Taking a Posting Break

I will be taking a break from posting. You may have noticed that I have been absent already.

I will still review as I complete titles that fit my challenges.

Read the Books You Buy
Women's Fiction Challenge
What's in a Name 2016
Cruisin' Thru the Cozies

But not much else. I've hit a wall. I feel empty and inadequate. So until I recharge this blog will be a bit vacant.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Bake, Battle and Roll by Leighann Dobbs (2nd selection in the Cozy Mystery Collection)

Bake, Battle & Roll Guys by Leighann Dobbs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Although I am a big fan of cozy mysteries, this one left me a bit wanting. I think it may be because it is #6 in the Lexy Baker series and I have not read the previous ones. I liked the characters of Nans, Lexy' s grandmother and her detective posse friends the best. Maybe all chefs are shallow, but I don't think so, and the bikers were just too cliche. I want to try to get a better feel for Lexy, and will go back and read the first in  he series. I have read another cozy by this author and liked it a lot.

To be fair, Lexy is a tenacious, nosy young lady. Anxious to enlist her grandmother's help in solving crimes that she feels most of the area detectives can't accomplish. She does love her fiance and police detective, Jack, but she even oversteps her bounds with him. And that's what cozy mysteries are all about. Nosy, buttinskis that can't leave the police work to the police.


View all my reviews

I am linking up this review to Yvonne's cozy challenge at Socrates' Book Reviews. 

Ghostly Paws by Leighann Dobbs

Ghostly Paws
Leighann Dobbs
A Mystic Notch Cozy Mystery


Wilhemenia Chance has moved back to her home town of Mystic Notch in the mountains of New Hampshire to take over her grandmother's bookstore.  Previously, she worked "down south", as an investigative reporter. As in all good cozy mysteries, there is a cat.  Pandora belonged to Willa's grandmother and came with the house. And of course, Willa finds a body. And now the ghost of Lavinia Babbage has appeared and implored Willa to find her killer.

As Willa investigates. she finds that things are not what they seem in Mystic Notch. She begins to suspect even her friends. There are quirky sidekick characters. Pepper owns a tea shop, Elspeth is a neighbor with a love of cats and seems to always know what is happening in Mystic Notch. Then there is that strange green paperweight at her grandmother's house.

Will the killer be one of her friends or a complete stranger?  Will Sheriff Eddie Striker be there to assist or hinder her?  I think I am going to like this series.  I did not have the killer pegged until the very end, even though there were plenty of clues now that I know.

I am linking this review to Yvonne's Cozy Challenge at Socrates' Book  Reviews.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?  is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Share what you are reading, what you read recently or what you hope to get to in the coming week and then link up with Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great place to see what is going on in the blogosphere and to add to your reading lists.

I am really into this story now. Willa Chance just keeps getting into trouble. And Sheriff Eddie Striker seems to be there at every turn. Who will find out first, who killed Lavinia.

I have just started this library book.  I know I will enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed the ones that preceded it. 


I have this in the audio version and I am listening to it as I get my early morning steps in walking around our neighborhood and while stitching on a couple of recent projects. Multi-tasking is something that gives me a chance to do two things I enjoy or at the least to get into a story as I get some exercise
. 

I am loving the narrator in this one. Very engaging. 


Have you read any of these books?  Happy 4th of July to my American friends and Happy 1st week of July to others. We are still waiting for the new addition to our family. Mama is so ready to be "not pregnant".  Baby is just taking her time deciding to arrive. 


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?  is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Share what you are reading, what you read recently or what you hope to get to in the coming week and then link up with Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great place to see what is going on in the blogosphere and to add to your reading lists.


On my nightstand:

Surprisingly, I am liking this book. I am learning some things, and discovering some new words.

A favorite quote so far:  " Women aren't necessarily less partisan than men, but they are more inclined to listen and try to understand the other side." 


On my Kindle:

I am finally engaged in this one, well the first in the collection anyway. The main character, Wilhelmina Chance, is the proprietor of the bookstore in her hometown of Mystic Notch, New Hampshire.  And of course, she has discovered a body, the body of Lavinia Babbage the head librarian in her hometown.  And there is a cat, Pandora.  I'm hooked!

Not sure how my reading will go this week. Our granddaughter is in early stages of labor and Mr. Busy and I are in the wings to take care of the almost 3 year old, soon to be big brother.  Reading time could be at a premium. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

The Cat Sitter's Whiskers by Blaize and John Clement

The Cat Sitter's Whiskers by Blaize Clement
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Dixie Hemingway lives in Sarasota Florida. She is a cat/dog sitter for the mostly rich and famous who live on Siesta Key, a sliver of sand that hugs the shoreline of Sarasota. She lives in the upstairs apartment over the garage of her older brother's house. Micheal and his partner Paco, are her port in a storm. And she has had a few storms. She used to be a police officer, but after her husband and young daughter were killed in a car accident, she couldn't go back.  That doesn't keep her from having a cop's instincts. She reads people well, most people like her and she is fearless. This can help or hinder her in the situations that seem to surround her.

I really enjoyed this book. Even though it is the 10th in the Dixie Hemingway series, I did not feel as if I had missed anything. The author uses the main characters, memories and thought processes to add her back story to the current story. I will read more of this cozy mystery series. Thanks to Cathy at Kittling Books for the giveaway.

I am linking this up to

You can find this challenge here,

Cruisin' Thru the Cozies 2016 is hosted by Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews

 And you can check out this challenge at The Worm Hole, this link will go to the page "Profession".

Or you can see all my challenges by clicking on  the 2016 Challenges tab at the top of my blog page.

Wondrous Word Wednesday June 15, 2016

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Feel free to get creative! If you want to play along, grab the button at Kathy's blog, write a post and come back and add your link to Mr. Linky!

A friend on FB, mom of a 7 year old , he'll be 8 in July, posted this with a picture of him reading the computer screen of a game he is interested in playing. I had to look up redacted also!

"Proud (geek) Mom moment. Isaac read the entire character description without stumbling and only needed the definition for redacted."

redact - transitive verb

1: to put in writing : frame

2: to select or adapt (as by obscuring or removing sensitive information) for publication or release; broadly : edit

3: to obscure or remove (text) from a document prior to publication or release

During my deputy training, we were subjected to a lecture by a retired medical examiner visiting from Orlando who had made a name for herself in the field of forensic osteology

From my current read, The Cat Sitter's Whiskers by Blaize and James Clement

I could figure this one out, because of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. But I was unfamiliar with the word.

osteology - noun

Medical definition of osteology

1: a branch of anatomy dealing with the bones

2: the boney structure of an organism

Did you find any wondrous words in your reading or listening this week?


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

1. 
   

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? June 13th

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?  is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Share what you are reading, what you read recently or what you hope to get to in the coming week and then link up with Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great place to see what is going on in the blogosphere and to add to your reading lists.

 Still working on this collection, the first in the group is Ghostly Paws by Leighann Dobbs. 

I will like it I am sure, if I can just pick up my Kindle and get to it. 

I am enjoying this one too. Although it is the 10th in the Dixie Hemingway series, it doesn't feel as though I have missed anything. Dixie tells her back story, or least parts of it, well enough that I do not feel lost at all. I am pretty sure I will gladly pick up the first several in this series. ( This one was won in a Giveaway at Cathy's blog, Kittling: Books.Thanks again Cathy)


Next I will select either:  Broad Influence by Jay Newton-Small,  one of my book club's summer selections

2016 will be one of the most historic years in politics: It marks the potential for the first female President of the United States, and the 100th anniversary of the first woman elected to Congress. Additionally, in 2016, single women will be one of the most pivotal voting groups heading into the general election, being courted by both Democrats and Republicans.

or The Quilter's Homecoming by Jennifer Chiaverini, a series I started years ago and then let fall away. 

  

Hope your week is productive on the reading front and enjoyable too. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Cat Sitter's Wiskers

Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea hosts this Tuesday meme. It is a place to share the first paragraph in the first chapter of a book you are reading or hope to get to soon. It is a great place to see what others are reading and add to your ever growing list of title to explore. So let's share. Write a post and then go link up at Diane's blog.

The Cat Sitter's Whiskers
Blaize & John Clement
2015
A Dixie Hemingway Mystery #10



1

It was a little after 5:00 on Monday morning when I pulled my bike out and brushed off the dewy cobwebs that had appeared between the spokes overnight. The sky was coal-black except for the vaguest hint of pale pink breaking at the horizon to the east. I knew once the sun got herself situated it would be hot as blue blazes, but for now there was a cool breeze riding in on the waves from the ocean, so I zipped up my hoodie before I rolled across the courtyard. 



Are you a cozy mystery fan?  Would you read on?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5/23/16

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?  is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Share what you are reading, what you read recently or what you hope to get to in the coming week and then link up with Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great place to see what is going on in the blogosphere and to add to your reading lists.

It has been a slow reading week. And a slow stitching week. We traveled to a nearby bigger city for an appointment with a neurologist. Mr. Busy has tingling in his feet. The diagnosis was peripheral neuropathy and likely progressive. There are some drugs but he is reluctant to start them. He hates taking pills and at age 71 takes no prescriptions for blood pressure, cholesterol, arthritis or anything. Pretty amazing. 

We spent the night with my sister and her husband. We always enjoy visiting with them. So we ate good food, and drank good wine and had good conversation. 

That being said, Still on my bedside table:

There are such good reviews out there for this title. And the writing is very good for the most part. It is a story about a black family in the 50's and 60's and more currently in 1990's. The one thing that has made it difficult is that the story of Seth, Virginia and their daughter Tamra in '51 and '64 is written in the past tense and the story of Tamra and Charles is written in the present tense. I find it cumbersome to read in the present tense. Why?  I am only in the middle of chapter 13 and the characters are certainly well established. So I will continue and report back later. 

Still on my Kindle: 

Have not started Ghostly Paws or any of the four selections. Spending some time in my sewing room, and I watched several episodes of season 8 of Grey's Anatomy. I am really behind and so want to reacquaint myself with all the various threads of the story. Some of season 8 I have seen and some I missed, so it is good to watch them back to back. 

I will have a review of The Hurricane Sisters soon. 

Hope you all are having better reading success than I am having lately. Summer reading on the porch or beach or at the cabin is just around the corner in the Northern Hemisphere and I would imagine those of you "down under" will have some time indoors on cooler days. Does your winter get really dreary?  

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

April Month in Review

Again I am behind in my book reading goal. Goodreads says I am4 books behind. I have read a total of 16 books. Twenty would keep me on my goal of 5 books per month. Yikes. I had better kick it in gear, again!



APRIL:

13.  Bossypants by Tina Fey

     1. New to me author
     2. Libary print book
     3. Non-Fiction, Memoir
     4, What's in a Name 2016 challenge


14. The Chili Queen  by Sandra Dallas

    1. Women's Literary Fiction Challenge
    2. Libary print book
    3. What's in A Name 2016 challenge


15. Witch is When It All Began  by Adele Abbott

    1.  New to me author
    2.  E-book
    3.  Read the Books You Buy challenge
    4.  Women't Literary Fiction Challenge
    5.   Cruisin' Thru the Cozies Challenge


16.   Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

        1. New to me author
        2. Audio book
        3. Read the Books You Buy Challenge.


I am linking up with Kathryn's at Book Date for Month in Review.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy
Judy

Witch Is When It All Began by Adele Abbott

Witch Is When It All Began  
Adele Abbott

Jill Gooder is a P.I., because her father was and she took over the business. She is not very successful at the present time, and so decides to take on a job to find a “serial killer”. At least her client thinks a serial killer murdered his girlfriend, the police do not. As in most cozy mysteries, the protagonist sticks her nose where it doesn’t belong. She can’t help it however, she has a job to do.


Enter a quirky office assistant, an adopted one-eyed cat, a police detective who seems to hate her, and a sister who is trying to hook her up with just about anyone. As Jill deals with all these characters in her life, she discovers that her biological mother is a Witch. That means she too is a witch, at least that is what her mother says from her deathbed, “You’re a witch!”

This is a fun story. I grew up watching “Bewitched” on television and this books reminds me of Samantha and Darren and their exploits. I was a bit put off by the slang words I did not know, but because I read it on my Kindle, I could look up the meanings without too much trouble. If you are looking for a light easy read, this is one for you. There are more installments in the series and I will check them out as well. I am adding this to my “Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies” challenge, hosted by Yvonne at Socrate's Book Reviews.

This also will fit for Read What You Buy and Women's Fiction Reading Challenge. A three-fer!! 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 4/18/16

It's Monday What Are You Reading is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Share what you are reading, what you read recently or what you hope to get to in the coming week and then link up with Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great place to see what is going on in the blogosphere and to add to your reading lists.


Listening to:

Goodreads Synopsis:
It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready? 

Normally I do not read or listen to fantasy/science fiction. I am a fan of science fiction movies however. And I am enjoying this audio of Ready Player One narrated by Wil Wheaton!!!  Wil Wheaton!!  (do I sound like Sheldon Cooper?). 

On my Kindle:

Goodreads Synopsis:

When the going gets tough...
Private investigator, Jill Gooder, has been hired to find a serial killer because, as usual, the police can't buy a clue. Jill, the not so proud owner of a crazy, one-eyed cat, probably can't expect too much help from her PA/Secretary, Mrs V, who spends all day knitting.
And just in case all of that wasn't bad enough, Jill's just about to discover she's a witch.
...break out the custard creams. 


I am anxious to get back to reading some cozy mysteries and this looks like it might be a good one. 





Stay Busy and Stay Happy

February Month in Review

Goodreads reports that I  am one book behind in reaching my goal of 60 books this year. Since I have only read 8 books that really means I am 2 books behind if I aim for 5 books per month. January is here.


February:

6. Here Today, GoneTamale by Rebecca Adler

    1. New to me author
    2. Women's Literary Fiction Challenge
    3. Cozy Mystery Challenge
    4.  Paperback
    5. Already Owned: TBR Triple Dog Dare
 

7. Deep Down Dark by Hector Tobar

    1.  New to me author
    2.  Non-fiction
    3.  E-book
    4.  Already Owned: TBR Triple Dog Dare
    5.  Read the Books You Buy Challenge


8.  The Liar's Club by Mary Karr

       1. New to me author
       2. Memoir  by a woman
       3. Paperback
       4. Already Owned:  TBR Triple Dog Dare
       5. Read the Books You Buy Challenge


I am linking this quick review with Kathryn at Book Date.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Here Today, Gone Tamale Rebecca Adler

Here Today, Gone Tamale
Rebecca Adler
Berkley Prime Crime 2015


This is the first in a new Taste of Texas Mystery.  Josie Callahan grew up in Broken Boot, Texas. She moved to Austin for a newspaper job and was engaged. However, her life changes after she loses her job at the Gazette and her fiance unfriends her on Facebook, leaving her with fuschia pew bows and matching thank you notes. She packs up her Chihuahua, Lenny, and high tails it back home.  She'll help her Aunt Linda and Uncle Eddie in their Tex-Mex Restaurant.

After a night of tamale making with the  Wild Wild West Festival committee, a local jewelry designer is found dead next to the dumpster outside the restaurant. Josie falls back into reporter mode and immediately begins to look for clues to whom the murderer might be.

After the newest waiter, Anthony is arrested for the murder,  Josie enlists the help of her high school friend Patti Parez to track down clues she thinks will help exonerate Anthony and put the real killer behind bars. The local sheriff and his handsome deputy are none too pleased to have their help! She's a bit of a buttinski! 


I really wanted to like this story. I did like the protagonist, Josie Callahan. She is witty and loyal and a bit of a flake! I don't think the story was very believable in the description of the murder. I feel like the details that helped Josie solve the murder were left out  and other unnecessary details were rehashed. We did get to know a few of the other lesser characters who will probably resurface in the next installments. I will give this series another try. I think there is great potential.

I am adding this to my Cruisin' Thru the Cozies Challenge, hosted by Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Same Song Different Verse

I am linking up with Kathryn at Book Date for It's Monday!  What Are You Reading?  There is nothing new to report in the reading realm this week. I am still reading on my Kindle.
Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free.   Goodreads Synopsis: 

Still reading in paperback.

Here Today, Gone Tamale
Rebecca Adler


I should have finished at least one of these this week. I guess I have been in the January doldrums. Good thing this is a new month and a new start.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy