I love this series. They do seem to be darker than the average cozy, which is okay with me - too much sugar hurts my teeth, LOL. This one was pretty sad, but also really good.

Questions asked of the Reference Librarians of the NYPL. Some of them just made me want to shake my head. But the sly snark of some of the answers made me laugh.

Time to start strategizing series I need to catch up on.
1. Kate Carlisle's Fixer-Upper series
2. Spencer Quinn's Chet and Bernie series
3. Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone series
4. Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway series
5. Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire series

I love the Joe Grey series, and here's where it all begins. Selection for combined book group meetings for November at DPL. Tie-in: The Catswold Portal, which goes into the history of the talking cats.

I know I'm late to the party, I'm just now discovering Mercedes Lackey. I really am enjoying her early work in modern day fantasy.

I'm a big fan of this series. It's not as fluffy as some cozies, and I guess technically it's historical fiction, since it's set in the 80's. I now want to go do the Wisconsin Historical Society tour of sites, including Old World Wisconsin.

Hilarious as always! I don't think I'll ever get tired of the adventures had by Gertie, Ida Belle, and Fortune.

I'm still trying to read this. It's not that it isn't good. It's just that apparently I've had too much dark lately and need some fluff before I can handle this.

Edited: I think I figured out what the problem is. I don't care about the characters. They're not grabbing me, so I don't care what happens to them. Will try again later. I bought both books, so I'll have them for whenever “later“ may be. Edit: Finally finished this.

I invoked librarian privilege and snatched this off the processing shelf like it was going to disappear. And didn't even take a picture of my “crime“. As always, wonderful. Probably isn't my favorite in the series, but definitely a good solid entry. Loved the resolution, even if it should have occurred to the Luidaeg eons before - it was a little *too* neat to have Tobey come up with it.

So good!! I love this author anyway, but she hit all my buttons with the paranormal aspect of this one. Can't wait to see if there will be more of Lexie!

I really really love these. I hope this isn't the last one, because way to leave us on the edge of cliff, there!

So I tore through the first five of these like they were my favorite candy. I might take a break to read a few library books, since there's a time limit on them and I own this series. Love the worldbuilding and fae lore in these.

So yeah, I forgot that Bobo Winthrop was in Shakespeare, AR before he went to Midnight, Texas. In these books he's barely out of his teens. The glimpse of him younger is fascinating. And of course I like the Lily Bard storylines, too.

Book haul today! Chris snagged a bunch of NICE history books that hadn't moved from the library shelves in over five years, I snagged two Donna Andrews books I didn't own, and then checked out Caraval and Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse. Looking forward to some reading!

Well, I didn't see THAT coming!!

I needed to order something via interlibrary loan, to help test a new interface. I didn't remember reading this one, so this was it. I'm enjoying it - and enjoying being back in Lily's world. I hadn't remembered about Bobo Winthrop (from the Midnight, Texas series) being introduced in this series. I *did* remember that Manfred showed up in the Harper Connelly series.

I did it again. I keep accidentally ordering signed and numbered editions for the library. My boss keeps approving the orders, though...
And I can't wait to find out if I'm the only person who is getting a VERY strong Scooby-Doo gang vibe off of this.

Moving this back to “To-read“ for now. This is one I'm going to have to be in the mood for, and I've already renewed it once from the library.

I read this immediately after Six Cats a'Slayin' - because for some reason I'd missed one. Loved the appearance by the Ducote Sisters, who are my favorite crossover characters. The book reads like one of the classic mysteries, where they get everyone in a room until someone either breaks down and confesses, or goes bananas and tries to kill everyone. Loved it, as always.

Seriously reminding me of when Miss Bitty was a kitten demon. She is not appreciating having her youthful peccadilloes recalled and laughed at.

I kept seeing fan reviews of this series that said they were amazing. The only criticism I have seen complained about the pack theory, but it's fiction, I can get over that. I nearly put this one down when a character was killed, but kept going...and now am on the third book. They're a little like potato chips, you just want to keep reading.

“Merry brought in the steak and gravy and set it on a trivet next to the vase of blue hydrangeas in the center of the table. Then she carried in mashed potatoes, fried squash, butter peas, green bean casserole, sliced tomatoes, fried apples, and biscuits.“

And now I have to make this menu sometime in the next week. I might skip the hydrangeas in the middle of the table.

I needed something set in the present day, after reading Arabella of Mars. I love this series, her family dynamics are laugh-out-loud funny. And there are some things that you only get if you live in the South.

To quote one of my book group members, it was “a ripping good adventure!“ And it was. I kind of got bored during some of the fighting scenes, but I loved the parts on Mars.

Thoroughly enjoyed. I love the way the animals communicate, and fell in love with Zuki, Ophelia, and Brandon. Nice mystery, too, I had the killer wrong until the last twist. I've never been to Florida but could practically smell and feel it from the author's descriptions.

I really enjoyed this three-book (so far) series. I hope there are more to come. This last one really did draw heavily from the standard Christie plot devices, and seemed to breathe new life into some of them with the modern setting. Solid plotting, great character development.

For years, when people would ask me the best magical realism book I ever read, it was “The House at the End of Hope Street“. Now, that answer has to change, because THIS is the best magical realism book I've ever read. I've been a fan of Heather's writing for ages, but she's outdone herself with this. Do yourself a favor and get it and read it. Oh, and pie recipes!

I do enjoy this series! Loved Arsenic With Austen, just flew right into this one, and have already started Cyanide with Christie. These are a little different than the average cozy - I can't put my finger on exactly why. I will mention that the character development and descriptions are stellar.

First line Friday: “It has rained all day.“

So excited for this ARC from Paige Shelton!! It's not a cozy, which is a bit of departure, but it sounds REALLY good, and I can't wait to dive in!

Look what I got in yesterday's mail!! I started it last night and it pulled me right in. I could almost hear, feel, and smell the Alabama setting. It's going to be SO GOOD!!

July selection for the Orbital Book Group. Looking forward to it! More later. Edit: 7/8/19. Reading now. Enjoying, except for the Martian lingo thrown in. Usually, any fantasy that I have to stumble over pronouncing place and item names gets an auto-pass, but this is book group. Other than that though...

If you like reading about the Amish, you'll love this book. This is a Mysteries@Six group selection, so I'm glad it has a lot that the group can discuss.

First line Friday (a day early because this is when I have time.)

Best first line EVER. “To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.“

June selection for Mysteries@Six. I'd read it before but find myself not remembering much about it. The only problem I have with it is that it keeps making me hungry!

Additions to my witchy library. I read an excerpt of “Waking the Witch“ and was spellbound, so I had to order it. I've run into Briana Saussy online in several of my groups, so I had to have that, too. Next order will be Amy Blackthorne's herb book.

So, not paying attention when you're ordering means getting a signed and numbered edition.... Just leafing through this, I can't wait to have time to sit down with it when I'm not on the desk. Edit: OMG so good!!

OMG. So, I'd been wanting to read this for awhile, and picked it up out of impulse yesterday. It grabbed me so hard I was nearly late back from lunch hour. Read until after midnight last night, racing through the pages. Not quite finished, but already know it's one of those that's going to linger with me long after I'm done.

I liked it. The shorter length was a refreshing change, even though it did read sort of like a script. I did feel like the author wrapped up the story though - I will probably read the other two short books in this series.

Love. It had been a minute since I read the previous installment, so I had to go back and make sure I hadn't missed a book. After refreshing my memory, though, the story flowed and I was back with my friends Delaney and the bookstore crew. Loved getting to “meet“ Delaney's family from Kansas! This is one of those series where I find myself thinking and talking about the characters as if they were “real“ people that I just haven't seen lately.

I always love seeing new cookbooks come in at work. Looking forward to this one and seeing if there's any recipes I can try on weekends when the cooking urge hits.

Love all Sheila‘s books, but the County Cork series is spectacular. This novella didn‘t disappoint.

WHY???? Why would anyone listen to this bunch of hooey? There IS NO “miracle cure“ and no super foods and no anything that helps everything and “ignites healing.“ No such thing exists! I don't care if you fed your ailing 185 year old great grandmother a glass of celery juice and she got up and started dancing a jig. This is bunch of steaming bovine excrement!

I don't do Whole 30, or keto, or Atkins, or anything else. But this got my attention for the roasted vegetables on the cover and the “tomato candy“ picture just inside. I'm always looking for tempting ways to get more veggies into my diet. I found some of the recipes to be a little convoluted, but again, I'm not trying to make them without dairy or gluten. All in all, a good idea launcher.

I invoked librarian privilege and took this home before the street date to read it. Loving all the vanilla lore, and like all the China Bayles books, enjoying the virtual trip “home“ to the Hill Country of Texas. Update: Finished! But I want to know what happened to the parrot!

Folio Society version of my favorite kid's book. I wore out the copy at my home library. The story of Maria is timeless.

New at DPL. Love Laura Bradford.

New at DPL

This hit all the right notes - except that for me, personally, it was very disturbing. Great characters. I could practically hear the swish of skirts and the clop of hooves on the New York City streets. I just couldn't get past the denouement and reveal of the motives behind the murders. Read with caution.

Mysteries@Six selection, May 2019 - review to come.