Nantucket Sisters by Nancy Thayer

Normally I find Nancy Thayer's books entertaining, however, this one seem too cliché. Poor girl and rich girl are friends - rich girl loves poor girl's brother but different circumstances keep them apart.  Poor girl falls for rich boy, gets pregnant but rich girl marries rich boy and poor girl stays silent.  There was no depth to the story.


★★¾

GENRE: Fiction
SUBJECT: friendship, acceptance
Setting: Nantucket
CHARACTERS: Maggie McIntyre, Emily Porter, Ben McIntyre, Cameron Chadwick
DATE READ: August 18 - August 27
NO. OF PAGES: 352
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, ROOT
SOURCE: LibraryThing ER

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Just as he is about to graduate with an Ivy League degree in veterinary medicine, Jacob Jankowski's life is turned upside down by the death of his parents and the loss of his future.  Jumping a circus train, Jacob starts a whole new life.

This was an entertaining book but I was disappointed because I didn't feel it lived up to the hype around it.  It just seemed to be the same old boy runs off to the circus story to me.


 ★★¾

GENRE: Fiction
SUBJECT: Circus life
Setting: Circus
CHARACTERS: Jacob Jankowski, Marlena Rosenbluth, August Rosenbluth, Walter Kinko,
DATE READ: August 1 - August 26
NO. OF PAGES: 563
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, Group Reads
SOURCE: audio stockpile

By Fire By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan

This book is a story of the Spanish Inquisition showing the intolerance of the Catholics toward the Jewish population and how the Jews banded together to help each other.  It amazed me when I think of what Christ, who was so kind and forgiving, would have thought, felt  and done to aid the Jews.


★★★

GENRE: Historical Fiction
SUBJECT: Spanish Inquisition
Setting: Spain
CHARACTERS: Luis de Santángel, Christopher Columbus, Judith Midgal, King Ferdinand, Tomas de Torquemada
DATE READ: August 15 - August 17
NO. OF PAGES: 277
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, GEOCAT
SOURCE: library

Terminal City by Linda Fairstein

 ★★★★

Grand Central Station is where a maze of  tunnels and tracks that surround New York City connect with other underground features as well as above ground areas and that is how this massive terminal is wound into the story of a serial killer that threatens the visit of the POTUS.

Alexandra Cooper, ADA for NYC, is called in when a mutilated body of a young woman is found in one of the fanciest suites of the Waldorff Astoria. After identifying the body the investigation into this gruesome murder is compounded when 2 additional bodies are discovered which lead to security issues that may prevent the visit of the President.

Tracking down the murderer and throughout Grand Central leads to interesting revelations of the history and development of the Terminal.

I think that this is one of the best in the series, they seemed to just be getting better!

GENRE: Mystery
SUBJECT: serial killers, Grand Central Terminal
Setting: New York City
CHARACTERS: Alexandra Cooper, Mike Chapman, Mercer Wallace, Nicholas Blunt, Corrine Thatcher, Lydia Tsarlev
DATE READ: August 9 - August 14
NO. OF PAGES: 384
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI
SOURCE: NetGalley

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

Freak of Freedom by J. Theodore Bent

 ★★★½

This 1870 history of the small Republic of San Marino was extremely dry and mainly centered around the relationship of this small area surrounded my Italy and its relationships with other areas and the Catholic Church.

GENRE: History
SUBJECT: Republic of San Marino
Setting: San Marino
CHARACTERS:
DATE READ: August 1 - August 9
NO. OF PAGES: 125
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, Euro
SOURCE: Nook Stockpile

PLOT:....................................................................2.00
CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................2.50
TOPICS: ...............................................................2.00
STYLE:..................................................................2.00
ORIGINALITY:.......................................................1.50
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................2.00
OWNERSHIP:......................................................2.00
Threshold Quality.................................................2.00
Average..............................................................................................2.00

Mission to Murder by Lynn Cahoon

★★★½


Jill Gardner is still trying to protect her home from being taken away while Craig Morgan has been working to prevent the wall in Jill's backyard from being declared an historical location.  When Morgan is found dead, Jill is the #1 suspect - and having the chief detective as a boyfriend doesn't seem to be any help. Her little book/coffee shop is her safe haven with the deputy detective working there part-time, but Jill has to find the real killer before she's the next victim.

A cute little cozy with a nice little bit of romance.

GENRE: Cozy Mystery
SUBJECT: greed, suspicion
Setting: South Cove, CA
CHARACTERS: Jill Gardner, Jackie Gardner, Greg King, Craig Morgan, Toby Killian
DATE READ: August 2 - August 4
NO. OF PAGES: 238
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, 
SOURCE: NetGalley

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

This short story answers the question, did Mrs. Hudson learn how to conduct her own investigation - the answer is  YES!  The story has Mrs. Hudson on her own and she's smart enough to out smart Russell.   What a feisty lady!Good fun!

TITLE: [Mrs, Hudson's Case] ★★★½
AUTHOR: Laurie R King
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
SUBJECT: persistence, charity
Setting: Sussex
CHARACTERS: Mrs. Hudson, Mary Russell, Sherlock Holmes, Sarah and Louis Oberdorfer
DATE READ: August 2 - August 2
NO. OF PAGES: 62
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, 
SOURCE: Kindle stockpile

PLOT:....................................................................3.00

CHARACTERIZATION:.......................................4.00

TOPICS: ...............................................................4.00

STYLE:..................................................................4.00

ORIGINALITY:.......................................................3.00

ADDICTIVENESS:..............................................3.00

OWNERSHIP:......................................................3.00

Threshold Quality.................................................4.00

Average..............................................................................................3.50

Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum

★★★

This was fun seeing new characters interact with old ones. 

Ozma until the last book and then here were Tiktok and the yellow hen.

Looking forward to the next book now that Dorothy is back. 

GENRE: Fiction

SUBJECT: trickery, rescue

Setting: Land of Ev

CHARACTERS: Dorothy Gale, Billinea the hen, Tiktok, Princess Langwidere, Ozma, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Hungry Tiger, Nome King Roquat

DATE READ: July 30 - July 31

NO. OF PAGES: 78

Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, 

SOURCE: Nook stockpile