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Book Review: In the Nick of Time

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In the Nick of Time
McGee and Me! #10
by Bill Myers & Robert West

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian fiction

This is the first in what I always thought of as the “older Nick” additions to the series. I don’t know that I ever watched this one, so the story was unfamiliar to me. I really liked the suggestion of looking up before you look down, meaning look to God before you look at the difficult situation in front of you. There’s also a very good lesson in taking a mountain one step at a time (cue Psalty song to really hit the nostalgia), rather than getting anxious over the idea of tackling it all at once. Just do the next thing, then the next thing, etc. That’s good advice for anyone—young or old, Christian or not. As Nick gets older, though, it seems like McGee is much less part of his life (in fact, I’m not sure Nick “acknowledged” McGee more than once in this book), and so it’s all the more jarring that this obnoxious, egotistical imaginary character keeps popping in to have his own little adventures. Still, the main story is another good one. These books may not be easy to find anymore, but if you do have the chance to read this book or procure it for an 8-10-year-old child, I recommend it.

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Book Review: Vespers Rising

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Vespers Rising
The 39 Clues #11
by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman, & Jude Watson

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.

Though it’s billed as the last book in the main 39 Clues series, this book is really more of a launching point into a spinoff series: Cahills vs. Vespers. This book is a collection of 4 vignettes of different key points in the history of the Cahill family—the death of the patriarch of the family after he split the Clues into 4 sets and sent them with his four children; the fifth Cahill child grown up and trying to figure out how to proceed with her task; Grace Cahill coming into her role in the family; and Amy & Dan learning about the rival family and being sent off on another adventure.

Each of these stories dives in quickly and gives you just what you need to catch up and follow the action. Some are a little confusing at first, but I found each of them to be engaging in its own way.  However, it’s easy to feel like the Vespers were made up after the main series had found enough success that the authors/publisher wanted to be able to keep it going, because it seems strange that, with as dogged as these people are, they would not have come up even once during the Clue hunt in the first 10 books. Whether or not that will prove to be a detraction for the coming books remains to be seen (by me, at least), but I’ll definitely give it a try. I’m also not entirely sure how necessary this book is to the rest of the series. It’s definitely not at all important to finishing the main series. Whether it contains information that is crucial to the spinoff or not, I don’t know. I’m also not sure it would be quite as fun a read for middle grade readers as the rest of the series.

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Book Review: The Groundworld Heroes

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The Groundworld Heroes
by Adrian So

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s fantasy

The continual war between humans and ground-dwelling animals comes to life in this fun, well-crafted adventure by (then) 13-year-old Adrian So. The main character is a mole named Benjamin who is basically just trying to follow rules and be the best Soiland citizen and member of the mole-digger team that he can be, but the incursion of the humans causes all sorts of chaos. While Benjamin gets left behind, the rest of the Soilanders, under the direction of the president, Mr. Hare, who gives his own POV to the story, run into trouble as refugees. The inclusion of terms like “bunny-hops” as units of distance and “badger-winces” as units of time added to the immersion of the underground world, though at times some were a little difficult to follow. There were parts here and there that felt unnecessary or confusing that perhaps may be cleaned up before the book releases (I received an ARC to review at the author’s request), and sadly that includes the dragonfly fossil thread that ran through the story in a way that I don’t think I ever understood. But overall, the story felt like a fun adventure that kids in the 7-10 age range will enjoy.

I received a free review copy from the author in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.
Publication date: August 6, 2024

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Book Review: Poirot Investigates

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Poirot Investigates
Hercule Poirot #3
 by Agatha Christie
read by David Suchet

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

Reading this collection of short stories after reading 3 full-length Poirot books, I really appreciated the succinctness of the mysteries here. As far as I can tell, the short stories are very uncommon in this series, though, so it’ll be back to the longer plots that I can’t help but feel run on too long after this. Though some of the stories in this collection were more enjoyable than others, overall I felt much more engaged throughout than I have so far in my readings of Poirot. Poor Hastings, though…if I were in his place, I’m sure I’d make all the same “stupid” mistakes that Poirot berates him for. If only Poirot were a bit more understanding of those who aren’t the genius he is.

I know that David Suchet, who narrated this version of the audiobook, famously portrayed Poirot in TV adaptations, though I have not seen any version of Poirot on any size screen. I will say, though, that for a good portion of these stories, his French accent for Poirot was almost too difficult to understand. Then it suddenly seemed to lighten partway through. Outside of that, though, I enjoyed listening to this audiobook.

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Book Review: The Bungalow Mystery

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The Bungalow Mystery
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #3
by Carolyn Keene
read by Laura Linney

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic mystery

I’m finding it a little difficult to write a different review for each of these books, so I’ll just say a few things. I appreciate the excitement at the beginning, with Nancy and a friend stuck out on the water during a thunderstorm and that leading them to meet a young girl who ends up needing Nancy’s help. Though her predicament was pretty obvious to me from the start, I’m certain that those of the age group that these books are meant for would not have figured it out as easily. Overall, I’m enjoying the series and this trip back to a different time (though whether that time is the 30s or the 50s, I don’t know…apparently the original books were updated at some point, and I don’t know for sure which version these audiobooks are based on.) Laura Linney again does a great job bringing Nancy to life, making the audiobook a great option for this series.

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Book Review: Last Girl Breathing

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Last Girl Breathing
by Court Stevens

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Suspense, mystery

Eight years after heavy rain caused a dam failure that swept away her younger brother, Lucy’s step-brother Martin has gone missing in the same expanse of land that was under water all those years ago. Lucy can’t help but wonder if Martin’s allegations that someone was behind the dam break are related to his disappearance, and soon she’s swept up in an escalating mystery that involves multiple deaths and disappearances.

I found myself really caught up in the suspense of this book—the search for Martin, the questions about the dam break, the obvious suspicious behavior of Lucy’s ex-boyfriend. Every once in a while, there’s a brief glimpse into the day of the dam break, and the impending disaster in those sections added to the suspense for me. There are a lot of characters, basically all of whom could be involved in either the dam disaster or the current tragedy. It took me a little bit to understand the dynamics of this group of families who are said to spend a lot of time together, but once I did, I had no issue keeping them straight.

The thrill ride comes to an abrupt halt, though, a little past halfway, when part 1 ends and part 2 is basically just a page saying that time has gone by. Then part 3 picks up 2 years later. It was a bit of a jolt, though I understand the need for a time jump. I definitely didn’t expect it and wonder if there was a better way to do it, but I was still invested and wanted to find out the truth of everything. However, my real issue comes with the ending. The ending is usually pretty make-or-break for suspense/thriller novels, and this one was…okay. It felt a little too much like a twist was thrown in just for the sake of having a twist. By the time we find out who’s behind much of the events, I don’t feel very connected to that person, so it probably doesn’t hit me as hard as it should. And by that point, to be honest, I was half expecting it anyway. Overall, though, I enjoyed the book more than not and have already recommended it to my suspense-loving teenage daughter. I like that it’s fairly clean overall, with no language that I can remember and only side references to affairs or other things of that nature (including a fairly uncomfortable mention of a first kiss when Lucy was 13). Though I think the pacing could have been better, I feel comfortable recommending this book to any fan of suspense novels who is interested.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Reflections of the Mole

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Reflections of the Mole
by Bill McDaniel

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Memoir

My husband and I were huge fans of The Mole back in the day; it’s really the only non-cooking-related reality show I’ve ever watched. I actually watched the 2 regular seasons with my teenage daughter, and then I found out about this book, written by (spoiler alert) the Mole from season 2. The book is exactly what I was hoping for: a walk-through of much of the filming of season 2—the games, the suspicions, the twists. After each elimination, there’s even something about the eliminated player, a sort of “aftermath” section, including some written by those other players. McDaniel also talks about his life before The Mole, all the way back to his childhood. His style is conversational, and I really enjoyed being able to get a glimpse behind the scenes of the show and into the mind of the man who was placed into the game to cause trouble. I would say that if you are/were a fan of the show, you definitely might enjoy this book. Otherwise, I doubt you’d have much interest.

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June in Review

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I read 9 books last month, the 2nd-lowest number so far this year. Considering that the 2nd week was Vacation Bible School at our church, and my husband and I are directors, and the week before that was full of last-minute prep, this number is actually higher than I expected. The majority of the books were read in the 2nd half of the month though, so apparently I was making up for the first 2 weeks.

Here are the books I read in June:

Good Girl 3
Anne 2
Power of Six
Lightkeepers
Carpenter 4
Bees
39-1
Dream
Version 1.0.0

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson (1.5 / 5)
Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery (4 / 5)
The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore (3 / 5)
Lightkeepers by Kennedy Plumb (3 / 5)
Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt (5 / 5)
He Should Have Told the Bees by Amanda Cox (4 / 5)
The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan (4 / 5)
A Dream within a Dream by Mike Nappa & Melissa Kosci (4 / 5)
Dog Day Afternoon by David Rosenfelt (4.5 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 2 re-reads. My favorite book from June was Sudden Death. I started 1 series, continued 3 series, and finished 2 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: Dog Day Afternoon

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Dog Day Afternoon
Andy Carpenter #29
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When defense attorney Andy Carpenter is asked by his mysterious and stoic associate Marcus to defend a man who is accused of a mass murder at a law office, Andy agrees, perhaps less reluctantly than normal. Though the accused man’s alibi is a bit sketchy, Andy begins to uncover a complex conspiracy that could possibly prove his client’s innocence…if only he could understand it enough to use it.

I have not read all of the books up to this point, but I’ve read enough to know that Marcus has been a background kind of guy for most of the series. For him to be more involved is an interesting change for this book, which is important this far into a series. One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about these books is the variety of characters Andy uses in his investigations, which grows a little here and there. Marcus was always the comforting protective presence who had little personality, which I never felt detracted from the books. Here, though, we see a little bit of character development, yet not so much that Marcus doesn’t remain a bit of a mystery.

These books are normally in 1st-person perspective, but there are bits here and there from 3rd-person to show the reader things that Andy doesn’t directly see. I don’t know when this started in the series (or if it was new to this book), but it threw me off at first. I think that’s just because I have recently been going through the series from the beginning and have not encountered this yet. The only complaint I really had was that the conspiracy started to get a little convoluted and difficult to follow, with a lot of names that I struggled to remember. It all came together well in the end though. And Carpenter’s trademark wit and sarcasm are in full force in this book.

This series has become something of a comfort read for me. Or more accurately, a comfort listen, since, though I’ve enjoyed the books from the first one I read, once I started at the beginning with the audiobooks, it amplified my enjoyment a lot. Therefore, receiving an ARC of the audiobook was a real honor. I highly recommend this book (especially the audio) for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas, and though there are some over-arcing storylines throughout the series, you don’t really need to start at the beginning (though I’d still recommend it). 

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: July 2, 2024

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Book Review: Sudden Death

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Sudden Death
Andy Carpenter #4
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

Finding himself in the middle of a stand-off between the police and a man with a dead body in his closet is not the most auspicious start to defense attorney Andy Carpenter’s relationship with his new client, who happens to be a famous football player. And when his team’s digging produces several more connected deaths, Andy starts to lose faith in his client’s innocence.

This book was my favorite of the series so far. The twist of the multiple deaths that seemed unconnected and accidental, but were related to the accused, added a lot of suspense and intrigue. I really didn’t know what was going to happen for a while. Though I’m starting to get used to Rosenfelt’s pattern of adding a final twist at the end of the book, so I did guess something correctly there. Still, I enjoyed the ride throughout the entire book. 

I highly recommend this book for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas, and though there are some over-arcing storylines throughout the series, you don’t really need to start at the beginning (though I’d still recommend it). Grover Gardner is the definitive voice of Andy Carpenter, bringing Andy’s wit and sarcasm to life, so if you’re an audiobook listener, I’d suggest trying that out for this series. 

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