting plot and a fantastic story but it did become bogged down with too many characters causing the reader to sometimes have to go back to see how that person fit into the storyline. I was slightly disappointed with the killers motive but that didn't distract from an otherwise well written and compelling adventure.

Masked Prey - John Sandford
Lucas Davenport (Prey Series) Book #30
5★

The daughter of a U.S. Senator is monitoring her social media presence when she finds a picture of herself on a strange blog. And there are other pictures . . . of the children of other influential Washington politicians, walking or standing outside their schools, each identified by name. Surrounding the photos are texts of vicious political rants from a motley variety of radical groups. It's obviously alarming--is there an unstable extremist tracking the loved ones of powerful politicians with deadly intent? But when the FBI is called in, there isn't much the feds can do. The anonymous photographer can't be pinned down to one location or IP address, and more importantly, at least to the paper-processing bureaucrats, no crime has actually been committed. With nowhere else to turn, influential Senators decide to call in someone who can operate outside the FBI's constraints: Lucas Davenport.

I have been a long time fan of John Sandford and of his unpredictable character of Lucas Davenport from the time that he was a cop that wrote a computer program that made him a rich cop. Now he is a U.S. Federal Marshall still hunting down the bad guys. It was a very intricate plot-line that was...in some ways unfortunately...totally believable. It spoke volumes about the culture we live in today. Some have said it was political... and yes...it may or may not have been an expression of Mr. Sandford's political views...but it told the story exactly the way the world is today. I don't have to agree or disagree with John Sandford's opinions...if that is what they were...to have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Lucas Davenport stop another very bad man.

The Right Stuff – Tom Wolfe
Digital audiobook performed by Dennis Quaid
4****

In 1957 a Russian rocket launched an unmanned satellite – Sputnik – into space. Clearly this was an escalation of the Cold War and the US would not stand still for it. No. We were going to put a man into space by 1960. But how? And who?

This is the story of the first seven Mercury Astronauts and how they came to be chosen – evaluated to ensure they had The Right Stuff to succeed in this vital mission.

I remember so clearly that day in school as a child when a television set was rolled into our classroom so we could watch, first, Alan Shepard being launched into space. And later, John Glenn, the first man to orbit the earth. I think I’ve had this book on my tbr since it came out in 1979, and have no idea why I never picked it up before.

Wolfe does a great job of giving us the background of those first seven astronauts – warts and all. I was fascinated by the extensive testing they underwent to evaluate their fitness for this work. And I think Wolfe did a great job of explaining the differences in their personalities that resulted in success, or missteps.

The narrative is also packed with some pretty exciting scenes that had me completely spellbound. The scene where Yaeger nearly burns to death is particularly harrowing.

Dennis Quaid does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. He exudes the “macho” quality of these uber macho men. He is in turns incredulous, irritated, arrogant, or defiant. I felt almost as if I were hearing these Mercury astronauts tell their own stories.

Silence on Cold River - Casey Dunn
3★

On a run through the woods outside her north Georgia hometown, defense attorney Ama Chaplin encounters a mysterious hiker and recognizes him, too late, as a sociopath she successfully defended when he was a teenager. In the intervening seventeen years, Ama changed her name and moved to Atlanta, anxious to put her past behind her. Michael Walton, her young client, grew into a ruthless and inventive murderer. And now that he’s caught her, he can put a twisted, years-in-the-making plot into motion.

The story is a good idea but it's told in 5 alternating perspectives which is really 3 too many...and that makes it a hard to fit the pieces together. It does have some things going in it's favor but also some in the negative. On the positive side...it’s fast-paced...it has decent twists and consistent tension...the characters all have big personalities and equally big flaws. The entire book can best be described as just "mindless" fun and we can all use a bit of that. On the negative side...many of the characters are just "out of character"..For example:... The killer was warped by his mother and he now feels "misunderstood"..and get this... he thinks that his “art” (AKA torture) will someday make him famous and prove his mom was wrong about how worthless he is. Then we have a drug addicted police officer who thinks no one notices that he's high. Then we have the defense attorney that is all guilt ridden because she has allowed guilty people to go free and just knows that she has locked innocent ones up. Lets have a drum roll for the stupidest one of all ..she confronts the killer all on her own hoping to get him to confess. It was beyond entertaining to actually watch these TSTL people fumble around. This would make a a fantastic television crime/comedy series.

Enrique’s Journey – Sonia Nazario
4****

Subtitle: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite With His Mother

Journalist Sonia Nazario first met Enrique and his mother, Lourdes, in search of a story. She had originally heard of mothers who leave their children behind from her cleaning lady. Her interest piqued, she sought to document what such a journey entails … for the mother who goes ahead, for the children left behind, for the boy who was determined to travel nearly 2,000 miles alone to find the mother he had not seen for more than a decade.

The book began as a series of articles for The Los Angeles Times newspaper. It was original published for an adult audience. But when I requested it from the library, I received the young adult version.

I’m familiar with the difficulties and challenges faced by these desperate migrants. I’ve read other books (both fiction and nonfiction) that depict these journeys. I’ve seen at least one movie that graphically represents the tale. These young people leave an impossible situation for a dangerous trek across more than one country. Along the way they face beatings, arrest, injury, hunger, thirst, snake bites, and the possibility of being sent back or even killed. But they persist. In Enrique’s case, as for so many others who attempt the journey, it’s because they simply cannot go another day without at least trying to reach their mothers.

It’s plenty horrific, though I’m sure the graphic depictions are toned down because I read the YA version. Their stories are heartbreaking and eye-opening.

I’m glad that Nazario followed Enrique and his mother for several years, so we witness not just the harrowing journey, but the ultimate results of their long separation and attempts at reunion.

Blood Trail - C.J. Box
Joe Pickett series Book #8
3★

Game wardens have found a man dead at a mountain camp—strung up, gutted, and flayed as if he were the elk he'd been hunting. Is the murder the work of a deranged anti-hunting activist or of a lone psychopath with a personal vendetta? Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is the man to track the murderer and stop him, before someone declares open season on humans.

It's elk season in the Rockies...but this year a different kind of hunter is stalking a different kind of prey. The Governor is forced to end the hunting season early for the first time in state history. That alone would drive some hunters crazy... but then it would have been the Governor that was found strung up and not some other person:) The way that C.J. Box writes about the mountains in the west is a beautiful piece of work an very well done...you can tell that he loves the wilderness...but his character of Joe Pickett must be the busiest Game Warden in the country. This is the 8th book in the series and I've read 3 before this one, and have found the murders are a bit repetitive. The narrative alternates between the searchers and the killer...whose identity will keep readers guessing up to the very end. What I do like about the series and Mr. Box, is that he takes care and the time to present both sides of the controversial issue of hunting. Well done on that Mr. Box.

Uninvited James Gaberial
3★

It's a first novel about a young man accused of killing the entire family of a woman he's been obsessed with for most of his life. Once the police had decided that Kirk Carver didn't really commit suicide after shooting his wife and children...they pick up Tony McMahon without asking more than a cursory question or two since they're entirely convinced...from a massively indiscreet letter he wrote about Patricia Carver...that he's the killer. Now enters the lawyers...a literal swarm of them. Tony...the suspected killer is now convicted by society as well as the police... is friendless... broke...and very naive...choosing as his defender Ralph Barolo, a flamboyant and streetwise lawyer who regards pleading before a jury as a wily game of sexual seduction. As the disturbing pathology of Tony's obsession is subtly revealed, the suspense builds regarding his guilt or innocence. The story was as much a study in abnormal psychology as a telling look at social discrimination in the criminal justice system. The main problem I had with the book was the writing style of the author. It was difficult to read as it read mostly like a legal textbook. This was what could have been a fascinating story but instead was left begging for it's life for a professional ghost writer.

>45 Carol420: I love Joe Pickett!

By Book Or By Crook – Eva Gates
Digital audiobook read by Elise Arsenault
3***

After her engagement is called off, Lucy Richardson leaves her position with the Harvard library and heads to Bodie Island in the Outer Banks, where her aunt Ellen and cousin, Josie, live. Her escape becomes an opportunity, however, when Aunt Ellen gets her involved in the lighthouse library. But when a priceless first edition Jane Austen novel is stolen, during a private party, and then a body is found, Lucy finds herself enmeshed in a mystery she hadn’t bargained for.

Cozy mysteries are my go-to reading comfort food. This one has some things going for it – a decent premise, an eclectic cast of characters (including a cousin who “treats” all woes with freshly baked goods), a possible love interest, and a setting I love (a library … in a lighthouse!). Of course, we also have the obligatory “mean girl” in town; Louise Jane is rich, spoiled, and pushy. But I suppose every heroine needs a foil.

However … Lucy rather got on my nerves. She jumped to so many conclusions without evidence that I quickly dismissed any person she suspected of being the culprit.

Still, it held my interest and I’ll likely read more of this series.

Elise Arsenault does a fine job narrating the audiobook. She sets a good pace and her diction is clear (even when listening at double speed).

Grounded: A Down to Earth Journey Around the World / Seth Stevenson
4 stars

Seth and his girlfriend Rebecca decide they want to travel all the way around the world by surface travel (i.e. no flying). They set out via ships (cargo and cruise), buses, trains (regular speed and bullet trains), and bicycles. Their journey takes them across the Atlantic Ocean, Germany, Estonia, Moscow, across Siberia, down to Japan, China, Cambodia, Thailand, and back east to and across Australia to New Zealand and back to the US. (And I know I’ve missed some places!).

I really enjoyed this (though I disagree on his assessment of cruise ships!). There were some funny moments. Although, despite the leisurely travel pace, there were times where they really seemed rushed, and weren’t able to enjoy where they were. I guess some of it depended on the timing of the travel away from where they were, as it was sometimes difficult to find a way to their next destination, so unless they wanted to wait a week, they might have to continue on right away. He did talk about the different modes of transportation, the history, etc, which I also found interesting.

Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography / Chester Brown
3.5 stars

Louis Riel was a charismatic Metis leader in the late 19th century who led a couple of rebellions as the government of Canada wanted to set up Manitoba and West differently from how the First Nations, Metis, and others already settled there wanted it done. Riel was later hanged. This is a graphic novel that depicts his battle with the government.

It was good. I think the graphic novel format does make it more interesting than I remember it from high school (what little I do remember, and I’ve even been to Batoche, one of the sites in Saskatchewan where he fought). The illustrations were simple, black and white images, but I think they portrayed things well. There is a large notes section at the end that expands what was included in the story. I think the notes took as long or longer to read through than the graphic novel portion itself, but it does add quite a bit of extra info.

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington
by Alexis Coe
3.5/5 stars
This is a very interesting short biography of Washington geared to those who don’t want to read some of the tomes on him. The author writes about his childhood, marriage to Martha, his war service and his time as president and afterwards. The author intersperses the book with odd facts and topics which include the diseases he survived, the lies told about him, the animals he raised and much more. I really enjoyed this book!

Lost Voices - Sarah Porter
Lost Voices Trilogy Book #1
4★

Fourteen-year-old Luce reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of her grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid. A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?

Anyone that thinks of mermaids as gentle sweet creatures will have an awakening experience after reading this book. Dark is an adjective that doesn't even begin to touch on describing it. "Foreboding" and "deliciously creepy" comes very close for we horror fans. The whole idea is that Mermaids are young women who are being given a second chance after being hurt and tortured by human beings. Every girl mermaid Luce meets has her own horror story of how she got there...and they are indeed horrible. The things that I thought really mattered to help in understanding this story wasn't explained in this book...but may be explained in the later books... was exactly what are the "Mermaid Rules"...Who make these rules...how are they enforced...and who enforces them. The reader may not want to really learn the answers. This story is an intriguing and unusual play on the mermaid myth and it will leave you wanting to be much nicer to everyone you come in contact with.

The Humans / Matt Haig
3.75 stars

An alien has taken over the body of mathematics professor Andrew Martin. It takes a bit of time for the alien to learn the ways of the humans, but at the same time, he has a purpose. The humans are learning too much about technology (though it’s not nearly as much as there is to know), and this needs to be stopped. Professor Martin, his friends and family (and whatever they know) must be stopped.

I listened to the audio and quite enjoyed it. It had funny moments, and that really drew me in at the start, though it lagged a bit for me in the middle. Overall, I quite liked it.

The Snow Leopard – Peter Matthiessen

2.5** (rounded up to 3***)

This was a choice for one of my F2F book clubs a year ago. The person who selected it has frequently chosen books that may be challenging but are always thought-provoking, and sometimes quite entertaining. Also, I love nature and wildlife and reading about efforts to save various endangered species. So, I was eager to read it. Then some issues came up in my non-reading life and I had to skip that meeting, so never got to the book or the discussion. Another challenge brought it to the top of the TBR now and once again, I eagerly anticipated reading it.

Unfortunately for me, and for my rating, this book isn’t really about the snow leopard. As in real life, the creature is extremely elusive, hardly ever mentioned, and not making an actual appearance until late in the journey.

Instead this is more Matthiessen’s personal quest for enlightenment, which happens to dovetail with a friend’s planned trip – as a wildlife biologist – to study sheep / goats in the Himalayas. I was willing to go along with Matthiessen’s musings for the first 100 pages or so, but when it became clear that I’d never see, let alone learn much about, the snow leopard, I lost my enthusiasm.

Also, once he relates how he’s left his son behind, who has recently lost his mother, I pretty much was annoyed with the self-absorption that would have him go on this dangerous trek at this time in his life.

I kept reading because I needed it for a challenge … and the library is closed during the pandemic, so I’m reading what I happen to have in the house. Still, it took me nearly a month to read a book I would normally have powered through in a week or less.

I will give him this, though. Matthiessen manages to write some really stunning passages on the majesty of the terrain he is covering, as well as a few interesting observations about the people he encounters. And, though it was first published in 1978, it contains a couple of philosophical passages that are perfect for this Coronavirus quarantine:
• Having finally gotten to meet the Lama at the Crystal Monastery he is surprised by the man’s attitude and remarks: “Indicating his twisted legs without a trace of self-pity or bitterness, as if they belonged to all of us, he casts his arms wide to the sky and the snow mountains, the high sun and dancing sheep , and cries, ‘Of course I am happy here! It’s wonderful! Especially when I have no choice!’”
• And towards the end of his journey he remarks: “With the wind and cold, a restlessness has come, and I find myself hoarding my last chocolate for the journey back across the mountains – forever getting-ready-for-life instead of living it each day.” (Kinda describes how I feel some days in quarantine .. getting ready for the return to normal rather than living each day as it is.)

Devoted - Dean Koontz
5★

Woody Bookman hasn’t spoken a word in his eleven years of life. Not when his father died in a freak accident. Not when his mother, Megan, tells him she loves him. For Megan, keeping her boy safe and happy is what matters. But Woody believes a monstrous evil was behind his father’s death and now threatens him and his mother. And he’s not alone in his thoughts. An ally unknown to him is listening. A uniquely gifted dog with a heart as golden as his breed, Kipp is devoted beyond reason to people. When he hears the boy who communicates like he does, without speaking, Kipp knows he needs to find him before it’s too late. Woody’s fearful suspicions are taking shape. A man driven by a malicious evil has set a depraved plan into motion. And he’s coming after Woody and his mother. The reasons are primal. His powers are growing. And he’s not alone. Only a force greater than evil can stop what’s coming next.

Devoted is a twisted, crazy roller coaster of a book. Dean Koontz covers all the bases though. It is at times genuinely frightening and disturbing...and at other times you feel like you have fallen into a PG rated family movie. I love animals and I am careful about reading books that animals are ultimately mistreated...I also love Dean Koontz's writing and I know how devoted, (no pun intended), he is to his Golden Retrievers, so felt I was pretty safe that the dog would be fine... but I have to say this one took me by surprise. I believe if I say it was something totally "other" I wouldn't be far off the mark. Parts of the book were genuinely gripping...some parts were absolutely terrifying...and others were heart warming... but the jump between all these emotions came off as jarring. Overall...if you are a Dean Koontz fan or if you are an animal lover...especially big beautiful, intelligent dogs...you will be able to relate to this story and not be too overly bothered by any of the genre mixes.

The Third Man
Graham Greene
3.5/5 stars
Rollo Martin (aka Buck Dexter) writes Westerns. Post WWII, his friend Harry Lime invites him to Vienna where he gets swept up in a murder mystery when he finds out his friend Harry is dead. Martin seeks to find out what happened to his friend and gets swept up in the criminal investigation. This was originally first written as film treatment and the book was written afterwards. The movie became a classic starring Orson Welles.

The Returned - Seth Patrick
3.5★

What Happens When The Ones You Lost Come Back From The Dead? In a small Alpine village, people start to appear, trying to return to their homes after a terrible accident none of them can recall. What they do not yet know is that they have been dead for several years—and no one is expecting them back. But they are not the only ones to have seemingly returned from the dead. Their arrival coincides with a series of horrific murders, which bear a chilling resemblance to the work of a serial killer from the past.

"He stared out across the lake and thought about what lay underneath. He thought about what he'd been told officially when he took the job and about what he'd heard in the months since-rumors, inconsistent, conflicting. He thought about what he believed. Shivering, he started to descend." This is what first drew me to this book. An entire book build on the idea that the dead have returned but didn't realize that they were dead or even that they had been gone was fascinating to the 'ghost story junkie". The problem came when nothing really happened except that more and more people kept returning. You knew what should be happening...you knew what was bound to soon happen...but it took way too long for it to all come together....and HAPPEN...and then it was rather anti-climactic. I guess I have to say that I liked it and I didn't like it. You would have thought that the story could have been told and told well in less than 93 chapters.

Murder Plain and Simple – Isabella Alan
Digital Audio read by Cris Dukehart.
3***

From the book jacket: When Angela Braddock inherits her late aunt’s beautiful Amish quilt shop, she is welcomed to Holmes County, Ohio. With her snazzy cowboy boots and her French bulldog, Angie doesn’t exactly fit in with the predominantly Amish community, but her aunt’s quilting circle makes her feel at home as she prepares for the reopening of Running Stitch. On the big day, Angie gets a taste of success as the locals and tourists browse the store’s wares while the quilters stitch away. But when Angie finds the body of ornery Amish woodworker Joseph in her storeroom, the future of Running Stitch looks bleak.

My reactions:
I found this moderately entertaining as cozy mysteries go. There’s a decent premise, and I did like Oliver (her bulldog, who is afraid of birds). Alan gives the reader the beginnings of a possible love interest, which will likely develop in subsequent books in the series. And there’s a reasonable cast of supporting characters. Of course, our heroine believes she is the number one suspect in the murder and MUST investigate on her own to prove her innocence. I know this is a common thread in cozy mysteries, but frankly, it’s really not a very plausible plot device.

Still, it held my interest and I was sufficiently entertained that I would read another in the series.

Cris Dukehart did a fine job performing the audiobook. Clear diction and a decent pace.

The Witches of New York / Ami McKay
3.5 stars

It is the 1880s. 17-year old Beatrice heads to New York to try to get an advertised shop girl job at “Tea and Sympathy”. It turns out the ladies who run Tea and Sympathy (Eleanor and Adelaide) are witches, and Beatrice is showing tendencies towards such, as well as seeing and hearing ghosts. We learn about all three women, their histories, and how things go forward at this time in NYC while the three are considered witches.

I liked Beatrice’s story, in particular, but what I wasn’t crazy about was all the different changing perspectives of so many different characters. I don’t like when I’m a good chunk of the way in and a new character is introduced and I have to try to fit them in. This happened quite a bit in this book, as there was a lot of flopping all over the place, following all the different characters. Toward the end, the story picked up speed a bit, so overall, I’m still rating it good.

Perfect Nigthmare – John Saul
3★

If you open your house to strangers, who knows who might come in. And what they might be after. Or whom. Now, ponder the unthinkable and surrender to your darkest dread, as sinister storyteller extraordinaire John Saul weaves a heart-stopping tale of lurking terror and twisted intent. Every parent’s nightmare becomes reality for Kara Marshall when her daughter, Lindsay, vanishes from her bedroom during the night. The police suspect that the girl is just another moody teenage runaway, angry over leaving behind her school and friends because her family is moving. But Lindsay’s recent eerie claim – that someone invaded her room when the house was opened to prospective buyers – drives Kara to fear the worst: a nameless, faceless stalker has walked the halls of her home in search of more than a place to live.

It's been a long time since I read a John Saul book...but i believe I have now read everything he has ever published. His books are supernatural in content but has enough of a non-ghostly story to satisfy almost everyone. I don't want to even imagine what it would be like to have a child go missing but John Saul did an excellent job of portraying a mother who does not give up regardless of what everyone is telling her. This creepy stalker story becomes a shrewd whodunit that will appeal to mystery fans, suspense fans and supernatural /horror fans alike.

Two For the Dough– Janet Evanovich
Digital audio narrated by Lori Petty
3***

Book two in the series starring totally inept bounty-hunter Stephanie Plum.

What makes the series for me is the great cast of supporting characters: Ex-“ho” and fellow bounty hunter, Lula (love her outfits!), Steph’s long-suffering mother; and especially Grandma Mazur. Then there are the competing “hunks” in her life: mystery man Ranger, and neighborhood bad boy turned cop, Joe Morelli.

The books are fast, fun, entertaining brain candy, and provide a convenient escape from real-life problems.

Lori Petty’s performance on the audio was great. However … I didn’t realize until after I started it that the copy that came from the library was abridged. The unabridged audio was not available, so I abandoned the abridged audio and read the text.

Green River, Running Red / Ann Rule
3 stars

In the early 1980s, the Seattle area had a serial killer running around, mostly killing prostitutes. True crime author Ann Rule, by then having published her book on Ted Bundy, lived in the area, and followed very closely what was happening. The killer wasn’t caught for almost 20 years, but when DNA testing came available, he was not only caught, but he admitted to many more murders than they would have been able to link to him via DNA.

Unfortunately, I (once again) ended up with an abridged audio. I was only a kid in the early 80s, and not in the area, so it was more recently that I heard of the Green River killer. The book was interesting, but I would have liked to have listened to the entire book. It did seem to jump abruptly from talking about the victims to following the killer’s life. Not sure if the book actually felt that way or if it felt such because it was abridged.

The House of Doctor Dee / Peter Ackroyd
2 stars

Two storylines – Matthew has inherited a house from his father in the current day (book was published in the early 90s), and there is a brief mystery in figuring out whom it once belonged to. Turns it out, Doctor John Dee once lived there (during the time of Queen Elizabeth’s reign in the 16th century). No idea what the Doctor Dee storyline was all about.

This was incredibly boring, especially the Dee storyline. I have no idea what happened in that part except that (I think) his wife, Katherine, was sick. He was apparently a doctor (and possibly a “sorcerer” of some type?). Anyway, not really worth the time, in my opinion.

A Dark & Twisted Tide - Sharon Bolton (S.J.)
Lacey Flint series Book #4
4★

Lacey Flint has been living in a houseboat on the River Thames, and she's becoming a part of London's weird and wonderful riverboat community. Against her friends' better judgment, she's taken up swimming in the Thames, and she feels closer than ever to Detective Mark Joesbury, despite his involvement in a complicated undercover case. For the first time in her life, as she recovers from the trauma of the last few months, Lacey begins to feel almost happy. Then, at dawn one hot summer morning while swimming down the river, Lacey finds the body of a shrouded young woman in the water. She assumes it was chance…after all, she's recently joined the marine policing unit, and she knows how many dead bodies are pulled out of the river every year, most the result of tragic accidents. But further investigation leads her policing team to suspect the woman's body was deliberately left for Lacey to find. Lacey's no longer a homicide detective, but as she begins to notice someone keeping a strangely close eye on her, she's inexorably drawn into the investigation.

The character of Lacey Flint is brave and impulsive…loyal and secretive. She is running from her past and avoiding her future. While I enjoy the character it is my hope that when, and if, Lacey does return…Ms. Bolton chooses to begin a new, more confident characterization for her protagonist. Lacey often comes off as directionless and careless in her actions and decisions. She almost seems to have a death wish. While I know that this is part of who she is….it doesn't feel as if she is growing any from book to book. I hope to read about Lacey for many years to come but, if she isn't allowed to grow the series will become stale. There is so much more that these characters can contribute and many more stories to be told. I hope that Ms. Bolton will allow Lacey, Joesbury, Dana, Helen and the others to "live" to tell more suspenseful tales.

Star Wars: From The Adventures of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas
3 1/2 ***

Luke Skywalker was a twenty-year-old who lived and worked on his uncle's farm on the remote planet of Tatooine . . . and he was bored beyond belief. He yearned for adventures out among the stars--adventures that would take him beyond the farthest galaxies to distant and alien worlds. But Luke got more than he bargained for when he intercepted a cryptic message from a beautiful princess held captive by a dark and powerful warlord. Luke didn't know who she was, but he knew he had to save her--and soon, because time was running out.

It's a good, solid take on this classic action adventure movie. At the time it was written, no one (especially the film makers) had any idea that it would become a cultural phenomenon. But it did, and owning the original book from back in the day brings some interesting tidbits to life. Besides the fact that Han shot first :)

The movie was such a visual experience that the descriptions in the book seem a bit klunky. But it is also interesting to read how Lucas (and probably the late Gary Kurtz) had to put words to things that they saw in their heads. And there are also scenes in the book that didn't make it into the movie; place descriptions are also a good, fill-in backstory.

Star Trek: Timetrap by David Dvorkin
3 1/2 ***

In a remote area of Federation space, the Enterprise picks up an urgent distress signal--from a Klingon vessel! Tracing the S.O.S., the crew finds the Klingon cruiser Mauler, trapped in a dimensional storm of unprecedented power. Yet paradoxically, the ship refuses both the Enterprise's call and the offers of help.

It is a solid three and a half stars for me. The usual characters are explored, and by this point the "canon" of Star Trek books has become solidified and this one is #40 in the series (just before "The Next Generation" starts its run).

The Enterprise finds itself in the same part of the galaxy where "The Tholian Web" took place and a similar jump through time occurs. This time, though, Kirk finds himself not in and out of the Enterprise but solidly on board a Klingon warship with a crew of strangely garbed Klingons. They are gentle and thoughtful, and tell him that he has jumped forward 100 years through a space-time disturbance.

As time passes, both onboard the Enterprise, on Earth, and on the Klingon new/old ship, bits of things start to occur that make the plot really start to evolve. Kirk, who has fallen in love with a Klingon woman, finds that she is out of consciousness for a while and his host is getting more short-tempered. Further, there are gaps in the history of which he is supposed to play a part. Spock finds strange occurrences between high-ranking members of the Federation and parts of Earth (and other planets) that were utterly destroyed, and a brilliant scientist is becoming unglued. These final plot twists really saved the book for me and helped it be out of the ordinary.

Fire: Losing Christina - Caroline Cooney
Fog, Snow & Fire trilogy- Book #3
3.5★

In just eighteen days the semester will be over, freeing Christina and her friends from the terrible Schooner Inne and the Shevvingtons, their creepy hosts during the school year. They’ll leave the mainland for the safety of Burning Fog Isle for the summer—and since the Shevvingtons may be moving out of town next year, the island kids could be free of them forever. But then Christina begins sleepwalking, and doing odd things like leaving lit candles around the house, carrying around pockets full of matches, and doodling flames into her textbooks—or so claim the Shevvingtons. Can Christina survive their insane tricks until the school year ends? Or will they use all eighteen days to make Christina’s life a living—and fiery—hell?

This Gothic horror trilogy is not just about evil. Christina experiences all kinds of emotions that most people can relate to...the fear when she has to move away from her family and friends...being nervous about making new friends...wanting a boyfriend... facing teachers and assignments. She is just a normal thirteen-year-old who unfortunately has to face something that most people of any age do not.
This is the last book in the trilogy and it ends with more hope than the first two. Christina has grown and learned much more about evil. The story revolves around her getting involved in a terrifying psychological mind game with the two malicious Shevvingtons....who are supposed to protect her. The trilogy is really Young Adult material but it's an easy, quick read with some really different characters.

Memento Mori
Muriel Spark
3.5/5 stars
“Memento Mori” is a term for an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death which follows the characters in this dark humoristic story. Set in the 1950’s England, a well-known author has been getting telephone messages that she is going to die. This upsets her circle of friends but she is calm about the matter though secrets about her and family are soon exposed as each of them faces their mortality when they get the same call.

Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet / Mark Lynas
4 stars

In this book, the author divides the chapters to look at what would happen as the global average temperature rises 1 degree Celsius, 2 degrees, 3, 4, 5, and 6 degrees. More fires and drought in California and Australia. Melting of ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic. Melting of glaciers in mountainous regions in Pakistan, Nepal, and China near K2 and Everest, leading to less runoff for places that rely on that water. Water levels rising to wipe out New Orleans, put more of New York and London underwater, hurricanes and flooding in Houston, Gakveston, New York. Sand dunes and no water in Africa. All of these causing humans to starve and die or to move to other places already suffering themselves who won’t want newcomers to take up the precious resources that remain. Oceans and forests will be taking on more carbon than they can handle, often speeding up the warming and other consequences.

The author used scientific models and peer-reviewed articles to research this book.

I really liked the way he organized this book. Unfortunately, in the conclusion, he talked about ideally reducing emissions in the next decade. The book was published in 2008, and as far as I’ve been paying attention, things have (really, to no surprise, sadly) only gotten worse. There is no slow down, let alone reduction in emissions, I don’t believe. I feel like this is something everyone should read to educate themselves.

Because Of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo
Digital audiobook performed by Cherry Jones
5***** and ❤

India Opal Buloni is lonely. Her mother has left. She and her father, a minister, have moved to a new town and she hasn’t made any friends yet. But a trip to the grocery store will change everything because there she finds an ugly stray dog. Winn-Dixie is a mutt who is afraid of thunderstorms, howls when left alone too long, but disarms everyone with his big toothy grin.

DiCamillo has written a lovely book that deals with some serious issues. Not only is India lonely, but her father – whom she calls “the preacher” – has retreated into his shell as a result of his wife’s leaving. India is loved and cared for, but her emotional needs aren’t being fulfilled at the beginning of the book. Because of Winn-Dixie India Opal finds friends, love, and some help in dealing with the loss of her mother. No, everything doesn’t turn out perfect in the book (just as it doesn’t in real life). But DiCamillo gives her readers a sense of hope that India (and her father) will come out of this period of their lives with full hearts.

Cherry Jones’s performance on the audio is terrific. Every character – including Winn-Dixie – is given a unique voice. At the end of the last disc, I wanted to just start over and listen again.

The Overstory – Richard Powers
Audible audiobook performed by Suzanne Toren
3***

From the book jacket: An Air Force loadmaster in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan. An artist inherits a hundred years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light. A heari8ng- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another. These four, and five other strangers – each summoned in different ways by trees – are brought together in a last and violent stan to save the continent’s few remaining acres of virgin forest.

My reactions
I am having a very hard time pinpointing what it was about this book that I found so fascinating. Because I WAS interested, despite my overall rating. I tend to gravitate towards character-driven works, and this is certainly that. Nine “main” characters is a daunting task, and Powers does a pretty good job of keeping the story moving while giving each of them their due. They are complex people and even those I found even those that I did not particularly like interesting. Reminds me a bit of a Richard Altman film.

Melding nine different points of view into a cohesive story arc is challenging enough, but Powers also uses an extraordinarily long timeline, taking the reader from antebellum New York to 20th century Pacific Northwest. And while that time frame includes many generations of people, for some trees “born” at the beginning of that time, they would be mere adolescents at the end.

There is the underlying message of environmental stewardship, which humans seem to be doing a very bad job of. But Powers use of so many different stories to convey this message seemed to detract from the impact of the message. I’m very glad that I read Hope Jahren’s memoir Lab Girl earlier this year, because that really helped me understand the underlying science in this work of fiction. And yet, I can certainly see why some readers have classified this as “magical realism” for certain sections (particularly when Powers writes about how the trees communicate with one another) – sections that Jahren’s scientific work seems to support.

I admit I have waited too long after finishing this book to write this review. I had hoped my F2F book club discussion would help clarify my thoughts on the book. And then COVID19 cancelled our meeting … So, my apologies to fellow readers and to the author for my delay and resulting vagueness.

The audiobook is masterfully performed by Suzanne Toren. She has a lot of characters to portray and manages to give them unique voices so that I was rarely confused. (At least not after I understood the multiple narrators.) Still, I think I may want to re-read this in text format before my F2F book club finally gets to it in October.

It’s a Long Story: My Life – Willie Nelson
Digital audiobook read by Christopher Ryan Grant.
4****

Oh, Willie! I’ve had a long-standing crush on the “red-headed stranger” and am glad to have learned more about him, because I like him even more now.

Willie lays it all out there. He talks about his childhood and the importance of church and faith in his upbringing. He talks about the poems he began writing when he was still in grade school, and how music filled his soul and helped him express himself. He talked about family and yet tried to maintain some privacy for his wives and children. He doesn’t shy away from chronicling his mistakes and owning them – from profligate spending to drinking to adultery – but he also celebrates his shining moments and gives credit to the many people who helped him along the way.

I listened to the audiobook read by Christopher Ryan Grant. I have to say that Grant’s delivery made me think that it was Willie, himself, relating the story. So I was somewhat disappointed that when he mentioned the lyrics of some of his more famous songs, they were spoken rather than sung. On the other hand, the audio does have a bonus at the end with a small section read by Willie and then a song.

The Fate of Mercy - Wendy Webb
4.5★

Grace Alban has spent more than twenty years avoiding her childhood home, the stately Alban House on the shores of Lake Superior, for reasons she would rather forget. But when her mother's unexpected death brings Grace and her teenage daughter back, she finds more is haunting the halls and passageways of Alban House than her own personal demons.

I'm keeping this one short and to the point. It's a gem of a story that contained everything from mystery to romance...ghosts to witches and spells. Just a perfect Gothic story. The ghost story junkie is a happy camper.

The Encampment – Stephen Davenport
Miss Oliver’s School for Girls series Book #3
3.5★

There are only two rules at Miss Oliver’s School for Girls that lead to automatic expulsion: stealing, and permitting a male who is not a family member into a dormitory. The head of school’s daughter has broken both. Trouble approaches on a warm September day when Sylvia Perrine Bickham, the head of school’s daughter, gives money to a homeless man on the street. Through some prying, she and her friends learn he is a veteran of the Iraq War and probably suffering from post-traumatic stress, so they sneak food and clothing to his lean-to at odd hours of the day and agree to tell no one…not the teachers, and especially not Sylvia’s mother, Rachel. But talk of things gone missing from the school is getting louder, and Rachel knows something is up. More importantly, winter is coming and Sylvia worries the man will freeze if he stays outside. Have they done all they can for him? Have they done enough? What is enough?

This was book #3 of the series...and though I have no real problem reading out of order...I do believe that this is one series that begs to be read in order. It was difficult for me to understand why the girls, Sylvia and her friend did some of the things that they did...which I'm sure was developed in the first two books. At times I thought that Sylvia had a good heart when she gave the homeless vet money and other supplies…but then when she turned around and spied on him…stole to give him what she did...I began to have second thoughts. I actually liked the character of the homeless veteran the most of any of them. He was “real” in that he knew he had problems and was trying to the best of his limited abilities to work through them. I hate to give criticism of an authors writing since I have never written or published a book…but I read about 300 a year that other people write and publish so I can say what appeals to me and makes me want to read more. For me…there was just too much “unnecessary” text…I guess you could say it was “too wordy”…if that makes any sense. It was a good storyline, good plot, good enough for the 3.5 rating…but for me it was difficult.

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

The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories – H P Lovecraft
2**

Of course, I’ve heard of H P Lovecraft for years, but I’d never bothered to read anything by him. Just not my genre of choice. But I happened to have this in the house, courtesy of Penguin Random House (the publisher gifted me a set of their new “orange” Penguin Classics a few years ago), and it carries the “science fiction” tag so it fit a challenge.

First, these stories are mostly NOT science fiction, although one, dealing with aliens removing the brains of humans but keeping the bodies and brains both alive separately probably would qualify. Mostly this collection is one of horror stories originally published in magazines.

Second, as horror stories, I didn’t find them all that horrifying. Although, I can imagine that an audience in the early part of the 20th century would find them disturbing. The fact that Lovecraft writes all these stories in the first person serves to remove much of the suspense. Clearly the person survives any ordeal because he is telling the story. Reading them one after another in this collection made them seem formulaic and dull.

Lovecraft relied on the reader’s imagination in that he virtually never describes the “horror I witnessed,” instead relying on stating that said horror was just “too terrible for words.” There’s frequent use of the typical, dark, deserted location – either a room at the top of a tall tower, or a pit underground – into which the hero ascends (or descends), without any good light or backup, and despite the feeling of dread. In many of these cases, the hero awakens some time later with no memory of how he escaped.

Finally, although I recognize that this is a sign of the times in which they were written, Lovecraft relies on some disturbingly racist / prejudicial stereotypes.

On the plus side, one of his friends/colleagues was the inspiration for the hero of the final story in this collection: The Haunter Of the Dark. That person was Robert Bloch, who wrote Psycho. Lovecraft gave his character Robert Blake an address that was once Bloch’s home in Milwaukee. Sadly, one can no longer visit that edifice. It’s at a location that was cleared of houses in the ‘60s to make way for a freeway extension. But it was fun to see that address pop up in the book.

Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests
By Tom Shales
3.5/5 stars
This book is definitely for fans of the show and goes over each season (up till 2014) and includes all the members, writers, producers and Loren Michaels talking about their roles on the phenomenon of SNL and how it affected them.
This book was the updated version for their 40th Season in 2014 (originally published in 2004). I am not sure if it has been updated since then but it would be interesting to read about the changes to the program due to the coronavirus. I enjoyed this so much but be warned it is over 700 pages.

Powder Burn / Carl Hiaasen
3 stars

Architect Chris Meadows gets caught up in a drug war in Florida when he witnesses an old flame and her daughter get hit (and killed) by a car. He unwittingly ends up the next target, as he was a witness and can identify the people responsible.

Unlike Hiaasen’s other books, this one did not include humour, nor did it have an environmental theme. I do believe this was co-written with someone else, as well. There was one brief “scene” near the end that was somewhat amusing. I don’t think I really liked any of the characters (including Chris, aka “Meadows” (I am also not a fan of referring to characters by last name only)). Not my favourite topic – drugs – and not as good as the others I’ve read by him. At the same time, I’d consider this one “ok”.

The Simplicity of Cider– Amy E Reichert
Digital audiobook performed by Rachel Dulude
3***

Sanna Lunde has taken over the apple orchard run by her family for five generations in Wisconsin’s Door County. The business is struggling but she has plans to expand despite her brother’s pressure to sell out to a developer. Isaac Banks has basically raised his son Sebastian alone. Trying to bond (and to find the right time to tell Bass about his mother’s death) they take off on an adventure and wind up at the Lunde’s orchard.

Yes, the plot has been done before and includes most of the rom-com tropes. Yes, the heroine’s hard shell will be cracked by the genuine goodness (not to mention tall, dark, handsome charm) of the hero. Yes, she – a confirmed avoider of children – will come to love the precocious Sebastian. Yes, there will be major obstacles to their getting together. But has that ever stopped a couple in a rom-com? Well, Reichert is not about to break that mold.

Despite all the predictability this meet-cute romance ticks all the right boxes for me. It’s set in a place I love (Hubby and I visit Door County a couple of times a year), and I feel right at home with the descriptions of the location, the people, the traditions. I love the food references, even though I’m not a big fan of the fish boil (still, it’s a sight to behold). It’s a fast read, relaxing and completely enjoyable.

Rachel Dulude does a fine job performing the audiobook. She sets a good pace and I like the say she voiced Sanna, Isaac, and Sebastian.

Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
3***

Friday is a superbeing. Engineered from the finest genes, and trained to be a secret courier in a future world of chaotic ferocity and intrigue, she can think better, fight better, and make love better than any of the normal people around her.

It's a good read, and probably representative of Heinlein's later, well-rehearsed voice. His polyamorous families are very much in play in virtually any family gathering set of episodes, and trigger alert: there is a rape scene at the beginning.

The basic premise is that Friday is an Advanced Person whose status in society is below that of "real" people. She is physically indistinguishable from a human female, including having Cherokee features. One thing that impressed me about Heinlein is that in her EnnZed family (New Zealand in this book), Heinlein confronts the endemic racism of the white family when a daughter marries a Tongan. As in Africa. They are not averse to Friday's AmerIndian bloodlines, nor are they averse to the Maori peoples; their rationale is that both groups are "first peoples." But for their daughter to marry a Tongan! She is instantly disowned. Friday risks it all, and loses, when she demonstrates her AP self.

The space flight and transportation makes my head hurt, and the continued sexcapades with all of the people she picks up are a bit much. But Friday does struggle with acceptance into humanity and her story is reasonably well told.

Great Cat Tales / Various Authors
2.5 stars

This is a book of short stories, poetry, and I think some short nonfiction essays by various authors (including Jerome K. Jerome, Rudyard Kipling, Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, and more), all about cats.

I’m just not a fan of short stories. I don’t know why I have the book (my guess is a gift?). Everyone knows I love cats, but short stories just mostly don’t hold my interest much. There were a few that I liked. Overall, though, it may have been that I was trying to read quickly, maybe that I just know I’m not “into” short stories and didn’t give it enough of a chance, via mostly skimming through. Likely if I’d slowed down and taken more time to pay attention, it would have garnered a better rating from me.