It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 6, 2022)

 It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

This was another quiet week. The weather is more summer-like in that it is nice and sunny. However, temperatures are quite a bit below normal. Some areas experienced frost which is pretty unusual. I have been doing some driving now that the weather is better. I haven't gone anywhere by grocery stores but, at least, I am leaving the house. 

This coming week I have a lunch date with some of my classmates from the Class of 1968. We began these after our 50th reunion but this is the first since the Covid epidemic began. It will be nice to catch up with some old friends and go out for lunch too. 

May Reading Report

I read 35 books in May with a total of 12,451 pages. Seventeen of the thirty-five books were audiobooks. CAWPILE tells me that I listened for 193 hours in May. Twelve of the books were from my Review stack. Fourteen, mostly audiobooks, were rereads.

I added 41 books to my collection in May including six new Review books and seventeen new audiobooks. I took advantage of six Kindle Daily Deals and one Audible Daily Deal. I got one free book and three others that were $.99. Twenty-six are still on the TBR pile. 

My total book collection on LibraryThing numbers 8342 with 2386 still marked "to read." 1936 of my unread books are Kindle books. I have 39 books currently on my review stack with publication dates stretching out to December. 

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)

• The Far West by Patricia C. Wrede (Mine; Kindle & Audiobook) -- The conclusion of the Frontier Magic trilogy was a nice blend of historical fiction and magic. I liked the characters and the adventure. My review will be posted on July 5.
• Never Coming Home by Kate Williams (Review; June 21) -- YA locked room mystery starts when 10 young "influencers" are invited to a resort on an isolated island. Then the deaths start... My review will be posted on June 15.
• Blind Search by Paula Munier (Mine; Kindle & Audiobook) -- Second in the Mercy Carr and Elvis mystery series. My review will be posted on June 23.

• Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley (Review; June 21) -- Entertaining "opposite attracts" romance. My review will be posted on June 16.
• Glory in Death by J. D. Robb (Kindle Reread)
• Immortal in Death by J. D. Robb (Kindle Reread)

• The Shelterlings by Sarah Beth Durst (Review; June 21) -- Sweet middle grade fantasy filled with talking animals. My review will be posted on June 18.
• Fledgling by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook Reread)

Currently

• The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (Review; June 28)
• Saltation by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Audiobook; Reread)

Next Week

• Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews (Mine; Kindle & Audiobook)
• Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg (Mine; Kindle & Audiobook)
• Oath Sworn by K. N. Banet (Mine; Kindle & Audiobook)

• The Lost by Jeffrey B. Burton (Review; June 28)
• For the Love of the Bard by Jessica Martin (Review; June 28)
• Holy Chow by David Rosenfelt (July 5)

Reviews Posted

• A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari
• The Gatekeeper by James Byrne
• A Fatal Booking by Victoria Gilbert

• Peril at Pennington Manor by Tracy Gardner
• Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron
• Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:

• The Shelterlings by Sarah Beth Durst (June 21)
• Under a Veiled Moon by Karen Odden (October 11)
• What Meets the Eye by Alexa Kenna (December 6)

Bought:

• The Hiding Place by Paula Munier (Kindle)
• The Raven Spell by Luanne G. Smith (Audible Daily Deal & Kindle)
• The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd (Kindle Daily Deal)

What was your week like?

Book Review: Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

Bones to Ashes
Author: Kathy Reichs
Series: Temperance Brennan (Book 10)
Publication: Pocket Star; Reprint edition (June 24, 2008)

Description: In Kathy Reichs's tenth bestselling novel featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, the discovery of a young girl's skeleton in Acadia, Canada might be connected to the disappearance of Tempe's childhood friend.

For Tempe Brennan, the discovery of a young girl's skeleton in Acadia, Canada, is more than just another case. Evangeline, Tempe's childhood best friend, was also from Acadia. Named for the character in the Longfellow poem, Evangeline was the most exotic person in Tempe's eight-year-old world. When Evangeline disappeared, Tempe was warned not to search for her, that the girl was "dangerous."

Thirty years later, flooded with memories, Tempe cannot help wondering if this skeleton could be the friend she had lost so many years ago. And what is the meaning of the strange skeletal lesions found on the bones of the young girl?

Meanwhile, Tempe's beau, Ryan, investigates a series of cold cases. Two girls dead. Three missing. Could the New Brunswick skeleton be part of the pattern? As Tempe draws on the latest advances in forensic anthropology to penetrate the past, Ryan hunts down a serial predator.

My Thoughts: Tempe is back in Montreal and working on a number of cases. When the skeleton of a young woman is found in Acadia, Tempe wonders if it isn't the skeleton of her friend Evangeline who disappeared from North Carolina when Tempe was twelve. She'd tried to track her down many times over the years with no success.

Meanwhile, her off-and-on again boyfriend Ryan is investigating a series of cold cases; young girls disappearing over a number of years. It is possible that the skeleton Tempe is working on is one of his missing girls. 

The investigation leads to Acadia and Toronto and areas in between. The suspects include a shady Acadian businessman and an equally shady photographer. The team is led into the world of porn films as they pursue their leads. 

Tempe's sister Harry is visiting and gets involved with Tempe in the search for their childhood friends. 

The story was fast-paced and filled with interesting medical information. I enjoyed the characters and found the plot intriguing. 

Favorite Quote:

"I thought you were worried about your spreading derriere."

"A girl gumshoe's gotta keep up her strength."

"You lifted two tissues and a soda can."

"Mental exertion."

I bought this one June 1, 2008. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

Babies die. People vanish. People die. Babies vanish.

I was hammered early by those truths.

Friday 56:

Harry has lived in Texas since dropping out of high school her senior year. Long story. Short marriage. Her concept of phone etiquette goes something like this. I'm up. I want to talk. Dial.

This week I am spotlighting a book that has been on my TBR mountain since 2008. Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs is the tenth in the Temperance Brennan series. I haven't read all of the previous books in the series by have read some of them. 

Here is the description from Amazon:

In Kathy Reichs's tenth bestselling novel featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, the discovery of a young girl's skeleton in Acadia, Canada might be connected to the disappearance of Tempe's childhood friend.

For Tempe Brennan, the discovery of a young girl's skeleton in Acadia, Canada, is more than just another case. Evangeline, Tempe's childhood best friend, was also from Acadia. Named for the character in the Longfellow poem, Evangeline was the most exotic person in Tempe's eight-year-old world. When Evangeline disappeared, Tempe was warned not to search for her, that the girl was "dangerous."

Thirty years later, flooded with memories, Tempe cannot help wondering if this skeleton could be the friend she had lost so many years ago. And what is the meaning of the strange skeletal lesions found on the bones of the young girl?

Meanwhile, Tempe's beau, Ryan, investigates a series of cold cases. Two girls dead. Three missing. Could the New Brunswick skeleton be part of the pattern? As Tempe draws on the latest advances in forensic anthropology to penetrate the past, Ryan hunts down a serial predator.

ARC Review: Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron

Bayou Book Thief
Author: Ellen Byron
Series: A Vintage Cookbook Mystery
Publication: Berkley (June 7, 2022)

Description: A fantastic new cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron.

Twenty-eight-year-old widow Ricki James leaves Los Angeles to start a new life in New Orleans after her showboating actor husband perishes doing a stupid internet stunt. The Big Easy is where she was born and adopted by the NICU nurse who cared for her after Ricki’s teen mother disappeared from the hospital.

Ricki’s dream comes true when she joins the quirky staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the spectacular former Garden District home of late bon vivant Genevieve “Vee” Charbonnet, the city’s legendary restauranteur. Ricki is excited about turning her avocation – collecting vintage cookbooks – into a vocation by launching the museum’s gift shop, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware. Then she discovers that a box of donated vintage cookbooks contains the body of a cantankerous Bon Vee employee who was fired after being exposed as a book thief.

The skills Ricki has developed ferreting out hidden vintage treasures come in handy for investigations. But both her business and Bon Vee could wind up as deadstock when Ricki’s past as curator of a billionaire’s first edition collection comes back to haunt her.

Will Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware be a success … or a recipe for disaster?

My Thoughts: BAYOU BOOK THIEF starts a new cozy series set in New Orleans. Ricki James-Diaz is starting over in the town where she was born and abandoned at birth. Raised in LA by loving adoptive parents, Ricki is recently widowed and has just lost her job cataloging a library for a man convicted of a ponzi scheme. 

She is starting over at Bon Vie, a mansion turned into to tourist attraction, where she will be running her own vintage cookbook and cookware store. She likes most of her new co-workers, but a couple of the tour guides are not friendly. Franklin Finbloch is a major complainer and a petty thief. Winifred Shexnyder is a tour guide who is always trying to guilt her tourists into giving her large tips and is also a snitch eager to get the rest of the employees in trouble.

When Franklin's corpse is delivered to Bon Vie in a trunk with a vintage can opener used as the murder weapon, Ricki is sure that her bad luck and notoriety make her the perfect suspect. She is eager to help the police find the actual murderer, but her overactive imagination leads in to odd conclusions.

The story was filled with great characters and had an interesting plot. I liked that it included recipes for readers to try from vintage cookbooks. Some of the ones mentioned in the story sounded pretty awful though. 

I'm looking forward to more books in this engaging and entertaining series. 

Favorite Quote:

"Why are you tiptoeing?"

"I don't know," Ricki said in a whisper.

"And why are you whispering? This is a crime scene, not a preschool nap."

"I don't know," Ricki said in a normal voice. "It just seemed appropriate."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Peril at Pennington Manor by Tracy Gardner

Peril at Pennington Manor
Author: Tracy Gardner
Series: An Avery Ayers Antique Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (June 7, 2022)

Description: Perfect for fans of Jane K. Cleland and Ellery Adams, the second volume in Tracy Gardner’s antiques-themed mystery series finds appraiser Avery Ayers sleuthing a murder in a castle.

Thanks to Aunt Midge’s unlikely friendship with Nicholas Pennington, the Duke of Valle Charme, Avery Ayers and her associates at Antiques and Artifacts Appraised head off to their most glamorous assignment yet—cataloguing and appraising the contents of a castle-like mansion on the Hudson River. But regal splendor becomes a backdrop to mayhem when the precious Viktor Petrova timepiece disappears—and housekeeper Suzanne Vick plummets from a parapet to her death.

Avery, her dad William, and colleagues Micah Abbott and Sir Robert Lane soon learn that Suzanne’s predecessor also met with an untimely end. Further, the housekeeper’s suspicious demise coincides with Avery’s discovery that many of the Duke’s most priceless heirlooms have been replaced by fakes.

Detective Art Smith lends his expertise, but the suspect list encompasses the Duke’s entire retinue—including his family. Could the killer be someone intimately familiar with the Pennington estate, such as caretaker couple Ira and Lynn Hoffman, the Penningtons’ chauffeur Roderick, or even one of the heirs to the Pennington fortune?

Then the duke himself is injured in an inexplicable riding accident, and the clock swiftly ticks toward a reckoning with a cold-blooded killer. A criminal mastermind is making a desperate bid for ill-gotten riches…can Avery bring the culprit to justice before her time is up?

My Thoughts: The second Avery Ayres mystery has her and her family appraising items in the castle-like mansion of Duke Nicholas Pennington. Problems arise almost immediately when it is discovered than a very precious pocket watch has disappeared. They also discover that quite a few of the most valuable antiques have been substituted for with fakes. 

Tensions among the family and staff make for a number of suspects. However, the number is reduced by one when the housekeeper is found dead after falling from, or being thrown from, the roof. Investigations become even more difficult with a likely murderer among the suspects. 

Avery is assisted by her new boyfriend Detective Art Smith who works undercover as one of the appraisal team which adds some relationship problems to the story. Also adding relationship problems is that Avery's younger sister Tilly has abruptly returned from school in England and isn't eager to explain why. And Avery's father who has recently rejoined the family after time in witness protection is just now adjusting to the death of his wife. 

There was a lot going on in this story. I enjoyed the main character and the supporting cast. The mystery was well-done too. The writing was a little unsophisticated and sometimes pulled me out of the story. 

Favorite Quote:

"They don't tell you, when you're a parent, that there's no cutoff age for when you get to stop worrying about your kids. I thought when you and Tilly grew up, it'd be a breeze, no worries. You'd be adults, doing things on your own out in the world, and that built-in parenting radar, the need to know your kids are safe and healthy, would just sort of go away." He shook his head, smiling. "I don't think it'll matter if you're sixty and I'm eighty-five. I'm still going to worry."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

State of the Stack #129 (June 1, 2022)

This is my monthly post which details progress made on review books. I want to thank the authors and publishers who have contributed their books. NOTE: I usually read my review books in order of publication date.

Read This Month 

The date shows when the review will be posted.

1. Midnight Dunes by Laura Griffin (May 19)
2. The Boardwalk Bookshelf by Susan Mallery (May 25)
3. A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong (May 26)
4. A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari (May 31)
5. The Gatekeeper by James Byrne (May 31)
6. A Fatal Booking by Victoria Gilbert (June 1)
7. Peril at Pennington Manor by Tracy Gardner (June 2)
8. Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron (June 2)
9. Her Dying Day by Mindy Carlson (June 7)
10. The Key to Deceit by Ashley Weaver (June 14)
11. Never Coming Home by Kate Williams (June 15)

DNF

1. Last Call at the Nightingale by Katharine Schellman (June 7)
2. Thank You, Next by Andie J. Christopher (June 14)

Read Previously but Posted This Month 

1. The Shadow of Memory by Connie Berry (May 4)
2. And By Fire by Evie Hawtrey (May 5)
3. Starry-Eyed Love by Helena Hunting (May 7)
4. Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman (May 10)
5. Dead Against Her by Melinda Leigh (May 11)
6. The Lady with the Gun Asks the Questions by Kerry Greenwood (May 12)
7. Contempt by Michael Cordell (May 14)
8. Nightwork by Nora Roberts (May 17)
9. A Daring Pursuit by Kate Bateman (May 18)

New This Month 

1. The Shelterlings by Sarah Beth Durst (June 21)
2. The Hidden One by Linda Castillo (July 5)
3. Just Another Love Song by Kerry Winfrey (August 2)
4. Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson (August 16)
5. A Certain Darkness by Anna Lee Huber (August 30)
6. Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King (September 6)

All TBR Review Books

June

• Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley (June 21)
• The Shelterlings by Sarah Beth Durst (June 21)
• The Lost by Jeffrey B. Burton (June 28)

• For the Love of the Bard by Jessica Martin (June 28)
• The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (June 28)

July

• Holy Chow by David Rosenfelt (July 5)
• The Hidden One by Linda Castillo (July 5)
• What Lies Beneath by J. G. Hetherton (July 12)

• A Poisonous Page by Kitt Crowe (July 12)
• Upgrade by Blake Crouch (July 12)
• Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (July 12)

• Iced by Felix Francis (July 12)
• The Wedding Plot by Paula Munier (July 19)
• Grace Under Fire by Julie Garwood (July 19)

• The Unkept Woman by Allison Montclair (July 26)
• Storm Echo by Nalini Singh (July 26)

August

• Quarter to Midnight by Karen Rose (August 2)
• Just Another Love Song by Kerry Winfrey (August 2)
• In Too Steep by Kate Kingsbury (August 9)

• Death at the Manor by Katharine Schellman (August 9)
• The Dark Circle by Robert J. Mrazek (August 9)
• In the Pines by Kendra Elliot (August 16)

• Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson (August 16)
• Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews (August 23)
• A Certain Darkness by Anna Lee Huber (August 30)

September

• Dewey Decimated by Allison Brook (September 6)
• Bound by Murder by Laura Gail Black (September 6)
• Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade by Nancy Springer (September 6)

• Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (September 6)
• Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King (September 6)

October

• Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne (October 4)
• Secrets of the Nile by Tasha Alexander (October 4)

• A Christmas Candy Killing by Christina Romeril (October 11)
• Blind Faith by Alicia Beckman (October 11)
• Canter with a Killer by Amber Camp (October 11)

• Treachery on Tenth Street by Kate Belli (October 11)
• Built to Last by Erin Hahn (October 18)

November

• Never Name the Dead by D. M. Rowell (November 8)
• Viviana Valentine Gets Her Man by Emily J. Edwards (November 8)

ARC Review: A Fatal Booking by Victoria Gilbert

A Fatal Booking
Author: Victoria Gilbert
Series: A Booklover's B&B Mystery (Book 3)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (June 7, 2022)

Description: Victoria Gilbert’s third Booklover’s B&B Mystery, a treat for fans of Mary Daheim and Kate Carlisle, finds owner Charlotte Reed and her former spy neighbor, Ellen Montgomery, pitted against a tea-party poisoner.

Booklover Charlotte is delighted to welcome an eclectic group of guests to Chapters Bed and Breakfast for a book club retreat focused on fairy tales and classic children’s literature. But when one of the guests is poisoned at a Mad Hatter tea party, Charlotte realizes she’s fallen down a rather unpleasant rabbit hole

The victim – an opinionated busybody whose jewelry store sold original designs, along with some possibly “hot” merchandise – had plenty of enemies, spurring Charlotte and Ellen to offer their well-honed investigative skills to assist the local police. But as they delve deeper into each of the guest’s stories, they realize all of them had a motive, and the means, to close the book on the unfortunate victim.

Enlisting the aid of a few local residents, as well as their new ally, agent Gavin Howard, Charlotte and Ellen vow to reveal the truth, even if the path to any sort of happy ending is strewn with deadly danger.

My Thoughts: Booklover and innkeeper Charlotte Reed gets a chance to play amateur investigator again when one of the book club that has reserved her inn is found murdered in the garden. 

The inn has been reserved by a one of Charlotte's former teaching colleagues. Lana has become an art teacher and illustrator of children's books. The group of disparate individuals will be taking part in all sorts of events from a Mad Hatter's tea party to various lectures. Charlotte quickly notices that all is not well with the group. It seems like most of them are at odds with one another and most are at odds with the victim. 

The victim was almost universally disliked. Her jewelry store had a reputation for dealing with questionable goods and her own reputation for honest dealing is unlikely. Two of the fellow attendees have had their jewelry designs stolen by the victim. Another attendee's son was falsely accused of theft from the jewelry store. 

Charlotte and her neighbor Ellen who happens to be a former spy are kept busy looking into the various members of the book group to try to discover who has the most reason to want the victim dead. It doesn't help that one of the attendees is Ellen's former acquaintance who was a college friend before their friendship abruptly ended. 

This was a fun cozy with lots of interesting characters and lots for Charlotte and Ellen to investigate. I also liked the assist from Charlotte's boyfriend who is also a spy. Fans of the previous books in the series will enjoy this newest adventure.

Favorite Quote:

"Today's the Mad Hatter tea party. Complete with costumes, if you can believe that."

"How...immersive," Ellen said, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. "I hope you didn't have to supply those."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.