Spy School: British Invasion by Stuart Gibbs

The kids from Spy School are hot on the tail of Spyder.  They have evidence that there is information about all the Spyder operators hidden somewhere in England, so with Erica's MI6 mom in the lead, they head off for London. Their adventures take them to the British Museum and then to Paris where they hope to discover Spyder's supreme mastermind, Mr. E.

Here is another in the Spy School series.  I am glad I read it pretty soon after reading Spy School Goes South, because it picks up right where the previous one left off with the kids still at the resort in Mexico. As always Gibbs slips in interesting facts about both the British Museum and Paris. The Erica vs Zoey drama continues, and there are more of the expected hijinks and narrow escapes.  These books are just fun and a little addictive. Yay for Stuart Gibbs writing engaging series for kids. (2019, 320 p)

The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

 When Lizzie's mother goes missing in Poland in 1939, and is presumed dead, Lizzie refuses to believe it.  She is sure her mother is still alive, and defies her American grandmother's attempts to bring her to the relative safety of Cleveland. Instead Lizzie seeks out her 19 year old brother, Jakob, who has been recruited to work at the top secret Bletchley Park as a codebreaker. While Jakob tries to unlock the secret of hacking the Enigma Machine, Lizzie continues her relentless pursuit of the truth of her mother's disappearance, even when evidence seems to suggest that Lizzie's mother is not at all what they thought she was. 

I was excited to listen to this book primarily because of the authors.  Sepetys wrote some of the most popular historical fiction books in our library, and Sheinkin has written some of my favorite nonfiction books for middle grade readers. Perhaps, because of my high expectations, this turned out to be a little underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it was a good book and I would definitely recommend it to middle grade readers interested in World War II, but it felt like two characters put into a historical story, instead of two real people living it. Lizzie was a bit too perky, and Jakob a bit to, I don't know, big-brotherly. They didn't seem to have realistic emotions. It was all to gung-ho, and upbeat. They didn't deal with the real horrors and  heartbreaks of losing a parent while facing foreign invasion. It may have just been the choice of reader, but I don't think so. I guess it was emotionally appropriate for the age group, but I can't help but compare it to The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubanker Bradley. That book was also written for middle grade readers, but Bradley had to courage to deal with the real raw emotions the setting demanded. (2024, 400)

Pies and Prejudice by Ellery Adams

 Ella Mae fell in love and left her hometown and her family to experience the fast paced life of the big city.  Six years later, her marriage has fallen apart and she is back in Havenwood, GA with her mother and her singular aunts. She is a near graduate of culinary school and a expert pie cook, so her aunts offer to get her set up in a pie shop in town.  She discovers, however, that whatever mood she has while baking seeps into her pies and affects the emotions of those who eat them. Meanwhile, her high school nemesis, Loralyn Gaynor, is making trouble for her. When Loralyn's fiancée turns up dead, Ella is framed for the murder. Ella Mae needs to clear her name by finding the real murderer, while dealing with an old flame, a new romantic interest, and her magical family.

Baking mysteries are a pretty big subset of cozy mysteries, but here we have a sub-subset of magical baking mysteries. Adams is an author I hadn't tried before, and I was worried this book would be too spicy (and I don't mean the cardamom or cinnamon kind of spice) but it wasn't.  There was a little language, but the only steam coming off the pages was from the pie oven.  I ended up enjoying the book. It was what a cozy mystery is supposed to be, light, fluffy and fun.  The mystery plot was decently contrived, and the characters were bigger than life. The magical pies made for some funny side scenes. I was a little disappointed that there were no recipes included in the audio version as there are in the Joanna Fluke books, but I still wouldn't be opposed to reading the next in the series. (304 p. 2012)

From Ash to Stone by Julie Daines

Six years ago Lady Margaret Grey's family was killed by raiders that had crossed the border from Scotland to loot her home. Now she is back to get revenge and try to break a curse that was placed upon her that night. The problem is, she doesn't know the identity of the raiders.  As begins to investigate, she is reunited with a childhood friend Angus Robson, whose family live across the boarder. His intentions to help her seem to be sincere, but can she trust someone who is from the same community that changed her life forever? 

I almost laughed when I saw the cover of this book.  My family makes fun of me for reading so many books that have the back of a lady's fancy dress on the cover. This one adds a twist of the dagger, which, I guess, successfully communicates the theme of the book.  I enjoyed the book.  The characters are not particularly novel, but the setting was interesting and the mystery of the perpetrator of the raid made a good side story, (though the solution to the mystery was not much of a surprise).  I liked the ending, and thought it fit the setting pretty well. The reader of the book does the different accents well.  I mean, who doesn't enjoy a good Scottish brogue? (240 p. 2018)

Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter by Beth McMullen

 Lola loves her eccentric archaeologist father, but sometimes she tires of always moving, never staying on one place long enough to make friends.  Then, one day, her father rushes away on a new treasure hunt and sends her to live with her great-aunt in California.  Soon after, two strange lawyers inform her that her father has been killed.  Lola is convinced that her father is not dead, and goes on a (not so successful) crime spree to try to earn enough money to go looking for him.  Her adventures end with her being sent to a private science school. At the school she meets two other students who are willing to join her in her search for her lost father.  They are pitted against a mysterious legend, an illusive recluse, and an evil criminal mastermind.

Here is a fun mystery/adventure for middle grade readers.  The writing is snappy and the characters are quirky, in an endearing way.  There are plenty of hijinks, near escapes, and kid power. The nicest thing about the book is watching the three kids change from adversaries to friends. I am happy to have another recommendation for kids who like mysteries. (2020, 304p.)

101 Essays that will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest

 As the title suggests, this book contains 101 short essays about life, love, and emotional wellbeing.  Ms Wiest is influenced by Zen Buddhism, but this isn't a Buddhist text.  Instead it is just a collection of wise thoughts and aphorisms.  In keeping with the Buddhist tradition, almost all of the essays contain a list of "truths" or "instructions" on different topics.  Some of these lists are short, only 5 or 10 items, but some are fairly lengthy, like 50, or 100 aphorisms. Her main ideas are that we are responsible for our own lives, thoughts, and emotions, that every aspect of our lives are impermanent so we should embrace change, and that simplicity is more likely to bring contentment than amassing possessions or glory.

This book was very popular when it was first released, and has gone on to be translated into many languages.  I looked up Ms Wiest's bio, and she doesn't seem to have any specific training to produce this kind of a treatise. Her bachelor's degree was in literature and she doesn't have an advanced degree.  The nature of the book makes me think that maybe it is a compellation of blog posts? They are fairly repetitive, and the reader could get as much out of the book reading half of it as in reading the whole thing.  That being said, her ideas, if not definitively true, are at least thought provoking. I took the opportunity while listening to the book to stop a couple of times and do some self-examination, so in that respect, I found the book enlightening. (448 p. 2018)

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

 Mila Pavlichenko is a student, library researcher, and single mother when she decides to take a riflery course.  She finds she has a talent for sharp-shooting so when Russia enters WWII, she enlists to defend her country from the German invaders. She becomes a very effective sniper and rises through the ranks in the Russian military.  Although conflicted about her nickname of Lady Death and in her relationships with her ex-husband, her shooting partner, and her commanding officer, her main focus is in defeating the invaders who have caused so much death and destruction in her beloved Russia. 

Here is another book that I just chose while browsing the available titles.  I figured that I enjoy  WWII historical fiction and I ultimately liked The Rose Code written by Quinn. This turned out to be an interesting book.  It is based on a real person and many of the events in the book are taken from Pavlichenko's own memoir.  I think the author was trying to address the question, "how can a woman kill over 300 men and not lose her soul or her sanity?" The answer the book puts forward is that being a sniper is just one other way to "do your bit" during wartime. Mila seems to rather successfully separate herself from the job she needs to do, though the terrible things she experiences as her battalion is forced back on two different fronts give her PTSD for the rest of her life.  A fascinating part of the story, also based on history, is that after serving as a sniper, Pavlichenko is chosen to be part of an diplomatic envoy to the United States and becomes friends with Eleanor Roosevelt. The author adds some elements to the book, like various romances and the attempt on President Roosevelt's life, which are not part of the historical record, but she weaves them into the historical elements pretty well, and they give the story a thrilling and satisfying ending. (2022, 448 p)