102. The Pact by Linda Castsillo

#11.5 Kate Burkholder
listened to Audible
narrated by Kathleen McInerny
Unabridged audio (1:52)
2020 Minotour Books
65 pgs.
Adult Mystery Novella
Finished
Goodreads rating:  4.15 - 961 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting:  Contemporary early winter, Amish country Ohio

First line/s:  "The blade left a trail of blood across pale flesh."

What I posted on Goodreads:  A non-murder mystery with a message and a HEA that could have gone awry but didn't. 

My comments:  This was not a murder mystery, yippee!  No one died.  It even had a bit of a moral/reconciliation between cultures that was quite endearing.  Very good short story, with a happily ever after that could've really gone awry.  It didn't!

Goodreads synopsis:  In The Pact a gripping Kate Burkholder short mystery from New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo, a terrifying disappearance in Amish country reveals the power of friendship.
          Three days before Thanksgiving, two boys disappear without a trace. Eleven-year-old Aaron Kuhns is Amish. Kevin Dennison is twelve and “English.” They’re adventurers, explorers, and inseparable best friends. When they don’t return home from what was supposed to be a fun afternoon of fishing, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder must find the missing boys before the first winter storm of the season bears down on Painters Mill.

101. Lonely Magnolia by John Isaac Jones

listened on Audible Escape, a novella
narrated by Tom Zainea
Unabridged audio (1:06)
2017, audio only, I think
50 pgs. (just a guess...)
Adult CRF with teeny tiny touch of fantasy...or not....
Finished 6/28/20
Goodreads rating: 4.27 - 15 ratings
My rating: 2

My comments: A founding father of the technology era goes online dating to find a partner for the rest of his life.  It backfires in that - SPOILER!!! - what he ended up with, his choice of mate, was an AI he had created long ago and forgotten about.  It ended up driving him mad, lol.  A decent idea, I wish it had been better executed. 

Goodreads synopsis:  When famous computer genius Dr. Carl Wingate decides to find a new wife online, it not only rocks the very foundations of the digital industry itself, but it turns his personal life completely upside-down. This is the story of Pygmalion for the 21st century.

Picture Book - Trees Make Perfect Pets by Paul Czajak

Illustrated by Cathy Gendron

2020 Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky

HC 17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.19 - 48 ratings

My rating:  4.5
Endpapers: mossy green

1^st line/s:  "Birthdays are the best days for wishes and on this birthday Abigail wished for a pet."

Dedications:  To Abigail:  Yes, We'll get a dogwood, but you have to name it. - PC
     To green thumbs everywhere - CG

My comments:  I love trees, so I quickly and happily pick up every new book I find that has something to do with them.  This one was adorable, both the premise, the setting, and the illustrations.  This particular tree did seem to grow particularly quickly, but it's a picture book, right?

Goodreads:  Abigail is determined to get the perfect pet.
          So she chooses Fido. He keeps her cool from the sun, stays where she tells him, and even gives her air to breathe. That's because Fido is a tree!
          But not everyone thinks having a tree as a pet is a good idea, though, especially when Fido starts to grow. Will Abigail be able to keep her perfect pet?

Poem: Sea Joy by Jacqueline Bouvier

Sea Joy

When I go down by the sandy shore
I can think of nothing I want more
Than to live by the blooming blue sea
As the seagulls flutter round about me

I can run about - when the tide is out
With the wind and the sand and the sea all about
And the seagulls are swirling and diving for fish
Oh - to live by the sea is my only wish..

           Jacqueline Bouvier
           from A Family of Poems (Kennedy)

100. The Fix-Up by Kendall Ryan

Listened via Audible Escape
narrated by
Unabridged audio (
2016
345 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 6/27/20
Goodreads rating:
My rating: 2
Setting:

First line/s:

What I posted on Goodreads: nothing 

My comments: Such a ridiculous story, the feelings and emotions of the protagonists in no way reconciled with their actions.  It was just plain stupid all around.  The ridiculous plan that Cameron hatched to find a wife for Sterling, and even more so the two of them not realizing where their feelings for each other would lead was totally implausible.  The entire book was implausible.  A lot of delicious meals and steamy foreplay happened, though....

Goodreads synopsis:  From New York Times bestseller, Kendall Ryan, comes a sexy new standalone novel.
          My tempting and very alpha friend Sterling Quinn is someone I consider off-limits.
         It's not just that we're friends, he's also cocky, confident, and British, which means he's a walking aphrodisiac.
          But lately he's been giving me the look. You know the one. When he thinks I'm not paying attention, and his gaze lingers for too long.
          When we start working together, that's when the sexual tension between us gets so thick, I want to hack through it with a machete. I want to make all these deep feelings I've harbored for him disappear, because there's no way this can end well.
          The lines between business and pleasure become irrevocably blurred, and I'm stuck between a rock, and Sterling's very, very hard place.
          Rather than keep a level head about our growing attraction, Sterling wants to go all in, showing me just how explosive we can be together.
          But I've been around long enough to know that this British bad boy is more than my heart can handle. I'm not about to be cast aside like yesterday's underwear when he's done having fun.
          Sterling’s never been told no, and he's not about to put his ego aside and play by my rules. But I never thought he'd fight so dirty.
          *This is a spin-off from the HITCHED series, but can be read as a standalone.

2020 Quilter's Trek: TRUE BLUE (formerly Row by Row)

This year I'm going to actually make the quilt.  It'll be in different shades of blues and I'm really looking forward to getting started.  I've ordered a few of the kits, they're on the way!

My first call was for my favorite block in all my searching all over the country.  I'm quite sure it was the owner I spoke with, and she was super nice and talkative.   She says these fabrics are from her favorite lines.  The kit was $14.99 and s/h was $4.95, which seemed pretty darned reasonable to me.  Can't wait to see and touch the fabric.  Love that there are words on the background fabric!

My second call was to Lind, WA.  I loved the idea of including a crazy quilted square, and their kit cost and shipping was incredibly reasonable ($10 plus $2.20 s/h) and I think this one will be easy and fun to put together!  Christy told me about retreats they have if I ever get anywhere nearby, and they sound great.  I think she says they're about 70 miles from Spokane.  Fun!

My third call was to Knit One Quilt Too in Rhode Island.  You had to order the kit ($18.95) through their website and s/h is ten bucks.  This seemed a bit much, so I decided to look further before purchasing.

The fourth call stayed right here in Pennsylvania, to Wormelsdorf.  I'm going to have to hit the maps ti figure out where in PA they are.   In Stitches Quilt Store used yo-yos as flower ins a basket that looks pretty easy, with an appliqued handle on each.  I think I can tackle that, something a little different....  The kit was $17.99 with s/h $4.75. Okeedokee!

This is so much fun, might as well track down another!  My call to Cambridge Quilt Shop in Cambridge, MA was easy as pie!  It looks like an extremely easy kit and packs a punch - and I can add anything and everything to embellish it if I want. The kit is for the HOME, she added the HOPE to give another idea of how it might be used.   The kit is $14.95 and she though s/h would be somewhere between four and five bucks.  SOLD!

Well, I've spent $75.00 on this quilt so far, time to yank in the reins until next payday.  But was this ever fun!  I wonder when the first one will arrive?

I really like the background of this Dresden plate, and I love the idea of appliqueing the ties to it.  Unfortunately she doesn't have any extra of that fabric (I thought it might be nice to use in other places in the quilt) but I could always cut away the background behind the applique, right?  She'll send an invoice via email to continue the purchase, So now I have a block from Missouri!  It's 16.95 plus tax which includes s/h.  Can't go wrong!

99. Scoring the Keeper's Sister by Delancey Stewart

listened to Audio on Chirp
narrated by Ellie Gossage and Logan McAllister
Unabridged audio (5:08)
2019
204 pgs.
Adult Low-Steam Romance
Finished 6/26/2020
Goodreads rating:  402 - 610 ratings
My rating: 2.5
Setting: contemporary San Diego

First line/s: "There are a few things you need to know about me."

My comments: The story was okay, steam factor there but low, most of the 5- hours was story.  Professional soccer team San Diego.  Nothing special or different and only good endings for both mother's sickness and love.  Did not really care for either of the readers.

Goodreads synopsis:  Soulmates don't always start as friends. Sometimes they start as enemies. And sometimes they need cheese to help seal the deal... 
          ERICA: 
          Signing up for a matchmaking service was not my idea.
          But when Andrew-the-Hand-Model dumped me, my brother suggested I try Mr. Match. And I figured it couldn’t hurt. As it was, I’d never get away from meathead moron soccer players (since my brother plays keeper for the South Bay Sharks and I manage PR for the team). But Mr. Match is a moron too because he matched me with a guy I see at work every day. A guy who has a different girl on his arm at every turn. And a soccer player.
          Fernando Fuerte, the “Fuerte Fire,” is one guy I can assure you is NOT my match. 
          FERNANDO: 
          Getting girls is not a problem.
          Getting girls who care about something besides my status as the South Bay Sharks star striker, my salary, and my social status?
          Yeah. That’s the problem. So when my buddy Max tells me he’s actually Mr. Match–the secret proprietor of San Diego’s hottest matchmaking app, I let him convince me to try it. 
          And Erica Johnson is not actually a bad match–only she doesn’t seem to agree. And then there’s the small matter of her being in the middle of trying to save the team (and me) when the owner’s ex brings to light some, ahem, unsavory accusations about me…      
          And then there’s her enormous and disapproving twin brother…
          And there’s something about cheese, too. 
          But if I have my way? Erica will definitely be my match.

98. Blue Moon by Lee Child

#24 Jack Reacher
listened to audio borrowed from Bosler Library
narrated by Scott Brick
Unabridged audio (11:21)
2019
359 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 6/25/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.97 - 40,462 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting: Contemporary unknown city

First line/s:  "The city looked small on a map of America."

What I posted on Goodreads:  Most Reacher books are unbelievable and implausible, but this one takes the cake!

My comments:  Not sure why Blue Moon was the title of this book, I may be missing something!  There was a lot of bloodshed in this story, bloodshed in which Reacher never batted an eye.  Yes, he was cleaning up some really bad guys, cleaning up in a city who really needed the help (two warring mafia gangs from two different countries) but it was pretty overwhelming.  Gaining the friendship of four different people who helped immensely also seemed pretty implausible.  This man has more than luck on his side, and as much as I celebrate his genius, this story just seemed to be over the top over and over again.  I must admit, it's nice to not be nervous at all as I anticipate what will happen next because I know Reacher will prevail.

Goodreads synopsis:  “This is a random universe,” Reacher says. “Once in a blue moon things turn out just right.”
          This isn’t one of those times.
          Reacher is on a Greyhound bus, minding his own business, with no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. Then he steps off the bus to help an old man who is obviously just a victim waiting to happen. But you know what they say about good deeds. Now Reacher wants to make it right.
          An elderly couple have made a few well-meaning mistakes, and now they owe big money to some very bad people. One brazen move leads to another, and suddenly Reacher finds himself a wanted man in the middle of a brutal turf war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs.
          Reacher has to stay one step ahead of the loan sharks, the thugs, and the assassins. He teams up with a fed-up waitress who knows a little more than she’s letting on, and sets out to take down the powerful and make the greedy pay. It’s a long shot. The odds are against him. But Reacher believes in a certain kind of justice . . . the kind that comes along once in a blue moon.

Poem - Miss McGillicuddy by Mary Anne Hoberman

Miss McGillicuddy

When our old baby-sitter quit

Another sitter came to sit.

She told us as she did the split,

     “I am not a fuddy-duddy.

      I am Miss McGillicuddy.”

While she touched her toes, she said,

“Homework should be done in bed.

Rest is best to clear your head.

     First you snooze and then you study.”

     So said Miss McGillicuddy.

When it rains, she doesn’t fret,

That’s because she likes to get

Dripping, dropping, sopping wet.

     “I don’t mind if I am muddy.”

      Silly Miss McGillicuddy!

                        Mary Ann Hoberman

                        from Knock at a Star: A Child’s Introduction to Poetry (Kennedy)

                        illustration by Karen Lee Baker

Poem: What I Love About Summer by Douglas Florian

This is a wonderful example of a "LIST" poem:

What I Love About Summer

Morning glories

Campfire stories

Picking cherries

And blueberries

Riding bikes

Mountain hikes

Bird calls

Curve balls

Short sleeves

Green leaves

Swimming holes

Fishing poles

Nature walks

Corn stalks

Skipping stones

Ice cream cones

Double plays

And barefoot days.

                                Douglas Florian

                                from Summersaults (Florian)

Poem: Stegosaurus by David Elliott

Stegosaurus

Your brain?

The size

of a

walnut.

Your bulk?

Immense.

Which proves

there’s some-

thing more

to life

than just

intelligence.

                        David Elliott

Poem: The Aliens Have Landed by Kenn Nesbitt

The Aliens Have Landed

The aliens have landed!
It’s distressing, but they’re here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.

They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.

Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.

Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.

And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you’ll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers!

                                    Kenn Nesbitt

Poem: My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson

My Shadow

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

And what can be the use of it is more than I can see.

He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;

And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow –

Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow:

For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,

And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.

He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play,

And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.

He stays so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see;

I’d think shame to stick to nursie as the shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,

I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;

But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,

Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

                                    Robert Louis Stevenson

97. Heidi's Guide to Four-Letter Words by Tara Sivec

Listened to on Audible Escape
narrated by Andi Arndt
Unabridged audio (6:15)
2019
197 pgs.
Adult RomCom (ADULT -with definite steam)
Finished 6/17/20
Goodreads rating:  4.04 - 3973 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:  Contemporary Minnesota - including accents and terminology

First line/s:  " 'Hello, everyone!  Welcome to Heidi's Discount Erotica Podcast, Episode Number Ten.' "

What I posted on Goodreads:  Stupidly unbelievable and totally fun.

My comments:  Very, very humorous story once you get over the overprotective, ridiculous mother.  It's about a 25-year-old that goes from super straight, innocent (almost ridiclously so) to over-the-tio sexual innovator.  Throw in befriending one of the hottest actors in America and his steamy romance author wife as your close friends and a too-good-to-be-true next-door  neighbor hunk and there you have it.  Totally unbelievable and totally fun.

Goodreads synopsis:  Cowritten by USA Today best-selling author Tara Sivec and award-winning narrator Andi Arndt, a hysterically funny, heartfelt romance about starting over and taking chances.
          Nothing good ever comes from drinking a box of wine alone. So when I decided to entertain my drunken self by setting up some hand-me-down podcasting equipment and reading the steamy parts from romance novels, I never thought anyone would actually listen. The fact that I admitted my huge crush on my sexy next door neighbor made the whole thing even more mortifying. But sometimes life surprises you, and that’s how my podcast, Heidi’s Discount Erotica, was born.
          Now I, Heidi Larsen, a sweet former kindergarten teacher in Waconia, Minnesota, lead a scandalous double life reading erotic novels to the listening world. And with each episode, I find myself embracing my new alter ego more and more. Now I’m starting to feel more comfortable in my own skin and do things I never would have dreamed of - like kissing my neighbor.
          Look out, Waconia, because Heidi’s on the loose! She’s in your ears, in your hearts, and down your pants...wait, that didn’t sound as good as it did in my head. Well, you get the picture, don’tcha know! 

96. Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

listened to audio - borrowed from Bosler
narrated by Caroline Lee
Unabridged audio (16:18)
2018 Flatiron Books
453 pgs.
Adult Mystery/Thriller
Finished 6/15/20
Goodreads rating:  3.50 - 325,076  ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: contemporary - outside Sydney, Australia

What I posted on GoodReads:  4.5  Excellent character development, a little long, great ending.

First line/s: " 'I'm fine,' said the woman.  'There's nothing wrong with me.'"

My comments: A wonderful, slow-burn character study of eleven individuals that are thrown together during one crazy, impactful week.  You get a little bit of a lot of things - drug abuse and dependency, teenage suicide, battling self-esteem issues, and even becoming a multi millionaire overnight, with all the issues that might accompany that.  I very much enjoyed the character development and growing relationships.  It got a little slow at about the 3/4 mark, but the best part for me was the way Moriarty decided to end the book.  The last 5% just tickled me!

Goodreads synopsis:  Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever?
          These nine perfect strangers are about to find out...
          Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be.
          Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer—or should she run while she still can?
          It’s not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question.
          Combining all of the hallmarks that have made Liane Moriarty's writing a go-to for anyone looking for wickedly smart, page-turning fiction that will make you laugh and gasp, Nine Perfect Strangers once again shows why she is a master of her craft.