Year of the Projects - Crime Rib + The French House

I do love a good list.  It gives a nice sense of order and focus and I love making lists about the books I want to read.  Last year I focused just on series I was behind on.  The project went great and I caught up on a ton of series but I felt like I was neglecting other books on my shelf and books at my library.  This year I have a few lists going - Series, Library, Clear Off My Shelves, and a random TBR Bingo where I pull books off my Goodreads TBR.  Here are a few of my most recent reads.

Goodreads:  Crime Rib (A Food Lover's Village Mystery #2) by Leslie Budewitz

Project: Catch Up on Series

Blurb: Food Preneurs, one of the hottest cooking shows on TV, has decided to feature Jewel Bay in an upcoming episode, and everyone in town is preparing for their close-ups, including the crew at the Glacier Mercantile, aka the Merc. Not only is Erin busy remodeling her courtyard into a relaxing dining area, she’s organizing a steak-cooking competition between three of Jewel Bay’s hottest chefs to be featured on the program.
But Erin’s plans get scorched when one of the contending cooks is found dead. With all the drama going on behind the scenes, it’s hard to figure out who didn’t have a motive to off the saucy contestant. Now, to keep the town’s reputation from crashing and burning on national television, Erin will have to grill some suspects to smoke out the killer . . .

My Thoughts:  I so enjoy this series!  Budewitz has created a a town and a community that I would absolutely have on my list of places to visit.  Just the description of the Merc alone has me hooked.  I like Erin and her relationship with her family and there are a few scenes where she had my complete sympathy regarding her mother.  This was a fun read and one that kept me invested from beginning to end (though don't read while hungry - the food mentions are mouthwatering!).  This is a series I came into later so I only technically have one more book before I'm caught up on the series and I will miss Erin and the rest of Jewel Bay when I've finished that one.  My Rating: Really Liked It!

Goodreads:  The French House: An American Family, a Ruined Maison, and the Village That Restored Them All by Don Wallace

Project:  Clear Off My Shelves

Blurb:  When Francophiles Don and Mindy Wallace received an offer for a house on a tiny French island, they jumped at the chance, buying it almost sight unseen. What they found when they arrived was a building in ruin, and it wasn't long before their lives resembled it. Plagued by emergency repairs, a stock market crash, and very exasperated French neighbors, the Wallace's could have accepted their fate. Instead, they embraced it. The French House is the delightfully amusing and picturesque memoir about a family who seized life, rose from the rubble, and built themselves a home away from home.

My Thoughts:  This was an interesting read.  I didn't like it as much as I want too but more than I was afraid I might.  The history of the village was interesting as was what it was like to live there.  I also enjoyed getting little snapshots of the different villagers as well as the different rules and regulations and traditions for building in a small Breton village.  I didn't love the parts with Don and Mindy in the States or the parts about surfing which seemed to take up a bit too much page time.  My Rating: Liked It