Big Nate: In Your Face by Lincoln Peirce

As always, Peirce delivers a series of strips wherein we get to see Nate interacting with his friends during sports and at school. We see his delusions of grandeur when it comes to all of the above. Of course, he spars with Gina and Mrs. Godfrey (even on the first day of school.) There are a series of strips related to his playing on the soccer team including wanting to get some music to play pre-game and how that quickly fizzles and also believing that he should be scouted (even in middle school) and figuring out that that will mean some extra training with someone he'd rather not spend time with.

It is also Nate's turn to take care of Sherman, the class hamster, and, being Nate, doesn't do it in quite the way one might expect. 

I am really enjoying the addition of Dee Dee. I can't remember when she was introduced but she's been appearing in more and more of the series. She is a great character and it's nice to see Nate actually relating to a female in a positive manner (not just as a despised teacher or sibling or, on the other hand, as a love interest.)

Four and a half stars

Follows The Gerbil Ate My Homework

Followed by Aloha

This book comes out March 2nd

ARC kindly provided by Andrew McMeel Publishing and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Useful Delusions by Shankar Vedantam, Bill Mesler

I liked the idea of this book. When can self-delusion be helpful in our day-to-day life? Can it EVER be helpful? I have always believed that deluding myself works in wonderful ways and Vendatam and Mesler would agree.

I thought one of the most interesting studies was in wine tasting when people's brain scans actually showed that the pleasure center lit up more when tasting a wine they had been told was $90 even though it was the same as the $10 bottle. Does that mean the people who pay more for wine will always enjoy it more? Maybe. But price isn't the only thing that can "trick" our brain like that. It can also be the story behind  a product or brand.

There are several of these studies interwoven with the story of a letter writing scheme where lonely hearts would write to each other. However, it turned out most of the women in these exchanges were semi or wholly fictitious. Yet many of the men defended the fraudster.  Why? Well, the book explains. If you consider yourself a rationalist, this may not be a good book for you because it will change how you define "rational."

 
Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 2nd

ARC kindly provided by W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer

Jane Wunderly isn't sure why her Aunt Millie chose the Mena House as their place to stay in Egypt but she is grateful. It is a beautiful hotel and she is enjoying the company, especially a handsome man name Redvers. The young woman who seems to have captured the attention of all the young man, Anna Staten, she is not so impressed with. The young woman doesn't seem to like Jane (who, as a thirty-something-year-old widow is sure she isn't competition for a flapper) and spills a drink on her. But that doesn't mean that Jane is wishing death on the young woman. And Jane especially doesn't expect to be the one to find her.  When Jane becomes a main suspect, she is told to restrict herself to the main hotel. She cooperates (sort of) but she also starts to look into the murder herself. 
Meanwhile, her Aunt Millie seems to be hiding secrets of her own, spending time with a young woman golfer, Lillian, and Lillian's friend who is obsessed with Lillian, Marie.
This is definitely a story where regular mystery readers can figure out who the killer is but our heroine definitely doesn't until she is in the crosshairs herself. I'm willing to forgive that in one book, maybe two, but hopefully Jane smartens up by book three.

Three and a half stars
This book came out March 31st, 2020
Followed by Murder at Wedgefield Manor
Borrowed as an audiobook from Libby 
Opinions are my own

Friends Like Us by Sarah Mackenzie

The first part of the book, we hit the ground running. We meet Bree and Jill, friends since childhood. Bree is about to find out whether or not the lump in her breast is cancer. Jill is still reeling from the death of her husband three years ago. We get to see Bree making an anti-bucket list and jumping right in. She sings karaoke and has a one-night stand. Except that she sees him again when he comes to look at doing renovations on her house.
Jill is only just starting to process her own widowhood and I wish we had gotten to see more of her work, both in figuring out how to grieve and her path back to her mother. In some ways, it seemed rather fast but it does sometimes happen that way and this wasn't a long book. 
The ending was rather fast as well. I enjoyed the middle the best where the characters and the relationships were really developing.

Three stars

This book came out January 26th, 2021

eBook borrowed from Cloud Library

Opinions are my own

The Pride of Jared MacKade by Nora Roberts

Lawyer Jared MacKade is struck dumb by the sight of Savannah Morningstar. She's impressed with him as well but she has little use for men other than her son. After her son's father ran away and her own father kicked her out when she was 16 and pregnant, it's not hard to understand where she's coming from. Add to that that men often assumed she was for sale based on her looks and it's surprising she was willing to have any relationship with Jared at all. But the two are in a relationship and it might even be there for the long run.
Of the four books in this series, I think this one has always been my favorite. Jared is a little more flexible than his brothers and rolls (generally) with the things that pop up in his relationship with Savannah. And Seth, her son, has a personality and isn't just a plot moppet.

Three stars

Follows The Return of Rafe MacKade

Followed by The Heart of Devin MacKade

This book came out October 25th, 1995

Ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

It's been 8 weeks since Curran told Kate that he wanted to have a naked dinner with her. So, the fact that he didn't show up is causing her some consternation. When he won't even come to the phone, she's pissed.
Three weeks later, she's called to the Steel Horse, a bar on the border of the necromancer/shifter areas. A shapeshifter has been infected with disease. And more impossible things are happening. Including Kate picking up a dog and meeting family she didn't really know she had.
A good book that really moved a lot of storylines ahead quite a bit. I'm looking forward to listening to the next one.

Four stars

Follows Magic Strikes

Followed by Magic Bleeds

This book came out May 25th, 2010

Borrowed as an audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews

Kate is working as a contractor for the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid. But she's distracted by the barely-legal Midnight Games that leave her beast friend Derek on the edge of death. She becomes the enemy of a team determined to win the games, the Reapers who are also determined to wipe out all half-breeds.
This is the book where we learn more about Kate's father as well.
I think this would be better read than listened too but that was my easiest option and the narrator is good so why mess with it?

Three stars

Follows Magic Burns

Followed by Magic Bleeds

This book came out March 31st, 2009

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own