No Meat:

Irma Grese & the Holocaust: The Secrets of the Blonde Beast of Auschwitz Exposed by Ryan Jenkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a fairly good book but there was too much speculation and not enough facts.

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The Black Dog Mystery by Ellery Queen Jr.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In the same vein as Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, the Black Dog Mystery is the first in the Ellery Queen Junior Mystery Stories for boys and girls

When there’s a bank robbery in the village where Djuna lives and one of his dog’s best friends gets shot in the escape, Djuna decides to find out who did it. Djuna is a very clever boy and along his powers of deduction and his dog, Champ, solve the robbery.

One of the reasons also I like this book  is that Champ is a Scottie. You can never go wrong with a Scottie.

I approve heartily!

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for letting me review this book. 


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The Color of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Story of Forgiveness and Acceptance:

It is the middle of World War II, Eva has received news that her husband is missing presumed dead. Not knowing what the future will bring, she meets Bill, a black American GI. Though they are vastly different, they fall in love.

She learns she is pregnant but he has been shipped off to D-Day. She is left alone to raise their mixed blood daughter, Louisa. She feels she must bury the past but Louisa finds out and starts seeking the truth among all the lies.

This is a book of truths, lies, forgiveness and acceptance. But most of all, it is a book about love during a turbulent time. Some of the book is hard to read, but it is well worth the time.

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for letting me review this book.


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Death Falls by Todd Ritter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What happened to Charlie Olmstead?

On the same night that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, nine-year-old Charlie Olmstead jumped on his bike to see if he can get a better look. Off he goes on his bike, it is the last anyone ever see him. A search begins but ends. His mother, though, never gives up on the search. She searches up to the day she days. Eric Olmstead – and famous author and Charlie's brother –comes back to bury his mother and fulfill her last request: find his brother.

To do so he goes to the current police chief and his former sweetheart Kat Campbell, and it isn't long before they discover that finding Charlie was indeed his mother's secret obsession, and while she never found him she uncovered clues suggesting that he wasn't the only victim.

This was an extremely excellent mystery. One of those you keep reading through the night. I am going to eagerly read this author’s other books.

My thanks to Net Galley and the Publisher for letting me review this book.



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What Stands in a Storm: Three Days in the Worst Superstorm to Hit the South's Tornado Alley by Kim Cross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What Stands in a Storm: Three Days in the Worst Superstorm to Hit the South's Tornado Alley stands up there with Isaac's Storm in my opinion. At the beginning, there are the usual explanations about
meteorology and the formation of tornadoes. This, though, leads up to the description of the storms that ravaged Alabama, including the human interest stories of those who survived them and unfortunately those who did not.

Could not put this book down as I live in tornado alley.

My thanks to Net Galley for this book.

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The Life of the Apostle Paul by Barbara Dowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Definately a very good book on the life of the apostle Paul, which includes the history of the area where he was born, lived and preached up to his death in Rome.

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Nightmare in Greasepaint by L.L. Soares
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This certainly wasn't light reading so don't read it on a rainy and dark night.

Will Pallasso has brought his family back to his childhod home as he wan'ts to prepare the house for sale - which means getting rid of all the secrets in the basement. What are they? Read the book and you will find out -- but especially watch out for nightlights.

My thanks to Net Galley for letting me read this book.

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Wellies and Westies (A novella) by Cressida McLaughlin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wellies and Westies was a lovely book - but then anything with dogs, a good-looking man with British accent will be good. I can't wait for the sequels.

It reminds me of the 44 Scotland Street novels by Alexander McCall Smith.

It is a light read and very enjoyable.

My thanks to Net Galley for the read.

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The Year My Mother Came Back by Alice Eve Cohen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Year My Mother Came Back was a remarkable book about mothers and their daughters. It focuses on the ability to communicate with each other and the communication they hold back.

An example of this communication was brought out clearly in:

“Mom, you and I both lost our mothers twice: first to depression and then to death. Was it too painful for you to remember losing Rose? Is that you exiled her from your memories?

“Probably. Isn’t that why you exiled me from yours?”

And then late at the end, your mother is gone and problems arise:

“I roll onto my stomach and cry silently, my face pressed into the pillow. 'I miss you. I miss you. I miss you so much'.”

I lost my mother in 2013, and I still say this.

I recommend this book to all daughters who miss their mothers.

My thanks to Net Galley for letting me read this book.



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The Swamps of Jersey by Michael Stephen Daigle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My thanks to Net Galley for providing me a copy of this book to read.

The Swamps of Jersey is an excellent first novel of a writer I hope to see more. He got it right when writing about a decaying city with mysteries - but with hope for a brighter future.

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Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found Department of Speculation to be a mesmerizing book. I was hesitant at first to read it as it was in diary form but proceeded anyway and was sucked into it. One of the best things in it was the author's use of pronouns and point of view. The story changed every time she shifted the pronouns to point of view.

It was an excellent book on happiness and forgiveness.

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Big Top Burning: The True Story of an Arsonist, a Missing Girl, and The Greatest Show On Earth by Laura A. Woollett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"The fire broke out at 2:40 p.m. Thousands of men, women, and children were crowded under Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s big top watching the Flying Wallendas begin their death-defying high-wire act. Suddenly someone screamed “Fire!” and the panic began. By 2:50 the tent had burned to the ground. Not everyone had made it out alive."

I will try not to compare this book to Stewart O’Nan’s book about the 1944 Hartford circus fire. While not as detailed as O’Nan’s book, it stands very well on its own. Particularly interesting, this book went into great detail of the identification of Little Miss 1565, the beautiful little girl found among the burned ruins with hardly a mark on her.

I have been to canvas tent circuses and can imagine the frightening aspect of the Big Top burning all around you with no place to go.

I recommend this book.


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Out of Such Darkness by Robert Ronsson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Who would think 9/11, the Holocaust, and the musical Cabaret would have a connection, but it does it does in this finely written book by Robert Ronsson. It has a complicated plot but all comes together in a shocking ending.

Cameron Mortimer follows fellow-writer Christopher Isherwood to 1930s Berlin. In a separate narrative, Jay Halprin, an Englishman working in Manhattan, survives 9/11. When Jay's second-chance life collides with the repercussions of Cameron's travels, the outcome, though always inevitable, is both surprising and shocking.

My thanks to Net Galley for letting me read this book.


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The Martian by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book from the very beginning and could not put it down even with all the technical jargon. If there had been a flaw in the jargon, I would not have known and would not have cared because I was so much into the story.

But -- why did they have to put Matt Damon as star in the movie. I cannot stand him! He is the WRONG PERSON FOR THE ROLE!.

SO BE IT.

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Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



So here is the review for this book -- ahem -- after reading The Road, I found this book to be a much lighter read and I didn't feel like shooting myself in the head after reading it. It left me with the hope that was a future for mankind after the Apocalypse.

I also like the way the author alternated between the "before" and the "after" of the world and how it affected the individual characters in the book.

I would recommend this book to any who liked dystopian novels.

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The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick


Many layers and facets to this book. I must ask the Oracle what they are.

Historicity. I am glad we have our history as it is today, albeit - it could be better.

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Blue Ribbon Canning 
Award-Winning Recipes
Linda J. Amendt
The Taunton Press, Inc.
Taunton Press

I wish I had this back back in the 1990s when year after year I entered my "prize" jellies and pickles at the Texas State Fair. Yes, I finally did win a blue ribbon for blueberry jam but if I had had Ms. Amendt's book, I am sure I would have done it earlier. I thoroughly recommend this book to all those canners out there, - you know who you are.

  Blue Ribbon Canning takes readers on a canning journey and celebrates two American traditions--preserved food and state fairs--with more than 140 prize-winning recipes for jams, preserves, pickles, vegetables, fruit, and more, plus tips and methods for making delicious--and safe--blue ribbon recipes at home.

My thanks to Netgalley.com for letting me read the ARC of this book.

4 stars out of 5

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My little grey cells are hurting. I need a tisane.

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Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whatever happened to Julian Blake?

Windhollow Faire, a 1970s British folk band rents Wylding Hall, a decrepit old house, to record their upcoming record . Wylding Hall has many disturbing secrets including dead birds with sharp teeth and a ghostly young girl who appears out of nowhere.

Then suddenly, their lead singer, Julian Blake, wanders off and disappears -- but does he?

They agree to go back with various witnesses to tell their own stories about what happened to them that summer and to Julian.

My thanks to Netgalley.com for letting me read the ARC of this book.


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