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White Elephant Dead
White Elephant Dead
Carolyn Hart | 2024 | Mystery
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Rummaging for Blackmail Secrets
Broward’s Rock is getting ready for the Women’s Club’s annual white elephant sale. When Kathryn Girard disappears with the club van while out collecting donations, Annie’s friend and best customer, Henny Brawley, heads out after her. But then no one hears from Henny. Annie and her husband, Max, start searching for her. They find the van with Kathryn’s body in the back and Henny’s car nearby. The new police chief thinks that means Henny much have killed Kathryn. But Annie knows better. The real question is, why would anyone want to kill Kathryn? And what happened to Henny?

It isn’t long before Annie and Max realize blackmail is involved, and it adds an interesting layer to this mystery. As usual, I found the suspects a bit flat, and I had a hard time remember who was who. Likewise, one aspect of the plot is just dropped, and I wish it had been fully developed. Still, things came together for a logical climax. I’m catching more of the references to other mystery books, but I still find there are too many of them, so they can get annoying. The series regulars are in fine form, and they gave me plenty of laughs. Most of my issues with the book are regular problems for me in the series, but I still enjoy the books. If you are a fan who hasn’t read this book yet, you’ll enjoy it, too.
  
Undisclosed (Nights Series #7)
Undisclosed (Nights Series #7)
A.M. Salinger | 2018 | Contemporary, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
And Sparks Fly!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

When informed she does not own the land her most lucrative club, Le Secret, sits on, Eveline makes a deal with the devil to escort Lincoln while he is in Tokyo. But Lincoln affects Eveline in ways she never knew were possible and quickly finds herself head over heels in lust. Then that email comes, and Eveline runs and Lincoln race to undo the damage he may have caused: to Eveline, and to his heart.

SO!! This is book 7 in the Nights Series, but you don't need to have read books one through six first. You don't NEED to. But personally, I would recommend that you do. Cos, you know, they are rather awesome! BUT you should know that the other 6 books are all male/male pairings and this is a male/female pairing. I'm not picky, but I know some readers prefer to stick to one or the other.

I think Eveline pops up on most of the others books, and I'm so glad she gets her own story! Didn't expect her to, since the others are all gay erotica, but so pleased!

Eveline is a own boss, and although she will *sometimes* escort, she is extremely selective in her bed partners. When she discovers that the previous owners of the land her club sits on swindled her, she storms off to Lincoln's office to demand he sell it to her.

And
Sparks
Fly!

I talking Bonfire Night, Fourth of July and New Years Eve all condensed into Lincoln's office and I expected the pair of them to spontaneously combust! I mean, I'm sitting there, eating my lunch, and the office scene pops up. And I'm like WHOA!!! This is gonna be hot Hot HOT!!!

And I was not disappointed. Not for the heat level, and for how quickly they both came to the realization that they need each other.

What I AM slightly disappointed about (but it doesn't effect my star rating, I just need to mention it!) was that while there was a scene in Eveline's "special" room at the club, it was tame. And I wanted them to return to the room at some point and for Lincoln to show Eveline the other end of the whip that she usually wields. That would have been the icing on the very hot cake! Maybe they will get another book, and the return visit will be in there, who knows!

Cam and Gabe; Ethan and Joe; and Wade and Rhys all pop up here, if only for a little bit, but it was nice that they did.

So, landing itself firmly on the "fan yourself, its a hot one" shelf I made just for these books...

5 stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
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Mayhawke (97 KP) rated Bats In The Belfry in Books

Feb 26, 2018 (Updated Feb 27, 2018)  
Bats In The Belfry
Bats In The Belfry
E.C.R.Lorac | 2018 | Crime, Mystery
8
7.8 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
A Cosy Crime sleeper worthy of resurrection
I’m a huge fan of Cosy Crime, I cut my grown-up reading teeth on Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers, so it should be no surprise that I’m a big fan of the British Library’s inspired decision to republish lost Golden Age novels.

Fifty-one re-issues in and I’m still stunned at the number of authors who had stellar careers as crime writers, were fully inducted members of the Detection Club, and had publication lists to rival Christie’s but who, within a few years of their deaths, had just vanished from the pantheon classic crime novelists.

Such a writer was E.C.R.Lorac, author of Bats In The Belfry. In his introduction Martin Edwards describes the pseudonymous Lorac (real name Edith Caroline Rivett) as enjoying a “low-key career spanning more than a quarter of a century.” It also produced a catalogue of over seventy novels, yet, cosy crime fan that I am I had never heard of her until her book turned up on my work intranet.

Bats, British Library’s inaugural Crime Classic for 2018, is also the first of Lorac’s novels to be given the British Library treatment. It couldn’t have happened to a better book! One of the dangers of republishing books that have disappeared in the mists of time, at least if you are republishing them for the mass market, is that some of them will prove to have been ‘lost’ with good cause. Not that the writing need be poor or the plotting weak, but there are social aspects that can be critical to the development or fundamental premise of the story that change over the course of half a century. When that happens there is a danger that the reader will at best be disgruntled with a puzzle they were unlikely to be able to solve because they didn’t understand the clues they were being given, or, at worst, that the whole premise will seem beyond ludicrous to modern readers. Of the twenty or so BLCC’s I have read only one has fallen into the latter category, and whilst there have been one or two which were a bit plodding thanks to such issues they have largely been a pleasure to read, and I have been able to joyfully pit my wits against the authors’ intrinsic challenge to solve the mystery before the denouement.

Bats in the Belfry most definitely falls into this class of Crime Classic, so much so that it’s a surprise to find from Edwards that it was a bit of a non-starter when it was first published in 1937.

A failing writer, his actress wife, his ward and a selection of friends are collected one evening following the funeral of the writer’s cousin. Shortly thereafter the writer himself has vanished, his suitcase and passport left in a darkly sinister studio known variously as The Belfry, and The Morgue. The story is as dark and twisty as any you could hope for from a member of the Detection Club, and it plays nicely on themes of the time. Broken marriages, financially emasculated men, and the requisite ‘strange foreign man’ all appear, and even aarchaeology gets a look in. As the main characters sit and incautiously discuss ways to bump off someone and hide the body there is brief verbal tussle over the usefulness – and even existence of – dene holes, ancient subterranean storage areas that provided writers of the time with endless possibilities, most notably in Sayers’ The Nine Tailors. Lorac’s plotting is flawless and deceptively simplistic, and she leads you back and forth from suspect to suspect. She is brutally unsympathetic to her characters, and her writing bundles you along until you finally reach the conclusion, to discover how good you are at detecting. Or not.
  
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
2008 | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Holds up well - worth your time
I remember really liking THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON when it first was released in 2011. It made me a fan of Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchette, Tilda Swinton, Taraji P. Henson, Jared Harris and Director David Fincher - and I defended this film to those that did not have as high an opinion of this movie than I did. So when my daughter recommended we re-watch this film (a film I haven't watched in 5 or 6 years), I was excited to revisit it.

And...I'm glad I did...for I re-fell in love with the portions of the film that I remembered fondly while I was also able to see the flaws (mostly in pacing) that drops this film down a peg.

Based on the short story by F. Scott Fitgerald, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON tells the tale of a man who ages backwards. His life is chronicled from his birth (right after the "Great War" ended in the 1919) and follows right up to his death.

As played by Brad Pitt in an Oscar nominated turn, the titular character is earnest, honest, somewhat naive and (as he gets younger) very attractive to look at. I've been a fan of Pitt's acting since the days of FIGHT CLUB and 12 MONKEYS (and think he deserved his Oscar for ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD) and he does not disappoint in this film, especially since he has quite a few strong performers to play against (even while under heavy make-up).

Jared Harris, Taraji P. Henson (in an Oscar nominated performance) and Mahershala Ali all bring strong, winning performances but is the performances of 2 strong actresses that drew my attention to them from this point forward. Tilda Swinton (SNOWPIERCER) brings a sense of longing to her portrayal of a woman that Benjamin has a brief affair with. Their scenes together are touching and poignant with a sense of sadness that had me rooting for Swinton's character throughout.

But, it is the appearance of Cate Blanchette (THOR: RAGNAROK) that elevates this film for me. I had been a fan of Blanchette's since her Oscar winning role of Katherine Hepburn in THE AVIATOR, but this performance raised her abilities in my eyes and I eagerly await everything that she is going to appear in (including CAROL, a film that I loathe).

 Director David Fincher (Se7EN, FIGHT CLUB) was also Oscar nominated for his work in this film and he blends a lifelong love story with events of the day while mixing in some wonderful CGI that helps age (or de-age) Benjamin as the film unfolds. This film, for me, was a departure for Fincher who I came to admire for his trippy films, but he brings a human-ness to the proceedings that helps ground the fantastical into reality.

Upon this viewing, I did find that this film does drag a bit at times - it is as if Fincher (and the cast) fell so in love with the characters and the scenes, that they lose track of the pacing, letting the film bog down from time to time. The film runs 2 hours and 46 minutes...and I think I could help find spots to trim about 20 minutes out of it.

The film did win in 3 of the 13 categories it was Oscar nominated in (it was nominated for BEST FILM, but did not win that award). The Oscar wins were all for special effects of some sort - and I kept looking to see if I could spot the tricks and Special FX in the film - and I could not. A good sign that this film is holding up 9 years later.

Take a trip through time (backwards) with Benjamin Button, it's is worth it.

Letter Grade: A-

8 stars out of 10 (and you can take that to the Bank(OfMarquis)
  
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Debbie (52 KP) rated The Poet X in Books

Sep 8, 2018  
The Poet X
The Poet X
Elizabeth Acevedo | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
7
7.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Poet X By: Elizabeth Acevedo
Young Adult 357 Pages

This book is written in verse. I wasn't a fan of this book so I only gave it 3 stars. I am getting use to reading books that are written in verse and starting to enjoy them. They are actually quick reads.
The main character is 16 year old girl named Xiomara. She has a twin brother, Xavier and her best friend, Caridad. Mom is from the Dominican Republic and Dad is from America. Mom married Dad to come to the states but she really wanted to become a nun. Mom is extremely religious. Dad doesn't do much. He is a womanizer. X loves to write poetry and her brother gave her notebook one year for their birthday to keep them in. She hates going to church. She isn't allowed to date or have contact with boys except for her brother. She is punished for the smallest things. (SPOILER) For example when she starts her period. Her mom hasn't told her anything about this or allowed her to watch the movie that they show in school so she has to look it up on google to figure out what to do. She gets money from a stash and goes to the store to get tampons but doesn't insert correctly and cries. Her mother is freaking out telling her that 11 is to young to be having a period and that only ho's use tampons. In high school during biology she meets a boy, Aman. They like each other and find ways to see each other. This is were her best friend helps out. They are eventually discovered and mom goes nuts. X wants to join the poetry club at school but mom makes her go to confirmation classes at the church. Again her best friend helps her to be able to eventually go to poetry club. There are a few more things that happen and make the book interesting I just could not stand the mom in this story.
Brother has a secret what is it? Does mom and X get to understanding each other better? You will have to read the book to find out. Just be warned that mom is not a nice person.
  
Fifty Shades of Grey
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
8
6.6 (103 Ratings)
Book Rating
So I debated for quite awhile about reading this book. All the reviews are so mixed...you love it or you hate it. It is all over the place from internet to radio to CNN, but it was both of my former college roommates & best friends that finally talked me into it, through Facebook no less!
In an interview on CNN with some female members of a book club, I heard 50 Shades described as a Disney prince fairy tale for grown-ups. I couldn't agree more...of course I can't see old Walt even fantasizing about some of the things that take place in this tale!
I am by no means a fan of erotic literature. Hell, I don't even like trashy romance novels, but this one, DAMN! I was hooked from the get. Now don't get me wrong, it was not the steamy, unbelievable, hot sex scenes that got to me(yes, I am human!) Mr. Grey & Miss Steele are intriguing characters. They are so well developed & in some strange way easy to relate to...not that I know much about bondage or billionaires!
I found myself HATING Christian with a passion & in the next sentence wishing I knew him. He is such a conundrum. I found myself identifying with Ana, yet at the same time not getting her motivation at all. It was a heady mix of confusing & normal all at the same time.
I very much look forward to finding out what happens in the next part!!
  
The Simple Art Of Flying
The Simple Art Of Flying
Cory Leonardo | 2019 | Children, Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Characters (2 more)
Messages
Writing Style
First, can we just take a minute to talk about this cover? It’s absolutely adorable! I love the birds, and the books, and the colors. That alone would pull me into the book. Second, can I just tell you that I wish we had books like this when I was a kid! Don’t get me wrong, Beverly Cleary, Ramona Quimby, The Baby Sitters Club, and a few others were awesome. But, books like TSAOF would have been happily devoured then, too!

I absolutely adored Alastair. I’m not a fan of birds, but it they were all like Alastair I would have a dozen! I loved his curmudgeon quirkiness, and his ability to pull you into the story, along with his sister Aggie. His poetry was awesome and captivating! And, Fritz. Let me tell you what. I saw a lot of my own kiddos in Fritz. He was just lovable. And, Bertie! The perfect “grandma” for the story. I loved her laugh-out-loud moments in the story.

This debut novel by the amazingly talented Cory Leonardo is one that should be on every young reader’s shelves. It’s filled with life lessons, lots of laughter, characters who will become friends, and lots of fun. If you have a younger reader, age 8 and up, I would definitely recommend you get this for them. It’s worthy of 4 stars, for sure! Great job on your debut, Leonardo!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Aladdin and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*