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R4: ◆ The Ones to Beat! ◆ (1)

Thanks .... I had written one all about Latin and Greek (which I studied in high school, and though fit the mythology theme well) ... but then Xmas songs started playing and well ...

Week 4 - Spot 29 ◆ The Ones to Beat! ◆ Reviews ■
■ Sheila -

■ Book Concierge -

■ Jane -

■ Sunshine -

■ Tayajay -


Week 4 - Rolled 8 - Now on spot 29
I'll read Series # 2

The Amazing Mrs Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
3***
This is a delightfully imaginative (and highly improbable) cozy series. Mrs Pollifax is a marvelous main character – a widowed grandmother who occasional serves as a courier for the CIA. She is steadfast, quick thinking, polite (unless someone needs a karate chop to the throat), and courageous. Her ability to make friends of total strangers and gather about her a variety of allies makes for a colorful cast of characters and some unexpected turns in the plot. A fast-paced, easy read. I’ll definitely keep on with the series.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The blurb talks about Britain and Robin Hood so I would certainly say yes it works Sunshine.

Week 4 - Rolled 8 - Now on spot 29
I'll read Series # 2

The Amazing Mrs Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman"
ooh a spy book, I need one of those for the SRC. I may steal this one.


The blurb talks about Britain and Robin Hood so I would certainly say yes it works Sunshine."
Perfect. That's what I'm going to read :)

Week 4 - Rolled 8 - Now on spot 29
I'll read Series # 2

The Amazing Mrs Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman"
ooh ..."
I hadn't even noticed the SPY part ... I'm using it for ROMAN NUMERALS (I L M X)

I will read alternate: set in England. (For locations: As long as the book takes part at all in the given location) I think part of this book takes place in London.



✿✿✿ 12/7
James and Agatha finally get married but he disappears soon afterward and is suspected in the murder of a former girlfriend. Agatha and Charles try to figure out where the heck James has gone. Not exactly marital bliss here.

I have finished alternate: set in England. (For locations: As long as the book takes part at all in the given location) Part of this book takes place in London.

Date Finished: 12/8-14
Rating: ****
Review:
Ella and Maddy are two sisters that got split up when their parents divorced. They both resent the parent they didn't live with as they felt discarded.
Now many years later Ella, after her marriage breaks up, comes to Greece to stay with her mum and Maddy goes to London hoping not to meet her dad. The girls used to be close but they both felt the other has a better life than they themselves do, but as is often the case looks can be deceiving and not everything is as it seems.
It is a Christmas story and a romance so of course all ends well.

Date Finished: December 7, 2014
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
Lynn Hagen is my most read author and this book will make the 71st book I have read by her. She is my go to author when I'm in book rut and I can read any book by her. I have read mostly her shifter books and I think this is the second non shifter I have read. I like this book enough that I will continue with the series. This is first book in the series I have read but book 2 in the Wylde Boys series and I'm liking it so far. This book deals with the romance between Carson Wylde and Samuel Cougar. Since it seems that each book happens around the same time and switch perspective I would say it is best to read in order.


Finished: Dec 10, 2014
Rating: ★★★
This is a story of Robin Hood, but more historical then fairy tale. It takes place in Wales, in a town called Elfael. Bran ap Brychan is the Prince of Elfael. His father and the entire war band is murdered and when he goes to the king of England, he discovered the town was sold out from under him. Later on, Bran joins a band of men in the forest and hatches a plan to get the money he needs to buy back his kingdom.
Parts of this story were not interesting to me and I didn't feel drawn in enough to want to continue the series, but this book isn't a whole story in and of itself. By time you get to the end, the story really starts to get interesting, and you know the story as a whole is just getting started. Because of this, I will continue on to the next book.

We have been so busy dealing with the loss of my mother in law on Veteran's Day and then Thanksgiving and now all the hoops to jump through with settling her affairs that I just woke up to the fact that Christmas is just 2 weeks away so now I am in full blown panic mode.
I'm going to be hitting one click purchase on Amazon today!

(fyi: that brown crumpled packing paper that's in Amazon boxes; the company I work for makes that!) :D

Did you hear about the Supreme Court case against Amazon?


And the tree is DONE!!!!!!!!


Week 5 - Spot 39 ◆ The Ones to Beat! ◆ Reviews ■
■ Sheila -

■ Book Concierge -

■ Jane -

■ Sunshine -

■ Tayajay -



264 pages 12/12 ★★★
This is a fun series set in Italy where Commissario Montalbano and his motley police force have to solve some really bizarre crimes usually with political implications.
In this case a man is found shot up on a roof with his penis hanging out of his pants. There are plenty of suspicious people around him including his sister who just seems way too cozy with her brother. There is always lots of humor in these books as Montalbano who reminds me of the Italian version of Columbo stumbles through the investigation along with his often inept officers.

I will read a #3


Yay, I'll bet the tree looks great! And it is sure nice to have it done!


Sheila wrote: "I'll be reading a book set in Los Angeles.

Alternate for 39 is a book on the SHELF Usa ... not just setting. So be sure your book is shelved that way.

Week 5 - Rolled 10 - Now on spot 39
I'll read Series #3

Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz – 3***
In this third book of the series, Isabel (“Izzy”) Spellman is undergoing court-ordered therapy and trying to decide what to do with her life. This is a fun, fast “mystery” that is more focused on the zany relationships within the Spellman family than on any actual case. I think I may have reached my limit with this series. I found Christina Moore’s delivery on the audio somewhat droning, and at times I abandoned the CDs for the text.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...




I don't think my book was on there at all so no big deal, but I wish GR had a sort/search option on the lists & shelves. There's no way I'm going to go through 300+ pages of books. :)

No I have only read a few Debbie Macomber books but I liked them.
I just looked at her first Angel book and it sounds sweet. Earlier this week I found out I won a prize in the Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon 2014 I took part in. The prize was $10.
I think A Season of Angels would fit very well to be bought with some of those prize money. Thanks for the suggestion Sheila.

I hear you! What I usually do, is open up the book's page and go to the shelves for that book, then use the browser's "find" option to look for the exact shelf/tag. It's tedious - especially if a book has more than 5 or 6 pages of shelves (I usually stop after searching 10 pages anyway).
Having a search feature either when you are in that shelf or when on a book's shelf pages would sure help.

No I have only read a few Debbie Macomber books but I liked them.
I just looked at h..."
I think you will really enjoy them

I have read a #3

Date Finished: 12/12-14
Rating: ****
Review:
I really liked Leilana even though she seems a bit too good sometimes. She didn't know she had any family after her mother's death and suddenly she is in charge of Mano her 5 year old cousin and of course in love. Then there is the loveable elderly taxi-driver Pi who helps her from the moment she arrives in Hawaii. It was a cosy, heart warming story. Perfect Christmas holiday read.

Teams will roll on Friday (12/19) two times for two spots. No roll on 12/26. Both book's deadline will be 1/2 and then the game resumes it's normal schedule.
If you feel you won't be able to manage either holiday's rolls that's ok. Just let your team know and you can skip those rolls without penalizing the team.

Great, thanks for posting Sunshine.


Finished: Dec 18, 2014
Rating: ★★★★
This time around we find Meg taking part in a historical re-enactment festival in her home town of Yorktown, Virginia. Michael's mother is the one in charge, and she's very strict about it being as historically accurate as possible. Meg has her hands full being the middle man between Mrs Waterson the re-enacters as well as trying to run her own ironworkings booth. Of course, after sneaking away from a party the first night, Meg finds a dead body in her booth!

Date Finished: December 18, 2014
Rating: 3.5 stars
Review:
This book pretty much happened during the same time as the previous books but you get a different perspective of same events or get brief explanation after the fact that happened on page in a previous book. Even though this book is title "Elliot" this book is about Courtney and insta love for Elliot. I'm still not a fan of pet names especially "pretty baby" unless you are a human being under the age of one. That is just eek factor for me.
One thing I keep seeing in Lynn Hagen's book is that the main family is shown to be the good guys or ideal family and their significant others family is trouble in some way or written out in a way that bit much. I don't really don't know what I thinking others that two family can blend together.
Even though I like this story it was really just stepping stone to real story I want to read which is the final book in the series about the youngest Wylde's brother Cody.
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Week 3 - Rolled 7 - Now on spot 21
Reading a stand-alone
Orchard by Larry Watson - 4****
What a gem of a novel. This is a character-driven story involving two couples: Sonja and Henry House who live and work on the House orchards that Henry's family has farmed for generations, and Henrietta and Ned Weaver, a wealthy and famous painter and his long-suffering wife. When Sonja begins to pose for Weaver jealousies flare. Beautifully written, and so evocative of time and place. Of course, I know Wisconsin's Door County Penninsula very well, so I'm sure that helps.
**********************
Hope that's enough. I'm battling the onset of a nasty cold (Hubby's gift to me ...) and just can't wrap my brain around writing anything longer or more coherent at this time. Just trying to get through the day ...