Category: Books

I am so tired this morning. I wish I had taken the time to heat up some coffee before I left. I only got one book last week, which means I finished more than I picked up, a good thing. The book is Hell and Gone by Duane Swierczynski, from Mulholland Books via NetGalley. It's the second in the Charlie Hardie series and I have to know what happens to him. Mailbox Monday is taking a blog tour. This month’s host is Staci at Life in the Thumb. It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Here’s what I wrote about last week. Reviews: Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski The Bat Scientists by Mary Kary Carson "Bluebeard’s Ghost" by William Makepeace Thackeray A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny “The Witness for the Prosecution” by Agatha Christie Other posts: "In Need of a Champion"- original flash fiction Currently, I’m reading/listening to: The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny Belladonna in Hollywood by Alex Severin Still Alice by Lisa Genova So I actually finished a few, all...

Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski is the equivalent of an action movie. It's starts off with a car chase and just keeps going non-stop. You've got fights galore, a fire, some gadgets and syringes. Charlie Hardie is a former cop, well not exactly a cop but sorta of a cop consultant, who now spends his time house-sitting for people with money to spare. He spends his days more or less drinking and watching movies. Until his latest assignment. After breaking having to break into the house to watch, he finds Lane Madden inside. She's a has-been actress who tells a bizarre story that They are out to kill her, they being The Accident People, a behind the scenes group in Hollywood who take care of problems but make the deaths seem like accidents. Turns out she's right and the rest of the book is about Hardie and Lane doing their best to stay alive, stay one step ahead of Them. By...

We had to get this The Bat Scientists by Mary Kay Carson. First, it's about bats, one of Amber's favorite animals. Second, it's part of the Scientists is in the Field series, which we love. Third, we met the author at the Ohioana Book Festival and she signed it. "The single biggest threat to bats is human ignorance about them," says Merlin Tuttle. "Most people are very happy to protect bats if only they understand them." (pg 28) This book goes are far way in helping middle school kids learn about bats. It talks about the different types, about their habitats and about threats they face. It tells how bats help people, eating insects, and in a couple of towns drawing in lots of tourists. Amber already knows a lot about bats. You have to remember we've been reading animal books since she was little. What impressed me about this book is that it talks about the scientists with Bat Conservation International who...

I found myself laughing and crying while listening to this, something I don't find myself saying about traditional or cozy mysteries usually, especially the crying part. Penny just has a gift of writing the characters and events in ways that I connect with. Of course, walking the dog around the block choking back tears probably got me some odd looks, but there's a fire scene that just grabbed me. This is the second in the Gamache series, and I do think it could be read alone, but the events of the first were alluded to occasionally. I think I appreciated it more by having read Still Life first. Three Pines is a delightful town in Canada and the residents are celebrating Christmas. I love some of their traditions by the way, especially the Réveillon, a party that many of characters gather for after the Christmas Eve service. It just seemed very heart-warming to me, maybe I just like the fact that the...