51. Sleep Tight by Anne Frasier

read on Kindle 

2003
400 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 5/20/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.10 - 4486 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting:  Contemporary Minneapolis

First line/s: "He hovered over the unmoving girl, deftly drawing a thick black line on her eyelid, curving it up at the corner."

My comments: A mesmerizing mystery that I tried to read here and there whenever I could.  Giving glimpses into the minds of several of the characters, it was interesting to be able to put pieces together so that although you knew what was happening by whom, you were there for the ride.  Anne Frasier is quickly become one of my favorite mystery writers.

Goodreads synopsis:  WAKE UP, LITTLE DARLING. DO YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE?

He's looking for the perfect woman. Someone who won't disappoint him, like so many have before. Someone who'll love him ... someone who won't have to die for her mistakes.
          GIVE UP, LITTLE DARLING....
FBI agent Mary Cantrell has been called to Minneapolis to hunt down a killer. Her reluctant return home is shaking her to the core, reviving dreadful memories. Years ago, her best friend was murdered. Now the man convicted of the crime, Gavin Hitchcock, is free--and Mary's own sister, Gillian, a local cop, has befriended him.
          NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM BUT ME.
As each clue to the new killings leads them closer to Hitchcock, Mary and Gillian put their differences aside and set themselves up as the perfect target--and the perfect trap. Unless Mary's own past has blinded her to an unimaginable truth ... and will plunge them into a waking nightmare....

122. Paradise Awakening by Jaci Burton

listened to Audio via CHIRP
narrated  by Sarah Puckett
Unabridged audio (4?33)
2003 Elora's Cave, 2019 Audible release
180 pgs.
Adult erotica
Finished 12/11/2019
Goodreads rating:  3.64 - 997 ratings
My rating: 1
Setting:  a far-off resort island....

First line/s:  "Michael Donovan finished unpacking and headed straight to the wet bar in the suite's living room."

My comments: A tropical island where people go for all the erotica they ever imagined.  Two stranger meet, two strangers that are instantly attracted and willing to try anything and everything.  A college literature professor and a California erotic mystery writer, lol.  Nonstop hot and steamy.  Steam is definitely four out of four.  unratable otherwise.  The reader has that slow, horrible valley girl lilst at the end of each word.  Blech!  I listened at a rate of 1.2 , and it didn't bother me quite so much...a ridiculous read.

Goodreads synopsis:  Serena Graham is looking forward to the vacation of a lifetime-a week at Paradise Resort, a Caribbean hideaway where she'll be able to indulge her every sexual fantasy with complete abandon and total anonymity. For the next week, she's Sexy Siren Serena and she'll do whatever she wants-with whomever she wants.
          Michael Donovan planned a week at Paradise Resort to research his next erotic crime novel, as well as indulge in some hot sex with his fashion model girlfriend. But when he finds his now ex-girlfriend has other plans, he's resigned to research without recreation. That is, until Serena shows up at his door claiming he's occupying her room.
          After a little negotiating, Michael and Serena become roommates, and Serena boldly asks Michael to be her lover for the week. How can he pass up the opportunity to mix a little pleasure with business? But despite their vow to keep their relationship strictly physical, they find much more than passion in paradise.

Picture Book - A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee by Chris VanDusen

Illustrated by the author

2003, Chronicle Books, San Francisco

28 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.36 - 1055 ratings

My rating:  5!!!!

1^st line/s:  “Early one morning at 7:03,

     Mr. Magee and his little dog, Dee,

Packed up the camper and hitched up the load.

     Hopped in the Rambler and then hit the road.

They drove to the mountains, far from the sea,

      For two nights of camping (or possibly three).”

My comments: Perhaps I love this VanDusen as much as Circus Ship (which has been my all-time favorite for the past couple of years).  Great, funny story, rhyming BRILLIANTLY, with just the coolest illustrations ever.  SO Maine!  I couldn’t love a picture book more!  Full of adventure and humor, a bear, trying to get at the yummy marshmallows, disconnects the camping trailer from the car and down the  hill the camper plunders…into the river and towards a waterfall!

Goodreads:  Mr. Magee and his trusty dog, Dee, are enjoying a peaceful camping trip when all of a sudden they find themselves plunging down a mountain and teetering on the edge of a huge waterfall! How will they find their way out of this slippery situation? Chris Van Dusen, the creator of Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, has filled this new adventure with charming illustrations and a playful, rhyming text. A fun read-aloud for children (and adults!) on campouts or snuggling at home!

PICTURE BOOK - The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

Illustrated by the author

2003 Roaring Brook Press

36 pgs, two of which are pullout two pages wide

Goodreads rating: 4.05 - 13, 830 ratings

My rating:  4

Endpapers:  Solid cream

1^st line/s:  "Once there were two towers side by side.  They were each a quarter of a mile high; one thousand three hundred and forty feet.  The tallest buildings in New York City."

My comments:  I've never felt particularly drawn to this book, and have perhaps skimmed it a couple of times, but I've read it today giving it plenty of attention, and I'm glad I did.  A TRUE STORY!  There's a bittersweet feeling at the end of the book, where it mentions that the towers are no longer there. Bittersweet because Philippe Petit's joy while traversing the 7/8-inch wire between the towers was palpable, and the picture of those two towers standing proudly in the New York City skyline will forever be etched in our brains.  The book ends: "But in memory, as if imprinted on the sky, the towers are still there.  And part of that memory is the joyful morning, August 7, 1974, when Philippe Petit walked between them in the air."  This was a very satisfying story, the pictures were wonderful, and the marriage of story and pictures certainly deserve the Caldecott Medal far more than others I've seen.

Goodreads:  From a highly-respected picture book author/illustrator comes a lyrical evocation of Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers.