Scorched Eggs by Laura Childs

Suzanne along with her two partners, Toni and Petra, run the Cackleberry Club.  On a rare afternoon off, Suzanne is at the town hair salon, when the building next door goes up in flames, killing a friend of Petra's.  With pleas from her friends, Suzanne sets out to find the reason for the fire and why the victim died.

In the meantime, Suzanne is also caring for a baby owl, preparing for the County fair, and the Dinner Theatre that will be at the Cackleberry Club.

The story is fun, keeping the reader entertained, solving the mystery as well as seeing our favorite characters grow.

I'll be watching for the next one!

★★★½

GENRE: Cozy Mystery
SUBJECT: murder , arson, wildlife
Setting: Kindred, MN
CHARACTERS: Suzanne Dietz, Toni Garrett, Sam Hazelet, Hannah Venable, Bruce Winthrop, Darrel Fuhrman, Sheriff Doogie, Kit Kaslik, Ricky Wilcox
DATE READ: November 23 - November 29
NO. OF PAGES: 291
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, 
SOURCE: ARC from Author, signed

Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Having watched the movie and knowing the story didn't make this children's book any less enjoyable.  Seeing the little boy and his desire to believe that Santa is real makes this story touch even the heart of those older.

The love  of Christmas and belief in Santa will always make this story a classic.

 ★★★★★

GENRE: Children's
SUBJECT: Santa
Setting: North Pole
CHARACTERS: Santa, Conductor, little Boy
DATE READ: November 29 - November 29
NO. OF PAGES: 32
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, 
SOURCE: Public Library

If the Shoe Kills by Lynn Cahoon

In this third installment of the Tourist Trap Mystery series, as the Christmas season approaches, Jill Gardner is coordinating not only the interns for all the Main Street merchants in a work program but also an impromptu investigation into the murder of the work program director.

New merchants have moved into South Cove.  Could they be at the center of the murder?

The reader hears more about the core characters as they broaden out and become people you'd like to visit.

Hoping the next one is out soon.

★★★½

GENRE: Cozy Mystery
SUBJECT:
Setting: California
CHARACTERS: Jill Gardner, Greg King, Toby, Killian, Marie Jones, Regina Hendricks
DATE READ: November 18 - November 22
NO. OF PAGES: 216
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI, 
SOURCE: NetGalley

A Great and Godly Adventure: The Pilgrims and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving by Godfrey Hodgson

This book tells the tale of the Pilgrims - their reasons for seeking a new home, their trip across the Atlantic, and their efforts to settle what was to become known as the Plymouth Colony in current day Massachusetts.  The statics of their survival was very enlightening as well as the clarification of the Thanksgiving myth.

 ★★★
GENRE: History
SUBJECT: Plymouth Colony
Setting: Massachusetts, Holland, England
CHARACTERS: William Brewster, William Bradford, Thomas Weston, Samoset, Squanto
DATE READ: November 14 - November 18
NO. OF PAGES: 193
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: Public Library

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt & the Fire That Saved America by Timothy Egan

This book was the story of the US Forest Service and how the debate regarding the fight over land for development and protection of huge forests was answered by Mother Nature with a huge fire that wiped out vast tracks of trees.  The "Big Burn" brought conversation back to the public eye and helped to preserve many of our natural resources.

★★★¼

GENRE: History
SUBJECT: US Forest Service
Setting: US midwest forests
CHARACTERS: Teddy Roosevelt, William H Taft, John Muir, Gifford Pinchot
DATE READ: November 11 - November 15
NO. OF PAGES: 324
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: Audio Stockpile

Arabian Nights

This book was a group read for the entire year.  I finished a few weeks early.

I can honestly say that I have read [The Arabian Nights].  I'm sure that at the time of publication the stories were fascinating, however, in this day and age when many of the individual tales have been adapted to the silver screen, the stories have lost their luster.  Some I had never heard before, others far too many times.

 ★★★

GENRE: Historical Fiction
SUBJECT: morality tales
Setting: Baghdad, Middle East
CHARACTERS: Scheherazade, Sinbad, Ali Baba
DATE READ: January 15 - November 13
NO. OF PAGES: 765
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: Nook Stockpile

The Queen of Four Kingdoms by HRH Princess Michael of Kent

Yolande d'Aragon, after waiting 9 years for her betrothed, wed Louis II d'Anjou and supposedly ended the conflict over the succession to the kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem.  Their marriage, which turned into a love match, produced 5 children but more importantly, help to maintain the French monarchy at the time of the Hundred Years War with England.

Yolande (Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Maine, Countess of Provence and Forcalquier,  Countess of Piedmont, and Titular Queen Consort of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem) utilized diplomacy and cunning in support of the French helping to unite the French factions of Burgundy and Armagnacs so that together they could defeat the English.  Yolande as regent in Anjou, lent their army of support Jeanne d'Arc and  edventually see the Dauphin crowned.

I have always had a fascination with royalty but usually I tend toward British. This is my first look into the French side and I found it completely captivating.

★★★★

GENRE: Historical Fiction
SUBJECT: Yolande d'Aragon
Setting: France, Anjou, Provence
CHARACTERS: Yolande d'Aragon, Louis II d'Anjou, Charles VII of France, Jeanne d'Arc
DATE READ: October 26 - November 12
NO. OF PAGES: 443
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: LT ER

Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Being a baseball fan as well, it was great to see this side of such a great writer.
The stories brought back memories of my childhood - the disappointments as well as victories.

★★★¼

GENRE: Memoir
SUBJECT: baseball, Brooklyn Dodgers
Setting: Brooklyn, NY
CHARACTERS: Doris Kearns, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges
DATE READ: November 1 - November 10
NO. OF PAGES: 276
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: Audio stockpile

The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's farm is going to foreclosure so Dorothy has  Ozma transport them all to Oz.

Dorothy takes her relarives on a tour of the different regions and they meet Rigamaroles, Flutterbudgets, and other interesting creatures.  Meantime, the Nome King has decided that he wants his Magic Belt back and drafts a new general to recruit help from the Whimsies, Growley Wogs, and the Phanfasms.

Fun story with a really cute ending.

 ★★★½

GENRE: Classic
SUBJECT: revenge, relocation
Setting: Oz
CHARACTERS: Dorothy, Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, Ozma, Nome King
DATE READ: October 31 - November 3
NO. OF PAGES: 111
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI,
SOURCE: Nook stockpile