Still Life by Louise Penny

by Carol14 Comments
Still Life by Louise Penny In this traditional mystery, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team are called to investigate a suspicious death in the small rural village of Three Pines. Jane Neal, a long-time resident of the town who seems to have been loved by everyone, is found dead in the woods. Although her friends and neighbors hope it is a tragic accident, Gamache believes otherwise. The strength of this book for me was the characters. The town is populated by an interesting group of people  who are fully-developed, with hurts and disappointments, loves and dreams. In a lot of ways, they are examples of people we meet everyday, people who may very well have secrets behind their own doors. Jane herself is a wonderful character, integral to the story even though we never meet her alive. She lives on in the stories her friends tell, the way her dog mourns,  and in her paintings, one of...
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Y is for You

by Carol7 Comments
You Slay Me by Katie MacAlister All Aisling Grey had to do was deliver a centuries old, gold dragon statue to her uncle's client in Paris, but instead she finds the woman murdered and a strange, sexy man lingering nearby. Drake Vireo claims to be with Interpol, but before Aisling can verify this, he, along with the statue, disappears. Now the French police's prime suspect in the case, Aisling must figure out who really killed the woman and exactly where Drake disappeared to with her artifact. Aisling's efforts to clear her name become even more complicated once she learns she is a Guardian (as in guarding the portals to hell), and dishy Drake is a real-life dragon (otherwise known as wyvern). Scouring Paris' occult community for clues, Aisling, armed with a crabby demon in the shape of a Newfoundland dog, finds herself not only mixed up in murder and magic but also tangling and tangoing with a sexy dragon. Graced with...
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Simple Pleasures

by Carol11 Comments
Gamache had risen before the sun that morning. His little travel alarm said 5.55. He was always delighted when a digital clock had all the same numbers. (pg. 174-175) It was a tranquil few minutes, and Gamache appreciated every calm moment, pouring rich full bodied café au lait from the thermos into the little metal cup, and burrowing into the paper bag for a flaky croissant, still warm from the oven. (pg. 175) Gamache is the detective in Still Life by Louise Penny. He is a Chief Inspector with the Sûreté du Québec and is in the small town of Three Pines investigating the death of a long time resident. My comments about the book overall should be up in the next couple of days. What struck me about these two short passages is that even in the middle of a murder investigation, he can take the couple minutes to appreciate the little things, like the numbers matching or a delicious fresh croissant....
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The Unusual Suspects by Michael Buckley

by Carol7 Comments
The Unusual Suspects by Michael Buckley Amber (10) and I read this together and both really enjoyed it. It's a fun read, full of familiar fairytale  characters whose lives have been re-imagined in the contemporary world. Daphne and Sabrina Grimm finally start school at Ferryport Landing Elementary. Daphne's lucky and has Snow White as a teacher, but Sabrina is stuck with Mr. Grumpner and a group of sixth-graders who are either asleep or just plain mean. The mystery starts when Mr. Grumpner is found murdered, dangling in a huge spider's web. What is going on at the school? The Grimm sisters and their grandmother have to investigate, and this time Mayor Charming actually admits the town needs the Grimms' help. "This conversation must be an absolute secret," [Charming] said as he stood before them. He leaned down and pinned a shiny tin star on Sabrina's coat. It looked like the kind sheriffs wore in old black-and-white western movies. She peered down at it...
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Game Night – Orson Scott Card

by Carol2 Comments
The only book I've ever read by Orson Scott Card was Ender's Game, which I loved, but I was wandering around the internet the other day and ran across a quote from Hidden Empire. "Should I bring Ticket to Ride or have you finally bought the game?" asked Stevie. "Europe, America, German, Switzerland, Nordic countries, I think we have them all," said Cecily. "And nobody's lost any train cars or destination cards or anything?" "Lettie removed every destination card that leads to Duluth," said Cecily. "But if you bring your own set, she'll just remove them from yours during the game." (pg. 44) I think Lettie made a smart decision, personally. So, that led me to Card's website, Hatrac River. Turns out, Card is something of a game buff himself and has posted reviews of a lot of games, including some that we have enjoyed, like Small World and Scrabble. You can find his list of reviews that include games here. I also started wondering about other...
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