Alex's This and That

Mischief in Maggody by Joan Hess

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this one more than the first one! Maggody is so much like the place I live - they are still trying to get out of the Stone Age! Ariel is swimming in a sea of crazy people in her home town in rural Arkansas. She's the police chief in a town where nothing ever happens - yet she doesn't seem to lack in murders. In this one, hippies have opened a store and are expecting a baby and they also have a fortune teller and her brother come to town.

A long time resident goes missing and it's up to Arly to figure out what happened to her. Ruby Bee and her friend are up to their usual and the preacher and the mayor's wife are up to their usual as well.

It's a rollicking good time!





View all my reviews

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I reread The Outsiders after watching the Great American Read. I had read it as a teen and reread it some years later as well. I know many people said they identified with Ponyboy and the others, but nothing in my teens was remotely like their lives. I grew up in a rural area and never knew any 'greasers'. if we had them, I never knew anything about it. I also have not ever really identified with any of the other great 'coming of age' books either, books like Catcher in the Rye or A Separate Peace.

Having said all that, the narrative is compelling and does leave on a hopeful note about life and family.



View all my reviews

Dead Wrong by Leighann Dobbs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I rather enjoyed this one. It is our April Cozy at our reading group. I like the Blackmoore Sisters and hope we see much more of them and perhaps a little longer tale next time. The characters were pleasant, the murder was someone we didn't like and it left us with a little mystery at th3e ending. Plus there was a budding romance.

The book was very short but that really might be my only complaint.

There was a rather interesting cat as well.

I will be reading more of this series for sure.



View all my reviews

Survival of the Fritters by Ginger Bolton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was March's Cozy Mystery and it was okay. I liked it though it was not terribly remarkable. Emily runs a donut shop with her father-in-law and solves a murder while trying not to fall for her dead husband;s partner on the police force. It has donuts, cats and old ladies so not a bad read.





View all my reviews

Who is really named Dean James.

Murder Past Due by Miranda James

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I had read this before and really liked it but this time, I found Charlie tediously boring and I got VERY tired of Diesel being mentioned in every paragraph.

The mystery was pretty good, though. He did stretch that out to the very end and it certainly wasn't who Charlie and I thought it was. I do remember the stories getting better as we meet more characters in Athena, Mississippi. Azalea was adorable - I want some of her roast!

I will actually read more of these, despite falling out of love with this first one.



View all my reviews

Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the second book in the Themis Files and it's even creepier than the first. Alien robots begin appearing all over the globe and the world soon sees that they are not friendly. We jo9iun our nameless man and the rest in another adventure that will take us in some very unexpected directions. We find out evenutally that all we've been told could be a lie...



View all my reviews

Look What the Wind Blew In by Ann Charles

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The first in a series that's a spinoff of the Deadwood Series. I really liked Violet's brother, Quint. This book is set in the jungles of Mexcio and combines ancient curses and modern archeology and romance as Quint goes to a dig in Mexico to find out what happened to his old professor and falls head over heels for the archeologist is digging at the site now, Angelica Garcia. Danger mystery and a few giggles ensue as we meet some unforgettable characters in the steamy jungle.





View all my reviews