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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Peril in Paris in Books
Nov 9, 2022
Murder is Fashionable
Spring of 1936 finds a pregnant Lady Georgiana Rannoch feeling a bit restless. When her husband, Darcy, suggests they go to Paris to visit Georgie’s friend, Belinda, Georgie is delighted. Belinda is there interning with Coco Chanel, and it isn’t long before Georgie finds herself roped into helping with an upcoming fashion show. Darcy, meanwhile, has a small assignment to accomplish, and asks for Georgie’s help. That request winds up putting Georgie in a very uncomfortable spot when someone winds up dead at the fashion show. Can she get out of it without sparking an international incident?
The further along this series gets, the finer the line is between the seriousness of Europe during the era and the fun tone of the series. This book walks that tension perfectly. It also starts more quickly than some of the books in the series do. Some foundation for the plot is laid before it truly takes off, and once it did, I was fully invested until we reached the logical climax. Several of the series regulars are involved, and I enjoyed getting to spend more time with them. We even see a different side of a supporting player. Fans of the series will enjoy this latest outing. If you haven’t met Georgie yet, I definitely recommend you fix that soon.
The further along this series gets, the finer the line is between the seriousness of Europe during the era and the fun tone of the series. This book walks that tension perfectly. It also starts more quickly than some of the books in the series do. Some foundation for the plot is laid before it truly takes off, and once it did, I was fully invested until we reached the logical climax. Several of the series regulars are involved, and I enjoyed getting to spend more time with them. We even see a different side of a supporting player. Fans of the series will enjoy this latest outing. If you haven’t met Georgie yet, I definitely recommend you fix that soon.

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Murder in Rose Hill in Books
Jul 5, 2024 (Updated Jul 5, 2024)
Death of a Muckraker
This book opens on September 6, 1901, when Sarah meets a young woman named Louisa who is researching an article she is writing for a magazine on patent medicine. A few days later, Louisa’s father hires Frank. Someone has killed Louisa, and he wants to know who did it. As Frank and Sarah begin their investigation, they learn that little of what Louisa told Sarah was true. But did those lies lead to her death?
Since I caught up on the series last year, it’s been a longer wait than I was used to before I got to return to these characters. It was fabulous spending time with them again. The series regulars all get appearances and are their usual charming selves. We even got advancement on a plotline that had gone backwards in recent books. The mystery itself could have been a little stronger; same with the suspects. I still enjoyed it, but it’s not the best of the series. I was expecting a certain historical event to show up in the series at some point, so I was happy seeing how the characters reacted to that. Fans of this long running series will be glad they got to spend more time with characters they love. I know I was.
Since I caught up on the series last year, it’s been a longer wait than I was used to before I got to return to these characters. It was fabulous spending time with them again. The series regulars all get appearances and are their usual charming selves. We even got advancement on a plotline that had gone backwards in recent books. The mystery itself could have been a little stronger; same with the suspects. I still enjoyed it, but it’s not the best of the series. I was expecting a certain historical event to show up in the series at some point, so I was happy seeing how the characters reacted to that. Fans of this long running series will be glad they got to spend more time with characters they love. I know I was.

David McK (3562 KP) rated Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch in Books
Jan 6, 2025
The late, great Terry Pratchett was one of my favourite authors.
Particularly his Discworld series of books.
From which the trainee witch, Tiffany Aching, was a later addition, first appearing in The Wee Free Men when, towards the end of the series (in the alter years of his life) Pratchett started writing a series of Discworld novels aimed more at the younger reader.
Rhianna Pratchett is Terry's daughter, who I know best for having worked on the Tomb Raider series of rebooted games in the 2010s ('Tomb Raider, 'Rise of the Tomb Raider' and 'Shadow of the Tomb Raider') although I am aware she has worked on others.
With Terry passing away in 2015 and with a steam roller (really) crushing his last remaining hard drive as per his will, I thought the Discworld series was done and dusted.
Until this came out, purporting to be a 'in-universe' guide written by Tiffany Aching (and with annotation by Granny Weatherwax, Rob Anybody, and Nanny Ogg amongst others), and (again, in-universe) from after the events of the final Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown.
This, I found, to be a light read, not really a story as such as it has no over-arching plot, but a fun diversion for an afternoon or two (or longer if - like me - life keeps getting the road!)
Particularly his Discworld series of books.
From which the trainee witch, Tiffany Aching, was a later addition, first appearing in The Wee Free Men when, towards the end of the series (in the alter years of his life) Pratchett started writing a series of Discworld novels aimed more at the younger reader.
Rhianna Pratchett is Terry's daughter, who I know best for having worked on the Tomb Raider series of rebooted games in the 2010s ('Tomb Raider, 'Rise of the Tomb Raider' and 'Shadow of the Tomb Raider') although I am aware she has worked on others.
With Terry passing away in 2015 and with a steam roller (really) crushing his last remaining hard drive as per his will, I thought the Discworld series was done and dusted.
Until this came out, purporting to be a 'in-universe' guide written by Tiffany Aching (and with annotation by Granny Weatherwax, Rob Anybody, and Nanny Ogg amongst others), and (again, in-universe) from after the events of the final Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown.
This, I found, to be a light read, not really a story as such as it has no over-arching plot, but a fun diversion for an afternoon or two (or longer if - like me - life keeps getting the road!)

ClareR (5879 KP) rated Brothersong in Books
Apr 21, 2025
I have loved this whole series, and the finale to the Green Creek quadrilogy (I think that’s a word!) is no exception. There’s the content that I’ve come to love this series for: family (both genetic and found), love, friendship, acceptance, excitement, fear, joy - and a happy ending. That’s something that the inhabitants of Green Creek deserve, after all.
Whatever will I do without this series? Other than go back to the beginning and start again, of course. Because that’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do, isn’t it!
Look, I know this might seem like a very uncharacteristic series for me to get caught up in, but sometimes life throws curveballs that you need to find some escape from. And TJ Klune just does that for me. These books are my shut-the-world-out books. The goodies are good, decent people, and the baddies get their just desserts. Nothing wrong with that at all. Read what makes you happy, read what makes you feel better informed, read what educates you, read what snatches you up into another world you’d never otherwise experience (my favourite kind of books, incidentally).
This series really should be read in order, so I’m giving you permission to go and buy all four books or borrow them from your library, OK?
Whatever will I do without this series? Other than go back to the beginning and start again, of course. Because that’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do, isn’t it!
Look, I know this might seem like a very uncharacteristic series for me to get caught up in, but sometimes life throws curveballs that you need to find some escape from. And TJ Klune just does that for me. These books are my shut-the-world-out books. The goodies are good, decent people, and the baddies get their just desserts. Nothing wrong with that at all. Read what makes you happy, read what makes you feel better informed, read what educates you, read what snatches you up into another world you’d never otherwise experience (my favourite kind of books, incidentally).
This series really should be read in order, so I’m giving you permission to go and buy all four books or borrow them from your library, OK?

MarshalDillion55 (100 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) in Movies
Dec 17, 2017

Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Furious 7 (2015) in Movies
Jul 21, 2017

Blodwyn (112 KP) rated War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) in Movies
Jul 22, 2017

Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) in Movies
Jul 24, 2017
