Murder at the Book Group by Maggie King

by Carol6 Comments
I wanted to like this mystery. The set-up is right up my alley, a mystery reading book group whose member dies during a meeting. Books and murder, a bunch of middle-age women who are readers and writers - perfect. But it was all too much, too many (confusing) characters, too many potential motives, too much marrying/having affairs with each others exes. Maybe that was my main problem. Everybody was hooking up with everybody all the time, or so it seemed, but not in a romantic way, in a trashy way. The author also had a bit of an annoying habit of pointing out themes - like wow, Nazis keep coming up or lots of mothers and sons. Gee, I wonder if the solution has something to do with those two things. I liked the people. I liked Hazel, even though I'm not sure why people thought it was okay that she was digging so much into everyone's backgrounds, not just Carlene,...
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1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die by Mimi Sheraton

by Carol9 Comments
I like lists. I don't make too many myself, just a few here and there, but I love reading other peoples'.  1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die is a list of fabulous, or odd, foods and a tour of the world all in one. I really enjoyed looking through it. I may have to pick up a traditional copy, instead of the digital version, so I can cross things off. Some of the foods in it I've actually already had, believe it or not. I expected a list of outrageous foods that you can only get in restaurants on the other side of the world but that are delicious. It is that, but there are also foods that we consider fairly common, but only because we live here. For a lot of the foods, she lists restaurants where you can have the best. Yes some are in Greece or Japan, but some are also here in the US. Many of the entries...
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Reindeer Dust by Kate Dwyer

by Carol4 Comments
Christmas is my favorite time of year - even if I hate the cold. So today, as part of A Month of Favorites, I thought I'd share a review of a new Christmas picture book I received this year. A Month of Favorites is hosted by Girlxoxo, Traveling with T and Estella’s Revenge. Today we’re linking up at Estella’s Revenge. When Amber was little, we always put out milk and cookies for Santa, but she's always been an animal lover, so we couldn't forget about the reindeer. They got carrots, but I bet they would have preferred reindeer dust. This is a cute story. Santa's got so many presents to deliver that he doesn't have time to feed his reindeer and, to make matters worse, it's a foggy night. Happily, William has been watching the weather reports and comes up with a plan to help Santa find his and his friends' houses - reindeer dust. Don't worry, the recipe's included in the book. I...
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