The Library of Ever by Zeno Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Trapped in Genghis Khan’s tomb with a killer robot..." That's one of Lenora's many adventures in the special library she finds while getting away from her nanny. At the start of the book, Lenora behaves like a spoiled brat, but soon she gets to help out the librarian and proves to be really talented. I hope there are more adventures.
PS. I am a librarian, so my review could be somewhat biased.
I received a copy of this book from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


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Egg Drop Dead by Laura Childs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween is approaching and Suzanne, Petra and Toni are planning a special event at the diner. When Suzanne goes to get her locally sourced cheese, she finds the farmer dead. She sees what looks like a moving scarecrow in the distance. Spooky happenings and mistreated horses set the three Cackleberry Club ladies to search for answers.
This mystery kept me second guessing myself as to who the killer was. The horses side-story was very sad, but Suzanne and Sam (view spoiler)[ managed to rescue the ones the shelter could not take. (hide spoiler)].
I'm looking forward to the next one.


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Hair Brained by Nancy J. Cohen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another great Marla adventure. Her BFF Tally and her husband are in a bad car crash. He dies and she's in a comma. Marla is the designated caretaker for their baby, Luke. Between taking care of the baby, giving Brianna driving lessons, taking care of all of Tally's responsibilities and of course, investigating the crime, Marla barely has time to absorb what taking care of Luke means to her repressed maternal feelings. I had the killer in my suspect list, but there were twists to the story I didn't see coming. I love this series!


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A Crime of Poison by Nancy Haddock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had a hard time when I started the book, because this is the first one I've read in the series, and the Silver Six confused me. Once I got to know them (I had to write down their names and something about them), then the plot began to make sense. I liked the character of Nixy, her pets, and bf Eric and the small town setting.

The killer was on my suspect list, but I could not figure out why they killed until close to the reveal. I will be going back and reading the first books.


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Wonky: A Robotics Club Story by Darcy Pattison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love the colors in this sweet friendship story picture book. Henry (a tortoise) meets Lincoln (an ostrich) on the first day of school at the Robotics club. Despite some misunderstandings, they have fun designing robots and soon find a common goal. I would strongly recommend this book for children interested in robotics and worried about going to a new school.


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The Last Chance Olive Ranch by Susan Wittig Albert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story features a nail-biting, edge of your seat situation for most of the book. China is at a ranch preparing to give a workshop on olive oil, while McQuaid stays at home trying to trap an escaped convict that he put in jail. The story shifts POV from China to McQuaid as they are not able to be in touch. Very suspenseful.

This is one of my favorite series, even though is not as light as I usually read. I really like the interaction between China and Ruby, and I love the information she gives about plants. I'm going to have to start reading olive oil labels now!


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Mind Over Murder by Allison Kingsley


Read this for a challenge (read a new series/author). Clara leaves New York to go back to her small Maine town and starts working at her cousin's book store. When she walks into the backroom one day, she finds the owner of the store next door dead. With many enemies in town, the suspects in Ana's death are countless.

This book was a little simple, but it's the first of a new series, and a lot of time was spent meeting the locals. There are a lot of comments to things that happened to Clara in New York, and only partially explained. I hope that they expand on this in other books.

I will try to read the next one in the series.


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The Creature of the Pines by Adam Gidwitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fun middle grade series for fans of fantasy creatures. The professor is a little intimidating at first, but it's all part of the fun. I wish it had gone a little bit more into first day at a new school, but hopefully it'll be covered in the series.


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The Basque Dragon by Adam Gidwitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved it! A lot of information about the Basque people, along with a cute Dragon story. This is quickly becoming my new favorite Middle grade series. The characters are fun, and the story moves along nicely, with just a tiny bit of suspended belief. Looking forward to the 3rd one!


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Potions and Pastries by Bailey Cates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Declan and Katie are house hunting even though they have not set the date yet. A chance encounter with a fortune-teller, Orla, who used to be a client at Honeybee's, sets off a chain of events that have Katie worried. What did she mean by "sacrifice"? Before they get a chance to talk, Orla is killed in a car accident. Katie reads her own Tarot cards, but she gets the Tower, and her worries continue. Was Orla killed? Did her Irish-Traveler family and their costumes have anything to do with it? Or do they have magic more powerful than her hedgewitch/lightwitch ones?

I felt bad for Katie, who is really experiencing some chaos in her life. She loves Declan, but she also loves her home and does not want to move. If they get married, though, they really need more space. Then there's the prediction Orla made, and was she killed or was it just an accident?


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Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge by Laura Levine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jaine and Lance get a job house-sitting a Bel Air mansion on Christmas week. When the Scrooge-like neighbor gets murdered, Jaine is the prime suspect so she starts investigating in order to clear her name. Was it the ex-wife, who had to beg for her alimony check? Or the new wife who hates his miserly ways? Or the law student boarder who is in love with the wife? Too many people hated his guts. Meanwhile, Prozac the cat is bonding with another woman, since Jaine can't keep him at the house.
This series tends to be very funny, although I was annoyed at the Hispanic maid incorrect Spanish (one of my pet peeves.)

The ending was completely unexpected.


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This Old Homicide

This Old Homicide by Kate Carlisle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was the first of this series that I read. I had watched some of the Hallmark movies, but it was a while ago and didn't remember much. I'm glad, because I didn't recall who the killer had turned out to be so the mystery was not spoiled.

I'm not a fan of home repair series, but this one did not go on and on about details so I was not bored. I liked the characters very well, and I hope the Eric vs. Mac does not turn into a Mike vs. Norman battle.

I will try to read more of the series, but after I tackle my TBR pile.


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Bon Bon Voyage

(A Carolyn Blue Culinary Mystery #8)

by 

Nancy Fairbanks

I love cruises and enjoy reading novels set in them, but this is one cruise I am happy I didn't ever take. Carolyn is left to go on a working cruise without Jason. She invites her friend Luz to come with her, but does not tell Jason, while he invites his mother and does not tell her. Luckily, it's a big cabin with space for all. On the cruise, they meet nice and not-so-nice people, and when one of the not-so-nice passenger goes missing, Carolyn can't resist the urge to investigate. There's more to the story, though, as some crew members are planning a mutiny/hijack/terrorist plot. Soon they are in danger in international waters and what started as a pleasure cruise could soon become a military incident.
The plot was very good, but some of the characters acted immaturely, which made the flow of the book kind of choppy. I've only read one other book in this series, so maybe I don't remember the personalities. I'll have to read the in-between books.

Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber

(Bloody Jack #12)

by 

L.A. Meyer

And so the saga ends, 12 books later. I was a little disappointed with the ending, mainly because the last few hours dragged on for chapter after chapter. I also would have liked to have seen an epilogue from Jacky or Amy that went into the future. Spoiler alert! (view spoiler) All in all, I'm glad I read the whole series. My daughter is reading it now, and it's fun to discuss it with her.

Egg Drop Dead

(Cackleberry Club #7)

by 

Laura Childs

Halloween is approaching and Suzanne, Petra and Toni are planning a special event at the diner. When Suzanne goes to get her locally sourced cheese, she finds the farmer dead. She sees what looks like a moving scarecrow in the distance. Spooky happenings and mistreated horses set the three Cackleberry Club ladies to search for answers. This mystery kept me second guessing myself as to who the killer was. The horses side-story was very sad, but Suzanne and Sam (view spoiler). I'm looking forward to the next one.

Town in a Strawberry Swirl (A Candy Holliday Mystery, #5) 
by 

B.B. Haywood

 5 Stars

This mystery has a lot of small twists that kept me guessing and I did not figure out the killer ahead of the denouement. I'm liking this series more and more as I read through them.
Candy and Doc are sort of suspected in the death of a nearby farmer, since the weapon used was one of their shovels. They try to trace who had the shovel, which, as it happens in a small town, was borrowed and passed along to neighbor after neighbor. In order to clear themselves, Candy and Doc go investigating, finding ancient town deeds and buried treasure (and a dog named Random) along the way. 

Fatal Fairies by Joyce Lavene
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was kind of sad to read the last book on the series, since both authors met an untimely death recently. This one was a little different. Jessie says she wishes Chase was not the Bailiff, and off we go in a "It's a Wonderful Life" takeoff. Her fairy Godmother grants her wish, and Jessie finds herself in a strange version of the village, where Chase is still a knight. A woman playing a fairy gets killed, and Jessie was trying to convince Chase to investigate, as that will hopefully send her back.


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Dangerously Dark by Colette London


Hayden is off to Portland for a college friend's engagement party. Almost as soon as she arrives, the fiancee is found dead. Hayden has still not recovered from her first encounter with murder, but she has a feeling that this was not an accident. Her friend was part of a food pod community focused on Chocolate. As Hayden gets to know the members of the pod, she becomes more and more certain that Declan was murdered.
This mystery kept me guessing who the culprit was. The small community kept the suspect list short, though. I learned a lot about fancy chocolate methods, which made it fun. I'm still not sure I understand Hayden's lifestyle, but this is only the second book, so hopefully things will become clearer. I will continue reading this series.


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Trimmed to Death by Nancy J. Cohen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Marla enters a bake-off to try to win enough money to add a café to her Day Spa. Soon she finds the body of one of the other contestants, smacked on the head from behind, while wearing the jacket of a third contestant. And then she's sick to her stomach after tasting olive oil that is supposed to be EVOO. When another contestant ends up dead in a hit-and-run, Marla must set aside her queasiness to go investigate.

I love this series because I have relatives in Boynton Beach and recognize some of the places. I also like Marla, Dalton, and Brianna's family unit. I did guess the killer halfway through the novel, but there were several twists that had me doubting myself.


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Dressed to Keel by Candy Calvert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I consider this a borderline cozy. There's no graphic violence, only one sort of sexy scene, but some swearing. Otherwise, it was a nice mystery. Someone is stealing jewelry from the senior citizens on a cruise. Darcy thinks there's a connection to the winners of a spa treatment, but everything looks normal at the spa. When her nurse roommate gets taken off the ship via helicopter as a suspect, Darcy scales up her investigation. Could it be one of the staff stealing the jewels? Why is one of the dance hosts young and handsome? Why is she getting lingerie sculptures instead of towel animals?

I love the setting on a Canadian/New England cruise, but I wish it had more behind-the-scenes information. The book does have a lot on the inner works of the sick bay. I look forward to reading the next one!


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