Rachel Kovaciny's Blog, page 2

"The Case of the Terrified Typist" by Erle Stanley Gardner

Yeah.  Definitely a new comfort-read series.
The plot of this one really kept me guessing.  It had several twists that I greatly enjoyed :-) 
Perry Mason has a lot of work to get done in a short amount of time, so he sends word to a temp agency to send an extra typist because Della Street and Gertie are unable to keep up.  A typist arrives, proves to be brilliant at her job, but disappears.  And then there are all sorts of robberies and treasure discoveries and accusations of murders, culminating ...

"The Case of the Glamorous Ghost" by Erle Stanley Gardner

Friends, I think I have a new comfort author.
So, a few months ago, my 17-yr-old mentioned he would like to see some episodes of Perry Mason (1957-66), as I've mentioned now and then how much I liked that show when I was a kid watching reruns in the summer on cable at my grandparents' house.  Not long after, I found a couple seasons on DVD and bought them.  He tried some eps and liked them, so it was a win :-)
Not long after, my mom and I were looking for something to watch together in the evening...

"The Grump's Bodyguard" by Latisha Sexton

You know how I like plot-driven romances, but I'm not a fan of romance-driven plots?  This is definitely one of the former.  
Clover's parents are famous movie-makers, and she moved to Colorado to get away from their glitzy, hectic Hollywood life.  She's a book editor, she battles anxiety, and she just wants to be left alone.  But when someone from her parents' life has a mental break and comes after Clover, the quiet and safe life she's built for herself is shattered.  She agrees to let her pare...

"The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective" by Catherine Louisa Pirkis

I'm so glad that some reader friends of mine picked one of the short stories in this collection to include in the #DickensDecember buddy read event on Bookstagram last winter.  These stories are so delightful!  I can see why Brooke was a big hit back in the 1890s, even considered a female Sherlock Holmes.  She's bright, knowledgeable, clever, and not sniffing around for a husband.  That probably made her seem kind of unusual (and maybe unladylike) in her day, though now we're pretty used to conf...

"The Souls of Lost Lake" by Jamie Jo Wright

Oh my.  This was very creepy.  So creepy, I almost quit reading it about halfway through because I was afraid it was going to give me nightmares.  But I decided to read a couple more chapters, and then eerie and creepy things started getting real-life explanations, and I went ahead and finished the book.  It turns out that all the ghostly and creepy things were totally explainable and due to secret human activity, and there were no hauntings.  There definitely were horrible murders in the past, ...

"Curtain: Poirot's Last Case" by Agatha Christie

This is sad and melancholy and was hard to read.  I'm glad I randomly read it because I wanted to finish off a hardcover anthology and not because I was reading all the Poirot stories in order, because if I was reading them in order and got to this as the very last one, I would now be very depressed.  Instead, I have plenty of jolly Poirot mysteries to enjoy in the future still.
Poirot and faithful Hastings end up at Styles, the same house where the very first Hercule Poirot mystery takes place. ...

Two Bookish Summer Events You Don't Want to Miss

First of all, I'm participating in the Clean Fairytale Summer event again this year!  During all of June and July, the Clean Fairytales Group on Facebook is celebrating no-spice fairy tale retellings.  There are door prizes for anyone who joins right away and reads the introductory posts on June 1 and 2.  There will be giveaways, reading challenges, games and prizes, free downloads, and lots of chances to hang out with fairy tale retelling authors like me.

In fact, I'll be taking over the group o...

"Eldest" by Christopher Paolini

My reread of the Inheritance series stalled out for a while with this book, I'm afraid.  I think it could have been about 200 pages shorter, and it would have been a much stronger book.  Imagine if The Empire Strikes Back (1980) was three hours long, and a full hour of it was Luke and Yoda hanging out on Dagobah, and you get an idea of the pacing issues.
That aside, I do enjoy the fantasy world of Alegaesia.  And Eldest had lots and lots of time spent with Roran Stronghammer, who is my favorite c...

"Rowan Farm" by Margot Benary-Isbert

Rowan Farm is the sequel to The Ark  and continues the story of the Lechow family as they attempt to build new lives and a new home in post-war West Germany.  Informed on the author's own knowledge and experiences after WWII, these two books show the chaos and ruin of Germany after WWII, but also the courage and hope of the people who work together to make the country fit for life and love once more.  
The youngsters from The Ark all live at Rowan Farm by this point, and have acquired some new fri...

"Forget Me Knot" by B. R. Goodwin

Sometimes, when I have a very busy and stressful week or so, I want to read something short, bright, and perky.  This past week was overstuffed, and so I read Forget Me Knot because I knew it would make me smile and keep me interested, but not stress me out by being really suspenseful or anything.  It delivered everything I wanted: nice characters I'd like to be friends with, a cute little town I'd like to live in, and a sweet-but-not-sappy romance.  
There aren't a lot of authors that can get me...