Sunday, October 19, 2025

The Burning Court by John Dickson Carr

I picked this one up because I enjoy John Dickson Carr but I forgot how off the rails the solutions can be. The writing throughout most of the book is smooth and interesting. And it stays interesting but I don't think it's a solution that would be put out today. 
A publisher, Edward Stevens is reading a book on female murderers by a a reclusive author. He is astonished to see a picture that looks startlingly like his wife, down to the bracelet that she wears. But by the time he gets home, the picture is no longer in the manuscript. 
That concern is overshadowed by the fact that he is called because his friend believes that the friend's uncle, Miles Despard, was murdered. Stevens is skeptical because the idea had never been presented before. There WAS the testimony of the housekeeper that there was a woman dressed in old fashioned clothes who seemingly walked through a wall that has been covered up for over two hundred years. She has nothing to gain by saying that  and more evidence starts to mount. What actually happened?

Three stars
This book came out in 1937, reissued November 4, 2025
ARC kindly provided by Penzler Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Saturday, October 18, 2025

Lips Like Sugar by Jess K. Hardy with Stephen Borne (Narrator), Andi Arndt (Narrator)

Cole Sanderson is used to strange women kissing him, he used to be a rock star after all. But he's not expecting the baker who is making his best friend's wedding cake to lay one on him. Nor is he expecting her to ask him to be her pretend boyfriend. 
Mira Harlow is desperate. Her ex is back in town with his perfect wife and she's in town with her son and her mother. So she kisses the next guy who walks in the door. And, the two know that they won't work. Cole is big city, always on the move; Mira is a homebody raising her teenager and helping her mother who is slowly descening into Alzheimers. 
I was frustrated by these characters because I felt like they felt like they were so in a rut of who they thought they were that they took a long time to crawl out of it.

Four stars
This book came out March 28, 2024
Bluebird Basin #2
Follows Come as You Are
Followed by Wish You Were Here
Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla
Opinions are my own

Friday, October 17, 2025

You're so Basic by Angela Casella

Danny and Mira are going to be roommates. Danny lives in his friend's apartment. His friend has moved in with his girlfriend so the girlfriend's sister is moving in with Danny. Both think it's going to be an interesting experience because Danny is an introvert who doesn't talk a lot, works from home, and is a morning person while Mira loves to be around people, owns her own bar, and is very much a night owl. 
The two both have previous relationships that have damaged them in their own ways but, when Mira breaks her foot and the two end up spending a lot of time together. 
There is also subplot that I didn't think was really needed about people spying on Danny but that whole point could have been left out as it did nothing to serve the plot. 

Three stars
This book came out 
Followed by You're so Vain
Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

Thursday, October 16, 2025

And Then There Was The One by Martha Waters

Georgie lives in a sleepy village, Buncombe-upon-Woolly. Well, it was a sleepy village. Until all the murders. There have been enough of them that there has been an actual uptick in visitation to said sleepy village (people who she refers to as the "Murder Tourists.")
She's not so sure that the latest death in town isn't one more, Mr. Penbaker. The local doctor, an admirer of Georgie's sister, says it was natural causes but Georgie isn't so sure. So she writes to the famous detective, Delacey Fitzgibbons. But he does not come. Instead, he sends his assistant, Sebastian Fletcher-Ford. And what use is that supposed to be to Georgie?
Her opinion does not improve upon meeting the man himself. He is far too handsome and well-dressed to be of any use. 
There is a lot of tongue-in-cheek winks to the reader in this book and I quite enjoyed them. Things like the murder tourists, Georgie noting that she did not enjoy romance in her mysteries

Four stars
This book came out October 14, 2025
ARC kindly provided by Atria Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Fatal Descent by John Rhode and Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr)

Dr. Horatio Glass is visiting the office of an eccentric publisher. He is friends with the fiance of Mr. Tallant's niece who also works for the company, Temple Publishing. It is in Mr. Tallant's private elevator that he is killed, in between floors . He was not a very nice person (though he didn't seem particularly evil from what little we saw of him.) But the why isn't nearly as mysterious as the how. How could he have been shot in an elevator having been closed in alone just moments before?
I think this was probably a fair play mystery, but I don't know enough about said clues to be able to say. Certainly a product of its time but not as bad as it could have aged. 

Three stars
This book came out in 1939
Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla
Opinions are my own

Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Cher: The Memoir, Part One by Cher, Stephanie J. Block (Narrator)

There are very few people who are mononyms and Cher is possibly the most famous. She has had hits that span multiple decades, had a hit TV show, and won an Oscar for her movies. This book covers a bit of her grandmother's story, some of her mother's, and then into her own birth. 
She had a peripatetic childhood, moving with her  mother as she married and divorced and married and divorced... quite a number of times. At one point, Cher was even left in an orphanage for months after her father ghosted the family.
Her story is fascinating and she is an incredibly strong woman to have made her way through so many hardships in life. I'm looking forward to Part Two. 

Four stars
This book came out November 19, 2024
Borrowed as audiobook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Monday, October 13, 2025

Smart Brevity by Roy Schwartz, Jim Vandehei, Mike Allen

Write less, get more readers. Basically the theme of this book. And it's true. I especially liked the admonition to never have more than 20 words on a PowerPoint slide. My organization tends to present with walls of text that are thoroughly unhelpful. I also liked the info on how to run a short and effective meeting. 

Three and a half stars
This book came out September 20, 2022
Borrowed as hard copy from the library
Opinions are my own