Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs is a female investigator in London in the 1929.  She grew up as the daughter of a cartier, but rose because of her keen intellect to go to the Cambridge women's college.  She uses the techniques of observation and applied psychology taught by a mentor, Maurice Blanche, to solve mysteries and help people.  In her first case, she is asked to find out if a woman is cheating on her husband.  Her investigation takes her back to a dark past, and to her own experience as a WWI nurse. 

This was recommended to me by a friend and I enjoyed it very much.  It was a little slow moving at first, but very atmospheric and a deep dive into the lasting affects of the war on its survivors.  The narrative jumps between the "present" day and Maisie's experiences in the war, so both her story and the mystery unfold gradually throughout the book.  Maisie is a very sympathetic character, both strong and vunerable, triumphant and wounded.  I will probably read more in the series. (2003, 294 p.)

The Million Dollar Shot by Dan Gutman

Eddie Ball lives in a trailer park with his mom.  She works at a Finkel Foods but is dismissed when the company starts losing sales.  About that time Eddie, with the help of a friend, Annie, enter a competition hosted by Finkel Foods and wins the chance to earn one million dollars if he can hit a shot from the foul line during half-time of a NBA playoff game. Eddie works hard to get ready for the shot, but Mr. Finkel is working hard to stop him. Will Eddie's hard work, and supportive friends and family get him through?

I read this book because it is one that is sometimes one of the Battle of the Books titles.  It is cute, and I like the friend relationship between Eddie and Annie. I wondered if the writer would have him make the shot or miss it but then learn a valuable lesson.  It could have gone either way and have been a good book. Gutman is an interesting author.  I have enjoyed some of his books, and really disliked others.  I think this one is somewhere in the middle.  No rave review, but a good choice for a youngish child who likes sports. (2006, 126 p.)

PS: This book suffered from a series of unattractive covers. 

Of Beast and Beauty by Chanda Hahn

Rosalee was taken as a child by a powerful enchantress, Lady Eville, and raised as her own daughter.  As she grew, Lady Eville infused into her and her six adopted sisters magical power and her own thirst for revenge.  So when Lady Eville tells Rosalee that she will soon wed a stranger as part of her plan for revenge, Rosalee goes along willingly.  She is forced to become the unwanted wife of a cruel prince.  Despite her upbringing and the unkindness of her new husband, she comes to care about her new kingdom, and to realize that a terrible danger hangs over her people. As she strives to win her husband's love and help the kingdom, she learns startling facts about her own history.

So here is a different series of fairytale retellings. This one is much more dark and edgy than the one by Cellier.  There is much more violence, dark magic, and emotional turmoil.  Also, neither Rosalee nor the prince are very nice people in the beginning. Their frequent mood swings from hating each other to being passionately attracted to each other is very adolescent.  I could see certain kinds of teenagers--the same kind that would have loved Twilight had they been born 15 years earlier--would really love this series.  It was a bit too dark for my taste and I probably won't read any more. (2019, 303 p)

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

An inept bank robber tries to hold up a "cashless" bank.  When told there is no cash to steel, the bank robber runs away and into an apartment building.  There just happens to be an apartment viewing going on, and the bank robber ends up taking the real estate agent and the prospective buyers hostage. In the ensuing hours, the hostages talk, and listen, and open their hearts to one another.  Meanwhile two police officers, a father and a son, try to figure out what to do to get the hostages out safely and how to deal with their own personal loss.

The discription above makes this sound like a police drama, but it isn't really.  It is really a deep dive into personalities, appearance, and human nature.  This is by the same author as A Man Called Ove. It deals with some of the same issues like family, depression, and unexpected human connection. Backham is so amazingly good at picking a character and then pealing back the layers of their personality one skin at a time. In the end all the characters are sympathetic and you finish the book wanting to go out and hug everyone you meet. I am trying to decide which book I liked better.  This book had a really tight and clever mystery plot, and less swearing.  The other book probably made me laugh outloud more.  I guess liked them both. (2020, 352 p.)

The Princess Pact by Melanie Cellier

Marie, the princess of Northhelm has never quite looked or felt like a princess. When she discovers that her life and her past are not what she always imagined, she sets out on a quest to discover where she really belongs. Luckily, a visiting adventurer, Rafe, joins her in her quest as they investigate a band of unlikely rebels and their mysterious leader. 

Ok, here is the book 3 in the "Four Kingdoms" series that I skipped before. It actually fills in a few details (not very important ones) that I missed when I read The Princess Game.  This book is very much like the others in the series, except that it actually relates to the original story of Rumpelstiltskin more than the other books relate to their original fairy tales.  I have also decided that even though Cellier does a pretty good job of making each of her princesses unique, her princes are pretty similar. Rafe in this book and William in the next are basically the same character, just with different names.  Nonetheless, I am still enjoying the series, and will assuredly read the last one in the series next time I need a break from heavier lit.(2018, 278p)

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck

 Dr Dweck discusses the difference between people with a "Fixed" mindset and those with a "Growth" mindset.  People with a fixed mindset see talent and ability and innate fixed qualities, and struggle through life trying to prove and validate their own worth. Those with a growth mindset see talent and ability as things a person can learn and develop, so they tend to welcome challenges and have more success in life. These mindsets affect people in different aspects in their lives and explain the success or failure of many famous business, education and sports leaders.

I read this book because it was recommended to me by one of my Library Board members.  As I began reading it I thought it was an interesting concept and it made me look for evidence of either a fixed or growth mindset in my own life.  As I continued reading, however, I began to wonder if the author was really converted to the growth mindset. She pretty harshly judges some famous people and idolizes others in an effort to validate her idea. Isn't constantly seeking validation an symptom of the fixed mindset?  I also wasn't really convinced by the sections about how to develop a growth mindset.  It mostly sounded like, "if you aren't succeeding, you just need to try harder and not give up."  Well, yes, but at some point you need to step back and figure out if what you are striving for is really making you happy. Also, she takes as evidence of a successful life as getting into the right school/sports team, having a brilliant career, and making lots of money.  I guess I have read too many books based on more Asian type philosophies to really accept fame and money as a true measure of success. So in the end, I thought her main concept was mostly good and worth thinking about, but her illustration of it was lacking. (2007, 320 p)

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

 A decade after the end of the Civil War, Hannie, a freed previously enslaved girl, still has no idea where anyone else in her family is.  They were "sold away" when she was only seven years old. An unexpected course of events throws her together with two of the daughters of her old master, one born ligitimately, and other the daughter of a the Master's creole mistress. The three girls go on a perilous journey in search of the sisters' father, in hopes of finding justice and a future. A century later a new school teacher tries to engage a classroom of disadvantaged children.  The students are not interested in anything she does until they start a local history project. As white and black students find their common roots, they threaten the status quo of their still bigotted Texas town.

This book is in may ways very similar to her earlier book,  Before We Were Yours. In both, Wingate alternates chapters between the earlier and later protagonists to explore the connections in multigenerational families, and the interplay of the "haves" and the "have nots."  This book is also based on true historical events, and the historical elements are carefully researched and vividely portrayed. I like that Wingate shows how all three of the historical girls have serious challenges in a society because of rigid gender expectations based on class. This is a good choice if you are looking for a "Black History Month" read for February. (440 p. 2020)