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.
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
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
Finished: 3/27/2025
Year: 2007
Pages: 358
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: TBR pile, continuing with the series
Type: paperback
Blurb (from Amazon): "Few can rival attorney Andy Carpenter's affection for golden retrievers, especially his own beloved Tara.
"After he astonishes a New Jersey courtroom by successfully appealing another retriever's death sentence, Andy discovers that this gentle dog is a key witness to a murder that took place five years earlier.
"It will take all the tricks Andy's fertile mind can conceive to get to the bottom of a remarkable chain of impersonations and murder -- and hopefully save not only a dog's life but also his own in the process."
Opinion: One of the better books in the series, probably because a found golden retriever was the star of starting a complex murder investigation.
Finished: 3/21/2025
Year: 2025
Pages: 309
Genre: mystery mixed with romane
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: library book
Type: paperback
Blurb (from Amazon): "When Claire Walker is selected to be a contestant on the immensely popular cooking show, Britian’s Battle of the Bakers, she is thrilled. She can’t wait to spend eight enchanting weeks baking at the picturesque estate of Blackfirth Park. She can almost smell the fresh pastries wafting through the air as she and her fellow contestants use historical equipment to bring pre-1900s recipes to life. If she can win the fifty thousand pounds, she’ll be able to ditch her teaching job and launch her baking career.
"The Viscount of Colburn, Jonathan Ainsley, is the custodian of Blackfirth Park and an eligible bachelor. With his family’s income dwindling, he reluctantly agrees to host the entire production team, but he refuses to participate since he’s had enough of single women who see him as nothing more than a potential conquest. But when a contestant is found dead soon after filming begins, Jonathan is forced to get involved. To make matters worse, the baker’s death is eerily similar to the legendary death of the tenth Viscountess of Colburn two hundred and fifty years earlier, which sends rumors racing through the estate.
"Even as suspicion falls on some of the bakers, a decidedly different kind of heat begins to simmer between Claire and Jonathan. If they are to have any hope of a future romance, they must first solve the mystery before the show gets canceled or someone else falls prey to the Blackfirth Park ghost."
Opinion: If you like the British baking show and mysteries, you'll probably enjoy this. The mystery was decent. The romance was average. Some timeline jumps needed some work.
Finished: 3/19/2025
Year: 2019
Pages: 315
Genre: mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series
Type: paperback
Blurb (from Amazon): "Addie’s getting into the spirit for the upcoming Charity Auction—especially since she’s got an 1843 copy of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol to donate. Her former colleagues at the Boston Public Library have confirmed that its worth runs toward the high five figures, which should help with the new pediatric wing. Her mood darkens, though, when a visitor from the past appears—Jonathan Hemingway, the father of her late fiancé. His presence stirs up sad memories for Addie, but also has her fuming when Jonathan, true to his womanizing ways, runs off for a lunchtime liaison with Teresa Lang, who’s in charge of the auction.
"Soon after, Addie heads to Teresa’s office at the hospital—and finds the poor woman’s dead body. What she doesn’t find is her valuable first edition. What sort of Scrooge would steal from sick children and commit murder in the process? As a Nor’easter bears down and a mystery emerges about Jonathan’s past, Addie must find out if she can appraise people’s motives and characters as well as she can appraise rare books . . ."
Opinion: Halfway predictable but interesting little twists and turns
Finished: 3/17/2025
Year: 2021
Pages: 290
Genre: Dietary self guide
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: Goodsreads.com giveaway
Type: hardcover
Blurb (from Amazon): "Chakras, Food, and You is a revolutionary approach that customizes health assessments based on the chakras―the ancient system that modern-day yogis exalt and the ancients across all cultures and periods embraced as the secret to enlightenment. After first taking the Chakra Type Quiz within the pages, you will learn which foods and supplements, exercises, and movements mesh to enable your individual body's peak performance. Then, you'll be equipped to make eating and lifestyle choices that synchronize with your real self.
"If you’re a First Chakra Manifestor, you’ll boost your adrenals by eating plenty of protein and taking extra minerals; you’ll eat when you are hungry and drive down stress by moving around. If you are a Third Chakra Thinker, you have to graze at set times. All twelve chakras―Manifestor, Creator, Thinker, Relator, Communicator, Visualizer, Spiritualist, Mystic, Harmonizer, Naturalist, Commander, as well as a twelfth special chakra, unique to each individual―are thoroughly covered.
"With additional tips and thoughts on meditation and spiritual practices, sleep protocols, stress-busters and relaxation practices, and self-care rituals and activities, Cyndi Dale and Dana Childs's Chakras, Food, and You is an accessible and straightforward health-and-life changer."
Opinion: This takes a different approach to figuring out what is best for your body. It also allows you to focus on your main chakra (based on a quiz in the book) instead of reading about all 12 chakras that they list.
Finished: DNF
Year: 2025
Pages: 376
Genre: thriller
Grade: D
Reason for reading: library book
Type: hardcover
Blurb (from Amazon): "Charismatic daredevil and extreme adventurer Maverick Dillan invites you to the ultimate game of hide-and-seek. But as the players gather on Falcao Island, the event quickly spirals into a chilling test of survival. A storm rages as a deadly threat stalks the contestants, turning the challenge into something far more sinister than the social media stunt it was intended to be.
"Enter Adele, a single mother with a fierce determination to protect her children at all costs. When she begins the game, she unwittingly enters a twisted web of deception and intrigue. Can she maneuver through the treacherous storm and the relentless competition and get home to her family? In a ruthless battle for survival where the stakes are higher than ever, the blurry line between the virtual and the real proves that the only person we can trust is ourselves."
Opinion: Dragged. Took too long to get to anything interesting and some sections jumped time.
