73. The Fixer by T. E. Woods

#1 Justice series

listened on Audible

narrated by Christina Delaine

Unabridged audio (11:01)
2012
312 pgs.
Adult mystery
Finished  7/3/2021
Goodreads rating: 3.97 - 2115 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: contemporary Washington state

First line/s: "The prospect sat in the hot tub, fat and doughy."

My comments: First in the series, and this's so exciting because I absolutely loved the story.  I love the way the author kept giving you, the reader, little bits of information that start you on the right path slowly, but also withheld a few things that kept the mystery going perfectly.  Characters were really well drawn, I loved Mort and I loved Lydia.  Their relationship was genuine and perfect.  I so look forward to upcoming books and hope that they are both included jointly, keeping their relationship intact.  High five!

Goodreads synopsis:   T. E. Woods delivers a fast-paced thriller—the first in an electrifying new series—peopled with sharp, intriguing characters and more twists and turns than a corkscrew.
        Never a doubt. Never a mistake. Always for justice. Never for revenge. She’s the person you hire when you need something fixed—permanently. With a strict set of criteria, she evaluates every request and chooses only a few. No more than one job per country, per year. She will only step in if it’s clear that justice will not be served any other way. Her jobs are completed with skill and precision, and never result in inquiry or police investigation. The Fixer is invisible—and quite deadly. . . .
        In the office of a clinical psychologist in Olympia, Washington, a beautiful young woman is in terrible emotional pain. She puts up walls, tells lies, and seems to speak in riddles, but the doctor is determined to help her heal, despite the fact that she claims to have hurt many people. As their sessions escalate, the psychologist feels compelled to reach out to the police . . . but it might be too late.

        In Seattle, a detective gets a call from his son. A dedicated journalist, he wants his father’s expertise as he looks into a suspicious death. Together they follow the trail of leads toward a stone-cold hired killer—only to find that death has been closer than either could have imagined.

36. Highland Shifter by Catherine Bybee

#4 MacCoinnich Time Travels

listened on Audible freebie

narrated by David Monteath

Unabridged audio (9:17)
2012
296 pgs.
Adult time travel
Finished 4/10/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.25 - 1616 ratings
My rating: 3.5
Setting: Contemporary America/medieval Scotland

First line/s: "Energy buzzed down Helen's spine until she shivered with the electrical current her gift created."

My comments: Two years have gone by in contemporary America, yet 15 or 16 years have gone by in medieval Scotland.  Simon is now 30 and each set of married couples has three or four kids to add the the melee.  And then Helen arrives from contemporary California because of a necklace that whe wears, purchased at an antique shop years before.  She works as an antiques appraiser, and travels to contemporary Scotland where we ends up time traveling and landing in Simon's path.  Of course it's practically instalove.  I like the story of this episode, but I never really became enamored with Helen for some reason.  She was kind and interesting, but I weirdly never connected with her character, so that was disappointing.  The physical attraction between Simon and Helen worked - she had grown up on the streets and had a bit of non-virginal background and was much more real than two of the three previous virginal female protagonists.  There's one more in the series to go, but I've read the reviews and I find that she has left that fifth book with a huge cliffhanger, and that was eight years ago....and she's not even hinted at a sequel.  I've also read a few spoilers that show Ms. Bybee has gone in a different direction, with a different feel, than the previous four books.  I think I will just leave it for now and not ready number five, at least at this time.

Goodreads synopsis:  A mysterious Druid book and Helen’s sixth sense send her to Scotland in search of a missing boy. After being attacked by strange men dressed in medieval garb, a handsome, desirable hero answering to the boy’s name rescues her. No one is more surprised than she to find herself in sixteenth century Scotland. Unable to deny the reality of time travel, Helen discovers smoldering passion with a man destined to leave her.
          Simon has lived his Druid life in two very different worlds, two vastly different times, and when Helen practically lands in his lap, he knows his life is about to change forever. There are enemies in California lying in wait for her, and an army in Scotland closing in on his family. Simon is the only person who can protect her. But when she learns his most guarded secret, will she still want him? Can Helen love a Highland Shifter?

17. Dirty Little Secrets by Liliana Hart

(#1 J. J. Graves)

listened on Chirp
narrated by Laura Faye Smith
Unabridged audio (5:48)
2012
307 pgs.
adult murder mystery
Finished 3/1/21
Goodreads rating: 4.04 - 15,098 ratings
My rating: 3.5
Setting: Contemporary sall town Bloody Mary, VAmFirst line/s: 

First line/s:  "Fourth generation mortician.  That's a lot of dead bodies."

My comments: An entertaining murder mystery with lots of characters and an interesting protagoist.  Every time I heard them say Dr. Graves I jumped, LOL.  She hadn't had any kind of relationship in over four years, but was very good looking, smart, and when a good-looking guy came into her path it took her less than 12 hours to make things hot and heavy?  Sorta weird.  And, well, unbelievable.  Oh well. Not terrifically crafted, but as I said before, entertaining.  There are more in the series and I think I will definitely try at least the second, if I can find it a a decent price.

Goodreads synopsis:  J.J. Graves has seen a lot of dead bodies in her line of work...

          She's not only in the mortuary business, but she's also the coroner for King George County, Virginia. When a grisly murder is discovered in the small town of Bloody Mary, it's up to J.J. and her best friend, Detective Jack Lawson, to bring the victim justice.
          The murders are piling up...
          The residents of Bloody Mary are dropping like flies, and when a popular mystery writer shows up on J.J.'s doorstep with plans of writing his new book about the Bloody Mary Serial Killer, J.J. has to decide if he might be going above and beyond the call of duty to create the spine tinglers he's so well known for. It only clouds the issue and puts her reputation on the line when the attraction between them spirals out of control.
          And passions are rising...
          J.J and Jack are in a race against time. They discover each victim had a shocking secret, and the very foundation of J.J.'s life is in danger of crumbling when it turns out she’s harboring secrets of her own—secrets that make her the perfect victim in a deadly game.

2. Her Restless Heart by Barbara Cameron

#1 Stitches in Time

listened on Audible

narrated by Coleen Marlo

Unabridged audio (7:05)
2012
304 pgs.
Adult CRF/Romance - Amish
Finished 1/9/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.14 - 860 ratings
My rating: 3
Setting: Contemporary Paradise, PA - Lancaster County

First line/s:  "A year ago, Mary Katherine wouldn't have imagined she'd be here."

What I posted on Goodreads:  Typical Amish romance set in Lancaster County, but with a number of happenstances and terminologies that don't accurately fit what I've come to understand about current Amish....

My comments: Mary Katherine works with her two cousins and grandmother in Stitches in Time, her grandmother's quilt and craft store where where she is an excellent weaver.  Because she has grown up as an an only child with an incredibly, grumpy negative father, she has dragged her heels about being baptized into the Amish community.  Now in her mid-20s, she is being sought after by Jacob, who has been a close friend since they were kids.  The whole story is about her back-and-forth feelings, his ardent pursuing, and some quite humorous part about him (a bachelor living alone) trying to teach himself to cook.  As I noted on Goodreads, there are happenstances and terminologies that don't fit.  Calling her parents mom and dad?  Wearing jeans and her hair down when she goes to the movies with an Englisher friend?  Stuff like that....

Goodreads synopsis:  Mary Katherine is caught between the traditions of her faith and the pull of a different life. When Daniel, an Amish man living in Florida, arrives and shares her restlessness, Mary Katherine feels drawn to him and curious about the life he leads away from Lancaster County.  
          But her longtime friend Jacob has been in love with her for years. He’s discouraged that she’s never viewed him as anything but a friend and despairs that he is about to lose Mary Katherine to this outsider.  
          Will the conflicted Mary Katherine be lost to the Englisch world, or to Daniel, who might take her away to Florida? Or will she embrace her Amish faith and recognize Jacob as the man she should marry and build a life with?
          "You'll laugh and cry right alongside the characters in this story that tests a young woman's faith in Gods's plan for her life." - Loree Lough, best-selling author of more than 80 award-winning books, including From Ashes to Honor, #1 in the First Responders series.) 

112. A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths

#4 Ruth Galloway  - British Forensic Archeologist
listened to audio on Audible
narrated by Jane McDowell
Unabridged audio (9:44)
2012
352 pgs.
Adult Mystery - Police Procedural
Finished 8/2/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.91 - 14,325 ratings
My rating: 4

First line/s:  "The coffin is definitely a health and safety hazard."

What I posted on Goodreads:  Another interesting mystery including a family museum, a horse farm, a 14th century bishop that turns out to be a female (!) and all sorts of ups and downs with parenting...including by Kate's father and Kate's father's wife, Michelle.....

My comments:  The mystery is about the Smith family, their horse farm, drug dealing, aboriginal bones. and a 14th century bishop(who turns out to be female) in the Smith Museum.  It's also about Harry Nelson getting sick and his wife, Michelle, coming to terms witht he fact that he is Kate's father and needs to be involved in her life (very good of Michelle, i think).  At the end of the book, Ruth and Max are becoming a couple.  Upcoming things to contemplate:  Nelson's sidekick is pregnatn, and although she is married, she has had a fling with Casbad.  A good story, though I wish Griffiths didn't use quite as many poinst-ov fivew as she did.  It all come together well, and was quite interesting to listen to.

Goodreads synopsis:  Combine a splash of Alan Bradley with a pinch of Kathy Reichs and you have a gripping new Ruth Galloway Mystery -- a good-hearted mystery series with a dark edge.
           Set in Norfolk, England, A Room Full of Bones embroils, once again, our brainy heroine in a crime tinged by occult forces. On Halloween night, the Smith Museum in King's Lynn is preparing for an unusual event -- the opening of a coffin containing the bones of a medieval bishop. But when forensic archaelogist Ruth Galloway arrives to supervise, she finds the curator, Neil Topham, dead beside the coffin. Topham's death seems to be related to other uncanny incidents, including the arcane and suspect methods of a group called the Elginists, which aims to repatriate the museum's extensive collection of Aborigine skulls; the untimely demise of the museum's owner, Lord Smith; and the sudden illness of DCI Harry Nelson, who Ruth's friend Cathbad believes is lost in The Dreaming -- a hallucinogenic state central to some Indigenous Australian beliefs. Tensions build as Nelson's life hangs in the balance. Something must be done to set matters right and lift Nelson out of the clutches of death, but will Ruth be able to muster herself out of a state of guilt and foreboding in order to do what she does best?

90. To Catch a Spinster by Megan Bryce

listened to audio on Chirp
narrated by Maureen Cavanaugh
Unabridged audio (4:28)
2012
256 pgs.
Adult Regency Romance
Finished 6/3/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.69 - 2994 ratings
My rating: 2.5
Setting: London, England, turn of the century? (can't remember)

First line/s: "Miss Olivia Blakesley watched as her youngest sister was married and thought, 'That does it, old girl.  You are officially on the shelf.' "

My comments: Very cute and very stupid.  Haven't read any like this before, a short regency romance.  A 25-year-old "spinster" decides that she will spend the rest of her life unmarried, but wants to learn about the stuff that she'll miss.  So she makes an arrangement with an older, for-some-reason unmarried, very nice gentleman.  And of course they fall in love.  But she is stupidly stubborn and refuses to marry him until the very last few minutes of the book.  Refreshingly, didn't get steamy.  Read with a very snotty upper crust kind of British accent.

Goodreads synopsis:  Olivia Blakesley, self-proclaimed spinster extraordinaire, is quite happy with her life. She has her studies and her duties, what need does she have of a husband? With five sisters married she knows the reality does not live up to the promise, and does not need to personally experiment with the state to know she would be ill-suited to it. However, she finds herself envious of at least one aspect of marriage. But to experience the physical side of marriage, one doesn't need a husband, all one needs is the right man...
          Nathaniel Jenkins knows his duty. Marry a young girl from a respectable family and father an heir, no matter how cold the endless parade of suitable girls leaves him. But a shocking proposal from a scholarly spinster leaves him wondering if unsuitable is just what he's looking for. Can he convince his spinster that marriage is the greatest experiment of all?

66. Impossible by Komal Kant

listened to audio via Audible Escape
narrated by Lidia Dornet and Graham Halstead
Unabridged audio (7:21)
2012 Createspace
254 pgs.
YA Romance - and not a good one....
Finished 4/17/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.70- 6538 ratings
My rating:  2
Setting:  contemporary usa

First line/s:  " 'I bet a hundred dollars he smells like a rat-infested sewer,' my best friend, Kance said from beside me, her voice thick with disgust."

My comments:  Over-the-top mean girl becomes nice girl in a bizarrely too-impossible ridiculous way.  Emo boy becomes super-hunk overnight.  High school kids flit from hooking up to being part of a ocouple back=and=forth, back-and-forth... A pair of moms that are ridiculously permissive.  If you want to read a story that keeps your eyes rolling from beginning to end, this is the perfect book for you!  I am being really kind giving this a "2" rating.

Goodreads synopsis:  Ashton Summers is on her way to becoming the most popular girl in school and nothing—or no one—is going to stand in her way. Especially not Luca Byron, her freak neighbor, with his tattoos, loud music, and distracting green eyes.
          Luca Byron has three goals in life: get through high school with a low profile, make sure his garage band becomes something more than a hobby, and try to forget about his insufferable ex-best friend, Ashton, who he can’t get out of his mind.
          The last thing Ashton and Luca want to do is rekindle their friendship, but when Ashton takes a tumble down the social ladder, Luca—with his new makeover—is the only one who can help her rise up again by pretending to be her boyfriend. At first, being together is unbearable and annoying, but things start to change as Ashton and Luca discover the real reasons they drifted apart seven years ago.
          Now, keeping their hands off each other seems impossible.

123. Starters by Lissa Price

#1 of 2
Listened to Audible/Chirp
narrated  by Rebecca Lowman
Unabridged audio (10:20)
2012 Delacorte Books for Young Readers
352 pgs.
YA Dystopia/Fantasy
Finished 12/11/2019
Goodreads rating: 3.90 - 39,689 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: Dystopian Hollywood, California

First line/s:  "Enders gave me the creeps.  The doorman flashed a practiced smile as he let me into the body bank.  He wasn't that old, maybe 110, but he still made me shudder."

My comments:  What an interesting premise for a book!  YA dystopia/fantasy all the way!  I'm going to have to think about the ending of this one.  (Spoiler:  was her father the "old man?"  Why else would he have kept his face and his voice in artificial mode?  Why would he care so much about Callie and her brother Tyler?  But he was a horrible person!I am really in a bit of a tizzy about this...) Good story, indeed.  And what's to come?

Goodreads synopsis:  Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.
          He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .

114. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Read on my iPhone/ have on Kindle
2012 Atom
374 pgs.
YA Fantasy/Dystopia
Finished 11/15/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.00 - 104,861
My rating: 3:

First line/s:  "Aria pushed herself to her knees, gritting her teeth at the piercing shriek that erupted in her ears."

My comments:  A bleak, dystopian ya novel that's pretty depressing throughout.  Book 2 will probably be interesting, though, with the build up from this one.  There's still a lot to be discovered about the way the characters learn about each other with enhanced senses.  Aria and Peregrive, the two protagonists, are pretty interesting and the story is form both of their POVs.

Goodreads synopsis:  
          WORLDS KEPT THEM APART.
          DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.
          Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she's never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.
          Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He's searching for someone too. He's also wild - a savage - but might be her best hope at staying alive.
         If they can survive, they are each other's best hope for finding answers.

35. Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

listened on Audible
read by Kathleen Wilhoite
Unabridged audio (9:35)
2012, Little Brown
330 pgs.
Adult CRF
Finished 4/1/19
Goodreads rating: 3.90 - 341,732 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary Seattle, WA

First line/s: "The first annoying thing is when I ask Dad what he thinks happened to Mom, he always says, 'What's most important is for you to understand it's not your fault.' "

My comments: What a funky, funny, unusual novel.  (I can't say I was enamored with the reader, her voice got a little excessively overstimulated/excited in too many places.)  However - clever, over-the-top, and extremely humorous, the story kept me giggling, rolling my eyes, and completely hooked.  Written mostly as emails, letters, faxes, etc., the glimpses of Microsoft, Seattle, private schools, TED talks, architecture, the Antarctic, and five unique personalities are an absolute delight!

Goodreads synopsis:  Bernadette Fox has vanished.
          When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces--which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where'd You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are and the power of a daughter's love for her mother.

26. On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves

listened on Audible
narrated by Heidi Baker
Unabridged Audio (7:02)
2012 Penguin
346 pgs.
Adult Contemporary Romance
Finished March 6, 2019
Goodreads rating:  4.13 - 68,819 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: a tiny island in the Maldives area of the Indian Ocean, early 2000

First line/s:  "I was thirty years old when the seaplane T. J. Callahan and I were traveling on crash-landed in the Indian Ocean.  T.J. was sixteen and three months into remission from Hodgkins Lymphoma.  The pilot's name was Mick, but he died before we hit the water."

My comments:  Chapters went back and forth - first, Anna, then T.J.  The story is exactly as the Goodreads synopsis outlines, two people learning to live and survive on a beautiful island in the middle of the Indian ocean.  It becomes a love story, replete with hardships, dangers and sorrows, as well as joy, happiness and love - the kind of novel you read just for fun and end up totally enjoying!

Goodreads synopsis:  When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day.
          T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments -- instead of his friends. 
          Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter.
          Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

POETRY - Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart selected by Mary Ann Hoberman

Illustrated by Michael Emberley
2012 Megan Tingley Books:  Little, Brown & Company
144 pages
Endpapers:  Lilac
Goodreads: 4.00 - 265 ratings

A lovely mixture of old and new poems.  Many favorites, some of which I've copied below:

Goodreads Summary:  When you learn a poem by heart, it becomes a part of you. You know it in your mind, in your mouth, in your ears, in your whole body. And best of all, you know it forever. 
From the creators of the bestselling You Read to Me, I'll Read to You series comes this new collection of poems especially suitable for learning by heart and saying aloud. With personal introductions by former Children's Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman -- as well as her own time-tested tips and tools for memorization and recitation -- and vivid illustrations by Michael Emberley featuring his trademark wit and lively characters, Forget-Me-Nots includes more than 120 works from both classic and contemporary poets, from childhood favorites to lesser-known treasures.
This anthology will inspire a love of learning poetry!

Sometimes

Sometimes I like to be alone

And look up at the sky

And think my thoughts inside my head ---

Just me, myself, and I

                                Mary Ann Hoberman

                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

The Animal Store

If I had a hundred dollars to spend,

                Or maybe a little more,

I’d hurry as fast as my legs would go

                Straight to the animal store.

I wouldn’t say, “How much for this or that?”—

                “What kind of a dog is he?”

I’d buy as many as rolled an eye,

                Or wagged a taile at me!

I’d take the hound with the drooping ears

                That sits by himself alone,

Cockers and Cairns and wobbly pups

                For to be my very own.

I might buy a parrot all red and green,

                And the monkey I saw before,

If I had a hundred dollars to spend,

                Or maybe a little more.

                                Rachel Field

                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Night

Stars over snow,

                And in the west a planet

Swinging below a star ---

                Look for a lovely thing and you will find it,

It is not far ---

                It never will be far.

                                Sara Teasdale

                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Toad by the Road

I’m only a toad

By the side of the road,

Watching the world go by.

Some bustle and hurry.

Some bustle and scurry.

Some wiggle, flicker, or fly.

They come and they go

On their way to and fro.

But I’d rather sit and sing.

It’s a glorious day,

So I’m happy to stay

And savor the songs of spring.

                                Joanne Ryder

                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

The Sun

I told the Sun that I was glad,

                I’m sure I don’t know why;

Somehow the pleasant way he had

                Of shining in the sky

Just put a notion in my head

                That wouldn’t it be fun

If, walking on the hill, I said

                “I’m happy” to the Sun.

                                John Drinkwater

                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Things

Went to the corner

Walked in the store

Bought me some candy

Ain’t got it no more

Ain’t got it no more

Went to the beach

Played on the shore

Built me a sandhouse

Ain’t got it no more

Ain’t got it no more

Went to the kitchen

Lay down on the floor

Made me a poem

Still got it

Still got it

                                Eloise Greenfield

                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Who has seen the wind?

                Neither I nor you;

But when the leaves hang trembling

The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

                Neither you nor I;

But when the trees bow down their heads

                The wind is passing by.

                                Christina Rossetti

                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

April Rain Song

Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.

The rain makes running pools in the gutter.

The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night –

And I love the rain.

                                Langston Hughes

                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Fog

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and sky

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

                                Carl Sandburg

                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

I Hear a Bird Sing

I heard a bird sing

                In the dark of December

A magical thing

                And sweet to remember.

“We are nearer to Spring

                Than we were in September,”

I heard a bird sing

                In the dark of December.

                                Oliver Herford

                                from Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart

Dust of Snow

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

                                Robert Frost

96. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

#1 Raven Cycle
listened on Audible
2012 Scholastic
409 pgs.
YA Fantasy
Finished 11/14/2018
Goodreads rating:  4.06 - 198,743 ratings
My rating:  5
Setting:  Contemporary Henrietta, Virginia

First line/s:  "Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she'd been told that she would kill her true love."

My comments:  Read on the drive home from Maine, through actual sleet and snow and rain and it was the perfect book to listen to on this particularly arduous journey, lol.  It was so good.  I loved the elements of magic, the otherwordly "stuff" that become reality.  I have really good pictures in my mind of the four boys, but the picture of Blue, the female protagonist, is hazier.  I really hope I get more insight into her in the next books - which I hope I can get my hands on asap!

Goodreads synopsis:  “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”
          It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
          Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.
          His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
          But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.
          For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.
          From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

84. Accidentally Amish by Olivia Newport

Valley of Choice #1
read on my iPhone
2012 Shiloh Run Press
368 pgs.
Adult Amish romance
Finished 8/25/18
Goodreads rating:  4.15 - 1015 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting: Contemporary Colorado Amish community

First line/s:  "His kiss was firm and lingering as he cradled her head in one broad palm."

My comments:  The first in a series of three that follow Analise/Annie into the Amish life.  The reality is that she fell for an Amish guy and because of her high-powered , crazy life she is ready for some simplicity.  Only a little is mentioned about faith and God, so I can totally believe that she thinks she might be able to deal with/handle this incredible life change because she's in love.  So, thus far, it's been fairly believable.  However, for her to ever follow this lifestyle for the rest of her life, she's going to have to become like a "born-again" and I think that would drive me -- and her -- absolutely nuts AND be hard to believe.  Yes, all that sort of think is nonsense to me....
     So will I read on?  Doubt it greatly.

Goodreads synopsis:  Escape the helter-skelter of the modern culture and join software creator Annie Friesen, hiding at the home of an Amishman. With her high-tech career in jeopardy, Annie runs from fast-paced Colorado Springs—and straight into the hospitality of San Luis Valley’s Amish community. There she meets cabinetmaker Rufus Beiler, and the more time she spends with him, the more attracted she becomes. When Annie finds she shares a common ancestor with Rufus, she feels both cultures colliding within her. But is her love for Rufus strong enough for her to give up the only life she’s ever known?

60. Losing It by Cora Carmack

Listened on Audible
2012, Harper Collins
189 pgs.
Adult CRF
Finished 7/4/18
Goodreads rating:  3.76  - 94,637 ratings
My rating: 2

First line/s:  "I took a deep breath."

My comments:  As much as I try, I just can't get into romances.  What's wrong with me?  Sure, I like the sexy bits, but the silliness surrounding it all just keeps my eyes rolling.  There was definitely some humor in this one, I snickered occasionally, and I loved all the stuff with the cat, Harriet.  I can't even say it's because I guess I'm getting old, because I don't think I  ever liked romance ....but I keep trying....

Goodreads synopsis:  Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, Bliss Edwards decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible - a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

44. Kiss of Fire by Rebecca Ethington

Imdalind #1
read on my iPhone
2012
354 pgs.
YA Dystopia
Finished 5/21/818
Goodreads rating:  4.1 - 8485 reatings
My rating:  3.5

First line/s:  "Everything changed on my fifth birthday while my parents were in the backyard hanging the "Happy Birthday Joclyn" banner that was surrounded by yellow and blue streamers."

My comments:  I purposely didn't closely read the description of the book so that I would have no clue to what was going to happen.  What a perfect decision, the entire story kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't wait to get back to it, finishing it in a single day.  It was a pretty decent story, withholding any fantasy or magic until the second half of the book and then the shit really hits the fan!  Interesting world building, but there are six more books in the series - that's too many for me, I think.  It did get a little sluggish in places in the second half, but I'd still consider it a pretty decent read. 

Goodreads synopsis: Joclyn Despain has been marred by a brand on her skin. She doesn't know why the mark appeared on her neck, but she doesn't want anyone to see it, including her best friend Ryland, who knows everything else about her. The scar is the reason she hides herself behind baggy clothes, and won't let the idea of kissing Ryland enter her mind, no matter how much she wants to.
The scar is the reason she is being hunted.
          If only she knew that she was.
          If only she had known that the cursed stone her estranged father sent for her 16th birthday would trigger a change in her. Now, she is being stalked by a tall blonde man, and is miraculously throwing her high school bully ten feet in the air.
          Joclyn attempts to find some answers and the courage to follow her heart. When Ryland finds her scar; only he knows what it means, and who will kill her because of it.

35. Saga: Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

illustrated by Fiona Staples
interlibrary loan from Fredericksen - book was in pretty bad shape and sort of gross, pages coming out and stuck together, even a bit of an odor.....
2012, Image Comics
164 pgs.
Adult Graphic Novel - explicit sex
Finished 4-12-18
Goodreads rating: 4.23 - 165,022 ratings (holy schmoley!)
My rating: 2.5
Setting: Somewhere out there....

First line/s:  "This is how an idea becomes real."

My comments:  Granted, I’m pretty new to this genre - trying to be an eclectic reader - but I’m yet to discover the joy that others seem to get from reading graphic novels. This one was easier to follow than my other Brian Vaughan read (Paper Girls), I had no questions or head scratching when I finished. And my borrowed library copy had pages falling out, stuck together, and a faint odd odor, which didn’t help. Think I’m going to try another graphic novel author before I give up,

Goodreads synopsis:  When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. 
          From bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan, Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults. 

31. Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets of My DNA by Richard Hill

read the book, came all the way from a college library in Indiana through interlibrary loan
2012, Creative Space Independent Publishing
249 pgs.
Adult nonfiction
Finished 4/4/18
Goodreads rating:   4.24 - 446 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:  Michigan, USA

First line/s:  "All families have secrets, some bigger than others.  My family's secret leaked out in 1964, tee year I graduated from high school."

My comments:  I have worked on my own family tree since my late teens and really love genealogy.  So reading Mr. Hill's memoir has been fascinating, watching this mystery unfold in story form!  I can only imagine how he felt finding out about each new relation (he was adopted and new absolutely nothing about his birth parents or family) he discovered.  His story is clear and well written, interesting and thought-provoking.  Couldn't put it down.

Goodreads synopsis: Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA is Richard Hill's true and intensely personal story of how he pieced together the long-kept secret of his own origins. This highly suspenseful book is a page-turning saga of personal detective work that will appeal to anyone who loves a good mystery. But this isn't fiction. It's an engrossing account of an adoptee trying to reclaim the biological family denied him by sealed birth records. This fascinating quest, including the author's landmark use of DNA testing, takes readers on an exhilarating roller-coaster ride and concludes with a twist that rivals anything Hollywood has to offer. Easy to read and hard to put down, Finding Family is the first book to chronicle the paradigm-shifting application of genetic genealogy to adoption search. Whether you're searching for your own roots or just craving a darn good read, Finding Family is a book you will likely devour in one sitting...and wholeheartedly recommend to others. In the vein of a classic mystery, Hill gathers the seemingly scant evidence surrounding the circumstances of his birth. At his adoptive father's deathbed, he discovers shocking information that leads him to methodically chase down leads, which sometimes yield poignant glimpses of his birth parents, sometimes garner resistance, and as frequently flat-line in disappointment. As his resolve shores up, the author also avails of new friends, genealogists, the Internet, and the latest DNA tests in the new field of genetic genealogy. As he closes in on the truth of his ancestry, he is able to construct a living, breathing portrait of the young woman who was faced with the decision to forsake her rights to her child, and ultimately the man whose identity had remained hidden for decades. During the course of Hill's mission, Finding Family offers guidance, insight, and motivation for anyone engaged in a similar mission, from ways to obtain information to the many networks that can facilitate adoption searches. Best of all, the author demystifies how DNA and genetic genealogy can produce irrefutable results in determining genetic connections. In an intimate, personal voice, Hill sheds light on this new science that is helping adoptees bypass sealed records and similar stumbling blocks. It is certain to inspire those who are in search of their birth parents as well as others who are uncertain of their biological ancestry. Richard Hill's groundbreaking use of DNA testing in adoption search was featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. His DNA Testing Adviser web site makes genetic genealogy understandable to all. Now retired from careers in science and marketing, Richard serves on the Advisory Board of the Mixed Roots Foundation where he is Co-Director of the Global Adoptee Genealogy Project.

PICTURE BOOK - Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

Illustrated by Jon Klassen
A Caldecott Honor Book

2012 Balzer & Bray

HC $17.99

40 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.08 - 13,707 ratings

My rating:  5

Endpapers a darkish sage green

1^st line/s:  "On a cold afternoon, in a cold little town, where everywhere you looked was either the white of snow or the black of soot from chimneys, Annabelle found a box filled with yarn of every color."

My comments:  Start with a great story....about yarn! ....and knitting! ... and doing for others! ... add great illustrations ... make the protagonist a YARNBOMBER! ... and you have one happy knitter/reader/picture book enthusiast .... me!    I've read this over and over, but this is the first time I've written about it.  I think I'll take it to my "stitcher's group" next week and read it aloud to them.  Good idea, huh?

Goodreads:  This looks like an ordinary box full of ordinary yarn.

But it turns out it isn't.

PICTURE BOOK - Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money by Emily Jenkins

Illustrated by G. Brian Karas

2012, a Schwartz & Wae Book

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.68 - 595 ratings

My rating: 4

Endpapers:  solid pinky beige

1^st line/s:   "An empty street.
                    Outside, a mean wind blows.
                    Icicles hang from the windowsills.

My comments:  Another math picture book, and it's cute.  The illustrations, by G. Brian Karas are fun to peruse.  A little girl and her younger brother decide to purchase ingredients, make lemonade (and limeade and lemon-limeade) and sell it outside in the blizzard.  There's all sorts of math having to do with quarters and how they add up, how much they spend, and how much they make.  They even have to come up with marketing and advertising ideas!  Nice for first and second ... and perhaps some third graders, too.

Goodreads:  In a starred review, Publishers Weekly declared this delightful picture book "a beautifully restrained tribute to trust and tenderness shared by siblings; an entrepreneurship how-to that celebrates the thrill of the marketplace without shying away from its cold realities; and a parable about persistence."  
          A lemonade stand in winter? Yes, that's exactly what Pauline and John-John intend to have, selling lemonade and limeade--and also lemon-limeade. With a catchy refrain (Lemon lemon LIME, Lemon LIMEADE! Lemon lemon LIME, Lemon LEMONADE!), plus simple math concepts throughout, here is a read-aloud that's great for storytime and classroom use, and is sure to be a hit among the legions of Jenkins and Karas fans.