Bear Has a Belly

Finished November 23

Bear Has a Belly by Jane Whittingham

This delightful photography picture book introduces body parts to young children, having them look at animals' bodies and compare them to their own bodies. They can see how the parts can be the same and yet different. The first example has a rabbit with long, floppy ears and the child can see that they have ears as well, but theirs are not long or floppy. This book would be a good one to read interactively, touching and pointing to body parts and noticing differences. Kids can come up with other descriptions for body parts for different types of bodies and explore the world around them by noticing these things. 

The animal photos are appealing and illustrate the noted body part well, and the pictures of the children show diversity. 

The book also includes suggestions to augment the reading experience, including making it interactive, finding ways to integrate movement, and to encourage observation and learning beyond the reading experience. 

A great choice for young readers. 

Deck the Halls

Finished November 21

Deck the Halls by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark

This mystery is set around a popular New York City based mystery writer and her family. Nora Reilly had planned to spend the holiday season with her husband Luke and daughter Regan in Hawaii. Unfortunately she tripped on a rug and broke her leg and now the family is spending Christmas in New York. Regan has flown in from her home in Los Angeles. Luke has a few plans, from putting in an appearance at a funeral taking place at the funeral home he runs with a partner to a dentist appointment before returning to the hospital later that day and then going out for a bit with Regan.

When calls go her dad go unanswered, and he doesn't show at the dentist, Regan knows something is wrong. At the dentist she runs into amateur detective Alvirah Meehan whose husband had an emergency dental visit just before Luke's scheduled appointment. Alvirah gives Regan a ride back to her parents' house and is there when a call comes in demanding a ransom be paid for Luke's release.

When Luke exited the hospital earlier, he and his driver were surprised by a former contractor with a gun. The contractor has teamed up with a disgruntled relative of a recently deceased business acquaintance of Luke's and the two have multiple grievances against both Luke and his young single mother driver Rosita Gonzalez. 

Gonzalez is worried about the inexperienced babysitter she had left her two young boys with and Luke is thinking of ways to provide information to his daughter that may help her find him.

Regan works as a private detective back in L.A. and with Alvirah's help and contacts quickly gets high-level support from the police. 

The ineptitude of the kidnappers provides both comic relief and tenseness as they seem to be ill-prepared for any changes to their plans. 

This is a light seasonal mystery book that provided me with a quick and enjoyable escape read. There is even a touch of romance. 

Dinos Driving

Finished November 20

Dinos Driving by Lynn Leitch, illustrations by Scot Ritchie

Dinosaurs are a common interest of children and this book provides information on different types of dinosaurs in a humorous and interesting way. Readers are asked to imagine what kind of cars different dinosaurs might drive based on their known attributes. From physical characteristics to diet to behaviours, these attributes are used as reasoning for the choices here. 

The illustrations bring both the dinosaurs and the attributes to life, showing an adult velociraptor driving their family around in their Mini, a group of motorcycle riding Triceratops, and a bus driver Diplodocus among others. The book pairs up the dinosaurs with vehicles in the main narrative, with information given about the dinosaurs at the end.

As usual with this publisher, at the end of the book additional activities are suggested. These include having a conversation with the child about the pairings and why they might be matched the way they are, coming up with matches for other dinosaurs or other animals, doing their own illustrations based on those ideas, and coming up with poses or actions to match with the different dinosaurs that can then be acted out. 

A fun and silly book that definitely has child appeal. 

A Sky-Blue Bench

Finished November 15

A Sky-Blue Bench by Bahram Rahman, illustrated by Peggy Collins

This story of a young girl, Aria, doesn't give the background of her injury, although it is at the center of the plot. Aria has a "helper leg" after an accident. She is just now returning to school and finds it difficult to sit on the ground for class. 

After consideration of her options, she decides to build a bench for herself for class. The story shows the gathering of materials, the request for advice from someone with the necessary skills, and the construction of the bench including painting it a sky-blue colour with the gift of paint given to Aria. This blue is a colour of courage, peace, and wisdom according to her donor. 

Aria's project inspires the girls in her class to dream of more projects, from more benches to bookcases. 

This story is based on real children in Afghanistan, where wooden furniture was often used by refugees to burn to keep warm, resulting in a lack of furniture following their stay in facilities like schools.

The pictures really enliven the story, with the characters' emotions coming out through their facial expressions. A lovely read about a subject not often covered. 

Dance of the Bones

Finished November 13

Dance of the Bones by J.A. Jance

This novel brings together J.P. Beaumont and Brandon Walker for a situation in Arizona. Lani Pardee is planning on going on an overnight retreat in the mountains with her 13-year-old godson Gabe. He has been a souce of worry recently for his parents who worry that he is taking a path that won't bring him anywhere good. The night doesn't go as planned, and they end up in the middle of a crime that has been decades coming. 

More than forty years earlier, Amos Warren had mentored young John Lassiter, and the two had a partnership finding and selling historical artifacts. Amos was killed and his body wasn't found for years. When it was, Lassiter was convicted of his murder and is still in jail for it. But a group working to clear his name has begun to dig into the case and the real murderer is looking to cover any remaining tracks and leave the area for good. 

This book ties in a native legend to the story, adding bits of that legend to the beginning of each chapter as it relates to the action in the plot. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book and the Walker family tree that was also included at the beginning, showing how various characters connected to each other. 

This was an interesting mystery with additional depth from the indigenous content. A good read. 

My copy also had a short story featuring J.P. Beaumont along with his wife Mel.

The Night Country

Finished November 11

The Night Country by Melissa Albert

This is the second book in the Hazel Wood series, and continues the story of Alice Prosperpine as she navigates her life in the human world, yet finds herself getting drawn back into the world of the Hinterland creatures who have, like her, escaped their stories. It also continues the story of Ellery Finch, the human boy, now man, who noticed Alice and helped her in her escape from her fairy tale. Elsa, Alice's mother also appears more prominently here and we get a better sense of her as a person. She was the one who took Alice from Hinterland to begin with and set the path to giving Alice a life that she chooses rather than just plays a part in. In Hinterland, Alice was Alice Three Times and we see glimpses of her story again here. 

The Hinterland has been in the process of dying due to the actions of Alice, Elsa, and Ellery, and the Spinner of stories there has some understandable resentment against them. Alice's fellow creatures have more prominence here as well, and we get to know some them like Sophia Snow more closely. 

As Ellery journey's through other worlds with a strange companion, he also yearns for Alice, finding a unique way to stay connected to her in the meantime. 

I enjoyed this sequel and how it continued the development of the two main characters. I also like the fantasy elements that Melissa Albert brings in, both the expected and the unexpected. 

This is supposed to complete the series, but I can't help but be interested in where Ellery and Alice will go next. 

The Cat, the Lady, and the Liar

Finished October 25

The Cat, the Lady and the Liar by Leann Sweeney

This is a book in the Cats in Trouble mystery series. Jillian Hart is a quilter who specializes in quilts for or featuring cats. She is also involved in a local cat rescue in her town of Mercy, South Carolina. She has been asked by the rescue director to discreetly look into the owner of a cat recently found near a highway. The owner is a wealthy woman in the neighbouring town of Woodcrest, Ritaestelle Longworth. When Jillian goes to Ritaestelle's house and talks to her assistant, she finds that things are not right, and when Ritaestelle shows up a Jillian's house later that same day looking for help, Jillian is only too happy to assist. 

Both women are old school polite, following established social protocols for behaviour and expectations. They are also both good hostesses and good women at heart and want to do what's right by the people around them. Jillian is a relatively recent widow, who is in the early stages of a new relationship with a man who is also a security specialist. Ritaestelle lives with two cousins, her sister-in-law, and her nephew and has a multitude of ties to her community. With rumours circulating about her mental state, and possible shoplifting and minor theft charges placed against her, Ritaestelle is looking to clear her name, and find out who might be setting her up and why. Taking refuge at Jillian's house for a time, along with her cat Isis, she cooperates fully with Jillian to figure it out. 

A cosy mystery with lots of cats present and showing their unique personalities. 

Boots Under Her Bed

Finished October 20

Boots Under Her Bed by Jodi Thomas, Jo Goodman, Kaki Warner, and Alison Kent

This book includes four novellas published here for the first time. They are all historical romances set in the western U.S. with a cowboy as a romantic character.

The first story, Crazy Callie, has a young woman desperate for a husband to escape the control of her greedy stepfather, who wants to take the land she inherited as her own. Callie has a plan that she enacts with the help of a couple of friends. She scours the streets of town in the wee hours looking for a man drunk enough to be talked into marriage as a transaction, and she finds Luke Morgan, a man also desperate for a future. He surprises her by his reaction to her proposition and as the relationship between them grows more trusting, he surprises himself as well.

Nat Church and the Runaway Bride has Nat arriving at a jailhouse to bail out Felicity Ravenwood, who has been arrested with a group of Temperance women. The sheriff is only too happy to see her go, and Nat takes her to the private railcar Felicity's father owns to continue his task regarding her. Felicity has left a man at the altar and gone on the run and her father, a railway magnate has asked a favour of Nate to find her, and find a mutually agreeable way forward for her. Felicity has had many men interested in marrying her, but more for the money that comes with her than for her own personhood. She sent her father a letter saying this and espousing a desire to live by her own wits. Her father has cut her off and sent Nat to supervise the situation. As they get to know one another, a respectful but close relationship develops.

In The Scent of Roses, Rachel James and Richard Whitmeyer meet on a train. At first, each chooses silence rather than conversation, for their own reasons. Eventually they use a game of cards to find out more about each other, with each guardedly answering questions posed by the other. The city they left has recently had a bank robbery, with share certificates and gems stolen from a deposit box. Both are interested in this, but haven't shared that information with each other. The story has a different and interesting role for a woman.

The last story, The Hired Gun's Heiress, Maeve Daugherty has found herself a job in a brothel, but not the obvious job. She does the books. Having left her home back in New York, along with her uncle, Maeve found herself in financial straits and found a job matching her skills. Zebulon Crow provides security for her father, both in business and in his private life, and now that he has found her, he insists on taking her back to New York. But others are looking for Maeve too for different reasons, and they may interfere in Zeb's plans. 

These were enjoyable reads, and I liked the independent spirit of the female characters. 

Act of God

Finished October 15

Act of God by Jill Ciment

I always enjoy Jill Ciment books. This one is a little quirky. Two sisters, Edith and Kat live in a rent-controlled apartment in New York City. Edith is a recently retired legal librarian. Kate, her identical twin is more eccentric and romantic. The year is 2015, and it is a sweltering summer in the city. They've recently had a new landlady, Vera Cebu, a Shakespearian actress who has lately become more famous for her TV commercials than her stage roles. 

Edith has been complaining about a musty smell to Vera for some time, but not getting a response. So when Kat discovers a phosphorescent mushroom sprouting from the wall in their hall closet, she gets angry.

Meanwhile Vera finds a Russian girl, who has run away from an au pair position, secretly living in her guest room, and calls the police to remove the intruder. In the course of the arrest, the police find a second mushroom in the guest room closet and they involve the authorities. 

All four women are forced by the authorities to evacuate their contaminated building with only the clothes they are wearing. The infestation spreads along the street and others get evacuated as well. From the building caretaker to the older couple with their much-loved cats, the people affected significantly by the outbreak come to life and find themselves making changes to their lives beyond what they'd ever imagined. 

An engrossing tale of opportunity, resilience, and community. I loved it. 

The Second Chance Inn

Finished October 9

The Second Chance Inn by Susan Hatler

This is the first book of a series set in Blue Moon Bay, a seaside community in northern California. Wendy grew up in this town alongside her brother Brian, both of them raised by their grandmother. Their parents traveled a lot and made the decision when the children were young to give them the stability of growing up in one place. Wendy has never really gotten over feeling abandoned by them due to this, and the bits that the reader sees of the couple here don't work against that. They seem close to each other, but not overly interested in either of their children. 

The grandmother that raised them also ran the inn of the title, and Brian has remained there and was a part of the operation. In her will, she stipulated that Wendy had to return to the inn and run it with Brian for a set period of time, before selling it. One doesn't get a real sense of how Brian feels about all of this, and I would have liked to have more depth to his character. 

The inn needs some work, and Brian and Wendy work to do repairs and refurbishments to get the inn in good condition for a sale. One of the guests at the hotel decides to extend his stay, and begins to pitch in on some of the work. He shows interest in Wendy, but she blows hot and cold, having been burnt by relationships in the past. 

There is also a legend associated with the inn that comes into the plot. 

This is a light romance, with a touch of suspense around what will happen to the inn and thus affect the future of the siblings. An easy read.