Hunting Hannah by CB Clark

Publication Date: September 30, 2024

Hannah Marchand is a reporter for Aspire magazine and is assigned to do a story on an archaeological dig in the northern reaches of British Columbia. She knows it isn’t the sort of thing that will make her career but she’s having a bit of an issue with an ex-boyfriend that won’t take no for an answer so skipping town for a few weeks may be just what she needs.

Roman Patrick is an indigenous archaeologist who is conducting his first dig since a reporter from Aspire wrote a story in which he was alleged to have mishandled an artifact, nearly ruining his career five years before. He does not trust reporters and he doesn’t want them around.

Despite his suspicion of Hannah’s motives, there’s a spark that neither of them can deny. Can he rise above his mistrust and work with her to elude the man hunting Hannah?

I was given a pre-release copy of Hunting Hannah in exchange for my honest review.

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I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle

Publication Date: May 14, 2024

Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (just call him Robert) is a dragon exterminator who hates his job. His dream is to work for a prince as his valet and he’s burdened with the incredible guilt of killing dragons which, in his home kingdom of Bellemontagne, infest homes like vermin. He trained with his father and now 18-year-old Robert has his own apprentice. When Robert is called by the King to exterminate the dragons in the walls of the castle, Robert is thrust into an adventure which will either be the end of him or the beginning of a new life.

 

 Back in July, I stopped in at River Bookshop, my local indie bookstore, and asked the young person working the till for a book recommendation telling them that I am a big fan of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett and am always looking for authors like them. They recommended I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle. While technically falling into the YA category, this book is spot on to the whimsical spirit of Pratchett. This is why you patronize your local Indie booksellers’ folks; I never would have picked up this book without the recommendation.  

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The Mysterious Double Death of Honey Black by Lisa Hall

Publication Date: September 21, 2023

Lily Jones is an English ex-pat in Hollywood looking for her big break. She’s working as a chambermaid at the Beverly Hills Hotel and cleaning the suite where an actress was killed in 1949 when she’s transported back in time to two weeks before the murder. Can Lily save Honey Black?

I as given this book by the Book Reviewer Book Club on Facebook in exchange for my review.

 

I love a good time travel read and you can win me over with Old Hollywood anytime. I went into The Mysterious Double Death of Honey Black ready to be entertained and sure that I would like the novel. The prologue was great. We see the murder of Honey Black. Suspense is built. The promise of what is to come is undeniably sweet but the author does not carry through on that promise. What this reader was left with at the end was confusion. The ending felt abrupt as though the author had simply had enough of the writing process or the characters and was ready for it to be done.

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The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

Publication Date: June 5, 2012

It’s 1922 and respectably married Cora chaperones a 15-year-old Louise Brooks to New York City for her multi-week training with and audition for the Denishawn School of Dancing. What Louise doesn’t know is that Cora’s earliest memories are of living in a home for girls in New York City and  has taken the position with a hope of finding out more about where she has come from. 

 

 

The Chaperone is not the story of Louise Brooks. She is a facilitator for the plot. Those facts that pertain to Brooks are incredibly well researched.  Brooks did, indeed, travel to New York City for the opportunity highlighted. Much of what we see of Brooks, through Cora’s sometimes judgmental and sometimes fond gaze, is based on deep research of the actresses own account of her past as well as research done by others. Though Brooks often comes off, in the story, as a bit of a caricature, there are moments when she shines as a fully realized character. 

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Towel Day 2023

So it’s Towel Day 2023 and I really have nothing prepared. If you’d like to scroll back in this website, there are nearly 800 reviews. Some are good, some are bad, and some are downright embassing in their enthusiasm. I make no apologies. When I really love something, I REALLY love something. 

” Haven’t you been reading?” you might ask. I have a little. I have a frightening stack of TBR books just waiting and silently judging me. I added two books to the pile last night after attending a bookstore event. I buy the old favourites: John Sandford, Lee Child, etc… and am several books behind in each. Thankfully my Dad makes up for it by reading each new release by these authors and several others usually the week they come out. 

I have read books that I could review. That I WANT to review but life has caught up. I recently helped organize a Jane’s Walk festival in the County where I live and my day job is high demand and deeply stressful. The most hurtful thing to my reading life is that I now go to bed several hours earlier than I did when younger. 

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The Principal Chronicles by David Garlick

Publication Date: December 19, 2021

The Principal Chronicles is a collection of humorous stories of one man’s childhood and career in Windsor and Essex County, Ontario.

 

 

 

Full disclosure: I am acquainted with David Garlick and his lovely wife, Linda, by way of the heritage advocacy scene in Windsor, Ontario. Though I think they’re delightful people, this will in no way color my review of The Principal Chronicles or the opinion that this book would make an excellent holiday gift for anyone in your life that enjoys an afternoon with a cup of tea, cozy blanket, and a good book.

When I started this blog in 2012, my intent was to review books with my dad. We never really synced our reading schedules and my dad, who will read 3 or 4 books at a time, often remembered books but not really specifics other than that he liked the book or didn’t. Sometimes I would catch him at a good time and include his input in the reviews. He was recently diagnosed with dementia and his memory has gotten hazy regarding what he reads if not discussed in the moment. I recently visited and we read The Principal Chronicles together laughing at the varied stories and talking about those anecdotes we found especially relatable. I usually call him “Dave” in my reviews but will refer to him as Dad in this review to avoid confusion.

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The Uploaded by Ferrett Steinmetz

Towel Day 2022 Review

Publication Date: September 5, 2017

The minds of the dead are uploaded into a computer afterlife from which they have full control of the living. Being alive is all in preparation to die. For Amichai a life of quiet desperation is never going to be enough. 

 

I originally bought The Uploaded because I thought that the Amazon series Upload was based on this book. It is not. They are of the same time and have the same core idea – a luxury afterlife for the dead. That is where their similarities divide. In the show, the dead are basically enjoying an eternal vacation at a luxury resort (those that can afford to do so) where there are visiting days and humans that act as their concierge. In The Uploaded the book, the dead are directly involved in the day to day dealings of the world. An example is that in order to have a residency at a hospital, a doctor must have the kind of practical time that no one could ever achieve in a natural lifetime. The sick in hospitals are treated to what they have to look forward to doing once dead but their actual ailments are dismissed and treatment minimal. The cure is death when one ascends to a higher plane.

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The Girls in the Attic by Marius Gabriel

Publication Date: June 1, 2021

Maggie’s father dies and friends and family of her mother encourage her to ask her mother about her past. When she does, Maggie learns of the struggles her mother (Lola) faced as a Jewish woman in Nazi-era Germany and the extreme odds she faced of survival when the Nazi’s literally came to the door in the form of the son of the woman hiding Lola and her sister, Heidi, in her attic.

 

If you look at the Amazon description of The Girls in the Attic, its the story of Max Wolffe. Max’s father was a minister who spoke out against Hitler and was taken away when Max was young. The official story is that his father died in prison and Max’s devotion to the protection of the motherland and master race came at the hands of a Nazi who took the boy under his wing when he was tortured everyday as a result of what he believed was his father’s treason. When Max returns home after having suffered a head injury at the Russian front for what he thinks will be a recovery break, he finds that his mother has concealed two young Jewish women in his home. The only thing keeping Max from going to local authorities to turn the women in is that he knows that his mother will also be taken into custody. 

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Brett Gets Hammered by David D’Aguanno narrated by Travis Henry Carter

Audible Release Date: May 4, 2018

Brett Cornell is called to action when someone with absolutely no morals or limits is needed. In this case, Tammy and Andy Rankin’s father has died and their stepmother stands to inherit the estate. Tammy and Andy need to pin the death on their stepmother – doesn’t matter if she had anything to do with it or not –  and there’s no better man for the job than Brett Cornell.

Brett gets Hammered is the sixth book in the Brett Cornell series.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review. I then did not review this book for a few years and for that I deeply apologize to this author. 

 

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The Ethics of Silence by C. J. Nash

Publication Date: June 24, 2021

Mason Turner is sent from Earth to the Mars Colony to investigate a murder. What Mason finds is a community entrenched in its secrets and a people divided and information a commodity that is in short supply. With everyone and time working against him will Mason uncover the secrets of the red planet?

I was given this book by the author, C. J. Nash, in exchange for an honest review.

 

Let me begin by saying that the plotline of this story is a great idea. One of my former coworkers always said “Everyone hates the new guy” and that is the first thing that Mason learns when he gets off of the space craft and meets his guide, Janet. The Mars colony wants to be left alone. They have faced obstacles that their early counterparts cannot imagine and the murder is perceived to be family business of a sort of Mason is an interloper. No one likes him, no one wants him there (even the guy who requested him) and if he’s not careful he may go the way of his long dead investigative subject.

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