Here's to not making a fool of myself!
29. I am kind of in love with epistolary novels. This one is part epistolary, part Doctor Who-ish aliens and a whole lotta fun. The main character wakes up surrounded by bodies with a note in her hand- excellent way to start a book! I loved this book. What I didn't love was the narrator. There are long pauses in sentences and a whole lot of up-talking. Although she did a bang up job on the individual character voices. It's weird. Anyway, I loved this book so much that I've pre-ordered the second book Stiletto.
4 Stars
30. I was so excited when I heard about this book and read the blurb. Look at that cover! Bea-u-ti-ful. Forget it, it has squat to do with the book. I was soooooo disappointed. I had such high expectations that I was a bit heartbroken that I didn't like it at all. I found that I disliked every single character and I couldn't give a fig about any of story.
1 Star
31. "For fans of Sarah Addison Allen" Yeah, that's a big stretch. I loved that it was set in Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow and I do love books with magic in them, it was even set IN a knitting shop! However, I just couldn't quite get into it as much as I wanted to. I definitely didn't like the ending. The little love story thrown in is sweet though.
3 Stars
32. Much like the first book in the novel, this was a fun read. Who doesn't love "tea sodden" historians traveling through time? I definitely needed this one after the last two books that I had pinned my high hopes on had disappointed me.
4 Stars
33. I think this book was suggested to me because of my lovedy-love of the Flavia de Luce series. I definitely liked it although I don't remember much about it. What I do remember is that it made me want to really learn how to embroider, even though Callie is railing against "suitable female pastimes" for a young lady during the turn of the century.
3 Stars
34. A "farmy" memoir recommended to me from Goodreads. I don't know, I didn't hate it, it was just okay. There were hilarious parts of the book and she definitely doesn't sugar coat anything but the crassness was off-putting. Sure, you can talk about your sheep eating her placenta; it's grody! it's real! it's natural! but the language was boorish.
2 Stars
35. I picked this one because it's the same author of the Chronicles of St. Mary's but it's a completely separate book. And that's where I failed as a reader. I kept expecting it to be a book from that series, so for about the first quarter of the book I was in madcap, harried mode and this isn't that type of book. But it is a good short book. Historical mystery/romance set in England. If that's your thing, you'll enjoy this.
3 Stars
36. This one was a Daily Deal from Audible so I snatched it up. I'm glad I did because it isn't a book that would pick otherwise. It's a good book, interesting, heartwarming, set in a small town in the south. I find religions fascinating, my world religion classes in college were some of my favorites, and this book had me doing a lot of research on Quakerism.
3 Stars
37. I had to go back and check my account, this too was a sale item from Audible. I couldn't figure out what was happening in the beginning of the book, there was so much back and forth with a lot of characters being thrown at you. This is one instance where a physical book would've done better because I couldn't flip back and forth to figure out "who that was again?". Very charming with a huge cast of players that once you get down, gets good.
3 Stars
38. The author, Ariana Franklin, whose other medieval fiction series I loooved (Mistress of the Art of Death), was in the midst of writing this book when she passed away, luckily for lovers of the genre her daughter finished writing the book. If you love historical fiction, it's a great book. You know how they say you learn something new every day? This book had me researching so many things and Asafoetida topped the list.
4 Stars
39. Do you know what I failed to notice? That this was the same author as The Wishing Thread. I must have gotten sucked in again by the "lovers of Sara Addison Allen", sheesh, what a chump. Anyway, there is magical realism/fantasy along the lines of the aforementioned Ms. Allen and then there is this. The premise is great, the story is told badly and large parts are just silly. I don't know why I gave it the rating that I did, but I'm going to stick with it because maybe I am not remembering a redeeming quality.
2 Stars
40. A wonderful children's book that I heartily enjoyed. An original story with great suspense, there were many times where I was squeeing "eeeek!" and more than once I thought I had it all figured out, which I didn't. There are a few times where you could definitely tell it was a children's book but that didn't diminish my enjoyment.
4 Stars
41. As someone who has professed to adore all things Sherlock, not on a Sherlockian level though, I realized that I am a fraud as I had never actually read any Sherlock novels. In order to remedy that I downloaded this and the second book for our fall road trip to Montreal/Connecticut. It reiterated just how bad a detective I am. I must admit I got lost when the story switched from one continent to another. I had to check and make sure the iPod hadn't messed up. Fantastic book though, I highly recommend it!
5 Stars
42. This gem we listened to on our way back home from our spectacular little road trip. And just like the other Sherlock book, this is a great read. I'm making it a point to make sure I read them all!
5 Stars
The final installment will be coming soon, I bet you can't wait!