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07:33 pm
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A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
This is a sequel to Her Royal Spyness and you really need to read the first one in order for some of the story to make sense.
This cozy mystery is set in Depression era Britain, mostly London. Lady Georgiana is 34th in line for the throne and as such has no money and is not supposed to have a job. She starts a business on the sly. (The first book deals more with this. In this one, it's more on a back burner, so to speak.)
The Queen asks our heroine to look after Princess Hannelore from Germany and be a chaperon as well as show her a good time. But the Princess is all too intent on the good time part of the process.
Murders abound, implicating Georgiana and the Princess. There's also a love interest for Georgiana.
How can it miss?! Actually, I enjoyed the first of the series more than this one. I can't remember why though.
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07:30 pm
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I shouldn't even be doing this! by Bob Newhart
This book has bits that Bob Newhart has done and stories of his life. It's pretty funny. You get to learn quite a bit about him without it being a gross tell all. For instance, he's afraid of flying. One time, during a routine, his toupee slid off of his head.
Recommended!
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10:22 am
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Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood
This is the second in a series. The first was called Earthly Delights. They are set in Melbourne, Australia in the current time although I keep wondering if they were set in the 90s. The author talks about floppy disks an awful lot and some other things which are dated. But it looks like we here in the States are just behind in the series since the book lists 2 more in the series after this one. And I know those aren't out yet.
Anyway. Corinna is a baker with her own shop. She has a hunky PI boyfriend named Daniel. What I totally like about this series is that Daniel is not always telling Corinna to butt out because she'll get hurt if she investigates. He treats her as an equal. Also, Corinna is overweight and is happy with it. (I always wonder about the characters in books who eat everything they want, but are slim. I think they are the author's wanna be bodies sometimes.)
Back on track.
Corinna lives and has her shop in a cool building. Two new tenants move in and it is clear that the man has something to hide. The lady who moves in is friendly enough. In her building is also a chocolate shop called Earthly Delights. She gets one of chocolates and finds it has some kind of horrible chili sauce in it. the chocolates have been sabotaged.
In addition, Selima, an employee of Earthly Delights goes missing. And a crazy so-called messiah beats up on Daniel.
It sounds kind of complicated but it's not, because of the way it is written. I liked this book a lot and will read the sequel when it comes out. It's not stellar and for some reason it wasn't a quick read for me (I like those best - otherwise I can get mixed up as to what's going on). The characters, though, are an absolute delight.
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09:51 am
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Mighty Old bones by Mary Saums
This is a sort of a cozy mystery. It takes place in a small Southern town (in Alabama). The death they are trying to solve took place centuries ago, and I thought it was going to be more of an archaeological puzzle than anything else. Then after I got further into the book it turned out not.
The two main characters are Phoebe, an elderly women who is native to Tullulah, Alabama (the small town) and Jane, an elderly lady who retired in this town. jane inherited a great tract of forested land just outside of town and feels a need to keep the forest intact and sort of secret. Some people get to come into the forest - Phoebe on a regular basis (but who doesn't like nature so much) and others on a need to know basis, basically.
Anyway, it turns out that these ladies are adept at using guns of different types. And they use them at the end, which is why it's only a "sort of" cozy mystery.
There's a lot more to the book than this. But I don't want to give away the plot and also a lot happens.
This is the fifth in the series and I never read the earlier books. I made out pretty good, I thought, for not knowing anything about anything in the previous books.
I really liked the characters and the sense of place in this book. I didn't like the shoot out and the heavy reliance on guns and arms. The way the author inserts the supernatural into the book is superb and I don't say that lightly. There are ghosts and auras and a medicine woman/witch. All this is treated well throughout the book. I don't know if it is consistent within the series though.
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07:37 pm
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Venus Envy by Shannon McKelden
This is a romance story. Venus/Aphrodite is on earth, functioning as a fairy godmother. Zeus banished her from Mount Olympus for some unstated reason and has doomed her to matchmaking for some indeterminate amount of time.
So. Venus enters the life of our heroine (I've forgotten her name and sort of lost the book) who is being wooed by Luke the hunky Mr March firefighter. Due to her past mistakes in relationships our heroine does not want to date. Venus' job is to get her to see the light and notice Luke and fall in love with him (since he's already in love with her).
Now at first I was worried that Luke was some sort of stalker dude. But the author was able to put those worries to rest.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, except for the last couple of pages, which let me down. It was a quick read and even though it was a romance, it was different from the typical formula.
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07:25 pm
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Conviction by Skylar Hamilton Burris
I figure you guys must be awful sick and tired of the PnP stuff by now. I'm not so skip this if YOU are.
This book is a sequel to PnP. It's written pretty well, if you can ignore some of the misspellings and typos. There are about 5 misspellings in the book.
It takes place after Darcy's and Elizabeth's marriage and is about Georgiana and her suitors. It's not a surprise who is the best guy for her but it makes a nice story watching her (and him) figure it out.
I enjoyed this one. I did have to skip the sermons (one of the characters is a vicar), but there aren't too many.
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11:08 am
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The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James
This is an imaginary story of part of Jane Austen's life before she was published. Of course, there's the obligatory romance which is supposed to explain how she got romances and jilts so accurately.
Some of the language was jarring. I usually go into these with not too high expectations (you really just can't) but for this one I did think it would be better than the average. For average, it was pretty good.
I wished I'd had a better remembering of Sense and Sensibility because most of the story revolves around that plot. So I think I missed some of the nuances.
Other that all that, it was, of course, a Jane Austen book.
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11:04 am
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Uncharted Territory by Connie Willis
This is a novella from 1994.
Two explorers are on a foreign planet with one of the indigenous species charting the territory. A "loaner" comes along. A loaner is someone who comes on one of the charting expeditions. This is the story of that expedition.
I can't say a lot about this book because little surprises pop up here and there and there's some twists.
Suffice it to say that I liked it just as much as all Connie Willis stories. It was an excellent read and of course quite short.
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10:50 am
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Simply Perfect by Mary Balogh
This is the fourth in a series of romances. Even though I knew the others existed, I decided not to read them. It didn't hurt my experience of the book too much, I think.
Claudia Martin is the owner of a school for girls in Bath. She plans on escorting 2 of her graduates to London for her to inspect their potential governess positions. She is going to talk to her man of business about it, since he had not been very forthcoming about where the girls would be working.
One of Claudia's early teachers (and I'm sure the subject of a earlier book) sends a note with a Marquess for her. He offers the party the use of his carriage since he also will be going to London. Claudia hates all aristocracy but decides to accept anyway.
Of course, he woos her eventually and they fall in love and have obstacles to overcome.
This is a Regency Romance. Some of the feelings and actions I just couldn't believe. Nevertheless, I mostly enjoyed reading the book.
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10:44 am
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Dusssie by Nancy Springer
This is an older kids or younger YA book.
Dussie gets her period and the next morning she wakes up with her hair having turned into snakes. Her mom is not surprised.
Mom is actually a gorgon and Dussie is short for Medusa (of course - even I saw that one coming a mile off).
Dussie spends the next month or so not going to school and trying to figure out how to get these snakes off her head.
It's quite an amusing read. It goes very quickly, of course, since it's meant for such a young audience. I would definitely recommend this for a young girl and for anyone who wants an easy read.
The one thing is that there were so many things that you were supposed to be surprised at that I saw coming. I haven't even mentioned the big one.
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05:45 pm
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Lady Catherine's Necklace by Joan Aiken
Loved it. This is another PnP sequel, only it's about Lady Catherine and Anne. Colonel Fitzwilliam plays a part in it too, as do the Collinses.
It's quite a short novel at 172 pages.
A brother and sister, the Delavals, are driving near Rosings when the carriage suffers a mishap. The sister hurts her ankle getting out of the overturned carriage. Of course, there is nothing for it but for them to stay at Rosings. Mostly this is because they are quick posh and the brother is very charming.
Anne takes a dislike to them. Mr Delaval wants to make changes to the gardens, including kicking out some painters from their home of 20 or 30 years on Rosings grounds.
It's a lovely book since Anne grows emotionally in it, as does Lady Catherine and Mrs. Collins' sister Maria.
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05:37 pm
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Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella
This chic lit novel was pretty darn good. It's a romance and funny without being romance-formulaic. It's probably chic-lit-formulaic though.
Emma goes on a business meeting in Glasgow. On the flight home to London there's is terrific turbulence and she's frightened the plane is going to go down. This prompts her to tell the man in the seat next to her all her dirty little and big secrets. They all just come tumbling out. Of course, she expects never to see him again so it's perfectly safe.
At work the next week, she finds out that the man is the owner of the company she works for. She is mortified.
Of course, he is intrigued by this woman. They go out for a date. But first she breaks it off with perfect boyfriend Connor. Any more and I'd be telling you the whole story.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought Emma was a common woman type of character who I could relate to for the most part.
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08:57 pm
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Wanted
Missmea has 2 male neutered 1 year old cats which need homes. They have schizophrenic lady names though.
River needs a permanent home.
Kaylee needs a home for about 3 months.
If you or someone you know can help out, please let us know.
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05:21 pm
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Careless in Red by Elizabeth George
After his pregnant wife Helen is murdered, Thomas Lynley goes walkabout in Cornwall. He has been walking for 6 weeks, no shower, no changes of clothing etc when the book starts. He's quite the ruffian-looking person.
Of course he finds a body. At first it looks like an accident, but it is proven to be a homicide. Some one messed with the equipment.
The local police ask him to stick around and help out. Havers makes her way into the story as well.
Santo, the dead teen ager, was rock climbing when he died.
Who knew, by the way, that there is some good surfing to be had in Cornwall? This book is all about the surfing, in a way.
This book is also all about children and parents and what each want from the other. The teens want to be their own persons. The adults in this book want their kids to be their own ideals and they especially do not want the kids to make the same mistakes they did. It's a theme.
There are lots of hidden or mysterious pasts that need to be cleared up before we can know who the murderer is.
This is a very long book - over 600 pages. And it took me a long time to read. It was good, but not an easy or quick read.
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05:53 pm
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Stomach Flu
Well, Hazelchaz and Missmea have the flu. My job here is to inform our friends what to eat to cope with it.
The first 24 hours, you eat nothing, and drink only clear liquids like 7up and apple juice and green tea. No oj, no milk shakes.
The second 24 hours, you're allowed to branch out into eating bananas, rice, apple sauce and toast.
The doc said not to take anti diarrheals because the body is trying to get rid of the icky stuff inside and the medication would prohibit that.
End public service announcement.
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01:10 pm
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A Visit to Highbury by Joan Austen-Leigh
This is a re-write of the Emma story from the points of view of 2 people. One is a woman who runs a school in Highbury (the one Harriet went to) and the other is her sister.
I just loved this book.
We get lots more than just Emma and that story. We also get the story of the sister's marriage and how it changed over time. It is very gossipy book.
It's also in the form of letters between the two sisters and that is one of my very favorite forms to read.
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01:01 pm
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The Game by Diana Wynne Jones
This is a children's novella.
Hayley lives with her grandfather and grandmother until she commits some deed so heinous her grandmother throws her out immediately and sends her to live with an aunt. This proves wonderful for Hayley who has been home schooled her whole life. Now she gets to play with other children.
Turns out the cousins have a favorite game called The Game. They each go onto the mythosphere and search for random objects. It turns out that going onto the mythosphere was what had gotten Hayley into so much trouble. She plays with the best of them.
This book was a little slow at the beginning, but when things started happening, they happened quick. This isn't one of the author's best, in my opinion. Things are a little too mixed up in terms of the myths involved. But I would definitely recommend it for her fans and for fans of children's fantasy.
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10:10 am
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Mr . Knightley's Diary by Amanda Grange
This book is based on Jane Austen's Emma, for those few of you who don't know who Mr Knightley is.
Well, I only read Emma once and saw the movie once and both were a long time ago.
I don't have much to say about this book. Because it's been so long, I can't figure out how true to the original this is and I can't analyze how close this Mr Knightley is to the original.
But I did really enjoy reading the book!
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09:36 am
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The Sharing Knife: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold
Passage is volume three of a trilogy? Series? I don't know. Like everything she writes, it is fantastic.
In this fantasy novel, there are 2 types of people: the Farmers and the Lakewalkers. Lakewalkers can do "magic" or rather they can sense the "ground" in everything and use that in ways the Farmers see as magic.
In volume 1 and 2 Dag (Lakewalker) and Spark/Fawn (Farmer) met, then married. Now they're on the honeymoon of a sorts. They've decided to see the ocean. And to do that, they are going to go down the river on a boat with Berry and crew. "Crew" becomes complicated pretty quickly.
Berry's looking for her father and her betrothed on the way because they disappeared last season. So there are adventures.
I loved this book, but you really need to have read the first and second ones as well, in order to understand some of the personality conflicts that happen.
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07:49 am
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Murder Under the Loon by Gerald Anderson
This short mystery takes place in the wilds of Minnesota in the dead of winter. John Hofstead decides to retire from his insurance business and must decide who is going to take over.
He decides to take all his employees and their wives on a retreat. By the first night he has decided who will take over.
Most of the group goes snow mobiling. John hits his head on the underside of a 20 foot cement loon. At first it's deemed an accident, but the sheriff quickly deduces that it was murder.
There's a twist.
I figured out mostly who did it and why. But it was still a pretty good mystery. I liked the vernacular and the way epople were described and how they related to one another.
If you like mysteries that take place in that area, as I do, and you like cozies and police procedurals (this is a mix), you should like this book.
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