Xanthi's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 14 Apr 2025 01:21:02 -0700 60 Xanthi's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Now or Never (Stephanie Plum, #31)]]> 207299449
While Stephanie stalls for time, she buries herself in her work as a bounty hunter, tracking down an unusually varied assortment of fugitives from justice. There’s Eugene Fleck, a seemingly sweet online influencer who might also be YouTube star Robin Hoodie, masked hero to the homeless, who hijacks delivery trucks and distributes their contents to the needy. She’s also on the trail of Bruno Jug, a wealthy and connected man in the wholesale produce business who is rumored to traffic young girls alongside lettuce and tomatoes. Most terrifying of all is Zoran—a laundromat manager by day and self-proclaimed vampire by night with a taste for the blood of pretty girls. When he shows up on Stephanie’s doorstep, it’s not for the meatloaf dinner.

With timely assists from her stalwart supporters Lula, Connie, and Grandma Mazur, Stephanie uses every trick in the book to reel in these men. But only she can decide what to do about the two men she actually loves. She can’t hold Ranger and Morelli at bay for long, and she’s keeping a secret from them that is the biggest bombshell of all. Now or never, she’s got to make the decision of a lifetime.]]> 320 Janet Evanovich 1668003139 Xanthi 0 currently-reading 4.04 2024 Now or Never (Stephanie Plum, #31)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Dustman (Hamish Macbeth, #16)]]> 897136 226 M.C. Beaton 0446609315 Xanthi 2 Farfetched and convoluted plot with too many characters. And suddenly Hamish has a new dog.
As meh as this instalment was, I did laugh re Hamish’s underpants and a newspaper headline connected to them. ]]> 3.84 2001 Death of a Dustman (Hamish Macbeth, #16)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2001
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
Farfetched and convoluted plot with too many characters. And suddenly Hamish has a new dog.
As meh as this instalment was, I did laugh re Hamish’s underpants and a newspaper headline connected to them.
]]> <![CDATA[A Murderous Plot (The Bookstore Mystery #6)]]> 205972214
Just as Jen sits down to write her next murder mystery novel, a killer strikes again in the tiny town of Riverton.

Will Jen be able to solve this murderous plot, or will the killer, and her new book, get the better of her?

This bookish cozy mystery is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Ellery Adams, and will leave you guessing right up until the final page.]]> 320 Sue Minix 0008659850 Xanthi 3 I like the hints of humour but find the protagonist a bit too flippant throughout. It really comes across in the audiobook. I wonder if it’s as apparent in the print version? Is it the writing or the delivery by the voice actor?
An ok plot. I do like a cozy that’s set in October and references Halloween, so that was a plus for me. ]]> 3.37 2024 A Murderous Plot (The Bookstore Mystery #6)
author: Sue Minix
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I like the hints of humour but find the protagonist a bit too flippant throughout. It really comes across in the audiobook. I wonder if it’s as apparent in the print version? Is it the writing or the delivery by the voice actor?
An ok plot. I do like a cozy that’s set in October and references Halloween, so that was a plus for me.
]]> <![CDATA[Death of an Addict (Hamish Macbeth, #15)]]> 8861
DEATH OF AN A Hamish Macbeth Mystery

Former drug addict Tommy Jarret rents a Scottish chalet to check out reports of a sea monster. But when he is found dead of an apparent drug overdose, constable Hamish Macbeth suspects foul play. Teaming with Glasgow Detective Inspector Olivia Chater, Macbeth goes undercover and dives into the underworld to root out a cartel secretly entrenched in the Highlands.]]> 214 M.C. Beaton 0446608289 Xanthi 1 The author veers away from cozy mystery elements and trundles towards a very anaemic attempt at a thriller - or that’s what it felt like to me with is instalment. It was clumsy, lacked any charm and even Hamish couldn’t save this one.]]> 3.76 1999 Death of an Addict (Hamish Macbeth, #15)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1999
rating: 1
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The author veers away from cozy mystery elements and trundles towards a very anaemic attempt at a thriller - or that’s what it felt like to me with is instalment. It was clumsy, lacked any charm and even Hamish couldn’t save this one.
]]> <![CDATA[Foods That Cause You to Lose Weight:: The Negative Calorie Effect]]> 1419483 More than one million copies sold!

No more counting calories--discover the foods that take the weight off and keep it off with this revolutionary plan.

Did you know that certain foods have an incredible negative calorie effect that actually melts fat? This revolutionary approach, outlined by Neal Barnard, M.D., and proven effective by thousands of men and women who have tried it, can bring about the permanent weight control every diet promises but seldom delivers.

Find out how, by following the negative calorie plan, you can:


Boost your metabolic rate
Burn calories more effectively
Lower dangerous cholesterol levels
Enjoy better health--and protect your heart
Eat the delicious foods you love--in the quantities you want
Watch the pounds disappear--without stressful dieting or the temptation to binge
Dr. Barnard also provides delicious negative calorie recipes that use foods most people already have in their home cupboards. Easy, effective, and satisfying, Foods That Cause You to Lose Weight will bring about the permanent weight control every diet promises but seldom delivers. ]]> 368 Neal D. Barnard 0380807971 Xanthi 4 3.81 1992 Foods That Cause You to Lose Weight:: The Negative Calorie Effect
author: Neal D. Barnard
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2014/04/29
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves:
review:
A down to earth, easy to follow book about dietary advice for those of us who need to lose some weight. Some simple plant based recipes and pointers are included. I already eat vegan but this book helped to open my eyes as the where in my diet I can make improvements.
]]> <![CDATA[Your Body in Balance: The New Science of Food, Hormones, and Health]]> 46208089 This nationally bestselling book explains the shocking new science of how hormones are wreaking havoc on the body, and the delicious solution that improves health, reduces pain, and even helps to shed weight.

Hidden in everyday foods are the causes of a surprising range of health problems: infertility, menstrual cramps, weight gain, hair loss, breast and prostate cancer, hot flashes, and much more. All of these conditions have one thing in common: they are fueled by hormones that are hiding in foods or are influenced by the foods we eat.

Your Body in Balance provides step-by-step guidance for understanding what's at the root of your suffering-and what you can do to feel better fast. Few people realize that a simple food prescription can help you tackle all these and more by gently restoring your hormone balance, with benefits rivaling medications. Neal Barnard, MD, a leading authority on nutrition and health, offers insight into how dietary changes can alleviate years of stress, pain, and illness. What's more, he also provides delicious and easy-to-make hormone-balancing recipes, including:

Cauliflower Buffalo Chowder
Kung Pao Lettuce Wraps
Butternut Breakfast Tacos
Mediterranean Croquettes
Apple Pie Nachos
Brownie Batter Hummus
Your Body in Balance gives new hope for people struggling with health issues. Thousands of people have already reclaimed their lives and their health through the strategic dietary changes described in this book. Whether you're looking to treat a specific ailment or are in search of better overall health, Dr. Neal Barnard provides an easy pathway toward pain relief, weight control, and a lifetime of good health.]]> 352 Neal D. Barnard 1538747421 Xanthi 0 currently-reading 4.00 2020 Your Body in Balance: The New Science of Food, Hormones, and Health
author: Neal D. Barnard
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Witchcraft for Wayward Girls 207611566 There’s power in a book�

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master� (NPR).]]> 482 Grady Hendrix 0593548981 Xanthi 3 A strong streak of feminism mixed with the supernatural - written by a man, no less. Written very well, l might add. It did feel overly long and a bit slow in places. Also, if the supernatural elements were removed, this novel would not really have been diminished - although some of the drama and action would have been affected towards the end. The novel’s strength lay in the social commentary, in regards to girls and women in 1960s USA. Reproductive rights, gender equality, patriarchy - it’s all there and more in this book. ]]> 4.01 2025 Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
A strong streak of feminism mixed with the supernatural - written by a man, no less. Written very well, l might add. It did feel overly long and a bit slow in places. Also, if the supernatural elements were removed, this novel would not really have been diminished - although some of the drama and action would have been affected towards the end. The novel’s strength lay in the social commentary, in regards to girls and women in 1960s USA. Reproductive rights, gender equality, patriarchy - it’s all there and more in this book.
]]> The Beckoning Silence 96799
Marking the climax of his climbing career, Joe Simpson confronts his fears and mountaineering history in an assault on the North Face of the Eiger. Since his epic battle for survival in the Andes, recounted in Touching the Void, Joe Simpson has experienced a life filled with adventure but marred by death. He has endured the painful attrition of climbing friends in accidents which call into question the perilously exhilarating activity to which he has devoted his whole life. Probability is inexorably closing in. The tragic loss of a close friend forces a momentous decision. It is time to turn his back on the mountains that he has loved. Never more alive than when most at risk, he has come to see a last climb on the mile-high North Face of the Eiger as the cathartic finale to his climbing career.

In a narrative that takes the reader through extreme experiences from an avalanche in Bolivia, ice-climbing in the Alps and Colorado and paragliding in Spain -- before his final confrontation with the Eiger -- Simpson reveals the inner truth of climbing, exploring the power of the mind and the frailties of the body through intensely lived accounts of exhilaration and despair. The subject of his new book is the siren song of fear and his struggle to come to terms with it.]]> 315 Joe Simpson 0898869412 Xanthi 3 ]]> 4.08 2002 The Beckoning Silence
author: Joe Simpson
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves:
review:
A sombre book with the central theme of death and mountaineering. There is much philosophising and soul searching by the author throughout, but there were humourous passages to lighten the mood here and there. If, like me, you’re not a climber, some of the technical jargon might confuse, but overall it doesn’t detract from the narrative. The author can’t avoid using it for the sake of us lay people, but he at least keeps it succinct.

]]> <![CDATA[I'll Never Call Him Dad Again: By the daughter of Gisèle Pelicot: Turning our family trauma of Chemical Submission into a collective fight]]> 228215710 THE BOOK THAT TELLS THE FIRST-HAND STORY OF THE GISÈLE PELICOT TRIAL
AND GIVES A VOICE TO WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN SILENCED

The trial of Dominique Pelicot, which began on 2 September 2024, has captured the world's attention. Behind the haunting details of Pelicot's unthinkable crimes are a mother, Gisèle Pelicot, and daughter, Caroline Darian, who were forced to rebuild their lives.

This is their story.

In November 2020, Caroline Darian received a call from the police in Carpentras. Her father was in police custody. The seizure of his computer equipment revealed the since 2013, he had drugged his wife before handing her over, in a state of unconsciousness, to men, from all ages and stages of life.

With exceptional courage, Darian recounts the earth-shattering discovery that a loved one, her own father, is capable of the worst. But more importantly, she shares the remarkable story of her mother Gisèle and how she carried on living, without self-pity, while learning to manage all of the things her husband once took care of. She shares how her mother managed to maintain her joie de vivre in circumstances none of us could imagine.

Gisèle has won acclaim around the world after she gave up her right to anonymity and opted for a public trial, a trial in which Caroline herself has testified, turning the the shame no longer borne by the victims in silence but directed, at last, to the abusers. Caroline has set up her own campaign, # Stop Chemical Don't Put Me Under - to address the issue of chemical submission in the home. Together, mother and daughter reveal another side to the violence committed against women, as they bravely transform their private trauma into a collective fight.]]> 224 Caroline Darian Xanthi 4 This is an absolutely ghastly true crime case written by a woman and her family deeply betrayed by a parent. There’s some French judiciary information given to provide context, plus highlighting the wide spread incidence of the crime her mother, in particular, was a victim of. Not only that, but the lack of understanding and support for such victims was addressed, and the author’s efforts to address that.
My one criticism of the book was its timing. Justice, unfortunately moves slowly, and this case is still to be finalised in the courts, so the book ends in a way that feels less than complete. I suspect there may be a revised edition in the future. Perhaps the publishers were keen to get something out now while this case is more in the spotlight. I can’t help feeling they should have waited. ]]> 4.35 2022 I'll Never Call Him Dad Again: By the daughter of Gisèle Pelicot: Turning our family trauma of Chemical Submission into a collective fight
author: Caroline Darian
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:
I listened to this book on audiobook format.
This is an absolutely ghastly true crime case written by a woman and her family deeply betrayed by a parent. There’s some French judiciary information given to provide context, plus highlighting the wide spread incidence of the crime her mother, in particular, was a victim of. Not only that, but the lack of understanding and support for such victims was addressed, and the author’s efforts to address that.
My one criticism of the book was its timing. Justice, unfortunately moves slowly, and this case is still to be finalised in the courts, so the book ends in a way that feels less than complete. I suspect there may be a revised edition in the future. Perhaps the publishers were keen to get something out now while this case is more in the spotlight. I can’t help feeling they should have waited.
]]> Naked City 196041018
Naked City is a collection of Silvester's best stories, from sophisticated heists to mindless acts of violence and deeds of pure evil - impeccably sourced, wry, wise and witty.

Travel the dark depths of Australia's criminal underworld with our most formidable crime reporter and an icon of Australian true crime.]]> 389 John Silvester 1761269763 Xanthi 3 The author’s dry humour was one of the best things about this book.
Because it was a collection of pieces that were previously published, and not one cohesive book, there is repetition, with cases and people being mentioned throughout.
Also, the ending is very abrupt. An epilogue should have been written and included to round things off.]]> 3.74 Naked City
author: John Silvester
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.74
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/12
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The author’s dry humour was one of the best things about this book.
Because it was a collection of pieces that were previously published, and not one cohesive book, there is repetition, with cases and people being mentioned throughout.
Also, the ending is very abrupt. An epilogue should have been written and included to round things off.
]]> <![CDATA[Brief Lives of the English Monarchs: From William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II]]> 32870491 Excellent Book Carolly Erickson 1849014469 Xanthi 4 I have to admit that before starting on this book, I really didn't know much about the monarchs of Britain. I'm not in the least bit a monarchist but history does interest me, so I thought I would give this book ago. I'm glad I did, as it is a very good introduction to all the British monarchs from the last one thousand years. Each chapter presents a semi brief summary of a king or queens reign, what was happening in their nation at the time, and overseas, and notes on their habits, temperament, and structure of their families. I found how and by whom each one was succeeded to be especially interesting because it was often a convoluted affair.
All in all, an interesting and educational book. I did get a bit confuse times though, thanks to the repeated use of names (Edward, Henry, and George), but apart from that, I found the complicated history of the monarchs fairly easy to follow, thanks to the author's skill in telling it.]]> 3.90 2003 Brief Lives of the English Monarchs: From William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II
author: Carolly Erickson
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2017/04/15
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook.
I have to admit that before starting on this book, I really didn't know much about the monarchs of Britain. I'm not in the least bit a monarchist but history does interest me, so I thought I would give this book ago. I'm glad I did, as it is a very good introduction to all the British monarchs from the last one thousand years. Each chapter presents a semi brief summary of a king or queens reign, what was happening in their nation at the time, and overseas, and notes on their habits, temperament, and structure of their families. I found how and by whom each one was succeeded to be especially interesting because it was often a convoluted affair.
All in all, an interesting and educational book. I did get a bit confuse times though, thanks to the repeated use of names (Edward, Henry, and George), but apart from that, I found the complicated history of the monarchs fairly easy to follow, thanks to the author's skill in telling it.
]]> All Fours 197798168
A semifamous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to New York. Twenty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.

Miranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.]]> 336 Miranda July 0593190262 Xanthi 1 As for the story� I don’t think there was anything about this novel that I liked. The main character is pretentious, self absorbed and irritating. The story is nothing new or even remotely interesting. Why did this even get published? ]]> 3.53 2024 All Fours
author: Miranda July
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. The author narrates and I have to admit I’m not a fan of her somewhat husky voice.
As for the story� I don’t think there was anything about this novel that I liked. The main character is pretentious, self absorbed and irritating. The story is nothing new or even remotely interesting. Why did this even get published?
]]> <![CDATA[Cajun Fried Felony (Miss Fortune Mystery, #15)]]> 49955910
Everyone assumed she’d headed back to New Orleans.

But when an accident at the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Run uncovers her body, everyone Venus took for a ride becomes a suspect. The man at the top of that list sees the writing on the wall and hires Fortune to figure out who killed Venus, before he goes to prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie start poking around into Venus’s complicated life, hoping to find the killer. And to solve their first official case.]]> 302 Jana Deleon 1940270677 Xanthi 2 The start of this book was really off putting, thanks to the turkey run thing. It was presented as being funny but the tormenting of animals for human entertainment is not amusing. And there were more unnecessary snipes at vegans/vegetarians. If this keeps up I may have to quit this series. It happened in the previous instalment and it’s getting old, fast.
Fortune was as dull as ever but the supporting cast kept things interesting but unfortunately not enough to hold my attention to the end. I was only mildly interested in the resolution by then.
The turn of events with Ida Belle is enough to pique my interest in the next book. ]]> 4.59 2019 Cajun Fried Felony (Miss Fortune Mystery, #15)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The start of this book was really off putting, thanks to the turkey run thing. It was presented as being funny but the tormenting of animals for human entertainment is not amusing. And there were more unnecessary snipes at vegans/vegetarians. If this keeps up I may have to quit this series. It happened in the previous instalment and it’s getting old, fast.
Fortune was as dull as ever but the supporting cast kept things interesting but unfortunately not enough to hold my attention to the end. I was only mildly interested in the resolution by then.
The turn of events with Ida Belle is enough to pique my interest in the next book.
]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Scriptwriter (Hamish Macbeth, #14)]]> 8856 From the author of the Agatha Raisin television series...DEATH OF A SCRIPTWRITER: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery HOLLYWOOD IN THE HIGHLANDS
With the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe away in London, Lochdubh Constable Hamish Macbeth pines for company during the long Scottish winter. He gets his wish -- and more -- when a troupe of flashy, urbane filmmakers clamors into the nearby town of Drim. Before long bedlam erupts around their make-believe mystery ...and culminates in the sudden appearance of one very real corpse.
The initial suspect in the killing is one Patricia Martyn-Broyd, the aging mystery writer furious that her musty old cozies are getting a risque face-lift in their TV reincarnation. Yet, going behind the scenes, Hamish soon finds a town full of locals bitten by the movie bug and a cast of quarreling show business types, all harboring their own secrets, lies, and hidden agendas. And as the culprit strikes again, Hamish must quickly find the right killer -- or script the wrong finale to a show gone murderously awry.]]> 198 M.C. Beaton 0446606987 Xanthi 3 The characters are two dimensional and pretty awful, and yet I still more or less enjoy this series. I guess it’s because it’s an easy read. Entertaining enough without being too taxing - which is what’s needed sometimes, in between other genres and nonfiction.
]]> 3.75 1998 Death of a Scriptwriter (Hamish Macbeth, #14)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The characters are two dimensional and pretty awful, and yet I still more or less enjoy this series. I guess it’s because it’s an easy read. Entertaining enough without being too taxing - which is what’s needed sometimes, in between other genres and nonfiction.

]]> <![CDATA[Fortune Furlough (Miss Fortune Mystery, #14)]]> 45134454
Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie are finally off to Florida on the vacation they’ve always talked about. Days filled with white sand, turquoise water, and fruity drinks are the only thing on the agenda. But when Gertie’s “hot date� turns up dead and she’s the number one suspect, they’re forced to hang up their bathing suits and shift to investigating mode.

They soon discover that Gertie’s beau was up to all kinds of shady behavior, leaving them with a long list of people who are happy he’s dead. But which one resorted to murder?]]> 296 Jana Deleon 1940270634 Xanthi 3 It was fun having a story set in a different location, with a few new characters. I have two gripes though - the first being the old stereotype of geeks being social awkward around women. It’s not original and kinda over blown in this novel. The second - swipes at vegans and animal activists. Unnecessary and random. Added nothing to the story.
Aside from all that, there was the usual action and humour. For me, this series is unusual in that I don’t particularly care for the protagonist but much prefer all the support characters. Fortune is a bit meh but Gertie, Ida Belle and sundry are entertaining. ]]> 4.51 2019 Fortune Furlough (Miss Fortune Mystery, #14)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
It was fun having a story set in a different location, with a few new characters. I have two gripes though - the first being the old stereotype of geeks being social awkward around women. It’s not original and kinda over blown in this novel. The second - swipes at vegans and animal activists. Unnecessary and random. Added nothing to the story.
Aside from all that, there was the usual action and humour. For me, this series is unusual in that I don’t particularly care for the protagonist but much prefer all the support characters. Fortune is a bit meh but Gertie, Ida Belle and sundry are entertaining.
]]> <![CDATA[My Mother, Munchausen's and Me: A True Story of Betrayal and a Shocking Family Secret]]> 58420403
Ten years ago, Helen Naylor discovered her mother, Elinor, had been faking debilitating illnesses for thirty years. After Elinor’s self-induced death, Helen found her diaries, which Elinor wrote daily for over fifty years. The diaries reveal not only the inner workings of Elinor’s twisted mind and self-delusion, but also shocking revelations about Helen’s childhood.


Everything Helen knew about herself and her upbringing was founded on a lie. The unexplained accidents and days spent entirely on her own as a little girl, imagining herself climbing into the loft and disappearing into a different world, tell a story of neglect. As a teenager, her mother’s advice to Helen on her body and mental health speaks of dangerous manipulation.


With Elinor’s behaviour becoming increasingly destructive, and Helen now herself a mother, she was left with a stark choice: to collude with Elinor’s lies or be accused of abandoning her.


My Mother, Munchausen’s and Me is a heart-breaking, honest and brave account of a daughter unravelling the truth about her mother and herself. It’s a story of a stolen childhood, mental illness, and the redemptive power of breaking a complex and toxic bond.]]> 276 Helen Naylor 1800197993 Xanthi 0 to-read 3.94 My Mother, Munchausen's and Me: A True Story of Betrayal and a Shocking Family Secret
author: Helen Naylor
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.94
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Midnight Feast 199743738 Secrets. Lies. Murder. Let the festivities begin...

It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests� healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the “Manor Mule� cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something’s not right with the guests. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered.

THE FOUNDER * THE HUSBAND * THE MYSTERY GUEST * THE KITCHEN HELP

It all began with a secret, fifteen years ago. Now the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at� The Midnight Feast.]]> 354 Lucy Foley 0063003104 Xanthi 3 There were twist and turns, and several reveals- as you would expect from a book of this genre.
It was entertaining enough but I could have done without the animal sacrifice and even worse - the attempt of justification by the character who was responsible for it. It felt like the author was trying to make that character less hideous to her readers by having them explain to another character how it was not only okay but actually a kindness to the animal. Nice try but it didn’t work on this reader. ]]> 3.55 2024 The Midnight Feast
author: Lucy Foley
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/24
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
There were twist and turns, and several reveals- as you would expect from a book of this genre.
It was entertaining enough but I could have done without the animal sacrifice and even worse - the attempt of justification by the character who was responsible for it. It felt like the author was trying to make that character less hideous to her readers by having them explain to another character how it was not only okay but actually a kindness to the animal. Nice try but it didn’t work on this reader.
]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Dentist (Hamish Macbeth, #13)]]> 402679 From the author of the Agatha Raisin television series...DEATH OF A DENTIST: A Hamish Macbeth MysteryA blinding toothache sends Hamish Macbeth 120 miles out of Lochdubh to the dentist Frederick Gilchrist, only to find him dead. Since everyone is pleased the dentist is deceased--patients, several harassed women, and even his wife--Macbeth faces one of the more biting challenges of his career.]]> 228 M.C. Beaton 0446606014 Xanthi 2 If anything, this author was really good at writing horrible characters. This instalment was full of them. ]]> 3.74 1997 Death of a Dentist (Hamish Macbeth, #13)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1997
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
If anything, this author was really good at writing horrible characters. This instalment was full of them.
]]> Australian Ghost Stories 210622974 Haunting true crime stories of the supernatural and paranormal
Forget Amityville, Annabelle and even the Connecticut home that inspired The Conjuring - the most haunted home that world-famous ghost hunter Lorraine Warren ever stepped foot in was a three-bedroom brick home in Gladesville, Sydney.

In his award-winning narrative style, James Phelps, author of the bestselling Australia's Hardest Prison series, will re-create the thrilling histories of some of Australia's most haunted places, including Aradale Mental Hospital and its horrifying 126-year history.

Featuring spine-tingling on-the-record accounts from those who have been at the centre of the hauntings, Ghost Stories exposes the secret and ghoulish history of some of Australia's most famous buildings.]]> 320 James Phelps 1460716272 Xanthi 3 There were a lot of cases and locations covered in this book that I had not heard of before, which was a good thing. Most centred around the eastern parts of Australia, however. I would have liked to have read more about paranormal activity from other areas.
The tone of the book is conversational, with some humour and with a bit of swearing, which didn’t bother me. Overall, I’m was entertaining, though a bit of skepticism would have been good, for balance - especially when it came to those shysters - the Warrens. ]]> 3.68 2024 Australian Ghost Stories
author: James Phelps
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
There were a lot of cases and locations covered in this book that I had not heard of before, which was a good thing. Most centred around the eastern parts of Australia, however. I would have liked to have read more about paranormal activity from other areas.
The tone of the book is conversational, with some humour and with a bit of swearing, which didn’t bother me. Overall, I’m was entertaining, though a bit of skepticism would have been good, for balance - especially when it came to those shysters - the Warrens.
]]> <![CDATA[Sole Survivor: The Inspiring True Story of Coming Face to Face with the Infamous Railroad Killer]]> 34714088
On August 28, 1997, just as she was starting her junior year at the University of Kentucky, Holly Dunn and her boyfriend, Chris Maier, were walking along railroad tracks on their way home from a party when they were attacked by notorious serial killer Angel Maturino Reséndiz, aka The Railroad Killer. After her boyfriend is beaten to death in front of her, Holly is stabbed, raped, and left for dead.

In this memoir of survival and healing from a horrific true crime, Holly recounts how she lived through the vicious assault, helped bring her assailant to justice, and ultimately found meaning and purpose through service to victims of sexual assault and other violent crimes. She has worked as a motivational speaker and activist and founded Holly's House, a safe and nurturing space in her hometown of Evansville, Indiana.]]> 300 Holly K. Dunn 1682308146 Xanthi 3 An overall interesting read but a few gripes/ observations:
Dunn is religious. So if you’re an atheist like me, the long parts about her faith, prayers, groups, etc may well grind on and on. I gritted my teeth and just slogged my way through those parts.
Dunn’s husband. She met him and dated him while she was still in the long hard process of recovery but after a while broke up with him. He took it badly. So badly that he treated her very coldly afterwards and when she realised she made a mistake (as she saw it), and tried to reconnect with him, it took 8 years for him to get back to a place where they wanted to marry. This, to me, sounds like a drawn out sulk by a man who could not cut a traumatised woman some slack. And how people behave and treat other people when things don’t go their way, is very telling. I would have not bothered with him but she married him and had children. Good luck with that.
Finally, the narrator of the audiobook. She was all wrong for this book. She sounded sardonic a lot of the time and would have better suited a thriller that featured a hard nosed female detective character.
I understand why the author didn’t read it herself due to the very painful content, but the publisher really needed to have chosen the narrator better.]]> 4.21 Sole Survivor: The Inspiring True Story of Coming Face to Face with the Infamous Railroad Killer
author: Holly K. Dunn
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/08
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves:
review:
There’s no denying that Dunn achieved a lot after her ordeal. She shared the details of her physical and mental recovery, plus an outline of how the perpetrator was pursued and some of the court details.
An overall interesting read but a few gripes/ observations:
Dunn is religious. So if you’re an atheist like me, the long parts about her faith, prayers, groups, etc may well grind on and on. I gritted my teeth and just slogged my way through those parts.
Dunn’s husband. She met him and dated him while she was still in the long hard process of recovery but after a while broke up with him. He took it badly. So badly that he treated her very coldly afterwards and when she realised she made a mistake (as she saw it), and tried to reconnect with him, it took 8 years for him to get back to a place where they wanted to marry. This, to me, sounds like a drawn out sulk by a man who could not cut a traumatised woman some slack. And how people behave and treat other people when things don’t go their way, is very telling. I would have not bothered with him but she married him and had children. Good luck with that.
Finally, the narrator of the audiobook. She was all wrong for this book. She sounded sardonic a lot of the time and would have better suited a thriller that featured a hard nosed female detective character.
I understand why the author didn’t read it herself due to the very painful content, but the publisher really needed to have chosen the narrator better.
]]> <![CDATA[Fateful Words (Scottish Bookshop Mystery, #8)]]> 60784542
When Edwin, Delaney’s boss at the Cracked Spine bookstore, leaves town on secret business, Delaney is called upon to guide his yearly literary tour around Edinburgh. But on the first night of the tour, at the inn where the tour group is staying, the inn manager falls―or is pushed―off the roof of the inn, and killed. Then, one of the tour members disappears, leaving a trail of puzzles in her wake.

In a race against the clock, Delaney sets out on the expedition of her life, following clues around Edinburgh to get to the bottom of this mystery. Exploring sights from Greyfriars Bobby to the Royal Mile to the Sir Walter Scott Monument, she'll have to put the pieces together quickly, or the bookstore's survival could be on the line...as well as her own.]]> 304 Paige Shelton 1250789532 Xanthi 2 As for the story itself, it failed to keep my interest. It felt too convoluted and I was bored before it ended. ]]> 3.94 2023 Fateful Words (Scottish Bookshop Mystery, #8)
author: Paige Shelton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/13
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format and I groaned when I discovered that an Australian character was introduced for this instalment. Australian accents haven proven to be very difficult to fake, I’ve noticed. I have heard some cringe inducing attempts and unfortunately this book’s narrator was not up to the task. She’s otherwise fine to listen to but her attempt at an Australian accent made me wince. I was hoping the Australian character would not have too much dialogue but unfortunately he did.
As for the story itself, it failed to keep my interest. It felt too convoluted and I was bored before it ended.
]]> <![CDATA[Wednesday: A Novelization of Season One]]> 211201472
Wednesday is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams� time as a student at Nevermore Academy. Follow along with her as she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago � all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore Academy. Relive the excitement and intrigue in this amazing novelization of the phenomenal first season.

Based on the characters created by Charles Addams.]]> 368 Tehlor Kay Mejia 0593896653 Xanthi 4 It was fun to revisit this story. I watched the series when it came out and enjoyed it. Looking forward to the second season. This book was a nice reminder of where the story was left off. ]]> 4.23 2024 Wednesday: A Novelization of Season One
author: Tehlor Kay Mejia
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/08
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. I didn’t realise novelisations were still a thing until I stumbled upon this. I read quite a few movie based ones in the 80s.
It was fun to revisit this story. I watched the series when it came out and enjoyed it. Looking forward to the second season. This book was a nice reminder of where the story was left off.
]]> <![CDATA[Swamp Spook (Miss Fortune Mystery, #13)]]> 42246178 Come celebrate, it’s Halloween.

Sinful, Louisiana, really knows how to throw a party, and it goes all out for Halloween. The weeklong celebration kicks off with a maze of horror in the park built of hay bales. And Fortune has the perfect assignment—the executioner. Her scene comes complete with a head block, a hatchet, and a fake body with removable head. It’s the perfect setup…for a crime.

When Fortune returns from break and realizes the body in her scene is a real one and not the prop, she knows trouble is coming. Before she can shake a broomstick, Celia Arceneaux has raised the alarm and the state police show up to take over the investigation. With Carter on the sidelines and Fortune the prime suspect, Swamp Team 3 sets out to catch a real monster.
]]> 290 Jana Deleon 194027057X Xanthi 4 Lots of wacky shenanigans thanks the mostly Gertie, plus droll put downs from Ida Belle. The character development continues, which is nice, as so many series let their main characters stagnant or get trapped in a repetitive loop. ]]> 4.55 2018 Swamp Spook (Miss Fortune Mystery, #13)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. This gets an extra star for the Halloween theme.
Lots of wacky shenanigans thanks the mostly Gertie, plus droll put downs from Ida Belle. The character development continues, which is nice, as so many series let their main characters stagnant or get trapped in a repetitive loop.
]]> <![CDATA[Reel of Fortune (Miss Fortune Mystery, #12)]]> 40997912 302 Jana Deleon 1940270553 Xanthi 3 4.52 2018 Reel of Fortune (Miss Fortune Mystery, #12)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. As usual, the narrator is excellent and the writing is entertaining. I hate fishing so that theme was unappealing to me but thankfully the story eventually veered away from that after the first couple of chapters.
]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Macho Man (Hamish Macbeth, #12)]]> 272137 From the author of the Agatha Raisin television series...DEATH OF A MACHO MAN: A Hamish Macbeth MysteryWhen Hamish Macbeth, local constable of the Scottish village of Lochdubh, tries to break up one of the many fights involving Randy Duggan, the ruffian challenges him to a fistfight. But on the chosen day, Duggan is found shot to death and Macbeth is rumored to be the likely suspect. Macbeth must find the murderer, clear his name, and restore his Highland paradise to its usual tranquility.]]> 214 M.C. Beaton 0446403407 Xanthi 2 I was more or less enjoying this up until about 3/4 of the way through and then it just dragged and I started to lose interest. ]]> 3.79 1996 Death of a Macho Man (Hamish Macbeth, #12)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1996
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I was more or less enjoying this up until about 3/4 of the way through and then it just dragged and I started to lose interest.
]]> <![CDATA[Can I Have My Ball Back? - A Memoir of Masculinity, Mortality and My Right Testicle]]> 61030570
'A bollockbuster!' ADAM BUXTON

If we are cowardly, we are told to grow some
If we're brave, we're said to have huge ones
If it's cold, they are liable to fall off - even if you're a brass monkey
If we're in trouble, someone will threaten to break them
If we have to work hard, we might very well bust them
If we're in somebody's thrall, then they've got us by them

About fifteen years ago, Richard Herring first took part in a campaign to encourage men to have a little (non-sexual) feel of their balls every now and again. But it was embarrassing and weird, and if there was something wrong, he didn't want to know about it.

Anyway, that kind of stuff only happens to other people, doesn't it?

At the start of 2021 Richard Herring was diagnosed with testicular cancer. For a man whose output includes a stand-up tour titled Talking Cock and who regularly interrogates our attitudes towards masculinity, it was a diagnosis that came with additional layers of complexity.

Telling Rich's personal story alongside an exploration of what defines masculinity and 'maleness' in society, Can I Have My Ball Back? is not your typical cancer memoir. Whether they're nuts, bollocks, gonads or family jewels; from the phrase 'grow some balls' to infamous WWII songs about Hitler; Rich unpicks the tangle of emotions around his own testing times.]]> 352 Richard Herring 0751585769 Xanthi 4 I know the author is a comedian but I was still surprised at how hard I laughed throughout this book, given the topic. I felt a bit guilty about that until I realised that was his intent. He also discussed using humour as a coping mechanism, plus did not shy away from admitting he was often terrified. ]]> 4.20 Can I Have My Ball Back? - A Memoir of Masculinity, Mortality and My Right Testicle
author: Richard Herring
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook, read by the author.
I know the author is a comedian but I was still surprised at how hard I laughed throughout this book, given the topic. I felt a bit guilty about that until I realised that was his intent. He also discussed using humour as a coping mechanism, plus did not shy away from admitting he was often terrified.
]]> <![CDATA[Dangerous Days in the Roman Empire: Terrors and Torments, Diseases and Deaths]]> 18760617
What the general reader needs is a history that explores our ancestors with humour and compassion. 'Humour' and 'history' are not two words you often see in the same sentence: our past was a dangerous and dirty place full of cruel rulers, foul food and terrible toilets. A short life, not a merry one, for most. Dangerous days in which to live and, inevitably, die.

Die dreadfully too. 'Murder breathed her bloody steam.' That's what rhymester Byron said when he looked at the crumbling Coliseum. The Roman Emperors: they came, they saw, they left behind their bloody steam. This is their story - it could be the funniest history you'll ever read. (Amazon UK)]]> 272 Terry Deary 0297870564 Xanthi 4 3.55 2013 Dangerous Days in the Roman Empire: Terrors and Torments, Diseases and Deaths
author: Terry Deary
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. This is basically Horrible Histories for adults - which means extra horrible. And it being about the ancient Roman Empire, the content is extra, extra horrible. But there’s humour also involved so expect entertainment rather than a grim read.
]]> <![CDATA[Mystery in the Title (Miranda Abbott Mystery, #2)]]> 204169195
Miranda Abbott, actor, will once again be a star. After a very long dry spell that followed her network hit series, Pastor Fran Investigates, Hollywood has come calling and wants Miranda back. This time, she will be the female lead in an oddly expensive movie of the week being filmed in Happy Rock. Miranda signs on the dotted line, but her trusty assistant, Andrew, a whiz with apps and clouds, thinks it all seems a bit fishy.

Things go from bad to worse when Miranda’s costar makes a grand entrance at a media-packed press conference by crashing through the atrium window at the Duchess Hotel and being very much dead. The out-of-town cast and crew are horrified, but the great citizens of Happy Rock—including police chief Ned Buckley, grumpy bookstore owner and soon-to-be ex-husband Edgar Abbott, Bea of Bea’s B&B, and the malodorous Melvin Jacobson of S.J. Fertilizer Supply—return to help solve the case in this second Miranda Abbott mystery.]]> 320 Ian Ferguson 0778368173 Xanthi 0 to-read 3.37 2024 Mystery in the Title (Miranda Abbott Mystery, #2)
author: Ian Ferguson
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Drawn Testimony: My Four Decades as a Courtroom Sketch Artist]]> 130908173 Jane Rosenberg is America's pre-eminent courtroom sketch artist. For over forty years, she's been at the heart of the story, covering almost every major trial that has passed through the New York justice system. From mob bosses to fallen titans of finance, terrorists and sex abusers, corrupt cops and warring entertainment icons, she has drawn them all.

In Drawn Testimony , Rosenberg brings us into the high-stakes, dramatic world of her craft, where art, psychology and courtroom drama collide. Over the course of her legendary career, Jane has had a front row seat to some of the most iconic and notorious moments in our nation's recent history, sketching everything from Tom Brady's deflate-gate case, to John Lennon's murder trial to cases against Ghislaine Maxwell, John Gotti, Harvey Weinstein and most recently, the indictment against former President Donald Trump. Readers will learn how she has honed her unique powers of perception, but also what her portraits reveal, not only about her subjects, but about the human condition in general.

Fearless, fascinating and gorgeously written, Drawn Testimony captures the unique career of an artist whose body of work depicts history as it's happening.]]> 256 Jane Rosenberg 1335008047 Xanthi 4 This was quite a unique book, in that I have never before come across one written by a courtroom artist about their profession. This particular artist has worked on quite a few notorious cases, too, which has made for fascinating reading. Written in a thoughtful and clear manner. ]]> 4.06 2024 Drawn Testimony: My Four Decades as a Courtroom Sketch Artist
author: Jane Rosenberg
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/16
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
This was quite a unique book, in that I have never before come across one written by a courtroom artist about their profession. This particular artist has worked on quite a few notorious cases, too, which has made for fascinating reading. Written in a thoughtful and clear manner.
]]> <![CDATA[The House in the Woods (The Ghost Hunter Chronicles #1)]]> 58033973 210 Yvette Fielding 1839131144 Xanthi 2 I would say this was suitable for the tween market.
Not quite YA but not a younger kids book either, given the topics.
It fell into a few tropes but overall ok.
The farting dog got a bit much. Yes, amusing for child readers but it was over used. ]]> 3.70 2021 The House in the Woods (The Ghost Hunter Chronicles #1)
author: Yvette Fielding
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I would say this was suitable for the tween market.
Not quite YA but not a younger kids book either, given the topics.
It fell into a few tropes but overall ok.
The farting dog got a bit much. Yes, amusing for child readers but it was over used.
]]> The Christmas Jigsaw Murders 112051712 Listening Length: 8 hours and 56 minutes

THIS CHRISTMAS, A KILLER TAKES FAMILY GAMES TO A MURDEROUS NEW LEVEL.

On 19th of December, renowned puzzle setter, loner and Christmas sceptic Edie O’Sullivan finds a hand-delivered present on her doorstep. Unwrapping it, she finds a jigsaw box and, inside, six jigsaw pieces. When fitted together, the pieces show part of a crime scene � blood-spattered black and white tiles and part of an outlined body. Included in the parcel is a message: ‘Four, maybe more, people will be dead by midnight on Christmas Eve, unless you can put all the pieces together and stop me.� It’s signed, Rest In Pieces.

Edie contacts her nephew, DI Sean Brand-O’Sullivan, and together they work to solve the clues. But when a man is found near death with a jigsaw piece in his hand, Sean fears that Edie might be in danger and shuts her out of the investigation. As the body count rises, however, Edie knows that only she has the knowledge to put together the killer’s murderous puzzle.

Only by fitting all the pieces together will Edie be able to stop a killer � and finally lay her past to rest.]]> Alexandra Benedict 1398525391 Xanthi 4 This would have gotten five stars from me if it weren’t for the ending and reveal of who the murderer was. It just did not feel at all satisfying. ]]> 3.42 2023 The Christmas Jigsaw Murders
author: Alexandra Benedict
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. This is the best Christmas themed novel by this author to date. It had the air of cozy mystery which I love. The grumpy protagonist is hilarious and as a fan of jigsaw puzzles myself, I loved the use of theme throughout the mystery.
This would have gotten five stars from me if it weren’t for the ending and reveal of who the murderer was. It just did not feel at all satisfying.
]]> Run 10595576 A rash of bizarre murders swept the country�
Senseless. Brutal. Seemingly unconnected.
A cop walked into a nursing home and unloaded his weapons on elderly and staff alike.
A mass of school shootings.
Prison riots of unprecedented brutality.
Mind-boggling acts of violence in every state.

4 D A Y S A G O
The murders increased ten-fold�

3 D A Y S A G O
The President addressed the nation and begged for calm and peace�

2 D A Y S A G O
The killers began to mobilize�

Y E S T E R D A Y
All the power went out�

T O N I G H T
They’re reading the names of those to be killed on the Emergency Broadcast System. You are listening over the battery-powered radio on your kitchen table, and they’ve just read yours.

Your name is Jack Colclough. You have a wife, a daughter, and a young son. You live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. People are coming to your house to kill you and your family. You don’t know why, but you don’t have time to think about that any more.

You only have time to�.

R U N

This 80,000-word novel also contains a bonus interview with Blake, and excerpts from his other work.]]> 331 Blake Crouch Xanthi 2 The North American narrator did the weirdest Australian accent. It was unbearable to listen to but thankfully that character was minor.
The premise of the story was promising but the execution? Well, it was basically a survival adventure thriller with apocalyptic overtones. And the real focus was on love and family. Only problem was that the protagonist’s children and wife were very irritating. ]]> 3.80 2011 Run
author: Blake Crouch
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The North American narrator did the weirdest Australian accent. It was unbearable to listen to but thankfully that character was minor.
The premise of the story was promising but the execution? Well, it was basically a survival adventure thriller with apocalyptic overtones. And the real focus was on love and family. Only problem was that the protagonist’s children and wife were very irritating.
]]> <![CDATA[Change of Fortune (Miss Fortune Mystery, #11)]]> 38531080
But summer is almost over, which could mean huge changes for Fortune Redding. Her undercover time in Sinful has always been limited to three months, and that time is almost up. With Ahmad still on the loose, Fortune is forced to remain in hiding, but soon she'll have to move to another town and start all over with a new identity. And that's the last thing she wants to do. Determined to get her life back, Fortune decides to draw Ahmad out and end this once and for all.

Can Fortune take down one of the most dangerous men in the world? And if she can, does she have a future in Sinful?
]]> 271 Jana Deleon 1940270510 Xanthi 3 There’s a lot going on in this instalment. There’s the over arching plot featuring the Big Bad, and then there are two other sub plots centred around Godzilla the alligator, and the case of the stolen diner food.
Add some humour ( mostly via Gertie) to the mix, and you have an entertaining read. Oh, and there’s finally some resolution to a few issues - but no details to avoid spoilers here. ]]> 4.62 2018 Change of Fortune (Miss Fortune Mystery, #11)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/27
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
There’s a lot going on in this instalment. There’s the over arching plot featuring the Big Bad, and then there are two other sub plots centred around Godzilla the alligator, and the case of the stolen diner food.
Add some humour ( mostly via Gertie) to the mix, and you have an entertaining read. Oh, and there’s finally some resolution to a few issues - but no details to avoid spoilers here.
]]> The Fury 123206645 A masterfully paced thriller about a reclusive ex–movie star and her famous friends whose spontaneous trip to a private Greek island is upended by a murder � from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient.

This is a tale of murder.

Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it?

Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island.

I tell you this because you may think you know this story. You probably read about it at the time � it caused a real stir in the tabloids, if you remember. It had all the necessary ingredients for a press a celebrity; a private island cut off by the wind…and a murder.

We found ourselves trapped there overnight. Our old friendships concealed hatred and a desire for revenge. What followed was a game of cat and mouse � a battle of wits, full of twists and turns, building to an unforgettable climax. The night ended in violence and death, as one of us was found murdered.

But who am I?

My name is Elliot Chase, and I’m going to tell you a story unlike any you’ve ever heard.]]> 298 Alex Michaelides 125075898X Xanthi 4 I like how the author manages to weave some Greek elements into his novels. This story is mostly set on a Greek island but there are more Greek elements included.
This is a twisty, turny thriller that I enjoy from start to finish. There’s a bit of an issue as to the first person narrative, as there are some things the central character cannot know. This is addressed at the start, acknowledging the issue, but the reader has to put up with it throughout the story by either suspending disbelief or forgetting about it as best they can. Without giving too much away, there is a reason for this first person narrative. It comes to make sense eventually.
]]> 3.34 2024 The Fury
author: Alex Michaelides
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I like how the author manages to weave some Greek elements into his novels. This story is mostly set on a Greek island but there are more Greek elements included.
This is a twisty, turny thriller that I enjoy from start to finish. There’s a bit of an issue as to the first person narrative, as there are some things the central character cannot know. This is addressed at the start, acknowledging the issue, but the reader has to put up with it throughout the story by either suspending disbelief or forgetting about it as best they can. Without giving too much away, there is a reason for this first person narrative. It comes to make sense eventually.

]]> The Life Impossible 198281740
“What looks like magic is simply a part of life we don’t understand yet…�

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.

Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.]]> 324 Matt Haig 0593489276 Xanthi 2 So, the story took quite a turn. I liked the parts on life philosophy. Not so much the mathematical content.
The author did do a nice job of writing from the perspective of an older woman. Who turned out to be the ‘baddy� was rather obvious and without giving too much away, there was a trope or two employed in the story.]]> 3.45 2024 The Life Impossible
author: Matt Haig
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/27
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format, read by Joanna Lumley, who did a fabulous job. I was really engrossed in the story for about the first third and then the magic realism kicked in. Whilst I am not a big fan of this genre, I don’t hate it. I was just not expecting it here.
So, the story took quite a turn. I liked the parts on life philosophy. Not so much the mathematical content.
The author did do a nice job of writing from the perspective of an older woman. Who turned out to be the ‘baddy� was rather obvious and without giving too much away, there was a trope or two employed in the story.
]]> The Midnight Club 208155307 Four friends. A campus reunion. A dark new way to relive the past.

“How could you leave the past undisturbed when it was hiding parts of you from yourself?�

It’s been twenty-five years since The Midnight Club last convened. A tight-knit group of college friends bonded by late nights at the campus literary magazine, they’re also bonded by something darker: the death of their brilliant friend Jennet junior year. But now, decades later, a mysterious invitation has pulled them back to the pine-shrouded Vermont town where it all began.

As the estranged friends gather for a weeklong campus reunion, they soon learn that their host has an ulterior motive: she wants them to uncover the truth about the night Jennet died, and she’s provided them with an extraordinary method—a secret substance that helps them not only remember but relive the past.

But each one of the friends has something to hide. And the more they question each other, the deeper they dive into their own memories, the more they understand that nothing they thought they knew about their college years, and that fateful night, is true.

Twisty, nostalgic, and emotionally thrilling, The Midnight Club explores that innate desire to revisit our first loves, our biggest mistakes, and the gulf between who we are and who we hoped we’d be.]]> 368 Margot Harrison 1525809881 Xanthi 2 The premise was promising but the execution wasn’t all that engaging. The middle part was quite slow and as with all time travel based stories, things got confusing at times. The end part of the book picked up a bit but felt a bit predictable as to the who and why.
]]> 3.29 2024 The Midnight Club
author: Margot Harrison
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.29
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/17
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The premise was promising but the execution wasn’t all that engaging. The middle part was quite slow and as with all time travel based stories, things got confusing at times. The end part of the book picked up a bit but felt a bit predictable as to the who and why.

]]> Most Haunted Castles 215588143 Discover the spooky histories of real-life places in this chilling new non-fiction series
Ghost hunter Yvette Fielding has been investigating spooky places for over 20 years. This time she is uncovering the ghostly histories of Britain's castles. From Oxford Castle to Bamburgh, these castles are filled with hauntings and spooky histories, brought to life by Yvette and the Most Haunted team’s investigations. Dare to discover poltergeist and paranormal activity including the ghost of Anne Boleyn, dastardly poisoners and even Vlad the Impaler!
Other books in the
Most Haunted Theatres
Most Haunted Houses (coming soon)]]> 155 Yvette Fielding 1787612929 Xanthi 3 Fun. A bit fanciful at times but overall entertaining. ]]> 4.39 Most Haunted Castles
author: Yvette Fielding
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2024/11/08
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
Fun. A bit fanciful at times but overall entertaining.
]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Nag (Hamish Macbeth, #11)]]> 445431 182 M.C. Beaton 0446403393 Xanthi 2 The only I will say is NOT TOWSER!
The impromptu funeral for the dog was touching, as was the expression of Hsmish’s grief.
The rest of the book? It was ok. The ending was particularly cynical. ]]> 3.77 1995 Death of a Nag (Hamish Macbeth, #11)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1995
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/04
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The only I will say is NOT TOWSER!
The impromptu funeral for the dog was touching, as was the expression of Hsmish’s grief.
The rest of the book? It was ok. The ending was particularly cynical.
]]> Most Haunted Theatres 206116368 192 Yvette Fielding 1839133236 Xanthi 0 4.00 Most Haunted Theatres
author: Yvette Fielding
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hook, Line and Blinker (Miss Fortune Mystery, #10)]]> 35341050
Behind the wheel of her hopped-up Blazer, she’s the queen of the back roads. But when someone tries to kill Hot Rod and steals only black SUVs from his shop, Fortune worries that excessive horsepower is the least of the trouble that comes along with her friend’s new ride.When it becomes clear that the car thieves didn’t get what they were looking for the first time around and Ida Belle’s vehicle becomes their next target, Fortune and Gertie are determined to protect their friend.

Ida Belle is determined to protect the Blazer.
]]> 239 Jana Deleon 1940270456 Xanthi 3 There’s humour, shenanigans, and colourful characters. I like the inclusion of Big and Little. They add a bit of flair to the series. I have to admit though, the tension between the protagonist and Carter is getting a bit tedious. ]]> 4.49 2017 Hook, Line and Blinker (Miss Fortune Mystery, #10)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/28
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
There’s humour, shenanigans, and colourful characters. I like the inclusion of Big and Little. They add a bit of flair to the series. I have to admit though, the tension between the protagonist and Carter is getting a bit tedious.
]]> Most Haunted Theatres 199345455 143 Yvette Fielding 1787612708 Xanthi 3 The author gives a bit of history of each theatre ( so many get burned down in fires), including their hauntings. Then she launches into a recap of her experiences at these places whilst filming Most Haunted.
I realise this book was aimed at older children but I felt the narration delivery was a bit too exaggerated and patronising. The content was fine - just the delivery needed to be toned down a bit.
All in all, this made me want to rewatch the series. ]]> 4.15 Most Haunted Theatres
author: Yvette Fielding
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The author gives a bit of history of each theatre ( so many get burned down in fires), including their hauntings. Then she launches into a recap of her experiences at these places whilst filming Most Haunted.
I realise this book was aimed at older children but I felt the narration delivery was a bit too exaggerated and patronising. The content was fine - just the delivery needed to be toned down a bit.
All in all, this made me want to rewatch the series.
]]> <![CDATA[Later Gator (Miss Fortune Mystery, #9)]]> 33142914
When a game warden turns up with evidence that implicates a relative of Gertie’s, Carter is left with no choice but to arrest the boy, even though no one thinks he did it. With Carter under the watchful eye of Celia and the state, Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie decide to catch a poacher…before he gets away.
]]> 232 Jana Deleon 1940270405 Xanthi 2 4.49 2016 Later Gator (Miss Fortune Mystery, #9)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. There were lots of fun shenanigans in this instalment but the lower rating is due to the central theme being about poaching and animal use and abuse. I’m vegan and so it was all pretty off putting to read. And the culprit was so obvious. The protagonist was questioning herself as to why and how she didn’t see the signs as to who was responsible. I was left wondering the same.
]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Charming Man (Hamish Macbeth, #10)]]> 24127 176 M.C. Beaton 0446403385 Xanthi 2 This instalment was more about Hamish and Pricilla’s relationship than the mystery. That would not have been such a bad thing if they weren’t such a mismatched couple - so much so that it was pretty unbelievable that they would have gotten together in the first place. ]]> 3.73 1994 Death of a Charming Man (Hamish Macbeth, #10)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1994
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/16
date added: 2024/10/16
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
This instalment was more about Hamish and Pricilla’s relationship than the mystery. That would not have been such a bad thing if they weren’t such a mismatched couple - so much so that it was pretty unbelievable that they would have gotten together in the first place.
]]> Dancing with Demons 35492515 352 Tim Watson-Munro 1760552666 Xanthi 4 3.64 Dancing with Demons
author: Tim Watson-Munro
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.64
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/10
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. The true crime and criminal psychology aspects of this book were interesting, but so too were the parts about the author’s personal life and mental and physical health. And with age came wisdom, poignantly expressed in the last few pages.
]]> <![CDATA[Fortune Hunter (Miss Fortune Mystery, #8)]]> 29915419
Someone has created a fake social media identity and is online romancing the lonely women of Sinful in order to scam them out of money. Because he always seems to pick the perfect targets, Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie think he must be either a Sinful resident or someone with a close association to the town.

Playing with emotions for pay is dirty pool, but the game turns deadly when one of the women is murdered. Fortune decides the victim must have figured out who the scam artist is and threatened him with exposure. Deputy Carter LeBlanc is hard at work to find the gunman, but sometimes it takes a woman to expose a lady-killer. Fortunately, Swamp Team 3 is on the job.
]]> 226 Jana Deleon 1940270332 Xanthi 3 I think this series is hitting its stride now. There are a few story threads running through this instalment and the culprit came as a surprise but the clues were there.
Unfortunately this book lacked the amount of humour previous ones had in this series, which was a shame because the humour is an important element of this series. ]]> 4.50 2016 Fortune Hunter (Miss Fortune Mystery, #8)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/02
date added: 2024/10/02
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I think this series is hitting its stride now. There are a few story threads running through this instalment and the culprit came as a surprise but the clues were there.
Unfortunately this book lacked the amount of humour previous ones had in this series, which was a shame because the humour is an important element of this series.
]]> Here One Moment 208516656 If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.�

Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.

If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?

Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.]]> 512 Liane Moriarty 0593798600 Xanthi 4 My only gripe is the narration of the audiobook. It’s narrated by two women - one of which this author uses over and over in her books. This narrator had a very pronounced style and although she does a good job, using her in all several books by the same author makes it seem like the author is just writing the same character over and over again. She isn’t but to the listener, it’s very suggestive of that. In a series with reoccurring characters, consistency with voice actors is key but in standalone novels such as this, it feels like detriment to the work. ]]> 3.99 2024 Here One Moment
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/23
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:
I enjoyed this from start to finish. It’s rather long but it didn’t feel like it. There were many characters and story threads but I never felt lost. And I found the conclusion to be rather clever. I really liked how the author gradually pulled all the threads together in the end.
My only gripe is the narration of the audiobook. It’s narrated by two women - one of which this author uses over and over in her books. This narrator had a very pronounced style and although she does a good job, using her in all several books by the same author makes it seem like the author is just writing the same character over and over again. She isn’t but to the listener, it’s very suggestive of that. In a series with reoccurring characters, consistency with voice actors is key but in standalone novels such as this, it feels like detriment to the work.
]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Travelling Man (Hamish Macbeth, #9)]]> 458205 167 M.C. Beaton 0804112118 Xanthi 2 Ehhh� this was okay, albeit rather brief for a novel.
As usual, the author writes very unflattering portrayals of female characters. Although highly silly, I did enjoy the humour attached to the hapless police officer Willie. There’s also some character development between Hamish and Priscilla, which I expect will carry through several more books in the series. Authors sure do like to stretch out a protagonist’s love life. ]]> 3.77 1993 Death of a Travelling Man (Hamish Macbeth, #9)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1993
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/16
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
Ehhh� this was okay, albeit rather brief for a novel.
As usual, the author writes very unflattering portrayals of female characters. Although highly silly, I did enjoy the humour attached to the hapless police officer Willie. There’s also some character development between Hamish and Priscilla, which I expect will carry through several more books in the series. Authors sure do like to stretch out a protagonist’s love life.
]]> <![CDATA[Hurricane Force (Miss Fortune Mystery, #7)]]> 26789784
A force to be reckoned with�

During missions as a CIA assassin, Fortune Redding saw and overcame most every obstacle, but Sinful, Louisiana, keeps producing new challenges for her. When a hurricane blows through, it brings a shower of counterfeit money raining down on the tiny bayou town.

When the money is linked back to Ahmad, the arms dealer who issued the kill order on Fortune, everyone is worried that her nemesis is far too close for comfort. When Ahmad’s men turn up in Sinful, the situation becomes life-and-death for Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie, and Deputy Carter LeBlanc learns Fortune’s true identity.

As Swamp Team 3 rushes to locate the counterfeiter, Fortune hopes to take down Ahmad and free herself from her fake life. But will her relationship with Carter make it now that he knows the truth?
]]> 256 Jana Deleon 194027026X Xanthi 3 Generally enjoyable with some significant character development. Do I find the premise plausible? Do I find the protagonist believable as a CIA agent? No and not really. This is a cozy mystery series with hints of action thriller content. It’s entertaining.
All the meat talk was nauseating though and the jab at tofu was low hanging fruit. ]]> 4.51 2015 Hurricane Force (Miss Fortune Mystery, #7)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/15
date added: 2024/09/15
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
Generally enjoyable with some significant character development. Do I find the premise plausible? Do I find the protagonist believable as a CIA agent? No and not really. This is a cozy mystery series with hints of action thriller content. It’s entertaining.
All the meat talk was nauseating though and the jab at tofu was low hanging fruit.
]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)]]> 50659468
Feyre has undergone more trials than one human woman can carry in her heart. Though she's now been granted the powers and lifespan of the High Fae, she is haunted by her time Under the Mountain and the terrible deeds she performed to save the lives of Tamlin and his people.

As her marriage to Tamlin approaches, Feyre's hollowness and nightmares consume her. She finds herself split into two different one who upholds her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court, and one who lives out her life in the Spring Court with Tamlin. While Feyre navigates a dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms. She might just be the key to stopping it, but only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future-and the future of a world in turmoil.

Bestselling author Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her dazzling, sexy, action-packed series to new heights.]]> 626 Sarah J. Maas 1635575583 Xanthi 2 Overly long and a slog to get through. The erotica passages were so long, frequent and unnecessary. As one other reviewer put it: 50 Shades of Faerie. And the whole ‘mate� thing was just� ick.
I doubt I’ll bother with any more of this series. I’m generally not a fantasy fiction reader but have read a few series that were very good. This one isn’t. ]]> 4.65 2016 A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
Overly long and a slog to get through. The erotica passages were so long, frequent and unnecessary. As one other reviewer put it: 50 Shades of Faerie. And the whole ‘mate� thing was just� ick.
I doubt I’ll bother with any more of this series. I’m generally not a fantasy fiction reader but have read a few series that were very good. This one isn’t.
]]> <![CDATA[Soldiers of Fortune (Miss Fortune Mystery, #6)]]> 25152123
When Celia Arceneaux was elected mayor of Sinful, Louisiana, Fortune Redding expected trouble. The woman has an unmatched talent for making the worst of any situation, especially if it means getting revenge on her sworn enemies Ida Belle and Gertie.

At the Fourth of July celebration, an explosion rocks Sinful and it’s not from fireworks. Most people assume it was a moonshine still, but when evidence points to a meth lab deep in the bayous of Sinful, Fortune realizes how dire the situation is for the tiny town. With Carter on medical leave and no one left at the sheriff’s department who can handle the investigation, Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie decide to take matters into their own hands.

This is (another) mission for Swamp Team 3.
]]> 220 Jana Deleon 1940270200 Xanthi 3 More high speed boat chases, more mayhem, more Gerty in crazy outfits. Just overall fun and entertainment really. Though the whole ‘ho� thing was pretty off and I worked out ‘who dunnit� quite early on and without really trying much. ]]> 4.47 2015 Soldiers of Fortune (Miss Fortune Mystery, #6)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/04
date added: 2024/09/04
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
More high speed boat chases, more mayhem, more Gerty in crazy outfits. Just overall fun and entertainment really. Though the whole ‘ho� thing was pretty off and I worked out ‘who dunnit� quite early on and without really trying much.
]]> <![CDATA[Talisman Tails (Nine Lives Magic, #6)]]> 63899639
With the help of Selene and an unexpected ally, we have one final mission to accomplish. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re not going down without a fight.]]> 256 Danielle Garrett Xanthi 0 to-read 4.41 2023 Talisman Tails (Nine Lives Magic, #6)
author: Danielle Garrett
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Slaying at the Saloon (Nightmare, Arizona #3)]]> 152746492 214 Beth Dolgner 1958587117 Xanthi 0 to-read 4.47 Slaying at the Saloon (Nightmare, Arizona #3)
author: Beth Dolgner
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Survivors 204626284

One survivor chooses loneliness.

One chooses exile.

One chooses oblivion.

Some have violent tendencies, ruining lives indiscriminately.

Some seal their own fate in slow motion; others do so in the blink of an eye.

In The Survivors, award-winning true-crime writer Steve Braunias retells twelve mysteries of human nature - unusual stories of how people choose to survive their own lives, and their decisions, desires, impulses... and failings.]]> 0 Steve Braunias 1775492877 Xanthi 3 I was pleased that I hadn’t heard of many of these true stories before. Some were true crime, some missing person, and some altogether something different. Some were modern day, whilst others from the 1920s or post WW2.
Unfortunately I didn’t feel these various stories gelled. I thought the theme of the book was way too loose to clump these stories together, so I felt it rather jarring when one ended and another began.
]]> 3.69 The Survivors
author: Steve Braunias
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.69
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/02
date added: 2024/09/02
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I was pleased that I hadn’t heard of many of these true stories before. Some were true crime, some missing person, and some altogether something different. Some were modern day, whilst others from the 1920s or post WW2.
Unfortunately I didn’t feel these various stories gelled. I thought the theme of the book was way too loose to clump these stories together, so I felt it rather jarring when one ended and another began.

]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Glutton (Hamish Macbeth, #8)]]> 724715 168 M.C. Beaton 0804112126 Xanthi 1 The fat phobia in this book is over the top! It pops up in this author’s novels her and there but it is totally out of control in this one. The fact that she has all of her characters express disgust and loathing of the obese character and doesn’t include any that challenge this, is very telling of the author and her attitudes. It’s also quite apparent that she, despite being a woman, is prone to misogyny. I swear every book of hers I’ve read so far includes young, feckless women. This novel is no exception.
The plot is predictable, with some nonsensical elements. The relationship between Hamish and Priscilla is getting pretty tedious with its ebb and flow. I couldn’t wait to be done with this book.
]]> 3.74 1988 Death of a Glutton (Hamish Macbeth, #8)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1988
rating: 1
read at: 2024/08/29
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The fat phobia in this book is over the top! It pops up in this author’s novels her and there but it is totally out of control in this one. The fact that she has all of her characters express disgust and loathing of the obese character and doesn’t include any that challenge this, is very telling of the author and her attitudes. It’s also quite apparent that she, despite being a woman, is prone to misogyny. I swear every book of hers I’ve read so far includes young, feckless women. This novel is no exception.
The plot is predictable, with some nonsensical elements. The relationship between Hamish and Priscilla is getting pretty tedious with its ebb and flow. I couldn’t wait to be done with this book.

]]> Weirdo 67228173
Chris: the man she travelled to Sydney to see. The trip which cost so much money it maxed out her credit card on the flight alone, just so she could 'accidentally' bump into him on Bondi beach is now standing in front of her. In Essex.

Sophie is trying not to think too much about Chris, as well as trying not to think about:
1) Debt collection letters.
2) Her mum, her sister and her sister's new fiancé, James, who is also Sophie's ex - and the money she owes them.
3) Texts from Ian, her current boyfriend - although that's not as hard as 1 & 2 as he's quite good at coming up with reasons for them not to have any physical contact.

Chris is back. It's a sign. It must be a sign.

Sophie is about to find out how far she'll go to see if she has a future with Chris. If only she can work out how to behave like a normal, laid-back person first.]]> 359 Sara Pascoe 0571374522 Xanthi 1 I attempted to listen to this on audiobook format.
I rarely give up on a book and I was almost halfway through this one when I decided I had enough of it. None of the characters were likeable in any way, including the protagonist. And none of their lives and actions held any interest for me.
I was disappointed, as I like Sara’s humour and I have seen her perform live on stage. Yes, was expecting some humour in this book, considering her profession, but none was to be had. It’s perfectly fine to branch out into different genres but this novel just didn’t cut it for me.]]> 3.22 2023 Weirdo
author: Sara Pascoe
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.22
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves:
review:
DNF
I attempted to listen to this on audiobook format.
I rarely give up on a book and I was almost halfway through this one when I decided I had enough of it. None of the characters were likeable in any way, including the protagonist. And none of their lives and actions held any interest for me.
I was disappointed, as I like Sara’s humour and I have seen her perform live on stage. Yes, was expecting some humour in this book, considering her profession, but none was to be had. It’s perfectly fine to branch out into different genres but this novel just didn’t cut it for me.
]]> The Ghost Cat 199361308
Early morning, 1902. At 7/7 Marchmont Crescent, Eilidh the charlady tips coal into a fire grate and sets it alight. Overhearing, Grimalkin the cat ambles over to curl up against the welcome heat and lick his favorite human's hand. But this is to be his last day on earth…before he becomes the Ghost Cat.

Follow Grimalkin as he witnesses the changes of the next 120 years, prowling unseen among the inhabitants of an Edinburgh tenement while unearthing some startling revelations about the mystery of existence, the unstoppable march of time and the true meaning of feline companionship.]]> 272 Alex Howard 1335012338 Xanthi 4 This tale is essentially a collection of historical snapshots of life in Edinburgh, as seen through the eyes of a ghost cat.
It’s sweet, poignant, a little bit sad, and laced with humour. The author knows cats, and his protagonist is lovingly brought to life� or resurrected as a ghost, so to speak. ]]> 3.50 2023 The Ghost Cat
author: Alex Howard
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/26
date added: 2024/08/26
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
This tale is essentially a collection of historical snapshots of life in Edinburgh, as seen through the eyes of a ghost cat.
It’s sweet, poignant, a little bit sad, and laced with humour. The author knows cats, and his protagonist is lovingly brought to life� or resurrected as a ghost, so to speak.
]]> <![CDATA[Library Cat: The Observations of a Thinking Cat]]> 30060573 Library Cat � the resident cat of Edinburgh University Library � is not like other cats. He is a thinking cat. You can tell by the canny glint in his eye, his arched, disdainful whiskers and his unrelenting interest in books and piles of paper.

This is Library Cat’s story. Join him on the adventures he takes when he leaves his favourite turquoise chair in the library and his favourite food (bacon-rind) behind to go out into the big, bad world. Meet his cousins Biblio Chat and Saaf Landan Tom. Hold your breath during his brief encounter with the elusive Puddle Cat and his run-in with the terrifying and mysterious Black Dog.

This is principally the story of Library Cat’s search for meaning in a seemingly meaningless world. But it’s about us Humans, too. You see, with his black and white head bobbing a foot off the ground, Library Cat has seen us Humans from a very different angle. And he thinks we have it all wrong�

]]> 128 Alex Howard Xanthi 0 to-read 3.78 Library Cat: The Observations of a Thinking Cat
author: Alex Howard
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.78
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Bazaar of Bad Dreams 23512999 495 Stephen King 1501111671 Xanthi 4 All but one of these stories were new to me and I didn’t mind listening to the familiar one again, as it was hilarious. I’m speaking of the fireworks one. The narrator did an excellent job reading that one.
Like most short story collections, there are some you will like and some not so much. Some are really well contained- I read them without feeling like there should have been more. There was one where I wasn’t sure what the point was, and the baseball one didn’t really interest me. But overall, an entertaining collection. My favourite element of this collection, however, were King’s introductions to each of them. And I had a good chuckle over ‘black jack dealer with a bird fetish�. ]]> 3.91 2015 The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
author: Stephen King
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/24
date added: 2024/08/24
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
All but one of these stories were new to me and I didn’t mind listening to the familiar one again, as it was hilarious. I’m speaking of the fireworks one. The narrator did an excellent job reading that one.
Like most short story collections, there are some you will like and some not so much. Some are really well contained- I read them without feeling like there should have been more. There was one where I wasn’t sure what the point was, and the baseball one didn’t really interest me. But overall, an entertaining collection. My favourite element of this collection, however, were King’s introductions to each of them. And I had a good chuckle over ‘black jack dealer with a bird fetish�.
]]> Face: One Square Foot of Skin 55784866 Writer/director/producer Justine Bateman examines the aggressive ways that society reacts to the aging of women's faces.


"Face . . . is filled with fictional vignettes that examine real-life societal attitudes and internal fears that have caused a negative perspective on women's faces as they age." �TODAY, a Best Book of 2021



"There is nothing wrong with your face. At least, that's what Justine Bateman wants you to realize. Her new book, One Square Foot of Skin, is a collection of fictional short stories told from the perspectives of women of all ages and professions; with it, she aims to correct the popular idea that you need to stop what you're doing and start staving off any signs of aging in the face." �W Magazine



"Combining the author's intensely personal stories with relevant examples from the culture at large, the book is heartbreaking and hopeful, infuriating and triumphant." �Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review


Face is a book of fictional vignettes that examines the fear and vestigial evolutionary habits that have caused women and men to cultivate the imagined reality that older women's faces are unattractive, undesirable, and something to be "fixed."



Based on "older face" experiences of the author, Justine Bateman, and those of dozens of women and men she interviewed, the book presents the reader with the many root causes for society's often negative attitudes toward women's older faces. In doing so, Bateman rejects those ingrained assumptions about the necessity of fixing older women's faces, suggesting that we move on from judging someone's worth based on the condition of her face.



With impassioned prose and a laser-sharp eye, Bateman argues that a woman's confidence should grow as she ages, not be destroyed by society's misled attitude about that one square foot of skin.]]> 242 Justine Bateman 1617759376 Xanthi 2 3.45 Face: One Square Foot of Skin
author: Justine Bateman
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.45
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/19
date added: 2024/08/19
shelves:
review:
This had important and valid points to make but unfortunately presenting them as a collection of short pieces meant that the book as a whole was quite repetitive. I felt it was belabouring a point. This book was better read as something you dipped into now and then, rather than a proper sit down and read affair.
]]> <![CDATA[The Final Diagnosis: Obscure cases of death, disease & murder]]> 203055159

From a rare and deadly amniotic avalanche to a victim of roasted peanuts ... The bestselling author of The Cause of Death and The Quick and the Dead returns with more stranger-than-fiction stories of death, disease and murder - as well as new perspectives on high-profile cases, including the disappearance of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope, the trial of Mark Lundy, and the ill-fated journey of Ansett Flight 703.]]> 0 Cynric Temple-Camp 177549294X Xanthi 2 The writing style is very conversational. Very chatty. That’s mostly okay though at times the author veers off in directions that don’t quite stick to the topic of pathology . I also found it annoying when he took various jabs at veganism, and made comments about vitamin B12 that didn’t tell the full story.
The most interesting chapter was about COVID-19 and how that affected his profession, particularly the demands and challenges it threw up for pathologists. ]]> 3.96 The Final Diagnosis: Obscure cases of death, disease & murder
author: Cynric Temple-Camp
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/18
date added: 2024/08/18
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. I know the author is South African and not a New Zealander but he lives and works in NZ, and yet the narrator gives almost everyone various British accents. I found that rather annoying.
The writing style is very conversational. Very chatty. That’s mostly okay though at times the author veers off in directions that don’t quite stick to the topic of pathology . I also found it annoying when he took various jabs at veganism, and made comments about vitamin B12 that didn’t tell the full story.
The most interesting chapter was about COVID-19 and how that affected his profession, particularly the demands and challenges it threw up for pathologists.
]]> <![CDATA[Lay Them to Rest: On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless]]> 103450619 A fascinating deep dive into the dark world of forensic science as experts team up to solve the identity of an unknown woman named "Ina Jane Doe," exploring the rapidly evolving techniques scientists are using to break the most notorious cold cases, written by the host of the popular true crime podcast, The Fall Line

Fans of true crime shows like CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order know that when it comes to "getting the bad guy" behind bars, your best chance of success boils down to the strength of your evidence--and the forensic science used to obtain it. Beyond the silver screen, forensic science has been used for decades to help solve even the most tough-to-crack cases. In 2018, the accused Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, was finally apprehended after a decades-long investigation thanks to a very recent technique called forensic genealogy, which has since led to the closure of hundreds of cold cases, bringing long-awaited justice to victims and families alike. But when it comes to solving these incredibly difficult cases, forensic genealogy is just the tip of the iceberg--and many readers have no idea just how far down that iceberg goes.

For Laurah Norton, forensic science was always more of a passion than anything else. But after learning about a mishandled 1990s cold case involving missing twins, she was spurred to action, eventually creating a massively popular podcast and building a platform that helped bring widespread attention and resources to the case. LAY THEM TO REST builds on Laurah's fascination with these investigations, introducing readers to the history and evolution of forensic science, from the death masks used in Ancient Rome to the 3-D facial reconstruction technology used today. Incorporating the stories of real-life John & Jane Does from around the world, Laurah also examines how changing identification methods have helped solve the most iconic cold cases. Along the way readers will also get to see Laurah solve a case in real time with forensic anthropologist Dr. Amy Michael, as they try to determine the identity of "Ina" Jane Doe, a woman whose head was found in a brush in an Illinois park in 1993.

More than just a chronicle of the history of forensics, LAY THEM TO REST is also a celebration of the growing field of experts, forensic artists, and anthropologists (many of whom Laurah talks to in the book), who work tirelessly to bring closure to these unsolved cases. And of course, this book asks why some cases go unsolved, highlighting the "missing missing," the sex workers, undocumented, the cases that so desperately need our attention, but so rarely get it.

Engrossing, informative, heartbreaking, and hopeful, LAY THEM TO REST is a deep dive into the world of forensic science, showing readers how far we've come in cracking cases and catching killers, and illuminating just how far we have yet to go.]]> 352 Laurah Norton 0306828804 Xanthi 0 to-read 3.83 2023 Lay Them to Rest: On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless
author: Laurah Norton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder]]> 199344846
On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black—black clothes, black mask—rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.

What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond. Now, for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey toward physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.

Knife is Rushdie at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literature’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again.]]> 209 Salman Rushdie 0593730240 Xanthi 4 Eloquent and even amusing at times, which surprised me, given the topic.
The author goes into detail about his injuries and long road to recovery, mentally and physically. He also covers the effects on his partner, family, and friends. There’s also the lasting injuries - again, physical and mental. And of course, he speaks out about religious zealotry, censorship, and attacks to art, literature and expression.
The content was often uncomfortable to listen to but I nevertheless found it riveting.
]]> 3.99 2024 Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/14
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. Read by the author.
Eloquent and even amusing at times, which surprised me, given the topic.
The author goes into detail about his injuries and long road to recovery, mentally and physically. He also covers the effects on his partner, family, and friends. There’s also the lasting injuries - again, physical and mental. And of course, he speaks out about religious zealotry, censorship, and attacks to art, literature and expression.
The content was often uncomfortable to listen to but I nevertheless found it riveting.

]]> A Shrink in the Clink 40241216 From the author of the extraordinary memoir, Dancing with DemonsDRUG LORDS. DEVIANTS. BLACK WIDOWS. HIT MEN. RIOT GIRLS. MASS MURDERERS. PSYCHOS.No one gets closer to Australia's craziest characters than 'Doc' Tim Watson-Munro, a criminal psychologist with 40 years' experience assessing the mad, bad and dangerous.In a riveting series of weird, funny and terrifying tales sure to thrill and chill true-crime readers, Tim reveals the warped minds behind crimes that shocked and intrigued Australia. Go with Tim to an underworld funeral of a master jewel thief who terrorised London. Meet 'Chooka' who was caught kissing the chicken of a shotgun-toting Mafia boss. Read a poem slipped to Tim by the Hoddle Street gunman after the massacre. Get up close with evil geniuses, terrorists, nuns on the run and natural born killers.Along the way Tim explains what triggers acts of madness in ordinary folks like you. Often confronting but always entertaining, A Shrink in the Clink is an extraordinary journey into the shadows and a brilliant insight into the shifting realities of the criminal mind.]]> 234 Tim Watson-Munro 1760782009 Xanthi 3 Despite all this, there were some really interesting parts to this book, with a lot of references to Australian specific crimes and criminals. Some of it was certainly not for the feint of heart. ]]> 3.42 A Shrink in the Clink
author: Tim Watson-Munro
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.42
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/12
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. I found the authors narration a bit too laconic� a bit too blokey. There was also no real need for the swear words and reliance on colloquialisms. I also felt the eulogy he wrote of some old bogan gangster he was friends with, could have been left out. It didn’t really fit with the gist of the book.
Despite all this, there were some really interesting parts to this book, with a lot of references to Australian specific crimes and criminals. Some of it was certainly not for the feint of heart.
]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Prankster (Hamish Macbeth, #7)]]> 564249 A Hamish Macbeth Mystery by the author of "Death of a Snob."
When it comes to murder, Constable Hamish Macbeth can't see the joke. Rich, old practical joker Andrew Trent summons his kin to remote Arrat House in the dead of winter for a deathbed farewell. But when they arrive, the old coot is in perfect health, cackling at his joke and ready to torment them with others.
But it turns out the joke's on Trent. As the saying goes, he who laughs last, kills first! And when Trent is murdered, Constable Macbeth must step in and solve the crime before the punchline of the next killing joke knocks him right into an early grave!]]> 168 M.C. Beaton 0804111022 Xanthi 2 Weirdly, considering he is the main character of the series, Hamish isn’t in this story as much as I would have expected, which is a problem because he’s the best thing about it.
The plot is meh and the characters rather one dimensional, with the usual insipid young female, rude wealthy people, and generally nasty sundry characters. ]]> 3.73 1988 Death of a Prankster (Hamish Macbeth, #7)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1988
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
Weirdly, considering he is the main character of the series, Hamish isn’t in this story as much as I would have expected, which is a problem because he’s the best thing about it.
The plot is meh and the characters rather one dimensional, with the usual insipid young female, rude wealthy people, and generally nasty sundry characters.
]]> <![CDATA[Storm Surge (Derrick Storm, #1-3)]]> 16491155
Collected for the first time, A Brewing Storm, A Raging Storm and A Bloody Storm are... the Ultimate Storm! Four years after he was presumed dead, Derrick Storm—the man who made Richard Castle a perennial bestseller—is back!

When Derrick Storm needed to leave the CIA, he couldn’t just retire. He had to fake his own death. So when his former boss calls in an old favor that will bring Storm out of early retirement and back to Washington to investigate a high-profile kidnapping, he knows there must be more at stake than the life of a senator’s son. Working alongside, but not exactly with, bombshell FBI investigator April Showers, Storm must make sense of a confusing flurry of ransom notes and unravel a complicated web of personal relationships and international politics.

As they race to get to the bottom of the kidnapping, a storm is brewing that will whisk them around the globe, from England to Uzbekistan. And while the CIA mission is getting heated, it’s nothing compared to the growing sexual tension between Storm and Showers…]]> 9 Richard Castle 1401326382 Xanthi 2
There is lots of action in these books, and little character development. Perhaps the 2 stars I gave it just reflects on my lack of enthusiasm for espionage fiction. Mystery, thriller, general adventure genres can be good, if done right (avoid Matthew Reilly!)but spy fiction...? It just gets convoluted and I end up not really feeling intrigued or caring about any of the characters.
I doubt I will bother with the next novella in this series. ]]> 4.06 Storm Surge (Derrick Storm, #1-3)
author: Richard Castle
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2013/08/11
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:
I have enjoyed the show Castle, so was curious to read these novellas. I listened to them on audiobook and whilst the narrator did a good job, I was a bit disappointed that the job wasn't done by Nathan Fillion. Oh well.

There is lots of action in these books, and little character development. Perhaps the 2 stars I gave it just reflects on my lack of enthusiasm for espionage fiction. Mystery, thriller, general adventure genres can be good, if done right (avoid Matthew Reilly!)but spy fiction...? It just gets convoluted and I end up not really feeling intrigued or caring about any of the characters.
I doubt I will bother with the next novella in this series.
]]> <![CDATA[Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls]]> 45015484 Can you catch a killer or find a missing person?

Australia is 'the lucky country'. But not for everyone. Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls tells thirteen stories of people whose luck ran out in the most mysterious of circumstances.

It's a journalistic deep-dive into Australia's dark heart by one of Australia's premier true crime writers, Justine Ford, the acclaimed bestselling author of Unsolved Australia and The Good Cop .

Why are four people missing from a Western Australian doomsday cult? Who abducted and murdered beauty queen Bronwynne Richardson on pageant night? And why is a cooked chook important evidence in the outback disappearance of Paddy Moriarty?

Key players are interviewed, evidence laid out and suspects assessed. Never-before-published information is revealed. Can you help crack the case and solve these mysteries?

Hold tight as Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls takes you on a chilling yet inspiring true crime rollercoaster ride where the final destination is hope.]]> 283 Justine Ford 1760556742 Xanthi 3 I had already heard of a fair few of these cases. I prefer it when I haven’t, so quite a significant portion of this book wasn’t quite as interesting to me, as a result. Also, given that it’s a few years old now, it’s a bit dated. Some of these cases, although not quite resolved, have been investigated further and fair assumptions can be made as to the who and why.
]]> 3.84 2019 Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls
author: Justine Ford
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/07
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I had already heard of a fair few of these cases. I prefer it when I haven’t, so quite a significant portion of this book wasn’t quite as interesting to me, as a result. Also, given that it’s a few years old now, it’s a bit dated. Some of these cases, although not quite resolved, have been investigated further and fair assumptions can be made as to the who and why.

]]> How Not to Diet 43252570
But HOW NOT TO DIET goes beyond food to identify twenty-one weight-loss accelerators available to our bodies, incorporating the latest discoveries in cutting-edge areas like chronobiology to reveal the factors that maximize our natural fat-burning capabilities. Dr. Greger builds the ultimate weight loss guide from the ground up, taking a timeless, proactive approach that can stand up to any new trend.]]> 608 Michael Greger 1250199247 Xanthi 5 It took me a long time to read this book. It’s a very thick one but that’s not the reason it took me so long.
It just took me a while to take all the information in - there’s a lot there! Thankfully, the book is written in a very accessible way. This is certainly not a dry read, thank goodness.
The author covers a lot of aspects of weight loss strategies, causes of obesity, plausibility and effectiveness of diets etc.My one complaint was the absence of anything about vegan keto. He covers ‘regular� keto but only very very briefly touches on the vegan version, which was disappointing, as I dabbled in that with some good results. I would have been very interested to read what he had to say about it. ]]> 4.42 How Not to Diet
author: Michael Greger
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.42
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2020/05/20
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves:
review:
I read How Not To Die and found it very interesting and helpful. When I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it and I intend on reading the cookbook next.
It took me a long time to read this book. It’s a very thick one but that’s not the reason it took me so long.
It just took me a while to take all the information in - there’s a lot there! Thankfully, the book is written in a very accessible way. This is certainly not a dry read, thank goodness.
The author covers a lot of aspects of weight loss strategies, causes of obesity, plausibility and effectiveness of diets etc.My one complaint was the absence of anything about vegan keto. He covers ‘regular� keto but only very very briefly touches on the vegan version, which was disappointing, as I dabbled in that with some good results. I would have been very interested to read what he had to say about it.
]]> The Lady Vanishes 201569222 A much-loved mother, teacher and friend steps on a plane for an overseas adventure and is never seen again.


When Marion Barter disappeared in 1997, police initially dismissed it as the actions of a divorced mother abandoning her family. In this book, the creators of the addictive global hit podcast The Lady Vanishes detail the winding investigation into Marion's disappearance, from tentative early police efforts to her daughter's 27-year search for answers.

The Lady Vanishes is an engrossing story of how a small team of seasoned investigative journalists and storytellers, a daughter's intuition and a team of listener super-sleuths uncovered a web of intrigue spanning nine decades and three continents, and how - after 57 episodes, 20 million downloads and sparking a coronial inquiry - they discovered at the heart of the mystery a stranger-than-fiction international man of mystery who could hold the key to what really happened to Marion.]]> 400 Alison Sandy 1460717031 Xanthi 4 I’m into true crime podcasts but somehow this one slipped past me. I had never heard of it until I stumbled across the book.
There’s a lot of detail involved in this story , with many twists and turns. The man at the centre is obviously a diabolical psychopath who used and abused many women for his gain.
Whilst listening, I had to check myself a few times because I wondered how these women could be so gullible? Marion Barter was described as someone who felt she needed a man in her life, and was married and divorced three times. Despite being educated and intelligent she didn’t come across as being emotionally mature. But then I reminded myself that she was an innocent victim and undeserving of her fate, regardless of her poor decision making. I can’t, however, help feel saddened and frustrated by what the consequences of her decisions and actions had on her daughter, who had invested so much time, effort and heartache, into finding out what happened to her. This book very much felt to be just as much about her as her mother.
The police bungling and the bureaucratic roadblocks would have been maddening.
As an aside� I found the attitudes of Marion’s sisters incredibly dismissive and uncaring. It was one thing for Marion’s daughter trying to get authorities to treat the case as a missing person, but she also had to contend with her aunts� failure to admit something was terribly wrong and their lack of support in trying to get to the truth. That was truly hard to hear. ]]> 3.89 The Lady Vanishes
author: Alison Sandy
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I’m into true crime podcasts but somehow this one slipped past me. I had never heard of it until I stumbled across the book.
There’s a lot of detail involved in this story , with many twists and turns. The man at the centre is obviously a diabolical psychopath who used and abused many women for his gain.
Whilst listening, I had to check myself a few times because I wondered how these women could be so gullible? Marion Barter was described as someone who felt she needed a man in her life, and was married and divorced three times. Despite being educated and intelligent she didn’t come across as being emotionally mature. But then I reminded myself that she was an innocent victim and undeserving of her fate, regardless of her poor decision making. I can’t, however, help feel saddened and frustrated by what the consequences of her decisions and actions had on her daughter, who had invested so much time, effort and heartache, into finding out what happened to her. This book very much felt to be just as much about her as her mother.
The police bungling and the bureaucratic roadblocks would have been maddening.
As an aside� I found the attitudes of Marion’s sisters incredibly dismissive and uncaring. It was one thing for Marion’s daughter trying to get authorities to treat the case as a missing person, but she also had to contend with her aunts� failure to admit something was terribly wrong and their lack of support in trying to get to the truth. That was truly hard to hear.
]]> <![CDATA[One Piece Of The Puzzle: Australia's Most Chilling Homicide Investigations]]> 18397833
Featuring clues and photos about unsolved homicides � and suspected homicides � from the 1970s to the present day, the book also delves into some of Australia’s most disturbing solved murders, revealing for the first time how police cracked these cases through police work, forensic science, and help from the public.

The book contains emotional appeals from families of the murdered and the missing, as they struggle to make sense of their harrowing circumstances. At the heart of the book is hope: hope that with the readers� help, these unsolved homicide files can be closed once and for all.

Sometimes all it takes is one piece of the puzzle…]]> 0 Justine Ford 174346357X Xanthi 0 to-read 3.54 2013 One Piece Of The Puzzle: Australia's Most Chilling Homicide Investigations
author: Justine Ford
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Missing You: Australia's Most Mysterious Unsolved Missing Persons Cases]]> 15785482
Missing You features some of Australia’s most disturbing missing persons cases and invites you to play armchair detective. With rare, privileged access to police around the country, and in moving interviews with the families of missing people, Missing You tells the intimate stories of Australia’s Missing, revealing clues that police hope will ultimately bring them home.
In an insightful, mysterious, and often emotional journey, Missing You features more than 20 of this country’s most baffling cases, as well as stories of unidentified remains, abductions and suspected homicides.

Here you’ll find the true, in-depth stories behind this country’s most worrying disappearances, with fresh insights into recent and historic cases. Missing You promises to be an investigative tool and a page-turning bestseller.]]> 257 Justine Ford 1743004117 Xanthi 0 to-read 3.87 2012 Missing You: Australia's Most Mysterious Unsolved Missing Persons Cases
author: Justine Ford
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Unsolved Australia 25361224 336 Justine Ford 1743534361 Xanthi 4 I do like it when I come across true crime cases that I am not already familiar with. There was only one case in this book that I heard of before - the beheading one.
Apart from unsolved Australian cases, this book presents a few solved ones- cold cases that are solved decades later due to the tenacity of determined individuals. There are also profiles on professionals involved in cold cases- from law enforcement to forensics, and beyond. ]]> 3.67 2015 Unsolved Australia
author: Justine Ford
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I do like it when I come across true crime cases that I am not already familiar with. There was only one case in this book that I heard of before - the beheading one.
Apart from unsolved Australian cases, this book presents a few solved ones- cold cases that are solved decades later due to the tenacity of determined individuals. There are also profiles on professionals involved in cold cases- from law enforcement to forensics, and beyond.
]]> <![CDATA[Furry Fortunes (Nine Lives Magic #5)]]> 63141884 Have you ever wished your cat could talk to you? If so, allow my story to be your cautionary tale.

After a stunning betrayal knocks me for a loop, I don’t know who I can trust. The trail to finding Aunt Lavender is warmer than ever—but also more dangerous.

Can a visit to the local psychic provide the final clue? Or will her inclinations land us in the crosshairs of the kidnapper?

There’s only one way to find out, and all I can hope is the crystal ball is clear enough to light the way.

**Furry Fortunes is book five in the Nine Lives Magic series by Danielle Garrett. These magical cozy mysteries are full of hijinks and purr-fect for anyone who wanted to adopt Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.**]]> 288 Danielle Garrett Xanthi 2 Started off well but I am finding the structure of this series less than appealing now. The missing Aunt Lavender mystery continues but it sure does feel drawn out now.
Selene the snarky cat was amusing, as usual, but this character can hardly carry this series on her furry little shoulders alone. ]]> 4.33 2022 Furry Fortunes (Nine Lives Magic #5)
author: Danielle Garrett
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
Started off well but I am finding the structure of this series less than appealing now. The missing Aunt Lavender mystery continues but it sure does feel drawn out now.
Selene the snarky cat was amusing, as usual, but this character can hardly carry this series on her furry little shoulders alone.
]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)]]> 50659467
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

From bestselling author Sarah J. Maas comes a seductive, breathtaking book that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable read.]]> 419 Sarah J. Maas 1635575567 Xanthi 2 I’m not much of a fantasy fiction reader. I find it a bit cringe, to be honest. I found myself wincing the tropes at the beginning of this novel but I eventually got use to it. It’s been a while since I’ve read fantasy, so perhaps I just needed to get reaccustomed to it all.
But then the romance kicked in. Sigh. Then the erotica. Groan. ( Not in a good way.) It would be nice to have a female protagonist not to have to be romantically motivated for her actions. But not only is she, she falls for her captor. (Hello Beauty and the Beast, and Daenerys from Game of Thrones.)
My interest in the story waxed and waned throughout.
But in the end, even though I didn’t see what the fuss was about in regards to this series, it was okay enough for me to continue with it. ]]> 4.16 2015 A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/27
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I’m not much of a fantasy fiction reader. I find it a bit cringe, to be honest. I found myself wincing the tropes at the beginning of this novel but I eventually got use to it. It’s been a while since I’ve read fantasy, so perhaps I just needed to get reaccustomed to it all.
But then the romance kicked in. Sigh. Then the erotica. Groan. ( Not in a good way.) It would be nice to have a female protagonist not to have to be romantically motivated for her actions. But not only is she, she falls for her captor. (Hello Beauty and the Beast, and Daenerys from Game of Thrones.)
My interest in the story waxed and waned throughout.
But in the end, even though I didn’t see what the fuss was about in regards to this series, it was okay enough for me to continue with it.
]]> My Mother's Eyes 179850300
How could a father do this to his children? How could a husband do this to a woman he at one time loved?

When she was four years old, Shanelle Dawson's mother, Lynette, disappeared. On 8 January 1982, the woman who had been a loving, constant presence vanished without a trace. Four year old's might not be able to articulate questions or understand a lot, but the ache of absence is very real. Year after year that ache persisted.

Shanelle's father, Chris Dawson, claimed that his wife just needed to get away. This is what he told Lyn's parents and siblings. This is what he told his daughters. But Lyn never returned home. Her side of the bed was immediately filled by Shanelle's teenage babysitter, a former student of her father's.

After thirty-six years of her father's lies, a podcast called The Teacher's Pet investigated her mother's case. Sordid details about the father she loved became public. Whispers that he had murdered Lynette grew louder. The police refocused on the cold case. Then, Chris Dawson faced court. Forty years after she went missing, he was sentenced to twenty-four years in prison for the murder of Lynette.

Now, in this brave, emotionally powerful memoir, Shanelle reclaims her mother's story and finds a channel for her own voice. It is an unforgettable insight into the ripples of trauma and loss that family violence brings and shows how Shanelle found the strength to confront her father and can now create a new life after unimaginable deception.

This is Shanelle's story.]]> 252 Shanelle Dawson 0733650880 Xanthi 3 Whilst I feel for the author and what she had endured, and her immense strength and courage to say what she had to say in court to her father, I didn’t feel this book was as good as it could have been.
I read The Teacher’s Pet and had listened to the podcasts, so was familiar with the details of the case. I recommend other readers to do the same. Read that book first because although Shanelle covers some of it, she doesn’t go into as much detail on it. Instead, she recounts her life with her father and J, as a child and then teen. Then it’s all about her world travels, her strained relationships with family members, her suspicions, and finally her devastating realisations about her father.
Shanelle is obviously an intelligent woman but I must admit her new age slant on things really started to grate after a while. Also, the inclusion of her poems and descriptions of her dreams got in the way of the narrative. Some of the diary entries were poignant whilst others could have been omitted.
I understand that despite being ghost written, this book needed to be written in her voice. But I feel some aspects of it needed to be reigned in ( the woo), whilst others needed to be expanded on. ]]> 3.66 My Mother's Eyes
author: Shanelle Dawson
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.66
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves:
review:
Not as engrossing as I hoped it would be. It’s awkward being critical about a book written by and about someone’s lived pain, but here we are.
Whilst I feel for the author and what she had endured, and her immense strength and courage to say what she had to say in court to her father, I didn’t feel this book was as good as it could have been.
I read The Teacher’s Pet and had listened to the podcasts, so was familiar with the details of the case. I recommend other readers to do the same. Read that book first because although Shanelle covers some of it, she doesn’t go into as much detail on it. Instead, she recounts her life with her father and J, as a child and then teen. Then it’s all about her world travels, her strained relationships with family members, her suspicions, and finally her devastating realisations about her father.
Shanelle is obviously an intelligent woman but I must admit her new age slant on things really started to grate after a while. Also, the inclusion of her poems and descriptions of her dreams got in the way of the narrative. Some of the diary entries were poignant whilst others could have been omitted.
I understand that despite being ghost written, this book needed to be written in her voice. But I feel some aspects of it needed to be reigned in ( the woo), whilst others needed to be expanded on.
]]> <![CDATA[Drowning at the Diner (Nightmare, Arizona #2)]]> 123299314 Death, danger, and dirty dishes in Nightmare, ArizonaHer car might be fixed, but that doesn’t mean Olivia Kendrick is leaving the town of Nightmare, Arizona just yet. As she settles into her new life working at Nightmare Sanctuary Haunted House, Olivia still wants to know what Damien Shackleford really is, other than handsome, brooding, and a total jerk.

When the new dishwasher at the Lusty Lunch Counter is found drowned in a sink full of dirty dishes, Olivia’s friend Ella is the main suspect. After all, the victim had been stalking her. Meanwhile, the arrival of a mysterious stranger will lead to an astonishing discovery about the diner owner’s past.

Olivia will enlist her supernatural friends at Nightmare Sanctuary to help her track down the truth and clear Ella’s name. At the same time, Olivia begins to hear a phantom voice from an abandoned mine at the edge of Nightmare, and it seems to be tied to the disappearance of Damien’s father. Is Olivia tapping into her own supernatural ability, or is something sinister lurking in the old tunnels�?

Drowning at the Diner is book 2 in the Nightmare, Arizona paranormal cozy mystery series. This lighthearted series is about starting over, found family, and solving murders in a quirky old mining town with a secret supernatural community.]]> 198 Beth Dolgner 1958587079 Xanthi 4 A cozy mystery with supernatural elements. I’m enjoying this series. It’s well crafted with lots of interesting characters, action, and intrigue. This second instalment had me guessing in regards to the mystery. I look forward to reading the next book in the series. ]]> 4.42 2023 Drowning at the Diner (Nightmare, Arizona #2)
author: Beth Dolgner
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/20
date added: 2024/07/20
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
A cozy mystery with supernatural elements. I’m enjoying this series. It’s well crafted with lots of interesting characters, action, and intrigue. This second instalment had me guessing in regards to the mystery. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
]]> <![CDATA[Sentenced to Murder (Bookstore Mystery #5)]]> 193851038 She’s written murder mysteries before, but can she solve this real life cold case?

Just as Jen sits down to start writing her next murder mystery novel, she stumbles across a chilling real-life case: a man who claims he’s been wrongly convicted for murder.

Time is running out for Jaylon as he needs a kidney transplant to save his life, something he’ll never receive while he’s in prison for murder.

Jen’s amateur sleuthing skills are pushed to their very limit as time is ticking to solve Jaylon’s case and save his life. Can she save him before his sentence to murder becomes a sentence to death?]]> 400 Sue Minix 0008659826 Xanthi 3 I enjoyed this well enough but I see the author is continuing with the ‘let me share all the ins and outs, back and forth thoughts the protagonist is having about her romantic relationship. It’s tedious and unnecessary.
As for the set up to the why’s the protagonist investigates a crime mystery, it’s very, very tenuous. It feels like the author was really reaching.
Despite all this, the setting and the cozy elements made it a decent read. ]]> 3.57 2024 Sentenced to Murder (Bookstore Mystery #5)
author: Sue Minix
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/19
date added: 2024/07/19
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I enjoyed this well enough but I see the author is continuing with the ‘let me share all the ins and outs, back and forth thoughts the protagonist is having about her romantic relationship. It’s tedious and unnecessary.
As for the set up to the why’s the protagonist investigates a crime mystery, it’s very, very tenuous. It feels like the author was really reaching.
Despite all this, the setting and the cozy elements made it a decent read.
]]> <![CDATA[Gator Bait (Miss Fortune Mystery, #5)]]> 23445114
Things are starting to look up for Fortune Redding. Even though her life was at stake, the CIA assassin had balked at taking on a new identity in Sinful, Louisiana. But instead of hating it like she’d thought she would, Fortune now has friends she cares about and just finished up an incredible first date with the sexiest deputy in the state. Sure, there’s been a murder or two that she’s gotten mixed up in since she arrived in town, but she’s hoping all of that is behind her.

But when someone almost kills Deputy Carter LeBlanc, Fortune tosses her dreams of peace and quiet into the muddy bayou and shifts back into being the deadly trained professional that she is. With the help of Ida Belle and Gertie, Fortune launches a manhunt, intending to find a killer before he tries again.
]]> 221 Jana Deleon 1940270189 Xanthi 3 4.47 2014 Gator Bait (Miss Fortune Mystery, #5)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. Lots of humourous shenanigans!
]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Snob (Hamish Macbeth, #6)]]> 840565 148 M.C. Beaton 0804109125 Xanthi 2 3.75 1988 Death of a Snob (Hamish Macbeth, #6)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1988
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/13
date added: 2024/07/13
shelves:
review:

]]> The Final Girl Support Group 55829194 In horror movies, the final girls are the ones left standingwhen the credits roll. They made it through the worst night of their lives…but what happens after?

Like his bestselling novel The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix’s latest is a fast-paced, frightening, and wickedly humorous thriller. Fromchainsaws to summer camp slayers, The Final Girl Support Group pays tribute to and slyly subverts our most popular horror films—movies like The TexasChainsaw Massacre, ANightmare on Elm Street, and Scream.

Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece.

But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.]]> 352 Grady Hendrix 059320123X Xanthi 3 This is my second book by this author. I really enjoyed the first one I read (How to Sell a Haunted House). This one showed promise but I didn’t get into as much as I expected to. The teen slasher horror sub genre is core to the novel and the tropes are tackled with a nod and a wink but the humour is not there. Not even black or wry humour. ‘How to Sell� was riddled with it so I guess I was expecting it here too.
Also, the story’s structure felt too loose. In the positive side, there were lots of twists and turns as to who was/were the Big Bad/s.
]]> 3.50 2021 The Final Girl Support Group
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/06
date added: 2024/07/06
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
This is my second book by this author. I really enjoyed the first one I read (How to Sell a Haunted House). This one showed promise but I didn’t get into as much as I expected to. The teen slasher horror sub genre is core to the novel and the tropes are tackled with a nod and a wink but the humour is not there. Not even black or wry humour. ‘How to Sell� was riddled with it so I guess I was expecting it here too.
Also, the story’s structure felt too loose. In the positive side, there were lots of twists and turns as to who was/were the Big Bad/s.

]]> The Sound of Gravity: A Novel 12764593
As her hand slips from his grip, Patrick's life is shattered, forever changed. The Sound of Gravity is a harrowing, dramatic and powerful tale of love, loss and redemption as that haunting split-second memory changes the course of a lifetime. Trapped high on a stormbound mountain face in the icy depths of winter, the stricken young man is forced to fight for his life. Half a lifetime later, haunted by grief and guilt, Patrick is freed from his self-imposed vigil when at last the mountain releases his heart-rending secret.]]> 240 Joe Simpson 0224094092 Xanthi 1 Not a long book but it felt like it when reading it. ]]> 3.34 2011 The Sound of Gravity: A Novel
author: Joe Simpson
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2011
rating: 1
read at: 2024/06/29
date added: 2024/06/29
shelves:
review:
I enjoyed this author’s nonfiction but this novel just didn’t interest me much. It took me a long time to finish because it was easy to put down and not pick up again. But I slogged through it and finished it. The first part of the book was slow and the writing was too florid for me. The story picked up a bit in the second part, with a few other characters coming into the mix, and some dialogue. Cassie, however, felt really undeveloped. The reader doesn’t get to know very much about her at all. She feels like a tool used by the author to add extra dimension to his protagonist.
Not a long book but it felt like it when reading it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Cat Who Solved Three Murders (Conrad the Cat Detective #2)]]> 125500941
Retired police detective Lulu Lewis’s life changed forever when she met a street cat named Conrad. There’s something very special about Conrad, but it’s a secret she has to keep to herself.

When Lulu takes her narrowboat to Oxford, she is planning nothing more stressful than attending a friend’s birthday party. And drinking a few glasses of Chardonnay.

But a brutal murder and a daring art theft means her plans are shattered � instead she and Conrad find themselves on the trail of a killer.

A killer who may well strike again.]]> 315 L.T. Shearer 1529098076 Xanthi 2 The title is deceptive.
The cat didn’t solve any murders. He noticed a few clues, pondered a few things and discussed matters with his hoomin. As before, he rode shoulders, drank Evian and blathered on about auras.
Meanwhile the central human character bounced backwards and forwards, interacting with other characters, marvelling at her friend’s new wealth and lavish home, and inserting herself into a murder investigation, which dragged on for far too long.
]]> 3.71 2023 The Cat Who Solved Three Murders (Conrad the Cat Detective #2)
author: L.T. Shearer
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The title is deceptive.
The cat didn’t solve any murders. He noticed a few clues, pondered a few things and discussed matters with his hoomin. As before, he rode shoulders, drank Evian and blathered on about auras.
Meanwhile the central human character bounced backwards and forwards, interacting with other characters, marvelling at her friend’s new wealth and lavish home, and inserting herself into a murder investigation, which dragged on for far too long.

]]> <![CDATA[Stuff They Don't Want You to Know]]> 59808039 The co-hosts of the hit podcast Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know, Ben Bowlin, Matthew Frederick, & Noel Brown, discern conspiracy fact from fiction in this sharp, humorous, compulsively readable, and gorgeously illustrated book.

In times of chaos and uncertainty, when trust is low and economic disparity is high, when political institutions are crumbling and cultural animosities are building, conspiracy theories find fertile ground. Many are wild, most are untrue, a few are hard to ignore, but all of them share one vital trait: there’s a seed of truth at their center. That seed carries the sordid, conspiracy-riddled history of our institutions and corporations woven into its DNA.

Ben Bowlin, Matt Frederick, and Noel Brown host the popular iHeart Media podcast, Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know. They are experts at exploring, explaining, and interrogating today’s emergent conspiracies—from chem trails and biological testing to the secrets of lobbying and the indisputable evidence of UFOs.

Written in a smart, witty, and conversational style, elevated with amazing illustrations, Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know is a vital book in understanding the nature of conspiracy and using truth as a powerful weapon against ignorance, misinformation, and lies.]]> 224 Ben Bowlin 1250268567 Xanthi 4 Highly interested and well structured book on how and why conspiracy theories form and endure. ]]> 3.63 2022 Stuff They Don't Want You to Know
author: Ben Bowlin
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/19
date added: 2024/06/19
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
Highly interested and well structured book on how and why conspiracy theories form and endure.
]]> <![CDATA[The Burning Pages (Scottish Bookshop Mystery, #7)]]> 57693347
One winter's night, bookseller Delaney Nichols and her coworker Hamlet are invited to a Burns Night dinner, a traditional Scottish celebration of the poet Robert Burns. She's perplexed by the invitation, but intrigued. The dinner takes place at Burns House itself, a tiny cottage not far from the Cracked Spine bookshop but well hidden. There, it becomes clear that Delaney and Hamlet were summoned in an attempt to make amends between Edwin, Delaney's boss, and one of the other invitees, who suspected Edwin for burning down his own bookshop twenty years ago after a professional disagreement.

But after the dinner, there’s another fire. The Burns House itself is burned to the ground, and this time there’s a body among the ruins. When Hamlet is accused of the crime, Delaney rushes to prove his innocence, only to discover that he might actually have a plausible motive...]]> 304 Paige Shelton 1250789486 Xanthi 2 The story started off well but my interest started to wane further along. I just didn’t find it engaging.
And the ending was very abrupt.
]]> 3.92 2022 The Burning Pages (Scottish Bookshop Mystery, #7)
author: Paige Shelton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/17
date added: 2024/06/17
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The story started off well but my interest started to wane further along. I just didn’t find it engaging.
And the ending was very abrupt.

]]> <![CDATA[The Poison Pen (A Scottish Bookshop Mystery, 9)]]> 127280469
Bookseller Delaney Nichols's boss's Edwin comes to her with an unusual assignment. An old friend of his, living in an estate in the village of Roslin, has found what could be a priceless relic on her property, and Delaney is tasked with investigating. Could Jolie possibly have in her possession, as she believes, a Crusader Sword? But when Delaney arrives at Jolie's estate, she is greeted by a legal team with a vested interest in the property. Delaney and Jolie manage to remove the intruders, but as they're examining the antique sword, they hear a scream, and meet a much less welcome a body.

As Delaney digs deeper, she discovers Jolie's own fascinating history. Jolie's mother had long claimed that her daughter was the rightful heir to the throne, not Elizabeth II, because of an affair she claimed to have with King Edward VIII. The only evidence, however, is in the form of a journal that one of Edward’s secretaries kept. The puzzles become more confusing when a connection is uncovered between this far-fetched story and the murdered man. And shortly thereafter, the journal goes missing. Delaney will have to read between the lines to put together the pieces...or become history herself.]]> 304 Paige Shelton 1250890608 Xanthi 0 to-read 3.95 2024 The Poison Pen (A Scottish Bookshop Mystery, 9)
author: Paige Shelton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> How to Sell a Haunted House 59414094 Grady Hendrix takes on the haunted house in a thrilling new novel that explores the way your past—and your family—can haunt you like nothing else.

When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world.

Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.

But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them…]]> 419 Grady Hendrix 0593201264 Xanthi 4 This was funny, gory, clever and yes, creepy at times.
I recommend the audiobook for the extra creep factor because the narrator does and excellent voice for the central creepy puppet character.]]> 3.65 2023 How to Sell a Haunted House
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/13
date added: 2024/06/13
shelves:
review:
I find horror stories based on possessed dolls or puppets to be kinda of a hokey trope, so I wasn’t expecting much from this novel. Well, was I in for a treat.
This was funny, gory, clever and yes, creepy at times.
I recommend the audiobook for the extra creep factor because the narrator does and excellent voice for the central creepy puppet character.
]]> <![CDATA[Diagnosis: Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries]]> 46064200 New York Times bestselling author of Every Patient Tells a Story, and an inspiration and adviser for the hit Fox TV drama House, M.D., Lisa Sanders has seen it all. And yet she is often confounded by the cases she describes in her column: unexpected collections of symptoms that she and other physicians struggle to diagnose.

A twenty-eight-year-old man, vacationing in the Bahamas for his birthday, tries some barracuda for dinner. Hours later, he collapses on the dance floor with crippling stomach pains. A middle-aged woman returns to her doctor, after visiting two days earlier with a mild rash on the back of her hands. Now the rash has turned purple and has spread across her entire body in whiplike streaks. A young elephant trainer in a traveling circus, once head-butted by a rogue zebra, is suddenly beset with splitting headaches, as if someone were "slamming a door inside his head."

In each of these cases, the path to diagnosis--and treatment--is winding, sometimes frustratingly unclear. Dr. Sanders shows how making the right diagnosis requires expertise, painstaking procedure, and sometimes a little luck. Intricate, gripping, and full of twists and turns, Diagnosis puts readers in the doctor's place. It lets them see what doctors see, feel the uncertainty they feel--and experience the thrill when the puzzle is finally solved.]]> 320 Lisa Sanders 0593136632 Xanthi 0 to-read 3.98 2019 Diagnosis: Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries
author: Lisa Sanders
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> My Best Friend's Exorcism 41015038 337 Grady Hendrix Xanthi 0 to-read 3.94 2016 My Best Friend's Exorcism
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Wild Place 58613694
But as dark secrets are revealed and consequences to past actions are faced, Tom learns that the only way out of the darkness is to walk deeper into it. Wild Place peels back the layers of suburbia, exposing what s hidden underneath guilt, desperation, violence and attempts to answer the question: Why do good people do bad things?

From the international bestseller Christian White, Wild Place is a white-knuckle descent into a street near you.]]> 384 Christian White 1922626805 Xanthi 3 Well, I didn’t see that coming.]]> 3.79 2021 Wild Place
author: Christian White
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/04
date added: 2024/06/04
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
Well, I didn’t see that coming.
]]> <![CDATA[There Is No Ethan: How Three Women Caught America's Biggest Catfish]]> 201294595 Part memoir, part explosive window into the mind of a catfisher, a thrilling personal account of three women coming face-to-face with an internet predator and teaming up to expose them

In 2011 three successful and highly educated women fell head over heels for the brilliant and charming Ethan Schuman. Unbeknownst to the others, each exchanged countless messages with Ethan, staying up late into the evenings to deepen their connections with this fascinating man. His detailed excuses about broken webcams and complicated international calling plans seemed believable, as did last-minute trip cancellations. After all, why would he lie? Ethan wasn't after money—he never convinced his marks to shell out thousands of dollars for some imagined crisis. Rather, he ensnared these women in a web of intense emotional intimacy.

After the trio independently began to question inconsistencies in their new flame's stories, they managed to find one another and uncover a greater deception than they could have ever imagined. As Anna Akbari and the women untangled their catfish’s web, they found other victims and realized that without a proper crime, there was no legal reason for “Ethan� to ever stop.

There is No Ethan catalogues Akbari's experience as both victim and observer. By looking at the bigger picture—a world where technology mediates our relationships; where words and images are easily manipulated; and where truth, reality, and identity have become slippery terms—Akbari provides an explanation for why these stories matter.]]> 304 Anna Akbari 1538742195 Xanthi 0 to-read 3.58 2024 There Is No Ethan: How Three Women Caught America's Biggest Catfish
author: Anna Akbari
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ghosts: The Button House Archives]]> 171759474
Everybody leaves a trace. The ghosts of Button House may have been dead a long time - some of them a very long time - but they have all left their mark on the world (even if, in Robin's case, that mark is just a handprint on the wall of a cave).

Gathered together in this volume is a treasure trove of unearthed cuttings, original records and rare artefacts that explore the unseen lives of those who died at Button House: from Thomas's love letters to Pat's 'Summer Camp Rap', and from Julian's campaign promises to Lady Button's Rules of Etiquette. There are even documents dictated to the one person who can see and hear the ghosts: Alison Cooper.

Written by the show's creators � Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond � this eclectic archive is a unique chance to discover more about the beloved ghosts of Button House. Thank be to Moonah!]]> 224 Mathew Baynton 1526669900 Xanthi 4 My favourite parts are Lady Button’s etiquette pieces. I thought they were hilarious.
My only criticism was that parts were a bit repetitive and some ghosts were represented a lot more than others. I would have liked to have seen a bit more content from the two living characters too.]]> 4.56 2023 Ghosts: The Button House Archives
author: Mathew Baynton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/03
shelves:
review:
Visually, this is such a nicely presented book. As for the content, I found myself chuckling away. You really need to have watched the series in its entirety to get some of the references, but then, I suspect most who pick this book up would have done so.
My favourite parts are Lady Button’s etiquette pieces. I thought they were hilarious.
My only criticism was that parts were a bit repetitive and some ghosts were represented a lot more than others. I would have liked to have seen a bit more content from the two living characters too.
]]> <![CDATA[The Women Who Knew Hitler: The Private Life of Adolf Hitler]]> 94011 304 Ian Sayer 0786714026 Xanthi 3 As for Hitler's sex/love life? I dare say a lot of the more outrageous stuff about him was rumour and lies - not because I think it was unlikely, but that it was most likely said and spread to mock and discredit him. (The one testicle thing being a prime example.)
I found the psycho sexual analysis of Hitler tedious after a while, especially when the authors tried to use it as a reason why he did what he did, politically. Not to mention the suggestions of 'if his dad was not so brutal/if so-and-so loved him' etc. These things may have influenced him and helped to shape him, but I doubt the prevention of the death of his niece/lover, for example, would have saved the world from going to war, eventually.]]> 3.47 2004 The Women Who Knew Hitler: The Private Life of Adolf Hitler
author: Ian Sayer
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2014/09/17
date added: 2024/06/01
shelves:
review:
As I started reading this, I thought to myself 'read with a pinch of salt', expecting it to be rather salacious and not very credible. But by the time i got to the end, I was hooked, and was reading it intently. I found the parts about Eva Braun the most interesting, especially the last few days of her life in the Bunker. The authors bring vividly to life what life was like in Berlin in those last few days of the war - hellish for all concerned.
As for Hitler's sex/love life? I dare say a lot of the more outrageous stuff about him was rumour and lies - not because I think it was unlikely, but that it was most likely said and spread to mock and discredit him. (The one testicle thing being a prime example.)
I found the psycho sexual analysis of Hitler tedious after a while, especially when the authors tried to use it as a reason why he did what he did, politically. Not to mention the suggestions of 'if his dad was not so brutal/if so-and-so loved him' etc. These things may have influenced him and helped to shape him, but I doubt the prevention of the death of his niece/lover, for example, would have saved the world from going to war, eventually.
]]> <![CDATA[Swamp Team 3 (Miss Fortune Mystery, #4)]]> 21552185 232 Jana Deleon 1940270138 Xanthi 3 This was an improvement on the previous book in the series. There’s some mystery subplots running that added more dimension. The wacky antics of the three main characters continue. Some of it feels a bit forced and for a CIA agent, Fortune gets herself into some odd scrapes which she handles in a less than stellar manner. This set up might work for Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum character, but for a trained professional like Fortune? Not so much.
Still, this is an entertaining series that can be enjoyed if you suspend disbelief. ]]> 4.45 2014 Swamp Team 3 (Miss Fortune Mystery, #4)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/30
date added: 2024/05/30
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
This was an improvement on the previous book in the series. There’s some mystery subplots running that added more dimension. The wacky antics of the three main characters continue. Some of it feels a bit forced and for a CIA agent, Fortune gets herself into some odd scrapes which she handles in a less than stellar manner. This set up might work for Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum character, but for a trained professional like Fortune? Not so much.
Still, this is an entertaining series that can be enjoyed if you suspend disbelief.
]]> Brutally Honest 40776256 The tell-all memoir from the loudest, proudest Spice Girl � and the truth behind the headlines

As one-fifth of the iconic Spice Girls and judge on X Factor and America's Got Talent, Melanie Brown, a.k.a Scary Spice, has been an international star since her twenties. Brutally Honest is an exposé of the struggles and acute pain that lay behind the glamour and success. With deep personal insight, remarkable frankness and trademark Yorkshire humour, the book removes the mask of fame and reveals the true story behind the Spice Girls, as well as the horror of her most recent marriage and her 10 year struggle to be free.]]> 270 Melanie Brown 1787133524 Xanthi 3 I am not a Spice Girls fan so it doesn’t bother me that there is only a few SG centric memories sprinkled through this book. I was here to read/hear about the domestic abuse she endured and survived - and there was plenty of that content.
It was tough to read, and at times I got a bit lost because the timeline jumped around a lot. In no way did Melanie deserve what happened to her. I’m not victim blaming. But I’m also not going to ignore the glaring facts that point to her extremely poor decision making. Impulsive, rash decisions on entering into relationships with men she hardly knew, not listening to family or friends, and having children with 3 different men. I particularly felt for her eldest child who got dragged around from place to place, home to home, one man to another.
And what’s the great insight, according to her? Melanie had daddy issues.
The insight as a reader is Melanie was emotionally immature. That’s pretty much the crux of the issue.
And I have to say it’s pretty grating to watch very wealthy people make a mess of their lives, while a bit of extra money for an ordinary person can improve theirs.
Oh, and I was pretty disheartened to read in this book that she owned and wore furs. Eeesh. I’m just hoping since this book was published, she has had a change of heart in that front.
And finally, I really with ghost written books were more upfront. The ghost writer should have been better and more openly credited . The book’s cover gives the impression Mel wrote it herself. There’s not even a ‘with ( insert ghost writer’s) name credit on the cover. ]]> 3.90 2018 Brutally Honest
author: Melanie Brown
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/26
date added: 2024/05/26
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. Melanie gives a prologue but the rest of the book is read by a voice actor who does a brilliant job. Infact, a few minutes in and you totally forgot it’s not actually Mel reading it.
I am not a Spice Girls fan so it doesn’t bother me that there is only a few SG centric memories sprinkled through this book. I was here to read/hear about the domestic abuse she endured and survived - and there was plenty of that content.
It was tough to read, and at times I got a bit lost because the timeline jumped around a lot. In no way did Melanie deserve what happened to her. I’m not victim blaming. But I’m also not going to ignore the glaring facts that point to her extremely poor decision making. Impulsive, rash decisions on entering into relationships with men she hardly knew, not listening to family or friends, and having children with 3 different men. I particularly felt for her eldest child who got dragged around from place to place, home to home, one man to another.
And what’s the great insight, according to her? Melanie had daddy issues.
The insight as a reader is Melanie was emotionally immature. That’s pretty much the crux of the issue.
And I have to say it’s pretty grating to watch very wealthy people make a mess of their lives, while a bit of extra money for an ordinary person can improve theirs.
Oh, and I was pretty disheartened to read in this book that she owned and wore furs. Eeesh. I’m just hoping since this book was published, she has had a change of heart in that front.
And finally, I really with ghost written books were more upfront. The ghost writer should have been better and more openly credited . The book’s cover gives the impression Mel wrote it herself. There’s not even a ‘with ( insert ghost writer’s) name credit on the cover.
]]> <![CDATA[The Last Word (The Spellmans, #6)]]> 16130105 The Last Word is Raymond Chandler meets Arrested Development. Zany, witty, and full of dark surprises, Lisa Lutz's novel is pure fun—and Izzy Spellman, PI, tops the list of 'Fictional Characters I'd Like to Meet for a Bourbon.'"—Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl


The sixth installment of the critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling, Edgar- and Macavity-nominated and Alex Award-winning series by Lisa Lutz, finds our intrepid heroine of the series, Isabel Spellman, PI, at a crossroads. Izzy is used to being followed, extorted, and questioned—all occupational hazards of working at her family’s firm, Spellman Investigations. Her little sister, Rae, once tailed Izzy for weeks on end to discover the identity of Izzy’s boyfriend. Her mother, Olivia, once blackmailed Izzy with photo­graphic evidence of Prom Night 1994. It seemed that Spellman vigilance would dis­sipate after Izzy was fired for breaching client confidentiality, but then Izzy avenged her dismissal by staging a hostile takeover of the company. She should have known better than to think she could put such she­nanigans behind her.

In The Last Word, Izzy’s troubles are just beginning. After her takeover of Spellman Investigations, her employees are the fur­thest thing from collegial...and Izzy finds herself struggling to pay the bills. But when she is accused of embezzling from a former client, the ridiculously wealthy Mr. Slayter, the stakes become immense. If Izzy gets indicted, she could lose her PI license and the Spellman family’s livelihood, not to mention her own freedom. Is this the end of Izzy Spellman, PI?

The Last Word is, hands down, the most powerful book in the bestselling, award-nominated Spellman series.]]> 353 Lisa Lutz 1451686684 Xanthi 5 The narrator was brilliant- especially with her voice for protagonist Izzy.
I put off reading this book for ages because I just didn’t want it to end. The characters are colourful without being ridiculous. The humour is spot on, and the plot and subplots entertaining.
Probably one of the most enjoyable series I’ve read.]]> 3.94 2013 The Last Word (The Spellmans, #6)
author: Lisa Lutz
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/21
date added: 2024/05/21
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
The narrator was brilliant- especially with her voice for protagonist Izzy.
I put off reading this book for ages because I just didn’t want it to end. The characters are colourful without being ridiculous. The humour is spot on, and the plot and subplots entertaining.
Probably one of the most enjoyable series I’ve read.
]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Hussy (Hamish Macbeth, #5)]]> 671498 151 M.C. Beaton 0804107688 Xanthi 1 I don’t expect much from this series - just some cozy mystery light entertainment. While the previous books were so-so, this one is just downright ridiculous. The fat shaming was constant and over the top, the characters were cardboard cutouts, and the plot was just plain stupid.
Surely, the next book can’t be as bad?]]> 3.74 1988 Death of a Hussy (Hamish Macbeth, #5)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1988
rating: 1
read at: 2024/05/15
date added: 2024/05/15
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
I don’t expect much from this series - just some cozy mystery light entertainment. While the previous books were so-so, this one is just downright ridiculous. The fat shaming was constant and over the top, the characters were cardboard cutouts, and the plot was just plain stupid.
Surely, the next book can’t be as bad?
]]> <![CDATA[Stolen From Sunset: A true story of surviving the Dating Game Killer]]> 126821034 It took me 50 years to scream
The true story of surviving Rodney Alcala, aka The Dating Game Killer, and the long road to recovery. I was 16 and Tali was just 8 in 1968 when this dangerously charming and horribly vicious man came within seconds of killing us both. We were each rescued by fate, or we wouldn't be here to tell it. Set in the turbulent, fascinating, all too trusting 60s, this is my story and not his as I examine how I became a victim to this monster and why I kept silent for 50 years after. This book is a cautionary tale for every young girl out there today. It's also a message of hope for all those who still hold secret violations in their heart. It took 50 years to find my voice to tell this story, but here it is.]]> 203 Morgan Rowan Xanthi 0 to-read 4.75 Stolen From Sunset: A true story of surviving the Dating Game Killer
author: Morgan Rowan
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Swamp Sniper (Miss Fortune Mystery, #3)]]> 18683504
When only a crack shot will do�

In the two weeks CIA assassin Fortune Redding has been hiding in Sinful, Louisiana, she’s been harassed, poisoned, and shot at…and that was the easy part. But now, she’s about to face her biggest challenge since setting foot in the tiny bayou town.

When mayoral candidate, Ted Williams is murdered, everyone is surprised. Ted was a blowhole and a Yankee, but those usually weren’t good reasons to kill someone. When Sinful Ladies Society leader Ida Belle becomes the lead suspect in the crime, Fortune knows she’s got to solve a murder and save one of the only friends she’s ever had.

But as the investigation begins, more and more secrets surface, and Fortune realizes that sometimes nothing is as it seems.]]> 268 Jana Deleon Xanthi 2 Unfortunately, the story line just didn’t hold my interest. There’s mayhem and humour but it’s not enough to really bother with this instalment.
And I’m already very tired of Gertie’s refusal to wear spectacles, being mentioned over and over again. I’m sure the author stuck it in to add colour to the character and add some peril to the car and boat parts ie being driven recklessly by someone with poor vision� BUT surely by now someone- ANYONE- would have pointed out the bleeding obvious to this character!? Driving with failing eye sight puts others in danger - including children. I know this is just a cozy mystery novel, but ffs!
I will give the next book a go, in hope this author quits with this repetition. ]]> 4.44 2013 Swamp Sniper (Miss Fortune Mystery, #3)
author: Jana Deleon
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/13
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
Unfortunately, the story line just didn’t hold my interest. There’s mayhem and humour but it’s not enough to really bother with this instalment.
And I’m already very tired of Gertie’s refusal to wear spectacles, being mentioned over and over again. I’m sure the author stuck it in to add colour to the character and add some peril to the car and boat parts ie being driven recklessly by someone with poor vision� BUT surely by now someone- ANYONE- would have pointed out the bleeding obvious to this character!? Driving with failing eye sight puts others in danger - including children. I know this is just a cozy mystery novel, but ffs!
I will give the next book a go, in hope this author quits with this repetition.
]]> <![CDATA[Hiss Me Deadly (Cat in the Stacks, #15)]]> 58551445
Charlie Harris remembers Wilfred “Wil� Threadgill as one of the outsiders during high school in Athena. Although Wil was a couple of years ahead of him and his friend Melba Gilley, Melba had a big crush on Wil, who dropped out after his junior year. An aspiring musician, Wil hit the road for California and never looked back. Wil eventually became a star, fronting a band and writing award-winning songs.

Coming back to Athena to work for two weeks with students in the college music department, Wil is now the big man on campus. Not everyone is happy to have him back, however. His entourage have been the target of several acts of petty harassment. At first they are easy for Wil to shrug off, but the incidents escalate and become more troubling. When one of the band members is killed Charlie worries that Melba, now deeply involved with the man at the center of the attacks, could be in deadly danger. It is up to Charlie and Diesel to find out who hates Wil Threadgill enough to silence his song � forever!]]> 304 Miranda James 0593199502 Xanthi 0 currently-reading 4.24 2023 Hiss Me Deadly (Cat in the Stacks, #15)
author: Miranda James
name: Xanthi
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death of a Perfect Wife (Hamish Macbeth, #4)]]> 27747 175 M.C. Beaton 0446614734 Xanthi 1 There was so much cringeworthy aspects to this book.
The misogyny was rampant. And what’s with this author’s fixation on smoking and servants who hate the protagonist? Those two aspects run throughout this and the Agatha series. ]]> 3.78 1989 Death of a Perfect Wife (Hamish Macbeth, #4)
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1989
rating: 1
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format.
There was so much cringeworthy aspects to this book.
The misogyny was rampant. And what’s with this author’s fixation on smoking and servants who hate the protagonist? Those two aspects run throughout this and the Agatha series.
]]> <![CDATA[I Only Read Murder (Miranda Abbott, #1)]]> 149269372 An amateur theater production
An onstage murder
A town full of suspects�

Miranda Abbott, once known for the crime-solving, karate-chopping church pastor she played on network television, has hit hard times. Turned down for a role on a cable reality show, Miranda is facing ruin when a mysterious postcard arrives, summoning her to Happy Rock, a small town in the Pacific Northwest. But when she gets there, nothing is what she expected.

In dire straits, Miranda signs up for an amateur production at the Happy Rock Little Theater, competing against the local real estate agent for the lead role. In front of a packed house, one of the actors is murdered, live, onstage. But out of one hundred witnesses, no one actually saw what happened. Now everyone is under a cloud of suspicion, including the sardonic town doctor, the local high school drama teacher, an oil-stained car mechanic, an older gentleman who may or may not have been in the CIA—and Miranda herself. Clearly, the only way to solve this mystery is for Miranda to summon her skills as television’s Pastor Fran and draw on the help of her new sidekick, Susan, a shy bookstore clerk who seems to know everyone’s secrets. Because the show must go on!]]> 304 Ian Ferguson 0778369633 Xanthi 5 What can I say? This is the best cozy mystery I have read in quite some time. It’s funny, entertaining, and clever. The humour reminds me of a mix between Schitts Creek and Only Murders in the Building.
I particularly love the little digs at the cozy genre itself - be it in book form or tv series.
The protagonist had the potential to to be unlikeable but she is written in a way that her foibles are amusing, and she has more depth than initially comes across.
I very much look forward to the next book in this new series! ]]> 3.22 2023 I Only Read Murder (Miranda Abbott, #1)
author: Ian Ferguson
name: Xanthi
average rating: 3.22
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audiobook format. The narrator did an excellent job.
What can I say? This is the best cozy mystery I have read in quite some time. It’s funny, entertaining, and clever. The humour reminds me of a mix between Schitts Creek and Only Murders in the Building.
I particularly love the little digs at the cozy genre itself - be it in book form or tv series.
The protagonist had the potential to to be unlikeable but she is written in a way that her foibles are amusing, and she has more depth than initially comes across.
I very much look forward to the next book in this new series!
]]>