Two quick recommendations....

 

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Pesky emotions and even peskier humans keep troubling Murderbot. Figuring out the right thing to do all the time is hard work. Then something terrible happens to ART, the highly intelligent bot transport Murderbot calls a friend, and Murderbot must discover what happened and why...all whle trying to save ART's favorite humans. I love Murderbot! This is another thrilling and entertaining adventure with lots of humor. Murderbot's love of soap operas and all its snarky thoughts and asides makes me laugh out loud. 

The Boy Who Cried Bear by Kelley Armstrong

Casey Duncan and Eric Dalton are running Haven's Rock, a sanctuary town hidden in the vast Yukon wilderness. It's a refuge for those on the run. Like ten-year-old Max and his older brother and mother. Then Max disappears. Was it the grizzly bear he thought he saw in the woods earlier? Or a crazed wildman dressed in bear pelts? Or did someone from their own town take him? Casey and Eric won't rest until they find the truth. ... What a great book! To say I love these characters and this series would be an understatement. This is another 5-star read from Kelley Armstrong. And one of my favorites of the year.

Happy Reading!

Midnight Creed by Alex Kava

 

This is the eighth book in one of my favorite mystery series. Ryder Creed is a former marine K9 handler; now he owns and runs a dog rescue center in the Florida panhandle where he rehabilitates and trains dogs as scent and search-and-rescue dogs. His best dog is a Jack Russell terrier named Gracie. He works with Jason, another veteran, and Brodie, his sister, and lots of dogs. He and Gracie are recovering from some injuries when he gets called in to help search for a missing boy. 

Maggie O'Dell is an FBI agent working a case in Washington D.C. that involves a serial killer who's been targeting the homeless. She and Ryder have worked several cases together, and their friendship has developed and deepened over the course of the series into something more. When Maggie tracks her killer to Florida, they find their two cases intersecting. 

Alex Kava always writes an interesting and engaging mystery. She creates great suspense, but it's her characters that really elevate these books. I especially love Ryder's relationship with his dogs and how they work together to solve each case. He can't help but rescue every stray that comes along. I like the way he and Maggie work together, too. I spotted the connection with the murderer early on in this one, but it didn't stop me from enjoying this book. It's a well-written and fun ride. 

Happy Reading!

Other Ryder Creed posts:

Breaking Creed (#1)

Lost Creed (#4)

Desperate Creed (#5)

Hidden Creed (#6)

Fallen Creed (#7)

Randomness....

 

One of my bookish goals this year is to read more Golden Age mysteries. I have several British Library Crime Classics and Otto Penzler's Classic American Mysteries on my TBR list. I hope to read at least one a month, and I started in February with Ngaio Marsh's A Man Lay Dead. It's an entertaining mystery that takes place during a weekend party at an English country house. And it involves a Murder Game. I quite enjoyed it. This month I'll be reading Dorothy B. Hughes's Dread Journey. 

Seven other library books I'm hoping to read this month:

Deaf Utopia by Nyle DiMarco

True Biz by Sara Novic

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

The Murder Wheel by Tom Mead 

Wonderland Trials by Sara Ella

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg

And if I'm lucky, my library hold on Hurwitz's newest, Lone Wolf, will also come in this month because I'm eager to read the latest Orphan X novel as soon as possible. 

Three things that have made me glad recently:

• Two days off from work....which always makes me happy.
• New episodes of Ghosts and So Help Me Todd (two of my favorite TV shows); also that new show Tracker has been really good, too. Yay for something new to watch on TV.
• I found a great 15-minute cardio workout I can do in the morning before work that's low impact but gets the heart rate up. I've been doing it for 3 weeks now and not only is it helping me to get in better shape for summer, but I've even lost a little weight. 

Happy Reading!

The Unlikely Thru-Hiker by Derick Lugo

 

About the author:  "Derick Lugo had never hiked or camped a day in his life. This Brooklyn-born, New York city urbanite hopped a train to Georgia, grabbed a taxi at the station, and told the driver to drop him off at the beginning of the Appalachian Trail. Then he did as he has always done--put one foot in front of the other and never looked back."

My thoughts:  You already know how much I love reading about other people's journeys hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, and Lugo's is one of the better ones. He's a gifted storyteller, and this memoir is full of humor, adventure, and some profound and uplifting advice...not just about hiking the AT, but about living life. I loved it.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Favorite quotes from the book:

"I'm not going to fall into a mindset of maybe I'll make it. I already have enough going against me, starting with how clueless I am about the trail. Positive thoughts are my biggest asset out here in the unknown."

"This journey will go better if I don't dread and curse the things I cannot control."

"Change can be frightening at times, but out here it's our way of life. When I stepped onto the AT, I sought change. I wanted to move away from a static existence. Suitably, the end of one thing opens the way for something wondrous. I see not the end but a new start."

"Hike your own Hike."

Happy Reading!

 

 

 

Haiku reviews...

 

Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman

She's his rock star crush--

when they meet it feels like love.

Can it be that easy?

Romance .... 339 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(I enjoyed Billy and Margot's second chance love story.)

That Others May Live by Sara Driscoll

Search-and-rescue teams

unite when a 12-story building

collapses in D.C. 

An FBI K-9 Novel .... 337 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(I love Meg and her dog, Hawk, and her firefighter fiance, too.)

The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas

A haunted museum,

dinosaurs, ghosts, and the mystery

of his long-lost sister.

Horror-lite .... 353 pages .... 3.5/5 stars.

(Must love dinosaurs to enjoy this book.)

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:  BOOKISH SUPERPOWERS I WISH I HAD.

I came up with five: 

1. I wish I had the ability to remember all the pertinent plot points and characters from all the books I've read...or at least all the ones I really liked. 

2. I wish I was able to conjure up any book I wanted to read the moment I wanted to read it...without having to wait for my library hold to come in, or my Amazon order to be delivered. 

3. I'd love to be able to stop time and the rest of the world whenever I wanted so I could give myself an extra hour or two just for reading. 

4. I'd like to be able to enter the pages of any book and spend some time with my favorite characters, or go exploring a favorite setting...especially a magical world like Oz or Le Cirques des Reves.

5. And the last bookish superpower I'd love to have is the ability to change a book's ending when it's disappointing and make it better. Because I hate when an otherwise great story ends wrong. (Yes, Mockingjay, I'm talking about books like you!) 

What bookish superpowers would you love to have?

Happy Reading!

Her Radiant Curse by Elizabeth Lim

 "I was not born a monster."

Two sisters:  Channari and Vanna.

Channi, the oldest, was cursed by the demon witch, Angma, with the face of a snake when she was just a child. Her blood carries the killing poison of the Serpent King. Her younger sister, Vanna, on the other hand, is so beautiful foreign kings are vying for her hand. Her heart emits a magical radiance that Angma covets. 

Channi is determined to protect her sister from Angma, their greedy father, and all her suitors, especially the cruel King Meguh, not just because she loves her sister, but because she made a promise to their dying mother to keep Vanna safe. Even if it costs her her own life. 

"One sister must fall for the other to rise."

My thoughts:  This novel is a prequel to Elizabeth Lim's Six Crimson Cranes, but Channi's story stands on its own. And it's quite the adventure, with demons, talking snakes, and a nine-eyed witch. Channi is determined, impulsive, and strong-willed, a fighter who never gives up; she also longs to be loved. She's carried a lot of hurt and shame over the way others have treated her because of her monstrous face. I had a lot of sympathy for her. 

She meets an unexpected ally in Hokzuh, half-dragon, half-demon, who has his own reasons for going up against Angma. He's sarcastic and harsh, but he can also be kind, and he sees something of himself in Channi. I liked him. The other thing I really liked about this book is Lim's vivid descriptions and all the magic in it. It's an entertaining fantasy, but also sad. Though having read Six Crimson Cranes, I knew going in that Channi's story wasn't necessarily a happy one. 

Still I'm glad Melody and I chose this as our first buddy read of 2024. Be sure to check out her review of this one.

Happy Reading!