Classified as Murder by Miranda James

I really liked this book. But not I suspect, for the usual reasons. The murder mystery was almost unimportant to me this time around. I was far more interested in the character's interactions. Especially the main character and his son, and the main character and the victim. There was a lot of realness, and humanity in how these relationships and interactions are portrayed, and I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the rare books that were described in the story. All in all a good read and I will be anxiously awaiting the next installment!

Rating: 4 stars (maybe even 5....)

Recommendations: This is the second of the Cat in the Stacks mysteries. The first one is Murder Past Due*.

305 pages in less than 2 hours.
* denotes a book I have already read and reviewed.

City of Theives by David Benioff

I liked this book, it's not something I would normally have picked (it was lent to me by a co worker) but I liked it. The book is set in Leningrad during WWII, it gives a nice little window on what life in the city was like while it was under siege by the Germans. The tone of the book is kind of dark and morbidly humorous but still very human. Especially the main character's internal musings. I'm sure if you wanted to nitpick about historical details you could, but that wasn't the point of the story, it just gives a feel to the event. It gives us a window on what life then could have been like.

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: I'm not familiar with this author and this is not a genre I normally read so I've got nothing for you guys this time!

258 pages took me about 3 hours.

Pastured Poultry Profits by Joel Salatin

This is a great book, it has lots of detailed information without getting bogged down in the technical details. The information in this book is comprehensive and presented very simply. The author writes in a very authoritative manner and he does have a lot of experience. He is also quick to admit mistakes that he has made, so that the readers do not repeat them. That being said some sections are repetitive, especially is rants about government regulation and the importance of honesty and attention to quality. The author makes the whole operation seem simple but emphasizes the hard work required.

Rating: 5 stars

Recommendations: I have read You Can Farm, and own (but haven't read yet) Salad Bar Beef.

334 pages took about 4 hours

Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Hurrah! A new book and series by Lincoln and Child. These two are some of my favorite authors. This book introduces a new character, Gideon Crew. Gideon is almost as interesting as the main character in their Pendergast novels. Gideon is not quite so quirky. He is charming and a little amoral and very intelligent. The plot was interesting and had enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. This is one of those adventure novels that lies somewhere towards the more realistic side of things. It's still not very realistic lol but better than say Threshold* was.

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: I love these authors. Their individual books are pretty good too, but I mainly like the stuff they write together. I especially like the Pendergast novels. The first book is Relic.

342 pages only took me 2 and half hours. These authors are a very fast read!

Out of the Dark by David Weber

I was really looking forward to this book, I like David Weber and enjoy some military sci-fi. This book started out great, Earth is attacked humanity courageously (and kind of futilely) fights back. Things go on, the aliens learn about our psychology and are dumbfounded. We keep fighting, things are not looking good. Then all of a sudden, mysteriously alien bases start being wiped out. I think, cool we have figured something effective out. The aliens think, the humans are getting help from another alien species. I wish the aliens had been right. Instead, in the last 3o or so pages.... Vampires show up. Yep, vampires... and not just any vampires, Dracula himself!! They kick the aliens ass, and some of them go off to attack their world. I couldn't believe it. Vampires???! I was thoroughly disgusted.

Rating: 1 star

Recommendations: Up till now, I would have said that anything by David Weber is good stuff. If you want some good stuff, read On Basilisk Station (book one of the Honor Harrington series) or Off Armageddon Reef (book one of the Safehold series).

381 pages 3 and a half hours.

Counterfeit of Murder by Ray Harrison

I enjoyed this book. It was not something that I would have normally picked up, I usually like the lighter "cozy" mysteries. This one was a historical mystery a police mystery. The main characters are a veteran sergeant in the London police, and his partner, a nobleman who wants to do something worthwhile with his life. They are investigating a counterfeiting ring. The story was clever and the characters were really likable. I especially want to learn more about Sergeant Bragg.

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: The next book in this series is Death of a Dancing Lady

250 pages took about 3 hours

Blonde With a Wand by Vicki Lewis Thompson

So, romance novels are my guilty pleasure. I read them because they are predictable, they always have a happy ending. That is comforting. This particular one was also fun. Lately I have been reading more supernatural oriented romance types. I used to know some romance writers and so I have a lot more respect for romance novels than I used to. Yes, there is a formula to these books, and they are predictable but that actually makes it more challenging to the author to make each book feel fresh and new. I like this author, I've read a few things that she has co written with others. This one was fun and had a cute concept. The main characters were likable and they both grew and changed over the course of the book.

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: There is a sequel to this book, Chick With a Charm.

336 pages took me about 2 hours

Threshold by Jereminy Robinson

Ah this was a great, fun read. Totally ridiculous of course but that is part of the fun. This book definitely falls on the far end of the realistic adventure spectrum. But it's still a great book, you just have to know what you're getting into. The characters were great, the mystery was intriguing, and the adventure was very high paced. Lots of fun!

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: This is a sequel to Instinct, and the first Chess Team adventure was Pulse.

352 pages took about 3 hours

Heroics for Beginners by John Moore

This book was alright, it had a fun concept. But the writer had his tongue so firmly is cheek it just got old. By the end of the book you were just sick of it. There oculd have been a lot more plot or character development but instead there was just clever little jokes and such. So the first few chapters were fun but then it just got annoying.

Rating: 3 stars

Recommendations: This reminded me somewhat of the Xanth novels by Piers Anthony. I can only read the Xanth novels in small doses because all the punning and word play drives me batty after a while. But they are fun.

256 pages in about 2 hours

The Death of Chaos by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

This is the sequel to The Magic of Recluse*. It completes the story of Lerris and his family. There is also a little bit more philosophy in this one, which I thought was interesting. The author talks about the nature of fairness, honesty, evil all sorts of things. This author doesn't draw a lot of hard and fast conclusions to these philosophical musings either, the characters implies understandings but doesn't usually state them outright. Leaving the reader to draw their own (if guided) conclusions. I didn't like this the first time I read some of the Recluse novels, it was too much work lol but I appreciate it more now :) But this book is not something I would read if I just wanted something fun and easy.

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: The rest of the Recluse Saga.

629 pages took me about 4 or 5 hours. :)

Sword of the Templars by Paul Christopher

Now I'm an easy sell for this sort of book. Action adventure with some conspiracies and ancient treasures and secret societies... the movie, National Treasure, excellent! Absurd... lol but excellent. That's how I feel about books in this genre. That being said, I think one was a touch more realistic than most. There weren't any wildly improbably action sequences, the main character does not seem super humanly smart or strong. The history behind the plot is interesting and seems well researched. I can go both ways in this genre, either stick with facts as well as you can. Or go completely off the deep end. Antarktos Rising* was a great example of that end of the spectrum.

Rating: 4 stars.I have a hard time giving anything in this thriller genre a 5 star rating cause I reserve 5 stars for something I will re-read. And this sort of book doesn't lend itself to that, once the big reveal has come you can't go back. So if you ever see a 5 star from me for this sort of book then definitely check it out!

Recommendations: Luckily this is the first book in a series! We have the Templar Cross, Templar Throne, and Templar Conspiracy too! Also Paul Christopher has a bunch of other works too that I liked.

352 pages took me about 3 hours

Would Be Witch by Kimberly Frost

I really enjoyed this book, and in fact have the next one in the series ready and waiting for me! The main character, Tammy Jo was charming and likable and not without flaws. I didn't especially care for the romantic foils in this book, but you weren't supposed to exactly. I'm hoping that Tammy Jo gets her act together soon though, the seat of your pants not ever *really* knowing what you're doing thing will get old soon. I want to see her grow!

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: The next book in the series is Barely Bewitched, I have a copy on my NOOK just waiting for me! And luckily the library has the third book, Halfway Hexed.

304 pages, 2 hours, an easy read

Wildlife in the Garden by Gene Logsdon

I liked this book. I found the conversational style rather charming and definitely easy to read. There were also some very good ideas for an amateur wildlife watcher to use; like, making index card files of all of the species you observe around you. There was not a lot of technical detail, which is good, I don't think that most people need or want a lot of detail like that. I at least just want the general idea. I'm a smart person I can take it from there. If I want more technical details then I will find them. By the way, if you are looking for ideas on how to keep animals *out* of your garden look elsewhere. The title is not kidding, the whole idea is to include wildlife in your planning.

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: I got this book cause my library doesn't have Logsdon's new book, Holy Shit. I also picked up The Last of the Husbandmen, I'll let you know what I think later.

296 pages took me about 3 hours.

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

I really liked this book. Not so much for the recipes, although there were a lot of those that I'm going to try. But on each page are little sidebars, and they are chock full of information and stories. I got a lot of other books to read from those little sidebars! There were a few things I didn't like about this book. One was that although the author is advocating a return to a more traditional diet she includes a lot of fairly obscure and hard to get ingredients. I know that she wants us to avoid processed sugars and flours and such, but I think a compromise would be beneficial. I think that was what bothered me most, was that it was a little unbending. Also to completely change your eating habits is hard. I think a gradual change is good, and more realistic. The way this book is presented you either eat healthy whole foods or you are eating crap. And I didn't like that... I know that cheetoes are bad for me, lol but sometimes I want them anyway and I don't want to feel judged for that!

Rating: 5 stars

Recommended: There were a few books mentioned in this one that I want to check out. One was The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid and Food is Your Best Medicine by Henry Beiler. I also want to check out The Fourfold Path to Healing by Sally Fallon.

688 pages, I'm not sure how long it took me, I didn't really read all the recipes lol but probably 5 or 6 hours!

Haunting Jordan by P.J. Alderman

I really liked this book. The main character was funny and smart and reminded me of me. I liked the way this author intertwined two plots. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in this series. I'm curious to see how the author is going to make this into a series though, how many ancient murders will the main character have to solve in a small town. Murders which will of course somehow tie into her own life. :)

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: The next book in this series is Ghost Ship. Luckily for me the library has it!

432 pages in about 3 hours I think.

Antarktos Rising by Jeremy Robinson

I enjoyed this book, it was fun, had some good action and, an impossible premise. I like pretty much anything in this genre. I was a little disappointed that the characters weren't that developed. Or rather that once the big revelation of the book was revealed there was hardly anymore character development at all. But all in all a fun read.

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: I like this authors later books, The Chess Team series. In this genre I really like James Rollins, Matthew Reilly, and Steve Berry.

453 pages took me about 3 hours