Review: Mad Mabel

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 Stars

This was a very unique book in that it was sad, funny, grim, weep-inducing, amusing, frustrating and giggle-worthy.

This is going to be a perfect beach read and an excellent book club choice. There is much to discuss with this novel.

Set in Australia, this book is written with two different time lines called--Now and Then.

Mad Mabel is called such because she was supposed to have committed murder; according to gossip, it may have been multiple murders, but who knows when it is just gossip...or is it?

Mabel finally decides to tell her story to two young people who have a TikTok channel and have been researching Mabel (who now calls herself Elsie). She opens up to them, and the whole story comes out. Meanwhile, there is a death in her neighborhood, and her 'Mad Mabel' name comes forth, and all hell breaks loose.

There are side-characters that are having issues, and Mabel steps up to the plate, no matter how cranky and grumpy she is about it.

I have to admit I did find myself doing a little weeping during the last several chapters, but overall I loved this book.

*ARC Supplied by the publisher St. Martin's Press, the author, and NetGalley.


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SUMMARY: "There are two kinds of people no one ever expects to be murderers: little girls and old ladies.

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years old. She's lived on her idyllic street for sixty years—longer than anyone else. Aside from being a curmudgeon who minds everyone else's business, few would suspect that Elsie has a past she's worked exceedingly hard at concealing—because when it comes to murder, no one ever suspects little girls or old ladies. And Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, once a little girl and now an old lady, has a strange history of people in her life coming to a foul end."

Review: Elizabeth and Marilyn: A Novel

Elizabeth and Marilyn: A Novel by Julie Owen Moylan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

They both wanted what they cannot have.

This book deals with Marilyn and Elizabeth as women and not idols. However, what the synopsis tells you is NOT what you get. They both want what they cannot have.

I really wanted to love this novel, but did not, as a matter of fact, I did not, because it was just so slow and really had nothing to do with Elizabeth and Marilyn having any sort of relationship (it is fiction after all). 

It was interesting to find out more about their private lives.  

*ARC supplied by the publisher Ballantine Books, the author, and NetGalley.

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SUMMARY: "What really happened when Queen Elizabeth II met Marilyn Monroe? This stunning historical novel imagines the summer that bonded the world's two most famous women, both thirty years old and chafing against the façade of global celebrity.

On a cool early-autumn evening in 1956, a glittering array of stars turns out in London for a Royal Film Premier, where they will be presented to Queen Elizabeth II—an elegant young mother and wife, gracious and self-sacrificing, who has embraced her patriotic duty despite never expecting to take the throne so soon. Cameras flash, and a crowd surges forward as a limousine pulls up. Out steps a vision in dazzling the greatest star of the era, Marilyn Monroe. She's a global sensation and money-making machine for Hollywood, with curves that drive men wild and a smile that lets women know she’s in on the joke.

Finally, the two most famous women in the world will come face-to-face in public for the first time. And the world is watching—unaware that Elizabeth and Marilyn have already had an accidental encounter that has changed their lives.

Inspired by the months in the summer of 1956 when Elizabeth and Marilyn lived as neighbors in nearby Windsor, British author Julie Owen Moylan imagines a meeting the two might have had in their shared  garden. Born within weeks of each other, Lilibet and Norma-Jean would seem to have only their age in common. Yet beneath the glamorous costumes and jewels, both women are fighting  to hold on to the men they love while trying to do their work in a man's world, battling demons their adoring public could only guess at. Until now..."

Review: A Deadly Inheritance

A Deadly Inheritance by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Secrets and more secrets. Twisty-turny and very suspense-filled. Mysteries within mysteries.

Below are just some of the questions and some minor problems  I had while reading this very twisty novel. And they all will be explained as you read this exciting new novel.

Abrupt beginning of the book and very difficult to believe. Send someone to help when she is going to be taken by DCYS, then spring it on her that she is heir to a huge corporation with billions.

 coming her way?

Why won't grandparents meet her or have her come to Europe? Give her some explanations. More believable than having Cecelia tell her.

Jayden and Natalie -have we seen the last of them, and if so, why were they important?

Who really wants to see her dead?  Do they really want to see her dead?

A three-way? Yahoo!!! (not sexually explicit, sorry! This is a 'young' adult novel after all!LOL! 

These are just some of the questions I had while reading this novel. And they all will be explained as you read this exciting new novel.

Janus society??? Murder?

What a book!

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SUMMARY: "After discovering she's an heiress to a billion-dollar corporation, seventeen-year-old Liliana finds herself at a new boarding school where she must navigate secret societies and a deadly competition. Not to mention two handsome boys.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price meets The Inheritance Games series in this new YA thriller from bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

In the wake of her mother's death, Liliana Chamberlain's estranged (and very wealthy) grandparents swoop in. Or their lawyer does. Her grandparents aren't ready to meet her, but they want her to have the life her mother walked away from, starting with Westwood Academy, the elite boarding school her mother attended. It should be a Cinderella dream come true, but Lili has serious misgivings. Yet she doesn't have a choice, being under eighteen and dead broke.

Westwood Academy is a school of secrets as well as intriguing classmates, including Hollywood golden boy Theo Dubois and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. As she gets to know them all, Lili realizes there's more to the school than elite-level networking. Something deadly.

For the new girl at school, investigating the deaths of past students — including Maddox's own sister — is a very dangerous game. Do those deaths have something to do with why her mother fled Westdale at the cost of her inheritance?

When a fun night out turns bloody, Theo is the prime suspect, and Liliana must race against time to connect the past with the present and discover the truth behind her inheritance."

Review: Queen of Shadow

Queen of Shadow by P.C. Cast
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Trigger Warning-Rape

2.5 Stars


I wasn't enthralled with this book as some readers were. I found it to be a difficult read. It was a long, drawn-out novel, made confusing by the different pantheons. If it weren't for the Wikipedia built into my Kindle, I would never have finished this book. Adding to the confusion about the pantheons were the names and types of the Gods and Goddesses. We had Valhalla, the Summerlands, Celtic mythology, Irish mythology and Norse mythology.

Some of this book brought to mind certain scenes and the world of the Anne Bishop Black Jewels trilogy, but much slower. There is some romance, but nothing to send my heart fluttering.

*ARC supplied by the publisher William Morrow, the author, and NetGalley.

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SUMMARY: "Step into the mystical world of the Isle of Skye in 200 BCE, where legends come to life and the Queen of Shadow holds court. But Scáthach is no ordinary queen. Daughter of the Underworld goddess Bēfionn, golden-haired Scáthach is gifted with the Sight, able to glimpse all the possibilities of the future and pass between the world of men and the world of gods.

Scáthach dedicates her life to training the fiercest warriors from across the land in her fortress at Lethra. But then a newcomer arrives in Lethra and upends everything about Scáthach's existence. He is Cuchulainn, the hero of Ulster, son of the Irish God Lugh. Known for his strength and bouts of berserker rage, Cuchulainn wants Scáthach to help him hone his skills and find redemption for his violent past. The Queen of Shadow reluctantly agrees to take him in, ignoring their growing attraction, and what it might mean for her destiny.

Meanwhile, Scáthach's jealous half-sister Aife threatens Scáthach’s claim to the kingdom she loves and challenges Scáthach for Cuchulainn’s loyalty. Caught in a snare of duty and desire as she navigates the perils of leadership, Scáthach discovers that her destiny may lie in the Underworld, where she can forge a future for herself and Cuchulainn by tricking death itself....

Review: The Mountains We Call Home: The Book Woman's Legacy

The Mountains We Call Home: The Book Woman's Legacy by Kim Michele Richardson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an excellent conclusion to this trio of books. We end with more information about Cussy and her time in prison. We also get a look at what Louisville, KY, was like during that era when Cussy is granted a weeklong furlough from prison.

The descriptions of Cussy's despair, her anxiety at not knowing what is happening to her husband, who is also in prison (the men's prison having a severe outbreak of Polio), her joy at bringing her learning library into the women's AND the men's libraries are wonderful indeed.

I highly recommend this novel for those who love to learn about history in a gentler way.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Sourcebooks Landmark, the author, and Net Galley -ATTL.Edelweiss.

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SUMMARY: "In this standalone and companion novel to the The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series, our heroine for the ages, legendary book woman, Cussy Lovett, returns home. A powerful testament of strength, survival, and the magic of the printed word, The Mountains We Call Home is wrapped into a vivid portrait of Kentucky examining incarceration and criminalization, exploring the effects on the poor and powerless, and tracing the societal consequences of fractured family bonds, along with nostalgic glimpses of a bustling, multifaceted Louisville, and heartwarming portraits of reading efforts in every facet of life. 

Meticulously researched and richly detailed with a new cast of absorbing and complex characters, this beautifully rendered, authentic Kentucky tale is gritty and heartbreaking and infused with hope, spirit, and courage known only to those with no way out."

Review: The Book Woman's Daughter

The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek , and if you have the time, I would highly recommend that you read this book first before reading The Book Woman's Daughter. You don't NEED to, but it will help better understand some of what happens during this novel. Also, if you have a Kindle and Kindle Unlimited, I would like to let you know that The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is free to borrow.

Now the reason for my long-winded start, The Book Woman's Daughter was fabulous. Set in Eastern Kentucky during the early 1950's when extreme prejudice was going strong, this book tells the story of one of the last 'Blue' people out there. These people have methemoglobinemia, which literally turned their skin blue. Honey is not totally blue, just her hands and feet, but that is enough to mark her. In Kentucky, as well as other places, they have laws that forbid people from marrying outside of their color, and this is how the book starts out with Honey's parents being arrested for breaking the miscegenation laws. Honey is hiding, in a way, from Social Services, who threaten to put her in a "working camp" (prison) until she is 21. She is 16 when the book starts.

This story is actually a bit more about how women were treated in this time and place and the continuation of the of the Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians, which was started in the 1930's as a
WPA project. This is a story of a young woman seeking emancipation. This is a story of women and girls overcoming antiquated laws, horrid behavior from the government and the locals, men, the Kentucky Coal Miners, and of course, books and the love of reading.

I can't seem to give a better review than this-I am so in awe of this dualogy that all I can do is give it 5 Stars and recommend the heck out of it. And if you do read this, make sure to view the pictures at the end of the book and read Ms. Richardson's reasons for writing this book and all about the author's research!

*ARC was supplied for early review by the publisher SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, The author, and NetGalley. Thank you.



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Summary: "Bestselling historical fiction author Kim Michele Richardson is back with the perfect book club read following Honey Mary Angeline Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free.

In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.

Picking up her mother’s old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn’t need anyone telling her how to survive, but the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren’t as keen to let a woman pave her own way. If Honey wants to bring the freedom that books provide to the families who need it most, she’s going to have to fight for her place, and along the way, learn that the extraordinary women who run the hills and hollers can make all the difference in the world."

Review: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A heart-ripping story of bigotry, illnesses, coal mining, and poverty during the early 1930s in Kentucky. This tale is about Cussy Mary Carter and her work with the WPA Pack Horse Library Project.
Remember that this is historical fiction based on two real events. There is a Troublesome Creek in Kentucky. The bigotry is horrid, but only because the bigotry we have now is not widely acceptable and is usually kept to oneself.

This was a wonderfully sad read and will be perfect for book clubs.

This book is very loosely based on a real family, so the Blue Skinned people part is true: "The 'Blue People of Kentucky' were the Fugate family, who lived in Eastern Kentucky in the 19th and 20th centuries and possessed, due to a rare recessive genetic trait and inbreeding, a condition called methemoglobinemia. This caused their blood to have a lower oxygen-carrying capacity, resulting in blue-tinted skin, purple lips, and, usually, a normal lifespan."



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SUMMARY: "

In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry.

The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.

Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government's new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands."