>Review of Case Closed by Susan Hughes

>Case Closed.…………PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

Egypt’s first female pharaoh disappears around 1457 BCE — was she murdered? Find out how DNA closes the case. The ancient Arabian Peninsula city of Ubar vanishes, seemingly without trace. Find out how old maps and modern space shuttles help solve the mystery. Sir John Franklin’s 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage is never heard from again. Find out how spectroscopy points to some probable explanations. Case Closed? examines these and six other mysteries from ancient and modern times. Accompanied by photos, maps, diagrams and illustrations, this book reveals how modern science sheds new light on people, vessels and entire civilizations throughout history that simply vanished. In some cases, the mystery has been solved. In other cases, readers can examine the latest evidence and decide for themselves.
  • Reading level: Ages 9-12
  • Hardcover: 88 pages
  • Publisher: Kids Can Press (August 1, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1554533627
  • ISBN-13: 978-1554533626

My 2 cents:

I have to say I was really impressed with this book.  I hate to admit I was not expecting the book to be so good.  I knew it was wonderful when my 7 year old started asking questions about each story and wanting to know if we can research more on the “web”.  There are 9 great stories in this book that are backed up with science investigation.

The nine ‘mysteries’ explored are searching for the Egyptian female pharaoh Hatshepsut, the strange disappearance of the Chinese mariner Hsu Fu, the lost city of Ubar in Arabia, the Anasazi tribes who once inhabited the ‘four corners’ of the west (where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah join), the disappearance of explorer Sir John Franklin while searching for the Northwest Passage in 1845 and the similar disappearance of Mt. Everest climber George Mallory in 1924, the  well known mystery of the Russian Romanov Princess Anastasia, the lost flight of the Star Dust aircraft in 1974, and finally the lost Israeli submarine INS Dakar in 1968. 

I have 2 favorites of the 9 which are the Egyptian female pharaoh Hatshepsut and Princes Anastasia.  I was pleased to find that story in the book.

I know this book is meant for children, but I think the adults are going to like it just as much.  This book was well written for anyone to like.

Barb

>Review of The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman

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The Girl in the Green Raincoat…….PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket
In the third trimester of her pregnancy, Baltimore private investigator Tess Monaghan is under doctor’s orders to remain immobile. Bored and restless, reduced to watching the world go by outside her window, she takes small comfort in the mundane events she observes . . . like the young woman in a green raincoat who walks her dog at the same time every day. Then one day the dog is running free and its owner is nowhere to be seen. Certain that something is terribly wrong, and incapable of leaving well enough alone, Tess is determined to get to the bottom of the dog walker’s abrupt disappearance, even if she must do so from her own bedroom. But her inquisitiveness is about to fling open a dangerous Pandora’s box of past crimes and troubling deaths . . . and she’s not only putting her own life in jeopardy but also her unborn child’s.
  • Paperback: 176 pages
  • Publisher: Avon A; Original edition (January 18, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 006193836X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061938368

  • My 2 Cents:

If you have seen Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock you are going to love this book.  Tess is funny in ways with the way her superstitions are about her baby to her friend Whitney.  I love how Whitney goes on with Tess and sets her straight with no holding back.  With her good friend Whitney and her protective boyfriend they all help Tess figure out the case.  With so many twists you will be trying to figure out what happened till the very end. 

Barb

>Review of Emmy Budd The Real Dog is Harry by Jean Blasiar

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Emmy Budd The Real Dog is Harry………..PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

In volume 3 of the Tween series, Emmy Budd and T.J. are joined by a scruffy dog who appears at strange times and places. The dog, whom T.J. names ‘Harry’ leads the kids to a nefarious plot, and together, the three detectives struggle to thwart a greedy developer from taking over their town.


  • Paperback: 128 pages
  • Publisher: Charles River Press (December 14, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1936185156
  • ISBN-13: 978-1936185153
  • Age Group: 8 and up

My 2 cents:

I love this series even at my age.  My boys like it as well. They always want to see what kind of trouble Emmy and TJ can get into, then see how they solve the situations.  When Emmy hears about the hand she gets all queasy and TJ has to laugh at her.  Then the real story begins, who does the hand belong to?  Between figuring that idea out, helping their friend Hank, who owns the Land the developer wants to build on, working at the dinner for TJ’s mom, they end up finding the dog they call Harry or I should say he ends up finding them.  There are some funny parts along the way and the story grabs you for the beginning and you do not want to put the book down.  This is a great gift idea of the holidays.  
Emmy is a charming girl that any of the girl readers will enjoy reading about and the boys will like TJ and his playfull ways. 
This is a series but you can read as a stand-alone story.

Barb

>Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday

>Book Blogger Hop

“What is your favorite book cover?”

This is one of my favorite covers.  I was in a book store a few years ago looking for a new series to start.  I grabbed this one as it looked pretty interesting.  Which it was.  


If you are a new follower please leave a link to your blog and I will follow back.  Be sure to look below for the giveaway!

Glad you are here and stopped by.  I have a giveaway going on until Tuesday.  Cleo Coyle is giving away a signed copy of one of her books.  Be sure to take a look.

Cleo Coyle’s Book Giveaway

Barb

>Guest author Cleo Coyle & Giveaway

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I am extremely happy to have Cleo on today.  Thank you so much for stopping by and hosting the giveaway.  




Brewing up murder for the holidays from national bestselling author Cleo Coyle…
There’s nothing cozier than a winter evening in Greenwich Village. Streetlights shimmer through icy flakes. Cafés glow with welcoming warmth, and a layer of snow dusts historic townhouses like powdered sugar on holiday confections. Murder has no place in such a pretty picture, until now… 
Although HOLIDAY GRIND is the eighth entry in my Coffeehouse Mystery series, any newcomer can read the book as a stand-alone story. As a special gift to my readers, I even made the recipe section an extra large one with bonus recipes for tasty holiday cookies and candies, tips on making espressos and lattes without an expensive machine, a glossary of coffeehouse terms, and instructions on creating your own coffeehouse syrups at home. I hope you enjoy them all.
Happy Holidays, Everyone!
~ Cleo  
Visit my virtual coffeehouse www.CoffeehouseMystery.com where you can see more of my recipes, learn about my books, and sign up to win free coffee. 

Cleo Coyle’s White Chocolate
Snowflake Latte

This heavenly treat tastes like a rich, warm
coffee-infused milkshake—perfect with a plate
of cookies on a snowy winter night.
May you drink it with joy!
~ Cleo



Ingredients:
½ cup milk
¼ cup white chocolate, chopped; or white chocolate chips
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1–2 shots (3 – 6 tablespoons) hot espresso or double-strength coffee (*see note)
Whipped cream (optional)
Directions:
Step 1—Combine milk and white chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan about one-third full of boiling water. (The water level should be under the bowl and not touching it.) Stir constantly until chocolate is melted.
Step 2—Whip in the vanilla using a whisk, hand blender, or electric mixer. Continue to whip about a minute until the warm mixture is loosely frothy.
Step 3—Pour the espresso into a large mug. Add the steamed white chocolate milk and stir to blend the flavors. You can top with whipped cream, but it’s just as delicious without. 
*NOTE: To make double-strength coffee in an automatic drip coffee maker, French press, or pour-over cone, simply double the amount of ground coffee that you would normally use. For example, instead of 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per 6 ounces of water, use 4 tablespoons.


CONTEST 

Win a signed copy of Holiday Grind!
Warm up a chilly winter evening with Cleo Coyle’s new culinary mystery, Holiday Grind, now a top-4 national mystery bestseller in paperback. Last year, the book was a national bestseller in hardcover, and Cleo’s giving away an autographed hardback edition of the book. Read it with a mug of her White Chocolate Snowflake Latte. Get the recipe below – it’s one of the many recipes Cleo includes in her appendix of Holiday Grind!

[googleapps domain="spreadsheets" dir="embeddedform" query="formkey=dDExQlZFYW1JZGNpZ3BRdFNmWE42LUE6MQ" width="500" height="1280" /]
Barb

>Review of Pilot Mountain by Robert Wall

>Pilot Mountain……..PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

Pilot Mountain is a work of fiction based on the life of Louis H. Wall as seen through the eyes of his great-grandson, Dr. Robert R. Wall. This work takes us from Louis’s induction into the Army of Northern Virginia. It follows Louis through his exploits during several of the most horrific battles of that war. Finally, to his return home from that war, family strife and to the ultimate decision that would change his life forever. It is a story of family life in the old south and the war that changed the south forever. However it does not dwell on that horrific war. It instead tells stories of friends and the men and woman whose lives were changed by that terrible war. Dr. Wall has studied the genealogy of his Great-Grandfather and the history of his Great-Grandfather’s regiment during the Civil War. From this he has extrapolated this work of fiction from his own mind as it could have taken place.

This is a work of fiction and has no basis in fact, other than the regimental history and the areas in which his Great-Grandfather lived and fought for survival. No knowledge of what actually took place between family members is known or implied.


  • Paperback: 248 pages
  • Publisher: Outskirts Press (September 22, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1432763423
  • ISBN-13: 978-1432763428

My 2 cents:

This was an interesting read as I love reading about the Civil War.  It has been a long time so I was happy when I was asked to review this copy.  It takes you through some of the battles and the return home which will lead to a big change.  Life in the south is brought out in this book and how the war changed so many lives not just the soldiers.  This is a must read.


Barb

>Review for Ask Me About Mary Kay by Jackie Brown

>Ask Me About Mary Kay………PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

In December of 1963, grief over the recent assassination of President Kennedy gave rise to a heightened sense of urgency to “grab the brass ring now.” So it was that on a snowy day in Dallas, a legal secretary looking for a brighter future for herself and her family answered an ad placed by a new company, Mary Kay Cosmetics. In Jackie Brown’s brief interview with Mary Kay, she became convinced not only of the company’s quality products and the founder’s values, but also of the potential in the marketing plan. Here was a company that would reward her hard work and dedication with an executive paycheck! Jackie rose through the ranks of Mary Kay Cosmetics as no one else did. Jackie’s successes in selling and recruiting laid the foundation for a cosmetics empire and she herself became the gold standard for new recruits. But as the company’s achievements spiraled ever higher, Jackie began to see flaws from within. And these were only the first warnings of a breach of trust so great it would start a battle between the two women. This is the story the public has never heard. The real story that fills in the gaps left by other published reports. It is a story of loyalty and betrayal, joy and heartbreak, recognition and disappointment, heady success and depressing failure. Ultimately, it is also a story of tragedy, and Jackie Brown is the only one who can tell it. Author Jackie Brown spent over forty years in the cosmetic business and was president of two cosmetic companies. Now retired, she lives in a small town in Arkansas.


  • Paperback: 394 pages
  • Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing (September 1, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1609761650
  • ISBN-13: 978-1609761653


My 2 cents:

Mary Kay and Jackie Brown are good role models for anyone running a business or wanting to.  Both woman overcame so many obstacles through out their career and made it big.  This book might make some people upset thinking Jackie should have left some things alone or out of the book.  I am glad she didn’t.  It really makes you see the faith and how hard they both worked at their goals and businesses.  I was shocked I guess I was expecting it to be no holds bared let everything out some of it was, but not like what a person might think.  This was a great read for me and recommend it highly.
Barb

>Review of Magel’s Daughter by Nancy Baker

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Magel’s Daughter…….PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket
Everyone in the Olina family, living and dead, knows that Magel keeps human body parts in her freezer. From the beginning of the novel, the provocative nature of the text defies the Minnesota-nice stereotype, which is, at once, refreshing and original. Magel’s Daughter highlights the deadly manipulations and subterfuge of matriarchal power within a Norwegian family. It is a dark comedy with a touch of magical realism. On the surface it s a rapidly paced, episodic blitz through the last days of Karin Brix s sanity. She s lost it by the end, and it s all her mother s fault. Magel is a classic femme fatale who grows old and spoils everyone s lives just like her mother and her mother before her. is is all set in Northern Minnesota, a chilly world of hallucination, incest, and severed heads. Magel is the reigning matriarch of the family, and Karin is on her way to becoming just like her, struggling to regain herself as an artist after years of raising her two sons. Karin is assisted in her endeavors by the hallucinations of her grand and great-grandmothers. Karin s father s glass eye weaves through her imagination as the only sound counsel amid the chaos.
  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc. (September 1, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0878393641
  • ISBN-13: 978-0878393640
My 2 cents:
Karin is either going to slay the demons that haunt her or will turn into one herself. There is some disfunction going on with the women of the family.   The body parts never go to waste even the fake eye. I was anxious to see what was going to happen to Karin.   This book was very interesting a little humor mixed in with the dark side.  
Barb

>Review of The Reindeer Keeper by Barbara Briggs Ward

>The Reindeer Keeper….PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

Abbey senses something special about the little man tending to the reindeer who, along with a century-old farmhouse, a barn full of animals, and fields abounding in woods and pasture, was a gift to Abbey from a stranger. Abbey and her husband, Steve, move in just before the holidays. They have been together since the ’60s, eloping when Steve returned from Vietnam. Now with Abbey’s cancer in remission, they’re looking forward to their boys coming home for Christmas.
Turns out this Christmas proves to be more magical than anticipated as Abbey realizes an understanding never thought possible through the rekindling of a belief rooted in childhood. Of course it’s who delivers this gift on Christmas Eve that gives Abbey and Steve the strength to face their greatest challenge.

  • Paperback: 182 pages
  • Publisher: Wheatmark (October 15, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1604944439
  • ISBN-13: 978-1604944433


My 2 cents:

If this book doesn’t make you a believer again about christmas nothing will.  This was such a heart warming story and I did not put it down till I was done.  Abbey and her family experience love, loss, acceptance that leaves you with such a warm feeling. It takes you back to your own memories of past Christmases.   This is a great book for the holiday’s.  You will believe once again.
Barb

>Review of Murder by Another Name by Jo Stone

>Murder by Another Name……..PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket







This captivating murder mystery depicts the exposure of a breast implant manufacturer whose products have caused the development of cancer in patients. As she is leaving her lover/client/friend Dr. Dan MacNamara , Sherri Barker, a detail person for PolySurgical Specialties, a manufacturer of polyurethane coated breast implants, is killed by a car bomb. Dr. MacNamara happens to be the plastic surgeon who inserted PSS breast implants into Pamela Lawson, who is awaiting a liver transplant for liver cancer. Her attorney, Janet Stephenson, has filed a product’s liability suit against PSS and Dr. MacNamara is a key witness for PSS. Ms Barker, however, had just delivered to him secret internal studies which showed that all animals tested by PSS developed liver cancer. PSS and its cohort, Conway Chemical, have set out to kill Dr. MacNamara, and Janet Stephenson’s two expert witnesses, biomaterials scientists from Canada. Meanwhile, a television network reporter and an FDA investigator are preparing a special on the PSS implants, which airs just before the Lawson v. PSS trial. The investigation and intrigue related to the murder continue right up to the Lawson v. PSS trial, and coordinate with the criminal investigation and grand jury indictment of the principals at PSS and Conway and their murderous lackeys.


  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 456 KB
  • Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc. (October 28, 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0049U496I


My 2 cents:

You got to love Janet this is a must read and I read it straight through.  I did not want to put it down.  Janet goes after the company and the plastic surgeon who does breast implants that aren’t going very well.  Up to the very end you are intrigued with what is going on and what is about to happen.  This is a must read!

Barb
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