Picked Off by Linda Lovely

Picked Off by Linda Lovely

by Carol2 Comments
I have mixed feelings about Picked Off by Linda Lovely. I love Brie and all of her friends, who I first met in Bones to Pick. Her aunt is awesome, feisty and honest and loving. She and her friends, Mollye, Paint and Andy make a great team, even if they're a bit bumbling, like any good amateur detectives. They are funny and truly care about each other. The mystery is good. We've got plenty of suspects and motives, which is not surprising considering the victim - who doesn't actually die by the way - is a professional football player and his mother is a politician. We've got rednecks and franchise owners and gamblers. Then the author goes and ruins it all with a love triangle, which was my problem with the first in the series too. I had hoped she would let that go by the wayside, but nope. Apparently Brie can not be "just friends" with either of them -...
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The Classics Club Spin #18

The Classics Club Spin #18

by Carol9 Comments
The Classics Club is holding its 18th Spin, but it's my first. The idea is to list 20 of the books on your Classics Club list before August 1 when the wheel will turn and reveal the winning number. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List, by August 31. Here's my list: Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wild The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rineheart Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie Double Indemnity by James M. Cain From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carré The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift We Have Always Lived in the Castle...
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Summer 24-Hour Readathon

Summer 24-Hour Readathon

by Carol4 Comments
The Reverse Summer Readathon starts now! I love that it's running 8pm - 8am eastern this time around. I slept in this morning. I don't have anything in the schedule until Sunday morning. I'm looking forward to a lot of reading time. I'm prepared: I've got my snacks, I've got my books, I've got food for meals and plenty of coffee and pop. Updates will be here at the blog, instagram (@carolsnotebook), and twitter (@carolsnotebook). I'm starting tonight at the softball field (my husband's playing a triple-header this evening in the church softball league) but I have the Kindle app on my phone stocked. First up is Picked Off by Linda Lovely. I'm already about 1/4 of the way into it. Opening Survey 1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Eastern Ohio 2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I'm not sure. I don't really have a tbr list set up, so I'm just reading...
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Murder Has a Motive by Francis Duncan

Murder Has a Motive by Francis Duncan

by Carol2 Comments
I admit it - I love vintage mysteries. In spite of the predictability, in spite of the stereotypes, I truly enjoy them. They're a little like stepping back in time. Murder Has a Motive was originally published in the late 1940s, a great time for mysteries. Mordecai Tremaine is a retired tobacconist with a penchant for mysteries. He had been planning on staying with friends in Dalmering, but as we all know, murder follows amateur detectives around. When Mordecai arrives, his friends tell him that one of their neighbors, a woman who was also starring in the play the community is putting on to raise money for charity, was found dead that morning - stabbed to death. His friends, of course, want him to find the killer. Mordecai is a quiet, sometimes pretentious man, but a romantic at heart. He's a quiet detective, watching, listening, having conversations. He's a little different from the other bachelor detectives of the era. He unabashedly reads...
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The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan

by Carol8 Comments
I was actually at Lakeside Chautauqua on Lake Erie for a week earlier this summer. I've lived in Ohio most of my life and even if we don't go up to Lake Erie often, it's still part of our state identity, if that makes sense, which is why The Death and Life of the Great Lakes caught my attention. It's an interesting book and an easy read, even for a non-history, non-science girl like me. We all know that humans affect the environment, but found it really interesting how a lot of the problems the lakes experience now can really be traced back to the 1800s when the lakes were first opened to the Atlantic Ocean and the Chicago River and onto the Mississippi. Egan does a wonderful job of combining history and science in relating all the lakes have been through and why. He also includes individual's stories, about what the lake was like when they were young versus today,...
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Readers’ Workouts – 7/24

Readers’ Workouts – 7/24

by Carol11 Comments
I missed my step goal this week but not by much. And I'm averaging just over 6 hours of sleep. This Week's Activities: Tuesday: FitGirl Booty Wednesday: FitGirl Abs Thursday: Elliptical Monday: FitGirl Arms Current Audiobook: I'm in the middle of American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic by Victoria Johnson. This week's dinners: Tuesday: Chicken and sweet potato tacos Wednesday: Pumpkin lasagna rolls Thursday: Hamburger stroganoff Friday: Leftovers Saturday: Leftovers Sunday: Pizza Monday: Pork carnitas over baked sweet potato Meal ideas for next week: Sausage, peppers and onions Sweet and sour chicken Shrimp stir fry Burgers Spaghetti 2018 Fitness Goals: - Lose weight. Goal - Lose 25 lbs. - Run 4 races of any length - Hit my weekly step goal (average 8,000 steps/day) for 36 weeks. (Current total: 14) How was your week? Readers’ Workouts is hosted by Joy at Joy’s Book Blog...
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