February
Books read this month: 10
Books read so far this year: 21
Another productive month of reading (mostly because I went on vacation and sat on the beach and read- sorry, not sorry). Read too many cozy mysteries again this month- I’m a bit of an addict. I went to a great book store at the beach, because I’m a nerd who likes to visit book stores and libraries on vacation, so I picked up some new reads there, including the first Agatha Raisin book, a series I am now hooked on.
My favorites:
- Attachments by Rainbow Rowell– I have to be honest and say I’ve never read any Rainbow Rowell prior to this, which is probably some kind of sin as a children’s librarian. So I can’t compare this to her other books, but I really liked it. It’s written in a series of emails between friends interspersed with stories about the internet security guy who is reading all their emails and slowly falling for one of the friends. It had the potential to be creepy, which they kind of deal with at one point, but it somehow manages to end well!
- The Hotel on Mulberry Bay by Melissa Hill– This was a lovely and emotional story about a family trying to hold on to their beloved hotel after the death of their mother, who was the life behind the hotel. The daughters learn more about each other and their father and grow closer as they try to save the hotel and their family. This book had the added bonus of having a subplot involving Beatles music, so that endeared it to me even further.\
- The Quiche of Death (Agatha Raisin #1) by M. C. Beaton– Agatha retires from her life as a highly successful PR executive and moves to the Cotswolds, where she promptly enters a store bought quiche into a village competition as a way to get in well with the villagers. The judge of the quiche contest drops dead and Agatha has to confess that she did not bake it herself. This is a pretty funny premise for a book and the character of Agatha Raisin is a great one. She is constantly making a slight fool of herself, but she manages to fumble her way into the hearts of her new neighbors and even solve the murder. Side note: This show has been turned into a TV show, which I have started watching. They get a lot wrong, but it’s still a good watch if you like the books.
February reads:
- Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
- Dear Mrs. Bird by A. J. Pearce
- Forgiving Tess by Kimberly M. Miller
- Lethal Licorice (Amish Candy Shop Mystery #2) by Amanda Flower
- Grounded (Windy City Neighbors #1) by Neta Jackson
- The Hotel on Mulberry Bay by Melissa Hill
- Death of a Russian Doll (Vintage Toyshop Mystery #3) by Barbara Early
- The Quiche of Death (Agatha Raisin #1) by M.C. Beaton
- The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
- A Murder for the Books (Blue Ridge Library Mystery #1) by Victoria Gilbert