Monday, July 31, 2023

July 2023 Monthly Rereads

Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews 
Meg Langslow #10
Three stars
This book came out October 28th, 2008
Followed by Swan for the Money
Audiobook from Audible



Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews
Meg Langslow #11
Three and a half stars
This book came out July 21st, 2009
Followed by Stork Raving Mad
Audiobook from Audible






The Bride Wore White by Amanda Quick
Burning Cove #7
Three and a half stars
This book came out May 2, 2023
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own




Sunday, July 30, 2023

Heroes by Stephen Fry

HIGHLY recommend listening to Fry read this book. I think it enhances the stories that he has brought into the 21st century (or at least the 20th). 
Stephen Fry has taken a number of the Greek myths and updated them for today. They are incredibly enjoyable and make the myths more accessible for today's readers. 

Four and a half stars
This book came out November 1, 2018
Follows Mythos
Followed by Troy
Borrowed as audiobook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Saturday, July 29, 2023

The Love Match by Catherine Fellows

Sara Heywood didn't expect to become an heiress to a large and rambling manor. She just wanted a legacy that would allow her to live in a small village, far away from the damp country she's grown up in. Instead, she is given the house, as long as she lives in it, until she marries. No one else in her family will receive their inheritance either. Her great aunt points out that she could solve everyone's problems by marrying one of her three cousins. It's probable that they (or Sara's brother) might try to knock her off instead as Sara's death would also release the manor. And there are some very suspicious things happening to Sara....
This was more a mystery than a romance (which is the reason I had it on my list in the first place) but entertaining for all of it's brevity. 

Four stars
This book came out in 1976
Hard copy of mine
Opinions are my own

Friday, July 28, 2023

Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts

Declan Fitzgerald's family is decidedly northern, which makes it so strange that he's drawn to buy a
supposedly haunted plantation house. One where a a woman died many years ago, killed by her husband's twin. He's also drawn to Angelina Simone, local bar owner. She is mysterious and gypsy-like and she's drawn to him as well. They'll have to battle their own attractions as well as threats both parental and supernatural.

Three and a half stars
This book came out October 15, 2001
Borrowed as ebook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Thursday, July 27, 2023

Birder, She Wrote by Donna Andrews

Meg is looking forward to a quiet afternoon in her hammock. Of course, that's not going to happen, she's got too much going on. Some of the new people moving in to Caerphilly have complaints (again) including against Edgar Brockton, the man who has been helping Meg's dad with his bees. Which is interesting because Meg herself has just gotten a new delivery. Her dad has come over to help get the hive set up when her grandmother Cordelia arrives with a journalist in tow. The journalist is following Cordelia around and that's going to include looking for a pre-Civil War graveyard. Too bad they stumble across a dead body.
If you are a regular Andrews reader, you can probably predict most of the beats of this story but that doesn't mean it's unenjoyable. It is a nice addition to the series.
I also got to listen to the audiobook and, as always, Bernadette Dunn only makes the story better. 

Four stars
This book comes out August 1, 2023
ARC of ebook kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss
ARC of audiobook kindly provided by NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Death on a Summer’s Day by Benedict Brown

Christopher and his grandfather are heading to the south of England for a visit to the seashore. They are taking a larger than usual number of servants with them. Included in the group? Alice, Christopher's great crush. Also included? Her new husband. 
On the way down, they meet with one of Grandfather's old friends, a professor. The professor mentions an invitation that Grandfather has sent to their childhood group. The six friends used to gather during the summer at Chandross Groves. Each had a nickname: Grandfather (Reprobus, an early christian known for his size and strength); the professor (Sampson); Elody (Lala - for melody); Philomena (Mimi); and Morwena Fairbright (Star). During one of the summers, Star died. Grandfather cites this as the reason he became a policeman. 
It is this old mystery that Grandfather would like Christopher to help solve. And it's nice because we do get to see Christopher start to grow as a detective in this story.

Four stars
This book came out July 31, 2021
Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla
Opinions are my own


Tuesday, July 25, 2023

The Unlikeable Demon Hunter by Deborah Wilde

The book opens with Nava stumbling home after a drunken night of revelry. She accidentally interrupts a ceremony that is meant to initiate her twin brother, one of the Chosen Ones, into the realm of demon hunters. Too bad she gets all the skills instead. Now she's working with a group of men that have only ever been a team of men (since time immemorial) and trying to figure out what to do with herself now that she has some direction.
I had heard about this book from the Smart Podcast, Trashy Books. They made the book sound fun and I guess it was but it was not a series that I think I want to continue. I wanted to see more growth from Nava and just didn't get it.

Three stars
This book came out April 18, 2017
Followed by The Unlikeable Demon Hunter: Sting
Ebook from Hoopla
Opinions are my own

Monday, July 24, 2023

I'm No Philosopher, But I Got Thoughts by Kristin Chenoweth

I love listening to biographies when they are read by their authors. This book is not very in depth but skims over a lot of Chenowith's life with additions of various meditations or prayers that you can use in your own everyday life. 
We do get to learn a little bit about Chenowith's life including the fact that she was adopted and a touch about her relationship and her husband, Josh. She touches lightly on various Broadway and TV shows that she was in though nothing goes into great depth.

Four stars
This book came out January 17, 2023
Borrowed as audiobook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Friday, July 21, 2023

Murder at a London Finishing School by Jessica Ellicott

Edwina and Beryl are just getting to settle in and enjoy some down time when a letter comes from their very own finishing school. There have been some mysterious noises and thefts that are causing an already stressed school to lose even more students. Their former headmistress, Miss Dupont, needs help. And they are startled to realize they recognize even more face including a former student who is now a teacher. Also there? The school bully whose younger daughter is about to enter the school. 
Too bad said bully doesn't seem to have improved with age. In fact, she seems to be wielding an even bigger stick. Or at least trying to. So is it any surprise that she's the person who ends up dead? And, of course, leaving behind any number of people who are happy to see her go. 
The ending of this one was rather surprising to me because I remember the other Ellicott books being rather fairly clued but this comes basically out of nowhere. It was fine, just unexpected. 

Beryl and Edwina Mystery #7
Four stars
This book come out July 25, 2023
Follows Murder through the English Post
Followed by 
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Mystery in the Highlands by Lydia Travers

I had not read the other two books in this series and I do feel like I missed out some by not having read them. This was an interesting twist on a familiar wealthy lady and her servant solving mysteries in that Maud and Daisy are actually partners in the detective firm. For this case, they are heading up to visit Daisy's cousin. The members of her local choir have been dying and she's worried they're not all accidental. 
Maud and Daisy join the choir to help round out the numbers so they can still compete in the best choir in Wales. Also joining? Lord Urquhart. It seems that he and Maud have a past that she is not anxious to revisit. When sinister poems start showing up outlining sinister prognostications for more people  from the choir, Maud and Daisy will have to put their heads together to try and prevent more deaths. 
I think this is a series that is better read from the beginning. 

Three stars
This book comes July 26, 2023
Follows Murder in the Scottish Hills
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Bookouture
Opinions are my own

Saturday, July 15, 2023

Downward Death by Stella Bixby

I grabbed this book as a part of the Romance Bookworms highlighting various free books. I don't love the cover but it was actually a pretty fun book. 
Told in the first person, we learn about Elle Vanderwick. She doesn't know much about her family but she is ecstatic to learn about her grandmother. Too bad she died right before Elle gets into town. It seems that she might have been able to tell Elle a bit more about herself, including who her father was and why her hair changes with her emotions. She also might have been able to tell Elle more about the man who is dead in her cornfield.
This book follows some familiar beats but I enjoyed the way Bixby subverted the usual love triangle between Elle's ex and the handsome man who used to help her grandmother around the house.

Three and a half stars
This book came out January 19, 2021
Followed by Bowling Blunder
Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

Sunday, July 9, 2023

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano

At the end of the last book, Finlay and Vero found themselves in the sights of Feliks Zhirov, Russian mob boss. He wants her to find out who the killer is that goes by the name EasyClean. All she wants to do is clean up her eating habits, stop having bodies in her minivan, and avoid all men. This addition to her list is not helpful. Especially since she and Vero find themselves in the police academy. And who is one of the trainers? Nick? Oh yea. But also there is EasyClean as well as Finlay's noisy neighbor.

How are they ever going to get through this one?
Very funny, just like the other books. The Nick/Finlay relationship is a little drawn out and something needs to happen soon but otherwise an enjoyable read.

Three and a half stars
This book came out January 31, 2023
Borrowed as ebook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Saturday, July 8, 2023

The Leap to Leader by Adam Bryant

This is  a really interesting book, sort of a mix between self help and interviews with people are considered leaders. I liked a lot of the advice that these leaders gave and that is what the author was trying to do, to get down to the X factors to make you a good leader rather than try and explore every possibility. 
Some of my favorite advice included: Merge into leadership (don't try to make your mark on a place before you see how it works.) I also liked that you need to look at your peer relationships as much as anything else. And the advice that being a leader will completely reshape who you are. 
Bryant also asks people to define their values and make sure that you are consistent in your behaviors, to look at how they live those values at work, identify why they are important to your success, what you would say about your leadership approach and philosophy in order to recruit someone to your team, and whether your team members would describe you in the same way. 
Eminently readable, this book does give a lot of good advice that seems to come from a range of people not just those who had leadership handed to them.

Four and a half stars
This book comes out July 11, 2023
ARC kindly provided by Harvard Business Review Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own


Friday, July 7, 2023

Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective by Katie Siegel

This book is an absolutely amazing read and I am very much looking forward to reading other books in the series.
What happens when a girl detective grows up? Can they ever actually live up to the potential that they showed when they were younger? That is what Charlotte is wrestling with right now. Everyone else who was in her detecting group has grown up and moved on but she is stuck. What is she supposed to do with her life? It's not like there's much call for a has-been child prodigy. 
This story looks at mental illness, it looks at perception, and it deals with a bit of the grittier things in life. Charlotte has been closing in on herself for the past year and it's affecting her family and friends. She's given another case but is she going to be brave enough to move past her own insecurities?

Four and a half stars
This book came out June 27, 2023
Charlotte Illes #1
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Saturday, July 1, 2023

Cursed Princess Club Vol. 2 by LambCat

In the first volume we met three sisters. The oldest two are absolutely lovely and accomplished. The third, Gwendolyn, is everyone's favorite. She has a giant heart and is an accomplished cook but she is just not pretty. In fact, she is rather ugly. She never knew until her father wants to make an alliance with the Plaid Kingdom by marrying his daughters off to the other king's sons. That's when Gwendolyn found out how other people see her. Luckily, she also discovered the Cursed Princess Club which was open to all princesses (and a prince, because why discriminate?). 
This time, we're seeing some growing pains. Someone is leaving Gwendolyn notes asking her to meet them in the barn. And it's there that she discovers one of the secrets of the club. She also discovers that there is a club for cursed princes. However, the curses may be more of their own making. 
This book ends on a bit of a cliff hanger with the Argyle Prince seemingly attracted to Gwen and asking her out. But are his motives pure?
An absolutely lovely addition to the series. I cannot wait for book three.

Four and a half stars
This book comes out July 4, 2023
Follows Vol. 1
Followed by Vol. 3
ARC kindly provided WEBTOON Unscrolled and NetGalley
Opinions are my own