I Feel So Unnecessary

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches ( Flavia de Luce # 6) By: Alan Bradley Genre: Mystery 336 pages Publisher: Random House Publication Date: January 14, 2014 Buy the book here: Amazon  B&N Synopsis: On a spring morning in 1951, eleven-year-old chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce gathers with her family at the railway station, awaiting the return of her long-lost mother, Harriet. Yet upon the train’s arrival in the English village of Bishop’s Lacey, Flavia is approached by a tall stranger who whispers a cryptic message into her ear. Moments later, he is dead, mysteriously pushed under the train by someone in the crowd. Who was this man, what did his words mean, and why were they intended for Flavia? Back home at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ crumbling estate, Flavia puts her sleuthing skills to the test. Following a trail of clues sparked by the discovery of a reel of film stashed away in the attic, she unravels the deepest secrets of the de Luce c...

Practice to Deceive By: Ann Rule Genre: Non-fiction: True Crime 353 pages Publisher: Gallery Books Publication Date: October 8, 2013 Buy it here: Amazon   B&N   iTunes   Synopsis: Nestled in Puget Sound, Whidbey Island is a gem of the Pacific Northwest; accessible only by ferry and the soaring Deception Pass Bridge, it is known for its artistic communities and stunning natural beauty. Life there is low-key, insular, and the island’s year-round residents tend to know one another’s business. But when the blooddrenched body of Russel Douglas was discovered the day after Christmas in his SUV in a hidden driveway near Whidbey’s most exclusive mansions, the whole island was shocked. A single bullet between his eyes was the cause of death, but no one could imagine who among them could plot such a devious, cold-blooded crime. At first, police suspected suicide, tragically common at the height of the holiday season. But when they found no gun in o...

A Basket of Trouble ( #3 in the Claire Hanover series) By: Beth Groundwater Genre: Mystery 312 pages Publisher: Midnight Ink Publication Date: November 8, 2013 Buy it at: Amazon   B&N   Midnight Ink   Synopsis When gift basket designer Claire Hanover saddles up for the opening event of her brother Charley's new riding stable, the last thing she expects is for a death to ruin the festivities. But before the grand opening can even begin Kyle Mendoza, one of the stable hands, is found dead in a horse stall. At first it appears that the horse trampled him, until it's discovered someone killed Kyle before dragging him into the stall. Charley's troubles worsen when a rival stable owner starts wrangling up his clients and Kyle’s family decides to sue him for negligence. Claire is determined to find the real murderer before her brother's business is put out to pasture and before the killer strikes again. My Review Received a c...

The Litter of the Law By: Rita Mae Brown 256 pages Genre: Mystery Publisher: Bantam Publication Date: October 22, 2013 Purchase it here: Amazon   B&N   Synopsis: Autumn has descended and crops are being harvested all over Crozet, Virginia, ideal conditions for a scenic drive for Harry and husband Fair. Bucolic views are all well and good, but Harry’s nose for trouble leads her straight to a cornfield’s macabre scarecrow—an all too real murder victim that frightens all but the noisy crows. This accountant’s gruesome death is only the first of many disturbing events in this normally pastoral corner of the world. While Harry tends her beloved grapes and sunflowers, a killer edges closer—as does Harry’s protective menagerie of animals. Halloween’s approach brings with it bona fide terror and a beloved local tradition that threatens to become fatal. Rooting out the guilty in the treacherous center of a lucrative conspiracy requires Harry’s farmer...

Aimless Love By: Billy Collins Genre: Poetry 288 pages Publisher: Random House Publication Date: October 22, 2013 Purchase the book here: Amazon   B&N   Random House   Synopsis: From the two-time Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins comes his first compilation of new and selected poems in a decade. Aimless Love combines fifty new poems with selections from four previous books— Nine Horses, The Trouble with Poetry, Ballistics, and Horoscopes for the Dead. Collins’s unmistakable voice, which combines plain speech with imaginative surprise, is clearly heard on every page, reminding us how he has managed to enrich the tapestry of contemporary poetry and greatly expand its audience. His work is featured in top literary magazines such as The New Yorker , Poetry , and The Atlantic , and he is a strong draw at reading venues across the country. Appearing regularly in The Best American Poetry series, his poems appeal to readers and live a...

The Girl You Left Behind By: JoJo Moyes Genre: Literature/Fiction 384 pages Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books Publication Date: August 2013 Get it at: Amazon   B&N   Penguin   Add it on: Goodreads   Synopsis: * I received a free copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*   Jojo Moyes’s bestseller, Me Before You , catapulted her to wide critical acclaim and has struck a chord with readers everywhere. “Hopelessly and hopefully romantic” ( Chicago Tribune ), Moyes returns with another irresistible heartbreaker that asks, “Whatever happened to the girl you left behind?” France, 1916: Artist Edouard Lefevre leaves his young wife, Sophie, to fight at the front. When their small town falls to the Germans in the midst of World War I, Edouard’s portrait of Sophie draws the eye of the new Kommandant. As the officer’s dangerous obsession deepens, Sophie will risk everything—her family, her reputation, and her l...

The Road From Gap Creek By: Robert Morgan 333 pages Genre: Literature/Fiction Publisher: Algonquin Books Publication Date: August 27, 2013 Purchase it here: Amazon   B&N   Workman   I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: One of America’s most acclaimed writers journeys to the land on which he has staked a literary claim to paint an indelible portrait of a family in a time of unprecedented change. When Robert Morgan began the saga of the Richards family in his novel Gap Creek, the book became an Oprah Book Club Selection, attracting hundreds of thousands of readers to its beguiling story of a marriage begun with love and hope but beset by chaos at the turn of the twentieth century. Now, in a masterful work of historical fiction, he introduces a new generation of this close-knit family in a captivating story that looks ahead to the uncertainties of the future, the struggle ...

The Quotable Eleanor Roosevelt By:  Michele Wehrwein Albion Genre: Biography 272 pages Publisher: University Press of Florida  Publication Date: September 24, 2013 * I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Buy it here: Amazon   Barnes and Noble   Wal-mart     Synopsis: Born to one of the wealthiest families in New York City, Eleanor Roosevelt seemed destined for a sedate and comfortable life. Instead, she fell in love with her fifth cousin and was flung into the highest levels of American politics, culminating in Franklin's unprecedented four-term presidency. Before her, no first lady had ever held a press conference or written a syndicated column. Eleanor spoke at national conventions and often made appearances on her husband's behalf. Her own influence lasted years beyond his death. She advocated for human rights, worked with the United Nations, and supported what later...

Her Royal Spyness ( A Royal Spyness Mysteries #1) By: Rhys Bowen Genre: Cozy Mystery 336 pages Publisher: Penguin Group/ Berkeley Publication Date: July 2008 *  I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie ( say that three times fast), 34th in line for the throne, is flat broke. She's bolted Scotland, her greedy brother, and her fish-faced betrothed for London. The place where she'll experience freedom, learn life lessons aplenty, do a bit of spying for HRH oh, and find a dead Frenchman in her tub. Now her new job is to clear her long family name. My Thoughts: Even thought the mystery part got off to a slow start I wasn't annoyed because the story was so engaging and the Georgie's personality was so spunky. I enjoyed her interactions with the other characters, I liked the setting of 1930s England, and also how the author weaved in histo...

  Rules of Murder: A Drew Farthering Mystery By: Juliana Deering Genre: Cozy/Christian Mystery 336 pages Publisher: Bethany House Publication Date: August 1, 2013 * I received a copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.   Synopsis: From The Tip of his black Homburg to the crease in his stylish cheviot trousers, he's the epitome of a stylish 1930s English gentleman. His only problem? The body he just discovered. Drew Farthering loves a good mystery, although he generally expects to find it in the pages of a novel, not on the grounds of his country estate. With the help of beautiful and whip-smart Madeline Parker, a guest from America, Drew proposes to use the lessons he's learned reading his mysteries to solve the crime. Before long, he realizes this is no lark, and no one at Farthering Place is who he or she appears to be--not the butler nor blackmailer, the chauffeur nor embezzler. Trying hard to remain one step a...

Tidewater Murder ( A Carolina Slade Mystery) Genre: Mystery/Thriller  By: C. Hope Clark 290 pages Publisher: Belle Bridge Books Publication Date: April 2013 * I received a free copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Purchase it here: Amazon Barnes and Noble Synopsis: In the deep waters off the coast of Beaufort, South Carolina, corpses are turning up faster than dolphins chasing a shrimp boat . . . When federal agricultural investigator Carolina Slade’s best friend is suspected of embezzlement and fraud in a sordid case involving drugs and migrant slavery, Slade must question her own long-held loyalties. She’s desperate to believe in Savannah Conroy's innocence despite every scrap of evidence pointing to her friend’s guilt. After a tomato farmer dies in a shrimp boat explosion, Slade’s colleague, Senior Special Agent Wayne Largo, manages to force Slade off the case, citing conflict of interest. Refusing to qui...

Grapes of Death: A Tangled Vines Mystery ( Tangled Vines # 1) Genre: Mystery By: Joni Folger 288 pages Publisher: Midnight Ink Publication Date: September 2013 * I was given a copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.* Where to Purchase: Midnight Ink   Amazon   Barnes and Noble   Add it on:  Goodreads Book Synopsis:   A vineyard inheritance mystery has Elise tangled up in murder Elise Beckett has a wonderful family, a good job on the family-owned River Bend vineyard, and a smart, stable boyfriend—even if he does live five hours away. But when her long-distance beau offers her a dream job, she's torn between her family responsibility and exciting new horticulture research. Before Elise has time to think about her decision, Uncle Edmond, the family's money-loving and temper-toting black sheep—shows up to bully her mother into giving him ownership of the vineyard, which he ...