Good writing honed into great writing, I first read Black Ice 2 decades ago when it came out. I loved Harry Bosch. I love Renee Ballard just as much. My one criticism is that the 2 detectives are not that different. I find that Renee is flat as a female character and reads much more as a male. I‘ve found very few cases where a male author writes a female main character as well as they do a male. (The best was Laramie Dunaway, if you are curious).

Loved it. I don‘t normally enjoy diary/journal style books but this one is great.

If you‘ve read a fools gold novel this series is just a rebranding. Just change the city, the names. I am tempted to run it trough plagiarism detector to see how high a score it gets. (Can an author plagiarize their own work? This should be the next book club question. Or maybe ask Janet Daily?)I digress. This book is exactly as you would expect it to be 2-3 hours of escapism with no lingering after effects. Completely forgettable.

“It‘s like Scooby-Doo. People think it‘s teaching you all these big lessons about how monsters aren‘t real, when really it‘s just showing kids over and over again that when something seems out of whack, there‘s probably some old white dude behind it.” -from Chaos Choreography. My new favorite quote. This quote is why I‘m giving this book 5 stars, when the others in this series received 4.

I gave this one 3 stars, and then I realized that had I read this one before The Hating Game I would have rated it 4 stars.
Have you ever rated a book less on its own merits and more on its comparison to another?

This is my new favorite romance. It is smart, funny, frustrating and exciting. It is witty dialogue and sexy confrontations. It will make you laugh out loud and cringe in sympathy. It is a romance that you will read more than once because she got it right. 5 ⭐️

This book is insane. The chaos and calamity are off the charts. But it‘s funny and fast paced and all over the place. I belly laughed more than once.

This book is chick lit. It has the usual narrative of a 20 something romance, the antagonist is a mixture of current culture hashtags and typical does he love me angst. And yet, the story has a surprising level of intensity. Your heart feels banded, your stomach clenched, you feel for the characters. And that is a good story. Thanks Ms. Nix, I really liked your story.

Great new series. Fast paced not overly dramatic and surprising. This is NOT a twilight look alike as sooo many are. I‘m looking forward to the second book.

This is a lovely story. A coming of age story, only the heroine is 40. It is a tale of friendship and of music. It is a book to recommend.

There are some good tips and it is a simple effective method. However, she‘s too sweet, she tells us to greet our house, express your gratitude for your objects support, for bringing us joy. It‘s just too much. But I know I‘m in the minority here. Thankfully it‘s a quick read.

Comfort food. Grilled cheese sandwiches and canned tomato soup, and because it‘s the comfort your after you don‘t really care about the gmo only 10% milk cheese and that the soup came in a can. It just makes you feel good. Jill Mansell writes books like comfort food, the characters are identifiable, the story predictable, and if a bit cheesy well, it makes you feel good.

This was a fun easy candy bar read. Not as good as the Paper Magician in the same world, but a nice bit of entertainment for the night.

Originally titled the Little Shop of Happy Ever After. This book is a delightful city girl moved to country romance. And were it not for the little mobile bookstore concept it would just be another enjoyable but forgettable romance. But that van...this story offers the librarian in all true book lovers a chance to imagine the perfect life, where books find readers and readers books, in an idyllic Scottish setting. Yes please.

A lovely story filled with Americana and philosophy. If you like Mitch Albom‘s Five People You Meet In Heaven, you will like this novel.

This one made me laugh out loud multiple times. Lots of fun quirky characters.

Absolutely love this book. The optimism, the suspense, the thrill of discovery, the philosophy. I loved it all. I smiled, I cried. A very good read.

Just started this one. So far very interesting.

I like how honest he is about his failures. His approach to farming was fascinating in its lack of forethought, planning and mission. This book should be the go to guide on what not to do when deciding to become an urban farmer. But it is a good story, and you can skip the side trips and forays, and still enjoy the read.

I really enjoyed this YA novel. The relationships and sense of darkness beneath the surface were well written. It is repetitive as a device (her brain injury) so I found myself skipping bits, but overall a good read. 4 stars, 1.5 hours

I loved this book. It made me laugh out loud and cry like a baby. This one goes on the must read list with Population 485. Both books are about EMTs but this one is more comedy than tragedy.

I was predisposed to dislike this book, as I am want to do with any book hyped to the masses. Turns out the masses were right, it is a good read. The pic is from my fishing trip with Dad this weekend, after eight hours on the boat I was excited to see a port a potty (perhaps excited is the wrong word) and my dad shouts "watch for snakes" as I approached the potty. Hard to miss this guy. Like Cheryl, I give any snake a wide berth. #icanholdit

I liked how honest this account feels. The hermit is both unlikeable and engaging. This is a well told human story. A must read.

This book is amazing. I loved her Temeraire series, but this is even better. I just finished it and want to start it over again right away. 5 stars.

I found this one a little to simple for me. It covers basics of many tasks but no in depth or even new ideas. Read Little House Living instead.

"When they asked me why organic food was so expensive I came up with a new response. "First shouldn't we figure out why the other food is so cheap?""

This memoir takes us through the authors experience trying to save the family farm. If you are interested in sustainable organic farming this is a must read. 4 stars. 4 hours. I used Overdrive and my Local Library to read this ebook.

So I did my 24 in 48 a week early. I spent this weekend in Fools Gold, a fictional town with the slogan "happy endings" (which gets changed because pop culture ruins many things). There are 20 books in the series I tackled 10. They all follow a pretty tight script of contemporary romance, but are fun for the different characters. A predictable yet enjoyable treat, banana pudding comes to mind.

This is not a quickly consumed treat, this is the slow thoughtful process of changing your life. There are as many statistics and recipes as there are farm antidotes, all of which are worth reading. My only complaint is I might not be able to eat bananas again. (Unless you know of a fair trade, sustainable, and local supply, no? Let's hope the banana trees in my yard produce.)

At the Dwight D Eisenhower Presidential Library. #bucketlist #34thpresident #tbr

I'm in a mood for farming and homesteading memoirs. This book is perfect, it has all the characteristics of a novel in a memoir, it is heartfelt, exciting and a happy ending. She is currently working on a second book, so add to this books list of pros, it's the first in a series! (Squee!) 5 hours well spent.

Love this book. It's like my favorite Pinterest board in one book. So many great recipes and a nice personable narration. Added bonus the author is very responsive on Facebook. If you are trying to go unprocessed or just trying to save money this book has tons of ideas for you. Love the cobbler mix (pictured) and the instant re fried beans.

The best thing about this book besides the fact it was free; it only took an hour to read. This author offers platitudes and tripe with no plot, yes I know it's a memoir, but still tell a story. This is just a collection of thoughts by someone who thinks a lot of themself. I give it 2 stars only because I finished it, barely. This was a Scribd select for December, such a disappointment.

I confess, I love romance novels, like candy bars, I devour them quickly, greedy to get to the Happily Ever Ater. This one didn't disappoint. True Confessions by Rachel Gibson. 4 stars 2.5 hours to read.

We listened to this on the road trip home from Thanksgiving. It was quite interesting. A House episode in a book. She takes a lot of side trips about different medical jargon, but keeps it interesting. 4 stars.

Another new favorite. Kristan Higgins writes families and characters like no other. No candy bar here, this is pure pound cake. It goes on the read twice shelf.

Just heard Charles on Snap Judgement. Definitely adding this to my stack.

Just found the largest collection of John D MacDonald I've seen. Next time you are in Lexington stop by Unique Books #getindie

This was the perfect candy bar. A good romance, a creative world, danger, secrets, family and a happy ending. This is the kind of book that makes you want to stay up all night devouring it like a bag of Halloween candy. If you need me I'll be picking up wrappers and downloading her next book.

If you like paragraphs filled with clichés and proverbs this is the book for you. I use Scribd and this is a free by for September. I made it through chapter 2.

Great little spot to sip &read. Kentucky Coffeetree Cafe a great little cafe/bar attached to bookstore in Frankfort, KY. I saw the book at this store, next time I will read it. #getindie

Shelf cleaning, this one i originally read in high school, I picked up this copy at a yard sale. I loved this series back then, now it's just so-so. Age and other titles have changed my point of view.

I just got this antique library cabinet and had to empty the shelves it replaced. It's funny the books you forgot you had. I so wanted to love this book, The Historian is a favorite of mine, alas The Swan Thieves is not.

I was in the mood for a candy bar when I picked this book up at Target today. What I got was more disappointing. Egg custard disappointing. You know the type, looks good, smells delicious, but the texture is just not right. So it is with this book, JR Ward has written some good candy bars, the kind you hoard and pull out at midnight, knowing you need to sleep. This is not one of them.

At first I thought, this is just another Eat, Pray, Love. But to my delight it was a full blown romance novel, with our heroine in love with a boy and a place. A good dessert novel. Creme Brûlée, instead of the candy bars I usually satisfy my sweet tooth with.

My next read. I loved The Dogs of Babel, I hope this is as good