Melissa's Bookshelf

Monday, May 4, 2009

MYSTERY MONDAYS REVIEW: Murder Is Binding by Lorna Barrett

Series: Booktown #1
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Pub Date: April 2008, Berkley Trade Pub.
Format: Mass Market, 271 pages
Source/FTC Disclosure: I borrowed this book from my mother. I was in no way compensated for this review and my opinions are my own.

The streets of Stoneham, New Hampsire are lined with bookstores...and paved with murder.

When she moved to Stoneham, city slicker Tricia Miles met nothing but friendly faces. And when she opened her mystery bookstore, she met friendly competition. But when she finds Doris Gleason dead in her own cookbook store, killed by a carving knife, the atmosphere seems more cutthroat than cordial. Someone wanted to get their hands on the rare cookbook that Doris had recently purchased-and the locals think that someone is Tricia. To clear her name, Tricia will have to take a page out of one of her own mysteries-and hunt down someone who isn't killing by the book.

MY THOUGHTS

My mother came across this book at our local independent bookstore while we were browsing one day and recently loaned me her copy. It's an enjoyable, cozy mystery and is the first in the Booktown Mystery series. While I didn't find the plot to be very difficult to figure out the characters and their interactions are what made this story work for me.

When Tricia's older sister, Angelica, comes to town, Tricia's not happy about it, and with good reason since they'd never been close. Angelica is downright annoying at times, though eventually it becomes clear she really has good intentions in visiting Tricia--not that it's easy to see, with her backhanded compliments and general bossy nature. She even helps Tricia figure out whodunnit. The men that come into both of their lives are interesting as well, and I'll just leave it at that. As for Doris, when you learn more about her you won't be surprised that no one in town mourned her death. The town sheriff is another character you love to hate, even if she is rather stereotypical for a small-town law officer.

Was this the best mystery I've ever read? No, but it's a fun read that won't take up too much of your time. It's perfect for a rainy afternoon with a nice cup of tea or perhaps hot chocolate. And what's not to like about a mystery that has a cat named Miss Marple? (That would be Tricia's cat who roams the bookstore, which is called Haven't Got a Clue--cute, right?) The second book in the series, Bookmarked For Death, was released in February and I plan to check that out at some point down the road.

By the way, there's another neat feature about this book. Angelica is a great cook, and the recipes she fixed throughout the story are included in the back of the book, how cool is that? I'm thinking about trying her spaghetti sauce. :-)

Other reviews of Murder Is Binding:

Kittling: Books ~ Socrates' Book Reviews ~ Book PSmith

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Boy Do I Feel Silly...

So if you've read my Sunday Salon post, you know that I was planning to start The Woman In White today, which is (was) one of my selections for the Classics Challenge. Well, I finally sat down to read this afternoon, and as I read the first few paragraphs I started thinking, "Gee, this sounds REALLY familiar..." Well, I scanned ahead and looked for other character names, etc. and I remembered that I READ THIS LAST YEAR. And I had completely forgotten that I had. I really feel terrible about that because I LOVED this book. It's not fresh enough in my mind (obviously... talk about an understatement) for me to review it, but seriously, if you like mysteries, this is an incredible story. I also particularly enjoy the time period in which it is set, so for me that was an added bonus. At over 600 pages it's definitely a chunkster, but such a worthwhile read! If I didn't have so many unread books lying around, I'd probably re-read it, but unfortunately I need to move on to some other books!!

Now I'm going to read a book I KNOW I haven't read... Willow by Julia Hoban.

Sigh... I feel like SUCH a goober. Have any of you ever done this? Simply forgotten that you've read a book, particularly one you really enjoyed? I mean, for some reason I really thought I'd never read this book!

The Sunday Salon (05.03.09) April '09 In Review

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope everyone is having (or has had) a fabulous weekend! It's been a busy one for us, and I haven't had much time for reading, but I hope to be able to devote a few hours to The Woman In White (finally!!) by Wilkie Collins later today. I thought I'd use today's Salon post as a month-in-review for April, since I normally write week-in-review posts here, anyway. Hope nobody minds!!

April was a pretty good month for me, though I always wish I could read more books every week. In the end, I read and reviewed 11 books. If I'd been a reader in the Read-A-Thon, I have no doubt that total could have been a good bit higher! In case you missed them, here are links to my reviews from April:

The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Sin & Vengeance by CJ West
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

No Place For a Lady by Maggie Brendan
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Deadly Exchange by Geoffrey M. Gluckman
The Crimes of Paris by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
The Dawning of Power by Brian Rathbone
A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

Star Ratings Summary

5 stars: 3
4-1/2 stars: 3
4 stars: 3
3-1/2 stars: 1
2-1/2 stars: 1

April's Top Picks (2)

I couldn't limit myself to one top pick this month--as you see, I had three 5-star books, so in the end I'm going with two of those... And as I predicted last month, The Host by Stephenie Meyer is one of them! My second top pick is Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr!

April was also a month of milestones... Most recently, as you know from my current contest, I reached 100 followers this week, which was very exciting for me! If you haven't already, go to my contest post and enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card! I had to do something to thank all of you for reading my blog and leaving encouraging comments! In other milestones, earlier in the month I wrote my 100th post, and had both 100 followers on Feedburner and Twitter. With the help of the Read-A-Thon, my Twitter follower count is now over 300, holy cow!! In other interesting stats, I had 1,999 visits to my blog in the month of April--just shy of the 2,000 mark!

I also ran a series of posts with Blogger Tips & Tricks, which I am happy to know that so many of you found helpful! I do realize I owe you all one more post--a link wrap-up of helpful sites. I'll try to get that up in the next couple of days!

And for the first time in several years, I went to a book signing last Sunday, as you might remember from my Salon post and pictures. :-) I'm now going to make it a point to go to as many book signings as my schedule will allow! The next one I know I'm hope to make it to is Julie Lessman's signing at the Mall of Georgia in June!

Now for something completely unrelated except for the fact it occurred on the last day of April... I got a new haircut, shorter and more layered, with side-sweeping bangs:

Saturday, May 2, 2009

In My Mailbox (04.27-05.2.09)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren! I had a great week with five books in from three different sources.

From BN.com I received:

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. Synopsis:

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooma in the palace--and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust--and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Synopsis:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.

Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....

A Passion Redeemed by Julie Lessman. Synopsis:

No man can resist her charms. Or so she thought. Charity O'Connor is a woman who gets what she wants. Her stunning beauty and flirtatious ways have always succeeded with men. Until Mitch Dennehy, that is. Brilliant and dangerously handsome, Mitch is a no-nonsense newspaperman who wants nothing to do with her. Charity burned him once, destroying his engagement to the only woman he ever truly loved. He won't play with matches again. But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat, hoping to ignite the heart of the man she loves. And she always gets what she wants--one way or another. Or does she? Will her best-laid schemes win his love? Or will her seductive ways drive him away forever?

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I won an ARC from J. Kaye @ J. Kaye's Book Blog!

Safer by Sean Doolittle. Synopsis:

From Dirt to The Cleanup, Sean Doolittle has dazzled critics and defied expectations, garnering bolder critical raves with each new novel. “Stylishly written” hailed the New York Times Book Review… “Superb” declared the Wall Street Journal…“Heart-stopping, gut-clenching, eye-opening” raved the Chicago Tribune. Now Doolittle fulfills all that promise—and more—in his latest novel, a powerhouse of suspense that will catch you off guard at every turn.…Because in Safer, a young couple moves into an idyllic little cul-de- sac—and ignites a harrowing journey into darkness as a shocking accusation is made, a family is shattered, and the mystery of a long-ago crime begins to unravel.

For Paul Callaway and his wife, Sara, moving from the East Coast to a quiet midwestern town was a major adjustment. But right from the start, Paul has tried to fit in. He’s played golf with the guys. He’s even joined the Neighborhood Patrol, grabbing a flashlight and a walkie-talkie to make these neatly tended streets even safer. Then Paul makes one mistake—and now they want him gone. But nothing could have prepared Paul and Sara for the quarrel that has erupted between Paul and a neighbor—the self-appointed leader of the Neighborhood Patrol. Or for the next outrage, as police arrest Paul for a sordid crime he didn’t commit. Suddenly Paul’s life, university career, and marriage are at risk, as he finds himself locked in a desperate fight with an angry man, a dark conspiracy, and a secret that began with a child’s disappearanceten years before.

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And because I'll be participating in the Revell Blog Tour, I received this from Baker Publishing:

A Passion Denied by Julie Lessman. Synopsis:

Has she fallen in love with a man who cannot love her back? Elizabeth O'Connor has been like the little sister John Brady always wanted, sharing his love of literature and his thirst for God. But in the throes of the reckless Roaring Twenties, Lizzie has grown up. Suddenly she wants more from the man who has been her friend since she was a child. When this shy little bookworm blossoms into a beautiful young woman bent on loving John, she discovers that his past won't let him return that love. But Lizzie refuses to give up--until his shocking secrets push her away. Can true love survive the betrayal and deceitful of a painful past . . . or will it be shattered like the fairy-tale dreams of a girl in love?

Friday, May 1, 2009

REVIEW: Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

Series: Wicked Lovely #3
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy
Pub Date: April 2009, HarperCollins
Format: Hardcover, 389 pages
Source/FTC Disclosure: I purchased my copy of this book. I was in no way compensated for this review and my opinions are my own.

Seth never expected he would want to settle down with anyone—but that was before Aislinn. She is everything he'd ever dreamed of, and he wants to be with her forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen.

Aislinn never expected to rule the very creatures who'd always terrified her—but that was before Keenan. He stole her mortality to make her a monarch, and now she faces challenges and enticements beyond any she'd ever imagined.

In Melissa Marr's third mesmerizing tale of Faerie, Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and each other in a milieu of shadowy rules and shifting allegiances, where old friends become new enemies and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos.

MY THOUGHTS

Melissa Marr has done it again. Just when I think this series can't get any better, it does. And now I understand so much more of what Marr was talking about at the book signing on Sunday, as well--particularly with regards to the choices some of the characters make in Fragile Eternity. I'm going to do my best to minimize spoilers in this review, so bear with me as I try to get my points across!

It's funny, because I actually don't like some of the things that are happening in this story, yet it makes complete sense given what we know about all the characters. But the way events unfolded leaves the story at a point where you just have to find out what happens next--at least, I feel that way, at any rate. And again, I don't know what it is about these books, but I get so swept up into them that when I come to the end, it's almost always a shock to me, even though it's obvious there aren't many pages left.

Niall's "new" side as the Dark King is certainly interesting, and now I can't quite decide how I feel about him--all the sudden his dark side is more prominent. Sorcha, the High Queen, proves to be a very interesting character, as well. Also intriguing are some familial relationships that are revealed in Fragile Eternity. Again, it's obvious that what makes this series so strong is Marr's ability to write strong, well-developed characters. Not to mention the fact that her Faerie realm is really fascinating. But certain events would not come to be if it weren't for the way certain characters simply were and would act. And let's just say that things are starting to heat up a bit between all the Faerie courts! I really hate the fact that I'm going to have a long wait for the fourth book!