To Have and to Heist by Sara Desai

Simi and Chloe are ride-or-dies. The book opens with Chloe running to help Simi when there is a man who is mostly dead in Simi's aunt house. So when Chloe calls after a white hacking job turns out to be not so... white, Simi jumps into action. It's there that she meets Jack. 

Jack is a professional thief. A charming thief. One who knows a lot about plants. But he's willing to help Simi. Sort of.

In the best sort of heist, they assemble a team. One that includes Simi's Uber driver, a former suitor, her coworker, and her eighty-something aunt. I may be missing someone but it's a full crew. 

And it's a fun story. I'm glad I listened to it because, if I had been reading, I may have given up because it took a bit to get started.

Three and a half stars

This book came out 

Followed by 'Til Heist Do Us Part

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Third Gilmore Girl Kelly Bishop

Has Kelly Bishop been in everything? No. But she sure has done a lot. From starring in the opening of "A Chorus Line" to starring in the seminal "Dirty Dancing" to the namesake of her book's title, "Gilmore Girls." We get to see a lot of the behind the scenes to the production of each of these as well as many more. While she does seem a little blasé about some things (working with Woody Allen) and glosses over other (totally her perogative), even if this book was written by a ghostwriter, you really do get the sense that tone is hers. 

Definitely get this as an audiobook if possible because it is great to hear her words in her voice.

Four and a half stars

This book came out September 17, 2024

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Passions in Death by J.D. Robb

A group of women are out on the town to celebrate a wedding. Before the night is over, one of the brides-to-be is dead in the Down and Dirty. Crack's club. 

Erin had worked hard to be able to save for her and Shauna's dream honeymoon. Her accomplice was supposed to bring in a coconut bra, grass skirt, and the shoes that had brought her to fiancée. When she walked into the private room, she was garroted.

This is an "In Death" where we don't know who the killers are ahead of time. We work through the case with Eve and Peabody. And it pretty much comes down to two people fairly soon. 

I liked this book. I love the whole series and think that Robb is still able to keep some things fresh while still maintaining a rhythm 59 books into the series.

Four stars

This book came out September 3, 2024

In Death #59

Follows Random in Death
Followed by Bonded in Death

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Botanist's Guide to Society and Secrets by Kate Khavari

Saffron has just gotten back from a botany conference in France. It didn't go quite the way she had hoped (sexism, sexism everywhere.) And getting back, she's still having to prove her place in the department. Luckily, Alexander is back from the Amazon and he's a bright light. 

In this book, we meet some brothers. Adrian, Alexander's brother was more connected to their mother's family (more Greek) while Alexander tended more toward their English father's lifestyle. He seems to be a part of the hard partying Bright Young Things.

Also hard partying? Saffron's friend and roommate Eliza. She also has a long-lost brother showing up out of the blue. Nicholas is even more mysterious. He didn't show up for their brother's funeral (Saffron's sweetheart) but he's here now and asking Saffron for help. But his question isn't as innocent as it appears and suddenly Saffron, Alexander, Eliza, and Nicholas are all in danger. 

Apparently everyone who meets her is just smitten by Saffron. No. Nearly every time she meets someone male they are overly interested in her. I think I'll try another book in the series but I'm almost ready to let this one go. In addition to the "everyone falls in love with Saffron", there are some reaches to get her involved in the mystery though at least one of the new characters may add some ways in.

Three stars

This book came out June 4, 2024

Saffron Everleigh Mysteries #3 

Follows A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality

Followed by A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon with Siiri Scott (Narrator)

Cash is 19 and not really thinking about her life. She works as a farm laborer (like she has since she was young) and she uses a fake ID to hustle pool and win free beers. There's a guy she's been hanging around with, Jim. He's got a wife and kids but she doesn't think about that. Really, just puts it out of her mind. Forefront in her mind though? The unknown Native American who was killed in a nearby farm field.

Between her dreams and a request from the sheriff, Cash discovers the name of the man's wife and heads over to talk to her. That leads to her getting involved in uncovering the murder.

Why would a request from the sheriff work on her? He's rescued her in any number of ways and has been a constant adult presence in her life. He's not quite a father figure but not NOT a father figure either so she wants to help. 

It's a fairly simple mystery and is really more about building the characters than creating a complicated story. Definitely interesting but I didn't love it as much as one of the ladies in my book club.

Three stars

This book came out February 20, 2017

Cash Blackbear Mysteries #1

Followed by Girl Gone Missing

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg

Goldberg weaves stories of her history meandering through the long past and the near past. Many stories include her mother and brother but not all of them. There are some stories that gloss over some deep issues and some that dig a little deeper. 

It is certainly interesting to hear how Goldberg ended up in Hollywood and how she got her name. There were parts where my mind wandered a bit but overall an enjoyable listen.

Four stars

This book came out May 7, 2024

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

I enjoyed this book and think I will look for it in a hard copy. 

Goldsmith talks not only about the things that you SHOULD do but also the things you should NOT do. He mentioned that too many of us fall into the trap of thinking that we can just do MORE of the thing that got us to a particular point to help us get to the next level. There is also a lot of food for thought about how we talk to the people around us, being realistic without too much positivity or negativity.

Four stars

This book came out January 9, 2007

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Juniper Bean Resorts to Murder by Gracie Ruth Mitchell

Juniper Bean has just hit a low point in her life (and her life has had some LOW points). So she's moving back to the town where she grew up. And, shocker, her new roommate is her old tutor. 

Aiden is NOT happy to see Juniper. She's the student who gave him a Christmas gift and then tried to kiss him. He could have gotten in so much trouble so he rebuffed her as hard as he could. Now she's living in his house acting as if that interaction never happened.

I never connected with Juniper nor could I really understand what the two of them had in common other than attraction. And this story line felt sort of adjacent to the mystery of the body that the two discover which is somehow tied in to the mystery of Juniper's birth.

Three stars

This book came out March 31, 2023

Happily Ever Homicide #1

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Joyful Recollections of Trauma by Paul Scheer

I really enjoy "How Did This Get Made" but wasn't sure I wanted to read about someone else's trauma. I did like that Paul Scheer read his own book. And it was spliced together with clips of Paul reading sections at various podcast shows. 

There was quite a bit of trauma but Paul tells the stories with a bit of humor (thus the title). But there are also a lot of stories just about Paul's life.

Four stars

This book came out May 21, 2024

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel

This is one of those books where, if the characters had just TALKED to each other, there wouldn't be nearly so much drama. Patel navigates this terrain more deftly than most authors but it's still quite a bit of sturm and drang where there doesn't need to be. There are also some really HEAVY topics that I wasn't expecting based on the cover or the description. 

Liya Thakker has a reputation in the Indian community. It's (mostly) undeserved but her parents believed the source of the rumors and have treated her badly ever since. But that hasn't stopped her father from simultaneously treating her badly but also trying to get her married off. Liya most definitely does NOT want to be married and has expressed that but he lives in a mysoginistic world and he keeps trying to force it on her as well. So, when a man shows up to what was explicitly promised to be a family dinner, she bolts. 

Jay Shah doesn't want to get married either but he's willing to go along with what his mother wants if it will make her happy. He's not happy to be literally bowled over by Liya. When he sees her out and about and then at work, he makes his displeasure very known. Because what he knows that she doesn't is that her company is about to go under and he's their best chance of it being saved. 

Really more like three and a half stars but rounded up for Goodreads.

Three and a half stars

This book came out May 12, 2020

The Trouble with Hating You #1

Followed by First Love, Take Two

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge by K. Eason

The fairies are messing with Rory's life again. It's been two years since the last book closed and Rory Thorne is happy being a space pirate with Thorsdottir, Zhang, and Jaed. She hasn't seen either Gritt nor Rupert nor Ivor. But that's who the fairy has appeared to. Specifically to Ivor. Specifically fairy #3. They are warning of impending war and telling them 

that the Multiverse will fall if they don't take action soon. 

Before Rupert and Gritt can catch up with Rory and team, they encounter a ship that is dead, something that is nearly impossible. And in that ship is something that could kill a world and keep it dead.

I would not read this book without having read the first in the series. But this is a fun series and worth reading both books. Eason has a way of handwaving and saying things like: and there was a big battle but we don't need to talk about that as though this is a historical story that took place long, long ago. 

Four stars

This book came out October 27, 2020

Follows How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Star Island by Carl Hiaasen

Ann DeLusia has a pretty sweet deal. She's a body double for a woman who has been a pop star for the last eight years, Cherry Pye. It's a recognizable story, stage parents who pushed their daughter into a situation so that they could have a star. Now, Cherry is fueled mostly by drugs and alcohol. Thus, the need for a body double or "undercover stunt double." Mostly, she hangs out in swanky hotels, eating room service, and earning a hefty pay check. 

Cherry has just mixed a pound of bird seed with her drugs so she's on her way to rehab so Ann is on deck. On her way to "vacation," the limo spins out and she's rescued by a mysterious stranger. They rob a boss but then she gets back to work.

The return of CHEMO! He his hired to be Cherry's bodyguard/sober companion. He protects Cherry but it's Ann who is kidnapped by a rabid fan/paparazzo. 

Didn't hang together as well as some of the other Hiaasen stories but an interesting read nonetheless.

Three stars
Skink #6

This book came out July 26, 2010

Follows Skinny Dip

Followed by No Surrender

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

My favorite Carl Hiaasen. This one starts when Chaz Perrone dumps his wife Joey over the side of the cruise they are taking in to celebrate their second anniversary. But she was a collegiate swimmer and makes it to the island where Mick Stranahan is living. Instead of going to the cops, Joey tries to figure out why Chaz tried to kill her. It turns out that Chaz is using his job as a biologist to cover up the fact that Red Hammernut is polluting the Everglades. 

Fun and craziness ensues. I love it.

Four stars

Skink, #5; Mick Stranahan #2

This book came out in 2004

Follows Sick Puppy; Skin Tight

Followed by 

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen

The first Mick Stranahan book. In this book, an old case is coming back to bite him in the butt. A nurse is blackmailing the doctor who killed a patient and has told the doctor that Stranahan is actually the one doing the blackmailing. The doctor hires a seven-foot tall, pasty white guy who has burns all over his face from electrolysis gone wrong. Meanwhile, a Maury Povich-type television personality is also on the case with his producer and a camera man. He is determined to get a big story any way he can, even getting plastic surgery from the doctor. Hijinks ensue

Four stars

Mick Stranahan #1

This book came out September 1, 1989

Followed by Skinny Dip

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Sure, I'll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford

Definitely absorb this as an audiobook. Maria Bamford's voice is so distinctive and it's a delight to listen to her. Her tone is wry, her stories sometimes hard to digest but she does, indeed, have a rich history of joining various groups that could be classified as cults whether it's a religion, a diet scheme, or any number of "anonymous" organizations. 

Four stars

This book came out September 5, 2023

Book borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Move the Body, Heal the Mind by Jennifer Heisz

Heisz talks about the notion of a Lazy Body, that we need to make ourselves move. Movement can help us in any number of ways.
It's an interesting book but a little down on any other methods outside of exercise. Preferably the exercise outside in this book.

Three stars

This book came out March 8, 2022

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma

Kareena Mann's life is crashing down around her. Her younger sister's wedding is pushing out all thoughts of anything else, her father is selling the house that Kareena has put in a ridiculous number of hours putting together, and the handsome man she just met ditched her in the middle of a makeout session. Now, a crushing hangover is making her regret agreeing to help her sister, a YouTube influencer, get to the set of the Dr. Dil show.

Dr. Prem Verma regrets leaving behind the amazing woman in the sweater vest. He had a hospital emergency. But he really regrets it now, especially since she's yelling at him for not believing in true love in the middle of his show. It causes any number of rumors about him in the Indian community and causes the funding for his community health center to be jeopardized. He needs Kareena as much as she needs him. If they have a fake relationship, he could get the funding for his center and she'll get the funding to buy her mother's dream house.
The fake relationship never really took off (thankfully) but the two still find their way to each other in the end.

Four stars

If Shakespeare Was an Auntie #1

Followed by Tastes Like Shakkar

This book came out March 15, 2022

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Not That Duke by Eloisa James

Lady Stella Corsham is short and freckled, not exactly a diamond of the first water. But she has a large dowry so she doesn't lack for suitors. She mostly tends to play chess with Sylvester Parnell, the Duke of Huntington and hang out with her friends.
Sylvester is in love with the most elegant young woman of the season (and heroine of book 2 in this series). Or so he tells himself. But he has these annoying... feelings... for Stella. Of course, because his mother declares she is the woman for him, he's going to push back against that but he eventually realizes that he would be happiest with Stella. Now he just has to convince her.
I liked that the characters mostly communicated pretty well. Sylvester definitely had some missteps at the end of the book but it was overall an enjoyable read.

Would-Be Wallflowers #3

Four stars

Follows The Reluctant Countess

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Random in Death by J. D. Robb

A young girl is attending an under 21 concert at a local club. Someone elbows her harshly, but it's the needle stick masked by the movement that kills her. She ends up dying in the arms of the lead singer.

In the way of things in the "In Death" books, that lead singer is Jake, amour of Eve Dallas's friend, Nadine. He is able to get ahold of Eve so that she becomes entwined in the story. The bigger problem of this story that this girl is only the first. Someone out there is targeting teens but there is no discernible connection between the victims. 

It will be up to Dallas and Peabody to figure out what is going on before the killer takes any more lives.

This is one of the Dallas stories where we see the point of view of the killer so we know a little more than Dallas does. There are also a number of characters from past stories and they are becoming more and more entwined as the Dallas stories go on. A few too many people (felt like some were shoehorned in) but a solid addition to the In Death series.

In Death #58

Four stars

This book comes out January 23, 2024

Follows Payback in Death

Followed by Passions in Death

ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Libby February 2024

A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn

Veronica and Stoker very nearly declared themselves in the last book. But they were interrupted by Stoker's brother, Tiberius. After that, Veronica fled halfway around the world for six months, afraid of her feelings (whether or not she'll admit that to herself). She's barely back when Tiberius lures her to a remote island, to  a house party in a castle with promises of the larvae of a rare butterfly. Veronica knows he has ulterior motives but she's willing to do what it takes to get the butterfly. And maybe to tweak Stoker's nose a bit as she poses as Tiberius' fiancée. 

But it is even more mysterious than it first appears. Three years ago, a woman disappeared on her wedding day and the family has been in hiding ever since. This house party is their first toe into coming back into society. But a seance brings a ghost back to life and old secretes rise again.

The story was fine but the real draw for me was the growth for Veronica. A bit for Stoker as well but their story moved enough to be an enjoyable read.

Four stars

This book came out March 12, 2019

Follows A Treacherous Curse

Followed by A Murderous Relation

Opinions are my own