historical fiction writer, amateur photographer, retired computer guru and math geek
J.D. Robb novels are my not-so-guilty pleasure. Murder mysteries set in the 2050's decade with all sorts of futuristic technology, they are quick reads and just the kind of thing I want when I don't have to pay strict attention to the details. After reading fifty-one of her books (all but the newest), I know … Continue reading Book Review: “Shadows in Death,” by J.D. Robb
Love. Friendship. Weird Birds. Thirty-one-year-old Xiomara (Xo) wants a reset on life. She ditches her job and heads to the small town of Lingen where she accepts a part-time position doing what she loves: drawing and painting local birds for an upcoming field guide. As much as she would like a boyfriend, she feels awkward, … Continue reading Book Review: “The Third Thing”, by Sirkka Smith
Ender’s Game, the movie based on the novel by Orson Scott Card has been on my watch list for awhile now. But like so many movies that appeal to me, I never got around to seeing it. So when I was on the hunt for books at my favorite used-book store, Thrift Books, I decided … Continue reading Hooked on Ender
Imagine you're an old lady, settled in your ways, just you and the old man. And then the power goes off: a solar pulse has disrupted the entire energy grid. But it's not just electricity that's been lost. There's no water, no cell phone, no computer. Anything with any kind of electronics no longer functions, … Continue reading Book Review: “If Darkness Takes Us” by Brenda Marie Smith
If grief and guilt could build an empire, Doris and Tup Senter would be rich. Instead, they’re merely miserable. Life is idyllic on the post-World War II Senter family farm near Portland, Maine. Doris and Tup are content. In love, with three happy children that Doris protects like a mama bear. Until tragedy strikes. Doris … Continue reading Book Review: “Beneficence” by Meredith Hall
Alina de Florac wants to be a musician. No big deal, right? Except the year is 1172. Smack dab in the middle of the Middle Ages. You know—the Crusades, kings and queens, journeys and jousts and fair maidens and all that jazz. Alina’s instrument is the lute and she has been taught by the best—her … Continue reading Book Review: “Alina: A Song for the Telling” by Malve von Hassell
My rating: It’s July 1976. Dana Franklin just woke up in the hospital—minus an arm. She swears her husband, Kevin, had nothing to do with it but the police are skeptical. Clearly Dana and Kevin know exactly what happened and it somehow involves a wall and an explanation no one in his right might would … Continue reading Book Review: “Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler
Shannon Baldos wants to divorce her husband, Justin. Now if she could just find the courage to tell him. She’s tried it once: taking her infant son, Chad, and leaving, but Justin tracked them down and bullied her into returning. Classic abuse. Her friend Peg thinks all she needs is a good affair—Justin makes no … Continue reading Book Review: “Breaking the Rules” by Tinthia Clemant
It was the title that snared me. Ever since I first heard a loon call across a mountain lake, I’ve loved them. It’s a haunting sort of sound that catches you off guard at first but quickly becomes a welcoming call. And haunting is exactly what “Winter Loon” is. Fifteen-year-old Wes Ballot’s mother swears she … Continue reading Book Review: “Winter Loon” by Susan Bernhard
George Withers is happy with his reclusive life, comfortable living alone in his boyhood home with his collection of intricate puzzle boxes. On weekdays he shuts himself inside his tiny office at the Times where he creates the cryptic crosswords that are the bane of puzzle solvers throughout London. It’s a job he’s been doing … Continue reading Book Review: The Puzzlemaker by Brian Christopher
