Reading Recap - March 2023

 Monthly Total:  22

Monthly Breakdown: 

Print: 7

Ebook: 5

Audio:  10

Mystery:  13

Fiction:  5

Nonfiction: 1

Romance: 3

Favorite Book of the Month:

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto - I thoroughly enjoyed this and still think about the characters periodically.  This was one of those books that I was sad to see the last page.

Least Favorite Book of the Month:

Withering Heights by Dorothy Cannell - I wanted to love this book but unfortunately the execution fell flat for me.  It was one of those books that I really should have DNF'd but I kept hoping it would get better.  Unfortunately, unlikable characters and a lackluster mystery kind of sank it.

Where My Reading Took Me This Month:

Domestic Travel -

In the U.S. I visited Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia for the first time and revisited California, New York, Washington, and Maryland.

International Travel - 

In addition to my usual trips to England I also visited Wales, Morocco, and went on a cruise that stopped at Gibraltar.  

How was your reading in March?  Where did your books take you?

Friday Five - Five Short Reviews for Books I've Read Recently

I'm taking a bit of a break from my usual Friday Linkups to try something a little different.  I'm in a list making kind of mood so I thought I'd start making random five lists.  Sometimes they'll be bookish other weeks not so much. This week I'm sharing 5 quick reviews for books I've read recently.

1. Circle of Innocence by Annette Dashofy - This is the first book in the Zoe Chambers mystery series that focuses on Paramedic and Deputy Coroner Zoe.  It's kind of in between a procedural mystery and a cozy mystery because some of the topics explored are a bit darker and the language used is occasionally a bit stronger.  I really loved the paramedic angle as it isn't really something I've seen before and is interesting to read about as well as it making sense for Zoe to be on crime scenes and part of the action.  I liked the mystery and Zoe as a main character and am adding it to my ever growing series list.  My Rating: Liked It (3.5 Stars)

2.  Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn - I have been a fan of Raybourn's books for years so I was excited to pick up this book which is completely unlike any of her other books that I've read.  This was a fun concept - a group of assassins on a all expense paid retirement trip learns that they are the next target.  This puts this group of older women with a collection of quite unusual skills on the run having to learn just who wants them dead and why.  I really enjoyed both the flashbacks as well as the present day journey.  It did drag a bit in the middle but other than that I really enjoyed it!  I really liked that the characters are a bit older and that they were seriously good at killing people.  It was definitely a unique read!  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

3.  A Good Day for Chardonnay by Daryinda Jones - This is the 2nd book about Sunshine Vicram, a quirky sheriff of an even quirkier town in New Mexico.  In this book we make some progress in a series long mystery involving Sunshine's abduction as a teenager and her complicated relationship with Levi.  There's also a stabbing, a years old child abduction, and a town wide secret society that must be investigated.  As well, Sunshine's daughter has her own cold case to investigate as well as dealing with changes in her own relationship.  This is a fun book with interesting characters and very much kept me entertained.  There are times when the dialogue between characters feels a bit too artfully clever but for the most part this is a fun read and a series that I'm very much looking forward to continuing.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

4.  Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas - I've been really enjoying the Ravenel books and Kleypas has long been one of my favorite authors.  I was a bit surprised that Pandora's book was so early in the series as in the previous books she seemed so childish.  Unfortunately, my feelings on this continued well into her story.  I really loved Gabriel and I loved seeing his parents who were the main couple in one of my favorite romances The Devil in Winter.  I also really enjoyed seeing the characters from the previous books.  My main problem was that Pandora just seems like such a child for much of the book and it made it a bit hard for me to really root for her HEA when she seems about 14.  She did grow up quite a bit as the story went on and by the end I was definitely pulled into the story and treally enjoyed it but I just wish some of the maturity could have happened before the story started.  My Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)

5.  The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs - I have really enjoyed previous books by Susan Wiggs and I enjoyed this one though maybe not as much as I expected.  The book starts out with Natalie Harper going through a tragic loss which forces her to reevaluate her life.  She finds herself running the family bookstore and trying to figure out how best to deal with her grandfather who is starting to slide into dementia which is just the opposite of the stability she craves - especially with the bookstore in crisis.  As the story progresses Natalie finds more of herself and learns more about her family.  I really enjoyed Natalie discovering more about her family and the discoveries in the walls of the store.  I also really enjoyed her relationship with Peach and just Peach as a character.  What kept me from absolutely loving this is that it felt like there was just a lot of blank space in between all the good moments which slowed the pace a bit too much for me.  My Rating:  Really Liked It (4 Stars)

What books have you read recently?

Books from the Backlog - The Faraday Girls

Today I'm linking up with Carole from Carole's Random Life of Books for Books from the Backlog.  I really enjoy the chance to feature a book that's been hiding in the piles of books for far too long!

Goodreads:  The Faraday Girls by Monica McInerney

Blurb:  As a child, Maggie Faraday grew up in a lively, unconventional household with her young mother, four very different aunts and her eccentric grandfather. With her mother often away, her aunts took turns to look after her - until, just weeks before Maggie's sixth birthday, a shocking event changed everything.
Twenty years on, Maggie is living alone in New York City when a surprise visit from her grandfather brings a revelation and a proposition to reunite the family. As the Faradays gather in Ireland, Maggie begins to realize that the women she thought she knew so intimately all have something to hide .

Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf:  This book has been sitting on my shelf gathering dust for years.  I've been really loving family secret type stories lately and this feels like a book I'm in the mood for right now!

The Year of Reading Books I'm Excited About - Withering Heights + First Frost

In 2023 my reading goals were to focus on reading books I was excited to read or had been looking forward to reading.  Here are two recent reads that met that criteria.

Goodreads:  Withering Heights by Dorothy Cannell

Blurb:  Ellie Haskell, sleuth and Gothic romance addict, visits Yorkshire moors Cragstone House with her husband Ben and sidekick Mrs Roxie Malloy, on behalf of his young cousin Ariel. The kindly cook Mrs. Cake fell downstairs, a visiting vicar dies drinking tea, and one of the neighbors is a glamorous old flame of Mrs Cake's husband.

My Thoughts:  First off I'm not entirely sure the person who wrote the blurb actually read anything about the book.  Second off, this probably should have been a DNF.  It wasn't a DNF because I've really been enjoying cozy mysteries lately and this had an old manor house on the Yorkshire moors and a missing person and I kept expecting to fall in love with this any moment.  Unfortunately, I never did.  To start off with I didn't like any of the characters but what really did it in was that the interesting aspects of the mystery seemed to get buried in a surplus on meaningless details, pithy comments, or some Gothic-esque handwringing making this a bit of a boring read.  Add in an anti-climatic end to the missing persons case (and a somewhat confusing timeline) as well as never really getting the answer to the friend of the vicar who suddenly dropped dead in the conservatory and I was glad to see the last page of the book.  My Rating: Just Okay (2 Stars)

Goodreads:  First Frost (Waverley Family #2) by Sarah Addison Allen

Blurb:  It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.
Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections — rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds — are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby — a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.

Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to.. if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

My Thoughts:  I have really enjoyed all the books I've read by Sarah Addison Allen and I adored the first book about the Waverley family.  I went into this book with super high expectations and at first it didn't quite live up to them.  Claire and Sydney are both a bit unhappy and off-kilter and are both flailing to try and figure out how to fix it.  Neither are exactly willing to ask for help or to really do some self reflecting.  For the first bit of the book Allen's usual magic felt a bit dimmer than in previous books.  It read quickly and I really enjoyed getting to know Bay as a teenager but it just didn't make me fall in love quite as much as previous books.  However, about halfway through the book things started clicking and that familiar magic returned.   And the ending left me with all the warm and fuzzy feelings that I could ever have asked for.  I think I went into this book with impossibly high expectations which kept me from enjoying the first book fully at first and I do think it dragged a bit at first.  However, once I got over it and the plot picked up speed I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's been awhile since I read a book by Sarah Addison Allen but I won't wait that long again!  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books to Read if You Want to Read a Cozy Mystery

Today I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl which is all about lists.  Since lists are one of my favorite things this is one of my favorite linkups!  Today's topic is Books for People Who Like Author x but since I'm not great at author comparisons I decided to recommend books for people who like cozy mysteries or want to try the genre.

1.  Paging the Dead by Brynn Bonner - If you are a fan of family secrets, investigative teams, and genealogy this is a series for you!

2.  Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson - If you love historical stories - especially those that take place in the US and involve interesting and complex characters this series is perfection and very long running.

3.  Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost - If you're in the mood for a Christmas-y mystery you can't go wrong with this series that takes place on a Christmas tree farm full of Christmas-y goodness and a delightful mystery.  

4.  The Whole Cat and Caboodle by Sofie Ryan - If you like investigations headed by a multi-generational group of characters, a clever cat, and some vintage furniture this series is fantastic and fun from start to finish.  

5.  Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay - If you enjoy bookish cozies with a full community of characters this is a great series that just gets better with each book.  

6.  Death Overdue by Allison Brook - This is another library cozy but not so bookish as the main character is more involved in community events than books.  However, if you enjoy reads with a cat with lots of personality and a ghost than this is a fun take on it.

7.  Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews - If you're looking for a long running cozy series with some laugh out loud scenes, and a weird number of birds and random family members this series is one that can't be beat and each book is better than the last!

8.  By Book or By Crook by Eva Gates - If you like bookish cozies, coastal living, and would love to actually live in a library this series is for you!

9.  Meet Your Baker by Ellie Alexander - If you love food and Shakespeare you can't do better than this series set in Ashland, Oregon which has an amazing bakery and a Shakespeare festival.  If you're more of a craft beer and Oktoberfest kind of person try the Sloan Krauss series by this same author.  Both are fantastic!

10. Caught Dead Handed by Carol J. Perry - If you're looking for a supernatural cozy with a cat with big personality this series set in Salem, Massachusetts in such fun!

Murder in PostScript - Historical Mystery Review

Goodreads:  Murder in Poscript (A Lady of Letters Mystery) by Mary Winters

Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)
Source:   Publisher

Description:  Amelia Amesbury--widow, mother, and countess--has a secret. Amelia writes for a London penny paper, doling out advice on fashion, relationships, and manners under the pen name Lady Agony. But when a lady's maid writes Amelia to ask for advice when she believes her mistress has been murdered--and then ends up a victim herself--Amelia is determined to solve the case.

With the help of her best friend and a handsome marquis, Amelia begins to piece together the puzzle, but as each new thread of inquiry ends with a different suspect, the investigation grows ever more daunting. From London's docks and ballrooms to grand country houses, Amelia tracks a killer, putting her reputation--and her life--on the line.

Genre: Mystery - Historical

Why I Picked This Book:  I love historical mysteries and this sounded like an interesting read!

My Impression:  This starts with an interesting premise.  Amelia was a country girl and daughter of an innkeeper when she was swept off her feet and married an earl.  And not just any earl - a very wealthy dying earl.  Within months of her wedding she finds herself a wealthy widow living in London and guardian of her late husband's orphaned niece.  Amelia is not used to a life of luxury and most of the household management is left to her husband's opinionated elderly Aunt Tabitha so Amelia ends up working as Lady Agony - answering anonymous questions that are sent in to her childhood friend's newspaper.   

Each chapter starts with a letter and the reply from Lady Agony which I very much enjoyed.  There is a lot of setup in this story which bogged down the writing a bit and slowed the pace.  This often happens with the first book in a series though and I'm hoping this gets better with upcoming books.  My other main issue with the book is that at times Amelia's actions drove me crazy.  Amelia is intelligent and loves her niece dearly.  She's also very aware of her responsibility as her niece's guardian.  However, she regularly seems to act impulsive to the point of lunacy such as the visit to the docks.to ask questions and her insistence of investigating with no real reason in the first place.

That said, the mystery kept me guessing until the last minute.  I loved Amelia's relationship with her niece and I love Aunt Tabitha.  I'm hoping she plays more of an active role in investigations in future books.  While this wasn't my favorite read of the month I did enjoy it overall and will be looking for the next book in this series.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? I would.  I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes.

Would I Recommend this Book?  I would though with the reservations I mention above.  This is a bit of a slower paced mystery with the setup and if you have no patience with impulsive heroines than this may not be the book for you.  But, overall, this is a fun read and an interesting start to a new series.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *

Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads: Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish (Mrs. Pollifax #9) by Dorothy Gilman

Rating: Loved It! (5 Stars)
Source:   Library

Description:  Mrs. Pollifax is on hand in Morocco to back up an inept CIA agent, and it's a good thing. Their first informant is killed, and Mrs. Pollifax begins to get the idea that her colleague is not who he says he is. Still, she forges ahead, checking out suspicious informants, and coming to the conclusion that someone is an imposter and someone wants her dead....

Genre:  Mystery - Classic

Why I Picked This Book:  I love this series and have been slowly working my way through them.  When I started to hit a bit of a reading slump I just knew Mrs. Pollifax was the answer - and of course she saved the day!

My Impression:  It's been awhile since I visited Mrs. Pollifax and I didn't realize how much I missed her until I started this book!  Mrs. Pollifax is trimming her geraniums in a bit of a slump when her old friend Bishop shows up and sends her off to Morocco.  Because this is Mrs. Pollifax nothing is as simple as it seems and because she is is Mrs. Pollifax she is unfailingly pleasant, curious and resourceful.  

Getting to the bottom of just what is going on was fascinating and entertaining with a bit of 1980s Moroccan politics and lots of danger and intrigue.  There's a cameo by a reoccurring character that I enjoyed  seeing and watching Mrs. Pollifax get herself and the people she collects along the way out of trouble is always a delight.

This book reads perfectly fine as a standalone but is definitely enhanced by reading the series in order.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Of course.  Gilman is one of my favorite authors and I always enjoy her books.

Would I Recommend this Book?  Definitely!  If you're in the mood for a fun adventure series with the most likable main character of all time you really should try this series.