Carol – Page 62 – Carol's Notebook

Cruisin’ thru the Cozies Reading Challenge

December 30, 2022December 14, 2023 by Carol4 Comments

I’m joining the Cruisin’ thru the Cozies Reading Challenge hosted by Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews again this year I’m aiming at being a snoop, reading 10 cozy mysteries of my choice, hopefully one from each of the categories below. One from culinary - A Good Day to Pie One from animal-related - Much Ado about Nauticaling One from craft related - Let It Crow! Let It Crow! Let It Crow! One from paranormal - A Spell for Trouble One from cozy mysteries based outside the US - Murder at an Irish Castle One career-based cozy mystery - The Raven Thief One holiday based - Stalking Around the Christmas Tree One travel mystery - Murder on the SS Rosa One historical mystery - Murder at Hartigan House One is your choice! - The Twelve Books of Christmas...

Nonfiction Reader Challenge

December 30, 2022June 8, 2023 by Carol4 Comments

I’m joining the Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Shelleyrae at Book’d Out again this year. The hashtag is #ReadNonFicChal. The challenge is to read nonfiction books from twelve different categories. I’m going with the Nonfiction Nipper option reading three from any three categories. The categories are: History Memoir/Biography - Red Lip Theology by Candice Marie Benbow Crime & Punishment - Scoundrel by Sarah Weinman Science - The Science of Murder by Carla Valentine Health Travel Food Social Media Sport Relationships The Arts - Street Unicorns by Robbie Quinn Published in 2023...

Diversity Reading Challenge

December 27, 2022June 26, 2023 by Carol2 Comments

I'm joining the Diversity Reading Challenge hosted at Celebrity Readers again this year. The basic goal is to read diverse books. The author or the main character – or one of the leads, who preferably has a POV – has to belong to a diverse group. According to the definition of We Need Diverse Books: “We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, Native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities*, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities. *We subscribe to a broad definition of disability, which includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses (this may also include addiction). Furthermore, we subscribe to a social model of disability, which presents disability as created by barriers in the social environment, due to lack of equal access, stereotyping, and other forms of marginalization.” The mini-challenge involves monthly themes: JANUARY – diverse folktales/culture/mythology; or diverse retelling; or non-western setting Lengendborn by Tracy Deonn (King Arthur legend) FEBRUARY – poc: Black/African...

Winter Wishes by Elle Adams

December 23, 2022December 22, 2022 by Carol4 Comments

Carol and Mercy are owners of the Holiday Haven Inn. They have a weekend celebration planned which includes carolers, a festive food menu, a theatre production, and the use of a wishing box. The wishing box disappears soon after it is delivered and things immediately start falling apart. Carol and Mercy need to find the wishing box before the whole celebration is ruined. This is a fun series. I love Holiday Haven and all of the residents. It's also fun that the stories are written by different authors and feature different characters, but all take place in the same town - and have a touch of magic. This one was not my favorite. Carol jumps to conclusions too quickly and is kind of mean about her family, who seem eccentric but harmless. Also, I didn't quite get the magic. Mercy has magic and so does Carol's mother who is a witch, but neither seems to really do anything with it....

Sherlock Holmes & the Christmas Demon by James Lovegrove

December 22, 2022December 22, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

I've enjoyed a lot of "new" Holmes stories, and I don't need Holmes to necessarily be Doyle's Holmes, but Lovegrove's does come pretty doggone close. Eve Allerthorpe, daughter of a wealthy Yorkshire family, enlists the help of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson because she believes her family home is being haunted by the Black Thurrick, a kind of anti-Father Christmas. She has found bundles of birch twigs at the castle and seen the Black Thurrick walking across the frozen lake at night. Also, one of the wings of the castle is supposedly haunted. Holmes, of course, is skeptical, but he does suspect that something criminal is afoot. And his suspicion is justified when, soon after he and Watson arrive at Felscar Keep, a member of staff is found dead, pushed from an upper window. The setting is perfect, a secluded Gothic castle surrounded by frozen water and a snowy forest, a place where you could believe in ghosts and demons. The...

When Christmas Comes by Andrew Klavan

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

I was looking for a Christmas mystery, and I failed to do my research. This is not a warm and fuzzy Christmas story - which is fine, I do read mostly murder mysteries after all. It takes place around Christmas time, but our detective, English professor maybe ex-spy Cameron Winter, is not the type to enjoy the holiday. It's not that he's a Scrooge, he's just moody and longs for the Christmasses of his childhood at his nanny's house and the girl he had a crush on twenty years ago. He dwells on things a lot, which always annoys me and slows down the plot. He's also smart and handsome and almost every woman is attracted to him, including his therapist. Oh, and the woman who is asking for his help with this case is apparently someone he had an affair with when she was a student. The plot itself is good. A former military man is accused of and has...