Can You Crack the Code? by Ella Schwartz

Schwartz introduces a number of different ways that people could hide messages using numbers, switching letters, or even creating machines. Each chapter focuses on one way to create a code and then provides examples for the reader to try. Weaving a bit of fun with history, this is a book I would have devoured as a middle schooler.

Three stars
This book came out March 26
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley

Making of a Manager by Julie Zhou

I've been reading a lot of books on management lately and this is the one that has spoken to me the most. Ms. Zhuo has been a manager since she was 25. When she started, no one told her how to go on. She had to figure a lot of it as she went out. Here, she talks about a wide breadth of topics related to management including how to build trust; how not to waste meetings; how to creat a culture for your own team. I got this book from NetGalley but think I will get it for myself.

This book came out March 19th
Four stars
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley

A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan

Spending the summer volunteering in the library is not how Jamie Bunn envisioned her vacation. But she made a Very Big Mistake and she ended up here. It's not bad. She really likes her coworkers and seeing the people in the library is really opening her up to the world around her.
This is definitely a This Is a Punishment That Will Change Your World In a Wonderful Way book but it is done deftly, with characters that come alive and keep the readers engaged.

Four stars
This book comes out May 7
ARC kindly provided by Edelweiss; Opinions are my own

Stone Bridges by Carla Neggers

Adrienne Portale was introduced in one of the previous books in the series as the "surprise, I'm your daughter" character. She's back in Knightsbridge as the innkeeper for Maggie and Olivia's place. There was a cute conceit at the beginning of the book introducing her to all of the townspeople (and thus to the reader as well.) It was more than a little blatant but maybe slightly better than just throwing everyone in. And it makes sense since there are a lot of cast members that show up. Mainly because our hero, Adam Sloan, who is working on the stone wall at the inn has a lot of siblings who realistically will show up in the book.

This is a slow burn book. It makes it so that the ending was a bit rushed. A nice read but not much of a story.

Three stars
This book came out March 26
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Last Second by Catherine Coulter

After she came back from space, Dr. Nevaeh Patel was changed. She had made contact. But no one believed her. Grounded by NASA, she's now working for a private firm helmed by Jean-Pierre Broussard and they're about to launch a satellite. But this satellite has a hidden time bomb on it, one that could take out large swathes of communications.
Jean-Pierre is distracted. He is more concerned with unearthing the shipwreck thought to contain the Holy Grail than tracking what his staff is doing. Too bad Nevaeh wants the Grail for her own purposes.
Nicholas Drummond and Michaela Caine are dragged back into the thick of things in the hopes that they can stop this mad scientist before she starts WWIII.
This was generally better than the last few Brit in the FBI stories. I think the action was fine but wish we had gotten a bit more growth in our characters.

Three stars
This book came out March 26
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Big Nate Payback Time by Lincoln Peirce

Once again, Lincoln Pearce gives us a great book with Big Nate as the protagonist. All of our favorites are here, Mrs. Godfrey (is Nate really allergic? Or is there something else going on?), Gina, Teddy, and Francis. There's even a newbie to detention that Nate tries to take under his wing with somewhat... dubious... results.
Four stars
This book came out March 19
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole

Nya Jerami  and Johan von Braustein are both characters we've met previously in this series. Nya Jerami is from Thesolo and is most known in her country for her father's attempt to poison the heroine in the first book. Johan is literally a red-headed stepchild, mostly known for being a party prince whose mother had a great romance with the king but then fell tragically ill. Both of them are scarred by their pasts. Nya spends almost as much time on dating games as she does in real life and Johan hides his kind heart behind a hard-partying exterior, mostly so he can protect his brother. But both their situations are coming to a head. And it ends with a fake engagement. Well, that's toward the first third of the book so there's really a lot that comes after including some huge revelations about Nya's father and the brother that Johan is trying to protect.
Yes, this book is about royals but there are themes that affect the larger population for sure. People who are judged by the sins of their parents, people who don't quite fit in with how they are supposed to behave, etc. and I think Cole does a pretty good job of handling them.

Four stars
This book comes out April 30th
ARC kindly provided by publisher and Edelweiss