Purchased – Page 54 – Carol's Notebook

Buried Secrets by Leighann Dobbs

June 4, 2018June 3, 2018 by Carol2 Comments

I really enjoy the Blackmoore Sisters Mysteries. In Buried Secrets, they head West on a treasure hunting trip with Luke, one of the sisters' boyfriends and his team. I like that the people around the women recognize, and believe in, their powers. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the sisters leaving their hometown, but since they took all of the recurring characters with them, it didn't really matter much. The girls piece together what happened Dead Water's past and get right in the middle of some present day illegal activities. Overall, it's a bit predictable, but there was a least one twist I didn't see coming. I would suggest starting the series at the beginning. They're light, quick read that are just fun. There are a lot of characters though, and a variety of powers, so I think starting with #1 allows you to get introduced to them all and get to know them. I'm looking forward to the next in the...

l’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

May 30, 2018 by Carol6 Comments

l'll Be Gone in the Dark is my first foray into true crime, which seems a little surprising. With the recent capture of the Golden State Killer and all the positive reviews of the book, I took a chance. I didn't know anything about the Golden State Killer until the recent news coverage. He committed at least 12 murders, more than 50 rapes, and over 100 burglaries in California from 1974 to 1986. And it took detectives until this year to capture him. McNamara died before Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested, but the book is fascinating. It details the crimes, without being overly graphic. She talks about the victims and their families, how the crimes affected them, their families and their communities. She goes over the evidence and talks to detectives. She works with other amateur sleuths and is tireless in her own investigation with the resources she can access. But we also learn about her, about how she thinks, what drives...

Artemis by Andy Weir

May 25, 2018 by Carol3 Comments

Artemis is at heart a caper story with a sci-fi backdrop. Jazz is a small time criminal who is offered the chance to make big money doing a job she is capable of, because she's brilliant, but is outside of her usual parameters. The job of course goes awry - as they so often do. But, it turns out the job just a part of the larger plan, a plan affecting all of Artemis. So, as she sees it, in order to save her city, she pull together the standard motley crew of misfits, including her dad (who I really liked), her ex-boyfriend's current boyfriend, a Ukrainian scientist, and others to pull off a near-impossible crime. Set on earth, this would be a fun enough crime novel. Jazz is a good character, smart as all get out, but under-motivated. She's sarcastic and lonely. I didn't always love her sense of humor, especially when she's speaking directly to the reader, it feels...

The Nursing Home Murder by Ngaio Marsh

May 9, 2018May 9, 2018 by Carol3 Comments

I've gone back and finally read the first 3 of Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn series, and actually read them in order to boot. Each one of these early entries is a bit better than the one before. In The Nursing Home Murder, which actually takes place in a hospital, we finally get to see a more polished Alleyn. He's still witty, but there no moments that are completely out of character as there were in the first two. These first few have been even more formulaic than vintage mysteries usually are. We meet the suspect, the murder occurs, Alleyn investigates, and finally there's a reconstruction where the murderer gives himself away. This time around, the victim is the Home Secretary. When he is rushed to the hospital, we know he's doomed, there are just too many people who want him dead, including the communists sympathizers who have been sending him death threats and a doctor who was one of his close...

The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

May 4, 2018May 10, 2018 by Carol7 Comments

In 1866, Mark Twain was a travelling correspondent for the San Francisco Daily Alta California and he convince them in early 1967, to provide $1250 to pay his fare on the Quaker City tour of Europe and the Middle East. Throughout the five-month trip, Twain sent 51 letters to the Alta for which he was paid an addiationa $1200. The paper published between August 2, 1867 and January 8, 1868 under the running heading: "The Holy Land Excursion. Letter from 'Mark Twain.' Special Travelling Correspondent of the Alta." These letters, together with seven printed in two New York papers, became the basis for Innocents Abroad, written during the first half of 1868. First, you have to see the route this trip took. It looks like such an amazing trip and hits most of the spots I would love to see one day. I don't think I would want to visit with Twain though. While he is funny in a snarky way and full of historical tidbits, he's...

Dear Madam President by Jennifer Palmieri

April 12, 2018April 13, 2018 by Carol5 Comments

First of all, I'm tired of these articles/essays pretending to be books. I picked up the audio of this one for a couple of reasons, but it was only like 2½ hours long. At 190-ish pages, that's really short. I don't know if the pages are an odd size or the print is huge, but it's a bit of a rip off for the price, hardback or audio, in my opinion. Onto the reasons I picked Dear Madam President up. From the blurb, I knew Jennifer Palmieri was the Director of Communications for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign who I did vote for, but it also assured me that it was a not solely about that campaign, that it was a book for all women regardless of politics. The reviews on Goodreads and Amazon are overwhelmingly positive. I read the opening on Margot's blog, Joyfully Retired, last week and it caught my attention. I have to say I was a little disappointed. Palmieri has...