Review - The Aviator's Wife

Title: The Aviator’s Wife
Author: Melanie Benjamin
Publisher: Delacorte Press (January 15, 2013)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 416
Genre: Fiction

This book grabbed me from the second line on the very first page.

“Is this how I will remember him?”
Though it took me longer to read than most books, it was not because of the storyline, but because I did not want it to end. The melding of two people that should never have joined, but knowing all along that there was no other more perfect person for the other, was what kept me glued to these pages.

Anne Morrow was the daughter of an ambassador, her life was guided and structured so when she met and eventually married Charles Lindberg, a hero in her eyes, she was semi prepared for what they outside world was looking for in her, but what she wasn’t prepared for with the demeaning and condescending way that her husband treated her.

To the outside world, he was an icon, but behind closed doors he was far anything that a persons should idolize.

From the day that they met to the day that Charles Lindbergh took his last breath, Melanie Benjamin shows the reader the world of Anne Morrow Lindbergh. From the dizzying heights of pioneering aeronautics to the devastating lows of their first child being kidnapped and murdered, we see a woman who loved too much and a life that was splintered and patched only to be shattered again.

I learned many things about a man that I thought I had known, but I drew strength from a woman that I did not think had one more ounce to give.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was a phenomenal woman. Showing the reader by example how a difficult marriage can be endured, how surprising family secrets can make you stronger and how when you have to face the inevitable, because of what you have come through, you are prepared for the future.

There are lines and paragraphs throughout this book that I just kept reading over and over. They resonated with me and I want to say “Thank you Melanie Benjamin” for bringing this extraordinary woman to life.

Waiting on Wednesday - A Dying Fall

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: A Dying Fall
Author: Elly Griffiths
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (March 5, 2013)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 400
Genre: Mystery / Suspense
Series: Ruth Galloway #5

Overview:

Ruth is surprised to receive a letter from her old university friend Dan Golding. Dan is teaching at Pendle University in Lancashire and thinks that he might have made a discovery that will change the archaeology world forever. Dan is troubled, though, and needs Ruth’s help. But, before Ruth can respond, Dan is mysteriously killed in a fire. Could this tragedy be linked to Dan’s discovery?

Within a few hours Ruth receives both an invitation to visit Pendle and a death threat. Why does someone want to prevent Ruth from investigating Dan’s great discovery? Soon Ruth, accompanied by Cathbad and daughter Kate is on her way to the north, where she encounters witches, neo-pagans and – scariest of all – Nelson’s mother...

Mailbox Monday - Into the Darkest Corner

Currently on a Blog Tour with a New Host Each Month

Title: Into The Darkest Corner
Author: Elizabeth Haynes
Publisher: Harper (June 5, 2012)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 297
Genre: Suspense
Source: Paperbackswap.com

Overview

Catherine Bailey has been enjoying the single life long enough to know a catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic and spontaneous, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. And her friends clearly agree, as each in turn falls under his spell.

But what begins as flattering attentiveness and passionate sex turns into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon learns there is a darker side to Lee. His increasingly erratic, controlling behavior becomes frightening, but no one believes her when she shares her fears. Increasingly isolated and driven into the darkest corner of her world, a desperate Catherine plans a meticulous escape.

Four years later, Lee is behind bars and Catherine—now Cathy—compulsively checks the locks and doors in her apartment, trusting no one. But when an attractive upstairs neighbor, Stuart, comes into her life, Cathy dares to hope that happiness and love may still be possible . . . until she receives a phone call informing her of Lee’s impending release. Soon after, Cathy thinks she catches a glimpse of the former best friend who testified against her in the trial; she begins to return home to find objects subtly rearranged in her apartment, one of Lee’s old tricks. Convinced she is back in her former lover’s sights; Cathy prepares to wrestle with the demons of her past for the last time.

Review - What a Ghoul Wants

Title: What a Ghoul Wants – A Ghost Hunter Mystery
Author: Victoria Laurie
Publisher: Signet (December 24, 2012)
Format: Paperback; Pgs 352
Genre: Paranormal Cozy
Series: Ghost Hunter Mystery #7
Source: Amazon purchase

You have to appreciate the evolution that this series has undertaken. From the farcical first books that were more Scooby-do than mystery to book number six (Ghoul Interrupted) where there was a decided turn in the feel and tone of the books to the latest installment – that still has a few elements of previous absurdity but is much more enjoyable.

Once you get past the fact that Gilley has things that weird him out to the mutual understanding that oversized sweatshirts packed with magnets will ward off angry spirits, you settle down into an enjoyable paranormal involving the Grim Widow of Kidwella Castle in northern Wales.

The Ghouls Getters TV show has been invited to check out the haunted goings on at the castle, but when strange encounters begin on their very first night, the team must reanalyze if the near death of one of their own is worth it.

The Grim Widow is a nasty entity, she has been blamed for endless drownings in the moat, but the team must decide if she is the only one responsible for the bodies that are beginning to pile up. As the body count rises, the team wants to high tail it out of there, but contractual obligations hold them there until there is enough film footage or the widow and her demonic cohort is finally entombed.

As the story concludes, there is an interesting twist as to what a spirit will do to protect the living, that chains are only in your mind, and that love endures no matter the amount of time. I loved that final twist and the sacrifice that was made.

I still have no idea how to classify these books, they are not the heavy paranormal type nor are they a lightweight cozy, they are somewhere in between. As I have said, the reader has to be patient with the beginning of this series and not give up too soon - the characters are a work in progress and Ms. Laurie is slowly bringing the nonsensical into the realm of entertainingly absurd.

Waiting on Wednesday - Deadly Stakes

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: Deadly Stakes
Author: J A Jance
Publisher: Touchstone (February 5, 2013)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 304
Genre: Thriller
Series: Ali Reynolds #8

Overview:

Police academy-trained former reporter Ali Reynolds is contacted to investigate the grisly murder of a gold-digging divorcee on behalf of a woman accused of the crime. Lynn Martinson is dating the dead woman’s ex-husband, and she and her boyfriend Chip Ralston have been charged.

Ali is simultaneously drawn to the case of A.J. Sanders, a frightened teen with secrets of his own. He’s the first to find the body in the Camp Verde desert when he goes to retrieve a mysterious buried box hidden by his absent father—a box that turns out to be filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in poker chips.

When the body of an ex-con is discovered near the first crime scene, Ali struggles to determine if A.J. and Lynn’s cases are related. Though her friends in the police department grow increasingly irritated by her involvement with the cases, Ali must stop a deadly killer from claiming another victim…before she herself is lost in this game of deadly stakes.br />

First Chapter First Paragraph - The Aviator's Wife

Title: The Aviator’s Wife
Author: Melanie Benjamin
Publisher: Delacorte Press (January 15, 2013)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 416
Genre: Historial Fiction
Source: Library




Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Preface

He is flying.

Is this how I will remember him? As I watch him lying vanquished, defeated by the one thing even he could not outmaneuver, I understand that I will have to choose my memories carefully now. They are simply too many. Faded newspaper articles, more medals and trophies than I know what to do with; personal letters from presidents, kings, dictators. Books, movies, plays about him and his accomplishments; schools and institutions proudly bearing his name.

Tear-stained photographs of a child with blond curls, blue eyes and deep cleft in his chin. Smudged copies of letters to other women, tucked away in my purse.

I stir in my seat, trying not to disturb him; I need him to sleep, to restore, because of all the things I have to say to him later, and we’re running out of time. I feel it in my very bones, this ebbing of our tide, and there’s nothing I can do about it and I’m no longer content simply to watch it, watch him rush away from me, leaving me alone, not knowing, never knowing. My hands clenched, my jaw so rigid it aches, I lean forward as if I could will the plane to fly faster.


Overview

For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.

Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements --- she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States --- Anne is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

Review - Pirates Don't Take Baths

Title: Pirates Don't Take Baths
Author and Illustrator: John Segal
Publisher: Philomel (March 3, 2011)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 32
Genre: Children's
Source: Library
Ages: 3 and up

You have to be a crafty mom to outwit a little pig that does not want to take a bath. Momma is up for this challenge. Each time her son tries on a new persona she is right there with plausible reasoning on why her son might not want to be a pirate or cowboy or an astronaut.

That is until she outfoxes her little man by letting him believe that he is right and that underwater treasure hunters do not need to take baths.

This is a perfect book for parents to keep at hand when bath time becomes an issue.

Review - Brewed, Crude and Tattooed

Title: Brewed, Crude and Tattooed
Author: Sandra Balzo
Publisher: Severn House Publishers (June 1, 2009)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 188
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Library
Series: Maggie Thorsen #4

Thank goodness, this is finally over. There were sentences, if not paragraphs, that were painful to read. For instance, “I turned over the sheet so I could write on the back, then began to ponder. Ponderously, at that.” Really, can a person ponderously ponder?

Another thing that bothered me about this book was the rough language and crass statements. I do not remember her previous books using this type of language. I wonder why Ms. Balzo decided to change up and use the words that she did. Maybe I am a bit prudish, but I do not think that that type of language belongs in cozy mysteries. Maybe I should have taken more notice of the title, but if that was a warning, I do not recall anyone being tattooed either.

As a storm quickly approaches Benson Plaza that houses Maggy Thorsen’s coffee house, the Uncommon Ground, Maggy is trapped there with her co-owner Caron and the owners of the other shops in the strip mall.

This is not a happy group of business owners since Way Benson, the owner of the mall, is terminating their occupancy so he can replace them all with a new market. When Way’s body is discovered, there is no easy suspect since they all have their own reasons to dislike the man. When a second body appears the motive becomes a bit murkier leaving the group to discover the killer before the whole roof literally falls in on them.

For being only 188 pages, the storyline is drawn out, the repetitiveness of words is annoying, attempts at humor fall flat and referring to a female character by her last name is not what a woman would do. Women will call men by their last name, but that is a quirk that is gender specific.

I do not like this series and for me, I will be stopping here. Maggy will just have to figure out her next mystery without me.

If you are looking for a coffeehouse setting for your next mystery, I would suggest that you check out the Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle.

First Chapter First Paragraph - Odd Apocalypse

Title: Odd Apocalypse
Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam (July 31, 2012)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 368
Genre: Paranormal
Source: Library
Series: Odd Thomas #5




Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Chapter 1

Near sunset of my second full day as a guest in Roseland, crossing the immense lawn between the main house and the eucalyptus grove, I halted and pivoted, warned by instinct. Racing toward me, the great black stallion was as mighty a horse as I had ever seen. Earlier, in a book of breeds, I had identified it as a Friesian. The blonde who rode him wore a white nightgown.

As silent as any spirit, the woman urged the horse forward, faster. On hooves that made no sound, the steed ran through me with no effect.

I have certain talents. In addition to being a pretty good short-order cook, I have an occasional prophetic dream. And in the waking world, I sometimes see the spirits of the lingering dead who, for various reasons, are reluctant to move on to the Other Side.


Overview

Once presided over by a flamboyant Hollywood mogul during the Roaring ’20s, the magnificent West Coast property known as Roseland is now home to a reclusive billionaire financier and his faithful servants. And, at least for the moment, it’s also a port in the storm for Odd Thomas and his traveling companion, the inscrutably charming Annamaria, the Lady of the Bell. In the wake of Odd’s most recent clash with lethal adversaries, the opulent manor’s comforts should be welcome. But there’s far more to Roseland than meets even the extraordinary eye of Odd, who soon suspects it may be more hell than haven.

A harrowing taste of Roseland’s terrors convinces Odd that it’s time to hit the road again. Still, the prescient Annamaria insists that they’ve been led there for a reason, and he’s promised to do his best for the ghost on horseback. Just how deep and dreadful are the mysteries Roseland and her masters have kept for nearly a century? And what consequences await whoever is brave, or mad, enough to confront the most profound breed of evil? Odd only knows. Like his acclaimed creator, the irresistible Odd Thomas is in top-notch form—as he takes on what may well be the most terrifying challenge yet in his curious career.

Review - Bailey

Title: Bailey
Author and Illustrator: Harry Bliss
Publisher: Scholastic Press (August 1, 2011)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 32
Genre: Children’s
Source: Library
Ages: 3 and up

I have never heard of anyone liking school as much as Bailey, but when you are a dog in a school full of children, nothing but fun and antics can ensue.

Waking up early and getting ready for class has its challenges, but after you have brushed your fur and decided which collar to wear, getting to the bus should not be a problem. That is if it were not for the interesting stick, the squirrel or any other distractions that could keep an easily sidetracked pooch from getting to class on time.

Now if only Bailey could remember not to lick anyone or eat is own homework, life would be perfect for the most popular dog on campus.

From math to lunch to art and recess, Bailey makes going to school fun and entertaining for the whole class.

Teaching patience and acceptance, Bailey is an amusing story and easy reader for you and your child to enjoy together.

Review - and she was

Title: and she was
Author: Alison Gaylin
Publisher: Harper; Original edition (February 21, 2012)
Format: Paperback; Pgs 384
Genre: Suspense
Source: Amazon Vine
Series: Brenna Spector #1

Wow. Just as you are trying to sort out each character and their relation to the story, you are confronted with weighing their good and their bad and does any good that they have done, justify the bad that they were ultimately responsible for.

I can sit in the middle of a very loud area and read a book, usual distractions do not bother me, but when I sat down with this book, I needed absolute quite. I was so intent on the story and the revelations that I did not want to miss a thing. When you begin this book, you have no ideas the ride that the author is taking you on and when you reach the end, you are left shocked at where it had started has lead you to this point.

Since the disappearance of her sister Clea in 1981, Brenna Spector, a missing person’s investigator, has developed Hyperthymestic Syndrome, which gives her perfect autobiographical memory – every word, every moment, every detail. Something that has come in very handy in her daily work.

Brenna is still trying to put the pieces together that surrounded Clea’s disappearance, so when she is asked to look into the disappearance of Carol Wentz which ties into an eleven-year-old case of Brenna’s involving the disappearance of six-year-old Iris Neff. Old memories and new facts involving the missing bring unresolved pains and new hurts together on a collision course.

When Carol disappeared, her wallet was found in the abandoned home of Lydia Neff, the mother of the missing little girl. Instantly, upon the phone call from Detective Morasco, Brenna is thrown back into her recollections of trying to find a little girl that just disappeared one day from a neighbor’s barbeque. As the story unfolds, intermingled with the memories of her older sister’s disappearance, the reader hops onto Brenna’s roller coaster that immerses the reader in a wild ride of secrets and deceptions that envelope anyone that had ever known Iris or Carol or Lydia.

This novel of suspense will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. By the time you put this book down, you will be shocked and mortified. How could something so mundane in the mind of a bitter individual lead to this outcome. A phenomenal book by a phenomenal talent.

Review - The Refuge

Title: The Refuge
Author: Sue Henry
Publisher: Signet (March 4, 2008)
Format: Paperback; Pgs 288
Genre: I have absolutely no idea
Source: Library
Series: Maxie and Stretch #3

Somewhere in the middle of this Hawaiian travelogue, it must have dawned on Sue Henry that she was supposed to be writing a mystery. Literally, you are half way through this book before anything that even slightly smacks of a mystery appears. Grated, early on they find a hand towel stuffed into a drainpipe, but really, who can base a mystery on that.

Maxie McNabb has left her beloved pooch Stretch at home in Homer, Alaska while she sets off to help an old friend tie up loose ends in Hawaii. Maxie spends most of the year traveling around the lower 48 in her motor home but figures Hawaii would just be another sort of adventure. Little did she know that Karen was up to her eyeballs in a questionable deal that has Maxie and her helper Jerry being followed around the island.

It is not until the very end, when you are convinced that you have just wasted innumerable hours trying to figure out the point to this book, that the conclusion to the mystery unfolds. Sadly, the mystery seems to come across as a last ditch attempt to add a bit of intrigue - you find out that certain players in this Laurel and Hardy escapade are not who you think they are.

If you are looking for a typical murder mystery, like her previous books, this is not it. This is a wild goose chase around Hilo that reads more like a travel brochure.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Aviator's Wife

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: The Aviator’s Wife
Author: Melanie Benjamin
Publisher: Delacorte Press (January 15, 2013)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 416
Genre: Fiction

Overview:

For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.

Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements --- she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States --- Anne is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

Drawing on the rich history of the 20th century --- from the late twenties to the mid-sixties—and featuring cameos from such notable characters as Joseph Kennedy and Amelia Earhart, THE AVIATOR'S WIFE is a vividly imagined novel of a complicated marriage --- revealing both its dizzying highs and its devastating lows. With stunning power and grace, Melanie Benjamin provides new insight into what made this remarkable relationship endure.

First Chapter, First Paragraph - Brewed, Crude and Tattooed

Title: Brewed, Crude and Tattooed
Author: Sandra Balzo
Publisher: Severn House Publishers (June 1, 2009)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 188
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Library
Series: Maggie Thorsen Mysteries #4




Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

Chapter 1

The morning of the 'Perfect Spring Storm', as it was later dubbed, dawned dark and warm.

Of course, that depends on your definition of dawn. Or even warm, for that matter.

To me, Maggy Thorsen, 'dawn' means whenever I have to wake up to stumble out of the house, usually into the dark, to open my coffeehouse, Uncommon Grounds, in Benson Plaza.

That May day, my dawn was at 5:00 a.m., the sun not even a faint glow on the horizon. And while 'warm' was technically a matter of degrees—Fahrenheit, in Wisconsin—I measured it more in degrees of undress.

Sticking my nose out the door as my sheepdog Frank watered the hyacinths, I decided it was a T-shirt and jeans day. Which, just west of Milwaukee, qualifies as warm.

'C'mon, Frank, hurry up,' I said in a stage whisper, so as not to disturb my neighbors. I liked to think the whisper was quieter than my normal speaking voice—probably deluding myself, like the 'shushers' in theaters, who make more noise than the people they're shushing.

'Shush!' came from the direction of my neighbor's bedroom and then the window slammed down. Three dogs started to bark at the sound and Frank joined in.

'Shush, Frank,' I said in another stage whisper.

I herded my sheepdog up the porch steps, neither of us commenting on the irony.


Overview

A freak snowstorm in early May strands coffee house proprietress Maggy Thorsen in her store, Uncommon Grounds, with no power and no plows in sight. There's not much to do but commiserate with the other tenants of the strip mall and wait. That is, until she stumbles over the dead body of her landlord, Way Benson, face down in the white fluff with an axe in his back.

The tall, rugged and tattooed victim was a ladies' man and all-around cheating jerk. His ex-wife, Aurora, a leggy local TV meteorologist, would second that. Snowbound during her morning coffee run, Aurora, sadly, becomes the next to die. Maggy's not about to stand still while some psycho picks them off one by one. But the killer, like the weather, is proving dangerously unpredictable.…

Review - If You Give A Dog A Donut

Title: If You Give a Dog A Donut
Author: Laura Numeroff
Illustrator: Felicia Bond
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (October 4, 2011)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 32
Genre: Children’s
Source: Library
Ages: 4 and up

What the “If You Give A…” books lack in artistic flare, they sure do make up for in fun and giggles.

Years ago, I read and read and reread some more 'If you Give a Pig a Pancake' and I swear I can repeat it verbatim to this day if you ask. It is as memorable to me as any Dr. Seuss out there. OK, maybe not Green Eggs and Ham, but I think you get the point that I am trying to make.

I love these books. They make excellent beginning readers for your young ones.

You just do not know what you are in for when you give a dog a donut, he will need apple juice to go with it, and then he will want to pick the apples, throw the apples, and play and play, and just wear out a young boy. That is ok, the adventures that a boy and his dog can get into will keep your young readers turning the pages and giggling and acting out what they have read.

Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond create circular stories that bring wonderful characters and limericks to your child that will resonate with them for years. Take your time, collect all the “If You Give Books” and share some wonderful memories with your child.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Uninvited

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: The Uninvited
Author: Liz Jensen
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (January 8, 2013)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 320
Genre: Psychological Thriller /Dystopian

Overview:

A seven-year-old girl puts a nail gun to her grandmother's neck and fires. An isolated incident, say the experts. The experts are wrong. Across the world, children are killing their families. Is violence contagious? As chilling murders by children grip the country, anthropologist Hesketh Lock has his own mystery to solve: a bizarre scandal in the Taiwan timber industry. Hesketh has never been good at relationships: Asperger's Syndrome has seen to that. But he does have a talent for spotting behavioral patterns and an outsider's fascination with group dynamics. Nothing obvious connects Hesketh's Asian case with the atrocities back home. Or with the increasingly odd behavior of his beloved stepson, Freddy. But when Hesketh's Taiwan contact dies shockingly and more acts of sabotage and child violence sweep the globe, he is forced to acknowledge possibilities that defy the rational principles on which he has staked his life, his career, and, most devastatingly of all, his role as a father. Part psychological thriller, part dystopian nightmare, The Uninvited is a powerful and viscerally unsettling portrait of apocalypse in embryo.

Resolutions