Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton

by Carol1 Comment
I liked Of Books and Bagpipes much more than the first in the series. Delaney has been in Scotland for a while now and has come to care about the people she works with and her friends. I felt like her reason for investigating felt more natural this time around, a combination of natural curiosity and wanting to help. As a mystery, it worked well. There were plenty of clues and suspects and secrets that went back decades. It takes a lot of unraveling and I was surpised by the whodunnit, although I felt the motive was bit weak. And of course, Delaney gets herself trapped, but I didn't feel like it was because of stupidity on her part, which was nice. Sometimes female amateur detectives annoy me by taking risks that no sane woman would. Delaney didn't do that here. She has someone with her when there's a potential for danger, and always lets someone know where she is going. I...
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Thursday’s Tale: The Smiling Rabbit

by Carol1 Comment
How about rabbit tales this month? With Easter on the 16th it seems like a good theme. An old man and his wife lived in a little house made of straw. They were very poor and all they owned were a rabbit and a young jaguar. When the old couple used up their last ear of corn, they decided to eat the rabbit and started heating water to cook him. When he saw that, the jaguar told the rabbit the couple were going to eat it. The rabbit replied that no, they were heating water to make hot chocolate. The jaguar disagreed at first, but eventually the rabbit convinced the jaguar to get into the rabbit's cage and people would give him the first hot chocolate. Of course, when the jaguar went into the cage, the rabbit closed it and ran off. The rabbit is a trickster after all. A long time went by and the jaguar tired of waiting for the old...
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My Favorite . . Music Growing Up

by Carol8 Comments
My Favorite.. is a weekly meme hosted by Maureen’s Books. In this meme we share every week something we love with each other. Because let’s face it.. The world can be a dark place and it’s time to share something positive. For more info: My Favorite Meme. Today we're talking about our favorite music when we were growing up. These days I mostly listen to soft rock or light pop. When I was growing up, my tastes leaned toward rock and pop. I remember listening to Bon Jovi, Guns 'n' Roses, Aerosmith, The Bangles, Black Crowes, etc.  And you couldn't help listening to Michael Jackson and Madonna. Gee, can you guess how old I am? What was your favorite music growing up? Join in at Maureen's Books....
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A Fine Year for Murder by Lauren Carr

by Carol2 Comments
A Fine Year for Murder is the second in the Thorny Rose Mysteries. From the first, we know that Jessica has nightmares, and this time around we learn why. Once again, the coincidence that bring everyone into the investigation seems a little forced. Jessica and Murphy attend a family dinner where investigative journalist Dallas Walker is describing a cold case she is investigating that is known as the Pine Bridge Massacre – a brutal killing of a family. Jessica realizes that she witnessed the death of the young girl but has been suppressing the details causing her violent nightmares. What are the chances, really, first that Jessica was a witness to the massacre, and that a family member's girlfriend happens to be investigating it? But let's just ignore that and get on with the rest of the book. I thought the mystery was well done. I liked how Carr blended the "real" clues with Jessica's memory. The family at the winery, Jessica's adoptive family as...
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Earthly Remains by Donna Leon

by Carol1 Comment
I've read or listened to a fair number of the Commissario Brunetti series, but I read them out of order. It's a bit of bad luck that both this and the one I listened to before it both deal with pollution. Yes, it's a topic Leon keeps coming back to, apparently a major issue in Venice, but usually it's spread out a little than it was for me this time. I would have liked a different topic, but that's more my fault than Leon's. I liked that Brunetti gets out of town for a while this time around. I enjoy the early part of the story where he's relaxing and rowing; it's different than we usually see him. I like the people in the smaller towns, their relationships. I enjoyed the bees and how much they meant to David Casati. I missed his family a bit, but I'm sure they'll be in the next one. The investigation was interesting, with it's digging into...
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Readers’ Workouts – 4/4

by Carol3 Comments
I am giving myself credit for making my steps this week. My fitbit updated on Friday and it totally screwed everything up. It just got stuck; couldn't sync, it wasn't counting steps. Finally got it working again on Sunday, after uninstalling and re-installing the app. So just ignore my Friday and Saturday steps. The update included sleep stages, so you can see about how much time you spend in light sleep, REM, and deep sleep, and compare it to the average for women your age. Apparently while I'm aveage in the amount of time I spend awake and in REM and light sleep, I'm really low in deep sleep. I'm wondering if that's why I feel tired fairly often. I'm not sure how to fix that yet, but I might try a couple things, like turning off my husband's fan. Any other suggestions? This week: Tuesday - Walk with the dog Wednesday - Walk with the dog Thursday - Elliptical, Pilates Sunday - Walk with the dog Monday...
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