Post from the past...

 I was searching my blog the other day for a certain book set in England and ran across this one instead...and for a moment I couldn't even remember reading it. Sad when you can't remember a book you read only three years ago. Good thing I wrote about it. So, just for fun, I'm re-posting my short review of it, because I think it's worth remembering. 

Title & Author:  Friend of the Devil by Stephen Lloyd

Setting:  Danforth Putnam, an elite boarding school located on a private island off the coast of New England.

Main characters:  Sam, an insurance investigator and former marine who's tough, perceptive, sarcastic, haunted, and funny; and Harriet, a teen reporter with epilepsy who's determined, smart, and spunky, Sam's looking into the theft of a rare book, and Harriet's investigating an incident of bullying when their paths intersect. Dark and strange things at Danforth Putnam surprise them both.

My thoughts:  This book is a fun combination of mystery, detective fiction and supernatural horror. There's good suspense and lots of humorous moments, and it reads fast. I loved Sam's snarkiness and Harriet's stubborn fearlessness. And there's a very explosive demonic twist at the end that I was NOT expecting. But I thought it was a good one. I ended up really liking this book. It's an entertaining summer read. 

Happy Reading!

(Review first posted on this blog on August 25, 2022)

Randomness...

 

Recently finished reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King ... and I really liked it. It centers around seventeen-year-old Charlie Reade who befriends his elderly neighbor Howard Bowditch; when Bowditch dies, Charlie inherits his house, a sweet and aging German Shepherd named Radar, and a doorway to another realm.

King knows how to craft amazing and memorable characters, and Charlie and Radar are no exceptions. I loved both of them. Charlie's journey into Empis with Radar reminded me a little of Lucy's journey into Narnia when it needed saving from the White Witch. Empis has been overrun by evil and needs saving, too. And though he doesn't know it, Charlie is just the hero to do it.

Fairy Tale is well named because in many ways it does read like a fairy tale...a 598 page one...without any of the scary horror that King is known for in his other books. It's compelling and entertaining and full of magic...and it won't give you nightmares.  4/5 stars.

Another delightfully funny and entertaining cartoon from John Atkinson at Wrong Hands. You have to check out his website...he will always make you laugh. 

Some of my glad things from July: 

• Seeing Pelicans, Cormorants and Bullock's Orioles along the Jordan River trail. 
• Got my shingles shot...at least the first does...which wasn't fun, but good to get it done.
• Saw the movie Jurassic World: Rebirth. It was very entertaining.
• Lunch at Mo Bettah's with my niece and nephew. Yum!  😋
• My family's annual 4th of July breakfast; it's always good seeing everyone.
• Hearing from Sam (from Book Chase). Thanks for your comments, Sam! I'm glad to know you're alive and doing well. 
• Eating chard freshly picked from my garden.
• Playing a fun round of the bookish game It Was a Dark and Stormy Night with my family. (You have to guess the book title or author from just reading the first line, and there are different categories like Mysteries, Pre-1900 books, Children's books, etc.)

Miranda in Retrograde by Lauren Layne

 

The plot:  Dr. Miranda Reed, PhD, is a popular astrophysicist and professor at Nova University, with a high IQ and a long waiting list for her astronomy classes. She's bright and pretty and has been on Jeopardy! seven times; she's also a star when it comes to talking science on the morning shows. And she always has a plan, especially for her life's trajectory. So when she's denied tenure she's stunned. And confused. And a little lost. 

Granted a yearlong sabbatical, she decides to explore another side her life besides the science side by studying astrology, figuring out her rising sign, and following her horoscope for one year. What Miranda doesn't predict is how her Horoscope Project will bring her not only new experiences and a new perspective, but a new friend in the cute artist next door, the possibility of a new dream for her life, and maybe even love. 

My thoughts:  What a charming romance! Miranda is such a fun character. I really enjoyed her love of science and her personal journey to explore a new side of herself; I especially enjoyed her slow burn friendship with Archer (the artist next door). Their interactions were humorous and entertaining. And I appreciated that there's no sex in this one...just a few sweet and swoony kisses. With both stars and art this story truly sparkles.  

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

The Day After the Party by Nicole Trope

 

The plot:  Saturday night, Katelyn throws a party for her thirty-sixth birthday; Monday morning, she wakes up in the hospital unable to remember anything about the party, or what happened that night. And her husband, Toby, and her best friend, Leah, aren't talking. Katelyn suspects they're keeping secrets, maybe even lying to her. And when her memory starts to come back, she doesn't know who to trust or what to believe.

My thoughts:  This is the first book by Nicole Trope that I've read, but it won't be my last. It reads fast. (I read it in a day.) And I liked the unease and slow build of suspense as Katelyn starts to piece together the truth about that night, as well as the flashback scenes with her and Leah growing up. Their relationship is complicated. Katelyn and her husband also have their struggles. It kept me guessing about who was lying and why. There was one small twist at the very end that I didn't think was necessary...in fact, I would have liked the book even more without it...but all in all I enjoyed this quiet psychological/domestic thriller. It's what I would label a fun summer popcorn read. 

My rating:  3.5/5 stars.

Happy Reading!

Haiku Reviews...

 

Swept Away by Beth O'Leary

Stuck on a houseboat

adrift at sea, two strangers

learn about each other...and themselves.

Romance .... 369 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(Survival, honesty, revealing conversations, tears, smiles and unexpected love.)

The Geographer's Map to Romance by India Holton

A marriage of convenience.

Unleashed thaumaturgic magic.

Wild Adventure. And love.

Historical fantasy .... 327 pages .... 5/5 stars.

(Another magical read from Horton full of humor and romance.)

The Double-A Western Detective Agency by Steven Hockensmith

Gustav's and Otto's

first case puts them on the wrong

side of a range war.

Western/mystery .... 252 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(Sixth book in this fun series; I love that they've teamed up with their new partner, Diana Crowe, in this one. She keeps these cowboy sleuths on their toes.)

Season's Schemings by Katie Bailey

Their fake marriage plan:

show up her ex and get him

a green card. Win-win!

Sweet hockey romance .... 253 pages .... 5/5 stars.

(Loved this cute and funny marriage of convenience romance!)

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  BOOKS SET IN _________. Where you get to pick the place, time period, or setting. I decided to go with one of my most favorite isolated and remote settings: ANTARCTICA. Here are 10 Books that take place in or are about Antarctica. 

The Winter Over by Matthew Iden 

How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior

The Last Cold Place by Naira de Gracia

Whiteout by Adriana Anders

The Dark by Emma Haughton

My Last Continent by Midge Raymond

South Pole Station by Ashley Shelby

In Cold Pursuit by Sarah Andrews

To the Poles Without a Beard

by Catharine Hartley

Big Dead Place by Nicholas Johnson

Happy Reading!

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis

 

From the blurb:  "It's bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard's workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly. It's a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is...you.  Gav isn't really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed. But as he realizes that nothing is quite what it seems, Gav will have to answer the hardest question of all--who does he want to be now?"

A few favorite quotes:

• So, this was shock. It seemed terribly inconvenient that the brain's reaction to being placed in mortal jeopardy was to become much stupider. 
• He was a coward, there was no way around it, and he was pretty sure he could live with that. Fundamentally brave people didn't become Dark Wizards.
• He didn't know what that made him, if he wasn't evil enough to be a villain or good enough to be a hero.
• He wasn't a hero. And he'd failed again. But that didn't mean he couldn't keep trying. So he could look himself in the eye, even if no one else would.

My thoughts:  This book is a magical adventure with humor and heart. Gav (formerly known as the Dread Lord Gavrax) knows he's not hero material, but he doesn't want to be a dark wizard any more either. So where does that leave him? Gav is such a great character! I loved his interactions with his scared goblin servants, as well as the banter between him and the spunky and disdainful princess. And seeing him trying to figure out how not to be a dark wizard any more without ending up getting murdered by all the other dark wizards, or all the heroes trying to rescue the princess, was very entertaining. There's just so much to like about this book including a very funny garlic festival and some great magic.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

July's Bookish Art...

 

Max Beckmann -- Woman Reading at the Beach

    "Stories go deep. They have this power to resonate for us like nothing else in human life can. They teach us things we need to learn, and show us new ways of understanding, and answer questions we didn't even know we needed to ask." 

--Katherine Center

Top Ten Tuesday...

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  BOOKS WITH HONORIFICS IN THE TITLE like Miss, Lord, Captain, etc.

I made it easy on myself when coming up with my list and went with books from my own shelves. Here's my top ten:

Miss Lacey's Last Fling by Candice Hern

(One of those books I own that I haven't read yet.)

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

(One of those books I didn't expect to like as much as I did.)

The Captain's Wallflower by Audrey Harrison

(A cute Regency romance.)

Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum

(My 4th favorite Oz book.)

The Locusts Have No King by Dawn Powell

(She's an underrated author imo.)

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

(This is one of my favs.)

The Lady is Daring by Megan Frampton

(A fun and a little bit steamy historical romance.)

The Duke Alone by Christi Caldwell

(A cute Christmas romance.)

The Detective Wins the Witch by Kristen Painter

(One of my most favorite paranormal romances.)

Admiral by Sean Danker

(The first book in an awesome science fiction series!)

Happy Reading!

The Big Fix by Holly James

 

First line:  "An estate sale at a dead guy's suburban mansion was not how I'd planned to spend my first Saturday of summer break."

The plot:  Penny Collins did not plan on finding a dead body at the estate sale, either. But now she's involved in a murder investigation along with the mysterious and brooding Anthony Pierce, who knows more about the dead guy than he's admitting. And it all connects somehow to a billionaire's missing wife. Penny's supposed to be finalizing her case for tenure this summer, instead she's running from bad guys, arguing with Anthony, and just maybe falling in love.

My thoughts:  This book has the feel of an amusing cozy mystery with lots of action, humor and romance. Penny's a bit impulsive--which gets her in trouble sometimes--but she's also tenacious and resourceful. She got on my nerves a little at the very beginning, but by the end I enjoyed her enthusiasm. And Anthony's great. I liked how the two of them problem solved, bantered, and rescued each other. And their madcap adventure trying to escape the bad guys? Very entertaining! This is a fun summer read.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Some Like It Scot by Pepper Basham

 

First line:  I'd love to say I became famous because of my excellent writing skills.

Setting:  Isle of Mull, Scotland

The plot:  Katie Campbell is a popular travel writer known for her misadventures. Everywhere she goes something goes wrong. But she somehow always manages to turn it into something humorous and positive. But while she's happy traveling the world, there's something she's missing:  Home.  "Sometimes it's a place. Sometimes it's a person. Sometimes it's both."  So when Katie meets Graeme MacKerrow, and the tall Scot not only rescues her more than once, but makes her feel seen, she starts to wonder if she's finally found it. But she's afraid...of falling, of failing, of not being enough. And of Graeme not loving her back.

Favorite quote:  "Love is always an act of faith because we cannae see the future...But love gives you the strength to leap, and faith gives you the vision to believe that the one you love will be on the other side to catch you."

My thoughts:  I love this book! More than a simple lighthearted romance, this is an engaging novel about finding family, finding home, taking chances and believing in oneself. Basham truly knows how to craft a story with layers and humor, depth, hope, faith and love. And her characters are so delightful. I loved Katie and Graeme and their journey. And I loved the picturesque setting. This book made me want to travel to the Isle of Mull. (And maybe meet my own handome Scot.) I found it captivating. And the ending made me smile. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  10 BOOKS I'D LIKE TO REREAD.

Which sent me on a journey perusing my bookshelves to find some favorite books that I would really love to reread this year:  

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Time of the Twins by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway

Wreckers by George Ellis

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Do you like to reread favorite books? If so, which ones?

Happy Reading!

Exposure by Ramona Emerson

 

The plot:  Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer with the Albuquerque police department. She can also see the ghosts of murder victims. And since her last case, when she almost died, the ghosts won't leave her alone. It's making her sick. She heads to her grandmother's house in Tohatchi hoping to find some healing on the Navajo reservation. But she gets drawn back into a murder investigation in Gallup, where a detective suspects that a serial killer is stalking and killing indigent Native Americans.

My thoughts:  I loved Emerson's first novel about Rita Todacheene; Shutter was a magical mix of Navajo myth and culture, mystery, suspense and ghostly hauntings. Rita is a fascinating character. This novel picks up where Shutter left off. It's more character-driven, with chapters alternating between Rita with all her current struggles and the serial killer's own story, which was more sad than creepy/scary. It also focuses on the plight of Native Americans in places like Gallup. It's both heartbreaking and enraging. This was a different mystery than what I was expecting, but it's a compelling read and I continue to be a fan of Rita Todacheene.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

That's Not My Name by Megan Lally

 

The GIRL:  "I think I might be dead."  She wakes up in a ditch by the side of the road, bruised and bloodied. And unable to remember who she is or how she got there. The police find her, and so does a man claiming to be her father. He says her name is Mary Boone. And he has photos of her, an old school ID, and her birth certificate. He must be telling the truth. So why does nothing about him feel familiar?

DREW:  "Life really goes to shit when everyone thinks you killed your girlfriend."  Drew's girlfriend, Lola, went missing five weeks ago, and everyone in their small Oregon town blames him, including the police. They keep trying to get him to confess. But Drew knows he didn't hurt her; he thinks someone may have taken her. And he's determined to do everything he can to find her. 

My thoughts:  What a fun summer thriller! Lally does a great job of building a sense of dread and unease as she alternates between Mary's and Drew's POV.  Mary's fears grow as she notices inconsistencies in her father's story; and Drew's desperate search for Lola is equally compelling. These two characters are both believeable and easy to root for. The story itself has suspense and tension and a good twist at the end. I really liked it. 4.5/5 stars.

Top Ten Tuesday...

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme: FREEBIE.

So, in honor of it being the week of July 4th, which is one of my favorite holidays, I decided to go with 10 BOOKS WITH FIREWORKS ON THE COVER.

I haven't read any of these, have you?

Happy Reading!

On the Slopes of Tahoe by J.A. Forde

 

There's so much I loved about this captivating romance! Here's just some of the things:

* Single dad Breck Kylie and all of his sweet and loving interactions with his seven-year-old daughter, Willow.

*Rory falling in love with her older brother's best friend...and with his cute daughter, too.

*That picturesque Lake Tahoe setting (and because it's winter that means there are fun scenes including snowboarding lessons, ice skating, sledding, and a snowstorm that strands Rory at Breck's and Willow's condo overnight).

*Found family.

*Swoony kisses. (I also appreciated that this is a fade to black romance with no explicit sex scenes.)

*That flirty spark between Breck and Rory and how their friendship deepened into love.

*Rory's dream of starting her own photography business and how Breck totally supports her.

*How Rory helps Breck and Willow heal.

*Her grand gesture!

*A fireworks proposal.... and a very happy ending for everyone. 

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Random scenes from my morning walks...

•  Ants. Swarms of them. So many it felt like I was walking into an Antapocalypse. What's up with that?
• Baby robins hopping after their mother in search of breakfast.
• The cutest dog, tail wagging, happily carrying his own red frisbee on his walk to the park with his owner.
• Lovely white yucca blossoms. So many of them. Everywhere except in my own yard. For some unknown reason, my yucca plants refuse to bloom. 
• Three chattering squirrels running along the top of a fence then leaping onto a branch of the tree right above my head. For a moment I was afraid I was about to be centerstage in a viral video called "When Squirrels Attack!"
• A sign in someone's flowerbed that read:  Garden of Weeden. (It made me laugh.)
• And my favorite thing of all--this quote that my neighbor posted in his front yard:  "You believed in the tooth fairy for years; you can believe in yourself for five minutes."

Have a great day!

P.S.  I think my comments are falling into spam limbo again; I don't know why, but it happens periodically. So if you haven't heard from me for awhile on your blog, check your spam folder. My comments might all be there. 

Another fun summer romance...

 "Adventure awaits."

Emily Edwards is not adventurous or outdoorsy, but she's made a promise to scatter her dad's ashes on Isle Royale, a remote National Park in Michigan that her dad always wanted to visit. So she hires Ryder Fleet to be her guide. Only it was Ryder's older brother, Caleb, who was the outdoorsy one, not him. He doesn't even know how to use a compass. But he needs the money, so he agrees to be Emily's guide. What happens to them on this remote island is some crazy kind of fun that includes getting lost in the woods, a bear spray incident, a pirate shipwreck, some bad guys, and a legendary lost diamond. I thought The Jewel of the Isle by Kerry Rea was laugh-out-loud funny. I loved how Emily and Ryder are total opposites yet connected because of their grief over lost loved ones; I also loved how they found a way to let go of past regrets and move forward with laughter and love together. This book made me smile all the way through. And for that:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Haiku Reviews

 

Crash Landing by Annie McQuaid

Wedding trip plane crash

strands bridesmaid with her old flame;

can love re-ignite?

Contemporary romance .... 293 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(Cute forced proximity second chance summer romance.)

The Passengers by John Marrs

Eight self-driving cars

hacked and programmed to collide

as the world watches.

Science fiction .... 337 pages .... 3.5/5 stars.

(Thought-provoking, fast-paced and twisty. And will make you never want to own a self-driving car.)

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

Filming Coast Guard hero Hutch

makes Katie face her fears and

learn to love herself. 

Contemporary romance ... 302 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(Favorite quote from this fun romance:  "No one's born fearless. You have to earn it. Every time you have to be brave, you get to be a little braver next time."

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  BOOKS ON MY SUMMER 2025 TO-READ LIST.

Which sounds easy but was actually a little hard because there are so many books I want to read this summer, how do I pick just 10? I ended up with 15 on my list. Here they are:

1. That's Not My Name by Megan Lally

2. The Big Fix by Holly James

3. Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan

(Book #3 in this fun mystery series.)

4. Tide Together by Melanie Summers

5. Exposure by Ramona Emerson

(The second Rita Todacheene mystery.)

6. One Golden Summer by Carly Fortune

7. Crossing Paths by Katie Ruggle

(I've been waiting for this book to come out since 2020; here's hoping it doesn't disappoint.)

8. Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong

(The third book in her Rip Through Time series.)

9. Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes

10. We Won't All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall

11. Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

12. The Double-A Western Detective Agency by Steve Hockensmith

(Book #6 in the fun and always funny Holmes on the Range series.)

13. Fairy Tale by Stephen King

14. Rage by Linda Castillo

(Her 17th Kate Burkholder mystery.)

15. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

(Check out Leslie's review and you'll see why this book got added to my list.)

As you can see, I'm working on catching up on some series and hoping to fit in a mix of romance, mystery, science fiction and fantasy. All subject to changes in my reading mood, of course. I'm also hoping to read several of John Connolly's Charlie Parker books, a few nonfiction books, and anything else that catches my eye. 

Happy Summer Reading! 

Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon

 

From the blurb:  

"1970s Minnesota. It's spring in the Red River Valley and Cash Blackbear is plowing a field for a local farmer when she discovers a dead man on the kitchen floor of the property's rented farmhouse. The only possible witness to the murder is the young daughter of a Native laborer. The girl, Shawnee, is too terrified to speak about what she’s witnessed, and her parents seem to have vanished. 

"In the wake of the murder, Cash can't deny her suspicions of the dead man's grieving widow. While Cash scours the county and White Earth reservation trying to find the missing mother before Shawnee is placed in foster care, another body turns up. Concerned about the girl and her mother's fate, and with the help of local Sheriff Wheaton, Cash races against the clock to figure out the truth of what happened in the farmhouse."

My thoughts:  Cash Blackbear is young, guarded, and doesn't always make the best decisions. And her intuitive gift, those dreams and impressions that often lead her to the truth, seems to be on the fritz. But she's stubborn and tough and refuses to give up on Shawnee and her mom. And I liked that about her. I hope someday she'll learn to let in the people who care about her, and connect with them on a deeper level. I'm obviously invested in her journey! And these mysteries do such a good job of immersing you in that 1970s time period and Red River Valley setting, with all its injustices towards women and Native Americans. It's another reason I find them so compelling and interesting. This is another 4-star read from Rendon. All four of her Cash Blackbear mysteries are worth checking out. 

Happy Reading!

Other book from this series that I've read and reviewed:

Murder on the Red River (#1)

Sinister Graves (#3)

June's bookish art...

 

"Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know,

Are a substantial world, both pure and good."

--William Wordsworth

Force of Nature by Joan M. Griffin

 "I gazed down the way we had come. The magnitude of the feat we had accomplished flooded in with the crisp air as I surveyed the vastness of the valley and the distant ranges. Patience and determination had carried us up and over the obstacles to that cloud-high perch, to a view usually reserved for eagles and angels. ... Only a few people ever are given the opportunity, or accept the challenge, to climb a thirteen-htousand-foot mountain. Few ever a chance to see that sublime view, breathe that pristine air, overcome those formidable obstacles, or feel that joy-filled exhilaration. And I was one of them."

 

The John Muir Trail:  211 mile hiking trail that runs from Yosemite Valley through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. 

Three women in their fifties, and one in her twenties.

Four weeks of adventure:  river crossings, alpenglow, lightning, snow, mountain passes, mosquitoes, wild flowers, peaks and valleys, beautiful lakes, beauty, struggle, friendship, and joy. 

"Succeeding at such a huge personal challenge changes a person. ... When we take on the nearly impossible and succeed, the impossible begins to look approachable."

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Thoughts:  I love hiking memoirs like this one. It's immersive, transportive, and inspiring. It made me wish I had adventurous hiking buddies like Joan's! Because this is the kind of adventure I've always dreamed of doing. I honestly don't know if I could handle the mosquitoes, or sleeping on the ground, not to mention having no bathrooms; and I don't know if my knees could take hiking up all those steep peaks only to then have to hike back down them. But wouldn't it be awesome to accomplish something this amazing and challenging? 

As John Muir wrote:  "Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain-passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action." 

Happy Reading!