Catching up on my favorite series, Part 2

This was supposed to post while I was on vacation...apparently in my blogging hiatus, I forgot how to hit the 'publish' button! Dork!

Here's a couple more books from my favorite authors and series that I've read recently.

I had two books from the Blossom Street series by Debbie Macomber that I was behind on! (Two! That made me realize just how much of a book reading/blogging 'vacation' I had taken. So glad I'm back!) The first one I read was Twenty Wishes. The second was Summer on Blossom Street. I just love this series. It's a great "women's friendship" series. You know, those friends that you always want to have and wish you were? Or maybe some of you are lucky enough to be a part of a great group of friends. I have good friends but these books always leave me longing to be a better friend, to have more joy with my friends and care deeper for them. I don't mean I feel bad about myself, but rather, I want to do and be more.


Each of these books takes a few of the folks who live or work on Blossom Street and tells their story. But it's not just their story, it's the story of those they interact with, who each have their own story. Their lives weave in and out of each other at different times of life. These two books are the fourth and fifth in the series. Check out my review of the second and the third. Each would be great as a stand-alone read but are wonderful to be read as a series. I highly recommend all of these books to you! I gave each of these books 4.5 stars out of 5.





Sue Grafton is one of the authors that got me hooked on the serial 'detective' mystery books. It amazes me how much I enjoy this series and cannot believe this is the 21st in the series! U is for Undertow, unfortunately, is not one of the best in the series. I still enjoyed catching up with Kinsey (she's still back in 1988 - before cell phones...gasp!). Although my 'swiss-cheese memory' makes it difficult to remember who all the old boyfriends are, her family drama, etc, I do love Kinsey and Henry and Rosie and William.

There didn't seem to be much of a mystery to this one. Yes, there was some but it wasn't up to par with the interesting cases (and crisis's) that Kinsey usually finds herself. The tragic fellow wasn't all that tragic and the mystery not all that believable.

Did I still read it and enjoy the story? Yes. Do I want you to start your alphabet journey with this one? No. This is one series you have to start at the beginning. Go through life with Kinsey. Watch her have fun, screw up, learn, mature, figure herself out and help a bunch of folks along the way, figuring out interesting mysteries. Lots of dead guys, car chases and such too. I gave this book 4 stars but probably at least half of one was for sentimental reasons.


What are some of your favorite series? What have I missed that you think I would enjoy?

Contrasting climates

Last Saturday, I was in Phoenix, Arizona with friends just hanging out and enjoying the sunshine. We went to the spa for a day, went on a couple of tours of Frank Lloyd Wright's home, Taliesen West (because we all read Loving Frank last year), and ate outside lots of meals. I can't say it was 'pretty' because it was SO different from what I know. Plus it's still winter and, while not dead, nothing is blooming or vibrant. I think I would really enjoy it and would be able to call it beautiful in a couple of months. But it was warm and very interesting! And good company.

Then I come home. To Ohio. Where, although not as bad as further east, it had snowed 8-10 inches while we were gone (okay, not really sad about it happening while we were gone). But. The very next day...more snow. Two full days of snow. Two full days of no school for my kids. Then another late day after that. Which, with the odd school schedules, only gave me 3 hours home alone. So, while I think the snow is quite lovely, beautiful, etc to look at, I am quite ready for it to all go away.


And to be warm again. Can I move to Phoenix for the winter? Am I old enough to winter somewhere? Because it would be too hot for me in the summer, I think. I think I'm more of Hawaii person. Maybe I'll just move there?

Catching up on my favorite series, Part 1

I finished 2009 catching up on some of my favorite series that had new books released in the last year or so. Rather than detailing them individually, I decided to just summarize them in a few posts. I believe I have written about all of these series in the past, so will also link to a previous blog entry for more information.

As I've said in the past, I am definitely a serial reader - I believe you should read a series from the beginning. Most of these books would be fine to read as a stand-alone but are SO much better as part of the series they belong to. So, if they sound interesting to you, search on the author and find the first one in the series and start there. (Of course, I will not be monitoring your reading so if you do it differently, please just don't let me know.)

I was very excited last year to find new-to-me author Michelle Gagnon. Third in her series, The Gatekeeper, is probably my least favorite. But that doesn't mean it's not to be read. I did enjoy it. I think some of the character's angst within the book made me not want to enjoy the book as much, if that makes sense. Here's the summary from MichelleGagnon.com:
From the moment sixteen-year-old Madison Grant is abducted, an unthinkable terrorist plot is set in motion—pitting Special Agent Kelly Jones against her most powerful adversary yet. The kidnapper's ransom demands aren't monetary...they come at a cost that no American can afford to pay.

As Kelly's fiancé, Jake Riley, races to find Madison, Kelly is assigned to another disturbing case: the murder and dismemberment of a senator. At first the two cases don't appear to be related. But as Kelly navigates her way through the darkest communities of America—from skinheads to biker gangs to border militias—she discovers a horrible truth. A shadowy figure who calls himself The Gatekeeper is uniting hate groups, opening the door to the worst homegrown attack in American history.

I rated The Gatekeeper 4 out of 5 stars. (Start with The Tunnels.)


You know you've heard of author Kathy Reichs and her Temperance Brennan series. It's the one that is the basis for the tv show "Bones". It's also based on her life as a forensic anthropologist. She does the kind of things in the books and on the show. Gotta love that! This latest book is quite good, reminding me why I love this series. Summary:
There are 206 bones in the human body. Forensic anthropologists know them intimately, can read in them stories of brief or long lives and use them to reconstruct every kind of violent end. 206 Bones opens with Tempe regaining consciousness and discovering that she is in some kind of very small, very dark, very cold enclosed space. She is bound, hands to feet. Who wants Tempe dead, or at least out of the way, and why? Tempe begins slowly to reconstruct...

Tempe and Lieutenant Ryan had accompanied the recently discovered remains of a missing heiress from Montreal to the Chicago morgue. Suddenly, Tempe was accused of mishandling the autopsy -- and the case. Someone made an incriminating phone call. Within hours, the one man with information about the call was dead. Back in Montreal, the corpse of a second elderly woman was found in the woods, and then a third.

Seamlessly weaving between Tempe's present-tense terror as she's held captive and her memory of the cases of these murdered women, Reichs conveys the incredible devastation that would occur if a forensic colleague sabotaged work in the lab. The chemistry between Tempe and Ryan intensifies as this complex, riveting tale unfolds. Reichs is writing at the top of her game.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.


Michael Connelly is such a great writer. I absolutely love Harry Bosch, the main character in 9 Dragons. He has been through the wringer in previous books and this one is no different. However he shows his humanity much more here and I fell in love with him even more. A quick summary from MichaelConnelly.com: From the streets of L.A. to the shimmering skyline of Hong Kong, Harry Bosch must find his missing daughter. The most personal Bosch novel yet.

I gave this 4.5 out of 5 stars.


I will have more of my favorites in a few days.

Tuesday Teaser: The Psychik book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

My two 'teaser' sentences are from The Psychik book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. These sentences are from page 37.

Connie turned her face toward the spot in the dense thornbushes where the dog was gazing and gasped. To her astonishment, under the tightly wound bramble branches was the outline of a rotted iron gate.

TEASER TUESDAYS is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read.
- Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
- You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
- Please avoid spoilers!

Check out other teasers around the blogs.

Best of 2009

2009 was a slow reading year for me, as you all know. I only read 45 books in 2009, compared to 101 in 2008 (top reads) and 95 in 2007 (top reads). And the ones that I did read were mostly in my favorite genre, mystery thriller, trying to kick-start my reading for the year. But these are all definitely my favorite authors and I recommend you read anything by them.

All of these books got the 5 star rating on my librarything list. Links are to the few that I did review on here.

Mystery/thrillers

• Kindred in Death (Eve Dalla)- JD Robb
• A Plague of Secrets (Dismas Hardy) - John Lescroart
• Undone (Grant County) - Karin Slaughter
• The entire series of Heartsick, Sweetheart and Evil at Heart - Chelsea Cain
• Finger-lickin Fifteen - Janet Evanovich (much lighter than others in this group - back to her original laugh-out-loud books)
• Judas Kiss - J.T. Ellison
• Boneyard - Michelle Gagnon
• Revenge of the Spellmans - Lisa Lutz (similar to Janet Evanovich)

Other Fiction

• Greetings from Somewhere Else - Monica McInerney (LOVE all her books!)
• The Help - Kathryn Stockett

All of these I highly recommend. You won't be disappointed.

Catching up!

It's February so it's time for a "best of" post, right? LOL I know, I am WAY behind. I have made it a goal for 2010 to be more purposeful about my days and my time. I have worked on the non-computer portions and that includes this blog.

So! I've updated the header. I have a number of posts written and ready to go over the next few days along with a plan for more after that. I also plan on getting back to reading other book blogs so I can get more ideas on what to read. I've missed all of you and am wanting to reconnect.

So, in a groundhog-like fashion, I am back.

My newest Christmas ornament! I LOVE IT!!!

My VERY TALENTED friend, Lisa Clarke, of Polka Dot Cottage, decided to make a small set of family ornaments again this year! This made me VERY happy to hear and I immediately ordered. I got ours in the mail today and this made me very Happy! LOL Can you tell I'm in love? Just look at the details! The hair, the freckles, the dog. The heights...scary to think my girl is just that much shorter than me, but she really is! My boy's hair sticks up in real life just like this one! And this is proof that my blonde hair is real. Really it is. (Okay, it used to be.)


Lisa is SO talented! She makes jewelry (I own multiple pairs of her earrings as do most of the ladies in my family). She makes fun flip flops. She makes scarves and hats and aprons and skirts. And many, many other things. I am in awe of her. You have GOT to click on on of these links and go check out her store. It's all her. Oh, and she's got a blog too and is quite humorous. I suggest subscribing to her blog - you won't be disappointed.

Okay, back to my rabbit hole. I wish I had more time to give this blog more attention, but I will some day, I promise!