Good Night, Maryland by Adam Gamble

 ★★★★

GENRE: children
SUBJECT: Maryland
Setting: Maryland
CHARACTERS:
DATE READ: December 28 - December 28
NO. OF PAGES: 20
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   no, grandchildren's

PLOT:....................................................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.00
TOPICS: ...............................................................3.00
STYLE:..................................................................3.50
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................3.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.50
OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.50
Threshold Quality.................................................3.50
Average..............................................................................................3.25 

This was a delightful little board book that showed a number of items of interest for the kids - paddle boats in the harbor, the Baltimore Oriole bird, blue crabs, National Aquarium, RR museum. All things that I can show my grandchildren when they come to visit. The book will be a good reminder of what they can see until they get here!

Reunion with Death by Sheila Connolly

 ★★★¼

GENRE: cozy mystery
SUBJECT: class reunion, old professors
Setting: Italy
CHARACTERS: Laura, Cynthia, Jean Jane, Barbara, Gerry, Professor Gilbert
DATE READ: December 22 - December 28
NO. OF PAGES: 214
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   yes, NetGalley ARC

PLOT:....................................................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.00
TOPICS: ...............................................................3.00
STYLE:..................................................................3.50
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................3.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3..50
OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.50
Threshold Quality.................................................3.50
Average..............................................................................................3.25 

Laura has decided that since her daughter is grown and she is on her own, she will go on the trip to Tuscany for the Reunion of her college class.  Reunited with her old roommate, things turn a bit strange when an old professor from the college is invited and then turns up dead.

Laura and Cynthia work to discover which of their classmates was responsible while keeping everyone in the dark that the death was murder and not an accident.

Very interesting ending.

Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney

 ★★★¼

GENRE: cozy mystery
SUBJECT: romance and angels
Setting: Cranberry Island
CHARACTERS: Natalie Barnes, Bernard Katz, Estelle Katz, Ogden Wilson, Barbara Eggleby
DATE READ: December 15 - December 19
NO. OF PAGES: 208
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   yes, Nook Stockpile

PLOT:....................................................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.00
TOPICS: ...............................................................3.00
STYLE:..................................................................3.50
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................3.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.50
OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.50
Threshold Quality.................................................3.50
Average..............................................................................................3.25 

The first installment in a new series - the characters and location were very enjoyable, however story was a bit ordinary.  I'll try the second soon to see if it was just the intro of the characters and setting that held off the story.

Angels at the Table by Debbie Macomber

★★★½

GENRE: fiction
SUBJECT: romance and angels
Setting: New York City
CHARACTERS: Lucye Farrara, Aren Fairchild, Wendy Farrara, Shirley, Goodness, Mercy, Will, Gabriel
DATE READ: December 13 - December 17
NO. OF PAGES: 212
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   no, Library audio

PLOT:....................................................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.50
TOPICS: ...............................................................3.50
STYLE:..................................................................3.50
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................4.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.50
OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.50
Threshold Quality.................................................3.50
Average..............................................................................................3.50 

A cute little Christmas story with reminders of two Cary Grant films centered at the holidays.  We have angels helping a relationship that may be in danger (Bishop's Wife) and miscommunication/meeting at the Empire State Building (An Affair to Remember). Love always prevails at Christmas.

I had mentioned on Debbie Macomber's Facebook page that my Ladies Book Club had selected her holiday books for our December read and she was kind enough to send us bookmarks and recipe cards.  All the ladies were thrilled.

A Nantucket Christmas by Nancy Thayer

★★★★

GENRE: fiction
SUBJECT: divorce and family
Setting: Nantucket, MA
CHARACTERS: Nicole Somerset, Sebastian Somerset, Kennedy, Maddox, Katya
DATE READ: December 12 - December 14
NO. OF PAGES: 209
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   yes, NetGalley

PLOT:....................................................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.50
TOPICS: ...............................................................3.50
STYLE:..................................................................3.50
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................4.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.50
OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.50
Threshold Quality.................................................3.50
Average..............................................................................................3.50 

A lovely little Christmas story where a divorced father remarries and has his married pregnant daughter and her son and spouse to his home in Nantucket.  When a Christmas Eve storm pops up and Maddox, the little boy disappears, well, you can imagine.

Good King Wenceslas by Jane Seymour

★★★★

GENRE: religious
SUBJECT: story of the Christmas Carol
Setting: Europe
CHARACTERS: King Wenceslas, page, peasant
DATE READ: December 12 - December 12
NO. OF PAGES: 20
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   no, library

PLOT:....................................................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.50
TOPICS: ...............................................................4.50
STYLE:..................................................................4.50
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................4.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................4.00
OWNERSHIP:......................................................5.00
Threshold Quality.................................................3.50
Average..............................................................................................4.00 

This was a picture book that showed the story surrounding the Christmas Carol "Good King Wenceslas".  The bonus was the DVD with Jane Seymour reading the book with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing.  This will be a re-read for me every Christmas. 

Disaster!: The Great San Francisco Earthquake & Fire of 1906 by Dan Kurzman

★★★½

GENRE: History
SUBJECT: Earthquake, fires, early 20th century emergency support
Setting: San Francisco, CA
CHARACTERS: Enrico Caruso, John Barrymore, General Funston, Dennis Sullivan, Amadeo Giannani, Eugene Schmitz
DATE READ: December 1 - December 12
NO. OF PAGES: 256
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   no, library

PLOT:....................................................................4.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.00
TOPICS: ...............................................................3.50
STYLE:..................................................................4.00
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................3.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.50
OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.50
Threshold Quality.................................................3.50
Average..............................................................................................3.50

In April 1906 just as Fire Chief Sullivan is ready to make a presentation asking for more modern equipment, a 8.3 earthquake rocks the area destroying the water main system.  The fires which are results of the gas main ruptures rage out of control for days because there is no water to douse them. 

The army was deployed to battle looting but often after the Mayor gave orders that anyone caught  raiding could be shot, often place anyone in danger whether they were looting or not.

Numerous notable personages were in San Francisco at the time of the earthquake/fires - Enrico Caruso, John Barrymore, Del Crespi (future major league pitcher).  The author took personal stories 

 This book really had my attention with the small stories telling of various survivors at the same time telling of the devastation - 135 aftershocks, 490 city blocks, 28,000 buildings were leveled.

Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

★★★

GENRE: Fantasy
SUBJECT: Egyptian gods
Setting: Egyptian underworld
CHARACTERS: Carter Kane, Sadie Kane, Walt Stone, Bast, Horus
DATE READ: November 23 - December 11
NO. OF PAGES: 452
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   yes, audio stockpile

PLOT:....................................................................3.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.00
TOPICS: ...............................................................3.00
STYLE:..................................................................3.00
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................3.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.00
OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.00
Threshold Quality.................................................3.00
Average..............................................................................................3.00


The second installment of the Kane Chronicles picks up immediately following the first and carries on the tale of the efforts of Carter and Sadie Kane to prevent Apophis, the serpent god of Chaos, from breaking free and devouring the world. 

The stories are fun mainly because of the unusual creatures that Carter and Sadie are pitted against as well as aided by.

In the Shadow of Wounded Knee by Dan Kurzman

★★½

GENRE: History
SUBJECT: Indian Wars
Setting: Dakotas
CHARACTERS: Red Cloud, Plenty Horses, Spotted Tail, Richard Pettigrew,Sitting Bull
DATE READ: November 16 - November 29
NO. OF PAGES: 302
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   no, library

PLOT:....................................................................2.50
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.00
TOPICS: ...............................................................2.50
STYLE:..................................................................2.50
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................2.50
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.00
OWNERSHIP:......................................................2.00
Threshold Quality.................................................2.00
Average..............................................................................................2.50

This book  recapped the final era of the Indian Wars before the Indians were placed on the reservations permanently.  The information was there but difficult to digest.

Light Between the Oceans by M. L. Stedman

 ★★★★½

GENRE: Fiction
SUBJECT: post partum depression, isolation, child bonding
Setting: Janus Island, Australia
CHARACTERS: Tom Sherbourne, Isabel Sherbourne, Lucy Sherbourne, Hannah Roennfeldt
DATE READ: November 14 - November 20
NO. OF PAGES: 324
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   no, New Nook

PLOT:....................................................................4.50
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................4.50
TOPICS: ...............................................................4.50
STYLE:..................................................................5.00
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................4.00
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................5.00
OWNERSHIP:......................................................4.50
Threshold Quality.................................................4.00
Average..............................................................................................4.50

Tom Sherbourne went to war and when he returned his spirit was scarred by what he'd seen and done but he met Isabel and their spirits touched.  He was the lighthouse keeper on Janus Island and after their wedding they returned to this isolated locale.

Isabel suffered several miscarriages and one stillborn so when a small boat washed ashore with a dead man and a small baby, Isabel immediaely ook the child to her heart and cajoled Tom to allow her to keep it and pass it off as her own.

However, when they accidently determine that the child's mother is still searching for her child, the Sherbournes are in a quandary.

This story was so profound that often though I couldn't stay awake to read it, I couldn't go to sleep either.  It was beautiful written with well-defined character and situations that were very believable.

My favorite of the year!

Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

 ★★★¼
SUBJECT: Roman mythology
GENRE: Fantasy
Setting: California, Alaska
CHARACTERS: Percy Jackson, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Juno, Orion
DATE READ: November 11 - November 18
NO. OF PAGES: 521
Off the Shelf (pre-2013)? Source?:   yes, audio stockpile

yes, audio stockpile

 PLOT:....................................................................3.50CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................3.50
TOPICS: ...............................................................3.00
STYLE:..................................................................3.00
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................3.50
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.50
OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.00
Threshold Quality.................................................3.00
Average..............................................................................................3.25

Percy Jackson reappears minus his memory and is directed by an elderly lady, who turns out to be Juno, to Camp Jupiter were Percy is befriended by a pair of misfits (demigods of Hades and Ares).  They are sent on a quest to free Thantos and save the world from Gaea. 

The special powers of both Hazel and Frank added to Percy's, aid the trio in the travels and combats.

What fun!