REVIEW: The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern

 The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern
Author: Lillian Jackson Braun

I first started reading this series when I was in college. There were only a few books at that time. Lillian Jackson Braun wrote the first 3 books in the 1960s, and then continued the series starting in 1986. I loved the early books! But life happened and I lost track of this series for a very long time.

Flash forward a couple decades. I decided to read my way through this whole series starting back at the very beginning! Loving it!

The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern is book 2 in this series. Jim Qwilleran continues to work at the Daily Fluxion putting out a Sunday special magazine on interior decorating. The assignment isn't making him exactly happy because everytime he publishes an article on an art collection or a wonderfully decorated home...something horrible happens! A break-in and theft. A police sting. A murder. Jim just can't seem to catch a break! At least no matter what happens he still has his strangely intelligent sidekick -- his Siamese cat, Koko.

At under 200 pages for the paperback edition, this book was a quick and very enjoyable read. The reporter/newspaper journalism portion of the plot is quite outdated, but the mystery is still spot on. I love how Koko seemingly gives Jim clues, and how Jim's mustache tingles when he's on the right track. Just a fun series to read! The series changes quite a bit when it hits the 4th book, published in 1986. I like the first three books, but I prefer the Qwilleran character once his life changes a bit in the 4th book.

Moving on -- The Cat Who Turned On and Off is next!! :) There are 29 books in this series, plus a couple short story collections. I'm going to be reading for awhile! But, I'm ok with that! Glad to finally be going back and reading this series!

REVIEW: Vinyl Resting Place

 Vinyl Resting Place
Author: Olivia Blacke

I read cozy mysteries to relax in the evenings after work. I love the humor, the quirky background plots, cute pets, etc. For me, reading purely for entertainment is incredibly relaxing and enjoyable.

When I read the blurb for this first book in the Record Shop Mystery series, I knew I had to read a review copy of this book! A coffeeshop/record store!! OMG! I wish Sip & Spin Records was a real shop!! I would be in there all the time! And I'm glad I jumped at the chance to read this book -- I enjoyed it immensely!

The basics: Juni and her sisters Tansy and Maggie decide to collaborate on a business venture. They open a coffee shop and record store. Things get off to a rocky start when a family member is accused of murder and they put their new shop up as guarantee on the bail bond. Can the sisters do some sleuthing and save not only their uncle, but also their new store?

I love the characters, the premise, the idea of the shop.....I just had fun reading this book! But the book wasn't just fun to read -- the plot was well-written and interesting! The story definitely kept my full attention from start to finish! Sometimes cozies can be a bit heavy on the cute/humor and light on plot. This book was a nice mix of it all -- great plot, humorous and quirky! Loved it!

I can't wait to find out what happens next in this new series!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St Martin's Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own**

REVIEW: The Tudors in Love

 The Tudors in Love
Author: Sarah Gristwood

The Tudors. We all know the history. Court intrigue, political wrangling, violence, beheadings and burnings, insurrection, assassination attempts, war....   The history of the Tudors is a lot more than Henry marrying six times or Elizabeth being The Virgin Queen. There was a lot going on! A lot of change. A lot of heavy stuff!

But what of love?

What's love got to do with it? Author Sarah Gristwood brings forth a treasure trove of Tudor research and facts to show it might just have a lot to do with it. Love, even with hugely political aspirations, is still love, right?

I'm a sucker for all things Tudor era, so I enjoyed reading this book. I knew the history and a lot of the background facts already. But, Gristwood puts an interesting spin on things. This book is not about romantic love, but courtly love and relationships that wield great political power. It brings into focus how much obsession, lust, the rules of courtly love, marriages and relationships entered into for political gain left their mark on the Tudor era.

I enjoyed this book! Gristwood relates the facts in an interesting way. This isn't a dry history book, but an engaging presentation of the facts and a reflection on the effects of courtly love, marriages and relationships on the Tudor Era.

This is the first book by Sarah Gristwood that I've read. I can't wait to read more by her, especially her book on the women behind the War of the Roses!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St Martin's Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

REVIEW: Steeped in Secrets

 Steeped in Secrets
Author: Lauren Elliott

I love tea....I have a huge tea stash and sip my way through multiple cups daily. So, when I see a tea-related cozy mystery, I grab a copy and read. Especially when the book is the first in a new series! I've enjoyed several books in Lauren Elliott's Beyond the Page Bookstore cozy series and enjoyed each one. It was not a hard decision to grab up a review copy of this first book in the Crystals & CuriosiTEAS series!

The Basics: Shay Meyers is having a rough time. Her entire life in New Mexico has imploded...so she's heading back to her hometown. Not because she wants to, really. But because she inherits an estate from someone she barely knew. But, in a pinch, weird circumstances are better than living amongst the flaming ashes of  her former life....so she heads to California. Little does she know....but things are going to get a lot stranger.

I enjoyed this book! I was intrigued by the crystals and slightly paranormal background plot. I like the characters. And, Shay is a scrappy, determined main character. Made for a fun cozy read!

I can't wait to read more of this series! It's quirky and entertaining! 

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Kensington Books. All opinions expressed are entirely my own**

REVIEW: The Butcher's Masquerade

 The Butcher's Masquerade
Author: Matt Dinniman

This series has been my gateway into the LitRPG genre. I'm totally hooked. And, since I have now caught up with Matt Dinniman and need to wait for book 6 in this series to come out.....I have lots of adventurous tales saved to my TBR! It will make the wait for more Carl and Princess Donut a little easier to bear. Only a little -- I want to know what happens next!

The Butcher's Masquerade is the 5th book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Sucked into a diabolical and universe-wide reality dungeon crawl when aliens destroyed Earth, Carl and Donut fight their way through level after level, appear on talk shows, and struggle to defeat whatever the game throws their way. This time, all of the Crawlers who remain are being hunted. Hunters pay big bucks to get a chance to bag some players. Some return every season. And, at the end of the level, a huge masquerade party is held for the top 50 surviving Crawlers and all of the remaining hunters. No fighting allowed.....supposedly. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything. As usual.

Wow. That's all I can say. As the final credits finished on my audio book, I just sat and let all the events of this book sink in. So much! The action was great! Carl and his crew come up with some great strategy. I enjoyed every minute of this audio book! The audio book, narrated by Jeff Hayes, is just over 23.5 hours long. Hayes gives another excellent performance! He is rapidly becoming one of my favorite audio book narrators. Always so much fun to listen to him voice these characters!

This series is a nice mix of action, fantasy and humor. I am eagerly awaiting the next book!

REVIEW: The Cat Who Could Read Backwards

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
Author: Lillian Jackson Braun

 Jim Qwilleran's life took a bit of an unexpected detour....divorce, alcoholism....but he's getting things back on track. He takes a job as a feature writer with a newspaper, the Daily Fluxion. Although in the past he was a prize winning reporter, he starts out a bit humbly at his new job -- writing features on local artists. His publisher wants him to smooth some ruffled feathers. The paper's art critic has published some scathing, sarcastic commentary on the work of many local artists. Jim doesn't realize how cutthroat the art world can be until a local gallery owner turns up dead. He finds himself covering his art beat, while working in some sleuthing into the darkness lurking behind the local art culture.

This book is the start to this popular series. There are 29 books in this series, plus a couple short story collections. The first three books were written in the 60's when working at a large daily newspaper meant huge rooms filled with typewriters, hanging out at the press club, etc. As a former reporter and editor, it made me smile. Jim Qwilleran is thrown into writing features on art when he knows nothing about art at all. This might seem unrealistic to some....but not to me. On my first day as a newspaper reporter when I was fresh out of college, I was thrown into covering city and county commission meetings. I had to research things like property tax and appraisals, elections and other important topics that I knew absolutely nothing about. I was thrown right into the fire on day one and had to figure it out. Totally normal.....you have to fake it til you make it. Call and ask questions, check facts multiple times, look foolish on occasion to make sure a story is on target.....reading about Jim trying to swim through his confusion about art, eccentric artists and local shows made me smile. I never had to work in a large room filled with typewriters....we had computers. But, when I first started as a journalist at a small rural daily paper, we had to print our stories, send the trimmed copy through a wax machine and layout the pages by hand. I had to take and print my own photographs in "the dungeon''....the dank and horrid darkroom on the bottom floor of an ancient building. Reading this book made me a bit nostalgic for my own "old days.'' :)

The first three books in this series were written in the 60s. Then Lilian Jackson Braun picked it up again in the late 80s....that's when I discovered this series. I got to book 8 before life interrupted and I lost track of the series. I'm going to revisit the books I read way back then.....and then read my way through the stories I missed! :) Lots of reading to do! I'm looking forward to revisiting the interesting reporter whose mustache tingles when a story is going to break and his two siamese cat companions!

12/26/2022 - I originally wrote this review in July 2019. Returning to this series again. Re-read book 1 (loved it all over again) and now on to book 2.

REVIEW: The Gate of the Feral Gods

 The Gate of the Feral Gods
Author: Matt Dinniman

The adventures of Carl and his cat sidekick, Princess Doughnut continue in this 4th book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

Gnomes. Sand castles. Bubble worlds. Feral Gods. The 5th floor of the dungeon has many surprises and game-changing twists! Even live-streamed feral god attacks!

I love this series! Always entertaining! The audio books are amazing. Jeff Hays is one of my favorite audio narrators. His voice acting is superb, bringing the characters and zany LitRPG action in this series to life.

I am never disappointed by this series. I can't wait to find out what happens next! Each dungeon floor gets more and more interesting!