Month: July 2025

Book Review: Murder in the Mews

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Murder in the Mews
Hercule Poirot #16
by Agatha Christie
read by Nigel Hawthorne & Hugh Fraser

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

As I said in my review of the previous book of short stories from this series, there’s something to be said about the succinctness here. Oftentimes, what I dislike most about a Poirot novel is how bloated the plot feels, so it’s nice to get to the point a little more quickly. Though at least one of these stories felt too short, so there’s that. The story that I remember thinking was a little too short, though, is also the one that stood out to me the most. Though the ending seemed a little rushed, I liked the plot and the twist. Overall, I find that trying to guess at what’s going to surprise me at the end of a Poirot story (long or short) is what I enjoy most, and it takes less time to get there with these shorter stories. I was not a fan of the narrator of the first story, “Murder in the Mews,” which was Nigel Hawthorne, so it was a huge relief when it changed to Hugh Fraser, who has been my favorite narrator throughout this series, for the last three.

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Book Review: Collared

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Collared
Andy Carpenter #16
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When a dog is brought to the Tara Foundation, it turns out to be a dog involved in a child abduction case, a dog presumed to be dead. The mother of the kidnapped child is a friend of defense attorney Andy Carpenter and his wife, and he reluctantly agrees to look into the situation, starting with the dog. But when he begins to believe that the man who has been convicted of killing the child may be innocent, Andy knows he may have grounds for appeal.

I’m definitely seeing a pattern, wherein the less section of 3rd-person narration showing us the more in-depth parts of the conspiracy involved in the plot there are, the more I enjoy the book. It’s not really surprising. I always prefer to stay with Andy and his crew anyway. I particularly enjoyed Hike in this book, surprisingly enough. I will say that I started to lose track of what was going on near the end, as the plot got a little too twisty for me to follow well while listening to the audiobook. I’m pretty sure I sussed it all out correctly by the end, but maybe it was a little more convoluted than it needed to be. Still, this book was a solid addition to the series. As always, Grover Gardner is the consummate Andy Carpenter, and I recommend this book for fans of mysteries and court dramas.

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Book Review: Moonleapers

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Moonleapers
Book #1
by Margaret Peterson Haddix

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade science fiction

The good news is that 12-year-old Maisie is finally getting a phone like everyone at school. The bad news is that her family is going to spend the summer in Maryland so her mom can be with her great-aunt who is dying. A mysterious text on the phone that actually used to belong to Great-Aunt Hazel, a blank book, and a brief phone call from a dying woman launch Maisie into the world of moonleaping.

The official synopsis gives as little clue about what moonleaping is and what angle this sci-fi book takes as I did above, so it sort of feels like a spoiler to explain. But the info is available in the genre sections on both Goodreads and Amazon, and I really don’t think I can write this review very well without stating it, but I’ll still try to be vague. This book is an interesting take on time travel, especially since there’s technically no travel involved. It’s all about communicating with other times, not traveling there. I’m the kind of person who really appreciates a time travel story that is well done, where connections to the past or the future are made well and flow in the way that would make the most sense if time travel were real. And though there are definitely some liberties taken here that are somewhat common in this genre, they really worked for me. I can’t explain further, but I actually got really excited by a sort of twist that the author brought out later in the book to make the time travel angle work in a fresh way.

The story and journey along the way to Maisie discovering what she can do and what she’s supposed to do with it are maybe a little on the slower side, but I was never bored. As the set-up for more to come now that Maisie knows about her moonleaping abilities, the book did what it needed to do and gave plenty of intrigue along the way. Some things are left unexplained—maybe they’ll be explained in a future book, but to be honest, they didn’t feel to me like loose enough threads to be certain they’ll ever be explained. Though that doesn’t make me want an explanation any less. Then there were other aspects that I wish had simply been fleshed out more in the plot, especially some details related to the climax. Also, Maisie’s younger siblings at times acted or talked older than their ages, especially her brother, which threw me off now and then.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this book and am already looking forward to the next one, even though this one won’t be released for over a month! I do recommend this book for anyone who likes mystery and intrigue and light time travel elements. It is middle grade fiction, but I don’t think the younger audience makes the story any less readable for adults.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: September 16, 2025

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Book Review: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

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Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
Book #1
by Brandon Sanderson
read by Ramón de Ocampo


My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

When Alcatraz Smedry turns 13, he receives an inheritance in the mail—a bag of sand. Then he sets fire to his current foster parents’ kitchen and is about to be removed from the home when an old man claiming to be his grandfather shows up and whisks him off to help fight the evil librarians. Somehow that bag of sand, which was stolen soon after Alcatraz received it, is related to an entire world that Alcatraz doesn’t know he’s a part of.

I listened to this book on a whim while waiting for other audiobooks I had on hold to be ready for me. I’ve never read any Brandon Sanderson and always found the idea of it a bit daunting, but I thought a middle grade book could be a good place to start. And it is a simple enough story for being fantasy. The world building is inventive and a bit complex, while the plot is tropey and not hard to follow. Alcatraz narrates the story and often interrupts it to talk about the art of storytelling or to remind the reader that he’s actually a terrible person, no matter how brave and selfless he might seem. Sometimes these interruptions were interesting or amusing, other times they were obnoxious and felt a little overdone.

There are some elements in the story that I particularly enjoyed, like when we begin to understand just how useful Grandpa Smedry’s talent actually is. And another character’s talent having its moment to shine. At least a little of the world building left me scratching my head—I didn’t fully understand or believe how some of the evil librarians’ tactics worked, and if I had a difficult time with it, I’m sure younger readers would as well. Overall, I mostly enjoyed the book, but it’s kind of weird—when I was around 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through, I told my husband that it was kind of boring, or at least not particularly engaging so far. Yet I remember also feeling happy to be able to get back into listening when I had the chance. So I guess part of me was more engaged than I realized? I don’t know if I’ll continue the series. Probably not right away, which means that if I decide to come back to it again someday, I’ll probably need to re-read this one to remember it well enough to continue. Maybe having a better understanding of what I’m getting into from the beginning will  help me like it more. In the meantime, I do think that kids around 12-14 who like fantasy worlds, antiheros, and polite dinosaurs could enjoy this book.

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Book Review: The Collector of Burned Books

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The Collector of Burned Books
by Roseanna M. White

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Historical Christian romance

When the Nazis invade Paris, they also take over a library full of books that were banned in Germany. The man sent to catalogue and update this and other libraries in Paris is Christian Bauer, who is only a Nazi officer as a means for survival. Corinne Bastien, a neighbor of the library and regular frequenter, makes herself a target of Christian and some of his Nazi compatriots when she sneaks into the library to try to recover some secrets she’d left behind. But Christian doesn’t want to cause problems for her any more than he does anyone else. Will he be able to stay true to his beliefs when his superiors push for destruction?

I was excited to read this book, because I read and loved White’s The Imposters series, set in Edwardian England, and I enjoy WWII fiction. However, it felt a little off to me. Corinne was a pretty terrible resistance worker, leaving evidence sitting around and drawing so much attention to herself. By the end of the book, the Nazis involved felt a little too much like an idealized version of what I’m used to, both in fiction and non-fiction. I actually hoped for information in an author’s note explaining why White made some of the choices she did—factual evidence or anecdotes to explain why most of the German soldiers and authorities in this book are, frankly, more polite and forgiving than how they’re usually portrayed, but there was nothing. It just felt somehow like the stakes and consequences were lower than they should be, given the setting.

On the plus side, Christian is a very sympathetic male hero. My favorite moments in this book are related to his story. I appreciate that his faith and devotion to his homeland require him to walk a thin line between going along with the Nazi Party and doing what he believes is right. And yet, he questions whether he is sinning when he lies to protect a life. I’m not sure I would agree with the line drawn here in answer to that question, but I also can readily admit that none of us knows for sure what we would do in this kind of situation. The main characters in the book are Catholic and observe various practices that are extra-biblical at best. This is probably not the best platform to go into detail or start a debate, but I think some people would appreciate knowing this information in advance. Overall, the book fell short of my expectations, but I think many people would easily overlook the things that brought the rating down for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tyndale House Publishers for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Beauty in the Least

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Beauty in the Least
McGee and Me! #12
by Bill Myers & Robert West

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian fiction

This was my least favorite book in the series, which is a shame, since it’s also the last, leaving me on a not-so-high note. It just doesn’t have the same feel as the rest of the series. The entire family is so put out by these visiting foreigners, and I’m not really sure anyone learns much of a lesson in the end. The father and son duo provide the only real heart in the story, and it’s overall pretty brief. Considering all of the growing Nicholas has done throughout these books, I just think he should be beyond the petty, immature behavior he displays here—or at least that he should get past it a little more quickly. So sadly, I wouldn’t recommend this book on its own, but the rest of the series is still great. These books may not be easy to find anymore, but if you do have the chance to read any of them or procure them for an 8-10-year-old child, I recommend it.

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Book Review: Mary Anne Saves the Day

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Mary Anne Saves the Day
The Baby-Sitters Club #4
by Ann M. Martin

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic

For complete transparency, I’ll say up front that I read a lot of this series when I was a kid/pre-teen. And at the time, my name was the same as the founder of the BSC (with the first name spelled slightly different). Nostalgia will hugely affect my reviews for this series, and I have no plans to try to be objective.

Mary Anne was the character I most identified with in this series. She’s quiet, shy, and doesn’t like conflict. And she makes a new friend by sort of falling into it, which is about the only way I ever made new friends in school too. Her character grows a lot in this one book, as she confronts not only her fighting friends but also her over-protective dad. The fight between the members of the BSC is unfortunately very realistic for the age they are. Of course, as an adult, I wanted to sit them all down and make them stop being stupid, but I’m sure when I read it originally, I sided with one or another of the characters. Also as an adult, I feel like it’s a bit of an overreaction to take a kid with a fever and no other symptoms to the emergency room unless the kid had some kind of pre-existing medical condition. Overall, though, this was a fun book to re-visit.

Whether or not this book will translate well to kids and pre-teens now, I couldn’t say. I wish I had thought to start reading this series to/with my daughter when she was around 8-10, because I think she would have enjoyed it, and we could have discussed the good and the bad of the books.

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Book Review: Cloaked in Beauty

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Cloaked in Beauty
by Karen Witemeyer

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Historical Christian romance

Scarlett Radcliffe is heir to a fortune left to her by her late father. But her father’s brother wants the inheritance for himself and is willing to kill to get it. To keep her safe from her uncle, Scarlett’s mother sends her away from the age of 6 until her 21st birthday, when she will be able to fully inherit the fortune and hopefully give her uncle no more cause to pursue her. When that time comes, Pinkerton agent Philip Carmichael is sent by Scarlett’s mother to bring her home safely.

It was difficult to find much to like about this book for me. A lot of it is personal preference, the most glaring one being that the romance was far too big a part of the plot and steamier than I prefer, especially in Christian fiction. I’ll address that last part first for others who are like me and want to know about this kind of thing before deciding to read a book. Other reviewers will call the romance sweet and clean, and I’m not disputing that there was nothing graphic or even all that physical involved. But the bulk of the plot seemed to consist of the author finding ways to put the two main characters (physically) close together so they could “notice” each other and have flutterings and such. I’m not going to go on at length about this, but I will just say that I was left with the feeling that the author really wanted to write mainstream romance but was stuck writing Christian romance for whatever reason and so skirts as close to the line as she can get away with. This may seem harsh and is probably completely untrue, but some scenes are close to the line, at least in my view. And even beyond those issues, physical attraction is not the same as romance. To me, it usually just means that the author doesn’t really know how to write real chemistry and connection between two characters and has to resort to physical sparks and even lust.

Now for the rest—the plot was fairly predictable and the characters were one-dimensional. I’d be hard-pressed to tell you a single flaw that either of the MCs had, other than maybe them both being stubborn, but even that trait is shown more as a strength than a weakness. The villain is ultimately an unnecessary, replaceable cliché, and I think that, had more time been spent on the rest of the plot and less on the time the two MCs traveled together, the story and characters could have been more fleshed out. This book, and the series it’s part of, is billed as a fairy tale retelling. I don’t read a lot of retellings, and I did see a lot of allusions to the two fairy tales mentioned (“Little Red Riding Hood” and “Sleeping Beauty”)—though much more the former than the latter—it didn’t seem like what I’d call a retelling. That didn’t bother me or affect my rating, but I thought it was worth mentioning. 

I don’t like to write reviews like this, and I did give the book 2 stars, mostly because the characters do trust God pretty unwaveringly in the story and because it just doesn’t feel like a 1-star book. But I was fairly bored during most of the middle and ended up doing a LOT of skimming. I wouldn’t personally recommend this book, but if you are not bothered by the things I mentioned in my review, please check out the link below to read the positive reviews and decide if this is a book for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bethany House for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Stellar English

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Stellar English
by Frank L. Cioffi

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Grammar guide / sci-fi story

Part grammar guide, part sci-fi novel, Stellar English was a very different kind of read. For a few years after high school I often consulted a grammar guide I was given by my high school AP English teacher, and I definitely only opened it when I needed to remind myself of certain grammar rules while writing. (I guess books like that are pretty obsolete now, when one can simply look online for answers to grammar questions, assuming that one cares enough about their grammar to ask a question.) In some ways, this book reminds me of that guide that I had, but where that guide used sentences from other published works, this guide’s example sentences were written to form a new work of fiction—the story of an alien invasion on Earth.

Understandably, I never read the entirety of the grammar guide I got in high school. However, Cioffi seems to have a strong desire for people, even in our present age of the internet and AI, to have a good grasp of grammar, so the sci-fi narrative throughout the guide is intended to entice a reader to read through the entire book, not just look for info on an as-needed basis. I read the book as intended, though I have to admit to skimming some of the grammar section when the information was something I feel I have a good grasp on. Still, I picked up a few helpful tidbits and felt justified in having ignored the “don’t end a sentence with a preposition” rule that I have long felt makes little sense to follow so strictly anymore. The somewhat conversational tone made the grammar part of the book not as tedious as it might sound.

As for the narrative told in the example sentences, it is easy to follow and overall a brief, somewhat shallow story. Aliens land on Earth, and the focus is more on the human reaction to the perceived invasion than on the aliens themselves. At times the pace is very slow, and at times it jumps ahead quickly. Considering the nature and context of the story being told, I can’t really fault the pacing choices though. The story of the invasion and the aliens themselves were inventive, though a little less exciting in the end than I might have hoped for. And there was some unnecessary political commentary in the story that bugged me a little. Overall, though, the story did its job in giving me a reason to read through the book in its entirety (minus some skimming). Anyone who is interested in improving their grammar or simply in reading a unique take on a grammar guide or a sci-fi story should considering picking up a copy of Stellar English.

I received a copy of this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Murder in Mesopotamia

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Murder in Mesopotamia
Hercule Poirot #14
by Agatha Christie
read by Anna Massey

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

Not my favorite of the Poirot stories I’ve listened to so far. A lot of it is personal preference, though, like the jarring change in narrator, which probably wouldn’t have been an issue if I wasn’t listening to the audiobooks and used to male voices. The setting and background situation in the story, an archeological expedition in Iraq (or something like that), could have been interesting, but it was pretty meagerly used. The resolution to this story was a little bizarre and not very believable. And man, did it feel like it took a really long time for Poirot to actually appear in the story (though this isn’t the first one that I felt that way about). Overall, it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t live up to my favorites in the series so far.

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