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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "library_lynn" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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07:29 pm
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A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
This book is not for the faint of heart. It is dark, however it isn't violent.
The Miller's have owned Stirwaters Woolen Mill for ages. However, the lineage has not gone from father to son. It has had to be inherited by nephews and stuff due to a curse? or bad luck? We don't know which. Finally there is no one to inherit except for 2 underage girls, Charlotte and Rosie. Charlotte is the protagonist in the story.
This is a Rumplestiltskin story. A fey man-creature comes and spins straw into gold and grants other wishes. Each time he visits, he asks Charlotte for something dear to her.
Charlotte finds out that their father has taken out 2,000 pounds for some mysterious purpose. It isn't in the ledgers. She finds out only when the banker, Randall Woodstone (I think that's his name), comes to collect the full amount now that her father is dead. They eventually get married. It's so sweet! But it happens only about halfway into the story so I'm not revealing too much.
In addition, to the girls' woes, Uncle Wheeler comes to visit. He's their mother's brother and he lives a high lifestyle. Something is strange about him though, other than being a jerk.
My library has put this novel in the young adult section, but I think it could be enjoyed by any age. It's a little more of a girl's book than a boy's book, though it almost could be enjoyed by both, I think.
I enjoyed this book but had a hard time reading it because it was dark. People who like dark books, who like fey creatures, who like fairy tale retellings may all like this book. People who like historical novels may like this book as it takes place just as steam engines are being invented.
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01:50 am
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Demons are a Ghoul's Best Friend by Victoria Laurie
MJ is a medium who searches out ghosts and sends them to the proper realm. She and Gilly and Dr Steven Sable make up the ghostbusting business.
They get called to a posh private school in the Adirondacks where there is a ghost called Hatchet Jack. He shows up only during summer time and only on school property and only on certain days of the week and certain times of the day. But if he sees you, he comes running after you with his crazy eyes and a hatchet ready to kill you. It's terrifying.
MJ needs to send him downstairs, so to speak. Meanwhile she needs to send all the other ghosts she encounters up to heaven.
Dr Steven, meanwhile, has the hots for MJ and MJ may have the hots back. He's from Argentina and generally gets his colloquialisms wrong, which is much of the comedic relief in the book.
This is the second in the series and I didn't read the first one. I didn't feel like I was missing anything really, so I think it's okay to start in the middle.
For a paranormal mystery this was pretty good. I enjoyed it. It had rules for the ghosts and for MJ that didn't wobble around changing themselves. Laurie didn't add in all the paranormal things she possibly could (which I've seen before and have no patience for). I don't believe in ghosts so it was hard to suspend my disbelief. But I still read the whole thing. I'm glad I did.
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06:13 pm
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Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
First of all, if anyone knows how to pronounce the last name, please let me know. I know the German way to pronounce it is with a long I but that isn't necessarily correct.
Now on to business.
This novel is about an overweight woman's life. She has just "broken up" with her boyfriend. She actually said she wanted some time apart, but he took it to mean she wanted to break up. I gathered she actually meant what she said.
And then Bruce (the ex) goes and writes for Moxie magazine. He writes an article for a feature called "Good in Bed" which is where the title comes from. It's all about our heroine - Cannie. He titles it "Loving a Larger Woman" and it doesn't seem so awful. But I figure if someone wrote like that about me, I'd be pretty upset too. I mean, he never got her permission.
(Cannie has a small dog named Nifkin who is adorable.)
It's a very interesting book. Much happens in Cannie's life for the next year or so. There's some good bits, a tragedy sort of and a lot about her weight. She misses the signs of someone being interested in her until I almost went mad with frustration.
Cannie has a wonderful wit.
Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of meat and discomfort in their Chick Lit.
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03:44 am
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Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot
I needed a nothing of a book after reading This Charming Man by Marian Keyes. And this was a great one to pick.
This is the third in a series and it's probably best if read in order.
Lizzie is in the wedding dress restoration business in New York City. She met her boyfriend Jean-Luc on a train in France in the first book. Now they are both in New York. At the very beginning of this book, they get engaged. Only we don't get to see that part. It's related via a discussion between Lizzie and Jean-Luc's best friend, Chaz (a name dear to my heart). Chaz spent the night in Lizzie's bed. But they didn't do anything but kiss, well mostly.
Lizzie's boss has a heart attack and bypass surgery so she has to take care of the store by herself for most of the book. She does hire extra help.
All through the book we get to hear about how Lizzie can't keep a secret. There's only one big secret she doesn't keep. It's not enough to merit all the angsting about secrets before the event. It's mostly because of events in the previous books.
Anyway, the big question: will Lizzie realize the love between her and Chaz and get out of the engagement between her and Jean-Luc? Or will she opt for the big wedding in Paris?
This is not the best in the series, but it sure hit the spot for me.
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03:19 am
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This Charming Man by Marian Keyes
This book is not for the faint of heart. It is about a charming man (Paddy de Coercy), a player in Irish politics, who is an abuser.
The novel is told from the standpoint of four women he's hurt through all of his relationships. They all fall in love with him. How could they not? He's so very charming and debonair and powerful. Mostly the stories are about how the women cope after the relationships are broken off, with flashbacks to show how he treated them during the time they were seeing him. Also there are vignettes between each chapter showing what he's like.
I read this book with growing horror. Just as abusers slowly increase the abuse, this novel slowly increases what you see of the abuse. I swear I was a third of the way through and still wondering if Paddy really was the abuser and how bad was it going to get.
The book doesn't preach at all. It doesn't have lessons or a moral point (I guess other than abuse hurts people in more ways than the physical). It's never explained why the women stay as long as they do. But that's not the point, I think. I really think how it all affects them is the point and also how they get over it.
Anyway, this is an excellent book and I recommend it for any person who wants the inside story of one mans abusive nature and how it affects the women he abuses.
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06:02 pm
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Index to Murder by Jo Dereske
Miss Zukas the librarian is at it again! This time her friend Ruth is at the end of a relationship and this throws Ruth into a big funk. Helma Zukas convinces her to paint her life as a way of getting her out of the depression.
But then 2 of Ruth's paintings get stolen from her home. And they find that the men the paintings are of have each been murdered. In the meanwhile, Helma has to cope with the director of her library getting hurt and causing havoc in a wheelchair (as a method of getting a new library building). Also, Helma's apartment building comes up for sale. And will Helma and the Chief of Police finally continue with their romance?
Of course, there's even more to it than this.
I love the Miss Zukas books. There hasn't been a dud yet.
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05:55 pm
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Japan Ai by Aimee Major Steinberger
Japan Ai: A tall girl's adventures in Japan is about an American animator who goes to Japan with 2 friends. Aimee is 6' tall. She's also totally into dolls by VOLKS.
This book is a highly illustrated travelogue about their adventures in Japan. It was a lovely read. Anyone with interest in going to Japan or any girl who's tall might enjoy it. There's lots of information about the places they visited. Also Aimee pokes gentle fun at herself and a little bit at some Japanese customs.
I loved the book; I loved the pictures. I gobbled it up in record time.
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07:33 pm
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A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
This is a sequel to Her Royal Spyness and you really need to read the first one in order for some of the story to make sense.
This cozy mystery is set in Depression era Britain, mostly London. Lady Georgiana is 34th in line for the throne and as such has no money and is not supposed to have a job. She starts a business on the sly. (The first book deals more with this. In this one, it's more on a back burner, so to speak.)
The Queen asks our heroine to look after Princess Hannelore from Germany and be a chaperon as well as show her a good time. But the Princess is all too intent on the good time part of the process.
Murders abound, implicating Georgiana and the Princess. There's also a love interest for Georgiana.
How can it miss?! Actually, I enjoyed the first of the series more than this one. I can't remember why though.
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07:30 pm
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I shouldn't even be doing this! by Bob Newhart
This book has bits that Bob Newhart has done and stories of his life. It's pretty funny. You get to learn quite a bit about him without it being a gross tell all. For instance, he's afraid of flying. One time, during a routine, his toupee slid off of his head.
Recommended!
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10:22 am
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Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood
This is the second in a series. The first was called Earthly Delights. They are set in Melbourne, Australia in the current time although I keep wondering if they were set in the 90s. The author talks about floppy disks an awful lot and some other things which are dated. But it looks like we here in the States are just behind in the series since the book lists 2 more in the series after this one. And I know those aren't out yet.
Anyway. Corinna is a baker with her own shop. She has a hunky PI boyfriend named Daniel. What I totally like about this series is that Daniel is not always telling Corinna to butt out because she'll get hurt if she investigates. He treats her as an equal. Also, Corinna is overweight and is happy with it. (I always wonder about the characters in books who eat everything they want, but are slim. I think they are the author's wanna be bodies sometimes.)
Back on track.
Corinna lives and has her shop in a cool building. Two new tenants move in and it is clear that the man has something to hide. The lady who moves in is friendly enough. In her building is also a chocolate shop called Earthly Delights. She gets one of chocolates and finds it has some kind of horrible chili sauce in it. the chocolates have been sabotaged.
In addition, Selima, an employee of Earthly Delights goes missing. And a crazy so-called messiah beats up on Daniel.
It sounds kind of complicated but it's not, because of the way it is written. I liked this book a lot and will read the sequel when it comes out. It's not stellar and for some reason it wasn't a quick read for me (I like those best - otherwise I can get mixed up as to what's going on). The characters, though, are an absolute delight.
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09:51 am
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Mighty Old bones by Mary Saums
This is a sort of a cozy mystery. It takes place in a small Southern town (in Alabama). The death they are trying to solve took place centuries ago, and I thought it was going to be more of an archaeological puzzle than anything else. Then after I got further into the book it turned out not.
The two main characters are Phoebe, an elderly women who is native to Tullulah, Alabama (the small town) and Jane, an elderly lady who retired in this town. jane inherited a great tract of forested land just outside of town and feels a need to keep the forest intact and sort of secret. Some people get to come into the forest - Phoebe on a regular basis (but who doesn't like nature so much) and others on a need to know basis, basically.
Anyway, it turns out that these ladies are adept at using guns of different types. And they use them at the end, which is why it's only a "sort of" cozy mystery.
There's a lot more to the book than this. But I don't want to give away the plot and also a lot happens.
This is the fifth in the series and I never read the earlier books. I made out pretty good, I thought, for not knowing anything about anything in the previous books.
I really liked the characters and the sense of place in this book. I didn't like the shoot out and the heavy reliance on guns and arms. The way the author inserts the supernatural into the book is superb and I don't say that lightly. There are ghosts and auras and a medicine woman/witch. All this is treated well throughout the book. I don't know if it is consistent within the series though.
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07:37 pm
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Venus Envy by Shannon McKelden
This is a romance story. Venus/Aphrodite is on earth, functioning as a fairy godmother. Zeus banished her from Mount Olympus for some unstated reason and has doomed her to matchmaking for some indeterminate amount of time.
So. Venus enters the life of our heroine (I've forgotten her name and sort of lost the book) who is being wooed by Luke the hunky Mr March firefighter. Due to her past mistakes in relationships our heroine does not want to date. Venus' job is to get her to see the light and notice Luke and fall in love with him (since he's already in love with her).
Now at first I was worried that Luke was some sort of stalker dude. But the author was able to put those worries to rest.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, except for the last couple of pages, which let me down. It was a quick read and even though it was a romance, it was different from the typical formula.
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07:25 pm
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Conviction by Skylar Hamilton Burris
I figure you guys must be awful sick and tired of the PnP stuff by now. I'm not so skip this if YOU are.
This book is a sequel to PnP. It's written pretty well, if you can ignore some of the misspellings and typos. There are about 5 misspellings in the book.
It takes place after Darcy's and Elizabeth's marriage and is about Georgiana and her suitors. It's not a surprise who is the best guy for her but it makes a nice story watching her (and him) figure it out.
I enjoyed this one. I did have to skip the sermons (one of the characters is a vicar), but there aren't too many.
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11:08 am
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The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James
This is an imaginary story of part of Jane Austen's life before she was published. Of course, there's the obligatory romance which is supposed to explain how she got romances and jilts so accurately.
Some of the language was jarring. I usually go into these with not too high expectations (you really just can't) but for this one I did think it would be better than the average. For average, it was pretty good.
I wished I'd had a better remembering of Sense and Sensibility because most of the story revolves around that plot. So I think I missed some of the nuances.
Other that all that, it was, of course, a Jane Austen book.
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11:04 am
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Uncharted Territory by Connie Willis
This is a novella from 1994.
Two explorers are on a foreign planet with one of the indigenous species charting the territory. A "loaner" comes along. A loaner is someone who comes on one of the charting expeditions. This is the story of that expedition.
I can't say a lot about this book because little surprises pop up here and there and there's some twists.
Suffice it to say that I liked it just as much as all Connie Willis stories. It was an excellent read and of course quite short.
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10:50 am
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Simply Perfect by Mary Balogh
This is the fourth in a series of romances. Even though I knew the others existed, I decided not to read them. It didn't hurt my experience of the book too much, I think.
Claudia Martin is the owner of a school for girls in Bath. She plans on escorting 2 of her graduates to London for her to inspect their potential governess positions. She is going to talk to her man of business about it, since he had not been very forthcoming about where the girls would be working.
One of Claudia's early teachers (and I'm sure the subject of a earlier book) sends a note with a Marquess for her. He offers the party the use of his carriage since he also will be going to London. Claudia hates all aristocracy but decides to accept anyway.
Of course, he woos her eventually and they fall in love and have obstacles to overcome.
This is a Regency Romance. Some of the feelings and actions I just couldn't believe. Nevertheless, I mostly enjoyed reading the book.
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10:44 am
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Dusssie by Nancy Springer
This is an older kids or younger YA book.
Dussie gets her period and the next morning she wakes up with her hair having turned into snakes. Her mom is not surprised.
Mom is actually a gorgon and Dussie is short for Medusa (of course - even I saw that one coming a mile off).
Dussie spends the next month or so not going to school and trying to figure out how to get these snakes off her head.
It's quite an amusing read. It goes very quickly, of course, since it's meant for such a young audience. I would definitely recommend this for a young girl and for anyone who wants an easy read.
The one thing is that there were so many things that you were supposed to be surprised at that I saw coming. I haven't even mentioned the big one.
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05:45 pm
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Lady Catherine's Necklace by Joan Aiken
Loved it. This is another PnP sequel, only it's about Lady Catherine and Anne. Colonel Fitzwilliam plays a part in it too, as do the Collinses.
It's quite a short novel at 172 pages.
A brother and sister, the Delavals, are driving near Rosings when the carriage suffers a mishap. The sister hurts her ankle getting out of the overturned carriage. Of course, there is nothing for it but for them to stay at Rosings. Mostly this is because they are quick posh and the brother is very charming.
Anne takes a dislike to them. Mr Delaval wants to make changes to the gardens, including kicking out some painters from their home of 20 or 30 years on Rosings grounds.
It's a lovely book since Anne grows emotionally in it, as does Lady Catherine and Mrs. Collins' sister Maria.
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05:37 pm
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Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella
This chic lit novel was pretty darn good. It's a romance and funny without being romance-formulaic. It's probably chic-lit-formulaic though.
Emma goes on a business meeting in Glasgow. On the flight home to London there's is terrific turbulence and she's frightened the plane is going to go down. This prompts her to tell the man in the seat next to her all her dirty little and big secrets. They all just come tumbling out. Of course, she expects never to see him again so it's perfectly safe.
At work the next week, she finds out that the man is the owner of the company she works for. She is mortified.
Of course, he is intrigued by this woman. They go out for a date. But first she breaks it off with perfect boyfriend Connor. Any more and I'd be telling you the whole story.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought Emma was a common woman type of character who I could relate to for the most part.
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08:57 pm
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Wanted
Missmea has 2 male neutered 1 year old cats which need homes. They have schizophrenic lady names though.
River needs a permanent home.
Kaylee needs a home for about 3 months.
If you or someone you know can help out, please let us know.
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