Pies & Prejudice by Ellery Adams

Pies & Prejudice

Author: Ellery Adams
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Year: 2012
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age: Adult 18+
Page Count: 291

Rating:

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It's been a while since I gave a book only 3 stars! This was our Cook the Books book club pick for this month. In true fashion I was reading it the night before & I didn't finish the last 2 chapters LOL! I did however play the "host" this month so I made the recipe & we all chose the lime pie. It was delicious & sooo easy, I was shocked! I'll include pictures & the recipe down below for you all.

This book...I enjoyed it. I figured out who the bad guy was before the big reveal so I'm always happy when that happens. I have to say that since we've been reading those other witchy baking books I was kinda comparing it to those unfortunately even though I really try not to do that. It's hard though! I will say that I enjoy the other ones more. This book had it's moments, there was some really funny lines from our main characters aunts. A strange relationship between the main character, Ella Mae, & her mother keeps you guessing. Then the magic is just kinda thrown in, like salt & pepper in your dinner dish at the end. I'm wondering if that is because you're supposed to keep reading to find out more??? I'm slightly curious so I'm sure we'll read a few more of them for the book club in the future. I was also very proud of Ella Mae for not letting her cheating soon to be ex husband buy her off, you go girl! This author has written several other books including one that was recommended to the book club, The Secret Book & Scone Society, I think that one is a stand alone (just kidding, I looked it up & it's not), maybe I'll try something else by this author & see if I like it. One last thought...we couldn't figure out if the title had something to do with Pride & Prejudice, there was a very quick Mr. Darcy reference but that was it, so maybe it's just catchy?

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Cruel Prince

Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company (Hachette Book Group)
Year: 2018
Genre: Fantasy
Age: YA 13+
Page Count: 370

Rating:

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This is my 271st blog post! I can't believe I've written that much in the last 4 years, it's crazy to think that I started writing this blog to share my new job & my new life with family & friends & it has grown into such a great place to speak my mind about books I love & share library things with all of you. THANK YOU!!!

So....this book....I can't even...LOL

I remember hearing about this book in 2017, maybe even as early as 2016, I can't remember for sure but needless to say I was excited. I have read several other books by Holly Black & loved them. Her books are always amazing, well written, exciting, & everything you want in a great fantasy book. I plan on reading others in the future. So I was WAY hyped up for this book. My library got it last year based on my recommendation & I was super excited. It was around that same time I realized it was going to be a series. Now...some of you that know me personally know that I have this weird thing about series. I have been burned so many times by series book. You get to the end & there's that big freaking cliffhanger, then you have to wait like 2 years for the next book to come out, or 6 or 7 years for the whole series to finish. I HATE THAT! So about 2 years ago I started this new thing where I don't read series books until the series has been completed. There have been some exceptions to this rule obviously, most of those have been books that I already started that I decided to continue with through the agonizing process of waiting for the rest of the series to come out, LAME! So when my library got this book I was excited but I was also kinda bummed because i knew it would be a few years until it was completed & I wanted to wait...because you know I have NOTHING else to read LOL! Unfortunately as I'm sure you fellow library workers & users know, we can't have nice things. After the first checkout the book got destroyed. Aren't you shocked? So when we finally got the replacement this last month, like a year later, I decided I wasn't going to wait in case something else happened, so I checked out the book. And this is how I feel about it...

When I first started reading I wasn't really sure what to expect. I knew that story had to do with the Fae & that was about it. Probably some romance involved as these things usually go. Plus Holly Black always puts a kinda of...dark...violent...twist on her stories, I'm not sure how else to describe it. There is usually 2 different kinds of "fairytale" stories involving the Fae, they are either dark & twisty & violent, or hopelessly romantic, she typically writes the first kind of story. So aside form that I was ready for whatever was to come. It took me a little longer than normal to read this book because things have been crazy busy but I was determined to finish it.

The book is broken up into 2 parts. The first part was honestly kinda meh. I was like ok...when is the big exciting stuff gonna happen, & that's it, really? That was until chapter 20 & DUDE it was AMAZING!!!!!!! It was like waking up from a dream, it was breathtaking, heart wrenching, like a train wreck you can't look away from. Took a while but very worth it in my opinion. After that the story really started developing quickly. Some things that happened were predictable like Jude's love interest issues/choices. Other things like who the true king is were not. It seemed like after the big TA-DA moment something nuts was happening every chapter. I'm so excited for the next book! I already have it checked out on e book. But I have to read our book club book for next week first before I start it. I have to be good (someone needs to take the book & slap it out of my hand if I try to read it LOL). The book also has some interesting features that I really like to see. Each chapter has a little picture at the beginning, the "parts" also have pictures & poems to accompany them. This book would be prime for a beautiful deckle edge, I LOVE LOVE LOVE me a deckle edge. So what are you waiting for!? Go get this book & decide for yourself what you think, worth the wait or not?

The Lifters by Dave Eggers

The Lifters

Author: Dave Eggers
Publisher: Yearling (Random House)
Year: 2018 (book & audio)
Genre: Magical Realism
Age: Juv 8-12
Page Count: 339
Audio Publisher: Listening Library (Books on Tape)
Audio Reader: Dion Graham
Audio Length: 5 hours & 18 minutes

Rating:

 

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I did a little update on the way the blog looks! What do you guys think? Leave a comment down below, did you like leopard better? Or this purple theme? I also changed some of the fonts & increased the font size. Is the bigger font better to read? Comment down below!

I happened across this book while shelving one day a few weeks ago & it looked kinda fun so I thought I'd try it out. I ended up really liking it! It's quirky & it's got spunk, two things a great juvenile book should have I think. It also has a girl named Maisie in it (don't know know someone with a name kinda like that? LOL) who refers to herself as "The Queen of School" so how could I not like it? I liked it so much that I bought it. I was very pleasantly surprised to see pictures in it once I got the print copy. I think the pictures really enhance the story. They are very nicely done & they remind me of old charcoal comic drawings. The book also has some textual elements that I think add to the story as well, for example our main character Granite Flowerpetal (what a name huh?) likes to be called Gran for short because he thinks his name is weird. But at his new school there is a girl who thinks his nickname makes him sound like a grandmother, not a cool new kid trying to make an impression. So when Gran meets the interesting man known as The Duke that works in the basement of the school in a gigantic storage closet, he tells him is name is Grant, but the T is just kinda hanging there on the end. So in the book his name starts normal size & then gradually gets smaller when The Duke is talking to him. Little quirks like that in books makes me love them so much more! 

The whole concept of this book is just interesting from the town, to the characters, & especially the classic juv story"villain" or "monster", whatever you'd like to call it. The storyline is pretty typical for a juv book, but the twists & uniqueness of it overall make it unlike any story you've ever heard before. I was also very happy with the ending, I think it was perfect! The size of the book is also a good one, it's a paperback (my personal preference if I don't get the e book) & its more of a square shape than a traditional rectangular book. The length of the audio & the book itself are good. The chapter breaks are a little weird, there is over 100 very short chapters, some of them only one paragraph with a picture. I would highly recommend this book if you're looking for a little bit of magic between the pages.

Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke

Cinnamon Roll Murder

Author: Joanne Fluke
Publisher: Kensington Books
Year: 2011
Genre: Mystery
Age: Adult 18+
Page Count: 330

Audio Publisher: Recorded Books
Audio Year: 2012
Audio Reader: Suzanne Toren
Audio Length: 9 hours & 36 mins

Rating:

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This is book #15 in the Hannah Swensen series. I just finished this on audio this morning. I was very pleased that they finally stopped reading the recipes on the audio so it's just straight book now this was the first time it was like that, I hope that pattern continues. I'm only 4 books away...I think...from the Hannah's "big day". 

I thought I knew where the story was going based on the direction it too the last 2 books but, ding dong the witch is...gone? Doctor Bev & Norman were supposed to get married in this book so that he could be apart of his daughter Diana's life. But the wedding is cancelled after Bev is caught in a big mess with Diana's real father when he turns up dead. Now Bev has fled town but I have a feeling she will be back & possibly end up dead herself if things continue the way they have in the past. Every person that interferes with Hannah's relationships ends up dead but not by her, the whole thing is a little funny if you ask me, I guess we can call it karma.

I hope Hannah & Norman can get things back to the way they used to be. Norman was really sad about the whole marriage thing as well because Bev was allergic to cats, which turned out to be a lie too, so he had to give his cute cat Cuddles to Hannah. I'm assuming Cuddles will go back to living with Norman in his big house. Everyone will be very happy about that I'm sure cause Hannah's cat Moishe & Cuddles were making a mess at Hannah's tiny condo. 

The recipes in this book were a mix of main courses & desserts, that happens every few books. it's nice to see some different stuff. I am amazed at the concoctions Hannah & her sister Michelle always come up with for quick late night dinners for Mike & sometimes Lonnie, Michelle's kinda boyfriend. 

   

Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Devil's Food Cake Murder

Author: Joanne Fluke
Publisher: Kensington Books
Year: 2011
Genre: Mystery
Age: Adult 18+
Page Count: 322

Audio Publisher: Recorded Books
Audio Year: 2011
Audio Reader: Suzanne Toren
Audio Length: 9 hours & 55 mins

Rating:

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This is book #14 in the Hannah Swensen series. I already have book #15 even though I said I was gonna take a little break from these because there was a big SHOCK right at the end of this book!!!

The murder in this book was very easy to figure out. I knew right away what was going on so that aspect of the book didn't surprise me. I wasn't disappointed by that either, I was kinda happy I figured it out completely for once. But the social side of the story was what really shocked me.

So Norman has a new dental assistant, it's his former flame Bev, the two were engaged before he moved to Lake Eden. There was some drama leading up to her coming to Lake Eden & there has been some tension between Norman, Hannah, & Bev since, but Norman loves Hannah so nothing could go wrong, right??? Think again! I know that Hannah ends up marrying Ross, a friend she had in college, that she has since reconnected with. But he lives in California & he hasn't made an appearance in a while. I also figured that something was going to happen with Norman & Bev but I didn't think it would be exactly what it was & that was why I was so surprised. It gets dropped on us literally the last page of the book. So now I'm like WHAT!!! I have to know what is going to happen. I hope it gets resolved in this next book.

I don't have a recipe for you guys this time. I haven't been able to screenshot them from the ebook yet so look for one next time.