A General History of Pyrates by Daniel Defoe, edited by Manuel Schonhorn

Started: 7/28/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 1972 this edition

Pages: 660

Genre: history, pirates

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Embark on a thrilling journey through the swashbuckling world of pirates with "A General History of the Pyrates." This captivating book takes you deep into the heart of the Golden Age of Piracy, where legendary figures like Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and Anne Bonny ruled the high seas.

"Discover the daring exploits, epic battles, and larger-than-life personalities of history's most notorious pirates. From the treacherous waters of the Caribbean to the remote islands of the Indian Ocean, this meticulously researched account paints a vivid picture of piracy's heyday, exploring the social, economic, and political forces that fueled this thrilling era.

"Featuring gripping tales of adventure, betrayal, and romance, "A General History of the Pyrates" is a must-read for anyone fascinated by the allure of piracy and the mysteries of the sea. Whether you're a seasoned historian or an armchair adventurer, this timeless classic will transport you to a world where danger lurks around every corner and the call of adventure beckons on the horizon."

Opinion: Josh Gates mentioned this book on a recent episode of one of his television shows so I thought I'd check it out. Lots of interesting stories about lots of pirates. Great research. I only read a couple of entries. Some of it is hard to read since it was originally written in the 1700s.

Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 7/25/2025

Finished: 7/28/2025

Year: 2006

Pages: 339

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Main Street in Lake Eden becomes a movie set, a clever killer rewrites the script and bakery owner Hannah Swenson, while trying to decide which marriage proposal to accept, must sift through a cast of suspects before the film wraps with an even deadlier ending."

Opinion: Sigh....body wasn't done until page 200. Way too much "development" of outside Lake Eden characters. 

Leader of the Pack by David Rosenfelt

Started: 7/22/2025

Finished: 7/25/2025

Year: 2012

Pages: 360

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Over the course of his legal career, Andy Carpenter has lost a few cases. But that doesn't mean he forgets his clients. Andy has always been convinced that Joey Desimone, a man convicted of murder nine years ago, was innocent and believes that Joey's family's connections to organized crime played a pivotal role in his conviction. While there isn't much Andy can do for him while he serves out his prison sentence, Joey suggests that he check up on Joey's elderly uncle. He'd rather not, but as a favor to Joey, Andy agrees to take his dog, Tara, on a few visits.

"The old man's memory is going, but when Andy tries to explain why he's there, it jogs something in the man's mind, and his comments leave Andy wondering if Uncle Nick is confused, or if he just might hold the key to Joey's freedom after all this time.

"Andy grabs on to this thread of possibility and follows it into a world where the oath of silence is stronger than blood ties, and where people will do anything to make sure their secrets are kept."

Opinion: Decent mystery, sad ending..more Mafia/Mob stuff

Dream State by Eric Puchner

Started: 7/22/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 429

Genre: Literature

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Cece is in love. She has arrived early at her future in-laws’ lake house in Salish, Montana, to finish planning her wedding to Charlie, a young doctor with a brilliant life ahead of him. Charlie has asked Garrett, his best friend from college, to officiate the ceremony, though Cece can’t imagine anyone more ill-suited for the task—an airport baggage handler haunted by a tragedy from his and Charlie’s shared past. But as Cece spends time with Garrett, his gruff mask slips, and she grows increasingly uncertain about her future. And why does Garrett, after meeting Cece, begin to feel, well, human again? As a contagious stomach flu threatens to scuttle the wedding, and Charlie and Garrett’s friendship is put to the ultimate test, Cece must decide between the life she’s dreamed of and a life she’s never imagined.

"The events of that summer have long-lasting repercussions, not only on the three friends caught in its shadow but also on their children, who struggle to escape their parents’ story. Spanning fifty years and set against the backdrop of a rapidly warming Montana, Dream State explores what it means to live with the mistakes of the past—both our own and the ones we’ve inherited."

Opinion: Did not like the writing style. 

Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs

Started: 7/20/2025

Finished: 7/22/2025

Year: 2024

Pages: 269

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Always apprehensive about working fire scenes, Tempe is called to Washington, DC, to analyze the victims of a deadly blaze. The devastated building is in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood with a colorful past and present, and when Tempe delves into the property’s history, she becomes suspicious about the ownership.

"The pieces start falling into place strangely and quickly, and, sensing a good story, Tempe teams with a new ally, telejournalist Ivy Doyle. Soon the duo learns that back in the 1930s and ’40s the home was the hangout of a group of bootleggers and racketeers known as the Foggy Bottom Gang. While interesting, this fact seems irrelevant—until the son of a Foggy Bottom gang member is shot dead at his home in an affluent part of the district. Coincidence? Targeted attack? So many questions.

"As Tempe and Ivy dig deeper, an arrest is finally made. Then another fire claims one more victim, and slowly, Tempe’s instincts begin pointing to the obvious. But her moves since coming to Washington have been anticipated—and every path forward seems to bring with it a lethal threat."

Opinion: Boundaries are necessary. Good mystery.

The Secrets of Chocolate: A Gourmand's Trip Through a Top Chef's Atelier by Franckie Alarcon

Started: 7/20/2025

Finished: 7/20/2025

Year: 2021

Pages: 112

Grade: C

Genre: graphic book

Reason for reading: goodreads.com giveaway

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Following Jacques Genin for a year, Franckie Alarcon hobnobbed with one of the biggest chefs of Chocolate. Former chef and pastry chef for prestigious restaurants, this super-talented autodidact shares all his passion and knowledge of chocolate and his process for creating recipes. In this docu-comic, we travel with the starry-eyed author, satisfying many a craving from the chef’s amazing atelier above his store, trying his hand as an apprentice, all the way to the Peruvian cocoa plantations where another chef shows how one carefully chooses the beans."

Opinion: The font didn't make it easy reading but it is informative.

Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts

Started: 7/17/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 435

Genre: romantic suspense

Grade: D

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Natural Resources police officer, Sloan Cooper, and her partner had just taken down three men preying on hikers in the Western Maryland mountains. Driving back, she pulled in at a convenience store―and walked right into a robbery in progress. One gunshot from a jittery thief was about to change her world.

"After being shocked back to life on the operating table, she has a long recovery ahead, so she moves back to her parents’ peaceful house in Heron’s Rest. As for the boyfriend who dumped her via text while she was in the hospital, good riddance.

"She may be down, but she’s not out. So when a woman vanishes, leaving her car behind in a supermarket parking lot, Sloan searches online for similar cases. She finds them, spread across three states. Men and women, old and young―the missing seem to have nothing in common. And the abductions keep happening.

"Luckily, the new man in her life shares her passion for solving this mystery. But it will take every ounce of endurance to get to the dark heart of this bizarre case―and she's willing to risk her life again if that's what it takes to stop the horror."

Opinion: Way too slow and way too much developing of Sloan instead of using the KISS method. 

Stone Cross by Marc Cameron

Started: 7/14/2025

Finished: 7/17/2025

Year: 2020

Pages: 321

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Winter comes early to the rural native community of Stone Cross, Alaska—and so does hunting season. Caribou and moose are a major source of food through the long, dark months ahead. But Arliss Cutter has come here for a very different game. A federal judge is receiving death threats and refuses protection. Cutter and his deputy Lola Teariki have been assigned to shadow him on his trip to this icy outland to make sure that he’s safe. But they quickly discover that no one is ever really safe in a place like this. And no one is above suspicion . . .

"When Cutter and Lola arrive, the village is already gripped with fear. A young couple has disappeared from their fishing lodge, just eight miles upriver. Their handyman has been found dead, next to a crude drawing of a mysterious symbol. To make matters worse, a dense fog has descended on the region, isolating the town from civilization. With the judge’s life still at risk, and two people still missing, Cutter and Lola have their work cut out for them. But navigating the small-town customs and blood-bound traditions of this close-knit community won’t be easy. When the secrets come out, the deadly hunt is on . . ."

Opinion: Good book two of the series. Lots of action. 

Stab Stitched by Elizabeth Penney

Started: 7/12/2025

Finished: 7/14/2025

Year: 2014

Pages: 216

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "As Emma Cotton and Kelly Grace inch closer to finding out what really happened to their friend, Rose Peterson, their journey comes to a perilous fork in the road. Down one side of the trail, the stalker who has tried to dissuade them from their investigation has become more and more desperate. Down the other, a trip to nearby Lantern Cove in search of their next suspect, Olivia Stewart, turns deadly. Bart Tolliver, a friend of Emma’s vivacious aunt, Dottie Faye Sinclair, is found stabbed through the heart with a letter opener, and Dottie Faye is the main person of interest in the murder. Will the trip to Lantern Cove shed light on their quest to find Rose’s murderer? Or will this latest tunnel be just another dead end?"

Opinion: Good continuation of series-pretty impressive given the different authors. Almost done with the series.

Isola by Allegra Goodman

Started: 7/11/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 339

Genre: historical fiction

Grade: D

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Heir to a fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardian—an enigmatic and volatile man—spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. That journey takes a unexpected turn when Marguerite, accused of betrayal, is brutally punished and abandoned on a small island.

"Once a child of privilege who dressed in gowns and laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith she’d never before needed.

"Inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola is the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival."

Opinion: I'm not a big fan of historical fiction and I'm trying to get more into it but this time frame, I did not care about. The introduction of Marguerite didn't capture my attention.

Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 7/10/2025

Finished: 7/11/2025

Year: 2005

Pages: 292

Genre: cozy mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Shawna Lee Quinn, a rival bakery owner, is found shot to death in the back of the Magnolia Blossom Bakery, Hannah Swenson becomes the prime suspect in the crime and, with a little help from her friends, sets out to serve up the real killer."

Opinion: A decent continuation of the series and the truth about someone came out.

Surfacing by Margaret Atwood

Started: 7/9/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 1972

Pages: 231

Genre: literature

Grade: F

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Accompanied by her boyfriend and a young married couple, the artist searches her abandoned childhood home for clues her parents may have left. But in the disorienting, transformative isolation of the wilderness, her friends’ marriage begins to crumble, sex becomes a catalyst for conflict, and violence and death lurk just beneath the surface. As her relentless probing leads to an electrifying confrontation with her own suppressed secrets, she rapidly descends into what could be either madness or the starkest self-knowledge."

Opinion: Too many grammar issues. Didn't care about the character.

Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw

Started: 7/8/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2017

Pages: 353

Genre: paranormal mystery

Grade: D

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Greta Helsing inherited her family's highly specialized and highly peculiar medical practice. In her consulting rooms, Dr. Helsing treats the undead for a host of ills: vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights, and entropy in mummies. Although she barely makes ends meet, this is just the quiet, supernatural-adjacent life Greta's been groomed for since childhood.

"Until a sect of murderous monks emerges, killing human and undead Londoners alike. As terror takes hold of the city, Greta must use her unusual skills to stop the cult if she hopes to save her practice and her life."

Opinion: Interesting concept, writing was decent...just didn't care about the initial creatures that she helped.

To the Tome of Murder by Lauren Elliott

Started: 7/7/2025

Finised: 7/8/2025

Year: 2021

Pages: 316

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Addie’s determined to turn a seemingly ordinary November in coastal Greyborne Harbor into one for the books. The windows of her shop display carefully curated works by American writers, including a rare selection of traditional holiday recipes from the influential 19th-century publication Godey’s Ladies Magazine. And then there’s the town’s Civil War-era themed cooking and baking competition, with a hefty cash prize and free publicity going to the winning dish...

"But when she finds her cousin’s boyfriend murdered, a stunned Addie reluctantly realizes she may be the only person who can blow the cover off a grisly crime. With so many unanswered questions surrounding the victim’s death, Addie must figure out the strange connection between a mysterious vintage briefcase, the disappearance of a first edition copy of Sarah Josepha Hale’s famous nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and a dangerously well-read culprit..."

Opinion: The lengths that some will go for family.

Night Prey by John Sandford

Started: 7/2/2025

Finished: 7/7/2025

Year: 2010

Pages: 435

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "A savage psychopath is playing cat and mouse with Lucas Davenport. But both killer and detective find themselves at odds with a female investigator who has intensely personal reasons for catching the killer herself-and fast."

Opinion: Slow burn suspense. Crazy ending.

Collide by Bal Khabra

Started: 7/1/2025

Finished: DNF

Year: 2023

Pages: 383

Genre: romance

Grade: D-

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "An ultimatum from Summer Preston’s thesis advisor thrusts her into an unexpected collision with the hockey team’s captain, Aiden Crawford. She’s caught between conflicting desires of fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a sport psychologist and staying as far away as possible from the god-awful sport. And once she meets Aiden—well, let’s just say he confirms all her worst assumptions about hockey players. 

"Being the captain of the college hockey team has its perks, except when a reckless mistake by Aiden’s team threatens to jeopardize their entire season. As punishment, Aiden’s coach nominates him as the subject of a student research project. Participating is the last thing he wants to do, especially since the girl leading the project looks like she could wield his skates as a weapon.

"Summer can’t stand Aiden’s blasé approach to life, and Aiden doesn’t understand why she’s twenty years old with a twenty-five-year plan. But their bickering soon turns to bantering—and once they let their guards down, there’s nothing to check their feelings."

Opinion: This book was just way too long and a lot more editing was needed-personalities changed way too much even for college students. 

Pioneer Girl Persepectives Edited by Nancy Tystad Koupal

Started: 6/30/2025

Finished: 6/30/2025

Year: 2017

Pages: 300

Genre: anthology

Grade: C

Reason for reading: TBR pile

Type: ARC paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867 1957) finished her autobiography, Pioneer Girl, in 1930 when she was sixty-three years old. Throughout the 1930s and into the early 1940s, she drew upon her original manuscript to write a successful series of books for young readers. Wilder s vision of life on the American frontier in the last half of the nineteenth century continues to draw new generations of readers to her Little House books. Editor Nancy Tystad Koupal has collected essays from noted scholars of Wilder s life and work that explore the themes and genesis of Wilder s writings. Pioneer Girl Perspectives sheds new light on the story behind Wilder s original manuscript and examines the ways in which the author and her daughter and editor, Rose Wilder Lane, worked to develop a marketable narrative. The essay contributors delve into the myths and realities of Wilder s work to discover the real lives of frontier children, the influence of time and place on both Wilder and Lane, and the role of folklore in the Little House novels. Together, the essays give readers a deeper understanding of how Wilder built and managed her story. Published over eighty years after its inception, Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography edited by Pamela Smith Hill gave readers new insight into the truth behind Wilder s fiction. Pioneer Girl Perspectives further demonstrates the importance of Wilder as an influential American author whose stories of growing up on the frontier remain relevant today."

Opinion: I did not read all of the essays that were included in this-some were interesting. Some were not.