Top Ten Tuesday - Books on My TBR with Nature on the Cover

 

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 all about Covers with Nature on them so I'm looking at Books on My TBR with Nature on the Cover.

1.  Daisies for Innocence by Bailey Cattrell

2. The Shepherd's Life: A People's History of the Lake District by James Rebanks

3.  The Bear and The Nightingale by Kathryn Arden

4.  Inherit the Bones by Emily Littlejohn

5.  Over the Hills and Faraway: The Life of Beatrix Potter by Matthew Dennison

6.  The Mountains Wild by Sarah Stewart Taylor

7.  Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

8.  Birder on Berry Lane: Three Acres, 12 Months, and Thousands of Birds by Robert Tougias

9.  The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni

10. The Man Who Fell From the Sky by Margaret Coel

Do you have any books with nature covers on your TBR?

The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait - Cozy Mystery Review

Goodreads:  The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait (Haunted Bookshop Mystery #&) by Cleo Coyle

Rating: Liked It
Source: Publisher

Description:  While gathering a collection of vintage book cover paintings for a special event in her quaint Rhode Island bookshop, Penelope discovers a spooky portrait of a beautiful woman, one who supposedly went mad, according to town gossip. Seymour, the local mailman, falls in love with the haunting image and buys the picture, refusing to part with it, even as fatal accidents befall those around it. Is the canvas cursed? Or is something more sinister at work?

For answers, Pen turns to an otherworldly source: Jack Shepard, PI. Back in the 1940s, Jack cracked a case of a killer cover artist, and (to Pen's relief) his spirit is willing to help her solve this mystery, even if he and his license did expire decades ago.

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  How could I pass up a book that involves cover art and a haunted portrait?  

My Impression:  I absolutely wanted to love this book.   I love the concept.  I like Pen and her relationship with her son and aunt.  I love the day to day book store running business and I found the cover art exhibit fascinating.  I really enjoy the bits with Jack Shepard and getting a peek into crimes that happened in the 1940s.  Jack is quite the character and and a good mix of savvy and sarcastic.  

The mystery was interesting.  Is it murder or an accident?  Is the painting really cursed or are all the bad things happening coincidence?  Or is there something else going on?  I do love a mystery that has lots of questions and this definitely held up that end of the bargain.  So I did enjoy it but I just didn't love it quite the way I expected to.  The primary issue was that the pace of this one felt on the slow side.  Even though the first body appeared pretty early on the story itself didn't really feel like it really started gaining traction until halfway through.  

I did like this one and I really enjoyed the characters though I do wish this had been just a bit faster paced.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  I've enjoyed Cleo Coyle's coffee house series books and I think this series has potential but I'll probably only pick them up when I'm in the mood for a slower read.  

Would I Recommend this Book?  As long as you're not looking for a fast read and you enjoy cozies I think you'd like it.

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

Life with Leukemia (And Some Reading) - May 9

It's Sunday Post time!  This is hosted by the awesome Caffeinated Book Reviewer and gives us all a chance to recap our week.

This was a pretty good week.  Will came off this round of steroids and has started getting actual sleep again which we are all happy about.  His treatment week calls for a round of high dose steroids about once a month.  He's doing okay with them but they mess up his sleep which drops his energy level and can effect his mood.  So things are slowly getting back to normal until the next round of steroids when we start the cycle again.  We've been playing some video games and have had fun playing around with a trading site we found for Animal Crossing.  We've also been working on school to try and stay caught up and have been doing pretty well.  We finished up a lit book (Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White) which we didn't start out liking but really came to enjoy. It made for some good discussion as to why we weren't liking it and what changed.  

This was my birthday week AND I hit 2 weeks from my 2nd vaccine so it was a good week.  I went to the used bookstore and wandered around for awhile.  I picked up some good books and some bits and pieces for reading room that I'm working on decorating.  I also got 2 half bookcases from my dad who was getting rid of them.  They're temporary but it's allowed me to experiment some with the layout I want and I had 2 new bookcases to fill!  One is a for Will's school stuff but I was able to devote an entire shelf to Patricia Wentworth and another to some other favorite authors.  I do love organizing bookshelves!

Currently:

Reading:  Dead and Gone by Dorothy Simpson and The Life and Times of Miss Jane Marple by Anne Hart

Listening:  Be Our Ghost by Kate Kingsbury

Watching:  We watched Raya and the Last Dragon on Disney + and really enjoyed it.  I've also been watching Kendall Rae's True Crime YouTube Channel and really enjoying how she shares the information and Tasting History with Max Miller where he makes historical recipes and talks about context and then tries them. 

Have a great week and happy reading!

She Came Back - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads:  She Came Back by Patricia Wentworth

Rating:  Loved It!
Source:  Purchased

Description:  Assumed dead, Lady Anne Jocelyn meets varying degrees of welcome when she returns from Occupied France to her old life in England. Though her husband Sir Philip is not overjoyed to see her, he agrees to a trial reunion. But a murder raises his doubts, and then a second and third send Miss Silver to a curious consideration of life after death.

This is also published under the title The Traveller Returns  

Genre:  Mystery - Classic

Why I Picked This Book:  Patricia Wentworth has been one of my favorite authors for years and Miss Silver is one of my absolute favorite detectives.  This year I'm trying to read all of the Miss Silver books in order this year and this was the next one on the list.

My Impression:  I had read this book probably 10 years or so ago and remembered enjoying it but remembered very little about it.  Not every book ages well but I had some confidence that this one would hold because Miss Silver has yet to let me down (except in Grey Mask but that was her first book so we will give that a pass).  And that confidence was well earned because I absolutely loved this one.  From the beginning the reader is in the dark on if Anne is really Anne as she claimed or an imposter and really the evidence seems to be pointing completely to Anne being Anne.  If she isn't Anne then what could be her motive and how could she know so many personal details that only the real Anne would know.  

This book is a bit different because while Miss Silver does show up about halfway through in her professional capacity she is pulled into the mystery by a coincidence.  The interactions between Miss Silver, DS Frank Abbott and Inspector Lamb cannot be beat and in this book they were a delight.  I cannot get enough of how much Abbott respects Miss Silver and the glee he gets from how grumpy she makes his boss.  

This is one of those mysteries where the less you know going in the better (and for once the blurb doesn't spoil everything!) so I won't say anymore other then that this was an intriguing read that kept me guessing and hooked.  While this is a book in the Miss Silver series the books are only very loosely linked by Miss Silver herself. A character from a previous book may be mentioned or even appear but you don't need to know anything about how they came to know Miss Silver to thoroughly enjoy the book.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Absolutely!  I've already got the next book ready to go!

Would I Recommend this Book?  Definitely!  This is one of my favorite Miss Silver books so far.

Friday Fives - May 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.  Since today is the first Friday in May I'm listing 5 books I'm planning to read this month.

1.  Witch by Barbara Michaels -  This is next on my Barbara Michaels reread list and it's been ages since I feel like I've read this one.

2.  Murder Take Two by Carol J. Perry - This checks two boxes for me.  Not only is the next book in a series I'm trying to finish it up but it is also an overdue review book and I'm trying to lighten the load a bit there.

3.  The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden by William Alexander - This has been on my TBR for a couple of years now and I'm going to get it off the Backlog AND get a nonfiction book read for the year.

4.  Death in Bloom by Jess Dylan - This is the first book in a new cozy mystery series and I'm really looking forward to reading it!

5.  Murder with Mirrors by Agatha Christie - I'm finishing up the Miss Marple books this year and this is next on my list.  Can't wait!  

What are you hoping to read in May?

Books from the Backlog -

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 Shroud Maker by Kate Ellis

Blurb:  A year after the mysterious disappearance of Jenny Bercival, DI Wesley Peterson is called in when the body of a strangled woman is found floating out to sea in a dinghy. The discovery mars the festivities of the Palkin Festival, held each year to celebrate the life of John Palkin, a 14th century Mayor of Tradmouth who made his fortune from trade and piracy. Now it seems like death and mystery have returned to haunt the town. Could there be a link between the two women? One missing, one brutally murdered? And is there a connection to a fantasy website called Shipworld which features Palkin as a supernatural hero with a sinister, faceless nemesis called the Shroud Maker? When archaeologist Neil Watson makes a grim discovery on the site of Palkin's warehouse, it looks as if history might have inspired the killer. And it is only by delving into the past that Wesley comes to learn a truth that will bring mortal danger in its wake.

Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf:  I have so many books by this author and I always enjoy them but for some reason I very rarely pick one up.

For Batter or Worse - Cozy Mystery Review

Goodreads:  For Batter or Worse (A Cupcake Bakery Mystery #13) by Jenn McKinlay

Rating: Liked It
Source: Publisher

Description:  Life is sweet and business is booming at the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery--and the fact that Mel and Joe are getting married is the icing on the cake. Their reception will be held at the swanky resort where Oz works as the pastry chef. The wedding planning is all fun-fetti and games until Mel and Joe meet the head chef at the resort who has been making Oz's life miserable. When the eccentric chef insults Mel's bakery, Oz gets into a blowout argument with the culinary prima donna.

Things turn extra sour when the chef is murdered, and Oz is the police's main suspect. As the countdown to the wedding day begins, Mel, Joe, and the rest of the Fairy Tale Cupcake crew must sift through clues to catch the real killer and clear Oz's name before their wedding plans are totally battered and baked.

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  I enjoy this series and McKinlay is one of my favorite cozy mystery authors.

My Impression:  This was a fun quick read with discussions about cupcakes, weddings, and murder. What's not to like?  Mel and Angie have come a long way since Fairy Tale Cupcakes first opened both personally and professionally.  In this book there's a mix of both as Mel and Joe's wedding is coming up up quickly and former employee Oz gets himself suspected of murder.  And of course, luck with have it that Mel just happens to be on the scene.  

I enjoyed the flow of this book quite a bit.  It's fast paced with characters I enjoy spending time with and a mystery that surprised me a bit.  Mel and Angie aren't as hands on in the bakery as they used to be but I like that that issue is addressed and they even got a bit nostalgic.  I loved seeing the DeLaura brothers en masse as any time that happens there are sure to be hijinks and laughs.  

I don't feel this series in general is quite as strong as her Library Lover's mystery series but this was one that I especially enjoyed.  It was a nice bit of escapism with a wonderful ending.  I'm looking forward to what happens next in the lives of all these characters (and seeing what trouble they get into!).  

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Absolutely!  This series and the Library Lover's series are auto-buys for me.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you enjoy cozy mysteries this series and this author are must tries!

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