Posting Cause It's My Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Mark your calendar, when we have a handle on COVID-19, I'm going to have a big party.  There will be charcuterie trays and chilled wine and hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and craft beers.  There will be a great playlist of groovy hits from the 70s and 2020's modern psychedelic music.  There will be cake! There will be flowers! There will be party favors from me to you!

In the meantime, I finished a book I was reading, if anyone else reads it, let me know what you think!

To Kill a Mocking Girl by Harper Kincaid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fast-moving cozy mystery. I won this book by participating in the Cozy Mystery Book Club monthly live stream. If you have not checked out the Cozy Mystery Book Club you can find it on youtube, twitter, Instagram. A monthly live stream devoted to the first book in a cozy mystery series. This review was not a condition of the prize. I am reviewing the book because I like to add reviews for all the books I read.

Ms. Kincaid does a nice job of creating the lovely town of Vienna, VA, and inviting us in to visit. Quinn the MC has lived abroad as a teacher for the past few years but now she has returned home and earns a living as a bookbinder. Basically, she restores all types of old books from first edition collector's items to beloved HS yearbooks. Harper Kincaid does a nice job using Quinn's job to further the plot. If you enjoy a cozy with a pet as a fairly central character you will enjoy this book. There is a nice bit of food talk, bookbinder talk, and fungi hunting- so some interesting people and hobbies in this book--all the little things that make cozies cozy.

While I was reading, I was not sure what to make of Quinn because at times she is smart and sensible and other times seems obtuse.
To me, she seemed immature and that didn't match up with her background as someone who has lived and worked in other countries. I wondered if this was because she is back home and sometimes when we go back home as adults we find ourselves regressing back to how we dealt with life when we were teens/kids, and the people around us see us as the young person we are not any longer. It seemed pretty clear that her brother, for example, still sees her as a kid and she thinks Aiden sees her as a kid. If this is the case, that she has regressed in her growth and independence, I would love to see her address that in the next book and to have the next book give us more info on her life abroad.

Now I am not sure if Harper Kincaid wants me to like or dislike Aiden- I did finish the book hoping that Quinn will date Aiden, work through the fulfillment of a childhood dream and then move on to someone else! Yes, that's right I don't like Aiden. Yes, he is into Quinn but he is way too paternalistic and I don't like it. :-) I esp. did not like the installation of cameras in or around Quinn's house. What the heck. (I know the brother was involved too--I don't like it!) Thank you for getting me riled up Ms. Kincaid. (smiley face emoji) If there is a #TeamNOT Q&A sign me up. Maybe there can be a new guy who comes to town to teach at the local college and he is a super cute biologist who enjoys mushroom hunting and hangs out with Quinn's dad and Quinn and Science guy can meet-cute over a dead body?

Oh, one last thing, I really liked the rehabilitation of one character at the end, I hope that character is featured as the series continues.


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Who Wants Some Free Kindle Mysteries? Read On!

Tomorrow is a milestone birthday for me. No party due to this doggone COVID-19  No birthday vacation trip due to this doggone COVID-19.  However, unlike last year--I have all my hair! Sure it's white, and now people assume I am 65, not 40-something--but I'll take the win where I can get them.  Maybe for my big birthday, I'll dye my hair purple. We will see!

In honor of my isolated milestone birthday, I figured I would post freebies. Today I'm posting free Kindle books on Amazon.  I haven't read these books, so I don't vouch for anything outside the fact that they are free and I liked the cover.  You can read them on a Kindle or on a laptop/iPad or smartphone, just download the free Kindle App.

Happy Sunday!
xoxo

In Which I Join the Ranks of the Unemployed

This doggone pandemic!  I worked throughout chemo and radiation, and now here I am no longer working.  Rude. It pisses me off, that while cancer treatment didn't defeat my work ethic, potentially catching COVID-19 and drowning in my own lung secretions has defeated my work ethic. 

Fortunately, we, knock on wood, should be OK. The hubs has been able to work fully remote for months now and the boys have good aid packages for college.  Maybe I'll find something I can do 100% from home that pays a wage. I am not interested in signing up to sell anything.

In the meantime, I am working on being a writer. Not working means no excuse not to write!  I feel lucky to have found so many webinars, seminars, and writing groups that are free and held virtually. I also am able to volunteer to make phone calls to remind people to fill out their census!  (Just go here, it only takes 10 minutes.)

And as always I am more grateful than ever for my public library. I won a $50 Rainbow Cone gift card in the Summer Reading Challenge. My staying home already paying off for the family.

Here is my latest book review. This was a good one!


Murder on Pleasant Avenue by Victoria Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I put this book on hold at my local library during the COVID closure, so I don't even recall why I put the book on hold in the first place!

This is my first gaslight mystery, it is also book #23 in the series--who knew? Obviously not me! As I read I realized there was backstory I wasn't aware of because I was coming to the series so late, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment.

Victoria Thompson does a nice job of making this book a good read even if you have no experience with the cast of characters. My experience with cozy mysteries has been limited to the contemporary and paranormal, this was my first foray into a cozy historical. The book takes place at the turn of the century, (1900) and it was nice to time travel as a reader. Not only do I get a mystery to solve, but I learn more about the day-t0-day life for various social classes in this time period.

I really liked the comments about Teddy Roosevelt and how it would be a step down for him to accept the V.P. slot to President McKinley. I know what happens next! (and that is its own murder mystery) Will Frank and Sarah be involved in that part of our U.S. History? I would like to read that.



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Geared for the Grave- Mackinac Island Mystery!

As I continue to write and learn about writing, the advice I most often encounter from published writers is to read what you want to write.  Because my writing goal is to write something I hope other people will enjoy as an escape from everyday troubles, I get to read lots of cozy mysteries. 

Here is one I listened to for the Library Challenge last month-

Geared for the Grave by Duffy Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Duffy Brown does a wonderful job of not just introducing us to a very eclectic group of townspeople, we also get a decent mystery to solve. Just when you think you've solved the murder, a new clue is revealed that cast doubt on another person.

The book is set on Mackinac Island--now I know that vehicles aren't allowed and fudge is plentiful, but I do not know if the local residents actually call visitors 'fudgies' . Frankly, I hope they do!

Evie makes for a good main character, she isn't naive and she can mostly take care of herself. I listened to this book via the Libby app from my library. The reader for this series is fantastic! I loved her voicing of "Irish Donna," her brogue is on point!

Overall I loved the cheeky humor in the book as well as the pacing. 5 solid stars. For the cost of a library card, you can take a vacation to Mackinac Island!


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If You Dream It, You Can Do It!

The last day of the summer library reading challenge is here!  I wanted to read more books during this challenge than I read during the winter challenge and I achieved that goal. Winter reading: 6 books. Summer reading: 12 books.  Maybe this time I'll win a gift card! 

A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julia Buckley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm so glad I decided to read this book. This is such a well done Cozy Mystery. I love the setting of Blue Lake, the old home that has secrets, and Lena the would-be writer, getting the job of a lifetime!

Julia Buckley does such a nice job of building suspense in this novel -will Camilla be OK, is Lena safe? Is Sam West a good guy? Bob's horrible son made me literally LOL. Such a clever little thing.

I very much enjoyed that the story takes place w/o there having to be murder on top of murder in the small town--which can seem far fetched. I was almost certain a couple of characters had killed Martin, but I was wrong! How fun to be wrong.

5 stars by far! I can't wait to read the next adventure!

If you have been looking for a mystery that takes place in a Hallmark world, this book is for you. It's an excellent introduction into the world of cozy mysteries.  It is also a very good book to read if you are like me and are working on writing your own mystery book.  I would love to craft a book like this one!




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Reading My Way Through July - I'm on a Mission

Moonshine & Magic by Bella Falls
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I listened to this book via audible. The reader is the same reader who does all the Sookie Stackhouse books. I had some trouble remembering I wasn't listening to a Charlaine Harris novel, it wasn't just the voice but also many of the characteristics that Charli the MC has in this book. Lots of similarities in her personality, backstory, and place in the magical world.

I started this book and it did not grab me so I set it back down for a few months and then finally picked it back up.

If you like magic mysteries, you may very well enjoy this series. For me, it didn't hold my interest and I was easily distracted.

Will I continue this series? Not likely.


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Flash Fiction

This summer I am taking a writing class via Zoom. Normally the class would be an in-person venture and take place a few states away from me, getting to take it virtually is definitely a COVID silver lining.

Last week's class was about Flash Fiction. Flash Fiction are very short stories.  Think less than two pages. Think less than one page. Overall, as the Hubs would say, it's not my cup of tea. I was at a bit of loss, my nature is to overwrite. I feel that I don't have something important enough to say in a small space. That sounds so odd, right?  One would think it would be easier to just throw down a few hundred words and be done, not for me. Honestly, my inability to write Flash Fiction is 98 percent due to not wanting to write super-short fiction.

Flash forward to today, pun--most defiinitely--intended, my run provide inspiration for a piece.

While Running Today

by Victoria

I was about an hour into my run today when I saw a gaunt old man clad in blue swimming trunks and toting two pool noodles, one red and one yellow.  

"Take it easy out there!" He said, as I ran by completely ignoring his unsolicited advice.  This ain't my first run dude, I thought to myself and continued on toward a small pond with a water feature.  

A northern hawk owl swooped over the pond and came up with a frog in its beak. Nearby the old man put on his mask and waited for a temperature check before his dip in the condo complex pool. 

I ran past him, Don't drown Old Man is what I wanted to say. 

Summer Reading Challenge

My local library is having a summer reading challenge, not just for kids, also for adults. Adults earn tickets for gift card drawings. There are some pretty good gift cards this go round  including Imperial Oak Brewing and our local independent coffee shop: Strange Brew . I'm doing my best to get as many entries as possible before the challenge ends on August 1st. 

Here are the two books I finished this week-

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One in a long, long series of psychological crime books staring Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis. As is usually the case, the murder is really weird. I have read many of the books in the series. This was alright, not my fave. I listened to it on audible.com. I find the reader for this series is perfect and enjoy listening to these books when I run or when I am cooking. I found during this installment my mind tended to wander away from the story more than usual. I have no idea how writers manage to get 30 plus books out of a series, that's a lot of creepy murders. In any case, I was glad that Milo was still hanging in there, he really doesn't do a great job taking care of himself.


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Sweet Talkin' Lover by Tracey Livesay

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fun contemporary romance! Lots of fun reading as Calia fell in love with not just Wyatt but also the town of Bradelton. You can't read this and not want to go stay at Sinclair House and go to the Harvest Ball. Tracey Livesay did a nice job of raising the stakes and making it seem harder and harder for our couple to find their HEA. I enjoyed that the issues between them were not other people but the expectations of others. Very well done. I am looking forward to reading all future installments of the Girls Trip books! 

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Wanna Get Away? Escape Without Leaving Your Lawn Chair!

Live and Let Chai by Bree Baker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This first book left me wanted to spend more time in Charm!

I read this book for Esme Addison 's Facebook Cozy Mystery Book Club. This was my first book from Bree Baker and I enjoyed her writing style. Everly Swan is back in her home town and as tends to happen to our Cozy Mystery heroines, she is quickly accused of possibly murdering someone. How will she clear her name?

Ms. Baker has done a lovely job creating the most magical of islands. I don't know how you could read this book and not want to head out to vacation in Charm. Everly has an interesting back story that I am sure we will learn more about in future books, she also has a family curse. I very much enjoyed the eco-conservation focus in the book. Everly doesn't own a car and she is very good a reusing and repurposing items so she doesn't have to buy more stuff. Her beloved aunts are bee keepers and I hope we get to hear more about that in the next book.

The only point I did not really like, is that to give one character depth and a tragic backstory that character has a spouse who died very young from cancer. Ugh. Can't we just have divorces instead of moms dying of cancer? It just happens too much in my opinion in cozy mystery books and all Hallmark movies. It's the trope I don't like.

Anyway this book is a perfect summer weekend read, esp if you are stuck inside! Travel virtually to Charm and get a nice glass of ice tea from Everly- heck add a little vodka to that tea if you'd like!


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Who eats that many cookies?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book for an online Cozy Mystery Book Club. It's held on YouTube each month after we vote on twitter to pick the book of the month. The book is always the first book in a series. You can check out the book club here: https://youtu.be/yCUtspQsQd4 There are book giveaways and good discussions for fans of Cozy Mystery. So I highly recommend joining us if you like Cozies!

So here is what I thought of this book, and I can't believe I am about to say this but, too many cookies. Like the whole town of Lake Eden needs to be checked for type 2 diabetes. People just don't really eat that many cookies that often. Will Hannah branch out and make anything! anything besides cookies? Maybe a scone? or a nice muffin?

This was the mystery I wanted to be solved in this book; will Hannah's The Cookie Jar, branch out to various baked goods? Or will she just stick with cookies, which seems like a business model destined to fail?

The book was written in 2000, but I felt like the overall mood of the book was stuck in *maybe* the 80s. Sometimes it felt like it was the 1950s. Overall I didn't like Hannah, and I didn't understand why she was so involved in doing her BIL's job. Like Why? I have BILs and I am not going to do all sorts of things to help them get a promotion.

In general, I was annoyed that often Hannah's actions were to protect or promote a man. Bah. I found the supporting characters in the book were really underdeveloped esp. the last minute mention of a future suitor. Lots of scenes w/Hannah and her cat could have been used to tell me more about the people in the book. But really, who am I to talk? This is a very successful, beloved series of books. It's just not my scene!


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