Tear Me Apart
Tear Me Apart is a well-plotted character-driven family drama filled with secrets and lies. It also deals compassionately with mental health issues, DNA, depression, adoption, cancer, suicide and cutting. Mindy, a 17-year-old downhill skier, is on the fast track to the Olympics when a sudden snow flurry makes her clipContinue Reading
Sheets
Sheets is a heartwarming graphic novel about the unusual friendship between a grieving girl and a lonely ghost boy. Marjorie’s mother is dead and her father is so depressed that he barely leaves his bedroom to eat. The family’s laundry is run before and after school by Marjorie. The mysteriousContinue Reading
Little Comfort
It is amazing such an accomplished thriller with multiple plot lines was written by a debut author. Kudos to Edwin Hill for the marvelous PI/thriller/family drama, Little Comfort! Hester lives in a separate apartment in the same building as her boyfriend Morgan. Morgan’s twin sister, Daphne, and her three-year-old KateContinue Reading
Origami 101
Using just four simple shapes, Origami 101 teaches makers to create 43 different figures from a simple penguin to a human being. I love the simplicity of Origami 101. Everything is clearly explained. The use of a glow to indicate which part of the paper is moving when folding isContinue Reading
Batman and the Signal
Batman and the Signal was a little too focused on the Signal’s feelings and history to feel like a fully fleshed out plot. Duke Thomas, formerly a Robin, is now the Signal, a daytime crimefighter in Gotham. In addition, Duke is one of the increasingly common metahumans, those whose superpowersContinue Reading
Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles
Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles is a clever reinvention of an iconic 1960s cartoon character. Snagglepuss was originally a pink swishy wannabe actor and actual mountain lion in the Yogi the Bear cartoons beginning in 1959. This comic, set in 1953, casts Snagglepuss as a successful playwright caught upContinue Reading
Hangman’s Hold
Hangman’s Hold is a servicable British police procedural. DCI Matilda Darke has a problem. Someone is killing ex-convicts on her patch. Adele, Sheffield’s pathologist and Matilda’s best friend, has a worse problem. She had her first date in 20 years with the first victim, Brian, the night he was murdered.Continue Reading
Silent Invasion
In 1952 rural America, private eye Dick Mallet sees a strange light in the sky while looking for a missing person, Fanny Hobbs. The police find his car crashed into a pole and Dick nowhere to be found. Matt Sinkage, a reporter with a personal interest in UFOs, investigates Dick’sContinue Reading
Taco Tuesday Cookbook
If you love tacos (and who doesn’t), the Taco Tuesday Cookbook is for you! Filled with 52 taco plus guacamole, salsas, seasonings, beverages and tortilla recipes, this cookbook has something for every taste. Starting with eight easy breakfast tacos, the author includes tacos made with chicken, pork, beef, fish andContinue Reading
Art of Being Bill
Bill Murray’s movie career is explored along with various artists’ interpretations of him in numerous media in the Art of Being Bill. Bill’s life (in movies at least) is broken up chronologically into eight chapters: The Jester The Thinker The Intense The Charming The Exasperated The Melancholy The Complex TheContinue Reading
Deadly Habit: A theatrical mystery
A Deadly Habit plops Charles Paris in a West End play where a real murderer is afoot. Charles Paris “spent a great deal more time out of work than in”. But things are looking up when his lackluster agent Maurice finds him a three-month job playing a monk in TheContinue Reading
Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House
Who can forget the #1 villain in three seasons of the Apprentice? Omarosa really spills the t in Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House. After a year serving in Trump’s White House, Omarosa is unceremoniously fired by Chief of Staff Kelly. Trump appears to know nothing aboutContinue Reading
Martinis and Memories—Author Guest Post
Writing nostalgia in Martinis and Memories I love me some nostalgia. Even though I wasn’t particularly happy in myself in my teen years, I can conjure those moments within seconds. I can be back at a house party when I’m sixteen, and hear the music and remember sitting on theContinue Reading
Martinis and Memories
Martinis and Memories is the strong and empowering finale of the Martini Club trilogy. “Smart girls don’t fall for the same bull**** twice.” However, when Bel’s husband, Euan, walks into her burlesque, the Martini Club, she worries what his motivation is. Does he feel he should get a cut ofContinue Reading
Book Giveaway of Aunt Dimity and the King’s Ransom
Enter this book giveaway to grab a free hard cover copy of Aunt Dimity and the King’s Ransom by Nancy Atherton. My review is here and now you have a chance to win your own copy. Giveaway begins August 24, 2018, at 12:01 A.M. PDT and ends August 30, 2018, at 11:59 P.M.Continue Reading
The Irrationalist: The Tragic Murder of Rene Descartes
Set in Europe in the 1600s, The Irrationalist: The Tragic Murder of Rene Descartes is an overlong but enthralling mystery. Told from the point of view of Adrien, a Jesuit sent by his church to investigate Descartes’ death. As the amateur sleuth finds a multitude of suspects, the book quicklyContinue Reading