Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Road Trip Books

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 a freebie and since I have a few vacations planned this year I'm thinking about books I'm going to bring on my upcoming road trips.  I'm not always the biggest reader on vacations but it is always good to be prepared!

1. The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell - This looks Gothic-y and fun with murder and a baking competition.  Perfect to distract me on long car rides but not too spooky that I won't be able to sleep.

2.  I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosby - This is a book of essays so sounds like good reading for travel or for when I'm tired out from my vacationing.

3.  The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St James - This looks like a nice creepy read that will keep me interesting if the car ride gets too long or if I have a hard time sleeping in an unfamiliar place.

4.  The Bookshop of Dust and Dreams by Mindy Thompson - Just in case I can't sleep in an unfamiliar place and I don't want anything spooky I think this magical middle grade involving books sounds perfect.

5.  Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow: My Life as a Country Vet by Jan Pol - I have a friend who loves Dr. Pol and has enjoyed this book and it sounds like an interesting one that will work great for vacation.  

6.  At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber - I do love a little magical realism and both books I've read by this author have been winners.  This seems like a fantastic book to read sitting by the pool or on a hotel balcony which just the right amount of sun.

7.  Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura - This looks sweet and fun and a bit outlandish which makes it perfect road trip reading!

8.  Flipped for Murder by Maddie Day - I can't go on vacation without a cozy mystery!  There's always space for a nice cozy mystery - especially a foodie one!

9.  The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie - I also can't go on vacation without a Christie book and this is the Read Christie Challenge book for April. 

10. Sunrise by the Sea by Jenny Colgan - I haven't had the best luck with the last couple of books I've read from this author but this one looks good and looks like a good vacation book.

What books would you take with you on vacation? Do you read much on vacation?

The Clock Struck Murder - Historical Mystery Review

Goodreads: The Clock Struck Murder by Betty Webb

Rating: Just Okay (2 Stars)
Source:   Publisher

Description:  One woman's trash is another woman's--lost Chagall masterpiece?!? Expat Zoe Barlow has settled well into her artist's life among the Lost Generation in 1920s Paris. When a too-tipsy guest at her weekly poker game breaks Zoe's favorite clock, she's off to a Montparnasse flea market to bargain with the vendor Laurette for a replacement. What Zoe didn't bargain for was the lost Chagall painting that's been used like a rag to wrap her purchases! Eager to learn whether Laurette has more Chagalls lying about like trash, Zoe sets off to track her down at her storage shed. With no Laurette in sight, Zoe snoops around and indeed finds several additional Chagalls―and then she finds Laurette herself, dead beneath a scrap heap, her beautiful face bashed in. With Paris hosting the 1924 Summer Olympics, the police are far too busy with tourist-related crimes to devote much time to the clock seller's murder. After returning the paintings to a grateful Marc Chagall, Zoe begins her own investigation. Did the stolen paintings play any part in the brutal killing? Or was it a crime of passion? Zoe soon discovers that there were many people who had reason to resent the lovely Laurette. But who hated the girl enough to stop her clock permanently? When Zoe discovers a second murder victim, the pressure is on to find the killer before time―and luck―run out.

Genre: Mystery - Historical

Why I Picked This Book:  I absolutely love the in between the wars Paris setting and anything involving art theft also grabs my attention.  

My Impression:  Oh I so wanted to love this.  I love the time period and the independent American artist main character and the mystery itself sounded interesting.  Unfortunately, by about 30% or so I found I just didn't care and the rest of the book was a bit of a slog.

This book is a fairly character forward mystery and we follow Zoe throughout her day to day life and part of that life involves searching for Chagall paintings and trying to figure out just who killed Laurette.  The problem was I just didn't like Zoe and really didn't care what she wore or what she had for breakfast.  As well, the flashbacks from her life in Alabama just seemed over the top and the reading to her lover's paralyzed wife seemed just unnecessary.  

The mystery was good and the author did a great job of setting the scene but in the end I just didn't enjoy it and what's worse is that I didn't care.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Probably not.  While I did enjoy the author's ability to make 1920s Paris come alive for the most part this book just didn't work for me.

Would I Recommend this Book? If you are absolutely obsessed with 1920s Paris this might be worth the read but for the most part I would skip it.

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

Reading Recap - March 2024

Monthly Breakdown

Monthly Total: 20 - This surprised me a bit.  I read a couple of big books and I felt like my reading was so slow but apparently I got more books in than I thought.

Print: 7

Ebook: 5

Audio: 8

Mystery:  11  

Romance: 3

Fiction:  4

Nonfiction: 2

Favorite Books of the Month:

Favorite Audio:  Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

I really enjoyed this book.  The characters were fun and the plot kept me hooked. The narrator voice really worked for Evie.  That said I did listen to it a bit faster than normal because the narrator had lots of pauses so that probably helped.

Homecoming by Kate Morton 

I love how Morton creates atmosphere and this was a fascinating story.  I did guess half the twist but it couldn't wait to see how it all came about.

Least Favorite Book of the Month:
Murder in the First Edition by Lauren Elliott - This has a lot of aspects I enjoy in a cozy mystery - an old house full of treasures, a bookish main character, and a good community of characters.  Unfortunately I have yet to connect to the main character and the mysteries just never quite hook me.  I'm going to give this series a pass in the future.

My Armchair Travel:

Since I read a few nonfiction books and a fantasy I didn't travel quite as much as I normally do but I still got some travel in.

Domestic:  I went to Ariizona for the first time as well as revisiting North Carolina, Alaska, California (twice), and Massachussetts.

Internationally I visited England (5 times), France, Australia, Canada, and 1920s Syria.

What was your favorite book of the month?  Where did your reading take you?

Friday Fives - April TBR

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 is the first Friday in April so I'm picking out five books I hope to read this month.

1.  Murder in Rose Hill by Victoria Thompson - This is one of my favorite historical mystery series and I can't wait to read this one!

2.  Day of Vengeance by Jeanne M. Dams - This one has been neglected on my NetGalley shelf for way too long and I'm looking forward to picking this one up this month.

3.  Death on the Agenda by Patricia Moyes  - I've enjoyed everything I've read by this author and this looks like a nice quick read for this month.

4.  Blood Red by Wendy Corsi Staub - I'm reading lighter mysteries this month and this looks like a fun romantic suspense.  

5.  Of Literature and Lattes by Katherine Reay - This is my TBR Tarot read for April.  My prompt was "Choose a Book with And in the Title" and this one has been on my TBR since it first came out.  

What books are you hoping to read in April?

Books from the Backlog - The Dancing Floor

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 Dancing Floor by Barbara Michaels

Blurb:  For years, Heather Tradescant had dreamed of the journey she and her father would take to England--a pilgrimage to the great gardens of history. Now that her father is dead, Heather is determined to fulfill his dreams. Unfortunately, her request to see the fabled 17th-century garden of Troytan House is denied by the owner. Though unwelcome, she braves the walls of briars and reaches the Victorian manor house beyond. She senses a strange mission of evil lurking, tainting the manor's peaceful beauty. Only then does Heather begin to wonder whether it is only stories of long-vanished witchcraft that haunt Troytan House or whether there is some more modern horror, nearer at hand, and far, far more dangerous.

Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf:  Barbara Michaels is one of my very favorite authors but for some reason I've never read this one!  

The Year of Having Fun With Reading - Homecoming + The Science of Murder

 

Goodreads:  Homecoming by Kate Morton

Blurb:  Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek on the grounds of the grand and mysterious mansion, a local delivery man makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia.
Sixty years later, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for almost twenty years, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital.

Nora has always been a vibrant and strong presence: decisive, encouraging, young despite her years. When Jess visits her in the hospital, she is alarmed to find her grandmother frail and confused. It’s even more alarming to hear from Nora's housekeeper that Nora had been distracted in the weeks before her accident and had fallen on the steps to the attic—the one place Jess was forbidden from playing in when she was small.

At loose ends in Nora's house, Jess does some digging of her own. In Nora's bedroom, she discovers a true crime book, chronicling the police investigation into a long-buried tragedy: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the book that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous crime—a crime that has never been resolved satisfactorily. And for a journalist without a story, a cold case might be the best distraction she can find…

My Thoughts:  This was a good one!  I've always enjoyed Morton's books but I loved how mystery forward element of this one.  I loved watching Jess put on her journalism hat as she dug through family secrets and old tragedies to learn more about the family she never knew and the grandmother she grew up with.  Morton is a master at creating atmosphere and this book proves just that.  I felt the stagnant hot summer air on that long ago Christmas Eve, the emptiness of a house without the larger than life Nora, and the gray drab of the hospital room.  I was pulled into the book from page one and thoroughly enjoyed the story.  I only have one Kate Morton book left to read so hopefully she'll put out another book soon.  My Rating: Really Liked It! (4.5 Stars)

Goodreads:  The Science of Murder: The Forensics of Agatha Christie by Carla Valentine

Blurb:  Discover the science of forensics through Agatha Christie's novels
Agatha Christie is the bestselling novelist of all time, and nearly every story she ever wrote involves one―or, more commonly, several―dead bodies. And the cause of death, the motives behind violent crimes, the clues that inevitably are left behind, and the people who put the pieces together to solve the mystery invite the reader to analyze the evidence and race to find the answer before the detective does. Nearly every step of the way, Christie outlines the nuts and bolts of early 20th-century crime detection, relying on physical evidence to tell the real story behind the facades humans erect to escape detection.

Christie wouldn't have talked of "forensics" as it is understood today―most of her work predates the modern developments of forensics science―but in each tale she harnesses the power of human observation, ingenuity, and scientific developments of the era. A fascinating, science-based deep dive, The Science of Murder examines the use of fingerprints, firearms, handwriting, blood spatter analysis, toxicology, and more in Christie's beloved works.

My Thoughts:  If you love Agatha Christie and are interested in forensic science this is an absolutely fascinating book. The author does a fantastic job of telling the history of forensic science by mixing in history, historic true crime examples, and tales of just how Agatha Christie used or ignored scientific knowledge and development.  The author's proficiency in the science and her love of Christie's books shine through and make for an enjoyable read that has me wanting to reread all the Christie books mentioned as well as giving me a bunch of historic crime cases I'd never heard of to research.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

Top Ten Tuesday - Books on my TBR With Rainy Titles

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 April Showers so I'm picking 10 books on my TBR with Rainy Titles.  This required some digging so I threw in some rainbows and storms (and counted rereads) as well!

1.  Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy - This one is high up on my Binchy TBR.  It looks a bit different from her books set in Ireland but fantastic all the same.

2.  Sheltering Rain by Jojo Moyes - I've only read one book by Moyes but this one looks wonderful.

3.  The Stormy Petrel by Mary Stewart - I love Stewarts books and this one is coming up on my list.

4.  Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery - My first reread of the list!  I enjoyed this book and it's the first book in the Anne series that doesn't really factor on Anne.  It's a good middle grade.

5.  Flowers in the Rain by Rosamunde Pilcher - I love this short story collection and it's been far too long since I've read it.

6.  A Dark and Stormy Tea by Laura Child - I'm hoping to focus on this series soon and this one involves a potential serial killer and a cemetery in Charleston.

7.  After the Rain by Karen White - I have a stack of books by this author but somehow haven't read anything by her.  

8.  Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas - This series has been on the top of my list for a reread (well really just this book and the next book). 

9.  Be Buried in the Rain by Barbara Michaels - This is one of my favorite Michaels books and one I'm always looking forward to rereading.

10. Children of the Storm by Elizabeth Peters - This is another series I'm hoping to concentrate on soon.  I love her books under the Barbara Michaels name so now I need to pay more attention to her books under the Peters name.

Do you have any rainy titles on your TBR?