Evil Spy School by Stuart Gibbs

 Ben didn't mean to blow up the principal's office, but on the first day of Fall semester, he manages to do just that. He is abruptly expelled and has to face going back to his old middle school.  He isn't there long before he is approached by a SPYDER agent who wants to recruit him to their own spy school. He doesn't want to become a criminal, but what if, somehow, the CIA arranged his expulsion just so he could go undercover and discover SPYDER's next evil plot? Does Ben have what it takes to become a double agent?

Stuart Gibbs is so clever.  I really have enjoyed everything of his that I have read.  The plots are intelligent and he has a really good balance between humor and adventure. Ben's two SPYDER school class mates are interesting and multi-dimensional characters. The reader, like Ben, doesn't know whether they are supposed to like them. It is also fun to see Ben on his own, without Erica there to back him up all the time. He flounders and struggles, not knowing what is going on, until suddenly he does. (2016, 352 p.)

A Dreadful Splendor by B. R. Myers

 Genny Timmons' mother was a spiritualist who taught her to use seances to relieve attendants of both their grieving hearts and their valuables. Since her mother's death, Genny has struggled to save enough so she can leave London and make a new start, one that doesn't include theft, outside of London.  Her last "job" goes awry and she finds herself facing a hangman's noose. She is recued by the solicitor of a wealthy gentleman who is mourning the untimely death of his bride. Genny agrees to go to the gentleman's estate, but there she finds that not everything is as it seams. Was the bride really murdered? Is the handsome Lord Pemberton looking for solace, justice or revenge? Most importantly, will Genny be able to find the murderers before they find her?

This is a Victorian mystery/romance from an author I haven't tried before.  It turned out to be delightfully gothic, with a well crafted plot and complex and interesting characters. It reminded me a bit of the books by Michelle Griep.  Myers scatters enough clues that the ending is believable, but throws out enough red herrings that it isn't obvious.  I won't had Ms Myers to my "clean romance writer's" list yet, but I definitely want to try something else by her.  (2022, 416 p)

Another Shot by Brooke St. James

 Rae and her mother-in-law, Laura, are grieving the death of Laura's husband and two sons in a terrible accident. To compound issues, Laura find's out that her husband's business was not as solvent as she had thought, and he has to leave her home and return to New York to live with relatives. Rae is very close to her mother-in-law and begs to go with her. When the two women arrive in New York, they are welcomed by a big boisterous Italian family who get them set up in an apartment, and even find Rae a job. Her new boss is a cousin of her mother-in-law, and seems unusually attentive to Rae. Rae begins to feel attracted to him, but at the same time has to deal with feelings of guilt toward Laura and her first husband. 

This is a short novella by an author I haven't tried before.  As you can probably tell from the intro, it is a straight up retelling of the Ruth and Naomi story.  I enjoyed it quite a bit.  It is simple, and sweet without a lot of drama. Everyone is nice to each other and no one really gets angry at anyone.  I know that in stories there is supposed to be a major conflict the main character works through, but I wasn't at all in the mood for angst. This salve-to-my-
soul book was just the right thing this week, and I probably try other books by St. James in the future. (140 p. 2015)

The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly

 Michael Rosario doesn't understand why the adults around him aren't preparing for the Y2K crisis that is looming in a couple of months. He is secretly stockpiling canned food, filched from the local grocery store, under his bed. His mother works three jobs, and he has a crush on his 16 year old babysitter, Gibby.  One day a strange teen-age boy shows up on the bench outside of his apartment building. Ridge is wearing strange clothing, and seems fascinated by pretty normal every-day things, like a microwave, or a CD player. Michael and Gibby discover he has traveled from the future, and he is both excited to learn about the 1990's and terrified about what his presence in the past will do to his world in the future. Ridge had a book with the general outline of events during the next ten years, and Michael is desperate to read it and discover if Y2K is going to be as bad as he fears. Can he betray his new friend and risk the future of the world to allay his own anxieties?

This is the Newbery book for this year.  It is a well deserved award, and I think a lot of people, both kids and adults would enjoy reading this book.  There is a lot in here about family and the importance of relationships.  There is also a major theme about how to calm anxieties about the future. Kelly conveys the idea that, although bad things happen, in the end we will get through them, without monologuing or feeling preachy.  Michael and Gibby are authentic and sympathetic characters, and even Ridge comes across as a normal kid in a complicated situation. The overall tone of the book is hopeful--a message kids really need right now. (272, 2024)

A Silken Thread by Kim Vogel Sawyer

 Laurel Millard is looking for a way to keep her commitment to take care of her mother without giving up her dream for marriage and family. Brenden Rochester is looking for a beautiful young woman who will be a docile wife. Willie Sharp is looking for a way to earn enough money to send his father to a rehabilitation center to get over the effects of his stroke. They all end up working at the Cotton Exposition in post bellum Atlanta GA.  At first Rochester and and Laurel look for the answer to their quests in each other, but as Laurel gets to know Rochester she sees glimpses of his racial prejudice and general disregard for the feelings of others.  Willie Sharp, on the other hand, is as morally straight as they come, but also as poor as a church mouse. Is taking care of her mother so important that it is worth selling her soul?

This book is as overwrought and melodramatic as it sounds, but that isn't its main problem. It is the narrator.  I know I have complained about her before, but I keep forgetting.  Note to self, don't listen to anything narrated by Pilar Witherspoon ever again. Her habit of ending each sentence with a rising inflection, as if it were a question instead of a statement, drives me crazy. Plus her cadences are off. She often sounds like she is ending a sentence and then tacks on another word or two, as if she had come to a line in the text and failed to look ahead to the next line. I need to add her name to may list of authors to avoid.  I am doing it right now.....Ok, done.  Now I feel better. 

Then why, you may ask, did you listen to all 12 hours of it?  Good question.  I was desperate for something clean and wholesome which the story is.  I was even looking for something with a strong Christian vibe, which it has. If you are reading (instead of listening) I can recommend the book. (2019, 352 p)

Seekers of the Fox by Kevin Sands

 In this second installment of the "Thieves of Shadow" series Callan is the only one that sees the Chaos magic growing within his friend, Lachlan.  He knows that if he doesn't heal his friend, the Chaos will eventually take over and cheerful, child like Lachlan will turn into something much darker and more powerful. The only way he knows to help his friend is to seek the Dragon's Teeth, another magical artifact.  With the help of his new team, Callan goes to the depths, literally, to unravel a millennium-old secret and face their most powerful opponents yet.

I enjoyed the first in this series so much I put the next on hold right away.  This one was also a fun read.  I can tell the writer had a great time imagining the different exotic settings. As in the first book, the magic system is a little weak,  and the reader can't help but ask themself if five kids could really solve a mystery that had been unsolvable for 1000 years in just two days?  The warm comradery between the main characters makes up for the other shortcomings and I will look forward to reading more in the series. (416 p. 2023)

The Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

 This is a tell-all autobiography of the second son of King Charles and Lady Diana.  It follows Harry's life from the time that his mother was killed in a car accident while being chased by paparazzi until the time of his grandmother's death in 2022.  He speaks candidly about his struggles in school, his rivalry with William, and the constant harassment he and later Meghan received from the press. 

This book was hugely popular when it came out two years ago.  I am not usually interested in celebrity biographies, but when I found it available on Libby, and because it was so popular, I decided to give it a try.  It is read by Prince Harry himself, and is very interesting.  It made me look at the royal family in a totally different way.  It does come off a little whiny, but I appreciated that it seems the whole book is written to defend his wife.  The first part tells how Harry sunk gradually into depression and anxiety because of his mother's death and into PTS after his service in Afghanistan. Then it shows how Meghan's love and strength pulled him out of his emotional pit and sets him on the track to become a responsible husband and father. The book makes me wonder how long England will keep the monarchy.  They do a lot of good through their different charities, but it is also really expensive to support the royal family. It is also a lot to ask of a family to endure such public scrutiny and media intrusion. I don't know how any family could have healthy relationships under that kind of pressure. (416, p. 2023)

The Thief of Blackfriars Lane My Michelle Griep

 Constable Jackson Forge is so excited to start his first day as an officer on the streets of London.  On his way to work bumps into a young woman, Kit, who tricks him into handing over so cash to help a young street urchin. Later they find that they have a common interest in finding a cabby that has gone missing.  As the cop and the con start working together, their mutual attraction is undeniable.  Soon they find that the mystery they are seeking to solve runs deep into the underside and the upper-crust of London, and both sides don't want them to find out the truth.

I have read several books by Griep and I enjoy her Dickensian twist on the period romance. These are not the ladies in mansions, but the lower classes trudging through sewers.  Of course, Griep manages to fit in a ballroom scene with a beautiful dress, but can we blame her? If you have a beautiful heroine, you have to figure out how to get her into a lovey dress as some point. The characters are fun and the descriptions of the shadier side of Victorian England are interesting.  I am sure I will be revisiting Griep again in the future. (2021, 320 p.)