776 pages on Nook
I had never read much about the reign the Richard the Lionheart so I was really looking forward to this book after reading about his experiences in the Crusades from the previous book. However, I was very bothered by the extreme viciousness in the writing regarding the torture of a 13 year old boy. I had to put the book aside for several months before I could return to the narrative, skipping his actual capture by the agents of the Duke of Austria.
The story of his captivity and negotiations regarding his release for ransom were enlightening as to the politics of that era.
Did I like it? Yes, but it really wasn't necessary to be that graphic regarding the torture for information. It lost a half star because of that.
110 pages from public library
It was extremely difficult to locate a biography of our 29th president and I finally had to settle for this edition from the Children's section of the public library.
I can understand why there are few bios of this president for the simple reason he doesn't much and he was far from a stellar personailty.
Warren Harding had little education and was unsuccessful in many of his life attempts in business, however, he was a smooth talker and a ladies man and in the first election where women were allowed to vote, he seems to have won them over. Maybe it was fortunate that he died in office.
Accomplishments during his administration included the improvement and expansion the nation's highway system, licensing of radio frequencies through the Commerce Department under Herbert Hoover, the eight-hour work day became common in American industry, and appointed former President William Howard Taft as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
238 pages on Kindle Tablet
This book is the story of It's A Wonderful Life's George Bailey's grandson and how Bedford Falls was affected by George after the end of It's a Wonderful Life and his family members. We see Mary his wife still alive in her 90s and his children and grandchildren. We again see the cruelty of greed and welcome the angel Clarence with open arms.
My Ladies group read this for a December gathering and it charmed us all. My favorite read of the year!
274 pages on Nook
Lucie Montgomery is drawn into an highly unethical situation when asked to try to find a missing person while checking into the quality of grapes for sale in Napa Valley.
I thought this was one of the best in the series because of the change in venue and the details and descriptions that were peppered throughout the story. I certainly hope that the series continues.
336 pages on Nook
Eleanor Swift is working with her sister to keep the pizzeria open and so when she's out making a delivery and finds a dead body, she becomes a suspect.
An interesting group of characters and background and good mystery with attention-grabbing clues for a first in a series.
352 pages on audiobook 5 hrs. on 4 discs
What a very cute continuation of the tales of Doll and Funcraft families. After finding the long lost baby doll for the Doll family, Annabelle and Tiffany runaway because they feel that they must protect Tillie Mae. The adventures that they encounter as well as their creative solutions to their problems kept this reader entertained thoroughly.
466 pages on Nook
This was a fun start for a new cozy series where Victoria and Greg Branson run the diner that was started by her grandfather. When the diner and the family livelihood are threatened by a con artist and then by his murder, the family all band together to find the murderer and save their heritage.
304 pages on Nook
The first in the Country Cooking School Mystery series was fun but I had a bit of difficulty because one of the principal characters was a ghost and the interaction between Isabelle and her Grandmother and the ghost didn't fit right to the story, IMO.
416 pages Audiobook 12 discs 14½ hours
Historical account of the rowing team that went to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Munich and against all odds won the gold medal. The story was enriched by the personal accounts of several of the rowers.
305 pages on Nook
Mary Quinn and James Eastman have opened their own detective agency but circumstances draw them back to the past and threaten their lives as well as their relationship.
The story was great in drawing on characters from the past. Hope the next one will be out soon.
176 pages Net Galley
Every Christmas Anne Perry delights us with a new adventure for a minor character from her mysteries series and this year was a grand surprise where the reader meets Hester Monk's brother, Charles Latterly while he is on a vacation to Italy. Murder is evident but the settings and characters are new and unknown - great change of pace.
In this current day and age when presidents are either career politicians or from the military, how wonderful would it be if we had candidates that were thinking of the good of the nation and not their own pockets and careers?
Thomas Woodrow Wilson appears to have been such a man, thinking first of the citizens and their needs before his own. He was an academician who was elected Governor of NJ and from here to the White House. If Teddy Roosevelt hadn't decided that he wanted to get back in the Presidency, and hadn't split the voters, I'm not sure that Wilson would have been elected, but Wilson's presidency was at time when the nation needed his constancy and clear head.
He was responsible for the Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission, and the Federal Farm Loan Act. He also was a major player in the plans of the League of Nations at the end of World War I. I'm not sure that the man gets his just recognition.
A very informative book and the even with the volume of pages, still a good source for Wilson's bio.
★★★½
GENRE: History
CHARACTERS: Woodrow Wilson
Series/ Progress:
DATE READ: August 24 - November 14
NO. OF PAGES: 1,134
Challenges: 75, Category, ALPHAKIT, TIOLI,
SOURCE: MCL audio
An unidentified body is found on the courthouse steps and the everyone in Hidden Springs is in an uproar. Deputy Sheriff Michael Keane has to try to identify the body before he can even start an investigation. At the same time, Keane is battling with a rebellious teenager. With all the players that are getting the way, the clues to the murder seem a bit out of the ordinary.
I really loved the mystery and the way that the history of the characters were interwoven into the story. The characters need a bit more fleshing out but for a first in a series it was really good.
★★★½
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
CHARACTERS: Michael Keane, Anthony Blake, Jay Rayburn, Judge Wilson Campbell
Series/ Progress: A Hidden Springs Mystery
DATE READ: November 9 - November 12
NO. OF PAGES: 336
Challenges: 75, Category, ALPHAKIT, TIOLI,
SOURCE: NetGalley
ABANDONED
I heard about this book with Sherlock Holmes' brother as the central character and was really looking forward to reading it.
However, I was doomed to disappointment. The characters were dull, very 2 dimensional, the dialogue was stilted. I couldn't even bear to continue through more than the first 100 pages.
★½
GENRE: Mystery
CHARACTERS: Mycroft Holmes, Cyrus Douglas, Georgiana Sutton
DATE READ: October 24 - November 9
NO. OF PAGES: 96
Challenges: abandoned
SOURCE: Public Library
Jordan Bingham has been dumped by her boyfriend who left her with a bundle of debt so she needs to find a job when she returns to her hometown. With her qualifications she's perfect for the job Vera Van Alst has advertised but Miss Vera wanted a man. Jordan convinces her to be given a trial period. Miss Vera wants to find and purchase a "lost" play by Agatha Christie. As Jordan starts her research, she discovers that there are dangers lurking. When one of her contacts is severely beaten, left for dead, she realizes that the search may turn deadly.
The characters are so much fun from crabby old Miss Vera to Fiammetta the cook to Sal the area Godfather - can't wait to revisit Harrison Falls!
★★★
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
CHARACTERS: Jordan Bingham, Vera VanAlst, Karen Smith, Ashley Snell, Brian Underwood
Series/ Progress: A Book Collector Mystery 1/4
DATE READ: November 6 - November 8
NO. OF PAGES: 304
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI , ALPHAKIT
SOURCE: Nook Stockpile
Summer Smythe has settled into her late grandmother's condo in a senior community of Hibiscus Pointe and has found a job with a cardiologist, however on her first day Dr. A drops dead at her feet.
Dorothy Westin, a senior resident at Hibiscus Pointe, takes Summer under her wing when it appears that she may be in trouble when it comes to light that Dr. A was poisoned.
So Smythe and Westin set out to find the true murderer before one of them ends up dead or in jail.
A cute little cozy with a nice mixture of characters.
★★★
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
CHARACTERS:
Series/ Progress:
DATE READ: November 3 - November 6
NO. OF PAGES: 272
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI
SOURCE: NetGalley
TITLE: [The Nature of the Beast]★★★½
AUTHOR: Louise Penny
GENRE: Mystery
CHARACTERS: Armand Gamache, Isabelle Lacoste, Jean Guy Beauvoor, Laurent LePage,
Series/ Progress: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache 11/11
DATE READ: November 2 - November 4
NO. OF PAGES: 384
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI
SOURCE: Overdrive E book Public Library
I love Armand Gamache and the village of Three Pines but this time the visit with them was unsatisfactory. Somehow or other the story (taken from true life) of the finding of a old rocket launcher by a small boy who normally cried wolf, did not engage me with the feelings that have previously been evoked.
The death of the 9 year old supposedly effects all the village residents but the reactions of the villagers seem to be more toward the massive threat from the rocket launcher than anything else.
I really didn't enjoy this one as much as the other Three Pines novels because the personal interactions didn't seem to be the same.
★★★½
GENRE: Mystery
CHARACTERS: Armand Gamache, Isabelle Lacoste, Jean Guy Beauvoor, Laurent LePage,
Series/ Progress: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache 11/11
DATE READ: November 2 - November 4
NO. OF PAGES: 384
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI
SOURCE: Overdrive E book Public Library
I was really worried when I started this book because being set in the 1980's when it was written, I thought that it might show age in missing technology (computers and cell phones, etc.) but was very pleasantly surprised that it really wasn't an issue.
The story is of a young Asst DA trying to get justice for 2 murder victims and having to deal with a murderer who plays against the system by faking mental disorders.
The writing was crisp and the story well-told keeping this reader on the edge of her seat while characters worked to find enough evidence for conviction along with proof of the mental illness deception.
★★★★
GENRE: Mystery
CHARACTERS: Butch Karp, Marlene Ciampi,Mandeville Louis, Donald Walker, Preston Elvis
Series/ Progress: Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi 1/28
DATE READ: October 23 - October 31
NO. OF PAGES: 316
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI
SOURCE: Nook
Charles Lenox and Lady Jane Grey have been friends since childhood so when the death of one of her former servants doesn't seem right, Lady Jane asks her friend to check into the circumstances for her.
Inspector Exeter doesn't want to offend George Barnard, the employer of the victim so he's perfectly happy to call the death a suicide until Charles convinces him that the death may be more than that and be critical to saving a major government problem from occurring.
The story was entertaining and the characters were well-developed. I enjoyed the book and will be looking for more in this series.
★★★★
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
CHARACTERS: Charles Lenox, Lady Jane Grey, George Barnard, Dr. Thomas McConnell, Inspector Exeter
Series/ Progress: Charles Lenox Mysteries 1/10
DATE READ: October 20 - October 22
NO. OF PAGES: 324
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI
SOURCE: Kindle/NetGalley
Cooper Lee's life hasn't been going great - her boyfriend of 5 years dumped her and her parents are worried because she moved back to their home (living over the garage) so when one of her clients (she repairs copiers) invites her to her church, Cooper goes only to find that while attending a Bible class, the lady who invited her has been murdered.
Making new friends while trying to find the person who really killed her client keeps Cooper on her toes as well as helping adjust to her new circumstances.
★★★½
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
CHARACTERS: Cooper Lee, Brooke Hughes, Nathan Dexter, Cindi Rolfing, Savannah Knapp
Series/ Progress: Hope Street Church (1/4)
DATE READ: October 14 - October 15
NO. OF PAGES: 304
Challenges: 75, Category, TIOLI
SOURCE: Nook
