I don't mind a fictionalized biography of someone written as a novel rather than a dry summary of facts.  But when you take two actual living people, and write about a romance between them that didn't take place in real life, that's crossing a line.  Also, any novel that features Dracula as the central character is NOT a historical novel!

I didn't care for the categories in this year's Popsugar Book Challenge or Goodread's Book Challenge.  So, I decided I'd just catch up on books I've been meaning to read while looking for other challenges.  One interesting one I found was A Century of Mysteries, read ten mystery novels, each one written in a different decade of the past century.  ( Read more... )

An online friend, Rick Mills, has a mystery novel webpage and he posts contests. This is one of his latest, the 2023 Baseball Season of Abra Cadavers!  The goal is to complete all nine types of plate appearances to become an All-Star!
http:// ( Read more... )

"Academics collect books as effortlessly as ships' hulls collect barnacles.  A tenured professor can no more pass by a used book store than an alcoholic can pass by a bar."  -- Amanda Cross, 'Death in a Tenured Position'

At the rate I go thru books, I'd need a second income to buy them all new.  So, 99% of my reading comes from used book sales and ( Read more... )

12.) On a Pale Horse  by Piers Anthony (Incarnations of Immortality: Book One ( Read more... )

5 - 8.) Jumper, Reflex, Impulse, Exo by Steven Gould (science fiction)

I reviewed Jumper last month.  It's a Young Adult series. A teen-ager discovers he can teleport or 'jump'.  When his mother is killed in an airplane hi-jacking, he hunts down the terrorist which brings him to the attention of the NSA.  He works out a deal to do occasional ( Read more... )

1,) Cinnamon Roll Murder by JoAnne Fluke (mystery)
2.) Red Velvet Cupcake Murder by JoAnne Fluke (mystery)
3.) Blackberry Pie Murder by JoAnne Fluke (mystery ( Read more... )

49.) Peach Cobbler Murder by Jo Anne Fluke (murder mystery)Hannah's business, The Cookie Jar, isn't doing too well. A new bakery has moved in right across the street.  Her partner Lisa is getting married and Hannah is bringing peach cobbler to the reception only to learn that her competitor Shawna Lee from Magnolia Blossum, the new bakery also ( Read more... )

46.) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (juvenile science fiction)
This is supposed to be a science fiction classic.  I guess I'm 42 years too late to get the full impact of it, kind of like A Separate Peace by John Knowles.  I actually picked up Wrinkle, it's sequel Wind in the Wall and A Separate Peace at the Salvation Army second hand store ( Read more... )

43.) Myth-Interpretations by Robert Aspirn (short story collection)The short stories include some set in his Myth series, some set in the Thieves' World series, some set in the Cold Cash War series and some stand alone.  Pleasant reading.  It includes one depressing editor's note about coming back from Robert's funeral and finding his last short ( Read more... )