52. Bread Alone by Judi Hendrix

"Not suited for teaching high school and hopeless at selling real-estate, thirty-one-year-old Wynter Morrison has long ago given up any pretense of being a career woman and drifted into the role of a trophy wife. So after seven years of marriage, when her husband David informs her that it was all a mistake, she is left emotionally devastated and directionless—wondering how she let herself become so dependent.



Desperate for a change of scenery, Wyn leaves behind her pampered life in Los Angeles and ventures north to Seattle, where she spends hours at a small local bakery sipping coffee and inhaling the aromas of freshly made bread. These visits bring back memories of her apprenticeship at a French boulangerie, when her passion for bread making nearly led her to abandon college for cooking school. When offered a position at the bakery, Wyn accepts, grateful for the comfort of a routine.


Turning her schedule upside down to work all night and sleep during the day, learning to coexist with Linda, the irascible bread baker; making friends with earth mother Ellen, her artistic partner Diane, and Tyler, the blue-haired barista—Wyn happens upon some truths that she apparently missed while living the good life in Hancock Park. And soon she finds that making bread—the kneading of the dough, the scent of yeast hanging in the air—possesses an unexpected and wondrous healing power—helping her to rediscover that nothing stays the same: bread rises, pain fades, the heart heals and the future beckons."  From Author's Website

I enjoyed the journey of Wyn changing from a selfish, spoiled society wife to a person who is aware of others and more aware of herself.  She is a fun character, sometimes exasperating, confusing, heart-warming, and just plain dumb.  But never boring. 
Rating:  4.5

51. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling (audio)

I was able to purchase this used CD at a reasonable price and decided to give it a listen on my recent trip to Vegas.  I don't normally listen to audio books that have ten discs and so it took me considerably longer than the trip to finish this one.  I had just watched the movie a month ago and was surprised at the things that were left out.  It was a lot of fun reliving the whole adventure. 

I won't bore you with a synposis of the story.  Most people know what happens.  I'll just share what I liked and didn't like.  First of all, Jim Dale is an amazing narrator.  He has the gift of differentiating each voice so you recognize that character each time he/she speaks.  However, I found his voice for Hermione to be very annoying.  He makes her drag out the last syllable to Harry's name so it just got on my nerves.  But that is a very minor flaw.  I looked forward to listening to the book each time I got into my car.  The Harry Potter books are amazing and entertaining and so imaginative.  I really would like to listen to the entire set and don't even care if I do it in order. 
Rating:  5

50. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

This book is so reminiscent of Arthur Ransom's and E Nesbitt's books in which a group of basically good children have adventures and get into trouble along the way.  The grownups are on the sideline for the most part.  In a way, the story seems like it was written 100 years ago, when it was actually published in 2005.  There is a bit more angst than in, say, The Railway Children, but still pretty much a fun and light hearted story. 

The four Penderwick sisters go on vacation with their father and stay in a cottage on the Arundel estate.  They meet Jeffrey, whose mother owns the estate, and they have lots of summer adventures.  But Jeffrey's mother is a big snob and disapproves of the Penderwicks and their influence on her son.  Soon Jeffrey is facing leaving soon for military school where he will learn some discipline.  So there are a couple of mean adults in the book who make life difficult for everyone.  The oldest daughter, 12-year-old Rosalind, falls in love with a 17-year-old boy which makes for another intersting storyline that you wouldn't find in any of those older children's novels.  But the children are adorable, the dog is loyal and rambunctious, and the father is absent-minded.  What else could you wish for?  Fun story for children and adults who enjoy a light read.  There is a sequel but I haven't heard how good it is.
Rated:  4

49. The Icing on the Cake by Elodia Strain

This book is a well-written LDS chick-lit.  Annabelle Pleasanton is the typical female heroine:  lacks self-confidence, gets into strange and embarrassing situations, prettier than she realizes, and has a heart of gold.  I liked her a lot.  She is a fledging writer at a magazine who drives two-hundred miles to buy a cake to impress her boss.  On this trip, she meets Isaac, a photographer, and a romance is born.  I found Annabelle to be very real in her relationships with her friends and with Isaac.  Isaac starts off as almost too good to be true, but with the conflict of the book arises, I found his reaction to be less believable but making him more human.  It was a slight stumbling block for me, and he overcomes it.  He really is the perfect guy.  Annabelle puts herself in all kinds of ridiculous situations trying to impress Isaac or her boss or someone else; but there is an integrity inside her that keeps her from completely losing herself.  Overall, the book is hilarious, I loved Annabelle, want Isaac for my daughter, and plan to read the sequel, Previously Engaged. 
Rating:  4

47-48 Silent in the Sanctuary and Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn

I read the first book in this series, Silent in the Grave, about a year ago and liked it, even though I found Lady Julia Gray a bit annoying.  But she grew on me and I really like her in these two books.  She come from a very unconventional aristocratic family who isn't very well accepted in society because of its idiosyncrasies.  She is a much more interesting character than if she had been a typical upper-class Victorian lady.  The other main character is Nicholas Brisbane who helped Julia solve the murder of her husband and influenced her to actually start living instead of merely existing.  She insists on helping with his investigation and her meddling continues with the next two books.  I really like Brisbane.  He is good-looking, intelligent, and athletic, as you would expect in any hero.  But he also suffers from debilitating migraines, has a nasty temper; and is often unreasonably contrary.  Very interesting man. 

In Sanctuary, Julia returns from Italy to her family home at Christmas.  She is surprised to find Brisbane as one of the guests.  The chemistry between the two grows although both fight the attraction.  A murder takes place; and Julia and Brisbane investigate, sometimes by cooperating and other times by going their own way. 

Moor continues the story several months later.  Brisbane has bought a home in isolated Yorkshire and proceeds to ignore Julia; in fact, forbids her from visiting.  She ignores that and shows up on the doorstep with her sister and brother in tow.  The family who previously owned the manor still live there as they are destitute.  The oldest brother who spent the family fortune had died leaving a room full of Egyptian artifacts.  There is an attempt on Brisbane's life which almost succeeds and Julia nurses him back to health.  The mystery in this book is who tried to kill Brisbane.  It's not hard to figure out; but the Allenby family are so odd and twisted, that it made the book hard to put down.

I enjoyed both books and especially liked that the series concludes after three books.  I'm not sure the kind of emotional tug of war involved in this romance would continue to be entertaining after too many more books.  I think Raybourn ended it at the perfect time.  I don't know if she has written any other books.  I hope so because I would love to read them.
Rating for both:  4.5

46. Cordelia Underwood by Van Reid

"Reading Van Reid's first novel, Cordelia Underwood, is a little like moving to a small town where everyone knows everybody else and has for generations. Certainly the novel boasts a cast of if not thousands, at least dozens of characters ranging from the spirited title character, Cordelia, to a bear named Maude. The story, such as it is, begins in the year 1896 and involves a mysterious inheritance--a parcel of land in the north of Maine that Cordelia's Uncle Basil has left to her. But readers will find themselves less interested in Uncle Basil's bequest than in the kaleidoscope of eccentrics who involve themselves in it. The subtitle of Reid's novel is The Marvelous Beginnings of the Moosepath League, and it is with the formation of this secret club that much of the novel concerns itself. Every character has a story to tell and each fresh tale seems to spawn another; there are balloon ascensions, phantom sailors, mysterious notes, and determined suitors; fortunately, everyone is so charming and their yarns so entertaining that you don't really mind the many, many digressions from the purported main point of the book, namely Cordelia and her inheritance. Set in the 19th century, Cordelia Underwood exhibits some of that century's literary conventions, as well--originally published in serial form in a regional newspaper, it is a sprawling tale populated with singular personalities and intended to entertain. In short, it's perfect reading for those long, lazy dog days of summer."  Amazon.com Review

This was a fun book to read, absolutely loaded with eccentric, funny characters.  Even the villain is likeable.  I disagree with the above review that the main point of the book is Cordelia's inheritance.  While she is a prominent character, the star of the book and subsequent sequels is Tobias Walton, a portly, older gentleman who loves adventures and loves to laugh.  I think the main point of the book is the forming of The Moosepath League and Walton's invitation to be the chairman of that club.  I like the book enough to add its sequel to my wishlist on Bookmooch.  I hope there is some conclusion to what happened to Cordelia, but it looks like it will be mostly about Tobias and his fellow clubmembers.  The ending is a bit of a cliff hanger which was a surprise to me as I didn't know about the sequels.  That is my only complaint.  Otherwise, it is a totally charming book.
Rating:  4.25

45. Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Audio)

I so enjoyed reading Framed by this author, that I was excited to find this audio version of another of his books as such a reasonable price.  It was only four CD's and barely got me to Park City and then down to Provo, but I enjoyed listening to the narrator's English accent.  Here's the description from the back cover:

"It was a one-in-a-million chance.  A bag crammed with cash comes tumbling out of the air and lands right at Damian's feet.  Suddenly, the Cunningham brothers are rich.  Very rich.  They can buy anything they want.  There's just one problem--they have only seventeen days to spend all the money before it becomes worthless.  And the crooks who stole the cash in the first place are closing in--fast."


Damian seems a bit too innocent to me for his age.  But such a sweet kid who wants to give the money to the poor.  He starts by stuffing several thousand into the mail slot of his next-door neighbors, the Mormon missionaries, thinking they will surely find some poor people to help.  The next day, he sees a van unloading a dishwasher, flat-screen TV's and various other items at the house.  I had to chuckle at that.  Damian and his brother, Antony, also pay the kids at school to do things for them, but find their prices skyrocketing as all the kids now have so much money.  They have to spend the money before England converts to the Euro and two young boys can hardly go into a bank and take care of that.  When they realize that the crooks are after them, they start taking the money with them everywhere they go.  The lesson of the burden that money can be is quite heavy-handed but still effective.  It just shows that your life can't be centered around money and taking care of it.  I think I've learned this lesson well and could probably be trusted to have a large sum of money without it taking over my life.  So when is my bag of cash going to fall at my feet?
Rating:  3.75

44. Leave It To Psmith by P G Wodehouse

This is the second Wodehouse book that I've read.  The other is part of the Jeeves series and very funny.  In the introduction, it states that this is the beginning of Wodehouse's comic books that made him so famous and, apparently the most important to him, very wealthy.  I thought the book was hilarious.  I giggled when Psmith leaves his name at a home he is calling on:
"Ah well," he said, "we must always remember that these disappointments are sent to us for some good purpose.  No doubt they make us more spiritual.  Will you inform her that I called?  the name is Psmith.  P-Smith."
"Peasmith, sir?"
"No, no.  P-s-m-i-t-h.  I should explain to you that I started life without the initial letter, and my father always clung ruggedly to the plain Smith.  But it seemed to me that there were so many Smiths in the world that a little variety might well be introduced.  Smythe I look on as a cowardly evasion, nor do I approve of the too prevalent custom of tacking another name on in front by means of a hyphen.  So I decided to adopt the Psmith.  The p, I should add for your guidance, is silent, as in phtisis, psychic, and ptarmigan.  You follow me?"
As you learn more about Psmith, spiritual is not a word that describes him well.  But confident, dandy, lucky, sly, dashing, and good-looking are fit quite well.  He is just one of those con-men that everything always works out for the best.  In the story, he is hired by Freddie, Mr. Keeble's nephew,  to steal a necklace from Mr. Keeble's wife who keeps a very tight grip on the household's purse strings.  The necklace will then be sold and the proceeds used to pay Psmith, payoff Freddie's gambling debts, and allow Mr. Keeble to finance a business venture for his stepdaughter and her husband.  Mrs. Keeble will only see a withdrawal from the account to buy her a replacement necklace.  It's a fun premise, laden with all kinds of pitfalls and pratfalls.  The book is great for a light, summer read.
Rating:  4.25

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective


This book tells the true story of the murder of three-year-old Saville Kent and the efforts of Detective Jonathan Whicher to determine who killed the young boy.  I had been looking forward to reading this book for some time but found myself disappointed quite early into it.  First of all, I didn't realize that the victim was practically a baby and that broke my heart.  The author is quite matter-of-fact about Saville maybe to keep the reader from becoming attached to him; but it was a hideous crime that was upsetting.  Second of all, Summerscale is very diligent in her efforts to portray the new detective force of Scotland Yard as the novelty that it was in 1860.  She includes excerpts from novels written during that age including Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins.  There are all kinds of facts about the culture and mindset of English people of the time; lots of information about what things costs and what people earned.  I guess it could be interesting, but I was looking forward to a true-life mystery and felt all the facts detracted from the actual story of who killed Saville.  At least for me.  I read about half of the book but found myself falling asleep too many times.  I don't know if the murderer was ever discovered and I don't care.  If you want to read a book about how the great detective evolved and about mid 19th century England, I would recommend this book.  I think Summerscale did some great research and presented the information in an interesting format.  It just wasn't my cup of tea.
Rating:  DNF

43. The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney by Suzanne Harper

From the Back cover:

"How do you ignore a ghost?

Sparrow Delaney absolutely, positively does not want to be a medium like her six older sisters, her mother, and her grandmother. She does not want to see, hear, smell, or talk to ghosts. If she sticks to her rules and doesn't let anyone know that she can do all those things—everywhere, all the time—Sparrow just might pass as a normal tenth grader at her new high school. She makes a new best friend and meets an irritatingly appealing guy in her history class. But when another boy catches her eye, all Sparrow's dreams of being ordinary go up in smoke. Becausethis boy is a dead one—a persistent, charming, infuriating ghost, who won't let her be until she agrees to help him Move On."

I really enjoyed this young adult book.  The message of learning to be yourself and accepting who you are is a great one; and the book presents it without being preachy or pushy.  The story is a fun one as you can imagine when it deals with a reluctant medium.  Sparrow Delaney is a great character, easy to relate to, very likeable, with a stubborn core that makes her human.  Her six sisters, mother and grandmother are much more shadowy which probably fits right in with this story.  

Rating:  4.5

42. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

From the back cover:
"January 1946:  Writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.  And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name."

What I can say about this book that hasn't already been said?  If you've already read it, you know what I mean when I say I absolutely loved it.  If you haven't read it, please do.  It was such a charming, delightful surprise.  The entire story is told through a series of letters to Juliet and her answers, with a few amongst her friends thrown in.  I haven't always loved the books I've read that use letters as a literary device, but in this book, it works marvelously.  Each character reveals himself/herself more as the correspondence continues; and you simply fall in love with these people (with a couple of exceptions whose letters make them humorously unappealing).  Not only is this a great story, but it contains so many details about the occupation of Guernsey during WWII.  I had never heard about this piece of history and found the stories of deprivations and how both the English and Germans adapt to the situation fascinating.  The Literary Society came into being during the occupation when a few soon-to-be members were found out after curfew. They used a literary meeting as an excuse and continued to meet thereafter.  Friendships were born and reading was promoted.  Juliet, who lives and writes in London, receives a letter from Dawsey who had bought a secondhand book with her name and address in it.  "I wonder how the book got to Guernsey?  Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers." Juliet  I love that thought.  Maybe that's why I book mooch: sending out books that will hopefully find their perfect readers and hoping others find their way to me.  The Guernsey Literary Society is one book that I will be keeping and reading again.
Rating:  5

41. The Last Continent by TerryPratchett

Rincewind, the most incompetent wizard alive, find himself on a hot and dusty continent, looking rocks for grubs to eat.  But Rincewind is not destined to die even though he meets Death several times in this book.  His destiny is to save the last continent which bears a striking resemblance to Australia.  His adventures as he tries to avoid his destiny are hilarious as usual.  Actually there are two stories to follow in this book.  The other story involves the head wizards at the Unseen University back in Ankh Morpork who vaguely remember a misfit wizard named Rincewind.  They decide to search out a lesser known wizard in the far reaches of the University and behold a tropical paradise outside his window.  They all go through the window and soon find themselves trapped on the other side of Discworld and in a completely different time.

There truly were some laugh-out-loud moments in this book.  Pratchett's descriptions and parodies are spot-on.  But I was also confused many times trying to figure out exactly what was going on.  There are people or animals watching others and I just didn't want to stop to figure it out.  But great humor regardless.
Rating:  4

40. Gone for Good by Harlan Coben (audio)

This is the second audio version of Harlan Coben's book that I have listened to.  While both books were great, I really liked the narrator of this version better.  His voice is clear and easy to understand; and he is able to change his voice just enough so the listener can follow who is speaking.  Great job.
As for the story itself, it was full of twists and turns; had a nice romance without any gratuitous sex and the romance worked right into the story itself; and the characters were believable, some were a little too black and white:  Will was a bit too innocent and clueless but definitely a good guy, while McWayne was as evil as they come.  Other characters you think you know only to find what you thought may be wrong.  But they all grasped your interest from the start.  The mystery surrounds a murder that took place eleven years earlier when Will's brother was accused of killing his old girlfriend, Julie.  The brother disappears and there is a taint attached to the family from then on.  When his mother dies of cancer, Will's girlfriend disappears as well, and the action just escalates.  This was an abridged version of the book which contributed to my confusion of what was going on as well as the fact that I listened to it over the course of three days.  It would always take me a minute or two to remember what was going on or who someone was; sometimes longer than a minute or two.  Even so, I really enjoyed listening to this book  and was interested and surprised right up to the final sentence.  I have two Coben books sitting on the shelf.  I hope they are as much fun to read as they are to listen to.
Rating:  4.5

39. Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

Interesting Times picks Rincewind up right where Sourcery left him.  On a deserted island.  We find him being approached by a group of Amazons who need a male to continue their line.  Unfortunately, Rincewind is magically relocated to another continent where the wizards of Unseen University have sent him acccording to a secret deal with a rule of a devious ruler of that country.  Here he runs into his old friend, Two Flower, who is plotting a revolution against the ruling class, in the most politest possible way.  On another front, seven barbarians, including Cohen from another book, have entered the country with takeover in mind.  Honestly, the barbarians are the most hilarious part of the whole story.  One of the seven is actually a retired teacher, who tries to civilise the other six, who are older than dirt with no intentions of dying any time soon.  How Rincewind survives is a masterful tale of his own ineptness and incredible luck.  The whole book is just one giggle after another.  Since I am skipping the illustrated novels for now, I have one more book to read in the Rincewind series and then I will take a break from Pratchett for a while.  But I am looking forward to seeing what happens to the hapless wizard as he visits the Last Continent, which bears a striking resemblance to Australia.  Sounds like another good laugh.
Rating:  4.5

38. Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

Sourcery is another romp through the weird and wacky Discworld.  It also marks the return of Rincewind, a minor wizard with limited magical powers but possessing the all-important gift of staying alive.  That's not easy for a wizard to do on Discworld.  Especially when a powerful sourcerer shows and takes over the Unseen University, the home of most wizards and the repository of magical knowlege.  A huge war begins begins the wiarding factions with towers springing up everywhere.  Rincewind just wants to avoid the mess but gets tangled up in it anyway.  The Luggage is in this book as well, but in a more limited capacity.  As always, the book is filled with hilarious analogies and personifications; but it is also very hectic and jumps from one site of action to another.  Personally, this is probably my least favorite of Practchett's books that I have read so far. All seven of them.  There's tons more to go.  And even though it is my least favorite, I still enjoyed it a lot.  Anything that makes me laugh is a good thing.  Now I've started Interesting Times and looking forward to more good times.
Rating:  3.75

37. The Oak Leaves by Maureen Lang

Here's a book that been sitting on the shelf for quite some time.  I love the picture of the little boy picking up leaves on the cover.  So cute. 

Talie is a young happily married mother of a one-year-old son.  He life seems perfect.  She is excited to find a journal of her great-great-great-great grandmother among some of her father's effects.  However, reading the journal begins to make her take a look at her son's slow development and she struggles with trying to hide the truth from herself and her family.  The author effectively weaves the two tales of Cosima in The English 1800's and Talie's modern life in Chicago.  The transitions were smooth and, once I got used to the liberal references to God, Christ and faith, it was an engrossing tale.  And I don't know how families deal with the kind of problems these two faced without that kind of faith.  The book is the author's way of telling about her own experiences with Fragile X Syndrome which affects her young son.  And it was very informative and moving.  The romance involved in Cosima's story was well-done if a little implausible, high praise coming from someone who steers away from romances.  Mostly it was a good book dealing with a heart-wrenching story of learning to deal with life's disappointments and how love gets you through it.  One thing I wondered while reading the book was why the author never suggest adoption as a possible avenue for families who know they carry the Fragile X gene.  I thought that could have been explored as a way of creating more hope.  Overall, I would have preferred a little less doctrine, but I liked the characters, especially Cosima and Beryl from the 1800's; and I enjoyed the story. 
Rating:  4

36. Whisper to the Blood by Dana Stabenow

Whisper to the Blood is Dana Stabenow's sixteenth in the Kate Shugak series.  And I have read them all.  A few years ago, when all I read was mysteries, this would not have been too unusual, but now I struggle to read an entire series when there are so many other books that I have discovered waiting to be read.  But I really like the character of Kate Shugak.  She is a tiny fireball of energy and determination, intelligent and stubbborn.  I like her independence and drive.  I have to admit that I struggled with the series when one of my favorite characters died a few books ago, but I have come to terms with that and am moving on.  In this book, Kate is still trying to figure out her relationship with Trooper Jim Chopin, a good-looking womanizer who is also puzzled by his fascination with Kate.  While other Shugak books have included way too much explicit sex, this one only had one scene that was easily skipped.  (So I don't know if it was too explicit or not, but it probably was.)  While I'm not terribly interested in politics, I like the way Stabenow weaves Alaskan culture and issues into the story.  The Park inhabitants, where Kate and her native relatives reside, face a change in their way of life when a gold mining company purchases a large lease and proposes to build an open-pit mine.  While the mine will provide a thousand jobs for those in the area and promises some much needed prosperity, it also threatens the delicate eco-system of the surrounding mountains and rivers.  Most of the tribal members live on dividends and their subsistence hunting and fishing.  It is a recurring theme in the Shugak books and is not solved in this one either.  The book describes an interesting culture and presents a credible look at life in Alaska.  I know I'm not cut out for the frozen environment of our northern-most state, but I do enjoy reading about the people who do decide to make a life there.  While the mystery was just so-so; I really liked this book for the dynamics that play out among the various characters; especially Kate's struggle to maintain her independence while being pulled into tribal politics.
Rating:  4.25

35. Miss Julia's School of Beauty by Ann B Ross

I just visited Ann B Ross's website and see that she has written a score of Miss Julia books.  I don't know where my read falls in the order of things but it became immediately apparent that I was not reading the first book.  Maybe if I had started at the first, I would have liked Miss Julia a bit better.  She's an older woman who is bound by convention and rules of etiquette.  Having just remarried by eloping a few weeks, she is distressed by the news that the marriage may not be legal.  Naturally, she tries to keep everything a secret to avoid public humiliation and also moves her new husband to an upstairs bedroom to satisfy her moral compass.  In the meantime, Hazel Marie, her first husband's mistress who now lives with Miss Julia (I know there is a great story here somewhere.  I may have to find this book and read it), has been put in charge of a local beauty pageant to raise money for the sheriff's canine unit.  She enlists Miss Julia's aid in training the contestants in manners and deportment.  There are some humorous situations going on within this book, but mostly, I found the characters to be a bit too cartoonish and Miss Julia too hidebound and judgemental.  I did like that sex is only alluded to although it crops up more often than Miss Julia is comfortable with.  She really is a prude, but also has a heart of gold when push comes to shove.  Her husband, Sam, is my favorite character.  He seems to have a twinkle in his eye all the time and handles Julia's concerns with a light touch.  He makes her much more likeable.  All in all, I found the book to be cute but a bit silly. 
Rating:  3.5

34. The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

So far, I have read all of Louise Penny's Three Pines series, and in order, no less; and have thoroughly enjoyed them all.  The secret to that enjoyment is, of course, the main character, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache.  He is such a complex person, thoughtful, quiet, intelligent, kind and always determined to find the murderer.  That he inspires the fierce loyalty of all those on his team is no surprise as he guides them and trains them to be better than they thought they could be.  I just love him.  However, I was a little disappointed in this story.  The victim is a nameless hermit that no one seems to know, but he is found one morning on the floor of the bistro with a massive blow to the head.  It was immediately apparent to me that the body had been moved there, but Penny makes that discovery seem to be the result of long, intensive research and astute detective work.  Then Gamache becomes involved in solving so many aspects of the unknown man's life, some of which seemed to be left hanging at the end of the book.  Questions were resolved with no tie-in to the murder and other questions were raised with no satisfying conclusion.  So I was just a touch dissatisfied.  Still, it was a gripping mystery with great twists and turns.  I like how Penny doesn't protect her characters that we all know and love from the previous books from having foibles and serious character flaws.  And this is the first book that I really begin to like Ruth and her pet duck, Rosa.  While I didn't love how the mystery concluded, I did love the ending of the book.  It's not my favorite book in the series, but still a fantastic read.  I look forward to the next one.
Rating:  4.5

33. Summer in Paris by Michele Ashman Bell

I listened to a book by Bell a few months ago and enjoyed it even though the quality of the recording was quite poor.  It was an romance, I believe written for an LDS audience even though there is no mention of the church in the book at all.  I know I've mentioned that I don't really care for romances, but the LDS type are different.  They usually include humor, no sex and there is more to the story than just the romance.  Summer in Paris is no exception other than it was written for a young adult audience.  Just to keep your feet on the ground, we are not talking about Paris, France; instead, the story is set in Paris, Idaho.  Apparently there is a Paris in Idaho and it sounds like an idyllic but bucolic location.  However, 15-year-old Kenzie is a New York City girl through and through and would much rather be in France than Idaho.  But her father has suffered a devastating financial blow and she is shipped to Idaho to spend the summer with relatives.  Kenzie is an interesting character.  In some ways, she is incredibly shallow and spoiled; but she is a dedicated, hard-working dancer and loves her mother and father.  I like how Bell treats the family dynamics which changed forever when 8-year-old Benjamin passed away seven years earlier.  The loss totally changed how Kenzie's parents related to each other and their daughter.  That change sets up the rest of the story and makes it much more than just a teen romance.  I found the romance to be a little unbelievable and too pat; but still sweet.  Bell certainly created a compelling character in Adam.  Kenzie's transformation was predictable, but she is a fun, likeable character who you root for even when she is being whiny or bratty.  I especially liked her Aunt Frankie, a no-nonsense woman who shows Kenzie there is more to life than shopping.  Kenzie finds that teenagers in Idaho are quite similar to those in New York; some are shallow but others have more depth when you take the time to know them.  There is also a mystery in the story.  While you pretty much know who didn't set the fires, it was a surprise to learn the truth.  All in all, this is a heartwarming tale about finding yourself, friendship, and family ties, and learning about what's really important in life. 
Rating:  4
Disclaimer: This book was furnished to me free of charge. The preceding review is strictly my own opinion.