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

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

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

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

Follows Dashing through the Snowbirds

Followed by Let It Crow, Let It Crow, Let It Crow

ARC of ebook kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

ARC of audiobook kindly provided by NetGalley

Opinions are my own

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

Follows A Body at a Boarding School

Followed by The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

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

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