Category: Book Reviews

Kate Shugak Novels by Dana Stabenow

Kate Shugak Novels by Dana Stabenow: Set in Alaska, this is an uncommonly good mystery series by an Edgar Award-winning author Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak novels feature well-developed, interesting characters, a locale known to few (an Alaskan national park) and lifestyles even fewer of us could handle. This is one of the handsdown best mystery series I’m …

Inspector Shan Series by Eliot Pattison

The Inspector Shan series begins with The Skull Mantra, which won Eliot Pattison the 2001 Edgar Award for Best First Novel In fact, it was The Skull Mantra that inspired my “Uncommonly Good Mysteries” list, which I first started in 2011.  I had just read Eliot Pattison’s newest book Ashes of the Earth: A Mystery of Post-Apocalyptic America …

Cold in the Earth by Aline Templeton

DI Marjory Fleming… a character I’ve learned to love Aline Templeton’s DI Marjory Fleming mystery series has been on my radar for four years, ever since one of my favorite mystery writers, Louise Penny, recommended it on her blog. Alas, my library didn’t carry the books, so I placed a sticky note in my “authors to …

The Long Way Home by Louise Penny

My review of The Long Way Home – Louise Penny’s 10th book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series Many readers of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache/Three Pines books don’t know what to make of the newest installment in the series, The Long Way Home. Some found the conversations boring, others wondered where the action was, and quite …

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

An Engaging Book Club Pick – The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion Professor Don Tillman is not your average guy. He’s a genetics professor who has set himself a goal: he wants to get married. He’s almost 40 and, in his typically Aspergian way, has set up a very logical, methodical system for discovering the ideal wife. …

Aubrey-Maturin Series Reading Order

The Aubrey-Maturin Series by Patrick O’Brian… with Reading Order List Master and Commander is the first book in Patrick O’Brian’s wonderful 21-book historical fiction series known as the “Aubrey-Maturin Series.” It is also the name of the adventure movie with Russell Crowe, although much of the action in the film was actually derived from books much farther …

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon – Review

Our book club loved Outlander by Diana Gabaldon… and then read the rest in the series, like I did (for the second time) I re-read Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander for our book club… and got so caught up in the story again, that I devoured the entire series – for the second time. Here’s my review of …

A Discovery of Witches Book Review

“A Discovery of Witches” – Book 1 of the All Souls Trilogy In A Discovery of Witches, author Deborah Harkness presents a plausible story of the relationships between the three (sub)species of witch, vampire and daemon… including their battles and their loves. I’m still wondering how I missed hearing about the book when it was released …

The Happiness of Pursuit Book Review

Chris Guillebeau’s book The Happiness of Pursuit shifted my perspective on aging Have you ever read a book that set you on a whole new path in life? Or that joggled your sense of passion and purpose into practical action? I did… and I’m on a 30-year quest because of it… from age 70 to 100. Last …

E-Cubed by Pam Grout Book Review

A heartfelt review of Pam Grout’s book E-Cubed, where she teaches us to play in the quantum field As I write the words of this book review, I sip the “Magical Weight Loss Potion” that I energetically created a few minutes earlier, using Pam Grout’s suggestions in Experiment 8. I’m proving that my beliefs are changing my physical …