Gina Parrish

This was a short story the falls before the Heathcliff Lennox series. I think the point of it is to draw readers into the series but it lacked substance and had no element of mystery, which is central to every other book in the series. It was fine, but could be skipped.

This novel was a complete slog for me. On the surface the topics interested me—an ocean liner, the 1930s, a revenge plot, false identities—but it felt like the author couldn't make up her mind about what she wanted the book to be so she made it everything and nothing all at once.

There were many mysterious circumstances revolving around the Morro Castle in real life, and yet none of them were really explored in the book. Instead she forced her own plot on top of the true story and they never really meshed. As soon as the climax began it felt out of place, because it wasn't really foreshadowed at all. I began skimming, ready to be done... not my typical reaction to what's supposed to be the most exciting part of the book.

As for the writing, the dialogue felt unnatural and there were places that could've used tighter editing. I usually prefer sparse writing but there should've been more detail in this one to establish a sense of place and to make you care about the characters. The whole novel felt a touch lazy to be honest, rushed to the publisher because of a deadline. I won't read another of this author's books.

I am coming to the end of reading all of Christie's mysteries chronologically. This one, Nemesis, started off well and had a great title (Nemesis was the Greek god who punished arrogance) but lost some serious points for me. The mystery itself was actually quite entertaining, though somewhat obvious (I definitely guessed it right off). I gave it two stars only for that.

What peeved me was the social commentary. I have mentioned her commentary before, in fact it is quite common in her books, but this one was almost unbelievable. It just keeps coming in long paragraphs by different characters (who all somehow agree with one another).

Christie has been accused of being sexist and, though I really enjoy her mysteries, I have to on this point agree. It is especially apparent in this one. Young women are constantly being called silly and unable to take care of themselves, with people insisting it's trouble for them to make their own decisions because they are in a perpetual state of not wanting to grow up.

Okay, you say, that's not so bad. But then two separate characters comment that rape isn't really rape anymore, that women's mothers just insist they report it as such when they get pregnant. Add some heavy victim blaming on there (“Girls are far more ready to be raped nowadays than they used to be...”) and I almost rated this book a single star. It would have been different if I felt it was the character's view, not the author's. But when two (almost three) separate respectable characters say more or less the same thing...yikes.

That's not to mention the commentary on nature vs nurture and “love”...disagree, disagree, disagree. It's too bad because this could have been a good mystery.

I struggle to rate this series because, while I enjoy it, I am not a fan of the writing itself so I find myself torn. The history, plots, and characters I love. The words I read on the page? Meh.

The text tends to be redundant, with some exceptions grades and concepts being repeated over and over ad nauseum, like Latin phrases (see what I did there?), the power of love and friendship, and the war between logic and intuition. Sometimes different characters think the exact same thing in almost the exact same wording, which seems odd. They can't all have the same perspective and it would be nice to have some disagreement.

Nonetheless, I rated this one four stars because, of all the ones I've read in this series, this one felt like the best. Still, I only pick this series up when I am looking for an easy read to pick up next.

An enjoyable, light story about a family before WWII. I particularly enjoyed the sights they visit on their trip to Europe. The relationship between sisters is also enjoyable to follow. Overall it was a pleasant, well-written book. Part of me wishes there had been a bit more at stake, more loss, especially at the end (did the authors hold back? cop out?) but it was great for our book club and anyone who doesn't want to read something heavy. I've also read Last Christmas in Paris and would rank that higher, but they are good writers and I plan to read more of their work.

I picked this up at the library on a whim and overall enjoyed it. I love mystery novels, tv shows, movies... and now I know why! Mystery (or generally the unknown) keeps us interested and engaged in the world around us, and that is what this book unpacks with various anecdotes and studies. I agree that it felt similar in style to Malcolm Gladwell, with similar format and similar blind spots. There were a few examples he used that I felt were a stretch or at least would rouse hearty debate, and a few I just had no interest in whatsoever. But other than that, the author was preaching to the choir with me. The book helped me understand why certain things appeal to me and why we have to learn to be more comfortable with questions, changes, and uncertainties. It wasn't exactly a page turner, but I am happy I read to the end.

This book is truly just a collection of 1,000 patents from 1900 to 2020. It is interesting to flip through and glean bits of history. However, I wish the editor had cut the amount of patents in half and written a blurb about each one. It would be interesting to know what made him select each patent, the history of the object being patented, backstory on the inventor or company, and why it made history. For example, the stoplight. It's an object we take for granted but use everyday, like so many of the items in the book. I think this would be a great book to put on your coffee table for guests to flip through. Or it would look great on a bookshelf or on a gallery wall because it has an interesting aesthetic.

Just as good as, if not better, than the last. The mystery was expertly woven in this one and the history, setting, and characters were interesting. I do wish the female characters were more fleshed out and varied... they all feel the same to me.

I read this as a book club pick and enjoyed it. It's clever, fun, and fast-paced. It definitely is a sequel and wouldn't read it without reading the first one first. As far as the mystery goes, I prefer a bit more fair play but this is a great light read.

I can see why this one felt weaker than the others for some readers but I love a good mystery-adventure set in the desert, as well as early film history, so... it came in at four stars for me.

The setting, characters, and archeological aspects of this one appealed to me and I enjoyed seeing Lennox as a fish out of water. There were lots of fast-paced scenes and confounding clues, and I had fun reading it.

As for what could've been better, I think the weakest element was the mystery... it felt like an afterthought and the denouement was a disappointment as there was no evidence. The romance also felt forced... Lennox and Persi don't seem to know each other very well and we aren't given any reasons to root for them to get together. There were also quite a few more typos in this one, so the editing needed work.

Overall, if you like Elizabeth Peters's Amelia Peabody series or Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile or Murder in Mesopotamia, I think you'll like this one.

I liked the setting and plot of this one but thought it dragged in the middle. The archeologist characters were difficult to tell apart so the suspects were kind of all clumped together. The history was interesting but told at length across multiple chapters, which started to lose my attention. Overall I liked it, particularly once it picked up near the end, but it wasn't as good as the first two.

This is an entertaining series and the mysteries are well-crafted. I don't love the main character but I don't think that is required. For once they really do remind me of the Golden Age of detective fiction, but modernized in a positive way. I wish the female characters were more substantial but there is hope for the future.

A whodunit in the classic style—just what I was hoping for. I particularly liked the quality of the writing and plotting—it was all very tight and engaging. I also liked the length—it's nice to keep things short and sweet every once in a while. The main character was a tad elitist, but I don't think it went over the edge. And while it took place at Christmas, it didn't distract from the story in any way. I look forward to the next one.

I don't usually leave reviews for cookbooks, but I feel like the truth about this one needs to be put out there. The graphics are interesting and appealing... and that's about all that is appealing about this cookbook.

The cutesy titles, the wet and messy food photos, the strange combinations of ingredients... some of them actually made my stomach churn. (Chicken soup with six stalks of celery and prunes? Tomato soup loaded up with soggy bread? Soft-boiled eggs over greek yogurt topped with browned butter? What!?)

Not to mention, this cookbook claims to be a guide for the beginner home cook, but the recipes call for many expensive and (where I live) hard to find ingredients. For example: salmon roe, broccolini, burrata, mortadella, scallops, and more. If I had and could afford these lovely ingredients, I wouldn't dare waste them on these recipes. Mortadella used to flavor a pot of beans? I don't think so.

I suspect also this cookbook may have been sponsored by the Celery Council, because the author uses celery often in her recipes—and in large quantities. Most of the recipes center on meat and bread, but if there's going to be a vegetable, it's celery. If you love celery and think, “Why not make Ants on a Log into a salad?”, then this may be the book you've been waiting for.

For the record, I knew nothing about the author going in. I saw a review that said someone had cooked a ton of the recipes and loved them, which is always a good sign, but I now find that doubtful. (Or else we must have very different tastes.) It feels like the author said, “Let's take a basic recipe and add one ingredient that makes it strange and unaccessible” for almost every recipe in this cookbook.

This novel ticked a lot of boxes for me. I usually read mysteries but I love a good heist too so the idea of a safe-cracking spy appealed to me. The espionage parts of the book were really fun and kept the plot moving, and the romantic bits, while I didn't expect them, weren't too over the top so I got on board. The only things that bothered me were how ridiculously good-looking all the characters were and how the major had color-changing eyes... once I noticed the pattern I burst out laughing every time she mentioned how they turned a different nonexistent shade. I'm looking forward to continuing with the series.

A great addition to the series. Less of a murder mystery and more action adventure. The dialogue wasn't as snappy as the last one, but the plot was more interesting. I liked seeing the characters develop, though there are some I enjoy more than others. (The gangsters aren't my favorite.) I also enjoy the matchmaking elements without them being the center of the story. I do think the titles of the books make it seem like they are romance novels. (“A Rogue's Company”? Still trying to figure that one out... maybe since the author is a man he feels like they need to sound super feminine?) And I can't seem to place the illustrations on the covers either. But in general I like the series a lot and look forward to the next one.

I've only read a few graphic novels before and am trying to get into them more. The Banks had great illustrations but the story felt stilted for me. A lot of the dialogue felt unrealistic or melodramatic. Plus, there could have been more story and character development and less repetitive bickering.

The biggest question mark for me was why the main character Celia was doing any of this in the first place... She decides to become a thief and put her entire family in danger even though she makes a decent living and has no idea about the villain's identity until later on. She risks her relationship with her boyfriend (who is hopelessly dramatic), which seems to be the strongest relationship she has.

Funnily enough, I was all in for the first half of this book. I really liked the modern epistolary format. It wasn't super realistic (if so it would all be fragmented texts littered with emojis) but I was okay with that. I was engaged with the characters. The plot was interesting and provided lots of theoretical routes to go down.

But then... I lost some interest once the murder actually happens and the lawyers start discussing theories. It was a tad too “meta” for me, since the lawyers are supposed to be like us—the readers, trying to solve the murder. Really it was an avenue of misdirection for the author, which bothered me because I was so aware of it. Some of the theories they start with are so outlandish and unbelievable it felt like an insult to my intelligence. “15 suspects” is also an exaggeration, since most of them have zero motive whatsoever and I didn't even consider them as suspects. And the “questions” posed made it feel like a crime-solving board game instead of a novel.

I wish the author had kept going after the murder with texts, emails, etc. from the characters we were already familiar with, through the trial itself. It would have held my interest more than looking back and reading between the lines. In the end, I had called most of it (confusing questions aside), though I thought the author's choice of murderer had a weak motive.

In any case, it was still fun and I would consider reading her next book.

I mean... what's there not to like? Action, adventure, mistaken identities, romance. This one was better than I expected actually. The writing was fairly sparse but I didn't mind, and it was ridiculous and over the top at times, which I knew beforehand. But generally I can see why this story inspired so many others of its type.

This was my favorite in the series so far. The pacing, plotting, mystery elements, and character development, all hit just the right note for me. I also enjoyed the setting and the history. It felt better executed than the previous one.

The history behind this book is fascinating. It's fun learning about the Pulaski shipwreck, as well as the expedition uncovering it, and the history of Savannah.

That said, I wasn't a fan of the writing. The chapters set in the past, written in third person, were far better than the chapters in present day, written in first person. And there was altogether too much telling and not enough showing. I consider myself to be of reasonable intelligence and can gather things for myself without having them explained to me.

Not to mention, some of the language in the present day chapters is too sentimental and ethereal for my taste. For example:

“What really mattered? Minutes or years passed as I searched for the answer. Finally my heart called out: everything. Everything matters. ... There existed a great life force, a presence that could only be called love. Alongside me, inside me, around me, I sensed the waves of something larger than the ocean itself. Love, where I would eventually go. ... It was unseen and it held everything together. I was in it and I was of it.”

I prefer more straight-forward writing and I think prose and moralizing need to be earned. So overall the novel was only okay for me. I did enjoy reading the author's note and learning about the history though.

I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie and I am about three-quarters of the way through reading all of her mysteries. That said, I had trouble getting through this book of short stories. I don't know if it was the format or what.

The one thing I will say is that the concept would have been clever if she had been less obvious with it. She makes it Poirot's idea to accomplish his equivalent of the 12 labors of Hercules before retirement, so he constantly making far-reaching comparisons throughout the whole book.

“The dog is missing? Why that is JUST LIKE in the first labor of Hercules when...” etc. etc.

It would have gone over better if she had just titled each story with the labor it is referring to and let us make the connection without Poirot's help. And if goes over our heads? Tough luck.

Overall, okay. Not her best short stories.

Edith Wharton has a talent for writing and for keeping dramatic tension even when not much happens in the plot. I wish that this book had ended with more of a bang, but I think Wharton was instead making a point, which came across. Still mulling it over.

Our Darkest Night was well researched and well written too. I enjoyed how it took place in Italy (in places I have visited, no less!) and gave a slightly different backdrop for WWII. I appreciated how it played fictional witness to a real event and real people in such a thoughtful and honorable way.

That said, it didn't hit five stars for me because it was maybe too careful. The main characters Nico and Nina were likable but one-dimensional. They didn't have any notable flaws and they never did anything wrong except for what couldn't be helped. It almost felt like the author was afraid to have us think anything bad about them. But humans are all flawed, and to give Nina the humanity the Nazis were trying to take away from her, she needed to be flawed too. Nico came out as the stereotypical hero, always standing up for others, sacrificing himself, and his story largely mirrored Nina's which took the spotlight off of her.

Other than that I enjoyed being swept up in this book. I did cry the entire way through but what can you do? I recommend it to anyone who wants WWII historical fiction that takes place in Italy and with a romance plot.

I really want to like romance novels, because I like love stories and happy endings, but I struggle to find well-written ones, even when I choose ones with great reviews.

Case in point. I read Beach Read based on all the great reviews only to be disappointed and ready to stop reading about 3/4 the way in. (Nevertheless I pushed through.) Beach Read has some good writing moments, but is overall inconsistent with its tone and characters. Not to mention there is a whole lot of over-explaining and (contrary to the first rule of writing) telling rather than showing.

The first half was pretty enjoyable with some entertaining banter, but the banter soon turned to hand-wringing and whining. Being in January's head made me ready to drop the whole thing. I rolled my eyes so many times in the second half I wondered if they would get stuck there.

All of the side plots and backstories were dark and felt out of place. I found myself thinking that they should really work through their problems with licensed therapists before engaging in this relationship. And (spoiler alert?) what was the deal with the sex scene in a tent near a mass-murder site? It distracted me and made me uncomfortable.

Overall, I'm proud of myself for finishing it so I can get closer to my reading goal for the year. But I wouldn't recommend it.