Another month of book reviews 🙂

A Spider on the Stairs by Cassandra Chan

I picked up this book at the library completely on a whim because the cover reminded me of the covers on British mystery books from the 1930’s. Well, it wasn’t a vintage mystery, but it was a British mystery, albeit contemporary, and it was actually really good! I hadn’t heard of this author before and I am always a little hesitant on American authors penning mysteries that take place in England because something always seems lacking in the words and interaction. But this book, which follows a Scotland Yard detective and his best friend solving a murder at a bookstore, was actually really good. I plan to read the other books Chan wrote in this series.

Half-Baked Harvest Cookbook by Tieghan Gerard

If you haven’t heard of Gerard and her mouth-watering recipes, you are truly missing out! Her Instagram handle is at halfbakedharvest so go look at her photos and videos, I’ll wait. Okay, you saw them? You see what I mean? Everything she makes is ah-mazing. This cookbook here, was the first one she ever published which I checked out from the library. Her second cookbook, Half-Baked Harvest Super Simple, is my favorite and that one I own and have made several of her recipes from. She doesn’t make a bad meal. Seriously 🙂

Winston Churchill by John Keegan

I know mysteries are my favorite genre and the one I absolutely read the most, but I am also a history nerd, especially for the era of 1900-1945, so when I spotted this book on Churchill, I scooped it up. It was very informative, and I had read another of Keegan’s books years ago regarding World War I, so I knew his writing style and I enjoyed this take on one of the greatest prime ministers in British history.

That’s it from me! What did you read this past month? 🙂

New month, new books. Let’s go!

Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney

I have mentioned before that I enjoy reading mysteries and it is my favorite genre. I tend to read books that are not contemporary mysteries but every once in awhile, I read a book that is new and everyone is absolutely raving about, hence Rock, Paper, Scissors.

I loved Feeney’s previous book His & Hers but this book was not one I would recommend. It started off really slow and I almost stopped reading it but right when I was about to close the book, the author hooked me in, and I kept reading till the inevitable end. I did not like this book at all. It had too many red herrings, too many left turns, too many pieces added just to make it “thrilling”. Many times when I was reading this book, I was like, “Really?” or “Ugh, seriously?”

Again, I enjoyed her previous book. But absolutely not this one.

The Lost Girls of Devon by Barbara O’Neal

I enjoyed this book so much. The atmosphere especially because I am a sucker for books that take place in England. I felt emotional at times reading this book because of the intergenerational trauma between the women and I personally could relate to that on a very familiar level.

The Hollywood Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

I am sure that we all have a series we love and eagerly wait in anticipation for the next book to be released and are so excited and we open the book and start reading and then…

*picture a balloon deflating*

I know authors put their hearts into writing a book and kudos to them for doing it because that is just not in my wheelhouse, but when you are in the tenth book of a series and you have the main character doing things that are contrary to the very nature of who they are, well long-time readers are going to get a little angsty.

Also, it is a pet-peeve of mine when authors write books and have them “just happening” to meet famous people, a bunch of them, randomly. The Hollywood Spy takes place in 1940’s Hollywood, and our main character in the space of a few days, met Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Hattie MacDaniel, Cab Calloway, and a bunch of other people that I can’t remember right now, all while solving a murder mystery which it turns out, isn’t even the main plot of the story.

I really do hope the series gets back on track because the previous book in this series was not good either. I am hoping 11 is the author’s lucky number and that the next book which would be the eleventh in the series, returns main character Maggie Hope back to her former glory.

What did you read this month? Let me know!