Seeking Philbert Woodbead (Fairweather Sisters, #2) by Anya Wylde BOOK REVIEW

Seeking Philbert Woodbead by Anya Wylde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Seeking Philbert Woodbead is the second in the Fairweather Sisters series by Anya Wylde. This book follows up a few months, give or take after the end of the first book, Penelope. Now, although this is a series, you could actually read this book without reading Penelope and still enjoy the book, but it is just more fun if you have read the first book before you start, but if you find yourself needing to start with this book, by all means do. It is a delight.

Celine Fairweather jumps at the chance to leave home and run to London to help her not that long ago married sister Penelope, who is now confined to her home, all because she had the misfortune of getting pregnant in a time when they had no idea what was going on! The book is hilarious. Celine is reading the "Proper English Ladies" book, and trying to be one, and Penelope could care less what society thinks, and the adventures and madcap fun just continues.

I loved the first book, which saw Penelope descend on London to try to find a husband. Now we see her sister descend on London, and although she tries to be more proper than Penelope did, she bungles it just as much if not more. It is zany and funny and every bit as much fun to read, in fact I sat down to read the book, and just had to finish the whole thing!

I love this author's style of writing. It is fun and light and just leaves you feeling happy, especially with everything going on in the world these days, it is so nice to escape into a light-hearted book and laugh and enjoy myself. It was such a good read.

As there are a number of Fairweather girls still at home, I hope this means that we can count on the author to bring us a number of more Fairweather sister books! I'm already looking for the next one!

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City of Bones Giveaway

So I bought this book on a whim, read it and loved it, and now am working on the rest of the series. When I like a book, I tend to go "whole-hog" and read the entire series of it and everything else that author has written. Which is what I am doing, and since they are making this book into a movie, which I highly doubt that i will see, because the movie is just never as good as the book, I thought I would give away a copy of the book to get someone else interested in the series. I love to read, it is my favorite thing in the world. As much as I love to read, I love to review the books I have read and share them with people. which you can clearly see from my blog, so what better thing to do, than give away a copy of a book on my blog, especially one I liked! Look for my full review of the book coming soon, here and on Goodreads.com!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (Book 1)

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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Some days you just have to go back a read a good book again, and that has been me in the last couple of weeks. I watched the Harry Potter movies on tv with the kids, and it just gave me a desire to go back and to read the books, so much is edited from the movies, and I understand that, but that is another reason I love the books so much more that the movies.

Everyone knows that this is the first book in the Harry Potter series, and it begins with some brief information about how Harry came to be living with his Aunt and Uncle, and not so much as to why they hated him so much, but a little. It also starts the story of Harry learning more about his parents and the truth about who he was and what he was, a wizard. I really love the beginning sequence with the Durdsley's trying to prevent and latr run away form the owls that are delivering Harry's school letters. That is one of my favorite parts.

This book also introduces Ron Weasley, his soon to be best friend, and Hermoine Granger to Harry. It builds that bond between the three that will continue to course through all the books, growing and changing and they grown and change. Harry mets the Weasley family quite by accident, and yet it is probably the best family he could have hoped to met. Could imagine how the book might have been different had it been a different family that helped Harry onto the train, say the Malfoy's for example?

Another thing I really like about reading the books, is the backstories, the filling in of facts, what happened before that is in the books, but only skimmed over and revealing the bare minimum in the movies. I love hearing that. In fact, I know the author is done with this series, but I would love to have a book on the whole series from Hadrig's view with his backstory included, and one from Snape, and Dumblevore and even Professor McGongall, and how about Mr and Mrs Weasley, now that would be a story!

This is a great book series for kids and adults alike. If you have a child that doesn't like to read, says books a boring, then sit and read this story with them, even if you are the one doing all the reading, that is what I did with my son, reading it to him a little at a time, and he became so engrossed in the books, that by the time I finished reading them to him, he went back and checked them out of the library and read them to himself! And this was a child that struggled with reading! This book has my full endorsement!

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Death by Sudoku by Kaye Morgan (A Sudoku Mystery, #1)

Death by Sudoku by Kaye Morgan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I love a good cozy mystery and something little to read, so I picked up this book at a local discount store as we were headed to the airport for a trip to New York, figuring this would be good lite reading for the plane.

Death by Sudoku is billed as the first book in a brand new series, and after reading the book, I am not sure how the series can or will continue, but as the first book it was pretty good.

We met, Lisa, who has been a publicist in Hollywood for a number of years, but after the recent death in her family, she has left her estranged husband, moved back to the family home, and begun writing sudoku puzzles and articles about the craft of solving the puzzles, under an assumed name in that small town. She is lured back to Hollywood by a friend to compete in a Sudoku tournament, where she runs into a "washed up" actor friend, and finds that he believes someone is sending messages in a certain papers sudoku puzzles, when the guy turns up deceased the next morning, Lisa feels she has to take him seriously and discover what has happened and why.

The story is pretty well written and it does use more brain power to figure out the sudoku angle, and for plane reading i was great, especially since we were stuck in Baltimore on the way to New York and the way home both. If I find the second book, I would have to give it a try, but at the moment, I am happy with it as a single book.

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Just One Look by Harlan Coben

Just One Look by Harlan Coben
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not long ago I discovered the author Harlan Coben through the First-Reads program here on Goodreads, and I was blown away by his writing and story-telling abilities. So much so, that I began a mission to find more books by him and to read them. I found this book at my local Goodwill store and was so excited, I was thrilled to read another Harlan Coben book.

Let me start by saying that this book did not fail to live up to my high expectations! I was engrossed in the book from the very beginning, and haunted by the innuendoes and twists that this story took, never realizing the final outcome until I read it, and even then, I went back to re-read some places to see if I had missed something that would have lead me to the ending, which I never found. It was so well-written and encaging. I can't say enough about the author and his ability. I have recommended this book to a number of people already.

Grace and Jack Lawson seem to be a normal, average middle American couple with two children until the day that Grace picks up some pictures at the photomat, and in the pictures is an old pictures, maybe 20 years old, that seems to have her husband in the group. Where did that come from? And why? The picture changes everything, recalling a time about 20 years earlier when Grace was involved in a life changing event, and somehow, this picture seems to be mixed up with that. As Grace questions, Jack disappears, and as an investigation continues, the former lives of Jack and Grace are uncovered and intertwined into a wild and unbelievable set of happenstances.

I found some characters that I had read in another book, and yet this is not a series, it's just that the books seem to be set in nearby locations and towns, so some characters carry over from one book to another, mostly backgrounds, but others as well, and it becomes like watching real life in that you meet a person and come to find out that they know someone that you know from another event. It is actually neat, and it really makes it that much easier to connect with the books, and the story and the characters, they seem so real!

If you have never read this author, you have just got to try one book. I have found that if I have no idea what to read next, all I have to do is pick up one of his books and I have an a perfect fit. He is an amazing writer and story teller.

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A Crafty Killing (A Victoria Square Mystery, #1) by Lorraine Bartlett

A Crafty Killing by Lorraine Bartlett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Crafty Killing is the first in the Victoria Square Mystery series, and if the first book is as good as the rest, this is going to be one wonderful series.

Katie Bonner is young, and had big dreams, dreams of a bed and breakfast for her and husband Chad, and he was on board, then he got into Artisan's Alley, which was an antique and craft market, although some vendors wanted no crafts and others did, it wasn't doing too well, but Chad saw visions for it. It created some in fighting between Chad and Katie, and just when it looked like she might be starting to listen to his thinking, he was killed in a car crash. Katie inherited Chad's part of Artisan's Alley and didn't really do anything with it, until the fateful day that Ezra, the owner of Artisans Alley was found dead, now Katie, still in shock and grief over losing Chad, is confronted with owning a whole building she resents, still feeling it caused Chad's death, and having to take over that building and make it work.

Along with trying to make the store profitable and a success, she has to mend some bridges with the community that Ezra burned, and she starts understanding Chad and his desire to get into this now, instead of waiting for the time when they could open a B&B, and trying to figure out what really happened to Ezra, only to find another dead body in the building. Now she really needs to know what is going on, and the one person that befriends her only turns out to be more and more involved in it all as she goes along. When will it end, will she ever figure it out, and will she quit resenting the building and let it become her dream?

I just wanted to hop in the book and hug Katie at times and at other times wanted to slap the whining little girl. I felt she was so wrapped up in the dream of the B&B, that she couldn't or wouldn't listen to Chad about other options and things that might actually be more their style and to their advantages than a B&B. I loved the twists and turns in the plot and how it all turned round in the end, it was not who you ever expected in the beginning, and still to the end it was not who I expected.

It was well-written and I found myself feeling like I was there, rooting for this town and the creative area of town, and just really even dreaming myself of where it could go and what it could become. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, really wanting to see where it goes and how it changes.

I hope that I was able to share enough to get you interested in the book, but not too much as to spoil the story for you, but I do hope you will take a chance and read this one, you won't be disappointed. Thanks!

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Feint of Art (An Annie Kincaid Mystery) by Hailey Lind (Juliet Blackwell)

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Feint of Art by Juliet Blackwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Feint of Art is the first book in the Annie Kincaid Mystery series which is written by Hailey Lind, which just happens to be a name created when Juliet Blackwell and her sister write together. Now, I happen to love Juliet's books, and I am not sure what name her sister writes under normally, or if she does, but I would be happy to say that she is just as good as her sister, if this book is any indication. I loved it!!

The story revolves around our main character, Annie Kincaid, she is the grand-daughter of a master art forger, spent time learning from him and passing some pretty good forgeries herself, but she went straight, now owning a studio that deals in faux finishes and murals and even some restoration of a old piece, which I am thinking who better to clean up and fix a master than a forger, really. She is scrapping by, but their are still people in the art world that want nothing to do with her, but more of them want her knowledge, because when it comes right down to it, when you spend a great deal of money on a painting that is suppose to be an old master you want it verified, and if I was verifying an old master, who better than a master forger to tell me if it is real, or one of their works. Of course, they all want it kept on the down-low that they are using her services and she is fine with that for now.

The story begins with Anne being called by an old flame to verify a new painting at the gallery he works for, only for Anne to have to tell him it is a fake. The old flame makes plans to met back up with her in a couple hours and she waits at the coffee shop only to be stood up, what else is new. So on her walk back to her truck, she sees police lights and finds out that the security guard that let her out just an hour ago is dead and there is no sign of her old flame anywhere. When she can't reach him still days later, she begins to look into what is going on out of concern for the guy, which leads her into a whole mess of things she never imagined!

This was just so well-written and so easy a story to follow, I just loved it and I look forward to more in this series, because I was blown away by all the art information that was tucked into the book, it never seemed like a "teaching moment" but more like real conversation and it was so neat and interesting. I really liked it and I hope you will take a chance on the book and give it a read!

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Deadly Notions (A Southern Sewing Circle, #4) by Elizabeth Lynn Casey

Deadly Notions by Elizabeth Lynn Casey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Deadly Notions is the fourth book in the Southern Sewing Circle Series, which is a cozy mystery series. One of my favorite feel-good type of books to read when I am down is a cozy mystery, and when it is set in a small town in the south, even better; add in a little sewing and I am in a wonderful place.
This summer I set down one rainy afternoon, while the kids were playing games together on the computer and read this little number.

I have loved this series from the start, and am always anxious when I get ahold of the next book in the series, and it just happened to come in the mail from a swap so I was able to spend the time involved in the book, while it rained.

Tori is the head librarian at the Sweet Briar library, and transplant from Chicago. The Sewing Circle took her in the minute she arrived and have been helping her learn the souther ways to her new home town, like never, ever bring lemonade to a meeting, even if you did squeeze if by hand, all southern ladies drink sweet tea. But this time, the sewing circle has it's hands all tied up helping Melissa with a birthday party for her daughter Sally, but this can't just be a normal birthday party, no it has to meet the high standards and expectations of one mom in the group, Ashley Lawson, who just happens to be a wonderful dress designer, and would do anything in the world to make her daughter, Penelope, the net big thing. She has a way of talking down to all the other moms, and their party attempts, and heaven forbid you don't invite her child, well lets just say she has power in that tongue of hers. The bigger problem is that all this worship of her small daughter has lead to a massive chip on Penelope's shoulder, and none of the kids really like her, but they are forced to deal with her, or worse her mother.

With the Sewing Circle's and Tori's help, including the use of the library as a location it turned out to be quite the party after all, and everyone went home happy. Hummm, I wonder if our local library would be willing to let people use the reading room for dress up and book reading for a party? It actually sounded like a really cute and fun party idea for a seven year old. Until the next morning, when there are police at the library and Ashley Lawson is dead. The problem, there wasn't a soul at the party that didn't say something negative about the Mom, but none of them would have wanted to hurt her would they? Now it becomes Tori's job, along with those wonderfully helpful and noisy ladies of the sewing circle to find out who really killed Ashley and protect Melissa, one of their own and host of the party.

I am telling you, this is a delightful book. Lots of touches of southern charm, mystery, intrigue, twists and turns, followed with more southern charm. As the series continues, the relationships of the women of the sewing circle are deepened, even Rose and Tori and getting along better, and understanding each other better. And then there is the relationship between Tori and milo, even that is growing, in spite of some miscues and sabotage in this book. It was so much fun to follow the twists and turns and the rocks and bumps and finally to the end, where everything worked out for the best.

I just love this series, and I hope I didn't say too much about it to spoil the reading, but yet enough to encourage you to take a chance a try the book. I love to share good books I have found, and I hope you find it enjoyable too. Now, off to find the next book in the series!

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Murder In Miniature by Margaret Grace

Murder in Miniature by Margaret Grace
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Murder in Miniature is the first book in the A Miniature Mystery Series, and although it was a good book, i can't say that I am climbing the walls looking for book two. The story was fine, and I enjoyed the details of the miniatures world, but something about it made it difficult for me to read.

Maybe it was having grandma as the heroine, but I don't think it was that, but no matter how I tried i just could not relate to this book.

Geraldine is a grandma who lost her husband two years ago, and gets caught up in the only two murders in her small town in forever, while her granddaughter is here for a visit. She reasons through the questions and makes wonderful conclusions, not far fetched jumps, but yet at the same time I couldn't get into it and I find I am even having a hard time writing about it! Wow, that almost never happens with a book.


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Glossed and Found (A Bath and Body Mystery, #3) by India Ink

Glossed and Found by India Ink
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Glossed and Found is the third book in the Bath and Body Mystery series by India Ink. I am one that just simply has to read books in the order they are meant to go in, but as I read this book, parts of the story seemed familiar, like I had read them before, but yet other parts of the story I knew I hadn't read before, and I know I didn't read the second book before a couple of days ago. I am thinking I might have picked this book up at one time, not realizing it was book three, and then maybe read parts of it, but even if I did, it was a book worth reading again!

Auntie and Persia run Venus Envy in small town, Gull Harbor, WA. It is an upscale bath and body shop that recently added a hairdresser and a makeup artist. Persia has been gifted with a sensitive smell that allows her to pick up on subtle undertones in a fragrance, and so she creates custom blends for her clients, along with all the fragrance blends for Venus Envy's line of bath and body products.

The day of the Thanksgiving Gala in Gull Harbor, Lisa Tremont, the makeup artist at Venus Envy, ducks out early leaving a note that she had to meet someone about the suspicions that she had regarding her late fathers estate. Persia is mad at Lisa for ducking out, but she also knows Lisa wouldn't do it if it wasn't important. Lisa had a date for the Gala, but she never makes it to the Gala, and never calls her boyfriend to cancel. Her sister Amy is worried sick, but there isn't much her boyfriend, the chief of police can do, since Lisa is an adult.

When no one has heard from Lisa in a couple of days, Amy files an official missing person report, but that isn't good enough for Persia and Amy. With the police budget already stretched to the limits and more cuts in the future, Kyle, the police chief can only do so much, especially since there isn't a ransom note and no clues as to what happened to Lisa. Persia is always checking things out on her own, usually to the chagrin or Kyle, but this time she asks his permission to talk to Lisa's clients, as the owner of the shop where she works, and report back to Kyle. This time kyle is glad to have thee help, because he just doesn't have the resources available to do alot on this case.

Another well-written and enjoyable book. I felt pulled in and routing for Persia to find Lisa, and for Kyle to get more money from the council, although that issue is still left hanging at the end of the book, some of the things mentioned in the book about what to do about the council were brought up and I look forward to the next book to see which ones come through and what help it does give the town. I find myself enjoying the town of Gull Harbor and wishing it was a true place that I could visit, but for now I will just have to keep reading about it in this series.

View all my reviews Just found out from the authors webpage that she is no longer writing this series, nor does she feel that she could ever make money writing cozy mysteries, so this is the last. We'll never know if Kyle got more funding, if Auntie truly did run for a seat on the council, and what happened on Persia and Auntie's trip to Hawaii. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I am also disappointed in the authors disregard for fans and for the genre. Her current work is way out of my realm of reading, it is a more specific genre than cozy mysteries, and I can't believe that she could really be making more money writing that drivel, but if that is what she thinks, then so be it.

A Blush with Death (A Bath and Body Mystery, #2) by India Ink

A Blush With Death by India Ink
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Blush with Death is the second book in the Bath and Body Mystery series by India Ink. I read the first a long time ago, then found the second and third at a used book store the other day, so now I can move on.

Venus Envy is a bath and body shop in Gull Harbor, WA. Auntie owns the shop and employes her niece Persia Vanderbilt as her custom fragrance blender.
Persia has a sensitive sense of smell that allows her to pick up on subtle undertones in a fragrance. This works well in her Aunt's shop where she custom blends fragrances for her customers. but also for the line of body products, lotions, oils, bath salts and such that they sell at Venus Envy.

Things were going great until Bebe Wilcox moved to town and opened a competing shop. The problem with Bebe is that she doesn't want to play by the rules, she wants to be top dog right now, and the only way to do that is to run Venus Envy out of business, which she works hard at by spreading rumors about the products at Venus Envy, that the are inferior and shoty materials were used to make them, which is not true of the Venus Envy products, but is true of Bebe's products. Then the roses are sabotaged. Auntie and Persia grow their own roses, and in fact went to all the trouble to make sure that they were certified as organic, but the gardner finds pesticide residue on the roses, so he rushes samples to a friend at the University lab and he gets results back quickly and to Auntie and Persia, someone deliberately put a strong pesticide, and a large amount on the roses. In fact so much that all the roses will have to be dug out, and at least three feet of soil under them and all replace, but it will take two to three years before the roses are mature enough to harvest their petals for the Rose Water that is a hugh seller at Venus Envy!

There isn't enough proof to get police chief, Kyle to do anything, so Auntie and Persia take matters into their own hands by staging a public argument and Persia moving out for show, then getting a job at Bebe's to snoop!

This is just an awesome book. There are recipes in the book for a number of the oils that are talked about in the story. It's a well-written book and the characters are real and easy to relate to in some ways, and different than people you might know in your own life, but at the same time you can relate to them. I really enjoyed the book, and the concept of the upscale Bath and Body shop in a small town. It's a fun read.

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Sentenced to Death (A Booktown Mystery, #5) by Lorna Barrett

Sentenced to Death (A Booktown Mystery #5) by Lorna Barrett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Booktown Mystery is probably one of my favorite series, and so when I was able to get my hands on book number 5, Sentenced to Death, of course I was all over reading it!

It;s Founder's Day, a celebration that Bob Kelly had cooked up to drive more tourist traffic into town and promote the town. Of course Bob couldn't be bothered to do the leg work or give the opening speech, so Tricia's good friend, Deborah Black is doing it all. There is a plane pulling a banner behind it that is circling all around the town square, some loops are pretty low, and it has Tricia worried. Then Deborah climbs into the gazebo to give her opening speech, but she has to stop three time for the noise of the low flying plane to move out before she can go on. As she is talking Tricia notices the plane looks to be nose-diving the gazebo, and there isn't any sound, the engine is dead, and before anyone can say or do anything, the plane crashes into the gazebo. The pilot and Deborah are both gone in the blink of an eye.

As the days pass on, and Deborah's husband David sells his wife's store even before she is buried, refuses any help from his wife's family aside from leaving his young son with his wife's mother and never having a thing to do with him, then plans a funeral within days of getting his wife's body only for people to show up and realize there is no service, just a mingle time. Tricia has had enough, and she proceeds to give David a piece of her mind about his behavior, then she decides that something is wrong with this picture. She begins to investigate, and it takes her on a multi level trip through the lives of the pilot and his wife, Deborah and David, and the daycare center were little Davey broke his arm just a couple weeks prior.

Another in the series of well-written and enjoyable books by Lorna Barrett. I find myself wanting to be in a town like Stoneham, to be a part of the lives of the people around there. It just draws you in and makes you want to read and enjoy the books. looking forward to the next book in the series.

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Chapter & Hearse (A Booktown Mystery, #4) by Lorna Barrett

Chapter and Hearse by Lorna Barrett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really like this Booktown Mystery series. So I picked up books 4 and 5 of the series, and finished them as quickly as I picked them up!

Book 4, or Chapter & Hearse, starts out with a launch party of Angelica's new cookbook, but no one shows up, except this larger than life cut-out of Angelica. Bob Kelly, Angelica's boyfriend since she moved to Stoneham, is suppose to be there, but his car is parked in from of History Repeats Itself, and never shows up for the party. Tricia has never really like Bob all that much, so she finally decides that she is going down to History Repeats Itself and give Bob a piece of her mind, but before she can get there, she hears a loud whoosh, and the next thing she knows she is lying on her back, in the street with the firefighters and paramedics helping her up and moving her away from what used to be History Repeats Itself, it was the victim of a gas explosion, the store is gone and worse yet, the owner Jim Roth is dead. Bob Kelly is being carted away to the hospital, but he is being uncharacteristically tight lipped and refusing to talk to anyone, including the police.

Angelica leaves on a promotion tour of her book, and strange things keep happening to her, and finally Tricia can take it no more and starts investigating on her own. The twists and turns, and two different yet intertwined stories are going on at the same time, and it turns out that they all are related to Jim's death, actually his murder, turns out the gas meter was tampered with, it was no accident.


Another awesome story, well-written and enjoyable by Lorna Barrett. Will review the 5th next, then I can't wait for the next to come out!

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The Hunt for the Seventh by Christine Morton-Shaw

The Hunt For The Seventh by Christine Morton-Shaw
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up at my kids school book fair, because it was on sale, and it sounded interesting.

The reading level is probably that of a middle school aged child, but I still was able to read and enjoy the book.

Jim, his sister Sally, and their Dad move into a large estate where dad is going to be the head gardener, and they will live in the old servant quarters of the estate, the South Turret to be exact. The Master of the estate, whom they call "his nibs" or "nibs" is a very old gentleman in a wheelchair, but he has installed security cameras all over the estate and nearby village to keep tabs on everyone and everything. This job is important to the family as they have just lost their mom and this is a new start for them, so when the Master makes it clear that the children are to be kept under close supervision, they try to behave, for the sake of a new start. The problem is that almost as soon as they move in, strange things start occurring to Jim, he sees and hears things that are not there, in fact he seems to be being lead on a quest, without him ever wanting to be on a quest, even though it is risking his Dad's job, which is not jim's intention in the least. Turns out that Jim is the one that will have to save the Village, no matter what he wants.

I enjoyed the book and found it well-written. The main character definitely puzzles out things with the thinking of a 13 year-old, but i didn't figure out the clues any faster than he did! i think it is an excellent book for the middle age set, or anyone who likes the puzzle-mystery types of stories!

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An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff & Alex Tresnowski

An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny by Laura Schroff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book through the GoodReads First-Reads program. Although the cover on my book looks nothing like the picture here, it's the same story.

I enjoyed the book and thought it was a good story.

There is a fair amount about Maurice and Laura, together, and how they effect each others lives, but there is a lot of back-story about Laura's life and growing up. I felt this was more a book for Laura than it was a book for Maurice. I am sure had it been written by Maurice, it would have had a completely different flavor.

I found the story compelling, and it moved me through, and although I had hoped for a happy ending, and the book does leave off with everyone in a "good place", I found myself disappointed. Disappointed that laura didn't make enough of a difference, that Maurice still got caught up in the problems of his life, but at the same time I did find the book a worthwhile read. It's hard to explain why I felt a little disappointed at the end without telling future readers too much about the book, and I completely understand if others disagree with my feelings on the book. That is part of the great thing about reading, that we each learn and get something different from the book!

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Books Can Be Deceiving (A Library Lover's Mystery, #1)

Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have been reading another series by Jenn McKinlay, her Cupcake Bakery Series, and I am waiting on the next book in that series, so I checked out information on the author and found she had a few other series, so i got ahold of this one from the library.

A Library Lover's Mystery, the lead character Lindsey is the director of the library, which reminds me of the Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series, as the lead in that series is also the director of the library, but they are completely different stories.

One of the first things Lindsay did when she took over the library was to form a Crafternoon club, much to the dismay of the older library staff person, Mrs. Cole. A crafternoon club is a group that was part book club and part craft club. They met at the library once a month and read a book, which they discussed at the meeting, while crafting. In this book, they were knitting.

Lindasy's best friend from college, Beth has been the children's director at the library for ten years, and when the director position opened up she encouraged Lindsay to apply. Which came at a perfect time in her life, when the university was cutting staff, and her library position was downsized and at the same time lindsay found out her finance was leeping with someone else.

Now, in the quaint town of Briar Creek, Lindsay is settling into life, until a children's book publisher comes to town, and Beth is encouraged to show her the book Beth has been working years on. Problems start when Beth's boyfriend of five years, a children's author himself,Rick finds out. he is livid and breaks things off with Beth, and the next day when Beth shows her book to the editor she finds out why. Rick has submitted Beth's book as his own and it is set to publish that fall!  Beth and lindsay set out to confront Rick, only to find him dead!

The local small town sheriff, who has never had a murder in town, sets his sights at Beth as the murderer and refuses to even listen or look at anyone else. Good thing there is a state investigator in the case, and that Lindsay refuses to let her best friend take the fall for something she didn't do.

I felt it was a good book, well written and enjoyable to read. I loved the way the author develops the characters. I loved the first series I read by her, so I had high hopes for this series, and so far it doesn't disappoint.  I am looking forward to reading more in this series and even more book by this author.




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Reading

As you might have noticed from the last couple of blog posts, I love to read! And I am not a snob about what I read either, I will even pick up a kids book and read it, especially since I have three kids. I have tried to instill a love of reading in my children by example, and I have to admit that at this point, the oldest two now love to read, although that was not always the case.

My oldest struggled to read in school. He is still behind his grade level in reading, but I could really care less about that, I don't care how fast he can read, only that he reads and understands what he is reading, and I know that he is doing that, so I am happy. The school taught phoncis, and he struggled to understand it and still sounds words out in a "strange" way, or at least to me is seems that way. Once he got older and learned other techniques to read he did better, and in the last year, he has went from a child who refused to read when asked to a child who can't but a book down!

My middle child has always been a reader, and she is ahead of her grade level, but I sometimes have to caution her to slow down and listen to what she is reading a little more. She loves to read and picks some really nice books to read, and sometimes some off the wall things, but we have fun and I love watching her read and hearing her or my son want to talk about the books they have read.

My youngest is in first grade and is way above her grade level in reading, but she is at this rebellion point where every book we present her with is "boring" and she refuses to read! The school year started with her picking books to read that were so below her reading level, and us encouraging her to pick beginning chapter books, only to have her respond that no one in her class could read chapter books so she couldn't read them. After a talk with the teacher and more encouragement, she started picking chapter books and found she could read them and enjoyed them. Now we are at this "boring" thing, and not sure what to do about it. We still read to all the kids at bedtime, and they love that, so I know she is hearing the written word and soaking it in, so I can only hope that the books are boring phase is short lived!

The other thing about reading that I love to do, is tied to my love of writing, and that is to tell others about what I read! Yep! I love to write about the books I have read and share them with everyone. I used to write reviews of the books on this blog, or my other business blog, but then I found www.goodreads.com and I write my reviews there, then they can be diretcly posted to my blog from there, so I only have to write them once, but two different crowds of people get to read them!

So far my writing of my reviews have been very basic and mostly I try to tell what I thought and felt without devulging too much of the story or plot. I am working on my writing of them and making them sound better to other people, but also giving you enough information to want to read the book without giving away the book itself. I find it fun to challenge myself to give more details in my writing, while maintaining the idea of not revealling the ending. It is fun and I enjoy it. More than anything, I love being able to combine two of my favorite things in the world together, reading and writing!