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COZIES JUST FOR FUN!

Murder With Peacocks Donna Andrews

Another series: Buried in a Book]Lucy Arlington

New series: Silent Knife Halloween MurderCold Turkey Shelley Freydont

Laurel wrote: "I found a great new cozy series by Murder With PeacocksDonna Andrews, several available on IBooks."

I hope you enjoy the series, Laurel.

Dustin wrote: "Laurel wrote: "I found a great new cozy series by Murder With PeacocksDonna Andrews, several available on IBooks."

I hope you enjoy the series, Laurel."

Thanks. I read books like this when I need a little relief from some of the "heavier" books I am reading, like the large one about the siege of Stalingrad, I am reading for my WW2 group. What do you choose for a break from the thrillers and horror books, that you frequently?

Fall Colours:

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I completed So Faux, So Good as part of my Read the USA Challenge, for part of a task in the Fall Seasonal Challenge, and for the Fall Colours mini challenge. Here is my review:http://www.goodreads.com/reviews/

I also completed three other books to finish my 4 books for the mini challenge, Fall Colours. They are:

Here is my review:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
for the cozy So Faux, So Good . I gave it 3 1/2 stars.

Laurel wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Laurel wrote: "I found a great new cozy series by Murder With PeacocksDonna Andrews, several available on IBooks."

I hope you enjoy the series..."

Earnestly, the length of books doesn't really deter me from reading them, or impact my decision. If it's calling to me, I'll read it. I do prefer the longer books, though.:)

Dustin wrote: "Laurel wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Laurel wrote: "I found a great new cozy series by Murder With PeacocksDonna Andrews, several available on IBooks."

I hope you e..."for me, it has more to do with content or subject matter. The siege of Stalingrad book I am reading is very informative but graphically horrific, as it explains what Hitler and Stalin did to each other's armies and populace as the campaign on the Eastern front unfolded. I find I need something "lighter"' as a break. Like you, if it calls to me, I will read it! Size doesn't matter!

Laurel wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Laurel wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Laurel wrote: "I found a great new cozy series by Murder With PeacocksDonna Andrews, several available on IBooks...."

Agreed, books on WWII are very hard to stomach..

I just finished reading The Elephants of Norwich , set in Norman England, the 11th instalment in the Domesday Mystery series. This is definitely not a cozy, given the brutality of the murder that is to be solved.

Here is my review:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Hi Laurel. I was looking through your corner and I love your Cozie Corner books. I like you selection of books. I will visit more often

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
This is my review for Raylan , which I gave 4 stars.

Laurel wrote: "http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
This is my review for Raylan, which I gave 4 stars."

Good review. I have to read the books now.
Love the tv show.

Michael wrote: "Laurel wrote: "http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
This is my review for Raylan, which I gave 4 stars."

Good review. I have to read the books now.
Love the t..."Thanks. Glad you liked it. Make sure you read them in order, though. I think you would enjoy them more. I should have. I am a full 2 seasons behind you regarding the show. I just finished the season with the woman as Dickie and Coover's mother, who ran the marijuana business in the holler. She was the family secretary in the movie "Secretariat". Hard to imagine they were the same woman.

not to spoil it, but it only gets better.

Michael wrote: "not to spoil it, but it only gets better."

Yahoo! can't get enough of Raylan. I really like Art, too. Love his droll sense of humour!

Laurel wrote: "Michael wrote: "not to spoil it, but it only gets better."

Yahoo! can't get enough of Raylan. I really like Art, too. Love his droll sense of humour!"

I kinda like Boyd. Know too many people like him.

Michael wrote: "Laurel wrote: "Michael wrote: "not to spoil it, but it only gets better."

Yahoo! can't get enough of Raylan. I really like Art, too. Love his droll sense of humour!"

I kinda like Boyd. Know too..."Boyd grew on me this year as the season went on. What a great actor he is, given that he played the religious zealot the first season. He and Raylan had a kind of truce in season 2. Looking forward to seeing where they go with his character in season 3. Got any hints?

No hints. You'll just have to wait and see.

Michael wrote: "No hints. You'll just have to wait and see."

You are mean! not really! I don't even know when Season 3 is going to air way up here in the far north! Fx is really bad about posting schedules. At least with Game of Thrones and other shows, I know exactly how long I have to wait.

American Assassin
I am keen to find out more about Mitch Rapp, the deep cover, CIA-trained American assassin, the namesake for Vince Flynn's eleventh book in the series. And yet, this book is numbered as the first Mitch Rapp book. Any one confused? I was, until I did a bit of research. Turns out, this book is actually a prequel to the other ten books, which lay out Mitch's carreer as an American assassin.

Mitch is in deep, so deep that his bosses, the suits at the upper echelons of the CIA and in the White House, will deny his existence. I want to find out more about Mitch and how he puts his training, described in this book, to use. So, I will be moving on to the next book,
Kill Shot.

I gave this book three stars rather than a higher rating, for a couple of reasons. It has a lot of spelling errors, which I find especially annoying. Additionally, there are a plethora of minor characters that are hard to keep track of, in the sections taking place in Beirut. The Moscow characters are more familiar, given that they are similar to Russian spy types found in Ludlum and other spy/thriller novels. The flipping back and forth between past and present, as well as revolving U.S., Beirut, Moscow, and additional European locales, are interesting, once you figure out what Flynn is up to.

Having read countless spy and murder mysteries, dating back to the early days of Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum and John Le Carre, I am not adverse to violence as part of the natural flow of the plot. American Assassin has its fair share of mayhem and bloodshed. But a couple of scenes involving pliers had me cringing, So, fair warning. The ruins of war torn Beirut and what transpires within them, seem especially real. The book wraps up quickly, but this is not a negative for me in that I have ten books to read, to try and figure out how Mitch Rapp wraps his head around what he does for a living. I am not so sure those who have read the series before this publication was available, would feel about the ending. Perhaps they would murmur "so that's how it all started."

I am fortunate that I have all the books ahead of me. Sadly, Vince Flynn passed away this summer, so Mitch's career is at an end. I suspect he and Vince will be missed.

(((RIP, Vince)))

Dustin wrote: "(((RIP, Vince)))"

Well said.

Thank you, Laurel.

I just finished reading Lucifer's Hammer . Here is my review:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/...

Worth the time if you are interested in apocalyptic science fiction or horror. I have not read a lot in this sub-genre, so I do not have much to compare it to. My husband is an avid amateur astronomer, and extremely knowledgeable, so I am interested to see what he has to say, after he reads it.

Reminder to self: check out the work of Robert Barnard, British author who recently passed away. He wrote two series, with Charlie Peace and Bernard Bastoble, as the main characters, plus many standalones.

Robert Barnard

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. The challenge is to read books with any pink on the cover.
204 Rosewood Lane Devil's Food Cake MurderStrawberry Shortcake Murder
The Proof Is in the Pudding The LuxeThe Secret History of the Pink Carnation An Unlikely Suitor

/topic/show/...

An interesting list of 100 historical fiction books to read.

Laurel wrote: "/topic/show/...

An interesting list of 100 historical fiction books to read."
Thank you for sharing!

Dustin wrote: "Laurel wrote: "/topic/show/...

An interesting list of 100 historical fiction books to read."
Thank you for sharing!"

You are welcome! Hope you find some good ones on there to add to your TBR list.

/review/show... finished this funny cozy but not really a cozy! Worth the time and provided lots of laughs!
Louisiana Longshot

Just checking in to see how you are doing. Hope you are enjoying autumn!

Michael wrote: "Just checking in to see how you are doing. Hope you are enjoying autumn!"

Hi, Michael. It is so kind of you to check on me! I am well, and enjoying a remarkable stretch of beautiful, almost summer like weather, here in southern Ontario. The trees have changed about 60%, I'd say, and the massive cleanup in our gardens has begun. Cutting back many varieties of hostas, day lilies, iris, and of course, bushes-next we will be digging up all of our dahlia and begonia tubers, washing, drying, sorting and labelling them for winter storage. That will take a couple of days. There are a lot!

My husband finally retired about 10 days ago, the day before his 60th birthday, so I am trying to get used to having him home all the time. We will not be seeing our out of town son and his family for Thanksgiving, (it is this weekend in Canada), because we have a wedding to attend.

Making many trips-about an hour and a half east to Belleville, to see my mom, who will be 95 on Christmas Day. She is not doing well, and that is a major worry. Regardless of their age, it is a hard thing.

I have 23 books to go to make my 120 total for my major goodreqds challenge. I have read a lot of books for the seasonal challenge but need to do some tasks with larger point values next time. The other challenges are going well, since they don't have deadlines.

Our third granddaughter is due Nov.15, and that date is creeping up. Have lots of knitting to finish! Wish I could read and knit at the same time!

Have added lots of books to my TBR list, much faster than I can read. Especially freebies for my kindle. I actually won a book this week on GR-my first...looking forward to its arrival.

Have you decided how to set up your challenge for January, yet? I know you were considering some pretty interesting scenarios. Looking forward to seeing what you decide.

I know you lost your dog some weeks back. Are you thinking about another furry pal, or perhaps it is too soon. I did not last long the last time around without a waggy tail to meet me when I came home! not nearly as long as I thought I would.

Hope this finds you and your family well, and I really appreciate your looking in on me! Are you reading anything you are excited about?

Cure I just finished this. Gave it 2 stars. Here is my review:
/review/show.... At least I can count it towards my yearly challenge total.

Delighted to post my 5 star review of the Hobbit. /review/show... The Hobbit

Laurel wrote: "Michael wrote: "Just checking in to see how you are doing. Hope you are enjoying autumn!"

Hi, Michael. It is so kind of you to check on me! I am well, and enjoying a remarkable stretch of beautif..."

Laurel wrote: "Michael wrote: "Just checking in to see how you are doing. Hope you are enjoying autumn!"

Hi, Michael. It is so kind of you to check on me! I am well, and enjoying a remarkable stretch of beautif..."


Wow-you are busy! Congrats to your hubby on his retirement. I know you are over-the-top excited about the new baby on the way! Hope your Mom is doing well.
I envy you the fall. How I miss the trees turning. Everything stays green down here. It gets so boring.
I made my 40 book challange. Might even get to 50.
My reading time has become somewhat constricted--coaching my grandson's little league team three times a week. The other two days I have to take him to his karate class.

I miss my buddy Petey. He was a good dog. His mom is still going strong, although she is arthridic and blind in one eye now. She's pushing 14. We did get a puppy, months before Petey got sick. Murphy just turned one in June. He is huge for a Boston terrier.
He's been a hard one to train, but he is coming around.

I do not normally read horror, other than works by Dean Koontz and Stephen King. But I needed a horror novel for a challenge, and I am trying to expand my reading horizons. After some research on GR, and browsing a few reviews, I decided to choose Heart-Shaped Box , by Joe Hill. It became apparent in the reviews that my choice, ironically, was by Joe King, son of Stephen, one of the Kings of horror, pun intended. I was leaning favourably towards this book, before I began it since Joe had decided to use a pen name, to avoid riding on his father's famous coat tails, or to avoid the obvious comparison.

Well, he needn't have worried. The apple doesn't not fall from from the tree, in my opinion. This book scared me big time from the get go, from the early pages when aging rocker Jude Coyne encounters the ghost he had deliberately purchased on the internet. A delivery truck brings him a shiny, black heart-shaped box, and the chills begin.

I do not want to give away any elements of this book, other than to say that I began reading it at 2:30 in the afternoon and finished it at 10:30 at night. I did not sleep well.

Several times I had put it aside, thinking that I would leave it alone for a day or two, yet within a few minutes I was picking it up again. Hill made me care for his quite unlikeable rocker and his very goth girl friend within the first third of the book; not to mention his dogs, which were much more than well loved pets. I think I will have to reread this in the next few weeks, to really understand what Hill wants us to take away from that heart-shaped box, beyond the goosebumps.

His words frequently made me feel reluctant to turn the page and yet I did-much like Dean and Stephen have done so many times. I suspect Mr. Hill would be pleased with that result.

Review for The Way West

4 stars

Let's be clear! I love Westerns as a genre-movies, books and even TV. I had a positive outlook as I began this book, since I enjoy a good "oater", and the author, A.B. Guthrie won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1950. The novel did not disappoint.

A group of farmers in Missouri decide to make the perilous journey from their homesteads to the wilds of Oregon. Some of the train members have come from further east, seeking a new start. To call this adventure perilous is certainly an understatement. All of the dangers one might expect to find, if you have been exposed to any western media form, are present-changeable and fierce weather, heat, wind, lack of water, rattlesnakes, wolves, raging rivers, deep gorges, desert-like terrain-all to be crossed on foot, (since most members of the wagon train walked). Everything you might need must be transported with you, from flour to sewing needles-all transported in covered wagons or on the backs of pack mules or, if necessary, carried by hand.

Why would anyone undertake such an intimidating endeavour? Guthrie gives us many reasons, including the desire to help Oregon as a territory become part of America, and out of the hands of the British. The primary reason was the desire to own land that was thought to be so rich in its flora, fauna, and potential for successful homesteading, that the idea of "Oregon", became almost mythic in its dreamed-of state.

Guthrie does "the pioneer spirit" proud! Living in a time when we have difficulty imagining daily life without electricity, running water, the internet, and almost any kind of food imaginable at our fingertips, the circumstances overcome by this relatively small group of ordinary folk, is quite extraordinary. His characters are likeable, except for the controlling Tadlock and some of his cronies.

After the first couple of chapters, I realized that my perceptions of the characters were being indirectly influenced by my visualization of Dick Summers, the wagon train pilot, in the form of a buckskin clad Jimmy Stuart, and Lige Evens, the other main male character, as an embodiment of Gary Cooper. Those images remained with me throughout the novel, and are a tribute to Mr. Guthrie's characterizations, and two Hollywood greats who epitomize integrity and "the good guy", in just about any type of environment.
Stuart, whom I adore, made many westerns, some darker that others, and Cooper is the sheriff abandoned by those he has sworn to protect, in the classic High Noon.

Guthrie's novel was made into a 1967 film of the same name, starring three Hollywood big ticket stars: Richard Widmark, Robert Mitchum, and Kirk Douglas. The film includes many of the physical challenges faced by the train's members, but I was not happy with the casting, nor their portrayals of Guthrie's characters.

Guthrie is also known as the writer of the screenplay for the famous western, Shane, and received an Oscar Nomination.

The Way West is actually a sequel to


The Big Sky, in which Dick Summers is a mountain man, with a deeply felt attachment to the mountains of Oregon, thus making him an ideal candidate to pilot the train in the sequel. He appears again in Guthrie's third book, Fair Land, Fair Land, as Summers with a conservationist-type character slant, from the mid nineteenth century. I intend to read both of these volumes, along with These Thousand Hills, a separate novel about the world of cattle ranchers in the 1880's.

If you enjoy beautifully constructed descriptions of the land, weather, and characters from a time and place gone by, who seem real enough to step out of the page, The Way West is for you.

An interesting list, posted by a member of my USA Road Trip Group.

Excited! I just joined a new GR group: American Westerns.

New source of top notch books within the Western Genre-Western Writers of America Spur Awards, lists found on their website.

Note to self: Speaks the Nightbird is now available as an ebook! Yahoo!

I have the second part of the trilogy already, ]The Queen of Bedlam.
and have been waiting for the first volume to be released as an ebook.

Just finished my 100th book out of 120, for my yearly goal. Read Gold Digger , here is my review:

/review/show... takes place in Dawson, in 1898, during the Klondike gold rush.

Don't think I can read 20 in eight weeks, especially with the holiday season and all it entails, coming.

Laurel wrote: "Just finished my 100th book out of 120, for my yearly goal. Read Gold Digger, here is my review:

/review/show... takes place in Dawso..."

I'll put this on my tbr list!

Michael wrote: "Laurel wrote: "Just finished my 100th book out of 120, for my yearly goal. Read Gold Digger, here is my review:

/review/show... takes..."

Glad you liked the review. Thank you. It was a fun read, and her recreation of the atmosphere is pretty accurate, based on what I know about that time and place, also fits with Pierre Berton's history of the Klondike Gold Rush. Fee, or Fiona, is my kind of gal!

This is the second cozy, Strawberry Shortcake Murder, by Joanne Fluke that I have enjoyed. I am already realizing that completing these books in order is advantageous, given that each book adds more layers to the main characters: Hannah, otherwise known as The Cookie Lady, the proprietress of a very successful bake shop, Andrea, her real estate broker sister and sidekick, and several other folks who work and live in the Minnesota town of Eden Mill. This book could be read as a standalone, but I enjoyed this one even more than the first, since it was fun to learn more about the comings and goings of this community and the interactions of its members.

This time, Hannah is overseeing a bake-off contest at the local high school, with it's judging being completed by the members of a local tv station, WCOW. She is serving dessert to the broadcast team on air, and providing recipes for viewers. This arrangement is a great publicity opportunity for Hannah, since she wants to expand her wares at the shop beyond various cookie types, to include desserts. When one of the bake-off judges is murdered, who happens to be the husband of one Hannah's friends, she swings into action to protect her friend's interests, and prove her innocence. This book is not all fun, baking and sleuthing. Indirectly, it addresses the serious issues of spousal abuse and steroid use in high school athletes.

This book includes recipes for the desserts Hannah serves on tv, as well as additional cookie recipes. I haven't tried any yet, but they sound quite appealing. Fluke uses this book to positively develop the relationship between Hannah and her sister, and set up the possibility of competitive romantic prospects for Hannah. At this point, having competed the first two books in the series, I am content with the knowledge that there are many more cases for Hannah to solve. For some reason, I have a sudden urge to bake!

Reading Simon Scarrow's initial volume of his Eagles series, Under the Eagle brought back happy memories of sitting in Ancient Civilizations university seminars and Latin tutorials. I loved studying all aspects of Roman life, society, politics, and history. If you are looking for an bird's eye view into the daily life of an ordinary Roman legionary during battle, on the march, or settling into camp, this book is for you. Additionally, this book will introduce you to the common theme of life and death intrigue among senators, tribunes, wives and lovers, emperors and generals. It will describe the complicated activities required to move a legion and all the supplies and support required to keep it moving-that is, about 5,500 men.

When I was teaching various elements of Roman life to my grade sixes, one of the areas that really fascinated them, was learning about the items and concepts commonly used today, that are accredited to Roman origins. As I read this book, I kept finding paragraphs that I would have read aloud to them, to facilitate discussion or illustrate real life applications of Roman technology or philosophy.

This book serves as an introduction to series of books focused around the exploits of legionary Marco, a grizzled and gruff mentor to soon-to-be seventeen year old Quintus Licinius Cato, a freed slave who has been sent to Germany, as an army recruit by Emperor Claudius ( of "I Claudius" fame), to satisfy a debt to Cato's father on his death bed. Cato has no interest in becoming a soldier, and has been trained to be an academic at the imperial court. Military life is not what he wants, nor does he think he can adapt well enough to survive, let alone advance through the complicated ranks within the highly-structured Roman military organization.

The story reveals itself mainly from the perspectives of Marco and Cato, as one teaches the other soldierly skills, and to become a proud member of the Legion. Then, they prepare for a campaign against the wild inhabitants of Britain. Obviously, this after Julius Caesar's visit there and before Britain became a Roman colony. Cato experiences the first pangs of love and lust, as part of what I suspect will be a continuing plot line, involving political intrigue swirling around Lavinia ( a slave belonging to Flavia, the Legate Vespasian's wife), the Senior Tribune Vitellus, and those plotting against the Emperor Claudius. No spoilers here!

The next book, has moved up my TBR list. I do not want to wait too long to discover what happens to Macro and Cato next, in the foggy hills of wild Britain. My appetite for political skulduggery, bloody battles, and further insight into life during the time of Emperor Claudius, has been whetted, and I don't have to translate any Latin to do so!The Eagle's Conquest

Throwing this question out there for all of my knowledgeable friends in GR:

Is there a place on GR where you can see all of your own book reviews in one location without having to look up each individual book review?

Thanks in advance!

The Seventh Victim
My review:
Texas Ranger Beck is searching for the Seattle Strangler, a serial killer who has left his victims in wooded areas, their blond hair fanned out, clad in white dresses trimmed in lace. Each victim has a penny clutched in her hand. His last victim, Lara Church, narrowly escaped death at his hands. She fled the Seattle area and has lived out of the public eye ever since. Lately, she has chosen to live in Austin, Texas working as a photographer and college instructor. Now it seems that the strangler has relocated to Austin as well, and is moving ever closer to finding her. Ranger Beck is convinced that the Strangler will not rest until he claims his seventh victim, Lara. Beck is determined not to let this happen, and tries to convince Lara to try to dredge up what he thinks are buried memories. She declines, claiming that there are no memories to resurrect. Both are headstrong and working at cross purposes. Enter retired Seattle detective Raines, who doggedly tried to solve this case back in Seattle. He has come to Austin, in pursuit of the strangler too. Three strong personalities, additional dead girls displayed with all of the Strangler's signature details at the crime scenes. Will Lara become the seventh victim?

This was an interesting premise, with some unexpected twists. Mary Burton knows how to build suspense, and is willing to write characters that are not necessarily likeable. The plot kept my interest. Some of my suspicions were realized but I did not figure out the entire plot, but I was close! Watching Criminal Minds all these years has to have taught me a little about sussing out the bad guy.

There are other Texas Ranger books by Mary Burton, but I do not know if they feature Ranger Beck. I will certainly give another Burton book a try. I thought she did a masterful job of showing what it must be like to narrowly escape death at the hands of such a deadly and determined killer, and to wonder when he would return for her. Her depiction of Lara and her mental anguish is at the heart of this novel.

FANTASTIC LIST, TO KEEP!

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A very cool list, including holiday reads, and books set in some exotic locales.

Review for Pago Pago Tango I gave it four stars.

What a find this mystery turned out to be! I found it by accident, as I was searching for books for my Read Around the World challenge. It is set in contemporary American Samoa, and proved to be a welcome lesson in the culture and history of the island, as well as a strongly plotted mystery. I really liked the main character, Det. Sgt. Apelu Soifua, or Pelu, for short. A family man, with a scarred past as a former San Francisco cop and drug user, Pelu has returned to his native island, and reclaimed his life in order to become a dedicated father, husband and police officer. He loves his culture, at least most of it; and worries about the impact of many decades of white culture and inhabitants, on the island. This book is as much about Samoan culture as it is a well constructed mystery. And John Enright knows whereof he speaks! A former journalist for Fortune, Time, and Newsweek, Enright spent twenty-six years living on American Samoa, teaching college courses. He is interested in cultural folklore, having studied it at UC-Berkeley, and weaves Samoan stories and cultural tidbits throughout his book. Pelu believes in many of the old ways, and actively practises them as part of his daily life.

This book saddened me at times, as Enright describes many of the negative effects white culture and economic endeavours have had on the island. The tuna canning industry, represented by the famous Charlie the Tuna, of Starkist fame, does not come off favourably, in Enright's text. The "palangi", or whites have been having considerable impact on American Samoa since it was used by the Navy in 1907 as a base. A huge population of wild dogs, a garbage plagued harbor with badly contaminated fish, severe damage to the island's reefs from cannery waste, declines in native birds and plants replaced by invasive species brought to the islands by white outsiders.....the
list of problems tied to white interference goes on and on.

There are two other books in this series. I will be reading them, to continue to follow Pelu's career, and to learn more about his people's culture, and to see if there are any solutions to be found for American Samoa's problems, perhaps suggested by Enright, based on his observations, having made the island his home for almost three decades.