The Booklover's Library by Madeline Martin

Started: 2/7/2025

Finished: 2/10/2025

Year: 2024

Pages: 400

Genre: literature

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job. She and her beloved daughter Olivia have always managed just fine on their own, but with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots’ Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her with a job.

"When the threat of war in England becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In the wake of being separated from her daughter, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers, and a renewed sense of purpose through the recommendations she provides to the library’s quirky regulars. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing and the work at the lending library forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.

"As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend on her community and the power of literature more than ever to find hope in the darkest of times."

Opinion: A decent novel set during WWII.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Started: 2/4/2025

Finished: 2/6/2025

Year: 2000

Pages: 310

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "No one cooks up a delectable, suspense-filled mystery quite like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke’s dessert-baking, red-haired heroine whose gingersnaps are as tart as her comebacks, and whose penchant for solving crimes—one delicious clue at a time—has made her a bestselling favorite. And it all began on these pages, with a bakery, a murder, and some suddenly scandalous chocolate-chip crunchies. Featuring a bonus short story and brand new, mouthwatering recipes, this new edition of the very first Hannah Swensen mystery is sure to have readers coming back for seconds…

"Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother’s attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden’s most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah’s famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can’t get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn’t watch her back, Hannah’s sweet life may get burned to a crisp."

Opinion: I've read some of Fluke's books out of order over the years and decided to start from the beginning. Decent start of the series but gotta wonder why a cookie baker would get involved investigating a murder.

Dead Center by David Rosenfelt

Started: 2/3/2025

Finished: 2/4/2025

Year: 2006

Pages: 326

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "DEAD CENTER finds Andy Carpenter reentering the dating scene with comic results. He is surprised at what a hot ticket he seems to be, and this proves to be a mixed blessing at best. His friends are all too eager to provide advice and guidance, but of course they know just as little about the dating world as Andy. Whether the woman he is dating at the moment is terrific or far from it, the spectra of Laurie always hangs over his head. He has strong feelings of bitterness towards her for leaving, but she is, after all, the love of his life. He has had no contact with her at all, and can only assume she is back in Findlay, serving in the number two job on the local police force. Then one day he returns to the office to find Laurie waiting for him. Laurie has arrested a young man for murder and, though the evidence clearly called for his arrest, she believes he is innocent. The accused is the son of Laurie's oldest friend and she believes Andy is the best person to represent him. Andy follows Laurie back to Wisconsin where he must explore a secretive religious community that seems to hold the truth about what really happened to the deceased."

Opinion: The break-up of Andy and Laurie didn't seem to end as readers were left expecting in the last book. Decent murder mystery.

Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber

Started: 1/30/2025

Finished: 2/2/2025

Year: 2018

Pages: 224

Genre: Romance

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Before beginning her dream job as sous chef in one of Seattle’s hottest new restaurants, Josie Avery takes a summer position cooking at a lakeside lodge in the remote Alaskan town of Ponder. Josie falls for the rustic charms of the local community—including Jack Corcoran, the crotchety keeper of Ponder’s famed sourdough starter, and, in particular, the quiet and intense Palmer Saxon, a famed master swordsmith.

"Josie and Palmer become close during the long Alaskan summer days, but Josie knows that, come fall, she’ll be returning to reality and the career she’s worked so hard for. Palmer, on the other hand, would like nothing better than to make Josie his wife and to keep her in Ponder. But Josie can’t imagine abandoning her mother back in the Emerald City and sacrificing her career to stay in this isolated town—not even for a man she’s quickly coming to love.

"Fate has other plans. Josie misses the last boat out of town before winter sets in, stranding her in Ponder and putting her dream job at risk. As the holidays approach, Josie and Palmer must grapple with the complications that arise when dreams confront reality, and the Christmas magic that can happen when they put their faith in love."

Opinion: A sweet romance-partial long distance. 

Murder by the Book by Lauren Elliott

Started: 1/29/2025

Finished: 1/30/2025

Year: 2018

Pages: 286

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Addie left some painful memories behind in the big city, including the unsolved murder of her fiancé and her father’s fatal car accident. After an unexpected inheritance from a great aunt, she’s moved to a small New England town founded by her ancestors back in colonial times—and living in spacious Greyborne Manor, on a hilltop overlooking the harbor. Best of all, her aunt also left her countless first editions and other treasures—providing an inventory to start her own store.

But there’s trouble from day one, and not just from the grumpy woman who runs the bakery next door. A car nearly runs Addie down. Someone steals a copy of Alice in Wonderland. Then, Addie’s friend Serena, who owns a nearby tea shop, is arrested—for killing another local merchant. The police seem pretty sure they’ve got the story in hand, but Addie’s not going to let them close the book on this case without a fight …"

Opinion: A decent start to a cozy mystery series but too many people all connected and all for one thing. 

Ocean Selvage by Jan Fields

Started: 1/28/2025

Finished: 1/28/2025

Year: 2014

Pages: 203

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: TBR, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Emma Cotton, Kelly Grace, and members of the Nimble Thimbles group decide to embark on a quilting cruise to investigate the latest suspect in their friend's murder, they don't plan on getting mixed up in a missing person's case onboard. But thanks to Dottie Faye Sinclair, Emma's wild aunt who insists on coming along, they do. Within a day of departure, Dottie Faye's antics land her under a cloud of suspicion, forcing Emma to solve a mystery she hadn't planned on. And the surprises don't stop there."

Opinion: A decent continuation of the mystery series. 

At the Scene of the Crime Edited by Dana Stabenow

Started: 1/24/2025

Finished: 1/27/2025

Year: 2008

Pages: 262

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "With the long-term success of procedural shows dominating prime-time television, the readership for a forensic anthology extends well beyond traditional mystery readers.

Collected by Martin H. Greenberg—the King of Anthologists—this volume features the following contributors:

Brendan DuBois
Edward D. Hoch
Michael A. Black
Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens
Jeremiah Healy
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Julie Hyzy, John Lutz
Maynard Thomson
Noreen Ayres"
Loren D. Estleman
Jeanne C. Stein"

Opinion: Like with any collection of short stories, some work better than others. The majority of these I enjoyed. I didn't dislike any one story which is a rarity for me.

Bones of the Lost by Kathy Reichs

Started: 1/21/2025

Finished: 1/24/2025

Year: 2013

Pages: 320

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Charlotte police discover the body of a teenage girl along a desolate stretch of two-lane highway, Temperance Brennan fears the worst. The girl’s body shows signs of foul play. Inside her purse police find the ID card of a prominent local businessman, John-Henry Story, who died in a horrific flea market fire months earlier. Was the girl an illegal immigrant turning tricks? Was she murdered?

"The medical examiner has also asked Tempe to examine a bundle of Peruvian dog mummies confiscated by U.S. Customs. A Desert Storm veteran named Dominick Rockett stands accused of smuggling the objects into the country. Could there be some connection between the trafficking of antiquitiesand the trafficking of humans?

"As the case deepens, Tempe must also grapple with personal turmoil. Her daughter Katy, grieving the death of her boyfriend in Afghanistan, impulsively enlists in the Army. As pressure mounts from all corners, Tempe soon finds herself at the center of a conspiracy that extends all the way from South America, to Afghanistan, and right to the center of Charlotte."

Opinion: A decent mystery of a Jane Doe. It took too long for a connection to another case to be made. This didn't seem like this type of connection was needed.

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton

Stated: 1/14/2025

Finished: 1/21/2025

Year: 2013

Pages: 590

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: continuing with the series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "The first victim is a local PI of suspect reputation, gunned down near the beach at Santa Teresa. The second is a John Doe found on the beach six weeks later with a slip of paper with private detective Kinsey Millhone’s name and number in his pocket.

"Two seemingly unrelated deaths: one man murdered, the other apparently dead of natural causes.

"But as Kinsey digs deeper into the mystery of the John Doe, some very strange links begin to emerge. Not just between the two victims, but also to Kinsey’s past. And before long Kinsey, through no fault of her own, is thoroughly compromised..."

Opinion: Too almost 500 pages to connect. 

Homer and the Holiday Miracle by Gwen Cooper

Started: 1/14/2025

Finished: 1/14/2025

Year: 2018

Pages: 47

Genre: animal non fiction

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Fifteen years earlier, doctors had warned that Homer—a tiny, sightless kitten—was unlikely to survive and probably wouldn't have much of a life even if he did. Miraculously and against all the odds, however, Homer grew into a feline dynamo who scaled seven-foot bookcases with ease, saved his human mom's life when he chased a late-night burglar from their apartment, and rose to global fame—paving the way for other special-needs animals once considered "unadoptable."

"Now, only two weeks before Christmas, with doctors once again decreeing that Homer didn't have much time—that he wouldn't even make it to Christmas Eve—Homer showed everyone that he still had one more miracle left in him. The heroic blind cat proved again, once and for all, that hope and love aren't things you see with your eyes. You see them with your heart."

Opinion: A very quick read about how Homer survived to one last Christmas.

See How She Dies by Lisa Jackson

Started: 1/7/2025

Finished: 1/14/2025

Year: 2004 (this edition)

Pages: 430

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "London Danvers disappeared almost twenty years ago. The youngest child of hotel tycoon Witt Danvers—and the only child with his second wife, Kat—London hasn’t been seen since. Over time, many women have claimed to be the long-lost heiress. Adria Nash is the latest. But from the moment Zachary Danvers sees her, he believes Adria is different. For one thing, Adria looks just like Zachary’s former stepmother. For another, Adria knows personal details only London could have known.

"Just four years old at the time of the kidnapping, Adria can’t be sure if what she feels in her gut, and what she’s been told, is true. She has no memory of the abduction, and confronting Zach is the only way to get answers. Yet she feels a deep sense of dread. London’s nanny also vanished that terrible night. And Kat Danvers fell to her death under suspicious circumstances soon after. If Adria really is London, she stands to inherit a fortune—but will she also become a target?

"Adria is right to be afraid. Because someone does believe her. Someone who has killed before and is watching her every move, waiting for the right moment to see how she runs . . . see how she screams . . . see how she dies . . ."

Opinion: A little bit too long but a decent mystery mixed with some questionable romance

The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown

Started: 12/23/2024

Finished: 1/7/2025

Year: 2009

Pages: 288

Genre: History

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of pioneers led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes, and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors."

Opinion: Recent shows have brought new light to this horrific journey. This book goes into depth about the daily struggle that everyone faced.

Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt

Started: 1/1/2025

Finished: 1/5/2025

Year: 2005

Pages: 306

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "First at the crime scene, Andy Carpenter wishes he had never seen the folded torso with the large red stain on its back. The victim is Tony Preston, wide receiver for the New York Jets, and the suspect is Kenny Schilling, the New York Giants' star running back, whose upcoming high-profile murder case will be the benchwarming Andy's chance to get back into the legal game."

Opinion: An interesting case...an interesting twist to Andy's personal life. 

Shallow Depths by Milan Skrecek

Started: 12/31/2024

Finished: DNF

Year: 2024

Pages: 228

Genre: literature

Grade: F

Reason for reading: librarything.com Early Reviwers program

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Our hero is a burnt-out cruise line Shopping Guide named Christina Delgado - a mid-twenties Latina spitfire. In a desperate bid to resolve her financial woes, Christina ventures into dangerous waters by starting to offer escort services to cruise ship guests.

"Christina's antagonists are formidable and reflect the seedy underbelly of the industries tied to cruise tourism. Sebastian Baeza, known as Bas, is the Cuban-born owner of an escort agency from which Christina begins to poach her recruits. He is ruthless and sees Christina's actions as a direct threat to his dominion. Then there's Artem Hadad, the vindictive manager of the largest jewelry chain across the Caribbean islands, Caribbean Diamonds and Gems. Artem is incensed by any sales that bypass his stores and will do anything within his considerable power to ensure Christina fails.

"But at its core, this book series is about Christina's internal battle. Her relentless pursuit of debt freedom blinds her to the risks she takes and the relationships she sabotages. Her inability to accept help due to her pride and stubbornness only isolates her further, driving her deeper into her vices. By the series end, Christina faces a pivotal moment of self-realization.

"She begins to understand that true courage isn't just about facing external dangers but also about confronting and accepting her vulnerabilities.

"Throughout this novel, and the book series, the interpersonal dynamics aboard the cruise ship add layers of intrigue and drama. Christina’s relationship with Emily Baker, her unlikely ally and confidant, provides a counterpoint to her conflicts with Artem and Bas. Emily, with her polished appearance and kleptomaniac tendencies, offers a mirror to Christina’s own flawed nature but also represents a potential pathway to redemption. Their partnership, fraught with risks and reluctant trust, explores themes of loyalty and betrayal within the claustrophobic ecosystem of the ship."

Opinion: A thorough review is posted on Library Thing. The blurb from Amazon is an example of how scattered the writing seems to be.

Betrayal at Blackthorn Park by Julia Kelly

Started: 12/26/2024

Finished: 12/30/2024

Year: 2024

Pages: 310

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with the series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Freshly graduated from a rigorous training program in all things spy craft, former typist Evelyne Redfern is eager for her first assignment as a field agent helping Britain win the war. However, when she learns her first task is performing a simple security test at Blackthorn Park, a requisitioned manor house in the sleepy Sussex countryside, she can’t help her initial disappointment. Making matters worse, her handler is to be David Poole, a fellow agent who manages to be both strait-laced and dashing in annoyingly equal measure. However, Evelyne soon realizes that Blackthorn Park is more than meets the eye, and an upcoming visit from Winston Churchill means that security at the secret weapons research and development facility is of the utmost importance.

"When Evelyne discovers Blackthorn Park’s chief engineer dead in his office, her simple assignment becomes more complicated. Evelyne must use all of her―and David’s―detection skills to root out who is responsible and uncover layers of deception that could change the course of the war."

Opinion: A pretty good mystery. Good continuation of the series. I continue to like how strong this main female character is especially given the time that the books take place.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Started: 12/10/2024

Finished: 12/26/2024

Year: 2022

Pages: 355

Genre: literature

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

"Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

"Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late."

Opinion: Predictable but enjoyable. Not worth the hype but any book that can get people reading is a good thing. The book is easily readable for most but I don't think that it lives up to the hype that it got-but then again, I don't think that most of the more popular books are good or my cup of tea.

The Bone Collection by Kathy Reichs

Started: 12/18/2024

Finished: 12/23/2024

Year: 2016

Pages: 379

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "In First Bones, a prequel to Reichs’s first novel, Déjà Dead, she at last reveals the tale of how Tempe became a forensic anthropologist. In this never-before-published story, Tempe recalls the case that lured her from a promising career in academia into the grim but addictive world of criminal investigation. (It all began with a visit from a pair of detectives—and a John Doe recovered from an arson scene in a trailer.) The collection is rounded out with three more stories that take Tempe from the low country of the Florida Everglades, where she makes a grisly discovery in the stomach of an eighteen-foot Burmese python, to the heights of Mount Everest, where a frozen corpse is unearthed. No matter where she goes, Tempe’s cases make for the most gripping reading."

Opinion: Unlike most collections, I enjoyed all of the stories. It was interesting to see how Tempe got into becoming a forensic anthropologist. There was some reference to stuff that hasn't happened in the main books but nothing that takes away from Tempe's story.

Does the Noise in my Head Bother You? by Steven Tyler

Started: 12/16/2024

Finished: DNF

Year: 2011

Pages: 376

Genre: memoir

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book, fan of Aerosmith

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? is the rock memoir to end all rock memoirs — the straight-up, no-holds-barred story of Grammy Award-winning, Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and all around superstar legend Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith (and celebrity judge on American Idol).

"The rock and roll epic that is Tyler’s life begins with Tyler’s youth in the Bronx, tracing his early music career and influences, his legendary partnership with Joe Perry, the meteoric rise, fall, and rise of Aerosmith over the last three decades, their music, Tyler’s battles with substance abuse, his epic romantic life, his relationship with his four children (including actress Liv Tyler), life on the road and in the spotlight, the economics of the rock star business --and all the sex, drugs, and rock and roll that anyone could ask for.

"In Tyler’s own words: 'I’ve been mythicized, Mick-icized, eulogized and fooligized, I’ve been Cole-Portered and farmer’s-daughtered, I’ve been Led Zepped and 12-stepped. I’m a rhyming fool and so cool that me, Fritz the Cat, and Mohair Sam are the baddest cats that am. I have so many outrageous stories, too many, and I’m gonna tell ’em all. All the unexpurgated, brain-jangling tales of debauchery, sex & drugs, transcendence & chemical dependence you will ever want to hear. And this is not just my take, this is the unbridled truth, the in-your-face, up-close and prodigious tale of Steven Tyler straight from the horse’s lips.'"

Opinion: I knew that Tyler had a drug history-never realized it was to the extent that it was. There was just too much and hard to tell what was true and what wasn't, given his mindset at the time. 

Body over Troubled Waters by Denise Swanson

Started: 12/13/2024

Finished: 12/16/2024

Year: 2021

Pages: 283

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "Stupid Cupid is making School psychologist Skye Denison-Boyd regret returning to work after her maternity leave. It starts with an emergency school lockdown, continues with her godfather's arrest by the state police, and ends with a dead body!

"It's every teacher and administrator's worst nightmare―a school shooter lockdown. And even worse for Skye because she's trapped in a tiny room with the district's creepy superintendent, Dr. Wraige while they wait for the all-clear.

"When Dr. Wraige turns up dead in his home just a short time later, is it a coincidence, or something more?

"Skye joins her police chief husband, Wally, in an investigation that becomes more complicated by the minute. With a dead boss and a mysterious killer on the loose, Skye is caught between a rock and a heart place―but she won't give up until Scumble River is safe once again."

Opinion: Predictable mystery within a murder mystery. Decent continuation of Skye and Wally's personal lives.

Bury the Lead by David Rosenfelt

Started: 12/6/2024

Finished: 12/10/2024

Year: 2004

Pages: it261

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Asked to help safeguard the innocence of a reporter who has been selected as the mouthpiece for a serial killer, defense attorney Andy Carpenter finds his job proving more difficult than anticipated when the reporter is arrested for the murders."

Opinion: A decent next addition to the series. The ending was dragged instead of just ending it. It felt like the author was trying to meet a page or word goal instead of the ending being concise.