Robin’s Pick
The Shimmering State by Meredith Westgate
This book is very engrossing, yet difficult to describe. There is a new drug on the market, only legal in one state and only to be prescribed by its creator. Memoroxin is the breakthrough drug for Alzheimer’s patients, PTSD, severe trauma and other mental disorders. This makes it rife for abuse. There is a death that forces the doctor to establish a rehab center…….. free to abusers. But is help really what is going on there?Very interesting read. 4 stars from me
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
This fast paced thriller is as timely as it gets! Ike, who is black, and Buddy Lee, white, are the fathers of Isiah and Derek, who are married to each other. Both fathers have problems with that fact, but their love for their sons is undeniable. Here’s the meat of the story. Both father’s are felons, time served for their crimes. Derek and Isiah are murdered. Hate crime? Payback of some kind? Against the odds and their natures, Ike and Buddy Lee band together to solve this horrific crime and attain revenge. There is so much more packed into this book! Cuts to the heart of things.4.5 stars
Autumn’s Picks
18 Tiny Deaths by Bruce Goldfarb
I adored this biography of Frances Glessner Lee, the “mother of forensics”. Lee used her power and privilege to advocate for forensic science in crime-solving in the 1930s and 40s. She is most well known for the 18 crime scene dioramas she made by hand. The author is actually the curator of the diorama collection. This read is right up the alley of any true crime fans and/or history nerds!
This graphic novel is a little Practical Magic, a little Coco, and a whole lot of fun. The illustrations are delightful and the story is heartwarming. Perfect for middle graders and anyone who secretly wants to befriend a wholesome ghost!
The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths
I read this book in record time– I had to know whodunit! A fun mystery with a bookish twist: an elderly woman who reads murder mysteries and the crime writers who wrote them are being murdered… Come for the mystery, stay for the unique cast of characters (and even a little romance!).
Tina’s Picks
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
What fun to follow the thought patterns of these four unlikely friends, who live in a peaceful retirement village, as they meet each Thursday to discuss unsolved crimes. I want to be in this Book Club!
The Unfit Heiress by Audrey Care Farley
This non-fiction account chronicles the fight for inheritance, both genetic and monetary, between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her mother Maryon. In 1934, aided by a California eugenics law, the socialite Maryon Cooper Hewitt had her ‘promiscuous’ daughter declared feebleminded and then sterilized without her knowledge. Ann was neither promiscuous nor feebleminded and this story tells of the horrors she went through due to her mother’s greed. Amazing this could even happen.
I love this book so much and not just because it has chicken wisdom in it. It’s all about the many definitions of the word ‘brood’ and follows the narrator through the course of one year as she relates chicken information with observations and life lessons. It isn’t until the end that you realize what she has struggled with in her own life. Humorous and sobering at the same time.
