Review {of sorts} of: Blood Orange Brewing by Laura Childs

Social darling Delaine Dish is throwing a lavish Candlelight Concert to raise funds to restore a run-down Victorian home-and Theodosia Browning is more than happy to help out with tea and tasty treats from the Indigo Tea Shop.

Unfortunately, the unveiling of Theo's opulent spread proves to be far from grand after retired CEO and beloved politico Duke Wilkes falls to the floor with a jagged piece of metal protruding from his neck.

When the Widow Wilkes begs Theo to apply her sleuthing skills, she can't refuse. But her investigation opens up a simmering pot of shady politics and personal payback, and Theo soon finds herself in a situation stickier than any jam she's ever served.

Warning there is a bit a rant headed your way if you continue to read this post.

This series... I love the setting, a tea shop in Charleston, South Carolina's historical district. I love the characters of Theodosia, Drayton, Haley, Delanie, and Theo's dog Earl Grey. The recipes sound YUM (I haven't tried any yet). The plots themselves are solid.

So now you're saying to yourself, "So what's your problem chick?" Here in ONE word is my problem: proofreading! There seems to be a serious lack of proofreading with this series. It's been an issue that keeps cropping up throughout the series. Blood Orange Brewing is the 7th book and it's still happening. Just one example that is still stuck in my craw (2 months later) is on one page Theo pulls a pen out of her purse and on the very next page when she uses it, it has somehow morphed itself into a pencil!

There are no misspelled words, no awkward breaks. It seems to me that they are being put through an automated spellchecker but not being checked for errors. It just irritates the HECK out of me! I wish I could say that I will continue with the series despite this issue, but I can't. I don't know if I will.

Title: Blood Orange Brewing (A Tea Shop Mystery, #7)
Author: Laura Childs
ISBN: 9780425208076
Pages: 304
Published by: Berkley (April 4, 2006)
Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery, Series
Grade: C What does this grade mean?

Buy Blood Orange Brewing (A Tea Shop Mystery, #7) by Laura Childs:
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Review {of sorts} of: Lord Peter: The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories by Dorothy L Sayers

One of the founding mothers of mystery, Dorothy Sayers first introduced the popular character Lord Peter Wimsey in 1923 with the publication of Whose Body? Over the next twenty years, more novels and short stories about the aristocratic amateur sleuth appeared, each one as cunningly written as the next.Now in single volume, here are all the Lord Peter Wimsey stories, a treasure for any mystery lover. From "The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag" to "The Image in the Mirror" and "Talboys," this collection is Lord Peter at his best -- and a true testament to the art of detective fiction.

I enjoyed many of the stories in this Lord Peter collection. I cannot remember any of the titles and I have already returned to book to the library; I read it in July. It was interesting though to see Lord Peter himself change throughout the stories. In the beginning of the collection he is very happily unattached and by the end not only is he married, but he and his wife have a few children.

Title: Lord Peter: The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories
Author: Dorothy L Sayers
ISBN: 9780060913809
Pages: 496
Published by: Harper Paperbacks (December 3rd 1986 (first published 1971))
Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery, Short Story Collection
Grade: C What does this grade mean?

Buy Lord Peter: The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories by Dorothy L Sayers:
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Review {of sorts} of: Shimmer

Author: Eric Barnes
ISBN: 9781932961676
Pages: 288
Published by: Unbridled Books (June 30, 2009)
Genre(s): Fiction, Thriller
Grade: C

If I was way into computers, like Eric Barnes appears to be and like my husband is, I am sure I would have enjoyed Shimmer much more. There was way too much that went over my head though.

That said, the parts that did not go over my head, I really enjoyed. I ended up skimming a lot of the tech speak. This really is a thriller! If you enjoy Techno-Thrillers or are into computers then Shimmer is one you should pick up.

From the publisher Unbridled Books:
In just three years, CEO Robbie Case has grown Core Communications, a data technology company, from 30 people to over 5,000. Now a $20 billion company made legendary by its sudden success, Core is based on a technology no other company can come close to copying, a revolutionary breakthrough known as “drawing blood from a mainframe.” And Robbie, its 35-year-old CEO, is acclaimed worldwide for his vision, leadership and wealth. Except that all of it is based on a lie. The technology doesn’t work, the finances are built on a Ponzi scheme of stock sales and shell corporations, and Robbie is struggling to keep the company alive, to protect the friends who work for him and all that they’ve built. Each day, Robbie tries to push the catastrophe back a little further, while his employees believe that they are all moving closer to “grace,” the day their stock options vest, when they will be made rich for their faith and loyalty and hard work. The details of the lie are all keyed into a shadowy interface that Robbie calls Shimmer, an omniscient mainframe that hides itself, calculates its own collapse, threatens to outsmart its creator and to reveal the corporation’s illegal, fragile underpinnings. Shimmer is the story of a high-tech crusade nearing its end. The shell game Robbie has created is finally running out of room. And Robbie is the only one who knows or who has a chance to make things right. Or is he?

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Review of: Four Wives

Author: Wendy Walker
ISBN: 9780312367725
Pages: 368
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin (March 2009)
Genre(s): Fiction, ChickLit
Grade: C

While I didn't love Four Wives, I did enjoy the time that I spent with Gayle, Janie, Love and Marie. It was a quick read for me. The chapters rotate viewpoints between each of the wives. I just didn't connect with any one in particular. I think that, given the different points of view and the different backgrounds and goals of each wife, Four Wives would be an excellent book club selection.

From GoodReads:
In Wendy Walker’s brilliant debut, the lives of four wives and mothers intertwine and collide in a tale of suburban angst among outrageous wealth.

On the outside, it appears as though Love Welsh, Marie Passetti, Gayle Beck and Janie Kirk lead enviable lives, with marriages to handsome, successful men; bright, happy children; and homes right out of Architectural Digest. But in the wealthy suburb of Hunting Ridge, appearances mask a deeper truth: These four wives are anything but perfect. As they try to maintain a façade of bliss, behind closed doors they each face their own crises—infidelity, dissatisfaction, self-doubt. As springtime draws to an end, doors are both opened and closed and the women come face to face with the most difficult and heartbreaking challenge of their lives—to reconcile their innermost desires with the lives that each of them has chosen.

Buy Four Wives by Wendy Walker:
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Review of: Emily Post

Author: Laura Claridge
ISBN: 9780375509216
Pages: 592
Genre(s): Non-Fiction - Biography
Grade: C
Challenge(s): 100+ Reading Challenge, 2009 Read & Review Challenge







I have to admit. I had a really hard time getting through this book. It took me 6 or 8 weeks to finish it. (I read Kusheils's Scion which has 200 more pages in 3 weeks, so it was more the lack of interest in the material's presentation than the length of the book.) When Shana asked for some one to take over the responsibility of this book I thought, "How interesting. She must have lead an exciting life." Well, she did lead a fairly exciting life, but the presentation was so dry.

Emily Post was related to the Roosevelt's (she thought Eleanor was too involved in politics and causes), she wrote more than Etiquette and played in the concrete base of the Statue of Liberty! I know I would have enjoyed Emily Post much more if I could have taken my time and read it in pieces over a few months rather than with a deadline. If you have more than a passing interest in Emily Post herself or in the periods that this book covers (1920's to 1950's) I'd recommend this book.



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