"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."
                                                                ---C.S. Lewis

I believe that dreams, and goals to make those dreams come true, are the things that make the difference between existing or living a joyful life.  We should always be satisfied with what we attain while we look to achieve our next goal.  Before I reached thirty-five, I was a public speaker, a public relations director of a large non-profit, and a business owner.  Each job helped me grow as a person and gave me a wonderful sense of accomplishment.  None fulfilled me completely, so I kept on looking.  When I walked into my first classroom as an English teacher, I knew I was home.  

I loved my years as a teacher and debate coach, and when I left I realized my career dreams had finally been fulfilled, but that nagging part of my soul that wanted to write was still hanging on, and I decided that I needed to satisfy that dream.  I am still working on my great American novel, but that is not as easy as James Patterson makes it seem.   This blog and the several reviews a week go a long way in satisfying my urge to write.  It didn't turn out exactly as I planned, but it is fun knowing that people all over the world are tuning in each week.  Sometimes I have to use google translate to read some of the letters that you send me, but that makes it even more exciting.

I had hoped this would be more of an interactive page, where you all would send in reviews and comment on reviews others send in. I pictured having a section where you would even send in your short stories, poems, etc. to share with us, but I am not getting that kind of response.  Interestingly enough, I am getting more and more readers each week, and many of you send notes to me at [email protected], but not many respond in the comment sections.  

I am happy though, and will take this blog wherever you want it to go.  I am having some trouble with the subscription link though.  I have gotten quite a few requests to be put on the list, but your email address is not attached.  If you are not getting weekly notifications even though you sent in a request, please resubmit making sure to put in a working email address.  If you would prefer, just drop me a note at [email protected] and request to be put on our list.  I would also love to read any suggestions you might have to make this page even better.  

The two books I read and reviewed this week were a little difficult for me to finish.  The book  Behind Closed Doors is possibly the most shocking new psychological suspenseful thriller you'll read this year, by B.A. Paris, was about a woman being emotionally abused by her husband. It is a very well written book with a likable protagonist and gut wrenching scenes that left me wondering how people live under those conditions.  I chose the book because one of you suggested it to me, but it made me sad.  If you can stay removed enough to read this type of book, this is probably one you should read.

On the other end of the spectrum, Hook, Line and Stinker (A Lily Thistle Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Maggie West was a little too silly for me.  I know Cozy Mysteries are supposed to be light, and I have actually gotten to like some of them, but this was a bit over the top for me.  The writing seemed to be on a young adult level, and the main character was a bit flighty for a middle-aged teacher.  It did have its moments though and helped me through a particularly sleepless night

Okay all of you readers out there...I am really looking fore some reviews for my guest page. It doesn't have to be long...just tell us what you think.  It might just help you work on fulfilling your dreams.

​As always, complete reviews of these books follow this blog.
​
Happy reading,

- Beverly

Click on the book cover to order a title mentioned in today's blog:

Genre: Thriller

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This is a difficult book for me to review, so I will try to be objective as I write.  The story line, emotional abuse, is not one that I prefer, and Paris does a good job of getting into the reader's mind in Behind Closed Doors.  The author paints an uncomfortable picture from the very first dinner party that Jack and Grace throw, and the tension continues to build. When a guest brings a box of chocolates to dinner, Grace's reaction to it foreshadows the life that she is living.  She obviously wants to try the candy but fears Jack will never let her open the box. 

Jack's control over her is difficult to read, but his ability to find her weaknesses and exploit them rings true to life. The book bounces from past to present, so we get a glimpse of Grace's life before Jack.  She is a high powered buyer for a major department store, and enjoys the traveling that it entails.  She is very close to her teenage sister, Millie, who's was born with Down's Syndrome and resides in a school near her home.  Since Grace's parents have more or less abandoned Millie, Grace promises that Millie will soon move in with her.

Grace first meets Jack in a park when he notices Millie dancing and kindly (or manipulatively?) asks her to dance with him.  Grace is so taken by this handsome man's kindness to her sister, that she quickly takes him into their lives.  A cunning lawyer who specializes in abused women, Jack seems too good to be true, and when he proposes, Grace happily accepts. When he asks her to quit her job (because he wants to spend more time with her) and then buys a house without her (as a wedding gift?) the reader recognizes the potential problems, and I wondered why this bright woman didn't run for the hills.

This book made me too uncomfortable to say I liked it, but the writing is strong and evokes our emotions throughout.  The characters are well defined and we pull for Grace from page one.  The writer portrays her as loving and vulnerable, coming from parents who told her that they never really wanted children, so when Jack wants her and accepts Millie, she can't turn away.

If you like character driven, suspenseful books that work on your emotions, this is definitely a must read filled with abuse, revenge and page turning tension.

- Beverly

Publisher - Macmillan
Date of Publication - ​​​​August 9, 2016

Genre: Mystery

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I have a special place in my heart for books about teachers, so I decided to give Hook, Line and Stinker a try.  Lily is a fifth grade teacher about to start her first day in her new school, when she happens upon a body tangled in seaweed on the beach.  The book moves in the direction of most cozy mysteries.  She gets a crush on the "hunky" police chief who can't help but consider her a suspect.  Suddenly she is more involved in murder-solving than the police, which is a good thing because she seems to be making headway.

I liked the characters and the setting, but found the book written on a middle school level.  Her descriptions when finding the body were silly, even for a cozy mystery.
"Then she caught a whiff of something. Something stinky. Really stinky."
"At least this guy was freshly dead, which she assumed helped matters in the looks department."
"Get to school, girl, now or you'll be late, raced through her mind."

Once I got used to middle aged Lily talking and acting like a teenager, I found the book light and somewhat entertaining.  I enjoyed the gossipy town folk, and was rooting for romance.  The reader doesn't care all too much for the poor victim, but when you are introduced as "really stinky," what can one expect.

For those who are looking for a very quick and simple visit into a beach town with a mystery, Ms. West is giving you just such an opportunity.  Enjoy!

- Beverly

Publisher - Amazon Digital Services LLC
Date of Publication - ​​​​November 16, 2016

"The only thing you have to absolutely know is the location of the library"
                                                      ---Albert Einstein


I wonder what Albert Einstein would have accomplished if he had had internet access 24/7.  I remember the days of research papers and trips to the library.  Those of us lucky enough to have encyclopedias in our homes could get a head start on information gathering, but those encyclopedias were usually out-dated within a few years anyway. Being dependent on my parents to get me to the library was stressful at best, and most libraries were not as up to date as I would have liked.

College libraries were a bit more current, but they were also a place for social gatherings.  I always went there with the best of intentions but often found myself immersed in a political debate or a discussion about the possibility that Paul McCartney really was dead. (Those of you old enough will remember reversing the direction of the White Album and hearing "Paul is  dead" on the Revolution 9 cut)

It does sadden me to think that libraries might become obsolete.  A true book lover knows that there are few things that are as comforting as the feel of a book in your hand.  Getting lost in the pages, even the feel of an open book falling onto your chest as you fall asleep...unable to complete that final chapter, are things that those who have given themselves completely to electronics will never experience.  

The ability, however, to reach all information in a matter of minutes...sometimes seconds...is not something to be taken lightly. Think about the amount of research Einstein, Edison or Alexander Graham Bell did and imagine the time that could have been saved with the press of a google button.   How about the time Clarence Darrow spent researching for the Scopes Monkey Trial compared to lawyers of today with thousands of precedents at their fingertips?  I don't think we appreciate how much easier life is today and often wonder what it will be like one hundred years from now.

Speaking of research,  Bill McLain did quite a bit for his book, Do Fish Drink Water?:Puzzling and Improbable Questions and Answers.  It is one of those great "bathroom" reads that is both fun and informative.  McLain, who is a Xerox web master, has access to many odd questions that the public is curious about, and he compiled them and their answers into this interesting book by using the Internet to quickly research his answers.

Author Jonnie Jacobs shows us the manner in which lawyers research for their cases in her latest legal thriller, Motion to Dismiss.  Attorney Kali O'Brien is faced with the task of defending her best friend's husband against charges of rape and then murder.  Knowing that Grady Barrett cheated on her friend makes the task doubly difficult for Kali as she attempts to build a defense for a man she dislikes.  The characters are likable, the book is easy to get immersed in, and I recommend it for your summer reading stack.


​As always, complete reviews of these books follow this blog.
​
Happy reading,

- Beverly

Click on the book cover to order a title mentioned in today's blog:

Genre: Legal Mystery

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When Grady Barrett is accused of date rape, Kali O'Brien wants to run the other way.  Grady's wife, attorney Nina Barrett, is Kali's best friend, and she was unaware of her husband's philandering.  In fact, Nina recently found out that she has Hodgkin's disease and must put off chemo because of her pregnancy.  Kali has temporarily taken over Nina's practice in Berkeley, California and will do anything to help her friend through this stressful time.

While the subject matter of Motion to Dismiss is quite heavy, Jacobs' style is easy to read, and the story flows.  The characters are flawed, yet somewhat relatable, and the courtroom scenes are well put together.  Jacobs does not burden the reader with the tedious parts of courtroom action, which is a definite plus in a book that is meant to be a quick legal mystery. Her descriptions of characters and settings add to our understanding of the characters and their behaviors.  Even her experiences with Bea and Dotty, the two woman who rent her house, had me smiling. 

Meanwhile, Grady's rape charges are dropped when the defendant is found dead, fallen or pushed from her balcony window.  With Grady's car at the scene during the time of death, the rape trial becomes a murder trial.  Although there is no love lost between Kali and Grady, she begins to believe he might be innocent, and she goes to great lengths to save her best friend's husband from a murder conviction. The story is complicated with another murder and Grady's insistence on running things his way, but Kali is determined as the clock keeps running.

I enjoyed the glimpses into the protagonist's personal life, and Jacobs' way of humanizing Kali made me want to get to know her even more.  This is the third in a seven book series, and I am looking forward to continuing to follow her adventures as I search out book number four.

- Beverly


​Publisher - Amazon Digital Services LLC
Date of Publication - ​​​​December 23, 2013

Genre: Non-Fiction

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 Bill McLain is a Xerox web master with access to some of the most outlandish questions submitted to the Xerox web site. He decide to compile some of these interesting questions/answers in Do Fish Drink Water?: Puzzling and Improbable Questions and Answers.  The book is broken down into  chapters featuring twenty subjects. Each question is followed by a well structured answer, a few paragraphs titled factoids and a small section titled "did you know."

I learned how many licks are needed to get to the center of a tootsie pop (142), that sometimes the sun really does turn green in Ireland, and that it would take 33,683 years to vacuum the entire state of Ohio.  Some of the questions are more scholarly. I was surprised to learn that Mark Twain submitted the first typed manuscript to a publisher...Tom Sawyer, and that blind people do dream non-visual dreams.  

I really enjoy books that focus on all the trivia that surrounds us, and McLain does a good job selecting a variety of odd questions, but I can not vouch for their accuracy. Each section ends with a list of places that one can look to find more information in that category, and occasionally the answers differ a bit from those McLain gives us.  That being said, this  book is fun for all ages.  I think it will make a good gift for my fourteen year old grandson, and I think it will be equally interesting for my dad.  Although originally published several years ago, it is the kind of book that never gets outdated, and think about all the conversations you can initiate at those boring business dinners.

- Beverly
​

Publisher - HarperCollins
Date of Publication - ​​October 12, 2010

“You are free to choose, but you are not free to alter the consequences of your decisions.”
                   ---Ezra Taft Benson


From the day we are born until the day we take our last breath, life is a series of choices.  A mother may have strong hopes of breast-feeding a child, but ultimately it is the child who accepts or rejects the mother's offering, and it is the child who deals with the consequences of formula-vs-mother's milk.  The child chooses when to take their first step (Beth refused to take a step until 18 months), say their first word (Michael's first word was waffle) and when to socialize with other children.  

Unfortunately, we continue to make (and be responsible for) choices through elementary, middle and high school...times when our brains are nowhere near ready for these responsibilities.  According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, the rational part of a person's brain won't be fully developed until he/she reaches the age of 25, yet we often choose a career and/or spouse before that age.  We then spend a lifetime living with the positive and negative consequences of those decisions.

Not only that, I spent a few years making choices for another human being (sorry Mike) before I reached 25.  I spent many years trying to teach my children and other people's children how important it is to picture next week, next year or maybe next decade, before you make a choice today.  It might sound tedious and down right annoying to always have an eye on the future, but if it stops you from making a choice you will probably regret for a long time, then give yourself a break and take this mom's advice.  (i.e.  as great as that tenth tattoo might look on you when you are twenty, picture them all on your less than taut seventy year old body).

In J.B. Turner's novel, Miami Requiem: A Crime Thriller (Deborah Jones Crime Thriller Series Book 1),  war hero William Craig makes a choice to kill the  son of a state senator.  The young man raped Craig's granddaughter, was acquitted, and preceded to taunt her when she attempted to get on with her life.  While his choice was not a smart or legal one, we see why he made it.  He admits to the crime and is willing to live with the consequences, but reporter Deborah Jones can't watch this basically good man be executed.  This is a well written book that follows Deborah's search for the truth and ultimately the story of her career.

The Last Justice, a thriller by Anthony Franze, allows the reader to follow the choices that United States Solicitor General Jefferson McKenna makes when he is suddenly accused of killing several people and a possible involvement in the assassination of six Supreme Court justices.  The book, though a little convoluted, is exciting and somewhat current as six Supreme Court vacancies must suddenly be filled.  

We are all faced with hundreds of choices a day, but let me make this one easy for you.  Pick up a copy of both of these books, give yourself some down time and enjoy.

As always, complete reviews of these books follow this blog.
​
Happy reading,

- Beverly

​Click on the book cover to order a title mentioned in today's blog:

Genre: Political Thriller

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After reading/reviewing The Advocate's Daughter by Franze, I searched out his previous book, The Last Justice, and read the first few pages.  When a book starts with the killing of six Supreme Court Justices, it better continue to deliver excitement throughout its pages. While much of the story was highly improbable, it did deliver on page turning excitement.  As I often say, if I wanted a story that was without unlikely happenings, I would read the newspaper.  When reading fiction, I often check reality at the door.

The first chapter begins six months after the massacre, when Jefferson McKenna, Solicitor General of the United States, is being questioned by NYPD Detectives Chase Assad and Emma Milstein about the murder of his former clerk, Parker Sinclair.  The reader soon realizes that McKenna, who has a connection with the President of the United States, is being set up.  The plot becomes a bit convoluted as we follow different leads and uncover different conspiracies.  

Watching the trouble that our current President is having while trying to appoint one Supreme Court justice to fill the spot left by the death Justice Scalia, it does not surprise me that desperate measures must be taken to fill the six vacancies in this book.  The compromise of allowing each party to select three uncontested justices, can only add to the destruction of the final step in our justice system.

Though complicated, the plot of Franze's book is fast moving and thought provoking.  His characters draw the reader in, and I did find myself holding my breath as McKenna gets into one scrape after another while trying to figure out who is setting him up. 

- Beverly



Publisher - Sterling and Ross
Date of Publication - ​​February 7, 2012

Genre: Thriller

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Deborah Jones is a rookie reporter on the Miami Herald who is driven to investigate the case of William Craig, a man scheduled to be executed in a little over a month for the murder of Senator Jack O'Neill's only son.  Craig admitted to the killing, but the extenuating circumstances cause Deborah to work at finding the truth.  Senator O'Neill's son, Joseph,  was tried and acquitted for the murder of Craig's granddaughter, Jenny Forbes.  War hero Craig decided to avenge his granddaughter himself, and brutally murdered young Joseph.

As Deborah begins her search it is obvious she is after more than just a winning story. The reader is taken through the worst of Florida where prejudice is obviously not dead and a young, black, female reporter is not welcomed with opened arms. We can feel the warden's disdain as he tries to keep her from visiting with Craig.  We can also feel her determination to save this grandfather who risked everything to make sure justice was served.

This is a well written book by an author who is definitely familiar with the heat and the politics of a state that is much more than a beach filled with beautiful people.  His characters are multidimensional, and allow us to see what drives a good man to do bad things.  There are secrets, cover-ups and a lot of action in a book that once again makes us second guess the death penalty.
​
- Beverly


Publisher - Amazon Digital Services
Date of Publication - January 12, 2014

"Let it be said that I am right rather than consistent. "
                               ---John Marshall Harlan (Associate Justice of the Supreme Court)
 
I have changed my mind many times in my life, and I never worried about my consistency.  An intelligent person will change his/her perspective as he/she gains new information about a subject, and as we mature, we often gain new information.  When I was younger life seemed so very black or white.  It was difficult to pay attention to another person's point of view when looking through my haze of righteousness.  Somehow when I reached my forties, the haze lifted enough to allow me to see different sides of most arguments as valid.

Sometimes I realized that I had made a decision based on misinformation and adjusted that decision accordingly.  That does not make me a "flip-flopper" or a liar.  It does not make me weak or unreliable.  Instead, it makes me thoughtful and honest about my ever-changing feelings about our ever changing world.  Yes...I am proud to be consistently inconsistent.

I am also happy that I can accept that trait in the politicians that I will ultimately vote for in November.  The fact that a good many of them (296 Representatives and 77 Senators) voted for the war in Iraq, isn't hard to understand, given the information they were given.  The fact that many of them changed their mind after being given a more realistic assessment of the situation, makes me admire them, not call them to task for being wishy-washy.  The fact that President Obama changed his views on gay marriage doesn't mean he is acquiescing to lobbyists but rather listening to the words of his advisors (and his two lovely daughters) and evolving along with the nation he oversees and not giving in to preconceived notions.

It is vital that those in control leave these preconceived notions at the door when making decisions.  One of the books that I reviewed this week, Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Major Medical Breakthroughs in the Twentieth Century  by Morton Meyers, M.D. shows us that even in science and medical breakthroughs, these notions  are the very thing that can stymie our progress.  I really enjoyed this book and was fascinated with Meyer's explanation of the accidents that brought us some of medicine's most amazing discoveries.  Reading this will definitely make you the most interesting guest at your next dinner party.

After straining my brain reading Meyer's book, I decided a cozy mystery would be perfect, and chose to read The Deadly Legal Affair by K.M. Morgan. It is a silly mystery with a protagonist named McDare, a baker named Granny Annie and a sleazy lawyer named Case.  There is the requisite murder and, of course, the dog named Shamus.  This quick little mystery is great for beach or bed-time.


​As always, complete reviews of these books follow this blog.


​Happy reading,

- Beverly

Click on the book cover to order a title mentioned in today's blog:​