What do you feel like reading? A Los Angeles-set noir? Historical fiction? A murder mystery? An alternate history that feels scarily relevant to today’s world? With Beat the Devils, you can get all of this and more in one book. Mo Baker is a holocaust survivor and an LAPD detectiveContinue Reading
I love Vivian Leigh, the actress. But now, after reading Truly, Madly, I admire her courage in going all out for her dreams despite serious mental health issues. Vivian and Laurence Olivier had a real love story—not just a Hollywood romance. And, unfortunately, not all real-life stories have a happyContinue Reading
Stephanie Plum’s creator comes up with a new free-spirited female character in Gabriella Rose, The Recovery Agent. Gabriella finds lost things as a profession but this time it’s personal. Gabriella’s grandmother has a kooky idea to save their small Southern fishing town from developers. So, Gabriella is soon searching forContinue Reading
The Journey of Humanity takes on the huge task of explaining how humanity got to this point, which the author calls the Mystery of Growth. The second half explains why this growth has not been universal across nations, which the author calls the Mystery of Inequality. From the Malthusian (hunter-gatherer)Continue Reading
Just because you have diabetes doesn’t mean you are stuck with salads for every meal. The venerable Betty Crocker brand has created 162 easy, delicious and diabetes-friendly recipes to add variety to your diet every day in the Betty Crocker Simply Delicious Diabetes Cookbook. While salads are included in theContinue Reading
Sometimes you just want to read some light science fiction. No deep science. No not-so-subtle morals for the real Earth’s ailments. Just adventure and the great unknown. The Kaiju Preservation Society delivers on that promise. Jamie has been demoted from management to a career as a food delivery driver. HeContinue Reading
Secret rooms, a dead body hidden behind wall, a family curse, and magicians? All this and more are included within Under Lock & Skeleton Key. Tempest is from a family of magicians. She had a successful act in Las Vegas until she is betrayed by her jealous assistant. Tempest hasContinue Reading
If you live in a desert area, Southwest Fruit & Vegetable Gardening will be your gardening bible. Everything you need is here but tailored for a desert climate. While the book says it only covers Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico, it also applies here in the California desert too. ThereContinue Reading
Four indoor gardening techniques are explained within How to Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year Round: container, hydroponic, vertical, and sprouts/microgreens. I like that budget is discussed in this book. Most garden books assume their readers have unlimited funds. If you are willing to do a DIY projectContinue Reading
Secret Identity is an exposé of comic publishing in the 1970s by someone that was there. But it also is a feminist statement and a full-blown female noir. I can’t imagine a better book for my tastes. It’s 1975. New York City is at its grimy and murderous best. CarmenContinue Reading
You may think that gardening is a spring and summer activity. Four-season Food Gardening is out to prove you wrong. From planning your garden to specific tasks for each season, the book includes all you need to know to keep your fruit, vegetable and herb gardens going all year long.Continue Reading
Zmeu is a demon summoned from Hell by a child’s game. He quickly kills young Vadim and kidnaps another child. Luckily, the town has an albino religious healer who fights Zmeu and wins. The family prays to see Vadim again at his funeral. It’s a case of be careful whatContinue Reading
If you think your apartment is too small for an edible garden, think again. Tiny Space Gardening is achievable for all! The book covers all the usual beginning gardening topics such as watering, soil and light but focuses on container gardening. The scale of your garden is only limited byContinue Reading
My Review Cozy mysteries have a familiar structure. A woman runs her own business with support of her family and friends. She has a habit of finding dead bodies early in the plot and then feeling compelled to find the murderer herself. Casino Queen has few of those elements. Instead,Continue Reading
Thirty-four relatives of employees at a Nevada state prison are traveling by bus to the prison’s annual inmate vs. guard baseball game. The bus driver is shot and the bus veers off the road before coming to a stop. A man calls the prison’s warden. He wants all the prisonersContinue Reading
My Review Koby and Keaton are male/female twins who were put into foster care at age two. Keaton was soon adopted. But Koby spent the rest of his childhood in foster care. His best friend and foster brother is Reef. Now grown up and reunited, Koby, a chef, and Keaton,Continue Reading