33. God of the Hive

B

By Laurie King

Rated 4.4

Purchase

I stayed up very late to finish God of the Hives. I HAD to finish it. It may well be my favorite of the series so far because the mystery was a real page turner. Russell only had a couple of Brat moments and there was one scene that made me laugh out loud. From time to time King attempts to write chaos (usually the same pursuit scene over and over) but this is the first time she has, IMO, really succeeded in pulling it off.

Publisher Summary:

A conclusion to the best-selling The Language of Bees finds Mary Russell picking up a mysterious friend while making her way back to London. Sherlock Holmes is busy investigating questions about a ruthless villain while hiding a wounded son, and murderous adversaries setting a deadly trap.

While Sherlock Holmes desperately seeks medical help for his gravely wounded son, Damien Adler, Mary Russell tries to protect Damien's daughter, Estelle, from the ruthless enemy pursuing all of them.

32. Other Family

BY: Joanna Trollope
>Rated 4 Stars
From: Library

For the most part liked it. I would have rated it a little higher except that the character Chrissie annoyed me. Seemed to me that if anyone had a legitimate gripe it was Barbara, not her. Still, I enjoyed it.

PUBLISHERS DESCRIPTION:

After Richie Rossiter, a pianist and songwriter, dies suddenly, his companion, Chrissie, with whom he had three daughters, and the wife he left behind, with whom he had a son, are left to deal with each other and the unexpected terms of his will.

31. Confessions of a Pagan Nun

By: Kate Horsley
Rated 4 Stars
From: Library

This moving and subtle tale both embodies and confirms the enduring power of language. Gwynneve (Gwi-NEEV) is raised in a village of fishermen and pigkeepers at the height of Ireland's transition from Paganism to Christianity. All around her the new doctrines of Patrick and the "tonsured men" are inexorably driving out the old Druid ways. When Gwynneve loses the two figures she loved the most—her mother succumbing to disease, her outspoken Druid teacher abducted by his enemies—she leaves her village and finally takes refuge in the convent of Saint Brigit. Of her past life and loves she retains only intangibles: her mother's love of nature and independent mind, her teacher's gift of literacy and addiction to truth. Clinging to the one constant and comforting force in her life—the power of words, and their offer of immortality to those who set them down—she records her memories surreptitiously, interrupting her assigned tasks of transcribing Patrick and Augustine. But disturbing events from the present keep intervening. Finally, her headstrong ways and growing criticism of the monastery's new abbot lead to the accusation that she consorts with demons. The story's tragic conclusion confirms both Gwynneve's fears and her powers: centuries after she and her tormentors sink back into the Irish earth, her words remain to haunt and inspire us.

30. A Rose for the Crown

By: Anne Easter Smith

Rated 4.5 Stars

From: Library

AUDIO BOOK

This book got mixed reviews on amazon and so I turned to Jani to see if she had reviewed it and sure enough she had. Jani is almost always the final word with me when it comes to historical fiction. The reviews on amazon are losing more and more credibility with me. If reviewers are not complaining about the Kindle prices then they are complaining that a book of fiction is {GASP} Fiction. Oh well . . . .

PUBLISHERS DESCRIPTION:

Inspired by the historical record of Richard III's bastard children, Smith invents a spirited, "tawny-eyed" mistress for the 15th-century king in her sweeping debut. Kate Bywood is plucked from her peasant life at the age of 11 to join the household of her mother's noble cousins, the Hautes, as companion to her timid cousin, Anne. A brief, unwilling marriage to an older, wealthy merchant leaves Kate a young widow with a considerable fortune. A second marriage to George, an opportunistic Haute cousin who prefers the stable boy to Kate, leaves her yearning for love. In a chance encounter, she meets Richard of Gloucester, and the ensuing secret romance is filled with the passion and intimacy her marriage lacks. George is killed during an attack in the forest, and Kate bears Richard three children. The narrative flies when the lovers are together, but once Richard marries Anne Neville, and he and Kate are separated for long stretches, the story loses its spark.

29. Quiet Please

By: Scott Douglas

Rated 4 Stars

From: Library

PUBLISHERS DESCRIPTION

For most of us, librarians are the quiet people behind the desk, who, apart from the occasional “shush,” vanish into the background. But in Quiet, Please, McSweeney’s contributor Scott Douglas puts the quirky caretakers of our literature front and center. With a keen eye for the absurd and a Kesey-esque cast of characters (witness the librarian who is sure Thomas Pynchon is Julia Roberts’s latest flame), Douglas takes us where few readers have gone before. Punctuated by his own highly subjective research into library history-from Andrew Carnegie’s Gilded Age to today’s Afghanistan-Douglas gives us a surprising (and sometimes hilarious) look at the lives which make up the social institution that is his library.

28. Bless This House

By: Nora Lofts
Rated 4 Stars
From Library
AUDIO BOOK

From time to time I started getting caught up in the stories of the inhabitants of the house and started to become annoyed when the story moved on. I had to remind myself that this was the story of the house and it's inhabitants were secondary to the story. When I kept that in mind I did fine with it.

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:

This is a book to be savored by those who enjoy historical fiction. Beautifully written by a master storyteller, it centers around a beautiful house, Merravay, which was built during the Elizabethan era, and the lives of those who lived in it throughout the passing centuries.

It is a rich melange of personalities, conflicts, loves, and everyday twists that meld into the foundation of the house whose inhabitants have seen so much personal and historical strife. Filled with memorable characters throughout the ages, this thoroughly engrossing book will keep the reader entertained until the very last page is turned.