Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
#A
review
OutsmartYourShelf
post image
Mehso-so

Exactly what it says: 12 short stories themed around Christmas with 12 holiday recipes. Standouts for me were:

3). Dark Christmas - ghost story set in a house which has been rented by a small group of friends for Christmas but only one of them turns up.

9). A Ghost Story - haunting based around Mallory & Irvine's ill-fated attempt to climb Everest.

& (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf 10). The Silver Frog - amphibians come to the rescue of orphans being ill-treated by the owner of the orphanage.

Overall it was good but short stories always leave me wishing they had been a bit longer. 3⭐

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6028152602
Read 16th-19th Dec 2023

Holiday Read - 25
Readathons - 325
Words - 6820
Post - 1

Total - 7171 pts

#WinterGames #HollyJollyReaders @Laughterhp
3mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 3mo
22 likes3 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
A Tudor Christmas | Alison Weir, Siobhan Clarke
post image
Pickpick

An interesting little book about the traditions of a Tudor Christmas. It's surprising how many traditions & foodstuffs have managed to survive to modern day, even if they are in a slightly different form today. Mince pies once did indeed contain minced meat but this was gradually phased out until they became the sweet pie of today, whilst the traditional Christmas pudding also went from a savoury dish to a sweet pudding with the removal of meat.

OutsmartYourShelf That's one thing you can say for the Tudors, they were definitely carnivores!

It did meander a little into the Puritans & ye-olde-killjoy Oliver Cromwell who is outside the scope of Tudor history but 'tis a minor quibble. With plenty of little anecdotes alongside illustrations & quotations from period-contemporary poems, ballads, & carols, this is a treat for any history buffs. 4🌟

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6018105006
3mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 3mo
Catsandbooks 🍭❄️❤️ 3mo
BookmarkTavern That sounds so interesting! 3mo
34 likes1 stack add5 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
Malice | Keigo Higashino
post image
Pickpick

Osamu Nonoguchi visits his friend, bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka, the day before Hidaka is due to emigrate to Canada with his new wife. Later that evening, Nonoguchi receives a telephone call from Hidaka asking him to return to his home as he needs to see him again urgently. When Nonoguchi reaches the house, all the lights are off & Hidaka doesn't answer the door, so he raises the alarm & Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga is given the case.

OutsmartYourShelf The police find Hidaka dead on the floor of his office, with both the door to the office & the front door to the house locked from the inside. Both Nonoguchi & Hidaka's wife have alibis for the time of death. Who killed the author & why?

The reader is kept at arms length from the investigation & the characters really as the murder & circumstances are told from written confessions, notes, or interview transcriptions.
3mo
OutsmartYourShelf It is a writing style that takes a little getting used to. The story starts slowly but as the twists & turns of the case started to reveal themselves, I found myself needing to know what happened next. There's no gore & most of the TWs below are not graphic. 3.5🌟

TWs: murder, infidelity, sexual assault, animal cruelty/death, bullying.

#WinterGames #HollyJollyReaders @Laughterhp
(edited) 3mo
See All 10 Comments
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 3mo
Ruthiella Sounds interesting! I‘m really interested in exploring crime fiction from other parts of the world! 🎄🔪💀🎅🏻 3mo
BarbaraBB I really like these series too 3mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 3mo
Catsandbooks 🍭❄️❤️ 3mo
Andrew65 Excellent 🎄🎅🏼🎄 3mo
21 likes10 comments
blurb
BarkingMadRead
post image
peanutnine Looks like a cute read! 💖 4mo
BarkingMadRead @peanutnine it was a lot of fun! 4mo
47 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
kspenmoll
A Room with a View | E.M. Forster
post image

#weeklyforecast

My plans:
~Continue with Wolf #bookedintime
~Read next section of MessyLives #sundaybuddyread
~Read/catch up on A Room #achapteraday #pemberlittens
~ Finish GE & ZNH chapters in A Life, 40 pgs #ninewomenwritersbeginagain
~Read several ch. of Night Gate #kindle #Enzofilesseries #serieslove2023
~listen to 4 ch. Broken #a karenpirienovel #audible

Cinfhen Nice genre of books you‘ve got going 😊 9mo
Andrew65 Love Peter May! 8mo
62 likes2 comments
blurb
Blerdgal_Fenix
Twilight | Stepheni Meyer
post image

Quote: “This that weather that had Bella cuddling another dude right in front of her old man.”
#a little humor - thought you guys might like it 😂 #twilight #Werewolves #teamjacob

review
JoyBlue
post image
Pickpick

This is an intense, sobering, and valuable book club choice. Read my full review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#a-wolf-at-the-schoolhouse-door

review
JoyBlue
A Death in Door County | Annelise Ryan
post image
Pickpick

Midwesterners: here‘s a contemporary cozy mystery especially for us (but the rest of you can read it, too). Read my full review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#a-death-in-door-county

37 likes1 stack add
review
JoyBlue
post image
Pickpick

This cozy mystery hybrid is particularly charming and satisfying for a murder mystery. Read my full review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#a-most-efficient-murder

#NetGalley #InkandDaggerPress #BooksGoSocialAudio #AMostEfficientMurder

27 likes1 stack add
review
JoyBlue
A Killing in Costumes | Zac Bissonnette
post image
Pickpick

I liked this cozy mystery so much more than expected that I‘ve already teased three friends with its upcoming publication. Read my full review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#a-killing-in-costumes

Publication is expected August 9.

#NetGalley #DreamscapeMedia #AKillinginCostumes

27 likes1 stack add