So, anyway last night as a result of various cold meds, I woke up at midnight and couldn’t go back to sleep. So, I read Wedding Tiers by Trisha Ashley and For Better, For Worse by Carole Mathews.

I really like Trisha Ashley books in general and this was no exception. I loved the small village setting. The characters were well designed and I liked how the love triangle played out. I found the reactions of their friends to  Josie and Ben’s breakup was very true to life. Charming book with a likable main character, Josie, a woman who built a life with her teen sweetheart and then had to rebuild it without him.

The second book I read in my insomnia based reading session was For Better, For Worse by Carole Matthews.

Quite enjoyable chick lit. Fast read. The premise of an about to be divorced woman going to be in a wedding is very promising. The writing was fast paced and the story was told from multiple view points which helped to move it along. I have to say I didn’t really like the Jack-Martha-Glen story line, but I think that is my personal issue. I don’t tend to care for the whole “infidelity just happens, everything is okay” kind of stories. I did find Josie and Matt’s story fun to read and well done with all the near misses and the final resolution.

It was sort of funny that in both of the books, the main character’s name was Josie, but that was just by chance not design. Both were fun, romance reads, but if I had to pick one over the other I would definitely go with Wedding Tiers. I just found Trisha Ashley’s Josie more of a person I could relate to and I thought all the story lines in the book were well done

I haven’t read anything by this author before or at least I don’t remember if I have. I picked this up because I thought it would be a lighter read than what I am supposed to be reading, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and it was. I believe it is supposed to be more of a mystery than a thriller, the plot really involves two mysteries, one that was assumed to have been solved. and a new one happening currently.

The real story though, is about the long term effects of deceit, guilt and abuse. These themes run through several of the characters lives in a sometimes convoluted, multi-generational web. The long term impact of secrets kept and the question of what if?? haunts some of the major characters.

The book raises some serious questions without attempting to solve them, more like just serving them up as food for thought. How well do we really know anyone else? How far will we go to protect our family and how justified will we be in our actions? Are some people irredeemable?

For all the good that there is in this book and there is plenty to be found, I still found some of the voice to be too trite, (think “inspirational” quotes used in dialogue), the perpetrator was obvious, really obvious, and I didn’t find some of the resolution realistic. Overall, it was a decent, light read with a good job done maintaining multiple story lines, past and present, and then linking them together.

The Odelia Grey Mystery series is a favorite of mine.  I find the characters well developed and realistic.  The series has a great deal of humor and the mysteries are usually well done.  The character of Odelia Grey is what really drives this series.  She is not the stereotypical “big” girl.  She is confident, but yet has enough vulnerability to not be brash or arrogant.  She is a plus sized woman and yet still has sex appeal and also feels sexy.

I just finished Twice as Dead and I did enjoy it.  I would say that it was not my favorite of the series, that title still goes to Too Big to Miss, the first book from the series.  The mystery seems more serious in this episode than in the previous books.  There were twists and turns and visits from characters from previous books that add depth to the story.  Recommended reading for cozy mystery fans.

Just finished last night.   This book is from the Red Dress Ink publishers, a now defunct outfit.  I belong to a group on Goodreads dedicated to this publisher’s books and this is the read for this month.  I have read other books in the series previously (out of order) .

I found the book had several  funny  lines or moments, which is always a plus, but I also found Sophie Katz, the  lead character, immature, impulsive and a little irritating and some of the other characters a little cartoonish.  I don’t  remember coming away with that impression from the other books in the series that I read previously.   So, either my memory is faulty, truly possible, or Sophie matures in the later books and the recurring characters are developed further, or maybe I’m just aging out of the demographics for this book….hmmm.

The mystery was mainly driven by red herrings, Sophie chased after them with wild abandon.  It was an entertaining, fast moving mystery plot. Something was always happening.  I had  figured out Anatoly’s  story line for the most part prior to the reveal, but  other story lines I did not.   The book is well written and edited.   I would say based on my experience that this is a series that improves in the later books.  I often find that the case for first books in a series.

If you enjoy light mysteries that are fast paced and have humorous interludes aimed at the “Sex and the City” set, I think you would enjoy this book.

This is a first in a series about a …button expert. I will say I would never have picked up this book on my own. It is just not something that would have attracted me. However, that is one of the reasons I belong to book clubs on Goodreads. This was a selection from the Cozy Mystery Corner group. I joined because cozies are a genre that are close to my heart (think MC Beaton, Simon Brett, Diana Mott Davidson, Agatha Christie). That is a plus for this book, definitely a genre I enjoy.

The book is written well, as far as editing and language, and the series protagonist Josie Giancola is a likable character, however a little too stereotypical “shy girl swooped off her feet by extroverted cad”. The theme (button collecting/antiquing) does not overwhelm character or plot, which can be a problem with some of the more cutesy and theme specific cozy mysteries.

My main issue with this particular outing is that you will need to practice some serious belief suspension. Josie, button expert extraordinaire, is recruited by a police officer, Nevin, and embroiled in the mystery in a rather unbelievable, heavy handed manner.

To be fair, perhaps the problems I had with the book were caused by it being a first book in a series. It really had a feel that the author was setting things up for future books, establishing background, setting and relationships. With that in mind, I gave Button Holed 3 stars and given the opportunity, I would give another book in the series a chance .

First, let me preface this by saying I love cooking and I love memoirs, so a cooking themed memoir…well, its like hitting the jackpot.  I have read My Life in France, Julie and Julia, The Sweet Life in Paris, and many others.  That could have been a plus or a minus for this book, on one hand I’m familiar with the setting and the genre and like it already, on the other hand it has some pretty stiff competition.

This book is less of a memoir in style and more of a series of personal narratives and I loved that organization.  There is a vignette and then the recipe that it leads up to.  It works very well, it is highly engaging and makes the reading very fast paced.

The writing is very accessible, the reader feels as though Molly Wizenberg is speaking to them and what makes that work so well is that the writer is, at least as represented by this book, a truly likable, decent human being with some important things to say.

The nature of food and family and food and love is explored in loving detail.  Memories of family are firmly entwined with food and here they are presented as complements of one another.  Food as a celebration of family and love, a refreshing break from a culture which in some ways presents “food as the enemy”.

The author’s memories of her father, her celebration of his life and her grief at his passing are indeed heartbreaking.    This quote expresses her sense of being “cheated” , a sense that many of those who have lost someone have experienced:

“When your father dies, especially if he is older, people like to say such things as, “He was so lucky.  He lived a long, full life.”  It’s hard to know what to say to that.  What often comes to mind is, “Yes, you’re right.  he was seventy-three, so I guess it was his time.  But did you know him?  Did you see how he was?  He bought wine futures seven months before he died.  He saw patients the afternoon he was diagnosed.  He wasn’t finished.”

I don’t mean to infer that this book is all sadness and grief, there is much joy and celebration of life as well.  The author details her meeting of her husband and the life they built together through a shared love of food, friends and family.   In one passage, discussing her first meeting with her future husband, a friend exclaims “I’m so excited for you….You’ve been taking this on with your whole heart and that oversized mind of yours.  Don’t stop now.  This is the bread and butter!  This is what it is all about.”   Lovely sentiment, lovely quote.

This is another well written outing from the Elly Griffiths series about archaeologist Ruth Galloway.  I am reading this series in order and am very impressed with the development of the characters, particularly Ruth, Nelson, Judy and Cathbad, over the course of the books.  Cathbad becomes more intriguing at each turn and the relationship between Nelson and Ruth is painfully realistic.  The exceptional aspect of this book and the others in the series is the atmosphere that Ms. Griffiths creates.  As a reader, you find yourself immersed in the mood, the sense of place that the books evoke.  I will go on to read more in the series and I would highly recommend it to other mystery readers.

Norfolk