Rebel Hard by Nalini Singh

When Nayna Sharma was 14, her sister ran away to get married. This wouldn't be so bad if their family weren't so darn traditional. Seeing how it affected her family, Nayna has since become the perfect daughter. And more and more she's starting to feel like she's in the perfect cage. Now that she's agreed to an arranged marriage, she sees the door to the cage swinging shut. For one night, she just wants to be a "normal" twenty-eight-year-old woman. So she goes to a party and makes out with a guy. At least she does until she sticks her foot in her mouth. And he disappears. Until he shows up at her parents as the next possible marriage match...

Raj Sen is traditional and he wants a traditional life. That means a wife who stays home and takes care of him and, hopefully, his future children. But when he meets Nayna at a party, he decides that he needs to find her again before he can fall into marriage. He is shocked that the dutiful daughter he is meeting is the same woman. But he asks her if they can see where the relationship is going to go. Working around old pains, meddling families, and family health issues makes the path to an HEA rather hard but worth it.

I might have been anticipating this book a little too much. It was very good but I got rather annoyed with the frequent mentions of Nayna being so dutiful and Raj being long suffering. It may also have been different if I had read it rather than listening to it. edited to add: It was different reading it. I liked it so much more as an ebook.

Four stars

This book came out September 18, 2018

Follows Cherish Hard

Followed by Love Hard

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as ebook from Libby January 2022

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker

I really enjoyed this book. At it's core, it's really about becoming more intentional - meditating on why we want to be around other people. And it should go deeper than - it's my friend's birthday, I want to celebrate her 365ish days around the sun. I actually read this to see if it would be a useful book for work and it really would be. In terms of creating meetings, fast get togethers, and even massive fundraising banquets, thinking about the WHY is as important as the actually DOING of an event. Some home truths that hit home for me as well were that more is not always merrier and that a host can't just chill - they need to ride the balance between completely hands off and dictating every minute.

Four stars

This book came out May 15th, 2018

Hard copy I passed on

Opinions are my own

The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews

Meg has her hands full, not only with her own twins but also Timmy, whose mother joined the army and is now stationed in Germany. So when she wakes up one night to the sounds of animals, she's confused. The only animal they have is her mother-in-law's (now her and Mike's) dog, Spike, and he's with her. When she goes downstairs, she discovers her father, grandfather, brother and the local vet moving animals into her living room. It seems the CORSICANs (Members of the Committee Opposed to the Ruthless Slaughter of Innocent Captive Animals) have broken into the local shelter after the news that the county manager and mayor have decided that it is too expensive to keep up the no-kill policy. This is only one of the most recent controversial decisions made by the new manager and mayor.

Then, the fifth member of the break-in crew turns up dead, some really hard questions have to be asked. Was it one of the many women that this fella was sleeping with? Or something more sinister?

Four stars

This book came out July 19th, 2011

Follows Stork Raving Mad

Followed by Some like It Hawk

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews

Caerphilly College has no heat anywhere on campus which means that all of the students have been outsourced and Meg and her professor husband's house is a likely spot since it is large and rambling. That includes one student whose final thesis project is interpreting a Spanish play into English and then performing it. The 80-something playwright is discovered to be alive and has even flown over for the event. However, the head of the English Department (which oversees the drama students as well) has shown up with her minion from the President's Office saying that the thesis is unacceptable. Since this isn't the first time she has proved herself to be thoroughly unlikable, it's no surprise that she ends up dead. In fact, the bigger surprise is exactly how many people actually tried to kill her. 

There was a lot going on in this one but I think it is the basis for at least one of the twin's names.

Three stars

This book came out July 6th, 2010

Follows Swan for the Money

Followed The Real Macaw

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

The Ravishing of Lol Stein by Marguerite Duras

I had had this book on my shelf for a long time and I can't remember why. Perhaps I'll look back through my lists and see when I added this book to my TBR shelf. It might have worked for me when I was younger but it was very abstract, switching from third person omniscient to first person. Very hard to follow. 

And that could be what makes it interesting; it is not true stream of consciousness but it does unfold rather like a series of memories. The story is told from the eventual lover of Lol Stein and starts with the memories of his former lover, Lol's friend. And I think that is what makes it good "literature", it's a new theme even it makes for harder reading.

Three stars

This book came out in 1964

Hard copy of a book I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

Not my favorite Agatha Christie for sure but an okay read nonetheless.  Part of my yuck includes casual racism and romanticizing of physical violence. 

Short synopsis: Girl, who recently lost her father, sets out to find adventure. When she witnesses an accidental death on a train platform, it sets off a train of excitement which leads to South Africa as well as several attempts on her life. Colonel Race is actually a minor character but the events in this book do lead him in to his life of fighting crime.

Three stars

This book came out May 1923

Follows The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Followed by Poirot Investigates

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

No Stone Unturned by James W. Ziskin

Hot on the heels of the last book, hotshot reporter Eleanor "Ellie" Stone has been asked to come and photograph a crime scene. It is the lovely, beloved daughter of the local judge. She is able to scoop the competition but she is also asked by the judge, personally, to figure out what happened to his daughter.

There are many twists and turns in the case; Jordan might have been a beloved daughter but that didn't mean that she didn't have her own secrets. Then her best friend is murdered as well. Ellie might have the closest shave of her life in trying to figure out what is going on in this story.
These books are getting a little too grim for me so I may stop reading but I think that there are some readers who will appreciate the story.

Three stars

Follows Styx & Stone

Followed by No Stone Unturned

This book came out October 15th, 2013

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own