Review: The Icing on the Corpse

The Icing on the Corpse by Liz Mugavero
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

More Stan. She's a bit less annoying in this one. Still not a good listener, though. And totally insecure about her relationship with Jake. And his sister. I'm over their nonsense.

The mystery was a bit ridiculous, as you might expect. I mean, there is a dog wedding on the cover, so you shouldn't go in expecting War and Peace. But if you like animals, cozy mysteries, and don't mind ridiculous hi-jinks, you'll have fun with this series.

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A Biscuit, A Casket (Positively Organic Mysteries #2)

A Biscuit, A Casket by Liz Mugavero

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Stan is slightly less annoying in this book. But not by much. At least the ridiculous theme song nonsense from the first book went away, and she wasn't doing quite as much "ooh, look at what I'm wearing" during this one.

This series is ok, but not great. The story was fine--it's a cozy mystery, so how bad can it be? The small town setting is cute. I like Jake, I think, but we don't get a lot of insights into him. We spend more time with his cop sister who clearly is as annoyed with Stan as I am.

But again, I don't love this series, but I also don't hate it. 2 stars. Since I'm a glutton for punishment I will also read book three. Yeah, yeah, I know. But you know I will.



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Tolstoy and the Purple Chair

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I love books about books, and I love books about grief. This book covers both.

Nina Sankovitch's sister was diagnosed with cancer and died four months later. In an attempt to work through her grief and terrible loss, she sets a goal to read and review a book a day for an entire year. She and her sister shared a love of books right up until the end, and she felt it would be a fitting tribute to their relationship while helping her heal.

First of all, I'm jealous. I know I shouldn't be since it took the death of her sister to help her reach this goal, but I am. I would love to have the ability to read a book a day. Fortunately the author was a stay-at-home mom during this time and had 6-8 hours of time per day to knock out her books. She has a remarkably patient husband. He sounds great and she is lucky to have him. Secondly, I found so many books to add to my TBR shelf that I may never work through them all. Conveniently the author lists all 365 books at the end so you too can load up your TBR shelf with hidden gems. But mostly I enjoyed reading how she tied the books she read into working through her grief while still being a mother of 4 and a wife of 1. Definitely a book for book lovers!



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Kneading to Die (Pawsitively Organic Mystery #1)

Kneading to Die by Liz Mugavero

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


You know it is a bad sign when the main character annoys you in the first chapter. What is up with all of the "theme song" nonsense? Between that and the constant brand-name dropping and needless clothing / physical descriptions of everyone, I barely soldiered on. Plus, her name annoyed me.

HOWEVER, the mystery was ok enough to finish it without too much eye rolling. I'm down with the whole small-town, organic living, pet loving world. I'm not standing in my kitchen whipping up pet food from scratch with all organic fresh ingredients, but I have enjoyed many a farmer's market in my day. So the setting was quaint, and I enjoyed many of the side characters, even though the author threw in so many that you barely got to know any of them. She did waste half the book on a boyfriend you knew from the first line wouldn't be sticking around for book 2, and that annoyed me. I get it; it sets up the heroine for the small-town love interest in book 2.

This book was just ok. I didn't hate it. I didn't love it. 2 stars.



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Missing: A Memoir

Missing: A Memoir by Lindsay Harrison

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Since this is a memoir, I will try to be honest in my judgments, yet spare the snark for the most part. After all, it's about a real-life family living through a real-life drama; one to which thankfully I can't relate.

Missing is one young woman's story about the 40 days her mom was missing, and the aftermath of finding her body. But it is more than that. It's the story of one dysfunctional family, a messed-up mother / daughter relationship, and of growing up and recovering from an unspeakable tragedy.

Lindsay Harrison is immature, but honest. She doesn't try to make herself out to be the hero, or the one holding the family together. She lays it out there, flaws and all, and it makes her unlikeable. There were times when her bad decisions, immaturity, and rudeness made me want to shake some sense into her. I can't imagine what the family went through during this time. Unfortunately we only get Lindsay's thoughts, and reading about the perspective of her brothers and her father would have made the story more complete. Instead we are stuck inside the head of a pot smoking 20-year-old who seems to need counseling from the years of living with her manipulative, selfish, potentially mentally ill mother. Her POV just didn't do it for me.

This book is just ok. Not great. Not particularly captivating. Something was missing from making it "un-put-downable" for me, but it was still finishing from my "to be read" shelf. Two 1/2 stars.



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My Brother Sam Is Dead

My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

*Part of my "Reviewing Children's Classics" series.

I don't remember reading this one growing up, which is strange because of my love of books and all things history. I now see I didn't miss much, although my perspective might have been different if I had read it when I was 11 instead.

Tim is growing up during the turbulent times prior to and during the American Revolution. He adores his obnoxious big brother, Sam, who is attending Yale and appears to be the smuggest, least likable person in the world. If I had to hear the phrase, "scored a telling point" one more time, I might have thrown the book away. Seriously, dude, you are the world's worst. Anyway, Tim has some serious hero worship going on for his big brother, who decides to drop out of Yale, steal his father's rifle (really, Sam? You are a bad person) and join the revolutionaries. Sam's parents are opposed to this, naturally, as no parent wants their 16-year-old son to join the military during war time. Sam does what he wants, and ultimately we get to the title of the book.

Between Sam running off to enlist and the ending where he dies, a lot of sad, depressing things happen. It's Revolutionary times. Besides the war, you have cholera outbreaks, hunger, and decapitations. Plus you have to endure Sam's girlfriend Betsy Read, who is tied with Sam for "most unlikeable character is a children's book". For a young woman who should have been behaving like an adult, she acted like an obnoxious child.

I'm sure there are better historical fiction books out there about the American Revolution. The only thing that saved this from one-star territory was the authors' notes at the end. I liked how they explained who and what were historically accurate and where they embellished or created things for the book. For the additional interesting information, I added one star. My recommendation? You can skip this one.

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The Witch of Blackbird Pond

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

*Part of my "Reviewing Children's Classics" series.

Every so often it is nice to revisit old childhood favorites to see how they stand the test of time, or to read ones that you somehow missed. I had never read "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" when I was growing up. My daughter read it for our family book club a few summers ago and she made it sound so interesting that I finally picked it up to read. She was right; I really enjoyed it.

Set prior to the Revolutionary War, Kit travels from Barbados to her family in Connecticut after her grandfather dies, leaving her homeless and penniless. She grew up in a life of wealth and privilege, so adjusting to the Puritan life of colonial America was a bit of an adjustment. She befriends an old Quaker woman who is shunned for her beliefs, and eventually matures and better understands the world.

If you haven't read this little gem, you should, especially if you like historical fiction. It's a fast, enjoyable read.

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Orange is the New Black

Piper Kerman; 3 stars
Danbury, CT