Cruisin Thru the Cozies Challenge 2015 - #6

Here is another challenge entry for Cruisin Thru the Cozies Reading Challenge hosted by Yvonne at Socrate's Book Reviews



Perfect Poison by Joyce Lavene
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Peggy Lee's life has changed a little. She has given up her teaching job at and is devoting her energy to making The Potting Shed prosper. And she has been offered a part-time position with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department as a forensic botanist. Things were going along well, then Smith & Hawken open a storefront in the busy Charlotte Center City and became a competitor to The Potting Shed.

As she is attending a funeral and the required reception afterward she runs into and old friend, Professor Ruth Sargent, a forensic diver at UNCC. It is there in nearby Badin, NC that she is drawn into an investigation of a drowning at the dam of United Metals.

In typical Peggy Lee fashion, her curiosity and sense of duty and what's right, leads her into a clash of personalities and good-old boy types. I am enjoying this series of cozy mysteries. Each chapter begins with a kind of plant and a short botanical description. In this case, all the plants are water plants or other native North Carolina plants found near water.  Muskgrass, Trout Lily, Pumpkin, and Trillium are just a few. The books always end with gardening hints too.

I am looking forward to reading the next one, A Corpse for Yew.


View all my reviews

Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy : Cruisin' thru the Cozies

I am linking this review to Cruisin Thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2015 hosted by Yvonne at Socrate's Book Reviews.  I signed up for Level 2 - Investigator. That is reading 7-11 cozies, this is #5.

Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Olivia Paras, newly appointed executive chef at the White House, is in the thick of it again. It's spring and she is looking forward to her mom and grandmother visit. She's planning the annual White House Egg Roll, they will hard boil 15,000 eggs. The day her mom and nana are expected to arrive she is startled by a call from 202 on her caller id. The White House!  Now what?

What follows is in true Ollie Paras and Julie Hyzy fashion. There is a death at the White House. Was it murder or not!.  How did the dinner guest die?  Did the White House kitchen have a hand in it?

This one was fun, in that there where a couple of other lovable characters introduced. Ollie mom, Corrine and her grandmother were fun to get to know. There was a tiny bit of Stephanie Plum's Grandma Mazur, but Nana is not quite as crude. She's spunky but lovable.  

I am looking forward to the rest of this cozy mystery series.


View all my reviews

Random Saturday Snapshots 8-29-15

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads. The only rules are that the pictures are taken by you or a family member or friend and that the content be appropriate for all eyes to see. 

Today are just random pictures of nature and one of my brother. 

 This is a picture taken by my sister in South Dakota, during her morning walk. She walks most mornings in a nearby nature preserve. Isn't this serene?

This picture was taken by my sister in law, who lives in northern Montana near Great Falls.  The setting sun is so red due to all the forest fire smoke. We are experiencing the smoke even here in NE Wyoming.  I thought it was interesting that both photos have foliage in the foreground.

This is a picture of my brother living a life long dream of participating in the Little League World Series. He is behind home plate in this game. The photos of him directly were not taken by a family member or friend by the press, so I cannot share them. If you are interested in a better picture, go to ND/SD Little League District 1 face book page and there is a great photo of him as their cover photo this week. It has been fun watching the games and looking for him.  Those Little Leaguers play great ball. The final games in each division are today, and the Championship game is tomorrow between the US winner and the International winner.

That's all for my random Saturday Snapshots.
Have a great week

Review: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

All The Light We Cannot See    

Anthony Doerr

Audio narrated by Zach Appelman

This may be my favorite book of 2015.  Anthony Doerr writes with such beauty.  

Marie-Laure lives in Paris with only her father. At six she becomes completely blind. Her father, the locksmith of the Museum of Natural History in Paris, painstakingly builds her a model of Paris.  It is so detailed in its design that Marie-Laure can touch each piece and learn her way around the city.  She spends her days with her father at the museum and she knows her way around the entire building. She counts the steps, she smells the trees, the bakery, the air, and she listens to the birds, the bees, the steps on the streets.

Werner Pfennig is an orphan in Germany. He and his sister Jutta live at Children’s House. In their ventures around their city they come across a broken radio.  Werner fixes the radio and quickly gains the reputation of a repairman in the neighborhood.  As he spends more time, it becomes clear that Werner is a very bright boy. And the Nazis take notice. He is chosen to attend the school of the Hitler Youth.

As this story moves from one time period to the next and then back again, you start to see that the stories of Marie-Laure and Werner are bound to converge.  This audio version was so enthralling to listen to.  It was beautifully narrated by Zach Appleman.  I loved hearing the German and French words pronounced correctly. I know I would not have done so in my head if I had read the print version.  The author writes such beautiful prose, almost like looking at a painting.  That being said, so much of this story was very hard to listen to.  It is an upsetting story. There were times I had to shut off the player and walk away. The devastation and the sacrifices that the French and the German people made in 1941 – 1944 are overwhelming. Every time I read stories set in Europe during WWII I wonder, if I had been there, would I have survived?  Would I have been able to endure?

And yet, people did endure.  They did survive, to continue with their lives.  Forever changed by those awful years, they were able to go on, raise families and be prosperous members of their communities.

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday 8-19-15

Join us at Kathy's blog, BermundaOnion's Weblog on Wednesdays to share words encountered while reading or words you would just like to highlight. Just write a post and link up at BermudaOnion's Weblog. It's that simple, then check out other's links to learn something new today.


My words today came from The Summer Hideaway by Susan Wiggs.



vassal    noun    : a person in the past who received protection and land from a lord in return for loyalty and service

They came to Camp Kioga like vassals summoned by a monarch, with George ensconced in a big armchair in the resort lobby to greet everyone.


bialy   noun

:  a flat breakfast roll that has a depressed center and is usually covered with onion flakes

George waited his turn, then ordered indulgently - a cappuccino, a kolache and an iced maple bar. He also ordered a box of bialys and a strawberry pie to go. 

I had to go looking for a picture of a bialy. The article said they are similar to a bagel in texture and originated in Poland.  You might also wonder about kolache. So here is a picture of them. 

My grandmother was from Czechoslovakia, so I am familiar with kolache. They were originally a sweet wedding dessert. My grandmother made awesome kolaches filled with apricots or prunes. 

What wondrous words did you find this week?

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday All The Light We Cannot See - 8-18-15

Every Tuesday I try to join fellow bloggers at Diane's blog, Bibliophile by the Sea, to share the first paragraph or two of the current book I am reading on First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros. This week I am starting again on The Ticket by Karen Schutte. I shared the first paragraph of this 1st in a trilogy here.

I am also listening to All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

Because this is an audio book I am using the Look Inside feature at Amazon to share the first paragraph.


17 August 1944
Leaflets

At dusk they pour from the sky. They blow across the ramparts, turn cartwheels over rooftops, flutter into the ravines between houses.Entire streets swirl with them, flashing white against the cobbles. Urgent message to the inhabitants of this town, they say. Depart immediately for open country. 


I am enjoying this listen. Though parts of it are sad and hard to listen to, most is beautifully written. The story of a sixteen year old blind girl living in Paris with her father. It is very descriptive so you can see her world as Marie-Laure sees it. Not only with your eyes, but with your ears, your nose and your fingers. So would you read more?

Wondrous Words Wednesday 8-12-15

I am joining Kathy at Wondrous Words Wednesday. It is a place to share words you found while reading or words you just want to share.

My words today come from Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.

ameliorate - verb - to make something, such as a problem, better, less painful

"The police were so intent on deporting the maximum number of Jews that they decided to ameliorate the orders, so they arrested all those little children, the ones born in France, French children?"

arrondissement - noun-   : an administrative district of some large French cities.
                                          : the largest division of a French department

" It wasn't fantastically paid, but it was enough for me to stay on, living in the eighteenth arrondissement, sharing a place with two French gay men, Herve and Christophe, who became long-lasting friends."

I could sort of figure out the meaning of these two words due to the use in the sentences, but I looked them up so I could pronounce them correctly. I was OK on ameliorate, but had the accent all wrong on arrondissement.

So what new words did you find recently?