All the Light We Cannot See ★★★ by Anthony Doerr

Pulitzer Prize Winner, check.  Audiobook, check, check.

Two things that should have pushed this book over and yet they didn't.  IMHO, the story was too ordinary, and the writing style drove me bonkers.  We were constantly been thrown back and forth in time and place so that the story seem very choppy and that was not helped by very, very short chapters (which normally I like).  I tried it on audio and then switched to a regular book, hoping that seeing the written word would help, but nada.

So many people raved about this book, I had a hard time  finishing and only did so because it was for my book club. Big disappointment.

DATE READ: June 23 - June 29
NO. OF PAGES: 771
Type of Book audiobook, ARD
SOURCE: Public Library

Beautiful Pretender ★★★★ by Melanie Dickerson

Avelina has been serving as a lady's maid to Lady Dorothea, the rebellious only child of the Lord of Plimmwald.  When Lady Dorothea runs away to avoid having to present herself as a possible bride of the Margrave of Thornbeck, the lord of Plimmwald orders Avelina to take her mistress' place to preserve the peace.  She is ordered to do everything necessary to not be selected as the bride.

The story is well written and totally engaging.

DATE READ: June 24 - June 26
NO. OF PAGES: 320
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

The Black Reckoning ★★★★ by John Stephens

The final book in the trilogy of the Books of Beginning finds Emma traveling to the Land of the Dead alone because as the keeper of the Black Reckoning she is the only living being allowed.   She must reach and retrieve the Reckoning before the Dire Magnus so that together with her siblings they can defeat him and save the world from destruction.

This book was a great finish to the series and all the issues/characters were tied up nicely.  A fun series and well-written.


Series/ Progress: Books of Beginning 3/3
DATE READ: June 13 - June 22
NO. OF PAGES: 424
Type of Book audiobook
SOURCE: Audio Stockpile

Show Time ★★★ by Suzanne Trauth

This new series' central character Dodie has moved to a small town in NJ after her home and employment are destroyed on the Jersey shore by Hurricane Sandy.  Dodie has made new friends and found a job as a restaurant manager but when a friend asks her to help at the local theater, Dodie jumps in.  The theater staff want her to use her skills keeping rehearsals running on schedule, but finding another friend dead on the loading dock, has her switching priorities to find the killer.

The story started out a little slow and the characters definitely need a bit more individuality. (I had trouble keeping some of them straight mainly because they didn't have full names and backgrounds)  Just a name doesn't give an  idea of where a character fits in the story and if that name isn't frequently used, then you run into trouble.

I can see potential in the series.

Series/ Progress: Dodie O'Dell Mystery  1/1
DATE READ: June 18 - June 22
NO. OF PAGES: 228
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

Cracked to Death ★★★½ by Cheryl Hollon

This third installment of the Webb's Glass Mysteries takes the reader on a treasure hunt.  Savannah has handed over the reigns of the Glass shop to her manager Amanda and she heads over to manage the Studio facilities but when one of the students in the recycled glass workshop is a no show, Savannah gets buried in the search for the murderer as well as the treasure that he had found.

The series seems to be getting better as it goes along.  The characters are fun and entertaining as well as the plots getting you tied in knots!

Series/ Progress: Webb's Glass Shop Mystery  3/3
DATE READ: June 16 - June 17
NO. OF PAGES: 320
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

Cracked to Death ★★★½ by Cheryl Hollon

This third installment of the Webb's Glass Mysteries takes the reader on a treasure hunt.  Savannah has handed over the reigns of the Glass shop to her manager Amanda and she heads over to manage the Studio facilities but when one of the students in the recycled glass workshop is a no show, Savannah gets buried in the search for the murderer as well as the treasure that he had found.

The series seems to be getting better as it goes along.  The characters are fun and entertaining as well as the plots getting you tied in knots!

Series/ Progress: Webb's Glass Shop Mystery  3/3
DATE READ: June 16 - June 17
NO. OF PAGES: 320
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

Murder at the Mansion ★★★★ by Janet Finsilver

Kelly Jackson is returning to Redwood Cove to take up her new job as the manager of the Redwood Cove B&B but since the renovations aren't quite finished, her boss asks her to help with the inventory at Redwood Heights, a sister property in the area that has had some problems.  Little does she know but the problems are going to be getting worse.

One of the guests at Redwood Heights has been a complainer but when Kelly finds her dead, she has to wonder if some of the complaints may have been the cause.

The characters have some depth, the story weaves around the new characters while incorporating the established ones well.  This reader watched carefully trying no to be misdirected however, some clues seemed to be missing and weren't revealed until the end.  All in all an enjoyable story - looking forward to the next.

Series/ Progress: Redwood Inn Mysteries 2/2
DATE READ: June 14 - June 15
NO. OF PAGES: 192
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

Shards of Murder ★★★½ by Cheryl Hollon

In this second installment of the Webb's Glass Shop Mysteries, Savannah has been selected to judge the Glass Category of the Spinnaker Art Festival.  Her former teacher is in town and has two students entered in the competition which makes her a bit nervous.  However, when the winner is announced and doesn't appear to claim their prize, things start to get a bit scary.  Savannah finds the winner but there's no celebration - she's been killed with her own creation.

The mystery is fun and the information about the art of glass fusing is interesting and easily woven through the story.

Series/ Progress: Webb's Glass Shop Mystery 2/3
DATE READ: June 11 - June 14
NO. OF PAGES: 216
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: my shelves

Rosalia's Bittersweet Pastry Shop ★★★★½ by Rosanna Chiofalo

First of all I loved this story.  It was rich and full of the flavor of the love of baking and nuns life complete with the love of God as well as their fellow man.  It could have been dark and depressing and instead it was filled with light and love and hope.

The story transports the reader back in time to a period when rape victims were faced with blame and their families had to live with shame.  Rosalia is a young woman who becomes the object of an obsession by a creepy youth who eventually kidnaps her, rapes her and forces her to send a letter to her family saying that she ran away willingly.  When she is found  by the nuns abandoned in a cave, bruised and naked, she is unable to remember her name and where she is from. The nuns nurse her back to living and teach her to bake in their pastry shop.  Eventually her memory returns but when she is taken back to her village, her family have moved on because the shame related to her disappearance.

Rosalia returns to the convent but continues to search for her family believing that one day she will be reunited with them.

The depth of emotion that is related in this story was  overwhelming at times but the reader is rewarded throughout by the beautiful story telling and characters.


DATE READ: June 5 - June 11
NO. OF PAGES: 304
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

Bowled Over ★★★ by Victoria Hamilton

This second installment of the Vintage Kitchen series centered around the long time feud between Jaymie and Kathy Cooper.  Jaymie doesn't understand what caused their friendship to explode many years ago and Kathy isn't talking. And then Kathy can't talk when Jamie finds her dead, bashed over the head with Jaymie's own bowl.

Since she'll never have the opportunity to heal the rift between them, Jaymie is determined to find out who did kill her old friend but discovers that there a number of people who were not on Kathy's favorite people's list.

The characters still need a bit of work but the mystery was fun.

Series/ Progress: Vintage Kitchen Mystery 2/5
DATE READ: May 29 - June 4
NO. OF PAGES: 247
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: Nook

Corridors of the Night ★★★½ by Anne Perry

In this 21st installment of the William Monk series, Hester Monk takes front and center when she agrees to fill in for a nursing associate from the Crimea at a private hospital.  Being on the night shift, she unexpectedly meets a small girl in the corridor saying that her brother is dying.  What Hester finds is a small boy who has been used for a blood donor excessively and is now extremely dehydrated.  Taking the responsibility of nursing this child instead of the main ward where she was assigned, Hester gets herself caught in a web of secrecy and eventually is kidnapped.  Realizing that the only way to protect the children used in an unauthorized medical experiment is to participate, Hester is caught up in the intrigue.

Monk, in the meantime, is determined to find his wife when she doesn't return home and no one at the hospital can tell him where she is.

The medical aspects of this tale were interesting, relating the out of date procedures of over 100 years ago for the treatment of Leukemia.  Using transfusions at this time were a hit or miss event since the discovery of the current blood types wasn't made until 1901.

Series/ Progress: William Monk 21/21
DATE READ: April 27 - May 31
NO. OF PAGES: 473
Type of Book AUDIOBOOK
SOURCE: audio stockpile