Armstrong by Torben Kuhlmann

by Carol3 Comments
I loved Armstrong!! The little mouse's story is exciting and fascinating. It's filled with perfect little details that mirror human thoughts about space but from a mouse's perspective. For example, none of his mouse friends believe the moon is made of stone - they of course think it's cheese. Armstrong is a clever mouse who keeps working, even after disappointments and disasters. Honestly, if you have a child in the 4-8 age range, pick this one up. It's a bit longer than most picture books, but worth it. It's a perfect story for dreamers and future inventors and space enthusiasts. The art is fabulous. We get details of Armstrong's plans and illustrations of New York City that are amazing. The cover and trailer below will give you an idea of the style. Don't worry, though, the English version has English headlines for the newspapers. It was originally published in German, I believe....
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The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

by Carol2 Comments
Loved this book! Granted it's not perfect - there's a fair amount of info-dumping made palatable by the whole amnesia bit. It's kind of a paranormal, sci-fi-ish spy thriller, with a dollop or two of humor. As the blurb says, Myfanwy wakes up with no memory  surrounded by dead bodies. She is guided back into her life as one of the heads of a secret paranormal agency by letters she wrote to herself, having known she would lose her memory thanks to the warnings of a variety of psychics, including a duck. So she fakes her way, but also discovers she has an AWESOME power that the old her barely made use of. She's a character to root for, the underdog due to her amnesia and that people underestimate her and never truly respected the old her. Oh and she's facing an enemy who has been waiting for revenge on England for centuries and has all kinds of yucky, nasty and dangerous things/people/fungi...
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Death Likes It Hot by Edgar Box

by Carol3 Comments
Death Like It Hot was a fun look at summer in the Hamptons in the 50s, in addition to being a decent mystery. I have to admit I liked Peter Sargeant, even if he was a bit chauvinistic. He was smart and funny and a good observer, an outsider who sees all the quirks and tensions. And the rich and comfortable have a lot of quirks. This is the only one of the three in the series I've read, but it stood on its own well. The mystery was okay. I think the author played fairly, that we knew most of the clues along with Peter. It felt like a standard mystery, which is fine. I like guest house mysteries, whether they be in the Hamptons or the English countryside. I did guess the killer, but only because it was the best option, not because I had it all figured out. The book was bit racier than I would have expected, more so than...
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Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton

by Carol3 Comments
Janet Evanovich can be hit and miss for me. I'm not sure which category Curious Minds falls into. I like Knight and Moon. He is over the top eccentric, but cute and funny. Moon follows the rules, usually, but ends of having to go along with Knight. They are a good couple, and the dialogue at times is laugh-out-loud funny, but I'm not quite buying the sparks yet. I think for the pair of them, this was a good first novel. I think I'll enjoy them in later books, as long as the plot is a bit better. The whole conspiracy in this one was just over the top. Brothers working together to steal money from the Federal Reserve and more or less control all the world's economy, I think. The conspiracy reaches into the NSA and the Supreme Court. Maybe something like that could happen, but it stretched believability for me. It's just too big for the wacko and side kick to deal with...
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The Boscombe Valley Mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle

by Carol1 Comment
I was going running/walking at the park the other night and didn't have anything to listen to. I found "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" on Audible's Mystery Channel and it was just the perfect length for how long I wanted to spend exercising. I have been a Sherlock Holmes fan forever, but I don't remember reading this one before. That doesn't necessarily mean I haven't though - I don't have the best memory. What seems like an open and shut case - James McCarthy killed his father - of course isn't and it's up to Sherlock Holmes to prove James' innocence. There's not much action, but we do see Holmes doing a thorough crime scene investigation, even making use of his knowledge of tobacco ash. I guessed who the killer was, although I didn't know all the ins and outs of why. For a short story, the motive is pretty complicated and I enjoyed the solution. Holmes softer side comes through a bit...
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Murder in a Wish-Book House by Wayne Zurl

by Carol1 Comment
Murder in a Wish-Book House is a novella that's heavy on plot, light on character, but is definitely enjoyable and a good little mystery. Sam Jenkins is a police chief in small town Tennessee, but he used to be a New York detective so he's got plenty of experience, friends on call and a bit of an attitude - all of which help him out here. The narrator does a great job with Sam, giving him a bit of that New York accent. At first the mystery seems simple enough, but there's a bit of a twist that worked well. Sam is used to knowing what's going on, he's good at reading people and tough to fool, but this time around someone gets the better of him. There's action, blood, some good dialogue. A lot's crammed into this hour of audio. It's available on the Audible mystery channel, free for members. I think it makes a nice introduction to the series, even though...
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