August 2023 – Looking For a Good Book

August 30, 2023

OPERATION OVERLORD – Francis Moss

Tommy Collins is the son of Royal Naval Lieutenant Commander Lawrence Collins. Britain is deep in World War II and Lawrence Collins is attending “Most Secret” meetings. There is rumor that an Allied invasion will be taking place soon. Despite the active dangers in England, and the sensitive nature of Lieutenant Commander Collins’ current work, Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized, YA

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Reviews, Young Adult

August 28, 2023

THE BOOK SPY – Alan Hlad

It is 1942 and Maria Alves is a microfilm expert currently working at the New York Public Library. She learns of a plan, put together by President Roosevelt, to send librarians and microfilm experts to Europe to search through public records for information that might prove useful to war effort. Eager to be a part Continue reading

HISTORICAL FICTION, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Historical Fiction, Reviews

August 25, 2023

RICH WATERS – Robert Bailey

Attorney Jason Rich recently won a large court case, his first, really, despite being a lawyer for many years. He’s made his money as an ‘ambulance-chasing’ accident attorney. His “In an accident? Get Rich!” billboards dot the landscape around his hometown of Guntersville, Alabama. But winning a major case doesn’t mean that his life is back Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, Thriller

August 23, 2023

THE KEEPER’S SIX – Kate Elliott

Esther is a mother and grandmother. Her son has been kidnapped and she’s headed to The Beyond – an alien landscape between worlds. Time and space react differently here. The Beyond would be difficult enough to traverse but Esther and her Hex (think ‘traveling D&D party of wizards’) have been banned from The Beyond the Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

August 21, 2023

THE MELANCHOLY STRUMPET MASTER – Zeb Beck

Gilmore (Gil) Crowell is working on his doctoral thesis – and has been for perhaps a bit too long. He’s doing an anthropological study of the prostitutes of Tijuana. He pays them for their time and then only talks with them, asking questions and recording their responses. To earn money to pay for these interviews, Continue reading

OTHER, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews

August 18, 2023

HEIR OF UNCERTAIN MAGIC – Charlie N. Holmberg

The Whimbrel House – a once haunted estate in Rhode Island and inherited by Merritt Fernsby. In the previous book (Keeper of Enchanted Rooms), Fernsby acquired the help of an agent from BIKER (Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms), Hulda Larson. Now, the home is no longer haunted the way it had been. Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

August 16, 2023

REANIMATRIX – Pete Rawlik

The 1920’s and Robert Peaslee has returned from the War to end all wars to his hometown of Arkham. He lands a job on the local police force investigating cases that the rest of the department doesn’t want to handle. Arkham, it turns out, is full of hauntings and something dark and supernatural. One day Continue reading

Dark Fantasy/Horror, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Reviews

August 14, 2023

HARLEQUIN’S MILLIONS – Bohumil Hrabal

A retirement home in Czechoslovakia with a very eccentric cast of characters is the setting for Harlequin’s Millions by Bohumil Hrabal. Everyone here has a story to tell, but the residents have been together long enough that they’ve heard each others’ stories many times. What’s left but die? But no one here, especially our narrator, is ready to Continue reading

OTHER, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Literature, Reviews

August 11, 2023

IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS – TJ Klune

There are three robots who lived together in a house in the woods, in the trees. There is Giovanni (AKA Gio) – the father-like inventor and leader of the trio. There is the nursing machine, Registered Automaton To Care, Heal, Educate and Drill (AKA Nurse Ratched), and there is a hyper-active vacuum robot named Rambo (Rambo Continue reading

HUMOR, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Humor, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

August 9, 2023

KEEPER OF ENCHANTED ROOMS – Charlie N. Holmberg

It is the mid-1800’s and Merritt Fernsby has inherited a family estate in remote Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. No one has lived there in at least a century, but Merritt, happy to have something of this magnitude, is ready to move in. But once he’s in he can’t leave … the house is holding him there. Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

August 7, 2023

STORM WATCH – C. J. Box

Game Warden Joe Pickett is tracking a wounded elk into the mountains. A massive snow storm is just about to hit so he needs to find it quickly so he can get back to his truck and home before getting stuck. Just his luck, then, to discover a building in the middle of nowhere that Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized, WESTERN

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, Western

August 3, 2023

THE LAST BEEKEEPER – Julie Carrick Dalton

Sasha Severn was there the moment the world changed for the worse. It was her father, the last beekeeper, who was taken away, put on trial, and locked up for 23 years for his work with bees. And to make matters worse, after he hid his research he made his young daughter (11 at the Continue reading

MYSTERY, ROMANCE, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, Romance, SF/Fantasy