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Archive for December, 2016

Fiction Review – All the Little Liars

Wednesday, December 28th, 2016

All the Little Liars by Charlaine Harris

Review by Mirah W. (mwelday)

Aurora Teagarden is back! Charlaine Harris has returned to her series about the librarian and amateur sleuth after more than 10 years.  I was very excited to meet Charlaine during her promotional tour of All the Little Liars.  Listening to her describe her career as a writer and her writing process was so interesting.  Charlaine was very down to earth and approachable. I would describe her personality as Southern charm meets Southern sass.  I think Charlaine was absolutely delightful!

Mirah and Charlaine Harris

Mirah and Charlaine Harris

But back to the book….

Aurora (Roe) is now married, pregnant, and her brother Phillip is living with her and her husband Robin.  Roe and Phillip have developed a close relationship and he is excited about being an uncle soon.  In the days before the Christmas holiday, four teenagers go missing and Phillip is one of the missing.  It seems understandable that two of his friends are also among the missing, but why would an 11-year old be with them?  What was her connection to what was happening?  The cops are trying to find out what is going on but, in typical fashion, Roe is determined to get involved, as well.  In her own investigation she uncovers school bullying, gambling debts, and serious family dramas.

While I enjoyed All the Little Liars, it did not seem to be as tight in the delivery as the earlier books in the Aurora series; there were some consistency issues and it felt a little incomplete in regards to the mystery. I like the characters in the Aurora series and I’m glad Harris wrote this book as if the past years really had passed, trying to pick up where things left off would have felt awkward. Overall, this installment wasn’t quite as good as I had hoped after my long Aurora drought but I’m glad she’s back and I hope Charlaine writes more.   In the end, I give All the Little Liars 3.5 out of 5 stars for being enjoyable but not quite polished…but I give Charlaine 5 out of 5 stars for being a class act!

 

 

 

 

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Mystery Monday – Boiled Alive

Monday, December 26th, 2016

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Boiled Alive by Bruce Buckingham

Review by Matt B. (BuffaloSavage)

An obnoxious American mogul, John Belton, visits a remote Mexican hot-spring hotel in order to negotiate mining rights. Also with visions of wealth dancing in their heads are a ruthless British mining baron and the Mexican owner of the land supposedly laden with silver. The beginning leads us to expect a story of skullduggery among international business executives in the late 1950s.

But no. Mercifully, the story morphs into a classic murder mystery. Even Belton’s wanton daughter Linda, no prize herself, marvels at her father’s ability to make enemies in a jiffy. Belton manages to alienate gentle Lady Kendal, an English aristocrat, who has named her Aberdeen terriers Scotch and Soda. Belton lands in the doghouse of Melvin, a stereotypical American journalist; Miss Cloud, an eccentric North Carolinian; Hollywood starlet Gloria and her strong-minded galpal named – steel yourself – Butch; to mention only the most curious of the bunch.

When Belton disappears, on the scene is Don Pancho, the retired chief of police of Mexico City. He’d been hired by the insurance company to keep an eye on the jewels of Mrs. Belton. The fast-moving story provides ingenious incidents, with a brilliant Mexican background of Tuxpan, north of Veracruz. The hotel’s thermal hot pools are rendered well and play a part in the grisly goings-on.

Bruce Buckingham was the pen-name of Dane Chandros, which was the pseudonym used by Peter Lilley and Nigel Stansbury-Millett (aka Richard Oke), then, after 1946, by Peter Lilley and Anthony Stansfeld, according to the blog GA Detection. “Dane Chandros” was used for travel books about Mexico and “Bruce Buckingham” for a couple of detective novels starring Dan Pancho.

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Books for Schools 2016

Thursday, December 8th, 2016

Dear Members,

Books for Schools 2016 is nearly complete! As of right now, the last 2 schools are up collecting donations. That will make the total donation this year 11,750 books for 8 deserving elementary schools.

Some of these children have never had a book to call their own. Through our generous members, the Books for Schools donation program changes that!

We thank you for helping to put hands in the books of these students and for sharing the joy of reading.

We thought you may want to see why we LOVE this program. These are just some of the photos we have received from our recipient schools over the years. Seeing the joy on the children’s faces makes us smile.

In Gratitude,
Richard and The PaperBackSwap Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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