A Lady's Favor by Josi S. Kilpack, Proper Romance Series, book 2.5

Regency romance. This short novella was a quick light read and just what I needed the other day. It has all the typical ingredients of a regency romance with a spitfire leading lady and a dashing young man with a controlling mother thrown in for good measure. Great book to sit by the fire and read in an evening.

Recommend: Yes.

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Young adult mystery. I enjoy mysteries, especially if the writer keeps me guessing until the end. The main character, Pip, is a gutsy girl who as her senior project decides to solve a five year old mystery of the disappearance of a teen girl and the apparent suicide of her boyfriend.

I listened to the audio version of this book which made it a bit difficult to keep all the character names in my mind. When I read a mystery book it's helpful to look back in previously read pages to remind myself who all the characters are. That being said, I really enjoyed listening to the narrators. It does have a bit of crass language throughout.

Recommend? Yes.

The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance, book one of Candle Man, by Glenn Dakin

Junior Fantasy. I read this book a number of years ago and decided to read it aloud to my kids (one of my favorite pastimes is reading books with my kids). This fantasy book has all the ingredients of fantasy lovers: bad guys, creepy monster-like creatures, talking garghouls, super power infested young person, and characters who you thought were bad surprising you in the end. This is the first in a series and I haven't read the next book yet, but I plan on ordering it from Amazon soon.

Recommend: Yes.

Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

Teen Adventure. Maddie Manchester's father is the head of the secret service for the President of the United States. The President's son, Logan, witnesses the kidnap attempt of his mother and both he and Maddie see the kidnappers shoot and wound Maddie's father. This leads Maddie and her father to hide in deep Alaska from the bad guys. This was a high adventure story that I thoroughly enjoyed. It moved quickly with lots of suspense. There was blood shed involved, but in the end the good guys win.

Recommend: Yes.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Junior Fiction. This is a delightful story about a china rabbit whose character is shaped by the people who own him. He starts out life as a small girl's cherished toy and ends up at the bottom of an ocean, buried under piles of garbage as well as suffering cracks to his china body. Through it all he learns to love those who love him. This took me a couple of hours to read and left me with a smile on my face.

Recommend: Yes

The Saints, Volume 2: No Unhallowed Hand

Non-Fiction. I read parts of this and listened to parts of it as well. I found this uplifting, heart breaking, revelatory, and fascinating, sometimes all at the same time. I learned new things about church history that I did not know and I came to love characters I never knew existed. I took away a profound gratitude for those early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and their dedication amidst staggering trials.

Recommend? YES