How to Read Literature Like a Professor By: Thomas C. Foster

This book is utterly (pardon my French) fucking brilliant!  How I would have loved to have taken a class with Mr. Foster.  The insights he explains, simply are astounding.  If you love to read, then you MUST read this book.  It completely opened my eyes to new ways of looking at what I read, and reaffirmed things I was subconsciously doing all along while reading.  It's written in easily, reads easily and is so fun!  I can't gush enough about this book!

Chicago: With the Chicago Tribune articles that inspired it By: Maurine Watkins

I have been wanting to read the original Chicago script for decades-and I can now say that I have!  This edition of the script also included Ms. Watkins' original articles from the actual trials that inspired her play.  The play itself, reads as brilliantly in 2018 as it was intended in the 1920s, and it's sad to admit that when it was adapted into a musical in 1975 and revived in 1996, nothing in the script or in society has changed!

Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune and the Empire of Olympia & York By: Anthony Bianco

An exhaustively researched and laid out look at the Reichmann family from pre-nazi Hungary to the 90's-their rise to international domination as property developers to their spectacular bankruptcy in three countries and their phoenix like rise again!  All of this is accomplished while staying true to their faith (even in development and construction-learning how they managed this while not working themselves, or allowing any work by others in their companies during Shabot-is nothing short of extraordinary).  Some of the story can be a bit dry-but it really has to be in order to understand the ins and outs of the Olympia & York companies and it's complicated and convoluted workings.

Murder is a Monkey's Game By: Ruby Loren

I loved the fact that this is the 3rd book in this series, and yet I didn't feel lost as to who Madi was, or what her background was.  Enough information was peppered through out so that the reader can enjoy this great mystery without having read the previous two. When trouble land (literally) in the tiger's enclosure at the zoo Madi is currently working at, we are taken through an adventure through a small village in southern France.  This adventure includes paragliding, spiders, puppies, bitchy co-workers, exes and creepy British government agents.  A delectable combination that all adds up to a great mystery!

Glad One By: Margaret Lashley

I'm going to quote the beginning of this riotous book: it tells you everything you need to know about this series:

"Some people lead lives under a dark cloud. Others, under a lucky star. As far as I could tell, my life was under the control of a sadist brandishing a cattle prod and a whoopee cushion."

Enough said!

Flo Charts By: Sam Cheever

This prequel to the Silver Hills Mysteries is fantastic!  It sets up the work of Silver Hills and it's denizens beautifully.  It's fun, flows nicely and is well plotted!

Fragolino Fuchsia By: Traci Andrighetti

With this being a "quick, between novel" I felt a little lost as to who the characters were, and was really bothered by the former stripper running around in stripper outfits and not getting arrested for indecent exposure.  With that said, Franki is a great character.

Murder & Spice By: Wendy Meadows

A cute, quick mystery.  Thankfully, even though it was short, it wasn't sloppy.  Well written (great turns of phrase), and well plotted.

Gluten-Free Murder By: P.D. Workman

What started out as a great novel about an outsider coming home to a small town, turned into a great little mystery!  Written with a languidness that matches the small town setting, this is a lovely beginning to what promises to be a great series.

The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers who inspired "Chicago" By: Douglas Perry

How could I not love a book that combines, history, true crime, and theatre...COME ON!!!!  A brilliantly researched look at Maurine Watkins' work as a crime beat reporter during the 20's in Chicago, covering the spate of murderesses awaiting trial and their trials.  All of this against the back drop of the history of crime on Chicago at the time.  Leading up to Ms. Watkins leaving Chicago and writing the play "Chicago".  In looking at Watkins' work the reader is also treated to other amazing women who were ahead of their time (and no I'm not referring to the women on murder row).  Other female reports are featured as well a particularly brilliant female lawyer.  Having read Ugly Prey (regarding the Sabella Niti case), I was especially interested in this book and I was not disappointed.  I can't rave enough about this book!!!!!

Makeup & Murder. By: Stephanie Damore

I have to admit that I was concerned that this one would be very "girlie" because of the makeup theme-color me surprised and thrilled with this book!  Our heroine, Ziva is not as girlie as I assumed she would be, she was fabulously tough and girlie and a no BS kind of person.  Another great item of note in this book is the set of multi-cultural characters.  A well structured mystery, and colorful characters help propel Ziva through the start of this wonderful series.

Green with Envy By: N.L. Cameron

 

I was disappointed with this.  I didn't find the characters well developed, and they were all over the place in terms of how they behaved.  The story lines were convoluted and over all it just couldn't decide what kind of story it wanted to be.  It felt more like a draft that needed go over a few more times.

The Case of the Screaming Beauty. By: Alison Golden

This prequel sets up the Inspector David Graham series, brilliantly.  It reads like a Masterpiece Mystery series on PBS-and has a Christie type ending that I just loved.

Dying for Dinner Rolls. By: Lois Lavrisa

The Chubby Chicks Club reminds me a lot of my friends, so it was really easy to get sucked into their world.  When one of their own is found dead of an apparent suicide, the rest of the Club springs into action, often with hilarious results!  An intriguing start to a great series.

Murder at the Mansion. By: Alison Golden

I adore the Vicar!  Annabelle and her cohorts are a fun bunch of people to spend time with, even if there is a murder involved.  When a newcomer ends up dead, rumors fly and Annabelle flies into action, dodging conjecture and claims of kleptomania!  Annabelle's fondness for baked goods is a hoot and the recipes included read like a transcript form the Great British Baking Show.  Great fun!

Death at the Cafe. By: Alison Golden

Reverend Annabelle is ADORABLE!!!  This is a great little mystery and sets up, what I hope to be, a lovely series!

The Versatiles: Supporting Character Players in the Cinema 1930-1955 By: Alfred E. Twomey & Arthur F. McClure

As someone who's been performing as a character actor for 40+ years, I couldn't wait to dig in to this one.  What a joy it was to see character actors getting their due in this delightful encyclopedia.  Not only that, it was great fun to learn little tidbits about people I've been watching for years; like how Zasu Pitts got her first name; the irony of Margaret Hamilton-the woman who will forever be remembered as the Wicked Witch of the West and scaring the wits out of children for almost 80 year, was a trained Kindergarten teacher and spent her post movie life working with children and for children's charities!  This book was written in the late 60's so a great deal of the people featured where actually born prior to 1900, and by reading their bios you get a sense of how the world was back then, what kinds of jobs folks gave up to work as an actor (conversely what jobs they went into when they left acting), and how they put their individual quirks and characteristics to work for them!  Loved reading this book!

Blues Poems Ed: Kevin Young

I'm not a fan of the musical genre The Blues, but the poems in this collection are stunning.  They are evocative of time, place, social position and brilliant artistry.  Perfect for poetry, music, and/or Blues lovers. So glad I read this!

5th of July By: Lanford Wilson

An acrobatic piece of writing.  Realist dialogue hides the truth under the banal.  A great read and a great play!

High Strung By: Janice Peacock

I do love a creative entry in the cozy genre, and this is one such creative cozy!  Glass Bead Artistry is the back drop to the Jax O'Connell stories.  Fascinating art form, VERY quirky characters (we are dealing with artists after all) and a great who dunnit!  Really, what more could ask for in a cozy?!

Pancakes and Corpses By: Agatha Frost

Talk about airing your dirty laundry!  This great little cozy doesn't hide anything-as Julia looks into the death of a the church's organist, the secrets of practically everyone in town are laid bare...making the suspect list grow and shift continuously.  A great read!

Cruel Candy By: Mildred Abbott

What a delightful mystery!  Cruel Candy combines three of my favorite things: a bookstore; a well plotted mystery; and a protagonist with chutzpah! "Fred" (Winifred) and her snack craving Corgi, Watson move home to a tiny mountain town in Colorado to start a new life and open a book store. Finding her business neighbor dead in her new store, sets Fred on a wild owl chase and mystery worthy of Ms. Christie.  Well plotted, fun characters and a bucolic setting all add up to a great read!

Pachinko. By: Min Jin Lee

It may be that I wasn't too receptive to this book because of the atmosphere in this country at the moment, that has me deeply upset, but I couldn't find a lot about his book that was appealing.  I felt that it was one tragedy after another, after another, after another with no good points to balance it out.  I had a hard time getting through this one and couldn't wait to be finished with it.