After her husband dies, Maple is left penniless so she makes a living by creating intricate dollhouses. When she finds first client dead, she creates a dollhouse to recreate the crime scene. This is an interesting homage to Frances Glessner Lee, the mother of modern forensics because of her detailed “nutshell” dollhouse sized dioramas of unexplained deaths which were used for training homicide investigators and are also considered works of art.

One of the characters wears a T shirt that reads:
Tequila: “It might not be the answer, but it‘s worth a shot.” 🤭 🥃

Frisbee!
Best day ever at the dog park, especially when you‘re making new friends.

Read the books: enjoy Liz Danger‘s T Shirts….
Never Forget - with a picture of Pluto 1930-2006 beneath, and This is not a drill (pictured with a hammer)
And, Look both ways before you cross me
Am I easily entertained? 👍 Yep. These books definitely are entertaining. 😆

“Kitty says she never calls Faye ‘Faye,‘ she always calls her ‘Fay.‘”
“What?” “She says she always calls her ‘Fay‘ without the extra ‘e.‘”
“They sound alike, ‘e‘ or no ‘e.‘” “Kitty says Faye knows.”
Quirky, funny, murdery, spicy…so much fun.

He woke up with no eyebrows and no idea how he‘d gotten into such a position.

@ShyBookOwl

So far it‘s amusing and weird and wonderful.

I‘ve read the last two pages multiple times now … not that I think they‘re going to change … it‘s just I love one of the characters so much (the little gargoyle) and it‘s breaking my heart what‘s happening … maybe I just don‘t want to leave. It‘s going to be such a long time waiting … cliffhangers 😰🥺🫣

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Digging up a grave in a foggy, freezing cemetery at one in the morning was not how Miles wanted to spend his Thursday night.

Dahlia Lively is a Miss Marple-type character in a popular detective series. Rosalind King (60s) played the original Dahlia in the movies. Caro Hopper (40s) played Dahlia on the TV series. Posy Starling, child star, now grown up, plays Dahlia in the latest film. They should be rivals. But.
Instead, these three actresses who all have skeletons in their pasts, become unlikely friends, and team up to solve mysteries. 3rd book in this cozy series.

(Addie) “Let‘s figure out how we‘re going to get out of here.” She pointed to an air vent above them. …I could try to get it open, but I‘ll need a screwdriver first.”
(Mimi) “Well, there‘s some oranges over there, but I don‘t see any vodka.”
(Addie) “Very funny.”
(Me) Mimi is a hoot.

Two words: Secret passages.
Two more words: Septuagenarian sleuth …
And a whole bunch of words … teams up with her granddaughter to solve a murder while attending a Jazz Age theme party on Mackinac Island during a cyclone blizzard. 🥶
Great fun. 👍

You might want to read it…just to find out what they‘re up to. 🤭

This is hysterical … I love it so much. ❤️

I have no words…this is so much fun, and funny. I think kids would love this. Well, this kid did. 🤣

I thought this was just going to be another cute counting book…but it‘s a wonderful story of inclusion and a mother‘s unconditional love. ❤️ 💕 💗

I got to see Louise Penny. She was so funny. She was walking back and forth on the stage and her silk scarf kept slithering off her shoulder. Finally, after picking it up (one more time) she laughed and said something like, perhaps we hadn‘t expected to see Salome‘s Dance of the Seven Veils. She was great. 😊 👍

@BookmarkTavern

What?!?!! Is this a fun, funny, reassuring picture book, or is it an ominous warning?!

Since I‘m getting older by the minute…perhaps I am not the intended audience for the humor. 🤣😂

“Are you providing atmospheric music again?” Niko asked suspiciously.
“I‘m attempting to provide the optimal landing experience for my passengers.” The music grew slightly louder.
Niko decided not to object. The accompaniment actually sounded nice, the music swelling as the station loomed in all its unkempt, ragged, crazy quilt—glory before them. (Niko, the captain speaking to Sexy Thing, her ship.)
I love this series. ❤️😂❤️😆❤️🤣❤️

I had hopes but I guessed the murderer within the 1st twenty pages and the other twists very early.
And this really bugged me: the year was 1999 the MC mentioned that the original Planet of the Apes was playing at the local theater…How. Would. She know it was the original? The remake was in 2001. With two authors, editors…why did no one catch that? There were things repeatedly alluded to that made it strange…it just wasn‘t for me. ☹️

I found this to be a charming, funny, mash up. A little boy riding his hippocampus through a snowy jungle runs into Robert Frost and they both attempt to tell Frost‘s poem in their own way.

I hope it entertains and also introduces Frost to readers. 👍

“I guess I see myself in books,” she said. Always. I love words. … It‘s hard to explain. Words have just always been my people. And I don‘t forget them after I‘ve read them.”

This was an enjoyable English mystery, pubs, old manors, … murder. 👍

Only if we understand, can we care.
Only if we care, will we help.
Only if we help, shall all be saved.
Jane Goodall
(Another beautiful book by Aaron Becker. )

You know that old urban legend: a boy driving down a lonely, country road, sees a girl, gives her a ride. She‘s cold so he gives her his letterman‘s jacket, drops her off. Next day he realizes she still has his jacket, goes back…it‘s a cemetery…and his jacket is hanging over a tombstone. 😧🪦 😬
Yeah, different story … but it‘s the same road, man.
Freaking, do not go down this road.

This is adorable. A little bunny makes the l o n g trek down the hall to check on his Dad, since his Dad forgot to check on him. The illustrations are faded and fuzzy and perfect for a dreamy, time for bed book.

I am just crazy about the artwork in this book. So vivid.

Hey! Guess what?! The sky isn‘t really falling.

I liked this take on an old classic.

I thought this was just a redo of Hansel and Gretel but the author very intricately wove in several other fairy tales so that I was just completely drawn in. I really enjoyed this and look forward to following Kell Woods anywhere…breadcrumbs and all. 🤭

Loved the non-traditional take on princesses, the punny humor was great, I thought the illustrations were terrfic; this just illustrates that authors and readers both really love cheese in every way. 🧀🤣👍

I started snort laughing when Riley‘s octogenarian roommates all started taking turns using the stair lift to get to the third floor where the crime scene was…just in time to challenge “the po po” as the police showed up. When the cops asked them to wait elsewhere, Mrs. Penny said: “Why don‘t you make me, 5.0?” By then I was laughing out loud. 🤣 I‘m new to Lucy Score but after 3 books I know she‘s good for a laugh. 😆 Many laughs. 😂🤭

I‘d forgotten how much I love Patrick‘s writing. It‘s just a taste rather than the many course meal I would like, yet it was still enjoyable.
From the endnotes it seems that he has frustrations or anxieties about his writing as well. I‘ll wait.

Informative. Funny. Improbable. Exciting. This was a blast to read.
If you are interested in the theft of the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci, Lisa Gherardini (the woman who posed), woman‘s rights, conspiracy theories, famous art thefts. Picasso, the invention of fingerprints, the Medcis, Gainsborough, the Borgias, monkeys, famous detectives, and fun illustrations…there is something for everyone in this Junior book. So fun.

One more.

The illustrations are so beautiful. I think the story isn‘t new; a lonely child meets an unusual friend but those visuals — totally amazing. ❤️

It always amuses me when an innocuous library barcode changes the ominous 😧 Stalking Ground 😮 into the more light and breezy 🎶 Talking Ground 🎶 . 🤭

Enjoying this mystery series which shows how smart service (and non service) animals are. 🐕

New comic for me. So far so good. 😊 👍 😆

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

1) Night will find you by Julia Heaberlin
2) I‘m always intrigued when a psychic tries to help the police try to solve a case
3) Anywhere if I like the book. Just read one in space 👍❤️, one in MN 👍❤️, now I‘m in a retelling of Cinderella that is really good (Thief Liar Lady) 👍❤️. I‘ll go anywhere if it‘s a good book.

After bullying at school, Charlie and Eva opt for homeschooling, and go on the road exploring America. The first picture they post goes viral, making them unintentional influencers, providing a nice income. Finally settling at home, Eva goes missing. The police suspect Charlie. I read a lot of mysteries, thinking this was about a runaway, or an abduction…and then, it took a turn I did NOT see coming. I love it when a book surprises me. 👍🙂

The word unputdownable always makes me think of misadventure with super glue … ..
that being said, I read this in one day. When I woke up at 4 (cuz cats) rather than returning to sleep, I wondered: what‘s happening underwater now? And I had to continue. 😝 #catsoflitsy
Joe is blissfully ignorant of the drama unfolding just behind him. 🤣

Is it wrong to want “Starter Villain” just because of the cover? 😂 😊 😸
(Liberty Hardy Instagram preview)

A gentleman from Penguin used to come to our library and give the best book talks. He always humorously regretted they didn‘t become Random Penguin (instead of Penguin Random House) so I think of Penguin/Random with affection. And think of random penguins. 🤣🐧🐧🐧

@ozma.of.oz #Sundayfunday

Short review:
Just read this book Or Else. 😅😂🤣

(I really liked it.)

The author started this in a grocery store parking lot, by the time she was checking out she had a short story called “Godmother” which had things in common with but was very different from the book.
Readers online wanted to know about the woman with the bone dog…..and years later she wrote Nettle & Bone.
So satisfying. So inventive. I loved this book. 🦴 🐕

Litsy, Library Reads, Indie Next, Bookpage, She Reads, Crimereads, Pop Sugar, Book Riot…so many places. 😊

“A hidden passage inside a library?
Have you been reading my childhood diary and discovered all my favorite things?”

I found it to be a fun, light, magical read. 🪄 ✨

I started and finished on page one. Rayne looks out the window of her twentieth floor condo…focusing on the sway of palm trees outside the windows, catching a glimpse of coconuts at her eye level… I read it again. Huh?!
How tall were those freaking trees? 😳🤔😂
So I looked up palm trees and 20 story buildings…palms are 32-50 feet, buildings = 200. I scanned further but it just wasn‘t for me.
Yes, I was lured in by the Irish Setter.

Funny and dark and thoughtful.
Funny: weaponizing Bob, the rogue sourdough starter amused me to no end. Dark: a select group of people (wizards) were alienated, ostracized, and preyed on. Thoughtful: 🎶 War, huh. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing 🎶 This was such a surprise, so enjoyable, continually funny while making its points.
I think i might have to buy it now. 🥐🍞🥖

“Stories tell of children stolen away by faeries, replaced by look-a likes.
These look-a likes they say, could be identified by their strange speech or silence. They cried without reason or never showed any emotion at all, … Folklorists theorize that these stories were early descriptions of autistic children—proof that autistic people have always been here.
But once, they called us changelings.”

The virus was clever.
Blood, fluids, air. It constantly found new ways to travel.
The Elon f—king Musk of infection.
Reading this during a snowstorm in a pandemic probably influenced how I felt about this. Others will enjoy it. Just not me right now. 🫣

Hmmmm. 😆

😂 I enjoyed this.