It's Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong

Started: 4/29/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2000

Pages: 289

Genre: autobiography

Grade: D

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The inspiring journey of world-class hero Lance Armstrong, from the dark night of advanced cancer through his dramatic victory in the 1999 Tour de France, and beyond. In 1996, twenty-four-year-old Lance Armstrong was ranked the number-one cyclist in the world. But that October, "The Golden Boy of American Cycling" was sidelined by excruciating pain. Tests revealed advanced testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. His chance for recovery was as low as twenty percent. Armstrong embarked on the most aggressive form of chemotherapy available and underwent surgery to remove cancer that the treatments couldn't reach. Five months after his diagnosis, he resumed training under a cloud of uncertainty, and the path back to competition wasn't smooth. It took a ride with friends through the mountains of North Carolina for Armstrong to rediscover his genuine love of the sport, and to rededicate himself to its pursuit. Scarred physically and emotionally, Lance Armstrong considered his cancer "a special wake-up call," one that crystallized for him the blessings of good health, family, friends, and marriage. In October 1999, just months after his astonishing triumph in the Tour, his wife, Kristin, gave birth to their son, Luke David Armstrong. Filled with the nutritional, physical, emotional, and spiritual details of his recovery, It's Not About the Bike traces the wondrous journey of one of America's greatest athletes to a singularly inspiring appreciation of life lived to the fullest."

Opinion: Written well before the performance enhancing drug controversary and his settlement. Arrogance oozed from the pages. I am sorry that he had to go through the cancer treatment.

The Crash by Freida McFadden

Started: 4/27/2025

Finished: 4/29/2025

Year: 2025

Pages: 364

Genre: suspense/thriller

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn't realize she's heading straight into a blizzard.

"She never arrives at her destination.

"Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she's made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle occurs: she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

"But something isn't right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn't what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.  

"And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself―and her unborn child."

Opinion: An interesting twist at the end. Similar storyline to other movies/books but without the little twist.

A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs

Started: 4/23/2025

Finished: 4/25/2025

Year: 2020

Pages: 336

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing of series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "It’s sweltering in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Temperance Brennan, still recovering from neurosurgery following an aneurysm, is battling nightmares, migraines, and what she thinks might be hallucinations when she receives a series of mysterious text messages, each containing a new picture of a corpse that is missing its face and hands. Immediately, she’s anxious to know who the dead man is, and why the images were sent to her.

"An identified corpse soon turns up, only partly answering her questions.

"To win answers to the others, including the man’s identity, she must go rogue, working mostly outside the system. That’s because Tempe’s new boss holds a fierce grudge against her and is determined to keep her out of the case. Tempe bulls forward anyway, even as she begins questioning her instincts. But the clues she discovers are disturbing and confusing. Was the faceless man a spy? A trafficker? A target for assassination by the government? And why was he carrying the name of a child missing for almost a decade?

"With help from a number of law enforcement associates including her Montreal beau Andrew Ryan and the always-ready-with-a-smart-quip, ex-homicide investigator Skinny Slidell, and utilizing new cutting-edge forensic methods, Tempe draws closer to the astonishing truth.

"But the more she uncovers, the darker and more twisted the picture becomes..."

Opinion: Different take on solving the mystery since Tempe wasn't in her usual position. Decent mystery.

Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton

Started: 4/18/2025

Finished: 4/23/2025

Year: 2017

Pages: 594

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR pile, bookcrossing.com book, finishing the series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "In 1979, four teenage boys from an elite private school sexually assault a fourteen-year-old classmate—and film the attack. Not long after, the tape goes missing and the suspected thief, a fellow classmate, is murdered. In the investigation that follows, one boy turns state’s evidence and two of his peers are convicted. But the ringleader escapes without a trace.

"Now, it’s 1989 and one of the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. Moody, unrepentant, and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents—until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. That’s when the McCabes call Kinsey Millhone for help. As she is drawn into their family drama, she keeps a watchful eye on Fritz. But he’s not the only one being haunted by the past. A vicious sociopath with a grudge against Millhone may be leaving traces of himself for her to find..."

Opinion: Sad to see this being the last book in the series. I wonder what she had planned for Z if she hadn't passed away.

The Fifteen by William Geroux

Started: 4/13/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 291

Genre: non-fiction, WWII

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "The American government was faced with an unprecedented challenge: where to house the nearly 400,000 German prisoners of war plucked from the battlefield and shipped across the Atlantic. On orders from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Department of War hastily built hundreds of POW camps in the United States. Today, traces of those camps—which once dotted the landscape from Maine to California—have all but vanished. Forgotten, too, is the grisly series of killings that took place within them: Nazi power games playing out in the heart of the United States.

"Protected by the Geneva Convention, German POWs were well-fed and housed. Many worked on American farms, and a few would even go on to marry farmers’ daughters. Ardent Nazis in the camps, however, took a dim view of fellow Germans who befriended their captors.

"Soon, the killings began. In camp after camp, Nazis attacked fellow Germans they deemed disloyal. Fifteen were sentenced to death by secret U.S. military tribunals for acts of murder. In response, German authorities condemned fifteen American POWs to the same fate, and, in the waning days of the war, Germany proposed an audacious trade: fifteen German lives for fifteen American lives.

"Drawing on extensive research, journalist and author William Geroux shines a spotlight on this story of murder and high-stakes diplomacy, and on the fifteen American lives that hung in the balance—from a fearless P-51 Mustang fighter pilot to a hot-tempered lieutenant colonel nicknamed “King Kong.”"

Opinion: I couldn't keep my head focused on this history. If I wasn't having to work and do other things, I probably would have finished it with no problem. Definitely not something that I knew about from history classes.

Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 4/6/2025

Finished: 4/11/2025

Year: 2002

Pages: 307

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Preparations are underway for Lake Eden, Minnesota's annual Winter Carnival--and Hannah Swensen is set to bake up a storm at her popular shop, The Cookie Jar. Too bad the honor of creating the official Winter Carnival cake went to famous lifestyle maven Connie Mac--a half-baked idea, in Hannah's opinion. She suspects Connie Mac is a lot like the confections she whips up on her cable TV cooking show--sweet, light, and scrumptious-looking, but likely to leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

"Hannah's suspicions are confirmed when Connie Mac's limo rolls into town. Turns out America's "Cooking Sweetheart" is bossy, bad-tempered, and downright domineering. Things finally boil over when Hannah arrives at The Cookie Jar to find the Winter Carnival cake burnt to a crisp--and Connie Mac lying dead in her pantry, struck down while eating one of Hannah's famous blueberry muffins.

"Next thing Hannah knows, the police have declared The Cookie Jar's kitchen crime scene off-limits. She's a baker without an oven--and the Carnival is right around the corner. Hannah's only alternative is to cook up a plan to save her business--by finding the killer herself. . ."

Opinion: Decent mystery. Good continuation of the series. Good sounding cookies.

Stray by A.N. Wilson

Started: 4/6/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 1987

Pages: 174

Genre: literature

Grade: F

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "A proud old alley cat tells his life story to his grandson, including his adventures in a convent, in a feline commune, and with his hearer's grandmother."

Opinion: Couldn't barely make it through the first few pages. Didn't like the writing.

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito

Started: 4/2/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 192

Genre: dark humor

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess―she’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate’s dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family―Mr. Pounds can’t keep his eyes off Winifred’s chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband’s wandering gaze. Compounded with her disdain for the entitled Pounds children, Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. French tutoring and needlework are one way to pass the time, as is admiring the ugly portraits in the gallery . . . and creeping across the moonlit lawns. . . .

"Patience. Winifred must have patience, for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House. Brimming with sardonic wit and culminating in a shocking conclusion, Victorian Psycho plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath."

Opinion: Guess my humor isn't dark enough since I did not enjoy this book. The writing was good but the storyline not so much

Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O'Connor

Started: 3/27/2025

Finished: 4/2/2025

Year: 2016

Pages: 334

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "In the small village of Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland, Naomi’s Bistro has always been a warm and welcoming spot to visit with neighbors, enjoy some brown bread and tea, and get the local gossip. Nowadays twenty-two-year-old Siobhán O’Sullivan runs the family bistro named for her mother, along with her five siblings, after the death of their parents in a car crash almost a year ago.

"It’s been a rough year for the O’Sullivans, but it’s about to get rougher. One morning, as they’re opening the bistro, they discover a man seated at a table, dressed in a suit as if for his own funeral, a pair of hot pink barber scissors protruding from his chest.

"With the local garda suspecting the O’Sullivans, and their business in danger of being shunned—murder tends to spoil the appetite—it’s up to feisty redheaded Siobhán to solve the crime and save her beloved brood."

Opinion: The middle kinda dragged. Definitely enough suspects. Decent murder mystery