38. Half Magic by Edward Eager

Jane is the oldest and Mark is the only boy. Next comes Katharine.  Martha is the youngest and very difficult.  Their mother works all day and they are spedning the summer being watched by Miss Bick, who is a bit sour.  It seems like they are facing a long, boring summer until Jane finds a nickel and puts it in her pocket.  She wishes there were a fire to liven things up and suddenly fire engines are racing down the street to put out a snalll fire on the next block.  The children figure out that the nickel is magic but only grants half the wish.  They take turns making wishes but make sure they wish for twice what they want.  Of course, sometimes they forget the formula and chaos ensues.  It all makes up for a fun, humorous read and a great book for kids.  Rating:  3.75 

37. Death of a Valentine by M C Beaton (audio)

A Hamish Macbeth Mystery

From the back cover:
"Amazing news has spread across the Scottish countryside.  The most famous of highland bachelors, police sergeant Hamish Macbeth, will be married at last.  Everyone in the village of Lockdubh adores Josie McSween, Macbeth's newest constable and blushing bride-to-be.

While the locals think Josie is quite a catch, Hamish has a case of prenuptial jitters.  After all, if it weren;t for the recent murder of a beautiful woman in a neighboring village, there wouldn't be a wedding at all.  For it was a mysterious Valentine's Day package -- delivered to th victim before her death -- that initially drew Hamish and Josie together on the investigation.  As they work side by side, Hamish and Josie soon discover that the woman's list of admirers was endless, confirming Hamish's suspicion that love can be blind, deaf . . . and deadly."

I enjooyed the murder investigation part of the novel quite a bit.  Hamish is a good detective who just wants to do his job and avoid promotions.  The mystery is interesting without the solution being too obscure. The characters of his village are humorous as they matchmake and gossip.  However, the thing between Josie and Hamish was incredibly annoying.  I can't say too much without giving away the ending, but this was not my favorite Hamish book, although I did enjoy listening to the story in a Scottish brogue.  Rating:  3

36. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

Thre three witches are back but one, Magrat, has had a falling out with the other two.  She moves to the castle where she is soon to be wed to the king.  A more odd royal couple does not exist.  Magrat is a witch and Verrance used to be the fool to a past king.  They know nothing about ruling and so study books to learn about the proper etiquette of their jobs and tasks, including producing the future heir.  In the meantime, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are busy trying to prevent a takeover of the land by elves.  In this book, elves are not the fun and fey creatures I've read about in other fantasies.  They are beautiful, mean, cruel and devious.  Four wizards including the Librarian (an orang-utan) travel to Lancre from the Unseen University to attend the wedding and become enmeshed in the unleashing of the fury of the elves just before the wedding takes place.  As usual, the book is filled with the most hilarious quips and antics.  Here is one quote I marked:  At circle time, when the walls between this and that are thinner, when there are all sorts of strange leakages . . . Ah,  then choices are made.  then  the universe can be sent careening down a different leg of the well-known Trousers of Time."  I find Pratchett's imagination and humor to be breathtaking.  Rating:  4.75

35. A Night Too Dark by Dana Stabenow (audio)

This audio book was just the ticket for my 45-minute drive to and from work each day.  Kate Shugak is a great character; and I've read all the other series up to this point.  There have been a few that didn't live up to my expectations but this one was great.  Most of the story takes place in the Park in the state of Alaska where Kate is serving as the head of the Niniltna Native Association.  Along with trying to work with the life-changing discovery of gold on state-owned lands in the Park, she must also investigate a couple of suspicious suicides.  As always, there is humor in the way Kate deals with her fellow human beings, especially those she doesn't care for.  She is a strong, capable woman who those who know her treat with a touch of fear and a great deal of respect.    Thankfully, there were only a couple of sex scenes which I was able to fast forward through without any problem.  However, the profanity was profound, to say the least, and lessened my enjoyment of this book.
Rating:  3.75

34. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman

Not really an autobiography, this book is a collection of writings and speeches by Richard Feynman, an outspoken Nobel Prize-winning scientist.  While the introduction by Albert Tibbs laments the fact that the book doesn't include enough of Feynman's scientific accomplishments, I found there were more than enough for my taste.  Let's face it, I am not fascinated by details of physics.  By his own admission, Feynman is not just a brilliant physicist (he never says that about himself), but he is also a bit of a womanizer, a liberal, and a very curious guy who likes to learn about an eclectic range of subjects.  You can get an idea about Feynman's wide range of interests from the titles of the chapters.  Here's a few:  "Who Stole the Door?", "Meeeeeeeeeee!", "Safecracker Mets Safecracker", "Certainly, Mr. Big", "But Is It Art?", and "Alfred Nobel's Other Mistake." 

Here's the description from the back cover:
"Richard Feynman, who won the Nobel Prize in physics, was one fo the world's greatest theoretical physicists and thrived on outrageous adventure.  His eyebrow-raising behavior once shocked a Princeton dean's wife to exclaim:  "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!"  Feynman was surely the only person in history to solve the mystery of liquid helium, to be commissioned to paint a naked female toreador, and to crack the uncrackable safes guarding the atomic bomb's most critical secrets.  He traded ideas with Einstein and Bohr, discussed gambling odds wiht Nick the Greek, and accompanied a ballet on the bongo drums.  Here, woven with his scintillating views on modern science, is Feynman's astonishing life story -- a combustible misture of high intelligence, unlimited  curiosity, eternal skepticism, and raging chutzpah."

I've enjoyed reading the biographies of Richard Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein; but I think this may be my last.  The stories were mostly humorous and interesting; but by the end, I was tired of the book.  Rating:  2.75

33. Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert

China Bayles is back, working her butt off at her herbs shop, cartering parties with her new catering business and running a tea shop in the back room.  But she manages to find time to help the principal of the local high school investigate the rumor that the school's popular and winning football coach was involved with a student at his former coaching post.  She learns that the girl has committed suicide a few years after the affair and has a hard time finding any hard evidence.  In the meantime, she is dealing with her teenage stepson's girlfriend problems and worrying about the man her business partner, Ruby, is madly in love with.  There's a lot going on here, but it's all worth reading.  I even like the herbal tips and recipes included in the book, although I will probably never get around to using them.  If you like the China Bayles series, you should like this one as well.  Rating:  4

32. Killrod: The Cross of Lorraine Murders by Bill Ison

From back of book:

"A sculptor in the film studios, Hart St. James, wakes up with a bloody head next to Hollywood's most luminous film star.  Kelly Moran is dead, her skull brutally crushed and her eyes taped open.  The unlikely relationship between a movie star and a studio craftsman hass not survived their first night together.  Why?

St James, a Vietnam veteran, is determined to find out who and why by following the slender, treacherous threads of a trail that ultimately leads to a professional assassin and the very inner workings of the federal government."

Even though the main character ends up in bed with the murder victim, there is very little sex in this book which I liked.  The violence is not graphically described although it is definitely there, since some of the main clues in this case come from the way the victims are killed.  Still, Hart St. James is a great character, flawed, luckily still alive, and smart enough to take on a very canny killer.  This book is one of the better thrillers that I have read in a while, smart and gripping.  Rating: 4

31. Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

Sharon Creech is one of my favorite authors for children's books.  She creates such authentic characters with interesting storylines that you don't have to be ten years old to enjoy.  Dallas and Florida are thirteen-year-old twins who have lived at the Boxton Creek Home for Children as long as they can remember.  The couple who run the home have a long list of strict rules which the borther and sister have a hard time obeying.  So they are always in trouble.  And when they get placed in a foster home, it doesn't last and they end up back at Boxton.  When an older couple decide to go on separate trips, they ask for the twins to accompany them.  Before the trips begin, the twins live with the couple in their cabin in Ruby Holler, practicing hiking and river rafting.  The way the couple treats these two orphans is so heartwarming and, when the actual trips begin, hilarity ensues.  Rating:  4.25

30. Murder at the Portland Variety by M J Zellnik

Libby Seale is a seamstress at the Portland Variety creating works of art for the various performers there.  She become friends with the magician's assistant, Vera, and vows to learn the truth when Vera is murdered.  With the help of a handsome reporter, Peter, she starts to dig into the mystery of the young women disappearing from the growing city of Portland.  Libby is pretty non-traditional  for 1894 and Peter is attracted to her intelligence and determination.  Naturally, there is peril as the two come up against some of the most important men in the city.  It's a fun mystery with a budding romance in the background.  This is the first book in the Libby Seale series.  I look forward to reading more. 
Rating:  4

29. A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny (audio)

I love Louise Penny's mysteries and I think Chief Inspector Gamache is the ultimate police crime solver.  This is the first time I have listened to one of her books and it was fantastic.  The narrator, Ralph Cosham, has a slight Canadian French accent that brings true realism to the story of a small town near Montreal in Quebec.  I may never say Montreal the same again, it is so much prettier in French.  The narration also brings to life the wonderful and eccentric characters that inhabit the town of Three Pines and provide backdrop to the genius and humanity of Armande Gamache.  These books don't just tell the story of a murder and how it is solved by the crack homocide team of the Surete du Quebec, they also explore human nature and the many ways people connect or not.  Along with the murder of Lillian Dyson, an old ex-friend of Clara Morrow, on the night of her solo art show, the book also follows the struggles of Jean-Guy Beauvoir, Gamache's second-in-command, as he deals with the aftermath of a shootout where he and Gamache were both gravely injured.  I can't wait to read the next book to see if he is able to overcome his inner demons.    Plus, it has been a while since I read the previous books; and I keep wanting to go back and remember things that are referenced in this book.  Re-reading these books is something I look forward to.  Rating:  5

28. Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett always makes me laugh and this book is especially funny.  Three witches from Wyrd Sisters are back trying to save the world from "happy ever after" story endings.  I t seems there is another witch who is making sure that all the stories in the city of Genua end just the way they should, little choice to the actual people who inhabit the story. 

"Servant girls have to marry the prince.  That's what life is all about.  You can't fight a Happy Ending."

Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax and Magrat Garlick have all kinds of adventures as they fly their brooms from Lancre to Genua to help Magrat take over as the fairy godmother to the luckless serving wench about to marry a really creepy prince.  What fun!  Rating:  4.5

27. Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy

I copied this review from Dawn at "She is Too Fond of Books".  A great review from a great blogger.

Back of the book blurb: Sarah Lucas imagined the rest of her days would be spent living peacefully in her rural Vermont home in the steadfast company of her husband. But now, with Charles’s sudden passing, seventy-five-year-old Sarah is left inconsolably alone.



As grief settles in, Sarah’s mind lingers on her past: her imperfect but devoted fifty-year marriage to Charles; the years they spent raising their three very different children; and her childhood during the Great Depression, when her parents opened their home to countless relatives and neighbors. So, when a variety of wayward souls come seeking shelter in Sarah’s own big, empty home, her past comes full circle.

She is Too Fond of Books’ review: Every Last Cuckoo is about so much more than grieving and coping with loss, although Kate Maloy incorporates these main themes wonderfully into her novel. The characters experience love and loss in many iterations, including the ultimate loss – the death of Charles, husband to Sarah; father to Charlotte, David and Stephie; grandfather; good neighbor; lifelong friend.

We know from the first page that Charles dies; we watch in slow motion as Sarah rushes to him in the woods, alerted to his downed state by the agitation of their dog Sylvie. Maloy intersperses the scenes of Charles’s death as present-tense two-page vignettes throughout the first third of the book; the rest of Part One gives us the history of Charles and Sarah: the families that formed them, the shared history that shaped them, and the stories of the family they created together.

Maloy personifies grief; anyone who has experienced a death or deep shock will recognize these feelings of the reality hitting you again and again:

"Grief slipped away, only to attack from behind. It changed shape endlessly. It lacerated her, numbed her, stalked her, startled her, caught her by the throat. It deceived her eye with glimpses of Charles, her ear with the sound of his voice. She would turn and turn, expecting him, and find him gone. Again. Each time Sarah escaped her sorrow, forgetful amid other things, she lost him anew the instant she remembered he was gone."

The book considers the troubled relationships between Charles and their son David, and between Sarah and their daughter Charlotte. A similar strain is mirrored between Charlotte and her 15-year-old daughter Lottie; Sarah “was a drawbridge, separating mother and daughter until the traffic on their troubled waters could pass.” This talent for meditation serves Sarah well.

Part Two looks at how the family copes, and how Sarah eventually thrives after Charles’ death. Hers is a journey of self-discovery and reflection, stepping outside her normal routines and reaching back into her own experience of “family” to offer something more than she knew she had to offer.

Maloy writes compassionately about friendship and companionship of “the older generation.” Sarah is both physically and mentally very active, yet she is at odds with her aging:

"… She had lived many thousands of days, so it was not surprising that scenes from an hour here or a moment there should surface at random. Her memories were beads jumbled loose in a box, unstrung. Everything – people, events, conversations – came and went so fast that only a fraction of the beads were ever stored at all. Few were whole, many cracked; more rolled away beneath pressing, present moments and were gone forever. What was the point?"

The novel is full of metaphors, beautiful word pictures that are striking, but not overdone. A few months after Charles’ death, one afternoon finds Sarah sitting at the kitchen table as a snow spring falls. Maloy describes the sounds of the house – the high-pitched breaths of the dogs, refrigerator hum, snow sliding off the roof; then she adds:

"Otherwise, all was muffled inside the house, inside the blizzard. Sarah imagined herself a tiny figure, sitting and sipping tea inside a glass globe. Someone had shaken her life up hard, and now everything was still except for the whiteness falling around."


It was a pleasure to read Every Last Cuckoo and to see just where Sarah’s journey would take her. Maloy’s use of language made it hard to put down; when I was done, my paperback was flagged with dozens of passages I want to re-visit.

You’re probably wondering about the unusual title, Every Last Cuckoo. No, it doesn’t mean crazy, mad, off your rocker. It connects to the brood parasite nature of some species of cuckoo birds; it will all make perfect “aha!” sense when you read the novel! 

I think Dawn captured the essence of this book perfectly.  I loved her quotes and loved this book.
Rating:  5

26. and 27. Relentless . . . I'll Find You by Clair Poulson

Clair M. Poulson served as a law enforcement officer in the neighboring county where I live and is now a Justice Court Judge.  Both of these books are thrillers involving law enforcement against truly evil men. 
Relentless  Erika is  eighteen-year-old who grudgingly goes on vacation with her family to Colorado.  She is taken hostage by an escaped murderer who is truly crazy but very wily.  Most of the book follows the chase around the Rockies while poolice try to rescue Erika as her kidnapper outsmarts them time after time.   Erika relies on her faith and prayer to get her through.

I'll Find You  At the age of six, Jeri witnesses her best friend, Rusty, being kidnapped.  She vows to find him and seventeen years later, she does . . .  he is a convict in a prison.  Again, there is a truly evil man who Rusty met in prison who puts Jeri in peril and only a miracle saves her.

As you can see, there are a lot of similarities in these two stories.  Both are LDS fiction which I enjoyed.  I found them both to be quite gripping and tense and not preachy at all.  Maybe the characgters are a bit too sterotyped . . . the evil characters are so bad and Jeri, at least, is sooo good.  Erika is a bit spoiled  but quickly redeemed.  Rusty was more complex as he tries to remember his earlier life and put the horrifics of his life after his kidnapping beyond him.  All in all, I liked these books.  Rating:  4

25. Murder in Miniature by Margaret Grace

Geraldine Porter is a retired widow who devotes her time to helping out in the community and creating show-box-sized Victorian shadowboxes.  She serves as chairwoman of the local Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair and soon finds herself involved in the murder of an unknown woman.  Naturally, Gerri finds herself sleuthing despite the warnings of her nephew, a local policeman. 

While I found Gerri to be quite charming, I couldn't really get into this book since miniatures is not one of my interests at all.  I've got too many books to read to get started in a series about this craft.  All in all, I just found this mystery to be cute and just okay.  Rating:  3

24. Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle

From book jacket:

Arriving in the English countryside to live with her mother and new stepfather, Jenny has no interest in her new surroundings--until she encounters things on this ancient estate with ties to another world . . . one darker and older than anything she's ever experienced.  And meets a friend in greater pain than any she has ever known.

Tamsin died more than 300 years ago.  As a ghost, she has haunted the lonely estate without rest, trapped by a hidden trauma she can't remember, and a powerful evil even the spirits of the night cannot name.

And before Jenny can help Tamsin find peace, she will have to delve deeper into the dark world of the night than any human has in hundreds of years, and face danger that will change her life forever.:

I really liked this book.  It starts off with Jenny being a typical 13-year-old brat sulking about her move to England.  There is some comedic, light moments, but things gradually start getting a bit more interesting when  the ghosts appear.  Then interesting become intense and then just plain dark and gripping.  Beagle does a fantastic job with the pacing and drawing you into the ghost story, building up the suspense to a wonderful crescendo of horror and resolution.  While I never felt scared, I was definitely drawn in and could not put the book down when I came close to the conclusion.  Great ghost story.  Rating:  4.75

23. The Year the Lights Came On by Terry Kay

This is my second book by Terry Kay and I love the way he writes.  You are present as he tells about a rural Georgia town in 1947 and the life of the young boys living there.  There is a definite division between the people on each side of Highway 17; and it creates great tension at the school between Colin's group, Our Side, and the Highway 17 gang led by Dupree Hixon.  Eleven-year-old Colin has a great bunch of friends including his older brother, Wesley, who is a natural leader, and Freeman Boyd, a wild child who knows the swamp better than any one else around.  Wesley figures out the main difference between the two groups is that they have electricity.  The knowledge that soon the Rural Electrification Administration would be running lines to the rest of the county leaves Our Side feeling a bit smug about their secret.  Kay creates a great story about an era when things were simpler but harder, more innocent and also about how progress in the shape of electricity changed the culture and lives of the people involved.  I find that I really enjoy coming-of-age stories of young teenage boys set in bygone times.  I can't remember reading similar stories involving girls.  Why is that?  If you want to read a well-written book with a great story, pick this one or even another Kay book, The Valley of Lights (not a series).  Rating:  4.75

22. April Fool Dead by Carolyn Hart

I love the "Death on Demand Mystery" series.  Annie Darling owns her own mystery bookstore called Death on Demand located on a South Carolina small island.  It's amazing how many murders there are on this island and Annie gets involved in each one.  The mysteries themselves are pretty fluffy.  The fun is in the characters, especially with Annie and her gorgeous husband, Max.  That relationship is sheer enjoyment.  I also enjoy the contests that Annie hosts at her bookstore.  Each month she commissions a set of five pictures that depict different mysteries.  Annie is also always discussing different books that make the reader want to go out and read them.  If you love mysteries, these books will give you lots of ideas of ones to check out.  In this  particular mystery,  Annie creates a contest advertising an upcoming book signing and puts flyers around the island.  Someone creates similar flyers, only they are targeting actual residents of the island.  Soon a school teacher is shot in her home and a student is pushed off a pier and drowns.  Through it all is Laurel, Max' ethereal mother, who drifts in and out and helps the police end a drug-running operation.  There is too much going on and the mystery wraps up too neatly.  Even so, I enjoyed the book as much as the rest of the series.  Annie and Max are just a great couple to read about.  Rating:  4

21. Summer of Light by W Dale Cramer

Mick Brannigan is happy with his life as a construction worker, husband and father of three.  It's true that his youngest, four-year-old Dylan, is suffering from a condition making it difficult for him to process his sensory perceptions causing behaviorial problems.  Fate seems to take a hand in Mick's life when he loses his job and becomes the primary caretaker for Dylan and the other two children.  He takes on odd jobs around the neighborhood, cutting down a tree which falls into a house, destroying it and the chainsaw borrowed from another neighbor.  He has a freak accident and drives his car into a pond.  One things leads to another; but through it all he helps Dylan learn to deal with his condition, finds another vocation and develops faith in a God who does know what is happening in our lives.  The religious message is not heavy handed at all.  I truly enjoyed the humor in this story and how Mick deals with his frustrations and the growth in his life.  Rating:  5

20. The Stargazey by Martha Grimes

I have always enjoyed Martha Grimes's Richard Jury series.  Richard is a New Scotland Yard superintendent who surrounds himself with a fascinating set of friends.  My favorite is Melrose Plant, an many-titled peer of the realm who has renounced his titles unless it is useful while helping Jury solve his cases.  The book has just the right blend of mystery, suspense and humor.  I'm not going to go into the plot itself.  I just recommend any Richard Jury book.  Rating:  4.25

19. Cheerful Money by Tad Friend

Tad Friend comes from a long line of Wasps  and this book explains what that means as he tells his life story.  The reader gets to know his illustrious ancestors and how Wasps dominated American life for many centuries. 

From back cover:
"As a young man, Tad noticed that his family tree, for all its glories, was full of alcoholics, depressives, and reckless eccentrics.  Yet his identity had already been shaped by the family's age-old traditions and expectations.  Part memoir, part family history, and part cultural study of the long swoon of the  American Wasp, Cheerful Money is captivating examination of a cultural crack-up and a man trying to escape its wreckage."

I found this book very interesting and educational.  It was fun to read about America's oldest families and the changes they have gone through in the last fifty years.  Rating:  3.75